Synopsis: Belle French lives alone and she likes it that way. She’s lived alone ever since the terrible car accident which killed her mother and claimed her eyesight. Belle spends her days painting, in complete solitude, until one day she wakes up and hears movement outside. Somebody has moved into the cottage next door. She had grown comfortable in her solitary existence until Mr Gold crashes into her life. Now her future is uncertain, like a blank canvas, waiting for her to apply the paint and decide what kind of story she is creating.
Note: Banner by the awesomely amazing @rowofstars who has very kindly and patiently beta read this chapter. Thank you so much! I am really, really sorry for the wait on this chapter. I had a really bad March and didn’t write much of anything. It’s Camp NaNo this month though and that seems to have kickstarted the old writing engine again. This chapter involves the start of a prompt from @betsypaige22. I hope that despite the delay you all still enjoy this chapter 🙂
The next day
Gold woke up bright and early to drive into the city. He’d been planning on his
visit to Neal being a surprise but Belle had counseled him against that.
Instead he’d called and asked if it would be convenient, and they’d arranged
that he would get to their apartment just after lunch. That would give him more
than enough time to make the drive, stop off at the toy store and see about
something for Belle.
Belle liked
books, but that seemed a risky purchase, she had talked with him about a lot of
books but he knew she had read hundreds more. He really didn’t want to buy her
a book that she already had. Besides, a book wasn’t something they could do
together. They were limited on activities they could do within the boundaries
of the four walls of a cottage. His instinct was to buy tickets to something,
but that had disaster stamped all over it. Belle wasn’t ready for that, may
never be ready for that, and pushing would only make it worse.
Alone in his
car, as the powerful sedan ate up the miles, Gold ruminated on the
possibilities. Belle had two passions, reading and art, and he wanted whatever
he gave her to be personalized. He didn’t want to just get a generic gift
because he went to the city, he wanted her to know that he’d really thought
about it. It was quite the conundrum and when he reached the city outskirts,
and had to slow down through the suburbs, he was no closer to a solution.
Unfortunately, the toy store wasn’t exactly conducive to thinking.
Oh, Belle. You always leap before you look. I’m sure Nick will be there for her to help catch her when she falls.
The disconnect between Gold and Neal is very interesting. Neal has this idea of his father that’s probably only half true. He really thinks that Gold working so much and whatever else, meant that in some way he wasn’t paying attention and that he didn’t love him. When Gold was always paying attention and always loved him and in his mind did everything for Neal. It’s a bridge they’ll have to cross together.
Thank you! In my experience kids and adults see things differently about stuff that happened growing up. Adults assume that kids understand their motivations and they don’t. I’m hoping time and communication will fix this for Gold and Neal. Though it’s one thing to know something to be true and another for the subconscious to accept it.
So even if Neal does grow to completely understand what happened, it might still take time for him to really believe it. I’m really glad you liked the chapter! Thank you again for all your support and help. You are the best! 🙂
Aww, that was so sweet!!! I loved Gold’s interaction with Anna; it was hilarious. He was far more patient than I would have been. His playtime with Henry and the reminiscing, very precious. And then his gift…don’t want to give too much away, but that was beautiful. I can’t get enough of this verse; its one of my favorites. Wonderful job as always!
Thank you! 🙂 I think Gold was pretty stunned by Anna to be honest, plus he needed her help. If they’d met under different circumstances then a stinging insult probably would have ensued. I confess I do have a soft spot for Anna. I’m thrilled that you liked it!
I’m so glad that Belle has made the brave choice, but at the same time I’m kind of worried that something’s going to go terribly wrong…
It’s kind of heartbreaking seeing the disconnect between Neal and Gold, almost as if Neal’s determined to think badly of his father but then kind of gets tripped up and neither of them really know what to do with it, so I hope that they can continue to get closer as time goes on. I think Emma and Henry will do a lot to bring them together again.
Looking forward (although with a little trepidation) to seeing how the sculpture date goes!
Heh thank you! I’m glad you liked it 🙂 I felt bad for Gold in that visit scene to be honest. He came close to a revelation about himself and he completely missed it. That’s something that will be built on later. You might be right to be worried but don’t worry I have a golden rule – I break them, I fix them. So it’ll all come right eventually I promise 🙂
As of late, I’ve grown increasingly fond and proud of my fics. I’ve realized that I really love writing them, that it’s a kind of writing that makes me happy, and that it’s a form of creativity that deserves way more credit than it gets. Despite all of this, I’m growing increasingly embarrassed of telling people that I write fics. I need to say it, because I need to explain what the hell I do with so much of my free time, but at the same time I’m aware that people are probably not going to understand what I’m talking about, or think that I’m some kind of weirdo that lives glued to her computer (which is a somehow accurate depiction of me, but still). It’s like the more I’m happy about this, the more I realize how difficult it is to explain it to someone else. Idk, I’m conflicted.
That makes perfect sense. The more you care about something, the more protective you are because people could hurt you more because of it. Plus fanfic has a stigma which is rubbish in my opinion because it takes an awful lot to write fanfic but people outside of fandom can be stuck up about it. They somehow think it’s less and it’s not, it’s just different.
To be honest generally speaking I’ve found it’s not worth trying to explain it. I know you said you need to explain what you do with your free time. If I was you I would just stick with the basic “I write stories” and leave it at that. I doubt you’ll get any followup questions because unless they are also writers, in my experience, they aren’t going to be interested.
Very, very occasionally I get someone in my family ask me about my writing and if I say anything other than “oh it’s going fine” I can see their eyes glaze over like I’m talking in klingon or something. I told my Grandma I was doing NaNo once because she asked, and her response was “didn’t you do that last year?” and I said yes, I do it every year, and she said “why? you’ve already written a book, what’s the point?” and so I kinda gave up.
Somehow it’s more socially acceptable to spend the evening glued to the TV, or playing video games (so long as it’s the right kind of video games), than it is to pen stories. Don’t ask me why, I don’t understand it either. Oh and if somebody does want to talk about your writing chances are it’s because they want something. I was getting quite enthusiastic talking to my cousin once and suddenly got the “I have this idea but I can’t be bothered to write it, so you can do it for me?” question.
In my experience non-writers generally fit into three camps. I’ve met someone from all three of these:
– The first camp is the smallest, in that they think you have magic because crafting a story is so beyond them that they are amazed. This is seriously uncomfortable to be on the receiving end.
– Then there’s a camp where they think writing is easy, that it just happens and they could do it if they wanted. This one is a little insulting but not worth arguing against.
– Then there’s the camp which just plain has no interest in the process, they are happy to consume art but clearly have no thought for the creators. So long as it’s there for them to have, it’s obviously some mythical machine that makes it because people should have real jobs. Anyone that writes is just wasting their time and should do something normal.
I don’t know if you share your stories with people in real life. Personally again in my experience, I believe that somehow knowing the author means people think less of a story. I can not give my stories away to my own family. They won’t even try them, they’ve already made up their mind that they can’t be any good. I’m me, not anyone famous, so why would they waste their time right? So if people offer to read, don’t be disappointed if they end up never getting round to it. That’s just what people are like.
Sorry I think I’m sounding a little bitter. I don’t mean it to come across like that.
I think I also had a point and I think I’ve lost it in my rambling. Basically you should be damn proud of your writing and I’m thrilled that you are happy with it. Don’t let anyone try and diminish that or take it from you. You are doing something productive in your free time. More than that, you are enriching other peoples lives by giving them wonderful stories to read. That’s not little, that’s huge, and so that’s a very worthwhile way of spending your time.
I’m going to shut up now. I had second thoughts about posting this response but Sara told me to go for it, so yeah going for it. I’ll delete if you want 🙂
I do have specific songs or playlists which go with certain stories. Not every story but I add songs to playlists when I feel they match the verse.
I also have a few “go to” artists or albums if I need to get fired up and concentrate. For example September by Earth, Wind and Fire is something I sometimes stick on repeat for word wars. Eye of the Tiger is another but that is so cliche. There’s the entire Danger Days album by My Chemical Romance. My writing music used to be anything by Apocalyptica but that doesn’t seem to be true anymore. Maybe I procrastinated too much while listening that it lost it’s effectiveness at being the “seriously you need to focus now” music.
Now you will probably laugh but for the last few days my “knuckle down and for merlin’s sake focus!” song has been Karma Chameleon by the Culture Club. I had iTunes on shuffle and it came on and it’s what I’ve been using for word sprints since. It just sort of fades into the background but has an upbeat tone which is working for me right now.
Choosing to remain a Jedi was the hardest decision Gold ever had to take. I sometimes want to punch the smug smirk right off Gold’s face; he is a tricky manipulative bastard but I’ve never doubted how much he loves Bae. Due to his Jedi duties Gold couldn’t raise him but he did keep a dedicated holo channel, in case of emergency, and he visited every chance he had.
One day, not long before my trials, Bae sent a desperate message for help. Gold was on the other side of the galaxy, he couldn’t get away without raising suspicion. The negotiations Gold was overseeing were delicate and his sudden departure could have sparked a war. He would have still left everything for Bae but fortunately he had the good sense to remember he had allies.
I’ll never forget the look on Gold’s face as he begged via holo for Regina and I to save his son. We were in that region of space, it was only a few parsecs and it was an easy diversion to make. However, by the time we got there the slaver who had abducted him had already started to regret it. Bae’s good with machinery and he’d reprogrammed one of the droids, it was absolute chaos. I’ll never forget the first moment I saw him and that smile of his.
I … I don’t know. I’m trying not to think about it. Tomorrow is so soon, it rather feels like an oncoming freight train and I’m tied to the tracks. Besides I’ve never worked with clay before, I would probably just make an awful indistinguishable mess no matter what I intend.
The entire day was something of a surprise. It was really a series of shocks as everything that I had ever known was either destroyed, or proven to be a lie. With all the emergency measures the Republic fell some time ago. However, the Empire no longer has to pay lip-service to democracy which means that nowhere is safe.
It’s the first time I’ve met Bae and Henry but I’ve worked with Master Mills and Emma Swan before. Back before the clone wars we sometimes worked as a quartet on various missions for the Order. I don’t know if we ever saved the galaxy but we certainly got into more scrapes than the mission briefs ever suggested. It sometimes seemed like we were a magnet for trouble.
(OOC I know this doesn’t really answer the question but I suspect I’m going to write a sequel so no spoilers heh)
(OOC last week of April this verse is getting an update. You will be able to see how Belle and Gold are getting on)
Belle: So am I still your favorite customer?
Gold: Always *shrugs* work is work, there’s not really much to say. *whispers* knowing I’ll see Belle does make the days easier, it’s something to look forward to and happiness breeds happiness. I am finding I’m more relaxed because of it but don’t tell her that.
Belle: Don’t tell me what?
Gold: That David is still teasing me about our first kiss.
I know that Rumbelle the Thing suggested either Belle or Gold (I can’t remember which) was a Senator to more closely follow the dynamic from the movies. However, I always wanted to make both Gold and Belle Jedi. I couldn’t see them as anything else. To be honest that oneshot pretty much wrote itself, all the roles people played just seemed obvious.
Sometimes I can spin alternate versions of my fics. However, maybe I’m too attached to this version I don’t know, but I can’t see it working any other way.
Yes! It’s a new month, a fresh start in some respects, so let’s try and make it count. Here’s hoping *crosses fingers* anyway 🙂 I’m rooting for you!
My beverage of choice this morning is coffee. I’m mainlining it like Rush because despite having been up several hours, I still don’t feel awake. *looks at blank document* *looks at clock* not exactly the most audacious of starts but it’s still morning at least. This can be salvaged!
Coming up definitely in April:
– Rumbelle Order in the Court fics (three already written)
– Monthly Rumbelling fics (two already written)
– Chapter Ten of Painting Layers of Love (I feel so incredibly guilty about this)
What I hope April might bring:
– Finish Under My Skin (or at least update it, I feel terrible)
Oh this month is just embarrassing. I didn’t even post this little on my very first status update. It’s sort of been a slow slide downwards for the last few months. Anyway, yeah the WIP’s didn’t happen and I feel terrible about that. I have half a dozen fics pre-written because of various events, so I can guarantee I’ll post more in April at least. I really do promise to do my absolute best on my WIP’s as well. I’m sorry last month was just not a good month.
April is Camp NaNo and hopefully, just like last July, that will give me the boost I need to get back into the writing zone. I really can’t take another month like March. I am so far behind it is crazy scary. I nearly didn’t make this post, because it’s so embarrassing, but I do it every single month and I didn’t think I deserved to skip it. After all it’s kinda like for the record. Anyway, yeah my two paragraph summary is now a lot longer than my list of posted fics /facepalm.
