A/N: Wow. I cannot believe I'm writing this epilogue right now, it's literally insane. I worked harder on this story than any other and the fact that it's ending seems impossible.

Thank you everyone who's stuck with me through this, and everyone who jumped on board halfway. Each of you hold a special place in my heart.

So enjoy this last gift, as a token of my gratitude.

EPILOGUE

"Love grows cold, blood, tears, and gold won't make it any better. I'll never let you down"-Blood, Tears, and Gold, Hurts

Sometimes hours can feel like minutes, and sometimes a single second can last a lifetime.

There were a million moments like this in the lives of Belle and Mr. Gold. Love does that sort of thing to you, changes time. And time had never gone faster or slower in the eight years they had been married.

The wedding had been simple. Belle had wanted none of the insanity Ruby went through. Instead, they were married at the church down the road by August's father, Marco. The only guests had been Ruby and Archie, and funny enough, Belle's father. She'd insisted that they invite him, but she hadn't expected him to actually show up. Rum had been incredibly understanding with her, even going as far as to ask why she didn't say he lived so close, claiming he would have asked for Belle's father's blessing.

They'd also both agreed to invite David and Mary Margaret, for old time's sake. At first the idea sounded ridiculous to both of them, but seeing as how they were lacking in guests anyway, it had turned out this way.

The idea of inviting Regina Mills was a complete joke that had come up when Gold mentioned that she was the entire reason he had walked into Pongo's that first night. Belle had found this funny and said that they should thank her, and they did. About a week after the engagement, they'd knocked on Regina's door and Belle greeted her with a smile, a hug, and a "Thank you so much, Regina. This never would have happened without you!" And even though both Belle and Mr. Gold could tell it only pissed off Regina, they called it burying the hatchet and now Ms. Mills has definitely left them both alone.

August had also come to the wedding as well, and with him came Belle's apology. She'd discovered about a month before the wedding that he had a bone disorder which was killing her, and she realized that hating him had done her no good. Sure, she'd said he was dead to her, but now that it was a reality she knew that the best thing she could do for herself was apologize for being such a bitch the entire time she'd known him. It wasn't exactly the silver lining of her wedding seeing as how it had forced her to tears at the reception when August hugged her and whispered "I'm sorry too, French" in her ear. And honestly, the tears in her eyes weren't tears of sadness. She felt lucky that she had the opportunity for redemption. He could have died a month before and she would have lived her whole life knowing all she ever did was hate him until his death.

The whole thing was part of the reason she quit her job within four months. August was barely breathing by then and it was too painful for her to see every day. She had talked to Rum about it, and he was all too eager, claiming that money was not an issue in any way.

And the day that she'd left, something incredible happened. She was just walking out of the bar when she butted heads with someone who was walking in.

"Oh, Gods, I'm so sorry!" Belle exclaimed, holding her head.

A laugh tinkled above her. "It's totally fine, don't worry about it," a female voice said.

Belle looked up slowly and met the hazel eyes of the brunette girl who sits at the booth in the corner. Belle slowly took her eyes off the girl and moved them to the left, where the blond man was standing, then her eyes fell to the space between them when their hands were intertwined. The brunette girl winked at Belle. "Honestly," she said, "It was my fault. I guess I just didn't see what was right in front of me."

When she got home, Rum asked her what happened to her head and why she was smiling.

And then of course there was everything else. After Ruby had gotten back from her honeymoon, she'd practically rung out Belle's neck for not calling her since Gold had proposed, and it had taken a lot of negotiation to convince her that it was a better idea than interrupting her honeymoon.

Belle's honeymoon had been amazing to say the least. She had said over and over that she didn't want to spend a bunch of money on a wedding night she probably would hardly remember from drinking so much, so they had spent the money on the honeymoon instead. He'd taken her to Paris. It was a place where neither of them had ever been, and neither of them spoke the language so Belle saw it as an adventure. She had always wanted to go to the craziest restaurants they could find, and seemed bored by many of the more touristy things, even skipping out on the Eiffel Tower. She wanted to fit in with the locals as much as she could, going to little coffee shops and shopping centers that were beyond the touristy part of the city.

And even though pastries and exploring and picking up on a little french was lovely, none of it compared to how her nights were spent. Rum would always have a bottle of wine ready for her from the little wine shop down the street from the hotel, but it had been incredibly easy for her to get distracted from the idea of just drinking and talking what with him always playing with her hair and calling her "Mrs. Gold." She'd gone lingerie shopping with Ruby again before the wedding, but instead of taking her friend's crazy advice, she'd simply picked out a blue night slip, and the assumption that it would be enough proven correct in the week they spent in the city of love.

Perhaps it's love that changes time because years felt like seconds and seconds felt like hours over eight years.

They had only been married two months when Belle found out that she was pregnant. Being six weeks late, it had not been a tough thing to discover for her, but she'd been terrified of telling Rum, convinced it wasn't what he wanted.

She actually confided in Ruby first, who was instantly ecstatic.

"That fast?" she asked, "Damn, I've been trying for six fucking months!"

Belle rolled her eyes and sighed. "That isn't what I asked, Ruby. What am I going to tell Gold? He doesn't want this!"

Ruby's eyes widened. "What are you saying? Of course he does, you're married! That's what marriage means you dingbat!" Belle jumped at the unappealing nickname.

"But-" she said.

"Look," Ruby told her, clasping her hands in hers over bar, it had only been two months so she was still working at Pongo's, "He's going to be happy! I mean, what guy is going to complain about his wife being extra horny for nine months?"

"Ruby!" Belle said, "that isn't the part I'm worried about, okay!"

Ruby laughed and shook her head. "Obviously. What are you worried about then?"

Belle wanted so badly to tell Ruby about Bae at that moment, but she knew that she couldn't. Her husband trusted her with that. It was something he'd never told anyone and she wasn't going to change that if she could help it. "I...I don't know. I guess I just don't want him to know yet."

Ruby rolled her eyes. "Well he's gonna know, so just tell him now. He'll be happy, I promise."

Even though she was definitely encouraged by Ruby's words, it had taken her a day to finally tell him, and after she'd stammered out the impossible words, "Rum, I...I'm pregnant," he'd laughed at her.

"I was wondering when you planned on telling me," he said, causing Belle's jaw to hit the floor and her eyes to bug out like crazy.

"You knew?" she asked, completely unable to believe it, "How?"

He smiled. "You've been sleeping nearly twelve hours a day, eating all the food in my fridge, and getting sick one moment then being fine the next," he gave her an 'oh, honey' sort of look, "It wasn't hard to figure out."

Belle blushed. "So you're...you're okay with this?"

"Are you okay with it?"

She looked up at him and said sincerely, "I'm happy about it."

"If you're happy then I'm happy," he said.

She'd wanted to ask about Bae, but decided not to. She knew it was not something he cared to discuss when they should have been rejoicing, and this was only implanted further when he started saying how much he hoped it was a girl.

Belle knew that she was going to love the crap out of whatever baby she had, but agreeing with Rum was probably a good idea, so she just grinned and said, "I hope so too."

By the time she was starting to show, and August clearly only had weeks left at the most, it became apparent that she needed to quit her job. She was going to have another life to take care of now, and working at a bar wasn't going to cut it. Plus, Rum had money from his job, and her father said that he would pay her to work at the flower shop whenever she felt that she needed to.

As it turned out, Rum had been right about their baby, it was in fact a girl. When the doctor had asked her if she wanted to know, her answer had been easy. She didn't want to go through the issues of guessing between pink and blue at the store, or fussing over names, being disappointed when she wasn't able to use one, so she'd said yes, and when the doctor, Dr. Whale, said that it was a girl, Belle saw the smile light up Rum's face instantly.

She'd been born on August 15th, and they had decided to name her Clara. Or rather, Belle had decided. Rum had given her full liberty with name choosing, and the name had just come to her while holding her daughter.

Now, what is seven years later but feels like seven minutes, almost nothing has changed.

August had died in April, three weeks after Belle had quit her job, and she'd insisted on going to the funeral. It had been quiet and simple, and the day after she'd gone to Pongo's and found Marco sorting through his son's things. She gave him a bouquet of flowers and apologized again, saying it wasn't fair for anyone to lose their child.

She hasn't gone back to Pongo's since then. Honestly the place had begun to feel a little haunted by all the memories it held, the good ones and the bad ones, but she still ends up walking past the place whenever she goes anywhere, and now there's a plaque on the brick windowsill, saying it is in memory of August W. Booth. And even though he had terrorized her and been a nuisance, it always makes her tear up a little.

But even with that tragedy, Belle Gold has very little to complain about. She has an incredibly strong marriage and a beautiful daughter. Clara is seven now, and in the second grade. She is every bit as beautiful as anyone could have imagined. Dark curls like her mother that are soft like her father's hair, and her eyes are the very same color as Rum's, a pure hazel. She is curious and clumsy, but smarter than any of the other children around her.

When they'd gone in to see Clara's teacher, who funny enough, was Mary Margaret, (The Golds had known that she became a school teacher after being fired from being David's secretary all those years ago, but hadn't a clue she had changed from teaching fourth grade to second, so it was a shock for them to see her in their daughter's classroom.) Henry Mills-Swan, the now seventeen year old boy, had been there, helping Mary Margaret by order of his mother, Emma.

Belle has always seen Gold's soft spot for Henry, but on that particular day, her husband had spent the entire conference chatting away with the boy while Belle tried her best to keep Mary Margaret occupied and talking about Clara, who had been dragged along due to the lack of affordable babysitters in New York.

On the drive home, it was Clara who asked, "Papa, why were you talking to Henry for so long? Didn't you want to hear what Mrs. Nolan said about me?"

Belle eyed her husband, waiting for his answer since she'd been wondering the very same thing. "Henry is a smart boy, he had a lot of things to say," Gold said simply, not taking his eyes off the crowded street.

Clara folded her arms across her chest. "His mama doesn't like me," she informed her parents.

Belle shook her head. "That's nonsense. Emma likes you very much, sweetheart."

"Not Emma," Clara said, shaking her head, "His other mama, the scary one that looks like an evil witch!"

Gold snorted and Belle couldn't help but laugh along with him for a moment. "Now, now, Clara," she scolded, "Ms. Mills isn't an evil witch."

"Yes she is," Gold muttered, "say what you like about her Clara, I don't mind."

Clara giggled in a wicked, childlike way and Belle rolled her eyes and looked to the roof of the car. "I would say shame on both of you, but I'd be lying."

Night fell and just before Belle went to sleep she asked, "Rum? Tell me, why do you like Henry so much?"

He said nothing for a moment. "He...he reminds me of...of..."

Belle sat up, "Bae," she finished, "I see. Sorry I asked."

"No, no," Rum said, "It's just that he truly does remind me of him. He always has...I can't help but wonder..."

Belle nodded along with his every word and suddenly pieces clinked together in her mind. At Ruby and Archie's wedding, the way Emma had said Gold's name, like she was remembering something. "You think Henry could be...Bae's son?"

Rum looked down and shook his head. "I don't know. Perhaps I'm just seeing what I want to see." He kissed her forehead and sighed, "It doesn't matter though. I have everything I need."

And as much as she wanted to believe that, she knew it wasn't true and she took that knowledge with her to the Sheriff's station the following day, leaving Clara with Henry. (something that had cost her more money than it should have since she had unwillingly torn the boy away from Grace, the flower girl from Ruby's wedding who she could see Henry definitely had a thing for.)

When Emma saw her walk in she immediately looked away from the dartboard on the wall and started rustling papers around, "Hey, Belle, sorry, place is a mess. Is something wrong?"

Belle walked into the office slowly, "Um, no not really. I take it the crime rate's down though."

Emma laughed. "Yeah, it is. So what brings you over here? Is Henry okay?"

Belle couldn't help but be touched by the fact that Emma still thought of her son as a ten year old with a wild imagination and not a seventeen year old who reminded Mr. Gold of his son. "Henry's fine," Belle assured Emma, "He's with Clara actually. Regina must be doing something else because he was just hanging out with that Grace girl."

Emma nodded. "Jefferson's kid, right. That's cool, I guess."

It wasn't cool. Emma and Jefferson had been on and off forever and ever and the fact that their kids were friends didn't help when they always decided to stay away from each other for real this time. "Yeah," Belle said, "Listen, Emma, I wanted to ask you something."

Emma plopped down in her desk chair and sipped her coffee. "Okay, shoot," she said.

"Who's Henry's father?"

Silence. Complete silence took over the room and Belle blinked and started wishing she could take back the words. "I-I'm sorry, I just-"

"No," Emma said slowly, "It's fine, really, I just...don't usually like to talk about that."

Belle nodded. "Yeah. But would you? I'm just curious because-"

"Did your husband put you up to this?"

The look on Emma's face wasn't a nice one, and Belle instantly put her hands up saying, "No! No, he didn't. Why would he?"

Emma shook her head and stared down at the desk. "I don't know, it's stupid."

"Will you tell me his name?" Belle asked, "I'm not going to try and find him or anything, I just-"

"Yeah, you are. You are going to try and find him. You're lying and I know it. I can tell."

Of course she could. Emma was very good a voicing the idea of her selective superpower that unfortunately seemed to work on Belle. "Please, Emma," she said softly, "Tell me his name."

Emma blinked. Once. Twice. And then she looked straight into Belle's eyes and said, "Baelfire. That's his name."

She'd thought about just not telling him. After all, it might have been better just to keep the mystery alive. But she knew that wasn't going to solve anything, so after stopping by Regina's and overpaying Henry, she set Clara in front of a book and rushed Rum into their bedroom explaining what had happened.

The tears in his eyes were impossible to miss and she wrapped her arms around him and hugged him tight against her. "It's alright, Rum," she whispered, "Really, it's a good thing."

He nodded against her shoulder. "Emma didn't say anything else?"

"No. She didn't want to talk about it."

He didn't say anything about Bae after that, he just stayed in her embrace for as long as he could manage.

The subject hasn't been brought up since, but the Golds have been making an effort to get closer to Henry. After all, Mr. Gold is his grandfather, not that he knows it. Emma obviously doesn't want anyone to know anything about her past, so for the time being, they don't. Lucky for them, Clara likes Henry too. She always follows him around and listens to his crazy stories about fairytales and such. Plus, the fact that he takes her out around town a lot doesn't hurt matters much.

And everyone is happy. For the most part, anyway. Obviously, life will always have it's little disappointments, but for Belle they were few and far between. She has her husband and her daughter and to be quite honest she knows that's all she's ever going to need.

Few people have what she does. A brilliant friend in Ruby, a good home, and true love. It is strange to think that all this came from her working behind a bar in New York City, but it's also kind of wonderful. Everything in her life happened for a reason, and it has always been leading up to what she has now.

Which is why today she has decided to go back to Pongo's for the first time since the day after August's funeral. She had never given back her key, and she had called up Henry earlier asking him to watch Clara tonight. Then she had scrawled out a note asking Rum to meet her here.

The bar is closed despite the fact that it's only about eleven. But Marco is an old man, and there hasn't been much business lately anyway. But Belle unlocks the door and waits behind the counter in her little shorts and apron paired with a low cut top and sandals, feeling the deja vu wash over her.

And as if on cue, the bell above the door dings and she turns to smile at her husband.

"Good evening, Mr. Gold," she says softly.

He smiles at her. "Good evening."

She grins back at him and flutters around. He turns and walks behind the counter until he's right next to her, breathing against her hair.

"You're not supposed to be back here" she informs him breathily.

He laughs. "That's alright. I've done it before and I didn't get into too much trouble."

She exhales unsteadily. "No, you didn't," she agrees, reaching down and shuffling through dishes.

"What are you doing?" he asks.

She doesn't answer, instead she just grins and pulls out a cup from the cupboard she'd been rustling through. She holds it up for him to see. "Look familiar?" she asks.

He nods and smiles. "Very much so," he says, clasping his hands around hers and the cup she'd chipped. Then he takes it out of her hands slowly and sets it onto the bar and pushes a strand of hair behind her ear before kissing her slowly and tenderly, the same way he had so many years earlier.

He is not aggressive with her, nor does he seem rushed in the way he kisses her. He just holds her there, knowing that they have forever ahead of them. He chose her because he knows that she is the one thing holding him to this earth in this moment. That she's everything he has ever wanted in his life and that he could never live without her.

"I love you," she breathes, "So much."

He lets her go for only a moment, letting himself drown in her bright blue eyes and tells her, "Yes. And I love you too."

THE END

A/N: Guys. Guys. I cannot believe it's over I really can't. I mean...wow. And what a week to end on, too. I hope you all have been enjoying those set photos as much as I have!

Anyway, I thank you for sticking with me. I was a little drunk when I wrote this so I'm sorry if some of it's totally insane or something.

I love you guys to death! Thank you all so much!