A/N: The muse has sluiced sideways once again. Think of this as a linked one-off for 3x10 through early 3x12 plus – for sh*** and giggles – a little plot bunny from 3x13 if you squint and spot the clues.
Basically, since the last part was meant to be somewhat ambiguous as to whether the real Belle truly managed to snag Rumple's shadow, let's land on 'no' then skid over the details of his childhood abandonment, bringing us back into canon, and I think we're good to go for a little (!) more. At any rate, this (unlikely premise) arose from wondering whether they'll stick true to form (in S2 Belle nearly ended up over the town line and later actually did) coupled with the amusing observation that she looked to be wearing Lacey's underwear in 3x10. Of course since I didn't manage to get this done before the Stupid Blue Potion Redux let alone last week's facepalm inducing birth announcement, that moving target did change the ending, primarily in trying to mesh it with Belle bounding through the woods on a knife hunt with no emotional trauma whatsoever - which, it would appear, she lost. Badly. ;-)
"I didn't think I had a future." And for eons he hadn't. The slogging passage of years had meant nothing more than the cold empty sweep of isolation and an end staked out by death: a beast utterly powerless to escape the relentless march of fate. Yet standing once more in the front room of the shop with his beloved, Rumplestiltskin finally dared to kindle the smallest guttering flame of hope. Maybe his destiny might be different. A curse could in fact be broken and she would love him. Forever.
It seemed a lifetime ago that his Belle had stood across the town line and vowed to be here waiting when he got back from searching for his son; leaned in close for a final loving brush of mouth against mouth. A promise given and, ultimately, a promise kept.
I will see you again.
So much separation: he had watched the briefest burden of it flash in her eyes just that afternoon; had felt it through the joyous tightening of her arms around his shoulders when he'd walked straight into her embrace on the wharf. There had always been the nagging weight of doubt preying upon his mind, but about this at least, no longer. She'd missed him too and his heart had ached with love for her. Thankful, he'd been unable to halt the soft breathy sigh of profound relief.
And now, finally, they were truly alone for the first time since he'd poured a potion into their cherished teacup, waking her up and breaking the hold of Lacey on her memories.
That prior moment had been marred by the wrenching grief of a lost son and the terrible spectre of an imminent demise. He'd needed her with every desperate cell in his body yet it hadn't been enough, his multitude of failures underlined in blood red bold by the stinging reality of a kiss unable to break neither her curse nor his.
But that was before and currently all but the heaviness of the last had been lifted. Her hands were warm in his as he listened thoughtfully to her words, the voice he couldn't ever get enough of now beautifully laced with cautious optimism and hesitant expectation.
"But you do. The boy wasn't your undoing. And neither was Pan. So now you can stop worrying about prophecies and start thinking about your future. There's endless possibilities; countless paths to take."
A new beginning. Together.
Rumple briefly glanced aside before promptly losing himself once more in the clear blue depths of her eyes. "But there's only one of those paths I'm interested in."
"Which one is that?"
He could read her gentle puzzlement; felt it in the weighty pause as if she were holding her breath and the answer would alter the course of their lives forever. His fingertip touched the golden band on her right ring finger.
Feeling like he was plunging into the unknown, he steadfastly pushed aside the bubbling cowardice that had so defined his life to date. Instead, Rumple latched onto her bravery, for her love had made him stronger and in one succinct claim laid out his heart's deepest desire: "The one where you and I are together."
The shift in her expression to that of a vulnerable woman craving reassurance of her place in his life was instantaneous, their parting clearly having wrung a heavy toll and he knew without hesitation he had chosen well. The truth of it was plain. She had needed to hear the words just as desperately as he had needed to say them and the tremulous smile blooming on his love's face drew him like a magnet.
There was only reunion. His fingers fluttered through long dark hair as they delicately framed her cheeks and he slowly tilted forward, capturing her mouth in a tender kiss that flooded his soul with warmth; felt the delight of utter belonging. The familiar pressure and taste of her was a soothing balm to a heart so badly broken and her hands found the nape of his neck: a comfortable intimacy that could have echoed from his dreams.
The wait occurred as always: anticipation of the surge of magic that would sweep aside the binding darkness of his curse.
Infinite regret shuddered through his soul when it did not work… Yet for the very first time seething panic and distrust were replaced by a steady calm within the sea of dark.
Their kiss… It wasn't Belle's love for him that was lacking. Her love was true.
"Don't ever leave me again," she breathed against his lips, sounding broken and lost in a way that wrecked his heart.
Only one thing could heal the hurt. "Sweetheart. I promise."
At that the pain vanished from her look, her lean body welding against his in an absolutely perfect fit that continually amazed.
Belle's lips touched his: a passionate explosion of pent up desire and need when arms crushed the other close, her tongue deftly chasing his. It was raw and primal and a powerful yearning that swept aside everything in its path. His palm slipped downward to the small of her back, pinning her hips to his as the fire banked ever higher.
They would never be apart again and fantasies were no comparison to the true feel of her response to him. She was his alone and the thrill of that discovery left him wanting her in no doubt as to how badly he needed this; needed her.
When the storm finally began to subside, hurried, greedy touches transformed back into slow, deliberate exploration, and sensual kisses gradually assuaged the dull ache of loneliness that had been present ever since they'd parted.
Her thumb brushed against his cheek and Rumple tilted his forehead to touch hers as his eyes slowly opened. His hands gently massaged the tension from her back, offering silent comfort through the loving caress. She didn't pull away and he smiled then softly claimed another kiss.
A figment of his imagination had led him to the painful truth, his feelings and hers suddenly illuminated with a vicious yet oh so necessary punch straight through the heart.
He shivered a little in remembrance. No matter what he'd serenely told Regina, the memory of first holding the precious proof of Belle's love in his hands still left him standing in breathless awe. He'd enchanted their special chipped cup using the strength of their love, but even Belle hadn't seemed to have pieced together exactly what that entailed nor what it meant for them.
Only one who truly loved him could have ever made that trap door appear. Only one who truly loved him could have ever retrieved Pandora's Box from its secret hiding spot beneath his shop.
And as he'd first cupped the small embossed box in his palms that meant both freedom and a future shining brightly, all he could think was that his imaginary Belle had been right all along: him, not her.
That's the thing about magic. You have to believe.
The sudden imperative need to get her a message through another: to let her know that he would indeed return so that… so that she would wait for him had been more than enough to overcome his natural inclination to hide his feelings behind a stony mask.
She would stay forever, said the whisper in the dark. And one day the last vestiges of doubt and insecurity would flee and he would believe in that deepest shade of love; would fully love in return the woman that had peered inside his heart.
And it would work.
This… these were the first fateful steps in that direction. He had a future and it was brilliant, bright and true.
"Let's go home," Rumple urged and she grinned against the corner of his mouth.
"Yeah."
A swirl of jackets and a flurry of kisses and a short time later they were hurrying up the steps to their front porch, her arms wrapped around his waist from behind, mouth nipping along his jaw while he worked the key into the lock. Distracted, he turned his head to trace his tongue along her lower lip then groaned when the touch was deepened; she slipped one palm a tiny fraction lower with possessive intent.
They shared a heated look full of memory and lust and she scrabbled blindly for the knob, his full name a ragged whisper upon her lips. Belle made to lurch them through the doorway when suddenly a tug on her hand pulled all motion to a stop.
"Wait, sweetheart." A gentle feathering kiss helped to ease the burning flames then he tucked his cane inside the hall, enjoying the freedom of movement without it, an idea forming swiftly of something he couldn't have done before.
His gaze was warm and lingering and he paused to touch her cheek. They would have their happy ending starting now.
"Wha-" With a shy grin he wordlessly swung her up into his arms, carrying her across the threshold with the flourish of a prince in love with his princess. "Oh." She chuckled then bit her lower lip and the flush spreading across her cheeks nearly stole his breath away. "I love you, Rumple."
He treasured the way her eyes lit from within when she said it then wondered if her softly murmured words might carry a deeper vow… or if it was just hopeful fancy playing tricks. Her fingers gently carded through his hair sending a frisson of electricity shooting down his spine. Their lips were near yet he didn't move to close the final gap.
"Yes. You do."
A flick of magic and the door shut tight behind them.
"Convenient," she smirked and the moment passed to ask.
"There are many perks to being the Dark One," he quipped and she gently rolled her eyes.
She'd appeared like a sudden light bursting through the darkness of his life, laughing at his jokes and she hadn't been afraid. Rumplestiltskin half expected her to squirm in anticipation of him setting her down, but no. It was like the time long ago when she'd tumbled off a ladder into the arms of a monster and simply accepted his embrace, perhaps as stunned at first as he with how right the touch had seemed.
Bathed in a pool of sunshine, the intimacy of her body pressing against his chest had taken him by complete surprise. An accident or destiny? Either way those seconds had sealed the budding shoots of both affection and desire; now a firmly entrenched thread of love and passion weaving them together in what he longed would be forever.
His enjoyment of holding her increased: he could see the remembrance of it burning brightly in her gaze. Rumple lightly kissed her once then twice like he hadn't dared that time before. With a small smile, Belle nodded at the stairs with her head and he carried her up to their bedroom with a grin of his own.
"Home at last."
Belle snickered and agreed. He hoped she knew he didn't mean the house.
More magic yielded a comfortable nest of blankets and pillows on the floor before the fireplace, the roaring flames sending out warm waves of heat to take away the chill and he carefully set her down amidst the studied mess.
She shrugged out of her red coat as Rumple did the same for his suit jacket, laying it meticulously across the back of a winged armchair before joining her on their makeshift bed, her arms outstretched in welcome and eyes alight with love.
A hand on her hip silently urged Belle to roll toward him and they lay facing each other, wonderfully entangled on their sides. "My darling Belle…" Pressing up against her yet unwilling to rush toward the close, he began with a leisurely exploration of her mouth, loving the way she sighed and moaned into the touch.
"Talk to me."
The coiling tension in her body was at odds with the request. Still, he smiled at her desire for more than just a physical reconnection for he needed much the same. A plethora of moments played out inside his mind and he stole another kiss while a palm drifted lightly up and down the curve of her back.
"I missed you. You have no idea."
Should he tell about the vision? The agonizing truth he'd figured out… How at first he'd been fooled by Pan but then he'd needed her so much she could only have been conjured from within.
Belle's gaze went distant and she cuddled closer. "And I missed you. Terribly."
When was the last time they'd truly had a quiet moment to reflect and share the deepest workings of their hearts?
Before she'd fallen across the town line his memory supplied, yet even then he'd still been trying desperately to hide the worst and painful pieces of himself. You can tell me anything, she'd stated to him that day. Now, wrapped safe in her arms rejection and fear were gently nudged a bit aside. For her he would try: told haltingly about his father; how deep down they were the same.
"He… He left me. Chose power and magic instead of me when I was just a boy."
The oozing wound of abandonment wouldn't ever seem to cauterize and heal and she had to turn his chin so he would look at her again.
"No. You're not like him." Her fingertips lightly traced a pattern across his heart. "You never gave up searching. You found your son."
The understanding words and hug were as a lifeline tossed toward a drowning man. "That's what Bae said," and his soul filled with fluttering belief when she smiled at the reunion of father with long lost boy.
She also revealed what had before been merely glimpses of herself: how the not knowing had shredded her heart in pieces, followed by the painfully whispered hurt that he mightn't need or want her help… and finally with fingers gentle against his lips was the worried anguish that he had gone and given up.
Rumple cradled his lover close, marvelling at the mark of roots tapping deep into her core. He breathed that he was sorry and worked to banish all the grief; tenderly kissed away the precious swell of tears.
"I did give up," he quietly admitted while his heart sunk low into his toes. "But then… I imagined what you would say: how you wouldn't have stopped fighting. And when I held the box…" It was so hard to explain, but at her questioning gaze he knew he had to try: "The strength of our love… You'd used it to save me." His nose grazed hers and he watched the dawning recognition of the truth. "You never stop saving me."
"I keep the sand dollar with our teacup," she said as glowing euphoria replaced the fading sorrow in her eyes. She'd always been able to quickly see beyond the gloom and he loved her deeper for it now.
"A secondary talisman?" Rumple gently teased while his fingers tangled in her hair.
"Nothing could ever replace our chipped cup," Belle chided softly with a snatching kiss that tugged his upper lip between her own. "However, in the dark it showed me how to hope. There's a star etched on the upper side then I looked up from the harbour… up into the night."
Rumple connected, "Second star to the right and straight on till morning."
"I found you. It didn't seem quite so far away."
There was a groan, a pressing touch of tongue and her leg locking across his thigh. He didn't deserve the smallest scrap of love yet here she was and she was his, although even now his curse refused to so much as budge.
Eventually, "It all works out the way it's supposed to," she murmured and he pensively agreed that happy endings weren't always what we think.
The exacting design of fate had other plans than what he once might have dared to wish. His offer given and rejected to roll back the clock for his angry son and return with a fourteen year old boy for them to love was quietly admitted in a stumbling surge of honesty. Still, he ducked his face away at the subtle link of Belle with Bae, cowardly leaving subtext to bridge the chasm to his deeply cherished dream: for her to fill the place of 'mama' in a family his son had never truly had.
Sympathy for what he'd lost and the soft caress along his shoulder wouldn't blunt her speaking truth: "He's a father now too. You can't take that away from him and even if he wasn't, it's wrong to erase the shaping of the past; erase how it made the man Bae has become."
"I know that now." Chastened, he agreed though letting go a long held wish had been the hardest to accept. Family was the most important bond. He'd done everything for his boy. And Belle… if she would truly stay…
His gaze flicked briefly to the ring upon her hand. She looked so beautiful in the firelight: a gilded angel bathed in gold and he simply had to touch his mouth to hers once more to reinforce that she was real.
The three of them embracing on the wharf had instantly become a silent hope foretelling the reforming of his fantasy into something bright and new. And if there were one day to be another added to their mix of three?
Rumple wouldn't dare tell mention of Pan's proposal to return him home without the others to start a family with Belle; how if it hadn't been for Bae, the coward could have turned tail and run. His father knew his weakness well; how the idea wasn't remotely new. Holding his newborn babe against his heart was a thrill unlike no other and hidden deep within he longed to feel it all again. The wonder of another child: a perfect piece of him and… Belle. It meant their love would live forever as they watched their baby learn and grow.
Peter Pan had tried his best to seize upon Rumplestiltskin's buried hopes and dreams, to callously exploit the one he'd craved since he was small and so cruelly left alone: to at last be truly loved and to finally belong.
But Bae could never be abandoned. He'd made that terrible mistake once long before and never would again: a lesson his own father couldn't ever understand.
Her fingers danced loosely in and out with his; she sighed and shifted slightly. They were fully hip to hip. "Rumple…" Her voice was pitched so low it barely registered when his name was said from lips ghosting close across his chin.
Belle loved him, yes, but whether that meant she would someday want to bear his second child was far from sure. She'd certainly never hinted so. Besides, a baby hadn't remotely kept Milah by his side nor later, the promise of one from Cora been enough to make her stay. In both cases a child had heralded the start of a bitter end, the painful repetition of abandoned and broken hearted grinding him apart all over again. Tentative and anxious, a hated piece within couldn't help but pose the question: What if this was the same?
No one can ever, ever love me.
The taunting blow was swift and sure though he tried frantically to push it to the side. Belle was different. Her love was true. Rumple's grip tightened round her waist as a war of raging doubt suddenly swelled and heaved anew; fought the scornful sneer that just because she loved him now didn't mean it couldn't one day fade.
He wouldn't… couldn't ask. Burned and wary, he lacked the courage to try and tip the scales…
"If… If you truly have a hankering to have a teenager running about the house… there is a better way to go about it… th-though requiring over a decade to fully implement." Belle hid her gaze behind nervous hooded lids while studiously plucking at the knot in his tie.
He froze. Stunned, Rumple found he hadn't been paying close enough attention to the play of expression on her face.
"Belle?" he asked, her name a strangled whisper. "What are you saying?" Was she truly offering what it sounded like and… could she read his mind?
Bravely she glanced up. Soft fingertips stroked along his convulsing throat as if there was an imperative need to touch his skin. "We c-could have a baby."
For a moment he couldn't fathom stringing any words together; just stared in disbelief until she looked away in a wash of disappointment, clearly taking his silence to mean the exact opposite of his deeply cherished wish.
"I- I mean i-if you don't want to-" Rumple shut up her nervous stuttered back-peddling with a hurried lurching kiss.
Their path truly was together and, "I want to," he gasped when they finally broke apart.
"Really?" She didn't quite believe him and he couldn't fault the thought.
"Belle." A softer kiss this time: a gentle coaxing to make up for all his shock. "There's nothing I want more."
A beaming smile melted through the darkness, warming him from within. He loved this woman and–
"Can you remove the birth control from my system?"
"Now?" he yelped disbelievingly when 'someday' suddenly crashed straight into the here and now with an unexpected request to void her medicated pill.
An eyebrow arched dramatically though she remained a sea of calm. "Yes. Now."
His trembling hand reached for her abdomen then paused. A bond of blood would bind them forever as family and he stared into her shining eyes to find idealistic longing wouldn't take him all the way. What she could see in him, a worthless coward, he simply couldn't grasp.
Rumplestiltskin pressed a hard kiss against her lips, the seesaw swing of panic cresting just beneath the surface when again it failed to work.
What if this was simply fate tilting them toward the end?
Everything he touched ultimately turned to dark and death, a truth seen to by the evil firmly ensconced within. Their child… another tiny helpless life for him to wreck… The first kiss Belle had ever given him: the beginning and the end? What if True Love's kiss didn't ever work and that strain finally shattered them all apart?
Damn it, why couldn't he just believe… and love her the way he so wanted?
The rising mountain of hesitation that she should willingly unite herself to him had Rumple edging slightly back. He could see she knew what he was thinking before the words formed on his tongue: it was a bad, bad idea. They were far from ready.
A soothing caress began along the nape of his neck, her fingers threading through his hair. "I'm not her: Bae's mother. Her choice is not my choice."
The pledge was soft and fierce rolled into one, neatly trumping his dissent. For a moment he didn't know what to say except if she could bravely face the unknown then so should he.
"I… I wish you had been." The mumbled faltering admission wrenched itself straight from his mangled heart. Belle's watery smile and faintest blush were all the acknowledgement she gave. "Are you sure about this?"
She nodded, not bothering to respond with words. Instead Rumple found himself flat on his back with Belle hovering astride and she placed his hand over her stomach. The mood was unbounded gentleness and she leaned forward to cup his cheeks between her palms, one thumb lightly grazing back and forth across the rough stubble of a day's growth of beard. "Your path is mine. No more barriers. And we simply let nature take its course."
No one had ever looked at him that way before and he found himself enthralled then twisted up with hope.
His eyes screwed shut while a soft purple glow sprang from splayed fingertips and it was done. "I love you," he gasped and her lips met his when she leisurely stretched out on top.
There was a tiny smirk. "Yes. You do."
The kiss seemed to last forever, her tongue slowly chasing his in a bond of light and life. His arms wrapped tightly around her waist and they shared a smile full of open longing then dipped back for more.
Pinned safe beneath her weight he felt the misgivings begin to ebb, her loving acceptance of his wounded heart slowly aiding a reversion to the tranquility of before. One day she'd break his curse. Till then everything would be okay.
Rumplestiltskin sighed deep within his throat when a palm smoothed down his side and her fingers hooked inside his belt. He could feel the building passion in her touch reflect the yearning of his own when she went in search of skin.
Eventually Belle pushed upright and he frowned against the loss. Her fingertips lightly skidded across abdomen to chest while she sat straddling his hips.
"Our love will last forever," she vowed and he smiled at her belief.
Rumple locked his gaze on hers, watching how the brilliant blue now flecked with firelight never failed to darken with desire. She was strong where he was weak; saw something true where he could not. He would follow where she lead if it meant a path toward a future forged with trust as strong and faithful as an endless perfect love for they were wholly intertwined.
"You keep promising me forever," he murmured with his heart showing in his eyes.
"This makes three," Belle agreed and tipped back down to briefly slide a tender kiss along his jaw.
They slowly removed their clothing, punctuated with stroking hands and mouths deliberately stoking up the fire. All the time in the world was theirs and they savoured each caress: a touch that traced the angle of his hip, a trailing kiss across her thigh that made her shiver to her toes.
The dancing glow of flame reflected off bare skin and Rumple linked their hands together. He could never have enough.
He levered upward then tugged her down with an urgent palm sweeping smoothly from shoulder down to waist, seeking the lovely feel of her crushed flat against his chest. She moaned and arched against him; her mouth hovered over his. And Rumple groaned when her bold kisses set an incendiary burn hurtling wildly through his veins.
Gradually building tension finally vaulted into pure demand while his body strained instinctively against the pressure and weight of hers. Flipping her over, there was a final hesitation when he braced himself above. "Yeah?"
"Yeah," she repeated definitively with a gentle guiding touch.
They sunk together in heat and passion. The heady scent of magic filled the air. And with a cheeky grin Belle whispered this was exactly where he belonged.
He softly kissed her, a trembling hand cupping her face. Their future stretched before them: an eternal bond of family forming in the night.
"Come for me," he whispered, his breath ragged against her skin. Rumple touched a nerve; she shattered in his hands and how the wave crested round them both was a joyful shout that echoed of their love.
Much later it was nearly dawn when he walked back into their room, a promised potion for a prince safely tucked inside his fist. He dropped it on the mantle then knelt and paused to observe Belle's restless sleep a moment in the dying embers of their fire. She was his and what they'd shared had the altered hum of destiny tugging strongly at his heart.
Stripping down, he slipped back beneath the covers and in slumber Belle instinctively sighed and rolled into his arms. Somehow she knew that he was there and a finger lightly traced a line from temple to cheek, her resultant smile the beautiful one he'd only ever seen gifted to him.
"I love you," Rumple whispered, hoping the emotion would somehow find her in her dreams.
Her right hand immediately came to lay upon his heart and he gently covered it with his, a thumb caressing the delicately engraved band.
She was wearing his ring: a silent statement of his claim.
Fashioned from the first spun gold in this new world, he'd imbued it with their love though ultimately had found himself too fearful to give it to her properly; to make it mean forever with a depth of love and commitment unending in its scope. Instead it'd slipped unmentioned amongst myriad other gifts within her jewelry box, leaving her to discover and wear it on her own.
He shifted closer with a smile, nuzzling his nose against the crown of her head tucked safe against his shoulder. One day if he was brave and asked she might say yes and he could slip it from right to left.
The sudden flash of future caught him well off guard, materializing from a sparkling rainbow surge of light within his mind. Fingers hyperextended as the tormenting push took hold and he worked to sort out the puzzle from the jumble; gasped when realizing it was Belle: the first he'd been able to see anything regarding her time to come. Greedy for information, he ploughed straight on ahead. She'd always seemed a murky hidden haze no matter how he'd tried to see...
His beloved sat at his spinning wheel in the Great Hall of his castle, a swaddled infant cradled tenderly in her arms. She pressed a lingering kiss upon its downy brow then reached out a trembling hand to gently turn the wheel. The shining glow of motherhood seeming surrounded her with light. Their child… Yet where was he? The image faded then returned and Rumple struggled to hold on with the desperate need to know if this was a portent of wonderful things to come or merely the vaguest possibility. He couldn't hear her softly spoken words as if he watched from behind a shadowed veil, but saw with aching heartbreak when she brushed aside a tear.
The vision vanished. She was sad. Confused, he focused instead on the tiny babe she'd held against her heart. It would work. They'd have their family though how many years ahead he simply couldn't tell. Nevertheless, he felt the deep abiding certainty that one day there would be a child and he couldn't help but beam.
Rumple's fingers touched her abdomen with reverential gentleness then, reaching out with magic, unexpectedly discovered the first sparking seed of life. "Oh!"
One day was now and the glowing grin of fatherhood threatened to split his face in half. Cowardice and evil curses that would not break were nothing compared to the miracle of conception and the deluge of devotion felt for the woman he wanted to immediately make his wife.
A murmured blessing: a hedge of profound protection was placed around the precious child and its mother. Rumplestiltskin delicately bent to touch her mouth with his, utterly overflowing with the excitement born of heartfelt love and joy. Parents: though he thought at first he'd let her find out naturally on her own. Plus they would be going home again. Whatever future sorrow he had witnessed couldn't possibly be that bad.
Still half asleep, her groggy eyes flickered open and reflex had her match his peaceful kiss. "It worked, didn't it?" Belle asked softly, a hand gently covering his splayed across her belly. "You can sense our baby."
The expression on her face bore the flourishing link of intimacy that wouldn't ever break. He reached for another kiss then simply couldn't keep the truth from bursting out and had to tell. "Sweetheart, yeah." They wore matching wobbly smiles and snuggled closer in the dark; shared the tender graze of lips and fingers lacing tight. "We're going to be parents."
Their family conceived through a bond of love and a tie of blood was stirring safe within her womb while the gust of fate entwined their paths together no matter what.
o0o0o0o
Both were pensive when returning from the cemetery and Regina's mausoleum. The swinging taunt of chaos never seemed to grant a break and this time Pan was on the loose, busy enacting another curse overtop the one creating Storybrooke: a hellish proposition regardless of the potential for revenge.
Her hand had settled comfortably near his knee, a silent indication that she would always be by his side; understood the secret churning in his heart. Though misgivings were hidden deep beneath a cool façade of calm, the coward knew he would inevitably face the father who'd never loved him once again. No gift of foresight was required to sort out that.
With a jolt, Rumplestiltskin felt the shifting flow of magic underpinning the existence of the town suddenly shudder hard and shake. Refusing to dwell on if they failed, "It will be okay," he murmured at her questioning gaze though there was an inkling of false platitude to the confident declaration.
"Unwinding The Curse: what steep price will we have to pay?"
"It will be Regina's price as she cast it first. Only she will know what must be done."
"We'll go home then. Back to the Enchanted Forest."
He wasn't surprised she'd connected those dots. His Belle was clever and smart. "Yes." His fleeting glimpse of the future hurtling toward them was making greater and greater sense. Their child would be born back in their world where they all belonged.
Their child… He grinned; glanced sideways at his love…
They passed underneath a streetlight on their way toward his shop, briefly illuminating the Cadillac's interior and he swore she had a lovely glow about her now.
She returned his smile with the knowledge of the secret that they shared and lightly squeezed his thigh. "As long as we're together it doesn't matter where we are."
"You're right. You're always right."
"Though if we go back…" Belle left the thought hanging as she chewed the corner of her lip. She eyed him speculatively for a moment though he missed the sultry flash of playfulness shooting straight across her face.
Her hand flew backward without warning to press a demanding claim between his legs, his body bounding toward readiness at the instant of her touch. All day long he'd walked the knife edge of erotic fantasy and in one swift move she'd very nearly brought him to his knees.
"Gods, Belle!" He swerved the car in total shock, bouncing hard against the curb.
In the blink of an eye she'd shimmied out of sky-high heels, tights and knickers, dumping the lot over her shoulder into the back seat.
His head whipped round to gape from the thankfully deserted road to an unrepentant smirk then back, ping ponging in disbelief. "What are you–"
"You were the one trying to hurry home earlier so you could get your hands underneath my blouse." The nonchalant justification was delivered with a grin as if it vindicated nearly killing them both in a traffic accident. "Or have you forgotten why so soon?" She ceremoniously undid the top button and he had to muffle an unmanly moan.
"No…" Lips trailed consuming fire up the column of his throat while she glued her body tight against his side. "I haven't… remotely…"
It was getting hard to concentrate while her hands were kneading down below; he chanced a sideways glance at the tantalizing glimpse of curving flesh outlined by a rim of black mostly hiding behind the blue.
That morning while getting ready to face the day he'd turned and suddenly stared; could have sworn he'd recognized the lacy scalloped edge of her bra while she was busy fastening buttons on a blouse highlighting the richness of her eyes. Stunned, he'd been over in a flash. It'd looked remarkably like the one she'd worn while playing pool... Except that had been Lacey and he'd plucked at her plunging neckline trying to snatch a better view.
Hauling her up against him, he'd pinned her back against the armoire with a flurry of distracting kisses. She'd laughed and teased and slipped aside with a wonderfully filthy promise and a squeezing hand below his belt.
That moment… she appeared intent on finally playing it out right now… after forcing him to endure an entire day spent careening off through painfully drawn-out hours wracked between curiosity and lust.
Belle saw the root of his distraction and he sensed he was in trouble. She knew what she was doing; how to drive him clear over the edge.
Her tongue flicked lazily at an earlobe and Rumple blindly blew straight through a stop sign, the imperative need to taste her making him briefly tip his mouth to hers.
"Then what's the problem? I'm pregnant and you don't find me attractive anymore?" Belle teased, clearly not at all worried she'd lost his interest.
"Hardly," he muttered sarcastically. Just the opposite in fact. Knowing there was a part of him inside her all the time brought something deeply masculine to the fore: an animalistic and territorial marking of their union that only heightened his attraction and need for so much more.
She continued, "Shortly I'll be big as a house…"
He wished he'd been able to see that part of their future; to ease the skid of worry, but quickly brushed it far away. "You'll be absolutely breathtaking. I can't wait."
"Breath taking. Got that right. Careful you don't end up trapped under something that weighs as much as a house too!"
Rumple snorted and Belle removed his right hand from the steering wheel, placing it on her inner thigh. Her legs parted with his touch; he groaned at the feel of silky skin sliding beneath his palm. "We're supposed to meet the others at the shop i-in case you've forgotten."
"Can't spare twenty minutes with your wench?"
A lightning flare of passion ripped straight through from head to toe at the sauciness of her tone. His nostrils flared and the teasing glint when he grabbed her gaze reminded that her knickers were already off and in the back. "I told you everything would spiral downhill when those damn Charmings' showed up this afternoon, spoiling our evening. That was your decision not to blow them off, I might add."
He'd planned an evening full of romance capped with a question full of destiny, not groping in the car with a threatening curse hanging over their heads.
"Saving Henry is the right thing to do. But if not now then perhaps never. You don't really want to go back to our land and risk my pretty underwear not making the trip… Do you?" She undid a second button.
With a bark of a laugh he suddenly figured she was right. Put that way the decision was flat out easy and he shot her a hungry look while his fingers dove for retribution.
"Park. Now," Belle ordered with a gasp and he hastened to comply. She was already climbing on his lap.
The house was a block away, barely qualifying as a detour, and he careened around a corner, landing diagonally across the end of the drive. Neither cared; there was only the impatient need to jam the vehicle to a stop as greedy hands and mouths collided in a supernova of desire.
He quickly dealt with a few more buttons on her blouse, jerking the fabric to the side then groaned when spotting how sheer lace didn't really hide a thing. "We don't have much time," Rumple mumbled hot against her breast.
"Don't need it." Belle was already getting a hurried minimum of clothing ripped out of the way while rubbing up against him, enflaming passions with precision aimed at speed.
He nudged them sideways across the bench in a reckless bid for space, inadvertently tipping her backward. She knocked her head against the door, eyes crossing in mostly simulated pain. "Ow. Oh. Bad position."
Diving forward, he deflected blame, chuckling off a breathless insult about his clumsy love within a punctuated kiss. They were a laughing tangle of limbs and lips, bumping together in an ungainly writhing heap.
"I might be too old for this." At her incredulous look, he quickly qualified, "In the car. I meant in the car."
Rumple jacked her skirt up to her waist.
Belle's mouth was purest heaven and he smothered her snickering retort, his stroking tongue fighting frantically with hers as they pivoted upright once again. His entire body throbbed: a quivering mass of desperate aching need.
His fingers tightly gripped her scalp, locking them together and her burgundy cap slipped unnoticed to the floor.
It was fast and rough, their slick bodies joined in searing burning heat. A hand braced against the steering wheel seeking leverage: a tumbling race toward the end. She slipped and an elbow smacked dead center against the horn.
"Whoops."
The jarring sound nearly knocked him off his game.
"Good job. Way to draw attention," Rumple managed with the random fateful hope that it was far too late for a nosey neighbour to pop out of the hedge.
She was a goddess. She was gorgeous. He loved her and he murmured dirty praise.
Afterward the damp of them was seeping quickly through his pants. He muttered against her throat, "This dry cleaning bill is on you."
Belle was laughing so hard she could barely get the teasing words out in a row. "Well. If you don't end up a soggy mess, you're doing it wrong."
Breathless pounding passion rapidly gave way to gentleness, tender fingers trailing lightly across his dimpled cheek. She rested her forehead against his and her arms wrapped loosely round his neck.
"Never mind," Rumple relented with a grin. "I can fix it." He raised a hand to use his magic, but she gently pushed the idea aside.
"I don't think so." Her touch slid to his waist, and, still chuckling, she slipped a palm under his rumpled dress shirt to gently caress his lower back.
"And why not?"
"All magic comes with a price," Belle mimicked in his lilting impish tone then gave him a sloppy smacking kiss.
He couldn't make out what she meant. "And what price would this include?"
"Not seeing the expression on Regina's face when she works out exactly why we're the only two suddenly showing up wearing yesterday's clothes," she led, wide eyed, as if to make him do the math.
Rumple gaped and blinked then wheezed out a hearty laugh. "I love you."
"And I love you too."
Belle's smug grin as she sat straddling his lap held all the love and humour they had shared and then her golden laughter blended seamlessly with his: a twirling melody that touched his darkened soul with a fingertip of perfect blinding light.
He suddenly stared, transfixed at her dazzling beauty pouring from within.
Like a last crucial puzzle piece locking firmly into place, Rumplestiltskin held his breath and… there it was. Within the varied facets of each other was a mysterious layer unexpectedly revealed: something wonderful and special that had been there all along.
Amazed, "You make perfect sense," he whispered softly to himself, a palm smoothing gently across her hair.
She hummed in quiet confusion and he quickly brushed aside her quizzical expression with a feather light nipping kiss and a tender smile against her neck. This was his discovery alone to nurture snug within his heart and so Rumple merely cuddled her closer in the night.
Maybe nothing really could keep them apart forever. For he had finally, finally recognized the beautiful sliver of his Lacey hidden within his beloved Belle.
o0o0o0o
The leather cuff snapped tight around his wrist and time appeared to momentarily freeze, the heft of the sword in hand now wholly useless against his foe. Rumplestiltskin gasped and staggered back a pace against the shocking blow: outsmarted and outplayed by his father yet again. The instantaneous sapping of his magic left nothing but the naked swirling vortex of helplessness behind and his grip upon the hilt unconsciously loosened as the bloodcurdling slick of fear iced quickly through his veins.
"Down boy." Pan's hand shot out, the magical blast sending him hurtling backward through the air, crashing painfully against the wooden shelves lining the back room of his shop.
He scrambled for the fallen sword; his father kicked him in the face.
"Let's see how you do without magic." Pan's sneer hit Rumplestiltskin directly where it hurt leaving him flailing on the floor like a man without a crutch, the abandoned little boy inside struggling not to yield to the rising surge of panic.
His voice shattered into shards as he cowered against the coming blow, "I've come too far for this; for them!"
His Bae and his Belle: he'd tried so hard to be a better man. All for them and their forgiveness for his horrible mistakes.
"For your son? No, it's too late." His father hovered above him, cruel voice dripping with threats and scorn as he pointed in the direction of the distant wishing well and the coming of his curse. "Soon that fine green smoke will fill their lungs and fog their brains. Not like the rest of this town, I'm not going to just take their memories. No. Because it has special meaning to you I'm going to take their lives."
Rumple swallowed, nearly choking on his terror as the boy leaned forward, the pure hatred in his father's eyes deftly trapping him where he lay.
"And you won't do a thing to stop me. Do you know why? Because without magic you're right back to where you started: the village coward."
The vicious words rang true with a holocaustic blow as he watched Pan coldly turn and strut out the door. His family was in mortal danger and with a dreadful gasping moan he tried to pry the cuff from off his wrist, but it was fastened on too tight; was impossible to budge.
Groaning agony accompanied another attempt as Belle and Bae floated through his mind. He couldn't give up. He had to save them or his life was nothing but empty blowing dust swirling upon a never-ending road.
Writhing amidst the shattered wreckage, Rumplestiltskin suddenly spied the discarded sword and shunted forward, his fist closing about the hilt as a gruesome plan began to form.
His left hand was outstretched before him as he stared at his restraint: the only way to remove it was to take the wrist itself.
Breathing hard, he scrambled forward on his knees, blindly dropping the blade beside him on the work bench with a loud resounding clang. All he could see was the hated leather cuff around his wrist and Rumple positioned his shaking left palm flat against the wood; awkwardly rolled his sleeve out of the way.
The sword was raised high overhead. It must be done. It was the only way.
Then lethal hesitation crushed his heart in a suffocating vise as he searched in vain for the courage to slam it down against the pain; to save his beloved family from a quickly advancing death.
You are a coward, coward, coward, Rumplestiltskin…
The tormenting truth: a terrible beating tattoo inside his soul and no matter how hard he tried to move beyond, it was always, always there, hiding out in darkness with cruel intent to tear and taunt.
"You don't need power, Rumple. You need courage to let me in."
A vision of his Belle stepped lithely out of shadow, her sky blue dress softly swishing about her calves as she all but floated into sight.
His heart twisted at the view, jaw twitching under deep emotion. "I have let you in."
"Have you truly?" Her gaze was full of endless sorrow when her gentle hand came to rest upon the cuff.
Staring up from where he knelt, "It's the only way. I can get my magic back; defeat Pan before he hurts you and Bae and… our baby."
Her fingers whispered across his brow, gently brushing back a wayward lock of hair. "Let go the fear and be the man I've always seen trapped inside."
He moaned, his beaten expression crumpling toward tears. The agony of advancing loss was too much weight to bear.
There will be a price. The boy… will be your undoing.
"But the price… Belle." Rumple looked up beseechingly into her lovely eyes.
The moment could have last forever and in a way he wished it would. Hiding was a coward's route and one he knew by heart.
Unwavering acceptance graced the grief within her tone. "You're not going to keep your promise to me are you? Your promise to us." Her other hand splayed firmly against her stomach, still flat through that wouldn't last.
Don't ever leave me again, she'd asked.
It might have been a knife straight through his chest. He abruptly dropped the sword and it clattered against the hardwood floor, drowning out a strangled gasp for breath. He wanted so badly to watch her belly swell with child: to share in the anticipation, the cravings and the temporary pain then finally meet the little person they'd created from their love.
Until you see something worthwhile in yourself, something true, and believe that I see it too, True Love's kiss won't ever work.
The heartbreaking shatter of his soul sent the tears streaming down his cheeks, a single undeniable truth cutting to the fore: when you become a parent you must put your child first, no matter what.
Milah's contemptuous voice echoed harshly from the past: 'other wives became honoured widows while I became lashed to the village coward.' When it had come time to stand up and be counted she'd wished he'd turned up to the fight instead of fleeing in the dark.
Now confronted with the mirrored choice was the realization that he could make a different choice; there was a different path. Drawing strength from Belle firmed his resolve and he pushed upright off the floor.
"No, sweetheart." Rumplestiltskin exhaled a shaky broken breath then pressed his hand tight over hers; used the heel of his other to palm away the tears. "I'm not. I… I'm not. I'm so… so very sorry."
He'd known for many years his ending would not be a happy one. Time's eddying flight was counting down and his was running out. He would leave his children fatherless and a mother without the man she loved with all her heart, yet standing tall he knew it was the correct decision in the end.
Magic was a crutch no longer and with that choice the debilitating fear abruptly melted straight away. Belle had been right all along: he didn't need that kind of power.
Rumple's free fingers hovered briefly over her mouth, heart furrowed with regret as he swayed a fraction closer to his imaginary love. His chances had run out. They wouldn't get their happy ending after all. He turned and their entwined hands covering their child still held tight as he slowly pulled away, maintaining those last precious remaining seconds spent in touch before they irrevocably slid apart.
He easily found his father just down the block from his shop, standing in the street taunting the frozen group of heroes.
"It's hard to tell which one to kill first. No it isn't. You." Pan pointed at Rumple's son; he had reached them just in time and roughly grabbed his teenaged father by the shoulder. The lad hadn't noticed him sneak up from behind.
"Stay away from them." Bravery now marked Rumplestiltskin's voice with the wilful determination to succeed.
Pan's sneering focus lasered from his stationary prey to his own son. "How about this. The worm has teeth. Are you here to pwotect your wuved ones?"
Rumple briefly pivoted toward Bae and Belle before turning back to Pan. "I'm not going to let you touch either one of them."
"Oh I'd like to see that."
Incremental steps brought them ever nearer with each successive insult and rebuttal, Rumple facing off against the boy with patient self-control.
Pan's voice may have brimmed with loathing hatred, but Rumplestiltskin at last felt nothing but coldness for his sire. A young boy's sniffling painful belief that 'if only he'd been good enough' was no longer a concern. Too many wasted years had been lost to craving a father's love from a man who'd proven twice to be incapable of such an elemental bond, his shattered children blithely left behind and crying in the dust.
"Oh you will. Because I have a job to finish and I have to do it whatever it takes. No loopholes. And what needs to be done has a price: a price I'm finally willing to pay."
Rumplestiltskin turned toward his boy and Belle, making sure they knew forever how deep his love was for them both.
Pan interrupted the heartfelt goodbye with scornful disregard. He'd never known nor cared to understand the precious power love can bring to a life and Rumple grasped with newfound appreciation how his family was absolutely right: he wasn't anything like his father and for that he was intensely glad. Ignoring the man inside the boy, he continued expressing what was in his heart to the only two who actually mattered in his life.
"I love you Bae." Rumple turned his gaze at last to Belle. "And I love you Belle. You made me stronger."
She had no idea how much her influence had touched to the very depths of his battered soul and if he looked at her too long he knew it would never be long enough. He read the terror in her frozen eyes; the silent pleading with him to find another way, but he could not.
This was the end. He'd told the truth. There wasn't another way.
"Stronger?"
"Yes." Rumple tried to silently impart everything he'd never have the chance to say to her over the years stretching out ahead: how he'd finally seen her precious heart that beat only for him.
She was his true love. Not even death could alter that.
"But still, no magic."
His gaze was ultimately dragged back to his father. "Oh, but I don't need it. You see, you may have lost your shadow, but there's one thing you're forgetting."
"And what's that?"
"So have I." Dark eyes gleamed with impish madness; he knew he'd win this destined fight. "I sent it away with something to hide."
Rumple flicked his hand over his head with showy dramatic flair and his shadow immediately appeared above him in the air. Hidden where no one could find it, the entity rapidly fused back with its owner in a screeching surge of agony that he barely managed to ignore. In one swift strike Rumplestiltskin clutched his father to his chest as the kris dagger materialized in his hand.
Stunned and struggling, Pan growled, "What are you doing?"
"You see the only way for you to die is if we both die and now… now… I'm ready."
Everything for his family: his Bae and Belle and baby. One hand gripped tight the boy's forest green tunic while the other plunged the mystical wavy blade straight through Pan's upper back and into his own chest.
A gasping breathless wheeze was all the boy could shout and Rumple felt the snapping surge of shock recoil through his father's tensing muscles.
The oozing damp of bonded blood mixed slowly between the two where they were joined.
He could feel Belle's eyes upon him; practically hear her scream inside his head, but he couldn't think of that right now. A heady swirl of blackened smoke revealed his father's genuine form as a quivering adult, the evil magic linking him to a land of eternal youth broken open by the blade.
"Hello Papa." Rumple's grip on the ebony hilt didn't waver for an instant.
"Rumple, please. You can stop this," he begged. "Remove the dagger. We can start over." His dying father inched back enough to stare his son in the eye, an imploring offer not given out of regret or love but how to save his hide. "We can have a happy ending."
"Ah, but I'm a villain! And villains don't get happy endings," he enunciated clearly.
Pan's swirling emerald cloud would shortly descend upon the town and he had played his part in stopping it. His price was paid in full.
True love went so much deeper than mere surface emotion could account. It was also sacrifice of one for another, no matter what the cost. He sensed his family watch in horror while he focused on the truth: your happiness for my own. It would protect them in the end. Rumplestiltskin would die with honour: be a man they could be proud of and at last someone worthy of their love.
With a jamming twist the blade surged forward; he felt the dagger's magical tip pierce through his beating heart.
His heart…
His heart was true. That's what Belle saw in him. He knew it now at last.
Rumplestiltskin kissed his father's cheek in a final sweet farewell as an exploding prism of colours swirled in behind his eyes. Then a stabbing thrust and he was lost to the tearing rip of white.
I didn't think I had a future. And for years she hadn't, locked up in the Queen's palace with only her imagination for company as a hedge against encroaching madness that slicked around the edges. Later there'd been nothing but a different cell and a dull grey blank before a sudden blast of shining light had altered everything for the better.
Confused and without memories, she had still found her way back to him. She had always found her way back to him: a life defining tie between two hearts that couldn't ever fully stretch apart.
Until now.
He'd gone where she could not follow and so Belle stood in her tower library lost between raw thoughts and hopeless wishes, staring down at the twisting forest road stretching into distant darkened shadow as if she could will him to return through the strength of her love alone.
Another day and night on her own repeated cruelly how it wouldn't be enough. A fingernail absently picked at the leaded windowpane while her forehead pressed wearily against the ancient glass.
The final remnant sliver of the setting sun hung in a vivid blaze of glory beyond the snow-capped peaks, reflecting vibrant streaks of ruddy oranges and pinks against the overhanging sky. Blind to the majestic beauty, she slowly closed her eyes and shivered, unable to shake the ghastly image of a dagger twisting into flesh.
She'd been helpless to stop it. Frozen. Stuck horribly in place.
Absently she worried the golden band about her finger. "Rumple…" The broken haunting whisper floated gracefully through the air as if a simple name held power enough to summon him from the grave.
She flinched; knew better in her heart.
His isolated mountain fortress: it seemed the perfect retreat from a harsh reality for a woman left heartbroken and alone. The most vital piece of herself was simply gone, their entwined path cut agonizingly short. Her true love was but a memory, their fleeting time together passing by turns as if a hurricane and others, soft as breath against her cheek.
Low on the horizon, the evening star blinked suddenly to life: a bright glow of purest white.
Talking to a vision had always kept her sane in the darkest part of night. Now it felt as if their child may be the only lingering link to happiness, an enduring bond of love keeping her from disintegrating entirely into the pain of loss.
The fluttering tickle inside had begun a few weeks ago like the gentlest reminder of how Rumple's fingers had drifted delicately across her naked skin. The unwinding of a curse could not bring back a life, but nor could it undo one: a wonderful relief. It was really happening, their child safely growing within her womb. Still, the light yet distinct thump caught her truly off guard in the quiet evening dusk: baby's first real kick followed swiftly by another.
"Oh," Belle exclaimed softly, hands automatically splaying across her slowly distending belly. "Hello sweetheart."
Motherhood. The breathtakingly beautiful moment reminded that she wasn't truly alone. Their precious little miracle: a piece of her Rumplestiltskin that lived on.
Inner strength blended with an aching vulnerability in her heart, the two converging with the stinging grief that he wasn't there to share her special moment. He'd have been thrilled; would have wanted to try and feel their child's movements for himself.
She rubbed the spot then bent and whispered so their babe would know the truth: something which she'd found could never be repeated often enough, "Your papa was a hero. And brave. And he'd be here loving us if he could."
"Yes. I would." His deep voice sounded quietly at her shoulder then his strong arms were encircling about her waist.
"Rumple." Some part of her knew it wasn't real yet in that moment the need to nestle backward into his chest was overpowering. "You promised you wouldn't leave me again." Belle blinked away the tiny prick of tears.
"I'm sorry." His scaled hands settled comfortably over hers, covering their beautiful child with all the love they'd ever shared and they stood that way together, silently watching twilight gradually deepen into night.
The evening star grew brighter, surrounded by a pinprick swath of others in a velvet blanket of inky black.
"That knife. The only magical weapon that had the power to kill you…" She wasn't sure where the thought was leading; everything seemed unfocused and unreal, those last nightmarish moments in Storybrooke playing out as a horrible dream.
"As long as my name remains engraved on the blade, the curse binding me to its dark magic remains intact."
Confused, "What does that mean?" she asked, turning slightly in his arms.
"You'll figure it out." Rumple's lips hovered a breath above her temple while a pair of clawed fingertips pressed lightly against her lips.
The touch silenced her wayward thinking, focusing it instead on what mattered more. In the end he'd desperately wanted True Love's kiss to work; was sorry he'd never managed to believe. The dejected truth of it burned within his shadowed golden eyes.
"I could have broken your curse," she smiled sadly.
Rumple shook his head in disagreement as if to say it wasn't her and that the magic must take two. "I'm a monster beyond saving."
His love… it wasn't true.
"Don't say that." Angry blue fire flashed from her gaze, but he merely chuckled a little without humour and stepped aside, walking slowly across the room.
Both their special chipped teacup and the delicate sand dollar sat on a small round table next to the carved wooden day bed. He lightly touched the golden edged rim of porcelain and there was wistfulness in his tone. "You're everything I wasn't: strong and brave and beautiful." He looked up to catch her eye. "What on earth could you possibly love about me? I was nothing but weak. And cowardly. And ugly."
After all their moments spent together… he really couldn't see…
She followed him, gently laying her palms against his aching heart, her own shattering to pieces all over again at his inability to place the highest value in himself. He'd come to her as he'd been in the beginning: all wild hair and greyish golden scales, but more importantly, so lonely and unloved.
If he couldn't trust in this then he wouldn't trust their love. "I… I saw that your heart was true. And that made you beautiful to me."
Rumple nodded a little as her hand slipped up to tenderly cup his cheek. "I did the right thing… The brave thing… You can tell our child…"
His voice trailed off uncertainly and she finished firmly, "How proud I am of you."
"Yes." Rumple pressed his palm to her belly and shuddered out a breath. Her arms linked around his neck: an anxious attempt to keep their family twined together in her heart. "Happy endings aren't always what we think they'll be."
"And if I could have stopped it? I wouldn't have left the shop if I'd known." Her grip tightened.
Defeat touched his smile with sorrow. "Knowing would not have made a difference."
She refused to give up the fight though it was already far too late. "What if–"
Attraction had them moulding ever nearer. "Shh." He leaned infinitely close as if to claim a magic kiss that never came. "I still would have been powerless to escape my fate."
"Fate. I choose my own fate," she spat while stepping backward out of reach.
Belle's hand absently kneaded at a sore spot on her lower back as she shuffled to the nearest bookcase; stared sightlessly at the shelves, stewing with anger at the unfairness of it all. It wasn't truly Rumple that had prompted her ire and a part of her was grateful when he took it all in stride.
"This one." He reached across her shoulder; drew a clawed fingertip down a narrow leather spine jammed in amidst a lengthy row of other grander books.
It was nearly out of reach, but Belle stretched up on tiptoes and carefully nudged it free. Thin and small, the worn volume was easily overlooked, appearing battered and well read, but it hadn't been by her.
Sighing, she returned to sit upon the day bed and he followed close behind, his hand linked lovingly around her hip as he softly rubbed the spot that hurt. Rumple slipped behind her on the bed, lightly resting his chin along her shoulder while he drew her into his embrace, arms wrapped loose around her swollen waist.
She found she held an anthology of love poems in her hands. The spine was cracked. Flipping aimlessly, the book fell open naturally about a third of the way in. True love. The dog-eared page had clearly meant something to someone long ago.
He nuzzled a fleeting kiss against her supple curve of neck. "Here." A long finger pointed to the one.
Belle glanced obliquely at his yearning smile as they tilted back together into pillows then she began to softly read aloud. Her voice rose and fell with the rhythmic cadence of words that told of treasured memory and lovers torn apart.
Rumple reached for the sand dollar from the small table at her side, his fingers lightly tracing the star along the delicate upper side.
The poem asked a question. Lovers lost but then were found?
He slipped the flat sea urchin beneath the right palm she'd rested lovingly over their baby in a symbol of enduring faith. Don't give up hope he looked to say. His mouth lingered against her jaw then his voice joined softly in with hers, turning the beautiful words of the poem into a sacred promise all his own.
A thumb caressed the delicate runes engraved upon her golden band and Belle faltered at the underscore as it ripped her heart in half.
The Most Powerful Magic of All: True Love, was what it said in ancient script.
She'd always secretly wished the ring had been a gift that meant so much more than what it did. It seemed it ought to be a candid shout to the triumph of their bond: one that should have joined them for forever… Instead his curse remained intact and he'd never asked the question she'd so dearly longed to hear.
There was a broken breath that sounded like her name and an answering kick gently resonated from within. He may not have wanted marriage, but their child would still be hers. Belle gripped his fingers tight as a silent ward against the end.
Her voice shook and a calloused touch drifted softly across wet cheeks. They choked together over the final lilting couplet, her hand keeping his and the sand dollar firmly pressed in place.
Time stood still.
Love eternal.
Love restored.
It was all written down in destiny.
And his promise to her remained. Death would hold no sway against the surging swell of hope. The poem declared it to be so and she looked up to say she loved him, but he'd already slipped away.
The rocketing forward slosh of time had her plummeting backward with the shock of his abandonment.
Belle jerked awake to the sweet keen scent of grass in a meadow edged by shadowed forest. Her eyes were gritty; raw with grief. The yawning misery of a thousand shattered dreams was threatening to grind her into dust and she'd quietly cried herself to sleep.
The others were stretched out slumbering around their makeshift camp. Shifting slightly on the narrow pallet, she remembered with indifference an unwinding curse had just returned them to their land. Some, but not them all… Rumplestiltskin had died before they'd left, leaving her a widow to a man who hadn't ever made her his wife. Alone and cast adrift, she shivered within her cloak.
While lying on her back came the abrupt realization that her right hand lay draped across her flat stomach with their sand dollar wedged between.
Her grip tightened.
As if he'd reached inside her dream, the precious memory returned and with it, a lover's poem, out of which tumbled all its vivid hope and peace. "Rumple..." A brilliant star hovered low on the horizon like a protective shining beacon. He suddenly didn't seem so very far away. Eyes drifting closed she focused on his touch, his words, his gestures: all memorized and savoured.
Her head turned. Belle blinked in disbelief. Their cup sat beside her in the grass, the pale glow of waning firelight outlining the triangular chip she'd broken from the rim. Her two most cherished talismans had returned to her and she greedily snatched the second close, sitting up cross-legged on her mat.
With a thankful heart she realized she was far from being alone.
There was still her child conceived in endless layered love growing safe within her womb and Belle stared across at Bae, curled nearby on his side. True love takes many forms and so does the bond of family that underpins it all. The tie that binds two people tight… it isn't always shaped through blood.
He was restless, flailing sideways. His mumbled voice called out. His son, true love and father: Neal was hurting just as much as she. Belle moved closer to place a mother's gentle touch upon his shoulder and he quickly quieted in his sleep.
A first true smile graced her lips as she stared up at the star. It wasn't quite close enough to reach. Still, as she shifted backward to her bed, the cradled cup and carapace came with the comforting belief that nothing could keep them apart forever. The solution to her happy ending had come within the dream.
The promise shimmered on a breath of wind: I will find you again.
*finis*