Chapter 6

The first thing Rumple was aware of was how cold he was, and then how different the place looked. He hadn't been sure of what they would find awaiting them when they returned to their land, but it certainly wasn't this. The castle was trashed.

As Rumple looked around, dread started to creep its way uninvited into his mind. Instinctively, he squeezed Belle's hand a little tighter, and he felt her squeeze back. He looked down at their joined hands, then slowly raised his gaze up into her face.

She looked worried too, and they held each other's gaze for a while, both a little scared of what this might mean. It certainly wasn't the start they had hoped for. They'd been expecting to find his castle the way they had left it, had expected to find their land the way they had left it. Finding the castle trashed seemed a bad omen, one warning that other things in their land had changed as well, and quite possibly not for the better.

As Belle looked at Rumple, she saw her own dread reflected in his eyes, and realized for the first time how nervous he looked. Putting her own fears aside, Belle tried to clear the air by saying, "We made it back. Step number one is a check." She attempted a smile then, but it came out more forced than she had intended.

Rumple managed a weak smile as well, but he still looked worried. Dropping his hand, Belle walked over toward the center of the hall and looked around. "It's been a long time since I've been here," she mused, hoping to distract Rumple from his worries.

It didn't work. "It's been a long time for me, too," he murmured as he looked around. One of the windows was open, and he walked toward it. As he looked out, he noticed how bare the land looked. It was the end of fall, the time of the year where all the leaves have fallen but winter's beauty hasn't yet set in. A breeze came in the window, and Rumple instinctively shivered, not really aware of what he was doing, standing there as if in a haze.

Watching him, Belle walked over and shut the window, then walked up to him and put a hand on his shoulder. "You're going to catch a chill, Rumple," she chastised, and frowned when he nodded absently.

Attempting to return them to the task at hand, Belle said, "Okay, so what do we need to do?" Rumple didn't say anything; he just stood there staring over her shoulder to the window. Growing concerned, Belle dropped her hand from his shoulder, and, trying to get his attention, said, "Rumple? What is it?"

As if he was surprised to see her there, Rumple looked confused, and then shook his head to clear it. "It's… It's nothing… Nothing…" he stammered, trying to get the memories out of his head.

Belle could see that it wasn't nothing, and could also see that, for the moment, he had his guard down. "It isn't nothing," she said, another question that wasn't a question at all. "Rumple," she said, taking one of his hands in both of hers, "Tell me what's bothering you."

Rumple tried to focus his gaze on her, but he couldn't quite bring himself back to the present. Not yet. "It's just…. So much happened here…." He said. Belle said nothing, waiting for him to continue. He did. "It's like I'm stepping back into another life. It was so long ago... I was a different person, living a different life, and yet now I'm back. Back where I started, still looking for my son, still looking…."

As he trailed off, Belle became even more concerned. "It was a long time ago, Rumple," she said, "And you found your son. You'll find him again. Don't worry, we will find him." Seeing that he wasn't going to respond, Belle said again, "So what do we need to do?"

Suddenly Rumple looked at her, and this time he seemed to be really looking at her, not at some far off point she couldn't see. As if realizing where he was for the first time, Rumple said, "Someone broke in here."

Not understanding what he meant, Belle said, "Broke in? To the castle?"

Rumple nodded. "That's why it's so trashed. Someone must have broken in here." As if that explained everything, Rumple turned and began to walk toward the cupboard at the end of the hall.

Belle followed him, and saw that the glass in the cupboard door was all broken. "Did they take something from there?" She asked, trying to figure out what he was after. "Is that why the glass is shattered?"

"No, no," Rumple said absently, "I did that." As if that made perfect sense, he walked over to the closet beside the large cupboard and opened it. "Someone has been here."

"You did that?" Belle asked, wondering how long it had been broken.

"Yes, but that's not the point," Rumple said impatiently as he continued to rummage through the closet's contents.

Growing a bit annoyed that he wouldn't give her a straight answer, Belle said, "Then what is the point?" Not getting a response, she walked over, grabbed Rumple's shoulder and said, "Rumple, tell me what is going on. What are we going to do? What's bothering you so much?"

Realizing he'd been leaving her out, Rumple saw how self-absorbed he had been, and he started to feel bad. "I'm sorry Belle," he sighed, "It's just…. It's just not what I was hoping to find."

That really wasn't an explanation. "What isn't? What did you expect to find? What are we doing here?"

Searching for a way to explain himself to her, Rumple said, "I had hoped to find everything the way it had been. Seeing the castle like this, it means things have changed. It means… Well, it means this land is different than it once was. If someone broke into my castle, it means people here aren't afraid of the Dark One anymore." Not sure how to continue, Rumple paused, and then whispered, "That means I don't have power anymore." That last sentence was involuntary, and he was surprised he had admitted that. What he wasn't going to admit was how much that scared him.

To his surprise, Belle began to smile, then, looking him in the eyes, shook her head, and put her hand on the side of his face. He couldn't bring himself to look her in the eyes, and so he glanced down. "How many times do I have to tell you?" She sighed, smiling lovingly at him. "You don't need power, you need courage." Seeing that he was still looking away, she quietly said, "You have to have faith, Rumple. Faith in yourself, and faith in us. Believe in us."

At that he slowly brought himself to look at her, and he saw such genuine care in her eyes that he had to hold back tears. "I do believe in us," he said, and wrapped her in a hug. He was surprised by how much she could influence him, and also that he didn't mind. There was a time when he would never have let someone have that kind of influence over him, a time when he never would have let someone so far in. Now, though, he couldn't imagine trying to live without her.

Slowly pulling away, Rumple looked his wife in the eyes, and realized she was right. Regardless of what had happened while they were away, they would find a way to accomplish their goal. Nothing could stop him from finding a way to save his son.

Bringing herself back to the matter at hand, Belle said, "So, do we have a plan? What are we going to do?"

Trying to come up with a plan, Rumple began to tell Belle everything he knew. "Henry's book said there is a powerful wizard in our land now, and we are going to have to find him."

"The book!" Belle exclaimed, remembering having stuck it in her bag before they left. Taking her bag off her shoulder, she pulled the book out and handed it to Rumple. "I brought it in case we needed it. What does it say about the wizard?"

Smiling at her excitement, Rumple said "I knew I could count on you," and Belle blushed and looked away with a small giggle. Flipping through the book, Rumple found what he was looking for. "Here," he said triumphantly, turning the book to Belle. This new wizard practices the most unstable type of magic," he said ominously, "The magic that is somewhere in between light and dark magic."

"Have you ever seen this type of magic before?" Belle asked, curious but wary.

"No," Rumple said, "I haven't. My experience has been mostly with dark magic, as that is the way of the Dark One. I had some encounters with fairies, theirs is light magic. And then Ms. Swan and the Queen gave us quite the show of light magic back in Storybrooke. But this kind of magic, I've never seen it actually being used."

"So, do you know what it can do? Is it dangerous?" Belle wasn't really sure what to make of this information, but by the look on Rumple's face she figured there was cause for concern.

Rumple made a face that was half way between a sarcastic smile and a grimace, and said, "Of course it's dangerous. All magic is dangerous, and this type is particularly unstable. But it has its perks, too. I don't know exactly what it can do, but I know it is more powerful than either light magic or dark magic, because it has powers of both of them."

"But you think it has the power to restore life." Belle said that quietly, somewhat afraid of how he might respond.

Rumple nodded slowly, staring at the pages in the book. "It says it has the power to return something taken away by either dark or light magic. It can undo the worst of curses, those which even true love's kiss can't break."

Belle began to see where he was going. "And the magic Zelena used, the magic that killed Neal, that was dark magic."

Again, Rumple nodded slowly. "His life was taken away by dark magic. If this is right, the wizard should be able to undo his curse, and return his life to him."

Belle noticed that his voice was not so heavy now, and she hoped that meant he was beginning to have more faith, beginning to have more hope. "So," she said, "We have to find the wizard, and, what, convince him to come back to Storybrooke with us and bring back Neal's life?"

Rumple looked at her, a devious grin making its way onto his face. "Yes," he said mischievously, "Convince him, or make him."

Once they had come up with a plan for finding the Wizard in Henry's book, they looked out the window and realized the sun was setting. They decided the beginning of their journey could wait until the morning, so Rumple took Belle up to his old bed chamber and they settled down for the night.

Realizing this might be the last night she got to sleep in a real bed for a while, Belle decided to make the most of it, and lie down on the pillows with a heavy sigh. She was excited for what lay ahead, and couldn't wait to get started.

As she lie there, Belle kept thinking of all the adventures that awaited them. As she contemplated all they were going to do and all they were going to see, she found that she couldn't sleep.

She wasn't really sure how long they had laid there, but at some point she gave up on trying to sleep and began to get up. "Where are you going?" She jumped, not expecting her husband to be awake.

"Oh," she said, "nowhere really. I just couldn't sleep."

"Excited, or worried?" Rumple said, a hint of sarcasm underlying the feigned concern.

Belle smiled and lay back down, putting her head on his shoulder. "Both, I guess," she said.

"Well, try to get some sleep," Rumple said, "We might not get very much in the coming days.

"I don't think I can fall asleep," she said, more to herself than to him.

Rumple smiled. "You know what I do when I can't fall asleep?" he asked, and she giggled.

"In my experience," she laughed, "You lie there awake."

"I'm serious," he complained, then said, "I think of something that makes me happy. The happiest moment of my life. I close my eyes, and go back to that moment, remembering exactly how I felt, and remembering everything that made me happy," he sighed then, not really aware of what he was saying. Closing his eyes, he continued. "Then, once I'm in a better place than I was when I laid down, I fall asleep."

Belle smiled, and, closing her eyes, did the same. She thought of all the wonderful, small moments they'd had together, remembered how she felt when they got married, how she felt when he called her "Mrs. Gold". Before she knew it, she was asleep.

As Rumple lie there, he listened to her breathing, and eventually the slow, even pattern of it told him she was asleep. "There you go," he whispered, "You did it." Smiling to himself, he kissed her head gently, and then lie back to think of what he would face in the coming days.

Realizing he wasn't following his own advice, he tried to stop thinking and go to sleep. Before he did, though, he made a promise. Under his breath, talking low so as not to wake up his sleeping wife, he said, "I will find a way to bring you back, Bae. I will." Looking down at the sleeping form in his arms, he gently hugged his wife, and said, "Then we can be a family."