Jude perched on the edge of his bed and stared at Mariana. Mariana was holding a new suit out to him and he stared at it. He hadn't realized that this dinner Connor had been planning for him was going to be so extravagant to warrant completely new clothes. Jude wasn't even sure the last time that he had gotten completely new clothes. Usually, he and Callie procured hand-me-downs and Callie would gather scraps from the seamstresses she worked for in order to patch them up. And Jude had never received clothing such as this. Even without touching the fabric, Jude knew it was fit for the royalty that had used to live here. And it was flashy. The fabric itself was yellow, which Jude thought was an odd choice, although he surprisingly liked it. It wasn't as if the suit was all yellow – there was a swirling, navy pattern that went throughout the jacket and the pants. It must have taken someone a very long time to accomplish it.

"Wow." That was all Jude had. Then, "Tonight's a big deal."

"What do you think?" Mariana asked.

Jude was tempted to talk about the suit, even though he knew that wasn't what she had in mind. Jude stood up off the bed and turned to the window, looking at the horizon line. He wasn't sure what to say.

"Jude?"

He didn't know if he was facing toward his village or away from it. All he knew was that Callie was out there and he missed her more and more with every day that passed.

"I'm not ready to think."

"Do you not want to attend tonight?"

"I do," Jude said quickly. He didn't want her to get the wrong idea about that. "But that's also a little hard to think about."

"Let's get you dressed," Mariana said. "You've even got new shoes!"

Jude smiled for her sake. He wasn't the type to get excited about new shoes, though like with everything, he should have been excited about them. New shoes weren't something he received often. Mariana helped him figure out the many layers and pieces that went into the clothing. Jude had never worn something that required so much effort to put on. He supposed that this would probably be normal to him if he'd grown up in the castle, doing things like attending fancy dinners. When he was done dressing, he carefully put on his shoes, heeding Mariana's warning about how to move in the suit.

"We're having dinner," Jude reminded her. "What if I get something on it?"

"I suggest you don't!" she replied brightly. "Do you feel ready?"

Jude nodded. "I … I think so. I'm nervous."

"That's okay."

"Do you think Connor is nervous?"

Mariana laughed loudly. "I promise you that the Master is nervous. But you have no reason to be. You've had dinner with him a lot over the past few months."

Jude remembered that first, awful invitation to dinner, when Connor was just a beast who scared him. How had so much changed in just a few short months? Connor was a different person now, especially in Jude's eyes. And Jude was sure that there was something about this palace, something about Connor himself, that had changed Jude. Jude rubbed his hands together to get a little bit of warmth to his fingers and then he took a deep breath.

"Here I go."

"Here you go."

Jude rested his hand on the doorknob and then he turned back to Mariana.

"Don't you worry," she told him.

Jude nodded, recited that to himself and opened his bedroom door. He walked purposefully down the hallway. He was to meet Connor at the main stairway, but Jude wasn't sure where. The stairs were split in two – one leading to the West Wing and the other leading toward Jude's wing. They met together on a lower landing before feeding into another set of steps that went down to the actual lower floor of the castle. Jude worried about whether he met Connor on the landing or at the very bottom of the stairs until he reached the top of the stairs on his side of the castle and realized he needn't have worried about it all. He and Connor were both perfectly on time and Connor was standing at the top of the stairs as well.

Jude was more than glad for distance. Connor had dressed up in a suit of dark blue with gold stitching. It was one of the first times that Jude had seen him without his familiar cloak, aside from the morning Jude had given it back to Connor over breakfast, as Jude had spent the night using it as a blanket. Connor was an impressive sight, and Jude hadn't realized that they'd both been standing there, staring at the other, until Connor shifted and rested one massive paw against the bannister. Jude tried to take equal steps with Connor so they reached the middle platform together. Jude resisted the urge to stick his hands in his pockets for lack of anything else to do.

"I didn't realize this dinner would be so fancy," Jude murmured.

"Do you hate it?"

"No." Jude touched the front of his suit and then looked at Connor's. "Fancy is good."

"Good." Connor grinned that smile that would have looked horrifying to anyone who didn't know he was happy and just focused on his teeth. "Because it gets worse."

"Show me!" Jude said, and he couldn't keep the excitement out of his voice.

Connor hesitantly offered Jude his paw. Jude took it, only to stare at how completely Connor dwarfed his small hand. He didn't have time to think about it, because Connor took a step and Jude had to do his part to keep pace with him, so neither of them felt like they were changing their stride. As the first thing, Jude and Connor went to the dining room. The long table was set elegantly and a single hat stand was playing the violin in the corner of the room. The table was set: two place settings at each end. Jude looked at the long table and then up at Connor.

"Why do you like to have me sit so far away?"

Connor laughed. "It's not intentional. It's just traditional."

Traditional? Jude chewed on the word. What would the beast know about tradition? But Jude shrugged through it. There was so much that he didn't know about this palace or this enchantment that surrounded it. Connor signalled for a servant and Jude's place setting was sat next to Connor and his chair moved for him. Connor pulled Jude's chair out for him. Jude sat down, saying 'thank you' and waited for Connor to take his own seat.

"Is it traditional for a beast to be raised as a gentleman?" Jude asked.

Connor shrugged. "I guess it depends on the beast. Did you have one to use an as example?"

"Maybe," Jude said, blushing, even though he didn't know why.

The first course was served. It was a soup, served in a large bowl. Jude picked up his soup bowl so that Connor wouldn't feel left out. There was a spirit in the dining room that was cozier and Jude felt close to Connor. As if everything they had done together over the past few months was building up to where they were sitting now. Jude felt as if the world was either going to make or break and the thought made him antsy. He put down his soup bowl and stood from the table. For once, Connor was looking up at him.

"What is it?"

"I just feel … excited. Let's eat the rest later. I want to know what else there is."

"Yeah, we can do that."

Jude picked up both of Connor's hands in his own and helped him from the chair. They were out the dining room door in an instant. Jude heard the sounds of the violin stop and then they were headed toward the ballroom. Jude held his breath, because he didn't want to think that they were going to the ballroom for sure, but then they were in the hallway, and it had been cleared of dust and other dirt. It was so clean it sparkled. The doors themselves had been returned to their former states and the doorknobs glistened. If the inside of the ballroom was as clean as the area outside, Jude understood what the rest of the palace had been doing and why they had been so scarce lately. He put his hand on one doorknob and Connor put his on the other. They pushed the doors open together and Jude was overwhelmed by the sheer beauty.

The floor was like standing on light itself. Jude looked up and the chandelier sparkled and shone. The ceiling was decorated with beautiful portraits of angels and cherubs. Jude just kept staring upward, trying to take in the details of the ceiling, but it was impossible too. It was not only such a distance, but there was so much to look at. Jude didn't think he wanted to know how long it had taken someone to accomplish it. It was certainly a masterpiece. Jude had been staring so long that he was startled when he heard a band start to play. He had never even heard them come in.

"Connor, it's beautiful!"

"You think?"

"I think!" Jude turned in a half-circle, trying to take in everything around him.

"Do, um … it's … Well, it's a ballroom. We should dance."

Jude turned to Connor. "Should we or do you want to?"

"I want to," Connor said firmly. "If … if you do."

Jude could only smile, because that was what he wanted to hear, and he wasn't sure how excited he should be about it. He wasn't sure how that fit into his world at all, because even after all this time, Jude knew that his world couldn't be here, because there was Callie, and she had always been the biggest part of him. But then Connor put one hand on his waist and Jude reached one hand up to his Connor's shoulder. The orchestra started up a slow rhythm and then, before either of them could move a foot, Jude blurted, "I can't dance."

"It's easy. Follow me."

Jude nodded, because he trusted Connor and he could do that. Connor didn't give Jude a chance to say another word. With a quick step, they were off and dancing. Jude didn't pause to think about how to do what he was doing. He let Connor be his guide and let the music dictate how their steps moved and that was enough to make Jude feel like they were floating on air. All there was in his world was beautiful music and Connor's face and he just felt happy. And that was when Jude knew. That was when the truth slowly stole over him and he felt the truth of it break his heart, because somehow, he had managed to fall in love.

The music seemed to fade, and Jude realized they were at the other end of the ballroom. He looked back at the distance they had travelled and it didn't seem real that they had managed to come to so far without him realizing.

"One more thing to show you."

"What?"

Connor led him a few steps back and opened a balcony door. Jude hadn't even realized there was a balcony here, but he wasn't surprised. It seemed that it every room in this palace had one. But this one was beautiful. The weather had warmed up enough that it wasn't uncomfortable to be outside without thick coats on. Connor led Jude over to the stone railing and Jude looked down. They were overlooking the garden that he and Phillipe often walked around in. The world was turning green again, but it was nowhere near the flowery beauty that would come in the spring and summer.

"Jude?"

Jude faced Connor again and for the first time, he noticed that Connor had a blue bow tying the thickness of his mane back. It was an elegant touch that Jude hadn't expected and it had made him smile.

"Connor?"

"Are you happy here?"

Jude nodded and then he let out a shaky breath. "Well …"

"Well, what?"

"I mean, I think about Callie all the time. I just want to know she's all right. I want … I want to see her again."

Connor rubbed at the back of his neck. Then, "Come with me, please."

Jude followed him back through the ballroom, out the door, and up the main stairs toward the West Wing. Jude tried not to think of how scary Connor's living quarters were for him. He fully remembered what the beast had done to him last time he was there, though he knew the situation had changed since then. He glanced around the broken remains of the bedroom, and it appeared that nothing physically had changed. Connor picked up a silver mirror that was resting on one of the small tables that was still intact in the room. It was something that seemed out of place – both in the room and in Connor's hand.

"It's enchanted," Connor said. "It will show you whatever you ask it to."

He handed it over to Jude and that was when Jude realized just how large the mirror was. It wasn't a remnant leftover from one of the ladies that used to inhabit the house. It was a mirror fit for beastly paws. Jude had to use to hands to support it – one on the handle and one on the back of the mirror.

"I … I'd like to see my sister … please."

The mirror began to glow bright green and Jude winced at the sudden burst of light. He turned his face away from the mirror until the light died down and then he turned back to the mirror. Instead of seeing his reflection, he saw an image of Callie. She was not in the little cottage that they rented or spending a night at work. She was out in the woods somewhere, the wind ripping at her. As Jude watched, she let out a horrific cough and nearly collapsed to the ground. He might have just been imagining it, but he thought he heard the howling of wolves. Then, Callie did fall to the ground.

"No," Jude gasped. He felt his heart constrict and he looked up at Connor, unable to voice the horror he felt at seeing his sister like this.

"Go," Connor told him.

Jude wavered, because part of him wanted to stay. He wasn't sure what to do with himself now. He wasn't sure if Connor was truly letting him leave.

"She needs you," Connor said. "Go."

"Thank you."

Jude went to hand him the mirror back, but Connor stayed his hand. "Take it. Use it to guide you to your sister. And use it as something to remember me by."

Jude held the mirror to his chest. "Thank you. I-I'll come back, I promise!"

And then Jude ran, thinking only: practical clothes, get Phillipe, get to Callie. When he left, he didn't look back.

On tumblr I'm: we are all of legend now (with dashes between every word). If you want to find my replies to anon reviews, add backslash tagged backslash anon dash replies. If you want to see anything I post about Tale As Old As Time, add backslash tagged backslash tale dash as dash old dash as dash time. Note that the punctuation is spelled out due to fanfiction's restrictions. If you have any problems accessing the extra content on tumblr please send me a message and I can help you out!

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~TLL~