An: This chapter is emotional rollercoaster. I think this chapter is also the relief we've been looking for the past 2 years worth of stories. I've been waiting to write this ending scene for a long time, and I think I did its justice. Please Enjoy.
NymhadoraTonks: Rose will regain their trust, but it takes time for this stuff. The fight will still happen, but it won't be as big as in the movie. It'll be twisted. Ben and Rose are both letting out pent up emotions. All of the gang's feelings are messed up right now. Uma and Harry will be touched on more with upcoming chapters. They've got a lot of stuff on their plates.
As for your prediction. You're only half right. They aren't going to find Rose, because they think Audrey may have taken her. The sassy Ben and Rose will probably sassy but playful banter. These last two chapters are the worse part of the storm.
BOTH: Ben's total flip was always meant to happen. I didn't really feel right not having Ben take a turn. He's been through a lot, and he has to loose everything before he can get it back. At the end of Reality, he had both Rose and his parents back, but then learning of Rose's betrayal, the carpet was ripped from under him again. He was afraid he would be hurt like he was when he was younger. That's why he was all defensive. This chapter is the the beginning of the final clarity we've been waiting for.
Creator of Magic: HUMA! I'm get excited to see that you're excited to see them. Its going to be interesting what your reaction will be with them later. Jonnie is still strong. I felt I needed to touch on Jay's mixed feelings through this all. he doesn't really know what he wants to do with his future. I know his scene with Gil didn't really solve much, but at least we got some more bro time with him and Gil. He also is starting to feel some ease with everything.
If Evie never erased the first kiss, I think the plot wouldn't have been very good for the Magic in the Mirror. Its mostly about Carlo realizing how he's loved Evie all along. If he knew about the kiss, Evie would've come back home a lot sooner. But since Carlos didn't know, we had all of the moments where he was trying to figure out his feelings.
Rose is going to be looked at for most of this chapter. She is going to give up proving herself to Ben, but Rose's redemption isn't going to be the way you think. She's done being bad...well...for the most part. ;)
THANK YOU BOTH FOR YOUR SUPPORT!
"Rose?" Carlos called. Everyone stopped chatting. "Where's Rose?" Everyone looked around, but she wasn't there. They called for her, but had no response. A chill ran up his spine.
Jane gasped. "What if Audrey took her?" Mal's heart had beat wildly. Her mind was in shock. She had been contemplating what Ben was saying this whole time, but it was true. Rose was gone. She shouldn't have felt bad for her. On the Isle, when she talked to Ben, he didn't seem to be mad at Rose. Mal thought she could possibly redeem herself. She should have stayed with her gut and knew she was still working with Audrey.
"I bet she's with Audrey, but Audrey didn't take he by force," Mal said after a moment.
"What do you mean?" Carlos' voice was quiet. Evie was hanging on him, her face looked confused.
"I told you Mal," Bern shook his head. She looked at him. His blue eyes here as cold as ice. He was heart broken. How could his sister betray them. Ever since he found out about the letters he had been suspicious. Then, he let his feelings get out of control, but he knew what Rose said too. Maybe he had been fooling himself this whole time. Falling right into Rose's traps. Again and again he had been oblivious, but now he knew, Rose never cared for him. "It was only a matter of time before she up and left us. Just over and over, she leaves."
"But why would she help rescue Evie if she was working with Audrey?" Uma asked. There was a dead silence.
"Carlos," Jay said in a low voice. Everyone looked to Jay. Carlos was confused. "Rose trusts him." Now all eyes were on the DeVil boy. He felt uncomfortable.
"What are they talking about?" Evie asked.
"Rose if the one who got us here," Carlos told her. "I know she had a bond with me but she wasn't here just for me. She said something before we got here in the castle."
"Without Ben, there's really nothing worth staying in the kingdom for." Jay finished Carlos' thought. "I heard it too."
"She wished she had just stayed in hiding," Gil shook his head.
"Since your little snap, you made her want to go back into hiding," Uma crossed her arms.
"My snap?" Ben raised his eyebrows.
"We've all been thinking it," Uma then shrugged. "You've been giving your sister a hard time." Ben looked around at all of them He had known he stepped a little over the line, but he thought everyone had agreed with him.
"All of you think this?" He glanced around. His eyes settled on Mal. See was looking down . "Mal?"
"I don't know," Mal choked on her words. "I thought you wanted Rose to be good. I j-just can't believe you could treat her that way. Ben I know you're confused, but you shouldn't be lashing out like this. When you said you didn't know who you were anymore, I thought you would find yourself with Rose's help, but now I don't even know who you are anymore."
Ben's heart pinched terribly at Mal's words. She was right, Ben had truly lost himself. After all of these years, he had finally let it all get to him. It was build up waiting to burst, but he didn't even know it had happened. He replayed the conversation in his head over and over. He was wrong. Rose was right. He felt tears build up in his eyes. Rose did have good in her, she had it all along. Ben had only forgotten about it.
"I've always been afraid of Rose," Ben chocked back tears. "I didn't want her to leave me again. I never wanted to feel that hurt ever again. I didn't r-realize that she was the one who was hurting."
He let a tear fall as he fell to his knees. Mal gasped as he began to sob. She ran to him. He hands placed themselves on his back. They stayed there for a while, in silence. Ben could only think of the hurt expression on Rose's face. He had only seen that look once before. When she was taken away by their father. That silent call for him, he had felt it then, but he didn't feel it now. It was like a hole in his heart.
As they all watched Ben weep, Carlos held Evie close to him. Her own tears streaming down her cheeks. He had felt so relieved that he had his blue haired princess back. But he couldn't ignore the tinge of sadness that appeared when Rose had left. She had come so far, and now she had given it all up to go back to the way everything used to be before now.
Uma felt Harry's hand's heat close to hers, she moved it away. Now wasn't the time for this misunderstanding. She was still contemplating her feelings and what all of this twistedness meant.
"We have to move on," Jay said after a while. "We can find Rose."
"No," Ben shook his head. "We have to defeat Audrey. Then, we will know for sure whether if she was taken." Mal was surprised by his response, but now she felt Ben had his dignity back. Mal was willing to forgive him, but she still didn't know about Rose. Why would she leave now? When they needed her the most? Mal was still in the middle of this torn apart family, but a least she had one piece back.
Rose had run away on her own. Something had stirred inside her. She just wanted to leave that horrid castle. It had brought back so many memories. She had used those people as tools in her game. She never wanted to do that ever again. Rose was done using people. As she looked around the town of Dandelion, she remembered all of the children she had taken from their homes in plans for domination. She didn't feel right being here.
She really should have never come here at all to this Earth. There was no place for her here. She thought Rose breathed deeply as she pushed the gate open and left the town. Looking at the green forest, Rose sprinted off. She just kept running. As far as her legs could take her. Feeling her heart beat in her head made her feel strong. She just kept running.
She breathed heavily as her vision began to blur with tears. A cooling sensation wrapped around her body. When she laid eyes on the open plain she fell to her knees. The tears released themselves down her cheeks. She ripped her fingers through her hair. Her jacket felt as if it were suffocating her. She unzipped it and threw the blue leather jacket a head of her.
The sword of Enchantment had been thrown in front of her when she fell down. The silver blade glistened as it peaked out from its sheath. Its glimmer caught her eye. Rose reached out to it. The sword was silent as she pulled it out of its covering. She ran her fingers along it as she studied the sword. She had so much power in her hands. She could deliver herself away from this alien planet.
The warmth of her blood. Pulsing through her veins at a fast rate. She needed to rid of this pain. Heartbeats pounding in her ears. Rose raised her claws to her neck and closed her eyes.
Rose gasped and dropped the sword. She then clambered away. Never again. Her hand went up to her now uncut throat. There were only scars that she usually hid with her jacket collar. With her black shirt rising up below her collar bone, she could feel them all. How she had ripped her own skin with her claws. Rose couldn't believe she had even thought about it for a moment.
"My life wasn't fair, but it didn't make me want to get revenge on everyone. See that's the difference between you and me. I have the power to put the past behind me."
What past? Rose didn't even know who she was anymore. She had become the lost princess once again. Rose got up to her feet. "Who am I?!" She cried out. "What past can I put behind me when I don't even know myself?!" Her tears were hot against her skin. She looked up to the sky through the blur.
"You know who you are," a quiet voice came from behind her. The voice made the hair on the back of her neck rise. Her ears perked and her vision became clear. Rose turned to see Belle. She was standing there with a slight grin on her face. Her yellow dress framed her small standing figure. Free of any wrinkles, she opened her arms. "You're my sweet little princess. Won't you come back to us?" Rose was terrified. She didn't even know what to say. Was this real?
"You're my little beast," Rose looked to see her father appear from the woods. She let out a shaky breath. "Now won't you obey your mother?" She was being put back into her cell. It was just like when she was a girl. And she refused to ever experience that again.
"No," Rose whispered. They both were walking closer to her. She held out her hands, but nothing happened. She backed away, but she only bumped into someone. She looked to see a young Ben staring at her. It was the same Ben who looked heart broken on the night she left the kingdom 4 years ago.
"You're a betrayer," Ben shook his head. "You left us hanging dry...Why did you leave?"
"Why did you leave?" Belle and Beast asked in unison.
"We only wanted to care for you." Belle's voice added.
"You know why I left," Rose walked away from Ben. They were all closing in on her. Her breath was quickening again. She didn't know what was happening. She stumbled over her jacket. She hit her chin hard on the ground, but she quickly turned to look up at her family's faces staring down at her.
"Who are you to leave your family? " Ben asked. Rose flinched at his voice, but then she felt the sword hilt at her finger tips.
"Who are you?!" They all yelled in unison.
"I am ROSE!" She jumped into the air and dug the sword into the ground. Pink fire flew from the sword. A loud boom echoed as the three disappeared. The fire continued to swirl around her. She looked at her cuffs to see they had intricate designs glowing on them. Stems of roses and thorns. The design continued to crawl onto her skin.
She felt herself begin to float. The sword, its sheath, and her jacket followed her. Rose reached for her jacket and pulled it around herself. Then, she wrapped the sheath around her back. Her fingers pulled out her braid and laid it on her shoulder. After grabbing the sword, she thrusted it back down into what she thought was the plain's ground, but when the fire went down, she wasn't in Dandelion. She was in a different set of woods.
Her eyes scattered to search for where she was, but then she saw the tip of the castle above the trees. Rose was in the kingdom. But how? Her magic didn't work. Rose snapped her fingers in hopes of creating a flame, but nothing had happened. She looked to the sword in her free hand. It really was magical, but Rose didn't know it would work almost like her own magic.
The sun was on its downward turn. Rose didn't know where to go, but something called her to the castle. She quietly crept through the woods. Her feet hardly made a sound. She didn't know what to expect. Rose didn't know what Audrey would've done to the castle, let alone what she had done to the subjects. When she got to the front gates, Rose paused, but then sighed. She pushed the gates open.
Everything was quiet. Rose stepped over sleeping people as she made her way to the front doors. She looked up at her father's statue. It was in its beast form. Her eyes darted away when her heart pinched. She continued on. There had been no changes to the kingdom, except for the circling clouds in the sky. She ignored the pink lightning as she entered the castle.
Rose wanted to find Audrey, but it wasn't her quest right now. She had truly lost herself today. It was something she thought would never happen. She didn't know what she was. A hero, a villain, or a lost soul. Rose thought about what Carlos said. The power of the putting the past behind her. It was what she needed. Rose didn't know if she could do it, but she had at least try.
She looked for what would have been her old room. Ever since she had burned the castle it had been rebuilt and modified. Knowing this would've happened, Rose put a spell on it in order to preserve it in the walls of the castle. It was just something she wanted to keep, even thought she had hated her life here. Rose stood up to an empty wall. Placing her hand on the third brick from the bottom, the wall began to shift.
She stepped inside of her room, untouched by time. Her bed messy, her curtains ripped, and scraps of fabric on the floor. Her blue ball gown had been destroyed long ago, but the velvet fabric she had ripped off of it still remained at the foot of her vanity. The vanity still stood where she looked at herself for hours. She had looked into her terrified eyes many night ago, when she had thought was her last look before she died. But here she was now, looking at a scarred girl who rose from her ashes.
She recalled the last time she had looked at herself in this silver mirror. The day she left, her mother had brushed her hair into a tight bun, and put makeup on her. She had even asked her to smile for her. Rose had nothing to smile for at the time. When Belle had left, Rose remembered staring at herself, but seeing someone else.
A tear fell down her cheek. "I don't even know who I am anymore," the girl whispered. The rose suddenly shriveled in its vase.
Rose felt a tear fall down her cheek as she recalled. She wished she could've taken it all back. But she didn't want to. If she hadn't ran away, she wouldn't have be free to be the person she wanted to be today. Her fingers pressed against the mirror as she looked at herself, but then her eyes focused on the vase still sitting on the vanity.
The vase it laid in still remained, but it was empty. She unzipped her coat, and pulled out the dead rose she had killed. She kept it after all of this time. Rose had forgotten about it, but found it again in the Evil Queen's castle. Its petals were brown and crusted over. She placed it back in its vase. Nothing had happened. Rose didn't know what she was expecting.
Her eyes gazed at her reflection again. Inside her cold blue eyes her soul was lost. Who was she now? She felt like the dead rose in the vase. One that was hopeless and cut off from the living world. Once again, she didn't approve of what she saw in the mirror. She wished she was at full bloom. Where she lived in her vase, and was appreciated by all who looked. She wouldn't have to earn approval, she would be herself and emerge from this horrible wilting inside.
She left her room in silence. Rose then traveled all the way down to the dungeon. Chills ran up her spine as she went down the spiral stone staircase. She never liked coming down here, but she knew she had to. Once Rose stepped off the final step, she gasped. Stone statues were standing there, reaching for her cell door. Rose took a deep breath as she walked around them to look at their faces.
Her father's stone face looked concerned. He was reaching out for the other's arm. Rose looked to see it was her own mother opening the cell door. She hadn't come face to face with Belle since the the graduation. She studied her mother's face. It wasn't perplexed or angry, but filled compassion and concern. Rose shuddered at the sight, but couldn't pull her eyes away.
They were coming to get her. There were no guards, they were only here for her. What did this mean? Were they going to prove that she was against this all? Or were they getting her for help? Rose was astounded. After all of this time, they finally come to her.
They both had done terrible things to her. Trying to conceal her magic, locking her away, and keeping secrets away from their own son. How could Rose put all of that behind her? It seemed impossible. Its what shaped her into who she was today. But even now she didn't like who she was. A girl who runs away and cowers instead of staying and fighting.
"I admit it, Rose," Belle struggled with her words, "I was a terrible mother... I thought I could've changed you instead of giving the help you needed. I wanted to have a perfect family. I-i-it was my...fault. I'm...sorry." There was some tear in her mother's eyes.
It was the day of Ben's graduation when Belle had apologized. Rose had followed with an insult. Its all she had ever wanted to hear. But she still wouldn't let herself heal. It was just something that was never in her mind until now. Ben had opened her up to it, but now she only needed the strength to find it in herself. She needed to regain what she had lost. Trust and Acceptance.
Rose thought about her mother on balcony. She stated she wasn't proud of Rose. Ever since then, Rose had wanted to prove her worth. After all of these years she had been after her mother's approval. That's how she put up with her mother's cruelty for years. She just kept striving for acceptance. Striving for everyone else's approval of herself.
But she really should have been after her own.
She was never happy with herself. Rose had thought what she was doing was the right thing, but she was only rebelling her mother, not because she wanted to hurt people. Another tear fell down her cheek. She looked into what would've been Belle's soft brown eyes. "I am who I am because of you," Rose whispered to her stone mother. "But I will prove myself to me, not to you, or dad, or even Ben. I am Rose, and I will never let anyone control me again."
With those final words, Rose turned to the cell. There, sitting on her bed, the stuffed bear laid. Rose sat on the edge of her bed and stroked the bear's stitched on ear. She thought about Ben. How she had brought down her walls to him. She loved him, but their fight was no accident. He was right. There was no good left in her, only a reborn soul. And that soul, needed to be found. Rose would find herself again. She would no longer be the lost princess.