Leon was lost in his thoughts as he led Sabine on her stroll in the huge garden, that seemed to stretch endlessly as he took each step down the cobbled path and it looked so bright and cheerful in the sun even if the castle hadn't been.
He was vaguely aware of Sophie squealing gleefully as she called for him to go faster and Sabine whinnying to him, but they sounded far away and he could barely hear them as he kept thinking of Rose, like she had found her way into his mind and he couldn't get her out of it.
After all they had been through, he knew that they couldn't avoid each other anymore and that he needed to make the effort to spend time with Rose to get to know her better and find out what her hobbies were, her likes and dislikes and if she liked reading just as much as he did.
Sophie couldn't have all his attention, no matter how much she wanted it; Rose was just as important as she was.
Sabine, who was anxious to get back to the stables and Phillippe, saw the confused and dazed look in Leon's eyes and gently nudged him to get his attention which brought him out of his reverie.
'Oh, sorry girl,' he said, nuzzling her, 'I was lost in a daydream that I didn't hear you whinnying. Do you want to go back?'
The horse whinnied, for as much as she loved trotting around in a lovely, wide garden and not having to dash everywhere in a great hurry like she had done yesterday, she wanted to get back to her love, a nice warm stable and crisp juicy carrots that were waiting for her.
'Okay, girl, we'll take you back to Phillippe and your stall so you can have all the carrots you want,' said Leon, chuckling as he turned the horse around and led her towards the stables, to Sophie's disappointment as she peeked out from the bag.
She was seeing that they were turning back and she had wanted to show Leon the rest of the garden and where she used to play with Rose and Chip so that she could do so with Leon.
'Aw, can't I ride her a little longer?' she said, pouting, hoping to persuade Leon.
'We were having so much fun and I wanted to show you where me, Rose and Chip used to go and play games which I want to do with you now!'
'Sorry Sophie but Sabine is getting restless and wants to go back to her stall where she can have her carrots and nuzzle up to Phillippe,' Leon said, winking at her but the paint bottle only frowned, ' She's missing him but you can ride her again tomorrow if you like.'
'Oh okay,' said Sophie, 'Mama and Papa will need me in the studio anyway to organise the paint bottles and brushes and that's really boring!
But I really enjoyed riding Sabine, Leon, even though I couldn't sit on her back and pat her. Thank you so much.'
'Anytime, Sophie,' said Leon, smiling at the paint bottle that looked at him like he had just handed the whole world to her on a silver platter and that he was the most wonderful person she had seen.
Just then, a red footstool with gold tassels raced up to him, panting and wagging a tassel on its behind excitedly like a dog, making barking and yipping sounds.
'That's Sultan,' Sophie said to Leon, 'and he's the castle dog,'
'He's very funny and friendly and likes licking people, digging in the gardens and chasing Lila.'
'Hello there, Sultan,' Leon said, patting and scratching him affectionately as the footstool yipped happily and jumped into his arms, nuzzling and 'licking' him with his front tassel.
'Easy there, boy,' said Leon, 'you don't want to get these nice clothes dirty!' as Sultan put his paws on his shoulders.
'He's just saying hello and 'I really like you!' said Sophie, giggling, 'and he sure does!'
Sabine, however, wasn't too happy at seeing this strange creature stealing her master's attention and affection from her and snorted loudly.
'Oh, Sabine, there's no need to be jealous, you know that I'll always pay attention to you, no matter what, the..' he faltered, '..footstool dog just wanted to be friendly and introduce himself, that's all.'
The horse snorted, fed up with Leon's dithering and nudged him again, just as Sultan had spied the dark blue cushion he had seen in the den last night wanting Rose's attention and growled at it, leaping out of Leon's arms, as the cushion arched its back and hissed loudly.
'And the cushion is Lila who is Rose's cat,' said Sophie.
'She's friendly too as long as you don't rub her the wrong way, sit on her, put her near Cogsworth since she makes him sneeze or make Sultan chase her, she doesn't like that,'
She had remembered Rose telling everyone that whenever she went away with her parents and was leaving instructions for taking care of Lila.
And many servants had learnt the hard way to be careful where they were sitting, as they hadn't seen Lila snoozing on the chair they were about to sit on and didn't realise until they heard her screech and had their behinds scratched and trousers and skirts clawed by her.
Leon laughed and remembered Mrs Potts addressing the latter as such and Cogsworth sneezing as she went past him.
She hissed again at Sultan as he barked at her, causing her to screech and crawl as fast as she could, with the footstool on her tail as he chased the hapless cushion around the gardens, yipping at her.
To the amusement of both Leon and Sophie, the two silly pets ran around yipping and yowling loud enough to wake the entire castle, getting their paws dirty and making a trail of muddy paw prints on the floor inside to the dismay of the mop that was cleaning it.
Being an melodramatic servant who made a huge, useless deal out of the tiniest things, he let his frustrations be known by wailing,
'I JUST CLEANED THIS FLOOR! WHO LET THOSE BLASTED PETS IN SO THAT THEY COULD TRAIL THEIR MUDDY PAWS ALL OVER IT?'
'Oh, calm down you silly fool!' said a small wooden bucket who was used to dealing with his carrying on and rants,
'It's not like you can't do it again and you were doing a pretty terrible job as well, so don't overreact!'
'DON'T TELL ME NOT TO OVERREACT!' the mop shouted, 'It'll take TWO HOURS! Two whole hours!
That blasted Sultan chasing that silly, lazy fluffball Lila and dirtying up a perfectly CLEAN FLOOR! All that work for nothing!'
'You need to learn to calm down and stop making a huge deal out of everything,' the bucket said calmly.
'Oh, shut up and bring me the water!' the mop snapped, clearly unhappy about having to do his job all over again.
Finally, after another impatient nudge and disgruntled snort from Sabine, Leon turned away from watching the quarrelsome mop and bucket and walked over to the stables and put the horse in her stall, smiling as she and Phillippe happily chomped on a carrot together while being brushed down by the stable men.
Watching Leon from up high on a balcony with Lumiere, Mrs Potts, Babette, Rebecca and Amelie, who was busy painting, Rose stroked her bandages absent-mindedly, unable to take her eyes off the boy, as she reflected on the best and worst night of her life.
Her heart fluttered at seeing the handsome, kind, gentle and patient boy wearing her father's long-forgotten clothes that he had never worn and had left to gather dust and moths in the very back of his wardrobe and how well he wore them, like they were made for him.
How he managed to get them, she wasn't going to ask but she had a feeling that Katrine might have given them to him and she wouldn't have put it past her if she did.
She had first thought of him as nothing more than an irritating, rude, know-it-all who was just as stubborn as she was and had easily won over and befriended her servants when all she made them do was cower in fear of being on the receiving end of her ferocious temper.
He had invaded her private space which she had said was forbidden and caused him to leave by yelling and growling at him and throwing him to the wolves (literally).
And yet, if it hadn't been for him selflessly bringing her back to the castle when she had been injured by that rouge wolf instead of leaving her to perish in the cold as he could've done, she wouldn't be here covered in bandages; she would still be in the forest and nothing more than tucker for the wolves.
And he had tended to her wound, not even flinching when she had roared in his face as he put that hot towel on her raw, exposed flesh and acting like a big baby through it all, arguing and even blaming it on him when she had been clearly at fault, as he pointed out.
Yet, despite all she had done to him, he had shown her kindness, gentleness and patience as his beautiful deep brown eyes looked at her with the pity she did not deserve, as she confessed to him about her sad, lonely life; that she didn't need to add to her already fragile self-esteem.
She didn't want him to stay because he felt sorry for her, she wanted his company and to be the friend he never had and vice versa, although keeping him prisoner and separating him from his mother hadn't the best way to do it.
Rose had never felt this way about anyone before and Leon was giving her new feelings that were a bit alarming, that she had long forgotten when the curse took all but a little humanity away from her.
It was like he had found the chink in her cold, iron heart and had softened it and seeing his handsome, gentle face and kind heart made her feel fuzzy and light-headed like she was an adolescent girl experiencing her first crush, which she basically was beneath her beastly body.
Maybe what I'm feeling about him is how Papa felt about Mama, she thought to herself, as she had remembered Lumiere telling her that her parents, like Leon and herself, didn't get along well when they first met, as Papa had done the same things that Rose had done.
But when Papa saved Mama from wolves, like she had done to Leon, she had learned to see beyond his hideous appearance and saw the kind, gentle Papa Rose knew and loved dearly, their love had blossomed, never once ceasing or fading.
She had often seen them look at each other lovingly, share sweet, deep kisses and how Papa looked at Mama like she was the most precious thing in the world to him.
It was too early to tell for her but last night had definitely been a turning point and she was certain that any hostility she had towards Leon was slowly but surely dissolving and if her parents were able to do it, she could too fall in love.
Stroking her bandages again, Rose realised that she had done so little in making Leon feel at home in the castle, treating him more like a prisoner than a guest and only giving him a shaky, reluctant gesture in the form of her mother's old room.
She had also been angry at him when he refused dinner even though she had rudely demanded him to, amongst other things.
She wanted to make up for her horrible, cruel and selfish behaviour and shabby treatment as she owed him and a simple apology, while decent, was not enough and a feeble attempt on her part.
She wanted to give him something special, but she knew next to nothing about this boy and what he liked.
Did he like hunting? Fishing? Nice clothes? Or..books? Did he even like to read?
He seemed to, since he was very intelligent for a village boy, but she couldn't tell, as she hadn't seen him with a book, reading.
The last thing she wanted to do was to give him a gift, only for him to cruelly reject it and it made her whine in worry, as she stroked her arm.
'Dear, please stop fiddling with your bandages,' Mrs Potts said, which made Rose snap out of her daydreaming and face her step-grandmother, 'they're there to help your wound heal.'
'Oh, sorry Nana,' Rose said, embarrassed, 'I was looking at Leon. I've never felt this way about anyone before and I want to do something for him.
He's done so much for me and I've done so little. I want to make up for my behaviour towards him but I don't know what to give him.
I know nothing about boys and I don't want him to reject my gift and I was wondering if any of you could help me.'
Mrs Potts couldn't help but smile at her step-granddaughter, seeing little snippets of the sweet, kind, happy and caring girl she used to be under the terrifying beast that stood before her and saw that she was starting to have feelings towards the boy that weren't anger and annoyance.
She was so like her father, unsure about herself and feeling nervous around a strange, kind person like he had been with her mother and it made the teapot smile.
As well as herself, Babette and Amelie, being in relationships themselves would have some good ideas and advice about men and how to behave and act around them.
Rebecca, not so much since her experience with men hadn't been good and having Remy constantly pestering her didn't help even though he hadn't actually hurt or acted aggressive towards her, so she wouldn't be the right girl to ask for advice.
Lumiere, having gone through the courtship of Belle and Adam with Mrs Potts, could also lend a helping hand.
'Well, dear,' Mrs Potts said to Rose, 'you should ask him what he likes and what his interests are.
You don't want to give him something that you may think will be perfect but it may end up not be to his taste.'
'He's a man, so it's not like you can give him flowers, chocolates, promises you don't intend to keep.' Amelie said.
'Where did you hear that, Amelie?' said Rebecca.
'Oh, Cogsworth must have told her as I remember him saying that to the mistress's father when he was courting her mother,' said Lumiere, rolling his eyes,
'And I strongly suggest that you don't take that advice, Mistress, because due to his silly ideas about wooing women, there is STILL NO Madame Cogsworth in the castle!'
'And how long has that been going on for, Lumiere?' said Amelie.
'Far longer than he would actually admit,' said Lumiere.
Rose had to laugh but was still at a loss at what to give Leon.
'If I can't give him flowers and chocolates, what should I give him?' she said.
'Well, Mistress, the best way to get to a man's heart is his stomach,' said Babette, ' and a huge, delicious dinner is the way to do it, like the one we gave him last night, followed by an entertaining cabaret..'
'Ooops,' she said, horrified at letting her tongue slip about the secret dinner and show they put on for Leon, as both Rose and the servants looked at her.
'Babette!' everyone hissed at her, 'you weren't supposed to tell her that! It was meant to be a secret but you did a Remy and blabbed it!
Now the mistress will lose her temper again, thanks to you!'
But rather than be angry that her orders were disobeyed and finding out the source of the noise downstairs but the West Wing's thick walls and door had prevented her from hearing it, Rose was touched that they had ensured that Leon wouldn't go hungry.
'It's alright, Babette, I'm glad that he got dinner after all because I would have never forgiven myself if he went hungry for the rest of the night.' Rose said, to her relief.
'How about painting a picture for him?' said Amelie, 'that's what Raymond and I do every birthday, Christmas and wedding anniversary, we paint pictures for each other.'
'It's a good idea, Aunt Amelie, but I can't do that!' said Rose, dismayed that she would suggest such an idea.
'Why ever not, Mistress?' said Amelie, 'It doesn't have to be a masterpiece or anything like da Vinci or Michelangelo would do!'
'Because I have huge paws that can't even hold a paintbrush!
If I were to paint now, it'll will be nothing but messy, blobby paw prints and I'll look like an idiot in front of him!' said Rose, looking shamefully at them.
'It won't matter, Mistress, I'm sure he'll still like whatever you paint for him,' said Amelie, seeing her expression.
'Sophie gives us birthday and Christmas cards she makes herself which look like shapeless blobs to anyone, but to us, they're works of art, because she drew them from the heart and that's all that matters.'
'No, I don't think he'll like blobby art,' said Rose, 'especially from a beast,'
'Well, if you're not going to paint for him, how about you give him hunting and fishing gear, all men like that,' said Rebecca, 'at least I think they do.'
'Oh no, Rebecca, Leon isn't the hunting and fishing type. He thinks the idea of catching and shooting animals is ridiculous, so that's out of the question' said Amelie, 'and besides not all men like hunting and fishing.'
'I just thought they did, that's all,' Rebecca said, defensively.
'Well not this boy,' said Amelie.
With no one able to come up with any more ideas, Amelie then remembered what Leon had told her the other night and she suddenly had a flash of brilliance and said to Rose,
'Mistress, do you know that this boy is self-educated and taught himself how to read, write and learn foreign languages?
That he loves reading more than anything else and uses the few leisure moments he has reading and studying?
Because he told me that when he saw us in the studio yesterday and I think it's amazing that a simple village boy educated himself with no help from anyone whatsoever.'
'Leon likes to read too?' said Rose, her face lighting up like a Christmas tree as she heard that, 'and he learnt how to do it all by himself?
I guess that's why he's so intelligent and knows a lot. Maybe I can give him a book, something that may interest him..'
'Why give him a book when you can give him the library?' said Amelie,
'That would be much better and there are more books in there that he can poke a stick at!'
'Of course, I was just going to suggest that! That's a great idea, Amelie!' said Lumiere, excited, as his candles lit up.
'I had been planning to show the boy the library last night on our tour but it went a bit awry, as you know.'
'It is a wonderful idea, Aunt Amelie,' said Rose, 'I'm sure he'll love it and it has been so long since anyone has used it.
I know it was Mama's library and my special place where she always read stories to me.
But she had always said that it was for everyone and I want to share it with Leon and spend time there reading with him.'
Unlike her father, who had been unable to read when he had been the first Beast, only learning though her mother, Rose had loved reading too much to have given it up and was still able to do so.
When she hadn't been hunting, she would read the books she had kept in her room, that hadn't been destroyed in her many fits of rage, as a distraction from the curse and to find comfort in the thing that she had loved and now wanted to share it with Leon.
'That's very generous of you, dear,' said Mrs Potts, 'Your mother and father would be so proud of you that you're starting to become less like a beast and more like the princess that you are.
I also think that you and the boy are becoming friends as well, I can feel it in my waters.'
'You could say that,' said Rose, 'but it's early days yet and the library can be a gesture towards our new friendship.
Now if you will excuse me, I have to go and find Leon, so I can show him what I hope will be his favourite place in the castle.'
'Let's hope that second time's the charm,' said Lumiere,
'If the gift of the library worked for our dear Belle and Adam, it could work for their daughter and her new friend.'
'Fingers crossed,' said Amelie.
'You don't have any fingers,' said Rebecca, 'None of us do,'
'Oh, that's right, thanks for reminding me but hopefully, we will have them back again soon.' Amelie said.
'Indeed,' everyone said as they were feeling excited and hopeful that this gesture that had worked so well for them in the past would not be in vain.
But Rose wanted it to be a nice surprise and she was going to give it to him herself, hoping that it would be the start of a new and beautiful friendship.
Let's hope so.
Read and review and thank you to those who have done so!
