Babette slammed open Cogsworth's bedroom door. Fury was coming off of her in waves. Cogsworth yelped and pulled his blanket over his head. Scowling at the floor, Babette crossed her arms and plopped angrily onto his bed.
"B-Babette?" Cogsworth squeaked, peeking his eyes out from under his blanket shield.
"What?" Babette snapped coldly.
Cogsworth cowered. "I just – I thought – I mean – Um," he stuttered. Crystal tears formed in his eyes, and he hung his head.
Seeing him cry ebbed away at Babette's rage. She gently placed her hand on his cheek, causing him to flinch. "Cogsworth, what's wrong?"
"I'm not used to being scared," he sniffled.
"That's nothing to be ashamed of. We all get scared sometimes" Babette reassured him.
"I don't!" Cogsworth snapped. "Instead of being afraid, I would always be angry. Fear is too similar to concern, something I wasn't emotionally capable of as a Heartless. I haven't felt fear since," he trailed off.
"Cogsworth," Babette said quietly, "can I ask a personal question?"
He sniffed again, "what?"
"Why did you become a Heartless? You don't have to tell me if you don't want to!" she added quickly when she saw him tear up again.
"N-no, it's fine. You deserve to know." Cogsworth sighed.
"I had a rough childhood. I never had any friends, but that really didn't bother me. Then, the bulling started. They found everything under the sun to make fun of me for. They'd tease me for being short, for being chubby, or for being a pixie."
"What's so bad about being a pixie?" Babette wondered.
"When people, especially humans, think of pixies and fairies, they think of dainty little flower girls. That stereotype has led to a lot of teasing aimed at male pixies, calling us pathetic or unmanly.
"Anyway, as I got older, the bullying got worse. They weren't afraid to hurt me physically. They would pull my wings, punch me, kick me. Sorcerer kids would cast random spells to humiliate me. I thought that maybe the torture would stop when we were all older, and the bullies would get sick of it. I was wrong. I was very wrong. Nothing changed. Everyday, I still came home with bruises and sometimes with cuts.
"Eventually, it became too much for me to bear. At age fifteen, I packed a satchel full of provisions and ran from home. I ended up in Lunata Village, a town of fairies and pixies. There I met Skree, a crazy old fairy who was famous for making potions and freaking out everyone. Everyone was afraid of her, so nothing ever happened with her potions. We made a deal, she let me sell her potions and keep the money if I gathered potion ingredients for her. Occasionally, she would even give me her potions for free.
"As I was working for Skree, I started to have ideas. I started to crave vengeance. I bought a silver stake from a skilled blacksmith passing through town, and I started to stockpile the potions Skree gave me. With the money I earned, I hired some others to work with me. Then, I started to hunt down all the old bullies. To be honest, it felt good. It felt amazing.
"Rumors started going around about the deaths. Some people noticed that all of the murders were of people who had tortured a little pixie when they were kids. Stories went around that maybe that little pixie was out for revenge. The story sounded ludicrous, but it was true.
"During one of the attacks, Lumiere found me. My stake was covered in blood, and so was I. Lumiere knew exactly what had happened. He knew I was a heartless mass murderer. So, he made me just as physically heartless as I was figuratively."
"What about your followers?" Babette asked. "And how did you meet Angelique?"
"My followers thought I was dead. Instead of giving me a proper funeral, they dumped me at the foot of a tree in the middle of the woods. When I woke up goodness-knows-how-long later, I was shocked to be alive. However, I was extremely weak. I couldn't move from the tree and just barely managed to keep myself going.
"I woke up one day and found myself inside someone's house. Naturally, I freaked out. That's when I met Angelique. She walked into the room and told me to shut up. After getting me a real meal for the first time since I woke up under that tree, she explained everything. She told me that we were both Heartless, and that she only saved me because she thought I could help her get revenge. As you know, I agreed."
Suddenly, Cogsworth felt Babette's arms wrapped around him. He inhaled sharply and looked at her strangely. "Babette…"
She abruptly let go. "Oh, sorry. I didn't mean to make you uncomfortable. I never knew you went through all that, and I just wanted to give you hug."
"N-no, th-that's okay. I d-don't mind. It's just that I-I've never been hugged before. I-It was kind of nice though." He admitted sheepishly.
Babette smiled and hugged him again. Lumiere was wrong. She could do this. She had the power to save Cogsworth.