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A Love Worth Fighting For	By : RosinaMarie Category: M through R > Once Upon A Time Views: 2838 -:- Recommendations : 1 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own OUAT, nor the characters. Nor do I make any money from the writing of this story.

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I've decided to post this story here, due to the lack of OUAT fics on this site... it's rather depressing. I hope my story is enjoyed by all who read it, and I really love feedback so please let me know how I'm doing!

"Wait," I mutter and stop walking as the onslaught of memories invade my mind. My brain feels like it's going to explode with all the information that is coming both quickly and not quickly enough… memories that I was previously unaware that I had.
I remember being a child running through the grand corridors of my father's palace, my fancy gowns trailing behind me. I remember my mother reading to me before bedtime, and then her funeral that came way before her time. I remember growing up with tutors and nursemaids that would teach me and take care of me in my father's absence, which was all too often for my liking. I remember the loneliness that often struck me and how I found solace in books. I remember Gaston, the wealthy knight who I was to marry before the Ogre War began, and how much I despised his superficial personality. I remember the day in the War Room when it was announced that Avonlea had fallen…
"No, no, we're very close." Looking up, my breath catches in my lungs and my heart plummets into my stomach.
Memories, still attacking my mind, show me when The Dark One came to Avonlea at my father's plea to save our village… a strange creature with greenish-gold skin and large speckled eyes that pranced around the War Room and giggled in a most peculiar way. I was instantly captivated by him, intrigued even though a bit frightened. When he set me as his price for saving the village, I knew that I wanted to go with him… not only to be a hero and to fulfill my dream of adventure, but because I was so drawn to him. I had no idea what would become of my future as this man's servant, but I believed that anything could be better than the life I had been dealt.
My time with him was difficult at first but it soon got better. I remember discovering that there was a man beneath the monster and that I had fallen in love with that man… the man who now stands a few yards ahead of me, Rumplestiltskin. He's different… human-looking. I barely recognize him but I know it's him. He is wearing strange clothes, devoid of his customary leather trousers and dragon-hide vests. His hair is no longer wavy, but straight and falling onto his shoulders… brown specked with hints of gray. His skin doesn't sparkle in the sunlight, and he's walking with a cane as if he can't carry himself on his own. I wonder what's wrong with his leg.
He continues trudging up the path through the forest, not realizing that I am here and I now know exactly who he is… and who I am for that matter. "Rumplestiltskin, wait," I call out to him hoping to get his attention by affirming that I remember.
He slowly turns around and I get my first glimpse of the human face that I saw an inkling of when I kissed him before he turned me away from his castle and his life. My stomach is doing somersaults as I see the look on his face that is full of uncertainty and what I hope is hope.
"I-I remember," I stammer as a walk towards him. "I love you," I blurt out… unable to keep the words that I wanted so desperately to say to him inside. Since the day that I left his castle, I swore that if I ever saw him again, I would let my feelings known. That I would make him understand that the only life I want is the one where I'm with him.
My heart's beating at a frantic pace, it almost feels as if it's going to jump right out of my chest and I start to tremble. His arms reach out and he pulls me towards him. I wrap my arms around his neck and I'm in heaven being in his embrace again. There's nowhere else in the world that I want to be. I cling to him as he holds me in his strong arms and I feel my eyes begin to water.
"Yes," I hear him mutter against my ear. "Yes, and I love you too." I feel like the world has stopped spinning as my life is finally set right. I am out of that prison and in the arms of the man that I love… who loves me too. We can be together. That is after we have a long talk. I have so many questions to ask him… the biggest one being why he's human all of a sudden. I thought True Love's Kiss was the only magic that could break his curse.
"But, hey," he says as he loosens his hold on me and begins to move away. I don't want him to move away. I want to stay in his arms like this forever. "There'll be time for that. There'll be time for everything," he says as if reading my mind. "But first, there's something I must do." I smile softly remembering that when Rumplestiltskin is on a mission to do something, nothing can stop him… apparently not even me. I let him go and we continue our trek through the forest to I have no idea where.
After another few minutes of walking, we reach a well in a small clearing of the forest. It looks rather out of place… the stone structure surrounded by trees. I know this is our destination because he stops and fishes for something inside the pocket of his trousers. "What is this?" I ask him knowing it must be something very important for him to be so interested in it.
"This is a very special place, Belle," he says as he withdraws a potion vial from his pocket. In it is a pinkish-colored sparkly liquid. "The waters that run below are said to have the power to return that which one has lost," he continues before dropping the vial into the water.
My skin immediately begins to crawl… magic has always made me feel funny. A second after I hear a slight splash inside the well, I see a thick purple fog erupt from its depths. It spreads out and over the stone sides and eases along the ground toward our feet. I am afraid of what it is and what it will do to me. Even though I trust Rumplestiltskin… and I know I really shouldn't considering he is The Dark One, I'm afraid. I know that I am safe as long as I am with him, but what of other people that this magic might attack?
"I-I don't understand," I stammer hoping he will shed some light onto what he has just done.
"We're in a land without magic, Belle," he says. Well that explains why he is human-looking, I know that it was the magic that turned him into the creature that he was. My memories are still coming to me and a fresh one hits when he says this. The Evil Queen came into my cell one day ranting and raving about a curse that would take away everyone's happy endings by transporting them to another land where they wouldn't remember who they are. I didn't care, for she had already robbed me of mine. But I guess the curse must be broken because I'm getting my memories back. "And I'm bringing it. Magic is coming," he continues and I feel a chill race down my spine.
"Why?" I mutter. Why would he do this? Why would he bring something so powerful and deadly to a world that doesn't know magic? Oh wait, I know that answer… because he is still Rumplestiltskin, a man so obsessed with power that he threw away true love because it posed a threat to that power.
"Why," he replies with a sinister spark in his soft brown eyes. "Because magic… is power," he states confirming what I believe to be true.
The fog continues to wash over us and seeps through the forest and beyond. When it dissipates he turns back towards me, looking at me like he now has all the time in the world… now that his mission to bring magic into this strange land is complete.
"My darling Belle," he says affectionately as he reaches out to me and walks us away from the well. He's said my name a lot today… I don't think he fully believes that I am actually here, due to the look of complete disbelief on his face when I first walked into his shop. For some reason he thought I was dead. I might as well have been. "You have to tell me what happened to you."
What happened to me? Where do I begin? Does he want me to start at the beginning, when I fled the Dark Castle and ended up at a dwarf tavern? Or when the dwarf, Dreamy, encouraged me to join a band of men on a mission to kill a Yaoguai?
"I was abducted," I say deciding to answer the question as to where I have been for the past who knows how many years. That's probably the answer he wants to know… I'll tell him of my other adventures later.
"Regina?" he asks with look of disgust. All I can do is nod, as I think back on the terrible time I had locked up in her tower and then in the asylum I was transported to afterwards.
"She locked me away until her curse, and I've been in the asylum ever since," I tell him voicing my thoughts.
"For twenty-eight years?" he yells, his face twisted in anger and his eyes dark with fury. Twenty-eight years! I've been locked up without memories for twenty-eight years? That's a long time to be surrounded by the same four walls… I wonder why I haven't gone mad. Perhaps I did, and none of this is actually happening, it is pretty surreal. All I can do is nod again. He's starting to scare me a little, he looks as livid as he had when Robin Hood stole from him… like he needs to go on a killing spree. And I can't get over the fact that it has been so long.
"All these years, you've been here. Alive." Obviously.
"Is… is that why you did this?" I ask him. "Why you wanted magic? For revenge?" It had to be, he must be furious that he was affected by this curse that brought him to this world that he doesn't belong in. And now he has something else to claim revenge on… me.
"No, no," he replies. "But it might come in handy."
Oh no, I can't let him hurt anyone for my sake, no matter how much I want to personally rip Regina limb from limb. I will not let him tarnish his soul anymore, especially not on my account.
"No. No," I say forcefully hoping that he might listen to me.
"I cannot let this stand, Belle. I will not let this stand!" he yells. He has the same look on his face that I've seen so many times while living with him. He used to get angry so often, for even the littlest of things. I used to be able to calm him down when he went into his fits of rage… I'm hoping I still have that affect on him.
"Look," I say trying to draw his anger away. Maybe making a deal will work… he always did love deals. "Promise me," I begin and I see his expression start to soften. "Promise me you won't give into your hate. Promise me, and we can be together."
His anger seems to be entirely dissipated now and he's looking at me with such affection that I can hardly breathe. I know I've finally gotten through to him. However, that was a lot easier than it used to be… perhaps he has changed for the better since I'd last seen him. I sure hope so.
He reaches out to brush the back of his hand over my cheek and I can feel it trembling slightly. My skin is on fire where he's touching and I can't think of anything but the sensations that he is arousing in me. "Sweetheart," he says softly. He looks like he's about to cry, and I'm having trouble holding back my own tears. "I promise," he finally says before pulling my face closer to his. Our lips meet and I feel as if I'm falling. I wrap my arms around his neck as he pulls me as close to him as possible. There is no better feeling in the world than kissing him… he's making me feel more alive than I've ever felt and I don't want it to end.
When he pulls away, I can't help the smile that crosses my face as I look into his beautiful eyes. I lay my head against his chest and can hear his heart beating just as frantic as mine. I wrap my arms around him and I never want to let go. This is right where I belong… in his arms forever.
"We should be getting back to town," he whispers in my ear after a while of just standing there holding me. "No doubt there will be people searching for me."
I don't want to let go of him but I know that he's right. We can't stay in this forest for the rest of our lives. I disentangle my arms from around his neck and take a step away from him. I look into his new face again and can't stop myself from admiring how handsome he is as an ordinary man… the ordinary man that I wanted so badly all those years ago. He reaches out and grabs my hand and holds it as we start the trek back to town. I'm reminded of another time when we walked through a forest searching for Robin Hood… he was a lot faster then and I had trouble keeping up with his long strides. Now, he's slow in his meandering over the brush with his bad leg.
I get my first real look at this strange town that I barely noticed earlier when I ran through searching for an unknown man. It's very colorful and there are so many people out on the streets that don't even bother to look our way as we walk back toward his shop. He hasn't said a word to me since we left the clearing… I know that he is thinking hard about something. I just don't know what that is.
"You, uh… you wait here, Belle," he says as we enter his shop. "I'm going to find you something to wear. You've spent enough time in these rags." Oh thank goodness… I feel like a mix between a prisoner and a peasant in these clothes.
"Thank you," I reply as he walks into the back room and I take the time to peruse the items inside the dark shop… why is everything so dark with him. It's a beautiful day outside and he has all the curtains pulled… I hope he hasn't resorted to nailing them shut again. As I look around at his collection, I see several items that I recognize from his castle… including those creepy marionettes that I wanted to chuck off the tower on more than a few occasions.
He emerges from the back room after only a couple minutes and looks as if he's on another mission with his eyes a bit glazed. "I laid out some clothes in the back for you to change into," he says when he notices me staring at him. "I'm going to go into town for a little while."
I open my mouth to retort, I don't want him to leave me alone. I don't want to be afraid, but as it turns out… I am. "Don't worry," he says sensing my fear and lightly grabs hold of my upper arms. "I won't be gone long. There's just something I need to take care of."
"I thought you promised not to kill Regina," I remark dryly knowing that that's where he most likely is headed.
"I'm not going to kill her," he replies as he pulls me to his chest. I wrap my arms around him and breathe in his scent. "I just have some business to deal with and then I will be right back. I'll lock the door if you'd like so no one can get in." I nod my head in acquiescence against his shoulder and take a step back.
"I love you," he says as he reaches out a hand to brush along my cheek and moves a piece of my hair behind my ear.
"I love you too," I reply before he steps around me and out the door. I sigh and walk into the back room to find my new clothes.
He has set out several dresses for me to choose from… what he needs women's clothing for is beyond me considering that this isn't a shop that sells clothes. They are all rather small looking… the clothing of this world is so different from what I'm used to. I see a small sleeveless gray dress and a pair of black high-heeled shoes and grab them up.
I quickly change out of the "rags" that I had been wearing and feel awkward in the new dress. It only falls to the middle of my thigh and I suddenly feel rather naked. If this is what women wear in this world, then I guess I better get used to it. I put on the shoes and they add a few inches to my height which makes me happy… I never did like being so short.
Glancing around the room, I notice a hairbrush sitting on a small table in the corner. I grab it and begin to work it through the tangled mess that has become my hair. I need a bath so bad… I can't remember the last time I had a good bath. Not since I left his castle. In the asylum nurses would come in a couple times a week and throw me in a shower… which was freezing most of the time and it only lasted a few minutes.
I wonder where Rumplestiltskin has gone to and what he is doing as I return into the front of the shop. I hope he isn't getting himself into trouble, but I'm almost certain he is. On one of the walls behind the glass counter is a bookshelf. I hurry over to it and run my fingers along the spines of the thick leather-bound tomes. I don't recognize any of the titles… perhaps they are tales from this world. Oh I can't wait to get my hands on this world's literature. I grab out one of the books and look at the title embossed in golden lettering. A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens.
I take the book with me back into the back room and settle myself in a comfortable armchair to pass the time until he returns. It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness…
"Belle." I am jarred out of my reading by him calling my name. I was so immersed in the tale that I didn't hear him enter the shop.
"I'm back here," I call as he walks through the curtain separating the front of the shop from the back room. I set the book down on the small table next to me remembering that I am on page forty-eight. There is a large grin plastered on his face and I can't help but smile back when I look up at him. "What's so funny?"
"You," he replies affectionately shaking his head. "You never could resist the allure of a good book. Which one have you chosen today?"
I pick up the book and show him the cover. "Ahh, that's one of my favorites."
"So," I say as I rise to my feet not wanting to discuss the book at the moment. "Are you going to tell me where you ran off to?" I have a feeling that he isn't, but I have to at least try to get him to trust me.
"Uh… why don't I go make us a pot of tea?" he replies avoiding the issue. I sigh and give him a look of annoyance then I wave him off. Tea does sound wonderful after all… it's been over thirty years since I've had anything to drink but water.
As I sit back down and open the book up I hear the front door opening. I don't imagine he left again… maybe someone came in. I get up and walk to the curtain. Peering around it I notice three people have entered… a pretty woman with long blonde hair, another woman with short dark hair, and a rather attractive man. I wonder who they are and what they want. I don't want to eavesdrop but sometimes it can't be helped.
Staying out of sight I hear the blonde woman ask Rumplestiltskin what he did. I assume she's talking about bringing magic… I guess that would cause anyone anxiety. Or it could be about what he just did while he was gone. I am quite intrigued by the conversation however I cannot hear every word being spoken. I can tell they are speaking about the purple fog that is the magic… and then all of a sudden the ground shakes beneath me. I lose my balance and almost fall over… I would have if I hadn't been grasping the corner of the doorway.
"What the hell was that?" I hear the blonde woman say.
"That is my gift to you," Rumplestiltskin replies causing my stomach to plummet. What has he done now? "That is going to take care of Regina" What? He promised that he wouldn't kill her. Why would he lie to me? My head is fuzzy and I can feel my eyes begin to tear up. I hear the three people leave and take a deep breath before walking through the curtain to confront him.
"Hey," he says when he sees me emerge as if nothing just happened. I really can't believe him.
"You lied to me." I'm trying so hard to keep it together.
"No, I kept my word. I will not kill her." He looks proud of himself… like he found a loophole in our agreement. I don't want to be just another one of his deals… is that what he thinks of me as? Well, yeah technically I am payment for his deal to protect my village, but I thought we were past that. I thought he loves me as much as I love him. If he truly loves me he would be honest and respect my wishes.
"No," I say as I approach him. "You toy with words like you do people. You're still a man who makes wrong choices." His eyes are downcast and maybe he understands what I'm trying to say. "I thought you'd changed," I add. I really thought he did… he seems so much different, but maybe it's just me wanting him to be a better man that I made myself believe that he is.
"What? In the hour you've known me?" he replies with a huff. That's the last straw. I can't stand here any longer. I'm furious and I can't hold in my tears. I don't want him to see that he's gotten to me so I do the only thing I can. I flee. "Belle," he says as I reach the door. "I'm sorry. Belle, I'm sorry. I am" I don't care for his apologies or his excuses right now. I just need to go.
As I walk down the unfamiliar street I realize that it's dark and very windy. My anger is stronger than my fear of the unknown so I just continue walking until my feet start to hurt. My head is jumbled with so many emotions and thoughts that I can't make out anything. Finally I come to what seems to be a park and I sit down on a stone bench. Resting my face in my hands I try as hard as I possibly can not to cry.
I don't know what's happening… why can't he just be a normal man? Does he truly love me? I know he did before because his curse broke the first time we kissed. Why did nothing happen when we kissed in the forest? He still has his magic but his appearance hadn't changed back. I don't understand this world… I know nothing of this world that I have been thrown into. I have nowhere to go. Perhaps I can find an inn or something to spend the night… it's getting cold and I'm shivering.
My head snaps up and suddenly I find strength. I don't know why my mind is such a muddled mess… what is happening to me? I've waited years to be with him again… why at the first sign of him being who he always has been do I run off? When I was kidnapped I swore that I would never stop fighting for him… and I'm certainly not going to stop now that I have him back. I love him and I know that he loves me back, so I'm going to go to him and make him be a better man… for himself and for me.
With a renewed vigor I make my way back to his shop and notice that the sky has brightened and the wind has died down. I assume that whatever it was that he sent after Regina has either been vanquished or it has claimed its bounty. I don't care. All I care about is the man that I love and getting back to him.
When I find his shop again, I march right in the front door and into the back room where I know he is hiding. I step through the curtain and my heart softens as I see him spinning at the wheel in the corner. A small smile graces my lips as I remember watching him doing that for hours… a faraway look in his eyes. 'It helps me forget,' he said.
"Hi," I say as he turns towards me.
"Hey," he replies with a slight smile and a look in his eyes that tells me that he didn't expect my return.
"I, uh… went for a long walk," I tell him.
"I thought you didn't want to see me?" he replies.
"I didn't." Which is the truth… at the time I didn't but now I do. "But I… I was worried," I tell him. I am worried of what he will become without me around to keep him in line. I desperately want him to be a better man… the man that I know he can be if given the chance.
"Well, the beast is gone and Regina… lives," he replies with a slight shrug of his shoulders. I really could care less about the evil witch. I just don't want him to be responsible for her demise and I am a bit glad that she is okay… for his sake.
"So… you didn't get what you wanted?" I ask.
"Well that remains to be seen." He's staring into my eyes and I know he's speaking about me.
Before I'm able to reply, my gaze lands on the stand next to his spinning wheel and my heart stops. Sitting there looking quite out of place is the teacup that I chipped the first day I was at his castle. The only thing that I left him with… along with an empty heart. I can't believe that he still has it.
I walk over and pick it up. I carry it back to where he is sitting. "You, uh… you still have it," I say with a small smile. "My chipped cup."
He looks as if he's getting teary-eyed again as he rises and takes the trinket out of my hands. "There are many, many things in this shop," he says. "But this? This is the only thing I truly cherish. And now you must leave."
"W-What?" I stammer. What is he talking about? He's throwing me out again? Why?
"You must leave because, despite what you hope, I'm still a monster." I can see his self-loathing swimming in his expression and my heart melts. 'You're not a monster,' I want to yell at him… 'just a stupid man.' I don't know how many times I have to remind him that he's not what he says he is.
I shake my head and can't help but laugh a bit at him. "Don't you see? That's exactly the reason I have to stay," I tell him as I grasp his shoulders to make him focus on me. I'm staying to show him the kind of man he can be. I learned a long time ago that when you find something worth fighting for… you never give up and he is certainly something worth fighting for.
He's still staring at me in disbelief and I smile again to reassure him that I'm not going anywhere. "I've made my decision. I'm not going anywhere," I tell him as he stands and lets me wrap my arms around his neck. "I was on my way back to you when I was abducted and it's taken me this long to find you… you aren't getting rid of me that easy." His arms tighten around me, pulling me close to him and I hear a light sob erupt from him.
"Hey," I say as I pull back to look at him. Tear tracks are running down his cheeks and I cup his face in my hands, brushing the wetness away with my thumbs. I lean in and press my lips to his in a chaste kiss that again sends shock waves through my body. His lips begin to move against mine and I reach up to rub the back of his neck with my hand. I become overwhelmed with emotion and a desire to show him just how much I want him. I deepen the kiss by running my tongue along his lower lip causing him to open his mouth to allow me to fully taste him. I let out a soft moan when his tongue begins to wrestle with mine.
When we finally pull away from each other, I am gasping for breath and feeling a bit dizzy. Pressing my forehead against his I am suddenly aware of how tired I am… I've had more activity today than I've had in an unbelievably long time.
"I'm tired," I tell him as I let my body sag against his. "Can we go home?"
"Yes," he nods before taking my hand and leading me out of the shop and toward a machine that he calls a car that will take us to his house.
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A Love Worth Fighting For