A/N: We're suddenly heading for an ending pretty fast, reader peops! In the meantime, thanks so much for all the lovely feedback!

(For disclaimer, etc. - see chapter 1)

Chapter 11

Rose felt somewhat overwhelmed by the response from Anthony when she arrived back at the Miner's Fair. Leroy had offered to walk her home instead, but she had insisted on returning to the fair to help out in any way she could. Mary Margaret already felt abandoned by all her friends, it wasn't right to add to that pain. This was what Rose said but they were not her only thoughts about going back. She was mostly thinking of Anthony.

Dear Mr Gold, who the town saw as such a monster. She couldn't deny he played the part well enough. What kind of decent man refused help to a group of poor, defenceless nuns? Still, he wasn't all bad, and Rose presumed he must have his reasons for being so harsh on them. There had been very little love in Anthony's life from what she could make out. If he was never shown love and understanding, he could hardly be well-versed in showing such emotions to others.

On top of all this, Rose was thinking of her own feelings. She had known for a while now that she could like Gold better than most could manage. He treated her as special, like she was that much more worthy of his kindness than anyone else. Rose had hardly allowed herself to wonder on what that meant until the last day or two. In discussing Leroy's feelings for Sister Astrid, it had then occurred to Miss French just exactly what her own heart might be feeling. She put up with an awful lot where Anthony was concerned, and never seriously considered walking out on him. It only almost happened once, and after that night, things had been so different between them.

Right now, Mr Gold was almost unrecognisable from the tyrant the townsfolk would paint him as. Leroy had put Rose on a chair and asked several times if she was feeling better, if she needed anything. Just as soon as Anthony realised she might be unwell he started to coddle her. Indeed, Rose was sure a mother hen made less of a fuss, but she didn't really mind. At least it proved what she already suspected, that he really did care about her.

"We should get you home, Rose," he insisted, as she sipped the glass of water Mary Margaret had kindly fetched.

"No, really, I'd like to stay," she argued from her place behind the candle stall. "I'll be fine, I just had a momentary wobble. I feel much better already," she promised, putting her glass on the edge of the table and reaching for Anthony's hand. "Truly, you mustn't worry so much," she told him with a smile.

Gold let out a breath he hardly knew he was holding. She did look better than when Leroy had first walked her over. The colour was coming back into her cheeks and at least she was smiling. Perhaps it wasn't only her health that had him in such a state, in fact he knew that was not the whole story. He had snapped, been so angry at her and more over with himself. Then at the docks, he walked away before she ever had a chance to speak, thinking avoidance would be easier. Had he stayed, he might have been there when she felt out of sorts, he might've helped her. As it was he had forsaken her again, and that tore at the heart he had been so sure he didn't have anymore.

"Anthony," her voice cut through a million jumbled thoughts from this world and the previous one. "Are you sure you're feeling alright? You look pale," she advised him, doubtless about to leap up from her seat to offer it to him.

That he would not stand for and told her so.

"You stay where you are, dear," he told her, gently squeezing the hand he still held. "I'm perfectly fine. Its been a long day and you gave me quite the scare, that is all," he assured her with a small smile.

"I'm sorry" she apologised. "Really, I didn't mean to worry you, or to interfere with your business..."

"Rose, forget all about that," he told her, knowing she really had nothing to be sorry for.

If anyone should feel bad it was entirely himself to blame. Spotting another folding chair abandoned nearby, he dragged it over and sat down by Rose then. He thought about re-taking the hand he had to let go before but decided against it. Even now it felt wrong to touch her, to want to be that close to her. No matter what she said about them being friends or caring for him, Rumpelstiltskin, the monster inside the man, would not allow himself to believe she could truly love him.

"I am at least glad we helped out today," sighed Rose as she looked towards a harassed Mary Margaret and a stall with slightly less candles piled on it than before. "I just wish there was more we could do."

"Is that another hint about the nun's rent, Rose?" he asked then, making her turn too quickly to look at him - a hint of a smirk on his lips suggested he was at least half-teasing her.

"Not at all," she assured him seriously. "You were right, Anthony, I have no business meddling in your affairs. If the nun's owe you money, then they should pay..."

"But it would please you if I helped them?" he asked, unintentionally interrupting her.

Rose wasn't sure what to say to that. She would like to help the nuns, and she would like for Anthony to be the kind of man who wanted to be so charitable. At the same time, it wasn't exactly his nature to be that way, and it seemed wrong to want to change him. On the other hand, if he wanted to change himself, that was hardly her fault.

Rose opened her mouth to answer but no sound came out. They both knew the answer to his question, and both knew why she wouldn't voice it. Gold was all too aware that whilst Belle happily spoke her mind in all things, people were different here. Rose French was not quite so bold all of the time, and more mindful of causing a fuss. After the last time they spoke on this subject earlier in the day, it seemed fruitless, even ridiculous to bring it up again when they had only just now made the peace.

"Right then," he said, without her ever having confirmed what he already knew.

Anthony got up and leant his weight on his cane, glancing around the crowds of people in the darkness lit only by fairylights and such. He had just spotted Sister Astrid and was about to head towards her when suddenly the whole area was plunged into complete darkness.

"What the devil...?" Anthony began to ask, turning to look at Rose when she laughed giddily.

"There, look," she whispered, pointing over to the building atop which the figure of a short man stood, right beside the mains power.

There was no doubting it was Leroy and suddenly the whole situation made sense. The custodian had sabotaged the power on purpose, turning out all the lights, not just here at the fair, but probably in people's homes too. With a lack of electric light everyone would need a candle to light their way.

"Damn fool," Gold muttered, shaking his head, thinking of the cost to fix such things and what an idiot the man must be to think he would ever win the heart of a nun, of all people!

Rose continued to giggle like a school girl. Suddenly her hand was wrapped around Gold's own and she was leaning her head against his arm. He glanced down at her just as she looked up to meet his gaze.

"He did it for love," she said softly, as they shared a smile.

Rose's strength had come back to her before long and she insisted Anthony let her help Mary Margaret, Leroy, and Astrid in selling all the candles. In the end it took all five of them, rolling up their sleeves and getting stuck in to the task at hand. By the end of the evening, the cash box was overflowing with more money than the nuns could ever need for rent, and there were smiles all around, particularly on Mary Margaret's lips.

She thanked her helpers most graciously, Mr Gold in particular, though he was the only one she made no moves to hug. Astrid was giddy and grateful, Leroy lifted Miss Blanchard clean off her feet, and Rose was so happy she was more aglow than any candle in the place.

As the five parted ways, Anthony helped Rose into her jacket when she shivered from cold. She picked up the last candle, which she had purchased herself before the rush, and carefully lit it.

"Now we shall find our way home," she smiled brightly, offering her arm to Gold.

It ought to have been the other way around of course, but Rose was Belle, and neither had ever been conventional. At the same time, she was everything Gold thought a woman ought to be. Kind and graceful, beautiful inside and out. He didn't deserve her, he could not ever do so, no more in this world than the one they had called home before. Yet, she cared for him. They had developed a friendship and something suggested that more could happen between them if she had her way.

Perhaps he was reading too much into it. After all, this was how things had begun when they first met. He was Rumpelstiltskin and she was Belle, and she had proven to be the only woman who could truly love him, the beauty who could love the beast he was then. Though he was perhaps more human here and existed without magic, it did not change who he was in his heart. Perhaps it was foolish to think that being without her memory could really change Belle's heart either. She had loved him back then; as Rose, she could love him still, though he hardly dare believe it.

"It's been a long day," she sighed, leaning into him a little more.

It was a strain on the man with the knee that was barely holding himself up, never mind her weight, but Gold would never complain.

"Aye, it has," he agreed as they continued on into town, arriving at his shop where his car waited for them. "Really ought to get you home before your father thinks you've been abducted by the big, bad wolf," he teased her.

Rose laughed prettily, blowing out her candle as they moved to get into the car. Anthony opened the door for her and she thanked him as she slid into her seat, waiting for him to join her. It was almost a shame to be going home, even though she was quite definitely tired and meant it when she said the day had been long. She so enjoyed all the time she spent with Anthony Gold, even though she couldn't entirely explain. To think he had started out as her much-loathed employer, the man her father owed a small fortune. She worked for him only because she had to and regarded herself a slave in many ways. Things were so different now.

It was true that she still had to stay in his employ for the sake of Papa's debt, but Rose no longer disliked her work, not at all. Anthony was different, but she felt altered herself just lately too. The past few weeks, things had changed in all kinds of ways and she felt herself falling.

Honestly, Rose wasn't sure she had ever been in love before to know if that was what she was feeling, but it could be. There was a warm glow inside her whenever Anthony smiled her way or paid her a kindness of some kind. She felt positively sick when they fell out over anything and only ever wanted to make things better again. Of course they had become friends, they had both said so, but there was more, she was certain of it.

"You are very quiet, Rose," he noted as he drove towards her house, eyes always on the road, especially when it was so dark everywhere.

"Just tired, I suppose," she replied absently, even though she knew it wasn't entirely true.

Mostly she was lost in thought, contemplating the nature of this odd relationship they had. Today, Anthony had proved without doubt that he cared a great deal for her. The fuss when she was not feeling well, the fact he would've gone so far as to extend a helping hand to the nuns in a financial sense. Honestly, the very fact he turned up today to volunteer was nothing short of a miracle, and all because of her.

As the Cadillac pulled up outside the French home, Gold shut off the engine and moved to exit the car. Rose's hand on his arm stopped him.

"Anthony, wait," she urged him, wondering whatever she might say when he turned to her with a questioning look.

The truth was, there were no words. She had nothing she could ever say to explain what she was feeling. Sat here now with only the moonlight to illuminate them, and the near-silence of night all around, it truly was as if they were the only two who existed in the world. Rose could easily believe there was just her and Anthony and everything else had gone away, leaving just the two of them and this moment. Before she had a chance to over-think it, she leaned in closer and pressed her lips to his own.

He seemed surprised, which she might have expected, but the truth of the matter was he could not resist. Anthony Gold did have feelings for her, Rose was never more sure of it than when he kissed her back now. Her realisation was only fleeting, however, as a million other thoughts filled her head.

Inside Rose's mind, pictures flashed and voices echoed. She saw a castle, Anthony looking so different and yet the same. A spinning wheel, a chipped tea cup. The images came faster, and her father's voice said she could not go with the beast. Someone laughed with childish glee, a dark queen talked of curses, true loves kiss. The wheel spun, colours blended all together, and Belle, for that was her real name, proclaimed her love for her captor.

"Rumpelstiltskin," the name fell from her lips as she pulled out of the kiss with a gasp.

Gold did not have time to react to the use of his real name, the kiss, nothing. Rose, who must by now realise she was Belle, was out of the car and running into her house before he ever had a chance to speak, or even breathe.

It made no sense. She had not known the truth before, he was certain of that. If she knew now, if the part of the curse holding her had been broken, it could only mean one thing. They really had just shared True Love's Kiss.

To Be Continued...