Author's Notes: I do not own Once Upon a Time. Thank you so much for the reads and reviews and follows. I really appreciate them. Some housekeeping: we're now entering a sort of alternate season two. Things will play out differently. Do with that knowledge what you will. Thank you so much, please let me know what you think and happy reading!
The Day The Curse Broke...
Belle had tried the iPhone again and again. The purple haze had dissipated and she was left in Gold's shop to ponder what had happened. She wondered if it would be better to go seek out Gold and Beatrice, but surely whatever was happening he would keep to his promise to bring her back.
Finally, the door opened and the Belle ran to them.
"Watch your step," said Gold.
"Can't," Beatrice muttered.
"Beatrice!" Belle ran towards her and took her into her arms. "I am so sorry, sweetheart. What happened? Are you alright?"
"I lost my iPhone and my glasses."
"And there's dragon skin in your hair." She looked at Gold. "Why is there dragon skin in her hair?"
"It wasn't my idea," said Gold.
"Really? Because it sure seemed like that," Beatrice snapped.
"It was my idea for Miss Swan to go. Not you," Gold replied. "I never would have put you in harm's way."
Belle quickly relented and threw her arms around Gold. "Rumplestiltskin."
"My darling Belle."
"Ugh," said Beatrice, wondering how she could be so disgusted by something she could hardly see. She looked at Belle. "Sorry. So, you're confirming this?"
"Confirming what?," asked Belle.
"Uh, him?"
"She doesn't seem to want to take my word for it," said Gold.
"Beatrice," said Belle, taking her hand. "This is your father."
"Rumplestiltskin? He's the Beast?"
"The Beast, the Dark One..." Gold quipped.
"I'm sorry, the what one?," asked Beatrice.
"Yeah, August didn't really give you a very thorough book," said Belle. "The point is we were never supposed to be separated, Beatrice."
"Yes, about that," said Gold. He looked at Belle. "Tell me what happened."
Belle had been trying to put the pieces of her life back in order since the Curse broke. "I went to see my father and he wasn't dying. The Blue Fairy made him lure me there."
"The Blue Fairy..." Gold said with contempt.
"She already knew about Beatrice somehow." Belle glanced at Beatrice, then back at Gold. "Sorry. Could we talk about this alone?"
"What do we have to talk about alone?," asked Beatrice, suspicious of any new developments. She didn't think she could take it.
"Beatrice-"
"No, I've been seeing a psychiatrist. I've had you think I was crazy. I get to know why."
"I really don't think it's appropriate," said Belle. She took Gold by the hand and looked at Beatrice. "Just wait in here."
Belle dragged Gold out.
He was already seething. "What couldn't you say in front of Beatrice?"
"I didn't want her to hear that her own grandfather sent for clerics and a medicine woman to get rid of her," said Belle.
"Did he now?"
Belle could see the anger growing in Gold's eyes. "Yes, he did, but-"
"You might tell her that's why she needs glasses."
"What?," asked Belle.
"Those same elixirs sometimes they're given to blind an enemy."
Belle nodded. "Then I was under a sleeping spell. Snow White and Grumpy found me and made the Blue Fairy let me go. They helped me return home, but I think you were already gone by then. When you were imprisoned, she sent for me, but..."
"But what?"
"The Blue Fairy spirited me away and-"
Belle could see the anger growing in Gold's eyes. "And she traded you to Regina for a tree."
Belle nodded. "You know the rest. Locked up, sent away."
"They are all going to pay for this. All of them."
"Rumple-" She paused. "What was that cloud?"
"Magic."
"And what do you need magic for? Your revenge?"
"You can see how it might prove useful."
"Rumplestiltskin, no-"
"I can't let this stand. You were taken from me. They tried to murder our child-"
"Listen to me, please," Belle begged. "Beatrice has known you're her father for less than an hour. She doesn't trust you yet. How is she supposed to do that if you go on a killing spree?"
"Against the people who have tried to hurt her-"
"She doesn't understand that and I don't want her to. She needs a father, Rumple. You're all she's ever wanted. Please don't take this from her."
"She doesn't want me."
"Rumple, she doesn't even know you yet and you don't know her. Just... let's hold off on my father and the Blue Fairy and Regina."
"Are you hoping I'll just forget about it?," he asked sarcastically.
"A little," Belle said with a slight smile. "I'm also hoping you'll want to know your daughter more than you want them dead."
Gold relented. "Fine. I won't, but if they so much as look at her in a way that I don't like-"
"We will worry about that if it happens. Right now, she needs us."
Gold nodded. "You're right."
They returned inside.
"Anyone want to tell me anything?," asked Beatrice.
"Give me your wrists," said Gold.
"What?"
"It's okay," said Belle.
Beatrice sighed and held out her wrists. Gold pulled up the sleeves and unwrapped the gauze.
"That looks nasty," he remarked. "The sleeping curse must have been a rather vicious one to still have a hold on you."
"So I hear."
"I didn't realize the puppet knew about such things."
"No, well, there-" Beatrice's sentence was interrupted by a weird tingling in her wrists. "What are you doing?"
"Healing them."
Beatrice yanked her wrists away. "What?!"
"Now, let me see your eyes..."
Beatrice backed away banging into one of the cases.
"Beatrice..." said Belle.
"And what is involved with that?"
"Involved?," asked Gold.
"Before you start messing with my eyes that are connected to my brain I think I'd like to know more."
"I wouldn't hurt you."
"Is there an optometrist? There has to be, right?"
"Or I could just fix them," said Gold.
Beatrice looked at Belle. "I know you keep my prescription around."
They were both staring at Belle now.
"Rumple, maybe it's too much all at once," said Belle.
"But I can fix it-"
Belle closed the distance to Gold. "She's going to need longer than an hour to trust you," she said softly.
"Doctor Morita is down the street," Gold said grudgingly.
"Great," said Beatrice. She headed towards the door and was pleased for herself for successfully remembering where it was when she got outside to see the fuzzy outline of an angry mob running down the street.
"Yeah! Let's get her!"
"Kill the queen!"
Gold pulled Beatrice back in.
"What was that?," asked Beatrice.
"I think they must be looking for Regina," said Gold.
One Month Later...
Beatrice walked with her mother down the main street. There was something to be said about the day without glasses, she didn't know how many stares they got. She couldn't tell if it was because the townspeople still wondered how a beauty could love a beast, if they were curious about the Dark One's family or if they were just waiting for her to go all Carrie and smite everyone.
"I was thinking about the library," said Belle.
"In New York?"
"No," said Belle. "Here."
"You mean the thing with the card catalog and the dragon in the bottom of it?"
"Your father says it's safe. Besides, I can get computers."
"You want to run it?"
"What's wrong with that?"
"Just that you used to be a senior librarian at the most famous library in the world..."
"And now we live here with your father. Our lives have changed and it's not all bad." She paused. "Do you miss your school? Your friends?"
"I don't have friends so really nothing has changed."
"You could try to make friends."
"Yeah, let me just demonstrate that." Beatrice picked out a random mom pushing a stroller. "Hi. How's it going?"
The woman pretended not to hear Beatrice and sped faster away.
"Okay," said Beatrice. "Nice meeting you."
"Beatrice..."
Belle froze and pulled Beatrice closer to her.
"Mom!," she groaned, trying to pull herself away. She looked across the street to see Mother Superior and some of the others. "The nuns again? What is with you and the nuns?"
"You haven't been talking to them, have you?"
"About what?"
"Anything."
"So, I'm supposed to be friendly to people, except the nuns. Yeah, this makes a lot of sense."
"Also, the priests."
"Is there a rabbi I should be scared of somewhere around here? What is going on?"
"Just do as I ask."
Belle walked into the pawn shop and Beatrice followed.
"Well, hello," said Gold. "How did things go at school?"
Belle looked at Beatrice.
Beatrice groaned internally. This was her mother's new thing, forcing the two of them to talk. "I got my class schedule."
"Oh."
Belle shot a look at Gold.
"Anything interesting?," he asked.
"Well, physics. Pre-Calc. Then you know the usual stuff."
"Do you need anything? For school?"
That was the other thing Beatrice had noticed. When in doubt, Gold sought to find something he could fix, preferably by buying something. This had led to the ordering of a new iPhone- apparently, nobody in Storybrooke cared about new phones, it had to be ordered- and any number of items for her room.
"Pencils? Paper?"
"I think I have extra in my New York stuff."
"There's a stationery store across the street," said Gold. "You could just go pick some new things out. Here.'
Gold reached for his wallet. He always had cash on him. Though Beatrice wondered why people were still paying him rent since as she understood it a curse had made him own everything. Maybe it was some part of the "We Are Both" speech she had missed.
He handed her more bills than were necessary.
"Thanks," said Beatrice.
She left. Belle turned to Gold.
"It's as if I'm pulling her teeth to give her anything," said Gold.
"She's not used to having a father offer to give her things," said Belle. "Give her time."
"How were things at the school?"
"Okay. It's different from her old school. She'll have to get used to it."
"My sources say the dwarves found fairy dust."
"Or I could have just asked Mary Margaret."
"Well, there are some things fairies don't tell their princess. Either way, we need to be more careful."
"I don't see how we could possibly be any more careful. She's barely been out of our sight since the Curse broke. She's fifteen, Rumple, she's not a baby."
"We need a plan for school, if you're going to insist upon it."
"You can't just lock her up in a tower."
"That's not my first instinct," said Gold. "My first instinct was to deal with those who would do her harm."
"I still think we don't need a killing spree."
"As you wish," Gold said in a way that clearly indicated he thought they definitely did.
The Day The Curse Broke...
Belle held Beatrice's hand as they walked. The angry mob had died down. She felt like an idiot, but since she couldn't see anything, this was better.
"Your father said the optometrist was just down here."
"Well, that's assuming he didn't join the kill Regina squad."
"Well, then he'll just be easier to find, won't he?," Belle asked cheerfully. "What do you think of your papa so far?"
"I really couldn't say. I just met the guy."
"You must have questions. You've been wondering about everything your whole life and now I can tell you the truth. Don't you want to know anything?"
"No. Beauty. Beast. I'm covered."
"That's not our story. Not really."
Beatrice looked ahead. "Where's everyone headed?"
"Ruby!," Belle called.
"Belle! Beatrice!," said Ruby as she hurried over.
"What's going on?"
"Town meeting. Beatrice, Emma was wondering what happened to you."
"Yeah, there was this thing..." said Beatrice, trailing off.
"What's wrong?," asked Ruby.
"I'm sort of blind without my glasses."
"We're headed to the optometrist," said Belle.
"Oh, I think I saw him back over there." Ruby leaned in. "Belle, you know who he is, right?"
"Doctor Morita?"
"Ayoki."
Belle grimaced. "Not the fountain."
Ruby nodded.
"The fountain?," asked Beatrice.
"There was this fountain of youth and a man asked your father for help in getting to it."
"And everyone lived happily ever after?," Beatrice asked dryly.
"There's not by chance another optometrist?," asked Belle.
"So no happy ending," said Beatrice.
"No, sorry," said Ruby. "It'll be okay. We'll figure something out. Come on."
They went into city hall. The room was overflowing, but Ruby led them through the throng of people.
"Belle!," Mary Margaret exclaimed.
"Snow!"
The two women hugged like the childhood friends they were.
"I am so sorry," said Mary Margaret. "I never meant for Regina to-"
Belle shook her head. "I know you didn't. There are others to blame for that," she said casting a glance at Mother Superior on the other side of the room.
"Is Gold planning something?," asked David.
Mary Margaret turned. "Do we have to do this now?" She caught sight of Beatrice and walked over. "And this is your daughter! She is beautiful, Belle, just like you."
Beatrice was completely thrown off, barely being able to see events. Now Snow White was her mom's best friend?
"Hi, Belle," said Leroy.
"Grumpy!," Belle exclaimed, giving the man a hug.
And now Grumpy was her buddy.
She was starting to feel light-headed.
"Are there snacks at this thing?," asked Beatrice.
"Are you alright?," asked Mary Margaret. "Here, sit down."
"She hasn't eaten," said Belle.
"Henry," said Mary Margaret, "see if Granny has anything for Beatrice."
"You okay?"
Beatrice made out a blonde blur next to her.
"Oh, you know," said Beatrice.
"Yeah," said Emma. "I do know. I was going to come after you, but the hospital called. Then I broke the Curse and there was a big purple haze..."
"So, you heard who the Beast turned out to be?"
"Yeah," said Emma. "How's that going?"
"Weird."
"Here you go, Beatrice," said Henry, turning up with a paper towel of cookies. "This was all they had."
"Thanks," said Beatrice, taking the offering.
"So, your dad's Rumplestiltskin?," asked Henry.
"Oh, just say that so everyone can hear," said Beatrice.
The crowd finally swelled enough so that they felt the meeting could begin. There was a lot of rabble, lots of questions.
"What about the other realm?"
"Will Regina get her powers back?"
"I can't find my mother!"
"Do we still have to pay taxes?"
"Is school cancelled?"
"What about federal?"
"Do I still have to pay those parking tickets?," someone called out.
Emma took that one. "Stop parking in front of fire hydrants!"
"What are we supposed to do without fairy dust?"
"Is the optometrist here?," Beatrice added.
"Who are you?," someone called out.
"Who am I?"
"I'm on this side."
Beatrice threw her hands up. "Well, clearly I'm a girl in need of glasses!"
"We have a lot to figure out, everyone," said Mary Margaret.
"But seriously, is there an optometrist in the house?," added Beatrice.
"Beatrice..." Belle warned.
"Wait, she's with Belle? Who is she?"
"I thought Belle went with the Dark One-"
Beatrice looked down at the blur she thought was Henry. "Is everyone staring at me?"
"Yeah," Henry answered.
One Month Later...
Beatrice walked in the house. The pink Victorian that she now called home. Gold and Belle followed.
"You might want to take a look in the kitchen," said Gold.
"The kitchen?," asked Beatrice.
"Well, go on," said Belle.
Beatrice walked into the kitchen. On one of the huge counters, there now sat an espresso machine.
"That's the one from Starbucks," said Beatrice. She looked back at her parents as they followed her in. "They don't sell these to the general public."
"As a rule," said Gold.
"Is there an instruction manual?," asked Beatrice, looking around the counter. "Never mind, I'll Google it."
Before she had her phone out, Gold was at her side.
"I suppose I can help you out this time," said Gold.
"You can make espressos now?"
"I'll get by."
Beatrice watched as Gold worked his way through the process and finally presented her with a mug.
She took a sip.
"How is it?," he asked.
"Not bad," said Beatrice. That was a lie, it was actually really good and she wondered if he had used magic or enchanted it or... On the other hand, she had been in Storybrooke almost a month and no longer really cared. "If this whole straw into gold thing ever goes south, you can probably get a barista job."
"I'll keep that in mind."
"Thank you," said Beatrice. "I'm going to go sort through more of my stuff."
"Do you want help?," asked Gold.
"No, I'm fine." Beatrice walked out with her mug.
Gold turned to Belle.
"That was good," said Belle.
"It's been a month."
"Rumple, does she remind you of anyone?"
"Of course. She reminds me of you."
"She's you. Difficult, stubborn, thick-skinned you," said Belle. "You might want to keep that in mind."
The Day The Curse Broke...
"Oh, come on!," said Beatrice.
"You can't be serious," said Emma.
They had found Morita outside. He had indeed been among the townspeople. One of the less cooperative townspeople.
"Is she the Dark One's daughter?," asked Morita.
"I am standing right here," said Beatrice.
"She's a kid," Emma said sternly. "She's not responsible for whatever her father did."
Belle spoke. "I understand you're upset, but Emma is right, Beatrice didn't do anything and she really needs her glasses."
"Why doesn't Rumplestiltskin just make some?," Morita snapped.
"Optometry isn't his specialty," said Belle.
"Emma, what's going on?," asked Mary Margaret.
Belle motioned at Morita. "He won't make her a pair of glasses."
"Doctor Morita..." said Mary Margaret.
"Why should I? So she can see us all before she kills us?"
"I just met you!," Beatrice protested.
"She lost them trying to help save Henry," said Emma.
"I understand," said Mary Margaret, "but right now, we don't have the luxury of holding on to all our old grudges. We all need to pull together to figure this out. Make the glasses. Leroy!"
Leroy walked over.
"Would you mind walking with Belle and Beatrice to Doctor Morita's shop? Beatrice needs some glasses," said Mary Margaret.
"No problem," said Leroy.
One Month Later...
After weeks in her presence, Gold still had no idea what made his daughter tick. He had more facts. She did like roast despite picking at it her first night in his house. Her favorite meal to eat out was Greek, the only restaurant in Storybrooke had this misfortune of being down the street from Game of Thorns so she resented the quick dash in and out. She loved her electronics like Belle loved her books.
She couldn't sleep in the dark, so her solution was to leave her television on. Gold didn't know this the first night so he had made the mistake of turning it off for her then got to witness the meltdown. That had been heartbreaking. He had no doubt that Belle had been an extraordinary mother, but he couldn't help but wish he had been there to hold his daughter as she cried, to rock her to sleep, to take away all of her fears.
"Rumple..."
Gold turned back as Belle came up behind him and put her arms around him.
"You're watching her again," she whispered.
"How can she sleep like that?"
"I don't know. I just know she does."
Gold continued to stare.
Belle whispered in his ear. "You said it's been a month. If she were a month old, she would keep you up half the night and barely know who you were."
"She would be mine, though."
"She is yours," Belle insisted. "Come back to bed. She has a big day tomorrow and you'll need to be on barista duty."
Gold relented as Belle led him back to bed.
Moe hardly ever had anyone in the flower shop early so he was surprised when Mother Superior of all people arrived first thing.
"Mother Superior," said Moe. "I mean, Blue."
"That's alright," said Mother Superior. "Have you spoken to your daughter?"
Moe shrugged. "She refuses and I think that beast forbids it."
"Perhaps," said Mother Superior. She placed a small bottle on the counter. "I've brought you something."
"What?"
"Something to help you remember who you are."
"But we all remember who we are now."
"Please. Drink it."
Moe shrugged, opened the bottle and knocked back the elixir. Something overcame him and he looked back at Mother Superior with new eyes.
"Blue."
"And you are?"
"Sir Maurice... of the Round Table." He paused. "Is there word of Merlin? Did he survive the Curse?"
Mother Superior shook her head. "No and for that we can be grateful."
"The monster lives."
"Yes," said Blue. "Yes, she does."
