Will and Rapunzel found themselves in the dark corridor of a castle. There was an air of menace around them, and Will's hand unconsciously fell to his hip where his sword usually sat. "Any idea where we are?" he asked Rapunzel in a quiet voice.

"A castle," was her unhelpful response.

"I'd guessed that," Will muttered in answer. "But what castle?"

"I've no idea," Rapunzel said nervously. "But I don't like it."

Will and Rapunzel moved down the hall, Will wishing for more light than the tiny amount from the moonlit windows. The silence of the castle seemed to be suffocating. Rapunzel's hair seemed to quiver from her tension.

"Maybe this wasn't such a good idea," she said after a moment. "I don't like this at all."

"This was your idea," Will argued. "It's...fine. There's nothing to worry about—" He was cut off with a yell of panic as a wall of fur slammed into him, crashing to the floor. "Rapunzel!" he shouted in a panicked voice.

Rapunzel's hair wrapped around Will's attacker, pulling it off him slightly. "What is it?" Will exclaimed, still pinned to the floor by clawed paws.

"The Beast," Rapunzel answered. "Isn't that right, Beasty?"

The Beast snarled, raising his claw to cut Will's throat. Rapunzel's hair shot out and stopped him. "Unhand me, woman! I'll kill this boy!"

Will struggled to free himself. "I haven't done anything!" he protested.

The Beast growled deep in his throat. "He changed The Story," the Beast hissed. "She remembers, and she won't leave to go to her father! Our Story cannot end; she doesn't want to 'put me through that misery'."

"How is a lovers' quarrel my fault?" Will complained.

Rapunzel slapped him with a spare piece of hair. "And if she doesn't leave, and see you hurt, you'll remain a Beast forever," she said slowly.

"And it's this boy's fault!"

Will frowned at his attacker, fairly confident Rapunzel wouldn't let him tear Will to pieces. He resembled a bear with a wolf's face, his light blue eyes staring out from bushy eyebrows. His paws were twice the size of Will's hands.

"What if we could get Beauty to leave the castle?" Rapunzel asked. "Would you let Will go then?"

"I let him go and you both run off," the Beast snapped. "If you can get Beauty to leave the castle, and come back to admit she loves me, I'll release him. Until then...he stays with me."

"I'd prefer it our way," Will put in.

Rapunzel slapped him again, chewing her lip. "I'll stay in his place," she offered.

"No. You are a Guardian. I can smell it on you," the Beast refused flatly. "You'd escape faster than I could blink. And if the thief attempts to escape or communicate with Beauty...he dies."

Rapunzel looked at Will, and Will shrugged as much as he could with the heavy paw holding him down. It was her decision, not his. Though if she refused, he worried that things wouldn't exactly turn out in his favor. She turned to the Beast, releasing him from her hair. "Fine. But know this; I'm not a patient or understanding person. If you harm a hair of his red head, life won't be good for you."

"Bien," the Beast said with great relish. He stepped off of Will, and Will got to his feet, checking his ribs and chest to make sure nothing was broken. "You have two days, or he dies."

Rapunzel met Will's eyes and smiled. "Don't worry," she assured him. "I'll do this in one."

"I hope so," Will concurred, and Rapunzel turned and left them.

. . . . . .

Rapunzel borrowed a horse from the Beast. She figured she would deal with it later if he had a problem with it, and besides, how else did he expect her to get to Beauty's family? She draped all her hair over the horse, trying to keep it from reaching the ground. Sometimes I really hate my hair, she thought to herself irritably.

Her plan was simple; get Beauty to leave the Beast's castle by getting the cooperation of her father. He'd have to understand how important it was to get The Story back on track. Otherwise, Rapunzel would have to go to extremes to ensure Will's survival. And Beauty's father probably wouldn't appreciate Rapunzel's extremes.

She was hoping to get Beauty's father to pretend he was in danger. Perhaps not her finest lie, but it would do the trick for getting Beauty out of the castle. Then, if she attempted to return before the Beast was in danger, Rapunzel would hold her until he was ready. Simple, but hopefully effective.

Rapunzel had no qualms about lying and tricking Beauty into admitting she loved the Beast. Unlike the Andrics, she was fully prepared to do whatever was necessary to achieve her goals—even threaten to kill Beauty's father to get the girl to leave the Beast's side if she had to. If it meant saving the life of someone Rapunzel considered a friend, she would do it.

Unfortunately, she got lost. After leaving the Beast's castle, she realized she had absolutely no idea how to get to the village where Beauty's family lived. The lack of any light aside from the sliver of a moon overhead was disconcerting, and Rapunzel's first time riding a horse wasn't going well. She was surprised how many different muscles could ache from sitting atop a horse.

After three hours of aimless wandering in the forest, blanketed in snow, Rapunzel slid off the horse and sat down beside a tree. She didn't know how to make a fire, and she didn't know how she would live through the night without freezing to death. She felt guilty, because she'd presented such a confident front to Will at the castle and now she was going to fail him.

She wondered if he would even care, or be more concerned about himself dying. Rapunzel drew her knees to her chest, shivering. She sought warmth from her hair, but it felt cold against her neck. She wore no cloak, only a simple green dress. Why didn't I bring something to wear over it? she groaned to herself.

Guardians could change what their clothes looked like, but Rapunzel couldn't remember how to do it. She felt helpless and useless as she bent her head down. She didn't even want to cry; she was afraid the tears would freeze to her cheeks.

She didn't know how long she had sat there before a man's voice said, "Bonjour."

Rapunzel's head shot up, facing an older man with a graying beard and hair. He, she noticed a little bitterly, was all covered up in a cloak and heavy boots. "B—bonjour," she stammered, her teeth chattering. Silently she cursed herself for showing weakness in front of the stranger.

The man didn't seem to notice. He swept his cloak off his back and placed it over Rapunzel's shoulders. If he cared that her hair was three times her height, he didn't give any indication of it. "Es-tu blesse?" he asked her.

"N—no," Rapunzel said. "Just...c—c—cold."

The man scooped Rapunzel up in his arms and deposited her on his white horse. He grabbed the reins of her pilfered horse and smiled at her soothingly. "Do not worry," he said in a heavily accented voice. "Sleep. We talk in the morning."

"Sleep," Rapunzel agreed tiredly, and she was asleep before the word had even finished coming out of her mouth.