Rumplestiltskin steepled his hands together and studied the little creature. Really, it was the oddest thing. Private Bell was made entirely of metal covered over with paint. She had a little captain's hat painted blue, and dark brown painted hair tied into a pigtail down her back, a tiny little khaki coloured rucksack and incongruously rosy cheeks and red lips for a soldier. Miniscule dabs of white paint with even smaller dabs of blue inside served as her eyes. Her little uniform was painted a darker blue and tiny dots of gold and silver paint picked out what he supposed were meant to be medals and insignias of rank. Her body did not look particularly curvy or feminine, but then perhaps such details would be hard to notice due to her small size and the strictures of the uniform.
The paint seemed to have been licked away the further down her uniform his eyes travelled. There were more black streaks and tiny bubbles in the paint job the further down you went. He could see that when it had been cast from the mold, the soldier's feet had been placed apart as if it was striding on parade, connected together with a little metal base that should've been rectangular with a flat bottom, but had melted into an irregularly shaped metal puddle, along with two small lumps that had probably been formed into feet originally.
So this was the problem. He was glad it wasn't something silly and trivial. He was surprised to find he had already formed quite a high opinion of the little soldier in the short space of time that he had known her and was pleased to see she hadn't come to ask for something selfish or frivolous like wealth, fame, to marry a prince and live in a castle or for some terrible fate to befall a business competitor like most people did. Back when he had just been an ordinary man, Rumplestiltskin had been a soldier too. As a result of that little adventure he had suffered for fourteen years with a painful limp before assuming the mantle of the Dark One and all the power that came with it. He understood why someone would seek him out to correct such an affliction.
"May I take a look?" the Dark One asked politely.
"Yes of course," said Private Bell and he picked her up in the palm of his hand and gently examined the melted metal.
"Were you in a fire?" he asked.
"Yes," nodded Private Bell. "I was nearly killed."
"And did it hurt when this occurred?" He knew it was a little nosy, but he was still quite curious about the little creature and what it was possible for it to think and feel. He was eager to discover if it was quite like a regular human in all respects other than being made of metal and being tiny, of course.
"Oh yes," said the tin soldier solemnly. "You must understand, we tin soldiers don't feel things like humans do. Not hot or cold or tired or hungry. But this, it was nearly more than I could bear."
The Dark One's heart, rumoured to be made of metal or stone itself, but actually quite human underneath all the scales and armour, softened at this. "I may have to melt part of it to reshape it back into its original form," he said, nodding to her base. "I'm afraid it may cause you pain again, but unfortunately there's really no other way I know of fixing you. I hesitate to use magic. You are magical already, but I am unfamiliar with what magic created you. If it is light magic, it may not mix too well with my own and whatever I try magically could do more harm than good."
Private Bell looked up at the sorcerer in confusion. "What- what are you talking about?" she asked bluntly.
Rumplestilskin's reptilian eyes widened in irritation. "I don't know what is so difficult to understand. Your base was melted in a fire you, said. It was extremely painful, you said. To fix it I may have to re-melt it and shape it, because I'm not using my magic on you, whatever you are. Get it?"
"Oh no, I believe I haven't explained myself quite thoroughly," said the small soldier, distressed, drawing herself up to her full height. "I do not feel hot or cold. I was in no pain from my base and feet being melted or my paint being licked off by the fire."
"But you said—"
"It hurt dreadfully, but it hurt here," said Private Bell and had she been able to cry tears she would have sobbed buckets, as she thumped her miniscule chest with one hand. "My love threw himself into the fire to save me and now I am all alone, the only one like me in all the world. I miss him more than words can say."
"So you want me to make another one? Another one like you?"
"N-no. I came to you because I thought, if any in this world could, you could return my love to me."
"I'm sorry, but before you came here you must have known, I cannot return the dead to life. It is one of the rules that binds my magic, as it does everyone else's."
"But he's not dead," said Private Bell stoutly. "He's right here, with me." And she took off her rucksack and held it up to Rumplestilskin like it was the rarest, most precious treasure in the universe. "I travel with him always."
"What?"
He put the tiny soldier down and took her proffered rucksack as delicately as he could in his clawed hands. Carefully he emptied its contents out onto a tea saucer, wondering what he might find. To his surprise all that came out was a tiny pink gem that caught the light in such a way that it seemed to glow from within.
An odd blush rose to Private Bell's painted cheeks as he gingerly touched the stone. "May I introduce Corporal Gold, the bravest soldier I've ever known," she said, breathing rapidly, "the man I love."
"It's a ruby," said Rumplestilskin flatly.
"No, sir," said Private Bell picking the gem up in her hands. "Look closer."
A magnifying glass instantly appeared in Rumplestilskin's hand, allowing him to see the gem more closely.
Except it wasn't a gem. He gasped as he realized instantly what it was. He was so surprised he nearly dropped it. The tiny pink thing glowed from within in Private Bell's hands. It glowed and pulsed and if he heighted his hearing the sound of it was audible. Lub dub, lub dub. It was a tiny magical heart. And it was beating.
"How is this possible?" Rumplestilskin marveled. "Where is his body?"
"Melted to ash," sighed Private Bell. "When the fire burnt itself out, his noble heart was all that was left."
"I have never heard of such a thing happening to a human being before," mused the sorcerer, "not even a magical one. If the brain and body are gone, then a heart, even a heart that has been removed with magic will die as well."
"Maybe so, but he is not a human being," argued the tin soldier, "and neither am I. Magic created us. Perhaps magic has preserved his heart alive as well."
"You could be right," said Rumplestilskin slowly. "This is a living heart, for all the body that it once contained may be dust. And you say he was made of metal, just as you are?"
"Oh yes," said Private Bell, eager to offer the sorcerer whatever he needed in order to revive her friend. "Tin just like me."
"I make no promises," intoned the Dark One. "But if I am able to return your love to you, you will owe me a favour of my choosing, understand? "
"Understood, sir!" cried Private Bell and saluted him. "Thank you, sir!"
"Don't thank me yet," said Rumplestilskin, "This may take a while." And then he disappeared in a puff of purple smoke with the tiny heart in his hand.
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