Hello everybody! Thank you for your interest in my story and I hope you enjoy this chapter!

A two year old Rapunzel chased a six year old Cassandra in circles around the tower. Rapunzel still was unsteady on her pudgy little legs, so the silly game was no challenge for the older girl. It made Rapunzel screech and giggle, which in turn made Cassandra screech and giggle, with the same joy.

"Rabunzel! Come and get me Rabunzel!" Cassandra called over her shoulder, resulting in another fit of giggles from the little toddler. Rapunzel's extraordinary hair grew longer and longer by the day, and at two years old, it already was 4 feet in length and trailing behind her on the floor wherever she went.

From where Mother Gothel stood, gazing into a mirror on the wall, she called out "Girls, settle down please."

There was no response from either child, they were too absorbed in their fun.

"You can't catch me, Rabunzel!" called Cassandra again, followed by more giggles.

Mother Gothel huffed. It was becoming more difficult to ignore them by the second. "Girls!" she tried again.

"Come get me Rabunzel! Come get me! Come get me!" Cassandra shouted between laughs. Rapunzel trailed behind Cassandra as quick as she could manage, screeching and laughing all the way.

Mother Gothel turned away from her reflection, finally reaching the end of her rope. "GIRLS!" she hollered.

Both children stopped in their tracks. Little Rapunzel spun around to face her scowling mother, but tripped over her long locks. When her bare knees hit the stone floor, her eyes welled with tears and she began to cry.

"Rabunzel!" Cassandra said, before she took off across the room to her sister, and pulled the toddler onto her lap to hug her tightly.

Gothel rolled her eyes. "See what you've done Cassandra? Now she's got two scraped knees. You are seven years old, it's time to give up these foolish games!" Gothel spat.

"Mama I'm not seven... I'm just six…" Cassandra said, but when she saw her mother's look of displeasure upon being corrected, she wished she hadn't said it. Pretending that she hadn't, Cassandra continued. "I didn't mean for Rabunzel to get hurt! Rabunzel, I'm sorry…" She said, still hugging the younger child.

"Well she did get hurt. You are supposed to protect her, Cassandra! And for the one thousandth time, her name is RAP-unzel. Say it right or don't say it at all. To bed without dinner, both of you!" Gothel commanded.

Cassandra's eyes pooled with tears, but she concealed them with all her might. Taking Rapunzel by the hand, she led her and her sister up to their bedroom.

When passing by Mother Gothel, Cassandra said "I'm sorry Mama…" and Rapunzel mimicked "M sorry mum mum."

Gothel groaned, and called after the girls while they slowly made their way up the stairs. "Yes, well Cassandra, get your sister ready for bed and I'll be in shortly to hear her practice her song." Gothel proclaimed. "And to tuck you both in." she added with an eye roll.

Cassandra felt a little bit better then, she loved when mother tucked her in.

"Okay, Mama!" She said.

Then under her breath over and over again, she rehearsed "RAP unzel. RAP unzel. RAP unzel."

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It was just past midnight, and nine year old Cassandra couldn't sleep no matter how hard she tried. She could never sleep on the nights when mother was gone. What if someone came and tried to steal Rapunzel? The fear kept her awake. So, she laid there in her bed, watching her five year old sister's back rise and fall slowly in her slumber. She listened to the wind outside, it was a windy and rainy night, which did not make Cassandra any less scared.

Just then, a particularly strong gust of wind blew open the large window in their room. Cassandra gasped and leapt out of bed. She ran to the window and the gusts blew in on her hard, the wind in her hair billowed her waist length black curls behind her. Cassandra fought hard against the winds, and finally managed to slam the window closed.

Cassandra relaxed, exhaling.

"C- Cassie…" Rapunzel muttered, from where she now sat up in bed, the fear was evident in her quivering voice.

Cassandra whipped around and jogged to Rapunzel's bed. She plopped herself down next to her younger sister, and pulled her close with an arm around her shoulder.

"It was just the wind, Raps. Nothing to be afraid of." Cassandra said, while the nine year old's own heart still sped in her chest.

Rapunzel looked up at Cassandra, her bottom lip quivering. "I want mama…" she said.

Cassandra wiped away a single tear from Rapunzel's cheek just as it began to fall, then she petted Rapunzel's hair, encouraging her to rest her head on her big sister's shoulder.

"Mother isn't home, remember? But don't worry, because I'm here. And nothing bad can happen to you while I'm here." Cassandra said.

"I know…" Rapunzel said, followed by a great yawn.

Cassandra took that as a cue and gave Rapunzel one more squeeze before backing up a little. "Okay. Are you ready to go back to sleep now?" she asked.

Rapunzel nodded and layed back down against her pillows, allowing Cassandra to tuck her in. Cassandra gave her a little kiss on the forehead, then rose up and turned to go back to her own bed, where she knew she would lie awake for several more hours.

Before she could reach her bed just a few feet away, she felt a tiny hand grab hers. "Cassie… will you stay with me?" Rapunzel asked, sweetly.

Cassandra turned around and smiled. "Yeah, sure. Scootch your butt over." Cassandra joked.

Rapunzel giggled and happily obliged, scooching over while her big sister slid into bed next to her. Rapunzel clutched Cassandra's arm, making it a pillow for herself, and closed her eyes. "I love you, Cassie." she said, right before she drifted back to sleep.

Cassandra smiled, watching Rapunzel's breath once again become slow and steady in sleep. "I love you too, Raps." she said, knowing Rapunzel wouldn't hear her.

Soon, with Rapunzel holding her, Cassandra drifted to sleep as well.

Yay! Thanks for reading! The first several chapters will be like this one, and show a couple of snippets from throughout their childhood together. They will get older as it goes along, and following canon, we all know what happened when Rapunzel turns 18. How would it have happened if Cassandra was around? Follow to find out!

(Chapters will get longer as the girls get older I think)

Please leave some of your thoughts, predictions, and/or ideas! I love hearing from you guys!