Forget Me Not

By RosexKnight

Rumpelstiltskin deals with Belle forgetting. Kind of. Anna and Elsa make a decision about the memory stone, and strike up a deal. After all, The Dark One does not beg. Except for her.

Chapter Four

The words didn't register at first. Nor did the sight of the round purple stone. Forgot. The world suddenly seemed very far away as the previous statement flashed into his mind again.

She forgot.

Rumpelstiltskin's knees were the first things to tremble, followed by the rest of his body as the realization finally hit. All the smiles he'd seen in the mirror. All the laughs. All the happiness. The way she looked right through him. It was because she's forgotten. Completely. He willed himself to stay upright, but he couldn't help his expression, and he could feel the pitiful looks of the princesses.

The princesses.

The Dark One began to giggle, the sound verging on hysteric, and Elsa and Anna turned rigid.

"Oh I see. This was you want it?"

"Pardon?" Anna said, almost a laugh in her voice.

"This was you!" Rumpelstiltskin snapped, jabbing a finger at Anna.

It made perfect sense. She never liked him. They never trusted him. So they took what was most precious to him as some sort of sick revenge. The bloody pirate probably put them up to it. Or the Ice Queen. She never liked him either. This would be the perfect revenge. Take away Belle's memories. Torture him in the most intimate way. Get to his heart and take down the beast. Oh how he wanted to turn them into something that would crunch under his boot. But his magic wouldn't come. Only anger and sadness bubbled inside him.

Belle wouldn't have forgotten. Belle wouldn't have let it all go just like that. Not his brave Belle that saw past the beast to the man. Not his perfect Belle who had truly believed he wouldn't hurt her despite being under the control of an evil witch. She wouldn't. He believed it. He clung to it. He had to.

"You turned her against me!"

"This was her choice." Elsa defended.

"No!" He snapped again, sounding less enraged and more like a wounded animal. "Belle wouldn't forget! Not about us! Not my Belle!"

The princesses exchanged nervous glances as The Dark One shouted. Anna took him in, noting the way his voice cracked when he called her his and how his fists were trembling. His eyes were looking at her, but we're unfocused, and he sounded like he was trying to convince himself of his words just as much as them.

Maybe...

"She did." Anna said gently.

For a moment it looked like he wanted to shout again, to break something. To make anything hurt as much as he was hurting. But then he faltered, and she saw his face crumple as he stumbled back a step, all of it finally hitting him.

She forgot.

This wasn't like before. She wasn't Lacey. She hadn't lost her memories because Hook had shot her over the town line. She was Belle. Perfectly happy Belle before he had ever set eyes on her. Before the deal. Before the chipped cup. Before the stupid thief. Before the Queens of Darkness. Before the ladder. Before the rose. Before the kiss. Before Storybrooke. And she'd forgotten him. Tossed away her memories into a stone. Willingly.

A silence settled between the trio, one that was unsettling but also had a hint of understanding. Finally, Anna stepped forward, taking the stone from Elsa as she placed a hand on her sister's shoulder, soothing her worry.

He looked more human than she'd ever seen, looking at her but not at her. Eyes far away and drowning in pain they couldn't swim in. It was the same look Belle had sometimes when she thought no one was looking.

Just maybe...

"Look you shouldn't...I mean I don't think she really wanted to forget you. But she said the pain was too much. And she wasn't herself. Not that I knew her that well but she could barely get through a book and I know that's not like her. And I tried to talk her out of it but she wasn't having it. She couldn't sleep. She barely ate. It was downright unhealthy. We tried to cheer her up. Parties. Snowmen. Even chocolate didn't work! And chocolate can cure anything. Seriously, I—"

"Anna." Elsa said, cutting off her sister's babbling. Obviously not liking how close she was to Rumpelstiltskin, no matter how wounded he seemed.

The younger princess paused for a moment, realizing she'd just been babbling at the most powerful sorcerer in all the realms. He didn't comment, but his expression was more focused now, becoming the numb steele she'd seen him in before.

"Anyway..." Anna's voice trailed off as she offered him the stone, "Here."

Elsa immediately protested. "Anna! You can't give him—"

"Elsa it's their memories. Not exactly ours to keep. And if Belle can't have them we might as well give them to him. Besides I don't think he'd want to cause more harm to the poor girl. No offense I...she never told us what happened and we didn't exactly wanna pry so..."

The Dark One stared at the stone. His face was hard. His mask of neutrality back on. But his eyes betrayed him, and it was with a tentative hand that he reached for the stone. But his hand stopped just before he could touch it.

Because he was still a coward. A coward that didn't have the heart to take it lest he be tempted to release the memories and confront Belle.

He flicked his wrist, and purple smoke enveloped the stone. When it cleared the stone was encircled with golden twine, making it into a pendant on its gold chain.

"Give it to her. A gift from her tru—" he cut himself off, gritting his teeth. "From the odd guest you had today."

"I will. She'll be okay. She has us after all. And she's chipping away at ur library faster than anyone has before. She even learned to read our runes. So don't worry about her." Anna offered him a small smile. "We'll probably end up visiting Misthaven one day. She talks about seeing her father again and well, the heart always knows where it belongs I suppose."

She'd meant for it to be comforting, but it only seemed to make something inside of him turn. She saw his eyebrows raise, the clarity in her eyes as a thought came to him.

"The heart always knows." The imp repeated, giving a significant look to Anna.

"Oh I don't think—"

"No." Elsa said firmly. "We don't need any dark magic in Arendelle. Especially from the likes of you. Belle made her choice. Haven't you done enough?"

"Elsa...!" Anna said, surprised at her sister. Though who could blame her. It wasn't as if Rumpelstiltskin was the most trustworthy...man? Sure. Man in all the realms.

But the way hurt flickered behind his eyes before the anger and the way his body shook...

Maybe it really was True Love.

"Please." He said firmly. "Please. I have to have her back."

"Why?" Anna asked, cautiously. Wanting to hear him say it.

His words were sincere. "She made me better. Made me stronger. She's my wife. And I've lost her countless times. I cannot lose her again. Not without trying."

"What would be the point?" Elsa asked. "This isn't some second chance the world has given you. Just because her memories are gone does not mean her heart has mended."

"I know." He nearly growled, looking down and away from them. "But I need her."

It was stupid. He knew he should leave her there. Let her be happy. Focus on rebuilding the castle. Making things as they used to be. But Rumpelstiltskin had always been a selfish coward. It wasn't like before. When he'd sent her away. When he thought she died and he was able to focus all his efforts into the curse. But now he didn't have any distractions. The curse was gone. His son was gone. He didn't even have the damned chipped cup.

"Belle's...Belle's all I have left."

"Rumpel—"

"The Dark One does not beg, dearie." His voice cracked at the word. "He makes deals."

"Would you beg?" Anna asked, ignoring the surprised looks of the two magic users. What was so great about magic if it brought this pain? Snowmen were not worth this. "If we told you that was what we wanted. Would you fall on your knees and beg us to help you win her over? For her?"

All of his being seemed to collapse in upon himself. Here he was, The Dark One, the most powerful being in all the realms, and his insides were still trembling as if he were the lame spinner all those years ago. Magic. What good was it?

"Yes." He said sincerely, his voice low and perfectly human, void of all trepidation, yet carrying a hint of desperation. "Yes I would. Is that what you want?"

Elsa glanced at Anna, but the younger sister shook her head.

"No." Anna decided. "No one deserves that. Not even you. We want..."

"Protection." Elsa decided as her sister looked back at her. "We want you to promise no harm will come to the people of Arendelle by your hand."

"You have my word." He said, giving a small bow.

"And..." Anna began. "When the time comes. If for whatever reason you decide to give Belle her memories back. It must be her choice to keep you."

"As it should be."

"Good." Anna said, suddenly feeling very heavy with what they were doing.

Elsa came to stand beside her, standing tall. A model queen. "I trust you will have no trouble disguising yourself? You may not be known here but I don't need any of my people frightened needlessly."

"Of course, your highness."

"Alright. You may stay in any of the guest rooms. We'll figure out the best way to go about this over time. For now you're simply a guest from Misthaven. No more, no less."

The relief that washed over him was palpable, and Anna almost giggled at the way his lips quirked into a smile he didn't want to show them. He gave them a bow. A genuine bow before disappearing in a puff of smoke, his "Thank you." The only thing lingering as he left. The girls stood in silence for a long moment.

"We're doing this for Belle." Anna said, running her thumb over the necklace. "Because sometimes her eyes still grow dark and we both know it. And she hasn't so much as glanced at those trying to court her."

"You're right. Sometimes I hate it when you're right." Elsa nodded. "Are you sure this is a good idea?"

"Not at all."