sundrop

i'm so glad i left my tower!

[punzieeeee]

Name: Rapunzel Corona Age: Twenty-four Occupation: Artist Sexuality: Unsure Pronouns: She/Her Currently Playing: Today Was A Fairytale by Taylor Swift Big Three: Gemini sun, Pisces moon, Taurus rising

Headcanons:

Though she didn’t know it until very recently, Rapunzel grew up with a mother who hadn’t actually been her mother, in a tower in the Echo Isle woods. Most of the time, she was fairly content with her simple life and just her mother as companionship, but there had always been something digging at Rapunzel, wanting more. Every day seemed to hold the same thing for her: chores, hobbies, and singing to her mother a song that she was taught as soon as she could sing. Though she didn’t know much about the outside world, she could see lanterns every year in the sky on her birthday, and the lanterns were what gave her hope for more since the first time she could remember seeing them.

Everything changed when a man came into the tower one day and Rapunzel somehow persuaded him to take her with him to go see the very lanterns she had been dreaming of. Flynn Rider turned her life upside down, and for the better. It was after they saw the lanterns that Rapunzel discovered she was the lost princess of a small part of Echo Isle, named Corona, and that she had been living with a stranger her whole life. Though it took Flynn, revealed to be Eugene Fitzherbert, almost dying to escape, she saved him with the magic of the healing flower and managed to get her “mother” arrested. Now, Rapunzel has reunited with her family, but lives with Flynn and her best friend who works for her parents, Cass. 

With a lot of free time, Rapunzel has picked up on a lot of hobbies and unusual skills that come in handy sometimes. She’s a fantastic baker, knows how to play just about every instrument in an orchestra, and even knows how to make her own clothes. The only things she really struggles with are technology and human interaction. She’s a little awkward, but tries her best. Her mother didn’t allow any media outside of books to enter the tower, thus leaving her pretty inept when it comes to modern technology, but she’s trying her best. 

Rapunzel wished for a lot of things when she was younger, but the two things she wanted the most were a sibling and a father. She never understood why her mother didn’t have a husband, or, at the very least, a partner, to help raise her. The bond between Rapunzel and her mother was strong growing up, but she always dreamed of having someone else around to make life a little less lonely.

Hence, Pascal is still  the brother she never had. He was the best company to have when her mother went on long journeys to get food and supplies. Pascal discovered the tower one day when the two were just kids, and Rapunzel let him up. He’s the only one who knows Rapunzel’s dreams, her desires, her every day struggles, and she wouldn’t have it any other way. She’s just thankful that her wish for companionship came true.

The lanterns had to be magical, or so she believes. Rapunzel wished one year on her birthday for someone like Pascal to come along, and a few weeks later, there he was. The same thing happened when she wished for adventure, and in came Flynn Rider. She knows magic is real, and those lanterns have to hold some kind of it.

Rapunzel likes to live each day like it’s her last, mostly because it might very well be. She’s terrified that, one day, her mother will leave jail and her entire world will turn upside down. Rapunzel knows it’s not something to worry about now, and that she shouldn’t live life too cautiously, but the thought sometimes pops into her mind and she can’t seem to shake it. 

Since she hasn’t been many places in Echo Isle (or on the planet, for that matter), painting is Rapunzel’s way of visiting places she’s only dreamed of. She loves to paint places as they’re described in books. Now, she’s been trying to focus on painting places that Eugene and Cassandra have been, hoping she’ll make it there someday.

Rapunzel adores Cassandra more than anything, and she’s really one of the only true friends she has. She appreciates Cass telling things to her straight, especially when she’s lived such a sheltered life. She’s almost like a mix between a sister and Rapunzel’s guide to living life outside the tower.

At first, Rapunzel was afraid that it would be weird, living with Eugene and Cass, but they’ve become her family. At least, that’s what it feels like, for now. She kind of has this weird feeling whenever she’s around Eugene that she can’t seem to shake, like butterflies in her stomach that make her even more flustered than she usually is. Rapunzel doesn’t want to mess with the dynamic, though, and she’s not even sure how she would go about telling the guy she’s living with that she likes him. If things went wrong, she’d have to live with her parents, who she loves more than anything, but independence is kind of nice, too.

Her hair is down to the floor, but she likes to braid it often to have it to her thigh. It makes it more manageable for everyday wear. She cut off a small piece of it when she was younger, and it shriveled and turn to brown. Rapunzel wants to keep her magic, but the hair does get annoying.

[mothersmaeve]

“A restraining order,” she parroted back the threat, tone high pitched and laced with patronizing amusement. It was just like the girl to think a simple piece of paper would be enough to keep her away, as if Maeve had ever had any respect for the law. As if she didn’t break and bend it at every turn whenever it got in the way of something she wanted. And right now, with Rapunzel, that would be no different. She could work her way around a simple restraining order - and she was pretty sure the girl knew that. “Oh, don’t be so dramatic. It’s not as if I’m going to stalk you, don’t be silly. All I’m asking for is a simple relationship with my daughter. You aren’t really going to just cut me out like I’ve never done anything for you?” It was a guilt trip that used to always work on the blonde, but Gothel feared perhaps this new spine she’d grown and life she’d found would change how easily she could be manipulated. “Can’t I simply catch up with my girl? How have you been? I have years I’ve missed out on - sue me for having a curiosity and interest in my daughter’s life. Not everyone always has some sinister ulterior motive, Rapunzel.” Though she supposed she couldn’t quite blame the girl for thinking that - considering she was here for reasons beyond what she claims.

[punzieeeee]

Rapunzel nodded her head insistently, feeling instantly empowered by the idea. "Yeah, a restraining order, so you can't take me away from my family again." Maybe it was a misstep to let Gothel know her plan, but there wasn't much she could do to stop Rapunzel from it. No matter how well she'd behaved in prison, or whatever she'd done to get out, there was no denying what she'd done to get there in the first place. "You stalked me to find me here," she pointed out, making her gentle move in the game Gothel had trapped her in.

For a fleeting moment, a flash of guilt washed over her: the play to where it hurt, that she might still care after all the years apart tugging on Rapunzel's gentle heart. She had always been keen to see the best in people, even if they hadn't shown her much good in the past. "I'm good," she responded simply, letting Gothel in for a small, pigeonholed peek into her life. "Everything's good, I guess." Not everything--she'd been kidnapped (again) and essentially fed to who she could assume was the most powerful man she'd ever met, but that was hardly something to address with the woman across from her.

[rearrangethecosmos]

Taking a few steps closer towards the piece hanging on the wall in front of them, his head tilted to the side as if he were giving it further inspection. In reality he had simply moved to give the girl a bit of space, curious to see what she would do once she believed herself to be out of his view. He couldn’t help wanting to know if she’d take the risk of flagging down the boy she’d spent the entire evening next to or even attempting to get security. Both of which would be ridiculously stupid moves to make, and he wondered if she were smart enough to realize that yet or not. “The artist behind the work as well,” he admits, though leaves it at just that giving no further explanation beyond the cryptic promise that he was indeed here for her. Why that was, Hades would leave up to the blonde to decide.

It hadn’t taken her long, to slowly inch into asking for a favor herself it seemed, which was exactly what he had hoped would happen during his appearance here tonight. Though he had expected it to take a bit more time for her to work up the nerve to bring up her newly released kidnapper, he wasn’t about to complain that things were moving this quickly. It was, after all, all in his plan - part of the entire reason he had orchestrated Gothel’s release in the first place. Not that he really needed the girl to be in debt to him, when he could easily force her into doing anything he wanted regardless, but it was always a bit more fun getting to pull a few extra strings and manipulate a mortal or two. “Ask away. I’m all ears,” he allowed, turning back to her briefly with his crooked smile, knowing it would likely stir up more fear than reassurance.

[punzieeeee]

He had sought her out, as suspected. Maybe someone had been hurt, or he simply wanted to come and remind her of his existence, and that he knew of hers, too. She was going to have to start publishing her art under a pseudonym if Rapunzel ever wanted to guarantee that neither this man nor Gothel ever found her through her work again--just another freedom that was going to be stripped by her former guardian.

Rapunzel had gotten the impression that the man did not like to dally: he was someone quick to get to the point, from her limited experience. Otherwise, perhaps she wouldn't have brought up Gothel so soon, and tried to find the real reason behind his presence. But, if she was going to want his help, the blonde had to play by his rules. "The woman who raised me, she's ... out of jail," she explained briefly, her voice low as she kept the taboo topic between themselves, away from anyone she cared about overhearing. Rapunzel sucked in a breath, eyes hardly meeting his as she felt the pressure of making a deal with the closest person she'd ever met to the devil. "I was just, um, wondering what it would take from me, if you ... if there was a way to ensure she wouldn't come for me again."

[rearrangethecosmos]

A soft hum leaves his lips as he nods his head in agreement, it was a bit of a surprise for him to be here in fact. For all he had an appreciation for art, rarely did that lead to his involvement with the local scene. No, Hades never often found himself getting involved with any human affairs that didn’t directly benefit him. That’s why he was only here today, after all, though he’d pretend it just happened to be coincidence that the two ran into each other, rather than his directly attending in order to corner the blonde. Which he supposed he truly did, given the way she was looking around as if trying to find the nearest witness for anything that may go down between them.

“Fine enough by me,” he agrees, sliding his hands into his pockets and continuing to look around at all of the art as if he gave a single fuck about any of the pieces. “You can relax, you know. I’m not going to do anything right here. That’s not my style.” That much was true at least, he much preferred privacy for his questioning and torture sessions. Despite the fact that he knew he could easily get away with simply taking the girl and disappearing right this instance or doing whatever he damn well pleased in the middle of this partially full gallery, Hades liked the challenge of getting things done without his powers sometimes. Plus, he wasn’t trying to completely traumatize the girl, not yet anyway. “And don’t worry about that little boy toy of yours, I’m not gonna do a thing to him.” Which she might not have even been considering to be an option, but he would happily put the thought into her head just to let her know it was a potential possibility. No one was fully out of his reach, not Rapunzel herself nor anyone that she kept around in her life.

[punzieeeee]

“Well, thank you,” she accepted the praise quietly, still unsettled by his presence. Perhaps she ought to start publishing her art under a pseudonym: she was shocked Gothel herself hadn’t shown up looking to wreak havoc on her gallery, despite the steps she’d been taking toward making sure she would never get near her again. Rapunzel would’ve done the same for this man, though she still didn’t know his name, and she was afraid she’d never find out. For someone who seemed so much larger than life, he kept such a strict anonymity about him that not even Cassandra could crack. 

For as much as she began to relax at the promise that he wasn’t going to do anything to her here, Rapunzel felt her blood turn cold at the subtle mention of Flynn. Of course he knew about him: he probably knew who Cass was, too, and where her parents lived, by now. No one around her was safe, and it was all her fault. “Okay.” She wasn’t sure if she should thank him, or if there was someone else she was supposed to be worried about in Flynn’s place. “Is there, um, a reason you’re here, beyond the art?” Rapunzel asked gently, particularly careful not to offend someone who could have her whole life ruined with the snap of his fingers. “There was actually something I wanted to ask you about.” Though she didn’t consider herself a businesswoman by any means, Rapunzel knew what his presence meant: there was probably someone who needed to be healed, now that he knew what she could do. But, for as powerful as she was, so too was this man, who could perhaps be the key to keeping Gothel as far away from her as possible.

[mothersmaeve]

A light, smug chuckle escapes her as she watches Rapunzel revert right back to the place of being a child as she throws her hands up to cover her ears. It was a sign that she had won this round of the argument, the younger girl having nothing she could say to actually counter what Maeve had argued. Though it is a bit of a surprise when she drops her arms to her side suddenly and makes one last final claim, not that it phases Gothel at all, but it is yet another piece of the young adult standing in front of her that she’d never seen before. “Oh, my dear, you’ve never had anything to fear from me and you know that. If it weren’t for that little thief bursting into our home, you never would have known any better. You would still be there, perfectly content and living quite the perfect life, honestly,” she points out, another sentiment she believed to be true despite its faults. Sure, the blonde had been a bit stir-crazy at times, but her life was a cushioned and lovely one when you stopped to look at the big picture and moved past the whole never leaving the tower thing.

Taking the seat beside the girl, Gothel released a dramatic sigh as she waved at the bartender and put in an order of a simple gin and tonic before turning back and facing the blonde again. “Must there always be some kind of ulterior motive? Can a woman not simply want to be around her daughter?” she questions, lying through her teeth in saying that was the only reason she had any interest in speaking with Rapunzel. “I missed you, dear, that is all. Nothing more.”

[punzieeeee]

Had Flynn never burst into her tower, Rapunzel’s life would still be content and quiet, it was true, but she was positive there would still be the itch for more. Even before he’d arrived, the curtain had begun to open, only fully ripped away when he’d come into her life. She would’ve died up there, if Gothel had her way, and she never would’ve known her real parents, or had a single companion her entire life. She tried not to think about what would’ve become of her too often, but with the woman who had trapped her seated across from her, it was nearly impossible. For as much as she liked to think she had a backbone now, there was no arguing: her “mother” would find an argument no matter how far-fetched and wrong she considered it to be.

Come to think of it, she’d never seen Gothel drink alcohol: Rapunzel had been too young to have any herself while sh’ed been in the tower, and she could only assume it had been tucked away, safely out of sight of a teenager who was itching to experience something, anything new. “I don’t want to see you again, after this. And, I don’t care if that’s not what you want, because I can just—I’ll get a restraining order. Yeah, yes. That’s what I’ll do. And, no matter how much you say you miss me, or want to use my hair, you can’t.” She sat with her head held high, as confident as she could appear. “So, whatever you have to say, or want to talk about, now’s your chance.”

[flynnstopher]

The back alley behind the Snuggly Duckling was always the best place for taking his late night breaks, the air cooler outside than in the usual packed bar and a few moments of peace and quiet could be found only out here. Not even the employee break room could offer that, given the fact that Shorty practically lived in there nowadays. And there were enough people inside of the establishment that cared for his girlfriend enough to look after her that Flynn felt it was fine for him to take a breather away from the chaos. Apparently he had been wrong in that though, for he’s only halfway through making his first drink back from his break when Rapunzel comes rushing up to him, clearly upset.

Before he has a chance to ask what happened, she’s explaining all that she needs to say. Gothel is back. How the fuck this is happening and why they hadn’t heard of her escaping until now are two questions he’ll be screaming at the prison’s security team the next morning - but right now the answers hardly matter. What matters is getting Rapunzel out of here, getting her home and figuring out what the hell they’re going to do about all this. Finishing shaking the drink he had in his hands, Flynn poured it out and handed it to the stranger that had ordered it, stating that it was on the house before making his way out from behind the bar and over towards his girlfriend.

“Let’s go. I’ve got you,” he promises, taking her hand in his and beginning to navigate them out of the building. He’d send a text to his manager when he got home and given the circumstances and how much the whole staff loved the blonde, it should all be fine. But even if it wasn’t and they had any issue with his sudden departure, it wasn’t like he really needed this job anyway now that his acting career was starting to take off. This moment right now, protecting and helping Rapunzel was worth the risk of getting fired, he was hardly concerned about it in the slightest. It wasn’t until they were at his truck, safely inside with the engine started that Flynn felt brave enough to finally speak. “Did she hurt you? What did she do? How long was she there for? Did anyone else see her?” They call came spilling out as he threw the car in reverse and backed out of his spot to start heading towards the road that would take them home.

[punzieeeee]

It was about the exact reaction she’d expected out of her boyfriend: the panic that quickly filled his eyes matched her own. Rapunzel felt her limbs wobble as she patiently awaited the final drink to be poured so they could get out of the bar as fast as they could. As much as she considered the bar one of her safe spaces, somewhere no one could really hurt her so long as Flynn was there and the regulars knew who she was, it had strangely become somewhere she felt she now had to avoid. Between healing Meg in the alley, and Gothel showing up unannounced, Rapunzel was beginning to think it was safer to stay locked up in her home, which, coincidentally, was exactly what her caretaker had insisted was the safest thing to do back when she was a child. While she still thought Gothel was wrong, and didn’t want to live her life in fear, she was beginning to think it was the only choice to ensure she’d be safe, at least for the near future.

With the truck doors locked and just Flynn by her side, Rapunzel finally felt the tears well in her eyes. She’d stayed strong, and would never let Gothel see her cry, but it was beside him that the tears she’d been holding back began to flow. “Can we just get home first?” she asked quietly. “I’m not hurt, I promise,” Rapunzel added in an answer, knowing it was the only one of his questions that needed an immediate answer before he was willing to hit the road. She remained paralyzed as he drove, simply waiting with held breath until she saw the sight of their house, and no one outside looking to take her again. “She said she just wanted to talk,” she explained as he parked, still unconvinced of Gothel’s motive, even now. “She said she was released on good behavior. I don’t know how long she was there, it felt like … like ages, but you were on your break when she arrived, and I went to you the moment she left.”

[rearrangethecosmos]

closed starter for @punzieeeee location: punz's winter art showing

Despite the fact that he hadn’t given Maeve Gothel any demands or instructions in exchange for her freedom other than to find the moonstone for him, the woman had practically immediately operated exactly how he had predicted she would. Ever since he’d found out that the young blonde running around the island held the power of the sundrop in her hair, Hades had had her monitored at all times by a few of his lesser known henchmen. Which was how he knew that less than forty-eight hours after being released from prison, Gothel had cornered the girl - just as he had known she would. The ball had been set and now it was his turn to swoop in and make the strike.

Deciding how to approach Rapunzel had actually been the hardest part of this entire plan. There were so many options he could take - showing up as an understanding and helping hand with an offer to get Gothel out of her hair or act as if he had no idea, not a single clue that the woman had even been released. In the end, he had gone with the latter of his choices, not wanting to put the girl at any more unease than she very likely would already be at. It hadn’t been difficult, finding a place where she would be and one so open and public was just an additional perk. With the majority of the patrons heading home now and the boy that had remained glued to her side finally stepped aside to speak with someone else, Hades saw his opening and took it. Bourbon glass in hand, he stepped to her side and offered a small smile. “Your work is amazing, you know. I’m sure you’ve received plenty of compliments tonight, but it needs to be said,” he starts, taking a sip from his drink before continuing. “I’ve been around long enough to see the goods and the greats, and the less than stellar artists of this world - and you’ve got something real, kid.”

[punzieeeee]

The entire night had been spent on edge, the fear of Gothel breaking into the gallery to find her one that could have very well come true. She'd given her photo to any and all people working around the perimeter of the building, doing as much as she possibly could in her own control to keep her out of the gallery. Though Rapunzel had subsequently spent the evening on high alert, her proactive planning had apparently worked well enough to keep Gothel out of the building, or, at the very least, out of her sight, which she assumed was good enough. As the people began to dwindle around her, she finally felt her body release its tension of stress, knowing that she was probably safe from any unwanted encounter now.

For a moment, Rapunzel had simply let herself bask in her favorite piece on the gallery wall, not even noticing the new company who had come to her side. She felt her blood run cold once more as she recognized his voice before his face, knowing exactly who stood by her side. The man was gentler now, even kind as he complimented her work, but Rapunzel knew better than to think that he was simply here to see her art. The likelihood of him hurting her in public was small, but the odds of her getting away with alerting Flynn who it was beside her without getting herself in deeper trouble were even slimmer. "Oh, well, thank you," she accepted the praise. "I didn't really expect to see you here, I have to admit, but I'm glad you like the art, at least." Rapunzel paused, gauging the distance between the two and the nearest guest. "You're not going to, um ... do you mind if we stay here, if you wanted to talk?"

[punzieeeee]

Rapunzel could've seen the counter coming from the moment her disagreement left her lips, knowing exactly how Maeve thought of herself in the context of the blonde's life. While it wasn't her birth mother who'd raised her, Gothel had failed her in a key characteristic of motherhood that her real mother had mastered: keeping Rapunzel's best interests at heart. The woman's selfishness was what had brought her into the blonde's life to begin with, and what had probably brought Gothel into the bar now. "You're wrong. I love the life I have now because it has nothing to do with you," she stated boldly, feeling the kind of strength in defiance that she'd never had the courage to express when she'd lived with Gothel in their tower.

Though she claimed she wasn't here for Rapunzel's hair, the blonde couldn't say she believed it. All she'd wanted out of her since birth was her hair: Gothel's appearance had changed since she'd spent a few years in jail, without the luxury of the sundrop to make her look younger. "You escaped from jail, didn't you? That's ... that has to be a crime," she pointed out confidently, convinced that was how she'd made her way from behind bars and to the bar. There couldn't be any other explanation: Rapunzel would've heard if there was some sort of sentencing change happening. "No, you--I don't believe you. All you ever wanted was ... there's no way you just don't need my hair anymore. And, even if you didn't, I--I don't want to talk to you," Rapunzel asserted, standing firm despite her already shaking limbs threatening to collapse from underneath her.

[mothersmaeve]

The confidence in which Rapunzel claimed that her life had absolutely nothing to do with the woman in front of her was a surprise to Maeve, one that had her lips curling in a smirk as she looked the younger girl up and down for a moment. Things surely had changed over the last few years hadn’t they. Gone was the meak little pathetic people pleasing daughter she had once known and somehow in her place stood a semi-strong young woman. It would have made her proud if not for the fact that she still seemed to have this ridiculous hatred towards her. “Oh, Rapunzel,” she sighs, shaking her head though the all-knowing look on her face never falters. “My dear. Everything you have, everything you are – that was me. I made you. Even this new found backbone you’ve suddenly grown, darling, that was because of me.” It was a bold statement to make, but one that Gothel felt confident was true. Without her, who knows what Rapunzel might have become - but it certainly wouldn’t have been the same version of herself that she seems to love so much.

Accusations were thrown so easily, without any effort to fact check exactly what she was saying, leaving the blonde to sound like a fool in Maeve’s eyes. “Oh no, dear. No escaping necessary. I was let out, all above board and official. You can go check my papers, if you really want to know. My sentence was updated and then since I was on such excellent behavior, it was decided I could go free,” she explains, technically all the truth. That was indeed what the rest of the prison and legal system thought happened, but it left out quite a key player in pulling the strings to get her there. But she wasn’t going to let little Rapunzel know just who she had on her team so easily. That was a card that she would hold close to her chest, just to be safe. Watching as that so-called backbone she had just pointed out in the blonde began to wither and weaken, Gothel’s smirk only grew. “Whether you believe me or not hardly matters. It’s the truth. I’m here for you, not your hair. Now take a seat and let’s stop acting as if I’m going to bite you at any moment. You know that’s not my style.” No, Maeve tried her best to keep her own hands clean, letting others do the dirty work for her - and now was no exception to that rule.

[punzieeeee]

Everything the blonde said had some sort of counter to it, the way they would argue when she was a child, but fiercer now. Rapunzel would have backed down by now, had she still been living with the woman who had raised her, but she had nothing to lose now: she couldn't put the same lock back on her life that she had before. But, one reminder of the life she had now, and Rapunzel remembered that, actually, she had everything to lose. Gothel could take her now, far away, and life as she knew it could be over. "You didn't--no. Stop," she pleaded, finding the old rhythm they'd been so used to between them. Her hands found her ears, the childish tick she reverted to now that she struggled to find the words of defense. She shook her head, finding her ground once again. "It's because I don't have to live in fear of you anymore. If you want to take credit for that, it's all yours."

Whether she was telling the truth or not, it didn't change the fact that she was here, now, and Rapunzel had no easy route of escape in sight. If she wasn't here for her hair, Gothel had to want something: growing up around the woman, she knew there wasn't anything she would do out of pure selflessness. Everything had something she could stand to gain. Reluctantly, Rapunzel took a slow seat, her limbs shaking even as she found stability in her chair. "What do you want, then?" she questioned cautiously, narrowing her eyes. "What could you possibly want from me if not my hair?"

[flynnstopher]

It was a bit of a terrifying thought, this man knowing where they live and what Rapunzel can do - but there was no changing it, no going back. This had always been one of his biggest fears when it came to settling down - though he had always thought it would be himself putting them in danger, a past enemy or friend he had done wrong, out to get revenge. But as it was they just had to deal with the hand they had been dealt. And they could do it, together. Between the three of them, they could handle this. It was going to be fine. Or at least that’s what Flynn had to keep telling himself. Right now what mattered was comforting his girlfriend - logistics of what they’re going to do about this all could be figured out later.

Giving her a tiny squeeze, he kisses the top of the blonde’s head with a small sigh. “We’ll figure it out,” he promises, repeating aloud what he kept telling himself in his head. “We’ll figure out who he was or what he actually wants. And then we’ll deal with it together.” The thought of Rapunzel leaving now, where he couldn’t easily know exactly where she was at all times was terrifying. He didn’t care if staying here meant adding a hundred extra threats to his own back, he wasn’t about to let her go anywhere else. “No. Unless that’s what you really want to do. But with a guy like this - finding your parents place won’t be any problem. He probably already knows it by now, honestly. You going to stay somewhere else is an obvious move, one that he’s already accounted for, I’d bet.” All of what he was saying was true, but none of it really covered the real reason Flynn wasn’t willing to easily let her go. But now wasn’t the time to be getting into his own fears and worries, he needed to be comforting the girl in his arms who just went through yet another traumatic experience.

[punzieeeee]

~time skip to Gothel coming back~

Rapunzel felt the ice in her veins melt as she fell back into the booth she'd leaned against while confronted by her mother. Her eyes welled with tears, and all she could wish was that it had all been a bad dream she could wake from. The worst case scenario she'd ever considered had come true, with Gothel somehow broken out of hail for good behavior, or whatever kind of strings she'd pulled to get herself a ticket to freedom. It made no sense, but there she'd been, standing before her like hardly any time had passed at all. The voice she'd been hearing still throughout the years had spoken to her again, placing the same doubts she'd worked every day to silence.

With the only person who knew just how dire her situation was back on his break, Rapunzel wasn't even sure if Flynn had seen her. They had to get out of the bar, now, before Gothel could decide to come back. With all the strength she could gather, Rapunzel found her feet, making a beeline for the bar where she found Flynn back behind it. "We have to go," she insisted, tears in her eyes as she locked with his gaze. "She--she's back. Gothel," Rapunzel explained shortly, the name leaving her lips in a whisper as she looked to either side of her. "Here. She was here. We need to go home, now."

[mothersmaeve]

The correction was expected, of course, but that didn’t make it any less annoying to hear little Rapunzel state it so firmly, with such a backbone that she’d never had before. Rolling her eyes, Maeve shot the blonde an unimpressed look. “Oh, please, Rapunzel,” she began, the same tone she had always used with the younger girl whenever she was less than pleased slipping right back into place. “I raised you. Fed, bathed, and clothed you. You are the person you are today because of me. Everything you love so much about yourself and your little life you have now? I’m the one that grew that within you. That’s what a mother is - what a mother does.” There would be rebuttal to that point, of course, but Gothel stood just as firm that she was right in this argument.

Obviously it was the blonde’s hair, her magic, that interested Maeve the most - but she couldn’t let on to that. There was once a point in time where she could have easily convinced Rapunzel that she was simply just here to see the girl with no ulterior motives, but that time was long gone it seemed. The girl having grown far more confident and understanding of the world she lives in now. Which was going to make things a bit more difficult, even if it at the same time almost gave Gothel a small sense of pride. “Dear, I’m not here for your hair,” she lies easily, shaking her head as if she were speaking to a young child who knew nothing. “I simply wanted to see my daughter, that’s all. I have no need for your magic anymore.” Her smile twisted ever so slightly at the threat to call little Flynn Rider over as if he were some kind of terrifying figure rather than a simple boy. Taking a step backwards ever so slightly, her hairs went into the air in a sign of innocence. “And why should I have to leave exactly, dear? What laws have I broken? I’m a free woman, visiting a bar, and happening to have a conversation with my daughter. No wrong done here.”

[punzieeeee]

Rapunzel could've seen the counter coming from the moment her disagreement left her lips, knowing exactly how Maeve thought of herself in the context of the blonde's life. While it wasn't her birth mother who'd raised her, Gothel had failed her in a key characteristic of motherhood that her real mother had mastered: keeping Rapunzel's best interests at heart. The woman's selfishness was what had brought her into the blonde's life to begin with, and what had probably brought Gothel into the bar now. "You're wrong. I love the life I have now because it has nothing to do with you," she stated boldly, feeling the kind of strength in defiance that she'd never had the courage to express when she'd lived with Gothel in their tower.

Though she claimed she wasn't here for Rapunzel's hair, the blonde couldn't say she believed it. All she'd wanted out of her since birth was her hair: Gothel's appearance had changed since she'd spent a few years in jail, without the luxury of the sundrop to make her look younger. "You escaped from jail, didn't you? That's ... that has to be a crime," she pointed out confidently, convinced that was how she'd made her way from behind bars and to the bar. There couldn't be any other explanation: Rapunzel would've heard if there was some sort of sentencing change happening. "No, you--I don't believe you. All you ever wanted was ... there's no way you just don't need my hair anymore. And, even if you didn't, I--I don't want to talk to you," Rapunzel asserted, standing firm despite her already shaking limbs threatening to collapse from underneath her.

[flynnstopher]

Hearing Rapunzel apologize, as if she had any control whatsoever over what had just happened, practically breaks his heart for a moment. Especially knowing how sincere she was in it, likely truly somehow finding a way to place blame on herself for what had happened. When in reality - if anyone of them was to be blamed, it was Flynn himself. For not checking in with her again, for letting her leave the Duckling alone, for saying they didn’t need to be on high alert this time around. There were so many things he would have done differently if he had known any of this had even had the slightest possibility of happening. “Hey, no. No sorries. You have nothing to apologize for,” he reminds her, placing a kiss on the top of his head at the end of his words.

As she buried her head into his chest, Flynn’s hands came up to automatically begin rubbing small circles on her back in hopes of offering at least some kind of comfort. He wanted to take all this pain away, to absorb it into his own body so she never had to deal with it again. He wanted to go back in time and take her place instead, let the men kidnap and question him instead. He wanted to do anything, absolutely anything he could, just to make her feel even a fraction better. But none of that was possible. All he could do was just be here. To support her and protect her moving forward. There was no undoing what had already happened, but he was determined as hell to ensure it never occurred again. “You haven’t messed anything up,” he promises, his own voice far quieter than he normally ever talks. “You did the right thing, saving Meg. You couldn’t just let her bleed out. And we’ll just… we’ll deal with whatever else gets thrown at us. We’ll figure something out. It’ll be alright. I promise.” It wasn’t really a guarantee he could actually ensure, but Flynn already knew he was going to do absolutely everything in his power to keep this promise. Even if it meant giving his own life, he’d done it once for the blonde and he’d happily do it again - if it meant keeping Rapunzel safe.

[punzieeeee]

As much as she wanted to believe his sentiment, it was a hard pill to swallow, that she could've effectively erased everything they'd been working toward in terms of keeping her powers safe. Now, there was someone even more powerful than she was out there knowing what she possessed, and Rapunzel feared she would be answering to him for the rest of her life. As gentle as he'd been for a kidnapper, he seemed like the kind of man who would turn violent in a snap if she didn't do what he asked of her. While all of this might not exactly warrant the need for an apology to her boyfriend, Flynn and Cassandra had been the ones keeping her safe for so long, and she'd thrown all their progress down the drain.

Still, Rapunzel knew he was right about one thing: she had to save Meg. She couldn't have just left one of their friends bleeding out in the alleyway out of fear of being discovered. She'd even done so in practical plain sight for Peter last year. "I know," she acknowledged, even quieter than his voice had been. "I guess we just have to wait now. Whoever that man was, he knows where we live--I'm sure he won't hesitate to do the same thing again. I just wish I knew who he was." Rapunzel still had endless questions for him, even if she likely wouldn't be getting any answers from him, given how avoidant he'd been before. "Should I go stay with my parents for a while? I don't want to put them in danger, but maybe he doesn't know where they live."

[mothersmaeve]

Despite the fact that she had expected a reaction very similar to this, Maeve couldn’t help the small spark of annoyance that flared at the blonde’s dramatics. It was understandable on some level, she supposed, especially given the way things had ended between the two… but at the same time, it felt a bit much, really. Rapunzel had lived a perfectly fine life under her care, she’d been fed and loved and well taken care of, what else is there for a child to ask for? Sure, she didn’t have much if any interaction with the rest of the world, but that was such a minor thing, really. Things could have been far, far worse for the girl.

Rolling her eyes, she watched as Rapunzel backed herself into a corner with the bar at her back. Which was perfect, giving less opportunity for her to run away without even listening to a thing Maeve had to say. Rather than intimidating or scaring the girl even more, Gothel stood right where she had been, not coming any closer but not giving any additional distance either. “Oh come now, you should know better than to think of anything as impossible,” she corrected with a light tsking noise, shaking her head as she did so. Perhaps she should try being nicer, to win the girl over, but she couldn’t help herself. It just came so naturally, like the way their old dynamic always used to be. “My dear, did you really think you could get away from me forever? I’m your mother, it’s my job to be there for you. There’s no escaping that.” Well, that wasn’t entirely true, she’s left plenty of children behind in the past - but Rapunzel was different. There was very little that could hold her back from fighting to keep the girl, and her power, in her life.

[punzieeeee]

She was just as Rapunzel had remembered her: taunting and cruel, exploiting every weakness she could see before her to make the blonde feel small. It had taken so much time trying to rewrite what she thought had been love since her time out of her tower that Rapunzel nearly found herself falling back into the trap. But, she knew better now: Gothel hadn't returned because she loved her, she came back because she loved her hair. Her mind immediately went to the man who had asked for her name, and the other one who had kidnapped her--this was just the beginning of the night coming back to haunt her, she could bet. But, knowing Gothel, there was no way she would spill who had freed her that quickly. Unfortunately, for Rapunzel, she had forever been one step ahead.

"You are not my mother," she corrected, firm. She already knew the argument that would come back her way: she'd raised her, so, naturally, she was Rapunzel's mother. But, as she'd come to learn, family was neither blood, nor the people who someone chose to surround themselves with: it was a combination of the two. Her real mother had stepped in and shown her what love was in a way Gothel never had, leaving Rapunzel to realize just how much of a childhood had been robbed from her, after all. "I'm not letting you use my hair. I'm not singing the song. And ... you need to leave. I'll scream, and Flynn will hear you, and they'll make you leave," Rapunzel threatened as confidently as she could, though it was likely no match for whatever Gothel would counter her with.

[blondessource]

KATHRYN NEWTON. Deadline Magazine.

[flynnstopher]

closed starter for @punzieeeee location: their house, after being returned from hades

If he had thought coming home to find his girlfriend missing had been a stressful situation, it absolutely paled in comparison to the horrifying and gut twisting experience of finding her passed out on their front lawn as if she’d never left in the first place. The near hour that passed as he and Cassandra waited for their roommate to regain consciousness was hands down the worst sixty minutes of his life - and that included the time that he had legitimately been dead for a minute or two. Hearing Rapunzel recount everything that had happened to her while she was gone - from the man that had approached her and quite literally choked her out to the other potentially all powerful one that had arranged the whole thing and seemed to know more about her powers than even Gothel had - it made his blood run cold. Now wasn’t the time for spiraling down a rabbit hole of guilt and self deprecation, that could come later when he was alone and knew with a hundred percent certainty that the blonde was alright. For now, Flynn’s entire focus was on her and doing anything and everything he could to reassure her that things would be alright, even if he wasn’t entirely confident in that fact anymore.

They stayed together, all three of them, for a bit of time before Cass finally broke, leaving to likely begin the research they all knew she would be doing to try to find these men that had taken Rapunzel. It was only once she was gone that Flynn finally moved in closer, lifting the blonde up ever so gently and placing her in his lap as his arms wrapped protectively around her. “You know, you don’t have to be so strong about this. It’s okay to be scared and freaked the fuck out. I sure as hell was,” he admits, knowing that retelling the tale of her night had to have been far more difficult than she had let on. Leave it to Rapunzel to always put on the brave face for the sake of her friends. It was one of the things he loved the most about her, but he knew how hard it likely was at times like this, to constantly act as if everything would be fine in the end. And he didn’t want her to ever feel like she had to put on any kind of show or act around him. Whatever she was feeling, really and truly feeling, he was going to be there to listen and help her work through.

[punzieeeee]

The last thing Rapunzel could remember was the same man who she'd seen before she'd been knocked out the first time inserting a needle into her arm. Thus, her boyfriend's face was a welcomed sight when she woke, followed by their roommate beside him. Rapunzel had woken up in her own house, far different from where she'd been left before the world had gone dark. She told Cass and Flynn the story of her night before she could forget what had happened to her, fearful that the longer she'd waited, the more details she'd miss. If they were going to have any hope of finding who it'd been who'd taken her, Rapunzel would have to be accurate in her retelling, including every defining feature of the man with whom she'd spoke and the room in which they'd been. She watched as both of her roommates' faces turned to horror and anger, Cassandra only lasting a short while before deciding she needed to get a start on figuring out who had been behind taking Rapunzel. It wasn't all that surprising, given that protecting the blonde was her job, but Rapunzel couldn't help but feel like simply being around her was creating problems for the people in her life.

It was with her boyfriend now that Rapunzel finally felt her breath release, the tension of retelling her story correctly broken once Cassandra had gone. "I'm sorry you were scared," she apologized quietly, despite knowing it wasn't exactly her fault. As much as she always tried to be strong for him, and everyone around her, the expressed permission to share how she was really feeling was about all she needed to confess what she'd been holding in for hours. "I'm scared I've messed it all up," Rapunzel admitted as she embarrassedly hid her face in his chest. "Everything, all this time we've been so careful, and now ... I don't know what's going to happen. They know where we live now, and what I can do, and--I don't think there's any way we can go back."

[mothersmaeve]

closed starter for @punzieeeee location: snuggly duckling

While the god of the underworld had promised her immortality without needing the power of the sundrop, Maeve wasn’t naive enough to believe there wouldn’t be some kind of strings attached in the end. It was an offer she would absolutely take, no matter the conditions, but it would be foolish to put all of her eggs into just one basket. Finding this moonstone could prove to be impossible and she would need some kind of backup if that were to be the case. Specifically, she would need Rapunzel again. But she wasn’t naive enough to think getting to the girl would be as easy as the last time - a long game would have to be played here. For all taking her against her will would work, having to deal with her attitude and attempts at escaping for the rest of eternity would get old fast. It was best to instead work on earning back the trust, love, and respect she’d once had from the blonde.

Approaching Rapunzel was going to be a difficult task, that much she already knew - their first initial remeeting wasn’t very likely to go over well, but it needed to be done. Like ripping off a bandaid, Maeve needed to just get it over with so that she could start working on winning the girl back in her favor. Ideally it wouldn’t be too hard, given how naive and trusting her daughter had always been, but she needed to be prepared for a bit of a challenge - unsure of just how much the blonde may have grown over the past two years. It was because of that thinking that Gothel knew she needed to make this first meeting somewhere public, to put the girl a bit more at ease that nothing would happen. Which was what brought her back to the Snuggly Duckling once more, a disgusting tavern she normally would never step foot in, but seemingly now Rapunzel’s favorite hangout spot. Sitting off in the corner, nursing a beer simply for the sake of blending in, Maeve waited until finally her daughter was left alone before approaching. It had taken longer than she wanted, given how popular the girl seemed to be, but it would be worth the wait she knew.

As she grew closer, she couldn’t help but bask in the glory of the blonde’s hair. So much power hidden within those locks, going to waste on a young girl who could hardly understand just what she really had at the tip of her fingers. It would always feel wrong to Maeve, no matter how much time passed, that the sundrop was being wasted on someone as foolish as Rapunzel. And perhaps that was partially her fault for the way that she had raised the girl, but she had done what felt necessary at the time and still stands by her decisions. Soon enough, though, the power would be hers again, it was all just a matter of playing her cards right. As soon as she was close enough behind the girl, Gothel’s hands came up around the sides of her head to cover her eyes as she leaned forward to speak ever so softly right into Rapunzel’s ears. “Guess who’s back, my flower?”

[punzieeeee]

If she hadn't spent enough time at the Snuggly Duckling before, Rapunzel was surely becoming their best customer now. Sometimes, she was their only customer, actually, as she had been spending almost all of her time at either one of her roommates' sides since she'd been taken from them. It had been nice, having so much companionship, especially from the people whom she loved the most. It was a typical Friday night, not unlike any other, with Flynn behind the bar and Rapunzel chatting her way around it. It was precisely how she thought the rest of her night might go, too, until there was a set of hands over her eyes, a familiar voice behind her, and a nickname only one other person in the world had called her before.

It was her worst fear, every nightmare she'd ever had for the past two years, come true. Rapunzel had feared this day might come, despite knowing that Gothel was supposed to spend the rest of her life in prison. Somehow, she'd gotten the idea that someday, her former mother figure would break out and find her. Her stomach sank to the pits of her body, and her heart rose into her throat as Rapunzel quickly broke away from the older woman's grasp to turn toward her. It was with horror that her fears were confirmed: she'd escaped.

Rapunzel's head began to shake to each side, the gesture beginning before she could even find the word. "No," she said simply, as though it were just a dream. In her nightmares, though, she had only woken up at the sight of Gothel--she'd never gotten to the crucial point of having to speak. "No, you--you can't be here, you're ... it's impossible," she said slowly, more to herself than to the woman with the wide smile before her. Rapunzel backed into the bar, trapped. If she hadn't been paralyzed in fear, she would've turned to find Flynn, but her eyes could only remain on Gothel, watching her every move carefully. Her eyes welled with hot tears, still in disbelief. "How are you here?"

[rearrangethecosmos]

The song that the girl began to sing wasn’t the version he had remembered from back when Apollo had first gifted the sundrop to mortals, but this new rendition made sense. It was a translation of the original incantation, changed to a modern english from the old greek it had first been written in. The general gist of it was all still the same, though, which wasn’t a surprise - but it does make him wonder just how on earth she knew of this. It was one thing to stumble upon the sundrop flower, to figure out that there was something magical and other worldly about it, but to know exactly how to use it… that required a deeper knowledge that Hades had thought to be long forgotten.

As the incantation came to an end and the glow of her hair began to dim, his hands came together in a slow clap as another grin grew on his lips. “Quite impressive. A very good translation, as well, that seemed almost as powerful as it used to be back in the day,” he compliments, moving a few steps forward to get a closer look at the hair in question. It was so strange, knowing the magic of the sundrop was held all in this one little girl. When she had sung he could feel its godly power, but the moment that the song was over she went back to having the aura of any other ordinary mortal. Which was a good thing, for her sake and all the plans brewing in his head - it’d make her far harder to be detected by anyone with magic sensing abilities, or any of those pathetic little hunters running around the island. “No tell me, flower, how do you know just what to sing? And is that the only incantation you were taught?” His wording made it obvious that there was more her hair could potentially do, another song that could be sung to unlock a different set of its power, but Hades has no intention of explaining any of that to her any time soon.

[punzieeeee]

Back in the day was a phrase that raised a flag to Rapunzel, as she wondered just how old the man in front of her truly was. He looked like he could be no older than forty, but she knew from experience that looks could be deceiving. He also knew that the incantation had not originated in English, which meant he'd known the power the sundrop held far better than most people she'd ever met--actually, better than anyone, save for one person in particular. In fact, Rapunzel was a bit shocked that it hadn't sounded like he'd been searching for her all along: it sounded like this happened to have been an accident, stumbled upon solely because it had been Meg, of all people, who she'd healed.

With a nod of her head, Rapunzel answered his next line of questioning. "My--the woman, who I'd told you about, she taught me." How Gothel had figured out how to activate the power, she had no idea, but she'd assumed it had come with the territory of using the flower for so long. "I don't know how she knew: I just remember her singing it to me, as soon as I could talk, and telling me to repeat after her." Back then, Rapunzel had simply thought it was something to bond the two, to sing the incantation together. It had been another tainting realization of her childhood she'd come upon a few years ago. "No others, though, no: just this one. I guess this was all she needed to look the way she wanted to."

[rearrangethecosmos]

Rather than answer her question, which he’s pretty sure she already knew he wasn’t planning to do, Hades simply waved his hand in the air as if brushing the mere thought away. How he knew of the sundrop hardly mattered. What he needed to know was how she knew of it and how she had obtained its power herself. As Rapunzel begins to explain her life story, confirming that the sundrop had still been a flower until just a few decades ago, he listened along with great interest. “Aahh. So that’s what you meant by you’d been through this before,” he comments with a small hum, not actually caring all that much about that particular fact though.

Taking a few steps forward, he looks the blonde up and down for a moment before making a decision. With a snap of his fingers, the ropes around her arms and legs holding her to the chair were gone. She was free, or at least, in theory it seemed that way. Of course, Hades would be able to stop her in a second flat if she actually tried to bolt, but something told him she also already knew that fact. No, she was going to stay just where she was. This Rapunzel girl was far smarter than she appeared, and far more useful than anyone would have ever guessed. “Show me,” he commands, nodding in her direction after a moment passed with nothing happening to indicate he was waiting.

[punzieeeee]

Rapunzel gave him a nod, affirming his suspicion to be true. She hadn't been tied up like this, though, until the very end of her stay with Gothel, though it had been traumatizing enough to bring a strange sense of both discomfort and calm now--she'd been through this before, she could survive it again. Her captor seemed decided on not giving her any information, not even a little, as to how he knew what the sundrop was, or even any defining characteristics that may identify him later. What he could do, though, was apparently get things to vanish into thin air, as evidenced by the rope simply disappearing from her wrists with a simple snap of his fingers. Who this was, Rapunzel had no idea, but she could tell he was more powerful than perhaps anyone she'd ever met.

With another bob of her head, Rapunzel slowly reached for her hair, her movements controlled and intentional, so as to not cause any suspicion. It was better to cooperate now; he already knew everything she could've possibly told him about herself that would put her in later danger. With her blonde locks piled in her lap, Rapunzel began to sing, her eyes closed as the glow lit the room. No matter who it was, she'd never liked to look anyone in the eye as she performed her incantation, but certainly not a man she'd just met. "And ... that's it. If you were injured, you'd be healed," she added as she finished, eyes opened as she spoke.