Restart My Heart

Disenchanted

Hi friends! If you like Beauty and the Beast, you might be in for a treat. This isn't long like the others, just a short little drabble that I thought would be fun. Belle was not only smart but a little spitfire, and I wanted to write her reaction to the Beast (Adam)'s imprisonment. And when I say it's short, I mean like. SHORT.

*song from my writing playlist: Race to the Resting Rock by James Newton Howard (from The Village soundtrack)

I love BATB. It's one of my favorite stories of all time. I've seen the movie more times than I can count. But I will not pretend that there weren't some parts that confused me, so if you guys want to have a chat about the plot holes and things, hit up the comments or PM me because I would love to have that discussion with you.

Without further ado.

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BRIEF SUMMARY: Adam finally gets around to telling Belle the story of how he got turned into Beast. She also happens to pick up on his age at the time of this event.

Spoiler alert: she is not happy.

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Belle and Adam were in their favorite spot, the library, huddled close together. They just finished the story they were working on together, and were in desperate need of something new. And then she got to thinking, he never did tell her about why that enchantress cursed him and his staff. All she knew was he was, well, mean. There had to be more to the story, right?

So Adam told her.

And Belle couldn't believe her ears. "I'm sorry," she said, voice tight with barely constrained rage, "she did what?"

Adam looked at her with confusion. He doesn't understand why she's so upset, "She turned me into a beast. Because, you know, that's who I was. On the inside. I know that now. But you've changed me, Belle... for the better."

Belle looked at him like he'd grown a second head. "No. No. That's-- that's ridiculous. It's absolutely unacceptable."

Adam had become concerned now. He had never seen her this upset before, save for when he almost locked her dad up for life. Yeah, not one of his finer moments. He reminded her of that now.

Belle shook her head, her anger almost a tangible thing. "That's different. I mean, yeah, that was wrong. Very wrong. But that bitter, cynical beast wasn't who you are, it was who she made you. You're 21, Adam. 21. And Lumiere, he said you've been like this for 10 years. Is that true?"

"Well... yes. I suppose that's right, actually."

"So you were 11! You're telling me that this scary looking old hag showed up on your doorstep with a rose and a 'let me in, little boy!' and she cursed you almost to your death because you said no? Adam, I'm not sure I would let her in if that happened to us now."

Adam laughed and rested his chin on her shoulder. "I'm sure," he said. "You definitely would have."

Belle sighed, exasperated, and leaned her head against his. "Okay, but I also locked myself in a cage in a terrifying beast's home. You can hardly trust my judgement."

She could feel him grinning against the side of her face. "Oh, hush," he said. "That turned out pretty okay, if I do say so myself."

Belle kissed his cheek. "Yes, What isn't okay, however..."

Adam flung his head back in disbelief. "Oh my god, you have to let this go!"

"I do not and you can't make me!"

"Fine! What's next on your list of grievances?"

"Not only was she totally out of line for cursing you, but she also cursed your whole staff! I mean, who does that? Even if you did deserve it, on some mythical, warped, backwards planet--"

"Belle."

"--your servants had nothing to do with that! Lumiere, Cogsworth, Mrs. Potts, Chip! How did they deserve that in any way!"

Adam was solemn when he answered, "They didn't. And, don't get me wrong, I think it's very sweet that you're so upset for us. But what do you plan to do about it now? You can't change it."

"I know," Belle said, but she was staring resolutely on the floor. "But do you know where she is now?"

Her eyes slowly lifted from the floor to meet him. Uh oh, Adam thought. I know that look. "...Why," he asked warily.

"No reason," she said, her voice and her face the picture of innocence. "I just want to talk."

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Hi again, friends. Told you it was short! Hope you enjoyed it anyway. Please please please vote and comment if you did!

I know that even with this angry take on the tale, some things don't completely add up, and many have had theories about the way the Enchantress could've altered time, yada yada yada. It has nothing to do with the story's other problems, but for this specific one, it's plausible. And a cool idea. I just chose to assume time worked as it always did.

(may I add that even if he was in his 20s or whatever when he denied her his home, this was still shitty. He's got some expensive stuff in there. If she wasn't the Enchantress she was probably a thief. You can read more about that in Cracked.com's article, A Theory That Will Change How You See 'Beauty and the Beast'.)

All my love,

Madi