Since it seems everything in S7 is going towards Rumple dying in the end to reunite with Belle, I decided to write this as an idea on how his death might happen. Because after seven seasons of them being the centre of this show, Rumple and Regina deserve a decent goodbye scene.

Spoilers for season 7. As to who lives to see the end of it and the identity of the Guardian, it's just my version of it. I'm not very good at predicting things, so it probably won't happen this way, but what the hell.

I'm sorry for any grammar or spelling mistake. Enjoy :)

She had to let him go. She had to. She had to.

Regina watched her––

(What was he to her? Teacher? Friend? Family? (Something else she didn't dare name?))

––she watched Rumpelstiltskin as the Dagger – his last remaining connection to this world, to life (to her) – appeared on the palm of his hand in a puff of crimson smoke. Some time ago, he would never have exposed his only weakness so openly, in front of half of the damn town. He would never have sought a way to die in the first place. He indeed had changed.

(Perhaps she wasn't all that fond of his change for the better after all. Right now, she would sell her soul to the devil just to see the old, selfish, grinning Dark One before her.)

He firmly believed his place was with Belle; who was Regina to question his heart? Who was she to tell him to stay, to beg him to stay? For Gideon, his son. For Henry, his grandson. For Lucy, his great-granddaughter. They would need him, in case they got into trouble (and trouble never seemed to be far from this family).

For her, if for no-one else.

(No, he wouldn't stay for her. He never did anything for her – and yet he'd done so much.)

She remembered what it felt like when he'd died the first time. Trying her best not to think about him. Focusing on mourning the loss of Henry (because mourning the loss of a villain, even if he'd saved them all, wouldn't have sat well with all those heroes she'd been surrounded with). Turning around at every sudden sound in the Enchanted Forest, expecting to see him leaned on a nearby tree, leaves rustling beneath his boots. Wanting to ask him for advice when nobody around her could give her answers to her questions, only to remember he wasn't there. Seeing him in that cage in his castle, half-mad with loss, hoping beyond hope he would at least recognize her, his best pupil, his fiercest foe, his…

She had never thanked him for saving them all from Pan (had anyone ever thanked him for that?). She had never told him how much she'd missed him at those times when he hadn't been there, by her side. She had never told him how much she cherished all that he'd taught her, even if some of his lessons were the hardest she'd ever learned. She had never told him so many things.

(It's not yet too late.)

Hilt first, he offered the Dagger to Lucy, shooting her an encouraging smile. The little girl's hand was shaking slightly as she reached for it, but her expression remained unwavering. It was her destiny as Henry's daughter to complete the prophecy of Regina's son being Rumpelstiltskin's undoing and she was determined to play her part rigth. All she had to do was to take the Dagger into her hand, thus ending the curse of the Dark One forever.

Thus ending Rumpelstiltskin forever.

In what seemed like slow-motion, but still, time was running out.

"Wait!" It took Regina a moment to recognize that urgent voice as her own.

Rumpelstiltskin raised an eyebrow at her, as did everyone around them––

(but she didn't care about anyone around them at the moment)

––waiting for an explanation as to why she was interrupting the moment when he would finally be reunited with the woman he loved.

"I…" So many different thoughts went through her mind in merely a heartbeat – from perfectly reasonable concerns like 'Are you sure this will end the Dagger's power, because I don't want a Dark One who can't control the Darkness on my hands.' to utterly ridiculous statements like 'I love you.'.

"Is there a problem, Regina?" He asked after a long silence, with an edge to his tone.

Yes. She wanted to say, to scream, right there to his face. I want you to stay right here. I want you to antagonize me, to irritate me, to make me laugh, to be my friend, to be my enemy, to stay with me, to love me…

"I…" How could she say any of that to him with the entire fairytale population of Hyperion Heights listening? How could she say any of that with him listening? "I just…We haven't said goodbye."

Not the town. Him and her.

"Mom?" Henry's voice reached her ears (he and Ella were standing next to Lucy, holding a reassuring hand on each of her shoulders), but she didn't take her eyes off Rumpelstiltskin.

He pulled the Dagger away from Lucy's outstretched hand and turned to look directly at her. She let out a breath she hadn't even realized she'd been holding.

"If you want to say goodbye, now's your chance." He said, his eyes burning into hers.

That was the core of her predicament right there; she didn't want to say goodbye. It was almost as if he knew what lay within her heart, as if he'd chosen those exact words on purpose.

(Perhaps he had. That would be very Rumpelstiltskin-like.)

But why would he care about her opinion when his mind was already made up? Why would he offer her a chance to pull him back from the edge? Why would he delay his reunion with Belle?

"I…"

"Oh, for the love of all things upside-down, just tell him!"

Regina froze, swallowing a lump down her throat. Not this, please. Were her reservations really going to be revealed by Alice Jones, the Hyperion Heights' own Mad Hatter?

(Maybe that was for the best. Maybe nobody would believe her.)

To her surprise, Rumpelstiltskin didn't look blankly in the blonde girl's direction, asking 'Tell me what?'. His eyes were glued to Regina's face, studying every feature of it as if he didn't already know it by heart. Under his gaze, her palms were sweating, her knees were feeling weak, her heart was beating as strongly as though it intended to jump out of her chest and roll over to the man who had crushed it and rebuilt it, who had broken it and healed it.

"I just…" Her legs began to carry her forward, her voice growing quieter with each step she took. Words were escaping her, reason had already abandoned her, leaving only feelings to lead her to within arm's reach from him, "Wanted…I…"

She rolled her eyes and sighed helplessly; to hell with everything, she had to do this.

His body was firm and warm against hers, the magic in his blood calling out to hers, singing, feeling, humming, touching, loving. She held him tight like she would never let go, like she could store him inside her heart and keep him there (but he was already there, wasn't he, had been the whole time, even if she didn't know it).

"Don't go, Rumple." She whispered against his neck, tears forming in the corners of her eyes. "Not yet."

Wait for me. Wait until I get old and weak and grey and then we can leave this and all worlds as we came into them – together.

"Regina." He breathed out softly, his fingers intertwining with locks of her hair. "You know…"

"Yes, I know." She cut him off defiantly, tears beginning to fall down her cheeks. Why did he have to make her feel guilty atop everything else she was feeling? "I know you want to reunite with Belle and Baelfire and everyone that you've lost. I know. But I…" Her lips trembled, so close to his temple she was sure he could feel it. "I need you here." She confessed, pleading with him at the same time. "Just…Just for a little while longer."

His chest pressed even closer against hers as he let out a sigh; for a moment, she could swear she felt his heart beating against hers, one kindred soul speaking to another.

"Please." The last ace up her sleeves, a reminder of times long gone and curses long since broken.

He let out a quiet chuckle that pulsated through both of them like an electroshock.

"Trying to use my tricks against me, dearie?"

"Anything." She breathed out sombrely. "Anything to keep you here."

For a heartbeat or two (or ten, or hundred, because Regina couldn't follow the rate of her own heartbeat anymore), they stood motionless, soundless.

"Don't you know," He murmured softly, but couldn't completely hide the unevenness of his voice, "It's dangerous to offer 'anything' to the Dark One?"

"I've had a few dealings with him in the past." She replied firmly, the corners of her lips curling into a proud smirk. "I know how to handle him."

He laughed again. She adored that sound.

"Is that a challenge, dearie?"

"Is that a yes to it, Dark One?"

"Are you two done? Some of us have actual jobs here." Rapunzel's impatient voice reached them. Apparently yelling at one's subordinates and idling all day while they did all the work was considered an actual job.

Regina let go of Rumpelstiltskin and moved to stand next to Henry, who was staring at her with questioning look in his brown eyes. She shrugged her shoulders somewhat sheepishly and then looked at Rumpelstiltskin, who'd once again turned to Lucy.

"I think your duty as the Guardian isn't necessary just yet." He told her gently. "You have so much more to do before taking that responsibility. I'll manage for a little while longer."

"I was a little scared." The girl admitted after a few moments of thoughtful silence. "You said the Darkness would only die when I died and I hope that won't happen for a very long time, but I worried that the Darkness would overpower me and I'd fail you. All of you."

"That's why it's for the best you learn to control your own darkness first." Rumpelstiltskin crouched so his and Lucy's eyes were in the same level. "In time, when both you and I are ready, you will do your duty. And I know you won't fail."

Lucy's face twisted in a doubtful frown.

"How can you know that?"

Watching corners of Rumpelstiltskin's lips quirk up, Regina began to wonder. Had he…

"I can see the future, dearie." His eyes met Regina's for the briefest of moments. "I know what will happen before it happens."

He had. He had known she wanted him to stay and yet he'd still intended to…

Lucy smiled at him enthusiastically. "Yes, I remember now." Then she frowned at him again, suspiciously as only children could. "But you don't know all that's about to happen, do you?"

"No, not all." He stole another glance at Regina. He was sending her a message. "But I do know you'll make a great Guardian when the time comes."

For the second time that day, people of Hyperion Heights watched the Dark One being wrapped up into an embrace. The best part was, he didn't look out of place at all, at least not to Regina. To her, it looked like he was just where he was supposed to be – at least for a little while longer.

"So," He approached her when everyone else had gone about their business with a daring grin on his face she was all too familiar with (and loved so damn much), "Which realm are we conquering next?"