Emma's hands gripped the steering wheel. She breathed deep staring out at the highway stretched before her and tried to relax into the drive. There were spurts of murmuring behind her in the back seat. Henry and Belle's voices rising and falling quietly in waves. Belle had all the simple patience and quirky humor of a good babysitter and had taken to Henry pretty quickly. "Train conductor!... Or maybe an astronaut! Oh my god can you imagine if he was an astronaut?!" Emma heard Henry whisper and giggle to Belle. "What does an astronaut do..?" She heard Belle reply before Henry went off on an explanation. Emma knew he was talking about the mystery of Gold's son. Ever since finding out that Gold had a son, missing somewhere in this world, Henry had taken to pondering through different theories of what had become of him and where he might be. This game delighted him and Belle also seemed amused, but Gold did not seem as entertained by it and had taken mostly to ignoring everyone while in the car. Which is super helpful, sarcastically thought Emma, since it was his son they were trying to find anyhow.

Emma let her eyes slide over to glance at him. The first few days she had delighted in taking glances at him and catching small rare smiles on his face, but now it was an unreadable blankness. She had thought them partners in crime almost, just a few days back. Off together to go find his son. She thought perhaps they shared some sort of common understanding, maybe even a bond, in their separate fights for their sons. Now all he did was scowl and throw disapproving words at her about her using magic. Hadn't he been the one who wanted her to use it in the first place? It was all so confusing and it made her feel small like a child. And she craved so badly to be strong and use her magic fully, couldn't he just let her? Why all the 'words of caution'? She shifted awkwardly in her seat trying to relax once more, unsuccessfully.

"Wouldn't it be weird if he worked in a pawn shop?" Emma heard Henry's voice drift behind her as she turned off the highway to a quiet rest stop area with picnic tables and vending machines. She needed a break.

/

"Well, I think you're obviously concerned about her." Belle said with an air of practicality and shrugged while giving him a quick smile.

Rumpelstilskin shook his head at her words, "I have no concern for her. Why would I be concerned for her? I just need her to keep her head about her, she is driving the car after all.."

"And there you go again pretending you don't care about people." Belle's voice a cross between serious and quietly teasing. "I see the way you smile at Henry and the look on your face when Emma used her.. Uh.. Magic-y hands.." Belle awkwardly waved her own hands in front of her face, "to do what she did to break the town line. That was pride on your face. You most certainly do care about her and Henry and you're worried-" Belle stopped short because Rumpelstilskin was frowning at her words and shaking his head again.

"Nah, my dear, you always wrongly give me too much credit." He replied stubbornly and flatly.

"What's so wrong with caring about people?" Belle cried out a bit louder now almost as if to the world at large and not just him.

Rumpelstilskin shuffled awkwardly with his walking stick for a few steps avoiding eye contact with her. They were slowly walking around the rim of the picnic area by the edge of trees while Emma and Henry sat down some distance off polishing off a bag of chips. "I.." He cleared his throat and cautiously glanced at her, "I care about you and my son, of course." His voice low and reluctant, "But frankly, after so long of dealing with greedy and whiny humans, I find caring for them doesn't really come into play for me." He blankly ended.

"You know..." Belle lighted up and came to stand right in front of him, leaning close, "Being human isn't so bad. You ARE one of us you know.." She playfully poked at his chest with her finger. She then raised her eyebrows, "Especially now.." Belle glanced down at his knotted walking stick, and grinned.

"You like me without magic, I know." His voice was flat and annoyed.

Belle did an exaggerated sigh and cocked her head at him while grabbing his shoulders for a little shake, "You frustrating man, I like you full stop, magic or no magic." She paused and waited for him to give her a small sad grin, "I just enjoy seeing you as... incapacitated as the rest of us." She ended with a full smile and before he could fully react to that she leaned forward to kiss him.

/

Meanwhile, across the rest stop and sitting at a picnic table, Emma glanced over at the odd couple standing over by the tall pines.

"Uh, jeez, they're kissing again." She mumbled with some disgust before popping a chip into her mouth.

"Beauty and the Beast." Henry replied confidently without looking up from his book, which thankfully had been in his back pack when Emma had ushered him into the yellow bug several days back.

"Huh." Emma responded, "You think so?"

"I know so."

"Why? Because he's a cranky ol' cripple who needs a haircut and she's... pretty but has low standards?" It came out meaner then Emma meant it. But she couldn't help it she was sore from driving and annoyed with Gold's behavior towards her.

"Nooooo..." Henry looked up and crinkled his nose at her, realizing she was only speaking in jest. "Because there is much more to him then meets the eye and she is the only one open enough to see it."

"Ah," Emma did an exaggerated nod at Henry and glanced over at the couple who had resumed their slow walk deep in conversation. "How did you get so smart, kid?" Emma turned back to Henry with a grin.

"I read. A lot." He responded, holding up his book with a huge teasing smile which Emma happily reflected back. Some of her tension drifting away in the sunshine.

/

"She's like you, you know," Belle nudged Rumpelstilskin as they walked. "I think that's why you are worried. You see her with her son, you don't want history to repeat itself."

Rumpelstilskin looked at her sharply at this statement and narrowed his eyes. "She's not like me..." His voice barely above a whisper but low and deeper at the same time. "She's much more..." He faltered.

"Brave?" Belle offered with raised eyebrows. He just looked at the ground. "Well I agree with that. But that bravery also makes her reckless, which can be just as dangerous as being a coward." Rumplestilkin looked up at this, but didn't say anything. He just quietly thought about how strange, in this world, Belle seemed to see through everything with such clarity and yet needed to have the concept of how a vending machine worked explained to her.

"She's like you with her magic. When I first met her in your shop, she seemed scared and unsure of herself. A desperation in her eyes. But when I see her now, using her magic, even if just to turn on the,..um, flippy floppy...?" She motion her arms back and forth in an arc, her face a question mark.

"Wind shield wipers." Rumpelstilskin answered, with a bit of amusement.

"Yeah! Those swish swoosh things. Even if just turning those on or whatever. She no longer has that desperation, she has confidence it seems. It reminds me of what you are like with, and now without your magic..." Belle trailed off a bit.
"Of course," she continued, "if both of you could just realize that you don't need magic, then, we'd save ourselves a lot of heartache. But easier said then done, huh?" Belle looked pointedly at Rumpelstilskin who just audibly sighed, annoyed and a darkness starting to creep into his features. "Listen, simply put, she's a parent, with a young boy, feeling confident and powerful with her new magic. Don't you think there's something familiar in that scenario? Of course you are concerned."

"For the last time I'm not concerned!" Rumpelstilskin snapped warningly at Belle who just took a step back. "I need her to find my son. I need her to keep her wits about her so she can serve her purpose. But, the happiness of her and her son," He made a point of nodding with a frown in their direction across the rest stop, "is not. My. Concern." A nasty tone taking over as he pointed at himself. "I'm sorry that I keep disappointing you with my lack of a human heart." He practically whispered the last part, but without losing his dark warning edge. His eyes blazed at her one last time before he made to turn away but then abruptly stopped, staring at the ground and his walking stick. "And if you must paint me with any emotion, it's jealously. I can admit that much for you, an angry jealously that she has her son and magic, and I do not." He then raised his tense eyes at her, "Their happiness makes me sick, and your disappointment that I am not more of a caring man makes me even sicker. Is that what you wanted to hear?" That last part coming out almost like a sing-songy tease. He sort of huffed a bit and then shuffled off with his walking stick towards the picnic table where Emma and Henry were starting to stand up, looking ready to go.

Belle was left standing alone in the shadows of the pine trees, wondering if he was right. Was she really disappointed?