3
Coming Home
Bae accompanied the officer, whose name was Lieutenant Jethro Gibbs, downtown to the police station, after they had arrested Tamara and the man that Bae had knocked out. The man began to come around in the squad car and they interrogated him after they had arrived at the station, while Bae was filling out forms and answering questions from another officer, Tony DeNozzo.
"We're very sorry that your father was hurt in the attack," Tony said sincerely. "As soon as we've gotten your statement regarding the attack here and also what you've said about your wife, we'll drive you over to Columbia and you can see your dad, okay?"
"Thank you." Bae said softly, blinking. His heart felt like a lump of lead in his chest. Oh Papa. Please be okay. Please. "My papa was here visiting me for the first time since I moved here . . ."
He told the police everything he could recall about the attack in the park, they already had a positive ID on the man Bae had fought. He came up as a Greg Mendel, but they soon found it was an alias and his real name was Owen Flynn. He was linked to several radical hate groups, including one that seemed to target people of different religious persuasions, and one terrorist group that had been based in Scotland. They also had ID'd Tamara the same way, finding she also had connections to a underworld crime syndicate out of New Orleans, a cult based upon the voodoo queen Marie LeBeau.
Then Bae told him about Sorcha, and the attack when she died five years ago in Scotland.
"I'll check Interpol for that, but this sounds like the same group. And you're positive this woman shot your wife?"
"When I found my wife, she was dying from a bullet to the chest," Bae said hoarsely. "I ran to her, and as I did, that woman that hurt my papa was standing there, and she laughed and said, "Next time I'm coming for you!" Then she ran off before anyone could stop her. Not that there was anyone who could have—it was like a war zone. People were screaming, crying, and there were bodies all over."
He shuddered. "I still have nightmares about it. That was when I had to leave, after the funeral, I took my daughter and came here. I changed my name, under the direction of the detectives I spoke to then. Used my mama's maiden one and my actual one, Neal was my middle name, see, and my parents divorced when I was four, Cassidy was the name of my stepdad. That was my married name."
Once he had given them all the information, and had signed statements to charge Tamara and Greg with assault and attempt to kill him and his family, as well as injuring his elderly father and causing him to have a heart attack, Gibbs offered to drive him to the hospital.
Rhiannon had called his cell and told him that they had done some tests upon Rumple and said that besides the incident that had resulted in his cardiac arrest, his father's heart was otherwise healthy, and there were no blockages any longer or collapsed veins. They had done bloodwork and said Gold's cholesterol and triglycerides had been normal, though he was still in shock and was being given electrolytes and pain medication through an IV.
He was in Room 314 in the cardiac care unit.
"How's your dad?" Gibbs asked after he had finished speaking to Belle.
"He's . . .stable . . .and they think this occurred because of the stun gun or whatever the hell she shot him with," Bae replied.
"Whatever that was, Mr. Spinner, it wasn't a stun gun," Gibbs murmured. "We have weapons analysis examining it right now, and it's some kind of modified creation. Apparently it shoots an electrical pulse through you, which could explain why your dad had a heart attack. She basically triggered it by shocking him right in the heart. He's lucky he didn't die."
"He flatlined. They revived him," Bae said.
"I'll make a note of it," Gibbs said then did so. "Okay. Let's get on over there."
Page~*~*~*~Break
He found Belle and Rhiannon sitting in a small room outside the CCU, for they were only allowed inside the room for brief moments at present. "Belle, how is he?"
"He's doing better. His blood pressure is still elevated, but they think that's because of the effect of the tazer shock. They've given him some aspirin and some blood pressure medication through his IV and he's on morphine and oxygen. He hasn't woken up except briefly in the ambulance to ask where he was. They said he might have tingling in his hands or feet or be confused when he wakes up. They've run scans on his brain and found no abnormalities. But they said he might sleep for several more hours, and we're only allowed to be in there for 15 minutes at a time."
"I'll need to speak to his doctor." Bae said, and hugged her and Rhiannon. "The police have the ones who hurt us in custody now, and if I played my cards right, they're going to stay there for a long time."
"Good," Rhiannon said heatedly. "They deserve to."
After Bae had spoken to Gold's cardiologist and gotten all the results from the tests, he was allowed into the room where his father lay sleeping.
Bae walked into the room, which was sterile and had a simple bed with a blue blanket tucked around his papa's slender form, which was hooked up to a heart monitor and several IV's. He was wearing a standard blue gown, and Bae's breath caught as he gazed at him.
Rumple looked so pale and frail lying there, his hair flopping over to one side, eyes shut, with oxygen tubes in his nose.
Bae pulled up a chair and sat as near to the bed as he dared. He gently took Rumple's slender poet's hand in his, thinking of how often he had seen that hand spinning, sewing, and cooking. Gesturing as he spoke, and conjuring wonders. Holding him as a child when he woke from nightmares, stroking his hair, giving him a hug. And rarely reprimanding him. Those hands had fed, loved, and protected him all throughout his childhood. Those hands had taken a soul-crushing curse for him and killed those who would have harmed him.
His own hand slid over his father's, and he bent his head and kissed it, his lips barely grazing the pale as parchment skin. "Papa . . .you must get well. Please. For Belle. For Rhiannon. And . . .for me. Please." He shut his eyes, tears spilling over his lashes and onto the hand in his own. "I know I don't have the right to ask you to stay . . .not since it's my fault you're like this. It was my fault for a lot of things. You being cursed, you crippling yourself . . .you did everything for me . . . and I never really appreciated half of it. But I do now. I spent half my life being angry with you, for the choices you made, and I never really understood why you made them. But I do now, Papa. I understand everything. Because for my baby girl—I would do anything." He gave the hand a gentle squeeze. "She is my light and my life. Like I was yours. Sorcha told me once, that my anger and resentment would be my undoing, and that life was too short to waste it on blaming you for my own choices. She was right. But then, she usually was. She always understood me better than I did myself."
He glanced at the heart monitor, relieved to see it was continuing its steady beeping. "I'm so sorry. I just wish you were awake to hear me say it. I wasted half my life hating someone who loved me beyond all reason. And all I did was hurt myself. I spent half my life running and trying to find something I lost . . .my family. And I ended up creating my own, but . . .it was never complete. Because you weren't there. I told Sorcha that home was a place you knew was home when you just missed it because you were no longer there. Well, you know you really love somebody when you wake up everyday and wish they were there. The way I miss Sorcha. And the way I missed you."
He didn't expect any response from the comatose man in the bed. Yet he knew somehow his father heard him. Sorcha had explained to him about the twilight world between asleep and awake, where dreams were born. She had told him that sometimes the two touched and the veil thinned—and part of your mind was aware of what went on in the waking world even as you wandered in dreams. "You know how you remember people speaking to you, even when you know you were asleep and couldn't possibly have heard them? It's then that your mind touched that place between, and you really did hear what was said. The mind is a powerful wondrous thing, Neal. And the mind of the magicborn, ten times so."
Suddenly the heartbeat changed, and Gold's eyes fluttered open. They met his own, and Bae was suddenly struck by how they had the same eyes, that deep knowing sorrowful brown. "Papa?"
"Bae."
"You're gonna be okay. The woman that did this is in jail. You're safe."
"Where's Belle?"
"She's here. You're in the hospital but you're gonna be all right. You saved Rhiannon."
"Good. That's good." He gave a wry smile. "Bae . . .all I ever wanted . . . all I spent years doing . . . was trying to find you and tell you I was sorry and I loved you."
"I know." He bowed his head and touched his father's hand. "And now you have. I'm sorry I was such an ass to you. Then and now. I love you too."
"It doesn't matter. Do you forgive me?"
"Yeah if you'll do the same."
"Not even a question." He yawned. "Tired."
"That's the drugs they gave you. Knocks you out." Bae told him.
But Rumple's eyes had already shut and he'd fallen back asleep before the nurse came in to check on him and gently shoo Bae out of the room.
Page~*~*~*~Break
Rumple spent thirty-six hours in the CCU, then was moved to a bed upstairs on the fourth floor for recovering cardiac patients, which was a step down from the continuous round the clock care those patients received. Now he could have regular visitors and they could stay for normal visiting hours. He no longer needed the oxygen and was breathing normally. His color was better and so was his blood pressure.
His doctors were astonished, not realizing some of his miraculous recovery was due to the child who was down in the gift shop right then, picking out a get well present with Belle. "For someone who came here so weak and well, almost dead from an attack like that, Mr. Gold, you seem to have bounced back from it amazingly well," his heart doctor said that morning.
"I've always been a quick healer," Gold said.
"Nevertheless, I'm very pleased. I guess it goes along with the two other miraculous things we've had happen this weekend."
"What things?" Bae asked, puzzled.
"Well, there was an elderly woman patient suffering from advanced stages of kidney disease on dialysis and . . .I really don't know how to explain this one, except an act of God, but . . .she's growing an entirely new kidney! She had one removed, you see. And then there was the patient in the children's ward who was diagnosed with acute leukemia and she was up here getting tested to make sure the chemotherapy didn't damage her heart and . . .her blood tests came back normal . . .she no longer has cancer." He spread his hands. "I can't explain that one either, the child was very ill . . .it's like some angel's hand touched them or something."
Yeah, an angel named Rhiannon, Bae thought, groaning inwardly. It seemed he would have to have another talk with his daughter about using her magic. "That's great, though," he said to the doctor. "So, when can my father come home?"
"Oh I'd say in another two days, we'd like to keep him a bit for observation."
"That sounds good."
"Did they ever catch the animal that did this to him?" asked the physician, a young man in his late thirties.
"Yeah they have her and her partner in custody, turns out this wasn't the first time they've done this, and they're gonna be looking at Riker's Island for a long time." Bae told him. Which was true. Lieutenant Gibbs had contacted Interpol and they had confirmed that their suspects had matched descriptions and fingerprints found at the scene of the crime years ago, and they were still wanted there by Scotland Yard. Once they had served their sentence in the States they would be extradited to the UK and face trial and sentencing there as well.
"Well, I'm glad they caught them. Because no one deserves to be attacked just walking in the park with their family." Then the doctor bid them good day and left.
Bae shook his head and said softly, "I gotta talk with that kid again, about using her magic . . ."
"Is this the first time she's done so?"
"No. She's used it before, but it's normally not like that. To heal. She Dreams sometimes. Like she said. But I think . . .it's getting stronger as she gets older."
"That would make sense. She needs to have a teacher, Bae."
"Yeah well, it's not like they advertise in the Yellow Pages, Papa. Who am I gonna call? Wizards Anonymous?" Then his gaze sharpened. "Unless you're volunteering."
"I don't know if I can, Bae. Magic doesn't work for me here like it does for you. And then . . .I don't even know if I have magic any longer. Because my curse is broken."
Bae's jaw fell open. "It's what? How?"
"True Love breaks all curses. Belle started it on Easter, when she accepted my proposal and kissed me. Then I think you and Rhiannon and her completed it when you kissed me when I was dying," Rumple informed him. "It's the only thing that makes sense."
"You're sure? That it's gone, I mean?"
Rumple nodded. "Yes, I'm sure. The weight on my soul is utterly banished, and I haven't felt this good in over three hundred years." He smiled at his son. "So you needn't feel guilty anymore, Bae. You did what you wanted to all those years ago."
"Not just me, Papa. We did it. Your family. I guess the Dark One curse couldn't be broken by just one person, it needed a whole family."
"That is very possible. I don't know specifics, since no one besides me has ever done so. In fact the others before me all assumed there was only one way to break the curse—by someone killing them." Rumple mused.
"Maybe your curse was able to be broken because you were the only who ever took it for someone else and not yourself?" His son hypothesized.
"Very true. But whatever the reason, it's gone, and I am free. Free to make my own choices again without its influence coloring my every action." He leaned back in bed and sipped from a glass of chilled water.
Just then Rhiannon and Belle came into the room, Belle had a vase of roses in her hands and Rhiannon held a cellophane wrapped chocolate swan with a red heart. "Grandpa, look what I found at the gift shop. It's connected to a homemade candy store and when I went to see what kind of chocolate they had, I found this!" She went and placed the chocolate sculpture, which had a card attached saying Get well soon, love Rhee, on his tray table.
Gold's eyes lit up when he saw the chocolate swan. "That's beautiful, dearie." He carefully unwrapped the cellophane to reveal the graceful animal, which was almost as large as his head. "I hope you don't expect me to eat all of this, though." He went to pick up the sculpture and admire it, when the "heart" began to beat gently.
"Rhiannon!" Bae exclaimed.
"What? It's just a little charm, Dad."
Bae shook a finger at her. "Hey, you know you're not supposed to use magic where people can see."
"No one saw, Dad. Except Belle," Rhiannon objected. Then she turned to her grandfather. "A heart full of love."
Gold set the swan chocolate down and hugged the small girl. "Just like my granddaughter." He gave her the identical grin she had given him.
"Oh, great. He's known her for three days and she already has him wrapped around her little finger," Bae shook his head.
Belle laughed. "Did you expect anything different?"
"Um . . .no . . .because he's always loved kids." Bae recalled. "Even when he was the Dark One, he saved kids from the Ogre Wars. Thousands of them were dying and he brought them home."
"I knew he had stopped the Second Ogre Wars . . . but I never knew how," Belle admitted.
"Well, that was how. He also forbade the old duke and any of his relations to conscript anymore children," Bae said, wondering how he could have forgotten such a significant event until now. "And now . . .his curse is broken."
Belle looked as if she was going to pass out. "It is? He's not the Dark One anymore? But how?" Then she held up a hand. "Wait! Don't tell me. When we all kissed him . . .that broke the curse. Just before he . . .died."
Rumple looked up from where he and Rhiannon were breaking the heart portion in half. "That had to happen, dearie. Magic's price, you know. But it never said I couldn't be revived. I think your tears had something to do with that, Rhee. A swanmay's tears must be a potent healing elixir."
Rhiannon shrugged. "I dunno. Mom never told me that. She just said that magic needed to be done in groups of three."
Bae cocked an eyebrow at her. "Really? I suppose that's why some lady's growing a new kidney? And a child no longer has leukemia?"
His daughter looked slightly guilty. "After I healed Grandpa, I had to heal other people too, so when I went to get water from the vending machine I saw two people in the hallway nearby. They were talking about things they wished they could do, but had never gotten the chance to. The old lady wanted to see her grandkids in Florida only she was too sick to travel and they couldn't afford the airfare. And the kid was saying she wished she could be in her school play, cause they were doing Rumpelstiltskin that year and that was her favorite fairy tale. Dad, it was like a sign! So I let my healing magic flow over them . . .and nobody saw it. I just asked it to heal them as much as it could."
"And it healed them like that?"
"Healing magic like hers is very powerful, and always responds to the deepest wishes of the heart," Gold said.
"No wonder you were so tired last night. You fell asleep reading The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe." Her father remarked.
"CS Lewis!" Belle cried. "I love those books! Have you read them all?"
"Yup. Which one was your favorite?"
Belle thought for a moment. "I think . . .The Silver Chair. Because you needed wits to solve all the riddles for Aslan's quest."
"Me too! But I also liked The Horse and His Boy."
While the two bookworms chatted about the Chronicles of Narnia, Bae looked at Rumple, who was eating his half of the heart-shaped red chocolate, and asked, "So, what are your plans once you get out of here? Are you going back to Maine to Storybrooke? Or are you thinking about staying here in New York? Or can you get back to our old realm somehow?"
"Well . . .I don't think it's possible to get back to the Enchanted Forest, unless it's with another curse like the first one. And I don't think that's a good thing. So that option is null and void. Would you like to come back to Storybrooke with me?"
"To visit, sure. But to stay . . .Papa, my life is here. I don't know if I could just . . .pack up and move like that. And Rhiannon's got friends here and everything."
"You're right. I . . .wasn't thinking."
"But what about you coming here, Papa? Belle said you were a pawnbroker and an antique dealer over there. You could do that in Manhattan. Hell, the clientele would be better."
"True. Though much of what's in my shop isn't antiques. I would either have to get those whom it belonged to either to buy it back or to keep it in a special room under lock and key." He gazed at his son keenly. "Would you want me here, Bae?"
"Papa, it's like Rhiannon said. You're family. And families belong together."
"Are you sure? Because I don't want to become a burden or an obligation to you." Gold pressed, even though his heart thrilled to hear those words. He had to be certain.
"You're not an obligation, Grandpa," Rhiannon said, coming to sit beside his bed. "Dad wants you to stay here 'cause this is our home. And you belong with us. You're a Spinner too." Her voice echoed with certainty.
"Rhiannon's right, Papa. I'd like you to come home . . .if you want to. But I'll understand if you say no." But even as he spoke those words, he found himself praying very hard for Rumple to say yes.
"Belle? What do you think?" Rumple turned to his fiancée.
"Well . . .it's really up to you, Rumple. I can live anywhere. There's always a job to be found at a library or a bookstore for me. And you know that my father and I aren't talking to each other since he tried to have my memories erased. He wants nothing to do with me now that I've accepted your proposal." She said unhappily.
"Why?" Rhiannon frowned.
"Because, sweetie, my papa thinks your grandpa is a wicked beast. And nothing I've said or your grandpa has done is going to convince him otherwise. Ever since I made that deal with you, Rumple, my father has resented me for it. For doing what no "proper" woman should, for making a deal without consulting him, for choosing my own fate. I love him, but it's time he stopped trying to control me and realize that I'm a grown woman and no one decides my fate but me." Belle said firmly. "So it's for the best that we're not in the same town, I think. And if you want to move here to New York, then I will go with you forever, because I still owe you, sweetheart."
"I released you from my contract," her beloved began.
"Nonsense, Rumple! I chose to walk away. So the deal still stands. And nobody breaks deals with you . . .dearie," she giggled at him, her eyes dancing.
"No, they don't." Rumple agreed, his own eyes twinkling.
"But Rumple, what about your magic?" Belle recalled.
"Well . . .I'm not sure if I have any. But if I do . . .it's not like it was before."
"You do," his granddaughter said softly. "I know. I Dreamed you were standing in a shop filled with all kinds of rare things . . .and some of them were magical. And you said to me, "That's the trick, dearie. To match the object to the person who needs it."
"Maybe we were in Storybrooke?" Rumple suggested.
"No. We were here. Cause I could see the Empire State Building through the window," Rhiannon disagreed.
"And how many times have you Dreamed this?"
"Just once. Last night. But I'll tell you if I Dream it again," she promised.
"All right." He sighed and said, "You know . . . I wish I had a hamburger. With cheese, bacon, and pickles."
Belle looked hungry at that statement. "I do too. Bae, is there somewhere we can get hamburgers?"
"Sure. There's plenty of places," he chuckled. "Papa, are you sure you ought to eat that?"
"Yes. Since I don't have any kind of heart disease, I can eat whatever I want." Rumple said firmly.
"Okay, why don't Belle and I go and get some lunch and bring you back a burger," his son suggested. "Rhee, you want to come with or stay here?"
Rhiannon considered, then said, "I'll stay here. I don't want Grandpa to be bored out of his mind."
"Maybe we could stop back at the apartment and I'll get your books, Rumple?" Belle offered.
"That would be good, dearie." He agreed as they left the room. Then he picked up his remote, and said to Rhiannon, "Let's see what's on this TV. Maybe something interesting is on."
He flipped through the channels until he found The Price Is Right. He watched the show at the shop sometimes scratching his head at the contestants when they were bidding to play one of the games or trying to guess the price of an object. Belle was amused one afternoon when she could hear him yelling when she approached the shop and walked in to discover him arguing with the TV set.
"Rumple? I thought one of the customers was bothering you! Why are you yelling at the TV set?"
"You have NO idea how stupid some of these people are!" he exclaimed. "They don't know the value of anything. No common sense!"
She shook her head. "Do you think they'll hear you in there?"
He looked slightly embarrassed. "No, I suppose not. But it makes me feel better. Like when you yell at the Jeopardy contestants, dearie." He smirked.
"Well some of them look they've used damned Cliff Notes instead of reading the books…or got their information off the internet!" she huffed.
"Knowing today's students, they probably do," he giggled. "I mean, they don't even teach proper research methods with the library in schools anymore."
"If you set foot in MY library you'd better be prepared to do proper research or else!"
"Indeed. And if you come into my shop, you'd better know the value of a dollar and what your merchandise is worth . . .and not try and cheat me by claiming it's worth more than it is."
She laughed. "We're quite a pair, aren't we?"
"The best. And we improve with age," he said suavely.
"...Some of the people on here make really stupid bids," Rhiannon was saying. "A dollar? Really?"
Now as he watched the game show with his granddaughter, he noted that several of the contestants seemed to not know exactly what to bid on a simple household object-which was an iron.
"Ten bucks!' Rhiannon piped up
"Fifteen if it's a Black and Decker," Rumple urged. Then he shook his head in disgust. "My God! Five dollars? What are you-an imbecile? Or don't you know what an iron is?"
"She can kiss that Plinko chip bye bye!" Rhiannon was laughing.
"Or her head!" Rumple snorted. "And they wonder why this country is going down the drain."
Now it was time for the showcase showdown. "Hey Grandpa...you ever get the total right?"
"Lots of times, dearie. I know how to figure things in my head." He answered. "How about you?"
"Ummm...when I think about it I can. I always wondered why I was good with math. I'm in the honor society."
"You're a smart kid." Rumple said approvingly. "Always know the value of what you have, or what someone else is offering you. That way they can't pull the wool over your eyes. I taught your papa that when he was bit older than you. And it looks like he hasn't forgotten everything I taught him."
"No but I don't like that he lied to me about you."
When she first started having the dreams, she had a difficult time making sense of them but she had been taught that sometimes the loved ones you lost were searching for you and they could make contact in dreams and visions, if your heart was open enough to see and to listen.
Rumple gently cupped her chin in his hand. "Ah, Rhee, I don't think he wanted to lie to you, but sometimes anger makes you do things you shouldn't. And he was very angry with me, because he thought I had betrayed him. And maybe, at one time, he wished I was dead."
"I guess but I could never do that...not to my dad no matter what. And I'd never do that to you either."
"You remind me a lot of Belle, sweetheart. She always saw the good man I was before I was cursed. Bae saw him too . . until he forgot how to look and then all he saw was the Dark One. My curse was very frightening to him and unlike you, he didn't have the intuition to See beyond it."
"We have curses too but they're not like that one...yours affects the soul more than the body, at least that's how I Saw it. In my visions I could hear you pleading to be set free but the monster refused to let go. It was feeding from your life force."
Gold nodded. "Yes. It was. It was slowly killing me . . .and in order to stop it I had to make deals with people, manipulate them . . .so the monster had something else to focus on . . . How long were you having visions about me?"
"Once a week." She reached for his hands. "Let me show you..."
"Show me how, dearie?" he asked, clasping hers.
"You have the Gift...we can link with each other since we are blood related."
One of her gifts as a Seer was that she could share her visions with another if they too possessed the Gift but the magic was much stronger between those related by blood.
"Was this something your mama taught you?" he asked.
She nodded. "Sometimes she visits me in dreams. And Dad too."
In her visions of her father, she Saw him as he was when he first came to her world, heartbroken and lonely.
Her last vision of her mother had been prior to her visions of Rumple. In it her mother had a task for her.
"A vital part of your father's heart is lost. You must help him find it, Rhiannon," she advised. "You must be the guide, in ancient times swans were the birds associated with love, hope, and fidelity. Help you father find the part of his heart that is missing."
At first she didn't understand what her mother was referring to but now she understood. He needed his father.
"You were the part of his heart that was lost, Grandpa. And now that he's found you again, he can be whole. We all can be. Because home is where your heart is. And he's always missed his home. Until now."
"I haven't been whole either, Rhiannon. Until I came here and met you and found Bae again. Because my happy ending is having my family together again."
"And Belle?"
"Yes, she is part of that. But it's having all the parts together that helped break my curse and restore me."
"Will you teach me your magic when you get better?"
She was curious about this half of her magical heritage and eager to learn more about it if her grandfather was willing and in doing so, she would come to know him too.
"Yes, as long as my magic still functions. I have a feeling it will . . .but not the way it did when I was cursed. There are different rules here in this world . . .but once I learn what they are, I can teach you what I know. But blood and love are the strongest magic of all."
She smiled. "Here is was what I have Seen with you...maybe that will help explain what you are now." Her voice changed slightly. "The man once known as the Dealmaker...will now be a messenger of hope for those who no longer believe in it..." she murmured.
He put a hand to his heart. "Me? That's what you See?"
"Three times seen, three times truth," she recited.
He believed her. For he too had once been a Seer, and he knew well the Seer's maxim. Visions often came in three parts, hence the saying. It was sometimes known as the threefold art, because a Seer could see three possibilities-past, present, and future.
And when a possibility had the greatest chance of occurrence, the Seer would see repeated visions of it.
Which was not to say it was an absolute for the future was always shifting and changing based upon the actions and choices of a moment. But the more likely the possibility, the more visions it appeared in.
"Finding my father, making a fresh start...it's what you wanted. And now you can."
"Yes, dearie. Now I can finally come home," he agreed, then he embraced her. Even though he had known her a bare handful of days, she was very precious to him, the living legacy of his son, his blood, and the swan heritage of her mother, child of the sky and the earth, true love made flesh.
Belle stood in the doorway of the hospital room wiping tears from her eyes at the beautiful sight before her. The man she loved was free at last.
Bae nearly couldn't see for the tears that blurred his vision also. But he managed to snap a picture on his Iphone anyway. This was the papa he remembered from his childhood. The good spinner who had taught him the most important lesson he would ever learn-how to love and to be loved.
"I love you, Grandpa," Rhiannon whispered.
"I love you too, my wild swan," he murmured, and then he kissed her forehead in loving benediction.
There were still a few loose ends to tie up, but the Dealmaker and the spinner of straw into gold knew one thing irrevocably for truth-Rumplestiltskin Gold had come home at last.
A/N: I would like to thank my friend and co-author CJ Moliere for helping me with the final scenes of this chapter. The next and last one will show what happenes when they return to Storybrooke and afterwards
