Title: The
Ice Prince or Such a Marvelous Rose
Author: Meiran Chang
( bonking_bishies @ swirve.com )
Rating: PG-13
Pairings: DorlianXSylvia,
1+R, 6+2, 3+4, 5+Dorothy, 6x9, 2xH
Warnings: shonen
ai, AU, fairy tale, angst, verrrrrrry mild self-insertion in, like, the
last sentence. I made Dorlian a total OOC wuss >_<. Also, I've
played fast and loose with family relationships and situations.
Comments: Ohhhhh
pretty please? --> bonking_bishies @ swirve.com
Archive: 6X2ML Archive
can have it. Otherwise,
please email me, I don't bite.
Disclaimers: I do
not own Gundam Wing or any of its characters, they belong to Bandai and Sunrise
and the American rights are owned by Cartoon Network. Please don't sue
me, I'll just cry a lot. Also, the original story of "Beauty and the Beast"
is by Mme Leprince de Beaumont and not mine either. I don't own anything
except... the original portions of this piece of fiction...whatever
they are.
Dedication: To the
6X2ML, because they're darlings all and the inspiration for
this fic.
The
Ice Prince
Chapter XII
Duo spent some time navigating the labyrinth that was the manor,
mirror in hand, and found that the Beast was right. Mysterious entryways
which he had never noticed in even the most familiar of corridors appeared
tonight with disquieting regularity, until Duo would have been quite lost
had it not been for the mirror. The farther along he went, door after door
and long, high-ceilinged corridor after corridor, the older felt the air,
the heavier with despondency. The hangings on the wall grew tattered, the
stone walls and floor thick with dust. Displays of coats of arms, all so
old Duo didn't recognize them, and of antique swords and suits of armor showed
up more often.
Finally, after several spiraling staircases and eerie hallways, the mirror
told him to stop in front of a thick, scarred wooden door. Duo pushed it
cautiously, and it yielded with creaky grouchiness.
The room within was lit only sparingly by the occasional well-placed candle
gently burning. There were armchairs and such sprinkled about, and they
looked comfortable enough, but upon close inspection they were revealed
to be old, faded and ripped. Duo eased silently into the room, gripping
the mirror in one hand and the lute in the other. Moonlight shone in through
the open glass doors of a small balcony, and sitting in a high-backed armchair
with his back to Duo sat the Beast, beside a small and pretty three-legged
table. Through the thin ragged curtain veiling the table, a faint glow was
visible.
"Beast?" Duo called quietly.
"Ah. Duo." The Beast rose and turned to face him. With the moon behind
him, he was blanketed in a silver glow and visible only in silhouette. He
walked forward a bit, features becoming clear in the candlelight, and smiled.
"Good evening."
"Hi." Duo looked around him nervously and tried not to shiver. This room
made him feel cold. "Why is it so dark in here, Beast?"
Duo could see the Beast's ice-blue eyes narrow in confusion. "Dark? Oh,
I'm sorry. I can see rather well in the dark... I must have forgotten." He muttered
something under his breath and suddenly the candles not only flared brighter,
but had companions flaring brightly besides them as well.
The Beast gestured to one of the armchairs, still standing. "Please.
Have a seat."
Duo glanced at one particularly broken-down armchair dubiously and
sat himself on the edge of a canopy bed, a faint shadow of the vibrant scarlet
bed in his own room. It sagged beneath his weight. He placed the lute and
mirror beside him and folded his hands in his lap. The Beast went and dragged
one of the less-weathered armchairs over across from Duo, sat down, and
waited.
He didn't need to wait long. "Beast... there are lots of nice rooms in
your manor. Why have you brought me here?" Duo asked, glancing around him
nervously. The room was seriously affecting him. His good mood hung around
him in bewilderment.
"What? You don't think this is a nice room?" Duo could catch the glint
of moonlight off the Beast's fangs, and sighed at this example of his friend's
peculiar humor.
"It's... unique," Duo offered awkwardly after a moment's pause. "It feels
heavy, though." He gathered his cape closer around him and hugged himself.
"It feels like a lot of history. It's a little frightening."
"I'm right here," the Beast told him calmly. "Would I have brought
you here if it weren't safe?"
"Maybe you'd think it was funny," Duo hazarded.
"No," the Beast said with conviction. "Never." He paused for a moment,
then said in a manner different from his usual, "There's something I have
to confess to you before I can answer any questions. It's..." He paused again.
"Duo, it is very difficult for me to say."
"Could I please sit next to you? Or you next to me?" Duo burst
out, feeling more and more affected by this strange room by the moment. "I'd
feel a lot better."
"Of course." The Beast rose and sat quietly by Duo's side. "That better?"
"Yes," Duo breathed in relief.
"I didn't think you'd be that affected by the magical presence here.
You're clearly very sensitive to Mage-craft. I'm sorry."
"It's okay. What were you going to say?"
The Beast made a frustrated noise and clenched his fists on his legs.
"This is very hard for me to say. Please do me a favor and don't...joke
about it, or laugh at me, or anything, after I've said it. Is that okay?"
"All right," Duo said, a bit puzzled by the Beast's distress. "No problem."
The Beast closed his eyes and said, very softly, "Duo, I love you."
The Beast's request was almost unnecessary, as Duo was so dumbstruck by
the simple confession that he couldn't have said anything if he tried. The
world stuttered to a halt, then jerked forward again, and the Beast's voice
echoed in his mind. I love you...
"I know it sounds ridiculous," said the Beast in a voice of utter despair.
"But I had to tell you. Had to. Please don't hate me. It's something you
needed to know."
"You... me?" was all Duo was able to choke out.
Visibly struggling to gather control, the Beast said, "I think I've loved
you since I met you."
Duo, still struggling to wrap his mind around the extraordinary concept
that the erudite Beast could have fallen in love with him, blurted
without thinking, "Since I fell off a chair?"
The Beast chuckled in uneasy appreciation. "Well, yes. Duo, I could sense
something beautiful in you from the second I saw you; something willing
to overlook appearance, having weathered judgement of that kind. You looked
at my eyes, not my body. You saw inside of me and knew, at some level
of your subconscious, that I wouldn't hurt you. How else could you have been
so collected when I first met you for dinner that night?"
Duo spread his hands and shook his head helplessly. "I -- I don't know
-- I..."
His companion sighed and glanced away. "I'm sorry. I know we could never...
but anyway. I have a question for you."
By this time, Duo was so much in shock all he could do was squeak, "Yes?"
"Duo, love is a very strong word. I use it knowing full well the level
of seriousness it implies. I've had time to reflect over what exactly it
is that I feel for you, and I've concluded that it has to be love. What I
want to do is make you happy," the Beast elaborated with real passion, "and
when you're sad, or upset, or angry or anything like that, it feels like
the sun has abandoned this world. It leaves me feeling that I've failed,
because you're not content. So I'm going to ask you something. Just once.
I won't bother you with it anymore, and if you say no, that's fine. But please
be honest, as I can't accept a lie."
Feeling a bit dizzy, Duo nodded and immediately regretted it.
"Will you stay with me?" The Beast looked at Duo imploringly. "Here. With
me. Will you promise not to leave me?"
His head spun. Duo put it in his hands and said, muffled, "This is an awful
lot to swallow all at once, Beast."
"But I had to tell you tonight," his companion replied, watching him anxiously.
"I'm sorry if I'm causing you any pain..."
"Um, don't be. I'll get over it." Duo sighed and picked his head up. His
friend glanced back at him and then quickly away, then back up, worry written
clearly on his face. Fleetingly, Duo thought back to the first week or so
he'd been here, when the Beast seemed dispassionate all the time; now Duo
could read him as well as he could a member of his family. "Beast, you're...
I care for you. I would never want to hurt you. You're good and wise and..."
The Beast's eyes were a more burning blue than Duo ever remembered, the
candlelight flickering reflected in them.
"You're my greatest friend, Beast," Duo said, looking away from the force
of the Beast's gaze and fidgeting with the silver trim of his cape. "I wouldn't
mind staying with you here. But I... my family. I miss them." His voice quavered,
and Duo took a moment to steady it. "They think I'm dead. I just want to
tell them I'm okay." His voice broke again, and Duo stopped trying to hide
it, finally choking out, a tight knot in his throat, "I miss my father. I
want to go home."
The Beast looked shattered, and Duo's heart felt suddenly heavy with guilt,
but his friend's next words proved his compassion and nobility. "I'd rather
die than see you unhappy," he said movingly. "I'm sorry to have
kept you here so long as I did. I can't tell you why, but I had to do it.
And even now, what I'm going to do will be completely against all the regulations
and restrictions, but... by the hands of God, Duo, I can't bear to see you
suffer like this anymore. It isn't right and I will not cage you in
here any longer."
Duo, who had closed his eyes in a concentrated effort not to burst out
wailing, opened them again and looked at the Beast, curiosity momentarily
overwhelming all his other conflicting emotions. "What kind of gift are
you giving me, Beast?"
The Beast's visage became sad for a brief moment before clearing again
into a determined, if imperfect, neutrality. In response, he lifted his
gloved hand, closed his fist loosely, and murmured a word. Then he opened
his fist, and instead of air, a small velvety box resided cozily within.
"What is that?" Duo asked, moving closer and peering over his shoulder.
The Beast depressed a small indentation on the small box, causing it to
spring open, and nesting inside was a shining ring. "It's not what you think
it is," the Beast commented, and Duo shut his mouth. The golden ring had a
gem on it that sparkled all the colors of the rainbow, radiating gently in
the dim candlelight, and the Beast handed this ring to Duo, who held it tightly.
"What this ring will do," the Beast told him, with only the slightest pain
haunting the back of his voice, "is bring you home."
He had been entranced by the shimmering colors of the mysterious jewel
on the ring, but at the word "home," Duo's head snapped up. "It will?" he
blurted out.
The Beast nodded. "This is my birthday gift to you. When you go to sleep
tonight, wear the ring and think of home. In the morning, you'll wake up
at your cottage, in your bed." Apologetically, the Beast added, "I can only
let you go for a week."
"Not to give offense, but, hypothetically, if you let me go, what makes
me come back? You don't have some sort of magical control over me... do you?"
"Of course not." The Beast looked mildly indignant. "You know me. Would
I ever do that? The only thing that will make you come back is... well, it won't
make you come back, but if you care for me at all, you will."
"What?"
The Beast sighed. "It's a bit humiliating, but here's the short version.
As a Beast, I'm a magical creature. You know that."
"Yes."
"Well, love is a curious thing, magically. Since I'm a Beast, it affects
me in an interesting manner. You see, I..." The Beast's eyebrow twitched a
bit. "I love you. More than anything. In magical terms, this means that I
can't live without you. My heart will literally begin to break. So if you
don't come back within a week, not only will I be very lonely and unhappy,
but I will die slowly and painfully in the space of a few days. You don't
have to come back, but... for many reasons, I would be overjoyed if you did."
"I'll come back," Duo declared, and grinned at the Beast. "Don't worry.
I'll stay a week and come right back." Joy filled him at the thought of going
back to his family. Seeing his father and brother and sister, hearing all
that had happened while they thought him dead, telling them all about the
Beast.... On impulse, Duo threw his arms around the Beast and hugged him tightly.
"Thank you. You're dear and good, and I promise I'll come back."
Hesitantly, the Beast laid a gloved hand on the top of Duo's head,
resting it there for a brief moment. Duo curled close, feeling warm and
glad, before he pulled away. The Beast was smiling, and said, "When you
want to come back, put on your ring, think about me or this place, and go
to sleep. When you wake, you'll find yourself in this room."
"Thank you." Duo slipped the ring on and closed his other hand over
it, elated.
"Duo, if I can ask," the Beast said, "why have you brought your lute?"
The total non sequitur made Duo blink before he realized what the Beast
meant and recalled why he'd lugged the case along. "Right! Well, I wrote
a song for you today in the garden." He hefted his lute case onto his lap,
opened it, pulled the instrument out, and fiddled with the tone as he said,
"I remember one night when you told me you liked my voice. I just remembered
that I've never sung for you. You never really asked. I don't know why, since
if you had, I would have."
"You were so sad," said the Beast in a reminiscent tone. "It would
have been like caging a beautiful bird and forcing it to sing."
Duo smiled. "That's sweet. But anyway, I thought I'd sing this for
you, since you've done so much for me. I hope you like it."
"I'm sure I will."
After one final test thrum, Duo sat up straight, settled the lute comfortably
in his lap, and began.
It was clear from the peaceful expression that slowly settled over
the Beast's features that his friend was enjoying the performance, and Duo
gave him his best. The melody was simple and quiet, occasionally swelling
into a powerful and impassioned crescendo. Its lyrics described the danger
and few rewards of Mage-craft, and the perseverance and indomitable will
of mages when faced with all manner of challenges, ardently challenging
the theory that the art of magic was an unholy thing. The quality of the
lute, crafted by the master Quinze, rendered the music fragile and divine,
and in the old room filled with the spirit of Mage-craft, it was ever the
more poignant. Duo's voice echoed in the room, and when he held a note,
it was almost unearthly. When he sang, his voice was completely steady.
He finished, the last tones of the song lingering plaintively before
passing away, and looked for approval to the Beast. In response, the Beast
took his ringed hand and pressed it gently against his lips, then released
it. He touched Duo's face with the sort of tenderness one might expect from
a lover and said, "You're beautiful. Thank you." It felt for a moment as
if he were about to add something, but the Beast smiled at him, a smile equal
parts sadness and love, and left the room.
Feeling pulled in more different directions than he ever had in his
life, Duo, moved and warmed by the Beast's eloquent simplicity, gathered his
lute and grabbed the mirror before his gaze was caught by a soft light coming
from the balcony, beyond the torn velvet curtain. Duo had noticed it when
he came in, but had understandably forgotten about it when the Beast began
to talk to him. Curious, Duo ventured forward and brushed the tattered curtain
aside.
On the pretty three-legged table, enclosed in a smooth bell glass, was a
beautiful black rose, suspended in mid-air. It shone. The bottom of the glass
case was carpeted by petals, and as Duo watched, another petal fell, drifting
dreamily downwards in the moonlight.