I apologise for the spoilers! I didn't realize, really. I live in Portugal and here its still not in air either but I free download each episode always from torrentz .com the link that ends in LOL. So on monday morning early I'm on front of my computer freaking myself out. I believe you also can see the new episodes on You Tube, but I'm not sure. It's just unfair if you have to wait so long for the show in the TV. I'm at least too impatient XD

Thank you: SkyBlueSw, FortunesFavour, Mira SeverusSirius Black-Snape, Rumbellelover, Arekanderu, Stargate533, Christinesoperaghost, thedoctorsgirl42, Pomc, AshRedDragon

I do not own Once Upon a Time

Chapter 46 – days 39 to 43 – The Highland's family

Belle woke up to a new chilly day. She was curled in her sleeping bag, against her true love's warm body. She smiled as she watched him sleeping soundly, his worries and fears forgotten in the peace of slumber. Every night they would camp around a small fire, everybody sleeping in their own personal sleeping bags, Rumpelstilsking and Belle always far from each other, because of Charleston's suspicious eyes. Belle thought it was silly. They were all adults and all she wanted was to snooze next to her love. So every night, when she would wake up cold, Belle would move around like a larva in her sleeping bag until she found Rumpelstiltskin's warm body. He would stir a bit in his sleep and his eyes always opened a few seconds, just enough to acknowledge her with a soft smile.

She tried not to stare too long at him, otherwise he would wake up. He always did. But not resisting to read and memorize every feature and line of his face, her gaze ended up by triggering his inexplicable alarm system. He opened his eyes, blinking several times from the sleep and smiled gently, nestling himself closer to Belle. They remained a while, enjoying their closeness, even if they were both trapped in their own cocoons.

"Rise and shine, love birds!" Charleston's voice broke their idyllic moment and brought them back to reality with a groan of complaint. "How is it you both always end up lying next each other every morning?" He wondered more to himself than to the couple.

Rumpelstiltskin gave Belle an accomplice grin and got up, the princess following his example. Thumbelina and Jonathan were already eating breakfast, and the worries about his son quickly returned to the spinner. They had travelled already three long days, only stopping for lunch and at night. If they were fast, they would reach the frontiers in the afternoon. Thanks to Rumpelstiltskin's travelling experience and years of incessant search for short-cuts due to his bad leg, he had guided the family through shorter ways and had, unknowingly, reproduced Mulan's trajectory. They ate quickly and got on the wagon to finalize this final part of their restless journey.

Despite the anxious circumstances, Belle was enjoying each second of her journey. It was great to be back with Rumpelstiltskin. She couldn't help thinking it was surprising they, during a short period of two weeks, they had fallen so much in love with each other. Now that she had Rumpelstiltskin back, she could not imagine her life without him anymore and knew a second separation would be unbearable. They had finally surpassed all their fears and uncertainties about their relationship, something good coming out of Maleficent's curse, allowing them to relish daily with little and subtle displays of affection. During the rare moments they were alone, they would kiss and embrace, like if it would be their last time together. And during all other times, small caresses were shared now and then, like a small brush of the hands, which send little electric vibes through Belle's body, making her happy in an almost ecstatic manner.

The princess had also come to enjoy the company of Rumpelstiltskin's family. Her first conversation with Charleston was the day they left Kriemont, after she woke up from her deep slumber. She had found it sweet the old man had placed himself next to his son, who was still asleep and using one of Charleston's legs as pillow.

"He looks so peaceful." She had said.

"Yeah, better keep him this way. This one, when he wants, can unleash hell. I guess I chose his name correctly."

"What does Rumpelstiltskin mean?" Belle had asked intrigued. She had never thought it actually signified something.

"He who makes a racket" The old man had stated. "He's quieter now, but you should have seen when he was small. Only calmed down after he was around 10 years old. And as a baby…Oh gods, nobody could sleep until he had his way. If his voice didn't do the job, the damn baby always managed to drop something to make noise!" Belle chuckled, not able to imagine Rumpelstiltskin as a noisy person, not even during his childhood.

"And what means Thumbelina?" The princess' curiosity was already stirred up. Rumpelstiltskin's sister turned around to face her.

"Try to guess." She had said with a hint of irritation. Belle shrugged her shoulders.

"She who is as small as a thumb." Charleston proudly stated. "She was the tiniest baby I've ever seen. When I think about it, you didn't really grow very much, did you, Thumbel?" The woman gave him an annoyed look, but said nothing, turning back to the road. Belle smiled a bit. She considered herself short, but Thumbelina was even shorter than she was. "But it didn't stop you from terrorizing all the boys from the village, did it?" Charleston said mockingly, as he visualized the old memory of is small daughter with piggy tails chasing down boys twice her size with a stick on her hand. But quickly his look became melancholic. "Then we had Angie, a short name for Angelina." Belle's eyes were automatically directed to Thumbelina, but she continued seated with her back to them. The beauty had suspected the woman's daughter was called after her younger sister.

"She who looks like an angel." Belle stated this time and Charleston nodded. She recognized the same sorrow in his eyes as in Rumpelstitlskin when Angie was mentioned once, at Bram's home.

"And we finally have Odete. No idea what that means. Beth wanted her to be called like that because her best friend was Odete and every time Odete would come and visit my wife, the baby would kick inside her belly."

Belle smiled a bit sadly. Angie and Odete. Both died prematurely. She could not imagine what kind of pain it was, to lose a child, to lose a sibling. There was a mournful silence and it was a moan coming from Rumpelstiltskin that broke their saddened thoughts. He was dreaming and apparently it wasn't a pleasant one. He suddenly woke up, with a small yell, sitting up straight, panting wide eyed.

"Had a bad dream, lad?" His father asked. Rumpelstiltskin stared at him a bit confused, like if he didn't quite recognize him.

"I swear. I never want to see a golden thread in my life again!"

"If you spun so much gold, why didn't you bring some with you?" Charleston had been wanting to ask this from the moment his son had spoken about the gold.

"You are kidding, right?" He lifted the second blanket with a frown. "No wonder I was having a nightmare! Why do I two blankets on me? I'm bloody boiling!"

"Well, you were cold like ice this morning!"

"This morning? Is it already afternoon?"´

"Yeah, it's past tea time."

"I missed lunch? Why didn't you wake me up for lunch?"

"You were sleeping!"

"So? You could have waked me up!"

And the ridiculous quarrel between father and son would go on like this until Thumbelina ordered them to shut up. Belle would assist giggling many of these pointless arguments during the three days travel. Jonathan had explained her this was their own way of communicating, which sometimes became impossible to follow, as their accent grew thicker the more they got agitated. She loved when Thumbelina interfered, their words becoming then pure dialect, father and son yelling at the small woman who ended up by slapping both of them for their continuous stupidity.

Belle had come to learn that Thumbelina was a real Tom Girl, having been the perfect playmate for her 11 months younger brother. According to Charleston, those two wrestled endlessly during the dark evenings, hitting and slapping and kicking violently. Sometimes there was even blood and the children had to be separated to avoid serious injuries. But five minutes later they would be best friends again. The beauty did had the privileged of assisting short moments when brother and sister acted a bit brutally, Thumbelina always being the one to hit furiously, while Rumpelstiltskin complained her to stop. During these moments Charleston would tell Thumbelina to let her brother alone and shake his head complaining some things never changed. The princess was mostly amused with the indifference of Jonathan, who seemed to find their little violent wrestles perfectly normal.

"Better him than me." He had said once, when Belle asked what he thought about them. She chuckled when, every time the small display of aggression between brother and sister ended, there was a hug or a fraternal kiss shared and all was forgiven and forgotten.

She also loved to study their faces. It was so clear they were family. Rumpelstitlskin looked very much like his father, the same temple, eyes and nose, but had the kind smile from his mother. Thumbelina's hair, although graying quickly, was once as black as her daughter's. She too had inherited her father's temple and eyes, but she looked mainly like kind Elisabeth. Belle thought it was a pity she wasn't able to spend a bit more time with the old woman. She seemed to be a sweet and calm person and suspected Rumpelstiltskin had inherited her character, although, when he was upset, he was a good competition against his father and sister's ill temper. And Jonathan, the village's butcher, was a quiet easygoing man, who smiled with a shrug at the screams and yells switched between the father and siblings.

But Belle's blissful musings were suddenly interrupted by the gasps of Thumbelina and her husband. The princess, the spinner and the old man, all stood up at once and were shocked at the giant column of smoke they could see in the distance. They had received disturbing news about great fires during their short stops in villages, but never expected something of these dimensions. Rumpelstiltskin jumped off the wagon and ran to the top of the high hill, stopping under the shadow of a tree. His sister followed him close and both instinctively held each other. From this spot, they had a perfect view on the yellow flames and the black smoke. This was a massive and ferocious fire.

"My boys!" Thumbelina gasped shocked, her face turning into a sick white shade.

"We'll find them. I promise. Come." He kissed his sister's temple and grabbed her hand to get her out of that sight. "We must hurry! It's the largest fire I've ever seen. We need to get the boys out of there!"

The following hours were scary and difficult. Belle had a horrible déjà vu from the day the eastern villages were burnt. But they weren't compared with the horrors of this fire. The heat was unbearable, the air suffocating, branches were falling everywhere in flames. If there was a hell, then Belle was certain they had entered it. But nothing seemed to be able to stop Jonathan, who drove the horses with a will of steal, dominating the beasts terrified of the inferno they found themselves in. It had felt forever, but at a certain point Belle recognized the walls of the 8th camp, or at least what was left from them. The guards on the new improvised tower stared with great unbelief, as they recognized the princess.

"Open the Gates! Open the Gates! The princess has arrived!" A soldier's shout was heard and the large blackened door opened enough for them to enter.

As soon as they stepped inside the camp, Belle knew she had missed a great deal of developments. All the wood was black, the ground was wet and muddy, the improvised hospital was partially uncovered and the great marquee was no longer. She saw many large stones and rocks piled next to a catapult and very few soldiers were in the camp. She saw mainly children and the volunteers. It was one of the young soldiers who came to her.

"Lady Belle!" He bowed in respect. "We feared you were dead." He said smiling of relieve and hope. Belle recognized the young soldier, who she assisted and cared when he was wounded, about a week ago.

"Where is everybody? Where is Commander Byront?"

"To battle, my Lady. Important developments have happened during your absence. My Lady. Lord Gaston…" The young soldier looked mournful.

"I know. I was there." The man nodded and continued his report.

"After you disappeared, Commander Byront and the other leaders returned to the camps. The next day, Maleficent stroke under the form of a fire spiting dragon. We were attacked by nightfall and fought all night and morning, as she kept coming back. And then, in the afternoon, the army from the City of Gold reached us. Commander Frederic and his men have been helping us with retaliation and, my Lady, we are winning! We managed to push the dragon back to woods, where she is hiding alone. The ogres fled, the rest died. And Maleficent is losing ground. Today, Commander Frederic and Commander Byront set an expedition to find Maleficent's hiding place in the woods and attack her. Most soldiers are there now." Belle listened to the account with a racing heart. These were exciting news, but the war wasn't ended yet. Maleficent would not give up easily. She looked behind her and saw the frightened looks on the parent's eyes.

"I'm looking for three boys. Mulan brought them here?"

"Oh yeah. They arrived yesterday night." Belle could hear the sighs of relieve behind her. "The oldest one, Humbert,I believe that's his name, he left this morning with Lord Byront's army." The princess could hear a shout of shock behind her. "The younger ones should be here somewhere."

Quickly, they searched for Baelfire and Rafael, while Thumbelina and Jonathan were still recovering from the shock their oldest boy had joined the army to fight a dragon. The small woman came running when she recognized her younger son who was accompanied by a girl she was sure she had seen before.

"Rafael!" The mother came running and clung to her son's body. The teenager barely reacted. She was shocked to see his mother, father and grandfather in the camp, but above of all, he ws shocked to see his uncle.

"Uncle Stiltskin?"

"Rafael, where's Bae?" He asked worriedly. It was Morraine who answered the spinner, looking really scared.

"He left this morning, shortly after the army marched into the woods. I spoke yesterday with him about the Reul Ghorm and I'm afraid he's up to something now. I'm sorry." Rumpelstiltskin felt all his blood rush down.

"It's okay Moraine. You were just helping." He said wiping some tears from the girl's eyes.

There was a moment their eyes were locked, a moment of understanding and sharing of pain and worries. A father scared to lose his son, a daughter who had become orphan. Rumpelstiltskin felt sorry for the girl. He had seen Morraine grow up from a happy little baby to a young pretty and strong-willed woman. She was a survivor and he realized Baelfire too was a survivor. A new fire of hope and desperate determination filled his chest. He turned to the young soldier.

"Which direction did they go?"

I had the idea of explaining the origin of the names already for a quite while, but couldn't really find a fitting moment for that until now. I hope you liked it.

What are your thoughts about the development about this story?

Review ;)