Disclaimer: I do not own OUAT or Shrek or any other characters in this story.

"Have you finished packing Belle?"

"Yes. Are we leaving soon?"

"Yes. The carriage is waiting outside." He said. Rumple looked down at the small bag that Belle was carrying. He felt a little bad that she didn't have much with her. She only had the gold dress she arrived with and the few dresses that he created for her. He thought that perhaps he should allow her to shop for more clothing while they were in the kingdom. He had once heard how they had plenty of shops in the Far Far Away land.

"Carriage? Aren't we arriving there by magic?" She asked.

"No. I don't think you are ready to travel by magic. It is very risky for beginners. I rather play it safe and travel by carriage. The only magic we will use is for the horse. It will know where to go without a rider, and don't worry, the horse won't be hurt." He explained.

"I must say, I'm surprised Rumplestiltskin. Caring about your maid and horse." She teased him. He led her outside and helped her into the carriage. Once she was settled into the carriage, he placed their bags into the back. He then placed the spell onto the horse so it would take them to the kingdom and got into the carriage.

"I was thinking, while we are there, you would enjoy shopping in the shops for some more clothing?" He said, halfway asking if she would enjoy it. He felt his heart nearly skip a beat when he saw her smile.

"Really? That sounds great. So what deal do you plan to make while we are there?"

"Well I'm not sure just yet. I'll have to see what the full situation is. The king didn't really give much information in his letter. Just that his daughter married a beast and he wanted some help...getting rid of it. Nothing else."

"Oh. Why would he want that? Doesn't his daughter love the man?" Belle asked, feeling very sorry for the girl.

"Beast," he corrected her, "and I don't know Belle. She did marry an ogre after all."

"Love is love, Rumple. It doesn't matter who it is with. If the princess loves him, then her father should let them be."

"You don't seem to be shocked that a young princess has married an ogre, a beast." He said.

"You're not a beast." She said, smiling at him. Rumple's eyes widened, not believing what he just heard.

"I wasn't talking about me!" He cried in defense.

"You didn't have to." She replied. "So, exactly how far is Far Far Away?"

"Two days. However, I am using magic to get us there faster so we should arrive by tomorrow morning." He answered.

"Perfect. We have all day to talk." The Dark One had to control himself to not gawk at his maid. He did however glare at her before leaning back in his seat as he huffed in defeat, ignoring how Belle's eyes were beaming at him with victory. He had a feeling that this was going to be a very long trip.

It was the second day Shrek, Fiona, and Donkey were in Far Far Away and it wasn't any better than yesterday. It was almost noon and Donkey had already managed to track mud into the castle halls, causing the King to slip, and Shrek had broken a door, yanking it open too hard. The King was constantly holding his breath and counting to ten, hoping to keep himself calm for everyone's sake. Despite what had happened to her, he loved having his daughter back home and he didn't want to get into another fight with his wife. He might be the one to wear the king's crown, but the queen always had the final word. If she told him to behave, he would.

He kept reminding himself of the letter he received this morning that told him the Dark One would arrive in a few days, hoping he would have a solution for the ogre problem. Fiona had told him that Shrek broke her curse but he couldn't help and wonder why she didn't turn back into a human. He tried to recall the curse that was placed on her when she was a child and remember something about 'True Love's form'. That meant that Fiona and Shrek were True Loves and that was why she was an ogre instead of a human.

Harold had to sit himself down on the patio bench, forcing himself to keep calm. He didn't understand why he was so upset about this. He should easily be able to accept his daughter's fate and future, after all, he didn't have much of a different story than hers.

"Father?"

The King looked up to see Fiona standing in front of him, holding her new dog in her big green hands.

"Listen, dear-"

"Father, please. I know you are upset with what has happened but I would love it very much if you just accepted Shrek. I'm not even asking you to be happy about it." Fiona said.

"I know, but it's not easy. Look at what he has done to you." He exclaimed.

"I love Shrek for who he is and he loves me. Isn't that what matters?"

"Well yes, but-"

"But what is the issue?" She asked. Harold really didn't like how this was going. He remembered what Lillian had told him earlier this morning, about getting to know the beast, or man he corrected himself.

"I suppose, I could get to know him a little first before I fully judge him." He replied in a beaten tone of voice.

"Thank you Father." Fiona smiled, hugging her father gently before walking off. The King got up and walked back into the castle to deal with other royal issues, praying the Dark One would get here soon.

Rumple really had to use his self-control to prevent himself from groaning aloud. It wasn't that his maid was talking too much, no, he liked hearing her talk. She had a beautiful voice. He listened as she talked about what she had read in the books from the library he gave her. What was bothering the great and all powerful Dark One was that his maid was practically talking to him like a child. Going on about how he wasn't a beast, he should love himself a little more, and how love can happen to anyone, no matter what the circumstances were. He knew that his maid was smart, but he often felt that she was very naive when it came to love. Rumplestiltskin was beginning to think that he should take the library away from her, wondering if those books were filling her head with impossible dreams.

"Are you listening?" She asked. He turned his head from the window and looked at her, his arms crossed and a smirk on his face.

"Oh I'm listening love." Belle stared how the sorcerer with her own smirk.

"Why do you believe that a beast cannot find love?"

"So you are admitting that the ogre is a beast?" He asked, wondering if he won this little argument.

"I'm not saying that, but you seem so certain that the husband of the princess is a beast-"

"He is an ogre Belle. They are natural beasts. I believe I recall your father even saying that they were not men, correct?"

Belle thought back to the first day she saw the Dark One and recalled her father's words when they received word of Avonlea's fall on the battlefield.

"You know, my father called you a monster and he was wrong. I think you are wrong about this man too." She smiled.

"You wanna bet?" He teased her, hoping to get something good out of this ridiculous argument. "I bet you that the husband is a beast, ogre and all. If I win, you must stay away from the library for a week as your price." He gave his maid his impish giggle, wondering if she would go ahead and surrender the fight if she knew that her library was at stake. He was shocked to see her smile back at him with that devious look again.

"Fine. I bet that, ogre or not, the husband is just like you. A misunderstood man who loves his wife. If I win, you must not call yourself a 'beast' for a whole week. Fair enough?"

The sorcerer stared at Belle for a few seconds before smiling and holding out his hand. She smiled back and shook on the bet. This was definitely going to be an interesting trip. They looked out the window at the snow covered trees, both now excited for tomorrow morning.

The ball was in a few more days and Shrek was really getting nervous. He really didn't want to go but he knew that this would make Fiona happy. He had gotten in an argument with her on the first night here and he felt guilty afterwards. All he wanted was for her to be happy and if it meant that he had to sacrifice everything for her, very well. He loved Fiona very much but he was an ogre. He had been an ogre his entire life and it was a very hard habit to break. If their first fight wasn't bad enough, to make matters worse, the King definitely hated him. Not that Shrek believed he would get any sort of blessing. Even as they were walking up the aisle when they first arrived, the villagers already had their pitchforks and bricks ready. Shrek wondered if they always carried them around for spontaneous mobbing.

Shrek hated being on the castle grounds. He hated how all the humans stared at him as he walked by. He didn't really understand what they were so shocked about. They lived in a land where there were fairytale creatures everywhere. Heck, a fairy godmother was a celebrity here, why would they be so shocked to see an ogre? Oh yeah, because ogres were beast that ate the humans and this particular ogre that was walking around town turned their princess into one forever. They probably thought that he was going to eat her bones and spread her insides on bread for a snack. If he wanted to do that, he would have, not marry her.

The more he was around them, the more he hated them. Hated how they quickly judge him before they knew him. He might be an ogre but he still had a heart and it would hurt, hurt every time someone screamed at him or ran away from him, but it didn't matter anymore. He had gotten use to it over the years. The only thing that mattered to him was being alone. Being alone from the world was all that mattered. At least, until he found Donkey and Fiona. Despite how so freaking annoying Donkey could be, Shrek never had a more loyal friend who didn't see him as some big scary monster but as someone who saved his life, and really tall. And Fiona. Shrek would never understand how she could like him, let alone love him. Sure, she was upset at the fact that he was an ogre when he first saved her, but now he understood why. She didn't understand how he could love her in her cursed form, but he did. He loved everything about her and would do anything for her, even suffer through a ball. He tried to leave the first night but it didn't work. Now, he would try his best to suck it up and get through this. It wasn't like they were going to be here forever, right?

I loved Rumple and Belle's little bet. Please review. :)