The spring had come, slowly and sneakily without detection, wiping away the once cold treacherous winter.

Regina and Gaston remained in the shelter of their castles until it was their time to strike. The Queen kept a watchful eye on the beauty and the beast however, through the magic of her mirrors. Her visit to the Dark Castle wasn't a complete waste of time, in the main chamber of the Dark One's living room she had planted a small mirror above the fireplace, just in the perfect spot to spy and reveal all Rumplestiltskin's future plans.

Rumplestiltskin span at his wheel peacefully, while Baelfire leaned against one of the nearby walls, drawing pictures with his finger on the foggy window.

"What are you up to, Bae?" Rumple asked curiously, his mind being taken off his spinning for a brief moment, turning to gaze towards his son.

"Nothing." He mumbled, obviously bored with what he was currently occupied with.

Belle entered the room humming gently to herself, placing her broom at the side of the wall. Then as if a switch flipped, he perked up, an idea coming to his mind.

"What are you humming about?" He asked her, amused by her chipper presence.

"I suppose I'm just in a wonderful mood." she nearly sang, continuing to gently hum to herself.

"Papa, it's looking nice outside, the sun is gone and most of the snow has gone, perhaps we should all go for a stroll."

"I don't know-" Rumple hesitated and returned to his spinning.

"I would love to!" Belle outburst unable to control her excitement, her joyous mood becoming contagious.

Baelfire grinned excitedly and then turned his attention to his father.

"Papa, are you coming too?" He asked, his innocent brown eyes almost impossible to turn down.

After Rumple's reluctant agreement, the three of them walked together among the stone path. There still remained patches of snow amongst the green grass and the snow capped mountains remained clearly displayed in the distance.

"Do you think the pond is still frozen papa?" Bae asked running over to the area of frozen water, reaching out his leg to test the durability of the thin ice.

"I would rather you not test it out." He advised, keeping a watchful eye on his son. Belle observed the relationship between father and son, and though it seemed strained at times, there was no doubt that Baelfire loved his father deeply and only wished for his approval.

"He looks up to you quite a bit you know." Belle spoke, walking slowly beside Rumplestiltskin through the gardens. When he did not answer right away, still intently watching Baelfire who had both feet on top of the ice now, his arms spread out for delicate balance.

"I think every son looks up to his father." Belle continued to speak, imagining her father who yearned for a son but was bestowed with a daughter instead.

"Yes, but some fathers aren't meant to be looked up to, my father was a terrific example of that." Rumple growled in his throat, a tone Belle recognized when something was bothering him.

"What happened?" She hesitated, but eventually got the words out.

"He was a coward, he abandoned me when I was just a young boy." He confessed, his brown eyes filled with a type of sadness Belle had never seen before.

When Belle looked upon him again she saw something, something human. Emotion filled with humanity, which made a warm sensation burn in the center of her heart.

"I'm really sorry, that must have been tough." She apologized, staring down at her feet, as silence took over their stroll.

They both watched Bae in the distance play around the pond, splashing around in the newly broken frozen water.

"He has quite the imagination." Rumple chuckled, admiring Baelfire from afar.

"He is a very special boy." She agreed, joining in on his slight laughter.

"Bae's nightmares seemed to have paused, he hasn't been complaining about them anymore." Rumple spoke, adding on to their limited conversation.

Belle had almost forgotten about the dreams her and the boy had shared. The same horrifying monstrous creature that managed to send chills down her spine at the very thought of it. She found that the more she pushed the startling dream to the back of her mind, the better she was able to sleep at night, without asking herself a million questions and theorizing about the nightmare.

She tried to shake off her thoughts and wanted to change the the subject completely. Out of the corner of her eye, Belle then spotted a tiny twig along the path and picked it up in her hands, remembering an old magic trick her father used to show her when she was just a girl.

"Do you want to see a trick?" She asked Rumplestiltskin, attempting to get her mind off the creepy nightmare.

"Well this is ought to be good." He mused, taking a step back from her to get a better view.

"You're not the only one around here who can do magic, Rumplestiltskin." She gloated playfully, fiddling the twig between her fingers.

She quickly broke the stick in two, just small enough hat the two ends could for in the palms of her hand. Carefully, Belle placed a twig in each hand and closed her hands.

"Okay, which hand is the twig in?" She asked him innocently, holding out her two fists towards him.

"Is this a trick question? There in both hands." He stated.

"Just pick a hand" She urged, awaiting his choice.

Rumple pointed a scaly finger to her right hand, which she opened, revealing it to be bare.

"Open the other hand." He demanded, not understanding what had just occurred.

Belle opened her left hand, revealing her other hand to be empty as well. Rumplestiltskin had to admit, he was rather impressed with the childish trick his maid had shown, but as always, he had to impress her more.

"That's a good trick dearie, but can you do this?" Rumple raised his eyebrows at the Beauty and began to concentrate on the dirt in front of them. Then before her eyes, a thorny bush grew out of the ground, sprouting bright green leaves, bearing only one crimson rose.

"It's the first rose of the season. I suppose it's a earlier bloomer." He grinned, while Belle stood in awe.

"Here." He bent down and picked the prickly rose and held out the bright red flower towards her. Belle took she brought it gently up to her nose and taking a sniff of its light pleasant odor.

"Why thank you." She curtsied which he obliged with a gentlemen-like bow.

"Roses are my favourite, gentle and soft in the inside but thorny and prickly on the outside. It kind of reminds me of someone." Belle laughed knowingly referring to him.

"Not soft at all, I'm prickly all around dearie."

"I don't believe that." She opposed him.

"You should."

Then the sun hit Belle perfectly, tinting her hair an auburn colour, making her eyes even bluer than they were. He was lost in awe at her beauty, beauty that she didn't even realize she had, which made her all the more beautiful.

"Do you want me to teach you some real magic?" He asked her softly.

"Teach me magic? I don't think that's such a good idea." Belle shook her head.

"It's almost harmless. Just the flick of the wrist" He grinned encouragingly giving another hand movement with caused another bright flower to prematurely bloom from the frosted soil.

"That looks easy enough." Belle observed eager to impress her employer.

Belle stood of straight and faced a patch of soil, just as he had done. She prepared herself well, but with the flick of her wrist came nothing.

"I told you, I can't do it." She complained, moving closer to him unintentionally.

"Magic is about emotion, you have to feel it and believe it." His breath was short against the top of her neck now.

He stood close behind her, his hand sliding up the arch of her back showing her the proper form. Trying to concentrate, Belle tried once more attempting her best to ignore his gentle touch upon her. Then as his hand slid up her back, her wrist snapped and she blew an explosive hole in the ground.

Her eyes opened wide, shocked at what she had just done.

"A bit of practice wouldn't hurt dearie." Rumple took a couple steps back from her, nea impressed at the amount of damage she had done to the poor soil.

"I don't think I'm the magic type." She looked at the explosive hole she had made then looked back up at him for further direction.

"You're right." He smiled and giggled childishly.

After hours of fresh air, the three of them made their way back inside and sat themselves at the main dining table, a large feast placed on the table.

"Ladies first, you may dish out first Belle." He spoke, gesturing her to help herself.

"Wow, I'm allowed to eat first even if I cannot do a simple spell?" She spoke sarcastically a playful grin on her red lips.

"You, my dear, are fine just the way you are, without magic. I would fear for my gardens otherwise." He chuckled.

Belle started to laugh at his joke, not realizing that their hands were brushing against one another on the table. Rumplestiltskin then stood out of his chair, with an important announcement he had to make.

"I found out the man's name, the one who has been working with Regina."

"Who is it?" Baelfire questioned, starting to dish out his plate of food.

"His name is Gaston, Lord of Avonlea. Jefferson identified him while he and Regina were conspiring with one another out in the open."

Belle stared with absent minded horror, pulling her hand away from his and placing it on her lap underneath the table.

"What's wrong Belle? This man is not one to fear." Rumple assured her.

A lump formed in the Beauty's through as she tried to swallow hard. Gulping and taking a deep breath in, she took hold of the dining table for balance. She was feeling light headed and abnormally dizzy. Her voice was as soft as a whisper and with a shaky breath Belle muttered:

"I think it's time I told you how exactly I got in that tower."

Next Chapter: A flashback to Belle's old life in Avonlea and the backstory on how she ended up in the tower. Next update should be this Saturday! I am trying to update every Saturday from now on instead of random days during the week. Thanks for reading! Oh and don't worry a rumbelle kiss is just around the corner! Leave a review and let me know what you think :)