Disclaimer: All things recognizable are Disney's....wish they were mine, but they aren't...

A/N: This has been in my mind for awhile and I thought now was as good a time as any to post it.

Lumière rode hard. He was nearing the castle, and he wished to get there before they closed the gates for the night. He'd been away, attending his father's funeral and what he needed was to hold Babette in his arms and feel the sanity and peace of their love. The gates stood open and as he neared the château he saw the front door also open to the elements. That wasn't right... He leaped from his horse and dashed into the foyer. What he saw made him pause. A woman of ethereal beauty stood there. She turned and her piercing green eyes held his gaze. "Qui êtes-vous?" He managed.

"Who I am is no concern of yours. Who are you?"

The auburn-haired man drew himself up. "I am the mâitre d'. The prince's valet."

"Then this should apply to you just as much as to your fellow servants." From within her cloak, which she wore around her shoulders, she withdrew a wand and he finally realized he stood in the presence of a powerful enchantress. She spoke softly, deeply, and the air about him crackled, but the feeling quickly dissipated. The woman scowled. "You are fortunate, it appears I used too much of my power in the first stroke."

"What have you done?" Dread filled the servant.

"I have given your prince a chance at reform."

"Stop talking in riddles and speak plainly."

"I have changed him and everyone else who was in this palace at the time. He has ten years to find love and have that love returned or he remains as he is."

"And how is that?"

She held out a mirror. "See for yourself. Ask the mirror to show you anything and you will see it. I leave it for your master."

He spoke hesitantly to the mirror. "Show me the prince, sil vous plait." The object in his hands flashed green and he saw, not the boy he had left, but a beast cub: small horns, long claws and fangs. He whirled on the enchantress. "Why have you done this?"

"I saw that there is no love in his heart."

"No love..? He is an eleven-year-old orphan whose family wishes to have nothing to do with him! He still cries out in the night. He's scared of the dark and the monsters that lurk in it, yet you have turned him into one of them! You are the one lacking love and compassion, not him!"

"Whatever you say, my candelabra. You are his contact with the remains of his humanity."

Lumière barely heard the second sentence, "What did you call me?"

"It is what you would have been had you been here when I changed the castle. You wish to illuminate things for people, teach them. You are the light of someone's life, and the centerpiece of the dining room staff, just as the candlestick is the center of the dinner table."

"Why the whole castle?"

"Because you are all responsible for what he has become. Now, adieu." With that parting comment, she vanished, leaving the mâitre d' standing in the deserted foyer.

This had to be a nightmare, brought about by grief. He was imagining it, trying to make the loss of his father less severe. He pinched himself and winced, so much for that. He steeled himself and went toward the kitchen. He could hear Mrs. Potts' voice as he approached, along with the clinking of china and rattling of pans. He had imagined the conversation then. The kitchen was normal. He strode purposefully along with that in mind and pushed open the door to find himself facing human-sized napkins, all in tears and a bustling teapot, who bore the face of the castle mother.

He felt for a supporting wall and came in contact with something brick that was out of place. He turned and let out an exclamation of shock and horror as he faced a human wall of brick. "Qui? Comment--?"

"C'est moi, monsieur. C'est Jean-Claude."

Lumière swallowed and pasted on a smile, trying to forget all the times he had thought of Jean-Claude as "dumb as a brick". He regretted every one now. "Je suis désolé, mon ami. It has been a long journey." He would act normal even if it killed him. He turned away and nearly tripped over a rather large teacup. "Ah!"

"I'm sorry, Lumière."

The child-like tone could not be mistaken and Lumière felt his heart begin to break. "Chip?"

"Yeah. It's me. What happened, Lumière?"

"It is hard to explain. I need to speak with your mother, d'accord?" He felt anger toward the enchantress rise within him. Perhaps some of the older servants deserved this for all they had pampered the prince, but Chip had done nothing!

"Alright." As the valet turned the teacup-boy spoke. "Will I ever be a boy again?"

Lumière knelt before the lad and saw the tears in his china blue eyes. "I will do everything in my power to make sure you run through the garden again, very soon."

"Promise?"

"I promise." He rose and made his way over to the teapot...Mrs. Potts he corrected himself. He refused to see them as objects. They were still human. "Mrs. Potts?"

The teapot-housekeeper turned from the napkin she was comforting. "Oh, Lumière! You're back."

"It appears I arrived too late."

"Nonsense. It is never too late." She gave the napkin a little nudge and the cloth made its...her? way over to sit at the table. He legs were cloth and Lumière was surprised that they supported...Veronique? Is that who it was? He shook his head.

"Have you seen the master?"

"No. I've been busy trying to regain sanity down here."

"What about Babette? Do you know what she...that is what happened...?"

She shook her head. "No, love, I'm sorry. You'll have to find her on your own. I need to help Chef settle down the kitchen staff. The cleaning and dining room staff could be anywhere."

He nodded slowly. "D'accord. Merci, Mrs. Potts."

"Of course, my dear."

He left the kitchen feeling far less hope than he had since he arrived at the castle the first time when he was hardly 16. He moved through the castle, calling for Babette, but she seemed to be avoiding him. He sighed, feeling a sense of defeat closing in. He heard a loud ticking and stepped back as a large clock came around a corner. "C-Cogsworth?"

The clock looked up and Lumière recognized the head of the household's eyes. "Lumière! When did you get back?"

"Just after all of this happened, apparently..."

"Why aren't you changed too?"

"She didn't have enough power left. Cogsworth, have you seen Babette?"

"She may be in the queen's old rooms, Madame is in there."

"Merci, mon ami."

"Lumière, what are we to do?"

"We will figure that out, but first. I must know about Babette." Before the clock... no... his friend, could respond he took off down the hall toward the east wing. He reached the main chamber in that wing and knocked. He heard a voice filled with false cheeriness from inside.

"Come in!"

He entered. The first thing he saw was a wardrobe he didn't remember, and then his eyes fell on the rouged face in it. "Madame!"

Madame de la Grande Bouche smiled at him. "Welcome home, Lumière."

A soft swishing near the door he had just come through cause him to turn to see a beautiful brunette, her skirts feathers and her skin nearly wooden. "Babette?"

The woman he loved turned to face him. "Bonjour, Lumière."

"Ma chère, what happened?"

"I don't know. I just suddenly..." She gestured to herself.

He nodded. "Je t'aime."

"How?"

"Because you are still the woman I fell in love with."

"But I'm not. I'm a...well, look at me!"

He stepped over and took her in his arms, "Oh, Babette. I love you, no matter what. You should know that by now." He lifted her left hand and showed it to her, the thin gold band glistening on her third finger. "I gave you this, did I not? The instant this spell is broken, and I promise you it will be, we will be wed."

"What will it take to speed that day?"

"Find someone to love the prince and have him love her in return."

"Love...her? He's eleven! How long do we have?"

"Until he is twenty-one."

"I fear that won't be long enough."

"It will have to be. We can do it."

She sighed and pulled away. "I should go see if Mrs. Potts needs any help. Au revoir, Lumière."

"Babette, wait!"

She turned back to him. "Yes?"

"Never mind...I should go check on the young master."

She nodded, sorrow in her eyes. "D'accord."

He watched her go, bowed to the diva cum wardrobe, and exited, headed for the west wing.

------

As Lumière entered the west wing his eyes began to take in the changes to the castle itself. The angels in the friezes had become gargoyles, the light sandstone walls appeared more like slate, and everything else looked as though it had not been cleaned in years. The nearer he got to the prince's chambers the darker it became. He began to notice claw marks in the carpet, and he passed more than one broken mirror. He finally reached the door to the room and hesitantly knocked on the oaken portal. A voice, somewhere between a growl and a whimper, came from inside. "Go 'way."

"Master, c'est Lumière."

"I said, go away!" The boy's voice had reached a roar, but his valet held his ground.

"Master, you can't lock yourself away forever."

"Watch me!"

That did it; if spoiling the boy had gotten them into this mess then Lumière would not condone it now. His mind flickered momentarily to the claws and fangs he'd seen in the magic mirror, but he brushed those thoughts aside. He softly opened the door. "Master, please."

"Lumière, I order you to go away!"

"I am sorry, Master, but I cannot do that." He stepped into the room, glancing about for the boy.

A growl came from his left. "You're human."

The valet winced, as though the prince had called him a traitor, something punishable with death. "Oui. I arrived just after she completed the spell."

"Where were you?"

Lumière swallowed down the grief and guilt that rose as he spoke, "You granted me three days off to bury my father."

"Why are you in here?"

"I came to check on you...and to give you this." He withdrew the magic mirror from inside his cloak, which he only then realized he still wore.

The growl deepened and then turned to a whimper. "I don't want to see it."

"The enchantress left it for you."

There was a snarl, and Lumière turned in time to be faced with the monster-prince, whose claws were nearly at his throat. The valet dropped the mirror and caught the boy's wrists, having only just enough strength to fight him. Never had Lumière been so grateful that the prince was not full grown. "Master, please!"

"Never. Never mention the enchantress or magic around me again!"

"Absolument, mâitre!" Fear flickered in the slender man's eyes and something shone in the depths of the sky blue orbs the prince still possessed.

The Beast stepped back, away from his servant. "Leave, Lumière."

The valet shook his head. "Not yet." He knelt and picked up the magic mirror moving over to a table where a beautiful rose hovered. He set the mirror beside the flower and turned to the Beast... prince, he corrected. "Is this rose important?"

"The en...woman...said it would bloom for ten years and then said something about loving...a girl..." The contempt for that word would have, in any other situation, brought a slight grin to the face of the valet.

"What did she say about the rose specifically?"

"When the last petal falls I have to stay like this. Lumière, I won't be a monster forever!" The last sentence was more an order to his servant than any sort of resolve.

"Then we had best cover the rose."

"What?"

"We do not want a wind to blow in here and knock petals off." The man looked around and finally spied an old bell jar, the only glass thing that hadn't been broken. He picked it up and gently placed it over the rose. "Now, it is getting late, and you need to be in bed, my prince."

The prince looked like he was pouting, but it was hard to be sure with his new changes. "I don't want to."

"It is far later than you should be up. I'm surprised you weren't headed to bed when the... woman... showed up in the first place."

"I'm not going to bed!"

Lumière shook his head, beginning to fully realize how much they had allowed the boy to get away with because of his status. "Prince Vincent…."

"I could fire you."

"You don't really have to. I am here only by my own choice."

"I could eat you..."

"And prove to the enchantment around the castle that you are what she turned you into?"

The boy-beast shook his head and moved over to the bed, curling up on it, rather like a dog. Lumière followed him, draping a blanket over him gently. "Bonne nuit, my prince."

His charge didn't respond and Lumière exited. He went to find a small cot and moved it to the hall a little ways away from the prince's door before going and checking on the other servants. Most had gone to bed...or wherever they slept, did they still need to sleep? He pushed the thought aside as he swung open the door to the kitchen and found Mrs. Potts, Babette, and Cogsworth there.

"Salut, Mes Amis."

The three looked up, Babette rising to greet him. "Lumière, do you have any idea what happened?" This from Cogsworth.

"Only pieces."

Mrs Potts spoke this time, "I'm sure it's more than we know. One moment I was preparing the kitchen for tomorrow and suddenly here I am, a teapot."

"Well..." Lumière hesitated. "You all know I've been away, I arrived just after the changes had occurred. The enchantress who did this was still here and told me quite a bit. What she didn't tell me the prince did. She changed everyone because she found that the prince had 'no love in his heart'. She gave him a rose to mark the passing of time before the curse is permanent."

"So there's a way to reverse this?" Cogsworth queried.

Lumière nodded. "If he can love someone and earn her love in return by the time the last petal falls, then everything will be as it was."

"When will the last petal fall?"

"When he reaches his twenty-first year."

"Why were we caught up in this as well?"

"We helped to make him the way he is. That is all she told me."

Babette spoke hesitantly. "Lumière? What happens if he does not fall in love?"

He sighed. "Then the curse will run its course and he will remain a beast forever and those of us in the castle will be objects."

"You won't though," Cogsworth spoke bitterly.

"Would that I had arrived moments earlier! I cannot help that fact!" Lumière's voice was strained. His eyes, which were normally the most expressive part of his face, were veiled and showed them nothing of his thoughts. He rose, "Je suis désolé, Cogsworth. It has been a long day for all of us and I am in need of sleep. Bonne nuit."

He exited, hearing the swishing of Babette's feather skirts behind him. He picked up the pace until he was practically running. He couldn't face her again, as long as he didn't see her he could deny what had happened. He couldn't bear to see the way her feathered skirts flowed smoothly into her hips. Her skin was becoming wooden; the touch of it was strange. She still looked like the woman he loved, and she was the same woman inside, but there was something he just couldn't bear. She wasn't herself. She looked as she used to, mostly, and she spoke as she always had, but she wasn't the same. She was a feather duster, not a woman. He finally reached the hall that lead to the prince's chambers and settled onto the cot there.

----

The Mâitre d' woke several hours later to a whimpering coming from down the hall. He looked around, disoriented as he lit a candle. He didn't recognize this hall, and what was he...and then it hit him. The curse. The prince was the one who was whimpering. The auburn-haired servant rose and made his way down the hall to the prince's chambers. He pushed open the door and lit another candelabrum from the one in his hand and set that one down on the table by the boy-beast's bed. He sat on the edge of it and gently shook the boy awake from his nightmare. "Master...Prince Vincent... Wake up now..."

The large blue eyes opened, seeming out of place in the beastly features. "Lumière? What are you doing in my room?"

"You were crying in your sleep, Mâitre. What were you dreaming about?"

"I dreamed that a witch...she turned me into a monster..." The boy looked at his hand. "NO! It wasn't a dream!!"

"Master. It will be alright."

"How?"

"You can break this spell, and I am here to help you do so. You must have hope, My Prince."

"Why?" The boy's tone was sullen.

"Because you will not be able to overcome this without it. Now, do you think you can sleep?"

"No."

"Would you like me to stay?"

"Yes."

"Alright." He sat there before a soft voice came from the bed.

"Do you know any stories?"

"A few."

"Tell me some."

Lumière smiled softly and did as he was commanded, making sure to avoid fairy tales and transformations, until he was sure the prince was asleep again and then he made his way back to his make-shift bed.

Meadowlark4491: Thank you for reading. Please let em know what you thought. ConCrit welcomed.