Chapter 1: Prologue.
Hey there! I´m so excited to start a new story! To the ones that have read my other story "Behind the Happily Ever After" well, this is completely different. This story is slightly AU. Rapunzel was returned to her family when she was three years old, and that will change things drastically. She´ll meet Eugene in a completely different way. And Gothel is also involved in this.
This chapter is mostly to clear all this details. She will meet Eugene eventually (next chapter :D). So, please be patient. This will be full of fluff, romance, suspense, hurt/comfort and drama!
Also, I haven´t read any Tangled-related fics for a while, and I tried to make this as original as possible, so if there´s another similar story out there, I´m sorry, I swear I never tried to steal any ideas.
Now without farther ado, I present you: More than Words Could Tell.
Disclaimer: I don't own Tangled.
Xoxoxoxo
Rapunzel´s POV
I looked at my reflection in the big mirror of my bathroom. I ran my hands through my long golden locks, thinking about all the consequences that having magical hair had brought to my life. Sure there are lots of benefits from this. Like when I am sick, or injured I just have to sing the special song, and everything goes back to normal, no pain and no uncomfortable feelings. But also, there are other things that I just despise about it. Like how my parents are too overprotective over me, afraid that I might get kidnapped again because of my magical talent, just like when I was a baby. They say I was lucky that I was returned home safe and sound. And as I think about it, I try to remember how exactly I was returned here, to my true family.
I was still very little to remember with full detail how it happened, or how things were. Back when I was locked in a tower in the middle of the woods, forbidden to go out of there. Back when I thought that Mother Gothel was my mother, and I just dreamed about seeing the floating lanterns. Back when my life was a lot easier…
(FLASHBACK)
"Rapunzel, dear, hurry up. We have to be ready by sunset." Said Mommy while packing hurriedly some clothes and food in a satchel. I didn't understand why. Was she going out again? I hoped she wasn't. I didn't like when Mommy went out and left me in the tower alone for a while, especially at night. Though I had little Pascal to keep me company, but he was too little to protect me from the bad people that Mommy talked about. I constantly feared that they might get in the tower to steal my hair.
"What are we doing Mommy?" I asked curiously. She was packing my clothes too. Maybe, she would finally take me with her tonight! "Are you letting me go with you today?" I asked hopefully.
"Yes, flower. We are going to travel far away from here. And we will never return. Now hurry up, there´s not much time left." She said hurriedly.
"Okay Mommy." I replied obediently. I didn't understand why we were leaving forever, but I was so excited to see the outside that I never questioned it.
We left by sunset. Mommy was covered in her dark cloak and she lent me another one, which covered my hair and face completely. We kept walking quickly through the dark woods for a long time. Mommy seemed nervous and quite scared. I was scared too. I would have preferred to travel the forest on morning, when I could see clearly through the big trees and maybe spot some animals. But in the dark of the night, I could barely see where my feet were dragging me. And the shadows of the trees, which reflected strange figures on the ground, weren't doing anything to calm me down.
Suddenly, we heard loud footsteps coming from behind us, along with loud commanding voices. I turned around and saw the shadows of some big people illuminated by a yellowish light. I turned around and saw Mommy. She looked even more scared than before, and she quickly started running through the woods, dragging me along with her.
The strange people started shouting at us to stop, but Mommy didn't even turn around. By that moment I was whimpering, scared at what the strange people would do to us. "Mommy, who are they?" I asked through my tears. "Keep quiet Rapunzel!" was all that she answered and kept dragging me through the woods.
But as much as we tried to run, the strange people caught up with us, and stopped us. They were dressed in shining golden armors, with strange golden hats over their heads, and armed with what looked like a very large knife. One of them was mounting a very big animal, which looked dangerous and menacing.
I started sobbing loudly, scared by the aspect of those strange people, and clutched at Mommy´s cloak tightly.
"Who are you and what are you doing here?!" asked forcefully the man who was on top of the animal.
"We were just travelling, to the kingdom of Corona." Said Mommy calmly, while I hid my face against her cloak.
"At this hour of the night?" asked the man skeptically. "Uncover yourselves please." He ordered. But Mommy protested. "Captain, we are just…" "I said uncover yourself, woman!"
Mommy uncovered her face letting the hood of the cloak fall down. The strange man inspected her face intently and then he looked directly at me. "Uncover the girl too please."
Mommy seemed reluctant at this, but after the stern glare that the man gave her, she obeyed. She gently uncovered my face, and my long blond hair fell instantly down my back. All the other men seemed pretty surprised by this, because they all had dumbstruck expressions on their faces, and most of them gasped.
"Gentlemen, I think that we´ve finally found the lost princess." Said the man on top of the big animal, still surprised. Mommy stiffened beside me, and kept me close to her.
"Exactly Captain. I was travelling to Corona to return the lost princess to their majesties." Mommy said. I didn't understand a bit of what she was saying, but I didn't say anything.
"Yeah, sure… you´ll have to explain that to the King and Queen. Take her!"
Instantly, the strange people launched to Mommy and attached her wrists and ankles with some strange iron ropes. I screamed and tried to run to her, but some other men restrained me gently. I wiggled and kicked and cried, but they didn't seem to care.
We travelled through the forest, until we arrived to a very big house. Until we arrived, to the place where my real Mommy and Daddy lived.
(END OF FLASHBACK)
At the end, Mother Gothel explained that she had found me on the woods when I was a little baby. She had taken care of me while I grew up, and had discovered the secrets of my magical hair accidentally. She said that when she found out, she tried to hide me in the tower to protect me, from whoever might want to hurt me to get to my magical hair. She kept me with her and raised me as her own daughter but one day, while she was travelling through Corona´s village to buy some food, she saw the mural of the Royal Family, and she discovered that I was the lost princess, and that was when she tried to return me back home.
Although everyone seemed suspicious of her, my parents believed her. They were just so happy to have their daughter back, safe and sound, that they felt grateful towards her for taking care of me all that time. And they let her stay in the castle, mostly because I refused to be anywhere but near her. It was hard to think and love someone as if she was your mother, and then discover that she isn't. And seeing how much I seemed to care about her, my parents decided to make her my nanny.
I readjusted to my new life and started to be around my real parents a lot more. I stopped calling Gothel "Mommy" a few months later, but the feeling of love that I felt for her never stopped. I still loved her as part of my family. As my second mother. That´s why I started calling her Mother Gothel.
And even though I was now almost eighteen, she still cared of me in that motherly way which with she always treated me. And I still sang for her while she brushed my hair, just like I had always done.
But even though I loved Mother Gothel as my own mother, there was something strange about her. Sometimes I even thought she was obsessed with my hair or something. She cared for it as if it was the most important thing in the world.
Eugene said she was the creepiest person he´d ever met. But that was normal coming from him; they never really got along well. And now that I was thinking about it, I probably had to stop looking at myself in the mirror. I was going to see Eugene soon, and seeing my best friend was always the best part of the day.
I took one last glance, and then turned to face Pascal, my little chameleon friend, who had been with me ever since I left the tower.
"How do I look Pascal?" I asked. He raised his thumbs up in approval. And with that, I headed out of my bedroom. Just thinking about the fact that, just in a few hours, I would see the most amazing person in the world, my best friend, and hopefully, eventually, something else…
So… what do you think? Liked it? Hated it? Want to see more and see how it gets? I would love to know what you think!
Hopefully I´ll update the next chapter soon.
Hope you liked it and please let me know what you think! ;D