A.N. Just couldn't wait to continue this.

Chapter two: That Small Voice

Harry smiled as he watched Belle bringing in the laden tea tray into the great hall and stayed silent in the corner hoping to see if his book was still close to reality still. His Master was sitting at the head of the long table smiling ironically, "You may do as you wish during the day, Harry will attend to whatever you might need. I expect you to be here for all meals and to prepare my tea every day." His hands fluttered this way and that as he was talking. Belle felt a bit nervous watching him, still unsure how she was supposed to behave with her strange new husband but still she replied, "Of course," as she moved to prepare his tea.

"You will fetch me fresh straw when I am spinning at the wheel," Rumplestiltskin continued. Belle replied, "Yes I understand," as she raise the cup for him. Harry sat forward just a bit so he could have a better look. "Oh," Rumplestiltskin said as if he almost forgotten something, "and you will skin the children I hunt for their pelts." Belle promptly dropped the cup she was holding in horror and Harry bit his lip to keep from laughing.

Rumplestiltskin smiled at him and told Belle, "that one was a quip, not serious," he giggled. Belle let her breath out in relief, "Oh, right," she smiled as she bent to retrieve the cup she dropped. "Oh, my, I'm so sorry but its chipped," Belle held the cup up nervously, "you can hardly see it." She held it up nervously for his inspection; afraid she had disappointed him by dropping it. He looked at her a bit amused, "Its just a cup." Belle let out a breath and put the cup back on the tray.

Harry was amused to see she was very relieved to not have been reprimanded and he was glad to see that his interference to get his Master to marry her hadn't changed too much. His Master rose after he had his tea to continue his work in the west wing and left the two of them in the great hall. As soon as he was sure his Master was far enough away for Belle to feel more comfortable he burst out in giggles.

Belle turned to scowl at him, hands on her hip, and her foot was capping impatiently, "Oh that was funny to you was it?" She said as she approached him menacingly but Harry simply tucked his book under his arm dancing away from her. "It was quite humorous," Harry replied as he danced around her to escape her questing hands. Belle huffed in annoyance, "well, I suppose it might be more humorous when you are not the one at the joke is in the expense of." Harry grinned at her as he perched himself at his Master's spinning wheel.

Belle got a considering look on her face as she looked at him, "You know I didn't expect there to be anyone else here when I agreed to Rumplestiltskin's deal." "Well, I am supposed to be a surprise you know," Harry said as he fluttered his hands a bit. "A surprise for whom?" Belle asked curious. "You know you shouldn't ask questions you don't want the answer to," Harry replied. Belle huffed again, "Fine, just answer me this. Why are you here Harry?" Belle asked curiously.

Harry gave here a considering look, "If you asked my Master that he would probably say that it's because no one breaks a deal with him." "Yes, but I'm not asking him, am I? I know you have a lot of magic too," Belle asked truly curious about her husband's mysterious helper. "I suppose you could say its because I love him," Harry replied smiling menacingly at her as if to challenge her to say something against that. "Oh," Belle said surprised barely resisting asking 'why'.

It didn't seem to matter that she hadn't voiced her thought, because Harry answered her all the same as if he heard her anyway. "My Master is many things, he can be hard, cruel, he has earned his title of Dark One…but he also took me in, saved me from a very horrible life, gave my life purpose. Love…true love...means that you all everything about someone…there darkness as much as their light. At least I think so, because no matter how much my Master wants the world to believe otherwise there is a bit of light in him." Harry said looking off in the distance. Belle was stunned, she had never really had given love much thought and here was a boy speaking as a wise old man.

She sat down at a chair and gave it some thought. "Did you know they say that true love's kiss can break any curse," Harry said after leaving to her thoughts for a while. Belle looked up at him startled and he hoped that this gamble would pay off. "Of course my Master isn't under a curse," he finished and he was a little disappointed to see her disappointment. "My Master carries power, power to do some amazing things, both good and bad," he carried on hoping she would listen to him. She looked up at him eyes searching his face, "After all there is no real good or evil, only power and those too weak to seek it," Harry finished.

He saw how she prickled, how she reared up to deny his statement and held back a smile…the game was on. "How can you say that? Of course there is evil as well as good, how can we have words to define them if they weren't real?" Belle demanded. "Evil isn't born dearie, its made," Harry said wagging his finger at her. "In the end there are always two sides to every story, depending on the telling one can be both, so there can be no real truth to those words," Harry said.

"What are you trying to say? Your tongue is just as sharp and wicked as your Master's," Belle replied frustrated with word games. "Simple my dear lady, all the stories told are from the side who won, so of course the opposition has to be evil for the triumph to be good. My Master is the perfect example of this," Harry smiled as he twirled his hands. "What do you mean? Say it or leave me to my thoughts," Belle demanded.

"Alright, I will, the deals my Master has made over the years has gained him his reputation for evil incarnate yes? You agree?" Harry began as she nodded her ascent. "Those stories are all one sided though, all magic comes with a price, those who seek my Master out do so with magic in mind…they hardly ever think about the price they have to pay, do they?" Harry said a giggle on his lips. "No one ever talks about the person who is willing to give up a child for a farm, how heartless that person must be to be willing to sell their own child…no they take about my Master…the one who asked for the child as his price for magic." Harry said eyes narrowed.

"He finds the children of such deals good homes, a good deal go to parents who treat them like treasures, they all say he is heartless for taking babies! Never is one word spoken about the parents willing to sell their babies for a bit of land or comfort. So no, I don't see how their can be true good or true evil…not when everyone is so ready to paint my Master the villain for exacting the price for his magic," Harry said gruffly. "Why ask for such a high price? Why ask for children at all?" Belle asked faltering in her resolve.

"All magic comes with a price, I told you that already," Harry said leaving her to her thoughts. It was a gamble, that whole conversation, it was all a very big gamble but if it worked out how he planned it would be worth it. True Love's kiss is very powerful magic, indeed if things worked out in any way similar to how it had in his book it was even strong enough to turn his Master back into an ordinary man. However, true love's kiss, like all magic, is guided by intent. If Belle doesn't think of the darkness in his Master as an affliction but as a part of the whole then that kiss won't weaken him…it should strengthen him.

Harry knew there was very little he could do about his Master's inclination to test his new wife, to see if she would come back if he sent her out, and there wasn't much he could do about Regina's machinations either. However, he could take that kiss's intent away from Regina and if everything worked out this time Belle wouldn't need Regina to come back. He would have to warn Belle against the Queen of course, as added insurance, but he had to step carefully. His Master wouldn't appreciate his manipulations even if it was for his benefit.

-x-

Belle had begun to study her husband, her strange husband, ever since that day that she had that conversation with Harry she couldn't get what was said out of her head. It made her seriously think on some things, begin to see things in a different light, and slowly that began to make her see her strange husband in a new light. Belle thought about the lessons her nurse had given her on how to be a dutiful wife and the last conversation they had about the duties of a wife in the bedchamber.

She had been so embarrassed during that talk, and then when she had come to the Dark Castle that embarrassment had turned into a mix of nervous anxiety. But her husband had yet to come to her bed, as was his right as her husband. At first Belle had to admit she had been relieved, slowly that relief had begun to turn to hurt at his continued absence as Belle thought it was something of a rejection. Since her conversation with Harry she had a lot of time to really think about her situation, about a lot of things really since there was very little for her to do to occupy her time.

Mostly Belle had been cleaning, on occasion sewing and cooking a bit too. That left a lot of time for thought since there wasn't anyone else around to distract her besides Rumplestiltskin and Harry. She had thought about love, about what she thought love was and she had come to realize that she was in like mind with Harry. Love was more then loving someone because they were 'good' or handsome. Love was layered, mysterious, love had no boundaries, and if you truly loved someone you couldn't pick and choose what you loved about them.

For Belle it was all or nothing, it just how her character was, one simply couldn't love someone halfway…that wasn't true love. Even before her deal with Rumplestiltskin Belle had resigned herself to a marriage without love as was her duty. Belle certainly had not considered the possibility of love after the deal…Rumplestiltskin had seemed too distant…to unreachable for such a thing. However, with Harry saying the things he had…with him expressing his love for such a man freely Belle had begun to question that.

Since then whenever Belle was in her husband's presence she tried to see him as Harry did, to look past the distant demeanor and really try to see him. What she saw surprised her a bit, Rumplestiltskin was funny in his own way, and he had a childlike energy about him like he couldn't keep still. He was graceful, always seemed to be almost dancing and she found that charming. Then she begun to notice his kindness, how he handled Harry…how he would soften just a little bit when interacting with him.

He had gotten her some new clothes recently too, pretty dresses that laced up the front to make it easier for her to dress and she had been touched by his consideration. He could have a sharp tongue, saying just the wrong thing to make you back away but Belle began to see the loneliness behind such actions. Today they were in the great hall again, Rumplestiltskin was spinning, Harry was reading a new magic book and she was tugging on the curtains trying not to be obvious in her study of her husband.

Belle always liked to watch him spinning, he was always so much more relaxed when he was at the wheel, which was surprising and made her curious. "Why do you spin so much?" Belle asked to curious to not ask. Rumplestiltskin stopped spinning to glance at her from over his shoulder and Belle felt the need to justify asking. "Sorry, it's just that you've spun more straw into gold than you could ever spend," Belle said.

"I like to watch the wheel," Rumplestiltskin said and Belle noticed that his voice was deeper "helps me forget." "Forget what?" Belle asked curious. "I guessed it work," he replied and giggled his strange little giggle. Belle couldn't help giggling with him, he was quite funny when he wanted to be, and then she tried tugging on the curtain again.

She heard him get up to walk closer to her, "What are you doing?" he asked curious about her tugging now. Belle ignored the flutter in her stomach that she got at his attention and answered, "Opening these, to let some light in!" Belle said as she tugged at the curtains in frustration as they refused to open. She looked at him in exasperation, "What did you do nail them down?" "Yes," he said simply in reply. Belle huffed more resolved then ever to open them now that it was a challenge, then suddenly it gave away and she was falling. Before she could even become frightened of the landing she felt a strong pair of arms grab her.

Stunned she looked at her husband, a small blush on her cheeks and a flutter in her stomach as she looked at him. The expression on his face…she hadn't seen it before. She couldn't think of anything to say as she stared at him bathed in the light, she noticed that his skin was a shimmering golden color. She had thought it was a scaly greenish-brown, with the revealed golden shimmers in the light Belle thought his skin looked like a dragon's. Showing a dangerous beauty, "Thank you," she managed to say at last embarrassed at her thoughts.

He seemed to snap out of whatever had distracted him then and set her down. He almost seemed nervous in his movements now, "No matter," he said stepping away from her. "I'll put these back up," Belle said nervous. "Ah, there's no need…I'll get used to it." He gestured a bit with his hands as he spoke turning back to his spinning. Belle took note of that in her mind too, he was being considerate again and had to fight a smile.

-x-

Harry fiddled with his hands as he paced from one side of his study to the other. He had managed to convince Rumplestiltskin to show Belle the library as a way to make her more comfortable at the castle. He had of course failed to mention that in doing so it showed that his Master was being both considerate and generous. Belle loved to read, she would love such a gift…for a gift it would be in her eyes. That had been a little over a month ago, since then Harry noticed that Belle sought out Rumplestiltskin's company more and they were teasing each other.

They were getting more comfortable in each other's presence, having small conversations now, and Harry had managed to get his Master to give her a garden just last week. Belle had been so pleased she had hugged him, and Harry had wished he could have captured the look on his Master's face when she had. Now, Harry had looked far and wide for this next gift…only now he wasn't sure how to go about getting his Master to give it to Belle.

After the hug his Master had been a bit withdrawn, his moods a bit more volatile, and so he wasn't sure how to approach him with this without him getting suspicious. The basket moved a bit and Harry waved a hand willing the gift to settle back down with his magic. There was no other way; he would have to play a bit dirty with this one since he was sure his Master was softening to Belle more than he let on. So he grabbed the basket and brought it up to his Master's workroom in the west wing.

His Master seemed distracted, which was lucky for him, as he hopefully wouldn't see through Harry's words as quickly. "Master," Harry began. "Yes, dearie what is it?" Rumplestiltskin said as he waved a hand in his direction. "I was wondering if you noticed that Belle seemed a bit sad recently," Harry said. Rumplestiltskin nearly dropped a vial as he turned to look at him, "Why do you say that?" he asked seriously. "Well, I've been going on errands more for you, and you've had deals that have kept you away. That leaves Belle here by herself…I think she might be lonely." Harry said carefully.

Rumplestiltskin fidgeted impatiently, "So what am I supposed to do about that dearie?" His eyes narrowed and Harry hurried on, "I actually thought that she might like a pet…to keep her company while we're away." Harry said handing the basket to him. "Why don't you give it to her at tea?" He asked as he hurried from the room leaving a bewildered Rumplestiltskin in his wake. Harry hid not to far away as Belle came a few moments later with a tea tray.

-x-

Belle smiled in delight as she picked up the most adorable puppy she had ever seen and couldn't help feeling surprised at the gift from her strange husband. She put the puppy back in the basket carefully and turned to look at Rumplestiltskin. He really was a mysterious man, he could be cruel…but he could be so very kind too. He had been nothing but kind to her…very generous and considerate. He must have noticed that she was lonely and gotten her a friend.

She felt something well up in her at the thought and before she could think about what she was doing she was kissing him. His eyes went wide, stunned, but Belle closed her eyes to it. This was her very first kiss and she was determined to enjoy it. His lips were soft, his hands fluttered at her waist, and she pulled away a bit to look at him. He didn't seem to know what to do, she smiled at that, surprising the trickster…imagine that. She giggled and made to pull away. However, before she could he tugged her back into his arms and kissed her again making her gasp. He took advantage of that to plunder her mouth with his questing tongue and Belle sighed into the kiss tentatively copying his movements.