Rapunzel always slept peacefully. Eugene was more of a squirmer but she had adjusted to his twists and turns. You did that when you were married, you got used to things. Rapunzel usually slept peacefully. But not tonight.

It was a sort of shriek. No, a moan or maybe a sob. Whatever it was, Rapunzel heard it. She rose and ran to her window, where she saw Elsa on her knees, in front of her parents' grave. Rapunzel threw on a shawl and dashed outside. Once out there, however, she paused. Perhaps, Elsa did not want to be bothered?

But here was a human being in misery. And misery always wants to be bothered.

"What's the matter?" Rapunzel asked simply. She didn't bother with "Your Majesty" or any of that. It did not impress her when other people used it with her.

Elsa jumped. "Nothing," she said quickly and tightly. She did not look at Rapunzel and her hands kept twisting the folds of her dress in her lap.

"If you want to grieve for your parents privately, I can leave," Rapunzel said plainly. "But I have a feeling that you're upset over something else. In that case, let me help you. What is the matter?"

Elsa finally looked up. Her eyes were full of tears. "I can't!" she said desperately.

"You can't tell me?"

"No. I can't anything! I can't rule a kingdom. I can't give speeches! I'm terrified and there's no one to help me! " And Elsa hid her face in her hands.

Rapunzel sighed. "Didn't your parents teach you any of it?"

"Only the theory. They never let me actually do it. It's different when you do it. And I am...uncomfortable with people."

"Well, of course, you are. You've spent your life behind a closed door." Although, Rapunzel reflected, she had also spent her life up in a tower. And she was comfortable with people. Perhaps, it was having Pascal for a playmate. She had never felt alone with Pascal.
"I understand why I am this way!" Elsa said sharply. "But it doesn't help to understand why. How do I rule a kingdom when people...scare me?" And Elsa kept on crying, just a bit more quietly.

Rapunzel plopped down on the wet grass and thought. She thought for a good ten minutes. Then, she said, "Come with me to my living room at the inn."

"Now?" Elsa asked.

"Yes, now."

"But your husband, won't he wake up?"

"He is in the bedroom. And what if he does wake up? He can get his sleep at some other time." And Rapunzel led the still weeping Elsa through the moonlit street and to her living room. Quietly, she lit two candles and set up two easels. Then, she handed Elsa a paintbrush.

"Here. I want you to paint."

Elsa was puzzled and for a moment, looked as if her pride was rather hurt. "I am struggling with ruling a kingdom and you want me to paint?"

"You forget, I rule a kingdom too," Rapunzel said. "I may have help from my parents but I still understand your position and the responsibility it entails. Now paint."

"Paint what?"

"Anything."

Elsa drew back and away from the easel. "I can't. I need some kind of...assignment. "

"I thought so," Rapunzel said with a sigh. "Here." With a fine-tipped brush, she began to draw with black paint, creating the outline of a horse, rearing up on its' back legs. "Now, color it in, using any colors you like."

"And this is supposed to help?" Elsa's voice was trembling.

"It's supposed to help you relax. You paint. I'll paint. Once, you've calmed down a bit, I'll make you some tea and we can talk about ruling the kingdom. I have a great deal of advice for you."

In truth, Rapunzel did not have that much advice that she felt could apply to Elsa. She was comfortable with people. She did have confidence in her own abilities and if she ran into a problem she could not resolve, she turned to her parents or Eugene for advice. So they were very, very different. But Rapunzel knew that painting always made her feel better and while they painted, she would have time to think. Surely, in an hour's time, she could come up with something.

When they had finished their painting, the sun was just rising.

Rapunzel made tea. Then she sat down next to Elsa and spoke very quietly.

"I have two simple things and one hard thing that would help you. The first simple thing you need to do is to ask other people for help. Your kingdom has plenty of experts. Let them gather and give you advice. And I know you're uncomfortable with people. You may have to speak with them individually instead of gathering large groups together. The second simple thing is to go very, very slow. Don't try to change things so quickly even if they're all wrong. They've been wrong before and people have survived. If you go too fast, you'll break."

"I'm already broken," Elsa said quietly.

"Rapunzel paused. She put her arm around Elsa and tried very hard to say things correctly, tenderly but clearly.

"That brings me to the third thing, the hard thing. You are...maybe not broken but somewhat...damaged. You have let people tell you that you are a monster. You have let people tell you that you are a danger. Even your parents, my dear, were fools. They made you believe that you were less important than the people around you when they forced you to hide yourself away. You must admit that now."

Elsa nodded. "That's what I saw saying at the gravestone. 'You damaged me."

"So the third thing, the hard thing, is understanding who you are."

Elsa shook her head. "I have absolutely no idea who I am. Anna does. She's a perky, clumsy, happy princess. She's got her quirks but – "

Rapunzel cut her off. "If we focus on Anna, we'll be here all morning. Of course, we'll be here all morning anyway but let's not waste our time. You aren't Anna. You're you."

"Yes but who am I?"

" There's a book," Rapunzel said. "I had never heard of it until three years ago when I came to live with my parents. It's called The Bible."

""Of course, I know about the Bible!" Elsa thought of how she had read and reread that story about Jacob as a child. She thought about her own stairway to what she thought was heaven.

"The Bible tells you exactly who you are." Rapunzel stood. "But the reason I said it was a hard thing is that you cannot do it by making arrangements or writing letters or doing practical things. It must be done by sitting still and reading, possibly copying things, allowing yourself slowly to believe what you've read. It must be a work of the heart and mind. And I'm willing to help you with it."

"That's very generous but...I should have done it when I was locked up," said Elsa. "I haven't the time now."

"You found the time to paint just now," Rapunzel said, smiling. "If you wish to, you'll make the time. And I...have all the time in the world!"

Elsa hesitated. It seemed awfully dreary, sitting there and writing out scriptures, as if she was some kind of hired scribe. But Rapunzel was willing to do it with her. It would be different if they did it together.

"Very well," she said. "We can try."