Disclaimer: I do not own Beauty and the Beast or the characters therein.

It was six days after the wedding. In the evening, Belle and Gaston were in the tavern, Lumiere was at Gaston's house watching them in the mirror. Lumiere noticed something about Belle that wasn't evident previously. That fighting spirit, that stubbornness about her, the light in her eyes was gone. The candelabra remembered that first night when Belle arrived at the castle, how she stubbornly refused to come down to dinner, even with the Beast outside her door roaring at her. She maintained complete control. But she had no control as Gaston's wife. She tried to maintain it, but little by little, her stubbornness, her ability to hold her ground disappeared. The only thing left that she still refused to do, Lumiere believed, was to get into bed with Gaston, and he didn't think that was long in coming. Either she'd lose the drive to refuse, or he'd force her, physically or psychologically.

"Poor cherie," Lumiere thought aloud, looking at Belle in the mirror. "A mere shell of who she used to be."

"Lumiere," a familiar voice called from behind. The candelabra turned to see the Enchantress. "Lumiere, do you feel you've had enough time to scope things out?"

"Yes, I do," Lumiere said.

"Does Belle know where the mirror is hidden?"

"Yes, she does."

"Okay, I want you to put the mirror away in its spot and go back to the castle," she said. "Get your Master, Maurice, Cogsworth and Mrs. Potts, and anyone else your Master sees fit and gather in the den. I'll be there at 9:00 PM."

Before Lumiere could respond, the Enchantress disappeared. He put the mirror where he and Belle had agreed it would be hidden, and then spoke to the transporting necklace around his neck.

"Take me to the castle," he said. "To wherever the Master is."

In the West Wing, the Beast sat on his bed, holding the mirror in his paw. He was watching Belle. He noticed the same thing Lumiere had noticed, and he felt like he was dying just watching the change in his Belle. The radiant glow about her, the spirit that hoped where it seemed hopeless within her...had all but disappeared. He wanted to run into that village, rip Gaston a new attitude, and take Belle in his arms and get her away from that situation. It was all he could do to just sit and wait for the Enchantress to help.

The Beast was too consumed with what was before him in the mirror to notice Lumiere standing beside the bed. The candelabra hopped up onto the bed next to the Beast, immediately seeing what was in the mirror.

"Master," he said. The Beast looked to his newly returned servant. "It's pretty bad, isn't it?"

"What I want to know," the Beast said softly. "Is where's Belle? The proud, stubborn but kind and gentle woman who taught me to love? The girl, who, even the prisoner of a Beast like me, never stopped hoping, wishing, dreaming for something better? She's...she's just a shell of that."

"I know," Lumiere said, putting a 'hand' on the Beast's arm. "It took such a short time for her to lose her spark. The good news is I think we'll be able to act soon. I just talked with the Enchantress."

"And?"

"She will be here at 9:00 tonight," Lumiere said. "She wants you, Belle's father, myself, Cogsworth, Mrs. Potts, and anyone else you wish to be there to meet in the den."

"Go alert the staff," the Beast said. "I don't think anyone but the aforementioned needs to be there, but anyone can that wishes. I'll go tell Maurice."

"If I may ask," Lumiere said. "How is the old fellow doing...I mean...with you?"

"I think he trusts me," the Beast said. "At least for the most part."

As the Beast stood outside Maurice's door a few moments later, he hoped what he told Lumiere was correct. He hoped Belle's father did trust him, in spite of things getting off on the wrong foot when they'd first met. Gently, he knocked on the door.

"Maurice?" he called. "May I come in?"

"Oh sure, come on in," the old man called from inside his room.

The Beast entered the room. Maurice sat on the edge of his bed, and the Beast took the chair next to the bed. The Beast wasted no time in getting to the point.

"Lumiere has returned," he said. "He spoke with the Enchantress, and we're to meet at 9pm in the den."

"And then we'll come up with a plan to get my daughter out of that situation?"

"That is the goal," the Beast replied.

Later that night, the Beast, the Enchantress, Maurice, Mrs. Potts, Lumiere, and Cogsworth assembled by the fire. Also in attendance were the dog-turned-footstool and Babette, the flirtatious feather duster that Lumiere was always after.

"Now then!" the Enchantress said authoritatively, calling the group to attention. "The time has come to figure out what to do about the predicament Belle is in. Lumiere, since you were with Belle this whole time, I'd like you to give a report of the situation."

"The poor girl isn't doing so great," the candelabra said. "That poor excuse of a man...he has her beaten down, emotionally, but he's not above physical violence either when it comes to getting what he wants. I never thought I'd see the day Belle lost that spark about her, but there's just so little of it left within her. I fear it won't be long before he takes from her the one thing she still refuses to give him - her virginity."

"And what is the schedule like?" the Enchantress asked.

"Most days he is out early to hunt," Lumiere said. "Often, after breakfast though, when he doesn't hunt, he'll make her accompany him and he'll parade around the village with her on his arm. He always instructs her to smile when they're out in public before they leave the house. Once home, if she didn't look happy enough for his standards, she will be chastised. Most evenings after dinner he makes her accompany him to the tavern, with the same requirement to look like a happy, loving, devoted wife."

A soft growl emanated from the Beast. Then he hung his head in shame. This is how she was living, for him. She didn't deserve this fate, but she allowed it to save his life. Her plight was his fault.

"Is she ever alone?" the Beast asked. "I mean...I've seen her without him in the mirror...but is there a time we can barge in and get her without him being there?"

"When he hunts she's alone in the house," Lumiere said. "Which is everyday for a few hours...most mornings, and all afternoons whether he hunts in the morning or not. Like I say, sometimes he decides to parade her around town in the morning. But he always hunts in the afternoon."

"So," Cogsworth said. "In the afternoon, we can rescue her. Just tell me what preparations to make Master, and we'll have her back at this castle before sunset tomorrow."

"It may not be that easy Cogsworth," Mrs. Potts said. "I don't get the impression that this is a matter of barging in, grabbing Belle, and rushing back. It sounds more complicated than that."

"Much more complicated," the Enchantress said. "Which is why you need me, is it not?"

All tose present nodded.

"The girl and I were talking yesterday," Lumiere said. "I don't know if we can get her to come back with us willingly. She told me that the way she was raised, you don't leave your husband once you are married."

"But his abuse of her," Cogsworth said. "Surely that's grounds for divorce? She'd be well within her rights to leave..."

"Again, much more complicated," Mrs. Potts said. "Legally, a wife is the property of her husband. Surely he is morally in the wrong, but a divorce won't necessarily be given just because he exerts his will over her - remember he has that legal right."

"Plus she's a woman of her word," Lumiere said. "She vowed to stay with him until they are parted by death."

"Her mother and I did raise her that marriage is a lifelong commitment," Maurice said. "Oh, what have I done? I never meant for her to accept an abusive man just to keep that commitment."

The room fell silent as Maurice sat there, his head bowed in his hand, feeling guilty that his raising of her might have contributed to what she was now going through. The old man looked up when he felt a large paw place itself gently on his back. The Beast shook his head.

"Not your fault," the Beast said. "She's in this situation all because of me, to keep me from becoming Gaston's next prey. She would never have married an abusive man otherwise."

It was true, and the Beast knew it. He remembered how she defiantly refused dinner with him her first night in the castle. Then hours later, how she bravely told him to control his temper as she cleaned his wounds, chastising him for frightening her away. She wasn't one to accept abuse. And she'd ultimately won every argument she and the Beast had ever been in. For a man to have her conceding defeat, for a man to have such power over her, Gaston must have some level of callousness in him that the Beast never had, even at his worst.

"So," the Enchantress said. "Belle won't willingly leave the situation, won't leave her commitment, while they are both alive."

"Um..."

All eyes turned to the Beast. It was evident that there was a struggle going on within the large creature. All was silent for a moment.

"N-never mind," the Beast said.

"What?" the Enchantress said. "What were you thinking?"

"I shouldn't say," the Beast said, shaking his head.

"Out with it!" Maurice said. "Let's get any ideas for getting Belle out of this mess all out on the table!"

"Well..." the Beast sighed. "If she won't willingly end the marriage with him alive...I was thinking maybe if he were to die..."

"You have changed since I first placed the spell on you," the Enchantress said.

"No I haven't," the Beast said sadly. "I'm no better than I was, if I think of causing someone's death."

"But the thought gives you quite a struggle," the Enchantress said. "And you never would have had the thought if it weren't for the situation Belle is in, correct?"

"Correct."

"Well, you've changed."

"But Belle would never stand for it," the Beast said. "She'd never stand for Gaston being killed."

"Ah, you forget who I am," the Enchantress said. "If I have the power to change you into a Beast, your staff into objects, and transform an entire castle, do you not think I can cause some fatal illness or accident fall upon Gaston without having anyone actually go to kill him? Do you not think I might be able to come up with something altogether different to get her out?"

"I hadn't thought of that," the Beast said.

"I'll tell you what," the Enchantress said. "I'm going to go think about things, try to figure out what the best course of action is...how I can best help. I may even pay Belle a little visit while Gaston is out hunting. We'll meet again tomorrow evening, same time. Are all agreed?"

Everyone nodded.

"Well that settles it," she said. "I'll come back tomorrow, and I'm pretty confident we'll be able to formulate a plan."

And with that, the Enchantress was gone.