The air was cold but the light breeze was pleasant against Gaston’s face. He sat on the short balustrade and gazed at the sky, whose hue almost perfectly matched the Beast’s coat. It felt like this was a sky made just for him and the Beast.
474Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZ17XSI48Vg
The Beast hesitantly sat next to him. Gaston raised his legs onto the balustrade and leaned back against one of the stone vases. It didn’t take long for his weight to accidentally knock the vase off the balcony. As he fell back, he immediately expected the Beast to save the vase, but instead he grabbed Gaston’s hand and pulled him up before his head could hit the stone.
474Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoSebAWHCiO
‘Are you okay?’ the Beast said, holding Gaston up to his chest with his hand still clasped around the other man’s.
474Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡv9OxBlDJWU
Gaston peered over the balcony but couldn’t see the vase in the mass of darkness below. He gulped. His face flushed before he could even say the word, the one word that felt the most alien coming from his mouth.
474Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFTjsNr7msN
‘Sorry.’
474Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzXSH6iPfhk
‘That wasn’t an answer.’
474Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUfYbD8O2lm
Gaston swivelled until his feet were on the balcony floor, letting go of the Beast’s hand. His hand suddenly felt icy cold by itself.
474Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFEKSw0FIfu
‘I’m fine,’ he said. A chuckle left his lips. ‘You know, for a beast, you sometimes forget to act like one.’
474Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbnWoqtuSD0
The Beast’s eyebrows furrowed for a second, but then his expression softened. ‘I wasn’t always this way.’ He bashfully ran a hand through the fur behind his head.
474Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrr8SxvIBOj
‘Wait, you mean you used to be more of a jerk, or you used to look like a normal man?’
474Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVEOn76p2sP
‘Both.’ The Beast raised his paws to the sky and stared at them. ‘I made some foolish decisions and wound up with this curse. I’ve spent the last few years waiting for a cure while telling myself every day that I don’t deserve it. I got myself into this mess, and now I’m a monster.’
474Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrtEy8OyUgQ
Although the Beast laughed, his frown showed little amusement. Tears welled up in his eyes but he refused to let them spill. ‘I guess I always was one. This curse held a mirror to my face and told me no one could ever love someone as monstrous as me.’
474Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeYLJNObAQ9
Gaston put one leg on the balustrade and rested his arm on it, looking over at the forest beyond the balcony. His sigh floated in the cool air.
474Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbmg3QMvfAy
‘I wonder what a cursed mirror would tell me. Would it tell me that Belle would never love me? Huh, ridiculous!’
474Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFzfzwHwFtn
‘Belle?’
474Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ35zsg924G1
Gaston whipped his head towards the Beast and saw the creature’s body tense up until it shook. Gaston couldn’t recognise the emotion that pulled his heart down. The closest thing he could compare the feeling to was when he had an unsuccessful hunt.
474Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhCC3CLM8r8
‘Yes… Belle. The most beautiful girl in town.’ The more he spoke, the more his voice withered. ‘I haven’t seen her in so long. I…’ He looked into the Beast’s eyes, still shiny with potential tears. He immediately looked away and coughed. ‘I miss her,’ he said with a more commanding voice. ‘I wish I could see her one last time.’
474Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZeVrk4SLnW
After a few moments of deliberation, the Beast slowly exhaled. ‘Speaking of mirrors… there is a way for you to see her.’
474Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡE0p43koPOd
Gaston raised a puzzled eyebrow, matched by the other when the Beast led him to the West Wing. He searched for words until the Beast picked up a mirror beside the wilting rose on the table.
474Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXZ4Pxln6zg
The Beast handed it to Gaston. ‘This mirror will show you anything. Anything you wish to see.’
474Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5JQuqkwSnI
‘I… I’d like to see Belle,’ Gaston said. The mirror did nothing. ‘Please.’
474Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfBUpw1lC2H
The mirror glowed green and the glass showed the moving image of Belle, surprisingly enough, talking to a male villager. The two stood close to each other. Perhaps too close. Gaston’s blood boiled.
474Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUvNZhNwyI7
‘What do you see?’ the Beast asked.
474Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjZPP398CPU
Gaston held the mirror against his chest to hide the vision. ‘She…’ He did the dastardly act of thinking. ‘She needs my help. I must rescue her.’ He looked up at the Beast. ‘But…’
474Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡn78fonbGsn
A million emotions clawed at each other to take control of the Beast’s face. ‘Go, rescue her,’ he eventually muttered, his voice as hollow as the glass case surrounding the floating rose.
474Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUhR2TN82CF
‘But you said-’
474Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlO90HXTl79
‘You’re free.’ The Beast finally settled on a small but comforting smile. ‘You’re no longer my prisoner.’
474Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡy7SDeLujoR
Prisoner. That word sounded like a relic of centuries past to Gaston’s ears. ‘Thank you,’ he whispered. Something pulled his heart down again.
474Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbhpOL8rQby
He took the mirror to his room, where he changed back into his regular attire. He hopped on Maurice’s horse and rode it into town.
474Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡY63Nyasn2r
The Beast rested a paw on the table and slumped over it. Cogsworth, Lumiere and Mrs Potts entered the room as if on cue.
474Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKij4qcQBR4
Upon seeing his body language, Lumiere asked, ‘Where is your amoureux?’
474Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjAyKDL4DA0
‘I… I let him go…’
474Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRRNtpNnaPS
Mrs Potts gasped. ‘You WHAT?’ the three servants shouted simultaneously.
474Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ22ZybjcX8B
‘He loves another. It would be better for him and this… Belle… to be happy together.’ He uttered Belle’s name like it was the name of a recently discovered, invasive species of flower.
474Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6BgmdMg2Qb
Lumiere and Cogsworth looked at each other with wide eyes before casting them down in perfect sync. Lumiere, unsure what else to do, reached out to Cogsworth, who writhed away from him and bolted out of the room.
474Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZ8Wyt61qEA
The second-last petal fell onto the table. ‘I’m sorry I couldn’t save us,’ the Beast said.
474Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCyTyGrlHEO
After a few solemn moments of contemplation, Lumiere crossed his arms behind his back, straightening his back like a good servant.
474Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjkthPKl81h
‘Well, I suppose there is nothing you could have done,’ he said.
474Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbhwyHP4sxe
Mrs Potts chimed in with, ‘If he did not come to love you, you can’t change that.’
474Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡW0aH4g8rZx
To the servants’ surprise, the Beast smiled. It was a half-smile accompanied by eyes narrow with exhaustion, but they figured it still counted.474Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡN5LUk2cFZt
