Also, I'd like to note that I do not own "Beauty and the Beast" or the characters and I will NOT be receiving any payment whatsoever for writing this story. It is intended for entertainment purposes only.
~*~Sorrow~*~
Summer came. Beautiful birds came to rest on the brick wall of Catherine's balcony during the early morning, singing sweet, tender songs, but she always found herself longing for the night and sweet stolen moments she had with Vincent whenever he dared to come to her side.
One morning Cathy awakened, and the voices of the birds could not soothe the fiery ache that burned in her heart. She had dreamt she had been a child and the tender sound of her mother's lullaby left her content as she lay upon her pink canopy bed clutching her lovely china doll. She awakened sobbing, her heart aching, knowing she would never again see her mother's gentle face, nor hear her calming voice. Twenty years ago today, her mother had died. "Mother," she whimpered softly, her throat aching so. God, how she needed Vincent now. If only he were able to comfort her now... if only she could have his arms around her.
Her father arrived an hour later, his own face shadowed with sorrow from the significance of what this day meant. He had loved Cathy's mother deeply and losing her had nearly broken him. "Daddy," Cathy sobbed like a child, like the ten-year-old girl she had been when her mother had died. "Thanks for coming." Charles Chandler took his daughter into his arms, holding her close and wishing he could ease her grief. His own anguish was more than he could bear.
"Ahhh, Cathy," Charles said as he held his daughter in his tight embrace on the couch. "Don't do this to yourself. Your mother wouldn't want you to be so sad."
Catherine looked up at her father with tear-filled eyes. "That's why I am crying, Dad. I don't know what Mother would have wanted for me. Would she be happy with how my life turned out? Would she be proud of me?"
"Of course she would, darling. You are a very successful young woman."
"Success isn't everything, Dad," Catherine said. "Sometimes I miss her. I miss her SO much."
"So do I, honey. So do I," Charles replied as he gently brushed away Catherine's tears.
Vincent came just as the sun had sunk over the horizon. Cathy ran into his arms, her tears flowing anew. "What is it?" he asked, his blue eyes shining with concern. "I've felt your sadness, as a knife in my own heart this entire day."
She looked up at him with leaf-green eyes. "Twenty years ago, my mother died. I was only ten. She was sick a very long while, but I never let myself believe she would actually die. But she did... and I miss her so very much."
Vincent pulled her close to him once again, feeling her tears soak through the fabric of his shirt, wetting the fur of his chest. He had to take away her pain; it was killing him.
"Catherine," he spoke softly, his warm breath brushing across her ear. "Your heart cries for more than your mother."
"You know me too well."
She pulled back from his embrace, moving to gaze over the balcony wall at the city below. Her body trembled as she struggled to speak, to find the words.
"Tell me what is in your heart, Catherine," Vincent urged.
She spun around to meet his gaze. "Vincent, my mother wanted me to have a happy life. And at times, I wonder... I wonder about the joys I may be missing."
A shadow of intense pain crossed Vincent's face, ripping into Catherine's soul. She hadn't meant to wound him with her words. "What we have is keeping you from those things you feel could bring you happiness," he spoke.
"What we have is incredible," she said urgently. "The moments I have had with you have been the best I have ever known."
"Yet when you think of your mother, when you are missing her, you are missing the family you used to have with her and your Father. You miss being a part of a family," Vincent concluded.
"You have that. With Father and the others Below. I could have that, too... if... I came Below."
"Your world is here, Catherine. Your heart belongs here."
His words were tender, but they cut into her soul like a dagger. "Please, Vincent," she pleaded. "Let me go with you tonight. Give me a chance to know your world."
"In time, but not tonight."
After Vincent had left, Catherine made a decision. Her good friend from college, Nancy Tucker had invited her to visit her home in the country for a few days. It was their friend Jenny Aronsen's birthday, and they were planning a party for her. Nancy's husband and children would be there, along with Jenny's current boyfriend. And Nancy had mentioned inviting David Rawlings, a man Catherine had been seeing in college. Cathy decided to go to Jenny's and try to make some sense of her tormented feelings and complicated life. Perhaps in the serenity of the country, the troubles of her life may somehow work themselves out.
Cathy tried to have fun at Nancy's house as she played in the yard with Nancy's two small, adorable children and helped Nancy with preparations for Jenny's party. But when David arrived at Nancy's, and his hand innocently touched hers across the supper table, she felt suddenly as if her soul had been set aflame.
She ended up excusing herself early, mumbling something about a headache. She crawled into the guest-bed and instantly went to sleep. It was then that she had the dream...
She and Vincent were walking on a path in the park, and the light of the sun shone down brillliantly in the blue of his eyes. "I had no idea that the sun would be this hot," he said, as his arm twined with hers.
Her soul soared. Vincent was here, with her, in the light of day, and their dream was coming true! She lead him across the park, to a secluded area where they had planned to share a picnic lunch. They sat down on a blanket with a basket of food and tall glasses of white wine.
"Ohhh Vincent. I'm so happy. I'm so happy when I'm with you," she said, gazing into his tender eyes, her own going closed as their lips began to meet.
Something jolted her, and her eyes burst open abruptly and she discovered then that it wasn't Vincent she was about to kiss, but David. Catherine gasped in confusion when she looked up to see Vincent walking away, leaving her there on the blanket with David.
"Vincent! No!" she called out, but he did not return.
He was leaving her life... again...
She sat up in bed with a start, her heart pounding furiously in her chest. And then Nancy was there, looking at Cathy with great concern. "Cathy, it's okay. It was only a dream," her friend soothed. Cathy threw herself into Nancy's arms and began to sob.
"I'm so sorry," Catherine spoke. "I don't mean to put a damper on the party... it's just that I've been so sad lately... with the anniversary of my mother's death... and Vincent-."
"Who's Vincent?" asked Nancy.
"He's- He's the man I've been seeing."
"You haven't mentioned him."
"I know."
"C'mon, Cathy. Why all the mystery?"
"Because... because it has to be that way," Catherine replied. "I'm sorry. I just... can't talk about what Vincent and I have."
"Is he married?"
"No!" Cathy gasped.
"Good. Will I ever meet him?"
"Perhaps... someday," said Catherine with a smile. "Hey, can I borrow your car? There's somewhere I must go... someone I definitely need to get back to."
"Cathy! It's four in the morning!"
"Is it? Ohhh well. I promise I will return the car in one piece."
"Sure, take it," Nancy agreed. "And good luck."