Thank you Blueberrysuite7 for reviewing! I'm so glad you like it, it's been so much fun to speculate and write for so far.

Thank you Alex Beckett for reviewing! I update just about every week, so long as I'm near my computer and nothing goes wrong with it.

Thank you A.P. Reich for reviewing! Now I'm not going to ruin that little tid bit this soon.

Several days passed at ease within the town as everyone settled back into their new found safety. While most people were out and about, Belle locked herself away in the shop and poured herself into the shelves of books in hopes to find some kind of clue to what had happened to her. Her only interruption came from Ruby, who popped in with breakfast and lunch everyday and had soon become a welcome guest in the closed shop.

"Hey Belle," Ruby called one afternoon while Belle was skimming through yet another book out of the stack on the counter in front of her. Belle looked up to see the red clad werewolf looking at her nervously.

"What's wrong, Red?" Belle asked, frowning as she marked her place in her book and put it down on top of the stack of books she had yet to read. Ruby looked at her with a frown before she glanced out the shop front and then back to Belle.

"I need some help," Ruby admitted in a hushed tone and Belle motioned for her to continue. "You see, there's this guy who's been coming around Granny's a lot lately and he keeps trying to talk to me about my life in the Enchanted Forest. He's really staring to freak me out."

"Red, what if he's just interested in you?" Belle asked soothingly, trying to see where the harm is in getting know someone's not cursed self. "From what I've gathered, we all know each other cursed selves quite well, but not our Enchanted selves. What's the harm of getting to know him?"

"That's the thing, Belle, I do know him," Ruby said quietly, fidgeting with her cloak. "He doesn't know me because we've only ever met when I was all wolfy, but I know him. He was one of the Queen's huntsmen that were sent to kill me."

"And you're worried that he will still try to kill you if he finds out who you are," Belle surmised, receiving a nod from the brunette in front of her. "How are you to know he won't try to kill you? Regina isn't here right now and she doesn't have the same following she once did now that people see that she will put everyone in harms way to get what she wants."

"I don't know," Ruby admitted sadly. "But I can't risk getting myself killed."

"I might have something for you then," Belle murmured, feeling something call out to her from no where. She glanced around to try and pinpoint what was calling out to her as she stood from the stool she had been sitting in. She crossed the room and pulled out a fine mirror made of silver from one of the cabinets. She turned back to Ruby with a small frown. "This mirror will let you hear anyone's thoughts. I don't know how you will get him to think about your wolf form, but this will let you read his thoughts once he does."

"Wow," Ruby murmured as she took the mirror from Belle and held it delicately. "Where did you get this?"

"Gold got it and it's sister mirror, one that will show you where anyone is at any time, from some witch who needed a magic rose for a spell," Belle said offhandedly, with a motion towards the cabinet where a matching mirror perched.

"You really do know a lot about these items," Ruby remarked, smiling slightly at Belle.

"I know some of the things from my time as Rumple's servant, but most of the information comes from that spell he cast on me," Belle said sadly as she looked around the shop.

"Still no luck with finding out what it is?" Ruby asked, looking to Belle worriedly. Belle shook her head and sighed.

"It only activates when I am in need of an item to help me or someone else," she told Ruby as she glanced around the shop. "If I'm not in need of an item, everything is quiet."

"That's really odd," Ruby said as she also glanced around the room before she spotted the large clock on one wall. "I have to get back to Granny's, but thanks for this and I hope you find the spell."

Ruby left the store before Belle could say anything and she felt a sudden pain in her chest. She clutched at her chest and winced in pain just as her head began to pound. Her eyes began to water and she wondered what was happening to her before she suddenly saw the mirror she had just given Ruby sitting before her. She picked it up with shaky hands and felt the searing pain coursing through her slowly begin to fade away. Belle frowned at the mirror before she put it down and decided to renew her search for what was happening to her.

"Belle! I'm so sorry, but the mirror is gone!" Ruby said frantically as Belle entered the empty cafe that night like she always did for dinner. Ruby paused in her attempt at apologizing at the sight of the mirror tucked gently in Belle's arm. "Where did you find it?"

"It came back to the shop shortly after you left," Belle explained, deciding to keep the painful return a secret from her new friend. "I'm thinking that the things I give people need to be paid for in order for them not to come back to me."

Ruby smiled at her sheepishly as Belle sat down at the bar where a iced tea already sat waiting for her.

"Sorry about that," Ruby said just as Granny came around from the kitchen with a hamburger plate ready for Belle. "What do you want in return?"

"I'm not sure yet," Belle said, thinking as she sipped at her tea and frowned at her burger. "It has to be something equal or one of us will pay the rest another way."

"Are you talking about a spell to help my Red?" Granny asked, looking at Belle and then at Ruby. Ruby nodded and motioned to the mirror with a brief explanation as to how it was going to help her. "Why don't you have free dinner for as long as Ruby here has the mirror?"

"I couldn't possibly accept that," Belle said in embarrassment, knowing her appetite was steadily growing as the days went by.

"Nonsense," Granny said, smiling at Belle as she looked at the young shop owner from over her glasses. "If it keeps that hunter out of our hair and keeps you and your baby doing well, it's a fair enough price to pay."

Belle smiled softly at Granny's words, before she frowned and looked at the older woman curiously since only Ruby and the dwarves were supposed to know about her possible pregnancy. Granny merely tapped her nose with a knowing smile before she turned to go back to the kitchen to clean it up.

"So, what do you say Belle? Deal?" Ruby said, extending her hand out to shake with a broad smile. Belle couldn't help but to smile in return as she shook Ruby's hand.

"Deal," she said and felt a twinge of pain at the back of her head for a brief moment. "If this is how Rumple feels with each deal, it's a wonder why he keeps making them."

Ruby looked at her curiously and Belle blushed, realizing that she had spoken out loud. Belle motioned to her head with a small shrug.

"It's just a small headache," she said, trying to brush off the stabbing pain that she had momentarily felt like it was nothing. Ruby slowly nodded at her before going back to what she had been doing before serving Belle dinner. Belle frowned, glancing at the mirror and thinking of how she had to be careful with each of the deals she was to make if she was going to keep going with this.

As you can see, I'm updating a day earlier than normal. That is because I'm moving into my dorm on Saturday so tomorrow will be a busy day for me, which means I would probably not update. I'd rather update early than late at this point. Hopefully everything will return to normal and I can continue updating on Fridays once I settle into school once again.