Blinking In The Starlight
Pascal snatched the letter from Flynn’s hands quickly and began reading it, scrutinizing every word and leering with much suspicion. The letter was an exact replicate of the one “Flynn” had written to Rapunzel. She would know; she had read that letter too many times to count. The former lizard had assumed this all along.
“It was Gothel,” she hissed slowly and accusingly. “It had to be.” Snapping her head back in the boy’s direction, she stuffed the letter in her bag and turned on her heel, her unoccupied hand motioning in the direction she was heading. “Follow me.” Pascal headed in the direction of the forest, walking a determined path as she did so. She didn’t look behind her, but assumed that Flynn was following, and began explaining how the letter was a fake, how both of the letters were fake. How Rapunzel had received the exact same piece of paper with just a few words changed here and there. How Pascal had assumed the letter wasn’t at all true due to the lovey doviness of the couple (and she had been through too damn much the time before to even want to do this again).
As the two neared the entrance to the tower, Pascal turned and looked at Flynn. “Alright, here’s how this is gonna work. I’m getting Rapunzel from the tower because I’m pretty sure Gothel is still there. You wait right inside and we can sort this whole thing out,” While explaining, the brunette held a murderous glint in her eye. Gothel had done far too much, and this was the last straw. Something was going to happen to her. Pascal would make sure of it. “So, stand right in the entrance and I’ll go get her.” Pascal left Flynn shortly after, not bothering if he had any other say in it. She reached the tower quickly, having run across the field swiftly.
“Rapunzel! Rae! Let me in!”
Mother Gothel poured hot water from the kettle into a tea cup. Chamomile always helped settle Rapunzel when she was upset and ever since she had discovered the forged breakup letter she had been having at least a cup a day.
It had been simple really, killing two birds with one stone. On the one hand she had ensured that Rapunzel wouldn’t want to go back to that damned school, and on the other she had ensured that that criminal wouldn’t come looking for her. Rapunzel would get over it, after all, were she to go back out into the real world she could do so much better than that riff raff. Of course, she would never allow the girl to leave the confines of the tower again, but for now that wasn’t an issue. The only thorn in her side that remained was that horrible girl that Rapunzel had brought back with her. There was something strangely familiar about her and though ‘Callie’ was young, Mother Gothel had the urge to squash her like a bug every time she saw her.
Gothel looked above the countertop and into the mirror that Rapunzel had decorated and hung years ago. She touched the corners of her eyes where laugh lines were starting to appear and made a note to have Rapunzel sing to her later. Ever since Rapunzel had come back she had the girl sing to her as she brushed her hair. She had aged rapidly over the course of months that she had been away. Luckily for her Rapunzel was a heavy sleeper, she had been able to steal into her dorm room and get back some of her years. That is, until that horrid boy had come into her life, then she barely ever slept in her dorm room.
“What you saw in him, I have no idea.” She sighed with false motherly disapproval as she laid the cup in front of the girl. “I told you that he was no good, one look at him and I knew.” She said and sat across from the girl who stared silently into her cup. Of course, she had seen the fliers around the kingdom when she had first gone looking for Rapunzel, it wasn’t much harder to put two and two together after that.
“I thought he loved me.” The words came out in such a small whisper, Gothel barely caught it.
“Oh my dear, of course you thought that. I mean, you barely knew him and you showed him your gift.” She said and reached across to stroke Rapunzel’s hair. “You should have seen that he was only using you for that.”
Rapunzel sipped her tea silently as Gothel went on.
“You know, ever since that last time he was in Corona, the kingdom has tripled its security. Though for what I know not, he stole that lost child’s crown. There’s nothing more precious that he could take.”
“He’s not like that any-” Rapunzel paused and looked up. “What do you mean the last time he was in Corona?” She asked. Before this past summer the last time Rapunzel had seen her mother had been at the beginning of the previous school year.
“Oh, there was a sighting of him.” Gothel covered quickly. “Sometime during the winter. He went back to that orphanage.” She said the word with distaste. “But a good samaratin spotted him and contacted The Guard. I suspect it will be virtually impossible for him to stay in Corona for long without being captured.”
“But Corona is his home.” Rapunzel said aghast.
“Well he should have thought of that before he stole that crown. It was never recovered you know, he probably sold it off in pieces.” Gothel said and touched the side of her nose.
“He’s too clever. He won’t go back.” She said shaking her head and staring into her tea. No matter that Eugene didn’t love her, she knew that she still loved him and it would take a long time for her to get over him.
“Yes, well…” Gothel sniffed and sipped her tea. “Perhaps you should put your mind to other things now. He’s gone and he’s not coming back. There’s no point in moping about over him.”
Rapunzel stood quickly from the table and poured her unfinished tea down the sink and smiled at her mother.
“You’re right, I think I’ll go paint something.” She said with a bright grin before she headed upstairs and into her room. She snapped the door shut silently and let the smile fall from her face as she wandered over to her bed and sat down. She pulled from her pocket the one thing that she had taken from Corona, a small scarf, barely a handkerchief that Eugene had bought her to tie back her hair before they had headed back to the Academy. She ran her fingers over the soft cloth and traced the sun with her thumb. Eugene had said the violet looked lovely against her hair. She fell back onto the bed and let the tears escape freely as she remembered the small, seemingly inconsequential kiss that he had placed on her forehead. She remembered how thrilled she had been to see him when he had shown up unexpectedly and begged her to come back home. She remembered when he confessed that he did love her as well.
As she stared up at the cieling, her paintings blurred splotches, something caught her attention. She wiped away the tears from her eyes and held up the scarf and then looked back at her ceiling. Was it just her mind playing tricks? She looked back and forth between the cloth and ceiling before she sat up and stared harder at her paintings. No. No it wasn’t her mind playing tricks.
“There…and there…” Her eyes grew wide as she suddenly saw what her subconcious had been painting underneath everything she had ever created.
Suns, everwhere. All across the cieling and walls, the very image of Corona itself was inlaid. She stood up quickly and finally, finally her mind found the memory it had been searching for.
She saw in her minds eye a mobile, the kind that hung in a childs crib, a sun at the center. A moment later she realized that it was her crib and a blurry image of a couple came into view.
Flash. The couples outline were filled with a nearly exact painting of the king and queen that stood in the square of the kingdom, a small blonde and green eyed baby in their arms. Flash. Eugene saying what a strange coincidence it was that her birthday fell on the same day as the lost princess.
With a gasp Rapunzel fell backwards into her dresser, causing the mirror above it to fall to the ground.
“Rapunzel?” Mother Gothel’s voice floated up from down stairs as Rapunzel scrambled up, putting the pieces together. “Rapunzel what’s going on up there?” Her voice was coming nearer. Rapunzel opened her door and shook her head to herself.
“Are you all right?” Gothel asked.
“I’m the lost princess.” Rapunzel whispered.
“Ugh, please speak up Rapunzel, you know I hate it when you mumble.” Gothel said with a roll of her eyes.
“I am the lost princess.” Rapunzel said in a strong clear voice and looked at Gothel. “Aren’t I?” The woman stared at the girl with wide eyes, clearly shocked.
“Did I mumble mother?” She asked as she stepped out of her room and came to the head of the stairs. “Or should I even call you that?”
Gothel stared for a second before laughing.
“Oh Rapunzel, do you even hear yourself? Why would you ask such a ridiculous question?” She asked and reached her hands out to the girl who instantly shoved her away.
“It was you!” Rapunzel cried. “It was all you!” She watched as Gothel’s face went from being concerned to being ice cold. She had never seen such a look cross the older womans face.
“Everything I did was to protect you.” The woman said, her words biting. Rapunzel shoved past her and headed down the stairs, ignoring Gothel’s calls to her.
“I have spent my entire life hiding from people who would use me for my powers.”
“Rapunzel!” Gothel shouted, dashing after her. Her mind was working overtime, how did she keep her calm? How, how, how?
“But I should have been hiding…from you!” Rapunzel said wheeling on the woman.
“Where will you go?” Gothel asked. “He won’t be there for you.”
Rapunzel stared.
“You wrote the letter.” She whispered. “What did you do? Did you send him one as well? He won’t believe it. He’s clever.” She said proudly. “He’ll figure it out, he’ll find me. He always does.”
“If that criminal is caught anywhere near Corona, he is to be hanged for his crimes.” Gothel spat.
“No!” Rapunzel gasped.
“Now, now, it’s allright. Listen to me. All of this is as it should be.” Gothel said and reached to stroke Rapunzel’s hair.
“NO!” Rapunzel grabbed Gothel’s wrist. “You were wrong about the world, and you were wrong about me!” She held tight to Gothel’s wrist as she tried to pull away. “And I will never let you use my hair again!” She said and flung the womans arm away from her. She watched as Gothel stumbled backwards and knocked over the large mirror, causing it to fall and break before she turned and headed for the only exit to the tower.
“You want me to be the bad guy? Fine. I’m the bad guy.” She heard Gothel snarl before something heavy hit her and everything went black.
——-
“Years of hard work gone to waste.” Gothel sighed woefully as Rapunzel stirred a couple hours later.
“I gave you everything, Rapunzel. And this, this is how you repay me?” The older woman sniffed as she adjusted the heavy manacle that bound the girls wrists behind her. Rapunzel groaned, her head spinning as she tried to sit up.
“Now, now.” Gothel said and helped Rapunzel into a sitting position. “Don’t over exert yourself, we’ve got a long ride ahead of us.”
“Wh-what?” Rapunzel asked as the room finally stopped spinning. “What are you talking about?”
“We’re leaving Rapunzel, before that friend of yours returns. It’s for the best really. You’ll thank me some day.”
“Are you crazy?” Rapunzel asked as she attempted to stand. “I’m not going anywhere with you!”
Gothel slammed her foot down on the iron chain, sending Rapunzel toppling backwards.
“Don’t be like that.” She cooed and tied a piece of cloth over her mouth, to stop her responses. “We’ll find a new place to stay and things will go back to normal, you’ll see. Everything will be al-“
“Rapunzel! Rae! Let me in!”
“Damn it.” Gothel muttered as she peered down through one of the smaller windows.
“We’ll just have to improvise then.” She sighed and gathered Rapunzel’s golden hair before tossing it over the side. As she waited for Pascal to enter she picked up Rapunzel’s frying pan that had been gathering dust since she had gotten Eugene’s letter.
“Not a sound Rapunzel.” She whispered softly to the girl who watched the window ledge with wide eyes that held a warning.
No. Run Pascal, run. Run! She thought and fought silently against her restraints. She couldn’t let Gothel hurt her friend.
“Pfffffllllll!” She screamed through the cloth that was shoved between her teeth, hoping to give the other girl some sort of heads up. If she heard, if she understood, maybe she wouldn’t come up… Maybe she would run, go back, find Eugene, figure out what happened….Maybe…
The sound carried, but she didn’t know how far. Rapunzel could only hope that Pascal understood the warning.
(Source: lovely-luscious-locks)
Hearing Rapunzel’s answer, Pascal gave a huff. The girl, her form still obviously wrought with sleep, rose from her pillow, blinking multiple times before rubbing her eyes roughly with her hands, as if to remove the tired from them. She slid out of the bed slowly, her bare feet hitting the cold hard wood harshly. She sighed once more and rose, stretching her arms towards the ceiling. Sitting there, the brunette simply wondered, playing with a chunk of her thick hair. Her days hadn’t been all that eventful since returning to the tower. In all honesty, Pascal wanted to return to Corona. The place had grown on her the last time she and Rapunzel had stayed there. And it wasn’t just because of the copious amount of fruit vendors found in the market.
Pascal still felt the need to lay down, so she snuggled back into the quilts and blankets that were strewn across the bed. Tucking her hands under her chin, she watched as her blonde friend walked over towards her. As she talked, Pascal’s eyes narrowed deeply.
“You’re kidding me, right?” Pascal asked in an accusing tone, straightening herself to sit against the headboard. “If you even think for a second that I would consider leaving you, think again, sister.” They had been over this countless times: Pascal would never leave Rapunzel and vice versa. It isn’t how they worked. They had always been together. And, frankly, Pascal was looking out for her. She didn’t trust Mother Gothel one bit, especially not now. That letter had been connected to her, somehow. She knew it. It was practically a gut instinct. “Yeah, sure, I have other friends, but you don’t need to be here by yourself. I’m not leaving you.” Pascal finished definitely, closing the matter from further discussion, giving a look to her friend.
At that moment, the chime of her cell phone rang, indicating a text message had been received. Pascal narrowed her eyes once more in confusion, but picked up her phone and opened the message, scanning over it’s contents. As she did so, a scowl appeared on her face when she realized who the message was from. Even though she didn’t believe he had written that awful letter, she couldn’t help it. Rapunzel was obviously distressed by it and she couldn’t just sit by passively. The girl read the entirety of the message, making an odd noise in the back of her throat as she realized what it was asking.
‘Corona, huh?’ Pascal thought to herself, closing the message and looking to the ceiling. ‘That gives me an excuse.‘ She decided not to text him back. If he had actually sent Rapunzel that letter, well, it was better to keep him waiting before his beat down. Clutching her phone in her hand, she hopped from the bed and began gathering clothes that were suitable for the day. The girl glanced back at her friend perched on the bed and cleared her throat.
“Okay, I need mangoes, and Gothel refuses to go into town and get me some, so I’m heading to Corona. I might stay the night if I get tired, but I doubt it’ll come to that,” Pascal told her with a shrug. “I’ll be back though. You’ll be good by yourself, right?”
Rapunzel gave her friend a sour look but huffed and started making the bed instead. When Pascal’s phone chimed she tilted her head but didn’t ask, after all as she had just said, Pascal had her own friends now.
“I’ll be fine.” Rapunzel nodded, greatful that Pascal would be able to get out and about and that she would have some time alone to mope freely. “Mother should be back any-“
“Rapunzel!” Came her mothers sing song voice. “Let down your hair!”
“Second.” She said giving a chuckle at the dark look Pascal threw towards the window. “I’ll be okay. Take your time, have fun, maybe next time I’ll come with you.” She said it, but they both knew that was unlikely. She had been saying the same thing the entire summer and not once had Rapunzel left the tower.
“Rapunzel?”
“Yes Mother! I’m coming!” Rapunzel called back and tossed her hair over the side of the balcony, securing it so it wouldn’t hurt her as Mother Gothel climbed.
“How you do that every time without fail, Rapunzel.” She sighed as she reached the top.
“It’s nothing Mother.” Rapunzel said modestly.
“Then I don’t know why it takes so long.” Her mother chuckled and poked her nose. She turned and saw Pascal standing there with a bag and made a small noise.
“Pascal was just going to go collect some berries nearby.” Rapunzel said quickly. They had agreed not to mention trips into the city, lest Mother Gothel forbid them from leaving again.
“Mm, yes, well.” The woman sniffed and eyed the once-chameleon distastefully before heading downstairs.
“I’ll be okay Callie. ” Rapunzel assured her. “Bring me back some kiwis huh?” She said with a smile then gestured towards her hair. “Try not to get into trouble!” She called softly as her friend slid down her hair. She waved and watched as Pascal disappeared into the trees heading towards Corona before pulling her hair back up and sliding onto the floor, hugging her hair to her.
“Rapunzel?” Her mother asked softly. She looked up to see the woman standing in the doorway, a concerned look on her face.
“Oh Mother.” She choked out before standing and flinger her arms around her.
“There, there, my sweet.” Mother Gothel cooed as she stroked Rapunzel’s hair. “Everything is okay.”
(Source: lovely-luscious-locks)
Too long had it been since Flynn discovered the letter from Rapunzel in his mailbox. Since he was staying at the Disney Academy for the summer, taking a few extra classes, he wasn’t going to see her over the summer. She went back to Corona, of course. He tried convincing her to stay, but she refused, saying how her mother needed her and such. They decided that they would still keep in contact, and make the long distance thing work for the few months over the summer. When he got the letter, it really didn’t make sense. It contradicted what they had agreed upon.
When he got the letter, he felt just like he had when she left him the first time, only he was more affected because he was more invested in the relationship. He understood, though, that she didn’t want to be around for the post-breakup emotions. She had broken up with him before to protect him, but this was completely different. She hadn’t contacted him in any other way since the letter.
Flynn tried several times per day to send her a text message asking why she broke up with him, why she didn’t just do it in person. There were 103 saved text messages in his draft’s folder that he tried to write, but never sent.
He pulled the letter from the top drawer of his dresser. The paper was wrinkled from him wadding it up, and trying to press it flat again. There were places where the ink had ran from tears on the paper, and half of it was taped up from him tearing it apart. Flynn reread the letter to himself. Rapunzel’s voice, well, how he remembered it to be, sounded in his head.
Dear Eugene,
I can’t do this anymore. I can’t kid myself. It’s not fair to either of us. I am just not cut out to be in a relationship. It’s too forced for me. You are a wonderful guy, and I really do love you. I’m just not in love with you. I swear this is better for both us. You don’t have to put up with all my hair any longer. I won’t be dragging you down. You will move on to someone better than me. I grew up in a tower for crying out loud, I’m a hermit. I really miss the tower and my mother. I think it is best that I just go home. I’m sorry that I have to end things like this. I just figured that since we won’t see each other over the summer this is the easiest way to do this break up thing.
From,
RapunzelThe more he read the letter, the less it made sense to him. The way some of the letters looped was wrong, and there were weird grammatical things in the letter that Rapunzel would never do. He wondered if she had just written it quickly or if something else was going on.
He was naïve to think that someone as wonderful as Rae could love him the way she did. All his feelings could have been spared if she would have just let the vision of him dying come true. He was pretty much dead to her anyway.
Flynn wondered if Rapunzel was going to come back to the school for the next school year, and then he shook his head. Probably not. She’s probably just going to stay in that fucking tower with her damn mother for the rest of her life.
But what if there was something odd about the letter, and he was just too stupid to figure it out before? He decided that he needed to find Rapunzel to get the truth from her. If she wrote the letter, and really felt that way, he would just go on living the way he has been, and try to get over her. Flynn packed his backpack with things that were necessary, made sure the letter was in there where it wouldn’t get too much more damage to it, and left much like he had the last time he went to Corona to get her back.
Rapunzel looked over her shoulder as Pascal’s voice drifted out of the window calling her name.
“Drying my hair.” She called back and went back to brushing the tangles out of her wet hair before letting it fall back over the side of the balcony on which she perched. She found little time consuming tasks like this kept her from thinking about…well things that’d she’d rather not.
As she started on another section of her hair she looked up, well over the span of the trees she could see the kingdom of Corona, glittering like a gold. She knew it wasn’t fair to Pascal to keep her in the tower, but she just wasn’t ready to go back out there yet. So many things reminded her of… She shook her head. Maybe in a month or two, maybe then… She’d talk to Mother Gothel about going back to Corona.
As she mindlessly traced a pattern with her fingers on the stone of the balcony, her eyes came to rest on the spiers of the castle. She imagined what it would be like in there. Tall, vaulted cielings, warm wind from the waterfront brining the smell of the sea through the windows, color everywhere. It brought a strange sense of homesickness to her. She could imagine the symbol of Corona on nearly everything.
She looked down at her fingers and drew her hands away quickly.
“The sun.” She muttered, looking down at the painting that had faded with time. Painting the balcony was one of her first memories and it stirred something inside her, a memory that she couldn’t quite recall.
With a sigh she quickly wound her hair into a bun, not caring to brush the rest of it through at that moment. She wandered back into her room and plopped down on the bed next to the mass of blankets that was Pascal.
“You could always go back, you know.” She sighed. “You don’t need me to go with you. I know you liked it there.” She knew she was treading on dangerous ground, but she had to try anyways. “It’s not like I’m the only person you know anymore.” She sighed staring at the cieling. “There’s, you know…Buzz and Lottie and Alice and Char. You won’t be alone.”
(Source: lovely-luscious-locks)
The labyrinth of hallways that ran throughout the Disney Academy were dark and cold. The floor beneath her bare feet felt like ice, and each hall seemed to stretch on forever. She felt like she was walking for ages, never seeing a door and forced to walk in a large rectangle. Every now and then a gust of breeze would rush past her and she would turn to see a retreating form that she was unable to catch.
“Anybody, please!” Her voice was hoarse, as though she’d been screamig though she couldn’t recall if she had.
“Rapunzel.” It was a whisper so soft she wasn’t sure if she had imagined it or not.
“Eugene!” She breathed and wheeled around, searching the empty hallway for the source of the whisper.
“Rapunzel.” She felt his lips against her ear, whispering her name like only a lover could. His hand slid from her shoulder down her arm until his fingers intertwined with hers. She wheeled around to face him but stopped short when she saw his face. He was pale as death, his lips bloodless, his hand cold against hers.
“You’re my best friend.” He whispered, letting her hand go. “And the girl I will love forever.” She watched in horror as a crimson blossom started to spread across his white shirt…
Rapunzel’s eyes snapped open and in a disoriented haze she brought her hands to her face, making sure the blood was all a part of the dream.
It wasn’t the first time in the past couple of months that she had woken from such a dream. Normally she would have called Eugene and told him about it, and he would comfort her and tell her that he was fine and ensure her that he would stay away from all things sharp. Several times she had just barely caught herself calling him before remembering he no longer cared.
She rolled onto her side and stared at Pascal’s sleeping form beside her. After the first few nights when Pascal had been woken due to Rapunzel’s sobbing, they had discovered the only thing that helped was counting breaths. Now as a few traitorous tears found their way across her cheeks she silently watched Pascal inhale and exhale, and counted each breath.
After fifty exhales she rolled onto her stomach and stared blankly at the wall. To say things had changed drastically the past couple months would be an understatement.
With one arm she reached underneath the bed and took out the worn piece of notebook paper. It looked as though it had been folded and crumbled, smoothed, read and reread at least a hundred times. She stared at it for a second, but she didn’t need to unfold it to remember what was written inside.
Dear Rapunzel,
I can’t do this anymore. I can’t kid myself. It’s not fair to either of us. I am just not cut out to be in a relationship. It’s too forced for me. You are a wonderful girl, and I really do love you. I’m just not in love with you. I swear this is better for both us. You don’t have to put up with my antics any longer. I won’t be dragging you down. You will move on to someone better than me. I am a criminal for crying out loud. I did what criminals do best. I stole your heart, and I’m sorry that I have to end things like this. I just figured that since we won’t see each other over the summer this is the easiest way to do this break up thing.
From,
Flynn
And that had been that. She had been naive to believe that it could last. Eugene was an outgoing guy, clever in ways she would never be. She didn’t know the world like he did, he needed someone who would be able to keep up with him. She thought she had been doing alright but the letter proved otherwise. She slid it back under the mattress and buried her face in her pillow.
Pascal hadn’t trusted the letter, she insisted that it must be a prank by one of their classmates or something, but Rapunzel wouldn’t hear any of it. She told Pascal that she was staying, being in the same school as him, well, just the idea of it cut her deeply. She knew Pascal didn’t agree, but she stayed by her side anyways and Rapunzel was silently greatful. Mother was thrilled of course, consoling Rapunzel in her own way.
“Criminals only look out for themselves, my darling. I’m shocked enough that he bothered to send you the letter.”
After the nightmares started she began to rationalize it in her head. Hadn’t that been her goal at one point? To stay as far from Eugene as she could? To protect him? Well, this way there would never be a chance of him getting hurt on her account. He didn’t want her anymore, she didn’t want to go back to the school, in the vision that had been shown to her last year he died in her arms. There was no chance of that anymore.
Somehow the thought wasn’t comforting though. Before she had known that Eugene loved her, and now…
Thoughts of a similar nature plagued her mind until she finally fell asleep in the early hours of the morning.
