A very special thank you to my mother and beta-reader, cynicsquest. I truly appreciate your time and input. And thank you to everyone who takes the time to read this little story. I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I enjoy writing it.
Chapter 11: Curses and Blessings
It hadn't taken Wanda long to notice that the child in her care was different. Within days of her birth, she was sitting upright and holding her own bottle. She gained weight and height rapidly. When she had been just shy of two weeks old, she had already begun forming small sentences and taking her first steps. By four weeks old, she was potty trained. Now rapidly approaching the six week mark, the babe was almost three feet tall, with hair down to her knees.
Wanda wished that this abnormal growth rate wasn't so painful for Rapunzel. Headaches, soreness, painful gums during her teething stage: all had left the girl spending a great deal of time crying, screaming, or thrashing about. Her guardian was exhausted at the end of each day. Thankful that the child slept through the night, Wanda savored her eight-hour respite, waking each morning to find that the girl had grown a few more centimeters.
Beside the young one's accelerated development, there were other differences. Rapunzel was particular about her food, preferring meats over anything sweet. She loved most vegetables but turned her nose up to the starchier ones every time. Singing came natural to her young ward, with broad range and an ability to sustain the notes; previously, the nurse had only heard such mature vocal techniques from gifted adults. Throughout the day, Rapunzel would sing the nursery rhymes she had heard Wanda sing to her.
During bath time, her legs were sometimes replaced by a tail – and sometimes not. Wanda suspected that the girl's mood controlled this phenomena. Rapunzel loved her sapphire-colored tail. The illustrious scales delighted the girl and swimming was natural for her. She especially enjoyed splashing her keeper, which always prompted tickling. However, both tiredness and coy seemed to keep the scales hidden away.
Had the nursemaid known that the child she cared for was a Siren, she would have known this was natural for such a creature; as it was, she didn't know what was normal and what was related to the magic the queen had used on the girl.
The nurse knew the day for the Evil Queen to pay them a visit so as to inspect the child had finally arrived. Having never been told Regina's purposes or expectations, Wanda really had no idea if the queen would be pleased or not.
"We need to get you cleaned up for Her Majesty, little one; she's coming to meet you today." Taking the toddler's small hand in hers, the nurse led the girl to the center of the nursery. "Let's practice your curtsy and greeting like I taught you." Rapunzel had a difficult time coordinating her right foot behind the left, bending at the knees, and bowing her head. This was due mostly to the pain she felt throughout the day as her bones and muscles were constantly increasing in size. She would much rather be coddled and soothed.
"Well, it's the best we can do right now. Let's do something with that hair." Rapunzel enjoyed having her hair played with. Each stroke of the brush or fingers through her hair were gentle massages to her scalp.
"I wish I had long hair everywhere so my whole body could be brushed. That would feel nice." Even when speaking, the six-week old baby had a melodic voice. After finishing with the brush, Wanda handed the girl the brush and instructed her to try to "brush" her arms and sees if it had the same effect. Rapunzel squealed in delight as the combs of the brush brought soothing to the tension under her skin. The older woman braided the long strands and fastened a large bow at the end. She then pulled out a simple, long purple dress with small pleats at the waist and long sleeves that puffed at the shoulders. It saddened her to listen to the child's whimpers, "growing pains" her own mother had called them. She returned the brush to the girl and smiled gently when she saw Rapunzel using them on her legs.
Just setting their lunch down on the small table, she looked up in alarm when her door was loudly swung open, the Queen entering her chambers. "I've come to see the girl. Where is she?" Rapunzel had been sitting on the floor beside Wanda's bed, playing with a doll, pretending to rock it to sleep.
"Rapunzel, come here, Child. Her Majesty is here to meet you."
The girl rose and walked around the bed, inhaling deeply before making her awkward curtsy. "I am pleased to meet you, Your Majesty." The nurse beamed that the girl had remembered all of the words, as they had only practiced the greeting over the last week.
"What is that?" Regina asked in disgust.
"Why, Your Majesty, this is Rapunzel, the baby you gave me just weeks ago. She's already grown to be a toddler." Wanda knew this displeased the Evil Queen and suspected that things could go wrong very quickly, although she wasn't sure if she was the one in danger or the little girl was. "She's grown very fast."
"Not fast enough," gritted the witch. "The potion should have made her half-grown by now. Someone has tricked me."
Though Rapunzel had rarely met other people in the castle, she had never seen anyone angry before. Looking at her nursemaid, she saw something else she hadn't seen before: fear. The young girl began to cry, feeling scared for her caregiver. She began to lift her hands and walk towards the woman who had been raising her.
"She won't do." Regina raised her hand and watched as a blue-white mist formed in it, and then launched it at the tiny girl struggling to make it into her caregiver's arms, a scream of fear sustained in mid-air as the magic swirled over her, turning the perfect pink skin gray and hardening her small body into stone.
Horrified, Wanda gasped at the now lifeless statue of the girl, who just moments ago was alive. The nurse dropped to her knees and wailed in her sudden grief, enveloping the what was left of the girl in her arms.
Regina rolled her eyes and with another flick of her fingers, she teleported the statue away to her tower of prisoners.
Stunned and in shock, Wanda could not look up at the terrible queen who has just displayed such evil.
"You may return to your old duties," Regina directed to the mortified servant, and then, dismissing her, turned on her heels and began making her way to her own chambers. Another irritating setback, she thought. Back to simply hunting my wicked stepdaughter.
XXXXXxxxxxXXXXX
For nearly three decades, Rapunzel had been lifeless in every way – physically, mentally, emotionally. Panic and fear had been her last thoughts before her transformation and now she was stuck in place, unable to move, see, or hear, but she was aware. Life had begun again, though from her perspective, it had never ceased. One moment she was reaching for her nurse, Wanda, and the next she was in the dark and paralyzed. This only heightened her fear.
Over the span of several minutes, she began feeling the sensation of warmth all over and became able to scrunch her forehead, take in deep breaths and wiggle her fingers. The world around her was coming into focus, but this slow process was exhausting for her. The magic of the kiss that had resumed her tender life completed its final step and Rapunzel released the scream that she had been in the middle of nearly twenty-nine years ago. Confused by her new surroundings and the whereabouts of her nurse and the queen, the girl studied the face of the woman sitting before her now.
Belle had watched in absolute astonishment. Vaguely she remembered calling her husband to come home somewhere in the middle of the girl's transformation from lifeless statue to living, breathing child. She had jumped when the scream began but quickly and gently tried to soothe the scared youngster. "There, there, you're alright. No one's going to harm you here." Belle offered her hands, palms up, to the girl and gave her a warm smile.
Rapunzel stifled her tears and stood in wonder at this woman she had never seen before. Since she had been a statue during this curse, Regina had neither changed her memories or removed her old ones. For Rapunzel all of this was happening in a single moment. She remembered greeting the queen who became angry and her caretaker looking scared. "Where is Wanda?"
"Wanda?" Belle asked. "I'm afraid I don't know a Wanda. Was she your friend?"
"What's a friend?" Her large, doe-like eyes were still wide with fear and anticipation.
Belle had just begun to respond when she heard Rumpelstiltskin call her name from their front door. She smiled at the girl and called back to her husband. "We're up here in the nursery?"
We're? Rumpelstiltskin wondered what she meant, and opening the door to the nursery, he found his wife sitting on the floor near the statue girl, who no longer appeared to be a statue. Before, she had been gray from head to foot but now had blonde hair, light pinkish skin, and a purple dress on. "What's this?"
Belle motioned for her husband to come and sit with them and turned her attention back to the girl, "What's your name?"
Shifting her gaze from the man holding a cane and the friendly woman, she responded, "Rapunzel. Who are you?"
Belle's lips formed a small, closed smile as she remembered reading the fairy tale of this young child. Of course, Belle hadn't really read the story before, but the memories of Lacy that Regina had cursed her with had read the fairy tales in school. Her smile grew wide as she said, "Nice to meet you, Rapunzel. I'm Belle," she placed her hand over her chest and then moved her hand to her husband's shoulder and added, "and this is Mr. Gold."
Remembering that she had been practicing her curtsy for introductions to the queen, she offered a bow and said, "I'm pleased to meet you." Her last meeting had seemed to go terribly wrong, so she was quite nervous as she looked up to see if her greeting had been met with more favor.
The woman and the man seemed delighted with her, so she ventured a question. "Are you a maid?"
An odd question, Belle thought. "Well, I used to be, for him actually. But I also used to be a princess."
The small girl's eyes and mouth grew wider as she exclaimed, "A real princess!" Excitement replaced her fear. "Oh, I've always wanted to meet a princess. My baby is a princess."
"Your baby?" Belle asked hesitantly.
"Mmm, hmm. I always dress her and comb her hair. Sometimes she doesn't listen to me. I tell her it's night-night time and she just keeps looking at me." Rapunzel spoke in such a sing-song way and with sincerity. Belle decided that Rapunzel's baby must be a doll.
Belle showed the girl the toys in the room, which excited the girl, as she selected a handful of babies and stuffed toys to gather into her arms. Searching out the room, Rapunzel found coloring books and took them to the table. Belle gave her a few jumbo crayons and colored a dozen different pictures with her.
"How old are you, dearie?" Rumpelstiltskin asked.
"Um...um... six weeks." Rapunzel held up three fingers on each hand to show her age. She had finally taken Belle's hands and thought that her lap looked comfortable to sit on.
"Are you sure? You look much older, like a big girl," said Belle.
"Uh-huh. I grow fast. It hurts," her face showed her displeasure at the thought of the pain she experienced. Rapunzel thought of the trick she had learned to ease the aches. "Do you have a hairbrush?"
"Why, yes, I do."
"Can I have it?"
"Sure." Belle wrapped her arms around Rapunzel and stood up. She had never realized before the balancing act involved in holding a little one while rising from the floor. Carrying her into the master bedroom, Belle set the wee one gently on her own bed and retrieved the brush from her vanity. Rapunzel began brushing over all the aching areas of her body.
"What are you doing?" Belle asked in amusement. Rumpelstiltskin had just made his way into their bedroom. It had been a long time since a child had sat upon his bed. The only one, in fact, had been his son Baelfire.
"It hurts here." Rapunzel lifted up her arm for Belle's inspection while still brushing up and down from shoulder to wrist.
"Oh my, I see." Belle looked the arm over but could not see any area that appeared wounded in any way. "Are you hungry?"
Rapunzel nodded her head and Belle swept her up in her arms to carry her down the stairs. "Are you also hungry, Rumpel?"
Memories of Bae were consuming his thoughts, but he nodded his head once in acknowledgment. Following them down to the kitchen, he began to ponder. How was the spell broken – especially without the child's mother? What were he and Belle going to do with this girl? How could she be a six-week old toddler?
Belle fed the girl, her husband, and herself, asking questions to Rapunzel between bites. Half-way through lunch, Rapunzel became drowsy and dozed off right at the table.
"I guess she is ready for a nap." Belle carried Rapunzel upstairs and laid her in the newly purchased crib-bed, winding up a musical toy that played a sweet lullaby.
Sitting back at the table, she and Rumpelstiltskin began to discuss the questions they were both thinking. "Mother Superior told me what happened to Rapunzel's parents." Belle retold the story to her husband, as much as she could remember.
"But I saw in that vision that it was her mother who would restore her. How can it be that her mother is dead and yet she is no longer a statue?"
"I don't know how exactly," his wife admitted. "Just before I kissed her I said, 'I wish I could be your mother.' Maybe it was a combination of being orphaned, wishing I could be her mother, and the kiss."
Rumpelstiltskin thought about that possibility, considering that may very well be exactly what broke the curse.
"How is she only a few weeks old? I've never known anyone to grow that fast." Belle was hoping that the Magician would know.
"No creature grows that fast. You can be sure this interference with nature came from Regina."
"What would she have wanted with a baby?" Her question hung in the air as the Dark One recalled details surrounding this part of the mystery.
xxxxx
Things were all working according to his plans. His gift of foresight, though vague, had never failed him – not since properly learning how to decipher it. The Dark One had seen that the baby Regina had taken had given her the necessary push in his direction; furthermore, the mother of the child had warned her fae sisters of the danger they were in, prompting them to join Snow White and her prince against the Evil Queen. Fairy Dust had been used to render their enemy useless of her magic, while the tender heart of the valiant Warrior Queen had pardoned her from her deserved execution. The Seer had offered Snow White an enchanted knife to test if Regina could change from evil. He had known she would fail the test because her dark heart was filled with revenge and hatred. A pity for Snow White, but very useful for him.
Rumpelstiltskin appeared in Regina's room after she had returned to her own castle. Mild curiosity had him debating about asking Her Majesty what plans she had for the baby, but decided to dismiss mentioning the child since her use to stir the fairies into action had been served. Knowing her mother would break the curse was enough; besides, the only child that really mattered to him was his own. Keeping his goal of reuniting with Bae in mind, he chose to dismiss any unnecessary information.
Furious that her teacher had betrayed her to her enemy, she snapped at her father when he announced that she had a visitor. "Who?"
"You need to ask." Regina turned to see the Magician sitting on her chaise. "What other friends do you have, Dearie?"
"You're no friend." The Evil Queen could be artfully deceptive when it suited her, but most often her true thoughts always revealed themselves in her expressions. "Have you come to relish my suffering?"
The Seer was precisely the opposite, able to appear gleeful when angry or bitter when calm and collected. This cunning ability served him well in manipulating. "I thought you'd want someone to help raise your spirits," pausing for effect, he added, "especially on a day like today."
"What's so special about today?"
Rising from his seat, he exclaimed, "Snow White and Prince Charming's wedding, of course. Didn't you get an invitation?" Regina could scarcely hide her disdain as she rolled her eyes. "Me neither. Still," ever one to gloat as he began to close the gap between them, "nice to be able to see them declare their true love in front of the entire kingdom. Happy ending after all."
Raising her voice, the perturbed queen countered, "And because of you there's nothing I can do to stop it." Hating whenever the imp came into her personal space, she moved away from him towards her vanity. "No way to harm them in this land – ever again."
Feigning disappointment for a moment, the Dark One replied, "Yes, yes I suppose that's true – in this land."
Her interest piqued, she turned back to face him. "What?"
This was the final push she needed. Now cheerful as a schoolboy, Rumpelstiltskin explained, "The deal I made was explicit: You can never harm them in this land." To emphasize his point, he pointed toward the ground. "If you were to bring them to another land, well..." Finally understanding that another realm, another world could solve her dilemma for hurting her enemy, she smiled a full, devious smile. "Told you I was your friend," he said before disappearing into a purple smoke.
xxxxx
The Dark One's thoughts returned to the present, and to his wife's question as to what Regina wanted with a baby. "I never asked why," her husband confessed.
Thinking about the pain Rapunzel said she was in, Belle suggested, "I think I should take her to see a doctor. Maybe they'll know how to relieve the pain she's in from growing fast."
"Belle, we have no rights to do anything with the girl. We have to figure out what do with her."
"What do you mean what to do with her?"
Rumpelstiltskin could already see the conviction in his wife's eyes. "I mean that she needs a home and parents."
Belle placed her hand over her husband's. "This can be her home. We can be her parents. I broke the curse. It must mean that I'm supposed to be her mother."
Rumpelstiltskin stood and turned his back to his wife, running his free hand through his hair. "Belle, I wasn't exactly a great dad. I let me own boy go, and I just got him back. He doesn't even want anything to do with me."
Confused by his line of reasoning, she offered a rebuttal. "But you were willing to try to have a baby with me."
"I..." The Dark One didn't want to admit out loud that he just like the "trying" part. "I just don't think I'll be a good father."
Belle stood facing her husband and took the time to understand his fears and doubts. "The fact that you admitted your mistake in letting him go, and never giving up in finding him, even seeking forgiveness and a relationship despite all the hurts between you two proves to me that you will be a good father. Besides, she needs parents. We can do this, Rumpel."
His wife had far more faith in him that he felt he deserved. He could think of hundreds of people who would make a better parent than he could, but he could think of no one better to be Rapunzel's mother than Belle. He would give her anything in the world that she desired and this was her request. How could he deny what she wished for? "I'll draw up the papers and call the judge to make an appointment for us to adopt her."
In her excitement, Belle let out a laugh. "Really? We're really going to do this?"
"I'll do anything for you, my love." Pulling his wife closer in, he placed a kiss on her forehead and rested his chin on her head as she hugged against him. "Shall we take advantage of the time she's asleep?"
Belle giggled and wiggled her way out of his embrace. "No," she said, "you have paper work to do."
A mischievous grin came across his face. "Oh, there's plenty of time for that, Dearie."
