In the library, Belle was reading a book. One of her old fairy tale books to be exact:

"I'm awfully sorry. I didn't mean to frighten you," said the man. He was quite handsome, and Briar Rose wondered vaguely who he was and where he had come from. But then again, it wasn't exactly her place to find out.

"Oh it wasn't that," she said as she tried to saunter out of his grasp. "It's just that you're a, a ...,"

"A stranger?" he laughed, "But don't you remember? We've met before!"

"We have?" Rose stopped her struggle and blinked in confusion.

"Of course," the man said with a smile, "You said so yourself: Once upon a dream!"

Belle sighed as she read the familiar passage. She remembered how it had always been her favourite part of Sleeping Beauty, back when she had lived in that poor provincial village with her Papa. Back then, she had been a different person, a person who believed in magic and fairytales, and living her own adventures.

And now? Since she had just experienced her own fairy tale, Belle felt her perception of her stories had changed a bit. She flipped to the end of the book.

And they lived happily ever after.

That was it. Belle closed the book with a loud thud. Somehow she wished that the author could be more specific. After all, "happily ever after" could mean so many different things, to so many different people. Was she living her "happily ever after" with Adam now? Even she couldn't say. She supposed they had reached some sort of conclusion: the spell had been broken, the household objects restored, the Beast had turned back into a prince…but past that, was this really what her happily after was supposed to be like? Being shut away in a castle, not being able to see Adam, and not knowing what was going on half of the time?

"When I come to your room tomorrow at noon I'll tell you everything."

As hopeful as that sounded, it also seemed to frustrate Belle. All she had done for two weeks was wait, and the less she saw of Adam, the more worried she became. She would like to talk to him, only he was never around to talk to. And this is what bothered her most. Would Adam always be working hard like this? Would they ever be able to spend time together like they used to?

Belle's trail of thought was lost as Mrs. Potts came into the library pushing her tea trolley.

"Everything alright dear?" Mrs. Potts asked as she offered her a cup of tea. "You've been awfully quiet today."

"Oh, I'm fine…," Belle said to her idly, "I'm just thinking."

"You know you can tell me anything, dear," Mrs. Potts continued, "I'm an open book."

Belle sighed. She had already talked with her father that morning, but she supposed she could trust Mrs. Potts. After all, she had served Adam for years. Maybe she could help."It's just," she hesitated for words, "I'm worried about Adam."

And then the real gush came. Belle told Mrs. Potts everything; how she felt she was drifting from Adam despite wanting to be there for him, how she felt in some ways he was changing faster than she could keep up, and how she felt frustrated that she had to sit behind closed doors in all of this and simply hope that at some point Adam would come to her and tell her everything would be alright.

"I don't mean to be selfish, I know he has a kingdom to rebuild," she finished, "It's just, lately I've been feeling so shut out. I wish I could talk to him. Help him, if I could."

Mrs. Potts looked at Belle sadly. In some ways, she could almost predict that the girl would be like this. After all, she had had no one, except her father to talk to for two weeks. Cogsworth had made it near impossible for her to see Adam, which seemed unfair; the two of them deserved time with one another after all they had been through, not time apart. If only Belle knew that the master was going to propose to her soon, she was sure her attitude would be quite different.

"You know the master is trying very hard for you dear," Mrs. Potts said sympathetically, "He cares about you a great deal."

"I know." Belle said as she lowered her head into her hands, "I just wish he'd realize that I care about him too."

Mrs. Potts sighed. "There now love," she said as she put her hand on Belle's shoulder, "I know things seem unclear to you right now, but the master does have a plan. He doesn't intend to keep you in the dark forever."

"Then why is he, Mrs. Potts?" asked Belle, and her voice almost sounded desperate, "Why can't he just tell me what's going on? Maybe I could help him."

Mrs. Potts smiled sadly. "You and the master are both the same dear," she told her, "You both worry about each other a great deal."

This last remark really struck Belle, "He's been worrying about me?" she repeated her brown eyes wide with disbelief.

Mrs. Potts realized the effect of her words almost a second too late.

"I need to talk to him."

After talking to Belle in the cellar, Adam's next stop was to find Cogsworth and Lumiere to tell them the news. They were both surprised and delighted at the prince's decision, even more when he told them how he planned to take Belle for a walk and propose to her out in the castle gardens.

"A splendid idea your grace!" Lumiere had said, "Be sure to show her les rosiers while you're there, no? We shall of course alert the gardener to make sure the garden looks perfect for tomorrow!"

"I will alert him now!" said Cogsworth as he made a dash for the stairs. Adam watched him as he went, feeling slightly embarrassed.

"I'm sure that the gardens already look fine," he muttered.

"Oh master, what's a little bit more work for the prince and his lady?" Lumiere said, as he put his arm around Adam, "Like I've said, life is so unnerving for a servant who's not serving. Besides, we all just want to make sure that you and Belle have the best for tomorrow."

Adam smiled at his maitre d'. He hadn't realized until then how grateful he was to have Lumiere as his servant. Even before the enchantment, Adam had not been an easy prince to serve, and the fact that Lumiere continued to look out for him, after all the things he had done in the past, suddenly meant a great deal to the prince.

"Lumiere," he said, "Thank you. For everything."

The trouble was that Belle couldn't find Adam. None of the servants knew where he was, and her search through the castle turned out to be vain: he wasn't in West Wing, the library, the dining room or any of the other rooms in castle Belle thought he might have been in. She was just about to give up searching, and hope that she would maybe run into him later, when she passed by a door to a room which she had never been in before.

Since she hadn't had much success elsewhere, she thought she would give it a try.

"Adam?" she called tentatively.

There was no response. Curiously, she stepped inside.

The room appeared to be some sort of bureau. Maybe Cogsworth's. Or Lumiere's. Near the back was a desk overflowing with all kinds of parchment. Intrigued, she moved forward to take a closer look. They appeared to be letters, documents, proclamations even, some dating back to before Belle was even born. She supposed maybe they were reviewing them. It had been a long time since Adam had been a prince after all. Picking up a document that had been dated some twenty years ago, Belle read in a fancy script:

Be it resolved that Adam Eugène Michel César Emmanuel Évrard, the prince of the province of Touraine and the son of his highness Vincent Damien Abel Winoc Raphaël Évrard and his wife, Catherine Alphonsine Dominique Jacquette Coline Évrard, will be wed to Évelyne Lilianne Sibylle Jocelyne Axelle Hugues, the current princess of Brittany by his twenty-first birthday. Should this act not pass and the prince not be married by his twenty-first birthday, he will risk forfeiting his place as heir to the throne of Touraine and must hand it over to the second highest authority within the province.

Signed,

(A list of official names followed).

Belle felt confused. Did this mean that Adam was getting married? To this Évelyne, this princess from Brittany? Is this what he had wanted to talk to her about?

She collapsed abruptly in the armchair in front of her. If Adam was getting married, then what would happen to her? Would he ask her to leave, to return to Molyneaux with her father? Was this the secret he was keeping from her?

"But wait a second," Belle thought, and she looked at the parchment again as though to confirm, "Adam loves me. He wouldn't just drop me to marry a woman he doesn't even know, would he?"

"He might have changed," a voice inside of her suggested, "He's a prince now, remember? He has to live up to his commitments, and maybe he sees you as a distraction."

"But that's not true!" another voice insisted, "He wouldn't just abandon you, not after all you've been through together."

"Belle?"

Belle jumped up from the chair at the calling of her name. The speaker was a person she didn't want to see right now. Adam. He was standing in the doorway with Cogsworth and Lumiere. He didn't look angry, but he didn't look like he really wanted her to be there either.

"What are you doing here?" he asked her, "And why were you touching those?"

"I...," Belle stuttered. She couldn't even look at him. She didn't know what to say, whether to explain herself, whether to demand an answer out of him, or whether to fall down and cry over what she had just found out. "I..." she dropped the parchment and ran out of the room.

"Belle!"

Adam looked back at her, bewildered. The only time he had seen her that upset had been well…that night when he had first made her prisoner. Had something happened? He looked to Cogsworth and Lumiere to see if they had an answer, but they both looked as startled as he did.

"You must talk to her, master," said Lumiere.

Adam nodded. Then he took off in the corridor, after her.

"Belle!" Adam shouted, "Belle!"

He didn't understand why she was running. Or why she had been sitting in the bureau, reading those documents in the first place. All he knew was that something was definitely wrong, and he was determined to get to the bottom of it.

As Belle moved down the corridor, she was struck with the guilt that what she was doing was foolish. She should be facing Adam, not running away from him. Running was for cowards. Like the villains in her stories. And Belle was brave, wasn't she? She was supposed to confront her problems, not hide from them. But here she was, running. Like a coward.

Eventually, Adam cornered Belle by a staircase landing and pulled her to a halt. He spun her around and turned her to face him.

"Belle, what happened?" he demanded, "Are you all right?"

She couldn't even look at him. She didn't know why, but for the first time ever, she wanted to be alone, to think, to not be in his presence. But Adam wouldn't let her go. Gently, he took her hands and brought her into his arms. "Please, tell me what's wrong," he said softly, "This isn't like you. Belle? BELLE!" He shook her by the shoulders. She shuddered, and then her voice came out small and hysterical.

"You want me to leave, don't you?" she asked.

"What?" It took a moment for the prince to process this. "Belle, what are you talking about?"

"I read that form back there. You're getting married to a princess."

Adam stood on the stairs, perplexed. Since when did he have to marry a princess? Then he remembered – the proclamation! Of course! He couldn't help but laugh; no wonder Belle was so upset. "Belle, you misunderstand," he told her as he put a comforting hand on her shoulder. "That's an old proclamation. Things have changed since my parents wrote it; that princess is married to someone else now. I'm definitely not marrying her."

He smiled, but Belle continued to look at him, conflicted. So maybe she had overreacted a bit, maybe that proclamation was outdated. But still, there were some that didn't make sense. "It said you had to be married by your twenty-first birthday," she told him, "Or is that an old law too?"

Adam's smile began to slacken. "Uh…well, that is…we're still working on it," he said nervously.

Belle raised an eyebrow in suspicion. "So then, you do have to marry someone," she gathered.

"Belle, I…look what were you doing reading the stuff in that room anyway?"

At this, Belle moved a strand of hair away from her face. "I was looking for you," she explained hesitantly, "I wanted to talk."

She turned away from him before she continued. It was a bit funny, she had had no problems confiding her feelings to Mrs. Potts when she was back in the library, but now that she was alone with Adam, she didn't even know where to start. "I don't like how we don't spend time with each other anymore," she said after a brief pause, "I feel like since the enchantment's lifted, we've been distant with one another. Like you've been keeping secrets from me."

Adam looked surprised, "I'm not keeping secrets from you!" he insisted. Except maybe one.

"Then why do you want me to stay at the castle?" she inquired, "I really have no reason. I'm not a servant, and what will the other people in your kingdom say when they realize that you've been keeping a village girl in your castle for the past six months?"

"Belle no one is going to say anything – "

"Then why do you want me to stay? Tell me Adam!" She was shouting now, her voice echoing across the corridor. Adam stared at her in amazement. He had been so busy with his own worries on being a prince; he hadn't even stopped to think about what Belle was thinking. And now, he didn't even know how to comfort her without telling her the truth; that he wanted to marry her.

A heavy pause transcended between the two. Adam began to fidget with his hands. "I can't," he sighed.

The look of disappointment on Belle's face was enough to break his heart. "So I guess you'd think that I'd be perfectly okay sitting around, waiting for you to come to me, is that it?" she said, her voice thick with anger, "Like you'd just keep me here like some sort of a prisoner?"

"Tais toi!" Looking at Adam, Belle could see that his eyes were now flashing with rage. For some reason it felt satisfying, knowing her frustrations were going into him. Maybe now they would finally understand one another.

"You think you're the prisoner here? Put yourself in my shoes for a moment," he said, "I've spent ten years trapped inside this putain château, waiting for someone to break my curse. And now that it's been broken, I have to spend all my time inside, catching up on ten years of work; learning how to talk, how to act, how to be someone I'm not, for a kingdom that I barely even know! You think I enjoy spending time away from you, Belle? I hate it! I want to be with you more than anything, but because I'm a prince I have to do this. I have to!"

"But it's making you unhappy." Belle looked at him sadly, "Please, let me help you. Don't shut me out like this."

"You can't help me in this kind of situation!"

"And why not?"

Adam felt his head beginning to throb. If he kept this up he was going to get another one of his headaches, and he wasn't particularly fond of those. "Because," he said, trying to be honest without being too explicit, "I have to marry someone."

Belle felt as though she had fallen through the earth and back without really moving at all. She immediately regretted making Adam confess; it sounded ten times worse coming from him, and suddenly the conversation they were having became meaningless; she found she couldn't be there any longer.

"Wait Belle!" Adam shouted, "Let me finish; you need to understand – !"

"Understand what?" Belle scoffed, "I think you've made it perfectly clear, your majesty. I don't want to interfere with your duties, in fact, I'll tell Papa that we're leaving tomorrow, so you can invite your princess over, get married and act like none of this ever happened. That is what you want, isn't it?"

"BELLE!" Adam yelled. But she was already gone, leaving the prince standing dumbfounded at the top of the stairs. He didn't understand. Everything had been perfect until now, what had happened?

"Sometimes I think that the spell changed things a bit too much."

Maybe she's right, he thought. As he sat down on the stairs and reflected on the past couple weeks, he realized that he had even more problems to deal with now, than he did in those ten years he had spent as the Beast. How could he be a supporting husband for Belle when he had a throne to reclaim and a province to rebuild? To make Belle stay through all this would be selfish. She would be a prisoner again, he realized. Not that she wasn't one already: So I guess you'd think that I'd be perfectly okay sitting around, waiting for you to come to me, is that it? Like you'd just keep me here like some sort of a prisoner?

"Master?" Lumiere said, having found the prince sitting alone on the stairs, "Is everything all right?"

Adam turned around to face his two servants. "Call off the proposal," he told them quickly, "Call off everything."

"What?" Cogsworth exclaimed, "But master we just – "

"That's an order, Cogsworth!" said Adam, "And tell no one to disturb me for the rest of the day."

He got off from the stairs and stormed down the corridor, leaving the two servants completely flabbergasted.

Belle moved unseeingly through the castle corridors, trying to fight back the dam of tears welling up in her eyes. "I should have known. I should have known," she thought to herself. Of course she and the prince weren't meant to last. Pour l'amour de Dieu, their whole relationship was based on an enchantment! Un enchantement! What did she expect? That after the spell broke they would somehow get by and live Happily Ever After?

Yes, she realized, that was exactly what she thought. But of course she was wrong: Adam was going to marry a princess, become the prince he was meant to be, and her and her father would return to Molyneaux, to carry on with their lives as though their life at the castle had never taken place.

"This is what I get for falling in love with fairy tales," she thought bitterly, "Well, I certainly don't need him!"

Huffing angrily, she stormed into her room – well her temporary room now, and sat down on her bed. It was here, staring at the four walls around her, that she felt her anger began to dissipate. She couldn't leave this place, she realized. It was her home now, more of a home than any of the villages she had lived in with her father, even before her mother had died.

"Mama." Just thinking of her now was enough to bring tears to her eyes, "I wish you were here, I don't know what to do. I can fight him, I can throw a million insults at him, but in the end I can't deny it; I love him. I can't just leave him. Aide-moi, s'il te plait."

But help didn't come. There were no words of wisdom, no big epiphany for Belle. Rien. Not she expected anything to happen. She knew, just as she had known ten years ago when she realized her mother was not going to get better, that she was on her own. There was no one to guide her, no one to give her what she needed. All she could hear was Gaston's voice, as though he were coming back from the dead to taunt her: "Belle, it's about time you got your head out of those books and paid attention to more important things."

But I can't. Belle thought miserably.

She felt the tears well out, and she couldn't stop them.

As soon as Adam entered the West Wing, he slammed the door, knocked down a table and kicked a chair towards the window so hard that the pane almost cracked. "Merde!" he shouted to himself angrily, "It's not fair! Am I not supposed to get anything?"

Going over to his bed, he threw off the blankets, the pillows, and then ripped the curtains off from their rails. After five minutes of tearing apart his room, including knocking over his bedside table and throwing the box containing Belle's engagement ring across the floor, he finally came around.

"Mon Dieu, what have I done?" Just a moment ago, he had been angry beyond belief, and now he was ashamed, ashamed of the fact that he had just let his temper get the best of him and that he had destroyed his room – again. Had the enchantment taught him nothing?

Trying to catch his breath, he sat down on the floor and buried his head in his hands. It was all over. He knew that Belle and Maurice would need some servants to help with their packing, but he couldn't get himself to call for them now. All he wanted to do was escape; much like he had done those years he had spent as the Beast. The proclamation still stood, and he would have to find another girl, most likely a duchess to marry him, but he didn't want to think about that. He didn't even want to think about Belle leaving him and living her own life away from him. That was especially painful to think about.

He sighed heavily. If only he could go back, back to a simpler time when he the only thing he had to worry about was earning Belle's love so he could break the spell and be human again. He would do anything to get those days back now. Even if it meant waiting those ten years in the darkness all over again.

Suddenly, Adam looked up from the floor. He had the strangest feeling that he was being watched. He quickly scanned his room for an intruder, but there was no one. Maybe he was imagining things? But then he heard it. Her voice, sending chills down his spine just as it had that Christmas Eve many years ago.

"So, you're letting her go, are you?"

He almost didn't want to turn around, dreading what he was about to see. But he did anyway.

There, standing on the balcony, just as beautiful and as terrible as the night she had first cast the spell, was the enchantress.