Belle was just starting to calm down when Erik kissed her back. She allowed him to pull her onto his lap and laid her head on his chest. "I... I am so happy, Erik. I wish I could have done it sooner." She closed her eyes as he petted her head. It felt just so good after the stress she had gone through, thinking she had lost him. When Erik lifted her up, Belle wrapped her arms around his neck and kept her head on his chest, listening to his heartbeat.<br/><br/>As they went into the castle, all the staff emerged slowly from the cellar. Seeing Erik in his human form, they all started talking to each other, excited to be able to return to a normal life. It was one of the oldest servants, a woman who had seen Erik as a baby, who asked the question they were all silently asking themselves. "And Miss Belle will stay with us, won't she, Master?"<br/><br/>Belle blushed and hid her face - the mark of Gaston's hand still on it - in Erik's shoulder, but allowed him to give them that answer. He was their Master, after all.