~Ben~

The sun beamed in through the windows and woke Ben up to the sound of birds outside his guest room. He stretched his arms upward as he sat up and yawned. He tossed the blankets aside and swung his feet of the edge of the bed.

As he stood up he remembered the day before and after thinking about it remembered that he had in fact kissed Belle. He thought about it for a moment and realized they hadn't discussed what it had meant. Whether it meant that they were an item now or it had just been a spontaneous kiss that happened in the heat of the moment.

He quickly dressed and set out to meet Belle at her door as to speak with her before breakfast. When he arrived however he found that the doors were already open and a maid cleaned the room inside. "Oh, excuse me? Did Belle already go to breakfast?" he asked as he entered the room and approached the woman.

"Oh, Mr. Finn. I don't think so, I'm pretty sure she left in the middle of the night," the woman answered and Ben stared at her for a moment as if she had grown two heads.

"Left? What do you mean?" He questioned.

"Well, the room was empty when I knocked the door earlier this morning and rumor has it that someone saw her leave in the middle of the night. I didn't think it was true until I came to check on her," The maid explained.

"Who saw her?!" Ben asked quickly, becoming upset at the thought of being left behind. "Why would she do this? I mean, it wasn't because of what happened yesterday is it?"

"A servant who had been up late finishing chores. Although I would think the night guard would know more about that," She answered.

"Thank you miss," Ben said quickly and spun on his heels to find some of the guards from the night shift.

"Gentlemen," Ben greeted as he approached the group of guards he had been playing cards with the night before. "Have you seen Belle Lockwood? The young woman who had joined the Queen and I for dinner last night?" He questioned as he looked between the three of them.

"No sir, we haven't. But I'm pretty sure Leroy was looking for you sir! I think he had something to tell you," The tallest of the three answered.

"Thank you James. Do you know where I could find him?" Ben replied quickly.

"Yes'sir, he went ta the kitchen for some food before gettin' some shut eye," The shortest man answered.

"Thank you. It was fun playing with you last night," Ben said quickly before hurrying in the direction of the kitchen.

"Leroy?" Ben questioned as he approached the only man in uniform sitting at a table.

"Aye, Ben Finn isn't it? I was lookin' for you earlier. About that girl you were with yesterday," He responded quickly as he stood from his chair.

"Yes! Do you know where she is?" Ben inquired quickly.

"Um, no sir. But she wanted me to tell you she was sorry for leaving," He answered.

"So then she really did leave," Ben muttered dejectedly as he crossed his arms over his chest and looked away from the man as he tried to think of any other reason why than the kiss from the day before. A part of him desperately wanted there to be some other reason, but he was drawing blanks for the most part.

"You know sir, I'm sure Thomas from the night watch at the front gate would have seen her leave. He might be able to tell you what direction she went in if she left through the front of the city," the guard before him suggested.

Ben thought it over for a moment and eventually decided that he truly did need to know why she left and what the kiss had meant. "That's an excellent idea. You said the guard's name was Thomas?" Ben questioned as he straightened up some.

"Yes Sir. Thomas bunks in the guard tower next to the front gate," Leroy answered.

"Thank you, I'd best be going then," Ben replied quickly as he turned and started toward his room again for his belongings.

"So, from what I've heard Belle left in the middle of the night," A calm voice sounded from the door way as Ben packed his belongings. He turned and smiled softly at the Queen as she watched him with steady eyes.

"She did," Ben confirmed as his smile turned into a frown.

"Well then, I had one of the cooks prepare some food for you to take with you. You seem rather fond of her so I assume you'll be leaving to go after her," Queen Persephone assumed with a chuckle.

"Yeah, I suppose so. I also have something I need to ask her about, a rather important question," Ben elaborated before turning to the Queen as he picked his bags off the end of the bed, "Thank you for your hospitality my Queen."

"Oh stop that Ben," Persephone laughed, "We are comrades and friends. There is no need for such titles between us in private." She took the pack of food from the cook who had been standing next to her and handed it to Ben. "Now go find your 'friend'," she chuckled with a wink.

Ben's face heated up slightly at the Queen's suggestion and he chuckled as he took the food. "Thank you Percy. I hope it won't be too long before I get the chance to sit and talk with you again," he said with a nod and stepped between the queen and cook before hurrying down the hall.

"Oh Ben!" Persephone shouted after him, making him stop in his tracks and turn toward her.

"Yes?" he called back down the hall toward her.

"I forgot to mention I had a horse saddled for you in front! He's a good steed so please take care of him!" She hollered down the hallway.

"Thank you! I'm in your debt!" Ben exclaimed as he quickly began running back down the hall, intent on finding Belle and the answers to his questions.

Author's Note: I just want to apologize again for leaving this story unfinished for so long. However I intend to see this story eventually finished and I can't promise when the next chapter will be up. But it will definitely not be another two years, one year, or even several months. Thank you for returning to this story with me and enjoying it. ~Marly Mischief