I didn't finish checking for grammar but I'll go back later and fix the errors.

Disclaimer: I don't own Hetalia or the songs to Beauty and The Beast

~One Week Later~

It was late in the morning when Mathias finally woke up. His fever had broken and color was returning to his cheeks. He blinked his weary blue eyes before glancing around his surroundings, "Where on earth…"

"Good morning, big brother," greeted Emil from the side of his bed, "How are you feeling?" He handed him a cup of tea to which his brother gratefully drowned in a single gulp.

Wincing as the hot liquid stung his sore throat, Mathias placed the cup aside and looked around the room again, "I'm fine. Where am I?" He took in the purple walls and frilly white curtains framed the small window overlooking the town and the little wooden figurines on a shelf next to a tiny pile of books. His eyes widened when he finally noticed the painting of Emma and her brother on the wall above the stove heater.

"I'm at Emma and Lar's place," he squeaked as he tried to get out of bed, "Why am I here? Better yet why are you here?"

Emile huffed as he crossed his arms, "Well it's good to see ya too, Mathias."

"Ugh, ya know I didn't mean it like that," said Mathias as he rubbed his throbbing head.

"Your friends came to Gerberoy to get me and Lilly when you got worse. Said that you were sick and that maybe it would be good if family took you in. We were going to take you back to your house but your girlfriend said that we shouldn't move you. In all honesty I think she just wanted to keep you here."

"M-my girlfriend? I don't have a girlfriend…"

"Friend, girlfriend, whatever. Point is that we didn't want to leave you alone." Violet eyes met weary blue, "Now, what is this I hear about Tino missing?"

Memories of what happened a few days ago with the beast and the enchanted castle and his brother. Oh! Mathias kicked off the sheets from his body and ran around the room to gather his things, "Tino is missing!"

"I know, I just said that." Emil stood up to grab his older brother by his shoulders to keep him from dashing about, "What happened? I can't help if I don't know what's going on."

"A beast has our brother, Emi. I was on my way to the fair with my latest invention when Sardine Panic got us off course—"

"Wait, Panic did? He never does that. Why did—"

Mathias waved it off, "That's not important! What is though is the fact that a beast locked me up in an enchanted castle with the cutest footstool and a little teacup that is just plain awesome. Also there was this coat rack who is dating a clock, don't ask me how that works but how protective Alfred is of Arthur is just the sweetest thing, ya know? Anyway, they were being real nice to me but the beast didn't like that so he dragged me away and I ended up in the dungeon. When I woke up Tino was there and the beast said that he'd let me go if Tino agreed to stay with him forever. Forever, Emil! Do you know what that means?"

"Um…forever?"

"Yeah! And a carriage spider thing dropped me off at the edge of the village..." Bringing a finger to his lower lip in thought, Mathias squinted into the distance, "But I don't really remember much after getting thrown out of the tavern."

Emil stared at the taller blonde with worry, "Where is Tino, Mathias?"

"I just told you that a beast has him locked in a tower somewhere. Lord knows what horrible things he's doing to my poor baby brother…"

"Wee!" Tino laughed as he clutched Berwald's mane tighter in his fists. He bounced on his back as the beast ran around in the snow on all fours. Sometime after their talk, Tino had allowed himself to open up to possibility of friendship with Berwald. The fear he felt towards him slowly loosened its hold on his heart. Berwald wasn't so bad after all; especially now that he had taken to dress himself a bit more presentable and actually bathe.

Peter giggled in glee from his spot on Tino's shoulder, "Go faster, papa! Faster!"

The prince did as he was told and dug his claws into the white frozen powder for more traction as his paws pushed off. This had to be the most humiliating yet liberating thing he had ever done. And yet…he couldn't bring himself to care. His son was happy and Tino was happy, which in turn made him happy. He could hear the beast grumble in his head. 'What,' he asked.

'Yer makin' a fool out of yerself,' huffed the beast grumpily, 'which is actually th' same as makin' me look like a fool.'

'Nh…yer havin' fun and ya know it.'

'No, I am not!'

'Our tail is waggin.'

'Shut up!'

"Hn," said Berwald, a small triumphant smirk gracing his snout. He saw his servants waiting for them by the door and he ran in their direction. Arthur and the rest braced themselves but to their surprise, Berwald simply jumped over them, earning a squeal of delight from his riders. The doors opened on their own accord and the prince landed gracefully inside.

Tino hopped off his back and nearly fell from his weak legs but a chair promptly scurried over to catch him. "Thank you, Mr. Chair. A perfect catch as always." The chair hummed and took a step back just as Berwald shook the snow off of himself, sending it flying everywhere including, Francis.

"Ha! Excellent landing, Sire," complemented Arthur as he stepped over his fallen colleague. "Lunch is ready if Master Tino would like to eat."

"Ooh, yes!" Tino got back up and gently plucked Peter from his shoulder, "Can we eat outside? It's such a lovely day."

"Wherever you wish, sir," chirped Alice from her spot on the cart.

"What do you think, Peter?"

Peter smiled sweetly, "Anywhere you want is fine with me, mama."

"Ah…well, outside it is then." Tino blushed and tried not to laugh awkwardly. He still wasn't sure why the teacup insisted on calling him 'mama' but he didn't really have the heart to tell him to stop. That didn't mean that it wasn't embarrassing, especially since he also called Berwald his papa. So if he was his papa and he was his mama what did that mean they were to each other?

Face burning with embarrassment, Tino turned around and stuttered, "A-aren't ya going to eat with us?"

"Nh. I want t' go change my bandages."

"Oh. I can do that. Here let me help ya."

"It's fine. I can d' it my—"

"Now, now, there will be none of that," said the small blonde sternly. He placed Peter on the cart and took their first aid basket from Alfred, "What did I tell you about being stubborn?"

Flushing under his fur, Berwald looked to the ground, "…not t' be."

"That's right. Now give me your arm." Tino took Berwald by the paw and sat him down at the outdoor dining table. He hummed to himself as he tended to the arm, hands careful as to not harm him though he suspected that it didn't hurt Berwald at all seeing as he was just running on it. Still, he tried his best to be gentle. The blue eyed beast had kept his word and had been treating him with the up most respect and kindness.

"There," he said happily, giving Berwald's arm a pat, "All done; now a kiss for a speedy recovery and—oh!" Tino's blush came back with a vengeance when he realized what he was about to do, "I'm sorry! I…and well, I—"

Berwald's own face was aflame but he tried his best to keep from freaking out. Tino was going to kiss him! Well, his arm but still…would that have counted? He heard the beast howl with laughter and he snarled at it to keep quiet. Tugging on his fur, Berwald stood up, "I-it's ok. Why don' we eat, yeah?"

"Um… yeah, sure." Tino scurried over to the other side of the table and tried not to make eye contact with Bernard as the servants began to flutter around them, serving them their food and drink. Berwald waved his food away, still not all that comfortable with eating in front of his guest just yet. He still had some animal like habits that he had yet to break. When Tino was done with his lunch, he excused himself to go walk his Clydesdale for a bit.

The horse was still very wary about being on the castle's grounds but he was slowly, and he means very slowly, getting used to it. The barn was pretty nice he guessed. There were other horses in there so he wasn't lonely. At least he thought they were horses. In actuality they were little wooden toy horses but they neighed and everything. Told him a thing or two about how things were like but he still couldn't wrap his mind around it so he just ate his oats and kept his head down. Tino seemed happy enough and that dreadful creature wasn't…well, dreadful.

Francis and Arthur climbed onto the stone rail Berwald was leaning over and the former said, "You were close, master. So close."

"Nh," whimpered their prince as he hid his face behind his paws, "he's so adorable."

"Oui, he is." The candelabra cast a look over the rail and saw that Tino playing fetch with Hana, "And how are you feeling about him?"

Berwald removed his paws to reveal shy smile, "He's cute…had almost given up on fallin' fer someone lookin'….well lookin' th' way I do."

"Why," asked Arthur. The clock bounced on the balls of wooden feet with hands behind his back, "You were always so adamant that you would fall in love no matter what you or your partner would look like."

"That's true. I guess…I guess I'm just happy with that he's giv'n me another chance." Looking over a Tino he smiled again at the sight of the small Nordic petting Hanatamago. "I want t' do somethin' for 'im. But what?" He looked at his two friends expectantly.

Arthur rubbed his face in thought before Francis spoke up, "There are the usual things. Sweets perhaps? He seems to really like the kind Natasha makes. Flowers? Chocolates? Promises you don't intend to keep."

Alfred overheard what Francis said and smacked him with a rag, "Well it's no wonder that Michelle or Tasha won't give you the time of day anymore. That's no way to treat your lover." Reaching out his knob of a hand to hold Arthur's hand, "You've got to be thoughtful, master. Give 'em something they'll really like."

"Ah! I know," exclaimed Francis suddenly. He tugged his prince back inside, "I know just what he'll like but first we're going to have to clean the place up a bit." The prince gave one last glance at Tino before following after his servants.

After Emil had managed to calm his brother down enough, he thanked Ludwig and his family for taking care of Mathias before tugging him back to the cottage. To his surprise he found the whole Beilschmidt clan, including a peculiar man named Feliciano, on their front step the next day. Elizabeta had taken one look at Lilly and her protruded stomach before squealing in glee and hugging the girl to her chest.

"Why, aren't you the cutest," cooed the Hungarian, "How far along are you?

"Oh, well, I'm almost seven months in," said Lilly softly. She rubbed her belly affectionately and nodded towards Elizabeta's, "And yourself?"

"I'm only four but my husband would probably tell you that it's been an eternity." The two women shared a giggle while Gilbert and his siblings pulled out a map to show Mathias.

"Where exactly did you lose, Tino," asked Ludwig as he looked at all the possible places a bear could make a home at.

Mathias pulled out his own map and showed were he deviated, "Here would be the best place to look I think."

"Then there is where we'll look."

"Should we go get Eduard? We could—"

"Nien!" Everyone turned to look at Ludwig in stunned silence. When he felt Feli's warm hand in his, the young German simmered down and said quietly, "Nein. We don't need his help. The last thing I need is for him to find new ways to harm my Feli..."

Emma sighed dreamily, "That's so cute, cousin!"

"Ludwig is right, dear," said Elizabeta as she started to remove her skirts to reveal pants and boots underneath, "We'll be enough."

"You're not coming with us, Lizzy." Gilbert eyed her stomach and shook his head firmly, completely missing how Roderich was making motions behind his wife for him to stop talking. "Not with you in the condition you're in."

"And what's wrong with my condition? It'll do the baby some good for me to get some exercise. Not to mention knowing you idiots you're going to need my guidance." Narrowing her eyes he poked her brother in law in the chest, "Especially you."

Gilbert ignored the amused chortles around him and gasped, "Me? What did I—"

"You know what you did! Roderich is scared of spiders!"

"Uh, yeah…That's why it's funny to chase him around with one."

Pulling out her pan, Elizabeta pointed it to Gilbert who backed up into Matthew, "I'm going and that's that." She looked over the map and drew invisible lines with her finger, "Ok, so this is where Mathias last saw his brother. We'll spread out in a line formation to assure that we don't go around in circles. I'd say we distance ourselves in pairs with fifty meters of distance between the pairs. Lilly, dear, you're going to stay here and hold down the fort. My friend Kiku will be stopping by to keep you company."

Lilly fiddled with her handkerchief worriedly, "Please be safe out there."

Her husband kissed her on the cheek, "We'll be fine. Knowing Tino he's probably just gotten himself lost somewhere. Big brother's resourceful and if he is lost, I'm sure the faeries are watching over him." Emil motioned for his puffin to fly over to his forearm, "Mr. Puffin, you stay here and watch over her, ok? If something happens come find us at once." The bird chirped in response and settled on Lilly's shoulder as they watched the search group pick up their things and head out.

Tino was sitting in the dining room writing a letter to his brother. He was hoping that perhaps Berwald would allow him to send it to him so that he wouldn't worry or make a fool out of himself trying to convince people what had happened. Dipping the quill pen into the tiny well of blue ink, Tino taped the feather lightly against his lip, "What more should I say? Oh! I've having fun here, strangely enough. Berwald is such a kind ma—er cre—uh…he's kind. He lets me explore the castle…though he didn't really like it when I went into his room. He yelled at me but it's ok 'cause I yelled back. We're on good terms now though. The food here is really good. They're always feeding me so I'm never hungry. Also, the servants are nice. One of them has even taken to calling me 'Mama'. That's a little weird what with me being a man and all." He laughed to himself as he dipped the quill again, "But I suppose I should feel flattered that Peter thinks that highly of me. I miss you brother and I hope all is well. Maybe I could convince Berwald to let you come visit me…but we'll see. Your brother, Tino."

The Nordic sat the pen aside and gently blew on the letter to dry the ink. He heard a quiet cough behind him and he jumped. Berwald was standing on two legs instead of his usual four and he seemed a bit nervous. Tino turned around in his chair and smiled, "Yes, Berwald?"

"I…I—uh...hn," stuttered Berwald as he twisted his tail around his legs. He stared at the small blonde until he heard the Beast hiss at him to get on with it. "I'd like t' show ya somethin'."

"Oh? What is it?"

"It's a surpr'se." The prince reached out his paw to Tino who took it shyly. Together they walked hand in paw towards the east wing where Berwald and his servants had spent nearly the entire day cleaning. They stopped outside a pair of heavy wooden doors. "Tino, I need ya t' close yer eyes." The blonde rose an eyebrow and cocked his head to the side making Berwald smile internally at how cute his little guest was, "It's a surpr'se remember?"

Tino nodded and did as he was told, trusting that Berwald wouldn't let him bump into anything. He felt a warm paw at the small of his back as he was gently nudged forward. His shoes made little clicks on the floor and he realized that he must've been inside the room. When he no longer felt the pressure on his back he grinned, "Can I open them now?"

"Nh. Not yet." Berwald rushed to open the heavy drapes.

"Now," asked Tino with grin as he felt light caress his face. Though he couldn't see what Berwald was doing, he could tell he was excited about whatever it was he was going to show him. Tino couldn't help but think it was kind of cute. He blushed at the thought.

"Almost…ok, now."

Tino's eyes widened in as he took in the sight; the blue and gold walls were covered with shelves upon shelves with books. There was a couch sitting in front of a large fireplace that was perfect to curl up with a few books. He tried his best to contain his excitement, "Holy Martin Luther! I've never seen so many books in all my life!"

Berwald gave a pleased hum, "So ya like it?"

"Like it? I love it!"

"Then it's yers."

"Wah? Really?" Tino couldn't help himself; he pounced on Berwald and wrapped his arms around his neck in gratitude, "Thank you so much!" He nuzzled his face into the soft mane and smiled, "Thank you."

The servants watched was Berwald slowly brought his paws around Tino to return the hug. Alice giggled, "Oh, would you look at that?!"

"Oui," said Francis happily, "Is that amazing?"

Alfred squeezed Arthur around his belly in glee, "It so totally was, dude! See, I told ya it would work."

"Don't squeeze me to hard, git," hissed the clock as he flailed his legs.

"Woops, sorry, babe."

Peter pursed his lips, "I don't understand. What's going on? I didn't see anything special." He frowned as the older ones waddled off to do their chores. The teacup turned to his sister and pouted, "Why can't I go in with Papa and mama?"

The teapot smiled, "Come along, Pete, we have chores to be done in the kitchen." She skipped her way after her brother and friends while Peter hopped behind her asking question after question in hopes that she would answer.

Tino finally released his hold on Berwald and bashfully held his arms behind his back, "Um…may I ask for a favor?"

"Anythin'," said Berwald immediately.

"I wrote a letter to my brother and I was wondering…if I could send it. I just want him to know that I'm ok and to not worry." He lowered his eyes, "But I'll understand if—"

"Nh! If ya want t' ya can. I'll get th' carriage to take it. Tonight, though, so that people don't see." He blushed when Tino hugged him again, his heart beating erratically behind his furry chest.

'Yer turnin' into a big 'ol softie,' murmured the Beast. 'Maybe ya will do after all.' Berwald ignored the Beast and allowed himself to indulge in the warmth of Tino's arms around him.

The search party returned in a gloom. They hadn't found Tino but they had managed to find Mathias' invention. The men had hauled it back to the cottage where Mathias offered to make them dinner. He wisely decided to keep his mouth shut about the beast. It was clear that the others didn't believe him…and from the looks of it neither did Emil. He waited for them to leave before turning to his brother, "I'm going to go looking again."

"What," asked the young Nordic, "But we just got here."

"We can't leave Tino alone. Don't you care about your big brother?"

"Of course I do, Mat, but we…are you sure that's what happened? You were really sick when the others came to get me."

Mathias frowned, "What are ya saying?"

"I'm saying that maybe you dreamed the whole thing. What if Tino just went out on his own?"

"He wouldn't do that, Emil. He'd never leave without telling me and I'm not making it up. I know what I saw!"

Lilly whimpered sadly but before she could ask them to stop arguing she heard a knock at the door. Waddling over she opened it but no one was there save for an envelope addressed to Mathias. She picked it up and handed it over to her brother in law. Tearing it open Mathias read and re-read it before furrowing his brown, "What the hell?"

Emil read over his shoulder, "That's Tino's handwriting. See? He's fine. Sounds like someone found him and is giving him hospitality."

"The hell he is! That beast probably forced him to write this so that I would stop looking for him! Joke's on him. I'm big brother and I'll be damned if I'm going to let him keep our Tino in that horrible dungeon!" Emil cried out in frustration and stomped up to Tino's room and slammed the door.

"Mathias, maybe you should take some time away from here," said Lilly gently, "You could come back home with us and clear your head." She rubbed his shoulders in comfort, "We're all worried about Tino but you need to think about how this is affecting everyone."

"Lilly…"

"Please, big brother? Emil won't say it but I know he's frightened. He's already lost a brother. Please don't make him lose you too."

The lanky blonde sighed, his belly twisting up with worry, anger and frustration but he nodded, "Alright but I'm not going anywhere. What if Tino escapes and comes home to find me gone?"

"Then we'll stay here with you."

~A few days later~

It was late in the evening when Tino picked out a few books to read. He found a few children's books to read to Peter whose insistence in calling him 'mama' was beginning to warm his heart to the point where he too was beginning to see him as a son. By the time he finished the last book, the teacup was snoring softly in his lap. Berwald walked into the library to pick him up carefully.

"So…papa, huh?" Tino stroked the spine of the children's book before placing it back into a basket he used pile the ones he was reading to Peter. "Does…does that mean there was a mama?"

Berwald shook his head, "He's not really my son. Arthur and Alice came t' work fer…they came here when h' was only a baby. I fell in love and adopted 'im. He's been m' son ever since." He turned to leave when he felt a tug on his cloak.

"Um, I was wondering. Could you…would you eat breakfast with me tomorrow?"

"…Ya want t' eat with m'?"

"I—yes, I would like that very much actually."

"Hn." Nodded and retreated for the night, his belly warm. The next morning Arthur woke him up and led him to the dining room where Tino was already waiting for him. Alice and the other dishes were serving them their porridge. At the sight of food, Berwald immediately dove face first into the bowl, lapping up the sweet oats with his dog like tongue. Tino gasped in horror, pulling him away from his brief relapse of animal mind.

Berwald stopped eating and flushed red upon noticing that Tino was staring at him. He was about to wipe his face with his sleeve when Alice gave him a stern look. Peter nudged a small silver spoon, "Here use this, papa." Grinning when the prince picked it up, the cup added, "I know you can do it."

It was rather embarrassing to fail at what once had been literally second nature. The whole ordeal was making him feel like he was a toddler just learning how to use utensils all over again. Thought he supposed that that was the consequence of having to share his mind with the father of all beasts. Furrowing his brow in concentration, Berwald scooped up a spoonful of porridge and tried to guide it to his mouth but failed miserably. Well, at least he got a giggle from his son.

Tino saw the dejected look on Berwald's face. Perhaps this was why he never ate with him. Biting his lip in thought, the Nordic suddenly had an idea. Setting his spoon aside he lifted his bowl and laughed, "Who said we need spoons to eat? This is more fun, yeah?" He made a little motion as if to say cheers and tilted it to his lips. The prince actually smiled before mimicking Tino's actions.

As soon as they were done, Tino insisted that they go out to the gardens again. Berwald took a bag a bird feed in hopes to attract the colorful birds that tended to stay in the aviary during the winter. However before they stepped a toe outside, Feliks waddled downstairs in a huff, "Like, where the heck do you two you're going dressed like that?" The wardrobe opened his drawers and pulled out two heavy cloaks for them to wear, "I don't want you guys to, like, get sick or anything."

"Oh, thank you, Feliks," chirped Tino as he tied the red velvet cloak around himself. He pulled the hood over his head for added measure, "Ha! I kinda look like Santa don't I, Berwald?"

Berwald secured his own dark blue cloak before nodding, "Ya look cute."

"C-cute?" The Nordic blushed at the compliment but before he could question Berwald's words, he was tugged outside. Tino watched as Berwald scattered the bird seeds in front of him. As soon as the first grain fell, a small flock of house sparrows of various colors landed to gobble it up. They looked up at the beast as if to figure out if he was a threat. To his surprise they flew right into Berwald's paws to eat from them instead.

Tino stole a glance at Berwald's face. He still couldn't figure out what kind of animal he was exactly for his face looked like the offspring of a wolf and a lion. He certainly had the long snout like a wolf but he also had ears and a main like a lion. Not to mention, his eyes…oh, his eyes. They were the most beautiful shade of blue he'd ever seen. What was more intriguing was that they held so much humanity in them especially when he was looking at Peter or his servants or Hanatamago or, until recently, him.

Licking his lips, Tino couldn't help but blush, 'There's something sweet and almost kind but he was mean and he was coarse and unrefined.' Tino thought about his first night at the castle and how savagely Berwald had acted and shook his head. Berwald had done a complete turnaround and often did things that he couldn't help but find adorable. Like the way that he'd hide his face when he was embarrassed or how his tail would flicker when he was curious about something.

And now as he watched Berwald carefully handle the birds, Tino couldn't help but feel drawn to him. Berwald's ears flickered in the way that signified that he was content if not a bit nervous with handling such fragile creatures. He was doing just fine if Tino did say so himself, 'But now he's dear, and so unsure; I wonder why I didn't see it there before.'

"May I try," asked Tino as he reached out his hands like a cup so that Berwald could share his bird feed. Leaning forward to the birds, Tino thrusted his hands forward making the birds fly back, "Aww." He knelt forward and tried again, puffing his cheeks sadly when they flew away all together.

"Ya have t' be gentle," murmured Berwald. He sat down in the snow and patted his leg to wipe the feed off of his paw. Tino took it as an invitation and plopped himself right on it and blinked up at Berwald innocently.

"Gentle huh…kind of like you and you're being with me. Guess that makes since." Tino reached into Berwald's bag of birdfeed and tried again by sprinkling a bit in front of them. A lone blue bird flew down and nipped at the ground before looking up at Tino. Glancing between the feed on the ground and the feed in the blonde's hand, the sparrow hopped into Tino's hand, rousing a pleased squeal from the Nordic. He looked up at Berwald to see his reaction before slowly getting out his lap to walk around to the tree.

Berwald felt his heart all but try to jump out of his chest, 'He glanced this way, I thought I saw...And when we touched he didn't shudder at my paw.' Shaking his head, he stood back up, 'No it can't be, I'll just ignore but then he's never looked at me that way before.'

Once it's hunger sated, the bird gave Tino a grateful chirp before flying away. The blonde beamed at Berwald who was covered in birds. He covered his mouth to keep from giggling and startling the birds away, "You're so cute Berwald!" Tino gasped in horror of what he just said and hid behind the tree. What was he thinking saying something like that out loud?!

Well, Berwald didn't seem to have a problem telling him that, why should he? He peaked around the tree and squeaked when saw that Berwald was staring at him with affection. Hiding behind the tree again, he leaned against the bark, 'New and a bit alarming. Who'd have ever thought that this could be?' He slipped the hood back and thought, 'True that he's no Prince Charming but there's something in him that I simply didn't see.'

He scooped up a bunch of snow and balled it up before flinging at Berwald when all the birds flew away. The prince blinked, not entirely sure what happened. At the Beast's cackles, Berwald smirked, "Well two can play at th't game." Gathering the snow around him into a much bigger ball he raised it over his head to throw it at Tino but his little friend threw another at him making him accidently drop the snowball on himself.

"Well, who'd have thought," said Francis as he watched his prince and Tino chase each other playfully.

Alice hummed in excitement, "Well, bless my soul!"

"Well, who'd have known," asked Arthur. He smiled proudly at the sight of Berwald acting so carefree with Tino. Perhaps his prince truly was in love.

"Well, who indeed?"

Francis laughed when Tino managed to tackle Berwald on the ground, "And who'd have guessed they'd come together on their own? It's so peculiar; we'll wait and see a few days more. There may be something there that wasn't there before."

The servants trotted towards the library where Tino was leading Berwald eagerly, "Come on, read with me!" He let Berwald take off his cloak as he settled down on the ground by the fireplace with a sea foam green book, "This is one of my favorites. It's The Little Merman. Have you ever read it?" Berwald shook his head no making Tino gape, "Oh, ya don't know what you're missing. Here come on, you can read this one and I'll just finish this other one here."

He opened the book to the first page where a beautiful illustration of a blonde haired merman was sitting on a rock looking up to the stars. Tino handed it to Berwald, "Here you go."

"Nh…that's alright."

"No, really, you read it."

Berwald tugged at his horn nervously, "Oh, No, you..."

Tino frowned, "No, you!"

"I can't!"

Guilt ate away at Tino as he pulled the book back towards his lap, "Ya mean you never learned?"

"I learned but…it's jus' been so long ago."

"Oh…well, it just so happens that this is the perfect book to read out loud. I don't mind reading it again. Come here, sit by me." He patted the ground next to him and smiled, the warmth spreading to his violet eyes as he leaned against Berwald and raised the book so that they could both see as he started them off.

The servants could see their master's tail wag slowly making them smile even further. Arthur stretched his arms up so that Alfred could pick him up, "Perhaps there's something there that wasn't there before." In his glee, the clock pressed a kiss to his boyfriend's cheek before tapping his wooden shoulder so that the coat rack could walk them to the kitchen.

Peter frowned, "What?"

"There may be something there that wasn't there before," said Alice.

"What's there, Sissy?"

"Ssh. I'll tell you when you're older. Come along now. Let's give them some privacy."

"Alice?"

"Yes, Peter?"

"Will I ever get to be a boy again?"

"I hope so."

"When?"

"Soon, love. If it's to be. It will be very soon now. Now come along, little brother." She led the others back to the kitchen. A while later, he crept back into the library where Tino was almost finished reading the book.

Berwald cut him off, "His brother 's goin' t' give him legs."

A breathy laugh escaped Tino, "Wait and see."

"I never knew books could d' that," mused Berwald thoughtfully as he leaned back on the couch and stared at the glass ceiling.

"Do what?"

"Take me away from this place, make me forget fer a little while…"

"Forget?"

Berwald nodded, "Who I...What I am. Before, I used ta—um…"

"What?" Tino scooted closer so that he was almost sitting in between Berwald's legs. They both blushed but neither made any indication of moving.

"I used t' work with wood; carving 'n carpentry. Never really had th' time fer readin' I suppose. Especially since…" Berwald closed his eyes tightly and shook his head, "Became too much of an animal I guess and th' only ones that kept m' from completely losing myself was Peter and my servants. And even then I'd..."

Tino played with the hem of his powder blue vest, "We have something in common, ya know." At Berwald's head tilt, the blonde smiled wryly, "In the town where I come from, the people think I'm odd."

"You?"

"Mhmm. So, I know how it feels to be...different." Cautiously, Tino reached out and held Berwald's paw, "And I know how lonely that can be. Sometimes family isn't enough. Like, I have my brother and all and I know he tries hard to make sure I'm happy but sometimes I just wanted a real friend to talk to. Someone who won't laugh at me, you know?"

"I do."

"They say mean things about my brother, too. I guess the only one of us that came out normal was my little brother Emil but then again he believes in faeries too. The only difference is that he doesn't go around town talking about them, ha!"

"Faereis are real," said Berwald flatly, his tail swishing at the memory of the dark fairy that cursed him and his castle. "Some are nice…other's aren't'"

"I guess the same can be said about people, huh?"

"I s'pose so."

"But you are. Nice I mean. I thought ya weren't at first but you've been kind to me and you're very good with Peter."

"He's m' son."

"Why weren't ya nice to Mathias?"

Berwald wrinkled his nose at the mention of that loud blonde, "He…are ya askin' why I locked 'im up?"

"Yes."

"I didn' mean t'. I was going t' give 'im a room but th' idiot ran into th' dungeons and locked himself up. I was in th' forge making a key for his cell when ya found 'im."

Tino blinked and looked at the fire before falling into a fit of laughter, "That is something my brother would do." He stopped suddenly and stood on his knees in front of Berwald, "But if ya were just going to let him out why did ya ask me to stay?"

Worry made Berwald's fur stand and ears flatten against his head, "Please…don't be upset. I thought ya were cute and…I was—"

"Lonely?"

"Hn." Berwald his face behind his paws, "I-if ya want, ya can leave."

"What?"

"Ya can leave. Yer not m' prisoner. Never was if I was honest with ya."

Falling back to his romp Tino leaned against the couch, "I…I don't—I would—the only reason I would want to leave is to make sure my brother was ok. I'm worried since the last I saw him he was sick."

"If I could show you that h' was fine, would ya stay?"

"Could you?"

Berwald stood up without answering and rushed on all fours to his room to get the mirror Lukas enchanted for him. He nearly stepped on Peter on his way back but he managed to pick him up and place him upon his shoulder before he could. Tino smiled upon seeing the teacup and plucked him from Berwald's shoulders as the beast settled back down.

The prince handed over the mirror, "All ya have t' do is tell it what ya want t' see."

Their hands brushed as Tino took the mirror. He looked at the reflective surface and said, "I'd like to see my brother, please." The mirror glowed a soft blue as the reflection showed him Mathias playing with his stew while Emil and Lilly talked with the Beilschmidt family. Emma said something to the blonde that made him crack a small smile. "I guess my letter made him see that I'm doing fine here, huh?"

"Are you ok?"

"Yes. Now that I see that Mathias is doing fine, I've never felt better!"

Berwald took the mirror and set it aside, "D' ya mean that?"

"Of course! Besides, I've always wanted to go on an adventure and this castle is amazing along with everyone in it."

"So will ya stay with us?"

"Not as your prisoner, no, but I wouldn't mind staying here as your guest."

"Yay," cried Peter happily. "Did ya hear that, papa? Mama said he'll stay with us from now on! Isn't that the most amazing news ever?" The teacup hopped from Tino's lap to Berwald's shoulder and nuzzled his father's fur until Berwald fell forward. It was for the best, his face was glowing from the happiness Tino just granted him. It would be embarrassing if Tino saw.

But Tino didn't need to Berwald's face to tell that he was happy. With the way his tail was wagging as if it had a mind of its own was enough. He couldn't help but giggle, "You're like a puppy…no, wait. I know!" The blonde ran his hand along Berwald's back until he reached his head, "You're a teddy bear!"

Inside Berwald's mind, the beast was absolutely cackling at Berwald's humiliation. To make matters worse, Tino found a spot behind Berwald's ears that he hadn't known he had. Purrs started to rumble from his throat, startling both Peter and Tino.

"Berwald…are ya purring?"

"Nh!"

"That's so cute! Why you're not scary at all!" Berwald was about to retort but he felt a sudden weight on his back. It took a few moments to realize that it was Tino laying on him as he also nuzzled into his mane, "Can I call you Teddy Bear from now on?"

"Uh…"

"Maybe Teddy for short?" Hanatomago snuck into the library and hopped onto Berwald as well so that she could curl into a ball on Tino's chest. The small Nordic yawned sleepily, "I'd like it very much if I could call ya that."

Berwald sighed, "Only if I can I call ya wife" There. He was sure Tino would say no to tha—

"Ok."

"Really?"

"I don't see why not. I might as well be yer wife what with Peter calling us his mama and papa." Tino gasped when he realized what he just said. He added carefully, "I-if ya really want to that is."

"An'thing fer m' wife."

Tino didn't freak out this time and instead smiled at the hint of teasing laced in Berwald's voice, "Do ya want me to finish the story?"

"If ya want."

Carefully opening it without disturbing the puppy on his chest, Tino continued where he left off, "The sensation was warm like tender caresses on his tail. He tore his gaze away to look down at what was going on with his fin when he realized that it was his brother's doing. The young prince sent Robert a grateful smile and the sea king returned it. This transformation was so much kinder than when he had first undergone it with the sea warlock. Sliding, down to the water he watched as his tail split into two, the need to go back up for air wasn't there so he assumed that his brother had allowed him to keep his merman lungs."

Berwald snorted quietly, "Told ya."

Shaking his head fondly, Tino continued to read to his teacup of a son and Teddy Bear of a…wait. If he was now Berwald's wife did that mean Berwald was his husband?! He listened to the soft purrs emitted from Berwald and the near silent snores from both Hanatamago and Peter. The panic didn't come to him this time and Tino smiled again. He could've sworn he read somewhere that it was good to marry your best friend. Maybe they could find himself a fairy and ask it to turn Berwald into a human.

Outside the carriage watched the light from the library slowly die out. It settled itself in its usual spot, a circle of flowers growing around it as it fell asleep.

Hi guys, I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter, I had fun writing it (^▽^) Um...I don't think I have much to say other than Berwald's speech is slowly getting better because his humanity is returning to him and the Beast is giving him more and more control. Uh...oh! Don't worry, Mathias hasn't given up on his brother, he'll go out again soon. Ah, also, sorry for posting a new story while I still have this one and the other one in the oven. I was having a stressful week and needed to write something short and sweet to get some stress out. I really hate myself for taking on too many classes in a single month what was I thinking! But here's to trying my hardest...remember that scene when Feli and David went to go visit Arthur at Alfred's castle and Feli just climbed over the rocks and into the pool all graceful like while David just rolled over and fell in unceremoniously? Well...I'm David lol. I'm just rolling over and these weeks and falling on my tush on the weekend just trying to get through it. BUT! I'm almost there ha! ლ(╹◡╹ლ) Alright, that's enough whining from me.

I was thinking of posting little ficlets here and there about a Small town AU set in the 20's or 30's but the catch is that they are "Kemonomimi" which are characters that possess animal like features. The characters will be predominately human and any real animal characteristics are minimal. Generally kemonomimi characters have ears and a tail which is animal-like. My sister drew me a one where Chibi-Germany is a wolf and Chibi-Italy is a lamb and I was like (ﾉ◕ヮ◕)ﾉIt would be rated K (T, tops) Let me know if that's something you're interested in.

Next chapter we'll have my personal favorite song in the whole movie! And we'll also see what Eduard and his little brother have been up to during these past few weeks.

Until Next Time~

VivaAmerica: Thanks, I'm trying my best (◡‿◡✿) Also, Thank you! Yup yup; I hope you liked the chapter. It was bit different from the movie...Lol! I thought that too( about Frozen) but I was watching it and those three came to mind. It's not a very popular pairing but so far nobody's seemed to complain of my use of them...Thank you for your input though! I really appreciate your opinion and you're continued patronage to my stories (-‿‿-)

RavenclawDanosau: Aw! Thank you *cyber hug* I love hugs (づ｡◕‿‿◕｡)づ

tieranyrennwatts: It was one of my favorites too! *hugs back* (~￣▽￣)~ I've been giving hugs to my readers but this last chapter is the first time I've ever actually gotten hugs, so that makes me happy. It also makes happy when my readers are happy so I'm going to try my best to give this story and it's characters the justice they deserve. I hope you enjoyed this chapter =3

HeroinOfDarkness: I know right?! I guess some of that USUK feels are still left over from the last story lol

pastaadict: Yeah? I thought it would be nice to show him fight to get control seeing as in the movie it just happened with out much insight to how the prince was thinking about being a beast other than the obvious disgruntlement. I just hope that the Beast doesn't come off as a bad guy cause he really isn't. Just a grumpy being who is stuck inside the mind of Berwald lol. It wasn't his fault that a fairy forced him to share a body with Berwald after all(✿◠‿◠) Also, thank you for your review on The County Nurse it wasn't meant to be a multichapter but I'll go ahead and add one more =3 I'm also working on Love Has No Recipe...that one is a real big one...can't wait to finish it up so you can read it. Thank you so much for reading my stories and giving me feedback! I can't thank you enough, to be honest but here's a hug (づ｡◕‿‿◕｡)づ

aycee-san: Thank you! I'm glad that you like it. It was fun trying to figure out how to add some internal struggle to Berwald's character. This chapter had some cute bonding between them, huh? I hope you liked it (◕‿◕✿)

zoewinter1: Yup yup! Thank you for the review and I hope you enjoyed this chapter as well (*・ω・)ﾉ