After learning that killing Zelena to save Baelfire might be something more complicated than he originally thought, Rumpelstiltskin became more quiet and withdrawn. He locked himself in his tower for long hours of the day and night and Emma sometimes didn't see him for days.
He proved to be a decent host though. Her room was plain but it was pretty in its own way. It was comfortable and well furnished. The bed was warm, the tub was enchanted so it was always a temperature that Emma needed, and her wardrobe….
Nothing was as fancy as her ballroom dress. In their own ways, the dresses he'd provided to her were plain as well but still had signs that she was royalty. The Dark One had good taste, Emma had to admit. Emma wondered if he was a stylist before he went….snake eyed and scaly. When she asked Belle, Belle whispered that it was probably best not to ask. (Which tempted Emma more). Everyone had a theory on where Rumpelstiltskin came from. Some believed he always was. There must always be evil to compete with good.
"You don't believe that?" Emma had asked.
"There's a good man inside him," Belle told her, "I can sense it. He's not as dark as they all say."
Emma couldn't argue with that. The Dark One was….complicated but he wasn't out and out evil. At least not in her experiences. He did a lot of bad things….a lot…most of what she'd heard secondhand from the people of the town but he also had a capacity to love and protect.
She didn't tell Belle that though. They fell in love without Emma's interference, they could do so again.
However, no matter what Emma tried, she couldn't keep herself completely out of the picture. With Rumpelstiltskin locked away in his study, Belle had gone to seek out Emma for company. She liked to talk, that one. And Emma….found herself returning it as this was the only face that Emma would see…for a very long time.
Emma was a 'princess' by this world's standards, which gave her some status that she never had in her world. But Emma didn't know what to do with that. So she worked alongside Belle. She learned to wash clothes and cook with her. They tended the garden and cleaned. Emma didn't have to as Belle liked to tell her but Emma did it anyway. It wasn't fair that Belle would have to do all the work and well…Emma was bored. She was desperate to take her mind off the life before. It didn't hurt so much when she wasn't thinking about Henry and her parents. At the end of the day, her back hurt, her fingers were blistered but it was something. Better than sitting around waiting in her opinion.
When Emma learned that Belle still slept in the dungeon, she let Belle sleep up in her room with her. They shared the bed and talked long into the night. Emma soon learned everything about Belle. About the death of her mother, about her father raising her by himself, about her engagement to Gaston and her fears as the ogre war had drawn closer until Rumpelstiltskin provided her an opportunity to end it and so she had.
"Were you scared?" Emma had asked.
"That first night yes," she told Emma, "But he never hurt me. He never will either."
Maybe not physically. But Emma knew the story. She knew that Rumple had sent Belle away and she'd been captured by Regina…imprisoned for four years here and then 28 in the old world. If they were going to stop anything, Emma was going to stop that. She didn't know how…but she would.
Sometimes Emma wanted to stay out of time…let it play by itself. But other times she wanted to fight to change it. Belle was her friend, now. Might be her only friend she'd truly have for the next…..30 or so years.
But she also realized the cost. If she kept Regina from getting her hands on Belle, then Rumple wouldn't mark her with the Wraith's Pendant. Which meant that Emma and her mother wouldn't cross over to the Enchanted Forest. Which meant they'd never meet Hook or Cora. Which meant she couldn't bond with Hook and ease him towards his redemption…which meant they'd never meet Anton and give him a home.
Which meant Anton would never bring the beans that Regina would steal…that Greg and Tamara would steal from her. Which meant that they couldn't cross over to Neverland and Bae wouldn't fall in the portal after getting shot….
Could that be a way to save him?
Emma grew excited and had started for the study that Rumple had shut himself in when she froze. Cora and Hook could still get to Storybrooke…they could still bring Anton; he could still grow the beans….
Tamara and Greg could still take them…
They could still take Henry to Neverland.
But perhaps they could find a way to keep Hook and Cora from crossing over…
But then Hook would never find his way to redemption…or on the track towards it and how she felt towards him afterwards. Well…she was still trying to sort that out.
She had plenty of time though, that was 30 years from now.
It still didn't' feel solid enough to take to the Dark One. Emma needed to work a few things out in her mind before it was foolproof. She doubted Rumple would take anything less.
It was there. She knew it. She just had to keep them from taking Henry to Neverland. She had to keep Baelfire from falling into the portal. They could save him that way couldn't they? They could even get to Neverland if they had to. Emma imagined she could allow it, it could even be as simple as destroying the parchment of the curse that Regina kept in the vault…open for everyone to see.
Still…it needed some fine tuning. She could do it, she was certain of it.
She was thinking of the details when Belle led her into one of the towers. Emma hadn't been up here before. Emma saw that it was floor to ceiling books. A library. Or one of them. Emma was slowly learning the layout of the castle and the Dark One had little caches of books everywhere. Emma looked in some of them sometimes, but they weren't in languages she knew. Or they were about spells that she didn't understand.
Emma gave a sigh, "This will take a long time to dust."
"That's not why we're here," Belle told her and smiled excitedly, "This is mine."
"He gave you a library?"
Belle nodded excitedly, "IT's the best gift anyone's ever given me."
He gave her a library in Storybrooke too. Must be nice to be able to hand those out, "And now you're showing me?"
"I thought maybe…I thought maybe this could help…something in here could help you and Rumple with your mission."
"I don't know the languages in this world."
"That's okay," Belle told her, "I do. Well…some of them at least."
Emma nodded, "Okay…any suggestions?"
"Not really. I don't know much about your world or what happens but we'll go page by page if we have to," Belle went for the bookshelf on the far left.
Emma wasn't sure how much help they would be but it touched her all the same that Belle was so eager to help her get to her son and help Rumple save his.
She went to go help.
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They were dining alone when Rumpelstiltskin came into the hall. He wore a crisp golden shirt with a red vest. Both were clean. He was clean. He looked rested too, nothing gave off the appearance that he'd shut himself away for days on end to try and find a solution.
"Rumpelstiltskin," Belle stood up in surprise while Emma stayed sitting, "You're out. I'll get you a plate."
"No time to eat dearie," Rumpelstiltskin told her and turned to Emma, "You're needed."
"For what?"
"For reasons. Pack warmly; we're going to George's Castle to celebrate Princess Abigail coming to the castle for the wedding."
"But she won't," Emma told him while keeping her seat, "My father runs off before it happens. He slays the creature at Lake Nostos."
"I can't know this dearie!" he told her with a flail, "Too much throws me off, you know that. Pack warmly, we travel by carriage. I'd apparate us but royals hate that. However we're still required. I put a lot of work into this marriage that'll never happen!"
"Will Midas be there?"
"As a rule, I would hope so since that's his daughter."
"Midas knows me."
"He knows a Princess Leah."
"Leia."
"I didn't care enough for you to correct me, dearie."
"He'll want to know where Prince Charles is. What should I tell him?"
"Tell him that Charles was walking and fell off a cliff, what do I care?"
"He also knows me as the woman Regina arrested in the ballroom."
"Oh dear, now that is troubling," he signed and waved his hand, "The glamor spell is gone, dearie. When you leave these walls, you won't look like Leia to anyone else. Though I imagine you'll have to have a new name and story…you shall be….my….daughter."
Emma made a face.
"Well dearie, you had a child with my son, you might as well be like a daughter to me so it's not all a lie," he tilted his head, "You just look like your mother is all."
"That's what they say," she muttered.
