The Ties of Friendship
Summary: Rapunzel both gives and receives various forms of advice when she returns for a week-long meeting. (This will be a multi-chapter story, but most likely no more than four or five chapters. :D)
Disclaimer: I don't own Sofia the First or Tangled. :D
A/N: Here's chapter three, at last. I'm sorry it took much longer. Last time, Rapunzel aided Baileywick. The time has finally come for her to advise Sofia, who seems to have a bit of an identity relapse.
Chapter 3: Cookie Cutter Conundrum
The next two days were a little less interesting for Rapunzel. She'd been in a few meetings with the king and his advisors, and she'd made some recommendations they'd approved. She did, however, sort of hate the whole serious "royal requirements" she'd so often found herself having to acquire the last few days. Sometimes, she really missed being just Rapunzel and not "Princess Rapunzel of Corona." Those simple days of painting, cleaning, reading, and bugging Pascal weren't so easy to come by anymore.
Still, she couldn't complain. Her husband Eugene took a bit of the load from her shoulders many times, which she really appreciated.
Rapunzel paused as she passed by one of the rooms. She noticed the door was open, and inside was a forlorn looking Princess Sofia. She raised an eyebrow at the normally cheerful girl's expression as she sat on her bed, her legs tucked underneath her, while she stared at a ragged doll.
The blonde princess knocked on the door softly, garnering a surprised look from the younger girl. She smiled. "Hey, can I come in?"
Sofia blinked and nodded as she took her doll and hid it behind her back, dropping it onto the bed. "Hi, Rapunzel," she greeted with a small smile, though it didn't really seem to reach her eyes. "What are you doing here?"
"I was heading…eh, somewhere." She laughed sheepishly. "I think I made a wrong turn and got lost…" She grinned when Sofia actually giggled at her explanation. "Is something wrong? You seem kind of down."
"Not really…" She sighed and folded her hands in her lap.
"Um, right, like I'm going to believe that…" She walked over toward the auburn-haired girl and sat on the bed across from her. "The tell-tale sign, Sofia: the sigh. It's always the sigh."
"I'm that obvious?" she asked with a pout.
"Just a tiny bit," the older girl joked with a grin. "What's going on?"
"Do you ever feel out of place, like you don't belong or fit in…or like you're…different?"
Rapunzel blinked before dryly responding, "Different, huh? Let's see. I've had seventy feet of magical healing hair; I'd been kept in a tower for about eighteen years of my life; I've discovered a woman who called herself my mother was actually a conniving kidnapper; and I've only been a 'proper' princess for a few years, despite growing up acting like a common girl who had a very unhealthy obsession with painting lanterns and struggling with internal conflicts." She shrugged, making Sofia laugh. "You tell me!"
"Okay, so you'd understand where I'm coming from." She pulled the doll in front of her again, caressing its hair. "Sometimes I miss my simple life in the village. I mean, I love my family and friends here, and being a princess is fun… But sometimes I wish I could have both worlds whenever I wanted them. It gets a bit overwhelming sometimes."
"I can appreciate that." She leaned against one of the bedposts and twirled the end of her braid around her hand thoughtfully. "Being a princess isn't easy. I know that. But the good thing is, as a princess, you're able to reinvent and assert yourself. You can be who you want to be."
Sofia smiled, recognizing these words.
"You're not like other princesses, Sofia." Rapunzel gestured with her free hand. "You befriend commoners and royals. You study magic with your best friend—a sorcerer. You have a bond with animals and really seem to care about their wellbeing. You have an amulet that holds mysterious powers—and it seriously needs to consult us other princesses before yanking us out of our own kingdoms without warning."
The younger princess giggled. "Sorry… I wondered if it ever interrupted you all, but I never thought to ask."
"It's fine. But that's my point, kiddo. You're special. You don't have to be like every other princess. You can be yourself and bring a new perspective others never saw coming." She gestured toward herself. "Do you think people in my kingdom knew what they had gotten into when I returned as the princess?" She smirked as Sofia smiled and shook her head in humor. "Just be your best. Being like all the other princesses is overrated and honestly…kind of boring."
The young girl nodded in realization. "I think I get it now… I'm usually perfectly fine with how things are these days, but some days I guess I have…relapses?"
The blonde smiled. "Don't we all?" She slid from the bed and brushed her dress out before holding out her hand, helping Sofia down also. "How about we go for a walk and get away from everything for a little while? I swear if I see one more noble attempting to beckon me into another meeting, I'm going to lock myself in a room and sing off-key songs at the top of my lungs so they quit bothering me for the rest of the day."
Sofia laughed uncertainly and raised an eyebrow at her. "Maybe a little fresh air would do us both some good then."
The two princesses left the castle to get some much needed downtime.
To be continued…
A/N: All right, everyone… It's your turn to provide some input. The next chapter should be the last, and it's Rapunzel receiving advice from someone this time. I'll let y'all make some recommendations in the reviews of who you'd like to see talking to her, and the character with the most votes will be her "advisor." Haha.
CedricAmber: I'm sorry! I meant to get back to you earlier but totally forgot. I saw the review on "Ivories" about Cedric's sister and your question. I personally think the sister is older. I think I may have seen it somewhere, but I just got the general feeling she was also, based on how he described her to Amber. I do hope we see her sometime, and I actually read an awesome suggestion someone on the Wiki said: let Ellen DeGeneres voice her. Oh…my…cupcakes… That would be SO funny. :p
That ManX: Thanks for everything and all the reviews!
All the other people, including those I speak to regularly or semi-regularly: You know I love y'all and your reviews… :) I'm getting the suggestions, requests, humorous stories, etc. Don't think they go unread. I fully appreciate everything. ;)
~AquaTurquoise