Belle watched Rapunzel with a combination of amusement and annoyance. The girl was taking in the outdoors with both overflowing joy and wracking guilt. One moment she was running through the grassy meadow and squealing with excitement—Belle wondered idly how none of the debris on the ground got stuck in her incredibly long hair—and the next she was sobbing in the cave, despairing about how she was betraying her mother.

Belle was still shocked she had agreed to ride down the girl's long hair, grasping it in her hands and screaming at first as she felt herself slide down. Rapunzel had told her that while there was another way of getting down, she didn't know exactly how it worked, so this was Belle's only option. Rapunzel went next, squealing as she went down and hesitating for a long moment before lowering her feet to the grass. After that, she had been nonstop emotions and energy.

Belle walked up to Rapunzel, who was currently in one of her guilty moods, crying into her hands next to a mossy boulder. She placed an awkward hand on her trembling shoulder, desperate to comfort her somehow. "Your mother's going away for three days, right? We'll return in time, and she won't even notice."

Belle couldn't believe the way she had heard Rapunzel's mother talk to her while stuck inside the closet. Rapunzel had meekly asked if she could leave her tower, as if she had already asked before and gotten the same answer. Her mother had made it expressly clear she was never to leave, as well as insinuating that she wasn't capable enough to do so. Belle could never imagine her father screaming at her the way Rapunzel's mother had.

Rapunzel turned her tear-stained face to Belle. "I don't know why I even asked her again. I should've known she'd say no. I guess I just thought..." She trailed off.

"I'm guessing the answer was no the first time." Belle mentally kicked herself for stating the obvious.

"She told me it was for the better that I stayed in the tower." Rapunzel wiped the back of her hand across her face. "She said the outside world was too dangerous for me. That there was no way I could handle it."

"You've never been outside before?" Belle had assumed she had just never been past the area outside her tower, but from her behavior, it seemed this was indeed her first time venturing outdoors.

"No. Never."

"Wow... that's..." Belle had always felt trapped and restrained in her village, but she had at least been able to go outside her house, talk to people even if they didn't connect much, visit the bookstore even if there was never anything new. If she had to spend all her time inside her house with her father, she really would've lost it.

"Maybe I should just go back to my tower." Rapunzel started to ramble. "I mean, I've already gone outside. That should be enough, right? I can just go back up now, and Mother wouldn't even notice." Her voice grew more panicked. "Who knows what's out there? There could be thugs and poison ivy and ruffians and—"

Belle cut her rambling off. "Is that what your mother told you?"

"Yes." She looked more distressed at the mention of her mother. "I shouldn't have left her. She tried her hardest to protect me, and this is how I repay her? Oh, I'm a horrible daughter!" She started sobbing again, burying her face into her hands.

"Hey, hey... calm down," Belle said awkwardly. She had never been good at talking to people, let alone comforting them. She usually kept her nose buried in a book and didn't offer more than a standard greeting to the villagers. "You know, I often wanted to leave my village, but I couldn't. I didn't want to leave my father."

"But there were other people in your village, right?"

"Well, yes."

"Didn't you have friends you could talk to?"

"Not really," admitted Belle. "We just didn't really connect. The only person I could really talk to was my father." Mentioning him reminded Belle why she had agreed to this deal in the first place. "We really should get going. I want to find my father as much as you want to see the lanterns."

Rapunzel reluctantly stood up. "But where would we go?"

"I'm not sure," admitted Belle. "I guess we'll just have to see for ourselves." This kind of thing was exciting to her. She was so used to the familiar, small village she saw every day, with the same straight path. Something new and unfamiliar, that she hadn't explored before, seemed like a welcome change.

"You're right," Rapunzel said suddenly. "I have to see those lanterns." She started walking suddenly, towards the grassy path leading who knew where.

Confused by yet another abrupt mood swing, but relieved she had finally decided on something, Belle followed her, hoping she wouldn't change her mind again.