A/N: A story long finished ago, but long overdue!
In a local library, Cherry was browsing around, her fingers skimming by the books that were placed on shelves for many people to borrow. She stopped once she saw one that caught her eye, she slid it out and took out a book called 'Beauty and the Beast'. She smiled, as this was her favorite story growing up, even if she wasn't one for romance. Then, to her surprise, Atticus, Mo, and Patch had come inside.
"What are you guys doing here?" Cherry whispered, she had to keep her voice low, well more than usual, since she was in a library.
"Homework." Mo rolled her eyes slightly.
"What book are you checking out?" Atticus asked.
"Beauty and the Beast, I've always wanted to read the story itself..." Cherry held the book. "I know it'll be different than what I know, but I'm sure I'll enjoy this 'tale as old as time'."
"Sure, just hold on a moment..." Cherry took the book to check it out and she would take them to a reading corner.
"Hey Mo, have you ever read before?" Atticus asked his girlfriend, seeing as she was a street urchin for most of her life.
"Here and there, mostly from my grandmother's house before I ran away," Mo shrugged. "I can't read big and fancy books like those though, but the school my new parents sent me to are luckily helping me out a little since I'm almost illiterate."
"What does that mean?" Patch asked her.
"I have trouble reading and writing." Mo explained.
"Ohh." Patch said, understanding now.
Cherry came back after she checked the book out. "Okay, ready?"
Atticus, Mo, and Patch nodded. Cherry went with them to a table where they could all ready the book together. However, once they settled, there was a strange storm going on outside, but neither of them seemed to notice it. The lights were flickering as they started to read though.
"Hey!" Cherry growled as soon as the lights were all out.
"What's going on?" Patch asked.
There was then a bright light, coming from Cherry's cell phone. "Must be a storm..."
"I'm sure it'll blow over..." Mo suggested, at least she was safe indoors during the rain instead of taking shelter in the junkyard like she used to with Angel. "Umm... So Cherry, how does this Beauty and the Beast story start?"
Cherry decided to tell them while they were left alone in the dark. "'Once upon a time, in a far away land from France, a young prince lived in a shining castle. Although he had everything his heart desired, the prince was spoiled, selfish and unkind. But then, one winter's night, an old beggar woman came to the castle and offered her a single rose in return for shelter from the bitter cold. Repulsed by her haggard appearance, the prince sneered at the gift and turned the old woman away. But she warned him not to be deceived by appearances, for beauty is found within. And when he dismissed her again, the old woman's ugliness melted away to reveal a beautiful enchantress. The prince tried to apologize, but it was too late, for she had seen there was no love in his heart. And as punishment, she transformed him into a hideous monster and placed a powerful spell on the castle, and all who lived there. Ashamed of his monstrous form, the beast concealed himself inside his castle with a magic mirror as her only window to the outside world. The rose the enchantress had offered, was truly an enchanted rose, which would bloom until his 21st year. If he could learn to love another and earn her love in return by the time the last petal fell, then the spell would be broken. If not, he would be doomed to remain a beast for all time. As the years passed, he fell into despair and lost all hope. For who could ever learn to love a beast?"
As she finished the intro to the Beauty and the Beast story, there seemed to come a light from nowhere and the lights shined, showing that they weren't in the library anymore, but they appeared to be outside near a country yard.
"What the heck...?" Cherry was confused, but she saw Atticus, Mo, and Patch were still with her. "Where are we and how did we get out here?"
"I don't even know." Patch said.
Mo rubbed her head. "Ugh... I have a headache right now..."
"We might as well explore." Atticus suggested with a shrug.
They all then walked along. Just as they did, the sun seemed to rise and there came a beautiful brown-haired young woman with her hair tied with a blue ribbon in a blue dress with a white apron as she carried a basket in her arms.
"BELLE!" Cherry blurted out, recognizing her instantly.
"Huh?" The young woman looked around, she then saw the new guests and walked over to them. "Oh, you guys must be new in town... I haven't seen anyone like you all before."
"Um, yeah, we just arrived." Atticus said.
Patch barked with a smile.
"Well, I'll gladly show you around," The young woman smiled. "My name is Belle."
Cherry acted like she didn't know who Belle was, so she greeted her. "Nice to meet you..."
They all gave their names and they introduced her to Patch.
"Oh, hello there, Patch..." Belle knelt down to pet the puppy, gently rubbing him.
Patch smiled, nuzzling against her.
"Dogs are very wonderful and intelligent creatures," Belle stood back up next to her new friends. "I'm about to go get a new book, would you like to join me?"
"Sure." Mo agreed as the others nodded.
"Follow me." Belle smiled as she led the way into town as she took a look at her quiet village.
'Wow, she seems like a nice lady.' Atticus thought to himself.
Belle walked them into her little town. Everyone woke up to say 'Bonjour' as they walked along inside the path.
There was the baker with his tray with bread and rolls to sell. "Good morning, Belle!"
"Good morning, Monsieur." Belle greeted warmly.
'Mm.' Patch thought as he began to smell the bread.
"Where you off to?" The baker asked with a friendly smile.
"The bookshop with my new friends," Belle explained. "I just read the most amazing story about a beanstalk, an ogre, and-"
"That's nice..." The baker was too busy to hear the whole story. "Marie, the begets, hurry up!"
Belle shrugged and continued to walk with her book and new friends as the other villagers called Belle very odd and out of place in this world. Patch joined them after taking a roll and running off to join them. The baker smiled to Patch as he went off. Belle kept leading the way, ignoring what everyone had to say about her until they made it to the book store.
"Ah, Belle..." The librarian smiled, he seemed to be the only one who was kind and pleasant around her.
"Good morning, I've come to return the book I borrowed," Belle handed him the old book before she climbed onto the ladder. "Have you got anything new?"
"Not since yesterday," The librarian chuckled, then looked to the three kids and puppy. "Can I help you all with anything?"
"No, thank you, sir." Atticus said.
"You and Belle seem friendly." Mo commented.
"Oh, of course, she's my best customer." The librarian smiled.
"I'll borrow... This one!" Belle took out a blue book.
"That one?" The librarian took a look at it with a laugh. "But you've read it twice!"
"Well it's my favorite," Belle smiled as she swung on the ladder. "Magic spells, daring swordfights, a prince in disguise!"
"Well, if you love it all that much, it's yours." The librarian put the book in her basket.
"But, sir!" Belle was about to protest.
"I insist." The librarian allowed it.
"Well thank you, thank you very much!" Belle smiled as she took her new book, leaving the bookshop with her friends.
Patch began to eat the roll while walking with them. The other people just seemed to think Belle was strange and thought her new friends were weird too for hanging around her.
"Sometimes I wish I could live in one of my books," Belle sighed as she went with her friends. "My life is kind of boring... There's no one here I can really talk to and everyone thinks I'm odd."
"Weird is wonderful, darling..." Cherry quoted one of her friends in the theater.
"Yeah, weird is wonderful." Atticus said.
"Oh, I don't know..." Belle shrugged as she continued to walk through town with them. She even sat down on the edge of a fountain with her book as there were sheep around.
One of the sheep glanced at the open pages she had and ate one of them, but Belle wasn't even angry or annoyed by it. Belle showed the others her favorite part of the story of where the girl meets Prince Charming, but she won't discover that it's him until chapter three. With that, she then hopped up off the fountain and walked with the others.
"So, where are we going now?" Cherry asked.
"At my home," Belle replied. "I have to help my father."
"Mind if we helped him out too?" Atticus asked.
"Not at all." Belle smiled.
"Lead the way then, Belle." Mo smiled back.
Belle smiled as she led them to where she lived, passing the various people who were out this morning. There was a flock of geese heading south, but one of them wasn't so lucky, it was shot and fell like a stone, instantly coming for the ground.
"Um, Belle, are there any hunters here?" Atticus asked.
"I know one really well..." Belle sounded annoyed slightly. "His name's Gaston..."
Cherry groaned, rolling her eyes, she had always hated that man.
"He wants to marry me, but I'm not interested..." Belle walked away with them, hoping this Gaston wouldn't catch up with her.
"Let me guess, the guy is all muscle and sometimes, no brain?" Atticus asked from his detective skills.
"You bet..." Belle rolled her eyes. "He's handsome alright, but just not the right person for me..."
"You deserve better." Mo encouraged.
Patch cuddled up to her to cheer her up.
"Yeah." Atticus agreed.
"There must be more than this provincial life..." Belle sighed as she held her book.
They all kept walking as the townspeople crowded, today was a very busy morning.
"I'm sure Papa will love to meet you all," Belle smiled. "It's hard to make new friends sometimes."
'Well, in this town; I can possibly see why.' Patch thought to himself.
Belle thought she felt something weird behind her, then turned to see nothing and kept moving forward.
However, a full of himself man dropped down in front of her and her friends with a smug grin on his face. "Hello, Belle..."
"Bonjour, Gaston..." Belle forced herself to be polite.
Patch glared at Gaston, he hated the man already, especially when he took Belle's book away from her.
"Gaston, may I have my book back, please?" Belle firmly asked nicely.
"How can you read this book?" Gaston flipped through the pages. "There's no pictures!"
"Some people use their imagination, you should try it sometime." Atticus said to Gaston.
"Who asked you anyway?" Gaston glanced at him, then tossed Belle's book into the mud. "Belle, it's about time you get your head out of those books and think about more important things... Like me..." he then provided a smile.
This made three blonde women in the background sigh dreamily.
"Oh, barf..." Mo mumbled in disgust.
Atticus got Belle's book out of the mud and tried to find something to clean it.
"The whole town is talking about it," Gaston scoffed about Belle's hobby. "It's not right for a woman to read, soon she starts getting ideas and thinking." he spoke like it was the most controversial thing in the world.
"Gaston, you are positively primeval." Cherry deadpanned.
Gaston chuckled. "Why, thank you, little lady."
"Oh, gag..." Cherry rolled her eyes.
"Come along, Belle," Gaston smirked, putting his arm around Belle. "What do you say you and I stop by the tavern and have a look at my trophies?"
"Maybe some other time..." Belle muttered.
"What's wrong with that girl?" The orange triplet asked.'
"She's crazy!" The red triplet answered.
"He's gorgeous..." The green triplet continued to stare at Gaston, deeply in love with him.
Atticus then started to clean the book with his own shirt. "Here you go, Belle." He then said, handing the book back to her.
"Thank you..." Belle took it in relief.
"Now, Mr. Gaston, we need to get going," Mo glared at the man as his tiny sidekick showed up. "We're going to help Belle and her dad. Now, goodbye!"
The tiny man known as LeFou laughed out loud. "That crazy old loon needs all the help he can get!"
This made Gaston laugh with him.
"Don't talk about my father that way!" Belle scolded to make them stop laughing.
"Yeah, don't talk about her father that way!" Gaston blamed LeFou, then clonked him on the head.
"My father is not crazy, he's a genius!" Belle scowled at them.
Suddenly, there was an explosion heard at her house and she had to rush to it. Atticus, Cherry, Mo, and Patch joined her, concerned about her father after hearing the explosion. Gaston and LeFou laughed as they left.
Belle knew where the explosion came from, she opened the cellar and coughed as smoke blew into her face. "Papa...?" she choked only slightly.
"Sir...?" Atticus added as he coughed.
Cherry, Mo, and Patch coughed a little once they climbed in. They saw someone turned upside down in a barrel, then broke out, revealing to be a small elderly man.
"Are you okay, sir?" Cherry asked.
The man grumbled once he slammed a machine next to him. "I'm about ready to give up on this old hunk of junk!"
Belle had an amused smile. "You always say that..."
"I mean it this time, Belle," The man firmly told her. "I'll never get that boneheaded contraption to work!"
"Yes, you will," Belle put her arms around his shoulders. "And you'll win first prize at the fair tomorrow."
He simply harrumphed, not believing he'll get it to work or fixed in time for the fair.
"And become a world-famous inventor..." Belle added with a smile.
"You really believe that?" Belle's father looked at her.
"I always have." Belle confirmed.
That seemed to boost his confidence. "Well, what are we waiting for?" he then asked, now eager to get back to work. "I'll have this thing fixed up in no time. Say, who are you guys?" he then asked his daughter's new friends.
The kids introduced themselves to the man.
"And this is Patch." Atticus introduced the puppy.
Patch yipped up with a smile, panting and wagging his tail like an energetic puppy.
"Nice to meet you all, my name is Maurice." Belle's father said before going under his invention.
"Hi, Maurice." Cherry greeted, she felt like she knew his name already, but for some reason, couldn't really remember it, so this worked just as well.
"So, did you all have a good time in town today?" Maurice asked as he got to work.
"I got a new book and met some new friends," Belle replied, then took out a strange-looking tool. "Papa, do you think I'm odd?"
"My daughter? Odd?" Maurice pulled himself out, wearing goggles that made his eyes look like bug eyes. "Where'd you get an idea like that?"
"Oh, I don't know; I just don't feel like I fit in here, there's no one I can talk to, besides you, Atticus, Cherry, Mo, and Patch." Belle said.
"Well, how about that Gaston?" Maurice suggested as he reached for another tool. "He's a handsome fellow."
"He's handsome alright, but rude, and conceited..." Belle sighed as she sat down. "Oh, Papa, he's not for me..."
"At least you have your new friends..." Maurice comforted after he finished what he could do. "Now don't you worry, 'cuz this new invention is gonna start a new life for us."
"What is it anyway?" Atticus asked.
"It's an automatic log cutter," Maurice explained. "This way if you go for logs in the forest, you don't have to cut them alone, they'll just cut on their own... I just hope it works."
"Well, here goes nothing." Mo shrugged.
"Now, let's give this a try." Maurice pulled the lever down, getting ready to duck for cover, expecting the machine to fail.
Patch began to pray that the invention would work. The machine's whistle blew and the chopping against the wood started. Maurice looked back, a little nervously. The invention cut a piece of wood and put it with the pile of logs for firewood.
"It works!" Belle cheered.
"It does?" Maurice looked in surprise, then excitement once a log flew over his head. "It does!"
"You did it, you really did it!" Mo congratulated the man.
"Wahoo! It works, it really works!" Atticus cheered.
"Hitch up, Philippe, Belle!" Maurice called in joy. "I'm off to the fair!"
However a log flew by, hitting him on the head and briefly knocking him out.
"Don't worry, he'll be okay, this happens all the time." Belle assured her friends.
"I'm sure it does." Cherry replied.
Atticus gave a small chuckle to that.
Soon, Maurice woke up and was set to go to the fair.
"Hey, do you mind if we come too?" Atticus asked, carrying Patch in his arms.
"Only if you want to." Maurice smiled to them once he was set up to go to the fair.
"We don't mind at all." Atticus said.
Atticus and Patch climbed in to ride with Maurice.
"Goodbye, Papa, good luck!" Belle called with a wave.
"Goodbye, Belle!" Maurice called back with a smile as the horse pulled him and the boys away. "Take care while I'm gone!"
"Goodbye, girls!" Atticus and Patch called out.
Cherry and Mo waved as they stayed behind for now, but would join in on their fun later. Maurice rode Philippe while holding his map to make it to the fair. It was then starting to get a little dark.