Hey guys! I'm back with chapter three, where Rapunzel learns to paint. Many many thanks to thewanderlustmarauder and disneylover115 for reviewing my story – you guys made my day :)

Disclaimer: Tangled does not belong to me.


When Rapunzel had turned 7, her mother had given her some special material in pretty colours. She was to use it to make herself a doll, and some doll's clothes. Rapunzel worked very hard on her doll, and when it was finished she played with it every day. It was her greatest companion. She never gave it a name; in her head she called it her Little Doll.

When Rapunzel was 10, her mother left the tower. She did not live with Rapunzel any more, but she visited every day without fail. It was really not that different from before. Rapunzel soon grew used to the quiet nights and slow, dreary days where she must entertain herself, with nothing but her three books, her two puzzles, her chess set, and her Little Doll.

One day, a few weeks until Rapunzel's eleventh birthday, she was playing with Little Doll by the big window. It was a wet, rainy day, and the storm came down like a torrent. She was not really meant to go near the window, especially when it was wet. But she always forgot.

She sat just out of reach of the wet drops, though a few found their way to her face, blown there by the wind. She and Little Doll quietly played together, while watching the rain form droplets on the cold windowsill.

Rapunzel put Little Doll down, and gazed at the rain. She leaned forward, and tried to catch some drops with her tongue. In doing so, her knee pushed out further and further, and with one little push, Little Doll hurtled down, down, down towards the ground.

Rapunzel gasped. Little Doll was Outside.

She peered through the rain, but it was so thick that she could not see the ground. Then she remembered herself, and quickly sat back in case she fell down too, down to that dangerous Outside. She would ask her mother to get it for her when she came back that afternoon. There was nothing else to be done.

That afternoon, Rapunzel kept a watch out for her mother. It had stopped raining, but the sky was still overcast. The ground was so muddy that Rapunzel could not see Little Doll at all. There was a little stream of water running from the top of the valley down to the big pond, which was rapidly growing. Rapunzel watched, and wondered where Little Doll could be. She might have been swept along by the rain, and ended up in the bottom of the pond. Rapunzel tried not to think about how cold and wet Little Doll was now.

Finally her mother came striding out of the cave that led into the valley. Rapunzel waved frantically, meaning for her mother to hurry. When her mother heard her calls, she picked up her skirts and ran swiftly towards the tower. "Are you fine? What happened?" she called up worriedly.

Rapunzel had not meant for her mother to get so worried. "Mother, I dropped my doll. Could you please find her for me?" she called down, slightly nervously.

Her mother frowned. Nevertheless, she poked her booted foot around in the mud. Watching anxiously from the tower, Rapunzel was certain that she saw something...

But a moment later, her mother shouted up, in an annoyed tone, "Rapunzel, let your hair down. If you were so careless as to drop your doll, then you won't miss her too much. Now hurry up darling, it's wet down here."

Rapunzel was close to tears, but she slowly dropped her golden hair down the tower to the ground, pulling it up once her mother was holding on tight. As soon as her mother climbed through the window, she ran upstairs as fast as she could. She could not bear to look at her mother just then.

Over the next few weeks, Rapunzel mourned the loss of Little Doll. She grew depressed, or as depressed as it was possible for her to be. However, she soon cheered up, with the coming of a her eleventh birthday, and the annual Floating Lights.

That year, her mother brought her some paint, made out of beautiful white shells. Rapunzel was ecstatic. She soon had used up all of the paper in the tower, practicing the different brush strokes, and different combinations of colours. Looking around the tower for more paper, she noticed that the wooden railing on the staircase looked quite bare. Taking out her paint, she painted a golden pattern all down the rail. She was so interested in her work that she did not notice the time, and dinner was not ready when her mother arrived for the evening.

Her mother was a tad annoyed. "Why is dinner not ready, darling? You have all day to make dinner, and it's still not enough time for you?"

"I'm sorry mother, but I got caught up," explained Rapunzel. "I can show you what I did, if you like."

"Unless it was copying out the entire cookbook, I can't imagine what you did," laughed her mother, following Rapunzel to the stairs.

Rapunzel showed her mother her pattern, explaining how she had done it. Her mother interrupted her. "Yes but darling, this is not food!"

"Yes but mother..." began Rapunzel.

"No buts," said her mother sternly. "From now on, if dinner is not ready by the time I get here, I will have to take your paints away." She laughed at Rapunzel's downcast face. "Oh, darling, you are so adorable when you are sad!"

"Sorry mother," said Rapunzel quietly.

Her mother kissed her on the top of her head, then pulled her onto her stool in front of the fire. "Darling, I'm feeling a little tired. Will you sing for me?"

"Of course mother!" beamed Rapunzel, glad to make up for her tardiness. She sweetly sang the Special Song as her mother brushed her hair with the silver brush, but her mind was elsewhere, thinking of all the beautiful paintings that she could now make. A whole new world was open to her. She couldn't wait to really begin.

But she would make sure that dinner was always ready from now on.