Somehow, as she followed them silently, she knew.
It was over.
The lantern went out, with only a slight puff of air.
Though a deeper darkness descended upon them, the flame casting their shadows on the trees extinguished, a strange lightness seemed to fill the wood as The Beast disappeared.
Beatrice had not noticed the weight of his presence until he was gone.
"Well, I guess he dealt with him, then."
She looked down at Wirt, whose face was delicately lit by the moonlight filtering through the leaves, and the dappled reflection on the snow. The boy's smile was strained as he glanced up at her flying form, adjusting his hold on his brother.
"I guess he did." The Beast would never haunt them again, the presence that she had been warned of all her life, the monster her brothers teasingly warned her about, but with a definite, true fear in their eyes.
"Hey, Beatrice."
"Yeah?"
She followed his gaze, and was shocked to see a trail, seemingly lit by golden sunlight.
"I think I found the way home."
So, this was it. Somehow, she knew. She could go no further than this. Though she wished she could accompany the two brothers, make sure they made it safely… her place was here. But, first:
"Um, Wirt?" She landed on a low branch. "I know you need to leave and all, but first… can you cut off my wings for me?"
He turned to her, "Can I… what?"
"My wings. Cut them off. With the scissors? You know, so I can be human." She would have done it herself, of course, but it would have been dreadfully difficult without hands.
"Oh. Oh, yeah." Gently, with a regretful air, he let Greg off his back, who leaned against a low stump with a sleepy smile. That kid, she could tell, was going to be alright.
"So…" Wirt held up the small pair of scissors, mouth pulled into a grimace, "I'm supposed to use these," he waved the small, shining blades in the air, "to cut off your wings? Isn't that going to hurt?"
Beatrice sighed, and closed her eyes. She had, of course, thought of that, as soon as Adalaide informed her of how the scissors worked, But she was ready. She wanted this, to finally return to herself again. Quickly, she lifted her wings. "Maybe. Maybe they won't, though. They're magic, right? Besides, how else am I supposed to do it? And I could hardly turn my family back without myself being human. So just... snip away. I'll be fine."
She felt Wirt's fingers grasp the tip of one of her wings, pulling it slightly away from her body, muscles that would soon be gone stretching. The cold metal of the scissors touched the base of the wing, and an involuntary shiver ran through her. They froze there, and she noticed Wirt's hands shaking. As if he was the one having his limbs cut off- no, no. It couldn't be pleasant, having his job.
"Just do it really fast."
"Okay…" Wirt's voice squeaked slightly with nervousness. She didn't have the gall to laugh at it, not now. "Here goes…"
The rasp of the blades, a strange crunch. Once, then twice. She barely felt a thing. A strange prickling feeling, the one she would feel if her legs fell asleep and she tried to stand, covered her body.
She heard Wirt gasp. She swayed. Opened her eyes. She was looking down at her hands, her feet, her old, blue, muddy dress. Somehow, the first thing that came out of her mouth was,
"Thank god I'm not naked."
"Wha- oh. Oh, I didn't-" Wirt, began to shake with constrained laughter, "Sorry, I hadn't even thought of it, I was just worried about the scissors thing-"
Suddenly, they were both laughing, out of relief, out of happiness. They had done it. They were both where they needed to be.
Well, almost.
"Wirt…" Beatrice took a deep breath, "You should take Greg home now." The boy looked back at his brother, curled up and asleep. "And I should... I should go back to my family."
"I guess this is where we part ways then."
"Yeah."
They stared at each other, just for a moment. He looked so small now, now that she was a human again, her height a few inches taller than his.
"Wow, this is weird. Sorry, I mean, you…" he hesitated, coughed, as though he had choked on his words, "You look nice"
She scoffed, though she could feel heat rise in her face. "Shut up," She punched his shoulder, lightly, all the while reveling in the fact that she finally could. "Get out of here. Go take care of Greg, and, I don't know, recite a poem to your Sara or something."
"Right, yeah. Um." He turned, lifting the sleepy Greg onto his back with a tenderness she knew she had never seen him use before. He had grown up a bit since she met him. She supposed they both had. "I guess this is goodbye then."
So it was.
"You know, I'm glad… I'm glad you two were the kids who wandered through here." If only they didn't have to go. If only, as she had suggested what seemed like so long ago, Wirt and his little brother could stay here in this wood. But she knew it was not right.
Still, she would miss them.
Without thinking, Beatrice lifted off his hat, that ridiculous, pointed red hat of his, and bent down to lightly kiss the top of his head. She straightened to see his face turn bright red. With a quiet laugh, she ruffled his messy hair. "You've done good, kid."
"Thanks." The smile fled from his face quickly, "I'll miss you, you know."
"I'll miss you too."
"Goodbye, Beatrice."
"Goodbye, Wirt."
And she watched as he disappeared down the golden, tree-lined path, at last heading out of the unknown.