Disclaimer: I don't own the Beauty and the Beast story, characters, or anything like that.

Seeing that the coast was clear, she dashed out into it, heading for the library. It was about 100 meters away; luckily, this part wasn't damaged yet.

As if on cue, Henri and a sorceress burst through the stained glass windows.

"Cogsworth! Why are you fighting me!?" the sorceress yelled, her voice booming down the hallway.

"Madam, I'm afraid I can't let you fight the Forces!" he replied, "Do you not see that you are the one doing evil? The Master has twisted your good mind! He promises you fame and fortune, but his claims are empty!"

"How dare you! I am famous!" she cried, "I am the star of the stage! Rulers around the world have traveled thousands of miles to hear me sing!" At this she proved her skill by screeching the highest note she could. Ripples of force burst from her mouth, knocking Henri back, shifting Clara back a few feet as well. "And if you don't believe him, I'll fight you too! I'll fight everyone for him! Those Spectrans aren't trying to help, they just want his power!" She bellowed again, knocking him into the wall. He slammed into it with a crack, crumpling to the ground.

It was then that she saw Clara and Chevell, "Clara! Come help me finish him!" she cried, her glittering red robe whipping wildly in the wind.

"No, I'm not going to let you do this to him, Bouche. Can't you remember? Has the Prince tainted your mind so much that you don't remember all the good in Henri? Can't you remember how you... felt about him?" she asked. She gathered Chevell behind her protectively, slowly backing away.

For a moment Madame de la Grande Bouche gazed at the hurt sorcerer. The wild look in her eyes only intensified, as she shook off the wondering image her face had worn. Everything that happened next occurred within a few seconds. A few seconds that felt like hours.

First she began to move towards him; inside her throat, a quiet, deadly humming noise could be heard. She was preparing to shriek one of her magical shrieks. As she neared Henri, he shifted ever so slightly. Something rustled through his robes, emerging with a reflective flash and sliding to the ground. He moved his hand towards it feebly (he was in a lot of pain). The Madame was now humming louder, her insane gaze boring into his eyes. He was not looking back though, his face was contorted with intense concentration as his hand grasped the object. She opened her mouth at this, and began to yell into his face when he flipped his wrist and held up the object. Bouche halted, suddenly. The object Henri held was a mirror; a lovely, white mirror.

You see, Henri had given this to the Madame a while back, before anyone knew of the Prince's evil. Six years ago, Clara had arrived at the castle. She had been cold and harsh, unwilling to trust. But Madame de la Grande Bouche had welcomed her in warmly. Over the first year, Madame de la Grande Bouche had gained her trust and given her reason to be cheerful again. Clara quickly discovered that she was not the only person the Madame was being kind to. Henri and Bouche had become increasingly close as the years went on. Two months ago there was a very special ball. Henri had finally worked up the courage at this ball to ask her to dance. They twirled together all night, neither dancing with anyone else. He had presented her with a gift then. He had given her the white mirror. Afterwards Clara had learned from the Madame that Henri had enchanted it to make her reflection look beautiful. It had been a symbol of their love.

Yet, this made the Prince angry. He had brought Madame de la Grande Bouche to the castle in order to marry her. He thought her very beautiful. When he found out that she had interest in another, he began to enchant her. Every day she became more and more distant from Henri. Recently she had ceased talking with him altogether. Henri was devastated. But before the Prince could marry Bouche, the Splendorans had come and revealed his true, despicable nature. The rest is history.

The Madame knelt down, her red robe piling up around her like a big, beautiful flower. She swept her hand over her head slowly and removed her (Clara thought, ridiculous) wig, letting her long sandy hair spill out. She looked at Henri's battered form with a confused sort of face. She moved her hand, very slowly, towards his. After a second of hesitation, she grasped it. At that moment she changed. Her eyes lost the wild look; color surged back into her face, and her red robe turned golden.

"Oh, Henri, I'm so sorry," she grasped him into an embrace, tears welling up in her eyes, "I - I didn't realize wh - what I was d - doing! Oh Henri, oh I'm so s - s - sorry!" she said shakily. He leaned forward, returning her hug.

"Oh my dear, my dear, I forgive you. It wasn't your fault; the Prince enchanted you. Now you are free, and might I say," he held her by the shoulders at arm's length, looking at her lovingly, "You are truly beautiful."

"Oh Henri," she sobbed out, smiling. He smiled back and stood, bringing her up with him.

"Now you of radiant beauty, let us go assist our friends and take down this Prince once and for all, shall we?" he asked looking deeply into her eyes.

She looked back, the wind whipping her hair."Let's take him down." she said, her face serious (and a little murderous). She looked at Henri, and he at her. She slowly took the mirror from his hand. Looking at Clara, "But before we go - I don't need this anymore," she said smiling, "Take it. You deserve something good in your life, anyway, I don't need it's enchantments to make me look beautiful... I have something better," she handed it to Clara and smiled lovingly at Henri.

"Enchantments?" said Henri questionly, "I never put any enchantments on it. Everything you saw there was exactly as it looked."

At this the Madame reached up and kissed him on the face. Chevell covered his eyes.

When they were done, a wildly glad Henri turned to Clara. "Ahem, I say, is there anything else you need help with before we go?"

"Yes actually," Clara replied, looking to Cogsworth, "Can you get us to the library a little faster? We need to get to safety and-" she started.

"Say no more, my dear," Henri replied, smiling and holding up his hand. He reached into his coat, pulling out a golden, shimmering pocket watch. He twisted one of the many knobs on it and pointed the face at Clara and Chevell. It covered them in a golden light and everything around them turned slower. Henri tapped his watch slowly, showing Clara that they had five minutes to use their speed, she nodded. He and Bouche smiled and turned. As one they blasted out of the hole in the, wall back to join the slow fray.

"Let's go Chev, can you run a little more?" asked Clara, bending down to the little boy's level.

"Yeah momma, but momma...?" he started.

"Yes?"

"Why do we have to hide? You can fight good!" he said, smiling encouragingly at her.

"Oh Chev, thank you, but that's not how I use my power. You see, my kind of power is used to help others, not hurt them. If I tried to fight, I'd be no good," she said sadly.

"But momma, you did the - the..." he made a crude imitation of Clara shooting water at Babette, adding sound effects, "PSHHHHHPHHPHHPLOOSHH!"

"Oh, I'm glad you though that was good Chev, but other people can do even better than me," she said, smiling a little at his noise.

"Ok momma," he said. "Can we go to the library now?" he asked excitedly.

"Oh yes, let's go," she exclaimed, scooping him up.

I'm pretty sure this one is longer. Eh, I can't be bothered enough to look up the word count.

I've recently been diagnosed with something, and it's kind of been hard on me.

You see, I have something called Critique-Deprivation-Syndrome. It's a disease that has been affecting bloggers and fanfiction writers for years and years now, doctors have only just found the cure. For someone who has this disease, a certain amount of reinforcement is required from other people. It's all very complicated, but basically, if I don't get reviews, then I am sad.

:)