"Cogsworth? Are you there, mon ami?"

Lumiére had looked for his long time friend everywhere. To no avail. It seemed as if the clock had no wish to be found.

The candlestick scratched his waxy head with a thoughtful expression. Never had he saw Cogsworth acting this weird. If he didn't know better, he would have told that Cogsworth had left the castle altogether. Which he knew it wasn't the case, as almost everyone had crossed path with it in the past few days. So, where could he be?

Leaving that room behind he tried the following one. Empty once more. It surely was the fortieth room he tried. The only ones that remained were… The west wing!

Of course. Why hadn't he thought of it sooner?

Leaping all the way till the darkest area of the castle, Lúmiere started to check each of those abandoned rooms, all the while calling out for Cogsworth.

He found the old clock in his master's chambers at last.

"Cogsworth? What are you doing here all by yourself?" He asked upon finding him sitting in front of the now dead rose.

" I wanted to be alone."

" How come? I've never seen you looking this bad ever before. You are all dirty, covered in cobwebs… What happened to you, mon ami?"

Indeed, Lumiére was right. Cogsworth looked as if he hadn't cleaned himself since that fateful night when the mob had entered the castle. He also seemed entirely too depressed for his normal attitude.

"I've failed." The clock sighed deeply, wood shoulders slumped.

Lumiére frowned deeply.

" Whatever do you mean, you failed?"

" Didn't you see? The night our master was wounded, I did nothing to help. You brought help, Mrs. Potts ran to help too. Instead, I remained in this very same room like an idiot, feeling too sorry for myself."

" But, Cogsworth… Those things happen. I know for sure that after that you helped clean the castle like all the others." The candlestick tried to cheer his friend up.

"Yes, of course, I did. However, I just can't shake the feeling that our master could have died outside in the rain and I would have done nothing to help. I dream about it every time I close my eyes."

" My friend, our master is going to be okay. I've seen it with my own eyes. He woke up earlier and even greeted me in the kindest of the ways. You shouldn't feel so guilty about such a human reaction in the middle of such a terrible night." Lumiére stated in high spirits.

That caught Cogsworth' s attention.

"The master woke up?"

"Indeed. I was there. Have been spreading the news since. Mademoiselle Belle did an amazing job taking care of him these past days."

" You were right about her all along, see? She was the one."

" Don't take it that way. She didn't break the spell in the end. Which she feels really guilty about if you want to know. She already knew of her feelings when she left. She only kept in silence because she intended to turn back soon."

"Perhaps this was the way it had to be. I've been thinking a lot about it."

"Maybe even a little too much for your own good." Lumiére admonished in a serious tone. " Come on, Cogsworth. I will take you with me to meet with Mademoiselle Belle and the Master. It will do you good to be talked into some sense. Mrs. Potts is also very much worried about your behavior."

" I don't deserve such kindness…"

" Nonsense. Stop that right now. No one even thought about what you did or didn't do that night. Also, remember me to never leave you alone again. I think you're going dumb with the age."

"Are you calling me old?" The clock, sounding suddenly outraged.

Lumiére found himself grinning at Cogsworth reaction.

"Now, that's more like you. Come on, let's get back. It's already way past bedtime and Mademoiselle Belle could need us. We need to clean you up too. You do look dumb and old right now." The candlestick teased, getting in reply an assortment of very bad words. Not that he cared. At least his oldest friend was getting back to his normal self.

Another small chapter, I know. However, I do prefer to write short ones and publish than the opposite. I've seen the new movie today. And it was awesome. I will maintain my decision of keeping this fiction following only the original one anyway. It feels only fair, as I'm pretty sure that there will be loads of new fictions about the new version soon.