Merry Christmas, hollymac_79!

[ultra_fic]

hollymac_79 - My lovely friend and beta, your prompt was a pleasure to write and I really hope you like the story! :)

Title: Snowed In
Fandom(s): OUAT
Prompt: Rumpelstiltskin/Belle, snowed in
Timeline: AU futurefic
Rating: PG-13
Disclaimer: Any and all recognisable characters do not belong to me.

Storybrooke had looked beautiful in the snow. Belle had wondered at how a place that was presumably devoid of magic, at least in its natural state, could ever seem as if it belonged in a dream, and yet covered in a blanket of white she could well believe it was equally as magical as home. Over the months and years that Belle had lived between Storybrooke and the Enchanted Forest, she had come to realise that neither was more home than the other. Fake memories, deals made, it all faded into nothingness. No one solid place was really where she belonged, be it her father’s castle, an apartment over the Storybrooke library, the Dark Castle, or a pink house that belonged to the man she loved. Home was where your heart lived and for Belle that was always with Rumpelstiltskin.

The Dark Castle no longer fitted its description. Large, uncovered windows, flooded every room with light, and outside the landscape glistened with crystals and a blanket of pure white. It was the manner of the people inside the castle that changed things too. The joy in the hearts of those that lived within the walls made a light that nothing could ever extinguish. Life was a wonder to be enjoyed since the happy couple returned to the place where they had first fallen in love, though there had been no lack of joy before their return either. They were married in Storybrooke, two years ago now, and from the moment Belle and Rumpelstiltskin made their vows, she was sure they had made the right decision. Nothing could put them asunder now, if they ever could have before.

Belle recalled a day in Storybrooke, when she and Rumpelstiltskin had become all but snowed in. Of course he might have magicked them out somehow, Rumpel could always do that, but he had taken little convincing to leave the whiteness of the world just where it was.

“Why exactly are you so desperate to get out of the house, Rumpel?” she asked as she went over to the bedroom window where he stood, wrapping her arms around him from behind.

“I don’t do well cooped up, Belle, you know this,” he told her, sighing as she planted a kiss on his shoulder blade. “Not unless it is my own choosing.”

“Then let it be our choice to stay inside,” she suggested, continuing her trail of kisses across his bare back. “Nobody will mind if the shop doesn’t open for one day, most will be as trapped as we are,” she told him.

Rumpelstiltskin shivered not from the cold but from the feelings only Belle could evoke in him with well-placed kisses and touches. He turned suddenly to take her roughly into his arms and stared down into the depth of her sparkling eyes.

“Are you trying to seduce me, Mrs Gold?” he asked her with a smirk that made her giggle.

“Well, that all depends,” she told him with a wicked look in her eyes. “Is it working?” she asked, pressing her every curve against him, running her fingers back through his hair.

Of all the people who had ever made Rumpelstiltskin want to lose control, none had the power that Belle possessed. All thoughts of getting out of the house for any purpose evaporated in a second as he kissed her lips. They were soon back in their marital bed, a day spent in the warm glow and pleasure of their love. Though outside the world was stung with cold, frozen solid at every turn, the Gold house practically glowed bright with love and passion. Certainly Belle and Rumpel felt no cold at all.

Belle almost blushed as she remembered that day now. Mostly the embarrassment was caused by recalling the moment when a loud banging on the door had proved to be Henry come to visit his grandparents. Belle still couldn’t decide if it had been a good or bad thing that he was by then old enough to understand why couples might be in bed in the middle of the afternoon. A child at least could have been told a white lie, but a teenager knew much better.

“Here now. Here’s your mama,” said Rumpelstiltskin then as he entered the room.

Belle turned and smiled widely as her husband came towards her, handing over the little girl he had carried in with him.

“Mama!” Rose cried happily, hugging her tight.

“Hello, sweetheart,” she greeted her daughter with a kiss to her cheek. “What’s the matter?” she asked, noting how red in the face she was, as if she had been crying.

“She wants to go and play in the snow,” Rumpelstiltskin explained, joining Belle and Rose in the window seat. “As deep as it is, I feel sure we would lose her in a drift.”

“You are right, I’m sure,” said Belle sadly, knowing she too would have loved to be outside, but it was far too dangerous.

The snow had come thick and fast for two days straight, piling up at the windows and against the castle doors. It was no good for a two year old child, not even for the adults to try and make the best of. For now they were snowed in, and as sad as that might seem for Rose, it was for the best that they stayed inside.

“Just as soon as it’s safe, we’ll go out and play, dearie,” Rumpel promised his daughter, a gentle hand moving her dark curls back from her pretty face. “Be patient.”

“Play with snow,” she whined still and Belle hugged her close.

“Soon, sweetheart,” she promised, looking at her husband over Rose’s head. “It is a shame.”

“Aye, it is. First snow she has ever seen and she is stuck in here away from it, unless...” he said with a sudden smile.

Rumpelstiltskin kept his use of magic to a minimum these days. It did not come easy to him to give it up, but for Belle and Rose he would do just about anything. Much like an addict attempting to give up alcohol or drugs, cold turkey had seemed the best way forward. Magic was now only employed in the most dire of emergencies, which this was obviously not; however, Belle couldn’t help but be tempted to allow Rumpel this one little spell. It would so please Rose and her too if she were honest.

“Just this once perhaps,” she nodded, a smile curving her lips.

Rumpelstiltskin smiled right on back as he got to his feet and leaned over to kiss her lips. He then moved to the middle of the room and called for Rose’s attention. Her little head came up from her mother’s shoulder, peering over at Papa with wide curious eyes.

“Keep watching, Rosie,” he told her, waving his hands in seemingly random gestures.

It was amazing for even Belle to witness as from her husband’s hands and soon just the air above him, snow flakes fell. Rose was astounded and clearly thrilled as she wriggled to be put down onto the floor. She toddled over to her father, watching with wonder as the beautiful white crystals rained down upon her, floated up around the skirt of her dress, and settled on the tile beneath her feet.

“Papa!” she squealed and laughed. “Snow, Papa!”

She was so happy, and Rumpelstiltskin knew that feeling well these days. There was a warm feeling in his heart as he looked from his beautiful daughter to the woman he loved, his beautiful Belle who had long since taught him how enjoyable being snowed in could be. After all, Rose would not be here if not for the last time it had happened.

Comments

[florencia7.livejournal.com]

BEAUTIFUL fic!!! ♥ I really needed to read it today :] You created such a wonderful, unique, cozy atmosphere in it. I loved loved loved reading this! ♥

[ultra_fic]

Thank you, sweetie *hugs* I really hope you like your fic just as much when its posted!! :)