A/N- Once again, I own only the OCs. Enjoy! (If you can. It's another sad one)

"Mama, I don't like this," Hope whispered.

"Why not?" Belle asked. "I thought you of all people would want us to bring your papa back."

"I do. More than anything. But I'm scared," Hope confessed. "All magic comes with a price, after all, and I'm not sure that I want to find out what the price for this magic is."

"It'll be okay, Hope," Belle comforted. "I promise. The book didn't say anything about a price."

"I think it was implied," Hope muttered. Belle didn't hear her.

When they got to the dark one's vault, Hope felt a shiver run through her, and she didn't think it was from the cold.

"I've got a bad feeling about this," Bae said. Hope couldn't have agreed more.

"Maybe we should just turn around," she suggested. "I miss Papa too, but he would never want to risk one of us getting hurt just to bring him back."

Belle turned around and spoke to the candle.

"You're sure this will bring him back?" she asked uncertainly.

"I have been in zat library for 500 years," Lumiere snapped in his thick french accent. "Of course I'm sure."

"He's lying," Belle whispered to Bae. "Hope was right. We should go."

"No," Bae replied. "We made it too far to quit now. I'm going to get back to Emma and Henry."

"Then let me do it," Hope stepped in, hoping to save her brother. "If there's a price- which I'm sure there is- I'll gladly pay it."

"No, Hope," Bae said. "I'll do it. He's my father."

"He's my father too!" she shot back. "Please, Bae. I don't want to lose anyone else."

"You won't," he soothed. "Watch."

He tried to insert the key into the vault, but Hope was too fast. She tackled him to the ground, knocking the key out of his hand. The two wrestled for it, each leaving their fair share of bruises on the other.

Eventually, through use of sheer force, Bae won out. He jammed the key into the vault. At first, nothing happened. Then, the key heated up rapidly. It burned Bae, and he screamed in pain, shoving his hand into the snow.

"Bae!" Hope cried, running to his side. "Bae. Bae! Are you alright?"

Suddenly, Hope caught sight of a dark shape rising from the vault. She watched in gruesome fascination as the form took the shape of the man, then slowly took on her father's facial features. When he materialised fully, he ran to Bae, worry and a bit of anger mixing together on his face.

"Bae!" he exclaimed, clinging to his son.

Meanwhile, a dark figure emerged from the treeline.

"You can't save him," the figure spoke, stepping into the light and revealing herself.

"Yes, I can," Rumple snapped, pulling his son closer to him.

Hope stood up and drew her sword, preparing to fight this woman should the need arise. The stranger simply waved her hand, knocking Hope to the ground.

"You'll have to choose, Rumplestilskin," the stranger gloated. "It's the dagger or your son. Which will you keep, and which will you release?"

Rumple seemed to think for a moment before throwing his dagger to the ground in favor of holding Bae tighter still. There was a white glow of magic, during which Rumple absorbed Bae, effectively preserving his son and ridding himself of his sanity at the same time.

"Excellent choice," the woman smirked, picking up his dagger. "Now. Kill them."

She pointed at Hope and Belle, both of whom had risen to their feet and were staring and Rumple. Rumple started towards them, but was held back by Lumiere.

"Go! Run!" Lumiere commanded. "Don't make me regret this small flash of conscience!"

Belle and Hope ran off at full speed, though Belle paused momentarily to grab Lumiere.

When they had gotten a safe distance away, and it was clear that neither Rumple nor the witch who'd enslaved him were going to pursue them, Belle stopped to catch her breath. She bent over slightly, resting her hands on her knees.

Hope, however, stayed standing upright, glaring at Belle like she hoped she'd spontaneously combust.

"You," she spat. "How could you?"

"What?" Belle asked, unsure of what Hope was talking about.

"I told you," Hope continued. "I told you there was a price. I told you that someone would get hurt if we tried to bring Papa back. Now look what's happened. We lost them both. Because you wouldn't listen to me, we lost both of them!"

Belle tried to interject, but Hope was screaming at her by this point.

"I told you there was a price!" she yelled. "I told you not to do it! But you didn't listen! Nobody listened, and now they're both gone! They're gone, and they're not coming back! And it's all your fault!"

Hope turned away so Belle wouldn't be able to see the tears pouring down her face.

Belle tried to hug her daughter, to comfort her like she'd been doing every day for the past three months, but Hope would have none of it. She pulled away from her mother, finally turning around to face her.

"They're gone," she whispered. "I hope you're happy that you got your way."

With that, Hope took a running leap, throwing her wings open to catch the breeze. She flew away, leaving a broken hearted Belle alone in the cold to find her own way back to the group.

A/N- So there you have it. One more sad chapter, and then we're on the good stretch. I hope you enjoyed it. Have a blessed day, dearies!