It was nearing dusk and Rumple was getting ready to leave is spot where he stood sentinel. After all he really was only kidding himself that she would return.
Then a flash of blue caught his eye and he blinked to make sure he wasn't seeing things. Belle was walking into the castle courtyard.
She was back! Forgetting the little fact that he could teleport Rumple raced down the steps from the tower two at a time reaching the Great Hall he just managed to take a seat at his spinning wheel when the doors opened and Belle came in cheeks slightly pink from the chill.
"Oh, you're back already. Good. Good thing. I'm, uh... I'm nearly out of straw." Rumple internally cursed his own stuttering. He was a better liar than that. Belle smirked knowingly as she came closer setting down the basket next to the wheel.
"Hmm. Come on, you're happy that I'm back."
"I'm not unhappy." replied Rumple and Belle laughed walking behind him and briefly placing her hands on his shoulders.
"You promised me a story." she removed the thread from his hand.
"Did I?" said Rumple distracted by her close proximity as she placed a hand on his knee and leaned forward.
"Mm-hmm. You were going to tell me about your son." A part of Rumple did want to tell her more about Bae but he was still utterly shocked and perplexed by the fact that she was back.
"Uh... I lost him. There's nothing more to tell, really." Belle gave him a sympathetic look and grasped his hand.
"And since then, you've loved no one, and no one has loved you." Well, she'd hit the nail on the head there. After all who could love a beast? Rumple leaned closer to her.
"Why did you come back?" Belle glanced down before meeting his eyes again and he stared into the deep pools of blue desperate for her answer.
"I realized, I didn't want to leave you," she said and then the distance between their faces closed and they were kissing. Her lips were as soft as he had always imagined and he closed his eyes and then a strange feeling over took him. The voices in his head began to roar in protest and he felt as if the dark curse which had so deeply ingrained itself within him was being drawn out like poison from a wound.
"What's happening?" he asked opening his eyes to see Belle smiling at him. She ran a hand through his hair her hand coming to rest on his shoulders.
"Kiss me again, it's working."
"What is?" said Rumple and then he glanced down and saw to his horror that the scaled flesh he had grown so used to seeing ever day had begun to turn pink and human.
"Any curse can be broken by true loves kiss," said Belle and Rumple abruptly stood up anger, paranoia, and betrayal filling him. Belle looked hurt but he ignored it.
"Who, told you that!? Who knows that!?" he demanded.
"I-I-I don't know. A woman I met on the road. She, uh... she—she-" She. There could only be one she who would have been travelling on the road whom he could think of that was behind this. Regina.
He strode to the mirror ripping off the cover and speaking into it.
"You... evil... soul. This was you! You turned her against me! You think you can make me weak? You think you can defeat me!?"
"Who are you talking to?" asked Belle and he had to admit she was doing a good job of playing dumb because surely it was all an act.
"The Queen! Your friend, the Queen! How did she get to you?"
"The-the Queen? I don't-" Belle continued to look confused but Rumple didn't let himself believe a word of it. There really was no way that she really loved him. He'd been a fool to think so.
"I knew this was a trick." He snarled turning on her. "I knew you could never care for me. Oh, yeah. You're working for her. Or is this all you? Is this you being the hero and killing the beast?
"It was working-" yes, yes it had been and he'd nearly been left powerless.
"Shut up!" he yelled.
"This means it's true love!" insisted Belle stepping towards him trying to take his hands but he pulled away. He couldn't let himself believe her. He'd opened his heart and looked what had happened he couldn't risk this not being real.
"Shut the hell up!"
"Why won't you believe me?!" Belle shouted back.
"Because no one-No one could ever, ever love me!" he bellowed shaking her. And it was true Milah, hadn't, Cora hadn't, it had been idiotic to think someone like Belle could. He knew he was losing control but even in his fury he couldn't bring himself to harm her so he grabbed her arm and teleported her to the dungeons tossing her in and closing the door. Putting a barrier between her and the beast.
Then he returned to the Great Hall rage and betrayal swirling within in him. He grabbed his old walking stick. A symbol of his cowardice and used it to smash the breakfront the glass panes shattering on after another.
"That's right! Nobody could ever love you! We told you she'd only hurt you!" hissed Zoso.
"She wants to take your power to make you weak. She doesn't actually care about you," scoffed Nimue.
With the breakfront all but destroyed Rumple moved on to the tea set. The one he had set out just in case she had come back.
"She played you for a fool just like Cora," hissed Nimue. Rumple began throwing the cups at the wall one after another until he picked up the chipped cup. Staring at it, Rumple couldn't bring himself to destroy it. He gazed at it sadly. He couldn't let his curse be broken he wasn't entirely sure whether he ever did want it broken, but he couldn't risk losing his power. For one thing he needed it to find Bae.
"Kill her!" snarled the many voices of the Dark Ones. But Rumple shook his head.
"No. I can't kill her." Even if she had betrayed him, he could never bring himself to kill Belle. He'd rather die himself. He'd send her away. Away from him where she couldn't be a danger to his power and where he could never be a danger to her.
OUAT
Belle began to weep as she sat in the dungeon. How had everything gone so wrong?
Oh yes, she'd kissed him. And even though it had begun to break his curse, proving they were true love he'd rejected her. That stung. But what pained her even more had been his face and tone as he'd told her that nobody could ever love him.
He truly believed that. Belle had no idea how she could convince him otherwise. Clearly the evidence of True Love's Kiss wasn't enough. She was also now deeply regretting ever listening to a word the Evil Queen, as she now knew the woman to be, had said.
How could Rumple believe she'd ever work to harm him though? Surely after all this time he knew her better than that. Apparently, a chance meeting with the Evil Queen was enough to toss all that trust out the window.
She wondered what he would do. She could hear smashing coming from the great hall and sighed. Clearly Rumple was as unhappy as she. Yet even now after he had shouted at her Belle didn't believe he'd harm her. After all he'd at least bothered to separate her from him before going on a rampage.
It seemed ages before the door to the cell finally opened and Rumplestiltskin entered the cell.
"So, what now?" asked Belle.
"Go." he said shortly refusing to look at her.
"Go?" asked Belle in surprise.
"I don't want you anymore, dearie." Belle didn't believe him. But she also was hurt and if he was going to be a fool and shut her out so be it. Love wasn't everything. She got up and smoothed out her skirts. However just before she reached the door to the cell she stopped. Her heart breaking. She wasn't going to let him have the last word on this one. She strode back to face Rumplestiltskin. How far they had come, that she would have once been afraid to do this. Yet clearly not far enough.
"You know, you were freeing yourself. You could have had happiness if you just believed that someone could want you." She saw Rumplestiltskin's amber eyes narrow. "But you couldn't take that chance."
"That's a lie." hissed Rumplestiltskin. Belle took another step closer and felt some of the hurt and anger that had built up since his rejection burst forth.
"You're a coward, Rumplestiltskin. And no matter how thick you make your skin, that doesn't change," Rumplestiltskin scoffed though she thought she detected a hint of hurt flash briefly in his eyes.
"I'm not a coward, dearie. It's quite simple, really. My power... means more to me than you." Belle shook her head.
"No. No, it doesn't. You just don't think I can love you. Now, you've made your choice. And you're going to regret it." her voice began to tremble slightly. "Forever. And all you'll have... is an empty heart... " her voice broke, "and a chipped cup." Unwilling to totally break down in front of him Belle turned on her heel and left even as her heart remained in the dungeon.
OUAT
"You're a coward, Rumplestiltskin. And no matter how thick you make your skin, that doesn't change." Rumplestiltskin scoffed although the words cut deep. How often had he heard them both in his own mind and repeated by countless others. But he'd never imagined Belle would say them. And somehow hearing those words from her mouth hurt more than they ever had from Milah. In fact, they hurt as much as when his own son had shouted them over the portal.
"I'm not a coward, dearie. It's quite simple, really. My power... means more to me than you." it was a lie. He loved Belle but he needed his power and he couldn't risk losing it to her love. Belle being Belle clearly didn't believe him.
"No. No, it doesn't. You just don't think I can love you. Now, you've made your choice. And you're going to regret it." her voice began to tremble slightly. "Forever. And all you'll have... is an empty heart... " her voice broke making Rumple want to do nothing more than pull her into his arms and apologize, "and a chipped cup." He watched her go walking out of his castle and his life. Rumple closed his eyes against the sharp pain in his heart for already she was leaving an empty hole in his heart where she had once been.
Author's Note: AHHHH! I hated and loved writing this. I still cry whenever I watch this bit. I hope this didn't come off as too much copy and paste, I did change a few lines. Unfortunately, we aren't going to get a quick resolution to this. So up next Belle strikes out on her own to have some adventures! Thank you so much to everyone who has read and commented if you like the story or heck even if you have thoughts on how it could be improved, please take a moment to leave a note below telling me your thoughts! Until next time.
