Disclaimer: All recognizable characters and plots belong to their rightful owners; ABC, Disney, Brothers Grimm

Rumpelstiltskin had no idea who to deal Naveen's good looks to. There were a few individuals who were in need of attractiveness but none were so desperate as to elicit that excitement that he craved from making deals out of desperation. So after acquiring a rather large estate in the mountains of the kingdom of Locke, which he dubbed Dark Castle, he decided to venture into the small town at the base of the peak. With a flick of his hand he felt as he was transformed to look like the spoiled prince. Disgusting, he thought as he walked towards the local pub. He wanted to see just how the townspeople had reacted to having the Dark One be their lord and maybe drink a pint or two without having to turn all the villagers to snails. He'd decided since he settled down that perhaps an ounce of civility was owed to his neighbors, albeit human ones. They would eventually become useful to him but it was better if they were still alive.

When he entered the pub, he had expected gasps and screams and remembered that he was disguised. What he did receive was a flashy smile from the lone woman serving ale. Her wavy red hair clashed dramatically with the rest of the brown that decorated the drinking establishment. Straw was strewn all across the floor, no doubt to catch the vomit of those fools unable to hold their spirits. Rumpelstiltskin soon found however that the atmosphere of the pub was anything but spirited.

As he made his way towards the bar he could feel more than one pair of eyes on him. Perhaps he could turn a few of them into snails after all. His thoughts were interrupted as a female voice called out to him.

"What can I get for you?" The voice belonged to the girl working at the bar. She batted her eyelashes and leant over the counter so that her bosoms almost spilled out of her clothing. With a last look towards the other occupants of the pub he sat on a stool and faced the girl.

"Just a pint." She served him swiftly and ignored the new customers that sat themselves at the farthermost corner of the pub.

"Tell me, what do you know about your new tenant up in that big castle?" he followed with a drink of his ale never once taking his eyes off of hers. He reveled in the taste of the drink and for a moment felt completely relaxed. He often had to deal inside establishments such as the one where he sat now and was often bought drinks. Most were foolish to think that the Dark One could be made to soften the price with ale.

"Well, they say he's some beast that steals children away at night and takes advantage of virgins while they're fast asleep. The town elder has already warned us to not be going up there." She refilled his drink and played with the rim of the pitcher. "Some have packed their belongings and left town."

"Aren't you afraid?"

Rumpelstiltskin felt as she casually brushed her hand against his. She drew herself closer and stared straight into his eyes. It wasn't like him to lose a staring match but there would be no need to stare had she known who he really was. His gaze was averted to his hand resting on the counter which was still covered by one of her own. Where there once were black nails and green-gold skin there now was a tan skin tone and pale nails. He quickly withdrew his hand from under her freckled one and brought the ale back up to his lips.

"Luckily I haven't any children and I ain't a virgin, looks like I'll be safe from that beast." The look she sent him caused him to choke down his most recent mouthful of ale and struggle for breath.

"That's…interesting."

During the last thrusts of their activity he realized just why Naveen had been so eager and willing to agree to the deal. His good looks got him women and with women came pleasure. How he ended up on top of this woman he could not remember. It seemed that with every movement his mind blanked more and more. Had he known that this was what it felt like perhaps he would have allowed Naveen to have Tiana. Yes, this was pleasurable for him and he figured it was for her as well; the sounds he elicited from her were so animalistic that he wondered if she herself was under some sort of disguise as well.

His own anatomy was very similar to that of the male human's anatomy with the exception of the skin tone and texture, of course. Where human flesh was smooth and flushed when excited, his had the texture similar to that of scales and a skin tone that glittered in the sunlight. The long legs wrapped tightly around him were smooth and pale. Their skin tones were slightly mismatched and if he had been his true self their tones would have clashed drastically. His thoughts were brought to a standstill as she wrapped her legs even tighter around him.

It was at that precise moment that he recalled a memory from what seemed like a lifetime before. One where he told someone that he'd see just exactly what was under all those layers. Rumpelstiltskin chuckled inwardly as he thought well, I know what's under her layers. A pair of bright cerulean eyes flashed across his mind. He blinked rapidly and willed the memory to disappear. A moment passed before he abruptly stopped his motions and climbed off the wench.

His thoughts were now clean from distraction and he berated himself for succumbing to petty temptations.

"Where are you going?!" she demanded, reaching out to grab hold of his hand which he slapped away as if burned by it.

"DON'T TOUCH ME!" he yelled. The redhead cowered slightly and watched as he magically procured clothes on his person. She stifled a scream and covered herself with the wrinkled sheets.

"Are you-?"

"Oh shut the hell up. You had it coming." With a flourish of his hand he disappeared in a puff of purple smoke and arrived just outside of Tiana's small hovel. He removed the prince's looks and summoned the frog from where he rested on her bed. If his calculations were correct, in a fortnight Tiana would be receiving her wealth and also forgetting the frog completely.

"You!" the frog exclaimed, trying his best to whisper. The night was cold and illuminated solely by the bright light of the full moon. It hopped onto the windowsill and stared intently at the beast that had transformed him into his current self.

"My, my, is that the thanks I get for giving you what you asked for?" he sat gracefully on a small bench just underneath the window sill.

"You know what you did. All I've gotten are glimpses of her undressing before she shoos me away like some pet!"

"Aye," began Rumpelstiltskin examining his hand as if it were the most interesting thing in the world. "But you do lay with her each and every night? With her and her alone…"

The frog stared daggers at the imp. "Why did you come, to taunt me? I've been through enough already."

"Oh really? Please, elaborate on your troubles, I have all the time in the world." He crossed his legs and stared intently at the little frog. The small animal let out a sigh and what resembled a slumping of the shoulders followed.

"She's… perfect. I-I haven't told her who I was but she treats me well and I have never met a woman before with such an ability to work. I feel useless not being able to help her. It seems all I am good for is taking from her and not giving anything back. Tiana, she…she's everything I am not. She's kind, funny, and the way she dances, gods, I just…I wish I had known this- known her before I made that stupid deal with you…"

"But you did know her silly frog!"

"Yes but I was selfish. Please turn me back, if I had just one more chance-"

"That's out of the question," Rumpelstiltskin interjected. "If you wanted easy magic, you should have gone to see a fairy."

"I…I see." His tone implied that he was hopeless. His eyes fogged and he made to retreat back into the small hovel.

"Tiana," he began, "is to acquire wealth in a fortnight. She will forget everything about you and you will be left to fend for yourself."

Naveen hesitated. "I am happy for her." Rumpelstiltskin had never experienced anything like this. All his previous clients had done whatever possible to secure their own happiness first, even when the deal went sour.

He had decided that the frog was to be left as is. It was what he would have done in any other deal. After all, Rumpelstiltskin was not known for his merciful ways. He surprised himself with the next set of words.

"I will return you to your former self," he said, relishing the thought of ridding himself of such a temptation, "if you can get her to kiss you in less than a fortnight. Even if by some insurmountable chance you accomplish this I cannot guarantee that she will be as fond of you as you are of her."

The frog's eyes illuminated with hope. "I just need her to know that I do love her, before she leaves that is. Being a green creature doesn't exactly give me the confidence I once had to speak with her about my feelings." The frog turned around once more and left with one last look of faith.

Love. He had heard that word tossed around a few times but he had never seen how these humans actually acquired the feeling. He walked around the bazaar while sorting his thoughts, the marketplace now empty because he had appeared. There were the usual lamps from Agrabah but he knew he had the only true magical lamp. The same went for the flying carpet and Golden Fleece. He rounded a corner and saw what had called him in the first place sitting amongst a pile of wood.

"Boy." He called out to the child sitting casually behind the stall adjacent to the pile.

"Y-yes sir?" his trepidation caused Rumpelstiltskin to smirk.

"What's that?" The boy followed his gaze towards the wheel.

"It's a spinning wheel, sir. To make yarn and such but 'tis broken sir, using it for fire wood we are."

Rumpelstiltskin appreciated honesty even if he himself could never truly be entirely honest to any human.

"What's your price?" He willed the wheel to lift itself from the pile.

"Half a penny, sir."

"Let's make a deal, the spinning wheel for an enchanted sword."

"Sir?" the child's eyes widened in both fear and awe.

"I'll let you have an enchanted sword for the spinning wheel but you have to promise me a favor, what do you say?"

The boy looked upon the frightening beast dressed in its signature dragon hide coat. He came every week but never so much as glanced his way. The creature's reptilian eyes stared deeply into his now.

"Deal."

Rumpelstiltskin let out a childish giggle as he realized he now had someone to slay the dragon. It wasn't his business to slay a dragon for another human; he would simply have another do the favor for him. With a flourish of his hand a sword twice as long as the boy appeared between the two and the boy reached out to grasp the hilt in awe. As soon as he touched the hilt the sword toppled to the floor in a loud clank. Of course, it would be years before the boy was ready but an early start never hurt anyone.

He summoned both the wheel and himself into his castle and set himself to watching the wheel spin. It wobbled where it was broken but nothing he couldn't fix in a second. It had called to him in the same manner that the necklace made of gold around his neck did so many years ago. The painful memories came flooding in and he found that the rhythmic motion of the wheel chased them back. Rumpelstiltskin conjured a pile of straw and placed it within the wheel's compartment for material and watched as it exited as a heavy string of gold. Oh how he loved alchemy. He would now be accomplishing two acts in one; conjuring gold for those souls desperate for riches and assuring that memories of cerulean eyes would be forgotten with the spinning of the wheel.

He had lost track of time when he realized that he had spun enough gold to buy a very large duchy. His thoughts all came rushing past him as the spinning wheel came to a halt and he realized it was the last day for Prince Naveen to get the peasant girl to kiss him. It was an impossible feat. He knew humans were wary of whatever was not like them and Tiana would certainly uphold that fact. It was absurd to even give them the time of day and wait for his magic to be summoned and yet that's exactly what he did.

So he paced for a while and berated himself for in a sense, stalling. In a moment of desperation and complete boredom he decided to explore the castle. He hadn't had enough curiosity to explore before and he didn't have it today but simply looking over things would suffice for now. The castle had become quite filthy since he took to his spinning. However, he was wealthy enough not to care.

He walked past a set of double doors that he had yet to enter and chose to do just that. Inside the doors was one of the land's largest libraries. He sighed as he looked up into the countless rows of books and ladders leading to them. It was both beautiful and ugly; the thought of reading literature reminded him of his painful memories, all of them stored beneath years of mischief and malice. Rumpelstiltskin beckoned a book of adventure towards him and the first book in the genre was sent flying towards him. If it hadn't been for his magic being summoned he would have actually began to read the piece of literature instead of staring blankly at it.

Belle knew it was past midnight when she woke with a start. A thin veil of sweat covered her entire body and it took a moment for her to stabilize her breathing. It had been the same dream. It was always that dream. The memory always snaked back into her dreams in the form of blazes that she could not escape. She had never fully recovered from seeing her mother's killers being burned at the stake. Her arms instantly wrapped around her knees as she remembered the smell and subsequent screaming, especially the woman's. And then there was a blinding white light and a gush of wind and she knew that he had been there. It had been fifteen years since she last saw him but she knew he had been real.

She reached out to the gas lamp beside her table and turned it to a setting that wouldn't bother her eyes too much. Since the burning she refused to have a fire lit in her quarters. Belle had also become more of a recluse and found refuge in reading.

The ladies of the court did not approve, especially since she was now twenty-two and without children of her own. She felt the stares and heard the whispers. Her father tired of her with each passing day and a year ago had betrothed her to Sir Gaston. To this day he still smelt of smoke and burning flesh to her.

The wedding should have taken place in the summer but that was when the ogres had come. If she thought nothing worse could have plagued her small duchy the ogres had proven her otherwise. Her father had sent all their men to fend them off but their numbers dwindled with each day. Avonlea's days were numbered. Many had blamed their ill fortune on the burning of Zoso and Maria, which proved a truer theory with each new misfortune that befell the region. Belle cried silently as she felt the desperation hit her.

It did not matter that her dresses had become limited in style or that food had become a bit bland at dinner time. What she did find important to her were all the lives that were being lost in the fight with those beasts. She felt helpless in her place at the castle. Like a useless china doll that was just for show and boosting morale. It had taken all her courage to appear before her people and not begin to sob as they wore a look of resentment; resentment towards all of them, especially her.

Lord Maurice could try to convince her otherwise but she accepted the truth. Her people had looked for a person to direct their offense to and they had decided it was to be fixed on her. It came naturally from such a suspicious people. Belle was a young woman (who many exclaimed to be quite beautiful) who had not married and had spent her youth focusing all her attention on books. Many noblemen had courted her and had attended the balls her father had once held but to their surprise Belle would reject the pleasure of their company and instead opt for reading. At the dinner table she read, during tea she read, and during potential courting opportunities she read.

A theory had once surfaced that the nobles were cursed after burning Zoso and Belle was doomed to die an old maid. It had hurt hearing that but she rather die an old maid than give up her freedom. Why must I be so selfish? Her people were close to starving and the upcoming winter would surely take its toll on them. And here she was, sitting comfortably in her room with no huger pains or disease and defending her right to be alone. If only Mama was here. Lady Audrey's memory was still loved by the people. Belle felt she would never amount to anything in her people's hearts but she searched her memories to find something her mother had once said.

Do the brave thing and bravery will follow.

The words swam through her mind reminding her of how beautiful her mother's voice had been. Belle rubbed her tears away only to start sobbing again. She had prayed every night for the last three months for help of any kind but the neighboring kingdoms had their own troubles but she knew they would help had they been a better investment. Saving Avonlea was not in anyone's best interest except theirs. It felt like the world hat turned its back on them.

Special thanks to all who have reviewed, read, and followed. You guys are great!

I think I can still get away with a T rating. What do you guys think? And everyone has those basic carnal needs so there you go Rum (leave him alone he was just being curious, but as they say, curiosity killed the crocodile). As always remember to review and let me know your thoughts, questions, and concerns. *Cue sad music* You too can save the life of a fairy for as little as a review. So please, review now.