Gaston was excited when he made his way to Belle's house. He hadn't seen her in a while, but he figured she was busy with her father, and of course, pondering his proposal. Maybe she'd even been thinking about how right they could be together. The proud smile shone bright on his face as he hurried to tell her his news. However, when he arrived there, he saw her cottage was quite empty.

Making his way around, he looked in all the windows, noticing all the animals seemed to be in a state. He quickly located their feed, distributing it to each as quickly as possible, wondering slightly at their seeming abandonment. When he went back to the house, he decided to investigate, so he, tenderly, broke the door down. He could fix it later.

At first, it seemed like nothing was out of place, but wrong- as though they hadn't meant to leave. He glanced around for a bit, before his eyes fell to a piece of paper on the ground. It seemed to be a letter regarding an entry at a fair. Ah! Crazy old Maur- The... genius who was Belle's father had obviously invented another gadget whatchamacallit to enter into a fair. Well, that explained the abandoned look of the place. He had probably forgotten to close up properly and to ask anyone to keep his small farm while they were away.

Gaston smiled to himself, happy to have found yet another way he could prove himself to Belle. He closed up the house, tidying up as best he knew how, and fixing the door back in its place. Then he patched the fence around the livestock, making sure everything was secure against predators. Undaunted by their absence, he went back into town, grinning as he imagined Belle's appreciation for his thoughtfulness. He could tell her the news when she got back.

Days passed, then a couple of weeks, and Gaston faithfully maintained his charge, thinking of how impressed Belle would be of him, and how his maintenance on her house would surely convince her of how capable he would be in their own. At the end of the first month, with still no sign of Belle or Maurice, he began to worry. Still, he assured himself, they'd come back. He was here, waiting for her, and was confident she would see how no one and nothing else could compare to the two of them together.

He went to the tavern, forgetting his worries amidst his friends and admirers. He confided in everyone the mystery of Belle's disappearance, and Lefou reassured him she was probably still off with her crazy father. The townspeople were all laughing and singing, losing themselves in merriment as they gathered together against the frost that had fallen upon the land.

They were just about to start their own makeshift dance sans a band, when the door banged open. And Maurice rushed in. Alone.

"Help! I need your help!" he screeched, running around anxiously as he grabbed everyone he saw. "Please, help me!" he begged, tugging on the arms of various patrons.

"Maurice?!" exclaimed Gaston, astonished that they were back and Belle hadn't come to find him yet.

"He's got her- she's locked in a dungeon. Please, you all have to help me!"

"Who's what?" asked the tailor.

"Belle- he's holding her prisoner! Come on, we've got to go get her!"

"Whoa- hold on there, Maurice. Who's holding Belle prisoner?"

"He's a beast! A monstrosity, a horrid terrible creature!"

"Who?"

"The Beast!" he repeated, lifting his arms in imitation.

The entire tavern collapsed into momentary silence, realizing he was describing a literal monster. Then, everyone burst out laughing.

"Ah- a large beast?" joked the ironsmith.

"Enormous!" he continued ranting.

"Does he have claws?"

"Like daggers!"

"And deadly fangs?"

"That can tear a tree trunk!"

"Is he ugly?"

"Indescribably so! Will you help me?" he asked, finally falling at the feet of a very amused Gaston.

"Of course, Maurice," he laughed, deciding to play into the old man's joke. "We'll go retrieve Belle from the indescribably ugly, enormous, deadly beast that's keeping her prisoner in his dungeon."

"You will?" he repeated hopefully.

"Sure! He's just outside," remarked the tanner, as he, a merchant, and the tailor all led Maurice out the door, chuckling once they shut it firmly behind him.

"That crazy old man!"

"Oh, that was just fun."

Gaston chuckled, thinking of the delusional inventor who'd just left. Then he sat by the fire quietly, pondering.

"Lefou!" he called his best friend over.

"Yeah?"

"I've been thinking."

"Careful with that."

"I will," he assured him, "it's just that- that mad old coot is Belle's father."

"I know- too bad it's not all right up here," Lefou responded, twirling his finger around near his head.

"Well, that's just it. Wherever he came from, he left Belle behind."

"You don't actually believe...?"

"Of course not," he replied with a smile, "but she's not here. Which... I think means... she's somewhere else."

"That's true!" exclaimed his friend in realization and agreement.

"Where?"

"What?"

"If she's not here, and she's not with Maurice, where is she?"

The townspeople had begun listening by this point, and now most of them began to wonder the same thing. They all sat at their tables, heads in their hands, and thought about it.

"I'm going to go after him," declared Gaston, when no answer had come forth. "We can't leave Belle's safety to that looney old man."

As he stood up, everyone mumbled their agreement, praising Gaston's bravery and intelligence, and agreeing with his assessment as they cheered him on to go find Belle.