School has started again. I shall post now once a week, in the weekends.

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Chapter 10 – Day 5: The hanging bridge

It felt like an eternity before Rumpelstiltstik was fully awake. His body felt sluggish and his head was heavy. He had stared at Belle's blue eyes for an uncertain time, wondering if he was still dreaming or was awake. She seemed to find it awkward and excused herself to go away. Suddenly it was Baelfire who sat before him offering a piece of meat, which he accepted. Far away, he sensed an aching feeling, but could not really relate to it. Baelfire immediately saw in his father's eyes he was not well. He could hardly keep them open as they seemed to want to roll back into sleep.

"Papa, are you feeling alright?"

"Yes, just give me some time."

Rumpelstiltskin forced his mind to work again. Forced to think and remember what exactly they were doing. He slowly remembered the Ogre Wars and Gaevo. He remembered his goal in reaching Bram's as soon as possible. As his mind started working, his fears brought motivation back to move on. Baelfire witnessed conscience return to his father's eyes and wondered how he did it. Soon they were bright and clever again, only fogged by pain.

"Papa, you really need to rest."

"No, I'm fine, really. I just need to regain some strength. I'll be better after eating."

Baelfire almost cursed his father for always being right. After lunch, Rumpelstiltskin, despite his paleness, showed the same energy and will as during the rest of the week. And so they continued travelling, with no slowdowns. Strangely the temperatures kept rising, when the peak of heat should be now dying. Even the wind felt warmer. Suddenly Rumpelstiltskin stopped. Baelfire and Belle also halted, to see what was going on.

"Do you smell it too? It smells like something is burning." He said a bit surprised. Baelfire and Belle both sniffed the air.

"It smells like wood burning." Belle confirmed.

"Bae, you did extinguish the fire back there, didn't you?" Baelfire nodded with all certainty. "Strange…We better move on. The last thing we need is to get trapped in a fire."

And so the group travelled more persistently with a new motivation. The rising temperatures and warm wind were thus coming from a fire somewhere. Taking by the way the air was becoming thicker, dryer and hotter, the fire was probable big and nearing. Often they would look behind to see if there was any trace of smoke or flames, but nothing. The skies were always blue, but bands of birds flew scared to the north. The more reason they wanted to reach the bridge as quickly as possible. At a certain moment, Baelfire called ahead.

"I see the hanging bridge!"

Belle's contentment died the moment she saw it. It was a long and strait construction made of wood and rope, connecting the two parts of the mountain, fractured by a deep ravine. It looked fragile and probably could only take the weight of one person a time. Suddenly, her preoccupations about the fire were overshadowed by the crossing of the bridge. Baelfire was already on it, walking cautiously, but confident and fearless. In no time he was on the other side.

"Your turn, dearie." Rumpelstiltskin said, oblivious of her dread.

"I-I cannot." She admitted. Her mouth was dry, her hands sweating, her heart racing. There was no way she could cross it. She could not stop looking at the deep ravine under the bridge. Rumpelstiltskin turned around and saw the look of fear on her face. "I cannot cross it. I'm sorry."

"Sure you can, Linda. Look, Baelfire is already on the other side. I crossed it dozens of times. It's safer than it looks. I guarantee you it is." He spoke softly, gesturing in his typical manner, from the bridge to his chest. But Belle shook her head disconsolately, almost in tears. "I tell you what. We cross it together."

"The bridge won't support our weight!" Belle protested.

"Yes it will. Do you trust me on this, Linda?"

Belle blinked and suddenly her memories transported her to their first meeting. He had asked her to trust him so he could treat her wound, which was almost fully recovered. Now he was asking her to trust him in crossing the creepy bridge. She looked into his dark brown eyes and realized she trusted him with her life. She thought it was strange. After all, they had only been five days together, yet Belle knew with all certainty, Rumpelstiltskin would never let any harm happen to her. And so she nodded.

"Good. Give me your hand."

Belle noticed he had already one foot of the bridge. She looked at his stretched arm, his hand waiting for hers. Belle hesitated, her fears clouding her judgment. "Linda." Rumpelstiltskin's voice encouraged her. It was all that was needed and Belle gave him her hand. His hold was tight and she knew he would not let her go, even if she tried. "Little steps." Belle obeyed his instruction and gave one step, looking at the ground.

"No, no, look ahead, always look ahead." Belle swallowed dry. Rumpelstiltskin gave some steps backwards, as Belle slowly advanced. Suddenly she felt the ground wasn't stable anymore. She knew she was on air and had the impulse to turn around and jump back to solid ground. "It's okay, dearie. The bridge is safe. Little steps."

And so Belle crossed the bridge with the guidance of Rumpelstiltskin. Belle was holding his hand with all her strength, the other one supported on the rope. She gave small, uneasy steps, never letting her eyes from his. If she ever had the temptation to look down, Rumpelstiltskin would remind her to look ahead. Belle had the feeling it took hours to cross, but soon she saw the other side coming closer, behind the cripple. This gave her hope and she steadied her pace. Soon they were back on solid ground and Belle let herself fall on Rumpelstiltskin's arms. She was panting and trembling from fear, but she was glad she had made it. Then suddenly the princess realized she was clinging to the man. She felt her face redden and let go off him quickly. But Rumpelstiltskin hadn't noticed anything. He stood frozen to the ground; his eyes looking past her, wearing an expression of pure horror. Belle turned around and suppressed a scream. Columns of smoke were rising from many different places in the landscape, as far as her eyes could see. Rumpelstiltskin looked transfixed, his eyes staring at one particular column of smoke, further to the east.

"Rumpelstiltskin? What is there?"

"Home." Was his faint response.

Belle stared shocked from Rumpelstiltskin to the smoke and back to the man. Horrified she suddenly remembered Baelfire. The beauty gave a hesitant look at Rumpelstiltskin. He just stood there, shocked by the spectacle displayed before his eyes. The princess quickly decided she could leave him a short moment to find Baelfire. Her heart was already racing of fear for the teenager. She didn't have to go far to find him standing at the edge of the forest, on top of a rock. Tears were falling from his eyes, as he looked at the exact same spot as his father did.

"Baelfire. I'm so sorry." Belle said with nothing but sincerity.

"We have to go back!" He said between his sobs. "We have to help them!"

"It's almost a week travel. I'm sorry, but there's really nothing you can do." But Baelfire couldn't accept it, he wouldn't accept it. He took a small run back to the bridge. "Baelfire!" Belle yelled as she rushed behind him. But the boy stopped when he saw his father.

"Papa, we need to go back! We need to help them! Papa!" Baelfire yelled in despair, shaking his father's arm. Rumpelstiltskin looked at the boy. His eyes were empty, lifeless. He had already given up hope.

"We're not going back." He said emotionless, his voice weak, like if he was in some sort of trance. Like if all joy for life had been sucked out of him.

"But Papa!"

"It's a five days journey."

"But even then, there still could be somebody…"

"You'll find nothing there. Only death."

"But…What are we going to do then?"

"Mourn today, travel tomorrow."

"Just like that? We're doing nothing? We left them! We could have helped and we left them! And you are doing nothing?" Baelfire yelled frustrated at his father.

He couldn't accept reality. It was too painful. It was too definitive. They could not be all dead. There had to be still some hope. Baelfire needed to hear there was still hope.

"We would have died too. What use do you have if you're dead?"

"At least we would have fought! At least we wouldn't have left them behind! We abandoned them!" Baelfire's words echoed as he yelled with fury at his father. He could not understand why this had to happen. Why people had to be so cruel and kill each other. Why his father was being so passive. "We abandoned them!" With these final words Baelfire burst in tears and ran back to the edge of the forest, where Belle had found him. The princess had witnessed the whole scene with a knot in her trough. She felt misplaced in this tragedy and knew not what to do.

"Stay with him." Rumpelstiltskin's gently pleaded. "He needs you to comfort him."

"I think he needs his father."

"Believe me. He's hating me right now. It's you he needs. Please."

Belle stared surprised but nodded and respected his request. Certainly he knew his son and his needs better than she did. And so Belle left him with a lot of sorrow and difficulty. It was not fair he would stay alone, but unfortunately, she couldn't split in two, since Baelfire was clearly mad at his father. As soon as she was out of sight, Rumpelstiltskin let himself collapse on the floor where he remained seated dejectedly. After a while he finally let the tears run free and mourned, remembering the faces from those who were gone.

Belle headed to the edge of the forest, where Baelfire angrily marched from one side to the other, picking stones and sticks and throwing them back to the ground with fury. He stopped when he heard Belle come. She walked to him, put her arms around the boy and Baelfire cried his heart out. They remained like this for a while.

"Why did they have to die?" Baelfire asked between his sobs. "They were good people. They would never hurt anybody? Why?"

"I don't know, Baelfire. I really don't know." Belle said as she stroked his hair. They sat down on the large stones and the boy was lying with his head on Belle's lap.

"Finn and Ursula had just their baby two weeks ago. And lseth was expecting hers next month." Baelfire told the princess. "And Penny and Bern were so happy because they were going to wed soon. Old Jack survived a bad fever last winter for what? What's the sense of being alive, if you don't even a chance to live it?" Belle gave no answer. She had no answer. Life was cruel. Unfair. That she was learning the past few days. "And all my friends…" He burst again in tears, the pain too overwhelming to bear.

Belle spent an uncertain amount of time helping Baelfire's going through his ordeals. She never had lost anybody close to her, but she could imagine it, for until yesterday she thought her father was dead. But she couldn't imagine how it felt to lose all the people she knew. To lose a whole community. Friends she grew up with. It was just too much to bear. And so, after long tormenting hours, Baelfire finally stopped crying and fell asleep, exhausted by the turbulent emotions. Belle, still worried with Rumpelstiltskin, who had remained absent, gently moved Baelfire's head from her lap and let him sleep peacefully.

She walked to Rumpelstitskin, finding him still on the same stop, sitting on the ground. She sat next to him. His eyes were still casted in the distance. She could see he had been crying too. He looked pale, tired and older.

"The day before yesterday…" Rumpelstiltskin suddenly spoke, his voice weak and tired. "…was his birthday." Belle frowned at the revelation. "The night we found you, we were running away. The king had just ordered to change the age. All fourteen year old children were being sent to the front lines of the Ogre Wars." Belle's eyes widened, not believing her ears. Her father…sending children to the war? "I woke him up in the middle of the night. He never had the chance to say goodbye to his friends, to anybody." Belle felt bad for Rumpelstiltskin. Not willing to lose his only child, opted by running away. She understood now Baelfire's revolt, even if it was unfair. "Do you think I'm a bad father?"

"No! You would do anything for Baelfire!"

"Do you think he will ever forgive me?"

"Of course he will. When his mind is clearer, he'll see you had your best intentions." She placed her hand on his shoulder. It was horrible to hear him so unsure about his parenting. For what she knew, he was a wise and caring father.

"I wonder if he would leave too, if he knew…" Rumpelstitskin trailed off. Belle didn't understand the last part, but didn't want to push him with questions either. So she let him be.

"Come on. It's getting late. We better built up a fire. The air is cooling." The sun was already setting, giving the sky an uncharacteristic red color, disturbingly contrasted by the black smoke. She got up and helped Rumpelstiltskin, who let a moan of pain, his left leg unable to support the sudden weight of his body. "Are you all right?"

Rumpelstiltskin nodded and let himself be guided by Belle. They gathered wood and started a small fire. The cripple sat before it, looking worn out and beaten. Baelfire lied opposite to him, on the other side of the fire, still asleep. Belle sat between them, also feeling tired from the tumultuous afternoon. It hurt her to see Rumpelstiltskin's defeated with an empty look. He always looked so merry and decided. This sadness didn't match him.

After some time Baelfire woke up. He saw the little fire and then saw his father sitting before it, his eyes lost in the flames. The teenager remained like this a while, observing his father, reading his hopelessness. The boy got up and sat next to Rumpelstiltskin and laid his head on his shoulder.

"There is always a tomorrow." Baelfire whispered.

"There is always a tomorrow." His father confirmed, planting a kiss on the his son's head. Not long after Rumpelstiltskin lay down to sleep, his son on top of him, listening to his father's heartbeat. Belle too, lied down exausted from the worries of the day. But she wore a smile. She was glad Baelfire and Rumpelstiltskin had found each other again.

A cruel chapter, I know. I'm hoping to manage to profound the character's personalities by showing their reactions in dificult times. I know Baelfire can sound really cruel or unfair, but we must not forget he's just turned 14. The next chapter will develop more his perspective of the war.

Hope you liked it. Please, continue reviewing ;)