Chapter 5:

For the next few weeks problem after problem bombarded Emma. Kathryn, David's wife, went missing and she had to bring him in for questioning. And then Ruby, who was her Deputy for a short time, found a heart, Kathryn's heart as it turned out, in a box near the Toll Bridge with Mary Margaret's prints on it. So then she had to arrest her best friend for the murder of her ex-lover's wife.

All the while, her and Gold stayed at odds with one another. When he came to offer his attorney services she could barely catch his eye. He still seemed angry about what she had suggested.

Fortunately, it seemed Regina never found out about her little escapade to the basement of the hospital. Emma actually only dealt with her for a minimum amount and only for the Nolan Case. It didn't stop her from annoying the hell out of Emma even during those small meetings.

She knew she had to suck it up though, and grovel for his help. She hated to admit it, but she needed him. She couldn't get the upper hand on Regina without help, and he seemed to know how to put the screws to the Mayor's plans.

So she went to his shop. And somehow they managed to reconcile their differences. They didn't mention her slip and instead just swiped it under the carpet.

Now she had a strong ally. Someone she could hopefully trust.

But then Mary Margaret pulled her vanishing act, and got herself kidnapped by a crazy hat maker who believed Henry's theory. Emma knew this because it just so happened that she got kidnapped as well.

But…

The experience left an impression on her, and a thought in her brain:

What if Henry was right?

She briefly saw Paige, the Mad Hatter Jefferson's 'daughter', and finally decided to look through the Story book Henry so cherished. The faces and stories were so similar that Emma lost her breath. And then a small spark of belief started inside her. And she held onto the book, reading every page, every chapter. With each word and every new character she met, it was like coming to Storybrooke all over again. She didn't fully believe yet, but there was definitely some evidence behind Henry's theory.

One character stuck out the most though. A certain deal-making imp.

Rumplestiltskin.

She had a few theories of her own about the stories, and one in particular was about him. She never mentioned anything to anyone. Nothing much changed as she prepared for Mary Margaret's hearing, but now when she spoke with Henry on Operation Cobra she paid a lot more attention.

She also continued to meet up with Mr. Gold to talk strategy. Not often but enough to where she became increasingly comfortable around the man. Sometimes they'd just talk or hang out instead of plan. And to her horror, she really liked it.

He wasn't as bad as others painted him. He had his moments, very often ones at that, of wit and charm and honesty. He knew what to say to put a smile on her face and to get her to talk, but he also knew how to spark her anger, and get her riled up.

But he was a very agreeable man, and it wasn't the awkward negative mess she thought it would be. Her trust in him slowly rose and, with it, her defenses went down.

And that's why at the end of one meeting she decided to mention the Story.

It was late, and she needed to head back to the station to check on Mary Margaret before returning to the lonely apartment for some much desired rest. Gold knew this and started to stand up behind his desk.

"I shouldn't keep you up, dear." Emma stood up as well, holding back a yawn, "No, no, it's okay." The yawn came back with a vengeance. "Okay, maybe I should then…"she agreed. She grinned at him and both shared a laugh.

Emma began putting her papers back in the bag she had them in, when suddenly her hand bumped into a hard cover.

The Book.

She glanced up at him. He knew everything about town, and she knew he had to be someone, he was too powerful not to be. And even if she was wrong, she trusted him not to do anything…

She took a breath.

"Mr. Gold," she began, "Do you believe in…other worlds?"

He glanced up at her sharply, his posture stiffening. Emma knew when she hit sore spots with him. And she hit a big one.

He played it off nonchalantly, "What do you mean by that, dearie?"

She shrugged, "Uh, you know," she struggled for words, "Like an alternate universe type thing. Or like a…" she bit the bullet, "like a fairytale." She shrugged again, looking down and playing with the side of the book.

He narrowed his eyes playfully, "What brought this on?"

Emma shifted, "Well, I mean…you've heard about Henry's…thoughts…about the town…right?" She could barely keep her eyes on his, she kept darting them around the room. She wondered for a moment if this was a mistake.

Gold smiled in acknowledgement, "Ah, yes. How could I have not? The 'whole town is really full of fairytale creatures under a curse that makes them forget who they are' theory, correct?" He licked his lips, "Why do you wish to know, Miss Swan?"

She swallowed and tried shrugging nonchalantly, "I don't know. It's just kind of interesting, is all." She gently raked her nails over the pages nervously. "It's fun to try to pin each citizen to a character."

He tilted his head, his smile almost smug, "And who, pray tell, do you think I am?"

Emma felt the sound get sucked out of the room and with it the air out of her lungs. She clenched her jaw, she had to do this right. What if she was wrong?

"Who do you think you are?" She threw at him. His grin grew, if that were possible, the dimples seeming to stretch his face. "Hopefully someone powerful," he wiped his expression clean, getting serious, "Other than that," he shrugged, "Who knows?"

She narrowed her eyes at him, "You don't have your own theory at all?" she asked, her tone disbelieving. He quirked his brow at her, the corner of his mouth following it, "No, dearie. Should I?"

She studied him instead of responding. "No, I suppose not." She licked her lips, "After all, it's just a kid's imagination, right? It's not real."

He nodded his head, "Right." She could've believed his words, too. He was a very smooth talker. If only his face didn't give him away. His eyes were pained and regretful. He was lying.

A yawn gripped her again, and he watched her. "You should start heading out, Sheriff. Wouldn't want you falling asleep at the wheel." She nodded in concurrence, knowing he was right. She leaned forward again, grabbing some more papers.

"Thank you for your time…" she trailed off, pulling her bag over her shoulder. She looked him in the eye before turning around and walking away.

"…Rumplestiltskin." She finished the statement right as she pushed aside the curtain to walk out.

He never responded, but she knew he was staring after her.

And she could feel his smirk burning into her back despite the distance.

It was a few days later when she finally thought about what she had done. Henry had been able to sneak over to see her and they were just chatting in Mary Margaret's kitchen when she brought it up.

"So have you figured out who Mr. Gold is yet, kid?" Emma asked as she bit into a cookie. Henry's eyes widened at her, excitement lining his movements, happy that his mother was joining in Operation: Cobra with such interest. He swallowed his food, "No, not yet. But I have some theories!"

Emma quirked a brow, "Oh?" she finished off the treat, "Is one of them…Rumplestiltskin?"

Henry froze. Emma worried for a moment, afraid that she broke him somehow, "Henry? You okay, kid?" She leaned forward to put a hand on his forehead when he went into action again, "How did you think of that?" he asked as he slipped off his seat and retrieved the big storybook from her bag. He brought it back to their spot and opened it, flipping through the pages, "Where did you find him?"

Emma brushed her hands off and scooted closer to him, "Well, right here," she turned the pages until she reached it. She pointed at the picture, "See? That looks like him."

It was a dark picture, and it had a silhouette of a man's profile behind a spinning wheel. Shadows and lights poured in from the window behind him, the colors showing the shape of the man's face. It held a striking resemblance to Gold. This particular photo was from Jiminy Cricket's background story.

Henry groaned and smacked his forehead. "Of course! How could I not see it! It makes perfect sense!" Henry then went rattling on, flipping pages and listing off clues he should have seen. Emma sat watching him, hearing him but not hearing him, listening to him think through the mystery that surrounded the book. She felt pride swell in her.

All of a sudden Henry stopped everything, and looked up at her fearfully. "Emma…please tell me something."

Emma straightened, "Of course, kid." She waited, unsure of where this was going. She turned fully to him. Henry shifted nervously, "Have you…ummm…."

Emma raised her eyebrows expectantly, "Yea? Have I what?" she hurried him up, getting frustrated at the hesitation.

Henry took a breath, "Have you grown attached to him?"

Emma's eyes widened in shock. "Wh-what?" she felt her heart start to beat faster, but she disregarded it to surprise. She let out a laugh, "Henry, why would you even ask something like that?"

The boy shrugged, "Well, if someone like Belle can fall for him, then why not you?"

That stopped Emma in her tracks. She felt her entire body freeze, even the blood in her veins.

What?

"Belle?" She stared at him, barely daring to breath. Henry glanced at her and nodded, "Yea, Belle. You know…Beauty and the Beast?"

Emma gaped at him in confusion, "But…isn't that a completely different fairytale?" Henry shook his head, "No, actually, quite a few differ from Disney's versions and Grimm's. The actual tales are a lot more complex, some are meshed together and some haven't even happened that way." Henry continued, "Unlike the Grimm story, Rumplestiltskin has a lot more back story, and is a bit more of a grey area character than his counterpart. I'm still not sure if he is on our side."

Emma followed him as best she could, but her mind kept snagging on the Belle bit, "Okay, but Henry, back to the whole 'Belle' thing. Who is she? What was the story?"

Henry picked up half of the pages and flopped them over, he turned a few more and then pointed his index finger at some pictures, "Here. She went with Rumplestiltskin to save her village. I thought you read the stories?" Emma lifted the book from him, "I guess I must have missed this one," she mumbled as she skimmed through the words, getting the gist of the story.

He told her to leave after she tried to give him True Love's Kiss. The Queen came to him later and told him Belle's father tortured her and beat her. Consequently, she killed herself because of the grief. He then fell into a pit of despair…

Emma felt her insides constrict and her head become light.

"Oh my God…" she shook her head in disbelief, "Henry…?"

The boy turned his head up to her, "Yea?"

She looked over at him, her eyes wide, "I think I found Belle."

Sorry about how late this is and how short it is. I know this might not be how people imagined it would go, and I know it seems a little fast, but it's just where my imagination took me. Fair warning: I will be taking this to the fairytale world, post-curse. So if you don't like that, or don't want to read that, well…it's your call. It won't be happening for awhile though.

Hope you enjoyed this, however. I'll be working on this and 'Eclipsed', both will be kind of like sisters (you'll see why much much later). I'm hoping to get to writing chapter 2 for Eclipsed soon.

Also, by the way, I recommend the songs I got the titles from. Maybe not to listen to while reading, but in general. Both are from the band 'Evans Blue', and I recommend their entire album: 'The Melody And The Energetic Nature Of Volume'. The two songs are their respectful titles.

Oh, and in case there was some confusion: This will be a Golden Swan fanfiction. Gold (Rumplestiltskin) and Emma will end up together. If you do not like that, please for your own sake, do not continue to read. I wouldn't want you to read something you do not agree with :) Just needed to make sure I put that out there, apparently there was some doubt, and it wasn't made clear. Just...clearing it up now :) Again, hope you've enjoyed it so far :)