“So this means, he needs me to break the curse so that he can be reunited with his son!” the mayor smiled, amused.

“Exactly! You don’t need my heart! You can use this information to get him to help you break the curse.” Belle hoped she was convincing enough to persuade Regina from using her.

The brunette snickered.

“You really think the Dark One will willingly help me? He was the one who cast the curse to punish me!”

A sudden knock on the door interrupted the two women in the bathroom.

“Belle? You okay in there?” Ruby asked on the other side of the door.

The redhead was unsure of what to do. She wished she could somehow communicate her distress to the waitress without getting her heart crushed. Her pleading eyes looked deep into Regina’s.

The mayor turned her head to the door and back again to Belle. She needed the bookworm alive and she did not want anybody to interfere with her mission. She pushed the heart she was holding back into the redhead’s chest causing the young woman to gasp at the sensation of having her heart back in her body.

“Belle?” The waitress’ concerned voice could be heard through the door.

“Just a second!” Belle finally replied.

She was not expecting to get her heart back so easily. She stood there dumbfounded as the mayor positioned herself behind the door.

Regina noticed that Belle had not moved from her spot. She signalled for the redhead to open the door. Belle complied. She turned the doorknob and peeked her head through the opening.

“I brought you a t-shirt and a pair of jeans to change into,” Ruby said as she handed the clothing to the redhead.

“Thanks! Belle was truly thankful that the clothes looked comfortable and was not overly revealing like what the waitress had on.

She closed back the door after Ruby had left her to change. Her moment of relief was short-lived as she made eye contact with the former Evil Queen.

“Get changed. I’ll meet you behind the diner.” Regina commanded before sneaking out of the bathroom.

                                                                *****

Mr Gold returned to his store after his failed attempt to go to New York City. He was up all night at the back of his store thinking of ways to bypass the curse to break through the barrier put up by the curse that prevented him from leaving town.

He wasn’t too bothered about Belle as he figured she will return after getting her anger out of her system. She didn’t have anywhere else to go and she was just as trapped by the curse as he was.

He needed his revenge so badly, he didn’t care that the woman he lost for almost three decades had walked out on him after being back in his life for the past few days.

Rumple mixed potions even though he knew there was no other way to leave town when the curse was still in effect. He would rather use the Dark One’s dagger to kill himself than help Regina break the curse.

He carefully poured a solution into a vial. He then dropped a piece of gold thread in the same vial. Never taking his eyes off the bottle, he waited for something to happen. Seconds had passed. Nothing.

He should hand it to himself, he had succeeded in creating a much darker curse than the Dark Curse.

Rumpelstiltskin threw the vial against the wall shattering the glass. He walked out of the back room and into his store. He slid behind his counter and removed a painting that hung on the wall, revealing a safe.

The old man turned the combination of the safe until he had unlocked it. He carefully opened the door. There was nothing much in the safe. To an average person, the safe is full of worthless junk, but to Mr Gold, the items were precious. A chipped teacup, a few vials of potions and an item he had kept for centuries, an old shawl belonging to his long-lost son.

“I’ll find you, Bae.”

                                                                 *****

“How did it go?” Emma asked the mayor as she exited the back door of the diner. “Where’s Belle?” the blonde was confused that Regina was meeting her alone.

“There is a slight change of plan.” The brunette deadpanned.

“Did you leave her tied up in the bathroom?” the sheriff joked.

The mayor rolled her eyes. She did not give the blonde any amusement by reacting to the insinuation. Although, if it turned out that Belle had screwed her over, she would do worse than leave her tied up in a bathroom.

Despite the joke Emma made, Regina was glad that the sheriff was in a better mood convincing her son that morning.

Minutes later, the back door of the diner opened and Belle walked out of the diner wearing an oversized grey ‘Granny’s Diner’ t-shirt and skinny jeans.

“Belle, meet Emma Swan, Sheriff of Storybrooke and birth mother of Henry.” Regina introduced.

The redhead raised an eyebrow, confused how the two women before her are both the mothers of Henry. She had read stories of such relationships in her travels before meeting Rumpelstiltskin. She would be lying if she said that she was not curious about the relationship between the Evil Queen and Emma Swan. She knew better than to ask Regina questions on the topic and decided to let it go. She would learn more eventually anyway.

Belle cleared her train of thought. “Hi Emma, I’m Belle.”

“Hi!” Emma waved. She was slightly surprised that one of Disney’s princesses was standing before her and also that she had what sounded like an Australian accent.

“Let’s talk in my car. I don’t want Gold to see us together.” Regina led the two ladies to her parked car. The brunette opened the front passenger door for Belle while Emma sat in the back.

                                                          *****

Mr Gold had returned to the shop after spending the morning resting at home. He started to notice how empty his house was without Belle. They would spend the morning at home having breakfast prepared by her and sitting at the dining table together.

Being the Dark One again, he had no need for sleep or food. Having the young woman around helped him attain a level of normalcy. The company doesn’t hurt either as he had spent many years alone in a huge empty house.

He stepped into his shop, not bothering to change the ‘CLOSED’ sign to ‘OPEN’. He did not wish to be bothered that day, not that he had ever experienced a mad rush for antiques.

He took a few steps into the shop and heard a familiar ringing of bells. He sighed.

“If you are looking for a dictionary to understand what ‘closed’ means, I would suggest the bookstore.” Mr. Gold said.

“Rumple.”

The old man turned around at the sound of Belle’s voice. His excitement was short-lived when he saw two other women standing behind her; Emma Swan and Regina Mills.

“What’s wrong Regina? Can’t solve your problem on your own?” the Dark One teased.

“Hey!” Emma stepped forward. “Henry’s dead because of you!” she shouted.

“On the contrary, Miss Swan. The one who poisoned your son was his own adoptive mother.” Gold grinned.

“True Love’s Kiss woke him up the first time, and now it doesn’t work. So yeah! I’m blaming you!” the sheriff was in no mood for games. Staying up all night reading old books and watching her son die that morning had brought out a mixture of exhaustion and anger.

Regina watched in pleasant surprise that the blonde she had hated so much would come to her defence. She regretted the things she had done to the woman. If she hadn’t been so possessive over Henry, he would have never eaten a poisoned apple turnover.

Belle pushed herself forward and stood in front of Rumpelstiltskin.

“Rumple, you need the curse to be broken so that you can find your son in New York.”

Gold turned to look at his girlfriend, almost getting angry at her for revealing that information to his foe.

“If you are unwilling to lift the curse, give Regina her mother’s spell book.” The redhead continued.

Mr Gold looked past Belle to make eye contact with Regina. The brunette looked smug.

“Having trouble with magic, dearie? Need your mommy’s help?” Gold teased.

The brunette’s smugness disappeared from her face. To have her mentor who taught her all she knew about magic make fun of her definitely made a mark on her ego.

“Enough games! Just give her the book.” The redhead interrupted the staring match between the Evil Queen and the Dark One.

Rumpelstiltskin waved his right hand and a puff of smoke appeared and out of nowhere, the spellbook appeared in his hand.

Regina stepped in front of the shop owner to retrieve the book but the old man did not release it to her. She looked up at him, unsure of his intention.

“Careful, dearie… these are straight up spells. Rough on the system.” Rumple warned.

“I don’t care if it turned me green. I’m getting my son back.” Regina said as she snatched the book from his grasp and headed for the door.

“Oh, my!” Mr Gold exclaimed.

The brunette turned around, annoyed at the old man.

“What?” Regina demanded. She was in no mood for this.

“It’s just, holding that… I told you once you didn’t look like her, but now… now I can see it.” The old man remarked.

The mayor inhaled sharply, recalling their first encounter decades ago. She was so young and innocent back then, wanting to learn magic to run away from her overbearing mother.

Regina both loved and hated her mother. Being compared to her may or may not be a compliment. She had the drive to get everything she wanted but Cora was not a loving person.

The brunette chose to ignore the comment and exited the shop with Emma and Belle behind her.

Before the redhead could exit along with them, Rumple reached over and grabbed her by the arm.

“Belle, where did you go last night?” the old man’s confident demeanour was gone. He softened his voice, not wanting the woman to go.

“I’ve found a friend and will be staying with her,” Belle said.

“There is no need to trouble anyone, you have your own room at my place.” The old man reasoned.

The redhead pulled her arm away.

“As long as you continue this frivolous vengeance, Rumple, I don’t want anything to do with you!” Belle said as she turned to walk out the door.

“But she…” before Mr Gold could finish his sentence, the young woman faced him once more.

“She couldn’t have kidnapped me if you hadn’t chased me away! You chose power over love, Rumple. You only have yourself to blame!” with that, Belle stormed off. Leaving the old man standing alone in his empty shop, quietly sobbing.