He stared at Belle as if he'd never seen her before. He hadn't seen her, truly, until he was whole again. Beast — No, Adam. His name, his identity restored to him. He was whole and she was here with him. Belle came back. She came back. She came back to him. She loved him. Belle loved him. She was real. His hands — real — not covered in fur and damaging claws — rested on her cheeks. Belle's cheeks. Too long he longed to touch her, to be with her. He loved her, everything about her. She was everything to him and he would spend the rest of his life reminding her. His thumbs wiped away the tears she shed when it seemed he had been lost to her.
"You're alive," she whispered over and over, kissing the palms of his hands. "You're real. You're alive. You're here."
"Belle," his voice was different. Gone were the growls and heavy breath. His voice still deep and intoxicating, sent shivers down her spine.
He wrapped his arms around her, holding her for what seemed like hours. He took in everything his human senses had been missing. The sight of the castle coming back to life. The sounds of her breathing and speech. The warmth of her skin against his own. He would have spent forever there holding her, his love, his life in his arms.
"What do I call you now?" her soft voice asked, her brown eyes staring into his soulful blue, the only human part of him that remained upon the casting of the his curse.
"My mother called me Adam," he said. "But you, my Belle, may call me whatever your heart desires."
"My dear, my dearest," Belle said, pushing a lock of his hair from his face. She drank him in, seeing him as he truly was. The man beneath the creature. "Dear Adam."
She rested her head on his chest, the same as when they were dancing. How long ago that seemed when it was only a few short hours ago. A few short hours ago his heart was broken that she was leaving. She was leaving.
"You came back," Adam said again.
"I came home." She pulled away and stared into his eyes. "I never should have left you. I should have told you I would come back. That I would bring my father here to recover. I should have…"
"Peace Belle, peace." He kissed her forehead and pulled her back into his embrace. "None of that matters now, love. You are here and everything's going to be fine now." He softly kissed her, pouring his love into her. A love that would never end. A love that would last the ages. A love that was true.