Belle
Belle loved living in Happily Ever After. Her father sometimes ventured to Toontown to find inspirations for new inventions, but she wasn't really interested. She preferred to spend her evenings in the library and read about the fellow inhabitants of Happily Ever After. In the castle in the woods she had found a place where people understood her. Plus, Adam tended to change back into his beast form upon entering Toontown.
Nevertheless, when she was granted Princess Passage, she became excited. From now on when she was riding into the woods, she wouldn't end up where she started but perhaps at a different castle, a prospect she discussed with Adam during breakfast.
"I'm not sure if that is a good idea," he said. "We don't know those people."
"I've read about them," she challenged him.
"That's not the same."
Belle knew that Adam would never keep her from going wherever she wanted, but she would have preferred him being more comfortable about the notion. Before they could discuss the matter further, Cogsworth interrupted them.
"Two guests have arrived. They introduced themselves as Prince Aladdin and Princess Jasmine from Agrabah."
"Well, that's what I call coming right on cue. Madam Potts, two additional plates, please. Cogsworth…"
Cogsworth bowed. "I will lead them here immediately."
"I should rethink the order of being welcoming to every guest," Adam groused.
"Oh, don't be that way. Now you can meet them personally."
"Wasn't Aladdin the thief?"
"I'm sure he grew out of the habit, now that he isn't close to starving any longer."
Belle had to admit to herself that she was apprehensive, too. Aladdin and Jasmine came from a land very different from their own. Then she reminded herself that for them the castle might be just as foreign.
Nevertheless it was a little bit difficult not to stare at their odd clothes, Adam seemed to be slightly disturbed that Jasmine showed off her midriff so freely, but she managed to get them all seated at the breakfast table in a cheerful atmosphere.
"I'm sorry for the early disturbance," Jasmine said. "Put we couldn't wait to explore a little bit. It's nice to finally meet some new people again."
"We don't mind at all," assured Belle. "It was a good idea to visit us. I always wanted to meet some of the other Disney heroes and heroines."
"We have never seen you in Toontown," Aladdin frowned.
"Toontown doesn't really agree with us," Belle explained. "I take it, you visit it often?"
"We like to explore. But we have never met another princess or prince there. Or a lot of other Disney characters in general."
"I guess we tend to exclude ourselves too much. But Toontown is such a confusing and dangerous place. It will be nice to visit some peaceful kingdoms instead."
"We are very curious about all of them." Jasmine explained. "We chose this one first because it has such an interesting name: Beast's Castle. Is there really a beast?"
Belle was momentarily at a loss what to say. Adam shifted uncomfortable in his seat.
"Oh, I'm sorry." Jasmine said hastily. "I didn't want to pry."
Belle cleared her throat. "It's a long story. But didn't you read it already?"
"Read it?" Jasmine asked confused. "Where?"
"I discovered books filled with stories about all the Disney characters in our library." Belle explained. "You have nothing like that?"
"No – we just have this map."
Jasmine showed them a piece of parchment.
"Wow, that's handy. Let's see…Oh…I'm sorry, I can't read this. Are those Arabian Letters?"
"Yes. Here, this is your castle. And this means Sleeping Beauty's Castle, Coast Castle, Golden Castle and Cinderella's Castle," Jasmine translated.
"Sleeping Beauty's Castle is Aurora's and Prince Philips home," explained Belle. "Ariel and Eric surely live at the castle by the coast. Which leaves the Golden Palace near the mountains for Snow White and her prince since Cinderella's castle is naturally the home of Cinderella and Prince Charming."
"Prince Charming?" Aladdin was amused. "Doesn't he have a real name?"
"He doesn't," Adam said drily. "The Powers That Be tend to forget to name us. Or to make our names public. You're lucky, believe me."
"Mulan should live in Legendary China," Belle said before Adam could talk himself into a rage. He hadn't been happy that he had to go by "Beast" for so long. "Can you believe it that she single handed rescued a whole country? And Pocahontas lives in Legendary Virginia."
"That's here and here," Jasmine pointed out one country at the mountains and one at the coast." I always wanted to visit there; it looks interesting from the air. The area is very rural."
"I can imagine. But I'm not sure if the natives would be very welcoming to you. They already have a strained situation with the English settlers in the fort. It might be better to invite her first. In fact that's a great idea!" Belle said.
"What?" Adam looked up slightly alarmed. He wasn't exactly the spontaneous kind.
"We invite all the people who got Princess Passage. This way we can get to know each other better."
Jasmine was immediately all for this plan. "I can ask Genie to deliver the invitations for us. He can use his magic to deliver them to the right place."
"I'll write them. But what about Mulan? I'm sure she can read neither mine nor your writing."
"I'm sure, the Genie knows a solution. Maybe even the right letters, he has been everywhere."
Belle and Jasmine had quite a pleasant morning, but Adam and Aladdin didn't hit off immediately. While Cogsworth took their guest on a tour through the castle (most likely boring them to death with architectural details), Adam explained it to her. "We don't really have much in common. I was spoiled my whole life, and he grew up in poverty."
"Do you dislike him? I'm sure we can find an excuse to cancel the party if you want."
"No, it's okay. He is a nice guy, and his stories are very entertaining. He isn't exactly the patient type, though, we should not wait too long until we rescue them from Cogsworth."
The next days, Belle was busy with the preparation for the feast. But not so busy that she missed that Adam was actually unsure about the idea. Luckily Lumiere was so excited about the prospect to have guests, his enthusiasm swept everyone into the right mood rather quickly, even Adam. He became so relaxed that Belle made some adjustment to the seating arrangements, making sure that he would sit between Aurora and Cinderella during dinner. She had noticed that he had developed a slight phobia towards magic; it might help him to speak with two people who had more positive experiences with it.
Originally she had thought about giving a full-fledged ball, but then she had decided to keep it simpler, to Lumiere's great disappointment. Jasmine had liked the plan, too, having never attended this kind of feast herself. But Belle wasn't sure if that was a good idea. They were supposed to get to know each other, so everyone should be as comfortable as possible. There would be time for a ball later on, she hoped.
A/N: I hope you all like my take on the relationship between Bella and Adam. I used the name because it is semi-official, and I certainly don't want to call him "Beast" all the time. And in case someone is wondering: No, the other princesses don't have a big library or any other source to learn about each other. But some of them have other benefits. Again, thanks to my Betas for sicking with me.