"Would you mind?" he asked, not bothering to tell her where he wanted to go but knowing all the same that she'd know right away. And she wouldn't mind. He knew that she wouldn't mind just the way that she apparently knew Baelfire would be happy with their marriage. But he suspected that the reason she'd gathered her things so quickly after giving her permission was because she also knew that he was prone to overthinking and reconsidering…losing his nerve. She thought it was a good thing he wanted to see his son, and she wanted to get him there before he lost his courage. But the fact that she wanted him to go as much as she did…

Their little conversation about Baelfire told him more than he wanted to know and less than he needed. But it was just enough. It was just enough to tell him that whatever love Baelfire felt for Belle was mutual. Not that it shocked him; Belle loved people easily, but this was different. They'd had a relationship, a "friendship," though he secretly thought that might have been the least of it. Still, she knew Bae's mind. Now that he'd willingly given up those memories and forfeited his right to his son's mind, she knew his son better than he likely ever would. So, he relied now on cues from her to know who his son had been, what he'd liked and didn't like, what he'd wanted and needed, and there was the heart of the matter.

If Belle wanted him to go to the cemetery as badly as she did, that told him something. Bae would have wanted him to go. And he'd kept his son waiting long enough in life, hadn't come when he asked far too many times; he couldn't bear to turn him down now. Seeing Bae's desperation in Belle's eyes…it was all he needed to keep a steady hand on the wheel as they drove to the cemetery.

He had to trust her when they arrived. The Storybrooke Cemetery wasn't as expansive as the one in the Underworld, but it was large. He was noting fresh graves and mourners, unsure where to go. But she seemed to sense it, gently guiding with simple instructions: " Turn right here," "Just a little bit longer on this stretch," "Look for the tree," and finally, "he's through there."

He stopped the car.

Through there.

In a quiet section with no mourners, under the shade of two large trees. It was quite peaceful.

"He's just through there," Belle commented gently, her gaze pointing just between the two trees. "Around that corner and by the tree."

His eyes zeroed in on the place she was talking about, a place he'd have to walk to from here because the road ended. A fitting metaphor.

"I can go with you," Belle offered, reaching over and taking his hand. "You don't need to go alone."

"No, I want to," he insisted. In part because he had no idea what he was supposed to say or do, but also because he was beginning to feel like the odd man out in the family where he was supposed to be the one thing they all had in common. He wasn't jealous of whatever Belle had shared with Bae, at least he didn't think he was. He was just…lonely over it, somehow.

"Hey…" Belle breathed, drawing his attention back to her. "It's okay, you can…you can do this." She gave his hand an encouraging squeeze, not realizing that her insistence he go was all he needed to propel him forward. He squeezed her hand back and nodded once in determination. But when he couldn't make his hand move to open the door, she slid closer and kissed him once before reaching out and tightening his tie to perfection.

"All right," she sighed. "You're ready."

Yes…now he was ready. If Belle wanted him to do this, then Bae wanted him to do this. And he could do it.

He stumbled through the cemetery in the direction Belle had pointed him in, eyes scanning the stones and the names written upon them with a weight in his chest that had been absent when he'd done this in the Underworld. It was odd, to be fearful and hopeful that the next stone he saw might contain the name he sought, the anticipation made his heart race and his palms feel downright calmy.

And then he saw it. Somewhere, in the recesses of his mind, he'd had a thought that one stone looked newer than the rest, set at a more perfect angle, clean and polished. His eyes kept trying to avoid it, but the more he walked, the more he felt drawn to it, until he saw the engraving upon it…

Beloved Son.

Neal Cassidy.

He felt his hand tremble as he swallowed hard and missed a step. He was ready. He could do this. Bae wanted him here. But what was he to say to a cold stone that now stood sentry over a plot of land that contained his son's decomposing body? His own DNA breaking back down into the dust of the earth.

He looked at the green and healthy grass growing around the tomb. Alive.

Perhaps that was why people spoke to the graves of their loved ones. It wasn't the stone they spoke to but the earth. A piece of themselves in the very ground they walked on. What was the tombstone but a rock with a name on it? What was their patch of dirt, but Baelfire himself?

"My boy…" he realized gazing down at it.

"Survived by his father…" those words rang out in his head as he searched for what needed to be said. He'd seen his boy from cradle to grave now. But he was still his father, still his Papa. And he always would be ever since Milah had first set him in his arms. Ever since he'd learned to walk and talk. Ever since he caught bugs with him as a child. Ever since…ever since…

"Remember when you were small," he reminisced, twisting his hands awkwardly before him. "There was a night during the Ogre's war…there was a terrible noise," he commented, feeling himself lower down to the ground, closer to what remained of his son. "It was horse's hooves thundering down the dusty path.

"You crawled into my bed, and I can still hear your little voice. 'Papa, I'm afraid.' And I guess by instinct I just said, 'don't you worry, son. Everything's gonna be just fine.'

"And you smiled at me…and you know…that was the happiest moment of my life because, for the first time ever, I felt like a man! That I could truly look after you, alone.

But everything hadn't been fine. It hadn't been fine then because what was coming for them was more than just Ogres and War…it was something else, something that was currently burning a hole in his jacket pocket, threatening to undo all the "fine" he'd managed to create yet again.

"Until I discovered…this…"

With his back safely to Belle, he pulled the dagger from its hiding place. He held it in his hands now, as if it were a sacrifice he'd come to make before the stone of his son…maybe his son…maybe Belle's son. Never their son. Because of the Darkness…

"It turned me into a monster, obsessed with power, when all I really needed was you, your love. And now, through Belle, there's love in my life again…"

And with the real dagger in his hands now, he felt no better than he was all those years ago. Only worse…then he felt like he'd been letting down Bae. Now, because of this, he felt like he was betraying both of them.

"And once more, I've started it with a lie…

"She thinks she has the read dagger. I only lied to her in order to avenge your death. And now that I've done so, I really need the strength to give it back, be that man I should be, the man you died for!"

The man he would have wanted Belle to marry. The man Belle, and Bae, deserved.

The kind of man who didn't look for excuses not to do the right thing at the right time…like return the dagger to who it should belong.

"And I pledge, Baelfire, I will be that man. Your heroism has shown me the way," he promised, rising to his knees and replacing the dagger with a newfound sense of assurance. "I promise. I'll spend my life repaying you for that. I'll make you proud. I'll keep her safe. I'll look after Henry."

Because he was no longer the one who connected their family together. It was Neal.

"I'll keep your family safe, Bae. I promise."

He would. As he walked back to the car, he promised that the first chance he got would be the one he switched the daggers. He'd do the right thing. Belle already believed in him; there was no reason he'd ever give her not to.

Belle reached for him the moment he was back in the car, a smile on her face as he sat there for a second, Bae's stone clearly visible in the distance, a symbol of the past.

And Belle beside him…his future.

He reached for her hand and squeezed it tight in his own before glancing over at her with a smile he didn't have to conjure but felt real. "I love you."

Her gentle, timid smile stretched into a wide grin, and she couldn't hide the sigh of relief that she gave as she looked him over, realized that he was okay and the visit, short as it may have been, had gone well.

"And I love you, too."

Perfect. This was going to be perfect. They'd be fine.

"Now…" he sighed, starting up the car again. "Where does my beautiful wife intend to take me?"

Oh, this scene. I have so many mixed feelings about it. I do think that it is a beautiful scene and on a logical, writing level, I do understand why it was here. But when I think about this season's storyline and all the things that Rumple is about to go out and do to keep together the things he promises in this scene...it's a little bit painful.

Peace and Happy Reading!