Chapter One.
The smoke cleared and the citizens of Storybrooke found themselves standing on a grassy clearing in the land of their birth. Murmurs started spreading through the crowd and acknowledgments of their success were exchanged. It had worked. Pan's curse hadn't reached them and Regina had been able to break it.
"The box?" Rumplestiltskin asked his son and Neal nodded.
"Safe," he answered, patting the satchel that he now carried before turning to his own son who had just been released from his grandfather's careful holding. "Welcome to the Enchanted Forest, buddy."
Nothing could have prepared him for this. He'd read about it, memorized it, and even seen a map that was a part of his storybook, book nothing could prepare him for standing with his boots - he was wearing leather boots! - on the soil and watching as a real live princess and prince moved towards them. As they moved closer, he realized that the princess was Aurora from the Netherworld and he offered a quick wave before being distracted immediately by everything else around him. Henry looked back, eyes wide in wonder and barely contained excitement. He was in the Enchanted Forest. The day could not get any better.
Henry looked down to his own clothes. His coat, scarf, and tennis shoes were put away for leathers and thicker materials. Sadly, no sword had been given to him on his arrival. He was going to have to talk to Gramps - he wasn't sure Dad would be quite as eager to exchange the wooden swords for a real one, but what sort of person walked around with a wooden sword hanging from his belt? - about that. He could only guess that the others had been delivered there in the clothes that they'd left in - there was blood splattered across Gramps' shirt, but thankfully the injury didn't seem to come along with it - some thirty years before. One look back at his Grandpa Gold and he understood why he could never put Rumplestiltskin and Mr Gold together as he had with so many other citizens of Storybrooke. His mom - Emma - though, was the biggest surprise. She was busy trying to figure out the dress she was wearing, or, more appropriately, how to move in it. She'd been a baby when she'd gone through to the Land Without Magic, so the breaking of the Curse had delivered her back with a new set of clothes, some that suited the daughter of a prince and princess, but probably not the most practical to be wearing in a field. He glanced over to his dad to see him staring with a dazed look as she nearly fell over in the layers and layers of violet material. Henry grinned widely. "Dad, stop staring and help her!"
Emma's gaze shot over to them both and she tried to glare, nearly toppling again and he could see his dad choking back a laugh. "Trader," he grumbled good naturedly as he moved to help her. He was beaten to it, though, as Hook stepped in, offering his good hand to balance her.
"My lady," he said in a tone that even Henry knew and he watched Neal's expression grow a little less entertained. At twelve, Henry couldn't expect to know everything about the strange triangle that seemed to have become his parents and the pirate captain - he still wasn't sure he knew what to think about the fact that Captain Hook had a crush on his mom - but he knew enough to know it was complicated and had gotten more so during their trip to Neverland to save him. He thought he'd heard Hook offer to take a step back, but that promise didn't seem to have followed them through to the Enchanted Forest as he complimented Emma's dress with a what was probably supposed to be a charming smile.
Aurora approached with a man he didn't recognize, and Mary Margaret embraced her, introducing David and chattering away like old friends. Regina was standing back a ways - his mom's new (old?) look was going to take about as much getting used to as his grandpa's with the red strands of hair and the feathery outfit that was far showier than he'd ever seen her wear in Storybrooke - and the others seemed relieved to have gotten back in one piece. The excitement was almost overwhelming, and he spun around, hands gesturing wildly as he spoke. "This is going to be awesome! Mom, look at everything! Mom, can we go to your castle? Grandma Snow, can we see yours? Can we-" He stopped, eyes fixated on Emma. "Mom?"
Emma, in turn, had freed herself from Hook's help and was staring at Henry's grandpa with wide eyes. "I don't… Why are you glittery?" She whirled on Neal, and he was now close enough that she didn't have to stumble more than a step or two in the dress to grab ahold of his jacket, pointing at his father as she spoke. "Why is he glittery?"
Henry's dad, in turn, looked a bit like a fish as he opened and closed his mouth, trying to find the right words to explain. Henry himself was about to say something about the Dark One's Curse - something he was now very curious about since he could see the affects - but his grandpa cut him off.
Rumplestiltskin grinned impishly and giggled. He actually giggled. "My curse does take on a more… physical appearance here, dearie. No hiding what I am now, I suppose." He turned as if he were expecting to defend himself for the offhanded comment, but didn't find the person that would have reprimanded him for it. He looked through the crowd of people, his strange gaze falling on each one in turn, and with each person he saw, his brows drew a little closer together and the smile faded a little more until it had flipped entirely into a frown. Henry could feel the tension in the air and one glance at his dad said he felt it too. "Where's Belle?"
Henry looked around for the woman in question, finding other familiar faces - some that had been standing on the street with them and a few that hadn't - but not hers. Regina stepped forward. "It was a rough ride. She may have gotten delivered in a different group."
"That's not how it works," Rumplestiltskin snapped, growing more agitated by the moment.
"It wasn't really meant to be reversed in this way, either, was it?" Henry's mom barked back, bristling at the irritation thrown her way.
"She has to be here somewhere, Papa," Neal said. "We'll find her."
"What if-"
The Dark One's son reached out and rested a hand against his arm and the gesture seemed to calm him a little at least. "We'll find her. C'mon, Henry and I can help you look while Mary Margaret gets everything situated."
Baelfire had not expected to come back to the Enchanted Forest again. Granted, he hadn't expected the little impromptu trip that had been him getting shot by his ex-fiance and falling through a raging portal either, but hey, what was life without a few twists and turns to throw you off? When he'd first left he had thought he had made peace with the fact that he'd never see his homeland again. If that gained him a life with the father he'd loved as a boy, it was well worth that price to be paid, but his papa hadn't gone with him as promised. He could still hear his own voice that had filled his nightmares for so many years as he cried out not to break their deal. Instead of going to a place where they could be together and free, Bae had been delivered onto the streets of 19th century London and had nearly starved to death. That compounded by his years spent in Neverland had left him bitter towards both the place of his birth and the father that had let him go. He would have never expected that a return to the forest would be a sort of homecoming. It reminded him how much he'd missed it.
Now, though, he was watching his own twelve-year-old son race forward at the first sight of another group of Storybrooke citizens delivered back home, and even though he knew he should be worried about Belle there was a surprising peace within him. Rumplestiltskin had always been a bit of a pessimist, jumping to the worst conclusion at first hop, and the curse had only made that paranoia worse. He'd calmed a bit when Bae had talked him down and the Dark One's son thought that the full on panic attack that could have resulted in something less than pleasant in their first moments back in the Enchanted Forest had been averted. Instead he'd darted off in the opposite direction to cover more ground and Bae had found himself feeling amused rather than irritated. Maybe this really could work afterall.
"Any luck?" he called forward and Henry turned around from where he'd been talking to Pinocchio, the little redheaded boy looking up with wide, innocent eyes. Amazing what that little kid had grown into.
"I haven't seen Belle at all," the little puppet-turned-boy said. "I promise, if I had, I'd be truthful about it."
Bae tried not to laugh out loud as he ruffled the kid's hair. "I know. You don't have to tell me that."
"Belle wouldn't be the only one to have been separated from the group she left with," Marco - Geppetto - said as he put a hand on his son's shoulder. "Jiminy was with us as well as the Blue Fairy."
"So that means Belle just ended up somewhere else!" Henry said, looking back to his dad for affirmation.
"Just like Regina was telling your grandpa," Bae answered with a smirk. That'd go over great when the Evil Queen told Rumplestiltskin how right she'd been.
"Has he always been like that?" Henry asked as Geppetto took Pinocchio off in search of their friend.
"Like what?"
"Ready to think the worst."
Bae took a deep breath, surprising himself with the words that came out. "Yeah, he's always had a bit of a confidence issue."
"That's weird," Henry said with a huff. "I mean, he's supposed to be the most powerful sorcerer in the Enchanted Forest. I asked him - when we were in New York to find you - why he didn't just look at the future and see what was going to happen. He was so nervous about it. I mean, I guess it didn't go as well for him as I thought it would, but in the end it all worked out. We're all here and it's going to be great now!"
His father had seemed anything but nervous that day. In fact, he'd seemed his usual - well, usual after he'd taken on the Dark One's Curse - absurd self, trying to fix everything with magic in ways that completely bypassed the entire problem at its core. Bae hadn't needed his father to gloss over everything that had happened, he didn't need him to fix it, because there was no fixing it. There was only this slow journey that they were on now, and that was the only way that they could hope to approach it. He had to admit, though, his willingness help Henry both in Neverland and bringing him through were great stepping stones. "You're pretty smart, kid," he murmured after a moment. "I didn't spot that."
"That's because you were too close to it."
Smart was an understatement, Bae thought as he ruffled Henry's hair. "C'mon, let's-" he stopped as he felt a pulse that nearly knocked him off his feet. Magic. He turned, not seeing its source, but he knew instinctively that was what it was. He and Henry had already started back, aiming for the same direction that Bae's papa had gone in, when a secondary burst of power rushed past them. What the hell had Rumplestiltskin gotten into this time?
Bae's presence had helped to calm to the rising panic that threatened to take hold, but once his son and grandson had gone one way and Rumplestiltskin had taken off in another, all the darkness in his own mind could do was come up with every terrible scenario that could have taken place. Belle could have slipped through somewhere, stuck between the walls that separated the dimensions. She could have been ripped to shreds or even tossed off into another land entirely. The possibilities - especially the bad ones - were endless.
You will learn the true meaning of sacrifice.
Not Belle. Not this soon. Learning took time. His magical inquiry into the price had told him that much. It would not be immediate, though not immediate could take on so much. He needed time to think, time to reason his way through the sacrifice and what it would be. If he could dictate what it was that he was sacrificing, he could mitigate the cost. If he were very clever - and if Rumplestiltskin were anything, he was very clever - he could even redistribute that cost around. He had become surprisingly good at that, even if it were meant to be a personal price. Magic didn't care if one person paid it or another, for the most part, as long as it was paid in the end.
He stopped and took a deep breath, reaching out. There were collections of people popping back all over. Humans, fairies, dwarves, and every other species that inhabited the Enchanted Forest. He let his magic guide him and when he focused in on the next crowd of people that looked thoroughly misplaced, he saw a familiar golden dress peeking out from under a cloak. "Belle," he breathed.
The auburn haired princess turned, blue eyes lighting up as she saw him and a smile touched her painted lips. "Rumple!"
She was surrounded by her father, Gaston, and what appeared to be several nobles, only a few that he recognized, though. A surprising number had called on him in the time before the Dark Curse had taken them away, but it was often done in secret, as they were ready to condemn his dark and evil ways while speaking amongst their peers. They glared at him now, Maurice's the sharpest, but he didn't care. Belle was there and she was whole. His fears were unfounded.
Belle's smile never faltered as she sprinted across the opening between them - much more graceful in her own dress than Emma had been - and launched herself into his arms. Rumplestiltskin caught her, swinging her around and her laughter echoed in his ears. He set her down and without even thinking leaned forward, his excitement and relief making him impulsive as well as forgetful of where they now were, and he pressed his lips against hers. As his True Love kissed him back he felt a warmth pulse through him and the dark voice that had been ever present in his mind since killing Zoso on that fateful night screamed against it, demanding that he pull back and away.
Not long before the Dark Curse was enacted he'd stopped the kiss before the rush of magic could flow all the way through him. He'd chosen power over love and his curse over Belle. The fact that it had been to find Bae was irrelevant. In the end, his curse had only used that to save itself. Lies and truth were difficult to tell apart when the darkness stirred and demanded action. Demanded that he make good on the deal he'd made early on with it to keep a sliver of himself for his son's sake.
They parted when they felt it move between them, her eyes questioning what he wanted and he found himself staring back at her. The curse was screaming, howling in his mind but his heart clenched almost painfully in his chest. "Belle," he whispered her name, his fingers tangled in her hair and not giving a damn just how many eyes were on them. He could feel their judgements on them, the beauty and the monster, but the only eyes that mattered were staring back at him, all the love in the worlds in them.
"It's your choice, Rumple," she murmured. "I love you. All of you. Even the darkness."
She was truly amazing, his Belle. He had put her through so much, and as they stood at the same fork in the road that they'd been at once before, she was giving him the choice that his curse would not.
Rumplestiltskin wasn't sure when he'd leaned back in, or when their lips met again, but he felt the second burst of True Love rush through his system and she tightened her grip on him, feeling it too. It worked through him, the initial pulse leaving even his extremities tingling with the magic, but the Dark One's curse was not so easily eradicated. If she hadn't had a hold on him at that point, he might have pulled back, fleeing from what could be, but Belle was his strength. She was his anchor against the raging darkness in his soul and when he finally blinked his eyes open, his limbs feeling heavy and his body worn, it was a set of blue eyes that greeted him and pulled him back to reality. "Hey," he greeted, his voice rougher than he expected.
"Hey. You okay?"
He pulled in a deep breath, doing a quick mental inventory. Everything seemed intact, except for that terrible screaming that had faded away in a burst of white light. "I think so."
"Papa?"
He turned, his head spinning a little at the motion even as he did, and he widened his stance. For now, at least, the spell he had worked on his shattered ankle while in Neverland seemed to be holding, curse or no curse. His dark eyes came to rest on Baelfire standing with Henry just behind him and a smile tugged his lips to greet the jaw-dropping shock that Bae wore. Memories pulled forward from so very, very long ago even as he offered a strained greeting. "Hello, son."
If I find a way for you to get rid of the power… would you do it?
"You broke it," Bae breathed, taking a hesitant step forward as if he thought it might be some sort of a trick.
All I want is your happiness, Bae. If you find a way, I'll do it.
"Well, I am a man of my word. Sometimes it just takes me a bit longer than others, but I always fulfill my end of a bargain."
He'd finally told Belle enough about his and Bae's story that she squeezed his hand, and he could feel the smile she was wearing. Bae, though, was still moving forward, eyes wide and he reached out in the last moment, gathering his father into his arms in a rare embrace. Rumplestiltskin returned it, holding his only son close. "You did it," Bae whispered into his ear. "You really did it."
The reply was cut short, though as a warning that he didn't have time to understand broke through. It was followed immediately by a shattering sound in his own mind and it was like a dam had broken, allowing pinned up waters to come crashing down and they flooded his thoughts. Rumple stiffened in Bae's arms as the images and visions that his curse had kept mostly sorted for him came through all at once with no filter to control them.
"Papa?" his son's voice sounded in his ears and he thought Belle called his name as his knees gave way and he was dragged under the tidal wave of the future.
TBC
Notes: Thank you all for the lovely reviews! I'm very excited that you're enjoying it so far!
Next time - Rumplestiltskin fights to manage his visions without his curse and a certain witch brings on a whole new set of problems.