A/N: Hey, we're at the homestretch. Thanks so much to those who stuck around and enjoyed my story, I really appreciate it!

Re: fairy tale requests, I'm going to tackle the classics first. Some stories I like more than others, so they won't exactly be in order of Disney releases haw haw. (To the person who asked me to do Mulan, I never liked Disney's adaptation of the legend and I'm perpetually bitter about it so who knows if I'll ever touch it.)

Happy reading!

GoGo wondered why she'd never paid attention to the stables in the castle, but it really wasn't her priority as she raced back to the village. First she had to see Aunt Cass. Then she would go back to Tadashi. And then she'd...

First Aunt Cass.

...

It was midday by the time she'd arrived at the village, and GoGo was about to collapse again from not sleeping a wink. Some people stared, but most took no noticed as her horse galloped across town until she reached the bakery where she dismounted and walked to the door.

This was it. She was seeing Aunt Cass again for the first time in nearly a year. What would she say? Would she be angry? Would she resent her for making the choice she did? She bit her lip and knocked anxiously. The door slowly creaked open as a green eye appeared in the crack. Within seconds it swung open, slamming the bell with such a force GoGo worried it would snap off. Aunt Cass shrieked as she flung her arms around her and nearly crushed her bones. The relief flooding through the ward was indescribable; she could only return the embrace as she fought the tears welling up in her eyes.

"GoGo! GoGo, my baby!" Aunt Cass was crying. When at last she let go, she ran her fingers through the girl's hair and examined her face from every corner. "I can't believe you—how did you—come in, I'll make sweet rolls!" As if it was an afterthought, she switched the shop sign in the window to "closed" and pulled her in.

Immediately the woman took some of the dough and began rolling it as GoGo paced around the store and looked around. Everything was just as she'd left it. Mochi was even curled up on the chair in the corner. GoGo bent down and made clicking noises as the cat stared until it hopped off the chair and crawled around her legs, purring.

"It'll take a while," Aunt Cass said, shoving the pan into the oven as GoGo picked Mochi up, "but you know how..." She threw her arms around GoGo once again, but only for a short while. "You're just as I—How are you? How are you here?"

"I missed you too, Aunt Cass," she said, grinning. "And this is going to sound really... really strange, but those castle people actually aren't so bad."

The woman raised an eyebrow.

"It's a long story."

She looked more closely at her face and shook her head. "Let's hear about it when you get some rest."

GoGo wanted to protest but found she couldn't. Her knees were about to give out, and a yawn deflected any argument she would have made anyway. Slowly Aunt Cass led her to her old room, where she flopped on the bed and snuggled into the warm, soft sheets enticing her to drift away.

...

The sky outside was pitch black when she woke to the smell of cinnamon. When she got to the bakery, GoGo saw the store was still closed. Aunt Cass hummed as she baked sweet rolls until she turned and spotted her.

"You slept in again," she chuckled. "Been sleeping since you got back yesterday, in fact."

GoGo said nothing.

"There's still some left from yesterday. I know they're not as fresh, but..."

The girl walked to the counter where she picked one up and took a small bite. The next thing she knew she was devouring them by the dozen, practically swallowing them whole.

"I see your appetite hasn't changed." GoGo looked out of the corner of her eye and saw her aunt's smile—overjoyed, yes, but crooked, as if she sensed something was wrong and was trying to mask it.

"I just..." GoGo said, barely above a whisper. "I just realized how much I missed these. How much I missed you."

Aunt Cass rubbed her hand on her ward's shoulder, and GoGo began spilling out the entire story, leaving no detail out. Shock pulled at her guardian when she got to the part of Krei's henchman kidnapping her, and when GoGo finished, she slowly backed into a seat.

"I just can't believe..." she mumbled, grasping at her hair. Suddenly her eyebrows furrowed and she furiously stood up. "And that bastard's still running around in this town?! I oughta—"

"Krei's still in town?" GoGo's jaw dropped.

"The nerve of him! He hasn't left me alone since you left! Keeps insisting that I—"

At that moment the door started banging.

"Hide," Aunt Cass hissed at GoGo, grabbing the broom. "Go! It'll do you no good to stay here!"

What other choice did she have? She fled to her room and shut the door, which she pressed her ear against to eavesdrop. But her room was too far back, and the voices were so muffled she could only catch a few words.

"... a million times... here!"

"Nonsense! ... a horse... your door... "

"... my house... you complete... licker!"

When a shrieked followed, GoGo burst the door open and ran to the bakery, where Aunt Cass had been knocked to the floor and Krei grinned smugly. Outside the door, it seemed he'd brought his entire crew. Even some villagers had gathered to join him. Some of them carried torches! What was this? She pulled her aunt up, glaring at him.

"Not here, you said?"

"Get out of my house," she growled.

"GoGo!" her aunt exclaimed. "You weren't supposed to—"

"Finally back after abandoning your old lady, hm?" he sneered, treading closer to her.

GoGo stiffened, but she was not going to back down. She stood firm in her spot as he leaned uncomfortably close to her.

"Tell me, what's this beast you've spent the past year with?"

Her eyes widened.

"Don't be so surprised, young lady. One of my employees barely escaped after trying to rescue you. We all heard the story yesterday."

"You have a very strange definition of 'rescuing,'" she muttered.

"No need to be an ungrateful brat about it. Now you tell me what this monster is, or I'll—"

"He's not a monster!" she snapped.

"Oh?"

"He's a far better man than you are, by any chance."

"He's hardly a man, if the accounts are true!"

"Well, he is! He's smart and kind and gentle—everything you aren't."

Krei stared in shock for a moment before erupting into laughter. "Well, if I didn't know any better, I'd say you were in love with the creature."

A sharp slapping sound echoed throughout the room, and GoGo barely had time to look at Krei's reddened cheek and her own hand before she could process what she had done. Not that she cared. Her face boiled, her breathing had staggered, and it seemed she'd tossed all reason out the window.

"Never call him that again!" she screeched.

Krei was about as stubborn as she was, and twice as forceful. "Why, you—" he started, reaching for her hair.

"STOP!" a tiny voice bellowed.

Everyone glanced at every corner looking for the source until GoGo felt cold china clinking at her heel.

"Hiro?" she asked, bending down to pick up the little cup.

"What—" Krei gasped.

"I snuck in your satchel," Hiro explained, catching his breath. "I wanted to come out but there was never a right time—"

"What are you doing here?"

"I-I wanted to make sure you were coming back," he stammered. "I just don't think Tadashi was right to send you away."

"Tadashi," Krei repeated. "Hiro? As in Prince Tadashi and Hiro?"

Protectively, GoGo pulled Hiro in closer. "Leave, Krei. Or I'll do worse than just slap you." She dropped her voice to a whisper as she turned to Hiro. "We need to get you back. Tadashi probably knows you're here through the mirror—"

"Mirror?" Krei said suddenly. "Did you say mirror?"

"I—"

He stormed in and gripped GoGo by the shoulders, shaking her violently. "Where is it? The mirror! Where did you say it was?"

"You leave her alone!" Aunt Cass screeched, swatting at him with the broom.

Dodging the next swing, he shoved GoGo to the floor and snatched Hiro out of her hands, storming out the door and holding the cup high for the crowd to see.

"This is the sorcery this monster has inflicted!" he shouted. "Burning men alive! Bringing things to life! Who knows how much power this beast holds?"

"Put me down, ugly!" Hiro yelled.

People cannot be this stupid, GoGo thought as she scrambled to her feet.

"Witchcraft!" a woman cried.

"The stories were true!"

"Let's kill the beast!" one of the men roared. The rest of the crowd cried out in agreement.

Oh my God.

"No!" GoGo cried. Hiro! She had to get Hiro back!

But the crowd was already gathering up their pitchforks, raising their torches, and mounting their horses as they followed Krei to the woods. Chants of "Kill the beast!" echoed as they disappeared. Panicked, GoGo started for the stables.

"Where are you going?!" Aunt Cass cried.

"The castle!" GoGo panted. "I have—I have to stop them!"

"You can't go by yourself!"

"But Aunt Cass, there's no one—"

"Sweetie. I understand, but you can't do this all by yourself."

"It's my fault!" GoGo yelled. She bit her lip as Aunt Cass recoiled. She'd never, ever yelled at her before. She opened her mouth to apologize but could only feel her lower lip trembling. "If... if I never came back..."

"Oh." Aunt Cass wrapped her arms around her and pet her hair. "Oh, honey."

Her questions came out in shudders. "You remember... remember when I said... I wanted more than this provincial life? That... that I didn't want to be stuck here all the time? I was wrong." Her voice broke at the last word. "I didn't appreciate life here enough, and I..."

"Leiko." Aunt Cass gently tapped at her ward's chin. "You remember what I said after that? I didn't raise you to be cooped up here forever. Oh, I was constantly worried about you wondering if you were dead but... were you happy at the castle? With... Tadashi?"

The girl swallowed and nodded.

"If you were really happy there, you shouldn't regret it. There's nothing wrong with wanting adventure, sweetie, sometimes it just... comes in ways you don't expect. Just as I didn't expect the best kid in the world."

GoGo wiped her eyes and nodded again.

"Go. Get the horses."

"But you said—"

"I said you weren't going alone. And you're not." Determinedly, she put her hands on her hips and smiled. "Come on. We're saving your Prince."

Lightning crackled.

...

BANG! BANG! BANG!

"Barricade the doors!" Wasabi commanded. "All you big ones, now!"

"Your Highness!" Honey Lemon squeaked from the doorway of the west wing. "They're coming for us! What do we do? Oh, what did you do to that kidnapper?!"

Tadashi kept his eyes on the wilting rose, just on its last petal. Strangely, the fire didn't burn in him at the news the way it normally would have. Perhaps because they were doomed either way—die now or lived forever cursed. Outside, the lightning thundered as rain showered about the castle.

Thank God I sent GoGo away, away from all this, he thought.

But there were the servants. His friends. If anything happened to them...

"Kill the beast! Kill the beast!" came the echoes from outside.

"FIRE!" Fred bellowed as hundreds of candles shot outside the castle window.

"Let them come in," Tadashi said to Honey Lemon firmly. "It's me they want. I'll speak with—"

"But Your Highness! They want to kill you!" Honey Lemon protested.

He ignored her. "Find my brother and hide him somewhere. Do what you want with the rest. I'll speak to the leader, if there is one."

If they wanted him dead, so be it. But they would not touch the rest of them.

"You heard the man!" Honey Lemon yelled to the rest of the servants. "Get 'em!"

The servant shouted triumphantly as they spread word throughout the castle. It soon became difficult to discern which noises were the servants and which was the lightning. They tossed anything at the mob, dishes and chairs and whatever they could find. A few hurled themselves, taking advantage of their shocked reactions to all the moving furniture. Some, particularly the villagers, screamed and ran away early.

Tadashi turned from the rose, prepared to tackle them himself, until he saw a tall man with a scowl stumbling into the west wing carrying a knife.

"Hello. I am Baymax," the Prince greeted. Seeing the man was not to be humored, dropped the pretense. "Never mind. This is your mob, is it not?"

The man's jaw dropped, taken aback. "You're..." He burst into laughter. "You're the beast? You? This marshmallow?"

"Well, you don't have to be so subtle about it."

His eyes wandered until they fell onto the table with the rose and the mirror. "What... That mirror. Is that..."

Faster than Tadashi could waddle (curse this form, really), the man dashed over and snatched the mirror from the table.

"This is the mirror, isn't it?" He cackled. "The Sighting Mirror?"

"Put that down!" Tadashi ordered.

"You have no idea how long I've been..." He ran his finger along the edges. "Well, one must test it to be sure, yes? Show me GoGo."

GoGo. This man knew GoGo! It couldn't be...

The mirror glowed as it flashed an image of GoGo's face, panic-stricken and pelted with rain.

"It is the mirror!"

The Prince smacked the mirror out of Krei's hand and grabbed him by the collar. "What did you do to her?!" he shouted.

"W-who, that peasant girl?"

"Answer me! You're the one who sent that man to kidnap her, aren't you? Krei!"

"One of two, I'm afraid," Krei said, eyes flickering back and forth between Tadashi's face and hand. "Now I never sent anyone to kidnap her, but..."

"What did you want with her?!"

"Oh, for heaven's sake! It's not the girl I wanted, you oversized pillow! It was the mirror!"

Tadashi froze. "The enchanted mirror."

"The Sighting Mirror, yes."

"You knew about it."

Suddenly Tadashi felt a stabbing pain in his leg, and Krei yanked himself free with his knife in hand. The Prince gasped as he tumbled over, glimpsing at the blood trickling down to the carpet.

"What kind of monster are you, exactly?" Krei mused. "How did a bald marshmallow successfully burn a man nearly to death?"

"I'll burn you to death," Tadashi threatened.

"I suppose I'll never find out how that works," Krei said, raising the knife once again.

"No!"

Both Tadashi and Krei looked to the doorway where GoGo stood, completely damp from the storm.

"GoGo," Tadashi gasped.

"You!" Krei snarled.

Her soggy skirt slapped against her legs as she rushed to the Prince, collapsing on the floor beside him. "Tadashi—"

"I'm all right, I'm all right," he said hoarsely.

Krei chuckled, twirling the mirror between his fingers. "Oh, really now. You're not as smart as I once thought you were, GoGo, but still quite pretty. Surely you can do better than him."

"This is as far as you'll go? For a stupid mirror?" GoGo snapped.

This time Krei's face turned scarlet. "I've had enough of you playing dumb, girl! Ten years of it!"

GoGo's grip on Tadashi's hand tightened. "What the hell are you talking about?"

"Enough pretending! I know you've been hiding this mirror from me all this time, going as far as to hide it from me in this bloody castle! You've been doing your father's dirty work all this time long after he died!"

"My father?" She gritted her teeth. "You knew my father?"

Tadashi felt it, that heat inside him. He could also see waves of confusion across Krei's face, processing everything.

"Your father really never told you, then?"

"Told me what?!"

Krei broke into peals of laughter this time, wilder than before. He had to grip the table to keep his balance. "Oh, dear. Did you really think I went after you all this time because I wanted someone like you in my company? No, child. I sometimes did business with your father, you know. Bought some of the treasures he brought over from the other kingdoms." He stopped to watch GoGo's dumbfounded expression. It seemed once he started, he couldn't stop.

"One in particular I was interested in, however, was the Sighted Mirror. Said to see all kinds of things from all different places! Now, I had known this to be true all my life, and when your father found it, he shared it with me during one of our trades. And of course I immediately proposed an exchange. And he agreed.

"Now, a week later when the exchange was meant to happen, the scoundrel refused. Said someone—some 'enchantress'—came to reclaim it, and he decided to return it to its 'rightful owner.' And the bastard broke our deal. He thought I was stupid, that I didn't know he realized the full potential of this mirror and was just keeping the damned thing for himself. I spent years believing I could squeeze the truth out of you once you came to work for me! And for nothing! And to think, all those years ago I would have just gotten the truth if I hadn't knocked those damned candles over!"

Candles. Tadashi watched GoGo's eyes widened in horror and the realization dawned on him, too.

"My parents died in a fire." Her voice was barely audible. "You..."

"You really aren't as smart as I once thought."

"It was you."

Tadashi heard GoGo's breathing rapidly increase, her fists clenching over him.

"Don't act like he was so innocent."

Like a wild animal, she pounced on Krei and beat at his face, tore at his hair, forgetting he held a knife. Or perhaps she didn't care. The mirror slipped out of his hands and plopped to the floor. It wasn't until, in his struggle, Krei sliced the knife across her cheek that Tadashi felt the fire ignite in him once again. The girl grasped at her cheek in pain as Krei scrambled to his feet.

"Don't you dare test me like that again!" he screamed, pointing the knife at her. "Or—"

The flames ignited inside Tadashi, pressing against his very skin, demanding to burst free. This man was responsible for everything wrong in GoGo's life, for intruding his castle, for endangering his friends. The flames trailed along his body and he walked towards the balcony. Someone gasped, and he looked to GoGo, who still had blood oozing from her cheek. She still seemed furious, sure, but the smallest hint of conflict in her eyes betrayed her. If he hurt Krei on her behalf, she'd undoubtedly feel guilty later. And so would he. This wasn't him.

The flames subsided as he walked closer to the trembling Krei climbing on the railing, perhaps in an attempt to escape, and pointing the knife.

"W-what can you do to me?" he asked, forcing a laugh. "You're a dumb beast."

"I won't hurt you," Tadashi said. "But I won't just let you off the hook."

"S-stay away!" He raised the knife.

"Tadashi, look out!"

GoGo's warning came too late as a searing pain struck Tadashi's stomach. He stumbled and fell flat on his back, clutching his center as if to stop the blood pouring out in gallons. Krei, on the other hand, in hurling the knife lost his footing and tumbled down the many stories of the castle until his figure disappeared in the fog.

"No, no, no, no, no," GoGo repeated in panic as she reached Tadashi and lifted one of his hands to uncover the wound. The crimson blood stained her palms. "No, no, no, Tadashi, stay with me, stay with me."

"You... you came back," Tadashi croaked.

"Of course I came back!" she cried, gripping the knife's handle. The pain surged throughout him and made him want to scream, but he only had the energy to wince. "I said I would... H-hold still, I h-have to take this out..."

Distantly, Tadashi heard clinking from the room.

"What happened?!" a small voice cried. Hiro. "Tadashi!"

"Oh my lord!" followed Wasabi's voice.

"It'll..." Speaking had never been so excruciating. "It'll be fine... You... You're alive..."

"Stop talking like that!" she shrieked hysterically. "I'm going to help you, and—and..."

With all the strength he could muster, he raised a bloodied hand to her unharmed cheek. "Leiko... promise me... you'll go on... on all the adventures you wanted. Be happy."

He couldn't tell if which were raindrops and which were tears anymore. "You were my adventure," she sobbed, pressing his hand closer.

"At least..." Everything was blurry, but he had to speak. "At least I got to see you one last time..."

His hand fell to the ground pathetically, and his eyelids could no longer stay open. Everything went dark, and he could only distinctly hear GoGo's grief-stricken pleas—no no no no Tadashi open your eyes please don't leave me please please.

I love you.

He could feel himself drifting. The pain started ebbing away, and his whole body felt lighter.

Was this death? he wondered.

A warmth rippled throughout his body. This certainly didn't feel like dying. Every sense felt heigtened; he felt bristles on his head and something light grazing his skin. At last, the floating sensation vanished as quickly as it appeared and he landed on his feet. This couldn't be death. He felt a cool shower, hear sudden gasps, and his body felt... funny.

He dared to open his eyes, which fell on hands. Human hands. His hands! He checked the rest of his body—boots, white shirt, but on human feet and a human torso! He ran his fingers on his head and there it was! Hair!

Delighted, he turned and caught sight of GoGo. A little taller than he remembered, but then again, his beast form had towered everyone. Her face was a mix of emotions—astonishment, confusion, shock, something else he couldn't quite put his finger on.

"GoGo," he said softly, "it's me."

She opened her mouth, closed it, brought her fingers to her lips. She leaned in, peering into his eyes. Suddenly she pulled back and touched his face as if to confirm this was real.

"It is you!" she exclaimed.

A grin split across her face and she threw her arms around him. Ecstatically, he lifted her and spun her around until the two collapsed, laughing. Then, as they lay on the floor, Tadashi turned her face towards his and brushed her hair out of the way. Without hesitation, she closed her eyes and they melded their lips together.

In the sky, a firework set off soon followed by cheers and whoops. When the two pulled apart and lifted their heads, they gasped as the castle shifted colors from a dull grey to white marble. Inside, the rose and mirror had disappeared, but in their place were four people—a short boy with bushy black hair, a tall blonde woman, a big man with a green suit, and a lanky man with shaggy hair.

"Hiro!" Tadashi called, pulling GoGo and himself up. The other four rushed to them joyfully. "Honey Lemon! Wasabi! Fred!"

Wasabi wrapped his arms around all of them, squeezing them into a tight embrace.

"We did it!" Hiro cheered when they all let go. "We're free!"

"You mean they did it, Hiro," Wasabi said, affectionately poking the boy's nose.

"Oh, I thought this day would never come!" Honey Lemon cried.

"I kind of miss my hot flames of fire," Fred mumbled.

Amongst the celebration, Tadashi slid his hand into GoGo's and smiled at her.

"I forgot to tell you," he said. "I love you."

"I think I got that the first time around," she replied mischievously, and she pulled him in by the collar for another kiss.

A/N: Hey remember when I said I had the next fairy tale in mind well guess the heckle deckle what I'm a liar and a fraud (kind of). I do have another fairy tale AU planned out, but I also have another Disney crossover-ish fic planned out that I want to get to because nut me over sideways I love that movie. I might do the thing where I work on two stories at a time because congratulations i played myself.

Don't worry, there's still one more chapter!