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And also for the last chapter's reviews: tigger64, Monica Kyler, Usio-Amamiya, thedoctorsgirl42 (agreed), .370, Jamie Jazz (glad to know that), jjxox8d, Grace5231973

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Chapter 19 – Day 11: Old wounds

Hansel and Gretel were in high spirits. They only went to the marked with their father sporadically. They enjoyed going to the town in search of novelties, new toys and other children. As peaceful and pleasant an isolated life was, the children did miss an important part of social interaction.

Rumpelstiltskin was feeling his old self again, so they gathered wool and wood for trade and left early to the market. Bram had a small wagon which he used to carry the heavy logs, which was big enough to transport the merry group. The children sung folks lyrics, while the men chatted the whole way, pestering each other in a friendly manner. Belle enjoyed the two hours travel, losing her gaze at the changing landscape. Dixterren was the last town before the frontier with Snowland. The princess noticed the trees grew taller and thinner, the air became fresher and the landscape was a mix of green, red and golden. While they were still enjoying the last days of warm summer weather, Snowland was probably already visited by an early autumn.

They arrived in Dixterren after a peaceful journey, taking a secondary and less used road. But once they entered the town, signs of the war were noticeable. The protection of the town was reinforced by the presence of guards and young soldiers at the gates. Refugees were easily discerned from the inhabitants, looking poor and dirty, with haunted looks in their eyes. There were more beggars in the streets than usual. An old man preached the end of times and punishment of the gods in one of the town's squares. But beyond that, Dixterren was a regular busy town, with people going on with their daily lives, children running around and deals being loudly made at the market.

Bram parked his wagon and everybody descended. He and Rumpelstitlskin were pondering to which part of the market they should trade and quickly entered in an argument, one wanting to go to the east, the other to the southern part. Belle watched the two men amused, as she concluded it probably didn't make any different to where they went. Baelfire and Hansel became distracted by a stall nearby selling sweets and pastry. Since the men were still in the heat of their pointless discussion and the children had all received a humble share of money to spend in whatever they wanted; the boys ran to the stall, while Gretel gave them a disapproval look. She preferred to use her money in more useful things, like more embroidery material or something pretty to put on her hair.

The men finally came to an agreement, Bram having his way, since he knew the town better than his comrade. They decided to send off the children to have some spare time, since trading was not something done quickly.

"Where's Bae?" Rumpelstitlskin casually asked, while Bram was already instructing Gretel about the things she and the boys had to avoid.

"Over there, by the sweets." Belle pointed out.

Rumpelstiltskin followed her finger and quickly found his son. The princess then saw a sudden change in his expression. Rumpelstiltskin seemed to lose all the blood in his face. He looked first shocked but then his eyes suddenly became darker and brighter than usual. He stood a few moments frozen in his spot, staring in his son's direction; with an expression Belle thought was of pure rage.

"Milah." He gasped, sounding more like a groan.

Bram, who meanwhile had finished instructing Gretel; when hearing the name, suddenly turned around and saw what his friend saw. He too became pale, but his expression was more of terror. The princess and Gretel were both confused. Rumpelstiltskin glared dangerously, his hands were in fists, his knuckles white of the pressure. He was about to give a step in Baelfire's direction when Bram, quickly grabbed him by the arms and violently turned him around. Rumpelstiltskin didn't fight back, but his body was tense, shaking of fury and the look in his eyes had become murderous.

"Gretel, go to the boys and tell them you have the authorization to play while we go trading. Take that road over there." He spoke urgently, pointing with his head at the opposite direction. "And don't let Baelfire come over here!" Gretel sensing the urgency in her father's voice, immediately obeyed and ran to the boys.

Bram breathed of relieve when he saw the three of them walk happily down the road he had indicated. He turned to his friend, who was now breathing heavily, tremblers coming from his white knuckles, his frown holding a clear dangerous look.

"Come on, let's get you out of here." Bram said as he pushed his friend, forcing him to walk forwards, never letting go of his skinny but tensed arms.

"I'm gonna kill her!" Rumpelstiltskin mumbled dangerously. "I'm gonna kill the fucking bitch!"

Belle stared at the scene with pure shock. Rumpelstiltskin, for a small and frail man, suddenly looked extremely dangerous and scary. Bram was frightened, that she could also see clearly. He was a strong man, but she noticed he had to use his strength to keep his friend unmoving and guide him out of there. It was only when Rumpelstiltskin spoke those murderous words, did Belle notice the woman at the sweet stall, who had been talking to the boys. She was staring back at their direction in utter shock.

Since their fathers were engaged in one of their silly arguments, the boys happily ran to the sweet stall. Hansel in special, looked hypnotized at the sweets. A middle aged woman, with kind light eyes, came to them and asked if they needed help. She let out a small giggle as the boys asked the prices of several colored treats, their look growing with hunger by the minute.

"Baelfire, let's take some of those!" Hansel said excitedly as he pointed at the pastries with light blue cover. The boys missed the sudden change in the woman's face. A wave of shock came to her eyes, but she quickly composed herself, hiding it right away. She told the price of the cakes, never taking her eyes of the taller boy.

"You both seem to be good boys." She kindly said. "You know what? Chose whatever you want and I'll make a fifteen percent discount in the total bill."

"Really!" Both boys said in unison, immediately choosing their preferences. The woman gave a warm smile, but a ghost of pain haunted their eyes.

"You boys aren't from here, are you?" She said as she put the chosen candies in a brown paper bag.

"I live close by." Hansel chirped.

"I'm from Lisphobor." Baelfire gloomily said.

"From the eastern villages?" The boy nodded. "So you escaped."

"My dad and I were lucky. We had left before it was attacked." He uncomfortably said.

"Oh dear, and your mother? Did she stay behind?"

"My mom died when I was a baby."

"Oh, I see. Well, he seems to have done a good job raising you up… Alone I suppose." Baelfire nodded, unable to hide his pride. "Is he here?" She said filling the last items in the bag, not daring to look at the boy as she put out the question.

"Yep. He's right there." Baelfire pointed at the two arguing men. He didn't need to tell her which was one his father, for she knew it all too well.

"Well, let's see how much this will cost." She said, getting a pencil and scribbling numbers on an old paper, trying to hide back her nervousness. She told the price and the boys divided the costs, happy with the bargain. They still had money left for other things. While they were counting the coins, they missed the expression of terror on the woman's face, when Rumpelstiltskin saw and recognized her. She saw Bram quickly turn him around and short after a blond girl came running to the boys.

"Hi! Are you ready? We have authorization to visit the town as long as we stay away of beggars, taverns and dark alleys. Let's go over there, it's more fun."

Gretel did her best to sound carefree when her heart was actually still pounding. She had no idea what made Rumpelstiltskin so livid of anger, but it had frightened her terribly. She feared for Baelfire, especially after her father instructed her not to let him come close to the cripple. She was relieved when the boys agreed right away and said goodbye to the kind saleswoman. None of the children witnessed the expression of shock, fear and guilt on the woman's face, while she watched Bram drag the furious Rumpelstiltskin out of the square.

"Let me go, Bram!" Rumpelstilskin spoke in a deep unnatural threatening voice.

"What is going on?" Belle demanded, still confused. It was clear that Rumpelstiltskin and the woman by the sweets stall knew each other, but she could not imagine what the woman had done for the cripple to have this kind of reaction. But Bram was too concentrated in keeping his friend under control to answer her.

"You are not going anywhere." Bram told his friend.

"How dare she? Talking to my boy. My boy!" He stressed "my", pain and anger were blinding his judgment. Belle was starting to have a really bad feeling about this. Bram managed to guide Rumpelstiltskin into a tavern.

"The strongest shot you have!" He said as he entered. He owner, seeing the two men, one livid of anger, the other of fear, quickly filled a small glass with the clear liquid.

"Is that firewater?" Belle asked outraged, but Bram gave her such a tormented look that she swallowed her words back.

"Drink it." Bram ordered, giving the small glass to the shorter man.

"I don't want!"

"Drink IT!" He ordered with more power. It worked and its content was emptied in one gulp.

"Fuck!" Rumpelstiltskin cursed, as the heat spread throughout his body. Something, in the back of his mind, told him he was not supposed to drink it, but he was too enraged to think properly. "What is she doing here anyway?" His outlandish accent sounding heavier and more aggressive.

"Another one!" Bram sounded half in panic. The small glass was refilled. "You need to calm down. Drink it." After another attempt to reject the drink, Rumpelstiltskin emptied the glass for a second time. "How do you feel?" Bram asked worriedly, sensing some of the tension in Rumpelstiktskin's muscles slowly fade. The cripple was slightly balancing in the drunkenness, and his gaze was unfocused for some seconds.

"The hell you think I feel! She fucking left us!" He suddenly spat, his eyes more furious than ever. The bartender, intimidated with the blinded fury that possessed the feeble man, filled a third glass.

"This one is on the house. And get him out of here."

Bram, noticing some people were staring at them, thanked and obeyed. He gave his coins bag to Belle and asked her to pay, while he dragged his friend outside, who seemed to mumble something unsympathetic in his strange dialect. Rumpelstiltskin drunk the third glass, this time without any resistance and almost collapsed, dizzy from the overdoses of alcohol. Belle practically ran out of the tavern, to find both men in a hidden and quiet corner of an alley. She could see the concern in Bram's face and noticed Rumpelstiltskin was now in a deeper state of drunkenness.

"How could she? How could she do such a thing?" Rumpelstiltskin slurred. He surprisingly was still standing (barely) and articulating after three shots.

"Shhh. Calm down, please, you need to calm down."

"How do you fucking want me to calm down? After all these years! She…She just appears out of nothing?!" Rumpelstilskin spat irate. "She left us! She just…just left with that…that …fucker!" The man yelled hysterically at this friend. Belle could see hot tears spring out of the man's eyes. Her mind was racing, trying to put the pieces together. She stared in pure shock when she finally understood what was going on. "She left us when I most needed her!"

Rumpelstiltskin finally succumbed into his turbulent emotions and burst into tears, weeping on his friend's shoulder, who patiently stroke his back. Years of hidden pain and regret were revealed in one drunken outburst of uncontrolled sobs. Belle let out a heavy sigh, having held her breath for too long. She knew now. Rumpelstiltskin's wife had not died. She was the woman at the sweets stall.

Since Rumple told Belle in one of the first chapters that Bae's mom died when he was just a baby, I logically have to stick to this version, not the show's (my magic bowl didn't reveal the spoilers). But, Milah left him the same way and for the same reasons, the only diference is that the kid in my version never had a mother (and personally, I wonder to what point the Baelfire from the show had a mother, since the poor thing was sitting alone, waiting for one of his parents to eventually appear...)

Next chapter will be pretty intense.

Keep reading.

Review ;)