A 2 week hiatus? No way! My take on how the homecoming to Storybrooke might happen. Warning: will be quite Rumbelle-centric, as Rumple is the most complex and intriguing character of the show in my view and I like to see his softer and tortured side which comes out with Belle!

Belle awoke with a start. She had had the same wretched dream again: Grumpy had stormed into the library to tell her that the Jolly Roger was approaching and she had run down to the harbour with him. Completely out of breath, she had watched as they all descended the plank, one after the other: Regina, Emma, Henry, Snow and Charming, and then Hook… but not her Rumple. She didn't need to ask what had happened to him: the prophecy had come true and the love of her life had died while saving his grandson.

As Belle forced herself to breathe regularly, the vivid dream slowly made room for a more pleasant memory: Ariel had come back from Neverland the day before and had brought with her a message from her Rumple! "He asked me to tell you that he loves you and that you were right: you're going to see him again." Ariel had had tears in her eyes as she conveyed his message, and Belle had given her a long hug while sobbing into her newfound friend's shoulder.

Kicking off the covers, Belle smiled to herself: he was going to come back to her! For about a week she had struggled with the thought that he might have been right, that they would never see each other again, and for a week she had wondered every day whether he actually was still alive. Now she knew that he was and that he had Pandora's box to trap Peter Pan in. He wouldn't have to face Pan in a mortal duel and he would be back with her soon, safe and sound.

Belle went downstairs into Rumple's big kitchen (she had moved back in the day he left for Neverland, desperately wanting to be surrounded by his things) and made herself coffee before tucking into a big bowl of cereal. She had hardly eaten the last week, her concern over Rumple taking away her appetite and her sleep. But now there was hope, and she was actually hungry for the first time since he had left.

After breakfast and a shower, she would go and pick up Ariel from Granny's and they would try and find Prince Eric. Regina hadn't told Ariel where exactly to find him but Belle was sure that it wouldn't take them very long to find someone who knew him.

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In the early afternoon, after successfully reuniting Ariel and Eric who had wandered off for a long overdue talk and probably much more, Belle returned to the library for the first time since she had lost her memory on the town line. Belle snorted sarcastically as she tried imagining her alter ego Lacey engrossed in a book that was not a guide to the finest (or cheapest?) whiskies of the world.

It had been truly cruel of Regina to give her Storybrooke identity a personality that was the exact opposite of her own and one that could bring the worst out in Rumple rather than the best. She shuddered as she remembered Lacey's behaviour during their date at Granny's and how Lacey had pushed Gold to let out and show off his dark side. They would have to talk about their time together when she hadn't been herself at some stage, why he had been so keen on spending time with someone who only looked like her and hadn't tried to make things up to his son instead. His son!

How was Rumple going to deal with Bae's death once he was back and had time to properly grieve him? He had been completely heartbroken when he had woken her up with the blue fairy's potion but only hours later he had embarked on the mission to save Henry. Knowing her Rumple, he would keep it together as long as he had a purpose but once he was back in Storybrooke and Henry was safe, he would no longer be able to escape the pain. But she would be there for him; and together they would get through it!

Belle shook her head, trying to stop herself from obsessively thinking about Rumple and what to expect when he came back. "Focus on the library, on getting this place finally opened to the public," she told herself and started clearing a huge pile of books sitting on her desk.

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Shortly after 4pm, Belle heard a thump on the library door and then Grumpy's frantic voice: "Belle, are you in there? Belle, quick! Come quickly!" She dropped the books in her hand on the floor and rushed to the door, her hands shaking as she turned the keys. This was far too close to the recurring dream she had had the past week. She gulped and opened the door to find Grumpy pointing at a greenish portal opening in the middle of the road just outside the library. More and more people were gathering around but nobody was keen to get too close to the vortex.

"Do you think it's them?" Grumpy asked Belle who had instinctively taken his hand.

"I hope so," she said. "Where is the Blue Fairy? We might need some magic in case it's someone else… but then I don't know who but Rumple and Regina could break their way into a place that is protected by a cloaking spell… Rumple must have left a loophole in the spell for them to get back in. Well, perhaps I can think of one other person who seems very powerful perhaps but I hope it's not him… Pan…" Belle realized that she was rambling and that her ramble was not reassuring Grumpy.

"How long does it take for this bloody portal to stabilize and get people through? I mean it can't be lo- " Grumpy said when suddenly several, about half a dozen shapes, appeared out of the vortex and within seconds, it closed leaving behind some greenish fog that took far too long to clear for Grumpy and Belle's liking.

The fog cleared slowly and as the group came into view, Belle finally saw who had come through the portal: first, she could see David and Mary Margaret, still immobile in an embrace. To their right she recognized Emma, Hook and Regina. All three of them had their eyes fixed on someone who was holding a smaller person in his arms. Belle's heart rate increased: it had to be Rumple holding Henry! She was about to run towards him when the last bit of greenish smoke vanished. The man standing there was not Rumple at all… it was Bae! Bae was alive! But Henry in his arms looked lifeless.

The bystanders all seemed as shocked as Belle and Grumpy. Nobody said a word for what felt like an eternity.

Belle felt like she was about to faint. Shaking, she made her way over to the group. "What happened?" she asked, her voice a mere whisper, looking into the distraught faces of Mary Margaret, Emma, David, Hook and Neal. Even Regina seemed to be in a lot of emotional pain. But when she spoke, her voice was as icy as Belle remembered it:

"Pan. He took Henry's heart, and he trapped Rumplestiltskin in Pandora's box. There's no way of releasing him without releasing all the other evil trapped in there. It's all over."

"No, it isn't!" Neal interjected, and the determination and vehemence in his voice reminded Belle of his father. He knelt down and gently laid Henry on the ground. Within seconds, Emma was on her knees as well, cradling Henry's head in her lap. Belle could see that Henry was in some sort of magical stasis but the magic was flickering and she knew that it would not be long before the stasis wore off and Henry would be gone for good.

"Belle, I secretly managed to release Papa from Pandora's box when we were on the Jolly Roger and he has gone back to Neverland to retrieve his dagger and get Henry's heart back. We have to believe that he'll succeed. He simply has to."

Belle nodded her head, her voice completely failing her. Rumple in Pandora's box, trapped with God knows what evil. He must be frightened out of his mind. All the optimism of the previous 24 hours simply washed away. Bae quickly stepped towards her when he realized that she was extremely shaky on her legs and put a comforting arm around her.

"What do you mean, you released him from the box?" Regina was at Neal's and Belle's side in a second and stared daggers into both of them. "You can't release anything from the box without letting other evil escape at the same time! You fool!"

"That's not true," Belle said, her voice shaky at first but getting firmer as she went on. "I read that if a blood bond exists between the person trapped and the person wanting to free the person in the box, then it is possible." Regina stared at her blankly. "I might not be a practitioner of magic but I have acquired a lot of knowledge over the years. And I had plenty of time to go over information I had read before in all the years you had me locked up!"

Regina grimaced but decided not to answer. Neal cut in:

"I wasn't sure whether it would work, whether I could get out only him and not other evil stuff but I knew we needed to take a risk, for Henry, and for David. Papa is the only one who can help heal David, the only one who can get Henry's heart back… And besides, I wasn't quite ready to lose him for good, now that it looks like he has truly started to change. Besides, what is done is done. All we can do now is wait!"

"What do you mean, heal David?" Belle asked, her eyes suddenly moving over to study David who seemed paler than usual and kept sipping water from a satchel. Neal didn't have time to explain what had happened to David because the ground started shaking and another portal started opening. Belle's heart jumped in her chest and while the vortex slowly expanded, she kept repeating the same mantra in her head: "Please let it be him! Please let it be him! Please let it be him! Please let it be him!"

Two people emerged from the vortex and, as before, the portal closed leaving behind a thick greenish fog.

Belle was finally able to release the breath that had been hitched for what seemed an eternity when she heard Rumple's voice through the slowly dissipating fog: "Now, if you know what's good for you, you won't move!" He sounded extremely angry but there was a note of sadness and weariness in his voice, too.

As the fog cleared, she finally caught a glimpse of Rumple. He was holding a young man – Peter Pan—in what seemed a forced embrace with one arm while his other arm was held further up in the air. Belle could clearly see the Dark One's dagger in the raised hand. So he had found his dagger and Peter Pan. But why had he brought the dangerous, manipulative Pan to Storybrooke rather than getting Henry's heart and leaving Pan behind in Neverland?