Once Upon a Time 1. Chapter 1

A dazed Emma walked over to her child's body lying on a hospital bed, her head spinning, she managed to block out as much unnecessary noise as she could, she could hear Regina sobbing in the background, about a million thoughts running through her head as she stumbled her way over to Henry's bedside.

_How could I let this happen? What happened to good always wins? Why couldn't Regina just leave things alone? I told her I was leaving…this is all my fault I never should have stayed…. NO I should have just believed him, I'm his mother…__**Gold! **__How could he betray me? How could he do that to me? To Henry? What did he want with that potion? I need to find him….I NEED to say goodbye._

And with that she found herself leaning over Henry saying her last words to him before kissing his forehead.

"I love you Henry"

As she kissed his forehead a bright light shot through the air not just waking up the people of Storybrooke but all the other worlds affected by the curse.

* * *

Fairytale present

In a rather large estate; miles away from anywhere, a young woman with lovely long brown curls and big bright blue eyes sat in the corner of a library with a book open in her lap when suddenly she looked up from her book.

_Wow Rumpelstiltskin hadn't been kidding when he said that time would be frozen. _She thought,_ had I really been sitting here for 28 years reading this same page? _

She closed her book and looked around

"Strange everything's so quiet" she mumbled remembering the night Regina's curse was enacted.

Past

Belle scurried over to the window as she heard a loud rumbling coming from the distance. A huge purple cloud covered the sky as it moved towards her home.

"Right on schedule, just as he said it would be" she murmured.

As the cloud moved closer the louder it got, the ground started to shake as everything around her broke. Belle ducked down to avoid being hit by a falling cabinet.

"It's ok Belle" she whispered nervously "It's ok, in a few moments it'll all be over, you'll be in a new world with your husband, you won't recognise him but you'll be with him, just relax." A vase broke next to her. "Go upstairs and read something, reading always' calms you down" she gasped as she hurried over to the stairs.

Once upstairs she ran over to the library and grabbed the first book she saw, and then curled herself up in a small chair sitting in the corner, she opened the book, sat it in her lap and only managed to read the first line as purple cloud washed over her home.

"Once upon a time…."

present

Belle found herself wondering down the stairs as she snapped out of her thoughts and back to reality.

"I wonder why Regina's curse didn't take me to this non magical world" she wondered. Belle looked down at a delicate gold ring gently placed on her left ring finger. _Did Regina do it on purpose as another attempt to keep me away from Rumple or is something else going on?_ She thought as she jerked her head up. "Did anybody else get left behind?"

Belle made her way down the stairs and walked down a corridor until she came to Rumpelstiltskin's work room, she opened the door expecting to see broken potion bottles all over the floor but oddly this room had been completely untouched by the curse.

"He must have used some sort of enchantment to keep this room safe" she smirked shaking her head slightly. She walked over to his desk and opened one of the desk draws and smiled, she reached in and grabbed a small silver hand held mirror.

"Magic mirror, the only one Her Majesty can't see through…or so he tells me." Belle moved the mirror just above her head.

"Show me….the land" She commanded, the mirror shone brightly and then showed Belle an image of a group of refugee's being herded into a secluded area.

"Ok everyone we should be safe from the Ogre's here, start setting up camp."

Belle squinted at the mirror and gave a little smile "I know that voice" she said as the mirror reviled a woman with long black hair in worrier clothes. "Mulan, already taking care of the survivors" she said with a gleam in her eye.

"What do we do with her?" Belle heard another voice say, it was a male voice this time and she couldn't shake the feeling that she knew his voice as well.

The mirror reviled a young man holding a rope dragging an older woman behind him.

"Please… let me go" the woman said "My daughter is the one responsible for the curse not me…I'm powerless." She cried

"Enough games Cora" the young man announced "We know who you are and the type of things you've done, you can't play innocent with us, even stripped of your magic you're still dangerous."

Mulan looked proudly at him for a moment before answering. "Tie her to that post for now, there is a place over there that we can turn into a dungeon."

He gave her a nod before turning away but just before he left he called out to Mulan.

"Mulan, when do we continue our search?" he asked

"As soon as everyone has settled down…. and Cora is safely secured" Mulan answered almost spitting venom as she glared at Cora. She looked back up at him, "It shouldn't take too long."

"Every moment we spend here is a moment wasted" he argued "Lancelot can take care of the survivors and keep an eye on Cora, we should keep searching."

"Philip, I promised you that I would help you find her, but right now our priority is to make sure these people are safe." She tilted her head to see if she could get his eye contact and with wide eyes and a cheeky smile said "just a couple more hours and we'll be on our way…ok?"

Philip shuffled his weight and looked up at Mulan as he caught sight of her eyes a soft smile appeared on his face.

"Ok" he said softly "I'll …ah go tie Cora to that post" he said as he turned away.

Mulan gave a soft half-hearted laugh and shook her head before heading in the other direction.

Belle put down the Mirror down and smiled.

_Mulan and Philip are still together, _she wondered_, It's a shame they didn't find Aurora before Regina's curse._ She thought back to the old woman that Philip was dragging. _So this woman is Cora, Regina told Rumpel that she hired someone to kill her, _she thought. Belle thought about the dungeon that they were going to make to hold Cora and then thought about Rumpelstiltskin's cell.

_Rumple spent months in a cell just to make sure he was in the right place at the right time, and after everything he's told me about Cora…I wouldn't put it past her to do the same thing. _As this thought raced through Belle's head a small smirk started to appear on her face.

"They have so many survivors at that camp I'm sure they wouldn't notice if one more turned up."

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	2. Chapter 2

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At the campsite, wearing an old worn out cloak so she wouldn't be recognised, Belle carefully crept her way around a few tents, a few feet away from her was table with woman and children around it preparing the food they had gathered. Keeping her head down Belle walked over to the table and helped sorting out the food, everybody kept themselves so busy to stop themselves from feeling terrified that they didn't even notice an extra person at the table.

Belle could see everything from where she was, in front of her was a little boy around 8 or 9 who was scooping up a handful of berries and secretly slipping one into his mouth before putting the rest into a dish, she must have been staring longer then she thought because the boy looked up and gasped at her, she took a quick look around her, smiled at the boy and then popped a berry in her mouth and winked as if to say "_secrets safe with me"._ A huge grin appeared on the boy's face and he went back to sneaking berries between handfuls. Belle let out a little giggle in response. Belle looked up into the distance and saw men putting up shelter and if she moved her head to the right she could see people finishing the dungeon, a tall man (clearly in charge) walked over to two men and commanded.

"You two, Mulan and Philip left a few moments ago to continue their search for the princess Aurora, I need you to guard Cora until the dungeons are finished."

Belle watched the two men stop what they were doing and walk over to where Cora was. Belle had been watching Cora out of the corner of her eye, as the two men took their positions just in front of Cora. Belle tilted her head so she was looking down but still had Cora in view, she heard Cora pleading with the two guards. Belle made sure that nobody was looking at her before lifting up her hand flicking her wrist, all of a sudden the ropes binding Cora's hands together slipped off her wrists. Belle observed the stund look on Cora's face, Cora took a quick look at both of the guards then down at the rope, and with a flick of her wrist there was a puff of smoke, the ropes were back around her wrist.

Belle glared at Cora and gave a slight smirk, then in a quiet voice said "Hmmm, not as powerless as she's leading people to believe."

Past

Belle woke up in a spinning room, groggy she placed her hand down and tried to push herself up but a sharp pain shot though her arm. Belle let out a cry and fell back on to something soft, she felt a something press down on her forehead, she turned her head and saw a dark figure before she fell back to sleep.

A few hours later Belle woke up again, the room had stopped spinning and she tried propping herself up with her hand again, another sharp pain shot through her arm, she immediately jerked up her arm and grabbed on to it with her other hand. After her arm stopped throbbing she looked down at her arm.

_ What happened? I'm not bleeding anymore, why do I still hurt? _She thought. Belle lifted her head up and looked around and found herself in a soft bed…but not one she recognised.

"How did I get out of the Queens cell?" she managed to speak, voice barely registering. All of a sudden the door opened startling belle. She saw a shy head awkwardly appear around the door.

"I'm sorry; I didn't mean to startle you." The man moved closer into the room, "I made you some snacks; I uh didn't know how hungry you'd be... I also made you some tea…but it's…it's probably cold by now."

Belle looked at the table next to her and saw a tray with a small tea set and a plate with some biscuits and a few sandwiches, Belle stared at the tea set fighting back tears, she had thought about what she would say to him if she ever saw him again, ever since she got the courage to go back to him; the day she was abducted by _The Queen _and now she had no idea what to say to him, all she could do was stare at him.

_"_I ah, healed your wounds" he said as he took a couple of short fast steps towards her, "but… you'll still hurt for a while… you were tortured for so long you see, I got rid of all the cuts, the scares and… and the burns, but… well the older the injuries are; the longer it takes for the pain to go away, unlike newer injuries where the pain goes immediately … you'll be ok though, just think of it as sore muscles from working out too much." He stammered not even sure if he was making much sense.

Belle sat there staring at him and then opened her mouth to speak but just let out a breath of air she didn't realise she was holding. He sat on the edge of the bed in front of her and nervously held out his hand and cupped the side of her face.

"Belle? Belle please say something"

Belle closed her eyes and moved into his touch, she grabbed onto his hand and squeezed it tightly before pulling his hand away from her face. She opened her eyes and stared into his before lunging forwards and wrapping her arms around him.

"I love you! Rumpelstiltskin" she stated in a strong voice, making sure it got through to him this time.

"Yes, and I love you too" Rumplestiltskin whispered

Belle let out a sigh of relief in the form of a small laugh and hugged him tightly before letting go.

"Rumpelstiltskin, Where are we?" she asked

"We're at Jefferson's" he answered

"When I found you, I needed to get you to a safe place so I could heal you and Jefferson's was closer than my Estate."

"But this, isn't Jefferson's place" Belle pointed out.

"Yes, it is" Rumplestiltskin said "He retired from Porthole jumping so he could take care of Grace"

"He took you advice" Belle said with a smile

"Yes he did" Rumplestiltskin said getting lost in Belles eyes "Anyway he wasn't earning enough money so he had to move out." He said shaking his head so he was looking at the ground.

Belle bit her lip still smiling; she moved so she was sitting next to him and then nuzzled up close forcing herself under his arm so she could cuddle his chest.

"Rumpelstiltskin, how long have I been here?" as she asked a tall man walked through the door

"Almost a week" The man said

"Jefferson" Belle cried sitting up

A huge grin appeared on Jefferson's face as he walked towards Belle.

"Are you feeling better Belle?" he asked placing his hand on her forehead

Belle looked up at him then let out a chuckle "Of course, the dark figure" she said remembering the hand on her forehead from the first time she tried to wake up.

"What?" both Jefferson and Rumpelstiltskin asked, a little bit confused

"Nothing" she said shaking her head while taking Jefferson's hand "Thank you, for taking care of me"

"It was my pleasure" he said giving her a warm smile

Rumpelstiltskin sat back and folded his arms then gave a little pout.

"I helped too" he said in a childish huff.

present

Belle watched the leader of the survivors collect Cora, by this time she had learn that his name was Lancelot and she watched as he lead her over to the dungeon. She waited until they were just out of site before heading off around the back of the dungeon so she could climb over the top and peer through the window on the roof. As she reached the top she heard voices from inside unfortunately she couldn't make out what they were saying. She moved closer and peered through the window, Belle saw Cora talking to Lancelot, it was clear that she had dropped her helpless act, she looked a lot more confident now then she had before, back straight, head high, eyes firmly locked onto Lancelot's and although Belle could only hear mumbles she did notice that the tone of Cora's voice was calm almost scary calm. All of a sudden the shackles that Lancelot had put on Cora just moments before dropped to the ground, Cora flicked her wrist and then in a cloud of purple smoke Lancelot was gone.

Belle clasped her hand around her mouth and pulled herself away from the window.

_Oh my god, _she thought as he climbed down,_ what did she do to him?_

Belle stepped on a couple of stones that slipped under her feet making her tumble down the rest of the way. Belle yelped as she hit the ground, luckily she wasn't that far from the ground when she slipped, she picked herself up a dusted herself off in a huff.

"Rumpelstiltskin would have seen me falling and caught me" she grumbled under her breath. She finished dusting herself off and turned to walk back to the group but instantly spun into someone knocking her back on to the ground.

"Oh for goodness sake" she said sharply trying to pick herself up again.

Belle heard a deep voice from above her start to laugh.

Angrily Belle shot her head up to tell the man off but all anger washed away from her face when she saw who it was standing over her laughing.

"Sir Lancelot?" she questioned

_Wait_ What! _ Hadn't she just….. He was with Cora and then… This isn't right._

"I'm sorry", he said bending down and holding out his hand to help her up.

"I didn't think anyone was around here"

Belle stared at Lancelot carefully then accepted his hand, Lancelot pulled her up and then asked

"What are you doing around here?"

"I needed a little privacy" Belle lied waving her hand to point at the trees

"Ah of course" He said gently, although his face was clearly dismissing what she had said, causing Belle to suppress a smile.

"Well", Lancelot started taking back her hand, "Everyone has just sat down to eat, you can join me in my tent."

"Oh no that's really not necessary, I can sit with everyone else" she stammered trying to pull away from his grip, but it was no good he was already dragging her towards his tent.

"Nonsense, it's a hot day and all you have to protect you is that worn out cloak" he said as they reach his tent. Lancelot opened the flap and gestured for her to walk inside, "Please join me"

"Belle fiddled with her ring, _If this is really Lancelot then his clearly not as honourable as everyone says, But if it's Cora and I go in this tent I could be in a lot of danger, _Belle looked up from her ring and at Lancelot and in that moment realised that she didn't actually have much choice_, I hope it's Lancelot; an over confident male I can handle, Cora I'm not so sure about, _she thought as she walked into his tent_. _

_Past_

After a few days of resting Rumpelstiltskin took Belle back to his estate, He offered to teleport them there because he wanted to get her home as soon as possible just in case somebody else tried to hurt her, but she had insisted on walking.

_Rumpelstiltskin I haven't been outside in months, we're walking and that's the end of it. _Rumpelstiltskin shook his head and gave a silent laugh as he replayed the thought in his head. _She never did listen to anything I said. _Rumpelstiltskin wasn't too impressed when she had insisted on walking but softened when he realised how much it had cheered her up.

"Well, we're home," he said nervously as they approached the Dark Castle.

Rumpelstiltskin flicked his wrist and the doors flew open. Belle smiled and wondered in, Rumpelstiltskin followed her and watched her move around the house, he noticed her actions getting slower as she walked around the room, the smile on her face had gone and she now wearing a confused look, she turned to him and glared.

_Oh dear, is she mad? She was smiling a when she walked in, what changed?_

"What's wrong Sweetheart?" He asked hoping he hadn't done anything to upset her already

"While I was gone did you just refuse to clean?" she jokingly scolded folding her arms

Rumpelstiltskin snorted at the remark, _of course that's the first thing she'd mention; I knew I should of tidied up a bit before bring her back._

"Well truthfully I did think about cleaning but I knew you'd come crawling back to me eventually so I didn't really bother with it." He teased waving his arms around; He noticed Belle's expression change to a wide eyed mouth open shocked look.

"Oh really… crawling." She repeated

"Mmm, Yes on all fours" he said gesturing at his feet

"Ah ha ha, is that right" She laughed dryly

"Well in any case I'm not cleaning this mess up" She said throwing her arms in the air.

"Oh? Well, if you're not going to clean anything then it's a bit pointless you being here then isn't it." He said walking over to his spinning wheel, "I'm actually very busy so… go entertain yourself." He gave her a little showing motion with his hand as he sat down at his wheel pretending to ignore her.

Belle's shocked expression turned into a wide smile as she lent down on to the table in front of her and muttered

"Oh, I'll entertain myself"

Belle walked over to Rumpelstiltskin and took the straw from his hand then sat on his lap resting her head on him, and gave the straw back to him so he could keep working.

"You don't mind if I sit here do you?" she asked burrowing her head into his shoulder

Belle wasn't looking at him directly but she could see him looking down at her awkwardly out of the corner of her eye. She heard him make his high pitched wheezing noise

"No of course not" he said as he attempted to return too spinning.

Rumpelstiltskin felt a slight tugging on his shirt and looked down, he saw Belle playing with his collar

Belle looked up at him and gave him an innocent smile before moving her hand down his chest and then up around his neck. Rumpelstiltskin cleared his throat as he felt another arm wrap around his neck. Rumpelstiltskin turn his head to speak to Belle but just ended up brushing his nose against hers, he hadn't realised how close she had managed to get. Rumpelstiltskin was about to speak when Belle spoke first.

"Rumpelstiltskin, I think I should apologies to you" she whispered to him still face to face.

Rumpelstiltskin scrunched his eyebrows then lent in even closer "What for" he asked

"Doubting you" she said simply, "When the Queen abducted me she told me that you knew where I was and what she was planning on doing with me, and that you were still mad and had chosen not to come for me." Belle saw his eyes find the floor and she continued. "I didn't believe her at first", she assured him, "But then the months rolled by and I lost track of time …and I guess…. I thought…."

"Belle", Rumpelstiltskin interrupted "If I had known where you were, I never would have allowed any of this" Rumpelstiltskin placed his hand on her cheek, "Belle _Her Majesty_ had me convinced that you were dead", Belle looked as if she wanted to say something but he put his thumb over her mouth. "Belle, I would've done anything for you, I'd still do anything for you"

Belle moved his thumb and placed her hand on the side of his face "In that case, you can start by dusting of the shelves, they're filthy."

Rumpelstiltskin's let out a silent chuckle, "cheeky Vixen" he said pulling her closer resting his chin on her head. "Fine you win, I'll dust the shelves… but only if you sweep out the corridor." He said pointing at her

"Fine deal", she giggled

Rumpelstiltskin and Belle stayed in a silent embrace for a while until Rumpelstiltskin broke the silence.

"Belle I'd like to teach you magic"

Belle pulled away and looked at Rumpelstiltskin curiously.

"You want to…to teach me magic?" she repeated, "Why… Wait… No, no I don't want to learn magic" she said backing away from him.

"Rumpelstiltskin looked at Belle and reached his arm out to touch her cheek "Why not?, what is it darling"

"I've seen the type of things magic does, I don't want to be a part of that" she said shaking her head

"Belle I know you haven't had the best experience with magic but it won't corrupt you if don't abuse it." Rumpelstiltskin assured her

She looked at him unsure until he put his other arm around his waist

"Listen sweetheart, as much as I would like to I can't be around to protect you all the time, I want to know that you're safe when I'm not there and magic can do that, even if you only learn how teleport yourself out of danger." He said

"And you can promise me that it won't corrupt me, that I won't turn into someone like Regina" she questioned eyeing him gingerly

"That, my dear, is entirely up to you" he said brushing a strand of hair away from his face

"Is that what you told Regina too?" she asked folding her arms

Rumpelstitskin stood back and fiddled with his fingers

"Err…well yes" he said shrugging it off, he saw Belle rolling her eyes and putting her hands on her hips.

"I won't let it corrupt you" he said

Belle didn't believe that if he taught her magic he would be able to stop it from corrupting her, so she stood up straight hands still on her hips "Rumpel how are you supposed to stop me from misusing my power if you can barely stop yourself from misusing yours." She countered

Rumpelstiltskin grabbed her hand "Because Belle, that light that you're able to see in people is what I love most about you, and if I let you lose that there will be nobody left to see anything in me."

Belle let her hand's drop to the side and her eyes softened. "Go on"

"Belle you're the only person that has ever seen anything in me, nobody else has ever bothered"

Belle smiled and put her hand behind his head and pulled him close, Rumpelstiltskin thought she was going to kiss him again but she pressed his forehead against hers and whispered "Now why couldn't you just say that three months ago"

She moved her head so they were cheek to cheek and Rumpelstiltskin wrapped his arms her pulling her into an embrace, Belle could hear his breathing getting louder like he was trying to hold back tears.

"Rumpelstiltskin", Belle said moving her head away from his to look at him "Ok, you can teach me magic"

She saw Rumpelstiltskin's eyes light up and he pulled her in for another hug.

"Rumpelstiltskin, just so we're clear you're only teaching me enough to defend myself." She quietly said in his ear

"Let's just see where it takes us dearie" he said giving a knowing smirk

present

Inside Lancelot's tent Belle had found a place to sit and Lancelot handed her a plate with some berries and bread on it.

"I'm sorry there's no meat, he said, "I've sent out a group of hunters, they should be back soon"

"Oh, no this is fine; thank you" she said smiling at him

Lancelot picked up a plate for himself and then sat next to her, Belle saw him watching her eat out of the corner of her eye.

"So who is your husband?" he suddenly asked shocking Belle and causing her to drop her plate, Belle let out a silent laugh and shook her head

"I'm sorry" she said bending down to clear the mess she made

"No, I'm sorry" he said crouching down to help her, "I shouldn't have asked, it's just that, that's a very interesting ring you have."

Belle paused at his words and looked up at him for a moment before going back to clearing up the mess.

"He was just a simple spinner, you wouldn't have heard of him, he liked to keep to himself…he wasn't very good at letting people in, I sometimes got the feeling he didn't really know how to but he was more of a gentleman then most men and if you did get the chance to know him… really know him then he'd do anything for you" she finally answered with a far off look. She wasn't worried about giving away Rumpelstiltskin, the way she described him nobody ever believed that she was talking about 'The Dark One'

"You kept using the word was, did he die?" Lancelot moved his head to try to get her eye contact

"I don't know, he was taken with the curse, I don't know if he's ok where ever he is or not" Belle said sadly

"Your husband was taken with the curse" Lancelot repeated "And you were left behind"

"Yes" Belle said fiddling with her ring

"That **_is_** a very interesting ring you have" Lancelot remarked again gesturing to her left hand "It's not just gold though is it… it sparkles when you move your hand"

"Oh", Belle said holding on to her ring, "That would be the emerald"

"There are emeralds around your gold ring" Lancelot said taking her hand to take a closer look at the ring.

"Ah…no, the emerald's mixed in with the gold" she said pulling her hand away

"How cute" he said while sticking bread into his mouth

Belle eyed him while he ate, she knew that she didn't know him but didn't think he'd be the type of person to say 'how cute' in that context or in that manner. Belle got a feeling she had said too much again and opened her mouth to excuse herself when she heard yelling coming from outside.

"EMMA RUN"

Belle raced over to the front of the tent and pulled back the cloth so she could see what was happening. She saw two women run pass, it took her a moment but she recognised one of them as Snow White, she couldn't place the blond though. Belle then saw something fly through the air and hit Snow White in the back, she looked over at where the weapon came from and she saw mulan standing there, Belle chuckled as she looked back at Snow White and the other girl and saw her bending over to comfort the unconscious Snow. Belle smiled recognising the woman and walked out of the tent.

"She has Snow Whites chin" Belle moved closer but managed to stay hidden, she watched a group of solders drag them off to the dungeons and then it dawned on her.

"The only way those two could possibly be here is through magic, but the curse was designed to take everybody to a world without magic" Belle glared and grounded her jaw

"RUMPEL-STILT-SKIN"


	3. Chapter 3

Belle decided to walk in to the woods to clear her head

"I can't believe it, the one thing he's always spouting off is that '_All Magic Comes with a Price_'", she said throwing her arms in the air mimicking her husband, "Bringing magic to a non-magical world is a big ask, it would have to have consequences."

Belle walked over to a stump and sat down nervously playing with her bottom lip

"All he had to do was wait for Snow Whites daughter to break the curse and then start looking, why would he change his plan?" She wondered, Belle took a deep breath then sighed and looked into the distance.

"Well, I'm never going to find out what his planning sitting on this stump" She said looking down at her ring again, she held her hand above her head and in that moment she knew what she was going to do, didn't even have to think about it, she didn't have a plan exactly but she couldn't let that stop her. A huge smile spread across Belle's face as she jumped up off her stump.

"I'm coming Rumpel"

Past

Belle was sitting on the floor with her legs crossed, eyes closed and her arm out in front of her; a little way out of her reach was a huge vase and Rumpelstiltskin was standing behind her giving her instructions.

"….anyone can learn magic as long as they now how to channel it, now emotions are very powerful…."

"Emotions?" Belle asked cutting off Rumpelstiltskin, "is that why most people who learn magic are considered evil? Because you'd need to be emotional enough to connect with magic and the emotion they were feeling when they discovered that they could use magic was probably anger?"

Rumpelstiltskin stood up as straight as he could go and glared straight at her, Belle bit her lip trying to supress an embarrassed smile.

_Oh dear, I probably shouldn't have interrupted him, _she thought_, the poor dear, he looks so cute when he makes his little frustrated face. _

"Sorry Rumpel" she said closing her eyes and turning her attention back to the vase.

"As I was saying before I was so rudely interrupted emotions are very powerful; one of the more powerful emotions is anger…"

Belle opened one eye and gave him a sideways smirk as she listened to him repeat what she had just said only with more sophisticated wording.

"… and that is why people who practice magic are usually considered evil." He said making a face at Belle who responded by turning her head and sticking her tongue out at him.

Rumpelstiltskin hid a slight smile by shaking his head

"Now focuses on the vase" he said "try lifting the vase"

He watched Belle take a deep breath as she concentrated on the vase, "Now don't try to force it", he said, "just relax, when you've made the connection you'll feel it" Rumpelstiltskin moved so he was standing behind her and put a comforting hand around the back of her neck rubbing his thumb up and down, he heard Belle make a little moan then he felt a snap across his buttocks.

_Belle listened to Rumpelstiltskin telling her to relax she thought his voice sounded particularly soothing. '_When you've made the connection you'll feel it', _she heard him say_. _Belle took a deep breath as she felt a hand creep around the back of her neck; she remembered the day he caught her from falling off the ladder, even though she knew he was confused the way he held her was so comforting. Belle then felt him rub the side of her neck; she accidentally gave a little moan and then felt a spark jolt through her body. Belle heard a loud snap; she felt Rumpelstiltskin rip his hand away from her neck._

Rumpelstiltskin turned around to see one of Belle's dusting rags floating in the air. He quickly snatched the rag out of the air trying to hide an embarrassed smile.

"Rumpel, what's wrong?" Belle asked turning around and staring at him, he had a very awkward look on his face. "Why are you holding that rag?" She asked pointing at his hand

Rumpelstiltskin glanced down at his hand then back up at Belle, and then cleared his throat to speak "I… ah….Belle…"

"I…I'm sorry Rumpel, I can't really understand you, you're throat sounds really dry…did you want me to get you some water?" Belle asked cutting him off.

Rumpelstiltskin was about to try speaking again when they heard a knock on the door

"Oh, you get the door, I'll get the water" she said with a smile making her way over to the kitchen.

Rumpelstiltskin gave a sigh of relief and gently laughed as he watched her skip to the kitchen. Rumpelstiltskin went to answer the door, he was actually rather impressed that she was able to lift something up, and had wanted to tell her but the fact that she made the rag spank him had thrown him a little. _ I wonder what she was thinking about when it happened, _he wondered with a smirk. Rumpelstiltskin still had a smirk on his face when he answered the door but it immediately faded when he saw his visitor.

Rumpelstiltskin could feel the anger boil inside of him as he glared at the woman who imprisoned his Belle, how dare she come round sticking her unwanted nose into his home.

"I thought I made it clear at our last encounter that if I caught you anywhere near myself or Belle I would snap you in half" he growled, staying relatively calm for what he was imagining doing to her.

Regina let out a cackle as she listened to Rumpelstitskin threaten her "Rumpelstiltskin you're not _still _mad at me are you?" her smirk never leaving her face as she invited herself in.

"So how's your little maid?" she asked knowing her remark would upset him. She also knew he wouldn't act on it either, not with his girl around. She scoured the room and her face lit up when she saw her come in carrying a glass of water.

"I got your water sweetie, who was at the do…or oh!" Belle suddenly felt all eyes on her, she caught Regina's eye and watched her smirk grow wider.

Belle could feel Regina's gaze following her as she walked past her and straight to Rumpelstiltkin.

Belle handed the water too Rumpelstiltskin and mouthed '_What is she doing here?'_

Rumpelstiltskin took the water from her and then gave her a reassuring look; Belle gave a weak smile and grabbed his hand for comfort nervously rubbing her thumb across his fingers.

"So can we get down to business or do I have to stand here watching you two stare at each other?" Regina asked dryly

"You don't have to be here at all" Belle retorted looking over her shoulder

"Oh darling, that would have sounded a lot more convincing if you were looking at me" Regina said moving closer to them.

Rumpelstiltskin protectively stepped in front of Belle, "Careful dearie" Rumpelstiltskin warned "Now, what _are_ you doing here?"

"I need you to reach Jefferson for me, there's something I need him to retrieve for me" Regina said calmly, stalking around the room.

"And why would I do this for you?" Rumpelstiltskin asked with a laugh, not really interested in her answer

Regina met Rumpelstiltskins gaze smirk still intact, "because, if the person that stole from me is the person I think it is, then that means she has found a way out of the world we banished her too, or at least has someone working for her."

Rumpelstiltskin stared at Regina taking a deep breath trying to hold back his temper, he knew that was the only reason she waited until Belle turned up to make her request, Regina knew that he didn't want to lose his temper in front of Belle and risk losing her again, he looked over at Belle standing at the back of the room, he always admired how she could stand her ground and speak her mind, no matter who it was she was speaking to… or what that person was likely to do to her. He was genuinely surprised when he saw fear in her eyes after Regina spoke back to her, _I guess she's still feeling a little fragile, _he thought.

"That is a very interesting situation; unfortunately Jefferson has retired, so even if I could reach him he wouldn't answer, waist of my time really" he said waving his hand dismissively at her

"**Retired! Why**?" Regina Ordered

Rumpelstiltskin stared blankly at her as if the answer should have been obvious to her "Why? For his daughter of course, her mother is dead, who else is supposed to look after her" he turned his attention away from Regina and started to walk back to Belle, "I'm sorry dearie but I'm afraid I can't help you, you'll have to find another way to find whatever it is you've lost."

"No, if you won't help me reach him I'll do it myself, where is he living now?" she demanded

"I don't know" he said flatly

"Yes you do, know tell me where he is!"she yelled raising her voice through her teeth

"Regina", The Queen heard Belle say, She slowly turned around and manically smiled at Belle, who just stared at her and continued "he's already told you that that he doesn't know where Jefferson is, if what you're looking for is really that important then you'll have to find another way of contacting him" 

Regina walked over to Belle and brushed her finger down Belle's cheek and under her chin then gently tilted Belle's head up

Rumpelatiltskin was ready to send a bolt of lightning through Regina as he watched her lean over Belle

"That's Her Majesty, to you my dear" she said in a deep malicious voice.

"Not in this house it isn't" she said brushing Regina's hand away "and I think it's time you left"

Regina lifted her hand back up and gripped Belle's chin tightly, "I'd be careful, about what you say to me, if I were you" she said sharply

"And I'd be careful about what you do to me" Belle said tilting her head towards Rumpelstiltskin

Regina glanced her eyes over to Rumpelstiltskin and gritted her teeth then looked back at Belle

"Is there anything else you want to say to me?" she asked still gripping Belle's jaw

"Yes… thank you for your advice on eye contact, it was incredibly useful" Belle said confidently

Regina loosened her grip on Belle, visibly startled, she had just thought Belle was being over confident around her new boyfriend, she hadn't noticed that this little girl hadn't stopped staring at her.

Regina ripped her hand away from Belle and slowly stood up "Fine, I don't need your help to find Jefferson… I have other methods" she spat, she looked over at Rumpelstiltskin and smiled "Show me to the door Rumpel" she said sweetly

"Why? You know where it is"

Belle giggled at Rumpelstiltskin's remark and Regina shoot her a glare before storming out of the room

_Oh dear, _Belle thought_, Regina thought Rumpel was making a joke. _Belle didn't really want to tell Regina that he was just being clueless.

Present

As Belle headed back through the forest she saw a young woman in a beautiful flowing pink dress heading in the other direction.

"I wonder who that is?" Belle said as she watched the beautiful young woman get her dress caught in a bush.

"Oh Damn it!" she heard the woman cry

"Oh don't worry… even the most skilful warrior would have gotten that dress caught" Belle said to herself. She watched her pull on her dress struggling to get away from the bush; Belle giggled and shook her head until she saw the young woman pull so hard that she threw herself and the dagger she was concealing in the air.

"What on earth is she planning on doing with that" Belle muttered

Belle watched her crawl to her feet, pick up the dagger and race off

_Sorry Rumpel, I'm afraid you'll have to wait, _Belle thought as she ran after her

Aurora stalked through the forest until she caught up to Mulan, Snow White and Emma; it hadn't taken her very long to catch up. Belle was watching from a tree nearby, _she's doing better than I thought she would, _Belle thought_, she managed to follow them without being spotted. _Belle watched her spying on them

"I wonder why she spent all that time trying to catch up to them if she's just going to spy on them" she said to herself

"Come on Snow, come on" Belle heard Aurora repeating

"I don't like the look of this maybe I should talk to her" Belle said teleporting herself out of the tree

Aurora heard a noise from behind her and quickly turned around to see what it was

"That's odd, I thought I saw smoke" Aurora said, She heard rustling came from the bushes, Aurora felt like screaming for help but she was too startled, she started to back away when out of the bushes came a young woman dressed in deep red warrior clothing, her brown hair was tied back with her curls tossed down her shoulder, Aurora looked closer at the woman, it was dark but she could clearly see two bright blue eyes.

Aurora figured that she had startled her as well because then next thing she saw the woman do was stick both her hands in the air, then she heard the woman speak, Aurora noticed that she had a slight accent.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to startle you", Belle said holding hands just above her head, she looked over at the tree that she was hiding in and then pointed, "I thought I saw smoke"

Aurora looked over at the tree and then back at Belle, "No it's ok, I thought I saw smoke as well"

"Really? I wonder where it came from" Belle said walking over too Aurora, "Oh, I'm Belle… by the way" she said smiling

Aurora smiled and walked up to Belle, "I'm Aurora" she said with a wave

"You're Aurora… Philip's Aurora?" Belle asked

"You knew Philip too, how many other female warriors did he know" Aurora cried out causing Belle to jump back a little

"Whoa… sorry I only met Philip briefly… and I'm… I'm not a warrior" she said holding her hands out defensively

Aurora Eyed Belle carefully then arched her back and lifted her chin up "You look like a warrior"

Belle knew that look; she used that look to tell the people of her Village that even though she didn't look it she wasn't to be messed with, Belle tried to hide a smile but her eyes gave her away.

"You don't, However, that hasn't stopped you from coming out here, on your own… concealing a dagger" Belle's tone had changed but she kept her wide eyed look

Aurora gasped and glanced down at the dagger hidden in her shawl an the quickly looked back up at Belle

"H… how did you know… it's hidden" Aurora stuttered out, "What are you doing out here?" Aurora suddenly asked

Belle sighed and looked away while she tried to figure out where to start

"I was out looking for my husband" she started, "we were separated when the curse hit"

"You've been separated for twenty eight years" Aurora said solemnly

"I was trying to find a way to get to him when I saw you with that dagger" Belle said pointing at Aurora's hidden arm, "I just wanted to make sure you wouldn't do anything that you would regret"

"You should feel lucky that you were only separated from your loved one, my true love is dead; he had his soul ripped out, by two of the woman over there" Aurora almost spat nudging her head over at the three woman in the distance

Belle looked over at them, "That's strange; they don't look like soul suckers"

Aurora grunted, stood up straight and furiously pointed at Snow and Emma, "They brought a Wrath here, where ever they're from…the Wrath came… and Philip was protecting me… and… and…"

Belle could see Aurora fighting back tears as she tried to gather her thoughts, Aurora jerked her head up to look at Belle, eyes res from tears and full of fury, she pulled out the dagger and pointed it at Belle

"I am going to do this, I just need one of them to be on their own, preferably Snow… she looks like the easier target… and you are not going to stop me" she said edging the dagger closer to Belle"

Belle smiled and put a comforting hand on Aurora's shoulder and then placed her other hand gently under Aurora's chin and tilted her head to look at her properly

"Be careful Aurora" Belle said eyeing her gently, "Say you do kill one of them, how would you feel then?"

"I would have the satisfaction of knowing that I did Philip some justice" She said proudly standing her ground

"You would also have to live with the guilt that come with killing another living being, that's not exactly something you can block out" Aurora turned her head away from Belle but Belle tapped her finger against Aurora's chin tilting her head back towards her, "And how would you feel if it turned out that you were wrong, what if she didn't have anything to do with Philips death and she was just and innocent woman trying to find her way home, would you still feel satisfied?"

Aurora let out a quiet sob and relaxed the arm holding up the dagger, as Aurora relaxed her arm and Belle's eyes lit up, she had gotten through to her; Belle instantly felt the air become lighter and tried to take the dagger away from Aurora when they both heard a rustling noise causing both of them to turn their heads, Snow White was on her own

Aurora pulled the dagger to her chest and covered it with her other hand

"Now's my chance" she said

Belle watched Aurora head for the bushes and decided to try one more time

"Aurora please don't, I'm speaking from experience, you don't want to be responsible for taking an innocents life… not even if it was accidental" Belle pleaded

Aurora turned around to look at Belle; she opened her mouth to speak but stopped when she heard Snow getting closer. Aurora took one last look at Belle then turned to head towards Snow

Past

Belle was polishing Rumpelstitskin's collection, she knew that she didn't have to now but Rumpelstiltskin left over two hours ago two warn Jefferson that Regina was looking for him, and she was a little worried that he hadn't come back yet

Belle picked up a Genie lamp and stated scrubbing it vigorously

"You stupid smudge, why won't you come out?" she scolded, scrubbing harder and harder until she lost her grip dropping the lamp. Belle watched it roll across the floor until it stopped by a pair of sparkly boots, she saw a pair of hands reach down and pick up the lamp bringing it up to his face

"If you were looking for something to grant you a wish dearie I'm afraid this won't work, no Genie in here" Rumpelstiltskin said shaking the lamp

Belle sighed and ran over to Rumpelstiltskin flinging her arms around his neck, Rumpelstiltskin was about to return the embrace when she suddenly let go of him lifting up her right arm and hitting him hard across the chest

"What took you so long" she scolded

Rumpelstiltskin rubbed his chest where she had struck him

"First of all… Ouch" he said noticing the corner of Belle's lips turn up, "Second; I was only gone for two hours"

"Two hours too long" she responded, placing her hand onto his chest, "I'm sorry I hit you though"

Rumpelstiltskin used his mock 'you've upset me face' and turn his head away, "you should be"

Belle rolled her eyes, "oh stop it, you have healing powers" she said dryly

"That's no excuse" he said pointing his finger at her

Belle lent in and playfully kissed the top of his finger, Rumpelstiltskin raised his eyebrows and looked at his finger and then gave a sly smile and shook his head

"Do you remember when we got this?" Rumpelstiltskin asked Belle putting the lamp down beside him

"Of cause" she said "Jefferson accidentally sent us to Agra bar through his hat and Aladdin found your dagger, thought you were a Genie and wouldn't give it back until you granted him three wishes" Belle said with a laugh

"Right, Aladdin and Jasmine gave us the lamp as a thank you gift" he said, "Jefferson was about to come in looking for us when we came back" he added, Rumpelstiltskin watched Belle struggling to keep her smile as they reminisced

"I couldn't find Jefferson" he said looking back at her, "that's why I took so long"

"That's impossible, she couldn't have found him that quickly" Belle said

Rumpelstiltskin put his hands on her shoulders, "Belle, I don't think she gotten to him yet, he's probably just out with Grace"

He watched Belle let out a sigh of relief and then continued, "I thought I'd go back later today, they might be back by then"

"Ok" Belle said nodding her head, "this time I'm coming with you"

"No" Rumpelstiltskin ordered shaking his head, "you're not coming"

Belle folded her arms and stared at him, "Rumpel, I don't work for you any more, if I want to leave then I will" she said carefully

Rumpelstiltskin put his hand on the back of her head and lent forwards to kiss her, not a proper kiss, just a small peck just above her top lip

"I know" he said before pulling back, "you can come"

Belle smiled and ran her fingers across his cheek, "what time were you planning on leaving?" she asked him

"Around lunch time" he said grabbing her hand and kissing her palm, "we'll have an early meal"

Present

Belle was watching from the bushes as Mulan pulled Snow off of Aurora

"It's a good thing Snow knows how to take care of herself" Belle muttered

Out of the corner of her eye she saw Snow White's daughter holding a small grey thing above her head

"What is that?" Belle wondered, all of a sudden she heard a loud bang echo through the forest

"Oh no" Belle gasped as she teleported ahead to see how many Ogres were on their way

Belle ended up in a clearing in front of three Ogres that were racing towards the noise, she held out her hand and used her telekinesis to slow them down. They were too big for her to push back by herself but she hoped that she'd be able to slow them down long enough for the others to escape

Unfortunately one of the Ogres broke free from her hold pushing her backwards into a tree and ran off after the noise. Belle, a little dazed sat up against the tree when one of the Ogres grabbed her by the ankle and dragged her towards his face. Belle was being dangled upside down by one of the Ogres, her first thought was to teleport herself down but she lost her concentration when the Ogre that was holding her upside down flicked her in the stomach.

Belle let out a sharp wale, to the Ogre it would have just been a gentle flick but Belle felt like a boulder had just landed on top of her. Her cry alerted the other Ogre towards her presence and responded by jabbing her in the head, Belle let out another cry of pain.

The Ogre that was holding her, clearly confused and upset by her cries, let out a loud roar and through her against the ground. The Ogre gave another roar and started running towards her, Belle managed to lift her head up and saw a tree that one of the Ogres had pulled out of the ground

"Let's see how you like being hit in the stomach" she managed to croak out, Belle used her magic to lift up the tree and swung it at the Ogres stomach as it came closer towards her, knocking it out.

Belle gathered the strength to stand up and looked over at the other Ogre, the Ogre let out a grunt, crouched down and leaped at her

Belle gave a weak smiled and sighed, "One Ogre, my magic can handle"

She held both hands out in front of her and pushed against the air, there was a slight pause as he Ogre stopped inches from her and flew backwards through the air hitting the ground flat on his back.

Belle collapsed onto the ground in exhaustion, "Rest now, Rumpel later"

Belle rolled over on to her back and closed her eyes, she concentrated on her head because that's what hurt the most, suddenly a light mist started to appear around her head, after a moment the mist moved down to her chest and then to her stomach

Once it was over, Belle's eyes flew open, and feeling refreshed she flicked her wrist and teleported back to where she was heading in the first place, the camp site.

X

Once she was back at the Camp Site Belle magically changed back into her dress and worn out cloak, so not to arouse suspicion, and then looked for Cora, Belle needed a way to get to the non - magical world and Cora was going to help her do it, she just had to make sure Cora didn't realise that she was helping her

Belle saw Cora, still disguised as Lancelot, sitting alone at a table while everyone else was working around her; Belle held out one arm and snapped her fingers and a big basket full of berries appeared in her hand, she hung it from her arm and skipped towards Cora

"Hello Lancelot" Belle said with a smile, placing the basket on the table

Cora looked up at Belle, "Hello Belle, been gathering berries, how thoughtful" She gestured for Belle to sit down

"Well I do what I can; unfortunately what I can do, isn't that much" she said fiddling with her thumb

"I'm sure we'll find something to keep you occupied, you mentioned that you were the wife of a spinner and a lot of the kids here are going to need new clothes soon" she offered

"Oh…no my husband took care of the spinning, I just took care of my husband" she said forcing a shy giggle

"I always wanted to do more though, even if it was just delivering the silk that he spun…but he always did that job himself" Belle glanced over at Cora who was looking away from Belle obviously annoyed with her

"He always came home with the most ridiculous tales." She giggled "Once while he was delivering silk he overheard two men talking about a supposed magical compass that can direct you through portholes" she scoffed placing a berry into her mouth

Out of the corner of her eye Belle saw Cora slowly turn to face her with a quizzical look; Belle smiled and swallowed the berry

"They were trying to find a way to escape The Queen's curse, which is ridiculous really" she said grabbing a couple more berries' out of her basket

"Why is that ridiculous?" Cora asked

Belle raised her eyebrows at Cora and let out a small laugh, "Because, even if they found the compass they'd still need a porthole, the easiest way to create a porthole is by magic beans and the last time I checked…"

"Giants were extinct" Cora interrupted

"Exactly" belle said dropping the berries back into the basket, "good luck finding a beanstalk with a living giant"

Cora put her hands down on the table and stood up, "would you excuse me Belle, my finest warrior has been gone for a while now and I'd like to make sure she's alright"

"Of cause, goodbye Lancelot" Belle said as she watched Cora wonder off into the forest

_'Let's hope that was subtle enough' _Belle thought as she teleported back to Rumpelstiltskin's castle

Past

Jefferson was hanging up Grace's cloak when he heard a knock on the door

_'If that's Regina again, I'll strangle her' _Jefferson thought as he walked over to the door ready to start an argument if need be, he opened the door and a blue blur grabbed on to him almost knocking him backwards. Once Jefferson regained his balance he felt a pair of arms wrapped around waist and felt a face berried into his chest, he looked down and saw a bush of brown curls. Jefferson gave a small chuckle and looked up to see Rumpelstiltskin

"I take it you heard Regina was looking for me" Jefferson said to Rumpelstlitskin

"She came round asking how to get in touch with you" he replied, "She was a little worried" he said pointing at Belle, who still had her head berried into his chest

"I can see that" Jefferson said putting his hand on Belle's head, "Regina left a while ago"

"Rumpelstiltskin was looking for you for two hours" said a muffled voice coming from Jefferson's chest

"Rumpelstiltskin I'm touched" Jefferson mocked, Rumpelstiltskin lightly glared at Jefferson as he walked inside

"Grace and I were out looking for mushrooms when Regina arrived, she had already let herself in when we got back" he said rolling he's eyes, "I had to tell Grace to hide in the forest until she left, she just got back"

Belle let go of Jefferson and sat herself down at a small table and poured herself a cup of water from a jug that was resting in the middle

"You understand Regina won't stop there…she will be back" Rumpelstiltskin mentioned taking a seat next to Belle

"And my answer will be exactly the same; I'm not going to abandon Grace" Jefferson took a seat on the other side of Belle and opposite Rumpelstiltskin, "How was she able to find me? I been playing it safe, keeping my head down…I haven't stirred up any type of trouble…"

"Regina has spies everywhere" Rumpelstiltskin interrupted

"Do you know what she wanted?" Belle asked

"She wanted me to take her to a specific 'annoying little world'" Jefferson told her but looking more at Rumpelstiltskin who just groaned at the thought

Belle saw Rumpelstiltskin and Jefferson share a look and wondered what they were silently communicating about

"What annoying little world?" she asked them, Rumpelstiltskin and Jefferson shared another look and Rumpelstiltskin grabbed Belle's hand

"I'll tell you when we get home darling" he told her

"Why can't you just tell me now?" Belle asked him

Rumpelstilskin glanced up at Jefferson for a second and then back at Belle, Jefferson took it as a 'help me' sign

"Because if I want to feed Grace tonight I need to take the mushrooms we collected to the market" Jefferson said standing up, "Thank you for coming round to check on us, I appreciate it" Jefferson smiled and walked them over to the door

Just as Rumpelstiltskin was about to walk out the door Jefferson grabbed his arm and whispered

"Belle's not going to like that we lied"

"I know I'll tell her when we get home" Rumpelstiltskin whispered back

"You'd better, you just got her back, and you don't want her walking out again" he said releasing Rumpelstiltskin's arm so he could catch up to Belle"

Belle was half way down the path when she felt an arm snake around her waist; she smiled and curled towards him as they walked along

"Last time we walked home from here I remember seeing a pond" she said resting her head on his shoulder

"That's because last time you made us take the long way round" Rumpelstiltskin replied admiring the view around them

"Maybe one day we could have a picnic by that pond" she wondered fiddling with the collar of his shirt

"Mm hmm, sure" he absentmindedly responded

Belle glanced up at him for a second then playfully glared at him, "Maybe on that same imaginary day you can tell me about that 'annoying little world' you and Jefferson were not so subtly avoiding telling me about" she said looking at him with her innocent '_if you lie to me you're dead' _eyes.

Rumpelstiltskin rolled his head back and gave a silent sigh and then started walking Belle in the other direction

"Where are we going?" Belle asked

"We're taking the long way home" Rumpelstiltskin replied

X

Belle was sprawled out on the grass dipping her fingers in the pond, "So let me get this straight, you tricked Regina into banishing her mother to Wonderland"

"Yes" Rumpelstiltskin nodded

"And now she thinks that her mother has stolen something from her" Belle continued

"Yes" he nodded again, more enthusiastically

Belle sat up and scrunched her nose at him, "You're a creep you know that, I fell in love with a creep" she said throwing her arms into the air and lying back down on the grass

"Oh sweetheart, you always knew that I was a creep" he joked playing with the grass, Belle looked up at him and dipped her hand back in the pond and flicked the water at him

"So if Regina banished her mother…"

"Cora" Rumpelstiltskin interrupted

Belle looked at Rumpelstiltskin then continued, "If Regina banished Cora to Wonderland, how was she able to steal from Regina?"

"Well, if she's taken what I think she's taken she probably loured him there" he said stretching his arms behind his head

"Wait…loured who there?" Belle asked quizzically

"Regina's father" he replied "Cora's has had him under her spell for a while now and he's the only one Regina would risk going to Wonderland for"

Belle crawled over to Rumpelstiltskin and lay down next to him, "If Regina is just trying to rescue her father why wouldn't she just tell Jefferson, I'm sure he'd help her"

"Forgotten the hats rule already" he said putting his arm around her, "the same amount of people that go through have to come out"

Belle realised what he was saying as he was speaking and rolled her head back, "She's planning on leaving him there"

"That would be my guess" he said sitting up "what I want to know is how she found him so quickly"

Belle sat up and rubbed his back, "Come on, you can hunt down Regina spies tomorrow" Belle stood up and held out her hand to help up Rumpelstiltskin. Rumpelstiltskin looked at Belle's hand and arched his eyebrows

"You said you had an urgent appointment at two" she mentioned trying to jog his memory, Rumpelstiltskin just looked at her quizzically; Belle just stared at him and then in a dry tone said "Something about switching a Shepard for a Prince"

Rumpelstiltskin groaned and grabbed her hand to pull himself up; "I can't do both can I?"

X

Back at the dark Castle Belle was still trying to get used to her new magic, she was perched on top of the dining room table thinking about what to cook for Dinner when a pot flew out of the kitchen and landed with a crash at her feet

"Oh bother" she said picking up the pot and carrying it back into the kitchen, Belle sat the pot down on the kitchen bench when she heard a noise coming from the other room, Belle walked out of the kitchen and opened the dining room door and saw a dove perched on the table where she had been moments ago. Belle smiled and stretched out her arm

"Dove" she called

The dove flew off the table and landed on her index finger, Belle rubbed the dove's head before grabbing the note tied to his leg

"Thank you dove" she said throwing her hand in the air. Dove flew of her finger and headed for the closed window, all of a sudden the dove disappeared into thin air

Belle looked down at the note and read it

_Rumpelstiltskin_

_Papa's missing, he told me to stay with our neighbours until he came back, but he hasn't come back yet. Please can you help me find him?_

_Grace _

"Oh no" Belle sighed, '_I hope she's alright' _she thought

Belle raced over to Rumpelstiltskin's work place and grabbed a quill and then underneath Grace's message wrote

_Rumpel Sweaty_

_Gone to look after Grace, be back soon_

_Belle_

Belle walked back to the dining room hall and placed the note on the table, she grabbed her bright green cloak and wrapped it round her shoulders. Belle closed her eyes and imagined herself at Jefferson's place, she opened her eyes and whined when she realised she hadn't gone anywhere. Belle let out a deep breath and tried again, she imagined herself at Jefferson's then she thought about Grace and remembered the last time they were all together, she pictured Grace laughing as she poured out imaginary tea for her stuffed toys, Jefferson sitting next to her trying to steal the imaginary tea away from his daughters stuffed friends, then she imagined how lonely Grace would be, Grace loved her father so much and it broke Belle's heart to think how upset she'd be without him.

Belle suddenly felt a sharp spark pass through her, then she felt a cool breeze on her face and opened her eyes

X

Once Rumpelstiltskin and delivered the new Prince James to his Kingdom he decided that he was going to surprise Belle and by her a gift, he knew he could just grab something nice out of thin air but he figured if he were to go down to the Markets not only would he be able to check on Jefferson but he would also get points for not using magic to impress Belle

Rumpelstiltskin gave an evil smirk and then decided that teleporting didn't count as magic and teleported off to the Markets

Rumpelstiltskin walked along the stalls admiring all the dresses and jewellery he saw when he came across an abandoned stall, Curious he walked over.

There was an old cart with some tables in front of it, Rumpelstiltskin noted that it couldn't have been abandoned for long because there was no dust anywhere, Rumpelstiltskin then noticed his reflection in a small part of the cart, he took a closer look at his reflection

"Come on" he said to the mirror, "Hurry up I know you're there" smoke started to swirl around the mirror until he was left staring at a face, the face of the idiot that trapped himself in a mirror thinking he would be with Regina

"What did Her Majesty want with this stall?" Rumpelstiltskin roared

"Rumpelstiltskin?" the mirror stuttered, "what are you doing at the Markets?"

"That, dearie, is none of your concern" he said leaning one hand on cart next to the mirror, "now answer my question"

"Or what, in case you haven't noticed I'm stuck in A mirror, you can't exactly hurt me" the former Jeanie scoffed

Rumpelstiltskin grinned at him, making the mirror think twice about talking back to him as he watched the manic imp's grin getting bigger and bigger

"I think you know me well enough to know that if there was a way, I'd be the one to find it"

The mirror stared and Rumpelstiltskin trying to figure out if he was bluffing or not, fortunately out of fear he decided to cooperate

"The Queen wanted to guilt Jefferson into taking her to Wonderland" he said as calmly as he could

"Did it work?" Rumpelstiltskin asked, there was a nervous silence from the mirror that just angered Rumpelstiltskin

"DID IT WORK?" he yelled at the mirror

"YES" the mirror shouted back, "It worked, Jefferson left for The Queen's Palace a few moments ago" the mirror said eyes turned down

"And his daughter?" Rumpelstiltskin asked

"She doesn't know that he's not coming back yet" the mirror said, "At the moment she's happily having a tea party with her neighbours" As the mirror spoke he showed Rumpelstiltskin an image of Grace playing with a young couple and a few old toys.

Once the image had faded Rumpelstiltskin was once again left staring at the Genie's face, the former Genie had no choice but to stare into Rumpelstiltskin's deep, cold, soulless eyes. He had no idea what 'The Dark One' was about to do, he thought about just vanishing back to his Queens castle and waiting for her to come back when he heard Rumpelstiltskin speak

"If you're lying" he growled, The Genie watched him disappear into a cloud of smoke and let out a deep sigh of relief once he was gone.

Rumpelstiltskin appeared in his castle and immediately called out for Belle

"Belle?...Belle? Jefferson is on his way to 'Her Majesty's' Palace, I'm going to go stop him so don't bother making dinner because I won't be here, just cook something for yourself" Rumpelstiltskin waited for a reply and when he didn't receive one he started to worry

"Belle?" he called walking further into the room, Rumpelstiltskin would have kept calling but he saw a small scrap of paper sitting on his table and picked it up to see what it was

X

Belle had teleported just outside Jefferson's place wondered inside hoping to find Grace. She walked around until she saw a familiar face and froze in terror as he spotted her.

It was one of the men that Regina ordered to guard her while she was still a prisoner. Belle took a few steps back and held her hands up in front of her as he walked towards her

"Don't come any closer" Belle trembled

The guard looked her up and down and snared, "Well, well, well, look who it is"

Belle took a couple more steps away from him, "What are you doing here?" she asked

"The Queen ordered me to collect her favourite prisoner" he said slowly inching towards her, "Now don't making it difficult on yourself, it doesn't have to be rough"

Belle thought back to the note that Grace had written and then it hit her, Grace is only a child, would she even know how to contact Rumpelsitltskn? "Grace didn't write that note did she?" Belle asked staring at the guard. The guard let out a small snicker as he smirked at her

Belle let out a terrified gasp and raced towards the door, the guard bounded after her pushing the door shut with one hand as she tried to get out and then wrapped his free arm around her waist restraining her and pulled her away from the door

Belle tried pleading with him to let her go but he tore his other hand away from the door and covered her mouth pulling her head close to his chest laughing at her muffled screams, As the guard tried to move her Belle kicked and pushed against him trying break free from his grasp, finally Belle was able to get enough force to push him into the door, the guard lost his grip on her and she stumbled away from him.

Once she regained her balance she frantically looked for another exit, she tried to run across the room to find a back door but she felt something grab her ankle. Belle tripped and fell landing face down on the floor, as she fell she knocked over a table with sewing tools and scissors resting on it. The scissors landed just out of her reach, Belle reached for the scissors but the guard started to pull her back towards him. She let out a small cry and scrambled back up to grab the scissors, by this time the guard was able to stand up, he knelt over her and turned her onto her back pinning her arms next to her head so she couldn't grab the scissors.

Belle tried to lift her arms but he was too strong for her, she took a quick glance at the scissors and then looked back at the guard who was leaning closer towards her, she saw the guard take a glance into her eyes before turning his attention to her neck. As soon as Belle felt the guard's lips on her neck she lifted her leg and gave one swift jab into his groined, Belle hadn't even realised that she had done it at first, The guard fell on to her chest in pain freeing Belle to grab the scissors, she sat up took hold of the scissors and before she realised what she was doing plunged them into his back.

Belle heard the guard let out a gasp for air, Belle, breathing heavily, took the scissors out of his back and rolled him onto his back. Belle stared into his cold lifeless eyes then closed the man's eyelids and stood up. Belle turned to leave when she saw a cloud of smoke appear in the corner of the room, before she realised who it was she lifted up the scissors and through it and the figure appearing in the smoke

Once the smoke had faded from his face, Rumpelstiltskin saw a pair of scissors flying towards him, Rumpelstiltskin's reflexes kicked in and he grabbed hold of the scissor's inches from his face.

"…The Hell" Rumpelstiltskin yelled once all the smoke had cleared

Belle let out a sharp loud whimper, once she saw who it was, and let herself drop to the floor.

Rumpelstiltskin watched his love fall to her knees, "Belle? What happened my darling what's wrong?" Rumpelstiltskin carefully crept forwards, concern growing on his face. It was then he saw one of Regina's guards lying on the floor behind Belle; Awkwardly he shifted his gaze from the dead man behind Belle to the scissors in his hand, 'how had he not noticed that they were covered in blood?'. He then noticed Belle's hand's that were also stained with blood, blood that she was wiping on the top of her head trying to wrap her head around what had happed.

Rumpelstiltskin crouched down next to her and pulled her hands away from her face, then coaxed her head down onto his chest.

"Shhhh, it's going to be alright Belle" he soothed stroking her head, Rumpelstiltskin then flicked his wrist not just teleporting them out of Jefferson's home but eliminating any trace of a crime being committed

X

Back at the Dark Castle Rumpelstiltskin was coming down stairs after drawing Belle a bath but stopped when he saw Regina standing smugly by his Spinning Wheel gently rocking the wheel back and forth.

Rumpelstiltskin rolled his eyes and shook his head "What do you want?" he sighed, controlling his anger very nicely, apparently being too tired to care did wonders for his rage. He walked down the rest of the stairs and over to Regina

"Rumpel! You're not happy to see me" Regina said giving him a mock sad face which quickly turned into a low cackle

"I take it you were able to get what you required" he said coolly

"I did" she said in a low tone

Rumpelstiltskin felt his anger start to boil inside of him as he watched her smile get bigger, Rumpelstiltskin took a deep breath to calm himself down, but no good, he was angry

"You had Jefferson" Rumpelstiltskin said through his teeth, "Why send a guard to attack Belle?"

"I needed a distraction" she said simply shrugging her shoulders, "I knew if your little maid got herself into trouble, you'd forget all about Jefferson" she said cocking her head at him, "and you did" she said with a smile

"Get out" Rumpelstiltskin hissed, pointing at the door

Regina looked at the door and then back at Rumpelstiltskin, "Fine" she said making hhhheeer way to the door, "I can't stay anyway, I have to tell a my late guard's wife and two children that he's been murdered" Before leaving Regina lent over Rumpelstiltskin, "You will tell your little maid why I can't stay won't you"

Rumpelstiltskin, too exhausted to argue with her, slammed the door in her face

Present

Cora appeared, as herself, in a clearing overseeing the ocean. In front of her stood a tall man in black with one very noticeable feature, one hand.

"Ah, Cora, how are you love?" He said turning around to see her

"I'm well, and you Hook" she responded

"Well let's see, I spent the last 28 years frozen in time, worlds away from my prey, because you assured me that if I stuck with you I'd have my revenge" he ranted pointing his hook at her, "Tell me have you even discovered a way to get to this new land yet"

Cora looked at the hook and arched her eyebrow then let out a deep breath and lazily flicked his hook out of her way and walked past him

"There's a compass that should be able to take us straight to Rumpelstiltskin and my daughter" she said looking back at hook, who had a hungry look in his eye. Cora smirked and turned to face him properly, "A young girl in the camp was gossiping about a rumour that her husband had heard before the curse hit…. It reminded me of a story my former master told me about"

Hook gave a soft laugh, "Poor girl, she probably has no idea what she's done"

A playful giggle left Belle's lips as she watched the performance through her hand held silver mirror

"Well, all according to plan so far" she said placing the mirror face down on the table next to her


End file.
