A/N: I have been terribly remiss and haven't thanked ouatevilregal8 for her excellent idea-bouncing. I really had no idea where this was going when I wrote the first chapter, but her encouragement and thoughts have gotten me to the point of having almost everything mapped out.
Thank you to all the readers as well. The reviews/follows/faves are awesome.
Note for this chapter: I'm basing Gaston more on the movie character than the kind of boring OUAT guy. Everything else Belle-related is based on the show. This takes place several years before her OUAT storyline begins.
"The Science of True Love? What are you reading that for?" Gaston held the book aloft, flipping through it.
"It's interesting, that's all." Belle snatched it back and folded her arms, bringing it to her chest.
"You don't need a book to tell you about love," Gaston said, placing a heavy and unwanted hand on Belle's shoulder. "I will tutor you personally."
Belle shrugged him off of her, taking a few steps away. "How many times do I have to tell you—"
"That you don't love me and never will?" Gaston finished. "Or maybe it's that you don't want to live your whole life in this town. Or that you have no desire to be someone's wife. Which excuse is it today?"
"It doesn't matter," Belle said with a sigh. "You never learn."
"I'm persistent." Gaston gave her a smarmy smile. "Most girls like that."
"No, they don't. And anyway, I'm not most girls." Belle turned and quickly walked in the other direction. She waited until she turned the corner to shudder in disgust. Gaston had asked her father for her hand a year ago, and since then he'd proposed to her three times and cornered her like this at least once a week. At first, it had merely been annoying, but ever since he'd drunkenly kissed her and she'd had to physically fight him off of her, she felt unsettled after each encounter.
She needed to get out of here, away from the suffocating atmosphere of the small town. Away from the father who was growing more and more irritated with each proposal she turned down. Away to do something that mattered.
She made her way home, hardly noticing the papers stuck up on every tree and building, the Princess and the Queen staring blankly out from each one.
"What's our plan of attack?" Red finally asked, ending the day-long silent treatment that David didn't seem to have noticed.
They were sitting side by side near their small fire, the pictures of the Princess and the Queen set out on the ground in front of them. "I don't have one," he said, not taking his eyes from the picture.
Red couldn't help scoffing at that. David was always rushing into things without thinking them through, she knew that, but she couldn't believe that he'd set out in search of the missing Princess without any thought of where to start. If it had been up to her, she'd have maps, she'd calculate the distance the royals could travel in a day, she'd have some sort of idea where to start.
David looked up at her sharply, his tone harsher than he usually took with Red. "Laugh at me all you want, but I know that true love will guide me to her. I don't know how, but I will find her."
Red reached for the paper, shaking it in front of his face. "You've never even met her. How do you know that she's your true love?" She knew she was getting louder and louder, nearly shouting now, but she wasn't about to stop. "What if it isn't Snow White? It could be any princess." She crumpled the paper into a ball and pitched it into the fire. "Or maybe it's the girl you've been planning to marry since you were five."
David was staring at the fire in shock, watching the paper go black. Red wrenched his chin in her direction and leaned in, bringing her lips hard against his.
She'd imagined their first kiss for years, but it wasn't supposed to be like this. It was supposed to be soft and sweet. David should have been wrapping his arms around her, but instead he put his hands on her shoulders and pushed her away.
"Did that feel like true love's kiss to you?" David asked, and Red rose to her feet.
"True love's kiss is a myth, David," Red replied, her voice surprisingly calm. "I'm real." With that, she turned and walked off into the forest, willing herself not to cry until she was far away from him. When she could just barely make out the fire, she stopped, hugging her cloak around her and letting the tears come.
"Impressive display, dearie."
Red spun around to face a man who hadn't been there just a moment ago. If a man was even what he was. She'd never seen anyone like him. Even in the dusk she could see the odd hue of his skin and the eerie darkness of his eyes. "Who are you?"
"A friend," he said, dropping into an exaggerated bow. "Rumplestiltskin, here to give you the thing you most desire."
Red wiped her eyes with her cloak. "There is nothing that can make someone love you who doesn't," she said skeptically.
He grinned, reaching up to touch her, but Red took a step back. "You're smart, but so blind. Your shepherd boy does love you, dearie, and once you clear away all this princess nonsense he'll realize it." With a flourish, Rumplestiltskin produced a ring with an emerald that was faintly glowing.
Red looked at the ring and back up at the man. "What, are you suggesting I propose to him? Because I don't think that's going to work."
He laughed, sending a shiver up Red's spine. "This ring, in the hands of your friend, will guide you to the Princess. When you find her, you will speak my name and summon me, and I'll make sure she breaks his heart." This time when Rumplestiltskin reached up to stroke her face, Red didn't pull back. "And you, my dear, will be there to pick up the pieces."
Red reached for the ring, but Rumplestiltskin held it away from her.
"There is, of course, the matter of payment."
Red shrugged. "I don't have anything of value."
"Yet." He laughed again, and Red grimaced at the sound. "Where you find the Princess, you'll also find the Queen. You will make sure your little shepherd doesn't harm her, and you will deliver her to me. Once I have her, you will turn the Princess over to the King and collect your reward, and you'll tell him that the Queen escaped."
Red considered for a moment. As much as she didn't want to get tangled up in magic, especially of the dark variety, the plan sounded flawless. She and David could live together off of the reward money, the Princess would be safely returned home, and the Queen saved from execution. "And there's no catch?" she asked, just to calm her lingering doubt.
"None at all." He held out the ring again, studying Red's face. "Do we have a deal, dearie?"
Snow held the paper in shaking hands, staring at the letters until they seemed to swim together. "No," she said softly, "there must be some mistake. Why would he reward anyone for killing you?"
Regina didn't respond, just meeting Snow's eyes with a slight smile.
"It says you kidnapped me! Why is he making up these lies?" Tears welled up in Snow's eyes. "Why would he want you dead if you're having his child?"
Regina took the paper out of the Princess's hand and set it face down on the floor of the cave. "Because I haven't told him," she said, pulling Snow closer to her.
"You must! He won't let anyone hurt you if he knows."
"If he knew, he would stop at nothing until he got her. He can never know." Regina pressed Snow's head down to rest against her shoulder. "I just have to keep away from him until she's born."
Snow allowed herself to relax into her stepmother. "Why are you so sure it's a girl?"
"Because luck has never been on my side," Regina answered grimly. She looked over at the Huntsman who had been sitting by them the whole time, utterly silent. "Thank you for helping us, but we can't stay here. You don't want to get involved in this."
He glanced down at her bandaged ankle. "You're not going anywhere for a few days."
"If it's not too much to ask, could you see to it that Snow gets out of the kingdom?"
The Huntsman raised his eyes back to hers, seeing the desperation in her eyes. "I don't like to tangle in the affairs of men, but I won't let a child be hurt."
"No!" Snow cried, sitting up straight again. "I told you I wouldn't leave you, and I meant it. I know what Father will do if he finds me, but that's nothing compared to what he'll do to you."
The Huntsman looked to Regina silently, waiting for her response. "Could I trouble you to purchase a few things for us, then?" Once he nodded his assent, she pulled a few gold coins from her pocket. "We'll need a horse," she continued, stroking Snow's back in anticipation of her frightened response. "And a spellbook."
"Why?" Snow asked frantically.
Regina turned to look at her, stilling the hand on her back. "Trust me."