I Remember.

Wrote this one right after watching the season one finale of ABC's Once Upon a Time. Tore my heart to shreds and then magicked it back together again. This one's from Belle's POV.

The forest is still and quiet and I feel as if everything is holding its breath, waiting for something. My heart beats faster.

I have to watch my feet carefully. After living in that tiny cell for so long, it seems so strange to suddenly have space all around me. True, wild space with moving air, shifting shadows, and small sounds. The crunch of the dried needles beneath my feet sounds so loud to my ears. Each footstep echoes, thunders in my head, and in between my own steps, there is another set, an uneven one.

I had glanced up at the person walking ahead of me. He keeps his back to me, but I can tell by the pace he sets that he is excited. He walks with a limp, relying heavily on a cane as he forges our path between the trees.

Once again, I had asked myself why I was following him. Once again, I had told myself it was because of his promise of protection. But there was something else, something deeper, lying hidden in the depths of my heart. What it was, I would never be able to put into words. But it kept me curious, kept my feet going one ahead of the other, following.

His reaction to seeing me in his shop was one I would never forget. I knew just by the look in his eyes that even if I was clueless to what was going on, he knew. The pure shock that arced through his features told me that he recognized me, but he had never thought he'd see me again. And then the flash of something kind, tender, a look that sent a thrum through my heart. I was someone he had wanted to see, someone who meant a lot to him. He had stepped towards me, disbelief rolling off him in waves. And he had touched my arm, checking to see that I was real, alive. I may never understand his reaction, but I would never forget it.

Now, he is leading me through the forest to a place only he knows.

I look at him once more, trying to remember. He knows me, but I do not know him. How can this be?

And then, something tugs at my gut.

I freeze and suddenly, everything is gone. The forest, the silence, the man. My every sense is stolen, replaced with things that are real and yet aren't. I see images of places I've never been: a dark castle with spiking towers and cold stone, a grand dining hall with artifacts on display, a forbidding tower filled with despair. I hear a voice I've never heard: wild yet cunning, both cold and warm, deep and high, a contradiction to itself. I smell a scent I've never smelled: peaceful, sweet, and strong. A rose. I feel a touch I've never felt: the soft press of lips against mine. A kiss. And now, the senses are rushing together, blending to create thoughts, emotions. And in an instant, I remember. The castle, the dining hall, the rose, the kiss, the chipped cup. And I remember the man, the owner of the voice that had echoed in my dreams and thoughts for so very long until it had suddenly disappeared in this new world. I remember the song in my heart when I saw him, the rush of hope after the kiss. I remember him.

I open my eyes. Everything makes sense again. And I see him there, just ahead, the one person I had yearned to see the moment I had left his side. He is still walking, unknowing. I must make him stop, make him see.

"Wait."

My voice is weak, drowned out by the emotions that are raging through me. He continues to walk and I feel a flash of irritation.

"No, no. We're so close."

His voice. Oh, his voice. Just the same and yet so unlike the voice that echoes through my memories. It was the voice I'd heard in his flash of humanity the night everything had gone wrong.

He is just as stubborn as he had been then, but so am I. And I want him to know, to see that everything is ok now. But I need him to stop walking. Suddenly, I know how.

"Rumplestiltskin. Wait."

The way his name rolls off my tongue seems to fit, as if my mouth has been dying slowly just to say that one word. And it works. He stops, frozen in the doubt I know he feels. He turns slowly to look at me, the unbelief strong in his eyes. He thinks this must be a joke, but I know it isn't. And I am drowned in happiness.

His face, the familiar angles, the line of his jaw, strike a chord in my heart. It is truly him, truly Rumplestiltskin, an ordinary man once again. His skin is pale and his eyes, his dark eyes, are human. I see in that moment the face I had glimpsed in those precious seconds when he believed.

But he still didn't know. I must say something else.

"I remember."

The doubt stays a second longer until it flees before a spark of hope. I smile, willing him to know I speak the truth. I come closer to him and speak the words I know will banish his disbelief.

"I love you."

And there is a light in his eyes I have only ever dreamed of. A joy glows from his very heart. And I know he believes me. I know all the words he wants to say, and I know that I only need to hear four of them.

He smiles and my mind memorizes it. This is not the smile of a man weighing every word for value or searching for a crack in the armor. This was the smile of a man feeling only an incredible happiness and needing nothing more in this moment.

"Yes," he says, his voice weak.

I want nothing more to feel his arms around me. I laugh as an unexplainable tear rolls down my cheek, and I accept his embrace, breathing in his scent, so familiar. His breath tickles my hair as he says, "Yes, and I love you too."

And everything is alright. I hear those words and the millions underneath. The apology, the grief, the sheer joy. And I know he knows that all is forgiven, that all is as it should be. I know he has felt all the torture a man can bear and more. I know he has decided that nothing will keep us apart anymore. And I know that I trust him. I know that I belong nowhere else but at his side. I know that I will fight with everything I have to keep him. I know that never will I give up as I had so easily that night long ago.

I feel in his embrace that he has freed himself, that he has happiness, that he believes that someone loves him. He took the chance and proved me wrong. He isn't the coward I had called him then; he has changed. He knows I love him and he remade his choice.

And I know that he won't regret it this time.

Author's Note

Emotions? Can you really feel how strong they are in this moment? And about the whole memories moment, when the curse breaks and she remembers everything.. Is that pretty powerful yet a tad disorienting enough?