Rapunzel had just walked through the curtain of leaves, and she had been surprised by what she saw. The world was a lot bigger than she remembered it, probably because she didn't remember it at all.

She excitedly ran around and looked at everything, just like a little child. Flynn chuckled and smiled at her enthusiasm. They eventually came to a road, and as they walked down it, Rapunzel spotted a building.

"The Snuggly Duckling," she said, reading the sign. "Ooh, I love ducklings! Can we go in there?"

Flynn frowned. "There's some guys in there that don't like me," he said. "Why don't we continue to the town?"

Rapunzel smiled. "Okay!" She couldn't wait to see the town.


They walked for quite a while, and got to a bridge. They crossed it and Rapunzel was amazed. The town after the bridge was big and bustling, and there was even a castle! Rapunzel excitedly ran into town. She noticed that Flynn was walking silently, trying not to draw attention to himself.

"What's wrong?" she asked him.

He said, "I don't want the guys that don't like me to spot me."

Rapunzel was about to ask who the guys were when she felt herself being pulled by her hair. She looked behind her and saw horses and people walking over her hair. Quickly, she gathered up all her hair.

"I don't think I'll be able to get around very well with my long hair," she said to Flynn.

Flynn nodded. He looked around and spotted some little girls who were busy braiding each other's hair. "Rapunzel, maybe they could help you," he suggested.

Rapunzel smiled and walked over to the girls. "Can you help me with this?" she asked.

The girls gasped as they saw the long, long hair. Rapunzel kneeled down and let them start braiding her hair. They braided and braided until at last, they were finished. Now Rapunzel's hair only went down to her ankles, and it was in a complicated braid.

Rapunzel smiled and twirled around. She loved her new hairdo. Flynn smiled at her. "You look pretty," he said.

Rapunzel felt her cheeks getting hot again, and a fluttery feeling in her heart. "Thank you," she said.

Flynn smiled. He led her to a little boy selling purple flags with a sun on them. He bought one and gave it to Rapunzel. "To remember your trip by," he said.

Rapunzel smiled. "Thank you!"


Rapunzel was looking at a mosaic on the wall in the center of town. It was of a family. The mother looked kind and was holding a little brown-haired baby. For some reason, Rapunzel felt something stir in the back of her mind. She felt like she missed the mother, even though she was sure she'd never seen her before. Maybe she just reminded her of her own mother, Rapunzel decided.

Next to the mother, there was a father. Rapunzel didn't know why, but the father made her feel scared, just like when she heard the word father. She quickly looked away from him, and her eyes fell on the last person in the picture, a little girl with blonde hair that hung down to her feet. The little girl looked shy and was holding on to her mother's skirts.

Rapunzel looked over at Flynn. "Who is this family?" she asked.

Flynn looked at her funny. "You don't know?"

Rapunzel wondered if she'd done something wrong. "This is the first time I've been out of the tower since I was four," she reminded him.

"Oh yeah," said Flynn. "That's the royal family. The king and queen."

Rapunzel smiled. "And the two girls?"

Flynn smiled at her. "The baby is the princess Aster. She's not a baby anymore, I think she's fourteen."

Rapunzel's eyes were wide. "Wow, this was made a long time ago," she said. "And what's the older one's name?"

Flynn looked at her. "Her name was Sybil."

Sybil. That name, for some reason, she knew. She realized she'd heard it many years ago, back in the time she could barely remember. She must have known someone named Sybil a long time ago, she decided.

Then she realized that Flynn had said was. What had happened to Sybil? Was she not alive anymore?

"Flynn, you said her name was Sybil," Rapunzel said. "What happened to her?"

Flynn looked sad. "She disappeared one night when she was little," he said. "Nobody knows what happened, and she's never been found. Most people think she's dead."

Rapunzel felt sad. For some reason, she'd felt a connection to the girl in the picture, like she wanted to protect her.

Flynn sighed. "She would have been eighteen this year," he said. "Her birthday was a few months ago. Every year on her birthday, they let out hundreds of lanterns to remember her by."

Rapunzel smiled. "I've seen those lanterns," she said. "Not very often, only a few times when I stayed up too late. I always wondered what they were for."

Flynn smiled. "Well, now you know," he said.