"Auntie Belle! Auntie Belle! Higher!" Ariel squealed as Belle pushed the three-year-old while she gripped the swing tightly. "Higher," she pleaded again.

"I can't - push you any - higher," Belle laughed.

"Yes, you can!"

"I'm telling you, kiddo. Your Auntie Belle's getting a little too old for this."

"In your dreams, Belle." Two arms snaked around Belle's waist from behind, and Red kissed her neck gently.

"Red, don't sneak up on me like that!" she giggled.

"Auntie Red! Push!" Ariel cried as her swing slowed to a stop.

"What do you say, sweetheart?"

"Peez," she said with a wide, toothy grin, and Red let go of Belle so she could push Ariel.

Belle leaned against a tree to watch her love push the small child on the swing. Her voice and face transformed into a motherly tone that made Ariel laugh with delight and Belle smile with adoration. She loved Red and every single thing about her - her big, beautiful green eyes; her smooth black hair; her luscious red lips and the way they smiled when she looked at Belle; the sound of her voice; the gentle, protective way her hands held Belle's; her selfless, caring nature; her fierce, wild side; and everything in between.

Three years could not have passed any faster. It seemed like only yesterday that Belle had been lying on James' bed while Red sat in his chair. That was because every day Belle spent with Red was a paradise, and there was never enough time in the day to be with someone who made you feel happy all the time.

Belle had been wrong all those years ago. Loving Red was easy, and that was the best part. Red made everything easy - every kiss, every decision, every moment. All Belle had to do was ask, and Red was there. It was more than she could have ever asked for, more than she deserved, but she could never stop loving Red. They were in far too deep to let it all go now; they were completely and utterly in love - incomprehensible, passionate, pure love. Belle had yet to figure out if it was real or just a dream.

"Belle? Are you all right?"

"Hm?" Belle looked up from her fingers.

Red picked Ariel up and set her on the ground, where she ran to play with her sister, who was laying on top of the grassy hill, staring at the sky. "You were somewhere else for a while there. Are you feeling well?" Red began to walk over to her, and Belle longed for her to walk faster.

"I'm fine; I was just thinking."

"About what?"

"You," she whispered with a smile.

Red laughed quietly to herself as she took Belle's hand in her own and played with it. "I was thinking about you too, but I'm afraid I could never be as thorough of a thinker as you."

Belle gave a small smirk as she stared at their intertwined fingers. "Well, that's fine; I'm not nearly as interesting to think about as you are."

"Of course you are!" she insisted, pulling Belle closer. "You're perfect." Red kissed her lightly on the forehead, and Belle closed her eyes happily, snaking her arms around Red's waist and standing on her tiptoes to brush her lips lightly against Red's.

She felt the smile split across Red's face as Belle kissed her. "I love you," she whispered.

"And I love you," Red replied, still smiling as they separated. "Come on; we've got to make the girls lunch."

"Of course we do," Belle sighed, slowly unwrapping her arms from her waist and reaching for Red's hand.

Red laughed and began to lead her up the hill. "Somebody's getting a little antsy."

"We never get any time to ourselves," she complained childishly.

"I'll make it up to you tonight. I promise," Red winked as she swung their arms back and forth merrily. "After the girls go to bed, we can have as much time as you like to be together."

Belle grinned in anticipation. "I'm going to hold you to that."


"Aunt Red, can you teach me how to use a bow after lunch?" Alana asked as she sat at the large table in the dining room.

Red looked glanced awkwardly at Belle. "Um - " Belle nodded, trying not to look too upset, as she helped Ariel into a chair. "Of course I can."

Alana grinned broadly as she began to eat her soup, and there was a knock at the door and Belle hurried to answer it, pulling it open to reveal a very dramatically dressed woman. She wore the most extravagant dress Belle had ever laid eyes on and her black hair was in an elaborate bun. "Can I - can I help you?"

The woman looked surprised but recovered quickly. "I'm looking for Prince James. Is he here?"

"No, he's fighting in the ogre wars. But please come in and have a drink," she said with a smile.

"Thank you, dear," the woman stepped over the threshold. "You know I have the strangest feeling that I've seen you before. Have we ever met?"

"I don't believe so." Belle did not want to give her name; it had been a very long time since she had had to introduce herself to anyone, and she wasn't sure what kind of a reaction her name would create.

"It's no matter. I was just hoping to give him a message, but - "

" - He'll be back in a few days. Why don't you just give it to me and I can tell him when he returns?"

"That won't be necessary."

"Well, can I at least have your name, so I can inform James of your visit?"

"Of course dear. It's - "

"Regina?" Red entered the room and came to stand beside Belle, a very dangerous look in her eyes that not even Belle had seen before. "What are you doing here?"

"I just came to see an old friend," she had an evil twinkle in her eye. "I must say I'm surprised to see you - alive," Regina grinned.

"Wait. You're Regina?" Belle gaped and then came back to herself, noticing how fiercely Red's nails were pressing into her palms. "You need to leave."

"No, that's okay, Belle. Let her stay," Red said through gritted teeth.

Regina sunk into a large, plush arm chair and smirked. "Belle?" Her eyes grew wider. "Oh I have seen you before." She smiled and reached into the folds of her cloak, pulling out a piece of parchment and holding it at arms' length. Red stepped forward and snatched it from her hand.

Belle watched as her eyes slowly grew colder and narrower. "What is it?" She moved to look at it over Red's shoulder, but Red tried to hide it.

"It's nothing."

"Give it to me, Red," Belle sighed and pried it from her hands. Red was staring at Regina as if she would like nothing more than to kill her.

Belle looked down to see her own face looking back at her. The word 'missing' was emboldened above her head and underneath, it said 'wanted: alive'. At the bottom was a portrait of Red that said 'wanted dead or alive: for kidnap'.

Belle felt her entire world shatter. This was all going to be over, wasn't it? Regina was going to take them away from each other, take her back to her father. She looked up with tears falling from her eyes.

"It's okay, sweetheart," said Regina. "Think about the life you'd be going back to. ... Or you can stay here with this monster and hide away for the rest of your life."

"You bitch," Red whispered. "Does it make you content to destroy the happiness of others?"

"Of course it does." Red started forward.

"Red," Belle said softly, "don't."

"So what does that make you?" Regina stood up and looked at Belle. "Her master?"

"Don't you speak to her," said Red, pushing her back, and Regina's eyes turned a dangerous shade of purple.

"Red!" Belle ran up to her and grabbed her wrist. "Don't sink to her level."

"I won't let her talk to you like that!" she insisted.

"Red, we both know that is not the issue here. ... It's in the past. Let it go," Belle pleaded.

"Oh," Regina laughed. "This is about her, isn't it? Dear, dear Snow White."

Red practically jumped forward, and Belle stepped in front of her. "Red, stop it!"

"Get out of my way, Belle!" Her eyes were mad with rage.

Belle did not move but held her wrists down gently. "Red ... please," she brushed a tear from Red's cheek. "For me?"

"Belle ... do you know what she's done?"

"I know," Belle nodded.

"I just - I want to - "

"I know."

"I want to - "

"I know."

"She's going to take you away from me!" Red cried out desperately. "I have to stop her!"

"Red, listen to me." Belle placed her hands lightly on Red's cheeks. "Sinking to her level will lead you down a path you can never return from. How do you think she became this way?"

"Enough of this," Regina rolled her eyes, and Belle turned sharply towards her; she looked thoroughly disgusted. "I'm not going to turn you in."

"You're - you're not?" Red stuttered.

"No, I'm not. ... I am granting you the most gracious gift of being together for the last happy day of your life."

"What - what are you talking about?" asked Belle.

"A curse, dear."

"You have a curse that will take everyone's happiness away?" Red laughed, although Belle felt very nervous.

Regina smirked. "A magician never reveals her secrets, dear."

"Get. Out." She said through gritted teeth.

"Gladly. I don't know how much longer I could have lasted in this revolting atmosphere."

"Regina, I am warning you - " Red looked ready to kill again, and Belle grabbed her hand protectively.

"All right; I can see I've overstayed my welcome," she smiled. "You enjoy your last two weeks together. In fourteen days, it will all be gone." Her smile changed abruptly to a sincere frown as she sneered, "I will destroy your happiness - if it is the last thing I do."

Regina did not even have to march out; she was gone in a puff of purple smoke that filled the air in front of the two women.

It took a moment for Belle to realize that Red was shaking beside her. "Red? Are you okay?" she whispered, turning towards her.

"You should have let me rip her throat out."

"I - "

"Why did you stop me?!" she yelled.

"Because nothing good ever comes from vengeance! Because she can do magic, and you would have been hurt or killed!"

"I don't care, Belle!"

"You're - you're mad at me ... because I didn't let you kill Regina?!"

Red took a deep breath. "Belle, I'm not mad at you. I'm furious at her. She has the nerve to come here, lie to us, and shove this piece of paper into our lives! After everything she's done!"

Very slowly, Belle came to the realization of something. "Wait a minute. ... You've been talking calmly to me about Snow for the past year. ... This is the problem, isn't it?" she held up the poster.

Red looked away guiltily. "Oh no you don't," said Belle. "You don't get to do this whole noble, I'm-not-good-enough-for-you thing."

"Well, I'm not - "

"Don't even start! I'm tired of having this argument with you, Red!" Belle waited for her response, but she merely gave another guilty smirk.

Belle rolled her eyes. "I want to be with you. Now you find me when you know whether or not you want to be with me too," she said quietly before kissing Red on the lips passionately, brushing her fingers along her jawline slowly before pulling back.

Red looked stunned and out-of-breath, her eyes closed tightly.

Belle wanted to kiss her again, but she knew she had to let Red make this decision. She brushed past her quickly and went back into the dining room, putting on a fake smile for the rest of the day.


Red sat on the branch of a tree, looking up at the moon. In a few days, it would be wolfs' time again, and just like before, Red would turn into a wolf and run freely through the grounds. And just like before, Belle would be waiting for her upstairs when she had turned back into herself.

Nothing had ever gone wrong, but every full moon, Red went through this process of thinking she would hurt someone, of thinking she was a monster, and Belle would brush the idea aside.

She had never doubted Red once, and she had been the only person to stand loyally by her side, and Belle wanted to be with her. That was still hard to wrap her head around after being feared for the majority of her life.

So the real question was did Red want to be with Belle? Yes. It was so easy to answer; no one was as good as Belle, and trying to be with someone else could never live up to the wonderful paradise Red had known these last three years.

But you know you're not good enough for her. That voice said again.

But she wants to be with me; she doesn't care.

Red sighed and jumped easily down from the high branch, landing smoothly on her feet, walking slowly back up to the castle.


Belle was sitting in bed reading when Red walked in. "Are the girls asleep?" she asked quietly, leaning against the door frame.

Belle nodded and looked up expectantly. "So … do you know what you want now?"

"Yes, I do," Red said, and Belle bookmarked a spot in her book and set it on the table beside her bed while Red sat at her feet on the sheets.

"You have to understand what it's like for me, Belle. … You're a princess for one thing; people like us aren't even supposed to meet. And even that wouldn't be so bad if you weren't so perfect. Not even the most handsome prince would deserve you, and yet, you chose me."

"Of course I did – "

"Are you going to let me talk or not?" Red smiled, and Belle rolled her eyes but leaned further into her pillow. "Now throw in the fact that I'm a werewolf, that I've killed people, that I still want to. … You're so pure and good, and I'm the exact opposite. … Of course I want to be with you; I want to be with you more than I've ever wanted anything in my life. But I don't understand why you want to be with me."

Belle laughed quietly and sat up, pulling Red onto the bed beside her and stroking her hair gently. "I want to be with you because I know the good in you, and there's so much of it that I don't know how anyone could ever notice the bad." Red wrapped her arm around Belle's waist. "To be angry is to be human."

"And to be a killer?"

"You're not a killer; maybe you were once, but circumstances have changed." Belle shrugged her shoulders.

"How is it that you can be so naïve and yet so believable?" Red asked, pulling Belle's face towards her.

"It's a gift," she laughed.

Red couldn't hold it in any longer; she leaned up and brushed her lips against Belle's. Belle's hand slid up an inch in her hair as Red's slid down to skim lightly along her leg.

Belle moaned softly as Red began to kiss her neck. "Red," she whispered.

"Hm?"

"Red, not tonight."

Red pulled away slightly, her hand resting on Belle's chest. "I thought you wanted to."

"Well, of course I did … before. … It has been a long and trying day."

"And what better way to take your mind off of it?" Red whispered, raising her eyebrows and tracing Belle's collar bone with her finger.

"Come on, Red," Belle smiled. "I just want to go to sleep."

Red sighed and rolled back to her own side of the bed.

"Oh are you not talking to me now?" Belle teased, turning onto her side.

Red turned her head away, deciding to play along. "I'm sorry, Red," Belle's hand crept up to touch her shoulder. "I love you," she whispered hopefully. Red could feel Belle's breath by her ear, and she gave an involuntary shudder. "Red, you've never been good at this game," she laughed, kissing Red slowly on the neck and her cheek and her forehead until Red could no longer resist, and she turned back towards Belle and smiled.

Belle kissed her lips gently for a brief second. "I win," she whispered, wrapping her arm around Red tightly.

"Well, I suppose I can live with that." Red kissed her again, drowning in the taste of her lips.

"Good night," Belle said softly when they separated.

"Good night, Belle," Red turned onto her other side and draped her arm over Belle's waist, falling asleep to the sweet scent of Belle's shampoo and the sound of her deep, slow breathing.


"James!" Red cried happily as she engulfed her friend in a bone-crushing hug.

Charming laughed. "It's so nice to see you, Red. And Belle, it's been far too long."

"I'm glad to see you're all right, Charming." Belle hugged him gently as Alana and Ariel ran up eagerly behind her.

"How are my girls?" he asked as he crouched down to their level.

"Hungry," Ariel replied, and everyone laughed.

"We missed you," said Alana. "But guess what! Aunt Red taught me how to shoot a bow!"

"Did she?"

"She's already better than you," Red smiled as she wrapped her arm around Belle's waist.

"Well I prefer a strong sword to a bow any day." James grinned as he ruffled Alana's hair. "Now let's go get something to eat," he said before throwing Ariel over his shoulder.

Red and Belle glanced warily at each other. Life was always better when Charming was home, and not only because they got more time together. He brightened up so much around the girls that it was simply impossible to be unhappy, but Belle was convinced they had to tell Charming about Regina's threat, and Red was not looking forward to it.

They were waiting until the girls had been put to bed, and it came in the blink of an eye. James sunk into the sofa by the fireplace, and Belle sat across from him in the chair, Red lounging on the arm.

"What news is there of the war?" Red asked.

"Ovenly has fallen," he said gravely. "I'm afraid these ogres are giving us a run for our money."

"Ovenly's not far from my village," Belle spoke up with concern. "Is – is my father safe?"

James nodded. "For now, but I fear it won't be long before the ogres over take Gamorrah and cross the forest."

"So why have they sent you home, James?" Red asked. "Surely you should be fighting alongside the other men."

"A few days ago, I was in charge of a mission to surprise the ogres. I made a bad judgement call, and needless to say, we weren't much of a surprise. I was fortunate to escape with my life, but the other soldiers weren't as lucky," he said gravely. "I returned having failed my mission and, as leader, Kind Midas held me responsible for the losses. I've been dishonorably discharged from Midas' army," James laughed.

"He has no right to discharge you," said Red. "You are a prince."

"And he is a king. Red, I cost the lives of twenty men. ... It makes little difference to me. I will fight for anyone who hands me a sword. But enough of the war. Tell me how life was while I was away."

"Peaceful," Belle smile. "No one ever disturbed your castle." She glanced over to Red, who nodded encouragingly. "Until last week. ... Regina stopped by."

"Regina?" He was on his feet at once. Belle reached over to the table and handed him the poster.

"She left this."

"I saw these in all the towns I passed through," he said quietly, crumpling it in his hands. "A few men were even suspicious of me - because of our friendship," he said to Red. "Don't worry; no one will find you here."

Belle nodded. "The queen also had a message for you," she hesitated. "She spoke of a curse that would take away everyone's happiness."

James faltered. "She only meant to frighten us."

"See, Belle. There is nothing to fear," Red insisted for the hundredth time that week.

"How can you be certain?" Belle was on her feet now too. "Don't you know what she's capable of?"

"She killed my wife, Belle. Of course I know what she's capable of," James' voice had turned hard and cold.

"Then why won't you listen to me?!"

"Because such a curse cannot exist."

"And why not?"

"Because it is impossible."

"Why?!" Belle asked in exasperation. "Give me proof, and I'll believe you!"

"Belle, calm down," Red said kindly.

"No! I will not calm down! If this curse exists, we have six days of happiness left, and I don't even want to know what will be left on the seventh day." Belle looked at Red desperately, hoping she would understand just how terrified she was.

"Charming, there has to be some way to solve this argument."

James sighed. "We'll have to talk to him," he said, looking thoroughly conflicted.

"Who's "him"?" Belle asked.

"Rumpelstiltskin," Red sighed anxiously. "If anyone were to know the truth, it would be the Dark One."

"Then let's summon him - right now," Belle said eagerly.

"Belle, it's the middle of the night. I had a long day of travel, and the only thing I desire is a good night's rest."

"But - "

"We'll talk to him tomorrow morning." Belle knew arguing with him would be pointless, especially when he was like this. "Good night," James said as he left the room, drink in hand.


Red fell onto her bed face-first, exhausted, wanting nothing more than to curl under the sheets and sleep for a thousand years, but Belle, on-the-other-hand, was wide-awake and did not appear to have any desire to even stand still.

She paced rapidly across the floor for a few seconds before sinking into the chair that sat by the windowsill.

"Baby, come to bed," Red said softly. "It's late."

"I'm not tired, Red."

"Belle, just - at least lay down. We have to be up early tomorrow if you want answers."

"I said I wasn't tired, didn't I?" she snapped.

Red knew immediately that something was off; Belle never yelled, shouted, snapped or scoffed at her. She rolled onto her feet slowly and walked over to Belle.

"Come to bed, Belle. Sleep it off." Red put her hand gently on Belle's shoulder, and was surprised to see her shrug it away. "You're mad at me, aren't you?"

"Red, you made me feel like an idiot. ... And you were the one person I never expected to make me feel that way."

Red looked down guiltily. "I - I'm sorry," she mumbled.

"I forgive you," Belle replied easily, "but I know you still don't believe me."

"Belle ... it just seems too unrealistic to be considered a real threat."

"It does, but so does everything that's ever happened to us. You had your heart ripped out of your chest, and you turn into a werewolf to name a few. Why is it so hard for you to believe that this could be real?"

"Because ... if it is real ... then that means accepting that we won't be together ... because if Regina intends to take my happiness ... the only way to do that would be to take you away from me," Red said slowly, finally telling Belle the truth.

Belle's head snapped up, and their eyes met. And that was when an understanding passed between them of how much they truly loved each other, needed each other, wanted each other, and of how much they would lose if they were forced apart.

"I'm sorry," they both said at once.

"This is stupid," Red continued.

"Why are we fighting like this?" Belle asked. "If - if the curse is real, then we should be spending every moment just being happy together," she stood up and wrapped her arms tightly around Red, who returned the hug gratefully.

"Belle, let's go to bed. When we wake up in the morning, this issue can finally be resolved," said Red. She felt Belle's head nod against her chest, and Red led her slowly to the bed.

As they lay down, Red whispered, "No matter what happens tomorrow, I want you to know that I will never regret anything."

"Neither will I," Belle said softly as Red kissed her on the top of the head. "I love you, Red."

"And I love you, Belle. I always will."

Author's Note: Okay, the purpose of this chapter was both a filler and a chance to finally "fluff" it up a bit. I hope you still want to keep reading; I promise next chapter will be better, and it will be the first time in Storybrooke so look for a new chapter soon! :)