Chapter Eight - Home
Thirty-Five(ish) Years ago in The Enchanted Forest...
Belle hummed an old melody from her childhood as she dusted the Dark One's knickknacks; despite her recent captivity she felt happy here in her Master's house, among his books and his treasures. She might not be able to travel to distant lands or even to leave the dark castle, but she had discovered a deep well within herself for dreaming and his wonderful treasures from across the realms (or his 'things' as he liked to call them) fueled her dreams of adventure and romance to such an extent that she hardly noticed the passage of the days, weeks and months; or that she was hardly a girl any longer as her shortened sleeves and tightened clothing could attest.
If Rumplestiltskin noticed these things, he made no sign of it and Belle herself only noticed in the mornings when she had to struggle to tie up her gown; a struggle she quickly forgot as her mind turned quickly to one adventure or another that she'd read about the night before. What did her snug old dress matter now with no one around to care what she wore?
One morning after reading a thrilling story about the genie of the lamp, she spent several happy hours gathering lamps from around the castle and rubbing them vigorously to see if Ruplestiltskin had a real magic lamp amongst his 'things'. For his part Rumplestiltskin, who was watching his maid that morning as he often did through a small magic mirror, found this rather amusing and he made sure there were more lamps in his house that morning then there ever had been before. The real magic lamps were of course sealed up in his vault, but he wasn't about to let his little maid rub those. Genies were far more trouble than they were worth in his opinion.
His amusement faded as he watched Belle climb a tall bookcase in the library to get at an old lamp he'd forgotten about. He could see the old wood straining under her slight weight and as the shelves gave way, he reached through the mirror and pulled her back down to the ground, making sure she landed lightly enough to escape serious injury, but hard enough to teach her a lesson about climbing old bookcases when all she had to do was ask for a ladder in the first place.
Belle sat still on her now bruised backside and watched as the shelves, trinkets and books fell down around her as she sat safely within a protective bubble of some kind that the heavy objects bounced off of; she knew that Rumplestiltskin must have been watching her. Looking at the debris around her Belle felt sick with shame and fear. Shattered knickknacks littered the floor and books lay scattered around the room, many of them now missing pages as the old books' bindings had proven unequal to the strain of being dropping twenty feet onto a hardwood floor. Why would he save ME and not these beautiful old books? she wondered. Perhaps he meant to punish her in some other way for this transgression. He had a very dangerous reputation, as she knew, but she had never known him to be cruel to her. Not especially kind perhaps. But he had given her a pillow.
Slowly Belle rose unsteadily to her feet and began to clean up her mess. Carefully she picked up all the undamaged books and set them aside, then she moved on to the damaged books, gently shaking the shards of broken glass and porcelain from them so that she could read the titles to try and match the piles of ruined books to the loose pages laying all over the room. As she gathered the loose pages, she read them and stacked them into several piles; magic texts, fairytales, histories... suddenly a name on the page she'd been skimming caught her eye, 'de Ravin' ... What was her family's name doing in a book on Rumplestiltskin's book shelf?
Setting the rest of the loose papers she'd gathered aside, Belle read the rest of the page in silence...
and also in that year William de Ravin, squire of his majesty's chamber pot, did defeat the usurpers singlehandedly; Bringing peace back to the land. In recompense of which he was made Sir William de Ravin, knight of his majesty's shield and given Flandor castle with all its lands and monies in perpetuity for him and his descendants. For such is the honor the king will bestow on the brave; no matter what their station in life.
Sir William de Ravin (portrait on page 91) served his majesty faithfully for forty years until his death at the age of eighty-one. He is buried at Flandor, where his descendants still live to this day.
...following this passage was a family tree which looked all too familiar to Belle, who had seen the same names repeated on her father's wall. Though the story of how her family attained its position in the nobility was new to her. Her father had left her with the impression that her family had been noble forever. Looking at this family tree she realized that they'd only lived at Flandor for about two hundred years from William to Maurice. Why would he hide this from me? she wondered, It's hardly shameful to come from humble roots, especially with an ancestor as brave as Sir William to began our family dynasty. Why have I never heard this story before? Everybody knows about Victor the Great, the wise and mighty king who united the kingdom under one crown, surely he was the king referred to here, the one who made William de Ravin into Sir William. Excitedly she searched through the pile of ruined books trying to match the page to the original book so that she could find the portrait of the ancestor she'd never heard of.
"Eureka!" she cried happily as she matched the loose page to the book it had fallen out of, 'A History of Gaul'. Turning to page 91 Belle found the portrait ...William de Ravin had been rather short and a bit portly, but Belle thought she could detect the nobility lurking behind his eyes, but oh my what funny clothes they wore in those days! she thought. Belle giggled at the idea of her own father, Sir Maurice, wearing all those ruffles and what a funny looking dagger he was holding; it was all curvy... she stared at the dagger. Somehow she was sure she'd seen it somewhere before...
"Give that back!" growled Rumplestiltskin snatching the book from her hands.
"But..." she pointed to the portrait, "Sir William is my ancestor!" she said.
"I'm well aware of that."
"But I've never even heard of him."
"I'm not surprised."
"Won't you let me read the rest of the story?" she pleaded.
"You won't find another line about 'Sir' William in this book." he twittered, "History books cannot be trusted" he advised," especially when the truth was rather inconvenient to the king."
"You could tell me..." she said quietly.
"You won't like it." he sang.
"I want to know the TRUTH." she said, emphasizing the word, "What did my father hide from me?"
"Oh only that your family's wealth and privilege was won on a great big pile of corpses..."
"What?!"
"Your ancestor, William de Chamber Pot... one day he came upon a certain dagger, rather carelessly hidden in a cave near the castle and discovering that the dagger compelled a monster to do his bidding, he used that dagger to defeat all the king's rivals, and by defeat dearie, I mean murder all the king's rivals, which did in a way bring peace to the land, if you don't count all the crying and wailing from the womenfolk who's sons and husband's were mercilessly slaughtered."
"But that's awful!" she cried.
"That's history for you, dearie." he sang, "It's written by the victors you know."
"And you were the monster who killed all those men?"
"Was compelled to kill all those men," he corrected, "Even Rumplestiltskin has his standards."
"Oh you poor man..." Belle reached for his hand.
"I am not a man!" he exploded, pushing away her attempt to hold his hand. "Don't feel sorry for me dearie." he sang, letting the sudden burst of anger drain out of his voice, "Old William may have won his battles, but I think the Dark One won the war."
Belle's forehead creased, "I don't understand." she said.
"Oh dear, and here I thought you were rather clever, for a maid..."
"Me?" she gasped, "I'm your revenge?"
He smiled, "I guess you are the clever one after all." he giggled.
"You took me from my father to get revenge for something that happened before he was even born?"
"Wonderful isn't it? Timing, my dear ...is everything."
"But why me? Why am I your revenge..."
"Why because YOU are your father's child... his only child" he added, "and the last remnant of old William's flesh and bone still living."
"So..."
"Now there will be no more de Ravin's left to bother me. After you're gone that is." he giggled again.
"oh." Belle looked down at her shoes feeling very small indeed.
Rumple fought down the tiny wave of compassion he felt for the girl. It was hardly her fault, his suppressed conscience pricked him. Scooping up the broken books and loose pages Rumple moved towards the door, "I'll take care of these." he said, jerking his head towards a broom that was leisurely sweeping its way towards Belle, "You clean up this mess. " he paused, "And be quick about it. I expect my tea to be served at the regular time." The door opened for him and he walked out, slamming it in his wake.
"Oh and dearie..." a disembodied voice spoke through the door, "Get yourself a new dress. That one is looking positively indecent..."
Thirty-Five(ish) Years later
00ZELENA00
Zelena grumbled as she stumbled around her kitchen fixing her husband's supper. Perhaps sending Isaac and Lily away had been a mistake. She'd forgotten how much work it was running a household, especially with a 'husband' who spent nearly his entire day every day sitting at his precious spinning wheel.
The outstanding silhouette she saw reflected in her shining pots and pans told the tale of how close she was to giving birth, a prospect which was becoming more and more annoying to her the more real it all became. What do I know about being a mother? she wondered. Did I think this would solve all my problems or was I really just getting back at my sister? Feeling hot and frustrated, Zelena glanced across the house to see if Rumple was paying any attention at. Nope. As usual he was utterly absorbed in his spinning. She waved her hand and watched as her ingredients rolled themselves into a perfect meat pie and floated into the oven. Now that is how housework should be done.
Feeling cooler already, Zelena checked once more to be sure Rumple wasn't looking, he wasn't; tossing her apron aside, she lifted the trapdoor and walked down into her magical laboratory. On the shelves were dozens of bottles of ingredients that she had collected since they arrived in Oz, as well as a number of magical texts which she'd been scouring for clues in her latest attempt to break magical law by creating True Love's potion. Every witch and fairy she'd talked to (and dispatched) had claimed it was impossible, but she'd heard that before. Everyone said time travel was impossible until she'd done it and wasn't it Rumple himself who had told her 'dead is dead'? Well she'd shown him hadn't she? He might not remember it now, but eventually his memories should return and then... oh dear that could pose a few new problems, couldn't it? Oh, well. She'd just have to make sure she'd cracked true love before Rumple's memories returned and if they did come back before she'd perfected her love potion... Why then she'd just have to KILL him and find a new husband with more muscles and less baggage.
Her baby kicked her and Zelena grimaced. Perhaps Robin Hood hadn't been such a good idea after all. Sure it was fun wrecking Regina's life and all, but he was a very boring man; in every possible sense of the word. But seeing Regina's face when she'd told her about the baby had made it all worthwhile... She paused mid-stir in her latest love potion attempt (nearly ready to be poured over Rumple's meatpie; she did hope there'd be no nasty side-effects this time) when she heard a sudden thump from above. Cursing whichever munchkin had had the gall to enter the witch's home uninvited Zelena began to climb the stairs back to her kitchen... but when she got to the top she found that the door wouldn't budge.
00BELLE00
Belle held tight to Merlin's robe as the pair flew through the darkness with only the stars to guide them. Belle hoped they would be able to find Rumple in time; it had taken Merlin nearly a week to gather the fairy dust and other things he said were necessary for their trip. Locating Rumple had proved simple as the witches guild was all atwitter with the news of Zelena's return to Oz, as well as her having taking up residence in her old home instead of in the wizard's palace in the Emerald City. Merlin had warned her that time passed differently in many realms so she could only hope that Rumple was still alive and well; even if he did still believe her to be the witch who murdered his son.
Will had asked to be dropped off in Wonderland as he had business to see to there and although she hated to waste the time, Belle was happy to see him go and she wished him well in reuniting with his love.
While she'd had to wait for Merlin to gather supplies for their journey, Belle had had time to read through some of Merlin's magical texts to try and find a solution to her husband's memory loss, with little success. The only spell Merlin or his books knew that might break through whatever was blocking her husband's memory was of course True Love's Kiss, but how could that work if Rumple no longer loved her? Oh, if she could only get his memories back for him so that she could tell him how Regina had used her heart against them both and how she'd never stopped loving him in her heart...
Merlin's shout interrupted her thoughts, "There it is!" he yelled against the oncoming wind, "OZ!" he pointed to a misty green spot that had appeared out of the darkness. "Fifth star to the left and strait on until morning!" Merlin yelled as they flew downward into the green mist.
00Rumple00
Rumple's hands shook, making it nearly impossible to spin. He had a clear sense that something was happening, but he didn't know what. The visions had gotten no clearer as time passed; if he spun fast enough it seemed that he could almost make sense out of the shadows that flitted around in his mind, but as soon as the spinning stopped, it all returned to murk. His wife had told him that he'd found his son, but that he was dead now. But he didn't remember any of that anymore than he remembered this wife, with her sour face and skinny arse.
He heard a soft step coming towards him; he looked up. "Belle!" he cried jumping to his feet as he saw the woman approach. He sat back down heavily and shook his head, why had he just said that?
"You remember me?!" the woman exclaimed, coming nearer, her voice full of hope.
"No, I... who are you?" he stammered.
"I'm your Belle." she said, tears beginning to run down her cheeks. "I'm your wife."
"No no, you're not my wife. My wife is in the kitchen making my supper... ZELENA!" He called, "We have guests dear, and my head... it aches so." Belle moved closer and Rumple backed away slamming into the wall in his haste to get away.
"Shhhh" belle shushed him, reaching out her trembling hand to grasp his. "I know you don't remember me." she whispered pulling him closer, "I know that your mind is full of images you can't understand and faces you can't place, but I am your wife. Your true wife, that other woman, Zelena, is a wicked witch and she has enchanted you to keep you like this in revenge for you not choosing her when you had the chance..."
"I don't remember..." his voice was husky now and his hands had stopped shaking as the soft woman drew him close.
"You don't remember me," she said, "But you heart does. See you've stopped trembling. It knows where it belongs, right next to mine; heart to heart..." she pressed her chest against his, "Hand to hand," she put her fingers through his, "Lips to lips..." Belle leaned in and kissed him and as soon as her lips touched his, the world became clear again. In an instant Rumple remembered everything! Becoming the Dark One, losing Baelfire, the centuries of loneliness, meeting Belle, the curse, finding Belle again, losing Baelfire again and he remembered, HE REMEMBERED Zelena.
Rumple broke the kiss. "Where is she?" he asked.
"In the cellar; Merlin put the oven over the trapdoor so that she couldn't get out."
Rumple kissed Belle this time, both of them trying to somehow make up for the time they'd lost, "She still has her magic." he reminded her, knowing they had to act now, but not wanting to let go of her hand, "She'll just poof herself out of that cellar as soon as she realizes that something is wrong."
Belle pulled at his hand, "Then we have to go, NOW."
Before they could reach the door, it vanished and the re-united couple slammed into a solid wall.
"Did you really think it would be that easy?" a haughty voice called from the ceiling.
Rumple and Belle clutched each other tightly as Zelena flew down from the rafters on her broomstick.
"Well well well." she said, approaching the pair and hopping off her broom, "It seems like True Love's Kiss won the day once again. Too bad you two will spend the rest of your lives together as TOADS!" Victoriously Zelena raised her arms to strike, completely oblivious to the old man creeping up behind her with a large frying pan.
THWACK!
"Quickly children, quickly!" he said motioning for them to step over Zelena's unconscious body and follow him. "I see true love remains the greatest magic in the realms." He said, smiling broadly at them, "But no time just now for any of that. We have a great Darkness to defeat and a witch to escape from." He moved towards the kitchen door, intending to fly them all away as swiftly as possible.
"No wait." Rumple said, "We can't just leave her here. She has a sack full of magic beans and one heck of a grudge against Belle and I, and after that crack on her head I doubt she'll be very fond of you either. We have to (he gulped) kill her."
"Rumple no!" Belle cried, "There has to be another way. Besides, she's pregnant!"
Rumple rubbed his forehead, trying to decide what to do. Morals had always seemed a rather ambiguous concept to him before, but without the darkness inside him, he suddenly found himself agreeing with Belle that killing Zelena would be wrong.
Merlin seemed to understand and together they searched the house until they found Pan's bracelet, for as Merlin said, 'Witches never throw away magic'. They snapped the bracelet back onto her wrist once again and Rumple tied her hands together. Then hoisting her on his back Rumple carried the witch outside and the three of them held hands as Merlin threw the fairy dust on them and reminded them to think happy thoughts. For Belle and Rumple that wouldn't be a problem today.
00O00
...The Apprentice continued, "It kept The Darkness amused for centuries. Rather remarkable considering he had his own dagger all that time and yet he managed without an outsider's control."
"Rumplestiltskin is a remarkable man." Belle said as she entered The Apprentice's hospital room.
"Grandma!" Henry cried, running into her arms.
Belle blushed, "Uh, Henry I thought we agreed to that you would call me 'Belle'?"
"Where have you been?!" bellowed Regina.
"Wow, nice to see you too, Regina." Belle replied, throwing Regina a deservedly hostile look, "You might be interested to know Regina that my husband put a spell over my heart when he returned it to me... you'll find it hard to play that particular 'trick' again."
Henry looked confused, "What do you mean?" he asked Belle. "What trick?"
"Oh it turns out your mother had my heart for months." Belle told him, "My memory is a little fuzzy on the matter, but after comparing a few notes with Will Scarlett, I'm pretty sure I get the gist of it... Regina here," she addressed the room now, not just Henry, "Took my heart without my permission and she used it to turn me against my husband and then when he finally found a way back into town, she used it to torment him with this fiction that I was unfaithful to him with Will Scarlett... How am I doing, Regina?" she asked, staring boldly into her eyes.
Regina's shoulders slumped under Belle's accusation and Henry's earnestly hopeful gaze. "I guess it's not entirely inaccurate." she admitted, slumping further as Henry's face fell.
"I thought you'd changed, mom!"
"I have!" she said, "I was just paying Gold back for... um, I'm not really sure why. I just really really hated the smug bas... 'er ...him."
"Mom, heroes don't seek revenge." Henry reminded her.
"Ok, so maybe I'm not a hero, alright?!"
Belle coughed, "As much as I enjoy seeing Regina squirm," she said, "her horrid behavior isn't as important as defeating The Darkness." she nodded to Emma, "Back to your original question as to where I've been..." Belle raised her voice slightly and called out into the hospital corridor, "You can come in now." she called to her newest friend, then turned back to face The Apprentice. "Mr. Apprentice..." she said, "I believe I've found your Sorcerer..."
Merlin entered to little fanfare, but then, all they saw was an old frail looking man. The Apprentice tried to rise so that he, the only person here who knew the true greatness of the wizard Merlin could show him the proper respect.
"Rest rest, my friend," Merlin said, crossing to the bed to greet his apprentice. "You'll have great need of your rest ere long." Merlin touched his apprentice's shoulder and a brief warm glow circled the bed. The Apprentice lay back against his pillows and sighed, "Thank you Master. I feel so much better now."
"Good good. Now, what say you introduce me to the new Dark One here? I understand she's having rather a bad time of it."
"Um," Belle interrupted, "while you guys get acquainted I think I'll just slip out and see how Rumple is getting along with the 'er... other matter."
Belle turned to leave, Emma stopped her.
"What other matter?" she asked, "And did you just say that Gold was back?"
"Yes he's back," Belle said, answering the second question first, "Merlin and I kind of rescued him from Zelena this morning."
"My sister is back too?" Regina did not sound happy.
Belle nodded.
"Great." Regina mumbled, "Just great."
"Sure is." said Belle sweetly, "But I'm afraid my husband had to take her to see Dr. Whale..." Belle paused, unable to help herself from enjoying this part, "...her water broke somewhere over Canada. She's in labor..."
00O00
Author's note - I really love the Rumbelle story at the top of the chapter so much that I think I might publish it separately for the Rumbelle fans who don't want to slog through the rest of this story to get to a good Rumbelle ficlet. I think that would be ok wouldn't it?