Beau watched horrified as Angela's hand fell from his face, her eyelids falling over those dulling emerald eyes. Her whole body went limp and then... nothing... Nothing at all… A horrible wrenching sensation overcame him and desperately he cradled Angela's body closer to his own. Squeezing it as tightly as he could to his own as if the warmth of his body could fill her cold one with life again...
"No! No! Please! Please! Angela! ANGELA!" he screamed, his whole body consumed in unfamiliar and unforgiving pain... He grabbed her hand again, squeezing it, praying that it would react, that it would squeeze back... That she would open her eyes and look at him again but no…
There was nothing, Angela's body just felt cold, hard and... Beau lowered his head... He was too late... She was dead...
He sat there quietly, his hand still absentmindedly running through her soft mane…
He couldn't believe it… All this time… She loved him.. and Beau screwed his eyes shut as a brutal stab of pain sprung from his gut and all over his body…
"Oh Angela…"
Bringing her face near his own, he cradled her precious body and rocked her gently as if she was still there to hear what he had to say…
"Forgive me Angela... Forgive me... I should have arrived sooner... I should have never showed Guinevere the mirror… This is my fault... IT'S MY FAULT! MY FAULT! Not yours... You didn't deserve this... Any of this..."
And as he spoke, he gently swept back the bits of her mane, which had fell over her face … And as he felt those glass shards piercing into his own hands… Beau clenched his fists as he remembered the last moments of Angela's life… The mob, her fight with Guinevere, Gaston… She must have been so frightened… So terribly terribly frightened… He remembered all the names Angela was called... those horrible horrible accusations... Monster, beast... He held her closer as if he was trying to protect her from those harsh words... Trying to make her forget… Make himself forget…
"You're not a monster... You're not what those men said you were… You're intelligent…and brave and sweet... This
You taught me how to dance… And tonight on your birthday... You… You were so… beautiful and... And I...I..." and that's when Beau pressed his forehead to hers … Holding it there… Silently crying as his heart twisted and contorted in all directions… His body trembling as sobs racked through him violently… and after a moment of silence… Beau finally looked up and planted a soft kiss onto Angela's forehead…
"I love you too..." he finally whispered and back in the West Wing… The last petal finally fell…
Beau continued to lay there, head pressed to Angela's forehead when his eyes widened when he thought… No it couldn't be… Could it be possible? It was almost as if… Angela was moving. There! He felt it again and with hope rising rapidly in his chest he looked down… Only to feel his heart crumple again… No… he was deluding himself… As much as he wanted her back… She was gone…. Shaking his head, he began to wipe his tears away only to withdraw slightly as a streak of green suddenly flashed past him… Followed by another, and another… Looking around, Beau realized that these mysterious lights surrounded him and Angela… Speaking of Angela, he felt her stir again, this time more noticeably then ever, and as he looked down at her… Her body suddenly shifted, her torso rising up and he gasped as they were both suddenly enveloped in swirls of white light… He was confused at first and then desperate as Angela was suddenly lifted out of his reach and higher up into the night sky and as he made a desperate lunge for her, he was suddenly pushed back albeit not very roughly back onto the ground where he continued to gape in awe as those swirls of light completely enveloped his beloved and then he was forced to look away when a ray far too bright for human eyes flashed before him…
Flashes… Flashes of light… Was all that Angela registered… She couldn't see them per say… She just knew they were there…. As if in a dream…
"This is what this is… A dream…" she thought… She had no other explanation for it… She had tried to open her eyes but they remained firmly shut… and yet… All she could see were these beautiful flashes of bright green, dancing around her…They were at a distance at first but the more Angela thought about them, the more they seemed to come closer and before she knew it…. She could swear that they swirling around her… Lifting her… At least she thought they were, as she felt strangely weightless… Angela smiled… Or at least she think she did… Dying really didn't feel that bad… And soon… maybe she'd see that tunnel or that ray of bright light of the afterlife she and Beau had read about in her books… Beau… And that's when the ache returned… Angela frowned… Seems like death only ended her physical woes and not her emotional ones… She had anticipated a rush of well being or serenity or some sort of overwhelming calm but the thought of Beau had her heart pounding painfully in her chest…
"I have to go back…" and Angela forcefully tried to move from the invisible force that was binding her… She struggled but her body wasn't her own…. She tried again, but something gently stopped her, like a pair of warm hands, and slowly, Angela relented…. Allowing her limbs to be gently guided in different directions, a warmth pulsating through them one right after the other but as soon as that stopped. She went back to struggling…
"I'm not ready to die… Please… I'm not ready to go… I need to see him again… Please just let me see him again." she pleaded… To whom she wasn't sure but almost instantly, as if the almighty himself had heard her, she felt those swirling flashes of light dissipate…. Slowly lowering her to the cold wet ground… And in a very uncomfortable position to boot… Maybe this was his punishment for asking too much…
Angela groaned and tried to move her arm from under her and froze... Something was... different... Something felt different… and most importantly she could move again? Angela struggled but finally, her eyes flew open and in front of her… Was a hand… A thin, elegant beautifully formed human hand… It wasn't hers… It couldn't be hers… and to prove that to herself, Angela forced her own-clawed appendage to move but it didn't and instead… Angela blinked. She couldn't believe it…. This was impossible… Breathing heavily, Angela forced her eyes shut before opening them again thinking it was just some sort of cruel trick her mind so often played with her to taunt her suffering. But no… For the first time in ten years… Angela was staring at her own pale fingers move… Fingers that were connected to a human palm, not a paw… connected to a human arm and not a foreleg… Angela shook her head.
"I'm human again?"
Shakily, Angela tried to push herself up… All the while looking at herself… and hesitantly she pressed a hand to the fabric of her father's shirt… Finding two mounds she had forgotten had ever existed and a flat, smooth human stomach beneath them… She stumbled a little as she caught sight of her human toes and feet… Nearly falling again when she realized that her legs didn't bend like they used to and that she no longer had to hunch to stay upright… It used to hurt so much to stand on twos… But now it felt as natural as being on all fours…She had forgotten about that… She had forgotten about a lot apparently as she almost couldn't recognize her hair that hung in lose, wavy curls down her human face… It was darker than she remembered… hints of flaming red in her previously golden hair… Disoriented, she whirled around only to feel her spirits soar and a smile to break out on her face when her eyes came in contact with a familiar face…
"Beau…"
Beau was in a midst of terrible confusion and distress… One minute he had been held very much against his will by the wind as his beloved was cocooned in a swirl of light and then he was forced to shut his eyes in fear of going blind… And now… When Beau brought himself to blink again… He first thought that the figure being gently lowered to the ground had been Angela and wasted no time rushing to its side… only to find a strange girl… No… Woman… Lying with her back to him in Angela's place… Beau paused…. Not sure what he was seeing… Who was this woman? Why was she in Angela's place? Where was Angela? Slowly, he tried to move her as if to check if Angela was behind her… But recoiled violently when she started to do so herself… She seemed confused and disoriented… Shaking slightly as she stumbled on her feet, and he did his best to look away when he noticed her shirt… Far too large for her started to slip off her shoulders… His eyes did however dart back when he heard his name being called…
"Beau..." Angela finally mustered, butterflies fluttering in her stomach as she felt the words leave her mouth before her hand flew to her throat... Her voice... It sounded so... different... So much lighter… So different from the low, thundering rumbles she was accustomed to... She shook her head... She sounded nothing like herself... With a deep breath, she tried again.
"Beau..." she said softly taking a step towards him only to feel a pang of hurt when he recoiled violently from her his brown eyes cautious as he held an arm out in warning.
"Who are you? Where's Angela?" he asked cautiously his body tensed as if ready to take flight or fight.
Angela blinked before realization dawned on her.
"He doesn't recognize me..." she thought in surprise… and maybe a little hurt… This wasn't playing out like how she had imagined at all. Slowly but firmly, she took another step towards him, gently intertwining those long graceful fingers around his before looking into those gorgeous brown eyes.
"Beau its me..." she said lamely but then again she didn't know how she could have told him in any other way. She resisted the urge to shake him by the shoulders when he eyed her strangely...
"It's Angela…" and slowly , her eyes never leaving his.. She gently pulled down the sleeve of her shirt.
"Remember that night in the library? When I told you about my parents? About how they left me? Nobody knows I have this scar… Nobody but you…" and slowly, Angela could almost see the fear dissipate from Beau's eyes, his hand slowly rising as he ran it through her soft hair… Those careful brown eyes studying her with un wavering intensity before they suddenly widened.
" It IS you!" and Angela found herself suddenly enveloped in Beau's warmth as he closed his arms around her… Holding her tightly to his chest… Her heart raced rapidly as they suddenly travelled up from her waist to her shoulders and finally, to her face… Gently cupping them… Blinking back her tears, she gently brought her own hand to Beau's cheek… Caressing it, simply enjoying the sensation of being able to be so close to the man she loved without hurting him… Without him withdrawing, without being afraid… and slowly… She felt herself lean forward, her eyes closing, before something positively magical happened as their lips met… She clung onto him tighter, unwilling to let go while Beau did the same, lifting her noticeably smaller frame closer to him, holding her to his chest, while her fingers intertwined with his hair…. Their kiss a long and passionate one…
When they did finally broke apart, Angela laughed a little when she finally got a better look at Beau's face, his cheeks were still wet with tears while a smile like no other pulled at the corners of his face. He seemed to notice this as he quickly tried to wipe more tears away…
"I thought I lost you… For a moment I thought… Oh god…"
"I know… It's all right Beau… I'm right here…" Angela whispered hugging him again, before suddenly raising an eyebrow.
"But I would have appreciated it if you had recognized me a little faster…" she said sarcastically causing Beau's eyes to widen before chuckling and rolling his eyes.
"Speaking of which… Would you mind explaining…" and his brow furrowed a little as he searched for the right words…
"All of this…"
Angela bit her lip before nervously brushing a stray lock of hair out of her eyes.
"Well…it's a long story…" and Beau only smiled as he once again wrapped his arms around her, his head gently resting on the crook of her neck.
"I don't mind..." and Angela grinned... Almost wolfishly before her eyes softened and she gently interlaced their fingers again...
"I love you..."
"And I love you."
Ok... I know I know... Thank you all so much for being so patient with me. 2 years, whew I'm horrible I know... I'll be honest, I did have major writers block for a while and I didn't know how to *end it* Thankfully, that god awful live action movie came out and provided me the inspiration to continue. THANK YOU EVERYBODY WHO CONTINUED TO REVIEW, FOLLOW AND FAVOURITE THIS STORY. I would list you all but there are just too many of you. Thank you, really for all the support and patience. To show you guys my gratitude... I'm thinking of starting a little web comic of this story (since so many of you guys pm'd me asking how Angela looked like...) It will be on comic fury and tapastic... Unless you all don't want that... Just let me know, because I really want to make something special for you guys. Anyway, hope you all enjoyed this chapter. Next one will be out soon ;) (almost there... we are almost at the end...)