Act 11

Belle took the Beast back to the castle and carefully got him inside. As she sat him in his easy chair, he started moaning in pain. She breathed a sigh of relief.

Mrs. Potts came in wih a bowl of hot water and a cloth. "For the wound on his arm dear."

Belle nodded and took the cloth and dipped in in the water. The Beast watched her warily. His arm hurt but he even felt too weak to lick the wound. He couldn't even evade the cloth that Belle placed on the deep gashes. He inhaled a sharp pained breath, "That hurts…" He tried to be forceful and angry, but he simply sounded tired. What happened to him?

"I know but it needs to be cleaned or it could become infected," she said.

He groaned. "If you… hadn't run away…"

Belle looked at him firmly. "Then you should not have frightened me. I know I wasn't supposed to be in the West Wing, but as I tried to tell you, I got lost."

The Beast glowered. "Lost? I'm sure."

Belle matched his glare. "It's the truth! I saw something that scared me and I ran without thinking. I didn't realize until later that I'd hidden in the West Wing. Once I calmed down, I looked around and saw… that picture. Then…" She rubbed her head.

The Beast found he believed her. "Why were you dancing?"

Belle looked at him. She just barely remembered bumping into the table with that beautiful rose. "I was dancing? I don't know. I remember hearing music. Everything seemed to vanish. I think I had a dream. Who is that man in the picture?" The Beast looked away. "Please, I have to know. I've seen him before. Who is he?"

The Beast finally answered. "I don't know who he is. I think he may have been a prince or a lord who lived here decades ago, but that's all I know."

Belle sighed while the Beast asked. "What happened out there? That… thing? How did we…"

Instinctively, Belle answered. "This woman appeared out of nowhere. She had long blonde hair and wore the strangest outfit I've ever seen. She defeated the youma and…"

"Wait, the what?" the Beast asked.

Belle realized he wouldn't know that word. "That's what Sailor V called it. Sailor V, the girl who saved us said it was a youma, a type of demon sent to collect energy from living things for the Dark Kingdom… whatever that is."

The Beast looked her in the eye. She met his gaze. After several minutes of silence, Belle sighed. "I do want to thank you. If you hadn't been there…"

The Beast nodded. "You're welcome…"

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Later that evening, Belle sat in her bedroom. Artemis leaped up to join her.

"You did very well Belle. You'll be an excellent soldier for justice," he purred, rubbing against her in praise.

Belle took her Moon Compact and placed it in the moonlight. "Why me Artemis? Why do I have to do this?"

Artemis looked up at the moon. "Some things, Belle, you need to learn for yourself." He stretched and curled up. "Now, let's grab some sleep. We have a lot of work to do to get your body ready for this."

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The next morning, the Beast was surprised to look out his balcony and see Belle running the perimeter of the castle border. She didn't seem to be running from anything… simply running in circles. On her heels was a snow white cat. He watched for several minutes as she went outside to reenact the scene until her foot caught the hem of her dress and she fell into the snow. He raced outside to her, compelled to make sure she was alright.

"Are you injured?" he asked as he helped her up.

Belle was both surprised and embarrassed at his concern. "I'm okay, just tripped on my dress." She looked at the hem. "And apparently tore it…" She looked at the jagged tear. "That's what I get for jogging in a dress."

The Beast was confused. "Jogging?"

Belle watched to smack herself. Jogging was another advanced-era term. "Jogging means to run lightly. Not a walk but not a full speed run either. I like to jog in the morning. It wakes me up and keeps me healthy." She sighed. "I just don't have the right clothes for it. Running in a dress just cannot be done." She looked at the tear. "I'm just going to have to make me a pair of jogging pants. Do you have any fabric?"

The Beast stared at her. "Pants? Jogging? You're strange."

Belle stuck out her tongue, embracing the fourteen year old girl within. "Says the ten foot hairy beast who lives in a castle with talking furniture."

The two stared at each other in silence for several moments. Belle was sure he would get mad at her and she braced herself for the hollering. Instead, something strange happened.

First his mouth twitched one way. Then it twitched the other direction. Then came a sound most unfamiliar to his own ears. Laughter.

Soon belle was laughing too. Heavy, full-hearted laughter that came from her diaphragm.

Cogsworth hopped around the castle frantically. He didn't notice Lumiere making out with Babette right in his path. He hopped right into them, sending all three of them to the floor.

"Cogsworth, you, you clumsy clock!" Lumiere snapped.

Cogsworth had no time to argue with the candlestick maître'd at the moment. "Lumiere, have you seen the Master?"

Lumiere shook his head as he helped Babette up. "No, I haven't."

"Everyone," Mrs. Potts came rushing in on her cart. "Everyone, you must come and see this!"

The three followed her to a window. Peering out, they could see Belle and the Beast laughing together.

Maybe, just maybe, there was hope.

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AN: Belle's lessons in theory are nearly complete. Now she needs to start training physically. Let's face it, the body of demure, young woman of the late 14-1500s is not prepared for such physical strain. I'm imagining her going through an entire training montage with the song "You're the Best" by Joe Esposito.