Belle (''Once Upon a Time'')

Early life

Belle grew up in the Enchanted Forest as the daughter of Sir Maurice (Eric Keenleyside) and his wife Colette (Frances O'Connor). She always had a close relationship with her mother, having been introduced to her love for books^[9] and taught different skills such as how to translate fairy language.^[10] Belle also had a childhood friend by the name of Samuel.^[11] However, besides this, not much else is known about Belle's life growing up. Nearing adulthood, Belle is startled to learn that war is ready to break out between her father's kingdom and the ogres.

Belle gets to know Gaston (Wes Brown), her future betrothed.

Her father arranges for her to marry Sir Gaston (Wes Brown), a union that Belle openly objects, though she agrees to go out on a walk with him and she surprisingly takes a liking to him. This all changes when she finds him torturing a young ogre, but she reluctantly agrees to marry him once the war does officially break out.^[12] At one point during the war, Belle and her family are forced to flee their castle; however, she and her mother spend time packing up all of their important books. An ogre storms the castle and kills Colette, and a traumatized Belle is left without any memory of the event. Desperate to know the truth, she travels to Arendelle where she meets Princess Anna (Elizabeth Lail). Anna takes her to rock troll Grand Pabbie (John Rhys-Davies) who is able to retract her memories and put them into a pebble which she's instructed to brew into a tea. However, due to an encounter with the Snow Queen (Elizabeth Mitchell), Belle loses the rock and returns home empty handed. Maurice confesses the truth to Belle, explaining how Colette sacrificed herself to save her. This sets Belle on the track of becoming a hero, as she reveals to her father that on her trip she learned of a man who could help them: Rumplestiltskin (Robert Carlyle).^[9]

Rumplestiltskin agrees to protect Belle's kingdom if she agrees to leave her life behind and live with him as his caretaker. Both Maurice and Gaston object to this, but Belle ignores their pleas and leaves with the Dark One. Belle is frightened of Rumplestiltskin and his Dark Castle, as he shows her to her "room": a ghastly dungeon. Belle starts to see the softer side of her captor when she accidentally chips a teacup and he brushes it off as nothing.^[13] At one point during Belle's stay in the Dark Castle, she and Rumplestiltskin are visited by an intruder, Robin Hood (Tom Ellis), who the Dark One proceeds to torture for trying to steal from him. Feeling compassion for the thief, Belle releases Robin in her master's absence. When Rumplestiltskin returns, he demands she accompany him on his journey to find and kill the thief for stealing a magic wand from his castle. When Belle and Rumple see that Robin had only stolen the wand to cure his sick and pregnant wife (Christie Laing), Rumple spares the thief's life. Belle embraces Rumplestiltskin in a hug, seeing that there's a man behind the beast, and he later gifts her with a library.^[14] It is implied that Belle and Robin Hood share an encounter sometime in the future where Belle meets the thief in his true form (Sean Maguire).^[15] Some time later, Rumplestiltskin returns home one day with a stolen baby, which he leaves for Belle to take care of. She's appalled and frightened by whatever he plans to do with the child, and so she sets out to unveil his plans and save the baby's life. Belle sneaks into Rumple's study and translates a scroll written in ancient fairy language. This, however, was all part of Rumplestiltskin's plan, as he needed her to translate the text, and he locks her in the library. The Blue Fairy (Keegan Connor Tracy) subsequently frees Belle, and she finds Rumplestiltskin using the child to summon the Black Fairy (Jaime Murray), his mother. Belle is horrified by the Black Fairy's treatment of Rumplestiltskin, but nonetheless chides him for stealing a child. She's later given permission to return the child to his parents, Jack (Nick Hunnings) and Jill (Tammy Gillis).^[10]

Belle and Rumplestiltskin's bond is further explored when Belle is targeted by the Queens of Darkness - Maleficent (Kristin Bauer van Straten), Ursula (Merrin Dungey), and Cruella De Vil (Victoria Smurfit) - who ransom her for Rumplestiltskin's enchanted gauntlet. The Dark One meets the three women at Demon's Bluff with the gauntlet, and is given no choice but to hand it over when Ursula threatens Belle's life. Once again, she sees something good in him beneath the beast.^[16] One day, Belle is sent out to the market in order to pick up things for Rumplestiltskin when she stumbles upon her old friend Samuel, injured, so she brings him back to the Dark Castle to nurse him back to health. As it turns out however, he was only there to steal Rumplestiltskin's dagger, giving him control over the Dark One, and so Belle betrays him to protect Rumple.^[11] As Belle and Rumple grow closer, his attitude towards her becomes more playful and lighthearted. Belle opens up Rumple's nailed down curtains and even convinces him to share the story of his lost son (Dylan Schmid). The Dark One agrees to tell Belle everything if she returns home from town with straw, this being his subtle way of setting her free, having developed genuine feelings for her. Though Belle plans not to return at first, she runs into the Evil Queen (Lana Parrilla) on the road and learns that Rumplestiltskin's curse can be broken with a kiss of true love. Realizing that she's in love with the Dark One and that he loves her back, Belle returns and attempts to break his curse, only for it to backfire when Rumplestiltskin learns it was the Queen's idea. He lashes out at Belle and sends her back to the dungeon, and eventually kicks her out of his castle altogether. Belle argues that power won't be enough for Rumple and that he is only doing this because he doesn't believe anyone could truly love him. Before leaving, she says, "Now, you've made your choice. And you're going to regret it. Forever. All you'll have is an empty heart... and a chipped cup." ^[13][17]

Rather than return home to her friends and family, Belle spends some days in a local tavern where she meets a dwarf named Dreamy (Lee Arenberg). After convincing him to go after his love (Amy Acker), he encourages her to seek out adventure and join a group of men on the hunt for a beast known as the Yaoguai. She does so, but these men ignorantly discredit a woman's ability to hunt and kick her off their wagon, so she sends them in the wrong direction and proceeds to hunt the creature herself. She winds up befriending a warrior named Mulan (Jamie Chung), and she is eventually able to track the Yaoguai down. However, as it turns out, this beast has merely been trying to communicate with them. With the aid of some fairy dust given to her by Dreamy, Belle restores the creature to its true form: Prince Phillip (Julian Morris). While Phillip and Mulan go off together in order to rescue Princess Aurora (Sarah Bolger), Belle decides to return to Rumplestiltskin. She's unable to do so, however, when the Evil Queen arrives to take her captive. Belle vows that the Queen cannot keep her and Rumple apart forever.^[18][19] Regina visits Rumple in his castle and convinces him that Belle was rejected by her father upon returning home and committed suicide by throwing herself off a tower, leaving him utterly heartbroken, while secretly Belle remains a prisoner in the Queen's castle.^[13] Belle is later sought out by Captain Hook (Colin O'Donoghue), an old enemy of Rumplestiltskin's who believes that the Dark One's former maid may know the key to his undoing. Belle refuses to aid in his quest, so Hook knocks her unconscious and prepares to kill her, but Regina intervenes as she believes Belle to be a "valuable chess piece".^[20] It is assumed that Belle remained in the Queen's captivity until the casting of the First Curse.

Season 1

When the Evil Queen enacts a powerful Dark Curse that puts everyone in the town of Storybrooke, Maine with false memories for the next 28 years, Belle spends that entire span of time locked away in the psychiatric ward beneath the town's hospital. Unlike the other townspeople, Belle was left a blank slate and set to serve merely as a prisoner in order to keep her away from Rumplestiltskin or, as he's known in Storybrooke, Mr. Gold. However, when time starts moving again and Mr. Gold regains his memories of his past life in the Enchanted Forest, he forms a vendetta against Belle's father, believing he drove her to suicide. Sheriff Emma Swan (Jennifer Morrison) arrests Gold when he beats Moe French nearly to death, but when behind bars, Regina returns to him the chipped teacup in exchange for confirming to her that he knows the truth about the curse. She then proceeds to check up on a locked up Belle, who appears absolutely miserable.^[21][13]

As the Dark Curse nears its end with the Savior beginning to believe in magic, things start to fall apart for Regina. This includes her alliance with Jefferson, the Mad Hatter (Sebastian Stan), whom she refuses to hold up her end of a deal with after he procured her the poisoned apple she once used on Snow White (Ginnifer Goodwin).^[22] Wanting to hurt Regina, Jefferson breaks Belle out of her cell and instructs that she seek out Mr. Gold, insisting that he will protect her. Belle does so, shocking Gold beyond belief as he spent years believing she was dead. He embraces her with a hug, though she has no memory of him, but he assures her that she soon will. The two are seen headed towards the town's wishing well when the curse is officially broken. Belle's memories are restored, as she embraces Gold and declares her love for him, which he reciprocates. Gold puts their reunion on a short hold though, as he proceeds to drop a vial of True Love into the well, bringing magic to Storybrooke.^[23]

Season 2

Though Belle has been reunited with Rumplestiltskin, he continues to struggle with his dark impulses. Upon learning that Regina had locked Belle up for 28 years, he summons a Wraith to kill the Queen. A disappointed Belle temporarily leaves him. She soon returns though, deciding she can't give up on him just yet, and they continue to pursue a relationship.^[24] Belle moves in with Rumple, as she is oblivious to her father trying to find her; however, when he does, he attempts to force her over the town line to make her forget about her life with Rumplestiltskin, refusing to bless their relationship. This makes her both upset with him and Rumple, who she's learned is continuing to practice dark magic. Though she cuts ties with both of them, she eventually gives Rumple another chance upon realizing that he's attempting to change, giving her the town's library and setting her up with the apartment above it. They agree to then go out and get a hamburger, as Belle has never had one before.^[25] As Belle explores life in Storybrooke, she comes to befriend Ruby (Meghan Ory), who turns into a werewolf during every full moon. Belle stands by Ruby and insists that she is not the monster many believe her to be, as Belle sees the goodness in her heart.^[26] Meanwhile, Belle and Rumple grow closer, as they continue to go out on dates like lunch at Granny's Diner and a picnic in Rumple's pawnshop. However, interruptions occur frequently as the town panics due to the arrival of Regina's mother, Cora (Barbara Hershey), who has become a new threat to them all.^[27][28]

Belle supports Rumple in his mission to find a loophole around the town line barrier in hopes of going out in search of his long lost son, but ventures out on her own when it is revealed that Captain Hook has made it to Storybrooke and attacks her in the library. She ends up rescuing Archie Hopper (Raphael Sbarge) from being held hostage on the Jolly Roger, facing off against Hook. Rumple appears and beats Hook to Belle's horror, as she begs him to show her that her faith in him is justified. After Rumple spares Hook's life and prepares to leave town, Hook shoots Belle in an attempt at revenge. This sends her tumbling across the town line, causing her to lose her memory, just as an outsider drives into Storybrooke.^[19] Though Rumple is able to heal Belle's gunshot wound immediately, she's escorted to the hospital in order to be kept under intensive care while suffering from amnesia. Rumple attempts to get through to Belle by showing her the chipped teacup, a remnant of their life together, but a scared and confused Belle throws and smashes the cup. Heartbroken, Rumple leaves.^[29] Ruby visits Belle in the hospital but is disappointed that she doesn't remember who she is. When Belle recalls Rumple healing her wound with magic, as well as creating a fireball to throw at Hook, Ruby acts as though Belle isn't making any sense. Belle knows what she saw though, sending her into a frenzy, prompting a nurse sedating her. She later learns that she isn't alone in her belief, for she is approached by Greg Mendell (Ethan Embry), who reveals that he saw the same thing at the town line.^[30]

Mr. Gold (Robert Carlyle) gets to know Lacey, Belle's alter-ego.

With Regina and Cora now conspiring together, Regina visits Belle in the hospital in an attempt to learn where Rumple's Dark One dagger is located.^[31] Rumple is later poisoned with Dreamshade by Hook, and on his deathbed Rumple calls Belle at the hospital to speak to her one last time, telling her that although she cannot remember it, she is a hero. Their call ends, but Rumple is cured when Mary Margaret sacrifices Cora's life for Rumple's.^[32] Belle is relieved when Rumple visits her, seeing that he's still alive. Their happiness does not last though, as Regina magically instills a new persona in Belle - a party girl with loose morals by the name of Lacey - who Rumple soon finds at the local bar, after being discharged from the hospital. The two don't initially click, but Rumple is soon able to make it work when he discovers that Lacey is attracted to his dark side.^[14] They continue to pursue a relationship, but Hook learns that Rumple is still alive when he sees the couple out walking the streets of Storybrooke.^[33] Lacey serves as a bad influence for Rumple, which goes noticed by Baelfire, now known as Neal (Michael Raymond-James), who Rumple has found and brought back to Storybrooke. Lacey soon learns that Rumple has magic, as well as the ability to grant her eternal youth. She reacts positively and suggests Rumple do what he must to preserve their future, oblivious to the fact that it means killing his grandson, Henry Mills (Jared S. Gilmore).^[34] Thanks to her old friend Dreamy (or Leroy, as he is known in our world), Belle's memories are eventually restored in the midst of the destruction of Storybrooke. She embraces Rumple as they prepare to die, but the town is soon saved, and Rumple must leave on a new quest to save Henry from Neverland. He leaves Belle behind with a protection spell to cast over the town. As he's fated to die on this mission, he expects this to be their final goodbye, but Belle promises that she'll see him again.^[35]

Season 3

Belle and Gold finally marry.

Rumplestilskin encounters a form of Belle frequently in Neverland as an illusion to act as a crutch to his cowardliness;^[36] she is later revealed as his father Peter Pan's shadow in disguise. In Storybrooke, Belle helps Ariel retrieve Pandora's Box to send to the heroes in Neverland as a method of defeating Pan. Belle and Rumple are reunited when the group returns to Storybrooke after retrieving Henry, though Gold soon sacrifices himself to destroy his father and save Belle and the others. Belle breaks down, believing Rumple to be gone forever. Despite Rumple's heroic act, Pan's curse remains and Belle, along with the other inhabitants of Storybrooke, are sent back to their original worlds. In the Enchanted Forest, Belle and Neal travel to the Vault of the Dark One, where it is said the Dark One can be resurrected. Despite Belle's warnings of the price of magic, Neal ignores the possible repercussions and unlocks the vault, resurrecting Rumplestiltskin but sacrificing his own life in the process. Rumple absorbs Neal's body and consciousness into himself before Neal can die, however, and the Wicked Witch of the West obtains Rumple's dagger. Belle returns to Snow and Charming's castle, informing them of Rumple's resurrection. Months later, the heroes sneak into Rumple's Dark Castle, where he is being held prisoner by Zelena, the Wicked Witch. Belle is able to temporarily get through to Rumple, who is being driven mad by the multiple voices in his head, and he tells her that Zelena's weakness is light magic. Belle is returned to Storybrooke with no memories of the previous year when Snow and Charming enact the Dark Curse to stop Zelena from taking their baby. In Storybrooke, Emma separates Neal from Rumple's body in order to learn the identity of the Wicked Witch, and Neal dies shortly after. Belle mourns Neal's death with the rest of the town and eventually deduces Zelena's plan to change the past. She also discovers once again that Zelena is in possession of the Dark One's dagger and is keeping Rumple captive and under her control. Belle attempts to get through to Rumple and help him break free of the dagger's control, but Zelena stops her before she can. Belle's memories of the missing year are returned along with everyone else's when Regina breaks the new curse. Upon Regina's defeat of Zelena, Mr. Gold proposes to Belle after entrusting her with his dagger (though unbeknownst to her, it is a replica) and the two are married at the wishing well.

Season 4

Belle and Rumple share a blissful honeymoon in the Sorcerer's mansion, where Rumple discovers the Sorcerer's Hat. With Rumple's help, Belle discovers the Snow Queen's lair and is taunted by her reflection in the Snow Queen's magic mirror, causing her to question her faith in Rumple and their relationship. She quickly sets these doubts aside, however. Later, Belle helps Emma and Elsa deduce the Snow Queen's ultimate goal. Belle eventually learns of Rumple's deception, tearfully banishing her husband from the town with the power of the real dagger before he is able to kill Hook. While Gold is gone, Belle and Hook form a kind of friendship as they work together to find a way to free the fairies from the Sorcerer's Hat. Gold manages to return to Storybrooke with Ursula and Cruella de Vil, only to find Belle involved in a romantic relationship with Will Scarlet. In an attempt to threaten Gold, who is now working with the Queens of Darkness, Regina steals Belle's heart. Gold and Will work together to get it back, and Gold returns the heart to Belle and apologizes once again for his actions, telling Will that it is now his job to protect Belle's heart. In the alternate reality temporarily created by The Author, Belle and Rumple are living happily together with a child of their own. When Henry undoes The Author's actions and returns everyone to reality, Belle tells Gold that they could have truly had that happiness if not for his actions. As Gold's condition worsens, and he is consumed by the Dark One's powers, Belle confesses to him that she does not love Will and vows not to let him die alone. The Sorcerer's Apprentice removes the darkness from Gold's heart, though he remains in a comatose state whilst the darkness is taken in by Emma Swan.

Season 5

With the other residents of Storybrooke, Belle travels to the Enchanted Forest, taking Emma to Camelot in order to find Merlin and remove the Dark One's power from within her. However, weeks later, they return to Storybrooke with missing memories as to how they failed. During her time in Camelot, Belle's growing knowledge of spells helped to free Lancelot and Merida from King Arthur's prison. Belle subsequently helped Merida of Dunbroch win back her kingdom and save her three brothers from the other clans. In Storybrooke, Dark Emma awakens Rumple from his coma. Emma then steals Merida's heart and commands her to kill Belle in hopes that it will inspire Rumple to become a hero. Rumple insists that he and Belle leave town, but she refuses to run away from her life and the people she cares about. Dark Emma transforms Merida into a bear that chases Belle through the woods until the bear is stopped by Rumple, who feeds it anti-transformation powder in order to revert Merida to human form. Belle witnesses Rumple embrace his newfound heroism and remove Excalibur from its stone. After everyone's memory is restored and Rumple heroically faces Dark Hook, Rumple tells Belle that he is ready to finally be the man she deserves. Belle declines his offer to rekindle their relationship, stating that she has spent too long trying to heal his heart and that she has lost track of her own in the process. Upon the arrival of all previous Dark Ones in Storybrooke, Rumple sends Belle out of town so that she may escape the immediate threat and finally see the world as she has always wanted to. Belle accepts the offer and leaves, but returns once the threat is vanquished and tells Rumple that she wants to be with him because he has proven to be truly selfless, though she is unaware that Rumple has now reclaimed the powers of the Dark One.

Belle and Rumple work together to protect their unborn child.

Belle remains in Storybrooke when Rumple travels with Emma to the Underworld to rescue Hook, but is unaware that she is pregnant with their first child (although it is Rumple's second born child). It is revealed that, many years ago, Rumple promised his second born child to a healer back in the Enchanted Forest in exchange for saving young Baelfire's life. Now the healer has died and signed the contract over to Hades, whom the baby is now owed to. After she is sent through a portal along with Zelena and her daughter, Belle learns the truth from Gold about his reacquired powers and her pregnancy as well as the contract, putting her life and that of their unborn child in jeopardy once again. Belle is horrified by Rumple's embracing of his inner darkness, but agrees to work with him to save their child from Hades. Motivated by Hades, Gaston makes multiple attempts to kill Rumplestiltskin, reuniting Belle with her ex-fiancé. After confronting Gold about his murder of Gaston decades earlier, Belle intends to help Gaston move on from the Underworld, only to learn that Gaston blames her for his death. In an attempt to rescue Rumplestiltskin, Belle inadvertently pushes Gaston into the River of Lost Souls, damning him to eternal torment. Consumed with guilt over what she did to Gaston and fearing for her child's safety, Belle places herself under a sleeping curse given to her by Zelena, believing it would give Gold enough time to save their child from Hades. Before falling under, Belle makes Gold promise to return her to her father. Gold attempts to wake Belle with True Love's Kiss and fails, for Belle had begun losing faith in him again. To keep her and his unborn child safe, Rumple places Belle inside of Pandora's Box. In the season five finale, Pandora's Box is stolen by Mr. Hyde from the Land of Untold Stories. Hyde agrees to return the box containing Belle to Gold if he allows Hyde to conquer Storybrooke, a deal which Gold readily accepts.

Season 6

Belle remains in her self-induced sleeping curse in Pandora's Box. Rumple enters her dreamworld to try to wake her, but fails in doing so. Her unborn son wakes her instead, and she once again rejects Rumple's offer to make a home together. As she seeks a new place to stay, Hook offers for Belle to stay on the Jolly Roger in repentance for attacking her in the past. Belle forgives him and accepts, recognizing that Hook is a changed man. After making a deal with Gold, David delivers a cassette tape to Belle which plays a Scottish lullaby recorded by Rumple for their son. Soon after, Rumple casts a spell forbidding Belle to leave the boat due to a serious threat from Mr. Hyde. However, the spell puts her in danger when she cannot flee from the true threat, Dr. Jekyll. This further deteriorates Belle and Rumple's relationship, as she insists she does not need his protection and Rumple argues that she will come back to him when she needs him. When Zelena notifies Belle of Rumple's relationship with the Evil Queen (Regina's newly-separated "evil half") and his plans to use the Shears of Destiny on their son to keep him from growing to hate Rumple, Belle confronts him. She tells him to stop trying to take their son's love, but to be worthy of it instead. Belle briefly forges an alliance with Zelena in order to escape Storybrooke, but Rumple stops them before she can. In the episode "Changelings", the Evil Queen speeds up Belle's pregnancy and Belle gives birth to Gideon. She gives her son to the Blue Fairy, fearing Rumple will try to take the child as he previously threatened. But the Blue Fairy is ambushed by Rumple's mother, the Black Fairy. Gideon is taken to the Dark Realm where he grows up very quickly and develops an immoral persona. Rumple apologizes for his villainous actions and tells Belle that they need to start trusting each other in order to save their son. In the mid-season finale, an adult Gideon arrives in Storybrooke and is shown confronting his mother and father in Gold's shop.

Belle and Rumple finally get their "happy beginning".

Gideon explains to his parents that he has arrived in Storybrooke to kill the Savior and take her powers for himself in order to defeat the Black Fairy and free the Dark Realm. Belle agrees to work with Rumple in order to save their son from the darkness growing inside of him and to prevent the looming "war" in Storybrooke. Rumple and Belle later learn that Gideon has been under the control of the Black Fairy, who has stolen his heart. After Rumple secretly forges an alliance with his mother in order to retrieve Gideon's heart, he returns the heart and Gideon happily reunites with his parents. The Black Fairy then casts her curse to begin the Final Battle, which separates Belle from her husband and son and turns her into a recluse and a hermit, afraid to leave the confines of her home. This is in direct contrast to Belle's true nature and love of travel and adventure. In addition, the Black Fairy once again steals Gideon's heart and commands him to kill the Savior. To break the curse, Rumple kills the Black Fairy, and he and Belle happily reunite. Together they enter the mines to once again retrieve Gideon's heart and stop him before he can kill Emma. Upon finding the heart and considering the power he could gain from Emma's death, Rumple makes the decision to ignore his dark impulses and commands Gideon to let Emma live. The end of the Final Battle sees adult Gideon disappear and reappear to Belle and Rumple as the baby she originally gave up. Belle and Rumple celebrate their "happy beginning" together with the Charmings, Emma, Hook, Regina, and Zelena at Granny's Diner.

Season 7

One year after the events of the season six finale, Belle and Rumple are planning baby Gideon’s first birthday party. Rumple gives Belle a travel book and promises her that he’s going to give her what she’s always wanted: a chance to see the world. Ten years later, along their travels, Belle, Rumple, and Gideon explore an ancient bridge above a river said to grant people’s greatest wishes. Rumple reveals to Belle that he no longer wishes to have the powers of the Dark One, because he wants to live out a mortal life with her. He drops the dagger into the river, but it instantly reappears. Belle vows to help Rumple find a way to be rid of his curse forever. Eight years later, Belle, Rumple, and Gideon are living in a castle or large estate in an unspecified location. Belle and Rumple are ecstatic to discover that (a now 18-year-old) Gideon has been accepted into a prestigious academy. Belle then reveals to Rumple that she has discovered and translated a fairy prophecy, which states: “When the Dark One finds eternal love, at the sun’s brightest set, where time stops, the path will appear to where the darkness shall rest.” Rumple tells Belle that the place referred to by the prophecy is the Edge of Realms, the edge of all existence where the sun never sets and time passes differently. Belle understands at this time that “the sun’s brightest set” means her own death, but purposely withholds this information from Rumple as she knows he would do anything to prevent it. Belle decides she would rather live a long, happy life with Rumple rather than endlessly seeking another answer. The two travel to the Edge of Realms and decide to build their home there without the use of magic. Many blissful years pass, as Belle ages into an elderly woman and Rumple remains immortal. On her deathbed, Belle reveals to a distraught Rumple that only by letting her go may he finally find the answer to getting rid of the Dark One curse and ultimately reunite with her in death. Rumple tells Belle that he is too afraid to let her go, but she reminds him of their timeless tale. As she passes, Belle’s final words to Rumple are: “You let me go once before, and we found our way back to each other. You’re a good man, Rumple. Your heart is pure. You will find the answer you need to get rid of the dagger, and you will find your way back to me, okay? I promise.” ("Beauty")

As the season progresses, Rumple's quest to reunite with her seems hopeless, until the series finale "Leaving Storybrooke", in which he sacrifices his heart to save the Captain Hook from the Wish Realm. Upon his death, Belle appears to him in the afterlife in her signature golden dress. The two kiss, as Belle says, “I knew you’d make it home.”