Belle was shocked to see the sudden crowd in front of her along with her husband who appeared to be leading the charge. "Rumple, I-I was just about to call you. I found Lily," stammered Belle.
"Get out of the way Belle. I need to speak with your mother," ordered Merlin harshly as he pushed Emma aside to make his way into the shop.
"Belle, he's not Gold. He's the Author!" called out Emma from within the crowd outside the shop. The door to the flower shop was left wide open and everyone outside could see what was happening inside.
"Oh Rumple, what did you do?" sighed Belle disappointedly as he barreled past her into the shop. Ignoring Belle, Merlin stomped his way over to Mary Poppins and demanded forcefully, "Bring back magic!"
"Finding yourself a little inadequate, I see," said Mary coolly as she stood calmly and confidently by Maurice and Lily.
"I know you had something to do with this!" Merlin accused angrily as he shook a frustrated finger at her.
"No!" corrected Belle suddenly. "I did it. I was the one who took Storybrooke's magic away."
Merlin stopped in his charge towards Mary and turned on his heel. "You?" he said with awe. "How?"
Belle turned around into the shop and replied, "If you're the Author, then none of this should be a surprise to you. In fact, you should know how I was able to do all of this."
Merlin stood there slightly flummoxed as he reflected on what could have possibly rendered this situation possible. "Mary's spell… You-you enacted Mary's Impossible Possible spell?!"
Belle nodded. She explained, "I did. You see, Lily dreamt an amazing story and wrote it all down. Every single word. When I read the story, I read about you and what you did. In this alternate universe that she dreamt, you boastfully reveal the limits to your power. You are bound to anything that was written before these moments and that includes Mary's spell along with how spells and curses are broken in this world."
Frantic, the Author found himself lost; lost for words, lost in direction. He even found himself stuttering in thought, "No, no, no! The story can't end like this! There's so much more of this story left to tell. Magic is the foundation to this story. Without magic, the story will cease to be interesting. I won't be able to write anymore. What will I do?" Merlin looked around wildly in the shop, numb with shock. Then he pointed at Belle and said, "You-you will never see your husband again!"
"That's where you're wrong, because my husband is standing right here," replied Belle looking Merlin square in the eye. Through the depths of the Author's disguise she could still see her husband fighting to come forward.
"No! I am the Author! I am not your husband!" argued Merlin as he tried to correct her. As Belle moved closer to the Author, the Author backed away nervously until he suddenly found himself up against the wall. "What are you doing?!" exclaimed Merlin as he found Belle's closeness a little too intimate for his liking.
"I'm finally breaking your curse," explained Belle.
"What?" said Merlin and then suddenly he recognized what it was that she was doing. He gave out a nervous chuckle as he waved a nervous finger at her as if that would to put some distance between them. "Oh, I see. You… uh, think True Love's kiss will break this. Well, guess what, my dear, you're wrong! I'm not your True Love."
Belle shook her head in disagreement. "In another universe, you mentioned your whole reason for interacting with us; for creating the Sorcerer's Hat. You love the characters you write. You love us. You truly love us. That includes me. I mean, why else would you go to these great lengths if not to be involved with us?"
"And you think I'm your True Love? It doesn't make any sense. Rumplestiltskin is your True Love. I'm just an author. This wouldn't work," reasoned Merlin.
"When has love ever made any sense?" justified Belle. "Just look at my relationship with Rumplestiltskin… who would have ever thought that a princess would become a maid to an evil and beastly wizard and then fall in love with him? No matter what version of our tale you come across that has always been the foundation to our story; a story of two unlikely people falling in love. If you think about our current situation, it's kind of ironic really, if not poetic. You're a passionate author, I'm a passionate reader. We're both lovers of the written word and two unlikely individuals who have also found common ground with each other. You say that this doesn't make sense, but the real question you should be asking yourself is who could ever love a beast? Rumplestiltskin is my True Love which is why I know this will work because it's worked before. You are my husband's curse."
"…and True Love's kiss can break any curse…" understood Merlin softly.
Before the Author could say another word, Belle looked lovingly into her husband's eyes like she did so many years ago and like last time, her heart pounded heavily within her chest. Belle leaned in and her face came slowly and tentatively towards the Author's. When their lips touched both of their eyes closed at the same time. A brilliant golden wave of magic burst forth from the couple and it pulsated through everyone in the surrounding area causing people to stumble where they stood. The hat that was once on Rumple's head revealed itself and then fell suddenly to the floor. An orange glow embossed Rumplestiltskin's entire body and then suddenly disappeared. When their lips finally parted Rumplestiltskin rejoiced softly and said, "You did it. The Author… the Dark One curse… they're both gone. You saved me. You saved us all!"
He leaned forward and joyously kissed her over and over again. The Author was gone and the Dark One curse was gone forever. Rumplestiltskin was no longer cursed. Henry stepped forward into the crowded Flower Shop and picked up the once dangerous Sorcerer's hat from the ground. Henry stared at the hat for an uncomfortable period of time which made both Regina and Emma look at each other nervously.
"Henry…" said Regina as she stared at her son with uncertainty. "You're not thinking about trying on the hat are you?"
"There's no more magic in Storybrooke. It wouldn't work even if I tried. Though," he said as he looked up into the nervous crowd. "I think for safe measure we should just get rid of it."
"How?" wondered Killian.
Henry looked around the flower shop and saw an empty pail sitting abandoned in a corner along with a hand sanitizer bottle sitting on top of the table over by the register. With the hat in hand, he grabbed the pail and hand sanitizer and brought it outside the shop. People backed away from him as he stepped back outside and dumped the hat into the pail. Henry poured the hand sanitizer over the hat.
"What on Earth are you doing?" inquired Robin.
"There's alcohol in hand sanitizer. I'm going to use the alcohol from the sanitizer and use it as an accelerant to burn this hat once and for all," proclaimed Henry. "Does anyone have a match?"
"Here mate," said Killian as he withdrew a box of matches from his leather jacket and tossed them over to Henry.
"Thanks," replied Henry as he caught the box in one hand.
"Alright MacGyver, should we be concerned that you know how to randomly light a fire?" Leroy asked sarcastically as Henry quickly lit a match and tossed it into the pail. The hat quickly caught fire and was quickly engulfed in flames.
"No, when I took chemistry in high school a kid's shirt accidentally caught fire because he accidentally squirted some of the hand sanitizer onto himself. Besides in magic, chemistry is just simple potion making. And one of the lessons I learned from Regina was to never use an ingredient for a spell unless you know the ingredients of the spell thoroughly. Right?" Henry asked while looking over at Regina.
"Right," confirmed Regina. They all watched the hat burn from a safe distance and stared at it with relief. To everyone it was a relief to see the wretched object destroyed, but to Henry it was the passing away of something wonderful.
"So… that's it. No more magic," said Henry mournfully.
"I guess so, kid," said Emma.
"How can I fulfill my promise to everyone in Storybrooke if I don't have magic to find the happy endings?" Henry wondered out loud.
"Happy endings… Why are they even called Happy Endings? I kind of feel like they should be called 'happy beginnings', you know? I mean, the real end is death and since nobody died today I think you can count this moment as a happy beginning," said Emma, which Henry nodded to in concurrence.
"But what am I going to do now that magic is gone?" Henry asked.
"I wouldn't say that you're completely out of a job," said Mr. Gold from behind him in the back of the shop making everyone's head turn as he approached his grandson. "There are still plenty of people out there that need help and from what I hear you're very good in this business of helping others. I would imagine that would be just as good as trying to get everybody's happy endings. So technically I don't think you've broken your promise yet."
Henry understood, but he was still very confused. "There's just so much I still don't understand. Like, how did your true love's kiss work even without magic?" Henry asked while looking at Belle. He turned to his grandfather and asked, "Was that part of your plan all along?"
"It was, actually, and I'm sorry," confirmed Mr. Gold as he glanced over at his wife apologetically. "I'm sorry for not telling either of you. I'm sorry I couldn't tell you Henry. I was afraid you wouldn't have understood and that you would have stopped me from succeeding." Henry gave Mr. Gold a dejected look to which Mr. Gold replied, "And you would have, too. But really, I should thank you because you played a part in saving me. You took a huge risk trusting me with that pen and I'm glad you did because if you hadn't I would have still been cursed as the Dark One and have still been tempted by the Author's power. But thanks to you, I'm free from both. You gave me the opportunity to change my fate and now it's a happier one. I couldn't have done it without you Henry." From where Mr. Gold stood he could see Henry blush and ears turn red. "I told you that you wouldn't regret handing over the pen."
"For a while there… I actually did," Henry remarked with a smirk.
"However tempting it was I actually never wanted the power," said Mr. Gold.
"Well that's surprising," scoffed Regina.
Ignoring Regina's comment, Mr. Gold continued, "Living outside of Storybrooke without magic reminded me of the man I used to be, and every day I spent living in New York I was reminded of the happiness I should have had with Neal. Belle is my true love, so there was not a doubt in my mind that she would have saved me. Love… is the most powerful magic out there and exists even in worlds without magic. It certainly has existed for me when I was living in New York. Magic is love and love… was the magic I needed that protected my family's happiness."
"So…" interrupted Lily from beside Mary Poppins. She hesitantly stepped forward and asked, "Is-is it really you, Papa?"
Rumple, who was standing by Belle, turned and said assuredly, "Of course it is."
Lily ran over to her father and with ease Rumple scooped up his daughter into his arms. "I'm so glad you're back," rejoiced Lily as she kissed her father's face repeatedly. While being held in her father's arms she looked down and noticed something different, "Hey look! You're standing on your own two feet! Does that mean you don't need your cane anymore?"
"No more cane," answered Mr. Gold. "Not for a while I hope."
"Can we move to Storybrooke?" asked Lily bluntly to her father who appeared stunned at the sudden suggestion. With Lily still in his arms, he redirected the question over to his wife and said with surprise, "Uh, I don't know. You should probably ask your mother…"
"Mama, can we live in Storybrooke. Please? I want to live here," pleaded Lily as she looked over at her mother. Belle appeared displeased over the idea and looked nervously around at the people in the shop who were just as eager to hear her reply. As she looked across the room at the many faces, each one replied to her in kind.
"Not to brag, but there are excellent schools here," mentioned Regina by the door.
"And excellent teachers!" chimed Mary-Margaret from behind her.
"You'll have a support system that's unlike anything you'll ever find out there in the real world," pointed out Emma who stood just inside the shop's door.
"With friends that will help and understand you," added Ruby from behind Emma.
"And family that will always love you," inserted Mary Poppins.
Belle looked around with mouth slightly agape, astonished by such an overwhelming and welcoming response. Until this moment, she never realized she had quite the support system. It was an unexpected and pleasant surprise.
"Please Mama?" asked Lily again.
Belle turned to her husband who replied while shrugging his shoulders, "Out of the mouths of babes."
Belle moved in closer to Lily as Rumple sat their daughter down to the ground. She knelt down beside her daughter and saw by the way Lily beamed that she was excited over the prospect of moving. For the first time in weeks she saw her daughter smile and it was then that she realized that their circumstances had changed. When they moved away from Storybrooke she thought that being away from magic was the best thing for them, but apparently it wasn't. Lily was unhappy and moving away had denied her a chance at knowing who she really was.
Putting her own feelings aside Belle had to do what was right. It was no longer about what she wanted anymore it was about what was best for Lily. Magic had always put a strain on their relationships with people, but now that it was gone it would no longer be an issue and Belle saw no harm in coming back. In the end, Lily's happiness was all that mattered so Belle looked deeply into her daughter's hazel eyes and asked, "Would moving here truly make you happy…?"
"It would!" said Lily excitedly. "Oh! It would!"
Belle blinked a few times then stood up in place to address her husband. "If we do come back, then what will you do? Henry's already running the Pawn Shop."
Rumple rolled his eyes nonchalantly and shrugged his shoulders blithely as he thought of his response. "I'll retire. Be a stay-at-home father."
"You?" said Regina while raising her eyebrow in disbelief, "You're going to be House-Husband? That'll be a sight to see."
"Yeah, won't you go crazy doing nothing?" Emma postulated.
"Oh, I won't be doing nothing," countered Rumplestiltskin to Emma. "I've got plenty of antique items back at my shop in New York I can bring back with me to toy around and fix up. Whatever items I fix, I'll bring them over to Henry's shop to sell. It is still a Pawn Shop after all. Besides, it'll give me the opportunity to connect with him like I hadn't these past seven years." Rumple turned to Henry and walked over to him by the register. As he patted Henry respectfully on the shoulders he said, "I think it's long-overdue."
"I suppose I could go work at the library again," said Belle trying to get on board with the idea like the rest of her family. Belle gazed at her daughter and told herself that she was doing the right thing. As long as Lily was happy, then so was she. Belle glanced over at her mother and father and saw how happy they were finally together and internally she felt happy for them both. Perhaps, she reasoned, this was an opportunity for her as well. She needed to reconnect with her parents and strengthen her relationship with them. If anything, Belle wanted to show to Lily the importance of family and she felt obligated to demonstrate that by strengthening the bonds she had with her own.
"Is that a 'yes'?" asked Mary.
After much deliberation, Belle replied more confidently, "Yes."
"So it's settled then. We're moving back," announced Rumple with slight enthusiasm. "But uh, first thing's first…" he said turning to Henry again, "Now that magic is gone, I may need a lift back to the cabin to retrieve my car."
"We'll take my car," Henry insisted, "You guys can ride with me."
Ok, for the record, I'm not 100% sure that hand sanitizer will catch fire. I kind of googled "Household items that are flammable" and went for the first thing that I would imagine would exist in a flower shop. And also, what did you guys think? Are you Wow-ed? Is this really the second to last chapter? Did I round out the story well? Did I answer any questions? Did I inspire more questions?
I don't know about you, but when I thought of this ending back in April I was kind of blown away by the mere idea of it. I kept thinking, Belle's got to save the day but how? The answer was always elusive to me until I thought about True Love's Kiss and why it hadn't worked before. In my mind, the first kiss worked because Rumple was receptive to the idea of love and in that sweet tender moment they shared at the spinning wheel he thought about the man he once was and wanted to be for her. All the other kisses afterwards in Storybrooke never worked because of his Dark One curse placing a priority of power over his love. His curse adapted and learned as a result of that (True Love's first kiss) experience and unfortunately warped his beliefs and why he never believed she loved him. Part of me also believes that he believes he was never worthy of Belle. If someone was too smart and too gorgeous for me I'd doubt the relationship too and would explain why he says, "Who could ever love me?" "No one can ever love me?".
Well, here's hoping my story was worth your time and patience. Thank you as always to Imusicluver23, Grace5231973 and Montreat11 for your steadfast reviews. I'm oh so appreciative of them and reading them always brightens up my day. Thank You. And now on to editing the last chapter!