𝑶𝑪𝑬𝑨𝑵 𝑬𝒀𝑬𝑺 - Rumplestiltskin [1]

FORTY FOUR

44|OLD ACQUAINTANCES

"Magic is different here, dearie." Rumpel announced their presence to Regina who was locked behind a cell.

"I noticed." Regina replied with sass, moving away from trying to open the lock. "I assume this is all your doing."

"Most things are." Celeste narrowed her eyes at the woman, annoyed she was so calm about this.

"Get to it, Rumpel. What do you want?" The Mayor snapped, knowing Rumpelstiltskin was beating around the bush. "You here to finish the job?"

"No, no, no." He waved it off, limping closer to the cell. "You're safe from me. Celeste, however, is a different story."

"I feel so relieved." Regina said sarcastically.

"I made a promise that I won't kill you." He continued, grabbing Celeste's hand as she stepped forwards.

"I remember what you did for me while I was cursed but I will never forget what you did before it." Celeste stood in front of the woman, the bars barely acting as protection for the Mayor. "And for that, I won't kill you."

"Should I say thank you?" Regina smirked, leaning in close to the bars. "Or I could just let you rot in a psyche ward."

Celeste raised her fist and launched it into Regina's nose, hearing a satisfying crunch as she fell back into Rumpels chest. She raised a smug brow, warning the Mayor to be careful with what she says.

"Now we're even." She kissed Rumpels cheek and wandered out the station, allowing him to finish off his business. She played with the wedding band on her finger, giggling as she realised why he gave it to her.

"Are you ready, love?" He dipped down and kissed her lips, stroking her cheek as she deepened the kiss. "I have something to do, let me drop you off into town."

"I should probably find everyone, show them I'm still alive." Celeste chuckled, following him to his car. His hand rested on her thigh, stroking her bruises through her trousers. He had gone to rough on her, regretting the animalistic behaviour that took over but happy she enjoyed every moment of it.

~•~

"Emma?" Celeste walked over to the blonde woman and her parents. Rumpel had dropped her off around the corner, not wanting to be seen by the family.

"Bella?" Emma squinted at the woman in shock, not expecting to see her.

"Stay away from her." Snow warned her daughter, glaring at the dark haired woman. "She cannot be trusted."

"Snow, it's me. It's still me, the same person who helped you find your true love." Celeste said, hurt evident in her voice as she slowly stepped closer. "Who I marry shouldn't determine who I am as a person. To me, Rumpel was my saviour, my prince charming. He saved my life and loved me."

"He is a monster." She argued back, refusing to trust the woman.

"Enough." Emma cut in, standing between the two women. "I don't care if she married a monster, she is your best friend and has been living with you for the last twenty eight years. She helped you through a lot, do you really suddenly want to hate her?"

"I'm sorry Snow, but I love him more than anything." Celeste explained calmly, sending a small smile to her old friend.

"Now that everything has settled, can we continue." The blonde glanced between the three, raising her brow at her parents and friend. "Are you guys ready?"

"We need to talk." Snow finally turned her attention to her daughter, moving away the topic of Celeste's husband.

"Well, I don't, I don't wanna talk." Emma stuttered, feeling awkward about the topic of her parents.

"But I do, okay? Gold can wait. I can't." Her mother stopped her, desperate to talk about the issue. Celeste's eyes widened as she realised they wanted to talk to her husband. "I mean, you're my daughter. And I wanna talk to you. I know that we have talked. But we didn't know that we were talking. And we talked about things we probably shouldn't have even talked about. One-night stands and the like."

"One-night stands?" David leaned into his wife, shocked by the mention of her sleeping with another man.

"Whale."

"Whale?"

"I remember that!" Celeste gasped, slapping Emma's arm excitedly.

"We were cursed. That is neither here nor there." Snow snapped at him before turning her attention back to her daughter. "The point is, we did not know that we were mother and daughter. And now we do. And, so, please, let's talk."

"Okay." Emma agreed quietly. "What do you want to talk about?"

"We're together, finally." The mother sighed. "And I can't help but think you're not happy about it."

"Oh, I am." Emma said awkwardly causing Celeste to place a comforting hand on the blondes shoulder. "But, see, here's the thing. No matter what the circumstances, for twenty-eight years I only knew one thing, that my parents sent me away."

"We did that to give you your best chance." Snow justified their actions.

"You did it for everyone. Because that's who you are." The blonde continued to explain her emotions. "Leaders, heroes, princes and princesses. And that's great and amazing, and wonderful, but it doesn't change the fact that for my entire life, I've been alone."

"I'm going to get a coffee, I'll be back in a bit." Celeste announced quickly before running into Granny's, trying avoid Snow Whites glare.