Hey guys! Thanks again for all the lovely reviews on the last chapter, so happy to see you all enjoyed the interaction with Lumiere and Belle! I'm hoping to do more interactions like that with other characters, it's always so much fun. And thank you guys who sent kind words about my new job! It's going really well so far!

Anyway, I hope you like this new chapter, it's a bit of touching upon the atlas again but this time after the curse. Enjoy!

"What do you say we run away?"

Adam's eyes shot up from the letter he was reading, meeting the grinning face of Belle. His savior had arrived and silently he prayed to the heavens.

Cogsworth had, much to Adam's dismay, designated a time for him to read over all of the letters that had been sent to the castle since they reappeared to the outside world. The older man had all but locked him up in the library, refusing to let him leave before he had at least gotten through half of the letters.

Adam had barely gotten through a quarter. The letters all started to blur together, the handwriting morphing into one another and at points, he swore he felt his own eyes cross before he blinked them back into focus. Boredom could kill someone, couldn't it?

He looked up at his wife, shocked, "How did you get in here?" he asked in disbelief, rising from the chair. He groaned as he stretched out his back, his muscles stiff from sitting so long.

A glint of mischief in her eye, Belle could only smile, "I had a lot of free time in this library," she replied, walking around the table to stand in front of him, "I have a few secret in's and out's."

"Aren't you the devious one?" he chuckled, pulling her closer to him. Ducking his head down, he quickly kissed her lips. This was something that would never get old to him.

Being near Belle always brought him a sense of calm, of reassurance. That this was all real, that she was real, and that the curse was truly gone. It was the joy in her laugh, the way that she would tease him, the passion that she would show when talking or doing something she loved. The warmth of her eyes, the softness of her skin, the scent of charcoal and lavender that was so Belle. Beauty, but her mind was always working. He would laugh when he would see the smudges of her face when she forgot to wash the charcoal away after an idea would come to her. Each day there was something new he would discover about her and each day he would love her more and more. Trying to imagine his life without Belle was impossible.

Giggling, she broke the kiss and patted his chest lightly, "I do have my ways. But you didn't answer my question."

"Oh?" he said, leaning his forehead on her's, tugging her body against his, "what was it that you asked again? I was engrossed in the most interesting letter."

"Another one from a family relative you haven't heard from in years?"

"No, I got through those earlier, thankfully," he grumbled, "it actually was the first one that was interesting. A young king from the east side of France, Kit I think his name was."

Eyebrow raised, Belle smirked as she tried to hold back a laugh, "It must have been good if you remembered his name!" she teased.

"Hush you," he whispered, kissing her again as Belle burst into a fit of giggles.

Gently, she pulled away from him, "Like I was saying before," she paused, a glint of mischief coming to her eye, "we should run away."

Confused, Adam's brows furrowed, "Run away?"

"Just for a bit, like we did once before."

Once before? Adam stared down at her, puzzled, before a low rumble of a voice ran out in his mind;

"What do you say we run away?"

"Use the book?" he asked, "I don't even know if will still work."

"It's worth a try isn't it?" she replied, taking her hand in his, "this time we can go anywhere we want, there is so much we haven't gotten to explore yet."

Looking into her eyes, Adam could tell that her mind was made up. Getting Belle off an idea was almost impossible, especially when it had something to do with exploring. He had promised to take her wherever her heart desired, knowing she wanted nothing more than that. To see the cities and lands she had read about in her books so much. His heart clenched when he realized it would be some time before they could do that, the matter of being royalty taking up far more time then he would have like.

The book, that cursed enchanted book that he hated so much, would make it so much easier. The worry of travel would be gone, whisked away quickly to see anywhere the heart desired.

His own heart pounded at the idea. It had mocked him for so long, a cruel trick placed in front of him all those years. Just the thought of it made him bristle.

Feeling him tense slightly, Belle squeezed Adam's hand, concern on her face, "What's wrong?"

He shrugged, his eyes shifting away from her, "Nothing, I'm just...not sure the book would work anymore."

Huffing, Belle took his face in her hands and tried to catch his gaze, "Don't try that, you know that doesn't work with me."

Frowning, he leaned into her touch, "It works sometimes."

"By sometimes, do you mean once?"

"Once is still a 'sometimes' I'd argue," he mumbled, his eyes finally meeting her's, "I...just don't like that book very much is all."

Sighing, Belle gently stroked his cheek with her thumb. He watched her, the small bit of sadness that had settled into her eyes, and couldn't take it. It was his own fear, his own hatred, holding her back. For all she had done for him, for all that he loved her, he couldn't do this one thing?

Her sadness wasn't something he could bear.

"If you truly want to use the book," he whispered, taking one of her hands into his, "then let us try. What could it hurt?"

"If you are uncomfortable…" she began, but he shook his head.

"It is nothing more than a foolish hatred."

For a moment, Belle did nothing. Watching him, searching his eyes. Slowly the smile came back to her face, tugging on the edges of her lips. Leaning forward, she kissed him gently before pulling away.

"Then let us go see if we can find the book."

Scrutinizing the wall of books, Adam let out a frustrated sigh. He could have sworn he had put it towards the back of the library, where he never had to see the blasted thing again. Replaying the scene again in his mind, it had been a few months, his hand traced down some of the spines of the other novels. He had placed it with other books he wanted no part of at the time, some of them his mother's favorites. They were still too painful to look at.

Steps approaching him, Belle's own sigh caught his attention and he looked over at the frowning brunette. She had pulled her hair into a bun as they begun their search, a determination in her eyes that he couldn't help but smile about. Now though, it was more of an annoyed look, her eyes scanning the shelves.

"It was a pretty big book wasn't it?" she asked, hands on her hips as she looked at him, "surely you couldn't have put it too many places?"

"It should be back here," he grumbled, waving his hand in a general direction, "unless the blasted thing grew legs and walked off…"

"I mean it was a magic book…" Belle countered, looking over some of the spines.

Adam rolled his eyes, holding back a groan, "Magic or not, it should be here."

Biting her lip to hold back a smirk, Belle shook her head as she knelt down. She tried to imagine what the book had looked like, the small time she was with it. From memory, it was brown, leather bound, which didn't help much. There was a good number of those types of books like that here.

It was the corner of her eye that spotted something. A small twinkle, like a flash of gold. Following it, she slowly stood up. It was a few shelves up, higher then what she could reach on her own. Dashing toward the ladder, she quickly pushed it back towards the shelf in question.

Adam watched her flurry of movements, confused. Had she seen something he hadn't?

Belle climbed the ladder, carefully, and slowly pulled the large book from the shelf. Her eyebrows pinched together as she looked over the it, a sense of confusion coming over her. It was the same book, but something felt different about it. Like it was duller. The sparkle that had lingered around the covers corners were gone and it also seemed to be crumbling.

"Adam look at this," she said urgently, climbing down the ladder. Walking over to Belle, he held out his hand for her as she took the last few steps off the ladder. Giving a small thank you, she quickly walked over to the nearest table, Adam right behind her.

Carefully placing it on the table, Belle ran her fingers along the cover. The life that she recalled from before, the warmth that her hand felt, it almost seemed like it was gone.

"It looks as if it's...crumbling," Adam muttered next to Belle, "try opening it."

Gently, as if it were made of glass, Belle opened the magical book. The pages, which had once been brimming with colors and gold that moved throughout the pages, were almost completely dulled. As she continued to turn the pages, each different from the last, sadness wormed it's way into her. It had been a small idea, something that could allow both she and Adam to get away for even just a moment.

It all seemed for naught.

Watching her, Adam knew with each page that Belle's hope was waning. He could see it in the twitches of her lips, which started to pull into a frown. How her brows furrowed, her shoulders dropping every so slightly. It was the small things that would give away Belle's mood, something he had picked up on during the curse.

"Let's flip to the atlas," he said, putting his hand on her's as she grasped at the pages, "maybe that'll be different."

Together they flipped to the page and a small laugh escaped Belle. It was like this page hadn't been touched at all by whatever happened to the book. It shimmered, the gold dust moving towards where their hands had been placed.

Her eyes traced over the page, taking it all in. Fingers lightly going over the page, a small scrawled out message in one of the corners caught her attention.

"Was this here before?" she asked Adam, "'May you have one last adventure…'? Who could have…"

"The Enchantress…" he whispered, eyes widening, "otherwise...the book probably would have lost all it's magic when the curse fell."

A small smile on her face, Belle turned and looked up at him, "Where would you like to go?"

"Me?" he asked, shaking his head, "no darling, you pick where we go. You've always dreamt of seeing the world," he carefully takes her hand, bring it up to his lips and kisses it, "you should be the one to pick our adventure."

Gently, he placed her hand down in the middle of the book, as he once did before. But instead of a paw, that was larger than her petite hand, his own human hand covered her's. He smiled softly, looking from their hands to her face, which was almost glowing with delight.

The warmth of the book seeped into her fingers and Belle couldn't fight the happiness that filled her. Looking from the man she loved, her gaze fell on their hands and the magic that awaited them. Taking a deep breath, she closed her eyes and visualized the place she always wanted to see. The warmth that filled the air, the shimmering river, the beautiful buildings and homes that lined the streets.

Verona had always been her escape.

Hands locked together, Belle rushed down the cobblestone streets of the Italian city. Her laughter filled the air as she ran with Adam, trying to absorb every detail she could. It had been almost like she had imagined, but so much more.

Halfway over a bridge, Belle stopped and tried to take it all in. Laughing out of breath, she had to stop herself from pinching her arm.

"It's more beautiful than I imagined," she said breathless, "can you believe it?"

Adam, who had been silent most of their running, hummed in response, looking around. He should have suspected that she would take them here, the heart of her favorite play. He had thought of teasing her, hoping to rile her up slightly, but he watched the true joy she felt from being here and couldn't bring himself to it. Not at this moment anyway, there was other times the teasing would be appropriate.

Turning to him, cheeks flush, she couldn't help but laugh, "It's left you speechless!"

At this, he raised at eyebrow, "Speechless wouldn't be the right term," he countered in a deadpan tone, "though I will admit the sunset is lovely."

It was like something out of a painting. The sky was a perfect mix of oranges, blues, and slight purples, creating a setting that was almost too good to be true. Belle thought of her father, how he would have loved to come along and be able to paint such an image.

Arms slowly wrapped around her waist from behind, Adam lightly kissing the spot between her neck and shoulder. Belle softly hummed, leaning back into him as she watched the sunset.

"It's a romantic city…" she mumbled softly, her hands resting on top of his as he continued up her neck, "the perfect escape I think, don't you?"

His hot breath on her neck sent a shiver down her spine, her knees feeling weak, "I would have to agree my love, it is a nice escape."

Nibbling at her earlobe, Belle had to fight back a small moan. Turning quickly around, she wrapped her arms quickly around his neck and kissed him hard, tangling her hands in his hair. A low growl rumbled from Adam and he pressed her back against the bridge, leaning into the kiss.

A heat formed in the pit of her stomach, surging through her body, and Belle knew they had to stop. The ache was beginning, but not out in the open when people could see them! She felt herself flush even more and broke away from his kiss, breathless. Adam tried to duck in to kiss her again, but she stopped him, laughing lightly, "If we keep going at this rate…."

Kissing her neck again, Adam huffed, "I thought you said it was romantic…" he muttered teasingly, finding the spots he knew he'd get a reaction from.

Belle tried to fight it, but another moan escaped her, louder this time, "A-Adam...in the open?"

Kissing behind her ear, a smirked played on his lips, "I'd take you right here if you let me…" he whispered.

Her face flushed even more and she smacked his arm, "Adam!"

Pulling back, he laughed, shrugging his shoulders, "You asked."

"You are unbelievable."

"What, so sex in the library is fine, but not on a bridge?"

She hit him again as he laughed, "Alright, alright, I get it…" he conceded, his smirk slightly crooked, "I was teasing."

"Well, we could just go back to all your lovely letters."

"Now that's just cruel."

Spinning out of his arms, taking his hand, Belle started to pull him along, "Then we'll take our time seeing some places that took place in Romeo and Juliet."

Laughing at his reaction, his eye rolls somehow always got more dramatic, she pulled him closer to her so they were side by side. Kissing his cheek quickly, she locked their arms together and rested her head on his arm, "I love you, thank you for bringing me here."

Even now, after all this time, his heart still raced when he heard those words. Words he waited so long to hear, that he thought he would never hear. Now he was here, with the love of his life, in a city she loved, and he couldn't believe how lucky he was.

"I love you too."