Disclaimer: I do not own Fruits Basket or Rapunzel.

Note: This story occurs in the same universe as Tohru Snow White and Sleeping Broken Doll.

Rinpunzel (Part 1)

By Kisa44

Our story begins 19 years ago.

In the countryside of a far off land, a baby girl had been born. The baby with few locks of black hair was resting peacefully in her crib. She was oblivious to the poverty and famine around her. Her mother was asleep in her bed.

Her father, meanwhile, was outside. He was leaning against his house. The crops had failed this year, and it had been hard enough to feed himself and his pregnant wife. Now, he not only had another mouth to feed, but a growing mouth to feed. The new father was less happy for his new daughter's birth and more worried about her arrival. He sighed, If only we had some more food. Then we would be truly happy.

He looked over the fence to the garden next door. Inside the garden, Rinpunzel Lettuces were abundant. He had often thought of stealing a few of the cabbages to feed his family, but they belonged to the witch, Akito. Akito was cruel and would punish anyone who attempted to steal the green vegetables, even in the time of famine.

However, in this time of need, the new father became irrational and climbed the fence into the garden. He stole into the garden, and bent down next to the nearest head and plucked it from the ground.

He ran back to the fence and began to climb over it when there was a flash of light. Akito stood in the garden, right next to the fence. "What are you doing here, boy?" the witch growled. Although Akito looked young, it was rumored that she never aged and had been fooling royalty with her beauty for centuries. The man never saw her beauty; however, he only had eyes for his wife.

Akito whipped a wand out of her purple robes. "Explain to me why I shouldn't curse you to oblivion for stealing from me, or I shall do so in the most painful way possible."

The man held his hands up. "Hey, now, I'm just trying to feed my family," he said in explanation, "My wife just had a child, and, well, with the famine and all…"

Akito stopped listening to the blabbering man when he mentioned a "child." She had never been able to have children before, and she had always wanted one. In addition, the child may become a good minion once she got older. Akito fanned out her magic and tried to sense the child. There it was, in the house over the fence. Akito's eyes widened. The baby had a lot of magic within her. She would need training but…she could be a great witch someday.

She smiled wickedly and said, "You can have as much of my lettuce as you want, in exchange for your daughter."

The man thought about it for a moment, and realized that without the lettuce, he and his wife would die. In addition, if the witch took his daughter, she would be well taken care of by Akito. "Okay, then," he said with much difficulty.

The witch smiled, "Very well. I'll allow you to say your good-byes to her. I'll come pick her up at midnight tonight."

The man nodded, choking back tears. In a bright flash of light, the witch disappeared in a flash.

At 11:58 PM, the new mother was crying. She held her child near to her chest, her husband's arm around her. She understood her husband's decision, and may have made the same choice. However, it was so, so hard for her to give up her only child.

At exactly midnight, the witch appeared in the small one-room cottage that the small family called home. She looked around in distaste. It was so…cramped. She looked down at the dirt floor and grimaced. Her feet were in the mud. Isn't that fantastic? she thought sarcastically. She stepped out of the mud. The man rose, pulling away from his wife.

"Good evening, ma'am," he said. She looked at him expectantly. "Yes, the child," he sighed sadly and looked to his wife, "Dear…"

She looked up, for the first time noticing the witch. Her eyes were blood shot. "Oh, it's time already."

The man reached out for the babe, but the mother stood up. She walked up to the witch and growled at her, "You better take good care of her, ya hear." She then looked down at her child. Her eyes grew soft. She took a silver locket from her neck, the only thing she had not allowed her husband to sell at the market for food. She placed it around the sleeping baby's neck. "Goodbye, my little angel," she whispered to her child. She then kissed her baby's forehead, and allowed a single tear to hit the child's face.

She put the child in Akito's arms. Her husband rushed over to her and put his arms around her. Akito walked to the door and said, "Have you named her?"

Just as her husband was about to say no, his wife said, "Yes. I named her Rinpunzel. It's a family name, and…" she choked back tears, "…she should be named for which she was sold."

Akito nodded, "Rinpunzel. I like it. Rin, for a nick name?"

The wife nodded, tears flowing softly down her face. Akito murmured, "Goodbye." Then, with a turn of her coat, she vanished.

The wife collapsed on the dirt floor, sobbing. Trying to comfort her, the husband wrapped his arms around her and rocked her.

Meanwhile, Akito appeared in a nursery in a tower with three windows but no door to get out of the tower, in a forest of the same country, far away. Akito placed the sleeping child in the crib, and walked out of the room.

A butler walked up to Akito and said, "Akito-sama, do you still wish to go through with the plan?"

"Yes, Eckhart," she said. "Take your men and kill them both."

By 1 AM that night, the child's parents would be dead, as Rinpunzel slept, far away, unknowing, and oblivious to the murders of her only living family.

End of Part 1

A/N: Thanks for reading! Please review!