#emmathecharming

A/N: I’m super sorry this is a day late... but I hope you like it! This is for emmathecharming, and my prompt was “First Christmas together, snow, presents”

  Christmastime was always Belle’s favorite, and she was determined not to let Rumplestiltskin's increasingly foul mood spoil her enjoyment of the holidays. It seemed that as the Yuletide approached, the Dark One’s already usually grumpy demeanor worsened tenfold. Whenever Belle would hum a Christmas tune from her childhood, Rumpelstiltskin would shoot her a frightening glare, and at the mere mention of retrieving and decorating one of the forest’s pines, he promptly replied that he would sooner invite the entire Enchanted Forest over for dinner then let a Christmas tree darken the halls of the Dark Castle.

Belle was perplexed. Rumple certainly was disagreeable to most everyone, but to her, the Dark One was far less hostile and at times quite friendly. It wasn’t like him to be so cross about something she found such joy in. So, while dusting her books for the millionth time, she ventured to ask the man as he meandered through the library.

“Rumple? May I ask you something?” Belle asked in her sweetest tone, batting her eyelashes for effect.

The Dark One gazed at Belle and scowled. The girl was just so happy lately, and she just couldn’t seem to take the hint that he detested all things Christmas related. If he had any sense, he would send the girl out to the cold for her incessant cheerfulness- but, she made a perfect cup of tea. And she kept the castle so clean. And it was so nice not to be alone all the time. And Belle was quite a pretty thing- her hair shined and always smelled like flowers, when she got excited her eyes sparkled and the corners of her mouth always perked up at the edges--

Belle stifled a giggle. Rumpelstiltskin had glared for a moment before his facial expression softened, and now he was deep in thought, a gentle smile gracing his lips. “Rumple?” she ventured again.

“What? What? What is it?” he barked, snapping out of his reverie.

“I wanted to ask you a question,” Belle said, leaning back against the bookshelf.

“Well? What do you want to know? I am at your service,” he said, adding a pompous bow.

“Why do you hate Christmas? Every time I bring the subject, you seem quite put out.”

Rumple crossed his arms and glared at the books just past Belle’s head, unable to look at her big, blue eyes and remain cross. “It’s a foul holiday. I don’t know why you seem to like it so much.”

Belle frowned. “It is not a foul holiday! It’s a day of family, of giving, and of celebration!”

“Exactly!” Rumple waved his finger in the air for dramatic emphasis. “I hate giving! I do not do charity! And celebration! What in the world is there for me to celebrate? And most of all, I do not have a family, Belle! I have no one!”

Belle was not fazed by his sudden spurt of yelling and leaned forward, placing her hand gently on the Dark One’s shoulder. “You may not have a family, Rumple,” she said as she looked into his deep brown eyes, “but you will always have me.”

XXX

The days leading up to Christmas brought increasingly chilly weather, but a festive warmth had settled on the Dark Castle. Belle made gingerbread cookies and hot cocoa instead of tea, and Rumple even ventured to hum along to Belle’s Christmas songs on occasion. Christmas day came with the first snow of the year, and Rumplestiltskin awoke to a chilly breeze in his room.

“Darn castle.” he muttered as he pulled on a pair of boots and a jacket. “Always drafty.” He sauntered over to his window and pulled back the heavy drapes, rubbing the window with his fist before peering out. The ground was covered with a thick layer of snow, and the trees glistened in the bright sunlight. He narrowed his eyes as he saw a flicker of movement down by the trees--was someone really so foolish to rob him on holiday?-- but as he looked again, he discovered that Belle was out in the snow in nothing but her everyday frock. Rumple sighed and shook his head, grabbing a shawl as he journeyed out of the castle and into the snow.

Belle broke out into a wide grin as she saw the Dark One approaching. Upon discovering the night’s snow, she had grabbed a handful of breadcrumbs and was feeding the birds, just as she had every Christmas morning with her mother.

“Belle, what in the blazes are you doing?” Rumple asked as he draped the shawl over her small frame. “You’ll freeze!”

“I’m feeding our small friends!” Belle gestured to the few birds sitting on the branches of the tree with one hand, a handful of breadcrumbs in the other. “It’s one of my favorite traditions.”

Rumple looked between his pretty maid and the multicolored birds, perplexed. “You’re willingly feeding the wildlife?”

Belle simply nodded and deposited half of her remaining breadcrumbs into his hand. She knelt down into the snow, palms up towards the tree, and soon, several birds flew down from the tree and nibbled the food from her palms. When her breadcrumbs ran out, she looked up at Rumple. “Why don’t you try, now?”

Rumpelstiltskin was just admiring the way that the new fallen snow was glistening in Belle’s hair when she invited him to feed the pesky animals. Skeptical but willing to humor Belle, he knelt next to her and opened his palms as she had. After a few moments, several birds hopped around the snow, but refused to venture near to Rumple’s palms.

“Here.” Belle took several crumbs from his palms and scattered them along the ground. Sure enough, the birds nibbled up the crumbs and cautiously pecked at the food in Rumple’s hands, one even growing brave enough to hop in his hand.

When all of the breadcrumbs were gone, Belle squeezed his hands with her own and smiled at him. “You’re a natural, Rumpelstiltskin.”

The Dark One gazed into Belle’s blue eyes and couldn’t help from smiling as he noticed how the snowflakes caught in her eyelashes. Suddenly feeling brave, Rumple gently pushed one of Belle’s stray curls behind her ear, cupping her cheek with his palm. “You’re freezing.” he said, his voice husky.

Belle smiled at took his hand in her own, pulling him to his feet. “I have something for you.” With that, she ran off toward the castle, pulling her shawl around her shoulders and glancing over her shoulder to see if Rumple was following.

“What has she done to me?” The Dark One thought to himself as he set off towards the castle. He hated Christmas, yet Belle had him drinking hot chocolate and feeding vermin. Unbelievable.

Back in the castle,  Rumple found Belle perched on the table, legs swinging and cheeks flushed from the cold.  She patted the spot next to her, beckoning the Dark One over. As he approached, she pulled out a book from behind her and presented it to him with a smile.

Rumpelstiltskin stopped and looked at the book. “What is this?” he asked, incredulous. “I thought you knew full well that I do not derive pleasure from reading.”

Belle retracted the book, her smile never faltering. “It’s Romeo and Juliet. It’s one of my favorites, and I thought we could read it. Together.”

Rumple sighed in defeat as he lifted himself onto the table, next to Belle. “Alright. If-” he crossed his arms and tried his best to look stern, “you promise to stop humming and start making tea again.”

Belle nodded, the corners of her mouth picking up in the way that made his heart falter “Alright. But you can’t fool me- you’ve liked Christmas this year.”

Rumple considered denying this, but he simply smiled instead.