Belle doesn’t really live happily ever after. Adam has no more need of her. Now, he’s a handsome, young prince with his old wealth and fortune. His old attitude apparently comes with it. A plain, boring girl like Belle was fine when he was an isolated Beast. Now that he’s regained his former glory, he could hardly be expected to remain faithful to a commoner like Belle.
Fill: The Coming of Spring [1/2]
anonymous
August 10 2011, 22:57:15 UTC
It starts like this: she looks at his face and does not know him. She hesitates. She seeks her beloved in his features, and cannot find him, and shrinks slightly from his touch.
He tells her, "Belle, it's me."
She wants to say, you are not my Beast.
He tells her his name is Adam.
He tells her she is his princess, his bride, his queen.
She wants to say, once, all that mattered was that I was your love.When she looks at him, this pale unfamiliar stranger, her heart does not gain a beat in her chest. When he kisses her, clumsily (he has forgotten how, she thinks, and she never knew) she feels nothing but awkwardness and uncertainty at the damp press of mouths
( ... )
Fill: The Coming of Spring [2/2]
anonymous
August 10 2011, 23:03:06 UTC
No, she thinks, I know the Beast loved me. You, I have no idea.
"I'm a prince," he repeats, and she wants to scream what does that matter? I loved you when you were covered in fur! "You're a peasant," he says, and it feels like a blow. "I can't marry you."
"You mean you won't." Belle says. She feels odd, suddenly hyper-aware of herself while at the same time being detached. "You think - I was good enough only when you had no other options."
"No, of course not," he says, bends his head and kisses her roughly, ignoring her utter lack of response. "You wouldn't want a life like this anyway, Belle - it is nothing so easy as your books."
"What makes you think I care for things to be easy?" Belle says incredulously. "If I valued 'easy', I would have been married to Gaston."
But he is already moving away and cannot hear her.
Her hands clench in her skirts. She keeps her back straight and resolves to speak with him again, make him seeHer cheeks are wet, her lips taste of salt. She wonders where her happily ever after went
( ... )
Re: Fill: The Coming of Spring [2/2]
anonymous
August 11 2011, 12:50:21 UTC
I... wow. This is probably one of my favourite fills ever. I love the writing - so beautiful and dreamy and kind of detached as well, as though mirroring the shock and unfamiliarity both of them feel with each other. I also love how we got both Belle and Adam's perspectives in such a way that both of them come across as sympathetic characters.
Re: Fill: The Coming of Spring [2/2]afterandalasiaAugust 12 2011, 18:07:38 UTC
This is so beautiful, and sad, both together. As the anon said, I love the fact that both are presented sympathetically, whilst at the same time there's a bitterness in both of their behaviours. Wonderful fill, anon, taken in that slightly more bittersweet and thought-heavy direction.
Re: Fill: The Coming of Spring [2/2]
anonymous
September 14 2011, 08:09:37 UTC
I reread this one today, and I remember this one stood out to me for being such an interestingly-constructed fic, what with the two POVs and the disillusioned and drifting feelings you've portrayed (I especially loved this line: "I love you," Belle says, not ready yet to close the book and say I loved you, surely she has misheard, surely she is mistaken, this can still be fixed.)
And then I was highlighting and suddenly realized there were Beast's old thoughts hidden between Adam's and was like "WHOAAAAAA" all over again. Amazing fic!
Reply
He tells her, "Belle, it's me."
She wants to say, you are not my Beast.
He tells her his name is Adam.
He tells her she is his princess, his bride, his queen.
She wants to say, once, all that mattered was that I was your love.When she looks at him, this pale unfamiliar stranger, her heart does not gain a beat in her chest. When he kisses her, clumsily (he has forgotten how, she thinks, and she never knew) she feels nothing but awkwardness and uncertainty at the damp press of mouths ( ... )
Reply
"I'm a prince," he repeats, and she wants to scream what does that matter? I loved you when you were covered in fur! "You're a peasant," he says, and it feels like a blow. "I can't marry you."
"You mean you won't." Belle says. She feels odd, suddenly hyper-aware of herself while at the same time being detached. "You think - I was good enough only when you had no other options."
"No, of course not," he says, bends his head and kisses her roughly, ignoring her utter lack of response. "You wouldn't want a life like this anyway, Belle - it is nothing so easy as your books."
"What makes you think I care for things to be easy?" Belle says incredulously. "If I valued 'easy', I would have been married to Gaston."
But he is already moving away and cannot hear her.
Her hands clench in her skirts. She keeps her back straight and resolves to speak with him again, make him seeHer cheeks are wet, her lips taste of salt. She wonders where her happily ever after went ( ... )
Reply
Really enjoyed reading this. Awesome stuff! :D
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And then I was highlighting and suddenly realized there were Beast's old thoughts hidden between Adam's and was like "WHOAAAAAA" all over again. Amazing fic!
Reply
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