Breathe in. Breathe out. Harden the heart, stiffen the face, straighten the back. One foot in front of the other. Hands laced in front so as not to touch anything he shouldn't. Try not to smell her. Try not to think of her. Just get the job done.

When he managed to send her away yesterday, he'd thought he'd achieved greatness. Having the strength to do it a second time seemed improbable. But not sending her away was impossible. It had to be done. He had to do it. If he had to break her heart, sever the connection that they had just to keep her safe from him…so be it.

He hadn't seen her since yesterday; hadn't done hardly anything to acknowledge her presence beyond sending her some tea at one point. When he waved the dungeon door open, he tried not to look at her, but she was a vision in blue sitting in a dark gray dungeon on the old wooden bed. Her vibrance stuck out like a sore thumb in the dank jail.

Breathe in, breath out…just don't breathe in her scent.

"So…" she whispered, giving a pause as if she had to remember how to talk after so long away. "What are you going to do to me?"

Oh, there was so much that he wanted to do. Beg her forgiveness, ask her to stay, join his life to hers and hers to his, never leave her again, kiss her once more.

The image he had of her in white dazzled in front of his eyes. He wanted that. He wanted it so badly he could scarcely breath when he thought of it. But he didn't need it. It wasn't the goal. She wasn't why he'd done all of this.

He cast the image out and summoned to the forefront of his mind his memories of his last hours with Baelfire. He drew on the memory he had of his son begging him to come with him, the sickening feeling of his hand sliding away as he was pulled into the portal, a vow that he'd made…he would love nothing else until he got his son back.

His son, that was what he needed.

He swallowed hard, raised his arm, and pointed at the door.

"Go."

"Go?!" she blanched.

He'd barely gotten the word out. He hadn't even really opened his jaw so it came out as an angry growl. It was as if half his body wanted her desperately to leave while the other wanted her desperately to stay. So he turned away from her, he purposefully stood with his back to her so he didn't have to see her, so she couldn't generate weakness in him.

Breathe in. Breathe out.

"I don't want you anymore, dearie."

Not looking at her made it easier, but only just.

He felt relief and heartbreak when he heard sounds behind him, the scuffle of someone finding their footing, dusting themselves off, and then…footsteps. Footsteps that walked out of the dungeon, that faded as she walked farther away, that…stopped.

He was nearly shaking with effort not to look at her, not to see what she was doing when the worst thing he could ever have imagined happened.

The footsteps began to get louder; closer.

And then she was there. Right in front of him. So close he had no choice but to breathe her in. There were only a few inches of space that separated her chest from his, the last time they'd been this close she'd kissed him. And now the only reason he managed to stay in place was because he couldn't decide if he wanted to reach forward and grab her to him or if he needed to take a step back to stop smelling her all over again. He was a man in limbo, afraid to move forward and terrified to move back. And she…

She was upset. He knew the look in her eyes when she was angry, he'd seen it many times before. She was angry now, but it wasn't the only sentiment he recognized. In her eyes, anger and love mingled together into one emotion like he'd never seen before. How did one manage to love someone and be angry with them at the same time? How could she hold on to that emotion at all after he'd dismissed her in such a cold way, with one single word?

"You were freeing yourself!" she yelled at him with passionate tears the likes of which he'd never seen in anyone he considered close to him. "You could have had happiness if you just believed someone could want you! But you couldn't take the chance."

Breathe in. Breathe out.

"That's a lie," he managed to whisper, not even giving a halfhearted attempt to match her own tone. She was wrong, but right in a way too. She was a chance he couldn't take for too many reasons to count. And she was right, he couldn't believe someone like her could want him, but wanting to believe that she could want him wasn't even in the top five of the reasons why he couldn't take a chance on her. It was Baelfire. It was all about his son and her life and what he couldn't allow himself to do no matter how much he wanted to do it and do it with her. He couldn't. And she would never understand.

She shook her head at his reasoning and stepped closer, shortening the distance to the point that he questioned if it was too late, if he could take it back, take her back.

"You're a coward, Rumpelstiltskin. And no matter how thick you make your skin, that doesn't change."

"I'm not a coward, dearie," he lied, searching for another.

Sever the bond! The Dark Ones were screaming those words in his head. What could he say that would do that? That would get her to love him less, to make their love true no longer, so that he never had to feel the pain of this again, and she might go forward in her life and feel it no matter how jealous the very thought of it made him?!

"It's quite simple, really. My power means more to me than you."

He held his breath; hoping that was enough to frighten her away, to break her heart and get her to leave but instead-

Another step forward.

"No," she muttered, shaking her head, maintaining eye contact that made his insides burn. "No, it doesn't. You just don't think I can love you."

He couldn't think of a response. Everything he had inside of him was going to make sure that he didn't let on to what was really going on inside of him. He was trying to break her heart. How was it that he felt like she was tearing his from his chest?

"Now you've made your choice. And you're going to regret it. Forever."

Tears started to fill her eyes, and he willed himself not to do the same. Even if he had to use magic.

"All you'll have is an empty heart," she choked out as her chin trembled, "and a chipped cup."

She held his gaze for a few more seconds; just long enough to make him nearly reach out for her, to stop her from going. But then, with a quick huff she turned and left. The sound of her footsteps moved quickly away from him, down the hall and up the stairs.

He closed his eyes as she moved away, as if he could save the image of her standing before him forever. As he waited to feel her presence leave the property, he stayed right where he was, afraid that if he moved an inch he might give in and chase after her, he might just kiss her again in an effort to make it better. He might just be willing to let her take his curse from him. But then, where would he be then? Where would Baelfire be?

In his mind's eye, his memories of Bae faded to the pictures he had in his mind of Belle and himself. Belle holding a baby, Belle as the brown-haired woman in the bed beside him, Belle wrinkled and old, Belle angrier than she'd ever been, even just now, Belle with her hand on his arm as they walked together, Belle dressed in white; visions or fantasies…he had a guess as to which they were. But from where he stood right now, he couldn't see how any of them could ever be true, not after they'd just broken one another's hearts. But then…what had he told that friend of hers?

If you love something let it go; if it's meant to be…

Maybe someday…

Short scene, not much to it despite it's importance, but I really wanted it to be super wordy here. I really wanted it to come across to others as though he was not with her in that dungeon but rather trying to keep himself locked away in his own headspace. I wanted him to approach this in a very sterile manner, but I also wanted it to break him while leaving him hopeful. Remember, he doesn't expect that she's going to go out there to her death, so I wanted to ask what he might hope for her and for them before that knowledge comes to him.

Thank you Grace5231973, Jennifer Baratta, and Alarda for your reviews on the last chapter. I'm so pleased that you liked that last chapter and it made you think about what might be behind the actions that we saw! Peace and Happy Reading!