Chapter 5

Since Belle's leg was still injured, she had to walk slowly in order to get to the West Tower. Despite their recent fight, Belle didn't feel right about leaving Hades alone with his injuries. Maybe she shouldn't have yelled at him like that. After all, he did save her when he could have just left her to die. Belle stopped before she opened the door at the top of the stairs. What if Hades didn't want to see her? Maybe she shouldn't have come back up here. And why did she feel as though she needed to say anything to him at all? Slowly, she opened the door and stepped inside. It seemed that Hades wasn't even aware that she was here. He was staring up at the painting, deep in thought. Against her better judgment, Belle spoke up.

"Hades?"

"Belle, what are you doing here? I thought I told you not to come back here." There was no edge to his voice this time, but it was obvious that he was feeling conflicted about whether or not he would yell at her once again.

"You did. But I couldn't leave you like this."

"Like what? Horrifying? Deformed? Hideous? There isn't any other way to describe me. Ask anyone." Hades questioned, ready to face whatever names she would call him. Meg had always leapt at a chance to insult him. Why would Belle be any different?

"Hurt. I'm not the only one who experienced pain last night. I thought that maybe you needed someone to bandage that arm, even though I seriously doubt that you are actually concerned about that. Where do you keep the medicine?" For a moment, Hades stood still, stunned. She didn't insult me or call me names. She seems genuinely concerned about me. Sighing, he walked back down the stairs with her to a room with a chair and fireplace. Rhea was already in the room when Belle and Hades entered, but left immediately to get supplies from the medical cabinet.

When Rhea came back, she handed Belle a bowl of hot water, a cloth, and a large roll of gauze. Hades reluctantly sat down in the chair with a scowl on his face. Seeing the gauze, he decided to handle the situation himself and tried to wrap it around his arm himself, but his sharp nails kept tearing the cloth.

"Hades, your arm is definitely not going to heal that way."

"Well, what do you care Belle? This is all your fault anyway."

"My fault?" Belle questioned angrily as she soaked the cloth in the water and wrung it out. Belle sighed in frustration and immediately placed the cloth on Hades' arm. But that was when the fight began again.

"That hurts!" Hades shouted at her and then winced with pain, and immediately moved his arm away from her.

"Well, if you hold still it wouldn't hurt as much!" Belle shouted back and continued to use the cloth on his arm, as Hades tried to turn away from her touch.

"If you hadn't run away, this wouldn't have happened!" Hades shouted again and motioned to his arm, then grabbed the cloth from her.

"If you hadn't frightened and hurt me, I wouldn't have run away!" Belle retorted and tried to take the cloth back out of his hand, but he held it too far out of reach.

"Well you shouldn't have been in the West Tower!"

"Well you should learn to control your temper!" Suddenly, there was complete silence in the room. No one had ever said that to Hades before, not even Meg. Rhea moved closer in case Hades was going to yell at Belle again.

But for once, Hades didn't say anything. He just sat in the chair, and stared blankly at Belle. Belle didn't understand why he was staring at her like that. Hadn't anyone ever told him that before? Was she the first? Surely Meg would have told him the same thing. As she looked over at Hades, she noticed that he continued to stare at her, obviously stunned into silence. Then he looked away from her and just held out his arm.

"By the way, thank you for saving my life." Belle said, and started to apply the ointment and wrap the gauze around his arm. Hades winced again, then turned toward her. Slowly, he said the words he hadn't spoken in centuries.

"You're welcome." Hades slowly glanced at the deep cut on his arm.

"It wasn't my intention for you to get hurt. I didn't expect you to come after me. Why did you?" Belle suddenly felt very guilty for trying to escape and wished that she could take it all back. No one, not even Hades, deserved to be hurt like that. Maybe he wasn't as horrible as everyone said he was. Maybe, just maybe, Hercules and Meg were wrong about him.

"It's late, Belle. I don't want to answer any questions now. But please, forgive me for frightening you. And I'm sorry for saying that the Harpies should have gotten to you. I don't actually want that to happen. Even I can't fight them well."

"I forgive you." After she said that, Hades smiled for the first time in centuries, a real smile, not a smirk or a devilish grin, but a tender and gentle smile. As Belle was finishing up wrapping his arm with the gauze, Hades realized how gentle her touch was. No one except his mother had been gentle with him. The pain was terrible, but it was nothing like the pain of realizing the truth about himself.

As Belle started to leave the room, Hades called out, "Goodnight Belle."

"Goodnight Hades."

The next morning, Belle decided to take a walk. There was still lots of exploring that she wanted to do. But what she didn't know was that Hades was watching her. From the balcony in the West Tower, Hades watched Belle walking through the gardens, or at least what was supposed to resemble a garden. She wore a green dress with a matching ribbon. She was amazingly beautiful, which is why it would never work. How could someone like her be with someone like him? At least she tolerated him now. As he continued to watch her, he noticed someone coming up behind her. Cerberus. Well, this was good. As if he wasn't scary enough. Now his three-headed dog would frighten her. As he started to leave the tower to rescue her from his vicious pet, he suddenly heard laughter. Belle's laughter. She wasn't frightened of Cerberus at all. Instead, she was playing with him. He'd never seen anything like it. Belle was truly amazing in every way.

As Hades watched her, Pain and Panic climbed up to the top of the balcony railing. Hades turned and looked at them. As lousy as they were, they were still his minions and were under his orders. Today, though, he had no strict commands. He just wanted advice from someone. Pain and Panic weren't experts in romance, but he certainly wasn't going to ask his mother. He would never be able to live that down. Besides, she would accuse him of trying to force a relationship.

"Boss, are you alright? You seem different lately." Panic questioned.

"Yeah, you haven't roasted us in days. That's not like you at all." Pain said.

"I've never felt this way about anyone. I want to do something for her, but what?" Hades leaned slightly over the railing and continued to watch Belle play with Cerberus.

"Well, there's the usual things. Flowers, chocolates, promises you don't intend to keep…" Panic said, even though he had almost no experience in romance, and was not in a position to be able to give accurate advice.

"Panic, how will any of that help? It has to be something very special, something that sparks her interest. I've got it! Come on!" Pain exclaimed, and rushed out of the room with Hades and Panic following close behind. It would take several days for the surprise to be ready, but if would help the boss (and prevent him and Panic from having to buy fire-proof clothes) it was worth it.

As the days passed, the three of them worked in secret on the surprise, and the friendship between him and Belle grew quickly, and the two of them became inseparable. Hades almost never raised his voice anymore, and Pain and Panic were seldom tortured, much to their relief. With Belle around, Hades was now motivated to control his temper and act more like the man he actually was, instead of a monster. Besides, he didn't want to frighten her anymore.

Hades also began to spend more time with his mother. He was starting to feel guilty about leaving her alone for all those years. Even though she was living in the Underworld, Hades had mostly stayed away from her, and the two of them had not spoken much. It was selfish of him to never be there for her, especially since no one else cared.

Zeus and Poseidon had stopped caring about her centuries ago. It made him even happier to see Belle become fond of her and treat her with kindness, which was almost as foreign to Rhea as it was to Hades. But his mother had never acted cruelly to anyone like he had. Hades had never seen anyone be as much of a friend to her as Belle was. Much to Hades' chagrin, Rhea told very entertaining and, often embarrassing, stories, most being about him. He later found out that Belle was so close to Rhea because she had lost her mother when she was only a few years old.

Rhea also cared about Belle. She was wonderful to have around and was starting to bring out the best in Hades, even though she knew it had been there all along. Now, once again, he had a reason to be a good person, and there was more hope for breaking the curse than ever. Belle was perfect for him, but both of them needed to be able to see just how much they needed each other.

Out of the three children Rhea had (Zeus, Poseidon, and Hades), Rhea had always loved Hades the most. When he was younger and kinder, he had always listened to her and had been willing to take her in when no one else would. The other two had told her she was a burden and was too old to take care of. That had been the first time Hades had begun to lose his temper. His mother was the only person that cared about him and it hurt when the other gods and goddesses implied that she was useless. The truth was, though, that none of them would have any of their "high and mighty" positions without her. At least Hades understood that.

He had been more than happy for the extra company in the Underworld and at first, he had spoken to her frequently and sought her out just to be with her. Even though he wasn't a villain then, no one ever came to the Underworld willingly, and he cherished the time spent with anyone living who could endure his presence. Even the mortals had feared him, since he was literally responsible for their lives and how long they lived, but never once had he ordered the Fates to cut someone's thread of life on purpose. Except for one: Hercules, when he had come to the Underworld to trade his life for Meg's.

Now, there was yet another living person in the Underworld, even if it was only due to a deal that Hades had made. But maybe Belle didn't mind being with him so much. She was not as sad and was smiling and laughing more. She seemed much happier now. He was convinced that it wasn't so much his doing as it was his mother's. He saw the way that his mother smiled when Belle talked and laughed with her. Belle never judged her the way his brothers had. It was nice to see his mother happy again. She was even happier when telling Belle stories of Hades as a young god, no matter how embarrassing they were, as well as when she talked about the different parts of the world that she had been to.

Belle shared stories of Paris and the other cities in France that she had visited, but she left out the parts about Meg and Hercules. She never mentioned her trips to Greece. She wished that she could tell Hades the truth, but she didn't want to make him angry. He was finally starting to be kind and gentle to her and to everyone else. It wouldn't be fair to jeopardize that. He had changed more than she ever thought possible.

After Belle's leg healed, she would join Hades and Rhea in the dining hall. Every morning, Belle came for breakfast and the three of them talked, but mostly Hades and Belle. They soon discovered that they had a lot in common, and that they weren't so different from each other after all. Both of them were becoming more comfortable in each other's presence. Maybe these mortal emotions weren't so bad after all. Now that Belle was here, Hades began to think that now it was time to move on from his old heartaches. Meg and Aphrodite had been in the past, and he hadn't cared about them the same way he now did for Belle. And both of those times, the attraction had been one-sided. He only hoped that Belle was starting to feel something for him. Belle was completely different: intelligent, beautiful, and had her own kind of charm that the others hadn't.

Meg had been decent to have around, but she had also been extremely sarcastic and very bossy, even more so than him. Belle would never ask for anything if she felt that it would inconvenience anyone, even slightly. She was thoughtful, considerate, and placed everyone else's needs above her own. After all, that was why she was here in the first place. But even though Hades knew Belle liked him more now than she had when she first arrived, he still wondered if she ever regretted her decision, or worse, regretted knowing him. He didn't feel that he could live with himself if she wasn't starting to feel something for him, anything. Even though he didn't want to admit it, he was falling in love with Belle. Every minute that he spent with her, he became even more convinced that she was the one, the one he had needed all along.

Well, this is starting to get really sappy. After all this is over, I am definitely going to have to have a word with Cupid about all this emotion that's involved with love. It's just way too much to deal with all at once.

The next morning, Belle was still asleep in bed when Pain and Panic crept into her room and placed a breakfast tray and a note on her nightstand. When Belle woke up, she saw the tray and suddenly realized that she had slept in too late and missed breakfast with Hades and Rhea, which had never happened before. When Belle looked over at her nightstand again, she found a note from Hades.

Dear Belle,

Since it seems that we are friends now (or at least no longer so volatile towards each other), I wanted to give you something for all you have done for me recently. Please meet me in the throne room after breakfast. I guarantee that you will enjoy this surprise.

Sincerely,

Hades

After Belle was dressed and ready, Pain and Panic walked in and the three of them made their way to the throne room. Hades sat on a dark throne, deeply focused (or at least pretending to be) and reading a scroll. However, he dropped the scroll once he looked up and saw her.

"I'm glad you made it. Pain, Panic, you're dismissed." The two imps scurried away (while suppressing a smile) and Belle and Hades were left alone. The two of them walked down the hallway to the other rooms in the castle, but stopped at the door at the end of the hallway.

"Belle, there's something I want to show you, but first you have to close your eyes." Belle looked at Hades questioningly.

"It's a surprise." Slowly, Belle closed her eyes.

Hades had been up all night for the past few days in order to make sure everything was perfect. Normally he would have asked Pain and Panic to do this, but if either of them got hold of a hammer, everything would have been broken. After waving his hand briefly over Belle's eyes to make sure they were closed, he held her hands gently, still in shock that she allowed him to be so close to her, and led her into a large room.

"Can I open them?"

"No, not yet. Just a few more minutes. Wait here."

Hades slowly (and reluctantly) let go of Belle's hands and raced towards the glass windows. He pulled the newly added curtains aside, allowing light to pour into the room. Even though there is no sun in the underworld, there is still some form of light.

"Alright, now."

Belle slowly opened her eyes and stared in wonder. It was a grand library, filled with thousands of books and spiraling staircases so that people could reach the top shelves. It was the most amazing sight that Belle had ever seen, and in the last place she could have expected. Who would have guessed that the Lord of the Underworld would have had a library?

"I can't believe it. I've never seen so many books in all my life." Belle gasped in wonder.

"You like it?"

"It's wonderful."

"Then it's yours."

"Thank you so much. I've never received anything like this. I couldn't have asked for a better gift or a better friend." Hades felt a pang of disappointment when Belle called him her friend, but it was better than captor.

"You can come here whenever you want. I just want you to be happy here." Belle placed her hands in Hades' once again and smiled at him. Maybe Hades was nicer than he made himself out to be.

"What's going on?" Rhea asked Pain and Panic when she saw them staring at Hades and Belle.

"Just a gift for Belle. It worked, just like I said it would." Pain beamed with pride, having finally done something right for once.

"Show off," Panic scoffed.

"Well, I'm glad Hades finally found a use for that library of his again. I haven't seen him this happy in a long time."