The Darkened Queen

A Decision Made

"Rumple, I think you need to call the Goblin King." Belle informed her husband when he came to take her to lunch. Mr.Gold, on his part, said nothing and simply waited for his wife to explain herself.

"I am worried about her. You said that the Goblin King would go mad without her, but I believe that she is going mad without him. Just in the short time that she has been here, I have noticed her withdrawing even more. She was a sweet and kind girl, she would share gossip and the like, but now she barely speaks. I am worried about her." Belle repeated as her worry fully settled upon her. She was not a therapist or a mental health doctor, but she was a librarian. Belle knew when a fellow lover of books was depressed.

They would no longer be interested in anything, not even books, and Sarah had not visited the library for some time. True, she did own a bookshop, but she would still stop in to trade tales and look over what was popular.

"Summoning the Goblin King is not an action that should be taken lightly and we must we wary. Sarah may be able to sense his presence and if she does she may run." Mr.Gold advised as his manipulative mind was put to work.

"Then we are going to have to do it at a time when her senses are overwhelmed." Belle declared and Mr.Gold was rather proud of his wife. Normally, she refrained from acting as the manipulative one, she chose to leave that to him, but she would, on occasion, take up the title when it was demanded of her.

"And so we shall."

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Sarah had not yet begun to pack up her shop, she would hire people to do that for her, because she did not like goodbyes. Though she had not made many friends in the little town, there were several people she had become fond of, and she did not wish to say goodbye. It was not in her nature. It was her nature to disappear in the night, to be there one day and gone the next.

It was not in her nature to say goodbye.

Though she would leave her shop to be packed up by the men the Brownie sent, Sarah took care in packing up her possessions. In truth, she owned little that she truly cared up. She was beyond caring for many material matters, but there were a few things she enjoyed. Some of those things included her tea cups and pots, she had a weak spot for them, and others included the little red book that had begun her adventures in so many lives.

It was one of the few constants that most of her lives shared. When ever Jareth would become impatient, which was often, he would send her the little book. It was, largely, the same as was the outcome of their adventure. She normally won and he normally lost. Though he had, in the past, been more successful in swaying her to stay with him.

He had done a shit job this time around and she wished him better luck the next time. If there was a next time. Her time, however, was running out, she could feel her sands lessoning, and she could only wonder how much time would pass until she was born again. Sarah wondered what kind of family she would be born into, if she would be the eldest or the youngest, she wondered where she would be born, she had lived everywhere, and she wondered when she would meet the Goblin King again. She hoped he would finally learn his lesson and they could go home.

Sarah tired of wearing a mortal body.

She was just boxing up photos of Toby, he had once made her a scrap book, when a knock was heard from her front door. Sarah stood, stretched, and went to answer the door. She wondered if the Brownie had sent the moving truck a few days early.

"Are you ready? You cannot be wearing that." Ruby declared as soon as Sarah opened her door. Ruby pushed her way into Sarah's home and Sarah was in all puzzlement.

"Ready? Ready for what?" She questioned the flamboyant but kind, in her own way, girl.

"Emma's party." Sarah looked at Ruby in blankness and then flushed as she realized it was Christmas and Emma had invited her over. Ruby looked around the little cottage and could not help but notice all of the moving boxes.

"Are you going somewhere?" Ruby questioned even though the answer was completely obvious to any with eyes. The little living room had clothes sorted in it, dishware in the middle of being wrapped in newspaper, and other miscellaneous objects.

"Yes, I was planning on it." Sarah's flush deepened as she realized that she would have to tell Ruby the truth of the matter. She hated getting caught. Even though she was not doing anything wrong, it was her right to come and go as she pleased, the hurt look which crossed Ruby's face made her feel terrible.

"When?" Ruby asked as she began sorting through Sarah's clothes to find a dress that would be worthy to wear to Emma's party.

"The day after tomorrow." Sarah answered honestly and Ruby froze.

"The day after tomorrow." Ruby echoed and her temper began to flare. "When were you planning on telling us?" Upon seeing Sarah's embarrassed face, Ruby knew the truth. She had not been planning on telling them.

"I'm sorry, Ruby, I just couldn't settle here. I'm a restless being and I hate goodbyes-"

"Do you have any idea how selfish you are being? You were just going to leave without saying anything? Do you know how worried we would be? You can't just do that, Sarah, we would have thought you were kidnapped or that something bad had happened." Ruby was truly trying to keep her temper from flaring, but she was hurt that Sarah would not tell her something like this.

"I am sure that stranger things have happened in this town than a girl deciding to move." Sarah defended herself, however weakly. It had been one of the reasons she had chosen to move to Storybrooke, nothing she did would truly seem strange compared to most of the inhabitants.

"That is no excuse for not telling us!" Ruby yelled as she glared at the other girl. Sarah could not even apologize, for she was not sorry. It was her nature and it was what she did.

Sarah was silent as Ruby waited for her to say something. Finally, after a few awkward minutes, Ruby left the cottage without a backwards glance. Sarah wasted no time. She knew that Ruby would tell the others that she was planning on leaving and then she would never get out. Sarah had gotten most of her things packed and she shoved the rest into whatever box would fit it. She always kept an overnight bag packed and at the ready in case she needed to leave in a hurry.

It was with that bag in hand that Sarah ran out to her car, she was ready to leave the little town behind, only to find Emma waiting for her.