Redeemed

Author's Note: When I was first writing Rapunzel Goes Home, I realized that Rapunzel and Aurora were much the same and would make good friends. I didn't do too much with that until Belle came and asked me to help Aurora tell her story, and so Roused was born.

In Roused I found Aurora's pain and helped her speak it and find a friend to heal it. I knew Aurora was a great and powerful person, and I intended her and Rapunzel and their princes to go up against the Goon Queen and destroy her in a massive battle with the four of them working together swing through the rafters, but then Maleficent came and reminded me that Aurora needed to face her. I thought that was great. Little did I know what would come next. Maleficent was more then just a villain, she was a princess too and her story was not all that different for Aurora and Rapunzel's, but she chose differently, and finally one day she said, I would like out please.

To say the least that rocked my world. I'm still not sure I can pull this off. I've put it off too. It's a hard story. I don't expect many to make it through to the end. I used NaNoWriMo to push myself to finish but that didn't work. I even tried to end the story, but she asked me not to. It isn't fair to her to let it go and, sorry Disney, but you are doing it wrong.

There is a princess in trouble, and I am going to help get her out. Visors down, swords up. Here we go.

Once upon a time, a princess learned who she really was...

Introduction

The screaming bolted Magen awake in the aurora of the dawn. She groped for her wand, but it wasn't on her nightstand like it usually was. "Bother!" she snarled as she remembered that it had burst into flame the day before and she hadn't replaced it yet. It was quiet and safe here, but today it wasn't.

Magen groped around under the bed for the whackadoo her son had made.

Grabbing a robe, she dashed outside in her bare feet. Someone had made it through the Dark Forest, a girl from the screams.

Magen came around the thick roots of the mighty oak tree that stood at the boundary of the Dark Forest. There was a tall, thin girl, curled up in a ball and weeping as if the world had come to an end.

"It's okay. It's okay. You're safe here." Magen murmured, but the girl continued to sob.

"Are you...?" Stupid question, she was obviously not okay.

"Where...?" Another stupid question, it didn't matter where she had come from.

"What...?" Probably a dangerous question, whatever happened had been awful. The Dark Forest showed people their worst nightmares to protect itself. It also tended to be grabby; clothes were often ripped and shredded by the forest, but this was the first time Magen could think of for clothes to have been completely removed. Armored warriors would flee after a few minutes in the daytime. Yet, this girl had obviously walked at least two days through the Dark Forest. There were so many questions Magen wanted to ask, but the answers would be worthless at this time.

"I will help you." Magen stated firmly, as she put her arms around the mud-covered girl. In a few minutes the girl stopped crying.

"Can you stand?"

The mud covered girl shrugged, but together they got her upright. Magen kept her arm around the girl as she guided them to her cottage. The girl could barely stand, and Magen thought the way the girl moved was odd, like she was falling and somehow just barely catching herself.

They got into the cottage and Magen put the girl in a chair with arms so she might have some stability. The girl grunted in pain as she sat.

"I'm sorry. You're hurt." Magen looked around, there were so many things that needed to be done for this injured girl, which to do first?

"Here, have a little food." Magen went to the pantry and grabbed a few easy to eat items and poured out a goblet of blackberry juice she had been planning on making wine out of but the girl needed it now.

"Eat, and I'll get a bath ready for you. Once we clean you up, I can tend to your injuries. Okay?"

"'Kay." the girl said so very quietly.

"Eat something, I'll be right back." Magen went into the bathroom and pulled the heating crystal out of its box and heated the water in the bathtub. Being a witch did have its advantages, she could enchant objects to do things and one of her favorites was the enchanted bathtub, which provided hot, clean water whenever she wanted. She had made several tubs for friends in Avandell.

Magen returned to the kitchen where she found the girl trying to drink the juice. She held the goblet with both hands and her elbows on the table, but her whole body was shaking and rivulets of the bright liquid ran down the side of her mouth and neck.

Magen came up next to the girl, put her arm around her and steadied the goblet. "It's okay, I'm going to help you."

Once the panting girl had drained the juice, Magen asked, "Are you still hungry?"

The girl nodded weakly. Magen looked around quickly. Something simple. Magen dragged over the jam jar and a spoon. With the girl resting on her shoulder, she gently fed the girl spoonful by spoonful, each time the girl thanked her. Magen was reassured by the politeness the girl was showing. Maybe it wasn't as bad as it looked. It took some time, but the jar was emptied.

The mud on her bare feet had dried and was beginning to itch and she rubbed her feet together under the table.

"Are you ready to be cleaned up?"

The girl nodded.

Magen helped the girl up and they slowly tottered to the bathroom. Dried mud was getting on her dress and all over the floor but Magen didn't care at the moment. She'd clean that up later, the girl was the most important thing now. The girl whined in pain as Magen helped her get her leg into the tub, "Sorry. I'm sorry, but we need you clean first then I'll know better how to help you. Here we can use the stool."

Magen hooked the stool with her foot and dragged it next to the tub, sat the girl down and lifted both legs together and spun her so she had her legs in the tub, and then she helped the girl slide in.

Magen used a ladle to wash the girl's blonde hair. The water in the tub was quickly darkened with the mud. Magen rolled up her sleeves and gently wiped the dirt off by hand. The girl flinched as Magen touched her, so she was as gentle as she knew how.

Magen's eyes widened as she found a rawhide leash wrapped around the girl's throat. It had been invisible under all the mud and dirt. "Here, let's get that off of you." Magen said briskly, trying to stay in control.

Magen's insides clenched as she found more rawhide thongs wrapped around the girl's wrists and ankles. Anger and compassion fought against a scared desire not to think too much about what she was finding.

Once it felt like she had gotten the worst of the dirt off, she helped the girl stand to get her out of the tub so the water could be refreshed.

Magen's jaw dropped open, then she swallowed. The girl was covered with bruises and scrapes. From navel to knee the girl was completely black with them. Lurid yellows, greens and dark blues spread nearly everywhere on the girl.

Magen embraced the wet girl and said, "I'm so sorry. I'll make it better." But the girl just stood there, shoulders hunched and head hanging, as the water was refreshed.

Magen was as gentle as she could be with the girl as she finished washing her, but she was certain that the drops of blood that tainted the water were not from the girl's period. Helping this girl would take more than some food and rest.

Magen needed a wand.

After cleaning the girl again, being extra gentle when getting her out and drying her, and putting a soft nightgown on her, Magen said, "My name is Magen and I am a witch, and I can heal you but I need a wand. Will you come with me? It isn't far."

The girl just stood there, her shoulders slumped and head down, but she nodded.

"Okay, just hold on to me. We just need to cross the meadow."

Magen took the girl's limp hand and they walked out the front door and across the meadow to a tall white tree with round leaves.

"Wait right here and be quiet, please." said Magen, though she was only slightly worried that the girl would say anything, she hadn't yet.

Magen walked up to the tree and placed her hands on the white bark with the vertical striations and began to sing. She sang a sung of love and trust and hope. The striation between her hands opened slowly and with much singing the tree allowed her hand in and she pulled out a white stick about the length of her forearm, the magic wand the tree had gifted her. She could see the gleaming heart wood of the tree deep inside. But to remove that would kill the tree, though she could feel the power coursing through it on her fingertips as the sparkles flowed out of the hole in the tree. After another refrain the opening closed and Magen put her forehead against the tree and said, "Thank you." With a hand on the trunk to steady her, Magen turned and walked over to the girl. Taking her hand, Magen lead them back to the cottage, her feet heavy on the ground from the effort of wandsinging.

Magen had the girl lay on the bed in the guest bedroom behind the fireplace. It was warm in the winter and cool in the summer from the heavy stone.

"I'm going to start healing you now, dear. Just lie quietly and it shouldn't take too long."

Magen waved the wand over the girl to see what was wrong. She was meticulous with magic, she didn't just let the magic do whatever it wanted. Too often, very strange side effects would appear and she knew that that would be very bad in this case. This girl had been through so much already and didn't need some weird spell effect to disrupt her life any more then it had been.

"Who was this girl?" Magen thought. She was surprised, the girl already had spells on her. At least three, and they had the telltale signature of fairies.

This made things more complex. She didn't want to interfere with those spells, it would take some analysis to determine what exactly they did. She knew she was too tired to do all of that, but it was important to deal with the bleeding at the very least. Hopefully after healing and some rest, the girl could tell her more.

"You have spells on you already, do you know that?" Magen asked.

The girl nodded as she stared seemingly straight through the ceiling.

"Good, but that is going to make this more complicated. Healing you may take a while."

She looked down at the prone girl on the bed after rising for a break. Her feet had cuts and scrapes, and her hands and feet were discolored and bruised, she had obviously been tied down. There were bruises around her neck. She was a solid mass of bruise from knee to neck.

Whatever had happened to her had been horrifying. It was like she have been raped and beaten to an inch of her life. She was going to heal this child as best as she could. There were so many injuries, it was hard to start. Top to bottom, bottom to top, worst to least?

Magen didn't even know if the girl trusted her, but she at least stayed close. Maybe a bit of simple healing first, before the most serious wounds to build trust.

"I'm going to try healing your hand now. Is that okay?"

The girl just blinked. Magen took that as a yes.

Magen knelt next to the bed and took the hand nearest to her waved the wand. Sparkles slowly dripped onto the hand and began to heal the hand and wrist.

"Is that better?" she asked.

The girl lifted her hand and abstractly looked at it, flexed it slowly and said, "Yes."

"Good, good. Now for the other hand."

And Magen healed that hand, and her feet. It had been tough and slow, but they were looking normal. Now for a tough one to see if there was some trust there.

"I want to heal you between your legs. You are bleeding a little from both places and I doubt it is from your period."

Magen waited and the girl slowly shook her head.

"Okay. I understand if this is hard for you, but would you open your legs for me please? I'll help." She gently reached out and lifted the sheet and moved the legs until she had better access. Princess whimpered in pain. "Okay, that's good enough."

Magen knelt next to the bed on the soft, warm rag rug and slowly let the magic flow from the wand into the place between the girl's legs where the blood was oozing from. Keeping tight control over the magic just letting it heal the girl. The magic told Magen that the girl was torn up terribly inside. It was amazing that the girl could even walk. It was late afternoon by the time Magen finally had the girl's insides back the way they should be.

Magen was tired and said, "I'm sorry, that is all I can do today. I need to rest, but I am pretty sure we can get you all healed up tomorrow. Will that be okay?"

The girl slowly nodded once.

"Thank you. Do you want some of the soup for dinner?"

Another slow nod.

Magen rose but the girl caught her hand. Magen looked at the girl. After a slow blink, "Thank you."

"You're welcome. You're going to be safe here. No one will hurt you if I have anything to do about it. I'm sorry but I am so tired. I have healed your insides and you should be feeling better. I'll have to take care of the rest in the morning." said Magen to the girl, but the only response was soft, gentle breathing.

Magen smiled, heaved herself up and stumbled to her room. She put the wand under her pillow, pulled off her shoes and snuggled under the johnquill quilt her late husband had given her. She was asleep in moments.

# # #

Magen leapt out of bed, grabbing the wand from underneath her pillow. The girl was screaming like she was being torn in half. Magen came into the room, but the girl was alone in bed, asleep and screaming. Magen shook the girl, who woke and backed frightened away from her.

"It's okay. It was just a nightmare. You are safe here. I will keep you safe. No one will hurt you here. I promise. Do you understand me?" Magen asked gently. The girl nodded.

"Good. I healed you a little yesterday, but I had to stop. I was tired. Do you know that you have magic on you already?"

The girl nodded.

"Okay. That makes healing you more difficult. I have to go slow so they don't interact and create some kind of side effects. You don't need that right now."

The girl shrugged, but her face was blank.

"I know you are in pain, but can we have something to eat first? Healing you may take a long time."

The girl nodded, shifted on the bed, and pulled the covers open, a strong scent of urine filled the room.

She looked up with big sad eyes at Magen and quietly said, "Wet," and began to sob.

"It's okay, I can take care of that," reassured Magen.

She gave the girl an old nightdress and they went out to the kitchen to eat.

Magen could tell that the healing had done a lot of good, the girl was walking more gracefully, but the slowness of her movements and pain in her face told there was much left to heal. She even ate slowly and cautiously, Magen made a note to heal the shoulders as well. There was not a part of this girl that didn't need healing. Hopefully, once she's healed, she'll want to talk more. Pain did make it hard to want to talk and explain.

Magen helped the girl up and together they went slowly into the kitchen. Magen helped the girl drink some fruit juice and then made some biscuits, which they ate quietly with butter and honey. The woman placed a warm biscuit and a crock of jam in front of the girl, she picked up the knife, keeping her little finger extended and spread some jam on the food and mechanically ate it.

"Thank you," said the girl, though she didn't really look at Magen.

Magen smiled and said, "You're welcome, dear. Let's go back to your room and I can work on healing you some more, if you're ready."

The girl nodded and, with some help, rose and then walked to her room.

"Oh yes, I almost forgot your bed." Magen pulled out the wand and shot sparkles at it and the urine came out and went into the chamber pot, the mattress and blankets and sheets and pillows fluffed themselves and the bed made itself, opening up so the princess could lie down on the clean, dry sheets.

"This will be easier if you don't have anything on. I'll help you with your clothes. Then we'll change you into a night gown and you can sleep some more."

The princess nodded and let her clothes drop to the floor, not bothering to pick them up. Magen helped her into bed, picked up the clothes, and began to heal the princess once again. It took many hours, as she was not good at magicking living things.

Magen could tell the girl was still hurting by the flat, unmoving way she just lay there on the bed. Something really bad had happened, and she wasn't sure if she wanted to hear the story, but she would if she thought it would help.

Magen worked her way over the girl's belly and legs, then needed a short nap. The intense concentration was very draining. In the afternoon, after a simple lunch of leftover biscuits, cheese, and fruit, Magen finished healing the girl's back and arms. Magen smiled as she heard quiet snores from the girl and then sought her own bed to sleep off the exhaustion the work had imposed on her.