Disclaimer: I do not own Beauty and the Beast or any of its characters.

I do own my OCs Jacqueline and Sophie AND this plot.

Enjoy and please review!

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Chapter 1

The thin blanket of snow crunched under Babette's shoes as she stepped out of the castle and into the grounds. The chilly air hit her at an alarming rate, but she hardly noticed, and the young woman continued down the snow covered path. It was not that she did not notice, but she simply had other things on her mind then the cold. She shook her head "Mon Dieu…" she thought "I must be more distracted then I first thought." Then again, she had perfect reason to be. Five weeks before, she had received a letter from her sister whom she thought she had left to die, explaining that she was still alive.

Reaching into the pocket of her apron, Babette produced the letter, which had been crunched many times by her own hand, causing the words to be crinkled beyond recognition. The final words of that letter still floated in the young woman's mind 'I will be looking forward to our next meeting'. Such simple words, yet to the maid they brought with them so much. They were phrased as words of sincere politeness, however they were anything but. Instead, they were meant to taunt and frighten Babette…and they certainly had. Ever since the letter was sent she had waited, on her ultimate guard, ready to protect anyone necessary from the threat of her sister. Yet, that threat had never come, which only succeeding in causing her to tense further.

She had told no one of Jacqueline's letter, not wishing to worry anyone just after life had returned to normal for them. However, Lumiere, always seeming to know when something was wrong with her, appeared suspicious of her claims that she was 'perfectly alright'.

Lumiere.

He was the other reason that the young maid had been quiet and thoughtful. Ever since her return to the castle, Babette had been having conflicted feelings towards the Frenchman. No matter how much she tried to stop it, the young woman always found her heart fluttering when he would call her 'cheri' or compliment her. Babette had decided to ignore him completely, since there was no possible way she could love another ever again…yet she found doing so very difficult. He was kind, amusing and such a gentleman, as well as being very charming towards her. Of course, the maid remembered their earlier romantic entanglement, where Lumiere had actually been, as well as her suitor, her lover.

All of a sudden, the voice of the man himself came from behind her "Babette, there you are!" he called. She whirled around to him and could not suppress a smile as he quickened his pace towards her. The Frenchman was soon beside her and walking with her, and he commented "I have been looking for you cheri."

"I see" she answered, not meeting his gaze. Her heart had fluttered again after the use of the affectionate name, but she refused to let it show.

All of a sudden, her vampire sense of smell caught something in the air…a human. Now, this alone was not uncommon, but what was, was the fact that the human was unfamiliar. She turned to source of the person's scent, and gasped at the sight before her. A figure, clearly that of a teenage child, lay limply in the snow. Babette ran over with the use of her superhuman speed, and Lumiere followed at his human pace.

Kneeling gracefully next to her, Babette gently picked her up and stared at the small, weak girl in her arms. She looked about 13, with long, beautiful golden blonde hair that cascaded down her back, and framed her delicate face. The little girl was slim and pale skinned, and her ankle-length gown was made of soft material, and was torn and tattered in many places. Her feet were enclosed in brown knee high boots that were laced with back ribbon, which was tattered slightly.

Turning to Lumiere, Babette said, face filled with worry "We need to get her inside."

Once that was done, the girl was laid on the maid's bed, enclosed in a thick, warm blanket. Babette stayed near her, and her worry subsided when she saw the colour rush to the girl's face and suddenly decided to try something. She had never attempted to read the aura of another person before, but thought that if she would try with anyone, it would be the girl, so she would be calmer when she awoke. Pushing her mental boundaries, Babette attempted to touch the aura of the teenage girl. A warm aura entered her vision but, to her astonishment and fear, it was laced with darkness, but only very lightly. Her aura swirled with several emotions: fear, confusion, relief, concern and anger. This caused many questions to surface for Babette. Why was her aura like that? Why was she aware of her surrounding and location, even while still awakening from unconsciousness? Babette had an idea why this was, but still wasn't sure if it was correct. She hadn't encountered one of them in years.

All of a sudden, she was brought from the aura by her own subconscious, which had warned her that the girl was waking. Babette, attempting to seem normal, waited patiently as the young girl opened her dark green eyes and looked around. Smiling, the maid said quietly "Bonjur. I found you in the snow and thought it best if you were brought in here. Je'mappelle Babette, sorry if I frightened you."

The teenager smiled, her gaze resting on the young woman, and spoke. Her English accent was dainty and pronounced, although she certainly sounded her age "Hello…I'm Sophie" she replied.

Babette noticed that, as the young girl looked her over quickly and discreetly, that the teenager displayed something quite unusal, but something she had definitely heard about.

Perhaps it was just a trick of the light, but she could have sworn that she saw Sophie's irises turn silver.