Board Thread:Spoilers!/@comment-27060727-20170803053127/@comment-32355101-20171025010037

My guess for this episode is that Rumpel and Belle somehow ended up in NEF a lot sooner than Henry did and Rumpel ends up joint with the others after Belle passes away after living a beautiful life with Rumpel and Gideon. It's apparent time moves faster so if they left after the final battle but before Henry leaves Storybrooke they could've experienced decades there before Henry even arrived.