Mortality Lullaby: Chapter 8
Plumette was unknowingly pregnant with her and Lumiere’s child before the curse was placed, now that it’s broken her body has been restored, yet still carrying a child that died years ago.
Warnings: Miscarriage, infant death
1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7
Plumette woke up shivering, mumbled words already falling from her lips with confusion. The light burned at her eyes when she tried to open them and her stomach felt like it was twisting itself to pieces. She began retching, painful heaves tearing at her throat and tears already beginning to run down her face.
“Easy lovey! Easy” she distantly heard who she suspected to be Mrs Potts soothing and a hand was brushing back her hair away from her face.
She was cold, more than cold freezing like she had decided to go swimming in the frozen lake in only her undergarments. She hacked out one last wet cough before she could get her breath back, sniffling as she managed to prise her eyes open and squint out. “'Mmissis 'otts?”
“It's alright sweetheart, it's alright, we're here” she could see the housekeepers flustered face looking down at her.
“Hurts” she managed to croak out with a dry mouth.
A hand pressed at her forehead. “She's boiling hot”
“I know Lumière” Mrs Potts growled back in frustration.
Lumière.
Plumette turned her head and found him at her side leaning over the bed, he looked upset. “...Lumi?... what's happening?” she asked, swallowing against the taste of acid in her mouth and nudging her hand towards him.
He laced his fingers with hers, his eyes full of worry “Cherie you have a fever” he explained gently.
She whined out as Mrs Potts dabbed a damp cloth across her forehead and down along her neck, the chill of the water unpleasant against her already frozen skin. “Cold”
“We need to cool you down, poppet” Mrs Potts soothed, pressing the cloth to the hollow of her throat.
She attempted to shake her head and nudged away the cloth with the hand that wasn't trembling in her beloveds hold. “No, too cold” her teeth rattled as she shivered hard.
“Darling you're not cold, you are sweltering with heat” Lumière worried, once again pressing his hand to her face and feeling the warmth radiating from her flushed cheek as sweat dripped along her temple. Plumette frowned, wanting to argue with him because she felt absolutely frozen down to the bone but she glanced hazily away from him when the door opened.
Belle came in out of breath as if she had run all the way here from the ground floor with Adam, Chapeau and Cogsworth at her heels. “The doctor is here” she gasped.
Plumette grumbled, turning back to Lumière wanting to glare at him for inviting another doctor in but couldn't really find it in herself when she saw again how distressed he looked. “Don't want doctors...” she whined out to anyone who would listen.
Belle came to her side to stand with Lumière, a soft smile on her face “Plumette? Monsieur Robert is the father of a dear friend of mine, he has travelled a long way to come see you”
Plumette puffed out a sigh as two new men came in, she was sure she had seen the younger gentleman in the village before but was too tired to remember where exactly, the elder stepped forward nodding to Lumière and patting him on the shoulder before he turned to her.
He had a kind face with soft eyes and smiled at her in a way that made her long for her own father, even though he had died years ago during the plague “Bonjour Miss, I am told you are not feeling very well”
She nodded “Hurts”
“Would you allow me to try to help?”
She nodded again after a moments consideration, peering at Lumière for support who did his best to smile back at her, his hand tightening around hers. She looked from him to the doctor and back again “Thirsty” Lumière nodded stiffly as he poured out a cup from the pitcher that sat beside him on the table, with a practised ease he slid his arm beneath her shoulders and lifted her enough so she could take a few sips.
“Has she been asking for water often?” Monsieur Robert asked Mrs Potts as he watched.
“She's been drinkin' a few times tonight but she ain't holdin' much of it down” the housekeeper sighed in reply.
“I see, when was the last time she ate anything?”
“Must of been about two days ago now, we keep tryin' but she just keeps bringin' it back up, only been gettin' water and tea in her now”
Lumière held her for a moment longer once she had emptied the cup and pressed a kiss to her forehead before he set her back down into the soft pillows. He made sure to bundle her up with the thick bedsheets and blankets as she continued to shiver. “She says she's cold but she feels warm” he mentioned, gazing at the doctor.
The man nodded “Quite often a fever can play tricks on a person and tell them they are cold when they are not” he folded his arms. “And you spoke of bleeding?”
“Oui, she's been bleeding out since she had our baby... cherie may I show him?” Lumière broke off to ask for her consent, but she had merely closed her eyes and it wasn't very clear if she was awake until she jerked her head in a nod, knowing the more they answered questions the sooner he would either help or leave her alone. Even so she whined when Lumière took the bed covers away, leaving her shivering against the mattress “Cold!” she yelped.
Monsieur Robert frowned at the sight of blood staining her chemise and thick patches across the bed where she had laid. “And it has been this heavy for the past few days?” he asked, taking a moment to observe the swelling of her abdomen he had already been told about and then assisting Lumière in tucking her back into bed, his hand idly pressing to her forehead to feel her fever for himself.
“Yes but we can't seem to find out where its comin' from, the other doctor was rather insistent she wasn't hurt anywhere, though he was a fool if you ask me” Mrs Potts sighed wearily.
“Quite, one does not bleed this much for no reason but I fear it does seem to be an internal problem that we do not know of” Monsieur Robert spoke softly, his fingers having gone from feeling Plumette's hot and clammy skin to idly stroking through her fringe while his other hand had taken a hold of her wrist and frowning at a pulse that was too fast and weak. “Best thing we can do is try to break this fever” he was quiet for a moment while he considered things and looked up at Lumière with something that looked an awful lot like pity. “Lumière, my good sir, may I have a word in private?”
“Ah, of course” he nodded and turned back towards Plumette “I will be back in a moment, mon amour” he kissed her forehead then was out following the doctor and with that the room was cleared all but for her and Mrs Potts who took the stool beside the bed, fidgeting anxiously.
Plumette peered at her over her pillows before she reached out a trembling hand and caught hold of the housekeepers, trying to give her a reassuring squeeze but failing. “Are you alright?”
Mrs Potts gave her a fragile smile “Bless your heart, here you are sweatin' out a river an' you're askin' if I'm alright” she took up the damp cloth again from where it had been abandoned on the side and wiped at her dripping brow. “My poor baby”
“Mmh, baby?” the girl peered up at her with a weak interest, flinching as the cloth wiped along her cheekbone.
“You've always been my baby, from the first time you stepped foot in this castle”
She hummed in thought and then her face tightened in pain, her fingers locked stiff in her blanket “Feel sick”
“Need the bucket?” Mrs Potts asked, already snatching it up without a reply and dragging the girl to sit up with her arms around her, supporting her as she brought up the little precious water she had drunk with a few hiccuped chokes. Disposing of the bucket to the side she sat cradling the girl as she shivered and whimpered.
“Thirsty” she gasped out through an acid burnt throat, her stomach clenched painfully.
Mrs Potts took in a sharp breath, her voice wobbling “In a bit sweetheart, you can't keep it down at the moment”
Plumette began to cry at her words, thick tears dripped down her sweat slicked face while Mrs Potts held her to her chest, trying to wipe her tears with a dry handkerchief. The door opened with Lumière alone returning, walking stiffly back to the bed where he sat himself beside the pair of them.
“She's been sick again” Mrs Potts offered as way of explanation while he merely nodded, his throat trying to work around a lump and his eyes shining wetly. Plumette sniffled when he reached out to rub at her shoulder and her fever glazed eyes locked onto him, whining for him until they passed her between their arms and her head fell to rest against his shoulder.
“Darling...” he sighed as held her, his fingers brushing through her drenched curls.
“Thirsty” she mumbled, her fingers trying to find a grip on his shirt. He nodded for Mrs Potts to pour out another cup and pass it to him, she sat with her hands locked into her skirts and her eyes downturned, not wanting to see the relief on the girl's face when she knew she would only be sick again. Lumière helped her drink in small sips until she began to retch without the cup even leaving her lips and she coughed out a mouthful down her chest.
“Did she keep any of that down?” Mrs Potts mourned, taking the cup while he dabbed his handkerchief to the wet spot of her chemise and she sniffled miserably.
“I believe so, perhaps a sip” he spoke gently, his hand soothing up and down her back. She shifted to peer up at him, eyes bright with fever trying to focus to look at him, to really look. She had seen that expression on his face before, only last time it had been in bronze and not flesh when Adam had told them he had let Belle go.
When he had realised they were going to die.
The thought slipped from her mind as she shivered harder and a whimper escaped past her lips, she leaned back in to tuck her head under his chin, breathing in his familiar scent while he pulled a blanket around her. Her eyes slipped closed in exhaustion but sleep was completely impossible, she felt too nauseous, too cold and everything seemed to hurt from a pounding migraine to her aching joints.
There was movement in the room with people coming in and out and shifting things, the sound of an large item placed down on the floor and something else being smashed with a hammer. She whimpered and curled more into Lumière, wishing the noises would go away.
“It's all ready” Monsieur Robert announced from where he watched Chapeau pouring in the last bucket of water into the bathtub they had dragged into the room and Cogsworth adding another handful of smashed ice from the block they had taken from the cellar, the chunks sinking down to the bottom. “Ideally I wouldn't suggest a bath this cold but we need her temperature down now... this will not be pleasant”
Plumette whined when Lumière started to move her “Chapeau take her legs” he called and she tried to pull away as Chapeau was standing in front of her and his hands had firmly gripped around the back of her bare knees while Lumière's arms wrapped under hers and around her chest, the pair of them working together to carry her. She had a brief flicker of a memory from when they had been teenagers, the boys holding her like this only to throw her in the lake. She tried to wiggle out of their hands but she barely had the energy to lift her chin from where it dropped against her chest, moaning uselessly as they brought her over to the tub. Her eyes snapped open when Chapeau gently eased her legs then frantically trying to escape when Lumière lowered her down into the water.
She screamed shrilly, fighting them with a strength she didn't know she had until multiple hands pinned her down, pressing her back into the water forcefully and Lumière had wrapped his arms around her shoulders, hunched over her against the side of the tub. When she found she had no way of escaping against them she gave up and wailed while they tried to calm her.
“Lumi... too cold” she panted through her tears with her fingers clutching weakly at his wrist.
“I know my darling, I'm sorry” Lumière whispered back, tilting her to use his arm to rest her head on.
“Please, it hurts” she peered up and caught his eyes.
“I'm afraid it has to be done your fever is too high” he spoke quietly close to her ear so only she could hear “You are very sick but my dear Plumette you are stronger than this, I am right here with you and I have faith you can beat this”
It didn't take long for her to fall quiet with all the fight gone from her body, slumped against Lumière and her head rolling back against his arm holding her neck just out of the water. Giving gentle sighs and an occasional hiccuped sob. The others had removed their hands and backed away when she stopped struggling and she laid in the chilled water shivering, barely awake.
A hand checked her forehead “That'll have to be enough, we can't let her freeze” with that she was being hauled out, waterfalls streaming from her soaked chemise and she gave out a few groans when she was handled too roughly across the room. Someone was tugging her clothing off her but she didn't have the energy to care and could only trust that they would take care of her and whoever it was would try to preserve whatever dignity she had left. Soon she was in a dry fresh chemise and being tucked into the warm bed that felt so wonderful against her chilled skin.
She had odd dreams when she was asleep, not particularly bad ones merely odd, she dreamed of being a feather duster again but it was so familiar that it wasn't frightening, she had senses of Marietta amongst the light and shadows and she paid it no mind, busily dusting away.
Plumette sighed as her eyelashes fluttered opened to the early dawn light, clarity returning with the absence of the fevered haze. Rolling her head she found Lumière still at her side, sitting stiffly watching her with sad eyes and she blinked as she focused on him, he didn't merely look upset his face was flushed and his eyes red rimmed and glistening, he had been crying.
“Mon amour” she breathed nudging her hand towards him, reaching for him. She tried to sit up to cross the distance more but quickly realised that was a mistake when she gave a hiss of pain and fell back into the pillows.
“Cherie” he fussed leaning over her, his hand naturally slipping into hers and his other stroking at her cheek. She drank water when he offered, holding the cup to her mouth while she took in a few desperate sips. “Are you hungry at all?” he asked, she shook her head. “Is there anything you need? We will fetch more tea for you” with that he reached away to where a rope hung beside the beds post along the way that she knew was connected to one of the service bells down in the kitchen and pulled at it. He returned to caressing her face. “You look a little brighter today” he smiled softly yet he still looked upset.
She narrowed her eyes at him, studying him before the question she wanted to ask slipped from her lips “What did the doctor tell you last night?”
His eyes widened, looking frightened “Cherie?”
Memories slid to the front of her mind, the growing concern in their eyes as they had tended to her the past few days, the fear when he or Mrs Potts had seen more blood on her clothes or bedding, the frustration when she couldn't keep anything she swallowed down long enough for it to do any good, all pieces of the bigger puzzle.
And Angelique's own hissed out words 'She looks like she won't be long out of the grave herself'
Was it really at that stage?
“How bad is it? Do not lie to me Lumière I saw your face, your eyes looked the same the night the last petal fell” she growled out, her fingers clenching against his as best she could.
Instead of a spoken reply Lumière's face merely crumbled in anguish and he choked out a sob as tears began to roll down his cheeks.
She could have sworn she felt her heart cave in on itself as she watched until she couldn't anymore and turned her head away. She knew it, she had been right. He had said she looked brighter instead of actually asking how she was feeling because that wasn't something one asked of someone who wasn't going to get better.
The door opened gently and Monsieur Robert carried in a tea tray “Good morning”
It finally clicked in her mind who he was and why she recognised him, he was the father of the village priest, his son had been here last night with him but she had been too confused at the time to realise. She gave him a hard glare without a care if he was a friend of Belle's or not. “What did you tell him?” she demanded with a sideward glance at Lumière who was frantically wiping at his face, trying to halt his tears.
The doctor paused with a sigh as he placed the tray down, his hand giving a gentle pat on Lumière's shoulder who merely shrugged him off. He stood before her at the side of the bed, with sad eyes and his hands clasped tight. “Miss...”
“Tell me exactly what you told him, why is he so distressed?” she cut him off, still glaring, if she could she would be up in his face because Lumière never cried over nothing, and it hurt her to see him so ruined.
“I fear when you were in labour something ruptured, you have been bleeding out for the past few days and now whatever the original cause was is infected as you have a fever... I am very sorry but there is nothing more I can do for you”
“How long?” she demanded after quietly processing his words for a moment.
“... Truthfully I did not expect you to live through the night, perhaps a few more days at most” his voice was so gentle it was hard to be as furious as she wanted to with him, out of the corner of her eye she saw Lumière shudder and heard his sharp intake of breath.
“... Well at least you are honest, merci” she sighed, closing her eyes to rest them from the bright light pouring in through the room.
“I would like you to drink this tea” Monsieur Robert was speaking again to which she merely gave a groan of annoyance “Please, it will help, you must be in pain” she was, in an awful lot in fact but she didn't feel like being particularly cooperative for him.
“Plumette?” Lumière pleaded quietly.
Her eyes cracked open to look at him before she gave in with a nod and the smallest of smiles, nothing more than a forced upward pull of the corner of her mouth and let Lumière lean over her and scoop her into his arms. She went dizzy from a sharp blaze of pain and whimpered, her fingers clutched in his shirt collar as she allowed the doctor to feed her more foul tasting tea.
Monsieur Robert made himself scarce with promises to return if they should need anything while Lumière fussed over making sure the bed covers were comfortable enough around her.
When he had spent long enough fussing he spoke, his voice so fragile “Darling... please say something...”
Her eyes flicked up to his in consideration, what was there to say? That is was unfair? Of course it was but when had life ever been fair? Should she be angry? Sad? Scream and wail like a child having a tantrum as if that would change anything? She had already died once this week, they had been here before and he had merely given her a sad smile, wrapped his candles around her tenderly and lead her into a dance, she wished she could dance with him again. She had been human once more for a grand total of six days and found she didn't have the energy to be scared this time, it was as if she had used up all her fear the last night of the curse the only difference was it hurt more now in a living body.
“Come here” she eventually murmured, her hand slipped around the back of his neck when he drew in close enough to pull him down to her lips. She pouted at the pained effort but he kissed her back so sweetly it was worth it, she pulled more at him and rolled on to her side, the movement already easier to manage with the poppy tea helping to ease her. He lay beside her pressed against her back, holding her gently. “Tell me a story” she smiled softly, bringing their laced hands to her mouth and pressing kisses to his finger tips.
“Of course, what would you like?” he asked, trailing kisses up her neck.
“Tell me about Versailles, when you worked for the Queen”
“... Mon amour you know those stories were nothing but lies” he sounded very apologetic, as if he was guilty that he had ever made up the stories when he had been trying to show off.
She let out a laugh “I should hope so! Otherwise I have been wrongfully telling people to ignore your tales all these years!” she squeezed his hand in hers. “Very well, then tell me of a good day, the happiest you can remember”
“That's easy, the happiest was the day I met you” she scoffed a little at his words “It is true!”
“I threw a cooking pot at your head!” she couldn't help but giggle and she felt his lips grinning against her ear.
“That may be true but it was still wonderful, I can clearly remember walking into the kitchen the first time and there you were! A beautiful young lady standing there in the corner”
“You are still the charmer, I would have said I was a scrappy little scullery maid who threw pots in tempers” she smiled, her lashes brushing against her cheeks as her eyes slipped closed with exhaustion. She yawned and pulled his arm tighter around her waist, oddly content despite the circumstances.
She woke up again curled in his arms and her head on his chest while his hands stroked up and down her back. The world wasn't as clear as it had been before and she felt sickly warm, everything seemed to ache. He offered her water that she refused, the very idea of trying to swallow something right now sending her nauseous stomach into a spasm. So they laid there, Lumière humming some tune or other that she couldn't quite place, even though she was sure she knew it, had sung to it once.
A horrible anxiety caught in her chest, there was something she knew they desperately needed to talk about and it had to be done before she was too sick to remember, before she was too far gone. “Darling...” she breathed, nudging her forehead against his chin.
“Oui, amour?” his arms tightened a little around her, not too much, but enough to make her feel safe.
“I need you to promise something”
“Anything” he murmured back, she would have smiled if she wasn't trying to trap him in his words, luring him to agree without knowing the terms.
“When I am dead...” she frowned, the words strange on her tongue, in all the time during the curse they had never said that particular word even when they knew what their fates would be, becoming knick-knacks, lightly used house ware, rubbish but never dead. “... you must promise me you will live your life”
'I wouldn't live without you' the words he had spoken the night she gave birth rattled around inside her head, words of love and devotion now a threat.
A hand cradled against the back of her head and he began trembling. “... Cherie … please do not ask that of me... I can't...”
Her heart sank in despair, he had always made such bold claims that he would die without her love, silly words of an overly passionate man but she knew he had been telling the truth, he had no plans of out living her. The idea of Lumière ending his own life on purpose was just unbearably painful.
“Mon amour... we waited so long for the curse to be broken, at least one of us should be free”
“Not without you” his voice shook.
“Lumière... I wanted so much more for you than this and you still have the rest of your life to live”
“Non! If you are not there what is the point of being free? Being human? All of it is worthless if it is alone” she could feel his shuddering sobs in his chest as much as she could hear them “Not without you” he snarled again.
She wanted to argue, to yell at him until he agreed with her but she was tired and simply didn't have the energy, choosing instead to close her eyes and relax against his chest as much as she could. He held her and sobbed, his fingers clenched into her chemise fabric, she didn't know how long he cried as she drifted in and out. A whimper slipped past her lips when her stomach growled and she curled in on herself a little, one arm holding around her middle.
“...Darling? Are you hungry?” Lumière stirred, the smallest hope creeping into his voice.
Plumette pressed her face into his shoulder “I wouldn't keep it down” she mumbled as her stomach demanded food, hunger pains mixing with nausea and she knew anything solid she tried wouldn't last long in her body, still it hurt.
“I cannot just let you starve”
She held her tongue from wanting to snap at him, she had a feeling she wouldn't be around long enough to truly starve and even if she did what did it matter? “Can I have more tea?” she asked after a moment, knowing the poppy tea would dull her hunger, dull everything.
“It's not time yet I'm afraid” he kissed at the top of her head and she grumbled, wanting the sensation numbing tea more than she wanted food. She tucked her face back down, her eyelids feeling awfully heavy. “When I die bury me under the tree... I'll watch over Marietta” she breathed and he began to cry again.
There wasn't much she could do but lay as still as possible as if she could hide from the pain and wait, so they waited. At one point Lumière tucked her back into bed and got up to pace the floor, unable to bear doing nothing, when she had let out a small distressed whine he was back at her side holding her hand and fussing over her.
As the morning passed through into afternoon the others had begun quietly coming in and out to visit her, it didn't take long to realise what they were doing, they were here to spend whatever time they had left with her before they had to say goodbye. She was dying and they all knew it. It was in the little things they did, no longer insisting she'd swallow down bland stews and disgusting medicine concoctions they knew wouldn't do anything, yet still firmly denying her more poppy tea until they had deemed it had been long enough since the last dose. Plumette idly wondered if an overdose of opium was the better option to suffering through till her last breath. Offers of whatever food she wanted to attempt were given instead, anything they could fetch that would make her happy.
They asked if she was in pain rather than if she was feeling better, they could do their best to manage the pain but she would not get better. There often was uncomfortable silences, the sort that surrounded all dying people, she knew it from the plague and she saw the same faces on them they had worn when the Prince's mother was dying. Nobody was giving her false promises of her health returning soon.
Garderobe was surprisingly tame when she came to sit beside her beside and so uncharacteristically quiet for the diva that it unnerved Plumette more than anything. She sat and held her hand, Cadenza with her and Frou-Frou demanding until he was placed up on the bed where he could settle in against the girl. It had taken her a long time to understand Garderobe because when she arrived the night of the ball after being commissioned for the events entertainment she hadn't be able to speak a word of French or English, Plumette had spent hours by her side the first few days of the curse trying to sooth her without a common language between them until they had learnt enough Italian from Cadenza to talk to her. They sat there with her and held her hands, stroking and soothing her while Garderobe sang gently.
Lumière stayed to the side, watching everyone who came quietly until a few occasions he would leave for a few minutes when he couldn't control himself with no desire to disturb anyone else with his tears. No one ever commented when he would turn for the door holding back pained whimpers and smoke rising from his shoulders.
Chapeau had brought his violin again, bowed the first few notes until he choked and let the instrument fall to clatter on the floor as he sat with his head in his hands and cried, loud ugly sobs that was the most sound he had made in years. He frantically rubbed at his face and his gaze caught hers, staring with red rimmed eyes and his shuddering throat trying to work, his lips trying to form words.
She patted his hand “Mon ami you do not have to speak” she told him, Chapeau physically could talk, she knew this being one of the very few people who had heard him do so but it always distressed his anxiety and she wouldn't have him sending himself into a panic just because he thought it was right that he had to speak to her now. She always had been able to understand him just fine anyway. He sat with her for a long time, having to help her when she once again was vomiting into the bucket.
Cogsworth had come in, sat very stoically at her side and rambled on with meaningless talk, just as he had always done when he was stressed or upset until she had watched Lumière step outside another time then she took a hold of the butler's hand, her eyes a little hazed but staring at him steadfast. “I need you to do something for me, monsieur”
“Anything” Cogsworth nodded, so desperate to please.
“You are Lumière's closest friend, not that he would ever admit it and so I would like you to watch over him” her thumb stroked across his knuckles when she looked away from his face, the hands aged but still so strong and capable, the very ones that had calmed her times when she was crying as a child or just picking up her dolls left at the kitchen table fussing at the mess. “I know he has plans to harm himself so will you please take care of him for me?”
“It would be an honour” he gave her a watery smile.
Mrs Potts had been the worst out of all the visits because she had brought Chip up with her, the little boy trudged up to her and stared with a trembling lip and tears flooding his face.
“Mon Chouchou...” she strained out a hand to weakly grip him by the shoulder and Chip let himself be dragged towards her.
“You said you were getting better” he accused through his sniffles as she clung around his back and rested her chin on his shoulder.
“I know, I'm sorry, ah!” she gasped, a sharp pain stabbing through her gut that left her struggling in the child's arms.
“Plumette!?” Chip wailed.
“Dearie?” Mrs Potts came forward, Lumière turned around from where he had been looking away out the window with an expression of horror on his face. “Easy lovey” the housekeeper soothed, prying Plumette's hands off Chip to lay her steady down in her pillows and her hand brushing her curls away to feel at her forehead.
She began retching, pained heaves tearing at her already acid sore throat and her hands weakly pawing at Mrs Potts as she held her up with the bucket beneath her mouth “Chip... Out” she gasped between the muscle spasms, she tilted her head down when she brought out a frothy mix of blood and bile, red trailing down her chin “Don't let him see!”
Lumière had come over and snatched a hold of Chip, dragging him from the room while the little boy shrieked and whined, the door rattled when it was pulled shut behind them. Plumette groaned, spitting out one last time into the bucket and trying to wipe at her chin with the back of her hand, blood thick across her tongue. Mrs Potts helped her take a few sips of water to wash it away and had placed the bucket down back on the floor. She took her handkerchief from her pocket and wetted it with water from the pitcher to wipe at the girl's face, trailing up to her forehead to cool her growing sweat.
“You're getting too warm again” The housekeeper sighed tiredly.
“Mmm, I don't want another bath” Plumette's head rolled against the pillows to stare at her, she hadn't noticed how glazed the girl's eyes had looked before.
“I know sweetheart, the doctor wouldn't recommend it cause you'll just heat up again anyway... but it might give you more time”
“Hurts” she disagreed with shake of her head and Mrs Potts didn't press the matter anymore, only continued to dab at her face with the handkerchief. “... When it's bad keep Chip away, I do not want him to remember this” she mumbled pressing her cheek into her friend's hand. Chip was only a child and she didn't want his last memories of her to be of horrible things, like how whenever she thought of her father the main thing she recalled was the sight of his corpse being loaded on the back of a plague cart to be taken away. If she could she wanted to spare them all the pain of watching her die, especially Lumière, she wanted to have him locked in the tower until she was gone but she knew what that would do to him, besides she needed him just as much.
Mrs Potts nodded “He would like to see you now though, would that be alright?” she asked. Plumette agreed and the housekeeper went to fetch back both her son and Lumière, when he was allowed in the little boy flew straight to her side, clutching her hands in his.
It hadn't taken long for Chip to climb the bed and curl up with her, his head resting on her chest while she idly stroked his hair and hummed soothing melodies, sometimes the matching words slipping out through her sore and weak throat “... Dapples and greys, pintos and bays all the pretty little horses...”
Chip had to be taken away when the pain became a little too much and the effort of holding it back in an attempt not to scare the boy only made it worse, Mrs Potts pressed a kiss to her damp forehead and left with an arm wrapped around her son while he rubbed at his eyes and snivelled.
Lumière curled himself up against the pillows with her, taking over the duty of trying to cool her down with the cloth and water and murmuring soothing words to calm her. It was then Belle had quietly come in and approached them, shuffling her feet and glancing up at them through heavy lashes while she chewed her lip. She didn't have to be here, she didn't really know them and nobody would have thought any less of her if she had chosen to stay away but the girl was kind and she was brave. When Lumière nodded at her to join them she placed herself neatly on the stool beside the bed taking up the aged copy of Gulliver's Travels from where it had still sat from when she had last left it. It seemed to help, Plumette entranced by the words she read out, calm and distracted until she had managed to fall asleep.
Something was disturbing her rest, something rustling nearby. Her eyes cracked open to blearily gaze around her and she let out a squeak of fear. Vines of roses had filled the room, trailing in through the open window to crawl up the walls, along the ceiling and floor, wrapping themselves around everything they could. They reached up across the bed, snagging into the blankets and stretching out towards her.
It was then she realised she could hear someone singing, the tune ever so familiar, it was the melody she had been singing to Chip. “... Way down yonder, in the meadow, poor little baby crying maman...” Marietta sat at the window, the vines slithering on past her, while she stared solemnly at her mother. Her white feathers stained a blood red. “... Birds and the butterflies peck out her eyes, poor little baby crying maman...”
The vines grabbed out at her and with a shriek Plumette tumbled herself out of bed to land hard on the floor, her trembling hands desperately trying to grip around a bed post to drag herself back up, her breath coming out in shuddering pants. Marietta turned towards her with a glare and the vines thrashed under her anger, lashing out like snakes around Plumette's ankles as she tried to clamber across the room, snatching a hold of furniture to keep herself upright.
Adam slipped his hand into Belle's, grateful to have her at his side while their small group stood outside in the hallway. Listening to Monsieur Robert as he outlined a few ideas on how to keep Plumette comfortable, because they were at the stage where comfort was all they could give, it wasn't going to get any better. Lumière was standing there not saying a word, merely staring blankly down at the floor while his hands clenched at his hair.
All of them looked up in alarm when the door slammed open, Plumette clutching a hold of the handle to stand and her eyes wild with fear, rivets of blood trailing down the inside of her legs to her feet and a glance behind her would show smears across the wooden floorboards in the room.
“Plumette!” Lumière cried running forward to take her into his hold, one arm securely around her back to support her and the other trying to take a hold of her chin to see her face while she thrashed in his grasp. “Why are you out of bed?!”
“She's here!” the girl gasped out, sweat running down her face
“Who's here?” Mrs Potts spoke beside them, trying to place a comforting hand on Plumette's back to calm her only to be shook off.
“Mariettas here, she's going to kill me” she sobbed, pulling in air as if she couldn't breathe.
Lumière curled his hand on her nape, trying to encourage her to rest against his shoulder “Darling Marietta is dead and nothing here will harm you!”
“Non, non!” Plumette struggled more, her fevered eyes sweeping up and locking onto the Prince as he and Belle approached. “You! What are you doing here?!”
“...Plumette?” Adam shrunk back a little.
“It's your fault! You ruined our lives, you ruined everything!” she wobbled dangerously but she was still furious, her eyes glazed. “You killed my baby!”
He let out a harsh gasp and snatched out his hand towards her, wanting to take her in his arms and tell her how sorry he was, to beg for forgiveness.
A horrible fear flashed in Lumière's eyes and he quickly twisted them around to place himself between his love and the Prince, clutching her to his chest. “No master! She doesn't know what she's saying!” he cried, bracing himself with a wince
Adam froze, a deep sickened feeling settling in his stomach, he'd thought... he thought.
Oh god.
He turned and bolted, his footsteps clattering loudly up the hallway with the echoes of them trying to wrangle Plumette back into bed behind him, she was still crying out. He turned a corner and his hand blindly grabbed at the door to Belle's room, working the latch open and throwing himself inside, just needing to get away and his chambers was too far on the other side of the castle for him to hide in now. He pressed his palms to his eyes as sobs wrecked through his frame, his throat hitching and catching wetly.
“Adam?” Belle called, peering in the doorway and following him in. “Talk to me, please” she came up to him and reached out a hand to tug his away from his face. “She didn't meant it, she's confused and frightened”
“He thought I meant to hit her!” he howled, trying to pull away from her.
“Lumière?”
He nodded with a sad warble “He still fears me”
“Darling he's terrified for her and he hasn't slept in days, he has every right to be short on nerves. Here come sit with me” she tugged at his wrists, leading him to her bed where they sat side by side and her arm pulled around his shoulders to tug his face into her neck. “Everyone is upset, it's alright” her hand stroked his hair away from his face gently.
“But I would have!” he whimpered, curling in towards her “You weren't there, before the curse I would have hit her” Belle said nothing only continued to stroke his hair and let him talk. “If I knew she was pregnant before the curse I would have thrown her out instantly, Plumette has been here my entire life, she helped raised me and I would have thrown her out to the streets, she would have died in some gutter alone”
“But you have changed, you are better now and she is not alone” Belle soothed, pressing a kiss to his crown. She couldn't help but think of her mother, alone and frightened dying in that old windmill with no loved ones by her side, at least Plumette was surrounded by her friends. “Now, wipe your eyes and come with me” she lent him a handkerchief from her skirts pocket, gave him a few moments to make himself more presentable and took his hand in hers, leading him from the room.
“Where are we going?” he quietly asked.
“We are going to see Plumette and you are going to tell her all these things you have told me” Belle held up her chin in determination, ready for the argument that never really came. She tugged in through the open doorway to the room he had given to his friends, finding Monsieur Robert watching over his patient with a grim frown and Garderobe sat upon the stool using a fan to try to cool the girl down who looked to be asleep, so fragile looking amongst the pillows and her breathing coming too shallow.
“How is she?” she asked, her hand giving Adam's a gentle squeeze.
Garderobe shook her head sadly “She is burning with fever”
“We've given her more poppy tea and that calmed her down, she's resting now” Monsieur Robert sighed. “We had to insist for Lumière to be taken to the kitchen and eat something before he falls faint, his devotion to her is admirable”
Adam just nodded sadly, his eyes locked on the girl in the bed and Belle looked to both of them “Would it be alright to have a few minutes alone with her?”
The doctor, observed them for a moment before agreeing “Of course, I will be just outside if you should need my assistance” he made for the door, Garderobe gently kissing Plumette's forehead then following him out.
“Belle... I don't think I can do this...” Adam breathed, not making any attempt to approach the bed.
“You will regret it forever if you don't” Belle replied simply and folded her arms, giving him a hard stare “You've told me you wished you could go back and say things to your mother that you couldn't, don't let this be the same”
Adam quietly let her guide him to sit on the stool in defeat.
“... I think I should go find Agathe” Belle murmured, almost to herself as if she was still considering the plan.
Adam's eyes snapped up to her “What?”
“The Enchantress, she's the only hope we have left, she saved you … maybe she can save Plumette, it's worth the chance”
“You'll never find her in time! Besides why would she even help?” He growled.
“I have to try! … Look just stay here with her and talk to her!” with that Belle was already heading out the door, her skirts flying behind her.
“She's not even awake what am I supposed to do?” he snapped after her.
“Talk to her!” the replied came snapped from down the hall.
Adam hissed out a sigh, his fingers digging into his thighs in frustration. However his eyes softened when he turned to look up at Plumette. She looked so sick, he hadn't gotten close enough to appreciate just how bad it had gotten until now. As a general rule in life he never liked sick people, ever since his mother died he just refused to acknowledge it, going so far to take a trip out to Paris when his father was dying, which also had a lot to do with the fact his father was a horrible man but still he hadn't been there to see him pass, choosing instead to let the staff take care of him.
“... Plumette...” he began, trying to think of what he could say, what in some possible way could make this at all better. “... I...” he floundered then gave up with a sad huff, it was no use and she couldn't hear him anyway. A curl of her dark hair had fallen over her eyes so he gently reached over to brush it away, his hand pausing to stroke her warm cheek. “I'm sorry...”
“Mmm?...” she shifted, her eyes sliding open a crack “...Lumière?”
“It's Adam” he soothed her, taking his hands away and folding them neatly in his lap.
“... Master?” She croaked as she tilted her head to see him more clearly. “... Master you're here? What.... “ she struggled to roll a little onto her side to face him “... Oh no... I think... Did I shout at you?”
“You did, it was quite impressive” he tried to smile.
Her eyes widened “Master please forgive me I am so sorry I would-” she blinked at him when he reached out and took her hand in his own.
“Hush now it's alright, besides every word you spoke was true” He pulled his hand back when her eyes lowered from his, doing nothing to protest his words, to say that she didn't still think him at fault. “It's alright to blame me, you can hate me if you wish, I would in your place”
“... I do not hate you” Plumette muttered, it was bitter but it was still true, though she sounded partly exasperated for herself saying it. Adam flinched, that had always been the problem, no matter what he had done to them, no matter how selfish and cruel he could be they had always been there for him, then the curse had happened and all through those long years they had looked at him with the same devotion, perhaps it would have been easier if they had always hated him.
He shifted uncomfortably, twiddling his thumbs trying to think of what to say while she just quietly laid there, looking so frail and hurt. “What's this?” he hardly meant to speak the words but he had noticed the book sitting on the table at his side, lifting the old thing into his hands.
“Miss Belle has been reading to me” Plumette sighed, watching him curiously.
Adam nodded, turning the book to look at its title and paused. “My mother used to read this to us, in the library when father was away!” he grinned at her “This was her favourite book I had no idea we still had it” he opened it and stroked his fingers along a the print. “Mother loved you...”
“Your mother loved everyone she knew, that was her way and we loved her in return for it” she spoke gently, her voice exhausted.
The Prince's eyes lifted from the book to her with a frown in place. “She loved you so much and I've spent all these years being nothing but an arse”
Plumette gave him a knowing smile “That would be one word for it”
“I am so sorry, I truly am” he breathed harshly, tears glistening in his eyes.
She let out a huff “Come here and read to me” she gasped in pain as she dug her elbows beneath her and shifted across the mattress just enough to make space for him, the effort leaving her breathless.
“Plumette!” Adam worried, his hand on her shoulder trying to soothe her somehow.
She glared up at him with a mumble “You better sit now I've moved” her hand locked into his shirt and tugged him down with no strength. Adam let her position how she wanted so that he sat against the headboard and if he was bothered by how sweat damp the pillows and sheets were he said nothing of it while she curled up into his side, nuzzling into his shoulder. “We used to do this all the time, but you are a little too big to sit in my lap now”
He couldn't help but smile taking up the book again when she nudged him and finding where Belle had left a scrap of paper between the pages to mark her place, clearing his throat he began to read. “This academy is not an entire single building, but a continuation of several houses on both sides of a street...” Her hands curled around his arm and held loosely as she relaxed against him, breathing softly.
She dozed as he read to her for a while until the door creaked open, Lumière coming in looking worn threadbare. “...Master?” his head tilted to the side in question.
“Oh Lumière!” the Prince flushed, placing the book down on the bed.
“Amour?” Plumette roused herself, eyes blinking up hazily with a small smile set in place. “...Adam's reading, it's nice” she yawned, rubbing a fist against her eyes.
Lumière smiled coming to stand beside them “That sounds lovely but you look tired, would you like to sleep?” he asked gently and after a moments consideration she gave a nod. He let Adam wrangle his arms under her and got her back comfortable down in the bed and moved in when the Prince stepped aside. He took the stool and leaned in close, stroking at her cheek. “Cherie how are you feeling?”
She nudged a little closer, pressing her forehead to his and hummed “Not good” her hazed eyes watched him, pained but still full of affection “Love you”
“I love you too darling, so much” he kissed her softly, holding her hand and watching her until her eyes closed and she drifted off. Behind him Adam fidgeted then made for the door “... You can stay if you wish, master”
The Prince turned towards his friend, who hadn't so much as turned in his direction but held his focus on his beloved. “Lumière I am so sorry” he breathed out in a rush, stepping back forward, the other man looked over his shoulder at him, confusion written on his features. “This is all my fault, I ruined everything”
Lumière stared at him, seeming to struggle for something to say before shaking his head, as if the Prince's words had near offended him. “Do not worry yourself master, I already know I am the one to blame”
“You?” It was now Adam's turn to look confused, coming to stand at his friend's shoulder.
“Oui... If I had only listened to her... she wanted to leave you know” he murmured, as if he was telling some great secret. “About a week or so before the night of the ball she was distraught, you had screamed at her for some reason or another and decided she had enough of it, she came to me and begged me to leave with her... but I convinced her to stay because I knew you needed us...” there was no accusations in his voice, just stating what he understood to be true, “... I put your need before hers and it was the wrong choice... I should have listened and left with her, if I had we would have been free these past ten years, our daughter would be alive... Plumette... wouldn't be...” he broke down into sobs and curled in on himself, his shoulders shaking with grief.
Adam made to rest his hand on his shoulder when Lumière ducked out of reach, pacing the room as smoke and sparks danced from his fingertips, his chest hitching “Ten years!” he howled furiously, snatching a hold of anything within his reach to take out his anger on, it happened to be a candle stick from the dresser that he glared at then threw across the room, it clattered loudly against the wall “Ten years we were trapped, ten years we suffered and hoped and prayed! We did nothing wrong! Doesn't she deserve her happy ending! … I promised her it would be alright in the end if we waited long enough... I promised”
A pained gasp caught their attention, Plumette lightly thrashing in her sleep and Lumière was quick to return to her side, dragging his palms down his face to wipe away his tears. “Darling? … Shh darling it's alright, I'm here” he tried to soothe her, his fingers stroking at her face and he could feel how hot she was, her chemise clinging stuck to her skin with sweat.
When she seemed to become more distressed and she had begun shivering again as she had the night before Adam darted out the door to fetch help and promptly returned with Monsieur Robert, Mrs Potts and Cogsworth at his heels.
“She needs help, something is wrong!” Lumière worried, watching over her as she gave shallow and rasping breaths.
Monsieur Robert stood beside him, his solemn eyes looking over her while he held her wrist and felt a pulse that was too fast and weak. “... I am sorry but... I believe she's at the end” his voice was still soft and calm, his eyes begging for understanding.
Lumière shook his head frantically “No, no! There has to be something that can be done! Perhaps another ice bath? If we cool her down again-” he rambled, his gaze darting about as if he could possibly find some secret that would help, that would protect his beloved.
Mrs Potts came to his side and gently spoke “Love, you'd just be makin' her sufferin' last longer”
“But it cannot be the end yet! I beg you there must be something! We need more time!” Lumière was frantic, turning to look at each one of them with terrified eyes, waiting for someone to help. “Please!”
“... Lumière we knew this was going to happen...” Cogsworth spoke, his eyes glistening.
He grabbed a hold of Monsieur Robert's sleeve “Please, we've been together for twenty-five years, she's been my life since I was a boy I need her”
The doctor took a hold of his hand, his fingers squeezing gently “I am sorry there is nothing we can do” he let go and stepped back to look over his patient. “She most likely will not wake again, the best we can do is try to keep her comfortable” he glanced around the room, the others nodding quietly along. “ Monsieur, I believe she may still be able to hear us, why don't you sit with her?”
Lumière nodded weakly, his throat tight and refusing to work as he let himself be guided to sit back beside the bed by the doctor. He found he could not speak, he had so many things he wanted to tell her, to beg her not to leave but he couldn't say goodbye, it would mean it was real.
“Do you want to be left alone?” Mrs Potts asked softly, her voice hitching as she tried to hold back tears of her own, Lumière merely shook his head. He took a hold of Plumette's hand, stroking his thumb across her knuckles as he watched her. She and Cogsworth came to stand behind him, if he wanted them there they would stay, the four of them had been together for years, through the curse and they were not about to leave now.
Plumette calmed a bit though she still seemed a little breathless while she laid there far too quiet apart from the rasping, her brows drawn in over sunken in eyes. Lumière had taken to wiping at her face with the damp cloth still left aside on the table, hoping if it wouldn't cool her down at least it might feel nicer not to be so sticky with sweat, he knew how much she hated sweating when it would ruin her make up. The tremors returned, growing from mere shivering to move violent thrashes as her body began to convulse.
“Quickly! Hold her head!” Monsieur Robert commanded, Lumière scrambling to cup his hands around her face to steady her. “Don't let her hurt herself” Mrs Potts held her hands, her fingers gently massaging while her fingers twitched in her grasp.
Adam stood back, silently watching with horror on his features.
“Darling?” Lumière called softly when she stopped after what felt like an eternity later, his palms loosening to cradle her face carefully, his thumbs brushing against her cheekbones. “Darling please don't leave”
She seemed to be struggling more to breathe as the minutes ticked by, rattling in her chest.
His pale blue eyes flickered over her face, watching her through his tears for some response, a sign that she could hear him. “Please I am not strong enough without you, I cannot do this alone... please stay... because I need you... and because I love you... and that should be enough... please let it be enough” he gasped pressing his forehead to hers. If love could break spells and turn people back from cursed forms surely it could do this, but there wasn't any magic here and even love couldn't prevent death itself in the end. She gasped once, twice then went awfully still beneath his hands. “Plumette?...” he leaned back a little, just enough to look at her face. “Plumette!” he shook at her shoulder, determined to get a response his mind locked up in hysteria. “Plumette... you can't... please... please Plumette”
Monsieur Robert stepped forward and carefully felt at her wrist for a pulse “... I am sorry” he said gently with a shake of his head.
Lumière gave a pained wail, clutching her up in arms and crying into her hair. Mrs Potts palmed at her face as she trembled with her own tears, Cogsworth stared stiffly, his eyes damp and he placed his hand on the housekeeper's shoulder. The doctor quietly slipped out of the room to allow them to grieve.
No one had the heart to pull Lumière away, instead they just stood there watching as he broke.
The door flung open to reveal a panting Belle, leaning heavily on the handle for a moment before she staggered in exhausted with a familiar women behind her. “I found her! I found Agathe!” she gasped, pushing a handful of her wild hair out of her face.
“... It's too late sweetheart...” Mrs Potts mourned, turning to look at her.
“....What? … No...” Belle's face crumpled into sadness.
Lumière opened his eyes and glanced over his shoulder, his back going stiff when he saw who had arrived. “You!” he snarled, his hands carefully withdrawing from his beloveds body and he swung around towards the door. “How dare you come here! Was killing her not enough?” Adam snatched Belle out of the way as he stormed forward, smoke rising from his form. “Your witchcraft murdered my Plumette and Marietta! You took my family from me!”
Agathe merely blinked owlishly at him, without saying a word. Fire sparked from the man's hand that he was quickly reaching out to aim at the Enchantress. He was going to kill her, the panicked thought blazed around the room. “Lumière, no!” Adam yelled, leaping at the Footman and grabbing at his arms.
“Get off of me!” Lumière howled, slamming his fist across the Prince's jaw without a care that he could receive a death sentence at the gallows for it.
Belle and Cogsworth both stood together watching in fear, while Mrs Potts leaned over Plumette, gently murmuring words through her tears, as if she could protect the dead girl from the anger.
“No! Lumière calm down!” Adam snarled back, pining his arms behind his back and slamming his friend forcefully into the wall. Agathe silently side stepped their brawl and walked to Mrs Potts, placing her chilled hand on the housekeeper's shoulder and guiding her out the way when her tear filled eyes met hers.
“Leave her alone! Don't touch her!” Lumière thrashed against the wall, glaring over his shoulder at her.
Adam dragged him along the wall heading for the door, scorch marks trailing as they went and with a furious shove he forced Lumière out of the room, slamming the door shut and locking it before he had a chance to right himself. The footman banged at the door screaming.
Agathe had sat herself down on the edge of the bed, stroking idly at Plumette's sweat slicked hair in thought. “Is there something you can do?” Belle asked nervously, stepping up. Agathe stared at her until she was uncomfortable before her emotionless eyes flicked back down.
The air felt warmer, energy crackling in the air as her magic woke up and Mrs Potts, Cogsworth and Adam all shrunk back as they remembered the same feeling the night of the ball. Agathe placed her hand on the girl's forehead, a soft glow around the point of contact while the Enchantress seemed to be concentrating. Golden light lazily grew larger and brighter around them, without rush or panic, just gently gathering and building while she sat and stared, her fingers gently massaging Plumette's still warm skin.
She leaned down and kissed her.
When she pulled away Plumette's eyes snapped open, her back arching and her mouth gasping open as she desperately tried to breathe again.
“Plumette!” Mrs Potts cried, quickly coming to be perched at her side and snatch her up in her arms when the girl sat up hunched over herself, holding her in a fierce hug. Agathe slipped out of the way without a word.
Plumette was still greedily pulling in air “W-water” she choked, frantically pawing at her friend. Cogsworth was quick at her side, pouring out a glass from the pitcher and handing it to the housekeeper who had barely any time to bring it to the girl's mouth before she was grabbing at it, gulping it down. “More” she hacked wetly, trying to snatch out at the pitcher and when it was passed over she had it out Mrs Potts's hands, drinking straight from it. Handing it back she messily wiped at her mouth, still coughing and for the first time her watering eyes peered about, blinking in the harsh daylight. “... Where's Lumière?”
The noise from outside the door had stopped and Cogsworth went very pale, remembering his promise to her. “... I'll just go check...”
“He's on the roof” Agathe spoke up softly, her eyes focused on a spot of the ceiling as if she could see him through the castle. Cogsworth's eyes widened with a nod and he promptly unlocked the door and scurried out.
Belle threw herself into Adam's arms in relief, grinning wildly. “Oh dearie! You're back this is wonderful!” Mrs Potts sobbed, kissing all over Plumette's face, who smiled even though she was dazed and confused.
She giggled under the sudden affection “I'm back? Where did I go?”
Mrs Potts placed one last kiss on her forehead before she pulled back enough to look at her “Oh darling, you were sick and … and you died... but you're here with us again it's a miracle”
Plumette's eyes widened as she remembered what had happened, her conversation with her beloved from that morning coming back to her. He wouldn't...
But she knew he would. “Where is Lumière!?” she demanded, struggling out of Mrs Potts's arms and staggering to her feet only to give a cry and fall to her knees. The three of them rushed to help her and hold her steady “Where is he!?” she snarled, shaking off their hands.
“Cogsworth has gone to fetch him” Belle tried to calm her, not understanding.
“On the roof” Agathe repeated, standing by the window where she had been blankly staring out.
“No, no no!” Plumette cried, dodging away from them and out the door “He's going to kill himself!” She ran as fast as she could despite the way her body screamed at her to stop and breathe, Mrs Potts, Adam and Belle quick at her heels.
Nobody saw Agathe shrug to herself before calmly wandering out alone.
He wouldn't dare, not from here, Plumette's mind screamed at her, not from their hiding place. Over the years of the curse when she felt particularly hopeless and trapped she would make her way to the roof to flit and flutter about the towers, she couldn't leave the castle grounds but up here it was almost like she didn't have to come down. Lumière would sit and watch her, for hours sometimes, while she pretended she was free.
Climbing the many stairs, too many stairs, she feared she had headed for the wrong tower until she heard Cogsworth's voice, broken and desperate. “Please just step back over here, it's alright” she could hear Lumière saying something, too gentle and far to hear then rounding the last turn of the steps she saw him, standing on the very edge of the walkway between the towers with his back to her.
Her lips parted, she sucked in a breath to shout.
He fell.
She kept running out along the walkway, up to the edge narrowly side stepping Cogsworth and she jumped.
He was not going anywhere without her.
Flying as a feather duster was nothing like falling as a human, the wind whipping past her eyes hurt and her stomach in knots. She could see him just out of her reach below, falling and falling, the unforgiving stone ground closer with each second. She needed to be with him she needed to go faster. There was an odd feeling of warmth and a bright golden light, then a distant sense of the back of her chemise splitting open as her wings returned to her. She didn't have time to question it or even think instead she just flapped, each stroke sending her down faster.
She snarled in frustration when her fingers just nearly brushed against his shirt, just a little more, the ground was terrifyingly close now.
She's already died twice this week, third times the charm, the thought flashed though her mind bitterly.
Her fist snagged into the back of his shirt and she was able to quickly pull him against her and lock her arms around his waist. The moment she had him her wings spread out, catching the wind and trying to halt their fall and she let out a shrill cry as it pulled harshly at her wings. They were still going far too fast, she gave a groan and dipped one wing to allow for a turn narrowly missing the spiked peak of one of the lower towers, Lumière for his part just hanging in her grip with his hands clutching at her arms in shock. Their fall more controlled into a glide now as she swooped over the castle's grand entrance, luckily missing the rose garden and they landed hard on the gravelled path.
Plumette tucked her head into his neck and her wings curled to protectively around him as they went tumbling across the ground. Coming to a stop with Lumière pinned on his back beneath her laying in the dirt, her wings stretching out and quivering behind her as she felt his chest heaving against hers. Her fingers grabbed at his face, barely registering his shocked wide eyes on her before she slammed her lips into his. “You idiot!” she gasped against his mouth “You stupid, stupid idiot!” she couldn't stop kissing him, her wonderful stupid love. “Never do that again! I'll kill you myself next time” she nipped at his lips, her fingers slipping to sink into his hair.
“Plumette! My Plumette, mon ange!” he sobbed, nuzzling into her cheek and his arms clamped around her, neither of them having the attention to notice when Plumette's wings crumbled away into feathers on the ground.
He was alive, she grinned wildly, they were alive.
------
Five Years Later -
Plumette smiled gently, touching her fingertips to Marietta's name carved on her gravestone and placed the bouquet of flowers down at its base. It seemed quite a few of the others had already come with gifts for their daughter's birthday, a collection of flowers and trinkets left, still no roses, never roses. She recognised what was a wooden carved feather and candle that seemed to be Maurice's work.
Lumière stood beside her, holding their three year old son steady on his hip who had his mother's curls and eyes. With a huff she struggled to her feet and a hand pressed to her swollen belly, their third child closer with every passing day.
She leaned back with a wince, trying to find a comfortable way to bear the extra weight “Garderobe and Cadenza have demanded to be this one's godparents” she sighed.
Lumière's eyes dazzled mischievously, catching the warm afternoons sun “I fear the Madame will murder our Prince and Princess if they receive the honour again, then they will be sadly beheaded for treason all for the sake of the right to be godparents to our child”
“Darling! Do not even jest of such a thing!” she giggled even so, he was always so dramatic. The musicians hadn't ever been upset over their choosing for Adam and Belle to be their son's godparents, but as soon as she had announced she was pregnant again Garderobe had demanded to be Godmother before anyone else could get a word in. Smiling her hand curled around the back of Lumière's neck and dragged him into a gentle kiss, breaking away when their son between them grabbed a tiny fistful of her blouse and tugged. “Would you like a kiss as well? mon chouchou” she cooed, attacking his dimpled cheeks until he was squealing with laughter.
