*~*~*Collaboration between YoshiSkittlez and I*~*~*

Belle had no idea where to go after she had left Rumpelstiltskin. She asked around as to where her father was, and she managed to find his home, despite that some of the people were still somewhat upset about the current circumstances.

As soon as she reached the house, she knocked on the front door and she called "Papa? It's me," 

As she waited, she couldn't help but think to herself. Should she really have left Rumpelstiltskin? 

There was a hurried sound of multiple locks being undone from the other side of the door before it flew open, the portly face of her father looking upon his daughter standing on his porch with wide eyes or surprise and relief.

"Oh Belle," Moe pulled his daughter into him in a tight hug, holding the back of her head into him gently. "Oh my darling Belle, you've come home again..."

Belle smiled at her father, and she hugged him back and she answered happily, shedding a single tear, "I missed you, Papa," 

"I know my girl, I know." Moe said patting his daughter on his back with his opposite hand. "I missed you too."

After a few more moments, Belle backed away and she asked her father, "How are my sisters?"

"Fine, fine, they are all fine." Moe assured Belle before gesturing for her to come inside. "All have their own places now, just like back home." His beady little eyes took a quick glance to Belle's shoulder where she had been shot. He had seen the monster himself heal her with magic, but he couldn't help but to feel ill towards the man just the same. If it hadn't been for him, she wouldn't have gotten shot in the first place.

"Come, take a seat in the living room. I've just brewed up some fresh coffee..."

Belle walked inside after her father invited her in, and she asked as she did, "Coffee?" The asylum personnel never provided her with coffee, so she remained unaware as to what it was. She looked around the house as she made her way to the living room and sat down on a nearby couch.

Moe didn't seem to hear her query, as he was already in his small kitchen filling up two mugs with the blackened beverage and brought it to her, setting his own on the coffee table as he handed Belle's to her before taking a seat in a dusty old, dark purple recliner.

"You can come and work for me, Belle." Maurice said, diving quickly into his fantasy that his daughter was once again there to stay. "You'll like the flower shop, smells just like our garden back in Avonlea."

Belle accepted the cup of black liquid and she took a sip as her father stated that she could work for him in the flower shop. She answered "Thank you, Papa,"

"And you can stay here, of course. It's not much of a home, but it's better than anything that [i]monster[/i] kept you imprisoned in..."

Belle raised her eyebrows and she said reprimandedly, as she set her cup of coffee on the side table, "Papa! Rumpelstiltskin isn't a monster. He's just a man who has made a lot of mistakes,"

Moe scoffed as he took his mug from the coffee table before him.

"Not a monster, bah! He's poisoned you my girl, poisoned your thoughts but we will get you through this, just as we did before when you finally came to your senses and married Gaston."

A noticable flinch came across the older gentleman's face as the name of his deceased son-in-law. It was no secret that Gaston and himself were close and he had taken the news of Gaston's death quite hard; which brought him to a second realization...

"The beast...the one cursed inside you...is it-?"

"I don't know...but it hasn't...appeared...in five years," Belle clearly looked guilty as she recalled that she almost killed her own father and sisters, when she had killed Gaston as a beast. The mere memory and her father's scoff, gave her more reason to do what she thought was right.

She stood up and she said to him, "I think I'll find my own place to stay. It was nice to see you again, Papa," 

The older man blinked as he stood up in protest, hastily setting his coffee mug back down onto the table before him.

"No, Belle, you can't...stay here." He pleaded, before his beady eyes grew wide with realization. "You're going back to him again...aren't you?"

Belle shook her head and told him what she had in mind, "No. For tonight, I'll get a room at Granny's Bed and Breakfast, and then I'll look for my own place tomorrow," She then headed for the front door and said "I'll see you later, Papa,"

"There's no need for that, my girl." Moe said following after Belle, relief in his voice when she said she wouldn't be returning to Rumpelstiltskin. "Why won't you stay here where it's safe?"

She looked to him as she opened the door and she answered seriously, "Because I think it's best if I stay away..." She then turned around, and she said to him as she headed out of the door "Good night, Papa," 

Moe French could do little but to watch his little girl walk out on him once again. He knew better, she [i]would[/i] return to that [i]monster[/i] just as she had before. The bitter taste of detestation came upon his tongue as he lashed out with a simple sentence,

"Your mother would be ashamed of you."

Belle easily heard his simple sentence, and she felt hurt by his words. She whispered as she continued on her way to Granny's Bed and Breakfast, with a tear falling down her cheek, 

"No one decides my fate, but me..."