A/N: Thanks for all the feedback, guys. This fic is coming up on a happily ever after ending pretty soon, but the drama isn't over just yet! Oh, and the Beast's identity? Read on to find out...

(For disclaimer, etc. - see prologue)

Chapter 9

Luke and Lane jumped simultaneously when the door flung open to reveal Jess, visibly bruised and burnt. He limped into the house and Luke rushed to his nephew's aid, helping him to a chair.

"I'm okay," said Jess, sounding anything but. "Or I will be," he winced some as he dropped down into the seat.

"What happened?" asked Lane worriedly, fingers reaching out towards the burnt edges of her friend's jacket and the scratches on his face. "Was it the Beast?"

"Yes and no," said Jess with a smile that neither Luke nor Lane expected, giving himself a moment to get his breath after the struggle to get home. "I twisted my ankle coming back from the castle, and most of the scratches are from the thorns in the forest," he explained. "The burns I can blame on the Beast, but, honestly? She's not so bad when you get to know her."

"She?" echoed Lane with wide eyes.

"The Beast is a woman?" asked Luke, feeling overwhelmed by all of this.

Jess leaned back in the chair and closed his eyes a moment. His head hurt, his legs ached, there really wasn't a part of him that felt good, but he had completed his quest. He knew how to save Rory now, and everything was going to be alright. He could afford to take a few moments to tell Luke and Lane about his adventure.

"The Dark Castle is a pretty eerie place," he began to explain, watching both his uncle and friend pull up chairs to sit by him and hear all. "At first, I was just talking to this voice, with no idea where it was coming from, and then after I proved myself, she revealed herself. She knows all about curses, because she's under one. This so-called Beast, she... well, she has her reasons for hiding. For things she did wrong, she was punished, cursed to stay in the dark of the castle. Daylight would kill her in a second, so she lives alone in a windowless room in the centre of the castle. Kinda sad actually. She's not so scary. She looks like a woman, she is a woman. In fact she used to be a lady of the court years ago. Her name's Paris."

"That's pretty," said Lane. "But she must've done something awful to be cursed that way."

"You think so?" asked Jess, his eyes drifting to Rory's slumbering form on his own bed.

Immediately, Lane knew she had said the wrong thing. Jess knew she just hadn't thought it through before she spoke, and he didn't mind. It made sense to think that those plagued by evil curses probably deserved their fate, but that wasn't always true.

Levering himself up from the chair, Jess stumbled towards the bed, dropping awkwardly to his knees by Rory. He reached to gently take her hand in both of his and stared up at her beautiful face, angelic in slumber still.

"I know how to fix this," he said, perhaps pointlessly to her or maybe deliberately because he knew Luke and Lane were listening anyway. "I had the right idea, I just got the wrong person. All curses can be broken. It just takes an act of True Love."

"I hate to bring this up," said Luke, raising his hand as he approached and got in Jess' line of sight. "But you already tried True Love's Kiss. It didn't work."

"Like I said, wrong person."

"But Prince Logan is long gone," said Lane worriedly.

Jess shook his head. "Not him either. Not all love is romantic," he added, looking up pointedly at Luke.

It took all of two seconds for his uncle to realise what he meant.

"Lorelai," he said, a statement not a question because he was so sure he was right.

"It's the only way to save her," Jess confirmed anyway. "Rory needs her mother, now more than ever. She needs to know she loves her."

Luke was staring at the opposite wall though seemingly not seeing anything. His hand went to his forehead as he thought for a moment and then suddenly swung into action.

"I can handle this," he said, rushing to grab his jacket. "Leave this to me!"

"No!" Jess yelled, trying desperately to get up off his knees and finding it awkward at first until Lane assisted. "Uncle Luke, no. If we go, we go together. Please!" he urged him when it seemed Luke might argue the point.

"I can stay with the princess," Lane quickly offered.

Luke knew there was no argument he could make. If someone was here to watch over Rory, there was no reason for Jess not to come with him to see Lorelai, except for his obvious injuries. Still, when Luke looked down into his nephew's face he knew there would be nothing he could say to change his mind. Jess wanted, no, he needed to fight for his true love. Luke understood that feeling, and he wouldn't try to stop him, not for a second.

Nobody had ever known such a storm as this and Lorelai was sure they never would again. Her end would come in this turmoil, she was sure. Seeing her daughter sleeping too deeply, she hardly knew what had happened at first. The moment she heard the word 'curse' being used, then she understood. The rage and pain boiled up inside her, and yet it was not the fiery tumult it seemed when it bubbled in her chest. From her hands flew the usual frosty torrent. By now the walls, floor and ceiling were thick with ice, the door sealed fast by the same. Around about the castle, thunder cracked and lightening lanced the sky. Lorelai's torment could not end for as long as her daughter was suffering and her rage brought on the fiercest blizzard the land of Connecticut had ever known.

Through this, two men battled. Lorelai had no idea of their coming. She knew nothing but her own pain and agony. For all that she had tried to do to keep Rory safe from herself, she had been unable to protect her from Old Woman Lott. Clearly the witch had discovered the younger princess and cursed her in some new and inventive way. Rory was in slumber and could not be woken, it seemed. Lorelai's pain was absolute and unending, or so she believed.

Outside the walls that hid her, the princess was oblivious of the people trying to reach her. Luke led the way he knew so well, though the path was that much harder with the storm trying to batter him back at every turn. Jess followed behind, suffering already after his quest to the Dark Castle, but determined to make it all the same. Luke had to help him several times already, and the ice storm was only growing worse with every step.

"She must know what happened to Rory!" yelled Luke over the howling wind. "This is her anger and pain!"

"Remind me never to get cursed!" said Jess as loud as he could.

It was definitely a bad time for a joke, but right now there was little else he could think to say. Even getting to the castle was proving to be a battle. If Lorelai was as stubborn as Jess supposed her to be, they were going to have a fight on their hands convincing her to come to Rory's aid. It probably wasn't even safe to bring her to town in this state. They would have to calm her down first. Jess had all the faith in the world when it came to his uncle, but this was a big ask for anybody.

It was both a blessing and a curse when they finally reached the door of the castle. Forcing their way inside did not come easy and even once they reached what ought to be shelter, the ice remained and the wind blew on.

"This is insane!" Jess yelled, wincing against the onslaught of magic-born weather.

"There's a part of all this that isn't?" questioned Luke, pushing on towards the stairs. "Come on, this way!"

They fought their way up the steps to Lorelai's own door. Beyond it, even over the swirling sounds of the storm, they could hear her crying. It broke Luke's heart to know she was suffering so much, but he could only help if she let him inside.

"Lorelai!" he yelled, beating hard on the door. "Lorelai, it's Luke! Please, let me in!"

"Luke?" she called, sounding so very broken. "It's too late!"

"It's not!" he insisted. "Lorelai, we can help you, and Rory. Please, it's not too late!"

Jess stood by the door, his back braced against the wall. He never felt so tired or so cold. His head was pounding, his ankle throbbing. If he could give in now, he would, but that wasn't an option. Rory needed him. Luke needed him. Nothing was over yet, and could only end well if he kept on going.

The wind dropped noticeably and suddenly. The ice and snow that had been blowing before his eyes too long began to fade to nothing. Jess watched the scene around him become more calm and then looked to his uncle, as if to check he wasn't imagining it.

Luke nodded his head and smiled slightly. Lorelai was calming down, even if only just a little. It bothered him that the door still wouldn't open, but he was pleased to know he was helping at least a little bit.

"Lorelai?" he tried again.

"The door won't open," she told him sadly. "I can't."

"Move out of the way," said Luke definitely, gesturing to Jess to come help him.

Digging deep for any inner strength he could find, Jess stepped up alongside his uncle. On an unspoken count of three they both charged at the door shoulders-first. It gave way with an almighty crush, the two men tumbling inside the room.

Lorelai gasped at the sight, pleased to see Luke but clearly concerned by the sight of Jess who crumpled to the floor at her feet, coughing and spluttering. Luke immediately went to his aid, checking he was okay.

"I'm fine," he lied, pulling himself up into the nearby chair. "I'll be fine," he promised. "We're here for Rory, she's the most important person," he said definitely, though his eyes soon became distracted by the ice-caked room in which he sat.

The shiver might have been brought on by the cold or by the finger of fear that ran down his spine. This was even more eerie than the Dark Castle in some ways. All this cold and ice caused by the woman stood by him, who looked so much like an older version of Rory, like she ought to be so sweet and kind. She was dangerous, no doubt, though Luke insisted she didn't mean to be.

"Lorelai, we came to take you to Stars Hollow," said Luke, reaching for her hand without thinking. "Rory needs you. You're the only one who can save her."

"No," she replied, shaking her head as she snatched her fingers from his grasp. "You know I can't. Look what I've done already! Think about what I did before, to you. I can't help her."

"You can!" said Jess too loudly. "You're the only one that can. An act of True Love can save her. You're her mother, nobody can love her more than you do!"

Lorelai met his eyes and knew he spoke the truth. She opened her mouth to protest, though no words came. He was probably right, but fear made her want to argue. Staying here, she couldn't hurt anyone, that had always been the plan. Now it seemed keeping away from Rory was going to cause her worse harm. Her eyes drifted to the magic mirror on the table. Through it she had seen Rory have so many happy times, and lately she had seen her suffer. They couldn't go on like this, they just couldn't.

"I don't know if I can," she said, turning to look with fear evident in her eyes. "I want to, Luke. I love her so much, all I want is for her to be happy, but for sixteen years I've done nothing but fail her. Even before she was born... I failed her from the start!"

"You didn't fail her!" he insisted, grabbing her by the shoulders, propriety be damned. "You've both suffered so much, but we can change that. Me and Jess, we don't have much, but anything we can do for you and for Rory, we'll do it. You're not alone in this, if you come with us now, you'll never have to be alone again."

Lorelai could hardly stand the way he spoke to her, the way he met her eyes and held her gaze. He meant every word and she didn't doubt it for a second. She could love a man like Luke Danes, Lorelai knew that much, though it did her little good to realise it. If what he said was true, if he would stand by her, if he and his nephew could care this much about her and Rory both, maybe there was hope. It was something Lorelai had hardly allowed herself to have these past sixteen years and more.

"You're not afraid?" she checked.

"Of you? Never!" Luke insisted, shaking his head. "So, what do you say? Will you come with us?"

Lorelai looked from him to Jess and back again. They were serious, more than serious. There was only one answer she could give.

"Yes," she agreed at last. "Take me to my baby girl, Luke. Please."

To Be Continued...