Evermore ~ Rumplestiltskin

Chapter Forty-Two

RUMPLE's POV | PRESENT DAY

I sat upon the stool in my cage spinning some straw into gold. Being in here made me feel like death. Why couldn't I have just stayed dead?

"Enjoying your little toy?" Zelena smirks coming into the farmhouse cellar where I was being kept.

"Spinning," I stated. "Cleans the mind. Soothes the soul. It cleans the mind. It soothes the soul. It cleans the mind. It soothes the soul."

It really doesn't... I just liked to tell myself that... to keep my mind off my son, and Liana, who I love very much, and it hurts my heart knowing that I'm alive, and they don't know I'm alive, and I can't go and see them....

How much I want to wrap my arms around my precious angel, my Liana, and never let her go...

"You look as awful as you sound," she said. I gritted my teeth and I hit the bars of the cage. "What? You're not enjoying your cage, hmm? Not appreciating your jailor? Oh no. You look like you want to hurt me."

Of course I want to hurt you. You brought me back to life and now you're keeping me away from my family.

To my surprise, Zelena opens the cage door. "I'd love to see you try," she said. "Especially, when we both know you can't."

I stood up, narrowing my eyes at her. This was my one chance to escape.

Zelena then takes out my dagger. How could I forget that she had that? I'll never escape. I'll never see my son again, and I'll never see Liana again.

"You're a slave to it, and to me," she said. "Frustration can be so intoxicating. On others."

I then go back into the corner and hunch over. "The only one who can do the hurting here is me. So, why don't you be a good boy and sit back down?" I sit back down, without will.

"Well, what are you waiting for?" I ask her. "Don't let me stop you." I then begin to sing. "All the voices are in my head will be quiet when I'm dead."

Zelena giggled. "I'm not here to kill you, Rumple. But you really need to keep up appearances."

"Appearances? Appearances? For what? For why? Let me spin. Spin the madness away." I then go to sit on my stool, so I can continue to spin. "Spin the madness away."

"No," Zelena stated. "I think the spinning is brining the madness. Here. Come closer." I move closer to her. "Now hold still," she takes a hold of my chin. I furrowed my eyebrows until she brought out her razors. She was going to shave me. No. The only person who'd ever get to shave me, was Liana as she was the most gentle with it. "You're probably wondering how I know how to do this." No. I'm not. I could really care less. "Did I ever tell you about my father? His hands used to shake from drink or worse. I hadn't asked. He didn't tell me. But, he couldn't abide going a day without a shave. So, I had to learn how to shave him. He used to say that no matter what we were feeling on the inside, we had to put on our best face. In our land you and I never had that choice, did we? No matter what we did our outside showed exactly what was rotting on the inside." She did have a point there. We had that in common. "But," she continued. "We're in a new land, now, aren't we? A land filled with opportunity. The least of which is to look our best." I feel a sting on my face as Zelena cuts me, blood starting to spill from the freshly new cut. I winced. "Oh, I'm so sorry. Did that sting?" she chuckled. "There, handsome as ever."

"Appearances? You don't care about appearances. If you cared about appearances you'd change my shirt. Just exactly what is it you want?"

Zelena shut my cage door. "What I'm after Rumple, is something you've spent a lifetime seeking." I raised my eyebrows. My son? My heart started to beat faster. What was this menace? She locks the door again. "Something that goes against your very nature." My heart beat got slower. Not my son. What was it? She was speaking in nonsense. "Something that I can't afford to wait that long for," she chuckled. "Luckily, I don't have to."

                               +++

LIANA's POV | Present Day

I stand behind Rumple's counter, thinking about what I could organize and clean in this shop as it's so dusty and dirty. But then my ears perk up at the sound of the bells jingling.

I looked up. It was a young woman about my age, with long red curly hair. She had a strange grin on her face, it almost looked wicked.

"Uh, hi. Can I uh... can I help you?" I asked, biting my lip with a small smile on my face. It's been forever since I've had a customer.

"Oh, you must be Mrs. Gold," she said.

"No," I cleared my throat. "I'm uh... not," I said.

"Is Mr. Gold around?" she asked.

I gulped as soon as my throat went dry. Whenever someone brings up Rumple, my heart stops and it brings me back to that one moment when I lost him forever. "No, he isn't," I replied. "He um... he passed away recently." I couldn't help but let a tear escape my eye.

"Oh, I'm so sorry for your loss dear," she replied. "What's your name?"

"Liana," I replied.

"Liana," she repeated. "It's such a pretty name. Oh, look, I'm so sorry to bother you, but I was hoping to buy a baby gift for a lovely woman that I met at Granny's Diner. She goes by Mary Margaret here. See, I'm helping her with her pregnancy and... Today's my first day on the job. You know, curse or no curse a girls got to work," she smiled.

I smiled back. "Mary Margaret?" I questioned. "Why didn't you say so? I think I may have just the thing."

"Bless you," the woman replied.

"Just a second," I replied. When Liana turned around, the woman stunned her, making her fall to the ground. Then the woman walked up to the secret safe behind the painting. After opening the safe's blood lock, she took out a root.