Disclaimer: I do not own Beauty and the Beast or its characters. Rights owned by Disney.

Around 8:30 in the morning, Cogsworth entered the West Wing. The Beast was in his chair by the dead rose, looking as melancholy as ever. The clock walked up to the Beast.

"Uh, Master?" he said. "Do you, um, plan to watch the wedding in the mirror? I thought I'd let you know that it's due to begin in a half hour."

"Thank you, Cogsworth," the Beast said, picking up the mirror. "I just wish I could prevent this. Earlier this morning I did speak to Belle...we were both looking at each other in the mirror at the same time. I'm very worried about her."

"How is she doing, sir?"

"Well, before she looked at me in her mirror, she told Lumiere that this is worse for her than being my prisoner, even if I'd remained hostile. Because at least then she could have her space from me...now she'll be bound to wifely duties. I...tried to get her to back out of it when she got me in her mirror. Even though it would mean my end, I tried to get her to back out. But she wouldn't. She's strong, and stubborn...I just hope she stays that way. She will need her strength." Remembering the mirror in his paw, he spoke to it. "I'd like to see...well, just in case Belle isn't quite decent...I don't know what stage of getting ready she's in...let me see Lumiere." He knew Lumiere would give Belle privacy when needed.

Lumiere stood on a table just outside the closed door of Belle's bedroom. A moment later Belle came out, dressed in anything but what one would expect a bride to be in.

"How do I look?" she asked.

Lumiere studied her. The dress was on the fancy end of for a peasant. The style wasn't too unlikely for a peasant wedding. But the color...it was...black. So was the ribbon she tied her hair back with. So were her shoes.

"You look..." Lumiere began, trying to search for the right words. "Nice...but...well, you look like a mourner attending a funeral."

"I wore it to my mother's funeral," Belle said flatly.

"Will...Gaston be okay with it?"

"He'll have to be," she said stubbornly. "He won't like it. His bride wearing funeral attire. But it will have to do. I'm going to show him from the beginning that being his wife will not make me an easy pushover."

"Well," Cogsworth said, watching in the mirror with the Beast. "Looks like she's going to hold her own pretty well. I'm not too surprised, though."

"No, it's not surprising," said the Beast. "I just...oh I don't have a good feeling about this. I don't know why...if anyone can handle the situation, it's Belle. I just...feel like...I don't know...like she might be in over her head."

A knock coming from the mirror jolted their attention back to the scene at Belle's house.

"Hide, Lumiere!" Belle whispered. "It's him."

Lumiere dove under the table and extinguished his flames. The Beast directed the mirror to focus on Belle as she answered the door. Gaston confidently strode in.

"Well, my dear," he said pompously. "Today's the big day, the day I've been waiting for ever since I laid eyes on you."

"How...flattering," Belle said, trying not too successfully to hide her sarcasm.

"I know I'm about five minutes early, but I figured it was close enough," Gaston said. "If you're ready, we'll just go now and--" Gaston stopped and stared at Belle. "What, exactly, are you wearing?"

"A dress," Belle said simply.

"And what color is that dress?" Gaston asked, obviously going somewhere with his questioning.

"Black."

"And do you know what people usually wear black too, Belle?"

"Let me think..." Belle said, pretending not to know where Gaston was going.

"Funerals, Belle," Gaston said. "Not weddings, but funerals. Good thing I was a bit early, isn't it? No bride of mine will show up at my wedding looking like a mourner. Go change, and get a different pair of shoes, and a different bow in your hair while you're about it. Hurry now, no time to waste."

"What I am wearing," Belle said stubbornly. "I am not changing out of."

"What did you say?" Gaston asked, taking a step towards her.

"I'm wearing this to the wedding."

"Oh no you're not!" he said, his voice slightly raised. "You will change, right now!"

"I will not!" Belle said defiantly.

"Now remember, I'm about to be your husband," Gaston said. "You must honor and obey."

"Not yet I don't," Belle said. "Not until after we have said 'I do'."

Suddenly, Belle felt the hard impact of Gaston's right hand crashing into the left side of her face, and she lost her balance. As she was falling, her dress caught on something and ripped, exposing her undergarments.

"Are you okay?" Gaston asked in mock concern, helping her not so sincerely to her feet. "Oh my, look, what happened to your dress? It seems to be ripped. Certainly you wouldn't dream of getting married like that, would you?" He forcefully took her into her room. "Now, I'm going to help you pick out a suitable outfit. I suggest you don't give me any back talk."

"Yes sir," Belle conceded. Gaston had won this one.

"RRRRAAAWWWRRRRGGGGHHH!!!!!!!"

The whole castle shook at the Beast's roar. It was a roar he hadn't uttered since Belle was new to the castle. Sure, he roared when she left, and he roared when the rose died, but those were roars of despair and anguish. While this roar also held despair and anguish, it also held the animalistic rage that the Beast had not displayed or felt since Belle showed him kindness. Cogsworth cringed, frightened, though he had not been afraid of his master in quite some time.

"That is not acceptable!" the Beast growled angrily. "I never ONCE struck her! Even when she was in the West Wing that first night against my orders, I flew into a rage, I knocked things around, but I still didn't let my paw collide with her person and we weren't even so much as friends yet!"

The Beast set the mirror down on the table and ran out of the room on all fours -- another thing he hadn't done for some time. Cogsworth ran after him.

"Master, what are you doing?"

"I'm going to rescue her!" the Beast said, not even looking back. Cogsworth began to sputter, but before he knew it, the Beast was out of the castle.

Suddenly, Mrs. Potts and Maurice entered the foyer, where Cogsworth now stood alone.

"I w-was a-af-fraid h-he'd go b-back to wh-what he w-was," said the old man. "I m-must go!"

"He's not in the castle," Cogsworth said. "And he didn't revert...he is angry, yes, but with good reason."

"What on earth happened, Cogsworth?" Mrs. Potts asked. "I don't think I've heard that much anger in a roar of his since...since Belle was new to the castle."

"We were both looking in the mirror," Cogsworth explained. "This Gaston fellow came to pick Belle up. He didn't like her choice of attire. She was dressed as if attending a funeral, in black you see, and he wouldn't have it. And you know how determined Belle can be, there's no changing her mind if she's determined enough. So he slapped her, she fell, ripped the dress on something on her way down, and he forcibly took her into her room to change."

Now it was Maurice's turn to display anger, albeit not quite so, well, beastly.

"He treated my daughter that way? Well I hope the Beast gets her out of that situation!"

A few moments later, the Beast came back through the doors. He looked at Mrs. Potts, Cogsworth, and Maurice.

"I tried," he said. "The Enchantress stopped me, and said I won't do Belle any good tearing in there like a creature who escaped the zoo. And of course she's right. She says she's working on a plan."

The Beast hurried back to the West Wing, followed by Cogsworth, Mrs. Potts, and even Maurice, who at this point was only concerned about his daughter. The Beast picked up the mirror, and sat on the floor so all could easily watch.

"Show me Belle!" he demanded.

In the mirror, they saw that Belle and Gaston were now in front of the priest. Obviously the wedding had begun. Belle was now wearing a green dress, plain enough to belong to a peasant, but fancier than most of her dresses. A green bow was in her hair. And the brown shoes she usually wore were on her feet. It appeared that Gaston had his way. The priest turned to Gaston.

"Do you, Gaston, take Belle to be your wedded wife, to have and to hold from this day forward, for richer or poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish, till in death you part?"

"I do," Gaston said with grandiosity.

"And do you, Belle," the priest said, turning to her. "Take Gaston to be your wedded husband, to have and to hold from this day forward, for richer or poorer, in sickness and in health, to honor and to obey, till in death you part?"

There was a pause. The Beast looked longingly into the mirror.

'Say no Belle," he whispered. "Please, don't do this for my sake."

Belle mouthed the words, but no sound came out.

"I'm sorry," the priest said. "Come again?"

"I do," she whispered.

"Say it so everybody can hear you, Belle," Gaston said through once side of his mouth, the one closest to Belle.

"I do," the words were forced out, but they were loud enough for all to hear.

The Beast sighed and shook his head. It broke his heart that Belle so obviously didn't want to speak those words, and was only doing so for his sake.

"I now pronounce you man and wife," the priest said. "You may kiss the bride."

Gaston took Belle in his arms and kissed her, and it was obvious that the kiss was for show, to show his triumph. He now had his prize.

As the audience began to clap and cheer, the Beast set the mirror down, allowing the image to fade.

"I can't see anymore of this," he said sullenly. "Not now anyway. I hope something happens soon, that Belle can be rescued." He then turned to Belle's father. "I'm so sorry, monsieur," he said. "I should have been able to stop that."

Maurice was surprised to find himself not so scared of the Beast now, despite the earlier roar. In truth, he was more afraid of Belle's current plight. And, he realized, he and the Beast were on the same side.

"Maurice," he said. "My name is Maurice. And as much as I want her out of that predicament, well, there's got to be a better way than what you were going to do. Gaston is a skilled hunter, and he'll see your head on the wall of the tavern. And Belle will still be his."

"You're right," the Beast said, sighing. "I just hope to put a stop to this whole thing soon."