Just a note, the storyline isn't completely identical to Tangled.
I don't own Tangled! end/AN/
Once upon a time, a drop of sun fell from the sky; where it landed, a flower bloomed. But this wasn't any old flower; it had magical powers, and glowed brightly in the dark.
An old woman happened upon it shortly after it bloomed, and used its powers for herself. She wasn't willing to share it, and kept it hidden under a basket. It kept her young, ageless and beautiful.
Many years passed, and a kingdom grew up on an island nearby. It was a bustling, small but friendly kingdom, and all the citizens loved their king and queen. When the queen became pregnant, there was much good cheer and congratulations.
But the queen got very sick. The king and his courtiers were afraid that they were going to lose her and the child. When the rumor of a magical flower came to light, there was a relentless search for it, and despite the old woman's attempts to hide it, it was found.
They made it into a magical broth, and gave it to the queen. She got better.
A few months later, a baby boy was born, with golden hair already inches long on his head. There was much rejoicing, and the king and queen thought that their lives couldn't get any better.
However, the old woman had heard of the baby's hair, and drew the desperate conclusion that it must hold some of the flower's power. She slipped in to the castle at night, and tried to cut off some of his hair as glowed under the power of her song; it instantly turned dark and useless in her hand.
She was old and wrinkled already, within months of having lost her source of youth; there was no other choice in her mind but to take the baby.
And so, with a whisper in the night, she was gone, and so was the prince.
The King and Queen searched far and wide, but the prince was never found. Still, every year on his birthday, they lit floating lanterns and sent them into the sky, hoping that the prince would see them and come home.
The poster read clearly, WANTED: AZURE BLUE, THIEF, REWARD: 100 GOLD.
Azure frowned, poking at the clear image of herself. The eyes were okay, even though hers were far more stunning in person, and the chin came out nicely. But the image was far, far off… "Guys, I totally don't have a nose like this, do I?"
The Stabbington sisters, Finley and Blair, were not exactly Azure's friends; they worked together purely by necessity. Both glared, but only Blair, the one with her hair tightly woven against her head, spoke. "It doesn't matter; we've got a job to do. Stop playing around."
They were walking on ahead without her.
Azure gave an exasperated sigh. "But people are going to think my nose looks that way!"
Finley glared, her one green eye probably piercingly scary to any normal person.
But Azure wasn't an easily intimidated person, and she only grinned back. "I'm just thinking about my image; can't have people getting the wrong idea."
"I'll ruin your precious image if you don't shut up about it," Blair threatened, hand tightening on the handle of her sword.
Azure had a pretty good sense for when she was pushing too hard, and she decided to drop it. Instead, she caught up with them and stretched out her arms casually. "So, what do you think the crown is worth anyhow?" She tried to act a little disinterested, but her eyes had already lit up like gems at the thought of all the money she would get, and what she would do with it.
"We've gone over this; more than you can imagine," Blair huffed, rolling her eyes. Her sister followed suit, as if they were telepathic.
"And what are you going to do with your shares?"
"I'm not telling you that, runt."
It only made Azure laugh. They trusted her as far as they could throw her; she supposed they did have some intelligence after all. She wouldn't trust them anymore than they would trust her. "Yeah, okay. You can go and spend yours on rat meat for all I care."
They trudged in relative silence after that. It was only a small price to pay for riches beyond her wildest dreams, though.
Tulip woke up at 7 AM. He did this every morning without fail. Making his way out of the nest of his hair, he yawned and stood. Today was going to be a good day, he could feel it.
It was almost the day when the lights rose in the sky; he'd been pondering how to ask his mother how to go see them.
As he made breakfast, he went over different approaches out loud. "Mother, I've gotten a lot older, and I think maybe it's time I left the tower- but just for one night, to see the lights in the sky. It wouldn't even be very long, I'd be back before morning…"
No, that was a bit too begging, he thought. Perhaps something else. "Mother, I've waited for years to see what the lights are and where they come from-" No. Still too begging.
"Mother, you know I'm almost eighteen, and I'm your height now, so I'm old enough to go see the lights."
He wanted to slam his head onto the small counter. He would never word it quite right, he was sure. It wasn't as though he asked to be let out of the tower often, not even to see the cluster of the flower that was his namesake down around the base.
But, it was better to focus on the good until his mother came.
Let's see, what was good about today? Tulip went through a mental checklist, something he did often. A good breakfast? Check. His hair didn't try to choke him in his sleep? Check. There were new paints, in several new shades, just waiting for him to crack them open? Double check.
And of course, there were a number of other things, from having his favorite (only) books to the warm breeze coming in through the window to the fact that his mother would be visiting. The beautiful sunshine, his pet chameleon, new packs of clay…
Really, his life couldn't be better, could it?
Tulip smiled to himself. Who could complain under these circumstances? Still, he looked out the window, the meadow below memorized from years of gazing. What was beyond it? Where did the lights come from?
He wistfully stared, until he woke himself up from daydreams that he couldn't have explained or defined, and set to sweeping the floor.
It must be tidy for his mother, after all.
/AN/ All right, it's just a start, and I hope you were able to get past the idea of a guy with that much hair. But I've been interested in genderbending some Disney movies, and while my original idea was Pocahontas, I did not want to risk messing it up worse than Disney, since, you know, Pocahontas was an actual person and all.
If you've got any tips or pointers or ideas for this AU, do let me know. I'm still in the early brainstorming stage. And hey, if you'd like to see me do a particular movie this way, don't be shy! I may start on that next.
I hope you don't think the names are stupid…