InsaneJournal

Tweak says, "I should go."

Rumplestiltskin aka Mr. Gold (alwaysaprice) wrote in wariscoming,
@ 2012-12-15 21:12:00

Entry tags:

belle french, rumplestiltskin/mr. gold

Who: Belle and Rumple
What: Decorating for Christmas and Rumple finally gives Belle the story he promised her back in Fairytale Land.
When: This evening
Where: Their home
Warnings: Cuteness and feels over Bae, so it shouldn't be too high?

Having spent 28 years in the Land Without Magic, Rumplstiltskin was accustomed to what Christmas entailed. However, until this Christmas he'd never had a reason to decorate or celebrate the holiday. Even when he'd pretended to be Mr. Gold, celebrating hadn't exactly been his thing. No, on the holidays that were typically celebrated, he would spend them alone, for that was what he had been; alone. More than that, he had been trying to find his son, working on a plan for how to get to him. But that was neither here nor there any longer. This was yet another world, and while he had wondered if this was the world Bae had been taken to, he hadn't voiced such thoughts. If only because he didn't want to go on a search only to find that Bae wasn't here. Rumplstiltskin couldn't take that disappointment again. Though he would be lying if he said he didn't have hope that the Seal would bring Bae to him some day.

As such, it was Christmas season, and this was the first time he was really decorating and celebrating. The only reason he was doing either was because he had Belle. He'd finally been reunited with her, and he had missed her. He was going to show her the wonders of the world, and Christmas was one of them. They had gone and purchased decorations and were now decorating their home. Currently in the living room, Rumplestiltskin was going through the decorations they'd gotten. There was some of nearly everything. Garland, mistletoe, Santas, so on and so forth. Unpackaging some garland, he took it over to the fireplace and began draping it along the mantle. Once it was in place, he took a few steps back and looked it over, wondering if it looked good enough in the place.

"Belle, how does that look to you?" He asked, motioning to the mantle. A part of the garland was a bit crooked, but there was only so much he could do when leaning on his cane. He had paid the price when he'd saved Henry and Ruby, having aggravated his bad leg. But he didn't complain about the pain, he just went on and did his best to rest it whenever he had the chance. That was the one thing he disliked about not having the Dark One in complete control, he was hobbled by his leg. The one good thing the Dark One did was heal his bad leg. But he had done good in helping Henry and Ruby, so he would not complain about such trivial things as pain.

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loveishope
2012-12-23 10:44 am UTC (link)

"So perhaps there is magic of a sort here, and perhaps because the children believe he truly does have the power to travel the world in a night. We both know such things are possible and the idea that this one man brings the young ones gifts. Well, I cannot deny that its an appealing tradition. I find I like this holiday. We will celebrate it with the others and make it our tradition, what do you think?" she asked truly enjoying herself and letting herself relax for possibly the first time in a long while.

Belle loved to see him happy. It didn’t happen often that he smiled and joined in with festivity and fun but he was doing so now and perhaps Emma was right after all and she was making some sort of difference to his life simply by being in it. If so, she would continue to try and bring him that happiness that she, at least, felt he deserved. People could say what they liked of him and all the things he’d done and in truth she’d never dispute those, he had. But he had his reasons. She waited until he had sat down and brushing a kiss against her loves lips she stood and moved toward the kitchen to make them tea. Taking a break would do him good, and besides which there was something he had owed her since her time in the Dark Castle.

“Rumple, I have to ask you something. And its not an easy topic but its something I need to know. Back in our world, before I left for town and returned to you, you promised me a story. You said you’d tell me it all, about your son, about how you had become who you are. And I’ve never pushed, I never will push. But I love you and I want to know you.” She set the water to boil amazed at how much the modern world had its conveniences and a little sad at just how much she’d missed out on in Regina’s captivity. But that didn't matter now, she had him, she had a house with him, and it was bright and full of light and happiness and decorating it for the holidays was giving her a joy she hadn’t truly felt without him in her life.

“I want to know it all. Because I think you need to tell someone, and I think if I’m going to be with you then I need to know it.”

She waited until the water boiled and quickly busied herself making two cups of tea in delicate cups and returning with them to sit by his side and take his hand in her own.

“I love you. You know I do. And you have proved so many times over that you love me. So share this with me, my love. As much as you can, as much as you’re willing and know there is nothing you can say that will make me love you any less. I fell in love with you in spite of all the reasons it shouldn’t have worked and I did so because there is good in you. You think yourself a monster but I know different. I know the man I fell in love with but I don’t know his past. The reasons why you became the Dark One, the reason for the deals you make, how you lost...how you lost your son. Your Baelfire. And how you were so resistant, for so long to the idea that someone could ever love you.”

She was asking a great deal and she knew it. But she had to ask it. She needed to know or someone could always use it against them. And she was sick of being a pawn in vendettas against him. Besides which she wanted to truly know the man she loved with all her heart. For better or worse.

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alwaysaprice
2013-01-05 02:00 am UTC (link)

There was magic in this world, Rumplestiltskin could sense it, but it was different. While Storybrooke had been without magic, he couldn't help but always wonder if there had been a different kind of magic in the world. After all, pairing the right words with belief did go a long way. And people did so like pretty words and someone who showed belief within them. So perhaps within that there was a different kind of magic. But he would allow Belle to explore this holiday.

"I quite like that idea." He smiled. Of course, he was rather aware that the others may not want to be around him, but he meant them no ill will. Well, not for the most part anyway. Regina was a far different story, but that also was the case for most of the others.

After he was seated and Belle had put the water on for tea, he looked at her as she spoke. He well knew he still owed her that story. Though it was more than just a story. It was his life. Yes, it was a lot to ask, but he also knew she deserved to know. Though it was not exactly something that he found easy to tell. But he would because she was with him, she loved him. Of course, there was a lingering doubt, that she would love him less once she heard what he'd done. Upon receiving the tea, he took a sip of it, then set it aside, keeping his hand in hers.

Some moments of silence passed after she'd finished speaking. In those moments, he was thinking back to all those years ago when things had began. Well, at least for him it is where they had begun. Who knew how much being a coward had molded his entire life after the fact. All the things he'd done and been through had all started that day when he'd run away from a seemingly futile war.

"Before I ever became the Dark One, I was just a simple man. I was a spinner, though at that time it was wool that I spun into clothes, not straw into gold. One day, I was sent off to fight in the Ogre Wars. But I couldn't fight, I was too scared. So I ran. My wife hated me for it. My entire village would poke fun at me, call me names for running. Baelfire was the only one who didn't hate to even look at me. Eventually my wife left me and Baelfire." For the moment, he would leave out the part about Hook. That was not a topic he was willing to go into right now. "I told Bae that his mother had died. Which was a lie that later turned into a truth, but that is not a topic I wish to delve into right now." Picking up his tea, he took another sip of it, then looked up at Belle. There was a pain in his eyes as he recalled those days, of when he'd realized that his wife was no better than anyone else in their village.

"That is why I didn't think anyone could love me. My own wife hadn't loved me, she had only stayed as long as she had because of Bae. So how could I think anyone could love a coward? A deserter?" Of course, fighting in the Ogre Wars was practically a death sentence, so was it really foolish for someone to not want to die?

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loveishope
2013-01-10 11:27 pm UTC (link)

Belle had known parts of it. She’d kept him close to her heart even after he had pushed her away. In ways she had never stopped fighting for the man she loved. But the past, before he was the Dark One. That was all such a mystery. One where every little part of it was still to be uncovered to her. And he was telling her now. He trusted her that much. He had been a spinner, well that was no surprise, even though thinking like that, of him as anything other than the man she had met in the great hall of her home, who had taken her as part of a deal. He’d had to come from somewhere though. You didn’t just wake up with that kind of power. No one did. No one could.

As for running from the Ogre Wars. Belle was hardly one to talk. From a town forgotten years after the fact. Daughter of a man who’d tried to fight back, tried to hold things together only to suffer the defeated Ogres wrath time and time again until they’d called Rumplestiltskin to them. Begged for his help. Offered Gold, offered everything they could. And he’d taken her.

“You’re not the only one to have run. Plenty from my home did. People were dying in droves, Men, woman, children. It was a war that could not be won from what I heard. Until you stopped it. And when they attacked my people, we were desperate too, and no one would help. No one wanted it to start again. But you did. Maybe you understood why we feared them so much. If you’d stayed and fought then you’d have died. Your son wouldn’t have had you. Nor would I? Frankly I think your wife was a fool for thinking as she did, and maybe I’m biased but I would love you no matter what you feared. Its part of life as much as any emotion. You’re not a coward. You didn’t want to die for a pointless war. There’s no shame in that. And from what you said, your son knew that too.”

Baelfire and his mother. Another thing Belle had often thought of. Of course he had been married. Of course this woman had been in his life, and by all accounts left it. She wouldn’t ask about her or how she died. He didn’t want to delve into that past and frankly neither did Belle much as she wondered sometimes who this woman was and what she had been like. Though if she’d hated him for ‘cowardice’ then Belle was fine with never having met her. She sipped at her tea still curious mostly as to how it had all come about. She would probably never stop being curious. It was her nature. And his was apparently to question the obvious. Even now.
“You still don’t know why I love you, do you? You still can’t fathom that someone would. Well let me tell you, it wasn’t at first sight. You bought me like some kind of slave. But you were an escape. A way out, a way for a new life, and adventure. And no it was far from what I expected at first and yes you locked me in a dungeon. But we got there, slowly, confusedly, curtains, chipped cups and all. Because you grew to care as I did. You saw something in me as I did in you and it grew.”

Belle smiled softly, setting her tea down and turning fully to face her love.

“I think I knew I loved you when you asked me about Gaston. When you asked why I was so willing to take the deal. I told you I could never love someone like him, and its the truth. I never could have. And I realised, everything I told you he wasn’t. Everything I told you about love. Its what I felt for you. At first it scared me, I won’t lie, it’s not every day you find yourself in love with the Dark One. But it never stopped. From then, no matter what you said, what you did. I loved you with all I am. Do you understand now?”

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alwaysaprice
2013-01-13 07:17 am UTC (link)

There were times that Rumple was astounded by Belle, even now. The fact that she said he hadn't been a coward truly caught him by surprise. As such, he merely stared at her, shock evident on his face. She was the first person to have ever said that to him. He had become a joking point after he'd fled the war, after not wanting to take up his apparent duty to the kingdom and fight. Yes, fighting in the Ogre Wars was a death sentence, and things had deteriorated to where children where being taken off to fight.

Looking at himself under a microscope was something that he adamantly tried not to do. He didn't like looking at himself, dwelling on either the good or the bad parts of himself. Granted, he almost always saw the bad parts and not the good. Before he'd been the Dark One, he'd been put down by everyone around him save Bae. So it still confused him that Belle could see some good within him, something that she deemed worthy enough of love. But that is how she was, always finding the good in people. Belle looked at the world with optimism and curiosity, and she always did everything she could to find the positive in anything. So following that train of logic, as well as what Belle just explained to him, he felt he understood.

"On a logical level, I do understand now." He looked at her, giving her a smile, though this entire topic made him emotional. After becoming the Dark One, he wasn't one to show vulnerability, but he was currently. The Dark One was still very much part of him, but something about this world kept it bound within him, though not nearly as tightly bound as it had been in Storybrooke before the curse was broken. "You are the only person other than Bae to ever see something in me that wasn't twisted and evil and dark. I always wondered how you could have found something, I'd long since believed the Dark One had consumed everything about the man I used to be. Though it is apparent that was not the truth because you found something and you brought it out." He paused then momentarily to take a sip of tea, then he looked back at Belle. "I should not have thrown you out the way I did. I was scared of what you were bringing out of me. I was scared that if I lost the power of the Dark One that I would never find my son again."

Oh it pained him to dwell on when he'd cast Belle out of the castle, but it was necessary, and did tie into the rest of Bae's story. And it was sometimes necessary to touch on the painful things in order for one to understand that whole picture.

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loveishope
2013-01-13 11:17 pm UTC (link)

He had actually looked surprised, shocked even when she'd told him it didn't matter to her that he'd run from the war. Why would she given what she knew of the ogres, given what she knew of what they did and how they destroyed. Frankly she'd have run too. There was nothing in her that thought him a coward and that woman, Baelfire's mother, she was wrong to have called him such names. Her own husband. The man she was supposed to love and she'd turned so quickly because he wasn't the hero of the hour. At least he'd come home to her, been with her. Would she truly rather have been a widow. How did a woman like that live with herself?

"You need to know it though, that there is nothing you can say that will make me stop loving you. I won't deny some of what you've already told me has thrown me. Some of it I wish you hadn't done. Some of the choices. But love breaks through all barriers. All of them, and you need to remember that"

He was right though, she had found something in him worth fighting for, a part of him not lost to the Dark One. Oh he'd tried to push her away. He'd tried for so long. But she could never, would never let that happen. Even back then she'd known what true love was, and known that he was hers.

"You threw me out because you needed the power to find Baelfire. You told me that, you needed it and you didn't believe that anyone could love you. You'd gone so long without it and then some girl you made a deal for... I suppose I snuck into your life didn't I? Unplanned, unwanted at the start and then it just sort of happened. I wish you hadn't, obviously, but I understand why you did." There was good in him and she knew it. She saw it every day and every little bit more she saw her love only grew

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alwaysaprice
2013-01-15 07:46 am UTC (link)

Rumplestiltskin, after becoming the Dark One and killing Mila, had never really dwelled upon that part of his life again. Not in regards to Mila. She'd proven to him that no one could actually love him, so he'd kept his focus on Bae. And after he'd lost Bae, his goal was to one day find his son. Finding Bae was his motivation behind everything he did. Nearly every single thing he'd done as the Dark One after Bae had gone to another world had been to ultimately reunite himself with his son. He needed the power so he could see his goals come to pass.

Yet as Belle told him there was nothing he could say that would make her stop loving him, he did wonder. After all, everyone had their limit of what they could tolerate, and if Belle learned he'd killed Mila? Would that be her limit with him?

"It is something that I need to remember. It is reassuring though, to have you here with me, even knowing what I am capable of, the things I have done." He was a man who had made plenty of mistakes in his life, and he'd done many evil things. Yet Belle was still here, still loving him and fighting to get him to understand she wouldn't stop fighting for him. That was a completely new sensation for him, someone fighting for him. Well, Bae had fought for him, fought to turn him away from the power of the Dark One. But Belle fought for the man that was underneath that power, the good part of him that still managed to exist somewhere inside him despite everything.

"It seems that is how love works, it happens unplanned and before you know it, it has grown and brought you closer to another." He smiled softly. "Sometimes it is the unexpected things that come to mean the most. I was only showing myself as a coward to turn you away. But more than anything, I am grateful to have you back again, and I don't want to lose you again."

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loveishope
2013-01-15 08:34 pm UTC (link)

He was sometimes adorable. She could say no more about it. He just was. And Belle smiled shyly as he told her she reassured him. "See, I knew it going in, remember? I didn't walk in blind. Not by far. And I saw you my love. I saw good where no one else bothered to look. And its still there no matter what you have done. You just needed someone to bring it out of you. Someone to love you for you. If I'm honest Rumple, I don't understand your wife. Why she thought you were a coward, why she left. Why she didn't cling to what she had for dear life because dammit, I intend to."

She didn't like mentioning the woman. It was what it was, this woman had been the mother to his child. This woman had shared a life with him that Belle never would. Not in the same kind of way. But because of her actions Belle had Rumple now. She'd never have known him if not for all he'd done. And that meant something too.

"I told you once, long ago, that love was layered. A mystery to be uncovered. And I believe we're doing that. Getting there. And you turned me away but I was coming back. I was going to storm into the castle and tell you not to be so stupid because I loved you. Because true love doesn't just go away. I was going to fight for us even if I was fighting alone because I found something to believe in. I believed in you. And we've been apart long enough Rumple. I'm not going anywhere and you are not going to lose me again. I'll always come back to you."

She loved him. With all her heart and soul and time, and life, and everything in between would not take that from her. "And you're changing. You are. I don't expect you to be a different man. But you're trying for me. And that means the world."

To Belle this was all she wanted in her life. To be with him. To know he loved her. To know they had this. They had now. "We have our house here, our life. And I will drag you kicking and screaming into being social because unlike Regina, you don't need to shout your intentions from the rooftops. People aren't stupid and they can see the effort you're making. It will take time but you'll get there. You have me to rely on. Always remember that.

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alwaysaprice
2013-01-23 07:43 am UTC (link)

That had been something Rumple hadn't exactly seen, that Belle had not gone into it blind. It was just something he chose to ignore in the moments when he'd acted defensively and stupidly. Because at that time, he'd doubted that anyone could love a man like him. Being the Dark One had changed so much about him, twisted him from within that he wasn't able to see the good in him any longer save for when Belle was pointing it out to him. "In that time, it was considered more heroic to die in the War than it was to run away from it. So I think that is why she thought I was a coward." And really, with everyone knowing his name and knowing him as the coward, how was he to ever recover his pride save for a desperate act of a desperate soul?

As Belle told him that she was coming back to fight for him, it clicked in his mind that that is when Regina had taken her. And then Regina had allowed him to believe that Belle was dead. Well, she wouldn't be keeping them apart any longer. If she so much as tried to do that again, Rumple would not hesitate to take Regina down. He would not stand for any threat on Belle's well being. Yes he was trying to be a better man for her, but he still hated Regina for what she'd done to Belle.

"I don't think I could ever be a different man, not without being rid of the Dark One for good. But I do wish to be a better man for you." He looked her in the eyes, a gentle smile on his lips. "Oh my sweet Belle, you are my strength. I could not do this without you." He reached out and brushed the fingers of one hand through her hair. And it was true, Rumple needed motivation for him to do things. For such a long time, Bae was his only motivation. Bae was the driving force behind all of his actions to get to a world without magic. And now Belle was the driving force behind him wanting to be a better man.

At Belle's comment of dragging him kicking and screaming into being social, he couldn't help but laugh gently. "Stating my intentions was never my way. Besides, everyone knows how I play with words, so my saying anything would go as well as Regina's claims. Actions are the true form of expression. And I will never forget that I have you to rely on, not again. We are in this together."

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loveishope
2013-01-23 10:06 pm UTC (link)

Belle didn't care what had been considered heroic. There was nothing to be said for dying stupidly. "Then in that time they were wrong and they were stupid and they ought to have known better. If you hadn't run you'd have died and I'd have never known you. Besides running from an unwinnable fight isn't cowardice. And you saved them when you had the power to, saved the children and stopped the war. That story I learned very early in life. I didn't know what you were then beyond 'The Dark One' But you'd saved lives. I knew that much. So when I made our deal, I knew you wouldn't hurt me. I knew there was more to you. There's always more if people are just willing to look."

His sweet Belle. She loved when he spoke to her like that, and when he was affectionate. Little things. Little actions, it was what had won her heart after all, and what slowly but surely had chipped away at his just like their little cup.

"You don't need to be rid of it to be different. I have never known you without it, remember? And yet since knowing you, you have become kinder, gentler, you've fallen in love, True Love. You probably never believed it existed before we kissed that day." The rest of that day, she didn't want to remember as much, it had started them down a dark road it had taken too long and too many tears to recover from. But they had and they were here now. Together. "I'll be your strength if you wish it. I'll be there for you always. No matter what. Because that's what love is."

Oh he didn't need to state any intentions. Belle was still going to make him social though!

"You may toy with words but people know you're making an effort. And not just those from home. People see the truth when its in front of them and they see you for who you are. And I am so grateful and so lucky that its me you love. That I'm the one that gets to share every moment of watching you grow and change. You may be the Dark One but you were a man first, you still are. Or do you still believe yourself a monster? If you can find love then why not friendship, trust, acceptance, are they any more beyond your reach then to fall in love was once thought?"

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alwaysaprice
2013-01-29 08:35 am UTC (link)

The fact that Belle took the time to look deeper than the surface was something that still occasionally surprised him. Of course, he knew she was smart enough not to take things at face value, but when it related to him, he was rather a bit surprised by things. "People often wish to focus on the short comings and not on anything else. I do wish there had been more people like you there at that time, but I wouldn't change anything that happened because it means I never would have met you." Really, Rumplestiltskin couldn't imagine his life without Belle. Well he could given he'd lived that way in Storybrooke, but he didn't want to live without her if he had any say in it. It was because of her that he was trying to be a better man, trying to be worthy of her.

"I knew it was out there in some form, I just never believed it was real for me until that day." He too didn't dwell upon the happenings of the rest of that day. It wasn't exactly the best memory they could share. "You are my strength, Belle, and I always want you here with me. I love you." He took one of her hands in his and held it tightly, reinforcing his words. Oh how he didn't want to be without her again. He knew that without her, he would turn into the monster he had been before she came into his life. Before she showed him that even a monster like him had some good within him and that he could be loved for it.

Leave it to Belle to point these things out to him. He never made a spectacle of his intent to change. He had no need for flair and wanting people to know he was trying to be different. No, he was one that did it through quiet action, allowing his actions to speak for themselves. "I find myself not precisely caring what others think of me in this. All I want is to be as good of a man as I can be. As for my view of myself, well, that is a complicated subject, my dear. But let us call it a work in progress, shall we?" He couldn't help but smile a bit. "You do have a point. If I can attain love, friendship, trust and acceptance should not be overly difficult to attain."

Though after a moment, he remembered he had been telling his story before getting side tracked. "I seem to recall I was telling you about Bae. Did you want to hear the rest of it?" He wasn't trying to change the subject, not at all. He was trying to keep his promise to tell Belle the story he owed her. And there was still a key part of Bae's story that needed to be told, one that would allow Belle to understand his motivations for everything he had done since losing his son.

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loveishope
2013-02-04 02:34 am UTC (link)

Belle didn't care about what people chose to focus on. She knew what she would focus on and that to her was more important than anything else anyone could try to tell her about the man she loved. They'd been separated often enough for various reasons and dammed if she was going to let it happen again. He was so different here, she could tell that already. He was helping others, he was there for her when she needed him. He was changing, trying for her, and she just wished everyone could see that as much as she did. As he talked about his love for her, how he'd come to find it, how she was his strength, she didn't quite know what she could say, what did anyone say to words like that?

"I'll always be here for you. If you need me to be that strength then I always will be. I always want to be. I didn't ever imagine I would find a love like they write about in my books. But I did, I have, and I won't let it go for the world. Though I imagine you know that."

She smiled as he explained his intentions over again. She knew well how he felt about others opinions of him, he'd never cared. He never would care. He was doing this for his own reasons and those happened to be her. If it was a work in progress then she was happy to see it and to help it continue as times changed. But in this place she knew it wouldn't be easy. Never could be. This was the world they lived in now, different than their own of course, but with new dangers to fight and new lives to live, and new festivels to observe.

Though not quite yet.

"I want to hear the rest, of course I do, if you're willing to tell it? I understand it can't be an easy topic for you"

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alwaysaprice
2013-02-19 05:48 am UTC (link)

It was strange to him to be this way, to change and try to be a better man in a place where he had the chance to be different. The Dark One was unable to control him completely, and he could keep control of himself. At least until Belle was threatened or harmed, then he would lose control and give in to his dark side. But the fact was that he was trying. He just didn't make a spectacle of it because no one would believe it. His change was subtle, much like how he always operated, but it was evident to those that actually looked. He had never been one to care about becoming entangled in other people's lives except when they came to him for a deal or when he needed something from them to further his own agenda. Otherwise he simply sat back and watched everyone around him. He still had the watching mentality, but he had risen to the occasion of being a better man when it was called for. And he would always try for Belle, after the length of time they'd been separated for, he didn't want to lose her all over again.

"I will not let it go either," was his simple response. He didn't need to mince words or use double meanings when he spoke to Belle. While playing with words was a bit of a trademark for him, he was trying not to do it as much. Which sometimes was easier said than done.

Smiling gently, he took in a breath. "Not overly long after my wife left my son and I, it was nearly time for Bae to be taken by the army and sent to fight in the Ogre Wars. I was desperate to protect him from that fate, and I tried to find some way to keep him from suffering that fate. I didn't want to lose him, too. I tried to escape with him in the middle of the night, but we were caught by soldiers and given a warning. Though I met a man who knew of a way I could get what I wanted. He told me that if I controlled the Dark One, I could keep my son from being taken. No one argued with the Dark One. He told me of a dagger that controlled the Dark One. So with Bae's help, I slipped into the castle, took it and left. I noticed a name was engraved on the blade of the dagger, but didn't think too much into it. I summoned the Dark One, but when I discovered I didn't have control over him, I was angry and I stabbed him with the dagger. I realized it was the man who had told me of the dagger in the first place. I killed him, and the name on the dagger's blade turned into mine. I then became the Dark One. The next morning was Bae's birthday when he was to be taken, and I stopped the soldiers from taking him."

He paused then and looked at Belle. "That is how I became the Dark One. All to protect my son. I didn't know until it was too late that I had to become the Dark One in order to control the power." And in the time since then, he had come to have a better understanding of the burden that it was to be the Dark One. It wasn't an easy burden to carry at all. Being the Dark One meant losing everything you were before, losing control over being any other way. But even so, he didn't regret it because it had allowed him to save his son, though it had also led to him losing his son later.

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loveishope
2013-02-20 01:32 am UTC (link)

Oh that was it. If that sad excuse for a wife ever showed up in this city Belle was going to slap her. And it was not going to be pretty and it was not going to be ladylike. How could she have abandoned her husband and her child. How could she just leave him there to raise the boy, to protect him from a War that Belle well knew the horrors of. Though protected in her castle she had seen much of the suffering of the townspeople. No wonder Rumple had taken the chance when he'd been offered it. Control over the Dark One. Belle wasn't going to judge as one who had urged her father to call on Rumplestiltskin for help. When they'd had no choice and nowhere else to turn. She knew the feeling.

And then he'd stabbed the old Dark One, gained the power and...Oh. Oh she understood. And it had all been to protect Baelfire. All of it. Everything he did, in their world had been for the boy he'd wanted to save from the Ogre Wars. Everything he...though how could that be if he had as he said, saved the boy?

But for now, she would put her thoughts and questions aside, he needed her and she would always be there for him just as she promised, "Oh my love..." she managed, her hand squeezing his that little bit harder. "You made a rash mistake in error and that power it, it took you over didn't it. That's why when I kissed you, you thought it was Regina attempting to take it from you, leave you weak. You thought I was going to make you weak."

She had a thousand questions with more forming in her mind the more she thought about the story he had told her, and there was yet more to ask. There was so much yet that she didn't know and that she wanted to know. So many mysteries still to be uncovered. But she knew as well that he had told her a lot. He had opened his heart to her and she should let him take a break now, they could get back to their tea, get back to the lights, get back to celebration and just be happy being together again after so long apart. But there were two questions that stayed. That refused to let her leave them lie. "Rumple, I'm going to ask two questions. You can answer them now, or you can leave it, you've told me more than enough, you've given me more information about your past than I ever could have imagined and really, you don't need to keep this up. But I have to ask them all the same because they're important and maybe they're relevent or maybe I just need to know. Where is Baelfire now? Is he back home? You saved him, did you lose him with the curse? And second...the Dagger now holds your name? Holds your curse. Where is it?"

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