Chapter 4

Taking one step at a time, Belle hobbled down the stairs slowly with her crutch. As she neared the bottom, she saw the man formerly known as Beast turning the corner. When he saw her, his eyes grew wide and he ran up the stairs towards her.

"Let me help you," he said, putting his arm around her waist.

"I can manage," she assured him, pulling away from him. She didn't mean to, but she practically brushed him off. It felt strange feeling his arm around her. After what she had been through, getting used to a loving touch was going to take time. The prince took the hint and backed away, but only slightly. He stayed close in case she needed him.

"You should be in bed resting," he told her.
"I needed to stretch my legs," she explained. "It feels good to be…free."

By the time she reached the bottom, Belle's ankle was throbbing, but she felt a sense of accomplishment for having climbed down so many stairs. She could already smell scrumptious food from the dining room. Her stomach growled loudly.

"You must be hungry," he said.

"Yes."

"I know you don't need help," he began. "But perhaps you'll let me escort you to dinner."

He held out his arm. Belle stared at it for a moment. She reminded herself that even though he looked different, he was still the beast she had grown to love. Belle looped her arm through his.

"Thank you, Bea…" she began but then cut herself off. Calling him Beast seemed inappropriate. "I don't know what to call you."
"Adam," he told her.

"Adam?"

"That's my name."

"Adam," she said again, letting the name roll off her tongue. "Should I call you Prince Adam?"

"No. Just Adam."

They walked to the dining room. The table had been meticulously set using the best china. Belle immediately smelled tomato soup and she smiled.

"My favorite," she said. "You remembered."

"I asked Mrs. Potts to make it. Of course she had already started before I even got to the kitchen. She always remembers everyone's favorites."

Adam pulled out Belle's chair at the head of the table where she had gotten used to sitting and helped push her in once she sat. He sat down beside her. Belle bypassed the spoon and immediately picked up the bowl. She brought it to her lips and sipped it just like they had done so many times before. Adam smiled and did the same with his soup.

"Why didn't you tell me?" Belle asked, the warmth of the soup spreading through her. She used her napkin to wipe her lips.

"Tell you what?"
"That your name is Adam. I would never have called you…Beast."
"Adam did not fit the creature I was."

"Maybe not the beast I first met, but it would have fit the beast you became."

"I practically forgot about that part of my identity."

"And how about the part of your identity that you're a prince," Belle said, genuinely curious about why Adam had never told her he was a prince. "Had you forgotten that as well?"

"In the state I was in, it hardly seemed important. I didn't feel like a prince and I didn't deserve to be a prince. Would you have thought of me differently? If you knew I was a prince?"

Belle took a bite of freshly baked bread.

"I…I don't know," she admitted. "I'd like to think not. But perhaps I would not have yelled at you quite so much."

"I deserved to be yelled at," he replied with a smile. "Are you angry with me for not telling you?"

"No," she said, shaking her head. "Will you tell me what happened? The spell? The enchantress? How you all returned to your human selves? All of it?"

Adam sighed. "There's much to tell. Perhaps when you're better rested…"

"Please," Belle begged. She placed her hand on his. It was a big step for Belle to initiate the touch. She realized she wanted to feel connected to him. It was so different than how it had been with Gaston. She needed to replace those memories with good ones.

"I was not a good person, Belle," he explained.

"I don't believe that."
"Believe it. I was selfish. I was not kind. I cared only about beautiful things and beautiful people. I was incredibly unhappy, but I didn't know it. And one night during a party, an old woman came to the castle. I turned her away because I did not deem her pretty enough to be in my presence."

"That doesn't sound like you," she said.

"As I said, you did not know the man I was before. As punishment, the enchantress turned me into the creature I was. And she turned all of my staff into things, which of course you know."

"But how was the spell broken?"
"It was you, Belle," Adam told her.
"I don't understand. When I asked before if there was anything I could do, Mrs. Potts said it wasn't for me to worry about."
"There was nothing you could do. Not until you were sure."
"Sure of what?"
Adam took a deep breath. "The only way to break the spell was for me to fall in love."

"Oh." She looked away from him, suddenly embarrassed. Although she was sure she knew how Adam felt, she hadn't actually heard him use the words.

"I fell in love with you, Belle."

"You…did?"

"Does that surprise you?" He asked.

She shook her head. "You've never…said that to me before."

"I wanted to. I just didn't know how you would react. I couldn't expect someone as beautiful as you to love someone like me."

"You didn't give me enough credit," Belle said.

"No. I suppose I didn't. I was scared, Belle. Scared to admit my love for you. Scared of what you would do or say. Scared that I would remain a beast forever. Perhaps more scared to turn back into myself."

"Why would that scare you?"

"Because I didn't like who I was when I was a prince."

"And now?"

"I'm getting used to him," Adam said with a smile.

"Loving me…is that what broke the curse?"
"That was part of it. You see, the enchantress told me that not only would I have to open my heart enough to fall in love with someone, but that person would have to love me in return."

"So when I said…" she trailed off. It seemed like a lifetime ago when she was in the tower with the Beast dying right in front of her. She wasn't even sure if he had heard her.

"When you said you loved me, it broke the spell. I became human again. So did everyone else."

"Why didn't you ever tell me that's what it would take? That I had to…"

"Fall in love with me? I couldn't force you to love me, Belle. It had to be real. Nothing else would have broken the curse."

"I'm sorry I didn't say it sooner," she apologized. "I was almost too late."

"But you weren't. You saved me, Belle. In more ways than one." He lowered his head. "But I couldn't save you."
"What are you talking about? You did save me."

"But not until after he took you away from me."
"He didn't…take me away exactly," she admitted.

"I know."
"You do?"
"I know some things. I know you would never go away with him so willingly. But that you must have felt like you had to. I just don't know why. Why did you go with him?"

Belle swallowed a lump in her throat. "I didn't love him if that's what you think. I never loved him."

"I never thought you did."

"He was going to kill you," Belle explained. "He had already shot you twice. He could have killed you. He told me if I…if I married him, he'd leave you alone. That he wouldn't kill you. I had to do it."

A tear rolled down her cheek. Adam reached up and wiped it away. She didn't turn away from him.

"You shouldn't have done that. You should have let him kill me."

She shook her head. "No. I could never let that happen."

"I'm sorry Belle. If I had only been stronger…I could have…" he trailed off. "I should have dropped him off the tower when I had the chance."

"Don't say that," Belle said. "You are not that person. You are good and kind. And none of this was your fault. It was mine. I should never have told the villagers about your castle. I showed them your picture in the mirror. If I hadn't done that, none of them would have come to the castle and…"

"Let's not do this," Adam interjected. "What's done is done. We can't erase the past."

Belle nodded. "Tell me what happened. Tell me how you found me."

"That night when Gaston found me in one of the towers, I didn't really care if I lived or died because you were gone."

"You didn't think I'd come back."

"No. I was sure I'd never see again. I was sure you'd run away and never look back."

"I always intended on coming back. I could not have left you that easily, you must know that."

"I know that now. I was ready to give up, but then you were there and I knew I had to fight because I had something worth fighting for. I remember fighting with Gaston and then leaping to the balcony to get to you. But then there was the shot and I fell and… I don't have much memory after that. But I do remember you saying you loved me."

"You heard me?" Belle asked.

"Yes. I thought I was dreaming, but when I woke up in bed two days later and saw that I was a person again, I knew it wasn't a dream. Cogsworth and Lumière and the others took care of me, patched me up."
"When I went by them all at the front of the castle, they were still just…objects. It's like they were frozen. They weren't alive anymore."

"That's because the last petal of the rose fell just as you told me how you felt. If it were even a few more seconds, they would have stayed objects and I would have…"

"Died," Belle finished. She shuddered at the thought.

"As soon as I was well, I went to your village. I thought I might find you. But nobody knew where you were. Except the priest."

"Père Robert?"

"Yes. He told me you had come in with Gaston. That he demanded to have a marriage ceremony. But Père Robert refused."
"Yes, he knew it wasn't right."

"He also told me that you agreed to marry Gaston," Adam said.
"But it wasn't like that. I only agreed because I wanted to save you."
"I know. And it still pains to think that you did it for me. Père Robert knew something was wrong, but he didn't know where you had gone. So I started looking for you. I looked everywhere. Every day, sometimes weeks at a time. But I couldn't find you, Belle. I was so afraid that he had killed you."

"How did you find me?" Belle wondered.

"I was in a little town when I heard his voice. Gaston's voice. I followed him into the tavern. I thought about confronting him there, but I was afraid if I did, I would never actually know what happened to you. So I waited while he got drunk. It was agony just waiting. Eventually I followed him to where he had you. I'm sorry it took me so long."

"I'm just glad you're alright," Belle said. "I didn't know if you were alive or dead. I didn't know if you'd be cursed forever."

"We're back together again. That's all that matters. And now we can finally be together."

He brought her hand to his lips and kissed her knuckles gently.

"There are things," Belle began. She pulled her hand away from him. "Things you should know."

"What do you mean?"

Belle took a deep breath. She had thought about this moment a lot living in that little house. She had played in scenarios in her mind of what would happen if she told him what Gaston had done to her. Would he banish her? Would he ever look at her the same way again?

"Gaston and I…we were never actually married."

"Isn't that good news?"
Belle shook her head. "He acted like we were husband and wife. He…expected things. He made me…perform certain duties that a wife does for her husband. I…I didn't want to. I…"

"Oh Belle," Adam whispered. "If I could kill him all over again, I would."

"I don't think I would stop you." She paused. "I understand if you don't want to be with me after what he…"

Belle was interrupted when the door to the dining room opened. Two men Belle didn't recognize stood in the doorway.

"We were just checking in," one of the men said. Belle recognized his voice. It was Cogsworth.

"We wanted to see how Mademoiselle Belle was feeling," the second man added. Belle knew it was Lumière. It was amazing to see them not as a clock and candlestick, but as two real men.

"I'm actually quite tired," Belle said, standing up quickly. She put weight on her bad ankle, forgetting that it was injured. She wobbled and bit back a cry. Adam stood immediately to steady her. "I'm going to go lie down."
Belle grabbed her crutch and began to set off for the doors.

"At least let me walk you to your room," Adam offered.

"No thank you. I'll be fine."
Belle hobbled out of the room as fast as she could.

"Is everything alright, sir?" Cogsworth asked.

"You two have the absolute worse timing," Adam answered, slumping down in his chair.

Author's Note: I really enjoyed writing this chapter. I am a huge fan of writing dialogue, so you might notice that many of my chapters are very dialogue heavy. Hope you liked it! Thanks for reading!