-Belle-

Belle yawned as she lay back on to the cushy grass of Mistpeak Valley. The lake had been the first place she had wanted to stop at when she finally was able to leave the Dweller Camp at the top of the valley. She had been there when 'The Darkness' had invaded Albion two weeks ago, and had decided to stay when it had been defeated to help the Dwellers clean and fix up their camp.

Surprisingly no one had died during The Darkness' assault on Albion, but that was all due to the Queen's preparations. The people were happier with her now than ever, not only had she kept all her promises and made the kingdom's people happy, she had also taken money out of her own pocket and used it to build the army that would save the kingdom. The Queen's actions did not only make Belle appreciate and respect her more, but it also made Belle feel bad for her.

Belle had seen the queen in Millfields just before invasion of 'The Darkness'. The Queen had looked completely exhausted. She knew that the Queen had been building an army for some threat against Albion at the time, but her Majesty had looked as if she had been collecting all the money on her own.

"Poor Queen, hopefully she will now be able to relax and enjoy her remaining years as Albion's Queen," she thought. After thinking thoroughly about what had happened recently to Albion and its kingdom, she listened quietly to the wind as it gently rustled the leaves on the trees and swirled the water on the lake. The natural sounds of Mistpeak Valley gently lulled her to sleep.

-Ben-

He stared at the woman before him. She looked so familiar, but he couldn't pinpoint where he had seen her. Her midnight black hair fell gently about her shoulders and she stared at him through half-lidded, hazel eyes.

"Hello Ben, Long time, no see," she purred.

"What?" he said, unsure at whether he was more surprised at her forwardness or at the fact that she knew his name.

"Oh Ben," she chuckled as she ran her soft hands up his chest, "Don't you remember me? You saw me at the Queen's coronation; you couldn't keep your eyes off me."

Ben jolted awake, springing up in the bed he slept in. He looked over to the window of his rented room and saw the sun's rays pouring through the window. After a moment he realized it was after noon and with a sigh laid back down on the bed.

"What the hell," he murmured.

"…the Queen's Coronation," the woman's voice echoed in his head.

"The Queen's Coronation? That was well over a year ago. I remember it was sunny, and very loud. Everybody was happy that Logan got his royal arse kicked off the throne. They were cheering loudly. Well, except for that one woman. She didn't seem- The Woman!" he realized, and the memory of her looking at him from the back of that crowd came to the front of his mind. "That's right; she had been leaning against the castle wall in the back of the front courtyard. She sure was nice to look at, but why would I have a dream about her? I never got the chance to talk to her," He thought as he stared at the ceiling.

After a few minutes of trying to figure it out, he sighed as he realized it was not something he had an answer to and got up to get dressed for another day of adventuring. He had discarded his captain's uniform after he had left the castle. He now sported a simple pair of trousers, leather boots, and the military jacket the Queen had given to him as a gift. After returning the key to the tavern owner and gathering some provisions, he left Brightwall and began making his way to Mourningwood.

He had been walking for about half an hour when he noticed someone lying in a small clearing next to the lake. Thinking that they might be hurt, he started running over to them, "Good thing I was on my way to Mourningwood!"

"Hey! Are you alright?" he asked as he knelt down next to what he could now tell was a woman. He brushed some of her hair out of her face and stared in amazement. He couldn't believe that lying here in the grass in Mistpeak Valley was the girl he had dreamed about just earlier that day.

-Belle-

She realized she had fallen asleep as she felt what she thought was the wind gently brushing her hair across her face. She stirred and opened her eyes lazily. She was very surprised to find a man kneeling next to her, staring at her as she slept. She shrieked and instinctively swung her fist, punching him on the side of his face. The man howled in pain and she jumped up, drawing her sword and pointing it at him.

"Who the hell are you?" she demanded.

"Ow! What the hell was that for!" the man exclaimed.

"What the hell do you think you pervert! You were staring at me as I slept!" she exclaimed.

"What? Ugh, I did not! I was afraid you were hurt!" he explained.

Belle lowered her sword slightly and looked at him suspiciously, she finally noticed his features. Blond hair, blue eyes, strong jaw and chin; it was the captain she'd seen at the Queen's Coronation. She put her sword away and sighed. She began walking away from him and said with a small wave of her hand, "Well, see ya."

"Wait, what? You punched me!" the captain exclaimed.

"Yeah, so?" she responded as she turned to look at him while placing a hand on her hip.

"Not even an apology?" he asked in disbelief.

"An apology? What about an apology from you! You scared me half to death, and you want an apology?" She countered. She felt her chest tighten as she became angrier. Never before had she intentionally hit someone first, but it was looking like that might change.

"Maybe you shouldn't go napping about in areas that have been known to have mercenaries! I thought you were hurt!" he explained, lightly rubbing his cheek one more time.

"Well, I'm not. But I'll keep in mind to cry like a damsel in distress when I do get hurt so that some idiot like you can come swooping in to save me," she said sarcastically.

"I'd still like an apology," he argued.

"Well, I'm sorry," she sneered, "Happy now?"

Then the man smiled humorously, "No, I think I deserve a kiss. That's usually what 'damsels in distress' give there heroes for saving them."

"A what? You want a kiss! What did you save me from? A peaceful day? Cause if that's the case then I'd rather give you another punch to the face!" she exclaimed.

"That temper is certainly unbecoming of you," the man said with a wag of his finger.

"Who gave you permission to- Hey!" she was interrupted as the man pinned her between his body and a tree and placed a hand over her mouth.

"Sshh…"

Author's Note:

Sorry this is a bit late, I have been having technological issues with just about everything. I also apologize for any typos. I was working on another laptop and was about to save when the laptop restarted. I had to go and re-type everything and now I'm kinda tired. Well, I hope you enjoyed the chapter. Next Chapter Belle ends up stuck with Ben for a while, lol. And of course she's not gonna like it.

Also, I still need a name for the Queen for later Chapters. Another side note, this might eventually become an M-rated FanFiction pending on whether I decided to go with some ideas I have for later chapters or not.

Thanks for reading!