Chapter Twenty-Five.
Regina had known her wards had been breached almost immediately and it hadn't taken more than a couple of minutes for them to piece together what had happened. Henry had taken matters into his own hands. Rushing to his rescue had been the top priority for everyone, but Rumplestiltskin was happily surprised that no one argued that if the opportunity should present itself to take Pan down because of what Henry had done that they should take it. They knew he'd never put his grandson in danger to do so.
That was why his first priority had been to get Henry behind him, but then Pan had frozen at the sight of him and he knew they'd never receive another opportunity like this. Regina had known too, because she hadn't wasted any time. Her magic slammed into Pan and held him tight. Rumple could see the slender strings of magic pulled around him and he twitched, unable to move. The little imp's blue eyes were wide in shock, but Rumplestiltskin wasn't sure that it was entirely because he was held. Those eyes were still trained on him and he couldn't help but feel a little uncomfortable.
"She'd said she killed you, laddie."
"Sorry to disappoint."
Pan shifted, or tried to, but he didn't make it very far as the others came out to surround him. Bae and Robin had arrows hastily coated squid ink trained on him and David held his sword at the ready for even a flinch in the wrong direction. Emma stood by her father and Rumple could already begin to feel Regina pulling from her as a deep resource of power. Belle carefully watched with her own sword gripped firmly and Snow walked around. "Come on, Henry," she coaxed.
"We'll be along," Rumplestiltskin promised his grandson when he looked up at him, worry shining in those dark eyes.
"Sooner the better, Rumple," Regina called, her voice tight.
Henry and Snow were whisked away by Rumple's magic as he felt power building from Pan. He was pulling from Regina's spell and they only had moments before he broke. Maybe not even that long, he realized, as blue eyes flashed dangerously and a wave of raw power burst out, knocking several people from their feet. Rumplestiltskin managed to stay upright, the palms if his hands burning as he braced himself against it.
"I may be surprised, laddie, but not stupid," Pan snarled, stalking towards the former Dark One.
"Matter of opinion," Bae called from behind and an arrow came flying.
Pan darted to the side, but the sharp tip tore into his arm, the squid ink's effects taking hold and a blue shimmer spread across him, immediate followed by Regina and Emma's magic holding him completely still. He snarled, glare turned on Rumple and his son smirked. It was time to put an end to Peter Pan.
Rumplestiltskin had been working and reworking the spell into something he could manage without the well of power that he'd had access to as the Dark One. He'd put a good deal of his centuries' worth of study into reworking the spell, and as it unraveled Neverland's effects in Pan he felt that it had been time well spent. He was fighting it with everything he had, but without the ability to flee the scene there was really nothing he could do. Slowly, bit by bit, the layers upon layers that had formed up the illusion if a child slipped away and they left a familiar face behind.
Malcolm fell to his knees as the blue shimmer of the squid ink faded and Regina released her holding spell. The others gathered slowly around, wary, and the man turned to his son. "Rumple... You won't let them hurt me, will you, laddie?"
"You'd deserve everything you get and more," Emma growled out.
"But you won't kill me, will you, Rumple?" Malcolm pleaded. "You wouldn't let them hurt your Papa."
Rumplestiltskin's even expression never changed as he bent down close to Malcolm and spoke lowly. "You tormented my son for centuries in Neverland and you've spent the last months doing the same to my grandson. There are many things I disagree with the savior about, but the fact that anything you get will be fully deserved is not one. Enjoy mortality, however long you have to enjoy it."
The former Dark One straightened then, expression still carefully masked, and turned. Let the Charmings do what they would with him.
Peace had long since seemed like a foregone option. In his youth he'd been plagued with fear and uncertainty, and the years since had been filled with so much darkness that it was a wonder his soul had survived at all. It had, though, beaten and battered as it was, and he had those he loved to thank for it.
Those faces filled his mind and Bae was waiting for him at the top of the stairs. He'd walked down them some thirty years before when the cage at the bottom was meant for him. He'd never had the chance to walk back up them again as the curse had swept them all away, but he would that day. This was a temporary visit, one that he'd decided he needed. Malcolm's sentencing had finally been decided on and after a discussion with Belle on it, Rumplestiltskin had offered to take it below to him. It was time to close a chapter before turning the page and starting anew. Bae had offered to go with him, but it really was something he needed to do alone.
Guards let him pass with wary looks, but there was one that Rumple recognized. The tall, dark skinned guard was the one that had watched over him for the months he'd been trapped below. He'd revelled in it, in his own way. He was a man driven by duty and Rumplestiltskin knew that some of that duty and loyalty could even cloud what he would consider rational thought. "Alexander, I trust you have kept him well under lock and key."
The man quirked a dark eyebrow. "I hadn't expected you to deliver the news. I understand that Princess Snow has put together quite a reception."
Rumplestiltskin grimaced. "There's no talking her out of some things when she finds out about them," the former Dark One agreed.
Alexander nodded and shifted out of the way. "You'll give Lady Belle my best," he said tightly.
A real smile perked. "Of course."
The hall, if it could be called that, was just as dark and dreary as he remembered. It was deep under the mines and burned of fairy magic that nipped at him even now that his curse had been broken. Water dripped and the smell remained stale and still, as if nothing would ever really change down there. It wouldn't, either. This place was like a pocket where time didn't matter except to eat away at the worthless years of the man that abandoned him as a small child.
"Well hello, laddie," came the crooning voice from the darkness. "Couldn't stay away?"
Rumplestiltskin's thin lips stretched into a smile that was anything but friendly. "Hardly. I've stayed away quite nicely, but I wanted to see the look on your face when you hear what they decided."
Malcolm stood, blue eyes cutting through the darkness and he couldn't hide the eagerness for news. "Are your little heros putting me to death then?"
"No, they won't be," Rumple answered and the smile grew vicious. "You'll spend the rest of your days down here. Without your powers you're no threat to my family, but you'll pay for what you've done. You get to rot down here without seeing the light of day. Enjoy yourself."
The elder man bristled, fingers wrapping around the newly repaired bars of the cell and he pressed his face against them, getting as close to his son as possible. "You wouldn't leave your own papa to rot, would you laddie?"
"I certainly would. It's time to end this little dance between us. You no longer have any hold on me. It's far beyond time to move past this and start again."
"You think that just because your boy has forgotten who you are and what you've done and that little flower has agreed to marry you that it will last? Don't be a fool, Rumple. They'll never accept you. Baelfire will leave and-"
"Enough," Rumplestiltskin said evenly. "I'm already late. You, on the other hand, have all the time in the worlds to think on whatever it is that you'd like to think on. Enjoy that time. You'll never see my family or me again." He turned, leaving a stupefied Malcolm to gape at him and he pulled in a deep breath to steady himself. "I may never find it in myself to forgive you, Papa, but I can make sure you don't cast a shadow on the rest of our lives. Goodbye."
Malcolm said nothing as Rumplestiltskin left him to his fate, climbing the stairs and nodding to Alexander on the way out. Bae met him at the top. "Everything okay, Pop?"
Feeling the rush of peace that came was an odd, but welcomed feeling. "Yes, Bae, I think it is."
"Good to hear, because if we don't hurry, you're going to be late to your own wedding."
Rumplestiltskin grinned and a hand went to his son's shoulder. "I'd never live that down."
They'd managed to keep their engagement quiet during the majority of the war, but after it was over and Pan had been captured, somehow Snow had found out. Belle wasn't entirely sure who the culprit was - though Bae knew, and Bae and Emma were rekindling their relationship, so it had likely come down that line - and she had immediately wanted to be involved in the wedding. It was her way of apologizing for everything, they knew, but Rumple had left that conversation faster than Belle had known he could and somehow she'd managed to come to something like a middle ground with the dark haired princess. The wedding would be small with only family involved in it, and Snow could put together some sort of reception as long as she kept it to a minimum.
Malcolm's sentencing had come in early that morning and it had taken some convincing to get Rumple to go. He needed it, they both knew, and he could put at least one demon to rest in his past and keep it there as they moved forward into their future together. So everything had been pushed back and Belle now found herself waiting for her fiance to return, sitting in a little room at the end of the hall from the smallest chapel. Emma was leaned up against a wall, no longer trying to hide her boredom, and Snow had found something else on Belle's dress to fidget with. "It could have waited," she mumbled again and Belle offered her a smile.
"Rumple needed this. Pan - Malcolm - has been a shadow over his life for too longer. Knowing that he can't harm anyone that Rumple loves will be good for him."
"Maybe we should have just pushed the wedding back to another day."
"I've waited long enough to marry the man I love."
The door flew open suddenly, as if it had gotten away from the person doing the opening. Henry appeared, his expression full of excitement. "Grandpa Gold's back!" he announced. "You ready, Belle?"
Belle stood, eyes shining and she nodded. Her father came up behind Henry and she took his outreached hand as the others hurried down the hall in front of them. Maurice looped his arm around her own and slowly, steadily they started down the hall. Deep breath, she reminded herself even as they entered.
Rumple looked over as she entered, his eyes lighting up and he did look like a weight had finally been lifted from him. His lips quirked up a bit at the edges and Belle had to resist the urge to run to the end. Snow, David, Emma, Bae, and Henry stood off to the side and Jiminy Cricket was perched on a pedestal with his horn in front of him so that he could be heard. Maurice reluctantly let her go, kissing her cheek before taking a step back with the rest of them.
Jiminy spoke, but she hardly heard him as Rumple reached forward and took her hands. She'd gone over the vows she'd written again and again, but the words had left her now and she found something a bit less scripted leaving her tongue. "When we first met I couldn't have known what would happen. Even you didn't. I never would have imagined that this would be the path that we would take. No matter the darkness and the pain, our love found a way to break through, and with each new trial it grows stronger. I'll never stop fighting for you, Rumplestiltskin, and I'll never give up on you. I may not have been able to imagine what this would be like, but I wouldn't change a second of it for anything."
Her True Love swallowed hard, the words catching his tongue for a moment. He was so clever with words, but when it came to his own feelings Rumple often had trouble putting them together into something he was willing to express. The smile returned after a moment, though, and he squeezed her fingers in his. "Belle," he breathed, "I love you more than I could ever say. You're the reason the light broke through and you're the one that keeps me moving towards it. I cheated fate to be with those I love, and I know I'll never deserve you, but just having you near makes me want to be better. You make me stronger."
Belle felt the same warmth fill her up that did every time they kissed, though their lips hadn't met yet. Somewhere off to the side she thought she heard Jiminy mention something to that extent, and she reached forward, her hand touching the side of his face and he leaned into it. Slowly they moved in and the brightness of True Love that had been building in her rushed outward they kissed, and when they finally broke she sighed, pressing her cheek against his chest as he wrapped one arm around her. "I love you," he whispered into her ear.
"I love you," she answered, but felt a nearer set of eyes on them than had been before.
She cracked an eye open to see Henry standing there with a grin stretching from one side of his face to the other. He held out the small pouch he'd been entrusted with. "I think you guys forgot something."
Belle choked out a laugh and Rumple looked a little embarrassed, but he hid it quickly, taking the offered rings. "Thank you, Henry."
"What would you do without me, right?" her love's grandson grinned.
"I'm glad we'll never have to find out," he chuckled and held out the ring that matched the engagement stone he'd already given her. "May I?"
Belle nodded and he slipped the ring on her finger and she moved to do the same with the one she had for him. It was a Land Without Magic tradition, but she liked it. They didn't need symbols to show that they were linked now, but there was something beautiful about it. The whole world could see, if they were in the same room or not.
"So does this mean I finally get to call you grandma now?" Henry asked cheekily.
Rumplestiltskin chuckled and Belle laughed, reaching out to pull the boy into a hug. He returned it readily. "Of course, Henry," she answered, smiling over him at her husband. "Of course."
Notes: *deep breath* A big thank you to everyone who followed this through and to those that reviewed too! Thanks so much :)
I know that some people were hoping for the conversation between Henry and… well everyone, really, as they're all a little miffed at him for putting himself in danger like that, but it just didn't fit in no matter how many ways I turned this chapter. It seemed too forced, so I'm afraid that you'll just need to know that Henry was fussed over his actions, but hey, they're not going to keep him from his grandpa's wedding :P
Work is crazy today, but I'm hoping to get the first chapter of Courage of the Stars up this afternoon/evening. It's going to be my next full-length story and I'm already several chapters in, so I'm confident enough to go ahead and start posting it today. Especially since this last chapter was a tad on the short side.