Reply To: so why was Belle so… reluctant to say that "he died"?

[Keb]

She’s hesitant because with the missing year, she saw Rumple die last week.

She’s hesitant because to say it out loud is to make it more real, and she doesn’t want it to be real.

She’s hesitant because on day 1 or 2 in the EF, she’s already telling Neal, “I think we can get him back.” She’s not sure he’s really gone, and every fiber of her being is hoping that he isn’t.

And she’s in the shop because it’s something tangible of Rumple. It probably smells like him, and it’s where they spent significant time together after the curse was broken–it’s where she found him when Jefferson released her, it’s where they were for the End of the World when here memories returned, and where they reunited several times.

We tend to overthink the legal stuff in this show…nobody outside the town is going to enforce US law there. The one who has actual control is the caster of the curse, though the sheriff and authorities from the EF (Hi Charmings) do have some sway. And if the caster of the curse doesn’t care that much (or doesn’t dare fight it–ie, Rumple arranging for Belle to have the library; what’s Regina gonna do in early season 2, hm?), then it’s not far off anarchy. If Belle wants to run Gold’s shop to keep him alive in some manner, nobody but Zelena’s gonna stop her at this point (especially since the background stuff suggests that most of the town actually likes her).