Chapter 21 - The Gift of Knowledge

He woke up again feeling refreshed. It was one of the best sleeps he had in years. He fluttered his eyelids and yawned.

Beast glanced over, and noticed that Belle was still sitting in the chair beside his bed. He thought she would have left a while ago, and yet... She had stayed, all this time, just to make sure that he had fully recovered.

She was absent-mindedly stroking her hair and talking softly to herself "Love can transpose to form and dignity. Love looks not with the eyes, but with the mind-"

She was reciting a quote from A Midsummer Night's Dream. He had read that play while he was studying English Literature. "And therefore is winged Cupid painted blind." He finished the quote. He couldn't help himself, he enjoyed that play a great deal, even though he had been forced to read it for his education.

Belle's attention was immediately drawn to him, and she sat on the edge of her seat. "You know Shakespeare?" She asked, her eyes sparkling with wonder.

He let out a grunt of effort as he heaved himself into a sitting position. "I had an expensive education." He responded.

She opened her mouth to say something, but hesitated. She seemed flustered, as she obviously didn't expect him to be an avid reader. No one would ever believe that a huge, hulking monster would ever sit down to enjoy a good book. "Actually, Romeo and Juliet is my favourite play." She stated. She must have felt the need to clarify, after quoting A Midsummer Night's Dream.

He groaned and rolled his eyes, falling back on the pillow. "Why is that not a surprise?"

Romeo and Juliet was another play he had been forced to read for his education, to study and analyse every detail, to know inside and out. It was a chore to get through, as he wasn't very fond of it, and that was putting it lightly.

"I'm sorry?" She responded, a little stunned by him scoffing at her favourite play.

He took hold of the bed sheets and fiddled with them as he talked "Well all that heartache and pining and... Bleh." He stuck out his tongue. "So many better things to read."

The worst thing about Romeo and Juliet was that everyone treated it as a romantic play, when it was clearly a tragedy because they both die in the end! And just by looking at her and how she was acting like it was the greatest thing she had ever read, he just knew she was one of those people. Plus Romeo and Juliet constantly drooling over each other was just unbearable.

"Like what?" She questioned, challenging his point.

He pulled back the covers and swung his legs round to the side of the bed. "Help me get dressed and I'll show you." Beast replied.

Belle's eyes lit up, as she was bursting with excitement. She jumped out of her chair and hurried over to the bundle of clothes that was still placed at the end of his bed.

"Just bring me the jacket, I don't need the other stuff." He told her, as he attempted to get off the bed and stand up. He used the bed frame to hoist himself onto his feet. He swayed for a moment, his paws slipping on the floor. His legs were weak and felt slightly numb from not using them in what he assumed had been a day.

After few seconds of leaning against the wall, he began to get a pins and needles sensation in his legs, before he finally regained feeling in them.

Belle walked over to him with the long, blue jacket which was now unfolded. He took his hand off the wall and slipped his arms into the sleeves, and she let go so that he could throw it over his shoulders and adjust it.

The jacket was nice, it was a dark shade of blue, with a light blue floral pattern woven into it. The material lining the inside was silky and smooth. The jacket ran down to just above his ankles, and hugged his body. It was a perfect fit. It was much better than his old cloak. He wondered what had happened to it, it had been reduced to rags by the end of the fight with the wolves. It had probably been thrown away, which wasn't a very big deal.

"Are you sure you're in a fit state to walk?" She asked him.

"I'm fine. Just aching a little." He replied. "Come on, let's go."

He took a step forward, and hissed through gritted teeth when he felt a surge of pain rush up his leg. He glanced down, and noticed that there was a bite mark just above his paw. It was healing, but it was still visible. And painful. Was there anywhere on his body the wolves hadn't got him?

"Maybe you should go back to bed." She told him.

"No, no. I'm fine. After all, you did say I'd probably be able to walk around after a bit more rest. And I say enough is enough, no more resting."

"Well, if you're sure." She muttered.

He'd have to take it slow and steady. He limped out of the room, and Belle followed close behind, curious as to where he was taking her.

"So what's your favourite Shakespeare play?" She asked as they walked down the stairs.

"Hamlet." He answered immediately. He didn't need to think about it. When it came to Hamlet, there was no competition in his eyes. It was one of Shakespeare's greatest plays, and he loved the story and characters, as well as the theme of revenge. He felt like he could relate to Hamlet's struggle to challenge the dominant male figure in his life, which had been his uncle. Unlike Hamlet, Beast had never overcome the powerful hold his father had over him. "Have you ever watched a performance of one of his plays?" He asked her.

"No, never. But I'd love to! I've always wanted to see Romeo and Juliet performed live on a stage." She replied. "What about you?"

"I've watched a performance of Hamlet." He told her. On a trip to England, his father took him to the Globe Theatre to watch it.

"What was it like?" She questioned.

"It was good." He replied simply with a small dismissive shrug.

She was quiet for a moment as they reached the halfway point on the stairs. She then fired another question at him. "What are you going to show me exactly?"

"Wait and see." Beast responded. He was trying to talk to her and be mindful of the stairs at the same time, as his bitten leg was giving him some trouble. Multitasking was hard.

From assessing the situation and seeing how this conversation seemed to be playing out, he assumed that it was his turn to ask a question. "How many books have you read?" He liked making small talk with her.

"Quite a few. I've read all of the books in our village library. Well, it's not really a library, more of a church, and the priest lets me borrow from his book collection. I don't have many of my own, but I've been building up a collection, it's just taking a while. No one sells books in town because hardly anyone can read, so my bookshelf is rather bare." She explained. "How many books have you read?"

They reached the bottom of the stairs, and he led her over to the library. She just didn't know what it was yet.

"I lost count. I've read so many, some more than once. But I haven't read anything in a while. I do remember that I once read around two hundred books in a year." He told her.

"Impressive." Belle commented. From what she had told him, she had likely never seen two hundred books. "How did you manage that?"

"Whenever I read a book, I get so engrossed in it that I can't put it down until I've finished it." He explained.

"Me too. Once I start reading, I just can't stop."

So not only did they share a love of reading, but they had similar habits when it came to reading as well. He was starting to like her even more. Shame she had such poor taste in plays.

"What do you like most about reading?" She asked.

"I like the sense of escapism that it gives. It's like you can be transported to another world." He replied.

"I like that too. Back at the village, I've always wanted some form of escape." She told him.

They both went quiet. Now she had escaped her village, and ended up trapped somewhere else. He decided that he wouldn't talk about too much about the village, as it might cause her to think about her father, which wouldn't do her any good.

"Well, here we are." He stated, arriving at the door to the library. He jiggled the handle, noticing that it was unlocked. Beast recalled telling Lumiere to lock up the library, so that he wouldn't be tempted to go in there and use the enchanted book again. Maybe they had unlocked it so that if Belle wanted to explore in there, then she could. Or it was equally possible that they had never locked it in the first place.

He turned round to face her and pressed his back against the door.

She crossed her arms and gave him a sceptical look.

"So, I told you that there were so many better things to read than Romeo and Juliet." He began.

"That's fairly close to what you said upstairs." She replied. "But you still haven't told me about any alternatives."

"Well, I thought I'd show you, rather than tell you. You'll find that there are a couple of things in here that you can start with." He responded, turning around, twisting the door knob, and pushing it open.

He limped inside, looking around at the tall bookshelves, lined with row upon row of books, reaching up the ceiling. The fire in the corner was roaring, and the curtains were wide open, allowing natural light to flood in. The light revealed the large amount of dust particles floating around in the air though.

Beast glanced over at Belle, and noticed that she was standing close to the door, her mouth gaping open as she stared in awe at the vast amount of books.

"Are you alright?" He asked concernedly. She looked a little dazed.

"I've never seen so many books in all my life!" She exclaimed. "This is just... Wonderful." She added. She was breathless, completely overwhelmed by such a grand library.

He glanced around for a moment. To him, it was just his normal, day-to-day library. He hadn't appreciated it, or saw how special it truly was for quite some time. He wished he could see it through her eyes, rather than through the filter of his own. His uptight, privileged, spoilt old self wouldn't understand how she felt. But now... He was starting to.

She was right, it really was wonderful. "Yes, it is." He responded, looking back at her.

Belle turned to him, her face beaming with sheer wonderment. She was utterly blown away.

Why should he own such a fantastic library when she appreciated it so much more than him?

"Well, if you like it so much, then it's yours." Beast told her with a smile.

"Really?" She breathed, taking a step back and scanning the room again. "No, I couldn't." She said, shaking her head.

"I insist. All of this is yours, it belongs to you now." He responded. "It's time for you to add to that collection you've been building up."

"Thank you so much." She said gratefully. "This is just incredible... I'm speechless."

He smiled again and gave her a brief nod, before turning, gazing up at the large bookcases for a few seconds, before walking off.

"Have you really read every one of these books?" She asked.

He stopped and turned around swiftly. "What?"

Belle stared at him silently, waiting for a response. He huffed, blowing air through his lips, making them wobble up and down. "Not all of them. Some of them are in Greek." He replied.

She chuckled. "Is that a joke?" She questioned. "Are you making jokes now?"

He struggled to give her an answer, before finally saying "Maybe." He turned away again, and shook his head, groaning at his own joke. That was bad. He'd have to work on his material.

It did make her laugh though, so he felt a little accomplished. Maybe she liked his sense of humour. Surprisingly enough, he actually used to have one, and still sort of did.

As he limped away, he heard Belle squeal. Beast paused and glanced over his shoulder, and saw her covering her mouth as she spun around, admiring the books that surrounded her. All of them her's. He could just imagine what was going through her head right now. So many possibilities, she probably didn't know where to start.

He smiled to himself as he watched her run her hand along the bookshelves. Any minute now, she might cry tears of pure joy.

And that's when he realised just how much he loved to see her happy. Not only that, but he loved making her happy. That's what he was going to strive to do from now on.

Because if she was happy, then he felt happy too.

A/N - Getting notifications about reviews always warms my heart. The continued support is fantastic, and I'll never stop telling you all how grateful I am. It's good to find people that are passionate about reading my story just as much as I am passionate about writing it. I hope you all continue to share what you like about each chapter in the reviews, as I love reading them.