Summary: The Dark One and his maid travel to Far Far Away for a deal. Along the way, Belle gets her adventure and Rumplestiltskin learns that even a beast can have a happily ever after.

Disclaimer: I do not own OUAT or Shrek or any other characters in this story.

A/N: I will intended to complete Beauty Bound, promise. However, I felt that I needed a little refresher from the dark and dreary so I decided to do a funny story to bring some laughter to myself. Both Shrek and Rumple are hilarious, combining them is asking for awesome fun. :) This takes place after Shrek and Fiona arrive to the castle and the king calls upon the Dark One for help instead of Puss. Though I hope that cute little cat will show up in the story somewhere.

It was an ordinary day in the Dark One's castle, or as ordinary as it usually got with a mischievous imp and a too-curious-for-her-own-good maid. Rumple was currently working in his lab with a love potion some peasant had called upon to him to make. It was a story he had heard plenty of times before in his 300 years. A girl was hopelessly in love with a man who didn't notice her and she wanted him to fall in love with her, so she called upon the Dark One to create a potion that would allow the man to fall head over heels for her. It was a very simple potion to create and one that he had put together countless times before. He sighed as he got up to get the last ingredient from the cupboard and place the herb leaves into the vial, finishing the potion. Over the years, he had gotten rather sick of creating the potion, but it was getting quicker to finish the more he made it. He didn't like the idea of falling in love with someone under false pretenses but if the peasants wanted to ruin their life with magic, then he would play the part they wanted him to.

THUD!

His thoughts were interrupted when a dove flew into the window. Rumple rolled his eyes at the stupidity the bird's small brain gave him. He walked over to open the window to allow the bird into the room. The bird flew in, rather wobbly because of the concussion he probably obtained from the window, and landed onto Rumple's work table. He plucked the envelope from the bird's beak and tore it open. He pulled out a folded sheet of paper and scanned the letter.

Apparently, the king of Far Far Away wanted his help with a problem about his daughter. The princess had arrived back home with her new husband, an ogre. Rumple was quite startled from this fact. How could a princess ever marry an ogre, a beast? He never heard of it. He was rather curious to meet this princess, to see what would possess her to love a beast. She must be quite an odd woman. Speaking of odd women, his maid suddenly walked into his lab, carrying a tray of tea.

"Hey, I know you have been working in here all day and I thought you could use a break." Belle said, placing the tray on the table.

"Oh, well, thank you." He said, watching as she poured the tea into the chipped porcelain cup.

"So how is the potion coming along?"

"Very well. In fact, it is done." He replied.

"That's great. Uh, what's in the letter you're holding?" She asked, handing him the cup, smiling as he took it in his hand and noticing how his fingers lightly brushed against hers.

"Always curious aren't you." She chuckled. "It's a request, from a king."

"A king? Are they needing your help saving their village? If so, I don't need help with the castle in case you're looking for another maid." They both laughed at her joke.

"No, dearie, one devious maid is enough for me to handle, I don't need another." He smiled.

"Devious? Well." Rumple loved how she could easily laugh at his quips, wondering how she could be so relaxed living in a castle with a beast. With that thought, his attention was brought back to the letter, remembering Belle's question about it.

"No, the king is needing my help with his daughter. She apparently had married a beast and he wants some help solving the issue."

"A beast?"

"Yes, an ogre." Rumple saw Belle's eyes widen at the fact, knowing what was going on in her head. "No need to worry, love, I doubt it is one of the ogres in the war, possible one of its smaller cousins." He explained.

"Oh."

"In fact, we are headed there." He stated.

"Really? Where is it?" She asked.

"Far Far Away."

"How far is it?" Belle smiled at Rumple, they both laughed at the wit of the question. "I've heard of it before in Avonlea. We never traveled there before but I have heard about the princess. She was cursed, right?"

"I'm not sure really. I've heard of the kingdom before too but never had to deal with it before. I do not know of the situation. That's why we are traveling there to see what deal I can make." Rumple explained, taking a sip of the tea.

"Why am I coming? Can't you just pop in and out as usual?"

"Well, it is far far away love so I am sure that I will be gone for a few days. I can't really leave my devious maid on her own in the castle and have plenty of days to cause some trouble." Belle smiled at him, noting how he had called her 'love' twice already.

"When do we leave?"

"While I drop off this potion, you can pack and we will leave when I get back. I will send a note to inform the king we are arriving."

"Very well. Good luck." Rumple smiled, noting the familiar flutter in his stomach every time she wished him luck before he set off. Why does that always happen? Can't my nerves leave me alone?

He watched as his maid left the room, leaving him to write the letter to the king. Neither could imagine what this trip would bring them.

King Harold was going over some royal papers concerning the kingdom. It was a normal job for the king but it didn't mean he liked any part of it. Sure he liked the attention, the luxury, but who in all the kingdoms liked paperwork? His head suddenly jerked up when a loud thud were heard on the window. He sighed and thought that is was about time that he got a dove that didn't suffer from constant head concussions from flying into windows. He took the letter that was held in the dove's beak, holding his breath as he opened the envelope.

Scanning the words, he let go of his breath, realizing that it was a response from the Dark One. He and his maid was headed to the kingdom and would arrive in a few short days. The king was relieved to see that the Dark One had responded to his plea, praying that the sorcerer had a solution to the issue his daughter brought home.

He had heard about the Dark One before and knew how notorious he was for making deals. The issue was the price. Whenever you heard of the Dark One and his deals, you could almost always hear of someone not being able to pay the price and suffering a terrible fate. Something about being turned into a small bug that was easily squashed. Harold swallowed hard, hoping he would find a way around making a deal with the notorious sorcerer.

"Harold?" The king looked to the door and saw his wife. He wasn't really ready to face his wife, knowing she would complain to him about his behavior at dinner yesterday.

"What is it?" She asked.

"What do you mean?"

"The letter. What is in the letter?" She asked.

"Oh, it's not much Lillian. Just a response from someone. He is going to be coming to the ball." He explained.

"That's great. I do hope you at least try to get along with our daughter's new husband. If you gave him a chance like she did, perhaps you will see that he is rather kind."

"Kind? He's an ogre. A beast. How can he be kind?"

"Well, you can't judge someone until you meet them." Harold knew that his wife was right. He remembered his past and what he went through for her. He just hoped she never found out.

"Yes, well I suppose so."

"So this visitor, who is he?" He groaned, really hoping she wouldn't ask.

"Um, a sorcerer."

"A sorcerer? Why is a sorcerer coming to the ball?" She asked, wondering if her husband was up to something.

"Well you know dear, it is very good business to have many important people here. I'm sure we can benefit from this." The queen knew she wasn't going to get the real reason so she decided to accept his explanation.

"Very well, I suppose you are right."

"Aren't I always?" He teased. He smiled as his wife kissed him before leaving him to finish the paperwork. He sat back down and sighed, hoping that the Dark One showing up in their kingdom wouldn't bring any trouble. However, he had a feeling that the real trouble would come from his daughter's new husband. He wondered how a beast can love anyone and how anyone could ever love a beast.

Please review and feel free to give any ideas of what you would like to read. :)