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youthfulncss‌:

The pause that lingered in the air was tense and haunting. But Gertrude laughed, lightly, then all at once. “You did spend years with me, that’s true,” she conceded, “but you knew a very specific part of me. Destructive and rash. I don’t deny it,” she says, pointedly. “Sure, I raised you. But isn’t that a specific relationship too? Mothers and daughters. Of course, you don’t see me as a mother. I know that. But… still. Pretend the dynamic is somewhat similar.” This is what you get for being a witch, though. Hatred and all. Well deserved, of course. But just as well.

“Right. Of course. So I don’t harm them, I believe, was the key aspect. So tell me this, Rapunzel, how is me offering closure a bad thing? Cassandra can know who her mother is, and then maybe you’ll be rid of me? Isn’t that what you want? For me to not have ground to hold over you?” That may be a good point. Gertrude giving up some leverage. She’d lose Cass, but she’d have Eugene… or whatever his name was… to torment Rapunzel with. She didn’t approve of him anyways. And Rapunzel… a dear who could have been more if there wasn’t much interference. Gertrude wishes, sometimes, that she didn’t have such a disdain for Rapunzel. But that was the issue. It was Rapunzel exactly. She may have adored Cassandra if she hadn’t been so afraid. If she hadn’t been worried about the act of giving her up. But she did give her up. And gave up on her.

“Sure. You are enough. And you always have been. And this is me, right now, acknowledging it. It’s not what you want to hear, perhaps. Me… of all people… validating something I’ve spent your life tearing down. But… there you are. You’re grown up now, and nothing I say with break you down. So… you’ve always been enough. Intelligent. Witty. And beautiful, though I hate to admit it. So… that’s the truth I’ve always known. And whatever will I do knowing that 20-something years later I’ve broken my own lie?”

“It’s a bad thing because I don’t trust you. Fine, you tell her. You tell her and then what? You want her to move on with her life knowing that her mother is living in the same city as her? A woman who never cared about her? Who chose another child in her place? How is that supposed to make her feel? I will not let you put her through that.” Rapunzel shook her head. “Be rid of you? What does that even mean? As much as you would like for me to think so, this isn’t about me. Cassandra isn’t a game. Her importance is not rooted in who she is to me or what pull you have over me. I don’t care about what you have on me, you’re crazy, you’ll always find something to have over me. I care about Cass.”

Rapunzel’s brow knitted as Gothel began to praise her, things she’d wanted to hear her entire life spilling from the very lips she should have heard them from in the first place. It made her feel like a child again, constantly seeking her mother’s approval. She didn’t know how to respond for a long moment, standing there with her lips slightly parted as if the right words would come out without effort. “I... don’t need to hear that from you.” But she did, and she hated the fact that it felt like a weight had been lifted from her chest as the woman who raised her praised her so. 

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brokcnsmoldcr‌:

Eugene smiled. “Of course I’d meet with you, sunshine,” he said softly. He looked at Rapunzel almost quizzically for a moment, his smile never leaving his face. He glanced down to her hand. Almost hesitantly, Eugene reaches over. “Rapunzel, I– Thank you,” he examines it more closely. When he saw his initials, Eugene’s smile softened even more and he looked up to her. “This might sound weird, but I’m pretty sure this is the first thing I’ve ever gotten with my actual initials on it,” he chuckled a bit. He immediately put it on. He reached over and put his hand on hers. “I, um. I actually got you something, too,” he said, reaching into his pocket. “Well, I made it, too. And it’s not great, so don’t like, get your hopes too high, but um…” he put the folded piece of paper on the table. The little origami sun about the size of his palm. Some of the points are uneven and there are places where you can see the paper had been folded multiple times. “I, um, I saw this video on how to make these and I just thought of you. Because, well, you’re my sunshine.”

“Well, then I’m just going to have to make sure that you get lots of things with your initials on them, to remind you who you are.” She smiled as he covered her hand with his own. As he pulled out the little sun she gasped. She hadn’t expected anything from him, and somehow he’d given her the perfect thing. “Oh Eugene, I love it.” She picked it up, examining it carefully as her smile grew. He had made something that was just for her. “I really love it. Thank you.”

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youthfulncss‌:

Rapunzel. Small. Rapunzel. Sinking down to avoid being looked at. Gertrude, looking down at her. But the expressions were different. Rapunzel troubled and conflicted. Gertrude, with a look that read something of contempt and perhaps sadness. It was very similar to something in Gertrude’s distant memory. Or was it more recent? The years seemed to run together sometimes.

“I never said I was going to treat Cassandra like I treated you,” she says, her voice slightly strained. She was contemptuous and frustrated with Rapunzel. That’s right. Rapunzel always was self-righteous, wasn’t she? “And you don’t really know me, Rapunzel. You’re incredibly short-sighted in your views of me. I could very well be a stranger to Cassandra. She could very well escape, as you’d like to have it, unscathed. Who knows. Perhaps you two will come out stronger because of it?”

When Rapunzel’s eyes finally meet Gertrude’s she feels a chill. A coldness. Was that from Rapunzel? Or was it Gertrude. Oh. There she goes. Being angry. Making grand declarations about who she was. How Gertrude didn’t know her. Gertrude had to without an eye roll. It wouldn’t be very nice of her. But oh… she didn’t… really… care.

There’s a silence as Rapunzel gathers her feelings and thoughts. And Gertrude stands above her, with that same look from years ago. It’s nearly sad in a retrospective way. She’s loathing everything. Gothel is. Maybe Rapunzel is too? But Gertrude’s patience is wearing thin as Rapunzel embodies everything that Gertrude brought out in her. That condescending, self-righteous part of her that just had to be right. Just had to be.

“You’re hell-bent on making me the bad guy, aren’t you?” Familiar words. Perhaps not that sentiment. But same meaning. But a different tone. She isn’t asking in a self-victimizing way. She isn’t trying to deflect. She’s accusing. She’s going back towards Rapunzel. The girl was trying to be brave. But right now… “I’m not the one making you feel small right now. You’re the one sitting on the floor.”

“The world is much more complicated than you know, dear. There’s nuance. There are complications. And to say who you are, and who I am, and what can or cannot be done with any sort of certainty is frankly absurd. Are you afraid of the secrecy? Of your own naivety and unpreparedness? Are you afraid of how your friends would react to your secrets? Your hair… me… I could tell them, you know. Perhaps that everything isn’t as black and white as you’d like to think of it. Are you afraid that you’re not enough?”

“I don’t know you? I spent years with you, you raised me. You get to know a few things about a person, believe it or not. I may have changed for the better, but you’re still the same lying, conniving person you were the day that you took me from my home.” Rapunzel shook her head. “No, no one should ever have to meet you, related or not. Not those poor students at the school, and definitely not Cassandra. You have never gone a day of your life without lying and hurting people.” Rapunzel let out a disbelieving laugh. “I’m sorry. Is me making you the bad guy reaching somehow?” 

She knew that Gothel was right in some aspects.  Rapunzel was allowing Gothel to make her small. She’d retreated to the same reaction of the little girl who’d done something to displease her mother. Rapunzel hated that Gothel could still get this reaction from her. “I let you use my hair so that you stay away from my friends. So I want you to stay away from my friends.” With those last words, Rapunzel rose to her feet, looking the woman dead in the eyes. “My hair isn’t a secret from my friends. You are a secret to protect them. They would understand that. But they won’t have to because you’re not going to talk to them, not ever. I am not afraid of not being enough. I have spent the last five years learning that I am enough, after you told me time and time again that I wasn’t.”

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@youthfulncss​

Rapunzel raised her eyebrow at the dark figure a few feet in front of her. She walked quickly toward her, stopping by her side and clearing her throat. “I didn’t really think this was your scene.”

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@brokcnsmoldcr​

Rapunzel smiled softly, looking across the table at Eugene. “Thanks... for meeting me. I, well I made you something. I don’t know what... we are. And I know that Valentine’s Day is over... but I wanted to get you something. So,” She held her hand across the table, flat palm holding a leather bracelet, the silver clasp marked with his initials.”

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Rapunzel Sommer - Both Parties

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youthfulncss‌:

Gertrude doesn’t allow herself to shrink down now. But she is not going to try to assert any sort of control. (Yet.) She stands opposite Rapunzel, as they often had. She stands in front of her in a way that was nearly vulnerable. Because isn’t this her truth? There really was only one, in this case, wasn’t there?

“You’re too apathetic,” Gertrude says finally, nearly accusingly. And it’s almost hilarious for her–for her–to say such a thing. Gertrude didn’t care about anyone or anything, or at least that’s how it looked. So how could she be so hypocritical to say that Rapunzel doesn’t care as if that’s a bad thing? Well, Gertrude was the bad guy, wasn’t she? It was permissible. “Don’t you care about that in the aspect of your friends? Or do you think Cassandra shouldn’t have what you had?”

The question she asked was easily deflected. What Rapunzel had was a life of manipulation and distress. But Gertrude wasn’t asking about that treatment. Or the sort of half-questioned love that came in exchange. The sort of overprotective smothering that came out of a lack of mothering. Gertrude was asking if it was so right that Rapunzel would deny Cassandra any sense of closure. Any sense of contentment or satisfaction in knowing how her past happened. “Yours is not the only story worth telling,” Gertrude says, her voice turning dark but not dangerous. Contemplative and dour, but not threatening. “Shouldn’t you let Cassandra have a chance? To know what might have been… and what she avoided.”

“You’re condescending, you know.” Gertrude smiles a bit, that bitter smile that stung and bit. “And I don’t know if you know how that affects people. Perhaps you’ve dealt with more than most, but you’ve also experienced a broad amount less. It’s always a question to think that you might know what’s best and right for everyone. It’s almost worrisome how much you’re blind to how that really affects others. Are you really concerned for Cassandra? You’re so set that I’ll ruin her life with this knowledge. What if I don’t? What if I’m not planning on it? What if she just walks away? And really… what if your insecurity is the real threat in this situation? What are you so afraid of, Rapunzel?”

Rapunzel heard herself gasp, sinking down the wall to sit on the ground. It felt like she was a teenager again, finding out that her life was a lie. “Cassandra... Cassandra doesn’t deserve to be treated the way you treated me. Cassandra has a father who loves her, she has a family. She has me. She deserves that life, don’t ruin it. Maybe I don’t know how she’ll react. But I know you. You won’t let her survive this. She won’t come out the same.”

Her eyes finally flit up to meet Gothel’s. “I won’t let make me feel small again. You don’t get to tell me who I am, not anymore. I know who I am. I love my friends. I care. You wouldn’t understand what that means. All you care about is yourself. Any care you’ve ever shown for me was for yourself. You can’t manipulate me anymore.” Even as she said this, Rapunzel could feel her resolve crumbling, her faith in herself. She’d vowed long ago to never let Gothel get under her skin. Maybe she could use, threaten her friends in order to keep her precious youth. But she wasn’t allowed to make Rapunzel question herself, never again. So why was she so shaken at her question. What was she afraid of? 

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youthfulncss‌:

This time, when Gertrude looked up, it wasn’t a piercing blue stare. It was a bit more, watered down. She actually looked like she had some semblance of care. “I don’t ask,” she says, her tone both burdened and hardened, “that you forgive me. I don’t ask that you trust me absolutely. I don’t ask that you be happy to even see me. I know what I’ve done!” Her voice had escalated, that sort of biting tone that she had adapted if Rapunzel had fallen out of line. Or… that’s not entirely fair. Gertrude hadn’t even realized she’d gotten up, quickly, she’d assume, and was toe to toe with her former daughter. 

This wasn’t what she wanted at all.

She tries to loosen her shoulders and to relax her muscles. “I had a child? Yes. I abandoned her? Yes.” Gertrude thinks back to how that had spiralled. Tried to ground herself, because clearly, emotions were running high. She was usually in such control. She could usually calm herself and regulate and manipulate everyone in a room. But with Rapunzel here, she was having trouble. Because this was what she had been trying to avoid all of Rapunzel’s life.

“I couldn’t control anything that happened after I left that baby at an orphanage,” Gertrude says, her tone quieter. No use in claiming ownership of a child she’d let go so many years ago. “So perhaps it is farfetched. And perhaps I’m ruining any hopes of leveraging this information on you. But I’m telling you. And would you honestly rather not know?”

Rapunzel looked up, blinking tears out of her eyes. How could she never escape Gothel. No matter how hard she tried, or how far she went, she was always right there in her life. “Honestly, yeah, maybe I’d rather not know.” She sighed, shrugging her shoulders and looking back at the woman. “So, what? Are you gonna tell her now? Is that the plan? You ruin her life too?”

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brokcnsmoldcr‌:

“I’m not built for this weather, Blondie,” he complained, bundled up in his coat and scarf. He couldn’t stand the cold. He’d just rather be somewhere warm. At least Rapunzel was here. That made it better. But he was still going to complain. “Where are we going again? And is their either heat or some coffee or something there?”

@sundroppcd​

Rapunzel smiled brightly, looping her arm through his. “I have to admit, the cold is not my favourite weather, but hey, it could be worse! At least we get to wear cute hats and scarves! We’re going to an art gallery, and there is both coffee and heat. I’m not a completely crazy person.”

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youthfulncss‌:

There’s a pause, or at least what feels like one. And Gertrude makes a point to look up in that way she did. In that way had held breath and time, her gaze was that piercing. It was heightened further by the fact that Gertrude was allowing, by sitting casually in a students’ chair, Rapunzel to appear so much bigger than herself. Not just physically, but in power. “That’s directly what I was implying, yes,” she says, nodding. Confirming all those fears that were chipping at her daughter. Or.. no. “Well, I’m afraid that it is possible.” Her nods become a bit less perceptible, sort of solemn and less showy. And even sad. “And it’s true.” Right, that was done now. Maybe Rapunzel could give her hell now. She looks back up, a weak smile on her face. “So what questions can I answer for you to prove my point? Or are you set on being mad at me and taking everything I say for lies?”

Rapunzel scoffed. “I’m sorry. Are you implying that there’s any reason I should ever trust you or not be mad at you? I don’t know if you remember but you fifteen years lying to me. So yeah, I’m pretty set.” She moved towards the wall so she could lean slightly against it, fingers coming up to rub her temples. If Cassandra was Gothel’s daughter... “You’re trying to tell me that you had a child, abandoned her, and then stole someone else’s child. And somehow, that child just happened to grow up in my parents home, go to the same school that I ran away to on a whim and figure out who I am when I didn’t even know, and became my best friend. That girl just happens to be your long lost child? That’s what you want me to believe? Because even for you, that’s far fetched.”

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brokcnsmoldcr‌:

He couldn’t help the smile that spread across his face as she giggled. Eugene chuckled some, still holding onto her. “Yeah, that’s definitely been something I’ve wanted for a while, too. Sorta wish the inciting incident wasn’t so… dire, what with me almost dying, but y’know. Glad it happened,” he couldn’t help but joke just a bit. Eugene smiled more, tucking back a lock of her hair. “Really though, can’t tell you how long I’ve been wanting to do that. And, come to think of it, I might do it again if you’re okay with that.”

“Yeah, maybe don’t do the whole almost dying thing again. I’d appreciate that.” She bit her lip gently. “The other thing though... I’d be very okay with that.”

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youthfulncss‌:

Normally, causing ruin to people’s lives was some sort of pleasure. She liked it. Rapunzel, her flower, was easy prey. But today, Gertrude was tired. She had heard Rapunzel clear her throat and didn’t feel any need to perform in any way. So she turned, leaned against the table, and listened as Rapunzel made her claims. Or… refuted Gertrude’s own. She frowned, her demeanour more burdened than normal. Weighted down in some way or another. And if she really felt like it, she would have actually sat herself at one of the lab stations. They were diametrically opposites. Rapunzel, who was wising up to the world, but exploring it more broadly. Gothel, who was getting more and more wary of everything that was happening. Who felt a real shift in her person the moment she had received a text asking if she would, in fact, kill Rapunzel. And the answer, Gertrude was astounded to find, was no. “Am I, now?” She asks, her voice more soft than normal. More sore and bored than normal. It wasn’t melodically manipulative. It was just… soft and worn. She was asking, knowing her own answer but wanting Rapunzel’s outright. “Sorry, dear. I’m not quite clear on what you’re asking me. I’m wrong about…?”

Rapunzel squared her shoulders and took a breath. It was a long time since she’d allowed herself to be weak in front of this woman, and she wasn’t about to start now. It was just that the idea currently swirling around in her head was... inconceivable. "Cassandra. That’s what you were implying, wasn’t it? That Cassandra is your... that she’s your daughter. But that’s not possible.”

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@youthfulncss​

It wasn’t often that Rapunzel sought out Gothel herself, but after the texts... well she couldn’t very well just sit in her room and think about it. So Rapunzel made her way to Wishing Well High, waiting outside the classroom as all the students left before walking into the classroom, clearing her throat to get Gothel’s attention. “You’re wrong,” she started, her voice weaker than she would have liked. “If that’s what you’re implying. If you’re saying that... she... and you.. you’re either wrong or you’re lying and I’m not falling for it.”

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brokcnsmoldcr‌:

He was surprised when she pressed her lips to his. But it was everything he wanted. His one hand cupped behind her head, fingers going through her hair. When she pulled back, Eugene looked over her face, her eyes still closed. He didn’t say anything because he knew he’d ruin the moment. He may have been good with words when writing a story, but he knew everything he said was a little too cocky or not serious enough. Instead, he pulled her closer again, kissing her again.

Rapunzel sighed in relief when she felt him pull her back in and kiss her. She couldn’t help but smile into the kiss, wrapping her arms around his neck. As she pulled away, she giggled lightly, keeping her face close to his and letting her eyes flutter open. “You... don’t know how long I’ve wanted to do that.”

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brokcnsmoldcr‌:

He looked down at their hands. Eugene gives her’s a squeeze. He swallowed a lump in his throat, looking back up to her face as she’s still looking down. Reaching over, he brushed some of her hair behind her ear, fingers trailing to her cheek as he brought it back, tilting her head to look at him again. “Rapunzel. There is no universe where I would’ve rather it be you that was hurt. There’s no way… You’re all the light I have in my life. And call me selfish, but I need you, and I’d rather it was me getting hurt than you every single time.”

She could feel her heart beating faster as he brushed her cheek, meeting his eyes as her chin tilted upward. Without warning, her years with Eugene started running through her mind. Rapunzel had known how she felt about her friend for a while now, and while she was sure there were a million reasons not to - they worked together, Gothel could hurt him, he could be uninterested - none of them seemed to matter right now. It didn’t take much movement for her to close the distance between them, pressing her lips to his. A short kiss, but one she hoped could convey everything she was feeling. Rapunzel kept her eyes closed as she pulled away, almost afraid to open them and see his reaction.