A harmony of bird chirps came through the silence, and Barbary moaned to himself in his sleep, before he subconsciously rubbed his eyes a little bit. Then, he slowly stretched his little body, and yawned. "Ngh…I could sure use more sleep." Barbary mumbled to himself. He then began to lean forward, and accidently bumped his forehead into the bottom.

"Ow." He said to himself, rubbing his forehead. Then, he remembered why he was here. Soon, he slid out of the rocky seat underneath. Barbary then stood up, and slowly began walking around the rose garden. He sighed to himself as he thought

"Well, I still don't know where I'm gonna go, now. What should I do?" He clutched onto his backpack and kept looking down on the ground.

"Hmm…maybe I should go and uh…maybe find one of those places where you stay at for a few days…I don't know what it was called, nor where I could find out…" he began to talk to himself, before suddenly,

Bump.

He accidently bumped into something in front of him, and soon he stumbled back. Barbary shook his head briefly and looked at what he bumped against…of rather, who he bumped. There, standing in front of him; are two women who were inspecting a red rose. Both of them are rather young women, with white skin and green eyes. One of them is wearing a blue and black dress, with a blue ribbon tying her long red hair into a ponytail. The other one has a pink dress with thin long sleeves. She also had long hair, but it was blond, and tied to a long ponytail that went down to her back knees, with flowers decorating the hair. Barbary blushed a bit, face flustered in embarrassment and shock at seeing such beautiful women.

"U-Uh…excuse me, ladies…I uh…" he stuttered once more as he tried to think of what to say to them. But they didn't seem to be bothered by this, and the red head replied, "It's fine, sweetie. It's only an accident. Just…be careful with where you go next time."

Barbary was surprised at her reaction; she didn't hit him, or even try to eat him like his mother. "Y-You're not mad at me?" he asked, with a small, shy tone. The two women shook their heads.

"No. What do you think we would do?" the blond asked. Barbary looked down a bit, twiddling his thumbs. "Uh…try to eat me…" That sentence caught the two women off guard. Their eyes widened in shock and looked at each other like the boy was crazy. The redhead soon kneeled down to Barbary's height, and said, "Sweetie, why would we want to eat you? Where are your mommy and daddy?"

Barbary gulped, now very fearful, twiddling his thumb in the process. "Uh…Uh…I uh…" he began, but he had no idea of what he wanted to say. The redhead smiled. "Don't be scared, little one. We're not mad at you for thinking that we would try to eat you. We just to know why, as well as where your parents are?" she spoke to him. Barbary listened to her tone; it was so…sweet and loving. Almost like his mother before she started drinking. The tone almost made him feel secure and safe.

"Um…w-well, I just…I'm running away from my mommy." He answered shyly. The blond woman leaned down as well. "Why? Why are you running away?" she asked again. Barbary sighed, giving them a saddened look, before pointing towards the bruise on his neck.

"My mommy tried to eat me last night…it really hurt." The two women widened their eyes in shock as the redhead inspected the bruise. "No way. That can't be true…" she stated in shock. Barbary nodded.

The redhead pulled back and placed a hand on his left cheek. "We're so sorry, baby." She said kindly. Barbary looked at her in the eyes, taking a moment to inspect her eyes; they seem to be…rather genuine and concerned for him, almost in a loving way. Then he looked at the blonde's eyes; and her eyes, while similar, also had an empathetic look in them.

"That one…she looks like she is…sharing the same feeling I have. C-Could she have had a hateful mommy too?" he thought to himself. The two women then looked at each other in worrisome, before the redhead looked back at him.

"Hold on, baby." The redhead told him as they stood up and turned away to talk to one another. Barbary looked at the two women as they were whispering to each other about something.


The two women whispered to each other about the boy. "What should we do, Rapunzel? We can't just leave him alone out here." The redhead whispered. The blond woman, Rapunzel scratched the back of her head.

"Maybe, Ariel. *sigh* I-I didn't think I would meet anyone that had been in the same shoes I've been." She replied. The redhead, Ariel sighed through her teeth, hand on her chin, before turning her eyes towards Barbary, who was looking down, rocking his body slightly side-to-side. Ariel looked at her friend, and smiled.

"Let's take him back with us. He should be living a happy life. And I think we should give it to him." She added. Rapunzel smiled back, nodding rapidly before they turned back to look at Barbary.

Barbary saw the two women looking at him with smiles on their faces; the redhead's was warm and motherly, while the blond was more cheery and childlike. He saw the redhead walking back over to him as she soon kneeled down to his level again. "Sweetie, um…what is your name?" she asked politely. Barbary smiled back shyly.

"Um…my name is Barbary…that's it, though. No last name. Just Barbary." He replied shyly. The redhead nodded with another proud smile.

"That's good. Hello, Barbary. My name is Ariel. And this," she looked back at the blond haired woman. "is my best friend, Rapunzel." Barbary looked at her with a shy smile as the blond, Rapunzel simply waved back. "Hi there, Barbary." She said.

"Hi." He replied. Ariel looked at each of them and smiled, before taking Barbary's hand and gently cupping it with both of her hands.

Something that the girls noticed was that this boy was, rather small even for someone of his age. This was a bit confusing to the girls. "Barbary, how old are you?" Ariel asked. Barbary held up 5 fingers. "You're five? You look like you're three." She replied. Barbary tilted his head in confusion.

"Why did you ask?" he asked. "I thought we'd know." Barbary nodded in understanding. Then Ariel continued, "Sweetie. Rapunzel and I talked with each other for a bit. And we decided…would you like to come with us?" she asked gently. Barbary widened his eyes in shock. They…they want him to come home with them? A boy they just met? Rapunzel approached him with a gentle smile.

"We just want you to come with us back to our home, if you'd like of course. I promise, we won't hurt you like that...woman you call mother." She spoke to him gently. Barbary kept looking at her, before growing a small smile as he moved his eyes to the two girls altogether.

"Of course, I…I would like to stay with you girls." He said, a smile growing from his face. Ariel and Rapunzel's face grew brighter like children as they soon stood up and hugged each other, cheering gleefully. Barbary was taken aback at first of this, but upon seeing their reaction, that made him giggle a bit, hands covering his mouth.

Once their cheering stopped, Ariel gently took his left hand with her right hand while Rapunzel took his right with his left hand. "You'll LOVE it from where we're from." Ariel assured him gently as the three people began walking away from the garden.

"Believe me, it'll be…magical." Rapunzel replied with a smile. Barbary looked at both of them and giggled, feeling more and more comfortable being with these sweet women. Then, he asked,

"Wait, where do you two live?" Ariel and Rapunzel looked down at him, a bit confused at how they can explain to him without making it sound suspicious or crazy.

"Well…it's hard to explain, but…have you ever heard of the 'World of Disney'?" asked Ariel. Barbary looked at her, confused. "No…actually, from what I can remember, daddy, before he's…well, gone…he would sometimes tell me about a whole new world where a man by the name of Walt Disney himself created; a place where ALL of his magical drawings and creations can go and live in peace for all eternity." He answered. Rapunzel smiled.

"That's correct. Now, I know this may sound confusing; but what he told you, is the absolute truth. How does he know, I have no idea." She shrugged. Barbary looked on at them in wonder, albeit a bit suspicious of what they're talking about. He never really believed in magic (no doubt thanks to his mother), but a small part of him wanted to trust them. He had nowhere to go, and these ladies are nice and sweet to him. "They're not bad, they're sweet and polite." He kept thinking to himself to make himself feel more confident.


The two women continued guiding him through the park. The park looked empty, but beautiful in the autumn morning, with the dry autumn leaves falling from the colorful trees. Barbary felt mesmerized by such a beautiful scenery. The two women then turned towards the right and into the woods. There is a path covered up by dry leaves that had fallen. Barbary looked on into the woods, and felt a bit scared. Ariel felt him tensing up a bit in fright, and gently tightened her hold on his hand.

"It's okay, Barbary. I promise, it'll be safe." Ariel soothed. Barbary looked up at her, and gave a shy smile. Ariel smiled back, and added, "I have a daughter back home. You'll love her."

Rapunzel giggled at her remark. "I don't think he'll be in love with her, Ariel." She told her with a cheeky tone in her voice. Ariel gasped at her. "Of course not, Punzie. Barbary's way too young for that to happen. He's 5, Melody's no older than 12." She replied. Barbary looked at both of the women, and smiled slightly. Then, he thought of what Ariel said; so she has a daughter?

"Well, I guess then that means I can trust them more." He thought. But then he looked at Rapunzel, confused.

"Excuse me, Miss. Rapunzel?" he asked. Rapunzel looked down at him. "Barbary, there's no need for a 'miss'. The three of us are friends now, so you scratch out the miss, okay?" she instructed gently. Barbary looked a bit shocked at first, but then he settled down.

"Sorry…anyways, um…do YOU have any kids?" he asked. Rapunzel looked at him, her smile faltering a little bit. "No…I don't. And I can't." she said, looking down at her stomach. Barbary sensed an aura of sadness from her, and he quickly stopped walking.

"I'm sorry, Rapunzel. I-I didn't-" he was in a panic mode, fearing on what the two women might do to him. But Rapunzel gave him another smile and gently cupped his cheek.

"Hey, hey, hey…it's okay, baby. It's okay…" Rapunzel gently rubbed her thumb in circles, and Barbary soon settled down. "You had no other way of knowing, Barbary. It's okay…" she soothed calmly, and Barbary settled down. "A-Are you sure?" he asked shyly. Rapunzel nodded with a smile. Then she sighed and answered his question, "Believe me, I really wanted a child I could call my own. But…because of my hair here," she gestured to her blond hair.

"I can't have any kids of my own." She explained with a saddened tone in her voice. Barbary, for some reason, didn't hesitate and hugged her. Rapunzel was stunned at first, but her heart warmed up at such an affectionate gesture, and didn't hesitate as she enveloped him in her arms once more.

"Thank you, Barbary." She said into his ear. Barbary smiled as he felt her warmth, much unlike his mother from before.


Soon, the two of them moved away from each other, and both of them smiled at each other. "Feeling better, dear?" Rapunzel asked. Barbary nodded. "What about you, Rapunzel?" he asked back. Rapunzel smiled and nodded before standing back up and taking his hand. "Alrighty now, let's get going." She said as they continued on their trek. Ariel smiled at such an adorable sight.

"Oh, if only Melody can see this." She said to herself as she gently caressed his hair with her fingers. Barbary giggled at such affection they've given him, and actually felt happy of being with friendly people. Deep down, the little boy was excited about heading towards this 'World of Disney' that they mentioned. There was no way that he could've predicted what would happen in the future that would show him the real meaning of a family, and how that would change his life forever…