Waited a hundred years to see your face, and I would wait a hundred more...

So that was it.

She had been right. She couldn't save him, no matter how hard she tried. There was no magic left in the world that could save him. He was forever a beast and she found her vision blurring in the moonless night.

"I'm sorry," she said, dropping to her knees. "If I had been better, faster, more prepared, I could have-" She couldn't finish her sentence. She couldn't even look at him through the haze of her tears. "I know you don't want to be king, and I know that you would rather be on your own, and I know that everyone else expects you to be this great king and save them all, but I don't care." She decided. "I couldn't save you and for that I am so sorry," she said, forcing herself to breathe. "But you are still Ben in there, and I will accept you as whatever you are, or whatever you want to be."

She closed her eyes tight, preventing any more tears from escaping. "The kingdom is mine, but I don't want it without you," she said. "I will do anything for you." She said, thinking about that song that he had lied about. "I will dye my hair blonde, I will throw away the kingdom and transform myself and we can rule the forest together. We don't have to go back to your parents or anyone. I will follow you anywhere, whether you're this beast, or Benjamin Florian, or Beatrice Florence."

With a gasp, she realized what everyone had been trying to tell her for months, and about five minutes too late. "I-" she started, but the words got stuck behind her tears. "I love you," she said. "Whatever you are, whatever you want to be."

It felt as though a lead weight had been removed from her chest as she looked up toward him, even though he was the terrifying Beast.

He stared back at her, his blue eyes the only thing that remained of the boy he had been before. "You knew?" He asked, that gruff growl softer than before. "You knew about the spell and who I was supposed to be?"

"Yes," she answered. "And I don't care. Whoever you are, I love you."

The bright light in the dark night blinded her. She shielded her eyes and herself from the strongest magic she had ever felt before. But there wasn't supposed to be a spell that could break whatever was over Ben. As much as it pained her to be patient, she waited until the bright light subsided to remove her hands from her face.

"What do you ask of me, my queen?" Ben asked, his voice softer, more gentle, missing the gruffest growl of the beast.

She looked up from her hands to see Ben completely human and completely naked on his knees before her. She couldn't help but stare. "Is it really you?" She asked, looking up at his eyes. Those same blue eyes set in his dirt streaked face, complete with a short full beard. Fangs still remained, peaking out just slightly from his perfect lips as he looked up. He was beautiful and she was struck by his human features all over again.

"I hope so," He answered sounding just as broken as she felt. "If this is a dream I don't want to wake up."

He looked so much like Ben, just more dirty, ragged and skinnier. She was almost afraid to touch him and have the illusion break, or worse, turn into a nightmare. Her hand trembled as she reached out timidly to touch him, to make sure he was real and not some magic or illusion.

Her fingers brushed against the beard he had grown, or had he retained it in the beastly transformation? It was a question she would ponder another time. There were other things to worry about.

"You shouldn't bow to me," she decided, pulling her hand back out of fear. What if it was all a dream? "I'm not your queen and if my mother-" She didn't even want to think of that possibility.

He shook his head, a small smile starting to form on his dirty cheeks, the fangs more prominent now. "You are the only one I will ever bow to," he said, a shiver rocking through him in the early spring air as she touched his cheek again. He knew she would try and stop him it seemed. "Not because of some spell, or your birthright, but because I love you." It was her turn to shiver. "I love you, Mal," he repeated with an even bigger smile. "I bow because the only person a king should ever bow to is the one that owns his heart."

It all sounded wonderful but she could feel the uncomfortableness sinking beneath her skin. "We can't even kiss," she squeaked out as she pulled him to his feet. "That last one-"

His first gentle touch against her arm was electric and she fought to stay level headed. Now was not the time to lose her head. "That last one broke any magic spells I had over me, as I asked you to do." Why were his eyes so magical as they stared into hers? "I had hoped that it would work out differently, but as far as I'm concerned we-"

It's a beast
One as tall as a mountain
We won't rest
Till he's good and deceased

The mob was too close for comfort, especially now that he wasn't a tall terrifying beast as they described. Mal thought quickly and gripped Ben hard, pulling him to her and making them disappear within the forest. The mob trampled through the trees and brush, within touching distance of the two of them, their song about killing Ben growing louder than ever.

She held her breath as they all passed, stronger than the last time when she had wrecked them. Magic had definitely been involved.

She held on to Ben tight with one arm, her other hand to her lips to keep him quiet. As the huge mob passed, the realization hit her that Ben was completely naked. More naked than the day he was born, probably, but it wasn't the time to think about that.

"We can't stay here," She said as soon as the mob passed in its entirety, she pulled her cloak from her shoulders and threw it at him. It hit him square in the chest and thankfully did not burst into flame.

"I don't want to go back yet," He said. A faint trace of that growl, that strength of the beast still remained as he glared through the trees where the mob had just passed. It almost seemed like he was looking for a fight.

"You are in no shape to go after them, Benjamin Florian!" She admonished, pulling him the other way, toward the direction of the barrier trees. "You need food, and a bath and-"

He pulled her the other way, away from the barrier. "I have food and a place to bathe here," he said matter-of-factly. "Away from all of the questions and the congratulations and the schemes to foil your mother." That did sound a little overwhelming the way he put it. "It just might take me a while longer to get there as a human." She stared at him, flabbergasted. Was that how he avoided the mobs for so long? "Excuse me for wanting to spend a little time with you before I'm ripped apart for 'kingly duties'." He grumbled, beginning to walk through the trees.

She stared at him, then moved to catch up to him. "Are you sure you're Ben?" She asked, trying to get a better look at him. She wouldn't put it past her mother to plant a decoy. "He would never be so-" She couldn't find the right word.

His smile was completely Ben all the way as he continued to pull her through the trees. "Nearly two years alone is a long time to think about things," he explained. "You gain a new perspective with time."

He wrapped his hand around hers and it felt natural, like it was meant to be there all along. "Why didn't you tell me about all of this?" She asked as they moved through the trees. She wasn't quite sure what else they could talk about just yet.

"Mal, I promise I will find a time and a place to explain everything," He answered, "But right now I just want to get somewhere safe."

She could accept that. "I'm the most frightening thing in this forest," she answered, but she realized he hadn't known all she had been up to since they had last seen each other. "But as the king commands, so shall it be."

The way he turned back to her, his gaze was one she would remember for as long as she lived. He looked almost surprised, if not a little scared. That would have pleased the old her, the her that enjoyed making people feel that way.

"Mal," he said, pulling her along beside him instead of behind him. He squeezed her hand gently. "I don't think I'm king anymore." He sounded almost relieved behind the sadness in his voice.

She turned back toward him. "I meant what I said," she said, "I will follow you anywhere, whether you're a king, a beast, or anything in between."

"Thank you," He said gently, squeezing her hand a little tighter as they continued through the trees together.