(Authors notes- so here it is, the final chapter. Thanks so much to everyone who's read n' reviewed for sticking with me through this, but don't think of this as the grand finale never to be re-visited. Think of it more like the end of Act One)

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"Snow…honey?", James called out as he opened his sleepy eyes reaching across only to realise he was still on the sofa and the body with the bad breath curled up next to him wasn't his wife.

"Hey!", groaned Emma pulling away from his unintended embrace blinking as the early morning light flooded her eyes. She stretched the kink in her neck as they hadn't planned on falling asleep in the living room but as the night wore on they couldn't bear to be parted from their beloved children for a second of what little time they had left.

"Sorry, Emma…..so how….oh god", gasped James as he reached behind him to see what had been nudging him in the back only to pull out Teddy, the precious stuffed bear of the little boy he cherished so much.

As he held the soft fur of the toy his face whitened and felt the brimming of tears as he looked around with frantic darting eyes to see no trace of the little children, "Please…no"

"I…..no….s-she didn't….did she…?", Emma choked out as she too felt the bitter emptiness inside; the swell of heartache for there was no toddler asleep in her arms. No shy smile to illuminate her soul.

A wash of burning tears blurred their vision as they swallowed their sobs for though the day was young they had never met a worse dawn. The silence of the room matched the dull echo within their hearts for though they had felt loss before, this was something infinitely more painful.

Hearing a clatter of a spoon from the kitchen they trailed in with slumped shoulders and quivering lips ready to try and help Snow through the grief no doubt shackling her heart.

But there in the kitchen, amidst their vile quagmire of loss and sorrow, lay a sight so sweet it flushed their souls clean and made them gasp with joy.

A sight neither James nor Emma thought they would ever witness again.

The sight of two toddlers sitting at the kitchen table still in their footsie pyjamas.

"S-Snow?", James said shaking his head praying that this wasn't still a dream.

"Yes honey, i-it…", she replied around her singing heart, "….it didn't work….. the magic ….i-it didn't work!"

Before Rumpy could finish his mouthful of Frosted Flakes he felt himself whipped into the air and spun around by James who planted wet sloppy kisses all over the boy who giggled happily and waved his little legs around.

"Hahahaha…..D-Daddy…that tickles", he squealed back as his cereal spilled from his mouth all down James' shirt.

"Oh honey, look at the mess", Snow softly chided as she wiped Rumpy's milky chin with a tea towel.

"Don't care….really don't….oh Rumpy my lil' man..", James wept as he held the boy tightly to his chest letting his tears spill freely without shame, "I love you so much my lil' Rumpy"

"I wove you too Daddy", Rumpy giggled as Snow's arms wrapped around them both. Her warmth, her love, insulating them in their own cocoon of simple happiness.

"Mommy, why is Mister Ja…", Regina said with a furrowed brow but before she could finish her question Emma hooked the little girl under her arms and lifted her into the air swinging the toddler round and around as she laughed in a way she never had before.

"Oh 'Gina", Emma said around her tears as she pressed her lips to the toddlers chubby little cheeks. "I-I thought I'd never see you again, my sweet lil' baby girl"

"Mommy, I'm not a baby", huffed the toddler said as she squirmed in Emma's grasp but the Sheriff's arms snaked around Regina and pulled her close into the crook of her neck where she just inhaled the soft buttery scent of the child who had her heart in a vice like grip.

"Emma, you best put her down before she throws up on you again", Snow said as her entire being seemed to tingle with joy.

"Huh….oh right….ok", Emma laughed as she sat down putting Regina on her lap and tickled her as her heart thundered with elation.

"Morning Henry", said Snow watching him yawn and rub his eyes.

"Morning, do we have any Fruit Loops?", the young man asked as he trudged through the kitchen to fetch a bowl as if on autopilot.

"Hi Henwy", Regina said with a little wave and a gap toothed smile.

"Hey 'Gina, what do….", Henry said as he took a double take at the little girl whose thumb had made its way to her mouth, "Y-you….you're here?"

"Uh-huh", she nodded back with a curious frown.

"I thought…didn't the magic work?", he said looking over at Emma who was bouncing Regina on her knees playing horsie loving the feel of the toddler's tiny fingers wrapped around her own.

"No honey, nothing's changed. T-they're here to stay", beamed the Sheriff kissing the little girls crown.

"Cool. To be honest, I didn't really want them to change back. They're so much happier as they are ….and so are the rest of you. None of you smiled and laughed like this until Rumpy and Gina came into our lives", Henry smiled as he finally let his heart accept his true feelings over the adorable little girl as he reached over and ruffled her hair.

"Knock, knock", came a voice accompanied by the rapping of knuckles on the back doorframe startling the extended family.

"What the fu…er…fudge….what are you doing here, Blue?", Emma said , quickly correcting her swearing before ending the sentence with a snarl wrapping her protective arms a little closer around Regina.

"I just wanted to see if you had room for one more?", replied the fairy standing in the doorway not stepping into their home.

"For breakfast?", said Snow, "Why would we ever even want to speak to you again after what you tried to do?"

"Me? What did I do?", blinked the fairy.

"Last night? The drink you gave the kids to make them feel like their old selves?"

"Oh that, that was just a little ginseng to help them get back to sleep. Wait…..you honestly thought I was going to do the spell on them?", Blue said with wide eyes.

"Well yeah….I thought it was like a potion or something", Emma said, her soft smile for the benefit of the children didn't dampen the grinding venom in her voice.

"Heaven's no, you said not to do any magic on the little ones and I wasn't going to go against your wishes. Just because I was a nun doesn't mean I'm that kind of evil, I can't believe you would think so lowly of me", the fairy said taken aback.

"Oh…sorry…er….. did you want breakfast then?", Snow continued trying not to admit she thought so shamefully of the fairy.

"Yeah Miss Bwue, do you like chocowate pop tarts? 'Cos Mrs Snow said we ain't allowed none but sometimes Mister James lets us", Regina said wriggling down from Emma's lap in a voice that was meant to be a whisper but emerged way too loud.

"Oh, does he now?", Snow said turning to her husband with a raised eyebrow watching him blush a little.

"Well, not all the time…but….er….we'll talk later", James said nodding towards the fairy trying to get their conversation back on track.

"Oh right", Snow said with a shake of the head, "So did you really come all this way for breakfast?"

"Me? No. When I said room for one more I wasn't talking about me", said Blue being way too cryptic for such an early hour.

"Then who?", Emma said wondering whether she'd been smoking her fairy dust.

The fairy stepped to one side and coaxed another figure forward who stood there awkwardly toying with her fingers and holding Blue's hand tighter. They all stood in confusion but Snow gasped as she saw those eyes. Those unmistakeable eyes.

"B-Belle? Are you Belle?", Snow squeaked looking down.

"Y-yes Ma'am", came the polite reply followed by a small and inelegant curtsy.

"How old are you Belle?", said the pixie haired woman getting a sense of déjà vu.

"I-I'm four, Ma'am"

"You can call me Snow, sweetie", said with a gentle smile as she moved forward towards the timid little girl who anxiously stepped into the fairy's side.

"It's alright honey, these are nice people", Blue encouraged with tender tones.

Rumpy stared on with wide eyes as the sweet little girl with heart-warming dimples stood in the doorframe with the bright sun illuminating her from behind making him gasp into James' ear.

"Daddy…..i-is she an angel?"

"No, why do you say that?"

"Cos Mama said angels were weally pwetty"

"You think she's pretty? Should we tell her?"

"No", Rumpy said burying his face in James' chest as he caught her gaze, at which point Belle blushed too and turned away but her little smile spoke volumes.

"How…what did you…she's four too? How did….?", Emma said with shock dropping the third spoon of sugar before it could reach her mug.

"All in good time, but for now I was hoping you might have some clothes for Belle", Blue said motioning to the girl who was wearing nothing but an old Lynyrd Skynyrd t-shirt which engulfed her little body.

"Oh right…of course", Snow replied feeling bad that she had thought ill of the fairy.

"Hi, I'm Gina", said the little girl skipping across the kitchen to the limp haired child with the dirt smeared skin.

"I-I'm Belle", replied the unsure toddler who stared around warily.

"And this is Wumpy", Regina said pointing to the little boy who blushed and turned back into James' hug again as their eyes clashed once more.

"H-hi Wumpy", Belle said quietly feeling a strange pulling at her heart.

"So… clothes?", Blue interrupted smiling at the warm welcome and gentle innocence of the children.

"Oh right yeah, she looks like she needs a bath too", Snow said sniffing the air lightly, "Gina, you wanna come help me pick something out for Belle?"

"Ok Mrs Snow", said Regina as she stepped forward and took Belle's little hand and lead her away to the children's bedroom, "I gots loadsa pwetty dwesses, let's go see… but you can't have my Pwincess dwess. That's mine 'cos Mrs Snow said I'm a Pwincess"

Emma just smiled and rolled her eyes at how possessive her new daughter had become over the dress which caused such a tantrum just a few days earlier. Snow took Belle's other hand and shepherded the two girls upstairs leaving the rest of them in the kitchen.

"So why did you bring her to us? I think we have our hands full as it is", James said bouncing Rumpy on his hip.

"Oh no, I was going to look after her for now, the other fairies and I that is. I always wanted children but I can't …. that's the price of magic", the fairy said with a tone that echoed of regret, "Though I thought maybe Granny might want to take her in, as soon as Ruby is back on her feet that is"

"Oh god Ruby, I…", Emma said in a sudden panic reaching for her cellphone.

"It's alright, I called the hospital this morning. She's fine, she's awake and recovering well"

"Really? How? Yesterday she was on death's door and now….hang on, did you have something to do with it?"

"Maybe", smirked the fairy as she helped herself to a cup of coffee.

"Daddy, are we still goin' to see the anminals?", asked Rumpy shyly cutting off Emma's bluster of questions before they could air.

"Animals lil' man, animals. And yes we were but now…"

"Animals?", asked Blue grimacing at the cheap coffee they used.

"Yes, Mom said we were going to the petting zoo today", Henry said finally finding the elusive box of Fruit Loops.

"Oh don't let me stop you, why not bring Belle along and see how she gets on with the other children", the fairy suggested running her hands over her thighs loving the feeling of boot cut jeans and not the ridiculous dresses she wore in their old land.

"Sure, I guess so", said Emma brightening as the facts began to finally sink in, "Yeah, why the hell not"

"Miss Emma! You said a bad word", Rumpy gasped and giggled into his father's chest.

"Tut, tut, Emma", smirked James, "No cookies for you today"

An hour later

"How long has this town had a petting zoo anyway?", asked Emma as the eager children dragged her along through the turnstiles and across the dry earth of the winding paths.

"Funnily enough, the Mayor set it up when Henry was still little. He used to love it here", Snow said following them along, "But kids grow up so fast, don't they"

"Mommy, Mommy, look! It's a baa-lamb. Can I go pet it?", said Regina excitedly as she pulled at Emma's hand as they wandered through the Storybrooke Petting Zoo.

"What do you say, honey?" asked the Sheriff.

"Pweeeeaasee", said the little girl as she bounced up and down in her Mary Jane's as her eyes widened at all the cute little animals scampering around their pens.

"Alright, you guys run ahead. But pet it gently"

"Ok Mommy"

As Regina took Rumpy's hand she skipped forward towards the fluffy lamb who quietly chewed the lush green grass, but as she got nearer Regina stopped and turned round beckoning the other girl along.

"Honey, do you want to go and pet the lil' baa lamb?", asked Snow kneeling down in front of little Belle who just nodded shyly casting a hopeful eye over to the cute animals not knowing whether she was allowed to enjoy herself.

"Go on then honey, go and play", Snow said ushering the shy girl forward who took Regina's other hand as they all skipped towards the cute little animals.

"So Blue, are you going to explain how this happened?", James said as he watched with a smile as the three toddlers laughed and gently ran their hands over the soft wool of the merry lamb.

"Once I figured out which vein of magic to tap into to reverse the spell, well it didn't take much to re-enact the same magicks. Last night I went to see Belle in her jail cell and cast the spell on her so it….."

"How does that help? Surely that would mean the Dark One had to seek out a new host, why would you want to put that evil in someone else?", Snow blustered out fearfully.

"Let me explain, normally the Dark One would take over a soul immediately but within Belle it found it's match…true love. Her love for Rumplestiltskin kept it at bay and though it may have seemed like Belle was being tortured by the evil spirit, in fact it was the Dark One who was being tortured by the goodness within Belle's soul. Even at the end it still hadn't taken her completely, and now I know why it tried so hard"

"Why is that?"

"Magic isn't of this world, it is of ours and the longer it existed outside of our boundaries the weaker it became. Getting Belle to use the power of the knife was it's only chance to live again"

"What's to stop someone else using the knife?", James asked with a worried tone keeping a close, slightly over protective, eye on the toddlers.

"I've destroyed it, by wrapping the knife in my white magic it turned to ash so there's no way in this world the Dark One can be released", replied Blue smirking victoriously.

"So what happened to the spirit of the Dark One then?"

"Once I cast the spell on Belle to give her back her youth and innocence the Dark One was forced from her body as the purity of a child's heart is so much stronger than any evil. With no knife to forge it's destiny the spirit simply faded into nothingness"

"Really? It was that easy?", Emma said curiously.

"Not that easy", said Blue showing the deep crimson burns on her palms from where her magic poured forth and fought with the cruel aura surrounding the blade, "It was a struggle but now little Rumpy can live in peace"

"But what about Ruby? Won't she be pissed at Belle for stabbing her?", Emma asked.

"She's a bigger person than that to hold a grudge, she knows what it's like to be under the control of a strong animalistic influence and be helpless to what it demands. Besides, who could hate a kid with such adorable dimples?", Snow said leading their gaze over to the three children who laughed and cooed over the little animal.

"Mister Baa-Lamb, are you hungwy?", said Regina as she held out her little hand full of grain she scooped from the feed bucket. She giggled as the fluffy little animal nibbled the food from her palm.

"He-he, c-can I twy it?", said Belle feeling so pretty now she was scrubbed clean and put in the pale lemon dress and matching bow in her hair.

"Yeah, he's cute and sweet", replied the other girl with a toothy grin.

Belle filled her hands up with grain and offered it to the little lamb who nibbled away happily. As she giggled her eyes caught Rumpy's and she blushed again as he offered her his patented shy smile which melted any heart. He still held Teddy tightly but there was something about this girl which made him inch closer feeling strangely at ease around Belle.

"Henry, you don't have to keep taking photos as they're not going to change back", Emma called as he got the children to pose with the lamb.

"I know, I just wanted to", he shrugged with a smile as he lead the little ones back to the adults who sat on the nearby bench.

"Mommy, did you see me with Mister Baa-Lamb?", Regina said excitedly running back to Emma hand in hand with Rumpy and Belle.

"I sure did, looks like you made him real happy"

"Can we go see the piggies and the duckies too?", said the brunette putting her grubby hands on Emma's knees and looking longingly over her shoulders to the rest of the petting zoo.

"Sure, but let's have lunch first", Emma replied opening the picnic hamper,"Oh hey guys, I forgot to tell you, Auntie Ruby is going to be fine"

"Yay", Rumpy and Regina squealed back bouncing up and down, "I said Poppy would make her better"

"You sure did, sweetie", Snow said helping Regina put a straw in her bottle of apple juice.

"Er…..Bwue", said Belle quietly tugging on the woman's skirt.

"Yes honey?", said the fairy bending down to hear the little girls whisper.

"I-I need to go wee-wees"

"Ok, I'll take you", she said holding out her hand for the toddler to take as they went to find a bathroom. "We won't be long"

"Mommy", Regina said with an earnest expression, "Is Belle gonna stay?"

"Yes honey. Would you like that?", Emma asked straightening Regina's alice band and wiping her hands covered in fur and wool.

"Yeah, she's weal nice. I thinks we're gonna be bestest fwiends", nodded the little girl as she struggled to get the bendy straw in her mouth. "Do you fink she's pwettier than me?"

"No honey", laughed Emma seeing Regina's frown, "You're still the fairest in all the land"

"What about you Rumpy, what do you think of Belle?", asked James as he held the little boy in his arms as Rumpy buried his head shyly into James' chest every time the little girl looked back at him and smiled. "Do you like her?"

"She's pwetty", nodded Rumpy shyly watching her walk away hand in hand with the Blue Fairy, "When I gwow up I wanna mawwy Belle"

"I'm sure you will lil' man, I'm sure you will", said James with a wide smile for he knew that no curse, no magic, no royal decree, could ever stop true love in whatever form it took.

And as Rumpy snuggled tightly into his chest James knew that this was his happy ending.

That this was all their happy endings.

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(Authors notes – I came up with several different ways to end this fic but as you can see I went for the super happy, uber fluffy ending. It was a surprise to me too that this whole fic turned out to be a Rumbelle true love story as I really didn't plan it like that but the last couple of chapters just sort of went where they wanted :) At some point I will carry on this story from here but I really need a breather, and sorry for the red herring about the Blue Fairy in this one ;) But for those of you who wanted to see what would happen if Rumpy and Regina turned back into their adult forms and what duplicitous role the evil Blue Fairy would play, well let's just say I have a spin off or two planned (some light and fluffy, some dark and angsty) so stay tuned my friends :) Thanks so much for reading. xxxx)