It had been just over a month since the queen's masked ball, and there was still a buzz about the unknown identity of the man who'd taken up the majority of the queen's time. Unknown to most, that was.

The queen herself was sat on the couch that belonged to said mystery man, with her feet, tucked under her and her head resting on his shoulder while he played absent-mindedly with her hair. The end scene of a movie was playing out in front of them and on the coffee table was a couple of empty take-out boxes. As their relationship was still under the radar, the two of them didn't really go out for dates, instead opting to stay indoors, and always at his place – taking him to the castle was risky because they were more likely to be spotted.

As the credits rolled, Queen Lia lifted her head from its place on his shoulder and smiled over at him. Andrew stretched his arms out and smiled back at her.

"Can you stay for a little bit longer?" he questioned, as he reached for the remote to turn off the TV.

Lia thought about it for a second, glancing at her watch as she thought about it. "Yeah, I guess I can spare half an hour."

Andrew smiled brightly, "Good. I like having you around."

Lia chuckled, "I noticed. I do wish I could come over more often though."

"Or that I could come to the castle. Or that we could go out," Andrew added. Lia smiled a little sadly but she knew he wasn't complaining. They'd agreed that they wanted their relationship to remain a private affair, at least for a few months, before they went public. With Andrew having grown up in the Royal Family of Agrabah, and Lia having always been the heir to the throne, they both knew how vicious the press could be, so they wanted their relationship to have a strong foundation before they subjected it to the scrutiny it would doubtlessly receive. They'd agree to wait two months before reassessing whether they were ready to go public; they had been together just over three weeks now.

For Lia, those three weeks had been amazing, and she was sure Andrew felt the same. They spent most of their time talking on the phone or texting each other, as Lia could rarely get away long enough to come over, but, for now, it was enough. They would talk about anything and everything, and at the end of their conversations, Lia usually found that her cheeks were hurting from smiling so much (which she tried to hide from her sister whenever possible because Lucy had taken to relentlessly teasing her about it). Lia wasn't quite sure that she was in love with him yet, but she knew that she was getting there and that she trusted him as much as she trusted her family. This is why she often found herself wondering why she hadn't told him about her abilities.

They weren't exactly a secret, but Lia was very select with who she told for fear she may scare them off or that they'll be used to criticise her ability to rule. Lia felt that Andrew would not run off if she showed them to him, but the what-ifs had held her back. Now, as she thought about it, Lia realised that the longer she put this off, the more likely it will be that he'd be upset about her keeping it from him.

Lia looked up at him, silently observing the bliss on his face as he wrapped his arm around her shoulders again and pulled her closer so that they were just cuddling quietly on the couch. She trusted him to react well but she wasn't sure if it was worth bringing up in the precious little time that they spent physically in each other's presence. Then again, it wasn't exactly something she could do over video chat either. Lia quickly evaluated the pros and cons in her head before making her decision.

"Hey, Andrew?"

"Hmm?" Andrew shifted his head slightly so that he could look at her.

"There are some things that you should probably know. About me," she clarified when gave her a confused look, "And I think they may shock you a little."

"Is this where you tell me that you're actually not the queen but some evil twin sister of hers?" Andrew joked.

Lia laughed, shaking her head, "Not exactly." She sat up a bit and fiddled with the hem of her blouse. "But I don't think I'm exactly who you think I am." Andrew raised his eyebrows but didn't say anything so Lia took a breath and continued. "I have magical abilities." She gave a little shrug to try and pass it off as no big deal.

Andrew didn't look too surprised by this though, "Okay. I guess that makes sense with your mom and your sister both having them."

Lia mentally cringed a little, "Well, mine are a bit different...it's probably easier if I show you." She shuffled backwards so that she was on the other end of the couch and closed her eyes, attempting to summon up some feelings of anger or upset.

"You're really good at falling asleep anywhere?" Andrew asked, a playful tone in his voice. He must've noticed her tense up a little and, being the sweetheart that he was, immediately tried to get her to relax a little.

Lia laughed and opened her eyes, "I can only do this if I'm feeling upset or angry and you are not making it easy for me."

"I'm going to take that as a compliment," Andrew replied.

Lia rolled her eyes and grabbed one of his cushions, chucking it at his head. He caught with a grin that caused her to roll her eyes again. "Just shush, okay? I'm going to have to concentrate really hard to get this to work."

"See, it sounds like you're mad at me, but honestly, I think I'm doing something right if you have to concentrate that hard to get upset."

Lia laughed again, "Yeah, yeah, just shush."

Andrew mimed zipping his lips, though he still had a wide smile on his face. Lia rolled her eyes playfully then closed her eyes again. She tried to remember how mad she'd been when her advisors wouldn't stop getting at her for not having a husband yet. She recalled how upset she was when she first transformed and had been called a monster by a kid on the playground (luckily anybody the kid told after that had thought that she was just making up stories because only one teacher had seen what had happened and quickly got Lia somewhere where she could stay hidden until her parents came to get her). She remembered how insecure she used to feel about these powers, even years after them first appearing.

After having had these powers for fifteen years, Lia had long since learnt to recognise the tingling on her head, hands and mouth as them working. She waited until she felt her newly elongated fangs almost pierce the inside of her mouth before she opened her eyes.

The expression on Andrew's face was almost comical – his eyes were wide, his mouth slightly open – it was pure shock written all over his face. He blinked a few times before closing his mouth and nodding a few times. "Right. Okay. I don't know what I was expecting but it was definitely not that."

Lia worried her bottom lip between her teeth a little (her front teeth – she'd made the mistake of biting her lip with her fang once. It had hurt like hell and there was still a little scar there if one was to look closely). She had been avoiding looking directly in his eyes but now she forced herself to; even if all she saw in them was fear, at least she would know. But when she looked into his blue eyes that were looking at her so intensely, she realised that it wasn't fear. It was awe. Pure, unadulterated wonder. She had just shown him that she had claws and horns and (once she opened her mouth a little) fangs, and he was staring at her like she'd hung the moon.

"I told you they weren't quite like my mom's or my sister's."

"You can say that again." He shifted closer to her, his eyes never leaving hers as his lips stretched into a smile, "I thought that the whole beast thing in your family was just a curse, though."

"It was, technically, but my grandad and my dad both had the roar, so we think because of how long Papa Adam was the Beast, some of it remained in his DNA. Then when combined with my mom's transformational abilities, you kinda get this." She waved vaguely at her face.

"Would it be weird for me to say that I actually think this is kinda cool?"

Lia smiled, "Maybe a little. Although, to be honest with you, I don't know what the appropriate reaction to finding out your girlfriend is some kind of monster-hybrid actually is."

Andrew's smile dropped off his face and he furrowed his brow slightly, "There are a lot of monsters in this world, Lia, but you aren't one of them."

Lia gave him a small, slightly sad smile, "I know. I was joking." Andrew continued staring at her intensely, as though he could force her to believe the truth using just his eyes. "I've had these powers fifteen years," Lia told him, "I got them when I was ten and somehow only one kid saw me transform the first time. Well, technically two, but one of them was Lucy. Anyway, the other girl called me a monster and I think there is still a tiny part of me that believes that that's true. It tends to only come out in my more insecure moments. You should've seen me when I was seventeen. I was a complete wreck."

"Is that why it's not public knowledge?"

Lia shrugged, "I think partially, yeah. But at the same time, there is no reason for the public to know. I want to be remembered as a good queen, not a queen with horns and fangs. Besides, it makes no difference to my ability to rule or my ability to connect with my people. All it would do is created unnecessary attention. If we were for some reason to go to war or if I needed to fight a villain to keep my people safe, then I would share my abilities with the world but at the moment, I don't want to be seen as a potential threat when it's just something that happens to be part of me."

"Well, thank you for sharing with me then but can I ask why?" Andrew wondered, cocking his head slightly.

Lia smiled, "Because you're important to me, and because I trust you. I have a feeling you're going to be stuck with me for a long time so I may as well let you know exactly what you're getting into."

Andrew smiled back, "Well, I already knew that I was getting into something that would probably get a bit wild at points. I just didn't know how literal that was." He tapped one of her claws to emphasise his point.

Lia threw her head back and laughed before shaking her head at him, "I love you," she huffed out, grinning at him.

Time seemed to freeze at the moment. Andrew blinked at her, clearly surprised by what she'd just said but nowhere near as surprised as she was. Did she just tell him that she loved him? They'd only been together for three weeks, how could she know if she loved him? But then she realised that while she didn't know how she knew, she just knew. She did. She loved him.

Andrew's smile grew again and he took one of her hands in his. "I love you too."

Lia grinned at him, the joy in her heart overflowing as she pulled him closer by the hand he was holding. Just seconds before their lips touched, Andrew pulled back though.

"As cool as I think this is and as much as I love you, I don't trust you to not bite me with those fangs of yours." He was only half-joking but Lia laughed anyway, and as she did, the transformation reversed faster than it had ever done in her life. Apparently hearing that the man she loved, loved her back meant that there was absolutely no way that she was going to be able to hold the transformation.

The moment she felt it disappear, she pulled him down and kissed him as she'd never done before. Who needed magical abilities? This moment with him was all the magic she needed.

Thank you all so much for reading!
If you want to see more of Andrew and Lia, please leave a review and let me know! Also, leave a review if you want to tell me what you thought of this particular story! I would love to know what you think (however, any criticism must be constructive - unconstructive criticism is pointless and a waste of everyone's time and energy)

Love you guys!
SparkyGurl