Consequences
He wants what he's never wanted before.

There are always consequences to our choices.

Especially if said choices are made purely from the heart, and even more so when done with little regard for their inevitable downfall and price. For they are the heaviest to be paid and it's why, consequently, they carry the most powerful of magic and pull behind them.

Not long ago his son had made such a choice, and then, as a direct result of that, Rumplestiltskin had gone and made an equally desperate and impulsive one—despite knowing better of it—and now the consequences of those choices have finally come and gone; ones he has to live with forevermore without any foreseeable recourse or reprieve.

At least, not as things were.

The witch's words resonate; Zelena's offer is more tempting than he intentionally makes them out to be. But not for all the reason she thinks, or the only one she openly taunts him with.

His darling boy is dead, body buried and beyond even his powerful reach, but Baelfire's mark on his father remains; a particular and lingering residue burning inside of him like a flame lit and left ablaze without any means to dispel its destructive and growing strength. And causing an increasingly tempting desire in the Dark One to rip out his own bloody heart.

It's a deranged thought; one suggested and entertained too often by his wildly chaotic mind. And even more so as lucid clarity descends upon him and makes things so sharply clear and bright once more.

Because all he sees protruding from the edges is Emma Swan.

It seems that through his son's affections a sliver was made, a simple piercing of the heart that cannot be undone. And what was once solely his son's has now become Rumplestiltskin's to bear and carry on forward regardless of the heavy weight of his own wants and longings trying to remain where they lay.

But it was a losing battle. He feels the inevitable tragedy of that with every passing moment, with every coherent and lingering reflection on past and present, and against every precarious encounter between himself and his beloved.

His once upon a time, for that was all Belle was becoming to him. Just a passing fancy in sense, a wayward passion abandoned and lost forever against the searing burn of another forcibly sparked and now fully ignited.

He wants what he's never wanted before. He wants her.

He wants only Emma.

Plans have begun formulating and spinning inside of his mind as wicked as the woman who sits coyly across from him. Going back to the past may have certain advantages. He just needed them to be his own.

And really, what choice did he have?

Rumplestiltskin smiles slowly and seductively at his former protégé. The consequences be damned.

Author's Notes:

I wanted to write something, anything really. And then I thought the other night about the whole merged fiasco and the possible consequences from a storyteller perspective (and golden swan one) so this little and admittedly ambiguous one piece eventually came out of it.

And after finishing it I realized that it actually kind of works with Gold's recent actions in the last episode which is a bit of an unexpected and unintentional bonus. So there's definitely potential for a sequel. Though I'm not making any promises. I do like the idea of it enough though, and even entertained the notion of an actual story, but I just don't have the time for it right now.

Would love to hear your guy's thoughts on it. Especially in regards to what you think Gold's objectives may be.

xoxox