A/N: Okay, I got TOO excited. The surprise is...there will be a sequel to this story! Please read the summary for the next one b/c it will be more epic than this! I will be posting the intro/ch1 shortly after this. Look out, fanfiction. Here comes Sugar and Spite!

Chapter Twenty-Four: The Final Chapter

The lights shimmered a few feet away from my spot in the hay that next morning. I must have slept on my neck in an odd way, for I found it hurt to turn my head to the left. That was the least of my concerns right now, and I got up straight away, looking around in hopes I'd find Rumpelstiltskin somewhere. My hope was diminished after searching the last room. Sighing, I laid back down into the hay, and even then I could smell his musty scent.

I stood beside his spinning wheel out of curiosity. I dared not touch the straw in mid stream as it was about to be gold. Yesterday came back to me that quickly, when Rumpel told me his last name was Gold. I think that in those next few hours, it finally dawned upon me that I was going to marry Rumpelstiltskin. Months ago this would have been not only forbidden but unthought of! And now...it just made sense.

Staring at my finger, I couldn't take my eyes off of that simple ring. I suppose it just mesmerized me. Whenever I did, I found myself worrying about Rumpelstiltskin. The moments got a whole lot longer, but I stayed put because that was the last thing he had said to me. There was one time when I went outside, only to sink my feet into the small creek nearby.

The sun's color was breaking apart into orange, gold, red, and pink. I spotted an apple tree, and just as I was about to take a red apple...

I saw a full tree of yellow ones! Abandoning that tree, I jumped for a nice juicy yellow apple. It was well worth the effort after I sank my teeth into that first bite. Those were the sweetest apples, and that's why I liked them so much.

Before the sun had fully set, I found a basket and brought a few more inside with me. They were the only thing I had to eat tonight after all. Lying alone with my basket of yellow apples, I stared through a window at the stars. A shooting one flew straight past me, and I shut my eyes tight, wishing that I'd see Rumpelstiltskin soon.

Within minutes, my wish came true, though not as I expected it to. I was hidden from plain sight, for I was quite deep in the hay. I had just thrown another apple cork to the side when I heard the door squeak open. Being excited, I peaked my head in to see who it was, knowing that I must control myself.

For sure it was Rumpelstiltskin, but man, was he weak. I could hear him panting from my hiding spot, and he was barely able to shut the door. It took everything he had left in him to shove it shut. He dragged his feet along the floor, and his hair was wet and seeping water, yet it still held its curl I noticed. His back bothered him to be sure, and his clothes were roughed up something nasty. I smelt a dog had been near him, though I couldn't see well enough to spot any wounds of specific nature on him.

I watched as Rumpelstiltskin limped over to the table and sat in the chair, letting sounds of pain escape his lips as he sat down. Contemplating on what I should do, it hurt to watch him struggle, but he probably thought I was asleep.

Staying up as late as I could, I waited until his breathing slowed up by a considerable amount. I rose from my spot and walked over to have a look at him. He was beat up, to put it simply! From what I saw on his face, scratches and bruises, and his painful noise when he sat down...I was afraid I'd hurt him if I tried to move him over to the hay. Well, I wasn't about to let him sleep in a chair; not if his back was bad enough. I positioned my arms around his mid section and lifted him up, well sort of. His feet dragged a little, but he didn't seem to mind. I laid him down on the hay, removing his jacket to see that beneath some of his old rags were, of course, the far worse wounds. I saw that he didn't have on all that leather he usually did or even the red that sat beneath it all.

They were simple ragged clothes, and clearly they weren't enough to protect him from much of anything. They were stained with red spots, though I saw two wounds were patched up. I wondered what happened in the village. No one else had come back with him, and no one could have followed him, though I'm surprised they didn't. They'd be here otherwise. I went into the other rooms where I remembered he walked through when I was the one lying helpless.

In that room, I grabbed blankets, and I even found a stash of red apples in a basket. I also found his other set of clothing. Perhaps he was a man of some style. I knew he'd kept that set of clothes in my room at one point, but the last time I saw, he was wearing what he was tonight. What I wondered was how he got the other set of clothes back here...

I tried not to question any of that too much, for I know he is a man of many wonders, some of which I may never understand. I took the basket of red apples and got a bucket of water from the creek. After setting both of these things near him where he may see them in the morning, I settled in on his other side, just beside him.

When I awoke, he was still lying there. I was up before him, probably nothing new there. I decided to change the water out, provided that my idea last night was just in case he woke up. He hadn't moved when I set the new bucket down, and I reached for another yellow apple from my own basket.

I watched over him until the afternoon, when he finally stirred. He opened his eyes and I'm sure the first thing he saw was me.

He exhaled soundly and smirked at me, shutting his eyes again.

"Hey," I said softly. "You look a bit worse for the ware."

He didn't say anything, but I knew he was hurting. I asked whether or not he could move any if at all, and when he tried, sitting up was near impossible; so, he didn't even bother after that. He told me about what had happened. How the Evil Queen made a mess of the village, and his magic combined with Merlin's assistance was able to drive her off.

"She's gone from your village forever, I think," Rumpelstiltskin finished for me. I was glad to hear it.

"Well, I can say I owe you a lot," I replied. "I'll start by taking care of you." I heard him groan, sulking at me.

"Hey, hey hey hey," I told him. "You need me. I know you won't admit it, but you do."

"I know I do," he told me, which surprised me a little. "It's just...the wounds." I let out a snorting sound as a horse would make, and then he smirked at me. Such an actor...

"Don't push it," I warned, analyzing his wounds as I pulled back some of the cloth. I was the one ringing out the rag now. To my surprise, he didn't wince much, nearly not as much as I had that is.

I found there was nothing too deep that required serious attention, which I was relieved about because I didn't have any of the necessary equipment to handle such a thing.

"How's your magic?" I asked.

"Magic's fine dearie," he told me. "I'm just wondering why you're so eager to get my clothes off..." I couldn't pass the moment up, and he deserved it. Spotting the deepest wound closest to a pressure spot, I slapped it just enough.

"AH!" he exclaimed suddenly, turning back at me where I gave him an apprehensive look. He said nothing, and then he turned back around. I smirked because I knew he wasn't going to fight me.

"Don't worry...you'll live," I informed him of the obvious, adding the next part in a rather devilish tone. "As long as you behave." Then I suddenly came up from behind him and gave him a short, quick kiss on the cheek.

I worked at him for a while, exposing his torso, for he refused to let me see his legs. Not having the slightest idea as to why, I tended to the rest of his wounds.

Finally, that evening, everything he'd let me tend to was done.

He stood up, but I wasn't blind.

"You're still limping," I said after I saw him stumble over to the wheel. "Why won't you let me look at it?"

"There's nothing that can be done."

I tried to remember that night we'd spent together when my mom was out of the house. I couldn't recall anything strange on his legs, though that wasn't what I was paying attention to that night.

"Come on," I pleaded. "May I at least see it?"

"If you're that persistent..." he lifted the clothing on his right ankle and there was a large wound I'm shocked I hadn't noticed before. "She enhanced it, with magic, and it was too late by the time I got back."

I merely stared at it for a while, not exactly pitying him, but it was a little shocking to see. Everything seemed to freeze at that moment, and my attention averted to his eyes. I felt that it was rude to stare at the scar.

"I don't know what to say," was all that came from my mouth. He let down the pant leg.

"You don't have to say anything," he replied, staring at the wheel but not working yet.

I got up and went over to him, telling him to not even start spinning that wheel. I took my already sore hands and worked at his shoulders. That made him lean back, not touching the straw even one time.

"Stop working," I said. "We're safe. What of the village?"

"Rebuilding...again."

"When can we return?"

No reply...

I repeated my question.

"Not for a while," he finally said. "We can visit, but I'd rather you stay here. What is the point in getting involved with anything that only involves sacrifice and bloodshed of the innocence? Maria, I would rather keep you close than die for no reason."

Not questioning it, I asked him to spend some time with me if we weren't going back any time soon. The most exciting thing that night was when I flashed a handful of hay into his face. He returned the favor, and for a time we were fighting like little children.

He tackled me onto my back in the hay, meeting me with a kiss. I wasn't about to do anything too reckless in a high pile of hay, so he rolled back over to lay beside me.

"See?" I asked. "Way more fun than spinning straw into gold, right?"

"Can't refute that, dearie," Rumpelstiltskin replied. "I never thought I could stress over someone else this much."

I smiled, laying my head on his chest.

"Hello, my name is Maria," I mockingly introduced myself. He held me tighter.