Madelaine// Gaston |1|

6

     Gaston leaned toward Madelaine, but before he could kiss her, she punched him across the face. He fell to the ground, unconscious. 

     "I know you care for me," she whispered, stroking his face as she bent down. "That's why I have to leave. That's why I need you to move on." 

     Madelaine walked to her horse, mounting him. 

     "Far away, boy," she whispered. The horse neighed, then started off in a trot. He picked up pace, and soon enough they were far away from her hometown, and Gaston's village. Madelaine looked back, then started sobbing again. 

     She didn't love him, but she still had to let him go. 

          *****

     Lefou got off his horse as he was coming closer to Madelaine's cabin. He had a feeling that's where Gaston was going to be, but Lefou had an uneasy feeling. As he reached the premises, he saw Gaston lying on the ground in the snow, and his horse standing there. The house was burnt to a crisp, and nothing was left. 

     "Gaston!" Lefou yelled running to his best friend. He shook him, Gaston slowly waking up. His eyes slowly opened and he saw Lefou before him. 

     "W-Where is she?" Gaston asked, dazed. Lefou frowned, looking around for Madelaine. He shook his head, looking back down at Gaston. 

     "Not here, no where in sight," Lefou replied, his frown growing bigger. Gaston sighed, standing up slowly. 

     "She told me to move on?" Gaston said in a questioning tone. 

     "If she's gone, you must," Lefou said, siding with the villagers on this one. "Maybe now you can think about Belle?" Gaston looked down at Lefou, nodding slightly. 

     "I must move on...."   

          *****

     Almost two weeks later, Madelaine was strolling through Paris. She said 'Bonjour' to different people that she normally greeted in the morning. 

     "Ah, Mademoiselle! Lovely morning isn't it?" a baker asked as she passed by. 

     "That it is," she replied, a smile on her face. She walked into the weaponry shop, the owner looking up at her immediately. 

     "Madelaine! Always a pleasure," he yelled, a small smile forming on his face. 

     "As for me, too, Monsieur," she said, walking behind the counter to grab her bow. "Is there any new shipments today? I'm sure our colony must have something from England that's new." 

     "Sadly, no. But there is a little town that I need you to deliver to today when you get back," the owner, George, said following Madelaine to the door. 

     "Just give me the location and I have it," she said, turning to George. He held out a card, the coordinates of the little town on it. Madelaine stared at the card, knowing the place. 

     "Something wrong?" George asked, causing Madelaine to look up. 

     "Not at all," she shook her head, "I'll start out right now." 

     "Safe travels, Mademoiselle!" he shouted after her. 

     "Thank you, Monsieur!" she replied yelling. Madelaine kept looking down at the card, unsure of how passing through will turn out. 

          *****

     Gaston sat in the tavern, staring at the fire. He was thinking of Belle. She turned him down that day, confirming that she would never love him, or marry him for that matter. Of course he didn't love her, he just needed to move on.