A/N: This was my contribution to the war effort on tumblr: Make All the Rumbelle Authors Cry. Hopefully I succeeded.

The highest room in the tallest tower. That's where all the princes went to seek their princesses.

He was a laughable, hollow, mimic of a prince, so it was only fitting that his tower be the same. The only structure high enough to jump from was the West Bridge that stretched over a river affectionately named The Trail of Tears.

Appropriate, he thought as he fought to keep his face from clenching and his eyes from watering.

He swiftly climbed atop the railing and looked at the fall awaiting him. Regina's curse had taken hold of the kingdom not a day ago, and already he knew it was hopeless.

She wasn't in this world either.

He had been a fool to hope. A fool to think a change in dimension would somehow rewind time to erase her own fall. But it didn't. Nothing could. And this was the only way he could see her again. The only way to tell her he was sorry. The only way to make amends. The only way to receive more than his chipped cup.

He took one foot off the railing and began to shift his weight…

"Wait!"

He almost fell off the bridge due to sheer surprise, but he steadied himself before he turned around.

His breath left him.

She was there, standing before him, perfect as ever. Her face was crinkled with concern and anger, but it took nothing away from her beauty.

"What are you doing, Rumpelstiltskin?"

The elation he felt for the first few moments vanished.

"You're not real. You- you can't be."

She simply stared at him, neither confirming nor denying what he said.

"Come down. I don't want you to do this."

"I'm sorry, dearie," he said, smiling grimly, "but I'm not backing away. I'm not going to be a coward anymore."

He let himself fall backwards, and she vanished from sight. The fall wiped everything from him: emotion, memory, thought. He was only falling.

Until he hit the water below him.

Everything caught up to him with a sickening speed, and through the water he could hear a dull crack as his leg hit the shallow bottom.

Pain burst forth from every point in his body as he floated to the surface, but his leg was tortuous.

Hours later, as he lay on a hospital bed, damning the "good Samaritan" who pulled him out of the river, he realized he had one more thing: an empty heart, a chipped cup, and now a busted leg.

And he would be reminded of her with every step.

A/N: How was it? Please review! It takes a couple of seconds, and it makes me happy for a long time!