A/N: Thanks for all the reviews on the previous chapter. I'm glad the True Love's Kiss thing worked - it just had to be done! ;)

(For disclaimer, etc. - see chapter 1)

Chapter 39

Belle had never known a life such as this, and had assumed she never would. She had no memory of her mother, and much of her childhood with her father was painful to recall. When her career of grifting and thievery began, she told herself that life would never be a fairytale or have a happy ending. Love was for children and foolish adults that didn't know any better. Belle thought she had hardened herself enough to never fall, not because she really wanted to but because she had to, because it was safer. Her heart had not counted on Robert Gold or how he would make her feel.

Getting out of her line of work never came easy. Belle knew at some point she was bound to get dragged back in by someone, most likely someone connected to her old team who was desperate and needy. In those exceptional circumstances, she knew she would use her old skills again, but for now she was done. The worst of the people she would like to see cut down and jailed had been achieved. Regina Mills was in jail, Killian Jones too, for the part he played. All those connected to them, those that might try to resurrect her empire had been squashed like bugs on the windshield. Between herself and Robert, Belle knew they had finally succeeded in finishing the job. Now all that was left to do was bask in quiet glory, and be happy together.

It was a month since she was released from the hospital, with a tight hold on her so-called husband's arm and a small patch of bandage still stuck to her head. Isabelle Hart walked proudly out of that hospital, knowing she would forever keep that name now, or at least until she decided to go the whole hog and become Mrs Gold for real. Belinda French was but a distant memory, and though she would always exist in some small way as the daughter of a good and kind man, she was not the woman Belle wanted to be anymore. She had redefined and rebuilt herself, and finally she was happy with the character she had evolved into, the woman she would now be for the rest of her life, her true self.

Belle wasn't just a woman in her own right, but a soon-to-be wife, a step-mother, and strangely a step-grandmother too. Getting to know Baelfire had been strangely easy, and though they were much closer to each others age than she and Robert, it didn't matter much. Belle was a great help, Robert had said so, especially when the truth was revealed about a certain Neal Cassidy and Emma Swan. To think that the first innocent Belle had helped to save, dear little Henry, was none other than Robert's grandson. He had not known the boy existed then, neither had Baelfire, but now they were a family, all five of them. It was perhaps an odd unit of people that did not seem to fit together at all, but they were happy enough. The emotions they had all gone through in this past month were far from easy to handle, but they were making it work.

The irony was not lost on Belle. She was now becoming very good friends with a cop of all people, and having a hand in raising a child she was by no means old enough to be grandmother to, despite being the true love of his grandfather. The very fact that she had originally come here to dupe Robert Gold, never realising that she had been the one to save his grandson from an evil adoptive mother so many years ago. Yes, there were whole heaps of irony piled into this family situation, and they made Belle laugh even if that seemed inappropriate somehow.

Today, they had all spent the day together at Robert's townhouse. He had thought to sell after what happened to Belle there, but she would not allow it. This was a place where they had got to know each other, where they had saved each other's lives. Perhaps hers had been the most obvious rescue when she removed the explosive device from the place before it could harm Robert, but he had saved her too in the end. He insisted that her home be with him, that he be allowed to help extricate herself from a life of thievery, if that was what she wanted. Knowing it could mean nothing but her future happiness with the man she loved, Belle jumped at the chance. Between them, they double-checked every detail of the identity that had been handed to her, and removed as much as possible of every other person she had ever thought to be. Contacting Jefferson for assistance had been necessary, but didn't take much effort. He and Ruby were still in contact, however dangerous that might seem. Belle had a funny feeling she would not be the only notorious thief reinventing themselves one final time so they might exist in happiness and love.

Arms wrapping around her waist from behind startled Belle in her task of washing up cups and saucers at the sink. Robert pressed soft kisses to her neck and sighed into her hair.

"Thank you, dearie," he said near her ear. "You were wonderful today, as you always are."

"It's not difficult to enjoy the company of such nice people," she smiled, turning her head to look at him. "Baelfire is such a credit to you. Emma has always been a reliable ally and now she can be a friend too. Little Henry is just a darling," she grinned.

"That such a family should be connected back to me, I can hardly understand," he shook his head, which immediately made her frown.

"Robert," she said with somewhat of a scolding tone as she dried her hands and turned in his arms. "You can deserve this. You do," she insisted. "Too many people have tried to tell you that you're a monster, when you're not at all. You're very much a man, the man I love," she smiled, her hands locked behind his neck, her lips eager to be on his own.

When she kissed him, Robert always forgot everything else. Though her powers of persuasion and distraction had been quite deliberately and finely honed over her years as a grifter, Robert knew that was not the only reason he melted at her touch. This was the love of a good woman, bowling him over every single time he experienced it. He had hoped Belle would agree when he insisted she move into his home, and had been gracious enough to offer her a room of her own. This she had used, every night since the hospital discharged her, determined as she seemed to be that they get to know each other in every other sense before taking a step that would be worth waiting for. Robert wasn't sure whether to laugh or cry when she made such a vow. There was a desire in him for Belle that he sometimes struggled to control, but at the same time it was almost a relief to have her at arm's length a while longer. He was not the young man he used to be, and in all honesty, there was some apprehension in Robert Gold about trying to prove himself as a man after too many years alone. Tonight it seemed the conversation must be had one way or the other, as Belle deepened the kiss between them and slid her hand down to grab his own. Her eyes held a look he knew oh so well, though it was much more shy than he might have expected from an experienced woman of the world like her.

"Belle," he said too quietly, too nervously and he knew it. "You understand, I'm not..."

"Sshh," she put her finger to his lips. "You are the man I love, Robert Gold," she promised him. "Nothing else matters to me."

There was no answer to those words, nothing more that needed to be said. They climbed the stairs then, hand in hand, quite content to forget the rest of the world even existed for as long as they cared to pretend it did not.

"You are the most beautiful, wonderful, incredible woman I have ever known my whole life," said Robert, every complimentary word punctuated by a kiss against her skin that made Belle giggle and sigh.

"I am only that because of you," she replied, encouraging his lips back on hers. "I never thought I could feel so much, to have a love like this in my life..." her voice shook with emotion, taking away all he other words she meant to say.

What they had shared here had been so beautiful, a little awkward and tentative at first perhaps, but perfect in the end. That was what true love did. It took away everything else and demanded to be the only thing present that mattered. Belle meant the words she said, that she had never known anything like this in the whole of her life. She saw in Robert's eyes a reflection of her emotions. He was as overwhelmed by this as she was.

"Belle, however did I come to deserve such a woman as you?" he asked, rhetorical of course though he wondered daily at the answer, never more so than now as she curled her naked form around his own and let her head come to rest of his shoulder.

"I never thought I could be capable of love like this, of feeling it, of inspiring it in someone else," she sighed happily.

There they lay in a warm and happy silence, bodies still humming from their passion shared and spent. When Belle moved then, it was so sudden she actually made Robert startle a moment. The bright smile on her lips as she looked down at him quite took his breath away, and was all he saw in spite of the fact she was up on her knees and still naked as before.

"Robert Gold, my true love," she giggled, feeling as silly as school girl even though she were perfectly serious. "I... I wondered, would you marry me?" she asked then.

All the air went out of Robert Gold's body in one great rush and then came back again equally as fast. This woman that he loved, this perfect creature that seemed to have been designed to be his other half, and now she was asking him if he would be her husband. It was more than he could bear.

"Yes, Belle," he promised her faithfully. "With all that I have and all that I am, yes."

She all but fell on top of him in a cry of joy, planting fervent kisses all over his face and neck. He reciprocated willingly, pulling her body down flush with his, hands sliding over her smooth skin, reigniting the passion that had burned between them just minutes before. They were friends, lovers, and soon to be husband and wife. Robert and Belle had certainly come a long way in the few short months they had known each other. For the first time in their lives these two cynical people finally believed that maybe, just maybe, there was such a thing as a happy ending, and that it was finally within their grasp.

The End

A/N2: And that's it, all done. I hope you liked the ending - please do leave a final review and let me know! Thanks to all the readers and moreover the reviewers throughout the story. You're all wonderful :)