A/N: This is my favorite chapter so far. I hope it is yours as well. Enjoy and please review if you have a chance! :-)

February 27

8pm

It took me all morning to find a way to disconnect the rolling ladder from the library and transport it to the collection room. It's been four weeks since I said I wanted to take down the curtains, and I still haven't done it yet. Now I see why.

I finally arranged the ladder and climbed it. The curtain still would not open.

Please note that during this whole ordeal Rumpelstiltskin was sitting just feet away, spinning and completely oblivious to all that I was doing.

After being so ignored, I had no qualms about breaking the unspoken rules and asking a personal question.

"Why do you spin so much?" I asked.

He looked at me askance.

"Sorry, it's just," I paused, "you've spun more straw into gold than you could ever spend."

He quietly answered, "I like to watch the wheel. It helps me to forget."

"Forget what?" I asked.

He paused and looked straight ahead. "I guess it worked," he cackled.

I chuckled and shook my head. I tugged the curtain once more.

Rumpelstiltskin stopped spinning and rose from his stool. "What are you doing?"

"Opening these. It's almost spring. We should let some light in." Still unsuccessful, I added, "What did you do, nail them down?"

"Yes," he answered matter-of-factly, as if nailing curtains to stone was commonplace.

I tugged twice more. At the second tug, the rod disconnected from the wall. Suddenly I was sailing through the air sideways.

Straight into Rumpelstiltskin's arms.

He blinked into the sunlight. Then he turned his head to look at me.

I'd never been this close to a male before — at least one I'm not related to. My father used to carry me that way when I was very young, but those days were long gone.

I'd like to say that my heart was racing from the surprise of the fall. But I think – and this is scary to admit – that my heart rate increased being in Rumpelstiltskin's arms. I could see the gold glints on his skin as I quickly scanned his face, his neck, the top of his chest. I became breathless, but somehow found my voice to squeak out an awkward, "Thank you." I tried not to show how overloaded my senses had become.

It didn't help when my hand brushed the skin on the back of his neck. And this could have been my imagination, but I think I felt his heart beating as well against my hip.

His face twitched. He moaned and released my legs, surprising me out of my reverie. His entire lower half stiffened as he backed away from me. I hoped the effort of catching me hadn't strained him.

"Thank you," I repeated more distinctly. I dusted myself off with the palms of my hands, as if the feel of his skin against mine would so easily dissipate.

"No matter," he dismissed.

"I'll put the curtains back up."

He hesitated. "Uh … there's no need. I'll get used to it." And he walked back to his spindle looking dazed.

I stared at a spot on the wall, emblazing the memory of just seconds before into my brain, and smiled.

I folded the first curtain neatly and moved the ladder to tackle the second one. I'd only gotten to the second rung when Rumpelstiltskin growled in frustration and jumped up.

"No, no, I'm not going to catch you again," he stated emphatically.

I stepped down in confusion.

He looked at the ceiling, held out a hand and sighed. "Give me your shoes."

I did as he requested and he placed them on the table. He closed his eyes and waved his hands over them. The shoes glowed brightly then faded to their original blue.

He smirked as he brought them back to me, the heels dangling from his fingers.

"What did you do?" I asked.

"Put them on and I'll show you."

I slipped them on. They didn't feel any different.

He pointed toward the curtains. "Walk up the wall."

I blinked in disbelief. "What?"

"You heard me. Try it."

I approached the wall and hesitated. He motioned me to go forward.

I put one foot against the wall and hopped up. I expected my other foot to return to the floor, but it didn't.

I was standing on a wall!

He cackled at my surprise. "This way you can reach high areas without falling. It will come in handy when you're cleaning … or looking for books." He smiled wryly.

"Thank you," I cried from above as I reached the top of the curtains. They were definitely easier to tackle from this vantage point.

Rumpelstiltskin walked back to his spindle with his arm up at an angle. "I can't have you falling and cracking open your skull. An entire village saved for less than two months of work?" He tapped his tongue against the roof of his mouth and turned to face me. He sat back down on his stool. "You can't escape our deal that easily."

I shook my head and rolled my eyes in mocking at him.

He pivoted on his stool and returned to spinning. I removed the curtains, stepped off the wall, and started walking out of the room to put them in storage.

"One other thing," he shouted after me. I turned to him as he looked over his shoulder. Then his gaze turned upward. "You might want to be avoid walking on the ceiling when you're wearing a dress," he quipped.

I laughed. "Duly noted."

We exchanged a small smile before I left the room.


March 5

2pm

He has been avoiding me. And when he's not avoiding me, he's ignoring me. I can't get two words out of him and he'll barely look at me. I don't know what his problem is.

At first I figured he was having a bad day. Then I became anxious that I'd done something wrong, so I tried being nicer to him, but this only made him more irritable. It's been going on for a week, and I'm sick of it. I'm getting angrier with him with every passing hour.

I finished my morning chores earlier than anticipated, so I retreated to the library. I perused the higher shelves with ease thanks to my shoes, and on the highest shelf I found a book that inspired an idea. I bit the corner of my cheek with glee, took the book from the shelf (boy, was it heavy), raced down the wall and jumped onto the floor.

My pace slowed as I walked into the collection room. I clicked my heels against the stone as loudly as I could.

Of course he didn't move. He just continued sitting at his spindle and spinning.

I stopped in front of Rumpelstiltskin's chair. I held the book high and dropped it onto the table. The loud crash jostled him slightly. He looked at me out of the corner of his eye.

I smiled and slowly descended into his chair. Well, that was a start. But I knew that would never be enough to entice him into acknowledging me. I had something else up my sleeve.

I opened the cover, watching him the whole time. I extended my arm out in front of me, palm up, and rested my elbow against the table. I think I noticed his lips twitch, but that could have been my imagination.

Then I immersed myself into the pages of the book, looking back and forth from it and my palm. After the first minute, I softly whispered, "Hmm, that's interesting." A minute or so later, I added, "Oh, I didn't know that." Finally, I chuckled. "Well, what do you know?"

He mumbled something under his breath and walked over to me. I ignored him. When he was standing over me, I looked up at him in mock surprise.

"Oh, I'm sorry, am I bothering you?" the vitriol dripping from my voice. "I was trying to be quiet."

He sneered. "As evidenced from the way you dropped that book. But you have my attention now. What are you doing?"

I suddenly had a vision of he and I fencing. Touché, Belle. Belle 1, Rumpelstiltskin 0.

"I found this book in the library," I explained, "and I'm trying to read my palm."

"That's in the library?" he asked incredulously.

I nodded.

He sat on the table and looked at my palm. His fingers danced over my hand without touching it.

"You will lead a long life with a captor who will treat you well, provided you treat him well. There – that's your future."

I made a face at him for stating the obvious. "Fine, if you're going to read mine, let me read yours."

And I grabbed his hand. He opened his mouth to object, but then only exhaled deeply.

I traced my finger lightly over his palm. "There's the life line … the head line … but I don't see a love line."

"Surprise, surprise," he sarcastically stated.

"Oh wait, there it is!" Then I gasped as I looked at the outer edge of his hand. "And you have a … marriage line!"

He yanked his hand away from me. "I do not!" He examined his palm and cradled it as if he'd been burned.

"Yes, it's faint. But it's there. HA!" I smacked the back of my hand against his arm. "You have a wife in your future."

He scowled at me. "A wife who probably won't stand for your lip."

I leaned back, reveling in the witty repartee I'd been desperately missing. "Oh no, no lip for her. She would need my sympathy and support to survive being married to you."

The corners of his mouth twitched at my teasing.

He leaned closer to me. "I could say the same thing about your future husband. Except you're stuck here, so you won't ever get one."

I faked offense. "Oh woe is me, I will never marry! I will never get the chance to live with a man and to cook and clean for him …" I stopped in midsentence and smiled cheekily. "Oh wait..."

He gazed at my intently. "I think marriage has more perks than that, dearie."

And I burst out laughing. Seriously unattractive snorts. I put my head down into the book and my whole body shook with the laughter. Rumpelstiltskin cackled at my uncontrolled amusement.

The score is tied.

We talked through lunchtime and then went our separate ways, he to his lab and me to the kitchen. I promised myself I'd get back to work, but only after writing this entry.

It seems things are finally back to normal. At least I hope so.


March 9

1pm

Things are far from normal. Oh, he's acting like his normal self again. But I'm not, and that's the problem.

I'm doing girlie things, things I used to make fun of Betsy Peadie for doing. Like how she would always try to touch Gaston when she was talking to him. Yesterday, I found myself laughing and placing my hand over Rumpelstiltskin's. What's worse, I keep recalling that moment he caught me and the events that followed. It's very annoying. It reached its pinnacle this morning as I made breakfast and considered pretending to trip to see if he'd catch me. Unfortunately, common sense didn't stop me; the fact that I possessed shoes that wouldn't let me trip did, however.

And I hate to say it, but the above examples have forced me to admit something.

I am attracted to him.

Oh, that seems so crazy yet cathartic to write. This realization has plagued me, but maybe analyzing why it's happening can help end it.

To start, I am prisoner and he is the only male I ever have contact with. That may have the most to do with it.

Actually, that's not true: I do have contact with two other males — the butcher and the baker – and neither of them makes my heart race. So that possibility doesn't seem as promising.

Could it be because he gives me gifts? No, I'm not materialistic. Gaston used to shower me with presents, and I never cared for him. And I haven't gotten any gifts from Rumpelstiltskin in weeks, unless you count the modifications he made to my shoes.

However, there is one theory that might explain this best.

Years ago when I was supposed to be studying and implementing my etiquette lessons at finishing school ("Oh Belle, why can't you be more like Betsy Peadie? She is so much more refined than you – and a lower class! For shame!"), I was secretly studying ancient civilizations. I read a book about capture bonding, and how females developed feelings for their captors. The theory behind it is that the female body recognizes the need to create a greater variety of life for their offspring to survive, and are thus attracted to their captors who take them beyond the staid confines of the village. So could my body be reacting to that – confusing a chemical produced for survival as love?

But I don't want children! Not even remotely!

I've combed through the library and found several books on capture bonding that I've laid out on the library table and have systematically started flipping through.

There must be a logical explanation within one of these…

11pm

"Evolutionary psychology?"

I looked up and was surprised to see Rumpelstiltskin standing in front of me. I was so engrossed in reading that I hadn't heard him come in. He picked up the book of that title on the table.

I whisked it out of his grasp. He instead grabbed another one.

"African Tribal Mating Rituals," he recited with a raised eyebrow.

I bristled but tried to remain composed. I looked out the window, noticed the moon in the sky and tried to change the subject. "What time is it?"

"Past dinner."

I blinked in astonishment. "Oh." My stomach growled loudly.

He heard it. "Yes, I'm hungry and lost track of the time, too."

I rushed to the kitchen and he followed, thankfully. I was worried he'd stay behind to see what else I'd been reading, and I had no idea how I was going to explain it all to him.

I broke a few eggs to cook omelets, the quickest thing I could think of to make.

"So, what is with your light reading?" he asked, sitting in a chair and propping his feet up on the kitchen prep table.

I pushed his feet off and they plopped on the floor. "Just a theory I had on something that I wanted to check." I started furiously whipping the eggs.

"Which is…" he began, flourishing his hand through the air to get me to finish.

I had to think fast on my feet. "The opinions you expressed about love last month got me thinking about love's effects on ancient civilizations and comparing those effects to the ones society experiences today. There seems to be no evolution."

Rumpelstiltskin took a pear out of the fruit bowl. "It's one of love's oldest and greatest jokes. People don't realize that they are in it until they are already in too deep." He took a bite and buried the fruit in the corner of his mouth. "Saps."

"Yes," I agreed, whipping rapidly, relieved that he bought my excuse. "They obviously aren't very self-aware."

After a late dinner, he returned to spinning. I cleaned up quickly and sat in his chair, which was still warm, and I've been writing the above entry ever since.

So what do I like about him that puts him above every other male I've known?

He challenges me — and I have never been challenged in such a way before. I can sit and talk with him about the things I read and he doesn't start to snooze or drool or undress me with his eyes like Gaston did. He is intelligent and creative. It's the little dances we do — our ongoing fencing match through our words and through our actions — that intrigue me.

11:45pm

I've figured it out! I'm so exhausted and overtired, but maybe that's what I had to be to see things clearest.

I finished the above entry and then sat back to watch him spin when suddenly I started picturing him as an ordinary man. He's a freelance spinner, traveling from town to town selling his yarn, the finest in all of the surrounding kingdoms, so my father naturally hires him regularly. He dines with us seasonally when the new cloth is produced and ready for selection, and I pine for those three months to pass when I can engage him in intelligent conversation. Soon I seek him out, making specific requests for cloth that are just an excuse to spend time with him. Papa doesn't care or suspect an attachment because one of my responsibilities as his daughter is taking an interest in fashion and clothes. But Betsy Peadie does suspect (she's evil like that) and taunts me until I'm hard-pressed to admit my love for him in public. Rumpelstiltskin overhears my declaration and is stunned. My father is furious and locks me in the tower.

And that's where my fantasy ends. Even in my imagination where he is an ordinary man, I cannot fathom him being in love with me. It's silly and juvenile anyway.

And that's when I had my epiphany: I am attracted to the person he could have been, and not the one he is. In the end, that will be my saving grace: because he is not nor ever will be an ordinary man. Something evil has taken root in him — and that fact will stop me from loving him completely. This is just as well because based on my ridiculous reactions to his mere presence, I'm positive that that my love for him would be the head-over-heels kind (magical shoes notwithstanding) if not properly kept in check.

Phew, what a relief to have that solved! I will be glad when this finally passes!