A/N: Hello DEARIES! Oh, I know it's been a while, but this chapter has been very difficult for me to write, mainly because it is the last installment :( My goal was to write a OUaT story that lasted through the summer, and seeing as I start classes Monday, I'd say I reached my goal. I cannot expressed how much I appreciate your support and reviews throughout this story. Your reviews and threats are priceless to me. I did not want to leave you with chapter 24 as your only closure, so I give you the final chapter of Blind Deals!

Chapter 25

"We should go," Rumplestiltskin said. They had been lounging by the well for hours. They both knew that as soon as they went back to town, everything would be different. Right now, in these few moments, was the only peace they would have for a while. Belle reluctantly lifted her head from where it rested on his exposed chest just so she could hear his heart beat.

"Just a few more minutes," she begged. For hours they had sat there and talked about everything and nothing. The whole morning had passed by them. For the last thirty minutes, however, they had sat contently in silence, knowing that the other was there, alive and well.

"As happy as I would be to oblige your request, we cannot hide up here forever." He said softly stroking her hair. "Besides, it's hard to hide properly when your stomach keeps growling like some wild animal. You have to eat something."

Rumplestiltskin began to shift, but Belle's arms clung tightly to him. "Ten more seconds," she implored, "please." How could he deny her that? He slumped back down and pulled her tightly up into his arms. He took in every bit of this instant, every breath, every fiber of her being, every touch, every scent. He looked down and turned her face up to him. Her eyes were fixed on him as his were on her. Rumplestiltskin was lost in those bright blue orbs staring at him.

"My dear, sweet, Belle," he breathed. "I would give you every second." With that, he covered her sweet lips with his own in a kiss. At first, it had been tender and gentle, but it increasingly grew greedy. He kissed her like he was a drowning man, she was the last bit of air he could breathe before being submerged into nothingness. He earnestly fought to control himself; otherwise he would happily dive into her ocean and never come back up for air. In that moment, he could not recall a time when he had been happier.

Belle was content never to leave the safe haven by the well, where time did not move and battles of good and evil were nonexistent. She was wary of conflict. She had been raised in the midst of the Ogre War and now she was about to walk into the fray of the ultimate battle of good and evil. But this moment, she was in the arms of the man she so truly loved with all her being. In this moment, everything was as it should be. She buried herself into the kisses she bestowed upon her beloveds mouth. She was willing herself to remember every detail of every second that ticked by.

"I don't want to go back, I don't want to worry about losing you again," she whispered as she broke the kiss to cling desperately to his neck. Rumplestiltskin was quiet for a moment.

"You want us to run away?" he asked her. "Run away from the ensuing battle?"

"I can't bear to live in a world where I don't know if I'll see you again every time we are apart." She admitted.

"What about your friends? Snow White, Emma, Henry?" Rumplestiltskin asked.

"I know, and I don't want to abandon them, believe me I don't. I just want you safe, and if we stay here you won't be." Belle told him.

"My brave Belle, willing to run like a coward just to keep me safe… this will not do," he said as he stood. She was left to look up at him. "As much as I wish we could, we cannot run from this."

"Am I terribly selfish for wishing it so?" she asked as he helped her up from the forest floor.

"No, my love, you are merely a woman protecting that which she loves." He smiled. "Unfortunately for you, I happen to be a damnable necessity to this war."

"I know, I know," she sighed as they began slowly walked away from the safe haven. "I just wish there was some escape, even if it were just for a little while." Rumplestiltskin thought for a moment, the possibilities and outcomes rushed through his head as he tried to think of a way to satisfy Belle.

"How about we make a deal?" Rumplestiltskin allowed a sly smile to slither across his lips. Belle looked up at him with suspicious look.

"I have given up on making deals with you," she said amusedly.

"What if I arranged a way for us to get out of Storybrooke for a few weeks, maybe a month or two, but we would have to return." Rumplestiltskin offered.

"How?" she asked intrigued.

"They won't need my help right away, in this battle of theirs. The King and Queen will first turn to the fairies for help. Regina will be busy, too, trying to summon her forces together. They will neither want nor need my help until later, when the fairies' power fails to counter Regina's." He explained.

"But they're not just going to let us go, they will force you to stay if they have to." Belle added. She hated to think ill of anyone, other than Regina, but she knew her friends would do anything to keep the upper hand over the Evil Queen.

"Oh, you underestimate my powers of persuasion, my dear," he laughed as they reached his car. He opened the door for her before getting in himself.

"Are you going to have Emma pay up on her favor?" Belle asked curiously.

"Well, I could, but why waste it so soon? I have a better idea in mind.

"Oh?" Belle raised a brow. "Do tell."

"As it turns out, there's a full moon tonight, and the wolves tend to come out at night." He smiled even more slyly. Belle was completely lost.

"There aren't any wolves in Maine." She stated.

"Well, not if she wears magical little red riding hoods, which I happen to have in the back seat." He explained. Belle turned in her seat to see the beautiful scarlet cloak once worn by Red in the fairytale land.

"That wasn't there before," Belle said matter-of-factly.

"Of course not, I just their Royal Highnesses have decided to make camp. I think the King and Queen will be very eager to trade the cloak for a few weeks reprieve. I certainly know that Ruby will." Rumplestiltskin smirked smugly.

"Oh, you cunning man." Belle could not help but smile at him. "So what are we going to do once we leave Storybrooke?" Belle inquired. "I've always wanted adventure in the great wide somewhere."

"Perhaps we will, but first, I have an errand I must attend to that is far overdue," he explained somewhat sullen.

"What is it?" Belle could hear the sadness in his voice. Rumplestiltskin remained silent. "Please, tell me."

"Belle, you remember me telling you about my son?" he asked.

"Yes," she simply answered.

"I told you that I had lost him." He paused, thinking of the right words to use. Belle waited patiently and silently. "It's all very complicated, he was mad at me, at what I had become. The Dark One." Rumplestiltskin said with some aching in his chest. "He just wanted his poor commoner father back, but I was selfish and power-hungry. In short, I was a fool. Anyways, it came to the point where he went out trying to find a way to turn me back to what I was. And, clever boy, he did. He found a way to go to a different world, a land without magic, where I would be a regular person, the same as everybody else." He grew silent. Belle gently squeezed his arm.

"What happened?" she asked.

"I was a coward, a foolish, selfish coward. I promised him that I would go with him. But when the portal opened, I realized how hungry for power I was, I didn't want to go. Bae," he choked slightly on the name. "He was so angry with me, so repulsed. Then the ground gave way and, I tried to pull him back, I tried, gods I tried. He slipped through my fingers into the portal." Rumplestiltskin could not hide the pain that the memory had caused him. Belle looked on at the broken man.

"And you want to go and find him?" Belle asked. Rumplestiltskin looked at her with eyes more forlorn than she had ever seen them.

"Even with magic, I don't have the slightest idea where to start. He was sent here almost ten years before we came, and we've been stuck here for 28 years." Rumplestiltskin confessed.

"He's been here for 38 years?" Belle gasped. "How old would that make him now?"

"Roughly around 53 years old." Rumplestiltskin sighed. Belle had never seen him so downtrodden, but she smiled and took his hand into her own. With her other hand, she lifted his downturned face to look at her.

"We will find him, mark my words Rumplestiltskin. Every miracle just takes a little time, but I swear to you, we will find him." Belle gave him a hopeful smile, which he returned.

"There's my brave Belle," he mused as he grazed her lovely face with his fingers and bestowed a chaste kiss on her lips. With a deep breath, he turned the key in the ignition and started the car. He offered his hand to Belle, which she willingly clasped tightly as they began driving down the road and into what would, undoubtedly, become the greatest adventure of their lives.

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A/N: I hope you have enjoyed this journey with Rumple, Belle, and everyone in between! And maybe when Season 2 starts up and more questions are answered, I shall write again about the couple we ship the most (and if you don't ship them the most, then just get out!) lol I am only joking, ship whoever you like. (But RumBelle will always be the best!) But, anyways, before I start rambling off, I would like to thank everyone for their reviews, threats, music suggestions, etc.! You have been a wonderful audience and I wish you well!

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With all my Dearie love,

-Moonlight