Belle was not afraid of Rumpelstiltskin. She wasn't. He intrigued her. He was a mystery, with a deep haunting sadness that caused her to either want to slap him or hug him as tightly as she could. She did neither, of course, knowing that both actions would not be warmly welcomed from him. Until one day, that is. The day she accidentally saw him through a crack in his door.
It was another day of chores and cleaning. She'd just finished the dusting when she made her way to his quarters to gather his sheets for washing. She'd raised her hand to knock as she always did, but was surprised to find the door -accidentally?- left open a small crack. Unable to squander her ever persisting curiosity, she held her breath and tilted her head to sneak a peek as quietly as she could.
His room was dark- she hadn't managed to rip down those drapes yet- and strewn all around were bottles, beakers, tools, ingredients, books and who knows what else. She shifted slightly to see more until she found him. He was sitting rigidly on his favorite chair in the middle of the room. He was so still she thought he might've been sleeping, but she held in a jump as his hand suddenly jerked violently to his chest. Her mouth opened in horror as his hand stuck inside of him and yanked something out.
He held the object up to his face and in the smallest amount of light in the room, Belle saw it. A small, fist-sized lump. His heart. Her hand reached up to cover her mouth. It was as balck as coal.
"Enjoying the show, dearie?"
She gasped and dropped the laundry basket, spilling the linens. He grunted as he shoved his heart none too gently back into his chest. He flicked a finger and the door opened fully. She quickly stood, blowing hair from her eyes.
"N-No, I-" She stuttered and forced herself to calm down. She was not afraid. "I was just coming to get your laundry."
He tilted his head to the side with an amused grin. He snapped his fingers and fresh loads appeared in the basket She jumped again, but less noticeably.
"Oh, uhm, thank you." She was supposed to turn and leave, but her feet stayed rooted to the spot.
"Something else you wanted?" He giggled. She examined him with a frown. He seemed fine.
"Yeah... are you okay?"
That seemed to throw him off as he swallowed back a sarcastic quip. He opened his mouth and shut it again. He waved a hand in front of him and finally muttered,
"Right as rain, dearie."
She scrutinized him and answered almost immediately.
"I thought you were supposed to be good at lying." Rumpel froze and she took a deep breath before coming forward, setting down her basket, and reaching. She placed a hand on his chest and looked up into his huge eyes. She tilted her head and smiled.
"Yep, that's what I thought."
"What?"
She smiled again, taking a step back.
"The light I saw. It's real."
Once again, the ever talkative king-of-comebacks was stunned into silence. Belle smiled again and with a refreshed spring in her step, pickedup the basket and began out of the room.
"I was thinking of stew for dinner. Think on which kind you'd like!"