…Flashback… six years ago… Storybrooke… same day…
The sun had disappeared from the horizon but the dying rays from the evening glow were still showing as Rumplestiltskin turned onto the corner of his street and parked next to his wife in the driveway of the pink Victorian house. A flurry of thoughts swirled in his head, but the motivation to keep moving forward and to keep coming home was to see his family safe and protected. As he ascended the stairs to the front porch he exhaled a sigh of relief. His busy thoughts vanished from his mind and for a moment, he experienced a brief solace. He was home.
He opened the door and entered the foyer and was immediately bombarded with the delicious aromas that had permeated from the kitchen. As if anticipated, Belle was in the kitchen cooking supper. He walked into the kitchen expecting it to be just them when he saw his daughter waiting for him at the dining table with her arms crossed and a sullen look on her face. Without so much as a friendly greeting from his wife, he immediately started off the conversation with concern and asked, "What's going on? Why is Lily upset?"
Belle was busy in front of the oven when his sudden presence and question startled her. She shook off her nerves immediately and was ashamed that she wasn't more accustomed to his sudden appearances out of nowhere. She remembered how upset she was with Lily and replied coldly, "Why don't you ask your daughter?"
Rumple turned to his daughter and questioned her expectantly, "Well?"
A few ticks from the clock in the living room could be heard from within the dining room as Lily averted her gaze and shook her head indignantly. Belle waited only a few moments for Lily to respond and when she didn't Belle answered, "She ran away from school again."
Rumple glanced over at Belle one last time and then approached his daughter at the dining table. He grabbed the available seat and sat down directly in front of her so that he had a better view of her hazel eyes. "Lily…" addressed Rumple to his daughter. Lily promptly looked to her father and saw his serious and piercing eyes stare back at her. "Is this true?" Lily averted her gaze shamefully and nodded. "What happened?"
"School was boring," Lily claimed quickly. Rumple nodded to acknowledge her response, but then reiterated his question, "What really happened?"
"Students were bothering me, so I left," explained Lily briefly as she shrugged her shoulders. Lily expected her father to reprimand her and waited anxiously for his response.
"Ok," understood Rumple simply. His response to finish the conversation came too quickly and at the surprise of both Belle and Lily.
"That's all?!" protested Belle, disappointed that Rumple didn't do a better job at resolving Lily's issue. "She runs away from the school and all you can say is, ok?"
Rumple didn't even bother to look at Belle and instead instructed calmly to Lily, "Lily, why don't you go upstairs. Your mother and I need to have a talk." Lily knew exactly what that meant and she didn't want to be present for what was about to come. They were about to have an argument and it required both privacy as well as space. Lily obeyed her father and immediately ran upstairs to her bedroom.
The moment Belle heard Lily's bedroom door close, she continued spouting her protest, "Rumple! Her teachers were worried about her! I was worried!"
"Oh really? They didn't seem to be too concerned for her while she was there... getting bullied."
"You know that's not fair. Teachers can't be hovering over every student protecting them at every second of day. How is anyone able to understand freedom if they don't experience it for themselves? Lily's appropriate response should have been to report to a teacher. Not to run away from the school! You should have… you should have…" Belle's eyes gravitated to the blood-stained handkerchief that stuck out of his front suit pocket. Belle's tone lowered and she questioned, "Rumple, why is there blood on your handkerchief?!"
Rumple stood back up from the dining room chair and turned to his wife. He flashed a mischievous smirk and said very calmly, "To hear what I have to say, we're going to have to continue this conversation elsewhere." Before Belle could stop him, he waved his hand in front of his face and disappeared in a cloud of purple smoke.
"Gah!" shouted Belle out loud in frustration. This was not how she had expected the evening to go and was not anticipating an impromptu magical excursion. Belle knew of their spot. Whenever they had to talk about something magical or perform something magical they'd magically whisk themselves away to this designated spot in the woods. With great detest, Belle waved her hand in front of her face and vanished from their home. When she appeared, the area in the woods was dark and damp. She called out into the darkened void, "Rumple?!"
When nothing but silence responded back to her she called out again, "Rumple, I know you're here. You know our daughter is back home. What if she comes out of her room to discover our absence?"
From behind her, he answered creepily, "I'm surprised you even remember how to use your magic." Right before Belle could respond he answered her concern and lifted a magical viewing orb from his pocket and said, "Don't worry about Lily. I'm watching her through this."
After seeing Lily through the orb reading a book on her bed, she looked to Rumple and stated, "Rumple, we can't be running off like this every time you want to prove your point through magic."
"Belle, there is something of grave concern I need to talk to you about. It involves magic, Lily and the Author."
Belle's disposition changed slightly over the change of topic and she questioned, "What about it?"
"First, tell me what you know about my Author?"
"Your author? Rumple, what are you talking about?"
"From your book club… you've discussed sensitive information about me, through the stories that involve me."
"We've discussed our own stories, yes, but I don't have any control over whatever else people learn from the library."
Rumple turned to her in grave silence. He knew that she had his best interest at heart. His silence only made what he said more draconian. "Someone found out about my secret… a secret that could destroy me."
"What's the secret that could destroy you?" asked Belle whose eyebrows furrowed with genuine concern. She thought she knew everything about Rumplestiltskin, but apparently she knew just enough to love him and was blinded by everything else. Rumple waited another moment and hesitated to respond. It was as if he knew where the conversation was going to take them. He looked to her for assurance and when he looked into her eyes he knew that it would never be her intention to hurt or sabotage him. After great deliberation he finally said, "...my name."
"Your name?" echoed Belle back in disbelief. "I don't understand. Your name is Rumplestiltskin."
"Only my true name when called upon three times can destroy me. Rumplestiltskin was a name my father gave to me when the fairies couldn't even bless me with one. It's always been my curse."
Belle pitied Rumple and reached out to him sympathetically. "Oh Rumple, I'm-I'm so sorry."
Rumple moved in closer to Belle and said, "Of course, if I had the Author's pen I can rewrite my fate."
Belle shook her head in confusion over the sudden suggestion. "Wait, what?" She stepped back from her husband to give him a double-take. She couldn't believe what she just heard.
"Belle, where's the Author's pen?" he asked more directly.
Belle became flabbergasted by the direct question. She did her best to guise what she knew and said, "What makes you think I have it?"
He sighed in frustration and said, "I know you have it. You always do that thing with your lip when you are trying to refrain yourself from speaking."
Rumple was right and Belle was unknowingly biting the corner of her lip. Belle hadn't realized that her face was giving herself away and she quickly recovered. She shouted back at him defensively, "Rumple, you know that pen is dangerous! It could rewrite our very existence and take away everything we've worked for till now. You'll be awakening the Author and inevitably destroying our happiness in the process. It's not worth pursuing, Rumple. You don't need that pen or its magic to save you. I still possess my magic. So why are you so worried?"
"You know exactly where it is!" accused Rumple as he growled in anger. His voice was getting steadily louder as his frustration and temper grew. "And you are not the only one in Storybrooke who possesses magic that could help me!"
Belle could sense her temperament match his. She knew exactly what he was implying and both options were out of the question because both led to their destructions. She knew that he proposed the pen or to wake Lily. She furrowed her brows and balled her fists. She stomped her way toward him and shouted fiercely back in his face, "If you value our family and our very existence you will do your best to stay clear of that pen!"
"Aargh!" shouted Rumple in anger. "I will find that pen with or without your help!" he claimed as he pointed an authoritative finger at her.
"And I will do everything in my power to make sure that you don't!" declared Belle to her husband.
"You would be wise to not cross me!" he threatened.
"And you be wise to not threaten your wife!" Her response took him back. He couldn't even remember the last time they had argued like this. It was always painful being at opposite ends from each other. She was right; magic always complicated things between them. However, he truly believed that acquiring the pen would ensure his safety. Despite his quarrel with his wife, he felt justified to continue pursuing after the enchanted item. Belle continued, "You forget, I see you for what you are. You may intimidate others, but you don't frighten me, Rumplestiltskin. You're a good man and a wonderful father. Just know that when you find that pen... you know what that will mean to our family."
Rumple turned away from Belle as he attempted to regain his composure. Deep down he knew he was being selfish, but it was his incessant need for self-preservation that was driving him to pursue this. He looked up to the night sky and whatever stars he thought he saw through the canopy of trees he wished ironically to change his fate. Perhaps his fate was sealed, he thought. The way Rumple saw it, he wished more to change the fate of his daughter. From his perspective, Lily deserved to embrace her magic and had often wondered how their relationship would have been different had she had known about her abilities. Perhaps she would be the one to help change his fate, he wondered.
The damp dark forest was enough to subdue both of their tempers and to take a breath from the heated spat. He needed a moment to approach her civilly. Suddenly he felt an assured soft touch grace his shoulder. It was Belle's right hand on his left shoulder. Unbeknownst to each other, they were thinking the same thing. Rumple turned to see her hand on his shoulder and then continued looking at her with a worried look. "Belle," he began more calmly, "I don't want to die."
"I know you don't. I don't want you to die either."
"I don't want to die and not see Lily grow up," Rumple added, finishing the thought. "Baelfire was about this age when I lost him."
"But you have him back. Well, in a way you do."
"I know," acknowledged Rumple, but for some reason her reasoning didn't make him feel any better. Belle cupped both of her hands and when she brought them together she magically took the viewing orb that was once in his possession and held it within her hands. Together they looked on at the orb and saw Lily reading quietly on her bed.
"Lily is a special girl," noted Belle softly to her husband. "There aren't any books out there with her story. Maybe, this is a good thing. It means that her future isn't sealed to a fate dictated by some author. She can determine her own destiny and perhaps, change ours as a result. I have hope."
Her point did soothe his nerves and calmed him down, but only for a moment. Belle initiated the embrace and Rumple graciously accepted it. He needed to be comforted, but it wasn't his body that ached it was his mind. Neither one enjoyed arguing with the other, but sometimes things needed to be said out loud. The hug was an apology to one another, but unfortunately it did not sway Rumple in his opinion. There was a cost to hiding Lily's magic and Rumple was worried on what that cost might be.
A short chapter. Sorry about the timing of this posting. I'm sure this isn't what you wanted to read after Rumbelle's last episode! Yes, I just saw it. I cried. It was a beautiful episode. My opinion of course. Feel free to leave me a review and start a dialogue. As far as the direction of my story... Trust me, the story does get better. Remember, things are always darkest before the dawn. Until then, see you next chapter!