A/N: Hi! I have returned! I'm sorry it took so long, but my creative writing teacher likes assigning long projects, so I've been balancing multiple stories at once. Also, I'm lazy. Anywho, read on! Also, I would like to issue a standard warning for Rogue. Hopefully it isn't too painful for you.
Disclaimer: Don't own, and all that jazz.
A Rose by Any Other Name
The next four nights passed almost painfully slow as Riku was left to wander the castle. He could sense that time was running short, and King Mickey would need their assistance at Radiant Gardens soon, but every time he tried to speak to the Beast about it, the prince would wave him away and return to his skulking. It didn't help the situation that, despite Riku's assurance, Kairi, Naminè, and Belle had still not returned. To pass the time, Riku talked to the other inhabitants of the castle, piecing together the Beast's story.
A prince who, in his selfishness had turned away an enchantress and was cursed to remain a beast until he could learn to love and be loved in return. And then there was the tricky business of the rose. The servants had hoped that Belle would break the spell, but her rushed departure from the castle, along with the fact that the rose was quickly running short on petals had all but dashed their hopes. This, added to the panic that had ensued when Mrs. Potts had discovered her son missing resulted in Riku's insistence that Belle, Kairi and Naminè would return falling on deaf ears.
The other inhabitants of the castle were kind, and Riku felt welcome but the pressing time was always on his mind, and he worried constantly about what would happen if they couldn't get the Beast's help.
Kairi, what is taking you so long?
~*~
"Belle, he's coming around." Kairi called as Maurice began to stir. Belle rushed to the bedside, grasping her father's hand.
"Belle?"
"It's alright, Papa. I'm home."
Maurice sat upright, pulling Belle into a hug.
"I thought I'd never see you again!" he exclaimed, "But, how did you escape?"
Kairi and Naminè watched the reunion from the corner, laughing when suddenly, it was interrupted by a small teacup.
Then came the knock on the door.
"I'll get it." Naminè smiled, walking to the door.
"Can I help you?" she asked as it swung open to reveal a sickly looking old man with an evil grin.
"Might I talk to Belle?" he asked in a cold, reserved voice.
Hearing his request, Belle came to the door.
"Yes?" she asked, nervously.
"I've come to collect your father." He smiled cruelly.
"How dare you?" Belle exclaimed, glaring venomously at the carriage inscribed Insane Asylum. "My father's not crazy!"
However, the town people gathered around the house disagreed and, spurred on by Gaston's waist-high sidekick, LeFou, the were soon brought to a crazy frenzy, and nearly stormed the house.
By this time, Kairi, Naminè and Maurice had come outside to see what was happening, and the men from the Asylum grabbed Maurice, shoving him toward the cart.
"No! I won't let you do this!" Belle cried, "Kairi, get the mirror!" Kairi nodded, running into the house.
"Poor Belle." Gaston sighed as he walked up, "I may be able to clear up this little misunderstanding. If you'll marry me."
"Never!"
Gaston turned away, sneering.
"Have it your way."
"Belle, here!" Kairi called, handing Belle the fragile, white looking-glass.
"My father's not crazy, and I can prove it!" Belle yelled to the crowd. "Show me the Beast!" the mirror lit up in her hand, and she turned it, showing the Beast's face to all there.
The crowd gasped, and began yelling questions, Belle answering.
"If I didn't know better, I'd say you had feelings for this monster." Gaston gasped.
"He's no monster, Gaston." Belle snapped, Kairi and Naminè running to her side. "You are!"
With a scowl, Gaston turned to the crowd, prodding at their fears, and rousing their anger until one sentence rippled through the crowd, echoed over and over.
Kill the Beast!
~*~
Riku took a deep breath, standing at the door of the Beast's chamber. He was going to make the Beast listen, one way or another.
"Beast, let me in." He called through the door when no one responded to his knock. "We need to talk."
The Beast growled as Riku pushed the door open. This boy had some nerve. Coming into his home and telling him what to do.
The Beast stood forlornly, fingering the glass enclosed rose as if it were his last possession.
"Beast, you just sitting here isn't doing anyone any good. Even if Belle doesn't come back, that doesn't change how she feels about you.
"When I was working for Maleficent, kidnapping Belle was worse than any of the others because she never let me hear the end of it. She would talk about anything, just to annoy me, but mostly she talked about you. She loves you, Beast."
The Beast sighed, looking at his paws.
"Not enough."
There was a timid knock in the door as Mrs. Potts hopped in.
"Pardon me, Master?" She asked.
"Leave me in peace."
"But sir, the castle is under attack!"
"What?" Riku gasped, "By who?"
"The townspeople. They have the mirror."
"And Belle?" The Beast asked.
"She wasn't there, sire."
The Beast sighed, turning away.
"What should we do, Master?" Mrs. Potts asked, imploringly.
"It doesn't matter now." The Beast replied, shaking his head. "Let them come."
"L-Let them come?" Mrs. Potts gasped, "But Master, we are all willing to fight! To the death if we have to."
"Did you not hear what I said, Mrs. Potts?" The Beast growled, "I told you to-"
"No!" Riku yelled, before softening his tone. "What's wrong with you?" he asked "You have a castle full of loyal servants, willing to risk their lives for you, and all you can do is sit there, feeling sorry for yourself. Belle would be ashamed.
"Well, if you aren't willing to go out there and help your friends defend this castle, then I will." With an angry scowl, Riku turned to Mrs. Potts. "C'mon." he said, and together they left, Riku pausing at the door. "And to think you once had a strong heart." And with that, they were gone.
"You really shouldn't have said that." Mrs. Potts sighed as they walked down the hall.
"Yeah, well he deserved it."
By this time, they had reached the stairs and saw the organized chaos that was unfolding below.
Riku chuckled as Lumiere set the intruder's rears alight, and Cogsworth attacked people with a pair of shears.
"I don't see why you asked the Beast's help in the first place." he laughed, turning to Mrs. Potts. "You seem to be doing fine on your own. Is there anything particular you would like me to do."
"Could you stay up here and guard the Master, dear?" the teapot asked, "Just in case someone slips by?"
Riku nodded, and Mrs. Potts smiled gratefully.
"Thank you, love." she said and she hopped off.
Riku smiled as she disappeared, and moved to a spot from which he could better view the amusing spectacle below.
Understandably, it wasn't too long before the terrified townsmen, facing a wall of angry furniture, turned tail and ran.
"And stay out!" Cogsworth called after them, as the others cheered.
Maybe it's that easy. Riku thought hopefully, Maybe this fight is over… But his thoughts were interrupted by the sound of doors being kicked in, and he know that wasn't going to happen.
Summoning Way to Dawn, Riku cautiously followed the sounds until he found the culprit.
"You!" Gaston gasped, pointing his arrow at Riku's chest.
Riku eyed the man carefully, weighing his options. Arrows, he could deal with. What scared him was the purplish-black haze that rose from Gaston like smoke. Darkness.
"Move aside, boy." Gaston sneered, "Or I'll shoot you now.
Riku tensed at the threat.
"Whatever you're planning on doing, is it worth losing your heart over?"
Gaston laughed.
"I'm stronger than that." he said, "I can not be defeated."
"That's exactly what I said." Riku scoffed. "It's what everyone says. If you stop using the Darkness now, nothing will-"
"Yeah, she told me all about you." Gaston interrupted, "How your own folly made you skittish, but I'm not weak like you."
"Who is she? A tall woman with a horned hat and a staff?"
"So what if it is?"
Riku sighed. She's doing this just to make things difficult. He thought, It's not like she can gain anything from him.
"I told you to move." Gaston snapped. The Darkness around him grew, and Riku could almost see it eating it's way to Gaston's heart. He recognized the look on Gaston's face. It had crossed his own many times, and even now, a small part of him ached for the power that he know Gaston was feeling at that very moment. The Darkness crept over Gaston's arm, the dark mist wrapping itself around the arrow, causing it to glow a sickly purple. "Move now, or you'll be doing no more moving at all."
Riku's expression hardened, along with his grip on Way to Dawn. He struck. An arrow flew.
~*~
"Faster, Philippe!" Belle exclaimed, as she spurred the old horse on. With a final burst of speed, they broke through the gate, and rode up to the castle.
"Belle, look!" Kairi exclaimed, pointing to the roof where Gaston stood over the Beast, poised to strike his final blow.
"No!" Belle cried, "Gaston, don't!" At the sound of her voice, Beast rose up, grabbing Gaston's arm and throwing him across the roof.
"Let's go, Philippe!" Belle exclaimed, kicking the horse into action so quickly that Naminè was forced to grab onto Kairi's waist to keep from falling off.
They burst through the doors and, dismounting the horse, ran up the stairs, and down the hallway that led to the Beast's chambers. However, about halfway down, Kairi let out a cry of horror, running to the left, where between two suits of armor lay Riku, an arrow planted firmly in his right shoulder.
Naminè followed, but Belle didn't stop. She ran on, thinking of nothing but the Beast.
"Riku!" Kairi gasped as she kneeled down next to the older boy. "Riku, can you hear me?" No response. "Riku!" she cried, shaking him.
"Ow, don't touch there," Riku grimaced, drowsily. Naminè sighed with relief as Kairi threw herself happily over the boy, causing him to grumble about how no one ever listened. Laughing, Kairi helped him to sit up, but her smile faded as Riku grunted in pain.
"Does it hurt bad?" she asked, eyeing his wince, uncertainly.
"Let's put it this way, I prefer being unconscious." Riku looked down at his shoulder as if weighing his options. "Pull it out."
Nodding, Naminè gripped the arrow, yanking it out as Kairi cast a cure spell. Riku grunted as the warm effects of the spell lingered around the wound.
"Can you move your arm?" Kairi asked, looking worried, "I don't think it healed all the way…"
Raising his arm hesitantly, Riku shrugged.
"It's okay. Don't worry about it."
Worried, Naminè looked down the hall.
"I hope Belle is alright…"
"Belle!" Riku exclaimed, "Beast!"
Kairi and Naminè looked surprised as Riku jumped to his feet, running into the Beast's rooms.
"Riku, wait!" Kairi yelled, running after him, Naminè close behind.
Riku reached the balcony and stopped dead. Before them, on the floor, lay the Beast, his side bleeding, running his hands through Belle's hair.
"At least I got to see you, one last time." he gasped, smiling painfully, touching Belle's face tenderly Then, with a final breath, the Beast's hand dropped, his head falling back against the floor.
"No!" Belle gasped, leaning her head against the Beast's chest, "Please don't leave me." she sobbed quietly, tears mingling with the rain. "I love you."
Within the shelter of the Beast's rooms, the servant's watched sadly as the last petal fell.
"I was supposed to help him." Riku sighed to Kairi, who's tears ran silently down her face. "But instead I-"
Kairi gasped, and Riku followed her gaze back out to the balcony. Multicolored ping-pong balls of light were falling from the sky, strewing the balcony with little lights like dying embers as the Beast's body rose into the air, twisting up in it's cape.
All stared as fascination as light flew from the Beast's feet and paws which were slowly reverting back to hands. The body, still twisting and turning, lowered slowly back down. As the Beast reached the floor, Belle moved forward, then drew back as the body heaved, pushing itself into a standing position.
The man paused, examining his hands before rushing forward to grab Belle's.
"Belle, it's me!"
Fingering a lock of his light brown hair, Belle gazed up into his deep blue eyes. Eyes she knew.
"It is you!" she gasped, and their lips met.
Fireworks flashed in the sky as all around, the servants reverted to their original form. The sky took a brighter hue as the Prince ran from person to person, exclaiming as each transformation took place, and hugging them.
Eventually, he came to where Riku, Kairi and Naminè stood, watching the scene happily.
"You needed my help before." he said, uncertainly offering a hand, "Will you still take it?"
With a smile, Riku nodded, grasping the hand.
"Gladly. But, we need to hurry, and there is so much to explain…"
"Explain on the way there." the Prince shrugged, turning to Cogsworth, "Summon all the people who are willing to fight. We're off to Radiant Gardens."
A/N: I always used to wonder why the Disney worlds in KH just seemed a little off, but now I know why. It is really hard to stay true to the story when you've added three characters. I have a question for all of you. Namine needs a weapon. Any suggestion? All I can think of is a staff, and I would rather not use that because Blackrogue123 had Namine use a staff in his story Heart of Darkness, and I would feel like I was copying him if I used it too. By the way, that is an amazing story, you should all go read it, and Rogue should finish it. Yes Rogue, I am talking to you. If I were sitting next to you right now, I would be poking your arm relentlessly. Anyway, please review. I only have three people who review after every chapter, and I know more people alerts on it then that. So, thank you to Vegeluxia, Blackrogue123, and Kisdota-The Freak Gamer. The rest of you, please get your butts in gear. Thanks!