Lumiere was back to eyeing me in the hallway but it was worth it because when I went back to the servant's quarters and Ms. Tasses gave me an appreciative look. After work every night I would watch Mr. Potts and Prince Adam playing in the great hall. It looked so sweet. The thing about Prince Adam was that he didn't know how he would mistreat his servants. He didn't know that having to live your life in a kitchen was wrong but he didn't know that I practically lived in the kitchen in the first place. Prince Adam didn't know that the servants all lived in a small room, tucked out of his sight. Sometimes I felt myself becoming jealous of the young prince, he lived his life without a single worry and my childhood was-well, less fortunate. I spent all of my younger years working on the farm while Prince Adam spent his time learning latin and the violin. But I held my jealous tongue and I never spoke to anyone about my envy.

It had been about two months since I had began working at the castle. On this particular day after work Lumiere met me outside the kitchen when I finished work. I was quite surprised to meet him there, I hadn't spoken to him in a few days.

"Bonjour, Mademoiselle, you look lovely this evening." He said with a smile.

"What are you doing here?" I asked.

"I finished work early so I could meet you here."

"Why? And what do you intend to do?" I asked now frantically.

"I was hoping you would go on a walk with me through the the garden?"

I had to consider this for a moment, "I suppose, just a short walk would be acceptable."

He gave me a warm smile, "Then please join me."

So we took a walk through the garden. I hadn't been in the garden before but I could see how beautiful it was. We walked across the stone path and began to talk.

"I'm very sorry to hear about your mother's passing." He said quietly.

I shrugged, "It's not your fault."

"You… think it's your fault though…" He trailed off.

I looked up at the setting sun, the sky looked so beautiful, like a blazing fire.

"When my mother died, she told me that it was my fault…"

"Perhaps, she was a bit too hard on you?"

"I doubt that…"

Lumiere walked me over to a fishpond where I sat upon the edge. He sat next to me as I dipped my hand into the cool water.

"Tell me something about yourself." I asked of him.

"Je suis Lumiere, le second serviteur le plus attrayant dans le château," He smiled, "Second to you of course."

I couldn't help but smile at this, "No, something real about you."

"Oh? So I'm not the second most attractive person in the castle?"

The thing about Lumiere was that I didn't find him very attractive at all but his confidence changed everything.

I smiled, an actual genuine smile, and shrugged at him.

"My name is Lumiere, I'm from a small poor town here in France. My father left before I was born. When I was twelve my mother and I got sick. I got better but my mother…" He explained.

"I'm sorry…"

He continued, "I moved in with my cousin but he committed suicide. My cousin lived near this castle, so the king and queen took me in as a servant. The queen died while Prince Adam was being born and the king killed himself shortly afterwards."

"You've had so much loss in your life, I'm so sorry." I couldn't help but feel terrible for him. I thought that I had it bad but Lumiere had lost everything.

"But I don't blame myself for everything that had happened." He said sternly.

"Her last words were 'I can never forgive you.'"

"Did you get your mother sick? Did you really cause her death? No, you couldn't have." Lumiere took my hand in his.

I looked at my hands in his and it felt, right.

"It's not your fault, and I promise you, she would have found a way to forgive you."

All this talk shouldn't have had an impact on me but somehow it did. Somehow I was beginning to feel better.

"Enough of that now, tell me more about yourself, Babette." Lumiere requested.

I smiled at him and felt myself begin to open up to him, "In my town I was the biggest flirt."

"Oh? Why am I surprised." He laughed and I found myself laughing with him.

"And before I came here I used to love spinning thread at my spinning wheel, and drawing was my favorite. I used to love always being outside too!"

I couldn't help telling Lumiere everything about myself. He was so kind and light hearted, it was easy to talk with him. Lumiere and I spent hours talking to each other in the garden. We could have spoken until the sun came up but I knew that i had work the next day so we ended up parting ways.

"Lumiere, I really enjoyed talking to you tonight…" I said, trying to hide a smile.

"And you'd like to do it again tomorrow night?" He slipped the words right into my mouth.

"Ah yes but, I do have one concern…"

"And what would that be?" He asked, taking my chin in his hand and raising my face to look at him.

I pulled my face away and frowned, "I feel… As though… I still belong to him."

"If you'd rather just stay as friends, I can do that."

I looked back up and began smiling again, "Just friends."