A Prince by any Other Name:

Author's Notes:

* As mentioned in my summary… In Disney's version of Beauty and the Beast, Belle and Beast did just about everything together to pursue a relationship. Whether it be dinners, reading books, celebrating their first Christmas (thanks to The Enchanted Christmas), feeding the birds or playing in the snow, they did everything. But there's one vital aspect that Disney left out… And I don't make reference to them getting married, nor them making love, 'cause let's be honest, Disney couldn't show the latter anyway. Instead, what I make reference to is how they got to know one another's name. Granted, I'm sure someone in the castle's staff told Beast Belle's name, but we (and Belle) learn the Prince's name.
* So, in this one-shot, Beast reveals to Belle his real name. And noted, this story takes place after the "Something There" but before the "Human Again" segments, if you've watched the animated film or seen the Broadway show. Or, if you wish, it takes place before the "How Does a Moment Last Forever?" reprise, in the live-action remake. This story also serves as a companion piece to my crossover with Shrek, which as you know I have called The Beauty, The Beast and The Ogres, it takes place 10 years before that tale.

That being said, Merci, everyone… Onto the story!

As the servants closed door behind them, they went in different directions. Meanwhile, all alone by themselves, the Beast and Belle sat side by side reading a book together, which turned out to be a version of the famous King Arthur legend. "And when Guinevere heard that Arthur was slain," Belle read, "she went away to a convent, and no one could make her smile again."

Beast, who had been listening for some time now, swallowed a hard lump in his throat, "What a beautiful, yet heartbreaking story." He took out a handkerchief and blew his nose and dried his eyes. "I never knew stories could do that."

"Do what?" asked Belle.

"Take me away from this place," replied Beast. "make me forget for a while."

Belle was still puzzled, "Forget what?"

"Oh, you know." admitted Beast. "I mean as in make me forget who…" He corrected himself, "No, what I am."

Belle pondered this for a moment, "We have something in common, you and I…" Catching herself she added, "I mean besides books."

"We do?" asked Beast, to which Belle nodded. "What's that?

"In the village where I came from," she replied, "the people there believed I was odd. So, I know what it is like to be…" Belle paused to search for the right word, she eventually found it, "Different. So, I know how exactly you feel."

'The villagers where she used to live,' Beast said to himself in surprise, 'thought Belle, who is beautiful and smart, an oddball? Never!' "You're not that odd." he said. "Not to me, anyway."

"Are you sure?" quizzed Belle her companion, who nodded. "It was the town's belief that a woman shouldn't bother reading, soon she'd start getting ideas, thinking."

"Sounds to me," went on Beast "that your town was so thickheaded they didn't know how to appreciate a good thing." He paused to think, "I'll bet if someone tried to open up their eyes, they'd realize there's more to you than they initially thought."

"Not especially." replied Belle, shaking her head. "Everywhere you go, they'd find something to gossip about behind your back, especially me and my papa." Remembering the man who tried and always failed to win her heart, Belle went on, "But the one person who really who was always part of that crowd, let alone tried to when my heart," she frowned, "was that boorish and brainless hero they all looked up to…" she shuddered in disgust as she mentioned his name. "Monsieur Gaston LeGume. And for some reason or another, he was always interested in me. But I didn't fancy him myself personally."

"Well, good for you." praised Beast, before pausing to think. "Incidentally, was there anyone you could talk to?"

"Now that you mention it, the only other one who I could share a talk with was Père Robert." Belle answered, as she remembered the countless books she would borrow or some times buy from him. He would also host Sunday services she and Maurice attended. "He was not only the main bookseller in town, but the town's chaplain as well."

"At least you had a friend, if you could call him that." admitted the Beast.

"Oh, he was." said Belle. "So, yes, he was the only other one besides Papa I could talk to."

Beast hesitated for a moment, remembering their faithful meeting, "I'm sorry I… Stole you away from your father." he said with remorse.

"I forgive you." replied Belle. "It's nothing to get upset about anymore."

"If you ask me," Beast continued after a brief pause, "a woman should not only have the right to read, but they should use said skill to educate themselves for the better." He held out one paw, "I mean look at Mrs. Potts, she's one of the most sincerest women I know and she's been like a second mother to me." He held out his other paw, "And then, there's Madame Garderobe, she learned opera all through books and is one of the best singers I know." He shrugged, "And of course, you've met Plumette, she may be a bit of ditz, but at least she's very bright in some areas of knowledge."

Belle took that into account, "I guess you're right, Beast." There was a long pause, eventually, Belle spoke again, "Now if you don't mind, I'd like to ask you something."

"I guess it all depends on the question." pondered a worried Beast.

"When you said books help you forget what you are," Beast nodded, "am I correct in guessing you, along with your staff were once… Human?" Belle asked, to which Beast nodded again. "Also, that rose in the West Wing, is it the source of your curse?"

"Yes." replied Beast after a long pause. "I just don't like talking about it."

Belle took this into consideration, "I won't tell a soul. Outside of Papa, when the time comes for you to make amends. And Père Robert too, of course."

"Alright," shrugged Beast, "I'll tell you everything." From there on he told his tale, flashbacks rolled in the back of his mind, "When I was 6 years old, my mother, Queen Chandler died. My father, King Vincent raised me with all of the staff at his side, and kept a sharp eye on me." he sighed heavily, "But rather than it being out of love, it was out of pure malice and spite, as he believed I should keep the staff in order, as their needs were insignificant, mine were more important."

"So that's what you meant when…?" Belle began.

"Yes," answered Beast, "That's what I meant earlier when I said my education was high class." He cleared his throat, "Anyway, my father died just before I turned 10, leaving me all alone to rule the kingdom." recalling the day of his transformation, Beast shuddered, "Instead of ruling as any kind, wise and powerful leader should, I was rotten to the core, extremely narcissistic, and very malicious." A flashback of the Enchantress entered his mind, "But that all changed when a beggar woman tempted me with the rose. Normally, I was told by Mrs. Potts to look beyond appearances and appreciate people for who they are. I didn't…" he swallowed hard. "Instead, the beggar woman turned out to be an enchantress and turned me into the very beast I had become." When the flashbacks ended, he returned to the present. "And here I am, nearly 11 years after my last birthday. So there's not much time left before my next birthday."

"So, essentially, the rose is your hourglass?" guessed Belle.

"Yes." nodded Beast, "Yes, it is." He turned to face Belle and put a hand on her shoulder, "Since you've stayed, not a day goes by that I'm grateful you came into not only my life, but everyone else's too." he beamed, "Thank you, Mademoiselle LaRosa."

"It's Belle." Belle corrected, as she smiled. "And your welcome…" She paused as she then soon realized something. "I just suddenly realized, all this time, you never gave me your name."

"Well, that's because you never asked." Beast laughed warmly. "It's been a long time since I last thought of using it."

"Oh, that's… Interesting." said Belle relieved, but now intrigued. "What is it? Your name, I mean."

"It's Adam." answered the Beast, no… Adam. "Prince Adam León-Vincit Proulx."

'Adam, meaning 'first man', Hebrew for 'human or person', or in some cultures 'man-beast'.' Belle thought to herself, she smiled. "I'm glad to have gotten to know you, Adam."

"I feel the same way about you, Belle." Adam smiled back.

A little while later, despite Gaston tried to break the two apart, the spell was broken and Adam was back to being human again, he looked at his flesh, then he turned to face Belle, who softly whispered to herself, unsure if it was still him, "Adam?"

"Belle," he nodded, grasping her hand and said in warm voice, "it's me."

Belle looked on curiously. Sure Adam's locks of hair were the same color he once had for his fur, but she had gotten to know Adam better when he was a monster. Remembering what Maurice and the Prince himself told her about appearances, she saw began to see he as a human and as the Beast, Adam shared many similarities: For starters, they shared the same baritone voice, as well as the same shape, size and color of his eyes, his love for books, everything. Very soon, her memories she made with him came flooding back to her, Belle was soon convinced that both Prince Adam and the Beast were in fact one and the same. She then knew right then and there, this was in fact, the same man she fell in love with as she acknowledged, "It is you!"

"Told you." Adam smiled. Not another word said, the two leaned in together and shared their very first kiss. And the scene shifted…

As the two lovers danced in front of the whole castle, neither one said a word for a while, the silence was only broken when Cogsworth and Lumière having an argument as to who was right about Belle breaking the spell, as well as Mrs. Potts assuring Chip that the girl who saved them and their now reformed Prince would live 'Happily Ever After'. Maurice was so proud of his daughter, he even learned the truth all about Adam and come to forgive for his trespass.

Gradually Adam broke the silence between him and Belle, Belle for a while had been absentmindedly ran her fingers through one of his smooth cheeks, "You sure look like you're deep thought, Belle. What is it?"

His answer came in Belle asking her own question, "How would you feel about growing a beard, Adam?"

To say that he didn't see that question coming, was quite the understatement of the year for the Prince, as he playfully growled at her, they then shared a laugh. "I'd love to." Adam replied.

"Glad to hear it." Belle said.

They smiled and resumed dancing, as the choir resumed singing their theme song that the danced to those few nights ago, while adding some new lyrics:

Winter turns to Spring
Famine turns to feast
Nature points the way
Nothing left to say
Beauty and the Beast

Certain as the sun
Rising in the East
Tale as old as time
Song as old as rhyme
Beauty and the Beast

It's a tale as old as time
But a song as old as rhyme
Beauty and the Beast

Yes indeed, for many years to come this would be a story to share throughout the ages, not just in France, but all over the world too. For never had there been a tale of woman and man, then this of the beautiful, humble and smart Belle and her handsome, kind and gentle Prince Adam.

THE
END!

Author's Notes:

*Well folks, so that's the way it goes. And before you comment, yes, I AM aware that there are SOME people at Disney who DON'T consider Adam to be the Beast's real name, especially because of the He-Man character under the same name. But to be fair, it suits him well, as there are many fans out there, besides me who address Beast/his grace, as such by that namesake. Plus, let's be honest, what human being in the right name would have 'Beast' as their birth name? Granted X-Men's own Hank McCoy goes by Beast, but you know what I mean, people.
* And for those of you out there, if you all have to ask regarding the other namesakes, I chose León as one half of his middle name to because it means 'Lion', Vincit, the other half of his middle names means 'to conquer', it was shown in one of the stained glass windows in the opening of the animated film with the message 'Vincit qui se Vincit' or 'he who conquers, conquers himself', so Adam conquers himself as the Beast and becomes human again, and Proulx was chosen by me as his last name because it means 'wise'. For those of you have to ask, I chose LaRosa as Belle's last name to coincide with her families love of roses, while her middle name that I chose is DuPont, and when she gets married, LaRose will become Belle's middle name as Proulx will be her new surname.
* I understand Père Robert didn't get his namesake until the 2017 remake, but I thought I'd use it here. Likewise, Adam's past was inspired by the 2017 remake as well, as well as his intellect.
* The name of Adam's parents (Vincent and Chandler) are derived from the versions of the main characters from the Beauty and the Beast TV show that ran from 1987–1990, which I have not watched it personally.
* Some of the dialogue I wrote was inspired by the Broadway show. The talk about growing a beard Adam and Belle show is from both films. It should be noted though the 1991 film never used the beard dialogue, so I am glad they recycled it for the 2017 remake. I just tweaked the dialogue to make it a little better.
* And I had two nods to Shakespeare, one being in the title from Juliet's line in Romeo & Juliet, 'A rose by any other name would smell just as sweet', and the ending also from the same story. I myself personally, am a Shakespeare fan and admire most of his work. Plus, I know both lovers love Shakespeare too.
* That said, join me later on in the next story when Adam, Belle, Maurice and the rest of the castle staff return in my Shrek and Beauty and the Beast crossover story: The Beauty, The Beast and The Ogres.
* Belle, The Beast/Prince Adam and the Disney stylized tale of Beauty and the Beast are owned and © by Disney.
* The original tale of Beauty and the Beast, or, La Belle et la Bête, is owned and © by Gabrielle-Suzanne Barbot de Villeneuve.

Until then, I'm maxparker89 signing off…