A/N: I don't really know where the inspiration for this little oneshot came in, but it just fills in a few missing scenes from the movie. I thought I'd try to capture the King and Queen a little in it. While the King and Queen are originally Tangled characters, those names are from "A Royal Romance" by GarvinMark. it's an excellent fic and I suggest you guys read it. After reading it, the King and Queen will always be Catherine and Thomas for me. So I really hope that GarvinMark won't mind if I use those names and a dab of those personalities.
Disclaimer: I don't own Tangled, and the names for the King and Queen are GarvinMark's.
Catherine's Bookshelf
A companion piece to "Rapunzel's Paintbox"
Resuming a regal pose from her previous curled one, Queen Catherine of Corona stared blankly out the window. Her gaze had lost some of its perceptiveness due to a lack of sleep. She always had a lack of sleep around this time of the year. She realized she was looking down at two workmen, one a paper-folder, and the other a painter. Their skilled hands were making the lantern that would rise when the sun set. Catherine sighed, it would rise, and a little of her heart with it. She wasn't sure if she had much of her heart left. She sniffled slightly as she remembered how carefree she and her husband had been before… well, just, before. She shook her head. Why she couldn't even bring herself to think about it, she didn't know. Catherine thought she knew herself, she was headstrong, smart, and capable… or so everyone thought. There was only one person in all of Corona that really knew her now, and that one person was Thomas. Thomas, Lord knows he was suffering through this as much as she was… if not more. She sighed softly and picked up the only secret that she kept from her husband. The book. Each year she went through another one of her beloved books of philosophy, this year's was Utopia, and wrote commentary in it. They were merely chicken scratches, dismembered thoughts, longings, dreams, and imaginings. She had seventeen finished books in all, Utopia being the eighteenth. She was writing in them for Rapunzel, and by God she would keep doing it until Rapunzel came home, or Catherine died waiting.
She turned to the last page, it being blank, and finally copied down a quote from the book that she had learned when she was young. A quote that had come to mind at her coronation, one that had been in the shadow of Rapunzel's birth, and a quote that she had hung on to while she and her husband fought to navigate ruling a nation when their own daughter had been taken from them. She wrote it in her best handwriting, with careful, deliberate strokes.
"It seemed much more eligible that the king should improve his ancient kingdom all he could, and make it flourish as much as possible; that he should love his people, and be beloved of them; that he should live among them, govern them gently, and let other kingdoms alone, since that which had fallen to his share was big enough, if not too big for him."
She continued on to write her own personal note to her daughter as she did at the closing of every book. For at the closing of every book was the closing of another year of waiting, of thinking, of wishing, of dreaming. At the closing of another year of waiting, of thinking, of wishing, of dreaming, was the closing of a door. Of some event that Catherine and Thomas had now missed and would never get a chance to relive with their daughter. In her first book, one by Plato, the last note had contained her visions of what it might be like to see her daughter's first steps and hear her first words. In the second, one by Plutarch, it had been the joy of chasing after Rapunzel as she got used to her new ways of toddling about. She sighed, she wouldn't get to hold her after a bad dream either, or tell her a million and one times to go to bed, or let her dig through her things and waddle down a hall in oversized heels. She'd never get the joy of her seven-year-old's attempts to fix her hair, all the while just making it frizzier and frizzier, or hear her thirteen-year-old's comments on Catherine's dress choice for the evening. She would never get to hear her sixteen-year-old gush over which son of which Duke was "cuter". But there was one thing that she still rested her hope on, one thing that perhaps, just maybe, if her daughter came back this year, they could still cherish together. That hope was embodied in the seventeen favorite books sitting on Catherine's bookshelf. Untouched since the Birthday they were finished on, waiting for small, delicate hands to pick them up, and big, wide green eyes to read them. If Rapunzel didn't like books maybe she would at least read the notes in the end of them: secret letters from an unmet mum, to an unmet daughter.
Dearest Rapunzel,
It's your eighteenth birthday this year. By now, we'd be looking for a suitor. You'd probably turn down every choice we gave you… just like I did when I was your age. Your Father would exasperated and I'd be at my wits end because every other girl in Corona had their eyes on a boy, but the blessed princess did not. I think you would be far too preoccupied with more interesting things than boys. I chose Utopia for you this year because I wish for you to be the greatest Queen Corona has ever seen. Utopia has helped me in that aspect, and I hope… I pray it will help you as well. We'll be lighting the lanterns just like we do every year. Come home my dear girl, I love you.
A tear slid down her cheek as Catherine stood to carefully place Utopia with the rest of the books on the shelf. She brushed her hand along their well-loved, cracked spines, caressing them like old friends. These books were what had kept her sane all these years. She kneeled down and picked up another well-loved book. It would be next year's gift to Rapunzel: Socratic Dialogues. She pulled it lovingly from the bottom shelf, and set it on her writing desk to be begun later. She lit a candle in the darkening room just as she heard a deep timbre voice from behind her.
"Cat, darling?"
She turned to see her husband's stoic face, her hand lingering on her new chosen companion book. He coughed down a now-forming lump in his throat, "It's time."
Catherine nodded and stared out the window once more. The sky was now a deep sapphire. She turned to face Thomas. Momentarily pausing, she centered the golden sun-crest with the upmost care and looked up at him. She felt a twinge of pain as she saw his face. His head was drooping, his eyes were holding a desolate, disappointed glimmer. It was a glimmer from trapped tears. One broke free and found its way down his face and he didn't even bother to try and hide it.
"Oh, Tommy." She lamented softly, her voice catching in unshed tears. She reached up and cupped his cheek, brushing the liquid diamond away with her thumb. "We'll find her… someday. We'll be a family again."
As if in answer, his large, rough hand took her small, soft one. He guided her gently to the balcony where the delicate, bright paper lantern was anchored. Hand in hand, they looked down on their loyal, understanding subjects. They were so kind, but Catherine feared that the lost princess was fading into a legend, a novelty, really.
Green eyes met blue as they looked at each other. Catherine managed a ghost of a smile. Together, they lifted the paper lantern from its anchoring, setting it free to sail off into the sky. Up and up it went, farther and farther away, slowly fading until it was only a small glimmer representing what little hope they had left. But in a few seconds, their lantern was not alone. The whole city lit up and came to life, rising over the castle into the warm night air. Catherine's fingers interlaced with Thomas'. The light from the lanterns mirrored in their eyes as they craned their necks to look upward. Catherine smiled. Yes, she had to look upward. It was the only way she could manage the waiting. She couldn't look down, or back, or side to side, the only thing that would keep her hope alive, was looking up towards the light.
As her gaze shifted to where the harbor mirrored the lantern's breathtaking glow. She noticed the most adorable couple she'd ever seen. Catherine went to the edge of the balcony to get a better view. The girl's golden hair shone brightly as she stared in wonder at the rising lanterns. The boy had eyes only for her. It made Catherine smile, drawing her to remember her younger days when she and the King terrorized the servants and hid in closets to get away from boring parties.
As she watched the couple turn to face each other, Catherine felt hope rising in her heart. Maybe, just maybe Rapunzel would come home this year. She went inside for a moment and came out with her quill and ink and the chosen book. She leaned forward and watched as the couple lifted their own lanterns into the sky. Her spirits flying up with the two lights, Catherine opened Socratic Dialogues, dipped her pen in the ink, and began to write.