Wow those responses, thank you all so much. I had a lot of trouble writing the last chapter with almost zero sleep for 2 days, resulting in one slight mistake, thanks to ImagineATale for pointing it out!

ImagineATale, is it me or are your reviews turning into oneshot length XD love those reviews of yours. They will have to figure out who's cleaning it, I'm not going to get in that argument. Your review is a lot like what I have planned, so I'm sure you're going to like this chapter.

Michaela pendragon Holmes, so nice to see a new name between the reviewers! Glad you liked it so much and you'll probably feel more this chapter.

Mustard Lady, I'm glad he has changed as well, we'll see how much calmer he gets this chapter.

Yinlai, one very though pill indeed.

Banzi, thanks for the support!

ImaginationStories, hope you'll like this chapter just as much!

Chapter 19

Gaston waited and waited, why didn't Agathe come? He was feeling weaker and weaker and knew it wouldn't be long before he lost consciousness again, but he didn't care. He was responsible for what had happened, why not let the barrier punish him?

Beast and Belle stood there, Gaston was starting to sway a bit and they decided it had been enough, "Gaston! She isn't coming, please get back here." Beast yelled. The man could be very stubborn and this was one of those times. Gaston had been kneeling there for fifteen minutes now, and the swaying was getting rather alarming. Deciding enough was enough, he risked going through the barrier. If Gaston could hold on for this long he could hang on for one minute.

"Beast! What are you doing?" Belle was panicking, there was no way she could drag them out of the barrier.

Not saying anything, he just marched in further, he reached Gaston feeling slightly disoriented and lifted the man over his shoulder...again... Feeling how limp the man was, he guessed he had passed out. He quickly left the barrier and lay Gaston down. At least he was quiet and resting now, but who knows how he would react when he woke up.

Breathing a sigh of relief, Belle joined Beast next to Gaston. "What happened? Agathe visited me in the village, all she told me was that something was about to happen."

Beast looked at Belle, "Last night I resolved to tell him about that last night. I looked in the mirror to see if he had woken up and I was very surprised by what I saw, he was at the edge of the barrier giving Agathe a piece of his mind. He was demanding she turn the servants back and blaming her for their...deaths. Agathe told him, he was the one who caused us to be late, needless to say he didn't believe her." Taking a deep breath, he continued, "He wouldn't leave on his own, therefore I picked him up and carried him back inside. There I told him the truth, he took it rather hard. He was actually physically sick at the thought and he wanted to know how many servants there were. When I reluctantly told him, he started muttering to himself and after a while stood up and ran here as fast as he could." Beast looked at the man with sadness, "I thought he had lost his mind this time."

Belle saw Gaston beginning to move, "He wasn't in there for long, it won't take long for him to wake up. Could you take him back inside?"

Thinking Belle was right, Beast lifted Gaston back up again, "Where would you like me to take him?"

"West Wing, it will be easier to keep an eye on him there," Belle responded. "We need to make sure he won't do anything he might regret and he doesn't know his way through the West Wing."

Beast had to agree, Gaston couldn't find his way out of the West Wing, he would be safest there.

Carrying him all the way up he put the man back in his bed again. Now all they could do was wait.

It didn't take long for Gaston to wake up, Belle and Beast rushed to his side as soon as he started to make grunting noises.

Gaston woke up with a pounding headache, he slowly sat up and felt the chill of the West Wing. "Beast?"

"I'm right here, what were you thinking? What if we couldn't get you out?"

Gaston moved to get out of bed, "It wouldn't have mattered, nothing matters anymore. You should have left me there." He moved towards the one thing he could see, the rose.

"Gaston," Belle called. "Please listen to me, you don't deserve to be punished for it. You never intended for it to happen.

"Perhaps not, but it did." He looked at the rose, why couldn't he just crush it? Let him de damned, it wasn't like anyone would miss him outside of the castle. "I want to go back to my room."

Beast reached out to Gaston, "I don't think that is a good idea, you shouldn't be alone right now."

"I don't care what you think, take me back right now!"

Trying one more time Belle took hold of Gaston's hand, "Please let us help you!"

Pulling back his hand, he turned away from her, "I don't want your help and I don't need it. Just take me back to my room."

"Very well," Beast said, he turned to Belle "Will you join us or would you rather stay here?"

"I'll join you until the East Wing entrance, I still have to return Philippe to his stable." She had been in a hurry to get Gaston inside and she wanted to get the music box and book from her saddle bags.

The three walked in silence, Gaston had no desire to speak, Beast was too busy trying to figure out what Gaston might be thinking about and Belle was in a hurry to tend to her horse. Reaching the staircase that divided the East and West Wing Belle wished Beast good luck and continued her way down.

All too soon they reached the door leading to Gaston's room, knowing where he was Gaston opened the door and slammed it shut before Beast could even think about following him in.

Beast knocked on the door, "Open the door, we have to talk about this."

"There is nothing to talk about, I killed over two hundred people. Go and leave me be."

"Listen to me, yes you caused us to be late. But if I had shown kindness all those years ago, we wouldn't have found ourselves in this predicament to begin with." No reply was forthcoming and after several minutes Beast gave up.

Inside the room Gaston heard Beast walking away, no matter what they said, he was responsible. He did understand Beast better now, Beast no longer minded what he was considering the fate of his servants. Staying blind would be better, he wouldn't have to look at all the objects that used to be human.

A few hours later there was knocking on the door, "Gaston?" Belle called. "I've brought you something to eat and drink, could you please open the door?" There was no reply, nor was the door opening. She sat the tray down on the floor and tried to open the door herself, but it wouldn't open. "Please open the door, I just need to see if you're alright. If you want, I'll leave right after."

Gaston heard Belle, he also knew she wouldn't give up that easily. He walked to the door and opened it, "Here I am, you've seen me, just go away." He stood back to slam the door again.

"Please Gaston, at least let me set the tray inside. It will be up to you if you eat and drink something, but it would make me feel better if you at least accepted it." She picked the tray back up again and waited to see what he'd do.

Sighing Gaston nodded and let Belle pass, he heard her put the tray down, followed by footsteps back out.

"At least try to eat, for me?" Knowing she couldn't force him to eat, she left. She was glad he had let her in, now she could only hope he'd actually eat something.

Inside the West Wing Beast looked at the mirror as Belle had asked, Gaston hadn't taken a single bite, but he did drink something. Belle wouldn't be happy hearing this, he returned the mirror on the pedestal. He heard the door open and turned around, shaking his head. "He didn't eat, but he did finish his drink."

Belle sat down on her bed, "I'll try again tomorrow."

"We'll try again tomorrow, you're not alone in this."

"We'll try every day," Belle said, "He'll have to eat eventually."

"Everyday." Beast agreed.

After several weeks and passing the six month mark with no changes in Gaston's behaviour they started to get worried.

"He has really given up, he doesn't care about himself anymore. If anything he wants something worse to happen to him." Belle said, she couldn't take much more of this. The man inside that room was the exact opposite of his former self, gone was the obnoxious, arrogant, self-centred vain man. All there was left was a quiet, dishevelled mess of a man, who was also refusing to eat a proper meal. "I can't bear to look at him anymore, he's lost so much weight."

Beast was thinking, Gaston was determined to punish himself any way possible. Refusing to eat, locking himself in and not letting them come near him.

"I agree this has gone on long enough, I was just thinking the same thing. He doesn't want to be forgiven. The only thing he is willing to think about is ways to punish himself even further." Beast sighed, "I hate to even think about, much less suggest it but...perhaps we should give him what he wants. Just long enough to get him to think reasonable."

"What are you thinking about?" Belle asked seeing the reluctance Beast was having to say it.

"We might have to punish him ourselves," Beast waited for the inevitable explosion from Belle.

Belle sat there gaping, "Have you lost your mind! We can't punish him, it's bad enough he's doing it to himself! We should be helping him, not throw him in deeper. He'd think we don't care about him at all!"

"Belle, at the moment the last that he wants is our care. I'm not liking it any more than you do, and there is more..." Beast hung his head, "You'll like the rest even less..."

Listening to what Beast had in mind she decided that he must have lost his mind, how could he even think about this? The longer Beast spoke, the worse the sinking feeling in her stomach became. How could she possibly do this? "I can't do it, it isn't right!"

Beast wrapped his arms around her from behind, "This isn't about being fair, but about what we must do. And if we are completely honest this is more fair than you'd like to admit to yourself."

"I-I can't do this..."

"Yes you can and you must, do you want him to snap out of it or not?" Beast looked into Belle's eyes, showing her his determination. "Please?"

Belle only gave a small nod and ran out of the room, tears kept falling down as she ran. She knew Beast was speaking the truth, it didn't mean she had to like it. She stopped and looked around, her feet had let her to the ballroom and she moved to the stage, "If only you could still talk and help me, Madame." She sat down next to the wardrobe, gathering her courage for what Beast had planned for tonight.

The sun had set faster than she liked and she made her way to the West Wing. Beast was right, she had to do this, but how long would it take before Gaston snapped out of it?

Beast had been waiting for Belle to return all day, he had hoped to talk to her a bit more, but she needed some time to come to terms with this. Hearing the door open he looked up and saw Belle enter, she looked like she had been crying for a long time and he didn't blame her. "It's time." He simply said.

Belle nodded and followed the man she loved more than anything. He was determined to go through with this, no matter what.

All too soon they had reached the East Wing and were standing outside of Gaston's door. Both took a deep breath, they had to do this.

Gaston was sitting in his chair, his cold dinner in front of him, he wouldn't give in to his hunger. Suddenly he heard the door being slammed open and heard Beast growl.

Before he knew it he was hauled by his collar and dragged through the castle, "What are you doing, let me go and take me back to my room!"

Growling once more Beast replied, "Since you're so determined to be punished for your part in causing the servants to lose their lives, I thought I would help you."

Feeling himself be dragged up several flights of stairs, Gaston gave up on fighting whatever Beast was planning.

Belle saw how Beast handled Gaston and let them pass her, she was to join them later. She could see the pain Beast had in his eyes when he had to show how cruel he could be to Gaston. If he could do what he just did, she could do her part. Knowing minutes had passed since their departure, she made her way up to the tower she had hoped never to see again.

Having reached the top, Beast dropped Gaston on the floor. "This will be your new home for now," he pulled a lever and a door swung open. Picking Gaston back up again, he threw him in the cell and closed the door. "As your host, the least I could do is to give you a room to aid you in punishing yourself." Not giving Gaston time to reply, he walked down and saw Belle coming up.

Gaston was sitting on the floor in a daze, what had just happened? Crawling around to feel his surroundings, he noticed the lack in furniture and the small size of the room. The walls however made it very clear where he was, bare walls, followed by bars and an iron door told him he was in a prison cell. He shrugged it off, he didn't care, he was right were he belonged.

"Belle, are you ready?" Beast asked.

She shook her head, "How can I ever be ready for this?" She wrapped her arms around Beast, "Please don't make me do this."

Holding her in return he sighed, "You must, we have to get through to him." He took hold of her hand and guided her back up to where they first met.

She saw Gaston sitting there like nothing was bothering him, it gave her the strength she needed, they had to make him care about himself again, crazy as it sounded. Before the curse she would have given everything to get him to shut up about himself.

Taking a deep breath she took the final steps and pulled the lever opening the door again. "Are you happy now Gaston? Is this punishment enough for you?"

"Very, now go away and leave me be."

Belle stepped closer, "No, you're not the only one responsible and shouldn't those responsible be punished?" She walked back out and looked pleadingly at Beast, he shook his head. Giving him one more hug and a kiss to his furry cheek, "Please don't."

Beast caressed her face one more time and moved back to the cell and walked in, closing the door behind him.