My fall will be for you

My love will be in you

You were the one to cut me

So I'll bleed forever...

Nightwish - Ghost Love Score

Author's Notes: I based Belle's captivity by the clerics on descriptions of witch persecutions during the Middle Ages. I was disgusted with the part in Lacey where it was suggested Rumple tried to skin Robin alive so I cut that out and took a different approach and I figured there had to be some truth to Regina's story about the clerics which was why Rum reacted so violently in Skin Deep.

He was sitting at his wheel, making a concentrated effort to appear busy when she walked into the room carrying the basket of straw.

"Oh, you're back already. Good. Good thing. I'm, uh... I'm nearly out of straw."

"Come on, you're happy that I'm back." Belle teased, setting the basket down.

"I'm not unhappy," he confessed.

"And you uh, promised me a story."

"Did I?"

"Mh-hmm. Tell me about your son."

"I lost him," he said. "There's nothing more to tell, really."

"And since then you've loved no one and no one has loved you?"

"Why did you come back?" he whispered as he leaned towards her, his heart racing again.

"I wasn't going to but then something changed my mind." Belle leaned forward, her own heart beating faster and pressed her lips to his.

"Oh..." Rumple whispered. "What's happening?" He could feel his darkness slipping away along with his hideous appearance yet he couldn't bring himself to pull away from a kiss that was more like fire than Cora's ice.

"Kiss me again, it's working!" she cried

"What is?" he asked, shocked when he heard his human voice again.

"Any curse can be broken."

"Who told you that? Who knows that?!" he shouted, his cursed appearance returning as his rage surged through him. Betrayed again!

"I-I-I don't know. She, uh... she...she..." she stammered.

"She," he hissed, stalking over to the mirror in front of the wall and removed its cover. "You evil soul. This was you! You turned her against me! You think you can make me weak? You think you can defeat me!?"

"Who are you talking to?"

"The queen! Your friend, the Queen! How did she get to you?"

"The-the Queen? I don't understand..."

"I knew this was a trick. I knew you could never care for me. Oh, yeah. You're working for her. Or is this all you? Is this you being the hero and killing the beast?" he hissed.

"It was working!"

"Shut up!"

"This means it's true love!"

"Shut the hell up!"

"Why won't you believe me?!"

"Because no one...No one could ever, ever love me!" he screamed, shaking her. He grabbed her arm and led her back down to the dungeon, shoving her inside her old cell and locking the door.

"Rumplestiltskin, no! Don't leave me in here...please.." she pleaded, battering the door with her fists .

"I won't be a pawn in your game...or hers!"

"This is no game...I love you! Let me prove it to you!"

"You've proven nothing more than that you're just like all the others!" he snarled from the other side of the door and returned to the dining hall, picking up his old walking stick and attacking anything in his sight...the cabinent, the walls, the mirrors. He then stalked over to the table, taking the tea cups and smashing them against the wall. When he found the chipped cup in his hand, he got ready to throw it but changed his mind and set it back down on the table.

"So... what are you going to do to me?" Belle asked him when he opened the door to the dungeon two days later.

"Go!" He pointed toward the door and turned his back to her.

"Go?"

"I don't want you anymore, dearie."

Belle stood up, prepared to walk away but she stopped and faced him. She'd told him once before that he would not break her nor would he ever see her cry again."You know, you were freeing yourself. You could have had happiness if you just believed that someone could want you. But you couldn't take the chance."

"That's a lie."

"You're a coward, Rumplestiltskin. And no matter how thick you make your skin, that doesn't change," she said coldly

"I'm not a coward, dearie. It's quite simple, really. My power... means more to me than you."

"No. No, it doesn't. You just don't think I can love you. Now, you've made your choice. And you're going to regret it. Forever. And all you'll have... is an empty heart...and a chipped cup," she said, her voice breaking and it took every last ounce of strength she had to hold back her tears. She retained her brave facade until she was well beyond the castle walls, the silence of the night broken by her anguished sobs.

When Rumple returned to his library Lucky was perched on his table, his fur sticking up as he growled and hissed.

"Get off that table...now!" he ordered and reached out to grab the cat. It hissed again and dug its claws into his arm. "What did you do that for?" Rumple asked angrily, waving his hand over his arm to heal it while Lucky continued to growl and hiss at him.

Because you're a jackass, that's why! How could you let her go!? She loved you!

"She was working for the queen, tricking me...just like Cora."

If that's the case then explain this to me: why did her kiss start turning you back into a man again? Because it IS true love and she IS your true love. She loved you and although you are too muleheaded to admit it, you loved her. You still do.

"She doesn't love me. No one can love me," he said sadly as he sat down in his chair. The cat crawled onto his lap and rested its head on his thigh.

I don't love you but I do like you, even if you are a jackass who just let the best thing to ever happen to him walk out. Hopefully she'll come back and beat some damned sense into you.

"She won't return, Lucky. I...I was terrible to her."

Jackass.

"Stop calling me that!"

Well you are...and a coward!

You're a coward, Rumplestiltskin. And no matter how thick you make your skin, that doesn't change.

Oh, you're right about that, Belle. And you're better off without me.

Suddenly the castle, like the shack so many years ago no longer felt like a home without her in it. He missed her bright smile, her laughter but more importantly, he missed her. The long walks he took about the castle grounds in the evenings seemed dull without her there to talk to him. He stopped sitting in front of the fireplace to read because he couldn't bear to see the empty chair across from him, gone from his life, just like Bae...and it had been his fault.

The door to the dungeon of Castle Lavalliere opened and Maurice entered followed by two of his guards and several clerics. "Take her to the tower," he instructed the guards.

"Papa...Papa, please don't do this," Belle begged as the guards seized her by her arms and dragged her out of the room. "Papa!"

"I'm sorry my girl...this is for the best. Fetch the lady Angelique!" he commanded the guard captain. He nodded and raced down the road to the home of the town's resident midwife. She packed what she needed into a bag and followed the guard to the castle.

"Is someone about to give birth, my lord?" she inquired.

"No. My daughter...Belle...was enslaved to the Dark One and I fear he has tainted her. You will examine her to determine whether she is still a maid or if she has indeed fornicated with that monster."

"My lord!" Angelique cried, astounded that he would make such a request yet she was not able to refuse him. When she was taken to the tower room where the girl was being kept she was horrified when she saw the clerics examining her for evidence of the Dark One's mark. Maurice had also called on the Blue Fairy for assistance to set up wards around the castle preventing the Dark One from attempting to reclaim his daughter while the clerics prayed to the gods to banish the evil from her body and soul.

Belle lay curled in a ball in the corner of the tower room, unable to believe her own father could betray her so cruelly. She was not tainted, she'd only been in love. Although Angelique had informed both Maurice and the clerics the girl was innocent, they hadn't believed her. She was now known in their town as the Dark One's Whore and no one wanted to associate with her for fear of incurring the Dark One's wrath, laving Maurice no other option but to keep his daughter locked away for her own safety but Belle was not going to be a prisoner. While her father and his clerics were discussing the methods that would be needed to restore her soul to righteousness, she was plotting her escape.

Her meal was delivered once a day. The woman sent to do the task always tucked the key to the cell inside her dress pocket. Belle was not a violent person by nature but she knew the only way she would be able to obtain the keys from the servant was to incapacitate her in some form and one morning when the food tray was being delivered, Belle made her move. She struck the woman over the head with the teapot and retrieved the keys.

"I am so sorry," she said to the unconscious woman. "But I will not be a prisoner in my own home any longer!"

She was shocked when she discovered that her father hadn't even posted any guards around the to tower,, however, she did see them patrolling the rest of the castle grounds. While she was sneaking past two of them she heard her name being mentioned.

"He's never going to let her out of that tower. The midwife says she's still a maid but the Dark One could've tricked her and no man in a village for miles would want his leavings. Probably made her do all sorts of things that even a tavern wench wouldn't do," one of them said and went into detail, making the bile rise in Belle's throat. How dare they suggest such things? Rumplestiltskin was not like that!

"Better if he put the word out she is dead."

She made the decision then and there that she was never going to return home again. There was no point anymore. When people looked at her they would see her as a whore and Rumplestilkskin as a monster despite any protests she would make to the contrary.

She wasn't sure how long she'd been walking but she was exhausted and in need of food and drink when she spotted a tavern. While she was having a drink she could hear a group of dwarves talking, one of them talking about some strange feelings he'd been having, feelings she knew well.

"It's not in his head, it's in his heart. You're in love," she said softly. "Trust me, I know love and you're in it."

"What's it like?" he asked as he sat across from her

"It's the most wonderful and amazing thing in the whole world. Love is hope. It fuels our dreams. And if you're in it, you need to enjoy it. Because...love doesn't always last forever," she concluded sadly.

"But if love's so great, why do I feel so bad right now?"

"You need to be with the person you love."

"Yeah but how do I know she feels the same way? All she talked about was going to see some fireflies, not loving me."

"What did she tell you about these fireflies?" As the dwarf explained, Belle realized the woman in question was hinting around that he should join her, however, he hadn't gotten the message. "She wasn't telling you about the fireflies. She was inviting you to be wth her."

"You think so."

"I've had my heart broken enough to know when someone is reaching out. Now, go. Find your love...find your hope...find your dreams."

The dwarf rejoined his friends while Belle sat alone at the table again, brushing tears from her eyes. Why couldn't I reach you, Rumple? We were so close...but that curse, that horrible curse, as long as you hold onto your fear, you'll never truly be happy.

She had a few coins in the pocket of her old housemaid's dress to afford a room at the inn above the tavern. As she lay in her bed looking up at the ceiling, she thought of Rumple again and could see the anger in his eyes after their kiss.

No one, no one could ever, ever love me!

Who made you believe that, Rumple? She sensed his bitterness came from much more than his curse. He'd said his wife and son were lost to him. Did she leave him and take their child with her? Was that why he was so reluctant to open his heart again? She'd taken the chance, placed all her hopes into a single kiss and it had gone terribly wrong, making her fear she'd left another scar on his heart and been given one of her own through his rejection.

Rumple reached into his chest and pulled out his heart. As he gazed at it he was stunned to see that a small portion of it was glowing red again while the rest of it was consumed by darkness.

Just once more...please allow it to work this time...I have to find her and bring her back to me...if she'll have me, he thought desperately as he closed his eyes and waved his hand over the darkened organ. When he opened them again, he moaned in agony when he saw the heart still intact, still consumed by darkness. He wept in silence and placed it back inside his chest again. He was a fool. She would never come back. No one ever did.

The next afternoon while Belle was having her lunch she could haear group of men talking. "...A fearsome beast, ravaging a far away kingdom. It's eyes burn with fire. They call it the Yaoguai. No man has been able to kill it, but we will! There's room on our wagon. Who's gonna join us?"

"Looking for an adventure?" the dwarf asked her when he approached her table.

"Dreamy, right?"

"Yes. I came to thank you. That advice you gave me last night, it worked. Nova and I are running away together."

"That's wonderful."

"Why don't you sign up?" Dreamy asked, indicating the group of hunters.

"Yeah, I've always dreamt of heroics but I think it's safer I stick to my books. They're the only adventures I know that have happy endings," Belle scoffed.

"Well maybe this one will have one too."

"Well yeah, I doubt it. Last time I faced a beast it didn't end well."

"What are you talking about?"

"Men! Follow me! Yaoguai awaits," she heard the leader of the hunting party call out before she could answer.

"Get on that wagon. Go! Take a chance."

"Thank you." She stood up and started to leave.

"Wait! Belle! Wait. It's fairy dust. It might come in handy," Dreamy explained, handing her a pouch.

"Uh, no, thank you... I've seen what magic does to people."

"You've seen what dark magic does. Fairies use this for good. Now go be a hero."

Belle smiled. So he had known who she was or were she'd been but at least he didn't judge her harshly as so many others had. Before she did, she stopped by the bookshop and found a book on the Yaoguai. It was written in the language of the creature's origin.

"What's that?" the leader of the hunting party, named Alistair asked her. The man didn't even know what a book was?

"Uh, a book. I trust you've seen one before?"

"You expect to beat the fiercest creature in the land with a book?"

"Maybe she means to bore it to death." another man said and they all laughed.

"It will tell us how to find the Yaoguai."

"These are just scribbles," Alistair said as he snatched the book out her hands.

"It's called another language. One that I know how to translate. Hmm."

"What?"

"Oh I thought it was just, scribbles?"

"We are here to protect the land, girl. If that book tells us where to go you shall share it with us."

"It says we'll find the Yaoguai by the lake."

"The lake you say."

"Yes."

"You heard her, Claude. We're going to the lake." They threw her off the wagon.

"Wait!"

"Don't forget your book!" Alistair called out and threw the book out.

"Enjoy the lake!" Belle yelled after them while she picked up her book and read aloud while she made her way into the mountains. It was still daylight and she hoped it would be asleep. "The Yaoguai prefers mountain habitats to all others. The Yaoguai hibernates by day and hunts by night. Please be asleep." She pulled her dagger out and broke into a run when she heard a noise from inside the lair and the fiery beast emerged, stalking after her. Her foot caught on a rock and she fell to the ground as the beast approached. Another woman emerged from the woods and shot an arrow at the beast. It scurried off.

"However can I thank you? You saved my life," Belle exclaimed as she rose to her feet.

"And you ruined my hunt. It took me weeks to track the Yaoguai here."

"Yeah, I found it in a day."

"You have luck on your side."

"No not luck, it was this." She showed the woman the book. "I could, uh, I could help you find it again."

"You've done enough damage already. If you really want to help. Stay out of my way," the woman said angrily and continued her pursuit.

When she reached the town, the hunting party was waiting for her.

"The Yaoguai wasn't at the lake," Alistair said angrily as his companion grabbed her and attempted to dump her into the well while she was trying to get herself a drink of water.

"I'm - I'm sorry. I must've misread that one," she cried.

"Hmm. You know what I think happened? I think you sent us in the wrong direction on purpose," he said then something caught him around his throat and pulled him away from her. His companion also released her. Belle looked up to see a soldier approaching.

"Let her go."

"This isn't your fight, soldier," another man spoke up and challenged the soldier, who fought him off. Belle was stunned when the soldier's helmet came off. It was the woman she'd seen in the woods.

"Wait. You're a..." the man said, stunned while the woman punched him.

"Yeah. I know." She stood up and held her sword out. "Go!" she ordered them. The men quickly obeyed.

"I... didn't expect to see you again. Thank you," Belle said to her.

"I had to put up with brutes like them when I served in the emperor's army. Fools who think we have no business holding a sword. I only wish there was someone there to stand up for me." She looked down at her leg as did Belle.

"You're, uh, you're bleeding."

"I'll survive. The sun should be setting soon. We need to move out."

"What- what- what do you mean "we"?"

"You tracked the Yoaguai in a matter of hours. It took me weeks. You track the beast, and I'll kill it."

"I'd be honored to help you."

"My name is Mulan."

"I'm Belle," Belle said and shook her hand. They talked while they walked, Belle was curious about Mulan's life as a soldier in the emperor's army and Mulan described her experiences and also the issues she'd had. Belle admired her, seeing in her a kindred spirit. They were both women trying to make it in a world where the men felt their place was in the home.

Belle noticed that Mulan's injury seemed to be getting worse as they approached the lair.

"It's just ahead."

"You found it. Your books serve you well."

"Mulan, your leg's getting worse."

"No. I have to protect my village."

"You can't even walk! How are you going to kill the Yaoguai?"

"I'm not. You are."

"Me. I-I'm not a soldier."

"You have good instincts. You tracked down that beast faster than I ever could."

"Tracking it and killing it are not the same thing."

"There was once a time when people thought I didn't have what it took either, but I proved them wrong."

"How?"

"I showed them I had the warrior spirit. Once I found something worth fighting for, I fought for it with everything I had. I never gave up. Belle, the fate of my village depends on you. Don't be afraid," Mulan advised, handing Belle the sword. The sword in hand, she approached the lair.

"Over here!" she yelled. The beast darted out of the cave and after her. She led it into the village toward the well. She grabbed a bucket and doused the creature's fiery head. She approached it with the sword, ready to deliver the final blow when she saw the creature writing something in the dirt.

"You're writing something. Jiu Wo. Save me. You need help. Let's uh, let's give this a try, shall we?" She took the pouch of fairy dust out and sprinkled some of it onto the creature to reveal a man.

Just like Rumple...a man under the beast.

The curse.. you broke it," he said gratefully while she helped him up.

"Someone did this to you?"

"Maleficent An evil sorceress from my kingdom, determined to do everything in her power to keep me apart from Aurora, my true love. So she exiled me to this land and turned me into a monster. I tried to warn the villagers, but no one understood what I really was. Except you."

"Well, you're not the first beast I've faced."

"I am forever in your debt. Please tell me how I might repay you."

"My friend's hurt. She needs a doctor. As do you. Help me bring her back to the village."

"It would be my honor."

"My friend's over that ridge." Belle said and Mulan was reading the book when they approached. "There she is." Mulan rose to her feet and limped over to them.

"Belle! Oh, you're alive."

"And I did it. I defeated the Yaoguai. With a little help."

"Who are you?" Mulan asked Phillip.

"I was the Yaoguai."

"He was cursed. So I helped him, now he's going to help you," Belle explained.

"What, you're not coming?"

"I have another beast to face. And I won't need this to face him," she added, handing Mulan the sword back while the other woman handed her back her book. "Goodbye."

"Goodbye Belle."

While she was walking, she turned and looked back at Mulan's village.

Once I found something worth fighting for, I fought for it with everything I had. I never gave up.

And neither will I. Rumple is worth fighting for. He may not believe he is, but I do. There is good in him. I know it in my heart.

"I'm coming back, Rumple."

"Isn't that sweet? Still fighting for true love. Even to the bitter end."

"How did you find me?" Belle asked angrily as she faced the queen who'd been the cause of the mess that was now her relationship with Rumple along with the members of the hunting party.

"You really should be nicer to your travelling companions. Right Claude? Take her to the tower."

"What? No! What are you-what are you doing? I-I- can save him! Just let me go to him! I-I can break his curse!" Belle cried as they dragged her toward a wagon with a cage on it.

"You've already tried and failed. That monster's beyond saving. I'm sparing you a lifetime of pain and misery."

You're wrong, bitch!

"You can't keep us apart forever. I'll fight for him. I'll never stop fighting for him!" Belle screamed as the queen rode away while she was taken to another prison.

Rumple was at his spinning wheel when he heard the dining hall doors open and the last person he wanted to see had walked in, the Evil Queen herself.

"Flimsy locks. I have a deal to discuss. A certain...mermaid."

"I'm not dealing today," Rumple said bitterly.

"Are you angry with me? What is it this time?" Regina asked, pouring herself a cup of tea.

"Your little deception failed. You'll never be more powerful than me. You can keep trying, dearie, but you're never gonna beat me."

"Oh. Is this about that girl I met on the road? What was her name? Margie? Verna?"

"Belle."

"Right. Well... you can rest assured I had nothing to do with that tragedy."

"What tragedy?" Rumple demanded, approaching her, wanting to rip her heart out.

"You don't know? After she got home... her fiancé had gone missing. And after her stay here, her... "association" with you, no one would want her, of course. Her father shunned her, cut her off, shut her out."

"So she needs... a home?" he asked hopefully. He would give her one, even if she didn't love him as long as she was back in his life.

"He was cruel to her. He locked her in a tower and sent in clerics to cleanse her soul with scourges and flaying. After a while, she threw herself off the tower. She died," Regina taunted.

"You're lying."

"Am I?"

"We're done." he said firmly, opening the doors with his magic.

"Fine. I have other calls to make. Hmm. The place is looking dusty, Rumple. You should get a new girl," she added as parting shot after running her finger along the table while he stood at the doors trying to hold back his temper. When she was gone he opened the cabinent and took out the chipped cup, taking it over to a pedestal and replacing the gold chalice that sat on it with the cup, weeping silently and barely hearing Lucky come into the room.

Rumplestiltskin...what's wrong?

"Belle...she's...she's gone," he sobbed.

That's obvious. She's been gone for weeks because you were a stubborn jackass. I thought you were going to try to find her. You're too afraid to, aren't you?

"No...she's...she's dead..."

WHAT?!

"She...she was tortured by clerics...and threw herself off a tower...to end her pain."

No...that's not possible. Our Belle...she wouldn't do that! They're lying to you! They have to be! You need to find out.

"I will...and if I find out she's lied to me, Snow White will be the last of Regina's worries!" Rumple said and vanished in a puff of smoke. He reappeared in Belle's village disguised as a merchant. When he approached the castle he could hear several guards talking.

"Unbelievable. Threw herself off the tower...over him! He couldn't have been that good in bed."

"Probably had some spell on her, the poor thing. The clerics said she was beyond salvation. He'd poisoned both her body and her mind."

Rumple sank back against the wall, his body trembling. It was true, oh dear gods, it was true! She was gone...forever!

"You okay over there?" one of the guards asked him.

"Yes...I...ahh...must've been the heat," he lied. "I...I'll be going now..." he added and ran off into an alley where he vanished. The two guards looked at each other.

"Send a message to the queen," one said.

"You think that was him?"

"Did you see his face when we said it...it was him. Inform her the story has been circulated and the Dark One believes."

Lucky was perched on the table waiting impatiently when Rumple returned.

What did you find out?

"They've even seen her do it. She's gone...she's gone forever!" he cried, running upstairs to the room she once occupied and laying down on the bed, her scent still lingering on the covers. The cat jumped up and sat beside him.

You never should've let her go.

"Belle," Rumple sobbed, burying his face in her pillow. Lucky curled up beside him, his mournful meows joining those of his heartbroken master until they both fell into an exhausted sleep.