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kelyon · 11 months

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Dark Mistress 33/33 Epilogue

They live happily ever after.

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Ten years later…

Gideon was up in the branches of an old oak tree when he saw the dust from the wagon. It was coming through the forest, on the road from the town. The road people took to get to the Duke’s castle. As soon as he saw it, he started smiling. His heart began to beat faster.

“Letty!” he shouted to his sister on the ground. “Letty, they’re coming!”

Even though he was excited, Gideon knew to be careful as he climbed down the big tree. He and his sister had spent the morning in the forest near their farm. They had filled a basket with the hazelnuts and walnuts that were ripe this time of year. Letty was too small to climb the trees--no matter how much she said she wasn’t--so she picked nuts off the ground that Gideon would toss down to her. Mama had also sent them out for the galls that grew on oak trees. She needed to make more ink her dame school.

Jumping down from the lowest branch, Gideon landed on the dry leaves. It was shady in the forest, with beams of sunlight casting gold from between the tree branches. It was his favorite time of year. All of the leaves were orange and red, but they hadn’t fallen yet. Before Gideon and Letty had gone out this morning, Papa had made them wear their cloaks, but they had both taken them off once they started working. It wasn’t cold. It was never too cold around Gideon’s birthday.

“We have to go tell everyone they’re on their way,” Gideon said. “You go back to the cottage with the basket, and I’ll find Papa.”

“No!” Letty stamped her foot. “You tell Mama. I wanna tell Papa and the sheep.”

For a minute, Gideon thought about arguing with his sister. He could tell her that she had to listen to him, because he was older and knew more things than she did. Knowing Letty, she would still say no, over and over again, until he got angry enough to shout at her and that would make her cry. Her lower lip was wibbling and she had that furrow in her forehead that she got when she was being stubborn.

Stubborn as Mama, Papa would say. She looked like Mama too, with curly brown hair and blue eyes and her hands on her hips because she was determined not to budge. When Letty got like this, Papa was the only one who could convince her that she would survive not getting her own way.

Gideon sighed.

“Fine,” he said. It wasn’t really something worth fighting over, not on a day when so many good things were already happening. He crouched down so he could look his youngest sister in the eye. “Papa and Croissant are in the pasture with the flock. I know you know the way, but I need you to promise me you’ll hurry. Promise, Colette. And go right there. Don’t get lost again just because you saw a butterfly.”

“It was a dragonfly!” she insisted. “And I wasn’t lost.”

“If Mama and Papa don’t know where you are, that’s lost,” Gideon said. “Now get going! We have to let everyone know Bae’s coming home!”

****

He was right to let Letty run to the pasture, Gideon thought as made his way back to the cottage. The full basket was too heavy for someone so little. He had to carry it with two hands. She would have spilled the nuts on the ground and then sat in the middle of the road and cried like the baby she still was. But Gideon was strong enough to carry it. Bae had always told him that he had to look out for people who were smaller than he was, and try to help with their burdens if he could. That was what being a big brother meant. Bae knew everything about being a big brother.

When Gideon got to the cottage, his other little sister Alma was sitting at the table with a quill in her hand.

“How many s’s are in ‘possible’?”

“Just two,” Mama said from the hearth. She was bent over a stewpot full of pears. They had picked a bushel yesterday from the tree by the cottage. The fruit would boil down into enough jam for them to eat all winter long.

Alma wrote the word down, then picked up the birch bark. She peered at the letters like she didn’t believe them. “Are you sure it’s two and not three?”

Mama straightened up slowly, rubbing her back as she did. Her round belly rose up under her skirt, like she was carrying a ball instead of a baby. “Sweetheart, there isn’t a single word in any language in this land that has three s’s all together in row. You have to talk to snakes before you start hearing words like that.”

Alma snorted. “Who talks to snakes?”

“Mostly other snakes, but a few humans.”

“How do you know that?”

“How many times do I have to tell you?” Mama laughed. “Before I was your mother, I was an eldritch abomination for a hundred years. I learned a lot of things.”

Alma snorted and shook her head. None of them believed Mama when she said things like that. They all knew she was just smart because of all the books she read.

Gideon stepped into the cottage. Mama smiled when she saw him. “What’s going on, Gid? Where’s Letty?”

“She’s telling Papa,” he said. “Bae and Morraine are back. I saw the wagon coming up the road from the castle.”

“Really?” Alma pushed herself away from the table. “Let’s go meet them!”

“Now, hold on, young lady.” Mama said. “If your brother just saw them on the road, they could still be an hour away. Maybe longer, if that silly mule is as ornery as she usually is. That’s plenty of time for us to get things ready for them. By the time they get here, they’ll both be tired and dusty and thirsty and hungry--especially Morraine, poor thing.” Hands on her hips, she looked at them both. “Alma, you put away your books and clean off the table so we can all have a meal together when they get here. Gideon, I want you to open up the windows in the new room and then get a bucket of fresh water. We’ll do as much cleaning as we can in there on short notice.”

Both of them hurried off to do what their mother said. They didn’t always rush to do their chores, but today was special. Today their brother was coming home.

****

It was much longer than an hour later when the wagon finally pulled up to the barn. Bae and Morraine had been living at the Duke’s castle ever since the sheering was finished in spring, with only a few visits over the summer. Now their work for the Duke was done and they were back to stay!

Everyone gathered in the yard to meet them. Gideon ran up to the wagon and started unhitching Parsley almost before the silly mule had stopped moving. The sooner Parsley was in the barn with the cows and chickens, the sooner everyone would know that things were back to normal. His family was together again.

The girls squealed and shouted for Bae to pick them up--even Alma, though she was too big to be held like a baby. Bae managed to get Letty on his shoulders and had Alma hang on to his neck while he balanced her on his hip. Papa saw the whole thing and chuckled.

“Well, you certainly look ready to be a father.”

Bae smiled. “I didn’t think we needed more practice, but we got plenty up at the castle. Seven children all under ten years old! I had to paint them each separately and do a group portrait with the Duke and Duchess.”

For some reason, Mama thought that was very funny. “And to think, some fools once thought the Duchess’s womb was cursed.”

“Did the Duke appreciate your talents?” Papa asked Bae.

“Oh yes.” Bae used the hand that wasn’t holding Alma to pat the fat leather pouch at his new belt. “He was quite grateful. I’m just glad Morraine was with me, or else the whole project would have taken twice as long and been less than half as good.”

Morraine was still sitting on the wagon seat. She was too big with her coming baby to jump down the way Bae had. She shrugged when Bae talked about her.

“What can I say? I know how to herd children and make cheese, and they weren’t paying us to work in the dairy.”

Mama laughed at that. “Do you need help getting down?”

“It’s not that high,” Morraine said. She looked doubtful even as she said it. “I’m just not sure of how I’m going to land.”

“I know all about that,” Mama assured her. “Gideon, get on her other side.”

They each took a hand and together the three of them managed to ease Morraine down to the ground. She held her belly and took a deep breath, but nodded, so everyone knew she was alright.

“You look about ready to burst,” Mama said. She wrapped her arm around Morraine’s and led her into the cottage. “Have you talked to your mother about your lying-in?”

“We stopped there on the way back,” Morraine said. “It was busy at the shop, but Mama says she’ll drop everything to help me when it’s time.”

“Of course she will,” Mama said. “Parents will do anything for their babies.”

While Mama and Morraine went inside, everyone else started unloading the wagon. The girls finally got off of Bae and started making themselves useful.

“Did you bring us presents?” Letty asked.

“Letty!” Gideon chided her. “You can’t ask people for presents all the time. Just be happy they’re home.”

“Besides, Let,” Bae pulled a small bundle of cloth out of his cloak. “It’s not your birthday.”

He handed the bundle to Gideon. Without asking if it was alright, Gideon pulled away the cloth and took out a leather belt with a pewter clasp.

“Well that looks familiar,” Papa remarked.

Bae crouched down to talk to Gideon. He had big brown eyes like Papa’s. Like his. His voice was rough and raspy, but he always had the right words. All his life, whenever Gideon was scared or sad, he always felt better when Bae talked to him. Bae was everything Gideon wanted to be when he grew up.

“Now don’t call me stingy just because I’m giving you a hand-me-down. Papa gave me this belt when I was fifteen. That’s the year you were born. I think you’re as big now as I was then, so I want you to have it.”

Gideon looked down at the leather belt. He’d seen Bae wear it all his life, almost couldn’t imagine him without it. If he had Bae’s belt to wear, it would be like his brother was never apart from him, no matter what else might happen.

“I love it,” Gideon said. He wrapped his arms around Bae’s big shoulders. He held on and didn’t let go. “Thank you.”

Bae squeezed him back. “Happy birthday, Gid.”

****

Between the five of them, they were able to carry all of Bae and Morraine’s things into the house. Bae and Morraine had their own bedroom in the cottage, with a loft built into the rafters for storage. Mama and Papa called it the new room, but Gideon couldn’t remember the cottage without it. Like Morraine herself and the cheese house she worked in, it had always been a part of his life.

Right now, Morraine was sitting at the table and Mama was buzzing around her, making sure she was comfortable and had enough to drink.

Papa came up behind Mama. He put his hands on her sides, touching her belly, and spoke softly into her ear. “Why don’t you sit down too, my love? Let us wait on you for a bit.”

Mama looked about to protest, but then she caught a look in Papa’s eye that made her shake her head in defeat. “Alright,” she said. “I’ll sit--after I give Bae a proper hello.”

“I’m right here, Belle.” Bae always called Mama by her name because he used to have a different mother a long time ago. It didn’t make a difference. Everyone knew he loved her--Mama most of all.

“So you are!” Mama spread her arms wide and Bae leaned down for a hug. She kissed him on the cheek. “There’s the boy who made a mother out of me!”

“I missed you.” Bae gave her a big squeeze and then let go. “We missed all of you.”

“And you’re never gonna go away again, right?” Alma asked.

Bae scratched the back of his head. “At least not until winter is over,” he said. “If the Duke tells other nobles who it was who painted those portraits he likes so much, well, the family might be down a shepherd.”

“Good,” Papa clapped Bae on the back. “Rise up in the world. I’ve always wanted you to have a better life than I could give you.”

“Nah.” Bae made one of his silly faces. He put one hand on Papa’s shoulder as they stood side by side. “I had a pretty good life, at least once Belle came along.”

Mama snorted, like Bae had said something funny. “Happy to help, son.”

He smiled back at her, and it was like they were sharing a secret. For a moment, Gideon wondered what all this meant, and if he would ever know more about Bae’s life before Mama and Papa got married. Maybe someday they’d tell him. Maybe someday he’d know as much about the world as Bae and Mama and Papa did.

For now, it was suppertime. It was his birthday. All his family was together.

Nothing could be better than that.

#dark mistress #rumbelle #rumbelle fanfic #rumbelle fanfiction #ouat

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kelyon · 1 year

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Dark Mistress 31 Solution

Bae does the right thing

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Baelfire trudged through the forest with heavy steps. He kept one hand on the warm bundle of Gideon underneath his cloak. His other hand lingered on the dagger at his belt. The dagger he could use to kill the Dark One. The dagger he had to use to kill the Dark One.

The belt was new, or had been on his birthday back in the spring. Sturdy leather and a pewter buckle. Papa had given it to him, to celebrate him being a man. Back then, he’d thought he knew what being a man meant. Now he wasn’t sure he knew what anything meant.

That had been the day he’d found out about Gideon for the first time--though he hadn’t known he’d be Gideon. He hadn’t known what it meant to have a brother. To have a helpless baby in his life who needed him, who he would do anything to protect. He hadn’t known about Belle, hadn’t known her name or anything about her. All he’d known then was that the Dark One had done something terrible to his father. All he had wanted was to make it all go away.

He’d been so scared then, so desperate. When Papa had told him the news, he’d run away. Ran into the forest without thinking. On the day he was supposed to become a man, Baelfire had acted most like a child. He had run to the Blue Star, wishing for nothing more than for his life to go back to normal.

She had told him what he would have to do in order for that to happen.

Now, on the night when he was supposed to finally do it, he wasn’t running. He walked carefully, mindful of the roots and stones that might trip him up in the darkness. He thought only of the precious cargo he carried, of the evil weapon at his side, of what the Blue Star wanted him to do. With steady determination, he walked up the mountain to where fate would be decided.

****

“This is where you were born,” he told Gideon when they got to the clearing. His brother had been fussy the whole walk. Talking to him usually helped him quiet down.

Baelfire didn’t know why his feet had taken him to this place, but he knew that it was right to be here. The first time he had wished on the Blue Star, he’d been lost in the woods down by the stream somewhere. Panicked and stumbling, the only guiding light he had seen was her glow. She had been his only hope.

Now, on the mountaintop, in the center of a circle of oaks, he could see more clearly. The moon was as it had been the night Gideon was born--split down the middle between light and dark. More stars shone than Baelfire had ever seen at once before. Every star he could name, and many he didn’t know.

There was so much he didn’t know, in the world and in the heavens, and even in his own heart.

His shuddering breath was visible in the moonlight. Sitting down on the stump in the center of the circle, he checked on Gideon. He had to make sure that he was still warm, still safe. His brother wasn’t crying yet, but he seemed about to start. Baelfire wanted to comfort him, but what could he do? What could he say? The only way to keep Gideon happy would be to go home. No one could stop him once he was in a full wail, but Belle had a special knack for quieting a fit before it started.

The thought of Belle--of the Dark One--made Baelfire’s breath stop for a moment. How could he do this? How could he kill Gideon’s mother? Baelfire had spent most of his life without his own mother, with a wound in his world that had never healed. How could he make his brother suffer the same fate? How could he say he loved Gideon if he would take away a part of his family, someone who loved him? If he did this, would Gideon grow up knowing it? How could Baelfre keep such a thing a secret? Would Gideon hate him for it? How would Baelfire ever look him in the face?

Not to mention what Belle meant to Papa. In all his life put together, Baelfire hadn’t seen his father smile half as much as he had since Belle had started living with them. She treated him with so much kindness and patience. She listened to what he had to say and respected his opinion. Baelfire had never seen anyone seek out his father’s company like she did. She would sit by his side at the dinner table or on the hearth to work. They would talk quietly together, and make each other laugh. She was always touching his arm or his back, and he was always looking at her like she was everything. They acted like how he imagined he and Morraine would be, once they were married and could be together all the time.

Baelfire paced back and forth across the clearing.

She was the Dark One! She was evil! Even if she wasn’t doing evil things, she was made up of dark magic. She had said so herself! He was the only one in their family who understood that. He was the only person in the world who held the only weapon that could harm her. He had a duty to kill her.

But how could a creature of pure evil have ever had a part in making Gideon?

Baelfire stopped in his tracks.

Gideon was good, he knew that with everything in his heart. His brother wasn’t a monster, like the Blue Star had said he would be. He wasn’t a demon, he was just a baby! Belle knew it too. She had already given her life for him--here, on the very ground where he stood.

Evil could lie, but it wouldn’t kill itself to protect a baby. Wickedness could appear alluring and tempting, but Belle had only ever been humble and straightforward. Every time they spoke, Belle approached him with shyness and caution and a faint glimmer of hope. Baelfire knew she wanted him to like her.

The worst part was that he did, sort of. He liked having a third pair of hands on the farm. Even if she didn’t know how to help, she always wanted to try. He liked the way she fit together with Papa and Gideon--both of them loved her, and she really seemed to love them.

He liked the way she noticed him, the way she asked questions about things he knew or what he thought. Sometimes he would look up and see that Belle had been watching him. It was never the way a cat spies on a mouse hole, but more the worried way Baguette looked at him when he had told her to stay in a place while he walked on without her. Belle looked at him like she was waiting for him to tell her she could come closer.

But if she got close to him, he would have to do the thing he didn’t want to do.

In that moment, Baelfire breathed. He stood up a little straighter, now that the burden had been taken off his shoulders. Just thinking it was a relief: He didn’t want to kill Belle. He knew it. He understood. It wasn’t because he was a coward, or because her wiles had entranced him, but because he saw the good in her. She didn’t deserve to die. Whatever Belle was, she didn’t deserve to die.

That revelation was what gave him the strength to finally look up at the Blue Star. She shone in the sky, the queen of the night.

“I wish,” he began. His words echoed out into the darkness. He wished for so many things--had wished for so many things, all his life, and had only gotten an answer when the Blue Star had wanted something from him. For the first time, he understood that what he truly wanted could be had, but it wouldn’t come from wishing. “I wish to speak with you, Blue Star.”

Immediately, the bright diamond in the sky grew bigger and closer. The Blue Star dove down to him like a falcon attacking a rabbit. She was a tiny comet of blue light with shimmers streaming on her trail.

“Baelfire!” she scolded. She fluttered in front of his face, darting all around him, no bigger than a bird. “Why haven’t you completed your quest? Were you waiting for me to act? Don’t you know we can’t do anything unless a human wishes for it?”

“No.” His voice was steady, deeper than it had been the last time they spoke. “No, I didn’t know that. It seems there are a lot of things I don’t know. Things you didn’t tell me.”

It was hard to read expressions on a head no bigger than a walnut, but the Blue Star pulled back in the air and Baelfire got the idea that she was affronted. When she spoke again, she was less frantic, more cold.

“I don’t like your tone, child,” she sniffed. “But I’ll forgive you, since you managed to get your hands on the dagger.”

“Yes.” He ignored her talk of forgiveness and pulled the blade out of his belt. “You didn’t tell me everything about this thing, did you?”

“Of course I did!” she said. “Everything you need to know to complete your quest.”

He looked down at the dagger, at the name etched out in black letters. “Belle said anyone who kills the Dark One becomes the Dark One.” He looked up at the Blue Star. “Is that true?”

“Only if they kill for power, if their heart is wicked. Your heart is pure, Baelfire.” The Blue Star looked him up and down. “Or at least it was. I thought you would be good enough to break the curse. Maybe I was wrong.”

“Maybe?” His voice cracked but it didn’t stop his anger. “You don’t know? Are we just going to take a chance that I might be greater than the most powerful darkness in the world?”

“The innocent bravery and faith of a child can work miracles!” She said firmly. “When the darkness tries to take hold, I can help you through it. You might still be strong enough to resist! If, unfortunately, you aren’t--”

“Then you’ll have the dagger,” Baelfire finished. He staggered backwards, landing heavily on the stump. He held his arms over Gideon under his cloak. “If killing Belle doesn’t stop the darkness, you’ll still be able to control the Dark One, because the Dark One will be me.”

His eyes burned as he understood. The Blue Star had never cared about helping him, or about saving his father. She had only ever wanted to stop Belle--even if it cost Baelfire everything.

She came close to him. The flapping of her wings buzzed like a horsefly in the silence. “You can still do the right thing,” she coaxed. “No one becomes a hero without putting everything at risk. It is true that when a Dark One dies, the darkness seeks out a new host. But I believe in you, Baelfire! Your goodness can be stronger than the darkness. You could win!”

The intensity of her hope sparked around her, like embers from a blue fire. If she believed in him, he should believe in her. But he couldn’t make himself do it.

Baelfire wiped the tears from his eyes. “And if I don’t win, I’ll be the Dark One, and I’ll be your slave.”

“And the world will be safer and better for it! Think about it--the greatest evil in the world, contained and bound to the right side, forever!” The Blue Star’s tiny smile faded. “I know it’s frightening to think about, but your sacrifice won’t be in vain. It will be for the greater good.”

“The greater good,” Baelfire whispered. He could see the logic of it, cold and unfeeling though it seemed. The Blue Star was willing to sacrifice his soul in order to save everyone else from the taint of darkness. Would he be able to do the same? Wouldn’t it be wrong not to?

Against his chest, Gideon began to squirm. Without thinking, Baelfire brought his hand up to pat his back. This might be the last time he ever held his brother. Not only would Baelfire murder his mother, he could become a monster and then a prisoner for the rest of time. Papa and Gideon would both be alone, with no one but each other.

His eyes felt heavy as he looked up at the shimmering blue light.

“What about my father?” he asked. “What about Gideon?”

The Blue Star cocked her tiny head at him. “Who?”

“Gideon.” Baelfire threw his cloak over his shoulder to show her. “My brother.”

The instant the cold air hit him, Gideon started screaming. The sound was drowned out only by the piercing shrieks of the Blue Star.

“That thing! The spawn! How dare you show its face to me! That’s an abomination! You have to kill it, Baelfire! Use the dagger! Kill it now!”

“No!”

His shout was enough to shut her up, but Gideon was still going strong. Baelfire brought his cloak back down to keep out the cold. He held his arms over his brother and bounced him gently. He walked back and forth, making shushing noises.

“It’s alright, Gid.” He whispered his promises over and over. “I won’t let her hurt you. I’ll never let you go. You’re safe. I’ll never leave you. I love you.”

“What is wrong with you?” the Blue Star screeched. “Don’t you see what that thing is? What it came from? It shouldn’t be alive. It isn’t worthy of your love!”

“Shut up,” Baelfire snapped. He had enough of talking to this lying harpy. “Leave us alone! Gideon is my brother, and I love him more than all the goodness in the world.”

“You don’t know what you’re saying!”

“I do,” he said. A strange calm overtook him, a peace that came from rock-solid certainty. For the last time, he looked up at the Blue Star. “You’re wrong about Gideon. You’re wrong about Belle. And you’re wrong about me, too. I’m not going to give up everything for you. I don’t ever want to see you again.”

He held Belle’s dagger loosely as he turned to walk away. He got a few steps away from the center of the clearing before a pain shot through his hand. It was so sharp it made him drop the dagger to the ground. He brought his hand up to look at his fingers.

For a moment, they glowed blue.

“Do you think you can turn your back on goodness?” The Blue Star floated over to where the dagger lay. “Don’t you know what that makes you, Baelfire?”

Suddenly, all her twinkling shimmers took on a sharper gleam. A thousand glittering points were aimed like arrows at him and Gideon. Blue fog surrounded him on all sides, blotting out the clearing and the moonlight and everything in the world that wasn’t the Blue Star. She floated closer, her voice deadly soft.

“If you aren’t strong enough to be a hero, then you must be a villain.”

“No!”

A bolt of purple-blackness exploded through the blue fog. It didn’t hit the Blue Star head-on, but the force around it was enough to knock her back. The fog and the deadly sparkles went with her, just far enough away for Baelfire to grab the dagger. He had to run, but where should he go? What direction was safe? What power could ever be greater than the stars?

It was only then that he thought of the voice that had cried out in protest. Only then that he wondered where the magic had come from that had pushed the Blue Star away from him. It was only then that he looked up and saw Belle standing in the clearing.

“Blue Fairy!” She let loose another handful of glowing darkness. It arced in a clean, sure line, and all the blue light vanished off the mountain. “Stay away from my children!”

Though she was clad in a worn cloak thrown over a dress that used to belong to his mother, Belle was just as fearsome and powerful as the night he had first seen her. Her white skin glowed like the moon. Her eyes blazed with black lightning. The air around her crackled and buzzed with the power of her darkness and her rage.

He ran to her. He clutched her son and her dagger and he ran to safety.

“Belle!” he shouted. “Belle, I’m sorry! I never should have come here. I never should have taken--”

“It’s alright.” She met him as he ran, gliding over the grass. She held his face in her hands, looked at him with nothing but sympathy. “You’re alright, Bae, I promise. Did she hurt you?”

He shook his head, vaguely aware of the tears streaming down his cheeks. “But if she gets Gideon…”

“She won’t.” Papa came out of the darkness. He must have come up here with Belle. His voice was more sure than Baelfire had ever heard before. “Give him to me.”

“Right.” Baelfire fumbled with the straps that held his brother to his chest. Papa took him and wrapped him up in his own cloak. Holding Gideon, he stood by Belle’s side.

“You still have the dagger,” Belle said. It wasn’t a question.

“Yes,” Baelfire said. “But I won’t--I’ll never use it. I promise you, Belle, I won’t--”

“It’s alright,” she said again. “You’ve done nothing wrong, Bae.”

“I--” he choked on a sob. “I told you--” He took as deep a breath as he could manage. “I told you not to stop me.”

“And I won’t.” Belle’s voice was thick with emotion. “We came here to protect you from her, and to protect Gideon.” A sing black streak ran down from one eye. “But if you still want to kill me--if that’s what you believe is the right thing to do--then I won’t stop you.”

“No,” he breathed. He let the dagger drop. “Belle, I won’t do that. You don’t deserve to die, I can’t condemn you to that. Y-you’re good. You’re trying to be good. That’s all anybody can do.”

He looked at her, the Dark One, Belle. She wasn’t floating anymore, so he had to look down to see her. She was short. Who would ever think that someone so awe-inspiring would be so short? Baelfire looked at Belle, and he finally understood what his father saw in her. He saw the facts of her body--her scales, her claws, her needle-teeth and unnatural black eyes. Then he saw deeper than her skin and into her soul. He saw her kindness, her tenacity, her quick wits and sly humor. He saw her devotion, her courage, her love.

He saw her goodness.

“I’m sorry, Belle,” he told her. “I promise, I’ll never try to control you again. I never should have--”

“Shh,” she murmured. “It’s alright, Bae. It’s fine. I forgive you.”

Forgiveness? From the Dark One? It was ludicrous but it was what he needed. He had been so sure that he was right it had almost cost them everything. He had come so close to destroying himself, destroying his family and the little happiness the four of them had managed to scrape together. He had acted like a monster, and he needed Belle’s forgiveness. Only then could things really be alright.

Baelfire opened his arms and embraced her, the woman who had given him more than the Blue Star or Tabat or even his own mother ever had. Belle had given him himself. She had seen him on the brink of the worst decision he could ever make, and she had still gone after him. She would risk her own life to keep him safe.

He held her close and didn’t let go. She returned the hug, clutching him as tightly as she could. Baelfire bent his head and placed a kiss on her hair.

“I love you, Belle,” he whispered.

Then the world exploded.

#dark mistress #rumbelle #rumbelle fic #baelfire #ouat

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