A/N: Okay, so... This is just a bit of character development to keep my muse from chewing away my brain. Yeah, um... That's basically it. D

Disclaimer: Beauty and the Beast not mine. Not that I haven't tried. ("Bibbidy-bobbidy-boo" does not work. Just saying. Not like I've tried it or anything. ... D )

A Change in Me

She did not fully understand what had brought about the change, only that things were suddenly different. The palace was not the dark, gloomy pace it had appeared. Things were semi-bright and cheerful again. The servants, especially, were happier. They practically pushed her toward their Master, who was not the brutal Beast he had once appeared.

The change in him was the most shocking. He was dear and so unsure! How could she have missed it before? It wasn't only that he had saved her life; it was that he was now her friend. Who would have thought? Beauty and the Beast. Not that she minded his appearance so much anymore. She found that you could get used to just about anything. Even living with a Beast.

And when she read to him! Oh, it was just wonderful. It made her want to dance, to twirl around to some hidden music. She had always been devoted to her books. Never before had someone wished to hear about them! It was far less lonely this way. Perhaps even… But she daren't say it. It was an unspoken thing between them; they would nurture this new thing between them, but they would not address directly what it was. For then, surely, the magic would be broken, and he would be what he appeared: a mean and unrefined Beast. And she would go back to being the odd—but beautiful!—girl everyone loved to talk about. Perhaps even end up married to that boorish—brainless—Gaston, who cared for her only for her looks.

Would it really have been that bad? Could they have shared "all that love implied"?—shudder. Although she tried to picture the scene he had oh so graciously painted for her. But her imagination would not let her see, presenting her with a completely different face. A hairy one, with razor-sharp fangs, but who tried. There was the key: he tried to be nice to her; he tried to be good. So what if he had a nasty temper? Cannot a temper be soothed? Could he not be changed? She had seen what he was becoming, and she rather liked it.

Of course, the changes in the Master were nothing compared to the changes happening within her. She found herself wringing her hands in her apron like a girl when talking to him. Really! She prided herself on her intelligence, and yet here she was, babbling and thinking the strangest things. And she would giggle at the most ridiculous moments! Truly, was it that funny that the Beast could not ice skate? Was it hysterical that he tried to hit her with a snowball? At the time it had been the funniest thing in the world.

When they danced together in the ballroom, it was like… it was like… Like the fairy tales she used to read as a child! Where the girl meets her Prince Charming and they dance… Of course, the Master was no Prince. But he was different… special, even. It didn't matter to her if he was a Beast or a man. He was just… him. That was, in itself, enough for her. Some would find it strange—or a waste—but she didn't care. If was a Beast she wanted, then a Beast she would have, wouldn't she?

…Wouldn't she?

When all was said and done, would he have her? Or was he really nothing but a Beast? Sure, she thought she saw her feelings reflected in his eyes—his horrible human eyes! But how could she be sure without asking him? Could she ask him? Could she bring herself to say, "I love you, Beast," without knowing what he would say in response?

No. No she couldn't. After all was said and done, she couldn't make herself that vulnerable. Not here… Not now. Not while she was a prisoner here. He might find her affections too frightening to deal with and lock her in the dungeon. That horrible, horrible dungeon her father had almost died in.

She had no way of knowing that the very person she dreamed about had had a conversation with his servants very similar to the one she was having in her head.

A/N2: ...Review?