As Adam left the kitchen with a sad look, Maurice had some confusion in his mind.
"What did he mean by that?" Maurice asked as he looked at Mrs. Potts, she just had this sad look on her face; she knew what Adam meant by that.
"Nobody can talk about it; it involves his parents." Mrs. Potts explained, "We're not allowed to talk about them."
"Why not?" Maurice asked, but Mrs. Potts looked at him and stayed quiet. She didn't say a word about the issue, she knew how serious Adam took about his parents. When Maurice didn't get anything out of Mrs. Potts, he left it alone and she changed the subject.
"You said you had a recipe to give me?" Mrs. Potts asked. Maurice pulled out a large piece of paper, gave it to Mrs. Potts and left the kitchen. Mrs. Potts brought out a large pot and started putting in peppers, onions, tomatoes, sweet potatoes, basil, thyme and bay leaves. She could smell the strength of the spices as she stirred the soup. She took a spoon out to taste it. When she did, it was a little spicy, but she could see that it opened up all her senses.
Mrs. Potts was alone in the kitchen with the soup simmering on the stove, until her son, Chip, and Cogsworth walked in. Cogsworth saw the soup on the stove and was about to taste it, but Mrs. Potts caught his finger and hit his hand with a spoon.
"Keep your fingers out of that soup; it's for Belle!" Mrs. Potts said as Cogsworth retracted his hand back.
"I heard she's sick in bed." Cogsworth said.
"Belle's sick, mama?" Chip asked.
"Yes," Mrs. Potts answered, "but it's just a cold, she'll be better soon." Mrs. Potts poured the soup in a bowl and went to take it to Belle. She knocked on the door, but there wasn't an answer. She opened the door; Belle wasn't in bed, in fact, she wasn't anywhere in her room. Mrs. Potts was getting a little concerned that Belle wasn't in bed resting.
As for Belle, despite that she was sick, she was in no mood to just stay in bed.
"Ugh! I don't care I'm sick." Belle said before she sneezed, "I'm not staying in this bed!" She got up, looked through her dresser; she was still having a hard time knowing that the dresser wasn't Claudette. Belle grabbed her blue dress and put it back on, she already wore it and she didn't want her cold to be spread to any of her other dresses. She left her bedroom and went downstairs into one of the smaller castle gardens.
Belle browsed through the little gardens, she didn't want to go into the bigger gardens for two reasons, 1: she knew that she would get lost looking at everything, and 2: Adam wanted to show her the larger gardens himself. Belle was minding her own business until she bent down to smell an iris, but when she tried smell it, she couldn't smell anything. Her nose was so stuffed up that she couldn't smell anything.
"This isn't fair!" Belle said to herself. She then heard someone say;
"What's wrong?" Belle knew it was a female voice, but it sounded different from any of the servants. She knew it wasn't one of the servants who said that. She racked her head around because she did recognize the voice, but she was making her head hurt even more. Belle decided to turn around, when she did, she couldn't believe what her eyes were telling her. There was a woman standing as tall as Belle was, she was wearing a black feathered coat, a gray skirt and white shoes, but caught Belle's attention the most was the golden mask the woman was wearing.
"T...Tin...Tintement?" Belle said, "Is that you?"
"Yes, it is." the woman said as she smiled.
In another part of the castle, Adam was in the library, seeing what kind of book Belle would want to read while she rests in bed. His eyes wandered to the window, he was surprised about what he saw. He saw Belle with another person, Adam was wondering whom the other person.
"It's been so long since I've seen you, Belle." said Tintement.
"*cough* I know," Belle said as she smiled, "I've missed you so much." Tintement noticed Belle's red face and she was coughing.
"Cousin of mine, are you sick?" asked Tintement, Belle sneezed before she could answer.
"As much as I don't want to admit it, yes." Belle said, Tintement gave her a handkerchief so Belle could blow her nose.
"I know how much you hate saying you're sick," said Tintement, "In fact, I know how much you hate being sick."
"Well, Tintement," Belle said, "seeing you again, makes me feel a little better, but I still hate cold and flu season!" Belle's cousin, Tintement, giggled when Belle crossed her arms.
"You've always have." Tintement said, "Well, I'm glad to have finally found you after so many months."
"I'm glad you did." Belle said, she sneezed into the handkerchief.
"Hmm, maybe I should stick around until you're better, Belle." Tintement said, Belle's eyes shrunk a little when her cousin said that.
"I don't think that's a wise idea, Tintement." Belle said, "I don't want papa seeing you. I don't want to think what would happen if he sees you."
"I do see that side of the problem," Tintement said, "but you're more important to me than my own life."
"I have to say it; I am a little surprised to see that mask on your face." Belle said.
"My human face, my dear cousin." Tintement said, "It's been so long since I saw my human face and it's nice to see that it's still the same as it used to."
"Where did you find it?" Belle asked.
"I met a wise priestess, she gave me this golden wolf mask I have on my face." Tintement explained, "She also gave me a silver fox mask which I want you to have." Tintement reached into her black coat and pulled out the fox mask, Belle knew silver was pretty, but when she saw the silver fox mask, she couldn't express how beautiful it really was.
"Tintement, why do you want me to keep this one?" Belle asked.
"Well, because of our...you know what...these mask will help give us our human form." Tintement explained, "Especially when...Celia and Fiona...show their ugly heads." When Belle heard those names, her face dropped and was filled with fear.
"I forgot all about them!" Belle quickly said, "Now I'm worried."
"Calm down or you're going to worse," Tintement said, "Now that I've found you and know where you are, I'll be able to protect your skin. I still think I should stay with you until you're feeling better. I do have one question for you, my beloved little cousin."
"What might that be?" Belle said before she coughed.
"Forgive me for being rude," she said, "but how did you managed to live a castle as beautiful as this one?" Belle wasn't sure to be honest with her cousin, she couldn't tell Tintement about Adam's curse.
"You won't believe me, Tintement." was all Belle could say. Tintement didn't want to give up that easily, unless it was private to Belle.
"Hmm...it's a boy, isn't it?" Tintement asked with a sly grin, Belle's face turned even more red. "You're in love, my dear cousin. I'm not here to try and get between the two of you, I'm just worried about you being sick."
"Believe it or not," Belle said, "You're not the only one." As soon as Belle said that, the two of them heard Adam's voice, shouting Belle's name. He was walking around the grounds looking for her.
"Uh-oh!" Tintement said, Belle turned back at her.
"Tintement, get out of here!" Belle quickly said. As Tintement was running off, Belle heard Tintement's voice.
"I'll be back and make sure you get back in a bed!" Tintement said as she disappeared. She disappeared as soon as Adam caught sight of Belle, but he could see that the person Belle was talking to was gone.
"Belle." Adam said as he approached her.
"Don't tell me that you're already worried about me." Belle said as she smiled.
"Yes," Adam explained, "because you are sick with a cold or the flu, you're not in bed and I caught you talking to someone from a window. Mind telling me who it was?" Belle just smiled and told him;
"You don't have to worry about her, she's just an old friend of mine." She said. Adam was a little confused.
"'Her'? 'She'?" Adam asked, Belle did a laugh so little that he didn't hear it.
"Did you think I was talking to another man?" Belle asked.
"Not at first." Adam said.
"You don't have to worry about it," she said, "I swear on my life." Adam sighed and gave in.
"Fine," he said, "I'll worry about the other thing." Now Belle was confused.
"What other thing?" she asked as she sneezed into a handkerchief.
"You being sick and not in bed." Adam finally said. Belle just made a sickly groan.
"I hate being sick!" Belle said, Adam looked at her and smiled, he took her hand and took Belle back inside the castle. Adam could tell that Belle hated being sick and not doing anything, but she had to get better so no one else would get sick.
Adam brought Belle back into her room, he can tell on the look on her face that she was not too happy.
"Belle," Adam said, "you do know that I love you so much that even I can't stand that you're sick as well."
"I see that, I really do, Adam." Belle said, "It's just...*sigh*"
"What?" he asked.
"Every time I got sick when I was young," she explained, "Papa wouldn't let anybody near me, not even my mother. He didn't want anybody near me so they wouldn't get sick either, but I was always lonely. My mother was busy teaching her singing and dance class, but when she came home, she was tired. I didn't push her about the issue. My books gave me some comfort, papa didn't spend any time with me when I was sick. Papa wouldn't let me out my room either, the only time I was allowed out was to use the bathroom."
"Is that why you always wanted to get out of your room?" Adam asked, he felt very bad for Belle, knowing that she was always alone when she was sick.
"Yes," Belle said, "I was tired of always being 'locked up', so to speak."
"Why didn't you say anything, Belle?" he asked.
"I know you are busy with certain things of your own *sneeze*," she explained, "I also know that the servants are busy themselves, trying to get used to their human bodies again. I didn't want to be 'a block in the road'." Adam couldn't believe a thought entered into Belle's head.
"Belle," he said as he held her hand, "you'll never be a block in my road. All you had to do was tell me."
"I guess me knowing that you're a prince is what's keeping from opening up." Belle said, "I shouldn't let it, but it is."
"Think of it this way, Belle," Adam said, "you can always open up to me, whether I'm a prince or a regular guy trying to impress a girl." Belle giggled at that remark, she thought it was funny. "You should rest, Belle. I'll stay with you if you like."
"Well, I also don't want you to get sick either." Belle said as she sat down on the bed.
"I guess I'll take my chances." Adam said, "I'll go downstairs and get some soup for you; I'll be back in a few minutes." Adam left the room, Belle smiled to herself as she put her nightgown back on.
"I can't let it get in the way." Belle softly said to herself. Just then, she heard a pecking noise coming from the window. Belle looked over and saw a giant size black bird. She opened the window and the bird flew in.
"Handsome man, you have." Said the black bird.
"He is, Tintement." Belle said as the black bird pulled out the golden wolf mask and placed it on its face. As soon as the mask touched the feathers, the bird transformed itself into Belle's cousin, Tintement.
"Quite a man you got yourself, my dear cousin." Tintement said, "Someone far better than I could get."
"Oh, don't say that!" Belle said as she pulled out a robe, "*cough, cough* I know you'll find someone!"
"Not when I'm covered in feathers or fur," Tintement pointed out, "I scare anyone I meet, whether I'm wearing this mask or not."
"Tintement, I do understand that you miss being...human," Belle said, "but you can't give up so easily. You need to have hope."
"I doubt that," Tintement said, "you're under this curse as well as I am. You're just lucky that it doesn't go into affect until Celia and Fiona are inside your home."
"I'm not trying to rub it in!" Belle urged, "*sneeze* I need to ask you, Tintement; are you still adamant about not telling anyone about our curse?"
"As a matter of fact...I AM!" Tintement boomed, Belle fell backwards on the bed. "We...or I...can't allow anyone to know! If someone does find out, they'll never look at us the same way again!" Belle didn't know what to feel, she wanted to tell Adam about the curse, but she knows that Tintement has a temper that's much worse that Adam's. Belle knew that Adam would understand, but she also knew that Tintement didn't know Adam like she did.
"But Tintement," Belle said in a raspy voice, "I understand why you want me to keep my mouth shut around papa, *cough, cough, sniffle* but please let me tell Adam." Tintement wasn't paying much attention to what Belle was saying, she was paying more attention to her cousin's voice.
"Belle, get some rest." Tintement said, "You really need it." Suddenly, there was the sound of the doorknob twisting. Belle knew it was Adam coming back, but there was no time for Tintement to go out the window. So she didn't have any choice...except to hide under the bed. When Tintement went under the bed, Belle didn't know what to think.
'You have some of the strangest ideas, my dear cousin.' Belle thought to herself as the door opened up. Belle saw that Adam brought Mrs. Potts with him, she was just thinking about what the motherly former teapot will say.
"Heavens, Belle," Mrs. Potts said, "you could've caught your death of cold going outside!" Belle had a feeling that was what she was going to say, but Belle didn't say anything, nor did she want to. Her throat was much too sore from talking to Tintement. "Well, Belle," Mrs. Potts said as she felt Belle's forehead, "you, without a doubt, have a nasty fever. You need to stay in bed for the next few days." All Belle did was groan and fell back on her pillows.
"At least it's nothing too serious." Adam said, all Belle did was nod her head.
"And Belle has a sore throat." Mrs. Potts added, both Belle and Adam were surprised.
"How did you know that?" Adam asked.
"Belle hasn't spoken throughout the whole time we've been talking." Mrs. Potts explained. "Anyway, I brought you a bowl of soup, Belle. I think you might recognize the recipe. I'll be back with something that will help sooth your throat." As Mrs. Potts left the room, Adam spoke to Belle.
"You already have a good reason for not talking," Adam said, "but you'll get your voice back soon."
As for Tintement, she didn't mind too much hiding under the bed. She listened to what Adam was telling her cousin, it took all of what Tintement had to keep her mouth closed. Even though Tintement was beginning to like Adam, she still didn't want him to know about the curse that was placed on her and Belle. Just mainly because, she didn't want her cousin to lose the man that loves her so much.
As a couple of days of Belle being silent passed, she finally got rid of her cold and started acting like her old self. Prince Adam sneaked a rose petal into Belle's soup, which caused Belle to be better in a few days. He could see that the enchantress was telling the truth about the enchanted rose, but he could also see that Belle wasn't telling the truth about her 'friend'. Everyday, around sunset, Adam would see Belle outside talking to her friend. He didn't know that her friend was her cousin, Tintement. Prince Adam was getting a little jealous, but he wasn't going to damage his relationship with Belle. It wasn't long until the servants saw Belle's 'arrives at sunset' friend, Lumiere saw Belle and her cousin at the pond, Cogsworth saw Belle and Tintement near the garden and Mrs. Potts saw them on the bridge between the castle and the gate.
One sunny day, Adam took Belle on a picnic. They loved having personal time together when they could get it, which wasn't very often since he was a prince and he needed to get back on track with his royal duties. The basket was filled with sandwiches, fruit, stew and a special dessert, strawberries and chocolate. It was romantic, well in Adam and Belle's opinion, as there was chocolate all over their lips and noses. Heard of a chocolate kiss, well that's what they had too. After all that wonderful food of the picnic, the two of them laid on their backs, stared into the sky and watched the clouds.
"I've never been this happy in years." Adam said, Belle grabbed his hand.
"Considering that we have each other and that the spell's broken," Belle said, "I wouldn't give this up for anything." Adam could hear the honesty in Belle's words. He finally decided to ask Belle about her hooded friend.
"Belle?" Adam said.
"Yes?" Belle said.
"Since the arrival of your 'friend', you've been spending a lot of time with her." Adam said, Belle just giggled.
"So you are jealous!" She said.
"I didn't say I was!" Adam quickly said.
"But you want to know why I'm spending time with her." Belle said.
"Yes." Adam said, Belle didn't care if she did get in trouble with Tintement, she was at least going to tell him that she was her cousin.
"Well," Belle said, "she's my cousin." Adam quickly sat up and looked at Belle.
"Your cousin?" Adam asked.
"Yes," Belle explained as she sat up, "we used to see each other once a month, but when I came to your castle, it wasn't possible for us to see each other because she didn't know where I was."
"How did she find you?" he asked.
"That's all she did," she continued, "she just found me the day the spell broke. I didn't know she was around until the day I got sick."
"Since she's your cousin," Adam said, "I would like to know her." Adam thought it would be nice to know any other family Belle had, but he watched her face drop.
"That's not possible, my father can't see her!" She quickly said.
"Why not?" Adam asked, he wondered what was going on.
"I can't tell you yet," Belle said, "because of a certain reason, but I like the fact that you get jealous about my attention." Belle laughed when she said that, Adam just chuckled at her as they held hands.
"What did he mean by that?" Maurice asked as he looked at Mrs. Potts, she just had this sad look on her face; she knew what Adam meant by that.
"Nobody can talk about it; it involves his parents." Mrs. Potts explained, "We're not allowed to talk about them."
"Why not?" Maurice asked, but Mrs. Potts looked at him and stayed quiet. She didn't say a word about the issue, she knew how serious Adam took about his parents. When Maurice didn't get anything out of Mrs. Potts, he left it alone and she changed the subject.
"You said you had a recipe to give me?" Mrs. Potts asked. Maurice pulled out a large piece of paper, gave it to Mrs. Potts and left the kitchen. Mrs. Potts brought out a large pot and started putting in peppers, onions, tomatoes, sweet potatoes, basil, thyme and bay leaves. She could smell the strength of the spices as she stirred the soup. She took a spoon out to taste it. When she did, it was a little spicy, but she could see that it opened up all her senses.
Mrs. Potts was alone in the kitchen with the soup simmering on the stove, until her son, Chip, and Cogsworth walked in. Cogsworth saw the soup on the stove and was about to taste it, but Mrs. Potts caught his finger and hit his hand with a spoon.
"Keep your fingers out of that soup; it's for Belle!" Mrs. Potts said as Cogsworth retracted his hand back.
"I heard she's sick in bed." Cogsworth said.
"Belle's sick, mama?" Chip asked.
"Yes," Mrs. Potts answered, "but it's just a cold, she'll be better soon." Mrs. Potts poured the soup in a bowl and went to take it to Belle. She knocked on the door, but there wasn't an answer. She opened the door; Belle wasn't in bed, in fact, she wasn't anywhere in her room. Mrs. Potts was getting a little concerned that Belle wasn't in bed resting.
As for Belle, despite that she was sick, she was in no mood to just stay in bed.
"Ugh! I don't care I'm sick." Belle said before she sneezed, "I'm not staying in this bed!" She got up, looked through her dresser; she was still having a hard time knowing that the dresser wasn't Claudette. Belle grabbed her blue dress and put it back on, she already wore it and she didn't want her cold to be spread to any of her other dresses. She left her bedroom and went downstairs into one of the smaller castle gardens.
Belle browsed through the little gardens, she didn't want to go into the bigger gardens for two reasons, 1: she knew that she would get lost looking at everything, and 2: Adam wanted to show her the larger gardens himself. Belle was minding her own business until she bent down to smell an iris, but when she tried smell it, she couldn't smell anything. Her nose was so stuffed up that she couldn't smell anything.
"This isn't fair!" Belle said to herself. She then heard someone say;
"What's wrong?" Belle knew it was a female voice, but it sounded different from any of the servants. She knew it wasn't one of the servants who said that. She racked her head around because she did recognize the voice, but she was making her head hurt even more. Belle decided to turn around, when she did, she couldn't believe what her eyes were telling her. There was a woman standing as tall as Belle was, she was wearing a black feathered coat, a gray skirt and white shoes, but caught Belle's attention the most was the golden mask the woman was wearing.
"T...Tin...Tintement?" Belle said, "Is that you?"
"Yes, it is." the woman said as she smiled.
In another part of the castle, Adam was in the library, seeing what kind of book Belle would want to read while she rests in bed. His eyes wandered to the window, he was surprised about what he saw. He saw Belle with another person, Adam was wondering whom the other person.
"It's been so long since I've seen you, Belle." said Tintement.
"*cough* I know," Belle said as she smiled, "I've missed you so much." Tintement noticed Belle's red face and she was coughing.
"Cousin of mine, are you sick?" asked Tintement, Belle sneezed before she could answer.
"As much as I don't want to admit it, yes." Belle said, Tintement gave her a handkerchief so Belle could blow her nose.
"I know how much you hate saying you're sick," said Tintement, "In fact, I know how much you hate being sick."
"Well, Tintement," Belle said, "seeing you again, makes me feel a little better, but I still hate cold and flu season!" Belle's cousin, Tintement, giggled when Belle crossed her arms.
"You've always have." Tintement said, "Well, I'm glad to have finally found you after so many months."
"I'm glad you did." Belle said, she sneezed into the handkerchief.
"Hmm, maybe I should stick around until you're better, Belle." Tintement said, Belle's eyes shrunk a little when her cousin said that.
"I don't think that's a wise idea, Tintement." Belle said, "I don't want papa seeing you. I don't want to think what would happen if he sees you."
"I do see that side of the problem," Tintement said, "but you're more important to me than my own life."
"I have to say it; I am a little surprised to see that mask on your face." Belle said.
"My human face, my dear cousin." Tintement said, "It's been so long since I saw my human face and it's nice to see that it's still the same as it used to."
"Where did you find it?" Belle asked.
"I met a wise priestess, she gave me this golden wolf mask I have on my face." Tintement explained, "She also gave me a silver fox mask which I want you to have." Tintement reached into her black coat and pulled out the fox mask, Belle knew silver was pretty, but when she saw the silver fox mask, she couldn't express how beautiful it really was.
"Tintement, why do you want me to keep this one?" Belle asked.
"Well, because of our...you know what...these mask will help give us our human form." Tintement explained, "Especially when...Celia and Fiona...show their ugly heads." When Belle heard those names, her face dropped and was filled with fear.
"I forgot all about them!" Belle quickly said, "Now I'm worried."
"Calm down or you're going to worse," Tintement said, "Now that I've found you and know where you are, I'll be able to protect your skin. I still think I should stay with you until you're feeling better. I do have one question for you, my beloved little cousin."
"What might that be?" Belle said before she coughed.
"Forgive me for being rude," she said, "but how did you managed to live a castle as beautiful as this one?" Belle wasn't sure to be honest with her cousin, she couldn't tell Tintement about Adam's curse.
"You won't believe me, Tintement." was all Belle could say. Tintement didn't want to give up that easily, unless it was private to Belle.
"Hmm...it's a boy, isn't it?" Tintement asked with a sly grin, Belle's face turned even more red. "You're in love, my dear cousin. I'm not here to try and get between the two of you, I'm just worried about you being sick."
"Believe it or not," Belle said, "You're not the only one." As soon as Belle said that, the two of them heard Adam's voice, shouting Belle's name. He was walking around the grounds looking for her.
"Uh-oh!" Tintement said, Belle turned back at her.
"Tintement, get out of here!" Belle quickly said. As Tintement was running off, Belle heard Tintement's voice.
"I'll be back and make sure you get back in a bed!" Tintement said as she disappeared. She disappeared as soon as Adam caught sight of Belle, but he could see that the person Belle was talking to was gone.
"Belle." Adam said as he approached her.
"Don't tell me that you're already worried about me." Belle said as she smiled.
"Yes," Adam explained, "because you are sick with a cold or the flu, you're not in bed and I caught you talking to someone from a window. Mind telling me who it was?" Belle just smiled and told him;
"You don't have to worry about her, she's just an old friend of mine." She said. Adam was a little confused.
"'Her'? 'She'?" Adam asked, Belle did a laugh so little that he didn't hear it.
"Did you think I was talking to another man?" Belle asked.
"Not at first." Adam said.
"You don't have to worry about it," she said, "I swear on my life." Adam sighed and gave in.
"Fine," he said, "I'll worry about the other thing." Now Belle was confused.
"What other thing?" she asked as she sneezed into a handkerchief.
"You being sick and not in bed." Adam finally said. Belle just made a sickly groan.
"I hate being sick!" Belle said, Adam looked at her and smiled, he took her hand and took Belle back inside the castle. Adam could tell that Belle hated being sick and not doing anything, but she had to get better so no one else would get sick.
Adam brought Belle back into her room, he can tell on the look on her face that she was not too happy.
"Belle," Adam said, "you do know that I love you so much that even I can't stand that you're sick as well."
"I see that, I really do, Adam." Belle said, "It's just...*sigh*"
"What?" he asked.
"Every time I got sick when I was young," she explained, "Papa wouldn't let anybody near me, not even my mother. He didn't want anybody near me so they wouldn't get sick either, but I was always lonely. My mother was busy teaching her singing and dance class, but when she came home, she was tired. I didn't push her about the issue. My books gave me some comfort, papa didn't spend any time with me when I was sick. Papa wouldn't let me out my room either, the only time I was allowed out was to use the bathroom."
"Is that why you always wanted to get out of your room?" Adam asked, he felt very bad for Belle, knowing that she was always alone when she was sick.
"Yes," Belle said, "I was tired of always being 'locked up', so to speak."
"Why didn't you say anything, Belle?" he asked.
"I know you are busy with certain things of your own *sneeze*," she explained, "I also know that the servants are busy themselves, trying to get used to their human bodies again. I didn't want to be 'a block in the road'." Adam couldn't believe a thought entered into Belle's head.
"Belle," he said as he held her hand, "you'll never be a block in my road. All you had to do was tell me."
"I guess me knowing that you're a prince is what's keeping from opening up." Belle said, "I shouldn't let it, but it is."
"Think of it this way, Belle," Adam said, "you can always open up to me, whether I'm a prince or a regular guy trying to impress a girl." Belle giggled at that remark, she thought it was funny. "You should rest, Belle. I'll stay with you if you like."
"Well, I also don't want you to get sick either." Belle said as she sat down on the bed.
"I guess I'll take my chances." Adam said, "I'll go downstairs and get some soup for you; I'll be back in a few minutes." Adam left the room, Belle smiled to herself as she put her nightgown back on.
"I can't let it get in the way." Belle softly said to herself. Just then, she heard a pecking noise coming from the window. Belle looked over and saw a giant size black bird. She opened the window and the bird flew in.
"Handsome man, you have." Said the black bird.
"He is, Tintement." Belle said as the black bird pulled out the golden wolf mask and placed it on its face. As soon as the mask touched the feathers, the bird transformed itself into Belle's cousin, Tintement.
"Quite a man you got yourself, my dear cousin." Tintement said, "Someone far better than I could get."
"Oh, don't say that!" Belle said as she pulled out a robe, "*cough, cough* I know you'll find someone!"
"Not when I'm covered in feathers or fur," Tintement pointed out, "I scare anyone I meet, whether I'm wearing this mask or not."
"Tintement, I do understand that you miss being...human," Belle said, "but you can't give up so easily. You need to have hope."
"I doubt that," Tintement said, "you're under this curse as well as I am. You're just lucky that it doesn't go into affect until Celia and Fiona are inside your home."
"I'm not trying to rub it in!" Belle urged, "*sneeze* I need to ask you, Tintement; are you still adamant about not telling anyone about our curse?"
"As a matter of fact...I AM!" Tintement boomed, Belle fell backwards on the bed. "We...or I...can't allow anyone to know! If someone does find out, they'll never look at us the same way again!" Belle didn't know what to feel, she wanted to tell Adam about the curse, but she knows that Tintement has a temper that's much worse that Adam's. Belle knew that Adam would understand, but she also knew that Tintement didn't know Adam like she did.
"But Tintement," Belle said in a raspy voice, "I understand why you want me to keep my mouth shut around papa, *cough, cough, sniffle* but please let me tell Adam." Tintement wasn't paying much attention to what Belle was saying, she was paying more attention to her cousin's voice.
"Belle, get some rest." Tintement said, "You really need it." Suddenly, there was the sound of the doorknob twisting. Belle knew it was Adam coming back, but there was no time for Tintement to go out the window. So she didn't have any choice...except to hide under the bed. When Tintement went under the bed, Belle didn't know what to think.
'You have some of the strangest ideas, my dear cousin.' Belle thought to herself as the door opened up. Belle saw that Adam brought Mrs. Potts with him, she was just thinking about what the motherly former teapot will say.
"Heavens, Belle," Mrs. Potts said, "you could've caught your death of cold going outside!" Belle had a feeling that was what she was going to say, but Belle didn't say anything, nor did she want to. Her throat was much too sore from talking to Tintement. "Well, Belle," Mrs. Potts said as she felt Belle's forehead, "you, without a doubt, have a nasty fever. You need to stay in bed for the next few days." All Belle did was groan and fell back on her pillows.
"At least it's nothing too serious." Adam said, all Belle did was nod her head.
"And Belle has a sore throat." Mrs. Potts added, both Belle and Adam were surprised.
"How did you know that?" Adam asked.
"Belle hasn't spoken throughout the whole time we've been talking." Mrs. Potts explained. "Anyway, I brought you a bowl of soup, Belle. I think you might recognize the recipe. I'll be back with something that will help sooth your throat." As Mrs. Potts left the room, Adam spoke to Belle.
"You already have a good reason for not talking," Adam said, "but you'll get your voice back soon."
As for Tintement, she didn't mind too much hiding under the bed. She listened to what Adam was telling her cousin, it took all of what Tintement had to keep her mouth closed. Even though Tintement was beginning to like Adam, she still didn't want him to know about the curse that was placed on her and Belle. Just mainly because, she didn't want her cousin to lose the man that loves her so much.
As a couple of days of Belle being silent passed, she finally got rid of her cold and started acting like her old self. Prince Adam sneaked a rose petal into Belle's soup, which caused Belle to be better in a few days. He could see that the enchantress was telling the truth about the enchanted rose, but he could also see that Belle wasn't telling the truth about her 'friend'. Everyday, around sunset, Adam would see Belle outside talking to her friend. He didn't know that her friend was her cousin, Tintement. Prince Adam was getting a little jealous, but he wasn't going to damage his relationship with Belle. It wasn't long until the servants saw Belle's 'arrives at sunset' friend, Lumiere saw Belle and her cousin at the pond, Cogsworth saw Belle and Tintement near the garden and Mrs. Potts saw them on the bridge between the castle and the gate.
One sunny day, Adam took Belle on a picnic. They loved having personal time together when they could get it, which wasn't very often since he was a prince and he needed to get back on track with his royal duties. The basket was filled with sandwiches, fruit, stew and a special dessert, strawberries and chocolate. It was romantic, well in Adam and Belle's opinion, as there was chocolate all over their lips and noses. Heard of a chocolate kiss, well that's what they had too. After all that wonderful food of the picnic, the two of them laid on their backs, stared into the sky and watched the clouds.
"I've never been this happy in years." Adam said, Belle grabbed his hand.
"Considering that we have each other and that the spell's broken," Belle said, "I wouldn't give this up for anything." Adam could hear the honesty in Belle's words. He finally decided to ask Belle about her hooded friend.
"Belle?" Adam said.
"Yes?" Belle said.
"Since the arrival of your 'friend', you've been spending a lot of time with her." Adam said, Belle just giggled.
"So you are jealous!" She said.
"I didn't say I was!" Adam quickly said.
"But you want to know why I'm spending time with her." Belle said.
"Yes." Adam said, Belle didn't care if she did get in trouble with Tintement, she was at least going to tell him that she was her cousin.
"Well," Belle said, "she's my cousin." Adam quickly sat up and looked at Belle.
"Your cousin?" Adam asked.
"Yes," Belle explained as she sat up, "we used to see each other once a month, but when I came to your castle, it wasn't possible for us to see each other because she didn't know where I was."
"How did she find you?" he asked.
"That's all she did," she continued, "she just found me the day the spell broke. I didn't know she was around until the day I got sick."
"Since she's your cousin," Adam said, "I would like to know her." Adam thought it would be nice to know any other family Belle had, but he watched her face drop.
"That's not possible, my father can't see her!" She quickly said.
"Why not?" Adam asked, he wondered what was going on.
"I can't tell you yet," Belle said, "because of a certain reason, but I like the fact that you get jealous about my attention." Belle laughed when she said that, Adam just chuckled at her as they held hands.
