Once Upon a Time: Belle Isn't Giving Up Hope for Saving Her Child

Sometimes it can be hard to tell who is having the roughest time on Once Upon a Time, but going into Sunday's fall finale it's pretty safe to say that Belle (Emilie de Raven) and Rumple (Robert Carlyle) are at the top of the "This sucks" list.

The estranged spouses have been fighting non-stop since discovering that Belle was pregnant with their child. Rumple's inability to stay away from the power of the Dark One made Belle feel very conflicted about what role he should play in their baby's life. Warnings from the dream-adult version of their soon to be son (Giles Matthey) didn't really help them come to a satisfying custody agreement either.

Now baby Gideon has been taken away by the fairies until Belle and Rumple can come to an agreement about how their child should be raised. Right now, the two are as far apart from each other as they ever have been, but a "surprising danger" will force them to work together in the fall finale.

TVGuide.com talked with de Ravin before Sunday's episode to figure out how Belle is feeling, what she needs from Rumple to feel that Gideon is safe and what's in store for the blockbuster episode ahead. Check out her answers below.

What is Belle's emotional state going into this finale after last week's really emotional episode?
Emilie de Ravin: Yeah, that was a really emotional episode to put it lightly. It was really fun to play, first of all. Well, then it was sad and disturbing, but it was heartbreaking to be dealing with the issues she had to deal with. She's a really strong young woman, but she's, kind of at the moment, going into this weekend's episode going into this state where you're broken, but you're a strong person. You're a parent and you'll do anything, literally anything -- you'd die for your kid. As fragile, emotional and heartbreaking what she's just had to do is, [it] is for her child's safety. There is this drive that you just don't give up. You just don't give up and you will do anything and everything to survive. Even though the child is not with her, it's a survival instinct that just kicks in because you're a parent.

Whether the child is with her or not, she knows that she has to be there with him, wherever he is and ultimately hoping that they will be together. There's that mixture of being heartbroken, even though she knows she did the right thing and believes she did the right thing. That loss, just from a physical standpoint, being separated from your newborn child is kind of insane. She's really driven right now and that non-stop energy to never give up, keep going and finding out all the truths that she needs to find out from Gold to get back to her son in an environment where he's safe -- which is not what they're going through right now.

Speaking of Gold, she did say that this is only meant to be a temporary separation from the child until she can make sure it's safe. What exactly does that mean? Does Belle want to completely defeat Gold or what is the dream scenario for her to get her son back?
de Ravin: I don't think she has a scenario specifically outlined in her mind of what that would be, but just figure out whatever obstacles are put in her place to make that environment a reality. You can't deal with a situation until you really know what's going on. At the moment, I think she's in a position of not really knowing how to do that and having to find out more information before she can actually take action to make that happen.

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She's made it pretty clear that she's not interested in a romantic relationship with Rumple anymore, but is there any hope in Belle's mind that there could be a co-parenting relationship, or did last week's episode erase those possibilities as well?
de Ravin: I don't think anything is erased. She will never have anything to do with him if she thinks its not good for their child. If she thinks it is, she will. She'll do whatever is best for the little one, and the future will hold the key to that one. As far as [Belle and Rumple's] relationship, you never know. Maybe this is a turning point and there is no going back or maybe it's one of those things where you look back and go, "I never thought that I would get through that," or "I never thought that person would change," and they do. Sometimes they don't.

What would Rumple need to do for Belle to even start trusting him again? They're at perhaps their lowest point yet.
de Ravin: They'll have to take a lot of steps to enlist any sort of trust. I totally agree with that. A big part of that trust, if there is trust to be won back, will be predominantly relevant to how he deals with the baby and the situation with what's best for the baby.

Emma and the Charmings all have some experience about giving up or having to be separated from their child. Will Belle have a chance to bond with any of them about what she's going through?
de Ravin: I don't know!...That'd be nice though, wouldn't it? Maybe they could all go to a group therapy session together. There are a lot of people that have gone through a lot of things on this show. It's definitely not an easy life we all live, as is reality. That's one of the things I love about this show.

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Are we going to feel better or worse for Belle after the finale than we did after Sunday's episode?
de Ravin: [laughs] I don't know! I can't tell people how to feel, but I hope people don't feel really bad or worse. I hope they feel more intrigued.

What are you most excited for people to see in the fall finale?
de Ravin: There's a lot of stuff going on and a lot of fun storytelling. I think people are going to enjoy it. I'm excited, personally, to see a lot of the ultimate fairy tale stuff with Snow and Charming.

Once Upon a Time's fall finale airs Sunday at 8/7c on ABC.