Chapter Text
Belle was used to Rumpel’s comings and goings, always somewhere she hadn’t heard of at a time that was downright ridiculous. She had stopped questioning it though, somewhere along the way. Her curiosity was generally satisfied by where and when, perhaps what for if he was willing, she let him come and go without harassment.
It was one of these days, being alone was such a dull thing in Rumpelstiltskin’s ‘Dark Castle’ that was actually no darker than an attic or linen closet, that she was lead to investigate the small tower at the back of the castle. Being alone lead to boredom and the general practice of breaking things that she would clean up and then brush away before he noticed. She was tied with him for a 1-1 ratio of noticing so far.
The small tower at the back of the castle was the only tower that was level with the forest behind the garden. Her tower, the one with her library, was about three times the size. It made her wonder just what could be kept in such a little room…
She hurried up the steps, mindful of the hem of her dress, and grinned as she did so. Rumpelstiltskin was gone to Agrabah or somewhere similar, she couldn’t remember the exact pronunciation, and he wasn’t going to be back for a solid week. She would have so much time to explore, and she couldn’t wait.
The top of the stairs held a small door, about her size but perhaps a little smaller because she had to duck to open it or she would have hit her head on the ceiling. The wood was flat, smooth, and warm the the touch. She grasped the metal knocker and yanked, the door swung open and if she hadn’t been hanging onto it, she would have fallen down the stairs.
Glancing below her, down the winding staircase that would surely kill her if she fell down it, she sighed. She swung herself inside the room with a smile and took in the various features. It was small, as she thought, with little nicknacks held in shelving units. It looked to be nothing more than a storage room.
She huffed a sigh of impatience, no room was ever just a storage room when it came to Rumpelstiltskin. She looked through the different items, some she knew to be magical because ‘How could they not be?’ and others she was sure were normal enough to pick up without her triggering them. She picked up a small snow globe.
It was small, about the size of her palm, and it had a mini version of the castle inside it. The only thing different was the door were open and the curtains drawn in the middle of the winter snow. While she liked light in the castle, she wasn’t dumb enough to open the curtains in winter.
A green light flashed inside the snow-globe and, in her fright, she dropped it. It shattered agains the floor and she had to wonder if she had finally broken something important.
“Oi, what was that for miss?” Came a voice from behind her, it had an accent that was unmistakable from the little kingdom that boarded her father’s territory. As she turned to look, she was surprised with a boy, about fourteen she would say, with a wide grin and bright eyes, “Didn’t scare ya did I?”
“Oh, Um,” Belle cleared her throat, “I’m sorry, who are you?” she glanced towards the mess on the floor and sighed, “And I need to clean that up so, if you’ll excuse me and escort yourself downstairs, I’ll be right with you,”
The boy nodded, “As you wish ma’am, I know better than to disobey a lady,”
Then he was downstairs and she was grabbing something that resembled a broom and sweeping the glass into something that resembled a dustbin. She dumped the whole concoction into something that resembled a box that she was sure Rumpelstiltskin wouldn’t look inside.
When she was finally downstairs, the boy was smiling at her in a cheerful manner, “I’m sorry to intrude upon you ma’am… but I was wondering whether you wanted to be a mother. Though since you broke my portal, I don’t see how Pan is going to get both of us,”
Slightly stunned, “A mother?” She felt dizzy.
The boy caught her elbow, “Now, now, Miss. As I said, I was only going to propose it, warn you against it, and then be on my way. I wasn’t going to force the issue, in fact I’m rather glad I can’t carry out my orders,”
“Who are you?” Belle spoke with incredulous, wincing at her own tone and sighing, “I’m sorry, you just startled me,”
“Oh I’m sorry Ma’am, I do that to most people apparently. It’s in my nature I’ve been told, it’s why Pan uses me,” The boy sat her down at the only chair in the main hall and then scurried off and she had to wonder where he was going. He came back a few moments later with a bowl of water and a clothe.
“Your hand ma’am?” He tilted his head and held out one of his own hands.
Belle looked at him curiously, “Hmm?”
“Your hand is bleeding ma’am, let me at least bind it for you,” He giggled something between Rumpelstiltskin’s giggle and a normal one, not quite either.
She glanced down at her hand and let her mouth make a ‘o’, “I didn’t even feel it,”
“I think my portal is magic, rather than doing magic, so that means that it doesn’t hurt. Think about it, magic, unless cast with intent, is useless. Formless, shapeless. Since portals don’t have intent, it doesn’t hurt you to be cut with it,” He grabbed her hand once she held it out and began to dab at the cut on her hand, it didn’t sting.
“What?” Belle managed to ask as she looked into his eyes… they were so familiar…
“There are two types of magic. To be magic and to use magic. Each had different properties. To be magic is such as portals, blessings, curses. To cast magic is spells and intent. To hurt, you need intent. You need to cast magic. You aren’t hurt yes?”
She nodded, dimly aware that his eyes had gold flecks in them that danced as he spoke.
“So that means you were cut by magic, to be magic magic specifically. Formless portal magic can’t hurt,” He grinned at her, “Or so that’s what I’ve been taught,”
She nodded, “Oh,”
“There we go Ma’am! All better,” He gave her back her hand, patting it with his own calloused one that should not have seen more work than hers.
“You’re a worker,” She smiled, “What do you do?”
“Oh… Well,” He grew quiet, a chair appeared as he looked to the ceiling, “Thank you,” He sat, “Well I used to spin, my papa said I was really good… but… he died and mama didn’t want me to spin anymore. Pan took me in and let me spin all I want! He says I’m good at repairing clothes,” The boy’s smile was contagious and she smiled even as her heart tugged at the sadness behind his eyes.
“That’s nice… Oh!” Belle’s eyes widened for a second, registering that she needed get the little boy’s name, “What am I to call you? My little spinning healer perhaps?” She teased.
The boy laughed, “No Ma’am, I’m just a lost boy. I don’t give out my name unless Pan orders me too… but…,” The boy bit his lip, “You are lonely here aren’t you?”
She felt her breath shudder, felt the bob of pain in her throat, “What makes you say that?”
“You were exploring a room full of explosive magical objects,” His eyes met hers and she finally realized why they looked so familiar.
“Are you related to Rumpelstiltskin?” She blurted out, instantly regretting her words when his eyes widened and a noise came out of the back of his throat that sounded like a cackle.
“Related? Why, Ma’am, I am Rumpelstiltskin. The famous coward’s son! I prefer to be a spinner’s son but… well my village was cruel. You’ve heard of me I take it?”
“Did you have someone curse you or something?” Belle sighed and took in the boy’s appearance, he was dirty and his clothes were torn, “I have enough trouble keeping the castle clean when you’re an adult let alone a child. Come along then,”
Then Belle was standing up and dragging the boy by his ear, “Time to go visit your emergency ‘If I come back different list’. I swear. This is the third time this month Rumpelstiltskin. You could at least give me some warning that you were in this kind of danger,”
“Ow! Ma’am?” The boy whined and whimpered as she dragged him out the main hall and up the stairs, “Ma’am what in the world are you talking about?”
“Not now. This was hard enough last time when you were a dragon,”
“MA’AM” He twisted out her of grasp when they reached the floor she was going for, “Ma’am I am not different than I usually am and I request that you don’t change me,” He glared at
her and brushed off his clothes, “I like the way I look,”
She stopped in her tracks and stared at him, “You can’t be Rumpelstiltskin,”
His brow furrowed, “Why?”
“No reason,” She quickly answered, sighing, “So you just think you’re Rumpelstiltskin,”
“Ma’am, I assure you, I am Rumpelstiltskin,”The boy seemed agitated now, probably because she had been pulling him around by his ear but she couldn’t really be blamed for how
many times Rumpelstiltskin has shown up in a different form on their… her… his own?… doorstep.
“Prove it,”
The boy blinked at her, “How would you like me to do that?”
“Spin something,”
It was a few minutes later that the boy was handing her a string of thread, not gold, and she knew then that he was indeed Rumpelstiltskin.
“You spin the exact same quality as him,” She breathed out a sigh, “Oh this is so confusing. Are you from some alternate world or something? I’ve had that happen to and it…” She blushed and swallowed, “I’m sending you right back if that’s it,”
The boy shook his head and laughed, “Nope! I believe,” The boy walked over to the curtains and flung them open, he pointed at the stars, “Yup! I’m about 300 years in the future. I must have made quite the impression when I was in my time if you know about me!”
He grinned cheekily, “Keep an eye on the second star to the right eh?”
Then a swirling green vortex opened, and he jumped inside, “Goodbye My Lady, I rather like you,”
He was gone and Belle could only sigh, mumbling about how many times she’d dealt with Rumpelstiltskin and his oddities.