Thank you: Mira SeverusSirius Black-Snape, CaaRehme, Stargate533, AmoTVD98, thedoctorsgirl42, Grace5231973, jjxox8d, moonservant, Monica Kyler, AshRedDragon
I do not own Once Upon a Time
Chapter 36 – Day: 30: Mend the past
For too long the sound of sorrow and anxiety reigned the homes of the family from the Highlands. Since that dreadful day, when the shocking news about the Ogre's invasion in Armithil arrived, the family worried for the safety of Rumpelstiltskin and his son. But it was ultimately the recount of the destruction of the Eastern Villages that sunk everyone's hearts.
As days passed by, the news of Armithil's situation worsened. The first refugees reached the borders and passed through Kriemont, bringing with them tales of children being taken to the wars, stories about innocent people being pillaged and murdered on the roads by hungry thieves. The family listened to the devastating narrations of a world full of dangers and death. However their hearts ached with the realization Rumplestiltskin and Baelfire were chanceless, the family still refused to lose hope. Hope is the last to die and all members refused to lament the deaths of their beloved ones, grasping desperately to the thought that somehow, by some miracle or improbable event, father and son had survived the tragedy.
Especially Charleston, the family's patriarch, refused to accept the deaths of his son and grandson. The old man, well-known for his will of steel, calculated the days Rumpelstiltskin would need to travel and to arrive in Kriemont. He knew it would take him about a month. And a month he waited. Even knowing it was too soon, the first thing Charleston would in the mornings was to go outside and watch the wavy hills, in search of a hobbling figure. And the last thing he did, before he lay down to sleep, was too peer into the darkness, hoping to see lights in the distance. But each time he came back inside with a heavy heart. His son was never in sight.
Charleston needed his son to be alive. He needed redemption for his past actions. For his harsh words. Since the news of war, Charleston would often remain silent, lamenting for having lost his son already a long time ago. Now he grieved, for his pride had always stood in the way, sabotaging any chances he had in making up with his boy. And now he prayed Rumpelstiltskin would make it alive, because he needed this last change for forgiveness.
During these days, he would easily lose himself in his old memories, relieving the past; a time when he thought he knew everything and could do all. He remembered clearly the day he lost his son. Angie was almost three weeks gone and Rumpelstiltskin seemed to have given up life. He slept too much, ate too little and often his eyes were drifted away in a sad and solitary world. But one day, Charleston was startled with the most crystalline laughter he had heard in days. It was his son's laughter, as merry and contagious one. Charleston, quickly stepped outside and saw his son laughing amusingly with his friend Bram. Instead of feeling happy for his boy finally stepping out of the shadows of depression, his blood boiled up in his veins. He was father mourning his youngest daughter, departed from this world prematurely. He was still desperately clinging to her memory. He was still stuck in the grieving. Rumpelstiltskin was the last person he expected to show the first signs of moving on. The family's weakest link was learning to let go. At that moment, Rumpelstilstik was proving he was stronger than his father. At that moment Bram managed to achieve what no one else ever could – cheer up Rumpelstilstin. And that trigged something horrible inside of Charleston. His heart darkened, clouding his judgment.
"How dare you laugh in such times? You disgrace the memory of your deceased sister!" He angrily spoke without thinking. Rumpelstiltskin fell immediately silent. He stared frozen at his father with a stunned expression. "It should have been you instead of her!"
The moment the words came out, Charleston regretted them. The look in his son's eyes would haunt him for the rest of his long life. It was a look of crude hurt. Charleston knew he had pierced his son's heart with an unforeseen might and damaged their fragile relation to beyond repair. Rumpelstiltskin stared back at his father, a bewildered look of confusion and pain on his pale features. There were no tears. His silence was worse than any sad or angry tantrum. And it was in silence that Rumpelstiltskin turned his back and hurriedly walked away. The same evening he left their village without saying goodbye to his father.
After living two years in Avonlea, Armithil's capital, Rumpelstiltskin and Bram returned to their home village. They arrived in high spirits, telling everyone their life experience in the great city and their ambitious plan to travel and explore the world. During a few weeks Rumpelstiltskin remained at Charleston's home and barely acknowledged his father's presence, acting like if the man was invisible. Charleston had failed in finding the humbleness to beg for forgiveness to his son and avoided talking with him at all times. But the day the boys departed, he didn't miss the look of longing in Rumpelstiltskin's eyes. He knew his son wanted and needed to hear words of regret, love and care. Instead, Charleston mumbled something about staying away from danger. Rumpelstiltskin gave him a look of disappointment and with a deep sight, turned his back to his father for a second time, leaving the village without ever looking back.
They say that time heals all wounds, but it was not the case of Rumpelstiltskin. Charleston noticed a change in his son when he again, five years later, stayed for some weeks in his home village. The look of hurt was replaced by something else. Something Charleston though he would never see in his son's eyes. Hate. And this new hate seemed to fuel Rumpelstiltskin's blood with anger, for the few words switched between father and son always lead to heated discussions. Rumpelstiltskin's words would come out bitter and full of scorn and Charleston would end up insulting mindlessly his son. It would take another two years before they would reunite again. Only four months after Odete's death, the two friends returned, unknowing the new tragedy in the family. Old wounds were reopened and the vicious circle of insults and fights escalated into absurd proportions.
"I know, father! It should have been me instead of her!" Rumpelstiltskin bitterly spat. Charleston witnessed Rumpelstiltskin's walls falter for a fraction of a second. He saw the hurt hidden behind hate. And yet he was not able to deny. He was not able to speak the words he so badly wanted to say out loud. The words his son so desperately longed to hear. Instead he fell silent. Rumpelstiltskin shook his head disappointed. "Well, do not worry." His voice came low and cracked by the emotions that tortured him. "I'll do you the favor of leaving this place forever."
He had spoken with such bitterness that Charleston was shocked. It had shocked him and made him regret his irrational behavior towards his son, but his pride would not allow him to say out loud the one word that would fix things up. Instead, Charleston watched silently his son leave. He remained with a heart heavy, afraid Rumpelstiltskin would fulfill his promise.
Seven long years had gone by. And Rumpelstiltskin would had have remained longer away, wouldn't it had been for Bram's homesickness. Charleston was sure his son would never have returned to the village otherwise. The discussions were replaced by a heavy and silent tension, but Charleston never missed the fire in his son's eyes, even when he addressed him in his typical mellow polite manner. But as the days passed by, he realized Rumpelstiltskin wasn't anymore the boy that had left the village years ago. He had become man. One wise for his age. Charleston had been surprised to hear his son's tales during the dark evenings. The places he had been, the people he had met, the trades he had tried out. The old man felt some pride when Rumpelstiltskin announced he had become a full time spinner. It had been the family's trade for generations: the men were spinners, the women weavers. Charleston thought it was ironic; Rumpelstiltskin had ended up doing exactly the thing he always avoided and he admitted he found pleasure in it.
As weeks passed by (for Bram was still reluctant in leaving) the tension between father and son seemed to finally cool off a bit. Until the day Rumpelstiltskin shyly announced he had impregnated the village's supposed barren widow. Charleston was furious. His son had always refused any arranged marriage and now was compromised with the one person the detested since childhood. The father had accused Rumpelstiltskin of being reckless and incompetent, while his son retorted he was taking in his responsibilities by engaging with Milah and changing his life to become a father. "A decent father" had been his choice of words. And so the conflicts returned. But these were quickly overshadowed by the news of ogre's attacks.
Stories about common-men being sent to the front lines led many families to leave the village. Thumbelina's family, Bram and many others decided to leave when the danger was approaching their lands. But Rumpelstiltskin refused to join them, his wife being too far in her pregnancy to travel. He would not risk her health or his son's safety. Charleston and his wife decided to stay too and help the couple when the baby would be born. They had decided to travel when the infant would achieve six months of age and be strong enough for a long travel. But the king did not grant the needed time and Rumpelstiltskin was sent to the wars among the rest of the healthy manly population. Charleston was confronted with his son's death and regretted deeply for never being able to ask for forgiveness. But when a second chance presented itself and Rumpelstiltskin returned from the war, wounded and traumatized, Charleston spilled it away and destroyed any amity that could ever grow between them.
Charleston was the first one to label his son coward. And worse of all, was the first one to tell him it was his own fault and punishment his wife had left him behind with a small baby. On that day Rumpelstiltskin finally had enough and banished his father from his home. Charleston actually felt intimidated by his son's rage. Hadn't it been for Elisabeth, Rumpelstiltskin probably would have attacked him. And so Charleston left the village while his wife remained with their son. She only left when Bram came with Evelien. Often Charleston wondered what Elisabeth and Rumpelstiltskin talked about during his absence, because from the following year onwards, it became a tradition for the families to visit each other's village, once a year. Nevertheless, father and son's relationship was never restored. After each visit, Rumpelstiltskin would return home angrier, while Charleston would feel more and more frustrated with his son and with himself.
Today Charleston had his son back. Something so improbable, so unlikely. Unthinkable, really. But it was true. He was back. The old man looked at his son, who had just arrived and was still greeting his nephews and brother-in-law. Charleston decided, this time he would talk with his son. He would put his pride aside, once and for all. It was time to put the conflicts to an end. It was time to become a father.
Charleston will probably become my non-OUaT character to play an important in this story.
Hope you are still enjoying the story? Please review.
I also want to make a request. I've noticed several times grammatical mistakes being pointed out by readers in the reviews. I do apreciate the corrections and make the needed changes later on, but I would apreciate more that you would send me a Private Message instead for these matters and use the space for reviews only for your opinion about the story.