HAPPY SECRET SANTA
Hello Darling, @skipbeatgirly39! It was so much fun being your Santa and working on your prompt! I hope I did it justice and look forward to getting to know you off anon!
Prompt: Quick sand, birthday, forest, falling, pink
Description: Rumple has a chance encounter with a woman he has never seen before. It leads him on a chase that he never could have seen coming.
Words: 2,115
A03
Searching
With his cane planted firmly between his feet, Rumple glared out at the travesty unfolding in front of him. He lived for centuries facing darkness, pirates, evil queens, and two ogre wars, but this was different. As he closed his eyes the sounds enveloped him, shouting screaming, and an occasional cry. A hand on his shoulder shook him and he opened his eyes again.
“Thank you again, Gold. Henry couldn’t be happier.” Emma’s hand fell from his shoulder as she stepped outside to join the party. When Rumple agreed to let Emma host his grandsons birthday party at his house he couldn’t have prepared himself for what would unfold. The number of people, the volume of music, the mess, it was all too much. Hesitantly, he crossed the threshold and stepped out onto the patio. Children ran in circles shouting and laughing. The adults stood, gathered in small groups, making idle chit-chat. Rumple had been to the underworld, but in his opinion this was a much more accurate description of Hell. Pacing the perimeter of the party his steps were measured and flattened the grass under him. His eyes grazed over the faces in the crowd. Under most circumstances Rumple wouldn’t so much as hold a conversation with this lot, much less invite them into his home. In an attempt to ward off any potential small talk he avoided eye contact and kept his pace steady. At the edge of his property line the forest opened up like curtains before a play, drawing him in. At first it was one small step at a time and before he realized the noise dropped away and the silence surrounded him. The unfortunate result of silence was that it left plenty of space for thought to rush in. Silence had a way of making Rumple feel tall, like he could stand on the power of his mind. Somehow silence had a way of making everything seem bigger. The blue jay whistling its tune sounded like a symphony; the leaves crunching under his cane echoed like rocks giving way in a canyon. He couldn’t remember the last time he stepped away from the world, even just for a moment. The leaves brushing against his coat left trails of dew, painting constellations down his pant legs. He lost track of how far he walked, the trees blended together and time seemed to slow down. A faint grunt pulled him from his trance. The noise was soft and at first he wasn’t sure he heard it at all. Then another, a tiny puff of breath, followed by another. Rumple wandered aimlessly at first, the noises too soft to pinpoint, sounds bouncing off the trees. The more he turned and scrambled about the more he felt like he was losing his mind. Suddenly an exasperated groan came from just over his shoulder. Spinning on his heels he pushed aside a few branches and came to a dead stop. A woman stood in front of him. Flecks of light filtered through the trees and caught her skin, causing it to shiny like porcelain. Dark tresses of hair were pinned back away from her face, which was as white as snow. Her eyes were the lightest shade of blue, hardly a shade darker than ice. His gaze followed her form down until he noticed the cause of her distress. It looked as if the ground had opened up and attempted to pull her in. She was shin deep in the darkest mud he had ever seen. Every muscle in her body was tense and she was just staring at him with her saucer eyes. After a moment his thoughts snapped back into place and he reached the handle of his cane out to her. She didn’t move, didn’t even make an attempt. The air between them seemed to freeze and he shook the cane in her direction.
“Go ahead, grab it. I can help you.” He was confused but he tried to keep his voice level. Hesitantly she reached out, grabbing the handle of his cane with both hands. A couple of quick tugs and her feet started to pull loose, she stumbled forward, unsteady on her feet. The mud gave and she fell forward into his arms. The cane fell to the ground between them and he grabbed her shoulders to stop them both from joining it. Still holding her at arm’s length he looked her up and down once more. Cold had permeated her skin and his fingers left pinpricks of warmth down her arms. She was wearing a light pink dress, bare at the shoulders, which fell just below her knee. The hem was dirty and frayed with leaves caked on the front.
“You can see me?”
His eyes shot up from her dress to her face. The sudden movement seemed to startle her and she jumped backwards out of his arms.
“W-what?” he stuttered. The tone of his voice was barely audible but it was enough to cause her to jump again. Suddenly she was at a full sprint, winding through the trees. Instinctively Rumple took several steps after her but his leg groaned in protest. Instead, he watched as the blur of pink faded into the woods.
The rest of the party went on in a haze of color and noise. Once the candles were blown out and the crowd made their way home Rumple sat at the foot of his bed, staring out the window. The trees swayed with the evening breeze and his mind reeled from the events of the day.
Who was that woman?
Where did she go?
Where did she come from?
The remainder of the week moved on in relative normality. During his usual rent collection route though, he decided to take a detour. The library had been boarded up for years, funding never seemed to be aimed in its direction. However, Rumple thumbed the key out of his pocket and shook the aged lock loose. None of the lights worked and the windows were boarded up, making maneuvering through the room difficult. It took longer than expected, but he found the box labeled Zoning Documents in a back corner. The box was covered in a layer of dust an inch thick and was damp to the touch. He didn’t even know what he was looking for, answers, some form of explanation. The pages were discolored and furrowed at the edge but most of them were still legible. Scouring from one side of the town line to the other he was hoping o find a home or a building that he wasn’t previously aware of. Unfortunately, everything was as he thought. The woods around his house extended, uninterrupted, for miles until they met the town line. There were no buildings, not even a noticeable cave system to take shelter in. Rumple swallowed and thumbed through the pages again, hoping to catch something he may have missed. If he was right, that woman was wondering around the woods alone with nowhere to go. A decision was made and before he knew it he was back in the woods, wandering aimlessly. With no idea what he was looking for, or even where he was going, he stumbled through the unsteady terrain on shaking legs.
What if she is lost?
What if she is hurt?
Questions bounced around his head as he pushed branches aside. Once he got to the edge of town, he stood staring out at the landscape before him. The town line fell along the edge of very a steep cliff, easily three stories down, a line no one dare cross. Mindlessly he kicked rocks over the edge, listening as they bounced down the rock face. It would take days for him to cover the expanse of the forest, he may never her.
What does it matter?
It’s not like he had ever been the heroic type. The wellness of others usually fell fairly low on his list of concerns. Something about this girl struck him though. Maybe it was the look on her face or the chill on her skin. While he was deep in thought, the image of her eyes clouding his vision, the ground below him started to give. Slowly at first, one pebble at a time, then all at once the cliff gave out from under him. All the air left his lungs at once as he tumbled towards the ground. There wasn’t any time to think or react and he closed his eyes and accepted the inevitable. After a long moment though, the inevitable didn’t come. His eyes opened a millimeter until he could see the ground below him once more. Laying horizontally, the ground was a few feet below him and he couldn’t move his arms or legs. The relief of not being dead was quickly replaced by the panic of not being able to move. Struggling against whatever force was holding him up his panic grew. Next thing he knew he was being pulled up toward where he had fallen. At this point his legs were shaking, is eyes had closed, and sweat formed on his bow.
“You shouldn’t have come here” a familiar voice whispered. When he opened his eyes he was still a few feet above the ground, suspended upright by what seemed to be branches and vines. In front of him stood the woman in the pink dress. The wind was blowing her hair around and her arms were stretched out at her sides. “Why did you come here?” Her mouth never moved but Rumple heard the words as clear as if he had spoken them himself.
“W-What?” his voice shook. None of this made sense. The vines suddenly pulled taught and Rumple went soaring through the air, stopping just inches from her face.
“Why. Are. You. Here?’ Again her lips never moved. It was as if she was forcing the words directly into his head. Her brows were furrowed and her mouth was drawn into a thin line.
“I-I was worried about you.” He wasn’t sure what else to say, it was the truth. Her expression softened and the wind around them calmed. Slowly the vines lowered Rumple to the ground. He was unsteady on his feet, unbelieving of what was happening. “What are you?” he whispered, it was barely audible. Stepping back she looked him up and down.
“You do not look like a hero.” His cheeks reddened and he folded his hands in front of him.
“Well, that’s because I’m not.” It was true. Rumple believed himself to be a lot of things but a hero was not one of them.
“Then why did you save me?” her tone was flat and her mouth remained still.
“You needed help.” He was staring at the ground, wringing his hands. “What is your name?” She didn’t move and several moments passed in silence.
“Belle.” The wind picked up again, blowing Rumple’s hair around at his collar. He lifted his eyes to her face. Eyes that once resembled the sky in spring were now much closer to thunderstorms. Her bare feet were now hovering a few inches above the ground, like a celestial being. Rumple took a step forward, the electricity in the air making the hair on the back of his neck stand on end. After a few slow steps he was less than a foot from her and he reached forward for her hand. He grasped both of her hands firmly in both of his.
“What are you?” he asked again. His voice was calm and steady even though inside his nerves were on fire. Immediately the air stilled and her feet sank back to the ground. The expression on her face softened and her eyes calmed. She was staring down at her hands in his.
“Lost.” She raised her face to meet his. “I am lost.” The confusion must have been written on his face because she slowed her tone. “My people have existed for centuries. Most of us are scattered across many worlds, spread very thin. We spend our lives searching for the world that holds our true love. Regular humans cannot see us; our light comes across as faint mist to most. The only being that will be able to see us as we really exist are those destined to be our true love.” The realization spread across his face. The reason why she asked him repeatedly if he could see her. The electricity was back again and Rumple could feel it passing from her hands to his. He closed his eyes and leaned in until their lips met. If this was destined, who was he to fight fate.