Board Thread:Character Discussion/@comment-26116863-20151103000104/@comment-25926288-20151103000606

Well, Belle never knew the wimpy Rumple. Milah and belle had some similarities and while Belle is nicer, neither seem to like the wimpy cowardly Rumple. I do hate Rumple changes for Belle, but when his wife and son needed him, he wasn;t there (in the writers' mind).

Belle probably doesn't want to be sucked back into a relationship since it went downhill after it went downhill.

Belle sees the man behind the beast, but she saw brave, heroic version of Rumple which was not was actually behind the beast. So, she saw an idealized version of him, or she saw the hero behind the coward behind the beast. She must have X-ray vision.

I think Belle is living through Rumple.