To his great relief, Belle hadn't put up a fight with him when he got out of bed early that morning. She'd muttered something incoherent before rolling over and going back to sleep. He wasn't even entirely sure that she registered his departure or that he promised to leave the car there for her, but he felt confident that she'd put it together.

He had things that he wanted to do. And if Henry was going to be in his shop again come time for the weekend, potentially attempting to spy on him or snoop in some way he wanted to make sure that he had a few barriers in place so that he couldn't go snooping where he didn't want him to as well as make sure that even if he did, he wouldn't accidentally hurt himself or turn himself into a toad.

And then, of course, there was the hat. He wanted to check on its progress.

When he'd captured the Apprentice yesterday, he'd seen a new star flicker in the sky, but if previous Dark One Theories were correct, this morning, he should see more. The longer the magic had time to extract the Apprentice's power, the closer to the night sky that hat should get. It was close enough already. His hope was that maybe in a week or so, he'd have what he needed. So long as he could figure out how to get what he needed without drawing too much attention to himself.

But before he could leave for the shop, the moment he went to make sure he'd put the car keys somewhere that Belle could find them, he glanced at the front door and had another thought.

Mary Margaret had cast the last Curse…

Wasn't that what Dove and Emma had said?

After getting his memories from the Curse back, he remembered having the knowledge that it wasn't Zelena who had set off the Dark Curse, but rather someone on the other side desperate to get to Emma who had done it, forcing Zelena to work with what she had and insert the memory loss into the curse. But…Mary Margaret had been the one to do it?

He had no idea how he'd never thought to question it before. Although he supposed he hadn't really cared, all he knew was that they were back in Storybrooke, he was freed, and everyone within the circle seemed to be intact, including David.

Snow White as mayor instead of Regina…

He wanted to get to work but instead found himself opening the front door and locating the paper that had been shoved into a plastic bag and tossed on his stoop by some kid probably an hour or so ago. Mr. Gold used to have a tradition of reading the paper every morning over breakfast. Perhaps he needed to get back to something like that. He wasn't saying that Dove was right in accusing him of being abnormally out of touch. Only that with that pronouncement yesterday he'd suddenly felt very out of the loop. He'd meant what he'd told Belle before, that he wanted to remain separate from Team Hero that Emma was forming around her. But just because Baelfire was gone and his dreams of being free from the dagger were in reach didn't mean that he could afford to get sloppy. All his greatest plans were only ever successful because he'd kept a close eye on others, even when he had nothing to do with them. There was no need to change that now.

So, he locked the house, then took the paper, and used magic to get himself to the shop. He checked the hat, made a few notes on the stars that had popped up and how fast the absorption seemed to be taking place before he hid it away again. Then stood at his worktable and opened the paper.

The elusive and mysterious Snow Queen was, unsurprisingly, front page news. Also unsurprising was the lack of information included in that front-page article. They had nothing. Though the article mentioned that the Sheriff, Emma, and Mayor, Mary Margaret, were doing their best to work through records to attempt to identify the Snow Queen, thus far they had been unsuccessful. In the meantime, included in the report was the Storybrooke weatherman explaining that temperatures in Storybrooke were unseasonably cold. And yet not cold enough for the patches of ice that were popping up throughout town, attributed to the Snow Queen.

Interesting. That at least told him that Ingrid was doing a good job at keeping a low profile. It also told him that Emma still had no idea who she was, although why they were searching "records" in an attempt to identify her was unclear.

He paged through the rest of the paper. Most articles, in some way, related to the Snow Queen but were arguably less credible and important. There was one that spoke about some damage that had been done when the Snow Queen set a snow monster on the town. A Snow Monster was news to him, but when he saw the date, he realized that he'd missed that because he and Belle had been out honeymooning that day.

The ice wall was stronger than ever, and while they were looking into having it removed, none of the witches or wizards called in had any luck. All stated that it could only come down when the Elemental who wanted it down removed it. At least they'd gotten something right.

Shops were currently advertising clothes for warmer weather and sales on summer clothes. Meanwhile, there were advertisements for generators, heated blankets, spells that would keep the lights on, and snake oil that supposedly could guard the heart against being iced over, as Marion had been.

But then…

Storybrooke Library Opening!

He froze as he stared the headline down, those three words causing a moment of panic. Storybrooke Library Opening? Had he forgotten something?

"Libraries have often been seen as institutions of quiet learning. Their impact on society often makes a big splash in the subtlest of ways. Finally, after decades of closure during the Dark Curse, Storybrooke's own Storybrooke Public Library is opening with its eyes set on making a difference without ever making a sound.

"There will be no grand opening or open house, not for the library that sat abandoned during the darkest part of the Dark Curse, but starting today, the Storybrooke Public Library is opening its doors to the public. Librarian and newlywed Belle Gold could not be reached for comment on her decision to open the library without grandeur, but all are in agreement that after years of neglect, it's good to see the library open and have a safe space to read a book quietly, of course…"

The article went on to quote several individuals around town who were excited about the concept of having a library for the first time. There was also an expected quote from some economist about the benefits of having a public library for the community. Given that the paperwork wasn't official yet, the writer was lucky he'd chosen the name he had for Belle. All in all, it was a decent article announcing the opening…

And Belle hadn't told him any of it. Especially not the last part.

"Though the mirror confirmed a break-in occurred in the early morning hours, the Sheriff assured the public that the burglar had been caught at the scene by the resident librarian, who promptly called the police and placed the habitual burglar behind bars. Sheriff Swan assures the public that the library is safe and ready for use. So come on down, register for a library card, and remember, inside voices only."

Belle had caught a burglar. In the library?! And the library was open today?!

Fuck.

He dropped his gaze to the hat, feeling guilt seize his heart. It wasn't a sin what he'd done, but he could have sworn that he felt it blackening as he stood there. In all fairness, he had intended to go home yesterday and have a conversation with her about the library. He'd expected that he could cook dinner while she worked on her paperwork, and then they could talk through the shop, his decision to hire Henry, and where she was with the library. He'd intended to have dinner and a discussion yesterday. But just as it had the last few nights, that plan had quickly been postponed for sex and cuddling instead. And they had talked, during the cuddling bit they'd revisited a number of painful memories. But they hadn't touched on the library or the shop or anything recent. Nothing they probably needed to talk about.

And it had him feeling…nervous. Like his heart was in his throat. He remembered this feeling. He remembered it from the days he'd been married to Milah, and she struggled to get pregnant. He remembered it from after he'd broken his foot. He remembered it from-

The bell in the front of the shop chimed. As if he'd summoned her his magic felt Belle's presence in the store and he glanced over to the hat before sending it into the safe for hiding before closing the paper.

And then she was there, behind the curtain, her eyes red-rimmed and stained with tears.

Who did he have to kill?

"Belle…what's wrong?!" he demanded. "Who's hurt you?"

It was only after the question left his lips that he feared the answer might have been him; that he'd been ignoring her too much, been too focused on the hat and missed something. Perhaps she had told him about the opening. Perhaps she was upset that he'd forgotten.

Maybe she'd tried to summon him with the dagger and realized-

But when she threw herself into his arms and held on tight, crying into his shoulder, he let out a sigh of relief.

She didn't run to him this way when she was angry at him. It was something else.

"Ruby," she cried between sobs. "She's gone…"

And so we reach 4x05. This is going to be a short little section, and for some of you who read Moments Told and Untold when it was live and haven't revisited it since, you might discover some new plot points. Like Ruby. However, I will say that this is what I'm enjoying most about writing for Rumple after the show has ended. The news of Ruby's departure was sort of left as a mystery for a couple of seasons until they finally explained it and so I had to go back into Belle's story after the fact and edit her out appropriately. With Rumple, there is no editing involved I just get to have her gone as naturally as possible. Still, if Belle walking in now and saying that Ruby is gone is a total shock to you (and reading Belle's version of things is important to you), there might be some value in revisiting Moments Told and Untold to read how I edited her out in the end.

Thank you, Rsbeall12 and Grace5231973, as always, for your reviews. I appreciate them. I hope you'll enjoy this brief little 4x05 section. Rumple is really going to start to feel a bit more guilt regarding Belle, and we're going to see all the reactions to that from his side, as well as an essential conversation that I know a few of you have already asked me about. I hope that you'll enjoy it! Peace and Happy Reading!