After breakfast that morning Rumplestiltskin headed out to sell his wool and I tried to heal myself so I could sneak out before he came out. But then something dreadful happened. My magic wouldn't work. I tried to do something even remotely small with magic, but nothing. I was scared. Really scared and I had no idea what to do. But I didn't have much more time to think about it because Rumplestiltskin came back around sunset. "How's the patient doing?" He asked me grinning. "Okay I guess." I replied softly. "You sure?" He asked unconvinced, "Because you sure look distressed and pale." I nodded calmly at him and looked out my tiny window. He didn't press the subject but simply asked what I wanted for supper. I said anything would do and I continued looking out my window.
Why hadn't he asked me where I'd come from. I mean he was taking care of me, a girl he didn't even know, and he wasn't asking any questions? It seemed a little out of the ordinary. "You haven't asked me where I come from." I said as he cooked. He said in a simple tone, "You'll tell me when your ready, and I can wait." Well it certainly wasn't the answer I had been expecting but I needed to find out more. "So you just take injured young women off the road whenever you feel like it, is that it?" He stopped cooking and turned around smiling and said, "I help people that are in trouble and I think helping a young lady that had fallen on her head, was unconscious, and had broken ribs counted as someone that was in need of help." Then he turned back around and continued cutting up vegetables.
I flushed looking embarrassed and turned away. He stopped cooking and turned around to look at me. As he leaned on the counter he asked me, "There is one thing I want to know though."He asked looking at me straight in the eye. I panicked for a few seconds and wondered what he wanted to say but then said, "Of course."
"Why did you give those kids that money?" he asked looking in the eye.
I was taken back by his question but thankful that he hadn't asked anything that I couldn't answer. And yet it was still something that I even wasn't sure about. "I...I can't be sure." I said honestly. He raised an eyebrow and siad, "You could have spent that money on things to help yourself." I looked at him questioningly and asked "What do you..." But before I could say another word I was cut off by him saying, "I know you don't have a home. I bet if you weren't hurt this bad you would have been off the next day without another thought. You don't have anywhere to be."
I had to admit his power of perception were good. "Well I'll admit I don't have a home, but that wasn't the point." I said leaning up in my bed. "Then what was?" he asked sitting down in a chair. I pondered this and knew there was no getting out of telling him. "When I was younger," I said looking out the window, "I could have anything I ever wanted. Anything I asked for I could have in an instant. I didn't have to worry about going hungry, or not having anything to wear. I never had to want anything. So why did I give those kids the money? I did it because I wanted them to have something that they wanted. So they didn't have to want, they could have for once."
As I finished my explanation I looked back at Rumple to see that he was smiling softly. "I think that is the kindest thing I have ever heard." he said as he got up to continue cooking. I blushed furiously and went back to looking out my window smiling like I hadn't smiled since I had left home.
The next few weeks blurred together. Rumple would fix me food then go out to sell his wool at the market place then come back again. It was nice to be with somebody for a change and not have to worry about running around from queens' guards. Plus Rumple wasn't a bad conversationalist. He talked about how one day he hoped to actually be able to live up to something and how he wanted to do something to be remembered for. "Every day of my life I always knew that my life was here. But I wanted to do something great, something people will know me for."
I smiled and said, "I do hope your dream comes true Rumple." He smiled at me and asked,"So what do you want to do with your life anyway Ellie? You know besides running through the forest and breaking your ribs." We both laughed and I took his question to thought. I never really knew what my life would turn out to be. Most of my life had been dedicated to protecting Snow or trying to run away from Regina. I had never really thought about how my whole life would turn out.
