Belle finally slept after days of not sleeping. She had slept in. It was Monday morning and she knew of her obligations to open the library doors, but she also needed this day and decided to call in sick. She needed time to think and time to…
She heard a knock at her apartment door. She left her bed and went to the door.
"Belle, sweetheart, it's me," Rumple called through the door. As much as she wanted to be disgusted by his actions from yesterday, she really needed him and he came in her hour of need. "Darling, I am really sorry."
Belle wasn't fully dressed and she didn't care. She went to bed wearing one of his extra dress shirts she had kept in the closet of the apartment. Besides the underwear she was still wearing, she was exposed from the waist down. It wasn't like he hadn't seen her naked before, so it was of no shame or surprise to him when she opened the door and he saw her slightly exposed.
She opened the door wider granting him passage into the tiny apartment unit. The door opened immediately into the kitchen and dining table, with the bedroom being the one additional room which had a bathroom inside.
When she opened the door, he didn't care about how she dressed or the tiny apartment. He immediately came forward and hugged her where she stood. He continued apologizing, "I am so so sorry for my ghastly behavior yesterday. I was wrong. It took me a while to understand everything, but I know what it is that you're going through."
"You do?" she said with tears in her eyes. He took a step back from her and with love in his eyes he smiled and said, "We're pregnant, aren't we?"
Belle began crying at the sound of those words coming from his mouth, "You know?"
He beamed back at her, "I think I've known about her for some time."
"Her?" she gasped clutching her mouth. Her heart was swelling, "A girl? All this time… and you didn't tell me?"
"Oh… yeah," he chuckled to himself, forgetting that she wasn't the one that had been having these nightly visions for the past month. And so he told her. "Well, it's a leap. You see, I've been having this same dream every night since Elsa's return. It wasn't until recently that I realized that they weren't dreams, but an insight into the future; our future. But you see, seeing into the future isn't an easy gift. I confess… having it can be a torment. Because sometimes, knowing too much of something can be a bad thing. Some people have a difficult time accepting truths and knowing those truths can be a burden.
"When I have these visions, they're these jumbled fragments of imagery, like puzzle pieces; all pertinent, meaningful and symbolic. And each piece, each vision can be misinterpreted. So it's always difficult to read the future and see the big picture, because the price is that the future is never what you think. So, I didn't mention it before because… well, because it's not reliable.
"In this vision I have… I'm in the murky dwellings of a pond. I see a plant sprouting from the dark depths and I see it reach for sunlight… it breaches the water's surface and blossoms into a beautiful Lily flower. And while it continues to bask in the warm glow of sunlight, I see you sitting next to it on the edge of the pond, smiling… telling me that you know something; that you have good news to tell me. And then you take my hand…" Rumple said, taking her hand and placing it over her heart. "…and place it over your heart, telling me that there's a price you pay. And then you disappear, leaving me with nothing but this beautiful lily flower."
"And you understood everything that was happening, just from that dream?"
"Not at first, but you've left me clues. Clues that I hadn't picked up on or understood until recently."
Belle turned from him to find the nearest chair. She needed to sit down and take in all of this. She was happy that he knew. Seeing his joy over the prospects of them being parents was comforting. But she was still crying. She was shocked. Rumple saw her reaction and took her silence as a sign that she was overwhelmed. "I'll stop. These visions can be overwhelming. I was overwhelmed when I first came to these conclusions. It can be a bit much."
"No! I mean, don't stop. I was just so afraid of telling you right away because… I feared your reaction. I was afraid it would stir up negative memories and feelings of your son." She took a few moments to breathe as she grabbed a napkin from the table to wipe her tears. "Rumple," she continued, "it hasn't even been a year since we buried Baelfire. And with all of this happening so suddenly, we barely had enough time to talk about Bae's passing and truly grieve his death. I didn't want to do that to his memory because I know how much he meant to you, to all of us."
Belle sniffled and wiped some more tears with the back of her hand. She continued, "I was also afraid because… I feared for my own life. I needed to know about your curse. That's why I borrowed your books. I needed to know if there was a price to continuing that magic with our child. But none of the books spoke of where your curse had come from. They had just simply stated that you were cursed. Rumple… that's why you saw me talk to the Blue Fairy. Fairies are as old as magic and she was there when your curse was originally created. So when I asked her about it I had found out that it's in the nature of the curse to transfer power… that our child will have that curse… and that the cost of seeking that power always led to the death of the heart… Rumple," she began to ask through choked tears, "am… am I going to die?!"
"No!" he said kneeling down by her side and hugging her waist as she sat in the chair. "No, no, no… I will not let that happen," he said kissing her body, doing his best to soothe her. "We have time. We're going to figure this out like we always do… together. We are going to have this child and you are going to live. I will do everything in my power to move heaven and earth to make it so."
After a while of holding each other and crying, Belle sat up in her chair. "I'm… calling in sick today from work. I'm going to go lie back down. Will you stay with me?"
"Sweetheart, I will stay with you forever."
Rumple lifted her up from her chair and carried her to the bedroom. He laid her gently down on the bed and tucked her in. He made himself comfortable by taking off his dress shoes, belt and jacket and joined her under the covers. He held her close as they laid in bed together; her head nestled against his shoulder and their arms wrapped lovingly around each other.
They closed their eyes, and for a couple of hours they rested together. After a while, he felt Belle's body move and noticed her eyelids flutter open. She was awake and thinking. He figured it safe to say something, given that they both had a few hours to think. "Belle?"
"Mmm?"
"I'm no longer grieving Baelfire. I miss him, don't get me wrong, and I'll never stop loving him. I just… had always regretted… letting him go through that portal and it tortured me, everyday… not being able to tell him how much I loved him. But… in the end… he forgave me. He loved me. He knew I loved him. He was loved. He had found love and I believe he had even found happiness. So this burden of regret… that I had been carrying around for centuries… I don't feel it anymore because I know now… that he had lived."
Belle meditated on the memory of Neal. She reflected on when she and Neal were back in their world; during that missing year. How kind he was to her during their travels together and how they became friends in their search for Rumplestiltskin. He was a hero, a gentleman, friend, father and beloved son. And Belle felt honored to have even had the privilege of knowing him as she did.
"He'll always be in our hearts…" Hearts, Belle reiterated in her mind. Something clicked and Belle suddenly realized that her problem was also her solution. "Hearts!" Belle cried out excitedly, remembering what it was as she sat up in bed. "Rumple… the Blue Fairy… she said that the cost of transferring the Dark Curse's power to our child was the death of a heart… my heart."
Rumple sat up in bed with her looking perplexed. Why would she seem excited over news so devastating?
Belle continued, "When we were all brought back to Storybrooke for the second time we all thought that Regina had cast the curse… but it wasn't her, it was Snow White!"
"Snow White? Well, I suppose she must have used David's heart… but that's impossible, he's still alive."
Belle shook her head seeing the same reaction from him as she had when she found out from Mary-Margaret. "That's what I thought too. Regina was there, but it was Snow who sacrificed David's heart for the curse… After the curse was cast, Snow pleaded Regina to split her heart, insisting that their love was strong enough for the both of them to use. Regina was the one who was able to take Snow's heart and split it in two. Rumple...," Belle said placing her hands in his, "our love is that strong! We could share a half of each other's hearts! With your immortal heart sharing mine, the magic will be redirected from yours and dissolve my half of the heart. Our child can be born and I can still live with your half of the heart. All we need to do is ask Regina…"
"Belle…" said Rumple hesitantly. He wanted to be as excited as she was.
"What's wrong? Do you not think our hearts can handle it?"
"No! No, I believe in the strength of our love… there's just one problem."
"And what's that?"
"You see… ever since I taught Cora how to take a heart I have since then enchanted mine. It's heavily fortified."
"What are you saying?"
"I'm saying… that in order to lift the barriers to even access my heart I have to… unburden it."
"So… what would you have to do?"
"I have to free my heart of whatever weighs it down. I have to make it vulnerable," he said looking down, rubbing his hands tentatively. "Confession…" he continued explaining, looking back up at her, "is a way to unburden a heart. I would have to confess things… and that should sever some of the protection spells I used to shield it."
"Some? What else would you have to do?"
Rumple shook his head, realizing his own entrapment. "There's a catch to breaking down all these barriers…"
"Wow… you really didn't want anybody near your heart."
"I'm really am good at what it is that I do. You see… After Cora, I never intended on ever letting anyone that close to my heart again. I never anticipated on falling in love again, so I added these protection spells thinking I'd never need to break them." He heaved a heavy sigh and continued, "the catch to breaking down all the barriers would be to confess in front of those who were afflicted. And Belle… there's a lot that I've done… and you're not going to like what you hear."
"Look… I need you. I need you like a fish needs water. I know that there are a lot of things from your past that are difficult to swallow, but I can take it… because that's not who you are anymore. This man," Belle said looking into his eyes, cupping his face with her hands. She recognized the sacrifice he was making for her, "This man right here… is who I fell in love with."
Their faces moved closer to each other and they began kissing passionately. They fell into the bed and continued kissing. They had found a way to save Belle. And now that they had found a way, they could finally rejoice over their expectancy.
"Rumple…" Belle said when their lips finally parted, "…we're going to have a baby."
She couldn't believe what she was saying, but hearing the words come out her mouth filled her heart with excitement. He smiled back at her and echoed her joyful words, "We're going to have baby."
"I love you!" Belle cried as she hugged him tightly. Rumple hugged her back with his head on top of hers.
"My beautiful Belle…I love you so very, very much."
They stayed in the tiny apartment together for the majority of day, feeling no pressure from the outside world to be anywhere. When they were hungry, they left for home and ate there; enjoying each others' company. So much of their past had been forfeited to sadness. They owed it to themselves at least one day of happiness. They needed a day for themselves, to be themselves, to love each other. They needed to revel in their feelings for one another and to remember that this was a joyous occasion and not a sorrowful one. They both needed this day because they both needed good memories. And what better way to establish this foundation of good memories than with the expectancy of their child.
Despite their abnormal circumstance, they agreed to take this day and spend it on doing normal things because they knew that tomorrow would be a different day. Tomorrow… they would have to brave the changes they would have to make for each other and face their challenges head-on. But that was tomorrow… and it could wait. Today… they were going to be happy.
Phew! These Writing Sprints have me exhausted. And I'm nervous about these chapters because I feel like I'm missing stuff. I really hope they make sense to you. I'm moving and typing so fast that I think my eyes are beginning to cross. See? I'm sensing that the quality of my storytelling is suffering. Bleh.
As I leave you with this somewhat happy chapter, I just wanted to let you all know that I'm going to be taking a much needed break from posting so frequently. I'm still going to be working and writing on this story, but I'm going to be slowing down a bit. I've got ideas in my head on where I want to go with the story, a story plan already laid out to reference my writing to, the actual story I've written so far, and a separate page where I edit my chapters ready for publishing. I'm pooped.
I did also want to let you all know that part of the reason for my sudden absences will be because of my trip preparation. I will be going on vacation as of Sept.17th. I will be leaving the country and will be returning to the States Sept.28th. Just in time for OUAT S4 Premiere! And even if I brought my laptop with me (which I won't), I'm not entirely sure of the wifi service, or if there'll actually be internet available where I'm heading. The reason why I'm telling you guys this is because you all have been too good to me and I didn't want you guys to worry when I've suddenly dropped out from the FF radar for 10 days. I will think of you guys on my trip. And please don't lose hope in my story! I will be coming back. I am going to finish this darn thing, and it's going to be AWESOME. Or... at least I think it will be awesome.