"The girl can live again, if you and all of your staff wish to change back into your previous forms." The man whirled around to gaze upon his three closest servants. Mrs. Potts was looking at herself almost in disgust. She couldn't believe how old she looked! Lumierre and Cogsworth also stared at each other in similar fashion. The unspoken was said when the man uttered a single word.

"Deal."

______

And then everything became dark. The lightning in the sky vanished, all the lamps were extinguished and when he woke, Beast found himself lying flat on his back in pitch blackness. He sat up and touching his face, realized it was once again covered with fur. He cast about with an arm for something - anything - to reorient himself with his world.

Suddenly, a light flickered to life. It was soon followed by two more and as they came closer, Beast was able to distinguish Lumierre's old form. Behind him hopped Cogsworth and Mrs. Potts. They were all a bit dazed. Cogsworth was the first to speak.

"Well I'm glad that's over with. " He said, relieved. "I had no idea I was so fat. There are advantages to being a clock, after all."

"I agree." Mrs. Potts said. "I felt so… old all of a sudden. In this form I feel as young as ever."

"It's so dark." Lumierre commented. "Where would we be without my candle lights?"

"But what happened?" Beast asked, still perplexed. Nobody answered, as they couldn't remember either. "I remember seeing all of you as humans and myself… BELLE!" He shouted. He seized Lumierre and held him up, casting about for a torch of some sort. He found himself by a wall which fortunately held one. He lit it and soon the room was filled with light.

"Over there! By the balcony." Lumierre gestured at a still form lying just inside the room. The four rushed over.

Beast slowed as he got closer. His breath caught in his throat as he took in her body lying in a pool of blood. Carefully, he knelt beside her and put one paw in front of her mouth. At first he felt nothing, but then a soft breath tickled the fur on his fingers. He blew out a sigh of relief.

"So that demon enchantress hasn't made a fool of me." He muttered to himself. "She's alive." He said to the others, who also sighed in relief.

Tentatively, Beast examined her injuries. The wound in her side had all but disappeared, as had the cut on her shoulder. All that remained were two scars that almost seemed to glow. Beast cupped Belle's head in a massive paw. She didn't move. She remained unconscious and unresponsive. Her face was cold to the touch. Beast gently lifted her limp body and cradled it to his chest, trying to warm her.

His servants gestured for him to follow them and they made their way into the destroyed room with the fireplace. The chair had been ripped to shreds by the battle and shrapnel from the mantelpiece was strewn about. The fireplace however, remained solid. Various undamaged servants hauled a mattress to the room while Lumierre lit the fireplace. Beast gently laid Belle onto the mattress beside the fire. Her face was smudged with blood as was most of her body, even though the wounds had been healed.

Mrs. Potts soon arrived with a basin of warm water and a few towels. Beast realized with a shock that these were the same towels, the same place that she had tended to his wounds before. He gulped guiltily. How could he have let this happen? How? This girl should not have had to protect him!

Using the fine motor skills she had taught him when he learned to use a spoon, he gently wiped away the blood and grime from her face and arms until the water in the basin was tinged pink.

"We should wash the girl in a tub," Mrs. Potts suggested. "But we should wait until she wakes." Beast nodded and sat down beside her bed. He brushed an enormous hand gently over her hair and face. He thought he felt her lean into his hand, but he knew he must be mistaken. Then she moved her fingers a little. Just a twitch, but everybody froze when they saw it. Her eyes flickered open weakly to see her Beast's face and the faces of her new friends around her. She could feel the warmth of a fire on her side. She had never felt so tired in her life. Traces of pain buzzed around her shoulder and her side, but they vanished as she woke up a little more.

"Beast?" She whispered faintly, squinting.

He gaped, speechless.

"What happened?" She asked, seeing all of her friends staring at her in some kind of shock or awe.

"Don't worry about that, dearie," Mrs. Potts said brusquely. Now that you're awake we need to get you cleaned up. She tried to move, but Beast put a paw on her arm. She looked up at him questioningly. With shock, she realized that there were tears in his big blue eyes.

"We almost lost you…" Beast said, his voice low and husky with unshed tears. "We almost lost you…" He repeated. "But you're alive." It seemed as though he were trying to convince himself. She lifted a hand and stroked his face, still confused but moved by his emotion.

"Master, will you please carry her to the tub?" Mrs. Potts asked him.

"Oh no, I should be quite all right." Belle said and made to sit up.

"Please." Beast said almost panicking. "You don't know what happened. Please don't move."

"I don't understand…" She said as he gently lifted her, then she winced. She looked down at the blood covering her body and realization flashed into her brown eyes. "Ohh…" She murmured, and fainted in his arms. She was still breathing steadily though, and seemed in decent shape, so the female occupants of the house washed her in the tub and dressed her before they called Beast to return and carry her back to the room with the fireplace.

Belle woke briefly during the night and found herself very warm and comfortable. She was wrapped warmly in a large blanket and was still lying beside the fire. The pain of the previous evening had vanished, as if washed away by the warm water. She didn't spend too long in thought because her exhausted body cried out for sleep and she did not withhold it.

When Beast awoke the next morning, he sat up from where he had made a bed on the floor beside Belle to find her still deep in sleep just as he had left her the night before. He breakfasted alone that day, as she slept very late.

When Belle woke, she felt infinitely better. She sat up and with a shock, realized that her side and shoulder were completely healed. She was very confused and tried to get to her feet but found that she felt really weak and she collapsed back onto the mattress. She sat up again as Mrs. Potts came into the room.

"Good morning dearie, I'm glad to see you awake." The teapot said cheerily. "You must be famished. We've prepared a late breakfast for you." She ushered in several plates and without another word, Belle dug in. She was indeed very hungry. Once she was done, she began asking a myriad of questions.

"What happened to me?" She asked the teapot. "Why are my wounds healed?"

Mrs. Potts related the story as Belle's eyes got wider and wider. When she mentioned the Beast's answer, she had to cut in.

"How could he make that decision for all of you! Didn't you want to be human again? Didn't you want Chip to be human again? What about everybody else here! Certainly I am not that important." She fumed, angry for her friends.

"Dear, I don't think you could find a single one of us who would have it any other way. I am very old, darling. When I briefly regained my human form I realized this and immediately wished to be turned back into a teapot as strange as it may seem. Cogsworth and Lumierre have also shared similar sentiments as well. Besides, what would we have lived for without you? The master would never have lived with himself in either form without you. Can't you see how much he loves you?" Belle snorted indignantly.

"If he loved me, why didn't he help me fight that moron Gaston? Why didn't he fight for any of you?"

"Belle dear, cares for us yes, but he cares for you more. He thought that you would never return and he fell into despair. All he could hear were his own voices telling him that there was no hope. He drowned out the sounds of battle, even your voice. He was so far gone, he barely even recognized you before it was too late. He loves you, Belle, and so do we."

Belle hugged Mrs. Potts gently, smiling now.

"Where is he?" She asked.

"He is helping clear the damage to the castle door. Can you walk?"

Belle got shakily to her feet, holding onto the damaged chair for support. She was not in pain, just weak from all that her body had gone through. She supported herself against a wall and made her way out into the entrance hall. She turned the corner and found Beast, his cloak hung on a chair, dragging a length of twisted metal out of the room. Step by step she began her trek toward the door, away from the wall. Beast turned just as she stumbled and he managed to catch her and put her back on her feet.

"Why are you walking?" He asked, but not in an accusatory manner. She could tell by the way he held her close that he was only concerned for her well-being. "You should be resting." He said, and gently scooped her up into his arms and carried her back to her bed. He knelt beside her after setting her down gently onto the mattress. He seemed to be trying to tell her something with his eyes. She smiled and took his face in her tiny hands.

"I love you too."