"I'll be back in two days."

Rapunzel Gothel barely had time to slide the heavy book underneath her bed before Mother strut inside the common room and, as it had become exactly nine years ago, Rapunzel's now-bedroom. Mother's cape was draped over her broad shoulders, an obvious reminder of her approaching departure. Rapunzel shot up to hang her legs over the edge of the mattress, still not quite long enough to brush the lightwood floors. As she was approaching her eighteenth year, she highly doubted she'd grow enough for them to eventually touch. But Rapunzel had always dared to dream, regardless of Mother's ill thoughts on the subject, and she'd not cease to do so even with this, no matter how slim the odds were for her.

"Did you pack up the basket, Flower?" It always amazed Rapunzel how fast Mother's moods could spin from black to white and back again. She made it seem as if Rapunzel had never regretfully asked to go outside only minutes prior, and as if Mother hadn't just threatened her death by holding her out of the tower window by her head. Rapunzel still felt the remnants of pain prickling numbly at her scalp, the only evidence that Mother's shattered temper had been a very real thing.

"Yes, Mother," she said quietly, nodding to the basket sitting on the kitchen counter.

Mother smiled a wide, wicked grin as she flicked the lid open with a slender finger. "Wonderful," she commented, dropping her blade inside. It was the only one in the entirety of their tower, Rapunzel knew, and Mother kept it locked up someplace Rapunzel had yet to discover. Mother turned to her. "Have I mentioned how much I love you?"

Rapunzel pulled a shy smile. It was the most she could manage now. She had been finding it harder and harder of late to portray faked happiness so shortly after Mother's tantrums. Around her wrist, Rapunzel twirled a piece of long, golden blonde hair as she listened to her mother's words. She knew the speech by heart now. She spoke of the same old things every time she went out on her supply hunts.

It's a cruel world out there, crueller than you'll ever know, she'd say. I never thought I'd miss having a simple chat with a sane human being until everything turned to dust. With someone other than you, that is. Mother's laugh had always been bright, strong, and contagious.

But something nagged at Rapunzel on this particular day. It surprised her how much courage she still found within herself, even after earlier events. Perhaps her talk to Jack Frost really did help her moral.

"You never told me how it happened," Rapunzel started, the all-too-familiar lick of curiosity spurring her words. "The earth's decay, I mean."

Mother rolled big, grey eyes as she waved Rapunzel's question away. "Oh, it's a long story that even I don't remember all that well. Must you really ask me this now when I'm in such a hurry?"

Rapunzel stopped her slouching to sit up straighter. "But, as the only humans left in all of Corona, it's our duty to write down history! Once life returns, it's only right for someone to document how the Decay happened. How it was to experience living inside of it."

That seemed to peek Mother's interest. She straightened as well and took a few ambled steps toward Rapunzel. "And who would write this precious book of history down, Rapunzel? You? You don't even know how to write!"

Rapunzel felt warmth flow into her cheeks. "I could learn," she said. "It isn't as if I've a lack of time to teach myself. While you're gone—I mean, if it's not too much to ask—could you perhaps look for a blank notebook, since you don't like my painting the stone? Or perhaps a book that teaches writing! I'm sure they were made at some point in time."

Mother suddenly went still for a few seconds, so long that Rapunzel thought she wasn't going to say anything at all. Finally, to Rapunzel's complete relief, Mother seemed to soften. "Okay," she gave in, hopefully thinking of her earlier treatment toward her daughter. "I'll check for those things if I can, but only because I love you so dearly."

Rapunzel smiled brightly. "And it's my birthday in a week!" She reminded Mother. "If you find one, it could be my present."

"Well, don't spoil all of the surprises, Rapunzel!"

Rapunzel laughed and swung herself into Mother's arms. It took but a second for Mother to return the comforting embrace.

For all the times Mother seemed as terrifying as the night, Rapunzel could not drown out the deep love she carried for her. Rapunzel craved to learn how to protect herself, to go out into the real world on her own in preparation for a time Mother might not be here alongside her. But no matter how many times Mother refused to give her freedom, her moments of love replaced all of the sorrow she temporarily brought Rapunzel.

Mother brushed a hand over Rapunzel's thick hair, sending a rush of tingles down her spine. "Oh, Flower, don't you worry," she said again as if reading her daughter's thoughts. "I'll be back before you even realize I've gone."

Rapunzel leaned into her mother's touch and closed her eyes. Too soon, she felt her hand slip away. It was wonderful having the place fully to herself, she had to admit, but at the same time, it always became so... Well, lonely after a few hours.

"I really don't get why all of this is necessary," Mother suddenly continued. "I leave nearly every week, Rapunzel, enough with the crying! See, this is precisely why I don't think you're well-suited for the outside world. You let your emotions carry you everywhere, it's exhausting!" Mother sighed away her annoyance, pressing her fingers to her temples. "I'm sorry, these trips are so incredibly stressful. It's making me say such horrible things!" The sound of soft footsteps followed her words, each one carrying Mother further and further away from Rapunzel.

Before she could get too close to the window, Rapunzel jumped to her feet and ran toward it. She clumped her long hair between her arms and threw it over the hook hanging outside, just above the only window this beautiful tower of a home bore. She tried her best to not glance down, to not let her stomach swirl with nausea at the sight. Somehow, she managed to bend down to retrieve her heavy ends, keeping her eyes fixed on the safety of the faraway horizon. She silently handed them to Mother, letting her grasp and hook the strands neatly under a booted foot.

Mother Gothel hopped onto the window sill, pulling the hood of her cloak high over a mess of wild, dark hair. "I promise, we'll celebrate your birthday properly this year. And that I'll do my best to look for that book of yours."

Rapunzel looked away at the reminder of her past birthdays, a drop of sadness filling her heart. "Yes, Mother," she answered finally.

"Oh, don't look so glum," Mother frowned before continuing, voice growing stern. "Now remember, Rapunzel, behave. And stay hidden. I won't be here to protect you."

"Yes, Mother." She always behaved.

With a satisfied grin, Mother let herself be lowered down, all the way to the precious earthen floor. The pull on her hair always pained Rapunzel, but she never complained. It wasn't unbearably horrible, and she didn't want to know what Mother would do to her if she did.

Feeling the pull abruptly lessen, Rapunzel dropped down to press her chest to the window's ledge. Somehow, she managed to pull herself forward just enough to glance down at the large expanse of bright green grass bellow. The last remaining safe haven in the world. Dizzying, it was, to look straight down. Mother was just a speck in the field, a constant reminder of how high up she was, and how much truly falling down this tower would hurt. An unsurvivable thing. Mother waved her farewell as she began her trek to the tiny, hidden cave buried in the ring of hills surrounding them. Shielding them from the outside world. Rapunzel waved back, anxious to get away. But looking far out was different than looking directly bellow.

She liked to dream about what could lay beyond the cave, other than a decaying nightmare. Rapunzel wondered it every day, even though she knew none of her guesses could possibly be real.

Was it a churning waterfall? A bustling city? Were there faeries, and dragons, and merpeople? She found imagination to be a wonderful, pleasing way to pass never-ending days.

All of a sudden, something green swung down from her head.

Rapunzel yelped and fell back onto her bosom. The hair she still hadn't taken off of the hook slipped away, caught on something, and yanked painfully at her scalp.

On the window sill, the green blob snickered.

"Pascal!" Rapunzel exclaimed just as the chameleon made its way onto her lap. "You scared me!"

Pascal curled his tiny shoulders down and jokingly turned the same exact shade of purple as her dress, a truthfully lousy attempt at hiding from the wrath he knew would never come.

She plucked him into her palm as she stood up, a glimmer of fear growing in her heart. "Are you ready to leave, Pascal?"

.·:* *:·.

Rapunzel pulled the book back out from underneath her mattress. With a deep breath, she slid it atop her blankets, dropped to her knees at the foot of her bed, and dug her fingers between the wood to pull two planks out. Unlike the book, in which she could easily slip between her bed frame and mattress, she'd thought it a good idea when she was younger to fashion herself an area to hide bulkier items such as this; Mother tended to look through her things a lot, which made Rapunzel crave at least a slim sense of privacy.

Slowly, she pulled out a long mass of rainbow-coloured wool. She'd been working on it during Mother's departures ever since the heinous idea came to mind.

The idea that Pascal continued to encourage her relentlessly with.

She gazed at the scarf in her hand, now just as long as her own locks. Finally completed, ever since Mother's last trip. Guilt seized her at the thought of what this meant. Could she really do it?

Could she find the courage to leave, all on her own?

What would Mother think of her if she was found? No, when she was found. What would she do? The thought nearly paralyzed Rapunzel.

The fumbling of paper sounded from above. When Rapunzel lifted herself up onto her knees to look at her bed, she saw Pascal pulling a lose paper out from the Book of Guardians. Rapunzel knew exactly what it was long before she plucked it out of Pascal's tiny grasp.

It was her goodbye note to Mother. The one she'd spent weeks upon weeks pondering over. The one she'd taken forever to write after searching for all of the words she needed inside of her books and tracing them onto paper. The wobbliness of her writing made the letters barely decipherable even to Rapunzel's own eyes, but she trusted Mother would be able to make them out.

She'd have to.

Rapunzel set the letter down onto her bed and tucked the book back into its hiding spot. It hurt her deeply, knowing she'd have to leave them all behind. Jack Frost, the Tooth Fairy, the Sandman... Aside from Pascal, they'd become her best friends throughout the years, whether they knew it or not. She'd prayed to them all with a heart full of hope, time and time again, but Jack had grown to become her favourite. Something inside of her fluttered whenever she thought of him, whenever she saw him save yet another child of boredom within the pages of his book.

Rapunzel looked around her tower, already nostalgic for a home she hadn't yet left. She'd miss the nook of a kitchen underneath the large staircase. She'd miss the fireplace they never used, and the bedroom she was never able to sleep in. The common room had always been her favourite part of the tower—it was where the sun reached them most. Where she felt the least constricted. The most free. She'd dragged her bed outside of her bedroom as soon as she'd been strong enough to do so. It was one of the few thing's Mother had let her get away with.

The nausea in her stomach returned as she approached the window with her scarf in hand. She tried her best to force it down, knowing that this was something she'd have to do in order to finally attain her freedom. There was no other way out of the tower other than this. And she would be safe! Her knitting was as strong as a Chinese finger trap. She'd already tested it out on the wooden beams criss-crossing the tall roof of the tower. It would hold her.

She threw the scarf over the hook above the window in place of her hair, and leaned forward onto her tiptoes to tie it into a stiff knot. She smiled proudly when she was done, pushing herself back upright... until she began tipping forward again.

Panic seized her. She threw her hands in the air before her and grabbed the only thing she could reach other than empty air—the scarf. Heart sinking fast to her stomach, she dug her fingers deep within the folds to stop herself from sliding.

From falling.

Rapunzel couldn't open her eyes, too terrified to see where she was, but feeling it nonetheless. She was hanging. Levitating. Fifty feet in the air.

Suddenly, she was thrown back to memories of Mother, one hand gripping Rapunzel's scalp, one hooked under her armpit, forcing nearly her entire body over the windowsill's edge. Hanging, hanging, hanging. So close to being pushed off.

So close to losing her life.

"I promise!" Rapunzel had screamed, sound ripping out of her throat. "I won't ever ask to leave again, I promise!"

Now, Rapunzel struggled with her breath. Her limbs shook hard as she gripped the material in charge of her fate. She wanted Mother to return badly now. She wanted her to get Rapunzel out of this situation. She needed it to stop, now. To go away. But she was alone, truly and utterly alone, and she knew she was the only one who could stop the lightness from consuming her head.

Rapunzel whimpered and creaked one eye open. Thankfully, all she saw was the safe insides of the only home she'd ever known. She tried to swing her body sideways, toward the sill, but fear suddenly gripped her tight. Before she lost all of her courage, Rapunzel leapt forward and grasped the sill tightly. To her horror, she began slipping down. Gasping with panic, she desperately swung her leg up over the edge and, limbs shaking with strain, managed to drag herself back to safety. It was only then that she let the sobs overtake her..

.

.

If you liked this chapter, don't forget to vote and comment your thoughts! :)

I had so much fun re-writing this chapter! After the first draft, I really wanted to up the game on Mother Gothel's abuse and brainwashing, to Rapunzel's absolute dismay, and so here we are. I hope this made you feel Rapunzel's fear, in the best, most secure way possible. 

Happy New Year! I sincerely hope 2020 brings you all the joy in the world.

A huge shout to mari1 on Deviant Art for the beautiful creation I used as a header image! Please go check out their other pieces (https://www.deviantart.com/maril1/art/Tower-of-Rapunzel-745086857)

*Edited (January 16th, 2019).