A/N: I'm chatty this week. Sorry for all the notes. First of all, I love all of the lovely reviews and what you all have to say about it! It always makes me smile.
Second, this chapter and the next are very Emma/Bae-centric. It has to be done to move the story forward, but I promise chapter 30 will be so much Belle/Rumple goodness your face will melt off. I miss it just as much as your guys do. :)
Emma woke up in her own bed in the middle of the night suddenly. She felt like she was being watched. A cursory glance around the room revealed no one, and she fell back only to hit her elbow on something solid.
"Oof," the person next to her grunted. "Can you be a little nicer to the man who just saved your life?"
"Baelfire? What are you doing in my bed?" Emma jumped out of bed, her tone accusing. Bae sighed and sat up, rubbing his eyes.
"I wanted to be here when you woke up," he told her.
"Well I'm fine. Get out." Emma pointed towards the door. Bae stood up and sighed again, and then walked over to her.
"I'm not leaving you tonight," he told her, standing in front of her. He was slightly taller than her, and Emma felt her breath catch a little in her throat. The way she had felt about him was creeping back in, and the more time she spent around him the harder it was to ignore that.
"Then I'll arrest you," she threatened.
"No you won't. Emma, it's me, remember? You don't have to keep pretending."
"I remember exactly who you are. It's why I left, if you remember correctly," she said cuttingly. Bae winced a little, but didn't step back.
"No, that's not how I remember it. I remember falling in love with you, and then you taking off...because you were afraid you might feel the same way and you couldn't handle that," he whispered, putting a hand on the side of her face momentarily. "I remember waking up and you being gone...and I remember spending ten years looking for you."
"You should have moved on," she said, keeping her voice steady. Part of her wanted to fall into him, to let herself love him, but she didn't know how.
"How? Tell me how, Emma, and I swear I will. I've been trying to forget you since you left, but I can't. Your face is the only face I see when I close my eyes. There will never be another woman."
"I'm sorry," Emma's eyes were filling with tears, and she desperately didn't want him to see her cry. "Please leave."
"Emma-"
"Please."
Bae's arms dropped like lead to his side and he stepped around her to the door. Emma watched as he walked out without another word. When the door closed behind him she fell onto her bed and finally let the tears out, silently crying as she thought of his words. Secretly she wished he would come back in through the door, refuse to take no for an answer, and stay with her, but she knew he wouldn't. Bae had always given her space. She didn't realize Bae was sitting outside her door, his head pressed against the wood, tears also falling down his face. He told her he wasn't leaving her alone, and he meant it. He was never leaving her alone again.
Belle woke up early and crept out after dressing, not wanting to wake Rumple. She made her way across town to Granny's, where she found August walking out.
"Ah, just the girl I was looking for," he smiled. They fell into step with each other. "I'm guessing you want to go check up on Emma?"
"Yes sir," Belle smiled widely at him. "Think we should get her anything to eat?"
"Nah, she can go out if she's hungry."
"I hope she is, because I am starving," Belle giggled.
"Couldn't get that sorcerer you married to conjure you any breakfast?" August teased. Belle lightly hit his arm.
"He was asleep," she said. "And I try not to encourage his magic obsession."
"I'm sure you do..." August trailed off as the sight of Bae greeted the two of them. He was sitting up, his head tilted in sleep.
"Uh..." August blinked a few times, and then nudged Bae with his boot. "What are you doing?"
"Staring at the mess I made," Bae opened his eyes and saw the two of them watching him, confusing on Augusts face and pity on Belle's.
"Oh Bae..." she started, but he stood up slowly.
"Spare me, Belle," he snapped. "Don't tell her I was here."
The two watched him walk away, and then August knocked on Emma's door. Emma opened it, her face puffy and her eyes rimmed red. It was obvious she had been crying. At least it was to Belle; August either didn't notice or was choosing to ignore it.
"Hey. Come in," Emma said.
"Why was Bae sitting outside your door?" Belle asked, ignoring Bae's wishes for them to not tell her. Belle was not letting Emma get away with breaking his heart over and over.
Emma looked at Belle with heart break written all over her face. "He was?"
"Yeah...you didn't know?"
Emma shook her head, and despite her best efforts a tear slipped out and slid down her cheek. "Oh Emma. Why don't you tell him?"
Emma shook her head violently back and forth. "No. It has to be this way."
"Good plan," August said sarcastically. "It's better for you both to be in pain when all either of you want is to be with the other."
Emma looked at him hurt. "It's not that simple."
"Why?" Belle asked, but August cut over them.
"True love is not something you spit at. You want to look at complicated love that works; look at your parents. Look at Belle. All had a million obstacles, and overcame them. What could possibly be stopping you?"
"He will leave," Emma whispered.
"Bae?" Belle choked back a laugh. "Never."
"Neither of you understand," Emma said, her tone slightly accusing. August looked over at Belle.
"Neither of us understand what?" Belle asked.
"What this feels like."
"You know...when I told Rumpelstiltskin I loved him the first time, before you were born, he told me to shut the hell up. Said no one could ever love him. Then he locked me in his dungeon, and then cast me out of his castle. So...yeah, I think I have small idea of how you feel," Belle told her sympathetically. Emma's eyes were wide as she absorbed what Belle had just said.
"And you took him back? After all that? How can you not hate him?"
Belle smiled. "Because I love him. I will always love him. I couldn't hate him if I tried. In fact, if Regina hadn't locked me away, I would have eventually gone back. He didn't think anyone could ever love him. It took years of thinking I was dead and wishing he would have done things different for him to realize that I truly loved him. If you love Bae, you should be with him."
"Just...I want to be alone," Emma said. August and Belle turned to the door. Belle looked back at Emma, about to say something else, but August grabbed her wrist and dragged her out after him.
"Don't poke the dragon in the eye, Belle." He said as they walked back out onto the street.
"I wasn't! I just think she's crazy!" Belle exclaimed, running a hand through her hair.
"Well that's been obvious since day one. She has to figure it out herself though. We can't all be as spectacular as you, falling in love with the Dark One. Which, I might add, makes people think you're insane more than anything."
"Good thing I don't care what anyone thinks," Belle retorted. "And it's not about me. It's about Emma realizing that Bae is her true love."
"Yeah, I think we have a better chance of Henry stabbing Regina through the heart and then feeding it to Snow White." August sighed. .
"Did you see Bae? He slept OUTSIDE her DOOR. He rescued her last night! They have a son together!" Belle snapped her head in August's direction. "Speaking of...how weird is it that he got a phone call out of the blue that Emma was here and she had a son...I wonder who called."
August looked at Belle's accusing stare. "Jefferson...that ass."
"Oh come on. Just admit it was you."
"I can't believe it took you this long to put it together," he joked, bumping into her.
"How did you know? About Bae I mean?" She asked as they leisurely strolled.
"If Henry can find his birth mother, how hard was it for me to track down the last guy Emma had a relationship with? I didn't realize he was Rumpelstiltskin's son though...that was a surprise for me as well."
"That's sneaky. If Emma ever has to decide between killing me or you...I'm using that against you," Belle declared.
"Let's be realistic. If it ever comes down between Emma killing one of us, Rumple will just kill us all and hide you somewhere."
"Yeah...you're probably right." Belle and August stopped outside of Granny's, unsure what they should be doing anymore. Belle didn't want to go home, sure that Rumple would not be there, and didn't want to go to Jefferson's and listen to Charming and Thomas yell at her for almost killing everyone. August also was reluctant. He wanted to DO something, get things moving. He was reading to leave this place and go home, begin wood working with his father again.
"Want to take a walk?" He asked. Belle opened her mouth to answer when someone gently ran into her. They both looked and saw Emma, out of breath, standing there.
"What are you guys doing?" She asked, panting slightly.
"We...were about to take a walk," Belle told her. "Did...you want to join us?"
"Yeah. That sounds nice. Where were you guys going to walk?" Emma stood in between them and the trio began walking.
"To the old mines," August said. "Belle has never seen them."
"Oh. And...is it just us?"
"Nope." The three turned to see Bae had caught up with them as well. "I haven't seen the mines either."
"The more the merrier," August smiled, and Belle slipped her hand into Emma's, squeezing it lightly as the four took off. The streets were just a deserted as they had ever been, but now it feels ominous somehow. The four didn't dawdle as August and Emma led the way, Belle and Bae following closely and quickly.
The area was still roped off, but they ignored it. "Are we going in?" Bae asked, looking warily at the collapsed mine.
"No," August said.
"Yes," Belle said at the exact same time. They looked at each other.
"I agree with Belle," Emma stood next to the short brunette. "I want to see what's down there."
"You know what's down there," August said exasperated. "A dead dragon."
"There has to be more," Belle said, peering down into the old elevator shaft.
"More dragons?" Bae asked, alarmed. "It's too risky."
"Then you two can stay up here and let the men work," Emma said. "My deputy and I are going to explore."
"No wait!" Bae called after them. "I'll go with you. Belle can stay up here with August and make sure nothing happens."
"But-"
"Trust me, Belle doesn't want to anger Rumpelstiltskin any further," August said, linking his arm through Belle's. "We will stand watch up here; you take Bae with you and see what else is down there."
"Fine." Emma strode towards the elevator shaft angrily.
"Thanks," Bae mouthed to Belle and August. They nodded and watched as Emma lowered herself into the elevator shaft, Bae following.
"Well...so this is interesting," Belle said, sitting down a few yards from the hole. August joined her, sitting so their knees were touching.
"Emma will keep Bae in line," he said. "And if anything happens we are right here."
"What do you think she'll find down there?" Belle asked, poking his knee with her finger.
"It could be anything."
Emma and Bae had slid down the rope from the elevator and were currently at the bottom of the mine. It felt like years ago that Henry and Archie had been trapped down here. Jiminy, she mentally corrected herself. Acclimating herself to everyone's actual identity was difficult sometimes. It was why she held on so tight to her friendship with August and Belle. They were still the same people. Only, instead of Isabelle and August they were actually Belle and Pinocchio. In some ways, Bae being here should be perfect. He was the last thing from her previous life she still had, but instead of holding on to him as tightly as she could, she was pushing him away. Just as she had done before. She had been aware of how much Bae loved her when she was a teenager, and the thought terrified her just as much then as it did now. Bae hadn't changed much. He was still incredibly handsome, with dark brown hair, and dark eyes. He was tall and broad. He no longer had a youthful face though, but something about him felt safe and like home.
Shaking these thoughts, she kept walking, Bae at her side.
"What are you looking for down here?" He asked her.
"I don't know. Something that tells me how to get everyone back," she said, looking around. There was nothing noteworthy though.
"Emma, you don't have to try so hard," he said, wishing he could push through her walls.
"Yes, I do." She spun around, angry. "I have to save all these people. I have to fight a final battle."
"You're not doing it alone!" He exclaimed. "Look at all the people standing by your side, who want to help you! Hell, Belle and Pinocchio up there risk their lives on a daily basis just to stand by you! Why are you trying to do everything by yourself?"
"Because I've always been alone!" She screamed at him. "And I'm afraid that they're going to leave me, or I will fail them and they will die because of it!" Tears pricked at her eyes again. Somehow Bae always managed to cut to her core.
Bae grabbed her wrists and quickly pulled her against him, wrapping his arms around her as she began to cry hard into his shoulder. He had one hand on the back of her head and the other on her neck, and he as holding her as tightly as he possibly could. "No one is going to leave you. They love you. You only have to look at Belle and Pinocchio to know it. And your parents...Snow and Charming, are so thrilled to have you back. And your son...Henry...and me...I'll never leave you, even if you say you never want to see me, or you will never love me. I'll never leave."
Emma cried harder at his words. They didn't say anything else for a while, he just held her and she just cried. Bae knew he still had an uphill battle to fight to make Emma completely his, but this was a start, and he was satisfied with that.
It was late afternoon and Belle and August were still sitting at the top, making idle chatter and peering down occasionally just to make sure it was clear. Belle was almost starting to worry when she saw a Bae's head pop through the opening, followed by his body. When he was all the way out he reached down and helped Emma up. Belle expected Emma to argue that she didn't need any help, but Emma was surprisingly quiet about the whole thing. In fact, both of them were acting strange, Bae was standing just a little too close, Emma was being just a little too quiet. Belle and August shot each other a look before suggesting they head to Jefferson's and see what everyone was doing today.
Emma hadn't seen The Princesses (Belle found herself mentally calling them this now as well) since Regina attempted to blow them all up. When they walked in, the girls all swarmed Emma. Bae melted into the crowd, allowing Emma to spend time around her friends, even if she didn't really consider all of them friends yet. If Emma was ever going to embrace her love for him, she was going to have to realize that other people loved her, enough to lay their lives on the line for her.
"How are you feeling?" Jasmine asked, sitting on the floor. Belle was impressed by everyone's wardrobe. Who was making their clothing? Jasmine was in a long sleeved purple dress and golden yellow slippers. She looked like a princess. She wondered, were some of these girls' actual princesses? Snow was one, she knew that, but Snow was wearing brown cloth pants that looked as if she had skinned a deer and used the fur as the cloth. Her top laced up and was also brown, and she wore a sword at her hip. Ariel was also a princess, from what Belle remembered, and she wasn't in a dress either, but leather pants and a form fighting, elegant blue shirt. Belle decided to talk to Ariel about this, because she had been wearing dresses, which were impractical to fight in. She was too intimidated by Snow still to say anything to her yet. Something about Snow just seemed larger than life.
"Yeah, I'm fine," Emma smiled nervously. She was still in jeans, boots, and her trademark leather jacket. That made Belle feel better, like no matter how much things changed, some things never would.
"I was so worried last night," Aurora admitted. "If Regina kills you, she wins. We might as well just used to life here, living under her thumb."
"That will never happen," Snow declared.
"No, it won't." Charming had overheard their conversation. "Speaking of, what you all did last night-"
"Was what you would have done, if you had known about it?" Snow challenged. "We are just as much a part of this as you are."
"What happened to doing everything together?" Charming asked.
"It starts with you. How many of your plans include us? We can help you!"
"Half of you can't even fight," Thomas stepped in.
"Then we'll learn," Rapunzel said. "Emma can teach us."
"I had been teaching Belle before the curse was broken," Emma spoke up.
"I can help her," Snow said. "I think my fighting skills speak for themselves."
Charming nodded, he remembered well.
"As can I," Red said.
"I think using the girls is a good idea. Regina won't be so picky, and she won't fight fair," August spoke up.
"You need us," Snow said.
"Fine. Teach them how to fight. With swords," Charming said, looking directly at Snow.
"Why are we counting out modern weaponry?" Emma asked. "Nothing wrong with a bullet."
"Except that they're useless against magic," Rumple's soft voice spoke from the doorway.
"Then why even bring magic here?" Emma asked.
"Because magic is going to defeat Regina. Magic is going to get us home." Rumple flashed her a huge smile. "And most of us are ready to get out of here."
"I want nothing do with it," Emma told him.
"For now," his grin only got wider. Charming watched him for a moment, wondering if he had anything else to add, but Rumple went to his son's side, remaining silent. No one else said anything. Every day Rumple became more and more like himself, and less subdued. Belle was secretly pleased by this, she liked his silly antics. She noticed he was still wearing suits instead of his leather pants. She wondered if this was because they were still in Storybrooke and he thought leather pants and knee high boots would look silly here. Charming certainly didn't think so, in his blood red cape and black boots.
Everyone had broken off into groups again, talking amongst themselves. The girls stayed together, putting their heads together.
"When do we start?" Mulan asked. "I know a thing or two about fighting as well."
"Where did you learn how to fight?" Aurora asked, skeptically.
"War."
"You were in a war?" Ariel sounded impressed.
"I was. I dressed up like a man and took my father's place. So I have on the job training."
"That's good, the more of us who know what they're doing, the better. Does anyone else here know anything about wielding a sword?"
No one else said anything. They were all fighters in their own right, but not all of them could fight in a conventional sense.
"Well, Belle and I know self-defense, which definitely could come in handy in hand to hand combat," Emma said. "You know...in case you lost your sword but still needed to smash your elbow into someone's face."
"I think we should start tomorrow," Snow said. "The hardest part will be just learning the basics, but once you get them down everything becomes a lot easier."
Everyone agreed to meet early the next morning. Belle stood up to go see Rumple but Ariel stopped her.
"How are you?" She asked, her face filled with concern. Belle tried to squash the flood of emotion threatening to rise to the surface at the question. She had mostly been trying to forget about it.
"Better," she said truthfully. "It still hurts."
"Do you need anything? Because I'm here..."
"No. No, I'm going to be fine. I just want to focus on getting back home. Trying again."
"That's the spirit," Ariel smiled. "You'll get your chance. I just know it."
Belle smiled at her. "Hey, who is making your pants?"
"Oh, a seamstress has started making our clothing. Although I think Snow is making her own. Here, this is her name and where she's located. She's working out of her house. Most people are," Ariel wrote down a name and address and handed it to Belle. "Pants are going to be useful though."
"Yeah. I don't mind the dresses though," Belle admitted, vowing to check this woman out.
"Where are you getting yours?"
"Rumple found them," she told her. "I could ask him?"
"Nah, it's not important. I should have known though, they're so pretty."
Belle smiled and then left her friend to go find her husband.
"So, learning to fight," Rumple said to her when she made her way over. Ignoring everyone around them, he pulled her down into his lap, letting her sit there.
"Yeah, it's about time," she smiled, resting her head on his chest.
"I could teach you," he told her hesitantly.
"Maybe you should teach Bae?" She suggested. "I'm sure he'll be called to fight at some point."
"I could teach you both," he said. "I could teach you both to use magic..."
"No." Belle and Bae said in unison. Neither wanted anything to do with magic.
"You are still planning on giving it up, right?" She asked probing. Rumple saw his son staring at him in interest as well.
"Yes. Yes, I am." He was trying not to think of this, but he knew to have a relationship with his son and his love he would have to. Back to being an ordinary man.
Belle, sensing his thoughts, said, "You know, I read something once. It was something to the effect of, sometimes in the middle of an ordinary life; fate gives us an extraordinary love."
He wrapped both of his arms around her tightly. Somehow, no matter what was happening, she knew exactly what to say. He had true love, and the love of his son, and there was nothing ordinary about that.
