Author's Note: Well, this chapter *was* going to be the one in which we learn if Belle becomes pregnant from her...enounter with Gustave, and that is partly written, but this conversation between Beast and Maurice begs to be written first, and so it shall.

Sorry it's been some time since I've updated.

Disclaimer: I don't own anything but the fingers that are plinking away at the keyboard (which I also own lol). BatB and its characters belong to Disney.

The Beast sat in his room in the West Wing one evening. He wished the requirements of the enchantment had been fulfilled in time. He wanted Belle to be his wife, and he knew she wanted to be, but it wouldn't happen. It couldn't. Though human at heart, he was an animal in form, and therefore could not marry a human. It just wouldn't be proper. So while they loved each other enough to be married, their relationship could only go so far.

It had been a couple of months after Gustave attacked Belle, and she had fully recovered from the blow to the head. But all knew that very soon, it would be known if she was carrying Gustave's child. Gaston's niece or nephew. The Beast ran a paw through his mane, hoping that Belle would not have to have a child sired by such a man. Oh she'd make a wonderful mother, he had no doubt. It was just that...well, he knew she never would have chosen to have a child by Gustave, or Gaston.

"Ahem...Master?" Cogsworth's voice at the door pulled the Beast out of his thoughts. He turned and looked down at the mantle clock. "I have Maurice here, he wishes to speak with you."

"Send him on in." The Beast said.

Cogsworth went back into the hallway, and in came Maurice, who closed the door behind him. The Beast motioned for him to sit in a chair.

"I've been wondering something for some time." The old man said.

"What is that?"

"Well, why is it that you love my daughter?"

The Beast's jaw dropped as he looked at Maurice in shock, and quite frankly, pain.

"What...whatever do you mean, why do I love her? I...I'm afraid I do not understand your question."

"Well, I know it was a requirement of the curse." Replied the old inventor. "And that she love you in return. That's why you fell in love with her. But it didn't happen in time...she returned the love but ten seconds too late. So...why is it you still love her?"

The Beast understood the question slightly better than he did before, but it was still baffling to him. There were a few moments of silence as he tried to figure out how to respond.

"I had a lot to learn about love." He said. "At first it was all about the spell. I had to learn to love a woman and earn her love in return. But once I learned to love...it stopped being about that. At least for the most part. I...I don't know how to explain it, but I was unable to be simply concerned with the spell once I loved her." Silence ensued for a moment more before he continued. "That night after we had dinner and danced, her far-off look told me something was wrong. I inquired, and it was you she was thinking about, wanting to see you. I brought her in here and showed her the mirror. When we learned you were out in the woods near death, I knew there wasn't much time left before the rose lost all petals, but I knew what needed to be done and I told her to go find you. I loved her but couldn't force her to love me, and had I held her captive and unable to rescue you...well my love for her wouldn't allow it. I can't explain it any other way than that. I cared more about her at that point than becoming human again, though I admit is was a very hard thing to give up."

"I see." Maurice said after listening carefully to the Beast's words. "But, why do you still love her? I mean, because you're an animal and she is a human, your relationship can't go as far as it otherwise could."

Again, the Beast ran his paw through his mane. Ironic, he had just been thinking about the limits of their relationship before Maurice came into the room. Suddenly, guilt flooded the Beast when he thought of where Belle's father may have been going with the questions.

"Do...do you think I'm doing her a disservice? Loving her when she could find a human to love?"

"Oh no! I don't mean that at all." Maurice said. "Besides, she obviously loves you. It's just that, well, you only learned to love to break the curse, which didn't happen."

"Well, I can't exactly stop loving her. She's just too...loveable. Her kindness, her...everything about her changed me. And just thinking about that makes me love her all the more. She was able to reach me when no one else could, not even my servants who have known me my whole life. She found the soul within me that had been long buried under not only the selfishness and cruelty that got me in the mess to begin with, but the pain and animalistic rage that was eating away at any shred of humanity I had bit by bit. Had she not come along...I think I'd only have gotten worse. Eventually I fear I'd totally become a wild animal, rampaging through the village eating people, no humanity left. I love her all the more for bringing me out of that downward spiral."

Maurice listened very intently, sometimes nodding during the Beast's speech. What the Beast said did raise another question, though, and after a few moments of pondering, Maurice asked it.

"Beast, what happened when Belle arrived...what was it like, from your perspective?"

That was an interesting question, and the Beast thought for a moment before responding.

"Well, I'd like to go a little bit before that, and start from when you arrived." Though, that whole encounter caused the Beast pain to remember. He took a deep breath. "All those years, I'd been so ashamed of my hideous form, hiding in my castle. I only went out to hunt for food, having long ago abandoned the dinner table. Of course, not many humans would go into the woods, and when they did, they were usually chased back out by wolves...or eaten by them. No human ever saw me in this form, excepting my staff, who, of course, were no longer human but objects. You were the first human to see me, and remember, I thought you had come to stare at me. While this does not excuse what I did, I was very humiliated to have been found out."

"You didn't want a human to see you...even though a human was your only hope?"

"Well, true." The Beast said. "By that point, I'd lost any hope that anyone could learn to love a Beast. And you, well, no offense, but you weren't exactly the type of person who could break the spell anyway. Little did I know Belle would soon be coming for you. I remember being stunned when she offered to take your place. I couldn't understand why she would throw away her freedom like that."

"I don't know which of us was more stunned that day." Maurice said. "I was stunned and horrified. Like I said to her, I'm an old guy. It's not like I have that many years ahead of me, unlike Belle, and she was willing to spend decades in a dungeon in exchange for one who might have one decade left, at best."

"I have to say, while I accepted her offer and threw you out, I kind of had to agree with you." The Beast said. "I couldn't understand why she would promise to remain the prisoner of a Beast her whole life. But her arrival gave me a small shred of hope. Not much, but some. The rose had already begun wilting by that point, I knew it was her or no one. When I got back in the castle after sending you home, Lumiere suggested I offer her a better room. I growled, but decided to do so. I told her she could go anywhere on the castle grounds...except here. She must stay out of the West Wing. I learned that night that she had a lot of spunk."

"Oh, she has spunk." Maurice chuckled.

"That she does. Lumiere suggested I invite her to dinner...of course it would be my first proper meal in years. And I did...well it was more of a demand than an invitation. But she refused. Cogsworth tried to get her to come, but could only tell me of her refusal. I went to the door of her room and yelled for her to come down, but she wouldn't. The servants tried to keep me calm, and I tried to keep myself calm, but when she refused me one too many times, I lost my temper and stormed out, ordering the staff not to feed her unless she would eat with me. Of course, I later learned that they did feed her, and I'm actually glad they did. I was a fool." The Beast sighed. He wished he could undo every mistake he'd ever made. "Later that night, I caught her in the West Wing. I told her to stay out because, well, it was a lot messier than it is now. Furniture strewn all over, walls all clawed...not to mention all the carcasses of animals I'd killed and brought back to eat. I was living like an animal and didn't want her to see it. But I nearly had a heart attack when I caught her here, because she was about to touch the rose, and if she destroyed it...well all would be lost. I flew into a rage, roared at her to get out. I realized too late that I'd made a bad mistake, and a few moments later Lumiere and Cogsworth came and informed me that she had fled the castle. I was sure all hope was lost, she would never love me, so I wasn't going to go after her. But then I heard the wolves howl...I couldn't let her fall prey to them. I got to her just in time to fend off the wolves. I collapsed, wounded, after they ran away...I saw her about to mount her horse before losing consciousness. Next thing I knew she was helping me off of the horse and into the castle. She tended to my wounds, even though I was being...rather difficult."

"Ah, that's my Belle." Maurice said. "I can picture it now. About to mount Philippe, knowing she could escape and go home, then looking back and seeing you injured, and helping you back to the castle."

"I think that's exactly what happened." The Beast said. "She surprised me. I was complaining about the pain of her cleaning my wounds, she told me to hold still. We argued for a moment, I told her this wouldn't have happened if she hadn't run away. She said if I hadn't frightened her, she wouldn't have. I told her she shouldn't have been in the West Wing, and she told me I should learn to control my temper. I had no comeback. I then allowed her to resume her ministrations, and she actually thanked me for saving her life. Nobody had ever thanked me before. That was the turning point. I started to try really hard to change. Over time she became more willing to associate with me. At Lumiere's suggestion, I gave her the library and it became her favorite room in the castle. Then she finally agreed to eat with me. It wasn't a pretty picture, as I had long forgotten how to use silverware and just ate with my face in the bowl. After a failed attempt to use my spoon she raised her bowl in a toast and we drank from it. A bit more time passed, she taught me to feed birds and have snowball fights. She then read to me, and taught me how to read. She also taught me how to use silverware. Before I knew it, I realized that I loved her. Then we had dinner, danced, and then..." The Beast trailed off. "Then...we discovered you were in trouble and I sent her home. I think you pretty much know the rest."

Maurice sat for several minutes. He found it very interesting to listen to the Beast's perspective on what happened.

"And Belle and I got there later that night, when Gaston attacked. You were laying at the edge of the roof, making no attempt to defend yourself until you knew Belle had returned."

"I thought I'd lost her forever." The Beast said softly. "Not only would the curse become permanent, but the one I loved was gone, and I never thought she'd come back. I was just going to let him finish me off." The Beast thought for a moment. "You know, I've failed her..."

"What do you mean?"

"I didn't prevent her from being abducted...violated in one of the worst ways a woman could be violated. And now she may be carrying the child of her attacker...the niece or nephew of Gaston. If she is I know she'll make a great mother...but she'd never have chosen to have a child by either of them. I should have done more. I should have stopped it."

"You did what you could, and so did your staff." Maurice said. "To fail her would have been to do nothing."

The two sat in silence for several minutes before Maurice stood up.

"Well, I thank you for your candor in speaking to me. And please understand, I never meant to imply that you shouldn't love her. I'm glad you do. I'm glad you've changed from when we first met."

"So am I." The Beast replied.

"I'll leave you alone now, thank you."

"And thank you." The Beast smiled at the old man, and watched him leave the room.