Gothel plummeted slowly to the earth. She could hear the wind whistle in her ears, but the sound slowly faded as did the color of her skin and her all-too-long life. Her joints were stiff and her muscles weak; everything about her was decaying in the few seconds it took to reach the bottom. Her heavy eyelids shut, waiting for the impact of the ground and for death to finally take her for its own.

It was funny; she had avoided death for centuries. Centuries. She was the master of death, and yet, here it was, standing at her doorstep. She could see no way out either. Her magic flower had been uprooted for forever. This was it.

But, the crash didn't come. She didn't feel pain, or pressure, or discomfort. She didn't feel anything, as a matter of fact. So, this was what it must have felt like to be in complete nothingness. When she tried to open her eyes, all she saw was blackness. Nothing more or less, just blackness. Gothel tried to feel around, but she couldn't move. It wasn't as though she was restricted by anything, it was as if she trying to move a body that she didn't have. She was starting to question if this was what death was. If it was black, did that mean hell? Mother Gothel, in hell? Never.

Suddenly, a golden orb appeared from somewhere in her peripheral vision. It glowed brightly, and she tried desperately to turn and face it, to run toward it. But, something, she didn't know what, was holding her back. Slowly, the orb floated from her left to her right and then it grew larger, almost as if it was coming toward her. Gothel waited patiently for it to reach her, and when it did, it filled her vision completely with its yellow light. A feeling of warmth engulfed her…entity. That's what she was going to call what she was at the moment. A sense of life seemed to surround her, if it wasn't exactly in her.

The golden light started to swirl around her, spinning faster and faster by the second. Gothel found herself disoriented and dizzy in no time at all. She tried to shut her eyes to hide the sickening motion but it couldn't be done. She had no control over herself anymore. The discomfort passed as quickly as it came and then the light disappeared. Blackness, again.

Then, directly in front of her, a soft light formed. It was blurry and hard to make out, but it was definitely more than one color. A little green, a little blue, possibly yellow. It grew steadily, and Gothel wondered idly if this is what people meant by "seeing the light". She didn't try to fight it though. In fact, she welcomed the reassuring light and it greeted her. It appeared as if she was moving down a long, dark tunnel toward the bright outdoors. And, as the light approached her, it turned out to be just that. The colors became more distinct and shaped to form images before her.

She blinked. She could blink again! Did this mean she could move other things, too? Gothel looked down and saw fresh, young, and strong hands, fingers and fingernails, nail polish and all. She took in her youthful body, inch by inch. She caressed her face, she wiggled her toes, she stretched her arms, and she bent her knees, Everything was perfect. Just the way she always wanted it to stay. She was beautiful again.

Gothel looked up to see where she was. She recognized the area immediately. It was the tiny valley where her tower was hidden. The so-called tunnel she had emerged from had been the rock formation that secretly allowed her to commute from her home into town. Everything was just how she left it and exactly the way it should be. Except…

A trill of laughter echoed down from the topmost window of the tower. Rapunzel. Rapunzel. A surge of anger coursed through her new veins. Betrayal was the only word she could think of when she pictured those enormous, green eyes. And that boy. Who was he? Flynn Rider? The thief, the one who destroyed her life. But, he hadn't. She was back, health and all, and she wasn't going to go back down without a fight. She was going to bring both of them down with her. If she couldn't live then neither could they.

Gothel looked up and saw Flynn descending from the open window. Rapunzel had herself wrapped around him as he carried the two of them carefully to the ground. When they were close to the bottom, Gothel ran to a bush to hide. She would get her revenge, but not now. Not without reinforcement.

Flynn swept Rapunzel off her feet, and she let out a sweet giggle. She planted a kiss on his cheek. Gothel saw him blush and say, "Your highness, please!" He smiled lovingly down at her and gave her a long kiss on the lips. When he broke the kiss, he said, "I love you, Rapunzel. I always will, for the rest of my life."

"That won't be for long," Gothel muttered.

"I love you, too," Rapunzel said, kissing him once more.