Rumpelstiltskin's Reign-An FTRS and RAR AU

Part 1-The Beginning

Jax lay down on the floor, squeezing his eyes shut. 

Images were floating through his mind, despite his best efforts. Anna, in a dark skirt of green and black, a dagger in her hand. Raz, crying out for Jax to leave her, forcing him and Gilly into a carriage as his forces grew near. Rumpelstiltskin's laughter in his ears as Jax pressed his face against the carriage window, wanting to scream. 

Jax let out a sound of pure frustration. He massaged his forehead, forcing the thoughts away. But they would not be repelled. 

"Jax?"

Jax stood and opened his eyes. "Yeah?"

Gilly bent over the counter of the Cobbler's small kitchen, surveying Jax carefully. She dutifully stirred a concoction of something with a wooden spoon, likely muffins or something similar. The cupboards were getting barer and barer, but neither had dared go into town. "Are you alright?"

Jax didn't want to lie to her. It seemed that it was all they were doing to each other these days-reassuring each other that yes, they were alright, even as they were both racked with torment. Gilly, he knew, was terrified for her family. Before FTRS was destroyed, Flora had made sure that the Cobblers had been sent up north to Avalon. Trixie and Gilly had exchanged letters every day for weeks, until suddenly Trixie's correspondence had stopped coming. Gilly was out of her mind with worry, and even Jax's best attempts to soothe her fell uselessly. 

Jax himself was no better. Raz was under siege, along with all the other princesses. She hadn't even let him stay and fight, though he had desperately wanted to. He clenched his fist, thinking of all the emergency sword-fighting lessons he and Ollie had taken at FTRS. Useless now. 

"No," he said finally. "And neither are you." 

Gilly looked up at that. She set aside her bowl, her dark brown eyes filled with a storm of sadness. "I feel like it's all my fault." Her voice was so quiet. Jax felt pained just to hear it. "And it is, isn't it? All I wanted was to save my family, and now I don't even know where they are. We haven't heard from AG, Maxine, or Jack in months, and Anna's leading battles all over Enchantasia, and I-"

Jax silenced her with a hug. She leaned against him, too exhausted to resist. "None of this is your fault, Gilly." He stroked her hair. She hadn't bothered brushing it, and he worked out the knots there, slowly teasing them apart with his fingers. "None of it. Anna made her own decisions."

"But if I had listened-"

"We don't know what would have happened." Jax said firmly. "It wasn't you. It was Hal, and Hansel, and Gretel, and Stiltskin himself. You didn't cause any of that. You didn't ask for this, thief."

Gilly stepped back a little and looked at him. "None of this is your fault, either."

"What do you mean?"

She took one of his hands, staring down at it calmly. "I wanted to stay and fight too. Raz wanted us to go. She'd feel terrible if the both of us were captured right now. But she chose to save us. She chose to let us get out of there, and stay here until it's all over. You don't know how badly I want to get out there and fix this, Jax. I want it more than anything." There was a fervid flame in the brown of her gaze. "But I know you'd never let me go alone. And I would never forgive myself if something happened to you. Raz would hate me."

Jax stared at her, resolution seeping into his mind. He did his best to push it away, hugging her close once more. "I love you."

"I love you too."

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"I don't know, Jax. Gilly will follow you-you know she will." There was a pause at the other end. Ollie looked over his shoulder, then lowered his voice to a whisper. "And Kayla..."