SMOKE AND ASHES
Gold and Belle attempt to share another chocolate cake but quickly fall into each other's arms. Taking his time, Gold gently initiates Belle into a sensuous world caressing her into heretofore inexperienced ecstasy. Belle surprises and delights him by reciprocating his attentions. After showering and fixing them both breakfast, Gold leaves to prepare for an emergency meeting of the tenants and meets young Jefferson leaving Emma Swan's apartment.
At the meeting, Gold informs his tenants that they need to retrieve a valuable scroll that contains part of the most powerful spell ever devised. The scroll is in a library in the far off country of Avonleigh, which, as it turns out, is Belle's homeland. Gold selects his team and is surprised when Belle is quite distressed to discover that he wants her to participate. Belle shares that she cannot return to her home country because she fears she will be recognized and returned to the hospital. Gold suggests she be disguised in a wig and glasses so that she won't attract scrutiny, but Milah speaks up. She feels that a wig and glasses will not suffice and takes on the job of disguising Belle so that she will not be recognized.
Chapter 18
Chatting
As the two women went out the door, everyone heard Milah ask Belle, "How do you feel about tattoos?"
Gold nearly bolted out of his chair, but Regina and Emma laid hands on him. "She's yanking your chain," Regina told him. "Sit down."
Gold fretted and was still agitated when the group broke up to go their Saturday morning ways. Emma, Ruby and Regina spent some time calming him down.
"Hair and makeup is Milah's job. She just might be able to get the job done for a change. You can always go back to a wig and glasses," Regina told him.
"But what if she talks her into a tattoo or body piercing or green hair or something?"
"You are such a fuddy-duddy," Emma told him. "Belle would never agree to that and I really don't think Milah's going try anything like that."
"I have no idea what Milah's capable of," Gold admitted. "And Milah and I have a bit of a history," he disclosed in a low voice.
"Yeah, yeah, we all know. She snuck through your wards, stripped off and hopped in your bed," Ruby summed up his indiscretion with the weather witch.
"And you rejected her overtures and sent her back to her apartment," finished Emma.
"How do you people know about this?" Gold asked surprised (and appalled).
"Milah told us," Ruby told him."She was really pissed at you, but I'm pretty sure she's over it."
"Pretty sure?!" Gold nearly leapt up again.
"She won't hurt Belle, Gold. She's got enough sense to be scared of you," Regina assured him.
"But . . . what if she does something . . . permanent, like a tattoo or a piercing or. . . I don't know what?"
"Nah," Emma confirmed. "She's just going to take Belle and try to make her plain. And we all want to see that." Emma gave the distraught magician a pat on the shoulder. "I've got to go in to work. Keep me in the loop, please." She left and Ruby also excused herself to get a nap.
Gold was left with Regina. She sat quietly a moment, looking him over.
"You really care about this girl, don't you?" she asked.
He hesitated, not because he was ashamed of his feelings but because of a deeply ingrained awareness that anyone he cared about could become a target for his enemies. "We seem to have a connection. She sees good in me," he told her.
"Well, that is pretty amazing, isn't it?"
"That anyone could see good in me? I think it's . . . life saving."
"You're lucky. I hope you know that," Regina shared with him.
"Oh I know," he agreed. "How about you and, who was the man? Somebody Locksley, Miss Swan's boss? Weren't you seeing him for awhile?"
Regina pulled a face. "I thought he was divorced, but turns out he's just separated. The wife is still in the picture."
"I wouldn't think a little thing like that would stop you, my dear," he observed archly.
"I can't have my heart broken again," Regina protested but then spoke sorrowfully. "I don't know if I could handle it. Robert needs to make up his mind. Her or me. I've told him to call if he picks me."
"Marilyn says it will happen. She's pretty good at getting that sort of thing correct." Gold was about to get up and retrieve The Box to take it back to his apartment but Regina stopped him, laying her red-nailed manicured hand on his arm.
"All right, old man. You're holding back," she said to him.
"Whatever do you mean?" he asked her innocently, not moving.
"All the others think you're on some mission to get this powerful spell. But I'm not so sure there's not more to it. Tell me more about this spell," Regina had sat down next to him. "What does it do? What makes it so powerful?"
Gold hesitated. "It takes away magic."
Regina released his arm and sat back in her chair, shocked. "All magic?"
"For a hundred human generations."
Regina considered for a moment. "It's been cast before, hasn't it?"
"Yes," he answered.
Regina sat quietly. "You'd have to be desperate, up against a wall, not have any other options to cast such a spell."
"You would," he answered.
Regina thought a moment longer. "Would it be possible to make adjustments in the spell so that certain people might retain their magic?"
Gold smiled. "Possibly. I've obviously not seen the entire compiled spell. It's very long and very complicated."
"But you've seen one version of it?"
"Actually," he locked eyes with Regina, "With the exception of this 'lost' copy that's apparently been filed away in the Avonleigh Library for who knows how long, I've seen all the other versions, all four of them."
"Really?"
"One is with the Fae. One is with Pan and his minions."
"And the other two?"
"Are with me."
"How did . . . ?"
"One is a family heirloom. The only thing I got from my human family."
"And the other?"
"Had been left with the dwarfs."
"And you got it . . . ?"
"I made them an offer."
"And they accepted?"
He nodded. "They thought the money was a better deal than an old scroll."
"Where's this other copy?"
"Some place safe," he evaded answering directly.
"And you want to go after the three versions you don't have! That's insanity! You might be able to get the copy away from the humans but not from the denizens of the Underworld and certainly not from the Fae."
"They have no idea that I've found the fifth scroll. It's been lost so long, most have forgotten about it. And without the fifth scroll the others scrolls are useless, so much wasted parchment. They have not been careful, circumspect or deliberate about keeping their own scrolls safe. We'll be able to do this," he promised her.
"And then the real fun will begin," Regina finished.
+ + + Waiting for the Results
Gold stood in his shop. He'd spent a restless morning. He kept imagining Belle coming back, her chestnut curls now dyed green and purple and coifed into a Mohawk . . . or her head shaved . . . with multiple piercings down her ears and through her nose . . . or wearing black lipstick . . . or a tube top . . . . He kept envisioning her dressed in something dreadful and plastic that looked like it came from Milah's closet. Would she look like a hoochie dancer? not that she couldn't carry the look off. Or worse, would she be all suited up with shiny black high heels and remind him of Regina? He shuddered.
Milah and Belle didn't call or come back in for lunch. They didn't come back in during the afternoon. It was early evening when Gold got The Call from Milah. "Can you meet us for supper?" she asked him. "Some of the others will be joining us, Mary Margaret, Ruby and Emma."
"Where?" he'd asked Milah.
"How about The Laughing Seed?" Milah suggested the vegetarian restaurant on Wall Street.
"Sure. Milah, how's she look?" he had to ask.
"You'll see. I don't think you'll recognize her," Milah told him and hung up.
"Huh, I doubt that," Gold said to himself. How would he not recognize that petite frame, the rich chestnut hair, the sparkling blue eyes? Even if Milah had successfully disguised those things, she could never disguise the energy, the spirit, the soul of his dearest darling.
He'd recognize Belle anywhere.
He met up with Mary Margaret and Ruby and walked with them down to the restaurant and got a table for six. Emma had been called and she soon joined up with them.
"I'll bet that she's dyed Belle's hair. You think blonde?" Ruby said.
"Probably. But I'm not sure what else she might do," Mary Margaret said. "Glasses?"
Gold shrugged. He had no idea what Milah might have done to his Belle, his darling Belle, his precious, darling Belle.
They had been at the restaurant for about fifteen minutes and Emma had joined them. Gold had ordered a bottle of wine for the table. The ladies were sharing it with him when Milah came in. She had changed from her morning's (actually previous evening's attire) into a soft flowing green dress, very feminine but very conservative, especially for someone of Milah's taste. Her makeup was subdued with perhaps only a little mascara and some muted coral lipstick. Her hair had been combed out straight and she wore only some gold studs in her ears. "Sorry, got delayed," she said breathlessly and sat down.
"Where's Belle?" Gold asked her, a bit surprised at Milah's quiet new look. Belle's influence?
"She went on ahead and got here early,' Milah told him passing up the wine and ordering herself a beer. "She should have been waiting on you."
"What?!"
"How long have you been here?" Milah asked.
"'Bout ten, fifteen minutes," Ruby told her.
"Then Belle definitely should have already been here," Milah told them. And then she sat back and smiled. She took a breath, sipped her beer and then said slowly, "Maybe . . . she's here already."
They looked around. They didn't see anyone that reminded them of Belle. There were a variety of couples and larger groups. There were only a few single diners. Gold eliminated the men, and examined the three women diners. One was too large to be Belle. Of the other two, one was a frumpy, mousey brunette with wirey hair and cappuccino colored skin hunched over a tablet computer and the other was a sleek blonde with leggings and a loose fitting tunic top reading a book.
Gold looked at both of these women for some time. He finally pointed to the mousey brunette. "Belle?"
The woman looked up and through thick glasses met his brown eyes with brown eyes. The woman gave him Belle's sweet smile.
"Belle!" Gold was astonished. He had not recognized the woman! Milah had dyed her hair a darker color and had done something to make it frizzy and unkempt. She'd cut it to give Belle bangs that hung over her eyes.
Gold went over to her and holding out his hand to Belle, he had her stand so that he could look her over. Belle was apparently wearing brown contact lenses and thick glasses. Her skin tone was darker, much darker. She was dressed in an unflattering oversized skirt, a loose fitting top and she wore heavy, clunky shoes with socks. Milah had added a beat-up cross body satchel that could hold a laptop and Belle looked very much like the serious college student who didn't have time to attend to her personal appearance. Perfect attire for a graduate assistant for a professor of ancient literature.
"This is amazing," Gold said holding out his hand to Belle who took it and stood up. She followed him over to the larger table.
"You look like a different person," Mary Margaret told her. "Milah, you did an amazing job."
Ruby was staring at Belle. "You do, you look like a totally different person."
Gold looked over at Milah who was feigning indifference and refreshing her lipstick. "You did a good job," he told her quietly. Perhaps this was why The House had invited her in. Not for her weather witchery but for her mundane skills, those she used for her everyday job as a beautician and aesthetist.
Milah looked back at him. She put down her lipstick and sat quietly. She seemed surprised that he had addressed her, that he had said something nice to her, that he was being kind to her.
"I did good?" she asked him
"You did, very good." He was thanking her and for once his eyes were kind and his tone was patient.
Belle began regaling everyone with everything that Milah had done.
"You know I've made plenty of nerdy girls look hot, but this is the first time I've ever tried to make a hot girl look nerdy," Milah confessed. "I'm gonna make you look like somebody who spends all their time in a library. First sugah, we gonna darken your skin tone. Right now, if I put red lipstick on you, you would pass for a vampire," Milah had begun. "I'm guessin' you never go out in the sun. I'm gonna have you go a couple rounds in the spray-tan booth."
And she'd repeated treatments until Belle was the color of milked coffee.
"Now, darlin', we're gonna darken your hair, with no highlights, no shine, just a dull brown," Milah had continued. "I'm bettin' everybody is expectin' us to go blonde, but I understand that you want to look plain, blend in, or at least not stand out." Then she went ahead and cut the bangs, trimming them unevenly so that some of them went into Belle's eyes. "And sweetie, I'm gonna make your hair frizzy on purpose. It'll help it look like you just don't spend time yourself. I'm going to purposely over-process you." Milah spent a good deal of the afternoon doing the hair treatments that she pushed so they went intentionally awry, treatments that indeed made Belle's hair frizz and stand out around her head.
"Now what makeup do you wear?" she'd asked Belle.
"Not much. I just have this little pink lipstick." And Belle handed her the little tube she'd picked up at Target.
Milah examined it and shook her head, "Oh that's a cute color! It's a cheap brand too. Don't you love it when you find something that's cheap and nice? But that color's too flattering on you. I'm gonna suggest a dick-colored lipstick. It's not gonna look good on you but it looks like you're making an effort but just don't know how to make an effort. I'm also gonna suggest we darken your eyebrows to match your hair."
They were in a full service salon so Milah had been able to go to their Costume Accessories Department (which was used to fitting people with non-prescription contact lenses) and she had Belle fitted with brown blank contact lenses. She had Belle try on several glasses and selected a rather unattractive brown heavy-framed set of glasses.
They had then gone shopping, Milah telling her that Gold would pick up the bill. They went into several vintage shops and got mid-calf length shapeless drab skirts and over-sized tops and dull cardigans. They found the beat-up leather satchel that would serve as both a pocketbook and a briefcase. They ended up at Tops shoes, where Ashley was now working part-time on her dream job.
"We need some truly fugly shoes. Show us your Crocs," Milah directed her. Milah also had her pick out some wicked-witch striped socks.
Milah then had spent some time coaching her. "You really need to try to look like a geeky nerd. You always sit up so straight, like you're a queen. Slump over like you've spend all your time hunched over some stupid book," Milah worked on Belle's upright posture.
"And your speech. Honey, once you open your mouth, people are gonna spot you as Belle. I feel like l'm talking with the Grand Duchess. You're always so gracious and nice and polite. Can't you southify you're speech just a little, get a little trailer-trash worked into it."
Belle took a breath, "We-ell I do'n know."
"That's awful. You gonna have to work on it. Hang around in my beauty shop . . . or a laudromat . . . or a bar," Milah instructed her. "And start mimicking how those people talk."
The two women had devised the supper scenario and Belle had gone in early to find a table, remembering to slump down and sit hunched over.
+ + + + Later that Evening
Emma drove everyone back to The House. Gold lingered in his shop while everyone except Belle went upstairs.
"You look amazingly different," Gold told her once they were alone.
"I don't recognize myself when I look in the mirror. Milah did an incredible job," Belle replied. "The hair, the clothes, and now I'm learning the body language and trying very hard to pick up the accent. It's all a little overwhelming." She leaned up to kiss him and was surprised when he pulled back.
"Belle, you're going to think I'm being silly. But. . . " he was clearly uncomfortable with what he had to say. "When you look so different, it's hard for me to want to kiss you or touch you. I feel . . . I feel like I'm cheating on Belle."
Belle giggled. "How fun! Maybe we should cut all the lights off."
"Well that might help. But you know your hair actually feels differently and you smell differently. I'm not sure I want to . . . "
"Come on," she pulled him into the little back room where, it seemed so long ago now, she had spent her first night in The House. Belle turned off the light and dropped the curtain. "Now close your eyes."
He had to smile at her eagerness and complied. He felt her lips on his, kissing him and he put his hands on her firm buttocks, pulling her into him. She gave a little yelp of surprise then settled in, relishing the feel of his firm body pressed against her own. Kissing her back, he kept one hand on her enticing little rear and allowed the other one to press up her back. When he contacted her hair, he pulled back.
He sighed, "Your hair feels different." He flipped the light back on. "Belle, your body feels the same, and I know it's you, but you look so different. I. . . I. . . don't feel right. This doesn't feel right. Even if I close my eyes . . . Belle . . . my dearest Belle . . . even if I touch your mind, there is this image of what you look like now and I can't . . . . Maybe . . . after I've had some time to adjust . . . to get it into my head, it's still you . . . . Be patient with me?"
Belle considered. "This trip to Avonleigh? It shouldn't take too long, should it?"
"I'm hoping no more than two weeks," he told her.
"Perhaps we should spend the time thinking about all the different things we'd like to do to each other when we get back," she suggested.
Gold groaned. "You know, before this is over, I intend to . . . " he didn't finish. There was both a threat and a promise in his voice.
Belle looked at him, the brown contacts not dulling the sparkle in her eyes. "I think I have a pretty good idea of your intentions," she told him. "You think you can keep your hands off of me for two weeks?" she asked him, moving away from his embrace.
The little wench was laughing at him. Gold allowed her to move away. It wasn't going to be easy.
+ + + Getting Ready
The formal request (bewitched as it was) had been emailed off to the Avonleigh Library. They were waiting to hear back although Gold was supremely confident that their petition to do some research in the prestigious library would be accepted. All their paperwork had been pulled together, including passports, letters of introduction, university identification cards. Plane tickets had been bought. Hotel rooms had been reserved.
The invitation, acceptance of the petition, whatever it was to be called was accepted within twelve hours. Dr. Luminere would be most happy to welcome the eminent Dr. Gold.
Before leaving out, Gold sat and talked with Regina.
"You can handle this," he said it as a fact, not as a question.
"I think the key is that we give the impression that we expect you back at any moment," Regina told him.
"Which should be easy since you can expect us back at any moment. That and, being confident that if I left you in charge, then you're more than capable of handling anything that they throw at you."
Regina nodded.
"You're worried if your mother or sister should show up?" he asked her.
"I can handle most of the Shadow Legion. I can handle Pan. But Mother? Or Zelena? And Zelena?"
"The House will keep you safe. They can't come up the stairs," he reassured her.
"Sometimes I wonder, given who my family is, if I really belong in this house," Regina told him. It was a rare moment of honesty from the woman he usually saw as his second in command.
Gold shook his head, "Well, dearie, you know who my family is and I'm here."
"But you're . . . well, you're different and you know it. You weren't raised by your father like I was raised by my mother."
"For all that, I'm still that bastard's son," Gold told her. "He wasn't interested in me until he determined I had power."
"And then he just wanted to make sure that you weren't coming after him to kill him," Regina expanded.
"Well, we're still not sure of that, are we? Regina, are you really worried about managing The House?"
"No, I guess not. I'll get the van and drive all of you down to the airport."
+ + + Thinking Back
Belle looked at herself in the mirror. Her single bag was packed and she had all the paperwork together that David had supplied. Was she ready for this?
She thought back over her time with Milah. There had been a more personal talk, the one between them that touched on their relationship with Mr. Gold.
Belle had been hesitant as she and Milah had first walked down the stairs.
They had been in Milah's little rattletrap car on their way out to the salon where Milah worked. "I know you and Gold are an item," Milah had began slowly, broaching the subject that was on both of their minds.
"We are more than just friends," Belle had felt comfortable saying that. She nearly blushed thinking where the man's fingers had been the night before.
"You know I tried to get him interested in me," Milah confessed. "But I guess I'm not his type."
"You were attracted to him?" Belle asked, knowing the answer.
"Not really," Milah snorted. "I was attracted to his money and his power. But he set me back several times.
"I did know you and Mr. Gold have a little history," she began cautiously.
"Hell, girl, I stripped off and waited for him in his bed," Milah admitted. "That little trick had never failed before, but I certainly fell on my ass with him."
"He rejected you? I would think that would have made you angry," Belle commented, her face mirroring her concern.
"Oh, honey, did it ever. I was livid. . . at first. I kept tryin' to impress him but when he took me out, not for a date mind you, but to check on my 'progress' with my talent, well, he didn't approve of how I dressed and I began to realize that he was so prim and proper. Then he took me to this really posh restaurant and I was in so far in over my head. I mean, I had no idea what fork to use, where to put my napkin, what the hell to order off the menu . . . most of it was stuff I'd never heard of. And, dear lord, he wanted me to drink some high-priced wine," Milah leaned in and whispered, "It tasted like bug spray."
"So you're more of a beer and burger kind of girl?"
"I'm more like a JD and coke in a can with a couple of Slim Jims kinda girl," Milah answered her.
"So," Belle began tenuously, "You decided he wasn't right for you?"
"Pretty much. Course if he ever invited me back upstairs, I'd take him up on it. I mean, he's got tons of money and he smells nice." Milah leaned in conspiratorially, "There was a while there that I thought he was a 'mo, you know, because he dresses so nice and I never saw him with a woman. But then I heard about this wild fling he'd had with this woman named Cora. I heard they went at it like weasels in heat. You could smell hair burnin'."
Belle digested this disturbing bit of news. "Really," Belle didn't know if Milah was trying to upset her with the knowledge that Gold had been with other women before he met her but Belle felt that was to be expected; he was, after all, how old? She had met Cora and couldn't imagine than her Mr. Gold still had any feelings for her. There was something cold and dark and just plain nasty about the woman. More than anything, she was perhaps curious as to what had drawn him to Cora in the first place.
"Yeah," Milah continued on. "From what I'd heard about her I thought he might be interested in somebody like me, but Cora must have soured him for the free-spirited types. You're kinda like the complete opposite of what I've heard about Cora. You're classy and sweet and all."
"Am I?" Belle asked. "I would think that even if Mr. Gold had been interested in you, well, you don't strike me as someone who would want to settle down with one man," Belle surmised.
"Sometimes I feel like I want to but other times, hell no. I'm havin' too much fun." Milah turned the corner and pulled into a parking lot. "You know, I was afraid you would be snooty, too good for the rest of us, but you're really nice." Milah paused a moment. "I probably shouldn't share this, but I was determined not to like you. . . but when you and me, when we were on the roof, when we were able to take down Regina and Emma when we were sparrin', I felt really good about myself. I mean, damn girl, those two women are both epic ace magic users. But workin' with you, I felt that I had really helped, that I was part of a team and a real player and no longer just the weak sister, the one everybody else had to take care of."
"Milah, you should feel like you're part of a team all of the time," Belle encouraged her.
They got out of the car and Belle looked around trying to decide which of the buildings held Milah's salon. Milah led her to an unpretentious stucco building. Belle walked along the patterned brick path leading to heavy beveled glass doors, noting the plantings (right now just rosemary and pansies) on the outside.
Before they went into the building, Belle turned to the other woman. "I'm so hoping you can do what you said you could. Milah, I'm terrified of returning to Avonleigh and petrified that someone will recognize me. But Mr. Gold is insisting I go and he's really hard to say 'no' to. So I'm really dependent on you doing a good job," she confessed.
Milah paused at the double doors before going in. "Wow, nobody's ever been dependent on me doin' anything." She had stepped back a moment. "Puts a lot of pressure on me. Makes me feel kinda important. That's a first for me." She shrugged and gestured Belle into the building.
It was a genteel setting, more spa-like than simple beauty salon. There were tasteful flower drawings on the walls and wide-planked wooden floors. A soft fragrance permeated the facility. There was a full-time receptionist sitting behind a glass desk who greeted Milah respectfully.
"I have a special appointment this morning," Milah informed the receptionist and dragged Belle behind her on the way back to her booth.
"How long have you been living at The House?" Belle changed the subject and asked the other woman about her own background.
"Not very long. Maybe about a year. I'd come to Asheville hoping to find a job at a high-end salon. I figured it'd pay better and I would be able to try some of the stylin' ideas I had. The first place I found a job here didn't pay me enough to live on. I was hopin' I could maybe find a roommate and get by while I got a regular clientele and then maybe I could move to a more upscale salon. It wasn't happ'nin' quick enough and things began to get kinda dicey. I guess I was getting' pretty desperate when I saw a sign in the window of Gold's shop that a room was for rent. I figured, 'What the hell,' and went on in to check it out. You know I'd been by that buildin' a hundred times and never really noticed it until that afternoon. Gold was standin' behind his counter, you know, like he always does. Reminded me of a spider and I was the fly. He looked me over and took me on up to the room. I couldn't believe it, but I could afford it. And then, that evenin', Emma and Ruby paid me a visit."
"So you had no inkling that magic was real and that you were talented?" Belle asked.
"Even after they'd talked to me, I didn't believe it."
"It was very hard for me also," Belle admitted.
"Hell, I figured the place was a looney bin. But then I began to see things. Jefferson had taken me out on the roof to try to figure out what I could do and it didn't go well. I couldn't read minds. I couldn't move things with my mind. I couldn't throw fireballs. I got kinda upset and it started rainin'."
Belle was sitting while Milah was doing a treatment on her hair. She processed what Milah had told her. "But it can't rain on that rooftop unless all the shielding is lifted!" Belle realized.
"Exactly. That's when Jefferson figured out that I could control weather, well, more like push weather around."
"So I know you can make it rain, make it cloudy, dark, throw lightning bolts," Belle began. "What else?"
"I can make it windy, really windy. I've been working on making little tornados, like a F zero point one – nothing stupendous but little ones."
"Sweet," Belle complimented her.
Milah paused for a moment, "I don't suppose you'd tell me if he was any good in the sack, would you?"
"He has a lot of old world manners and is very considerate," Belle told her.
"Readin' through your classy talk, that sounds like he makes sure you come first," Milah said knowingly.
I'm hoping I didn't disappoint with Belle's makeover. Several of you seemed to be (wanting) expecting the flamboyant, sexy or something over-the-top with Milah's makeover of Belle; however, I wanted her to blend in to the point of invisibility. Milah does belong in The House but, as Gold suspects, perhaps it is not because of her rather ordinary talent. (Oh yeah, if you're wanting sexy Belle, stay tuned – this isn't their only Field Trip).
Thanks to those truly amazing, supportive reviewers: OneMagician, jewel415, emospritelet, EevyLynn, CharlotteAshmore, cynicsquest, RoxyMoron, Robin4, deweymay, Guest (waiting all week), RaFire, spacecats, juju0268, cheesyteal'c, Aletta-Feather, karolprado, orthankg1, Grace5231973, MyraValhallah, Chauchi, DruidKitty (Chapter 2), and
Anne Andrews (Guest) Hope you weren't disappointed by Belle's makeover – she really doesn't want to stand out and 'super-sexy' would definitely make her stand out. (The advantage with an account is twofold – you can flag stories and writers and get notices that new chapters have been posted - and not have to go looking for them. And you can do private messages; I've had a number of pm's going back and forth and sometimes will work with reviewers on developing/incorporating their ideas or comments into my story. I always stick with my original outline but I can do a story arc, add a character, expand on someone's inner monologue, etc. based on some stray comment somebody has made: Lovecraft the Cat came out of one of these exchanges.)
NEXT: Arrival in Avonleigh and Belle's Secret is but One that is revealed.