Darkness Becomes Her

Chapter 14

Balance

Inside Merlin's Tower

"What are they doing?" Regina demanded. "He can't still be kissing the woman! Dear lord, I hope he's not planning on doing anything else right out there in front of the Merlin Tree and everybody. I have an impressionable teenage son out there who's watching the whole thing."

Emma looked at the couple closely. "Yeah, they really should get a room. Anything like a Camelot Inn nearby? Hey," she noticed something different. "I think they're talking now. Why would they be talking? Why aren't they trying to kill each other?"

Merlin had come over to watch and nodded, apparently quite satisfied with the turn of events. "Very good, Rumplestiltskin. You, you were the One I was waiting for. And you found the Other Half, your Belle, on your own," he said to himself. "Very good."

"Well?" Regina demanded. "What are they doing?"

"Watch, Regina. Watch and see the most powerful magic that has ever been. Watch and see what happens," Merlin told her.

In Front of the Tower

Belle and Gold had been kissing for a long time. When he finally let her go, her eyes had returned to their bright blue.

"Rumple, It's still within me! What are we going to do? I don't want to forever to be trying to kill you or feel that you're trying to kill me." She realized something. "If I manage to kill Merlin, then that's what will happen, isn't it? And after us, it will go on and on, forever and ever, with other couples, other people?"

Gold dropped his head so that their foreheads touched. "There's another way," he whispered to her. "It will require a great commitment from you . . . and me, for that matter. But it will solve everything."

Belle looked at him for a long moment. "I understand. It should free me from the dagger, shouldn't it? But we are afraid. The Dark One is afraid. It has never been afraid before," she told him.

"You don't have to be afraid. It doesn't have to be afraid," Gold explained to her. "The Dark One knows me and I know it. The Light One, the Light One is eager to know you," he told her.

Inside Merlin's Tower

As they watched, Belle and Gold stepped slightly apart and joined their hands, palm to palm, together, raising them above their heads. As they watched, they could see the dark oily tendrils of the Darkness beginning to wrap around the two and, at the same time, the light, bright tendrils of Light began to join in. Then a third group of tendrils, ranging from soft pink to rich red strands, joined in with the others, wrapping around the other two, wrapping, weaving and blending themselves all together.

"It looks as if the Dark One's and the Light One's energies are coming together bound by the third energy. What is that?" Regina asked.

Emma had a sudden realization, "That's their True Love. It's allowing them to blend the two forces so that they'll be balanced, one won't have power over the other."

"Yes, Emma, yes," Merlin agreed with her. "I made a terrible mis-step when I separated the two forces. And after I had done it and realized what a terrible mistake it had been, I could not see how to force the Darkness to blend back with the Light. Rumplestiltskin figured it out. True Love could do it. Allow the two forces to come together, to balance. Since neither one can be destroyed, getting them to join together is the only hope of containing them, especially the Darkness which made so much mischief."

"Where will all these energies go?" Emma asked the old sorcerer.

"Back to the hosts, to Rumplestiltskin and to Belle. They will share. The forces will be split between them," Merlin answered and transported them all back outside.

Belle and Gold were still standing with their eyes closed and their hands together. The tendrils of dark and light and pink had disappeared.

Gold opened his eyes first, "Belle?" he asked.

"Yes, I'm here," she answered, slowly opening her eyes. She smiled slowly.

"How do you feel?" he asked her.

"Like myself but . . . there are the others here too."

"Yes," he agreed. "I hear both but they aren't so loud."

"The dagger!" Belle suddenly realized. "Can it still control me? Will it control you?" She pulled it out from a deep pocket in her skirt. She held it out, "Rumple, kiss me," she commanded him.

"With pleasure, but I'll wait until you put the dagger down," he told her, nearly laughing. "The compulsion is there, but I find I can resist it, although I'm not so sure I want to." He looked deep into her eyes. "Trust me?" he asked her and held out his hand.

Hesitantly, her hand trembling, Belle handed Gold the dagger. He took it with a smile. "Belle, my dearest Belle. Turn your back to me," he ordered her holding the dagger out.

She stood a moment, obviously feeling the effect of the dagger but not turning around. "It is a little difficult but there's a part of me that keeps telling me I don't have to do anything I don't want to." She started laughing. "Telling me that I can decide my own fate." She flung herself into Gold's arms, stood on her toes and kissed him.

Gold kissed her back but then looked over to see Henry and then looked up the hill to see Merlin, Regina and Emma. Henry had judged the time was right and was rushing up to them. "You're both all right!"

Emma and Regina had both run down the hill.

"Henry, are you all right?" Regina asked him.

"You okay?" Emma asked at the same time.

"I'm fine. Miss Belle took care of me," Henry told his mothers.

Belle turned to face the two women. "I'm rather . . . uh . . . uncomfortable here. I brought Henry along so I wouldn't have to worry about you two interfering with anything."

"He's all right now, Belle. And you were under the influence of the Dark One," Emma told her.

"You're kind to say that Emma," Belle told her. She turned to Henry. "He did keep reminding me that I was Belle, not the Dark One. I think if I hadn't brought him, then things might have turned out differently."

"Well, I don't blame you for any of this," Regina said to Belle. "I blame him," she looked up the hill at the old sorcerer.

"Why don't you all come in?" Merlin waved to them and they could see there was now a visible door in the tower. They all looked at each other and shrugged.

Gold took Belle's hand and they walked together up the hill. Emma and Henry followed.

"Not sure this is a good idea," Regina muttered but she followed the others.

Inside the tower they now found themselves in a homey kitchen area with a wood stove, a sink, wood counters and cabinets and a heavy wooden table. Although the walls outside definitely appeared to have been made of stone, the inside of the kitchen was all wood to the point of making Henry feel as if he had stepped inside a room carved out of a great tree trunk.

"This was how Nimue always liked the room to appear," Merlin told them. "She was a wood nymph, a very powerful one but nonetheless a simple creature of nature." He turned to Gold. "You favor her, you know. You have the same soft brown eyes."

Gold stepped back. "Do I? Why should I?"

"Oh, this is rich," Regina said having followed Merlin's remarks. "Tell me Merlin," she turned to the powerful old wizard. "About all your children who fled to the Enchanted Forest?"

"Yes?" Merlin asked her.

"Did any of them opt to leave the fairy life? Did they perhaps fall in love with some undeserving human and give up their wings and all their pixie dust?" she asked him.

"Over time, there were several of them."

Emma had figured it out. "And did their children have a capacity for magic?" she asked.

"Oh yes. Now not all of the inhabitants of the Enchanted Forest with magic are descended from my children, but many of those who have or had such an aptitude are."

Gold was still confused. "What are you saying? What are you saying?"

"Do you actually need to see the math, Gold?" Emma asked him, having caught on. "This is your great something granddaddy."

Gold shook his head. He was standing next to one of the carved wooden chairs in the room. "I don't think so. That would mean that I would have . . . oh shit." He wavered and sat down. "I can't accept this. I will not accept this."

"We did try to discourage these relationships," Merlin explained. "The offspring would often be a bit out of step with other human kind. They would be smarter or stronger or more sensitive than others."

"Well that alone would leave me out," Gold remarked sourly.

"What? You were certainly the smartest Dark One we'd seen in a very long time, maybe the smartest," Merlin told him bringing around cups of tea to everyone.

"Gee. This means you get to invite Aunt Blue to your next Thanksgiving dinner," Emma told him, trying to contain her mirth.

"Not a chance," Gold had closed up. "I'm not buying that I have any damn fairy blood."

"Not much, but some," Merlin insisted. "You were always so resistant to Blue."

"She turned her back on me when I needed her help most!" Gold protested.

"I know it seemed that way to you . . ." Merlin started.

"It only seemed that way because it was that way," Gold insisted.

"No doubt, your Dark One persona made it difficult for her to accept you, so I don't doubt that there have been a few bumps in the road in your relationship."

"Oh cool, so the Mother Superior is actually my Great something Grandaunt?" Henry asked realizing what this meant.

"No," Gold said at the same time that Merlin said, "Yes."

Belle had put her hand on Gold's shoulder. "Darling we can't help who we're related to," she assured him.

"But I hate the fairies, Belle. Really, really, hate them. They're sanctimonious bitches! They've never helped me, even before I became the Dark One. They never gave a rat's ass about me! For me, for one moment, to think of them as family . . . it's not going to happen. It was hard enough for me to accept the saccharine sweet Charmings as family. No way will I accept Blue as . . . as anything to me."

"You don't have welcome Blue with open arms. You don't even have to speak to her if you don't want to," she patted him on the shoulder.

"Good," Gold told her, "because I have no intention of playing the role of the prodigal son . . . or prodigal nephew."

Belle kissed him lightly on the forehead. She turned to Merlin. "Now that the Dark and Light have been joined and the threat of the Dark One has been contained, is there any reason for you to continue living here, on this island, by yourself?"

"Well," Merlin seemed surprised at her question.

"Why don't you come back with us to Storybrooke?" Belle suggested. "I'm sure you have great magical knowledge that could prove to be useful someday. And I know your children would love to see you again. If you decide you don't want to stay, you could always come back."

Merlin considered. "Might be interesting. A little change in scenery. I have been rather stuck in this place for a while."

"Can we help you get anything together?" Emma asked him.

"Uh," Merlin considered. "Just my little bag here," and he selected a mid-sized leather bag that had been hanging from a hook on the wall. He slung it over his shoulder. "This should be more than enough."

"So we're going?" Regina asked.

"I guess. Can we fly off?" Emma asked.

"No. I put up some pretty powerful wards. It would take a while to take them all down," Merlin told them. "It would be easiest if we went back on the boat to the mainland and then we took on dragon form."

Henry ran on ahead of the group down to the Beauty.

Emma saw the jet ski pulled up next to the boat. "This is how you two got here?" she asked Henry.

"Yeah mom. It was so cool. Miss Belle let me drive and everything." Henry clamored on board the Beauty, comfortable on the boat. He'd remembered some lessons on steering and navigating that he'd gotten from both his father and from Killian and was eager to put them into practice.

Merlin shook his head, "I'm sorry Henry, but this boat will go where we want it to without our help."

Henry shrugged and sat down in the boat.

"Oh goody, the fog has lifted," Regina noted, settling in.

Back at the Dragon's Lair

Mordred and Lily were out walking along the top battlements of the lair. Mordred, used to scanning the horizon for threats, saw them first. Five dragons flying in. Lily stared out at them.

"Can you see who they are?" she asked him.

"I can if I use my dragon sight." He looked at Lily. "You can switch to dragon sight without changing into dragon form," he explained.

"Really? How do I . . . how do I do that?" she asked.

"Start the change with your eyes and stop," he told her succinctly.

Lily gave it a try and found that, concentrating, she could make out Rumplestiltskin's big green-gold dragon. But none of the others were familiar.

"That's Rumplestiltskin," she said to Mordred.

"Yes and the big brown one with copper highlights is Merlin himself, the old devil. The other three, I have no idea, but . . . I wonder."

"Do you think it could be Emma and Regina?" Lily asked. "but who would the fifth one be?"

"Perhaps your Dark One," Mordred ventured.

They watched as the five dragons honed in on the lair and dropped down. Gold's landing was smooth and easy. He stopped a moment to allow Henry to dismount before changing back. The other dragons seemed to have some difficulties, skidding in, overshooting the runway area, tumbling head over talons.

Mordred watched in amazement. There was a deep red-gold dragon that changed into Regina, a beautiful white dragon with touches of gold became Emma and the last small dragon, a petite sapphire blue, turned into a woman he did not know.

"Lily, Mordred," Gold called out to them. "Allow me to introduce my grandson, Henry, and my wife, Belle."

"Young sir and milady," Mordred bowed and formally greeted the two he did not know. "Is everything resolved?" he asked Gold.

"Quite satisfactorily so," Gold told him. "We're taking Merlin back with us to Storybrooke. He's . . . uh . . . got some relatives there."

"Merlin," Mordred greeted the old sorcerer a bit coldly.

"I thought Camelot could use a break from me," Merlin told him. "And this lady," he gestured to Belle, "was gracious enough to suggest I come and visit Storybrooke."

"Lily, are you coming back with us?" Emma asked.

Lily hesitated. "I. . . I'm not sure."

Mordred said softly, "You are welcome to stay here."

"But . . . well, my mother."

Henry stepped up. "Why don't you have your mother come here?"

Lily looked at Mordred.

"Your mother would be most welcome here," Mordred told her. "I know my grandfather would very much want to see her again . . . and he's in no shape to travel to see her. Now that time is moving again, thanks to the Savior, I fear for Uther. The magical water he was given has cured his illness but it's not an elixir of eternal life and his days . . . I fear, his days are numbered."

"Would you like one of us to talk with your mother about making the trip here?" Regina asked kindly.

"Would you?" Lily asked.

"I can teach her how to make the dimensional jump," Gold assured her.

"Or Henry can just draw a portal door," Belle said. Regina, Emma and Gold turned to her.

"What?!" Gold asked. He looked back at his grandson. "So you did figure that out." He said softly to himself. He smiled at Belle. "Very clever, very clever."

"You left me enough clues," Belle told him.

"I did, but to be honest, I wasn't entirely sure it would work," Gold confessed.

"Really!? And if it hadn't work . . . then . . ."Belle nearly sputtered.

"You would have figured out something else. There was still one dragon left in Storybrooke. You would have helped Maleficent get her memory of realm jumping back. Or you might have tracked down Jefferson and re-energized his hat." Gold shrugged. "Hell, you might have released Zelena and had her conjure up a tornado."

Belle stared at him. "I would never have released Zelena," she told him. "After what she did to you, to Regina and Robin . . . !"

"You say that now," Gold told her smiling. "Belle, I knew, I knew you would figure something out."

Mordred asked the group to stay for a meal. Gold was in a surprisingly amenable mood and agreed on behalf of the group to sharing one last meal with the dragonkin, "Anything besides Granny's lasagna," he had muttered. Of the dragonmen, only Uther seemed happy to see Merlin. Uther studied Belle closely.

"You my dear, have some darkness inside of you," he said to her.

"Yes, your majesty," Belle admitted. "But, I am doing my best to manage it."

"Good girl," he told her. "My people admire strength above all and we know you can never become strong unless you have lived through adversity."

"Well, I've certainly had enough of that," Belle told him.

Back in Storybrooke

The Portal appeared right outside of Gold's shop. It shimmered and then solidified. Henry stepped through, followed by his mothers, then Gold and Belle and then, finally Merlin.

"You may want to . . ." Gold waved his hands and Merlin's attire changed. The older man was now wearing a black suit with an ecclesiastical collar.

Emma chuckled. "Nice touch. So now he's Father Merlin."

"I could put him in a suit, like I wear, if you'd think that would be more appropriate," Gold told her.

"Oh please," Emma rolled her eyes.

"What's wrong with how he dresses?" Belle asked. "I think he looks fantastic."

"Yeah, but you liked him when he was a lizard," Regina reminded her. She looked around. It was late afternoon. "Listen, I'm going to find Robin and Roland and then pay a visit to Mal. I want to see if she wants to get with her daughter and her baby-daddy." Regina turned to Henry. "You coming home with me?"

"I think I'd like to go with Emma. I want to see Grandma and Grandpa Charming," Henry told her.

"Let me know if Mal needs a realm-jumping refresher course," Gold told her. "Merlin, I'm sure we have a room you can stay in tonight."

"That would be nice, but I think I might want to locate my daughters," Merlin told him.

Gold hesitated. He didn't want to have any contact with his new-found relatives. Emma took pity on him, "Henry and I can drive him over to the convent," she told them. "Come on."

"Wait," Belle said. "I need to speak with Merlin for a quick moment. Please." When no one moved, she added, "Privately."

"Of course, why don't you go into my shop," Gold told her.

Belle led the old sorcerer into the dark shop. "I think you should have this," she told him whispering and handed him the dagger which no longer held her name. "Perhaps you could permanently dispose of it," she suggested.

"I think I can manage that," Merlin told her and took the dagger. "This is really a thing of beauty. Too bad it was twisted into such a perversion. I have the perfect place for it." And he opened his bag and dropped the dagger into it.

"Will it be safe there?" Belle asked.

"Would you like to reach into my bag and try to pull it out?" He asked her. "Here, take a look inside," and he opened the bag. The bag, about the size of something that could hold a bowling ball appeared empty, the gold silk lining shimmering.

"What?! Where'd it go?" she asked

"This bag is . . . uh . . . rather special. Only someone who knows how it works can get things out of it."

"How many other people know about this magic?" Belle asked him.

Merlin considered. "I think just me," he told her.

"Let's keep it that way," Belle told him and then she smiled at him. "Thank you," she told him and gave him a quick hug.

Emma took Henry and led Merlin back to the Diner where she had long ago left her car. Belle and Gold were left alone outside of his shop.

"Would you allow me to transport us home?" Belle asked him.

"Please," he wrapped his arms around her and noted that a soft blue mist circled around them both, disappearing as they were transported back to his Victorian.

He couldn't restrain a smirk – Belle had transported them directly to the bedroom.

"I missed you too, Belle." And he waved his hands to remove their clothing, opting to leave her only in her scanty underwear and himself in his boxers.

Belle grabbed him and pushed him down on the bed. "I've missed you too," and she dove on him. She nestled up against him and he wrapped his arms around her. Belle began to kiss him along his neck and up his chin, working her way up to his mouth. She let her hand drift down and slip under the band of his boxers. Her fingers stroked him and grasped him and she was elated to hear him catch his breath. She slipped off her panties and then focused on pushing down his boxers. He was stroking her arm delighting in the soft smoothness of her skin.

"You always smell so good," he told her burying his nose in her hair. He started to push her onto her back, but she stopped him.

"Lie back," she told him and swung herself on top of him to straddle him. She leaned forward to rub his shoulders then sat up, lifting herself up and then lowering herself slowly onto him. He closed his eyes for a moment, enjoyed the hot, tight sensation that she provided him. Belle began to rock back and forth. Gold reached up to unfasten her bra and then brought his hands around to support her breasts, taking the opportunity to tweak her distended nipples.

"I like this," he told her as he began to lift his hips to push against her. He loved watching her face as she labored toward fulfillment, her lips softening and her eyes looking drowsy as she approached her climax. He knew she would, in time, cry out and tremble, her body would clench around him and pull his own release from him. She would then collapse on him, nearly dissolving into him, relaxing and panting on top of him.

Afterwards, they lay together in the dark for a long time. He thought she had gone on to sleep and was surprised when, in a small voice, she spoke.

"Can I ask you something?"

"Of course, dearest, anything," he told her.

"When you first brought me into the Dark Castle . . . why didn't . . . I mean, having been the Dark One, I know that . . . " she took a deep breath, "sex is one of the Dark One's tools and . . . and pleasures. Why didn't you . . . ?" she couldn't finish.

"Rape you?" he asked softly. He didn't respond right away. "If I had been a different Dark One, that would have likely been your fate. But I still had enough of myself in me and I was very focused on some tricky aspects of getting my curse to work that I didn't give it any consideration. You were actually a bit of a distraction."

"Just a bit?" she asked with a giggle.

"All right, more than a bit of a distraction. And then . . . I got to know you and . . . you seemed to like me."

"I did like you. I thought you were sweet and lonely."

"Sweet. The Dark One was sweet," he nearly chuckled.

"No," she corrected him, "Rumplestiltskin was sweet, the Dark One was lonely."

The Next Morning at Storybrooke

Belle fixed breakfast for herself and her husband. Emma had texted them the night before that Merlin had been greeted with enthusiasm by Blue and her sisters and he had decided to stay at the Convent. Gold had risen early with her and played the part of her sous chef, buttering toast and squeezing some fresh orange juice at her direction.

"How are you feeling?" Gold had asked her.

"Different," she told him. "I feel full. Different from when I was the Dark One." She shook her head, not sure of how to explain herself. "How do you feel?"

"Different," he told her. "Full is a good word. I recognize the Dark One and the Light One, both of them. They really aren't so different, each pulling in one direction or another."

"We'll have them with us now, forever, won't we?" she asked him.

"I think . . . yes," he told her.

"So I guess when you told me 'it's forever,' you really meant, 'it's forever,'" Belle told him lightly.

"I guess I did," he had to agree.

Belle scrambled some eggs watching them so that they didn't overcook. She spooned them onto plates.

"I can still do magic?" she asked.

Gold nodded. "Well, you were able to transform yourself into a dragon; that took a lot of energy. I suspect you're very powerful. You already have a lot of practical knowledge and now you have the raw power to back it up."

Belle added bacon and toast to the plates. She carried them to the table and returned with a pot of hot water to pour over two cups each holding a teabag.

"I'm going to need some help . . . managing," she told him.

"Are you asking me to be your teacher?" Gold asked her. "You sure you want me and not Regina?"

Belle pulled a face. "Don't think I want the woman who imprisoned me for nearly thirty years teaching me magic, no matter how much she's changed her spots. And please don't suggest Emma – she's out of control half the time herself. Yes, I'm asking you to be my teacher."

Gold smiled. "I think I might like that."

The two enjoyed a quiet breakfast. Gold adjusted his tie and told Belle he felt he needed to get down to his shop. Belle thought this was a good idea and she would be coming with him. She could survey how much damage she had done when she'd had her little temper tantrum while she was the Dark One. Perhaps she could fix whatever still needed fixing.

It was cool quiet morning with no street traffic other than Gold's solid black Cadillac. He parked around back as usual. Gold unlocked his front door and entered his dark, dusty shop. He looked around. "Why is there a frog in my shop?" he asked of no one in particular.

Belle who had followed him in, peered over his shoulder and winced.

"Do you know about this?" he turned and asked her.

"Maybe."

"And?"

"I might have had something to do with this frog."

"Yes?"

"I might have . . . " she hesitated, finding it difficult to get her response out.

"Go on," he encouraged her.

"I might have turned Killian Jones into a frog," she confessed.

Gold began to chuckle and, a sound that hadn't been heard from him in more than three hundred years, he then began to laugh.

"Priceless," he told her, grinning at her.

"But I'm not sure I know how to turn him back!" she shared with him, alarmed. "It was dark magic and I was irritated with him and I don't know I understand what I did."

"Oh, I don't think there will be any problem turning him back," Gold reassured her.

Belle started to protest again when the door to the shop crashed open.

Gold turned on the interloper. When he saw who it was, he said, "Are you still determined to break my little bell?"

"Where's Killian?" It was Emma. She was, well, upset. Maybe a little angry.

"I believe, right here," Gold gestured to the frog.

"He's a frog!"

Gold went over and looked closely. "Yes, I think you're right."

"Well, one of you, turn him back!" Emma insisted.

"Not sure how to," Gold told her. "Turning people back requires that you know the exact incantation that was used to change them. I have a few standard ones that I've used, but . . . well, I'm not the one who turned him into a frog." He glanced back at Belle.

"Oh, Emma, I'm so sorry. I know I did this while I was under the Dark Curse and . . . and . . . I don't know what I did to change him into a frog."

"Then this could be permanent?" Emma asked.

Gold rolled his eyes, "Dearie," he began. "You've never read a fairy tale where a for real and for true princess, such as yourself, was able to turn a frog back into a prince . . . or at least back into some semblance of his former self."

"So I just have to kiss him?" Emma asked.

"No. You don't have to kiss him. I'd be content with him remaining a frog," Gold told her sincerely.

Emma sighed. "All right, all right, all right. Let me get him out and give it a go," she reached in the aquarium and pulled out the frog. It was rather somnolent and blinked his eyes when she woke him up.

"Any particular technique I need to use?" Emma asked Gold.

"Open-mouth with a lot of tongue," Gold advised her. When Emma pulled a horrified face, he sighed. "Just pucker up," he told her.

"I don't know what is grossing me out more," Emma shook her head. "An image of you with open-mouth and a lot of tongue or the . . . puckering." She lifted the frog up and closed her eyes and kissed him.

There was a swirling of green and blue smoke and tendrils of black power that whirled around Emma and the Frog. When the smoke dissipated, Emma was holding onto Killian.

"See, Miss Swan. A real and for true princess," Gold reminded her.

"What happened?" Jones asked, disoriented, finding himself abruptly in Gold's shop.

"You were gone for a while," Gold explained. "I'm sure Miss Swan will catch you up."

Late that Evening in the Shop

Belle had gone home. She had wanted to try her hand at fixing her husband a 'special meal.' Gold had been dusting and rearranging things all day and he was thinking about closing up his shop and going home to his bride when he heard the bell on his shop door.

"I'm closing up," he called out.

There was no answer and he went out to see who it was coming by so late.

When he saw who it was, he just stood and looked. Not anyone he ever wanted to see.

"I thought you might want to hear about one of my sisters. She was very special, very smart, very brave. I think she would have been very proud of you. Interesting enough, she was known to all as the Gold Fairy."

The End

This is the final chapter of this story (not too much else to address here).Thanks to all those who have reviewed, followed, and favorited this story, most recently to reviewers: Grace5231973, deweymay, Robin4, Erik'sTrueAngel, ladybugsmomma, TheGoldenHawk, MyraValhallah, orthankg1, jewel415 and Aletta-Feather (chapters 9 & 10).

I'll likely go on a brief hiatus and come back with another story. I have several WIP, including three movie rewrites (they are harder than you might think). These stories include Sabrina, Roman Holiday and the Maltese Falcon. Two of these require major re-writes of their endings (I can't have Belle and Gold falling in love and then walking away from each other or have him send her to jail). I also have a role reversal story with Belle as the Dark One and Rumple as the caretaker of her house – my version does seem to be different than others I've read—Rumple won't be acquiring any major powers and Belle is a much subdued Dark One – this one seems to be a quiet story about two damaged people falling in love (a little angst but mostly sweetness and fluff). If you should have any preference please let me know, I'm floundering a bit in deciding which one to push out of the nest. Thx so much. - Twyla