38
A Special Day
Baelfire carried Vasilisa upstairs and he put her in the green guest room again, where she had been sleeping. Belle and Alice came in then and carefully undressed the unconscious Seer and put her in a nightgown and then covered her with a light blanket. They left her sleeping soundly and tiptoed from the room.
Rumple was pacing back and forth in the hallway, looking alarmed and agitated. Even though the dagger was gone, he still felt some of its shadow looming over him, and he was still frightened he might lose his sister, even though he had brought her back from the brink of death with true love's kiss.
Belle put a hand on his arm and whispered, "Rumple, you're going to wear a hole in the carpet."
"So what? We'll get a new one," he half-snapped at her. "I'm just . . . I can't sit still, Belle. What if she's not out of danger? What if she . . . slips away from me? She risked her life for me . . . she nearly died down there today . . . for me." His eyes were haunted.
"Rumple . . . she chose to do what she did. You didn't force her. And I'd wager she knew long before she tried to break the curse that she knew the price she might be asked to pay," Belle said, gently rubbing his shoulder.
"She told me she wouldn't die . . . that she Saw herself alive in the future . . . but if I hadn't kissed her when I did . . . she would have. And it would have been my fault." His hands clenched white-knuckled on his cane.
"Maybe she knew you would saveher, Rumple. You said once fate is its own master and cannot always be anticipated. She was right, Rumple. She didn't die then . . . and she won't now. She's just exhausted and sleeping. Pacing up and down like a caged lion isn't helping anyone. Now come downstairs and have a cup of tea, at least. You look like you're about to fall over yourself."
"I'm fine, Belle." Then, as if to give the lie to his words, he staggered as his weak leg suddenly tried to crumple up on him.
"Rumple!" Belle cried in alarm. "Baelfire, get up here!" she yelled down the stairs. "Your father needs you!"
"Belle . . . it's nothing. My leg just gave out . . . sometimes it happens . . ." Rumple protested, struggling to compensate with his cane and cursing the old injury under his breath in three languages.
"Papa? What's the matter?" Bae thundered up the stairs and put an arm about his parent, holding him upright. "What happened?"
"Bae, I'm fine. My stupid leg just gave out," Rumple grumbled.
"Then you need to sit down," his son said, and helped him walk the five steps to his bedroom.
"Quit fussing!" Rumple ordered. "I'm not dead yet."
"I don't want to go on the cart," Bae replied, smirking.
"What?" Belle said, not getting the reference.
Rumple pretended to glare at his son, though his mouth twitched upward in a reluctant grin. "You watch too much TV, Bae."
"Sorry, couldn't resist. Then you've seen The Holy Grail too?" his son asked, his eyes glittering with mirth.
"Please. About a dozen times since Alina and Henry discovered Netflix," Rumple groaned.
Bae started laughing. "And you don't think it's funny?" He helped his father sit on the edge of the bed.
"I did . . . the first four times I watched it. After that, it was overkill," Rumple replied, wincing.
"There! Is that a little better?" his son asked, concerned.
"Yes. I'll be fine in a minute. Your mother was just being a worrywart."
Belle snorted. "Your papa was just being a martyr and waiting to collapse on the floor."
"Belle, you're exaggerating," Rumple argued. "Don't listen to her, Bae."
"If you two are going to fight, I'm going back downstairs," his son said. "You should take it easy, Papa. Maybe breaking that curse took more out of you than you thought."
"My thoughts exactly. Thanks, Bae," Belle said, giving her husband a sharp Look.
"Now don't act so smug, dearie," her husband began. "I wasn't the one doing the cursebreaking."
"That doesn't mean it didn't affect you," Belle argued.
"Oh, boy. I'm outta here," Bae said, and promptly left the room.
"Rumple, don't be stubborn. You need to rest," she began.
He gave her a scowl reminiscent of angry child. "I can rest when I'm in my grave, Belle! I'm not the one who broke a centuries old curse today! Rhea's the one who you ought to be worried about, not me."
"I'm worried about both of you," Belle said, sitting down next to him. "Rumple, you're the only who's ever had the dagger curse broken and lived through it. How do you know it didn't hurt you a little?"
He sighed. "I don't," he admitted reluctantly. "But whatever I'm feeling isn't even close to what Rhea endured down there. Belle . . . the damned dagger attacked her once she erased my name from it. It stabbed her in the chest. And I couldn't do a damn thing but watch it happen. I hate being helpless! Especially when one of my own risks their life for me."
"Oh, Rumple!" Belle moved then and hugged him. "That must have been so hard for you to see . . . but she's okay now. It's over. And you're free at last."
"If she had died . . . I would have never forgiven myself."
"But she didn't," Belle reminded him. "She saved you . . . just like you did her when she sought sanctuary from Baba Yaga all those years ago."
"That's different."
"Why? Because you think your life is worth so much less than hers?" his wife demanded shrewdly.
"After what I've been and done, some would say my life isn't worth spit," Rumple murmured.
"Then they're stupid asses!" Belle swore heatedly. "You are worth every sacrifice, Rumplestiltskin! Because we who love you would be lost without you here. And it wasn't Rhea alone who broke the curse . . . it was all of us."
"What? I don't understand."
Belle told him what Rhea had asked of her and his children and grandson. "All of us helped, Rumple. Because we all wanted you to be free of the damned dagger. And we succeeded. Maybe that's why we were successful. Because together we're stronger than individuals, even if they happen to be powerful sorceresses." She cupped his chin in her hands. "Now it's done and you're free. Live the life you've regained, Mr. Gold. Don't waste it regretting the past."
"And you think I deserve a second chance?"
"Yes. Everyone who truly regrets what they've done does," she said sincerely.
"Then you'd forgive your father?"
"If he was sincerely sorry, yes I would," Belle said honestly. "But I don't know if he is . . . I hope he would be . . . but I won't know for sure until I talk to him once he's himself again." Then she pulled him to her and kissed him. "Now quit wallowing in self-pity, Mr. Gold, and kiss me back."
Smiling, he did as she had ordered. Perhaps she was right, his brilliant intuitive wife, and this was a second chance for him to do things right. If so, he'd be a fool to waste it. And he'd never been that.
Page~*~*~*~*~Break
Vasilisa slept for hours, but then developed a fever and woke during the night delirious and babbling about ghosts and calling out for water. "Please, Mistress! Just one sip . . . just one . . ." she whimpered, clearly reliving some of her horrid captivity in Baba Yaga's ice palace.
"Rhea, dearie, shhh! It's okay," Rumple came limping into the room, carrying a glass of water in his hand and some Tylenol in his pocket. It was past midnight. He set the glass down on the nightstand and went to bathe his sister's face with a cool damp washcloth. "You've got a bad fever, dearie. Probably a side-effect of overspending your power. Do you understand me? You're safe here, in my house, we're not in that witch's palace."
Suddenly, her eyes opened, and they were glassy with fever and bright with tears. "Rumple . . . don't send me back there! Please! Don't send me away!"
"Hey . . . nobody's sending you anywhere," he soothed, sitting on the edge of the bed beside her. "You're going to stay right here. It's just a dream . . . you're safe with me . . . and you're going to stay right here . . ." His fingers stroked her hair, brushing the strands off her forehead, which was hot and dry.
"You'll protect me?" she asked, sounding like the child she had been once.
"Always," he said.
"Rumple, I'm so hot . . . and thirsty . . ."
"Yes, I know. Can you sit up for me? There's my girl," he said, helping her to sit up. "Here's some water." He helped her sip from the glass. "Easy there, drink it slowly, otherwise you'll throw up."
After she had drunk a quarter of the glass, he said, "I need you to take these pills, okay? Just swallow them with the water."
"Are they medicine?"
"Yes. Now open up and let me put them in your mouth," he said, as if talking to a child, since he realized suddenly that she might not have ever taken pills before, as they weren't a commonplace thing in their old world. Thankfully she didn't fight him when he put the pills on her tongue and then gave her a drink of water and told her to swallow them.
Once she had taken the Tylenol he allowed her another drink and then helped her lie down again.
Then he sat beside her, telling her she would get better if she just rested and how grateful he was for her breaking the curse over him.
She blinked at him and said, "Is that why I'm sick?"
"Yes. But you'll get better once you've slept. Just close your eyes, little sister, and don't worry about nightmares. I can banish all of them. You know I can. I did it before, when you were sick a long time ago in my castle. Remember?"
Slowly, she nodded. "I remember . . . you said no nightmares could come for me so long as you were there with your dreamcatcher. Is there a dreamcatcher here?"
"Yes. I can get one for you," Rumple said swiftly, and went to fetch one that hung on the wall of his study, an old elk horn and leather one with feathers from a bald eagle and a golden goshawk, made by the Abenaki who had once roamed this land. He then twirled it in the air above her head, making sure she could see it revolving, then said, "See? No more nightmares. Now I'll hang it above you on the wall."
He carefully hung it on the wall with a thumbtack.
His sister smiled. "Thank you. You have a good heart, Rumple."
"Only you and Belle would say that."
She reached out and caught his hand, her green eyes suddenly intense. "Because I see the truth with mine. The heart never lies, Rumple. It cannot be deceived. Forget what you think and ignore what you hear. The heart always sees clear. Always. You're not the Dark One. I've lived among darkness . . . I know it. I trust what my heart shows . . . and it shows you're a good man, Rumple. You are."
"All right, dearie," he said, trying to placate her.
But she refused to be placated, gripping his hand with fierce strength. "Believe it. Trust what I say. I'm right. The heart always knows, Rumple. It always knows."
"Okay, Rhea. I trust you. Now calm down, dearie. Or do you want to crush my hand for some reason?"
She released his hand then and sank back upon the pillows. "Someday . . . you'll believe me . . . you will . . ."
"Shhh. You're tired, you need to rest," he murmured, wiping her face again with the cloth. "Sleep, Rhea. And dream good dreams. You're safe with me."
She gave him a dreamy smile. "Always safe with you, Rumple."
Then she closed her eyes and slept.
He sat there several moments longer, pondering what she had said. The heart always sees clear. The heart never lies. He knew that for a universal truth. It was why true love was so powerful. He thought again of her insistence that his heart was good . . . even after all those centuries of darkness. Was she right? Had he simply forgotten how to see the light after so many years of darkness? He supposed it might be so. She wasn't called Vasilisa the Wise for nothing.
Then he recalled Belle's admonition too, about letting go of past regrets and starting anew. Perhaps it was time he took their advice.
He patted Vasilisa's hand gently before rising and returning to his own room. It was time for bed, for even old dragons needed their sleep.
Page~*~*~*~*~Break
By the next morning, his sister was much better, her fever had gone down and she was coherent again, though quite weak and content to lie in bed and sleep for much of the day, taking the Tylenol Rumple gave her and eating the light meals Alice prepared for her, which were juice, toast, and oatmeal with fruit in it and later some chicken soup and bread with red clover honey.
Rumple was glad of it, for he had to help Belle prepare for Alina's birthday party in the afternoon. Once they had set up the dining room with colorful mylar balloons and streamers, a sign, and pink and white china plates, Alice and Belle took over, and said they could handle the refreshments and shooed him away.
He went upstairs to see his sister, she was sleeping soundly, and as he came downstairs again, he found Paige and Henry had arrived, along with Bae and Emma.
"How's Rhea?" asked Emma softly, while Henry and Paige wished Alina a happy birthday and Bae took Paige's present along with their own into the den and put it on the table.
"Getting better," Rumple replied. "She's sleeping now."
"I wonder what's in that big box?" Alina said, eyeing Henry thoughtfully.
"I know, but I'm not telling. It's a surprise," her nephew smirked.
"Did you pick it out?" Paige asked. She looked very like Alice, though she didn't know it.
Henry nodded. "Yup. Actually, we all did. Me, my mom, and my dad. It was fun."
"Can't you give me a hint?" Alina asked. "Just a little one?"
"Umm . . . it's something you've always wanted," Henry said.
Alina's forehead crinkled. "Like what? Is it an animal, mineral, or vegetable?"
"Can't tell. But I think you'll really like it."
"I hope you'll like mine too," Paige said shyly. "I made it myself."
"I always like your presents," Alina told her friend. "I still have the suncatcher you made me last year. It's hanging on my bedroom window."
Paige smiled, and her smile reminded both Golds of Jefferson. "I had fun making that. What are we doing for your birthday this year, Alina?"
"Something really fun. Papa's going to take us to Reality Zone and we can play all day there. Any game we want plus Hero's Quest."
"Cool! I love that game!" Henry cheered.
"Me too!" Paige said. "When are we going, Mr. Gold?"
"Now," he said, getting his keys. He had already introduced Paige to Belle and explained that Alice was Saylah's niece, and Saylah was away on vacation. Everyone knew about Belle now that Emma and Neal had custody of Henry, and Paige had been delighted to meet her, and Alice as well.
Gold took Alina, Henry, and Paige out to the arcade, where they could play a virtual reality game called Hero's Quest, which was a fun game where you could pretend to be a hero who fought all kinds of monsters and rescued a friend in trouble. The heroes had to solve puzzles and make it through a maze of different tricks, traps, and dangers, and competed with one another to see who could do it the fastest and rescue their trapped friend.
Alina, Henry, and Paige put on the special helmets, which would allow them to see the 3D holographic landscape they'd be going through and also a flashing plastic disk over their chests which told them how much "life energy" they had while doing tasks. If they ran out of energy, the game was over, so they had to monitor it carefully.
Then they entered the play room, and Gold sat on a padded bench outside it and read Wizard's First Rule by Terry Goodkind, a book which Bae had lent him, while the children raced about and fought pretend monsters and scaled fake walls and jumped over raging rivers and rode on flying griffins and battled monsters and evil necromancers.
After two hours they came out, flushed and panting, but happy. He looked up as they walked out of the room and pulled on their sneakers. "Well? Did you rescue whoever was trapped in there?"
"We sure did, Papa!" Alina told him, her eyes shining. "I vaporized a demon knight and won a golden magical staff."
"I killed a dragon!" Henry said. "Whacked his head off with my magic sword."
"And I flew on a griffin over an enchanted wood and killed a chimera with my magic arrows," Paige informed him. "It was so much fun!"
"Glad to hear that, dearie. Now what else do you want to do, Alina? We have another hour before we need to get home so we can eat lunch," Gold said, checking his watch.
"Let's play some more games," the eleven-year-old suggested, and they all ran over to where the video games were along the wall.
Gold watched indulgently and read some more of his book while they all played the different arcade games, though sometimes he was interrupted when one of the other of them came back to him and asked for more quarters to get tokens or drinks from the vending machines.
An hour later, they were all piled into Gold's Cadillac, singing some pop tunes and giggling for the twenty minutes it took to get back the salmon pink Victorian. When they arrived, Alice said that lunch wasn't quite ready yet, so the three children went out in the backyard and played horseshoes and swung on the swingset while the rest of the fried chicken was getting cooked along with Yukon Gold mashed potatoes, gravy, corn fritters, and coleslaw.
Emma watched the three playing, and whispered to Bae, "Look at Paige. Doesn't she look just like her mom?"
"Yeah. I can see it now," Bae said, glancing over at Alice, who was at the stove frying. "Too bad Paige won't know until the curse breaks."
"Yeah, I really have to work on that," Emma murmured. "Will you help me, Bae?"
"Sure, sweetling. I can start teaching you how to do kung fu tomorrow if you like."
"How about something with weapons."
"Well, if you want to use a sword, that'll take a bit more time, but okay."
"How well do you know how to use one?"
"Uh . . . I won the West Coast Martial Arts Tournament in swordfighting three years in a row before I decided to stop competing," her husband answered. "So I'd say I'm pretty good, wild swan."
"Holy crap!" Emma gasped. "Even I know about that and you won it three years in a row?"
Bae just nodded modestly. "Like I said, I can teach you the sword, but it might take longer than you think to learn the maneuvers."
"I don't care. Somehow I think I'm gonna need it," Emma said knowingly.
"Okay. We'll start tomorrow night," her husband agreed.
"I can't wait till Alina sees what we got her," Emma said.
"Me too," Bae agreed. He just hoped his father didn't have a fit once he saw what it was.
Alice finished frying the chicken and corn fritters and Belle helped her put them in platters and set them on the table, then she stared wistfully out the sliding glass door at her daughter playing with Alina and Henry. "I wish . . ."
"I know," Belle said sympathetically, hugging her friend. "But she'll know the truth once the curse breaks, and then you can get to know her as Grace and be a real family."
"You're right," Alice said. Then she turned as the oven timer shrilled and removed a pan of buttermilk biscuits from the oven.
After a wonderful lunch, in which Paige declared she'd never tasted fried chicken like Alice's, which made Alice's heart swell with pride, Alina, Henry, and Paige played hot potato with Bae and Emma was running the music, playing catchy 80's tunes and trying to catch the three kids and her husband with the potato in their hands when the music stopped.
They all started laughing when Henry got too excited as he was passing the potato over to Bae and the martial arts instructor had to snatch the potato out of the air with a lighting quick maneuver before it hit him in the face. "Uh, Henry, we're playing hot potato, not brain your dad in the face," he said.
"Oops! Sorry, Dad," his son apologized, and the girls giggled, but eventually Paige was the winner, and was awarded a gift card to Granny's diner which was good for a free dessert.
"Thanks, Mr. Gold," the fair-haired girl said when he gave her the prize.
"You're quite welcome, Paige," said, and gave Alice's daughter a friendly smile.
Paige tucked her gift card into her small blue purse and wondered why people ever feared this man.
Then they played bookworm trivia, where Belle asked the children about various questions about popular children's books, and Henry won that game, and a gift card to the Storybrooke bookstore.
Then they had to guess how many mini candy bars were in a jar, and whoever was closest won the entire jar. Alina won that, but she generously split the candy between all of them, so they each ended up with a bag of mini Hershey bars.
"All right, kids," Belle called. "It's time for cake and ice cream."
They all clapped when Alice brought in the cake, which was a red velvet one with cream cheese frosting. Then they all sang happy birthday to Alina and she blew out the candles.
Rumple watched as his daughter carefully cut the first slice of cake, and murmured to Belle, "I can't believe that the tiny baby I held in my arms is almost a teenager. I feel like I blinked and she's grown up before my eyes."
Belle smiled. "I think all parents feel that way about their children when they start getting older."
"I'm sorry you missed all those years with her," Rumple said sadly. "But I've got pictures. And I made DVD's you can watch."
"Some night we'll have to do that. Once she's in bed, otherwise she might kill us for embarrassing her," Belle laughed.
"Mmm! Alice, this cake's so good it ought to be illegal," Bae remarked, as he ate a piece.
"Really? Well, you're taking half of it home, Neal," she grinned.
"What?" Emma gasped. "Alice! What do you want us to be, the poster family for Weight Watchers?"
"Nobody said you had to eat it, Mom," her son pointed out.
"Oh, thanks. So I'm supposed to sit there and watch you and your dad stuff your faces?" Emma snorted.
"You don't have to do that," Bae remarked. "You could join us."
Emma rolled her eyes. "Yeah, Neal, and next thing you know I've gained ten pounds."
"We're still taking some home," Henry told Alice, and winked at her.
"Now it's time for presents!" sang Paige, and ran to get her prettily wrapped silver and pink package from the table and handed it to Alina.
Alina opened it and gasped at the pretty shell encrusted jewelry box with her initials in gold paint on the inside of the lid, which had been lined with pink satin. Lying on the bottom was a golden circle with the letters P and A on opposite sides. "Paige! This is . . . beautiful!" Alina exclaimed. "You really made this?"
"Yeah. Mom and I collected seashells on the beach this summer and then I bought this kit and we made it together," Paige said. "And that necklace . . . it's a friendship necklace," she picked it up and showed Alina how the circle was separated. "One half's for you and one's for me. You get my P and I get your A," she said, and handed Alina the right side of the gold circle and she took the left one.
The girls smiled at each other as they put their necklace halves on, and over their heads so did their mothers, who had exchanged similar tokens when they were that age.
"And this is from your mama and me," Rumple said. "Well, one gift anyway." He handed Alina a square box wrapped in flower paper.
"Neat! The Immortals series by Tamora Pierce. Mama, you remembered!" Alina cried, staring down at the boxed set of fantasy books she had seen in the bookstore a month ago and mentioned she'd like to read.
"I bought them while you were at school," Belle said, hugging her. "Happy birthday, Alina!"
"Your other present is to pick one thing from my shop," Rumple said.
"Really, Papa? You never let me before," his daughter said in amazement.
"Well, now you're old enough to choose wisely," he said, and then he hugged her.
"Thanks!" she cried, and hugged him back.
"And this last one's from us," Henry said, running over to the largest box sitting on the table in the den and picking it up. "Here, Alina!"
The little girl examined the box curiously, noting the lid was rather loose and there were odd slits in the sides. "What is this?"
"Open it and find out, minx!" Bae encouraged.
Alina removed the lid and gasped when she saw what was nestled inside. "Oh! You guys got me a kitten!" She reached into the box, which was lined with a blanket inside, and lifted out a tiny black kitten with gorgeous green eyes. The kitten mewed as she cradled it against her, sticking tiny claws into her sweatshirt. "I've always wanted one. Thanks! Henry, she's so beautiful!"
"Yeah, she was the best one of the litter," Henry said, petting her.
"She's a pedigreed Bombay cat," Bae said, grinning. "They're known for their affection and gentle personality, and they look like little panthers."
"Oh, Alina! She's adorable!" Belle said, and gently stroked the kitten, who began to purr and rubbed against her hand.
"Want to hold her, Mama?" Alina asked, and she handed Belle the kitten.
Belle carefully held the tiny cat against her, and then said, "Look, Rum, isn't she just precious?"
Rumple eyed the tiny feline resignedly. "Just what we need, Neal. I don't really care for cats. They shed all over and they claw things."
"But you'll get used to her, Papa," Alina said, not at all fazed by her father's lukewarm response. "Just wait and see. Now we have to think of a good name for her."
"I can help!" Paige said.
"Me too," Henry agreed.
"We bought you a book on kitten care and some other stuff too," Emma said. "It's in a bag in my car. Let me go get it."
Belle handed the kitten back to Alina, who held it in her lap, petting her while writing names down on a piece of paper. She knew she had to pick just the right name, for names were important, especially if one was a sorceress.
The kitten purred loudly as she sat in Alina's lap, her green eyes half closed, her small paws tucked beneath her.
A/N: Thanks to everyone who has read and reviewed this! What should Alina call her new kitten?