The Price

Prologue

"Because magic, is power!"

"Power?" Belle repeated.

"Yes," Rumpelstilskin answered, his eyes that of a fanatic. "Without it, evil wins."

"What?" she backed away from the well in horror, "it's the magic that's evil!"

"Not when I control it," he replied taking a step towards her. Belle responded by backing away further. "Don't be afraid."

Yet everything about him elicited fear. The man she loved had in a moment disappeared before her very eyes and, for the second time in her life, become the Beast. She continued to retreat.

He held out a hand. "Come, Belle." There was a note of growing urgency about his voice. "We need to get to my house. Now!"

Belle looked around and saw the clouds covering everything about them.

"Belle, please," his eyes were desperate now. This gave her pause. Of one thing she was certain on this terrible morning: Rumpelstilskin never showed urgency without a reason. A VERY good reason.

She reached out and grabbed his hand. They ran into town.

Rumpelstilskin rushed Belle into his house, slamming the door. Immediately he cast a security spell on his estate.

He then ran inside where Belle stood in the dark. With a wave of his hand, he flicked on the lights, and lit a fire. Then he took Belle to an armchair and sat her down.

"You're chilled to the bone." He observed. "I'll get you some tea."

Belle's teeth were chattering and she nodded. He came back with a blanket.

"Anything else you need?" She shook her head.

They sipped the tea in a silence broken only by Belle. "You still want power." Belle's voice was shaking, not with love, but a fury from which he instinctively turned away.

"After everything!" she accused. "After telling me you loved me."

"I do love you," Rumpelstilskin replied. "I also told you that I would protect you. I swear from this night on, nobody will ever harm you again." He took her hand and pressed it to his check. He whispered, "I told you that there would be time. Well, here it is. I'm here. To love you. To be with you. "

"Will you kiss me?" Belle asked, challenging him.

He looked straight into her eyes, his voice deep and firm, "No."

Belle shook her head, angry tears trickling down her cheeks.

"Belle, you have my love," he assured her. "I will be true to you forever."

"No. I will not be with you on those terms," she answered. "I will not be yours, or you mine as long as you choose magic. It was a lovely dream," her voice cracked, "about an hour. More than most people get. Goodbye!" She jumped up from the chair and bolted for the door.

Rumpel stilskin ran after, grabbing her from behind. "No!" he hollered. "You cannot leave." He began to weep. "You can't." He spun her around and pulled her to him, hands moving up into her hair as he brought her head to his shoulders. She began to cry with him. Crying all the tears, the bitterness, the love.

It took quite a while for both of them to calm down. When they had, and were seated on the couch, he said, "In any case, it is not safe for you to leave. We don't know what is happening out there. There are a lot of angry people in Storybrooke now, and we don't know what Regina is doing. We must wait."

"If there is danger from her, it's because she has magic," Belle told him. "And you gave it to her."

Rumpelstilskin sighed. "Yes, because I wanted something else more. And I can't do it without power."

"You can be with me without power," Belle insisted. Then fear enveloped her as a thought came to her. "You always say that magic comes with a price. What will yours be?"

"I don't know, and I don't care!" He took her head between his hands, and leaned in, inches away from her face. "I won't lose you again. I won't!" His voice rose and Belle felt as though ice had been injected into her veins. She had seen that look on him before, the night he threw her into the dungeon and proceeded to break almost everything in his castle. The look that made her fear he would either kill her, or himself.

Belle felt herself as on a precipice, needing to talk him out of jumping off of it.

She put her hand over his, and pulled it down. Then she gently took the other, until both were entrapped within hers. "But you don't need to do this," she insisted gently, as one speaks to a wounded animal, afraid of its bite if one moves too suddenly. "I don't want your protection if it comes with such a horrible price." Her blue eyes looked into his, pleading with him to see it her way.

At that, his head drooped, a man defeated.

When his head rose again, his eyes were closed, tears leaking through. He then opened them and looked at her.

"Oh, my Belle, my Belle," he moaned, his visage now completely draped in sorrow. "It is not for you that I want my power."