Chapter 28—"Can So Much Hope and Love Endure?"


There was one unfortunate thing left to do before he could leave this silly little duchy and go hometo the Dark Castle. Rumplestiltskin had stayed for Belle's sake, but they'd been here for weeks, and there were no interesting people left to do deals with. Even the few deals he'd made had been insignificant little things, hardly enough to hold his attention. Truth be told, he was bored out of his mind when not with Belle, and even his mother spent more time in the Dark Castle than here. And when she is in Avonlea, she's busy interrupting us or having her little minion do the same. The thought made Rumplestiltskin frown. There was something going on with that, and he needed to remember to ask his mother.

But first, Sir Maurice.

"I'm not usually in a habit of coming when called by irate parents, dearie." Rumplestiltskin had intentionally ignored Maurice's oh-so-polite summons for two days, but even he wasn't crass enough to ignore the poor man forever. Despite everything, the memories of a father lurked inside Rumplestiltskin, and now that there was not a deal to be made, he found himself unable to leave Maurice thinking his daughter was doomed to darkness and misery.

"And I'm not in the habit of letting my daughter go off with a beast," Maurice shot back, turning to glare at him.

Rumplestiltskin had found Maurice in his own war room; the knight was staring morosely at the map. Rumplestiltskin thought he knew why, but he still giggled maliciously. "You should have thought on that the first time, then, My Lord."

Maurice flushed. "You gave us no choice!"

"Well, I did give a choice, but it wasn't to you." He flashed his teeth in a wide and nasty smile. "Belle made her choice. As she has now."

"I know." Maurice's shoulders slumped. "And I've tried to talk her out of it, but she insists that there's good in you that I don't see."

That made Rumplestiltskin fidget. He knew that Belle saw light in him, but he was never sure how. Even knowing what he had been meant to be didn't change what he was, and Rumplestiltskin was a realist. He was the Dark One. He might restrain himself to keep the darkness from ruling him, but that was because he wanted to maintain ownership of his own soul. Not for any other reason.

"Belle is, uh…" He cleared his throat, struggling for words. "Good. She always sees the best in everyone."

"I know." For a moment, their eyes met, and Rumplestiltskin could see that Maurice was as frustrated—and awed—by that trait of Belle's as he was. Then Maurice squared his shoulders. "Is she right about you? About there being more than a beast in you?"

Rumplestiltskin blinked. He hadn't expected Maurice to be so brave, but he supposed Belle had to get it from somewhere. And not just from her mother, I guess. Still, being faced with a justifiably protective father was very different from laughing at a blustering buffoon, so he hesitated. "Belle has"—he gulped, and then forced himself to stop—"always brought light to the darkness that is my life. She makes me want to be a better man than I am."

She makes me want to go back to the best version of me. But he wasn't going to say that. Not to Maurice.

"Do you love her?" The question was unexpected, particularly since he'd answered it before. With an audience, no less.

"Of course I do." Rumplestiltskin snapped the words before he could stop himself, and then added plaintively: "How could I not?"

There were a thousand words he could use to describe the perfection that was Belle, but Rumplestiltskin's normally silver tongue failed him. He loved her. It was just that simple. Loving Belle came as naturally as breathing. You'll never be worthy of her, Nimue whispered gloatingly, but Rumplestiltskin could ignore that easily. He already knew he never would be.

"I suppose that'll have to do." Maurice sounded more gruff than angry, much to Rumplestiltskin's surprise. "If you hurt her…" He trailed off meaningfully, and Rumplestiltskin could have laughed.

In his mind, Zoso cackled. What can he possibly do to you?

Rumplestiltskin ignored him and spoke the truest words he had: "I won't."


There were traders in Port Mystic for the annual fair, which gave Bae the chance he'd been hoping for. He'd long since given up on asking the locals about the Dark One, because he didn't feel like explaining why he wanted such information, but visitors were different. He didn't have to live in the same town as visitors, and as long as he was careful, no one would connect such questions to one of the healers' apprentices. This really isn't the life I dreamt of, Bae thought, sitting on a wall and watching a pair of guards ride by. The merchant who had hired them seemed to be one of the wealthiest, because the guards seemed both well-armed and sober. He sighed. I'd rather be one of them than doing this.

Being an apprentice healer wasn't a bad thing, not really. The skills he was learning really were useful, and Bae liked Tiger Lily and Beans both. But he'd always wanted to do something more, to help people in larger ways than providing salves for small cuts or setting legs broken from a fall out of a tree. Bae wanted to make a difference.

"…heard that the Dark One is in Avonlea? Rumors says that 'e made a deal to protect them from the Wicked Queen."

The second guard snorted. "I heard that Sir Gaston was kicked to the curb by Sir Maurice, and good riddance. The man's a hotheaded idiot. I sure as hell wouldn't follow him into battle."

"If y'wanted to fight battles, you wouldn't be guarding Master Potatoman, here." The first guard laughed, but his companion looked offended.

"Hey! I fought in the Ogre War."

"For about five minutes, 'fore the Dark One ended that, too. You might want to join the fan club."

"If you keep mocking me, maybe I'll make a deal to get rid of you."

Without thinking, Bae hopped off the wall and wandered down the road behind the two guards and the wagon they were following. This was interesting, even if it didn't tell him how his father had died. Hearing that the Dark One had banished the ogres lined up with what Clank had told him, but the idea of the Dark One doing deals was new. And protecting someplace from some wicked queen? That's weird. Bae wanted to know more, particularly since this Dark One might have been the person who had killed his father. Or what was left of Papa, anyway. It was more likely that the current Dark One was three or four Dark Ones down the road, but there still might be clues.

He shouldn't care about what had happened to the monster Rumplestiltskin had become, but Bae couldn't help himself. That curse had taken over his father, had turned a gentle man into a monster, but sometimes Bae had seen glimmers of the man his papa had been. He wanted to believe that Rumplestiltskin was now at peace, that he was now in a better place…but he also burned to know what had happened. He didn't want revenge or anything stupid like that. He just wanted to know.

"You'd havta have something 'e wanted for that." The first guard laughed. "And on what we make, there's no way you're gonna able to scrounge up enough gold for that."

"Shows what you know. They say he doesn't take gold."

"Yeah, and what are you goin' to offer 'm then? Your horse?"

"Maybe." The second guard glared—until he suddenly looked over his shoulder, straight at Bae. "Or maybe I'll offer him this kid who likes following people."

Bae froze, but it only took him a moment to come back on balance. "That sounds like a stupid deal that only a really dumb Dark One would make."

"What makes you think he's smart?" the second guard asked.

"What makes you think he's not?"

He. That was a new bit of information Bae hadn't had before. Even better, the guards both burst out laughing instead of growing angry—apparently, they liked his snarky response.

The second guard's grin confirmed that as he swung down off of his horse. "You're a plucky one, aren't you, kid?"

"I'm hardly a kid."

"All right then, hardly-a-kid, why are you following us?"

Bae rolled his eyes. "My name's Baelfire."

"And I'm Flynnigan Rider. Why are you following us? Curious about guarding boring merchants, or about the Dark One?"

"Um…maybe both?"

Flynnigan snorted. "No one likes guarding merchants. It just pays the bills." He nodded to his companion. "You go on ahead. I'll catch up with you and Master Potatoman later."

"Y'keep callin' him that, and he's gonna notice."

"I'm sure I'll live." Flynnigan grinned, but the other guard only snorted and rode on ahead, leaving Bae alone with someone who knew things about the Dark One. Was that a good thing? He wasn't entirely sure.

I hope there's not an actual fan club. That would be really screwed up.

"So, um, why do you want to talk to me, anyway?" Bae fell into step next to Flynnigan a little awkwardly.

"I've been talking to him for days." Flynnigan jerked his thumb at his former companion. "I could do for a change of pace."

"Oh."

"So, were you just bored, or do you really want to know about the Dark One?"

Bae couldn't help giving the man a suspicious look. "Why would you want to talk about him?"

A shrug. "He saved my life. Along with thousands of others, when he ended the Ogre War. I never even saw him, then, so I tried to find out about him instead."

"You were in the Ogre War?" Bae had read a bit of history, and knew that the recent war against the Ogres had been the Third Ogre War, but most people these days seemed to have forgotten the first two.

"I was. Conscripted right out of the orphanage. They put a sword in my hand, and sent me off to fight for the Marchlands." Flynnigan's face took on a faraway expression, one that told Bae how much he'd seen during the war. "I turned out to be pretty good with a sword, but no one's good enough to beat the ogres. Not without magic."

Bae knew far too much about that; it sounded like this Dark One had made a deal to do the same kind of thing his papa had done forever ago. That was a surprising coincidence, but Bae supposed that it wasn't so surprising that the Dark One's magic could stop the ogres more than once. Maybe whoever had made the deal had heard about Rumplestiltskin saving the Frontlands.

"So, uh, what happened?" Bae figured that asking about the Ogre War was safe; Flynnigan seemed eager to talk about it.

And he was. Flynnigan regaled Bae with the tale of the entire thing, from the loss of the northern Marchlands, including Sir Gaston's family seat—which led to a long diatribe about the latter's lack of good sense, leadership ability, and general morality—to the ogres' mysterious disappearance. Flynnigan and his fellows had only found out later that the Dark One had dealt with the ogres after making some sort of deal with Sir Maurice of Avonlea, but that had mad Flynnigan curious about him.

"Apparently, Rumplestiltskin makes all kinds of deals. Not for horses or surly teenagers, usually, but—"

Bae had barely heard everything after the word Rumplestiltskin. His mouth had been too busy dropping open. "Wh—what did you say?"

"About the deals? It's more like he's looking for—"

"No. His name. The Dark One's name."

Flynnigan eyed him strangely. "I'm not going to repeat it. They say that repeating it three times can summon him."

"Can summon…Rumplestiltskin?" The name tasted strange on Bae's tongue; he hadn't said it in centuries.

"Look, kid, I'm curious but not suicidal. Don't say it again."

Bae felt like someone had punched him in the gut. "Don't worry. I won't."


"We need to talk, sis." The voice came from behind Regina when she'd headed out of the camp to get some water, and she spun as quickly as she could, bow coming up to point at her green-faced sister.

"Is that before or after you try to kill me?" Regina snapped, hating the way her heart had leapt into her throat. I should have found a way to learn to use my magic. But that thought came years too late. She'd never wanted to use magic, not after everything Daddy had told her about the way magic had turned Mother towards darkness. Or after seeing how it had corrupted her sister.

"Relax, Regina. I'm not here to hurt you." Zelena rolled her eyes dramatically. "I'm here because we actually have something in common for once."

"Really? Somehow I doubt that I'm going to agree with you on that."

"That's because you haven't heard what I have to offer yet." Zelena's smile seemed almost sincere, but Regina wasn't buying it. This woman—her own sister!—had tried to kill her more than once, and had a vendetta against Regina's best friend. She was insane, and Regina kept her arrow pointed straight at her sister's face.

Regina snorted. "I'm not interested."

"Not even in knowing your own mother?"

That jerked Regina up short. "What?"

"Our mother. She was taken from both of us, and I'm going to get her back." Zelena preened a little before calming down; meanwhile, Regina had to blink hard.

"She's dead. You can't bring back the dead." Regina took a deep breath, considering. She didn't actually know that much about magic, only what her father had told her. "Can you?"

"Of course not." Zelena rolled her eyes as if this was knowledge everyone had. "But I can go back in time to a moment before she died and save her. And then I can bring her here."

"How?" She cocked her head. "I didn't think time travel was possible."

"Only if you're me." The look of genuine pride on Zelena's face was a little unsettling. "I discovered how."

"Then why come to me?" Regina knew that the other shoe was going to drop. She just didn't know what it was going to be.

"Because I thought I'd offer you the opportunity to help me."

Regina couldn't help snorting. "You mean you need my help."

"No, I don't need you. I could use anyone's power." Zelena huffed irritably. "I just thought I'd give you the chance to help save our mother. If you don't care—"

"I didn't say that." The words rushed out before Regina could stop them, and she wanted to kick herself. But a part of her really did want to know more. She'd never known her mother, at least not so that she could remember. Her papa had told her that magic had taken Cora down some dark roads, but that didn't mean that Regina didn't regret never having known her own mother.

"If you want me to leave you alone, I will." Zelena's gesture was careless, but Regina had the feeling she wasn't quite as blasé as she let on. "I meant it when I said that I mean you no harm."

"That's going to take some getting used to," Regina replied dryly.

"Yes, well, I'm new at having a sister, too." Zelena fidgeted. "I may have come off a wee bit strongly."

"You think?" She snorted again.

"Yes, well, I'm trying, all right?"

"I suppose you are." Regina checked a sigh. "What exactly do you want me to do?"

Zelena brightened. "I don't actually need you to do anything. I'll do all the magic—teaching you to do any of it would take far too long. I just need your power."

Regina eyed her suspiciously. "And how would that work?"


Belle hadn't thought it would be so marvelous to be home. She wasn't sure when Avonlea had stopped being home and the Dark Castle had started, but she knew she was happy here. Avonlea would always be the place where she had grown up, but it was no longer where she wanted to spend the rest of her life. Belle wouldn't stop loving her father, or her people, but the life she dreamt now was bigger that the small duchy she had given up her freedom to save.

And now she returned to the Dark Castle, not as a maid, but as the lady of the castle. Rumplestiltskin had said that much himself. Or he'd hinted at it, which with him was the same thing, particularly when he was emotional and tongue-tied. Belle thought it was rather endearing; no one else could make her silver-tongued Dark One stutter and blush. But she could, and the fact that he could be so open with her warmed her heart.

"So, what do you think?" She'd just given Mulan the grand tour, and the warrior woman was looking around with curiosity.

"It's a castle." Mulan shrugged, and then amended: "I mean, it's a nice one, I suppose."

"Gee, thanks." Belle laughed, though; she liked Mulan, even when Mulan didn't feel like saying much. "Seriously speaking, watch out for the biting stairs, and the suits of armor move around sometimes. But it's not so bad."

"Yeah, you covered that with the 'enchanted' part." Mulan shivered. "I'm not sure how you live in this place."

"You don't have to stay if you don't want to." Belle blinked in confusion. Mulan had asked to come, as had Tink—who was already off with Fiona doing somethingor another. Was there something she was missing?

"I don't mean it that way. I'm sorry." Mulan fidgeted a little, looking uncomfortable. "And I'm glad to be here. I…I'm not sure where else I'd go."

"What about Aurora and Philip?"

"They're living their lives." A shrug. "I heard from one of LeFou's friends that they got married last month. There's no place for me there."

"Oh, Mulan, I'm so sorry." Belle reached out to put a hand on her friend's arm, but Mulan just shrugged again.

"Enough of that. I'm here to protect you, and that's that."

Belle started. "To protect me? I don't need protecting, especially here."

"Of course you do. You're living with Rumplestiltskin, and he can't possibly love you enough to keep you safe from himself." A strange expression crossed Mulan's face as Belle stared. "He's the Dark One, of course. That comes with the territory."

"You don't know him like I do." Belle hadn't expected this from Mulan of all people. "I know he loves me, and Rumplestiltskin would never hurt me."

"His enemies still might."

Belle crossed her arms. Was that what this was about? "That's a risk I'm willing to take."


The girl really was quite nauseatingly loyal, wasn't she? Zelena wasn't sure how Rumplestiltskin had managed to make someone so annoyingly good fall in love with him. The maid seemed to be utterly smitten, and while Zelena could certainly understand the Dark One's allure, she wasn't sure what this Belle saw in him. Did she perhaps have some well-buried and ruthless ambitions? Or perhaps she was after the dagger. That was certainly what Zelena would be doing in her place. Concentrate on the matter at hand, she told herself firmly, realizing that Belle was waiting for Mulan to answer her.

Zelena looked back down at the heart in her right hand, speaking slowly as the soldier girl tended to do. "How can you know he won't get bored with you and just throw you away after he's had what he wanted? That's what men do."

Not snorting aloud and giving the game away was hard. That's the one thing this silly sword swinger and I agree on, Zelena thought, watching Belle scowl through the heart.

"Rumplestiltskin isn't like that." Blue eyes zeroed in on Mulan. "You'll understand better once you get to know him. He's prickly and dangerous, but underneath that, he has a good heart."

Oh, save me. Zelena wanted to vomit. Did this slip of a girl really believe that? She was more deluded than Zelena had thought, but Mulan had to give in before someone got suspicious. This is such a bother. She sighed, and forced Mulan to shrug casually. "I suppose. I don't really know anything about him, I guess."

"Did my father put you up to this?" Belle's eyes narrowed; and Zelena had to remind herself that no matter how naive the girl was, she wasn't stupid.

"Maybe a little," she said through Mulan, trying to convey embarrassment. She hadn't wasted time on Sir Maurice, of course, and he hadn't talked to Mulan, but Avonlea was a long way away and taking the easy way out was so much easier.

Belle put a hand on Mulan's arm. "Don't worry. Papa's just a little paranoid. You'll see how things are here."

Yes, I will. That would be worth the bother of taking Mulan's heart, Zelena was certain. Rumplestiltskin had to have a reason for humoring this silly girl's infatuation, and Zelena knew that wasn't because he loved her. The entire idea was ludicrous. Rumplestiltskin could never fall in love with a naïve little bookworm. He was going to fall in love with her if he fell in love with anyone. And if he didn't, Zelena was going to make him fall for her.


He was finally alone in his tower, but his castle was full of giggling women. Two of them were fairies, one was a warrior woman from a far-off kingdom, and one he loved beyond comprehension. How had this happened? Rumplestiltskin was supposed to be the Dark One, the most feared sorcerer across all the realms. Power was his forte, and he was supposed to cause fear wherever he went. He was a being of darkness, had spent years embracing that and knowing that it was all he had. And yet—

Rumplestiltskin had not been meant to be like this.

"I was meant…to be the Savior?"

"Yes." A warm hand touched his cheek, making Rumplestiltskin finally look at his mother. Her face, creased with worry, swam slowly into view as his heart pounded in his ears. "You were meant to be the greatest of heroes, with deep and powerful light magic. I took that from you."

"All to keep your own power."

"Yes." Fiona didn't quite flinch, but he could see the pain in her dark eyes. "I chose my power over your destiny. I did it out of love for you…but I was wrong. I know that, now."

"That's…that's why I've always felt so empty."

He had been meant to be the Savior. Rumplestiltskin had realized that before, but he'd never really thought about that that meant now. A few days earlier, he had finally come to understand that was why he was so drawn to the light in Belle; it was an echo of the light he'd been born with. Yet he hadn't thought about what it meant to who he was. He was the Dark One, yes, but he had been meant to be different.

Did that matter? Reflex said no, but further and more honest examination of the idea made him wonder. He loved Belle. Rumplestiltskin had loved before, too, although he didn't think it had been like this. His ever-present passengers objected to the very idea of love—he could hear them howling now in the back of his mind—but he knew that his love was real. And despite what Zoso and the others claimed, he knew that Belle loved him, too. She shouldn't, and he didn't deserve her, but she did love him.

It doesn't matter, Nimue whispered to him. I was loved, too, and look where that got me. They never stay. Your son didn't, either.

Rage boiled up immediately. "Don't you dare talk about him," Rumplestiltskin hissed. "You're the reason he's gone!"

You let go of him, Spinner. Zoso again, even though it had been Nimue there at the crucial moment, Nimue who reminded him of his fears and made him so paranoid that he'd let go of his beloved boy. Not us.

And we're the reason you'll get him back, Nimue reminded him, brushing Zoso aside. Without your power, you're nothing. Belle wouldn't want you, and you can't find Baelfire without us.

Rumplestiltskin swallowed, images of Baelfire flashing before his eyes. Where was his boy now? Where had that portal put him, and what kind of life did he lead? Was he still travelling? Had the portal moved him in time as well as between realms? How else would Baelfire still be alive when the time for the curse came? I have to find him. No matter what. Why was Nimue bringing this up now? It didn't matter. Only Bae mattered. "I know."

A wave of satisfaction swept through him, one that would have once made him smile. But not today. Rumplestiltskin still couldn't escape the feeling that he was missing something, that he should have been different. Did that matter? He wasn't sure. But ignoring his fate might not be the right answer, either.


His father was alive.

Bae had avoided thinking about it until he was alone, having crawled up the same tree that Beans fell out of not long ago. Maybe that was stupid, but he just needed some privacy. The house was too small for that, and Tiger Lily asked too many questions. She was starting to figure things out, a fact that left Bae even more uneasy now that he knew that his father was alive. Or that whatever was left of his father was alive, anyway. There hadn't been much left after only a few months of being the Dark One, so what kind of monster would Rumplestiltskin be after centuries? Bae didn't want to know.

"He saved my life," Flynnigan had said. "Along with thousands of others, when he ended the Ogre War. I never even saw him, then, so I tried to find out about him instead."

He made deals, too. Deals that he apparently kept; according to Flynnigan, Rumplestiltskin never broke a deal. Except the one with me. Bae swallowed hard. There were stories about his father, and not all of them were bad. There didn't seem to be a lot of bloodbaths, and Flynnigan hadn't heard of anyone being turned into a snail. That was different.

Bae didn't know what to think, but he knew that he needed to find out more.


A/N: Thank you so much to everyone who has kept reading! I think I've turned a corner in writing this story with NaNo (and finally figured out how to juggle writing with the new masters' I'm working on), so look for more frequent updates from here on out. We should see them at least once a week, maybe more often.

To answer a few questions that have come up: 1) Yes, Madam Faustina has a significant role to play—she may even be someone we already know. 2) As things stand, there's quite the potential age difference between Baelfire and Emma, but I do have something in mind to help with that, and 3) Zelena has not used Mulan to get Belle's heart (yet), but I wouldn't put it past her.

Stay tuned for Chapter 29—"Nothing Like the Rest of Us", in which Madam Faustina shows up with a deal for Rumplestiltskin, Hook strikes out on his own against Rumplestiltskin, Regina goes to Robin for advice, Belle asks Rumpelstiltskin about the Dark Curse, and Tiger Lily starts to wonder what Baelfire is up to.