In Shadow

Chapter 61

The Beginning of the End

The spell was done, his family was safe and Rumplestiltskin was over the entire mess. As such, he found himself standing outside Belle's apartment barely 20 minutes later. He was going to fix this. Admit that he'd made a mistake. Admit that he had not intended for the price of magic to take away their love. In fact, he knew that wasn't possible. True Love was far more powerful than, literally, any other magic in the realms. It wasn't completely gone, of this he was certain. It was hidden; pushed so far back in Belle's mind that she couldn't remember. He had every intention of helping her find it. They had bypassed the curse that had brought them here. They would get through this as well.

He knocked on her door, but when she did not answer he balled his fist and hammered with rather more emphasis than he'd intended. He started to worry when he heard nothing on the other side of the door. Not her angry voice, not even rustling that said she was in there. He felt certain that she would have come here; where else would she have gone? She'd lost her memories of their past; of their other life, but not, as far as he could tell, her memories of magic or the fact that she could not bypass the town line.

He tried the knob, not wanting to have to pick the lock and was honestly surprised to find the door open. Trepidation washed through him. Something was not right. Yes, she was angry but she would at least have yelled at him to go away. The fact that he wouldn't was beside the point. He stepped inside, looking around. The light next to the sofa was on. She was here somewhere. Belle was obsessive about not leaving things on around the house.

When he stepped into the bedroom, his heart stopped. His wife lay on her bed. She looked feverish and gaunt, as if in the last few hours she had lost 25lbs. He moved swiftly to her side. "Belle?"

Her eyes did not open, nor did she move. He reached out and touched her forehead. She was burning up. So hot, in fact, that he pulled his hand away from her. He stood and stared for about 2 seconds before his instincts kicked in. Rumple rushed into the bathroom, opening cabinets to find towels and aspirin. He threw the towels next to the tub and turned on the water, letting it run until it was tepid. He returned to the bedroom and picked up Belle who felt like a furnace against his chest. She was dangerously ill and he had to get her fever down now before it killed her.

He paid no attention to the fact that they were both fully clothed when he stepped into the shower. He held her under the running water, letting it fall through her hair and soak her clothes until they stuck to her body, acting like a cool compress that covered all of her. She moaned, and he heaved a sigh of relief. It was working. "Belle?"

When those startling blue eyes opened, hazy and feverish as they were, and stared at him in confusion he felt his body begin to relax. He was wet, and cold, and he didn't care in the slightest. Water sloshed around his ankles as it filled the tub and he lowered them both down. Belle didn't move much, but she shivered and pulled weakly at her shirt. Rumplestiltskin stepped out of the cool bath long enough to remove both her clothes and his own and then pulled her into a sitting position so he could slip in behind her. The contrasting sensation of her warm body against him coupled with the coolness of the water made him shudder. He had missed this. Had missed her. He heard her sigh and relax into his embrace, the warmth they created together providing her enough heat to lessen the shivering.

He had no idea how long they sat there, letting the water bring her temperature to a tolerable level. His mind wandered. Had he done this to her? Was it a side effect of the spell? Had Germaine forgotten to tell them something? Or worse, had he mispronounced the spell itself? Had he missed a word? Or was his wife just ill? She had seemed fine several hours ago, but he knew some sicknesses could come on suddenly and when they did, fever like this was not uncommon. It was the bodies attempt to fight off whatever infection was invading. His Belle did not get sick very often, but when she did, she generally got very, very sick …usually because she ignored it for weeks until it was so bad she was forced into a doctor's office.

When, finally, her body felt as if it was not going to spontaneously combust, he stood, pulling her with him, picked her up, grabbed the towels and carried her into the bedroom. She started shivering again the moment the air touched her skin, but he dried her quickly, put on her favorite nightdress and lay her in bed, pulling the covers to her chin and adding a blanket. He felt optimistic. If he could get some aspirin into her, she could sleep off the rest of whatever this was. He hoped.

As he had no clothes stored at her apartment and hers were far too small for him, he wrapped a towel around his waist and hung boxers, pants and shirt up to dry. He busied himself by crushing aspirin and pouring it into a glass of juice. He would probably have more luck with dissolvable tablets but he refused to leave her, even for a few moments.

"Rum?" The voice from the bedroom was weak, and filled with exhaustion, but it was like music to his ears.

He walked back to the bedroom and sighed. She had pulled herself into a sitting position, the shivering had subsided and while she was pale and clearly sick, she did not appear to be at death's door anymore. His legs gave out when he reached the side of the bed and he dropped like a stone to his knees. "Oh, sweetheart, thank the gods."

Her eyes roamed hungrily over his body, taking in his state of undress with obvious appreciation despite how bad she felt. "Why are you naked?"

His head dropped into her lap and he wrapped his arms around her. "You were sick. I had to get you into a cool bath. Oh gods, Belle. I'm sorry. I'm so sorry."

Her hand touched his hair gently. "It's not your fault."

The tears that he had been choking back since he's walking into the room burst out of him and he clutched at her, sobbing. "It is my fault. I brought back magic. I took away your love. It was all my fault. This should never have happened."

Belle didn't know what to say. Her mind was racing with contrary emotions. Her brain telling her she was no longer in love with this man, and her heart telling her that was a lie. She didn't feel strong enough at the moment to fight either one. She went with her heart. "We can talk about it later. Come to bed."

He looked up at that. His eyes red from weeping. "What?"

"I'm tired …and I really feel terrible, but …" she paused, not sure how to voice what she needed. Not sure that she could. "I …I don't know what I'm feeling, Rum, but I do know I don't want you to leave. Please. I just …I just …need you with me right now. Please."

He didn't argue. Couldn't have if he'd tried. He stood, dropped the towel, and crawled into the bed. Belle pressed herself against him, turning on her side so that he could spoon in behind her. She grabbed his arm and draped it over her and then, she fell still, sighing happily at the feel of her husband behind her. Right now she didn't need anything else. Just this. Just him.

He raised his head. "I love you. I love you so much."

She was already drifting back to sleep, but he was almost certain he saw a smile grace her lips before her breathing became even. His body relaxed into the bed letting her warmth fill him until, a few minutes later, he followed her.

#

Belle woke first, snuggling into the warmth at her back and noting that darkness had fallen outside. Remarkably, considering her state that afternoon, she felt surprisingly better. It was both strange and a little unsettling. She heard her husband's even breathing behind her and her mind told her to pull away. She shut it down almost immediately. He had been trying to tell her something earlier, something about magic and her love. If felt right to be where she was, enveloped by his arms, cocooned in his love. Her heart told her that and she was inclined to believe it. His lips touched the back of her neck and she sighed.

Inside her, somewhere she could never have reached on her own, a small flame flickered. Stoked by the love in Belle's heart and Rumplestiltskin's touch, it grew, slowly at first but as his lips trailed over her shoulder it was as if gas had poured on it. What began as a flame came roaring to life, a bonfire that filled her soul with the most pure and astounding love she'd ever known. She turned over and wrapped her arms around him, pressing their lips together. Belle saw light behind her eyes, memories that had only yesterday seemed like a dream filled her mind. She pushed her hands into his hair and then fisted them, pulling him as close as she could manage.

They remained like that, wrapped in one another's arms, unwilling or unable to let go. Their separation had not been that long but to them, it felt like forever.

Rumple finally managed to pull away long enough to open his eyes and stare in wonder at his wife. "I'm sorry."

She put her fingers over his mouth. "I know. And we'll have to talk …" She smiled. "Tomorrow."