This has nothing to do with my other story.
Look up 'Heaven is the Face' on Google. The first YouTube video to come up should have the song and lyrics.
She'd been sick for a long time. She'd gotten a cold when she was three, which had quickly deteriorated into the flu, then pneumonia. And, the worst part was, Rapunzel could do nothing about it. And it was all his fault, for cutting her magic hair.
"Daddy?" asked the tiny girl on the bed before him, her soft, raspy voice voice pulling him out of his thoughts.
"Yes, baby?"
"Am I ever going to get better?" Her dark-brown eyes were filled with a sad hope, her chocolate brown curls plastered to her neck and forehead. Rapunzel claimed that Fay looked exactly like him, but he thought that she was a brown-eyed version of Rapunzel.
"I don't know, Fay. I hope you do." You deserve a chance to be a kid.
"I hope so, too, Daddy." She started coughing, and he held her as the coughs racked her tiny frame. She's only six years old, God. How could You let this happen?
She was sleeping. She looked so peaceful. She wasn't sick in her sleep, and she said that she wasn't sick in her dreams. He wished she could always look like this.
She'd had a really high fever all day. Luckily, it had broken just before she went to sleep. He leaned in and kissed his youngest daughter's forehead. Then, he quietly left the room, sure she would be fine until morning.
He knew his daughter would probably never be fully healthy again, but he could hop that one day she would be able to leave her bed. He had lots of things he had shown her older siblings, Addison and James, that he wanted to show her, too. Like, the view from the roof of the castle (Rapunzel still didn't know about that little adventure), or Max's sweet spot that made him twitch when scratched, or the flower bed Rapunzel had planted herself, where each of the children had a section dedicated to them. Just let her get well enough to get out of bed, God. I don't want her bed-ridden for her whole life.
The next morning, he was woken by Rapunzel. "Eugene, she… Fay, she…" His wife's eyes were brimming with tears, and she suddenly threw herself at him. "She's gone, Eugene," she bawled. "She… died, last night, all alone!"
He felt tears beginning to fill his own eyes. He cried with his wife. At some point, Addison and James came in to cry with them. Fay's… gone.
He was standing at her grave. All he could think about was everything he missed.
Her face.
Her eyes.
Her smile.
The way she said 'Daddy'.
The fact that I'll never get to play with her again.
He knew that being in heaven was so much better than any life she would have lived here. In heaven, she was better; she didn't ever have to worry about being sick anymore. He couldn't wait to be with her there, to see her happy and well. But, he knew he needed to stay for Rapunzel, and Addison, and James.
The way she breathed while sleeping.
The way it felt to hold her.
The way it felt to keep her safe.
The way she looked when she dreamt.
That kiss she'd given him when he'd surprised her with pancakes on her sixth birthday.
The way she snuggled against Rapunzel when they read her a story.
The look in her eyes the night before she died, asking if she'd get better.
The gap in her teeth, where she'd lost her first tooth.
The way she said 'Mommy'.
He missed everything about her, now that she was gone. He'd never be able to forget anything about her.
"Eugene?"
"Hmm?"
"I was thinking, I could paint a picture of her. Have her smiling, and beautiful. We could hang it in our room."
"Yeah. Yeah, I'd like that."
50 years later…
He was so tired. He felt… old. He never thought he'd get old. It was weird, because Rapunzel was still as beautiful and vibrant as ever. He didn't think he should feel old yet. But, then again, he did have grandchildren now. He and Rapunzel had reigned their kingdom for a long time. Now, Addison was running most everything, though she wasn't officially Queen yet.
He looked at the faded painting hanging above his dresser. Fay. He barely remembered what her voice sounded like anymore. He closed his eyes…
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"Daddy! Daddy, you're here! I wanna show you something! C'mon, Daddy!"
He blinked. Wasn't he lying on his bed? Where was he? He looked down at the little girl pulling on his hand. "Fay?"
"O'course, Daddy! C'mon, there's someone I want you to meet!"
He followed his little girl, as she led him to the biggest throne he had ever seen.
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