*Creeps in, hoping to hand over chapter without Fanfiction noticing* *Falls on face and throws chapter at readers* So *looks very sheepish* I am a nightmare at updating, aren't I? Don't worry, you can all yell at me in your reviews.

I do not own Beauty and the Beast (2017). Disney does *gestures to massive area full of castles, singing mice, and Disney Princesses. Oh, and Pinocchio!*

Rose was the first to awake the next morning, realising that she had a rock in her 'bed', making her extremely uncomfortable. Goodness gracious, imagine what a real bed would feel like now, after all this time. She grinned to herself. She would probably hate it. There had always been something rather wild about her, even in her childhood, something that made her gutsy and adventurous. At least in her mind. And that was all that mattered.

She glanced over at Belle's sleeping form. It was strange, having company in Reverie Forest, the place she had always associated with loneliness and solitude. She had never been much of a conversationalist, and had quite honestly been just fine with her own company. At least, for a while. She had definitely hit some low points, she recalled with a shudder, over the past few years. Like when she had started talking to her food. Or when she had begun to greet the waterfall as a best friend. Or when she went full on princess and tried to sing to the woodland creatures. They had fled as fast as they possibly could.

Needless to say, Rose had never been that great of a singer.

oOo

When was Belle going to return home? Chip knew that all good things came to those who waited, but waiting for books was, as Belle would put it, a whole different thing entirely. Obviously he wasn't just waiting for the books, because no one would read them like Belle did, not even his mother (though he would never tell her that). Mum was busy, making things in the kitchen. Chip liked the kitchen, but it was very bus at the moment. Everybody was working very hard to make the rich people happy. Chip didn't quite understand why. The rich people weren't very nice to their servants. Of course, Prince Adam had been not very nice as well. But he had got nicer. Maybe the bossy rich men could get nicer as well.

Maybe he would go see the rich people's servants.

oOo

Organisation is one of the most important parts of life.

That's what Manny Maple, head housekeeper of Professor Pierre Theodore's stately home, always lived by. After all, you can have an incredible brain, but if you can't organise your ideas, you won't get anywhere.

That was why she was trying to organise Mrs Potts and Mrs Camomile, who were having a territory fight over the kitchens.

"I have served hundreds of Kings and Royal Ambassadors over the years!" Mrs Camomile snapped.

"This is my kitchen, and I shall decide what is cooked here!" Mrs Potts fumed.

"Your cooking is rusty; you haven't cooked in years. Of course, I doubt it was that satisfactory in the first place." Was the drawling response.

Mrs Potts had gone red with anger. "How dare you insult me like that!" She just short of screamed.

The ensuing fight was almost indecipherable; Manny Maple could swear that she heard "You cold-blooded witch!" and "You chipped teapot!" a few times, but pointing that out would do no help whatsoever.

"Ladies!" She said, eerily calm.

Mrs Potts and Mrs Camomile both stopped screaming and turned to face the elderly housekeeper.

"Now, Mrs Potts, can you tell me how this fight began?" Manny inquisitively questioned the more rational of the two women.

Mrs Potts took a deep breath and began to explain. "I had stepped out of the kitchen for a minute to sort out my son, Chip, who was bored and distracting the servants at this critical time. When I returned, I found Mrs Camomile," she spat the name with disgust, "Ordering all the food to be sent out, and all the kitchen workers to leave. Apparently, she thought that the cooking was so terrible, we should give up altogether!"

"If the kitchens here cannot make a meal fit for a royal dignitary, they are not fit to cook at all!" Mrs Camomile snapped.

Manny Maple paused, and mused over the situation. On one hand, Mrs Potts was completely right; Mrs Camomile was being completely irrational. On the other hand, Mrs Camomile obviously wanted the best for her master at heart, and would not stand down until she got her way.

"I think that I have an arrangement that will suit both of you equally. Mrs Potts and the rest of the kitchen staff will continue making food for their master, and his guests. However, anything being sent up to Sir Augustus, Sir Albrecht, or Sir Rebus, if he so wishes, will be checked over by Mrs Camomile. If she deems it unworthy for consumption by these men, she can either remake the dish or alter it as she pleases. Does this suit both od you?"

"That will suit us nicely." Mrs Potts nodded.

"If that is what it takes to serve my master decent food, then I am willing." Mrs Camomile nodded reluctantly.

"Splendid." Manny Maple nodded, "I shall leave you all to your preparations now."

Everything could be sorted if one was reasonable, logical, and kept their temper.

oOo

"Is this what being a dignitary is like all of the time?" Ralph wondered aloud.

"Not all of the time." Albrecht commented wryly.

"Theodore, my friend, can you help me!" Augustus exclaimed. He was sitting on a squashy red sofa, desperately reaching for the rope that called servants to them.

"Whatzever is wrong?" Theodore asked.

"I want some fruits to nibble on, but - I - can't - quite - reach-!" Augustus huffed with every attempt to stretch out his arm far enough.

Theodore was already on his feet, heading towards the rope and giving it a large tug, before heading back to his book."

"But, yes." Albrecht finished his statement. "This is most of what being a dignitary is."

A maid appeared, already holding a gold fruit bowl filled with apples, pears, and grapes.

"Ah!" exclaimed Augustus, "I see you have all learned my regular mid-afternoon snack!"

"Indeed sir." the maid curtseyed, "Will that be all?"

"Yes, this is most satisfactory... Um... What's your name?"

"Chloe, sir." Chloe curtseyed again.

"Thank you Chloe. You may go." Augustus waved his hand and Chloe exited the room.

Ralph smiled, propping up his feet and munching an apple. Being a dignitary was sure relaxing.

oOo

Maurice added the final detail to the delicate music box, then sat back and admired the beautiful model castle he had crafted. He was going to give it to Belle for Christmas. He did miss Belle, now that she spent most of her time up at the castle with her fiancee - he still couldn't believe it. His little girl, getting married! Before he knew it, she would be having children of her own! What a time that would be! He knew that Belle's mother would have loved life as a grandmother, and been so proud of Belle. Someday, they would reunite and have a lengthy discussion about Belle's taste in men. But for now, he could only hope that where ever she was, she knew exactly how far their little daughter had come. All of these moments, lasting forever in memories, stories, journals, statues and paintings.

He carefully put the music box in a box, and wrapped it. It was all ready for what was sure to be the best Christmas in years. After all, nothing can go wrong when one has love to rely on.

So... There you go. I'm not going to do two thousand apologies, but I hope I can still get across how genuinely sorry I am for taking so long to update. It's unacceptable, and I will definitely try to work on it!

DISNEY QUESTION OF THE DAY: Favourite 'classic' Disney movie? I will always have a special place in my heart for Sleeping Beauty, because it was the first Disney movie I ever watched.

Sorry that there wasn't much plot in this chapter, I just wanted to explore the background characters a bit (and yes, my beloved OCs)

Please REVIEW and tell me what you thought! Thank you all my favouriters and followers! I'll be back with my next chapter soon!(hopefully!)! BYE!

*Vanishes back into the capacious depths of the internet*