This is an extra long chapter, so I hope you guys liked it. And yes, it's like six days early. But I really had the inspiration and the desire to write this chapter, so I figured why not get it done? I'm sure you guys aren't complaining.

And I know a lot of you were worried about the last chapter with the way things ended poorly between Belle and Rumple. Not to fear, everything will be alright...maybe. ;)

Disclaimer: I own absolutely jack-squat of OuaT or Rumbelle.

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Rumpelstiltskin woke up incredibly early that morning. It was normally his want to wake up just before the dawn would rise. The whole day would be his. Besides, with his magic, he needed very little of what the mortals called 'sleep'. His magic would weave about him even if he had been awake for three days straight. It would uphold him and give him just enough energy to keep his mind acute and focused.

The Dark One was a man of habit, fond of routine and schedule. That was why it surprised him that he opened his eyes nearly two hours ahead of when he usually did. It took him several moments to remember where he was or why he was laying in a crumpled heap upon the floor. His hair was messed with sleep, his cheeks were covered in the trails of dried tears. And then, it all came crashing down upon him like a tumultuous wave, nearly succeeding in pushing him back down upon the stone hearth. He steadied himself as he stood, his hands clutching at the table as if it was his life support.

"Papa!" His boy had screamed so many years ago. "Papa, please. Papa, it is the only way!"

Rumpelstiltskin's brow furrowed at the nightmares he had even in his waking hours. He sought to close his eyes, but the visions became all the more clear. He saw the forest about him, the inky black sky unadorned by stars. But his eyes were most drawn to a gaping hole in the very earth itself. It was surrounded by the green fog of magic, so different from his lilac hue of power. The wind was whipping about, tossing his hair in all directions, but he could not care to focus on his hideous state. All he saw was Bae, his Bae, clutching desperately at his hand as he attempted to pull his father down into the magical vortex.

"No, Bae!" He had more whimpered than commanded, "It will suck us in and destroy us. It will rip us to shreds!"

"Papa, it won't!" The boy fought back determinedly as he sought to reassure his frightened father, "You have to trust me."

His eyes focused on his last memory of his boy. Tears streamed down Bae's cheek as he looked at the Dark One, his father, in desperation. And then that desperation was replaced by anger and disgust.

Bae opened his mouth and roared, "You coward! You broke our deal!" He spewed out words of rage, "Papa, you promised and you broke our deal!"

"No, Bae," the coward held onto the earth with dear life, "I can't. Please, don't make me. I can't." The magical spinner shook his head and felt Bae's fingers slip from his.

"Papa! Papa!"

Like a chorus of troubled ghosts, Bae's screams echoed throughout his mind as he remembered the terror that had filled his heart the moment Bae had disappeared through the portal and everything had become still once again. It was then, and only then, that the coward began to think. He pushed the fear of death down as the fear of losing his son rose into his heart and pierced him hard.

"Bae?" He cried to the emptiness, "Wait! I want to come with you. Where did you go?" He frantically began to palm the earth in search of the portal that had only seconds ago been very real and live. The very portal that had taken his son away from him. "Bae, I want to come with you, Bae." But it was no use.

It had been no use. No matter how long he had called his son, how long he had tried to find him, the boy did not return. The magic had whisked him away to a world that the cowardly spinner could not go to. He had been given a chance to live a peaceful and happy life without magic, only loving his son. But he had forsaken such a chance. The only deal he had ever broken.

No more tears came for Rumpelstiltskin. He had cried them all the night before, and for the many long years past. But he knew one thing. He knew that today would be a day of constant spinning. He whisked himself away into the Great Hall to take a seat at his wheel. As fast as he could, he tried to ready it for use. His breathing was quick as he tried to calm it. The wheel began to creak and groan with age as he gently began to pull the straw and watched it transform into gold. He closed his eyes, the many years of practice were enough to guide his hands and the wheel both.

But the moment he closed his eyes, an image he did not expect formed underneath his lids. He had expected Bae's desperate pleas or his angry frown to come to life in his mind. But no. It was Belle. His maid, as Rumpelstiltskin remembered how afraid she had been the night previous and how she had quickly masked that fear in her bravery. The bravery which so accompanied his Belle. He had hurt her, he knew. She had offered him comfort and he had turned her away like a stray mutt, like some filthy vermin that he knew she was not. She had innocently tried to help a monster in need, and like the beast within him, he had pushed her away as hard as he could. He did not need her warm fingers to trail their way into his heart and his mind. Her lingering scent wafted to his nose as the images became more vivid.

His eyes peeked open just a slit as he turned quietly in his stool to see the beauty up very early indeed. Was this how early she was usually up? To ensure that he was always properly fed and warm and comfortable? Rumpelstiltskin shook his head. She awakened when he awoke. Nearly every morning. This was far too early. Perhaps she couldn't sleep very well either.

She chanced a wary glance at him but quickly lowered her eyes back to the prepared chipped cup in her hand. She had filled it with his favorite tea, something that she knew always soothed him. The fragrance of peach filled his senses and mingled with her scent of honeysuckle and mist.

Belle always took extra measures to please him, he knew. That's why, even on this day of awkward silence that settled upon them like the plague, she stepped cautiously towards him and held the cup out to him. "Here you are, master." So that was it then. The wall that had just begin to tumble down had been rebuilt. And it was stonier than ever.

"Thank you." He mumbled under his breath.

"You're welcome." She said in a ghost of a whisper. She opened her mouth as if she wanted to say something else but then decided against it. She turned and began to walk away.

Rumpelstiltskin licked his lips and hesitated once before stopping her. "Belle. Wait." His words were soft so as not to frighten her. Nonetheless, she tensed. She turned to face him and raised an eyebrow.

"Is there anything else you wish, master?" She bowed her head submissively and he frowned at her formality, as if she wasn't comfortable around him anymore. She was cold and distant.

He sighed. "I wish to tell you that I am sorry about last night." She started to protest but he motioned for her to be quiet. "You must realize that I have been alone for many centuries. I am not used to someone, anyone, showing me care. Much less a princess who I took away from her family to be my slave."

"Can't you see, Rumpelstiltskin? I only want to be your friend." She frowned with pity upon him. How long had he really been all alone without anyone to care for him? "I thought I was your friend."

Rumpelstiltskin smirked maliciously for a moment at the foolish notion. "A monster has no friends." But when he saw how much his comment pained her, he spoke more softly, "In time, I may come to accept your friendship. But right now..." He was floundering with indecision before his lips set themselves in a thin line.

"So you will not tell me what was wrong last night?" She was silently pleading that he would open up to her. But perhaps those wounds are too fresh for him, she tried to reason with herself. The last thing she wanted to do was afflict pain upon him.

He looked at her and shook his head. "I don't think I can. Not now, dear." Belle only nodded in respect of his wishes and walked back to the table to retrieve the tea tray and take it out to the kitchen.

Rumpelstiltskin turned to face the wheel again. Pain gripped at his heart like a vice. Coward, she just wants to help you, the man in him rebuked. You don't need her help, the Dark One rose in defense, She can't help you. Rumpelstiltskin let out an inaudible sigh before coming to terms with what he truly wanted her to do. He wanted her to cool the ache in his heart, to fill the void that Bae had left behind. He wanted her to cradle his head in her arms and stroke her slender fingers through his hair. He wished for Belle, his maid, to whisper reassurances and sweet comforts to him to numb his heartache. Why would you want something so repugnant? The Dark One scoffed. She is a woman, a conquest, that has come here to serve you. There is nothing more. How could she ever wish to touch, let alone comfort, a beast like you? Rumpelstiltskin knew the voice was right but he couldn't help but look at her again.

And then he felt determination surge within him. No more coward. He would be brave, and allow her to help him. To mend him. To do whatever she could to be his friend. Besides, once she heard of the vile things he had done and knew the monstrosity that was really Rumpelstiltskin, she would recoil in disgust anyway. He might as well take her kindness while it was still offered.

And so just as she was about to leave, Rumpelstiltskin cleared his throat and spoke clearly. "Nearly two hundred years ago I had a wife and a son." His voice made her stop and she turned to look at him. Step by step, she began to cross over to him. Awe was on her face as she realized he was opening his tough casing and letting her in. She turned her focus back upon his small voice. He seemed hesitant as he spoke, the determination waxing and waning with every word. But he kept on speaking. "I was nothing but a shell of a man. I was a coward through and through. It was that cowardice that forced my wife to leave. She couldn't bear the shame such a one as I brought her." He looked at Belle but averted his eyes as he realized he had her full attention. He stood up from the wheel and paced to the window where he gazed out at the sunshine and snow. His arms were crossed on his chest as he peered into the winter world beyond. "My boy and I lived on for a couple more years, until I slowly delved deeper into the evil that was the sole thing that brought me courage. My son tried to find a way to free me from this curse. I didn't think it could be done," he sniffed pertly, "But he did it." Rumpelstiltskin paused as he felt Belle standing beside him. She placed a comforting hand on his shoulder and he immediately tensed under her still strange and foreign touch.

"What happened?" She urged in nothing but a whisper.

"What happened, dearie, is I'm a difficult man to love." He closed his eyes and relished in her touch. It soothed him in ways he had never know possible. It cooled his heated flesh, even through his thick leather. Her breath upon his ear calmed him. She was here with him, listening to him and she had yet to pull away from him in disgust. "I couldn't give up my power. To do so would mean to be weak and lowly and a coward once more. But even though I thought I was being brave by keeping my magic, I was the coward for abandoning my son. I lost him, Belle, and I have regretted it for the past two hundred years."

Belle frowned at the sorrowful tale. No wonder he was so coarse and rough. He had been tossed about, bruised, and maimed, more times than neither he nor she dared to count. She licked her lips and gently laid her head against his shoulder in an attempt at offering warm comfort. She felt him begin to relax at her touch and he even leaned his head gently, in a barely-there touch, upon her auburn locks. "Is this why you were so upset yesterday?"

Rumpelstiltskin nodded and sighed. "I had found a possible way to find my son again. A giant claimed to have a magical bean in his possession, all of which I thought had been long ago destroyed. At the last moment, he backed out of our deal. Saying something about 'respecting precious family heirlooms'." He sneered, "I had finally thought that I was going to reunite with my son and be able to apologize for all my wrong-doings, but..." he sighed, "Now I'm right back where I started. Nowhere."

Belle's heart ached as she heard the unmasked, incredibly raw, sadness of her master. She wished to say she was sorry for his ill-fate, to apologize over and over until he begged her to stop, but she knew that nothing she could say would heal his broken heart. Instead, she placed her second hand on his other shoulder and began to rub methodical circles, light whispers upon his dragon-skin vest. "You're awfully tense," she murmured softly as she continued to ease the knots under his skin. "But I can't get anywhere with this vest on you." She huffed quietly. "Come on, off with it."

Rumpelstiltskin turned to her and smirked slyly as he waved a single hand in the air. "As her lady wishes." Belle stared in disbelief and shock as the purple smoke began to form around his whole body.

"Rum, NO!" She nearly cried, clearly embarrassed, "I just meant your vest."

"Ah, did you, dearie?" Rumpelstiltskin teased her mercilessly, "You really should specify next time."

Belle couldn't help but laugh at the awkward situation she had landed herself in and found herself secretly wondering what it would be like to look upon the scaly flesh of his chest—just his chest, she added forcefully in her mind with an added blush. Wait, why would she think such things anyway? Blushing at the indecency of her thoughts, she focused on the man who had removed his vest and now remained in a silken salmon dress shirt. The first two buttons were undone, exposing gray-gold skin.

Tentatively, she placed her small but strong fingers upon his shoulders and began to expertly search for all of the knots that mottled along his back and neck. Her trained fingers began to work upon the kinks and muscles until they began to slowly loosen. Occasionally, Rumpelstiltskin would purr in approval. A low guttural sound from the back of his throat that sounded quite strange being uttered from between his teeth.

"How did you get so good at this?" He asked breathlessly as he felt all of the tension of the past days, nay years, slowly wash away into a fraction of what they had been before.

Belle shrugged and grinned. "I guess it's a womanly instinct, is all."

"And what other instincts do you have up your sleeve?" His eyes were closed but she detected mirth bubbling in his voice. "Or are those secrets too?"

"Who is asking? The master or the friend?"

"That would depend, dearie." He purred delightfully back, "Is it the maid or the friend who is answering?"

Belle leaned close to his ear. "The friend." She whispered, "Someone who really cares." Indeed. Somehow, she knew not when or how, this imp-like man had twisted his way into her system. She wanted to see him well, and comfortable, even outside of her duties as servant. She wanted to help in anyway she could to relieve his pain and sorrow.

Rumpelstiltskin looked as if he was about to say something more when a large bang resounded from the hall on the other side of the door.

"What was that?" Belle asked breathlessly.

Rumpelstiltskin frowned at the interruption. "It would seem, my dear Belle, that someone is hear for a visit. Whoever it is must possess magic to get past my barriers." With a flick of his wrist, the vest had been placed on his shoulders once again. He giggled, but it sounded more like a man's laugh than the imp's, at her strange expression. "Can't be having anyone knowing about the wonders you work on a man's stress. People might come from far and wide just to feel the mistress at work." Belle grinned largely at the compliment and walked over to where she had placed the tea tray. Surely, it would be best to keep up the appearance that she was his maid and nothing else. It seemed, at a glance towards her master, that he too agreed and was pleased with her perception.

Just then, the doors to the Grand Hall burst open to reveal a young man with a bounce in his step and a youthful smile upon his lips. Around his shoulder was a yew bow and a quiver of arrow. His dress was of the shade of the forest and a cap of the same color adorned his head.

The Dark One motioned to him with a flourish of his hand and tried to sustain annoyance that such a young, ignorant man should enter his Castle as if he belonged there.

"Are you the Dark One?" The man asked with confidence.

"I am, dearie." Rumpelstiltskin cackled, "But I think the real question that should be asked is who are you and what are you doing in my Dark Castle?"

The man smiled cheekily and bowed mockingly, "My name, beast, is Robin Hood." He winked, "And you have something I want."