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They called it the Garden of Earthly Delights, but Belle would always remember it as the place where she almost lost Rumplestiltskin. She’d read about it, of course—there were four books in the library Rumple had given her, beautifully detailed works of literature chock full of colorful etchings which made the place seem like heaven itself—but nothing could have prepared her for what actually happened. Nothing at all.
“You can save him,” the gnome told her, his beard formed of icicles and big feet right on the edge of the portal that had brutally sucked Rumplestiltskin’s power away until the gnome stopped it, leaving her employer just a husk of himself, shaking and whimpering helplessly.
“Me?” Belle squeaked, kneeling next to Rumplestiltskin and not noticing the way the cold ground seeped through her skirt. “How? I don’t have dark magic. I don’t have magic at all, and—”
“Love itself is powerful magic,” the Barbegazi gnome—for that was what he was, this Guardian of the Garden—said solemnly. “And you love this Dark One as no Dark One has ever been loved before.”
Love. She had never dared form the word in her mind, not even subconsciously. Belle refused to be one of those desperate women who pined for something they could not have, yet she wanted to love Rumplestiltskin. She had been in his castle for months now, growing closer to him, and she had long since admitted to herself that he was a good friend. Deep in her heart, however, she knew that she wanted more than that. She had for some time. Love. The Barbegazi believed that she loved Rumplestiltskin. Was that why her heart raced so painfully?
“I can save him, then?” she whispered, not daring to repeat the word. Saying it aloud would make it real, and Belle was not sure if Rumplestiltskin was even capable of loving her in return.
“What will you give to save him?” was the quiet response.
Belle answered without thinking: “Anything.”
The gnome blinked.
It had started an hour earlier. Belle had been a little surprised when Rumplestiltskin invited her along on this trip. He’d said something about needing to conduct a deal, and then casually mentioned that she might visit the Garden of Earthly Delights. And, of course Belle had just been reading a book about said garden (from the library he’d given her, a thought that still made a delightful chill run up her spine) which he suddenly seemed to ‘notice’. His little act didn’t fool her for a moment, but Belle was happy enough to play along with his charade. Any opportunity to leave the castle was a welcome one. There were so few of those, and Belle treasured every one.
So, she’d happily tagged along with Rumplestiltskin, smiling when he dropped her off at the gates to the Garden and burying herself in the beauty and the amazing history of the place. Everywhere she looked, something else caught her eye: fountains, flowers, climbing vines and beautifully sculpted garden gnomes. After wandering for a long while, Belle found herself in front of a beautiful swirling mirror of something that looked like liquid glass. That was where Rumplestiltskin joined her, and that was where everything went wrong. No sooner had he stopped next to her than the magic of the mirror—or the portal, as Belle later found out it was—started sucking the darkness straight out of Rumplestiltskin, making him collapse and convulse, clearly in too much pain to even scream. The color tore out of his features almost immediately, his skin going paper-thin and losing its luster. He shook and jerked, and Belle could see the power draining out of him…and with it, his life.
“Anything?” the Barbegazi now asked, staring at her curiously.
“What must I do?” Belle demanded, moving to cradle Rumplestiltskin in her arms. She felt so cold, so terrified of losing him. Was this what love felt like? She felt like her heart was being torn into pieces, like her world was going to end. Love? Rumplestiltskin had become her friend, but could there be more?
She couldn’t lose him. She couldn’t.
“Tell me what I have to give,” she continued when the gnome said nothing.
What would he demand? Her life? Her soul, if such a thing could be given? What would it take to save Rumplestiltskin? Belle could not contemplate not paying such a price, whatever it was.
“The tears of a lover are some of the most powerful magic,” the Barbegazi finally answered.
“But we’re not—”
“No. But you will be.”
That made Belle’s heart leap. The sudden flare of hope was irrational, particularly if Rumplestiltskin was dying, but did that mean they had a future? That he might feel for her something like she felt for him? That was impossible. Wasn’t it?
“Tell me what to do!”
“You already are,” said the Guardian, gesturing at her face. And there were tears streaming down her cheeks, rolling freely along Belle’s face and dripping onto Rumplestiltskin. Even as she looked down, two of them landed on his left cheek, sizzling slightly when they hit. He twitched, seemingly in pain, but his convulsions slowed a little. Belle stared at him helplessly, her chest tight and breathing hard. But it wasn’t doing enough. Rumplestiltskin was still whimpering softly, the sounds almost too quiet for her to hear.
“Surely there must be more I can…” Looking up, Belle trailed off. The Guardian was gone, and even though she looked left, right, and everywhere she could think of, she could not see him. “Come back!”
No one answered her cry, so she just looked down at Rumplestiltskin again, her tears beginning to come harder.
“Don’t leave me,” Belle whispered. “I know I came with you for a deal, but it’s more than that, now, isn’t it? If I was just a deal, you would have let that horrible sheriff have me, and you’d never have given me a library. And…and I don’t want to be just your servant.” Her voice hitched painfully. “I know you can’t hear me, but I don’t want to lose you. Please, Rumple.”
Nothing happened, and Belle tried to swallow back the urge to sob. She failed.
“I can’t lose you,” she cried. “Not now. Not when I—”
Belle couldn’t bring herself to finish. However, hot tears continued rolling down her face, continued dripping onto Rumplestiltskin. Her vision might have been too blurred for her to notice the difference, but his color was slowly beginning to return as the magic did its work. The Barbegazi might never have spoken the words True Love, but then, he hadn’t had to. The portal was constructed to protect the Garden from evils like the Dark One, but there was a catch: someone so loved could not be evil enough to be a threat. So, slowly, Belle’s tears brought Rumplestiltskin back, darkness and all.
Rumplestiltskin blinked his way into consciousness, surprised to find a face just inches from his own. “Belle…?” he croaked, and her beautiful features creased into a huge smile.
“You’re awake!”
“You…” He felt fine. Well, not fine, but whole again, which was a big improvement off of how he’d felt while that magic-sucking portal drained the dark magic out of him, ripping his body and soul into shreds. Somehow, he knew that she’d saved him. Something had happened while he drifted and whimpered, but he couldn’t quite remember what. “You saved me,” the Dark One whispered to his maid. “What did you do?”
“Cried,” she replied with a helpless shrug.
That made him blink. “Cried?”
“I didn’t do anything,” Belle replied, sounding confused. “I just cried.”
She couldn’t know that tears held amazing power, so long as the one weeping cared for the person they were weeping for. She cares about me? The thought came unbidden. Rumplestiltskin had saved her from wolves and she had patched him up with surprising care, but for her tears to heal him, to heal the Dark One, she had to feel deeply for him. He had known for some time that his feelings for Belle were no longer so safe or platonic, but he was a monster. She could never love him the way he had come to love her.
Yet Belle cared. That much was obvious. Even if she just thought of him as a friend (a friend who earned wonderful hugs from time to time, who was worth laughing with and teasing and, oh he was so far gone), that was more affection than he had felt in centuries. For her tears to heal him, Belle had to genuinely feel something for the terrible monster who had acquired her in a deal.
No more. He couldn’t do this anymore. He had to let her go.
Tomorrow, Rumplestiltskin promised himself. I’ll send her to get straw and never see her again. It might break my heart, but if you love someone…you have to let them go.