@Midnight Dreary wrote:
In her final scene with Rumpel in Skin Deep, she was pleading with him to understand and change his mind. She wasn’t angry at him. She was trying to talk some sense into him. I thought it was quite obvious what the writers were trying to do. I actually thought Belle’s love for Rumpel was quite clear. When we see her again in Dreamy, she’s going on and on about true love and how valuable it is. She was obviously talking about Rumpel. She was hurt and still missed Rumpel. That was made abundantly clear.
I agree. Belle was obviously still in love with Rumpel when we saw her again in “Dreamy.” And the last scene between her and Rumpel in “Skin Deep” was about her trying to get Rumpel to review his actions. She was telling him to stop being a coward and face life. She was pleading with him. She wasn’t angry. That was evident by the fondness in which she spoke of him in “Dreamy.”
And like others have said, I wasn’t surprised at all by Belle’s reaction to Mr. Gold in the finale. They’re true love, so of course she’s going to be happy to see him. True love doesn’t just fade away. So actually, her rejecting Rumpel would have been out of character and would have screwed with the continuity of the show’s mythology. True love is true love. There are various different types of true love, but it’s love nonetheless. And no one has been able to stay away from their true love. There have been characters on this show who have resorted to killing because of the loss of their true love (Regina). So, of course Belle was going to be happy to see him again.