{ enchanted forest }

4. { the crocodile }

Belle had been studying the books in the Gold house all evening, but there had been no luck in finding anything that could help in the quest to wake Winter up.

Though, deep down, she knew that it was no use. Rumple knew these books by heart. If there was something in them that could help in breaking her Curse he would have done so by now. But Belle needed to feel useful. She needed to feel like she was doing something to help or else she would go mad.

The brunette was feeling her eyelids become heavier. She was exhausted. Eventually Belle fell asleep, landing straight into a nightmare. 

She was in Rumplestiltskin's shop. He gave her a pretty necklace and offered to explore Storybrooke with her. It was a nice dream until Grumpy entered and demanded his ax back.

At first Rumple was calm and said the shop was closed. But then he became increasingly rude when the dwarf wouldn't leave. Rumple flew into a fit of rage when Grumpy adressed her and questioned how she could be with such a monster.

The Dark One pushed Grumpy against the wall. He threatened to kill the smaller man with the very same weapon he wanted back. Belle begs him not to. She tells him this was not him anymore.

But then.. Rumplestiltskin turned around. He was not the version that Storybrooke made him to be. This was the Rumple she had known back in their land, the Enchanted Forest. The pitch of his voice had changed again as well as he speaks to her tauntingly.

"Oh it's me, dearie. Always has been, always will be."

His chuckle ringing through her ears was the last thing she heard as she wakes up with a gasp. She sits up in the double person bed in Mr. Gold's house, surrounded by opened books, and looks around. The other side of the bed was unoccupied. 

Belle stands up and heads over towards Winter's bedroom. Both of them spent so much time guarding her side that it was the first place they would look whenever they couldn't find each other.

She opens the door quietly. Her head peeks around the corner to take a look. Except for Winter laying in her bed, the room was empty. Belle smiles sadly at seeing the girl and closes the door behind her. She releases a deep sigh of sorrow before heading downstairs. Unfortunately, the image of the lifeless girl never quite seemed to leave her mind.

When she reached the kitchen she notices an unusual light in the shed outside. She heads outside, walking over the grass on her bare feet towards the shed.

The unusual light comes from a window on the side of the small building. She kneels down to see what was going on inside. Rumple's back was turned towards her, his body covering most of what he was doing. Still, she could see him sitting in front of his beloved spinning wheel, making straw into gold.

He cut a piece of gold and picked it up. Rumple walked over to a table and put the strand in a bottle. Belle had to stretch out her neck to see what he was doing.

The liquid inside the bottle lightens up in purple. It begins to glow and sparkle. Mist spreads out from the top of the bottle.

But Belle couldn't stop herself from questioning what he was doing. Why was Rumple brewing potions in his shed without telling her?

Before he could spot her she quickly runs back into the house. She went back to bed and tried getting some sleep, but her restlessnes did not allow her any rest. The next morning she woke up and noticed Rumplestiltskin still had not come back to bed, meaning he must have been in the shed the entire night.

Belle heads downstairs and decides on waiting for him on the couch. When he eventually showed he seemed surprised, but corrected himself swiftly. "Hey," he says, half smiling as he tries to look innocent.