She was crying. There was no stopping it now. He'd lost consciousness. Again. And she suspected for the final time. This time she couldn't get him to wake up, no matter how loud she yelled no matter how much she shook his shoulders he just lay there on the floor completely motionless as she wept over his body. Motionless. Body. Her heart stopped for a minute as she wondered and feared what had happened, at the implication of those two words in her mind. "Rumple?" her hand was shaking as she reached out and place it over her chest again. The moment she felt his pulse still racing against her palm she breathed a sigh of relief. He was still alive. Of course he was still alive, she'd been ridiculous! He was the Dark One he couldn't die from something like a heart attack. But Rumple...at least, for now he was still alive. As long as his eyes remained closed and didn't open with the cold blackness she imagined the Dark One would have she knew that there was still hope that he was in there. That was good.
But her relief over that one fact was short lived.
Now what? He was alive but completely unconscious. No matter what she tried he wouldn't wake up for her. His breath might have been even in this state but his heart was still pounding, absolutely racing in his chest. Fragile as it was right now that couldn't be a good thing. It was a sign that something was happening inside of him, something wrong and bad. At this point maybe it was a good thing he wasn't awake. She feared what would happen if his heartbeat slowed and his eyes opened.
Fear.
She'd never feared him.
But she feared the Dark One. She feared the Dark One without an anchor, without a human heart to tether or restrain the beast. That was a frightening possibility. She had to stop it. No matter what. She looked at the dagger, thrown far from where the two of them were huddled. She could use it again, wake him up, try and figure out if there was a spell or a potion that he could instruct her to make that might hold him off…
No. Dark magic had caused this. It wasn't the answer now. And using the dagger…it might wake him up but at what cost to Rumple. She'd already damaged him enough, she needed time to correct it. With time she knew that they could correct it. They just…they just needed more time. Time she'd so heartlessly taken from them both in an attempt to rid the world of the beast. She'd gone about it the wrong way. And sentenced the man to a life of loneliness instead. She'd allowed the beast to thrive.
She felt herself sniffle as she moved her hand up his chest and against his cheek, then leaned down and rested her forehead against his. "Please," she begged, unable to come up with anything else to do. "If you can hear me, please open your eyes. For me. Please try. We just need time. We need more time to fight this, I know we can! And then everything will be fine, you'll see! We have a long way to run but when has that ever stopped us? When has it ever been easy? I want to fight for you, please, if you're still in there…please give that to me. Please try to fight for me too. That's all I want now. Please..."
A tear dripped over the bridge of her nose and fell onto his cheek as she watched him, her heart in her throat, hoping and fearing all at once.
Not even a muscle twitched.
She sighed and pulled away. She wiped her tear from his cheek and smoothed back his hair needlessly, but she wasn't going anywhere. They needed time. But they didn't have it. The sad truth was then that this might truly be it. And if it was then she was going to stay right here on this floor until the Dark One awoke and killed her. Because if she couldn't save him, then she didn't know who could…or would.
Save him. The Savior. "Emma," she breathed, an idea popping into her head and screaming out against her grief.
They didn't have time, she couldn't ask him, and she didn't want to use Dark Magic. Maybe she didn't need all of those things. The Dark One…he was the villain, he had been from the beginning. No, Rumpelstiltskin wasn't completely blameless but there was no doubt in her mind that the Dark One's magic had always helped to fuel his obsession for power and made it far more dangerous than the average man's lust for fame and glory. And if the Dark One was a villain then it was obvious what she needed to defeat it! It was classic, so simple that a bookworm like her should have known from the beginning! To destroy a villain she needed a hero. To overcome Dark Magic, she needed Light Magic. And if she needed Light Magic then she could only think of one person capable of helping her.
Emma. The Savior. But…
Would she see things her way? Would she want to help him? After everything that he'd done? She'd only just barely begun to forgive him for it all how would Emma feel about it? Surely Killian had told Emma everything that he'd done, everything that he'd tried to do to her. How would she feel about saving his life? What would she do?
She'd help. She was the hero! They always did what was best even if it wasn't in their own best interest. She'd help because she had no choice. She'd help because it wasn't just her heart that was at risk. If the Dark One was all that was left of her husband then there was no telling what he'd do to the rest of the town.
Or Henry.
She had to protect him. She'd promised Neal and she had to keep that promise! The right way this time. Emma would help her do that. If it wasn't too late already.
She placed her hand back over his chest. His heartbeat wasn't getting any worse. That was…something at least. "You may be ready to give up on yourself, but I'm not!" she declared. Quickly she leaned over and placed a kiss to his forehead. "I'll be back as fast as I can with help. Just…if you can hear me stay good for a little while longer. Just a bit more, keep fighting it. Please…just…please!" He didn't even twitch. So she did.
Fast as she could she wiped her eyes and left the shop. Emma. She had to find Emma, now!
And she knew where to begin. A memory surfaced in the back of her head from another time when the sun was just about to set, a happier time when he'd been freed and they'd had an entire future ahead of them. "All this town seems to do…" he'd commented in humor, "is get into trouble and celebrate when it's over."
Yes. And no matter what happened there was no doubt it had been in trouble. So a celebration would follow. Granny's! She took off down the street, running as fast as she could. There was simply no time to waste. And she'd been right. The moment that she arrived at the diner she saw it flooded with people. And there, standing among them was David and Mary Margaret. With any luck Emma wasn't far.
"Emma!" she breathed throwing herself into the shop. She'd been right. She was there, across the room with her parents just as always. And she'd spotted her as well. "Rumple!" she spat out hurrying over to her. "His heart, he said it's almost gone. And…he said we're in danger," she stressed. If that wouldn't call on her for assistance she didn't know what would.
"Danger, his heart what-"
"It's turning black!" she explained quickly, realizing that she'd only just now really figured out everything that had happened. Rumple had kept that secret guarded. Emma, her parents…no one but her would know. "All these years, all the terrible things he's done…his heart is about to go dark. And when it does…he'll lose his ability to love. If he loses that, if he loses himself, the Dark One won't be able to be contained. He'll destroy the town. Please, we have to do something. Please…I know what he's done…but it'll only get worse if we don't do something now. No one will be safe. We have to help him. We have to save him!"
"How?" she asked, stepping forward with a determined look that filled her with relief. She was going to help.
"Light magic," she suggested. "Anything you can think of."
"Wait, normally this is the point I ask you for help on this kind of stuff. I…I don't know how to…fix the Dark One! Not without some serious help from someone that knows how to do this stuff better than me."
"If not better then how about older?" David muttered exchanging glances with his daughter.
"The apprentice…" Emma breathed. "You think he can-"
"It's worth a shot," David urged.
She didn't know what or who they were talking about, but it didn't matter to her. It was an idea that she hadn't had. It was magic that he hadn't had. It was a chance they didn't have before.
"Killian, the Apprentice, I think he's gone-"
"I'll fetch him, love," he confirmed with one foot out the door already.
"No, I know where he is, I can get him faster!" Henry called running ahead of the pirate.
She nearly lost her breath at what she'd just seen. Emma, Mary Margaret, David, Henry, even Killian! They were all going to help!
"Thank you," she cried. If they could be willing to overlook his sins and forgive him just enough to help save his life. She could too.
"Where is he?" Emma asked.
"The shop," she breathed. "Please…I don't think he has a lot of time."
"When do we ever?"
Sorry about the short oddness of this and the last chapter. There wasn't much substance to them but they also just didn't fit together. Therefore, two shorter chapters. Short but sweet. I gave you one final Rumbelle moment (that it sounds like we get in the season premiere) before we bring in the heroes. Also, just a little note here about the end...it's not going to end where you probably think it does. There will be a crucial scene missing from the end and there is a very good reason for that...plot. See, I don't just divide Moments by season, I like it to come full circle and have a clear beginning, middle, and end. It's going to seem in the next chapter that I ended not quite at the end but I argue that I did. Basically ::spoiler alert:: we're going to stop after the darkness is removed but before it escapes from the hat. Reason being I thought Rumple was the villain of 4B and things with Camelot and Emma...that's all 5A stuff. In my opinion when the darkness was removed from Rumple that was where the 4B arc ended and thus where ME&U will end. When the darkness escapes from the hat and Emma becomes the Dark One...that's all 5A stuff and I'll address that scene in Moments Taken, just not here. Are we good? Are we clear? Then...on to the finale!
Thank you TracyJean, Grace5231973, Teresa Martin, Ladybugsmomma, Rumbellefan, Kathryn Claire O'Connor, Raizen Yusuke, and Deweymay for your reviews. My goodness...1 chapter left and somehow I officially managed to get through 4B. It's a miracle! Peace and Happy Reading!
