Things had gotten better. Rumplestiltskin knew that Belle had not forgotten her father's hostility, but she has accepted it and moved past it. She was smiling again and the light had been restored to her eyes. The past week had been strenuous; in his attempts to cheer Belle up, Rumplestiltskin was mentally exhausting himself. His mind was constantly reeling with ideas of how he could make her happy. He wanted to do something special for her, something he hadn't before. But what? She was elated when they had visited her home, but that had crashed and burned as soon as Maurice revealed the bitter beast in him. Still, it made her happy for a short while. Belle wanted to see the world; could he show it to her?
Sitting at the wheel, its revolutions moving as quickly as his thoughts, Rumplestiltskin glanced out of the corner of his eye to look at her. Belle sat contently on the windowsill, her legs hanging off the edge and becoming tanned and glistening in the summer sunshine. Belle. Beauty. Her name was appropriate. She was far too beautiful for him. It baffled him how she had stood up to her own father to defend him. He had meant to ask her why she had done it, but she had been so shaken by the encounter that he did not want to bring back the dejected state it had left her in. He would wait. Good things came to those who waited, but did good things come to bad people?
"Rumplestiltskin?" she asked, swinging her legs around to face him. He looked at her expectantly. Belle paused, biting her lip as she always did before asking him something that she was nervous about.
"Would it be possible for me…could I maybe…learn magic?" she asked timidly. He raised his eyebrows at her question. He had not expected something like that.
"Why ever for?" he asked, standing up and moving toward her. He leaned one hand on the ledge of the window next to where she sat, his face curiously close. She met his eyes confidently; he hadn't outright said no.
"Well I just thought that it could be useful," she began, " it would take me a long time to learn complex spells, I know, but…I am here forever." She rationalized, shrugging her shoulders. Belle learning spells.
"It would be possible, dearie, yes, but how would you learn? Books can explain spells but they cannot teach you the complete methods. Books can only do so much." He teased, a smirk crossing his face.
"I thought you could teach me." She replied simply. The smirk was instantly wiped from his countenance.
"Belle, I use dark magic. I will not teach you dark magic. It will change you. Once you go down that path, there is no turning back." He said sharply, "I will not let you do that to yourself, it only causes misery."
"I don't want to learn dark magic," she argued, rising to meet his level rebelliously, "I just want to learn something. I was helpless at my father's castle; if I had known some kind of magic, I could have defended myself."
"You don't need to do that because I will defend you," Rumplestiltskin growled, "I will not let anyone hurt you. Is that not clear to you?" Belle's eyes were defiant.
"What if I wanted to protect you?" she contended, raising an eyebrow, "I would be able to defend both of us if something happened, I would be prepared."
"You don't need to be concerned with that," He replied firmly, his mouth forming a thin line, "we're done with this conversation." He turned away from her, but she grabbed his arm.
"No we are not! Rumplestiltskin, you know as well as I do that there will be times when danger will be at our door. Do you not trust me enough to let me fight for myself?" she said, her voice quavering. Why did she have to be so stubborn?
"I already told you, I will not teach you dark magic." He said, gritting his teeth.
"Then who will teach me good magic? Because I will-" she stopped mid-sentence, remembering their initial deal, remembering what she had agreed to. Rumplestiltskin saw the determination in her face falter.
"You'll what, dearie?" he teased. He had not meant for it to sound as malicious as it did, but that was his nature.
"I'll…I'll do nothing." She said darkly. She slid off the window and walked away, needing a few moments by herself to cool down. Rumplestiltskin leaned on the windowsill, the warm air cradling his face. She wanted to learn magic; it was curious to him, but also made him cautious. Did she find truth in her father's words? Had she decided that maybe Rumplestiltskin was the monster everybody said he was and that she could defeat him using magic? He scoffed at that; he was the most powerful and most cunning being in the land. Belle was determined though, and brave to boot. She seemed to know him better than he knew himself sometimes. If anybody could defeat him, it would be her, for he would never lay a hand on her. He was afraid that she would learn his weaknesses; yet, she had no idea that she was his weakness and always would be.
He thought of the Queen. How, if she discovered his feelings for Belle, how quickly she would scheme to use his love against him. Maybe teaching Belle protective magic wasn't the worst idea in the world. Of course, the Queen was far more powerful than Belle could ever hope to be, but a few protective spells couldn't hurt.
He turned around, but Belle was nowhere in sight. At first, he panicked; but then, the sound of her light footsteps in the corridor calmed him. He knew her sound: her footfalls were bouncy and airy; as if she was an angel constantly floating that chose to touch the earth whenever she felt inclined.
As long as she was here, she was safe; that much he knew.
Belle knew that it had been a stretch asking him to teach her magic, but she was angry nonetheless. Did he not think she was capable of handling magic? She was no Dark One, but she was an avid learner and she was willing to dedicate the time and effort. Even if he didn't know good magic, he had the means of learning it; the various books on spells and magic in his study were proof of that. So why had he never bothered to study any of it? Knowledge was power, and he sure did love his power. If he had no use for it, why shouldn't she attempt to take a little bit from it?
She climbed the large staircase, looking over her shoulder to see if he had followed her. He didn't. She walked quickly, reaching the large doors at the end of the hallway, her breath short. Her heart was beating fast and nervously as she cracked one of the doors to his study open just enough so that she could squeeze through. She carefully closed it behind her, making sure that it made no noise.
Infiltration complete, she thought to herself. A twinge of guilt came with her small victory. Rumplestiltskin had let her into his study in confidence and here she was, breaking in to read spell books. She was torn between loyalty and determination.
"Five minutes. Nothing more, nothing less." She muttered to herself, moving deeper into the depths of the vast, circular room. The study was filled with a plethora of books and magical objects. Belle's fascination grew with every step she took. Before walking over to the bookshelves, she walked back over the cupboard of vials that she had seen the first time she entered his study. She noticed that now only one vial was empty: true love. For some reason, she couldn't stop staring at it. She recalled that another vial had been empty before, but couldn't remember exactly which one. She scanned the shelves, hoping that seeing the label would help restore her memory. It wasn't fury, nor was it forgetfulness…it surely wasn't mourning. Her search ended when her eyes were upon the vial: desire. Yes, that had been it. She studied the vial closely, noticing the gorgeous golden glow it emitted. She was curious as to when Rumplestiltskin had managed to capture desire and how he had done so. She examined it closely, trying to eyeball the contents of the spell. She saw that there were two thin lines encircling each other and rotating in perfect harmony. Upon further inspection, she determined that the looked like hairs; in fact, one of them was darker than the other and had a certain familiar curl to it. It couldn't be…hers?
She looked closer at the other strand of hair that danced like a flame around her own. It was substantially lighter and appeared to be crimped. Rumplestiltskin's…
Her heart leapt. She felt lighter and better than she had felt in weeks. Although desire could mean a lot of things, she knew it was more than lust. She turned away from the shelf and made her way toward the large doors. Spell books could wait, she thought to herself as she slid back into the hallway. Thankfully, Rumplestiltskin was not there; she already felt guilty for sneaking around in the first place, she didn't need for him to catch her in the act.
Belle grinned as she walked back into the main parlor and saw him spinning at the wheel again. His pale, wavy hair was unmistakably the same as the one in the vial. She walked over to him and sat on the window ledge again.
"I'm sorry, you know." She whispered.
"I am too."
Belle's eyes widened in surprise, "You are?"
"Yes," he began grimly, "I thought about it, and maybe teaching you some…protective spells wouldn't be such a bad idea." She jumped off the ledge in excitement and wrapped her arms around him.
"Oh thank you!" she exclaimed, nuzzling her face in his neck. His laughter was eminent of a bark as he touched her arm tenderly. She drew her head back and leaned in close to her face, her big blue eyes inches from his.
"So, when do we start?"