Uploading another chapter before I have my wisdom teeth out tomorrow, after which I will probably be doing nothing for a couple of days.

Come to think of it, I've been working on my plot bunnies for the past three weeks and not uploading anything to the stories I've been working on for the better part of a year. My reviewers think I'm dead.

"Oh, no!" Belle exclaimed, following him into the dark chamber. "You've been shot!"

The Beast rotated his arm and felt a searing pain in the back of his shoulder. Belle drew close to examine it. "Sit down and let me have a look," she pleaded. He complied, knowing all too well that she could be just as stubborn as him. He sank into the chair by the window where he'd been ever since she left, watching and hoping for her return.

Belle drew his cape aside so she could have a closer look at his injury. Most of the shaft had broken off in the fight, and the arrow itself had not pierced completely through his thick hide. "It's not deep," she noted, breathing a sigh of relief. "But it needs to be taken out and cleaned right away."

She led him downstairs to the drawing room, where she was greeted by several relieved but disappointed-looking members of the household.

"Mrs. Potts, I need hot water right away." she directed. "Beast has been wounded."

"Right away, my dear." the teapot gave a nod and hopped off. Looking back, she added, "And thank you for coming back, even if…"

"Even if the spell was not broken," said Lumiere, standing next to Cogsworth, who looked at Belle in suspicion and remaining silent.

"What does the spell have to do with me?" she asked. Any fool could see that there was an enchantment on the castle, but she had never known that she played a part in breaking it.

She would ask about it later. Right now she had to focus her attention on making sure her Beast was taken care of. Soon enough, Mrs. Potts was back with hot water and clean linens stacked on her tea tray. Belle poured hot water into a bowl and soaked a towel. Then she realized that there was really no dignified way to go about bandaging him.

"Beast?" she asked the cringing monster who sat before her. "I need to clean your wound now… but your shirt is in the way."

Wordlessly, he eased his arm out of the sleeve so that his shirt hung loose but still covered him somewhat. Poor Belle looked absolutely mortified already.

"Adam," he said. She may as well know his name now that he was sure the spell would never be broken.

"What?" she asked, looking away from him as he covered himself.

"My name is Adam."

"Oh." she said, now gazing at the expanse of his back, her face feeling hot. The arrow was still poking out of his shoulder, but now the fur around it was matted with blood. "Adam?" she felt horrible for calling him 'Beast' all that time now that she knew his name.

"Yes?" he tried not to wince as she prodded at the arrow.

"I need to cut your hair….your fur…and it might be easier if you sit on the floor. It's difficult to do this from the side." she explained awkwardly. She could feel her face turning a vibrant shade of red that she was glad he couldn't see.

"All right." Holding his shirt against his chest, he sat down in front of the fire so that she would have light to work by. Before she could move, a coat rack with a pair of shears nudged her aside gently and began to cut away the matted fur.

"Thank you," she told the faceless barber as she returned with a damp towel. "Now, Adam, please. I need you to hold very, very still. This is going to hurt, but it will be quick." With one hand she deftly pulled out the arrow as she placed the towel over the wound to catch the blood.

"Oh, dear." she whispered to herself, but he heard her.

"What is it?" he asked, almost afraid of the answer.

"It's deeper than I thought," she replied, pressing the towel tighter against his back. "I may need to stitch it up." she explained, afraid of his reaction. He'd flinched at her touch when she had made to clean the wound on his arm from the wolves.

"Won't it just stop?" he asked.

"Not likely," she said. "My father cut himself once in his workshop and told me to stitch it up because otherwise it wouldn't stop bleeding."

"So…you've done this before?"

"Yes," she assured him. "Can someone find me a needle and thread? And scissors." She didn't mention it to Adam, but she wasn't sure it work. His hide was much thicker than human skin, and she was afraid that the needle might break.

Almost instantly Mrs. Potts was gone and back again with the needed supplies. Belle called Lumiere over and ran the needle through his flame.

It held through the process, and though the stitches were crude, they remained sound and the bleeding was somewhat staunched.

"There," she said, as she cut the last thread and wiped the blood away with a towel. "It's done."

"That," he groaned. "Really hurt."

"I'm sorry, but it was the only way I could…" she faltered

"Could what?"

"Save your life."

"Adam?" she asked a while later. Though she was exhausted, he was still in a tremendous amount of pain and she had decided to stay up with him. Not too long ago she had fashioned him a makeshift sash bandage as he was still bleeding a little. Her father had been given a room for the night, which had surprised him greatly. The last time he was here, he'd been thrown in the dungeon.

"Hm?" he growled. Belle knew by now that it was just the gruffness of his voice that made him sound harsh.

"The spell…the enchantment, what does it have to do with me?"

"I'd rather not say," he told her, turning away.

"Please?" she was pressing the issue, she knew, and changed or not, he still had an explosive temper sometimes.

"All right…" he sighed. "One night, a long time ago, an old woman came to the door asking if I'd be so kind as to give her a place to sleep for the night, as it was so cold. I was only a child, and I was terribly frightened by her ugliness. She told me that beauty was found within, and gave me that rose as payment, but again I refused her. I did not want that hideous old crone here, even if I would not have to see her. Her mere presence would have given me nightmares for weeks." he said, waving his paw in emphasis. "She then turned into a beautiful woman, but her words were ugly. She called me cruel, a spoiled child, and…well…you can see for yourself."

"That's horrible!" Belle cried. "You were only a child?"

He nodded and continued, "And the only way that the curse could be broken was if someone found it in their heart to love me as I am. It was meant to teach me a lesson, but instead all it brought were years of pain."

"And I was the only person who could break it," she finished.

"You were the only person willing to see me for who I truly am," he sighed, covering his grotesque face with one monstrous paw. "With his next breath, he said, "You should go to bed. You must be tired."

"I am, a little." she admitted.

"Go, then." he ordered gently. "I'll see you tomorrow."

"Good night, Adam."

Belle retreated from the room. After she was gone, the Beast sat for a long time staring into the flames in the fireplace and thinking about how wonderful it was just to hear her say his name.

The story should be getting well under way in the next few chapters. Conflicts to be resolved, and all that.

Review, pretty please!