The last thirty minutes of his life left him more confused than he'd been in a hundred years, and that included the day he'd garnered his ability of foresight. They hadn't had sex, not in the traditional sense, at least, but Cora had tried her hardest to help him to forget about the world and quiet his mind. She'd tried…

He'd failed.

Though their experience, he was certain, would be considered a success to her, she was unable to climb into his head and see the thoughts he'd had throughout it. Her temptations had worked at first, but the moment her hands moved from his hips to his knees, something changed. His mind began to race with new thoughts that had nothing to do with what Cora was doing. Instead, he was suddenly aware of just how close her hands were to his boots-the place the dagger had remained safely hidden for years. He'd never disclosed the location of the dagger to another soul before. But now she knew. And then, instead of focusing on Cora or her mouth or the attraction he felt toward her, the picture his head conjured up was one of her slipping her hand into his boot and pulling free his dagger. No matter how many times he tried, he couldn't get it out of his head. He hadn't been able to let his mind wander, hadn't been able to settle, only finish things quickly and return her to the palace wondering, questioning, if they'd gone too far too fast.

But hiding from Cora, ignoring her completely was never an option, not really. She knew his name now, his true name, and he had made her a promise on the night they'd fetched the fleece that he would teach her how to use her magic to come and go as she pleased. It wouldn't free her entirely, but it would give her some ability to take herself out of the walls of the palace and to a safe place when the need arose. And it did frequently after that night. A quick study from the beginning, she'd mastered the concept easily, and now he was pleased to find her there, standing behind him in his tower on occasion, whenever she had an hour free or an afternoon. She, it seemed, did not have the same concerns that he had about their experimental next steps. She asked for it quite often, surprisingly so, but not with her words, just with her body language. It was in the way she touched him, the way she whispered in his ear, and the way she sometimes put herself between him and the table upon which the fleece he'd been working on rested.

"I'm beginning to think your more interested in that rag than you are me…I might start to get jealous."

"That, my dear, is a grand impossibility," he whispered, pulling her closer. "Why don't we continue with your studies."

And that was all it took to draw him back to her. Though he'd spent time separating the pair of them and walking on eggshells the moment he felt her magic and stood by her side teaching her a trick of the trade, she was intoxicating again. So long as he could keep her at a safe and close distance until he decided what this affair was, and what it could become.

It would have worked in theory. The problem was the "close" part of the "close distance". He didn't want her to become nervous, or know that he was having second thoughts and so he did his best to continue as he had been. And soon enough, after a night of disappearing in one place and reappearing in another, it led them back to that inevitable place: her bedroom.

"Oh, that's such a rush!" she exclaimed, grabbing her head and smiling. "You've been holding out on me all this time! Is that what you feel? Every time you leave me, is that the rush you get?"

"In truth, I hardly notice it anymore," he answered obviously.

"Can't imagine why you wouldn't want to! It's exquisite. It makes my skin feel like it's humming," she explained, moving closer to him. "My truth, dear Rumple, is that I haven't felt like that since the night we got the fleece, since we went to your castle and-"

She froze.

He froze.

The room seemed to freeze, even the fire, as all that was left was the sound of the echoing knock that came from her door. Company.

"Cora? It's me, Henry…are you awake?"

"Just a moment!" she cried out. "I'm not decent!"

But suddenly, her frightened face exploded into a mischievous smile. She gave him a sudden shove that forced him against the wall and kissed his cheek. He always was a sucker for a strong woman. Now more than ever. His skin began to tingle in anticipation, a desperate desire and want to continue kissing her as her fiancé waited outside the door. But a moment later he realized that sensation had less to do with her and more to do with her magic. He felt it push into his own body, and as she moved away from him and glanced down at his hands he realized he was turning invisible. Her own spell...clever girl.

"Henry, dear…" Cora exclaimed, opening her door. She'd thrown a dressing gown over the clothes she'd been wearing out with him. Smart, but he now knew that the next thing he needed to teach her was how to transfigure her own clothes. "It's the middle of the night, is everything okay? Your father, your brothers-"

"All is well," Henry assured her with a smile. "I simply…I thought I heard a noise coming from your room, and I wanted to check you were all right."

There was a moment of silence as she looked at him, then her hand wrapped around the door and opened it wider, revealing, what he would have seen, an empty room except for Cora. He watched as Henry's eyes searched nonetheless until red embarrassment burned in his cheeks.

"It was me that you heard," she explained gently. "I was reading by the fire when a spark jumped out and caught my gown. I may have shrieked and stumbled a bit, putting it out."

He was shocked to find that when she opened her dressing gown a bit, she was wearing the simple gown she'd been wearing before they'd left for the night and sure enough when she picked it up, a small bit of it was burned. It hadn't been a moment ago. It seemed his favorite student had been doing extra homework and studying on her own. He hadn't expected that. He didn't know how he felt about it. And yet her attention to detail…it was stunning.

"Well…if you say you're all right…"

Cora smiled and moved to close the door-

"Only…it's only…I had rather expected you'd be in bed by now," Henry inserted with a wide, innocent smile before she could shut him out. Ordinarily, he would have believed the man was simply snooping, but that smile had him convinced the poor lamb probably was just concerned for her.

"Well, I suppose I should, but…I simply got too caught up in the book! I suppose I lost my head a bit! Oh…and a good thing I did! If you'd have come by and I was in my nightgown…before the wedding! It would have been shameful, Henry!"

Instantly his face fell, all the while Rumpelstiltskin fought to contain his laughter. She was playing on the perception that brides were as innocent as dear Henry, if he knew what had occurred between the pair of them not long ago, that vision in the poor lad's head would fade. In fact, it might actually kill him.

"Oh, dear! I hadn't thought-"

"It's okay, my love, it's okay!" she cooed, stepping forward and grabbing his hand. "We both got lucky tonight, and no harm was done! But…I suppose we'd best part ways before a servant comes along and assumes something that isn't true."

"Yes," Henry nodded with a sigh of relief. "Of course, you're right…"

He had to laugh, the poor prince leaned in for a moment as if contemplating whether or not he wanted to kiss her, but when Cora didn't move from her place, he thought better of it. Instead, he took another look around the room as if searching for someone one last time that chilled his bones. His innocent eyes were replaced with suspicion and something more. It was knowing. He may have come up here for the reasons he stated, he may even have believed her story about the dress, but that look hinted that he knew far more about what was going on than Cora might have known. And that could be bad for her health…bad for her neck.

"I bid you good-night, Cora," Henry stated, offering a little bow before taking one last glance and moving down the hall.

The very moment he was gone and Cora had closed the door, he felt the familiar tingling on his skin that told him the spell she'd cast was reversing. And sure enough, when he looked down at his hands, they appeared again. But Cora didn't look at him, didn't seem worried or interested in his reappearance, she stared instead into the lit fireplace, with her hands on her hips, her skin flushed as her chest heaved. She was angry.

"Spineless, rigid, oaf!" she cried out.

All true words, but not the ones she should be concerned with.

"I think the words you are searching for are perceptive, persistent bugger," he added in a low tone so as not to let anyone in the castle hear his voice. Cora finally turned back to him with curiosity for his choice of words when she knew that he didn't think that much of Henry himself. As far as Cora was concerned, those words were raving reviews of the man. "He was looking for something," he explained, stepping up to her so that he could grab her hand and kiss the back of it. "It is possible that we have not been as discreet as we thought we had, my dear."

"Henry?!" she blanched! "No. He's too...he's too naïve to think such thoughts. He's too…good."

"But his father's not."

"His father!" she roared, pulling her hand free from his own and sitting down upon the chair in a huff. "I'll tell you what I'd like to do with his father! I'd like to…" Her words stopped there, but he could tell her thoughts had not. There was something working in her mind, something very plainly "not good". And he knew Cora well enough to know that if he simply sat in the chair opposite her for long enough, eventually she'd divulge.

"I read something the other day, in one of those books you gave me…something I saw you do with that puppet you brought here…it was something about taking hearts from the body."

"Ah…tis a helpful magical tool for those who can manage it."

"Who can manage it?"

"Usually only the wicked," he responded honestly. "It's high-level magic that's not to be fooled with, only those of blackened hearts try. It takes a lot of power to do it or else a powerful spell to give a non-magical being the ability to do it."

Her eyes had gone dark again as she sat forward in her chair with interest. "And once you have that heart?" she questioned in a seductive tone that had him moving forward in his own seat, drawn to her easily.

"The world is yours…so to speak," he answered. "You are free to command the individual to do as you please. Squeeze hard enough, and pain is beyond endurance…or so I've been told." It had never happened to him. It never would. After he'd first learned the truth about hearts, he'd cast a spell over his own that prevented most souls from taking it from him. He could remove it, and he imagined that a very select few who were more powerful than the Dark One could take it as well, but anyone who reached into his chest with the intention of pulling it free without his consent would find themselves stumped and that was the way he wanted it.

"But, you see…" Cora muttered, reaching out to trace a glittering pattern on the back of his hand, "I'm more interested in what happens if you squeeze a little too hard, Darling."

He smiled. Of course, she was. And suddenly every questioning thought he'd had before coming here faded from his mind. He'd worried about her trying to take the dagger. But she hadn't, had she? She'd had the perfect opportunity when she was on her knees, and she hadn't made a single move for it. They were one and the same. It was evident in the way that she asked the exact same questions he would have asked.

"Death," he answered. "Obviously."

"Obviously…" she chanted as she turned her gaze back to the closed door, her dark mind plotting all the while.

"Now, now…I know that look, dearie!" he piqued, drawing her attention back to him. As much as the thought of teaching her how to draw out hearts and break them in her fist enticed him, there was more to it than the magic she'd obviously been practicing on her own. This was a form of magic that needed to be handled delicately, or she'd soon be caught and discovered, and then her plans for a royal wedding would be gone. "Should you get the urge to practice, you should know there are often poor results if you are not in the right frame of mind. A King would be a dreadful person to take the first shot with, especially for someone who is still mastering memory manipulation."

She sighed. He'd brought that up for the very reason that he knew she'd been working on that little trick but with little results. Minds were difficult things to toy with. Interestingly enough, once a heart was captured, memory could be very easily manipulated, but if she went around trying to take the King's heart and failed, without being able to alter those memories, the results could be a disaster.

"A servant then…" she pressed.

He shook his head. She was eager, but she still had much to learn, and she wasn't hearing him now. Before she could learn this, she needed another skill!

"Master the memories first, or practice on animals. You can't risk having the servant girl running off to tell the King what you're doing, especially if he's suspicious already."

"But once I have her heart, I can simply order her to forget or to not tell. Unless I misunderstand."

"You do not, but…that's only if you are successful the first time around, and people rarely are!" Restless demanding little thing. He had the feeling he'd be teaching her this skill before too long after this discussion. "And even if you are successful…holding a heart hostage can lead to nasty side effects that could make it obvious what has happened, and the King will know right where to look."

"Side effects?"

"Withdraw, unusual behavior, lack of emotions-"

"From me?!"

"For your victim, of course!" He rose then and offered his hand to her. "You'll want to approach this bit of magic cautiously."

After a pause, she put her hand back into his own and stood before him so they were nose to nose. Her hands moved up over his chest while his own felt the now familiar curves of her waist. He had the urge to lean forward and kiss her. Was this still bloodlust? Sometimes he wondered if what he felt was more.

"I'm sure you can help me," she whispered as she moved closer so that he could feel her breath upon his lips, and her nose gently rubbed over his own. He closed his eyes to enjoy the sensations. Her mouth was so close he could already feel the kiss before it stared.

"We can start tomorrow," he agreed. It wasn't much of a deal for him, but if this was the only way to get her to practice safely, it was agreeable. But as he moved forward to seal it with a kiss, he suddenly found her head moving farther away. When he finally opened his eyes, the look in her own was something like he'd never seen before. It was deep and penetrating. It was sad and happy all at once.

"I'd give you my heart if I could," she muttered

Warmth spread through him had a rapid rate. His heartbeat again and his breath held, and suddenly he wasn't sure why exactly he'd wanted to be distant from her. She'd had every opportunity to take the dagger and hadn't taken it. Now she was promising something like that…why had he ever been worried. He had the sudden revelation that this affair had gone much farther than just an affair of the mind. It was quickly becoming an affair of the heart.

"I might just be tempted to take it," he breathed. "I do believe I'm beginning to love you, Cora."

She smiled before moving close to her again. "I do believe I'm beginning to love you too, Rumpelstiltskin."

For the first time in his long life, he wanted time to stop. He wanted it to stand still for just a little while longer so he could cherish what had been said and how because he had never heard words like that from another woman. They put Milah's lies to shame. They made Granny's stubbornness and spirit seem unappealing. And all the women at taverns and pubs, those who were maids and those who had ever looked at him on the street with lust in their heart for the power that he possessed, they were suddenly child's play next to what he felt when Cora said those words. He almost wanted to resurrect Milah just to force her to listen to them, to see what he was really capable of. Just to make her watch this…

He loved the way they kissed. He loved the way they groped and stretched and reached for each other as though they were both afraid the other might disappear. He liked how her lips tasted when he'd kissed them too much and how one kiss could easily become two or three or even-

"Stay!" she demanded suddenly. "Stay here with me tonight! Just this once…"

The words of "of course" were there in his mouth, but when he opened his mouth, they did not come. He'd wanted this. Just the other night, in fact! But now that it was here, staring him in the face, offering this invitation. His heart didn't leap the way it had before. He was still very aware of the dagger in his boot, of how at risk it would be if he left it alone and turned his back at the wrong time.

This was, after all an affair of the heart, but whether it was of the heart or the body or the mind an affair was an affair. He was falling in love with her, that was true. But what was he to do about the love he felt for her? And if he loved her…could he share her with Henry? In any way? He was falling in love…but if the night before had been too far too soon, staying the night most certainly was as well.

So he unwound himself from her and instead gave her a sinister smile as he repeated nearly what she had the other night.

"What kind of monster do you think I am?"

And then he disappeared, for both their sakes, and spent the night wondering if at any moment she loved him enough to appear before him.


Cora hurt Rumple. She hurt him enough to cause repercussions throughout the rest of his life. You don't get hurt the way he got hurt unless you care for someone deeply. A simple affair doesn't cause that kind of hurt. Someone you are pretty sure you are falling in love with...that causes that kind of hurt. So in my mind, we were always bound to have Cora and Rumple wind up in this place because otherwise, it wouldn't have hurt as much.

Thank you Alarda, MissAmande, Jennifer Baratta, and Grace5231973 for your reviews on the last chapter! You are all so kind you have me blushing! This is the last of the surprise chapters with Cora. From here there are four more chapters in this section. The other three you've seen already, nothing shocking, but the final chapter...I can't wait for that chapter! Peace and Happy Reading!