One

Rapunzel turned one today. Her golden hair was near her knees already, and Mother Gothel couldn't help but notice that it grew much faster than normal hair. This didn't phase her, however, as she began to sing her incantation, watching the hair illuminate the room. Her body felt younger again, the gray disappearing from her face, and the wrinkles smoothing out into the soft, pale skin that she had for the several hundred years she had been alive.

She lifted the baby girl out of her crib, taking her downstairs from the room they shared, and Rapunzel yawned herself awake, fisting her hand in Gothel's hair and looking at the only mother she knew with her bright green eyes, questions in them. The woman put the child down in a modified chair and fed her breakfast. After the young girl had finished eating, Gothel stole out of the room for a moment. Never having raised a child before, she did not know what was appropriate for birthdays, but knew that if she was to pass for the girl's mother, she would play the part properly.

Walking back into the room, she sang, "Happy birthday, dear Rapunzel!" She placed a small cake before the girl, and Rapunzel squished her hand into the home made frosting, giggling excitedly as she ate it off. Gothel couldn't hold back a smile as she cut a piece out for her young ward, letting her have at it and making quite a mess of it. She indulged herself in a piece, eating it with a little bit more finesse than the child. After Rapunzel appeared to be finished with her cake, Gothel cleaned her up and put away the food, bringing out one small box wrapped in colored paper with a pastel ribbon. "And your present," she said.

Rapunzel did not know what to do with it, so Gothel ripped the paper for her, pulling out a small doll. The baby shrieked in her excitement, holding the doll tightly to herself and patting back the toy's hair from its face. "Mama!" she said happily, reaching her arms out to be picked up. Gothel obliged, taking the child back into the bedroom and sitting on the rug with her, holding the doll up to her face and Rapunzel laughed, taking the toy gently into her arms so as not to hurt it.

For a moment, Gothel felt soft, watching the child she had come to accept as a permanent fixture in her life. All she wanted was her flower, but she got a precocious baby girl that took up almost all of her time. She couldn't bring herself to regret the decision. She was young, and for some reason, she was happy with the child in her life. After all, raising the girl was nothing more than a bump in the road to eternal life.

And now, she wouldn't be lonely all the centuries in the future when they both would be forever young.

AN: I imagine that Gothel MUST have cared about Rapunzel more than her as her walking, talking fountain of youth. You can't take care of a person for eighteen years and not care at least a little bit about them. Well, I want this to go through several birthdays, even after her eighteenth, so reviews will keep me working! Don't make me use the Smolder on you! (though admittedly it wouldn't do much but make you inch away slowly.)