"You're not going anywhere until you've had a bite to eat," Mrs. Potts told Adam, Belle, and the three men who would accompany them to the village. "And you're not leaving before we pack you food to bring. You'll not go hungry on my watch."
The group laughed appreciatively at Mrs. Potts' concern and ate a quick lunch before taking the provisions that the kitchen staff prepared and heading off.
From the castle, there were two roads one could take to the village. Well, technically it was the same road, but it made a huge circle through and around the village.
Belle suggested that they take the road that led to her home as that would be the place the villagers would expect her to appear from. Belle and her father lived on the edge of town, it was a good 10-15 minute walk to get to the bridge that connected the road to the village.
Once they arrived, they left their horses to roam behind the house. One of the men stayed behind to keep watch to see if anyone would come to the house and to mind the horses.
"Keep them out of my garden," Belle joked. "Philippe knows better but these other horses would love to munch on my tomatoes."
The man assured her that he would keep the horses out of her garden and Belle gave him a winning smile.
Belle, Adam, and the other two men set off down the road towards the village.
"How will you explain who I am?" Adam asked as they walked along the road. The other guards walked behind them at a distance so they could give them some privacy to converse.
It was a good question. Belle had been contemplating a variety of options but kept wondering if lying about his identity might backfire.
"Did you ever come into the village?" Belle asked. "Do you think they'd recognize you?"
Adam thought for a moment. "Perhaps," he said. "Are you suggesting we tell the truth?"
Belle nodded. "I think so," she said. "I think it would be worth seeing what the villagers remember. And if they'd be sympathetic to our cause."
"I'll follow your lead then," Adam said, continuing their leisurely pace.
Belle smiled. "Perfect," she said. "Imagine that. A prince following my lead." It was a feeling she found herself enjoying.
"The best leaders also know how to follow," Adam said. "My mother taught me that."
"I'd love to meet her," Belle said earnestly. "I've heard a lot about her from my mother. It sounds like she's an amazingly gifted painter."
"She is," Adam said. "Though I never appreciated it until recently." He laughed a little. "It was quite a surprise to find that the portrait she painted of your mother could talk. All of us were shocked. We didn't believe that portraits could talk at first, despite the enchantment on us."
"I'd love to see them," Belle said. "At the castle in the other world, all the portraits could move and talk. I could spend hours just staring at them, though I rarely had the time."
"What was it like over there?" Adam asked, sounding genuinely curious. Belle enjoyed his attention and that he seemed so interested in hearing what she had to say.
They crested a small hill and they could see the village in the distance. Even from here, the town bustled with its everyday activities. As far as Belle could tell, nothing looked amiss.
Belle thought about how she could explain how her time at Hogwarts.
"It was nothing like I'd ever dreamed," Belle said. "A school where I could learn magic, have more books than I could read, and interesting people to talk to."
Belle thought of Ginny, Draco Malfoy, Luna, Hagrid, Neville, and the other professors. All of them had been fascinating people to interact with. Nothing like the villagers who she'd always thought were boring because they focused only on their day-to-day lives.
"Do you miss it?" Adam asked, concern creeping into his voice.
"Yes and no," Belle said truthfully. "I overall enjoyed my time there, but I had to pretend to be someone I wasn't. I didn't like that. I realized I like being myself. And I had to learn that in a hard way by not being able to be myself."
She gazed ahead at the nearing village. "And besides, I wanted to come back for my father. I belong in this world."
"Yes," Adam said. "You do." He paused, as if thinking about something she said. "What do you mean you couldn't be yourself? Hermione revealed her identity to us, when she could have gone on pretending that she was you. We'd only just met you after all."
"Their world had just gone through a war," Belle said. "And they said that people knowing that Hermione was gone would destabilize everything they'd worked to build."
"Sounds like what they built is extremely fragile if something like that could destabilize it," Adam said. "That was really unfair of them to do."
Belle thought about his words, the excuses for her having to pretend to be Hermione sounding thin to her ears now that she was far away. "Maybe so," Belle said. "But, you know, I'm glad I went through that experience. I might not have realized how much I love myself otherwise."
"That's what I've always liked about you, Belle," Adam said, emphasizing the word 'you.' "You always know how to put a positive spin on a situation."
"Thank you," Belle said, feeling a bit flustered at his praise. "I'm surprised you even remember anything about me." They'd only known each other a day, after all. And most of that, they'd been snarling at each other. It was only after the incident with the wolves, that they'd seem to form a truce.
Adam stopped and faced her. The guards behind them stopped a respectable distance away. She turned, feeling shy under the intensity of his gaze. "How could I forget anything about you?" He asked. "You were the bright spot in the darkness of my existence as a beast. Through you, I started to see the light again."
"But I was only there for a day," she said. "At best."
"In the monotony of loneliness, it felt like an eternity," Adam said, his sky-blue eyes boring into hers. "In the best way, of course. When you yelled at me to learn to control my temper, it seemed like you'd stopped fearing me. It gave me hope you could start to see past my exterior. You also took care of my wounds and thanked me for saving your life, which touched me deeply. So when, the next day, I discovered that you weren't you, I felt like the world had been taken from me."
Belle was touched beyond measure. To have made such an impact in such a short time amazed her.
"Thank you," she said, feeling light and happy. "For remembering me."
"Don't thank me for something like that," he said. "Don't thank me for remembering you."
Belle smiled at him. "Okay," she said, at a complete loss for words. The sincerity and intensity in his gaze threatened to overwhelm her. Her heart couldn't take it.
Looking away, she asked, "Shall we continue to the village?"
Adam nodded.
Belle turned towards the village and continued to walk with a lightness in her step that hadn't been there before. Despite herself, she began to hope that Adam might care for her in a similar way to how she felt about him.
The small party crossed the bridge and found themselves on the outskirts of town, which was primarily residential. Villagers bustled around, tending animals, sweeping the sidewalk, trading goods, and chattering animatedly. Children ran around underfoot playing and getting into mischief.
As people began to notice Belle and her companions, people slowed their various activities and stopped to stare at them. The gazes were curious, not unfriendly. That was a relief at least.
An elderly man stepped into their path and bowed towards Adam. "Welcome, Your Highness," he said. "It's been ages since we've seen you here." A confused expression crossed his face. "In fact, I can't remember when we last saw you."
"It's been too long," Adam said. "Thank you for your welcome."
Well, that answered the question of how to introduce Adam. Some of the people remembered him.
Whispers began to wend their way through the crowd. Belle could hear snippets of "the prince" and "his highness" and speculations about him.
They continued walking through the main street of the village. Belle thought they could go to the bookstore. That's what people would expect her to do and she'd always loved the old bookstore owner. She thought they could talk to him about what happened.
As they walked, three blonde girls stepped into their path, hands on their hips. Belle recognized these girls as the ones who followed Gaston around and spread nasty rumors about her. "And where have you been?" asked Claudette, clad in a red dress and looking directly at Belle. "People have been worried."
Belle supposed by "people" Claudette meant Gaston. "I've been at the prince's castle," she said indicating Adam.
"The prince?" Laurette in the amber dress asked. "We have a prince?"
"Don't you remember?" Paulette in the yellow dress said to her sister. "We used to pretend that we'd marry him when we were girls." Her face reddened as she looked at Adam and realized what she said. "You know, girlish fantasies."
"Oh yeah!" Laurette said. "How could we have forgotten about there being a prince? We haven't heard about him in ages."
"Why were you there?" Claudette asked pointedly to Belle, steering the conversation back to the interrogation.
"It's top secret," Adam said, mischievously. "Not for you to know."
The three girls looked at him in awe. Belle wondered if their affections for Gaston would hold or be swayed to the prince. Perhaps that was something they could use to their advantage.
"For now, at least," Belle said, smiling at them. "We need to keep moving, but we'll see you around."
"Are you going to the bookstore?" Laurette asked, falling into step beside Belle. "The storeowner isn't there."
Belle halted. "What?" she asked, shocked. "Where is he?"
"He's—" Paulette began to say, but Claudette nudged her and crossed her arms again.
"It's not your business," Claudette said. "Not for you to know," she continued, tossing her hair over her shoulder and throwing Adam's words back at her. "Let's go," she said to her sisters, striding away with her nose in the air. The sisters left Belle and her small party to watch them disappear.
"They know something," Belle said. "I'm certain of it. They're all infatuated with Gaston."
"Perhaps not all of them," Adam mused. "Perhaps we can convince them to help."
Belle looked at him. "What do you have in mind?"