[December 11th] [Once Upon a Time] You Are Leaving Storybrooke

[insaneladybug.livejournal.com]

And continuing my little post-3A saga some more.

Title: You Are Leaving Storybrooke
Day/Theme: December 11th - and sometimes the only safe place you’ll have is tree hollows and flowerbeds
Series: Once Upon a Time
Character/Pairing: Rumbelle; Neal Cassidy
Rating: K/G


By Lucky_Ladybug

Belle had really hoped they could get away quietly without the entire town turning out to see them off. Rumpel had taken her back to her apartment so she could pack and then had returned to his mansion to do likewise. When she was ready to leave, it was Neal who came to pick her up and drive her back there. It was still dark outside, but even in the crisp chill, Belle had the feeling that many of the townspeople were awake.

Neal seemed to have the same feeling. He scowled as he caught sight of people peering from their windows or standing and watching on the sidewalk. “Don’t they have anything better to do than see how we’re living our lives?” he grumbled.

“They’re all waiting for Rumpel to do something else,” Belle said softly. “I wonder if the shop and the house will really be safe while we’re gone. . . .”

“They must have lasted okay when he left to find me,” Neal said.

“That’s true,” Belle agreed. Memories of why she had not been with Rumpel then flashed through her mind and she felt a stab of guilt. It was not her fault; it was Hook’s, but she could not help the guilt anyway. She hoped Hook would not try again to come along.

She sighed to herself. Was it wrong to still be suspicious of Hook while she was frustrated with the townspeople for their attitude towards Rumpel? Under the circumstances, she decided, no, it wasn’t. For that matter, she couldn’t even blame the people for still being wary of Rumpel. She just wished that they would show some gratitude for what he had done in saving all of them. If Hook did something similarly heroic, Belle would be grateful to him even if she wasn’t sure she wanted to fully trust him. But Hook seemed to have very little interest in heroics, unless there was something she did not know about. She had to wonder if he really cared about Emma and if Emma could or would ever return such feelings.

“Are you okay?” Neal broke into her thoughts.

“Oh.” Belle started back to the present. “Yes, I am. I’m just thinking.” She looked to him. “Are you glad to be getting out of Storybrooke? In general, I mean; not just because we’re finally starting our search for Emma and Henry.”

“Yeah,” Neal said without hesitation. “I wish we could all just live in New York, away from all of this magic garbage.” The bitterness in his voice was impossible to mistake. After all, it was magic that had pulled him and Rumpel apart for centuries.

Belle looked down. She certainly wished that the separation had not happened. But if Rumpel had followed Neal through the portal to this world, would she and he have ever met? That was highly unlikely. Mary-Margaret and David might preach about true love and being destined to meet, but she didn’t see any way that it could have happened had Rumpel not tried for centuries to find a way to open another portal and get to Neal. Still, she hated to think that Rumpel and Neal had been destined to be separated in order to set all those other wheels in motion.

Maybe, if Regina had learned about casting the Curse some other way, they still would have ended up here too. And maybe Belle would have run across Rumpel, provided he and Neal both still ended up in Neverland for a time and hence were able to still be alive centuries later upon getting back to this world from there.

She shuddered at the thought of Rumpel ever having to end up in Neverland more times than he already had. What a horrible place.

“I guess even aside from Papa, though, Emma and Henry wouldn’t want to stay away from Storybrooke either.” Neal was breaking into her thoughts again. He sighed in resignation. “And I’ll go where they go. I don’t want to give up on my family. I want to really try hard to make a go of this.”

Belle smiled. “And I believe you will,” she said. “Even if you and Emma don’t ever get back together, you’re still Henry’s father. He deserves to know you and spend time with you.”

“Yeah.” Neal paused. “Maybe they’ll never remember the truth, though.” Now a tinge of fear was in his voice.

“I’m sure they will,” Belle tried to assure him. “It’s a magical amnesia, so there’s a way to break it.”

That only made Neal scowl more. “Magic again. You know, our whole existence is tied up with magic!”

“Yes,” Belle realized. “I guess it is.”

“Sometimes I just wish we’d all been born in this world to begin with,” Neal admitted. “There wouldn’t be any magic. Heck, we wouldn’t even believe it was real.”

Belle leaned back, pondering on that thought. What if they had been born into this world? She hoped that she would never have grown up like her alter-ego Lacey. Perhaps they would have all been much the same as they really were. Perhaps some things, like Rumpel’s failed marriage to Milah, would have still happened in some fashion. And perhaps, hopefully, she and he would have still met.

“There still might have been problems, though,” she said. “Magic isn’t the only thing that causes them.”

“I know,” Neal conceded, “but I feel like I would have rather dealt with other kinds of problems than magic.” He shook his head. “I don’t get kids’ fantasies about magic and wishing they had it. Don’t they ever stop to think that if all the things in fantasy shows were real, it would be a freaking scary and messed-up world?”

“I suppose they don’t,” Belle said. “Most fairytales don’t even talk about the idea of magic coming with a price.”

“No, but all fairytales show what a crazy world the characters live in,” Neal countered.

“That’s true,” Belle had to admit. “But before everything went so wrong with your father, did you really feel the same way about magic?”

Neal sighed, trying to think. “I don’t know,” he admitted. “I remember sometimes being kind of curious, even fascinated, and asking Papa how certain things worked and why. But as I got older, I saw more of the dark underbelly of the world of magic and I wasn’t so into it. I saw that it generally seemed to be a destructive force. And then Papa showed me just how true that really was.”

Belle leaned back. She wasn’t sure of her own feelings on magic. She knew she had worried for Rumpel so often and had been frustrated at his reliance on his dark powers. On the other hand, it had been white magic that had brought him back to her. Knowing that, she could never spurn all magic the way Neal seemed to.

“You know,” she said gently, “magic separated you and Rumpel, but it also brought you back together, more than once.”

“I do know,” Neal said in resignation. “Like I said, magic seems to dominate everything about our lives.

“And everybody’s still watching us.” Neal turned onto the street with Rumpel’s house. His eyes widened at the sight of the crowd. “Are they even going to let us leave?!”

“Oh no,” Belle whispered. Indeed, it looked like the entire town had turned out. At least, the most prominent townspeople were definitely here, and others—likely curious onlookers—were bunching together behind them, hoping for a glimpse of the action.

Neal drove as close to the house as he could get, honking all the while. Some of the people scattered to let the vehicle through, but others continued to stare at it and the house and hold their ground.

“Where are you going?” someone yelled.

“Why should you be the ones to bring back the Savior?”

“What kind of motivation does Mr. Gold have in going after her?!”

Belle’s lips pressed in a thin line. “I can’t stand it any more!” she finally exclaimed. Even though the car was still moving, albeit very slowly, she undid her seat belt and threw open the door.

“Belle!” Neal cried in disbelief, immediately slamming on the brakes.

Belle stormed forward, right into the midst of the crowd. “I’m not even going to ask how all of you found out about our trip,” she said in a loud voice. “We all know how fast gossip spreads in this town.”

Most of the crowd began to quiet, looking to her for the explanation they all wanted. Out in front, Regina turned to look at her in displeasure. “We’re talking about my son,” she said. “If anyone is going to go after him and Emma, it should be me.”

“He’s Neal’s son too,” Belle replied. “And while you’re right that you have a right to go along, since Henry is also your son, don’t you think that Rumpel has a point about how overcrowding Henry and Emma when they don’t remember could be disastrous?”

“Yes,” Regina admitted, to Belle’s surprise. “Frankly, I wonder if anyone should go after them at all.” She wrung her hands as she spoke, clearly anguished at what she was thinking and about to say. “I let Henry go. I gave him and Emma new memories so they could make a new life for themselves wherever they wanted to go. We’ve seen how dangerous life in Storybrooke is. Maybe it would be better to let them continue living in New York, away from all of this.”

“But that was when Storybrooke was being destroyed,” Belle countered. “They’re living a lie, just as everyone was under the Curse. They deserve to know the whole truth and then make their decision based on all the facts.”

“We know they’d decide to come back,” Regina said. “I can’t deny I want that. But I want to do what’s best for Henry.”

“Henry needs his father.” Neal entered the conversation now, loudly shutting the car door to emphasize his point. “I was never there for him before, but not because I didn’t want to be. I didn’t even know I had a son. Now I know, and I want to be there for him. I want him to have all the things a kid deserves for the rest of the time he’s growing up. And I’d like to live in New York with him and Emma. But whether we’d live there or here or somewhere else would be up to them.”

Regina sighed, defeated, but still said, “Maybe you won’t even be able to break the spell. True love’s kiss won’t work when Emma doesn’t even remember you.” She refrained from adding, And when it may not even apply to you.

“We’ll find a way,” Neal insisted. “There’s always a way to break a spell. I guess that’s just about the only good thing about magic.”

A murmur rose in the crowd, but not from Neal’s comment. Belle whipped around to look, just in time to see Rumpel come out on the porch—luggage in one hand, cane in the other. He limped down the stairs and over the walkway, appearing calm and unconcerned at the gawking crowd.

“Rumpel!” Belle called, hurrying over to him.

He smiled at her. “Hello, Belle.” Looking to the townspeople, he said, “Well, if you’ve had your fill of entertainment, we’ll just be on our way.”

Regina watched, still not pleased. “Don’t let anything happen to Henry,” she said.

“Henry will be fine,” Neal said firmly.

Mary-Margaret and David came through the crowd to stand at the edge and watch them. Although clearly conflicted, they also understood the wisdom in not overcrowding Emma and Henry. Still, Rumpel had to wonder if they were really ready to entrust their daughter and grandson to the former Dark One and his girlfriend. They didn’t know Rumpel was no longer The Dark One, and regardless, they likely didn’t trust him any more than any of the other townspeople did. Rumpel really wouldn’t be surprised if they decided to follow at a safe distance and observe, even if they tried to stay out of Emma and Henry’s sight.

“Take care,” David said at last.

“Don’t worry about that,” Rumpel calmly returned.

Ruby came out of the crowd and hugged Belle. “He means it,” she said, “and so do I. I don’t know who might be out to get you, but I’m going to keep looking.”

Belle smiled, returning the embrace. “Thank you. But you stay safe,” she added in concern.

“I always do,” Ruby grinned.

Belle tensed when she saw her father come out from behind Ruby. “Hello, Father,” she said warily.

Moe French gave a heavy sigh. “I know there’s nothing I can do to convince you not to go with him,” he said.

“No, there isn’t,” Belle answered.

“I am proud of you for going out to find Emma and Henry. You’ve always known your own mind.”

Belle managed a small smile. “That’s true.” She paused. “Maybe when we get back, we can do something together.”

Moe’s worn features brightened. “I would like that.”

Soon Rumpel and Neal had the last of the luggage in the car and were ready to leave. Belle climbed into the car with them, praying the crowd would part and allow them to leave without trouble.

“I haven’t seen Hook here,” she realized.

Neal started the engine. “He’s probably skulking around somewhere,” he grunted. “Maybe he’ll go with Mary-Margaret and David.”

“Ah, so you sensed it too,” Rumpel mused.

Neal nodded. “They’re all going to come. I can’t blame them for that, but it had better not cause worse trouble. We don’t know what we’re going to find in New York at all.”

Rumpel rested his cane between his knees and leaned back. “We’ll just have to be prepared for anything we might encounter.”

“Yes, we will,” Belle nodded with a frown.

The crowd moved out of the way as Neal drove forward in determination, much to his relief. He headed past them and down to the end of the street, feeling the dozens of eyes on them all the while.

Belle had to admit to a certain anticipation and apprehension the closer they drew to the edge of town. She had never been out of Storybrooke before. What was the modern world like outside of this isolated town?

Glancing at Rumpel, she saw that he was tense himself. He had been out of Storybrooke before, but it was still unfamiliar territory for him. And, as he had confided in her, it frightened him to be in a world without his powers. Outside of Storybrooke, he couldn’t use any of his magic at all.

Or could he? Belle frowned a bit. If magic only worked in Storybrooke, Emma and Henry shouldn’t even still be under a spell. But they surely were or they might have come back. Perhaps not, though; even if they remembered, they thought Storybrooke was still gone.

Belle reached out, lacing her fingers through Rumpel’s. “It will be alright,” she said softly.

He looked to her, trying to relax. “Are you really up to doing this, Belle?” he asked.

“Of course, when we’re doing it together,” Belle answered. “Anyway, we can’t live in the forest or a meadow to stay away from it all. There’s a wide world out here.” She watched in a bit of wonder as they passed over the town line. This time there was no amnesia, no car crash, nothing to stop them from going on. They were free.

“You’re still up for adventure, then,” Rumpel said.

“Always,” Belle smiled. “Especially like this.”

Rumpel was pleased. But then, knowing they had to tell Neal about the book, he sighed and sobered. “Oh, Bae,” he said, “there’s something you need to know.”

Neal raised an eyebrow. “Am I going to like this?”

“No,” Belle said. “But it’s important.”

Rumpel gave her a grateful look for joining in the conversation. Neal glanced at them and then back at the road in resignation. “Okay,” he said. “Let’s get it over with.”