Okay- this is my first seriously AU story like…EVER. If you don't count the impossible pairings…I was just reading these stories that are written after fairy tales, and I found this prologue to one of my old stories on an old jump drive, and I thought it'd make a great prologue. Basically this is a loose retelling of beauty and the beast…SP style! xD It's kind of a pipe dream, but hey, if you like it, review, and since the couple isn't named yet, tell me which you think it should be- I only have a few rules. First off, the couple has to SOMEHOW fit into the fairytale personality-wise. The beast doesn't have to be disfigured (there's plenty of room for imagination to think of something else), and her curse doesn't have to be for being vain, but she has to have some character flaw. Beauty doesn't have to be some booksmart Mary-Sue, but she does have to have qualities of someone who could break the temperamental beast from her spell. So not every couple will work, and I apologize but I CANNOT write Shizuma/Nagisa, simply because I'm tired of it, and no Amane/Hikari. Period. Other than that, all pairings are free to be suggested or recommended- I've actually thought of one that would work VERY well, but I'm not sure I want to use it yet.

The plot will loosely revolve around Beauty and the Beast, and will definitely hold all key points to a certain extent. A major difference is that I want the witch to play a key part, since she's a major character just in the prologue. I suppose it depends on the pairing, since it would have to be different for each one. That's why I'm asking for advice- I like my pairing, but I can't think of a good witch for it. So please review and leave your suggestions!

Also: This does NOT mean I'm abandoning How Can You See With Your Eyes Closed. This is just something I wanted to try.

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Thorns

Prologue: This Curse

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"You're not to fall for her."

A demand.

"I won't."

A smirk.

"She'll break your heart."

A contradiction.

"How, if I don't fall for her?"

A kiss.

"Because you will, my darling."

A flash of light, and nothing.

It was an accident- it was never supposed to happen and more often than not she caught herself wishing it hadn't. She couldn't bear to watch and she couldn't look away and it drove her mad to know that she could never- would never do a thing about it. But it wasn't a mistake.

Never a mistake.

But it hurt like hell if it hurt at all.

Watching him hold her, his head held high like he had the right that no one did- as if he owned her. Stepping back submissively when he entered the room and gazing in faux adoration as he courted her, all the while keeping her gaze from misting over because then she would have to pretend to be infatuated with him like all the othersand she didn't trust herself not to vomit at the mere notion.

Watching her, her mask so flawless that no one would guess she was breaking inside- that she, the monster…she had been the one to break her. She was the reason for the smile that they'd never see. Pretending not to notice, all the while knowing that she could never look away.

And she couldn't believe they'd come so far only to let this go.

But what hurt most of all were the glances- the small glances that were sent her way when the world turned its head for just a moment. Her eyes weren't sympathetic or sorrowful or lonely at all- no, they were cruel and as cold as she ever was. It was never 'I'm sorry'- never 'I understand'. It was always (always) 'I knew it', because she had, hadn't she, since the very day it had begun.

Four words, four syllables, and the four letters that she had made her swear would never cross her lips. Those were the only rules, and she had broken every single one of them and now the game was won and she was paying the price.

But there is something- something past all the cruel gazes and icy niceties of her- the one who had warned her to stay away. There is something in the eyes that used to sparkle whenever she (her love, her only) was truly excited- something when they focused in on her prince and narrowed ever so slightly. Something that made her feel like the monster she was- something so broken that it led her to wonder who had really lost, in the end.

It won't be long now- not long until her strength faded entirely, and the very life was sapped from her body like a leech on a wound. It wouldn't be long until the last petal would fall, and it would all be over.

Such thoughts were but a little comfort, and somewhere in her mind she thinks that maybe something's wrong; that maybe she should be fighting for this. Maybe she shouldn't have let her go. But to live with the knowledge that she had been the one to take that smile away, and to see the evidence day after day after day…

It was supposed to be a fairytale- there would be tears and a wicked witch and the one who could save her would save the day in the end, and there would be hurt but at least there would be a happily ever after. But the witch wasn't wicked- the witch wasn't the villain in this fairytale, and maybe there is a happily ever after- maybe it's just not meant to be hers.

Of course it isn't.

It's funny now, she thinks, but it all started with a rose.