Balloons and Strings of Gold (part 2)

Hiya everyone! I loved the reviews and love the fact that all of your still like this. This is the second part of Strings of Gold posted a few weeks back. Enjoy ^_^

The day was going to be special.

It was Belle's birthday, and the whole town decided to celebrate, in light of both her finally regaining her memory and having a birthday. Granny was in charge of the food, Regina and Snow put their animosity aside and teamed up to make a large, tiered, chocolate and cherry topped gateau for the centre piece. Mr Gold had been instructed to take Belle out on Leroy's boat for a trip around the coastal area, and the rest of the town armed themselves with hammers, tables, bunting and plates.

There was a party to be had.

Emma ducked out of the tent that she just finished helping to set up, and came face to face with very heavily laden Mira. The tall woman was carrying several baskets of bunting and what looked like a massive banner. Knowing the woman, she guessed that most, if not all, was handmade. Emma grabbed one of the baskets out of her hand and helped her set the rest of them down. The other woman looked grateful, and accepted the lemonade that Ruby offered, when she walked past them.

Mira threw her braid over her shoulder and nodded at the woman next to her. They both proceeded to look out over the preparations. In one corner of the square Cam and Hook were on a set of ladder, the woman putting up the hand stitched bunting, and hook hammering various bits and pieces in, talking. Emma spoke up.

"Killian mentioned something about being close to you two. And I think he's down at your shop every chance he gets. How did the pirate get friends like you? And why does your cousin look like she's about to bite his head off?"

Mira smiled, her eyes misting over, clearly remembering some private memory.

"He took me from a gilded cage, and introduced me to a fisherman's son. And he took Cam to the real world. If it wasn't for him, neither of us would have had a real life - I would be stuck under the realms, in a world where time and life had little meaning, and Cam would never see the world except in the dead of winter. She actually hates all kinds of weather, but she likes to see the world in a non-dead state." At Emma's puzzled stare her companion clarified. "Nastiya is Snegurochka and the Ice Queen - Father Jack Frost's daughter. Known best, out here at least, for breaking a mirror and capturing a little boy while turning his heart to ice. Just to clarify, she was the one who went to rescue him from an evil Princess called Cora, who was trying to turn a little Prince into a slave. Made entirely of snow. Nastiya, that is. And very liable to melt if the temperature gets above freezing."

"Ah."

"Exactly. This curse turned her into a human, and with the magic, she should stay this way. Permanently."

"That doesn't explain why she is mad at Hook."

"Oh, that. It's his own fault. See, the first person that we met after Killian left us in the Forest, was Belle. She'd just been kicked out by her father, and she shared the money and the jewels she had carried off with us, to ensure we had a comfortable life. And she taught Cam everything about our new world. So the idiot SHOOTING her and making her lose her memory will be automatically despised, even if it is Killian. She'll get over it, but it might take her a while."

There was nothing to way to this at all.

"Well, he is being helpful. We shall be getting out his balloons out later today."

"Balloons?" Somehow, this made Emma feel very apprehensive.

"Yep. We showed Killian how to blow them up earlier with a little electronic pump, and he seemed to get the hand of it. He'd gone home a little while ago, said that the was sure that you had some at your house."

Emma for the life of her could not remember if they did, but since Henry's birthday was not that far away, it stood to reason that Mary Margaret had bought some. She shrugged.

"Want help with those?" She motioned to the baskets sitting on the floor. The other woman grinned. "Thought you'd never ask."

Gold and Belle arrived not long after this exchange, just as everyone had finished up with their parts and cleared the mess away.

The smile on Belle's face was worth every minute of it.

Emma looked out over the festivities, where the reason of them was milling around with the people from town. Leroy was telling them something right now, and the Sheriff was sure that he was telling them about the possibility of them using his boat for a dinner date. In any case, the librarian smiled and kissed the man's cheek, before turning to the next well-wisher.

Killian.

Emma immediately tensed, as did Gold, and she was sure that Granny, Ruby and Mira had spotted what was going on as well.

She started to move in their direction.

Killian was being very careful not to make any sudden or risky moves. He reached into a satchel at his side and slowly withdrew a package - a present wrapped in tissue paper.

Emma relaxed, if only slightly, and then realised she was now close enough to hear what they were saying.

"Now, Miss Belle, I understand that there is very little that I can do to apologise to you for my earlier behaviour, but I hope that you are able to accept this."

Belle looked over at Rumple, hovering at her side, who looked like he was torn between tearing the man apart or doing that to the package. Instead, he tightened his hold on his companion's waist.

The young woman smiled, accepted the package, and proceeded to carefully take off the wrappings. She audibly gasped, and Emma could see that several people tensed.

It was a dress.

The garment was a stunning green velvet, with some of the most beautiful gold (was that velvet too?) gold trim and plum leaf flower pattern.

Belle looked at the captain, a look of confusion on her face.

"I became aware that you had very few things when you… appeared in Storybrooke. I can understand how you feel and, by way of an apology, wished to give you something that you could call truly your own." He paused. "I was not sure of your size, but if you need any adjustments, I can assist. Or I am sure the lovely ladies at Red Stri…"

He broke off as all 50 kilos of Belle flung herself at him and enveloped him in a hug. "That is one of the nicest things anyone has done for me." She smiled, and then her smile grew mischievous. "As you said yourself, Captain, it am not sure I can forgive you. However, I have a proposition to make." She held out her hand. "Hello Sir. My name is Belle, the local librarian. Are you new around here?"

Emma sighed in relief. It looked like everything was in control, so she moved away, closer to the edges of the festivities again, our of hearing range.

All continued well, until the balloons were dropped.

"Oh no!" Cam and Mira had, as if by magic, appeared at Emma's side as she watched, in mild horror, the balloons and a dozen or so BLOWN UP CONDOMS rain down around Rumplestiltskin and his lady.

It was abundantly clear what had happened. Killian must have seen the condoms in the family bathroom at some point, but had not gotten to asking about them, so when the seamstresses had shown him a balloon, he must have assumed that that is what the strange rubbery things were.

Damn the man for being so logical most of the time.

Another thought struck her.

Oh god.

They belonged to her parents.

In every colour of the rainbow.

She was extremely glad that Mira had stepped in front of her by this point, and was muttering something under her breath, pointing to each falling condom and making it disappear.

Thankfully, no one except a few people noticed anything, and Emma and an enlisted Ruby had managed, between giggles, to persuade everyone that they must have been drunk and hallucinating.

Even better, Mr Gold had missed the whole thing completely, and at the end of the day even shook Killian's hand. Perhaps that relationship could really be mended.

As for Killian, Emma had decided that there was no point telling the pirate off - after all, he genuinely had everyone's best interests in mind, and there was no point of punishing him. She would just punish her father by having him explain the concern of a condom to Killian at a later date.

Emma found it rather apt that the 'balloons' had found a new home where they belonged - in Mary Margaret and David's bedroom. That would teach them to leave condoms around, when there was a well-meaning, but very confused and modernly challenged pirate about. How was he to know that the things were not balloons? After all, it's not like they came with an instruction manual.

AN: Thank you for continuing to read, every one! All your reviews are very much appreciated and make me happy :)