I am so terribly sorry I have not updated this in over two weeks! My life was incredibly busy, and the Wednesdays just seemed to fly by. My humblest apologizes. Please enjoy this long-awaited new chapter!

CHAPTER 15 – The Dawn

Warm summer air swathed Astrid in its comforting embrace.
Clouds rushed past as she and Stormfly flew side by side.
Ocean waves rolled below them, a bright turquoise blue expanse of water…

DING

DONG

Astrid flipped over and flew upside down, gazing at the sky above her…

DING

DONG

The clouds parted, and the sun broke through, bathing her in white light.

DING

DONG

Astrid closed her eyes from the radiant glow.

DING

DONG

When she opened them again, she was lying on her back. Blinking, Astrid rubbed the sleep from her eyes. Blinding rays of dawn poured in from the window. Groggily, Astrid incrementally remembered where she was. She yawned, staring at the white ceiling. Suddenly a loud noise resounded throughout the dormitory hallway.

DING

DONG

It was the seven o'clock morning gong. Astrid groaned. Thankfully, she had an hour before breakfast, and that was plenty of time to mope about, before getting dressed. Plenty of time to lay in bed, in the gentle quiet…

KNOCK

KNOCK

"Astrid?"

It was Rapunzel.

"Are you awake?"

Astrid held her breath, waiting for the sound of receding footsteps. It never came. Instead, she heard a soft click. Her door opened a bit. A petite brunette peered through the crack. "Oh, good, you are conscious," said Rapunzel, coming into the room and shutting the door behind her with her foot. She was holding two steaming mugs, which were emitting a delicious aroma. "Want some coffee?" the princess asked, sitting at the edge of the bed. Astrid scooted up to sitting position. "Um, sure," she said blearily, accepting a hot cup of the caffeinated mixture, "thanks." Rapunzel watched Astrid take her first sip, before raising her own mug to her lips. "Mhmmm," Astrid murmured, feeling the warmth spread through her sleepy muscles.

"Better?" Rapunzel smiled.

Astrid nodded, wrapping her fingers around the cup. They sat in silence, slurping their coffee. "So," Astrid murmured, "what are we doing today?"

Rapunzel shifted, and slid her legs into pretzel style. "Well, according to the schedule we got YESTERDAY," she teased, "we've got Dining Etiquette with my mom after breakfast, then Basic Training in Social Protocol with my mom again after lunch."

"That's it?" Astrid asked, inhaling the steam from her mug. Rapunzel shrugged.

"What are we supposed to do during the free period?"

"Whatever you want, I guess. It's only an hour and a half long, so you can't do anything too elaborate."

"If I ask your mom, do you think I could take Stormfly out for a flight?" Astrid had been wanted to explore the skies of Corona for a while now.

"Well, you can ask her," Rapunzel said, brushing a stray hair from her cheek, "but I don't know if she'll say yes. I hope she will."

Astrid frowned. "Tough love, huh?"

Rapunzel glanced at her. "What do you mean?"

Astrid raised her eyebrows. "Your mom's a little stiff." Rapunzel lowered her eyes. She did not say anything for a long time. Astrid wanted to prod her for information, but kept quiet, waiting. Her patience paid off. Rapunzel took a deep shuddering breath. And began her story.

"When my mother was pregnant with me, she got sick. Really, sick. She did not have much time left. The people of Corona started looking for a miracle. To be specific, a mythical magic golden flower. Supposedly, it grew from a drop of sunlight, and could heal the sick and injured. Actually, it could do even more than that, but I will tell you about that later. Anyway, somehow the castle guards found this flower, and brought it back to my dad. It healed my mom. A little while later, I was born. But on the night after my first birthday, an old woman broke into the castle and stole me away."

Astrid gasped. The rumors Jack had told her were true!

"For seventeen years, she held me in captivity in a tower, convincing me that she was my true mother. All she really wanted was my hair."

"Your hair?" Astrid asked, "Why?"

"Apparently, when I was born, my hair had retained the magical powers of the flower which had healed my mother. By singing a specific song, my blonde hair would glow, and it could heal any wound. Mother—I mean, Gothel—she used my golden hair to maintain her youth. She had been kept alive for thousands of years by using the flower before, so once she lost it… Well, she found the next best thing. Me."

Astrid shook her head in bewilderment.

"Anyway," Rapunzel continued, "every day on my birthday, I would look out the window of my tower and see these…well, I called them 'the floating lights'. Gothel insisted they were just the stars, but they obviously weren't. I found out later that my parents would hold a celebration in honor of 'the missing princess'… It included a flying lantern ceremony. Anyway, on my eighteenth birthday, I asked Gothel if she would let me go see these floating lights. When she refused, I realized for the first time how… strict… she really was."

Rapunzel let out a long sigh, and took a sip of her coffee. Astrid waited.

"Later that day, a man climbed into my tower."

Astrid's eyes widened, but she did not interrupt.

"Long story short, I convinced him to take me to see the floating lights… there was a little blackmail involved, but—" Rapunzel laughed, "I got to see the lights. A lot of crazy things happened that day, and it's too much to tell all right now, but in the end, it all ended happily."

Astrid had so many questions.

"Wait, so what happened to your blonde hair? Who was the man? How did you escape the tower in the first place? How did you figure out you were the lost princess and find your parents? What happened to Gothel?"

"Hey, hey, slow down!" Rapunzel giggled. The princess uncrossed her legs, and hung them over the side of the bed. She cleared her throat, thinking.

"Well, to start…my hair."

Astrid nodded.

"Eugene cut it off. He was 'the man'. He cut off my hair to save my life, and in the process, sacrificed his own."

Astrid frowned. "Wait," she interceded, remembering her conversation with Jack, "Isn't he your husband? But if he died…"

Rapunzel smiled. "Yes. Again, it is kind of a long story, but basically, when my hair was cut, it lost its power. However, I had enough magic left within me to save him. All it took was a tear. As I cried over him, my tears fell on his cheek, and somehow…that healed him." Astrid stared at her, open mouthed. Rapunzel smirked. "I know," she said, "it's all rather confusing." Astrid scoffed.

"You had another question, am I right? About how I escaped out of my tower in the first place?"

Astrid nodded, "Yes, so you could see the lanterns with Eugene."

Rapunzel nodded. "Right. Well, this may come to a shock to you, but—"

Astrid grinned, "Nothing shocks me anymore, after this story."

Rapunzel laughed, "Okay, okay, but let me finish. My hair… was seventy feet long."

Astrid's eyes nearly bugged out of her head. "You're kidding right," she stated.

The princess shook her head, smiling. "That's how Gothel used to get in and out of the tower. She would use my hair as a rope. I used it later to escape. Apparently its magical qualities made it grow really fast." Astrid shook her head in awe. "Wow," she breathed. Rapunzel tucked her short brown hair behind her ears. "About my parents… I cannot really explain how I figured out I was the lost princess, but… I guess it all just fit together, and made sense. Eugene helped me get to the castle, and that is where… I finally reunited with my mother and father again."

The princess sighed. "Well, I guess, now you know why my mother is a tad protective. She has gone through so much, and had to become such a strong woman during those eighteen years I was missing. Nevertheless, she is still my mother, and the best one I have ever had, to boot. She loves me so much, and so does my father… I am so blessed." Astrid took a swig of her lukewarm coffee, attempting to make sense of it all.

"That's amazing," she finally said.

Rapunzel shrugged, downed the last drop of her coffee, and stood up. "I think we should start getting ready for breakfast," she said, heading for the door.

"Wait!" Astrid said, standing up. The princess turned.

"What happened to Gothel?"

Astrid gazed at Rapunzel expectantly.

The petite brunette did not say anything for a moment. Then finally… "She died."

"How?"

"I'd rather not talk about it."

With that, Rapunzel exited the room and shut the door behind her.