I ran down the hall, still putting on my dress that had a dark blue skirt, white sleeves, and royal blue corset.

"Rose!" Mom yelled again impatiently.
"I'm coming!" I called as I tied my corset from the back.
"Come faster! We're about to leave!"

I sighed as I moved on to raking my hands through my long brunette hair. It was very ratty, so I kept wincing, but I managed to make it as untangled as I could without a brush. Then I put in my silver barrette.

Suddenly, Dad jogged next to me. He was in his usual outfit: black sleeveless leather jacket, white long sleeved shirt, light brown pants, and dark brown boots.

"What's she yelling about this time, Rosie?" he asked.
"I need to hurry!" I cried. "And look, I'm trying to hurry! And get ready! Do you think it's easy?"

Dad stared at me with those caramel eyes then admitted, "Nope."
I gave him a look of pure annoyance. "Thanks for the help, Pops."
He gave me a winning smile. "Anytime!"

I rolled my blue eyes, then turned my attention back to the front of me and yelped as I skidded to a stop, making my heels hurt a little. Mom was standing in front of us, a stern look in her bright green eyes. I'd never seen her like this, so I was kind of freaked out.

"Good morning, Blondie!" Dad said next to me with a nervous grin. "How'd you sleep?"
"Eugene," Mom said, giving him the evil eye. "Don't try to make me feel better."

"At least you tried, Dad," I patted his shoulder helpfully.
"Thanks." He replied.
This time I gave him a winning smile. "Anytime." I winked.

"And you, Ms. Rose Fitzherbert," Mom turned to me. "I told you to hurry!"
"I was!" I said defensively. "You woke me up ten minutes ago! Do you think I'd be ready in ten minutes?"

Mom sighed in exasperation, shaking her head. "So much like Eugene…" she muttered, and then said, "Okay, you have a point. Come on, now."

Me and Dad gave each other nervous glances, then followed my mom down the hall and out the castle doors in silence. We headed to another section of the castle.

My head sat on the table, watching my nails make a beat on it, bored to death while I heard the King and Queen (My grandparents) go on about something I wasn't even interested in.

Talk about torture!

"You bored?" Dad whispered to me from my left.
I looked up at him. "Yes."
"Gotta admit, I am supposed to be serious as prince of Corona, but I'm bored."

"Eugene!" Mom hissed. "Pay attention!"
"Sorry." Dad apologized and watched the discussion, his face saying: Help me!

I smirked, and suddenly I heard a soothing voice say, "Hello, my Flower."

I shot up, and looked around wildly like Maximus when he suddenly smells something. No one was there, except for my parents, the King and Queen, Maximus (The captain of the guard, who wasn't being very serious with him eating apples) and Pascal, who was purple.

The Corona meetings are sort of odd.

"Rose," The Queen asked. "Is there something wrong?"
I turned around to look at her. "Did you… hear something? Like a voice?"

Mom and Dad grew a little pale as the Queen answered, obviously confused, "No. Did anyone else?"
Everyone shook their head.

I suddenly felt stupid. "Oh, never mind." I lied. "It's nothing."

The Queen gave me a skeptical look, then returned to talking about something.

I swallowed hard, my throat feeling like it had a rotten apple in it, then leaned back in the chair and closed my eyes.

"Come home, my dear Flower." The voice whispered suddenly, sending a chill down my spine. I opened my eyes and glanced behind my shoulder. Nothing.

Then, I was really beginning to freak out. I was hearing things! I was going crazy!

"This meeting comes to a close." The King announced. "Have a good day."

Everyone got up, stretched (A yawn from Dad) and went in different directions.

"Dad-"I was about to ask him a question, when the King approached and told him something. Dad nodded, then turned around to look at me.

"Yes?" He asked.
"Uh… never mind." I told him. "It would take a while anyway and you seem busy."
Dad winked. "I sure am. I'm gonna have to stay for a little while; gotta help the King. But I'll be home in a little while."

I nodded quickly, my spirits dampened a little. "Okay." I managed a smile.

Dad put a hand on my shoulder, another winning smile across his lips. "It's okay, Rosie. I'll be home soon. It's not like someone's going to kidnap me, right?" He laughed, waiting for me to join in.

I just stared at him blankly.

Dad's laugh died, and he nodded. "Alright. Love you, Rose. See you later."
"Love you too." I replied.

Dad walked off with the king, leaving me alone while Mom talked to the Queen.

Mom walked over to me right after I saw Dad and the King leave the room. She looked over her shoulder at the door, and asked, "Are you okay, Rose? You seemed a little nervous during the meeting."

I looked at her. "Yeah, I'm fine." I lied. Of course I wasn't! I was thinking I was crazy, and I was frightened!

Mom kissed my forehead. "Okay. Since Dad's gone, do you wanna go get some cupcakes?"
I imagined my eyes lighting up. "Yes!"

Mom smiled. "Let's go."

When she wasn't looking, I cheered silently, dancing around.

After buying a pink and yellow (Yep, I remember that from Tangled! Flynn had a yellow one and Rapunzel had a pink one when they were hiding from the guards! HA!) cupcakes from a nearby stand, we headed back to castle.

Mom kept chatting on about how happy she was that the mosaic of her as a baby with her parents when they were young was still there.

"I just can't believe it's still there!" she exclaimed after inhaling her cupcake. "It's so old, and I was expecting-"

Suddenly, that same voice whispered in my ear, "Flower, come here." I could feel the woman's lips brush against my ear.

I froze, my heart pumping and my eyes wide in fear. I thought that voice had decided, oh, this sixteen year old doesn't like me! Maybe I should leave her alone! La di da, let's go home!

Stupid voice…

Mom clutched my hand, looking worried. "Rose… are you… are you okay, dear?"

I was about to lie, but this time it was too freaky. It was bugging me, like a deep dark secret.

"Mom," I swallowed hard. "I'm hearing voices."
Her bright green eyes grew wide. The grip on my hand was numbing. "You are? What's the voice like?"
"An old lady's eerie, sweet voice." I told her.

Mom grew incredibly pale, like she had at the meeting earlier-but this time, it was like she'd seen a ghost.

"Oh no…" she muttered. "No, no, no… this can't be happening."
"What's wrong with me?" I asked frantically, my heart starting to pound harder.

Mom didn't answer. She looked horrified and frightened; like something she knew about was coming back. And it wasn't supposed to.

"We have to go home. Now." She told me, trying to stay calm for my sake. "Come on!" She pulled my hand and dragged me along, my cupcake flipping upside down and crashing to the ground.

"Mom!" I cried as she dragged me up the castle steps. "What's going on? Tell me!"

My mom was just looking frightened, ignoring every one of my questions, trying to get me inside as quickly as possible.

Once we were inside, she made me go to my room. "Stay in here. Be quiet." Her eyes were wide, her skin was extremely pale, and she trembled in fear.

"But, Mom!" I pleaded after turning around. "Just tell me-"
"I'll explain later!" she shouted. "Now stay here!"

"Mo-"I begged.
"I love you, Rose." She told me, looking into my eyes.
"I-I love you too, Mom." I rambled.

She suddenly had tears in her eyes. She closed them as she closed my bedroom door, a tear trickling down her freckled cheek.

I stared at the door, feeling mixed up between sadness, fear, and panic. I couldn't process this. I just wanted to go to sleep.

I ran over to my bed, like when I was little and thought monsters would drag me under my bed, and ducked under my blankets. After taking a deep breath of stuffy air from the darkness of my blanket, I closed my eyes.

Rapunzel's POV

Rapunzel sat a few feet away from Rose's door, her lower lip trembling. Mother Gothel was haunting her daughter.

"Come home, Eugene," she muttered. "Please."

Suddenly, her daughter's quiet snoring transformed into a blood-freezing scream.

Rapunzel shot up and ran to Rose's bedroom door. She pulled the doors open and gasped, frozen on the spot.

A familiar woman with big curly black hair, chilling, cold grey eyes, a slender body structure in a crimson velvet dress stood in the middle of the room, Rose trapped in her arms, a dagger to her throat.

Rose's light blue eyes were wide and full of tears, her body trembling as she looked at her mother desperately.

"Hello, my flower." Mother Gothel told Rapunzel with a cold, menacing smile across her thin lips.
Rapunzel was shocked. "Y-y-you're alive." She stammered.

The villain laughed coldly. "Yes, a big surprise, I know. It's a long story-but no time for that chit-chat now."

"Let her go." Rapunzel demanded, sounding more confident than she felt.
"I don't think so!" Mother Gothel sang. "That thief of yours took away something important to me, and it's time for you to know what it feels like."

"Mommy…" Rose whimpered, her lip trembling horribly.

Mother Gothel chuckled and ran a finger delicately down the side of Rose's face. "No need to be afraid, dear. We're just going to go on a trip for a while."
"I-I-I don't want to." Rose managed.

The villain looked at Rapunzel with a smile. "Quite the baby isn't she?"
"She's sixteen." Rapunzel snapped. "She isn't a baby."
"Oh well… Now, Rose, we should get going before the guards hear all this commotion."

Rose looked at her mother desperately, with a look so scared it broke Rapunzel's heart. "Don't let her take me, Mom. Please."

"I'll try, Rose." Rapunzel promised, and then looked at Mother Gothel angrily. "Give her to me now. Take me instead."

Her "mother" laughed. "But you're useless, Rapunzel! I need someone who still has the power of the flower (HA! I rhymed! FLOWER POWER-except the other way around! Um-back to the issue…)."

Rose's frightened face morphed into sudden horror. "What?" she asked in disbelief.
"Oh, you know the song, Rose," Mother Gothel told her kindly. "Sing it."

Rose swallowed, then sang, "Flower gleam and glow, let your power shine. Let the clock reverse bring back what once was mine-"

Rose's long brunette hair began to glow that bright yellow light Rapunzel had forgotten years ago.

"See, Rose?" Mother Gothel told her. "You have a gift. Now, with me, you'll have a purpose: to make me young forever!"

Rapunzel's eyes grew wide. "No."

Mother Gothel looked at Rapunzel. "We must be going. Good bye, Rapunzel. I promise I'll take care of your daughter."

She cackled and with Rose's scream for her mother, they were gone in a flicker of blue and crimson.

Rapunzel cried, "NO! ROSE!" She fell to her knees and crawled to where her daughter had stood.

She saw Rose's barrette and clutched it to her chest, sobbing.

Eugene's POV

"I'm home!" Eugene called as he stepped into the bedroom hallway. No reply.

Eugene's stomach automatically started churning.

Nervously, he repeated, "Rapunzel? Rose? I'm home!"

Suddenly, he heard crying. He went silent and began to listen. It was coming from Rose's room.

Eugene's caramel eyes went as wide as dinner plates then he bolted to his daughter's room.

Inside, Rapunzel was on the floor, hugging herself and bawling her eyes out, holding something small in her hands.

He rushed to sit next to her. He put an arm around her affectionately and asked, "What's the matter? Where's Rosie?"

Rapunzel looked up at him with sad, puffy and red bright green eyes. "She… took… Rose!" she managed to tell him.

"Who took Rosie?" Eugene asked again, this time kinder.
"Mother… Gothel!" Rapunzel gulped. "She's… b-b-b-back! She's alive! She took Rose because she has the flower's healing powers!"

Eugene's stomach dropped. He thought Mother Gothel was dead, and his daughter wouldn't have that power because it was gone!

Eugene stood. Rapunzel looked up at him. "What?" she croaked.
He swallowed thickly. "I might know where our daughter is."