One year later...

Belle was coming home.

Her stomach was full of butterflies as she pulled the scroll out of the Cadillac's glovebox and the the town line shimmered into view.

Henry had texted her many months ago, letting her know that Emma and Regina were back to normal and the town was safe to return to. A few days later, he'd texted again to tell her that Rumple was the Dark One again. She assumed he had waited, hoping she would come straight back after the first text.

She was in Lima, Peru at the time, so there was no quick return had she even wanted to, and once she received the second text she had turned the phone off altogether. She was unhappy and disappointed and didn't even want to think about it.

The rest of the year she had spent traveling. Rumple's bank account was nearly bottomless, thanks to Regina's initial curse, and this world was far more vast than she had imagined. She had seen the wonders of Machu Picchu. She explored Mayan ruins in Copán. She had walked along the Great Wall of China. She went snorkeling on the Great Barrier Reef in Australia. She had spent a month in Paris and another in Madrid. She took a boat to the Galapagos Islands. But no matter how far away she traveled, everywhere she went she saw things that reminded her of home. Of him.

Finally, after a week in Scotland, she just couldn't take it anymore. She dropped the rest of her plans, went straight to the airport and bought a seat on the first flight back to Boston. Once there, she pulled the Cadillac out of storage and set off for Storybrooke without delay.

Now she sat in his Cadillac, parked on the street across from the shop and bathed in the orange sodium glow of the streetlamps. Nervously, she stared through the windshield at the shop's door. The sign was flipped, but there were lights on inside. He must be there.

Finally, she pulled together her courage and walked across the street. Despite the "closed" sign, the door was unlocked. She pulled it open and stepped inside, the familiar smell of the shop returning to her like an old friend. The bell jingled merrily, but it must have gone unheard in the back.

She heard multiple voices from the back room. Curious, yet cautious, she approached to listen.

"Damn it, Gold. You cheated!" That sounded like Emma.

"Is that so, Miss Swan? Perhaps you should look to your own first." There was no mistaking Rumple's smooth reply.

She thought she heard Regina's vicious laughter now.

Righteous indignation started to bubble up in Belle. Was he really back to his old ways, cheating the heroes again? And luring Regina into it again as well? Really?! She started to stomp towards the back and pulled the curtain aside to peer inside. What she saw stopped her cold, though.

They were playing cards. Cards!

Chairs had been pulled around the workbench. Rumple sat with his back to the door, facing off against Regina and Emma. Regina was tugging at the cards in Emma's hand.

"Ha! You do know there are only four aces in a standard deck of cards, don't you Emma?" Regina was saying. "You ought to know this better than anyone, seeing as you were raised in this ridiculous little world!"

Emma snorted. "Yeah, well in this ridiculous world they don't use magic to stack the deck either!" She cast a glare at Rumple, who laughed in turn.

"My, my. Such sour grapes, dearie," he needled her, "and just because you're losing so spectacularly tonight. Even your miraculous five aces can't save you now!"

"Yeah, well I don't see how you can have a royal flush while I'm holding all those aces," Emma grumbled back.

Belle watched this scene unfold with silent bewilderment. They were laughing and teasing and Rumple seemed at ease. Afraid to say a word that might break this fragile tableau, she was so far unnoticed by the trio of card players. She didn't go unnoticed altogether, however. As she cast her gaze around the scene before her, she suddenly found herself locking eyes with Henry, who was curled up in a chair and had been scribbling away in a notebook with a pencil. The page was nearly full of text in rather neat lines of precise script for a teenager. He looked at her for a long moment over the notebook with unexpectedly clever and calculating eyes, so like his grandfather's. He'd grown up quite a bit in a year, Belle realized.

She thought to motion him to silence, but he wasn't going to have any off that apparently. "Hey, Belle!" he announced brightly.

Now officially busted, she glanced back to the table. Regina and Emma looked up at her with keen interest, but it was Rumple who she was watching. His back stiffened in surprise and he turned in his chair slowly. "Belle?" he said, voice thick.

Caught unprepared, she just nodded and they stared silently at each other for what seemed like an eternity.

Regina broke through the quiet like cannon fire. "Well then, poker night is over!" she proclaimed. She and Emma shared a glance. And when did they get so chummy, Belle wondered. Regina then shot a look at Henry that only a mother could master. "C'mon. You too, young man."

Henry let out a theatrical sigh. "Ooookay," he drawled with all the typical attitude of a teenager. But the sly look he gave Belle gave away the act. He closed his notebook and hopped off the chair. "See ya later, Grandpa!" he said pointedly.

Emma put her arm around Henry's shoulder and lead him out the door. As Emma passed, she gave Belle what could only be described as the hairy eyeball. Regina ushered them out in the rear, but paused by Belle to lean in close and whisper a warning to her. "Don't you dare break his heart again," she sternly commanded, just out of Rumple's earshot.

Utterly stunned, Belle just stared as Regina swept out the room and she heard the front door shut behind them.

Alone now in the room, Rumple rose from his chair-she noticed that his limp was again gone-and stepped towards her.

"You came back," he said in disbelief and suddenly she felt as if she were back in the Dark Castle again all those years ago.

"I did," she said, voice small. "I'm home."

He reached a tentative hand to her. He touched her cheek reverently, then drew back as if uncertain.

"Belle," he began, "I have to tell you something..."

She took his hand in hers, silencing his confession. "Rumple, I know. You're the Dark One again. Henry told me." She glanced back at the front door, where Henry and his family had just departed. "I think… I think I understand why now, though."

She stepped closer to him now, his hand still clasped in hers. She felt a thrill run down her spine at being near him once more.

He was looking at her with hopeful, yet deeply wary, eyes. With time, she had come to realize that she had hurt him as much as he had hurt her-and yet he still looked at her with hope. If he was willing to forgive, so too would she.

They were close now, with only a sliver of space between them. Belle could feel his warm breath on her. She wasn't sure how they came to be so near, but she wouldn't pull away now.

"Why did you come back?" he breathed, echoing words spoken so long ago.

This time, she answered as she should have in the first place. No games, no dissembling, no dancing around it. Just the honest truth. If they tried this again. If this was ever going to work, this time it had to be this way.

"Rumplestiltskin, I love you."

The space between them closed.

"Oh, Belle. I love you too."

The road was never going to be easy, but after all... True Love had to be fought for.