After a long while I end up near my father's kingdom again. I head towards the outside of the castle hoping to find Belle outside. My search is rewarded when I find Belle and Cliff in a tent a few miles away from the castle. I decide to surprise them.

I put on my armor a little distance away from them and carefully sneak up. I wait until I see Belle enter the tent leaving Cliff outside. I use my cloak as camouflage and I manage to sneak in front of Cliff. I pull my sword out of its sheath and point the sword towards his throat.

"Surrender now young one, you will not be able to fight me."

I try to disguise my voice as deep so that he does not recognize it. It works and he tries to pull out his sword.

"Cliff is there a problem out there?"

"Nothing is wrong Mistress Belle, I just need you to stay in the tent for a while. I have matters to attend to."

I see the entrance of the tent open and see Belle staring out. Cliff pushes my sword out of the way and tries to swing at me. I easily block his blow and counterattack. The battle begins.

I do not use my magic like I did with Rumpelstiltskin because I do not want to expose myself to them easily. As we fight I wait for Cliff to realize that it is me but he is only focused on protecting Belle. The hood of my cloak easily hides my face from view so he cannot see it. He manages to push me back but he doesn't realize that he is pushing me towards the tent.

"Cliff it's…"

"Belle, let me handle this trespasser."

He continues to push me towards the tent. I feel someone jump me from behind and I am tackled to the ground.

"Hey, I call cheat. Belle interfered."
"Angel?"

I stand and my hood has fallen showing my face.

"I was trying to tell you Cliff that it was Angel. I saw her necklace and knew it was her. Besides I could recognize my sister anywhere."

"Why did you challenge me to battle Angel?"

"I wanted to make sure that you were prepared for a surprise attack. Besides, I think that I would have won if Belle did not cheat. I was being fair, I did not use my magic."

"Why don't you come inside the tent and we will talk some more? Cliff, I think it is okay for you to join us, besides I think that the only threat here is my sister."

The three of us enter the tent and I sit down next to Belle just like old times. Belle has matured into a woman in the short time that I have not seen her. Cliff is slightly taller than I remember him being but he still has the same smile and dark eyes.

"Why don't you start Angel? I am sure that you must have some tales from your travels. Where did you get that armor?"

"I won it in a fight. The swordsman was just as skilled as I was but in the end we called it a draw but he still wanted me to take the armor. My old one was getting a bit snug."

I did not want to lie to them but I am still afraid of what they would think of me if they knew of my interactions with Rumpelstiltskin. Belle appears to have some suspicions on her face, she is probably figuring out how I really did get the armor.

"You have grown some Angel. I can barely recognize you even though you are my sister. I am glad to see you."

Belle hugs me and for once I do not feel like crying in her arms. I just enjoy the moment. For the first time since I ran away we were able to enjoy the moment without having to worry.

"What are you two doing outside the castle?"

"I wanted to spend a night outside for once. I was able to convince our father that it would be safe but he only would let me out if Cliff would accompany me. Cliff has earned our father's respect so that he is the one that he trusted to guard me. I never thought that we would see you again but I knew that something was going to happen."

"You should be careful Belle. I have not seen Ogres close to here but I have noticed an increase in my encounters with them."

"I know that Angel. Your father has ordered me to go to the battle front as soon as I return to the castle. I do not want to leave Belle but I must do my duty."

I see a look of worry in Cliff's eyes but I also understand that he wants to the best that he can.

"Cliff you have to do your duty. I believe that you will still be protecting Belle when you are fighting the Ogres. Besides you know how to fight them."

We talk for a little while longer. I have no news that I can tell them as I do not want them to know about my time with Red and Granny as well as my interactions with Rumpelstiltskin. They tell me of the news of the castle. I have been avoiding the army so I do not know much of what was happening.

Apparently the battlefront was taking some tolls. Cliff was ordered to the front because of his knowledge of Ogres. The battle was still a great distance away but they feared that it would start to get too close if they could not stop the Ogres' advance. There was tension with Gaston's army but the rumor that Belle and Gaston were to be married in the future helped to keep them as allies.

As I went to sleep that night I listened to Belle tell a story. I fell asleep in her arms like I used to when I was younger. When I wake up in the morning I have to say my farewells to them once again. This time we are leaving under better circumstances and promise to see each other again.

When I say goodbye to Cliff he gives me directions to where he will be stationed, he invites me to join him but I tell him that I must travel my own path. I tell him that we will need to have a rematch without Belle interfering. He leaves me with a hug and a kiss on my forehead.

"Angel, I want you to know that although you are young for me I will wait for you. I do love you."

I say goodbye to Belle last and she gives me a hug.

"Angel, I am glad that you have found your love even if you are young. Time will bring you two together. Do not worry about me I know that we will see each other again."

I promise Belle that I will see her again and I will keep safe. I turn and walk away with a heavy weight on my heart for having to say farewell to both of them once more but with a renewed hope in the future seeing both of them again.

I return to my travels and this time I do not avoid anyone instead I use my disguise as Sam to help me. I keep my armor hidden in my pack so that I am not recognized as a soldier until I get close to the battle front.

I know that I am close to the fighting as the towns I pass through appear to have fewer and fewer people. I see the effects of the Ogres on the buildings and the people. I hardly see a smile or receive a friendly greeting I only see solemn faces.

By the time I get to camp I can see that already the soldiers have been a part of the battle. I feel out of place with my armor barely used without a mark on it. I wander around until I find Cliff standing with some soldiers. He has already been to battle and I can see that he has been injured slightly. He notices me and walks over to me.

I become a part of the army once again but this time I am under the order of Cliff. He and I meet in secret when we can but it is difficult as the battle does not show any signs of lessening.

When I became part of the army again there was some tension between me and some of the other soldiers. They believed me to be a deserter so they did not treat me with respect until they learned that the reason that I was considered a deserter was because of my rumored time with Belle.

My duty is to provide sentry duty for the camp but soon they realize that it is difficult for me to warn of an attack when I cannot speak. I go the general and manage to convince him to allow me to go on scouting trips. He reluctantly agrees but I write to him that I have already managed to survive on my own. He has heard the story of the time that I protected Belle by slaying the two Ogres as well as my fighting the Ogres during the ambushed convoy.

I join up with some of the groups that are known for their scouting trips. A lot of the soldiers have volunteered for the scouting but only a few actually become a scout because the general is afraid that some of the soldiers will become deserters easily if they are given the chance. The general trusts that I will not try to desert the military, he tells me that he has a sense about people.

At first the other scouts treat me like I don't exist until they slowly realize that I have the ability to track and defeat Ogres. I try to train them the best I can through demonstrations of a battle. They quickly learn how to fight Ogres but not learn how to track them, they trust me to track them so that they can focus on fighting.

When I am not on scouting trips I am assigned the role of messenger again. I am trusted for my skill to be the fastest messenger to deliver messengers between the general and Sir Maurice. Whenever I am delivering a message to my father's castle I am usually invited to stay the night. He trusts me still as being the mute boy named Sam so he even allows me to roam the castle with Belle.

Belle and I talk in secret whenever we get a chance to be alone together. At nighttime I use the secret passage to visit her in her room where she reads me stories or we just sit and talk. It is almost like we are a family again until I have to leave the next day.

As the war continues my visits to the castle become less frequent but my scouting trips seem to increase. I start to even make solo trips on the orders of the general. I make sure to send letters and presents to Belle. I mostly send her books that I know she will enjoy reading but I do send her fabric that I know she will love to use for dresses. My favorite fabric that I sent her was one of a shimmering gold, it reminded me of the flowers that I grew for her.

Cliff starts to worry more each time that I am to leave the camp. He and I share looks when no one is looking but we do nothing more. He knows that I can handle myself but he still wants to protect me. I knew that the only reason that I was not on the battlefront myself was that Cliff convinced the general that I was not fit for it even though the general knew of my scouting trips and my encounters with Ogres.