[May 13th] [Once Upon a Time] A World Without Magic

[insaneladybug.livejournal.com]

Title: A World Without Magic
Day/Theme: May 13th - if this fool's escapade can be called a labor of love, then love is surely this: your hand, towards him, forever outstretched.
Series: Once Upon a Time
Character/Pairing: Rumbelle
Rating: K/G

Continuing from that season 3B AU vignette series I was working on a few months ago....


By Lucky_Ladybug

Nothing had created such a stir in Storybrooke since everyone’s return as did the reappearance of Rumpelstiltskin, a.k.a. Mr. Gold. And since neither he nor Belle wanted to explain how and why he was back, feeling it was too personal and private and not to be shared, the town was largely in a quandary over the matter.

Belle noticed the townspeople tense while raking up leaves or hurry into their homes or businesses when she and he came down the street. Others would “bravely” stay outside, greeting them with a nervous “Good afternoon, Mr. Gold, Miss French.”

Rumpel still insisted he didn’t care that Storybrooke still by and large shunned him. After all, one act of goodwill wouldn’t erase the memories of everything bad he had done, even if said good act was to sacrifice himself to save the town from Peter Pan. All he cared about was that the townspeople were rejecting Belle solely because she loved him. That, he felt, was unacceptable. Even if they didn’t feel they could trust her, it angered him that they couldn’t even be bothered to so much as give her the proper protection in the hospital and had left the way open for Regina to get in more than once. If it had been anyone else, he was sure, they would have been more vigilant.

Neal had a slightly better standing due to being Henry’s father and Emma’s first (and arguably continuing) love, but Rumpel was sure that sooner or later, the fact that Neal was his son and starting to build a better relationship with him would cause him to be ostracized the same as Belle already was. In the minds of Storybrookeians, people just didn’t start frequently associating with Rumpelstiltskin unless they were bad news too.

On Friday afternoon, somehow word had gotten around that something was missing from the pawnshop and Rumpel suspected Hook of taking it. While he went off to confront Hook and Belle waited for him at Granny’s Diner, she couldn’t help overhearing the whispered worries of the townspeople in the know.

“Only one of them’s going to come back from this, you know.”

“I wonder if Gold will just let Hook die easy or if he’ll stretch out the pain and suffering as long as he can.”

“What was it Hook stole, anyway?”

“Who knows. Whatever it was, he only took it to serve his own needs.”

“I’ve seen him ogling the Savior more than once.”

“Oh, he’s just infatuated with her, or more likely, he lusts after her. There’s no way such a self-serving character could really be in love with her or anyone else.”

Belle turned back to her chocolate soda, her feelings mixed. She was slightly relieved that Hook wasn’t being hailed as a hero just because he was Rumpel’s longtime enemy. On the other hand, the townspeople were showing the same judgmental behavior towards him that they showed towards herself and Rumpel. It just confirmed all the more what an unhappy place this was for them to live in.

The bell over the door jangled and she looked up with a start as Rumpel marched in, the missing locator device under one arm. The other customers watched in a mixture of fear and uncertainty as he went over to Belle at the counter.

“You got it back,” she said in relief. “What did Hook have to say for himself?”

“Mainly he was frustrated that he couldn’t make it work,” Rumpel smirked. “When I walked in, he was swearing and cursing at it.”

Belle chuckled. “Did you tell him what the problem was?”

Rumpel perched on a stool and crossed his arms on the counter. Although the device was not currently being grasped in his hands, he knew it was safe sitting next to him. No one would dare approach and grab it. “Not specifically, no.” His eyes clouded over. “But he wants to join us when we go looking for Emma and Henry.”

Worry flickered in Belle’s eyes. “Are you going to let him?”

Rumpel’s lip curled. “It wasn’t long after the rescue party set out for Neverland that everyone fell to pointless arguing, Hook included. I couldn’t abide that and I soon left them to it while I went my own way to find Henry.”

“You think Neal and Hook would argue,” Belle deduced.

“Bae loves Emma and Hook has some level of caring for her,” Rumpel replied. “I can’t imagine either one of them would be pleased at the other coming. And although I would side with Bae in his objections, that still doesn’t mean I would find them falling into an argument to be very logical or productive under the circumstances. I refused to let Hook come. Of course, he’ll find a way anyway, but at least if he sneaks along behind us he won’t be right with us disrupting everything.”

Belle slowly nodded. “What will happen when we find them, though?” she wondered.

“That’s anyone’s guess. They won’t be very receptive to our tales when they don’t remember.”

“And even if True Love’s Kiss could break the spell, Neal would probably find it hard to get that close to Emma now,” Belle mused.

“Not to mention that it might not even work when Emma wouldn’t remember her feelings,” Rumpel said. “We might be stranded where they are for quite some time.” Unease flickered through his eyes.

Belle finished her soda and slid down from the stool. “Let’s go back to the shop,” she said quietly, wanting to talk with Rumpel about that but not wanting to bring it up where anyone could hear.

Relieved to get away, Rumpel grabbed the device and got down as well.

The walk back to the shop was uneventful and they got inside and into the backroom without issue. Rumpel set the device on a table.

“Have you tested it yet to see where they are?” Belle asked.

“Not yet. I wasn’t going to do it in Hook’s presence.” Carefully, Rumpel pricked his finger on the needle protruding from the device and allowed the blood to drip onto the globe. It wasn’t long and the sphere lit up, highlighting a specific area not far from them. “New York again,” Rumpel announced. “That’s where we found Bae as well.”

“And they went back there,” Belle mused. “That’s interesting, especially when they didn’t remember.”

Rumpel nodded. “Now that we know, we can get Bae and go there right away.”

“. . . It’s hard for you to think of leaving Storybrooke, isn’t it?” Belle said quietly. “It’s not about the shop or what’s in it. It’s not even about having fear and power over the townspeople. It’s the fact that outside of Storybrooke, you don’t have access to any of your magic.”

That brought a stiffening and a hesitation. “. . . I’ve lived with magic for so long now, Belle,” Rumpel admitted at last. “I’m not at all sure how to get by without it. It’s hard enough trying to adjust to not being the Dark One any longer.”

“You lived without magic while you were under the Curse,” Belle said. “And you remembered for part of that time, after Emma came to town.”

“I know, but that was different,” Rumpel said. “No one other than Regina remembered the truth. The townspeople feared me because they knew I could be frightening without my magic. Now that they remember and know what I am truly capable of, I can’t risk the vulnerability and danger that would come to both of us if they realized that I am no longer immortal.”

“Then getting away might be better,” Belle said passionately. “No one would know us in New York. We could start over fresh. You wouldn’t need magic there, just as you didn’t need it when everyone was under the Curse and only you and Regina remembered the truth.”

“That’s true, but . . .” Rumpel turned to face her, the helplessness and distress written across his features. “To know it’s there to rely on when I do need it is comforting. It’s like a man who doesn’t want to be separated from his weapons whether he needs them or not. I feel so . . . useless without magic. Worse than that, really; I feel terrified, Belle.” He shook his head. “And I don’t know how to feel different.”

Belle came closer to him, taking his hands in hers. “You don’t have to, Rumpel,” she said quietly, firmly. “I’ll be by your side and I’ll help you. If you still can’t stand the thought of living on the outside after we find Emma and Henry and bring their memories back, then we’ll come back here with them. But . . . if you find, to your surprise, that maybe you can live without magic after all, maybe then we should think about not coming back to Storybrooke. And only then, Rumpel. I would never ask it of you if you didn’t feel comfortable with it.”

Finally he smiled. “You’re so good to me, Belle,” he said softly. “So patient. Everyone else gave up.”

“But I won’t!” She looked into his eyes with all the depth and sincerity he had come to know and expect from her.

“Sometimes,” he said haltingly, “I still have to wonder. It seems too impossible that anyone could feel that way, especially knowing the things I’ve done. I’ve feared sometimes that sooner or later, you’ll have enough and you’ll give up too.”

“I know.” Belle gently squeezed his hands. “I wish I could convince you once and for all that I will never leave you, that I’m here for the long haul. But the best way I can do that is by continuing to show you that I’m going to stay.” She leaned in, kissing him on the lips.

He returned it, pulling her close to him. They didn’t need words now; this was enough.

“So,” Belle said as they drew back, “when do you think we should leave?” She looked into his eyes while running a hand through his hair.

“Monday or Tuesday, probably,” he said. “All the Thanksgiving traffic will have cleared up by then, hopefully. Of course, Bae will probably want to leave immediately.”

“We can wait a couple more days,” Belle said. “Emma and Henry will be fine until then.”

Rumpel nodded. Belle was surely right. And it would give him a bit more time to adjust to the idea of stepping outside this magical town. It still terrified him. But knowing Belle would stand by him certainly made it easier to bear.