4

After Bella left Granny's, she knew who she wanted to speak to next: Rumpelstiltskin, the Dark one. She knew that he had been the one who introduced her parents and that her father had been his apprentice for a few years when he was a homeless teenager abandoned by his parents because they struggled with money too much and she felt that speaking to the man would make her feel closer to her dead parents.

"Ah, our new visitor. If this is about your boyfriend, I'm afraid there is nothing I can do to help." M. Gold said as soon as she entered his shop.

"This has nothing to do with August's fate... I know that all that is left for me to do is to grieve August and accept that he's now a little boy. I came here for something else." Bella replied.

"Make a deal? Looking for something in particular maybe?" he asked her.

"Looking for closure..."

"I'm afraid I can't help with this..." he shook his head.

"I believe you can... Beside what everyone is gossiping, do you have any idea of who I am?" Bella asked him.

"Not really, no. Do you have any relations with Emma Swan?" he asked her.

"Well, we became friends when I came to town but no, not the way you think. But there is another Swan you know, or knew, really, that I'm related to." She explained.

"You're Charlie's daughter, aren't you?" Gold asked her with a smile.

"I am. I was wandering if we could talk... My father told me that he used to be your student, that you took him in and that you were like a second father to him. I know that he loved you and that the only reason he didn't stay in touch with you after you introduced him to my mother was because you asked him to stay away. Since he's dead, I was wondering if you could tell me more about your time together." Bella explained.

"I cared a lot about your father... Asking him to stay away was my way of protecting him from the side effects of the curse, from my darkness." Gold admitted.

"He knew." Bella assured him.

"May I ask how he died?" Gold asked Bella as he mentioned for her to follow him in the back room of the shop.

"You don't know?" She sounded surprised and after making tea appear between them he replied:

"Should I?"

"Do you know how we arrived here?" She asked him.

"Yes, I saw that he would use a bean he collected to cross worlds and come here separately from everyone else." Gold nodded.

"Right... Before I continue, all these years I've been wondering, why didn't you ask him for a bean to come here and find your son?"

"Because I'm a coward at heart Bella, and I was afraid of coming in this world without magic, where I would be alone and powerless. When he started trading with the giants, my plan was already in motion and I was afraid of interrupting it." He explained.

"Oh... Okay." She hadn't been expecting an answer so normal, so human.

"So, how did Charlie die?"

"Well, when I turned 10, my father thought that I was old enough to stay home alone for a couple of days. He used his powers to create a sort of doll at his image to cover for his absence in other people's eyes and came here, in Storybrook, to try and rescue my uncle." She started.

"Graham, the huntsman." Gold nodded.

"Yes. I was able to follow his actions through a mirror... he had taught me everything he knew about magic and I was able to use it, much better than him. I watched as Regina caught him with Graham's heart in his hand. She couldn't use her magic here so she pulled out a gun and shot him in the head first. Then she took the heart and shot him again in the chest, even though he was already dead from the shot he received in the head. After that, she called Graham and used his heart to get him to dump my father in a hole in the woods where nobody would ever find him."

"It must have been hard to watch for someone so young... I'm sorry... He should have come find me... I would have helped him the best way I could..." Gold shook his head.

"He thought that you were cursed like everyone else... I... I just wanted to talk with you about him... I thought that maybe it would help me... With losing August... It brings back my father's loss and it's... hard." Bella replied and her pain was obvious.

"Of course, anything I can do to help you." He smiled.

"Do you know... I don't know if you're aware but my father wanted you to be my Godfather... He always said that if things had been different, he would have asked you to be my Godfather... For this reason I almost came here to find you after he died but I was afraid that you would refuse to help me..." Bella shook her head.

"I didn't know... But I would have proudly accepted. I considered your father family." Gold told her with a sincere smile before he started telling him of the first time he met her father and of their time together before he explained to her how he helped him find his True Love, her mother.

They talked for hours and when noon arrived, Gold invited Bella to have lunch with him at Granny's so that they could keep on talking. Since Bella was enjoying talking about her father, she agreed and they were just sitting down when Neal and Henry arrived, alone, to get lunch. Bella invited them to sit with them and allowed Neal to see his father in a new light, to learn how he had cared for her father and everything good he had done. She figured it would be a nice change and even Henry enjoyed getting to know his grandfather better.

"How about we go take a walk in the park now, keep this conversation going?" Bella suggested after Gold paid for the 4 of them.

"Why not, I'm actually enjoying this. Henry?" Neal nodded.

"I'm in. Grandpa?" Henry asked and Gold smiled and nodded.

They had just walked out of Granny when Emma, her parents and Hook arrived from the left. Bella greeted them, hoping that Hook and Gold would keep on ignoring each other, when Regina arrived.

"This isn't a meeting hall, move it somewhere else." Regina glared at them.

"Mom..." Henry said, half greeting, half protesting.

"And why are YOU still here? Your Love is gone, move on and leave my town." Regina told Bella.

"You should be careful about what you say to me witch." Bella replied, anger evident in her voice.

"Bella..." Emma said, trying to find something to say to calm her new friend down, especially since Marco and Pinocchio just arrived around the corner but Regina cut her off.

"Am I supposed to be afraid of you? What do you think you can do to me exactly?" Regina smirked.

"I am more powerful than you think." Bella snapped.

"Oh... I know that look... This is personal... Why? What have I ever done to you? You weren't even touched by my curse, none of this concerns you." Regina replied as a crowd started to form around them.

"You really don't know, do you? Do you really want me to tell everyone here why I hate you and would love to see you in a coffin so I could dance on it?" Bella said in a voice close to a growl.

"I think someone needs to be put back in her place." Regina smiled.

"Put back in my place? Please, look who's talking. The only reason you're in power here is because you murdered Snow White's father and stole power. Snow should be mayor of this town, not you. Your rightful place would be rotting in a jail cell. After everything you've done, a jail is even too good for you." Bella spat.

"And what exactly is it that you think I did?" Regina chuckled.

"Papa, do something." Neal told his father behind Bella.

"Not yet, she needs this, trust me. If we stop this, it will eat her alive." Gold replied and Bella was grateful.

"I bet you don't even know who I am, do you? Well, let me make things clearer for you. My father was Charlie Swan, taken in by the Dark One who loved him like a son when he was 12, True Love of my mother, Renee Swan. Now you might not know who my mother is with just her name but I know that you know of my uncle, her brother. His name was Graham, also known as the Huntsman who spared Snow White's life when you ordered him to kill her. You took his heart and kept him your prisoner for years. You manipulated him, raped him... When my mother tried to come and rescue him, you killed her but she was pregnant with me and I was already very gifted with magic so it saved her life, temporarily. She died as she gave birth to me. That was an hour exactly before you enacted the Dark Curse. My father grabbed our things and a bean and we escaped here. When I was ten, he decided I was old enough to stay on my own a couple of days and he came here to rescue my uncle from your dirty and evil clutches. I was afraid for him so I enchanted a mirror to follow his moves... He had my uncle's heart in his hand when you shot him twice. Once in the head, a second time in the chest though I don't know why the second shot was necessary. Then you had my uncle bury him in the woods where nobody would ever find him, like he was just an unimportant thing to get rid of... I've lost everything and everyone because of you Regina... I've been alone ever since I turned 10, not knowing who I could trust, not knowing if I'd ever be happy and find another family..." Bella was in tears by now and it looked like half the town was curiously surrounding them.

"Well, your parents had no right breaking in my personal property." Regina smirked.

"That's your excuse?" Emma exclaimed from the side.

"They had every right to rescue my uncle! You were keeping him prisoner! Using his heart to have sex with him... Forcing him to hurt people... What you did to him was worst than death... I do consider what you did to him to be even worst than rape. And when he finally managed to break out of it, because he was falling in love with Emma, you simply crushed his heart and killed him... Why? Couldn't you handle the fact that even though you held his heart, he still was able to break out of your manipulation? That Emma's love was worth more to him more than his life? That it was more powerful than you?" Bella yelled.

"He deserved what he got." Regina replied with a frown.

"Because he refused to obey your stupid order to kill an innocent young woman? One whose only crime was to have wanted for you to be as close to your mother as she used to be to hers before she was murdered by your mother? Because he acted with humanity? I've seen rocks with more humanity than you Regina." Bella snapped.

"You would do well to remember who you're talking to, there is a reason I'm still in power here. It's because I'm the most powerful one here." Regina gloated.

"No you're not! Grandpa' is much stronger than you." Henry exclaimed.

"You can't kill me. Whatever magic you think you have, you can't be powerful enough to kill me, especially if it's good magic. Dark magic is much more powerful. And the Dark One is stuck in an old deal we made. He can't kill me." Regina said, ignoring Henry's remark.

"Don't do anything Rumpel. She's mine." Bella said and she didn't need to look behind her to know that he listened to her.

"You can't kill her Bella... Can't you try to forgive her?" Snow pleaded.

"When are you going to realize that there is no saving this woman Snow? How many times have you given her another chance? How many times has she ruined this second chances? How many more people need to die before you finally realize that she deserve nothing more than to die in the way she killed so many others?" Bella snapped at her friend's mother.

"There's still hope..." Snow protested weakly.

"No, not for her. Not anymore. Not unless she drops on her knees, begs for my forgiveness and everyone else. Not unless she truly feels regrets for everything she has done, and we both know that it's not going to happen anytime soon." Bella shook her head.

"Now who has a dark heart?" Regina chuckled.

"You don't know what you're talking about. You want to see my heart, here, take a look at it." Bella snapped, plunging her hand in her chest and taking her heart out.

Everyone gasped at the sight.

The heart in itself was the purest red they had ever seen, surrounded by a bright hallow of gold with a few light, sparkling blue stripes around it.

"Do you know what these stripes are Regina? What they represent? They're the losses I've endured. My father, my mother, my uncle and August. They've marked my heart and he's still pure. Not one hint of black anywhere in it." Bella said, putting back the heart in her chest.

Regina was silent, finally at a loss of words and Bella rushed to take the fallen Queen's heart out before she got her guards up again.

"Let's take a look at yours, shall we?" Bella said with an angry frowned as she stole the Evil witch's heart and showed it to everyone before Regina could say or do anything.

The heart was the darkest black there was, not even a small hint of red in it. Bella threw it at Snow who caught it as she would a ball and said:

"Can you really still see hope in that? All I can see is darkness and death. All she is, all she'll ever be, is an evil witch, her heart is the proof of that." Bella said in a strangely calm voice.

"How dare you! Give it back!" Regina exclaimed as she used her magic to attract her heart back to her hand and placed it back where it belonged.

"You actually think that you can win against me? That you can attack me like you just did and get away with it?" Regina snarled, a fire ball appearing in her hand.

Everyone took a step back except for Gold who went to stand by Bella and Emma who went to stand on her other side.

"I've got this. Don't worry." Bella told them both.

"Really Gold? You're going to defend this weak girl?" Regina rolled her eyes.

"She's family to me. This girl should have been my Goddaughter if you hadn't murdered her parents. This girl is the daughter of a boy I took in and cared for for several years. This girl, is not only the product of True Love like our own Savior here but she inherited both of her parent's magic." Gold growled, making a fire ball of his own appear.

"I want justice Regina. I want justice for my parents and my uncle. If I can't get it the normal way, I'll take it in my own hands but my parents and my uncle deserve this justice, as do the countless other people that you've murdered." Bella announced calmly.

"Even if it turns your heart black?" Regina asked with an amused smile.

"I don't care what color it turns my heart. They're worth it." Bella snapped, getting angrier by the minute.

"Well, it won't change the color of mine, so allow me." Gold said before he pushed Bella and Emma back and went to stand in front of them, protecting them from Regina and shocking his son.

"You're really going to defend the little people now? You think it's going to make your son love you again?" Regina asked her old mentor.

"This isn't about my son Regina, not this one at least." Gold replied.

"What? What do you mean by 'not this one'? He's the only son you have." Regina snapped.

"No, he's not. Blood isn't everything dearie. Charlie Swan was like a son to me and it's because I loved him like a son that I asked him to stay away from me once he found True Love, to protect him. I hoped it would keep him out of this curse entirely... Now that I know that because of you, his fate wasn't as happy as I hoped it would be, I will help his only daughter get the justice she deserves." Gold explained confidently.

"I... I didn't know he had it in him..." Neal whispered and his father turned to look at him with a soft smile.

"Except nothing has changed, you can't kill me without breaking our word, and you won't because it's been sworn on your magic. You kill me and you lose all of your powers." Regina smirked while Gold looked back to his son.

Using his distraction to her advantage, Regina threw her fireball at the Dark One. Bella knew that it wouldn't kill him but she didn't want him in any pain because of her so she stepped in front of the Dark One and used her magic to create a shield in front of them. The fire ball bounced on it and flew right back to Regina, who caught fire.

Nobody did anything to help her.

They watched as she burned and were all silent. Henry had his face hidden in his father's chest because Neal didn't want him to see what was happening but he wasn't really sad about it. He understood that Regina was evil and that she needed to be stopped, he was finally seeing her for the evil she was.

.

A few hours later, Bella was once again sitting at the Rabbit Hole, drinking her sorrow, when someone familiar sat by her side.

"Are we going to make an habit out of all of this? Finding each other in the same place to get a drink after a hard day?" Bella smirked.

"Do you really think that this is what you need?" Hook asked her, making her smile as he gestured to her glass of bourbon.

"I think that while I'm drinking, I'm not crying in my room, remembering everyone I've lost and that I'm now completely alone." Bella replied.

"You're not alone, you have Swan, she cares about you. She's your friend. And you even have the Dark One. Apparently he cares for you too and we all know that if there are few people he cares about, he's capable of great things for those lucky few. He even looked ready to sacrifice his magic for you." Hook assured her.

"How did it go with Emma today?" Bella asked him, changing the subject.

"Pretty well. She should be able to move against Greg and Tamara tomorrow. She'll probably call you and ask if you want to join her for it." The pirate informed her.

"Maybe I will... I don't know." Bella shook her head.

"You can't join her if you've got a hangover." he smirked.

"I can hold my liquor Captain." Bella replied in a challenging tone.

"Well then, the Savior will surely welcome your help." He smiled.

"You'll be there too?" Bella asked him.

"I don't think so. I stole one of the magic beans from Greg and Tamara. I think I'll use it to leave this realm."

"You're not staying here? You're leaving?" Bella didn't know why that thought saddened her.

"There's nothing here for me and while I agreed to stop trying to kill the Dark One, I can't stay here where I don't have a choice but to cross him everyday. I think it's time for me to go back to what I do best." Killian replied before he took a sip of his own glass.

"Plundering?" She asked him, trying to sound casual about it.

"Aye. A pirate's life for me." He nodded.

"Isn't this a bit lonely? I'm sure you could find a life here, stop being a pirate, go back to the man you used to be before you chose to lead a pirate's life..." She suggested.

"That's not for me anymore, Love. I've changed too much." he shook his head.

"I don't believe that. The man of honor is still here, hidden somewhere inside you. All you need is for someone to show you that you can still change. Staying here, helping... That would be enough to show not only you but everyone else as well, that you can change." Bella told him.

"We'll see. All I can think of right now is taking the Jolly Roger away, use a bean and going far away from here and the knowledge that the Dark One is still alive and probably out to get me." Hook replied, finishing his drink and ordering another one.

"So you're leaving and there's no convincing you otherwise... When are you planning on leaving?" She asked him.

"Sometime tomorrow morning. I'll ask Smee if he wants to join me or not and we'll be on our way." Killian replied.

"Here's to your coming trip then." Bella toasted with the newly filled glass the barman had served her, thinking that once again, someone she knew was leaving her.

.

Neal followed his father home after Regina's remains had been disposed off.

He had let Henry go with Emma and decided to spend some time with his father to try and make up for lost time.

Seeing him defending Bella and talking of her father like he had made Neal wonder if he was making a mistake in not trusting his father, in not letting him in. Maybe he was capable of love and unselfish actions after all. Maybe he did deserve to be given a second chance, something Neal had never given him.

So, what did you think?

Some people might think I was too harsh on Regina but I just wanted to see her fail and pay for her crimes at least once.

Review please?

Lorelei Candice Black