Belle walked slowly along the docks. Holding her hand against her forehead to shield her eyes from the early morning sun, she gazed out at the harbor and to the ocean beyond, searching for a sign of the return of the Jolly Roger. When she could see nothing, she sat down on one of the picnic tables placed there by a few of the waterfront restaurants. She wasn't even sure that Rumple and the others would be returning by ship, although they would have a fairly difficult time finding Storybrooke by any other means. The shielding spell she cast months ago seemed to be holding, keeping unwanted visitors out, but also keeping out the man she loved. It had been weeks since she had last heard from Rumple and she had pictured many happy reunion scenes in her mind since then. Now, with the weeks of waiting, her thoughts were drifting into another direction. Sighing in frustration, she walked back to Main Street.
Nothing was open yet, except Granny's, so Belle went inside. Granny's was her haven, one of the few places in Storybrooke where she felt at home, accepted. She didn't feel like being alone right now and she was hoping that Ruby pulled the early shift. She was in luck. Not only did she see Ruby behind the counter, but the diner was almost empty. Usually that meant Ruby would have time for some conversation and Belle hoped that would be the case today.
"Hey, Belle," Ruby smiled as she brought over some tea. "You're out early today."
"Yeah, well..."
"Belle, were you down by the docks again? At this hour?" Ruby frowned out of concern, not judgment. Belle has still fairly new to Storybrooke and she was far too trusting, in Ruby's opinion.
"Ruby, they could come back any time. It's not like they're going to wait for a certain hour...it could be the middle of the night, for all I know! I just wanted to check."
Ruby reached over and gripped Belle's hand. "I know, sweetie. He'll be here soon. I'm sure of it."
"It's been so long, Ruby, and I miss him so much." This was nothing Ruby hadn't heard many times over the past months since the initial departure of the Jolly Roger. Now, knowing that they were supposedly on their way home, made it much worse. "Do you think they're having trouble getting the ship back from Neverland?"
"Belle, I haven't wanted to bring this up before, but how will they bring the ship back without a portal? Do they have beans in Neverland?" Easy, Ruby, she thought, not wanting to overwhelm Belle with one more obstacle, but at the same time wanting to give her honest opinion. As was usually the case with Ruby, her honesty won out. "I'm just saying that it's probably more difficult than they thought."
Belle closed her eyes for a moment. "You're right of course. I hadn't considered how it was going to happen. I guess I just have so much faith in Rumple and his powers that I hadn't thought of the need for a portal. Now that you mention it, he did say on the docks that day that he had been searching for Bae all this time, but there was no way to travel between realms without a portal."
"Belle, I'm sure they thought of that. That group is pretty resourceful, but I think we have to realize that it may take longer to get back than they planned. And at least we know that Henry is safe."
"Yes, Henry is safe, and he's with his entire family, which is great for him, but what about me?" Belle could feel her throat tightening and tears starting to come, and she fought to get the rest of her words out. "Snow and Prince Charming have each other and they have Emma and Henry. So their family is complete...they can live anywhere because they're all together. Hook is on his own and so is Regina, except for Henry. Neither of them has any ties to Storybrooke. I wonder now if the reason Rumple hasn't been able to get back to me is because the others don't want to come back..."
The thought that all of their leaders would abandon Storybrooke permanently was a sobering one for Ruby. "You may be right, Belle," she said slowly. "We'd better have a town meeting to discuss this, don't you think?"
"I'm not sure what good it'll do, but I guess you're right. We all need to come together and share our thoughts about how to move forward, with or without the Charmings and Regina and the others. I'll set it up for Friday night. What do you think?" Belle had made such great progress in the few months since Rumple and the others had been gone. Now, however, she was feeling unsure. "You know what, never mind, Ruby. I'm going to talk to Archie first."
Ruby looked confused. "So should I still plan on Friday night?"
"Yes. Can you let Ashley know? She should be in the office any minute. I've got to go now. Bye, Ruby!"
Belle was out the door before Ruby had a chance to say goodbye or to ask any more questions. Ruby sighed and began to clear the table of the tea things.
Belle walked briskly down Main Street and practically ran up the stairs to Archie's office. I hope he isn't seeing a patient this early, she thought to herself. She entered the waiting room and saw that the door to the office was ajar. "Hello?" she called, hoping it would be Archie in the office and not some intruder.
"Just a minute."
Archie came to the door and greeted her warmly, but with a confused smile on his face. "Belle, it's good to see you. Did we have an appointment?"
"No, Archie, but I was hoping we could talk anyway. I'm so sorry to burst in like this. Do you have time?"
Archie indicated that she should sit in the chair reserved for patients. "As it happens, I'm free. Are you all right?"
Belle took a deep breath. "We have a situation..."
After explaining her fears about Rumple not being able to return to Storybrooke, Belle sat back and waited for Archie's wisdom. Just the act of speaking her concerns out loud had been healing in a sense. She knew he knew even less than she did about the possibility of the Jolly Roger's return, but she also knew that part of getting healthy emotionally was letting other people in.
Archie seemed to sense that she needed reassurance. "Belle, you did well by coming here and sharing this with me. I know it isn't easy for you to let people help with things and I appreciate your trust." Belle smiled weakly and Archie continued. "The workings of magic are beyond my expertise. But look, you have two powerful sorcerers in Rumplestilskin and Regina on that ship...if anyone can figure out how to get back here, it's them. And I don't know if you know this, but Emma is magical as well. She can help and she is very tied to this world. I can't say for sure but I think she would want to come back to Storybrooke with Henry and raise him here. I think this was the first time in her life that Emma felt like she belonged somewhere. I doubt if she would be quick to give that up."
"Emma...can do magic?" Belle was astonished. She didn't know Emma well at all, but it certainly made sense, seeing as how her parents were Snow White and Prince Charming. But from what she had seen of Emma, she didn't seem like the magical "type."
"Apparently she's the product of true love," Archie told her. "And I'm fairly certain she's had to draw on her magical abilities to rescue Henry."
"I can see that," Belle replied. "Do you think Henry can do magic as well?" Belle was trying to imagine what it would be like for a precocious eleven year old like Henry to find out that he could do magic. Now that she knew he was Rumple's grandson, she had developed a greater love and concern for the boy. She hoped he wasn't freaking out.
"Who knows? All I am saying is that our friends on that ship don't want to abandon us. I heard you say that Rumplestiltskin was the only one who you thought really had ties to Storybrooke. Well, I disagree. This is a small town, Belle, and not even counting the time in the Enchanted Forest, we have all been together for twenty-nine years. That counts for something. Yes, many people here would love to return to our land, but that doesn't mean we want to be separated from one another in the process. The friendships we've built here are important. Even to Regina, although she will never admit it."
"I didn't think about that. I missed out on all of that..." Belle said sadly.
Archie took her hand. "Yes, you did, Belle. All the more reason to believe me when I say these things. I was there the whole time. These are my friends. Most of us have ties to one another that go back to our time in our land."
Belle walked over to the window and looked out. The view from Archie's office encompassed the clock tower above the library as well as the sea beyond. "Then where are they? What's taking so long?"
"Trust, Belle. Trust and hope are what we all need right now. As mayor, you need to reassure people and convince them not to give up. We're all counting on you."
Archie was right. Belle looked back at him and gave him a determined smile. "Let's do this," she said boldly.
On Friday night, the Town Hall was packed with people looking for answers. Belle called the meeting to order and briefly told the assembled townspeople what she knew, which wasn't much. Most of them had heard it all from Ruby at the diner or just by way of general town gossip. At any rate, the purpose was to let people raise questions and hopefully to hear her message of hope.
"People of Storybrooke, as you know Snow White, Prince Charming, Regina Mills, Captain Hook, Emma Swan and Rumplestiltskin have been on a mission for several months now. They traveled to Neverland by way of a portal in order to rescue Henry Mills, who had been kidnapped by the outsider, Greg Mendell and his partner, Tamara. I received word three weeks ago that their mission was successful..." At this, Belle paused for applause by the grateful residents. "...and that they would be coming home with Henry. That is the last piece of information I received and I am hopeful that we will soon see all of our friends back in Storybrooke."
"I will now open the meeting to questions. Grumpy?"
"How do we know they want to come back? What if they just decided to go back to the Enchanted Forest?" Apparently others had the same question, as there were many people nodding in agreement and murmuring amongst themselves.
"Grumpy, I'm going to tell you what Dr. Hopper told me recently. These are our friends. We have all been together for a very long time, and they will not just abandon us. Remember when the self-destruct diamond had been activated? Snow White and the Prince could have made the decision to leave then, but they didn't. They stayed to rescue the town, with the help of Emma and Regina. They will be back for us!"
"But what if they can't get back here?" Dr. Whale was on his feet quickly. "They used the last bean to open a portal for the Jolly Roger to go to Neverland. There aren't any beans left!"
"That we know of..." Belle replied quickly. "I remember Rumplestiltskin telling me that there could be more beans in other lands. We know that our bean field was destroyed, but we can't know definitively that there are no other beans anywhere. This is what I mean about having hope. We don't give up on them and they won't give up on us. It works both ways."
"Is there anything we can do?" Happy spoke up.
Belle smiled gratefully. "I'm glad you asked, Happy. I think it would be a fine idea to have a watch down by the docks so that everyone can be notified immediately when the ship comes back. Granny, would you circulate a list so that we can monitor the docks around the clock?"
Granny stepped up with her ever-present crossbow. "Who wants to volunteer?" she asked, scanning the crowd with a steely gaze. There was a long line of volunteers as the meeting disbanded. No one wanted to cross Granny.
Belle thought of something. "Just one more thing," she said loudly and the crowd quieted. "I would like to take the first shift tonight, if you don't mind." Being down by the docks gave her a sense of purpose and she was reluctant to give that up, especially tonight. Granny nodded and penciled Belle's name at the top of the list.
Belle went home to put on jeans and boots, and to get her warm jacket and gloves. She drove down to the docks and parked on the now deserted street adjacent to the Cannery. She walked along, admiring the different boats and their funny names. Most of them were fishing boats, not pleasure craft, so the names reflected that. She bought a cup of coffee from her favorite coffee stand and decided to splurge on a cookie as well. Munching on her cookie, she decided to walk further. As she rounded the corner next to the shipyards, she noticed several ships being worked on in dry dock, even at the late Friday night hour. She waved to the workers and walked on. Night was falling fast and she bundled up in her warm blue coat, pulling on her gloves. Then she heard it, the sound of a flute. It was out of place on the docks of Storybrooke, and she looked around in bewilderment. She saw nothing out of order, so she walked on. There it was again. Am I hearing things? she thought. She blinked her eyes and all of a sudden the Jolly Roger was there, right in front of her eyes, almost close enough to touch.
Belle gasped in surprise and ran down the dock and up the gangplank. She didn't get far, because Rumple was running down to meet her. The sight of him took her breath away. He was dressed in leather pants, and a crocodile vest, with what appeared to be a black silk shirt underneath. When she reached him, she threw her arms around his neck and stood on her tiptoes to kiss him with abandon. Gods, she had missed this! He was half laughing and half crying and trying to talk and kiss her at the same time. She was just crying.
"Belle, my sweetheart. I've never been so glad to be wrong in my life."
"Rumple...I never lost hope. I'm so happy that you're back."
"Belle, I..." but before he could finish, they heard a cough from onboard the Jolly Roger. Charming and Snow appeared to be waiting their turn to disembark. Belle blushed and stepped aside to let them pass. Then she noticed the others on the ship.
Regina was there with her usual haughty demeanor. She looked at Belle with disdain and said as she passed, "I hope you haven't gotten too accustomed to my job, my dear. I'll be returning to my office in a few days."
"Regina..." Rumple stepped forward with a menacing look, but paused as he felt Belle's hand on his arm.
"Not now, Rumple. We'll have time to sort it out later."
Regina smirked. "We'll see about that, Rumple," and she disappeared in a pouf of purple smoke.
"Seriously?" Emma said from the bow of the ship. "She hasn't learned anything?" Belle looked up at Emma with curiosity. Maybe she would do some magic, if she had been accustomed to doing that in Neverland. Then Belle stopped and let out a scream.
"Baelfire! Neal! You're alive!" Neal welcomed her with a big hug, swinging her around, to his father's annoyance.
"Bae, put her down!" Rumple spoke sternly but his eyes gave him away. He turned away before everyone could see him smile, but Belle saw it, and it gave her hope.
She ran back to Rumple and hugged him tightly. "Rumple! Your son! Whatever happened?" She looked at Neal and Emma, who were obviously together. "Neal...Baelfire...How..where...?"
Emma laughed. "It's a pretty long story. But it's a really really good one. Right, Henry?"
Then Belle saw Henry, standing between his parents. He looked older, taller, and somehow wiser, if such a thing was possible. "Henry," she whispered, and held out her arms. He ran into them and kissed her quietly on the cheek.
"I guess you'll be my grandma soon..." he whispered with a mischievous grin on his face.
Belle blushed again and held Henry's face in her hands. "I would be honored. But that is also a story for another day." Henry grinned wider and nodded in understanding.
"Okay, kid, let's go home." Emma and Neal shared a look as Henry tore off down the docks. All of a sudden he stopped.
"Mom, Dad, where am I going? Are we still going to stay with Gramps and Grams?"
Neal looked embarrassed. "Good question, Henry. Let's let your mom answer that one."
Emma glared at him. "Nice, Neal...Well, we can't go there tonight, kid, because I think your grandparents might be, umm, busy tonight. I think everyone needs their space tonight. Neal, maybe we can stay in your room?"
Neal looked so disappointed that both Belle and Rumple had to laugh. "What's so funny?" Henry asked. Belle whispered something to Rumple and he nodded, although he too looked disappointed.
"Henry, how would you like to stay with us tonight? The rooms at Granny's aren't really set up for families." Rumple looked hopefully at Neal and Emma, and then back at Henry.
"Cool! In the pink house? Can I, Mom? Dad?"
"Sure!" Neal said, a little too quickly. "Why don't we have dinner first, buddy? Something not from the sea, perhaps?" Emma was fine with the plan and she and Neal began walking arm in arm over to Granny's with Henry. "Papa, we'll bring him over later," he said with a wink.
"Yes, well, of course that...will be fine. It'll give us...a chance...to get Henry's room set up." Rumple seemed to have trouble completing simple sentences, which delighted Belle to no end.
"Right, Gold. Just stick to that story and you'll be fine," Emma called over her shoulder. She and Neal burst into laughter as he high fived her.
"Rumple?"
"What is it, my dear?"
"Where is Captain Hook?"
Hook called out from somewhere on the ship, "Oh, that's very thoughtful, Belle. Thinking of me, on a night like this. I'm touched." He stepped into the light and Belle gasped. His arm was in a sling and his eye was blackened. "Thank you, milady." Belle looked at Rumple questioningly.
Rumple snorted with impatience. "The Captain was injured in our escape, Belle. He's fine. No need to be concerned. Oh, and I believe he has something he wishes to say to you. Captain?"
Hook walked slowly and apparently painfully down the gangplank, stopping in front of Belle. "I apologize for my attempts to harm you, my lady. Please know that it was nothing personal, nothing directed specifically to you. But indeed, I am sorry. Please say you'll forgive me."
Belle looked at Rumple and he nodded. "Very well, Captain, I accept your apology and forgive you, with thanks for all you have done to assist Rumple and his family. But the next time I see you in the library, I hope it is for the purpose of checking out a book."
Rumple chuckled. "Cold day in hell for that one, Belle."
Hook looked thoughtfully at the couple. "I don't know, Rumplestiltskin, I may surprise you." He winked at Belle and limped back onboard the ship.
"Captain..."
"Please, Belle, call me Killian." At this Rumple looked down and shook his head, but Belle reassured him with the same quiet touch on the arm she had used earlier. Their eyes met and he relaxed, still not smiling, but waiting and watching.
"Killian, what are your plans? Will you be staying in Storybrooke?"
"Well, for the time being, until my ship is fixed. After that, well, you never know, do you? I may fancy a spot of time in a quiet seaside town like Storybrooke..." Killian watched Emma and Neal turn the corner onto Main Street. "But, then again, it may be a little too cramped here."
Belle followed his gaze and nodded quietly. "Good night, Killian," she said.
"Good night, love. Dark One."
Rumple grumbled something under his breath, but Belle hushed him and they walked slowly back to the car. The night was cool and Belle snuggled against Rumple, feeling his arm tightening around her. It was then that she noticed something.
"Rumple, your cane...where is it? How are you still walking without it?"
"It's back on the ship, I suppose. I'll retrieve it in the morning. I used a little magic to allow me to go without it tonight."
"You used magic? At what price?" Belle grew concerned, knowing that, whatever price it was, it would be a steep one.
"Belle, sweetheart, I did it so I could do this..." and he knelt down in front of her and held both of her hands in his. "Belle, you are my heart, and I can't live without you. I know I am no prize and I will probably be the worst deal you ever made, but I am begging you, for as long as we both shall live, will you be my wife?"
"My Rumple. There is no one on earth that I will ever love as much as I love you. I am yours forever. Yes, I will marry you." Rumple stood up and wrapped his arms around her, holding her so tightly and yet so gently, far more gently than he had ever held her before. He touched her face with his hand and she placed her hand over his. "Now let's go home."
"You are my home, Belle. I'm finally truly home."