"So, let me get this straight," said Rumpelstiltskin as he held onto Belle as they rushed through the woods. "You were kept as a prisoner of the Beast for a long period of time and during that time you fell in love with him. Then, when you found out that your father needed help, you managed to convince your captor to let you go to save him. Then when Gaston rallied the people to kill the Beast, you even defended him?"

"That's right," answered Belle ducking under a low branch. "And now I need to know if he is all right. To save him if I can."

"Yeah, I'm still trying to understand how you can even love your captor," Rumpelstiltskin mumbled as he pressed closer around her form.

"He's really not that bad of a person," she said convincingly. "He only appears as a beast but once you get to know him, he can be kind and gentle."

"Yeah, sure, if you say so," he said skeptically.

They had been traveling for several hours and it was well after dark. Rumpelstiltskin had conjured a light that floated in front of them that glowed enough to allow them to see several feet of the forest around them. The more that they traveled through the mountains the less of a variety of flora surrounded them. At the moment they were deep in a forest of fir trees with green moss covering their trunks and boulders. Small and tough bushes grew wherever there was still soil. With every step that they took further and further up the mountains, the air around them grew colder and colder and the oxygen was getting lower and lower.

"You doing okay?" she asked over her shoulder.

"Apart from the rapid decrease of temperature that is freezing my sore limbs and the fact that we still haven't arrived at our destination, I'm doing wonderful," he answered sarcastically. "There is also the little detail that we are being followed."

Belle immediately grew even more worried. "By what? Wolves?"

"No, not wolves," said Rumpelstiltskin, looking back at the glow in the woods far behind them but still heading in their direction.

"Gaston," figured Belle.

"Bingo! Ride like the wind, Bullseye!"

"His name is Phillipe!"

They had only gone up an incline when they were stopped by an icy wind. Before they could continue an awesome sight greeted their eyes. The surrounding forest and mountains were covered by ice and snow down to the very core. Trees had been turned into complete ice statues, rocks looked like pincushions with icicles sticking from them in all directions, and everything was covered with a thick layer of snow. But all that was small in comparison to the incredible structure surrounding one mountain. A massive wall of ice surrounded it, imprisoning the castle on the top of the mountain, its towers even barely peeking above the massive ramparts.

"I guess that's new," joked the warlock.

"Come on," Belle urged her horse down the slopes and into the snow.

"Allow me," said Rumpel holding up his hands. The orb in front of them glowed bright and then dove into the snow, melting a path for them to follow to the wall. The closer that they got the more the air seemed to freeze around them.

"Cold! Cold! Cold! Cold! Cold! Cold! If this is going to become a regular thing that I will encounter I'm gonna have to add some changes to my getup," he quipped, his voice muffled through his scarf. He conjured up a spell that kept them warm as they went down the path. "Some better boots, thick pants, definitely some thick gloves. Maybe make my clothing thicker."

"Why don't you just use this spell?" asked Belle.

"Why do you have to question everything that I do?" he demanded.

"Why do you?" she countered.

"Touché," he mumbled in defeat.

They managed to reach the wall without too much trouble with the only exception of some more bickering between the two of them. Rumpelstiltskin saw that it was not smooth ice as he originally thought but rather it was rough and jagged with icicle spikes jutting out at random. Climbing was definitely going to be difficult, luckily Rumpelstiltskin had an idea of trying to teleport them to the top. He slipped off the horse and closed his eyes in concentration.

"Why don't you transport us to the other side?" asked Belle.

"Baby steps," he reminded her. "Now shush."

He concentrated on the destination, trying to picture it in his mind. The cold flatness of the top of the wall with icicles sticking out at random, snow floating down in the air, the cold wind carrying it. Once he imagined it to the finest detail, he began to concentrate on reaching it. The need to get up there, to reach it, to look out over the lands from the top. But not just him. He concentrated on reaching it with Belle and the horse.

"Hey, guys," said Chip from the back of the horse. "We've got company."

Rumpelstiltskin opened his eyes and turned with Belle to see on the slope where they originally were a mob bearing torches, pitchforks, spears, and some with swords. Even at the distance he could see Gaston leading the crowd on horseback and holding a torch. At seeing their quarry trapped right next to the wall, they charged down.

"Rumpelstiltskin," urged Belle, no longer hiding her fear. "Now would be a good time to-" A cloud of smoke swirled around them and in an instant they appeared on the top of the ice wall. "-Get out…of…here."

Another cloud whirled around them and they appeared on the other side. Rumpelstiltskin leaned against the wall, a hand on his head.

"You okay?" asked Belle as she slid off of the horse and approached him.

"Yeah, I just need to stop the dizzy feeling that is making my head spin and the bile taste in my mouth," he shook his head to try and help clear the stars that was overwhelming his vision. "I'm gonna have to practice that trick a few more times to make me stop feeling this way."

Belle slipped her arm through his and half-carried, half-walked him up to the impressive double doors of the castle. She didn't even knock when they opened up to them to the surprise of both guests. They entered to find an enormous foyer that had red carpeting that reached up to a wide staircase.

"Okay, I'm feeling a bit better now," said Rumpel, standing up straight. He looked at Belle. "But you can keep holding my arm like that."

She gave an "tsk" sound and let go of his arm. He grinned mischievously and they both walked further into the castle. They hadn't taken a half a dozen steps when a small clock, a candlestick, and a teapot came around a corner at the top of the stairs.

"It's Belle!"

"She's here!"

"Just in time!"

"Who's your friend?"

"Chip, so that's where you've been! You've had me so worried!"

"Sorry, mom."

"Quick, get them to the master!"

In a matter of minutes the two of them were led to the west wing of the castle. They found quite a mess along the way: walls were scratched, paintings were torn, there was burnt spots on the floor, walls and ceiling, splinters surrounded places where the woodwork was cut, suits of armor was smashed and scattered, and many paintings, torches and their holders were ripped off. There was also a large number of grotesque statues and busts all along the walls. Some had open mouths with fangs, others with curled horns like a ram's or ox's, and some had wicked claws grasping at the open air. As they traveled further into the castle, the statues seemed to contort in more painful expressions.

"It looks like a warzone," remarked Rumpelstiltskin.

"You should've seen it two days ago," said the clock, which was introduced as Cogsworth.

"Oui, mon ami" said the candlestick, which was named Lumiere. "Dat was quite de battle. I've never seen such a monster in my life."

"What monster?" asked Belle.

"It was enormous," said Pierre.

"Giant," added Cogsworth.

"Monstrous," added the teapot, Mrs. Potts.

"It created dat wall dat surrounds de castle," continued Pierre.

"What monster could do that?" asked Belle.

No one was sure not even Rumpelstiltskin. At that moment they arrived at a section that was covered in shadows. Looking closer, Rumpel could see that there was claw marks on nearly everything, shredding the rug, the plaster, curtains, and furniture. They entered a room that was exactly the same only more so as if a creature had been imprisoned in this part of the castle. The only exception was a small round table where a glass lid covered a dead rose with its petals having fallen around it.

A noise startled him and he turned around only to jump back in shock. In the corner on the floor lay what he only guessed to be the Beast. It was huge, bigger than even Gaston, with thick fur covering its body; the only clothing was a pair of pants and a cape. Its head was fearsome with enormous jaws filled with long teeth and protruding tusks. Its large blue eyes were filled with a mixture of joy and sadness at the sight of Belle.

"Belle," he spoke in a low voice. "Is it really you?"

"Yes, I'm here," she said, kneeling beside him. "I came back."

"You…did? How?"

She looked back at Rumpelstiltskin, who stepped forward so the Beast could see him.

"I had help."

"Good…I had hoped…to see you…one last time."

Belle covered her mouth in realization that she had arrived too late. "No."

Suddenly, there was a glow coming from behind her. She turned to see Rumpelstiltskin outstretching his glowing hand to the Beast. She turned to see the Beast glowing purple as well and then it faded. She watched as he slowly opened his eyes again to her and smiled.

"You healed him!" she cried out in joy as she hugged her love.

"I told you," smiled Rumpel. "My job is to bring back the happily ever afters."

Everyone laughed with rejoicing and the Beast stood up to tower over all that were present.

"Thank you," he said to Rumpelstiltskin.

"Don't thank me yet, dearie," he replied, holding up a finger. "There is still the problem with…this."

He motioned at the Beast's appearance.

"That's right!" cried Cogsworth. "The enchantment!"

"It's too late for true love!" said Pierre

"In my experience there is no such thing," corrected the warlockl, resting his chin on his palm. "I suppose I can try and lift the enchantment. Not only on our Beast or Prince or whoever you are, but also on the whole castle."

"You can do that?" asked Chip speaking for everyone present.

"I can try," smiled Rumpelstiltskin, holding out his hands.

The Beast looked at him to see that he was serious and enveloped his hands with his paws.

"All right," he agreed.

A bright light shone from between their hands and beams of it shot out around the room. Soon the light grew and grew until it enveloped the Beast. Sparks shot this way and that, and then swirled around them. More beams were shot from the Beast's feet and face. From within the light everyone could see the Beast changing, his fur shrinking, his paws transforming into hands and feet, his nose and mouth growing smaller, his hair disappearing apart from a ponytail of brown hair. All that remained the same was his eyes, which were filled with wonder and joy.

However, the spell was not yet done. Once the Beast had been turned back into a prince, the light then moved onto Rumpelstiltskin. It lingered on him for what seemed like hours as he was transformed. Once the light disappeared everyone gasped.

"What, is there something on my face?" he asked in a light tone. "Whoa, is this my voice?"

"Take a look at your hands," pointed Belle.

He looked down to see that the skin had turned scaly and had a golden sparkle to it. He then felt his face to find that the skin was also comprised of the squamous texture. He turned to a broken mirror, and with a wave of his hand, it fixed itself. There he saw his reflection: his skin was indeed like his hands and the blue-green color of his irises had turned to amber with small pupils.

"A bit reptilian," he contemplated. "But not bad, not bad at all. I'm definitely gonna have to get used to me sounding like this."

"I thought that the enchantment would've turned you into the Beast," said the Prince.

"Beast as in relatively speaking," explained Rumpelstiltskin, spinning around in front of the mirror. "The enchantment turns those under its spell to an appearance relative to their personality."

"What about the rest of us?" demanded Cogsworth.

"Wow, you lot are quite impatient," he made a face in front of the mirror only to have it break again to his amusement.

"Well, we've been waiting-," protested Pierre when suddenly a cloud of smoke surrounded them and transformed them back into what they were before. "For years."

With a wave of his hand, Rumpelstiltskin lifted the curse throughout the whole castle. Everything was reverted back to their previous appearances and everyone was transformed to what they were before. Signs of wear were repaired and the whole castle seemed to glow with new light. Within the castle voices of joy could be heard through the corridors.

Suddenly, a knight came around the door. "Sire, there are intruders crossing the wall!"

"Gaston," grinned Rumpelstiltskin.