One month later
Vivi was slowly settling into Madame Beast's mansion. She was friends with the furniture servants; she would clean whenever the dust began to settle again; the food was always excellent; the library was a wonderful place to relax in; and the Beast had become more polite and even sweet to Vivi, much to the girl's surprise.
One evening Vivi was in the library, reading a story to the insistent Luffy. Normally Robin or Franky would have read to him, but currently neither had the capability to hold a book.
". . . The prince kissed the handsome man sleeping upon the bed," she read aloud to the lamp man, "and lo and behold, the spell was broken, and the sleeper awoke! All around the castle, the sleeping staff suddenly woke up, finding themselves still in the middle of work or a conversation. The man upon the bed found that the prince was his true love. They were married soon after and lived happily ever after."
Luffy let out a cheer as Vivi closed the book. "That was a good story! You read it so well!"
"Oh, thank you," Vivi said, smiling. "You hadn't heard Sleeping Beauty before?"
Luffy shook his head. "No. Robin and Franky have read me a few other stories before, but never that one."
Vivi was about to reply when a knock came from the door. She got up and hurried over to answer it.
It was the Beast. She should have guessed, of course, seeing as the Beast was the only one who could have knocked at that height, other than Vivi herself.
"Good evening, Madame Beast," Vivi said, making a small curtsy.
"Good evening," the Beast said. She glanced behind Vivi. "So you were reading to Luffy?"
"Yes," Vivi said with a smile. "He seems to enjoy it."
The Beast cleared her throat. "If you would give him to me, I will put him back in the fireplace room . . ."
Vivi hurried back to Luffy, picked him up, and handed him off to the Beast.
"But Madame, I wanted another story," he whined as he was carried off.
"Tomorrow," the Beast hissed. "Your bedtime is now."
She returned soon and entered the library, leaving the door open only a crack.
"I was hoping to read with you," she admitted to Vivi. "If you do not mind, that is . . ."
"Oh, not at all," Vivi said courteously. "This is where you live, after all . . ."
She and the Beast sat next to each other on the cushions. Vivi brought down a book; the Beast grabbed her own and the two began to read silently.
After a minute Vivi looked up and found the Beast not reading her own book, but staring at Vivi.
"Er . . . yes?" Vivi asked, shifting in her seat.
The Beast looked down as if embarrassed. "Forgive me . . . you look lovely."
"Oh, I'm far from it," Vivi murmured, looking down at herself. She was wearing the dress from dinner and her hair was in a braid.
"No, truly," the Beast insisted. "It is an honor to have such a beautiful dame in the mansion . . . especially seeing as I have been unable to fulfill that role for years."
Vivi's cheeks turned pink. "I . . . thank you."
There was a moment of silence.
"Would . . . would you read me a story?" the Beast asked.
Vivi stared. "Pardon?"
"I . . . love the sound of your voice," she confessed. "I heard a bit of what you were reading to Luffy, and you sound like a wonderful storyteller."
Vivi simply stared, speechless from the sudden compliments she was being bestowed.
"I understand if you are too tired," the Beast said, looking down. "It's not a big deal."
"No, no," Vivi said. "I would be happy to read you something."
The Beast smiled, but once again it looked more like a grimace or snarl.
Vivi brought down a book. Before opening it, her fingers traced the decorated cover and she looked up at the Beast. "Madame Beast?"
The Beast waited.
"Would you tell me your name?"
"My name?"
"Surely you were not always called 'Madame Beast,'" Vivi said gently. "What were you called when you were human?"
The Beast glowered silently into her lap, and for a moment Vivi worried she'd overstepped her bounds. Before she could apologize, the Beast sighed.
"I wish not to say," she said. "For it is a beautiful name, and I know I am not beautiful."
Vivi hesitated. The Beast looked up at her with a small frown.
"If you want to say, 'No, you are beautiful,' or, 'I think you are beautiful,' please save your breath," the Beast growled. "Those are patronizing lies."
Vivi nodded. "It's true. Your appearance is very ugly, Madame Beast. But I have seen your heart, and it looks beautiful to me."
The Beast looked up at her in surprise, orange fur fluffed up beneath her cloak, and Vivi smiled.
"Now, the story," she said, opening the book. "'Once upon a time . . .'"
Sanji and Usopp quietly listened at the crack. When Vivi began reading, they looked at each other with excitement and hopped away. They reached Brook and Sanji hit his long body to get his attention. Brook awoke and looked down at them curiously.
"We have wonderful news!" Sanji exclaimed.
"Oh?" Brook said, yawning. "And it was worth disturbing my sleep for?"
"Indeed, indeed, most indeededly it was," Usopp said eagerly. "Madame Beast is making real progress with Madame Vivi!"
"Oh," Brook said, leaning down, interested. "What happened?"
Sanji quickly explained as Usopp rocked in place.
"Why, that's wonderful," Brook exclaimed.
"I have a plan to bring them closer together," Sanji confessed.
"You do?" Brook and Usopp asked together.
Sanji nodded smugly. "We should discuss it with the others first. We shall convince Madame Vivi to bring us upstairs to meet with Franky, seeing as he can't leave that room."
"Tomorrow morning," Brook said, yawning.
"Tomorrow morning," Usopp echoed. "Sanji, let's go back to the table, it's becoming very late."
Sanji nodded. "Yes, of course. It's a pain getting up there, but we shan't disturb the Mesdames . . ."
They headed off and Brook bid them goodnight.