Foreword - by MusicKeeper

For as long as I can remember, Belle has been my favorite Disney princess. I think it's because she's the one I can relate to most, with her longing for adventure and her nose stuck in a book all the time.

So when katierosefun (aka Caroline) texted me with a Beauty and the Beast AU idea for my OC Kira, well, I was ecstatic!

Over the next few days, we came up with ideas for this AU (we lost a lot of sleep wondering who would end up as Gaston). I may or may not have ended up screaming while I read some of the texts Caroline sent me, and I may or may not have ended up screaming at her for a few of the teasers she allowed me to look at. But, in the end, she promised me that there will be a happy ending. Quite a feat for katierosefun, I'll say!

Anyway. Moving on.

I have entrusted Caroline with writing stories for Kira before, and both times, she's done an amazing job. I have no doubt that she will weave a magnificent tale this time as well.

So, whether you've read Kira's stories before or have never heard the name and are only reading this because Caroline posted a new Clone Wars story, I'm just as eager as you are to see what she has come up with this time. So, relax, let us pull up a chair, as katierosefun proudly presents Tale as Old as Time!

See what I did there?

No?

Let's just get to the story already.

Chapter One. There Must Be More

"Catch me if you can, Caleb!"

"Hey! No fair! Have you – oof – ever tried to run in these shoes?"

Kira Narro-Kenobi whirled around, pulling her skirts up so they'd be up to her shins instead of her ankles. She hopped onto a small rock and waited patiently for her friend to catch up. Caleb at last staggered onto the rock, puffing out an indignant breath. Kira smiled at the boy as he sat down. "You honestly shouldn't be complaining," she said lightly. "I'm the one wearing a skirt, after all."

Caleb rolled his eyes. "Yes, but you're not the one who'll get yelled at if your clothes are stained with grass. Or torn away." He stood up, brushing small bits of grass from his legs. "So, then," he said, extending a hand. "Kira, since you won in your race against me, what say you to a different game?"

Kira stared at Caleb's hand. The eight-year old girl let a smile spread across her face – and then, crossing her arms, Kira asked, "Why're you acting like that?" Caleb looked down at his hand. Then, honestly, he replied, "My tutors told me to do that. It's polite for other girls."

Kira rolled her eyes. She whacked away Caleb's hand and said, "Come on! Let's go back to racing!"

Kira supposed she should have seen this new change in behavior as a warning – she realized that she should have taken Caleb's subtle changes a bit more seriously. Only she didn't, and then it was too late for Kira to realize that her friend had changed because of his role as a prince.

And when the palace gates closed on Kira, she didn't even get to say goodbye.

xXx

The sun was peeking out from behind the leaves of trees when Kira stepped out of her house. Closing the door behind herself, Kira closed her eyes and took in a long breath of the fresh morning air. Taking a few tentative steps forward, Kira turned to see if Obi-Wan was up yet – and when seeing her stepfather shifting around the kitchen, the girl smiled. She tapped the glass of the window – and when Obi-Wan looked up, she waved. He waved back, and then turned to get ready for the day.

Kira's mouth stretched out into a wider grin – she knew that later today, she'd probably find the man buried in a bunch of books or something else of the sort. And Kira could picture herself walking down into the room where all the books were – and then Obi-Wan and she would spend the entire day reading and talking about what new things they had learned. She couldn't wait.

But that would have to happen later. Right now, Kira would need to do what she always does – that being going down to the village and returning the books she had gotten from the library. And hopefully picking up new ones.

And so, with arm latched around her basket, Kira walked down from the small house Obi-Wan and she lived in – and set out for the village.

The road to the village wasn't too long, either – and in almost no time at all, Kira witnessed the earliest villagers walking down the streets and getting ready to start the day. There goes the baker, Kira thought as she waved to the man opening up his bakery. He started to wave back until someone from inside – probably his wife – started shouting. Kira quickly dropped her arm, winced, and started down the street. As she walked down, more people filed out of their houses.

Children were racing down the streets, screaming and laughing as a ball was passed amongst themselves. A few carts led by horses rolled alongside Kira – and then they were ahead of her, leaving behind little clouds of dust that couldn't be followed. The girl watched it for a little while – and felt the typical stab of envy over the people who were riding on that cart. Of how much they had probably seen, and of the number of times they probably were out and about.

Still, Kira supposed, there's no place quite like home…even if home meant being with a group of villagers who were more interested in sheep wool than what could be happening outside. (And as Kira thought this, a group of sheep led by another villager rolled walked along the opposite end of the street.)

Shortly after those thoughts formed, however, Kira found herself facing the bookstore door. Placing a hand over her basket, Kira let out a soft breath and beamed up at the fancy lettering on the sign above her. If she couldn't get out of the village, Kira decided that being in a bookshop which had stories about adventures would be the next best thing. Swinging open the door, Kira let herself in.

As always, Kira marveled at the sight of the shelves lining the walls – with books of colorful spines and beautiful, calligraphy-lettered titles and yellowing pages. The morning sunshine was filtering into the bookshelf from the window as well, casting in an almost fairytale-esque appearance to the quaint shop.

"Kira! You're already here?"

"Madame Jocasta," Kira said, turning to look at the elderly bookshop owner. An old woman with grey hair tied up in a bun, Jocasta Nu clasped her hands in front of herself with a kind smile. "Then again," the woman said, stepping forward, "I should have suspected you were coming. I never could keep you away from these books. However…" Jocasta extended a hand, and Kira dutifully handed over the books she had borrowed. The old woman gently placed the books down at her desk and added, "You finish these stories quite quickly."

Kira let out a laugh. "It's hard to not finish the books quickly when they're so interesting," she responded. Kira bounded forward to the bookshelves and stepping on the ladder, she asked, "Have you any new books for me today?" She could hear the grin in Jocasta's voice when she replied, "I'm afraid not, my dear. It's only been a day." Kira shrugged her shoulders. "That's alright, I suppose," she responded. Standing at the tips of her toes, Kira brought down one of the larger books from the top shelves.

Kira turned around and waved the book in the air. "I'll take this one, please!"

Jocasta narrowed her eyes at the cover. "Why, but haven't you read that before?" she asked.

"Oh, yes," Kira gushed. "Many times." Practically dancing down from the ladder, Kira added, "But Jocasta, it's a very good story – and, well, I can't resist. Princes, sword fights, a dragon worth slaying…it's one of my favorites!"

Jocasta laughed. "Well, then," she said, tapping a hand on the book, "if you like it so much, you ought to keep it!"

Kira gaped – and looking down at the book, she stammered, "Oh, no, I shouldn't –"

"Consider it a present, my child," Jocasta responded kindly. She pushed the book into Kira's hands. "Now, then," Jocasta added, "tell your father hello for me – and keep yourself out of trouble!" Kira smiled gratefully. "Thank you, Madame," she responded, and walked out of the store.

Almost instantly, Kira lifted the book to her face and started to read – chapter one…

xXx

And as Kira walked down the streets, she wasn't aware of the villagers watching and murmuring after her.

"There goes that Kira," a woman whispered, flicking her eyes at the young girl. "Nose stuck in a book again."

"Hm," her friend responded, "I would think that Kira girl is intelligent – only she's always got that odd look in her eyes, don't you think?" The woman shook her head. "It's her father's fault, I tell you – anyone who lives with Obi-Wan Kenobi would be a little south of normal."

"She has her looks," a different man was commenting from another side of the street. One of the men around him laughed. "Yes, but have you ever talked to her?" he scoffed. "She's always going on about some story she read – never decides to talk about something normal. That's an instant way to lose any admiration for her face." The man nodded. "I would think you're right," he decided, watching as Kira sat down at a fountain.

The girl's eyes were still fixated on the words of her book – completely oblivious to the occasional eye-rolls tossed her way or shaking heads.

But now, leaning against the wall of one of the houses, a man with dark hair pulled away from his face and musket slung over one of his shoulders looked over at Belle with a different kind of curiosity – though truth be told, it wasn't lesser in politeness or dignity or kindness.

"Sanjay! Sanjay Rash! Sanjay!" a young boy practically tripping over his own feet ran up to the older man, carrying a large bird over his shoulder. He dumped the large bird (a goose) in front of Sanjay's feet and exclaimed, "Another nice shot, sir! It took me a long time to retrieve it!"

But Sanjay, to the boy's only slight disappointment, wasn't entirely interested in the bird. Instead, Sanjay grabbed the boy's face and said, "Lux – do you see that girl over there?" The boy – Lux glanced at what Sanjay was staring at – and eventually, his eyes found Kira sitting by the fountain. "Kira Narro-Kenobi?" Lux asked, bewildered.

"Yes! That's the girl! The lucky one!" Sanjay exclaimed, pointing at the girl. Kira, still oblivious, stood up from the fountain and started to walk in the opposite direction. She instead started for the exit of the village, weaving cleverly through passing carts and wandering sheep.

"She's the one I'm going to marry!" Sanjay said triumphantly.

Lux was still confused. "But she –"

"She's the fairest girl in this village – and don't I deserve the fairest in this village?"

"But she's that Kenobi's daughter!"

Sanjay, however, did not seem to hear Lux's protests as he chased after her.

xXx

"Hello, Kira," a deep voice said from in front of the girl.

Kira looked up from her book for a split second to say, "Bonjour, Sanjay." And before she could process what was going on, her book was snatched out of her hands and Sanjay was flipping through the pages. Well, now I've lost my page, Kira thought with a sigh. Meanwhile, Sanjay was asking, "How can you be bothered to read this? There are hardly any pictures – and the lettering is much too small for female eyes."

Kira brushed away the misogynistic comment and instead asked, "Yes, well, may I please have my book back? I was in the middle of reading it – and pictures aren't completely necessary to enjoy a book. Some people use their imagination." Sanjay rolled his eyes. Snapping the book closed, he looked down at Kira and said, "Kira, it's about time you get your head out of those books and pay attention for more important things." With that, he tossed the book away – directly into a puddle. Cringing, Kira ducked down to grab the book before it could get completely ruined (and honestly, Jocasta had just given it to her) – before Sanjay stepped in front of her yet again.

Kira evasively reached from behind Sanjay and grabbed at her book, carefully shaking away the water. "Like what, may I ask?" she asked, trying to keep her annoyance from creeping into her voice.

"Like me," was Sanjay's quick reply.

Kira resisted the urge to roll her eyes again. She couldn't exactly take Sanjay's comments seriously – not when there was already a group of hopeful girls standing behind him, whispering to each other with lit-up eyes and wistful looks. And as Kira looked back up at Sanjay, she couldn't help but to wonder what everyone found so wonderful about him. He was cocky – arrogant – rude and loud and much too…well, big for Kira. (Not to mention that he had just insulted her book, which was another matter altogether.) And not only that, but Kira was now sixteen years old. And Sanjay was…well, a bit older.

"Besides, it's not right for a woman to read!" Sanjay continued, pacing around Kira. "Soon, she'll get ideas…and begin thinking – and that's just a mess that none of us can be bothered with right now!"

"Well, Sanjay," Kira replied, standing up. She flicked away the remaining bits of water on her book – thankfully, only some of the pages seemed to be ruined…but she can fix that later. Glancing only for a moment at Sanjay, Kira murmured, "You are absolutely still in the middle ages."

"Why, thank you, Kira!" Sanjay started to grab for Kira's book again – and this time, the girl glared down at Sanjay's hand. "Why don't we take a walk sometime and have a look at my trophies? My hunting ones?" Sanjay asked, swinging the book away from Kira's reach.

Pressing her lips firmly together, Kira jumped up and snatched her book back. She placed it neatly in her basket and responded, "Maybe some other time." (She ignored the small gasps from the other girls – "what's wrong with her?" "She's crazy!" "Sanjay's gorgeous…") Kira darted away from Sanjay's reach – and towards the road back to her house. "I have to get home to help my father," she added. "Goodbye!"

Kira heard a loud laugh from behind her.

"That crazy old man!" the boy standing beside Sanjay – Lux was his name, wasn't it? – exclaimed with a laugh. "He'll need all the help he can get!" Kira felt a flare of anger bubble up from her chest. Gripping her basket tightly in her hand, she snapped, "Don't talk about my father that way!"

Sanjay – who had been laughing before – quickly stopped and smacked Lux's arm, saying, "Yes! Don't talk about her father that way!"

Kira shot a glare at the two males. "My father is not crazy – he's wonderful, and he deserves more respect than any of you." With that, she turned on her heel and boiling over with fury, marched towards her house. She didn't stop marching until she was right at the front door – and didn't realize that she was still clutching onto her basket until she reached up to open the door. Kira glanced down at her hand, which was now angrily streaked with red marks from gripping the wood so hard. Sighing, Kira shook her head to herself and swung open the door.

Instantly, Kira found her father sitting at his desk, murmuring unintelligible words to himself as he searched amongst piles of papers and books. A small smile formed on Kira's lips as she walked forward, saying, "Hello, Father – did I miss anything interesting?"

Obi-Wan looked up, his eyes blinking owlishly – and then, with a bright smile, he replied, "No, nothing at all." He looked down at his notes. "If only I could…get this translation right…really is becoming quite a bother. I can never tell this word apart from the other…" Kira let out a soft laugh and started across the small study to open up the curtains. "Honestly, you shouldn't keep it so dim in here," she remarked. "It'll ruin your eyes."

Obi-Wan turned over his shoulder. "The curtains were closed?" he asked curiously. "Odd. I didn't think they were."

Kira smiled. She gave her father a quick kiss on the cheek and sitting down across from his desk, started to open up her book.

"How was your trip to the village today?" Obi-Wan asked, scratching down a word on one of the papers. Kira shrugged her shoulders. "It was alright," she replied truthfully. "I got a new book today." Obi-Wan looked up. "Ah, really?" he asked. "Good for you. Which one is it this time?"

Kira held out the book for an answer. Obi-Wan nodded approvingly. "Very interesting," he said, and looked back down at his notes. Kira watched her father copy down his notes for a while – and then, after a few moments, she asked, "Father, do you think I'm…odd?"

Obi-Wan's head snapped up. "Odd meaning…?"

"Odd as in…I don't seem to fit in here? In the village?"

Obi-Wan frowned. "Who says that?" he asked. "Being odd isn't necessarily a bad thing – all the best people are." He paused. "Unless you don't want to be considered odd – which you are not. Which type of odd are you referring to?" Kira lifted her shoulders. Sanjay's words echoed back into her head. The strange stares. The whispers behind her back.

"Odd as in no one seems to understand me," Kira replied quietly.

"I understand you," Obi-Wan pointed out.

Kira smiled. "Yes, and I'll be forever grateful for that. I might actually drive myself crazy if you didn't." She responded. She sat back. "But…"

"You can always find someone to talk to," Obi-Wan suggested. "How about that Sanjay man? Or that Lux boy? They seemed nice enough when we met them."

Kira recoiled. "Oh, yes, they seem nice," she replied bitterly, "nice in a way that is only displayed before a predator eats its preys." Obi-Wan pushed away his notes. "Well, don't you worry," he said. "There'll come a point in time when we'll get a new life…once I actually finish this entire translation." He sighed down at his papers and flipped another page of his book. Kira smiled wistfully. Then, sitting back, she opened up her book and started to read from the page she left off.

xXx

"Letter to a monsieur Kenobi! Letter to a monsieur Kenobi!" a shrill, childish voice shouted from the door. Kira startled awake. She looked down at the blanket covering her legs – and glanced back up to see Obi-Wan, who was fast asleep at his desk. Kira sighed and stood up as the child shouted again, "Letter to a monsieur Kenobi!"

"I'm coming!" Kira called back.

She made it to the door – and let it open to find a young boy carrying a small note. "At last!" he said with a sigh. He pushed the note to Kira, saying, "A letter from the publishing company! They want word from monsieur Kenobi right away!" Kira looked down at the note in her hand. She recognized the neat, pretty handwriting of the company that her father worked for – but before she could bring it inside, the boy cleared his throat. Kira looked down to see him sticking out his hand.

"Oh, of course," Kira said, nodding. She dug around her pockets until she found a coin. Placing it gently in the boy's hand, she stepped back and gave him a smile before closing the door. And now, Kira stared down at the note. She was curious – she wanted to open it, though in the next moment, Kira walked towards Obi-Wan's study.

She placed the note at her father's desk – and picking up her book, started for her bedroom.

xXx

The next morning, Kira found her father packing up a bag and a cloak sitting at his desk.

His traveling cloak.

Kira paused at the doorway. "Where are you going?" she asked.

Obi-Wan turned. "The company wants me to meet with them," he responded. "Something about finding a new text that I'm supposed to look at." Kira smiled sadly. "Ah," she murmured. "It's urgent?"

"As urgent as it can possibly be," Obi-Wan responded. He picked up his bags and his cloak. He walked towards Kira and squeezing her shoulder, he said, "It'll only be a few days. You'll hardly know I'm gone." Kira crossed her arms. "I highly doubt that," she replied truthfully.

Obi-Wan smiled. "Just a few days." He promised.

Kira nodded. "Just a few days."

xXx

So Kira helped her father with Phillip – the horse that they owned – and let him press a kiss on her forehead. "Take care of yourself, Kira," he said gently. Kira nodded. "You, too," she whispered. She stepped back and with a final glance behind his shoulder, the man was riding away from the house. Kira crossed her arms and watched him leave. He's not crazy, Kira thought. He's wonderful.

"Take care of yourself."

A/N - Yup, I know I said my laptop is dead, but Microsoft Word still works, so I've been typing this up and then using school computers/my brother's laptop to post this. (So this means I'm possibly letting my little anonymous self out to random, snoopy classmates of mine. *sighs* But I will not think about that. Not now.)

And yes, I suppose the characters are a bit questionable - choosing Lux as Le Fou was completely Amy's idea - and I thought of it as a crack-y thing. (Lux fans, don't worry! I'm not gonna turn Lux as a complete dolt - just that side character who kinda...doesn't know what he's doing. Ish. He's the side-character who you kinda like, but mostly because he needs to get his life together. Like honestly, Lux, why the heck are you with the Gaston-stand in?)

As for Sanjay being the Gaston-stand in - yes, Sanjay and Kira never met in the Eyes Open saga, but Sanjay Rash in TCW shares some similarities with Gaston. (Rash *heh, no pun intended*, rude, arrogant...sounds like Gaston to me! And yes, the age difference between Sanjay and Kira is big - but I think that's one of the points, just to add to the Sanjay-repulsion.)

Reviews are always fantastic! Constructive criticism is alright, but flames are not! (Oh, and check out Amy aka MusicKeeper's story. You'll be in for a surprise. ;)) And now, I shall go back to listening Bad Blood. (Band-aids don't fix bullet holes...)