A/N: This chapter is going to deviate a little from what is going on in Neverland, but it is important in setting up the end of the story. I figured this was a good place to stick it, before all the action takes place in Neverland when our heroes rescue Henry. So, I hope everyone still enjoys the update. I'll try to update the next chapter as soon as I can.
Three days. Seventy-two hours. That was the length of time that had passed since Rumpelstiltskin's valiant departure from Storybrooke. Belle knew that because she would go to the beach every day to await his return. With a book in hand, she would settle down somewhere on the sand. Then she would balance reading with watching the empty horizon. It was a better option than sulking in Granny's Diner without even the stomach for iced teas.
On that fourth morning, Belle found a surprise on the beach. It wasn't Rumpelstiltskin, but it was something equally astonishing. A girl, apparently close to her age, lay face-down in the sand, soaked head-to-toe from the ocean water, unmoving. It looked as though she had passed out. It was impossible to see her face beneath the mane of damp red hair plastered to her head.
Belle rushed to her side and turned her over onto her back. She let her book plop down in the sand while she swept the girl's hair off her face and neck. Should she run into town and find Dr. Whale? It wasn't usually a habit of hers to carry her phone now that Rumpelstiltskin was gone. Only he ever called her or vice versa. Now she regretted it deeply.
Belle placed two fingers against the girl's neck to check for a pulse. She was alive, her pulse thrumming lightly under Belle's fingers. All she needed to do was wake her up.
"Hello? Can you hear me?" She pressed her hand to the girl's forehead. She shook the girl's shoulder gently, but no response came. The waves rolled in and out on the beach, and an idea flourished in Belle's mind. Hurrying to the water's edge, she cupped her palms in the water and scooped it up. Carefully carrying it back to the unconscious girl, she splashed it in her face.
The reaction was instantaneous.
The girl coughed, sputtered, and bolted up into a crooked sitting position. Belle jumped back in alarm. The girl pinched the bridge of her nose and Belle suspected that water had flowed inside. Then the girl turned her head, her eyes roaming wildly about before she noticed Belle looming over her.
"Sorry about that. It was the only thing I could do to wake you up," she said. The girl's attention dropped to Belle's legs, covered by a sheer black layer of pantyhose. A timid hand floated toward one of Belle's knees, the girl seemingly mesmerized. Then she cupped her own bare knees, as if she could not believe she had a pair of legs. Without warning, the girl scooted and squirmed toward the tide.
Had she unintentionally frightened her?
"It's okay," Belle tried to console her. She even raised her palms in surrender, to show she meant no harm. "It's okay! I'm not going to hurt you. You were just lying there on the beach-"
The rest of Belle's thought evaporated as the girl's ankles became submerged in the rolling tide. There was a sudden spark of light and when it faded, those bare legs had transformed into one massive, emerald tail. Thousands of scales shimmered in the sunlight.
"You're...a mermaid," Belle gasped, understanding the girl's mesmerization of legs all at once. She knelt down to examine the tail closer. It was fascinating. "I've never met a mermaid before. I've only ever read stories about them. Do you mind if I-?"
Belle allowed her hand to hover over the tail. She didn't dare touch it without the mermaid's permission. The mermaid nodded, granting her permission with an inviting wave of her hand. Belle slowly ran her palm across the tail, the muscles underneath writhing powerfully and the scales sharp enough to puncture skin. Thankfully, Belle's hand remained uncut.
"It's beautiful...and slimy," she admitted, wiping the clamminess from her palm with her knee. The girl smiled approvingly. Belle could hardly contain her excitement. Wait until Rumpel heard she talked to a mermaid! Well, so far Belle was the only one talking.
"Can you speak?" Belle motioned to the hollow of her throat. The mermaid nodded rapidly and started to speak, her lips rounding out a word, but no sound slipped out. She shook her head miserably. "Can you write?"
Belle sat cross-legged on the sand next to the mermaid. With the tip of her finger, she wrote her name in the damp sand. Then she pointed to her chest.
"My name is Belle," she said. A burst of intelligence flared in the mermaid's cerulean eyes. Copying Belle's example, she wrote a name in the sand. "Ariel. It's a very pretty name. It's nice to meet you, Ariel."
Belle held out her hand. The mermaid awkwardly clasped it for a second. Ariel's hand was cold and still slightly damp from the ocean.
"How did you lose your voice? If you don't mind my asking." Panic rippled across Ariel's gentle features. Her shoulders stiffened and her tail violently slapped the water. Belle's cheeks flamed. Clearly, she had asked the wrong question. But Ariel leaned forward to trace her answer in the sand.
Evil Queen.
A sting of pity for Ariel hit Belle's heart. She should have known. Hadn't all suffering in this world derived from the Queen's hands?
"As in...the Evil Queen?" Ariel lowered her head and nodded once. "She hurt you, too, hm?"
Ariel glanced up with a mixture of alarm and confusion. Belle wondered if she should tell that story. If anything, it would let Ariel know that she was not alone in the category of people terroized by Regina. Belle let out a mournful sigh and those cruel memories resurfaced.
"I didn't always live in this world. Once, I lived in the Enchanted Forest. The Queen cast a curse to bring everyone in the Enchanted Forest to this new land, where we would forget our true memories and lose our happy endings. In the Enchanted Forest, she locked me away in her castle, for the purpose of hurting my one true love."
Ariel frowned with remorse, obviously feeling quite sorry for her.
"It's alright," Belle reassured her. "In this land, I was able to escape her imprisonment and found him again." Ariel smiled joyfully. "Of course, that was before he left to save his grandson in another world. I don't even know if I will ever see him again, though I have hope."
Ariel's smile diminished, her shoulders sinking. Belle suspected that telling Ariel the whole story of everything that happened between her and Rumpel would only confuse her more. It was a lot of heartache to absorb. There was the issue of her father, and Rumpel's struggle to overcome his insecurities, and Lacey, and the near destruction of Storybrooke. How many times had they been torn apart?
"I'm so sorry," Belle said, sniffling. She hadn't realized how close she had come to shedding tears while reminiscing. "I don't mean to burden you with my troubles."
Ariel placed her hand atop Belle's. She may have been voiceless, but her actions spoke volumes. More than ever, Belle wanted to help her.
"There must be a way for you to regain your voice. All curses can be broken."
Ariel's arms fluttered through the air. Occasionally, she would wave her finger or point it down toward the sand or push her hands outward. It took Belle a moment of observing to understand that Ariel was mimicking the casting of magic. She looked at Belle hopefully and the question unfolded in Belle's mind. Can you do magic?
If only Rumpelstiltskin were here. It was a thought she had many times since he left. He would have instantly known the proper remedy or potion to aid Ariel. Just like that, Belle knew precisely how to help the mermaid.
"No, I'm afraid I can't perform magic. It doesn't mean you're entirely powerless." Ariel gave her a skeptical look. "Love is the most powerful magic. Do you know where your true love is?"
Ariel must have known the identity of her true love since a carefree smile started to flower over her lips. Her eyes remained sad as she shook her head. Then she gazed out into the distance, toward the horizon, as if by some miracle he might turn up. Belle knew the feeling.
"Was he in the Enchanted Forest? Maybe he crossed to this land with the curse. What is his name?" In the sand, Ariel wrote the name Eric in playful loops and swirls. Belle could tell she was in love, but heartbroken. "I've never met anyone in town named Eric, but we could always ask around. Can you walk?"
Ariel scooted away from the incoming tide. Once her tail was dry enough, it transformed back into a pair of human legs. Belle guessed it happened whenever Ariel set foot-or tail-on land. Or was it simply because magic in this world was different?
Belle lent Ariel her hand, helping her to stand up. For a minute, Ariel wobbled precariously on her legs, clinging to Belle's arm for dear life. Experimentally, she took one baby step, then another, slowly getting used to her land legs. Belle never meant to survey Ariel's attire with concern, but only a thin white strip of material covered her body.
"How about I find you something more..." Appropriate? "...comfortable to wear?"
...
The first place Belle took Ariel-after offering her one of her lavender dresses-was Granny's Diner. Everyone in town went to the diner at some point or another during the day. Even Rumpelstiltskin, for all his complaining about Granny's prices, had stopped in the mornings for a cup of coffee. If Eric was bound to show up anywhere, it would be Storybrooke's hot-spot.
"Do you see him anywhere?"
Belle sipped her iced tea and watched Ariel as she glanced around at the other customers in the diner. Ariel shook her head and returned to her own glass of iced tea. When Belle first introduced the drink to her, Ariel nearly drank it all down in one gulp. She must not have tried it iced before, either. But then, did she even try it hot if she lived under the sea?
Ariel removed the wedge of lemon from the rim of her glass. She eyed it with curiosity and brought it to her lips.
"Careful. It's sour," Belle cautioned. An adventurous soul, Ariel tried it anyway. She sucked on the lemon. Immediately, her eyes closed and her lips screwed up in displeasure. She discarded the lemon on the napkin and stuck out her tongue.
Belle exhaled softly and scanned the faces of those dining around them. There were as many familiar faces as unfamiliar ones. Archie was perched on a stool at the bar, his hair bright and curly, his beige-suited back facing them. The dwarfs were crammed into one booth by the window, debating on having lunch at the beach the following day. There was Geppetto with his boy, Pinocchio; Dr. Whale on his break and wolfishly eyeing up one of the nuns across the diner; Hansel and Gretel arguing over the choice of appetizers while their father repeatedly warned them not to make such a fuss.
No sign of a prince yearing for a mermaid.
What were they to do if Eric did not show up at the diner? Go door-to-door and ask every available man if he had ever dated a mermaid in the Enchanted Forest? It was like searching for a needle in a haystack.
Belle refused to surrender. Even if she never saw Rumpelstiltskin again, she did not enjoy the idea of someone like Ariel being alone. She knew how much a broken heart ached and, for some reason she could not explain except goodwill, she was determined to shield Ariel from that torment. Everyone deserved a chance at love.
But how to locate one man in a sea of citizens scorned by an evil queen?
"Can I get you guys anything else? It's on the house," Red popped up beside their table, ready to serve. She winked at them and dutifully took Ariel's empty glass to be filled again.
"No, it's not, Red," Granny scolded from behind the bar, her fists planted on her hips. The friendly attitude radiating off Red crumbled into a pout. When both grandmother and granddaughter possessed intrinsic wolf senses, it was practically impossible to keep secrets. "I don't know whose house you're putting it on, but it won't be mine! This is a business, not a shelter for the homeless!"
Ariel's eyes flew open wide in shock. Even if she could speak, Belle had a feeling she would be rendered speechless by Granny's irate manner.
"But, Granny," Red whirled around to protest. It quickly became a shouting match with Granny and Red as the contestants and the rest of the diner as the unwilling audience. "They're my friends!"
Belle bit softly on her bottom lip. She wasn't entirely sure she wanted to be included in this argument. Ariel looked as out of place as she felt, her hands folded politely on the tabletop. Technically, Red had met Ariel less than an hour ago.
"You say that about everyone! If I allowed every friend of yours to eat for free, this diner would be run straight into the ground!" Granny glared at her granddaughter over the rims of her glasses. Then she turned her back, declaring the argument over. Red snorted and looked down at Belle apologetically.
"I tried," she said, shrugging loosely. Belle appreciated the kind effort, but did not worry over the bill. Long before he left for Neverland, Rumpel had set aside half of his cursed persona's fortune for her, in case anything ever happened to him. Red's eyebrows bounced up to her hairline and Belle realized she was still waiting for an answer to her earlier question.
That was when it hit her.
Red's cursed persona was Ruby, the infamous gossip and heartbreaker of the town. Ruby had known every man in town, even if she insisted she hadn't warmed every man's bed, Rumpelstiltskin included. If Eric was a citizen of Storybrooke, there was a good chance that Red would remember something about him.
Belle sincerely hoped that Eric wasn't one of Ruby's broken-hearted followers.
"Red, do you remember meeting a man named Eric in this world? Perhaps before the curse broke?" Red leaned her hip on the corner of the table. She drummed her scarlet nails on the tabletop and thought long and hard, her brow furrowing as she accessed her cursed memories. Belle could tell from the glimmer in Red's sultry eyes the exact moment she located the answer. For further emphasis of her a-ha moment, she snapped her fingers.
"You mean, the guy who runs the fish shop down the street? He used to serve me-I mean, Ruby-the best fish platters for lunch at half the cost. Really tasty crab dinners, too."
Red tilted her head back and licked her lips. Meanwhile, all color had drained from Ariel's cheeks and she appeared on the verge of throwing up all those glasses of tea she had inhaled. If Red noticed her squeamishness, she didn't comment.
"Never got involved with him, though. He reminded me of Michael over there," Red continued, jerking her head in the direction of Hansel and Gretel's father. "A really sweet guy, but much too clean for Ruby's taste. She was more likely to set her sights on Whale, in part for how easy he was. Blech!"
She shook her head rapidly and wrinkled her nose in disgust. While Ariel clutched her stomach, a sheen of sweat glistening on her forehead, Belle propped her elbows on the table. She dared to hope.
"Do you know if he still works there?" Red cocked her head.
"Yeah, the place is still running. The guy's gotta make money somehow, though at least Rumpelstiltskin isn't pestering him for rent anymore." Red started to giggle, but Belle's smile slipped. It was only a fraction of an inch, but Red recognized the melancholy. "Oh, Belle, I'm sorry. I didn't mean-"
Belle let her hands drop into her lap and she forced her smile back into place. She didn't know if it fooled Red, but she did not intend to have a bleak outlook on the future yet. If Rumpel was not destined to return home to her, she would bravely face it when the time came. Until then, she had to have faith. Que sera, sera.
"I know you didn't mean anything by it," she told Red calmly.
It wasn't a secret that the majority of the town did not like Rumpelstiltskin or his cursed persona of Mr. Gold for badgering them for rent so often. She sifted through her pockets and laid down enough money to cover the bill. Sliding out of the booth, she donned her jacket to fend off the chilly Maine air she knew would be waiting outside. Ariel followed her lead, with the slightest pink blush returning to her cheeks.
"I'm going to help Ariel get her happy ending."
...
The smell of fish floated on the wind, wafting through Belle's nose long before she and Ariel reached the entrance to the fish shop. A neon sign with fizzling red letters spelled out Open in the window.
"Here we are," Belle chimed, gesturing a hand to the entrance.
She snuck a peek at Ariel from the corner of her eye. The girl wasn't running to the door and throwing it open. Belle assumed Ariel would be excited to reunite with Eric, but there was a startled expression on her face as she stared wide-eyed at the door, like a deer caught in headlights. Did she not long for this opportunity? Or was the past preventing her from embracing the future?
When Ariel tentatively took a step backward, Belle placed a comforting hand on her shoulder. Ariel tensed and she seemed to be contemplating which way to run.
"You're nervous, aren't you?" Ariel swallowed thickly and wove her fingers together until her knuckles cracked. She nodded weakly and turned her head in shame. Belle squeezed her shoulder with the silent message: I'm here for you. "Whatever happened between you two in the Enchanted Forest, this is the chance to set things right. To find your happy ending. I know you might be afraid that it won't turn out well or that he'll reject you, but you don't know until you try. If you walk away now, you might never know what could have happened if you walked through that door. You may never have this chance again."
Ariel stopped weaving her fingers. She glanced from Belle to the door. She sucked in a deep breath, rising up on her toes. Belle kept her steady so she wouldn't lose her balance. Then she took a step toward that door, then another. Her hand grasped the handle of the door and she pushed, slipping inside. She paused halfway over the threshold, looking back at Belle with a question in her eyes. She must want the support of a friend. Belle ventured inside the shop with her, confronting the whirlwind of fish odors.
Belle had never favored fish for her meals.
Just like with Rumpel's pawnshop, a tiny silver bell over the door rang out to announce their presence.
"Be right with you," a voice called from the back. Ariel stumbled back on her feet and Belle caught her from falling. Did she recognize the voice? Or was it the tub of lobsters that would soon be served on plates? Or the glass cases filled with crushed ice and sliced fish? The door behind the counter, presumably leading to the back room, swung open and a man stepped out. He was young and handsome, with ink black hair and warm blue eyes. "How can I help-"
His words trailed off when he locked eyes with Ariel. At first, puzzlement passed over his face, but soon it was replaced with wonder. Belle stepped back to watch the magic happen. Rounding the corner of the counter, Eric swept closer to Ariel, studying her up and down as if he suspected she was a mirage.
"Ariel? Is it really you?" He blinked twice, but she did not disappear.
A smile started to rise on Ariel's lips. No words could find their way through her lips. She looked back at Belle uncertainly and Belle nodded encouragingly. Determinedly, Ariel crossed the space between her and Eric. Bringing her hands to his face, she leaned up and kissed him on the lips. Belle could not help her own smile from conquering.
When the kiss broke, Ariel parted her lips and tried to say his name, but still no sound came out. She tried again, but she was mute. Ariel's disappointment nearly broke Belle's heart. Eric didn't notice Ariel's disdain. His eyes were peacefully closed and his tongue ran over his lips, savoring the taste of their kiss.
"You don't know how many times I've dreamed of that," he said and returned her kiss, cradling her in his arms. Belle clasped her hands in front of her chest, silently pleading with the gods. Please, please, let this work. Let her have her happy ending, even if I can't have mine.
"E...Eric," Ariel exclaimed. Belle released a breath she hadn't been aware she was holding. "I'm so sorry I never showed up to meet you-" Eric silenced her apologies with another kiss, his fingers threading through her red waves.
"I forgive you. All that matters is that you're here now and that you're safe. When you didn't show up, I was afraid you changed your mind or that something happened to you. When the curse broke, I never stopped searching for you. But now we have a second chance. I know: would you like to come with me out on the water? I have my boat."
Ariel drank in every word he said. They could have been the only two people in the room at that moment.
"I would like that," she agreed. Belle was happy for the couple. She quietly backed away toward the door, wanting to give them privacy during their happy reunion. Unexpectedly, she felt Ariel's arm fall on her elbow, asking her to stay. "I would like that very much, Eric, but first I have to pay my debts. If it weren't for you, Belle, I would never have found Eric. There must be something I can do to repay you."
Belle shook her head solemnly. She didn't plan on asking Ariel for repayment; she was happy enough that Ariel found her true love. Besides, what she wanted was a whole world away.
"There's really only one thing I could ever want...but I'm not sure you can help me. I'm happy that you're happy," she said, finding the handle on the door. Ariel clapped her hands together.
"It's your true love, right? You mentioned he left for some other world. Which one?" Belle hesitated. Her heart thudded in her chest. Was Ariel suggesting...she could grant her wish? Did mermaids possess magic of their own?
"Neverland," she answered. She noticed the way excitement made Ariel spring up on her toes. "Why?"
"Well, you're in luck. I've been to Neverland once. The mermaids in that world aren't nearly as friendly, but the waters are warm if you know where to swim. It turns out that mermaids possess the unique ability to travel between worlds via the ocean."
It was a good thing Belle was gripping the handle of the door, or she might have fallen backward against the door. Ariel nodded vigorously as the surprise of what she was saying echoed in Belle's mind.
"You mean...you could take me to him?" Instead of waiting for Rumpel, she could find him in Neverland. They could be together, on that adventure to rescue Henry. Ariel looked up at Eric and he kissed her on the cheek, proving his support of the decision.
Ariel extended her hand to Belle.
"Follow me."
...