[Disclaimer] I do not own Naruto and its characters. I only own my OC "Lene".

[Note] This story is loosely based on Beauty and The Beast.

[Summary] Called as a witch and chased by the villagers, a girl found herself running into the deep of forest. A prince cursed by a witch into an immortal beast, was waiting for someone who could release him. Fate brought them together in the castle made of sand, and so the story began. (GaaraXOC)

Well, hello everyone! I'm Ernestalice and this is my first story. Thank you for your time and please enjoy.

First I have to tell that…I…LOVE…GAARA…(woohoo). I'm working on another story but it's not finished yet and I think it will be a long story. So for the first story, I decided to make a short one. In this story, a girl named Lene will appear, but…I want to let you imagine for yourself about her appearance, so I won't write much about the details. And let's…..

BEGINBEGINBEGINBEGINBEGINBEGINBEGINBEGINBEGINBEGINBEGINBEGINBEGINBEGINBEGINBEGINBEGINBEGINBEGINBEGINBEGINBEGIN

Witch and The Beast

Once upon a time, there was a beast living in a castle. The castle was located in a deep, deep forest. But the green could not touch it. It was made of sand. It was the only area in the forest where the land was dry.

One day, a girl ran into the forest. Losing her way back, she arrived at the sand castle. She wondered what's inside. As she looked around the castle, there were many died corpses and skeletons. She was afraid. But there were noises behind her that frightened her more. So she ran desperately into the castle.

The inside was grand that she amazed looking at it. But as the noises reached the gate, she ran again desperately into the deeper part of the castle.

She entered a room, a bedroom. And she looked at the window. The noises, the villagers who were chasing her were gradually leaving the place. As she relieved, she heard a voice.

"Leave this castle immediately!"

She turned around to find a beast standing behind her. At the first glance, she was startled. But she approached the beast and touched him.

"What are you doing?" the beast said.

"Hey, how can you talk like humans?" the girl smiled curiously.

That was the time when the wheel of fate began to turn.

The girl and the beast were spending their time together in the castle. The girl's name was Lene. She was 15 years old. She lost her parents when she was a child, and lived with her grandfather since then until six months ago he died of sickness. The beast's name was Gaara. His age was unknown. After spending a day in the castle, Lene realized that the skeletons she saw before were living skeletons. But they're funny and nothing to be afraid of.

"It's the first time I've seen a human doesn't afraid with us," Gaara said. They were taking dinner.

"…I'm more afraid of humans than any other, actually," Lene replied. She's finishing her dishes.

"But, you're human, right?"

Lene didn't say anything. The days went on and went on. Lene and Gaara were enjoying their time together. Gaara didn't even find it strange to see her around. She was smiling everyday and didn't even show any sign that she wanted to leave the place.

It was three months later that Gaara found her healing a wounded bird with just her bare hands. She surprised when Gaara found her and tried to hide it. But he already saw. Gaara left Lene's room with a disappointed face. Lene was trying to apologize that she wasn't able to tell him about it before. But Gaara kept avoiding her. Until one day, one of the skeletons spoke out.

"A hundred years ago, there was actually a kingdom, a great, great kingdom here. It was so great. But the king and the queen were so greedy, that they weren't satisfied with what they had. They kept making wars with the other lands, killed many people who tried to against them, and so they expanded the kingdom. But when the prince was in his sixteenth birthday, a witch of forest came to the palace. She claimed that the kingdom destroyed her land, and thus cursed the kingdom with drought."

"Do you mean that this place is the kingdom you mentioned?"

"Yes. The witch made no escape for them. None of the green land or the rain could touch this place. But, the witch made an exception. For the prince who was in his birthday, she gave him a chance to live and escape from the castle, but not in a human form. Even if someone out there found him and attempted to kill him, he could not be killed for the witch gave him an eternal life and age. And if one day, there is one person who could cry over him, that will be the time when the curse will end and the restless souls will be sent to heaven."

Lene were listening to the story silently.

"Of course we would like to see Prince Gaara going outside and search for the one who can lift this curse. But at the same time, we're afraid that the people outside would be scared of him and tried to kill him. I think the prince was thinking the same, too. That's why we're trying to play with him always, so he won't feel alone. And then, you came."

The other skeleton said, "You didn't afraid seeing us. It really made us, and the prince happy. We really hope that you're the one who can free us from the curse. That's why…that's why we will try to convince Prince Gaara once more tonight, to talk with you."

Lene was surprised to hear the story. She couldn't imagine the time that Gaara spent in this place. And it was at least a hundred years. She's worried and wanted to meet Gaara, so she could talk with him. She couldn't leave him alone. She walked to Gaara's room and looked that the door was opened. The skeleton was talking to him.

"How many times I should tell you? I'm not going to do this anymore!" Gaara said with a loud voice.

"But, sir…"

"Her face reminded me of that damned witch. And her ability… She must be a witch. Or maybe she's her descendant. Ugh! No! I know it's not her fault. I know it with my mind. But my heart couldn't stop it. I HATE WITCH! I HATE HER!"

Hearing Gaara's angry voice from behind the sand pillar, Lene felt that she couldn't stay there anymore. She felt that her existence would only give Gaara more pain. So she ran as quickly as she could and went out through the gate of the castle. She looked back once at the castle with a sad face. But she's holding her tears, thinking of Gaara's pain. Keeping in her mind that it was the best for them, she ran through the forest.

After some times, she noticed that she lost her way again. She couldn't leave the forest. And she thought that she couldn't go back either to the castle or to the village. Everyone hated her as a witch, except her kind grandfather. After he died, no one was there to protect her anymore. That's why she was fleeing into the forest. But she thought that maybe this forest was the best place for her. She loved the animals and nature. She even began to think that maybe Gaara was right about her, a descendant of the forest witch who cursed him.

It was not long after that, she heard a noise behind her. It was a deer. She smiled and approached the deer. That's when the deer ran and she failed to notice that there was an arrow flying, thrusting her. She fell down and curled in pain. She's bleeding but it was not a severe wound.

The guy who shot the arrow was approaching her. It was a villager. He recognized her and called her a witch. She tried to run, but it was too late. He grasped her hand and knocked her out. She was captured and brought to the village. Fortunately, the bird she saved before saw the event. The bird flied to the castle and approached the window of the prince's room.

Gaara saw the bird and recognized it. The bird explained to Gaara about what he knew. Gaara's face turned pale. He felt so terrible of himself for hating her. It was so usual to see her smiling and walking around the castle that he never thought that she would leave from there. That's why he thought that sometimes later, he would talk to her normally again. Imagining that he wouldn't be able to see her again, he rushed to the village with the bird guiding him.

Meanwhile, in the village, Lene was exhausted. The villagers pulled the arrow from her body and so she's kept bleeding. The villagers became more convinced that they must burn her. When they lift her body and brought her to burn her, Gaara came at the perfect time. He attacked the villagers and tried to save her.

The villagers were frightened, guessing that it was Lene, the witch's doing. They didn't want to lose. So they attacked Gaara together with any weapons they had. Spears, swords, arrows, everything attacked Gaara. But he didn't try to fight back. He just tried to protect Lene from the attacks and ran away from that place to the castle. But, the attacks were just too many. The blood was dripping out from Gaara's body, waking Lene up.

Gaara fell down. The villagers approached at his body and wanted to thrust the final blow. But then, the animals from the forest were coming. Deer, bird, monkey, even tiger and lion were coming; they couldn't be counted by hands. The villagers startled and ran away in mess. As they're leaving Lene was approaching Gaara weakly. She fell down at Gaara's body and laid her head on his chest, while holding his hand.

"…I'm…sorry…Gaara…"

Gaara didn't answer. He lost his consciousness. Lene tried to heal Gaara with all her power. She felt that it was her fault to make Gaara in pain again. That's not the reason why she left the castle. She closed her eyes and tears began to come down from her eyes. Then she fell unconscious for using too much of her power.

That's when the miracle happened. Gaara turned back to his original self; a young sixteen years old boy. His wounds were healed, too. When he regained his consciousness, he woke up slowly and surprised to see his human body. He found Lene lying down on his body. As he tried to wake her up, he heard noises coming closer. He thought it was the villagers again. So he held Lene on his hands and ran through the forest to the castle.

Arrived at the castle, he called for helps. But no one was there. He looked worried as he lied down Lene's body on the floor. He tried to wake her up again, again, again, and again, but it didn't work. He tried to make the blood stopping, but it didn't work. He tried again to call for somebody to help him, but it didn't work. The skeletons who were usually there weren't there anymore. The restless souls had left the castle forever. He realized that he was alone.

"…Lene, please…wake up. Wake up for me…I-I never really hated you, you know…I-I love you…So please, please let me apologize, Lene…" he said desperately.

"…Please, Lene…let me see your smile again…"

Gaara was waiting for hearing her voice. It was not long before Gaara realized that she wasn't breathing anymore. He stopped crying.

"…why…ARE YOU SATISFIED NOW, WITCH? You took my parents, my kingdom, my freedom…And after all this time, you still took away everything from me!" Gaara started to cry again.

"Please…I will give you everything else…but not her…She's the only one I have…If you're there, please…give her back…"

The voice reached the forest witch. When she came, there was a light shining through the castle.

"Prince Gaara, your heart has touched me. I saw you're suffering all these years. Now is the time I grant you my miracle."

She lifted her wand and cast a magic through the castle. The castle was no longer a castle. It turned to a simple house with a beautiful lake and trees.

"Now, you shall live with no worry of anything. And if someday, someone visits your place, he or she will not do any harm to you or your belongings. And…one more thing."

After swinging her wand once more, she disappeared into thin air. And then, a hand touched Gaara's cheek.

"Ga…ara…"

Gaara looked back at Lene. No wound was on her body. And she was smiling. Gaara surprised and was speechless. Looking at it, Lene started to speak.

"…Are you crying?"

Gaara blushed, "N-no! Of course not!"

Gaara made a little distance from Lene. She woke her body up and stared at Gaara. Gaara looked away blushing. She smiled again.

"Gaara…Thank you…"

"No, wait! I want to apologi…" Gaara turned his view back to Lene. But before he could finish his line, he felt a soft thing touched his lips. He closed his eyes. He felt that the time went on slowly. It had been a long time since he felt a human in his arms. He thought that if it was a dream, he didn't want to wake up.

"…I love you, Lene…"

"…I know…"

And then, they lived happily ever after.

ENDTHEENDTHEENDTHEENDTHEENDTHEENDTHEENDTHEENDTHEENDTHEENDTHEENDTHEENDTHEENDTHEENDTHEENDTHEEND

Afterword : And that's it. I hope you enjoyed the moment. I tried my best and I'm waiting for your reviews and comments and critics. And now…I want to eat potatoes...＼(˚ µ ˙ )／ Nice to meet you and see you again :P