Chapter 32—"Tale as Old as Time"
"Hello, Zelena." Regina knew that she shouldn't feel this nervous; it had been her choice to come here, after all. But coming to Zelena's own castle made her feel like she was betraying her friends, even if this had nothing to do with them.
Heavens only knew what Tink thought.
"Sister." Zelena turned to her with a smile that was surprisingly welcoming. "I was starting to think that you'd never come."
"I…I had a lot to think about." Regina didn't mind admitting how awkward this was; there was no way to hide it, after all. "It's not exactly like we're on the same side. You've tried to kill me more than once, and you're still trying to kill my best friend."
"Oh, that's water under the bridge!" Zelena waved a dismissive hand. "I think it's safe to say that's all behind us, now."
"Is it?"
"Certainly! Snow and her insipid prince can have George's kingdom—he's a terrible ally, anyway. So long as they stay away from my kingdom, I'll leave them alone. Saving Mother is far more important than a petty little war, after all." Her smile was sunny, but Regina couldn't stop herself from pointing out:
"You know, 'your' kingdom is Snow's by right. And you did kill her father," she added dryly, resisting the urge to point out that the great lengths Zelena was willing to do to in order to save their mother indicated how important the loss of a parent could be. "That kind of burns a little."
"Well, diplomacy never does make everyone happy, does it?" Zelena shrugged. "I don't get what I want—which is to kill my bratty stepdaughter—and she doesn't get her kingdom back. But everyone gets to live."
Everyone except Leopold. Regina had never been terribly enamored of King Leopold; he'd proposed marriage to her once, much to her horror, but she knew how much Snow had loved her father. Still, peace was preferable to war, and winning George's kingdom would give somewhere for all of the refugees fleeing Zelena to go. It was better than nothing, Regina supposed.
"I'll pass the offer along, but no guarantees on how well they'll take it." She shrugged. "Peace isn't easy. And you'll have to stick to it, too."
"As I said, I have much better things to worry about." Zelena arched an eyebrow. "Provided you did come here to offer your help."
"I did." Regina swallowed. "I…I thought about it a lot, and the bottom line is that I want to know Mother, too. I never really got the chance, and I like to think that if she hadn't died, you and I might have met a lot sooner. And maybe under better circumstances."
Zelena brightened. "You never know. Maybe then you wouldn't hate me so much."
"I don't hate you, Zelena. I barely know you. But I have to say that the fact that you've tried to kill me more times than you've tried to talk to me really doesn't lead towards sisterly love."
"Of course you hate me. You grew up with everything. You were practically a princess."
Regina almost snapped back, until she realized that Zelena actually believed that. What kind of horrible life did she have that this is her first assumption? Swallowing back her anger, Regina spoke more quietly. "I never did ask how you grew up. After Mother, um, gave you up."
"A woodcutter and his wife took me in after the tornado took me to Oz." Zelena scowled until her expression abruptly lightened. "My mo—adopted mother was kind. But the Woodcutter was awful. He hated me, and when she died, he threw me out." The scowl was back, now in full force.
"That's awful. I'm sorry."
"Well, it doesn't matter now." Zelena spoke briskly, but Regina thought she was just trying to convince herself. "Now I have power beyond his puny imaginings, and I'm going to save Mother. With your help, of course."
Regina took a deep breath. "Just tell me what to do, and I'll do it."
"Then let's begin!"
"…But I do want you to think on this: which is more important to you, power or being a man your son can be proud of?"
"Bae hated the curse." The words escaped Rumplestiltskin before he could stop them, rattling around in his mind over and over again. I just want my father back, Bae had said more than once. Bae had loved him when he was a worthless cripple. Bae had loved him no matter what he did until Rumplestiltskin had turned to darkness.
I did what I had to to save him. He'd told himself that a thousand times, and it was probably even true. But he'd also let go of his son because of this horrible curse; even now, Rumplestiltskin could remember Nimue hounding him and howling until he let go of Bae. The choice had been his—or at least he thought it had been—but if he had not been the Dark One, they never would have been at that portal in the first place. If I had not become the Dark One, I might have never lost my son.
I was meant to be the Savior.
For the first time, those two points connected in his mind. He couldn't blame his mother for cutting his fate away, not after what he'd done to his own son, but if he'd been the Savior, what would Bae have thought? Bae would have been so proud. That thought left him strangely warm and all too heartbroken. Bae had always wanted to be a hero, to do the right thing, just like Rumplestiltskin once had before the world fell to pieces around him. Bae would have been over the moon to have his father be the Savior. He would have demanded to come with him all the time, to learn to fight and to help people, and they never would have been separated by dark magic.
"This curse is what keeps me from finding him, isn't it?" he whispered after a long moment of silence, looking to his mother for guidance.
"I think so, yes." Fiona took a deep breath. "The Dark Curse should do the trick, but I do believe that the number of portals closed to you is because you are the Dark One. The Apprentice all but confirmed that."
Rumplestiltskin swallowed. "When?"
"Months ago. I went to him for information. And I resisted the urge to turn him into a ferret again."
"You what?" Belle glared while Rumplestiltskin snorted softly in amusement.
Fiona just waved the question off. "It's a long story, and rather irrelevant at the moment. But the sanctimonious prig is correct: his magic won't work for you. Not so long as you are the Dark One."
"And if he wasn't?" Belle asked the question for Rumplestiltskin when he was too tongue-tied to speak.
"It would work, assuming we could convince him. The Apprentice is nearly as holier-than-thou as Blue, and I did turn him into a ferret, even if he did get better." Fiona shrugged, looking Belle over. "But he probably would like you. Either of you, really, without the curse."
Rumplestiltskin snorted. "You didn't know me without the curse, Mother. I was nothing."
"Oh, phooey. That's the darkness talking, so stop it." Fiona's bluntness made him jump, even as Belle squeezed his hand gently. "You're not the same man you were three hundred years ago. What makes you think that losing all of those unwanted passengers would make you revert to a barely educated spinner who had no idea how to defend himself?"
It was a good point, but Rumplestiltskin wasn't about to admit that. So he flung the next words at her as defiantly as he could, even though he didn't want Belle to think of him that way. "I was a cripple!"
"And what good is having a fairy for a mother if she can't fix your ills?" Fiona relented a little when Rumplestiltskin bristled. "Assuming you can't heal yourself."
"Assuming." He still wasn't ready to fully embrace the idea that he might have magic even without the curse; Rumplestiltskin remembered what it was like to be powerless all too well. Yet he knew that his mother had a point. Power left a mark, and he had lived with magic for hundreds of years. Unlike many of his predecessors, he had learned magic, too. Rumplestiltskin was a true sorcerer, not just someone who bent power to their ends. He had studied magic endlessly. He knew the spells and the incantations, and could read every magical language except for fairy—which he'd long since realized his curse blocked him from understanding.
He was fairly certain that was Blue's doing, but that was a conversation for another day, if ever.
"Rumple?" Belle's quiet voice cut through the dark fog he'd descended into. "Please don't just stand there. Talk to us."
"You want this, too, don't you?" Rumplestiltskin tried to swallow back the bitterness, but his words just came out broken. "You don't want…this." The last words were accompanied by a gesture at himself, at the monster had had become to save his son.
"I want you." Blue eyes met his boldly. "Dark One or not, I love you, Rumplestiltskin. And I'll be here with you, no matter what you choose."
"Why?" he whispered.
"Because love doesn't walk away. Love stays and fights."
He wasn't worthy of such love, but the proof was in a vial he still held in his left hand. Desperate to find something, anything, else to refute this with, Rumplestiltskin turned back to his mother. "And in your oh-so-enlightening conversations with the Apprentice, did you learn anything else helpful?"
"He doesn't think your curse can be broken." Fiona shrugged. "I think he's wrong."
"What does he think will happen?" Belle sounded both intrigued and concerned.
"Oh, that the darkness will escape and run amok, I wager." Rumplestiltskin felt his old smile, the nasty one, cross his face, but Belle's eyes went wide.
"That would be horrible!"
"It would be." Fiona looked like she was less concerned about that than either Belle or Rumplestiltskin, who wouldn't actually wish his curse on anyone else. "But I think that would only happen if someone were to draw the power out. True Love's kiss is not a bludgeon. It's more subtle than that, in addition to being the most powerful magic of all. If anything has a hope of actually defeating the darkness, it would be that."
Rumplestiltskin glanced down at the bottle in his left hand. If a kiss was not enough…yes, yes, that would do the trick, he supposed. He could stop the darkness if it escaped him, although it would be a shame to waste a True Love potion like that. Do I really want to do this? he asked himself, but then he imagined Bae's face if he found him and his father was not the Dark One. Bae might well burst from happiness—after he got over his anger over being abandoned, anyway.
He could be free of this. He might have power, and he might not—a terrifying thought—but if he could take a portal to find Bae, preferably with his mother and Belle, what did he care about Zelena's shenanigans? He still had the Dark Curse. Zelena couldn't cast it without his help, and so what if she dug Cora out of the past if he wasn't in this world? He'd always intended to go to the Land Without Magic to find Bae, so what did it matter if he lost his power before going there? The thought still made Rumplestiltskin vaguely sick to his stomach, but it would be worth it to find his son.
And then I can love Belle like she's meant to be loved.
"Rumple?" Belle's soft voice made him look up at her. "The choice is yours. Neither of us can make it for you, and we'll love you no matter what you choose."
You weren't destined to be the Dark One, his mother had told him ages ago. You were destined to be so much more. Now he looked at her, terrified that she would contradict Belle and say that she would only love him if he reclaimed something of his original fate. But Fiona just smiled.
"I told you long ago that I love you no matter what. A silly little potion doesn't change that, even if it did take me some time to come to terms with your taste in women." She threw Belle an amused look. "Although I will admit that you were always preferable to the last one."
"Last one?" Belle looked curious despite herself, but Rumplestiltskin hadn't really told her that story yet.
"Mother!"
"Oh, don't be dramatic. It's every mother's job to traumatize her child from time to time. Don't be surprised when I enjoy myself doing so." Her cheeky smile did more for Rumplestiltskin's state of mind than he would ever admit, though; Fiona didn't smile like this when she lied. A lying Fiona was cutting and cruel. His mother delighted in needling him and in being difficult.
A smile tried to make his lips twitch, but worry pushed it down. Did he dare? Did he not?
"Belle is right, though, my son." Fiona spoke quietly when he remained silent. "It must be your choice. Only by choosing the light can you truly banish the darkness."
Rumplestiltskin couldn't help arching an eyebrow at her. "Know that from experience, do you?"
"Hardly." Her laugh was brittle. "I think it's far too late for me. But it isn't for you."
"How can it not be? I'm—"
"Don't you dare call yourself a monster, Rumplestiltskin," Belle cut in. "You're not."
"I am." He felt the sad smile crease his scaled face. "But it appears that even the worst of monsters can love you."
She blinked. "Does that mean…?"
"Yes." His heart was tight in his chest; Rumplestiltskin wanted to flee. "I'll do it for you—both of you." He glanced at his mother, surprised to see tears in Fiona's eyes. "And for Bae."
Belle grinned, leaning towards him with shining eyes. But as she did so, she released his hand to wrap her arms around his neck, and in the split second without contact, the other Dark Ones roared to life. Don't! Don't you dare, you fool Spinner! Zoso sounded desperate. The others formed a chorus: Kill her kill her kill her kill her! Nimue, however, wrapped him in darkness so deep that he could barely see, igniting power in every cell of his body. You can't trust this! You'll be powerless without us! And he did feel more powerful than ever before. Rumplestiltskin felt like he could move the world with a fingertip—but at what cost?
The onslaught made him stumble back a step, shaking his head desperately to orient himself.
"Rumple?" Belle stuttered his name, looking horribly confused.
Rumplestiltskin could barely find his voice. He could barely see her face. The darkness was trying to cloud everything. After a moment's struggle, he managed to gasp: "Kiss me before I lose what little remains of my courage."
Belle did, and light exploded within him.
Fiona had teleported her to a place close to Port Mystic, but Tiger Lily hadn't dared let herself be seen with that kind of magic. Had one of the townspeople discovered that their new healer had magical connections, they'd ask questions she didn't want to answer—or desire magical solutions that she couldn't give them. It was better to keep things quiet, particularly given how curious her two apprentices could be. The mystery of Beans had been solved after he'd broken his leg, but Baelfire's origins remained obscure. He didn't like talking about where he'd come from, which Tiger Lily could understand, but she had a feeling that there was something more beneath the surface. Possibly something dangerous. Pan had been more interested in Bae than most of the other boys, she knew. Not that Pan had cared about Bae—she was fairly sure that Pan wasn't capable of that—but he watched him more closely.
In her experience, that was never a good thing.
"Hey." As luck would have it, Bae was in the front room when she returned home. "You've been gone awhile."
"I had to visit an old friend." Tiger Lily sighed, glad that the boys at least knew she'd been a fairy. She didn't have to hide that from them, which was quite the relief. "I had a feeling she was going to do something…regrettable."
She still wasn't sure that she believed everything Fiona had said, but Tiger Lily could at least be relatively certain that Fiona didn't actually want the Dark Curse cast. And if it was cast, Tiger Lily could at least be sure that the curse's form had been changed a great deal. No children would be stolen from their parents…at least not in a permanent sense. I still don't like it.
"Like what?" Bae was always full of questions, but he was less likely than ever to answer them now that they were in the Enchanted Forest.
"Like cast a terrible curse." The words slipped out, but at least Bae didn't have the context to understand what a problem that would be.
"Huh? Some fairy wants to cast a curse? That sounds kind of backwards."
Tiger Lily shot him a droll look. "I do have friends that aren't fairies." And I don't have many left who are.
"Not ones with magic."
"Good point." She sighed again. "As it so happens, she's an ex-fairy, like I am. Except she didn't lose her power." I saw to that.
"Oh." Bae frowned thoughtfully. "Didn't know it could work like that."
"It rarely does. Now, have you two been helping people while I was gone?"
"Some. Beans is resting his leg again, but Old Miss Hubbard came by and I gave her that cream for her rash, like you said to."
"Good." Tiger Lily smiled; Bae really was a good kid, and she cared for him a great deal.
"So, what kinda curse? Is it the same one Beans was on about?" Bae was also, alas, too smart for his own good, and was watching her closely. "You seemed really worried when he had that vision."
"That's because anyone in their right mind would be worried by that."
"An' that's not saying much."
"Don't worry about it, Bae. The curse isn't coming." Or at least I hope not, she thought behind the most confident expression she could muster. Fiona hadn't been lying, although Tiger Lily wasn't certain she'd told the entire truth, either.
"Do I look worried?" He shrugged, all overconfident teen. "I can handle any curse that comes my way."
Tiger Lily refused to be baited into telling him more. "I'm sure you can."
She changed the subject again, and Bae let her. He still seemed curious, but he was a smart kid. Bae knew that he'd have to answer her questions in order to get Tiger Lily to share more, and apparently he didn't want to do that, either.
So they both remained in the dark.
Lightning cracked within his mind; Rumplestiltskin felt the world shift, and suddenly, everything went quiet. Belle's lips were still on his, and he kissed her back hungrily as warmth and love and light tore through him. This feeling was akin to the spark he felt when they touched, but so much stronger. Yet at the moment, the only thing that mattered was that Belle was in his arms and he could feel her love. He'd never imagined that True Love could feel like this, had never imagined this perfect and pure magic racing through every fiber of his being. He had studied True Love, chased it, and bottled it, but Rumplestiltskin would never have guessed it could feel so beautiful.
Smiling so hard that his face hurt, Rumplestiltskin eased away from Belle when they both started running out of breath. She grinned back, her blue eyes full of love. Rumplestiltskin felt so light, so free. He hadn't felt like this since he'd been young and optimistic, full of hope and—
Then the darkness clawed into him. He couldn't hear them, not so long as Belle touched him, but his throat closed up, making Rumplestiltskin squeak in distress. His vision started blacking out again. He felt like a tornado of darkness was closing around him, twisting ever tighter and tighter. The only thing he could see was Belle, a small spot of light amid the darkness that battled to reclaim him.
"Kiss me again," he gasped. "It's working."
Belle complied, and light slashed through him again. Rumplestiltskin closed his eyes, leaning into her and letting go of the power. He'd never thought he would, never thought he could—he loved the power, even if he didn't love the darkness—but he did. He did it for Belle, for his mother, and for Bae, who had hated what he'd become. Slowly, he felt his face beginning to change, felt the curse beginning to pull back, until suddenly something twisted. A distant scream, and then more than one, tore through his mind, making him wince in pain and pull back, but the damage was done.
By the time Rumplestiltskin drew away from Belle the second time, he was free.
And then everything went dark.
"Is that it?" Regina had expected giving up her magic to be more painful, somehow. Sure, it hadn't been pleasant—there'd been an almighty jerk, and she was left feeling a little emptier than she had an hour earlier—but it hadn't been that bad. If she'd known it would be this easy to give Zelena what she needed to bring their mother back, Regina might have made the decision sooner.
"Pretty much." Zelena shrugged, holding up the sparkling red gem that now contained the magic Regina had never bothered to learn to use. "Now your magic is in my hands."
Regina tried not to shiver; that sounded ominous, but she was sure that Zelena didn't mean it that way. Mostly sure. "And you're going to use it to bring Mother back?"
"Of course I am. Why would I have gone to the bother of putting your magic in a gem, otherwise?" Zelena rolled her eyes, scoffing dramatically. "It's not like I need your power for anything else. I have plenty of my own."
"Right. And I guess since I wasn't using it, it doesn't really matter." Regina felt strange saying that. Giving up a part of herself had felt somehow wrong, but she wasn't ever going to use it. And she'd get to see her mother again.
All Regina remembered about Mother was a voice and the smell of her perfume. Cora's perfume had always smelled of orange blossoms, and Regina had found a bottle of it when she was nine. Sniffing it had made her cry, and she hadn't known why until Papa explained that it was her mother's favorite perfume. Regina had hidden that bottle away in her dresser for years and years; she supposed it was still there somewhere. Holding it had made her feel close to her mother, as had the little stories her father would tell her. She'd always felt sorry for Papa, who had known that Mother hadn't loved him, but Papa still tried to be fair to her, telling Regina how Cora had saved the kingdom from bankruptcy and had made them prosperous again.
"I can't imagine not learning to use my magic." Zelena interrupted her thoughts, but Regina couldn't be angry with how pensive her sister sounded. "It's been a part of me since I was a babe."
"Papa never wanted me involved in that. He said that it changed Mother in bad ways."
"That's ridiculous." Zelena snorted. "Magic only makes us better. My stepfather didn't like mine, either, but I showed him."
"What did you do?" Regina was almost afraid to find out.
Zelena drew herself up proudly. "I became royalty. He always said that I would make nothing of myself unless I learned to hide my magic, but I made myself into a queen with my magic."
"Is he still alive?"
"I suppose." A shrug. "He's somewhere in Oz. I never want to see him again, not even to rub my success in." Zelena turned a glare on her. "You were lucky. Mother kept you, and even after she died, you got to be raised by your father."
"I know." Regina refused to apologize for something that wasn't her fault, but she didn't hesitate to add: "I wish I'd known about you when we were young. I know Papa would have let me find you."
"You—you would have wanted to?" Zelena looked shocked, her anger draining away so quickly that her skin almost looked normal.
"Yeah." Now it was Regina's turn to shrug. "We're sisters. We might have gotten off to the world's worst start with you trying to kill me, but I would have liked to know you before that."
Zelena blinked like she didn't know what to say. After a moment, she shook her head. "Well, we'll never know. You should go. I have what I need."
Stung, Regina narrowed her eyes and studied her sister for a long moment. "Sure. I'll leave. I guess you got what you wanted, anyway."
"I did. Thank you." Zelena's words were aloof, but her eyes softened just enough for Regina to wonder if there was a chance for her sister after all.
Maybe she was crazy for thinking so, but maybe Zelena didn't have to be like this. She'll find mother, and then maybe we can all be a family. Maybe that'll save Zelena, and she can stop being the Wicked Queen, and just be herself. Regina knew it was a fool's hope, but maybe she was a fool. In the meantime, she'd deliver Zelena's offer of peace to Snow and Charming, and see what happened. Maybe it would at least buy them some time to rescue George's people and put that kingdom to rights.
"Is he going to be all right?" Belle's heart hadn't come out of her throat since Rumplestiltskin had collapsed. Fiona had moved him to the couch in the great hall, but he hadn't stirred even though it felt like forever had passed.
"I believe so, yes." But there were worry lines on Fiona's face that made Belle worry.
"But you don't know."
"No, of course I don't." Fiona gestured irritably. "This is completely uncharted territory. That bloody curse was the most toxic and corrupting bit of magic in creation—and I should know, given that I wrote the original form of the Dark Curse! It's had a hold on him for centuries, too, which means it's even more loathe to let him go."
Belle bit her lip. "When will we know? He…he looks human."
Despite her worry, Belle was having a hard time not just staring at Rumplestiltskin's face. She'd known what its structure would be, but she hadn't expected the wild curls to turn into soft brown hair she burned to stroke. His cheekbones were more pronounced than they had been as the Dark One, or perhaps the scales had just disguised them, and she'd caught a glimpse of warm brown eyes before he'd passed out. He looked so different, yet so much the same. Rumplestiltskin was handsome, too. Not that Belle had ever found him ugly—she'd even found much about his former form attractive—but even she had to admit that he was better looking like this.
"Hopefully soon." Fiona sighed. "I'm hesitant to wake him. Healing has…never been my strong suit."
Belle didn't have to ask why, but she still wanted to pace in frustration. There were no books on this, no way to know what needed to be done. Like Fiona had said, they were in uncharted territory. No Dark One had ever been freed of the curse before, so there was no way to know what was going to happen until Rumplestiltskin woke up.
"At least the darkness seems to have dissipated." Fiona's mutter made Belle twist to face her.
"What do you mean?"
"I half expected it to hang around looking for another host. But it does seem to be gone." Another shrug. "It could have gone either way. True Love's kiss might have been enough to transform it…or merely enough to free him. We won't know for certain until he awakes."
Belle just swallowed.
A/N: Stay tuned for Chapter 33—"A Truer Life Begin", in which Rumplestiltskin faces a life without being the Dark One, Killian and Gaston try to make an ally of Madam Faustina, Tink confronts Regina, and Fiona delights in embarrassing her son.
