He arrived at the library as promised at noon sharp. He hadn't wanted to come early and risk intruding, but he'd said noon, and he wasn't going to waste a single minute of the time they'd set aside for one another. So, he arrived at exactly noon, freshly showered and shaved, dressed in a new suit, and with a smile on his face. First, because he was going to see Belle, but second…because he was going to see Bae. The brew had worked. In his shop, now sitting in the safe next to the memory enhancer with the binding spell and Bae's shawl, was a vial of the potion he needed to turn an object into a talisman. He hadn't used it on the shawl, not yet. His potions still needed the added layer that would get them through the town line, and he wanted to combine all of them together to run his experiments which would include a couple of stabilizing spells for the potions…but they were there. The pieces were coming together. He didn't think this day could get any better.

He was smiling before he knocked on the library door, but when she stepped outside to meet him, put her arms around him, and kissed him quickly, he was absolutely beaming. No, he didn't really care for public displays of affection, watching it all those years he hadn't had Belle stung in a way he wasn't eager to impress upon others. And if anyone were watching, if any enemies he might have caught a glimpse of the pair of them together in an embrace, then they'd know that she was more than just a librarian next door.

But he supposed it was time to dispel himself of the notion of privacy. They were about to have lunch in public at Granny's. If people weren't talking after the incident at the mines, then they would after today. So, he supposed, a quick embrace before she locked up the library and took his arm was acceptable. It might reveal that she was important to him, and while it was bad for him and enemies it might attract, it was good for her and the villains she might attract who wouldn't dare to come near her when they knew she was attached to him.

He was proud to have her on his arm as they walked to the library. Not in a way that showed her off or claimed her as his own, but rather in the way that suggested he was proud of himself. They weren't separated anymore. He must have done something good in the last week or so if she'd seen it fit to grab onto him and be seen with him. He must have done something right to make her want to lean into him and be close, even just walking down the street.

He liked that feeling. He did not like how crowded the diner was. Lunchtime…one of the busiest times at Granny's. He hadn't considered that when he made plans with her. All he'd known was that she'd wanted a burger, and lunch was the first thing that came to mind. He was ready to be open with her, out with her in public, but was he ready to be this open?

Before he could question how she felt about grabbing something and going to a park instead, he felt her hand in his own. She led him to an empty booth and was suddenly aware of the stare that Granny was giving him from across the room. This was…not well planned. But she was already settled into the booth, and he removed his outer jacket and sat across from her, hoping the setting would make it feel a bit more private. He sat with his back to the door, enabling him to focus on her and not who was coming in or going out. At least he didn't have to watch the stares of half the room. The other half…

"Good afternoon, Belle!" Granny cheered happily before glancing over at him and smirking. "Gold."

"Widow Lucas," he nodded, his voice barely a whisper. He was going to have to work on that.

"What'll it be today, folks?" she asked, looking between the pair of them. She looked expectedly at him, and he ordered his usual: a burger with extra pickles and iced tea. Belle ordered the same thing, and when the old lady left, Belle reached across the table for his hand. He gave it to her without thinking about who would see the gesture as she muttered a quick "thank you" that made him feel like his heart might explode with pride. All that time they'd spent together, all the time he'd kept her hidden from the world, he'd never once thought about what it might be like to teach it to her, to experience it with her as she did for the first time. He was suddenly infinitely jealous of Ruby for getting that opportunity instead of him. But in the silence that stretched across the table between them, he realized that one week on her own, in the real world, left plenty of room for further education. And not all of it had to be formal or dull or necessary survival skills. Sitting in the diner, he was reminded of a false memory "Master Gold" had with one of his aunts when they took him to eat here, a game they would play to make the time go faster.

"There is a game we play in this world to pass the time. It's called Rock, Paper, Scissors, have you heard of it?"

A smile spread over her face as she sat forward and shook her head, already eager to learn. It had been a good idea. It was far better than talking about Bae or Milah or what had happened between them in public with so many ears to hear. It wasn't quite capable of producing the joy reading a book did, but it was simple. And it required only the hand that she had given him, and to teach it, he could get away with politely molding it as he wished. Rock. Paper. Scissors. Scissors cuts paper-scissors wins. Paper covers rock-paper wins. Rock damages scissors-rock wins. Choose your object, count to three, and then "shoot."

She was good at it, they managed three games before the food arrived, and he learned for the first time that she enjoyed winning, her face gloating with pride after she won each of the games. He could get used to this. The idea of "dating," not so much, but the idea of being with her in this world, spending time with her doing banal things like playing games while they waited for burgers, he could live with that.

"They smell delicious, Granny," she smiled up at the old woman when she set their lunch between them, intruding upon their space once more; a reminder that they weren't as alone as he felt.

"They are delicious. Didn't take any Dark Magic either…" He squared his jaw and remembered to breathe at the sarcastic little comment she'd thrown in his direction. It was fine. A bit irritating, perhaps, but he'd dealt with worse than snide comments in his life. At least the former shifter had the gall to do it to his face instead of behind his back. "Oh…and, uh, I charge extra for the pickles."

He made a noise that let her know he'd heard her, message received. The "favor" she'd repaid the other night had not been a favor to him, but to Belle for protecting her granddaughter, he just happened to be a mutual recipient in it, and for that, he owed her. Of all the people in town to be indebted to…he could think of worse situations. Though whether or not Belle understood that…

"I've a complicated relationship with her…as I do with most people," he explained, his mind drifting away to that day she'd gone missing, and David had told him about the son of the butcher he'd turned into a pig. He supposed "complicated relationship" could explain nearly every relationship he'd ever had in his life.

She sighed and leaned forward in the booth. "Well, it, uh…it did take me a little time to get to know you," she pointed out with a shrug. "They will."

Oh, he doubted it. But the fact that she didn't made him feel like light was tearing through him again, and if he didn't find something to say or do, he might very well break his own rules and kiss her far more openly than he preferred.

"You know…" he reached for the bottle of ketchup at his elbow, "you should try it with ketchup. Condiments are this world's most powerful magic."

Intrigued, she took the bottle from him. He smiled at her amazement and sat back, nearly stupefied himself at how well all this was going. It was better than he'd planned for, better than he'd expected when he saw the crowd, but that shouldn't have surprised him. She was his most powerful magic. She made everything better when she was around. He shouldn't have been so shocked to find himself enjoying their time. So instead of overthinking it, he sat back and allowed himself to-

"Gold!"

The blood in his veins chilled at the voice he knew all too well, but it wasn't for him. It was for her. Because the second Regina's voice had rung out over the din of voices, he'd noticed that she too had gone deathly still. Regina and Belle, captor and prisoner, in the same room. His mind quickly shuffled through the last week of events as he watched her, looking for some opportunity for them to have met before this, but he could find none. Unless it was out on the street somewhere and she hadn't told him, this was the first time they'd come face to face since she'd gained her freedom. Here. Now. Of all the times and places…he was going to kill Regina.

"We need to talk," she spat out, marching over to their table, standing so close to Belle that she'd gone rigid.

"Do we?"

Her back was ramrod straight, her breathing was even, but her heart betrayed her…it was beating wildly. She might be doing a good job of displaying calm and confusion to the world around her, but he could see the fear in her eyes and hear the terror in her heart.

"Folks, uh…I think I might need to close early," Granny called out, making Belle's heartbeat hitch dangerously higher. "Everybody out!"

"No, it's okay," Regina corrected. "We're civil."

Were they? Because he'd hardly call what he wanted to do to her "civil." And he very much so doubted that if he got his way the diner, or Regina, would still be here when he was finished with her. But still, he kept his gaze trained on Belle. She'd calmed a little at the pronouncement that people would stay, but she still smelled like fear. If people being around helped, then yes…he could be civil. For Belle, not for Regina.

"Yeah…for now…" he agreed. She'd been staring at him with such focus since she arrived, her breath even enough that he knew she was probably counting it out in her head. She'd have nightmares tonight because of this, he was certain. Regina needed to leave. Now.

"Belle, you remember the woman who locked you up for twenty-eight years?" he stated, trying his best to make his former pupil uncomfortable enough with her sins to make her leave so they could go on with their lunch. Unfortunately, it had the opposite effect. Belle was the one who shuddered, who hunched her shoulders and reached for her jacket.

"I…I should probably…just-"

"No, no, stay where you are. Whatever she has to say won't be a secret from you. Whatever she wants…she won't get." He glanced up at her so that she'd get the end of that message loud and clear. So, she might as well leave.

"I'm actually coming about the one thing that might unite us," she responded.

"And what on earth can that be?!" he huffed. The notion that anything like that existed under anything but duress was lunacy. Utter lunacy. But Regina leaned in closer to him as if it was a secret and whispered simply one word.

"Cora."

Regina could make his blood chill. Belle could make it feel like it was boiling over. But with that one word, he felt as though he had nothing inside of him at all. He wasn't numb. He was just falling into a void in his soul that had existed ever since they made their first deal.

"She's coming from our land. I need your help to stop her."

He shook his head at Regina's words, at the lie that had been revealed from them. "She was dead. You told me you saw the body."

He knew she'd been lying when he spat that ridiculous claim out of her mouth all those years ago. They'd been fighting, and she'd been trying to gain the upper hand, make herself impressive. How impressive was it now that her deceit was out in the open?

"Well, apparently, you taught her well," Regina snapped as if it was his fault this was happening. "She's not. She's on her way, and I don't think I need to remind you how most unpleasant that would be for the both of us."

"Yeah, for you," he challenged back. He'd taught Cora everything she knew, just as he'd taught Regina. She too had tried to be more powerful than him, and, in the end, it got her a ticket to Wonderland. No, having her here would be unpleasant, and she wouldn't be "easy" to subdue, but if he had a warning, if he could properly prepare, then he'd be fine. "I can handle Cora."

"That's not how she tells her story."

"I won in the end!"

"Maybe, but there's a big difference this time," Regina hissed in his year. "This time…you have someone you care about. This time, you have a weakness."

He fought back the urge to swallow hard as his gaze fell over Belle. She was still afraid, still fearful of having Regina so close, but he also noted something else in her gaze. Curiosity. Clever as she was, even through the fear, she'd eventually figure out what they were talking about. And what would that lead to? More fear. And properly so. Cora saw love as a weakness, saw it as something to be squashed, a tool to use in any good game of manipulation. If she came here, got within ten miles of Belle…

"I-I'm sorry," Belle finally stuttered, looking at him. "Who is this woman?"

She was already catching on, finding her voice in front of Regina, realizing there was a story there beyond that of the threat. He'd rather be able to tell it to her on his terms, not because she was in danger, once again, because of something he'd done long ago.

"Someone you'll never meet," he assured her. "So, you say she's coming; where is she now?"

"With them, Regina emphasized so that he knew exactly who the "them" was. Mary Margaret and Emma. Fuck. Regina was right. He was going to have to take care of Cora. And seeing as Regina had answers that he didn't seem to have, that meant they were allies. Again. Unfortunately. But that didn't mean they needed to be anywhere near Belle to do this. He glanced at their uneaten lunch and then over at her. He'd been looking forward to this time with her for days, but he'd much rather have the certain knowledge that she was safe than this time.

"Belle, I've got to take care of this," he apologized. She nodded as he got to his feet. She stayed where she was, making no move to follow after him or Regina, a stillness that he was grateful for so they didn't have to have another fight about her being safe and out of danger. Then he kissed her on her cheek and left with Regina.

No surprises here. This scene is one that we saw in the series, as it was with Moments. It just needed a bit of framing to be fit for publication! I do enjoy seeing things through Rumple's eyes, though. He goes from 0 to 60 at the drop of a hat when it comes to his anger, but when the boy is in love...damn! He really does have it bad, doesn't he?

Thank you, Grace5231973, for your review of the last chapter! I'm so glad that you liked that little transition and enjoyed the breakdown to get Rumple over the town line. This chapter has a little bit of that as he's finally finished the potion he said he was going to complete! One step closer! Well, one step and now one very, very bad witch. Peace and Happy Reading.