"Oh, you're back already! Good! Good thing!" he piqued, his voice involuntarily going up a few octaves more than he'd meant to. That had nothing to do with his crafted persona and everything to do with the pounding in his heart. He turned away and back to the wheel; with any luck, she'd go back to read, and it would just be an ordinary night. "I'm, uh…I'm nearly out of straw," he swallowed nervously again.

How was it she had the power to take a centuries-old, cursed Dark One and make him just as nervous as an average fourteen-year-old boy?!

"Mmm," she responded, hurrying over to him and setting the basket down on the platform. "Come on…you're happy I'm back!" she smiled, meeting his gaze through the wheel.

She knew. Of course, she knew. She always knew him better than anyone ever had. She was a highly perceptive woman. Beautiful and smart. How could he ever dream of casting her aside? How could he not be happy to see her?

"I'm pleased you've returned," he found himself admitting, wishing those were the words he'd actually said. There was no mistaking it now. She was blushing, a beautiful rose color that complimented her smile perfectly.

Oh, she needed to sit down. Now! He waited with bated breath for her to round his back as he knew she would because this was the moment he'd played over and over again in his head more than any others with her. He didn't even bother to try and spin because he knew he wouldn't be able to focus the moment he felt her hands on his shoulders, her breath on his neck, and her eyes on him. He knew it was no use. He couldn't focus if he'd tried, not with her heart humming the way it was, alive, and so close to his own.

"And, uh, you promised me a story," she whispered behind him.

He glanced up at her. "Did I?" Had he? He couldn't remember. His brain wasn't moving as fast as it normally was in this place. Her distinct scent, the smell of roses and lemons and fire, was overwhelming the grain and wood. He'd forgotten she smelled of lemons…

She made a sound that confirmed he had made her that deal, then reached down and boldly plucked the string he held from his hands. She made herself comfortable next to him, too close, perhaps. She sorted her skirts around her, and he wondered how he'd never known a human body could fit there so perfectly before. Then, before he could move or step out of the space and away from her, she did the unthinkable. She reached forward and put her hand against his leg. Delicate, beautiful, slightly shaking itself.

She sighed suddenly and shook her head, her hand steading. "Tell me about your son."

His stomach dropped. The words were sobering or would have been if they didn't make him so uncomfortable. That was the story he'd promised her. He remembered now. If she returned from town, he would tell her about himself. He'd made a mistake. He'd made that mistake before, but he knew this wouldn't be one. He could tell her, she'd understand, he just knew she would! He wanted to tell her, just like he had for the longest time, but he just couldn't put the necessary words together. But they'd had a deal…

"I…" he tapped his fingers together, suddenly feeling nervous under her gaze, and then did what he should have done all along. His hand sought her own. It covered the one that she'd placed on his leg and trembled with her. Could she read his mind? See his thoughts? Know the loop he would play this conversation on in his mind for the next few years to come? Could he break it? Oh, how he wished he could.

"I lost him," he admitted, stroking the back of her hand to calm her. "There's nothing more to tell really…"

He held his breath, wondering if she'd question further, waiting for her to respond, wanting her to question further so that he could answer her. She wouldn't be like the others who knew. She wouldn't take advantage of him or the information. He just knew it.

"And since then," she went on, the grip she had on his leg loosened, and she turned her hand over, allowing her fingers to skim over the palm of his hand, sending sparks of magic into his brain, "you've loved no one, and no one has loved you."

No. It wasn't true. Not anymore. It had been at one time, but now he knew he did love someone beyond his son. And she loved him. No matter what he'd done, she loved him. That was something to hold onto.

He found himself leaning forward, closer to her. He felt his heart flutter, his stomach twist as he stared into her eyes. He'd never felt this way about anyone.

"Why did you come back?" he asked, his voice no more a serious whisper between the two of them.

"I wasn't going to," she whispered back, looking him over. "But, then…I had a talk with someone and…she changed my mind, but…but not the way I felt. I knew that even before I'd left here. Can you trust me? Do you?"

"Can you trust me? After all, I've done to push you away? Would you?" he asked back.

Her eyes filled with tears as she nodded. And suddenly the world seemed to slow around them as she moved closer, so close he could feel her breath upon his cheek and yet…she wasn't close enough!

Before his mind could form a coherent thought, his eyes closed, and he moved forward to let her do what he'd wanted to for months now.

They kissed.

And it felt indescribable. It was just a kiss, just her lips brushing against his. But it was everything he remembered it had been, something different than he'd ever experience. Less abrasive than Cora's, more meaningful than Milah's, and enough to make him completely and utterly regret the rampage that had followed. A pure, genuine, heartfelt kiss. When he realized he was kissing her back, he wanted to change it. He'd never felt like he was melting before, but he felt that way now. He felt dizzy, his throat dry, his palms sweaty. He felt more human than he'd felt in a long time. Since before Bae left.

It was as better than he'd imagined it would be. It made him feel settled in a way that he hadn't expected, and the moment they'd pulled away from each other, his hands sought her waist. He wanted to kiss her again, to hold her close as he'd dreamed about, and descend into euphoria with her shamelessly. He didn't want to be apart from her for the rest of his life.

"Oh, what's happening to me," he muttered, astounded at all the feelings and sensations working their way from his mouth through his body.

Her hands were at his neck, against his cheeks, intimately brushing away hair, as he opened his eyes and struggled to find her face. Why did the room seem duller next to her all a sudden? Why was he struggling to see in the dark next to her radiant light?

"Kiss me again. It's working!" she exclaimed.

"What is?"

She smiled. "All curses can be broken," she whispered as an explanation. Oh yes…all curses could be broken. And how he wanted his curse to be broken. The curse that his life was the curse that it had been. So he drew her closer, he moved closer to her. He kissed her again. A slow ache returned to his ankle, a familiar friend. His strength, his power seeped out of his very pores. The tingle he wasn't aware that he felt every second since taking on his curse slowly left his body as his nose filled with a scent that wasn't his own. It was hers. It belonged to Belle, and he'd be content all the days of his life to smell nothing but that.

"Oh, Belle," he whispered when she stood and straddled his lap. He looked up into her eyes. They weren't as clear as they had been while he'd had his powers. But it was gorgeous in the low light of the fireplace. Low light. He hadn't seen lowlight in over one hundred years. And never, never, had he seen anything as beautiful as she was. "I love you," he whispered.

Her smile grew, it spread across her face so that it touched every part of her, her eyes smiled, her forehead participated, even her nose seemed happier. "And I love you, Rumpelstiltskin."

"I want to tell you everything."

"Tell me. I want to help."

So he told her everything. It helped.

He could have relished in that false memory for as long as he lived. He could have relaxed in it and pretended it was the truth for eons just to bask in her a little bit longer than he had in reality.

But something stirred him from his stupor far earlier than he would have liked it too.

This wasn't a simple spell, one that could be said and done in a snap. It was the greatest Curse of them all. It was going to take some time to cover the land. From a single source, the cloud would grow and double and double and double until it spread everywhere and did its work. It was so powerful it would leak into other Realms if that's what Regina wanted. It wouldn't affect those realms as it did this one, devastating the land by tearing it to pieces, but it would freeze time and enable her to pull forth individuals if she wanted. Though…he couldn't imagine who she would want to pull when she was so stuck on those in this land.

He could feel her there. He could feel her easier than ever. The Curse was growing. It was close, so close he could taste it! The magic in the air was overwhelming enough that he could leave if he truly wanted to. But he didn't; there was no point. He had no one that he wanted to see, no one to kiss good-bye. And apparently, neither did the little mouse who had snuck uselessly into the mines to see him.

"I'm waiting!" he cried, pressing his face to the bars as the Evil Queen materialized outside his cage with her back to him. She still wasn't thinking long term and probably never would. She'd snuck in here as if afraid she'd be caught, but she'd just cast the most powerful Curse in all the realms. Who was going to catch her?! Besides…all the guards had abandoned their jobs to go to their own families. They were the ones who had no one except each other, a fine bit of irony that was. "What took you so long?"

"You know what took so long," she grinned, turning to face him. She grinned…but something was missing from that grin. Satisfaction. The Curse was complete, but she wasn't satisfied. It was all part of the cost of the magic she'd unleashed…she never would be satisfied.

"Oh, yes. The Curse. You did it."

"That's right. I did it. And I wanted you to know it before you, like all the other pathetic denizens of this wretched land, forgets everything."

He smiled and leaned up on the bars. "How did it feel?"

"Watching the curse cloud form? Felt like victory."

"No!" he laughed. "How did you feel to kill the thing you love most? Ripping the heart out of your father?" she winced, her guard falling for just a second before she got it back in place. "How did that feel?"

"It was the price of the Curse," she dismissed. "How it felt doesn't matter. He would have understood. I took my life back. I had to. I won."

Oh, the poor foolish child. And to think she'd ever had dreams she might one day be a greater sorcerer than he when she didn't even understand the difference in a curse between "sacrifice" and "price."

"And yet, here you are. Feeling the need to gloat. Something's missing, isn't it, dearie?"

"Not at all," she smiled. They were dancing, moving back and forth between the bars. He was moving, leading, she was following, looking him in the eye, getting up close in his face, seeking satisfaction that no one would ever be able to give her, not as long as her curse reigned supreme. "I have everything I want. Nothing can stop me now."

Nothing. He'd told her there was something the last time she'd visited, and yet she still wasn't listening—poor girl. The irony was that if she'd actually cast the Curse when he'd first given it to her, then things would be different. Perhaps he should be grateful for her stubbornness.

"Not quite."

"What does that mean?"

"The savior, the child of Snow White and Prince Charming."

Regina sighed and rolled her eyes at his remark as if it was nothing.

"She can stop you," he reminded her. "She can break the Curse."

"Well, looks like getting rid of a baby made my to-do list."

Stubbornness, again. He had nothing to fear. Everything the Seer had ever said would come to pass had come to pass. He trusted she'd make it out.

"Of course, it did. But even if you succeed with that, you have an even bigger problem!"

She eyed him with curiosity. Curiosity he was all too happy to smother. Oh, the Seer, that blessed woman, put vision after vision of Regina in his head at just the right time.

Regina-a straight plain haircut in smart clothes that lacked the sex appeal she had now.

"Gold, I need help."

"I need your help."

"Help me."

"There's something I want."

"Help us, Gold."

"Help", "Help", "Help". Vision after vision, time after time. Her clothes changed, her hair varied slightly in each, but the meaning was clear…this wasn't to end here.

"Now, there's a hole in your heart, and someday you will come to me to fill it."

She shook her head and looked him over with disgust. "You overestimate your powers of foresight," she breathed before turning from him.

"And you underestimate the price of what you've done!" he cried after her. "You shall see! You will come to me! There is more you need! Oh!" he rang out in a sing-song voice.

Regina's anger flared as she turned to him, her cloak billowing out around her. "Your taunts will get you nowhere! I know you too well. You want to make another deal. Well, I won't."

"A deal?" he laughed. "You already promised me a good life in this new land. What more than I want from you?"

"Oh, to be let out of this cage," she guessed, looking around. "To be let out of our last deal. To escape the curse."

"But why would I desire that, dearie? I'm exactly where I want to be." Regina's eyes widened as she reeled back.

"You planned this?" she muttered.

"How could I?" he laughed. "After all…I overestimate my power of foresight."

"What have you done?!" she cried as he turned away from her. "Tell me!" she screamed as he took a seat on the opposite wall and crossed one leg over the other, waiting patiently for the inevitable. Regina let her hands slam into the bars, let her face press against them in desperation, and he smiled. Now it was she in the cage. "I have something of yours!" Regina finally cried. "Something precious, something you'll want more than whatever secrets you hold dear, tell me, and I'll return it to you."

No. That was unlikely. Baelfire was in another world, Belle was dead, thanks to Regina, and everything else he needed or wanted would be coming back to him as soon as the curse was complete.

"There's nothing you have I want dearie…perhaps I just want to stop you from reaching the child before she escapes you," he smiled sinisterly. "Though...bit of advice, dearie...remember...if the Savior is killed...your Curse will be finished before it even begins."

"Then I'll take her from her parents and make sure she never knows who she is!"

"Well, then...I guess you better hurry. I can feel the magic brewing outside this place. I imagine you don't have long before it hits."

Regina's nose flared, her eyes went wide and wild. And then she was gone

I had a lot more fun writing this chapter than I thought I would. I got to bring a lot of things into play here. First, of course, the scene with Belle replays, and it's not just one thing different, but there are a few places he deviates from the original. I did like writing it this way because there's a scene in Moments (forgive me, I can't remember if it's in the published version or Exiled) where they talk about how if he didn't send her away, then they wouldn't have been able to keep their hands off one another, eventually, she'd have worn him down, and his curse would have broken. He responds in that scene with "it might have been worth it." I don't think he would wish for that all the time, but even in Storybrooke, I think there are times that he would think about that alternative. There are times I think he would wonder if just staying with her and letting Baelfire live out his life without him would have been the better option. And then, of course, you have the Evil Queen, all her groveling, dissatisfied answers, and then, her offer. You all know what she would have offered him, right? She always said she kept Belle as a valuable chess piece, but we never saw her make the play. I imaged here would be a good place for it. Her father has died, there's lots of magic in the air, she feels sort of let down, but also feels nervous about it coming to pass...why not offer Belle. Of course, the irony in that is that he might have made a trade for that. He might have taken her up on that offer...if he knew it was Belle she was offering. Regina's done too good a job convincing him that he's alone. He doesn't even think about the possibility and so Belle slips through his fingers just like that.

Thank you Jennifer Baratta for your review on the previous chapter. One more chapter left to go, and we're at our end. Can you believe it?! What a wild ride but as always I'm so grateful to you for being willing to go with me on this journey. So now, if you are ready, it's wrap this up! Peace and Happy Reading!