Chapter Eleven – Together With You

Belle felt her sleep get interrupted in the early morning hours. She put a hand out in the bed but found that Adam's body wasn't there and so pushed herself up feeling exhausted. It was when she heard a roar of pain that her eyes widened and she sat up in the bed. Adam was standing against the wall with a knife in his arm and there was a young man from the kitchen staff standing opposite him.

Belle got up suddenly before the man could take out the knife.

"Fight me, you coward!" he challenged him and Belle looked between the two of them. Adam wasn't retaliating, she could see the pain on his face and it haunted her. She stood in front of him.

"Sweetheart, it's okay," she tried to tell him but tears were in her own eyes. Adam wasn't retaliating, although he was stabbed, he wasn't trying to hurt the man who had attacked him. He was showing restraint. She turned towards the man. "Get out," she said in a very dark manner, her eyes narrowing. He looked defiantly at Adam.

"I'm ready for you to attack!" he yelled causing footsteps to be heard outside the door and Belle breathed slowly. She saw Adam refuse to fight him.

"I don't want to hurt you," he tried to explain but the man continued to stare at him defiantly. Adam felt his breathe catch in his throat but he still refused to make a move and hurt the other man. "You don't know my strength." Belle looked at the man before scanning for any weapons that he had.

Belle grabbed his wrist and kneed him in his body bringing him to the ground. "My husband, your prince has refused to hurt you but I'm not going to. I might only be a woman but I will protect my -"

"your pet. Bestiality is a crime!" he yelled before the guards appeared at the bedroom along with Cogsworth who had another lantern with him. When the guards had taken the man away, Adam slowly moved to the bed, the knife still in his arm. Belle sat with him, her fingers spreading over the area trying to think of how to remove it without causing him too much pain.

"I need bandages," she said as she put a hand to Adam's cheek, his ear, his horn. She leaned forwards and kissed his lips as Cogsworth sent a servant to go grab some medical supplies. "You didn't fight back," she commented and he nodded as she gazed into those gorgeous blue eyes.

"I can't fight back until I know my own strength," he told her and Belle gently let her fingers go over his arm worried about the blood forming around the blade. She leaned up against him, glad that he was thinking of others rather than just himself. Adam had definitely changed since the last time he was stuck in this form. "I don't want to kill or seriously wound anyone."

"Even someone wanting to take your life," Belle said as she grabbed the bandages. "Hold still," she said as she took a damp cloth and quickly withdrew the blade and put the cloth over his arm. She heard another roar of pain and put her hand to his chest, feeling his inhale and exhale. She slowed her breathing to match his. She managed to clean the wound before bandaging it quickly. She carefully closed the bandage and put her hand to it. No blood was showing under the layers despite her knowing that there was blood.

"There," she said as he put his paw to the bandages. She wrapped her arms around him. "If they only knew that there is still that kind prince underneath," she whispered and put a hand to his cheek. "Adam. I love you," she attempted to remind him and he slowly nodded. "I won't let anyone hurt you."

"We'll definitely raise the security within this castle," Cogsworth told him. "Make sure they understand that we're searching for a cure to this, that you are still the kindhearted and generous man that you matured into." Belle nodded gratefully, she took his paw.

"Let's take a walk," she said to him, "Dress warmly."

Adam nodded as he watched her before going to get the clothes he would wear to keep this monstrous form warm.

"Do you remember when we were out in the snow?" Belle asked as she tried to remind Adam of the good that he had faced in this form. She wanted to stop the pain that he felt but with someone attempting to kill him, it was hard to think too much on the positives. He nodded, remaining quiet.

"And do you remember asking me to become your wife?" she asked again. "I was so happy that day. I had found the fairytale prince, the one that my books had made me believe in. You never made fun of me for loving to read," she said before pausing. "They used to call me odd for wanting to have books. They didn't understand how much joy came from reading."

Adam chuckled, "I love your mind, you have a very open mind. If reading is what makes you happy then I would get you any book you desire."

"You've given me more books than I could ever read," Belle smiled as she thought about her library. Only someone who truly loved her could give her such a gift. She remembered helping him read and wondered why nobody had ever spent the time teaching him even as a beast. He had learned to absorb the knowledge and without others knowing had spent at least two hours educating himself each day to run his share of the kingdom. He truly cared for others.

Belle looked ahead and saw a woman who was glowing and she felt Adam tense. She quickly held onto his paw knowing the enchantress when she saw her. Belle took a steady breath before moving forwards. "Hello," she said with a slight tilt of her head and the enchantress nodded. "It'll be all right," she tried to assure Adam.

"It will be all right," the enchantress told them before moving over to Belle which made Adam look at her in horror. Belle shook her head as she glanced at him. "I have a trade to offer you," she said and Adam gently pulled Belle to his chest.

"Yes?" the brunette asked as she looked at the other woman with wonder in her eyes. This was powerful magic and there might be a chance of helping Adam.

"The two of you wish to stay together," she said and Belle nodded. "No matter what form you might be in?"

"That's true," Belle nodded and Adam looked at the enchantress suspiciously.

"I want to propose a trade. The only way for you to break the curse completely is to kill the man who placed it but…I can turn you into a beast as well," she said and Adam pulled Belle closer to him. He didn't want that for her. He wanted her to have a beautiful life, not treated like a monster.

"We refuse," he said quickly and the enchantress looked at him.

"By the hours of the sun, the two of you will be human but by the hours of the moon, you must take on the form of a beast," she said and Belle turned to Adam who wanted to refuse the idea. Belle however felt this was the best situation that they could ask for at that time. Until Gaston's death they wouldn't be able to return to their normal lives.

"I accept," Belle told her taking a step forward and Adam shook his head.

"I can't allow for you to do that," he said and Belle shook her head to him. She knew that she wanted to be with him even if that meant sacrificing something herself. He tried to protest but the enchantress was already using her powers on his princess and soon he could see the female beast on the ground with the same features that he had.

He got down next to her, placing a hand on her shoulder as he heard her breathing. She had horns, paws, a tail. Everything that he had but much softer and more delicate. As Adam looked up to tell the enchantress to change Belle back, he realized that she was gone. He put both hands to Belle's shoulders despite the pain in his arm.

"How do I look?" Belle found herself to growl as she looked back at him and saw the concern in his expression. "That bad?"

"You look beautiful," he told her before holding her close to him again. He shook his head wishing that she hadn't done that but took her paw and helped her to her feet. "Slowly," he whispered to her as she attempted to find her balance. She looked behind her as her tail swept the floor and they walked slowly to a fountain where Belle could see her new reflection. "I'm so sorry," he apologized and Belle put a paw to his cheek and leaned up to kiss him feeling the height difference had definitely decreased a lot.

"I look just like you now," she told him as she tried to smile through a couple of sobs. She kissed him passionately and he pulled her close hoping that she wouldn't hate him for this change. It was a change for both of them.

"I'm sorry," he told her as she looked at him with love in her eyes. "I should have stopped her."

"You really think I look beautiful?" she asked him, her voice a little weaker and he let his paw run through her fur.

"I will always think you are beautiful," he promised before kissing her again.

…..

…..

The bed had seemed a lot smaller with the two of them as beasts but as the sun rose, Belle woke up to see human arms holding her and she rolled over to look at Adam. She was glad to see him in his human form, it made her transformation worth it. She put a hand to his cheek, playing with his hair with her fingers. He had been struggling so much lately.

"Belle," he smiled as he woke up and reached out to kiss her. He blinked as he saw his hand instead of his paw and realized that the previous night had been more than a dream. "You didn't have to do that for me," he tried to tell her again and Belle grinned up at him.

"It's not that I don't love you in any form," she told him and Adam paused, "I just want us to be happy and being together is more important than anything else."

Adam sighed as he sat up and then tightened the bandages over his arm. "I'm going to check on Isabella," he told her and Belle grinned as she watched him in his human form. This was what he had wanted, right? She quickly got up and followed him. She wanted to hear Bella's reaction as well.

"Are you awake, my little princess?" Adam asked as he stood in her doorway and Belle could hear Isabella gasp loudly.

"Daddy!" she squealed as she ran over to him. "You're you."

Adam laughed and Belle watched him take Isabella into his arms, squeezing her close. He had done the same thing in his beast form but it looked sweeter now that he was human again, at least for half of the day. "I have always been me," he told her, "but now I just look how I used to."

"I like this look better," Isabella said as she snuggled closer to him and Adam sighed. He pulled her closer to him but then his eyes caught onto Belle's and she saw the guilt. She froze and shook her head. Moments like this made her choice to transform each night worth it. She wanted Isabella to have a happy life, that was worth turning into a beast alongside Adam.

End of Chapter Eleven

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Thank you to sailorsenshi13 for reviewing Chapter Ten