Reprise

If anyone can make the most of living here
Then, Belle, it's you
And who knows?
You may find
Home here, too!

-Home (Reprise)

Belle woke up in the afternoon the next day. She felt like she'd slept for days and struggled to push herself off of the bed to sit up. Light streamed in from the doorway and a dark figure stepped in front of it. "Belle?"

She squinted, "Morning." She placed a hand to her head. Surely she looked awful after sleeping for so long.

"Good afternoon would be more appropriate," Rumplestiltskin giggled and approached the bedside. "How are you feeling?"

"My head is killing me." She tried to massage the pain out, but failed.

"I can take care of that," He sat on the bed with her and pushed her hands away from her head. He pressed his thumbs to her forehead and his index fingers to her temples.

She closed her eyes at the pressure and felt the pain melting away. The relief warmed her. She opened her eyes and smiled at him lovingly. "Thank you, Rumple. That was wonderful." She wanted to kiss him, but knew it bothered him. She scooted forward and wrapped her arms around his neck in an embrace. She felt his arms close around her waist and his face press slightly into her shoulder.

He drew back. "Hungry again, dear?"

"Yes. I'd like to change and wash up first though."

"Of course."

He left her to be and she took a short bath. She found that he'd added quite a few dresses to her wardrobe. She chose a simple one in pale green and tied a bow in her hair with the same color. She headed quickly to the dining hall, finding that her hunger was greater than she'd thought. Rumple had prepared a hot bowl of oatmeal for her. She sat down and began to eat it, relishing the food in her belly. Rumple appeared after a few minutes. "There you are!" she exclaimed.

"Here I am." He presented himself and bowed. "Did you want privacy during your meal?"

"No," she answered. "Join me, please."

He sat in the chair next to her and watched her eat.

"What did you work on while I was sleeping?" Belle blew on her spoon with the hot porridge to cool it off.

"I'm working on some magic to better protect the castle, and for Regina, when the time comes."

"What do you mean, for Regina?" Belle asked nervously.

Rumple spoke nonchalantly, "Oh, I'm going to kill her."

"I should have known." Belle stirred her oatmeal a little more as she thought. "I know she's done some horrible things, but I think Regina could be a good person if someone showed her love and grace. I would hate for you to kill her if she had the potential to be good."

"What are you talking about? Good is good. Evil is evil. There's no switching sides." He looked down at the table. "She held you captive in a prison. She will die."

"She's lonely, Rumple," Belle pleaded, "and vengeful. And she's looking to power to fill the hole in her heart. You must understand that."

"I understand quite intimately," Rumples fingers drummed on the oak table, "but only one of us can have the power to fill our heart. And it will be mine."

"There are other things that can fill you heart if you just let them." Belle let her spoon drop into her bowl, as she was suddenly not hungry anymore. "I'm going for a walk around the castle. Don't follow me." She snatched up her bowl to clean it.

Rumple watched her walk out of the room.

Rumplestiltskin spun quietly for most of the afternoon. The wheel moved quickly and his fingers danced over the gold thread. He was anxious about what he'd said to Belle. It worried him that she was around the castle by herself. He tried to trust that new protection spell would keep Regina and anyone else away from her. But if she stepped off the property, she wasn't enchanted by him anymore and anyone could hurt her or take her.

After a couple of hours, Belle strode into the foyer where he spun. She stopped when she saw him and stared, then turned away, out of the room.

That worried Rumple very much. He imagined he'd have to conjure up a thousand roses and even more books to be in her good graces again. He let the gold thread press tightly into his fingers as anxiety bubbled in him.

She reappeared, carrying a small stool with her, just taller than the one he was sitting on. She placed it inches away from his and sat down.

"What are you doing?" He asked, surprised, the tone of his voice a little more biting than he'd meant it to be.

"I wanted to sit next to you," she explained, resting her hands in her lap.

"Aren't you mad at me?"

"No," she smoothed her dress down. "I went for a walk and now I feel better. I think I was just a little grumpy because I'd just woken up. I'm sorry."

He had absolutely not expected her to apologize. "That's- that's quite all right," he stuttered.

"I would prefer if you didn't kill Regina, but it is your choice if you'd like to attempt such a thing," she said quietly.

He didn't want to let her down, now that she was being nice. "I will have to think about it." He gave the wheel another spin. "Maybe I will give her a warning." He paused, "But if she tried to kidnap you again, I will cut her head off!"

Belle laughed. Somehow, she always found him funny. "I guess I could concede to that."

They were silent for a period of time. He spun and she watched him. Finally, he asked her, "Don't you have something to do?"

"Oh, would you like me to clean?" She stood up. "I wasn't sure of how our arrangement stood now-"

"No, that won't be necessary. We can talk about that after things have settled down a bit." He hadn't meant to suggest that she wait on him again. He didn't know what their relationship was, but she certainly wasn't a prisoner or servant anymore. He needed more time to think about if he wanted her to stay and in what capacity. "Don't you have a book to read or something?"

"I guess I could go get one." She walked slowly out of the room, talking to herself, "I really did miss that story..."

It was his turn to chuckle to himself. Her fascination with books amused him. He'd never seen a girl like her. She returned with a book that he'd known her to read multiple times in the course of staying with him. Again, she sat down on the stool next to him.

He was so confused as to why she was sitting there. "Isn't the couch more comfortable, Belle?"

She didn't break her concentration from the book. "I want to be close to you."

He sighed. His hand moved the wheel and he thought it was ridiculous for them both to be sitting on the tiny stools. He stood and gave her his hand to help her up as well.

"Where are we going?" She asked.

"I'm tired of spinning. We'll sit on the couch." He led her there and sat down first.

She sat down right next to him even though there was plenty of room to give him some space. She leaned and rested her head on his shoulder.

It seemed as if she wanted him to put his arm around her. He couldn't believe it though. He didn't understand why someone would want to be closer to them than they had to, and he feared that he was misreading her signals. He kept his hands on his knees.

He expected her to start reading, but she didn't. She just traced the cover of the book with her finger dreamily.

Her head was feeling heavy and warm against his arm, and he could feel other parts of her body pressing into him. He needed to distract himself or he'd lose control. "What do you think we can expect from Regina when she finds out that you are missing?"

He thanked the heavens when Belle moved to talk to him and she wasn't pressing up against him anymore. "Well, she was very smug when she captured me, so she'll be angry that her plan was thwarted." She shrugged, "I guess that's pretty standard for Regina though." They both laughed. "I know she'll do whatever it takes to get her way. I imagine her next move will be to convince the townspeople that I've done something to deserve being killed. It depends on how badly she wants me dead."

Rumple frowned. Regina knew how he felt about Belle now and she'd do anything to destroy him. He didn't want Belle to have to spend her life running from Regina, and for the first time ever, he wondered if Regina would consider a truce of some sort. If not, she'd have to leave the Enchanted Forest. "It's not about you being in the dead. It's about you being away from me."

"Why would she want that?"

"I'm not sure yet." Rumple studied her face, her eyes, and said, "You bring light into my life and she wants me to stay in my misery. But it's the darkness in my life that gives me the most power."

"What if it's not and she knows it?" Belle pressed a hand excitedly to his thigh. "What if light makes you stronger?"

"Then someone made a mistake calling me the Dark One," he snapped.

She brought her hand back and crossed her arms. "If you only believed in yourself...if you only knew the good that you could do..."

"I am not good! Stop trying to make me something that your pretty little head made up!" He saw her face crumple and regretted what his temper made him do.

She stood up off of the couch and went to look in the window. He heard her sniffle and knew she was crying. He took a deep breath, walked over to her, and placed a hand on her shoulder. "Belle, I'm sorry."

She turned her face towards him and he saw that tears were indeed streaming down her face. He lamented making her cry and wiped the tears away. "I want to go home," she said.

He desperately wanted to let her go, knowing she'd be better off away from him emotionally, but he couldn't let her out of his sight for fear of what Regina would do. "I know. It's my fault that you were ever brought into this." He took his hand off of her and looked away, "You're in danger because you're important to me. After Regina is defeated, I promise you are free to do whatever you wish to do."

She shook her head. "I don't want to leave. This is my home now, I forget." She smiled. "I know we can resolve things with Regina. You just have to make a deal with her."

They moved back to the couch, now sitting more comfortably with each other. They sat close, facing each other. Rumple let one hand cup her hip, the other rested in his lap. Belle let her fingers play with the fabric of his shirt on his wrist. "What sort of deal did you have in mind?" He asked, intrigued.

"That's your expertise." She let a finger drop on his forehead. "Be creative."

Rumple worked out the possibility of making a deal. He tried to think of what Regina would want even more than power over him.

"You've got some time. Regina won't come looking for me here. At least, not at first. She will probably check my father's house first, then Gregory's."

"Gregory," Rumple growled his name.

"Without him, I wouldn't be here," Belle reminded him.

"Why would Regina look there?"

"The cage I was in, it could only be opened by the person I love the most. And she doesn't think I could love you." Her eyes watched him carefully, awaiting a reaction.

"You were banking your salvation on your love for me?"

"It was either you or Papa. I had decent odds," she smirked.

He didn't know whether to scowl or smile so he settled somewhere in between. "Stupid girl," he muttered.

"I just told you that I love you. You could be a little nicer."

He wrestled with himself. Belle, loving him, just seemed impossible. It must have been an illusion. She must be out of her mind. She had nothing to gain from being with him. She could take his money, but as a woman who fed on books, she didn't have much need for wealth. He couldn't offer her humor or beauty. Nothing but a thirst for power that turned his soul black. And yet, it seemed as if she loved him. He gazed at her. She'd blushed at first but now she was staring at him confidently. She was beautiful.

He decided to give kindness a go. "You look very lovely today."

"Thank you."

He felt her lean in and knew she wanted a kiss.

He wanted to be prepared this time. "Are you going to kiss me again?"

She looked down, then up at him. "Only if you want me to."

A loud knock came at the door that took their attention away from each other.

"Regina, already?" Belle gasped.

Rumple stood, calm and prepared for whatever Regina had for him. "Belle, go hide in another room." He noticed she was shaking. "Don't worry." He looked at her and knew if this went badly, he didn't want to regret anything. He grabbed her by the shoulders and kissed her hard.

Something began to happen in him. He looked down at his hands and they turned from grey to flesh-colored, and then back again. "Damn it." He didn't have time to think about it now.

Another knock came at the door and he sent Belle away. He readied himself and allowed the doors to swing open.

Gregory marched in.

"Oh, it's only you." Rumple let out a breath of relief and shut the doors behind Gregory. "What are you doing here?"

"I've come to collect Belle."

A/N: Starting to pick up speed here!

Thanks for all the reviews! :)