Beautiful Lily

Dress to impress

"You know, uh... seeing you without your suit jacket and vest is still a bit disorienting," said Belle gawking at his attire. He was wearing a white long-sleeved dress shirt and left the top button unbuttoned; and instead of the usual black pants he wore dark navy slacks that accompanied his black dress shoes. It was a nice change for her to see him in something less formal. It gave the illusion that he was actually relaxing.

"I can still wear my jacket," he said looking around their bedroom at the cabin, "it should be around here somewhere-"

"No! No, I... I like it. It's fine, just different that's all. Look, I doubt we're going to come across anybody to impress out here in the woods."

Rumple smirked, adjusting the cufflinks on his arms. He slowly strutted towards his wife and replied, "Not anybody, just you." He gave her a quick peck on the cheek. "You ready?"

"Yeah, where are you taking me?"

"Just a little ways into the woods," he said taking her hand, "Come. I want to show you something."

It was another beautiful day of their honeymoon, but it was nearing the end of their stay. The sun was shining and its' rays peeked in between the branches and leaves of the tree tops as they walked hand in hand through the forest. They walked peacefully in silence, reveling in this rare moment they were finding themselves in. After about fifteen minutes or so, they came across a shimmering river that basked beautifully in the afternoon sun. Rumple stopped beside the flowing river and turned to face her.

"Look, I brought you out here because I wanted to let you in on what I plan to do about the dagger situation."

"Ok," she replied, eagerly waiting for him to tell her more.

"I think you should continue carrying the fake dagger."

"Oh Rumple..."

"Wait, hear me out... since everyone thinks you still wield the Dark One dagger why don't we let them continue thinking that? Here," he said lifting her left hand, "let me see your wedding band."

She took off her wedding ring and handed it over to him. He did the same and placed both bands in his left palm. "Now place your left hand over mine."

She complied. However, she was curious if not anxious to see how their wedding rings were going to solve their issue with the dagger. "You had mentioned that if someone had come to threaten you, you had no way to defend yourself."

He waved his right hand over their left hands. The rings beneath their palms seemed to burn and chill rapidly as if magically searing the connection into their skin.

"If the power of the dagger is what they seek then give them what they want and hand them the fake dagger..." he took his wedding band and placed it back on his finger and then he placed hers back on her ring finger, "...and when that happens, you are to immediately take your ring, remove it, flip it around and put it back on the other way. When you do that, you will disappear from where you are and reappear by my side."

Belle's mouth accidentally fell open, excited over the proposition. It was brilliant.

"But don't get too excited... the spell wears off once it has been enacted. That's the price. It's not forever, so it's only for emergencies. What do you think?" He looked at her gauging her reaction.

She gave an appreciative smile and nodded agreeably, "I like it. Much better than the previous one."

"Good," he replied kissing her hand. A light warm wind blew through the air and caused their hair to sway. She grinned looking at his gorgeous face. The light from the river refracted and danced along their faces. She loved the person he was turning into. The sparkle on his face reminded her of how he used to look back in their land. His face back then glittered with gold, but this time, his face along with hers glittered naturally in the light like a heavenly glow. No curse, just pure, clean and new. Like a fresh start. She couldn't figure out why this moment pleased her so, but it was definitely enough to give her pause.

"But why tell me here? Why couldn't you have told me this at the cabin?"

"I could have but," he said reaching for both of her hands, "this is the last day of our honeymoon and I was trying to be romantic."

"Yeah?" she sensed a hidden agenda. She looked into his eyes and was trying to read in between the lines.

"That and... I figured you would be more inclined to my idea if I had suggested it in the proper setting."

"Mmm, you are quite the showman, aren't you?" she smirked.

"That I am."

"This whole time, you really were just trying to impress me?"

"It's the shirt, isn't it?" he said letting go of her hands for a moment to straighten it for her.

"You know, I don't ever see you dressed in white," she noticed, reaching for his hands and holding them once more.

"Only on occasions when it's to impress you, but just for you when we're alone... in the middle of the woods," he said trying to be clear. She could tell that wearing light colors was not his style, which only proved to her that he had only dressed this way to impress her, and it worked.

"C'mon then, let's head back," she said tugging his hands, "Heaven forbid if someone else besides me catches you wearing something other than a suit."

And they walked back to the cabin hugging each other side by side.

... ...

They were relieved when all was unpacked from the car. All their clothes were clean before they left the cabin so there wasn't much left for them to clean when they got home. When all their toiletries were stowed and placed in their usual spots, Belle started in on her luggage. Rumple opened his coat bag and began putting away his dress coats in their closet. Belle opened the top dresser when Rumple asked, "What are your plans for dinner tonight?"

"I haven't checked the pantry, but I believe we can scrounge something together," she answered folding and putting away a couple of sweatshirts into the unit.

"I was thinking," he said as he plucked another suit and stowed it carefully in the closet, "that we should go out."

"Out?" Belle questioned. It wasn't typical for Rumplestiltskin to voluntarily venture out and socialize publicly, unless it was for business purposes.

"Yes, to eat dinner. I think it's typical of most couples to do that in this land."

"Yeah I got that, but what's the reason? We've only eaten at Granny's-"

"I was thinking of something a little bit fancier than that. I know of an Italian restaurant called Tony's. I know the owner and he owes me a favor."

Belle sighed, "What does he owe you?"

"I gave him a business loan. He missed a payment once, but ever since then he has been up to date. Nothing more," he said trying to reassure her.

Belle turned to face him and eyed him skeptically. He did run this town after all, financially anyways. It was also getting close to dinner time and if truth be told she wasn't in the culinary mood either. "Ok," she consented, placing the last article of clothing into the dresser drawer, "but we're there strictly for leisure. No business."

"Belle," he began to say choosing his next words carefully. He wasn't about to make a deal he couldn't uphold, "I just want to spend the last day of our honeymoon relaxed because tomorrow," walking over to Belle and grabbing her sweetly by the hands, "we go back to work."

"Ah," she sighed disappointedly. Work. Right. Back to Storybrooke reality. They did have a life beyond the cabin. The fact was quite sobering.

"Just give a few minutes to get ready," he said kissing her hand and parting from her, "and we'll get going." He turned away from her placing the last pair of shoes from his bag onto the shoe rack in the closet.

"And I was just getting used to it being just the two of us."