While everyone was sleeping soundly, eager for morning to come, so they could make the final preparations for the ball, Katrine was just finishing the final touches on Rose and Leon's outfits, sewing the last silk rose on Rose's dress and stitching the last leaf pattern on Leon's suit jacket.

When she was done, she looked at the now completed outfits, which were the grandest and most elegant garments she had ever made and was satisfied with her work and pleased that she had managed to finish them on time.

'Money well spent,' she said, seeing all her hard-earned life savings gone into making the outfits, 'The mistress and the boy will look so beautiful and dashing in them.'

She couldn't wait to see the couple wearing them, as it had taken her several days and three all-nighters and she had barely slept, which was nothing unusual for her but it would be worth it, although her aunt had always told her to not overdo it and to take breaks but it would be like asking Katrine to sew with her left hand.

'I love my work too much and I want to get these outfits finished before the ball and if I have to stay up all night working on them, so be it!' she had told her.

And Katrine was also delighted that Leon had accepted Rose's invitation to the ball, having been told about it by Rebecca, and that she had been right all along, that Rose had been worried for nothing.

As if he would refuse her, which he didn't, as they adored each other now and to think they were barely even friends and hated each other once!

'How have they changed since then,' Katrine said, 'It's clear as a bell that they are in love, even though the boy hasn't realised his feelings for her yet and this ball will be the very thing to bring them together and declare their strong love, as her parents did.

I'm so proud of you, my dear mistress, you've changed for the better and I know the boy loves you just as much as you love him. I never doubted you for a second. Now, all you need to do is confess your love for him and free us all from this misery.'

Katrine sighed happily to herself, as fatigue finally caught up with her and she dozed off, dreaming of becoming human again, not getting stuck in doorways and of being with George, her love and hoping that he would feel the same about her.

Elsewhere in the laundry room, Remy was unable to sleep, as he lay in George, who was sleeping soundly, with Remy staring out into the window for the umpteenth time that night, lost in his thoughts about his past and the events that had led him and George to the castle.

For most of his life, he had always been seen by his family, friends and everyone who had come into their laundrette as the idiot son, the one who caused trouble and mischief, the brash, immature, loud and obnoxious son who could do no right in his parents' eyes, in comparison to George, who was always the mature, honest, responsible and sensible older brother- it was like the good brother versus the bad brother.

Although he worked hard, well as best as he could and was good at doing laundry, even though he found it embarrassing to be doing 'a woman's job,' as male launderers were not common in their village, it was always overlooked by his behaviour, as it was all their customers and villagers saw poor Remy as and not for the person he really was or his hard work.

But it wasn't purely to annoy and cause trouble, it was in his nature but his father would be the one who was most irritated with the boy's immaturity and misbehaviour and had compared him unfavourably to George.

He would always say, 'That boy will be the death of me!' and 'Why can't you grow up and act YOUR AGE? Why can't you be more like George? He's more responsible than you, always bailing your sorry behind out of trouble!'

And yet, when he died after drinking himself to death, Remy had inherited his deck of cards, as they were to go to George, but he felt that Remy would get much use out of them, since he loved playing cards.

Other people would share his father's opinions about his youngest son and customers would say when they saw him, 'There's that idiot Bouchard boy, Remy, who's always causing trouble!'

'He's absolutely useless with the laundry! I wouldn't trust him to even wash a sock!'

'Why don't they just disown him? He's nothing more than a nuisance and a drain on the family! What must his parents been thinking when Madame Bouchard was pregnant with him?'

Even though Remy acted tough and played the fool to show that he didn't care about those unfavourable and hurtful opinions, deep down, it had hurt him more than he let on. He wasn't a bad person, it was just who he was.

In a sense, he could sympathise with Leon, who had been seen as an outcast in his village too, expect it was for him reading and not conforming to the 'norm' of the village rather than being seen as the black sheep of his family, which Remy had been.

Yet, despite everything they had been through, George had always stood by his side and defended him, and it was because of him, that Remy had escaped punishment when he had been summoned to Adam, after the many complaints Rebecca had made against him.

'It's what brothers do, Remy,' he had said, 'No matter what you do, or what others think of you, as much as you irritate and annoy me and cause so much trouble for me that I have to bail you out and reprimand you for your behaviour, you're my little brother and the only family I have left. I care for you and we have to stick together.'

And Remy knew that was true, as he looked at his brother, as the washtub he had been for ten years and did not deserve to be and felt guilty about having to drag him into his hare-brained scheme to help keep the laundrette afloat as Remy remembered the day he and George came to the castle.

He had been seventeen years old and George nineteen, when they were running Bouchard and Sons, their failing laundrette that had been in the family for generations after their father had died, leaving the brothers with his debts and the business in dire straits.

To help make ends meet, help being the operative word, rather than working hard and helping George with the workload, Remy was instead running illegal and dodgy card games outside the laundrette, using his tricks and rigging the games in his favour to make easy money and cheating their customers, who after picking up their laundry, would play cards only to realise that they were being rigged and Remy was cheating them out of their money.

Angry, the villagers summoned the law and soon, Remy found himself on the run, along with George, as he was seen as his accomplice, even though he had nothing to do with the games and since Remy was the only family he had left and was loyal to him, joined him, instead of turning in him to save his own skin, which he would never do.

The brothers ran far from their village, hiding in the forest to avoid detection and one day, after weeks of running and certain that they had lost the authorities that were chasing them, found the castle and hid inside before being found by Cogsworth and Adam, who were surprised to see them, even more that they were fugitives from the law.

Despite this and the awkward introductions they had, Adam and Cogsworth realised that the brothers weren't really criminals and were decent people (in spite of Remy's personality) and seeing their impressive laundry skills, took the brothers in as the new launderers, since the previous ones were about to retire.

And that was the start of a new life and for Remy, in particular, to turn over a new leaf and put his past behind.

He then thought about how he had constantly clashed with Lumiere, making him do humiliating and demeaning things when he had lost the bets they made and had been jealous of him and Babette, of their affection towards each other and ratting him out to the mistress when he had let Leon's mother in the castle.

Not to mention Lumiere was always rubbing salt in his wounds when he had been unable to be with Rebecca, as she had always rejected him, slapped him in the face when he had tried to kiss her, her constantly complaining about him to anyone who would listen and generally being seen as an loudmouth and idiot by everyone amongst other things.

He couldn't help but think that the curse was the punishment he had evaded when he had ran from the law all those years ago.

'Am I being punished for my wrongdoings by being a washboard?' Remy whispered, as he pondered, not for the first time, that maybe his past had finally caught up with him by being blasted by that evil witch, when he had tried to protect everyone from her wrath when the mistress picked that rose and he had been turned into a washboard for his pains.

'I know I haven't been the perfect person and had done many bad things in my past, but I did it for those who I love- Georgie, Becks, all my friends and my masters who had been so kind to me and Georgie and took us in, even though we were on the run from the law,' he said.

'I was willing to put myself in harm's way to protect the princess and everyone from that witch and I get rewarded by being blasted and turned into a washboard for ten years, never to drink coffee again, hold cards in my hands and being able to hold Becks, the woman that I love most in the world, if she would only realise it.

Tell me, whoever is up there, am I being punished?' he whispered.

'Remy, who are you talking to?' muttered George, having been rudely woken up by Remy's mumblings, for he was STILL LOUD even when trying to whisper to himself.

'No one, Georgie, I was whispering to myself about..everything that I had done and the curse and was wondering if I was being punished for it.' Remy said.

'Well, maybe you are,' said George, uncertainly, ' I mean that it was an innocent mistake on the mistress's part by picking that rose and having the Red Enchantress appear and cursing us, but you didn't really help the situation with your childish taunting and stupidly trying to fight her with your washboard..'

'You mean Fifi,' Remy said, 'and I was only trying to protect us from that witch and I got zapped with her magic for it.'

'Yes I know and for her, that was the final nail in the coffin,' said George, 'but with the mistress and the boy falling in love and with the special ball coming up, where they will declare their love, we will soon be free and you are trying to be better in your own special way and with this newfound hope we now have, we will be human again and you will be with Rebecca..'

'You mean Becks actually LIKES me now?' said Remy, surprised yet had a feeling that George already knew that.

'I think so, she's been laughing at your lame impersonations and smiling at you and she reprimanded Lumiere for flinging Father's cards on the ground the night you were playing snap with him, which is very unusual for her, but the look is in her eyes and I think that she does indeed have feelings for you that aren't anger or annoyance.' George said, noticing the huge grin on his brother's face as he said it.

'I knew it, I knew she loves me!' said Remy, excited, 'She just didn't want to admit it in front of everyone! And I've never stopped loving her, even when she rejected me! I just need to find out for myself, that's all!'

'Well, why don't YOU talk to her, then?' said George, as he yawned, 'but not right now, it's the middle of the night and you don't want to wake her, so wait until morning. '

'Stuff that, Georgie, I'm going NOW!' said Remy, not wanting to waste another second, as he waddled hurriedly out of the laundry room and headed towards the kitchen, while George gave a yawn and watched his brother leave, sighing to himself.

'What an idiot,' he said, 'but he IS my little brother after all,' as he fell asleep again.

Quietly as he could, Remy carefully opened the door to the kitchen and tiptoed in, past the closed cupboards and drawers with sleeping china and cutlery inside, as not to disturb anyone, looking for Rebecca, who was sitting near the window, apparently sleeping, but really staring out the window, looking at the stars.

Much like Remy had been doing before and he felt that he and Rebecca had much more in common than he thought, as he spotted the familiar pink bow of hers and whispered,

'Becks,'

Surprised, Rebecca turned around and saw Remy looking at her from the ground. She smiled at him, yet was curious to see why he would still be up at this hour, especially since they had a big day ahead of them.

'Remy, what are you doing here?' she said, 'It's the middle of the night and I'm trying to get some sleep!'

'I'm aware of that, Becks!' said Remy, 'But I want to talk to you and I couldn't wait any longer, besides you don't seem to be trying hard to sleep since you are staring out the window, lost in your own thoughts!'

'You got me, Remy,' Rebecca said, 'Alright, I'm coming down,' as she elegantly jumped off the windowsill, only to land quite clumsily on Remy, who caught her in his stumps.

'Careful, Becks, you don't want to rip yourself on me!' he chuckled.

'Ha, ha, very funny Remy, but thank you for catching me, even though it wouldn't have hurt me if I've landed on the floor, being a soft ragdoll and all,' Rebecca said, dusting off her dress and rearranging her bow.

'Don't mention it,' said Remy. There was a moment of silence between the two, which was unusual for Remy not to say anything, since he was the most talkative person in the castle and yet, he was reduced to silence, not sure what to say.

Rebecca was feeling the same, as she twirled a lock of her hair, not quite meeting Remy's eyes, both hiding their embarrassment in silence.

'So,' Remy said, after a while.

'So,' Rebecca said back, 'what did you want to talk about?'

'Well, Becks,' Remy said, 'I've been thinking about a lot tonight, about my past and wondering if being turned into a washboard was the punishment that I evaded for so long and about my love for you..'

'Remy,' Rebecca said, 'you're not being punished for what you did in your past and your annoying behaviour. It just happened, that's all. I know that I was harsh in saying that you didn't help the cause and that I called you a moron and many other names, but I didn't really mean it.

The reason that I didn't want to get close to you, wasn't just because I found you annoying and repulsive, which I know now you aren't. It's because, I didn't want to fall in love and be hurt, due to my past and being hurt by the people I put my trust in and I didn't want to go through that again.'

'But you can trust me,' said Remy, 'and everyone else. Look at the people who care about you, Mrs P's the mother you never had, Lumsie's like a father to you, Kitty Kat's your best buddy and your masters have been kind and caring, and the mistress has always seen you as a big sister.'

'That's true, they have been kind to me and you care about me too,' said Rebecca, 'You were so brave to stand up to the Red Enchantress, to protect us, even though you got fried by her and I have to say that was so bold of you. I never realised that about you before.

And you were so sweet to go to Leon to cheer him up, when he was so miserable about being separated from his mother, when no else did, as they were feeling discouraged about the curse and the mistress's beastly behaviour, but you had that 'Yes, we're enchanted objects but stuff it, let's do it anyway,' attitude and made him feel better about being here.'

'Aw thanks, Becks,' said Remy, grinning and feeling himself blush under wood, 'and I know we didn't get along well at first, even though I fell in love with you the moment I saw you but being the idiot I am, pointed out your bruises that you got from those awful masters you had and you reacted badly to that.'

Rebecca flinched, not wanting to remember her cruel masters and Remy pointing out her bruises rather crudely when she met him for the first time, which sparked her hatred and disgust for him, along with his personality and him hitting on her.

'Seeing those bruises, I was angry that they hurt you and that made you the way you are and I'm sorry for being such an insensitive jerk about it. I would NEVER do that to you, EVER!' Remy said, sounding so sincere that Rebecca couldn't help but smile at him.

'Oh, Remy,' Rebecca said, surprised at seeing a serious and sombre side to the normally cheerful, jokey and friendly washboard and how much he loved her, as he kept talking.

'Not to mention the numerous times you rejected me and how hurt I felt every time you did that, since you and everyone else believed that I only loved you for your looks and cooking skills, but I don't because I love you for who you are.

I took out my frustrations out on Lumsie, even though he didn't deserve it and was jealous of him and Babette being so in love, when I wasn't able to be with you.'

And humiliating him, by making him Babs's dress after the mistress was born, just to get a few laughs and some money from him. That was part of the bet if she had been a girl, but that wasn't the only reason I hoped that she would be one.'

'That was funny, Remy, I'd never seen Lumiere so peeved in my life! Hey, if looks could've killed, you would've croaked right on the spot, courtesy of him!' said Rebecca and the two laughed quietly as not to wake anyone, then she noticed Remy's sombre look.

'Remy,' Rebecca said, 'That bet you made with Lumiere, if the mistress had been a boy, what did you have to do? Is there something you're not telling me? It was more than wanting to see Lumiere look silly in a dress, wasn't it?'

Remy sighed heavily. He had kept his side of the bet a secret for years, if Rose had been born a boy, Lumiere told him that he..

'Becks, if the mistress was a boy, I..was to leave you alone, to not harass, irritate, annoy you or get you to be my girlfriend again. That's why I wanted her to be a girl so badly, so I could be with you and the idea of not being able to just crushed me inside.

You must be thinking that's selfish, but that's how I really felt at the time and still do. Becks, I love you with all my heart and you're the kindest, sweetest, resilient, determined, beautiful and resourceful girl ever. With all you've been through, I know I can make you happy if you reciprocate my love.

I know you love me, Becks, I know you do,' Remy said, his eyes misting as he looked at the ragdoll so lovingly, his heart racing madly in his chest.

'That's so beautiful, Remy and yes, it's true, I love you too. Katrine already knows this..' Rebecca said, only to be interrupted by Remy saying,

'Is there anything that you DON'T tell Kitty Kat?'

'Don't interrupt, please,' said Rebecca, rolling her eyes, 'Seeing the mistress and Leon get closer each day and falling in love, made me realise my feelings for you and I looked beyond the idiot everyone else saw and saw the real you- the kind, sweet, caring, brave, goofy, lively, jokey guy inside.

I didn't want to tell you in front of prying eyes, since they wouldn't have let me live it down after going on about hating you and complaining to the mistress's father about you, but now here in the kitchen at night, I can tell you.

I love you so much, Remy and I'm sorry that I hurt you, it's okay if you hold that against me, I understand,' Rebecca said.

'Becks, I'd never hold anything against you, we're together now and that's all that matters.' Remy said and leaned towards Rebecca to kiss her. It had been awkward at first but they soon relaxed and kissed each other passionately.

Soon the two were in a loving embrace, which couldn't have been easy for them, since Remy didn't have any arms and was taller that Rebecca, but they didn't care as they held each other close, still locked in their kiss, with Remy shedding happy tears, now that he finally had his beloved, as did Rebecca.

'Remy, what's wrong?' she asked when they broke apart and holding each other, well, Rebecca had her arms around him, not caring if the metal grooves ripped her or not.

'It's nothing, Becks, I'm just so happy that we're together now,' Remy said, sniffling, 'I've waited so long for this moment.'

'As have I,' said Rebecca, all the hostility and hatred she once had for the washboard completely dissolved as she held on to him tight, ' I just wish that you had arms, so that you can hold me, like you always wanted.'

'I will, when we become human again,' said Remy, 'now all we need is for the mistress and the kid to declare THEIR love for each other, like we have. I only hope that this ball will work.'

'It will, Remy,' said Rebecca, as the two kissed again.

'Well, I better get back to the laundry room, Becks,' Remy said, 'Georgie will be wondering where I had got to and we have a big day ahead of us, preparing for the ball and you better get some sleep too as you'll be busy cooking with Bouchey and he'll be blowing off steam, that's for sure!'

Rebecca giggled at that, then said,

'Indeed he will and that's not a figure of speech!' She and Remy embraced again before he left the kitchen and she watched him as she climbed back onto the windowsill, and said,

'Remy?'

'Yes, my love?' he said, turning to face her.

'Save me a kiss when we're human again,' Rebecca said, smiling at him and he grinned at hearing that.

'You can count on it, Becks,' Remy said and headed back to the laundry room, looking at his love, the one he had wanted and waited for so long. Rebecca waved and blew him a kiss, which made him grin like his birthdays had all come at once as he waltzed happily in a daze.

'What's up with you, Remy?' George said when Remy came back with the goofiest grin on his face, 'Why are you grinning like an idiot?' although he had a feeling that it had something to do with Rebecca.

'Nothing, Georgie, go back to sleep,' Remy said, as he jumped back into his brother and slept soundly. George looked up at his little brother and knew that he and Rebecca were now a couple, judging by how happy Remy had looked.

'Attaboy, Remy,' he said, 'I'm happy that you are now with your love, and all we have to do now, is to wait for the mistress and the boy to do the same thing.'

So now Remy and Rebecca are together! Now, Rose and Leon, you have to do the same!

And the ball will be coming soon, I wanted to write this chapter about Remy and his past and Rebecca FINALLY telling him that she loves him! And it took being turned into enchanted objects and their mistress's growing love to do it!

Read and review and let me know who your favourite characters are and your favourite lines from the story!