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The Dark Curse was very… customizable. Memories could be modified, and of course they would be modified, but just how much should she modify them?
Most of the people she didn't care much about how they would end up—as long as they wouldn't be an issue for her, it didn't matter. For those who already were, or who would become, however…
She was mostly thinking about Rumplestiltskin. A master of magic, her teacher, but… she didn't want anyone to break the curse, him included. And given what she knew about his relationship with someone currently in her dungeon…
Mr. Gold set aside a bouquet of red roses—not for a romantic partner, but for his daughter. Though she had died years ago, he always made sure to keep them around. Something about them just reminded him of her.
For a while, she had been in the hospital—he couldn't remember what it was, exactly; perhaps he'd blocked it out, but she was deteriorating, and eventually she had passed. Mr. Gold remembered being so distraught he had left the funeral arrangements to Regina—even now, he couldn't bring himself to go to where she was now. He had a small memorial instead, that he was just tidying up before going out to collect rent where it was due.
Emma. The name brought back memories—so many memories. And yet, it didn't rewrite any of the false ones.
Reconciling his "memories" raising Belle French-Gold and his feelings regarding Belle of the Enchanted Forest was… a lot. And if it wouldn't blow his cover and likely cause him to re-lose his memories, he'd storm into Regina's office, because what the fuck. Why did she decide, of all the modifications to do, that would be one of them? Why not just cut Belle out of his life completely, make them strangers?
He likely wouldn't get answers anytime soon. But that didn't mean he couldn't plan his vengeance in the meantime.