Stiltskin Family Bonding Chapter 13 - When You Wish Upon a Star
Fandom: OUAT
Pairings/Relationships: Papafire, Believer Fire, Henry & Rumplestiltskin, mentions of Rumbelle
Rating: N/R
Summary: The Stiltskin boys bond in a variety of ways. Sometimes it goes well, other times...not so much.
AO3
Chapter 13: When You Wish Upon a Star
The press of people around them was nearly suffocating, and Rumplestiltskin tried to hold perfectly still and ignore his son’s worried looks. He’d never been fond of confined spaces, and that discomfort had only intensified since the events of the previous year, but this was a short journey and he could endure almost anything for his boys. The ferry had held even less appeal for him than the monorail, so here they were. Henry stood a few feet away, his face practically flattened against the window, and Rumplestiltskin smiled in spite of his discomfort.
Leaving Gideon and Belle for even a day had seemed unthinkable, let alone for the entirety of this vacation, but Belle had been adamant.
“Henry needs to spend time with you and his father,” she’d said. “He’ll be grown before you know it! It’s only four days, and Gideon and I will be waiting here for you when you get back.”
Rumplestiltskin hated how very much he needed that reassurance, even as he appreciated that Belle understood his fears. Nightmares about losing the two of them had plagued him for days after Gideon’s birth - sometimes Belle announced that he was unfit as husband and father and disappeared, and other times Gideon was simply gone and Belle didn’t remember they’d ever had a son. Worst of all were the dreams in which he seemed to wake up cold and alone in a great empty bed with no sign of his family anywhere.
“We’re almost there!” Henry reported over his shoulder. “I can see the castle!”
“Great, keep us updated,” Neal said, sidling a little closer to his father. “You doing okay, Papa?”
“Fine,” Rumplestiltskin said, shifting his weight to his good foot.
“It’s just - it’s been awhile since you had to use that thing. From what I hear, the park’s pretty big.”
Rumplestiltskin looked down at the gold-handled cane and tried to speak pleasantly. “I’ve walked miles with this cane.”
“Well, yeah, I know, but…”
Ladies and gentlemen, we are approaching our station at the entrance to Main Street, USA, gateway to the six lands of the Magic Kingdom. Smoking is not permitted at the Magic Kingdom, except in designated areas. Please consult your guide map or ask a cast member for locations. If you’re standing, please hold onto the handrails and stay clear of the doors until the monorail stops completely and the doors open. Ladies and gentlemen, this is the Magic Kingdom monorail station.
“We’re here!” Henry turned away from the window.
Ladies and gentlemen, please collect your belongings, watch your head and step, and take small children by the hand. We hope you enjoy your day at the Magic Kingdom!
“Need me to hold your hand?” Neal teased Henry, and Henry frowned.
“He said small children, Dad,” the boy pointed out.
“Yeah, I know.” There was a flicker of something in Neal’s face, but it was gone almost as soon as it appeared.
They lumbered out of the monorail with the rest of the crowd and headed for the elevator, Henry practically vibrating with energy. As they were walking through the large stone archways, however, Henry stopped and looked up at his grandfather.
“Uh...Grandpa? They have...y’know...they have, like, wheelchairs and scooters and stuff.”
“Do they?”
“Yeah.” Henry shifted his weight. “I thought maybe you…”
“I’ll be fine,” Rumplestiltskin said tersely.
“But…”
“Hey, look, maps,” Neal said quickly. He grabbed one and shook it open. “How do we want to do this?”
“Oh, I already planned it all out,” Henry said.
“You did, huh?”
“Yup. I wanna see everything, so I figured we should have a plan. I call it Operation Sidewinder. We kind of zig zag around.”
“Ok. So where to first?”
“This way!”
Henry was quiet as they left Cinderella Castle, and he grew quieter still as they made their way around FantasyLand. Neal kept one anxious eye on him, unsure what had upset him, and another on his father, who was doing his best to hide his grimaces. No matter what Rumplestiltskin said, it had been a long time since he’d walked without magic, and none of this could be good for his ankle. He was trying to figure out how he could salvage what was turning out to be a total disaster of a trip when Henry suddenly stopped.
“The Mad Tea Party!” he said. “I’ve always wanted to ride this one!”
Neal looked doubtfully at the wildly spinning teacups. “I dunno, you’ve had a lot of cotton candy.”
“Come on, Dad, please? It’s one of the most famous rides in the park!”
Neal faltered when Henry stared at him, his eyes wide and beseeching. “Yeah, sure. But if you puke everywhere I’m taking pictures.”
Henry dashed away to stand in line while Neal and Rumplestiltskin followed more slowly.
“It’s good to see the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree,” Rumplestiltskin said.
“Huh?”
“How many concessions did you wheedle out of me with a look like that?”
Neal smirked. “I only used my powers for good.”
“For a good time, maybe.” Rumplestiltskin shook his head. “He’s so like you.”
“Yeah, he’s trouble.”
“You were never trouble, B - Neal. At least, you never meant to be.”
Neal didn’t quite know what to say to that, so he nodded at the line. “Are you gonna ride that thing?”
“No, I’ll wait for the two of you.” Rumplestiltskin grinned. “One of us has to be able to walk straight.”
Grumbling, Neal joined his son in line. The teacups spun fast and long, and Henry did look a little green around the gills, but at least he didn’t actually throw up. The kid seemed to be in a better mood, and they made their way past the kiddie area, ate lunch at Be Our Guest, and were walking past Prince Charming’s carousel (Henry had snickered a little at that) when he suddenly stopped dead in the middle of the street. Rumplestiltskin nearly knocked him over, and Neal was quick to grab his father’s arm to keep from falling down.
“What is it, Henry?”
“Nothing,” Henry said quickly. “Sorry. Let’s...go the other way.”
Neal frowned and looked at his father, only to see that Rumplestiltskin had frozen too, his face unreadable. “Papa?”
“Come on, Grandpa, let’s just go,” Henry said grabbing his grandfather’s arm and pulling slightly.
Neal followed his father’s gaze and felt his heart drop.
Of course.
“Peter Pan’s Flight.”
“Aye. Let’s go,” Rumplestiltskin said hoarsely, turning to follow his grandson.
They walked in silence toward the Princess Fairytale Hall, and only once they were standing in line did Henry speak up again.
“Sorry. I forgot about that one.”
“You’ve nothing to apologize for,” Rumplestiltskin told him, squeezing his shoulder gently.
“This place isn’t really what I thought it would be,” Henry said after a second’s thought. “I should have known better, I guess, but I thought...I thought it would be more real. I mean,” and he looked up at his grandfather, “you’re not even here. At all. And that’s crazy because none of this would ever have happened without you. My mom wouldn’t be here. I wouldn’t be here.”
Rumplestiltskin stared open-mouthed at his grandson for a moment, and Neal blinked back tears. He’d thought of that himself over the last couple of years - that as terrifying as his youth had been, as lonely and desperate as he’d felt, the slightest change and he would never have met Emma, and she’d never have had Henry. He hated that he had to acknowledge that anything good had come of his father taking the Dark One’s curse, but the proof was standing in front him. He cleared his throat and stepped forward, since it seemed that his father’s brain had momentarily short-circuited.
“Yeah, they got pretty much everything wrong, but we can still have fun,” he said. “Like, let’s go see the princesses and then we can tease your mom about petitioning for them to add a Princess Emma character. A princess in jeans and a red leather jacket.”
Henry grinned. “She would hate that.”
“We could take pictures of the princesses and then Photoshop their real-life heads on them.”
“Yeah! And we could get pictures of all the Caribbean pirates and Photoshop Hook’s head onto all of them!”
“Now you’re talkin’!” Neal ruffled Henry’s hair. “Whaddaya say, Pops? Ready for some good old-fashioned Disney fun?”
Rumplestiltskin smiled. “Yes, I do believe I am, though I have one question.”
It's always worth waiting for if you bring us such a lovely story! Thank you for filling my prompt for Stiltskin Family Bonding :) It's very interesting to see how their relationships change as time (chapter?) passes... and I love that Bae is still an attentive son to his father!
Thank you for prompting and for reading! SFB is one of my favorite things to write. The show was pretty clear that Bae took to being a dad like a duck takes to water - it was immediate, wanting to know and spend time with his son, taking him for pizza, playing with him, and when they were separated, desperate to get back to him. More than any other trait, Bae’s devotion to his son is what he has most in common with his own father.
And I will never not be salty that instead of exploring those dynamics, instead of really delving into themes of family and love and acceptance and redemption and forgiveness, we got the CShitShow.
But enough of that negativity. SFB exists and as long as lovely people like you want to contribute and read, it will continue!
