This is not to take away from the two Gothel stories out there. I had this idea and I just wanted to publish it.
The Bigger Picture
"Oh, Rapunzel, stop crying, now,"
Mother Gothel frowned as she picked up the crying infant. She shifted the baby from side and side and played with her tiny fingers. When that didn't work, she sang softly, a little incantation
"Flower gleam and glow,
Let your power shine
Make the clock reverse
Bring back what once was mine
Heal what has been hurt
Change the Fate's Design
Save what has been lost
Bring back what once was mine,
What once was mine."
Rapunzel's blond hair glowed as she settled in Gothel's arms. She grabbed her old leather baby bottle, tipped it enough so that the infant could get her nourishment. Gothel smiled. The bottle was just about as old as she was. She hadn't done this in quite a while. First the wet nursing, then the tutoring and finally as a servant, she had always worked with infants and youngsters. She fed them, clothed and diapered them, played with them and fell in love with them.
All the parents she ever worked for loved her dearly and trusted her with their children. All of the children, even after they had grown up, referred to her as Mother Gothel.
She always wanted one of her own, but Gothel never married, not because she had chosen to. Oh, she was pretty enough, in fact, men called her beautiful, but it never went any farther than that, She always attended everyone else's children and infants, but that was as far as it went.
But this little infant with the blond hair and the big green eyes smiled up at her.
And Gothel fell instantly in love.
Gothel really never meant to take Rapunzel, No, she wanted her hair. She needed it to keep herself young and strong and healthy. It was all she had in this world. She wasn't ready to die, hadn't been ready.
And so she made her decision. It had nothing to do with revenge, just a desire to stay young as long as she possibly could.
Gothel placed the child in the small wooden cradle that she had for years. It was a gift from the last family she worked for. She had admired the craftsmanship and all the love he put in to his creations. And so he surprised her with one the next day.
As she rocked the baby to and fro, she began to think. Rapunzel was a special child and a beautiful one at that. She would do everything in her power to cherish and protect her so that Gothel would get the full benefit of her powers. She would be young for a very long time, just as long as the child lived.
Just as long as she lived.
Now that was the problem, wasn't it? Gothel couldn't save her hair; there was no power in it when it was cut. And as Rapunzel aged, she would stay exactly the same.
What would happen if Rapunzel caught on? What if some accident would befall her? What if…
Gothel closed her eyes and shook her head. How many times had she told herself to think positively? She looked down at the sleeping babe and once again her heart burst with happiness that she had a little girl she could call her own. She hid her inside a tall tower deep in the woods where no one would find her. She wanted so much to keep her, hold her in her arms and keep her for as long as she could. She would indulge her, spoil her and give her anything and everything she asked for. It would be an amazing experience.
Gothel watched Rapunzel sleep a little longer before she stood up. She smiled as she placed the baby bottle back on the stove and headed toward her room.
Her future was all sewn up.