Beauty and the Beast: The Tale Continues

Chapter 42 - A Fighting Princess

Author's Note: Disney owns the rights to Beauty and the Beast. I own this story, and I apologize for when the beloved characters act OOC (out of character).

Also, thank you, everyone, for continuing to read my story, and as long as you are all still enjoying it, I will continue to post chapters until the eventual conclusion... also, don't hesitate to review!

P.S. Do you all get a notification or an email every time I update this story? Or do you just check in every once in a while?

##############

"I'm... going to be a grandfather?"

Belle nodded her head.

"You are... going to have your own offspring?"

Adam nodded his head.

The two of them, along with Edward and Maurice, were in the dining room, enjoying some breakfast, and they were the last ones to learn of the news regarding Belle's expectancy.

"That is... wonderful to hear," said a smiling Maurice. "I'm very happy for the two of you."

"As am I," agreed Adam's father, who appeared to be much better after last night. "How far along are you?"

Belle placed a hand on her stomach, and chuckled as she replied, "Just a few days, your Highness... the baby won't be coming until the middle of March next year."

Suddenly, to her surprise, Maurice began to laugh, and she asked, "What's so funny, Papa?"

Her father made a gesture towards the young prince, and said, "You'd better prepare yourself for the coming months, Adam... you think being turned into a beast was horrible?"

Before the young man (as well as Adam's father) could ask what he meant by that, there was a knock at the door, and everyone turned to see a smiling Raphael, who was leaning against the doorway.

"Bonjour, everyone... I'm not interrupting anything, am I?"

"Um, no, not... really..." said Maurice, who had almost forgotten about Gaston's half-brother. "To what do we owe this visit, Monsieur Raphael?"

Raphael gestured his head towards Belle and Adam, saying, "Nothing much, sir... just some self-defense lessons with your daughter and the former furball here."

Adam smirked at Raphael, and he replied, "Something that I am sure I will enjoy very much when the chance arrives for me to knock you down a peg."

"Yeah, you keep tellin' yourself that, sunshine," said the former soldier, with a small smile on his face, and he turned to look at Edward and Maurice. "You two are more than welcome to join the others in watching all of this happen."

"Others?" questioned Adam. "What are you talking about?"

[The castle grounds]

Adam, Belle, and Raphael were standing in the same area where she had helped the Beast place a comforting paw on Phillipe, while Maurice and Edward, as well as Mrs. Potts, Lumiere, Plumette, and Cogsworth, were all standing on the upper walkway where Belle had thrown (and been hit by) a snowball.

"Be gentle with your wife, Master," called out Lumiere. "You wouldn't want to hurt the baby!"

"Oh, just stop, Lumiere," muttered Cogsworth. "She told us that she has only been expecting for a few days... there's hardly anything in her right now."

Lumiere gave a shrug, and replied, "Well, we cannot be too careful, am I right?"

As for the two elderly gentlemen, Maurice let out a sigh, and said, "I sure hope your son goes easy on my daughter, Edward."

"Well, your daughter better go easy with my son," replied Adam's father, just as his son began to walk towards Raphael. "Would you also like to make a wager?"

Maurice chuckled, and he shook his head, saying, "Not today, Edward... besides, Belle would probably kill me if I made a wager that involved her in any way."

"Eh, your loss, my friend," said Adam's father, and the two of them turned back to look at Adam, who was almost getting a little too close to Raphael.

"Alright, just hold on a second, prince boy," said Raphael, "Have you not heard of the phrase 'ladies first', or were you too busy staring at a flower?"

Adam's face began to turn red with anger, but then, he quickly began to relax himself, and tried his best to sound calm. "Oh, just wait until I get my hands on you."

"I look forward to it," chuckled Raphael, and he motioned for Belle to step forward, which she did, but appearing to be a little nervous.

"You'll be fine, Belle!" called out Maurice, trying his best to be supportive of her, and his daughter nodded her head, silently thanking him.

"Okay, then, princess," said Raphael, who was giving Belle an unreadable expression. "Try your intimidation face again."

And she did, but unfortunately, Adam couldn't help but chuckle once he saw the way she looked.

"You are not helping, Adam," hissed an irritated but also slightly embarassed Belle.

"Sorry, my love, but... you have no idea how adorable you look right now."

Trying to be a helpful friend, Lumiere cried, "You're doing a great job so far, mademoiselle!"

"If she was trying to scare away a bunny," muttered Cogsworth, which caused the other servants to all glare at him. "What?"

Raphael shook his head, and walked up to stand in front of Belle. "We'll work on that later... in the meantime, I want you to hit me."

"What?" said Belle, sounding surprised.

"You heard me, princess, try to land a punch on me," replied Raphael, and so, that was exactly what Belle did, but he ended up blocking it. "Try again, sweetheart."

So, Belle tried to hit him again... and again... and again... but Raphael continued to block every one of her attempts, and she continued to be more and more frustrated.

"How in the world were you able to deal with Gaston if you were never violent?"

Belle gave a small shrug, and replied, "I used my words... plus, if it helps, I snapped his bow in half when he was trying to kill Adam."

Raphael smirked at the young woman, and he said, "Not really, I'm afraid... I mean, you do know how touse your head, but that won't help you in a situation where you need to fight, and your life depends on it."

Then, after seeing hesitation in Belle's face, he sighed, and shook his head. "If you can't land one punch on me, princess, then maybe you should just spend the remainder of your life inside the castle, reading books and having celebration parties until-"

WHAM!

[AN: If it helps, just imagine Belle punching Raphael the same way that Hermione punches Malfoy in Prisoner of Azkaban]

Belle delivered a solid punch straight at Raphael's face, and as the former antagonist fell to the ground, Adam began to chuckle. "Brilliant, my love..."

"Thanks," replied Belle, and she turned her attention back to Raphael. "Are you alright?"

"Oh, yeah, I'll be good, princess," said Gaston's half-brother. "But you forgot something important."

Belle frowned, in confusion, and she asked, "Forgot? Well, what did I - whoa!"

Suddenly, Raphael used a single-leg sweep attack on Belle, which caused her to fall down to the ground, and land on her bottom. "Never lose focus and let your opponent get the better of you."

Before Belle could respond to him, Adam came over to help his wife up to her feet, and he growled, "That was not fair."

"Well, life is not fair, prince boy," replied Raphael, who shrugged. "Did I ask to be born with a disorder? Or did you ask to receive eternal damnation from a rose?"

Adam, now completely frustrated, began to move menacingly towards Raphael, but Belle quickly stepped in front of him.

"Adam, relax," said Belle, giving both him and the former soldier serious looks. "Raphael, stop trying to push his buttons so much."

"Well, how else am I supposed to have fun, then?" teased Raphael, but after she glared at him again, he stepped back a little bit. "Alright, I get it, madame... I will try to not do it so much... ready to continue?"

Belle was about to nod her head when Adam said, "Oh, no, she'll be taking a break after that stunt you pulled... come on, I'm ready to go."

"Adam, please, control your temper," warned Belle, but then, Raphael started to chuckle.

"Oh, don't worry, madame, he'll be just fine... go ahead, step back a little bit while I try to teach the former furball here."

Even though she wasn't exactly feeling comfortable about seeing her husband look upset, Belle did as Raphael requested, and she said, "Please be careful, Adam."

"No need to worry so much about your prince, sweetheart," replied Raphael. "I doubt he'll put up much of a fight, anyway... I mean, when was the last time you fought someone?"

"I fought off a pack of wolves in order to save Belle's life," said Adam, now feeling rather proud of himself... but only for a small moment, however.

"And yet, I had to nurse you back to health after we came back to the castle," reminded Belle, which caused him to look at her. "What? I was only speaking the truth."

Raphael simply laughed, and said, "Not to worry, Belle... like I said, he won't put up much of a fight, anyway, so- oof!"

To everyone's surprise, Adam speared Raphael to the ground, and then, he quickly got up to his feet. "You were saying, British Boy?"

While Belle began to start giggling, Raphael dusted himself off before standing back up, and he replied, "You'd better think of another way to'insult' me, prince boy... since your own wife could almost pass for an English-speaking woman."

"Why do you keep on saying that about me?" questioned Belle, now feeling a little bit of irritation. "I do not sound British!"

Raphael let out a laugh, and he said, "Forgive me, sweetheart... but, since both of you are clearly close to being frustrated, I think now would be the best time for you to practice on each other."

"Well, this ought to be interesting," said Lumiere, while Cogsworth rolled his eyes.

Adam and Belle both shared a look of concern, with a certain memory of her slapping him appearing in their mind.

"Um... I don't know if I would be able to do that, Raphael," said Belle.

Their instructor began to chuckle, and then, he said, "Of course you don't, princess, not if you see him as your Romeo... try and imagine him as someone you despise greatly, and could see yourself hitting.. like Gaston, for example."

Adam rolled his eyes, and said, "I don't think it will be that easy, Raphael, for her to just-"

However, his sentence was cut off after Belle suddenly slapped the side of his face, much to Raphael's amusement.

"You were saying, French boy?"

Adam muttered some offensive-language words under his breath, while Belle quickly gave her husband an apologetic look. "Adam, I'm sorry, I know I said I wouldn't slap you again, but, I mean, technically, I was slapping Gaston instead, and-"

"Oh, you don't have to apologize, madame, that was perfect," said an amused Raphael. "I mean, I would have hit him somewhere else, but seeing you slap 'Gaston' was good enough for me."

Adam glared at the former solider, and said, "Well, perhaps I should imagine you as your half-brother, then... I would do more than a slap or a single punch."

Raphael smirked at the young prince, and he asked, "Are you referring to you as in the way you are right now, or back when you were placed under a powerful curse?"

"Both, if it helps in delivering even more pain to you," answered Adam, but then, Belle stepped in front of him again.

"Just take it easy, Adam... and, Raphael, I think we're done for today."

"If that is what you wish," replied Raphael, who then politely bowed in front of her. "Enjoy the remainder of your day, madame."

Then, much to Adam's irritation, he also delivered a kiss to Belle's hand, and as the English-speaking gentleman walked away, he said, "Until next time, prince boy."

While Adam continued to mutter several offensive words to himself, Lumiere let out a sigh, and said, "Ah, what a shame... I still wanted to see more of her fighting side."

Unfortunately, for him, Belle quickly turned her head in his direction, and a sly smile appeared on her face as she started to walk towards him. "Alright, then, Lumiere, let me show you personally..."

The former candelabra let out a nervous chuckle, but once he saw that Belle was being serious, he began running as fast as he could back to the castle, with her chasing after him.

"As I told you before, Adam," said Maurice, looking at his son-in-law with a smile. "You'd better start preparing yourself for the nine months of her expectancy."

Adam chuckled, and he replied, "I'm sure I can handle a few small changes that Belle will receive... besides, how bad could someone like her possibly be?"