A/N: Please forgive my self-indulgence for a couple more chapters, Gentle Reader; I've become so fond of this pair of characters that I want to give them some help settling in to their new life, and answer a few of those nagging doubts and questions.

Tudor Pavanne: Adjustments

Belle and John tumbled out of the jumper vortex together, running smack into the side of a parked (and luckily empty) sedan. Belle pushed off the car with her free hand, looking wildly around the so-familiar street, her grin stretching more and more until like to split her face. "We made it! Oh my god! We made it!" They were just across and down the street from the corner she'd been snatched from – in fact, she could see the goon who'd grabbed her lurking beside the building there, waiting.

She turned to her companion, who was not delighted, but standing stock still, not breathing, only his eyes darting about in a pale, shocked face. "John? John!"

"What hell is this?" he asked hoarsely, and she bit her lip to keep from laughing.

"Not hell. Just London." She still had his hand gripped tightly in hers, and she put her other palm reassuringly on his shoulder. "John. John!" He still didn't look at her, so she moved that hand to his cheek, instead, forcing his head to turn, and at last his eyes focused on hers, and she went on. "We're not dead. We traveled. I know this is going to sound impossible... and insane... But we're still in London. We traveled through time. We've come into the future – the distant future. John... this is the year twenty-twelve. Two thousand and twelve. We've skipped five hundred years."

Her explanation wasn't helping; he was obviously becoming more confused, not less. "How do you know?" he demanded.

She hesitated. "Because this is where – when – I'm from. I didn't come from another country, I came from another time. This time. And no, I never lost my memory. I always knew." She'd been keeping watch out of the corner of her eye, and now saw the goon straighten up. "Shush – look! Look over there! Just watch!" and she pointed towards the goon. John followed her finger just in time to see a familiar blonde head come around the corner and run smack into the goon, who grabbed her arm. They seemed to exchange a couple of words, and then disappeared in a brilliant flash of light.

If possible, John's jaw dropped even further, his eyes goggling. Belle pulled his face around again to hers. "That was me, getting kidnapped, that started this whole thing rolling. That's what just happened to us, you and me, back in the Tower court. We just disappeared in front of Henry and the guards in a flash of light, just like that."

John was shaking his head, unable to comprehend at all.

Belle glanced behind him and saw they were next to a sidewalk cafe, closed for the afternoon lull. She gently pushed him over and down onto a chair, then took the other seat across the table from him. Leaning over, she reached for his chilled hands and held them in both of hers. "John..."

He'd been looking around again, staring at the – to him – completely unfamiliar sights of cars both parked and scooting past, tall apartment buildings, pavement and sidewalk, strange shops crowded next to each other, and strangely dressed people walking past. He interrupted whatever she had been about to say, talking almost more to himself than her. "Carriages that move without horses... Buildings that reach to the sky..." She smiled, recognizing details of the "silly stories" she used to tell him. He turned back to her, questioning now, "... and instant communications across vast distances?" She nodded encouragingly.

"... And... people like me?"

She raised her eyebrows, then tilted her head, looking past him at something that had caught her eye a moment before, then nodded that way, and he twisted around to look. Just down the block was a gay couple standing and looking through a shop window, their arms around each other – and as they watched, the men shared an affectionate kiss. Belle gave John a second to absorb it, then said, "Look at everybody else. They don't care." It was true – nobody else on the mildly-busy street was giving the couple a second glance.

John slowly twisted back to face her again, struggling to absorb it. She gave him time. "Five hundred years..." he muttered. A thought struck him, and he looked at her with lost eyes. "Are we still married?"

She spluttered a moment at the utterly unexpected question, not sure of the answer herself. "Legally? Officially? …. Probably not." And then her heart provided the real answer. "But as far as I'm concerned, you're still my husband."

He blew out a huge breath, relieved of one thing, then looked at her again, bewildered, "But what... why..."

"Why was I back in your time?" He nodded. She took a deep breath, and blew it out in a helpless sigh. "There was something I had to do." She shook her head. "But it's a very, very, VERY long story – and I promise you I will tell you all of it... but not right now. It's too complicated." She paused. "John, listen. I'd like to strike a bargain with you. This world... has changed, completely, from the world you knew. And I know that you're going to have a very difficult time adjusting to it, that every little thing is going to be utterly strange and maybe scary." A rueful purse of her lips. "And I have remember not to treat you like a child because of it. If I forget, remind me, OK? But listen... Give it a try... for just six months. I lived in your time for eighteen months. All I'm asking you for is six. And at the end of that time, if you really can't hack it – I mean, you just can't make the adjustments, and just hate living here, then we'll leave." Dropping one hand for a moment, she raised her wrist with the time jumper on it. "This device – what brought us here – still works. It can take us to any time, any place. If after six months, you don't want to stay, then together we'll pick out a time and a place where you would be more comfortable." She saw the idea she was expecting flicker across his face, and gently squashed it. "You can't go back home again, to fifteen-twelve. They'll chop off your head as soon as you're recognized. Viscount Pendleton is effectively dead, and England, in Henry's time, is out. But maybe France... or the New World, after it's settled... Anywhere."

"And... you'd go with me?"

She hesitated, the knowledge that the "real" Belle was going to be another huge adjustment for him, one she wasn't at all sure he'd be able to make. "If you still want me to."

"Of course I will. You're still my wife. In spite of...," he gestured behind him towards the gay couple with a quick jerk of his head, "I keep my vows, Madame."

Unexpected, grateful tears prickled her eyes. Having HIM around was going to be a huge adjustment for HER, too. She sniffed, and then managed another smile. "Then I'll make another bargain with you, too. If we both still feel the same way in six months, then we'll take those vows again, and make it official, for this time – and all time."

He looked deeply into her eyes, and then nodded. "All right, then, Belle. You have a bargain – two bargains."

Ouch. Suddenly, she hated hearing her professional name from his lips. She hadn't even thought much about it for months, but back here in her old surroundings, she was forcibly reminded of her double life. She took another huge breath. "I'd... like it if you dropped the Belle completely. Just Hannah. OK? It really is my real name."

"OK. Hannah, then. But you'll explain that, too? Later?" She bit her lip, and nodded.

He seemed to have recovered a bit, so she suggested they go "home". "My place is just a few blocks from here. It's tiny – well, really, it's about the same size as our quarters in most of the castles we stayed at with the court. But it's comfortable."

They weren't exactly inconspicuous on the walk, but it was likely as much for their very odd (and dirty) attire as for his constantly stopping to gape in the shop windows, and she ignored the stares and murmured comments. They ran across a casual clothing store having a sidewalk jumble sale, and it suddenly dawned on her while two closets full were awaiting her, he had nothing else to wear. Guessing his size, she grabbed a couple of pairs of jeans and a handful of plain Tshirts, then reached automatically for her pocket – and burst out laughing. Yup, the small bundle of twenties – what was left from her last client's payment – and her ID were still there. She'd never even thought to check till that moment.

Thinking of it then, she asked John how good he was at remembering numbers, smiling at his shrug, then gave him a string of four digits and told him to repeat it, over and over. By the time they reached her apartment block, he'd said it perfectly dozens of times.

Then she stopped dead in the lobby, remembering what was on display in her place. "Uh... I wasn't exactly expecting company, and... I really need to clean it up a bit. Please. There's things in there that you... really... don't want to see. Can you just wait right here for just five minutes? I promise that's all it'll take."

John grinned and leaned against the wall, watching out the glass front door. Hannah ran up the flight of stairs and let herself into the flat and looked around. OK, not too bad. But I have GOT to hide those toys! She didn't have a box, but she did have a suitcase, and she dragged it out of the back of her closet and flung it open, then scooped up all the sex toys – her professional gadgets – out of the glass cabinet and the nightstand, and dumped them in. She then grabbed her sexiest underwear and tossed it on top, closed the case, and pushed it back where it had come from. She'd take it out and dump it somewhere another time. She stared for a moment at "Belle's" clothes hanging in the closet, and shook her head. There wasn't anything there that would be any worse to John's unaccustomed eyes than on "Hannah's" side. Thank goodness she was a clean freak (had to be, really, with clients coming to her place) – there weren't even any dirty clothes to pick up.

She went back down to the lobby and tore John away from the view, and asked him one more time what the numbers were. At his now-bored, perfect recitation, she grinned, and pointed to the keypad next to her door without a word. He caught on immediately, and tentatively pushed the little knobs underneath each number in sequence, astounded when the door cracked open by itself. When he turned his delighted smile on her, she grinned back. "No keys to lose. Just don't forget that number!"

She waved him through the door first, letting him stare around with wide eyes for a moment before she flicked the overhead light switch and watched him jump, giggling. Showing him the switch, she let him flick it a few times, then gave him the simplest explanation she could come up with on the walk home: "It's called electricity. Basically, we've harnessed lightning. Don't worry," she laughed when he jumped, as she knew he would. "It's perfectly safe, as long as you don't stick a finger or a fork in a socket." She showed him what one of those looked like, and he promised to keep all digits and implements far away.

A tour of the kitchen seemed to be in order next. He seemed to be getting used to the succession of shocks, watching her demonstrate and explain the stove, oven, and refrigerator (she skipped the microwave for now) with wide-eyed delight. He caught on to other things, too, that she wasn't saying directly. "You use these things yourself, don't you? You can cook?"

She laughed. "Well... basic things. I'm not real great, but I don't starve."

"And... can you teach me?"

"Sure. And you can learn as much as you want, whatever you want. John... that's one thing I haven't really touched on, yet. This world is so huge. And so complex. There are so many things to do, and see, and try, that nobody could ever do them all. And anybody can pretty much do anything they want. You don't have to limit yourself to 'gentlemen's pursuits' like hunting or... whatever you used to do. You can do anything."

He stared at her a moment, wondering – ignorant of the details, but sensing the endless possibilities. Then he looked back at the gadgets in the kitchen and shook his head. "If the rest of your world is like this... surprises in every corner..."

She giggled. "You ain't seen nothin' yet."