Hi everyone, this is my third story for TSoS! I wanted to go for something a little sweeter this time. Hope you guys enjoy!
Lights and Lizards
Twelve Shots of Summer: Quarter Queller
She's probably five, no, four, when she first actually notices the window in her tower.
Rapunzel's delighted giggles echo through the room as she runs around, chasing alarmed lizards about the place. Mother is busy, too busy to mind her (as always), and as young children are want to do, they will find something to occupy themselves with. She is no different.
She leaps forward and catches one. This one is the stranger of the bunch, it changes colour and she knows that ordinary lizards don't do that, right? It squirms in surprise before shooting out of her palm and scrambling away towards the window sill, almost knocking over a lit candle in the process. She pouts. She just wanted to make friends! It didn't have to run away like that.
She eyes the window sill, which is too tall for her to reach, even on her tip-toes. "Come on lil' lizard…" she holds out her hands, but it climbs even higher onto the window frame.
"Nooo, not that way!" she whines. It blinks warily at her.
She suddenly gets an idea. "Don't go anywhere!" She rushes out of the room. It takes her a few minutes, but she comes back, pulling a small wooden chair along with her. It scrapes against the oak floor in a way that she knows Mother will scold her for later, but right now, she doesn't care too much.
Rapunzel pushes it against the wall, and climbs onto the chair. Her knees are wobbly with the awkwardness of a child who hasn't quite yet gotten used to the balancing acts needed for such little adventures. She finally finds her footing, and a grin makes its way onto her face in triumph. She holds out her hands to the lizard.
"C'mon, I won't hurt you!" she coos. It stares, freezing in place as her fingers get closer. Then, it bolts out the window altogether.
The grin drops from her face and is replaced by a look of complete dismay, her shoulders slumping.
She sits down on the chair. Her legs swing back and forth in time to the chirping crickets outside. "I just wanted to play…" she mutters.
She wonders where the little lizard has gone. She knows it's outside the tower. Still, is it okay? Mother always tells her that outside isn't safe for little girls like her. Maybe it's the same for lizards. She isn't sure. She shifts her feet about. She wants to know.
She pushes herself to her feet again and tries to lean out, sticking her head out the window. Her hair, long and golden as it is, feels like a ton of weight, and she has to hold onto the sides to keep steady.
She scans the side of the tower walls. No, she doesn't see the lizard…only gray bricks and the dark blue gloom of night time. She feels a prickle of concern. She hopes an owl doesn't get it.
Just as she's about to sit back down, a twinkle of light glints from the corner of her eye. She turns her head towards the sky, staring. "What…is that?" She catches her breath.
What seems like a billion thousands of lights start to bloom, rising up in the sky. They're yellow and white and orange and gold and so many warm colours, and they're like the beautiful paintings of sunsets that she's seen in the books that Mother has, only in miniature. They dance and float through the deep navy sky. She reaches out. It feels as if, if only she stretched her hand out far enough, she could touch them…
"Rapunzel, stop leaning out the window, you'll fall!" she feels a pair of hands pull her out of her reverie, both literally and figuratively. She looks and finds Mother behind her. She can tell, from the dark frown forming upon her brows, that she's extremely unhappy with her.
She ducks her head and apologizes. "I'm sorry Mother."
Mother sighs, hands on her hips, and pats her on the head. "I know Rapunzel, but we wouldn't want you getting your little head hurt, would we?" she says, in that sing-song voice that always makes her unsure how to gauge what Mother is actually feeling. She just knows that she doesn't like making Mother upset. She's scary when she's mad.
As she helps her down from the chair, Rapunzel takes a look back at the window. "What are those lights?" she asks timidly.
Mother freezes, following the direction that her finger is pointing, to see the lights, still glowing way up high. For a moment, she's afraid that she has upset her again, but then Mother's shoulders relax and she gives a dry smile.
"Those are just the stars, dear. They're closer tonight than usual, I suppose."
"Oh." Rapunzel feels as if something isn't right about the answer, but she doesn't push it. Those lights don't look much like stars to her.
"Now come along," Mother takes her hand and leads her away, thankfully not noticing the scrapes on the floor. "It's time you went to bed."
She follows her obediently, glancing back at the window. The last glimmer of the strange lights can still be seen, and in front of it, peering from the window sill, she spies the silhouette of the lizard. It watches her as she's lead away, and she smiles and gives a little wave. She'll make friends with it yet, just watch and see.
The prompt this week was "Through the window". I won't lie, this was probably the hardest one so far for me to write. It's been a while since I've watched Tangled, and I'm not sure if it was ever clarified in canon about how long she's known Pascal (I'm pretty sure chameleons don't live this long at least lol), or when she first noticed the lanterns as a kid. Still, it was fun to think about and write.
Thanks for reading!