Okay...

Wow. I never thought I'd return to the D9 section with another oneshot, but hey, it happens sometimes, right?

So, again, this is based on a Rave piece, so yeah, we have that dynamic going. If you want to listen in? Here we go: http:// www. youtube. com/ watch?v=xSjPDgSx6wM Just take out the spaces and we'll be good!

Other than that, if you haven't read it already, go read Pavanne for a Dead Husband. It's not needed to understand this oneshot, but I recommend you read it anyway so you can appreciate this a little more.

So anyways, on with the oneshot!

Les entretiens de la Belle et de la Bête

It's so dark. So hopelessly dark. The streetlights barely provide any lighting, the nearest buildings are too far away to provide any light, and the public transportation's last bus went through the area hours ago.

It's better that way, though. At least that way those fucking MNU copters won't be able to catch me. They have searchlights, true, but I've made this trip before. I know all the spots I need to hide.

I should never have gone to District 9 that day. I should never have touched that fucking canister of fuel. But what good do the what if's pose us? All that matters now is that my dear, beloved Tania is heartbroken.

I'm still alive, I know that much. But I'm one of... them... now... Wikus van de Merwe is dead to the humans. I'm a prawn now. I've been turned into this... this beast...

It only makes me wish that Christopher would return soon that much more. He said he could fix me. That I could return to my wife afterwards. It would only take three years, he said.

So far, they're the hardest three years of my life.

It's sad and ironic. I remember my mother used to tell me a fairy tale about a man who was transformed into a beast by an enchantress. The only thing that could break the spell was true love, and then he would be turned into a human again.

Life is fucking ironic like that. To think I'd be turned into a beast because of my stupidity... It's really sad when you think about it. Ad the worst part is, true love won't change me back into being a human again...

If only my Tania had such power...

I shouldn't be so sidetracked. Tania's... Our... Tania's house is just around the corner. It's still dark, but I find my prawn eyes better suited to this, anyways. I look at the house, and slowly steal to the front porch of the small house.

As soon as I got there, I produced a rose I had been clutching to myself since I had begun running over here. It's scrap metal, but really, that's all I have to work with now. I just want to show my Tania that I'm still alive, and that I'm still holding on, just as I've been doing for a while. It won't stay like this forever, I know. Eventually, MNU will catch up to me, and then they'll find out it's me, and then... well, the less I think about those fucking secret experiments the better for my sanity.

My feet touch down on the porch. Our porch. Her porch. I don't know anymore. The darkness is as dark as it's ever been. Looking, I scan the windowsill where I normaly put the roses. I laid the latest rose down, letting it go gently.

Before I leave, however, something else catches my eye. Just above the petals for the rose I crafted, I thought I saw something else. Something made by hands.

Curious, I took a hold of the object with my good hand. It feels so different from anything, and yet...

In the darkness, I can make out a heart-shape. It feels like something made of paper. Hardened paper. Probably papier-mâché. I can make out the faint outline of red paint on it. It's a slightly misshapen heart, actually, as if someone had ripped their own heart out in a sick offering for some greater purpose. I can make out a very faint word in the darkness. Squinting, I realize that it is my own name that is scrawled onto the red paint.

How I wish this was a story. How I wish this alone had the power to make me human again. How I wish I could just bolt up the stairs and give my Tania the tightest hug I have ever given her. How I wish I could show her my face, only for it to be replaced by my human face, as if by magic...

She still loves me. And she always will, despite what everybody must have been telling her by this point in time.

It makes me feel so wonderful I could die of happiness right there.

I never thought prawns could cry. I really didn't. But there's no way in hell I'm thinking of that now, especially if that wetness under my eyes says anything. It's just so... so beautiful, I guess. I don't know how to put it.

Just one problem remains; how am I supposed to take this back home? I know I can't leave it here, because that would be betraying her in the worst possible way. Same if I just dump it in the garbage. But I can't just leave it around District 10, either, or the guards will catch on faster than they should. And the only place to put it would be the ground...

Wait. Ground...

That's it. I'll bury it under where I sleep. Cruel, I know, but it's the only solution I have. Besides, it still makes me happy to know that she still cares about me.

Taking the heart in my grasp, I flee the porch quickly. The sun will be up in a couple of hours, so I need to return to District 10 soon. It is also a very long way over there, too.

But I know my Tania loves me still. I know my angel is still faithful. And that thought is good enough for me.

It's ironic, almost. That story of the beauty and the beast where they fall in love... I only thought that could be in a fairy tale. And yet, here we are, Tania a beautiful, lovely woman, and myself a beast, and we're in love. It's almost like the story came to life, even if Tania isn't aware of it.

It'll make the wait for Christopher that much easier. Because I know that at least I'll be able to come home to a loving wife. I have that reassurance now.

And it's the greatest feeling to have in the world that you haven't been completely abandoned by those you love. It really is.