Notes: Yay, I'm back with this fic. I'm so sorry for the delay, but it won't happen again. We are having weekly updates from now on, so I hope there are still readers left to it after my big three months break. Oh, and just in case you haven't seen it I've started a collection of little flickets about what happened with the Dark One's family between this fic and Dark Lady, so if you can check it out later, if you want.
As always, thank you so much for reading!
Rose was sat on the bed, curled with a blanket around her shoulders, Gideon sleeping on an armchair near the windows and Neal on another one, nearest to where she was, his fingers rubbing against the smooth skin of her hand. He had arrived that morning after receiving a letter from their father, telling everything that had happened. Rumplestiltskin sounded slightly desperate in it, his repetitive words showing how much he was still concerned, even though the situation was already over. Neal knew there was still much to be resolved, including the problems with the Dark Realm, and he needed to be there for his family now.
"It's hard to see you locked here all the time. Everybody wants you to smile again," he said to his sister.
"I can smile, I can get over it," Rose assured, brown eyes kind and attentive locked with his. "What happened will haunt me forever, Neal, but I'm strong enough to live with it. The problem is that as much as our whole family loves me, they all think I'm fragile now and this, the look of pity on their faces, this I can't take right now."
Neal waved his head positively, but his eyes flew to his younger brother sleeping on the other corner of the room. Their father had commented earlier that the boy didn't left Rose's side from the moment he opened his eyes and was informed she had been rescued, his guilty for being with her when she was kidnaped and not being able to help her, eating him alive as Gideon devoted every second of his day to take care of her.
"But you let him in," Neal said, pointing at him, with a movement of his head.
Rose pulled the blankets closer, smiling at the sight of her brother passed out on the chair, snoring slightly.
"Gideon is different. As much guilty as he is feeling, he believes in me."
"All of us do," he assured. "But I think I get what you're saying, that kid was always a tough one and he was always the first one to stand by you."
Dropping the blanket behind her, the girl slid from the bed and opened her arms to her eldest brother, letting him hug her tight.
"Thank you for coming, Neal, you enlightened my day. I may even come out to dinner and face everyone."
"That's my girl," the brother said tapping a finger on the top of her nose, making Rose giggle. "You know, I've always felt bad for me and Emma never getting to have more children after Henry, but I think I relish in having you all to look after. Papa and Belle had babies enough to fill any lack we might have."
A louder laugh left her mouth, because she knew Neal was right, they had a huge family and if it was up to her parents it would continue to get even larger, as long as they could keep conceiving children.
"Always the joker one, huh?"
Neal showed her a grin, kissing the top of her head before walking to the door. "See you later, little flower."
"See you," Rose returned.
She looked around her room, thinking about what to do next, decided to not stay inside there today. Rose went to the closet, starting to pass her fingers through the dresses until she picked two, placing each of them in front of her body, wondering which looked better in her.
"Choosing a gown?" Gideon's sleepy voice asked from behind Rose.
When the girl turned around she saw him standing by the closet's door, smiling lazily at her. Rose lifted the gowns a little for him to get a better look.
"Yeah, which one do you like best?"
"Lavender. It always looked great on you," Gideon opined and she discarded the emerald one, putting it back on its place. "I've heard papa has plans of marrying you with Roland."
"Oh, don't remind me of that," she said with an incredulous shook of her head. "I'm glad I don't need to hid it anymore, but I'm sixteen and I don't want to think about marriage just now."
A great part of her was really grateful for what Roland had done, claiming her as his betrothed, to protect her from eventual rumours that people might spread about her, even though most of the people who had witnessed what happened in Avonlea were dead or not interested in ruining her reputation. But it also meant that now Rumplestiltskin was aware of everything and even if he hadn't said a bad thing about that, and her mother actually said he was pretty happy with Roland's attitude, it seemed he was already making plans for a future she didn't want to have just now.
"I know," her brother muttered.
"Gideon," Rose started, nibbling at her lip, "I've made a decision."
"What is it, sweet?" he asked, coming to stand behind her, rubbing at her back as her fingers traced the soft fabric of the gown she was holding.
Rose had a lot of time to think when she was locked in there, covering herself with all those blankets as if they were shields, protecting her from all the bad in the world. And she was just so truly broken that Rose didn't even want to sleep for a while, afraid that she would find more terror in her dreams than she did awaken. But, gratefully no visions had tormented her the past few weeks.
"I want to go after Maleficent and find that spell book Lady Heart talked about. Maybe it's my only chance of get rid of my visions," she confessed. "Will you help me?"
The hesitance was clear in his eyes, but Gideon wasn't going to let her down now, so he simply nodded, kissing her cheek. "Whatever you wish."
Smiling, she placed the lavender gown on a chair, looking back at him with a question shinning in her eyes. "I haven't seen Roderick around. Have you told him about what happened?"
"The last time we spoke was at Snow's castle. I - " Gideon's lips tightened in a thin line. "I don't want to talk about this right now."
Something wasn't right and Rose knew it pretty well, but as much as Gideon and her teased one another the whole time, they also respected when silence was required, so she wasn't going to question him just now.
"Alright," she waved her head positively. "Can you walk me to dinner after I change?"
"Of course."
Belle brushed her hair with care, her eyes lost in an invisible point on the wall, reddish as she was tired of the sleepless nights, when she could only think about how much they were falling. She heard the door of her chambers opening, but didn't made any movement that indicated she actually did, her husband walked slowly towards her, placing his thick hands on her shoulders, stroking down her arms.
"We need to talk," Rumplestiltskin said as gently as he could, nose brushing against her hair as he sniffed her floral essence.
"About what?"
"Avonlea," the imp answered, causing a shiver to pass through her body. "I need to know what do you want me to do, the kingdom is falling."
Belle shook her head, tears coming to her eyes at the thought of which horrible things that place put her daughter through. A bad her father caused. Rose had insisted in saying that in the end, King Maurice had released her and asked the girl to say to Belle that he was sorry for everything, so what Keith did have nothing to do with Maurice in the end, but she couldn't help blaming her deceased father for this. Her baby girl had almost been raped and that was something nobody would ever be able to erase from her memory, so Belle's heart ached with the pain of a mother that felt its child's scars.
"Let it be, Rumple," the Dark Lady whispered.
"Let it be?" he repeated incredulously, kneeling in front of her and taking her hands in his. "But Belle, you sacrificed your own freedom for your home and your people. You made a deal with me so they all could live. Are you willing to see your own heroic efforts go to waste?"
A bitter laugh came from her throat. Heroic efforts, she didn't give a damn about it anymore, everything Belle wanted was to keep her family safe and maybe with some lucky, be fertile again. But a hero? She didn't even know the meaning of that word anymore, because along the years she saw many people she considered heroes do horrible things and people that just like her husband were considered villains, show themselves more good than they should.
People were just people, sometimes they made mistakes, sometimes they made the right thing and she wasn't willing to be anything more than human. And in that moment, she was choosing to be the villain if that was what she had to be, because Belle was going to be as selfish as she had to if that was what it takes to protect the ones she loved. The lady cupped her husband's cheek, giving him the sweetest look she could at the moment.
"My love, when we made that deal, I had nothing to lose, but now I have," Belle began. "Rumple, you gave me a lovely life and amazing children. Magic has its price and we have already payed enough. I wouldn't bear losing anything else."
Rumplestiltskin leaned against her touch kissing her wrist with a preoccupied expression. "Darling, you lost that beautiful light in your eyes those last few days and I hate to see you in such pain."
"I'm tired, so tired of all these dark days," she complained, closing her eyes tight and feeling his arms come around her. "I just want the tiniest happiness to assure me this will soon pass."
"It will, Belle, I promise you it will," the Dark One muttered against her neck hugging her with tenderness, before pulling away and standing up. "Come with me, let's enjoy a delicious dinner with our family."
Belle looked up at her handsome husband, that hadn't stopped trying to make everyone feel better recently. He was the reason she hadn't simply broken down into tears and curled herself in a corner yet, they spent the days caring for their children and the nights fixing the other's soul, cuddling in silence or mumbling words of encouragement and hope. She rose on her feet, straightening her dress and pressing a kiss on the imp's lips.
"I love you, Rumple."
"And I love you too, sweetheart," he replied as devoted as the first time he said those words.
He took her by the hand hooking her arm on his and leading Belle through the corridors of their castle, the voices on the dining hall reaching them at the staircase. They smiled weakly at each other as they entered the hall to find the children sat by the spinning wheel speaking loudly as Neal and Emma watched them. When Lucy set eyes in them, she jumped from the stool and ran to Rumple.
"Great-grandpa, can you teach me how to spin?"
"Why not?" He replied picking her from the floor and letting Belle play with her dark-brown hair. "We can do it tomorrow morning, little Lucy."
Making a gesture to the already full table's direction, he led the family to their places, helping the children to set themselves.
"I've got a letter from Henry. He was in Wonderland," Neal informed.
"Wonderland?" Belle repeated. "What is he doing there?"
"There were clues on that place," the young man explained.
"Oh," the lady grumbled, starting to serve Colette as Rumple did the same for Chip.
Emma got busy helping Lucy with the food and everybody was pretty distracted when the other two members of the family came from the right tower.
"Look who is here," Gideon announced, waving a hand in his sister's direction.
A silence took the hall, all of them starring surprised at Rose, who was standing right there for the first time since she was rescued from Avonlea, her hair perfectly braided and an elegant lavender dress adorning her, alongside with some golden jewels. Rumplestiltskin gasped and left Chip's plate on the table in front of him as he rushed to hug his daughter.
"It is so good to see you around," the Dark One whispered, dragging her to the dining table and pulling her a chair. "You'll sit by your father's side today."
"This is my seat!" Gideon and Neal simultaneously said.
"For now, it's Rose's," Rumple declared.
Rose sighed, cheeks flushing, because never before she had taken the chair at their father's left side, always designed to the eldest brother present on the dinners. "You know that I don't really need special treatment, right?"
"Don't be silly," Belle said, touching her face affectionally "this is not special treatment, we are just happy that you decided to eat with us."
"I just want everybody acting normally, alright?" Rose almost begged. "Today is the first day of forever to me, and if forever sounds awkward, I might go back to my chambers."
Emma took her seat on the distant end of the table and cleaned her throat. "Anyone wants potatoes?"
Neal laughed and Rose thought that, in that night her sister-in-law was one of her favourite persons.
Even though the snow had melted and the spring arrived the Enchanted Forest, the night was still cold, a remaining from those cruel white days that killed half of the commoners all around the realm. Gideon was wearing a warm heavy cloak that protected him from the wind, but a little further away, outside the small shack, his boyfriend was trembling in his thin clothes, while he worked with an axe.
"Getting some firewood?"
Roderick jumped, startled, dropping the axe in a weird position on the piece of wood.
"Gid!" He exclaimed, rushing to the Dark One's son and pressing his lips needy against his as they melted in a heated kiss before Roderick's anxiety for information made him pull away. "Dear gods, where have you been? I was dying with concern."
"I'm sorry I didn't say anything," Gideon answered playing with his dark hair, "but everything happened really fast, my mama kept me in bed for days, then there was Rose and..."
"Wait, what are you talking about?" Roderick interrupted. "Did you fell ill?"
Gideon denied with a movement of his head. He hadn't yet talked to anyone about the things that had happened those last few days, but his parents and Rose, however he owned his boyfriend an explanation and maybe, he thought, if he babbled enough about those events, it didn't seem so terrifying to do what he had come there for.
"Rod, after I sent you home from Queen Snow's castle, my sister and I took the road and were attacked," Gideon told him. "I tried really hard to fight with our attackers, but they had powerful magic and I wasn't strong enough. I got stabbed and Rose was kidnaped."
"Are you alright now?" Roderick asked touching his face as if he could find any bruises there. "And what about your sister?"
His heart was running fast on his chest, pressing his ribs painfully. He felt nauseous whenever he thought about Rose alone in Avonlea, because he still felt guilty and it was killing him inside.
"I'm fine and my father rescued her, brought her home, but he wasn't quick enough to spare her from a great trauma," he confessed, teeth clenched and jaw tightened. "A vile, repugnant man tried to rape my little sister."
"Oh, Gideon - " Roderick gasped and tried reach for him, but the boy pulled away, eyes filled with unshed tears.
"It was my fault. I couldn't do anything to keep her safe."
Grabbing his hand, Roderick brought it to his chest, pressing his fingers against the cold fabric of his shirt. Gideon could feel his rapid heartbeat through it, and he wanted more than anything to kiss him again, then take him to the old barn where their first encounters had happened, away from his aunt Ruby's eyes, when they met at the village.
"Listen to me, your fool. That was not your fault, alright?"
"Roderick... You're too good for me," Gideon muttered, "too kind."
A smile passed his lips, one which's glow could be able to enlighten the whole realm. "I only see you for who you are."
So, this is what being in love looks like, Gideon thought, enchanted. He couldn't do this anymore, if he stayed there for another second, he wasn't going to do what he must, so he waved a hand a made a basket full of food appear, handing it to Roderick.
"There is food here for your family to survive the next few weeks. I shall send someone with more soon," he explained.
Roderick's eyebrow's narrowed. "Why?"
Gideon took a deep breath, but found courage enough to say: "Because we are not seeing each other again."
Suddenly the forest seemed too small for the two of them, Roderick's puzzled expression starting to get filled with comprehension as things made sense in his mind.
"What do you mean? Are you breaking up with me?"
"Yes," Gideon confirmed, his lips trembling and his face contracting in a sad frown.
"But why?" He asked, completely confused. "I thought we were in love. I thought you cared about me."
Oh, and he didn't understood half of Gideon's feelings for him. He had never felt the same for anyone before he met Roderick, maybe because he was looking for love in all the wrong places, because the first time his heart raced at that boy's smile, he knew that he never truly liked girls.
"I do, Roderick. I care about you more than I care about myself," he said sincerely, "and I love you so much that it is almost hurting me to stand right here and do this, but I need to."
"So, stop it! You don't need to do anything. I know terrible things happened to you these past few days, but you just need to calm down and let me help you," Roderick begged, taking his hand back into his and pointing at the shack with a movement of his chin. "Let's get inside, get some tea."
Shaking his head, Gideon refused taking some steps away from him to overcome every physic contact between them. "Not everything gets better with tea, Rod, and right now I have to focus on my family. Stand by them."
"And you need to push me away to do this?"
Roderick was getting angry and he had all the rights to, but that doesn't meant Gideon wasn't getting hurt at each annoyed glance the boy shot at him.
"Please, Rod, do not make things worse," the Dark One's son pleaded.
"It's you who is being all insane and have to stop!"
Things weren't going to end up the way he planned if Roderick kept insisting in their relationship like he was doing now, and truth be told, there wouldn't be nothing in this world that would be able to convince him to get away from that boy if it wasn't for the fact that Gideon knew if they continued that relationship, Roderick would be in danger. His whole family was already hunted all around the realm for who their father was and he had already four siblings to worry about, not to count his parents and the rest of their family. He didn't need to add Rod to that list.
Gideon breathed in and pulled on a serious, cruel mask as he spoke: "I don't want you anymore."
"Two minutes ago, you said you loved me!" Roderick gasped.
"Loving someone and wanting them are two very different things," Gideon continued as coldly as he could. "I care about you, as a friend, almost as family, but not like we used to be anymore."
The disbelief was clear on Roderick's face, he shook his head, snorting.
"Listen to yourself, you're not even making sense," he shouted out. "Now, you want to go on with this madness? Then good. And I don't need you to provide for my family, I can do this myself."
Roderick stretched his hand, placing the basket he had brought, back on Gideon's hand, pushing it against him when the taller boy tried to return it.
"We both know that this is a lie."
"As we both know that you're being an utterly idiot," Roderick answered harshly, grabbing the firewood and walking back to his house. "Goodbye, Gideon."
The Dark One's son stood there for a brief moment, watching him go and allowing some fresh tears to ran down his face, until Roderick had disappeared inside the shack and he made the gold cloud of smoke take him back to his castle.
Roderick, otherwise, went straight inside the shack, slamming the door shut behind him and inhaling deeply a couple of times before turning around to see his mother, that hadn't put a foot on the floor since the winter began, standing right behind him, legs trembling with the effort and a blanket wrapped around her shoulders. He almost gasped when he saw that, in their small dining table, there was a real banquet and the basket Gideon had given him, had mysteriously appeared in the counter.
"He is just trying to protect you, you know?" The mother said. "His family is in constant danger and he doesn't want you to take any risks by being linked to him."
Nodding, Roderick passed an arm through her shoulders and helped her to get back to the bed. His parents knew everything about Gideon right from the very start and they didn't care about which choices of lovers their son made, as long as he was happy. And Gideon had become one of their favourite persons alive, since he started to bring food and even offered to get better clothes and a warmer house for them. But Roderick and his parents knew the magic came with a price and never accepted anything more than they needed to survive.
"Yeah, I know, mama," he said, bitterly. "But he is a fool."
His mother cupped his cheek, stroking it with her calloused thumb. She looked older than she was, committed by the illness for too long.
"When two people are destined to be together, son, they find their way back to each other, so if Gideon truly belongs to you, he will eventually come back."
Agathe sneaked through the village, hidden by her black cloak and knocked repeatedly on Lady Heart's door. The chestnut-haired woman opened it using her magic, still sat by a small table, a displeased look on her face as she glanced up at the blonde maid.
"We have a deal, remember?" Lady Heart said, harshly. "Where were you, girl?"
Shrinking, Agathe walked towards her, closing the door carefully behind, a little frightened of which the consequences of not keeping her words might be.
"I'm sorry, things happened and I couldn't get away from the castle!" She quickly excused herself.
"Well, you're my informant, be useful. What happened?"
Hesitantly taking the seat next to her, Agathe started to tell her everything that had happened with Rumplestiltskin's family along the last few weeks, narrating the stories she has heard her master and lady discussing many times between whispers. Those had been odd days and she had never seen Belle look more fragile and strong at the same time, she seemed to be commanded by her instincts and sounded incredible harshly and cruel, whenever Agathe spoke to her or someone said just the wrong thing, which was just another reason why she wanted to get rid of her so badly.
"That's interesting," Lady Heart said with a smile. "So, I assume you haven't used the lust potion yet, right?"
"No," Agathe shook her head.
A languid wicked smile took the chestnut-haired woman's lips, as she made a bottle of wine appear in front of them and served two glasses, offering one to Agathe and tapping them together.
"Do it, dear, and then let's watch as the things burn."