A burst of light separated the two men, flinging them to the ground. The Prince got up slowly, and cringed. "Oh, no."

"Oh, no is right, Prince," the Enchantress agreed, but she was laughing. "For shame! Brawling with the little people..." She turned to Gaston. "And you, please pick your jaw up off the floor. Haven't you ever seen an Enchantress before?"

"Enchantress?" Belle gasped.

She nodded, then looked back to the Prince. "You look better than last time, although this mess is still not quite what I had hoped for."

"He's trying to ruin everything," he accused, pointing at Gaston. "You've seen how he is. Aren't you going to do something to him?"

"Do something?" Gaston repeated, but the Enchantress waved him to silence.

"Your participation is not required," she said curtly. "Go over there, sit down, and don't bother us." Gaston just stared. "Now."

With one more look at the wand in her hand he did as he was told, lowering himself slowly to the ground against a tree. He crossed his arms and scowled in their direction.

Next the Enchantress looked at Belle. "If you could detach yourself from His Highness for a few moments, I would much appreciate it. Go on, let go... good girl... and let us speak." Once they had privacy she turned to the Prince and said, "So. About that hunter..."

The Prince huffed and ran a hand through his hair. "If you thought I needed a lesson..."

She shot a small cloud of sparkles from her wand and formed them up into the shape of a crown. As it floated up to rest on the Prince's head, she just stared at him until he got the point.

Crown...? Belongs to a prince?... which means: ruler! Oh. "I own these woods," he realized out loud. "The castle, the forest, the village... my word is law." He cocked his head and asked the Enchantress: "May I?"

"May you?" she laughed. "You have changed."

The Prince drew himself up and looked over at Gaston, meaning to glare... but for a moment couldn't manage it because Belle was kneeling there beside him, fussing over his wounds.

Gaston was staring resolutly in the other direction, ignoring her.

"You," the Prince barked at last, letting his lip curl the way it hadn't in many a year. "Peasant."

Gaston jerked around to face him. "It's been years since I've had anyone executed, and I don't think I'll change my habits just for you." He picked a direction at random and pointed. "But you're no longer welcome in the village. So go."

"What?"

"Leave. I don't want to see you around here anymore - or around Belle. I don't want to see you in town. I don't want to see you in these woods. I want you gone, now. That is my decision, and I'll have it carried out by force if necessary. Go."

Gaston rose carefully, leaning on his wife a little more than he would have liked. "What about her?"

"She stays with me." The Prince held out his hand to here and invited, "Belle...?"

Gaston rolled his eyes. "Not her. Her! The witch." He turned to her. "Don't you need to be rescued, or something?"

She stared. "Me? Rescued?"

"Yes. A girl as beautiful as you, out all alone in the woods... you must be in some kind of trouble," he said knowingly. "So just tell me all about it, and I'll-"

"Gaston!" Belle hissed, terribly insulted. She shoved him. "You're already married - to me!"

"Belle!" the Prince gasped. He turned to Gaston. "You're not married to anyone. It's over, I say so. That settles that."

"That settles nothing!" Gaston tore his gaze from the Enchantress to grab hold of his not-quite-wanted wife and pull her close. "I've got Belle, and I'm keeping her! If I'm leaving town, well, then she can come with me."

"No, she can't! She stays with me!"

"Oh she does, does she?" Gaston said slyly. He nudged Belle. "Belle, are you going to take that?"

"Stop it - the both of you!" She pulled free of Gaston and went to stand beside the Enchantress.

"Get out of my woods," the Prince ordered.

"They are his woods," the Enchantress put in, sounding amused.

"Then get away from my wife."

"She is his wife," the Enchantress agreed.

"Would you stop it!" Belle said to her, then turned to Gaston. "Look at me... Gaston, look. Please don't do this."

The townspeople, for some reason, loved Gaston. If she walked out on her vows to him now and he told everyone, then she could expect nothing but animosity for herself and her family every time she came into town. How could she force him to leave quietly without making a stink? She had no idea.

Fortunately, it turned out that force wasn't necessary. Gaston stared her down, seeing her locked in the crosshairs and feeling his finger on the trigger...

And then realized that he really didn't need this one. Not when there was bigger game nearby.

"Well, Belle," he began, stealing a sideways look at the Enchantress, "I suppose a life on the road isn't really best for you after all... braving the elements... hunting your food..." He cracked his neck and faked nonchalance (very badly). "...fighting off the wild animals that'll try to make a meal of you... that sort of thing. Why, I guess only the very bravest sort of-"

"Thank you, Gaston," Belle interrupted loudly, to shut him up. No good would come of baiting the Enchantress, she knew - if Gaston managed to annoy her with his arrogance she'd probably do something to him and then Belle would feel awful.

But it was too late. The Enchantress was watching him, eyebrows raised, looking thoughtful. "I suppose after all I might have a task or two you could help me with," she said at last, fluttering her eyelashes in an inviting sort of way. "Dragons to kill, maidens to rescue, that sort of thing..." She stepped up and held out her hand. "Interested?"

Belle and the Prince were both shaking their heads frantically but Gaston ignored them. "Of course."

He reached out for her, but at the last second the Enchantress yanked her hand away and stepped backwards. "Good. And I'll give you all the details... when you find me."

"Find y- hey!" Gaston dove for her when she started to shimmer, but of course there was nothing he could do as she disintegrated into a cloud of sparkles. "No! Where'd she..." he swallowed, threw his bow over his shoulder, and looked around. "I have to get to her."

Belle would have tried to talk some sense into him, but the sparkles had coalesced into a butterfly and were heading off through the trees. Gaston whistled for his dog and charged after it, ignoring all of Belle's attempts to call him back.

She and the Prince watched him go. "Do you think he'll ever find the witch?" she asked quietly.

The Prince shrugged. "I think it will be some years before she lets it happen."

"Maybe he'll get bored looking and just settle down somewhere," she suggested doubtfully.

"I don't think she'll allow that."

"Really? Then-" Belle started suddenly as if she meant to chase after him, but the Prince caught her wrist and stopped her.

"Belle, let it be."

"But that's awful, we can't let-"

"She worked out all right for me," he pointed out. "It's true I was miserable for a while, but otherwise I would never have met you. And I definitely wouldn't have deserved you... I hardly do now."

Belle looked into his eyes and already it seemed a little less urgent to worry about her (former?) husband. "Don't be silly - you've proved yourself to me in so many ways. You're a wonderful person." She reached up to cup his cheek and giggled, "And so handsome, too."

He made a face. "You've been spending too much time around Gaston."

"Not too much," she argued, smiling. "Just enough. It's made me appreciate things I might have taken for granted before... a brain, for example."

"Belle, I love you."

She hesitated. "Last time I said that, there were sparks and fireworks and it frightened me a little. Is that going to happen again?" He shook his head. "Then, I love you too," she told him.

He laughed and pulled her close and she thought he was a liar - his kiss was more sparks and fireworks than anything the Enchantress had ever showered down on them. And they lived happily ever after.

The End.

Satisfied, Gaston haters? You can imagine quite a bleak future for him if you like. I tend to think it won't go too badly, maybe that he'll even have a good time, but hey. He might also get eaten by a bear the very next day.

Thanks for reading, and especially thanks to everyone who gave me feedback. I hope you enjoyed the story!