Hi, hi, hi there! I'm so sorry for my long, lonely absence. I haven't had true access to a computer in what feels like forever. But rest assured, I've got access now and will continue to have access for a long time! So that means this chapter coming up AND the other chapter I have half-finished! TSB is coming back in FORCE, my loves. Thank you for taking time to read it! It means a ton to me. Hope to see you guys again really soon!

Sweetly,

SQS

"Qui n'avance pas, recule" : Who does not move forward, recedes.

Two weeks passed in the same manner that they had before Belle had attempted to run away. Soon Belle realized that she had been living in the castle for a spot close to two months, and it made her chest feel tight. The cold weather beat down upon her prison harder than ever, and soon she took to sleeping in the library, even taking her meals there. She only ventured out to wash, and the castle's servants all grew terribly concerned for her.

The library was the one place she had asked never to be disturbed, but they couldn't help but check in. The Belle that had come to the castle-the vivacious, constantly curious, stubborn Belle-was fading. She was lethargic and said little. Belle wilted just as the rose did, and the servants knew action had to be taken at once.

Mrs. Potts was the first to act. She cornered the Master (or perhaps cornered was an inappropriate word, as she stood barely six inches tall and he well over six feet) one day just as fresh snow was beginning to fall around the castle's shoulders. He heard her clinking behind to keep up with his pace and slowed, a questioning look on his face. "Master," she puffed, quite out of breath, "I must speak with you. It concerns our guest."

Attention captured, he stood still and faced her. "Does she remain hidden away?" "Have you seen her wandering these halls recently, Master?" Mrs. Potts began carefully. Adam shook his great furry head. "No, not for some time. She's taken to the library, hasn't she?" The teapot nodded. "How do I get her to come out?" Suddenly looking very unnerved, Adam ran one paw through his mane.

"She must be starved for company, Master. Imagine how isolated she feels, with not a flesh and blood creature around but herself." Mrs. Potts cast her eyes to the ground, feeling a genuine pang of sadness for the girl. Letting out a rushed half-sigh, half-growl, Adam fidgeted where he stood. "My birthday draws close, and with it, our doom. You must tell me how to interact with her, I beg you."

Surprised, Mrs. Potts thought for a moment. "Try and speak to her about something she enjoys. If she won't leave the library, then you must go to her, Master." "But the last time I tried, she shouted at me! Twice!" His expression turned brooding. Mrs. Potts struggled not to sigh, exercising the patience that came with raising nine children.

"It will be difficult at first, Master. The girl is terribly lonely and upset. But have faith, and she may warm to you."

Adam felt the same feeling of dread and apprehension rise in him, a feeling that always approached when he considered speaking to the girl. Mrs. Potts was fixing him with a firm glance, one that held no room for him to disagree. Though his nerves strained against it, he knew what he had to do. If he ever wanted to be human again, he had to make the strange, pretty girl fall in love with him.

What an undertaking this would be.

"I will go to her at once," he murmured brusquely, giving his servant a nod before heading opposite of the direction he had been walking in. Too soon the grand doors of the library loomed before him, much taller than even his hulking frame.

How he wished that this didn't have to be so difficult. Why had he waited so long? It's because you're used to getting everything handed to you, and the girl refuses to be a similar prize, a cruel voice in the back of his head stated. Adam knew this to be true; he had never had to struggle for anything, and that was most likely why he wasn't trying with the girl anymore.

That, and he wasn't sure how to treat her after she had tried to escape. He had gone after her, of course, desperate to make her stay so that he at least had a chance to break his spell. Sparing no thought for strategy or clever words, he had taken off, paws thudding heavily against the early season snow.

He was unsure of what he had planned to say if he had simply found her riding away from his castle, facing no peril. In a way, fending off wolves had been easier. Then had come searing pain as the wolves had turned on him, blood dripping down his limb, a strange dream...then the girl asking him to get to his feet, and a long ride back to the castle.

Why had she come back? Why had she lingered by his side, cleaned his wound, held her ground when he bellowed at her?

She was so headstrong. Place that girl next to a dozen bulls, and she would make them all look weak and quivering. But she could also be gentle and sweet; often he could find her bent down, speaking to the teacup children, or holding them high over her head as they shrieked with delight. The servants all seemed to adore her. She was all they talked about.

The girl was so warm and open to them, so why did she despise him so much? Had that brief show of kindness meant nothing?

The doors of the library suddenly seemed like the gates to an impenetrable fortress. Adam forced himself to raise an arm and knock, knuckles rapping thrice against peeling paint. "Begone." Came the girl's voice immediately.

Bristling, Adam ignored her and shouldered the door open, letting himself into the massive room that had become the girl's hideaway. It was no stretch to say that this was one of the grandest rooms in the castle; the girl had picked one exquisite place to stay hidden. "Are you deaf?" The girl closed in on him, eyes narrowed to slits.

What met his eyes was startling. The girl appeared extremely drawn and pale, a quilt held together around her shoulders with one hand. Her eyes were shadowed with deep purplish marks, and she seemed to have lost weight. Most of all, she looked incredibly small and fragile. Adam could have pitied her for it...if she hadn't been regarding him with the utmost disdain. "I said, begone! You have a whole castle to lurk in, and you choose to come pester me?"

Anger crept its way under his flesh, hot and roiling. How dare she be so difficult? He was merely checking in on her and this was how she chose to act?! With a great show of restraint, Adam kept his tone neutral. "I...merely wanted to see how you were. My servants tell me that you haven't left this room in some time." The girl huffed. "And why does this concern you?"

Heavens above. He would never be human again, would he? Not when every time he spoke to her he felt like ripping his fur out or running away. Sighing low and long, Adam put his face in his paw. I will have patience. I will keep my temper. "You are my guest, are you not? I require you to be happy here," he said gruffly.

"'Guest?' Surely you aren't serious." She cast him a look dripping in fury. "I am only here because my father would have died in the depths of your dungeons! You can't for a moment think that I'm happy here. You separated me from the only family I have left." Blinking fiercely, she turned her face away from him.

Realizing that she was near the point of tears, Adam grew all the more uncomfortable. Why were young women so emotional? Why couldn't they all be as wise and as kind as Mrs. Potts? If this girl behaved similarly to other women his age, he had no reason to disprove the theory that their moods came and went with the shut of a door.

This would need a delicate approach if he was to come out of this with a positive response from her. He had never been one for delicacy; if he were to be described as a tool, certainly he would be a hammer and not a pick. Lumiere had drilled into him several times the importance of speaking to a lady in a kind manner. Adam tried to channel that now, praying that he wouldn't somehow drive the girl further away.

"You saved my life a fortnight ago, did you not? I've scarcely seen you since then. I just wanted to see, with my own eyes, if you were well."

The girl said nothing at first, slowly turning toward him again. "You didn't come here to shout at me? Or demand I eat dinner with you again?" She wouldn't look him in the eye, and it struck him for the first time that perhaps she was truly afraid of him. She had always seemed as fierce as a lion, but there was something worn about her now. Perhaps her stubborn, vehement personality was a farce.

Adam knew a lot about false behavior for the sake of self-preservation.

Knowing the correct answer could hold his old life in the balance, he shook his head. His nerves were stronger than ever. They had never spoken to one another like this before-where would it lead? "There is no underlying malice to this visit. You just seemed as if you could use company," he attempted.

Belle felt utterly perplexed. What was this sudden shift in attitude? She rarely heard his voice when it wasn't raised. It was peculiar, but not unpleasant. If they could keep speaking like this, with no yelling or bitter words flung about, then perhaps having him invading her space wouldn't be so arduous.

"You wish to give me...company?" She asked tentatively. He nodded once, looking immensely uncomfortable about it. His body language and his affirmation were as different as land and sea, but at this point, Belle decided to overlook it. Why had he decided to come to her so calmly? She felt her curiosity blazing all over again.

Maybe receiving a blow to the head had altered him for the better.

"Why don't we take leave of the library?" Adam asked, straightening. Belle hadn't noticed that he'd had to bend down slightly to speak to her. He truly was towering. "You've been holed away here for several days now. Let us change the scenery." He turned his back quickly, opening the door and almost passing through it first.

Seeming to freeze in place and remember something, Adam took a step to the side, still holding the door ajar. Belle stood there dumbly for a moment before realizing what he was doing; he was holding the door for her. She blinked, somewhat shocked, before shuffling forward and passing through the entryway. "Er, thank you," she mumbled.

He grunted a response and followed. Feeling a bit nervous with his hulking form right behind her, Belle took a few steps into the hall before facing him again. What an odd duo they made-a small, saddened girl huddled in a quilt next to a huge animal on hind legs, wearing trousers but no shirt.

"Well...where shall we go?" Adam inquired, peering down at his little captive. With the whole castle before them, the two made their choice and set off, both more than a little unsure.

Unbeknownst to either party, it would be the start of a wonderful friendship.