Author's Note: This chapter was revised by the awesome Ethereal Wishes.
I'm sorry for all the delay with this story! I'm trying to finish all my works and I already have most of the chapters written for all of them, so I'll be updating every fic, none has been forgotten.
Thank you all for your patience. Hope you enjoy it.
Alongside with the birth of Baelfire came the obvious concern about the little boy having inherited his father's powers, but as time went by, Rumplestiltskin's worries proved to be senseless, as no magic manifested itself within his son. Bae was just as pure as his mother. He constantly followed her around the castle with a book or two in his small hands, asking for a new story.
It had been a complex amusement having a growing child around, but both parents had enjoyed every single moment of it, even when the boy started walking and grabbing all kinds of dangerous things that were in his reach, like wands and swords. The Dark Castle had to pass through a lot of changes to guarantee that Baelfire wasn't going to harm himself by accident, and the more he grew, the harder it was to keep him concealed from others. He ran from his mother whenever she had to hide with him, and Belle had to create new ways to distract the little boy from trying to find his papa, like they were playing hide and seek.
But at the same time, Baelfire was becoming more curious, and it also meant that he was getting smarter. When he turned four and started to point at the words in the books his mother read for him, Belle decided that it was time to teach him how to read, so every single afternoon, she would sit on the library's floor or by one of the huge desks with Bae by her side and a book between them. She explained the mechanics of the letters and the words, telling the boy how things worked while he followed her lead.
Those were cherished moments for Rumplestiltskin, and he would leave everything he was doing, just to watch the two people he loved most in the world, interacting so sweetly.
"And the… The sorcer went…" Baelfire tried.
"Sorcerer," Belle corrected him, "you forgot a syllable, darling."
"Sorry, mama."
"Oh, there is nothing to be sorry about," she said, stroking his hair. "You're learning and you have a right to make mistakes."
The imp smiled at them, seeing Bae swing his feet in the air on the chair that was too high for him, snapping his fingers, he made a small table appear near the shelves full of cakes, breads and cookies. His son's eyes grew wide at the magic trick, and he quickly jumped off the chair, taking a cinnamon roll between his fingers and lifting it to his mouth.
"You're interrupting the reading lessons," Belle complained, but there was a smug grin tugging corner of her lips that told Rumplestiltskin she wasn't truly angry about it.
"I thought that he deserved a snack for his hard work," he explained, pointing at their happy boy.
Giggling, she joined her son, kneeling by his side and serving herself a piece of cake. Little did she know that in her husband's mind a lot of thoughts that had nothing to do with their family were passing through, because a while ago, Rumplestiltskin's apprentice, Regina, had discovered a curse that would change everything, and it may take her some time to gather all of the ingredients she needed to increase her power, but someday it would come, and right now he wasn't sure if he was doing the right thing by helping her.
Later that night, when he had Belle writhing and moaning in his arms, he felt guilty for not telling her about the Evil Queen's plans and decided that it was time to enlighten his wife about what was going to happen. So, when he kissed her brow, after both of them had reached their climax, and were breathing erratically, feeling completely sated, Rumplestiltskin looked into her blue eyes, moving so they were laying side by side, facing each other.
"Sweetheart, there is something I must tell you," he whispered, touching her pinkish cheeks, amazed with her beauty and how she looked even more gorgeous after making love to him.
"What is it?" Belle asked, still a little breathless, tracing his jawline with her index finger. "You can tell me anything, Rumple."
"My love," he stated in a low soft voice, "there is something dark coming soon that will effect all of us."
The fearful expression that crossed her face was exactly what he was trying to avoid, what he was fearing to see. Some years ago, he would never have believed if someone told him that he was going to care about this woman the way he did now. She was supposed to be just another deal, just a girl that would fill the empty space in his bed, not in his heart, but the truth was that she understood him, every single bit of him, and now, Rumplestiltskin couldn't imagine his life without her.
"Something dark?" She repeated, sitting on the bed, suddenly too preoccupied to cuddle with him.
"Aye," the imp confirmed, "a curse that Regina intends to cast. It will take us all to a Land Without Magic."
Her breath hitched in her throat, and she needed to gather some courage to speak, grabbing the duvet and hugging it tightly against her body. "And you can't stop her?"
Rumplestiltskin's glance fell to the sheets, guilt starting to fill him as he saw his wife's concern. He never meant to make her feel so desperate as she was looking at that moment. He grasped her hand and caressed her fingers, stopping at her wedding ring with a deep sigh.
"I'm helping her," he admitted.
"But why?" Belle gasped. "Don't you have everything you want here?"
"Darling, it will be better for us to be in that place, it will be safer. The clerics, there are rumours all around the realms that they are trying to rid our world of the magic, imprisoning its practitioners, putting enchanted cuffs on them that make it impossible for magic wielders to use their powers. And I've heard that they intend to capture me. If they do, I don't even want to think about what could happen to you and Bae. That's why I want this curse to work. Regina promised me that I would be the most powerful man in this new land, so we will have a good life," Rumplestiltskin quickly explained. "The only price we'll pay is to spend some years without our memories."
Belle's eyes grew wide, and she jerked her hands away from him. "Rumple, I understand and I also fear for our safety, but this isn't a small price to pay! What about our son?"
"He will be fine, sweetheart, I promise."
There were tears gathering in her eyes, and Belle's lower lip trembled.
"And what if I'm with child again?"
His glance fell to her abdomen, his heart racing in his chest, and this time it was him who feared the future, because he knew that when the curse comes, it would probably separate them, and he was already hesitant about being separated from Bae and Belle, but adding another innocent child into the equation... Rumple couldn't even begin to imagine how terrible it would be.
"You - " he swallowed. "You are?"
"No, or at least I wasn't before tonight," she answered, gesticulating between them. "What if we have have conceived a child just now?"
A ragged breath left him. Of course, he had been stupid enough to not think about that, but if she hadn't got pregnant all those years after Baelfire's birth, then it wouldn't be now that it was going to happen. Or at least that was what he was faithfully asking the gods for.
"Belle - "
Bells slipped off the bed, picking up her nightgown and slipping it over her head.
"I want my memories, Rumplestiltskin," Belle said, bitterly. "And I want my family."
Then, she left the room, leaving him to his musings.
He met August at a bar. It had been the most boring one he worked for since they moved to Tallahassee. It didn't pay much, but it payed better than the other ones he had been employed at before that. Neal spent his days in a small office, doing some boring paperwork that nobody else wanted to do and it was only worth it because of Henry, otherwise he would have gone back to his days as a thief. But now he had a smiling eight-year-old that aspired to be like him, and he had to set a good example.
If there was someone in this whole wide world that Henry reminded him of, it was Belle. Just like Neal's mother, his son loved books and had blind faith in the goodness in people. Some days, he would sit and observe him with a grin playing on his lips. And it was because of Henry that he didn't go away when he heard the words "Your real name is Baelfire", leaving August's mouth.
"What?" He turned around, looking back at the man casually drinking whiskey at the counter.
Neal couldn't remember how long it had been since someone called him by his real name, or the last time he had such a bad day that he had to go to the bar before today. Yet, both things had happened on that same day. He stood there, frozen in place while facing that man he'd never seen before.
"Baelfire. I know that's your real name, Dark One's son."
Swallowing hard, Neal felt his heart begin to race. "How do you know about this? Are you from, you know, that other land?"
"August Booth," the man said, offering him his hand in a greeting, lowering his voice to continue. "You may know me as Pinocchio."
"Pinocchio?" Neal laughed. "You must be joking."
"No," August said with a serious face, "but I've heard that your way has crossed the Saviour's."
His face contorted into a grimace. All he intended to do was to have a drink - to forget his awful day and then go home, but now he was stuck with this awkward guy that claimed himself to be Pinocchio.
"The Saviour? What are you talking about?"
"Emma, your girlfriend," August shrugged, then when Neal's confused expression didn't change, he added: "She is special, friend. Snow White and Prince Charming's daughter. Fated to break the curse that brought every person from our world to this one."
Eyes widening, Neal almost choked on the air. "You mean they are here? Everyone?"
"Including your parents, yes," he confirmed.
Drawing a breath, Neal sat down on the stool next to August's. He had gone away from their land long ago, had gone through a lot before he got to where he was now, but he never imagined that they all could have ended up in the same place, mainly after all that time.
"Are they alright?"
"The Dark One and his wife?" August questioned. "I don't know, friend, but I do believe so, they just have no idea who they really are at this moment. But I came here to find you and tell you that you must take Emma to this little town called Storybrooke, Maine, on her twenty-eighth birthday, so she can break the curse, otherwise, everything will be lost for everyone and your parents are on that list."
A Million different thoughts crossed his mind. Suddenly memories from a distant time were filling him, bringing up the remembrance of Belle's kind blue eyes and Rumplestiltskin's gentle smile that he only showed to his family. Neal wanted to hug them, tell them he missed them, even though he was still angry with his father for how things ended, but he couldn't just only think about himself right now.
"I have a son and I don't want him to be a part of this," he said, looking down at the counter. "Magic has thrown my family apart once, I can't let it take Emma and Henry from me."
"It won't. It will only bring you back what you once lost, what Emma lost." August pointed out. "I bet she always wanted to know her mom and dad."
"But at what cost?" Neal questioned.
"No bigger than the one they will pay if she doesn't break the curse," the other man said, standing up and finishing his drink before placing some money beside his empty glass. "Think about that, Baelfire, I'll come back in some time to remind you of the ones that need to be saved."
Smirking, like someone who knew how to play with other people's mind, August headed to the front door of the bar, leaving Neal with a decision to make.