Disclaimer: I do not own Beauty and the Beast. Original Characters belong to me.

Summary: Companion piece to Cinderella Grows a Spine and Snow White Learns Stranger Danger. What do you do when your arrogance and pride leaves you alone in the world? Some people lash out, falling deeper and deeper into darkness. Others learn from the experience, and become better for it. A 'twisted fairytale' retelling of Beauty and the Beast.


Chapter One

Long ago, in a far away land, a girl dreamed of being a princess and living in a shining castle. Though she had everything that could be desired, the girl was spoiled, selfish and unkind.

One winter night, an older woman (by only a few years, but who never let her forget it) came to her, asking for her company, to shelter from the bitter cold of loneliness and grief.

Annoyed and angry, for she had been invited to the nearby castle, home of a Duke, for a ball, the girl turned the woman away. The woman warned her not to be so harsh, because even Hope could only spend so long trying to break down a wall.

The girl turned her away again, crossly suggesting that marriage to the first man who would accept her dowery (and the girl already had several in mind) would cure the woman's loneliness.


The resulting fight was as furious and messy as only quarrels between sisters can be.

"Last time I looked at the law books, you need my consent, or the consent of my guardian, to have the settlement signed! I refuse to marry someone I haven't even met!"

"That's just for the settlement!" The girl responded with equal fury, not even sure why she was so angry, "It's possible to marry without one!"

The woman actually jerked back in shock. "You'd leave me totally at the mercy of a man neither of us know the first thing about? A settlement outlines what he can or can't do to me and my dowery while we are married, and protects me if I should be widowed!"

The girl's voice reached almost a frustrated shriek, "If it gets you out of my hair and means that you stop embarassing me every time you go out in public, then I don't care! You want your independence? Take it!"

"So my choices are being cast out or marrying a stranger?" The woman's voice was colder than the night outside as she drew herself up, "If I didn't know better, I'd think you were trying to get all this finalised before the solicitors find time to read our parent's Will, and whether or not the right of the eldest to inherit was bypassed."

It was the girl's turn to reel back. How could she accuse her of such a thing? "Leaving aside how badly you'd ruin things, how dare you say something like that? I want you out of the way so you stop ruining my chances to find a husband!"

The woman almost growled, "Why don't you marry some old man out for a quick money-making scheme, then? I doubt that any of the elite would come calling for your personality!"

The girl turned red, stamping her foot. "Because I want to marry a man who loves me, and thinks that I'm a wonderful person for myself! Why is that so hard for you to understand?"

The woman raised a sarcastic eyebrow, her expression clearly conveying her scorn, "Yet you'd refuse me that same chance, and condemn me to a loveless, powerless marriage to improve your chances?"

The girl threw up her hands, "Because you don't realise that its never going to happen! No-one wants to marry a woman that most of society considers half-insane, who cares more about books than caring for her husbands needs."

The woman looked hurt, but rallied herself. ""A man worth having shouldn't require a woman to be both wife and nursemaid. What woman wants to marry an overgrown child?"

The girl sighed, realising that they were only arguing in circles as she looked at the clock, feeling the anger drain out of her. "Then its a good thing that you don't need to worry about that choice. I have to go."

The woman graced her with a scornful look. "So, finally trying to seek you out instead of waiting for you to come to me was a waste of time, then? And where are you going?"

The girl's glare was a superior one, "I've been invited to the home of a Duke for a Ball, and I don't want your dramatics messing it up for me. I'll tell you more about your future husband when I get back."

She ignored the narrowed eyes and mutter that sounded something like 'don't count on it'. Sometimes she wished that they had both been born with different sisters. It would make life so much easier.


When she returned from the castle, the woman was gone, and in her place was a dark and empty house, with a potted rosebush and an acerbic note, saying that it would bloom if she could learn to love it as much as she loved herself, or die if she continued with the kind of care she gave to others.

Alone and despairing, abandoned by the people that she thought mattered, and having lost the only ones who really did, the girl sank into darkness, wondering if she would ever love or be loved once the scandal broke.

For who could love one with the heart of a beast?

.

.

.

.


A/N: So, a lot of people who read the first instalment of the series asked for Sophia's backstory. Originally, I hadn't planned on it, but then this plot bunny started gnawing on my leg. Curse you all.

That said, I have several directions that this story could go in, so any feedback is much appreciated, even if it's just to explain WHY the story sucks and I should never write again..
To '
guest', the reviewer who has been trawling through my stories to insult me and shriek about how they aren't identical to Canon: I know, because that would be plagiarism, and this is an AU fanfiction. Either sign in so I can actually address your concerns in a PM, or go read/watch the original again.

Thanks,

Nat