Disclaimer: I am in no way affiliated with Disney. I don't own Tangled or it's characters either.
"Rapunzel, Rapunzel, open up this damn door" Pascal bangs his fist on her door.
"Geez Pascal, a little impatient" Rapunzel giggles, opening the door.
"Yes! We have to be at the zoo as soon as it opens! That way we can guarantee the best spots to sit and draw." Pascal grabs her hand and pulls her into the hallway, "Now, we have just enough time to grab some fruit for breakfast and then board the bus and begin or journey" Pascal squeaks. Despite his excitement, Pascal falls asleep on the bus with his head resting on Rapunzel's shoulder as she looks in awe at the passing landscapes, at the sun just starting to peek over the tall city buildings. Rapunzel just couldn't believe that everyone else on the bus wasn't bothering to enjoy the sights, they were mostly consumed by their newspapers.
"Pascal, Pascal. Look! We're here!" Rapunzel shakes him awake.
"So we are" Pascal yawns.
"oh which animals should we go see first? Giraffes! No, penguins! No, elephants!" Rapunzel jumps up and down in excitement. Pascal cocks an eyebrow at her in response and starts pulling her into the zoo.
"Oh right, we have to see the chameleons first" Rapunzel giggles.
"Umm, Pascal. I don't see anything" Rapunzel stares into the tank in confusion.
"He's there. He's just camouflaging. Look, he's right there on that twig" Pascal points to a tiny tan coloured chameleon.
"So he is! He is such a good hider. Pascal, have you ever thought of what it may be like playing hide and go seek with a chameleon? I bet that would be fun" Rapunzel gasps, clapping her hands with excitement.
"Yes, I suppose it would be , wouldn't it?" Pascal laughs a little, "Now you stay right here. I'm going to go get us some stools to sit on while we draw" Rapunzel nods as she stares at the little chameleon in the tank. She wanted to know everything about this creature, especially how it was able to change colour. Just then the chameleon sticks out it's tongue, catching a bug that was resting on the twig.
"Pascal! You missed it! The chameleon, he stuck out his tongue like this.." Rapunzel sticks out her tongue at Pascal when he returns, "except his tongue was longer, really long. He used it to catch a bug then eat it!" Rapunzel is just beaming with joy over this little animal. Pascal just smiles at her. He just loved her excitement and that he got to experience it with her. As they are drawing, Rapunzel is so focused on that little chameleon that she doesn't say a word. She simply stares and then busily draws what she has taken in.
"So, have you decided what animal you want to see next?" Pascal breaks the silence.
"No, not yet. There's just so many animals and I want to see them all, I don't know where to start. Why have I waited so long to come here?" Rapunzel gushes.
"Wait, you haven't been to the zoo before? You were seriously deprived as a child then" Pascal gasps. When she hears those words Rapunzel instantly freezes and her eyes widen. Those words seem to echo around in her mind, bouncing off of a bunch of memories of her past and causing them to flash back to her .
"Rapunzel, I was joking. I'm sure you had a lovely childhood and you grew up with caring and loving parents" Pascal tries to defend himself, wishing that he could take those words back after seeing her reaction.
"No, you were right before" she mumbles, "I was deprived". She lets out a deep sigh before continuing, "My mother ..she never let me leave the house. It was way worse than it sounds. I was a prisoner in my own home. I didn't get to see the world"
"But…why?" Pascal asks, his voice dripping with confusion.
"She thought she was protecting me. She said the world is a dark and cruel place. There's so much more that she never told me though, there is light in the world" Rapunzel sighs, shifting her gaze to the ground.
"She let you out though? I mean you're here now"
"Well, no. I escaped. You see though she homeschooled me, she left out some important lessons. She ripped out all the pages in my text books that would go against her views of the world being a bad place or that would make me feel as if I had a purpose outside of that house. One day, I found those pages. I was so confused. There may have been wars in history but there were also revolutions and peace and triumph that I had never learnt about. I learnt that babies didn't come from storks and that I would need to leave my house find a man to make one with. I felt so betrayed, so lost, so curious as to what else was in the world that I didn't know of. So then, on my 18th birthday, I escaped. I ran away because legally she couldn't force me to come back, I was an adult and I wanted to start living like one" Rapunzel says very quickly. No one at school knew of her past and she wasn't sure before if she even wanted anyone to know. Right now though, telling Pascal felt right.
"Where did you go? Where did you stay?" Pascal gasps
"I had no idea where to go at first, I just wandered around and then I started to get hungry. I found this place called the Snuggly Duckling and it had a food like stench coming from it so I went in. Turns out it was a bar and it was filled with thugs. They were really nice though and when I explained my story to them they let me live there, in the back room. One day I was sitting at a table drawing and this one thug, Hookhand, saw my drawing and he said I was talented and should be an artist. He told me that I could go to school and learn all about drawing and painting and I couldn't have been more excited! Art was my dream, art is my dream! All the thugs helped me apply to every art school in the area, and now here I am" Rapunzel smiles a little. Pascal gets up from his stool and tightly wraps his arms around her in a hug.
"Umm thanks Pascal" Rapunzel giggles. She feels a wave of relief, like a weight has been lifted from her
"I'm so sorry you had to go through that. You're my friend. You can tell me anything okay?" Pascal gives her a little squeeze
"And you can tell me anything!" Rapunzel smiles, "say, Pascal. I've never had a best friend before. Do you want to be mine?"
"Of course I do!"
