I do not own Once Upon a Time.
Warning: Angst.
Warning2: Did I already mentioned Agnst? Please share your thoughts and don't hate me.
Three weeks had passed since the day that Belle gave birth to little Rose. Gold had intended to leave the day after his arrival, but had to change his plan; he knew it was risky to continue in the château, even more on those days when France bubbled with the Allied invasion in their territory, but Gold just couldn't stay away from Belle and her beautiful Rose.
The little girl didn't acquired much weight during those days, but the size of her represented little of the power she had on her parents; both Gold and Belle knew she had them at her mercy. Both would do anything to protect her.
Gold remembered that when Bae was a baby born he was lovely, but nothing compared to Rose; she was stunning.
Now, what he most wanted was that damn war was over once and for all, so that he could take Bae and the two women he loved to Scotland, where they could start a new life. He would marry his Isabelle, and so they would live finally as a family.
However, he didn't know when the war would end, and much less if he would survive the accusations that the British government would submit him. But now, that didn't bother him. What was important was to keep Belle and Rose safe. He would have to leave.
At five o'clock in the afternoon, Mary Margaret heard a tentative knock on the kitchen door. She opened it and saw that Gold was there, his eyes still lit with the fire of passion.
"I need to leave soon, Mary Margaret. Can I bother you asking for some coffee and maybe a piece of bread? It may be the last thing that I will eat for a long time."
"Of course. I'm sure we can give you some clean clothes to wear." Even from a distance, she could feel the stench that the body of Gold exuded.
"It is very kind of you, Mary Margaret. Belle asked you to go see her. She said there is a garden where she can stay outdoors safely. She said she prefers to say goodbye to me in this place".
"Of course." Mary said, indicating a door in the corner of the kitchen. "The bathroom is over there. You can wash up. I'll bring you some clothes.".
Mary Margaret went to the wardrobe, brought a pile of clothes that she thought would serve in Gold and offered him. "Take what will serve in you. I'll help Belle coming to garden and I will come back then. I'll see if I can also give you a few francs for your trip."
"Mary Margaret, I will never forget what you did for Isabelle and for me. Thank you."
Mary Margaret knocked at the door of Isabelle's room in the basement, fifteen minutes later. She was sitting on her bed, her face serene and beautiful, holding the little Rose in arms, breastfeeding her, while Johanna was sitting in a chair beside the bed.
"Gold said that you would like to say goodbye to him in the garden."
Belle looked up, smiling at her friend, as she took the nipple of the baby's mouth and covered her breasts again, adjusting Rose in her arms and sat on the edge of the bed.
"Yes. It may take a long time until we are together again. And I would like to remember our last moments together as if we had the freedom to go anywhere we wanted."
"I understand, but you should be ready to go quickly if someone comes."
"Of course, Mary" Belle said, returning her gaze to her daughter.
She was wonderful. Her little Rose; Belle could distinguish some traces of herself in the child, but nothing compared to the little eyes that stared her. Those were the color of chocolate and tenderness: brown as Adrian. Decidedly she was perfect. "Rose, sweetheart, you'll get a bit with Aunt Johanna..." Belle knew that the child didn't understand a word of what she was saying, but it didn't matter.
Upon hearing her mother's voice, the little girl squirmed in her arms, closing her eyes. Belle smiled with that; she could stay days holding her like that, just watching her sleep in her lap. "I love you, my life. Love very much." She said, touching her lips lightly on the forehead of her daughter, kissed her, and placed her in the arms of Johanna. "Mary Margaret, can you tell me if I have any blur in my face and if my hair is neat?"
Belle wore a simple beige dress, with no shine or luxury, but while Mary Margaret helped her get dressed, she thought, with love illuminating her face, Isabelle would look beautiful even without any cosmetic care.
Mary walked up with Belle to the walled garden of the château, where the woman sat on the bench under the walnut tree.
"I will bring Gold here."
"Thank you, my dear friend. The afternoon is beautiful" Belle said.
"Yes, it is."
Mary Margaret left Belle in the garden and and the girl sat alone, enjoying the warmth of the sun on her face. She inhaled the fragrant air, recognizing the strong smell of lavender planted around the garden.
"Well, well, well... Look what we have here," A voice came from the far side of the garden; a voice that was dangerously familiar. A voice she prayed never have to hear again.
Belle turned quickly to have her fears confirmed. Emerging from among trees that filled the garden, was a tall man with black hair and green eyes, that which once wore high boots and breeches, a jacket with black swastika armband and gloves in black, now wore simpler clothes not called attention.
However, the lack of the customary uniform not characterize the who that man was. Alfred Von Gaston was smiling treacherous as he looked at Belle.
"How..." She started to get up, but stopped in the act of action when Gaston pointed a gun at her.
"My dear Isabelle!" He walked slowly around the garden. "You have no idea how it was disappointing not find you in my bed. Normally I'm the one to evict the women from my room." Belle felt bile rise in her throat as she recalled the last time she had seen the German. The night Gaston hurt her. "You really think you could hide from me, love?" The German stopped in front of her, sitting beside her, and sliding the barrel of the gun at her face; Belle didn't turned away, remaining stationary, even being scared. "For a moment you really believed that I would not find you, your English verdammt? Now, you will do exactly as I say... ".
"Or what?" A voice emerged, and came from a point behind her. Belle and Gaston looked toward the voice, where Gold was standing still, leaning on a cane that James found in the château and gave him. At that moment, Belle saw again the man who, long ago, or at least that was what seemed, had discovered her real identity and had emanating hate for being betrayed. That was the man she saw there, but Belle did not fear him.
Gold watched the German, who had risen from the bench beside Belle and now pointed a pistol at him.
"So you came, Gaston" Gold said.
"Of course I came."
"And you brought also the power of your friends from the Gestapo with you? By chance they are waiting at the entrance of the château to take me?" Gold said, watching from the corner of his eyes Belle get up and walk slowly away from the German.
"No," Gaston said, shaking his head. "I wanted to enjoy this pleasure alone. You know, you have caused serious problems invading one of our barracks to release your damn son. Serious, serious trouble."
"I'm ecstatic to hear that. You're welcome" Gold said. "How did you find us?" That was what mattered to him; the château was a safe place, how he had gotten there?
"Any moron would find the place where you would come. You have been followed during the last few weeks." Gaston said. "I knew you would eventually bring me to other people that I'm interested in... Questioning. For example, the young lady who is here." Gaston said, looking at Belle, who was standing away from the two men. "Sadly, she had the audacity to cheat me," he sighed, showing irony in every word.
Gold realized how Gaston was inflamed with hatred of Belle. "And so did you, Gold. You know I have an order in my coat pocket to arrest you. It would be a shame to have to kill you now, in front of you mistress.".
"You are waiting for this moment since the first day I crossed your path" Gold said, looking seriously to the German; he knew it was a sensitive time and could not try to directly confront the German. "And I would die peacefully in your hands, if not for the woman I love. If I surrender peacefully and go with you, and you may be revered by your cunning to capture me, you would save her? So then? Do we have a deal?" Gold begged. "I'll go with you by my own free will and give you the glory you've always sought, if you let the woman I love live.".
Gaston looked at the Scotsman and let out a cruel laugh. Laughed so hard that the gun in his hand wavered and he had to struggle to get back firm.
"Ah, my friend, you are so idealistic. You've changed... A year ago you would never give up your power. You can no longer see what really matters in life. Life is cold, harsh and cruel. We don't have that soul that you speak about. We are nothing but ants crawling blindly the planet. You never understood the reality. It's a world where a dog eats another, Gold. Do you believe that love" Gaston practically spat the word. "Can conquer all? You're crazy, Gold. As always. And now it's time to teach you what is the reality."
Gaston moved the gun pointed at Gold toward Belle.
"This is reality!"
Gold jumped in front of Belle when a shot rang in that quiet afternoon.
Then another.
Gold turned, uninjured, to see that Gaston was shot, falling to the ground. He shuddered, mortally wounded, when the gun fell from his fingers. Gold went up to him and stopped standing beside him, looked into the eyes of the German, who were rolling in his sockets.
Gaston opened his mouth and his eyes managed to look the Scottish. With difficulty, formed a few words.
"You lose."
And with a small smirk, life left him. After a few moments, after closing the eyes of German, Gold looked up.
James was standing behind Gaston, with the hunting rifle still pointing to the place where he was.
"Thank you" Gold whispered, but James was not paying attention, his gaze fixed on something on the back of the Scottish.
Gold turned to see what attracted the attention of the other man. Belle was standing, but she looked strangely at her belly. Her hands covered her belly, near the height of her breasts; the formerly beige dress, was spotted with a red color that looked like blood... But it was blood. Her blood, which trickled through her fingers and she looked up at Gold, tears forming in her eyes.
"No!" Gold yelled, dropping his cane and running to Belle.
Isabelle's legs wobbled, and she felt herself losing her strength, as she fell to the ground.
"Belle! Belle!" Gold managed to catch her before she hit her back on the ground, holding her by the shoulders, putting her on his legs.
He was desperate, and withdrawing the hands of Belle from her belly, he had a better view of the wound. The shot had hit Belle. The bullet penetrated the region just below her left breast. "Oh;.. My God..." Gold cried. Blood stained the entire length of the dress close to the lesion and were now in his hands too. The bullet had made an irreversible damage. The words of the German surfaced in his mind 'You lose'. There was nothing he could do and that scared him. He could not lose Belle.
He had to ensure that. "You are real strong. You're gonna make it" he said, while Belle looked at him with tears sliding down her face. She would be fine. She had to be okay "You'll be fine."
But that was a lie and they both knew it. He was losing his Belle, and when that truth hit him, despair and fear took hold of him.
He was nothing without that woman; she was his light, his guide... "What do I do?" Gold said. "What do I do, Belle?" He held her tightly in his arms, while his trembling fingers hesitated to touch her.
Isabelle shivered in his arms, while her eyes never left even a second of his face, and she opened her mouth to form some words.
"Take care of Rose..." she whispered, her voice hoarse and weak, and he felt that she put something in his hand. It was the ring he had given her on their last night together in Paris.
"No..." Gold whispered, feeling tears fall endlessly down his face. Of course he would take care of his little Rose, but this was something they should do together. All of them, as a family. What she was asking was for him to do it without her. It wasn't right. "Sweetheart, no..." He cried, stroking her hair affectionately.
Belle sighed deeply, mustering all her strength to said something that seemed important and she needed to make sure that he heard, and in a broken whisper, she said, "I love you".
It was then that Adrian Gold saw the most scariest thing in his life and that would chase him in every thought during every moment of his existence. Something changed in the sapphire-blue eyes of his Belle; that spark that had always been there was fading, being consumed by the void, as she closed her eyes slowly. Her soul was leaving her.
Gold breathed ragged by his own cry when Belle didn't move anymore in his arms. "No, no, no... Belle... Belle..." He shook her slightly, but she didn't opened her eyes; Gold pulled her closer to him. "Belle..." Gold muttered, and looked back at her, but Belle did not move. "Come back, Belle..." He sobbed, rubbing his fingertips over her lips. "Come back...". But she would not come back.
Adrian pulled her close, hugging her tightly, holding her by the shoulders and burying his face in her hair; as he cradled her in his arms as if she were a baby. So he could pretend she was asleep in his lap. Yes, she was asleep.
A world without Isabelle made no sense. She was his life. It was Belle who saved him, who believed that compassion still existed within him. It was she who had presented him with the most beautiful thing in the world. A place where she doesn't exist does not make sense. "Come back..." It was clear that she was asleep.
Silence filled the garden, except the sing of the birds that were on the roof of the house, saying goodbye to the day, while dusk turned day into night.
His Belle was getting cold in his arms; Why she was getting cold? Gold tightened his embrace around his beloved. She could not feel cold while sleeping.
"Gold..." Someone said. "Gold, you have to let her go..." Let her go? Whose that man was talking about? Who needed to go? Gold didn't turn to see who was talking to him. "Gold... We need to bury her" But who was he talking about? Who needed to be buried? "Gold..." James pulled the man by the shoulder, but quickly turned away when Gold took the gun he carried in his pocket and pointed directly at James.
"Leave me alone!" Gold shouted. James turned away from the man who was troubled, and he saw him drop the gun, and re-embrace the woman who was no longer breathing more. "Come back..." James heard him mutter incessantly against the woman's face.
Gold heard James walk away. The body of the German soldier was not there anymore, probably been buried in the one lonely corner of the garden.
Adrian looked once more to Isabelle. Her face was pale and her lips that were always pink, had a color gray. The sweet scent of her hair and her skin was also extinguished. He sighed; Isabelle would not return.
Resting the body of Belle gently on the ground, he got up and ran to the château; his knee hurt because of sudden movements he made, but that pain was nothing compared to the pain in his heart.
He paid no attention when James called him again, when he went through the kitchen. Up the stairs to a bedroom, where he took dozens of sheets of the wardrobe. Then back to the kitchen, he found some paddles behind the door, and taking one of them, he returned to the garden.
And, under the walnut, started digging, while the last rays of sunshine gave welcome to the night.
Gold didn't realize when James joined him and helped him dig the grave; and then the tomb was made.
Walking slowly to Belle, Gold began wrapping the white sheets around her body, hesitating before covering her face. He couldn't do that. Those lips would never smile at him again, would never kiss him again. Those eyes would never open again, and would never shine again. Belle would never return. "I love you... Isabelle. Forever" And kissing the forehead of his beloved, he covered her face forever.
The pain in his heart was unbearable, and although every part of him didn't want to believe that his Belle was dead, he lifted the lifeless body of her in his arms and laid it carefully in the hole.
It was unfair that Belle was being buried in that common grave. She deserved better and that the tomb was offensive to a creature like her. His Belle deserved the world...
The moonlight shone sadly the garden, when they finished covering the grave of Belle.
Sweat and tears streamed down the face of Gold, as he stood in front of the tomb. He was not alone, and he saw Mary Margaret approached his side.
"Isabelle..." She started to speak; although Gold believed that no word would be enough to describe the greatness of the woman he loved. Even so, he remained silent, listening. "You always believed that there was good in others and your bravery brought hope to our hearts..." Mary Margaret tried to speak amid tears choked in her throat. "It's not fair... What happen to you. But we want you to know that we will always honor your bravery and your kindness... ".
Gold felt the tears flowing silently down his face; he promised that he would protect Isabelle. Promised and failed. He dreamed that someday he would live in peace with her by his side, but those were dreams that never had hope.
He promised. Gold thought bitterly: This is war.
He was lost. Lost...
It was then that a weak cry sounded in the silence. A child crying.
Looking back, Gold saw Johanna away watching the funeral, holding a small baby in her arms, wrapped with several layers of blankets also small.
That child...
Gold slowly approached the woman and held out his arms, asking to hold the baby. Johanna put her gently, smoothing the covers on the child.
"Oh... my little sunshine..." Gold muttered, holding the girl cautiously. She immediately stopped crying, as he cradled her. The little girl's brown eyes fixed on him, and for a moment he wished they were blue, but soon he corrected that thought. She was perfect that way, because she was a mixture of him and of his Isabelle. Rose was a reminder of their love. "It's okay, papa's here..." His daughter continued to look at him, the sound of his voice seemed to calm her. Her mother had saved him from the darkness once, and now, just like Belle, was that little girl who was lighting his life. He would do everything to fulfill the last wish of his beloved Isabelle; would take care of her daughter and love her, and would do everything in his power to protect her. "And I promise you I will never... Ever leave you..." Gold kissed her daughter's forehead gently.
Everything was going to be fine.
Hey... I know, I know. I'm still not believing that I did this, but this chapter was one of the first that I had formed in my head to write. Since the the beginning I knew that this was how it would end. But please read this chapter with open mind, because this chapter means what their love truly are: Their love transcends life! And after all, this is war. War isn't supposed to be happy. But please, please share your thoughts even if is to say that you hate me! I love you all and don't cry. (I already did this a lot). 3