John was talking to Susan that morning, since Claudia had not made her appearance that morning. They both had their suspicions when Gaston had also failed to appear. Susan grinned in John's direction. Things had certainly changed since Gaston had arrived. Lefou had come into the tavern looking for Gaston. "He'll be up and around in an hour or so." John told him. In Claudia's room, she was lying still in Gaston's safe arms, as he stroked her hair and kissed her cheeks tenderly. His eyes were still closed, as Claudia sighed happily as he slowly opened his eyes and began to stir once more. He found himself smiling and feeling a very rejuvenated feeling of comfort and security that he had never known in his entire life.
"Is Gaston upstairs?" Lefou asked John. "Uh, you can't go up there" John said, outreaching his hand towards Lefou to stop him from proceeding. "Why?" The other man asked. John looked at Susan and then to Lefou awkwardly. He then found himself smiling when he had made the connection since Claudia had also disappeared. He has finally found, what he had been looking for all along, Lefou thought to himself. Before Lefou could speak, Gaston had come down the stairs in a cheerful mood. "Good morning" he said. John had then noticed that Claudia had tried timing her entrance a few moments later. "Hello Gaston, John, Susan, a pleasure to see you all." She said-but her face made her feelings for Gaston obvious. Gaston had gone about his daily tasks, of course greeting Lefou, as if nothing had happened the night before. But his friend could sense it; the same as he had in his wife when they had been courting years ago. He had drawn his friend outside, watching him chop firewood. "Gaston, care to tell me what is going on?" Lefou asked outright. "Nothing has changed," he said. "You and I know that is not true" he answered. Gaston raised his head up, still trying to hide his smile. "Care to give me a wager as to what you think it is?" His friend grinned. Lefou pointed a finger through the open window at Claudia. "I already knew from the beginning" he replied. Gaston found himself blushing. "Things have changed a great deal for me" he began, "love tends to do that," Lefou said more softly. Gaston pondered that for a moment, and then smiled once more. "Is that what it feels like?" He asked aloud, "until now, I had never aloud myself to feel that way about anyone-other than perhaps myself." He sighed, chopping the wood, "I was vain and cruel, and it is any wonder Belle hated me as she did" Gaston frowned. "Belle couldn't hate anyone-it was just circumstances beyond anyone's control. We were all possessed by the devil," Lefou said quietly, "the devil being our hatred and jealousy." He then continued further: "love is a feeling that allows us to see past all of those negative feelings and re-discover everything we thought was foreign to us-at least that was the impact it had had on me" Lefou smiled sincerely. Gaston smiled at his friend with a genuine warmth, and he knew that yes-love-a true love had enabled him to look past what he had done to everyone long ago, and to allow himself to be all that he could be-right now. "Anyone can change" Lefou said, "even me" Gaston replied. "Do you truly love this woman?" Lefou added, "yes" Gaston answered firmly. That evening, Daniel had returned to the bar, this time more determined than before to take Claudia away. John had confronted him immediately. "She does not wish to see you, so I would ask that you leave, before you have to deal with Gaston" he said. "Who the bloody hell is he?" The other man asked loudly. "Someone I'd advise against meeting" John answered. "Then bring him in," Daniel said defiantly. Claudia had asked Gaston not to go, but he wanted to defend her honor. "I must," he pleaded. "But I do pray this will be the end of it" she added. Gaston had faced Daniel for the first time, and the other man was not pleased. Both had had different expectations for the other. "I do not know what that woman told you-but do not believe a word of it!" Daniel said. "I would take her word as truth" Gaston replied. "Then you are a damn fool!" Daniel said angrily. "She is using you," he added. "Let me be my own judge of that" Gaston said. "She is using you like she did me and others in the past" Daniel said, still pleading for his case. "Has she told you anything about her past? I doubt it!" He said. "What goes on between her and I is our business" Gaston answered. "Then you will end up paying, as I did, for your mistakes," he said coldly. "I have already paid the price for them" Gaston uttered. "Ask her about us, ask her now!" Daniel had demanded. "I will NOT!" Gaston snapped. Claudia had then come down the stairs, her eyes swollen with fresh tears. "Claudia?" Gaston asked, growing concerned. "Ask her!" Daniel said, "she will not deny it," he added. "Is this man your fiancée, as you told me?" Gaston asked her. She lowered her eyes, "no-" she said softly, to his confusion. "He is" she paused, "my husband," she added- as the other man felt stabbing in his heart that had been far worse than his near death. Claudia nearly collapsed.
Gaston felt his old anger and jealous rages come slowly to the surface-as this last breech of trust and honor nearly tore away at his heart. He gave her a hard stare, and pulled back slowly-as everyone's eyes in the tavern were all on him-this "fool" as Daniel had called him. "Now, I shall take back what is mine" Daniel said. Claudia sobbed softly. That is what she had meant by: "I tried to escape." she had been trying to run from him. "I do not love you anymore!" She cried out to Daniel. "Marriage is not about love, you wench!" Daniel said angrily to Gaston's hidden dismay. She had been silently pleading with Gaston's eyes and begging him for forgiveness. He had forcefully grabbed her arm, "now lets go!" He said, "no..NO! Please!" She sobbed. She had looked right at Gaston, but his feet were tied down to the ground; his agony was pulsating throughout his entire body. "Gaston! Please!" She cried. Claudia tried reaching out to him-but his emotions had become dead in him-until she had screamed out "I love you!" And then he found himself running out towards Daniel's carriage. "Let her go at once, she will stay here with me! Where she belongs!" He said in a demanding tone. "You have no say in this!" Daniel said, trying to push Claudia into his carriage forcefully. Then Daniel had thrown Gaston off guard by pulling out a gun. "You leave us alone, or I will kill her right now!" He said with a renewed hatred. Gaston gasped as he saw the fear in Claudia's eyes.
"No, don't!" He said-hearing the echo of a familiar voice in his head from so long ago. And before he had realized it, he had moved so quickly that he had caught Daniel off guard, was able to kick the weapon out of his hands and pull Claudia away-right after he punched him square in the nose, knocking him down from the steps of the carriage and throwing the horse in a confused frenzy. John and the others had finally come outside, "take him away!" Gaston commanded, as three others carried him away unconscious. "You- saved my life" she said softly, her face reddened with tears. "I had to" Gaston turned to her, with his own tears to shed. "I love you," he said gently, as she threw her arms around him. Lefou and the John smiled at each other.

* * *
Gaston opened the carriage door for Claudia, his new bride. As they rode down the street, leaving the village, waving a farewell to all of their friends, Claudia felt Gaston slip his hand into hers gently. "This is the beginning of a new life for me" she whispered happily as the carriage drove away. "And for me" he said tenderly, kissing her.