Belle woke with the sweetest expression tangled in her eyelashes. Rumple had never known it was possible to fall so thoroughly for someone that something as trivial as eyelashes could fill him with such passion his heart beat faster.

He wouldn't do anything to jeopardize what they had.

Even though his every instinct made him itch to crush Regina's bones. He could feel his arms crushing her, could feel her smug smile as he did so, her thinking happily of him destroying himself in the process of killing her.

He'd spent quite a few years believing Belle was dead so Regina could have leverage. It was enough to render a man almost insane with fury.

Those sweet eyelashes had the power to soothe his immense fury.

"With the sunlight streaming through the windows and grazing your eyelashes," he conversed, "they look like they've been dipped in butterscotch." He watched her blink faster as she processed his words with surprise. He leaned over her and licked the ends of her lashes, filling her with giggles.

Rumple was donned in his work attire. He'd already showered, shaved, and eaten.

"I know you're a beast, but that's a bit…" she pushed on his nose with the tip of her forefinger. Then she laughed for what felt like the first time in seventy-five years. A real, belly-throbbing laugh. "Never mind." She threw the blanket off her, revealing she was wearing a pale blue spaghetti strap shirt and white sweatpants. Rolling on top of Rumple, she reached her mouth up to kiss his lips. "I don't hate it," she admitted sheepishly, blushing at what her town would say of a princess liking to have her eyelashes licked, "though if you did that in public, I'm sure the hair on the back of Snow's neck would rise and she'd let out a blood-curdling scream." Belle dug her thumbs in Rumple's belt loops. "My dad might grab you and try to hurl you out a window. But don't mind them. You be you, even if that means a little PDA."

"That's a lovely thought," Rumple replied breathlessly, "but who do you think I am—Ace Ventura? I may be a beast, but I'm not quite on his level."

Belle had the expression of a sex goddess when she asserted, "I can make the beast in you evolve to that level."

Rumple grabbed her wrist and held her steady. "That's a lovely thought, but the thing is," he licked his lips, "I've got something important on my mind."

Belle moved off his stomach and sat cross-legged at the foot of the bed. Her pillow-smushed brown hair with red streaks spilled over her shoulders. "I'm all ears."

Sitting up with his legs thrown over the side of the bed, Rumple put his hands on the sides of Belle's face and stroked her cheeks with his thumbs, his eyes full of awe. "I thought you were dead. For years. The fact that you are…very much alive…will take some getting used to." He smiled with twinkling eyes then paused.

"Don't get me wrong—it was a wonderful surprise! But it's as if I found out up is really down. Regina lied to me." Pulling her hand atop of his, he lowered his lips to kiss her porcelain flesh. "I accused her of such but ultimately decided she wasn't lying. But she made a good fool of me."

Tenderly, Belle blurted, "Oh, Rumple…" He could tell her heart was squeezing with empathy. The tone she used said it all.

Clutching her hand in both of his over his thigh, he murmured, "And you've been stuffed in a cage for far too long. Not even for a crime. Just because Regina thirsted it."

"The woman is a psychopath," groaned Belle. "She derives pleasure from harming people who did nothing to her."

"Yes," uttered Rumple icily. "Especially in regards to tearing children away from their fathers. Her father was her only solace being Cora's daughter, so the fact that she tore Jefferson from his child and Hansel and Gretel from their father and not only had no remorse but enjoyed it is suggestive of how 'evil' the queen truly is. She's not merely 'a bad person'. She's evil." His Adam's apple throbbed as his hands curled into fists with the longing to wrap them around Regina's throat. He closed them around open air, visibly struggling within himself.

Belle took a deep breath and murmured, "I want to thank you for honoring my wishes. You have my permission to kill in self-defense or to protect someone else who would die if you don't kill the other person…" Her chin wobbled. "But the thought of you murdering Regina in cold blood, even after all she put me through, makes me sick to my stomach. Even if you were doing it to pay her back for abusing me…"

"Don't," Rumple growled, his face hard and gold tooth glinting, "talk to me about her abusing you. It will make me ache to murder her on the spot."

Her blue eyes dim and lacking comprehension of exactly how horrible Regina's abuse was, Belle murmured, "It was only psychological abuse, not physical."

"That's worse," he snarled. "Psychological abuse changes you in ways nobody should be changed. Healing from physical abuse is easier than psychological. Neither is good," he waggled his finger, "and both make me want to kill her, but thinking of her," he spoke a word sotto voce so she couldn't hear it before continuing, "with your mind makes me want to kill her faster."

Belle shook her head, smiling sweetly, and clucked her tongue. Reaching out to touch his arm, she marveled, "You old softie! But it was okay. I'll be okay."

Flourishing his hands, Rumple said, while pointing at the ceiling with both forefingers, "You say that now. Give it a year. Then we'll talk about this again."

Belle nodded slowly. "Well, thank you. I appreciate you not killing her on my behalf."

"The town would thank me though. She's ruthless. Who knows who she will hurt next? What I can prevent by poofing up to her, removing her heart, and crushing it into dust…but," he smiled coldly, "I never cared much for popularity. If the town applauded me for the deed, I'd probably be so disgusted for morphing into the town hero that I'd melt…" his voice trailed off. Becoming lost in thought, his gaze drifted from her.

He was seeing it in his mind's eye. Envisioning himself poofing in a cloud of purple smoke to darken Regina's door. Felt his finger pressing on her doorbell. Sensed her strutting to the door in her clackety heels. Pulling it open with a sourpuss expression. "What do you want?" Her tone ringing with displeasure.

"I'd like a word," Rumple asserted in his head.

He could picture her standing aside and letting him make himself comfortable in her foyer.

Then he'd rip out her heart when she turned to face him. Through clenched teeth, he'd announce, "This is for Belle," and crush her heart to a fine powder. Blow it away as the Evil Queen lay dead.

The town no longer afraid of him. Clapping him on the back, buying him beers, congratulating him for getting rid of Regina. Kids hugging him—that part didn't bother him. People thanking him for his service as if he were a veteran.

All he could think now was if he hadn't promised Belle and was going to kill her, it'd be in his best interest to frame someone else in case the town stuck a Hero badge on her murderer.

"What was it you wanted to talk to me about?" Belle asked, breaking into his thoughts with her pondering blue eyes.

Returning to earth, he gazed at her with soft eyes. "Do you remember when I gave you the library after you went with me to stop me from killing Robin Hood?"

"I do."

"Er, well…" He rubbed the side of his face with the side of his hand. "I've been wracking my brains on how to give you something that'd make you that happy…ever since I found out. Would you like to go on an adventure or something? We don't have a bookstore in Storybrooke, that was my first idea, and we don't live in the Enchanted Forest anymore. My mansion is big, but it's nothing compared to my castle. In the Enchanted Forest, I could always magic up a new room, but it doesn't work like that in this world."

Belle's smile billowed rather sheepishly. "Well, yeah, an adventure would be nice, I attest, but…do you know what being a princess is? It's having your life lived for you. And when you try to make choices on your own," she squirmed, recalling the incident with Gaston and the young ogre, "no one bloody well listens to you. All they do is regard you like you're an airhead and accuse you of making the blunder when it's obvious to anyone who doesn't think with misogynic emotions the other person made the blunder.

"More than traveling, I want to prove to myself—in spite of being sheltered—I can take charge of my own life."

"And what exactly would you like to be in charge of?" pressed Rumple. "A daycare? The animal shelter? A book club?"

Belle thought about it, obviously testing each idea out. "Well," she admitted slowly, "I love animals and children. But my first love is—and always will be—books." Shrugging, she mused, "I would like us to get a dog sometime soon—"

Beaming at her, Rumple enlightened, "Dogs love me. Horses, not so much. I'm a dog man. I like horses, but they sense the Dark One thing." He flourished his hands. "They're more charmed by Snow's husband than me."

Belle ventured, "If Storybrooke has an orphanage, I think I'd rather adopt than have our own. Not until I get used to being free…but I think there are tons of children who already exist but are in need of a home."

Rumple rubbed the crease below his bottom lip thoughtfully. "How sure are you of that? If you know for a fact you'll never want to give birth, there is a curse I can brew to destroy your ovaries. It won't hurt more than a menstrual period, but it's up to you. Whatever child we raise will be ours, but I leave this entirely up to you."

Belle thought for a moment. "Yes, I would like the curse. I'd rather take a child who needs parents."

"There's an orphanage in Boston. We don't have unwanted kids dashing about, but we can look at a brochure. I will contact them when you want me to, and if you feel any children speak to you, we can have them brought here to check them out…unless the problem with leaving town gets resolved beforehand, in which case we'll go visit them. In the meantime, I will brew your curse."

"Anyway, I'd definitely love to be in charge of something to do with books but something bigger than a book club."

"We have a library."

Belle's eyes sparkled with hope. "Storybrooke does?"

"Yes, but Regina had it closed since the start of the curse. One of the first things she did was shut it down. I imagine it's impressively dusty in there."

Belle nodded. "I imagine so too…but a little dust doesn't frighten me. I'm not afraid to sneeze."

Rumple straightened up, kissed the top of her head, and mumbled, "I'm off to work."