I'm terribly sorry for the last late updates. But good news: Dead-lines and stuff finally ended! Great! Now I have more time to concentrate on FF and update more regularly again :)

Thank you: Rumbellelover, StoryArtistNamedS, Queen of Light 17, thedoctorsgirl42, Grace5231973, FortunesFavour, BlueBenny, AshRedDragon, Outlaw Jessie James, Nami Swannn

I do not own Once Upon a Time

Chapter 61 - Days 65 and 66

The rescue party slowly ascended towards the light, leaving the dark and haunted world from the dungeons. Everybody marched silently and the king in particular looked around bitterly at the damages of his once beautiful castle. A place full of history lived by many generations from his family. King Maurice stepped out weakly of the castle and blinking at the light he no longer was used to. The soldiers, who waited outside in anticipation for news about their sovereign, seeing their King, cheered happily. He was surprised by the number of faces and strong voices that greeted him. It was all too overwhelming and his body gave signs of wanting to collapse.

"I'm dizzy. I must sit down." He whispered weakly, already seeing black dots before his eyes.

He was quickly assisted by ministers of the Council. He was immediately directed to a large tent, so their ruler could rest, bath and eat in peace. Belle watched her father be taken away, while the noblemen rested her assured that King Maurice was in good hands. She looked unsure at Rumpelstiltskin. His eyes were fixed on the ruler and she could read the apprehension in them.

"Do you think he will be alright?" Belle meekly asked. The spinner looked at her surprised by the weakness and the uncertainly in her voice. He smiled and kissed her gently on her temple.

"Of course he will. All he needs is a good rest. Do not worry." Belle smiled at his comforting words. She sighed still worried. But she had little time to be troubled about her father, for soon she was requested by several people to treat some urgent matters. The princess had a broken kingdom to restore.

"King or not, he doesn't have the right!" Charleston insisted for the thousandth time, while he stirred a cauldron of hot soup.

"Pap, please, just let it go. The man lived months of incarceration. You cannot expect him to come out of it completely sane! Besides, it was happened too hastily. It was probably too confusing for him, in first place. I mean, the man didn't even have the time to process the information he was receiving. No wonder he was all freaked out." Rumpelstiltskin said, while he distributed bread among his family and Bram's. He watched Belle from a distance with some aprehension. She was talking with Commander Byront, no doubt the king being the subject.

"It's still no justification." Charleston muttered upset. "And you shouldn't be defending him! The bastard hates you already just because you are not one of those snotty rich bastards!"

"Grandpapa is right. I think the king is a jerk." Baelfire said upset while he held his bowl, so Charleston could pour some soup in it. "I can't believe were going to be family." He complained, to Hansel and Gretel's amusement. The idea their friend was becoming part of the royal family still stroke them as absolutely crazy, unbelievable and yet, absolutely amazing.

"Well, I feel sorry for Belle. She already went through enough. She could at least have her father's support" Gretel said wisely and Bram smiled proudly at her.

"Oh, you all! Let it go!" Rumpelstiltskin insisted irritated. "Give me a break, okay?" Bram was about to tell a joke, but kept it to himself, for Belle joined them for dinner.

"How's your father" The spinner immediately made space for her to sit down and gave his untouched bowl of warm soup.

"I guess he's fine. I couldn't talk to him. Apparently he was so exhausted that he already fell asleep. Anyway, Lord Whitmore, he's one of the Council's ministers, you know, the one with the long beard." Rumpesltiltskin nodded, knowing the man to be quite strict but always kind to him, despite the different backgrounds. "Well, my father trusts him a lot and he explained him everything."

"In that case we'll have to wait till tomorrow to know more." Rumpeltstiltskin said as a matter of fact. Belle nodded in agreement, but couldn't repress a sigh. "Until then… there's something very important we all must do." The spinner said with a smirk and a naughty glint in his eye. Belle furrowed her brow in confusion and wonder.

"Really? And what is that?"

"We need to celebrate our victory in the war!" The spinner said bluntly, causing giggles from the teenagers and a beautiful smile on Belle's face. She kissed him on his cheek, never expecting to find somebody who could give so much support, understanding and love like he did. The more they were together, the more she had the feeling he knew exactly how she felt and what to do when she was feeling down. This though alone filled her heart with joy. Then, suddenly, the beauty realized. Nothing, not even her father, could stand in the way of her happiness.

There were festivities the whole night. The seven dwarves proved to be experts in setting up a party and there was a lot of music, dancing, gambling, drinking, singing and laughing. Everybody celebrated the victory of a war that proved to be more difficult and dangerous to win than anybody had ever expected. Even Snow White was allowed to forget during some hours, the painful task she would have in arresting her stepmother and testing her one last time. Like Snow, also Belle put all her worries aside and partied along with the people she had learned to love so much in such a short time.

Little did she know that her merriness was being closely followed by a pair of familiar blue eyes. King Maurice, after falling into a deep dreamless sleep, woke up in the high hours of the night with the sound of drums and horns, singing, clapping and laughter. He cautiously left his tent and followed the sounds of the party. He quickly hid in the shadows when he saw his daughter. To his great dismay, she was laughing and dancing between soldiers and peasants. The king's first impulsive thought was of disgust and anger. His daughter, the princess, the future queen, was acting disgracefully. She was merging with the common people, acting like one of them, becoming one of them. He was petrified to watch her behave recklessly, dancing too fast, stamping her feet and clapping her hands in the process. Her hair was loose and messy and she was dressed like a man, with brown leather pants. This peasant dance was too physical to his liking. Belle switched in a crazy rate from dance partner, who held her with an arm around her waist, a strong grip, while they swirled around in fast circles. King Maurice's first thoughts were bitter and unforgivable. His daughter, his little innocent girl, was breaking all rules of etiquette and acting way too openly.

King Maurice remained a long while in the shadows, watching his disgraced daughter with fire in his eyes, when suddenly he had an unexpected vision. For moments, he ruler couldn't breathe properly, he blinked several times, opening and shutting his eyes with force. He could not believe what he was seeing. He would not believe what his eyes presented before him. The dancing and laughing form of Belle suddenly transformed into King Maurice's lovely wife. Belle's mother was present in their daughter's beautiful smile. She was present in the glint of her deep azure eyes. The deceased Queen was again alive in the happiness that irradiated from Belle. It took a while for King Maurice to realize he was weeping. This vision of his wife living through the form of his daughter's happiness was as blissful as painful. As he watched his daughter dancing and laughing, he realized, as reckless and untidy as she looked, Belle had never been as lovely and as beautiful as she did right now.

Belle was in love.

And love was the source of her happiness, the source of her beauty.

King Maurice sighed disturbed and let himself fall to his knees. He hated Rumpelstiltskin. He hated him for being a common peasant. He hated him for taking Gaston's place. He hated him for killing the dragon and avenging Gaston. But most of all, he hated him for stealing his daughter's heart. He wanted the man's death; he wanted his head on a plate, he wanted to wipe off his whole existence away from this world, obliterate even the smallest memory of this man ever existing. But he could never do it. Because Belle would be devastated. Because Belle would die all together with Rumpelstiltskin. The King let out a loud sob. He could never do such a thing to his daughter.

This was his tragedy.

"You know, love doesn't look at faces, ages, classes or races." A voice was heard near him. The King stood up suddenly and was surprised to see a short but strong built man standing near him, holding a pint full of beer.

"W-What?" The King meant to ask who he was, but he had been caught by surprised.

"I know how true love feels. The happiness it gives. It makes you feel alive. But I also know how it feels when you don't follow your heart. When you reject love. It kills you inside. Makes you feel hollow." The man spoke gravely and drunk a great portion of his pint. "Look at them! They are so happy. You can see the love in the way they look at each other." He said in a mixture of delight and envy.

"He's a peasant. A poor miserable spinner." The king moaned afflicted.

"He loves her." The man said.

The King released his last sob before standing up again and walked away defeated, back to his tent, without adding another word. The short man remained behind and made a muffed sound. He watched the merry couple a while and regretted the choice he had made not so long ago.

"If a peasant can stay with a noble…" He told himself in wonder. "… why shouldn't a dwarf stay with a fairy?" He smiled to himself and felt some of his grumpiness drift away while a hopeful dreamy tried to emerge back to his soul.

"Papa?" King Maurice sat up right, waking up with a stir. The memories of a strange talk with a strange man immediately returned to his mind, taunting his thoughts already. "Papa, are you awake?"

The King quickly got up, put on a thick red robe and stepped out of the tent. Belle greeted him with a kind smile, trying to hide her anxiety. The king blinked as he realized she had a light blue dress on. The beauty was wearing the dress Snow White had given her when she arrived in her castle, the one she had traded for Angelina's leather trousers. Belle had brought it along with her and was glad she did. The princess had realized the day before, her father had never seen her with trousers. Wanting to please him, she wore the dress to look more like the princess her papa was used to. She was aware the once silky material had become permanently smashed, just like the mud stains on its edges wouldn't vanish, as often as she would try to wash them off. The dress was pretty much stitched in several places, a meticulous work from Thumbelina during their travel to the south; in an attempt to distract herself from her worries. Nevertheless, it was a dress. Not as beautiful and presentable as it once had been, but still a dress. And the only one she possessed right now. Hopefully, her father wouldn't fuss about its state. So, she held her pretty smile and tried to look as noble as possible.

"Belle! M-My beautiful daughter." The King said with watery eyes, cupping her face in his hands. "You look lovely!" Belle smiled relived she had made a good impression in her father. "Do you know how much you look like your mother, right now?" He said, finally releasing his tears. Belle gave a reassuring smile and had to fight herself the urge to cry.

"Papa, I missed you so much!" She said with a sob. Father and daughter engaged themselves in a warm hug.

"I missed you too, my child." Belle slowly released herself from her father's strong grip and wiped her tears away with a chuckle.

"A-Are you feeling better?" She asked, slowly composing herself.

"Yes. I am." He said with a smile. It was true. He felt a lot better. For the first time for what felt ages, he had a good rest, slept deep and dreamless. He ate well and he never thought washing himself could make him feel so invigorated. Belle smiled back and he read mix of expectation, excitement and anxiety.

"You want me to meet him, don't you?"

"I'm telling you! This is red!"

"No, silly! It's clearly brown!"

"Are you blind? Look at it! It's red!"

"Brown!"

"Red!"

"Reddish brown." Rumpelstiltskin and Charleston turned their heads around, looking equally livid. Belle had to chuckle, father and son wearing the same exact expression of shock on their faces.

"I told you it had red on it." Rumpelstitskin mumbled at his father.

"Yeah, and it definitely has brown too." The old man contested.

"Ah-hum." Both men turned to her again. The beauty made a sign with her eyes and both realized the King was standing right behind her, staring at them with a confused expression. The ruler could not believe two people would be screaming on top of each other because of the color of a small piece of fabric.

"Rumpelstiltskin, Charleston. I would like you to meet my father."

Both peasants switched dismay looks, but turned to princess with a wide smile. They would swallow whatever nonsense coming from the sovereign just for the love they felt for Belle.

The title is inspired from Mariah Carey.

Originally I was going to put Commander Byront a the one to confront Maurice with the reality, but when I was writing, I realized it had to be someone who had experienced the two sides of Love. So that's how Grumpy came up.

Always happy to hear your opinions

Review :)