Chapter One Hundred—"The Most Powerful Magic"
A burst of golden magic surged outwards from the pair, and Rumplestiltskin felt Belle sigh against his lips. Her skin began to warm immediately, and after a moment, he felt Belle's right hand come up, sliding around the back of his neck and tangling in his hair as pure light magic rolled through them like a tidal wave.
This was the kiss he had denied himself since Belle had brought magic to Storybrooke. This was True Love's kiss, perfect and pure, everything any lover could ever wish for. Back in the Enchanted Forest, this kiss—given innocently and unknowingly—had nearly torn the darkness from him, nearly breaking the curse of the Dark One. Then, Rumplestiltskin had stopped it, had pulled back. He'd needed the power to find Baelfire, and perhaps more importantly, he had not been sure what the darkness might do if it had been torn from him. He had been so afraid, then, but now he had to risk everything, because pulling back would doom Belle.
It could leave him powerless, Rumplestiltskin knew. He hadn't dared let go, hadn't lost himself in True Love's Kiss, because being powerless with Cora around was almost assuredly a death sentence. Yet Belle would die if he did nothing. Gabrielle was too young to save her mother, and even had she not been, Rumplestiltskin would not leave this to his daughter. So, he pushed his screaming darkness down and put his power on the line, half hoping that this kiss might just free him, too.
He barely heard Zelena's screech of fury, and ignored the way Cora's magic slammed into the shield he'd thrown up a few moments earlier. Rumplestiltskin just focused on Belle, feeling the coldness in her cheek melt away and then her smile against his lips.
"I love you," Belle whispered simply, and Rumplestiltskin let his eyes slide shut in relief, just for a moment.
"And I love you," he replied, relishing the feeling of True Love and light magic, two things he had never truly let himself feel before. But the feeling passed quickly as their lips parted, and Rumplestiltskin could feel the darkness rushing back in on him, could feel his heart constricting once more.
Well, then. That answered that. Despite his hopes—and his fears—Rumplestiltskin remained the Dark One. Perhaps his curse was simply not meant to be broken in this world, after all. At least that simplifies matters, Rumplestiltskin thought, pulling back from Belle after one more quick kiss.
"Take your father and go, sweetheart," he said, begging her with his eyes not to argue with him, just this once. "Let me deal with these two."
Blue eyes met his, resolute and brave. He was terrified, but Belle never was. "Are you sure?"
"I can't risk you," Rumplestiltskin pleaded. "Not after coming so close to losing you. Please, Belle."
"All right." She nodded, and moved briskly to her father's side, grabbing Maurice by the arm and pulling him back towards the shattered doorway even as Regina, Emma, Bae, and the others approached.
Everyone but Regina and Emma hung back, with Bae offering Belle a shoulder to lean on, but Rumplestiltskin ignored them all as he turned back to face Cora and Zelena. Both were trying to destroy his magical shield, and he could feel it shuddering and weakening under the rain of blows, but it hadn't fallen yet. So, he took a moment to let his fury rise back to the surface, merging it again with his love for Belle and his desperate desire to keep her safe. If a monster I must be to keep her safe, a monster I will be, he thought. Letting out a breath, Rumplestiltskin embraced the darkness that Cora wanted so badly to rule.
"I'm sorry," he directed an unapologetic smirk at his former lover, banishing the ten days of terror that were never far from his mind—or the years and years before that, when Cora had tormented first Gold and then Rumplestiltskin. He needed to be strong today, not the weak and quivering mess he was inside. So, Rumplestiltskin pushed aside his demons and continued: "Did you think we were not True Love?"
"I know what you are," Cora snarled, her once-pretty face screwed up in disbelief. "Your True Love is power!"
"No," Rumplestiltskin countered, stepping forward and calling magic to both hands. "Power is useful. Power is intoxicating. But I've learned that it isn't everything. Belle taught me that."
"I'm going to kill her!" Zelena interjected, and Rumplestiltskin didn't get a chance to reply as Regina scoffed.
"You get to deal with me first, big sis. And this time, there's not going to be any hiding behind Mother to save you."
"I'd never hide!"
"Then come prove it," Regina retorted, grinning.
Rumplestiltskin tuned those two out as they fought—he knew their relative strengths, and he knew which one would win. Zelena wasn't the threat; Cora was, and even as he turned back to face the Evil Queen, the shield between them collapsed. Cora smiled victoriously, but Rumplestiltskin didn't give her a chance to revel in her tiny triumph. Whipping a hand out, he brought the darkest of magic slamming into her, using sheer power to rip Cora off of her feet and slam her against a broken pillar. She cried out, but lashed back with a furious spell whose strength almost equaled the one Rumplestiltskin had felled her with, but he batted it aside.
The wall to his right burst into flames, but that was a problem for later.
"You've grown pathetic, Rumple," Cora drawled, climbing to her feet and calling a fireball to her hand. "You've grown weak."
"Love doesn't make you weak, dearie," he snorted, "despite what you always say. Love makes you stronger."
Cora launched the fireball at him without bothering to reply, but Rumplestiltskin twitched a finger, turning it around in midair and sending it sailing back at her. She barely managed to teleport away, throwing more and more power at him when she landed in front of the burning wall on the right, but Rumplestiltskin just blocked that, too. One spell got through, making him stagger back and every old wound he had burn with agony, but Rumplestiltskin caught his balance quickly, pouring power into his own body to mitigate the damage. Then he turned again to face her, giving Cora a small smile he knew infuriated her, and then snapped his right arm up.
Invisible power hit Cora right in the midsection, picking her up off the ground and spinning her in the air like a tornado. Sparks flew out of her fingers as the swirling darkness surrounded her, pulling her higher and higher—ten feet, fifteen feet, and finally thirty feet off of the ground. Punish her, his curse whispered gleefully, and Rumplestiltskin's smile vanished as he brought his hand back down.
Cora smashed into the ground with a scream, and Rumplestiltskin thought he heard bones break from two dozen feet away. Off to his left, Zelena made the mistake of looking at her mother, which gave Regina the very opening she needed, and Rumplestiltskin didn't bother watching as Regina pounded her elder sister flat—and then strode forward to yank the emerald pendant straight off of Zelena's chest. Instead, he watched as Cora struggled to her feet, and then repeated the same spell, tearing her up into the air again, this time even higher. Cora howled in fury and pain and tried to attack him, but Rumplestiltskin batted those spells aside as he pulled the final threads of the spell he had begun in the car.
This time, Cora managed to get to her feet. "Is that the best you have, Rumple?" she taunted him. "The Rumplestiltskin I knew would have killed me already!"
"Perhaps I'm enjoying watching you suffer," he chuckled, and a part of him hated himself because he was.
"Or perhaps this is your much-vaunted 'strength'," Cora jeered. "Love is weakness. You can call it what you will, but it's making you hesitate, no matter how much you claim to hate me."
"Actually, it isn't." Rumplestiltskin smiled, feeling the weight of a heart land in his right hand. "I was simply waiting for this."
Cora might have realized the threat he held, because she threw a veritable wall of fire at him, which crackled through the air and burned the ground between them. But Rumplestiltskin teleported away in a swirl of blue magic. He knew her. He knew that she'd move left, not right, that she'd wheel around and be ready to attack an opponent she was certain would be behind her. Cora was a talented sorceress, but he had taught her, and Rumplestiltskin appeared less than an arm's length behind her, despite the way Cora had been certain to move in an unpredictable manner.
Then he shoved her heart back in her chest.
Gasping, Cora stumbled forward and away from him, emotion and feelings crashing in on her and clearly incapacitating her for a few crucial moments. A better man would have backed off and given her space, but Rumplestiltskin was not a good man. He was the Dark One, so he reached out and grabbed her by the shoulder, spinning Cora around roughly and grabbing her by the throat. Stunned, she stared at him, shock coloring her expression until her eyes began to soften.
"If I was a better man, I would have simply crushed your heart," he whispered, leaning in close. "But I want you to know how it feels, Cora. I want you to understand that I don't love you, and you ruined that yourself. You ripped your heart out for power, and it's left you with nothing."
"I…Rumple, I—"
"Your daughter hates you," Rumplestiltskin continued mercilessly. "You threw one away, and you tried to destroy the other. You wanted her to live like you did, without love. But Regina's better than you, and always has been." He smiled, and it was a cold and deadly thing, devoid of any of the feelings he'd once held for her. "And I married a woman who is so much better than you. She loves me, not my power, and that was True Love's Kiss you just saw."
"But we were—we were"—Cora's eyes cut right, desperate and full of emotions she didn't know how to handle. "Regina—"
"You made your choices, Mother. Now live with them," Regina snapped. "I'll mourn what you could have been, but you never were my real family. I found that despite you."
"Rumple," Cora whispered, and it was almost a plea. Her eyes fastened on him, and for a moment, something within him stirred. But not much.
He shook his head. "Goodbye, Cora. This is where your story ends."
Rumplestiltskin let the darkness loose, let it surge down his arm and destroy. Cora went tense, her eyes went wide—and then she crumbled into ash. Had he expected to take his time in killing her? Perhaps. But Rumplestiltskin had had enough of pain and protracted suffering. He'd had his revenge, and that was enough. Torturing Cora would only feed his inner demon; Rumplestiltskin, the man who had kissed Belle, simply wanted to stop being afraid. He wanted it to be over, and maybe he still felt enough for Cora to make her death quick. Or perhaps he hated her too much to wait.
Either way, Cora was dead and would never harm his family again.
Regina didn't realize it, but when she ripped the emerald pendant off of Zelena, that action shattered the spells Zelena had cast with that power. Most of the spells were minor, but the one on the town line was far from that, and several flying monkeys fell right out of the sky. Fortunately, Doctor Whale was not one of the ones who broke a bone from the de-transformation, because he soon found himself dealing with a myriad of injuries from his formerly monkey-ified friends.
Unfortunately, two others that escaped unscathed were Greg and Tamara. They even found one another right away, exchanging shaky glances until they were certain that they were deep enough into the woods that no one could hear them.
"What the hell was that?" Tamara asked, feeling her arms just to make sure they were there. She felt silly for being paranoid, but after having had wings and being trapped in the body of a monkey, Tamara wasn't sure that she would ever feel normal again.
"Magic," Greg replied bitterly. "I told you this place was evil."
"You were right," she agreed, shuddering. "This is…unnatural."
Greg turned to face her, his eyes glowing with the fire of a man who genuinely believed in his own rhetoric. "We need to finish what we came here for. We need to destroy this place, and everyone in it. They're all evil."
"Here's hoping the truck and trailer are where we left them," Tamara breathed, glancing around the forest. She had no idea where they were—her memories of her time as a monkey were already growing foggy, and even then she hadn't known how to get around Storybrooke. She'd just gone where the magic sent her.
"We'll find them," Greg said determinedly, and Tamara tried not to sigh. She really just wanted to leave, but she knew there would be no talking him out of this.
And, well, she wanted a little revenge, too. Particularly on that red-headed bitch who had turned them into flying monkeys.
Belle hated being on the sidelines, but she knew that this was a battle Rumplestiltskin needed to fight for himself. She knew that her husband needed to prove to himself that he could face Cora down without showing his fears, and as much as Belle worried for Rumplestiltskin, she had to let him. So, she pulled her father away and was immensely grateful when Bae joined them. Her father would probably never understand her love for Rumplestiltskin, but Bae looked as worried as Belle felt. Fortunately, the fight didn't last long, with Regina taking Zelena's pendant a few moments before Rumplestiltskin shoved Cora's heart back in her chest and then killed her. Part of Belle felt that she should shrink away from watching her husband gloat at and then kill a woman, but those feelings were barely a flicker of regret against a huge backdrop of relief.
It was over. That horrible woman was never going to hurt her husband again, and, well, Belle wasn't going to tell Rumplestiltskin that he had been wrong to take a measure of revenge before killing Cora. She had heard what he said, and if that helped him calm his demons, Belle was entirely on Rumplestiltskin's side. He hadn't prolonged Cora's suffering, and hadn't unleashed that terrible darkness Belle knew lived inside him. Honestly, she had expected Rumplestiltskin to do worse, and the happiness Belle felt over the fact that he hadn't had nothing to do with Cora at all. No, her concerns were for Rumplestiltskin's soul, as always.
So, she just rushed to him after Cora disintegrated into a pile of ash. Seemingly able to sense that she was coming, Rumplestiltskin turned and met her halfway. Belle walked into his arms, burying her face against his shoulder and holding on tightly.
"It's over," she whispered, and she felt the slight shudder that ran through her husband.
"Yes," he replied hoarsely. "Yes, it is."
Tipping her head back, Belle looked into his brown eyes, noticing how at least some of his fears seemed to have faded. "You're safe now," she smiled. "We all are."
"Belle, I'm sorry she went after you like that. If I'd thought—"
"Stop," Belle cut him off gently. "This isn't your fault, and I'm fine, all right? I blame Cora, not you."
Rumplestiltskin still looked terribly ashamed. "She did that because of me."
"No, Cora did that because she was spiteful and didn't understand love," she corrected him, leaning in to kiss Rumplestiltskin lightly. "I don't blame you, and I'm not letting you blame yourself. Just try to be a little happy, all right?"
"All right." The words were a whisper against her lips, and Belle smiled.
"Good." Going up on her tiptoes, she kissed Rumplestiltskin on the nose, finally earning herself a smile in return. She could ask him later how he had been able to unfreeze her without breaking his own curse. Rumple had told her more than once that magic was different here, but Belle had a feeling there was more to it than that. Her questions, however, could wait. For now she was content to bask in the fact that Rumplestiltskin was finally safe, and it was truly over.
"You can't lock me away!" a shrill voice interrupted her musings, and Belle felt Rumplestiltskin tense. Together, they turned to face Zelena who had clearly been caught trying to run away. Now Emma and David each had one of her arms, and Zelena was spitting fire at both of them.
"Sure we can," Regina retorted.
"On what charge?" Zelena scoffed. "You don't have anything that can touch me."
"How about we start with murder and work our way backwards?" Emma cut in, and when Zelena started to roll her eyes, added: "Geppetto apartment has security cameras."
"So?"
"So, you killed Geppetto and August, and we have it on tape," Emma snapped. "You're going away for a long time, Zelena, so stop arguing."
"You can't! I'm—"
"Nothing," David interrupted. "That pile of ash over there can't help you terrify anyone now."
Zelena reared back as if struck, her eyes wide and—for a moment—hurt. But she recovered quickly, sneering at her sister. "You'll never hold me. I'll break out and avenge Mother, Regina. And I'll start with your precious little son, too!"
"If you even think about trying that, dearie, I'll dispose of you with less hesitation than I did your mother," Rumplestiltskin spoke up from Belle's side, his voice ice cold. He strode forward as Zelena's head whipped around to stare, and Belle stayed at his side—less to stop him than to give Rumplestiltskin the support she knew he needed.
"What do you care about her little brat?" the witch demanded.
"That 'little brat', as you call him, is my grandson," Rumplestiltskin grated out, and the cold fury in his voice sent a shiver down Belle's spine. "And if you ever come near anyone in my family, I'll kill you."
Everyone stared, until Emma finally spoke up to fill the silence, sounding hesitant to do so but like she felt she should.
"Gold…"
"Oh, she's safe from me so long as you lock her away, Sheriff," Rumplestiltskin replied, and only Belle knew how much it cost him to say that. But she was so proud of him. Rumplestiltskin was thinking instead of letting his anger and his pain rule him. He knew as well as she did that killing Zelena now that she was powerless would turn the heroes against him, ruining the alliance they had worked so very hard to build. It probably doesn't hurt that he knows how Bae feels about Emma, Belle realized. Or that he's trying to prove to Bae that he isn't a terrifying monster. "But I advise you keep her there. If she becomes a threat, I'll do everyone a service by removing it."
"I'll, uh, take that under advisement," Emma replied, exchanging a glance with Regina. The other Mills daughter, however, seemed a lot more unperturbed by the death threat directed towards her biological sister, and only shrugged.
Zelena, however, seemed miffed to be dismissed so easily. "I'll always be a threat," she snarled. "You know that, Rumple, so why don't you get it over with? Or are you too broken?"
Had Belle not grabbed Rumplestiltskin's hand and squeezed with all her might, she thought he might have killed Zelena then and there. Just to be safe, she reached out and took his other hand, too, tugging Rumplestiltskin so he looked at her and not Zelena.
"You're better than this," Belle said softly. "You're better than her. Don't let her goad you."
Rumplestiltskin smiled sadly, and she could see the broken pieces of his soul swimming in his eyes. "No, I'm really not," he whispered, but when he looked at Zelena, his expression was controlled and full of contempt again. "But you, dearie—you're just a tool. A vindictive and nasty one, to be sure, but only a tool. You're not worth the effort."
"How dare you? I—" Zelena cut off abruptly, her lips still moving but no sound coming out. That only seemed to infuriate her further, of course, and her face went bright red as she tried desperately to shout at anyone and everyone, but only Regina's snicker filled the silence.
"What?" Regina shrugged as everyone looked at her. "You can't say you enjoyed listening to that. I just hit her with a silencing spell. She'll be fine."
"It's kinder than the arrows I keep shooting at her, love," Robin replied immediately, stepping up next to Regina with a grin. "But I completely sympathize with the desire to make her shut the hell up."
"You can't leave it on her forever," Snow pointed out as most everyone else snickered. Then the young princess glanced at Zelena. "But…maybe you can wait until she's safely locked away first."
Regina laughed. "I knew I'd corrupt you eventually," she said, wrapping an arm around Snow. "It just took a while."
"Very funny," Snow rolled her eyes, but she was smiling, too.
Belle and Rumplestiltskin let Regina and David take Zelena away, but it didn't escape Belle's notice that Emma and Baelfire headed off together, picking up Ingrid's heart from the pile of ashes that had been Cora. Apparently Cora had kept the heart with her, even if she'd sent the Snow Queen away, and Belle almost headed over to meet them until her father stepped in her path.
Not now, she thought desperately, feeling Rumplestiltskin tense again. Belle knew that Rumple really just needed to get away from people right now; how he was handling the aftermath of Cora's death so well, she still wasn't sure. There was undoubtedly at least a case of the shakes, and maybe a breakdown, coming in the future, and she just wanted to get him into private before that happened. Squeezing his hand, Belle dredged up a strained smile for her father.
"Papa, now's not a very good time—" she started, only to be cut off.
"I'm sorry," Maurice said quickly, and Belle felt her mouth hang open. "I…I didn't believe you, sweetheart, even when you told me that you were in love. I thought—well, it doesn't matter what I thought. I was wrong, and I'm sorry."
The unexpected apology made her blink, and much to Belle's surprise, it was Rumplestiltskin squeezing her hand that helped her overcome her shock and find words. "I, um, I'm glad," she managed after a moment.
Part of her wanted to scream at her father that it shouldn't have taken Belle almost freezing to death for him to see the light, but Belle knew very well where she had inherited much of her stubbornness from. So, she stopped herself, instead focusing on the things that really mattered.
"But you don't just owe me an apology," Belle said bluntly, coming back on balance. "I know you were under the curse and it wasn't all your fault, but Cora couldn't have forced you to hurt Rumple. You did that yourself, and you almost beat him to death."
Maurice flinched, and Belle half expected him to walk away or offer an excuse. But her father surprised her by nodding and turning to her husband. "She's right. No one deserves what we—I —did to you. And I apologize."
Rumplestiltskin didn't seem to know what to say for a long moment, but after Belle squeezed his hand, he cleared his throat and shrugged. "Your apology is…accepted. And I suppose that, in the grand scheme of things, well, I survived. Thanks to your daughter."
"Belle?" Maurice looked at her in surprise, and Belle couldn't help the slight smirk that crossed her face.
"I brought magic here," she replied. "Because there's nothing in the world that can make me want to lose Rumple. Nothing."
"I…I can see we have a lot to talk about," her father replied after a moment, and Belle almost hugged him. He was trying, finally, and that went a long way for her. So, she gave him a glowing smile.
"And we have time," she promised. "But for now, Rumple and I are going to head home to check on Gabi. I'll call you tomorrow, all right?"
"I'd like that," Maurice beamed, and Belle did lean forward to give her father a brief hug. Then she got her husband away from everyone so that he could break down in private.
Regina supposed that she couldn't blame Rumple for heading home after that battle. It was obvious to anyone who knew the man that her mother had done quite the number on him. Rumplestiltskin tried to hide how damaged he was, and most people seemed to fall for the act, but Regina knew him too well to think so. As a first hand survivor of Mother's idea of 'love', I can definitely sympathize, she thought, leading Zelena down the street and so very glad that she'd left that silencing spell in place. Though I'm pretty sure Mother treated him worse than she ever treated even Daniel, and that's saying something.
"You sure a cell will be enough to hold her?" Emma asked dubiously as they walked towards the sheriff's station.
"As long as I have her pendant, it will be," Regina replied, wondering how in the world any sorceress could be stupid enough to wrap their power up in some gaudy piece of jewelry. All I had to do was hit her hard enough to rip it off. Who does thinks like that?
"Isn't that a really stupid way to contain your power?" Emma echoed dubiously. "I mean, I'm really new at this magic stuff, and even I can figure that out."
"Mother wasn't recruiting based on brains," she said dryly, and didn't miss the affronted look Zelena shot her. "Besides, we can keep an eye on her until we get a cell in the asylum ready with enough wards to suffocate a fairy. That'll hold her long term, whether she likes it or not."
"Yeah, well, anything that keeps her out of here and stops me from having to listen to her is a bonus," her niece agreed, pulling open the door to the station.
Much to both women's' surprise, Graham was leaning against the desk. Regina and Emma both stopped cold, but the former sheriff grinned.
"I hear you could use a bit of help with law enforcement in this town," Graham said cheerfully as Emma gaped. "I do have to congratulate you on firing Keith, too. I never did manage to get rid of that idiot."
"That 'idiot' is standing right here!" Keith Nottingham objected from the left hand cell, which made Graham laugh.
"Graham, uh, I, um…" Emma stuttered and then trailed off, looking more lost than Regina had seen her since the Savior had decided to accept that magic existed.
"Relax, Emma. I'm not trying to steal your job. Besides, you were elected fair and square. I only ever got the job from a curse, and Cora's not exactly a good character reference. I'm happy to work for you."
"How about with me?" Emma finally managed, and Regina found herself smiling. Maybe they could make this town work after all. Forming a government without her mother would be something new for all of them, but so long as they could lock Cora's cronies out and get good people in, she thought they might be all right.
She was, however, very grateful to dump Zelena in that cell and head out to find a place to store that damn pendant. She left Graham and Emma to deal with her obnoxious half-sister, removing the silencing spell on her way out the door. Regina would have left it in place had Emma's stubborn sense of fairness not kicked in, and she could hear Zelena berating the current and former sheriff as the door swung shut behind her.
Better them than me! she thought, and went to find Robin. Who better than a thief to hide a valuable, after all?
Emma felt bad for leaving Graham to put up with Zelena alone, but she had one more errand to run before dark, and the sun was going down fast. So, she headed out to Cora's house, ostensibly to make sure that there were no nasty surprises hidden there. But Emma knew she didn't have to go do that; Regina was going to drop by after she'd hidden the pendant away, and Emma's parents had gone straight there. Still, she wanted to return Ingrid's heart in person, so Emma headed into the living room right away.
Snow had sprung Ingrid out of the cage in the cellar, fortunately, but now Emma's old foster mother was sitting motionless in a large armchair, looking lost and empty. She didn't even turn when Emma walked in, only reacting once Emma cleared her throat uncomfortably. What did you say to the woman who had tried to scare magic out of you? Emma didn't really know, even if she now understood—vaguely—what Ingrid had been trying to do. Yes, she seemed to have some sort of magic, one that Regina kept insisting she learn to use, but Emma had no idea how Ingrid had known that. Frankly, the entire situation was still a little weird, and Emma shifted nervously as Ingrid turned to face her.
"Emma…?" the older woman whispered, looking shocked to see her. Ingrid rose slowly, watching Emma as if she was some precious artifact that might disappear.
"Uh, hi," she said, forcing herself to stop fidgeting and hold out the silk bag Regina had given her to put the heart in. "I think this belongs to you."
Ingrid accepted the bag hesitantly, looking inside with wide eyes before she glanced back up at Emma. "Thank you," Ingrid said softly, and Emma watched with fascination as Ingrid gently pushed her own heart back in.
Seeing that would never be normal.
"I used the memory stone." Emma blurted the words out before she could stop herself. "I remember everything."
"You do?"
"Yeah." Emma looked away, unable to bear the hopeful look in Ingrid's eyes. "I wish you hadn't made me forget."
"I didn't know how to keep you safe from Cora if I didn't," Ingrid said softly. "And…I was afraid of how you would react to me being here. How you did react."
"Well, you didn't exactly do a lot of explaining, you know," she pointed out. "I'm not a scared teenager now. I learned how to live in the world."
"So you did." Ingrid let out a breath, and then tried a shaky smile. "I'm sorry, Emma. I never should have lied to you. I honestly wanted to keep you safe."
"From what?" she couldn't help asking, thinking back to the lies and the pain of the time Ingrid had wanted to adopt her—and then had frightened her away with talk of magic and potential and heavens knew what else. "I wasn't in any danger then!"
Ingrid looked away again, speaking softly. "I knew who you were, even then. I…knew you were the Savior." She let out a bitter laugh. "I…I had all kinds of grand plans coming to this world. I was going to find you, and my niece, and we were going to—oh, that no longer matters. I think having my heart ripped out has taught me a thing or two, and I'm sorry for everything. I don't expect you to forgive me…but I want you to know how very proud of you I am. You've become everything I ever dreamed you could be, and more."
Those words made Emma swallow hard. Once, she'd wanted so very much to love this woman, to find a family with her. But so many years had passed since then. She'd fallen in love, gone to jail, had a child, given the kid up, then had that child find her, setting off a chain of events and change in her life like Emma could never have imagined. And now I have an enormous family, Emma thought. Sometimes she was still amazed by that, utterly flabbergasted that there were so many people who loved her—and yet she couldn't shake a lingering affection for Ingrid, either.
"Thank you," she finally said, not sure how else to respond. "It's been…interesting."
"I imagine it has." Ingrid's smile was strained, but genuine. She hesitated before adding: "May I ask you for a favor?"
"You can ask," Emma replied warily.
"My niece, Elsa. She's…she's trapped in an urn. Last I knew Rumplestiltskin had it, but he may not, now. But she deserves better than to be trapped there. Will you help me find her and get her home? She has a sister who I know must miss her very much."
As favors went, that one sounded huge—but definitely like something Emma could do. "I'll help," she promised. "We'll find her."
"Thank you." Ingrid took a cautious step forward, as if she wanted to take Emma's hands, and then stopped. "Thank you."
Emma just nodded, still a little uncomfortable. Maybe someday she'd be willing to let Ingrid back into her life, but for now, she still wasn't entirely sure. Too much had happened in the eleven days since the curse had broken, and Emma was still trying to figure out her actual family. But that didn't mean she wouldn't help Ingrid find this Elsa, whomever she was. After all, she figured she could ask Neal to get that urn away from his father. Judging from what she'd seen of Gold and Neal's relationship, Gold would pretty much do whatever his son asked (even if it wasn't within reason), so how hard could one urn be to find?
The breakdown wasn't as bad as either of them had expected.
Rumplestiltskin had experienced an extreme case of the shakes when they'd gotten back to the shop, which had led him to teleport himself and Belle back home almost right away. He needed the privacy, the safety, of his own home, needed to get away from the prying eyes of the town. Strangely enough, most people had seemed very positively inclined towards him during their walk back to the shop, but Rumplestiltskin knew that would be short lived. He might have killed Cora, but sooner or later, the sheep would remember that he was the town monster. They'd resume hating him soon enough.
Still, for the moment he was content enough to hide in Belle's arms, as guilty as he felt for being glad that Gabi was over at Regina's with Henry and Roland. He just needed a little while to get his mental feet back under himself, just needed to let it sink in that Cora was dead. Rumplestiltskin had expected to feel joy, had expected the warm rush of heady vengeance to buoy him and erase at least some of the trauma and pain. Instead, he just felt shaky and relieved, and still more empty than he wanted to admit to being. Fortunately, Belle seemed to understand, and she had just held him until he calmed down, sitting on the couch and pulling him into her arms.
"I'm sorry I'm such a wreck," he whispered after he had no idea how long.
"Honestly, I'd be more worried if you weren't," his wife told him, not for the first time, leaning in to kiss him on the forehead. Rumplestiltskin closed his eyes, feeling an echo of that beautiful and perfect magic when she kissed him like that, and part of him desperately wanted to kiss her as if his life depended upon it and will his curse to break.
But he couldn't. He had to live with the life he'd been given. And this curse.
"Well, I'm glad I'm not worrying you about that, then," he said with a shaky laugh. "There's plenty else to be worried about."
"I love you, Rumple," Belle replied. "All of you…even the dark parts."
Don't tell her. Don't bring it up if she doesn't, the voice of his inner coward told him, and Rumplestiltskin tried to ignore it. Belle had taught him so many things over the years, about trust and about love, that he almost made himself say the words. He even tried, but somehow the next sentence came out instead.
"I'm not the one who was almost frozen to death earlier," Rumplestiltskin said, hating himself and yet truthful enough in his own concern. "I should be asking if you're all right."
"You solved that little problem, remember?" his wife said lightly, but he felt her shiver, and Rumplestiltskin sat up to look at her.
"That doesn't mean it goes away," he whispered, reaching out to touch her cheek, remembering how very cold she had felt. Anger surged within him, but not at Belle. No, he was angry at himself now that Cora was dead, furious with himself for letting someone hurt Belle to get at him. What use was power if he couldn't protect those he loved? Why hadn't he realized Cora would go after Belle so quickly?
"I'm all right," Belle smiled, leaning in to rest her forehead against his. "I promise. I'll tell you if I'm not, so long as you'll do the same for me. Do we have a deal?"
"Of course we do," he replied, forcing his own smile past the cold anger he still felt. She deserves to know, Rumplestiltskin decided, and then told himself—quite firmly—that the promise he'd just made covered telling Belle unpleasant truths he didn't want to share, too. His curse didn't like that, didn't like the perceived weakness of giving in, but he shoved its protests aside. "There is…one other thing," he added hesitantly.
"What? Is something else hurt? Did she do something?"
"No, nothing like that." Closing his eyes briefly, Rumplestiltskin sucked in a deep breath, and then opened his eyes once more to look into the trusting gaze of his wife. "You didn't ask me why my curse didn't break when I kissed you."
Belle's expression turned a little sad. "I figured that you'd tell me when you're ready."
"I think you trust me more than you should, sweetheart."
"You're telling me now, aren't you?" She leaned in to kiss his cheek, and Rumplestiltskin just wanted to stay there, wrapped up in his wife, safe and loved, for all eternity. "I'll always trust you."
"I thought it might," Rumplestiltskin admitted. "I…I almost hoped it would, even though I knew I needed the power to fight Cora. Being controlled"—his voice broke, and going on was hard with his chest so tight—"being her slave, was just…just…"
"Horrible. And terrifying," Belle supplied, and he found himself drawn into her arms once more as he closed his eyes tightly, fighting back the memories of days not nearly far enough in the past, fighting back the feel of Cora's hands on his body, of fighting her pointlessly, of pain and more pain. Burying his face in her shoulder, Rumplestiltskin clung to Belle for a long while before he could find his voice again, but he refused to stop now that he was trying to tell her the truth.
If I stop, I'll never start again. He'd learned that lesson a long time ago, and he would not let the voice of doubt or of darkness dissuade him.
"Yes," he whispered. "With all of that, I realized…for the first time, I truly want to be free of this. And I'd hoped that would be enough. I'd always held back before, not let our kisses free me, but this time I didn't."
"But you're still the Dark One."
Straightening, Rumplestiltskin nodded. "Magic is different here," he explained. "My curse is not of this world, and so long as we're here, no matter how we kiss, I won't be free."
Belle nodded, looking thoughtful. "We could just go to the Enchanted Forest, you know. Jefferson would take us."
Now here was the hard part, and Rumplestiltskin shook his head. He'd thought on this many times, battling his own need for power against the burning desire for freedom, trying to figure out what was right and not just what was easy. Unfortunately, although the terrified yearning to free himself from the control of the dagger at any and all costs beat out even his age-old need for more and more power…Rumplestiltskin already knew what the only possible answer was.
"We can't," he answered as gently as he could. "If…if your kiss were to free me, Belle, even True Love wouldn't destroy my curse." It had taken him a long time to realize that, but Rumplestiltskin finally understood this darkness within him. "True Love's Kiss might remove the Darkness from me, but then the Darkness would be free. It would seek a new host, and with so few people in the Enchanted Forest, it might very well go for you."
"I'll take that chance," Belle said immediately, but Rumplestiltskin shook his head desperately.
"I won't," he said firmly. "I know this curse, Belle. I know how to keep it from taking me over…and I even know how long I have before it does, and believe me, we've plenty of time yet. But you don't, sweetheart, and…and you're the reason I can fight it. You're the light that holds back the darkness in my heart. I can't bear the thought of this darkness corrupting you."
"Then how do you think I feel, Rumple?" she whispered.
Leaning forward, Rumplestiltskin kissed her lightly. "I know, and I'm sorry. But there isn't another way."
"We'll find something," Belle promised. "And if we can't, we'll keep that dagger away from everyone. No matter what it takes."
She knew him too well, knew how to soothe his fears and help him back from the edge. Rumplestiltskin knew there was plenty he wasn't saying, like how every Dark One eventually succumbed to the darkness that was even now slowly taking over his heart—but he also knew he had time. He had fought the darkness back for centuries, and he probably could do so for a few more, provided no one else gained control of him. Those ten days in Cora's hands had given the darkness a leg up he could not afford to repeat, and Rumplestiltskin would not let that happen again.
He had a family to fight for: a son, a daughter, and a True Love who had stood by his side through thick and thin. He was not going to lose his soul to this darkness, no matter what it took.
A/N: And Cora is finally dead! Thank you so much to everyone who reviewed the last chapter – particularly the anonymous reviewers who I can't PM. It truly made my weekend.
Stay tuned for Chapter One Hundred and One—"That Which You Seek", in which people plan for the future, Jefferson hosts a fascinating meeting, Belle goes to Snow and David about an important matter, and Baelfire asks about his mother.