Everything was happening just as he'd dreamed it would, just as the Seer had always promised it would. And yet, nothing was exactly what he'd thought it would be because of the woman beside him. He had to focus, keep his eyes on his goals, trained steadily on their destination; otherwise, he'd lose himself to staring at Belle, reveling in her very existence. He wanted to press his ear to her chest and listen to her heartbeat, put his hand to her wrist and feel her pulse, watch her chest rise and fall with glorious breath.

But they had to keep moving, or else actions like that would only scare her given her current state.

He wished he'd been able to stop and find her something else to wear other than her hospital gown, but stopping was too risky. He wished he'd been able to pile her into the car and take her up into the woods on wheels instead of on foot, but his car was too recognizable. If Emma and Regina wanted to come after him, then they'd be looking for it. He could hide the two of them in the trees easier than he could in a car. And he'd let Regina get her hands on Belle again only over his dead body!

He wanted a lot, but he had to keep them moving; across town, into the woods, up the hills. As soon as he had magic, he could make her something nice to wear. As soon as he had magic, he could protect her properly. As soon as he had magic back, he could find Baelfire. As soon as he had magic back, he could make Regina pay for what she'd done to Belle and how she'd taunted him over the years with her.

"I have something of yours, something precious…"

Fucking Regina. After watching him for years, she didn't know how to deal worth a damn! If he'd known her "something precious" was Belle, if he'd thought for one second that she was alive and in Regina's hands, he'd have bent over backward and given the bitch just about everything she wanted before giving her everything she deserved and more. How had she known him for so long and couldn't fucking seal a deal?!

"Wait!" Belle called out suddenly.

She was trailing behind him as they hiked up the hill. She'd been quiet, for the most part. On occasion, she'd tried to ask him questions. Where were they? How did he know her? Where were they going? He'd only hushed her each time. Without magic and in his work clothes with a shot ankle, the hike up the hill required all his concentration, all his breath. Besides, stopping to explain to her while she was Cursed would do no good. Each time he'd simply reminded her that he would answer her questions soon or that it would all be clear once they arrived at where they needed to be. Each time she'd fallen silent and continued to follow him.

"No, no," he encouraged over his shoulder, keeping his eyes trained on the hill ahead. "We're very close."

And they were. So close. Another five, maybe ten minutes, and they'd be there. Certainly, no more than fifteen and then they would see-

"Rumpelstiltskin…wait..."

She called after him again, and this time he stopped. He had to. She hadn't just said what he thought she'd said, had she? Surely, he'd misunderstood? Heard something wrong?

With a hard swallow, he turned around to glance at her progress. What he found was a completely different woman. She was still in those awful clothes, and her hair still needed a brush, but…her face…her face was different. She was smiling. She hadn't smiled at him like that in decades, not since the Dark Castle. It was a smile that reached into her eyes. No more were they cluttered with confusion and fear. They glistened with tears and something completely different. He recognized that look. It was a look she'd given him often in the castle, a look when he tried to do something or be something he wasn't. It was the look that could see right into his soul. It was a look that recognized him.

"I…I remember," she muttered, closing the distance between them quickly and coming to stand before him. Her smile faltered, pulled down by a wobble in her chin, which she clearly tried to fight off. She wanted to smile more than she wanted to cry. And as she looked him up and down and over again, trying to think of something to say, he knew the feeling.

"I…I love you."

The words came tumbling out of her mouth as clear and confident as ever. After all she'd been through, whatever hell Regina had forced her to endure, after a long separation, she was still exactly who she'd been all those years ago.

But he had changed. He wanted to be different than he had been so long ago. He wanted to be a different man for her.

So this time, instead of flinging her away out of fear, he managed to whisper a "Yes" before he pulled her close into his embrace; an embrace she returned, and he participated in. It was something so simple but something they'd never really shared in tandem together until now. It was about damn time. Just like it was time for something else.

"Yes. And I love you, too."

He'd never said those words. Not to her. But he'd always wished he had. He didn't think he'd ever meant them more than he did now. And he suspected that she knew it. He felt her chest spasm as she choked out a noise and her arms wrapped tighter around him, her face buried in his neck, and it all felt so damn right!

Right…but not right.

She remembered. That couldn't have been an accident. Not with everything that had happened. If she remembered, then…

Emma had done it. She'd broken the Curse. He hadn't felt it because he'd been awake ever since she arrived, but Belle…

Oh, he could stand here and hold her all day! But he wasn't done yet. Not yet. There was more to be done if he had any hope of finding Baelfire in this world. Not to mention, in the next few days, as more people remembered who they were…he'd meant what he said to Regina before, people would be angry and out for blood. Hers, mostly, but he wasn't blameless in all of this. As he was now, he'd be seen as weak. Belle would be a target. He had to protect her. There was only one way he knew how to do that.

"But hey…" he swallowed. He pulled away and dared to put a hand over her cheek, a tender touch he'd never allowed himself in the castle because he was afraid it would lead to words like he'd already said and actions he'd already done. He was free to love her now. And love her he would…

"There'll be time for that. There'll be time for everything," he assured her. "But first…there's something I must do."

And then he turned and continued to lead her up the hill, toward the future.

This chapter was selfish, and I admit that. It's short. The next chapter is also short because, for once in my fictions, the fiction ends exactly where the season ended. (That worked out better for Rumple in these early seasons than it did for Belle in Moments.) I know I probably should have combined this chapter and the next one. In fact, I thought long and hard about potentially doing just that. But I was selfish, and by the time I wrote this chapter, I was a little Rumbelle starved. I wanted to give them their own chapter, their own moment. Not something that has Belle Cursed and not something that sees Rumple bringing his magic into Storybrooke. Just one moment to tide us over until we get to the next fiction, one single moment where Belle and can Belle and Rumple can be Rumple, and they can both revel in each other and not have to share. So, short or not, I separated the chapters.

We won't begin the season 2A fiction until late May. This is all you really have to get you through until then, Rumbellers. But, if it helps, know that there is a LOT of Rumbelle in 2A. Like...a lot. Like, I'm pretty sure at least 25-33% of the thing is Rumple and Belle being cute and working on their relationship. And if you are a Banishment reader, it's probably closer to 45%. So if this small taste was a gift but not enough, hang in there. It's coming. Peace and Happy Reading!