Chapter 2.

Something about the next morning seemed brighter than it had in a long time. Maybe it was because of the puppy, or maybe Belle's new attitude-as the puppy had kept her mind busy last night. "Come here," She picked the puppy up in her arms, "I guess it's time to take you back to your family."

"Belle!" Snow called when she caught a glimpse of her walking down the sidewalk. Before Belle knew it, she had been enveloped by Snow's arms. "It's been awhile, how are you doing?"

"I… I've been better, but I'm okay." She couldn't rationalize saying she was great and acting as if nothing had happened-as if ridding the town of the man she loved didn't bother her in the slightest-but she knew that Snow didn't intend for a long and drawn out conversation about how she truly was doing. "I'm doing okay." She repeated. A huge grin grew on Snow's face,

"Who is this little guy?" She patted the puppy's head, and it licked her, but soon curled back up into the crook of Belle's arm.

"Oh, this puppy just showed up on the doorstep last night." She shrugged, "I think it is probably one of Pongo and Perdita's babies- you can't blame poor Archie for losing track of one puppy with that family he's got."

Snow chuckled, "101 dogs living in your house-that has got to be crazy!" She instinctively ran her fingers through her hair. "I don't know how he does it all." The women stood on the sidewalk and made awkward small talk for a few more minutes before each continued on their way. Belle kept her free hand on top of the puppy's head-she didn't know why – it seemed natural to her. When she reached Archie's doorstep-knocking on the door- she heard a chorus of barks from inside.

"I think your brothers and sisters and parents missed you, Puppy." She whispered, nuzzling the dog with her nose. Inside, she could hear Archie fumbling to the door and tripping over animals,

"Belle," He greeted, catching his breath, "This is a surprise, come in, take a seat… Well… Wherever you can find a place to sit, excuse the mess." He gestured to the floor that was practically made of shed dog fur and littered with chew toys.

"No matter." Belle giggled, then smiled weakly. I think Rumple is the only person I've ever heard say 'don't worry about it' like that. She had to force the thought from her mind as she took a seat on the normally mahogany colored couch-now coated in a thick layer of white and black.

"So what brings you here so… Unexpected? I would've put on a pot of tea had I known you'd be making a visit." He fought his way to a straight back chair across from Belle.

"I really didn't expect to come here today; I was just going to stay. At home and read… The library is closed today, so I really didn't have anything I had to do until-" She stuck the puppy out in front of her in the air for a moment before bringing it back to her chest, "This little guy decided to come to my house last night in the storm. and I was just returning him." Her attention shifted from Archie's eyes to the puppy "He's been fed and slept well, we had a lot of fun last night, didn't we?" She tapped the puppy's nose with her own once more. Archie's emotions changed from shock to gratefulness within seconds,

"Thank you, Belle, we noticed he was gone last night! We were all so worried about him!" Seeing the smile light up Archie's face, Belle couldn't resist but feel better herself as she put the puppy on the ground to run amongst it's siblings. Almost as soon as the puppy was on the ground, more were climbing on the couch from all directions and fighting for her affection. She smiled, it was an overwhelming feeling-trying to give love to all the puppies- but she enjoyed it. "You seem different today; Belle-like you're more upbeat. It's good to see that." Watching her facial features change, he instantly regretted saying anything. Her look went form carefree and happy to distressed and mysterious-like she was covering something up- in a millisecond.

"Well… "She struggled to get her voice to a steady and strong pitch, "I had great company last night, it was a lot of fun, and it was nice to bot have the entire house to myself." Archie's eyes drifted from her eyes- determined to stay fixed upon him-down to her hands that were wringing each other relentlessly. There was a silence for a few moments, that Archie finally broke,

"You know, Belle, I don't mean you any disrespect, right?" She nodded, and he continued on. "Maybe, though, if you sold the house and stopped checking in on his shop and got rid of some of his junk, and started to live a new-"

"No!" Belle stood up, her voice heated and cutting, "You're just like the rest of them!" The tears started falling down her face once more, "I thought you knew, I thought you cared!" She forced down a swallow, "You're not! You're just like everyone else- you're happy that he's gone and don't even care how I'm doing! You want me to think you do, but you don't!" She pursed her lips, staring at him in disgust a few seconds, "I thought you were different!" She headed for the door briskly, but tripped over a dog toy and fell on the floor. Archie wrapped his arms around her body using all the strength he had, preventing her from escaping,

"Belle, Belle, calm down!" He patted her back, surprised when she clung to him instead of clawing herself away from him. "It's okay, I was just suggesting something. It works for some people; I guess you'll need a different approach. I'm sorry I mentioned-"

"Don't apologize." She uttered, "I'm the one who is sorry, and I exploded on you. You did nothing wrong, you were just trying to help me." Her breathing was still shaky and her face still red, but she was trying to pull herself together. Archie helped her to her feet and got her back to the couch. He just kept holding onto her a few more minutes while she got herself under control. Once she had calmed down, he knew she needed to hear something positive. "Belle," He kept his voice firm and placed a hand on either of her shoulders, looking her directly in the eye, "I know it's hard right now, and that it feels like forever, but everything is going to get better." Belle nodded, unsure of how to respond.

"You really think so?" Her voice was so pitiful and vulnerable, Archie felt like he was comforting a scared child.

"I do." His words were so simple, yet had so much hope and promise in them.

"What do you think is going to happen to him-you know out there? Do you really think he's going to be okay? What do you think will happen to me?" As soon as she spoke, she felt awful, "Oh that sounded terribly selfish, I just mean-"

"It sounded fine." He assured, "Honestly, you probably don't want to know what I think right now."

"Why? Is it that awful?" She couldn't restrain herself from the urge of rolling her eyes, "I was such a fool." Archie hesitated a moment, then decided to go for it,

'I think that you and Rumple will both be okay." His voice was unwavering, but he had to check to read her body language, "If you ask me, I really believe that- no I know- that you two will get back together one day." He checked again, and while her features were confused and almost challenging him to explain himself now, she wasn't angry. "I mean, he is Rumpelstiltskin. Belle, you might not realize it, but he loves you… More than anything and I know that he will find his way back here one day."

"Okay, Archie," He had crossed a line that Belle hadn't been prepared for, "the gauntlet let me to his weakness- and he told me in the past that was what someone loved most. It led me to that bloody knife! So, obviously, he doesn't love me more than anything. Second, I banished him. He's not coming back, how would he? Even if he did, who says I'd be ready to forgive him for all that he did to me and this town?" Archie wasn't going to instigate a fight, but he was going to finish what he had on his mind,

"Rumple loves you, Belle. I'm not a magic expert or anything, but I'm sure there is a loophole to that 'leads to weakness/what you love most thing' because there is no way in any realm that he loves that dagger more than you. Secondly, he's still him- even if he doesn't have magic- he is going to eventually find a way to get what he wants… To get back here. Lastly, it might not feel like it, but in time you will forgive him." He nodded, having the utmost confidence in all that he was saying.

"Thank you for that. It truly means a lot." She leaned her head back against his couch, "you must think me insane." She finally laughed,

"Not at all." He patted her arm, "I think you're a woman who is very hurt, but very strong too. I know your future is going to be better than you can think of right now." She smiled, though she doubted his every word, the reassurance was nice.

After that conversation, there was a lull in their conversation. Smalltalk was made, but nothing really seemed worth mentioning to either of them, and Belle felt anxious to leave. When she could take the uneasy feeling no longer, she gathered her jacket and put on her shoes, and started to leave when, "Wait, Belle,"
"What is it?" She asked, hand on the doorknob.

"You know, you said the puppy did you good last night. Honestly, I could tell that was true when you walked in." His eyes scanned the floor of all the puppies running around, "These pups are old enough to be taken away from their mother now, and I'd like to get my house back soon, why don't you take one?"

"To keep?" Belle's eyes grew wide- excitement and hope sparkling in them. Archie nodded,

"Take your pick." Though the thought was pleasant to her, Belle forced her look to return to a stoic expression,

"I couldn't, look at all of them. They're so happy together."

"Like I said, I'm going to start giving them away soon. If one of them was with you, I know you'd make sure that it visited us on a regular basis." Belle agreed, "So take your pick." As soon as he said that, the same puppy that had come to Belle's porch the prior night bounded back to her-and jumped at her legs. She picked the puppy up once more,

"Well, I'm going to have to take this little cutie." She kissed his head, then looked at Archie, "Thank you, my money is at home, I'll pay you the next time I see you."

"There's no need for that." He shook it off, "All I want is occasional visits from you both and to know what you're going to name him." Belle caught the hint,

"Oh a name… I'm going to name him…" She looked at the puppy, taking it in, and very nearly becoming hypnotized by its bright blue eyes. "Let me think, I hadn't expected to name him!" She was girlish and giddy as she thought. A list of names ran through her mind- Spot, Sam, Freckles, Lucky- but they all seemed too generic and not meaningful enough. Belle could feel Archie's eyes watching her intently, and continued to try to come up with a name for the puppy. All too suddenly a jolt went through her body when she finally came up with the perfect name, "Chip!" She declared, squeezing the puppy just a little tighter.

"Chip?" Archie asked, confused.

"Yes." She smiled brightly and spoke with enthusiasm, "It's a long story, but it's a very special name." Archie nodded,

"Well, I hope you and Chip have a great night." He opened the door, and Belle stepped outside, "If you need anything call me."

As Belle walked down the street, despite her best efforts not to notice it, she couldn't ignore a strange feeling in her chest, If anyone else had been around, perhaps they would've noticed her scrunched up faces and some slight uneasiness in her walk. "Chip, we're going to take a detour through the woods." She explained to the animal, "I don't know why, but I feel like a…. A pulling in my heart to go there."

The woods were peaceful-as always- and the further she walked into them, the more ease filled that pulling sensation in her chest. "Oh," She murmured, walking by the old well, "That's where my husband and I were married at. Well he's not… Well he is, technically, still my husband, but…" She found that her voice trailing, and just continued to enjoy the serenity of the trees and the birds chirping overhead. I should've thought of coming out here sooner, it's always so beautiful and relaxing. Her hand instinctively ran over the puppy's body- she wouldn't dare set him on the ground outside yet because he seemed to be very good at running away. After about twenty or so minutes, Belle got tired and decided to sit beneath a tree for a few moments before continuing her walk. "Maybe we'll make a habit of this, Chip. You know, Archie took your father on a walk around town each and every day- it's probably why Pongo is such a healthy dog." She leaned her head against the tree, half closing her eyes. Through the slit of her eyelids, she saw a figure dash behind some trees in the distance. Her eyes batted open, and she stood up immediately. I probably shouldn't go investigate. Belle attempted to reason with herself, but her curiosity got the best of her. She ran to where she had seen the figure and looked around, for a moment she saw nothing that looked suspicious, but soon another flash of movement appeared in front of her- this one not so hard to make out. Belle's heart caught in her throat, and she could feel the throat going dry. Her hold on the puppy tightened, and she felt her knees begin to wobble before her limbs went numb. Once it was finished being stuck in her throat, Belle's hear raced faster than she could've imagined. Thoughts begin to spin in her mind and she wasn't able to understand some of them. No… It can't be? It has to be… How'd this happen? Should I…. No I'd look weak and desperate. It might not even really be… Despite trying to convince herself otherwise, she snuck to the point where she'd seen the figure move to-but saw nothing when she looked around. That's funny I'm certain that I-

"Belle," A low voice whispered from behind her. She whipped her body around instantly. Shock washed over her, but she soon was able to change every bit of her being to that of a strong and confident warrior.

"Rumpelstiltskin…" Belle watched him carefully as he revealed himself- slowly stepping out from behind some trees and bushes. She forced herself to take a deep breath-she hadn't even been able to shorten his name like she usually did- how would she actually speak to him? Someway, she had been able to keep her voice steady and her tone unafraid. "What… What are you doing back in Storybrooke?"

A/N Wow, that was a fun chapter to write! As always, don't hesitate to drop a line about what you think so far. :)