Chapter 47: The Most Powerful Magic

It was maddening, having the way to their son sitting in the same room but being unable to actually do anything with it. It had been only a couple days since they'd brought the tree back, and already Belle and Rumplestiltskin were at their wit's end.

"There must be something," Belle said as she slammed the book shut and rested her head on top of it. Rumple looked up at her from his own book and frowned.

"Nothing in there either?"

She shook her head, which was still pressed to the book. "No."

Rumple sighed and Belle sat up. "This is ridiculous," he said.

Belle agreed. "We can't have things be too easy, I suppose."

Rumple chuckled at that. "Indeed not-"

He froze, sitting up alarmed. Before Belle could ask what was wrong, he waved his hand and the tree disappeared from sight. "Rum-"

"Who's this?"

Rumple and Belle looked over to see Regina standing at the doorway, her elaborate black dress flowing out around her like dark tendrils. She radiated magic, even Belle could sense it, and the woman stepped forward, her red lips spreading into a wicked grin.

Standing, Rumple bowed slightly to Regina. "I wasn't expecting you today, Your Majesty."

Regina hummed and stepped around him, moving over to the table that was reserved solely for the curse. She glanced down at the scroll, then up at Rumplestiltskin accusingly. "I came by last week," she said, her tone casual but hiding malice, "And you weren't here."

"I had some deals to attend to," Rumple replied automatically. It wasn't a secret that he assisted people all over the realms.

Regina seemed to accept the answer, then let her eyes wander over to Belle, who stood, clutching her book in her hand. Stepping forward, Regina reached out and cupped Belle's chin in her well-manicured hand.

"And who are you?"

Belle turned her head away, pulling herself from Regina's grasp. She eyed the woman daringly, not saying a word. Belle knew Regina was dangerous, but she wasn't afraid of her.

"She's none of your concern," Rumple said from behind them. Regina turned around and stared at Rumple in annoyance.

If she's working on my curse, then I dare say she is my concern." Regina glanced back at Belle. "Who are you, dear?"

Belle pulled her shoulders back and stood firm, silent. Regina glared then turned her attention back to Rumple. "Is it too much for you to handle on your own?" She asked mockingly. "If you need help with my curse, why not come to me instead of recruiting this simpering little-" she turned back to give Belle once last glance over, "Mouse."

Rumple bristled at that, but held his temper. "What I do with my curse is my business," he said tersely, "And at any rate, you're supposed to be plotting your happily ever after, dearie, not worrying about the particulars of the curse."

"But I do worry," Regina said, seeming to have lost interest in Belle already. "I'm worried you aren't holding up your end of the deal."

"I'm a busy man, "Rumple hissed, "But I always keep my deals."

"Then why is it I hear Snow White and that blond dolt of a prince have secretly married in the forest!"

Rumple had to hold back his glee. So they were married. A child would no doubt be on the way soon. Perhaps, before he left, he could whisper into the princess's ear of a way to go after the queen. He had no fond feelings for the woman, and would feel safer knowing he left the world with a little hope than in the hands of a woman whose only true desire was revenge.

"That's good, then, "Rumple said and Regina glared. "That husband of hers will be stripped away from her when the curse happens. She won't remember him. Isn't that what you want? For her to have everything she ever loved ripped from her."

Regina seemed to shrink into herself for a moment before responding with a murmured, "Yes."

"Then have patience, dearie," Rumple instructed, "This curse is no simple feat, and if you want to truly enjoy your victory, you might want to start making plans."

"Fine," Regina said, turning and moving toward the door. She paused and glanced back at Belle, who was watching her with equal distaste. "Try not to get in the way, little mouse."

"I'm not the one who interrupted the Dark One's work to complain about his methods," Belle hissed.

Regina whirled around, and Rumplestiltskin snapped Belle's name. Narrowing her eyes further, Regina took a menacing step forward, then restrained herself and smirked. "Feisty little thing you have there, Rumple," she said, "Might want to train her on how to address her betters."

With that Regina turned and vanished.

Belle let her shoulders sag, then glanced over at Rumple who looked none too pleased at her.

"She could kill you with a flick of her wrist," he bellowed, "And you sass her?"

"She called you 'Rumple'," Belle replied hotly, "I call you Rumple," she stressed, pointing to herself, "Not her."

Rumple opened his mouth to argue, then snapped it back shut. After studying her a long moment, he asked, "Are you jealous?"

"No," Belle snapped, crossing her arms indignantly, "I have nothing to be jealous of. I just don't like her marching in here, insulting me, and calling you names she has no right to use."

He eyed her in a way that said he didn't believe her, but said nothing else. Instead he stepped forward and wrapped his arms around her. "In the future," he said softly, "If she comes around, please be careful."

Belle sighed. "Fine."

Pressing a kiss to her nose, Rumple smirked, "Her reaction was quite humorous."

"I don't like her."

Chuckling, Rumple pulled Belle over to where the tree once stood. Waving his hand, it reappeared.

"Neither do I."

~000~

After the incident with Regina, Belle and Rumple worked harder to figure out how to make the tree work. Multiple books later, they'd found nothing, and both felt discouragement begin to manifest itself. It was looking hopeless.

One evening, after nearly entering into a heated argument over the interpretation of a spell, Belle and Rumple settled down by the fire in the great hall to rest. As tired as Rumple felt, he knew Belle was even more so, her mortal, magicless body being pushed to the very limit with the constant research. They curled up together, Belle resting in between Rumple's legs as they tried to clear their minds of everything useless they'd read.

Belle dozed off while Rumple sat, mind wandering aimlessly to nothing particular. He thought of Bae, the curse, and the new world. Finally, his mind seemed to have enough and he felt his head drooping forward and didn't bother to fight it. He didn't need sleep as often as Belle did, though he indulged in it frequently, but now his body was demanding he rest. He didn't' have the strength to protest.

When he awoke, Belle was sitting before him, the botany book in her hand. Rubbing his eyes, Rumple shifted and looked around. It was still dark out, and he wondered how long he'd been asleep. It felt like mere moments.

"What are you doing?" He asked groggily. Belle looked up, her own eyes bloodshot and darkened from stress and too many sleepless nights.

Without looking up, Belle read, "It also contains magical properties to allow transportation to other worlds."

"Yes? And?" Rumple prompted.

"Well, I got to thinking," Belle said, "It says it allows transportation to other worlds."

"Yes."

"Well," Belle said thoughtfully, "How do you get from one place to another?"

Rumple sat up, "Do you want a simple answer or-"

"How do you get into the kitchen?"

"You walk in there?"

Belle nodded. "Through….?"

Rumple stared at her incredulously. "I'm not following, sweetheart."

"A doorway," she said plainly, "To get from one room to another, you walk through a doorway. When you walk from here and go through that door," she said, pointing to the door on the other side of the room, "You end up in the foyer. When you walk out the front door-"

"You're outside."

"You're in another place."

Rumple felt himself awaken. "You're saying we need to make a doorway out of the tree."

Belle nodded. "It's magic," she said, "And I've read about other spells that require walking through doorways."

"There are realms that can only be accessed through mirrors and doors," Rumple agreed, looking at his wife with pleasure. "I think you may have figured it out, my dear."

"It can't hurt to try."

Rumple stood. "It certainly can't."

~000~

By the time dawn broke, Rumple had managed to carve out a very rough doorway. It was more a hole than anything, starting at the base of the tree and going up until the trunk split into multiple branches. The hole was wide enough for one person to squeeze through at a time. They stood hand in hand before the tree, neither quite certain what to do next.

"How do we know it worked?" Belle asked.

Stepping forward, Rumple placed a hand on the trunk to balance himself, then stuck his head through the hole.

"Rumple!" Belle called, eager anticipation making her voice shrill. He stepped back, then turned and looked at Belle, pained.

"Nothing."

Her shoulders sagged. "It didn't work?"

Rumple shook his head. "Didn't seem to."

Belle sank to the ground, trying to hold back tears. "I was so sure it would work," she cried, and Rumple knelt down next to her.

"We'll figure it out," he said soothingly. Belle had been so hopeful, so happy to have figured out a way, and now it wasn't working. Rumple felt a flash of anger. It wasn't fair that she be forced to suffer because of his mistake. It wasn't fair at all.

Picking Belle up, he carried her over to an armchair and sat with her, holding her while she cried out her frustration. He pressed kisses to her temple as she leaned against him, and when she calmed, she lifted his hand into hers and began to play idly with his fingers and ring.

He watched as she spun the ring on his finger with idle interest. Belle was fascinated with it, and how something so small could hold so much power. It held their love, and was able to stop their kiss from removing his power. True Love was quite impressive, if one stopped long enough to think about it as more than just a way to break a curse.

Rumple's eyes snapped up and he leapt out of the seat, causing Belle to stumble onto her feet with a surprised cry. She looked at Rumple with shock, but had no time to voice a complaint as he grabbed her hand and dragged her over to a work bench.

Reaching up, he plucked out a strand of hair, then held out his other hand to her. "Give me a strand of hair."

"What?"

"No questions," he said, waving his hand dramatically, "Hair."

Belle gave him a look, then reached up and plucked a hair from her head. She held it out to Rumple and he took it from her, twisting them together. Holding the strands in one hand, he reached up to a nearby shelf and pulled down an empty vial. Dropping the hairs inside, he watched as they began to swirl around each other and glow a bright purple. Belle bent down to watch the display, gasping as the hairs disappeared and transformed into a golden liquid.

Rumple picked up the vial and returned to face the tree. Belle followed, watching in wonder as her husband stood for a moment, then threw the contents of the vial forward, soaking the front of the tree with the potion he'd made.

At first, nothing happened. Then a moment later the tree began to shake and creak, and a bright light sprang forth from the hole Rumple had carved. It was blinding, and Belle and Rumple had to look away. When it died down, they both uncovered their eyes, and gasped at the sight before them.

The tree remained mostly the same, except where the doorway once stood clear, now there was a swirling purple mist. Glancing at each other, they stepped forward, and Rumple shivered at the pull of magic that came from the tree.

"It worked."

Belle looked from the tree to her husband, gripping his hand tighter. "We did it?"

"Aye," Rumple said softly, "That we did."

"How?" Belle asked staring at the strange purple mist that swirled beautifully in the doorway.

"The most powerful magic of all," he said, squeezing her hand affectionately.

"True Love!" Belle said, smiling up at Rumple.

He returned the look. "Aye," he said, "True Love."

They remained silent for a moment, then Rumple cleared his throat. "When do you want to leave?"

Belle blinked. "I thought you would want to go now."

Rumple nodded solemnly. "Oh, it's taking everything in me to not rush through that portal," he said, "But once we leave, there's no coming back. Not this way. And right now there are too many things left undone to just leave this world behind."

"Like Regina."

"Yes."

"And I'd like to say goodbye to Moraine. And Anna. Agda…"

"We'll say goodbye, tie up loose threads, prepare ourselves for a new life, and then we'll go."

"Yes," Belle said, "And then we go find our son."

Author's Notes:

Getting ever closer to the end. Two more chapters and the epilogue to go!

As always thank you everyone for your love and support. And don't forget to check out my other works on my Tumblr page! Look for me under the same user name.

Chapter 48 will be up either October 25!

Disclaimer: I do not own Once Upon A Time. All rights belong to ABC, Adam Horwitz, and Eddy Kitsis.