In the West Wing, the Beast flew open the door to her room, kicking the debris that littered the floor, batted a torn curtain that brushed across her face and knocked over a broken chair, all in frustration and anger about the day's events and Leon, who, in her eyes, had done nothing but test her patience (or rather lack of it), irritate and annoy her ever since he arrived.

'The nerve of that boy!' she growled to no one in particular, 'How could he be so ungrateful?

I accept his deal since he did it willingly, let him say goodbye to his mother, give him the nicest room in the East Wing in lieu of the dungeon, ask him to dinner and what does he do? He refuses!

So I ask again nicely, act like a lady and he refuses again! What else does he want me to do, beg?'

Flopping down on an armchair, she dug her claws into the arm rests and growled,

'Stupid boy,'

'Well of course he refused,' a voice said, which made the Beast look up and see a green glow light up the gloomy room, revealing itself to be Irena whom she had not seen for ten years and was surprised to see her.

'You haven't given him a lot to be grateful for,' Irena said, frowning, 'I watched you rudely demand him to have dinner with you, act like your father did by throwing a temper tantrum when he didn't come, almost became violent when you threatened to break down his bedroom door and drag him out, yelled and growled at him to starve and made your servants not to give him any food.

This boy is your last hope to break the spell and this is how you treat him? I would've expected better of you but all I'm seeing is a case of like father, like daughter!'

'But Irena, he was being an irritating, rude, know-it-all, like he was throwing my hospitality in my face!' the Beast said.

'Judging by that performance, you were anything but hospitable!' Irena said, 'What has happened to you? Don't you remember me telling you to control the beast within and to not let it take over you?'

'But I couldn't keep it in,' the Beast said, 'Heaven knows I tried!'

'You obviously haven't tried hard enough,' said Irena, 'Look at yourself, you've forgotten your name, how to be a human, let alone a princess, hunting animals in the forest..' while looking at the animal bones that littered the floor, burying the decapitated ragdolls underneath.

'Shutting yourself away from your servants who are only trying to help you since your parents can't and treating them badly and acting like a mirror image of your father!

Your parents did not raise you to be like this! What would they think if they were to see you now?'

Hearing that made the Beast think, as Lumiere's words, that had often been used to describe her, floated around in her head,

Just like her father.. Just like her father

'Mama and Papa…would still love me no matter what, but they wouldn't like what I am doing,' she said, 'Papa would've told me the same thing you said and Mama would've said not to judge people before I got to know them.'

'No they wouldn't,' Irena said, 'I mean you're right, they will still love and support you, you are their daughter after all, beast or human, but they would be appalled at your behaviour, as you are the very thing that they tried so hard to prevent and hoped that you would never suffer the same fate as your father, but it looks like their worst fears have been realised.

I'm sorry I had to tell you that, but the truth hurts sometimes.'

The Beast sunk lower in her chair and buried her head in her paws as she shed some tears.

'As your behaviour got worse, the faith I had in you had slowly disappeared, but I still going to keep what little faith I have left in you. I will go to the boy myself and convince him that his sacrifice is not for nothing, since I've taken great lengths to bring him to you.'

'But how did you do that?' the Beast said, surprised, since she hadn't seen Irena do that sort of thing.

'I won't say why, but let me tell you this. This will be the last time I will help you, after that, you and the boy will have to do this on your own.' Irena said.

And I also want you to look in the mirror to see what he is really thinking about you after your little performance. Look at the rose to remind yourself of the little time you now have left and what you can do to change.

I must leave you now but remind me why I still have faith in you,' said Irena and disappeared in the green glow again.

The Beast got up from her chair and went over to the table where the rose and mirror were, picked up the mirror and said,

'Show me the boy,'

The mirror first showed her beastly reflection, which she tried to ignore, then it glowed green, obeying her command and showed Leon in his room with his arms across his chest and a sullen, angry look on his otherwise handsome and gentle face.

His back was turned to Madame Armoire who was on his left side of the bed he was sitting on and Katrine was on the right, trying to convince him that the Beast wasn't bad.

'You know, the mistress isn't really that bad once you get to know her,' said Madame Armoire, who had been aware of the dinner fiasco and wanted to put a positive spin on things.

'She's just rusty when it comes to socialising and manners, that's all,' Katrine said, for she, unlike the others and being the loyal handmaid she had always been, believed that there was still some good in the Beast, ' Still, you can't blame her for trying,'

Leon gave a snort at that.

'Why don't you give her a chance?' Madame Armoire said, 'After all, looks can be deceiving,'

'It's never too late to start afresh and have a clean slate,' Katrine added, 'Start all over again and see beyond appearance,' but Leon wasn't convinced.

'Why should I?' he said, bitterly, 'After all that she has done to me and having seen the monster she truly is, I absolutely want NOTHING to do with her EVER and there isn't anything that you can say or do to persuade me otherwise!'

Having seen enough, the Beast put the mirror back on the table, dejected about Leon's unfavourable opinion of her, which confirmed everything Irena had said and it felt like her heart had been stabbed with a knife.

She then stared at the rose in the bell jar, the very one she had picked and caused the misery she and the servants had suffered for ten terrible years, fully bloomed, still with its pearly dew and pink glow, although a few petals had already fallen, showing her that her time was slowly running out and she hated looking at it, as a petal fell.

'Who am I kidding?' she said, watching the petal fall and land on the table with the others, 'I'll never make him see that I'm anything but a monster because that's what I really am and I can't deny it any longer.'

She didn't deserve any of this- she was just a child when it happened, an innocent, naïve child who didn't know any better, who only wanted a good hiding place during a fun game of hide and seek and just happened to find a beautiful rose that she wanted so badly and innocently picked it.

She wasn't to know that it would be enchanted and lead to an evil enchantress to curse her to be a beast like her father was and to turn her beloved parents into stone, depriving her of their undying love and devotion to her.

Would they still love her if they saw the beast that was once their beautiful, kind, happy daughter, loved throughout the kingdom?

'Oh, Mama, Papa,' she said, staring at the doors to the balcony, longing to hear their voices and to have them by her side.

'If only you were here with me, like you always promised, although I haven't given you a lot to be proud of over the years. I've become everything that you didn't raise me to be, forgotten who I was and how to be human, but would you still love and forgive me, if you were to see me now?

And there is a boy in the castle who could break the spell and I made him hate me due to my temper and bad behaviour and he wants nothing to do with me.

I miss and love you both so much. Please give me the strength to deal with this.'

Tears fell from her face and she didn't bother to wipe them away, as she collapsed on the floor, letting out sad howls. She then saw Rebby's head poking out from under some debris, a sad symbol of a childhood lost and a treasured object destroyed in anger and anguish.

Picking it up and cradling it, she felt the familiar feelings of loneliness and hopelessness and realised since that Leon wasn't interested in her due to her behaviour towards him, she was getting closer to sealing her fate.

'It's hopeless,' she said sadly, holding Rebby's head close to her chest, 'I'll never break the spell. I'm doomed to be a beast forever.'

In spite of his hunger (evidenced by his growling stomach), Leon had decided to retire for the night, feeling that it would make it go quicker and hopefully would not be interrupted (or have someone watching him in an unsettlingly way like Katrine did earlier).

Madame Armoire nodded and promised to keep quiet and let him sleep, even though she was concerned that he hadn't had anything to eat, not wanting him to go to bed hungry and that he didn't have a nightshirt to wear.

Katrine saw this as a good chance to go and get Adam's old clothes from the West Wing and left the room, only to get stuck in the doorway.

'Little help?' she said. Leon duly did so and she went on her way, paying no heed to her aunt's protests, but she had to do it, since Leon needed clothes and a nightshirt, until she and the dressmakers could make some for him, even if it meant going into a forbidden wing.

Leon took off his vest and boots and lay on the bed, rather than getting into it, since he wasn't tired yet and wished he had his book with him or something to read at least to relieve the boredom. He made a mental note to get his bag from Sabine in the morning.

However, fatigue soon caught up with him and even though any dreams he might have would be anything but pleasant, Leon found himself drifting off to sleep for the second time in the darkness of the room.

But no sooner had he fallen asleep, he was soon woken up by a green glow lighting up the room (luckily Madame Armoire was fast asleep and didn't notice the strange glow) and a beautiful yet mysterious woman with blonde hair, a crown on top of her head and wore a flowing green dress appeared in front of him, making Leon squint against the bright green light that surrounded her, convinced that it was a hallucination.

She wasn't like anything Leon had seen before and she was indeed real and he suspected she was some sort of magical creature, judging from the glow she had around her and the wand she was holding yet he was confused at why she was here in his presence.

'Leon Dupont, I presume,' she said, 'we meet at last,'

'How did you know my name?' Leon said, surprised that she somehow knew who he was.

'Who are you?' he then said, 'and what do you want with me?'

'Calm yourself, dear boy,' she said, 'I mean you no harm. My name is Irena and I am an enchantress who rewards the good and punishes the wicked in your world. I have been watching you from afar and had heard of your fate and your wish for adventure and desire to leave your village and I have presented it to you.'

'But how did you know about my dreams?' said Leon, suspiciously, then he remembered the green star he had seen the night before his mother left for Molyneaux. Could it be…

'The green star in the sky,' he said, 'that was you, wasn't it?'

'Yes, that was me,' Irena said, 'and it seems to be true that you are a very intelligent young man, having seen that for myself,'

'Um, thank you,' said Leon, 'Now, if you don't mind me asking, why are you here?'

'I'm here to tell you that your sacrifice is not for nothing,' Irena said.

'Do you really think so?' Leon said, doubtfully, ' Because from what I've been through today with the Beast, I do think it has been for nothing, since I had to give up my freedom and everything I loved for her, never to see my mother again and staying here forever as her prisoner.'

'But don't you see, Leon?' said Irena, 'If you try hard enough and learn to see beyond appearance, you will be rewarded and I can reassure you that your mother has returned safely to the village, so you mustn't worry about her.'

Neither Leon nor Irena could know that contrary to her belief, Madeleine had in fact left the village and was on a one-woman mission to rescue her son, probably facing many dangers on the way.

'Dear Leon,' Irena said, 'try not to regret what you have left behind in the village where you had been treated so cruelly for being different, for you are destined for a better fate.'

'What do you mean by that?' Leon said, sceptically, 'This is my fate right here and it's no better than what I dealt with in the village, so I don't really see what's so good about it.'

'But there is,' said Irena, 'only do not let yourself be deceived by appearances, for true beauty is found within.

Through your own efforts, unselfish love and giving the Beast a chance to change her ways for good, it'll happen, but I know that the both of you can do it, if you let it be.'

Before Leon could question her, Irena disappeared in the green glow, leaving him to ponder if he had actually seen an enchantress who talked to him about seeing beyond appearances and that beauty was found within.

Surely, she couldn't mean that the Beast was probably hiding something underneath all that anger and bitterness?

His thoughts were soon interrupted by the persistent growling of his stomach, which reminded him that he was human and that as much as he tried to be stubborn and insist he hadn't been hungry and would rather starve to death, it had gotten the better of him and he needed something to eat.

Putting his vest and boots back on, he tiptoed quietly out of the room, so as not to wake Madame Armoire, even though she was a heavy sleeper and could sleep through anything and walked down the corridor and the stairs, hoping to find the kitchen, if he could remember where it was, having only briefly passed it when he had been searching for his mother.

He hadn't noticed Lumiere, who was outside his room keeping guard, as instructed by Cogsworth, although he wasn't doing any actual guarding and had failed to notice that Leon had left his room.

Instead he was too busy fawning over and cuddling Babette, who was giggling and kissing Lumiere as he tickled her feathers and whispered sweet nothings to her.

'Ma cherie, come to me,' Lumiere said, seductively as his arms went around her, the candles lit, as they burned passionately, 'Who's my little dove, the love of my life and mon ange?'

'I am, Lumiere,' Babette cooed, kissing him on the tip of his nose, 'and you are the light of my life, mon beau candelabres.'

'Ma colombe, ma belle plumeau, come and kiss me,' Lumiere replied, wrapping his arms around Babette, as she giggled, only to flinch at his flames being so close to her.

'No, no, no, Lumiere, I've been burnt by you before!' Babette said.

'Ma plumeau, don't be afraid of my flames, they won't hurt you, well at least not again,' said Lumiere and was about to kiss her when..

'Oh, get a room, you two!' the familiar loud voice of Remy boomed through the corridor, as he made his way towards the pair, disgusted and jealous of their display of affection, which was right in front of him.

'Trust you to ruin the moment, Remy,' Lumiere said, annoyed.

'Well, Lumsie, sorry to barge in, but seeing you and Babs acting so lovely-dovey and using sappy terms of endearment makes me sick! If I could, I'll puke my guts out, since it's so disgusting!' Remy said, making mock-vomit noises.

'You're just jealous that I have a girlfriend,' Lumiere said, 'and you can't even get Rebecca to fall in love with you, never getting her to be your girlfriend, so don't take your frustrations out on me! It's not my fault Rebecca doesn't like you!'

'She does love me and I love her! She just won't say so! She's hiding her true feelings behind a mask of feigned hatred, because she's too shy to tell how she feels about me!' Remy said.

'Ha! That's a likely story!' said Babette, 'I can assure you that Rebecca truly hates and despises you and she lets us know about it! You can't deny it any longer Remy and stop picking on Lumiere as well!'

'Give up on her, Remy,' Lumiere said, 'She's just not into you.'

'What are you, my brother?' Remy sneered and turned away in a huff.

'How pathetic is he?' Lumiere said to Babette as they continued cuddling, 'He's jealous of me because I have you and he keeps being rejected by Rebecca and he takes it out on me.'

'I know, he's really annoying and such a pest to you!' Babette said, 'but when it comes to love, you have the upper hand.'

'Indeed I do, ma cherie,' said Lumiere and the two were about to kiss when Remy interrupted again.

'Hey Lumsie, what were you supposed to be doing outside the kid's room anyway?'

'Well, since you asked or rather rudely interrupted as usual, I'm standing guard outside the boy's room to make sure he doesn't go anywhere, as ordered by Cogsworth,' Lumiere said.

'Uh, huh,' said Remy, 'well, in case you haven't noticed, Lumsie, while you were busy making smoochy faces at Babs and using soppy talk to her, which is nauseating to say the least and rubbing salt in my gaping wounds about Becks always rejecting me..'

'Get to the point, Remy,' said Lumiere.

'..the kid, who you were supposed to be watching, has left the room and gone down to the kitchen to get something to eat!' said Remy, smirking as he said it, 'Looks like you slipped up, Lumsie! Some guard you turned out to be!'

'What?! The boy has gone?' said Lumiere, finally realising that the door was open and Leon wasn't in his room, 'Oh, mon Dieu, how could I let this happen again?' and headed off to the kitchen.

'Remy, how do you sleep at night, knowing that you're such a nuisance to everyone?' said Babette to him, 'George must have the patience of a saint to put up with your nonsense!' and went to follow Lumiere.

Ah, who doesn't love a Lumiere and Babette moment? Too bad Remy had to ruin it by being jealous!

Some of the terms of endearments they use are translated as:

Ma belle plumeau: My beautiful feather duster

Mon beau candelabres: My handsome candelabra

Cute huh?

Also Irena appearing to Leon is from the original tale when the fairy appears to Beauty, so I thought I use that as well, since I like to think that she also had an active role in getting Leon to the castle (if chapters 11 and 12 gave you any theories on how she did it).