Chapter 10 three, two, one
The next few days were tough on everyone. Belle had kept the children occupied, while attending to Rumple at the same time. Hatter had been trying to finish potion but because he didn't know what he was doing it was taking longer than expected.
Rumple had been regaining his strength slowly but at the same time Arya's curiosity was getting the better of her. Arya and Grace tried a number of times to see Rumple but every time they had been caught by Belle. She told them that he was getting better but they couldn't see him. Grace listened to Belle and stayed away until Rumple was better but Arya was not giving up so easily. It had only been five days since Rumples accident and Grace was going to see it she could help her father, while Arya was watching her parents bedroom door. She had been watching for hours, waiting for the right moment, when her mother left and she could sneak in.
Belle eventually left so Arya came out of her hiding place. She went towards the door and quickly ran inside. She had her back towards Rumple but when she turned around there were tears in her eyes. She walked up to the bed where Rumple was sleeping, held his hand and whispered "I love you, papa".
She closed her eyes, praying he would get better soon, her tears escaping her eyes and without her knowing, Rumple opened his eyes and said "I love you too, Arya".
Arya lifted her head up with wide eyes and a smile appeared on her face as she said "papa...your alright...you didn't leave me".
Arya embraced her father and he whispered through her hair "I will never leave you". He felt really bad; he had just lied to his daughter.
Arya pulled away and faced him, while she was sat on the bed and said "that's exactly what mama said she said neither of you would even leave me" she looked down and said "when you collapsed, I thought that mama was wrong...I was scared that you were leaving me".
Rumple embraced his daughter then he faced her and said "listen to me, Arya, me and your mother will not be around forever...but we will always be in here" he pointed to her heart "as long as we are in here, that is all that counts...as long as we are in here, we will never leave you".
Arya smiled and embraced her father but little did either of them know that Belle was outside the door and she heard Rumples little speech and it brought tears to her eyes. She walked in and saw father and daughter embracing each other. Rumple was smiling at Belle, when she entered the room and Arya jumped when Belle said "I thought you were with Grace".
Arya had a worried look and she said "I just wanted to see papa". She was staring at her mother, while Rumple was stroking her long brown hair.
Belle sat down on the bed next to her daughter and said "don't worry, you're not in trouble but your father still needs rest, so be carful".
"I will, mama" Belle embraced her daughter and Rumple was smiling at this happy moment.
When Belle and Arya pulled away, Rumple smiled and said "come here" Rumple embraced his wife and daughter "I will always love you both".
"We know" they both said in union then all three of them laughed.
"We love you, papa, as much as you love us" Arya said while smiling.
Rumple pulled them both closer and said "I don't think that is possible".
"Trust us papa it is". Arya and Belle were at either side of Rumple and he had his arms wrapped around their waists. All three lied there for a few minuets, pretending like they had no worries in the world.
It had now been two weeks since the dragon bit Rumple and he could now walk around the castle but his magic takes a lot out of him. He found out that Hatter didn't manage to fix the potion and he had already wrecked it 13 times. Rumple spent an entire day in his study to finish the potion, Hatter helped of course, while Belle had the children. As soon as Rumple entered the study he said "let's see what damage you've done".
"Damage? What makes you think I've damaged the potion?" he looked down at the floor.
"Because, Hatter, if you finished it, it would have been ready days ago" he ended with a grin.
"Fine. I added the dragons tongue to the rest of the potion but every time it just pops back out". Rumple laughed which made Hatter confused and he said "what?"
He had a wide grin on his face and said "if you just had to add the tongue, I would have asked Belle to do it".
"You need a spell".
"How ever did you work it out?" he said sarcastically
"Ha ha very funny, now what is the spell?"
"I'll say the spell, you would probably just get it wrong". Hatter moved away from the potion so rumple could be in front of it. He placed the dragons tongue into the potion and said "rappeler que volonté être perdu" he said it three times and the potion started to bubble. "It is ready".
"So all we have to do is get the girls to drink that and they will remember".
"Yes but it will take a few minuets for the bubbling to go...Hatter, it is three months away" Rumple had a worried look on his face.
"Don't worry, I'll keep my word...I will look after Belle and Arya...I do however have one question. What if they want to see you and they go do to Snow White's castle, what do I do then?" both Rumple and Hatter stared at each other.
Rumple sighed and said "I don't know but whatever you do, they cannot go to the castle. If they go, Belle will beg Snow White to release me and she might just do that. Whatever you do, Hatter, keep them safe and away from the castle and I will put a spell on this castle, which will stop intruders from entering. The only people that will be aloud in the castle are you, me, Belle and the girls".
"I made a promise remember, I will protect them".
"Thank you again".
"Don't worry, you can thank me in the other land, when we are all reunited". Hatter and Rumple both laughed, while the potion stopped bubbling.
After a few minuets, Rumple said "potions ready". They put the potion into five bottles, one for each person and made their way down stairs.
Hatter shouted when they got down stairs "Belle, girls, come down stairs please".
Both Rumple and Hatter had sat down as they walked in. Grace said "what is it, papa?"
"The potions ready" Hatter said. Rumple waved the bottles in the air and everyone walked over to him and Belle just walked over to his side and kissed his cheek.
"Now, for the potion to work, you have to drink it whole, even though it is disgusting" Rumple smiled and handed the bottles over.
Arya quickly said "on three" they all stared at her and smiled "three"
"Two" Grace said.
"One" all the adults said together.
They all drank the potion and Arya was the first one to say "that's disgusting, what's in it?"
They all were making funny faces, as none of them liked the potion. After a few moments, Belle said "believe me, Arya, you don't want to know" Belle only knew of the dragon tongue and Rumple was willing to tell her that. He refused to tell her the other ingredients and she thought it might be best not to ask.
"Will we all remember now?" Grace said with a smile on her face.
Everyone stared at Rumple and he said "yes...when we go to the new land we will remember each other...but I must warn all of you, in this new land the evil queen will still try to plant new memories on us. We must remember that this is the real land and our real memories".
They all nodded as they knew it was just another job they had to do.