A/N: Since this is another verse, I thought I would add in another. This one should put aside some questions you might have. ; )

A Long Fatal Love Chase

Prompt: Belle learns the truth from Ignatius and has to decide what it is that she wants… (Rated T).

She couldn't stop staring at him. How could she? All this time she believed him to be dead.

Unless… He was a ghost. That or all these months had resulted in her becoming mad.

Just to be certain, Belle reached and gingerly touched the harp player's arm. Solid flesh met her fingers as tears sprung to her eyes. It must be! It has to be…!

"Ignatius," she whispered again as the boy blushed. "It is you?"

"Catherine?" Grace's voice piped up, peering at her companion with concern. "You're pale as white!"

"Thank you for the coins. We must be on our way," said the pipe player, bending down to pick up the hat. Tugging on the harp player's arm, the boys vanished but not before Ignatius gave Belle a parting look. Then he was gone.

So many questions were running through Belle's mind.

He was alive. Ignatius was alive and he was gone. She let him leave. She couldn't believe she allowed it without knowing what in the world happened to him.

The truth… Tempus didn't kill him like she was led to believe. Why didn't he admit it? Why let her believe the boy was dead? Was it all part of his sick game with this chase?

Belle and Grace returned to the house with the former promptly announcing she had a headache. The Jefferson's were kind enough to leave her be while she rested. However, Belle couldn't find the rest she so desperately needed. She had to find Ignatius.

But how?

Fortunately, she didn't have to search for him. Ignatius came to her two days later.

Belle was taking a stroll through the garden when the boy appeared so suddenly that she had to wonder if he was really a ghost after all!

"I can assure you I'm quite alive," he said cheekily, the usual mischievous twinkle in his eye. "Oh Miss Belle! I missed you so much!"

"And I you," she told him, embracing him. "Ignatius. What happened? Explain yourself. How is it you're alive? I saw your grave!"

"I will tell you what I can before it's known I've disappeared," he vowed. "But first, you should know that my real name is Baelfire."

"Baelfire…" she repeated softly, her eyebrows rising to her hairline.

He nodded. "Let's sit and I will tell my tale."

They walked towards the wrought iron bench where they sat and turned to face the other. The boy took a deep breath as he gazed upon her with such earnest that Belle began to realize she was only beginning to scratch the surface of her husband's secrets and how Ignatius—nay, Baelfire—was a part of it. However, the poor dear was not sure where to start or how to say what he must.

"Miss Belle, I hope, no, pray, you understand that living in deceit wasn't something I enjoyed doing. I cannot begin to tell you how many times I longed to tell you the truth and how many times I almost did. You… You're so full of kindness, warmth, and love that I knew it was wicked of him to do such a thing, and yet… I know why he did and I cannot fault him for what must be a sin in the eyes of man. And seeing you now in this place, with a new name… I can only surmise that you must have learned something of the truth about your husband—my father—Tempus Gold."

Hearing it from Baelfire's lips, Belle's suspicions to Tempus' connection to the boy was proven in fact to be correct. Her expression did not betray her as Baelfire gave her a small smile.

"You figured it out, didn't you?" he asked.

"On that fateful night," she confessed. "Of your disappearance. There was a woman on The Dark One. She was pleading to see you. I did not realize it at the time that she was referring to you until Dove told me how you left. She was your mother and Tempus prevented her from seeing you."

At the mention of the woman, Baelfire's countenance hardened. "Ah, yes. She is my mother but I never seen her as such. You were more of a mother to me than she ever was."

The animosity in his tone took her by surprise. "Ig—Baelfire, you didn't hear how desperate she was. Or how cruel Tempus treated and mocked her."

"Miss Belle, I fear your sympathy is lying on the wrong side. Alas, I am getting ahead of myself. There is a reason why I did not go by my birth name for the same reason I am not with my mother. It was for my protection that people did not know of my existence. It hurt my Papa to lower me to the status of a servant, but it was the only way to keep me close and to make sure my mother did not ruin us further."

For you must know, my Papa hadn't always lived in the life of luxury. He was a poor spinner, barely making ends meet, but he was a good man who worked hard to provide for his family. I was very young but I do remember the old cottage and spending the day anxiously awaiting Papa to return home from work. He would greet me with a smile and a kiss, and then he would tell me stories by the fire. Despite his cheerful visage, I knew there was something troubling him, but bless him; he did his best to make sure I didn't want for nothing.

However, it was no secret that we were in debt. Papa did his best to shield me from the awful truth but it was that woman—my mother—who persisted in the daily reminders my Papa's shortcomings. She enjoyed ridiculing him, mocking him, emasculating him. She forced him to work harder for his coin, yet she would squander it as soon as he arrived home. She did not care that she was running up the bills or running my Papa's name in the mud. Greed and selfishness and vanity were the only companions she kept, and inevitably and ultimately led her into making a deal with a man called Hordor.

We were on the brink of eviction unless my Papa came up with the rent for the landlord. My mother, realizing what her actions wrought us, decided to strike our debts clean so she could start life anew. Yes… You heard me correctly. My mother was dissatisfied and wanted to leave, but not without making sure no creditor will follow her. She struck an agreement with Hordor, a ruthless villain in our village who was a brute and other distasteful words I shall not repeat in a lady's presence. He would release my mother from her debt in exchange for my servitude. When my Papa heard of this… you can imagine his horror and anger that naturally followed.

I was about six-years-old when Hordor came for me. I put up a fight, kicking and screaming and flailing about, but I could not fend off his men. My mother stood in the doorway and did nothing as I was being dragged off. As for Papa, he had gone to the village to reason with Hordor, which was a ruse to lure him away from the cottage so I could be taken. Fortunately, the horrid man did not get far with me for I have a good set of lungs and was screaming for anyone to come to my rescue. My Papa heard me and rushed back in the nick of time. He charged those men and fought with the very strength of his love for me. When it was done, my Papa hardly knew what transpired as shock overwhelmed him. I was frightened but I knew my Papa would not harm me. Together, we made it back to the cottage where my mother wisely disappeared.

But we could not stay either. My Papa would be a wanted man for what he done. We packed our meager belongings and took what little money he had hidden from my mother and fled into the night.

For months, we traveled from village to village, city to city. Papa worked whatever odd job he could find. We were lucky if we were offered a roof for the night as payment. Then, one day Papa made the acquaintance with a gentleman of questionable reputation. He had heard about our misfortune and informed my Papa that he is a fugitive and we will certainly be separated forever if he was captured, unless… He agreed to work for him. It was a devil's bargain but what choice did he have? So the spinner was no more and Tempus Gold was born.

I cannot give much detail exactly what the gentleman tasked my father to do. Even I was kept in the dark when he went out, but I dare not question or complain about our new circumstances. We were safe and together and that's all that mattered.

Eventually, my father became quite good at his new living. More so than his predecessor and it was a matter of time that even he stopped calling on father. Papa assumed his holdings and amassed a large fortune. We were living the life we could only dream about; although, the risk of our true identities hung over Papa. For my sake, he never told anyone he had a son. I was to stay out of sight whenever his business partners visited. I was dutiful and obeyed his orders for I did not want to be parted from him.

Until she found him.

My mother had fallen into hard times. Worse than our old life in the cottage. She had met a man, a captain, who swore to take her around the world, but he abandoned her first chance he got. She bribed, dealt her way back to our old village when she heard the news about Hordor and what Papa had done. She barely had a farthing to her name but she was determined to find my father… perhaps to turn him in for the reward. How she did find us… I do not know but I can assure you it was not by honorable means. She learned how Papa became wealthy and saw it as her opportunity to save herself from poverty.

Yes, she blackmailed Papa. It was in her best interest to keep the law out of it. She used his love for me as her leverage, but Papa had grown wiser and was familiar with the game she was trying to play. He offered her a handsome deal that she could not refuse. In exchange for a hefty sum of money, she will keep to herself and never acknowledge our existence. As long as the world knew, Tempus Gold was never married and she could tell people she was a widow. She would also relinquish her maternal rights to me and never see me again.

She accepted.

"My heavens!" Belle gasped, her hand clasping over her mouth. "How could a mother do that? To her own flesh and blood?"

"As far as I'm concerned, we might share the same blood but she is not a mother. She forfeited that title when she tried selling me."

"Of course. Oh Baelfire… That is horrible!" What other words could she express for her own abhorrence that came from his own lips? No wonder he held such animosity for the woman! And Tempus… Was she surprise to learn that her husband's name wasn't his birth name? No but the puzzle pieces were coming together and she was beginning to see the man in a new light.

"Do not despair Miss Belle!" insisted Baelfire. "I tell you this for this is my truth. Papa wanted me to be close so I was now Ignatius, a servant, so I did not have to hide in the shadows. Would he have preferred to acknowledge me? Indeed but that would complicate things and only incriminate himself. For years we lived in peace and then he met you and the world became a brighter place. You brought him so much happiness and you made me happy just to be in your service. I couldn't have asked for a kinder mistress."

Belle blushed. "You are too kind. But that doesn't excuse his bigamy."

"No it does not." Baelfire frowned. "But that is the law of man. You cannot fault him for wanting a wife or a mother for me. Even though I was only a servant in your eyes, I looked to you as a mother and loved you as such despite the deception occurring in front of you. I begged him to let you in on the truth but he is stubborn. He didn't want to ruin himself and earn your resentment. You were too precious to him, an angel sent from Heaven to save him from his past. If he could do well with a future with you, then perhaps God will forgive him for his sins and transgressions."

She worried her bottom lip. It was wild this reveal to her and she couldn't find it within herself to loathe Tempus. Despite the despicable things he committed, Tempus was always steadfast in his loyalty to her and his love was something she did not have to question or doubt. But what about her and her reputation? He deceived her and made her believe he was unattached. He had her living in sin with him while she was being paraded as Mrs. Gold. Should she not hate him? Despise him? Regardless of his past, he knowingly married an innocent girl. However, she could not rouse a single ounce of remonstration after what Baelfire told her. If anything, her heart only grew to love Tempus even more.

"Then what? Why did you disappear?" she asked.

"Ah, that," he said. "Well, not everything can go according to plan. She returned because she knew Papa married another and she wanted more money. She tried evoking her maternal rights to see me as well. She was destitute and desperate if you can recall. She would take anything from him just to quiet her but Papa refused to give into her blackmailing attempts. He finally saw her as powerless and he was in control of the situation. So he taunted her on the yacht and swore to never let her see me for as long as we live. Then he hatched the idea to make sure she never bothered him again.

"We had to make it authentic. Papa aroused me from my sleep and shared what had passed between him and mother. He told me I had to leave for my safety and that Dove would know what to do. I was against it. I didn't want to leave your side but Papa convinced me it was for the best. In time you will know the truth that I was his kin and then I could return. I left with Dove to the field where we fashioned a grave to make it appear that I was deceased. Mother believed it. But to make sure she wasn't close by to uncover the lie… I was sent away under a new identity. I'm now Neal Cassidy the harp player extraordinaire! I have good lodgings but the boy you saw me with… His name is Peter and we have to entertain to continue earning our keep. Of course, I do not have to since my Papa arranged everything, but to keep the pretense alive… I must do what I must not to raise any suspicions. When it is safe he will call for me. Until then, I wait."

Inconceivable! This whole strange affair was nothing she could have imagined in a thousand years. As fantastic as it was, Belle knew there was no reason for her to refute or question Baelfire's narrative. The sincerity in his tone and countenance was plenty to satisfy her curiosity and it gave her a great deal to think about and reflect upon.

"I must go." He stood from his seat, and pulled her to her feet. "Miss Belle, I wish I could spend more time with you. Alas, I've been gone for too long. Please. Think about what I told you and do not judge my Papa harshly. He is a good man beneath the exterior and he needs the love and understanding to continue on the righteous path. Just… promise me you will consider it."

There was no doubt what he was trying to get at and Belle could only offer him a gentle smile. "Don't be a stranger Baelfire."

"I wish I didn't have to but this is the only time I can see you. Perhaps later? When it is safe for us to return to my Papa."

"I don't—" Belle started to say but stopped herself. It was best not to give voice to any false promises. Besides, she had a lot to think about and mull over about Tempus. So, she embraced Baelfire as a mother would with her child against her bosom. "We shall see each other again. I promise you."

"I know we will," he assured her. "Farewell Miss Belle. Until our paths cross once again."

Then he was gone. Vanished once more from her sight.

Later that evening, after Belle retired to her bedroom, she sat in from of her vanity and brushed her hair. Slowly, she watched the teeth of the brush slide into her curls and run down their length and released it. However, the movements were mechanical and she wasn't paying much attention to her task for her mind wandered to her encounter with Baelfire. Everything he told her was incredible and she was starting to realize that what she thought, what she knew about Tempus may not be black and white. Despite his actions, Belle now knew that he was not responsible in the death of young Ignatius. The dear boy was not even dead!

That alone was enough to shake Belle to her very core. Could she have reacted prematurely? She only thought she did the right thing at that moment upon discovering that horrifying grave. But if what Baelfire said was true… Would Tempus have been honest with her? And why didn't he tell her the truth when their paths crossed? Why continue the chase?

It was all perplexing.

Setting the brush done, Belle continued to stare at her reflection. She knew that her love for Tempus hadn't wavered. That was part of the reason why she was angry with herself and why she had been so conflicted in her time spent at St. Meissa's. She truly believed that she was guilty of sin and while Tempus did knowingly place her in that situation… She now knew he was not as evil like she believed him to be.

While that brought some relief to her mind, Belle wondered what she should do next.

Should she leave the good care of the Jefferson's to seek out Tempus? She already branded him as the devil and condemned him. If she were to find him, then what could she say now? She already felt like a fool but that was because he led her to believe that what she believed was fact. Did he find this whole thing amusing? Did he purposely confirm her worst opinion of him to further his entertainment and the chase? Why?

That was something Belle couldn't understand. And the only person that could explain his actions was Tempus himself.

But did she want to? Did she want him to confront her husband? Did she want to return to him and continue their lifestyle as before?

Could she?

Belle knew she must make a decision regarding her and Tempus. And it was clear that she knew what she wanted.