Belle gazed at the creature as, she now knew, his voice spoke in her head once again. Relaxing her guarded stance her serious expression turned to one of sympathy. She could feel his sadness and it touched her.

[color=00aeef]"I'm sorry,"[/color] she said gently. [color=00aeef]"I shouldn't have assumed, but I was being cautious. Forgive me."[/color]

Belle approached the creature, slowly and hesitantly placing her hand on his chin to lift his head to look at her. [color=00aeef]"Since you know my name, may I have yours?"[/color]

A voice behind her made her jump and move to stand beside the beast close to him. An adorable red panda was talking to the fox. A panda was talking! Did every animal here talk?