The sun was setting in the east and the sky was turning beautiful shades of pink, orange and purple as Rose sat in front of her vanity, smoothing down her ball gown which was now adjusted to fit her human body, one that she was still getting used to as well as seeing her reflection in the mirror, while Belle was brushing her hair, feeling the lovely auburn waves slip down her fingers and she planted a soft kiss on her beloved daughter's head, as a tear fell down on it.

She had helped Rose get ready, wanting to spend precious time with her daughter that she hadn't been able to, despite Katrine offering to do it and regretting not being there for Rose when she had her first ball with Leon and looked at her proudly, at how beautiful she looked in her ball gown and how far she had come in the years she was under that terrible spell and had found true love on her own.

Rose then fiddled with the gold rose on the bodice, feeling very much like she did on the night of the ball as her stomach churned at what the night had in store for her and Leon.

For tonight, she, Princess Rose Belle Lucile Therese, along with Leon, her love and future prince consort, would be presented to the villagers and nobles, who had travelled across the kingdom and from Versailles, for the first time in years at the celebratory ball that was being held in the castle that very evening to celebrate her eighteenth birthday, the return of the royal family, the enchantment being broken for the second (and last) time and, as the servants were hoping, her upcoming engagement and marriage to Leon.

Although it had only been a week since the enchantment had been broken, the servants, caught up in their excitement of being human again and seeing the young couple deeply in love, were anticipating the moment when Leon would propose to Rose but they had decided to wait a few months, for while they hadn't ruled it out, they didn't want to rush into marriage just yet.

After all, Katrine did say to them, 'Now, now, one miracle at a time! Let's not push them yet, they're still young and Rose has only just come out of a ten-year enchantment! She has to relearn how to be a princess again and Leon needs to adjust to royal life if they are to marry!'

'Not to mention they have to have the court's approval, since they may not take too kindly to having a peasant for a prince, even though the mistress used to be one herself.' Cogsworth had added.

And Rose knew that he had been right. Now that she was a princess again, she was going have to relearn EVERYTHING she had forgotten about being one and all the responsibilities and royal etiquette and be tutored in politics and foreign affairs.

Cogsworth would be constantly reminding her about it and to prepare her for her re-introduction into society and the kingdom and give her ways for her to re-establish a relationship with the subjects.

Not only that, having not been around people for so long and not having liked being the centre of attention, she would have to face the villagers, whose children she used to play with, invaded her castle and tried to attack and kill her, even though they had been pardoned and they would have many questions about her absence and Leon also wouldn't be thrilled about seeing them again, especially since they had treated him so cruelly for being different.

And the thought of having to go to Versailles with Leon to get the nobles' approval to marry him or rather disapprove as it was most likely that they would refuse and deem him not worthy just because he was a village boy rather than an intelligent and self-educated one who would be the perfect prince and loved Rose with all his heart and freed her from a terrible enchantment, made her feel even more anxious and worried.

She did not want to lose Leon again, especially since she had been so heartbroken at his departure and she had nearly lost her life for it, when that terrible woman stabbed her and she fiddled with the rose again.

'My sweet darling, please stop fiddling with your dress,' Belle said calmly, noticing her daughter's distressed look as she finished styling her hair in a half-twist, much like what she had worn at the ball, 'you don't want to ruin such a beautiful ball gown that Katrine worked so hard on and had sacrificed her entire life savings for.

Is something bothering you, Rose? You can tell me, I can see it in your face. Aren't you looking forward to being with Leon tonight?' she said, stroking her hair.

'Oh, Mama, yes I am, very much,' said Rose, 'it's just that, I'm nervous about facing the villagers and nobles again, especially since it has been so long and that they were part of a mob that attacked us and the castle and they are going to ask questions about where we have been all these years.

Also, I'm worried that the nobles won't approve of Leon and let us get married, when we do, that is. I don't want to lose him, Mama, I love him with all my heart and he loves me too. I've waited so long for him, even though I had treated him badly when we first met,' she said, as her eyes misted up.

'I'm sure that they will,' Belle said, gathering her up in her arms and held her close,

'When they see you and Leon together, how happy you are with him and how much that you love and care for each other, I don't think they would have any doubts about you two being the future rulers of the kingdom, once you relearn how to be a princess again, which I'm sure will be overwhelming for you, but with Leon, your father and I and the servants by your side, anything is possible.'

'I know, Mama,' Rose said, 'but do you think that they will really approve of Leon?'

'I think so, darling, after all I used to be a village girl myself and if they approved of me marrying your father, then they should approve of Leon as well.' Belle said, smiling at her daughter, seeing the love she had for this boy in her eyes when she heard about him.

'And from what I've been told and having got to know him, Leon is truly a very kind, sweet and understanding boy and it is amazing that he has taught himself how to read, write and many subjects and foreign languages, especially since back in the village, you were considered a scholar if you could write more than your own name.' Belle then said.

Rose laughed at the last statement.

'Remember, he fell in love with you when you were a beast and it doesn't matter what anyone else sees, he sees and loves you as you are and that is more important than any stuffy noble's disapproval of peasants marrying royalty.

I'm very much looking forward to having him as my son-in-law, since he and I have so much in common and he did tell me that he was always too shy to approach and talk to me whenever we visited the village and to play with you and now it looks like we'll be able to!' Belle said, which made Rose giggle,

'Mama, we're not married yet!' she said, 'but I'm happy that you like Leon, he is such a wonderful person and I love him so much.'

Belle's earlier words were buzzing in Rose's head as she remembered the song she sang with Leon on the night they were in the sitting room, when she was going to ask him to the ball,

It doesn't matter what anyone else sees

It's what I see, you as the friend I never had

The true person inside, that you want to be

And she knew, deep down, those words were as true and heartfelt when she and Leon sang them together. They both knew that they had faced many hurdles and obstacles on their incredible journey together, but the good times had definitely outweighed the bad and with their families and dear friends by their side, they could see a bright and loving future ahead of them with the enchantment nothing more than a distant memory.

'I'm so glad you're back, Mama, I've missed you and Papa so much,' Rose whispered as she hugged her mother, 'I'm glad that you're here with me and that you made me feel better about tonight.'

'I'm glad too, my sweet darling,' Belle whispered back, 'We're so proud of you and I'm glad you came out of this awful curse alright and you have such a wonderful young man in your life, that makes you so happy.

Don't worry about having the nobles and villagers looking at you, just enjoy the night with Leon and celebrate after everything that you have been through. And no matter what you have done, or how grown up you are now, you will always be our sweet little girl and we love you very much and are proud of you.' Belle said,

'Speaking of which, we better get downstairs as everyone is waiting for us and Leon will be wondering why you haven't come down yet, we can't keep him and our guests waiting any longer,' she then said.

Taking her mother's cue, Rose took a few deep breaths and any last minute nerves she might have had before her mother's pep talk disappeared as mother and daughter left the room and descended down the stairs, to where Leon, dressed in his gold suit, and Adam were waiting in the foyer, as the chatter of the guests and servants and lively music could be heard from the ballroom.

If Leon had any impatience in waiting for his love and soon-to-be wife to come downstairs, he certainly didn't show it, for he was very patient in nature like he had been with Rose when she was the Beast and he smiled at her when he saw her coming with her mother, who smiled and nodded at him.

Rose then embraced her father, then went over to Leon and the two shared a deep kiss before breaking apart like the guilty lovers they were and linking their arms together, composing themselves as they stood behind Belle and Adam, waiting for Cogsworth to announce them and to enter the ballroom, where many pairs of eyes would be watching, as they walked in.

'Presenting Their Majesties, King Adam and Queen Belle!' the majordomo announced and the king and queen, arm in arm, stepped forward as the doors opened and the gasps of amazement and surprise at seeing the long-lost rulers of the kingdom could be heard from inside.

Rose was feeling nervous again and the feeling was shared by Leon, as he would be facing the villagers that had treated him cruelly and nobles from Versailles who would most likely look down at him due to him not being born into royalty.

'It'll be fine, my love,' he whispered to Rose, as he squeezed her hand and kissed her on the head and she returned the gesture, 'there will be friendly faces in there as well,' as he remembered that the servants, his mother, her parents, Jean-Luc and Martine would be there.

'I know,' Rose said, 'and it doesn't matter what any of the stuffy nobles or other villagers think, let's just relax and have fun. We have a lot to celebrate, my love.'

'We do,' said Leon, just as Cogsworth announced,

'Presenting Her Royal Highness, Princess Rose Belle Lucile Therese and Leon Dupont!'

'Oh, Uncle Cogsworth, can you be any more embarrassing?' Rose said, cringing at hearing her full name again, while Leon chuckled and, arms firmly linked and deep breaths being taken to calm any last-minute nerves, the newest and soon-to-be royal couple walked towards the waiting crowd in the ballroom.

The celebratory ball went off without a hitch, even though the villagers were very surprised and shocked at seeing the royal family alive and well and more so to see that Leon and the princess were a couple and he would be their future prince, which made them feel guilty and regret their harsh and cruel treatment of Leon, which made Monsieur Livre's words to him come true.

But they had believed that the reason that he had rejected Amandine was that he had wanted to kill the beast that was holding the princess captive after killing her parents (although that rumour had been debunked by Belle and Adam themselves) and rescue her, along with the other rumours that had gone around the village.

Only Leon and Madeleine and to a lesser extent, Jean-Luc and Martine, knew the real truth behind the royal family's disappearance and they had decided to keep it a secret by telling the villagers that the Beast had been killed and they did not need to avenge Amandine.

The story seemed plausible and it was soon accepted, since they had been mourning the deceased woman for a week, giving her a proper funeral and she had been buried next to her father and uncle.

The boys, somewhat humbled by their ordeal in the castle, moved on and now had new girlfriends, the ones who had always come second to Amandine, with Jean-Luc, of course being with Martine and he had decided to stay in the village, politely declining Leon's offer to live in the castle but he and Martine were always welcome to visit whenever they could.

Henri, Pierre and Francois were with the Bimbette cousins (Henri with Bridgette, Pierre with Annette and Francois with Violette) and Beauden and Stephane were with the Beaufort twins (Beauden with Adelaide and Stephane with Anais).

To their horror, the two arch-rivals realised that if they married Adelaide and Anais, they would be brothers-in-law but the girls, sick of their bickering and fighting, made them get along after whacking some sense into them with their parasols and the boys begrudgingly dropped their rivalry and now got along (to some degree).

Many of the villagers had seen this as a hasty rebound and that the boys had been too quick to get over Amandine but the couples were adamant that their love was genuine and the boys had wondered what they ever saw in the woman who had always rejected and belittled them.

Genevieve also had the decency to mourn the loss of her daughter, but as Leon had noticed when he had seen her in the crowd, she looked less sad, tired and downtrodden than she had been and wondered how that could have happened but decided not to dwell on it, as he and Rose made their way to the centre of the ballroom, poised to dance.

The two shared another deep and passionate kiss before Leon took Rose's hand and soon, they were dancing, as the cheerful and lively music played in the background by the orchestra, much like they did at their first ball.

Only this time, they not only had the servants watching, but her parents, his mother and all the villagers and nobles who looked on with admiration and a few tears of happiness were shed as they looked at the beautiful and loving young couple, who were so in love and oblivious to anything but each other as they danced.

Seeing them together, no one had any reason to doubt that the princess loved the soon-to-be former peasant boy or that he reciprocated her love and while there was still the matter of relearning, adjusting to royal life and going to Versailles in the near future, for now, the young couple were free to let themselves go and enjoy the night dancing.

The servants, along with Belle, Adam, Maurice and Madeleine watched on proudly as they saw Rose and Leon dance, many happy tears shed and couples holding each other close, delighted that their efforts to bring them together, which they had thought been in vain at one point, were not for nothing.

'Ah, young love,' Remy said, sighing happily as Rebecca walked past him, stroking his cheek. He chuckled mischievously and went after her, only to be stopped by Lumiere. He scowled slightly, but quickly hid it, as the latter shook his hand.

'Well, Remy, ami, shall we bury the hatchet?' Lumiere said, as Remy half-heartedly shook his hand, eager to be with Rebecca, but he smiled at his 'frienemy', remembering that he had saved him from being melted by LeFou.

'Of course, Lumsie,' Remy said, 'no hard feelings, right?'

'None whatsoever, Remy, consider this as my way of thanking you for saving my life in the battle,' Lumiere said, 'Besides I said that he would break the spell.'

'Yes, Lumiere, just like you said the last time,' Cogsworth said, as he watched the couple dance with quiet pride and with Rose having to relearn how to be a princess and Leon having to learn how to be a prince, he decided to himself as his extreme loyalty to his masters won through his desire to have his long-awaited retirement by the sea, that said retirement could wait for now.

'When did you say that, Lumsie?' Remy said.

'When the boy first came to the castle, you idiot,' Lumiere said, 'did you not hear me say that to Cogsworth? I said that he was the boy that Irena said would come and break the spell and I was right!'

'That's total and complete dribble!' Remy said, 'the only reason that you were so excited about him coming was that you could be human again, wasn't it? And when he left, you said 'Maybe it would've been better if he never came at all!' Those were your words exactly, Lumsie and there's no denying it!'

'I didn't mean that!' Lumiere said, agitated and it looked like a fight was about to break out, like it had done after the first enchantment which involved Lumiere, only this time, it was Remy , already annoyed at him for keeping him away from Rebecca, who was about to bear the brunt of it.

'Yes, you did!' Remy said.

'I most certainly DID NOT, you loudmouthed idiot! 'Lumiere said, raising his fists towards the launderer and Remy took that as an invitation to land the first punch, only to be slapped across the face by Lumiere's glove.

'Bring it on, you wax-headed, card-ruining, womanising PEA BRAIN!' Remy shouted 'and to think that I saved you from being a puddle of candle wax! I could've left you to melt, you know!'

The two men were soon engaged in a brawl, with Lumiere letting out years of frustration on the man that had tormented him, picked on him out of jealousy, constantly clashed with and had been humiliated and cheated out of money with his bets.

'Remy, get out of it!' George shouted at his brother, while the other servants cringed at this embarrassing and childish display, which was ruining this special night for them.

'Lumiere! Remy!' Cogsworth said, trying in vain to break up the quarrelling pair, although he was secretly glad he wasn't involved in the fight this time, like he had been after the first enchantment had been broken,

'Can't you two behave like civilised human beings? This is a special night for us all and the princess and the boy and you're ruining it with your CHILDISH behaviour!'

'STAY OUT OF THIS, COGSWORTH!' both Lumiere and Remy shouted as they continued fighting and Cogsworth simply sighed at the familiar sight, realising that nothing had changed at all between the two.

'Some things never change,' he sighed.

Elsewhere, Raymond, Amelie and Sophie were watching the couple proudly, Amelie holding her daughter close, not wanting to let go of her and relishing the fact that she had arms again to do so, with Raymond's arm firmly around her waist, as he shed a few tears.

'Papa, why are you crying?' the little girl asked her father.

'Yes, Raymond, what's the matter, dear?' Amelie said, 'this is a happy occasion!'

'I know, that's why I'm crying,' Raymond replied, 'I just love happy endings, that's all. The princess and the boy look so beautiful together.'

'Yes, I do too,' Amelie said. 'and you're right, they are such a beautiful and loving couple.'

'Are they going to live happily ever after, Mama?' Sophie then asked.

'Of course, my darling, of course they are.' Amelie sighed happily, as Chip grinned at his mother, as he had said the exact same thing about Belle and Adam.

There was a moment of silence as Sophie frowned slightly, when she remembered one thing that had been on her mind and wondered if it would still be the same since she was now human.

'Do I still have to sleep in the art box?' she said, which made her parents and Chip laugh at the adorableness of her serious question, much like Chip had said when he was her age and he also hoped that he would never sleep in the cupboard again.

Madeleine, who was standing next to Belle and Adam, looked proudly at her son, who turned and smiled at him, with tears in her eyes.

He knew that she had been right all along, that his luck had indeed changed and he had indeed found the right girl and all he had to do was look hard for her. She nodded at Rose, and the princess simply smiled at her, that meant,

Thank you for forgiving me and allowing the happiness that I had thought I would never get back. Thank you for letting me be with your son, who I love with all my heart and soul and I promise that I will take care of him.

Madeleine nodded and smiled again that meant, I know you will.

Rose then got eyeshot of her parents, who were also smiling at her, with happy tears in their eyes, while Adam nodded and smiled at his future son-in-law that meant,

Please take good care of our sweet darling.

And Leon knew that he would, as he and Rose kept dancing, as all their friends, new and old and their families watched on, proud of what the young and loving couple had overcome to reach this new and exciting stage in their incredible and beautiful journey.

Two lives had truly begun now and Leon would now live the life he had dreamed of, everything that he had hoped for and wanted had been presented to him due to his mother stumbling upon an enchanted castle.

And he would no longer be the social outcast of the village and a pig-kisser, but a well-loved and respected member of the royal family.

This may have been the end of this chapter of their beautiful story, but for Rose and Leon, it was only just the beginning.

And so this beautiful story comes to an end. From the very first chapter published in December 2014 to the last one in September 2015, this has been incredibly fun to write and I want to thank you for reviewing, following and favouring my very first fanfic!

Special thanks to all those who have left such wonderful reviews, in particular Mistress Malicia for her feedback and advice (even if I didn't always take it!), singertobe for creating the characters and many others for reading and reviewing this wonderful story that I have indeed enjoyed writing!

Thank you all so much for reading 'A Beastly Rose.'

Read and review! (for the last time!) :)