Disclaimer: This is a not-for-profit work of fiction, I do not claim ownership of the characters or settings in this story.

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The natural rhythm of Belle's life at the Dark Castle had changed. Able to come and go as she pleased she took to spending some time in the town each week, though she was always careful to dress in her plainer gowns and to keep her choker covered. While she did occasionally see richly dressed people in town Belle felt it best not to draw too much attention. She got enough of that on the days when she went with Rumpelstiltskin on his trips to make deals. She didn't go with him every time, maybe one out of every three, but her presence at his side was (unknown to her) becoming something of a legend.

A legend that she overheard one day while taking lunch at the tavern.

At first she wasn't sure who exactly was being talked about and for a minute or two even assumed that the 'powerful enchantress' they were talking about was Queen Regina. But then someone uttered the phrase 'Lady of the Dark Castle'. All eyes, including her own, glanced in the direction of the castle.

"They say she's even more powerful than he is," the traveler telling the tale said, "a mysterious witch from across the black sea, they say she sold her soul for the power of dark magic. She is as beautiful as he is ugly, but don't be fooled, on the inside she is just as dark and treacherous."

Amused by the assumptions and misinformation, Belle gathered up her things and left. She took great delight in parroting the story back to Rumpelstiltskin during their afternoon tea.

"Ah, yes." He nodded. "I heard a thing or two myself, dearie. According to some very unreliable sources you have eyes as black as night and breathe fire when you speak. Which is of course why you're always so silent."

Belle shook her head. "It seems like people will believe anything."

"They will. They often do. People will believe anything as long as it's something they want to be true. Fire-breathing enchantresses make for a good story, you see."

"I like the truth a little better myself."

"The truth is what we make it," Rumpelstiltskin replied, looking suddenly distracted.

Belle recognised the look. "Are you being called? Is it important?"

"It may well be…" the sorcerer stood, giving her a grin. "I'd tell you to get dressed, but this is a pressing matter." He flicked his fingers in her direction. A tingling sensation passed over her skin, leaving her dressed in one of her fancier dark red gowns. "You'll like this one. This one has a princess."

Belle took a quick last sip of her tea, then set the cup down and took the hand that he offered. She was used to this mode of travel now, only a little disorientated when they appeared at a small, rather decrepit pier. She looked around but couldn't see anyone. "There's nobody here…"

"This isn't the usual sort of call, dearie. Just wait a while, you'll see."

Belle waited, using the time to examine her surroundings (and quietly envying the way Rumpelstiltskin perched on the rickety-looking rail on the side of the pier, the one that looked like it would collapse if anything larger than a sparrow chose to sit on it). After a short time she could hear the sounds of a paddle hitting the water, and turned to see a small boat coming towards the pier. Belle was about to ask Rumpelstiltskin if this was who he was waiting for only to discover that he had disappeared. "Of course," she muttered to herself, figuring it must indeed be something important if he thought it worth putting on a show. Well, the least she could do was add to the theatre. Belle stood in the center of the pier, facing the approaching boat, her hands clasped demurely in front of her.

When the boat pulled up beside the pier she could see that it was being rowed by a young woman. A very pretty young woman at that. Long dark hair, red lips, pale skin. Something about her seemed very familiar. Belle placed it just as the woman climbed onto the pier to tie down her boat – she knew this woman because she'd heard her description before, in detail, at the tavern in the village. This was Snow White, the exiled princess of Starrow and Queen Regina's stepdaughter.

Belle watched her as she looked around, determined brown eyes finally settling on her. "Excuse me," Snow White said, "I'm not sure this is the right place. I'm looking for –"

"Rumpelstiltskin?" Belle finished for her calmly. She knew how things were supposed to go after the many deals she'd witnessed. By now she was even used to playing the part of Rumpelstiltskin's mysterious companion and offering suggestions and prices according to the sorcerer's mood. 'Enchantress', she thought wryly. More like broker.

"Yes," Snow White confirmed. "I was told I could find him here."

"Sometimes," Belle answered, inclining her head a little. "Are you here to make a deal?"

"I… That depends."

"It always depends, dearie." Belle saw Rumpelstiltskin appear on the pier behind Snow White, so she wasn't surprised when he spoke. Snow White, on the other hand, whirled around, a hand automatically reaching for the dagger on her belt. "Ah-ah," Rumpelstiltskin held up his index finger to stop her, "we're all friends here, there's no need for that. Now… Snow White, what can I do for you?"

Snow White looked back at Belle, then at Rumpelstiltskin. "I need a cure," she said plainly.

"What ails you, child?"

"A broken heart," Snow White replied, looking down.

Belle raised her eyebrows at Rumpelstiltskin, silently asking what exactly was going on. People called him for selfish things, for wealth, for health, for protection. They didn't call him because they were in love. The sorcerer masked a shrug as a flourish. "A most painful infliction," he said, just a touch condescending, "but no magic can make him love you. I'm afraid you'll have to look for your cure somewhere else."

"Oh no, that's not the problem." Snow White shook her head, "we can't be together."

"Ah. Now that I can help you with." Rumpelstiltskin took a small glass vial from inside his coat and filled it with water from the river. He shook it a little and the water changed, turning colour. (Belle suspected he'd pulled some sort of vanishing trick there, to transport the potion from his tower. No doubt there would be a puddle of water waiting for them back at the castle somewhere.)

"That will do it?" Snow White asked, eyes on the potion.

"Not yet." Rumpelstiltskin danced forward to pluck a strand of Snow White's hair. The princess ducked, but not in time to avoid his nimble fingers. Rumpelstiltskin dropped a strand of her hair into the potion. "No love is exactly the same, potions like this must be tailored. There." He held out the potion. "Drink this, and you won't love him anymore. You won't even recall his name."

Snow White hesitated. "That seems a little extreme…"

"Love is powerful," Belle told her, stepping in seamlessly, "truly powerful. The cure must be equally so."

"Don't doubt yourself now, dearie," Rumpelstiltskin added, stepping around Snow White to come next to Belle. He smirked at the princess. "Love is powerful indeed. It makes us sick, haunts our dreams, destroys our days. Love has killed more than any disease. It takes root in us like a fungus and the only way to be rid of it is with a gift such as this." He held up the potion, hand stretched out towards Snow White. Belle wondered whether he wasn't talking about themselves just a little.

Snow White started to reach out, then stopped. "What is your price?"

"Just a hair from your pretty head." Rumpelstiltskin held up a long dark strand. "This one will do."

Snow White frowned. "What do you need of my hair?"

"What do you need of it now?" he retorted. "It's been plucked from your head. Do we have a deal?"

Snow White looked hesitant for just a moment. Then she took the potion and walked back to her boat.

"I'll take that as a yes then," Rumpelstiltskin chuckled, tucking Snow White's hair away into a pocket.

Belle waited until Snow White was long gone to ask; "What do you need with her hair? And what was that about?"

"That," Rumpelstiltskin replied, offering her his hand with a flourish, "was about true love."

Belle blinked at him stupidly. He glanced back over her shoulder at the misty river, then at him again. "You just gave Snow White a potion to make her forget her true love?"

"A minor hiccup in her path to true happiness, I assure you. She may forget for a time, but I'm certain her darling Prince James won't let her forget love forever." He offered her his hand again. "Coming, dearie?"

Belle took his hand. A moment later they were in his work room in the north tower. "And the hair?" she asked curiously, watching him go to his potions cabinet and retrieve a small empty glass bottle from a shelf.

"Ah… that I plan on using it to make something I've never been able to bottle. True love. Of course I'll need his hair too, some day."

Belle watched him drop the hair into the bottle and replace the glass into the cabinet. She frowned. "Couldn't you use ours?"

"Oh I've tried," Rumpelstiltskin grinned darkly, "it didn't quite work out. Something about the curse I'd say. And true love is rarer than one might think, Snow White and her Prince Charming are one of a very select few who will ever be in it."

"If you manage to bottle it," Belle pointed out, "you'll have the rarest of them all. Concentrated true love…"

"A necessary precaution against a rainy day."

Belle thought about that. Given everything she'd seen of Rumpelstiltskin's powers it was hard to imagine him ever needing something to boost them. "I'm not sure I want to know what sort of day that will be," she said.

"Clever Belle." Rumpelstiltskin smiled at her. "Yes, it's not the sort of day you hope comes along often."

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It seemed like only a few short days later that Rumpelstiltskin swaggered into the great hall while Belle was mending one of her stockings, a large, fur trimmed cloak slung over one shoulder. He spread the cloak out on the table with a dramatic flourish. "Prince Charming's cloak," he announced.

Belle set aside her mending, looking at the cloak curiously. It took her a second to realise why the cloak might be at all important. When she did her eyes went wide. "Oh! His hair?"

"Well he never specified I couldn't have anything that happened to be on the cloak," Rumpelstiltskin explained gleefully. "Hair included."

Mending stockings could definitely wait, she was far too curious to see whether bottling true love was indeed something he could do. Belle watched as Rumpelstiltskin plucked a short, light brown hair from the cloak. He summoned the potion bottle with Snow White's hair and carefully, very carefully, dropped the shorter hair inside. The reaction was instantaneous. Purple light filled the bottle as the strands twined around one another. The glow receded, liquid beginning to fill the bottle until the glowing hair had dissolved completely. Gleeful, Rumpelstiltskin stoppered the bottle.

"The perfect cure for a rainy day," he said, and Belle suspected he would have been literally hopping with joy if he weren't holding something so rare and precious. "With just a drop to start the storm."

That phrase struck her as particularly ominous. "That thing you wont tell me about?" she asked, arching an eyebrow.

"That indeed, dearie." Rumpelstiltskin replied, looking at the glowing bottle in a manner that suggested preoccupation.

"Should I assume I won't be seeing you for a day or two?" Belle guessed, sensing that he'd be holed up in his workroom for some time after this.

"Best do," the sorcerer agreed. "This is possibly the most dangerous thing in the world. I can't have any distractions, love. Not when I'm playing about with this."

"Alright," Belle agreed, recognising that the work must be important to him if he wouldn't even hint at what it was about. She respected him enough not to pry, and also knew that if she did she'd only get teasing and lies for her efforts. "I'll be in the library then, when you're done."

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As Belle had assumed she didn't see the sorcerer for the next few days. She spent those days, as she had said, mostly in the library reading whatever caught her interest. The evening of the third day she was just finishing up a book of old folk tales when Rumpelstiltskin appeared carrying a tea tray.

Belle put her book aside, greeting him with a smile. She resisted the urge to ask what he'd been up to, instead telling him; "I was beginning to think I wouldn't see you for the next week."

"Lucky for us I've had a lot of time to plan this little project," Rumpelstiltskin smirked, setting the tea tray down on the small table near Belle's chair. "It's done, and you have my full, undivided attention this evening."

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Time was such a strange thing. It was inconstant, moving too slow during moments of impatience and sorrow, flying by in those times you wanted to last forever. Nights, Belle found, were the quickest of all. Dinners, walks in the evenings, dances in the library and through the halls, nights spent in each other's arms – unbearably chaste, a precaution against true love's power. All of those things passed like a blink of the eye, while in the daytime alone Belle watched the hours stretch on in front of her.

Time did strange things in the Dark Castle. While the days seemed to pass with agonising slowness time ate up the weeks so swiftly. Belle heard her own legend grow in the tales told in the tavern and in the town, and saw it grow in the looks of recognition when she accompanied Rumpelstiltskin on his more interesting deals. In a spare moment she wondered if the legend had spread as far as Avonlea and what her father might think of it. He would most likely think her bewitched, she realised. As would anyone else who heard the true story. Belle wondered if she should feel sad at that idea, instead of just a simple calm acceptance of the facts. Should she mourn the loss of respect from people who had never known her true self? Should she be sad that her father would forever think of her as his poor bewitched daughter?

She put the thought from her mind, instead choosing to concentrate on things more pleasant. The way her cooking improved in leaps and bounds now that she'd found a section of cookery books in the library. The roses that bloomed in the wild forest of a garden outside. The glow of Rumpelstiltskin's hands in the firelight of an evening when he sat and spun while she read by the hearth.

If it weren't for their absurd chastity Belle would have thought her life perfect. She had everything she needed to keep herself occupied. She had travel and adventure through Rumpelstiltskin's deals, and a reputation (though entirely unearned) as a powerful sorceress in her own right. She was needed, and loved, and useful. She was her own self, and Rumpelstiltskin never looked at her any different whether she dressed in fine gowns and jewels or in her practical 'servants' clothes.

Other people though… Other people treated her very differently depending on what clothes she wore.

The people of the village knew her well enough now that she was greeted by name at her favourite tavern and the sellers in the marketplace knew they were more likely to catch her attention with books and thread rather than fine cloth and frippery. To them she was only Belle, who lived most likely in Starrow, and who might be a servant girl in some noble's house. She dressed the part for them in her plain, practical gowns, always sure to cover her choker with either a cloak or a scarf when she visited.

For the people she visited on business with Rumpelstiltskin she dressed the part of the Enchantress. Bold, dark coloured gowns that dripped with beads and sparkling chips of precious stone. Secretly she liked those outfits more, if only because it felt more like being herself when she could bare her choker and show her feelings to the world with the way her outfit matched his.

She was musing on this as she swept in the study, only a little before midday, when Rumpelstiltskin appeared in a puff of purple smoke. "It's time!" he crowed gleefully, hands clapping together. "It's time! Get ready, dearie, we're going on a trip!"

Belle propped the broom against the big oak desk that neither of them ever used and turned to face him. "Where are we going?" she asked, used to such interruptions by now. "Should I dress warmly or lightly?"

"Doesn't matter. It's a forest. An infinite forest. It doesn't vary much in anything, temperature included." Rumpelstiltskin paused thoughtfully, head cocked slightly to the side, "and no need to hurry. It's infinite. Our quarry isn't exactly going anywhere."

Belle arched an eyebrow as she undid the apron covering the front of her skirt. "Our quarry?" she repeated, and walked through into her sitting room knowing that he would follow (he did, hopping along light and birdlike behind her). "So you haven't actually been called for."

"Not precisely," Rumpelstiltskin admitted with a chuckle.

Belle disappeared into her dressing room to change, choosing a gown of black and gold. They were going to a forest, so it seemed appropriate to pick something that would stand out against the greenery. "Do they know we're coming at all then?"

"Probably not."

Belle smiled at how pleased he sounded. She shook her head fondly.

"Poor idiot doesn't realise he needs help yet," Rumpelstiltskin added in explanation. "He probably won't be too grateful."

"Ah… and why are we offering help then?" The dress laced up the back, but Belle had threaded the laces so that all she had to do was pull the strings from the middle and the bodice would pull tight against her. A quick, simple knot and she was ready to go.

"This particular idiot has a skill I need him to use, and incentive enough to use it if we give him the right motivation." Rumpelstiltskin grinned at her as she emerged from the dressing room. He offered her his arm with an exaggerated courtly bow. "Circumstances couldn't be better really."

Belle took the sorcerer's arm with a smile. "Then let's go make a deal."

The familiar sensation of traveling by magic washed over her and suddenly they were in a small clearing in a very large forest. The trees that surrounded them were tall enough that she could hardly see the tops, their trunks massive. Enough sunlight filtered through the canopy to splash the ground with dapples of sunlight and shadow, dried leaves and twigs crackling underfoot. Belle looked around, then at Rumpelstiltskin. Against the greens and browns of the forest their black and gold clothing stood out in stark contrast. The air had a pleasant, clean smell.

Belle paced the edges of the clearing, trailing her fingers gently over tree bark and branches.

She had almost made her way back to Rumpelstiltskin when someone crashed through the forest into the clearing, skidding to a stop as the sight of them both.

"Lost, are we?" Rumpelstiltskin drawled, and Belle didn't have to guess that this was who they were there for.

The man, tall, dressed in clothes that looked as if they'd seen better days, glared at the sorcerer. "What are you doing here?" he demanded, obviously familiar enough with Rumpelstiltskin to know that his presence was no coincidence.

"Can't you tell?" Rumpelstiltskin asked, spreading his hands with a gleeful smile, "we were just out for a pleasant stroll, but… I can always find the time to help a prince in need."

The prince – and given the lack of young princes around, Belle would guess that this one was 'Charming' – looked at Belle as if just noticing her, then frowned and looked back at Rumpelstiltskin. "I don't need your help," he said, and moved to leave.

"No, I think you do," the sorcerer said tauntingly, "this is the infinite forest. It is, as the name implies, infinite. There's no way out. Well… except for my way."

"I want nothing from you."

"Not even… this?" Rumpelstiltskin held up a ring that Belle was sure he hadn't had before.

The prince's eye's widened, hand flying to his belt pouch. "My mother's ring. It was just…. How did you get it?"

"Magic," Belle spoke up calmly. She had no idea what skill it was that the prince had that Rumpelstiltskin wanted the use of, but she could guess at least part of what he intended to bargain for. "Which is also the only way to get in or out of the forest."

"Exactly, dear," Rumpelstiltskin nodded, "thankyou." He flipped the ring in the air and caught it again, dramatics intended to draw the eye to the way the stone had begun to glow. "I've enchanted this ring," he told the prince, "now the closer you get to Snow White the brighter it will glow. Interested?"

Prince Charming stepped forward, hand outstretched. "Give it to me."

"Ah!" Rumpelstiltskin waved a hand. The ring disappeared from view. "Nobody gets something for nothing," he told the prince. "But I'll be more than happy to make you a deal…"

"No." The prince's voice was firm. His blade, when he drew it, was an even firmer declaration. "No more deals."

Belle took that as her cue, trusting that both Rumpelstiltskin and the enchanted choker would protect her. She stepped forward and put her finger on the tip of Prince James' blade. "Please," she said softly, calmly, the voice of feminine reason that so often tricked people into thinking she was on their side, "there's no need for violence. I understand how you feel, I really do, but fighting will only delay the inevitable."

"Inevitable," Prince Charming repeated in disgust. He looked at Belle, hazel eyes assessing what he saw. She had no idea what he thought of her, what he thought she was telling him, but the sword still came down until it was held loosely by his side, tip pointed at the ground. The prince leaned around Belle to address Rumpelstiltskin. "I need nothing from you, I want nothing from you, and there will be no deals."

"Very noble of you," Rumpelstiltskin taunted, "very brave. And worth absolutely nothing. Without my help you will never get out of this forest. You will never find your beloved Snow White. You will die here, a brave, noble fool."

"We would help you for free if we were able," Belle added, the lie coming easily to her tongue as a means to push the prince along as she played her part to make the bitter pill easier to swallow. "But a deal is in the rules, sir. Magic without a price is magic that is unstable, as likely to hurt as it is to help."

"And why would you want to help me?" Prince Charming asked sceptically.

"Why? Because we both want the same thing," Rumpelstiltskin told him, his sly smile teasing, "you and your true love to be together."

Belle could see that Prince James was caught off guard by that. In fact, Belle was caught off guard by that, though she didn't let it show. The prince fumbled, staring in disbelief. "You want me and Snow to be together?"

"Of course. True love is precious. It must be protected."

"What would you know of love?" the prince challenged.

Rumpelstiltskin giggled. Even Belle, who wasn't entirely sure why Rumpelstiltskin cared about Snow White and Charming, hid a laugh behind her hand. The Prince looked between them both with dawning understanding (and just a touch of horrified fascination). "So it's true then," he said finally, and sheathed his sword. "Rumpelstiltskin and the Enchantress."

As usual, Belle decided against correcting the assumption that she too could use magic. A bit of a safety gauge, she thought. People would be less likely to try anything with her if they thought she could turn them into toads. "As true as rumours get," she replied demurely, given that she suspected the rumours didn't involve their inability to so much as kiss.

"True love," Rumpelstiltskin added, "is the most powerful thing in the world. It must be protected at all costs." He produced a glowing bottle from thin air. Belle recognised it immediately, and thought she might have an inkling about the other half of the deal.

The prince frowned. "I'm not sure I understand… what do you want me to do?"

"This needs to be put somewhere safe, dearie," the sorcerer explained, "somewhere it will be protected. You do that for me, and I will give you the ring."

"And get me out of the forest."

"Well." Rumpelstiltskin waved a hand. Purple smoke filled the clearing, when it dispersed all three of them were standing on a pebbled beach, a cliff top castle visible in the distance. "That counts as part of the 'putting it somewhere safe' part of the deal."

"I haven't said yes," the prince said, eyes narrowed.

Belle smiled. She could see as well as Rumpelstiltskin could that the prince was caught. "You won't say no."

"And if you do," Rumpelstiltskin added cheerfully, "you go back to the forest. Forever. What's it to be?"

"…very well. What do I need to do?"

Rumpelstiltskin clapped his hands. When he opened them again it was to reveal an intricately decorated gold egg. The egg opened, revealing an interior lined in silk, the true love potion nestled in the middle. The sorcerer closed the egg again and tossed it to the prince. "In that castle," he said, pointing to the cliffs, "there is a beast, a dragon. Get this into the dragon, and our deal is done."

"That's all?"

Belle hid a smile at the prince's sarcasm. "That's all," she confirmed.

The prince was silent a moment, staring at the pair of them as if he weren't entirely certain they were sane. Then he tucked the egg under one arm and began walking, setting off in the direction of the castle. Belle waited until he was out of earshot before asking; "A dragon?"

"A witch, actually," Rumpelstiltskin replied casually, perching himself on a rock. "She turns into a dragon."

Belle shook her head, amused despite herself. "You're impossible. I hope he doesn't die."

"Oh, I wouldn't worry about that. Our charming Prince has already defeated one dragon."

Belle turned to look at the distant castle. It was a good walk away and the Prince also had to battle a dragon before making his way back. They'd have something of a wait before then. She looked at the water and sighed. "I should have worn a shorter dress," she mused.

Rumpelstiltskin chuckled. "I can fix that for you, if you like…"

.


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Belle was wading in the shallows looking for interesting shells, dress now shortened to just below her knees, when the Prince came trudging up the beach, soaked to the bone. "I've done what you asked," the prince announced wearily, "now return my ring to me."

"Of course." Rumpelstiltskin leaped up from his rocky perch, producing the ring from thin air. "Here you are. One enchanted ring."

The Prince took the ring and slid it onto his little finger. "Thank you," he said the words grudgingly.

"Hold on a minute," Rumpelstiltskin cocked his head to the side. "Something's missing…" He flicked his fingers towards the prince, the same gesture he used when Belle didn't have time to change and needed to dress in a hurry. And, like Belle's plain gowns were transformed, the prince's clothes changed to something much finer.

"Very nice," Belle approved, wading out of the water and walking carefully across the pebbled beach to stand next to Rumpelstiltskin. "Now you're definitely ready," she smiled at the Prince.

The Prince frowned at them, hand settling on the hilt of his sword (which also seemed to have been replaced with something nicer than the somewhat battered sword he'd been carrying before ). "Why do you want us together?" he asked, "what do you get out of it?"

Rumpelstiltskin smiled, taking Belle's hand in his. "I'm a fan of true love, dearie," he said simply, "and, more importantly, what it creates." He chose that moment to bring them back to the Dark Castle, so Belle didn't get to see the Prince's reaction.

Wet feet on cold stone was not pleasant, so Belle wrapped her arms around Rumpelstiltskin's waist for something that was. "What it creates?" she repeated curiously, not about to let that hint just slip through her fingers.

The sorcerer grinned at her slyly. "Clever Belle. Are you sure you want to know?"

"I know that Prince Charming and Snow White are somehow important, and now you've just hinted that their child will be too." She paused, thoughtful. "You were talking about a child, weren't you?"

"I might have been," Rumpelstiltskin confirmed.

"An important child," Belle prompted.

"A rare and unusual child, born of true love. You see, my darling Belle, such children are often the pivots on which the world turns."

Belle vaguely recalled something she'd heard a long time ago, about Rumpelstiltskin's ability to see the future. So far in her time at the Dark Castle she hadn't seen any evidence suggesting that he truly could, but she wasn't about to discount the idea either. "And you know that this child is going to be important somehow," she guessed. "Important enough that it's imperative that their parents remain together long enough to actually have the child."

"Exactly." Rumpelstiltskin leaned forward, briefly pressing his forehead against hers – as close as they could come to kissing without risking his curse. "Important enough that some unpleasantness might have to be endured sooner or later." He pulled away from her, grin back on his face. "But that's a worry for another day. True love has been safely tucked away, Prince Charming is on his way to save the Princess, and for this evening there is no work left to be done."

"I do like when there's no work left," Belle said quietly, feeling her lips curl into an involuntary smile.