The Same Old Mistakes Over Again

One moment she has no clue why she's following this unfamiliar man - Mr. Gold apparently - deeper into the forest except for the fact he said he would protect her.

And the next suddenly there are memories she didn't have before and they make sense and oh god he's right in front of her.

She wants to hit him, she wants to scream at him, but most of all she wants to hug him.

He's still walking and she realizes she has to say something, anything. She has to see his face, she needs to hear his voice, after so long she just needs him.

"Wait."

He slows but doesn't stop.

"No, no we're very close."

He's not going to stop she realizes, and she knows she's going to have to say more if she wants to see his face because he's just as stubborn here as he was there.

"Rumpelstiltskin … wait."

He freezes back suddenly rigid and turns to her. He's human she realizes, from the tiny crow's feet at the corners of his eyes to his peachy flesh. He's looking at her in disbelief as if someone's playing a cruel joke on him and she realizes that she still needs to say more. She takes the distance between them on hesitant feet before speaking.

"I-I remember."

There's a light that's beginning to take root in his eyes that wasn't there moments ago and it's that light that gives her the courage to take the last few steps and to speak.

"I love you."

His lips turn up in one of the most heartbreaking smiles she has ever seen and she doesn't hesitate in wrapping her arms around him. He rocks them side to side slightly and she thinks she feels tears hit her coat but she isn't going to break away to find out because she loved being in his arms and immersed in the sent that is Rumpelstiltskin something resembling the earth but not.

"Yes, yes and I love you too."

She's always known it - True love's kiss wouldn't have even begun to work If he hadn't loved her too - but hearing him say it - actually hearing it - made her smile into his shoulder.

It is Rumpelstiltskin who breaks away first though his hand lingers on her cheek and his eyes tell her that he was oh so happy. It makes her feel practically giddy.

"But hey, there'll be time for that; there'll be time for everything. But first there's something I must do."

He turns but not before looking her over as if to make sure she was really here. It makes her warm and she feels her cheeks flush. He leads her up and over a bank before stopping in front of what appeared to be a well.

"W-what is this?"

"This is a very special place Belle, - " she loves the way her name rolls of his tongue through his thick accent. " - The waters that run below are said to have the powers to return that which one has lost."

He walks up to the well and she watches and follows her brow furrowed. He pulls a glass vial out of his pocket filled with something pink and smokey before dropping it into the well. Almost instantly the water begins to bubble and fizz as the pink smoke begins to fill the area before spreading out even further.

Her stomach fills with dread, whatever this smoke was it didn't look good, it looked dangerous and scary and it worried her greatly.

"I-I don't understand."

"We're in a land without magic Belle. I'm bringing magic back to this world."

"W-why?"

He grins and steps a step closer to her.

"Because magic is power."

Her stomach sinks and she wants to cry. He hadn't changed; he was making the same mistake over again.

A single tear slides from her eye.

A clock turns.

And an Evil Queen smiles.