If we shadows have offended,
Think but this, and all is mended
The June sun shone brightly on the water; the air smelled of cut grass and flowers. The snow and ice of eternal winter were gone, as if they had never been. Under a weeping willow tree on the far shore from the castle, a red rowboat drifted, anchored to a half-submerged root by a length of rope. Its occupants sat in peaceful silence, reclining on cushions.
It was Adam who had found the boat, when out on an early morning ramble. He had wanted to explore the gardens, to see what had changed since the curse's end. Little had; it was as though the Enchantress had thought of everything, for there was no ruin to be found, nothing dead or decaying. The rowboat, resting on its face in the castle boathouse, really pleased Adam. The castle was full of hope and laughter again, which he loved, but it was also full of people, and Adam had grown disused to being around crowds after so long in isolation. So he had asked the groundsmen to prepare the little boat for rowing, begged a lunch hamper from Cuisinier, stuffed his pockets full of books, and rescued Belle from the clutches of Plumette and Madame de Garderobe, who were deep in the throes of creating her an entirely new, fashionable wardrobe.
“I don't mind, you know,” Belle said, as they walked through the grounds to the lake. “The dressmaking. It's actually fascinating.”
“It is, I agree, but it's such a beautiful day,” Adam said, and Belle grinned and put her arm through his.
They took turns rowing, laughing and talking as they went. What did they talk of? Everything, as they had almost incessantly over the past few days since the curse broke. Adam read aloud to Belle from a collection of the satirical essays of Jean de la Fontaine, and as they drifted under the willow tree, they fell into comfortable silence. Belle trailed her fingers through the water and Adam, calm and comfortable, leaned back on the cushions and fell into a doze.
Read more at AO3: http://archiveofourown.org/works/13435611
@sweetfayetanner @morgaine2005 @hathor-frozen and everyone else who wants to read!