Once upon a time, what felt like a lifetime ago, he'd promised her that one day they'd experience the joy that came from having nowhere to go and nothing to do. He was proud to say he'd finally fulfilled that promise to her. Albeit on the first day of their married life, but it was a promise that he'd finally managed to keep, and he considered that a small victory.

With their phones off, no one had called them. He hadn't a clue what was going on in town, and he didn't care. No one knocked on the door. Time wasn't threatened. There was merely the pair of them in their bed, saying beautiful things to each other that he'd never imagined he might say in a hundred years, let alone someone might say to him in a thousand. In fact, they hardly stirred beyond the threshold of the bedroom, only leaving once for food and returning quickly within the hour.

It was nice. It was a fantasy. Looking back on his life, he didn't think he'd ever had hours that he spent this way, much less a day.

"People will notice, you know," she commented lazily, her head reclining on his shoulder.

His hands held her hand in his own and he was quietly looking it over, fascinated and entertained by every facet of it, but especially by the finger where his ring now took up residence. With a stone like that…he hoped people would notice.

"News of our engagement will only be making its way around this morning, but they'll notice that we're wearing rings already. Do we make another announcement of marriage? Publicly?"

He felt the corner of his mouth lift in amusement. "I've no doubt the cricket will take care of announcements for us, Sweetheart."

"You really believe Archie is the type of person to run off and gossip like that?"

He opened his mouth to argue…but closed it again quickly. She had a point. The cricket wasn't perfect; he was hardly a steel safe regarding secrets, but he wasn't exactly a sieve either. While a few secrets had made themselves public over the centuries, for the most part, he knew that he did tend to keep things to himself. Knowing Archie, he likely would want to keep the news to himself so that they could tell everyone as they saw fit. Belle's father...he was less certain would give away the news, but he was also less than certain he'd be eager to claim the notorious Dark One as his son-in-law. Perhaps an announcement when they returned wasn't a terrible idea.

"Can I call you my husband?" Belle asked beside him, already moving on to the next question. "Can I start using your last name?"

Belle Gold…he'd forgotten just how much he'd liked the sound of that the first time she'd brought it up. Still, he tried to swallow down some of that pride and eagerness. It had been a year since they last discussed her last name, he didn't know if she still felt the way she had a year ago and didn't want her to feel pressured to do anything too quickly.

"There is paperwork that goes with that, you know," he responded, choosing the legal answer as his strategy. Now that he thought about it, they'd need to get a marriage certificate signed. And he'd need to reset some of his affairs to formally mention her. The deed to the property, the title to the car, the bank statements…

Fuck…for having nowhere to go and nothing to do, he was beginning to think there were a lot of places they needed to go and an endless list of things to do.

"I know," she insisted, cutting through the clutter of it all. "But there's no reason I can't use it until we figure all that out. Right?"

"Do you want to use my name?" he inquired. He'd never forgive himself if she felt as though it was something she had to do to conform. "Really want to use my name? Not something out of convention or tradition-"

"You already know I do. I want to be your wife in every way imaginable in this world and ours. But I don't want to expose you to anyone or make you feel uncomfortable. If you don't want me to use it or tell everyone so fast-"

"We already made an announcement in the paper," he interrupted before she could talk herself out of it, or worse, not understand the reason he'd gone to such lengths to get The Mirror to publish the announcement as he had. "Even if Dr. Hopper isn't the type to gossip, the people of Storybrooke aren't so dim they won't put two and two together when they see our rings, and I'm not going to let us simply remove them day in and day out, hiding like we're ashamed or afraid. I don't want to keep it secret; in fact, I'd like for anyone who doesn't like it to come see me personally-"

"Rumple…" she warned before he could say something she'd hate. Not that it was untrue. Of course, there were going to be risks associated with being the Dark One's wife, but he hoped that the benefits of being the Dark One would outweigh them.

"The point is…that while the world makes me uncomfortable and frightened…you make me feel peace. And I'd be honored if you used my name as your own and to have the whole world know we're married. Whatever comes because of that knowledge…I'll keep you safe. We'll be careful, but we'll face what comes together."

"Good. I want the world to know, too."

He smiled and kissed the top of her head before the silence returned, and he went back to examining their hands, back to looking over the rings they now wore, the ring he'd worn as long as he had been in Storybrooke but now had new meaning. If only he'd known that she'd give it this particular meaning, he might have chosen something different for her own.

"I'm sorry they don't match…" he commented, realizing that wedding rings were supposed to match in this world.

"I'm not…I think they're perfect."

And while he was at it for apologies…

"And I'm sorry I couldn't come up with a better place than the cabin to take you-"

"We don't need the world, Rumple, we just need each other-"

But for a woman who wanted to see the world…

"But-"

"Rumple!" She sat up suddenly, leaning on her elbow as she tore her hand from him and ran her fingers through his hair. "Are you happy here? With me? Right now?"

He supposed there was that. So, he nodded and turned to kiss her palm as he reached up to thread his own fingers through her hair in return. "I am. Always."

"Then we don't need anything more than you and me. We're fine right here, just as we are."

It was true. Everything she was saying was true. He didn't regret anything last night, down to the marrow of his bones he knew there had been a pressing need, a desire to tie himself to her as quickly as possible. But he was sad she'd missed out on the experience of planning or dreaming about what she wanted. He was sad that he hadn't allowed time to prepare a true honeymoon and take her away, out into the world she wanted so badly to see. He just wanted-

"What if I took you somewhere?"

He glanced over at her, initially unsure if he'd heard the words or just invented them himself. But the way she looked him over expectantly as if waiting for an answer…

She wanted to take him somewhere?

"I know somewhere we could go," she responded as if reading his thoughts. "Somewhere new, here in Storybrooke. We'll have privacy, no one would come looking for us, or find us…we could just be alone for a couple of days to do whatever we want. It's beautiful, big…and the view is spectacular!"

"Where?" For the life of him, he hadn't a clue what she was thinking…and the look on her face when he asked made him believe that she was more than happy about that.

"After everything you've given me over the last few days, why don't you let me surprise you! We could go home, pack a couple of bags, like real newlyweds, and be there before the sun begins to go down! We could stay for as long as we like! Just you and me!"

He was confused, entirely clueless about what she was talking about, where she was talking about.

But she was suddenly excited and energized. And given the fact that he'd been languishing in denying her the ability to plan, it seemed a shame not to allow her to take the wheel just this once.

"Then let's go on an adventure."

And so we move on from the cabin but not on from the fluff, at least not entirely. We do have a little break for some drama, though, in between the fluff, if you'll recall. These next few chapters were tricky to get from Rumple's point of view. I struggled with them to get them just right, but in the end, I think I got them there. I hope you'll agree!

Peace and Happy Reading!