Belle would have a lot to learn about how the twenty-first century worked. She had so much potential, so much life in her, and all of it could be explored now. Here, it was rare for a teenager to be proposed to, and more rare for them to get married. And Emma knew, though she didn't know why, that she wanted more for this girl. Perhaps it was that weak link from her world to Belle's, or maybe it was just an understanding of feeling trapped when you knew you could do more.
"You'll find an open mind necessary here. And helpful. People will tell you things..." She sighed, closed her eyes, and started over. "There's two sides to every story, Belle. There is pure evil here, yes. People no one should associate with unless perhaps they don't want their soul anymore. And then there are some... People some consider kind who aren't and some who people consider cold who need their story told." She wasn't disillusioned enough to believe Jim was a good man. She knew better. But he did care for her, and the only reason he did was because she'd had an open mind. While she wanted to keep Belle out of his sights as long as possible, she still wanted Belle to choose for herself on some of the city's other residents. Some Emma would roll her eyes at, or that the others might condemn.
"That's one thing I like about this place," she admitted, her lips tugging just slightly at the corners. "The chance to make a new life. It doesn't matter so much who you were back home. What matters is here and now. You can start over, establish yourself. Or you can settle in to as close to your old life as possible. The point is, it's your choice."
She didn't doubt Belle would settle in just fine. The people here would just ooze happiness at having another Disney princess in their midst. And, frankly, if a single one of the hurt her... Well. Emma's protective instincts that had kicked in around Henry did occasionally pop up. And they were firing on all cylinders just then.