The Beast's Apprentice- An OUAT Fanfiction

3 - The Big Day

As soon as Rumpelstiltskin was gone, I crumpled to the ground as the weight of what I'd just done dawned on me. I could feel my body shaking as I pulled my legs to my chest. Tears brimmed in my eyes. I knew I'd done the right thing, so why did I feel the world closing in around me?

I sat there for a long time. Eventually, I stood and began to make my way to the castle. Belle would get worried if I stayed out too long. I trudged along wiping the tears from my eyes and putting on a brave face. If these were to be my last moments with my sister, I would make them last.

As soon as I entered the castle, I was greeted by the servants. I greeted them warmly, knowing it would be the last night I'd see them. Going up to my room, I closed the door behind me, but not before Belle called from down the hall. She came into the room smiling.

"Hey," she greeted, "Where have you been?"

I sat on the bed and started unlacing my boots. "By the willow," I said smiling, "Where you left me."

"I left you around 8:00," she laughed, "It's already 10:00."

I set my boots aside and started unlacing my corset. I gave her a bright smile. "It was warm out." I turned my back to her. "Can you help me?"

She smiled and unlaced the rest of the corset. Taking it off, I tossed it to the side and turned to her. She was watching me with a curious expression, and I cocked my head to the side.

"What?" I smirked.

"I know why you were out there," she said grinning.

I raised my eyebrows in question. There was no possible way she knew why I was out there. "Do you?"

She nodded, coming over to me. "Someone was working on a birthday present for their big sister."

Quite the present indeed.

I gave a small chuckle as I headed to my bathroom. "Perhaps...you'll have to wait and see, I suppose."

"Always so sneaky," Belle mused, following me. I removed my makeup and turned to face her. I smiled and pulled her into a tight hug. She seemed taken aback by my gesture, but melted into the hug quickly. I felt tears pricking my eyes, but fought them away. When I pulled back, she was smiling too.

"What was that for?" she asked amused.

"Nothing, " I said, "Just an early birthday hug for the best sister in the world."

She smiled back at me and held me tight. She had no idea how much I would miss this.

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Rumpelstiltskin Pov

As the smoke around me cleared, I marched quickly through the halls of my castle. My mind was buzzing, alight with the image of this Ember, more importantly, her eyes.

"Ah my dear Freya," I mused to myself, "You never told me you had a little sprite..."

I'd known Freya Morgenstern a long time. The most powerful faery in the Enchanted Forest. Of course, only those close to her had known her as Freya. Everyone else called her the Black Faery. The Blue Faery had exiled her long ago, weakening her powers, and hoping eventually she'd just fade into nothing as forgotten faeries often did. She was a fool to believe that would ever happen, of course, but Blue had always been naive like that. I'd known Freya had survived, just never knew where or what she'd been up to. When she'd been at her strongest, I'd been rather fond of her; we'd even worked together every now and then. She was one of the most powerful beings out there, aside from myself.