A few minutes later, the servants, Maurice and Mrs Potts surrounded Rose and Leon, embracing them both and shaking Leon's hand so enthusiastically, that it was a wonder that it hadn't fallen off or that they had been squashed to a pulp due to all the bodily contact and hugging that they had endured.

But that didn't matter as Rose lovingly hugged her dear and loyal servants tightly, with the girlish excitement and joy that Leon had seen in her beast form and had loved seeing every time she had learnt something new or read their favourite fairy tale with him.

'Nana, Grandpapa!' she said, as she embraced her grandparents, kneeling down to Maurice's level since she was now taller than him, but the old man didn't care as he was delighted to see his granddaughter again, having not been able to see or be with her for so long.

'Rosie!' Maurice said, tears in his eyes as he hugged her, 'look at you, all grown up into such a lovely young lady! I guess ten years really have passed us by!'

'Oh, really Maurice, what was your first clue, dear?' Mrs Potts said, chuckling which made everyone laugh and Maurice had to chuckle as well.

Any doubts that he had that time really had passed since he, Belle and Adam had been trapped in stone were put to rest at seeing that Rose had aged, while they hadn't, which had brought up a lot of confusion amongst the servants as they wondered the same thing, although to Lumiere, Cogsworth, Mrs Potts, Chip and Babette, it was no mystery to them.

Leon was also confused at seeing the human beings that had once been the enchanted objects that had gone out of their way to make him feel welcome in those lonely early days in the castle, as the only one who was familiar was Rebecca but she was taller and more human like.

'Oh, Leon, did you think that we were always household objects and furniture?' Mrs Potts said when she saw the confused look on the boy's face, 'we were all human once before the enchantment took place, you know.'

'We're still the same servants you know and love,' said Rebecca.

Leon was still a bit doubtful and had many unanswered questions as well as the theory in his mind, but hearing the sincerity and truth, as well as the familiar and friendly tones in their voices and seeing their faces, much like he did in the objects, convinced him they were indeed his dear friends that cared for him just as much as he did for them and put his thoughts to bay, as they would be answered later.

A young man with untidy brown hair and wore scruffy clothing then draped his arm around Rebecca and he was soon revealed to be Remy, since he had the same goofy smile as the washboard did and he clapped Leon on the shoulder in a friendly way.

'You did it kid,' he said, in an uncharacteristically soft tone, 'I knew you would, if you just let yourself warm up to her and become her friend and you certainly did.'

'Yes, monsieur, you did it!' Lumiere said, shaking Leon's hand enthusiastically, 'you have indeed broken the spell!'

'My dear boy, how can we ever thank you for freeing us from our cruel misery?' said Cogsworth, also shaking Leon's hand.

'You freed us all with your unselfish love and courage and we have turned back into the humans that we once were,' Katrine said, while the servants nodded and muttered the same thing, as she came down the stairs, holding up her dress as not to trip over it, with Madame Armoire following her.

The former wardrobe expressed her happiness about being human again by letting out a falsetto, the same one that she used to wake herself (and Leon) up in the morning, which made some servants cringe.

'Leon!' Sophie squealed excitedly, as she jumped out of her mother's arms and ran towards him, throwing her arms around his legs, as she was too small to reach up to his waist, but Leon simply chuckled and knelt down to her level as he hugged her.

'Aww, how cute,' Rebecca said.

Sophie then looked up at Rose and was initially confused, as she had expected her to still be the same before the curse, much like she was and she frowned at the young woman who was standing next to Leon.

'Sophie,' Rose said, when she saw the little girl looking at her, 'It's me, Rose.'

'No, you're not, you're too big!' Sophie said, 'and you're too old to be Rose! Why did you make her go away?'

'Sophie!' Amelie scolded, although she could understand that she would say something like that but even so, it was still rude to point it out, but Rose tried her best to hide her uneasiness.

'It is Rose, Sophie, she's just older now, that's all. I was confused as well, when I saw her transform but if you look into her eyes, you'll know that it is her.' Leon said, holding her hand, 'she's still Rose, no matter what she looks like.'

Sophie reluctantly did so and peered into her eyes, then she realised that Leon and Rose were telling her the truth and she felt ashamed and guilty for having been so rude to her before.

'I'm sorry, Rose,' she said, as she hugged her, 'I'm sorry that I said those mean things to you, but will you still be my friend and play with me?'

'Oh, Sophie, of course I will,' said Rose and both she and Sophie smiled at each other before she went back into her mother's arms, as Amelie held her close, not wanting to let go of her again.

'Well done, Leon,' Amelie said, as she did the best she could to hug him, considering she was holding Sophie, 'you truly are our saviour, like we hoped you would be. Thank you for saving us and for bringing Sophie home, safe and sound.'

'I understand what you have been saying, since I had heard it from Rose,' said Leon, 'but I'm still confused about the whole thing and I need someone to explain to me what this is all about.'

'Oh, I forgot about that!' Rose said, apologetically, since she had been caught up in the happy reunion that she forgot that she promised Leon that she would explain everything about the enchantment to him and she cursed herself mentally for it.

'Don't worry, dear, you can tell him when you want to, but for now, how about introducing Leon to your parents? After all, he is soon to be a member of the family and it's only fair that they should know the boy who has fallen in love with you and broke the spell.' Mrs Potts said.

'I think that they know him already, Nana, since Mama let him join in our hug earlier, so she and Papa must be comfortable with him.' Rose said.

'That may be so, but it is considered polite and good etiquette to introduce him formally, dear,' Mrs Potts reminded her, 'your mother may have been comfortable with him but she and your father still don't know who he is, not to mention that your grandfather would like to meet him as well.'

'But didn't we just tell them about the boy, Mrs Potts?' Lumiere said, 'and they seemed to figure it out for themselves when they saw him with the..'

He faltered at that last sentence, since Rose would no longer be in charge of the castle as her parents had returned and previous order would be restored, but he didn't want to call her 'Princess' just yet, as Leon didn't know or hadn't found out that she was the long-lost princess of the kingdom.

..young mistress,' Lumiere then said, 'and they're not stupid, you know, it was obvious to them that the boy was the one who broke the spell and is in love with her, therefore Mistress Belle was able to let him join in on their hug!'

'Still, it is proper etiquette to formally introduce one's self, you pea-brain!' said Cogsworth and it seemed that a classic Cogsworth-Lumiere fight was about to break out, proving some things never change and that was certainly the case between the long bickering men.

But before a single punch could be landed, Rose and Leon went over to where Belle and Adam were still standing, both of them looking at Leon with kind eyes and were curious to meet the boy who, in Rose's and everyone's eyes, was their saviour and, unbeknownst to Leon, the future prince of the kingdom.

'Mama, Papa,' Rose said, 'this is…'

However, she was soon interrupted by a green glow which was coming from the door, as it made its way through the room, stunning everyone as they squinted against the light, which then transformed into the familiar, ageless figure of Irena, as she gave one of her rare smiles to the young couple, pleased that they had broken the enchantment set by the Red Enchantress, whom she had fought in the sky and defeated.

'Well done, my dears,' she said, before turning to Belle and Adam, which made the latter nervous as he was facing the very enchantress that had cursed him but instead of the empty and icy gaze that he had seen in her eyes before she cast the spell, they were gentle and sparkling as she smiled at him and Belle, which made him feel at ease and she said to them,

'Belle, Adam, this boy who you see before you now is Leon Dupont, an intelligent, self-educated peasant from the village, whose unselfish love and courage has freed your daughter from the enchantment she was under for ten years.'

'Dupont,' Maurice said, 'that name sounds so familiar to me, yet I can't remember where I heard it..something to do with a cottage…oh, dang this memory loss!' he said,' hopefully it'll come to me, I just need something to joy my memory, that's all.'

'You're from the village too, Leon?' Belle said to Leon, as he nodded.

'Yes, madame, but for as long as I can remember, I had wanted to escape from there as I was seen as odd and they teased, mocked and rejected me, since I didn't fit the mold of their 'ideal young man, as I loved to read and taught myself many subjects and how to read and write.'

'That's incredible,' Belle said, 'that was like what I had experienced in the village when I lived there.'

'Indeed it was, Belle,' Irena said, 'and Leon and Rose are truly in love with each other, as I saw over the winter they spent together, although I'm afraid that the circumstances that they first met mirror that of you and Adam, as their first impressions of each other were less than favourable.'

'It's true, Mama,' Rose said, ashamedly, as she looked at her parents, 'I did everything that Papa did when he was the first Beast, but why didn't you tell me that Irena cursed him and why did I have to be turned into one myself to learn the truth about your past that you hid from me?'

'I wanted to leave it all behind, as I love you too much, mon ange,' Adam said, gathering Rose up in his arms and holding her tightly, as she leaned on his chest, like she used to do as a little girl.

'And we were worried that you would be afraid of me or repulsed by the fact that I had been a hideous monster, but what happened to you was not your fault, it was an innocent mistake of a child, unlike me, when I had brought the first enchantment on myself due to my spoiled, selfish and unkind nature.' Adam said.

'Oh, I should've been there for you,' he then said, as tears fell down his face and he stroked Rose's hair, 'we should've been there to help and support you and had told you the truth, instead of finding out about my past when you were a beast yourself.'

'It doesn't matter to me what you did in the past, Papa,' Rose said, ' I still love and know you as the kind and caring father you have always been to me and I managed to find true love, like you did with Mama. Leon truly is a wonderful, intelligent, kind, sweet and caring person.'

'I'm glad petite, but we only wish that we could have been there to support you during the enchantment, especially since I went through one myself and that you suffered the same fate as me..'

'Adam, darling, it's alright,' Belle said, gently hugging him as he wept, 'what happened was out of our control and everything became alright in the end and Rose has indeed found a boy who loves her just as much as she loves him and he is truly a polite and loving young man.'

'Thank you, madame and monsieur,' Leon said.

'Oh, you don't have to be so formal with us, dear boy,' said Adam,

'You're family now, so please call us Adam and Belle, unless you want to call us Mama and Papa,' as he chuckled at the last statement and Leon smiled at the man, who would soon be his father-in-law and a father figure that he hadn't had for years.

'Yes, and I already have a mother..' Leon said, then he remembered Madeleine, who was probably still waiting outside with Jean-Luc and Martine and was wondering what on earth was happening in the castle and would be terribly confused not to mention wondering why Leon hadn't come out to see her.

'Mama!' Leon said for the second time, 'I was going to go and see her, but I forgot all about her! She must be wondering where I am and what is going on around here and she'll be terribly confused about all this!'

'Go to her, Leon,' Rose said and as Leon was walking towards the door, it suddenly flew open and Madeleine came rushing in, followed by Jean-Luc and Martine, back to full health and they stood there in shock and confusion at seeing the human occupants of the castle and the magical woman in green in the foyer instead of the beast and enchanted objects that used to be there.

'What the..where did the beast and the enchanted objects go.. what happened to them?' Madeleine said, confused, as she had been expecting them to see them, only to find human men, women and a little girl in their place.

'And who is that magical lady in green?' said Martine, seeing Irena and the green glow that surrounded her.

'And who is that girl in the tattered pink dress that is standing next to Leon?' Jean-Luc said, as they tried to make sense of their surroundings, unsure of what to say. Then Leon came over to his mother and was surprised to see that she had been seemingly cured of her illness, as she was back to her old self.

'Mama, there you are, I'm sorry that I have forgotten you,' Leon said, as he hugged her, 'how are you feeling?' as he remembered that she had been suffering an illness when she came to the castle with him.

'Right as rain, darling,' Madeleine said, 'I don't know what is going on or what is in the air here, but it certainly seems to be agreeing with me!'

She took a deep breath to make her point and it came out clear as bell instead of being terribly laboured.

Irena looked at Leon as she gave him a knowing smile and, in his wave of gratitude, he realised that if she could use her magic to heal Rose's wounds, Remy's injury and return the lost humanity to a castle of servants, then she could cure Madeleine's illness as well.

Rose was feeling uneasy, as she knew that it would lead to her meeting the woman whom she had imprisoned, treated cruelly and had taken the only family away from her forever due to her selfish needs.

'Mama, I want you to meet someone,' Leon said, ushering Rose to come forward, but she still stood frozen, unsure and reluctant to face Madeleine. After everything she had done to the woman, she wasn't sure if she would forgive her, even though Leon had reassured her that she would.

After all, Maurice had forgiven Adam for his treatment of him when he had done what Madeleine did, so it was doubtful that she wouldn't do the same thing to Rose, especially since she had forgiven the villager that had shot her husband, as it had been an accident.

With encouragement from Leon and her mother, Rose took a deep breath and nervously walked over to Madeleine, who was staring at her with wary but not unkind eyes and she was also embarrassed that she was still wearing the tattered garments of the Beast, but there was no time to change as she looked at Madeleine, feeling sick to her stomach.

'Mama, this is Rose,' Leon said, as Madeleine simply nodded at her, 'Rose, this is my mother, Madeleine.'

Then Rose, out of her own will and overcome with her guilt about how she had treated this woman, suddenly got down onto her knees in front of Madeleine, who looked at her in confusion, as did Leon.

'Rose, what are you..' he said, confused at her behaviour.

'Madame, I owe you an apology,' Rose said to Madeleine, 'you see I am..was the Beast that imprisoned you in the dungeon when you only wanted shelter from the rain and left you to get sicker than you were and die.

I also took your son away from you, even though I let you say goodbye to him and broke up the little family you had left. I'm not worthy of your forgiveness, as I don't deserve it, but I can only convince you that I have changed if Leon hasn't already done so. He has already seen to that and I hope that you can too.

I swear that I'll make it up to you someday, but for now that is all I have to offer to you, madame and I am truly sorry,' she said, as her eyes misted and Madeleine was truly touched by the apology that the girl had given her, not quite believing that she had been the terrible monster that had imprisoned her and that Leon had been right all along about her.

There was a moment of silence in which the atmosphere could be cut with a knife, as Rose anxiously waited for the woman to accept her apology, if she did at all.

'Well,' Madeleine said, reaching out and touching Rose's hand gently which surprised her,

'As I said, I don't know what is going on here but if you really are the Beast, you have nothing to worry about, my dear. I trust Leon's judgment and he has convinced me to forgive you and give you a second chance.'

'You mean that you forgive me?' Rose said, not quite believing that Madeleine had not only accepted her apology but chosen to forgive her and allow her the happiness she didn't think she deserved with Leon. Maybe he had told his mother about her?

'Of course, my dear, I can tell that you truly love and care for my son very much,' Madeleine said, smiling at her, 'and I'm not one to hold any grudges, so you have nothing to worry about.'

'Thank you, madame,' Rose said, as the woman embraced her, amazed that Madeleine had been so quick to forgive her, when she could've have easily refused to and hold it against her, but that was not in Madeleine's nature. As long as Leon was happy, she was as well.

'You're welcome, dear, I look forward to having you as part of my family, as Leon seems to be part of yours and please call me Madeleine.' Madeleine said, chuckling.

'Thanks..Madeleine,' Rose said, as she went to Leon and the two hugged again, with him giving her a smile and whispered,

'See, you had nothing to worry about Rose,' as she smiled back and leaned against him and he held her close and kissed her on her head.

Then Madeleine got reacquainted with the servants who were once the enchanted objects that had greeted and served her when she had come back to the castle and were delighted to see her again and she also met Belle and Adam and also Maurice, the man who had given her his old cottage to live in.

And he had been pleased that it had gone to good use and touched that they had kept the water wheel, weather vane and binoculars for him.

Although neither she nor Leon had any desire to go back to the cottage and the village, especially since everyone would be mourning Amandine and blame Leon for her death, even though she had brought it on herself due to her uncontrollable rage and jealousy over Rose.

'And who are these people that came with you, Leon?' said Rose, as she saw Martine and Jean-Luc, looking at them 'are they your friends from the village?'

'Yes, we are,' Jean-Luc said, 'I am Jean-Luc Holter, a former member of the Muscular Men who, along with the other boys, that idolised the late, arrogant town hero, Gaston LeGume although I myself, despise the man and do not idolise him.

They only let me in the group for my hunting skills and the fact that I came third in the Games and got free beer for a year, but I didn't want to be something that I wasn't any more so I disbanded from the group and I'm free to be my own person.'

'And I'm Martine Descartes,' Martine said, 'I am… was Amandine's 'closest friend,' she used finger quotes, for 'friend' was a term that had been used rather loosely, 'and I'm sorry that I ever associated myself with her purely to get immunity from being teased about my looks.

I was so caught up in her glory and getting her approval that I hadn't realised what she was becoming.'

'Are you related to LeFou, by any chance?' Chip asked Martine.

'Oh, goodness no!' Martine chuckled, 'he's my mentor and he had given me advice on how to be a good sidekick and to serve a LeGume, as he had done so with Gaston but it had been hollow as it was used for evil rather than good and I'm not sure if I should still see him anymore because of it.'

'Don't feel bad about it, Martine,' Jean-Luc said, 'we know that you were badly influenced by Amandine and she's gone now, she won't hurt you, Leon, me or anyone else again as she didn't survive that fall into the ravine.'

'Anyway,' Leon said, keen to change the subject, not wanting to think of Amandine, 'I would like to know about this enchantment that Rose had been under as no one has told me and Mama yet and I think Jean-Luc and Martine deserve to know about it as well.'

'Yes, Rose, I believe that you owe Leon and Madeleine a full explanation of how the curse came to be, now that you have tied up a few loose ends with them.' Irena said.

Everyone gathered around Rose, as she nervously tugged at a torn sleeve on her dress, which kept hanging off her body and Leon stood next to her, holding her hands and squeezing them for encouragement, as she began to tell her story,

'When I was eight years old, on one October day, me, Chip and Sophie were out playing in the gardens, well at first we were trying to decide what games to play, since we hadn't come up with any, then I suggested that we play hide and seek.

Chip was the seeker and Sophie and I were to hide, after playing 'rock, paper, scissors' to decide it, which took longer than we thought, since Sophie didn't get the rules and used 'rock' every time.'

'Then what happened?' Leon said, 'surely an innocent game of hide and seek wouldn't have led to you being turned into a beast.'

'It did,' said Rose, 'Before we left, Cogsworth warned us not to wander off from the garden, but I wanted to find a good hiding place, so I went into the forest, but didn't go too far, since I could still hear Chip counting and found a little garden near a red cottage and hid under the rose bush.'

'Yes, she ignored my warnings and deliberately disobeyed me! I told her not to wander off and look where it led to!' Cogsworth said, but he didn't seem to realise that Chip and to a lesser extent, Sophie had also been guilty of disobedience even though it was because they had to go look for Rose.

'While I was waiting for Chip to find me, I saw this enchanted rose glowing in the bush and I wanted it so much since I was enticed by its beauty, so I picked it, thinking it was mine to have although at the time, I didn't know it belonged to an evil enchantress, who set it up as a trap,' Rose said.

'It wasn't Irena, was it?' Leon said.

'No, it was the Red Enchantress who placed the curse on Rose,' Irena said.

'This curse was not of my doing but it is my spell and she stole it to use for her evil desires and to destroy the happiness of everyone in the castle, as she believed that Rose was just like her father and picking the enchanted rose was the straw that broke the camel's back.'

'And that led to her appearing to me and my parents.' Rose said.

'Once I picked the rose, I brought it home to show Mama and Papa since it was so beautiful and I wanted them to see it. Papa had asked me where I got it from when the Red Enchantress appeared and accused me of stealing her rose and that I would be punished for it.

Mama and Papa begged her to spare my life and Remy tried to fight her with his washboard to protect me and everyone else, as he was the only one brave enough to do so, only he got zapped by her magic.' Rose said, as Remy grinned sheepishly.

'That's right, I looked like a piece of burnt toast!' he said, 'but I was trying to protect everyone from that evil witch and what do I get for it? Blasted by magic and turned into a washboard!'

'But you were so brave to do so, Remy,' Rebecca said, 'Foolish and stupid, yes, but definitely brave since we were too terrified of the Red Enchantress.'

'Yes, I was willing to put myself in harm's way to protect those I love and even those who are my enemies,' Remy said, while looking at Lumiere who grinned at him.

'Rose,' Leon said, noticing her face, which had a grim expression on it, as he squeezed her hand, anticipating what she was about to say next, 'it's okay, tell me what happened next with the Red Enchantress.'

Rose gulped, as she saw the image of the enchantress towering over her and laughing evilly, as she went through the agonising transformation into the Beast in her mind. She blinked back a few tears as she bravely but shakily said,

'The Red Enchantress then said that I was a shadow of my father's past self, even though I wasn't but that didn't matter to her, as she cursed me and the castle with the spell she stole from Irena.

She turned me into a beast, the servants into household objects and Mama, Papa and Grandpapa into stone statues and then left us without so much as giving me a way to break the spell.' Rose said.

'That must have been terrible for you, Rose,' Leon said, 'a little girl who made an innocent mistake and was unfairly punished for it. Also, that enchantress was so cruel to leave you and not tell you what you needed to do to break the spell, but I'm guessing this is where Irena comes into the picture.'

'Yes, she was the one who gave me the chance of redemption, that is, the chance to break the spell,' Rose said.

'She did what the Red Enchantress wouldn't, when she appeared to us and told us about her, Papa's past which I hadn't known about until then and gave me the mirror that you used to see your mother and let me keep the rose I picked, since it would be the centre of the enchantment.

She told me that I had until my eighteenth birthday to fall in love with another and earn his love in return before the last petal fell from the rose. If I couldn't, I would remain a beast forever.' Rose said.

'That rose,' Leon said, 'the one that I was about to touch in the West Wing..that was your timekeeper, wasn't it?'

Rose nodded.

'No wonder you were angry with me,' he said.

'It's not your fault, Leon, you weren't to know,' Rose said, 'but I shouldn't have lashed out at you and made you run away into those wolves and my behaviour was inexcusable but it did lead to us developing our relationship.'

'Indeed it did,' Leon said.

Once Rose had finished speaking, no one said anything for a while, with Leon and Madeleine trying to digest what they had just heard. It had answered many of the questions and theories they had in their minds but it was still quite hard to believe and it also didn't explain the disappearance of the royal family, which no one had mentioned.

'So you had been a Beast for ten years,' Leon spoke, 'but why would an enchantress curse a little girl who had done nothing wrong other than picking a flower?'

'It didn't matter to her that I was happy, kind, caring and innocent, she cursed me anyway since it was in her nature to do so, but you have to remember that I did ignore Uncle Cogsworth's warnings and wandered off into the forest on that day as well.' Rose said.

'That is right, Rose,' said Irena, ' but I'm pleased to say that the Red Enchantress will never again harm another human for I have managed to defeat her in an epic battle in the sky, as shown by the green and red lightning that you may have seen earlier and she has been destroyed.

It was by no means easy, but my determination and inner strength won through and she will never see the light of day again.'

'So that's where that lightning came from,' said Lumiere, 'I thought that it looked strange but I thought that my mind was playing tricks on me.'

'But why were the servants, Rose's parents and grandfather cursed as well?' Leon said, 'especially since they didn't deserve to be as they too didn't do anything to offend her.'

'Except for Remy, who tried to fight her with his washboard,' muttered Lumiere, while Remy shot him a dirty look.

'We just happened to be there at the time and the Red Enchantress wanted to get us out of the way, as we would have done everything to protect Rose from her.' Chip said, 'which we did, but it turned out to be for nothing.'

'And all that for a single rose,' said Madeleine.

'Indeed, but like her parents, Rose has found happiness with the boy she has waited so long for, who I brought to her, as I believed that they were fated to be together and so they are. I believe that my work is done with you and I am free to help another soul in need, so I must leave you now,' Irena said.

'But I see a bright future ahead and your fate will soon come true, Prince Leon,' she then said, as she disappeared into the green glow for the last time, which got Leon wondering again.

Although his many questions had been answered in Rose's story, there was one other thing that had been on his mind and it had something to do with the royal family but what he didn't even know was that they were standing right in front of him in the flesh and were very much alive and well, not that he realised it yet.

'Cogsworth,' he then said, 'do you remember me telling you that I figured out that this was an enchanted castle on my first night here and that Rose must be some kind of royalty to live here? If she is, what kind is she?'

'My dear boy,' Cogsworth said, 'she's more of a royal than you believe she is.'

'And the royal family is closer than you think,' Belle said and as he looked around the castle, at all the servants, his love and her parents, he thought of the mysterious girl in the portrait who had the same eyes as Rose did and his favourite book, in which he had lived out the tale and he remembered what he had read to Sabine in the meadow and what he had said to Monsieur Livre in the bookshop,

A princess in disguise.

His words echoed around in his mind and all at once it had dawned on him, as he realised the connection between Rose and the girl in the portrait that he hadn't made before, that she was in fact the lost princess of the kingdom and her parents were the king and queen, whom everyone in the village believed to have disappeared forever.

'It's you!' he said to Rose.

'Leon, you know it's me, silly,' Rose said, giggling, 'why would you say that?' although she had an inkling that he knew her secret.

'No, I mean you're the lost princess!' he said, 'you're Princess Rose…'

'Princess Rose Belle Lucile Therese and she is the daughter of King Adam and Queen Belle.' Cogsworth said as Rose screwed up her face at hearing her full name, which she hadn't used for years.

Hearing that they were in the presence of royalty, Madeleine, Jean-Luc and Martine immediately bowed down to them and were amazed that they had been alive all this time, as they hadn't seen them in years, in spite of the rumours that had gone around in the village.

'Yes, I am the princess,' said Rose, 'I had wanted to tell you who I was, Leon but I just couldn't. I didn't want to give myself away and it's been so long since I have been one.'

'But your eyes had always been familiar to me, not just when I saw you as the Beast and when you transformed into a human but when I saw you in the village when you came to visit and played with the children.' Leon said.

'That boy..who I saw reading in the village..who stood on the side-line in the crowd..who I wanted to play with.. that was you, wasn't it, Leon?' Rose said, as that memory came back to her, the image becoming clear in her mind as it was indeed Leon whom she had seen that day.

'Yes, it was me,' Leon said, 'I guess we were fated to be together after all, weren't we?'

'I believe we were, my prince,' Rose said, as they held each other close and kissed again to the cheers of everyone as they proudly looked at the loving couple, who had gone through an incredible and sometimes bumpy journey and had beaten the odds to find the love they had wanted for so long.

Phew, this is the longest chapter I have written, but I wanted everything to be wrapped up nicely (which I hope it has!) and can you believe that this is the second-to-last chapter? It'll be sad to reach the end as I have put so much hard work and effort into it (I hope) but do stay tuned for the epilogue!

Read and review! (for the second-to-last time!)