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Her world had been black and white and grey ever since she was born, just as it was for everyone. She knew the names of colours, knew that that particular shade of grey meant ‘yellow’, that this one meant ‘red’, this one was ‘green’ and that one was ‘blue’, even though she could never grasp the full depth of it all. Her father happily explained to her the usual colours of constants like the sun and the grass and the colour of her own eyes and hair. He gave her a book when she turned eighteen, beaming at her when she thanked him profusely for the tome. It was filled with samples of colours, each one named and given a brief description.
At nineteen she kissed her father goodbye and went out into the world, travelling in order to find her soulmate. She hoped that whoever it was would be willing to travel with her, to see the world in full colour and be able to actually take in the beauty of the not-grey-but-coloured landscapes.
She truly hoped she would find her soulmate quickly – the world was waiting for them both to come see it.
Her father was called ‘kooky’ and ‘crazy’, if not downright ‘mad’ or ‘insane’, but he was the one person in the world she could trust and depend on and she loved him dearly.
Despite her world being black and white, as it would remain until she met her soulmate, her life was vibrant and full of wonder. Her father was more than willing to explain to her how colour worked, how the latest theorists suggested soulmate bonds were linked with a person’s sight, and with his help she designed wonderful things that would hopefully one day enrich the world for people.
She longed to travel, to see the world and possibly meet her soulmate, but she would not leave her father. As she grew his health declined, and she knew he was just holding on long enough to see her safe and comfortable with her soulmate – he longed to be reunited with her mother.
Her seventeenth birthday came and went, and despite the occasional traveller to their small village she had yet to meet her soulmate.
And then one day, while she was visiting the only bookshop in town, she heard tell of a traveller. A young woman, apparently beautiful if strange, travelling from town to town, village to village, city to city, making a point to meet every person she could.
It was whispered this woman was looking for her soulmate, and as she headed home she wondered if, maybe, crazily, hopefully, this traveller could possibly be hers.
When she arrived in the small town bordering on the forest, she heard whispers and no-so-quiet mutterings that ‘the crazy old man’ had gone completely round the bend and his daughter was missing.
She was curious.
Was the ‘crazy’ old man actually crazy, or was he just eccentric like her father was? Was the daughter missing, or was she just staying indoors as many young women did when the weather was as bad as it had been the past few days? If she was missing, when and how had she vanished?
She was so very curious.
She made the short trek to the house the ‘crazy’ man and his daughter were said to live in, her curiosity overriding her desire to find her soulmate for once.
The man who answered the door indeed looked quite crazed and frantic, but she was a dab hand in calming eccentric fathers.
“Please, please help my daughter,” the man pleaded once she had calmed him down. “No one in town will believe me that she’s being held captive!”
“Captive?” she asked in surprise. This she had not heard. “Tell me more.”
He did.
She’d been in the castle for less than a week when someone actually knocked on the front door. She heard the Beast growl, roar and snarl, and when a light feminine voice was heard – an unfamiliar one, too, and she had heard nearly every cursed person in the castle speak by this stage – she moved towards the grand entrance hall. As fond as she had come to be of the Beast, he was terrible with people.
She descended the stairs at a moderate pace, but when she clapped eyes on the woman standing – unflinching – in front of the Beast she froze mid-step. A sharp inhale had both the Beast and the woman turning towards her, and the woman’s gorgeous face lit up in a beautiful smile.
“Oh,” Belle breathed, a smile of her own forming as colours blossomed across her vision.
“I found you,” the woman said simply, and Belle laughed as she ran the rest of the way down the stairs to throw herself into her soulmate’s arms.
The Beast was ignored, both women far too caught up in learning each other’s features. Belle was growing overwhelmed with the colours she couldn’t name, but she couldn’t make herself shut her eyes. She didn’t want to look away from her soulmate.
“My eyes are blue, my hair blonde – a yellow colour,” her soulmate said, as if reading her mind. “Daddy told me often when I was growing up.”
“Oh,” Belle laughed, delighted, and lifted a hand to touch her soulmate’s cheek. “I’m Belle.”
“Luna,” her soulmate replied, and pressed a chaste kiss to Belle’s lips. “And I believe I know who your friend’s soulmate might be.”
“What?” For once Beast sounded more human than animal, clear shock in his voice.
“Hm. A young man in the village Belle is from.”
Belle ran through all the young men in her mind, and then gasped. It couldn’t be!
“You really think so? You think it’s him?” she asked Luna, who smiled brightly at her.
“Yes. I am rarely wrong about these things, if I have met both people,” she replied lightly, and then turned a look on the Beast. “If you do not mind, I can bring him here.”
“Please.” The Beast’s voice was desperate. “I’ve waited so, so long for my soulmate.”
“I know.” Luna’s simple words were sad yet kind. She turned her attention back to Belle, and kissed her again. “I will be back tomorrow, I swear.”
“I will be waiting,” Belle promised, and shared a third kiss with her beautiful soulmate before taking a step back. Luna gave a curtsey to the Beast, kissed Belle’s cheek, and walked calmly out the front doors. Belle’s knees gave out on her, and the Beast caught her before she could hit the ground.
She hugged him with a delighted laugh – she’d found her soulmate! And now the Beast, the cursed man who had become her dear friend, would be able to meet his own soulmate and be freed from his curse.
The world was looking brighter and more beautiful than she had ever thought possible.
-0-0-0-
He’d had a name other than ‘Beast’, once. He’d had people call his name fondly, exasperatedly, lovingly.
Now all he heard was ‘Beast’ said with hatred and fear.
Well, until Belle (and now Luna). Yes, Belle had been scared of him at first, but her fear had been accompanied by determination and a gentleness he’d not felt or heard from anyone in years. And in less than a week – in a mere two days, in fact – she had somehow seen through his anger and nastiness to his core. She had seen how hurt he was, how scared and sad he was, and had given him her friendship without a second thought.
He would forever owe her his gratitude for looking past his exterior.
Her soulmate was a strange woman, but despite there being no possible way for her to know who his soulmate was just from meeting both of them, she was confident she knew who it was.
And he felt hope for the first time in years. Perhaps he should tell Belle his real name, so that she wasn’t surprised when he introduced himself as Adam.
He was a well-known ladies’ man, the darling of the town for his hunting prowess and his strength. He was praised and adored, but despite how men cheered him and women swooned after him, he wasn’t entirely content.
His world was still black, white and grey. He had yet to meet his soulmate. And despite his flirtations with the pretty young women in town, he wanted to find his soulmate and be with them. He’d considered listening to crazy old Maurice and going to find that ‘beast’ who had supposedly kidnapped his daughter, just to see if the girl was willing to go with him to travel in search of his soulmate – if she was still alive and hadn’t perished in the woods. He knew the intelligent young woman was also looking for her soulmate, and she would be a useful (and welcome) travelling companion with the knowledge she held.
“Hello,” a light, airy voice interrupted his thoughts, and Gaston looked at the petite young woman who had travelled through only the previous day. She had left after talking to old Maurice, and Gaston (along with the rest of the town) hadn’t expected her back. Yet here she was, standing by his chair in the town’s inn and tavern with a patient look on her face.
“Hello,” he greeted back, slightly surprised and barely able to keep his usual arrogant mask in place. “Is there something I can help you with, young miss?”
“Hm, perhaps,” she smiled in an almost sly manner. “Truly, you should be asking how I can help you, Gaston.”
Well, now he was curious.
Luna smiled as she led curious and cautious Gaston through the forest towards the cursed prince’s castle. He was sceptical, as he should be when a stranger claimed to know who his soulmate was and that they were in a creepy forest, but he was willing enough to follow her on the off-chance she was telling the truth.
And she was. She had always been able to tell soulmates if she knew both (or all three) parties, and meeting Gaston (if in passing) and then the Beast (and really, she knew he had a name, but she wasn’t quite sure what it was) was enough to let her know that they were very well matched for each other.
“Just a bit further,” she called back, and Gaston nodded silently.
Just a little longer, and then she would be proven right.
Belle watched as the Beast paced the entrance hall, torn between amusement at her friend’s anxiety and worry for his nerves.
“What if she’s wrong?” the Beast asked for the tenth time, and Belle gave a sad smile.
“Then she is wrong, and we find other likely candidates and bring them here to meet you.”
“But what if they—”
“Beast.” Belle’s tone was firm as she interrupted him. “We will not bring someone here who will harm you should they not be your soulmate. Trust in me, as your friend, if not in my Luna.”
“Adam,” the Beast said suddenly, and Belle tilted her head.
“Pardon?”
“My name. My name is Adam.”
“Oh.” Well, that did make sense, considering he hadn’t always been a beast. “Would you like me to use it?”
“Please. I… need to get used to it again.”
“Alright.” Belle slipped off her perch and approached her friend, placing a gentle hand on his large forearm. “It will be alright, Adam. You’ll see.”
“…I guess.”
Belle smiled, squeezed his arm briefly, and then whirled towards the door as the knocker banged against it.
Luna laughed gaily as Belle opened the door and threw herself into the blonde’s arms, catching her happy soulmate and pressing a chaste kiss to her lips.
“Belle?” Gaston asked in surprise.
“Hello, Gaston,” Belle smiled at him. “Is my father well?”
“Uh… yes? I think so.”
“Oh, good. I shall have to go see him tomorrow and reassure him I am well. Come inside, Adam is waiting.”
“Adam?” Gaston asked. He didn’t see the brief confusion – followed almost instantly by realisation – flash across Luna’s face at the name.
“Yes. Come, come.” Belle freed herself from Luna’s arms and retreated into the castle, Luna following instantly.
Gaston hesitated a moment longer, taking a deep breath to calm his nerves, and then stepped into the well-lit entrance hall.
The man who followed Belle and Luna inside was incredibly handsome and quite muscular, quite clearly a fighter of some sort from how he held himself.
The man paused just inside, looking around, and Adam braced himself for rejection as he took a step out of the shadows into the light.
The man’s head snapped towards him, eyes widening, and as their gazes locked colour burst into full relief.
“Oh,” he managed, and then stumbled to his knees with a moan of pain as something rippled through him.
“Adam!” Belle cried, her tiny hands catching his monstrous paws and stopping him from clawing at his head. He could feel Luna’s hands on his head instead, beneath the horns he had carried for almost ten years, and tried to focus on what she was saying to him as pain wracked his body.
“…knock him out… too much pain to… conscious…” He only caught every few words Luna was saying, but he managed to get the gist even through the pain.
“Do it,” he growled, and a moment later blessed darkness stole over him.
Gaston was mildly horrified when colour burst across his vison when the huge monstrous creature moved into the light, but the way Belle and Luna rushed to the creature when said creature collapsed with what was apparently pain made him restrain his initial reaction. If this beast – Adam, from what Belle had cried out when the beast collapsed – was his soulmate, it was for a reason. He would wait to decide how he should react. He’d never heard of a human being the soulmate of something not-human, so clearly there was more in play here than what appeared to be.
Also, apparently old crazy Maurice hadn’t been so crazy after all. Figures.
“I need to knock him out, Belle,” Luna was saying as Gaston refocused on the situation at hand. “He’s in too much pain to focus right now, and it will best if he is not conscious for the transformation back.”
“Do it,” the beast – Adam – growled out, and Luna murmured something that had him collapsing the rest of the way to the floor.
He still twitched, and Luna whirled to glare at Gaston with almost crazy eyes.
“Get over here,” she demanded, and Gaston took a step forward before he could even process what she had said. He paused, and her glare intensified. “Now, Gaston.” He obeyed – for such a tiny little thing she was quite intimidating – and moved over to stand beside her. “Place one hand over his heart and the other on his face somewhere.”
“What? Why?”
“Just do it,” Luna snarled, and Gaston again obeyed the unfairly-scary woman.
The moment his hands touched the unconscious form of his soulmate, a bright light shone out, almost blinding him in its intensity. The hand on his back – Luna’s, most likely – forced him to remain in contact despite the way Adam’s huge form was almost rippling under his hands.
“Luna, what’s happening?” Belle asked the question on Gaston’s mind.
“He’s changing back. He’s been cursed for so long it’s just taking a bit longer than expected to shake it off.”
“Curse?” Gaston asked.
“What, you think he was born that way?” Luna snorted inelegantly. “He was under a curse. To be a monstrous beast in form until he met his soulmate.”
“That is… a very unkind curse,” Gaston managed.
“That is putting it mildly,” Luna replied dryly. The light started to die down, and the skin – and it was skin now – under Gaston’s hands stopped shifting.
When the light cleared, Gaston was treated to the sight of his half-nude soulmate sprawled across the ground.
And if he wasn’t the most attractive man Gaston had ever seen…
Adam shifted beneath his hand, and eyes the colour of Belle’s dress blinked open.
-0-0-0-
Something felt different as he woke. He felt… cold. He hadn’t felt cold for years now, not unless he went out in a blizzard.
Someone had their hands – slightly rough, calloused actually – on his cheek and chest, and he cautiously opened his eyes.
Colours he couldn’t name filled his sight, but what caught his attention the most was the handsome face of the man who was his soulmate. Said man was leaning over him, and it was his hands on Adam’s chest and cheek.
Adam managed a faint smile.
“It’s good to finally meet you,” he rasped, voice without the underlying growl for the first time in almost a decade.
His soulmate smiled back, a look of wonder in his eyes.
“And you,” his soulmate murmured, hand on Adam’s cheek shifting slightly so it was cupping his face instead of just touching. His soulmate leaned down closer, and Adam’s eyes slid shut when warm lips pressed against his.
Neither man noticed Luna and Belle slipping away silently to check on the other inhabitants of the castle. Belle was beaming, so very happy for Adam (and Gaston, actually, whom she had always suspected wasn’t quite the boorish brute he made himself out to be), and Luna was smiling proudly as she linked her hand with Belle’s.
“They will be good for each other,” the blonde said lightly, a little airily, and Belle nodded.
“I think so too,” the brunette admitted. She stopped and pressed a kiss to Luna’s lips. “Thank you, Luna. I dread to think what may have happened if you had not arrived when you did.”
“Best not think about it,” Luna admitted, and gave her cheery soulmate a kiss back. “Come, let’s leave them to it and see how everyone else is doing.”
“Absolutely wonderfully, thank you!” A cheery voice interrupted, and both women turned to see a slender man bouncing down the hallway towards him with a pretty maid and slightly-plump man in tow. “The curse is broken!”
“Lumière?” Belle asked, and the slender man beamed.
“Correct!” Belle laughed as the former-candelabra lifted her off her feet in a hug. “It is so good to be human again!” He turned to Luna after placing Belle back on her feet and gave a sweeping bow. “Thank you, my dear lady!”
“You are welcome,” Luna smiled back. “Has everyone returned to human form?”
“Unless they were an animal before, yes,” the plump man – Cogsworth, if Belle’s reasoning was correct – replied as he approached with the maid – who must be Babette. “Thank you, miss.”
“It’s just Luna,” the blonde insisted firmly, and then smiled. “You’re welcome.”
“I am Cogsworth, and this lovely lady is Babette.”
“It is a pleasure to meet you,” Babette gave a little curtsey and smile. “We owe you our gratitude.”
“Is it, erm, safe to go into the entrance hall, or should we avoid it a while longer?” Cogsworth asked with a little, embarrassed cough, and Luna smirked.
“I would suggest avoiding it just in case.”
“Oh, well, I shall, erm, go inform the others…” Cogsworth bustled off, blushing, and Lumière sighed and shook his head as Babette giggled behind her hands.
“Thank you,” Lumière said again, and both he and Babette rushed off after Cogsworth.
It was the pointed clearing of a throat that finally caused Gaston to pull back from his exploration of his (now rather flushed and dazed) soulmate’s mouth.
“Mrs Potts!” his soulmate exclaimed, blushing even darker when the plump, matronly woman raised her eyebrows at them both. Gaston refused to be embarrassed, meeting her eyes with a slightly-raised chin instead of averting his eyes when she levelled a stern look his way. Her lips twitched into a smile.
“I am so glad you’ve finally met your soulmate, dear,” Mrs Potts told Adam with a fond smile, stepping closer to where the two men were still on the ground and ruffling Adam’s long light-coloured hair. “I’m so happy for you.”
“Thank you, Mrs Potts,” Adam murmured, ducking his head. Gaston grinned, standing and then offering a hand to his soulmate to assist him to his feet. Adam took it and let himself be pulled upright, revealing to the both of them that Gaston was the taller by only an inch or two.
“You’re welcome, dearie. Now, come along, we need to get you into some proper clothing,” Mrs Potts clucked her tongue disapprovingly.
“Yes, Mrs Potts.”
“Good lad. And you,” Mrs Potts turned her attention to Gaston, and he resisted the urge to hide. How was it that tiny ladies were so fierce and scary? “There is a book in the library with colour names and descriptions. My boy Chip will show you the way,” she added, beckoning a young boy – probably only ten or eleven – over from where he was hovering in a doorway.
“Yes, Mrs Potts,” Gaston gave a laugh as he echoed his soulmate’s words, and when Mrs Potts chivvied off her son towards the staircase Gaston took the opportunity to press another (much more chaste) kiss to Adam’s lips. “I will wait for you there?”
“I won’t be long,” Adam promised, and after another brief kiss (or perhaps two) Gaston released his soulmate and followed the boy Chip up the staircase.
Blue. That was the colour of Adam’s eyes. And Belle’s dress, and the sky, and Luna’s eyes (among other things) although Luna’s eyes were a very different blue to Adam’s.
And his hair was an orange shade. It seemed a mix of orange and brown, brown being the colour of Belle’s hair and eyes, and orange apparently being the colour of most autumn leaves. And fire, apparently, but that was also red and yellow and could sometimes be blue or white (which was just strange to Gaston because blue was a very different colour to red and orange and yellow from what he’s been able to see so far).
Gaston wasn’t entirely sure because he’d yet to look in a mirror or other reflective surface since meeting Adam, but he thought his own eyes might be blue too. And his hair was black, which was a bit of a relief because he wasn’t sure what he’d have done if it turned out his hair wasn’t the colour he’d always assumed it to be.
The light footsteps entering the library had him looking up, and a smile curved his mouth when he caught sight of his soulmate. He set aside the book and stood, holding out a hand in invitation and hiding his relief when his soulmate approached to take it without an ounce of hesitation.
He was so very grateful to Luna for leading him here.
Adam had been startled to realise how much he had changed since the last time he looked human. Then again, he’d been a boy of ten or eleven when he’d been cursed, so it was only natural that he should have grown since it was cast.
Still, it was a slight shock to look at his reflection and see a man with his father’s features staring back. Although, from how the greys had changed to colour, he was fairly sure he had his mother’s colouring instead of his father’s.
“You look so much like your mother,” Mrs Potts smiled up at him, touching his face when he emerged from the bathroom properly-clothed. “You have her eyes and hair. Your father’s jaw, though,” she added with a chuckle. “Run along, dear, your young man is waiting for you.”
Adam blushed, ducked his head, and murmured a quick thanks to the wonderful woman, then pressed a kiss to her cheek and hurried off before she could admonish him for wasting time.
When he reached the library he slowed his steps, hesitating a little on the threshold before moving into the massive room. His soulmate, seated in an armchair by the fire, looked up from the book he was reading – and smiled as if seeing Adam was the best thing that could possibly happen. Adam wasn’t sure what to do next – should he just approach Gaston? Should he wait for an invitation? What should he d—
Gaston stood, holding out a hand, and Adam moved close enough to take it without a second thought. His soulmate used his grip on Adam’s hand to tug him closer, to pull him into an embrace, and Adam went willingly. They stood together, Adam’s face tilted down to tuck against the crook of Gaston’s neck and shoulder, arms around Gaston’s torso, able to feel his soulmate’s every breath and heartbeat. They were of similar heights and builds, but Gaston was a hint taller and broader, and his arms felt so very strong wrapped around Adam. It was… comforting.
Nice. Good in a way Adam couldn’t find words to describe.
After a decade being so much bigger than everyone around him, it felt good to be held by someone larger than he.
He didn’t realise he was shaking, trembling in his soulmate’s arms.
Gaston was worried when Adam started to shake, the ever-so-slightly smaller man quivering where he stood encased in Gaston’s embrace. He didn’t seem aware of his trembling, of the way his entire body shook, and Gaston wasn’t sure if he should draw attention to it.
He instead shifted his hold slightly, smoothing a hand down Adam’s spine and firming his stance to offer stability. He turned his head just enough to press his lips to Adam’s temple, a soft and chaste kiss meant only to reassure. He didn’t know if what he was doing would help, but he was unsure what else he could do and letting go of his trembling soulmate seemed a terrible idea.
He glimpsed Luna and Belle in the doorway, Belle with a sorrowful expression on her face and Luna frowning in a contemplative manner. He sent a pleading look their way, begging silently for assistance of any kind, and after a moment’s hesitation Belle was the one to move forward.
Belle knew that she shouldn’t really be interfering in a soulmate pair, but the pleading, almost panicked look from Gaston when she and Luna came across him embracing a shaking Adam made her realise that perhaps this particular pair needed some form of interference – and assistance.
She walked right up to them, placing a hand on Adam’s arm and giving a gentle squeeze. He turned his head slightly to look at her, and she gave a small, soft smile.
“It’s been a long time since anyone’s touched you with kindness, hasn’t it?” she asked softly, and Adam’s cheeks gained a slight red tint as he gave a small nod. “And you’ve not been held in longer, am I right?” Adam’s cheeks went redder, and he gave an even smaller nod. Belle nodded back, giving another light squeeze and then lifting a hand to comb it through his hair. “You were shaking, dear friend. It’s alright to cry if you need it.” Adam shook his head, but the trembling had returned. Belle saw the muscles in Gaston’s arms tense slightly to draw Adam closer, as if he could shield him from absolutely everything with his physical strength. “Adam. It’s alright. There is no weakness in expressing your emotions. They’ve been bottled for a long time.” She wasn’t entirely sure what she was doing, but she knew her friend needed to stop hiding everything away. He probably didn’t realise he was doing it.
Perhaps… no. No, he was too fragile emotionally to handle physical intimacy right now, too traumatised and touch-starved to be comforted by intimacy with his soulmate. Perhaps later, further along in their relationship, but for now Adam was too… too innocent for physical relations. He’d been a child when he’d been cursed, he needed time to adjust.
“Adam, come here,” she said instead, giving Gaston a warning look when he seemed like he would be unwilling to let his soulmate go. Gaston reluctantly, slowly, relinquished his hold on Adam, and Belle took her friend by one hand to lead him to an armchair. She made him sit, then perched herself on one of the arms and wrapped her arms around his shoulders. She took note of how Luna made Gaston take a seat on the floor by Adam’s knees, and made another note to thank her perceptive soulmate later.
For the moment, however, she was solely focused on her friend.
“It’s alright to cry if you need it,” she said again, softer this time, one hand stroking through hair Luna had told her would be considered somewhere between ‘ginger’ and ‘brown’. Adam’s hands were lax on his knees, and Belle saw Gaston take hold of one to press a kiss to Adam’s knuckles. She put aside her reaction (she’d never thought Gaston could be so sweet) for later contemplation. “None of us will judge you for it. Let it out, let it happen, and let us be there for you.”
Adam stayed tense, seemingly struggling with himself, but then he slumped into Belle’s hold and started to weep into her shoulder as his arms wound around her waist.
She gave a relieved but sad smile, holding her friend close as he purged the negativity he’d been holding inside for a decade.
It was a good start.
Gaston was, admittedly, at a bit of a loss. And his heart ached at the way his soulmate was breaking down in Belle’s hold. He regretted, somewhat, that he hadn’t been able to help, but he would rather Adam be well with Belle’s help than unwell with Gaston’s possessiveness.
“He’ll be fine,” Luna assured Gaston quietly, her eyes on Belle and Adam when Gaston turned to look at her. “He needs this. Once he’s cried himself out, take him somewhere quiet and just rest. Get to know each other. Get him used to contact again. But don’t push things.”
“I wouldn’t, even if he was well,” Gaston glowered at the fair-haired woman, who raised an eyebrow at him.
“I know you may not plan to, but sometimes people get overeager and do things they would not normally do. So I’m warning you.”
“Alright,” Gaston grudgingly conceded. “You have a fair point.” Luna smiled faintly and nodded, and then turned her attention back to their soulmates.
Belle was first to notice when Adam’s tears subsided into an uneasy sleep, and looked up from her friend to instead look at his soulmate. She beckoned Gaston closer, and when the man complied she indicated Adam with a nod of her head.
“He needs rest,” she said softly. “Can you carry him? I can lead you to his chambers.” Gaston nodded, and with a gentleness Belle would not have expected of him prior to that day lifted Adam into his arms. Belle got to her feet, and as she passed Luna was happy to link her fingers with those of her soulmate. She led the way out of the library, through the castle to the rooms she knew belonged to Adam. All those they passed looked cheerful until they noticed Adam’s unconscious state, and then they expressed their concerns to Belle while she attempted to reassure them the young man would be well.
Despite the interruptions, Adam was still asleep when they reached his rooms, and when Belle pushed open the door Gaston only hesitated briefly before entering. He went straight to the bed, placing his soulmate down gently, and hesitated again by the bedside.
“Stay with him,” Luna ordered, although her voice was gentle. “We will see you later.”
“Take care of him,” Belle added, and when Gaston gave his acknowledgement the two young women left the rooms once more.
Outside, Belle leaned into Luna’s hold and sighed quietly.
“I’m worried about him,” she admitted, and Luna pressed a kiss to the top of her slightly-shorter soulmate’s head.
“He will be well. They both will. Now, come, show me the way back to the library. I have rarely seen so many books in one place!”
Belle managed a laugh, and they retreated to the library hand-in-hand.
-0-0-0-
Night fell, shrouding the castle, and the celebration of the curse’s breaking wound down soon after midnight. Everyone found a bed, sleep falling upon them swiftly.
And once the final inhabitant of the castle fell sleep, a slender figure appeared in the entrance hall. Dark green eyes glowered about, the owner moving swiftly and silently through the castle walls. As she passed each room, each person was transformed once again into a would-be-inanimate object – cups and plates and cutlery and furniture and various other household items.
And then she came across the four soulmates in two rooms across from each other. She cursed the damned prince first, using her foul magic to do so without alerting either him or his dratted soulmate of the transformation, and then placed a hand over the still-human man’s eyes. She smirked as her spell settled upon him, and with a wave of her hand transported him back to his home in the village she had already bespelled.
Then she moved on to the beast – his memories, too, were altered, and then she went to the women.
The brunette girl she did the same as she had done to the beast, suppressing her memories and making her forget her soulmate. And then she turned to the sleeping blonde.
“You, girl, will be the key,” the enchantress murmured as she wove her spell around the girl’s mind. So intent on her task, she did not notice how the young woman stirred to near-waking at the touch of the enchantress's hand - much as the prince-turned-beast's soulmate had done. “You will never remember. Home you go, you meddling little creature.”
And the blonde vanished, back to her home – wherever that may be.
The enchantress smirked again and disappeared, her work done.
Luna woke slowly, and that in and of itself alerted her that there was something very, very wrong. She frowned up at her ceiling when she finally opened her eyes, wondering why her mind was so fogged. Why was she here? Why was she surprised she was here? And why did she fell that there was something very, very wrong with being here?
She went downstairs to her father, finding him humming to himself as he bustled about the kitchen.
“Oh!” Xenophilius Lovegood exclaimed, beaming happily at his daughter. “When did you get back home, my darling girl?”
“…get back?” Luna asked, bewildered.
A pause, silence filling the house, and then Luna scowled ferociously. The pieces slotted together - the addition of colour to her sight, the way she felt she should not be home, the confusion clouding her recent memories.
“Daddy, someone has modified my memories. I can see colour. Someone has taken me from my soulmate.”
“Well, then,” Xenophilius frowned, “We must uncloud your memories and return you to your soulmate.”
“Yes, Daddy.”
When the spell lifted from her mind, Luna’s magic exploded out from her in a drastic display of her anger.
“That woman has meddled with my soulmate!” Luna snarled. “Oh, she will wish she had never, ever crossed me!”
“Luna?”
“I have to go, Daddy, my soulmate and her best friend have been cursed. I am going to lift it. It should be easy, there was nothing to contain the spell like there was last time. And I dread to think what may happen if the curse remains too long.”
“Good luck, my darling girl.”
“Thank you, Daddy.” She pressed a kiss to her father's cheek. "When they are freed I shall bring my Belle and her father to meet you."
"That sounds wonderful, my little moonbeam. Go, and be safe."
Luna disapparated.
She appeared in the centre of Belle and Gaston’s hometown, starling the gathering mob with the loud crack that had accompanied her.
Gaston was at the head of the mob, and stared at her blankly.
“You… look familiar…” he said slowly, and Luna scowled.
“I should hope so! Come here, and let me lift the curse clouding your memory.”
“Yes, miss,” Gaston said, clearly cowed by her forcefulness, and Luna placed her hand over his eyes as she reached through him with her magic to the enchantress’s curse.
When she pulled her had away Gaston blinked a few times, and then growled wordlessly.
“She took me from my soulmate!”
“I know. Come, come, we must go restore them. Hold my arm, and let’s go,” she ordered, and when Gaston took her arm she Apparated one more.
This time when she reappeared it was in the entrance hell of Adam’s castle, and she let loose a piecing whistle that had him and Belle running to the foyer.
“Who are you?” the Beast – for it was not Adam, not any longer – growled at Luna and Gaston. “What are you doing here?”
“You have been cursed, Adam,” Luna snapped, before Gaston could truly react to how his soulmate had forgotten him. “As has Belle. You are Gaston’s soulmate and Belle is mine. Someone tried to make you forget us but I refuse to be manipulated!”
“You… you’re my soulmate?” Belle asked softly, taking a step forward, and Luna relaxed and smiled.
“Yes, Belle. You’re my soulmate and I’m yours. May I remove the curse?”
“Please.”
Luna stepped closer and placed her hands on her soulmate’s temples, and as Belle shut her eyes Luna sent her magic into Belle to remove the enchantress’s curse.
Belle gasped, and then threw herself into Luna’s embrace. She was crying, and Luna held her tight.
“Adam,” Gaston said, voice quiet, and stepped closer to the hulking, monstrous form of his cursed soulmate. “We met yesterday and your curse was broken. Someone has re-cursed you.”
“It was the same person who did it the first time,” Luna said with a scowl. The expression was one unsuited to her delicate features. “Come here, Adam, and let me break your curse. For good, this time, for I refuse to be caught unawares again.”
“…very well.” Luna held out a hand, and Adam moved close enough for her to touch his forehead.
“Relax, I will not hurt you,” Luna murmured, and when Adam’s eyes closed she sent her magic into him in a rush. It washed through him like a tidal wave, a surge of power forcing the curse to leave him.
An angered shriek echoed through the castle, and a physically-beautiful woman appeared in the grand entrance hall.
“How did you break it?!” she shrieked, glaring at Luna, and the blonde witch pushed her soulmate behind her to meet the enchantress’ gaze head-on.
“You messed with the mind of a witch and expected to go unnoticed?” Luna questioned with a sneer. It was so unlike her usual attitude than any who knew her from before her travels would be surprised at her rage. “You cannot interfere with a witch’s soulmate and expect to remain unharmed.”
“You are just a girl!”
“I am an alumnus of Ravenclaw House of Hogwarts! I am not ‘just’ anything.” Luna smirked at the look of dawning horror on the enchantress’s face. She reached into her hair and plucked her wand free from where it was holding her hair back, pointing it directly at the enchantress. “You will leave and never again cause trouble for Adam or any under his care. Should I hear of you causing trouble again, I will not let you go. I will end you.”
The enchantress turned and fled, and Luna cast a hex after her that had her shrieking in fear and slight pain. Luna then lifted her wand, pointing it towards the sky, and cast a wide-range Finite Incantatum to re-break the curse upon the castle and its inhabitants, shattering the final vestiges of the transformation on Adam as she did so.
Adam staggered into Gaston’s arms as he shrunk once again from beast to human, burying his face in his soulmate’s shoulder as strong, strong arms wrapped around him.
“It’s alright,” Gaston whispered, holding as tight to Adam as Adam was to him. “It’s alright, you’re alright, it’s alright.” He couldn’t say anything else, couldn’t seem to find any other words as he held his soulmate tightly.
“She will never bother you again,” Luna promised from nearby, and Gaston glanced over to see the blonde woman holding Belle tightly to her side. Luna smiled prettily, innocently, and gave a little wink. “Go, bond, get to know each other. I’m going to set up some wards to make sure she never comes back.”
“Thank you, Luna,” Adam murmured, turning his head to look at the blonde. “You saved me twice.”
“Well I could hardly let such a second-rate spell-caster run rampant,” Luna said dismissively, airily, and Gaston snorted. Luna grinned. “Go on, go.”
Adam and Gaston went.
-0-0-0-
Later, much later – days later, in fact – Luna introduced her soulmate and said soulmate’s father to her own father, and watched happily as Xenophilius and Maurice bonded over their love for their daughters and for experiments.
Life was looking more beautiful than ever before.