The third and final part of the story is up! (That was fast...) This last part focuses only on Angelique and Cogsworth, but primarily Angelique.

I hope you enjoyed this story, and I'm extremely greatful to TrudiRose, disneyqueen, and LightOnAHill, who have been loyaly reading and reviewing.

As usual, I'd like to aplogize for how dialogue-heavy this piece is, and for any out-of-character-ness.

Disclaimer: I do not own Beauty and the Beast

Cogsworth found Angelique, after quite a bit of searching, in the library. She was standing by the window, staring out at the star-dotted sky, arms wrapped around herself.

"Mademoiselle?" Cogsworth carefully approached the angel, who sighed with frustration.

"I don't want to die," she admitted slowly, "but I don't want to live like this forever..."

"Of course you don't. None of us do. But I don't think that we'll even make forever... I mean, as objects never being tended to, we can only last so long. We may even forget how to live..." The clock paused and glanced at Angelique. "...Is this helping you at all, because I'm finding it rather depressing."

"But to live at all without a cause?" Angelique moaned. "I don't understand how anyone could stand that. A decorator for a castle that no one visits? A maitre d' with no one to serve? A maid when no one cares about cleanliness?" She turned to face Cogsworth and ventured, "A head of a household who no one will listen to?" Cogsworth flinched.

"Well, it will be different - it has been different... We're not living for our jobs anymore. We're living for the sake of living. And, until tonight...we were living on hope."

"Not living for out jobs, but for the sake of living," Angelique repeated cynically. "Funny, how that sounds like an improvement."

"Angelique, if I may... Is it possible that there isn't only the curse bothering you?" Cogsworth hesitated, then continued. "Babette, perhaps?"

"Her? Non. I know Lumiere. I knew he would not wait for me if I was up in some attic," Angelique said nonchalantly.

"Oh... Angelique, why did you imprison yourself up there?"

"I couldn't stand the idea...of being helpless. And I knew that if I stayed, I wouldn't be able be to help but to hope. I didn't want to hope for a hopeless cause. Still..."

"Hm?"

"When I went up there, years ago, I expected him...to come after me."

Cogsworth frowned, mentally cursing Lumiere for insisting that he follow Angelique. Comforting others was not his strong suit, not at all. "I don't think it was so much that he didn't want to come after you, as it was that he thought you didn't want him to come after you," he offered.

"It doesn't matter," Angelique said with a shrug. Cogsworth awkwardly put a 'hand' on her shoulder.

"But you won't try to...?"

Angelique shook her head. "Non. I'm not ready." Noticing that Cogsworth still looked slightly nervous, she went on. "I won't try... You have my word."

Cogsworth breathed a sigh of relief. "Good."

Angelique smiled with a nod and the slightest hint of laughter. "Good. Oui."

"Well, why don't we go back so the others can see you're alive and well?" Cogsworth suggested, deciding that maybe he would forgive Lumiere for putting him up to this.

"Alive, Cogsworth," Angelique corrected. "I am alive, and may even be happy someday. But never truly well." Cogsworth did his best to look brave, and nodded.

"We'll...manage. All of us. Somehow."

Angelique raised her hand to his, which was still on her shoulder, and gently removed it.

"We can only hope."

Well, it's done. Thanks for reading, and I hope you enjoyed it! I'm personally not thrilled with the ending, but I think I got what I was going for, more or less. On a side note, writing for Angelique has been extremely fun - She's a bit of a drama queen, no? Well, thanks again, and please review!