If Hook's exit from Rumplestiltskin's castle had been bad, he knew his return would be worse. Despite that, he gave his word of honor to do what Rumplestiltskin asked. The imp broke out into high-pitched giggles at this.

"Your honor, dearie?" he laughed, as if it were the funniest thing he'd ever heard. "Sorry," he finally choked out, still gasping for breath. "But, I'll need something reliable."

Hook had grit his teeth over the insult. The imp understood nothing of honor. If he were a man, Hook would call him out for it.

But, he wasn't a man. He was a demon, one who held Hook's life in his claws—something the imp seemed to be enjoying. He grinned toothily at Hook. "I'm going to make this easy for you, Jones. You're going to deliver these messages or die trying—die horribly. You'll give one message to the warrior you attacked, Mulan. You'll give another to her royal highness, Princess Aurora. There's a message for Gaston—that's the dog who almost ate you. There is, of course, a message for Belle. There's also one for Prince Philip-Roland. If any one of these people are dead, if they refuse to accept your message, or if you just fail to deliver it to the intended recipient, you die horribly. But, while you'll still die, for each one you deliver, your death will be a little less horrible." He then proceeded (with frequent giggles) to describe the various deaths Hook had to look forward to.

"You're still a coward, demon," Hook said. "Cursing a man instead of fighting him."

"Merely using the weapons I'm good at," Rumplestiltskin said. "You're welcome to fight back."

"You know I don't have magic. An honorable man—"

"Oh, an honorable man? I suppose that's what you were when you stabbed Philip-Roland? Gave him a sword, before the battle, did you? To make sure it was a fair fight?"

"I have a code—"

"Which I'm not interested in deciphering. You will deliver the messages. If you can't deliver them, you will kindly get away from my castle before the people there have to clean you off the cobblestones. Believe me, by the time you're done oozing over them, that will be quite a job. They've had enough troubles."

"Petty as always."

Rumplestiltskin grinned and pointed to Hook's tattoo, the one with Milha's name. "If I were as petty as you think, dearie, I'd have torn that off you—or made you do it yourself."

"If you use magic to force me to do something, it's still your hand that did it, demon, not mine. And there's no other way that would happen."

Rumplestiltskin's eyes changed. They were no longer angry or predatory, but they weren't human either. Cora said Rumplestiltskin could see the future, though Hook had never heard that story about the Dark One. Right then, Hook could believe it. The imp looked at him as though dissecting him from angles Hook couldn't even see. "Oh, you'd be surprised," the demon breathed. "There are certain truths even you wouldn't want to hear, Killian Jones." He shook his head. "Never mind. Do this and keep your tattoo.

"This is what you'll tell Belle so she'll let you in. Tell her I said to remember the tears on her wedding day and why they were shed. It was a foolish reason and one I wouldn't see her repeating. To avoid that, I suggest she focus on the task I've given her which is outlined in the letter you'll give her. Do you think you can remember that?"

Hook nodded, taking the messages Rumplestiltskin handed him. "I'd heard she was betrothed when you took her. You stole her on her wedding day?"

Rumplestiltskin grinned. "I didn't steal her, dearie. I made a fair deal. And she should have been grateful to me for breaking things off with that fiancé of hers instead of weeping. Now, off with you."

Rumplestiltskin snapped his fingers, which was how Hook came to be outside Rumplestiltskin's castle, humbly begging to be let in.

X

Things were happening too quickly. Rumple was captured—enslaved by Cora. The castle had been attacked. Belle had been wounded. Philip-Roland and Aurora had nearly been killed. Widow Pierce was dead.

Belle had recognized the spell she'd used but only in a general way. After weeks of reading through Rumplestiltskin's books, there was a frightening amount of magic she could at least recognize (and frightening was the word for a good number of them). Belle wondered if she'd been a witch or just knew a few, small charms. Or just the one. Maybe it had been handed down in her family, a desperate spell for desperate times.

Like summoning the Dark One. The consequences of that bargain had certainly been beyond anything Belle had seen coming.

Widow Pierce had protected three children she met by chance while hiding from monsters in this ruined world. When asked, she had stood protectively over Aurora, making sure the Dark One behaved himself. Then, she had helped nurse Aurora and watch over her child. And she had died to save her.

Belle supposed she'd had a life before that, more than the brief outline she'd given when Rumple asked her how she came to be trapped in this world. Belle wished she knew the rest of it. Just the brief coda she knew had been beautiful and heroic.

"There's a crypt near the dungeons," Belle said told Gaston. "We can put her there."

"A crypt?" Gaston said, looking like she'd hit him with a brick. "I thought Rumplestiltskin built this castle. Or did he have family?"

"The crypt's empty, as far as I know. I think it was his idea of a joke to include one." That wasn't exactly what Rumplestiltskin has said when she'd asked him why an empty crypt needed dusting.

Rumple had laughed and said, "Oh, it's empty no. But, I sometimes have guests who prefer to use it. And, if Victor stops by again, it will give him someplace to stash his brother. And his ingredients. . . ."

Magic, witches, monsters, and pirates. And everyone was looking to Belle to make sense of these catastrophes and offer a plan to deal with them. She didn't even know why Gaston could turn human again.

Gaston shrugged when she asked. "Rumplestiltskin said I'd be able to take on human form longer each time I hunted down and dealt with one of your attackers. He meant your murderers. But, since you weren't murdered . . . maybe Hook counted as one."

Or it could be the castle, upset its defenses were breached and aiding a defender. Or Belle's ring might have done something. Or, for all she knew, Gaston tripped over a spell Rumple forgot to put away.

Belle put the question aside for now. She'd ask Rumple when she saw him again—and she would see him. She knew that.

Or she thought she did. Then Hook came with the letters.

She believed him even before he repeated the message Rumplestiltskin had given him. Gaston, in dog form and growling from the parapets, had shot her what she assumed was a look of confusion. Mulan, face stony and cold, kept her bow trained on the pirate. While Belle weighed her options.

If Cora wanted to break into the castle, she could use Rumplestiltskin's power and her own. She wouldn't need subterfuge. If Cora did choose subterfuge, she could do better than Hook. Sending him was a desperate move. Or a mad one.

The kind of move Rumplestiltskin would make.

They let him in. Hook carefully put one letter down in front of Gaston, who growled at him. He handed another to Belle. Then, he looked around uncertainly.

"I have one for the young lady deciding whether or not to kill me. And one for Princess Aurora and for her son, Prince Philip-Roland."

Mulan pulled the bow a little tighter but, otherwise, didn't betray her feelings. "Philip-Roland's an infant," Belle said. "Why would Rumple have a message for him?"

"His idea of a joke," Hook said. He licked his lips nervously. "Er, I trust the lad's well? You see, if I fail to deliver any of the letters or if the person they're meant for is dead, I die, too. Messily, so I understand."

Belle's eyes narrowed. So, Rumple was giving her an easy way to kill Hook and blame him for it. Rumplestiltskin was, without doubt, the most exasperating man on this or any other world. "We're going to check you for weapons and put you in irons. After that, we'll discuss who you can meet with." And if Hook spent a little time worrying that there was no one alive to take those letters, all the better, Belle thought.

They took Hook to one of the cells in Rumple's dungeon, the same one he'd kept the thief, Robin Hood, in. Mulan, ignoring several crude comments Hook made, had one of the other refugees fetch some of the clothes from their supplies.

"What are doing?" Belle asked.

"Stripping him in case he has any surprises sewn into his clothes. It's probably better to put him in something the Dark One gave away than something he might still think of as his. Is it true there are curses on the things in his storeroom?"

"Some of them," Belle admitted. "I suppose we don't want him turning into a paperweight before we question him."

"No," Mulan said. "A pity. It would improve his personality."

Belle had to agree. Although Belle waited in the hallway, she heard enough of Hook's innuendos to wish she knew how to do the spell Rumple had used to steal the tongue of the Sheriff of Nottingham. Mulan stationed a guard outside. "I'll stay with them," she said. She glowered at the door. "He's the sort who causes trouble. Are you going to send Aurora to him? I left the letters in his cell."

"She can decide," Belle said. "After what he did to her, it's her choice."

Mulan nodded. "I hope Rumplestiltskin has some advice in that letter. We need all the help we can get."

X

Belle took the letter with her to the long hall. She hesitated before breaking the seal on it. What would she do if Rumple didn't have a plan? There was an idea—a dangerous idea—she was beginning to consider. If she tried it and it didn't work. . . .

No, she thought, steeling herself for whatever Rumple had to tell her. Rumple would have a plan. Rumple always had a plan. Even if some of them, like sending her away rather than admit he was in love with her, had been absolutely terrible plans.

My Darling Belle,

I am sorry, as I write this, that our time together was so brief. I can't say that I would have tried to make more of it if I had known how short it would be, because I never doubted every moment with you was a treasure, one I knew I knew I didn't deserve. But, I am sorry it is over.

Belle, Cora holds the dagger. For now, she has put off killing me and taking my power, but it is only a matter of time. You must be gone before that happens or before she sends me against you. I have done my best to convince her you are nothing more than a slave I bargained for and took to my bed. Forgive me. I am afraid what she would do if she knew she could hurt me through you.

Even so, it is only a matter of time before she comes for you. You and the others in the castle are people outside of her control. The castle itself is treasury of magic. She will want both. You must be gone before that happens. Go down to the hall where the treasure rooms are. In the room where I had your pearls, there is a tapestry of the Erlking, you know the one I mean. Touch it with your ring and tell it to open. It will reveal a doorway to the room where I have stored every magical object I have that can open a doorway to other worlds. You will also see a large book on a podium. Inside is written everything you will need to know about these doorways and the worlds beyond them. You and the others can escape through one or scatter yourselves among several. Destroy the doorways behind you. I will explain how this can be done. . . .

Belle skimmed this part for now, reading ahead.

I have sent this by the hand of Killian Jones or Hook, as he now styles himself. Do not trust him. He was the one who stole the dagger. Cora crafted his disguise from Prince Philip's dead body. Tell the princess her husband's last thoughts were of her. Philip's last words were to beg for her protection.

Hook hates me and wants me dead. But, he didn't know the dagger could control me as well as kill me. If he had, he might have been able to command me in time to stop Cora from taking it. I almost wish he had. Cora as Dark One will be a far worse monster than I ever dreamed of being. As for Hook, his evil is a small, petty sort. He has no compassion, but no burning ambition, either. I would have preferred him killing me to Cora.

She will come for you if only because you know of the dagger and its power. If I am still living when this happens, I don't doubt she will make me be the one who kills you. Jones was her ally, and she has already ordered his death. It is only because of a very small mistake in how she phrased it that I was able to let him live. As messengers go, I know he must leave much to be desired, but he is the only tool left to me.

Again, Belle, I beg you to leave. Gather up supplies before you go, magical tools and weapons to help you survive in your new world. Take gold and jewels to support yourself. Go warily in this new world until you understand its rules. Never let Cora find you.

I will ask one last thing of you, Belle. If, by some miracle, you ever meet my son, tell Baelfire I loved him, I never stopped loving him or trying to find a way to him. I know I never had the right to ask for it, but I hope he can forgive me.

Know that I love you. I am sorry I cannot spend eternity by your side, but I will always be grateful for the time we had. I wish my pride and foolishness, doubting your love, had not cost us so much time we could have spent together.

Please, don't grieve for me. Soon, I will be released from my curse. It is the fate of everyone who takes up that dagger. Someday, it will be Cora's fate as well. I can face it peacefully knowing you are safe and well.

Know that you will always have my love.

Rumplestiltskin

Belle looked up from her letter. She had been right. Rumple's plan was terrible.

Note: This chapter gets its title from the last verse of The Unquiet Grave, where a young woman talks to the ghost of her dead love.

"When will we meet again, sweetheart,
When will we meet again?"
"When the autumn leaves that fall from the trees
Are green and spring up again."

Also, sorry it took so long to get this chapter out! As I get near the climax, it seems to get harder and harder to get each chapter right. This one kept falling apart because Rumple apparently didn't want me to know how he would get Belle to let Hook, of all people, back into the castle.