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Chapter Text

Belle looked at her husband's sleeping figure. It had been a few hours since he collapsed and yet he hadn't moved nor reacted for the whole night. She hadn't slept at all herself to stay by his side taking care of him and now she could feel her eyes closing and her head heavy. "Come on wake up..." she whispered placing a gentle kiss on Rumple's forehead.

Why wasn't her true love's kiss working?

Maybe it wasn't true love anymore?

Had everything they had been through weakened their love forever?

"Good morning mrs Gold" a tired voice spoke from behind her shoulder. The woman looked at the old man standing by the hospital room's door. He was the apprentice who had the very bad look of someone who hadn't slept for days. "Oh hello, how are you feeling now?" she asked a bit worried. The man smiled and walked next to her. "I feel better thank you, that dark magic was a tough one but I managed to fight it in the end" he said. Belle sighed in relief. "I will never thank you enough apprentice, you saved Rumple even after what he did to you" The old man smiled again. "There's no need to thank me, I helped him because I wanted to, it wouldn't have been very hero like to let him die and besides that..." he paused and looked at Rumple with a sad expression in his eyes. "I felt his pain..." he said. Belle was silent. She had felt his pain too but she felt it way too late. "Anyway I came to check on him, did he have any sort of reaction yet?" the man said eyeing the comatose man. "He didn't do anything... he just... kept sleeping... talking to him didn't have any effect neither..." Not even kissing him had been enough. The apprentice looked thoughtful. "I see" he said. Belle felt really tired and defeated, maybe their love really wasn't strong enough anymore and she should have just accepted it.

"Belle!" The Blue Fairy's voice made them both jump and turn around. "Oh hello" Belle greeted. "Belle, the group is leaving to search for Emma and I think you should go with them" she said with a smile. Belle blinked in confusion. "Your knowledge would be very useful to them" Belle took Rumple's hand and gently squeezed it. "But... but... Rumple is..." The Blue Fairy sighed. "I know Belle but you can't do much for him right now and I know you could make the difference in Emma's research" The apprentice coughed in irritation. "Maybe you shouldn't pressure mrs Gold to leave, this man right here needs her much more than the Saviour does!" The blue fairy shot him an offended glare. "As I said, she can't do anything for him at the moment! Not even us fairies know what to do" she said. "Then there’s one more reason why she should stay!" the old man said. Belle decided she have had enough. "Fine! I'm going to help Emma!" Blue smiled while the apprentice looked displeased. "Are you sure? You shouldn't feel pressured” Belle gave him a smile. "I'm not feeling pressured" that was partially a lie but she knew she couldn't do anything for Rumple by sitting at his bedside and crying all day. "I'm going with them and maybe I'll find something to fix this mess" she whispered at the apprentice. The old men nodded. "I guess it's the best choice after all"

Blue finally left the room and Belle grabbed the old man's hands. "I know I shouldn’t be asking you this but please look after him! I know for sure that no one in this town would care to keep him safe and..." The man squeezed her hands back and she calmed down. "Mrs Gold it's ok, I'll look after him don’t worry" Belle smiled at him and dried a little tear from her eye. That man was truly one of the kindest souls she had ever met and she felt like she could have trusted him. "Thank you and you can call me Belle" she said. The apprentice nodded. "Right, Belle"

She thanked him another ten times before realising she had to hurry. Belle walked back at Rumple's bedside and kneeled down next to him. "Rumple..." she started before realising she didn't know what to say. She had already told him everything she needed him to know. She leaned over him and placed another gentle kiss on his forehead. "Be good while I'm gone, I'll find a way to wake you up I promise" She got up and without looking back she left Rumple's room.

Chapter Text

What a curious thing...

The group had chosen Granny's diner as a means of transport for the kingdom of Camelot where Belle hoped to find a cure for Rumple, all was going well until Emma decided to show up and save them the effort to search for her. She was different, her hair were white and was wearing a black dress but the strangest thing that Belle noticed was that they were all dressed up in Enchanted Forest clothes. She couldn't remember a thing though. Turned out they had lost their memories again and they had been away for a month. Where? Well obviously in Camelot but who knew if that trip had been profitable... Belle immediately thought about Rumple and panicked, she ran to the hospital as fast as she could not caring about all the Charmings drama. The Dark Emma issue could have waited a little longer.

As she entered the room she was happy to see that Rumple was still there, asleep on the bed with the apprentice sitting at his bedside with a very tired expression on his face. "Belle!" the man greeted her getting up from his seat. She ran at Rumple's bedside and placed her hand on his head. "Rumple!" she called. Could he hear her? Please, there must have been some change in his conditions. The apprentice placed a comforting hand on her shoulder. "Relax Belle, he's still with us, he didn't get better but he didn't get worse neither" the old man said. Belle sighed, of course. She gently ran her fingers through his hair. It was still as soft as she remembered.

How long had it been since she had touched him? For how long she had been away?

"I'm sorry, I couldn't find anything useful in Camelot and if I happened to find it I can't remember anything..." she said. "What happened exactly?" the apprentice asked from behind her. "I don't really know... apparently I have lost all my memories of this trip and the others did as well" the apprentice nodded. "I see... do you have any ideas of how that happened?" Belle shook her head. "Not really but I believe Emma has something to do with it, she's the dark one now after all" she said.

Belle kept stroking Rumple's hair as he kept sleeping, he looked so innocent almost like he was peacefully asleep and not in a coma... she didn't know what was happening but she knew one thing, Emma would have had to pass over her dead body before she could harm her husband. She clenched her fists. "I'll... I'll protect you..." she whispered to his ear. "That's bad... we don't know what she could do with all that power if only... if only Merlin was here" Belle looked at him. "Merlin?" She had already heard that name. But where?

Maybe she had read about him in one of her books?

"I used to be his apprentice, he is a powerful sorcerer but unfortunately for us I don't know where he is" Belle stopped playing with Rumple's hair and got up from his bedside. "Do you think he could help us with..." she gestured at her husband. The apprentice looked at her and thought for a moment. "He knows a lot of things after, if there is anyone who can help your husband it's him... but as I said I don't know where he is..." Belle felt hopeless, she hated that she didn't remember! Anything could have happened in Camelot, they could have even met Merlin himself for all she knew!

She walked back to Rumple and sat at his bedside again. "I have to do something for him..." she whispered feeling the tears in her eyes. "I can't leave him like this" The apprentice gave her a sympathetic smile. "I know and I would do anything to help you but..."

"Belle! Here you are!" this time it was Mary Margaret who called for her. Belle looked up at the woman as she did her best to not cry in front of her. "Belle you have to help us with all the people coming from Camelot!" She frowned. "The people from Camelot?" Mary Margaret nodded. "Yes! They arrived here with us we don't know how!" Belle's jaw dropped. "Ah! That's interesting!" the apprentice commented. "I know you are busy at the moment but..." Mary Margaret started as she looked at Rumple worryingly. "You are one of us, you lost your memory like we did so I think it could help a lot if you talk to them too..." Belle nodded and Mary Margaret left.

She didn't really want to follow her, she didn't want to leave Rumple again. "You know I think we should both go with her" Belle looked up at the old man and frowned. "Uh? Weren't you the one who told me..." the apprentice nodded. "I know but the people from Camelot could remember what happened to you there and they could know something about Merlin too..." Belle frowned. "Let's say that Merlin and the kingdom of Camelot are connected... he helped the king building it" the apprentice said. "And if king Arthur is among them..." Belle's eyes widened. "He may know where Merlin is!" With a newfound hope Belle gave Rumple a gentle pat on the head. "I know it's the second time I leave you here all alone dear but this time it's really important all right?" she spoke to him as he could hear her. She gave him an apologetic smile. "Don't worry I'll be back in an instant" she pecked him on the forehead and after a last look at Rumple she left the room.

A few minutes later she was out in the streets. She was moving so fast that she wasn't even paying attention to the people around her so she kept running until she ended up colliding with a body. "Oh sorry!" The man she bumped into was a rather good looking person with dark skin and gentle eyes. "Oh don't be miss" the man said. Since Belle was really in a hurry she quickly apologised again and kept running leaving the man behind. She was sure she had never seen him in town but maybe she was mistaken after all she couldn't knew anyone there.

When she finally arrived at granny's she found it full of strangers all dressed in fancy and definitely antiquated clothes. "Are those from..." she started. "Camelot, yes sister" Leroy answered from behind her. "Granny's diner has never been this popular" he added with a grin. "Leroy I need to speak to the king, do you know who he is?" Belle asked scanning everyone. "Yes he's over there" he pointed out a man with dark hair and beard talking to David and looking more confused than ever. "Thank you Leroy!" She pushed her way through the crowd and tried to reach the king but he was too busy talking and the people on her way were too many. "Excuse me your majesty..." but she was soon pushed back to Leroy. "I don't think he will listen to you sister, he just found himself transported into an unknown place, he has to look after his people now" he said. Belle was about to protest but then she realised Leroy was right. She couldn't keep a king from doing his duty, his people needed him just like Rumple needed her. The only difference was that she had left him all alone for a month just to follow the others in a mission which had ended up being completely useless.

She left Granny's and ran back to the hospital, she was too down to care about Merlin or anyone else at the moment, she just would have found Merlin by herself, maybe he was there too. As soon as she was back into Rumple's room she jumped in surprise as she recognised the man she had met in the street, he was kneeling over her husband with a worried expression on his face. "Uuuh how can I help you sir?" Belle asked. The man turned around and the lines of his face softened as he looked at her. "Ah you are the woman from before!" he said. Belle gave him an awkward smile. He must have noticed her worried expression because he immediately stepped back from Rumple.

"Do you happen to know this man?" he asked in a gentle tone. Belle nodded. "Yes, I'm his wife and you are?" the man gasped. "Oh, I'm so sorry! I'm Merlin" Belle almost fainted on the spot. "Merlin!" The apprentice had appeared next to her and was looking at the man with wide eyes. The old man walked towards him and took his hand. "Oh you are here too! I'm so glad!" Merlin said smiling. After an endless exchange of greetings both men seemed to remember Belle was there too. "Belle this is the sorcerer I was talking about, Merlin" the apprentice said. Belle moved closer to the younger man. "So you can help me?" Merlin smiled and looked down at Rumple. "I guess we are talking about him" Belle nodded but couldn't talk to him so the apprentice stepped up. "He was the previous dark one and after centuries his heart was killing him so I..." he seemed unsure about continuing. Merlin kneeled over Rumple and studied him with curiosity. "I removed all the darkness from his heart... it fled out of him and inside another person... basically, it's my fault we are in this mess" Belle was about to reassure him but Merlin spoke before her. "Why are you saying this? You saw a man in distress and you helped him... I don't see the issue with that" The old man sighed. "I should have been more careful though"

Merlin finally straightened up and walked to the older man. "Don't say this, you did what you thought it was right" he said then assumed a thoughtful expression. "So, we'll have to help this unfortunate man and take care of the new dark one..." Belle looked at Merlin with apprehension. "The latter is an issue yes, but I think we should help this man first" he said pointing to Rumple. "First of all because he's in a coma, not a good situation for him to be in and secondly because he is a former dark one so he's the only one to know its secrets" Belle walked back to Rumple's bedside. "I should tell the others" the apprentice said walking out of the room. Belle would have liked to stop him, she didn't need all those people rushing into Rumple's hospital room, she knew he wouldn't have liked it but in the end it wasn't fair for her to keep Merlin a secret. They were worried about a loved one just like her, if the roles were reversed she wouldn't have liked that behaviour from the Charmings.

"What's your name?" Merlin asked. "I'm Belle and this one here is Rumplestilskin..." Merlin nodded. "I know him... he was a little more... scaly when I have last seen him, quite an interesting fellow" the sorcerer said. Belle knew very well what he meant when he said he knew him. "Tell me Belle, do you love him?" Merlin asked. Belle was a bit caught off guard by that question and didn't know how to answer. "I... I think..." she stuttered. "You have to be more confident" Merlin said frowning. "I don't know... we had a fight and..." the frown disappeared from Merlin's face. "The fact you had a fight doesn't mean it isn't true love anymore, this is the most powerful magic of all and it can't fade so easily" Belle smiled, he sounded like Rumple. "True love it's forever, it's something deeper than some incomprehension" Belle closed her eyes. She loved him, she loved him more than anyone else in the world so why was she hesitating then?

"Yes" she said. "I don't know if he loves me back though" she added. "Why do you say that?" he asked. "Because I betrayed him, I used the dagger on him to banish him from Storybrooke... I was hurt that he lied to me and I wasn't thinking straight..." Merlin shook his head. "I don't know what happened exactly and I think it's not important at the moment because if you look deep down inside your heart and you manage to forgive him for his mistakes... I'm sure he will forgive yours too" Merlin said.

"Just go for it Belle" he said in the kindest tone.

Belle looked at his husband's sleeping face. "Oh, Rumple..." She took a deep breath. "I love you, I love you so much" she said and then pressed her lips on his. There was a bright ray of light coming from them and then a gust of wind, Belle's lips parted from Rumple's and she looked down at him.

Rumple's stirred a little and then opened his eyes. "Hey" Belle said through tears. She reached out her hand and caressed his hair feeling its softness on her skin again. He was awake! Rumple wasn't talking, he looked a little confused but Belle interpreted that as him being still a little sleepy and confused. "It's ok, it's me Belle" she said. "Belle?" he finally asked. "Yes" He started flinching under her touch, like he wanted her to stop. "What's the matter?" Belle asked. "I... I don't know you..." he whispered it but Belle heard it clearly.

"Belle! Is Merlin actually here?" In less than a moment the room was filled with people both family and strangers from Camelot. Merlin jumped on the spot while Rumple pulled back afraid of all those strangers coming at him at once. Belle instinctively wrapped her arms around him to which he did not rebel. "Where is Merlin?" Charming asked and then his eyes widened as he saw Rumple. Everyone went silent and looked at him. Belle held Rumple's trembling body closer to her. "Yes I'm Merlin, who are you kind sir?" the sorcerer spoke to Charming. Belle was grateful he took all the attention on him, she felt like he did that on purpose to let them breathe a little.

She immediately took advantage of the situation to talk to Rumple. "Hey" she said. Rumple flinched but didn't answer. "You don't recognise me?" She watched the man nodding next to her. "All right" Belle did her best to remain calm but that was kinda upsetting. "I'll fix this" she said holding the man close to her. In the meantime Merlin had managed to lead the crowd out of the room and the apprentice had entered. "I'm sorry, I tried to stop them" he said. He looked at Rumple who stared at him back with wide eyes. "Oh, hello sir" the apprentice greeted politely. He must have got there was something off with him. "How do you feel?" he asked. Rumple didn't answer. "Apparently he doesn't remember me..." Belle said. The apprentice sighed. "Ah as I feared" Belle frowned at him. "You knew and you didn't tell me?" the old man looked sad. "I wasn't certain it would have actually happened and I didn't want to stress you more than you already were" Belle took a deep breath, she couldn't stay mad at him, he had saved Rumple's life after all. "Yeah, I know, you did nothing wrong" she gave him a small smile.

"Uhm sorry" Rumple said. "Yes?" Belle tried to keep her smile as reassuring as possible. "Where are we exactly?" he asked and then flinched again as Dr Whale entered the room in a hurry. "He woke up? I'm sorry I wasn't able to come sooner with all the mess going on downstairs" he said. "Yes doctor but..." A moment later Whale was stretching his hand out to touch Rumple who grabbed Belle's arm so tightly it hurt. "Who are you? Don't touch me!" the man shouted. Dr Whale stopped and gave Belle a questioning look.

Belle quickly explained Rumple's situation to him as she ran her fingers through her husband's hair in a desperate attempt to calm him down. "Oh I see, it could be some sort of collateral effect..." he tried to reach out his hand again but Rumple kept getting stiff and clinging to Belle. "I... I have to check on you mr Gold" the man said a little uncomfortable. "Go away you weird individual!" the man shouted. "Weird individual?" the doctor looked confused.

The apprentice approached them. "I think you should try to convince him to stay calm Belle, it looks like he naturally feels safer with you" the old man said. Belle turned towards her husband who was still shaking and looking around anxiously like a stray cat ready to jump at any moment. "Rumple..." She caressed his hair again. "This person is a doctor, he wants to help you..." Rumple frowned. "Why? I'm not sick!" he replied anxiously. "Yes you are, in a way" Belle said calmly. She kept stroking his hair, that seemed to calm him down a little. "Just let him help you ok?" Rumple lowered his eyes, he looked so tired and scared that made Belle's heart ache. Was him like that when he had that heart attack, when she wasn't with him? "I... don't..." Belle noticed he was leaning all his weight on her so she gently laid him back on the pillow and turned around to face Dr Whale. "Doctor quick!" she whispered. Whale examined him, he also ordered a few more in-depth analysis to understand what was wrong with him but in the end there wasn't any physical problems causing his strange memory loss, it was in fact, as Belle had feared, a magical thing.

Chapter Text

Rumple woke up with a start. His sleep was restless and filled with nightmares, his son being dragged away from him to go fight the orges and him unable to do anything else than watch him go.

"Bae!" he called. All around him was dark and he felt scared. "Bae!" he shouted again. "Rumple please calm down" a gentle hand moved to caress his damp forehead. He looked at the kind woman he had seen when he woke up earlier... so that wasn't a dream. She had turned a light on... a really weird one... The room all around him was white and there were a few things attached to his arms and chest. Weird. "Bad dreams?" she asked in her kind tone. "Who are you?" The woman's eyes saddened. "Well, I'm... your wife Rumple" she said nervously playing with the sheets on his bed.

"My wife? But she is... was Milah" The woman's gaze became even sadder. She shook her head. "No no... you just don't remember..." Rumple didn't really know what to think. "You know my name but I don't remember you..." but then it hit him. "Bae! I have to leave! They will take him away from me!" He moved on the bed but was stopped by the woman's firm hands. "No don't move!" she said. "Let me go! It's the most important person in my life, I can't lose him!" he yelled trying to set himself free from her grasp. A sharp pain in his bad ankle made him stop fighting and couldn't do much more than sit still on the bed. The woman took the opportunity to push him back down. "No stop! Bae! Bae is in danger..." he said, but he still didn't have the strength to fight back."It's ok it's ok you'll be fine" the woman reassured him.

She started stroking his hair and Rumple started feel a bit better. That felt nice. A gentle touch he hadn't felt in years, not even Milah had been that affectionate with him. "I..." he tried to speak but the woman stopped him. "Don't talk... you'll be fine" she said. Rumple tried his best to keep his eyes focused on her face. Her beautiful face. "What's your name?" he asked with his last bit of energy. "I'm Belle..." she thought for a moment then smiled. "Belle Gold" What a curious name she had.

Belle Gold

He fell asleep immediately after this. When he woke up again the room was now illuminated by the sunlight and he felt a little more rested than before. Belle was still there, sleeping with her head resting on his stomach. Milah had never been like that, even after he went home with a broken ankle, when he was burning from fever and his wound hurt she just ignored him or even if she gave him a bit of comfort she was never at his bedside when he woke up. He reached out his hand and tried to touch her but then he stopped, that woman wasn't really his wife, how could she have been? Then he remembered Bae. Where was he? He moved a bit and that caused Belle to wake up. "Uh? Oh good morning Rumple" she said smiling. "I need to see Bae! Please tell me where he is!" the woman's gaze immediately returned to be sad. "Rumple, you are not in danger and your son is neither" How did she know he was his son? Did he tell her? He couldn't remember. She sighed and straightened on her chair. "No one is coming to take him or you, no one is going to hurt you" she repeated. "You are going to be fine"

He didn't care if he was going to be fine or not, he just wanted his son to be safe. "But... but Bae... where is he?" he stuttered. Her eyes were wet. Was she crying? "Bae is fine now" she said. He didn't understand at first but then she started sobbing and he finally got it. "You... you... how that happened?" he asked as he felt his own eyes full of tears. "Many things happened Rumple... you aren't the spinner you used to be anymore..." she said through tears. "You were cursed, you became the dark one, you created a spell that brought us here in this new land... you did that to find your son and you found him... you found him Rumple" she had placed her hands on both his cheeks. Rumple was silent. "You found him but he died, he died like a true hero to save us, to save you" Rumple didn't really get it and he couldn't do much more than keep crying, his son was dead. "I won't see him ever again" he sobbed. "No no you did see him again my dear! He said he loved you, he has always loved you so much!"

Belle grabbed him and pulled him closer to her again. "I am your wife, you married me and I love you very much, I'll help you regain those memories" she said. "I married you?" He was so confused and also incredibly hurt. "You lost your memory, you think you are Rumplestilskin the spinner but you aren't, not anymore" she said. "Who am I then?" he asked in a whisper. Belle held him tighter. "There will be time for that, for now I'm glad you are awake, you have made me so worried Rumple you have been in a coma for one month" Rumple's eyes widened. "A month?" Belle bit her lip like she regretted telling him that. "Yes dear but look at you" she placed a hand on his forehead. "You are burning up I shouldn't have make you so nervous" she said.

Rumple wanted to know more, he had been given too much information to assimilate everything at once. "Belle..." he grabbed her hand before she could get up. "Rumple..." it was all new for him but she was the only comforting presence. "Don't go" he pleaded. "I won't, I just need to call the doctor ok? Because you are sick" Rumple panicked. "No... stay here" She leaned over him and planted a kiss on his forehead. "You really are burning up, stay here, I'll be back I promise you" Rumple was too weak to fight and he let her go.

A minute later she was back in the room with that weird doctor of the day before. She came back sitting next to him and he clinged at her like his life depended on it. "Mr Gold, Belle told me you were sick" he stretched out his hand but then stopped. "May I?" he asked politely. Rumple was hesitant but in the end nodded, the man moved to feel his forehead and then his pulse. He watched him taking a strange thin object out of a small box from his pocket and brought it closer to his face. "Open your mouth please" he said. Rumple wasn't sure he understood that request correctly but he did as requested. He winced when the man placed that thing in his mouth. It was made of a strange material and had a number on it. "Now stay still for a moment will you?" the doctor gave him a reassuring smile. He did that, he was way too confused to object anyways.

When the thing started making a weird sound, similar to the one made by those strange things connected to him, the doctor took the thing from his mouth and frowned. "Uhm yeah you have got a fever" he said. Thank you, he certainly didn't need that strange thing to know he was sick. The man took another box from his pockets and handed it to Belle. "Give him one of those pills, it seems you are the only one he is comfortable with" he said. Belle nodded and when the doctor left the room she turned around to face him. She seemed determined. "All right Rumple now I need you to take one of those all right?" He looked at them suspiciously. "What are those?" he asked. "Those are medicines to help you with your fever, it's a bit strange I get it but you need to take them" she handed him a little white round thing with a glass of water. "You have to swallow it with water" she explained. Rumple just did what he was told to and took the medicine, after all he felt he could trust her.

"Good boy" Belle said patting his shoulder. Rumple felt a little embarrassed by all that attention he wasn't used to. "Uhm Belle..." he started. "Yes?" he looked around again. "What place is this?" he asked. "This is Storybrooke, as I said it's a different place from the enchanted forest, I'll show you around when you feel better" she smiled. Rumple just nodded. "Storybrooke... is this a different kingdom or..." Belle giggled a little, Rumple thought it was kinda cute. "It's a town" she said. "In what kingdom?" Belle looked a bit uncertain. "This is not a kingdom... oh well I'll tell you about it"

Yes, later, after all he didn't really care if that was a kingdom or not, he wanted to know how much he had missed. It was all too much for him to handle, his son was dead and apparently he was married with that woman. Rumple adjusted himself on the pillow, he was heartbroken but he didn't even have the strength to cry. "Hey it's ok" Belle said. "No, I don't think it's ok" he replied pulling the cover up to his head. "I told you I will find a way to bring your memories back and I'll keep my promise ..." she said. His memories were probably full of horrors and pain just like life had always been for him. That city was probably full of people who hated him as much as they did in the Enchanted Forest. Would it have been the right thing to remember?

"I love you"

Those words made him tear up and he didn't know why. "You are probably thinking there's no one who loves you but I do, your son did as well, I just want you to know it Rumple" Tears started flowing down his cheeks again. "Thank you" he said.