Chapter 11

Second-to-last chapter of this story! Enjoy! (Sorry for being so late! Holidays, you know?)

Disclaimer: I don't own Phineas and Ferb or Beauty and the Beast.

Isabella couldn't tell you how long they danced. It seemed like the song never ended—it just continued on and on.

And she loved it.

…and she didn't really know why…

Ferb spun her one more time and, upon coming back, one of her legs spasmed and she ended up tripping into his arms. Ferb caught her without wavering and chuckled. "I think your feet are done with dancing."

Isabella felt her cheeks warm in embarrassment. "Yeah, maybe a little bit," she said, steadying herself.

Ferb took a step back, giving her some room. "It is getting late," he said with disappointment. He shook his head and forced a smile. "Shall I walk you back to your room?"

Isabella grinned and took his offered arm. "I have a better idea."

They sat out on the terrace of the observatory next to the telescope. A while back, Isabella had pulled an old wooden bench out so that she had something to sit on when she wasn't looking through the telescope. They didn't say anything. They just sat in a comfortable silence, enjoying each other presence.

Isabella clutched the blanket closer around her and involuntarily smiled. Ferb had brought it for her when she suggested some star-gazing. Apparently he didn't need one, since he hadn't brought two blankets (and this one was only big enough for her even if she had thought to share…which she had, but she denied it anyway), which made sense. He was, after all, covered in fur as well as wearing a formal suit while her own dress didn't have much in the way of sleeves.

He actually looked good in the suit, she decided. She had only ever seen him wearing old and torn pants. The dark suit was obviously taken out a little bit to fit him, but not very much. Maybe it was made by the maids for tonight like her dress? She wasn't sure and she didn't ask.

She felt his gaze on her and turned to look at him. He didn't shy away. Instead his lips twitched as if trying not to smile. She began to feel self-conscious—did she have something on her face? "Why are you looking at me like that?" she asked softly, trying not to disturb how quiet it had been between them.

Ferb lost the battle and smiled gently. He reached out and plucked some of the pins out of her hair, letting it fall down her back. "I like your hair down better," he said, answering her unasked question.

His eyes locked with hers for a moment, then he turned away to look back at the stars. Isabella did the same, but she couldn't stop the smile—or the blush—that for sure spread out on her face. What is wrong with me? she wondered. She didn't know what was happening between her and Ferb—her feelings seemed to be all over the place. She felt kind of a mix of what she felt for her family, for Gretchen (friendship), and Phineas. But there was also more.

I wish my mom were here. She'd help me make sense of all this. At that thought, she started thinking about her mother. Was she still in the village? Had she gone to one of the cities and sold some of her wares? Did she think about Isabella often?

She was pulled from her thoughts when Ferb nudged her arm. "Look," he said. She looked up just in time to see a shooting star flit across the sky. "Make a wish."

Isabella sighed. "I wish I could see my mom again," she whispered.

Ferb stared at her, feeling his heart falling into a seemingly never ending hole. It ached to see her so low. Ferb looked back at the sky, the shooting star now gone, and thought about what he should do. He didn't want her to leave him, but he wanted her to be happy more. He got an idea.

"Come with me," he said, standing up and offering her his paw.

Isabella tilted her head, but accepted it. They left the Observatory, walking through the halls and up some stairs to a room Isabella had never seen. Ferb felt himself flush at the state of his quarters, but shook it off. He brought her to an intricate desk where a mirror sat. Isabella seemed to be drawn to the beautiful mirror, but was startled when a face appeared in it that wasn't in the room, studying her.

Ferb gestured to the mirror. "This is Vanessa. She became a part of her magic mirror. She can show you whatever you want to see. Vanessa, this is Isabella."

Isabella looked back and forth between the beast and the human face in the mirror. Vanessa, noticing how unsure she was, spoke up. "What do you wish to see, Lady?"

"Um…" Isabella started. "I would like to see my mother…please?"

Vanessa's face swirled. Almost instantly, a scene formed and Isabella gasped.

Vivian was in a small room with bars instead of a door. They could hear the clink of someone approaching and Vivian ran to the bars. "Please!" she yelled in a hoarse voice, as if she had been yelling for a long time. "I need to save my daughter."

"Get back, Woman," a male voice spat. Something hit the door—a foot?—and Vivian sprang back. She curled up in a corner where there was a small mat and began to cry.

"Mom!" Isabella yelled as the scene faded. "No. No! Mom!"

Ferb watched Isabella from a ways away, having given her some privacy. His heart had stopped falling. It had landed on spikes—it hurt so much watching her cry. He stepped forward and rested a paw on her shoulder. "She needs your help," he whispered. He saw Vanessa turn to him in shock, but he didn't care. He only cared about Isabella.

Isabella looked up at him with tears in her eyes. "Wh-what?"

"You should go to her. She needs you."

"Bu—but…"

Ferb used a finger and wipes some tears off her cheek. "You should go," he repeated. "But, before you do, here." He grabbed a small hand-sized mirror off the desk and handed it to her. Vanessa's face vanished from the large mirror and appeared in the small one, still gaping at Ferb. "So you can always look back."

Isabella held the mirror to her, tears still streaming down her face. "Thank you," she whispered.

Before she could turn away, Ferb put his hand to her cheek, looking into her eyes. "Don't forget me?" he asked.

Isabella placed her own hand over his. "Never," she said, then she turned to leave.

As soon as the door was closed, Vanessa appeared back in the large mirror. Before she could say anything, Ferb said, "Stay with her."

"What?"

"When the spell ends, you will be trapped in whatever mirror you are in. With her, you will not be lonely," Ferb explained, still looking at the closed door.

Vanessa's eyes widened. "But—"

He lowered his head as if defeated. "Your prince has decided," he ordered.

The woman in the mirror opened her mouth a couple of times, trying to find something to say that would change his mind about all of this—about letting Isabella leave, about ordering her to go with the girl—but she couldn't. In the end, she just bowed. "Yes, Your Majesty." And with that, she was gone.

Ferb could see Isabella riding off on her horse Jack. At the gate, she looked back at the castle, almost directly at him, but he knew they were too far away to see him in the window. With his animalistic sight, however, he could see her clearly. After a moment of looking at the castle, she sighed sadly and walked Jack through the gate and disappearing into the woods not long after.

There was a knock at his door, but he didn't make a sound. It creaked open after a while of waiting. It was Buford and Baljeet. "Sire?" Baljeet started. "What happened?"

"Isabella came and got her horse, but didn't say anything," Buford continued, trailing off waiting for the prince to say something.

With a sigh, Ferb explained. "I let her go."

Both masters hopped back in shock. "What?" Buford said while Baljeet asked, "Why?"

Ferb looked at them, then returned to staring at the gate. "Because I love her."

Vanessa wanted to kill Isabella—well not kill, but cause serious pain to her for leaving Ferb. And after she hurt Isabella, she was going to do the same to Ferb for letting the woman go, the idiot! They were both idiots! On their way to the village, Vanessa thought about who was the biggest blind idiot: Isabella, who couldn't see what was right in front of her; or Ferb, who was too stubborn to take what he knew to be true.

When they got to the village, however, she knew the biggest idiot award belonged to Isabella. The stupid girl and caused a scene at the Mayor's office, demanding her mother be set free. When she was told why her mother was "getting the necessary help for her delusions of a beast in an enchanted castle", instead of being smart and coming up with a plan, Isabella used HER! She had Vanessa show Ferb to everyone in the crowd!

All she could think of now was thank goodness she was an enchanted mirror, or she would be with that rotten 'Mayor Roger' who was on his way to "keep the peace by destroying the beast".

Yeah, way to go Isabella.

Now they were in the cell next to Isabella's mother. The duo were grasping at each other through the small gaps that the bars allowed, sobbing to each other about how sorry they were. All the while, Vanessa was stuck in this mirror—too far away to travel to the mirrors back at the castle in order to warn anyone of the upcoming attack by the villagers.

What an awful night.

It was a little short, but I'm hoping to get the last chapter done this week also, as a sort of gift for my readers. :)

Review please!