The day I ran away I used magic to leave the castle. It was the day before my 10th birthday and Belle and I were in the forest. She convinced our father to let us go out with a guard. The war was escalating and he was reluctant. She wanted to get a special kind of mushrooms for making a special meal for me for my birthday.

We were the furthest we ever been into the forest as the mushrooms could only be found at a great distance from the castle when it happened. Belle was searching for the mushrooms when two Ogres spotted us. The guard fired at them to try to lure their attention away from us. Belle and I started running as fast as we could. I did not use my magic to speed myself up because I did not want to leave Belle behind.

One of the Ogres heard us running and followed us while the other fought with our guard. The Ogre chased us for some time until we came to a gorge. There was fallen tree lying across it acting like a bridge. Belle crossed over the bridge and turned to look behind her. I was frozen with fear looking down the gorge. She knew I was afraid of heights so she turns back to look at me. She crosses back over the bridge and walks to my side. She grabs my hand and tries to pull me slowly forward. I can still hear the Ogre a distance away chasing us but I do not want to move.

When Belle grabs my hand I feel the warmth radiating from it. Slowly I start to move forward letting her guide me. She is telling me not to look down only to focus on the other side. She squeezes my hand gently reassuring me that she would not let go of me. I am capable of doing magic but heights are the one thing that I am afraid of. Slowly we make it across the bridge to the other side.

I hear the roaring of the Ogre who was chasing us but this time it's louder, much louder. I turn around and see the Ogre on the other side of the gorge where I was just moments before frozen with fear. The Ogre reaches down and picks up a rock and flings it at us. The rock hits Belle and pushes her onto the ground. Seeing Belle hurt drives me into a rage. I look around for something to use as a weapon but instead notice a tree next to the Ogre. There is a long branch above the Ogre and an idea forms in my head.

I use magic to cut the branch from the tree causing the branch to fall down. The Ogre is hit with the branch and falls forward into the gorge. I ignore the roaring and turn my attention to Belle.

I help her up and she only winces when I grab her shoulder where the rock struck. She has some scrapes on her hands and her dress is covered with dirt but she appears to be fine otherwise. I ask her if she can walk and she tells me that she can.

I decide to do something I have never done before. I have Belle lean on me with her good shoulder and I start to use magic. I feel the magic inside me and try to focus my energy into Belle as well. I know it is working when I hear a gasp from her. I tell her that we are going to run back to the castle and that she only needs to focus on running. We start to run and I am relieved that it was working. I could feel Belle leaning on me as we ran and I never let go of her until we got back to the castle.

When we are on the front steps of the castle I hear the door open and someone run out to us. I look up and see our father with a worried look on his face. He orders some of the guards to take Belle inside and to call on some healers. Belle goes with them and he drags me back into the castle.

He tells me that I am never allowed outside the castle again. He blames me for almost killing my sister, that it was my fault. The ball that was scheduled for my birthday tomorrow was cancelled. As he is yelling at me I am boiling with rage, I want nothing more to be with Belle right now. I figure this is the most he has ever said to me in my life and he is ordering me to be a prisoner in this castle. Even though Belle and I are both his daughters he treats me like I am not. When he is finished he sends me to my room with an escort.

Once I am in my room start to pack. I knew that I could not live any longer in the castle with him even if it meant leaving Belle. I knew that he would not do anything to her; she was the world to him even if I meant nothing to him. As I am packing I hear a knocking at the door. I quickly put my pack between my pillows before the door opens.

Belle walks in and shuts the door behind her. I see a guard in the hallway as she shuts the door. She has shoulder bandaged and changed into new clothing. She walks over to me and sits on the bed next to me.

"You're leaving aren't you Angel?"

"I am Belle, I'm sorry but I can no longer live here. He does not treat me like I am his daughter. I need to live my own life without him in it."

I turn to look at Belle and I see the tears in her eyes. I grab my handkerchief from my pocket and use it to wipe away her tears. Seeing her like this makes me want to stay but what she tells me gives me the courage to leave.

"I knew that one day you would leave, you have always been a freer spirit than me. I want you to know that I will always love you but I also want you to go wherever you want to go be whoever you want to be. No one decides your fate but you."

I want to break into tears but I manage to hold on even though I am shaking. Belle grabs me and pulls me into her lap rocking me. She starts to sing and her voice reminds me of why our mother named her Belle. I relax in her embrace and let the emotion overcome me. I feel the tears run down my cheeks but I don't care anymore. I am in my sister's arms and I don't want to leave her.

Belle takes the handkerchief from my hands and uses it to wipe my tears. I look up into her eyes and see a beautiful blue ocean full of love. The silence is broken by a shuffling outside. Belle helps me up and I reach over and grab my pack from my pillows. She walks over to the wall that hides the secret passage and opens it. I put on my cloak and walk over to her.

"Belle you can come with me. I will do everything I can to keep you safe."

"Angel I want to but my place is right here right now. I need to stay it is my job right now to help our people."

I know that she wants to come with me but I also know she is right. The best place for her right now is here. She gives me a hug and once we end the hug she pulls a book out of her pocket.

"Happy Birthday Angel, I want you to have this to remember me by. I know that you would never forget your sister but keep this as a reminder. One day you and I will go on our own adventure just like the people we have read about."

I take the book and put it in the inside pocket of my cloak near my heart.

"Belle I love you and I promise you that I will come back for you. I could never forget you."

"I love you too Angel. Never forget that."

She leans down and kisses my forehead.

I turn and walk into the passage. Before I descend down the steps I turn to look at her as she shuts the opening. She pauses and we stare at each other for a brief moment. A smile spreads across her face and I see the love that she has for me in that last moment I look at her. I face forward and hear the opening close and then Belle walking back towards the door and as soon as I hear her close the door I start walking.

The passageway is an old servant's stairwell that is no one uses anymore. Years ago the ceiling collapsed causing the stairs to become impassable so all of the entrances were sealed. Everyone still thinks that the stairwell is filled with debris but I used my magic to fix it. The only other person who knows about the passage is Belle. I descend the stairs until I get to the bottom.

When I am at the bottom I look through a crack in the wall to see if anyone is in the kitchen. I suppose I am lucky that Maurice was in a fit. All of the servants know to avoid any place in which he could find them easily so they are probably hiding in the other passages.

I use one of the spells that Rumpelstiltskin taught me, invisibility. Once I am invisible I open the panel that leads into the kitchen. When I am in the kitchen I quickly look around to see if there is any food I can take with me. I see the baskets of bread that are given to the guards throughout the castle. I grab one of the baskets and leave through the back door hoping no one noticed the basket disappearing into thin air.

Once I am in the open I start to run. I use my magic to speed myself until I can go no further. I know that I am nowhere near the castle but I still felt uneasy. I check my surroundings and once I am positive I am the only one around I sit down. The first thing I do is take all of the bread out of the basket and carefully put it in my pack. I wrap the bread with the extra clothing I have packed. I did not want any animals to get ahold of my bread and carrying the basket presents more of a problem than it is worth.

Afterwards I curl up in a ball using my cloak as a blanket and my pack as a pillow. I slowly drift into sleep as the weariness sets in.

When I wake up the sun is already high in the sky. My stomach is growling asking for food but the first thing that I know I need is water. My mouth is extremely dry and I know that water was the only thing I could not get a hold of. I grab all of my stuff and start to search for some kind of water.

After some time I come across a stream and breathe a sigh of relief. I sit down by the side of the stream and take off my pack and cloak. I start to drink from the stream and it is refreshing. When I am done drinking I pull my pack towards me and take out some bread. The bread is just starting to harden but I don't care I just eat.

Once I am done eating I pull out the book Belle gave me. It is not a book I recognize but I feel like it is the most important book in the world. There are no markings on the outside so I don't know who wrote it or what the name of the story is. I open the book and see a note from Belle on the first page.

Angel, Happy Birthday. I know we promised to go on adventures and see the world but I want you to remember the adventures we have already been on. I want you to know that one day we will see the world but that doesn't mean that we should forget about what we have already seen. I wrote this book for you and I know that you will enjoy reading it just as much as the other stories we have read together.

I love you, Belle

I feel tears well up in my eyes again but I wipe them away before they are fully formed. I realize that there is a bookmark in the book and I turn to the page. On the two pages is a drawing of a woman sitting on a tree trunk with an infant looking at her. I know that Belle drew a picture of me with our mother at the tree stump. I look at the bookmark that Belle used and see that it is one of the flowers that I grew for her. I know that this is the same flower that I gave Belle the same day I first saw Rumpelstiltskin, I could detect traces of his magic still in it even though that was years ago.

I want to read more of the book but I am starting to feel restless staying in the same spot for so long. I do not want to be captured and brought back to my father's castle but I also do not want to be ambushed in the forest. I know many of the dangers of the forest but I do not think even with magic I would stand much of a chance against them. The best thing for me is to keep moving.

I know that I should stick to the stream and follow it but I know that eventually it would come out to a village. I do not want to be seen in village and risk being brought back to the castle so I walk away from the stream.