Rumpelstiltskin had made a really rather impressive display of packing up the wagon. Bedrolls, cookware and all manner of other things had been loaded with an easy wave of his hand. Belle, meanwhile, had set up a cosy selection of furs and blankets for Azzy's naps at the back of the wagon before they'd gone to get breakfast. If she wasn't mistaken, Rumple had fashioned himself a sort of potions corner with a box or two of ingredients he liked to keep on hand. A few books may have been stashed within easy reach for the journey as well.

After their breakfast, Rumple had summoned Svad from the stables and hooked him up to the wagon so he could get used to the feeling. Pulling a wagon was clearly a first for him, but the horse was strong, well-behaved and didn't make a fuss beyond shuffling a little to get used to the harness.

"Looks like we're ready to go."

Rumple nodded. "I'd say so. I'll use magic to take us as far as Breamark to save us time, it's as far as I can go."

"You have to have been somewhere before in order to use your spacial magic, I know." She pulled herself up to her seat.

"We should stick to the Trade Road for the sake of convenience. They're maintained and who knows how much information I could overhear about the Hatter." Belle, who'd already figured out this exact plan the night before while sipping tea and eating lemon cakes, allowed Rumple to go on with his explanation. "Border crossings might be somewhat hazardous though, those wanted posters are still up, gold will probably get us through most encounters though."

Gods he wished he'd figured out how to make gold in Dreymyr, the act was part of him, helped him forget, but it just wouldn't happen.

"I'm sure everything will be fine, Rumple. We should get going though, it'll likely be the Month of Heroes by the time we get there, even with your spacial magic."

He squinted. "Refresh my memory, Belle. That's three months from now?"

"Two. It's the twelfth day of the Month of Beasts at the moment."

A golden-green hand waved her off. "Yes, your confusing calendar."

"I was thinking that we should maybe get some medical supplies. I know you are immortal and I have potions, but I'd thought bandages and such might be a good idea."

They honestly didn't need those things, Rumple could heal just about anything and the potions he'd given to Belle were of high quality. Although, if having those things made Belle feel better, then he'd allow it. The apothecary wasn't too far and their stock of bandages had proven plentiful; in the end the trip had taken fifteen minutes and an instruction to Azzy to watch the wagon and Svad. When they returned, Rumple helped Belle up to her seat then before doing the same, then Azzy, who'd been shrunk, jumped up to sit between them.

"Ready?"

She nodded as he took the reins and then they were outside Breamark off in a clearing where nobody could have noticed a covered wagon suddenly pop out of nowhere. They got underway quickly, every moment counted after all, and were soon on their way to Nulmerth: not a short journey in the slightest, but at least it was a direct and relatively safe one. Svad seemed to appreciate the chance to get some proper exercise and the weather being quite mild allowed them to make good time.

Back in his days as a lowly spinner, a horse and wagon might as well have been some mythical deity because Rumple hadn't stood a chance of affording either. Instead of the relaxed comfort of a wagon, Rumple had suffered each and every step to the markets; every step for Bae and his care. If they'd not had their boy, Rumple wouldn't have cared when Milah left, they'd had good times and happiness at the beginning, but both knew they'd been too young to get married and hadn't actually had anything in common. Milah had liked attention, nights out and fun that Rumple would have termed 'unnecessary frivolity', while he'd preferred quiet, warm fires to curl up by and as few people in a room as possible. No, even if he'd made it home without having committed that act of cowardice and Hook hadn't ever shown his face in their village, his marriage to Milah would have fallen apart. Why couldn't Belle had been born in his village all those hundreds of years ago? He'd have been able to live a happy life had she been.

While Rumple thought of what might have been, Belle stroked Azzy's furry white ears, enjoyed birds singing in the trees and warm sun on her face. Of course she'd taken trips to Bruckstone Castle in Gorasitz to visit Demelza, or to the summer palace in End until the proximity to the Ogre Blockade became too dangerous, but that had always been inside a carriage carrying her family's royal crest with a battalion of guards around her. This trip with Rumple wasn't like anything she'd experienced before. On one hand, not having to be a princess was a welcomed respite for the chestnut-haired beauty, but, on the other hand, she felt guilty for enjoying herself while her papa remained under a cruel spell and her brother lay in bed not knowing if his sister would ever return. Logically, she knew not to feel guilty, that their trip would guide them to Bichelberger and hopefully Jefferson as well, but to enjoy herself even for a moment seemed somehow disrespectful.

She'd fallen in love with the Dark One, she loved him, but he'd never said those words back. The way he'd touched her, held her, kissed her, all said Rumple did love her … so why hadn't he said it? 'You know why,' mumbled her mind, 'it's because he wants to go back to his own realm.' That fact pained her, but how could she be angry with somebody for wanting to go home? After all, Belle wanted to go back to Avonlea.

Belle glanced to Rumple; he held Svad's reins and watched the road but appeared to have travelled deep into his thoughts, when he was like that Belle tried not to bother him. Azzy had rested his head on her lap, so Belle simply pulled out her latest tome and lost herself in a story instead of her internal worries.

Some hours later when the sun had just started to threaten setting, Belle had almost finished her book and Rumple had stumbled out of his memories, Azzy began to fuss. The spell Rumple used to shrink the waheela down halved every bone, organ and muscle he had leaving behind a bizarre feeling inside the animal that Rumple supposed must have felt similar to Alice's little 'Drink Me' potions. Normally they kept him shrunk down for only a few hours at a time, but this had been all day and it had apparently started to take a toll.

"Could you size him back up, please?" Asked Belle once she'd set her book aside. "He's uncomfortable and wants that bed I built in the back for him."

Azzy may have been a juvenile waheela, but he seemed bigger at full size every day. Eventually he'd need his own room at the Teapot Inn, of that Rumple had no doubt.

A nod from Rumple was all it took to have Azzy hop into the main body of the wagon only to instantly double in size. He padded happily to his pile of blankets and furs while -

"Ouch!"

Reins were pulled hard which caused Svad to stop quickly. Belle and Rumple shared a glance before shoving the wagon cover aside just in time to see Amicia pour out from the mass of blankets and Azzy nuzzle into her.

"Amicia?!" Belle exclaimed.

The blonde elf rubbed at her eyes, had clearly been asleep but cuteness wouldn't save her. Rumple was inside the wagon instantly leaving Belle to follow with growing confusion. Last time they'd seen her, she'd been in the garden at Ninym Honeywood's orphanage. Azzy plopped down onto his blankets and furs as Rumple loomed over the child.

"What are you doing here?"

His demand had the girl hang her head and grow despondent, her nerves threatened to take over but Belle crouched down to smile fondly which put her at ease. Rumple's harsh gaze didn't let up though. He didn't know who he was more angry at; Amicia for stowing away, himself for not noticing her presence hours ago, or Ninym for allowing Amicia to slip away after not even a full day.

"I – I didn't – didn't like that place." She told them while sniffling.

Rumple sighed deeply but his anger did subside a little. "Did you really even give it a chance? Nobody likes new places at first."

"But there were boys. They said – said nasty things about my ears and stole my dinner."

Belle wanted to breath out a laugh, after all Amicia had been through it was nice to hear her talk childishly about childish things. To prevent the tears falling, Belle pulled Amicia into a hug but eyed Azzy with suspicion.

"You knew she was there, didn't you, Azadanes?" The wolf tilted his head in a display of playing innocent. "The only time she could have gotten into the wagon is when we went to the apothecary and you were guarding it."

Suddenly Rumple regretted making that deal with Belle to free the damn waheela from the snare. She still owned him a favor for that, maybe he should have made dumping the animal on the side of the road his price. 'No,' he sighed internally. 'That would cause more problems than it's worth.'

"It wasn't nice there." Amicia insisted, which had Belle kiss the top of her head.

"Rumple is right, you just need to give it time. Settling in is hard."

"We can jump back to Ranga then-"

"Please!?" Amicia's big blue eyes widened desperately as she pulled out of Belle's hug and grabbed Rumple's thick coat. "Please let me stay with you. I'll wear the collar." No, that wouldn't ever be an option. "Please, I'm …"

She trailed off lamely as though she'd given up mid-sentence and a painful shiver ran through Rumple's entire being. He'd not seen so much hurt, defeat and heart-break inside a child since he'd – since he'd let his boy slip into that portal alone. He'd never wanted to feel that pain again, but there he was with it coursing through his veins. Rumple should have just taken her back, but that expression had him kneel down before Amicia quietly.

"You're what, little one?"

The answer came cautiously. "… I'm scared without you."

Rumple's dark heart practically broke at that and the look on Belle's face said hers had as well. Most people ran screaming in fear at the sight of him, he was a horror story in numerous realms and Dreymyr had turned the Dark One into the Devil, but Amicia saw him as protected rather than monster, rescuer instead of beast. He'd taken on the Dark One's Curse to protect children, a good intention which had guided him into darkness.

"Let her stay, Rumple." Said Belle eventually which surprised him. "You're the First Demon Lord, she's surely safer here with us than anyone else."

"Children should be with other children, should have a normal life."

Belle quickly covered Amicia's long, pointy ears so she could whisper to him. "I don't think she's ever really been around other kids, Rumple. We're the only people who've been kind to her and she's latched on."

"We do dangerous things, Belle. Things that aren't safe for an – what is she? Ten?"

"A small child who got out of the orphanage without anyone noticing, back to the inn and stowed away in our wagon, is what she is. If you take her back, who's to say she won't do it again? The only difference will be we'll be long gone. What if she tries leaving the city looking for us or somebody … does something to her?"

Belle was right no matter how much he hated it. The orphanage clearly wasn't any match for a sneaky elf girl determined to escape and Rumple couldn't quite handle abandoning another child. Bae would want him to take care of this little girl, right? The damn Dark One was Rumpelstiltskin, he could keep her safe with all his powers.

"Fine." He eventually relented and Belle removed her hands from Amicia's ears. "You can stay." She lit up only to snap back to hesitancy when he thrust a warning finger out towards her. "You do what Belle and I tell you to do when we tell you. There will be no running off, especially at night, and if things grow too dangerous, I will return you to that orphanage where you will stay. Deal?"

Amicia nodded emphatically. "Deal."

"No one ever breaks a deal with me, little one, remember that."

With their extra passenger, Rumple returned to Svad's reins to get them moving again while Belle wrapped one of Azzy's blankets around Amicia and started to pull more information out of her about her time at the orphanage.

One part of Rumple was angry, Ninym and Abigail should have kept Amicia safe inside the orphanage, that was their one fucking job. Children shouldn't have been playing adventurer with a demon lord and a princess, they should have been tucked up in bed with a stuffed toy. Amicia may have acted rather maturely for her tender age, but recklessness was very much still in her wheelhouse. The other half of him was both delighted and impressed she'd returned. He'd always adored children and, if Amicia had escaped so easily, Ninym's orphanage didn't deserve the endorsement Gordana had given it – or all those gold coins. Subtly, he glanced behind him into the wagon where Amicia had settled against Azzy's soft fur with a blanket over her while Belle sliced up an apple.

At some point in their stop the sun had gone from threatening to set to practically down, so Rumple knew it wouldn't be all that long before Belle insisted on stopping to prepare a proper meal and get some sleep. They'd made good progress thanks to the direct Trade Road, decent weather and the fact he'd been able to teleport them so far, so Rumple wouldn't refuse his darling Belle her warm meal. Others had decided to make camp as well, he could see the starts of a few campfires short distances from the stone road. He chose to take them a bit further away from those travelling before he directed a tired Svad to pull off onto the grass where the wagon finally came to a stop.

While he put up the wards for the barrier and started a fire, Belle had Amicia help to feed Svad and gather up what they'd need for dinner from the wagon. Though small, Amicia seemed eager to help and, just for a second, he allowed himself to pretend they were a real family taking a trip. If the blonde elf was to remain with them then they'd need to get her some more clothes and a pair of sturdy boots.

Between Missus Potts and their journey with Callum and Ian, Belle had become quite the competent cook; she'd not win any awards but her rustic food was filling and quite flavorful. Gathered around the fire's warm glow, with the barrier protecting them and the wagon from just about anything, Rumple let Belle ramble on about her latest book while they ate their soup. Happy, Rumple was happy and that made him feel guilty as well. In his mind he didn't deserve happiness until he'd fixed everything between him and Baelfire. The guilt threatened to consume him, but then Belle wrapped his left arm around her as she settled against him and all that guilt was banished so gratitude could replace it. Gratitude that some entity had taken pity on the patheticness that was Rumpelstiltskin and gave him Belle.

"You keep saying that finding Jefferson will help you get back to your realm," she began after a moment. "But how exactly? He isn't a demon lord, so surely he isn't as powerful as you."

"There are more than four demon lords?" Amicia suddenly asked, mouth still full of half-chewed roll.

"No. There's only me and the others everyone already knows about. You're safe and don't speak with your mouth full." He turned his attention back to the beauty in his arms. "The Hatter might not be a demon lord, but he isn't weak. His hat is a totally unique magic that even I do not fully understand. He has been here longer, had more time to gather information from areas you and I have not visited, and he can understand what you call 'spacial magic' from a different perspective. Furthermore, Gaston and Tvon were attempting to summon me to this realm but got Jefferson likely because I'd sent him away with my magic. This means the spell they used is unstable, inaccurate and probably powered by a specific type of magic or magical item."

"Wouldn't demanding the information from Tvon be better?"

"No, I like to have my own research and figure out if there is a work around before I pin all of my hopes on a mad mage who had no qualms using you as a shield."

Amicia yawned loudly then which drew both the adults' attention. Her long ears had begun to droop and here eyelids had grown heavy. Rumple hadn't realized the hour, he was so used to avoiding sleep that he'd forgotten Amicia needed it. Like the loving and caring half-elf she was, Belle tucked Amicia up inside the wagon with Azzy snoozing beside her then returned to the fire and Rumple. Unlike most times she watched him, Rumple hadn't begun staring off blankly, instead he glanced up at the stars and fidgeted with his hands – something she'd noticed he did when he'd been parted from his spinning wheel for too long. Spinning, an odd pastime for a man let alone the First Demon Lord, but it seemed fitting for the person Rumple was underneath everything. He was somebody who enjoyed creating, fixing and inventing, at heart she could see he was more of a builder than a destroyer.

The barrier would protect them from any bandits or monsters that came upon them – watching slimes just sort of bounce off it before they slithered off on their way had actually been a fairly amusing sight. So, without hesitation, Belle settled herself back against his lean chest and stretched up to kiss his cheek.

"Thank you for letting Amicia stay. I know it's not exactly the safest option to be with us but at least she can't escape you like the orphanage."

"You were rather persuasive, sweetheart."

That got her to chuckle a little as she moved to straddle him, her blue eyes shined brightly in the flickering fire light.

"Amicia is asleep with Azzy in the wagon." Said Belle with a kiss. "We can be quiet."

The fact this beautiful goddess actually wanted him still amazed Rumple, he didn't deserve such perfection. However, none of that stopped him burying himself between her legs, one hand planted on the ground by her head to support himself while the other gripped her hip. They didn't have sex, they made love that night underneath the stars, flesh lit by the campfire and sweet nothings on their lips. Belle kept her hand clamped over her mouth to avoid waking innocent Amicia. So many unexpected firsts had taken place with Rumple, she'd grown as a person not just a woman and knew her heart firmly belonged to the Dark One.

No other man could ever touch her with such loving gentleness, no other man would ever make her feel so completely adored, no other man could ever make her shudder wantonly with little more than a glance, and she didn't want any of them to. The thing about love was that, once one had given their heart to another, it was very hard to take it back. Belle though, she'd given her heart to her true love, the one man who saw Belle for who she truly was and adored her for it. He may have been a beast to everybody else, but he was Belle's beast.

~X~

Very little of note happened between Breamark and Omura, they'd bypassed Nulmerth by leaving the Trade Road and cutting across to Twin Pine then occasionally passed other wagons and travellers all the way to the first Gralian city Rumple – or Amicia for that matter – had ever entered. According to the ever informative Belle, Gralia was King Benedikt Sunringham's territory and had managed to maintain the kingdom's expansive border the same way the last six royals before him had – the old 'speak softly and carry a big stick' method. King Benedikt, much like King Artem, preferred to discuss issues, problems and threats when they were made rather than simply declaring war like many royals would have done – like King Reginald would have done. Gralia's army was large, strong and stationed so wisely at various military instillations, that it would be practically impossible to surprise the kingdom with an attack. This King Benedikt sounded like quite the smart ruler. Princess Emmeline was a handful of years older than Belle and, if Belle's glowing report was anything to go by, would follow in her father's footsteps well once she ascended to the throne.

Rumple listened to everything his beautiful blue-eyed girl had to say on the topic of rulers and kingdoms. Back when they'd mostly kept to Dorovoth there hadn't been quite so much need, but as they continued to travel the length of Dreymyr, Rumple realized the more he knew the better armed he was.

Avonlea, Nalessa, Vell and Yanhil were by far the largest kingdoms and, thankfully, seemed to be ruled by the more level-headed royals: in fact, Avonlea, Nalessa and Vell were on such good terms that some referred to them as the 'sister kingdoms'. Belle was King Gasper's great-grandniece after all. Dorovoth and Worynheim were also ruled by those with heads on their shoulders and, what they lacked on land, they more than made up for with their navies. According to Belle's understanding, Balmund could be temperamental. King Huw valued traditions and self-sufficiency, his people were hard-working and skilled to the point surprisingly little was actually imported to Balmund. Meanwhile, Cylvera presented itself as a tolerant kingdom and, for the most part, it was, but Queen Kotryna was ruthlessly intelligent and refused to let anything rival her rule. Avonlea and Cylvera had repeatedly bumped heads and even gone to war at one point, but Kotryna appeared to prefer to rule with her plots hidden in the shadows and Rumple would let them remain there as long as they didn't interferer with him finding his son. Then there was Olgarth where one couldn't tell where the monarchy ended and the Church began. Most travelling merchants who weren't human took the southern route along the Trade Road and all ancient elvish sites within Olgarth had been mercilessly destroyed. It sounded as though none of the other kingdoms were entirely sure what, if anything, could be done about Olgarth's mistreatment of demi-humans, elves and dwarves: frankly, Rumple was at a bit of a loss as well. Most of the commoner's hate for non-human species had likely stemmed from the Church's encouragement, but the real question was how engrained had it become in the populous.

With each new day Amicia ventured further out of her shell, ceased jumping at every loud noise or offering to be enslaved to Rumple. Slowly, she started to act more like the little girl she was and less like the timid slave others had forced her to be. Amicia had also taken a liking to Svad, a creature easily twice her height, and by the end of the first week it had become Amicia's job to feed and water the horse. Evils and horrors no child should have ever seen were the things Amicia had been forced through but, with them, she'd begun to heal.

When they reached Omura, Rumple had allowed the girls a day free of wagon travel. They'd eaten at an inn for the first time since their pause in Twin Pine and Rumple had finally purchased Amicia a pair of shoes, brown boots with little bronze buckles and strong soles that could stand up to a child charging about. They'd been a bit overpriced, but the ecstatic grin on her face had made it worth every coin. She'd pranced about the market after that happy to show off her new boots to anybody who glanced her way. Belle had just smiled at him as though he were a loving father doting on his daughter and, while the thought warmed his heart, guilt descended each time he thought of Bae.

Leaving Omura was the first time Belle questioned any of his travel decisions because, instead of heading down the southern branch of the Trade Road toward Amselozero, Rumple had taken the northern route that led to Vinn. Upon first glance, such a choice didn't seem like an issue, the northern route would cut a significant amount of time off their journey as it bypassed a lake so large it was basically a landlocked sea, and the Blade Backs. However, Vinn was located in Olgarth, a kingdom known for its mistreatment of non-human species and where the Church practically had more power than King Reginald. With their group consisting of an elf, half-elf and demon, Belle's concern wasn't unfounded. Of course Rumple understood Belle's desire to take the southern path, but it was time none of them had, not when there was a much faster option staring them in the face. Yes, there were several villages between Vinn and Windmir – a city in Nalessa – but Rumple had no desire to stop off at any of them and his barrier would keep any monster, bandit or religious zealot from doing them harm. His girls were safe and Rumple made sure to assure them of that fact. Though he'd seen her reluctance shine in those stunning sapphire eyes of hers, Belle had relented and allowed them to continue to Olgarth's border.

As soon as they'd reached that border, Rumple had understood Belle hadn't exaggerated her warnings about the tensions in the kingdom. Flags and religious iconography littered the walls while a large statue of Drazva designed to stare judgementally stood by the main gate. Their wagon was inspected for almost a full ten minutes longer than any human who arrived at the border, Belle and Amicia were referred to only as 'knife-ear' which had made Rumple itch to kill the guards – Belle's pleading hand on his forearm being the only reason he hadn't – and Azzy had been threatened with a sword at one point when he'd yawned despite having been shrunk down to the size of a regular dog. Then there was the way they'd looked at him: Rumple had long grown numb to the looks of hate or fear but the pure disgust in the eyes of those guards, the contempt they felt for him, actually shocked Rumple. In the Enchanted Forest, people hated him because they knew the evils he'd committed, the things he was capable of, but those guards thought he was just some regular demon and still hated him more than any in the Enchanted Forest.

The inspections were dragged out, clearly done simply to amuse the guards, but they were eventually permitted to enter Olgarth after a totally exorbitant tax had been paid. As soon as they were passed the check point though, Rumple encouraged Svad to move faster while Amicia snuggled a regular sized Azzy for comfort. Belle though, as they travelled the next stretch of the Trade Road, she grew more and more quiet, distant and distracted as though preoccupied and he hated that he was the cause of it. Rumple might have grown a thick skin to combat what others said about his scales, but Belle hadn't done the same. Belle's elf half came from her deceased mother, and those guards had just spend their entire interaction making out elves weren't even people. He squeezed her hand, it was all he could think to do in order to comfort her; it must have been right because Belle smiled back and rested her head against his shoulder.

Since staying at Vinn's inn didn't sit right with any of the party, they passed through quickly without so much as a pause to stretch their legs. Instead they camped out like they had many nights before with Amicia seeing to Svad and Belle preparing a meal for them. For a princess with no real experience with cooking, she'd learned quickly and even begun putting her own twist on certain things. At night, gathered around the campfire, Belle would teach Amicia to read while Rumple alternated between enjoying his time with his girls and hating himself for enjoying his time with them.

They moved through Olgarth quickly enough, Svad seemed to never run out of steam; that kelpie blood really had made him a damn reliable horse. Still, Belle's quiet worries remained and Rumple sought to ease them.

"Amicia," he began as he leaned back to call to the child in the wagon. "Would you pass me the item on top of my potions box?"

"Uh-huh." She muttered as she pushed herself to her feet and padded across the wagon then thrust the item, a book, out to him.

"Thank you, little one."

He offered the tome to Belle who accepted any books without question. Rumple had bought it back in Omura while the girls had been next door at a bakery but he'd kept it hidden from Belle despite it being intended as a gift. Had somebody asked him why he'd not just offered it, Rumple likely wouldn't have provided a sufficient answer. Maybe, deep down, he'd wanted to save it for the right moment, a moment when Belle would appreciate it most; or maybe he'd just worried he'd overstepped.

The beauty with chestnut locks flipped her new book over to read the cover: 'Her Handsome Hero'. For a moment Belle didn't speak, but when Rumple glanced to her she wore a smile.

"I purchased it while we were in Omura. I know it's not your mother's copy, but you can have this one with you."

"Oh Rumple." She shuffled closer to kiss him properly, a delicate brush of her lips against his. "Thank you, this is really sweet of you."

She kissed him again only for Amicia to ruin it. "Ew, kissing."

The pair chuckled into their parting kiss, they truly were thankful for each day of her being a kid again.

Belle soon had her favorite book open and Amicia had crawled through from the back to sit in Rumple's lap having insisted she wanted to hold the reins. He'd made his girls happy and that worked to banish some of his darkness.

Belle and Rumple would part when he left Dreymyr, it had to be done so he could find his son and she could rule a kingdom. However, Amicia was a different topic. At first he'd supposed remaining with Belle would be in her best interest since there weren't any elves in the Enchanted Forest and Rumple had twenty-eight years of being cursed to suffer. Although, with her in his lap and smiling, Rumple wondered if there would be a way to take her with him. 'No!' his mind screamed. 'Don't be so damn stupid. You'd just be forcing another child to be abandoned. The Dark Curse takes everybody's happy ending and, if you take Amicia with you, she'll have hers stolen as well.' Yes, the only real option was to leave Amicia in Belle's care.