Once Upon a Time
That morning that Rumpelstiltskin woke up, he could feel the tension in the camp.
It'd been three months since he'd been recruited. They'd separated the villagers into different units and he'd been put in one with people he didn't recognize.
No bonds were formed in those three months. The strong took what they wanted and the others were left to fend for themselves. It wasn't time to make friends it was a time for survival.
But there were whispers about the mission they were moving out on today. And all that rigorous training and abuse they'd suffered through was going to amount to nothing.
He was going to die today.
"Fall in!"
He stood from the cot and got in line with the rest of his unit. Their commander was yelling something but he couldn't focus…and judging from the expressions of some of the others in the unit they were having the exact same problem.
He wished he'd had more time. He wished that he'd been brave enough to marry Dawn earlier.
He wished he could see his family one last time.
Present Day
Dawn smiled as she opened the door to her husband's pawn shop and walked in, "Honey?"
She could smell the lanolin from the front. She'd seen most people practically run from the store when they smelled it but it didn't bother her. She never understood why.
"Honey," she walked through the curtain and sat on the desk where he was working, "Guess what?"
"You're sitting on my table, darling."
"I don't want to find a chair," she crossed her legs, "Besides it's easier to sit on a table then it is in a chair right now. The cold front's coming in and my knees aren't 25 years old anymore."
"What are you so excited about?"
"I got a job."
"You got a job?" he raised his eyebrow, "We've only been home a week and a half and you've been sick for most of that week."
"I'm managing the bakery," she smirked, "It's only part time but the poor man, bless his heart, isn't getting any younger either and so he needed some help. It'll be less time than I've worked in the paper so you don't have to sleep by yourself anymore. No romantic nights being ruined"
"I just have to wake up alone."
"Oh, only three times a week. You're a big boy; you can make your own breakfast and wake yourself up. Hopefully not in that order."
"And what would you know about managing a bakery? "
"Absolutely nothing, but I convinced him that I'm a fast learner," she moved so that she was facing him, "Being your trophy wife is great but it's only amazing if there's things to do like lying beside a pool all day and wearing skanky clothes."
"That's very stereotypical of you."
"Well honey you know that I wouldn't look good in skimpy clothes."
"You would look fine."
"With these scars honey, come on."
Her eyes fell on the small thin scar that circled her wrist completely. . She didn't remember where she'd gotten that one. It'd just always been there.
"You shouldn't be ashamed of those," he stood and kissed her cheek, "They don't speak of weakness, they speak of survival."
"Well that's your interpretation," she muttered and kissed him back, "Also you should know that you don't have to come to therapy with me anymore. I talked to Archie earlier today and he said that he wanted to move on from the abusive childhood which probably means we're going to focus on how I met you and how we got married."
"And you don't want me there for that?"
"Well you can if you want to. I mean I don't care. I mean, you were there for that. I just figured since you only went because I asked you to, then you wouldn't bother since I'm more comfortable talking about us then… before there was an 'us'."
"Whatever you want," he put his hand over the wrist that had the scar, "I'll see you at home."
"Okay, hey don't stop and eat anywhere. I'm cooking chicken tonight."
"Alright," he moved back in the chair, "Have a good day darling."
She smiled and walked out of the story, "Hello Ms. Swan."
"Hello Mrs. Gold," she said and turned as soon as she passed her, "Hey, what does your husband want with me?"
Dawn shrugged, "No idea."
