Chapter 17—"Beauty is Found Within"


Zelena had always been difficult, but the more power she gained for herself, the less she respected boundaries. Since usually disregarding people's personal boundaries was Rumplestiltskin's self-assigned task, he very much disliked it when anyone did that to him. Worse yet, she's not trying to make me uncomfortable. She's trying to get into my pants. Worse yet, his mother's repeated comments on said pants had made Rumplestiltskin somewhat aware of the fact that women found them—and somehow, him in them?—attractive. Zelena obviously agreed with Belle on that front, but the way that the Wicked Queen was almost drooling on him made Rumplestiltskin acutely uncomfortable.

It never bothers me when Belle looks at me like this, he realized. But that was different, of course. Belle was softer, kinder, lighter, than Zelena. Belle was better.

"Don't you tire of living in this castle with your mother?" Zelena cooed the words practically in his ear, and Rumplestiltskin fought back the urge to shudder.

I need her to cast the curse, and to do it without hating me. If she hates me, she'll make me miserable when she has the power, and although I'll suffer anything to find my boy, I'd rather have comfort.

"Why would I tire of that, dearie?" He trilled his most off-putting laugh, but Zelena didn't even flinch. "She's the Black Fairy, and makes for an excellent partner in darkness."

"She's your mother. Doesn't a…real man want to be free of his mother's apron-strings?" She gave him what Zelena probably thought was a seductive look, ignoring the glare Rumplestiltskin shot her in return. "Because I do have plenty of room in my castle if you're brave enough to relocate."

Rumplestiltskin barely managed to laugh in time to cover his disgust. He'd slept with her mother—there was way he was going to touch Zelena with someone else's ten foot pole! Damn the woman for making him need her. Rejecting her as obnoxiously as he wanted to would utterly ensure that Zelena would make him miserable under the curse. Rumplestiltskin knew how vindictive she was, and he had no desire to be on her bad side and under her power at the same time. Damn it all. Mother hasn't found a way other than the curse, nor has she figured out how to re-write the curse without copious amounts of dark fairy dust. Without either, he needed Zelena. He wanted to vomit.

"I'm quite happy here, but thanks." He waved a casual hand. "After all, it's hard to be the mysterious Dark One from the Wicked Queen's castle."

"But we'd make quite the team, don't you think?" she purred, and Rumplestiltskin felt his stomach begin to reject his breakfast.

"Not if you don't learn your magic better, dearie!" He danced away, moving towards the spellbook Zelena was supposed to be reading. "You're never going to master that glamour spell if you keep letting yourself be distracted."

"Sod the glamour spell." Zelena sniffed. "I don't need silly things like that."

Rumplestiltskin snorted. "And here I thought that you wanted to learn everything. Didn't you say that you'd be the best student I ever had?"

"Of course I will be!" He had her, now. Zelena's pride was engaged, and her attempts at flirting were—hopefully!—forgotten.

"Your mother learned the spell in a week."

"Then I'll learn in in three days!"

The unfortunate truth was that Zelena did learn the spell in three days, but at least it got her to stop drooling on him. For now.


Fiona knew that her son wouldn't thank her for interfering in Zelena's lesson, but she burned to barge in and put that obnoxious little witch in her place. Zelena's possessiveness made Fiona's own tendency to smother look positively harmless, and even Rumplestiltskin wasn't so oblivious that he could miss the hints the Wicked Queen was throwing his way. He was clearly uncomfortable, too, which relieved Fiona to no end. While she was slowly warming up to Belle—whose utter light and goodness still could still turn her stomach—Zelena was another matter entirely. Did Fiona like her son's darkness, she might have somewhat approved of the green-skinned witch, yet there were more reasons to dislike Zelena than to like her.

First and foremost was the fact that Zelena kept her heartless harem of men and slept with them. Fiona was no saint, but she knew that a woman who had grown a taste for controlling men wouldn't lose said taste quickly, and her son had an Achilles heel more crippling than most. Cora had tried to take the dagger, and it was clear that Zelena was cut from the same cloth. Even if Rumplestiltskin entered a consensual relationship with her, there was no guarantee that he would remain willing, and Zelena was not the type to take rejection well. And let's not start thinking about how she'll need the heart of the one she loves most to cast the Dark Curse. Fiona scowled. It would be a grand thing indeed to get to the Land Without Magic and have to explain to her grandson that his father was butchered to cast the curse meant to bring them together.

No, they needed to find Zelena a new beau. With that on her mind, she walked into Rumplestiltskin's tower well after Zelena was gone, resolving to see to the issue without her son's messy input. There are things you trust a man to do. This is not one of them.

"How go preparations for the Dark Curse? Is your little student progressing nicely?"

"Zelena is a far from ideal curse caster." Rumplestiltskin's lips curled up in a sneer as he glared at her. "Which would not have happened if you hadn't intervened with Cora."

"Yes, then you would have had Regina, who would have been miserable, and probably less useful." Fiona shrugged unrepentantly. "But then Cora might also have your dagger, and then where would you be?"

That comment earned her a poisonous glare, but this was hardly the first time they'd had this argument, so Fiona ignored her son's silent little tantrum. Killing Cora was not something Fiona would ever regret. Rumplestiltskin was far safer with that poisonous little beast gone, Dark Curse be damned. And he knew it, too, which was why he turned away with a pout before answering.

"She's found herself an old friend to amuse herself." A nasty giggle. "Couldn't happen to a nicer pirate."

"Pirate?" Fiona wasn't aware of any history her son had with a pirate, save for the one whose hand he'd cut off centuries earlier, the one who had stolen Rumplestiltskin's wife. A woman who wants to be stolen is one best let go, anyway. She didn't care about Milah, though; she suspected the woman was shallow enough to have been an unimpressive daughter-in-law, and it was probably a good thing she was gone. "Dare I ask?"

"No need. Hopefully, she'll make him as miserable as he deserves." A giggle and a wiggle followed the statement, from which Fiona deduced it was definitely the same pirate.

She knew enough of that story not to feel even slightly sorry for Killian Jones.

"Well, misery does grow character." She grinned back at her son. "Now, do tell me that Zelena's magical studies are doing better than her ghastly complexion is."

"Oh, magic's not the problem with dear Zelena. She's plenty of that, and anger enough besides." Rumplestiltskin wagged his fingers gleefully. "Although no one's had the heart to tell her that her precious Prince James is dead and has been replaced with his twin."

"Who has, of course, fallen for her hated stepdaughter." Fiona loved the irony of the situation, and she could see her son's fingerprints all over it. Her boy was such a clever villain; it was almost a shame that she was determined to redeem him.

"The irony is rather delicious." His smile was almost genuine, if one could ignore the mockery beneath it. "But there remains the problem of what heart she will use."

Ah, so he had seen it, too. Well, I knew he was smart, Fiona thought proudly. She'd intended to do this behind his back, but Rumplestiltskin was, thankfully, aware of the problem. The Dark One probably couldn't be killed via heart-crushing, yet Rumplestiltskin probably could, which would leave Fiona with Nimue and company inhabiting her son's body and Baelfire without a father to find him. "Perhaps I can help with that."

"You?" Years ago, her volunteering would have earned Fiona a suspicious look, but now Rumplestiltskin only peered at her curiously.

"Yes, me." She rolled her eyes. "I still would prefer to re-create my version of the curse—or at least adapt that to suit your ends—but if this must be done, I would prefer for you to come out the other end alive and well. Surely there's some fool we can find for Zelena to fall for. She's lonely enough that anyone who adores her enough will probably do the trick nicely."

"And you can…find someone?" Rumplestiltskin sounded a little surprised.

"Of course I can. How hard can it be?"

Now there was only the question of finding the proper fool for Zelena to love.


Somehow or another, they had managed to escape Zelena's vault of hearts with the Huntsman's heart, and then one of Robin's men had managed to sneak a message to the poor bugger. That led to a clandestine meeting in the woods, a great deal of hugging on Snow White's part, and a new and slightly befuddled member of the Merry Men. Robin didn't mind the addition, of course; the Huntsman had obviously chosen Snow over Zelena when he'd tried to fob an animal's heart off on the Wicked Queen. But his camp was starting to resemble a small town in the heart of Sherwood Forest instead of the mobile campsite it had been, and that left him a little uneasy.

"Thank you for allowing me to stay." The Huntsman's shrug was awkward, and Robin had to smile. "I know I'm not exactly the most welcome man here."

"Oh, I wouldn't say that. We're a truly reprehensible lot, and you've the handy excuse that a witch had your heart when you did terrible things." Robin laughed lightly. "You're welcome with us as long as you want to stay. We seem to be gathering up anyone and everyone who would oppose the Wicked Queen, anyway."

"Well, then I fit right in." His dark look lifted after a moment. "The name's Graham, by the way. Most everyone called me the Huntsman after she took my heart, but that's hardly my name."

"Robin Hood isn't mine, either, but these monikers do seem to stick."

Graham's laugh sounded like it surprised the other man, who had thus far been a mess of uncertainty and long faces. "They do, don't they? Are you certain that you're all right with me being here?"

"Of course I am. You're a friend of Snow's, so you're a friend of mine." Robin wasn't sure how he'd come to be good friends with a deposed princess, but he had. It boggled the mind, given his own significantly lower birth and outlaw status, but Snow had become a friend over the long months she'd spent with them. So had Regina, who was almost as royal as Snow, but Robin tried very hard not to think of that. Or her.

There was absolutely no chance for a woman like her and a man like him, so dreaming about that was stupid. Even if Roland was inordinately fond of Regina.

"Then you have my thanks. And my loyalty, for what it's worth."

"No need to take an oath or anything like that." Robin slapped Graham on the shoulder lightly, figuring that the Huntsman had had plenty of swearing to people like Zelena. "We look out for one another here, and we're honest with each other. If you want to leave, no one will stop you."

"And go where?" Graham's expression turned bleak. "I know she'll want me back. Besides, I can't very well fight her from hiding somewhere else, and the only people willing to take on the Wicked Queen are here."

Robin couldn't help laughing. "Aye, you've found the colony of fools willing to take on a powerful witch. If you want to fight, you'll fit right in."


It was wrong.

She shouldn't be here, and Tink knew it. Yet she really did have nowhere else to go; she'd stormed out on Blue, and she was no longer a fairy. Granted, she still had her wand and her magic, but Tink was pretty sure that quitting in a huff meant you weren't a fairy any longer. At least I didn't go and get myself exiled for being bad, she thought wryly, pausing on the path leading up to the Dark Castle. She still had no idea what Fiona had done to get sent to the Dark Realm, but she really hoped it was more than mouthing off to Blue and falling in love. Nova deserves better than that, anyway, and we all know she's in love with Dreamy. Or Grumpy. Whoever he is now.

All the distractions in the world could not make her forget the fact that she was practically standing on the Dark One's doorstep. I should leave. I should go. I shouldn't—

"Are you lost, dearie?" The sudden ringing laugh made Tink jump, and by the time she had herself turned around, the Dark One was between her and the gates.

Tink felt her eyes go wide. Fiona had looked normal, for all the subtle darkness that surrounded her. Her son, on the other hand, looked terrifying. His skin was gold and scaly, and the fine silk and leather he wore could not disguise the way darkness wrapped around him like a cloak. This was the Dark One that the senior fairies warned them about, a creature of darkness and despair. How had he been human, once? She could practically smell the lost and corrupted souls clinging to him.

"I, um—well, you see, I'm here to—"

"In case no one told you, this isn't a terribly good place for a fairy." His grin was nasty, until he waved a dismissive hand. "But I'm busy today, so I'll give you a chance to leave before something…unfortunate happens. So, shoo."

Tink snorted, and her mouth ran away from her before she could think twice. "If fairies aren't welcome here, you'd have a hard time explaining your mother."

Rumplestiltskin's eyes went wide with fury. "My mother—"

"Is delighted to see that she has a visitor." Fiona's sudden appearance made Tink almost go weak with relief, but she still watched in awe as the Black Fairy leaned in and kissed the Dark One on the cheek. "Do run along and find the maid, Rumple. Last I knew, she was picking peaches."

"Visitor?" Rumplestiltskin threw his mother a dubious look.

"Of course she is." Fiona's smile was sunny. "Tinker Bell here is probably Blue's second least favorite fairy—unless young Nova has taken that mantle away. Or if we count Tiger Lily, although I daresay that Tink's angered her more than Tiger Lily ever did." She waved a hand. "Either way, you'll not be hurting this one, young man. She's my guest."

"All you had to do was say that to start with." His scowl was peevish, and made Tink bite back a laugh. Fairy lore didn't cover circumstances in which the Dark One looked like a petulant child. "I didn't need a rambling history lesson."

"No, but you got one. Do run along."

Rumplestiltskin shot Fiona a poisonous glare before disappearing in a cloud of red smoke and leaving the two fairies alone in the courtyard. Then the nervous laugh bubbled out of Tink before she could stop it. "He listened to you?"

"Of course he did. He's my son." Smiling, Fiona closed the distance between them. "But he is in a good mood today, otherwise he might have done something regrettable to you. He really doesn't like fairies, and Blue's only made that worse, lately."

"I know that Dark Ones don't like fairies. They've all hated us." Tink sucked in a deep breath. "I wouldn't be here if I had somewhere else to go."

"Oh, his reasons are more personal than most of his predecessors, I assure you. Good ones, too, if I do say so myself." Then Fiona's eyes narrowed. "But what do you mean that you don't have anywhere else to do? Did Blue catch you in the Sacred Vault of the Fairies?"

"Oh, no. It's much worse than that." She swallowed hard. "I mean, she did catch me. But she said that you were corrupting me because I covered for Nova when she snuck off to meet with Grumpy, and so I, um, quit."

"You…quit?" Fiona looked gobsmacked. "I didn't think one could quit being a fairy and keep your wand."

"I didn't stick around to find out." Tink shrugged. "I just left. Didn't really give her a chance to steal my wings."

Fiona threw her head back and laughed. "Good for you! That's more courage than I showed when I gave up my wings."

"Yeah, but now I have nowhere else to go, so it wasn't the best planning on my part."

"Why, you can stay here, of course. The castle is rather large, and there's plenty of magical items to keep you entertained. If we can drag Belle away from the magical window, there's even a lovely view of anywhere and anyone you might even dream of looking in on."

"I'm, uh, not really sure I'd be comfortable here." Tink wet her lips nervously, trying not to let her eyes go wide. Fiona had become the first real mentor she'd ever had, and she admired the older woman's brilliance and tenacity, but Tink had no desire to follow in her exact footsteps. Tink didn't like darkness or dark magic, and just being around the Dark One left her feeling vaguely queasy.

"Oh, don't worry about Rumple. His bark is far worse than his bite. Most of the time, anyway."

Rumple? The very idea of the Dark One having a nickname was enough to make Tink's head spin. So, she decided to be honest, or at least mostly honest.

"It's still all too weird for me."

"Well, why don't you stay a few days and then decide? You can help me with a little project of mine—one that won't keep you in the castle around my disturbingly giggly child." Fiona gave her a knowing smile, and Tink tried hard not to blush. Being afraid of the Dark One was rather foolish when she'd become friends with the Black Fairy, but Tink couldn't help herself. Maybe it was just old fairy superstition.

"All right." Tink bit her lip. "But only if you tell me what this project is. I don't want to hurt any of the others—"

"Not even Blue?"

"Um." She wanted to, and that was the problem. Maybe Tink didn't want to do physical damage to Blue, but she wouldn't mind seeing Blue as miserable as Blue was trying to make Nova. Yet Tink wasn't sure she liked that about herself, or if she approved of how excited by that idea Fiona seemed to be. "I don't like the idea of hurting anyone."

Fiona heaved a dramatic sigh. "You're such a nice person, my dear. Has anyone ever told you that?"

"Aren't fairies supposed to be nice?" Tink felt so out of her depth right now.

"Oh, of course. But you usually have such nice teeth to you that I forget about your shiningly good soul." Fiona waved a hand when Tink opened her mouth to speak. "No matter. My little project has nothing to do with the fairies, and everything to do with keeping one Wicked Queen from doing anything too terrible. Is that compatible with your moral values?"

"Yeah." She found it surprising, too; every fairy knew that Rumplestiltskin was teaching Zelena magic. Some even thought he was the power behind the Wicked Queen's throne. "But why would you want to go against her?"

"Because that vicious little bundle of envy wants to seduce my son, and I won't have it." Fiona's nostrils flared angrily, and Tink almost took a step back. "She's as oblivious as a brick wall and twice as thick."

Tink could barely keep her eyebrows from hitting her hairline. Today is really not turning out how I expected it to! This was undoubtedly a terrible idea, but fairy or not, Tink really did want to make a difference. She wanted to help people, and if she could help keep Queen Zelena from hurting people, she would. Even if that stemmed from the Black Fairy's strange desire to keep the Wicked Queen from seducing the Dark One.

"Okay. Tell me more."


"You invited her to…what?" Rumplestiltskin barely got the words out as giggles drifted back to where he stood facing his mother in the great hall. Belle had—of course!—taken to the young (not?) fairy immediately, and had promptly volunteered to give Tinker Bell a tour of the castle. Belle and Tinker Bell. I have a headache already. "My castle is not an—an—an inn!"

"Of course it isn't, dear." Fiona put a hand on his arm, but Rumplestiltskin jerked away petulantly. And he knew he was being petulant. He just didn't care. "But I didn't think you'd mind letting a fairy whom Blue cast off stay with us for the time being. She won't be here for long."

"For—for long?" Rumplestiltskin hated it when he stuttered, yet shock and dismay were making him do just that. "Five minutes is too long!"

Oh, just kill her and be done with it, at least two Dark Ones whispered, but Rumplestiltskin batted their advice aside. He wasn't going to disappoint his mother like that. The very idea was foolish. Utterly.

"Pfft." She waved a hand, and a small, dark portion of Rumplestiltskin's mind contemplated lighting that hand on fire. Not that it would do him any good. Fiona would merely put the fire out, heal herself, and then chastise him. No, the momentary good feeling it would give him would not outweigh the lengthy term of feeling like an idiot. "She's going to help with a few things."

"A few things." He felt like he'd been run over by a horse.

"Trust me, darling." A motherly smile. "The less you know, the better."

"Mother." Make that a team of six in harness, carriage included. Rumplestiltskin felt well and truly flattened.

Fiona patted him on the arm again. "You're just complaining because she's monopolizing Belle's time right now. But don't worry, Tink won't convince your little maid to—"

"I am not worried about that!" And his voice didn't squeak, either. It didn't.

"Of course you are. You're always worried that someone might convince Belle that you're not worth her time." Fiona's voice turned kindly, but Rumplestiltskin's stomach still lurched nervously. "But in case you've failed to notice, my son, convincing that girl of anything she doesn't already believe is well-nigh impossible. She likes you, and that's that."

Fiona's confidence where Belle was concerned—confidence Rumplestiltskin could not share, because beautiful maidens did not fall in love with dangerous monsters—only reminded him of another topic he wanted to bring up. And the less I think of that fairy visitor, the better, he thought, narrowing his eyes at his mother.

"Is that what the two of you giggle about when you're holed up in the library or your rooms?" he demanded. "Don't think I haven't noticed, Mother. If anyone is monopolizing her time, it's you."

"Don't be silly, Rumple. We're discussing books. In case you've forgotten, the girl is rather fond of them. As am I."

"I like books." He didn't like it when his voice sounded so small. It made him sound weak.

You are weak, Spinner. Weak and useless.

"Well, then, try joining her when she's reading some time. Express a little interest." Fiona chuckled softly. "She already likes the fact that you listento what she says—most women do, because it's a rare trait in a man. Ask her about her books, and she'll talk you ear off." Another laugh. "At least then it won't be my ear."

Rumplestiltskin couldn't help blinking. "She…she likes it that I listen to her? But why wouldn't I?"

"My dear boy," Fiona whispered, leaning in to kiss him on the forehead. "Any woman who gets a good look at your gentle soul and doesn't love you for it is a fool. And Belle is no fool."

He knew that he should argue with that assessment. Dark Ones were not supposed to be gentle. Being called gentle was anything but a compliment. Rumplestiltskin had gone to great pains to distance himself from the gentle and weak spinner he had once been, had done dark and terrible things and steeped himself in the most powerful magics he could find.

Why, then, did Belle make him want to go back to that version of himself?


A/N: Thank you so much to everyone who is still reading! It means the world to me.

Stay tuned for Chapter 18—"A Bit Alarming," where Belle tries to get to know Rumplestiltskin, Zelena gets flirty, Bae faces off with Pan, and Belle wants to know what's going on between Rumplestiltskin and Zelena.