#group a

Belle raised her eyebrows at him, wishing he didn’t always feel the need to make such grand gestures. “Rumple, I would still love you if you’d taken us for a walk on the beach.”

“We’ve been to plenty of beaches,” he huffed. “And I thought since we were here, we should bring Gideon to see everything. It’s a fine learning experience, don’t you agree?”

“See the fishes, Muma,” Gideon chimed in, right on cue, with a dramatic wink that suggested he and his father were working together.

“Something tells me I’m not allowed to say no, am I?”

Rumple put a hand to his chest and scoffed in his old, impish way. “You think Gideon or I would force you into something you had no interest in doing?”

“No, but I think you have a plan.”

“Rumplestiltskin? Have a plan? I’m sure I have no idea what you could be talking about,” he whispered before guiding her inside.

—————

The entrance was quite deceptive in its size. Once past ticketing, Rumple brought his family to the lower level, which spread out below ground in a cooler, darker environment that suited his needs perfectly. Gideon caught sight of the first tank right away, insisting they stop to watch the turtles and sharks. It was exactly the moment Rumple needed.

“Can you wait here with Gideon? I’d like to make a stop before we continue.”

“I told you to go before we left,” Belle teased.

“I can’t help that I was in a hurry to bring you, Sweetheart.” Rumple kissed her cheek, promised to return quickly, and went off in the opposite direction from the restrooms. He found his target immediately. “Hello. I’m Mister Gold. I believe we spoke on the telephone last week?”

The man, Adrián, reached out his hand. “Yes, of course. I must say I was skeptical. It is such an unusual request, but here you are, just as you said.”

Rumple nodded, eager to return to his family. He pulled an envelope from his pocket and smiled. “So… Do we have a deal?”

—————

“Sorry. I’m ready when you are.” A soft, accented voice came close to Belle’s ear, making her jump.

“Don’t scare me like that,” she pretended to complain, swatting in the direction the words came from. Her face went hot when she stepped back and realized she’d not only flirted with, but smacked the arm of another woman’s husband. “I am so sorry. I thought you were someone else.”

“Clearly.” The woman said in a way that suggested she had already formed her opinion of Belle and it was not a flattering one.

Belle reached back for Gideon, felt a small hand, then turned to confirm it was her own son.

Thankfully, it was. He smiled up at her. “Muma. Papa with the jell fish.” He pointed deeper into the aquarium.

“Then I think we should catch up with him,” Belle steered them away from the awkward situation. “I’m so sorry again.” Her apology wasn’t returned, but the man smiled politely before she turned to track down the man who was going to get an earful… Assuming she could find him without accidentally assaulting anyone else along the way.

“Papa,” Gideon insisted, tugging her toward one of the jellyfish displays.

Belle paused in the middle of the room, letting him pull, but refusing to move further. “I don’t want to go too far, Gideon. Your father will be looking for us.”

Her son kept insisting until, frustrated, he planted his feet, released her hand, and made little fists at his sides. “Papa,” he huffed, pointing and making the two of them a more popular attraction than the jellyfish.

“All right,” Belle conceded, taking his hand again. “Where did you see him?”

Gideon happily guided her to the Japanese sea nettles and stood proudly. “Is here.”

Belle looked around, frowning. “Gideon, your father isn’t here.”

“Here,” her son insisted.

She turned to the tank, watching the creatures drift and pulse through the water, their round forms decorated with startling sun-like centers. It was mesmerizing, but nothing about them brought Rumple to mind. “Gideon, I don’t…” Her eyes drifted to the placard and her voice trailed off.

“Papa,” Gideon said again.

A sparkling sticker of a Christmas bell caught her eye. It was being used to tape a folded paper to the tank’s display, covering part of the words. “This species can measure up to three meters from the…” Belle looked up and around to see if anyone else had noticed this addition, but few visitors actually read what was written on displays when there were animals to watch. She snatched the paper, peeling the sticker away with it, then reread the description to Gideon, hoping that doing so would hide her possible misdeed. “This species can measure up to three meters from the bell to the end of its tentacles.”

She paused, looked at the sticker in her hand, then down at Gideon.

“Is here,” the boy repeated proudly.

“Is going to get us into trouble,” Belle huffed, not bothering to correct his sentence. “Leave it to your father to turn a day out into a magical experience.” She moved into the light and unfolded the note.

~~ Sweetheart, I know what you must be thinking, but I promise this is not another grand gesture. Words are how you share your love and after our talk last night, I want to prove I understand that. Enjoy your time with Gideon and I will be waiting in the only place our date could happen. Be careful, the clock is ticking. “Tick tock, dearie.” R ~~

Belle looked up from the note and frowned. “Your father hasn’t spoken like that since before you were born. And why would he put the valediction in quotation marks?” She read the words a second time, their meaning snagging at something in her memory. She caught Gideon’s hand and guided him along until they found the closest member of the aquarium’s staff. “Excuse me,” she said, discretely palming the note. “Do you happen to have an exhibit on crocodiles?”

—————

The man who was not the aquarium’s new janitor studied the paper he was about to fold, worried these words had less connection to his personal story than any clue so far.

~~ Belle, Every canary of the sea knows the call that names the one they love most. It is distinct from every other voice in the ocean. Your words were how I found my way back to myself. Now it is your turn to find me where the canaries sing. R ~~

He applied the chocolate heart sticker Gideon had chosen because chocolate was sweet, and pressed the note to the display where he knew Belle would find it. Then he made a show of wringing the mop in his bucket. Years of being a simple spinner had taught him exactly how to become the one thing no one wanted to see, and janitors were easily ignored in places like this. When he walked off, the note remained, waiting for his true love to find it.

—————

“I’m sure this is the way, Gideon.” Belle stopped against the tug of her son and pointed toward the fancy restaurant. “I’ve seen the photographs. This is exactly where your father would want us to meet him.”

“No.” Gideon huffed and planted his feet. “Go movies.”

Belle sighed and knelt to his level, reopening their latest clue. “’Save all that is fancy for last. From here forward I will meet you in the place that is ours alone. No performance. No pretense. Just the beautiful simplicity of what we are - and perhaps a few extra items on the side.’” She pointed to each word as she read. “No performance, you see? We save the fancy meal for last.”

“Dinner.”

“Lunch, technically,” Belle corrected, “though after all of this walking it feels like dinner time.” She stood, gave Gideon a warm smile, and took his hand. “Come on.”

“No!” This time Gideon yanked so hard she lost her balance. Her arms flailed and her hand shot out, grabbing something solid.

“I want to know what you have against my husband,” a familiar voice shouted. “Security!”

Belle’s stomach dropped as she found herself gripping the collar of the same man she’d swatted that morning. She released him immediately, stammering apologies, but the damage was done.

A stern-faced man in uniform strode over. “What is the problem?” His accented English held a stern tone.

“This woman has followed us all morning. Twice she has put her hands on my husband,” the wife snapped, jabbing a red-painted fingernail toward Gideon, “and now she is trying to abduct this child.”

“Is this true?” The guard looked down at Gideon.

“Yes,” Gideon answered.

Belle nearly collapsed hearing her son’s confirmation. “No, you don’t understand… my husband…” But her protests were ignored as she and Gideon were led away.

—————

Rumple watched the disaster unfold and rushed from his hiding spot toward the restaurant’s entrance. “Excuse me. Please.” The words came out in desperate gasps. “Where would security be taking that woman?”

“It should matter to you?” The waitress looked down her nose at him. Then her eyes went wide and her hand flew to her walkie-talkie as she switched to speaking Spanish.

When she finished talking, Rumple gave her a warm smile. “Thank you. Which way?”

As her answer, she reached into the pocket of his janitorial uniform and plucked out his sheet of stickers, waving it too close to his face for comfort. “Is crime to decorate aquarium. Have been told to look for these.”

“You don’t understand. I was leaving a note for my wife. Adrián knows me, he can-”

A hand clasped his shoulder firmly from behind, cutting him off. “Come, sir. We will speak with Adrián personally.”

Rumple had faced darker situations. He went quietly. A date, after all, required both parties to be in the same place, and at present that place appeared to be security.

—————

Once they were released from the security office, Gideon eagerly led the way back to the restaurant. “Dis way. Date dis way,” he babbled as he practically skipped along.

“I’m sorry, Belle,” Rumple said, for what felt like the hundredth time. “I truly did not expect this to end the way it did.”

“Which part was the surprise?” Belle asked pleasantly. “The part where I assaulted a stranger three times, or the part where both your actions and our son nearly got me arrested?”

Gideon stopped then and thrust the clue into his mother’s hand. “Reads.” Hands on hips, he waited. Unable to resist the pull of the adventure that had been so unceremoniously taken from them, Belle did as she was told. “Finds,” he insisted when she finished, gesturing broadly toward the theater and dolphin area.

She read and reread the words quietly, understanding now how wrong she had been. The game was not about Rumple proving the depth of his feelings, it had been about proving he understood how she needed love to be expressed to her. Finally she noticed what she missed.

Beneath the signs for the theater and dolphin show, an arrow pointed toward their next destination: the burger bar. “No performance,” she said, turning to Rumple. “A place that is ours alone…”

He grinned. “And extra pickles on the side?”