She was cold.

That was why she was awake. It was so strange for her not to sleep through the night that at first she thought it must have been something else. An attack from Zelena? No, she wasn't in the Enchanted Forest anymore, she didn't have to worry about that. Had Rumpelstiltskin had a nightmare? No. It wasn't that either. She hadn't been startled from sleep. She was just cold. Her bare arm and shoulder felt frozen from cooler air and when she rolled over to look at the fire he'd started she found it was only embers.

That wasn't a big problem, all she had to do was wake him and ask him to restart the thing only-

It wasn't just that she was cold. It was that she was sleeping alone. She should be used to it after all this time, but something in her heart, deep in her soul told her that something was wrong. If he was capable of sleeping by her side then she needed him to be sleeping by her side. Anything else was wrong. And cold.

So she sat up in bed and looked around the dark room, surprised that she was actually sleeping on her side instead of in the middle until she remembered that she'd fallen asleep talking to him last night. They never actually moved into each other's arms, she'd just fallen asleep after they'd talked about Neal. Maybe nothing was wrong, maybe he'd just gotten up to go to the bathroom or get a drink of water? No…something was wrong.

When she reached over to flip the switch on the lamp by the bedside table nothing happened. Strange. She could have sworn it was working before she'd gone to sleep. She crawled over to the one on his side but it too was unresponsive. Those were working only a few short hours ago…weren't they?

Needing something to go right, an answer, Rumple, anything, she flung the covers back and went quickly back to the bathroom, hoping to find Rumple, but when she flipped the switch…nothing.

It wasn't the lights. The power was out. She knew, ordinarily people shouldn't worry about something like that too much. They'd simply light a few candles and go back to bed but Rumple…

Where was he?!

She found a candle with a golden candle stick on top of the fire place. It appeared never used but with a small blow of the dying embers, something she'd learned from Neal to spark a fire back to life, she was able to light the wick. It wasn't much, but light was light. And in a strange unfamiliar house, she'd take it! "Rumple," she called in a harsh whisper as she walked through the big hallways. "Rumpelstiltskin are you there! Rump-ouch!" she cried, stubbing her toe on the leg of a small decorative table.

Perhaps this hadn't been the best idea they'd ever had. Sure, this morning coming here had been fun, staying throughout the day had been heavenly, even joking about breaking in this evening had been fun, but in the midst of an emergency, even one as simple as the power being out, suddenly being in a strange house wasn't so much fun anymore. In fact there was just something downright creepy about wandering the darkened hallways of an abandoned house with nothing but a candle. Especially when she couldn't find her husband.

"Rumple!" she called again as she descended the stairs. There! A noise, coming from the sitting room that they'd first come in from.

"Here!" she heard his faint voice call to her. "I'm here!" She hurried back through the ballroom and slid into the tiny sitting room. He was just as she'd last seen him. Pants, shirt, buttons unbuttoned, there was even a fire lit in this room too. And he was there, at the window by the piano where she had first stopped to look out at the sea when they first arrived, he was staring out the window just as she had. She set her candle down on the table and hurried over to the spot once more and looked.

She didn't see anything. Nothing but the ocean's foam glowing in the moonlight and yet he stared out the window transfixed as ever. "Rumple…what uh…what are you looking at?" she asked gently. Even in the firelight, the intensity coming off of him was…great. Not necessarily good, but still great.

"It's not what I am looking at," he corrected before glancing down at her, "it's what I'm not looking at. Come here. Look." He motioned for her to come closer and she gently moved to the place he was at, so she could see out the window as he had. "What don't you see?"

What didn't she see? What was she supposed to say? She saw nothing as it was! The white of the foam was the only thing bright enough to catch the reflection of the moon everywhere else was too…dark. "Light," she answered. "There's no light. The…uh…the power is out," she informed him remembering why she'd needed a candle in the first place.

"Indeed," he answered. "All over Storybrooke by the looks of it. I don't see a single light or glow from the town from anywhere."

"Well…" It was the power. Power stations went out temporarily didn't they? All the time. It had happened before. Right? "The power has gone out here before…hasn't it?" she asked, glancing back at him.

He only shook his head. "Not like this. Not when the weather is perfect, not all over town all at once."

She felt her stomach roll over. It wasn't the words, it was the way that he'd said them. There was a darkness to his tone, distance. She didn't like either. "Hey," she whispered, turning back to him and taking his hand. Something was wrong! She knew something was wrong! Why had he left her side? He never did that? And why was he looking so…strange? He just didn't seem like himself right now! What was the reason for all this? Had he had another nightmare again? Fallen asleep as she had? "What's wrong?" she questioned, reaching up and putting a hand on his cheek. "What's happening? Do you know why the power is out?"

Finally he glanced down at her. His features softened. He reached for her hand and seemed to slouch a little tension leaving his body, but…why had it been there in the first place? "I don't know," he breathed. "I…I woke up to get a glass of water and the power went out. It's all very…strange."

Alright, well. That explained part of it, but not all of it. Something was wrong, or had been only a minute ago! What was going on?! "You're worried. Does it mean something?"

"In this town…without a doubt. And if I was a smart man, I might panic and rush out to figure out why."

She looked him over again. He sounded like himself. Like the shock had passed and he was left with a pessimistic outlook for something as simple as the power being out, but…that was normal for him; assuming the worst. At the moment the only thing that wasn't normal for him was giving into his curiosity to "rush out" and figure out what had happened? "But…but you're not a smart man?"

He took her hand and laced it with his own, pulling her away from the window, closer to the little table with knick knacks galore. "Not tonight," he muttered. "Not when my beautiful wife is wearing…" he spread their hands out and admired the white she'd chosen and suddenly she felt a blush creep back up into her chest and neck, "that."

"You're trying to distract me," she whispered, thinking about the blackness outside the window.

"Yes," he answered simply, pulling her forward, "both of us actually, because whatever the problem is, whatever the trouble is…it can wait," he whispered before kissing her.

Again and again he kissed her. If he was trying to distract her then it worked. Though she supposed that whatever was happening outside wasn't exactly something that she needed to worry about. It was just a blackout. Whether or not they'd happened here in Storybrooke, until something worse than a couple of lights not working happened, there was no need to be distracted. No need to worry. So she let him kiss her again and again until she couldn't quite remember how they ended up back in the bedroom. Magic probably, but it didn't matter. All that really mattered in that moment was what happened afterward. Thick darkness pressed in on them from every angle but the fire blazed to life again in their sudden presence while one of a different nature roared to life in their chests.

It was perfect. Just as it always was and would be. Perfection and completion and everything that she knew she'd ever need in life.

Afterwards his arms wrapped around her, pulling her close as he pressed a kiss to her forehead. "I love you," he muttered happily.

"And I love you too," she muttered back before pressing her cheek against his heart just like always. She liked that things were back to normal again. At least for the time being. "That was a bit more like what I expected a honeymoon to be like," she admitted breathlessly, feeling well and truly spent.

"As opposed to breaking into a house and having the power mysteriously disappear? Yes, that was probably slightly closer to what normal people do on their honeymoons." He'd meant it as a joke, but she felt her heart sink at the words, those words in particular. All this time she'd thought that he'd been trying to distract her, to take her mind off the blackout and frankly it had worked perfectly! But she could hear in his voice that it wasn't her he'd been trying to distract, it was him. Yes, it was just a blackout. But him…he was forever curious. He was forever going to want to be in the thick of it all, knowing what was happening, working to fix things, watching! And because of that it was clear that the blackout was still in the front of his mind.

This was lovely. Being here, alone with him, being married, it was all a dream come true for her, for both of them, but…how long would it really last. She'd managed to successfully take his mind off of Neal and Zelena, but now the blackout still clearly had possession of it and when they were together she wanted it to just be the two of them, no distractions, no thoughts, no calls. He wanted that too. He knew that it was what she wanted above all! Which was probably why he'd tried to distract the two of them to begin with instead of suggesting they leave that very moment.

"Uniquely understanding." That was what Neal had called her when she first met him. She'd told him she had to be understanding and he'd told her that she didn't. She understood that now. She could ignore this, snuggle into him, pull them back into sleep again for no other reason than they'd barely been married twenty-four hours and she wanted a halfway decent honeymoon! Or she could give in. Acknowledge that if they had an eternity to spend together then a few days holed up in a stranger's home would make very little difference. So long as she didn't have to let him out of her sight today, so long as his mind stayed fixed on something besides what had happened with Zelena and Neal, she could let his curiosity get the better of them.

"Rumple…" she muttered pushing herself up on her elbow. "If there is no power, the shop and the library…will they be alright without us?"

He looked her over for a moment and she could see the happy desperation on his face snap to quick attention because he had an excuse. He could say "no" they could go back. But that look quickly died after a moment and instead of looking at her he stared straight up at the ceiling. "The wards that protect our properties are magical, not electrical. I'm sure it'll be safe without us for a bit."

She fought back her smile. Her hero. Her handsome prince. He was resisting because he thought that was what she wanted from him. Because he thought that she needed to hear reassurance. He didn't see that she was giving him permission to use an excuse to go off and do what he loved to do.

"But..." she sighed, "in some of the books I read on magic, I saw that fluctuating energy of any kind can sometimes cause even the simplest of spells, like magical wards, to fail."

This time when he glanced at her she could see suspicion in his eyes as a smile grew across his face. "What are you saying?" he asked skeptically, a sure sign that he suspected exactly what she was doing, but wondered if it was too good to be true. Frankly she was wondering if it was too good to be true.

"I'm saying that it might not be a bad idea to check on the shop. It's early, people might not even know that the power is off yet! If we leave soon, we can be in town by sunrise, check the wards, and make sure the shop is protected properly. You and I both know how bad it would be if someone stole something from there."

Amazement. Complete and utter amazement was the only look on his face right now. He knew what she was doing. They both knew what she was doing. And he looked simply astounded at it. "You are a more perfect woman than I could ever have dreamed up in all my centuries of time."

She beamed at the compliment and nodded her head. For this…she knew that too. "Never forget it. And just...just promise me one thing," she muttered looking down at him. "Someday, when life is less complicated and we know more about crossing the town line…promise me we'll have a real honeymoon, outside of Storybrooke. Promise me one day we'll really see the world."

He picked her hand up, laced their fingers together, and kissed her palm gently. "That is a deal I am happy to make," he promised.

I had to get them back into Storybrooke in the early hours of the morning, before the sun came up, which I thought was going to be difficult until I finally was able to write this chapter. Seems stupid right, but it was something that really bugged me when I saw the episode. They were on their honeymoon...why were they going back before the sun even rose?! It just didn't make sense to me. Did it bug anyone else? I hope that I explained that decently enough.

Thank you tons and tons and tons to Kagi-chan2, Deweymay, Meredith Pechta, Ladybugsmomma, Valerie3956, Raizen Yusuke, Kathryn Claire O'Connor, and Skitzoeinhoven for your reviews and reading throughout these last few chapters. Time to get into 4x02, so we'll be leaving the fluff behind in favor of the story. Wave good-bye to the peace ya'll, cause it's time to get into the drama. Deep breaths we'll get through it I'm sure. Peace and Happy Reading!