Hello. Welcome to the first chapter of my first Tangled based fanfiction. Tangled is one of my top 5 favourite Disney Films. Hope you like it, enjoy. P.S., there may be spoilers relating to both the film and the TV series.
Summary: In this story, how did Rapunzel endure spending the first 18 years of her life locked away in a tower? Had did she handle being raised by an emotionally abusive mother-figure who left her alone most of the time? How did she cope with no one besides a loyal chameleon to talk to? How did she pass the time? How did she always find a way to put a smile on her face everyday? All this and more will be found here. Enjoy.
Life in a Tower
Prologue
Once upon a time, in a Kingdom far away, a single drop of sunlight fell from the heavens. And from this very drop of sunlight, grew a magic golden flower. It was said that this flower had the ability to heal the sick and injured.
When the beloved queen of the kingdom was about to have a baby, she grew gravely ill and needed a miracle to save both her and her unborn child. Thankfully, the entire kingdom searched until they finally found the magical flower. They dug it up, made it into a broth, severed it to the queen and she was healed.
Afterwards, the king and queen were blessed with a healthy baby girl, a princess, with beautiful golden hair and they named her Rapunzel.
In celebration of her birth, the king and queen released a bright lantern into the night-sky. Symbolizing their joyful and perfect moment as a new family.
But atlas, their joy was short lived by the invasion of a bitter and vengeful old woman named Mother Gothel.
For centuries, Mother Gothel had hoarded the flower's healing powers in order to keep herself young and beautiful. Longing to maintain it, Gothel broke into castle in the dead of night with the intention of stealing a lock of the little princess' hair!
She believed the little princess unknowingly possessed the magical flower's healing abilities. In order to prove this theory, Gothel quietly approached baby Rapunzel's cradle, and without waking her or her parents, Gothel began to sing the healing incantation.
Flower, gleam and glow
Let your powers shine
Make the clock reverse…
The moment she started to sing, Rapunzel's hair began to glow! In the process, Gothel's youth was briefly restored until… she cut a piece of the baby's beautiful golden hair and it instantly turned brown, lost it's magic and turned Gothel back into an old woman again!
Unwilling to give up the source of her eternal youth, Gothel snatched the child, causing her to cry and awake the king and queen!
Guards! Guards! My Child! Rapunzel! The king yelled as he and his wife watched in horror as Gothel stole their little princess, jumped from the balcony, hopped onto her horse and ran away into the forest with the child still crying in her arm.
Hush, child! Gothel said as the palace guards proceeded to purist her.
Gothel eventually lead them to her cottage where her own child awaited her return. Mother Gothel had a daughter named Cassandra. She was only a few years older than the little princess (At least 4 or 5 years old).
Although she was her biological child, Gothel didn't show Cassandra any sort of love or affection. She saw Cassandra less like a daughter and more like a servant.
Everyday, Gothel would come home to their cottage, look into a magic mirror that had the ability to record what she wanted to say and constantly bragged over all the complaints she received from random strangers. Whereas Cassandra would continue to obey her mother's commands by sweeping, cleaning and making them supper in the background.
Because she was too young to understand, Cassandra couldn't see her mother's true nature as vile and cold. That is until the night Cassandra finally saw her mother's true colours.
Before crossing the bridge to seek refuge in the cottage, Gothel heard the royal guards approaching, quickly hid while the guards ran across the bridge and found Cassandra inside all by herself.
From the other side, Cassandra could see Mother Gothel holding a baby and without hesitating, Gothel used a sword to cut the rope holding the bridge, slowing down the guards and abandoning her own daughter in the process! Gothel had chosen the child who could give her youth over her own!
Once she had finally evaded the guards and left her own child behind, Gothel found herself deeper within the forest. Still holding the crying princess in her arms and showing no signs of regret for her actions. 'Hush now, little flower. We'll both be safe soon. But first…' Before continuing on, Gothel sang her song again and made Rapunzel's hair glow again.
Flower, gleam and glow
Let your powers shine
Make the clock reverse
Bring back what once was mine
Heal what has been hurt
Change the fates' design
Save what has been lost
Bring back what once was mine
What once was mine
By the time Gothel finished singing the incantation, her youth had once again been restored and in addition, Rapunzel had finally stopped crying. 'There. Isn't that much better? Come, my flower, we shall leave here and find someplace where you can be safe and never be found again.'
Although the magic from the princess' hair restored her youth and beauty, Mother Gothel remained possessive and cruel on the inside. And she was more than determined to keep her new magic golden flower hidden from the rest of the world.
They wondered through the forest until they came across a large rock pit by a cave that was covered by a curtain of leaves. Curious, Gothel moved the leaves aside and walked right through. On the other side of the cave, Gothel soon stumbled upon… a hidden tower!