I do not own Once Upon a TIme, but you know that...

Please review. It's been a looooong time since I was infected by the writting bug. I know my skillls are rusty.

This is the last planned chapter of this story. If you want more of this kind, you'll need to let me know. I've tried to flesh out Rumple's long background a bit more while not interfering with canon storyline.

Chapter 10

Storybrooke, Maine

Mr. Gold made a snorting, masculine noise when Belle blushed and jumped away from him. He turned towards his remaining visitor. "Lucy, I thought you left with the others."

She smiled thinly. "No, just overlooked as usual." Seeing the contriteness on his face, she softened her tone. "I'm sorry. That was uncalled for. I just - We still have our deal to settle."

A frown etched itself between his eyes. "A deal?" he murmured to himself. Then he smiled. "Oh, yes, I'm sorry, Lucy. There have been an incredible lot of deals in the past three hundred years, and - "

"Yes, I know," she interrupted him. "I was there for most of them, remember?"

"Perhaps I should leave you two to work this out," Belle offered. "Shall I bring more tea?"

"No, thank you," Lucy said, looking directly into Gold's eyes. "I don't want to put you out." Although the words answered Belle's question, they were an unspoken message to him.

"That would be best, dear," Gold told Belle. She smiled, kissed his cheek, and left them. He gestured once again to the sitting room, where the two of them reentered. This time, they were to negotiate a different understanding.

They both took their time to settle as comfortably as possible for what was, no doubt, going to be a long and miserable discussion. Inhaling deeply, Gold finally broke the mounting silence. "It seems I promised to find you a husband that you could love." He chanced a look at her. "Several times," he added. "The problem is that here in this land people don't make marriage deals like in the Enchanted Forest." Lucy looked at him steadily but did not interrupt. "But, I did promise, and I'll do my best," he smiled genuinely at her. "You were my sister-in-law." Her lack of response was beginning to unnerve him. "Is there someone you fancy?"

Lucy rolled her eyes and huffed out an exaggerated sigh. "How can you be so powerful a sorcerer, so shrewd business man, so fierce a contract lawyer, a once-upon-a-time husband and father, and the great and terrible Dark One," she paused to draw an irritated breath, "and still be so bloody stupid?"

Gold's eyebrows climbed his face, and his mouth dropped open in utter astonishment. Not since before he first took on the curse had anyone spoken to him like that. Never in the past three hundred years had anyone dared to talk back to him, let along call him stupid. Even Belle, at her pushiest moments back in the Dark Castle, had never spoken to him like that. He blinked twice. "I don't understand," he told her.

"That is the understatement of the millennium," she told him. "Cast your mind back long, long ago, back to when you were first courting Milah - "

"I'd rather not," he said curtly. Shifting uncomfortably on his sofa, he met her eyes.

But Lucy ignored his preference and forged ahead. "Do you remember who would meet you at the gate every time you came to call? Who would walk you back to the gate each time you left?" She paused for a moment.

"Of course, I remember. It was you, Lucy," he told her, "but -"

"But you never noticed me, Rumplestiltskin," she replied. "You never once noticed that I loved you, did you?"

An incredulous shock flooded his system. Her sudden revelation stunned him, but oh-so many puzzle pieces finally snapped into place. How could he have missed the signs? Quietly, he replied, "You were a child, Lucy. You couldn't have been more than twelve. I was thirty and far too old to be courting Milah, who was eighteen, much less - "

"I was fifteen, Rumple," she told him quickly. "And I loved you more than Milah ever could. I still love you, you stupid man."

Mr. Gold opened and closed his mouth twice, as the blood raced to his face. His reply made him sound like a complete blithering idiot. "I can't. I mean, I do love you, Lucy, but not like - There's Belle, now, and she - " He was so utterly undone by her words.

She smiled and shook her head. "I know, Rumple." Tenderly, she reached for his hands and held them between her own to stop them from shaking. "If only I'd had the courage to tell you then. Gerta and Milah knew how I felt. So did Papa." She looked down at his hands. "I did try to tell you once when I returned from serving Gerta's sentence. Do you remember? I tried to get you to marry me."

"I remember. I thought you were only concerned for the boy," he answered so softly she barely heard him. Tears welled in his eyes. "If I'd known then - "

"You wouldn't have done one thing differently," she supplied. "And, now, you and Belle are together."

"I don't know how to honor our deal," he whispered around the lump in his throat. "I can't give you a home and family with the man you love. My heart, scarred and tattered though it is, belongs to Belle."

"I know." Lucy leaned forward a cupped his face tenderly. "And I won't intrude. At least, I'll try not to," she laughed bitterly, "but I'd like to be a part of your family. I mean, Bae is still my nephew, and when you find him - "

He nodded. "Yes, you are family, now and always. And family is all important."

"I should go, then," she stood.

Mr. Gold rose to his feet with the aid of his cane. Silently, they exited the room, and he helped her slide into her yellow coat. When he carefully wound her scarf about her neck, she impulsively reached forward and caught his face between her hands. Before he could think, she kissed him fiercely.

Rumplestiltskin was astounded, and his mouth parted in surprise. Lucy deepened the kiss, pouring herself into his arms. Her kiss was full of passion, fire, and unfulfilled dreams, and it tasted of bitter-sweet tears.

When she let go, at last, he staggered back a step. A devilish smile was on her lips. She carefully wiped her lipstick from his mouth. "If you and Belle don't work out, call me. I still love you. I always have. I always will."

Before she could break down, Lucy jerked open the door and fled the house, leaving Mr. Gold standing in the cold.