Gil was running over the green campus, searching for a certain someone. A slight panic had been rising up on him when someone told him that he had to go to Fairy Godmother as soon as possible. He had done something wrong again, hadn't he. Did he break something again? Maybe it were the strawberries he and Harry found and brought back to the ship. Maybe they shouldn't have taken them. But why would someone leave a bowl with perfectly fine strawberries in the open if they didn't want them to be taken by someone else?
Fortunately for Gil there was someone he could count on, someone who helped him last time when he destroyed the rose bush. He had to be somewhere. There he was! Gil quickly walked towards Jay, who was together with Evie and Carlos. Jay could not hide his smile the moment he saw Gil walking towards him. But something also seemed off. He wasn't smiling like he usually did.
"Jay, you got to help me!" Gil said, not even greeting first.
Jay already nodded, practice could wait. "What happened?"
Gil indeed felt better when Jay was beside him when they walked to Fairy Godmother's office. Again… Gil still hesitated when he stood in front of the door. He looked over at Jay.
"Just one way to find out," Jay stated and it managed to make Gil nervously smile. Gil knocked on the door, getting a 'come in' from the other side. He shot one last glance at Jay before he pushed the door open and faced Fairy Godmother.
"Gil, good to see you got my message. Come in."
Gil send a confused glare at Jay. Shouldn't she be mad? He walked into the room, cautious for when it turned out to be a trick. Jay still followed closely behind.
"I wanted to introduce you to someone," Fairy Godmother stated. Both Gil and Jay looked up at the woman and a younger girl beside her. The woman had short brown hair and a very warm smile on her face. Her green eyes showed kindness and compassion. The girl looked almost exactly liked her, accept for the long golden hair, that was tight up in a braid. Still the hair almost reached the floor. Gil couldn't help but stare at the hair for a moment, wondering how long it would be when it would be loosed. Jay was already used to it, since he had seen the girl before.
"So you're Gil, the son of Gaston. I heard a lot about you," the woman started. Gil was used to people saying his father's name with a lot of respect or a lot of disgust, usually not something in between. This woman did neither and still had a friendly smile on her face. "I'm Rapunzel and this is my daughter Ruby. Is it alright if we have a little talk?"
"Sure," Gil answered, still having the feeling he was walking in an ambush. Jay, however, was relaxed and even had a reassuring smile, telling Gil that it would be alright.
"I heard you wanted to learn more about flowers," Rapunzel continued. "We might be able to help you with that. We come from a kingdom not far from here and we kind of have a history with flowers. So you can come with us and we can show you what we know."
Jay already got a smile on his face, understanding what Rapunzel was saying.
Gil still frowned, slowly turning to Jay for support. Then he looked back to the unfamiliar woman before him. "You want to teach me about flowers?" he asked, wondering what the catch would be.
"If you want to," the blond girl answered.
A hopeful look started to appear on Gil's face, but he looked at Jay once more. Jay tried to hold his laughter. The confused looks on Gil's face was probably the most precious sight he had ever seen.
"Does she know what happened to the roses?" Gil carefully asked Fairy Godmother. Both Rapunzel and Ruby cringed a little bit.
"We do," Rapunzel answered. "But we still want to give you another change."
Jay could see how Gil's eyes slowly lit up, as Gil slowly started to realize what was happening. Gil nodded gratefully, determined that he would not make a fool of himself again.
...
"Jay, look at all these flowers!" Gil shouted the moment they got out of the car.
The drive indeed didn't take very long, but the destination was absolutely worth it. It was a small kingdom with a small city in comparison to Auradon. They drove through the little, colourful streets towards the palace . There they stopped at a beautiful garden, accessible for everyone. Little children were walking with their parents, as they smelled the flowers and then continued their way.
Gil stood in front of the gate, waiting to get permission to enter the garden. Ruby was the first to enter, closely followed by Gil. Jay and Rapunzel walked slowly behind. Jay had to admit it was indeed beautiful, while he let his eyes glance over the different colours and flowers.
"Thank you for doing this for him," Jay said to Rapunzel.
Rapunzel simply shrugged. "It's no problem. I'm glad to help."
"Well, it's just most people in Auradon already keep their distance once they know who he is or what he is."
"Don't think I'm naïve, because I spend sixteen years in a tower," Rapunzel said smiling and made Jay look up in surprise. "I know he's a pirate. And I know you also have a history filled with theft, Jay son of Jafar. The truth is, my husband was a thief as well when he was younger. He was actually sentenced to death before my parents gave him a second chance and banned the death penalty altogether. I believe that the barrier should've been destroyed years ago. You all deserve a second chance."
Jay looked up at the woman beside him. She smiled back at him, friendly and filled with compassion. He had no idea there were people outside of the Isle having a dark past. Without a prison like the Isle the best way to solve such 'problems' was to kill them. Though Rapunzel didn't seem to agree with that statement. Jay then looked back at Gil and Ruby, who were already discussing the flowers in the garden. The girl smiled with the same compassion as her mother, not flinching away from Gil even once. Jay sighed relieved, Gil would be alright here.
Gil was already lost, following Ruby on the path surrounded by all kinds of different flowers.
"What are those?" Gil asked, pointing at the huge yellow flowers.
"They're called sunflowers."
"You've got so many of them," Gil said while reaching out to one of them. Ruby held her breath, not knowing what he was planning to do. But then Gil softly touched one of the pedals and then let his fingers softly ran over the thick stem.
"I know, we have something special with sunflowers here," Ruby answered, quickly smelling one of the flowers herself.
"Do you also have roses?" Gil asked, turning back to Ruby.
She nodded happily and smiled at him again. "Follow me."
Enthusiasm already started rushing through Gil's body, but he still looked back. He could see how Jay talked to Rapunzel and even pointed at some of the flowers himself. He seemed relaxed and charming, as always. Jay was doing alright. Gil then quickly followed Ruby through the maze of flowers.
"Here we are," Ruby happily said as she pointed at the different rose bushes. Gil stared at them for a moment, taking in all the different colours and sizes.
"I thought roses could only be red," Gil said, while he softly touched a yellow rose. Ruby smiled at him and shook her head.
"How did you actually destroy an entire bush by yourself? Didn't your hands get hurt by the thorns?" Ruby asked the question that had been running through her head the entire time. She had finally found the courage to ask him.
Gil laughed shamefully. "I have to admit, some of the thorns even went through my gloves. That should've been a clear hint that I was doing something wrong, right? But I just really wanted to pick them, so I could show them to everyone else. I know it was stupid."
Ruby smiled at the boy who was still admiring all the different colours of the roses. She started to realize her mother had been right. This guy might have come from the Isle of the Lost, but he didn't seem evil at all, just uninformed.
"First rule of nature," Ruby said, while she stood beside Gil. "If you appreciate it, you should aim to leave it. You can look at the flower, smell the flower, softly touch the flower. But don't pick it up, because you're probably killing it by doing so."
"So…," Gil slowly said while thinking. "You should never pick a flower."
"Well… Not entirely true," Ruby said, also thinking out loud. "Roses for example need to be cut from time to time, to make room for more flowers. But you got to do it the right way. I could show you one day."
"But how about berries? Are you not supposed to pick the berries from a bush? Or cherries from a cherry tree?" Gil asked her. He was clearly confused. Gil wasn't the only one being confused by the conversation.
Ruby tilled her head slightly. "That's fruit. Fruit is meant to be picked and eaten."
Gil got a frown on his forehead. "But why are we supposed to eat the fruit, but not the flower," he thought out loud.
Ruby had to quickly put her hand over her mouth to hide her smile. A soft laughter could be heard. It was getting obvious that this guy had almost no schooling at all. Even so, he still wanted to learn. They just had to start at the beginning.
"I'm already wondering how I'm going to explain herbs to you," Ruby said still softly laughing.
"What are herbs?" Gil immediately replied.
Ruby's eyes widened. The questioning look on Gil's face made her realize he wasn't joking. This guy was seriously empty headed. She shook her head, a pitiful smile on her face. She already decided she wouldn't give up on this guy. "Come on, I'll show you."
So I broke one of my fingers and it freaking hurts. On the bright side, it gave me an idea for a Gil/Jay one shot. So maybe one day I'll write it down. Just wanted to share that with you. x3
I just had to add Rapunzel and Ruby in this story. I love Tangled and I love exploring Ruby as a character. Anyway, hope you liked this chapter. ^^
