Board Thread:General Discussion/@comment-7644192-20140331215705/@comment-11464223-20140404074413

Malkie Skye wrote: Baelfire didn't want anything to do with the magic - I still see Rumple as choosing Belle. I don't believe Bae would have wanted the responsibility. Belle on the other hand I can see taking  it because she loves Rumple completely different than his son. She believes in him and sees the good in him when no one else ever has. Including Bae. Baelfire didn't want anything to do with magic, agreed, but that doesn't mean he isn't the only person Rumple would give the dagger to. Baelfire wouldn't have wanted it if offered the responsibility, in most cases (we saw in Neverland there was a case when he would've taken it), but that doesn't mean he isn't the only person Rumple would trust with it.

For the exact reason of what their love is, I see Rumple having a great problem giving it to Belle. He wants her to love him unconditionally, purely, because they're partners, that's how it is-that's how the relationship is different from him and Baelfire's-and what that means is that if he were to give her the dagger, he would grow fearful of whether or not she grew to depend on it, or seek comfort in having it. He wouldn't want that, he wants her to love him purely, because that's what he needs. Nobody's ever loved him, everyone's always left-"Because nobody could ever, ever love me"-sound familiar? He wouldn't want her love for him to be tainted by the dagger or anything in any way. No, he wouldn't give it to Belle.