A/N: This chapter was written by me, Karin Skywalker and Wrestlemaniac829.

Back in the castle, Miss Doe was just in the midst of escorting her daughter, Katrina, to bed. It had been a rather exhausting night for both of them, but the night really took so much out of Miss Doe's child. As soon as they reached the bedroom, she carefully assisted Katrina into the bed and tucked her in until she was warm and comfortable.

"There you go, my darling," Miss Doe speaks soothingly to Katrina. "Time for sleep."

"Mama?" Katrina asked with a yawn.

"Hmm?"

"Could you tell me again like you did before… Of what I was like as a girl?"

For a moment, Miss Doe felt a huge twinge in her heart. Course, it's wasn't the first time her daughter had asked her that question. And yet, no matter how many times it'd been asked, each and every time, it always became extraordinarily difficult to believe what she would tell her daughter. Still, with a gentle sigh, she answered Katrina's question with a story.

"When you first came into my life, I knew right then and there that I would be blessed with an angel from heaven. A woman like me would give anything in the world to have a daughter like you. As I watched you grow up, your smile would warm the hearts of everyone all around and I knew there was no one else I could give the greatest care than you. The prettiest child that this castle has ever had. Even more than you could ever know."

"When will I know?"

"Sooner than you think, my dear. If it's to be, that's how it is… Soon." Miss Doe kissed her on the forehead. "Good night, my little one."

Katrina then closed her eyes shut, a yawn escaping her lips, and soon the tiny form of Miss Doe's sweet angel fell fast asleep. Miss Doe looked upon her daughter with a loving smile before she blew out the candle by the table next to the bed. She slowly left the room, stepping out quietly so as not to disturb her sleep. She left the room and made her return to the kitchen. But as she entered, a single tear dropped down her face… She only wished she could believe what she said.

In his room, Frederick had been lying in his bed all through the night. For him, sleep was not going to work out for him and normally he could give many excuses for such a case. But on this night, there was only one excuse: His stomach. The constant growling had reached the point of irritation for Frederick and hunger began to overcome him. He knew it wouldn't stop even if he tried to ignore it, right then he knew what he had to do.

"Maybe I could find the kitchen and get something to eat," Frederick thought.

He slowly rose from the bed, approaching the door quietly by the tip of his toes. Frederick kept silent, not even letting out a breath so as not to stir anyone or anything in the castle. Though the door creaked softly, Frederick was able to leave once the coast was clear. It wouldn't be easy to find the kitchen, considering how big the castle was, but Frederick was willing to try.

Meanwhile, Lumiere, who was supposed to be on guard, found himself asleep by the door, not even noticing Frederick slip by him. Just then, a female blue jay approached his post. Much as the name implied, her feathers were blue and white in color. Her beak was curved ever so slightly. She had brown dimples on the sides of her head and, much like her beak, the fluff of feathers atop her head were curved to resemble a hair style. This was one of the castle maids, Babette.

"Lumiere…" Babette spoke, in a sing-song voice.

Lumiere simply responded with a snore, still fast asleep. Babette had seen this before and knew there was only one way to wake a sleeping candelabra. She stuck out her chest, took a deep breath, and, belted out in a sing-song voice.

"Lumiere!"

The sound of Babette's voice finally stirred Lumiere wide awake, briefly causing the flames in his candle hands to burst up for a moment. As soon as he turned to Babette, his surprise turned into a smile and resumed his suave persona.

"Oh Babette… Come to me, my little fluff…"

Lumiere approached Babette, and kissed her on her arms… Or in this case her wings. A few kisses, Lumiere felt something in his mouth and spit out some feathers from Babette's wings. She simply let out a small cry of shock and looked at her arms with a gasp.

"It is my hands, isn't it?!" Babette cried, seeing her feathery hands. "Oh mon dieur, you don't love me anymore!"

Babette let out a cry and covered her face with her hands. But then, she let out a quick sneeze sending a small bit of feathers flying as Lumiere tried to comfort the emotional little bird. She simply looked back at her hands with both annoyance and anger.

"Oh this horrible, horrible spell!"

"Oh cherie," Lumiere implored. "You cut me to the wig. Do you really think a little thing like zat would change my feelings for you? Ooh… Now you really… Tickle my fancy."

"Oh no."

"Oh, yes!" Lumiere teased.

"Oh, no!"

"Oh, yes, yes, yes!"

"Oh no, no, no, no, no… I've been burnt by you before!"

Lumiere lit his hands up with a laugh, Babette covered her face with her wings in embarrassment and ran off as Lumiere gave chase, forgetfully abandoning his post and not even realizing that Frederick had already left for the kitchen.

Meanwhile, downstairs toward the kitchen, every servant in the household was busy clearing up what was barely touched dinner. Some of the rodents got impatient and picked at some of the food, though one of the sterner maids whacked their arms and made them return to work. Amongst the servants there, standing in a corner, there was a stove with the appearance of a chef, along with a weasel in a chef's uniform. Clearly, judging by their expressions, they were not pleased with how this night turned out.

"We work and we slave all day, and for what?" The Stove asked, with a thick French accent.

"A culinary masterpiece gone to waste!" The Weasel answered, slamming a ladle into the wash.

"Such a shame, too," Cogsworth said. "And I was so looking forward to eating it."

"Oh, stop your grousing," Miss Doe responded. "It's been a long night for the lot of us."

"Well, if you ask me, the lad was just being stubborn," Manx added, wiping his monocle with a handkerchief. "After all, the mistress did say 'please'."

"Funny, that's the first time I actually heard the mistress say 'please'," Cogsworth agreed.

As they were discussing, Frederick peered his head into the kitchen as he slowly walked in.

"But if the mistress doesn't learn to control that temper," Miss Doe warned. "She'll never break the-"

"Splended to see you out and about, Monsieur," Cogsworth interrupted, approaching Frederick, who just entered the kitchen. "I am Cogsworth, head of the household."

At this point, being greeted by living household objects or talking animals didn't faze Frederick at all. Course, it would've been equally rude of Frederick not to at least give some formal response. So being as polite as possible, he knelt down to shake hands with the clock. After doing so, Cogsworth turned and pointed toward Manx, who stood behind him.

"This is Manx, my assistant head."

"Hello," Frederick spoke kindly, as he looked up at the tall cat.

SLAP! Manx slapped Frederick in the face so hard, that a red mark began to form on the left end of his face. Frederick held that side of the face with his hand and felt the stinging sensation.

"OW! What was that for?"

Manx just humped and adjusted his monocle, before he finally spoke.

"Don't act like you don't know," Manx spoke sternly. "I heard how rudely you acted towards the mistress, the most disgusting, tasteless showing of character I have ever known in my life. Let's make sure you understand perfectly clear: From now on, in this castle, when you are approached by the Mistress, you will bow, and address her as 'your highness'. And if you do anything that hurts our mistress, you will have to answer…to me. Do I make myself clear?"

Frederick gulped, feeling small compared with this tall cat. Judging by the expression and the raised eyebrow, clearly this Manx character was not kidding.

"Yes sir… Perfectly clear."

"COGSWORTH!"

They turned to see Lumiere rushing into the kitchen, a look of frantic panic on his face.

"HE'S GONE! The Monsieur flew ze coop! I swear, I did not leave my po…"

Lumiere quickly saw Frederick standing with the servants, raising his eyebrows at the rather random outburst. Quickly changing his expression, Lumiere rushed forward, grabbed Frederick's hand, and starts to rapidly shake it. Manx simply shook his head with annoyance.

"This is Lumiere," Manx replied dryly.

Cogsworth tried to push the candelabrum away, but was quickly burned off.

"Please, if there is anything we can do to make your stay more comfortable…" Cogsworth spoke, whilst trying to shake off the burn from a rather annoyed Lumiere.

Fred's stomach rumbled louder than before; clearly he already knew what he wanted.

"Well… I AM a little hungry," Frederick shrugs his shoulders.

Finally, Lumiere released his grip on Fredrick, allowing the man to stand up. As he did, the kind Miss Doe took charge of the household.

"You are? Hear that? He's hungry! Stoke the fire, break out the silver, wake the china… Well come on!"

What followed next was something Frederick would never in his life forget; what began as being treated as a prisoner now the servants were wading on him hand-and-foot… Or hooves. Carefully setting him down on a chair, wrapping a napkin round his neck, the animals made certain Frederick was comfortable whilst the others brought in tray upon tray of all sorts of delicious food. From Basil salmon terrine to steaming hot Baguette, Andouillette to Ratatouille, it was a selection of food fit for a king. To Frederick, it felt he was living one of the stories in his old books: A dream come true in a nightmarish setting. Never to see his family again, the thought making him a bit sick on the inside, regardless he would be able to live out the rest of forever, however long that was, in an enchanted castle. Still, as he enjoyed each dish, he still felt curious of one thing.

"Say, Manx is it," Frederick spoke, wiping his lips with his napkin. "Is your Mistress suppose to be royalty or something?"

"Why good sir, she's more royal than you could possibly imagine," Manx replied. "What, did the size and exquisite design of the castle not give you a clue?"

"I wouldn't know… I was locked in a bedroom mostly."

"Humph… Indeed."

After a long while, the seemingly never-ending parade of hors d'oeuvres quickly filled Frederick satisfyingly. As the servants cleared away the table and returned to their posts, a new burst of energy filled Frederick: Curiosity. Frederick was anxious to learn more about the castle, ready for a little adventure. After all, if he was going to stay in the castle, the least he could do was learn more about his new home. As he thinks, Cogsworth yawns and looks down at his own face.

"Oh, my goodness," Cogsworth said, motioning to his face. "Will you look at the time!"

Frederick turned to Cogsworth and saw that the hour was near midnight.

"Ah yes… It is getting rather late. But then, why would I want to go to bed now? After all, it's only my first night in an enchanted castle!"

Cogsworth blanched and gives a weak laugh, trying in vain to deny it.

"Enchanted? Who said anything about the castle being enchanted?"

Frederick was about to offer a reply, when the clock turned to Lumiere accusingly.

"It was you!"

The two began to quarrel, practically wrestling with each other on the table in front of Frederick. Frederick stopped himself from rolling his eyes at their shenanigans.

"I'm staying in a castle where all the servants are living furniture and talking animals. How was I NOT going to figure that out?"

The two stoped quarreling and turned to face Frederick simultaneously.

"You know," Lumiere spokes up. "He makes a good point!"

"Oh hush!" Cogsworth replied.

"If you don't mind, I'd like to actually explore the castle for a while."

As Lumiere disconcertingly adjusted his wax nose, which was bent in an odd shape in the fight, he perked up at Frederick's words.

"Would you care for a tour?"

"Absolutely not!" Manx retorted, who had just overheard their little conversation. "As the assistant head of the household, I offer my objection to giving this "tour" to some stranger on the premises."

"Actually, I must agree with Manx on this one," Cogsworth admitted, turning to Lumiere. "He might see the…you know what."

Frederick figured that Cogsworth and Manx may object too quickly, they were going to be tough to crack. Still, Frederick decided to butter them up a bit, considering them as a pair of wet blankets and all.

"Perhaps you two could take me. Being the heads of the house and all, that must imply you know "everything" one should know about the castle."

To Frederick's satisfaction, the plan worked. Cogsworth puffed out his chest after hearing Frederick's words.

"Well, actually, ah-"

Yes, we do!" Manx jumped in, with a smile. Cogsworth looked up at Manx rather annoyingly.

It was hardly even over an hour, Frederick was already bored out of his mind. They were just passing through a line-up of knight-armor statues and he was merely half-listening to Cogsworth and Manx droning on-and-on about the architecture of the castle. Frederick was starting to regret taking this tour, when a strange feeling came over him. Soon, he stops in front of a dark stairwell whilst the two walked on without paying attention to what Frederick was up to. Naturally curious, he began to climb the steps quietly, so his two "guides" wouldn't notice.

Once he reached the top, his earlier excitement began to fade as he entered a dark hallway. On one wall, Frederick stopped to look at his reflection in front of a shattered mirror, every shard of glass reflecting his concern. Turning away from the disturbing feeling it presented him, Frederick continued down the hall, and soon came upon a rather foreboding closed door. If his curiosity had not completely taken control of his senses, Frederick may have turned around and returned to his quarters. But, he didn't as he really wanted to see what the Mistress could possibly be hiding. He grabbed onto the gargoyle shaped handles, and pulled on the door with all his might. The door opened with a ghostly groan as he stepped inside.

For inside the room, Frederick pushed aside some cobwebs as he attempted to take in all of his surroundings. It was so dark inside that he didn't see a table in his way, until he managed to catch it before the table crashed to the floor. All around the room, everything was either destroyed or in shreds. All except the large bed in the right corner near the balcony, something that seemed odd to Frederick. Suddenly, he spotted a glowing red rose, hovering inside a glass cover on a table near the bedside.

Entranced, Frederick approaches the glowing rose, his eyes transfixed as if he were in a trance. Never before had he seen anything as beautiful as the enchanted flower. It's magic drawing him closer and closer and yet he just couldn't find the urge to lift the cover.

"I dare not touch it," He thought. "Lest I risk ruining it's beauty."

Instead, Frederick pulled a small chair that was not broken and sat himself down. For a long period of time, he just sat there staring at the rose and admiring it's beauty. Just then, he felt a gust of wind blow from the balcony taking his gaze off the rose. It was at this point he noticed a pair of flapping velvet curtains in the other curtain. Frederick figured there must be something valuable hidden away, he wondered what would possibly be behind them. Rising up from the chair, he walked towards the curtains. He stood in front of them unsure of what to do next, until he reached out and pulled them open… When he saw something horrifying staring back at him.

Two stone statues, a man and woman with horrified expressions on their faces, positioned as if they were leaning out to someone. With a horrified gasp, Frederick backed away from the statues when he bumped into someone… Or something. He quickly turned around and saw the Beast looming over him.

"What are you doing here?" She asked, surprised and angered. "You shouldn't be in here!"

"I… I apologize, I…"

"I warned you never to come in here!"

"Please, I meant no harm…"

"Do you not realize what you've DONE!"

The Beast gave forth a mighty roar, swinging her arms toward Frederick, who nearly bounded out of the way just as they made contact splintering a table. Frederick grabbed the chair and held it out in front of the Beast to keep his distance. The Beast merely swung her arms, knocking down piece after piece of the chair till he only had a single piece of wood left. Desperate, he hurled the piece at her head, seemingly catching her by surprise. He managed to duck under and roll past the Beast as she swung about wildly, only managing to tear a sleeve off his coat. He bounded for the door and pushed it open, only turning back to see the Beast charging toward him like a savage animal. He quickly left the room and slammed the door shut, the Beast colliding on the door and knocking her flat on her back and she roared in response.

The impact of the collision knocked Frederick onto his back as well. With a frightened look on his face, he quickly pulled himself up and ran like his life depended on it. He ran down the steps, past all the servants, and finally out the front door bounding over the bridge and making his way into the woods.

The Beast stood up from that collision, looking around the room visibly stunned. She looked down to her paw, clutched was a torn piece of fabric that came off of Frederick's coat. When she realized what just happened, she let it go and as it floated down to the floor, she put her hands over her face.

"What have I done?" She asked herself.

"Mistress?" Miss Doe shouted, rushing into the room. "All this running and shouting about, what happened?

"Oh, Miss Doe, I blew it," The Beast cried. "I don't know what happened! He was in here… I saw him… I… I… I got mad… And I… Oh god!"

"Then you'd better go get him."

"Why should I?"

"Because if you don't, either the storm will kill him or… The Wolves."

And then, a sudden realization came over the Beast's face. If what Miss Doe said was true, she had to save Frederick. Running out the room, she pulled her hood over head and made her way towards the door. Manx and the other servants rushed towards her as she opened the door.

"Mistress!" Manx called out. "Don't go, you'll freeze to death in this blizzard!"

"I have to help Frederick!" The Beast said stubbornly. Without turning back, she opened the door letting a gust of wind flow into the castle.

"But-"

"But nothing, Manx!" The Beast interrupts, finally turning around. "It's my fault he ran out… I have to bring him back."

With that said, she ran out of the door, closing it shut behind her. In the Blizzard, she ran through, in search for Frederick, all through the night. She cried out for Frederick's name, but the wind blew snow so hard that it clouded her voice. But that didn't matter to the Beast, her only thought was to reach Frederick and bring him back to the castle safe. Despite the snow pressing against her feet, the wind sending chills down her spine, and the frost that began to form on her fur coat, she pressed on, calling his name as loud as she could. She continued to do so… Until The Wolves came out of nowhere.

They burst from behind the trees, growling in front of the Beast as they stood in front of her. They were poised and ready to pounce if she made a sudden move. But the Beast had no time for this. Quickly, she turned the opposite direction and ran as fast as she could. Course no matter how fast she could go, the Beast could hear the snarling of the wolves, as they got close enough to snap behind. So she zigzagged through the trees, hoping to knock the wolves off balance. A low tree lay in her path, one of the wolves leapt forward to lunge it's jaws. With quick-thinking, the Beast slid under the tree, causing the wolf to eat bark. The Beast quickly recovered and resumed her pace through the trees. She knew the wolves would only regroup so she bounded off one side of a tree to another tree, getting some air over the wolves. But one of the wolves, determined to catch her, leapt upward and snapped at her left arm. The Beast let out a yelp and was thrown onto the ground, as the wolf sank it's jaws deeper.

Meanwhile, Frederick, wrapped tightly in a cloak, had been running through the snow trying to find the village. But the blizzard made it too difficult for him to see the path, something he didn't count on. All of a sudden, he heard a yelp in the far end of the woods and he knew the Beast was there. But it sounded different, instead of out of anger… It sounded as if she was in pain. For a moment, Frederick sought to turn back but then found himself hesitating. It appeared the Beast needed his help and he was going to run out on her. What was he going to do?

Meanwhile, the Beast struggled as the wolf held her down by her arm. Another wolf came in, clamping it's jaws onto her cloak, holding her down ever so tightly. Trapped and bound by these two wolves, the Beast assumed the worst and thought all was lost. A wolf loomed in front of her, snarling at her, drool running down it's fangs. The Beast closed it's eyes and prepared herself, as the wolf ran to lunge it's jaws around her head.

WHACK! The wolf was thrown aside by a stick. The Beast opened her eyes and looked up to see that it was Frederick, who swung the branch toward the wolf. She was swamped with relief; despite everything, he was still there. Frederick was willing to risk his life to save hers, even after what happened, he wasn't going to let her die. She dashed over to his side and they looked as the wolves surrounded them at every angle.

In unison, the wolves sprang toward the two. The Beast and Frederick attempted to fight them off for as long as they could. The Beast utilized her strength and power to hurl the wolves in several directions whereas Frederick swung his branch toward any wolf she didn't ward off. They switched sides, working together to protect each other as the wolves recovered after each strike no matter how many times they were thrown aside.

Within a few minutes, the wolves retreated from the fight though many were out cold from being hurled into the trees. They stood together, a Beast and a human, taking deep breaths after the long struggle. The Beast, standing beside Frederick, looked down at him with a look in her eyes that he couldn't identify. It almost looked like relief. But then, Frederick looks in shock when the Beast fell in to the ground and lost consciousness. He loomed over her body and almost turned away. Now this was his chance to escape, to finally get away from the nightmare.

"There's nothing I could do for her," He thought, trying to convince himself.

But then, for all he tried to do, it just wouldn't work. The stream of conscious had made him guilty, as Frederick turned back towards the Beast. He leaned down toward the creature, her hair covering her face. Slowly, but cautiously, he lifted her hair over to get a good look at her. He checked for a pulse, relieved that she was still alive but soon noticed the wounds on her body. For the moment he looked at her, he never imagined just how fragile and vulnerable she truly was. Frederick just couldn't leave her.

Crouched by her side, Frederick lifted her body and held her dearly in his arms. As he looked down toward her, he forgot how frightening and intimidating the Beast appeared to act. When he truly got a good look at her, he couldn't help but see how beautiful she was, for a Beast. In utter silence, Frederick walked her back to the castle as the winds slowly died down and the blizzard passed on.

Inside the castle, all of the servants gathered around by the front entrance anxiously waiting though half the servants assumed the worst. Just then, someone banged on the front door and two of the servants rushed forward to open it. A strong wind blew in, as Frederick came through with the Beast in his arms. The servants watched in both shock and relief, Miss Doe walked forward.

"Oh dear," She said. "What happened?"

"She's hurt," Frederick responded. "Wolves attacked us; she needs help."

"Right away," Manx said. "Quick, bring her over to the couch. Miss Doe, get some hot water, a cloth…"

"We need bandages too!" Cogsworth added.

"Of course." Miss Doe nodded.

While Miss Doe scurried off to perform her task, Manx helped Frederick carry the Beast to the couch and laid her down as gently as possible. The Beast was no heavy creature, Frederick was simply more than grateful Manx could help. By the time they had her settled, Miss Doe returned rolling a cart laden with the necessary medical equipment: Bandages, a cloth, and a small basin of hot water, refreshments included. Before long, the Beast awoke and groaned she felt the stinging pain on her arm. She bent down to lick her arm, when Frederick held her head causing her to look up.

"No…" Frederick spoke, as gentle as possible. "You'll get an infection, just lie down… Okay?"

Though the Beast growled, she nodded reluctantly. Frederick simply nodded his thanks, then returned to the medical cart. He grabs the cloth, dips it into the hot water, and squeezes the cloth to balance out the cloth. He slowly goes over to the Beast and prepares to lay it down.

"Your highness, this is going to sting," Frederick warned. "I'd suggest you be ready."

Slowly, Frederick laid the cloth onto the Beast's wounded arm. The Beast hissed in pain, though it sounded like the whine of a dog as well, as the warm cloth touched the exposed wound. With her other hand, she gripped tightly along the couch and nearly ripped the fabric as she tried to hold still for the procedure to commence. Frederick just simply shook his head, it reminded him of when he took care of a child's bruise after falling off a tree. As he proceeded, he turned his attention till he was face-to-face with the Beast.

"You're really something else, you know that?" Frederick asked. "One minute, you're like this wild animal and nearly kill me in the West Wing…then you're a scared child with the wolves. What is this, like some split personality thing?

"You don't know the half of it," The Beast spoke silently. "I'm sorry…"

"There's no need…"

"No! I'm really, really sorry. I'm sorry for scaring you and for locking away your parents. I know what people think of me, even my own servants look at me with fear. But you must understand: To everyone else, I may be this ferocious monster with enough power to bring down a hundred men if I wanted to. But the fact is…there's no one more terrified of me…than me. Everything I've done, every way I acted, it was all out of fear."

"I guess…we all get scared of the unknown, even if we don't show it. I suppose, we tend to judge others too harshly. I myself was horrible for the way I acted, so I understand more than you know."

"I suppose… Though it was still foolish of you to just run off into the storm."

"Heh… You're one to talk. You could've gotten killed yourself. Why did you go after me?"

The Beast turned away for a moment, at first not sure of what to say. But then she turned back toward Frederick, who saw the concerned expression from her eyes in that one brief moment.

"Because I had to make sure YOU weren't killed," She answered truthfully.

Frederick sat there allowing the answer to sink in. For a few moments, he was speechless, for he didn't expect such words to come from her. It was as if he was talking to an entirely different creature.

"Well… I guess I should thank you for that," Frederick responded, with a smile. "What you did back there… That was very brave of you."

Frederick then reached for a long piece of bandage and proceeded to wrap it gently around her arm.

"Any other wounds I should bandage?"

"You're welcome," The Beast spoke. "No, there aren't any other wounds."

The Beast paused for a moment, but then added:

"And I should say thank you, for helping me back here and for bandaging up my wound. I owe you for this."

"Let's just call it even and leave it at that. But you're very welcome… Your highness."

Miss Doe, Lumiere, Babette, Cogsworth, and Manx watched, smiling at this scene. But none more prouder than the latter, seeing Frederick actually keep his word and perhaps he himself was wrong about this human. Miss Doe turned to Manx.

"This just might work out, Manx," Miss Doe whispered.

Manx nodded in response, a smile formed on his face. As Frederick finished bandaging the arm, the Beast gently lay her other paw on Frederick's hand. He turned to face the Beast, to see what she wants.

"Frederick?"

"Hmm?"

"Call me… Maria."

"Maria…" Frederick smiled. "That's a nice name."

Maria giggled at that remark.

"Frederick isn't such a bad name, either."

Manx turned his attention to Miss Doe after a while.

"I think we should leave these two love birds alone," Manx suggested, before turning to Babette. "No offense."

"None taken."

"Well… Shall we?"

"Of course," Miss Doe said with a smile, as she and the rest of the servants left the room and closed the door slowly behind them.