Disclaimer: Oh, the money I could've made off of this movie if I owned a damn thing.

"The world is dark, and selfish, and cruel. If it finds even the slightest ray of sunshine, it destroys it. "

That is what she had told Rapunzel. But did she really believe it? Had four-hundred years of experience really made her that cynical of the human race?

In some ways, she supposed, it was hypocritical of her. Hadn't she kidnapped the girl as an infant; ripped her away from her family? That was hardly the behavior of a saint. But desperate times called for desperate measures, and her life had been on the line. The fact of the matter was, her choices were to take the princess or die, and, like anyone with even an inkling of self-preservation, she had chosen the former.

How different would Rapunzel's life had really been if she had been allowed to remain with her real family? As a princess and her parents' sole child, she would've undoubtedly been kept just as sheltered; particularly once Their Majesties had realized what power their daughter possessed. Then there would've been all the propriety and etiquette forced upon her; all the rules and regulations. The only rule she had ever truly enforced on Rapunzel was that she wasn't allowed to leave the Tower. Other than that, she had granted her a good deal of relative freedom. Would the King and Queen have allowed her to paint all over the walls of the palace? She somehow doubted it. Would she have been allowed the time to develop as varied a selection of talents as she had over the years? Hardly.

In a way, she had done Rapunzel a tremendous favor by raising her as a commoner, albeit a very gifted commoner. The girl was so personable, so down-to-earth and compassionate, aspects of her personality that would've no doubt been hampered if she had been brought up as a princess. The King and Queen were said to be good, kind souls, but, as far as she was concerned, royals, aristocrats were nothing but entitled at the core. No, Rapunzel wouldn't have been the same girl, same young woman, she acknowledged grudgingly, if she had been raised in the lavish environment of that palace.

Then there was the fact of the matter that she had kept Rapunzel more protected, more secure, than the royals ever could've. How easy had it been for her to scramble up that trellis, even at her advanced age, and sneak into their bedroom? How easy had it been for her to elude the guards as she escaped with the infant hidden by her cloak? A princess could never live a truly secluded life; whereas she had managed to keep her safely hidden for eighteen years. Even in the princess' absence, her memory had been exploited by that ridiculous floating light display every year. Now that the girl had been properly disillusioned of her adventures in the outside world, she intended to keep her safe for much longer and had no doubt in regard to her ability to manage it.

She was Rapunzel's sole protector; so what if she was a liar? A lie never hurt anyone unless it was discovered and even then there was always some bit of truth at the core. The world was dark, was selfish, was cruel-but what Rapunzel never needed to know was the lengths she had gone to in order to make her see the truth.