Chapter 41 - Happily Ever After

The King is looking at the pile of clothes that was all that was left of Gothel. The person that his daughter still called Mother, and yes he can hear the capital M when she says it. The person he has hated, hated for 18 long, soul-crushing years.

Was it worth it?

He sent the Stabbington brothers to run for freedom, in a way they had made it, they did reach the border in time, but then they died. That hadn't helped any of the pain. Neither did torturing them. Oh, he had just talked to them, but he had seen their faces and knew that he was inflicting pain on them. It had felt so good at the time, it had felt too good, it scared him, more then a little.

He didn't like to think of himself as a vicious man. But that was what he had done, inflicted pain for the sake of causing pain and that was wrong. He and his kingdom tried to live by law and provide human dignity to all even those in prison, because they might be redeemed. True, they sometimes had to die for their crimes, that was the law, but you didn't torture them first and you killed them quickly so they wouldn't suffer and in relative privacy so they could have some dignity in death, and buried them properly. He had been to other kingdoms, where they executed people in front of jeering crowds, all dignity stripped away. He thought it worse for the people then the convicted, it hurt and twisted the people who were part of that, and he didn't want to be part of that, nor his kingdom.

And yet here standing in front of the little coating of dust on the clothes on the bed that was all that was left of Gothel, did the hate matter anymore? From the description Rapunzel had given them it sounded as though her death had been terribly painful. She had died screaming, aging all her years in an instant. He should have, he wanted to, revel, no, wallow in her pain. That she had suffered as much as he did for all those years of separation. He had given up so much of himself in those years, even finally that day when he gave up Hope, he never did give up on Hate.

But all that hate had done nothing to her, but it had done things to him and they were not good things. He looked at the hair, the formerly magic hair that had healed and sustained the Kidnapper, that what was all that was left of the flower that had kept her alive all these centuries, and had saved his wife and daughter.

Once they had a name they had gone to the records of the towns and villages on the coast near where the flower had been found. Gothel had not been a very common name, they had tracked her through time, eliminating many others of the same name, but they had found a birth record in the church archives that didn't match a death record, it was over 500 years old.

Somehow she had kept the flower hidden all these centuries, but somehow it was known and rumored to exist and so they could find it. It must have been a terrible loss when he had it found and brought to heal his wife. But she had a choice to die or to steal a child.

He understood the will to live, having almost drowned, more then once, an occupational hazard of being the ruler of a seafaring nation. They had made a new wanted poster from the painting Rapunzel had made of Gothel , they had tracked her these past years, she had visited many villages, trying to keep a low profile, buying and trading for things, but she was too beautiful to go unremarked on.

But this wasn't about Gothel anymore, it was about him. He had to give up Hate. Not just for himself, but for the sake of his family and kingdom.

"Gothel," King Leonard said out loud, addressing the dusty clothes. Rapunzel, Rebecca and Eugene all stopped what they were doing and turned to look at him. "Gothel, for 18 years I have hated you. I hated you as hard as I could, I created diseased imaginings of what I would do to you if I ever caught you. I specifically sought out the most revolting ways possible to hurt you as you hurt us. I was prepared to let my wife have to you to punish in the most horrific manner I have ever heard. But all I did was harm myself and my wife and my kingdom." Queen Rebecca moved next to her husband and wrapped her arms around him as he put his arm around her shoulders.

"Yes, I harmed you by taking your flower, I am sorry. You harmed us by taking our daughter to use, whose magic sustained you." Rapunzel came on his other side "I wanted to harm you back for taking her. It would never end, would it? The hating, the harming. I make a new choice today, to end it, to finally give up Hate."

Tears began to flow down his cheeks. His heart felt warm.

"To give up Harm."

He felt so hot, it was hard to breathe.

"I forgive you."

His heart exploded in light. The terrible weight of his hatred was lifted from his soul. He fell to his knees, bringing his family down with him.

He was so full of love he wanted to hug the whole world, to take away all pain and suffering everywhere, to help everyone be their very best. It felt better then marrying his wife and the birth of their daughter. Even the light of the tower was completely different, as if all the colors were brighter and shinier. He was free.

He looked up and smiled. "I'm free."

The queen could only gasp in astonishment. Her husband had forgiven the Kidnapper! How could he do that! She stolen their daughter, had tried constantly to crush her spirit, to use her only to stay young forever, to keep her trapped here in the tower forever. How could her possibly forgive her? What could be worth that?

She had loved him all these years, and now it felt like he was completely alien.

But she was looking at her husband. The change in him was incredible. She always found him a good man. But looking at his face it was like the years, no decades, had fallen away.

And that smile, he was practically glowing. There was a feeling around her heart that this was the right thing to do and do now.

Should she dare?

Could she even put what she had felt all these years into words?

She could feel the love coming off of her husband in waves, for his sake she had to try.

"Gothel," she began, looking at the clothes. "I hate you. I hate you so much. I hated you so much I would cry myself to sleep at night, just for taking my daughter. I didn't just want you dead, but to kill you myself with my own bare hands and teeth, I wanted to drink your blood."

"When Rapunzel tells me of the terrible things you said to her to crush her spirit, just so you could keep her to yourself, I would go to my private library and scream out my rage. I teased out all the detail I dared from my daughter to revel in the sufferings you had when you died. To savor it."

"But it didn't help, did it? "

The glow around her heart got warmer.

"You may be dead and she may be home, but even if she were still with you she would still be a beautiful, wonderful, loving person that you couldn't keep down. Nothing you did could truly stop her, because she is truly a good person. And that is all I wanted her to be."

She felt Rapunzel's hand in her own now, along with the arm of her husband around her. It felt like her heart was taking up the whole of her chest.

"I forgive you."

Love overcame her like a wave. She couldn't see because of the beautiful bright light of Love over shown everything. As the massive weight of her hatred lifted, she didn't even know she carried, she leaned on her husband to keep from falling over. She felt like she was floating.

Rapunzel saw the good happening to her parents, her real parents, and the amazing feeling in her own heart. "Mother, I never hated you, I just wanted you to love me, like I loved you, without reservation. I didn't understand why or what you were doing, as there was nothing to compare it too."

"I was going to come back. To be with you, to heal you. I've been disappointed in you, since I left, I have seen and experienced real love. Had you loved me and not just my hair, I would have stayed, because I loved you with all my heart."

"I forgive you."

It felt just like when her hair healed but inside, around her heart and multiplied by a thousand times. How amazing. Tears streamed down her cheeks.

Eugene stepped up next to Rapunzel he put his hand on her shoulder, he hadn't really understood what the King had been doing when he started, but right now he could feel it, deep inside.

"Gothel, you killed me. I resented that. I hated what you did to Rapunzel. I hated you. I just wanted to be with Rapunzel, no matter the cost. I paid the ultimate price so she would be free of you, because you loved her hair more then her. I would have kept the secret just to have her love with me always. I would have let her stay with you so you could keep her safe. You killed me out of your selfishness, but had you let love flourish you could have lived forever just like you wanted."

"Gothel, you killed me and I forgive you."

The weight that lifted off of his soul almost lifted him off of his feet. He too crashed to his knees. Love overwhelmed his soul, tears ran down his face.

"Free" he whispered.

Overcome with emotion he put his arms around his beloved Rapunzel. Together all of them hugged, just like when they had first met and wept, not for sadness but for love, happiness and release. They were free and truly, completely, happy, ever after.

Magic hair could heal the body, but only forgiveness can heal the soul.

Author's Note: This is not the ending I intended or expected to write. I thought I was done when Rapunzel went for the frying pan. A good, solid happy ending.

But I needed this and so do you. In April 2000 a drunk driver killed our first unborn daughter and nearly my wife and I, too. I hated him, I imagined many terrible retributions to be taken out on him, I'm an engineer, I know lots of ways to inflict pain, I've done them to myself by accident, but he died too.

For weeks I festered in my hate. But slowly I realized, I couldn't hurt him, he had paid the ultimate price, what more could I ask for? I was only hurting myself and lashing out at those closet to me.

So I gave up on hate and gave forgiveness. The load that lifted off of my soul was so heavy, and then I was so happy, I was filled with love and warmth, I loved everyone, wanting to give the whole world a hug, everything was beautiful and wonderful, even the hospital food tasted better. For a few days things were amazing, of course, it faded over time, but it is still a good memory.

The Rapunzel, Eugene, and the King and Queen were carrying a lot of hate around and it needed to be dealt with. Even if I didn't realize it. When we first saw Tangled I found myself weeping during the scene with the king and queen before the launch. The is great acting, especially for CG, kudos to the animation team. I don't cry during movies. Even Jessie's Song from Toy Story 2 only made me misty eyed.

I knew there was a good story between the time Rapunzel revives Eugene and the meeting her parents, and also the celebration, but this is the ending they needed, to forgive and to live. I like happy endings and this is as happy as I could make it, even if you are crying, I hope they are happy tears.

I feel that someone out there needs this ending. I hope it helped you, whoever you are. Give up the hate and be filled with love. It really is much better.

You may think you can't live without the hate, but you won't be alive with it.

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