In the midsts of her exuberance, however, memories of her time as Lacey haunted Belle again. The one time Baelfire had encountered her, she had been encouraging his father to threaten the unfortunate Doctor Whale on the absurd charge of looking at her. As Lacey, watching her man flaunt his power in front of another man thrilled her, and she had laughed at Bae's comments about turning a man into a snail. Now she felt sick.

"Where is Emma? I need to speak to her." The cold tone in his voice told Belle she was right. He didn't trust her.

Belle took a deep breath. "Henry was kidnapped. They've all gone after him through a portal aboard Hook's ship. Rumple- your father- he's gone with them."

A pause, then, "My father? He's gone to help too?"

"He blames himself for what happened to you, Baelfire. He's saving your son in your honor. I know you two weren't on the best terms, but deep inside, he's a good man. He truly loves you."

"Wow...well, why did he wait until he thought I was gone to show it. He didn't seem to want to have anything to do with me. He was having more fun flaunting his power for you," said Neal.

Belle cringed. "He was afraid...afraid that you'd keep pushing him away. As for my role, well, I wasn't myself. I was under a curse, turned into someone I wasn't by Regina, someone who liked Rumple's dark side. Rumple was trying to bring the real me back to him. You can't blame him for that."

"So you really think he's trying to change?" Neal still sounded skeptical.

Belle smiled. "He is! I promise- you'd be proud of him! Where are you right now, anyway?"

"This is going to sound crazy. I'm in the Enchanted Forest. Some kind people saved me with magic. Apparently magic can also act as a phone signal- go figure!"

"That's amazing, truly!" said Belle. "But can you get back to Storybrooke?"

"We are going to try."

A new thought crossed Belle's mind, and she wrinkled her forehead. "Baelfire, I have to tell you. Your father left me with instructions to cloak the town with magic for protection from future outsiders. If I cast it, you won't be able to find us."

"I see. Do you think you could hold off on casting it? I need to get back. I need to find my son."

"I suppose I could-"

"Look, just give me a couple days."

"All right, Baelfire. Be safe, all right? I wish I could tell Rumple you are alive. He would be so happy. I miss him so much." Belle sighed.

"Yeah, well- you be safe too. I'll try to get you an update, but once this phone dies, I won't be able to charge it. If I'm not back in 3 days, go ahead and cloak the town. I'd rather everyone have protection.

"Yes, I'll do that. Goodbye, Bae. Good luck."

"Bye." Click.

As Belle hung up, she realized everyone was watching her. "Okay, everyone," she began, summoning her inner leader, "change of plans." She stood up, shoulders back, and head held high. "We are going to hold off the cloaking spell for 3 days because Rumplestilskin's son is trying to find his way home, but we need border patrollers on every road leading out of town. Grumpy, can I assign that to you and the rest of the dwarfs?"

"You got it, sister." said Grumpy. He motioned to his brothers, and they gathered together and began to plan their strategy.

"Granny, I need your help keeping an eye on the town itself. All the usual leaders have left us." said Belle.

Granny nodded. "Now we're talking! If anyone decides to monkey around, they'll have to answer to me and my crossbow. That will keep them in line!"

Belle then turned to Archie. "Archie, you're a therapist, right?" Archie nodded. "Can you come with me? There's someone I think need to talk to."

Ruby smiled sadly at Belle. "Your father?"

"Yeah..." said Belle. "I know what he tried to do to me was terrible, but how can I try to patch things up between Rumple and his son if I don't try to find closure with my own father?"

"And we'll be right there beside you," said Archie.

With Ruby's help since she had been there before, the three of them paced to Mo's flower shop, Game of Thorns. They stopped just outside a small wood paneled structure overflowing with bright green leaves and colorful flowers that poked out of every crevice. Belle hesitated at the red door. Ruby squeezed her hand, and Belle took a deep breath and pulled gently on the handle.

In the dimly lit space, the figure of a man stood behind the counter. Middle aged with a decent sized girth and a baseball cap, the man stared intently as his new customers. "Belle?" he gasped.

"Hello father."

Tears pooled at the rims of Mo's eyes. "You've come back to me."

"I've come back because after all that's happened, I think we need to talk." Belle remained several feet from her father, although she sensed his regret.

"I heard about what happened to you, that you fell over the line and lost your memories. I had no idea you didn't have any cursed memories at all, just an empty head. I didn't know that was the life I'd almost doomed you to myself. I'm so sorry, Darling."

"Yeah, well, if you'd given me a chance to explain, I could have told you I was no longer in the Dark Castle when the curse hit. He let me go only to have me abducted by the Queen to use as leverage."

"He let you go? That monster let you go?" Mo looked agast.

"I told you, he's not a monster. He's changed."

Mo's face darkened. "Do you know what that man of yours did last year before the curse broke?" Belle shook her head. "He beat me- beat me so hard I ended up in the hospital, all because of a little broken cup- yelling at me that something was my fault. They locked him away, but that devil somehow squirmed his way through the system and got out."

Belle mulled for a moment, taking in this new information. "A broken cup? Papa, he thought I was dead. He'd been led to believe that you were resposible for my death. He becomes very dark when he's hurting. He loves me very much, and I him."

"I don't know if I'll ever be able to accept that, Belle, I'm sorry."

Belle cast her eyes downward, "Just let me lead my own life. That's all I ask."

"Might I be included in that life again?" Mo extended his arms towards his daughter. Finally closing the distance between them, Belle allowed him to hug her.

"Yes," she managed.