A/N: Thanks for reading and reviewing guys. You're all awesome! :3
~8~17 years later ~8~
Hazy, golden rays of dawn slanted through the gauzy sea blue curtains that shifted slightly with the cool wind and suffused their bedroom with a jubilant morn sun that befitted the day of all days. Warmth of spring danced upon the air, heralding the signs of springs glorious reunion to the snow covered earth.
"Any thing special on the agenda today, Rum?" Belle teased quietly in the gentle morn. Her timbre held heavily laced tones of mischief as she pecked a kiss upon his rough, stubble cheek. The prickly scruff that demanded to be shaven tickled her lush, pink mouth making a giggle involuntarily steal past her lips.
Lost in the very beginning of day, the tender beauty lay contented and warm by her lovers right side. Her head perched comfortably upon his scrawny shoulder as his lanky arm wrapped about her middle protectively proclaiming his eternal devotion to defend his wife with his cunning and life alike.
Her delicate hand rested upon his drumming heart, reveling in its strong, steady beat that pounded as one with her own. Oh to wake up in his arms every morning was a morning with a wish granted! Was there anything so glorious in their old or new world than their blessed matrimony? A large grin stole upon her face as she snuggled against his skin, her mind lost in mild pondering. No, there was nothing more satisfying than to wake by his side and know their fates were bound for eternity as one.
A sly grin crossed Rumpelstiltskin's rough face as he entangled his wiry fingers through her dark amber mane. He stared into his loves cobalt depths mockingly thoughtful as though approached suddenly with a major conundrum. "Well, seeing today marks our 17th anniversary I was thinking of something along the lines of taking a few days out of work, swooping you out to the lake cabin, and not coming out for a week."
Anniversaries were difficult betwixt them. Always a faint hint of melancholy shrouded their special day of matrimony. Never could they go out together for a quiet diner at the towns only upscale restaurant, or even be seen holding hands in a stroll about the park or daring a picnic to the eyes of Storybrooke. All the force needed for their carefully crafted, subtle marriage to unwind was one nosy soul in the gossip starved town and those who loathed the Dark One would tenaciously attempt to pry them asunder with their claws of hate, wanting to see him as miserable as they were.
Yet, both knew astutely, their love surpassed even those simple, special wants of outward affection in public. They held one another, and any want of activity to mark their memorable matrimony paled to the fact that they possessed one another happily, freely, without any secrets betwixt them.
Years had agonizingly crawled by in the prison of the curse riddled shire, but their loving endeavors had not grown lax of even those long years past. In the nights, where no one could see the love that only wove stronger each day, was their only repast and they made certain never to waste a moment of the time to express their love through more than what mere words could relate.
"Just a week?" The beauty remarked with a mocking, sultry timbre of an expert temptress. Her winter sky depths blazed with an unshakeable desire for him as her clever fingers innocently traced invisible lines upon the bare flesh of his slowly rising chest. "Do you think a week will slake our passion, husband?" She inquired gently, her lips twitching at the very edge of her mouth.
Prompted by her longing words, an excited shiver ran down Rumpelstiltskin's spine. Even after years of being wed to his wonderful Belle, he could scarcely still believe he was hers in every way. His arm wrapped tighter about her slender form, his hands knowing every curve of her sinuous shape by heart. After all their years as one, he knew every contour and inch of her peach toned skin.
He shurgged in careful nonchalance. "Maybe more." The fiend readily indulged his love, his breath hitched and hoarse as though she were the only thing needed to thrive upon. Perhaps she was, he pondered immediately taking a shine to the pleasant notion.
If he were a parched man, then his Belle was the drink to quench his thirst. Her voice was the song that prompted him to arise in the gray dawn, her smile the beaming sun that warmed the coldness ever lurking in his shadowed, beastly heart.
Without her, he felt bewildered, alone, and uncared for. Without her, he was lost in nothingness and darkness and depravity.
She owned him far more than he had ever laid claim to her.
Her warm, soft mouth drifted closer to his, ready to delve him into a world of passion. His lips eagerly leaned forward to seal with hers and once more proclaim their love through action.
Only a hairsbreadth from his lips, the beauty smiled mischievously. Shifting her position, she touched his forehead with her own, but went no further, denying him what he so craved.
"You have to get ready for work." She reminded him in a whisper, blatantly taunting.
Frustration mildly welled in the Dark One, seeing the instance of love snuffed out by his playful, curious wife. "You know teasing a monster is never wise, Dearie." Gold remarked in an unsatisfied murmur, his blood slow to cool it fiery gallop through his veins.
Her offered love was a pleasure he rarely denied his body and having her pull the object of his desire afar, made a rumble roll like thunder in his chest. She only coaxed her love and then receded like a coy nymph when she was in an especially mischievous mood which meant better things to come in the future.
"Which is why I never have?" She chuckled, always ready to deny his words that he was less than a man. Even when he was an odd gray-gold, scaled fiend she still thought no less of him and would have denied his self loathing as a beast then as well.
With a sigh she slid away from his hungry grasp and to the edge of their bed. The beauty chuckled as she tossed a pillow in his direction. The fluffy projectile bounced harmlessly off his raised arm and unto the wood floor.
"But still, you have to get to work just the same." She echoed assiduously and slipped on her slippers and white robe in one smooth motion before rising.
Rubbing the sleep from his eyes, he feigned suspicion. "And just why do you want me gone? Usually you deter me as much as possible with your…." He flourished his hand through the air, reminiscent of the glimmering skinned Dark One. "Womanly wiles."
Traipsing to the washroom she took a moment and turned back to look towards her love. Sun that slipped through the drawn curtains danced in her russets tresses, setting her mane ablaze to a fiery, nearly golden sheen. There was no tease or loving jest upon her smooth, porcelain features aglow with light as she stared directly into his glassy, chestnut orbs. Lust, full and feral sparkled in her eyes making his blood run feverishly once more.
"Because, husband, the sooner you leave, the sooner you can come back and we can have our week." She explained softly before stepping into the washroom.
At such swords, the fiend couldn't tear himself from addictively staring at his tempting wife 'til she quietly shut the door with nothing more than a click.
Exhilarated beyond mere, paltry words could express, the Dark One sat up in bed, his mind awhirl with delicious possibilities. A week pretending the world, Regina, desperate souls, even his shop did not exist seemed a slice of paradise all in his lake side cabin.
Getting away to his second home wouldn't be to much hassle and wouldn't raise any suspicions amongst the populace of the accrued county. Oft days went by without his Belle leaving the pink manse. Her father went months at a time not seeing hide nor hair of his daughter. No, none would even raise curious brow if they departed for a week, or perhaps two.
Water hissed and pattered loudly from the washroom pulling Rumpelstiltskin out of his dazed, wanting thoughts of being with his Belle. Only a moment passed before he slid out of their comfortable bed and snatched the golden, hawk nosed cane from his side of the bed.
His cane thumped rhythmically towards the wash, his form brimming with anticipation and hope. Perhaps, he considered wonderfully as he limped doggedly determined into the already steaming room, their anniversary would start off marvelously after all.
Her alluring smile wove coyly upon her lips seeming half adumbrate through the mist as he stepped inside. Blood gushed through his veins as she pulled him close, drawing him in with the temptation of another warm kiss.
Yes, the fiend imperatively as he numbly wandered into the bathroom and closed the door behind him, the beginning of their anniversary would be far more than delightful….
~8~8~
"So you see, Mr. Gold, my grandmother gave me that music box, and I know I don't have all the money to pay you back, but I'm only thirty-five dollars short so if I could-."
"The deal was fairly specific Sister Perry." Gold cut through callously to the plump, blue clad nun shifting uncomfortably in his shop.
The rosy cheeked, former fairy godmother to a princess put to supposedly eternal slumber by a sleeping curse stammered uncertainly. Her gray eyes stared at the cold businessman imploringly as she pushed the wad of crumpled bills towards him. "Yes, I know, but the box was very special to me and…."
Rumpelstiltskin suppressed a fatigued sigh as the chatty, normally merry nun drabbled on about her blasted porcelain trinket and how the heirloom passed down the family lines the curse put in place of their true memories. Usually he would be more than ready to listen and offer a stinging retort, but not today.
Pinching the bridge of his nose, he sought to keep control from roaring barbarically at the hoary haired nun and showing her the rage of the beast of Storybrooke, snapping teeth and all. Agitation flitted just below the surface of his cold composure willing to break free.
No, he reminded himself, his fingers curling against the side of the counter, he had to maintain focus.
Every fiber in his body wished to shove the nun out the door and close up shop to hasten to his loves arms awaiting him. With every tick of the old clocks gathering dust in his shop, his whisky brown eyes darted to check the time as though magically the hands would be on the three and the twelve when he closed the shop early. But with the cheery, talkative nun jabbering about her tenth grandmother, time itself seemed to slough by with a turtle's languorous pace.
"Alright." Mr. Gold growled icily, his razor-like cutting tone severing the nun's tangent about a scrumptious pie recipe her supposed grandmother concocted.
Reaching behind the counter he pulled the porcelain white and blue carousel engraved music box from the barrier of glass. He shoved the precious item towards the corpulent former fae and snarled warningly. "Pay me the rest later, but I warn you don't try to cheat me."
The sister placed a plump hand to her chest indignantly. "Cheat you? Why Mr. Gold, what a nasty thing to say! I am a nun of honest repute you…you…wretched, monster!"
"I don't care if you are a fairy godmother." He snapped, unable to resist the delectable irony, and slammed his hand upon the counter. A few trinkets jumped from the force as he glared daggers at the offended sister harrumphing in blustered astonishment he would speak such words of her being little more than a crook. "Get out of my shop if you've no more business." He snarled dangerously, his eyes glinting with threat.
A haughty insulted sniff echoed from the nun as she gathered her precious item with due haste. With a scolding glare which the Dark One brushed aside with ease, she hastily harried out of the shop and into the warm weather of returning spring.
The back of her habit fluttered like woolen wings against the warm air as she started back to the convent. Her normally kind, round face set marred with her frumpy fury as though she had bitten into something sour.
The jingling of the brass belle tinkled as she departed reminding the fiend once more of his love awaiting him back home. Longing desperately surged through him like a wave which pulled him out into the center of a vast ocean. How could he endure so long without feeling her lips against his own, her flesh flush and warm against his as they became one? On their anniversary at that!
Casting a quick glance to make certain no one was currently wandering into his shop, Rumpelstiltskin, dipped back behind the counter to bring forth an oblong, leather box. His thin fingers worked the silver clasp 'til the box opened revealing his gift to Belle.
Rows of impressive, inlaid dark sapphires with a faceted, deep cerulean gem in the very epicenter sat upon the bedded, red satin of the vessel. A necklace in her favorite color, he beamed proudly, staring at the glittering jewels sparkling in the dust filtered light of his shop.
His haggard reflection smiled back at him; approving of his choice for his love. Part of him felt as though the present was paltry compared to the blessing she brought him every moment, by being by his side as his wife. But, then again there was no harm in attempting to show affection with a lavish trinket, especially for a woman he wished to bestow the entire world.
Unable to tolerate no longer being by her side, the magical monster snapped the rectangular box shut. Pushing the long box in his pocket the fiend raced with a frenzied to the door with as much haste as his maximized limb could bear. Flipping the sign to closed he flicked the blinds shut and scrambled for his coat.
He did a quick scan of his dust laden shop making certain lights were off and things were in their proper niches and cubbies. When at last everything was set aright, Rumpelstiltskin excitedly made his way to the back door of his shop.
To be with his Belle! The thought burned brighter than a thousand summer suns in his mind. His imagination sailed away to images of them sitting cozy and comfortable by a bickering hearth sharing a blanket. He pictured himself holding her close and expressing his love with simply being there with her and letting her know there was no other place in their old world or the new he would have rather been.
Pride welled in his heart once more to think of the look upon her face as he handed her the box. Part of him could only hope she adored his present as unworthy as the set of sapphires were.
So exuberant was he to relish in the smile of his love, his heart, the fiend never noticed the tiny bundle nestled in a blue clothes basket upon the back stoop of his pawn shop until to late.
An alarmed cry erupted past the Dark One's lips as he was sent flying form the top of the small set of concrete steps. The awakening earth spilled from under the Dark One as he went sailing to the cold, snow cleaned alley way in a hard fall.
Bones rattled in his wiry frame as bits of dirt and gravel dug into bits of exposed skin. His finely tailored pinstripe suit was splattered with mud and grit and filthy snow. Pain wrenched his twisted knee with its razor claws of agony, but the fiend ignored the resounding torment shooting through his injured extremity.
No pain could compare to the shock before him.
Widened eyes rounded like twin russet moons towards the back stoop of his shop. Sitting upon the first step laid a critical key to his plot, the great key that would unlock all the rest….
~8~8~
Softly wafted the faintest warmth of spring upon the chilled, accursed town of Storybrooke. Mayhap the change was the workings of ancient magic's in the deepest belly of the strange earth they trod or perhaps coincidence, but the first day to tell tale spring always landed upon their anniversary.
No matter how cruel the winter, or icy the storms that pelted the northern land and ragged coast, their special day they had bound themselves as husband and wife always marked the day when the earth began to reawaken. Heat glided upon the air and the snows began their slow melt into the hard earth giving life to the slumbering plants and seed sequestered from the bite of winter's fangs.
Bluebirds and robins twittered their merry tunes of return, upon their lofty perches, to the frozen land of the backwoods hamlet as Belle stared dreamily out the slightly frosted window. Her head rested in her hands as she leaned out of the open window allowing the cold and scant warmth to kiss her face.
The day was akin to the moment they'd wed, she reminisced happily. A flawless blue adorned the firmament without a white mar of clouds to meander across the plains of indigo. Spring drifted ever so lightly upon the air like the last scent of a lover just barely clinging to the wind.
A few more hours, she sighed longingly and stared up into the flawless azure sky for strength not to rush down to her husbands shop. Breath blew out her mouth in a small burst to shift a stray strand of hair agitating from her unnatural impatient. Even a little more time seemed eternity to the beauty who only wished to be wrapped in her lover's arms in the singular cot and be one with him until the world was forgotten.
Tires abruptly rolled into the driveway even as the pleasant thoughts wafted through her bright mind. Her ears perked curiously towards the noise as thought hearing the sound of an angel. Excitement began to spiral crazily within her slender frame.
He couldn't resist either, she knew instantly, her heart soaring as the fluttering birds dancing upon the warm thermal wind. A large, eager grin marbled gaily upon her pink lips as she raced to the door to pull him inside.
Expectation surged through her as he vivid imagination ran wild with scenes of perhaps would come with her husband. Her feet barely seemed to land upon the floor as she raced to meet her lover before he could open the portal.
Scrambling for the myriad of heavy steel locks upon the door, she jerked the portal open with a fervent strength. How she wished to be surrounded by his love!
As the door yawned open freely, the beauty's jaw swung agape at the site before her.
Rumpelstiltskin stood before her nervously, his natty, neatly ironed suit unusually disheveled and crumpled. A wary grin splayed across his mouth as he stood upon the threshold anxiously.
Belle's stunned, cobalt eyes drifted down from the nervous smile etched upon his lips to the squirming, crying baby boy cradled in his arms. The tiny child was wrapped snugly in a light blue blanket along with her husbands over coat wrapped about him for extra warmth. Even so, the babe attempted to kick and punch through the cloth to pound his fist and thrash his feet through the chill air.
She swallowed tremulously, her eyes pinioned to the struggling child in trepidation. "Is that…is he…?"
A sinking feeling welled in her gut as she already knew the answer.
"Another piece of the plan falling into place." Gold confirmed with a slight nod. Shaking off the gathered snow from his leather shoes, the fiend unwrapped the child slightly and deposited the babe uncertainly into his Belle's numbly outstretched arms.
The child cheeks were a healthy, ruddy hue and he cried with fervor to wake the dead. Now with his movements unhampered, his tiny fist clenched and unclenched as though he were seeking something or someone.
Belle stared down at the tiny, shrieking bundle in amazement as though she'd never clapped eyes upon an infant. Though there were a few babies in their accursed town, she'd seen few and far between in their stay.
"What's the child doing here?" The beauty queried haltingly, unable to pry her eyes off the child. He was so tiny and alone and frightened.
Warmth shimmered in the Dark One's eyes as he cocked his head slightly and stared softly at the helpless infant abandoned behind his shop like an unwanted trinket. Sadness shadowed just under the surface of fatherly tenderness as he let the child wrap his tiny hand about his calloused finger.
"We need to keep him here a few days until I can get everything sorted." He sighed forlornly, his mouth filling with distaste. A ghost of a satisfied smile streaked upon his lips before melancholy dashed the faint grin away quicker than it had come. "Then we give him over to Regina's care."