Flynn never found Rapunzel's tower, and Rapunzel never left. Now 20 years old, Rapunzel is still wondering when her life will begin…

It was just a normal day in the tower, and Rapunzel was doing her usual morning chores. Singing as she worked, she didn't notice as it began to get a little darker outside. Assuming it was just the clouds passing over the sun, she kept mopping the floor until she suddenly felt strange.

"Pascal, I feel dizzy..." she said, sitting down. Pascal suddenly made an alarmed sound and pointed at Rapunzel's upper body. Rapunzel looked down and saw that right over her heart, there was a spot that was glowing yellow faintly.

"That's weird," Rapunzel said. "That's never happened before."

She felt dizzy again, and put her hand on her forehead. "This isn't normal," she said. "I should call Mother." Pulling herself up, she made her way to the window. "Mother!" she called. "Mother, where are you?"

She looked up and suddenly noticed that the sun was starting to turn black. That had never happened before either, and she felt scared. She screamed and kept calling for Mother as the black shadow slowly crept across the sun.

Gothel was in the forest walking back home to the tower when she realized it was getting weirdly dark. She looked up, and between the trees could see the sun halfway covered by a black shadow.

"An eclipse!" Gothel said in surprise. She had seen many eclipses in her long life. She suddenly remembered Rapunzel. She was probably terrified! Gothel started rushing back to the tower.

"Mother!" Rapunzel screamed as she felt weak again. She looked at the glowing spot, which was glowing more brightly now, and looked at Pascal. Pascal looked frightened too. What was happening to Rapunzel… and the sky?

Rapunzel looked up at the sun again and saw that now it was more than halfway covered by the shadow. The sky was beginning to turn a red shade, which made Rapunzel feel very unsettled. In all her life, the sky had been blue and the sun had been bright. Now, they weren't, and something was happening to her too.

"Mother!" cried Rapunzel.

Suddenly, Gothel burst through the clearing. "Rapunzel!" she cried. "I've been worried sick!"

"What's happening to the sky?" cried Rapunzel.

Gothel ran to the tower. "Pull me up, my flower, and I'll explain it to you."

Rapunzel through her hair out the window, and Gothel stepped onto it. But after a few moments, Rapunzel still hadn't pulled her up even a little bit.

"Rapunzel, what is going on? You know I'm not getting any younger down here," Gothel cried.

But she looked up and saw Rapunzel pulling with all her might on her hair. Rapunzel usually could pull Gothel up with no problem, and so Gothel realized something was wrong.

"Rapunzel, what's going on with you?" Gothel shouted.

Rapunzel let go of her hair, looking exhausted. "I don't know! Something's wrong with me!" Rapunzel cried.

Gothel looked worried. "I'm coming up there," she said, and went around to the back of the tower. She opened the secret door and climbed up the hidden staircase. When she came in the trapdoor, Rapunzel screamed.

"It's just me, Flower," Gothel said.

"How long has that been here?" Rapunzel cried.

Gothel smiled. "It's for emergencies only, my dear girl. That's why I never told you about it."

Rapunzel nodded and suddenly looked very weak. The sun was almost completely covered by now, and Gothel asked in alarm, "What's wrong?"

Rapunzel pointed to the glowing spot. "It's glowing and I don't know why, and I feel really weird!"

Gothel came closer. "That's strange," she said.

Finally, the sun was completely covered, and the sky was completely red. Everything was covered in a strange red light, and Rapunzel fell to the ground.

The glowing spot wasn't inside Rapunzel anymore, and it had become solid. Rapunzel touched it with a curious look on her face.

Gothel suddenly said, "I think I know what's happened now."

Rapunzel asked, "What?"

Gothel touched the glowing… thing, and her fingers closed around it. She gently pulled it off, and suddenly, Rapunzel's hair started turning brown rapidly.

Rapunzel screamed as she saw what was happening. She grabbed her hair and stared at it, her eyes wide with fright. "What is going on?" she screamed as the last of her hair turned brown.

Gothel opened her hand slowly, looking at the glowing stone in her hand. She could just take it and run now, without having to explain anything to Rapunzel. But she looked at Rapunzel's very confused and scared face and decided that she couldn't do that. After all, she had raised the girl, she couldn't just run off without a word.

"This," Gothel said, holding the stone out – but not too far – for Rapunzel to see, "is the sundrop."

Rapunzel stared at it and looked at her mother after a little bit, not quite knowing what this meant.

"You were born with the sundrop's power in your hair," Gothel said, "and the eclipse, that's the sun turning black, has coaxed it out of you."

"Okay," said Rapunzel, still not completely sure what was going on.

Gothel looked at Rapunzel and saw she had a choice to make. She could either tell Rapunzel the truth about her parents, or she could keep pretending that she was Rapunzel's mother. She didn't know what to do. She didn't need Rapunzel anymore now that she had the sundrop in her hand. But she had grown to care about the girl, and – she hated to admit it – she would miss her.

Rapunzel suddenly spoke up. "So, does that mean the sundrop… is mine?"

Gothel snatched it back and held it close to her. "No!" she cried.

Rapunzel jumped back, frightened.

"Sorry, I scared you," Gothel said. "Why don't I tell you the whole story?"

Rapunzel nodded.

"Before you were born, the sundrop was in a different form… a flower," said Gothel.

"Is that why you always call me flower?" asked Rapunzel.

"Yes," said Gothel. "Now that flower was my flower, and I did all that I could to protect it."

"Just like you protect me in the tower, right?" Rapunzel responded.

Gothel nodded. "Exactly. But one day, they stole the flower from me. You see, the queen was very sick, and she needed the flower's healing power to get well again. Nobody asked me if they could use the flower… if they had, I would have used the song to let the power out without killing the flower."

"They killed it?" Rapunzel cried, horrified.

Gothel nodded, her face showing pain as she described what happened to it. "They pulled it out of the ground with the roots, they boiled it, and they fed the liquid to the queen," she said. "The flower died, but the sundrop didn't."

"But why… why did they kill it?" Rapunzel asked. "Why didn't they just ask you?"

Gothel frowned. "I don't know, child," she said. "But they took my flower."

Rapunzel remembered the sundrop. "Wh-what happened to the sundrop? Where did it go?"

"Well," said Gothel, "the queen was pregnant, and the sundrop went into the baby. When the baby was born, she had long, blonde hair."

"Like me!" Rapunzel cried, then looked at her long brown hair. "Well, at least, like I used to have."

Gothel nodded. "Yes," she said. "She had my sundrop inside of her. I went to the castle to get my sundrop back. Now, I was just going to get a piece of the baby's hair and let them have the rest. But when I cut a piece off, it turned brown and lost its power. The sundrop wasn't in the hair, that's just where its power was released. The sundrop was in the baby herself. I had no choice but to take the whole baby."

Rapunzel had a strange look on her face, as if she was trying to piece things together. She touched the short strand of brown hair that had been that way since before she could remember. "Was the baby… me?" she asked.

Gothel nodded.

"So that means… you aren't my real mother?" asked Rapunzel.

"That's right," said Gothel. "And now that you don't have my sundrop inside you anymore, you can go back to your real parents… if that's what you want."

Rapunzel looked at Gothel, her mind spinning. "I..." she said. "How will I find them?"

Gothel felt a little twinge in her heart. Rapunzel was choosing to go. She didn't want to let her go, but at the same time, she couldn't keep her locked up anymore.

Gothel's eyes started to get wet, and her voice was strange when she spoke. "Just go to the palace and tell them you are the lost princess," she said.

Rapunzel stared. "Are you crying, Mother?" She had never, ever seen Gothel cry.

Gothel shook her head. "I just got a bit of dust in my eyes," she said.

Unexpectedly, Rapunzel wrapped her arms around Gothel. "I'll miss you," she said.

Gothel put her hand, the one that wasn't holding the sundrop, around Rapunzel and patted her. "I'll miss you too. I love you… Rapunzel."

"I… love you more," Rapunzel said, a few tears slipping down her face.

"I love you most," said Gothel.

The eclipse was over now, and the sky returned to the bright blue that it normally was. The sun shone into the tower, and Gothel let go.

Gothel said, "Now, Rapunzel, I will take you to the edge of town, and you will be able to see the castle from there. Then you can go and tell them what I told you to say.

"Okay," said Rapunzel.

She threw her long brown hair out the window, and Gothel slipped the sundrop into a pocket she had on the inside of her dress right over her heart. Then she grabbed onto the brown hair, and Rapunzel lowered her down for the last time.

Then Rapunzel stepped onto the windowsill. As her feet got closer to the edge, her heart started beating faster. She was at the edge now, and there was nothing stopping her from leaving the tower… except her fear. What about the ruffians, thugs, men with pointy teeth and everything else Gothel had warned her about?

Suddenly, Pascal climbed onto her shoulder and tied himself in place with a strand of hair. He gave Rapunzel a thumbs up.

Well, the ruffians and thugs probably wouldn't want her now that she didn't have magic hair. Pascal had given her the courage she needed to jump. As she leaped out of the window, holding onto her hair, she felt the wind rushing past her face and laughed with joy. She slid down the hair with speed until she saw the ground coming closer. Suddenly she stopped. Slowly, she lowered her foot to the ground and touched grass for the first time.

She wiggled her toes, loving the new sensation, and let her other foot down too. She laid in the grass, loving the new experience and her new freedom.

She stood up, and a breeze blew, making her long brown hair blow in the wind. She had a song in her heart and suddenly began singing softly.

"I got the wind in my hair and a gleam in my eyes and an endless horizon, I got a smile on my face and I'm walking on air..."

Gothel watched as Rapunzel danced around and was amazed by the things she'd never experienced. Gothel wanted to get going – no need to prolong the goodbye – but she decided to let Rapunzel have as much time as she needed. After all, there probably wouldn't be as many chances for that once Rapunzel became a princess.

Finally, Rapunzel was ready. She raced to the exit, Gothel following a bit behind. Pushing over the leafy vines that hid the tower, she stepped out and gasped.

"The world is so big!" she cried.

Gothel smiled. But when Rapunzel started to wander off, Gothel pulled her back. "We have to go straight to the town," she said. "It's dangerous out here in the forest, and I don't want you getting hurt."

Rapunzel nodded. "Okay."

They walked slowly to town, as Rapunzel was taking in all the new sights. It was mostly silent, except for an occasional "Wow!" from Rapunzel.

Finally, they arrived at the bridge. Rapunzel's eyes grew even wider.

"We're here," Gothel said quietly.

Rapunzel turned to look at her. "Is that the castle?" she asked, pointing at the tallest building in the town.

Gothel nodded.

Rapunzel gave her a big hug. "Goodbye, Mother!" she cried.

"Goodbye, Rapunzel," Gothel said.

After a few moments, Rapunzel let go and began walking across the bridge. She looked back, but Gothel was gone.

"This is it, Pascal," said Rapunzel. "I'm going to meet my real parents."

Rapunzel walked up to the big castle doors, feeling very small. She hesitantly knocked on them, wondering if that was what she was supposed to do. She had always knocked on Mother's door when she wanted to come in, but maybe it was different in the outside world.

A tall man standing by the door walked over to her. "What do you want?" he asked.

For a moment Rapunzel panicked. Men with pointy teeth-! But then she remembered what she was supposed to say. "I am the lost princess," she mumbled.

"What was that?" the man asked.

Oops, she'd mumbled. Mother was always telling her not to do that. "I am the lost princess!" she said loudly.

The man stared at her. She felt a bit uncomfortable, but finally he stopped and said to the other man beside the door, "Bring her in."

The king and queen were sitting sadly together. It had been over twenty years that their daughter had been missing, and still they searched, still they sent out the lanterns every year on her birthday. But they were beginning to lose hope. After all, it had been twenty years. If she was still out there, wouldn't she have come home already?

They had hoped that on her eighteenth birthday, she would come back. Eighteen was adulthood, and they had hoped that her kidnapper would at least let her go when she became an adult. But alas, two more years had passed since then and still no missing princess was found.

Suddenly, the doors burst open and a guard ran in, stopping to catch his breath. They stared at him. "We've found her!" he cried.

Rapunzel stood on a balcony in the castle, waiting. She was excited, but afraid at the same time. What if they didn't believe she was the lost princess? Her hair was a different color now.

The doors creaked open, and two people walked in.

The king and queen stared at the girl standing there in front of them. This barefoot girl with impossibly long brown hair. Could it really be?

But she had those same green eyes that had stared up at them all those years ago. Her face was nearly identical to the queen's. She was the lost princess. She just had to be.

The queen walked closer, touching Rapunzel's arms, searching her face. Then she pulled her into a hug. Rapunzel, smiling, hugged her back. Then the king joined the hug, and they melted down into a loving family hug. The king and queen were so happy to have her back.

There was just one question.

"How did you find your way back home?" asked the queen when they were finished hugging.

Rapunzel smiled. "My mother took me back." The queen's face changed when she said mother, and Rapunzel remembered that the queen was her actual mother. "The woman who raised me, I mean," she quickly added.

Then she turned to the king. "Why did you steal the flower? Why did you kill it?" she asked.

The king looked confused. "What flower?"

"The flower that saved my mom," Rapunzel said.

The king said, "Oh, that flower. But what do you mean?"

"That flower belonged to my mo- the woman who raised me," said Rapunzel. "When you took it, the power went into me. She tried to cut my hair and take a piece, but the power was inside of me, and that piece of hair turned brown and stopped growing. And that's why she took me."

"Oh..." both the king and queen said.

"If I would have known..." said the king. Then he said curiously, "All of your hair is brown now. What happened? Did you cut it?"

Rapunzel shook her head. "No, I've never cut my hair," she said. "When the eclipse happened today, the power came out of me and became the sundrop. That's why I came back. Mo- the woman who raised me told me the truth."

"And we are so glad you're back!" the queen cried.

They hugged all together again, and Rapunzel smiled. Now her life had finally begun!

Author's note:

Do you want me to continue with this story or leave it as a one-shot? I know it's already pretty long, but if you want me to continue I have some ideas. Thank you for reading!