This song is While Your Lips Are Still Red by Tuomas Holopainen and Marco Hietala, two members of Nightwish. (If you stumble upon the actual music video on YouTube, you'll see Marco singing in front - he's the blond guy with the braided beard - and Tuomas trailing behind him - he's the one with the black hair and red jacket. They're both hot, I don't care what anyone else thinks. And Tuomas plays a mean keyboard). You have to hear this song!

-

Chapter 14

There is nothing like returning to a place that remains unchanged to find the ways in which you yourself have altered – Nelson Mandela

Torin fought as best he could against Molly's fashion talents, but without claws or animal instincts he was forced to give up after a few moments. He chose instead to pout, crossing his arms over his chest and muttering to himself.

"I wouldn't be surprised if I found fleas in here." Molly muttered as she ran a brush through his tangled hair. "How often did you brush your fur, anyways?"

"Just hurry." Torin muttered, ignoring the question. "I want to see her."

"Ah, yes. Nothing cries romance like a bloodied outfit and hair full of fleas." Molly replied with a grin, giving the brush a final yank through his hair.

"I think you're beginning to act like Emily." Torin muttered.

Molly brushed his comment off, pointing to his scarred wrists and murmuring, "You're going to have to explain everything to her, Torin. Now that the curse is lifted, no more secrets."

"I know." Torin replied. To himself, he added, "I can't believe she kept her promise, after all …"

"I always said she'd be the one in the end." Molly murmured.

Torin nodded, his face pulled into an unreadable expression.

"… Is something the matter?" Molly inquired.

"No." Torin replied. "It's just… she fell for me as a Beast. What if she doesn't like me as plain old… Torin."

Molly gave him a smile, still enjoying the novelty of her visibility. "Love isn't so fickle, Torin. She loves you for what's inside, not your fur or your good looks."

Torin nodded, murmuring, "I hope so…"

Molly nodded to herself, saying, "Well, you're almost ready. Just get some clean clothes. I'm going to see about getting a bed set up for Aisling. The sun's already rising."

Torin nodded. "Aisling's a lot like Adara, isn't she?"

"Yes." Molly set down the brush and added, "I'm glad Adara brought her."

Torin coughed, glancing at his scarred chest. "And her brother...?"

"Who?"

"The one who killed me." he muttered dryly.

"Ah…" Molly slipped into an awkward silence for a few moments, glancing down at her hands before saying, "Well… I suppose he meant well…"

Torin chuckled, going to his wardrobe for some clean clothes. "Yes, I suppose so."

-

Emily spent what seemed like hours going through my destroyed wardrobe while Aisling and I sat on my ruined bed, glancing ever so often to look down at her large hands.

"Can you speed this up?" I asked.

"Sorry…" she glanced at her palms again before adding, "It's just, I haven't seen them for so long… my hands are really strange looking…"

I groaned and muttered, "There's nothing in there. Just lend me something of yours."

"Nothing of mine will fit." Emily muttered, gesturing to her chest. "You'd need a pillow's help to fit my dress."

I glared at her. "What about Molly?"

"She's too twiggy." Emily chuckled, extracting the only dress that hadn't been destroyed: the infamous pink. "And look what I have here…"

"That's pretty!" Aisling gasped.

I stared at Emily. "You must be kidding me."

"No… but at least it will go nicely with your necklace." She pointed out. "And besides, it looked lovely on you. I could never pull it off…" she held it up to herself, studying the amount of fabric against the generosity of her curves. "Or could I?"

"Isn't there a way we can sew the other ones back together?" I asked. "I really liked that brown one…"

"No. We can make you new ones, though…" Emily shrugged and added, "If you want to wait, it'll take a couple hours."

I snatched the pink dress from her grasp, running to the bathroom. I undressed and washed myself quickly in water that Emily had already set up for me.

"Why where you invisible?" Aisling asked her.

"Oh…" I heard Emily clear her throat. "Well… Torin's family was under a curse that had something to do with kindness or some such stuff… and Torin brought the curse upon himself."

"How?" Aisling asked.

"He was a bad employer, and lets leave it at that." Emily replied. "The only cure was to experience what I suppose is the ultimate kindness: love. And now your sister made him a nicer person, so he won't bring the curse upon himself again."

"I wish he'd have told me earlier…" I called from the bathroom as I quickly washed my hair and towelled it dry.

"I don't think that would work." Emily replied. "You had to love him despite his Beastliness, and if you knew it was a curse you'd find out that he was handsome and that would skew your judgement."

"Will Adara and Torin live happily ever after?" Aisling asked, "Like in a fairytale?"

"I suppose… except it wasn't love at first sight with them, since Adara thought he was ugly and he thought she were difficult and annoying."

I finished putting on the dress and poked my head out the door. "Not to seem rude… but can you just stop talking?"

She shrugged. "Fine. Now let me do your hair."

"Emily!" I cried, terrified that she would spend hours on my hair and keep me from Beast longer than necessary. "I'm sure he won't mind if I don't look perfect."

"Just one second…" she snatched a hairpin off of the desk and began to put my hair up, "You need to look just right…"

"I love him, Emily. I want to see him." I pulled away and snatched the pin out of my hair, glaring at her as I walked out the door. "I'm sure he won't mind if I don't look beautiful."

"Fine." She turned to Aisling. "Sweetie, would you like me to do your hair?"

"Will you tell me a story while you do it?"

"Sure. There's one I read a little while ago, the Phantom of the Opera…"

I slammed the door behind me and rolled my eyes. Invisible or no, that girl was still annoying.

-

Completely dressed and clean, the newly human Torin made his way out to the rose garden. He was sure that Adara would find him there. The sunrise had almost finished and the colours were all but drained from the sky. Torin sighed, touching a rose with a single finger but refraining from picking it.

He was sure he'd never get used to being human again. He'd always thought that he'd slip right back into it, but he could barely remember how to walk properly. His human body seemed tiny and frail compared to the strength and bulk he was used to. Torin put a hand to his face and winced as his fingers brushed bare skin.

It didn't feel right.

Torin turned back to the castle just in time to see Adara walking up the path towards him. She was wearing the necklace he'd given her, as well as a pink dress that looked beautiful on her. Her green eyes regarded him from a distance and her face showed that she was just as nervous as he was.

The mere sight of her shot electricity through Torin's body, reminding him just how much he loved her. He took a step towards her, numbed by her presence.

He could only hope that she'd see him as the Beast she remembered.

-

I was both excited and alarmed by the sight of the dark-haired man standing over the place that the Beast had proposed to me, the wind teasing his hair. The sunrise still coloured the sky, illuminating his clothes. I bit back a pleased giggle – he was dressed in a white shirt and black trousers, just as he had been when I first met him. They fit him now, and they didn't make him seem monstrous at all.

"Beast." I murmured, walking down the path.

The man smiled nervously, his eyes locked on me. I found that I missed the fearfulness of his old smile and the familiarity of his fur. He offered a hand and I took it once I was close enough, surprised to feel soft skin instead of rough pads and course fur.

"You lifted the curse." He murmured.

I nodded. "Yes, Emily told me."

"This… it's going to take some getting used to." He glanced down at his human body, murmuring, "You don't mind the change, do you?"

"No." I murmured, though I wasn't quite sure. I found the scars on his wrists and ran a finger over them with my free hand, adding, "What's this?"

He released my hand, studying his wrists and turning away from me. "It's stupid..." he whispered.

"Beast..." I put a hand on his shoulder, turning him back to face me. "It's alright. You can tell me."

His eyes met mine and he sighed, shaking his head. "I tried to kill myself. The curse wouldn't let me die by my own hand, but that didn't stop me. During the first year, I tore at myself with my claws and my teeth…"

I stared at his face, shocked. "Why?"

"I wanted to escape." He replied, gesturing to his face. "After looking like this, I… I couldn't handle turning into a monster."

"You were never a monster." I murmured, embracing him. I smiled when he faltered before hugging me back. Even as a human, he was surprised by my affection.

"You... you're sure the change doesn't bother you?" he whispered into my hair.

"No..." I pulled back for a moment, adding, "I fell in love with a Beast, but... your the same, aren't you? Only your outside is different."

He nodded, his eyes cast towards the path at our feet. "I still have a bad temper and I don't like it when I don't get my way. I still have terrible table manners and I'm still desperate for your affections. I'm still madly in love with you..." he sighed, letting his eyes meet mine. "My body's changed, but that's all. You can see that… can't you?"

"I can." I smiled and grasped his hands, knowing that his hesitancy could belong to no one other than the Beast I'd fallen for. "Of course I can."

"And I still don't want you to leave me." he whispered, pulling me close.

"I swear I won't." I replied, a strange thought striking me. "But…"

"Yes?"

I bit my lip. It felt a little strange, calling him Beast when he was a man, but it seemed even stranger to leave the name behind. It wasn't just a name anymore. It had become a term of affection.

"What do I call you now?" I asked.

"You can still call me 'Beast', if you like." He murmured, his hand resting protectively on my shoulder. "But you could use my real name, if you wish. You can call me whatever you want. My name is…"

"Torin." I murmured, practising the word's weight on my tongue. It was different from Beast, but it still felt right. I smiled, pulling close and hugging him again.

He faltered for a moment, and then replied, "Yes. Torin."

"Torin?" I murmured.

"Yes, Adara?"

"I love you."

Torin put a gentle hand under my chin, tilting it up so I looked at him. When our eyes met, he kissed me, hesitating for an instant before our lips met. After a few moments, he pulled away and whispered, "I love you, too."

-

(Sniffles from the beauty of their love)

All right, people, that is the end.

Okay, I can't even describe how happy I am that they finally are together and the spell is broken… thought personally I like the Beast better. But Adara is a lot smarter than me and loves Torin no matter what his name is and what he looks like…

And I think I could pull off that pink dress…

And there was a total Phantom of the Opera sighting in there… since Emily is based on me and is secretly a hopeless romantic…

And, yes, Torin isn't exactly fitting back into humanity as he'd hoped. One of the few things that really bothered me about BatB (Like Beauty just "forgetting" to go back when her month or whatever is up in the original story) is how the Beast seems to just slip back into normality. In real life, he'd have to get used to things all over again.

This chapter brought to you by Rose Daughter, the novel that got WanderingTeen off her ass.

Oh, fun fact: Torin and Adara start the Beauty and the Beast legend by telling their children so they can prevent the curse from affecting future generations.

But if it did... total sequal possibilities if I weren't such a lazy arse.

Any who... guys, it's been awesome to write this and read your reviews. I probably would have taken this sorry thing right off the internet without your support. So... THANKS!