Thank you for your support. I actually had to rewrite this chapter partially because it wasn't the way I wanted it. But now, I have a clear idea how the story will go on. So, writer's block threat is almost gone :)

And of course, thank you for your enthusiastic reviews: Rumbellelover (I agree), Queen of Light 17, FortunesFavour (the curse will not exist in this story, no sequels either), dragonrose21, maizeblue7, Pomc, TeamTHEFT, thedoctorsgirl42, AshRedDragon, Grace5231973 and Guest

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I do not own Once Upon a Time

Chapter 55 – Day 51: interconnected

Almost a week had past by since Rumpelstiltskin had slain the dragon Maleficent. Only a few days had gone by since the official announcement of his engagement to Princes Belle was made. And already had the spinner won the hearts of the soldiers.

After a long night of celebrations, when Maleficent was killed and all worries were temporarily forgotten, morning brought back reality, confronting the armies with the great loses of the recent fierce battles. To the many that had died, an appropriate burial had been given. Those who were wounded, they were tended and transported back to the surviving camps. And those who were strong and fit prepared themselves for the long march to Armithil's capital. As the march progressed, now and then an Ogre would be encountered. Although it would be found disoriented and alone, the monster always defended itself ferociously and victory was often paid with new injuries.

Right from the first day, Princess Belle retook her old routines. When she wasn't attending an important meeting at the Great Council, she would be found in the improvised hospital, tending the wounded and filling the soldier's hearts with a new hope. And Rumpelstiltskin was always at her side. Doctors and nurses were glad with his volunteering, for he proved to be a valuable extra hand in the hospital. He demonstrated to be particularly skilled with the cleaning and stitching of superficial wounds, alleviating the doctor's work, who could concentrate in the more complicated injuries.

Almost a week had gone by, and soldiers knew, if they would fall ill, that Princess Belle and Rumpelstiltskin would be there for them in the hospital, with a needle and a thread, a gentle smile and comforting words. It could be said, if Princess Belle had become the mother to her kingdom, than Rumpelstiltskin had become the father to its young soldiers.

"Will I survive?" A teenager soldier asked, while Rumpelstiltskin carefully examined a cut on his chest.

"If you were in danger, they would never have sent you to me. I only deal with superficial and risk-free wounds." The spinner spoke low, with a kind but saddened smile, as he realized the boy was only a bit older than his son. "Belle, will you pass me a wet towel?"

The wound was clean and free from blood and the trained spinner's eyes checked if the cut was free from any remains of whatsoever material. Now and then he would ask Belle for something and she would pass the needed object, while she watched the way he carefully worked, looking abnormally impartial while doing so. The boy flinched and let out a gasp when the raw flesh under the cut skin burned.

"It will hurt more when I'll stitch you up, but you'll feel better afterwards."

The boy, understanding, nodded and fought back the tears when Belle placed a piece of cloth in his mouth, so he wouldn't bite his tongue during the stitching. It only took some minutes and the work was done. Every time Belle would watch Rumpelstiltskin closing the cut, it reminded her of their first encounter. The night when their fates crossed paths. A time when they were mere strangers. The soldier gasped for some air, relieved the pain had ended and Belle took the cloth back out of his mouth and gave him some water.

"Now all you need is to rest and eat so you'll be strong again." Rumpelstiltskin said, while he carefully spread an ointment on the scar, to prevent it from infecting. "So when this war is over and one day, when you'll have children of your own, you can tell them the hero you were."

"I'm no hero, sir." The boy said smilingly. "You are." Rumpelstiltskin returned the boy's smile, never getting used to the admiration these kids demonstrated for him.

"For whom are you fighting this war?" The spinner asked.

"For my mother and my two sisters and my little brother. For my friends. For M'lady, and for you M'lord."

"Anybody who fights for another person is a hero." The spinner told him and brushed some hair from the young soldier's face. "So don't forget…"

"Eat and rest." The boy said, feeling flattered he was tended and complimented by the Royal couple.

Rumpelstitlskin and Belle would remain in the hospital as long as it was needed. They would support and comfort each other when one would threaten to vacillate during the painful screams of boys that filled the air or when they would need to grip with all their strength a soldier whose leg or arm had to be amputated. Or when a young man, too weak and sick to fight any more, would release his final breath. They would support and comfort each other and this made them strong as a couple, as a team, as human beings.

By each passing day, the soldiers loved Rumpelstiltskin more and more. They knew he was a peasant, coming from the common-people. But even after defeating Armithil's nemesis and being proclaimed future ruler to their nation through marriage, the spinner never acted any differently than before. He treated everybody as equals and with respect. He was always kind and polite, and never succeeded in hiding his shyness as somebody would praise him for his deeds. They knew he was a peasant that was to become their king one day, and yet no arrogance, no conceited or superiority behavior was ever demonstrated. For he remained humble at all times.

The members of the Great Council of Armithil, on the other hand, were having trouble in accepting him. Rumpelstiltskin acted rebellious to the rules of the Council. First of all, he had refused to sleep in a tent, like the nobles and generals did. Instead, he insisted to curl himself on the hard ground and under the starry sky, next to a warm fire, with the company of his father, son and nephew. Then Rumpelstiltskin had refused to eat with the members of the Council. He had tried, but the looks of disgust and reproval ended up by turning his insides around. He gave up after the third try and, since then, he ate among soldiers, with his own kind, where he felt comfortable and at ease. Finally, and even after the repetitive warnings, he continued sharing tender moments with Belle before the eyes of everybody. But despite his naïve stubbornness, his kind and dedicated actions towards the militaries did win the respect of some members from the Council, who were more open minded and prepared to accept the great changes the war was bringing. The nobles were learning to accept this new member in their society, as well as his family, who too had proven to be loyal and brave at their own way.

One afternoon, close to twilight, Rumpelstiltskin and Charleston were in engaged in one of their senseless discussions. This time they were shouting and cursing around a fire and a pan with stew. Belle, Baelfire, Humbert and Mulan watched the scene in silence, not knowing if they should be upset or laugh at the absurdity of the situation. When suddenly, they froze at the sound of a very familiar voice. Everybody heard, except Charleston, who still flushed and agitated with his son's stubbornness, continued complaining loudly. Rumpelstiltskin put his hand around his mouth, shushing him urgently. Once the old man was quiet, he too heard the calling.

"Do I know this voice?" Charleston asked unsure.

"Of course you know! It's Bram!" Rumpelstitlskin clarified excited and paced hurriedly in the sound's direction, followed by his family and Mulan.

Some soldiers watched with patent curiosity the strange scene of a man shouting out for Rumpelstiltskin while he stared incessantly at an object on his hand, followed by two children, two nobles and a bunch of dwarves. It was quite a bizarre vision.

"Bram!" The spinner called out when he spotted his friend from the distance.

The woodcutter lifted his head and immediately a wide sincere smile grew on his face. He was so happy to see his best friend, he didn't even notice the other man was running to him. Bram crushed Rumpelstiltskin in a tight hug and slightly lifted in him the air, causing a series of protests from the spinner, between his laughter of joy. Bram and his children were delighted to see Belle again, as well as Humbert and Charleston (Hansel and Gretel were particularly curious about the legendary man, who they had seen only once and very long time ago). The reunion was a blissful one, as old friends hugged and kissed warmly.

"I was so worried about you!" Rumpelstiltskin confessed. "How did you find me?" Bram proudly presented the compass, the arrow pointing directly to his friend. "Wow." The spinner said almost timidly, the magical object being the proof of their loyal friendship.

"I didn't come alone…" Bram said as he pointed behind him, but he was cut by Belle and Snow's voices, when they saw each other.

The two women embraced and kissed on their cheeks sisterly with tears in their eyes, expressing between sobs and laughter how glad they were to find each other again. It was then that Rumpeltskiltskin's eyes met Prince James. The former shepherd had remained silent during the warm reunion. Never in his life had he expected Bram's best friend to be the cripple who helped him fight an ogre. The same man with who the Princess of Armithil was in love. When Bram started shouting out the man's name, Prince James knew it would be impossible for two people to have the same outlandish name. His suspicions were confirmed when he saw the former cripple running down the woods. He had remained silent, for he was interconnecting the dots and was starting to wonder if so many coincidences were possible.

"Prince James?" The spinner said surprised. "What…How?"

"You know him?" This time it was Bram's turn to ask.

"Yes, we met weeks ago." Prince James explained. "When his leg was still damaged." Only then did Bram realize his friend was detached of his trustful wooden staff and walking perfectly well without it.

"By the gods grace! How did your leg get cured?" Bram asked marveled.

"It's a long story, but to keep it short: Queen Regina cursed Kriemont, forced me to spin gold in her castle and during the process of my captivity, she healed my leg."

"Queen Regina? She got to you too?" Bram exclaimed, more and more puzzled by the second.

"What do you mean? You encountered her too?" The spinner asked shocked.

A tense silence fell in the group. Belle and Snow, still holding their hands, stared at each other surprised and then at their future husbands. Rumpelstiltskin, Bram and Prince James also switched worried looks among themselves.

"You all know each other?" Charleston finally spoke out loud what everybody was thinking. "How is that possible?"

"Come. Let's go to our camp and talk things through. This is not the place to do it." Rumpelstiltskin said after an awkward pause. He noticed some soldiers were staring curiously at them and realized they needed to talk in a more private place. The other's nodded and soon the odd group reached the camp. They sat around the fire, while Charleston checked his precious stew (without his son fussing about it this time).

Then the stories followed. Bram recounted his last adventures. Of how his children were used to find the apple that would later on poison Snow White, whose curse was lifted by Prince James, after he met Bram in the Infinite Forest, who led him to his true love with the help of the magical compass, after his children found them in the cursed woods. Rumpelstilstkin recounted with more detail how Queen Regina cursed Kriemont, made him spin straw into gold to save the villagers, how he accidently found Belle in the castle's tower (who meanwhile explained she had been ambushed and cursed by Maleficent and later on brought to Queen Regina's castle) and managed to escape thanks to the Huntsman, who had already helped another prisoner run away (Prince James, thus). They discovered Prince James, Rumpelstitlskin and Belle escaped the same night Hansel and Gretel had to steal the poisoned apple from the Blind Witch. Finally Baelfire told his adventure with his cousins and Mulan of how they travelled to the fronts with the intuit of saving his father from the Evil Queen but ended up being rescued by him while challenging Maleficent in the form of a dragon.

"You killed a dragon?" Bram yelled out with incredibility, staring at Rumpelstiltskin with wide eyes. "You? A dragon?"

"She was spitting fire at Bae!" Rumpelstiltskin said in a defensive manner, while his friend put his hand on his head, unable to believe his friend's actions.

"Man, you are one hell of a dangerous father!" Bram concluded, laughing and patting his friend's back a too vigorously. The woodcutter's comment lightened the tense sphere they had felt during the recounting of their strange adventures and everybody laughed.

"Papa, did you tell him already?" Baelfire suddenly asked.

"Tell me what?" The spinner raised his right hand and Bram's eyes widened so much they looked like they would pop out of his face. He opened and closed his mouth several times, but no sound came out. His eyes diverted to Belle, who proudly showed her matching engagement ring.

"No!" Bram shouted incredulously. "You are marrying? The princess? You are marrying the princess! Oh by the gods! My crazy old friend!" He cheered as joy seemed to want to burst from his chest, hugging Rumpelstiltskin with too much force again, making him yell of complaint. The teenagers laughed together, while cheers and congratulations travelled the group.

"I'm so happy for you." Snow sincerely said to Belle, tears already wanting to escape her eyes. She examined the ring on her friend's finger and her brow furrowed a bit. "Is it made out of…tin?"

"It's an old tradition from Rumple's village." Belle proudly stated. Snow White's smile widened of awe and stared at the spinner. Rumpelstiltskin was not a handsome man like Prince James. Yet there was something pleasant about him, something about his eyes and smile. She immediately recognized a good heart in him. And that made him attractive nevertheless. "But Snow, you're not telling me everything!" Belle exclaimed when she saw Snow's ring on her marriage's finger. The raven haired princess smiled beautifully.

"Charming asked me to marry him." Snow revealed and the two women again hugged, happy for each other.

"Charming?" Baelfire whispered to his father with a mischievous look.

"Hey! That's the pet name she gave me!" Prince James defended, feeling his face grow warm.

"Well, that's truly a …charming pet name!" Rumpelstiltskin said half giggling, causing a grunt from the prince.

"Hey Charming! Didn't you have important matters to talk about? Like the war against Queen Regina and your lovely father?" Grumpy, the ill-tempered dwarf reminded.

At that moment Prince James knew nobody would ever call him by his name again. But his small humiliation was quickly forgotten by the dwarf's reminder and he announced his and Snow's plan in defeating both Queen Regina and King George. There was no much surprise for their decision, although, everybody was aware of the great dangers and risks this new endeavor involved.

"We should summon the Great Council." Belle said firmly.

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