The cover image belongs to a very daring Deviant artist called Magna-est-veritas. This girl wasn't afraid to show an image of true love in all its magnitude (My personal opinion, feel free to disagree).

Anyway, enjoy this story and tell me what do you think of the variation.

(Beginning of excerpt from Disney's 1991 movie)

"No, you will live."

"You… You came back." The Beast managed with great effort through the pain he felt.

"Of course I came back. I couldn't let them… Oh, this is all my fault. If only I got here sooner."

"Maybe… It's better… It's better this way."

"Don't talk like that. You will be alright. We're are together now. Everything is going to be fine. You'll see." Belle knew she was trying to convince them both. She felt so scared. So guilty. So… Everything.

"At least I got to see you… One last time. I love you."

And with those words, he couldn't make it anymore. All his strength had left him.

"Please… Please don't leave me. I love you…" Belle cried under the rain, gripping his clothes in her hands. It couldn't end up like this.

Inside the room, the last petal of the rose had fallen, in front of the eyes of Cogsworth, Lumière and Mrs. Potts.

"It's too late," Cogsworth said, looking with dismay from the rose now dead to the faces of his friends.

(End of Excerpt)

"Please… Help us! Mrs. Potts! Lumière! Cogsworth!" Belle cried from the terrace in despair. " We have to do something to save him."

"The curse is over. What's the point?" Cogsworth mused, clearly defeated.

Lumière glanced at his friend, sharing his dark mood for a moment. But as he turned and gazed upon the body of his master and Belle, soaking to the bone under the downpour of rain…

"Belle is right!" He said with resolution. Both Mrs. Potts and Cogsworth turned mouths agape to look at him. Creeping from somewhere deep inside him, they could see a new resolve coming to his waxy face. " We have to save the master if we still can! I don't care if I will remain a candlestick for the rest of my existence. I don't even care about his temper and all the times he made us feel unhappy. He deserves to live. Now he has Belle. We all do. She will help us. She loves him. And I do too."

Determined, he marched inside quickly to ask for any help he could find. They would need help to take their master inside. There was no way a woman, a candlestick, a teapot and a clock would be able to carry someone as big as the Beast.

Mrs. Potts and Cogsworth remained there, both clearly shocked with Lumière's speech. She was the first one to make a move.

"You know what? I love our master too. I raised him since he was a baby and I remained by his side all these years. I will not give up like this just because everything seems lost. Everything seemed lost long before Belle came in." She made her point clear, before jumping all the way to where her master and Belle were."Lumière has gone in search of help, sweetie. We will help him." She told Belle.

"We need to take him out of this rain. Now!" Belle argued, her fighting spirit kicking in between tears and despair.

"I know. But we can't do it alone. He is too heavy for us."

"That night, on the woods… Philip helped me. He can lift him." Belle remembered, a new hope creeping in her heart.

"But… We can't take the horse up here. What would the master say?" Mrs. Potts seemed quite appalled at the suggestion. After so many years as governess seemed like a sin.

"The master will say 'Thank you' whenever he can manage." The voice of Lumière came from the door to the terrace, sounding more determined than ever. With him, were Maurice and Philip, as if he had remembered the same thing Belle did.

"Father, please. Help me. Philip!" Belle pleaded from her spot, rising to meet them. She made Philip lay beside the Beast just as they had done that night in the woods. With the wolves. She and her father managed to pull him onto the saddle.

"Mrs. Potts, there is any room where we can take him nearby?"

"Well, not on this wing…" She stuttered.

"Then I will take him to my room." Belle decided, sharing Lumière's determination now. "Lumière, lead us please."

The way through the castle seemed endless to all of them. Cogsworth had finally given himself a move and was with them looking straight miserable. Mrs. Potts left the group as soon as they arrived at the great stairway to give orders to the other servants. They would need dry clothes, warm food and she needed to know who had managed to escape the angry mob and how they were. Cogsworth escaped right after her.

Belle and Maurice together managed to lay the Beast on Belle's bed, after which she asked his father to go dry himself quickly and take Philip with him.

"Is he still alive, mademoiselle?" Lumière ventured to ask. It was the question they were all making in silence.

Belle searched his heartbeat, ear on his chest. There was still some, but so weak…

"We need to make him comfortable and take care of his wounds. Only them we will know for sure if he will survive. Will you help me, Lumière?"

"Surely, mademoiselle."

For days, the Beast lacked any signs of recovery. Belle, Maurice, and Lumière would stay beside his bed night and day, caring for him in his unconsciousness. Almost every single soul in the castle would walk on the tip of their toes outside the room while cleaning away the mess the angry mob had left behind. It was not that he was dying, they all thought. Belle would never let that happen. He just didn't seem to improve.

Lumière was the one that remained the most time by his master bed side. Either it was Belle in the room (which happened most of the time) or Maurice (that while recovering himself managed to give her daughter some reprieve from her surveillance), Lumière remained there keeping them company. Sometimes conscious, sometimes static as any candle stick. With so much time available and nothing better to talk about, he finally told their story to Belle. He was delighted to see that she not only understood but also looked even more lovingly than ever towards his master.

Mrs. Potts would come now and then, bringing food and tea to everyone in the room. As a governess she had to keep an eye on the repairing teams all over the castle, so she could never stay for long. Cogsworth was the only one out of the trio that never showed up in the room. Not only once. Every time Lumière would ask Mrs. Potts, she would tell that someone had spotted him helping out in one place or another. But she hadn't actually talked with him since that horrible night.

One afternoon, finally, the Beast became aware of his surroundings. He opened his eyes to see a very tired looking Belle by his side, head resting on her hands as if either crying or praying.

"Belle…" His voice was thicker than usually, more labored.

"Beast?" Belle raised her head immediately, afraid that it was a dream.

"Master?" Exclaimed Lumière, coming out of his numbness as a candlestick.

"I'm…. Alive?"

"Shusssh…. Don't talk. You're going to be alright now." Belle encouraged him. Still, he was aware enough to see wet trails on her cheeks.

"As you... Promised." He observed with effort. Just by seeing her beside him he felt less pain.

Belle gave him a very tearful smile.

"Yes, just as I promised. Now let me reach for some water. You need to drink something."

"It's so good to see you alive, master." She heard Lumière say while she took some steps away.

"Good… To see… You too." Came the answer.

"Don't overwork yourself, please. You need to rest now that the worst has passed." Belle pleaded him, glad anyway to see him changed enough to make an effort to be nice to his servant.

"I need to go and spread the good news. If you excuse me…" Lumière excused himself while leaving the room.

"Beast…" Belle smiled while giving him the water to drink.

"Adam… My name…" He tried to utter as she lifted the cup.

"Oh... Yes, I know. Lumière told me about it after… Well, you know."

"Then... You know. Everything."

"I do. But it doesn't matter anymore. It was my fault. If only I had told you how I felt before leaving…"

"Shush… Don't think… About it… My love."

"It's the truth… You would be human again. All the others would." Every time she gave thought to it she wished to cry. So many good souls, trapped forever. Because of her.

"You did… What you had to do. As I did."

"You released me. Even if it will condemn you to be like this forever."

"I… Love you, Belle."

"As I love you. I don't care how you look like. I still love you, Adam."

"Say it...Again. My…"

"Adam. My disguised prince." Belle smiled, recalling her old books. There was always a disguised prince. And hers had been right in front of her nose for the longest time. If only she hadn't been so blind.

"I've waited so long … To hear you say it."

"Now you will soon tire of me saying it all the time." She joked, a little more than emotional. "But you have to rest now. To get better soon. Sleep, my prince." She asked as she tenderly brushed his fur with her hand.

With that, Adam finally fell asleep again.

MEANWHILE…

Lumière did his best to spread the word far and wide through the entire castle. By the nightfall, everyone within its walls knew the good news: Their Master would survive.

And yet, after going through it all, Lumière hadn't been able to catch the smallest glimpse of Cogsworth and that was bothering our favorite candlestick. Where could his friend be hiding and why?

"Where could he be? It's not like him to miss the action at all…"

He started asking around anytime he crossed paths with some other object. No one knew for sure where Cogsworth was.

Reaching the kitchen, he came upon Mrs. Potts bathing Chip.

"Madame, have you seen Cogsworth today?"

She raised what would surely be called an eyebrow if she was human to him in surprise before answering.

"No, not today. I've barely seen him at all this last couple of days. I've told you that already."

"Yes, you did. But I'm worried about him. It's not like him to just disappear like this at all. Besides, some objects told me they saw him helping with the rebuilding. Really helping, instead of going around ordering them. It can hardly get any more strange than that. It is Cogsworth we are talking about."

"Yes, I must agree with you that it is strange indeed. Do you think he is depressed about what happened?"

"Who knows?" Lumière shrugged his 'shoulders'. "I'm going to search for him anyway. Mademoiselle Belle shouldn't need me so soon. But if anything happens, please go yourself instead, Mrs. Potts." He asked before hopped out of the kitchen.