I want to thank everyone for their kind reviews and help with looking over my chapters. Many times I post when it's really early in the morning, and even after proof-reading I'll have missed one or two things. I'm thinking I'll be wrapping this story up in the next two chapters, so thanks again! Also I apologize for skipping around so much time wise, but it helps me move things around in just a few chapters. If you want to see an accurate timeline of when the events have occurred, just PM me. At this point in the story Belle has been living in the castle for a full year, possibly a few months longer.

She had to find the rose.

Belle knew that it was the cornerstone of the curse, and with how Beast had been since their lovely night of dancing, she wanted to free him from it that much more. He'd been kind and gentle, and was spending days with her in the gardens. He was allowing her further and further from the castle, always accompanying her in the shadows of the thick, full trees; and when she became gravely ill one night after a meal of eels and roast beef, an illness that persisted for several days and forced her onto a diet of weak tea and crackers, he slept on the floor at the foot of her bed. He tended to her more tenderly than her own father.

So when he continued to ask for her hand, she was having a very difficult time saying no.

Adam was elusive and his visits sporadic. They spent their nights together, and while she enjoyed the intimacy she was having a much harder time actually feeling anything for him. He didn't seem to mind. While they kept each other warm, he always inquired after the Beast. He encouraged her to spend time with him. So it was with a heavy, pounding heart that she put thoughts of him aside and crept through the East Wing. Now she was on a mission, and had a plan in mind. Shivering in the darkness without a candle and without any light for guidance, she felt her way along the hallway and finally found her way into the room Beast had chased her from. The air was still. It was empty now and she made certain of it before making a beeline for the rose.

There seemed to be fewer pedals now, as if it were dying. The ones lying on the table were dry and dark. Her stomach knotted painfully as she lifted the glass dome and set it aside, then glanced around once more Beast before reaching out a hand and plucking the rose from midair. It was warm in her hand, and she cradled it in her palm before slowly and gently beginning to close her fingers around it. If she destroyed it, he would be free! This was what held the curse! Belle closed her eyes and felt the bulb begin to give way when -

"No!" Beast roared from behind her, grabbing her wrist so hard she was certain she felt the bones fracture. "What are you doing? Belle, what are you doing?" She dropped the rose into his waiting paw and cradled her wounded arm. Her wrist felt like it was on fire, but it was the look on his face that struck her. She had never seen pain etched so deeply into anyone's features, and to see his eyes - of all eyes - fill with tears as he cradled the flower to his chest, she didn't understand what to do.

"I was trying to help," She whispered.

"Just go."

"Beast, please forgive me, I didn't -"

"Get out! I never should have brought you back!"

He didn't have to tell her twice. She fled from the East Wing back to her room, where she threw books and food and anything she could think of into the chest. She changed out of the beautiful gown she was wearing and into the blue one she'd arrived in, patched moth holes and all, then sat on the bed and took stock of what could possibly get her home safe. It would be impossible to ride Phillipe home, and here he was much better cared for. The mirror she would take, as well as the ring that had guided her, but...her time with the castle was finished. The sound of Beast's anger finally reached her and sent a shiver down her spine.

It was then that she really saw the size of the chest. If she bent her arms just right, she could certainly close the lid over her head. So that was precisely what she did, clutching the priceless mirror to her chest as she thought of her father and her home.

So it was, when Beast broke through the door fifteen minutes later with Lumiere and Cogsworth begging at his heels, he found a cold hearth and an empty room.

"Belle, tell us again how you got away!" Pauline begged as Belle nursed their father. For more than a week she had been struggling to break his terrible fever. He cried out for her even as she ran cool water over his face, and on the few occasions he opened his eyes and saw her he merely turned his head and wept.

"The Beast told me to come home, so I did," She didn't want to get into it anymore than that. To tell them of the rose and the magic felt like she was telling a big secret. "I came the same way I sent your gifts. How long did you say he's been sick?" She rose from the bed to fetch clean water and tend to the bread she had baking. Coming home was almost more curse than blessing. She'd grown used to the elaborate, magical dinners and the friends she'd made with Mrs. Potts, Chip, and other 'members' of the castle. She missed Phillipe and her roses.

More than anything she missed Beast's quiet company.

"Since Gaston proposed, I would think," Laura supplied, twisting the engagement band on her finger. "Gaston tended to him, but it didn't help. I don't think he even wants help. I think he wants to die," Pauline shot her a look that didn't seem to matter. "You know, I think the dresses you sent us helped me to claim him as a husband. Once we were going about in them, every eye in the village looked our way. Such finery! We picked some of them apart and sold the material and gems separately. You sent us a lovely pink one, but it was so small neither of us could wear it, and Father wouldn't let us sell it," She'd been grateful to find it laid out on her bed, but was puzzled when the ribbon refused to tie around her waist. Extravagant food for so long must have added more weight than she'd previously thought.

Belle kept a near constant vigil for her father, pausing only to use the looking glass to check on Beast. Every day it was the same blank, cold, staring at the rose. Every day his eyes looked glassy and his expression bleak. Were she not in despair for her father, she would have been in despair for him. Had touching the rose hurt him? Damaged him? After a week, a knock sounded at the door that had Laura nearly screaming with delight. Gaston had arrived and seemed quite surprised to find Belle there, let alone well and seemingly happy. She spoke with him at length about the castle and Beast's kindness, answering every question he had.

When he returned a day later with medicine she knew would cure her father, she answered even more of them. As much as she wanted to, it was hard to avoid him. Laura and Pauline captured most of his attention, but when they were busy with the seamstress or visiting their friends in the village he popped up like a stubborn weed. He'd surprised her when she was doing laundry, bringing a freshly killed boar for supper. Once she'd been looking in on Beast, who was wandering about the gardens, and he'd nearly frightened her half to death with an extravagant bouquet. When her sisters arrived later in the day to find him there, Belle was certain the looks they gave her were meant to kill.

Waking just after sunrise and so sick she could barely find the window before she was heaving out of it, the pretty brunette was half convinced they'd tried. For weeks it was worse than the eels, and it was only after several months had passed that the uncomfortable and impossible truth set in. She was with child - and it could be none other than Adam's child. The realization sent her scrambling for the mirror and seeking him out, yet all the mirror would show was the castle as a whole. Was he magicked into it? Was he cursed more than he'd let on? Was he a specter?

The worst of the sickness was passing when Gaston arrived one morning unannounced, well groomed and honestly more handsome than she'd ever seen him. She'd let out several of her dresses and it was clothed in one of a dove soft, grey that she opened the door. "Oh, hello again, Gaston," Belle said with a small smile. "I'm sorry, but Laura isn't here and I'm very busy this morning. Perhaps you can find her in town?"

Something in his eye told her he wouldn't just walk away.

"I'm here to see you, Belle. Are you feeling better?" His gaze sought some answer in her expression, and then he pushed past her and into the house. "Where is your father?"

"He's out," She said, wishing for Beast's hulking form at her back. She was suddenly reminded of the hungry look of the wolves as they circled her in the darkness of the forest. "You...wish to see me?"

"Yes, Belle. I've broken my engagement with your sister, and I would ask your hand in marriage." The words struck her like a slap, but for all the admiring of himself he was doing Belle didn't think he noticed. His gaze was fastened on her looking glass lying up on the table.

"Gaston! I...I don't know what to say!" She said, backing away as he advanced slowly towards her.

"Say you'll marry me," He growled, trapping her between him and the wall.

"I'm sorry, Gaston, I...I simply don't deserve y-!"

Yet his lips were uncomfortably pressed against her own, and she was pulled flush against him. She'd never felt like someone was trying to force her into affection before now, and as she struggled against his hold she realized that while one hand was around her waist and pulling her in, the other had moved to rest against the swell of her belly and he'd pulled out of the kiss. She gasped for air and trembled as his eyes lowered and his large hands moved aside her apron and smoothed the material against her. It was quite obvious what she was hiding beneath her gown.

"You...Belle..."

"Gaston, please, let me explain," She begged even as she twisted out of his grip. "It was an accident, I didn't even know it could happen! It was at the castle and I-"

"He did this to you, then? That...that Beast defiled you?" He slammed something on the table, a small golden ring it looked like, and snatched up her mirror. "Did you let him? Did you get lonely and need something to warm your bed?" He grasped her wrist and dragged her up the stairs and through the house until they'd arrived in her room, where he shoved her towards the bed. "No, no, I don't think you did. I think he tricked you somehow," Gaston paced back and forth, looking down at the mirror every so often.

"Gaston, no, you don't understand. I didn't even realize it was really happening! I thought it was a dream! Beast is kind and generous, and he -"

"It sounds like you have feelings for the creature! Show him to me, Belle! I've seen you looking into this thing and pining after something, and now I know what it is. Show him to me!" Gaston said, waving it in her face. "Show me the Beast!" At once the mirror lit unearthly green, and was hyper focused on the Beast's furrowed brow and enormous fangs. Belle tried to get a better look as Gaston gaped at the mirror and turned it this way and that, and could make out only that he was in her room at the castle. What was he doing?

"That's him. That's Beast," She murmured as she sat on the bed. He was pacing in front of her door - how would she run past him to safety?

"You're mine, Belle. I knew it the first time I saw you. I won't let such a thing have you. I won't harm you to get at whatever is growing inside you, but don't worry. As soon as it's born, I'll kill it myself,"

Belle leaped up with a horrified cry as Gaston slammed her door closed and secured it, with what she wasn't sure, but as much as she pulled and pled and threatened and begged it wouldn't budge. He had the mirror! He would be able to get to Beast without any problem at all. Belle anxiously wrung her hands as she looked out the window for her father or her sisters. The sun crept lower, and no amount of pushing and banging would budge the door. She was too afraid of hurting herself or her child to leap out the high window. She'd settled herself on the bed to wait and think, when the strangest thing appeared - a single, dark rose petal. It happened into being directly above her lap, then floated leisurely onto the folds of her dress.

She lifted it carefully, looking around the room for something it might have come from, but she knew. It was from Beast. It was from the rose.

And it had to be the last one.

Suddenly the need to get out was even more desperate than before. Dark clouds were rolling in to cover the cheerfulness of day, and somehow they brought a threat along with them. In no time at all dresses were strewn about the room and she was uselessly fretting as she paced. That was when she remembered the little ring hidden in her jewelry box. It slid easily onto her finger, but as much as she thought of the Beast and the castle it remained cold and mere metal. There was no guiding light to lead her. "I want to go back to him..." She murmured, twisting it anxiously as she peered out at the sky. "I want to go home."

Everything spun, the world tilted. The young woman was sure that she was about to come crashing down onto her hard, wooden floor and braced for the impact...and instead found herself upright and looking down at the rather astonished face of Mrs. Potts.

"What..."

"Mrs. Potts! Where is Beast? I have to speak with him! It's urgent!" She said, kneeling to pick up the alarmed teapot. "I don't know how I'm back, I don't know why, but I have to speak with him! Right now!"

"Y-your old room, dear. How did you arrive in the kitchen like that? Belle, wait, Belle!" Belle set her down as carefully and quickly as she could before racing down the corridor. Lightning lit the castle grounds as she ran down the familiar hallways until she arrived at her room, where she found Beast sitting in front of the chest. His fur was full of burs, and his large eyes were red. He held the stem of the rose in his hand and when she forced the door open he barely glanced at her.

"Hallucinations? Is that how it starts?" He asked himself, staring down at his terrible claws.

"No, oh no, Beast. I'm here. I'm truly here." She rushed to his side and stroked his arm, willing him to look again. "I have to talk to you, it's important."

"Then...you're here?" He cupped her cheek and wiped away a tear with his thumb. "It's too late, Belle. The curse is established now. This is how things will be. Forever."

"None of that matters now. Gaston is coming here to kill you, to...to take the castle, I think. He was engaged to my sister and then he found out I was pregnant and he took the mirror, and now he's on his way here!" She rambled, her hands doing their best to prove her point. Beast's eyes had grown even wider as she spoke. "I don't know who he's coming with, or if he's coming alone, but I had to warn you. I couldn't...I couldn't let you die,"

"You're pregnant? With...with Gaston's child? You haven't been gone that long, but I suppose -"

"No, no, with...with Adam's child. I didn't think he was real, but he was or he is and..." She shook her head to force her thoughts into line. "That isn't important. What's important is that I've spent all day thinking of some way to warn you, and then I was suddenly magicked here!"

Beast grasped her hand and smiled down at the ring. "You turned it three times, didn't you?"

"What? I don't know. I didn't count,"

She opened her mouth to add to it, to spark the madness he'd displayed when defending her in the forest. Instead the castle was besieged by a god-awful banging and smashing. She heard the servants screaming and then Beast rose to his full height. He drew her to her feet and pulled her in close, and arm in arm they walked towards the window and looked out. It appeared that half the village had turned up. She saw torches blazing around the perimete, and the glint of knives and pitchforks. The weapons glittered like stars coming through the forest. "Did Gaston say anything else? Only that he wanted me dead?" Belle couldn't look at him when she shook her head.

"He said as soon as my child was born, he'd kill it," Beast wrapped an arm around her and placed a gentle kiss on the top of her head. She thought she felt him trembling with rage at her side.

"Stay here and be safe. I'll get rid of him. I'll get rid of them all, and then you and I will have a talk about the curse."

An hour later and the last of the villagers had staggered off into the forest. Belle watched them from the window, wrapped in a sheet from her bed and nestled in her favorite chair. She had listened to the noise and clamor, and the doors had magicked themselves closed against intruders. They'd bowed under the force of blows and yet held firm. Beast was off protecting his home while trying not to kill the intruders, and from the sound of things the servants had helped. Lumiere spent a good twenty minutes guffawing and swearing. The fireplace had suddenly blazed to life, and she heard the stove roaring. As one last villager fled into the night washed forest, void of his trousers and what looked like scorched hair, she let the sheet fall from her shoulders and venture into the hall.

Everything was silent.

"Beast? Is he gone?" She asked, padding down the corridor. "Beast?"

She didn't see the hand that was reaching out from behind a tapestry hung against the wall, and when fingers twisted themselves in her hair and yanked she let out a blood curdling scream.

"I don't know how you got here Belle, but I guess I can use this to my advantage. I can't find him anywhere, but I'm sure the dog wants his bitch," Gaston dragged her by her hair up a flight of stairs. He ignored her as she tried to pull free and slipped, banging up her knee in the process. He pulled her along through passageways and rooms, holding a cold blade to her throat whenever he walked through a doorway.

"You came after your precious Beast, didn't you?" Gaston hissed in her ear, the blade was a quick sting of fire when he pressed too closely. "You're delusional. I should have stayed with your sister. At least she knows how to make a man feel wanted."

Belle could sense Beast lingering nearby, following them silently as Gaston dragged her higher and higher. She wanted to cry out to him yet couldn't find her voice. All she was capable of doing was taking another step forward, and sending as many positive thoughts as she could to her unborn child.

"I think I've figured this out, Belle," Gaston said as he pulled her through the East Wing and across the expansive room that had once held a magic rose. All that was left of it was the table covered in dried petals. Gaston kicked the table out of his way as he pulled her out onto the balcony. Rain was coming down in sheets. It made the marble slick and she struggled to keep her footing. "That thing you're carrying will end up killing you anyway, and if I cut it from you it would be more painful. Really, Belle, this is a mercy," Then his large hand was suddenly around her throat and pushing her towards the edge. "I am sorry, Belle,"

It was then that Beast leaped from behind a twisted looking gargoyle, looking more ferocious than she'd ever seen him. Gaston whirled with knife in hand and plunged it deep into his fur, the force of his stab pulling her from the edge.

Beast roared in pain and fury before reaching forward and grasping the dark haired man by an arm and a leg. Blood poured from the wound in his side, and even in the rain she could see the splash of brightest red. "You will not touch the woman I love!" He demanded, and without any further care he threw the offending person from the balcony. Belle turned away and struggled to drown out his screams, and a blessed clap of thunder helped.

Beast stumbled to her side and dropped heavily to his knees, cradling her close as she clung to his fur. "Are you okay?" He wheezed, laying beside her on the cold, wet marble. She nodded tearfully.

"I'm fine. I'm fine. Oh Beast, I'm so sorry. I love you," She wept, pressing her hands into the deep wound buried in his fur. The blood flowing over her skin was so hot her skin tingled. "Beast?"

He lay still in her arms, his eyes staring up into the clouds without seeing any of the water striking his face, or even the lightning that lit their surroundings. "Beast! No, no, please not yet! Just give me a few more minutes! Please," She sobbed, leaning over his prone body. She was so consumed by her grief that she hardly noticed the glowing until it was so bright it burned. Belle quickly pulled her hands away to block her vision from the increasing light, and gasped as his enormous form rose in the air, suspended by strings of light. She reached for him, astonishment silencing her. His face and fingers erupted with light, blinding them from view. His ragged cloak twisted around his bulky form as chips of light seemed to collapse around her like hail.

Eventually the body lowered itself back onto the balcony, and Belle crept closer. "Beast...?"

The figure stirred and pushed itself into a sitting position, and Belle's hands flew to her mouth. Adam grinned at her from a face free of fur and fang, and without another pause embraced her. "Were you still willing to marry me?" He asked, brushing away her tears. "Even without my handsome looks?"

"It really is you, isn't it? You won't disappear this time?" She touched his face, his bare chest, the strange looking scar that might have been from a sword on a larger man. "Beast...Adam...I love you. I want to be with you for as long as you'll have me,"

"It really is me, and I'm not going anywhere," He placed a gentle kiss on her cheek as she cried and laughed, then spread his hand across the round form of her belly. "That really is mine?" When she nodded again he kissed her again and gave a cry of delight, and pulled them both to their feet.

At the ceremony only a few weeks later the smiles still hadn't left their faces.

It looked to be a very happy ending for the two indeed.