Fear, such as the fiend had known only twice in his endless years, drenched Mr. Gold in a dousing wave of cold, abject terror. Panic giddily spiraled about him in clenched vice grip akin to a pythons muscled coils squeezing his soul and mind without relent.
In front of him the masses shifted and flowed about like a rolling sea of worried and fearful bodies, yet his love was not to be found in their sweltering swarm of frightened peasantry and worrisome notable ranks.
His heart pounded like a dwarven siege hammer smashing wantonly against his chest as his dark, chocolate brown eyes searched the milling crowd franticly for his love whom he had only been reunited with those wonderful, short few hours ago. How fleeting that time seemed now that she was nowhere to be found!
Where was his Belle!
Emma's measuring, tactile eyes narrowed at the sudden deathly pall that shrouded over the usual confident Mr. Gold. This wasn't like him; to look panicked and rattled as though his whole world were about to come plummeting down upon his head and crush him beneath.
A deeper frown wound grimly over her inscrutable features as she lowered her voice to a sparing whisper. "Something wrong?" The sherrif queried in calm concern. Her eyes roved the masses for signs of unrest or more trouble from Regina.
Never in all her months staying at Storybrooke had she ever seen the sheer and blatant terror cross his grizzled features so. He looked scared like a lost child, weak, and vulnerable and hollow as though the first stiff breeze would make him crumble into a heap of char and ashes.
The fiend felt stark, draining panic swell within him, like a rising tide of fright, washing any scrapings of sanity he had and drowning it. He lapped his dry lips tremulously with an even dryer tongue as he scanned the crowed with his intense vigorous stare. "There was a woman by my side…Belle. Where…why…" He replied in a numb stammer; barely even registering what fell lamely and incoherently from his cracked lips.
The fiend didn't even know completely if he was making any comprehending sense with what was sputtering stupidly out of his mouth, nor did he truly care. All that mattered was that she was found safe and real and alive. No, nothing else even came close to mattering compared to that.
Reality seemed flitting and fading in his mind akin to a milky fog hovering sparsely over the veil of his head. Had Belle been real at all, had the queen taken her captive once more in her worrying departure, or had she slipped out all by her lonesome unable to tolerate the cramped, heated establishment any longer?
Cold droplets of sweat beaded heavily upon the back on his neck and his furrowed, line gouged brow as the thoughts of all consuming horror she could have been privy to barreled in his mind; each worst than the last.
A curse born of desperation and fear mumbled under his breath as he fought down the talons of terror grasping at his black heart. Because he had desired to make such a cunning entrance and focus on his deals rather than his love, he had lost sight of what was newly regained. How utterly foolish of him to take his eyes off his Belle even for a heartbeat!
In those few precious moments of his swaggering pride and flaunting of his newly restored magic's she had disappeared as though she had never been at all. But it couldn't be true, Gold reminded himself with a stalwart shake of his head. Her kisses had been sweeter than the finest of damson wine, her skin too soft, and her smile all too real for her to have been an apparition fueled by the desperation of his wants and thoughts.
"Her?" The golden haired sheriff asked; pointing between the milling throngs towards the counter.
Swiveling his head about in a dizzying quickness, the businessman sighed in abject relief to see his Belle leaning easily against the counter and chatting amiably with the crimson clad waitress, Ruby.
They seemed deep in conversation, bantering in low murmurs that in the raucous din of the restaurant couldn't have been caught by the keenest ear.
The extremely relived fiend made a vague nearly indiscernible reply towards the curse breaker who in turn stared incredulously at the beauty then to Mr. Gold, with a glare of indiscernible confusion or surprise.
If the businessman paid the sheriff any heed towards her inscrutable look, he didn't show it as he shoved and bullied his way through the sea of terrified people to get to his Belle once more and have her close.
More than one unfortunate person ducked or scrambled frantically away, squeaking in fear, into the ranks of people, terrified of standing in the way of the most powerful man in the entire town, or even still wary of a blow from his gold tipped cane should they not be quick to flee from his dead set path.
As though sensing his approach the beauty abruptly ended her chat with the grim waitress, who gazed murderously feral at the Dark One with her oddly twin golden eyes, and turned to her Rum with a ready, soft smile.
However, the warm grin instantly faded, seeing the panic still rife upon his thin, scraggly features.
"Is something amiss?" Belle asked softly so as not to distill even more terror to those around.
For if the Dark One was beginning to panic the masses would surly be stirred into terror and rioting.
Here the most powerful man in all the realms was staring at her as though the hounds of hell were savagely baying at the fringe of the county forest and starving for blood.
Foolishness took the place of terror as Gold neared his Belle. The stupid thoughts of her not being real and the fear that had enthralled him, concerning Regina, seemed to cruelly mock him, now that she was back in arms reach.
Embarrassment and shame flashed in his eyes as he drew near and placed a calloused hand gently on her arm, just to feel her warm skin beneath his own once more. The very touch brought back memories of the Dark Castle where he had saved her from her dreadful ladder tumble and she had looked into his eyes without fear or disgust, but something more.
"I…I couldn't find you." He explained, hoping his voice didn't sound as weak and pathetic as he thought it did.
A spark of disgust towards himself flared at the thought. To her, he must sound like some possessive master or frightened child, the fiend pondered grimly, ready to have Belle utter a scolding retort or turn away at his utter stupidity.
Her startling cobalt orbs softened to him as she placed her delicate hand over his own in tender, soothing comfort that banished every worry and embarrassment from him as smoke upon the wind.
"I'm sorry I shouldn't have wandered." She replied gently, touched with his genuine concern of her and the true fear she had seen sparked inside of him.
The russet haired beauty's grin suddenly dissipated in a ghost of a smile, instantly filling Gold with an inkling of foreign dread at the look. Though he hadn't seen Belle in over three decades he still knew her so well and knew every skewed motion of her lovely features.
"But we need to talk." She finished so quietly even Ruby's canine hearing barely picked it up.
A dreaded anxiousness pierced the fiend at her words, but he forced a tight, false smile and nudges his head almost imperceptibly towards the back entrance of the crowded diner. There were far too many about who might have their ears perked to their conversation. Ears he'd rather not supply ammunition or seeds of fertile plots that would have to have him get truly nasty and dark with his powers once more to protect his love.
The muggy evening air was cooler and crisp than it had been when they'd first ventured inside diner as the pair stepped out into the wet, garbage rank alleyway.
The sky had turned into a dark, mulled gray and the street lights were beginning to switch on as the tell tale signs night was soon to fall upon the world.
Now with the curse partially broken and magic layered upon the town, those that had once wandered in the dark with their deeds from the old world would do so once more.
The Headless Horseman was most assured to be riding and roaming about again upon his steed along with other undesirables who had stalked the nights long before this world was known.
Goblins and dark fae would turn back to their sinister nature, warlocks and witches would be stewing and lamenting over the loss of their regents and cauldrons, and creatures once despised such as ogres and trolls would have awakened to look into their mirrors and see the same humans they had once despised now covering their souls with the skin they thought soft and ugly long ago in their true world.
Dread had not remotely left the Dark One as they traversed into the refreshing open air, but at least he consoled himself with the fact that Belle clung to his arm and seemed relived to be away from the cramped confines of the diner she had so detested.
A smile bloomed upon his features as he tenderly swiped a rebellious chestnut curl from her face and held her impossibly close to his body. From a distance they might have seemed like two teenagers making out behind the diner.
"I'm glad to be free from there. Any longer and I bet we'd have all roasted." He chuckled heartily and hooked a finger over his choking dark crimson tie to wriggle it loose.
Belle flashed a small, rather forced, saddened half grin at his quip, her mind searching and whirling with considerations. How could she make him understand what she was to speak next? Would he be angry at her, would he be hurt?
It hadn't been an arbitrary thought or a whim, she reminded herself staunchly. She had thought about since they had gotten back in his car and driven to town and as they'd tramped along the deserted streets and even as the diner broke down into their own worries.
Perhaps not seeing her sorrowful smile, or maybe in denial of what it truly was, the fiend made a jerking motion with his head towards the opening aperture of the alley and smiled mischievously. "Whatever it is you want to talk about, we can discuss on our way home." Gold suggested mildly.
He had it all arranged in his mind. She would rest in his bedroom, while he would sleep on the couch 'til he could clear out some of the dusty junk laden in one of his other rooms and rearrange the chamber to her liking.
She would have books and a window seat and flowers, lots of flowers and clothes all of her choosing and whatever her heart desired would be hers with a snap of his spindly fingers.
People would fear her as they did him. They would see the beauty walking down the sidewalk with her head held high as all moved for her and whisper that that was Belle, Rumpelstiltskin's only love. While they would be wary of her, she would banish their terror by being ordinary joyous Belle; beloved by all.
And as for himself? He would treat her like he should have treated her the day she sold herself to him for the protection of her people. He would wait upon her every word like the queen she was. Her very want was law, her needs the highest priority in the entire world.
"That's sort of what we need to talk about." Belle admitted gently as she untangled her arms from his own and disengaged from his warm grasp, though her body protested leaving his warmth.
Forcing her nerves to steady and taking a deep breath, the beauty gathered what little courage still remained with her and hugged her arms to ward off the creeping tendrils of cold twining about her body.
Being with him felt so natural, so right. To go with him to his home was a thing her body and soul craved; to be in his household once more, to be close and warm, but not yet not until…
"Before I came to your shop Ruby found me here in the alley way." Belle explained earning her a confused look from the silent Mr. Gold. "She and Granny gave me something to eat and allowed me time to explain my precarious situation. After I had told them some of the truth, Granny offered me a job working as a second waitress and a place to stay in their small motel. At the time I had to find you so I declined. But now…" She nodded more to herself than to her love, holding back the hoarseness and regret in her, determined timbre. "I'm going to take them up on their kind offer. That's what I was talking to Ruby about."
A punch to the gut with a great iron spike could not have hurt more in than moment to the shocked Rumpelstiltskin. She didn't want to be with him.
Anger towards her words tried to flare inside of his forlorn form; accusations and curses at such nonsense, but grief kept dousing the wick and blowing at the sparks before they could gain a substantial foothold.
If one thing in this world could decimate him, this was most certainly it.
Emotion tightened his throat at her revelation, making his heart bleed as he replayed the words in his mind. She didn't want to be with him. He should have known, Rum cursed inwardly. How could he have been so utterly idiotic to believe differently after all that had occurred?
Make her come with you, a voice hissed vilely persuasive in his mind, for he still had that power and right.
At that moment he could bind her and spirit her away without her leave or will whether she damned well liked it or not. She could be his solely and forever once more if he only put his magic to the task.
There would be no mistreatment this time, but no, he quickly reprimanded himself banishing the dark thoughts, it wouldn't be right to take her captive again.
He had so much to say, so much to ask and argue against her proclamation, yet when he opened his mouth only one word sputtered out. "W…why…?"
Pain lashed across Belle's lovely features as the mist of tears welled sorrowfully in her cerulean depths. "Rum, for more than thirty years I have been a prisoner." Before he could argue she interjected quickly. "No, I do not count being with you as a portion of my captivity. We were friends and companions more than master and slave. Masters do give their slaves entire library's as gifts." A brief chuckle of reminiscent sorrow exhaled from her lips, but fell away as quickly as it had come.
Her eyes turned from his own so that he could not see the despondent misery wallowing within. "Regina held me captive all those years and then I was holed up in that five by five cell like a dangerous animal forced into an eternal lonely gray with my mind on the very hinges of insanity. For once, at least for a little while I need to be free. Like Emma said we need to continue leading regular lives. If the queen hadn't taken me her prisoner I think this would have been the life I would have led here."
The Dark One stood numb and frozen at her words. What little had been left of the overcast day was nearly all dark now coating the world in shades of blackness. A light on the back stoop of the diner threw their shadows across the rain glossed stone and bricks and eerily marred their features with harsh radiance.
Finally, he managed to take a lumbering step towards her, his entire body feeling like lead and his heart akin to a boulder sagging dangerously in his aching chest.
He would not give her up so easily, yet he knew the truth behind her words and more that she did not deem to speak. "But Belle…I've only just found you again. I love you." He protested breathlessly almost as he held his hands out akimbo. "Surely-"
"Did you really look for me, Rumpelstiltskin?" Belle inquired abruptly cutting him off. Her voice was soft but laced delicately with melancholy as the memories of pain resurged in her mind.
Rum paused at the sudden question as if she had snatched away his voice and any pathetic argument he had. He fought the urge to flinch at her words so simply spoken. Of course he had gone to see if they truly had killed her, but to say he had truly sought for her, well…
His voice hardened roughly. "The queen told me you were dead." He responded pathetically as though it was some sort of valid excuse.
"And you believed her!" The beauty yelled, her voice echoing painfully poignant in the dank alley.
"I saw the desecrated pyre where they burned you! I clenched your ashes in my hands! I wept into your blood stained cloak!" Rumpelstiltskin argued vehemently, heat rising to his five o'clock shadowed cheeks.
Tears, hot and scalding ran down her face as she screamed at him; her hands balled into twin fists of frustration and rage. "You know of her lies and deceits, you know what cunning webs she spins, and yet you took her word for it! You didn't search me out, you didn't scoure the realms for me, you didn't look!"
She stabbed her finger into her chest. "Years, Rum, years I was locked in her dungeon, crying, begging, pleading for you. I only kept the fibers my sanity because I just knew one day you would come and unchain me, and you never came…"
Her voice became quiet and hoarse as she turned from him. "Because you never looked. After all this time I had to find you. And you expect me to simply go with you home as though nothing of the sort ever occurred? You expect us to pick up with what could have been if you hadn't been so afraid that night by the spinning wheel?"
She shook her head, the tears brooking along their paths upon her cheeks. "I'm sorry, but I can't go with you. Not now, not after all this time. And yet, I do truly love you which makes this choice all the more torturous for me. For my body wants nothing more than to go with you, to be close, to be near and smell your flesh and feel your skin and revel that I am with you once more."
Silence fell like the darkness around them, all consuming and terrible. The wind whined through the alley way, and it seemed through Rum's gutted hollow soul. For long moments he stood staring at her back as she sobbed quietly, unsure what to do or say.
"You need time. I understand." Rumpelstiltskin whispered hoarsely as he offered a respectful nod laden with regret. A watery smile, thick with sadness smeared morosely across his face as he fought back the press of scalding tears of his own.
He had not done enough. He had not fought for her, or pursed her to the ends of the realms, but coveted his powers and pride. He had not denied the queen's words or what cunning lay beneath the burial ashes as he should have. Once again he had been a coward and done nothing when he should have done all in his cast power.
"I'll come visit you everyday." He promised quietly, feeling the words insufficient, but the best he had to offer.
It wasn't much, to begin proving himself again, but it was a start. This time, there would be no cowardly acceptance. There would be a fight for his Belle to prove his love.
Belle swiped her eyes free of tears as she turned to him. She had half expected anger towards her decision, a magic spell forcing her come along, or begging, which might have been worse for she may have been to weak to resist his pleas and came with him willingly.
Perhaps since neither had occurred it was a sign of true growth within her Rum; not simply words he had spoken out of joy and relief.
The beauty sniffed stalwartly and offered a small smile of her own. "I would like that." She admitted truthfully.
Gold suddenly closed the distance between them once more as he put his hand upon her cheek. Heat flooded to her face at his touch, causing her skin to bloom in a rosy pink blush.
"Rest assured, though, I will not loose you again." He stated like a solemn oath in which only the dark firmament held witness to that promise.
Hell and earth would have to crumble away into nothingness before that ever happened again. And even still she would be by his side as the void washed over them and they lay in the grave.
Belle leaned into his tempting touch; drawn to him as those in the diner had been drawn to the pulsing of magic so long forgotten in the world, or like a moth entranced by the coaxing light of a flickering candles flame.
Her lips twitched upwards in a loving grin as she pressed her palms high upon his slowly heaving chest and curled her fingers over his shoulders and neared closer still as he wrapped his arms tightly about her slender malnourished form, making their bodies flush against one another. "I never thought otherwise." She replied in a quiet chuckle right as his lips met her own.