His tower was quieter than the Great Hall anyway. It was more familiar, more peaceful. And he liked its darkness. It wouldn't be long until the sun began to creep up over the horizon and flood it with light, but for now he found the darkness comforting. There was something to the gray that accompanied the sunset, something clammy and perfect about the color it cast about his tower that seemed to fit his mood. He wanted to sit at his wheel and spin, and he would. Straw into gold, wool into thread, he hadn't made up his mind which just yet. But that was okay, he didn't need too.

His first stop was by the mantle, the place that he'd hidden his Curse and protected it against the Blue Fairy. He'd already made one tragic mistake tonight, he couldn't afford to make two. And so he numbly remembered the signal he'd received from the castle and the panic he'd felt that she might have taken Belle or the Curse. The door to the inner chamber, the place that he'd left Belle was wide open, and obviously, he'd already seen her more than he cared to in the last few hours, so there was no need to worry about that. But as for the Curse…

In the clearing his magic had told him it was safe. It took him only a moment to confirm his defenses and discover that they were all intact; not a single one was tampered with or disturbed. And breathing just behind the stone, with a heartbeat all its own and a blackness he'd recognize in an instant now was his Curse…a product of his mother's magic.

Why had she created the Curse? What was her anticipated result? Did he have to worry about anything? Would his plan work? Was there anything he should know but didn't?

Those were the questions he should have asked her. Those were the questions he'd needed to be answered and now he would never know, he'd never have those answers. The Blue Fairy surely wouldn't tell him, the Red Fairy wasn't answering his summons, and now the Black Fairy…she wouldn't be taken by surprise ever again, not now that she knew who he was. She might not ever answer a summons by him again. The doors were all closed. The windows locked. There were no other hallways to venture down to give him the answers he needed, at least none that he knew of because he didn't have clues and he certainly didn't fucking have answers!

Trust was not really something he did well, but in this particular case he found no choice but to have trust. The Seer had yet to lie to him. If she said the Dark Curse was the way back to Baelfire then he'd have to trust her. At the moment, she seemed to be the only female in his life that he could trust…

He sighed in anguish and rolled his eyes the moment he heard the door to his tower open then close. A baby's squeal echoed up through the tunnel to his ears.

Belle.

He should have known that she was not one to give up.

Her footsteps were quick, and he just barely had time enough to push himself away from his mantle and begin spinning at his wheel before he saw a glow and then the top of her head appeared at the stairs. She carried a candelabra in one hand and little Gideon in the other pressed tight against her side. She still looked determined, but her face had softened, cooled. Fortunately for her, so had he.

"You are on very thin ice!" he hissed.

She only swallowed and set the candelabra down on a table. To his horror, he watched as she removed one of the candles and used it to begin lighting other candles he had around so that it's light invaded his depressing gray tower. Stubborn woman.

"Look, I can't imagine what you went through-"

"It's none of your concern-"

"But the child is!" she stressed, keeping her tone forceful but just below what would be considered yelling. "You grew up without a mother, and I am so sorry about that, but this child…he's loved by his parents."

"And how would you know that?" he questioned. He was almost dying for her to say something childish like "I can feel it", but he knew she was beyond that. And he knew the moment he said the words he wanted to take them back. It was just like the gauntlet all over again. She'd taken his words as a challenge; an opportunity to prove something to him. She was worse than stubborn.

"They care for him," she explained, coming closer. "They made him decent clothes and kept him healthy and clean. Parents that do that will be missing him. And listen to him cry! He's been changed and well-fed and slept since he got here. Now, he's heartbroken!" she claimed. "He misses his mother and father too! Please…please don't sentence him to the same fate as you by making him grow up without a mother!"

"Why not?" he demanded, finally turning himself so that he could truly look at her. "I turned out perfectly fine!"

But he hadn't. And they both knew it. The silence that she allowed to stretch between them as his false observation went unanswered denied it.

"If that were true, then you wouldn't be stealing children and demanding answers that make you miserable," she finally pointed out gently.

Miserable. He wasn't always…

Suddenly he felt guilt creep up on him as he remembered...he hasn't always been miserable. His aunts, Mr. Oak, Margery, Baelfire…he hadn't been alone, not always. They had taken care of him before he'd become this. His life may have been sad, but it wasn't bad. In fact, it might be because of them that he had the amount of humanity he did as a Dark One, that when he returned from stressful nights he was able to sit down at his wheel to spin and deny the instinct to kill like he'd had earlier. Other Dark Ones hadn't always managed that instinct well. He had.

And Belle…what he wouldn't give to count her as one of those people who saved him, to have arms to fall into again, to give comfort like his blood family never had.

That was a stupid thought. It was thoughts like those that fueled his fantasies. Fantasies...not visions!

"Look…" she finally swallowed, jumping up and down a bit to settle the screaming child in her arms. "I know that despite what you say and how you act, there is more to you than just this thing that you have become, what she helped turn you into. And I know that you don't want this child to suffer the same way that you did just like I know you don't want him to be here forever." She knew? How was it possible for her to be so certain? "Tell me who his parents are. Let me take him home so that we can get back to our peace and quiet, so that we can talk about what happened."

Talk about what happened…didn't she understand that was the last thing he wanted?!

"There will be no talking regardless!" he roared, pushing back from the wheel and moving to escape her again. He didn't want to talk to her or to anyone, not to her about his mother or with Bae about his father! He just wanted to forget it all! If he could take a memory potion and afford to lose the knowledge, he would.

"Fine…" he heard her sigh behind him. "Make me a deal."

The monster inside of him, a moment ago tired and exhausted from the night's events, rolled over with inescapable interest.

"Deal?"

"Well, the other one worked out so well, why not?"

If he wasn't trying so hard to be upset with her, he might have laughed at her sarcastic joke.

"Let me take the child back to his family and in return…in return I'll forget everything I saw and heard today. I'll never mention the Black Fairy, or your mother, or even this child again!"

He winced even as she said the words and reminded him just how great her own knowledge was.

"I could just as easily take away your voice or erase your memory," he suggested.

"Take away my voice, and you'll soon learn that there is more than a voice to complaint and protest. You won't be able to silence me forever. And if you take away my memory, then you'll hand me a baby and I'll spend the rest of my days asking questions about him. Those questions will be a constant reminder of tonight! Every time we speak, every time you see him, he will be a constant reminder of this conversation, tonight, and your stubbornness.

"Please," she begged. "I know you didn't want to hurt him or me, you just wanted your answers, but…she won't come back to you now, not now that she knows who you are. He's of no more use to you. Let me take him home."

She had the upper hand. Damn it all. He looked down on her, and yet she was the one in control. An answer to every question, a counter argument for every point he made. She was right in every conceivable way, and he hated that almost as much as he hated what had happened tonight. This was not a night he wanted to look back on. Ever. And that was exactly her point.

"His parents live a fair distance from here, in the middle of a distant wood. Jack and Jill, royals cast out of their home they are farmers now, working the land. Even if they told someone the child was gone, there is little chance anyone would help them," he finally admitted with a sigh.

"Okay…" she sighed with something like relief as she heaved the child into her arms one more time. "I have to find them."

"Stop!" he yelled before she could start toward the steps. Foolishness. How was it possible for someone to be so foolish and so incredibly intelligent all at the same time?! Did she really think it would be that simple, that she'd just walk down off the mountain and find Jack and Jill in the forest, dressed as he was, with a baby in her arms and without a map? She'd be gone for weeks. And after what happened with his enemies…

"I can't have you roaming about the countryside!" he concluded as she looked at him with confusion. He waved his hand and let magic take them.

And that was how, as the sun rose, he found himself hidden in some distant shrubbery, watching as his caretaker walked the baby in her arms over to the couple that came running out of the house to greet him.

His mother took him, held him in her arms, and hardly seemed to notice Belle as his father joined them. They exchanged a few words, but he watched the look on Jill's face as she held her child close. His aunts had held him like that when he was little, and he appreciated everything they'd ever done for him, every sacrifice they'd ever made, every comfort they'd given him in troubling times. But he couldn't help but feel a twinge of jealousy as he watched Gideon's mother hold him. It was an embrace he would never recognize, no matter how much he longed for it.

The moment Belle walked back into the tree line, he was quick to use his magic to get them away and back to the castle. He was eager to let this experience fade away.

For Belle this was all one chapter, for Rumple it became two very distinct chapters. The first was conflict. The second, this one, was the resolution. Or...well...at least as much of a resolution as Rumple will get for six seasons. He recognizes he's got good people in his life, he realizes that he's going to have to trust the Seer. I meant there to be an irony to that. He realizes he has to trust the Seer, but at the same time doesn't believe what she's given him in regards to Belle. And yet, he's got hints, in this very chapter, that it's all true. I enjoyed writing this one, in case that's not abundantly clear.

Big thank yous going out to Grace5231973 and Jennifer Baratta for your wonderful reviews. I hope you like the conclusion to 6x09, up next we're going back to a 1x12 episode for one chapter. Immediately following that we'll be getting into a different episode that doesn't really feature Belle, but flows into a couple of episodes that certainly feature Belle in one of my favorite ways. So wait for it, we're going somewhere fun, just trust me. Peace and Happy Reading!