Author's Note:

Boy, did I have fun with this chapter. I probably wrote it in about an hour and a half (pretty darn quick for me, I don't know about other people). Hope you all enjoy it! You guys have been great with your reviewing, as of late! Keep it up!

The days few by. Now that Rosie was well, the sisters were able to spend their free time together, two extremely pregnant women, running off to have adventures. Life seemed to have backtracked, and they were little princesses of Corona again. (Well, with the exception of the obvious.)

One glorious spring morning, Freja and Rosie took a stroll along the beach along the west side of the island, on which the kingdom sat. A couple of palace guards accompanied them to insure their safety, but Rosie had requested them to trail quite a ways behind. This was sister time. The beach stretched out before them for miles upon miles, and the girls walked slowly and chatted and laughed, digging their toes into the warm sand, and waddling swiftly away as the sea water lapped at their ankles. Freja lost her balance once and fell on her side with a little splash, but she rose, laughing, and they continued on toward their unknown destination.

"I can't believe I haven't asked you this yet," Freja said presently, kicking sand as she walked, "But do you have a name picked for the baby yet?"

The older sister sighed softly and shook her head. "Nothing was sounding right. And then, when I got sick, I stopped thinking about names altogether. I just wanted her to survive."

"Well, then, we should think of one."

Rosie laughed, "Okay, Freja, what do you suggest?"

"Hmm… Margret? We could call her Maggie for short?"

Rosie shrugged.

"Louisa?"

"No. It's pretty, but I knew a girl a few years ago called Louisa. Awful woman. I will not name my daughter that."

"Gretel?"

"Eh, maybe. I just don't know."

Freja thought a bit more. One more name stuck out to her.

"What about Anna?"

Her sister tilted her head sideways, like she always did when she was contemplating something.

"I like that one."

"So do I," responded Freja, crossing her arms. "I might not let you use it."

"Why not?"

"Well, I might need it later on!"

Rosie laughed. "Oh, Freja, for the first time in forever, won't you just live in the moment."

Freja rolled her eyes.

They had come to a tall, rocky cliff that rose out of the sand. Yellowy-green dune grass protruded in small patches on the dark colored rock, burrowing their roots into it. Tufts of purple rampion grew along with the grass, the small violet bellflowers casting dots of bright color among the rock.

"That's odd," Rosie stated, looking at the flowers, "Rampion doesn't usually grow this close to the beach. It's usually more inland. Freja?"

Freja was a short ways up the beach, "Check this out!" She called excitedly to her sister.

A giant crack in the rock had been eroded away by the high tide of the ocean. Water had carved it out into a cave.

"Remember when we used to find these when we were kids?" Freja said, "We would pretend we lived in the caves and were mermaids only when the tide came in."

"I remember you slipping in the water and ruining your new dress," Rosie giggled.

Freja narrowed her eyes playfully, "Let's not go there."

The girls wandered into the cave. The tide was low, now, so the sand inside was dry and cool. Looking up, they saw that the cave had a natural skylight, a wide crevice in the cliff that let in the sun.

"Freja…," Rosie's voice was an awestruck whisper, "Oh my!"

Purple rampion flowers had overtaken the cavern. Along the rock walls, they grew so thick that the stone was hardly visible beneath their vibrant color. As the sun came in through the ceiling, it struck the rampion, casting a light purple glow across the sandy floor, and also the two young women that stood there.

Freja could hardly speak. "It's… beautiful," she whispered. It seemed strangely inappropriate to talk any louder, as if this was sacred ground and they were violating some ancient rule by being here.

"My favorite flowers are rampions," Rosie said softly. She stood in the center of the cave, gazing up at the crack of light above them. Spreading her arms, she spun around, laughing. The atmosphere of silence was broken, and Freja joined her, jumping around like a toddler, breathing in deep the sweet smell of the purple flowers.

Rosie placed a delicate hand on a bundle of the plants, admiring them. Suddenly, her fist clenched, ripping the rampion out of their fragile home.

"Rose! What the…" Freja began to scold. But then she saw the look in her sister's eyes. "What?!" She demanded, grabbing Rosie's arm, "What is it?"

"Freja…" Rosie said, drawing out her baby sister's name nervously, "My water broke!"

Freja jaw fell open. She looked at her sister, her mind completely blank. What was she supposed to do now?

"Freja!" Rosie shouted.

"Right! Okay, it's gonna be fine!" She snapped out of her trance and ran to the entrance of the cave. The two guards who had been tailing them… where were they? Her eyes darted around the beach desperately. Oh, there they were.

"Help! Help!" They ran over immediately.

"You highness! What's wrong?"

Freja motioned them into the cave, where Rosie was sat down in the sand, looking increasingly uncomfortable.

"Um, the baby's coming," Freja blurted.

The guards looked uneasily at each other. "We… we should get you back to the castle."

"No time for that," Rosie groaned, "It took us, what, two hours to walk here?"

"If we run, we'd get you home in under thirty minutes," said the other guard. He was very young, with hardly a whisker of facial hair to be seen on his baby face. Freja raised her eyebrows in amusement, looking at Rosie and imagining the two of them racing down the beach, giant bellies bouncing up and down. She laughed as the first guard, who was quite a bit more grown up than the boy, rolled his eyes and elbowed his young apprentice in the hip.

"I don't think that will work out very well," said Freja, sympathetically, then an edge of command came into her voice. She had learned to show command over recent years. Being a queen, she found it came in useful, "We need to get Thomas here as soon as possible. And a physician. One of you needs to run back to the castle and get help."

"I'll go," said the boy. He looked rather red in the face and itching to get out of that cave, surrounded by pregnant ladies.

"Good," Freja said, "What's your name?"

"Frederick."

Rosie groaned from behind Freja. Her eyes were wide with concern and discomfort.

"Fine, then, run as fast as you can, Frederick!"

The young guard tore off down the beach like he was being chased by the boogie man.

"Freja…" came Rosie's strained voice.

"Hey, there," her sister plopped down in the sand beside her, "It'll be just fine. The physician will be here before you know it. Don't worry about a thing."

"I… I think the baby's coming."

"Yeah, thanks, Rose. I kinda got that."

"No, I mean now!" she let out a frail, tight screech and grabbed fistfuls of sand.

Freja's cool composition vanished.

"Wait, what!? What do you mean, now? It's too soon!" her breathing started to quicken. This couldn't be happening. "I don't know how to deliver a baby! My niece is not going to be born on some stupid beach!"

"Freja," Rosie's voice was suddenly surprisingly calm and firm, "Stop freaking out, unless you want to go into labor yourself."

Freja gulped and tried hard to stop hyperventilating.

"Look around," her sister commanded, "Look at this place! This has got to be one of the most gorgeous places in Corona! Why shouldn't my baby be born here? It's incredible! And who better to bring her into the world than you, my little sister, who I know will be the best, most loving auntie ever, and always break all the rules I set for her? Freja, you need to stop doubting yourself. You can do anything."

The seriousness of Rosie's words hit Freja square in the chest. She looked at her sister, sitting there in the sand, about to give birth to a brand new life. She didn't even appear to be scared anymore. Confidence bubbled up inside Freja. Standing up and dusting the sand off her knees, she turned to the remaining guard.

"Do you have any water?"

He nodded and held out his canteen.

Freja settled herself next to Rosie. Her sister clenched her teeth again and scrunched her eyes shut, and a small squeak escaped her lips.

"Another contraction?"

She nodded.

Clutching her sister's hand, and almost yelling when Rosie squeezed it too hard, Freja directed her, "Don't forget to breathe, Rose."

King Thomas whistled his horse onward. The poor creatures was already galloping as fast as its legs could carry it, but Thomas felt like they were moving at a crawl as they raced along the beach, one of the physicians to his left, and Stellan flanking his right. The deep sand of the beach was difficult for the horses to run on, so they were close to the water, galloping along the damp, compact sand, and getting sprayed by salt water when the small waves drifted in. Thomas's horse panted heavily. How did two pregnant women get so far out here, in the first place?

"I should have never let them come out here," Thomas called back to Stellan.

"Like you really had a choice!" his brother-in-law shouted back.

Wasn't that the truth.

A minute later, a giant cliff of rock was looming ahead of them. Stellan pointed at it, and Thomas nodded.

"Rose!" he yelled as he neared the cliff. He could see the cave entrance that the young guard had told him about.

"Rose!" Stellan echoed him, "Freja!"

Freja appeared at the cave entrance. She was grinning from ear to ear, her face practically glowing. Thomas swung off his horse so hastily that he very nearly fell down in the sand, with Stellan close behind him. The poor physician was still a short ways down the beach, frantically commanding his horse to catch up to the two kings.

Thomas ran to Freja, his breathing heavy.

"Is… is… she…?" he just left it at that.

Freja raised her shoulder and smiled like she had a secret. Then she put a finger to her lips and beckoned the men inside. Their eyes widened at the sight that awaited them. There, glowing purple and surrounded by hundreds of brightly colored flowers, was Queen Primrose of Corona, sitting in the sand, holding her newborn daughter in her arms. Rosie smiled brilliantly as Thomas entered the cave. Her husband kneeled next to her. The baby was tiny! A fluff of bright golden hair stood up on top of her head. Every finger, every toe, every feature of her minute, detailed face was absolutely perfect.

Freja walked over to stand next to Stellan, smiling up at him in pride. He chuckled and put and arm around her waist, pulling her close to his side.

"Good job," he whispered in her ear.

Everything was completely still and tranquil. The sound of waves could be heard, splashing down on the beach outside. Birds were singing. The rampions caught the breeze that drifted through the opening in the cave and up through the ceiling crevice, and they whistled delicately. Everyone's attention was focused on the tiny bundle that Rosie cradled in her arms.

Freja looked at Thomas. The king was on the verge of tears.

"Aren't you going to tell them her name?" she said softly.

Rosie grinned. She gestured up at the purple bellflowers that surrounded them. "Did you see the rampions?"

Thomas's face fell slightly. "Oh, Rose, please tell me you didn't name our daughter Rampion."

The queen laughed, and the baby stirred with a small wail. Her eyes opened. They were bright green.

"Rapunzel!" Rosie said, stroking the tiny princess's golden fluff of hair, "Her name is Rapunzel."

High above the kings and queens and child gathered in the cave, a figure stood on the cliff top. She wore a deep scarlet cloak, clutched tightly around her frail body. Wisps of light gray hair sprung out from under her hood in tight curls as she peered through the natural skylight, watching the celebration that was happening below. Her eyes fixed on the new princess with the beautiful golden hair. Scrunching her wrinkled face up in a distasteful pucker, the old woman twirled around, stalking back into the forest from whence she came.