Ignorance is Bliss | By : Khaleesi-Of-Dragons Category: M through R > Once Upon A Time Views: 2313 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0 |
Disclaimer: I do not own Once Upon a Time, nor the characters from it. I do not make any money from the writing of this story. Any and all songs used belong to their respective owners. |
This chapter will be slightly different than the others in that most of it will be in Rumple's point of view in the past. All of Aveena/Morgan's is from the present and Rumple's takes care of the past when Hook and Emma go back in time. This is also the last chapter of season three and for a little while, so I hope you like it even if it isn't too long.
I stretch on the bed, giving Pan a languid smile as I watch him walk around the cabin in nothing but sweats that hang low on his hips. He may not have a six pack, but he wasn't weak either—his muscles were well defined and rippled under his skin whenever he moved. Sunlight fills the cabin, making Pan's healthy tan apparent and my lack of a tan too well known for my taste. I need winter to go away so I can lounge on a towel on the beach. "What are you thinking about," Pan asks, pulling a bottle of water out of the mini fridge.
"What you'd look like in swimming trunks and a couple of Nemo arm floaties," I reply, Pan's returning grin making me laugh. "Don't forget that we have that dinner thing tonight at Granny's, the new member of Storybrooke is finally gonna get a name."
"Took them long enough to think of one." Pan flops down on the bed next to me, sitting the bottle on the floor and holding me tightly to keep me warm since the heater wasn't working. "What do you think they'll call the little prince?"
"Hopefully not something really stupid like Leopold—if they name him that, then the poor kid is gonna have a hell of a time in middle school." I sigh, relaxing against him and enjoying the peace that seems so rare now that the curses have been broken. "I think I'm gonna go audition at the community theater, they're doing a production of Sweeney Todd, and Mrs. Lovett was always one of my favorite characters."
"What song will you use?"
"I was thinking the song Call Me from that TV show Smash. Try to get into the not-so-innocent headspace of Lovett."
"Mm, remind me how that song went?" I smile, moving to straddle his hips and leaning in close to whisper-sing the lyrics with my lips barely brushing his.
"Color me your color, baby, color me your car. Color me your color, darling, I know who you are. Come up off your color chart—I know where you're comin' from—call me on the line, call me, call me any, anytime…."
Rumpelstiltskin—Past
Rumple was in a bad mood—first Trista had to take a short leave in order to help her sister with a difficult birth, then Aveena's damn cat kept walking between his legs and he couldn't kick it or Aveena would kick him, and, to top it all off, his daughter was in a bad mood herself. The seven year old was throwing a tantrum, her tantrums now including throwing objects using her magic, and most of those objects went straight for his head. Now, as proud as he was that she had such good aim and the ability to move things while not focusing entirely, he was a bit put out that he had to hide under his own table. "That's enough," he shouts, using his own magic to put an end to things. "If you don't straighten out this instant, I'll—" What would he do? He's never really had to punish her himself, he always left that to Trista. Should he lock her in her room until she calms down? Hang her from the chandelier by the back of her dress? Spank her? No, no that last one was only to be used as a last resort and it's far from being that bad of a tantrum. "I'll….What would Trista do?" Aveena sniffles, looking up at him with her big blue eyes that made him feel like he should be apologizing.
"She'd tell me to be a good girl and not behave like an Ogre," she says in a tear-filled voice.
"And that works?" She nods, moving to sit in his lap under the table with her head resting against his chest. "How the hell am I supposed to be mad at you when you're cuddling?"
"Papa, you said a bad word." Damn, now he owed the child a new gown. A small jolt of magic courses through him, too much for the child in his lap to have caused. Someone was on his land.
"How about, instead of me giving you a new gown, I let you come with me to see who's on our property. She gasps, crawling out from under the table much faster than he'd thought possible. "I'll take that as a yes, then." He crawls out next, taking the girl's hand and letting his magic sweep them to the very border of his land. Two peasants were watching his castle, one dressed in the black garb of a pirate and the other a woman dressed as you'd expect all women of lesser means to dress in—a ratty old dress and cloak.
He was quite proud of his daughter's clothing in that moment—a simple cream colored gown with blue designs sewn into it and a black cloak to keep her warm during the winter months. "Might be best if I stay back," the pirate was saying, the familiar drawl that had his blood boiling made Aveena's eyes widen a fraction. "The Dark One and I have a rather complicated past." That's putting it lightly. "I'd wager he'd want to kill me on sight."
"Oh, I'll take that bet!" The pair spins when Rumple speaks, giving him looks that made the Imp uncomfortable. Both stared at him like they knew him and yet did not at the same time, though the pirate's eyes are almost instantly drawn to the girl clinging to the back of Rumple's shirt as she peeks around him at them. The pain is visible in the pirate's eyes and Rumple laughs, almost jumping in his excitement to taunt the pirate. "I can't tell you how long I've been looking forward to this! Oops, I suppose I just did." He raises a hand, easily cutting off the pirate's air supply.
"Swan!"
"Stop," the pirate's companion shouts, a pretty blonde that looked too clean to be a peasant or a tavern wench. He uses his other hand to knock her off her feet, deciding that nothing would stop him from hurting the pirate even if he couldn't kill him.
"I don't know who you are, dearie," he tells the woman," but why don't you run off and let me enjoy my killing in peace?"
"He's not gonna hurt you or take your daughter. You have to listen to me." She's back on her feet now and walking towards Rumple with pleading in her voice.
"And why would I listen to you?"
"Because if you don't, you'll never see your son again." That made him pause, his eyes never leaving the pirate as Aveena clings closer to him, her little gasp enough to make him break concentration and let the pirate go for now. Jones falls to the ground, sputtering and rubbing his throat.
"What do you know of my son?"
"His name is Baelfire. You're planning to enact a curse in hopes of reuniting with him."
"Who told you that? What are you—some kind of witch?"
"No, I'm not a witch." He barely manages to grab the back of Aveena's cloak when she tries to walk over to Jones, the pirate now on his feet again. Leave it to the kind nature Trista's instilled in her to make her want to help the person her papa wants dead. Or maybe she's drawn to him, sensing their connection and likeness? No, she's just a child, she wouldn't be able to sense that so early in life. "I'm the one who breaks the curse so that you can find him. I'm the product of true love."
"But that's speculation." He wasn't so sure now, the truth practically screaming out at him. "Part of my plans, but I haven't done it."
"You will, and you will succeed."
"If that's true, then that means…."
"We're from the future, mate," Jones supplies.
"But time travel hasn't been done yet, mate."
"Yeah, well, someone's cracked that code," the woman says. "We need your help."
"Help?" He laughs again, the irony of Jones needing his help not lost on him, nor was the way the pirate kept glancing down at Aveena, as though longing to just grab her up and run as fast and far as he could. "You need my help? Then answer me one question. Do I find my son?" The silence stretches out, both trespassers gaining solemn expressions. "Answer me!"
"Y-yes." A sense of relief floods through him, a smile making its way to his face.
"Bae. I find Bae. How?" The woman opens her mouth, but Rumple interrupts her. "Eh! Don't tell me. If I succeed, I don't want anything in my head that might throw it off." Aveena looks up at him in worry and he quickly explains his words to the child. "No, it won't literally throw my head off, little bird."
"Good," she replies in the know-it-all innocence only children could manage," because Trista wouldn't be happy if she had to fix your head." True enough, should probably kick his head around just for the hell of it.
"About throwing things off," the woman says a little sheepishly," it might kind of already be off course." It takes Rumple a second to catch on, but when he does, he feels the urge to slap the woman—and would have if not for the fact his daughter would then slap him.
"You've changed things," he says in exasperation. "What have you done?"
"We interrupted my parent's meeting." Unbelievable, how did this woman break the curse let alone get dressed without assistance?
He pushes the doors of his favorite room open with a flourish, Aveena skipping inside ahead of him and curling up in a window seat with the Holy Grail clutched in her hand. She loved that thing, always looking at her reflection like she expected to see something else each time. Trista once told him that she was trying to find some tiny bit of resemblance to Rumple, but only those two knew she never would—not physically anyway. "Thank you, Mister G—Rumpelstiltskin, for believing us. I know that time travel is hard to swallow."
"Not as hard as the other mystery you've presented me," Rumple returns, walking to the head of the table. "Why haven't I killed him?" Jones raises his hands in a what can you do gesture that Aveena used all the time. It was disturbing how similar the two were when she had barely anything in common with her own mother.
"If it makes you feel any better," the pirate assures," it wasn't for lack of effort. Let's just say we bury the hatchet with some help from Vee." Rumple gives a dark laugh, gaining his daughter's attention.
"Yes, but why not in your skull?" It was then his newest servant decided to enter the room, Belle dressed in her usual outfit with an annoyingly chipper smile on her lips. There was no denying she was attractive, but what beauty has ever fallen in love with a beast?
"Oh," she says with some surprise as Jones' expression drops in irritation, as though he's fought this battle often recently. "Rumpelstiltskin, you're—you're back. Do you, uh—do you need anything?"
"Belle," the woman, Emma, says with some surprise.
"Sorry, do we know each other?"
"Oh. Sorry. No." Another crisis diverted, thank whoever it was listening in. "Um, Mister—Rumple—the Dark One, um, told me about you."
"Did he?" She looks pleased and smug, emotions Rumple did not like the help feeling. They should feel miserable or not feel at all.
"No," he says a mite too quickly with a shake of his head. "Go away a-and read a book or whatever it is you like to do." She liked to read adventure novels as though her life didn't have enough of that here in the castle—between Rumple himself and Aveena beginning to gain control of her powers, there was rarely a dull moment. "Come back and clean later." He makes a shooing gesture, turning his back on them briefly.
"You could ask nicely."
"I could also turn you into a toad." There wasn't enough bitter hatred in his words, he needs to work on that if he's going to pass off hatred.
"It's a miracle you two fall for each other," Emma breathes. And there it was, the other shoe has dropped and Rumple was left with warring emotions of disgust and elation. Thankfully Belle didn't hear and left the room, but Rumple did and he was stuttering to find the right words to fix this slip.
"What? I mean, first, you tell me I let the pirate live. Now you're telling me I fall for the help." Aveena tugs on his sleeve until he looks down at her, the smile on her face making his hard exterior melt for just a moment.
"I like Miss Belle," she whispers," Will she be my new momma?" A pained look comes on Jones's face, just a subtle twisting of his lips to know that he still grieved Milah's death like Rumple did. How to answer a child's innocent question when you didn't even know the answer yourself? Aveena's attention slips again, saving Rumple the confusion of speaking. She walks over to Jones, tugging on his leather overcoat until he kneels down in front of her. "I saw you in the market yesterday, you talked to me when I couldn't find my papa. I like you, you're nice." Hook smiles at Aveena, reaching out his one remaining hand to stroke her hair affectionately.
"You're quite nice yourself, Vee," he responds in a soft caring voice. "Always remember that there's goodness inside of you despite the darkness you're surrounded by." He kisses the top of her head before standing, staring at Rumple without fear. He still loves the child he never met, apparently happy to see her this young. "Shall we get back to the topic of Emma's parents?"
"Yes," Rumple drawls, beckoning for Aveena to join him away from the pirate," Who are they?"
"Snow White and Prince Charming," Emma answers at once.
"Prince Charming," he mocks in a high-pitched tone, sitting in the cushioned chair and pulling Aveena up to sit curled up in his lap. She was warm and soft, almost like a puppy in some ways.
"His real name is Prince James."
"King George's son, who's wedding I've just arranged?"
"See, that's what I'm trying to tell you. That marriage isn't supposed to happen because the ring he's supposed to give her gets stolen by Snow."
"It's quite a tale you're spinning."
"Here, let me show you. It's in a book." Aveena sits up slightly at the mention of a book, watching Emma with interest as a long brown book is opened up in front of her, the pages blank. "Wait, what?"
"It's all gone," Jones says in shock. "Anything that was supposed to happen after they've met has disappeared."
"The ripple effect," Rumple explains, rolling his R. "Once you change something in the past, anything from that point forward becomes uncertain. The future, as you can see…." He gestures to the book, flipping to the last page with anything on it. "Is a blank page."
"We need to get Snow to steal that ring," Emma catches on," so we can put their story back on track."
"You're in luck. There's a ball tonight at King Midas' castle. Prince James will be there….And so will his ring."
"So we just need to get Snow there." She turns to face the pirate with a smile, but Jones doesn't look comforted.
"How," he asks," we don't even know where she is." Really, he strolls into the Dark One's castle and doesn't think to ask about magic? Rumple clears his throat, getting the attention back on him.
"Allow me," he says, standing and walking to a nearby table with Aveena clinging to his back like a monkey. He waves a hand over a crystal ball, purple smoke filling it for a second before clearing away to reveal the woman in question.
"There she is," Emma smiles.
"She's with Blackbeard," Jones acknowledges. "She's trying to secure passage on his ship."
"And, it appears, failing," Rumple adds as the other pirate leaves Snow White at the table without taking her purse of money.
"She can't escape the Queen without the money she's supposed to get for the ring," Emma informs everyone. "Can you help us?"
"Help you? I can work on getting your portal to the future open again, but getting your parents together? You made that mess, dearie. Only you know what you did, now go undo it."
He walks away from the pair, making Aveena readjust until she was cradled in his arms again as the pirate began to speak," If she's looking for passage out of town, I might know a ship's captain who can help us."
"Who," Emma inquires.
"Me."
"I don't like leaving things to chance," Emma was saying as Rumple popped up behind the pair, making himself comfortable on a moss covered rock with Aveena snugly in his arms, wrapped tightly in blankets and her cloak.
"You know, I feel exactly the same way," he states in amusement, making the pair jump and turn to look at him," which is why I never do. See?" He punctuates the word with a bit of magic, an invitation appearing in his outstretched hand. "An invitation to the ball."
"So you'll be inside to watch out for her." How oblivious can this woman be?
"No, no. I'll be far too busy sorting out how to get you home." A small lie, but it'll get them motivated to clean up their mess.
"Well, who's the invitation for," Jones asks cluelessly.
"Well, isn't it obvious? The two of you." Emma and Jones share disbelieving looks.
"So, when we're done inside, you can open our portal?" No, not likely.
"There's a powerful wand, which I, uh….Came to possess. Anyway, legend says it can re-create any magic that's ever been wielded. Now, with a little work, I can use it to re-create whatever portal brought you here." He holds out the invitation again, having some trouble supporting his sleeping daughter, standing, and waiting for one of these morons to take the invitation all at once. Jones takes it a bit roughly, but it frees the hand so he can better support Aveena.
"Please do it quickly," Emma begs. "We'll be in and out before you know it. I want to get the hell out of here."
"Oh, confidence, I like it." She smiles, her and the pirate trying to walk away. "Wait!" They face him again, the pirate looking more annoyed than ever. "Not like that." With a small bit of his magic, their appearances change completely, clothing turning into the style most favored by royalty, and features shifted just enough that they won't be recognized. "The Savior can't come this far and not play Princess for a day."
"But I'm not supposed to stick out. What if someone remembers me in the future?"
"Because what you had before was such an intricate disguise. Now, speaking of which, I've returned those stolen rags. Luckily, before they were missed. I mean, it's a miracle the timeline hasn't imploded already. Amateurs. Allow me." With another bit of magic, a mirror was floating in front of them, showing their different features. "A glamour spell. This is how you shall appear to one and all. Now run along—and do everything you can to make sure Snow White gets that ring. Once they are back on track, everything else—" Aveena mumbles, shifting slightly in sleep, so Rumple lowers his voice. "Everything else will be, too."
And then he disappeared back to his castle, settling Aveena down in her large bed and leaving, closing the door gently behind him.
"We did it," Emma states as she pushes the doors open, Jones following behind her with an unconscious peasant thrown over his shoulder. Aveena looks up at them from her studies, blue eyes no longer focusing on the book of Elvish in front of her. He would never get this language to stick with her if these distractions keep up.
"Your parents are together," Rumple checks, tapping the book in front of his daughter until she focuses back on it with a sigh.
"They're right back on track. We're ready to go."
"I see. And you brought some luggage." Aveena sneaks another glance, but quickly slumps down in her seat when Rumple gives her another stern look.
"Long story. So, how's the portal coming? Can you open it?"
"I cannot." He moves back to the potions in front of him, working diligently on getting the Dragon's scale and wolf's blood just right for two small bottles. Trista looks up briefly from untangling Fidget from the drapery, her look telling him she disapproved of whatever he was doing.
"Then what are you working on?"
"Oh, this is for Aveena and me—a forgetting potion. We know too much about our future. The only way to protect it is to forget it."
"Well, what about this wand? You said that could help us."
"Oh, that. Well, apparently only those who used the portal can reopen it. So unless you can wield magic, I'm afraid you're going nowhere." He tosses the wand to them, having no further use for it. "Can ya?" At the despondent looks on their faces, Rumple grows arrogant. "Thought not."
"So you just expect us to stay here," Jones asks with a depressed tone. "What about protecting your precious future? If I'm forced to stay here, I'll take Aveena and I won't return." He pulls a sword out with his free hand, making Rumple giggle.
"It'll be hard for you to kidnap my daughter when you're someplace safe, someplace even I dare not go. Where I store the magic that is too dark or unpredictable even for me." He points at the little trio, magic whisking them out of his sight and into his vault. "No one will ever threaten to take my little bird away from me."
"Was that man," Trista starts, not finishing the sentence, but sending a pointed look in Aveena's direction. The girl was busily scribbling out the symbols onto a sheet of parchment to better remember them, oblivious to what was going on, let alone that her biological father had just been sent into Rumple's vault to die.
"I don't know what you're talking about." He goes back to his work, studiously ignoring the disapproving glare of the nursemaid. "What is it you do around here exactly?"
"Watch your daughter—there she is, sitting at the table like a good, respectable girl." Rumple makes a face at her, finishing the two potions and sliding one across the table to Aveena. "Sweetheart, drink your potion like your papa wants." Pursing her lips, she downs the potion in one go and coughs a little, before it takes hold. She looks down in confusion, shaking her head a little and going back to work at the same time some new and unfamiliar magic erupts nearby. The only reaction that Aveena notices it is her slight shiver, but Rumple felt the full force of it.
With the bottle of potion clutched in one hand, he appears in the vault in time to grab Emma's wrist in a tight hold, forcing her to stay in the vault and out of the golden portal opened before them. "You opened it?!"
"Let me go," she shouts, struggling desperately against him.
"My son. What happens when I find him?"
"I thought you wanted to forget!"
"Before I do, I need to know—does he forgive me?" That's all that mattered to Rumple, the forgiveness for letting him go in the first place.
"Yes." Her expression says that there's more to the tale than that, that nothing was as simple as it seemed.
"Yes, but what? What aren't you telling me? Tell me or you will never leave!" She's tearing up, the portal pulling her feet out from under her and towards her home, but he knows those tears aren't from pain of the physical kind.
"He dies." It was like being punched in the stomach, the bone-jarring pain hitting deep inside him and causing his heart to contract. "He forgives you, he loved you. He died to save all of us, don't let that be in vain."
"No, I-I-I can change what happened. I-I can save my boy!"
"You think you can change the future, but you might make it worse. I loved him too and I wanted to save him. He died a hero. You can't take that away from him." She's all out crying now, making Rumple want to cry or shout, release all of his emotions at once so he could just get them off his chest. His boy, his only trueborn child, died a hero and there seemed to be nothing Rumple could do to make it different. "You have to drink the potion." He stares down at the bottle, forcing the cork out of it. "You have to forget everything I just told you."
Making the choice, the difficult, heart-wrenching choice, Rumple lets go of his hold on Emma and downs the potion, the effects hitting him as the portal closes. He drops the vial, his memories being erased as he smacks his lips with a faint hint of disgust. He looks around him at his surroundings, spotting enough familiar objects to deduce that he's in his vault. He picks the Fairy wand from the ground in confusion. "What the hell am I doing in here?" With one last look, he poofs himself back to his castle, beginning Aveena's lesson on Elvish.
Morgan—Storybrooke
"What was with that weird thingy that shot up in the sky," I ask as I pull on my fanciest clothing—a two-toned dress with a black skirt, a top made of beige organza underlay and an ivory lace overlay, a white blazer to keep me warm, burgundy high-heeled sandals, and Captain America earrings. My hair is a simple affair, the sides joined together in a braid at the back of my head to keep the wind from blowing it in my face.
"How should I know," Pan asks with a laugh, dressing in his nicest pair of jeans and a button down light blue shirt. "I was with you the entire time. Maybe your papa or Belle knows." I shrug, running my fingers through his messy hair to get it to lie down for once. "Shall we go, we don't want to be late for the wedding."
"Fair point." I loop my arm through his, poofing us both deep into the woods where Papa was anxiously waiting. "Don't look so nervous," I warn, tugging my papa's jacket back in place. "Things will go perfectly and I'll soon have a woman to call mom for the first time in my life."
"I'm sorry you never met your real mother," he apologizes softly. I hold up a hand to make him shut up, shaking my head stubbornly.
"Uh-uh, no sad talk until after your honeymoon. I won't have it, the stuff spreads like a plague." I look over his shoulder, smiling when I spot Belle—looking gorgeous in white—and her father coming down our makeshift aisle. "Look sharp, Momma's approaching." I step off to the side as Papa turns and gets his first glance of Belle in her wedding clothes. Where Papa is elegant in black, Belle is resplendent in white—her hair pinned up and under an old fashioned white hat, her dress covered by a white overcoat, and a string of pearls around her neck. Mister French looks happier than I've ever seen him, sporting some tears in his eyes, but he never lets one fall. He steps off to the side, letting Archie take over.
"It is my great honor," Archie says, wiping tears away," to officiate this most lovely union. If you'd like to begin your vows." He nods at Belle, who was clutching her bouquet of white flowers in both hands.
"Rumpelstiltskin," she begins happily," this thing we have, it's—it's never been easy." That's putting it lightly. "I've….I've lost you so many times. I've lost you to—to darkness, to weakness, an-and finally, to death. But now I realize….I realize that I have not spent my life losing you. I've spent my life finding you."
"Belle," Papa begins with his own vows. "When we met, I wasn't just unloved and unloving. I was an enemy of love. Love had only brought me pain. My walls were up, but you broke them down." He pauses here and sends me a look. "With some of Morgan's help and a sledgehammer." I sniffle, wiping the tears away quickly and clasping Pan's hand in one of mine. "You brought me home. You brought light into my life and chased away all the darkness. And I vow to you I will never forget the distance between what I was and what I am." He slides a ring on Belle's finger. "I owe more to you than I can ever say. How you can see the man behind the monster, I will never know."
"But that monster's gone. And the man beneath him may be flawed, but we all are. And I love you for it. Sometimes the best book has the dustiest jacket. And sometimes the best teacup is chipped." And there goes the kiss, Belle and Papa holding each other tightly. When they come up for air, Belle slides a ring on Papa's finger to make it official, the smile on Papa's face enough to make me squeal with joy. "Come here, Morgan." I run the few feet that separates us, going in for a group hug with my new family. "Isn't it honorary to throw the bouquet?" She smiles, tossing it to me.
Pan sends me a wink, walking over and wrapping his arms around my waist. "Don't even think of marrying my daughter," Papa warns him," she's not allowed to walk down an aisle until she's seventy."
"By then I'll need a walker," I pout, making my papa laugh.
"By then you'll be too senile to remember you even have a boyfriend to marry." He winks, one hand resting on his wife's lower back. "Now, if you'll excuse us, we have a honeymoon to begin." I wave with a smile at the retreating pair even if they can't see me.
"Well, we can't get married, but he never said anything about a kiss." Pan grins down at me, handing the bouquet off the Archie and pulling me in for the best kiss of my entire life. I could feel tingles from my lips all the way down to my toes, my fingers messing up his hair again as his arms tighten around me until we either have to break apart or die from lack of oxygen. "I love you, Peter."
"And I you, my darling," he breathes against my lips.
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