12 November 2022
Considering this was a Saturday… I didn’t get a whole lot written. Part of that had to do with getting distracted; I discovered the Cinema Therapy channel on YouTube on this day. But I think part was feeling a bit burned out, or maybe just uncertain what the rest of the story was going to look like.
…said a word. Finally, Isaac said softly, “So you’d rather just give it up? Sixteen years with someone you love is still better than six months, and even that is better than nothing.”
Rapunzel gave him a wan smile. “And then what? Become the royal heir? I have no training in how to rule a kingdom; you’ve had that since birth, right? You’d make a much better king than me.” She looked up, in the direction her paint studio was located. “And honestly, I don’t want to be a princess. I’m happy here. I’m free to paint, to garden, to take care of the animals. That is enough for me.”
Isaac grimaced and studied Rapunzel long enough for the silence to get awkward. Then he sighed. “What if we met in the middle. Mom and Dad come here, instead. No princess, no responsibilities in the kingdom. Just family trying to reconnect.”
Rapunzel bit her lower lip. Honestly, she didn’t want to. The more people got to know her, the worse it would be for them when she died. Or worse, when she lived, but lost herself; she’d seen firsthand what watching that happen to her sisters had done to Mother.
On the other hand… Rapunzel squeezed her arms around her chest. “Okay. I’ll meet with them. But I don’t know how Mother will react. She can be… strange, sometimes.”
Isaac beamed at her. “Thank you.”
They invited Phillip back over, and the boys stayed and chatted with her for another hour or two. Phillip was ecstatic to learn Rapunzel was also an avid fan of the Arthur novel series; the two delighted in trashing on Lancelot and his ridiculous ego, and got into a minor debate over which member of the Round Table was the most worthy of obtaining the Grail. Isaac interjected occasionally to snark at them both, but he had a good-natured smile the whole time. Rapunzel didn’t want to admit it, but she enjoyed herself, and she was quite shocked at how lonely she felt when they left.
“Well, I thought that all went better than last time,” Frieda said.
“Yeah, we got lucky. I don’t envy those boys, though,” Lena replied.
Frieda frowned. “Will the tall one be alright, do you think?”
Lena shrugged. “Why do you care?”
Before Frieda could reply, a small blue butterfly landed on Frieda and began to send magic pulses back the way they had come.
The two fairies looked at each other and turned pale. They left the road and started running. Lena through up magic shields to try and mask their presence, while Frieda struggled to pry the magic butterfly off of herself.
Sh**, it’s HER, Lena thought. Gothel was trying to track them down. Who knows what that madwoman was thinking?
They made it safely to town that evening and stayed the night. However, when they awoke, five more butterflies had gathered around them, and Lena and Frieda booked it out of town as fast as they could. For the next week, maybe week and a half, they actually managed to keep ahead of Gothel. Once, they even used large cloaks to disguise themselves and walked right past her.
But everyone messes up at some point, and Lena and Frieda soon found themselves facing down the blue fairy.
Most recently updated draft of Rapunzel, the Sleeping Beauty (potentially including unposted content)