After peeling out of the car dealership he drove around town for a few hours. His hands on the wheel kept his hands busy, which maintained the illusion of feeling productive. He knew he needed the space to think and to be alone with his thoughts. When the driving didn't suffice his needs he immediately thought of his spinning wheel and turned back around toward Main Street. It was almost noon by the time Mr. Gold arrived to open his shop. He pulled out his keys and unlocked the front door. As soon as he closed the door behind him, he immediately headed to his private office and sat down behind the spinning wheel. When he noticed that there wasn't any straw to spin, he searched his shop for a spindle of anything to mimic the tactile sensation of spinning. When he finally found some, he sat back down at his wheel again and started to spin.

He had lost all track of time, mindlessly turning the wheel. He couldn't tell if it was the sound that was reassuring, or if the feeling of the wood beneath his fingertips was what gave him pleasure. He didn't know for sure and he didn't care, because it was temporarily accomplishing a goal in pacifying his anxieties. After quite some time, he finally looked at the clock that sat on a mantle against the wall. It was almost 3:30 and at any moment Henry would be arriving at his shop.

When the door bell to the front door jingled, Mr. Gold called out confidently from the back of his shop, "I'm in the back room, Henry."

Following the bell's jingle was the sound of items in his shop accidentally knocking into each other which was then followed quickly by the sound of "oof!"

"I'm not Henry," called out the mysterious person. "My name is Hercules. Are you Henry's grandfather?"

Mr. Gold came out from behind the back of his workshop to finally meet this Hercules that Henry had mentioned yesterday. The tall muscular man with sky-blue eyes stood awkwardly in Gold's shop afraid to move, afraid of touching something important and then breaking it. Gold noticed Hercules' new wardrobe. He was already assimilating to the style of this land; tennis shoes, blue jeans, and a simple maroon shirt that hid under a black leather jacket which covered him up better than his previous attire from the chill.

"I am," answered Gold simply. "So you're Hercules," Gold said eyeing him up and down before proceeding, "how can I help you today?"

Hercules attempted to move forward to talk to Gold when his head knocked into the bikes that were dangling from the ceiling. The bikes became dislodged from their hooks and started falling to the ground. Hercules caught each one before they hit the ground and carefully attempted to place all of them back on the ceiling. Noticing that Hercules was causing more harm than good by moving, Gold shouted forcefully at Hercules, "Just… stop moving!"

Hercules did as instructed and gently placed the items safely on the ground. "I was told from Henry that he likes to see you here every day after school. I was hoping to catch up to him and say 'thank you'."

"Before his adventure with you… yes, he did visit me at my shop after school, but unfortunately, I'm afraid he has not shown up for either one of us today," Gold said disappointingly.

"Well, uh, I wanted to give this back to him," said Hercules pulling out Cogsworth from within the depths of his jacket pocket. "It served me well. I was able to confront Hades, saving Elsa's soul from the Underworld, returned it back to her body here and then became a god in the process." Even as the words of what happened to him in the past twenty-four hours left his mouth, Hercules found himself completely astounded.

"If that's true, then why are you here gracing us with your presence? Shouldn't you be on Mt. Olympus right now?" inquired Gold, questioning his presence as he stepped closer to Hercules.

"After Elsa showed me around Storybrooke, I realized that she was… not only amazing, but that she was like me. And I loved how she saw this town, how she viewed life and how it was ok to live differently and that it was possible to also live happily. All my life I've felt like an outcast and it was her who made me feel like I belonged. And so… I became a god when I retrieved her soul from the Underworld, sacrificing my mortality in order to get it. At the time, I knew what to I had to do. I knew I had to save her because… I loved her. I did eventually get a chance to meet my father face to face on Mt. Olympus, but it was then that I realized where it was that I belonged, and it was with her in Storybrooke."

"Well congratulations on your new…" Gold wavered for a moment as he conveniently moved in closer to Hercules, snatching the watch from his hands, "citizenship."

"Thanks!" replied Hercules jovially, completely oblivious to Gold's obvious sarcasm. He continued excitedly anyways, "And so, I decided to stay and live here in Storybrooke. And you know what?" Hercules sighed happily, "It feels good to finally know where I belong."

"Wonderful," replied Gold sarcastically, "Well, I'll see to it that Henry sees this. So if there isn't anything else you wish to barter, then I think it best you leave before you touch anything else that's valuable."

"Oh. Right. Gotchya, I'll just… uh, back away… um slowly here," Hercules said accidentally backing into one of the glass display cases disturbing the contents within.

"Just go…" Gold commanded as he closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose from stress.

Hercules saw the door knob and reached for it, calling out to Gold as he made his safe escape, "Thanks!"

The bell chimed one last time signaling Hercules final departure. Gold exhaled out of relief as he stared down at the pocket-watch. The door bell chimed once more, and when he looked up he saw his wife standing before him. "Hey," he called out gently to her as he quickly stuffed the watch within his own pocket.

"Hey," she softly replied. "So, uh… that person seemed genuinely happy…" She pointed behind her, gesturing who she was referring to, "The one that just left your shop."

"Oh, that person… that was Hercules. Apparently, he had just saved Elsa from Hades' Underworld so… now he's a god."

"Really?"

"It would appear that our new hero has decided to call Storybrooke his home, hence his happier disposition."

"What did he come in to see you for?"

"He wanted to see Henry, but… I told him I hadn't seen him all day."

"I see," Belle said, thinking of the interaction she just had with Henry at the library. She knew of Henry's wishes and how he didn't want to speak with his grandfather just yet. She just really wished Henry had stopped by his grandfather's shop first instead of the library. For some reason he went to the library instead of his shop, so out of respect for Henry she respected those reasons. Belle decided against telling Gold of the conversation she just had with Henry. So she thought of a different tactic to broach the topic, feigning postulation. "I would imagine," Belle began as she stepped closer to Gold, "that Henry's still very upset about losing Neal, just as I imagine that you are too. Are you… upset with Henry for bringing Neal back?"

"No. My irritability is due to the events that followed after Neal's departure," admitted Gold. Silence fell between the couple as they stood awkwardly in each others' presence. "What car did you end up buying?" he asked, changing the subject.

"I ended up purchasing the 2013 RAV-4 for ten thousand. Al was very understanding," answered Belle.

Gold nodded his head in approval. He looked down as he thought of what else to say. Silence fell between them once more as Gold struggled to express himself. Belle could see the expectant words formulate on his face as he hesitated to say them to her. She waited patiently, looking at him with great expectation. She could have waited all day. Even the simple act of being in his presence already made her feel better and she was almost certain that he did too.

"Belle… I'm sorry," he said finally apologizing to her. "I shouldn't have left you at the car dealership like that."

"Well," she said biting her bottom lip in admittance, "now that I know how to purchase a car by myself, it did give me a bit of an opportunity to do some thinking."

"Thinking, huh?... about what, I wonder?" asked Gold humorously.

"About things, about us and our history… and that… history has a funny way of repeating itself."

"Don't I know it," remarked Gold with a smirk.

"Well, while I was driving around in the new car, I had felt… something familiar. And it was that same feeling I remembered having from a similar situation back when we were living in the Castle. I remembered when you first sent me away to fetch you straw and feeling… liberated. I should have felt happy then, but I wasn't, or at least not completely. It made me turn the car around… and I knew that I had to find you… that I needed to be with you, just as I did then."

"Despite everything I do… what I've already done, you never cease to amaze me. How do you still have this faith in me?" Gold asked, closing the gap between him and his wife.

"I've told you before, and I suppose I'll have to keep reminding you till' my last breath… I love you Rumplestiltskin."

"You are… unbelievable. I suppose," he said as he reached for her hand, "I tell myself that people like you don't exist and… I have to keep touching you to prove to myself that you do." He looked sadly down at their hands, more specifically at their wedding rings. He started rotating and twisting Belle's wedding ring that was still on her hand and stared at it pensively. "Belle…"

"Yes?"

"If… if…" stuttered Gold. He had something on his mind that had plagued him since their wedding night. He wanted to find out something from her and for a brief moment, he genuinely felt this overwhelming need to ask her. But when he realized that the cost of finding out would be exposing a vulnerability, he quickly retracted and said, "no, nevermind. It's ridiculous."

"No! I want to know. What is it?" she asked with imploring eyes. She waited patiently as he struggled.

Gold hesitated. He pondered different ways to ask it, but he remembered as he looked down at their wedding rings that they were married. That he honestly trusted her and valued her opinion. "You are, as always, right about me. You say… that you don't think you're worthy of me, but the truth is… I've never felt worthy of you. If… you had met me before I was the Dark One without all this power, you would have never given me the time of day. I was a spinster and the village coward. Would you still love that man as you do today?"

"Well, I think it's a bit unfair to compare yourself like that. To me… it's not about what you once were, it's about what you are now." Belle looked sincerely into his eyes as she sighed amorously, "I didn't fall in love with you because you had power. I fell in love with a layered man; a man… who's full of mystery and constantly redefines the definition of love. And… every time you change it, I find a new reason to love you and I have loved every definition you've given me. So it doesn't matter to me that you were a spinster or the village coward or even the Dark One, because that's not what made me love you. You changing to show me true love… that's what made me love you."

Gold couldn't help but give a heartfelt smile to Belle's remark. His eyes began to moisten as he said, "And you are my only reason to change. I love you Mrs. Gold."

"And I love you Mr. Gold," said Belle as they wrapped their arms around each other and kissed each other passionately.

When their lips parted from one another, Gold added, "Actually, now I have two reasons to change."

They both looked down at Belle's rounded stomach and she knew exactly what he meant by smiling. Her smile then quickly receded to hesitance. He noticed her quick micro-expression and noted, "Are you ok? You seem… anxious."

"I… just…" she began rolling her eyes at the silliness of it, "I…thought about my mother today."

"Are you ever going to tell me about her, a name even?"

She shook her head. "No… I just. I just don't want to be alone tonight. We," said Belle briefly looking down at her belly and then up at him again, "can't be alone tonight."

"What made you think that I was not going to be with you tonight?"

"I don't know. Some part of me wanted to run away and hide and the other just knows that I can't relax unless you're close by."

"Of course, sweetheart," said Gold caressing her face and kissing her on the forehead. "How about we go home in your new vehicle? You know, I don't think I've ever seen you drive?"

Belle chuckled at the realization and grinned, "You're right. You haven't."

"Let me just grab my coat and we'll head home," he said letting go of her hands to leave.

Gold gave Belle one last assuring look before returning to the back of the shop to retrieve his coat. She exhaled slowly the anxious breath that she had been holding in for what seemed like forever, and with that breath only a little bit of tension floated away. He returned to her with his coat draped over his arm and his keys which dangled in his hand.

They stepped outside and a gust of wind blew in their direction. Belle stepped outside the shop and did her best to trap the warmth within her jacket against the cold. She turned around to watch her husband as he locked the door. When Gold stepped outside he quickly locked the door and felt the wind almost knock him over. The sudden gust gave him pause as he looked directly into it.

"What's wrong?" she observed, noticing the peculiar and curious way he was looking into the wind. She continued watching him for any signs of alarm, but he was giving nothing away as he quickly took the coat that was on his arm and slipped it on his body.

"Nothing… for now. Don't you find it curious that whenever there's inclement weather, something bad always follows after it?"

"Maybe it's a coincidence?" suggested Belle.

"There are no coincidences in Storybrooke."

The way he said it so absolutely was both frightening and foreboding. But who was she to argue with someone who knew the nature of Storybrooke better than she. She tried not to let it bother her, but she couldn't help but feel his trepidation as well. Whatever the unknown fear was that they both shared, they both knew that as long as they were close they could handle whatever it was together.

Belle drove them home. To distract them from their foreboding thoughts, Belle decided to orient and teach him all the buttons and gizmos that she discovered and learned about her car from earlier this morning. To be fair, she actually enjoyed regurgitating the intricacies of the vehicle to him. To her, it seemed like for the first time she knew something he didn't, so she relished in the moment and warbled on. Even if he already knew all about the vehicle and how it worked, he still smiled and nodded at her amusement with the contraption as she explained all the things to him.

By the end of the evening, they had forgotten about the suspicious wind and had gone to bed without a second thought.

… …

The next morning came and the clouds parted. A ray of sunshine had burst forth onto the town and with it a lovely breeze. A woman wearing a formal dress suit descended from the clouds carrying nothing but a carpet bag and her magical umbrella. She descended gracefully with a few "clop, clops" from her dress shoes, landing perfectly at the end of Storybrooke's Main Street. She placed her carpetbag down on the ground which freed her other hand to close the umbrella. After getting herself situated for walking, she walked briefly down Main Street, smiling pleasantly to herself as she entered Granny's Bed and Breakfast.

Here we go! The last section. Glad to hear that you all survived the weekend. Thank you to TheGreenFairy25, Grace5231973, Imusicluver23/OUATgirl17 and Montreat11 for reviewing! Can't wait to write out the rest of what I have in store for you guys. Super excited. Let the speculation begin. See you next chapter!