Finally, Snow and David were planning their wedding; their real wedding, he supposed. They'd been married in front of his mother before she died for well over a year, but they'd kept it secret. As far as the Kingdom was concerned, they were unmarried and frankly, as far as they were concerned as well since their marriage still one year later had not been consummated. He knew because he'd been watching for it. Ashamed as he was to admit it, he often summoned an image of Snow White, first thing in the morning before she could wake to see if she would wake alone. When he found her in a deep sleep, he checked on David to see if he was awake or unsettled, as if he'd just moved back to his own space. He never appeared alert, always in a dead sleep in his bedroom, comfortable in blankets that had been tossed about. Snug as bugs in rugs. Precious, but not helpful for his future. He'd spent time hoping that with time it might happen and that the future would finally start to rocket forward. Still, unfortunately, the pair seemed immovable on the idea of going to bed together or sneaking around. They spent nights together in the forest while they'd been battling, but they'd always been responsible and respectable. They always woke in each other's embrace, fully clothed, very virginal, and therefore without child. When he thought back to his own memories of his True Love, all the things he'd wanted to do with her even before he'd know what she was, he thought this pair showed remarkable restraint.

The two of them were going away again tonight, their first outing to a royal ball as a couple, diplomats, but he doubted anything would be different between them there. So far, nothing had worked to get them in bed together, so he had no reason to doubt that in a castle full of royals, anything else would work either. The problem, he deduced, was that the pair was never truly alone. Out in the woods, they'd always been with the dwarves or their army or Red. Now, Snow had a handmaiden named Charlotte, one who was far more interested in stitching up flesh on the battlefield that stitching up her mistresses gowns. If what he'd seen in the mirror was any indication, Snow wasn't so sure she needed a handmaiden, but the pair seemed to be friendly. She was always around Snow, last thing at night, first thing in the morning. And the knights…they hovered around David, who they called James, as if he was some kind of god. Even if the pair wanted to be alone and unseen for any kind of romantic gesture, it wasn't likely to happen. He was going to have to work on that, on arranging some kind of encouraging and romantic rendezvous where they could be alone for long enough to get their clothes off.

But that was a task for later. For tonight the Seer had something different to offer, a new plan that had him nearly excited as copulation between the King and Queen. Tonight was finally the night he got his wand and his son. Figuratively, of course. The Seer had urged him all day, told him to take his mother's wand, and go to a home located, coincidentally just outside of the palace were Snow and David were attending their first official ball as a couple. The moment he arrived on the roof of the home, he knew what was going on.

He'd seen the house he was at before, both in his crystal and in a vision. More importantly, as he stood on the roof looking down over the scene before him, he realized he'd seen the women before as well. One was stunning, dressed in gold, her skin glittering in the low light. She was holding a wand. And she was beautiful, nothing compared to Belle, but her skin was bright, her smile cheery. Next to her, she would have made any woman look bland, but the girl she stood before was already so wretched-looking it wasn't fair to compare. She was dressed in rags, and that wasn't an exaggeration. He noticed stitching on the grayish-brown dress that she wore that shouldn't have been there, as well as knots tied into the clothes. It was as if she'd used whatever she could get her hands on to create her clothing. She was pathetic, even for a servant girl; rags for clothes, cloth for shoes, golden hair tied back with scraps, and a dirty face…but it was that face that made him smile. It wasn't just dirty, that was ash on her face. "A precious debt from a woman of ash will find the boy of fire…" A woman with ash smeared on her face and golden hair just like that. Cinderella. "Ashley" the Seer whispered in his head, a meaningless word he wasn't bothered with. Not at a time like this. It may take him decades more to get back to his son, but this was the moment, the deal that would assure him he would get back to him. And with the Golden Fairy here, the one the Seer had told him to wait for before giving him a vision of her death on this night…he knew he'd be walking away with at least one prize tonight. And later, decades later, he'd have the greatest prize of them all. How a "debt from a woman" and a "boy to lead him" would work out in the end, he wasn't sure yet, the Seer hadn't confided that, but he had years to figure it out following this moment.

He was so excited he could barely contain himself. The wand he wanted and the favor he needed all in one…he didn't know why he ever bothered questioning the Seer.

"I'm your Fairy God-mother," the fairy stated. "And I'm here to change your life, Cinderella."

"But my Step-mother told me that I couldn't go. She forbade me to leave."

Step-mother? Go? Oh, now there was an unexpected bit of news. She wasn't a servant girl. She was the step-daughter. And go…to the ball perhaps?

Up on the hill in the distance, he could see fireworks. It was a ball that had been called for the Prince so that he might find a Princess. Every eligible girl was said to be there, along with royals from all over, including Snow and David. And she wanted to go…that was easy enough to arrange.

"Your Step-mother doesn't have this," the Fairy God-mother smiled, flourishing her wand for the girl. It was one of the six wands in his original vision, the last of the wands in his vision. "This wand has the power to take you to your ball, to your prince, and to-"

He'd heard enough. With a wave of the Black Fairy's Wand, the Golden Fairy was gone; rather impressively, he thought. It was difficult to kill a fairy. He couldn't do it with his magic alone, not without potions or spells. It had been at the Seer's pushing that he'd grabbed his mother's wand. Now he knew why. It was as if he'd set fire to her inside, and her body had combusted. There was smoke, and glitter, a gasp from dear "Cinderella" and the clatter of a strong glass wand hitting the cobbles. He stored his mother's wand in his jacket and pounced, using magic he appeared in the fairy's footsteps and knelt down to collect the wand.

"What…what did you do?" Cinderella questioned, looking him over with wide eyes. The poor girl had dropped her broom as she sped away. Now she was defenseless. Not that a broomstick would have been much defense against him, but she hadn't considered that. She was scared.

"Now, now," he smiled, trying to soothe and set her on edge at the same time. "I got what I wanted. There's no need to be frightened."

"No need?" she breathed so that it was barely a whisper. "You just killed my Fairy God-mother! She was trying to help me."

"Was she?" he questioned. Wand in his hand, he was already feeling triumphant, but he couldn't lose sight of what he had to do now. He had the wand, the fairy was dead, but there was still a deal to orchestrate. And for a "favor" he had to have her want it. Fortunately, in their brief encounter, the fairy had given him something to work with. "Do you know what this is?" he questioned in a sing-song voice.

The girl looked at it as though it was a juicy steak and she hadn't eaten in years. She looked at it as though it was salvation, and that was what he wanted.

"Pure magic," she smiled with a look of desire in her eyes.

"Pure evil," he corrected. "Trust me. I've done you a favor. All magic comes with a price. Go on back to your life, and thank your lucky stars you still got something to go back to."

"My life…" she breathed with a little sob, "it's wretched."

"Then change it. You can't handle this."

And then he turned, giving her the impression that he intended to leave when he was really just pulling her in further. He had to get her to be willing to give anything, and while he suspected that she was nearly already there, he didn't want to move too fast just because he was excited and wanted to. This deal was one of the most important he'd ever make. He had to make sure it was just right.

It went just as he wanted it to. Barely three steps away, and he heard footsteps behind him. "Wait. Please, wait! I can handle it. Please! I will do anything to get out of here. Anything!" she begged.

Beautiful.

"Anything?"

"Do you know how to use that wand, Mr…?"

"Rumpelstiltskin!" he proclaimed, sweeping into his bow. "And yes, of course, I do." He hadn't had much time on this one, but he'd discovered the trick for the few that he had. Other than his mother's wand, most fairy wands worked the same. He should be able to convince it to do his bidding.

"Then help me!" the girl pressed. She was trembling, and her hands were in fists at her side. It wasn't often he got to see physical symptoms of desperation, but she certainly had them all now.

"Well, if I do, and you can, indeed, shoulder the consequences…then you'll owe me a favor," he tempted, circling her.

"Name it. What do you want?!"

"Something…precious."

"I have nothing."

"Oh, but you will!" he piqued, seeing it in his mind's eye even as he spoke.

He saw her in a beautiful dress of blue, hair curly and tied up off her neck, shoes made of glass, one of a kind. He saw her go to that ball. He saw her accidentally trod on the dress of Snow White before they had a conversation, and she noticed Thomas staring at her.

"Do you think he'll be Charming?"

"That name's already taken."

Thomas and Cinderella would dance briefly, but just for long enough, just enough for her to fall head over heels in love with him and him with her. And then he'd leave her, he'd leave her for a moment, and her step-mother would find her, issue a cruel word that would send her running back to her home, leaving a shoe on the stairs. Thomas would return, find her gone, and her shoe, unique and one of a kind, laying on the stairs. At home, his spells would reverse, but the wands magic would force her to hide her dress and her shoe. Over the next two days, he would search for her until Snow stepped forward. She would track her, lead the prince to her where he would get down on one knee and propose. He saw fireworks over the palace just like there were today, only now the fireworks were for a wedding. And everyone, except for Prince Charming and Snow White it seemed, knew what came after the wedding...

"With this wish, will come riches more than you know."

"I care nothing for riches. I'll give you anything you want. Just get me out of here!" So ready to volunteer "riches" that she assumed weren't even hers yet. That was what he wanted to hear.

"Now we're talking."

"Well, how does it work?"

"Fear not! My needs are small…and all you have to do is sign on the dotted line."

At the Seer's urging, he produced a contract and quill. It had been a while since he'd kept an actual written record. But she wanted it for this one. He'd explore why later, just as he'd explore how the boy and the woman would get him to Baelfire. "Do we have a deal?"

"Yes. Yes, thank you." She took the quill without question, and he turned and put the contract against his back so that she could sign it. As soon as he felt the scratches of the quill on the parchment stop, he felt the sealing of the deal, the promise of magic owed. He was bound to her, and she was bound to him…at least until she transferred that debt over to the Savior. One favor for another.

The contract signed, he pulled the memory of the visions the seer had given him into his mind and saw the girl in her pale blue dress once more with hair piled high and glass shoes. Something good. That was how fairy wands worked, with good intentions and motivations. He wanted her to go to that ball, to have her prince, to have a life that was better than what it was now. With that thought firmly planted in his mind, he waved the wand just so…and it was done. With a puff of magic, she was wearing that blue dress, her hair was styled just as he'd seen it, and beside her the glass shoes sat new and clean.

"Ta-dah!" he exclaimed as she beamed, looking over herself and…

"Glass?" she questioned, looking at the shoes.

"Every story needs a memorable detail," he dismissed. "Let's see how they fit, shall we?" She stepped into them without hesitation and grew a couple of inches. It was a good thing Prince Thomas was a tall man. He was bound to be fall in love with a girl like her; he'd seen the future to prove it. "Now, you have a good time. But be sure to watch the clock," he muttered as he waved his hand and used his own magic to make a pumpkin into a carriage and a few mice into some horses and footmen. As she left to find her future, he left with not one, but two prizes.

Cinderella! At least the first part of her story. As you well know, her tale sort of gets complicated, not necessarily for Rumple or even the readers/watchers, but this was yet again another example of taking the story apart piece by piece and examining it carefully to find that it wasn't as simple as it appeared. Her tale has to be told in a couple of parts. This first one, easyish. The next one...that's where it gets a bit complicated.

Thank you, thank you, thank you, Grace5231973, Jennifer Baratta, and Alarda for your reviews! I'm thrilled you enjoyed 2x10 and it's conclusion! Isn't it so much better when Rumple is doing more than watching? I hope this chapter, for that reason, will also be a nice respite. Confession, I really hated this character. Not the story, just the character, just Cinderella/Ashley. I don't know if it was the actress or how she played her or the way she was written, but something about her just rubbed me the wrong way. Still, I tried my best not to get into too much of that and tell it like it was. We're starting to see the culmination of many things in this chapter; Cinderella, the wand, the favor...I know this entire fiction has been about setting up every fiction/season that's to come, but this is where it really starts to feel like it's leading into season one. It's exciting. Peace and Happy Reading!