Rapunzel's POV

This place looks a little bleak, I thought, as I was pacing around my new bedroom at the palace. Truthfully, it wasn't so bad. There was a bed near the center, with swans' down quilts, linen sheets, and satin pillows. A rug and a comfy-looking sofa sat near the fireplace. A mahogany desk lay nearby the window. Oh, the window! It led out in to a balcony with the most beautiful view of the kingdom. My kingdom. Yeah, I wouldn't mind living here. There was only one problem. The walls were white.

In my tower, it was filled with illustrations from fairy tale books. Some were even my own little adventures…the day I met Pascal, the time I made a three-layer cake perfectly, and….the lanterns. Yeah, I personalized the tower. It was, it felt, mine, all seventy feet of it. There were so many good memories I had there…but lots of bad ones too. I did not want to think about what nearly happened when Eugene came to rescue me. Or how it felt when eighteen years' worth of hair got cut from my shoulders. Or…what was lying in the bottom, underneath a familiar blue cloak.

It might be wrong, but I regretted what I shouted at her. I mean, I know she's evil. I'll never, ever, forgive her for what she nearly did to Eugene. Still, she did raise me for eighteen years. I did reach out to her before she fell, but I don't think she saw me.

I pulled my attention back to the walls. Maybe I could ask mother to bring me some- No! That mother was gone now. She wasn't my mother in the first place. She never was. She just wanted my hair. Queen Melinda was my mother. Still, she wasn't the one who'd been raising me for eighteen years- I stopped myself. That was stupid. It wasn't her fault. Mo-Gothel took me. I just need time to adjust. I guess I can't expect myself to call her 'Mom' after just one day. As for the paint- I felt a jolt of fear. What if she didn't approve of paints? I knew I couldn't live without them. I decided not to ask just yet. If paints weren't allowed, I didn't want to hear it.

I plopped in my bed, face-first. This was my new home now. I really, really, really hoped that I didn't just trade one tower for another.

Queen Melinda's POV

She was back! My lost princess has returned! I still couldn't quite believe it. Neither can Robert, he keeps pacing back and forth.

Just twenty four hours or so ago, we were in the very same room, when a guard burst in. He was out of breath, panting. He couldn't utter a single word. So he just looked at us, and mouthed one word: Found. We knew that could only mean one thing.

We raced to the balcony. There were two people there: Flynn Rider, and a strange girl with short, messy brown hair and big green eyes. For a moment, waves of confusion took hold of me. Wasn't that thief supposed to be hanged? And the girl…she had dark hair, not like the beautiful golden locks that my daughter had. I was about to cry out in frustration. It was a false alarm. That was, until I looked in her eyes again. Then I knew, without a doubt, that she was mine. I embraced her, trying to tell her how much I missed her without words. Soon, Robert joined in. I even pulled Flynn- Eugene, as that's what they insist we call him- in to the hug.

It was hard to let her go after that. She told us about the tower, the trip to the lights, the witch that took her away…she faltered over that part, as if it was still painful. I wondered why. She was a cruel, heartless hag that imprisoned her for eighteen years. Shouldn't she be glad to be rid of her? At that time, I thought it was just my imagination. That was, until she told us how that same 'hag' raised her. She spoke about her as if she was her mother. Hearing her saying all the things she'd done- teaching her how to read, helping her how to walk and cooking with her- hurt me more than I let on. That was all the things I wanted to do.

I shook my head, telling myself I was ridiculous! It was laughable to be jealous of a witch who was now a pile of dust. But not, a little voice in my head told me, to be jealous of a woman who had raised my only daughter for eighteen years. And knowing that, no matter how hard I try, I could never replace her.

Gothel's POV

I didn't know where I was. And I didn't like it. In the forest, I knew every tree, every nook and cranny. It was how I found the flower in the first place. And how I knew where to build the tower…

I bit back a curse on that royal brat. The one that I'd took care of for eighteen years. I didn't have to, you know. I could've just left her and made her look after herself until I came to visit her. Even now, I wondered why I didn't. I should have treated her like a proper prisoner. A little voice in my head kept telling me that it was because I loved her, but that was ludicrous. It was only about the hair.

Still, I'd think that she'd be a little bit grateful that I bathed, clothed, and taught her. But noooo, it was 'Rapunzel Knows Best' from then on. She didn't try to help me as I went falling to my doom. I doubted that she even shed a tear.

I blinked. Wait a minute! The last thing I remember was freefalling from the tower, while also slowly turning in to dust. How did I get here? With a jolt, I realized that I lying on the floor. I slowly stood up. My bones creaked and groaned. Darn. I'm dead and I'm still old. Wait, am I dead? This is getting confusing. I wish I had Rapunzel to sing to me- NO! I do not wish that. Maybe my youth, yes, but not her.

A voice laughed. "Even in death, you're still fighting your self? My, Gothel, I didn't know that you were that pathetic."

I reached for my dagger.

"Oh, that won't work on me." A pale man with slick, black hair wearing a dark, pinstriped suit walked over. "You see, I'm not only dead. I am Dead. Or, more exactly, Death. And you, dear old mother, have cheated me. I do not like to be cheated."

I winced when he said 'old.' "Then why didn't you send me 'down?'"

He sighed. "You have NO IDEA how much I'd like to. But I have to follow my own rules. Still, you are a very rare case."

"What?" I said sharply.

He chuckled. "Of course you don't know. But didn't you once say, 'Mother Knows Best?' Ah, anyway, when you die, we measure your life in scale." A golden scale appeared out of nowhere. "We measure the good against the bad. If it's tilted to the bad side, 'down' you go! If not, well then, next stop, Heaven! But in your case," He said, "It's exactly equal."

"H-how?" My voice rasped.

"Well, let's see here," He said, going over. "On the bad side you:

1) Kidnapped an innocent girl from her parents.

2) Imprisoned her in a tower.

3) Made her think that Eugene betrayed her-"

"Wait a minute!" My voice came back to me a little bit. "Who's Eugene?"

"Oh," Death said casually. "You know him as Flynn Rider. Shall we go on?"

I nodded.

"4) Stabbed Eugene and nearly killed him-"

"WHAT?" I yelled, despite my cracked voice. "I didn't kill him?"

He raised his eyebrows. "You should thank the heavens you didn't. That would have given you a one way trip 'down.'"

"But how-"

"Your 'flower,' apparently had one last drop of magic inside of her. She used it to save Eugene."

I felt another pang of hate- or was it jealousy? No, no, it was definitely hate. I felt a pang of hate on Flynn Rider. Rapunzel used her last drop for him, not me. Not her mother. A guy she knew for two days. He turned her against me. I loathed him.

"5) You cheated me. Now, let's see what you have on the good side, shall we?"

I nodded again.

"1) You raised Rapunzel for eighteen years."

"That's it?" I asked. He nodded. "Well, then, send me down!"

"Like I said, I can't. Want to, but can't."

"Why not?" I demanded. Ugh, I was arguing for my own punishment. He was right, I was pathetic.

"Well, you raised Rapunzel for eighteen years. That's pretty major, doing something that long. Plus, you raised her well. Without you teaching and encouraging her, she would never have stood up to you and become free."

"Oh, joy, that's such a comfort," I said sarcastically.

"It should be. It keeps you from getting straight down. Now the problem: What to do with you?"

I shrugged.

"I still think you should go 'down' for cheating me," He glowered. "But the Fates demanded that you should have a chance to prove yourself."

"How am I supposed to do that? I'm-" *cough* "dead, in case you haven't noticed! Unless…."I paused. "You're sending me back?"

He laughed. "You have got to be kidding me! Send you back? That's the most hilarious thing that someone said to me for a thousand years! No, we'll let you prove yourself…in another way."

We appeared in a small room, hardly bigger than a broom closet. In the corner, there was a mirror. I gritted my teeth…well, my gums, I didn't have any teeth. I had enough of mirrors to last a lifetime. Especially in this state.

"Oh, this ain't any ordinary old mirror. I, um, 'borrowed' it from Belle," Death said, reading my mind.

"Great. Now who the-" *cough* "is Belle?" I asked.

"Ah, never mind. Point is, tell it what you want to see and you see it. Also, it allows you to, er, possess people one hour once a day. It's pretty random who you get. Might not even be a person!" Death grinned.

"What do you want me to-" *cough* "do with it?" I asked.

Death shrugged. "Beats me. The Fates planned this. I guess you have to play around with it a bit, until you do something major. Sooner or later, your scale is going to tip. Which side is entirely up to you." He vanished.

I glanced at the mirror, and then recoiled. It showed my reflection; my hideous, ugly reflection. "Show me Rapunzel!" I said quickly.

Ah, there she was. Her long locks that sustained me had been cut and turned brown. Her hair was now dark and untidy. If I was there, I'd give it a little trim…I forced myself to stop thinking these thoughts. That job was for her mother now. I kept looking. She was in the royal gardens. I recognized the long rope of ivy that I had climbed to kidnap her. She was strolling along the palace gardens, bouncing from flower to flower and smelling them with a dreamy expression on her face. In spite of myself, I smiled. Then I saw who was with her. The notorious Flynn Rider walked beside her, grinning cockily. I scowled and waved the image away. It was time to try this possessing thing.

I closed my eyes. I don't know why, it just felt right. I could feel my spirit slipping in to the glass, slipping back to the world of the living…

When I opened my eyes, I was in the palace kitchens. I had a white tog on my head, with a large apron. I felt my hair. It was red and fluffy.

"Chef Augusta, hurry up!" A man barked. "The royal family is going to have dinner in just twenty minutes! Cook something up, will you? And be quick about it!"

With that, he left. Well, that was rude! I was all set to leave there and then, but something stopped me. With a sigh, I went to the cooking station. It had many spices and herbs, and ingredients that I could only dream about. Rapunzel would have loved it here- Stop it, I told myself. For one moment, I was tempted to create a poison. Then I decided against it. The royal tasters would find out, and besides, that would make me go straight 'down' as soon as I got back to my own body. I knew exactly what to make. Rapunzel's favorite: Hazelnut soup.

A/N: Reviews Appreciated!