"But to love and be loved... that's all that matters."
╰┈➤ An arrogant young prince and his castle's servants fall under the spell of a wicked enchantress, who turns him into the hideous Beast until he learns to love and be loved in return. Th...
In a nearby village there lived a beautiful young woman named Sakura. Sakura, unlike the other girls in the village, cared only for her books. She always felt out of place.
Sakura loved to read about adventure and romance. Her father, Kizashi, loved books, too. Kizashi was an inventor—a genius, according to Sakura; a crackpot, according to the townsfolk.
"Sakura is even stranger than her father," the villagers whispered. "Her nose is always in a book, and her head is in the clouds." Gaara, the handsomest man in town, wanted to make Sakura his wife. Even though she thought he was a brainless brute and turned him down again and again, Gaara was determined to wed the lovely Sakura.
One cold day Kizashi hitched his horse, Phillipe, to a wagon and set off to show his latest invention at a faraway fair. But Kizashi read the map wrong and became lost in a forest. As an icy wind whistled through the trees, he suddenly heard the howling of wolves! Phillipe bolted, and Kizashi fell to the ground. Trying to escape the wolves, the frightened man ran deeper and deeper into the woods. He came to a castle and stumbled inside. There he was greeted by Mrs. Ino the teapot, Shikamaru the clock, and Naruto the candelabrum, who had all been servants to the prince. But before he had time to marvel over these strange creatures, an even stranger one appeared —the Beast! When Kizashi stared in horror, the Beast howled angrily. Then he scooped Kizashi up and carried him off to a dungeon.
Meanwhile, Phillipe had made his way back home. Sakura took one look at the riderless horse and knew something awful had happened to her father. "Phillipe! Take me to him!" she cried, leaping into the horse's saddle. Without a pause, Phillipe thundered off toward the woods.
When they reached the castle, Sakura burst inside and searched frantically for her father. The enchanted objects led her to the dungeon, but just as she found Kizashi, the Beast appeared. Sakura let out a terrified gasp at the sight of the hideous creature. She begged the Beast to free her father. When he refused, she bravely offered to take Kizashi's place. "No, Sakura!" Kizashi cried, but the Beast agreed to the exchange.
Before Sakura could bid her father good-bye, the Beast led her to her room. "The castle is now your home," he said gruffly. Sakura was free to go anywhere she liked— except the West Wing. "You will join me for dinner," the Beast ordered. "That's not a request." Still, Sakura refused, and the Beast stomped off in anger.
That night Sakura slipped out of her room and found her way to the forbidden West Wing. There she saw the enchanted rose by the window. When she reached out to touch it, the Beast suddenly appeared on the balcony outside the window. Sakura screamed and fled from the room.
Her heart pounding, Sakura ran out of the castle, mounted Phillipe, and galloped off into the night. But a pack of wolves soon had them surrounded. Sakura was helpless. Suddenly the Beast was there, throwing the wolves aside. Sakura heard terrible snarling and howling as the Beast and the wolves battled for their lives. At last the wolves ran off into the woods, but the Beast lay in the snow, badly injured.
Back at the castle, Sakura carefully tended to the Beast's wounds. Gentle as she was, the Beast roared in agony. "I barely touched you," said Sakura. Then she saw the look of pain on his face. "I forgot to thank you for saving my life," she added softly. The Beast only grunted in reply. But when Sakura turned away, a hint of a smile appeared on his face.
In the days that followed, the Beast tried to be a proper host. He showed Sakura his library, and she began to teach him how to act like a gentleman. "Perhaps it isn't too late," Shikamaru whispered to Mrs. Ino and her son, Inojin the teacup. "If Sakura could only love the Beast, this dreadful spell might yet be broken."
Before long, Sakura thought of the Beast as her dearest friend. And the Beast thought of little but the beautiful Sakura. One night while she was teaching him to dance, the Beast asked, "Sakura, are you happy here—with me?" "Yes," she said without hesitation. But the Beast saw a trace of sadness in her eyes. Then Sakura added, "If only I could see my father again, even for a minute."
"You can," the Beast said, handing her the magic mirror. Sakura gazed into it and saw Kizashi trudging through the forest. He looked frail and old. As she watched, he collapsed in a heap.
"I must go to him!" Sakura cried. "He might be dying!" "I release you," the Beast said sadly. "But take the mirror. Then you will always have a way to look back and remember me."
With the magic mirror to guide her, Sakura soon found her father and brought him home. But their happy reunion was cut short by a pounding on their cottage door. The townspeople had come to take Kizashi away. Gaara's friend Kankuro stepped forward. "Kizashi has been raving that you were imprisoned by a hideous beast," he said. "Only a crazy man would tell such a tale."
"But it's true," Sakura protested. Her worried eyes searched the angry crowd and fell on Gaara. "Gaara!" she cried. "You know my father isn't crazy. Tell them." Gaara whispered to Sakura that he might be able to calm the crowd—if she promised to marry him. "Never!" Sakura exclaimed. "And my father is not crazy. There really is a beast, and I can prove it." She turned to the crowd. "Look in this mirror and see."
The townspeople looked at the Beast in the magic mirror and grew frightened. "We must hunt down this savage animal!" Gaara cried. After locking Sakura and her father in the cellar of the cottage, the villagers rode off to storm the Beast's castle. Luckily, little Inojin had stowed away in Sakura's saddlebag. After the villagers were gone, he used Kizashi's latest invention to release Sakura and Kizashi from the cellar.
By the time Sakura reached the castle, the townspeople had broken in. Gaara and the Beast were fighting on the castle roof. The Beast managed to knock Gaara's weapon from his hand. There was nothing to stop him from killing Gaara. Gaara screamed for mercy, and the Beast turned away from his enemy. Then Sakura watched helplessly as Gaara plunged a knife into the Beast's back.
The Beast roared in pain. Backing away from the wounded Beast, Gaara lost his footing and fell off the roof into the fog below. Sakura rushed to the Beast's side. "You came back," the Beast said weakly. "At least I can see you one last time." "No! No!" Sakura said, sobbing as she kissed his cheek. "Please don't die. ... I love you ."
At that moment the spell was broken. In one magical instant, the Beast turned back into a prince, and the enchanted servants returned to their human forms. The castle came to life with rejoicing. There was no doubt that the loving couple would live happily ever after.
The End
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