Okay! This was an interesting chapter to write. I thought a chat between Beast and Maurice would be good at this point. I expected it to be a fairly short chapter, but it's surprisingly long for being just two characters talking. Even though I had a general idea of the conversation, I tend to like to let the characters lead the way when I write, so the conversation did take a few turns I wasn't expecting. I think Maurice may have missed his calling. He's an artist, but here he seems to be making a pretty decent psychologist at times.

I'd like to explain the whole thing about the talk of Beast's name. I know that Adam is widely held to be his name, but since, on the special edition of the animated version, in the audio commentary with the executive producer and co-directors they explained that they got to the climax where Belle calls to him from the balcony and realized hey, we never named him, and they ultimately never did, hence she calls out "Beast", I'm thinking that's as an official a stance we will get at least for the animated film. I had hoped they'd name him in the live-action film (heck, they named other characters not named in the animated film), but they did not. But everyone knows he was once human, so he had to have a name right? So I decided to explore why he might not wish to recall it.

Next chapter, Agathe returns!

It was decided that Belle and Maurice's mattresses would remain in the west wing again that night. They would all bunk down in the Beast's room once more. Neither Beast nor Maurice were keen to be far from Belle. Sure Gaston's cell was quite secure and an escape was unlikely, but if there was any possibility of Gaston getting loose it was unthinkable that Belle should be alone. Plus in her emotionally fragile state both wanted to be near. Truth be told, Belle did not relish the thought of being alone either. So they all retired that night to the Beast's room.

Maurice awoke after a couple hours. Belle was still sleeping, but he noticed the Beast's bed was empty. Maurice looked around and noticed a shadow out on the balcony. He got up and moved closer. Sure enough, the Beast was sitting out on the balcony. Maurice quietly walked out to him.

"Mind some company?" he asked quietly.

The Beast looked up to see the old man, smiled, and gestured for him to sit, which Maurice did.

"Couldn't sleep?" Maurice asked.

"Not really," the Beast said. "You?"

"I did for a bit," Maurice said. "I awoke and saw you were gone so I looked around and found you here."

"I was feeling a bit restless," the Beast said. "I just can't believe what happened to her."

"Me neither," Maurice said. "I also couldn't believe Gaston's attitude when I went to give him a piece of my mind. He actually thinks he was justified!"

"Oh I know," the Beast said. "Believe me when I was up there listening to him it was all I could do to not open that cell door and really do a number on him."

"Her whole life I spent protecting her," Maurice said. "Keeping her safe. It started when she was a baby and we had to..." his voice trailed off.

"I know about that," the Beast said. "I showed her that book we used to escape the mob. She took us to the Paris of her childhood, where you lived with her mother. I asked what happened to her mother and she said it was the one thing you could never bring yourself to tell her about. I knew though when I spotted the beaked mask the doctor had discarded."

"So she knows?" Maurice asked.

"Yes," the Beast said softly.

"I'm sorry she had to find out that way," Maurice said. "I should have told her, but she was right, I never could quite do it."

"I hope this doesn't sound selfish of me," the Beast said. "But I think it was good we had that experience. Hopefully for both of us. We bonded on a level we hadn't yet bonded, and I think I was close to loving her at that point. I told her I was sorry for calling you a thief. And I am Maurice. I know I told you before but I'll tell you again because I am very sorry about that."

"And like I said I shouldn't have taken a rose from private grounds." Maurice said. "So technically I was a thief, even if a life sentence was a little over the top."

"I called you and Belle a fool when she took your place," the Beast said. "If only I'd realized then the only fool was me."

"I never thought I'd say this," Maurice said. "But what you did turned out for the best. It ultimately got us both out of Villeneuve. I thought we'd be safe in that small village. Not long before you met us I acknowledged the people were smallminded, but assured her that small meant safe. Now safe is not a word I can honestly associate with that village. Not after all that's happened. Not after what one of them did to my daughter. You've made mistakes, but one of those just happened to be the catalyst to getting us into a safer situation here at the castle."

"How do you call this castle safe?" the Beast asked, his voice catching with emotion. "It was here Belle was so violated. Like you I want her safe. Protected. And I couldn't even provide a safe haven under my own roof for her, where she wouldn't have to endure such an atrocity." He sighed. "I'd given up on ever learning to love, much less earning love in return. Then along came Belle and she slowly inched her way into my heart without even trying. I freed her because I loved her and she wanted to return because she felt this was a safe place."

"She knew Villeneuve was no longer safe," Maurice said.

"She felt you'd both be safe here," the Beast said. "And she wasn't."

"She was," Maurice said. "The only reason she wasn't for a time was because Gaston invaded her safe haven, which we knew about and were preparing for as best we could. When you were lying unconscious and it took a while for the potion to bring you around, she was so scared she'd lose you, for that would mean she'd have to deal with her trauma without you who make her feel safe. When you were healed and she told us what happened, she went into your arms because you make her feel safe."

"I'm sorry you had to witness that," the Beast said. "Your daughter seeking comfort in the arms of a creature like me."

"I'm not a bit sorry I witnessed it," Maurice said. "I'm glad she's found someone she can love, and who loves her. Let's face it, I've got more years behind me than ahead. Not that I plan on going anywhere in the near future but I'm not young by any stretch of the imagination. Without the little species descrepency forbidding marriage you both would have my whole hearted blessing. Even though there is that inconvenient little technicality, you're human enough, you've proved it, that I can't think of anyone better than you to take care of her even after I'm gone."

"I appreciate your vote of confidence," the Beast said. "I'm just not sure why you think I deserve it."

"You've learned to love and care for others," Maurice observed. "Just not yourself."

"Being selfish is the whole reason for this curse," the Beast said.

"Valuing yourself doesn't make you selfish as long as it's not over the top and as long as you also value others," Maurice said. Then he started wondering something. "May I ask you a question?"

"Sure," the Beast said.

"How did you get how you were...before the curse?"

"It's sort of complicated," the Beast said. "My mother was kind and loving. But she died when I was young. I suspect if she'd lived I'd never have turned out how I did."

"And your father?"

"He's dead now too," the Beast said, much more matter-of-factly than the fond tones with which he spoke of his mother. "He lived until I was seventeen, a couple years or so before the curse, then he died and I've been the master of the castle since."

"I take it you didn't get along so well with him?" Maurice asked.

"Not so much," the Beast said. "Since my mother died he was the only one I really had as a role model, unfortunately the wrong type. He was vain and a tyrant. Seeing how he treated people, including myself, didn't do me any favors. By the time he died and I took charge I was as hard and selfish as he was."

"I'm sorry," Maurice said, placing a hand on the Beast's arm, something he sensed the Beast's own father never did in kindness. "No father should treat a child like that."

"I suppose even though I was selfish I never really valued myself, the way you seem to think of it," the Beast said. "You seem to think it involves loving oneself. I was vain, only allowing outer beauty to enter my castle. That was a contributing factor for the curse. The enchantress Agathe seems to have a penchant for appearing as an old hag which didn't go over so well here. I demanded respect and obedience from my staff, thinking myself entitled since I was the master. But loving myself? I...I don't think so."

"You probably would have had your mother lived," Maurice said. "Your father should have instilled self-love and self-worth into you. That's not the same as selfishness. Selfishness seeks momentary, superficial comfort, generally at the expense of others. Self-love goes deeper...with it you don't need those superficial comforts, nor do you need to satisfy your desires at the expense of others, because you know you matter because you are you."

"Hmm," the Beast said. "Nobody has ever put it like that."

"Tell me something," Maurice said. "Did your father ever give you a hug, then look you in the eye and tell you you did a good job?"

"Pretty much if he was touching me he was beating me," the Beast said. "And if he looked me in the eye to tell me something it was generally the thousand and one ways I screwed up that day. Are you saying there are fathers out there who hug and praise their children?"

No wonder the poor lad grew up to be the way he was, Maurice thought. This was, quite frankly, stunning.

"My father did that with me," Maurice said. "And I continued that with Belle. And while I'm not your father, I mean to take it upon myself to do exactly what he should have done many times as you grew up. I'm going to show you what a father is supposed to do to his child."

The Beast stiffened a bit, nervous about what Maurice meant to do. Maurice noticed and was saddened by the Beast's anxiety, but was not deterred by it. If anything it made him more determined to give the Beast, though an adult now, a taste of what his father should have done throughout his childhood. He wrapped his arms around the Beast. The Beast gave a soft gasp. He had an idea he was supposed to reciprocate the hug, and moved his arms as if he wanted to, but hesitated.

"Don't be afraid," Maurice said, much like the Beast heard him tell Belle before Belle threw him out of the cell she had stepped into. "Have you really grown up so lacking in paternal affection that it scares you, so lacking in it you don't quite know how to respond to it?"

The Beast tentatively put his arms around Maurice, but still seemed tense and unsure. Maurice decided he would hold the embrace until either the Beast actively pulled away or, hopefully, gave himself permission to relax and give in to it. Slowly, the Beast's anxiety began to succumb to the fatherly compassion he was receiving for the first time in his life. He was finally able to relax into more of a natural hug. After a moment, Maurice pulled back to allow just enough space so the two had direct eye contact.

"You have done well," Maurice said softly and with utmost sincerity. "And I'm very proud of you, son."

Well this caught the Beast completely off guard. Was it the praise Maurice gave him? Or was it that he addressed the Beast as "son"? Or was it both? The Beast wasn't sure. What was very clear, though, was that this pushed the Beast over the emotional edge. He squeezed his eyes tight as a sudden, unexpected flood of tears threatened to pour out. He swallowed heard several times, willing the lump in his throat to go down. Maurice simply closed the space between the two once more, holding him like he would Belle, like, in his opinion, any farther should.

"Let it go," he whispered. "Don't fight it."

"No," the Beast said. "Must...fight...it. My father...taught me...crying...is...what a...weakling...does. And...men...are supposed...to...be...strong."

"Time for a new lesson," Maurice said. "To be strong sometimes you must release the pent up emotions. If you don't they'll find other ways to escape. And not necessarily good ways. I have a feeling that's where much of your past rage comes from. Emotions you suppressed instead of letting out safely finally breaking free on their own. So again I say, let it go. Give yourself permission to feel what you need to feel and let it be released in a safe way. Only then can you be stronger."

The Beast surrendered, realizing he was fighting the flood in vain. So he allowed himself to softly sob on Maurice's shoulder. It felt strangely comforting to not be suppressing his emotions, and a lot of suppressed emotions had been surfaced telling about the lack of paternal love in his life, and experiencing it for the first time ever from a man from whom he least deserved it. After a good quarter hour, the Beast calmed and pulled out of the embrace.

"I don't know why that happened," he said. "It's like a lot of deeply buried stuff was suddenly unearthed and just overwhelmed me."

"That is a good thing," Maurice said. "You've got a lot buried over your whole life that just weighs you down and makes you someone you're truly not. I believe you were always good but all the pain you've had to endure has hidden your goodness away."

"Mrs. Potts has said that," the Beast mused. "After Belle left and I told the staff she may not return in time to lift the curse, Mrs. Potts said if they had to become inanimate, they'd go with the comfort of knowing the good they knew was always within me had finally come out."

"Wise teapot," Maurice said.

"Yeah," the Beast said sadly. "She was. She told Belle they deserved to be cursed with me because while my father raised me with cruelty the staff did nothing. But she did act as somewhat of a mother figure, as best she could. They may not have intervened, but how could they? They were staff under my father's employ. They had no authority to step in. I wish they hadn't blamed themselves for how I turned out. When my father died they couldn't do much about my behavior since at that point I was their employer." The Beast was silent for a moment. "Is what you did here really what a father is supposed to do?"

"It is," Maurice said. "I'm sorry that's so foreign to you."

"And I deprived Belle of that these last few months," the Beast said with guilt.

"Only because you were deprived of it your whole childhood," Maurice said. "That is the true curse. But I'm glad you now know how a father should treat his child. For your sake, but not just your sake."

"What do you mean?" the Beast asked.

After a long silence, Maurice took a breath and answered.

"You are aware, aren't you, that there is a good possibility that Belle will conceive?"

"I..." the Beast was caught off guard. "I hadn't thought of that. Oh poor Belle may have to have the child of her rapist."

"Some women in Belle's situation do elect to see a midwife who can provide herbs to...how to put it delicately...cause a miscarriage," Maurice said. "I don't think Belle will take that route though. Some of her favorite homalies from our village priest, Pere Robert, were ones in which he spoke of how all life is precious. How each soul is a gift from God. If she does conceive, I'm sure she will not want to end the child's life before it can really begin. Nor would she sentence the child to death for who his or her father is. But I once knew a young woman in Paris, a neighbor of ours, who did take that option. She later confessed to my wife she wished she hadn't. I hope Belle doesn't take that decision, and like I say I do not believe she will. But obviously the child would need to be protected from Gaston."

"Of course," the Beast quickly agreed.

"I'm sure Belle would hope you'd take on the father role," Maurice said.

"Oh wouldn't that be a sight," the Beast said. "A Beast, in love with a woman, raising her child as his own."

"Quite unorthodox I know," Maurice said. "But you love her, she loves you, and you would love the child, no?"

"Of course," the Beast said. "And I would be determined to protect the child from Gaston where I failed with protecting his mother." After a moment of silence, he spoke again. "Should...we tell her she may conceive?"

"She may have already realized it's a possibility," Maurice said. "Or will realize it. But we probably should make sure she's aware of it at some point. But let's wait a while and give the shock of what happened time to settle."

"My heart broke when I released Belle and thought she'd never return or even want to return until she said she'd be back," the Beast said. "It broke again watching everybody turn into ordinary things. I didn't think a heart could hurt more. But seeing Belle have to go through this takes the cake." He sighed, then looked right into Maurice's eyes. "Is love worth it? The pain I mean?"

"I would have to say yes," Maurice said thoughtfully. "I wondered the same after the plague took my dear wife. But they say it is better to have loved and lost than to never have loved. Besides if I never had loved her Belle wouldn't be here. With love comes much joy. But it does also come with much pain. You hurt when you lose those you love. You hurt when those you love are hurting. But without love what would we be? From what you seem to have experienced, not much. Your hardness kept you from the pain you feel now. But wasn't being practically alone in the world painful?"

"It was," the Beast said. "Belle is the first person in years to make me feel anything other than anger, despair, hopelessness and self-loathing. I actually came to feel good in her presence."

"See?" Maurice said. "Isn't pain worth it if it's brought on by something that makes you feel good as well?"

"I suppose," the Beast said.

"By the way," Maurice said. "I am just wondering...what is your name?"

"My name?"

"Yes, you were once human," Maurice said. "You must have a name. Surely you were not called 'Beast' before the curse."

"I had one," the Beast said. "But so long as I am a Beast, that shall be my name."

"Why?" Maurice asked. "Don't you want to be addressed as a human?"

"I haven't heard my name in years," the Beast said. "The staff all called me Master. Even when my father was alive they rarely used my name. Usually they called me 'young master" or "your highness". My father never spoke my name in love. My mother did of course but once she was gone if I was addressed by name it was usually by my father which meant he had something unkind to say. Since the curse the only thing I've been called was Master until Belle came. She calls me Beast and while it sounds unflattering she says it in kindness. So I guess I prefer it now over my human name. Honestly I've put my name out of my head for so long I'd have to think a while to recall it. And I'd rather not."

"I understand," Maurice said. "You'd rather be called what you've been called in a loving way." After a silent moment he spoke some more. "Unless you want to talk more I think I'll head back to bed. You probably should too. Remember, we expect Agathe to return in the morning."

"Yes," the Beast said. "I thank you for talking to me. And showing me what a father should be."

"I hope, though you're now grown, you'll allow me to be a sort of father figure for you," Maurice said. "Kind of try to give you what you never had growing up. If you ever wish to talk or need advice or anything, I'm here."

"Thank you," the Beast said softly.

"Let me give you another hug before we go in," Maurice said. "You were so nervous before it was painfully clear you didn't know what to make of something you should have grown up with."

Maurice again put his arms around the Beast, who only slightly tensed for a moment before reciprocating, seeming less anxious. After a moment, they walked back into the bedroom. The Beast momentarily stooped next to Belle's mattress to gently brush a lock of hair from her face with a finger. He watched her sleep for a moment before standing and going to his own bed. Maurice smiled as he went to his own mattress.