Kingdom Hearts II: Home Sweet Sanctuary

Chapter 49: The Rose

We arrived back at Beast's Castle. I looked and saw Beast, all dressed-up and pacing back and forth.

"Beast!" I said. He turned around to face us.

"Why are you here?" Beast asked.

"The Nobodies world is out there and we're looking for a way in." I said.

"No Heartless and no Nobodies!" Donald said.

"I think they're close, though..." Goofy said.

"Better watch out!" Sora said. Beast simply scoffed and turned back to face the ballroom doors.

"Is something wrong?" I asked.

"No. It's just... tonight is very important." Beast said. That's when Belle, dressed is an elegant yellow gown, began walking down to the ballroom. Belle flashed a smile at us before meeting Beast in front of the ballroom doors. They bowed to each other and Beast escorted Belle into the ballroom.

"Uh, maybe we came at a bad time." Goofy said.

"Well, there's only one way to find out." Donald said. Then, Donald ran toward the ballroom. I face palmed myself.

"Donald!" me and Sora exclaimed. We went into the ballroom and saw Beast and Belle.

"Now then, Monsieur, Mademoiselle. Please, enjoy the evening." That's when the servants noticed us. "And of course, our honored guests are welcome, too." Lumiere said.

"A welcome indeed." a voice said. That was Xaldin's voice! Beast pulled Belle close to him and looked around. We ran out farther into the ballroom and saw him up on the higher level of the room.

"The Organization!" Sora exclaimed.

"You don't know when to quit." Xaldin said. He wickedly smiled at me, "Seeress, it's good to see you again. I trust you are happy to see me?"

"Don't worry, I'll be glad to see you after we kick your ass!" I glared.

"Get out!" Beast yelled.

"Not tonight!" Belle exclaimed. Xaldin snapped his fingers and several Nobodies appeared.

"I've come to take something that you hold dear." Was he after Belle? Beast let out a loud roar. "Yes. Let your anger grow..." Xaldin said. He disappeared.

"Beast, we need to get rid of the Nobodies." I said. It didn't take that long to get rid of all of them. "Where's Belle!?" We looked toward the balcony and saw Belle and servants were safe. "Oh, thank goodness!"

"Guess Xaldin didn't take anything after all." Goofy said. Beast suddenly bolted past us and ran out of the ballroom.

"What's wrong?" Then Belle ran past us after the Beast. "Belle? What's with them?" Sora asked. What was all that about?

"Maybe Belle isn't the only thing precious to Beast." Goofy said. I thought for a minute. What else was dear to Beast beside Belle? I happened to look down at my skirt and saw a beautiful rose that was on my skirt. Wait...rose? The rose!

"The rose is what Xaldin went after!" I exclaimed.

"C'mon!" Donald said. We hurried to the west wing and found Beast pacing back and forth while growling under his breath. He was angry. He let out a frustrated roar and slammed his large paws to the floor.

"What's wrong?" Beast didn't answer Belle, so she cautiously walked over to him. "Please, calm down!" Belle cried.

"Calm down!? You just had to have a party, didn't you? Don't you see what's happened?" Beast asked. Both me and Sora went up to try and calm him down.

"Hey. What's with you?" Sora asked.

"You've never snapped at Belle like this, Beast." I said.

"The rose... My rose..." Beast said. I looked our to the table the rose had been originally to see it gone. Xaldin had just sent the Nobodies to create a diversion so he could steal the rose without having to worry about getting caught until it was too late.

"What, that? He took it?" Sora asked.

"But surely, you can find another rose..." Belle said. I guess she didn't know about the curse and that the rose was a measure of the time Beast had left to break the curse.

"Silence!" Beast's outburst made me and Sora jump. "You don't know anything!" Beast shouted. Okay, he may be a friend, but he was crossing the line. Both me and Sora stood in front of Belle to protect her.

"Beast, enough! Why are you yelling at Belle? It's not her fault!" I yelled. "Yelling won't solve anything, anyway!"

"Piri's right. It's not fair for you to take it out on Belle. It's not like she stole it!" Sora exclaimed. Beast realized what he was doing and stopped.

"I'm sorry." Belle said.

"You don't have to apologize." Sora said.

"You didn't do anything wrong Belle." I said.

"But..." Belle said. Beast got a sad look on his face.

"Belle... Sora... Piri... I want you to leave the castle." Beast said. What? "Look at me. Look. This is what I am. When you first got here, I tried to change. But I was only fooling myself. I can't be any different. I'll always be a beast. So, I should live like a beast. With no one, alone. Good-bye, Belle."

"You can't mean that..." Belle said. Beast refused to look at Belle or us and walked away.

"Beast..." I said.

"Aw, I think his mind's all made up." Goofy said.

"Yeah." Belle, sadly, started walking away to go back to her room.

"Look, Belle, Leave this to us. If we can get Beast's rose back, he'll calm down." Sora said. Simply nodded and left the room. We followed Belle outside to see the servants had followed after their master too.

"How could it have come to this?" Cogsworth asked.

"And they were so looking forward to this evening..." Lumiere said.

"Now, now-no need to be sad. Once the rose is back safely, this will all be over." Mrs. Potts said.

"What's so special about one rose, anyway?" Sora asked.

"There's a time limit, isn't there? I noticed that the rose was somewhat wilted. Is it a clock telling the Beast how much time is left for him to break the curse?" I asked.

"Exactly! If the master can love and be loved in return, the spell will be broken. We'll all be human again." Cogsworth said.

"Yeah. You told us." Donald said.

"But, as the mademoiselle suspected, there is a time limit. He must find his true love before the last petal falls from that rose." Lumiere said.

"Ah, but that is not all... Over time, caring for that rose has become a cherished part of the master's daily life." Cogsworth said.

"It's as thought all his hopes and dreams are tied to that single bloom..." Mrs. Potts said.

"Poor Beast!" Sora exclaimed.

"I know. No wonder he got so angry and snapped at Belle." I said.

"We need to get it back." Sora said.

"Please do!" Mrs. Potts said.

"We need to snap Beast out of his depressed state. If anyone can do it, we can." I said.