Happy New Year Folks! I hope you had a wonderful New Years! Please enjoy this new chapter.

Also because this story is built with flashbacks, please, if you would like to see something, don't hesitate to ask. Also please give me feedback on what you like so far.

A low hum was heard across the small studio that Rapunzel worked in for it was she who was humming the tune. It was a daily thing for her, each day she would just sing the tune that came to mind, no matter what it was. It didn't hurt that she had the entire studio to herself, at least for the moment. She always loved to work on her art, whether it be early, late or during the weekends (as was the case at the moment). Rapunzel had been told she was practically the happiest person on the planet; there was so little that could bring her down. She had such a sense of optimism rivaled only by her cousin Anna.

Ironically it hadn't always been that way. During her childhood, her parents were not around very often. They had to work late hours at their jobs and left her in the care of her neglectful abusive nanny Gothel. Gothel was a monster plain and simple as that. Every time her parents left, the woman would constantly berate Rapunzel for the simplest of things or force her to do things that could easily hurt a young child. Rapunzel simply took it, not really knowing what to do with the situation. She had been a scared little girl. Sure Gothel never threatened her exactly, at least not with death, but the girl had been so scared of the woman that she was too afraid to reveal the abuse to her parents.

However that had all changed when Rapunzel was thirteen. The day her best friend saved her life and showed her a different side of life, one that Rapunzel could be free to enjoy forever. Rapunzel had never been happier since that day, the day she could finally stand up to Gothel.

To say that Rapunzel was scared even then was an understatement. She had been afraid that Gothel would hurt her more severely than ever before. But in the end, her courage finally won out and Gothel would forever pay for the crimes that she committed. Even better Rapunzel's parents, finally aware of their daughters pain, managed to work a schedule that allowed them to spend more time with her.

Rapunzel finally had everything she could want in life. It had all been worth it in the end, despite the pain the she had felt during the healing process. The trial had been the worst of it all. Gothel and her attorney had tried to discredit Rapunzel. Why would she wait so long to tell anyone about the abuse? That was one of the many questions that she had faced during that time in her life.

She would be glad never to do that ever again.

But that was in the past now and she just wanted to have a glorious future with the people she cared about the most. She was still a young woman, and she had barely discovered everything that life at to offer.

She may be happier than she had ever been, but she was always finding a new dream to chase.

One such time had been several months after the horrific trial. Having spent most of her time locked in her room, Rapunzel developed an affinity for the arts, particularly painting. There had been an art gallery in town. Rapunzel had been excited and worried about it. She wanted to take it there so badly. While she had the support of her parents and her newfound friend, Gothel had always treated her poorly and belittled her to the point that she had little self-confidence to herself or her abilities.

Thankfully a good pep talk managed to get her to her senses

Rapunzel's brush stroked against the canvas, the bright colors standing out brilliantly against the canvas. It was her first painting since she heard of the gallery. It expressed her happiness the sun shining brightly over the cliff side. A waterfall was cascading down into a river. The painting was inspired by several landscapes that she had seen in books that she had read growing up.

It was good enough to get into the art gallery, but Rapunzel wasn't sure. Sure enough to send it in.

Rapunzel frowned her lips in a tight position as she finished the last stroke on her painting. She enjoyed her painting. It was ready and finished. Now she just had to let it dry.

She put her paint on the nearby table and sat at her window. She stared out and the neighborhood street. The kids were playing in the street happy as could be.

If only she had been that happy when she was at that age.

Her thoughts were interrupted when a knock on her door. "come in" she called. The door opened revealing her mother. The older woman gave Rapunzel a small smile. "Rapunzel honey, why are you in here? Shouldn't you be out there?"

Rapunzel turned to the window again. Her mother was right. She should be out there with all the other kids. But the other kids wouldn't accept her. She was the outcast. She had spent most of her life alone and had no one.

Well except for Joseph. She had him. She was safe because of him.

Primrose then noticed the painting Rapunzel had made. Rapunzel, what is that?" she examined the painting closely admiring the craftsmanship that Rapunzel had put into it.

"Rapunzel?" She asked, "did you do this?"

Rapunzel glanced at her mother nodding. Primrose smiled. "You must take it to the art gallery Rapunzel, they will love this."

Rapunzel shrugged "its not that special mother"

Primrose grimaced "Rapunzel, that's not true, you are a wonderful artist."

Rapunzel huffed; she didn't believe her mother. "noo…" she whispered silently, almost so much that Primrose didn't hear her.

Primrose grimaced and placed a hand on her shoulder. "Rapunzel, I thought we talked about this. If you want to do something all you have to do is ask."

Rapunzel turned to her mother. "Are you sure?"

Primrose smiled "Rapunzel, you have confidence. You are a smart woman. You use your imagination as your resources. Let it be your power. Let it shine."

Rapunzel's face broke into a grin and she hugged her mother "Thank you."

Rapunzel grinned remembering the memory fondly. It had been one of many talks that her mother had given her over the years and she took it to heart. She went through life happily and freely.

There were plenty of other times that she would be given those talks. It would be many years before she felt confident enough on her own. Thankfully, her family and friends never left her side.

Rapunzel laughed as she continued to paint her painting. It had been sometime since she had seen her family or friends (not counting her husband Eugene). She had visited her parents several days ago, though they hadn't all gotten together since Anna's wedding three months ago. That had been a very fun day.

Even more so was the strange reunion between her husband and best friend. Looking back it had been one of the most hilarious things that could ever happen to a person, though Rapunzel wished it was handled better.

Rapunzel had managed to pull her friend from Elsa for a moment. Though they had caught up at the diner, the two had had very little time to officially catch up with each other. Rapunzel really couldn't blame him, he was very infatuated with Elsa, so spending time with her was pretty much on the top of his list of things to do.

"so, Rapunzel…" Joseph said with a smirk. "Primrose told me a very interesting story…" he told her.

Rapunzel stared at Joseph innocently "what did she tell you?" she was playing dumb and they both knew it. He only ever said that when he was ready to tease her.

Joseph laughed "Oh I don't know. Some nonsense about you getting married. Personally I can't believe it."

Rapunzel gave him a mock glare, practically stabbing him with her finger as she started to give him a speech. "And just what makes you think I'm not marriage material? As I recall, there were plenty of guys after me in high school!"

"As I recall, no one managed to get within hearing distance of you whenever I was around." Joseph retorted.

Rapunzel laughed before flashing him her ring hand "well too bad Mr. body guard. I've been hitched"

Joseph laughed "really to who?"

"me"

Joseph froze. His eyes went wide and Rapunzel, much to her surprise, noticed a look of anger on his face. like the "oh no!" type of anger. Turing around, they both noticed Rapunzel's husband Eugene Fitzherbert, giving them a charming smile.

Rapunzel gave her husband a smile, before going to his side and pecking his cheek "Eugene honey I want you to meet my old friend Joseph. Joseph this is my Husband"

Joseph however interrupted her "Flynn Rider."

Rapunzel was confused "Flynn?" she asked giving her husband a look of confusion. Eugene just shrugged. Joseph however said "oh he didn't tell you? A couple years back, Eugene and I were in the army together. In the same company in fact. Called himself Flynn Rider. One day he thought it would be really funny to play a prank on every soldier in the unit. We couldn't really do anything about it."

Rapunzel stared at him "you know each other?" she turned to Eugene "why didn't you tell me?" Eugene however was too nervous to answer

Eugene suddenly started to sweat. "come on… your not still mad about that are you?

He gave Joseph a charming smile. Joseph however started to crack his knuckles.

Eugene gulped and tried to back away. Unfortunately Joseph suddenly reared his hand back and punched Eugene straight in the nose. Eugene gave a gargled cry "my nose!" he cried, his hands flying up to said body part

"that is for the prank you pulled!" Joseph growled. Eugene, groaned in pain, letting his hand fall for a moment. bad move because in the next instant, his hands were back on his nose again. " are you trying to break my nose?" he snapped

Joseph just gave him a grin "and that was for marrying my best friend."

Rapunzel just stood there not sure to laugh or reprimand the two men. She groaned. This was going to be a long day."

Rapunzel wasn't a liar, that was the funniest thing she had seen that day (though Elsa had taken Joseph and practically yelled at him like there was no tomorrow, though Rapunzel had noticed her and Anna giggling at the affair, so Elsa was probably only doing it to hide her amusement)

In the end though Eugene and Joseph apologized to one another and the wedding continued without any more problems.

Rapunzel smiled. Growing up an only child, the closest thing she had to a big brother was Joseph (though they were only a few months apart) he really acted like it as well. growing up he was really protective of Rapunzel (no doubt to the fact she had been abused by Gothel prior to meeting him)

He really had been a breath of fresh air. She had been sad when they were separated by college; she felt like she was going to be alone again. despite this by then she had matured greatly from the scared little girl that she once was (though she was still naïve and clumsy)

Thankfully however, her college roommate Merida was ever bit the protective friend Joseph was. The two still kept in contact, but Merida was long gone looking for her freedom.

Rapunzel was thankful to have these friends in her life.

She continued to hum her tune. As she worked her painting her thoughts wandered to her older cousin Elsa. Elsa was by definition the older sister Rapunzel never had (what a coincidence). Elsa had taught her a lot growing up (whenever Gothel wasn't around) and Rapunzel couldn't be any happier that her best friend and closest family member ended up together.

Whenever they got married Rapunzel would definitely be there to help out. She could probably ask Elsa to include some of her ideas (though Elsa was pretty good at that)

Rapunzel knew Elsa very well. She would be stubborn about every aspect of the wedding (that Kai and Gerda would allow anyway). That included any ideas that Anna and Rapunzel came up with. Elsa was going to make sure that everything about the wedding went well.

Rapunzel smiled, brushing the paint on the canvas. Things seemed to be turning out very well for everyone. After all the hardships that they had over the course of their lives, it felt so good just to be able to have things go right for a change.

Rapunzel just hoped that everything would turn out well for her two friends long after they were married. So far as she knew they were in a happy relationship. It wasn't that hard to see. During the wedding, Elsa and Joseph just couldn't stop staring at each other.

Rapunzel knew that Elsa and Joseph had feelings for each other. The hard part had been getting them together. Elsa was a recluse, while Joseph had a hard time talking to women. Thankfully Rapunzel had the bright idea of inviting Joseph to the wedding.

Rapunzel giggled to herself. It was a really good thing. Those two were perfect for each other.

Rapunzel knew that Joseph would do his best to treat Elsa well. Whenever they had been together, Joseph did his best to treat Rapunzel well (as a friend for they had never dated).

Elsa deserved to be treated well. She had a very difficult time adjusting to things growing up, far more so than Anna.

Rapunzel knew that the death of her Aunt and Uncle hit Elsa very hard and was probably the reason she was the way she was today. Rapunzel had been deeply saddened by it as was Anna, but Elsa had all but suffered an emotional breakdown, and had been heartbroken for months. Not even Anna was able to bring her back from the depths of her despair.

By the time Elsa had recovered, she was a changed woman. As a child she was just like Anna both of them being vivacious and happy. But afterwards Elsa became far more serious and had a distant demeanor, even towards the people she loved most.

Rapunzel of course had been too young to fully understand it, but now that she was older, she under stood it quite well.

As the years passed Elsa had slowly opened up more to others, and became closer to Anna (but she still retained her serious regal demeanor).

Anna on the other hand shared far more with Rapunzel (as least in terms of personality) and the two would get into trouble on more than one occasion, that Elsa would have to bail them out of every now and again.

Rapunzel smiled. Those were the times. Though Rapunzel wasn't as big a fan of chocolate as her two cousins, there was this one time that had the three of them raid Rapunzel's parents kitchen for a chocolate cake that was for a party that would have happened later that evening.

Rapunzel Anna and Elsa, at the ages of 7,7 and 10 had hastily pushed a chair up to the kitchen counter and proceeded to snag the cake for the counter top. Elsa being the tallest was easily able to reach the cake and take it. Together, the three ran under the table cloth the covered the dining room table and with three forks they had also taken proceeded to eat the entire cake.

After having the coveted chocolate cake, the three sat with grins on their faces. That chocolate cake had been delicious, and they were happy about it.

At least until the table cloth lifted and they were greeted with the not at all amused faces of Gerda and Primrose.

Nobody dared to move. Nobody dared to speak. At least until Anna gave her guardian and Aunt a wave "hi Gerda! Hi Aunt Primrose!"

Gerda and Primrose shook their heads and proceeded to pull the three girls out from under the table and take them to the bathtub.

Rapunzel giggled. That had not been one of her finer moments, but then again, she was a child and she had thought it was a good idea at the time.

It wasn't like that had been the first or last time she and her cousins had ended up in such a predicament either. The three were known for causing trouble whenever they ended up together.

Yes life was good, and right now it just couldn't get much better.

Rapunzel finally finished the details of her painting. She had spent quite a long time working on it today. It could still use a little more work, but she was content with what she had done for now.

Rapunzel stepped back and admired the work she had done. Yep she did it very well. Rapunzel then turned and put away her art supplies. It was still early Saturday (though it was technically past noon) so it would probably be a very good idea to grab some lunch while it was still available. She had spent all morning at the studio so she was bound to be hungry.

Rapunzel left the studio with a very happy spring in her step. She absolutely loved this time of year, with the warm sunshine and the birds singing happily.

She really needed to get out more often. Perhaps she could find Eugene at home later and convince his to walk around town, with her for a while. Its not like she had much of anything else to do today as it was.

Rapunzel smiled. Yep that seemed like a wonderful idea. She quickly made her way to her car and started driving home.