Rumple was done.
He was sick of the stupid, rotten ship, sick of the people he'd been stuck with for the past three months.
Oh, he would kill for a glass of clean water.
Once he had finally gotten used to the constant lurching of the ship, the stale taste of the food supply, even the other people's daily habits, he had to deal with the intolerable and constant remarks of Hook. He still wanted to kill him; he saw the bloodlust in his eyes. It was a look he knew quite well.
He consoled himself by staying out of their way, locking himself up in his cabin and sitting in isolation for hours. But like everything else, that had its downfalls.
He wasn't going insane; he was used to long periods of time spent alone. But what really got him was the pain. He was, once again, alone.
Once the death of his son had sunk in, it had hit him hard. To lose him, to come to terms with the fact that he really would never see him again…it was unreal.
And he needed her.
On days like this, he wished more than anything that he had taken her along with him on the ship, to be there with him, to understand him, to help him.
But once again, she was gone.
He dreamt of her. Night after night, he dreamt of her sparkling blue eyes and the echoes of her laugh. Even Regina grew wary of him each morning after seeing the hollow look in his eyes.
He was stuck like that, in a daze, torn between mourning Bae and missing Belle, until one day something changed.
"Land ho!"
For the first time in a few days, he ran as quickly as his leg could take him up to the side of the deck next to everyone else. He ignored their glances as he scanned the island. Neverland.
He spent that night sitting there, on the deck, alone while everyone else slept. As he was just about drifting into sleep, he heard a voice.
Rumple.
His eyes snapped open. The soft, melodic voice was nothing short of beautiful. He looked around, searching for the woman whose face would match the voice.
Rumplestiltskin.
He saw her then, a tall, thin woman rising out of the sea, draped in an elegant white gown that pooled around her.
She was stunning.
She smiled, the sweetest smile he'd ever seen, and he was able to forget everything; his son, Belle, Henry.
She glided closer to him, still singing his name, and reached out to touch his arm.
He blinked. What the hell?
A siren, he thought. How could I possibly have fallen for that?
He stepped back. "Not today, dearie."
But she simply tilted her head, still smiling, and let her dark hair fall over her face. After a second she lifted a finger to push it out of the way, and his heart stopped for a moment.
He would recognize her smile anywhere. His Belle.
He stammered, torn between clear logic and pure desire.
Desire was winning out.
There she was, Belle, right there in front of him, waiting for him. He wanted her. No, he needed her.
What good was this life without her, really?
Rumple. She smiled. Come with me. It's been so long.
Before he could respond, she kissed him, and as much as he hated it, he loved it more.
He felt himself moving forward with her, stepping closer and closer to the edge of the boat, but he didn't care, didn't think. He was with Belle, and that was all that mattered. This would be a good way to die, anyway.
But in an instant it was shattered. He felt her being ripped away from him, heard her shriek and saw, numbly, her face shifting away from Belle's.
"Never could let go of that one, could you, mate?"
He saw Hook wipe the shiny blue blood off of his hook and kick her back into the sea in one smooth motion. He gave a quick grin, but Rumple couldn't reply. All he could manage was to stare at the place where she just was for a few moments. He heard Hook say a few more sentences, distantly saw him waving his hook in front of his face, and saw him give up and walk back to his cabin. But those things didn't matter.
"I'll come back for you," he finally whispered. "I love you."