Chapter Eight: Reunion

"You can close your eyes to the things you do not what to see,

but you cannot close you heart to the things you do not what to feel."

~ Unknown

The next morning, Baelfire set out into town a little earlier than he had the day before. Today he was resolute to find and follow his father. He would find out for himself what kind of man he was or had turned out to be. The hard part would be to find him, or this world's version of him. He walked around in the early morning hours and only saw a few of the town's residents out and about.

After an hour or so of walking about he caught a man with his face in a book with a younger boy following behind him. He stopped by the bus, brought the book away from his face for a moment and rubbed a hand affectionately through the boy's hair before he put him on the bus. The boy pushed the hand away in a playful gesture and hopped on the vehicle. The man waved as it drove away and immediately went back to his book. His forehead was crinkled in concentration though it looked like he had a few moments of clarity.

Baelfire sighed and turned down another road. From what he gathered from last night, his father also went by the name of Mister Gold. No first name, but Gold. Strange name choice, but he didn't have anything more to say on it.

"Mister Gold! You're a little early."

Baelfire's head snapped to the side and he turned a corner to see none other than Archie greeting a man outside of where he assumed Archie's practice was.

"I am eager to get this devil off my back," the other man said.

"I bet," Archie smiled and unlocked his door with a wave for him to follow, "So I have been thinking over a few things. Have you talked to Belle about…"

As Archie's voice faded behind the now closed doors Baelfire stood on the opposite side of the street and looked up at the building. There was that mention of Belle again. What connection did they have with his father? He didn't remember that name and would think if it had to do with their old life somehow…

He shook his head, picked a bench and sat down. He would wait for his father to reemerge. If that was indeed him. Sounded like him, accent and all. Baelfire missed his old tongue. He began to lose it as he became further ensnared as the Dark One. He remembered the accent that would lull him into sleep and tell him stories of brighter and lovelier things than what they had when he was growing up.

Nearly an hour goes by when Mister Gold leaves Archie's office. He stepped out onto the stoop, looked up and down the street, straightened his tie and began his day. He had a cane at his side to support his bad knee. Maybe he didn't have as much power as before. He didn't need the crutch after he became the Dark One. Baelfire made sure to keep a good amount of distance between the two of them. If he was as observant of his surroundings as he was in finding the faults in the wool he once spun, Baelfire did not want to incur his wrath. He didn't know of his father's temperament in this life and did not want to test it- especially if he was eager to see a psychiatrist.

After a quick stop into Granny's for a coffee and a curious look at Ruby after she threw a quip at him, he was back down Main Street. He sipped at the small container as he strolled. He didn't pay much attention to the people that he passed, didn't even throw a nod or a wave as he strolled along. Most of the people took great strides in avoiding eye contact with him and looked curiously at the man that seemed to be following Gold at a distance.

Eventually, Gold finished his cup of coffee and threw it out in a trash can nearby and turned his attention to a small flower shop squashed between two larger buildings. He took a deep breath; even Baelfire could see the action from nearly a block away and then took a step inside. Baelfire took quick strides to the front of the shop and was careful not to be spotted, but got close enough that he could hear the muffled voice from inside.

Gold stepped up to the counter and cleared his throat to gain the attention from the man behind the counter.

"I know you're there, I just don't want to look at you," the man said in an accent that Baelfire recognized as possibly Australian. The man eventually looked up when he sensed that the other man wasn't going to leave, "What do you want?"

"I wanted to get some roses," Gold put said simply.

"Why come here?" the older man scoffed.

"Because I thought that she would enjoy them better knowing that they came from her father's shop than the cart down the street," Gold said through his teeth. He was trying to hold back his temper. Baelfire was sure that it was going to let loose at any time now.

But strangely the temper never flared.

The other man looked down and had a face of a guilty man. He nodded and turned from him, "How many?"

"Half a dozen," Gold said stiffly.

As the other man began to cut at them and take off any remaining thorns he glanced back at Gold, "How is she doing?"

"Braver everyday and even more stubborn," Gold smirked and the other man laughed a little. They both shared the same thought of the woman in question. Was this the Belle that Ruby had told him about? Gold took a breath, "Still beautiful, smart and everything that is good."

"Make sure that it stays that way," the other man said in a warning tone. The message made Gold's head tilt to the side in amazement. The man knew how dangerous he was, and yet he still tried to intimidate him.

"You forget who you threaten," Gold said in a warning tone.

"You forget who's the father of the two of us," the florist handed over the roses.

Gold took a cleansing breath and looked like he was trying to focus on something somewhere far away. He took the roses and put the money on the table. He leaned forward and whispered harshly to the man, "Never assume that you know anything about me, French."

With that, he turned with the roses and walked out of the shop. Baelfire stood around the corner when he walked out and down the opposite way down the street. He passed by the shop one more time before he followed again. The man behind the counter looked broken, and ragged. His father did that. His father always did that.

The walk eventually led to the library where piles of wood sat up against the outside walls where they looked to have once been nailed to the windows. The poor building looked so lack luster and beaten. He loved libraries as a child when he landed in this world. He learned so much and needed the lessons. He was far behind the other children in both history and other disciplines. The library was his sanctuary from them as they made fun of his lack of real world knowledge. All he could think of was that it wasn't his real world. How would he know?

Baelfire assumed that Gold would walk by the library and continue down the street, but instead he opened the door without so much as a knock and walked right in. Baelfire walked up to the library carefully and peeked in through the new windows. Gold walked right past the information desk and into one of the stacks. The windows were open to air out the building and he could hear the conversation easily as it drifted among the books.

"Rum, you really got to stop with the roses," a female voice said in a partially chastising tone, although he could tell that she was pleased with the gift. A woman walked from the stacks Gold had just entered with her nose smelling the bundle of roses in her hands. She looked around the room and found a vase on a small, far table and put them in it before bringing it back to the information desk. She then turned to the stacks where Gold came back out with a small smile on his face. She waved a dainty finger in his face, "I am going to run out of vases. Mainly because you enchant them to last longer than what they should."

"But they compliment the library so well," he argued and grabbed the hand that was pointing at him to kiss her knuckles, "Along with your blush."

She shook her head in amusement, "Now you are trying to make up for something."

"I did see your father a little while ago," he said casually and leaned back against the desk.

"Ah, so that's where you got them," she looked at the roses again and then shot him a warning look, "You didn't try to beat him to death, did you?"

"No, just got your flowers," he shifted the cane to his side and pushed it toward her, "You can check my cane if you would like."

She looked playfully suspicious but gave him a smile, "I believe you."

Gold looked pleased and the woman leaned against the counter next to him. He looked her over and she turned to him to catch him in mid thought. She raised her brows to invite him to say what he was thinking.

"He asked about how you were," Gold offered and continued after she didn't say anything, "I answered. It was all very civil."

"Mm hm," she nodded with a roll of her eyes. She waved at him to follow her and she led him toward the back end of the library.

Baelfire began to follow along the outside of the building in hope that there would be more open windows. He heard the woman's laugh and his father's chuckle. It has been so long since he has heard that laugh instead of the demented chuckle of the Dark One. He then wondered…

"Did papa have a… a lover?" he whispered to himself and then shook his head. He didn't know what to think of it and he really didn't want to until he had to.

When he rounded the corner and found a small apartment that was attached to the library. He heard of lighthouse keepers. But a library keeper? This was something new.

He snuck his way to the window at the front and was careful to not pop his head up. He didn't know if the library even connected to it. When he didn't hear any voices he pushed his head up and looked in through the gap in the blinds. The small apartment was nice and neat, a few vases with one or two flowers around, but devoid of his father and the young woman.

Then he heard their voices. The back door near what looked like a kitchen opened and the woman stepped in first followed closely by Gold. He saw them both turn toward the window and he ducked and just hoped that this wasn't his mistake.

He heard the woman pick up another topic of conversation without a beat, "Do you have any idea how dirty these floors are? Or should I say were? The castle foyer wasn't as bad as these were. Then the vacuum debacle! I couldn't get the stupid thing to stop trying to eat my dress!"

Baelfire heard her continue with her story as things began to shift in the kitchen as if she was preparing tea or something on the stove. He kept track of her voice and the direction it was turning in the room. He didn't hear his father anymore, but he did hear his cane hit the floor a few times to follow her.

"Did I tell you? I found a whole section on authors yesterday," she sounded excited, "A small section all on its lonesome. It's like this library was made for me. Hand me the set on the table, please. It was sitting there and to think that there were books about those who wrote books. I have so many more options to look over now. Maybe, just maybe I will be able to catch up on all these delightful authors- Thank you, Rumple."

Baelfire finally gained enough courage to look over his shoulder and into the apartment again. What he saw surprised him. She was standing in the kitchen, talking with herself with his father's cane in hand, tapping the floor every once in a while.

Which meant…

"What do we have here?" Gold's voice said from behind him.

"Shit," Baelfire bit out.

"In the simplest of terms, yes," Gold said and then picked him up by the front of his shirt. He walked into the apartment and pushed his back into the nearest wall as he closed the door behind him. Maybe he didn't really need the cane. The woman had a frying pan in her hand and held it over her head as if it was a weapon. Gold looked at her over his shoulder with an amused smile, "You can put that down, dearest. I have him. Superb acting, by the way."

She let the frying pan drop, but she still looked unsure of the situation.

"I don't want violence, Rum," she reminded him.

Gold turned back to the pinned man against the wall, "No violence, just answers. Who are you?"

Baelfire struggled against the forearm that was against his windpipe, and closed his eyes to concentrate on air.

Gold readjusted and roared, "Who are you?!"

Baelfire did a sudden twist and dropped to the floor. He coughed a little and watched as Gold backed up and put himself between him and the woman.

"I don't like strangers showing up from out of nowhere. Particularly around here," Gold said calmly and took back his cane and looked at it adoringly as if he was about to use it, "Now why have you been following me? Out to get the dagger, I suspect. Are you the one that Chernabog got to try to take down the monster?"

"Still jumping to conclusions about the damn dagger, I see," Baelfire finally spoke and coughed again before he looked up from the floor and met Gold's eyes. The same color that were his own, "Still the most important thing in life…. Papa?"

The sound of a cane hitting the floor was the loudest thing in the apartment. A tense handful of seconds passed as Rumplestiltskin thought over the words that were just said. He looked at the man on the floor. His hair was dark, like Milah's was. His lips and nose, the same as hers as well. But the eyes, he knew those eyes. It was the only thing that passed on to his son.

"Bae?"

The woman behind him gasped as her hands went up to cover her mouth. Her eyes as wide as saucers as they passed between him and Rumplestiltskin.

"Yeah, it's me, papa," Baelfire pushed himself up and patted the dust from his shirt, "Haven't lost that strength, I see."

Another tense silence filled the area. The woman was the first one to move or say anything, "I'll get the tea."

Rumplestiltskin, because Bae was sure for now it was his father, gestured to the small table for him to sit. He was scared. Of what, Baelfire wasn't sure, but he knew that face on his father well. The woman set down the tea set on the table and looked at the two men before she glanced at the door to the library.

"I have a few things to do in the library," she gave a light excuse, "If you two will need anything."

Rumplestiltskin called out to her before she got too far, "Belle…"

She turned quickly and held on to the door. She looked at him expectantly and he nodded at her with a soft expression.

"Thank you."

She smiled and looked at both men again until she closed the door behind her.

"How?" Rumplestiltskin asked when he turned back to him.

"I have been on the road for a good three, four days," Baelfire shrugged and pushed his hand into his pocket where he pulled out the beat up Storybrooke postcard. He handed it over to Rumplestiltskin who turned it over, "That was delivered to me by a dove about a week ago."

"Broken," Rumplestiltskin read and frowned, "Whoever sent this did it with magic."

"I thought as much," Baelfire nodded and took the postcard back.

"Then why come?"

"I thought that it may have been you," Baelfire said honestly, "I thought that just maybe you had finally found a way over here. Followed me."

"I've been trying to follow you ever since you left," Rumplestiltskin leaned forward and put a hand on Baelfire's shoulder, "The moment that you disappeared, I regretted my cowardice. You were right, Bae, I was a coward. I still am in many ways. I am so sorry that it cost us so much time. So much…"

Baelfire frowned slightly at seeing the true expression on his father's face. He put a hand on his father's arm that reached out for him and gave him a grave smile, "I know. I forgive you for letting go, papa."

"Oh, my boy," Rumplestiltskin leaned forward and captured his son in a strong hug. It wasn't the Dark One that had wrapped him in this tight embrace. This was Rumplestiltskin the spinner. The cripple. The town coward. The father.

Baelfire patted him on his back and finally returned the embrace, "Papa."

"I am so sorry," Rumplestiltskin kept repeating, "I don't deserve your forgiveness."

Baelfire leaned back and looked at him. Really looked at him.

"Then earn it someday," he told him softly.

Rumplestiltskin only nodded and wiped at the tears that stained his face.

Baelfire took a deep breath and wiped at his own. This meeting was very different than the one he had in mind. He expected yelling and cursing and walking away- possibly running for his life if the magic had totally taken over him. He was not expecting this.

Rumplestiltskin turned back to his tea and in turn, so did Baelfire. He thought about the woman that had made it for them. No wonder Ruby tried to steer him in her direction.

"Her name is Belle," Rumplestiltskin said to bring up the subject as if he could hear Bealfire's thoughts.

"Is she your lover?" Baelfire asked and sipped at his cup.

"No," Rumplestiltskin smiled fondly, "…Girlfriend."

"The terms aren't exclusive, you know."

"She's also my true love. We're taking it slow," Rumplestiltskin said quietly and took a questioning glance at Baelfire.

Baelfire took a moment, "What about mother?"

"Your mother has been dead for a long time now, son," Rumplestiltskin answered and his brows furrowed.

"Tell me…" Baelfire leaned forward and over his cup, "How did she die?"

Cora tracked her daughter's essence to one of the largest houses on the block, if not the town. She smirked and thought that he daughter had finally taken her words to heart. Too bad she would have to tear that heart out.

She walked up the steps of the large house and pushed the door open with her magic. It swung in ward and she smirked at the nice furnishings inside. Her daughter was living the good life in this new world. She may just have to take this small castle for herself.

"So glad that you could finally join us, Cora."

She turned quickly to find Hook and his crew in different clothing staring her down.

"You boys could go ahead and help yourselves out," she smirked and put up a hand that sparkled with magic.

"Oh, I don't think that you will need to be doing that," another figure stepped forward and walked toward her to stop only a foot away.

"You," her mouth lowered slowly and she shook her head before she looked past him and toward Hook, "This is who brought you here? Do you know who he is? What he is?"

"I have a very good idea."

"You have none if you think this is the way you will win against the Dark One," she said.

Chernabog grabbed her by the hair and dragged her eyes back to him, "I am the original Dark One. No one wins against me."

The front door shut before the screaming began.