Their eyes were as open as they could be. That was her conclusion.
When she and Regina descended the ladder after their talk, Emma and Merlin were already gone. The dwarves had gone out to help Lancelot hunt for food, which put Regina, and pretty much everyone else, on Zelena guard duty. Granny and Henry were with Roland and little Neal outside playing loudly, which was still a much better environment than watching Zelena brood as she studied. So she grabbed the few books she had and left the others to their planning so she could read on the back steps occasionally glancing up to find Roland enjoying his time with Henry. They didn't have a lot of toys around, but she knew that Regina had transformed everything she could get her hands on into something to keep the boy busy. A boulder had become a large rubber ball. Some dying leafs were now small figurines. A venomous snake Roland found had succumbed just as the flying monkey had and was now upstairs sitting on the bed the boys shared. And a few sticks had become a bow and arrow, not just for little Roland, Regina had made enough for Roland, Robin, and Snow. In fact, when she'd left out the back door she'd observed that one of the bows and quivers was missing and assumed that was what Lancelot had taken with him to hunt.
She sat on the back steps while Granny watched the children, and read. It wasn't long before Robin and Regina appeared again and informed her they were leaving, no muss, no fuss. They were taking Zelena with them and would hopefully be back before Emma. "If you're not? When do we panic? What am I supposed to tell your sons?!" she hissed back. She understood why they were leaving so quickly and quietly, why they didn't want the boys to know, but she had to admit that it felt unnecessary to worry on so many levels.
"If we're not back by nightfall then panic," Regina concluded. "But don't come after us. Get Merlin to use the Apprentices Wand to get you back to Storybrooke. We'll find our own way."
"Regina…" she argued, it only took that one word because it was such a ridiculous notion.
"She's right," she looked back over her shoulder to see Mary Margaret standing at the door with her arms crossed over the front of her. "If something happens to us we'll find our way home, but with no way for us to communicate…get the boys to safety, check on Rumpelstiltskin. If we're not back in time then we got ourselves into this mess, we'll get ourselves out of it and get home as fast as we can."
"The odds of crossing realms without the wand are-"
"We've faced worse odds before and succeeded," Regina insisted. "You're not the only miracle worker around here."
And then they were gone. They'd ushered themselves back into the diner and she hadn't heard another peep from inside all morning. When she finally went back inside to double check that all the books she'd needed were with her, she found that the diner was empty. They were gone. By magic she assumed, off to defeat King Arthur or at least take what they needed to help Emma.
How exactly was the sword going to help Emma? She still didn't know. She had so few books that two hours later, she knew without a doubt they didn't have what they needed to solve this mystery here. So far, all she'd found when it came to stripping a magician of magic was that it was a difficult task that could take days, and that was if the person was willing. Was Emma willing? She'd said she was ready, but she couldn't help but think that the events of this morning said something completely different. And this wasn't just magic they were stripping away; this was a curse! A curse that had somehow endured for centuries! Rumpelstiltskin obviously hadn't wanted to get rid of it, but she refused to believe that no one in that time had ever tried! Unless the curse didn't allow them to try. Where did a curse end and an infection begin? She closed her book and set it aside, ignoring the growing pain in her arms at her every little motion. There was no point in looking anymore. She was done. Whether or not Regina liked it, their eyes were as open as they were going to get. They just had to hope and believe that Merlin would do what was best.
"Taking a break?" she asked as Henry finally tottered over and sat next to her on the stairs. He was breathing heavily, and sweat was glistening by his hairline, but he was smiling. It was good to see him smile again after his heartbreak and especially after what happened with Emma this morning. Suddenly she was grateful that he had been upstairs and only seen the aftermath. The main event might have devastated him.
"He wears me out," Henry explained. "Do all kids have this much energy?"
"Every last one," Granny answered. "And they always want to play with the big kids, so get used to it kid, you've got a few more to get through!" she exclaimed motioning to little Neal in her arms.
She smiled. "Maybe by then he'll want to play with Roland and give you a break."
"Let's hope," Henry smiled back.
"Henry! Come play!" Roland shouted holding up his grey ball.
"Maybe later!" he called. "See how high you can get it to bounce."
Roland shrugged unhappily but immediately turned his attention to bouncing the ball against the ground and raising dirt clouds as he did. A few seconds later he was so enraptured by his task he'd completely forgotten Henry. "You're good with him you know," she smirked bumping into Henry's shoulder playfully. He blushed as he smiled and pulled something out of his pocket. A newspaper…and a pen? She took a closer look at it and found…real estate? Odd choice for a young boy. "Looking for a castle in Storybooke?"
"Well…kinda…it's sort of a secret, a surprise for my mom from me and Killian."
"A house?"
"For all of us," Henry confirmed as his eyes scanned the page. For all of them. For Henry and Emma…and Hook. They were planning on moving in together.
Her heart hurt. It ached for Neal. She knew how much he had wanted that to be him, to settle down with Emma and Henry and make their family complete again! It was a dream she'd wanted so much for him she didn't know how much it had lived on after he died until this moment. But Neal was gone. And while she knew that he'd wanted that spot next to Emma and Henry, he'd wanted their happiness more. If Neal wasn't there and Killian was…well, he certainly wouldn't be happy about it, but he'd be happy for them, that they were moving on.
"That's good, Henry," she managed to choke out. "Your dad, he'd…he'd think it was good."
Henry paused. He hadn't exactly been moving before, but the stillness that came over him in that moment…she'd startled him. "You think so?" he asked quietly.
It was the same old story, exactly what she'd felt with Rumple while they'd been married. She'd been so afraid, so careful not to talk to him about Neal because it just wasn't fair! These were the people who should have memories of Neal, who should have known him inside and out and had been stripped of that opportunity. Talking about it felt like she was rubbing their noses in the fact that she'd had more time than they had. But…but not talking about it felt wrong too. She felt like not talking about it forced her to keep Neal to herself, not to share him and all he'd done for her. Mourning was hard on anyone, but ignoring it as she had been for the sake of Rumple and even Henry…it was harder. Harder than necessary. And she knew Neal well enough to know that he wouldn't want that either.
"He loved you and your mother," she muttered beside him, rubbing her hands on her legs, anything to find something to do with her fingers. "He loved you both so much, all he wanted when we were in the Enchanted Forest was to get back to you and know you were happy. The memories came second for him; your happiness was his first concern."
Henry was quiet as he stared at the ground in front of him. She felt a knot rise in her throat and felt a wave of guilt that suggested she might have just done the wrong thing pass over her. Why did this have to be so hard?
"You remind me of him a little, you know," she suggested in the silence. Her guilt, she felt it, she knew it was real, but silence had never once taken care of it. Maybe, if she fought through it and said her peace, that was the key to getting rid of it. She'd never know until she tried. And Henry...
"I do?" he finally asked softly. "How?"
She smiled as the images flashed before her. "You have his smile," she pointed out. "And the ability to play with children! Roland liked your father too."
"They knew each other?!"
She nodded remembering how Neal had picked Roland up and called him "buddy" when he saw him again. "And you talk like him too, sometimes. Your humor and the way you see life, the way you treat others…you get that from him."
Henry was quiet for a while. He stared down at his pen and paper and there was only one small sniffle to give away how upset he was. She felt guilty for that. But then…
"I wish I could have known him better. I wish he was here, now."
"He wished that too, Henry." Maybe Henry had needed this talk more than she knew. Maybe he needed the memories she had, the stories she could tell. Maybe Rumple had needed this too.
"What would he have said about…about Violet…about what happened between us?" Maybe she needed it too. She felt guilty for making Henry sad, but her guilt lifted a little more with every word. And the more she spoke, every word she said to him…somehow she felt like she could breathe better than she had in a long time.
"He'd have wanted to meet her," she answered. "And teased you mercilessly of course, but…he'd also tell you…he'd tell you that every relationship is different Henry and every relationship goes through its phases. Me and Rumple, your mom and dad, even your dad and Tamara for the little it's worth. He'd tell you not to give up because what you feel today and what she feels today might not be the same as tomorrow. And if you think the relationship is worth it then…then it's worth it in any measure. Whether you're friends or something more."
"That doesn't sound like my dad…that sounds like you."
She smirked and shrugged her shoulders. "I'm paraphrasing. He didn't speak with half the eloquence I have." She and Henry bumped shoulders again as they laughed and for a moment she felt tears well up in her eyes and something wrap around her heart because if she was honest with herself, it felt like it had long ago. It felt like it had with Neal, inside their little cabin, having dinner together or sewing a glove, sitting by a fire and trying to sleep or laughing at their love lives. It felt like he was more here now than he had been for a long, long time. She didn't know she could get that feeling back with a conversation.
"Hey…do you…do you think this is going to work?" he asked suddenly. "I don't know what they're planning, but I know they're trying to help my mom. Do you think it'll work, or do you think she'll turn out like…like…"
"Rumpelstiltskin?" she inserted sadly.
He nodded slowly, probably as afraid to talk about it as she had been afraid to talk about Neal. He was probably justified in that fear. Their separation and future weren't easy to talk about as adults, with Henry it was…still something that needed to be discussed. Just as Neal had.
"I don't know," she concluded. "I don't know what she'll be like if it doesn't work, but I know that she'll need you and your support."
"Like Grandpa needs yours?"
Exactly.
The word was right there on her lips. Her mouth was open and everything! But it just didn't come out. Why couldn't she say it?!
"It wasn't that bad," Henry went on. "Grandpa loved you and did good things with it and the curse, so maybe if they can't fix my mom there will still be hope."
What would she give to go back in time and have that kind of faith again? She'd had it once. She knew that she had because she'd so often found herself feeling stupid for having it! For believing that her love could break a curse or help the Dark One be good. She'd kept her eyes closed then, and she'd suffered a great deal for it now. But she also knew that she'd loved a great deal because of that belief. She'd felt things that she would never have felt before if it weren't for Rumple and their love. Not the Dark One. Rumple. So if she could go back and do it all over again, if she could run into herself after talking to Regina on the road what would she do, what would she tell herself? Go back and kiss him? Run away? What was she supposed to tell her Grandson, whose future was unwritten? It could go either way for him. Emma could do great damage with her curse, but she also knew that no one would ever love Henry the same way that Emma could, not exactly. Their love was special and unique. Should he close his eyes and walk on? Or protect himself.
"Have faith, Henry," she murmured quietly next to him. "Always have faith in the love that you have, no matter what."
It was the only answer she could think to give.
Okay, it's the last ten chapters of MT and we are off to a good start with a very deep Belle/Henry chapter, or at least that's what I like to think about it. I hope that you've enjoyed these conversations. Henry and Belle will have a lot of interactions in the next few chapters. Don't worry; I gave her stuff to do while everyone else is out rescuing the world because Belle is not one that I see idly sitting around doing nothing at a time like this. I hope you'll like what I did with it.
Thank you, Grace5231973, Fox24, Ladybugsmomma, and Kathryn Claire O'Connor for your reviews on the last chapter. Nine more chapters until Moments Clear and Unclear starts up and then the real Rumbelle drama begins (because we haven't had enough of that in Moments Taken). Let's start to get some conclusions going (you know, so that all those conclusions can be forgotten and undone for the start of MC&U because what's a season of ONCE without a little amnesia, right?)! Peace and Happy Reading!
