Chapter Five

After living in the castle for a long time, the idea of remaining in the town was something that made Belle pause. She had wanted to remain with Adam and now she was back to her old life as if nothing had changed. Well, fortunately one thing had changed. She now had a magic mirror which no one apart from her and her father knew about. She was certain that even Adam didn't remember its existence.

Belle gently picked it up from where she was safely keeping it and held it in her hands. It had been a couple of weeks since she had left the castle but she still hadn't discovered where he was or even if he had forgotten about her. It was a possibility.

"Show me Adam," she whispered as she lovingly held the item and saw Adam awake in the early morning already looking worn out, his hair was by his cheek despite most being tied back with a simple tie and he looked sweaty and hard at work. Most likely it was good for him to experience this after being a spoiled prince but she just wished she had more information about his whereabouts.

She sighed as she closed her eyes. She had thought that he would be selfish, spoiled, maybe a little angry but he didn't seem to be. It was as if he had accepted his fate. He wasn't causing harm or displeasure to those around him it seemed. He was supposed to go back to having the same personality as the prince before he became the beast. He seemed different though. He wasn't as harsh around the edges, he wasn't demanding that everything be done for him.

Belle froze as she heard wheels from a carriage and looked out the window. There was a carriage that someone who was wealthier than her and her father were but not as wealthy as the aristocracy was using. Brushing her dress down, Belle heard a knock on the door. She grabbed a coat – not wanting to be seen in her nightdress – and went to answer it. When she did so, a smile spread out so widely on her face and she dropped to her knees. "Chip!" she exclaimed before pulling the small boy in for a hug. "What are you doing here?"

"We left the castle," Chip tried to explain, "I wanted to come see you before but….but…Mama."

"You left the castle?" Belle asked concerned. That was their home as much as it was Adam's. "How are you? How's your mother? I'm so sorry, I didn't mean for you to los-"

"Losing is nothing," another familiar voice could be heard and Belle rose to see Cogsworth getting out of the carriage. "We didn't lose anything, we left. Lodging was quite easy to find," he told her and Belle grinned, glad that she could be surrounded by her friends from the castle. "I was going to Paris. There is someone I need to talk to and I thought that it might do well for the young lad to be taken somewhere else. We were -"

"We were hoping that you could come," Chip said excitedly. "Do you want to?"

"Ye-Yes," Belle nodded excitedly, she turned towards the house. "Just let me get ready right away," she said. "Please make yourselves comfortable, I apologize that it's much more modest."

"Wow," Chip said as he came inside, "Your house is wonderful" he said and Belle smiled gratefully before getting prepared to join them on their trip. Cogsworth entered sadly and Chip looked at him, sitting on one of the chairs. "Well it is," he replied and the former clock nodded. He only hoped a visit to Paris would ease some of Belle's obvious pain.

"So, what are you two planning on doing when we get to Paris?" Belle asked after she had changed and packed a small bag for the day. She looked over to Chip, she delighted in seeing the curious young boy. This was what his childhood should have been like. Hopefully he hadn't missed too many years of his life being a teacup.

"I need to check in with someone about some wooden items, carpentry if you can believe it. I never expected some task like this, so lower class," he said and Belle coughed tilting her head to the side and looked around. She was trying to remind him that she was what one might consider a commoner. "Nothing is wrong with that at all," he said and Belle raised an eyebrow.

"Can you show me the bookstore?" Chip asked as he distracted Belle from what she was doing. The brunette grinned.

"I'd love to," she said. Maybe someone would be able to give her some information on Adam's whereabouts or she could ask if anyone had seen someone like him. She wasn't sure if bringing the mirror with her would work but she wanted to find him. Who knew how he was surviving without his memories, forced to live as the person he was always meant to become.

…

…

His hand went over a large mirror but as he pulled back, it wasn't a hand, there was some monster's paw with claws on it but the brown fur felt so familiar to his touch. Adam tapped on the wall, the paw moved in time with his intentions. He lifted his head and looked at his reflection before his eyes grew wider. He was some kind of animal, some type of villain from a fairytale. He could see a huge head, horns, brown fur, large teeth and yet it felt so familiar as if he had seen it before. He froze as he took a step back and it came together, the face, the paws, the tail sticking out from his butt, somehow this was him. Somehow he ha-

…

…

Adam sat up in the bed that the carpenter had provided for him and took shaky breaths. Since he had lost his memories, every single night he would have a nightmare that he had become some kind of beast through a physical transformation. He could feel the way his paws didn't feel like gloves on his hands, they were his actual hands. Somehow it felt so right but how could something like that feel….right?

He looked at his own hands and took slow breaths. These dreams might be trying to tell him something but he didn't know if he had been a beast before he had lost his memories. No. He was with Belle and Belle loved him, she wouldn't love something so hideous. He must have performed some cruelty, some devious action which was manifesting itself as a beast in his dreams symbolically but he had no idea what that was.

He stood up, grabbing a rag to get the sweat off of his face. He didn't want to show how fearful he was and how much this dream seemed to be an attack to him. He didn't quite understand it. He sighed as he heard a knock on the door of the small shed where he had enough room for his bed and to walk around, a small living area but his personal space.

"Hello there," the carpenter's wife, Amalie, said as she stood in front of the shed, she gasped in concern as she saw the young man before her. Somehow he appeared completely spooked. "Are you all right, Adam?" she asked and he nodded, pushing his hair back.

"Sorry, I'm…I'm okay. Is it time to start work. I really do apologize if I slep-" he said and Amalie tilted her head to the side whilst watching him.

"No, you didn't. Did you want to join us for breakfast, I made a little too much again," she tried to explain however Adam knew that she was doing this on purpose to try to feed him. "If you don't, it'll just go to the dogs. You've been doing really well here, you're a fast learner and a hard worker."

"I have a lot to be grateful for," he laughed before nodding. "Okay, I'll come and eat but I insist on helping clean up after breakfast. You've already given me more than I probably deserve," he said as he tried to ignore the dream.

What could he possibly have done that would cause him to having a dream like that? He sighed, it was best not to think on it too much. He went to eat breakfast with the family, smiling at the two children who had come to look at him like a distant and older cousin. Somehow, he didn't have a stable memory of growing up and he felt that he had been a rather spoiled kid. There had to be something which had changed that.

Figuring out that dream was going to be an exhausting task.

…

…

Since Adam still hadn't been able to shake the dream or the image of being a beast from his mind, Henri – the carpenter – had told him to take some smaller projects into town to give to the store merchants who had commissioned them and receive the payment. It would at least expose him to things that might allow his memory to repair. Tucking the received money into a small pouch, Adam smiled before stepping out into the center of the city.

He had found a charming bookstore recently and he did like to look around to see if he got inspired by any of them. He had tried to explain how he would be saving up for a book or two or three when he received his pay and women often wandered in to take a look at him. This day though, he had enough to purchase a book. A small extravagance but maybe it would replace those nightmares he was having.

Adam looked through the shelves before becoming drawn to one of the books. A leather bound collection of Romeo and Juliet. He smiled, feeling a deep connection with this book. He could remember Belle reading it with him. He somehow had the thought that this was the first book which he had ever truly loved. He reached out for it but found that someone else's hand was already touching it. He stepped backwards, taking his hands off the book.

"Go ahead," he said before the woman dropped the book on the ground. Adam looked to her and then at the book, "Let me get that for you," he said before picking it up but as he looked up at the woman who had dropped the book he froze, he smiled as their eyes connected. "Belle…" he whispered as she stared at him, her hands covering her mouth and tears in her eyes.

"I….how? I wanted to find you," Belle told him and Adam smiled to her.

"It's like the fates wanted us to find one another," Adam told her and Belle nodded as she tried to brush away the tears that were threatening to fall. He was okay. He was alive and okay. Maybe he had no idea who he was or about his life but they were together now. Everything would work out in the end. "I…I'm sorry I forgot my way home."

"I don't blame you, what happened was strange for all of us," Belle whispered before letting her fingers play with the strands of hair which weren't tied back at this moment. "It's okay. It's okay that we're -"

"I'm so happy to have found you," he told her as he let his fingers raise her chin and he kissed her passionately on the lips. This felt very familiar. Belle wrapped her arms around his upper shoulders and continued the kiss. Despite whoever he thought he was, he was still and always would be her prince.

End of Chapter Five

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Thank you to LoveShipper for reviewing Chapter Four