Hey Oncers! Here (finally) is the next chapter of Frozen Hearts! Things take a bit of a darker turn as we explore a dreamworld, and we have some Rumbelle. I hope you enjoy! ~WendyBird with a Wand Chapter 7: Rumple’s Nightmare Time seemed to have stopped. Or it might’ve been travelling at the speed of light. Then again, perhaps it didn’t exist at all. After due consideration, Rumplestiltskin decided it was all three at once. Rumple seemed to be floating like a kite above the clouds. Although he walked at a brisk pace, he didn’t seem to be moving forward. Instead, it seemed like the scenery rushed past him, changing rapidly and slowly. Then suddenly he was on the ground, looking up at the night sky, so full of stars that he couldn’t find a single constellation. He looked to the left and saw the Milky Way stretched across the sky like a ribbon. It was rather beautiful, Rumple thought. Looking down, he discovered he was in the sky again. It was still night, and the darkness was absolute, like every single star had been snuffed out like candles in a crypt. Wary now, Rumple leaned forward, just like he always did in the rare dreams where he could fly. But the air around him seemed to be solid, as though the darkness was a palpable presence. He strained his eyes, trying to see through the inky blackness, but there was not one speck of light to guide him. A shiver of fear went up his spine like a spider crawling up his neck to hiss evil words in his ear. He tried to move, to take a step forward, but he fell. He scrabbled for something to grab on to, but of course there was nothing. Rumple fell down, down through the blackness, which chocked and smothered him, pressing in on all sides. Suddenly, before he was even aware of it, Rumple was standing on solid ground, no longer falling. He opened his eyes, and immediately motley images began flashing before him like wild thoughts, or a slide projector that had gone absolutely out of control. Rumple tried to make sense of them, but they were here and then gone too fast, and there were too many to count. They flashed by faster and faster and faster until suddenly they stopped, leaving one vision. The smell of brine was in the air, and the floor beneath him rocked gently backward and forward. Rumple was standing on a ship, and to his horror he realized it was the Jolly Rodger. And in front of him, her face twisted with loathing, was Milah. She leaned forward and hissed those words “because I never loved you.” Rumple’s vision went red, and the words echoed horribly around him, becoming like nails that pierced his mind. He tried to run, but his feet were made of lead. As he watched, Milah’s face began to melt away on one side, revealing a horrible half-skull. She threw back her head and laughed, and the sound of it was like knives grating on stone. Then she plunged her hand into his chest, ripping out his heart, and then crushing it to dust. Rumplestiltskin felt the pain of it in his chest, like his entire being was being choked away. He would have dropped to his knees if he hadn’t been frozen in place. And still that horrible laugh echoed all around him… Then darkness engulfed Rumplestiltskin again. He was still falling, but this time it was in slow motion, like he was sinking to the bottom of the ocean. He could hear voices all around, whispering things like “coward” and “monster” over and over again. Then Cora appeared out of the darkness, floating down level with him. She wore her wedding dress and held a small ornamental box in her hands. “I’m sorry my dear Rumple,” she said, “but I can’t go with you.” “You know, I never understood,” Rumple said. “How could you rip your own heart out?” “Oh Rumple,” she said with a mocking smile. “You know I’m not the first of us to sacrifice love for power.” Cora disappeared, and Rumplestiltskin felt solid ground beneath his feet. Then he heard the sound of a woman crying; hopeless, miserable crying, in a voice he recognized. “Belle!” Rumplestiltskin called, and ran towards the sound. But he couldn’t reach her; the sound of her crying kept moving around, and he could see nothing through the blackness. “You are a coward, Rumplestiltskin!” came the voice from behind him. Heart clenched with fear, Rumplestiltskin whipped around. The scene was illuminated like the corner of a stage. He was looking at a dank, cold, stone cell. Belle was chained to the wall, her face gaunt and waxy looking, her chestnut hair dank, and her eyes dead. She was glaring at him from underneath her brow; or at least, she would have been glaring if she hadn’t looked so defeated. “We could have had happiness if you just believed that someone could want you.” She croaked. “I know,” Rumple whispered. “I’m sorry.” “You never even tried to find me again. You cast me out and left me for dead! I waited two years for you to rescue me. I endured cruelty at the hands of the Queen, and you never came! I thought you loved me! But you never came to me! I was left in that asylum for twenty-eight years and you never came!” Belle’s voice was shrill and cracked as she yelled at him. Rumplestiltskin could hardly bear it. “I’m sorry Belle, I’m so sorry!” he cried. “I didn’t know, I didn’t know!” Belle started to scream, a long, drawn-out scream of suffering and misery. Cora and Milah appeared beside her, and then the room started to spin, and they were all shouting their sharp words and accusations at him. Faster and faster spun the ghosts of his past around him, and their words grew louder and louder. Rumplestiltskin sank to the ground, eyes shut tight and hands over his ears, but he could not block out their voices. The chaos grew until he thought he’d go mad. An icy gust of wind blew over him, leaving the silence and stillness of death in its wake. Terror and cold gripped at Rumplestiltskin’s heart, and he opened his eyes. Before him he saw ivory skin, hair as white as snow, and huge eyes like shards of blue ice. “My heart may be frozen,” the woman said, “but ice can be melted. Your heart is black as coal, and no amount of love could ever lighten it. And you wouldn’t even care, would you?” With a cry, Rumplestiltskin sat bolt upright in bed. The momentum caused him to fall onto the floor, quilt and all, with a loud thud. He lied there, breathing heavily, still Petrified by everything he’d seen in his dream. “Rumple?” said a worried voice. Rumplestiltskin looked up to see Belle, who had crawled over to the edge of the bed to look down. His horror must have shown on his face, because she immediately slid down beside him and took him in her arms. “Rumple, are you alright?” she asked. She kissed his nose, his cheeks, his forehead, and his jaw below the ear. “What happened? Please tell me.” “I—it was just a dream…” he trailed off. “Yes,” Belle said with a nod, “whatever happened, whatever you saw, it was just a dream.” Rumplestiltskin felt that he was looking at her, but still all he could see was that white face. “It was…horrible,” he said. “Do you want to tell me about it?” Belle asked, rubbing his arms soothingly. Rumplestiltskin started to shake his head, but Belle kissed him on the lips and looked at him comforting eyes. “Please tell me about it,” she said. “It will help, I promise.” It was funny how good at opening him up she was. Rumple nodded, and she smiled. “It started out as an ordinary dream,” he began. “Then everything went dark, and I was falling. I saw…Milah, Cora, and you, but you were all…hellish.” He shuddered. “What do you mean, hellish?” Belle asked. “I could never do it justice,” Rumple said. “Hellish will have to do. You were all frightening to behold, and you…said things.” “What sort of things?” Belle asked. “Some were actual things they said, our parting words. And some were things I’d always feared.” Belle looked down at her lap and whispered, “What did I say?” “What you said when I cast you out. And…you yelled at me, asking my why I left you to suffer in Regina’s tower.” “What?” “I’m sorry Belle, I never should have believed you were dead, I should have looked for you, we could have been together, it was all my fault you were locked away for twenty-eight years, I’m so sorry, can you ever forgive—” “Rumple!” Belle interrupted, placing her hands on either side of his face. “Have you really beaten yourself up over that? You couldn’t have known, I know you didn’t. My imprisonment was Regina’s doing, not yours.” A weak smile played at Rumplestiltskin’s mouth. What had he ever done to deserve someone like her? “There’s something else, isn’t there?” Belle guessed. “Something you’re not telling me.” I should have known, Rumplestiltskin thought. He sighed. He didn’t want to tell anybody about this, especially not Belle. But he couldn’t see a way around it. In order for them to face this new threat, all had to be known. “You were right when you said I must have known her.” Rumplestiltskin said. “Elsa?” Belle said. “Yes, Elsa. I knew her when I lived in Arrendell all those years ago. I didn’t tell everyone earlier because it’s such a long story, one I’ve tried hard to forget.” “I thought there was something you weren’t telling us.” “I can never hid anything from you, can I?” he said with a smile. “Yes, there is much more to the story, and I told some of it wrong.” “Are you going to tell me now?” “It’s a story for the morning, sweetheart. For now I will only say that I knew her, and it was partly my fault that I had to imprison her in that urn.” Belle nodded. “Okay. But tell me, what did Elsa say to you in your dream?” Rumple stared at her, confused. He hadn’t mentioned her part in his dream. “Sorry,” Belle laughed. “I figured she had been there too once you started talking about her.” “Right,” Rumple said. “Well, she said the exact same words she spoke to me the moment before I imprisoned her; ‘my heart may be frozen, but ice can be melted. Your heart is black as coal, and no amount of love could ever lighten it. And you wouldn’t even care, would you?’ and she wasn’t wrong.” “Rumple,” Belle said, “you don’t really believe that, do you?” “I’ve had a hundred years to think about it, and she was right.” “You’re heart is not dark, Rumple,” Belle said, gazing fixedly into his eyes. There is light inside it, I know there is. Believe me.” “How could you possibly know that?” Rumple said. “After all you’ve learned about me, after all you’ve seen me do?” “I can feel it,” Belle whispered, placing her hand over his heart. “Sometimes, you let the darkness win. But at the core, your heart is light and warm and full of love. I’ve seen it, and I’ve felt it. “I love you so much, sweetheart,” Rumple sighed. “And I love you too,” Belle smiled. Then Rumple pulled her close, his lips finding hers. And they did not draw apart for a long time. *Ahh! Next chapter will be some story-time with Rumple, full of Frozen/Elsa info. If you enjoyed, please comment! I so appreciate everything you guys have to say, and it keeps me inspired! Heres a link to all the previous chapters in case you missed any: archiveofourown.org/works/1693157/chapters/3601775
Posted on: Mon, 14 Jul 2014 03:09:08 +0000