Hey guys, I am so glad that people are taking the time to read this and follow it and everything else, and just thanks, I know I do this every time. The usual all mistakes are mine, please review and so on :)
Just as the cup was about to land on the hard floor of the shop, Emma threw herself across the room, diving forwards to catch it. She was sure she wasn't going to make it, but as her chin battered against the shop floor, she felt the cup land softly in her outstretched hands.
"Holy fu-" she gasped as she felt the pain build in her head from the blow. Ruby was already on her feet, coughing and wheezing, blood staining her top in various places as she thanked Emma before turning towards Lacey. Who was gone. Ruby hurled another apology over her shoulder as she sniffed the air and took off after the girl. Emma grunted as Regina knelt beside her, soft hands soothing her growing headache. Her jaw felt as if it were on fire.
"Are you alright?" asked the Queen tenderly. Emma tried to nod but discovered that it was a bad idea. "Here," said Regina as she ran her fingers up and down Emma's face, erasing the pain gradually.
"Where's Ruby?" mumbled Emma, wincing as the pain spiked. Regina scowled at Emma's impatience to wait until she was properly healed.
"She went after Lacey."
"I need to help her-" Emma tried to get up, but she discovered her chest was sore too, as was pretty much the rest of her torso.
"No," ordered Regina, pushing her gently back onto the floor as she continued to heal Emma. "Ruby can handle the rest herself."
"Thank you," said Emma, smiling up at Regina, who smiled back, both of the m ignoring Gold's muffled complaints from the other side of the room.
"LACEY!" yelled Ruby as she hurtled down the road. She could just see the tail end of Lacey running as fast as she could in her bare feet towards the woods. Ruby was about to dart after her, using the wolf's speed, but an arm caught hold of her arm.
"Red, what's happening?" asked Snow, holding her fast in her epic grip.
"Please let me go," pleaded Ruby, her anger giving way to desperation.
"What's with the cup?" asked Snow. Her eyes went to Gold's shop, which was obviously a wreck just from a quick glance through the broken door. "What've you done?"
"Snow, please, I need to get Belle back. Now please let me go."
"You're bleeding!" exclaimed Snow.
"I know! There was a thing. Gold's tied up, Emma's being healed by Regina and I need Belle to look at this bloody cup and remember!" Snow looked at her friend's eyes, before she let her go, watching Ruby blur out of focus as she ran away. Snow hurried over to Gold's and stepped inside, gaping at the surroundings. She felt a little bad about holding Ruby up but she knew that at this time of the month, the full moon, Ruby was reckless. And Snow couldn't forgive herself if Ruby rushed off without thinking it through properly. She saw Gold in the corner and smiled faintly. Then she saw Regina crouched over Emma and the smile left.
"What happened here?" she asked. Regina, still not quite happy with Snow after the events with her mother, turned with a little steel in her eyes. "What happened to my daughter?"
"Gold tried to hit her with his damn cane," said Regina. She paused as Snow raised her eyebrow, knowing there was more. "Then she… swan-dived the floor trying to catch a cup," she muttered quickly, trying not to smile at how it sounded.
"Emma, you idiot," said Snow, standing over her daughter and frowning at her, hands on hips.
"Go away," moaned Emma.
"You survive a fight with the Dark One fine but then you almost knock yourself out against the floor? Are you turning into Hook?" she asked.
"Don't start…" groaned Emma as Regina couldn't help but laugh. Snow looked at Regina, who continued healing Emma and they shared a fond smile over Emma, who was still muttering about wishing her girlfriend and mother still wanted to kill each other rather than ganging up on her.
"LACEY!" yelled Ruby as she halted, as she had done every few metres she dashed, sniffing the air and straining her ears to look for Lacey. She was hot on her trail. She must be catching up by now. Lacey took a lot of twists and turns and Ruby followed determinedly, not caring how many times she was side-tracked. "LACEY!" she yelled again. She heard faint footsteps to her right. She darted through the trees, ducking and dodging as she drew closer and closer, the scent getting stronger and stronger, until she saw Lacey right in front of her. She was running so fast that she couldn't slow herself down in time, and so ran straight into Lacey, wearing another one of Belle's silk nightdresses. Ruby managed to twist as they fell, so that Lacey would land on top of her as they skidded to a halt in a pile of leaves and twigs, the dirt slipping into Ruby's various cuts on her back and pushing the remaining fragments of glass further into her flesh. She hissed in pain as Lacey tried to get up to keep running, but Ruby grabbed her arm softly but firmly, preventing her from leaving. Lacey pulled herself free and ran off again. Ruby scrambled up, quickly checking that the cup in her hand was still intact – it was, she thought with a sigh of relief, before hurrying after Lacey, halting in front of her and grasping her wrist.
"Lacey, please-"
"Let go of me!"
"Lacey, listen to me!" yelled Ruby. Lacey was silenced, taken aback. Ruby grabbed her opportunity. "This life you think you have, it isn't real! You were locked up for years by Regina!"
"No, I wasn't! I just thought you were crazy when you told me! Like it was a joke or something!" Lacey struggled in Ruby's grip.
"I'm not! You really used to be Belle from the fairytale land!" With this, Lacey managed to pull herself free and took a step backwards.
"I'm Lacey," she replied, running a hand through her loose curls, her eyebrows furrowed in confusion as her eyes glittered.
"Lacey, look at this," Ruby said, holding up the cup, clasping it between Belle's hands. "Just for a minute. And then you'll know I'm not crazy. And if it doesn't work, I'll walk away, I promise."
"But-" started Lacey, her voice shaking. Ruby realised that there were tears in Lacey's eyes. "If I'm not real… will I just die? Disappear? Never even existed?" she asked, her voice rising with each question.
"No," replied Ruby gently. "You'll be the real you. This is just a life you would have lived if Regina hadn't locked you up."
"So I'll be different?" Ruby, tears pricking in her own eyes as Lacey's poured down the shorter woman's face, nodded.
"But you'll be the way you're meant to be."
"Says who?" asked Lacey, slapping away Ruby's hand. "What about me? What about Lacey? Who are you to decide if this Belle is better than me?"
"Because I know Belle! And she is a whole person, with a life, with people who love her. You are just an echo of her. You are what she could have become, that's all."
"So if you were Ruby, and only Ruby, no Red, would you want to go?"
"No," she admitted quietly, looking deep into her eyes. "But I'm better as a mixture. This is who I'm comfortable with. I'm more mature, I feel… whole. With Ruby there was always something missing. And I think you feel that too."
"But… I don't want to go," she sobbed, breaking down completely as Ruby reached out and pulled her into her embrace, Lacey not even trying to resist.
"Lacey, you'll still be a part of Belle. You'll still exist as a part of her. But Belle deserves to exist too. And she has a job, a life, people who love her so much they would die for her." Ruby closed her eyes as tears rolled down her face, the trees rustling around them in the breeze as Lacey's sobs wracked through the air.
"So you'll look after Belle?" asked Lacey, pulling back from Ruby and looking up at her. Ruby nodded, her lips pressed together to suppress her own sobs. Lacey wiped her tears with the back of her hand and took a breath, taking the cup from Ruby. Ruby was alert, just in case Lacey tried to smash it again, but she only smirked as she looked at the cup. It was quite nice, probably part of a set. The little chip in it made it look… a little different, in a good way. Used. Marked. It belonged to someone. Lacey didn't belong. She knew that. She was different to the rest. She didn't know what she wanted, she was reckless. She was missing a part of herself. And she couldn't escape the feeling that she should be elsewhere. But Belle belonged to someone. She belonged in this town, with Ruby. She had friends. She had everything Lacey tried to find in her short while here. Suddenly, she felt a glimmer of recognition. The image of the tea-set appeared in her mind's eye. Closely followed by a large room with large windows and tall curtains. She remembered a man, a man with odd skin… The Dark One. When he caught her as she fell. The spinning wheel. Kissing him. Her time in his castle. Her father. Her childhood. The trolls. The deal. Regina. Waking up in a cell in the real world. Repeating the same routine for twenty eight years. Being released by Jefferson. Living with Gold for a short while. Ruby. Meeting her in the diner over iced tea. Hiding her from the mob. Ruby chaining her up to keep her safe. The night in the snow when they nearly kissed for the first time. Mucking around with Ruby in the snow. The ogres. Hospital. Their walk in the snow. The kiss.
All of this flashed through Belle's mind in an instant, but it seemed like longer. Ruby was unknowingly holding her breath as she watched Lacey look into the chipped cup. She saw her expression change after a few moments, before she heard a loud gasp and the shorter girl put a hand to her head, blinking rapidly and glancing from the cup to Ruby.
"Belle?" she asked timidly, barely loud enough to hear. If it wasn't Belle, she didn't know if she could go through it again. She tried so hard not to get her hopes up. The curly haired brunette looked at her for a moment, before nodding.
"Oh my God!" yelled Ruby happily as she lurched forwards, sweeping Belle into her arms and lifting her off the ground as she buried her face in Belle's hair, wrapping her arms around her so tightly that Belle found it hard to breathe.
"Ruby… breathing… difficult…" she gasped, but only after she had allowed Ruby a few moments while slowly crushing her lungs to enjoy having her back.
"Sorry!" Ruby apologised as she loosened her grip but didn't let her go yet.
"It's fine," smiled Belle, looking down at Ruby. And the wolf girl could see that it was really Belle staring back at her, her aquamarine eyes shining with happiness and glittering with tears. Ruby placed Belle gently on the ground but kept her close, as if waiting for the next thing to take her away.
"Oh, Ruby, you're bleeding!" she exclaimed, examining Ruby's hand gently.
"It's fine. Everything's fine now," she replied, unable to keep the grin off her face or the laugh from her voice.
"But Ruby, you need to get this fixed…" said Belle, still looking at the nasty cut. Ruby's smile froze as she fully registered Belle's tone as she continued on a ramble about infection. It was so concerned, so afraid for her well-being that Ruby realised that this was truly Belle. The Belle that cared for her, the Belle who made her happy just by existing. The Belle who loved her. And suddenly, Ruby felt tears pricking at her eyes. Belle looked up, her blue eyes wide with concern as she opened her mouth to say something, but the words died as she watched a tear slide down Ruby's cheek.
"Ruby?" she asked carefully. "Is everything okay?"
"I missed you so much," sobbed Ruby into Belle's shoulder. Belle, utterly gobsmacked by Ruby's behaviour, wrapped her arms around her shaking body as she planted a gentle kiss just above her ear.
"I'm so sorry for what I did," whispered Belle. She could remember the things she had done as Lacey, and was completely ashamed of herself.
"It wasn't really you," mumbled Ruby, her voice muffled by Belle's shoulder. Belle pulled back a little and placed her hands on Ruby's cheeks, looking deep into the wolf-girl's hazel eyes.
"I love you," she said sincerely. There was nothing else she could think to say. Ruby smiled through her tears and Belle leaned forwards, stretching up on the tips of her toes as she kissed Ruby, who immediately melted into Belle, having missed this feeling for what seemed like an eternity. The world could have imploded and she wouldn't have cared. Having Belle's soft lips caressing her own, her tongue brushing lightly over her bottom lip, all she cared about was never losing her again. Soon though, the need for air became a more pressing matter, and they broke apart.
"We should get back," said Belle, unable to keep the smile off of her face.
"We should," agreed Ruby. "See if Emma survived her encounter with the floor," she chuckled. Belle raised an eyebrow, her right hand still on Ruby's cheek. "She dived headlong into the floor to catch the cup."
"Oh… sorry about that," she said again, looking at the ground.
"It's all dealt with now," shrugged Ruby, turning to walk back, holding her good hand out to Belle. Belle took it eagerly and twined their fingers together, leaning against Ruby's shoulder a little as they walked. Belle was very careful about where she put her feet in the woods, avoiding the sticks and stones and the occasional thorns. She was glad of the warm weather though; her silk nightdress that didn't cover her knees was not the best insulator for the cold. However, when she accidentally stood on a thorn and paused for a moment wincing silently, Ruby stopped and grinned.
"What is it about you and losing shoes?" she asked, hazel eyes glittering fondly.
"Probably the same thing with you and barging in when I'm asleep," replied Belle, grinning. Ruby laughed; proper, genuine laughter for the first time in ages. She turned her back to Belle and moved her hair again. "Come on," she said, hands ready to catch Belle's legs. Belle jumped up, wrapping her legs around Ruby's waist as Ruby's arms secured her weight. Ruby straightened up and began walking, enjoying the feeling of Belle's arms wrapped around her neck, her breath ghosting across the sensitive area just beneath her hairline.
They arrived back in town after a few minutes walking. They passed by Gold's shop quickly, Belle curiously looking in as they went on their way to the diner. It was still in shambles, but Gold was gone. Ruby averted her gaze, wanting to forget the whole event. She had Belle. That was all that mattered. Continuing on, she strained her ears for a moment and could hear the sounds of an argument between familiar voices from Snow's place. Grinning, Ruby could hear Regina dropping sassy comments to Snow, who replied angrily about the state of her daughter. Ruby was eager to go over and see them all, but Belle was not dressed for it.
"You want to get your stuff from the library?" asked Ruby, having a feeling that Belle didn't want to return to Gold's just yet.
"That'd be good," she replied. Ruby darted along to the library, where she let Belle off. The door was locked, but Ruby always carried around her spare key just in case. She opened the door and Belle rushed in, Ruby close on her heels. She knew she was probably being clingy, but she deserved a few days of clingy after all that.