Chapter 3 - Week Two: Monday – On Insecurity and Shamelessness

"Why don't we have any men in our group?" Jasmine asked as the group settled in for discussion. "I mean, there are male international students aren't there?"

Jane hesitated a moment while she sought after an answer She's right, why aren't there any boys? "Well, I think Ms. Poppins wanted to start with a smaller demographic and see how the group worked before making it larger." Does that even make sense?

"Don't worry Jane, Jasmine's just met a boy last week and they've been spending quite a bit of time together." Mulan chuckled as she recalled the past few nights of Jasmine swooning after Aladdin dropped her off back at the housing complex. "I admit, he is rather handsome." She winked in Jasmine's direction and was met with a very unsubtle eye roll.

The group was curious about Jasmine's brand new love affair – if they could even call it that. Many wanted to know his name, what he looked like, where he's from; the usual questions. But Jasmine wasn't yet ready to talk about Aladdin or the direction their friendship was moving in. She instead chose to savor the sweet moments they had, worried that her optimism – which had reached an immeasurably high level thus far - could come crashing down at any moment.

"Eh, who needs men anyway? I'm content living on my own, an independent woman with no need for a man – or a woman for that matter before I give any of you lovely ladies any ideas – to keep me satisfied." Came Meg, who had previously been mostly quiet during discussion groups.

Kida, who had become rather bonded to Meg, was in agreement. "Maybe we are just not all intended to be partnered with someone. Perhaps we have other life goals to be concerned over."

Rapunzel knew that someday she wanted to love and be loved, though she too felt pessimistic at times as to whether or not that would ever happen. She knew she had the reputation for being bubbly, chipper and all sorts of fun and happy, but she rarely let herself show her weaknesses or her fears. Her biggest fear being that she would not live a full life.

Since Rapunzel arrived in England, she spent most of her time in the housing complex, either reading, drawing or studying. Well, mostly studying. She knew in her heart that if she took a full course load that she would be kept busy which would leave less room for fearful thoughts. However, it was only a week into the term and she already worked through enough coursework and studying to keep her prepared for more than a quarter of the entire term.

Rapunzel sighed as she dropped her pencil on her notebook and rested her head on the floor. Though the room she shared with Anastasia was comfortably furnished, with two beds, two desks equipped with cushioned chairs and even a sofa for watching television, Rapunzel preferred to do her work on the floor so that she could spread out without anything inhibiting her comfort zone. Anastasia was usually out wandering around campus or London – Rapunzel didn't really know, or even care too much.

There was no question that they got along with one another, but it was obvious that they still came from different worlds and preferred to keep to themselves. For the most part, the times Rapunzel spent outside of her room after classes was mostly spent in the library or in the center park with Mulan, who she felt an unexplainable connection to the moment they met. Perhaps it was their clumsiness or their shamelessness that they had in common, or maybe even just the fact that they shared an interest in each other's respective language and culture. Though sometimes Rapunzel wondered if Mulan was bothered by her seemingly constant energy and perpetual sugar rush, but deep down she knew these were just some of her many insecurities.

While she rested on the floor completely sprawled out with her long hair in all direction, and blunt pencil laying by her cheek, the young woman wondered why she was so intent on staying inside when she could be out wandering like Anastasia or the other girls. No doubt, she was in some sort of mental, emotional slump that she couldn't quite understand.

"I guess I'm just scared." She pondered as she picked up her pencil and began to doodle in her art history notebook. "But scared of what?"

As she asked herself this question out loud, she became aware of the noises coming from outside her window from the park across from the housing complex, and an idea popped into her head. So she closed her art history notes, slipped into her shoes and ran outside to see if this group of people was up to anything interesting. When she got outside and ran across the path to the park she observed a group of young students huddled around and cheering at a pair of fencers.

Rapunzel didn't know much about fencing or really any physical sport for that matter, but she was curious to learn more. From what she could tell as she approached the group, the two fighters were both male and reasonably athletic. One wore a full white suit and the other wore a mixed white and blue suit, the details Rapunzel used to decipher between the two of them.

As she watched for a few more minutes, she became entranced by the movements of the fighters and the art that accompanies such a rigid but fluid sport. She noticed that the fighter in all white used more rigid movements, while the fighter in blue moved more fluidly and gracefully. As a young woman with not much grace or balance, she focused upon the fighter in blue as if his grace could be radiated back to her through her gaze. Within a matter of mere moments, the fighter in all white took a spar to the chest and the fight was over.

Naturally, Rapunzel cheered for her elegant victor but on some level she felt sorry for his opponent. She watched as both men took off their helmets to reveal two strikingly different, yet oddly similar young men. The man in blue was slightly darker in complexion with a suave demeanor about him as he smoothed out his brown hair and checked his goatee. The man in all white had jet black hair tied into a small pony tail to reveal a much defined widows peak and very high cheek bones. Rapunzel watched as the two men shook hands.

"Well Li, better luck next time I guess. We can't all be perfect at everything, and you, my good sir are certainly not well suited for fencing." The man in blue said to his opponent.

"Says the man I trained in the art itself. You did very well Rider, you've even bested me at my own game. How about we go and grab some lunch to celebrate?"

Without even a second of hesitation, Rapunzel ran up to the two men and began to speak at about the speed of a bullet train "So I was watching you guys fight and I was really impressed by both of you, especially you blue-suit man, not just because you won but because you were so graceful and so poised, but that doesn't mean you white-suit man were bad, it's just that I'm super clumsy and I wish I could be less clumsy and now I'm speaking really fast because I'm nervous and I'm nervous because I'm speaking fast, and mother hates it when I don't speak clearly…"

As she trailed off she noticed the two men staring at her in utter confusion. So the man 'Rider' spoke up. "Sorry Blondie, I don't have my translator for 'Crazy' on me, but maybe you can try another frequency."

The man "Li" grinned playfully at his friend before saying to Rapunzel "Ni ke yi shuo zhong wen." You could speak in Chinese.

Rapunzel's eyes lit up and a wide grin emerged across her face. "Wo zhi dai xiao xiao zhong wen" I speak a little Chinese. The man cringed at the sound of her badly broken accent.

"Yeah, you might want to work on that a bit before you try that again."

"Oops, sorry" the young woman apologized very sincerely looking distressed "I just started learning last week anyway, a friend is tutoring me so I'm still very new at this. My name is Rapunzel by the way. I'm a first year student from Germany" She said, extending her hand in introduction.

The man in white smiled and shook her hand. "My name is Shang Li. I'm a student here at the university as well, but I coach the fencing team." He gestured to the man in blue. "This here is my student Flynn Rider, though as you can see, he may have surpassed his teacher as of today." Shang slapped a hand on Flynn's shoulder.

"So what brings you here Ra…" Flynn began, snapping his fingers trying to remember how to pronounce her very bizarre sounding name.

"Rapunzel"

"Yeah yeah, that. So what brings you here?"

"Well, I really wanted a new experience. I was homeschooled in Germany, I rarely went outside, I have no social skills—"

"Oh yeah, we can definitely tell that." The goateed fencer interrupted. Rapunzel scowled.

"Anyway, I came to England to change my life and make a dent in my dreams and I want to learn how to fence."

Expecting laughter and humiliation, Rapunzel cringed awaiting a blow to her confidence but was instead caught off guard by the response.

"Sure." Shang said. "I don't see why not, I mean, we're short on team members anyway and could really use a new man—or woman, in your case."

Flynn on the other hand, was not so sure of the idea. "Wait a minute Li, you're not seriously about to let this doll faced kid on to the fencing team are you?"

Shang nodded. "Yes, I am serious. It's rare enough to find first year students interested in participating in fencing, let alone girls. I think she'd be a great asset to our team."

Flynn gaped at his mentor, obviously in solid disagreement. "Are you out of your mind? You must be crazy! She already admitted to being clumsy and when she's not falling down, tripping on her own hair—didn't even think that was possible until now—or accidentally puncturing someone's jugular, she'll talk your ear off! What are you thinking Li?"

Shang pondered for a minute, resting some of his weight on his sword. "I'm thinking that…you, can be her personal tutor to ensure that she will succeed in her training." His apprentice began to protest. "No, let me finish. If she is not prepared by our first meet next month, I will hold you personally accountable." With that the mentor flashed a grin. "I'll let your imagination decide what those consequences will be."

The mentor turned his attention to Rapunzel who appeared to be on the verge of exploding with glee. She squealed and threw her arms around Shang's neck, repeatedly thanking him. "I promise you won't regret this!"

"It's no problem to me! Say, would you like to join us for lunch?" Shang asked, noting Flynn vigorously shaking his head at the very prospect. "I'm sure you two will want to be better acquainted before you start training."

Rapunzel couldn't be more ecstatic at what had just transpired over the past few moments. "Yes! I love friends! And I'm famished. What are we eating? Where are we going? This is SO COOL!"

Flynn just sighed as the three students began walking toward the center of campus. Rapunzel offered to help carry some of his gear. "Don't worry Flynn—teacher—I'll probably grow on you in time."

Author's Note:
Hi again everyone! Thank you so much for the reviews!
disney-fr3ak, risingstar9328, and AndieTiggerPyro, Solaria Daughter of Apollo, Justdance111 and the mysterious Guest - means a lot as always!
Hope you all enjoyed this chapter, featuring Rapunzel. I decided that I probably will just feature one day and one character per chapter. It makes it easier to write chapters at a relatively fast pace. Before anyone asks, I will clarify that for this story, all relationships will be canon and will probably only focus on the first term. If this story is successful, I may write a sequel which may change things up a bit. We'll see as time goes on.

Stay tuned for next chapter! =]

-Suzerenma