Can't You Just See It?

"...and so, he took her to his kingdom where they were recieved with joy and they lived long and happily together. The End."

Belle closed the book gently and smiled down at her sleeping daughter. "I know you're a little young for fairytales, darling, but it was this or else some heavy going novel by an author I've never heard of. Your father's small library is very limited on books, I'm afraid."

Aurelia stirred in her sleep; she was having one of those dreams about falling where you move in your sleep and think for a moment it's real. But she must have landed safely in her dream for she didn't wake up. Belle was sitting on the counter beside her daughter's carrycot, the way she always used to sit on the table in the Dark Castle. Since regaining her memories, it had occured to Belle just how many things she had missed in the Enchanted Forest. There were people she didn't miss, former suitors whom had either turned out to be jerks or idiots or else extremely violent, she didn't miss them and she certainly didn't miss Gaston. He was such an arrogant man. In a way, when she had gone with Rumplestiltskin in the first place, she had been somewhat relieved to get away from him. She missed her father; that was a thought. Belle hopped lightly off the counter, musing. Ought she to contact him, now that he had a granddaughter? She hadn't spoken to him for years; not since he (in his Storybrooke guise of Moe French) had had her sent to the hospital; claiming she had been "tainted" by sin and was not stable enough to live amongst civilised people. She wasn't entirely sure she could forgive him for that. She missed the Dark Castle most of all, because it had been their haven, hers and Rumplestiltskin's; he had worked there, she had cleaned there and Aurelia had been concieved there. So many memories, some good, some bad, kisses and chipped cups and heartbreaks and newfound feelings of belonging to someone willingly...

The sound made Belle look up sharply. "Sh, I just got her off to sleep!" Then she realised that the sound hadn't come from the back room where Rumplestiltskin had been for the past ten minutes, but from the shop door; it was the bell signalling that someone had just walked in. She stiffened. Was it Regina?

She whirled around and her jaw dropped. "Gaston?"

"Pardon?" He might have let his hair grow a little and was wearing Storybrooke-type clothing so that he blended in with his fellow townspeople, but she knew it was him. "Er, no, it's Gareth, remember, Belle? I work with your father at the florists."

"Oh, yes, of course," she stammered, stepping sideways to protect her daughter; from what? She had no idea. It wasn't like Gaston was weilding a sword anymore. Even so, his very prescence was unnerving. "How...how nice to see you again. What are you doing here?"

"I came to see you."

Well, obviously, but why? "How did you know where I was?"

"I overheard the Sheriff talking to Mary Margaret; something about a new girl working in Mr Gold's shop."

"How could you possibly have known it was me?"

He smiled. "The Mirror advertised your escape from the hospital, Belle, it wasn't difficult to figure out."

Had he always been this cunning? She couldn't remember. "Well, thank you for dropping by," she said, attempting to keep her voice light, "and I'm sorry but I really have some work to do..."

In three strides he was so close to her that they were almost touching. "That's it? That's all I get?"

"I'm sorry," she replied, keeping her voice steady, "but Mr Gold will be back in a moment and we have a lot to get on with."

Gaston rolled his eyes but stepped back from her even so. "What kind of work, Belle?"

"I just help in the shop," she replied. "I clean and sometimes I help him keep the books; it varies, depends how many customers we get."

He picked up the book from the table and flicked through it. "I see you opted for a picture book; took my advice, then?"

Any other time, Belle might have been embarassed, but now she was worried. Had Regia sent him to spy on her or something? Or...she had it now! Was he simply there to try and lure her away from Rumplestiltskin? The Queen, after all, would love nothing more than to destroy his happiness by tearing him away from his true love. Well, it wasn't going to work, and even if it did, Belle knew that Rumplestiltskin would fight to the death to get her back. The same for Aurelia. She held out her hand. "Gas-Gareth, may I have my book, please?"

He went to hand it back, but as she reached for it, he jerked it away from her grasp. "Too slow!" he smirked.

She kicked him in the shin; not enough to seriously hurt him, but enough to make him drop the book. She caught it before it hit the floor. "Too cocky!" she retored, hugging the book to her chest.

"Belle!" he exclaimed. "That was hardly fair play!"

"Since when do you care about fair?" she snapped. "Actually, scratch that, since when do you care about me? Did you or my father come to visit me whilst I was locked away? No! And now suddenly because I'm free, you have the nerve to walk in here and pretend that it didn't happen? Who do you think you are?"

He gritted his teeth. "I think I'm the man who just got your father's permission to ask for your hand!"

"What? Permission?" Belle stepped back against the counter until she bumped into it. To her relief, Aurelia didn't start crying. "He gave you permission to ask to marry me? Me? A grown woman who can make her own choices?"

"A woman who needs looking after," he muttered, regaining his composture.

"I think you'll find that I don't need you for that, Gareth," she replied, coolly. "I already have someone to look after me; not that I even need it, but I appreciate the company."

"Who?" Belle didn't reply, she simply glanced over her shoulder. He understood. "Gold? You're...oh!" He laughed. "I see how it is! He has you working for him, alright, does he? In his bed, perhaps?"

Belle blushed. In truth, she and Rumplestiltskin hadn't given a thought to such a thing since the night they had concieved their daughter; they shared a bed, oh yes, but it was for sleep and comfort and that was it. Belle sometimes had nightmares about the hospital and Rumplestiltskin sometimes had what he called "night terrors" about Regina taking Belle and Aurelia away from him; so they both sought each other's comfort at night. But that was it; it was completely innocent. "It's not like that," she insisted. "I mean..."

"What?" He sneered. "Don't tell me you actually care for that monster!"

"He's no monster!" she snapped, stepping boldly up to him. "I love him!"

Gaston couldn't have looked more shocked if she had slapped him. "You what?"

"You heard," she said, calmly. "I love him and he loves me. Not that you'd understand about love when all you want is someone to cook your meals and massage your feet and bear your children. Now, if you don't mind," she added, stepping over to the door, "I think you should leave."

Gaston looked thunderous. "If your father knew about this-"

"I appreciate your concern, Gareth," Belle replied, "but it's no concern of his, or yours. As I said before, I'm a free woman and no one decides my fate but me. Now, are you going to leave or do I have to call Mr Gold out here to show you out?"

Gaston stomped past her and as she was about to close the door, Belle couldn't help saying, "Oh, and by the way, we have a daughter!"

She felt like slamming the door in triumph, but with Aurelia asleep, that wasn't the best idea. She settled for locking it instead and, with a smile, she made her way back to her daughter, just as Rumplestiltskin emerged from the back room, carrying a ledger. Of course, from where he had been, he had heard the entire conversation, but he wasn't about to let Belle know that. Well, not yet, anyway.

"Who was that, dearie?" he asked.

"Gaston!" She rolled her eyes, theatrically. "You remember him?"

"Oh, yes, dearie; I remember him." So, Gaston was alive here, then? That wa sprobably Regina's doing. "Hello, darling," he murmured, stroking Aurelia's tufty hair gently.

"Careful," Belle smiled. "I just got her to sleep."

"So, what did that...oaf want?"

"He said he had come to see me. Can you imagine?" Belle stepped around the counter until she was standing in front of her love. "He doesn't come to see me in the hospital or come to rescue me from the Dark Castle, not that I wanted to be rescued," she added as Rumplestiltskin raised his eyebrows at her use of the word, "but the gesture would have been appreciated; it would have showed that he cared for me a little, at least!"

He didn't have the heart to tell her the truth; she was better off not knowing anyway.

"And then he just comes swanning back in here as if nothing's happened!" Belle stopped before her voice could reach a pitch that might startle Aurelia. "Can you believe it?"

He smiled. "Well, I could see his thinking. He might have thought you'd swoon at his feet because he's attractive."

He was teasing her, she knew, but she took him seriously. "Looks have nothing to do with love, Rumplestiltskin, as you well know!" she said, snuggling against him.

"Indeed I do, dearie," he murmured into her hair as his arms went around her.

"You know, he asked me to marry him."

"Yes, I heard."

"You heard?" she repeated, looking up at him.

He smiled at her startled face. "I'm not going deaf, dearie, and the door was open. I heard the whole thing."

"Rumpelstiltskin, you-!" Words failed her as she playfully swatted at him. He laughed. "Alright, dearie! I don't usually make a habbit of eavesdropping, you know; it was a one off!"

"It had better have been," she replied, coolly. "And I hope that you were happy to hear me turn him down."

"I wasn't unhappy," he teased.

She laughed. "Can you imagine how different my life would have been if I had married him? I mean, me? The wife of that boorish, brainless...oaf! Madame Gaston; can't you just see it? He has absolutely no idea how to treat a woman. To him, I'd just be a wife to stay at home and cook and have children; he would never treat me with kindness or as an equal...like you do."

"I didn't always, dearie," he reminded her.

"Please don't ruin the moment, Rumplestiltskin."

"We can't pretend it didn't happen, Belle."

Belle gave him an encouraging smile. "You more than made up for it when you took me and Aurelia back." She hugged him. "All I need is to be here with you, knowing that you love me."

"More than anything, dearie," he murmured, kissing her hair as they both gazed upon their sleeping daughter. "More than anything."