So, it's the last chapter. Man, this has been such a fun and interesting journey. I don't think any other story that I have written for Fan-fiction has been as captivating for me as this one. And you all were awesome. I love you all so much and thank you for the humungous support!

Without further ado...please enjoy!

Oh! And I find that if you read this while listening to the song 'Snuff' by Slipknot, it might bring out some heavy emotions. Just a suggestion... :)

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"Ah, you're back," Rumpelstiltskin assessed, forcing his voice to remain steady even though underneath his scales he was a bundle of nerves just waiting to explode. He had to keep himself several times from scrambling towards her and wrapping the young woman up in his arms, thanking her over and over again for returning. Instead, he did not say what was on his heart. "Good. I was nearly out of straw."

But Belle was not to be fooled. She saw his shoulders tense with nervous energy. She heard the slight quake in his voice. She knew him well enough to know when he was feeling anything but normal. Smirking slightly, she walked up to the spinning wheel and set the basket of his precious straw down upon the floor. "Hmm," she replied slyly, "Come on, your happy that I'm back."

Rumpelstiltskin leant forward and whispered in his little, impish voice, "I'm not unhappy." This elicited a small snort from Belle as she circled around the wheel to stand beside him. His eyes avoided her as he felt the nervousness of feeling so close to her assail him. After all, she had come back. No woman in their right mind would have returned, and yet Belle did. There had to be only one reason for that and he was scared stiff to hear it.

"You know," her voice cut through his fear like glass and he looked up at her to see curiosity written all over her face. So simply Belle. "You know, I never understood why you let me leave. You knew that I probably wasn't ever going to return, didn't you?"

He grinned. "Yes, of course, but here you are anyway. Against my better judgment. You are full of surprises, dearie," he quipped to try and lighten their conversation, to draw it back to their playfulness of old. But the beauty would have none of it. She took the straw out of his hand and placed it beside her. Then, she knelt down next to his stool and splayed a gentle hand on his thigh. Her touch was warm and soothing to his scattered brain.

"I'm serious, Rum. Why did you let me leave you here all alone, to revert back to your old state of loneliness?" Her eyes looked up at him expectantly awaiting an answer and he sighed.

Running a hand through the limp curls of his hair, he shrugged. "I suppose," he started and then licked his lips, "I suppose I needed to test you."

"Test me?"

"Yes. To see if you would come back and keep your end of the deal, or if you would just leave me here."

"Oh, Rumpelstiltskin," she sighed sadly, "Do you really think that I am capable of doing such a thing?"

He frowned, "I don't know, Belle. Answer me this: did you always know that you would come back?" Lowering her head, shamefully, she shook it. Rumpelstiltskin curled a finger under her chin and gently forced her to look at him. "I didn't think so. But, then, why did you come back? You could have gone home to your father and to your old life."

Belle was suddenly very aware of the close proximity between her and the fiend, of his finger that was still tucked under her chin, of her hand resting on his leg. And she stuttered. "I-I wasn't going to," she replied with a small smile, "But, then, something changed my mind."

Rumpelstiltskin took that as a near admittance of her feelings. The way she looked at him, tenderly. The way she spoke to him, softly. And the way she was slowly beginning to inch closer to him. The small space that had been between them was disappearing as she leant into him and breathed in his scent of acrid magic.

Her breath whispered on his lips as he too felt the magnetic pull between their hearts. And then his heart was leaping into his throat with nervousness. He was going to kiss her. She was going to kiss him. And nothing would stop him this time. He would not be a coward towards this woman who had shown such courage in returning to the Dark Castle and to the monster living inside it.

And then, their lips touched for the first time and both would have described the contact as purely magical, as a blissful teleport to a whole new world where it was just them among the fluffy pink clouds and the glowing sunsets and shining palaces. Her lips were so soft and tasted of sweet honey as he pulled away and was lost in her mesmerizing beauty.

Belle's cerulean eyes were shining as she saw what was happening. His skin was beginning to glow a bright orange hue and she could see his scaly, green skin of the monster transforming into the soft flesh of a man. She grinned broadly as she wrapped her arms around his neck. "Kiss me again!" She exclaimed with joy, "It's working!"

"What?" He asked in confusion. "What is?" Suddenly the beauty of the kiss had transformed into a strange tingling feeling upon his skin. It felt as if his entire body was itching and he tasted the metallic of magic. Suddenly, he became sick to his stomach as fear crept in.

"Any curse can be broken." Those were the only words Belle needed to utter before he knew what had occurred. He was reverting back to a human. His curse of the Dark One was being stripped away and it had been a young girl who had been able to do it.

He pushed her harshly away and flew off of the stool, putting as much distance between him and her as possible. "Who told you that?" He spat out, "Who knows that?" He looked down and was relieved to see that his skin was once again scaly and grayish-green. He glared down upon Belle who was looking upon him with a mixture of fear and horror and surprise.

"She—she- I don't know. She just told me it would work."

"Who told you?" His menacing voice pushed for an answer but she just shook her head.

"I-I don't know. She-she was a woman I met on the road today. She was in a carriage and dressed in black and looked very rich."

Rumpelstiltskin sneered, "You foolish girl! What have you done?" Striding over to the mirror in the corner, he whipped off the shroud covering it and looked into it, pointing a curved finger at it's smooth surface. "This was you! You turned her against me! You think you can make me weak? You think you can destroy me?" He pointed the finger back at himself and saw Belle approaching him in the reflection.

"Who are you talking to?" She asked in confusion.

"The Queen!" He exclaimed impishly, "Your friend the Queen."

Belle shook her head, "Please, you have to believe me. I didn't know she was the Queen. Please, I didn't know!"

"How do you not know something like that, Belle?" He asked accusingly, "She is known as the Evil Queen for the gods' sake!"

"Maybe because I live in Avonlea, all the way on the West Coast of Fairytale land!" She retorted, her hands curled in tight balls. "She lives in the East. We have never made treaties with her. I've only ever heard of her! So answer me this, Rumpelstiltskin: how would I know who she was?!"

Rumpelstiltskin threw up his hands, "Oh, I don't know. You think! She is the one woman who wants to destroy me and it looks as if she got a young, gullible girl to do her bidding. She spun you that lie about the kiss. To make me turn back, to make me weak!"

"All I wanted to do was help!" She argued into his face. "Can't you see that that is all I wanted?"

"No, Belle, I can't see it."

"Well, it was working. The kiss was making you change. How do you-"

He growled back, "Shut up." And began to walk towards her, causing her to slowly back away. But she reached out for his hand and tried again.

"This means what we have is true love. Why can't you see-"

"SHUT THE HELL UP!" He interrupted again at the top of his lungs.

Belle was near tears now as she stomped her foot, "Why won't you believe me?!"

He grabbed her hard by the shoulders and shook her, his nails digging deep into her skin. "Because no one, NO ONE, can ever, EVER, love me!" And there it was. The harsh lie that he had somehow forced himself to believe.

She stared at him, stunned, her face was so close to him and he was staring wrathfully at her. "If only you knew how wrong you are, Rumpelstiltskin. Because I love you more than I could ever describe in words." He only looked at her, trying hard to keep his eyes from widening at her declaration or his heart from softening.

"You lie," he whispered low, fighting back the tears as his anger was slowly being replaced by a gnawing sense of betrayal and a deep feeling of grief. How could she betray me like this?

His words stung her deep, deeper than the scratches his nails had left. He released her with a shove and turned his back on her. "You will leave in the morning."

"What?!" She cried out, stunned. "After I came back here? I returned to you when I-"

"You will be silent before your master!" He shouted in rage, turning back around. His face was contorted in a disgusted grimace. His eyes held only contempt for her, no longer softened by her kind words and soothing aura. "I command that you will leave tomorrow! Until then you shall stay where slaves stay! Come, it is back to the dungeon with you."

Belle did not even protest as he grabbed her by the wrist and led her down to her "old room", as he had once called it. He threw her hard upon the stone floor and she felt the pain as her knees hit the surface. She turned back around just as he was about to leave. "Wait," she whispered, "You are going to regret this, Rumpelstiltskin. Forever. You are going to realize that you made a mistake. And I will not be here. All you will have is an empty heart and a chipped cup." He did not say anything. He only left. And then she wrapped herself into a tight ball and sobbed long and hard.

Rumpelstiltskin did not cry. He did not curl himself into a tight ball and wish for death. He went to the Great Hall, and with a large cane he destroyed everything that was in sight. He smashed all of the glass in the cabinets. He threw all of the china against the wall. But even in his anger he could not bring himself to destroy the chipped cup.

And that was the only thing Belle saw undamaged when she left the next morning. A small pack full of food and supplies was on her back. She passed in silent horror at the sight of the damage wrought by the beast's rage. She did not dare touch the beautiful chipped cup as she left it behind and exited the room through the large doors. Her tears were spent. Her misery was all that remained.

He did not watch her leave. He could not bear it. And then, two loves were lost and separated. Her heart was broken, his was empty. He had the chipped cup, and she had nothing.

The tragic tale of the beauty and the beast.

The End

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So, it's finished! Thank you all once again! And, oh, I almost forgot...

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