Now and Forever
I own nothing
Belle sat inside the library reading a book as the storm raged on outside. She had been in the castle for almost two months now and it was beginning to feel like home. The Beast often kept her company and she enjoyed reading to him the stories that she loved so dearly. It had occurred to her that one day while reading that the castle had been unusually quiet that day. She placed her book on the small table next to the chair she had been sitting in and decided to explore the quietness of the castle.
All the while The Beast was in his room pacing back and forth.
"Cogsworth, is everything ready for tonight?" He spoke gruffly
"Well….yes...of c…course!" the clock stuttered, "Tonight is the night eh?"
"Yes." The Beast spoke softly. "Tonight I tell her how I feel." He glanced outside the window and smiled softly at the young woman outside. It seemed she was looking for someone, one of the servants maybe. He dared not to hope she was looking for him. The Beast turned his back and left the West Wing to make sure everything was in order for tonight.
"Beast?" Belle's voice rang out. "Where are you?" She looked around the lonely grounds. Where was he? Belle had known him well enough to know that The Beast loved walking through the snow. She sighed and looked to the sky, it was late afternoon and she had been searching for some time now. As time wore on she decided to head back to the castle, the only thing was she had been walking around the extensive grounds so much, and it had gotten somewhat dark, that she was not able to a see the castle from where she was. "Great just great." She muttered.
The Beast meanwhile had been lost in his thoughts on making the evening perfect. He was about to ask Cogsworth to find Belle to tell her dinner was almost ready; however, Cogsworth was not to be found. In his anger the Beast stormed into the west wing and picked up the magic mirror. "Show me Cogsworth." He growled.
The mirror showed Cogsworth pacing back and forth. "Now where could Belle be?" he asked Mrs. Potts.
"I have no idea dearie, last I knew she was outside looking for the Master." The teapot spoke calmly. Cogsworth's eyes widened.
"But the girl hasn't been outside on the grounds alone since she came here!"
"It seemed like a nice day out, I figure she must know some of the land." The teapot tried to sound cheerful.
The Beast closed his eyes before saying. "Show me Belle." The mirror changed the scene and soon it showed Belle wandering through the snow not far from the groundskeeper's cottage. No one had been in there for years so there would be no supplies. He would have to go out and bring Belle back to the castle.
Belle was shivering as she came across the cottage. She could no longer feel her fingers and her dress was tattered, torn and soaking wet. She carefully entered the cottage before collapsing onto the hard wooden floor of the small house, the door was left opened.
The Beast ran through the snow on all fours sniffing the cold air for Belle. As he searched the grounds he remembered the cottage and raced there as fast as he could. When he got there, he found the door opened and Belle's snow covered body on the floor.
Tenderly he picked her up and raced back to the castle, the evenings plans were put on hold as the household helped their master get Belle into something warm and dry, into her bed and kept warm. The Beast sat in a chair next to Belle's bed stroking her hand. She had been out in the cold for hours that day and her face was paler than normal.
"Please Belle get better."