Chapter Text
He clutched the fragile little china piece in his hands, running his thumb idly over the chip in the rim and recalled the day a simple tea cup had gained such importance.
A life time ago and a few worlds away, there was a girl. A girl that a beast had taken away as the price of a deal. She’d still had the jitters, still unsure about this beast who was now to be her master, and he had made one quip of poor taste just to get a reaction from her. And a reaction he had gotten as this very cup fell from her hands and tumbled to the floor.
“Oh. My, I’m so sorry, but it’s chipped. You can hardly see it!” Voices whispered on the wind.
“It’s just a cup.”
Oh but it wasn’t just a cup anymore. It was special. It was her chipped cup.
He hadn’t a clue how the girl had fallen in love with the beast after that day, but she had. And as days went by and their feelings grew, so did his fondness for the cup, because it was hers, and she was his.
And on days when they fought, or were separated this very chipped cup had been his saving grace. It was hers. It was theirs. It would always be theirs, and she would always be his.
“You’re never going to let that go, are you?”
He jerked out of his memory to meet eyes with his intruder. Gideon. Oh his darling boy, he’d come to check on him again. It felt like it had been both too long and just yesterday since his son had come to visit. He offered the young man a small, sad smile.
“It was hers.” Rumplestiltskin nearly whispered, voice weak from disuse. A tear followed a well traveled path down his cheek, dripping down to pool with others in the bottom of the cup. “It was hers... and she’s gone.”