Chapter Text
Rapunzel was sitting next to her window, overlooking the opposite side of the glade her tower resided in. She could see the waterfall nearby, the one she always wanted to play in but was constantly told she couldn’t. She understood that she couldn’t be spotted by others who may want to steal her hair, but the waterfall was covered by the glade just like the tower was, wasn’t it? So why couldn’t she play in it? Rapunzel really wanted to learn how to swim, she’d read about swimming in one of the books Mother brought her, but Mother insisted that Rapunzel didn’t need to know how to swim.
‘Why would you ever need to know how to swim, you silly girl? It’s not like you’ll ever need to swim anywhere. We’re safest here in our tower.’ Mother had said when Rapunzel had voiced her desire to learn.
‘Maybe I just wanna learn because it’s what I want!’ Rapunzel thought with a pout as she looked longingly at the water.
Maybe Mother would let her learn how to swim when she was a litter older? Yeah, that’s probably why Mother was so against it; Rapunzel was just too little right now. Once she grew up a bit, Mother would surely let her learn to swim.
Satisfied with the thought that Mother was just protecting her, Rapunzel was about to go and start a puzzle when something caught her eye.
Was…was that a person standing next to the waterfall? It definitely wasn’t Mother, who was gone on a trip that Rapunzel knew would take at least two more days. As Rapunzel looked closer, it looked like a…boy? Is that what boys looked like? He seemed close to her age though Rapunzel didn’t have a frame of reference for what 10-year-old boys looked like. She knew how girls looked since she could see herself in a mirror, but Mother always described boys as super scary. The boy standing next to the water didn’t look scary, he looked…kinda pretty, actually.
She couldn’t see much due to how far away she was, but he looked to be wearing plain brown pants and a dark brown vest over a long-sleeved white blouse. His hair was dark, but Rapunzel could swear she sees some blue in it. He wasn’t wearing shoes just like Rapunzel which made her smile but still, she felt confused.
Why was a boy her age here? From what she could tell, he was alone with no parent nearby. He was just leaning over the water, seemingly taking a drink from it.
Rapunzel wanted so badly to go down and talk to him, but she couldn’t leave her tower. She bit her lip and started bouncing her leg with anxiety. What if he left soon? She so desperately wanted someone to talk to; Pascal couldn’t actually speak, and Mother wasn’t much for conversation. She wasn’t even here right now, anyway.
In what Rapunzel would later call a momentary lapse in sanity, she called out from her window, “Hey! You there, near the water!”
The boys’ head shot up in surprise, clearly not thinking anyone lived in the tower. He looked at Rapunzel and his mouth dropped open in shock. That girl…she was….
He shook his head and called back, “Hey! What are doing up there?”
“I live here! Would you like to come up?” Rapunzel answered, hoping he would take the invitation. The idea of actually talking to someone other than her Mother was making her heart pound in excitement.
The boy tilted his head in confusion but nodded after a moment. Rapunzel was about to throw her hair out for him to climb but stopped in awe as she watched him. Out of his back, he seemed to sprout wings out of nowhere. Rapunzel let out a gasp as the boy- no, the fae started flying up to her window.
All of the excitement she had felt just a moment ago washed away and was replaced with fear. She had read about the fae! They were dangerous! The book she had read about them had given clear instructions on how to deal with them.
1. Don’t make a promise with the fae; they’ll twist your words and make you regret it.
2. Don’t say thank you to the fae; it means you owe a debt to them.
3. Don’t invite the fae into your home; once you give the invitation, you can never take it back.
Rapunzel began panicking; she had just unknowingly invited a fairy into the tower! What was she supposed to do now? The book hadn’t said what to do after breaking the rules!
Rapunzel took a nervous step back as the boy landed lightly on her windowsill. He looked at her and smiled, sitting down on the window ledge as his wings sparkled in the sunlight.
Despite wanting to have a conversation with him before, Rapunzel wasn’t sure what to say to him now, “Um…hello?” She said nervously.
He tilted his head as he replied, “Hello there. I’m surprised you invited me in so easily. Most people don’t like to invite faeries into their homes.”
Rapunzel blushed a little in embarrassment, “I um…I actually didn’t know that you were a…a-a fairy.”
The boy looked at her with a smile like he was trying to hold back a laugh. “You couldn’t tell by my ears? Or do you not know about the fae?” He asked.
Rapunzel gave a huff and replied without thinking, “Hmph! I know about the fairies! I’m just not afraid of you, is all!”
He smiled smugly, “Really? Well, that’s good to know. Afterall, nobody wants their friends to be afraid of them.”
Rapunzel stopped her pouting at his words. Friends? H-he wanted to be friends with her? Her eyes lit up, “You wanna be friends!? For real?” She stepped closer to him in her excitement, her fear form just a moment ago now completely gone.
A friend! A real, actual friend! Of course, she had Pascal, but having someone who could actually talk to her would be incredible.
His smile never dropped as he nodded back, “Yeah, of course I do! I liked you the second I saw you. We’ll be great ‘friends’,” He leaned forward as he spoke, a gleam in his eyes she couldn’t quite decipher. He put an emphasis on the word friends for some reason, but Rapunzel figured maybe he was just as lonely as she was?
Rapunzel beamed at him, stepping forward to take his hands in hers, “This is amazing! I’ve only ever had Pascal as a friend and you know, being a chameleon and all, he can’t really talk with me. This is gonna be so cool!”
His grin only seemed to widen as he tightened his hold on her hands, bringing her closer, “Yeah! And since you invited me into your home, it only seems fair that I invite you to mine. I can take you there right now.”
Rapunzel’s grin faded as he stepped closer to the window, clearly wanting to take her with him. She stopped him by pulling her hands away and held them up in a sign for him to stop. His grin immediately dropped when she pulled away, his friendly aura leaving as well.
She felt a little guilty when she sputtered out, “Sorry! But I’m not allowed to leave the tower. Mother says I have to stay here so people don’t try to steal my hair. I’m sure once I’m older she’ll let me out but since I’m still really little I can’t.”
The boy gave her a strange look as he seemed to inspect her hair, “So…your mother is the one keeping you here?” He said with a skepticism Rapunzel didn’t pick up on.
She nodded, “Yes. Even though I really don’t like having to stay in the tower all the time, I know she does it because she cares about my safety. But I’m sure once I’m older, she’ll let me out! It’s not like she’d try to keep me in here forever,” Rapunzel laughed at the idea with a shake of her head.
The boy didn’t look impressed, though. He gave her a cold stare, his smile from before long gone. “I don’t smell any familial scents on you. You haven’t been around one of your parents in a very long time. Now I’ll ask again; are you sure it’s your Mother who’s keeping you here?”
Rapunzel looked at him in confusion and a bit of anger. What was he trying to say?
“Of course she’s my mother. Who else would she be, silly?”
He looked away from her with a small hum. “Sure,” he said, clearly not believing her.
Rapunzel felt anger come up as he disregarded her, “Well what do you know? You’re just a stupid fairy, anyway!” She exclaimed childishly.
She felt herself flinch when he looked at her again with the same cold stare from before. He grinned again but it didn’t reach his eyes as he said sarcastically, “Yeah, you’re right. What would a dumb fairy like me know?”
Rapunzel looked at the ground in guilt, “S-sorry, that was mean. I didn’t mean to call you stupid. I-I really do wanna be friends! And I can’t be your friend if I’m mean, can I?”
He was looking at her again, not saying anything for a minute. He seemed like he was thinking about something. Oh no, what if he didn’t want to be friends anymore?
‘Stupid Rapunzel! You can’t just go insulting your first non-reptile friend!’ She chastised herself in her head.
After another moment, he spoke, “You can make it up to me by telling me your name.”
Rapunzel didn’t realize until he said it that she’d never introduced herself. How rude! Mother would be very upset with her if she knew. She’d scold Rapunzel for not listening to her lessons on manners.
Rapunzel jumped at the realization, “Oh, I’m sorry! That was rude of me. My name is Rapunzel. What’s yours?”
Suddenly, he was right in front of her, their noses almost touching. She let out a small yelp of surprise. “You should know better than to give your real name,” He said as he placed a hand gently on her shoulder.
Rapunzel was confused. The book never said anything about names. Were names important? “Is… is it a bad thing to give you my name? But what else would you call me?”
He backed off a bit, leaning away to be a more reasonable distance from her. He had a welcoming smile on his face again and Rapunzel felt a little better. He didn’t seem upset anymore, at least.
“You’re just lucky it’s me you told and not some other fairy. But since you gave me your name, I’ll give you mine. I’m Varian. It’s wonderful to finally meet you, Rapunzel,” He said.
She tilted her head, “Finally? Did you know me before? I don’t ever remember meeting you.”
He shook his head with a laugh, “No, we haven’t met before. But I know it was you I was waiting to meet. I’m really lucky, you know,” He gave her a big smile, “Most fairies have to wait a really long time to find their missing piece. Yet, here you are. I found you a lot sooner than I thought I would!”
Rapunzel misunderstood what he meant, replying, “Yeah! I know what you mean! I thought I’d have to wait a lot longer to meet a friend.”
Varian just smiled, not caring that she didn’t understand. “That’s why I want to bring you home with me. Now that I’ve found you, I can’t just leave you here.”
Rapunzel was at a loss for what to do. Varian made it sound like friends were supposed to visit each others’ homes. But she already told him that she couldn’t leave! Trying to figure out a way to keep her first friend from leaving, she said, “Well, I still can’t leave. Believe me, I want to visit your home! I really do! But Mother said I can’t leave. So I can’t.”
Rapunzel felt tears begin to form in her eyes as her frustration kept building. She sniffled.
Varian stopped cold, removing his hand from her shoulder as he looked at her in confusion. “Does…having to stay here make you unhappy?” He asked slowly.
Rapunzel sniffed again as she nodded, “A-a little bit, yeah. I wish I didn’t have to stay here but I don’t really have a choice! Mother says I have to!”
Varian clicked his tongue at the mention of her mother again, looking around the tower for a moment in contemplation. “So if staying here makes you unhappy…then being forced to stay somewhere else probably wouldn’t make you happy either.”
“Huh? What do you mean?” Rapunzel asked, trying to get her sniffling under control.
“Nothing,” He said quickly. “Don’t worry about it. Hey! I’ve got an idea.”
Varian put his arm around Rapunzel’s shoulder, bringing her further into the tower. She followed, curious as to what he was thinking. “Show me your room, yeah?” He asked.
She nodded, happy at the change of subject, “Okay! It’s over here.” She led him to her room, happy to show it off.
They walked into her bedroom, a few books and paint brushes scattered on the floor. She meant to pick those up; Mother always told her that being sloppy wasn’t ladylike. Varian looked around the room, inspecting it. Rapunzel tilted her head; was he looking for something?
Varian stopped as he looked out her bedroom balcony. This one faced the front of the glade surrounding the tower. He smiled at her, “This is perfect! With this view, I’ll be able to tell when that woman is coming here!”
“Huh? Why would you need to be able to tell when Mother is coming home?” Rapunzel asked.
“You said your Mother wants you to stay in this tower, right? Not meeting anyone or going out?” He asked her for clarification.
Rapunzel nodded, still confused. “Yeah, Mother says it’s too dangerous for me out there. So?”
Varian flew up toward the rafters in her ceiling, saying, “Well, since you don’t want to come with me, I’ll just have to stay here with you! And once you’re old enough that your ‘mother’ lets you out, you can come home with me!”
He said it like it was the perfect plan but Rapunzel wasn’t so sure. “What!? Mother will kill me if she finds out I let someone into the tower! Especially if that someone is a boy!” She exclaimed, pulling at her hair.
Varian laughed, “You think she’d be more mad about me being a boy than me being a fairy?”
“Yes,” Rapunzel said bluntly.
Varian let out a huff of laughter at that, coming back down to hover just a little higher than where Rapunzel stood.
“Well, too bad. I just found my missing piece, I’m not leaving you here for some else to snatch you up from under my nose,” He said like it was obvious.
Rapunzel figured that was just how Varian referred to friends; maybe the fae just have a strange way of referring to those close to them? She kind of wanted to ask him more about the fae but was too nervous. After all, her book only mentioned three rules surrounding the fae. What if there were more she didn’t know about? Hopefully once she and Varian become closer friends, he’ll tell her.
“I don’t know about this, Varian. I don’t like hiding things from Mother,” she bit her lip and played with her hair nervously as she spoke.
Varian gave her a bright smile as he waved his hand dismissively. “Don’t worry! I promise, you’re not actually hiding anything from your mother! Our relationship doesn’t have to involve that woman at all!”
Rapunzel played with her hair a bit more, “Are you sure? You don’t think Mother will be upset?”
“Of course not! That woman doesn’t need to know everything in your life, right? Don’t you want something to keep all for yourself? We can keep this a secret, just between the two of us! I’ll be with you all the time, so you don’t ever have to be alone again! What do you say? Is it a promise?” Varian held his hand out for her.
Rapunzel gave him a suspicious look, “I read that you’re not supposed to make promises with the fae. The book I read said it was dangerous.”
Varian looked hurt and she immediately felt bad, “Does this sound like a bad promise to you?”
Rapunzel gave a quiet, “No…”
Rapunzel looked at him with hope. She would never be lonely again? It would just be between the two of them? But, wait. What about-
Rapunzel hesitated, “What about Pascal? I don’t think I need to hide you from him.”
Varian kept his hand out, waiting for her to take it, “You mean your little pet lizard? Sure! He can be in on it. I don’t see the harm.”
Rapunzel shook her head, “Pascal’s not my pet! He’s my best friend!” She looked around the room, “I think he’s sunbathing on the roof right now.”
Varian rolled his eyes, “Yes, of course. How silly of me. Your friend Pascal can know about me, but we’ll keep this a secret from that woman, okay?”
Rapunzel nodded enthusiastically, “Yeah! That sounds great!”
Rapunzel gave Varian her hand and he grinned as he took it to his lips, kissing it. Rapunzel blushed, not expecting that.
“W-Wha? What was that for?” She asked, taking her hand away. That was kind of embarrassing. She’d never been kissed by anyone except the occasion kiss to her hair from Mother.
“To seal our promise. I’m glad you’re so open to me staying with you,” Varian replied, “Because I’m never leaving you.”
Rapunzel smiled happily, taking his words to be a comforting promise from a friend.
Varian smiled too, but it was different than the one Rapunzel wore.
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Varian was so happy right now, he could barely contain himself. He couldn’t believe he’d found his missing piece this early! Normally, faeries didn’t find their missing piece until much later on in life. To think, he’d just stumbled upon the glade where she was hiding. Thank goodness too; he wasn’t sure he would’ve found this place if he went actively searching for her.
He was a bit surprised though; he never thought his missing piece, his obsession as he’d heard other fae call it, would be a human. Most fae find their obsessions in locations or activities. He always thought he’d find his in science.
But he knew, the moment he saw Rapunzel, that she was it. His missing piece, his eternal obsession. Seeing her smile at him felt better than anything he’d ever experienced. He never wanted to leave her side. He wanted to see that smile on her face every moment of the day.
He didn’t like that she’d refused to come with him, though. How was he supposed to protect her if she didn’t come to the fae realm with him?
But what disturbed him even more was being told that she was already being kept. Because that’s what this was, he knew. Despite them being the same age, Rapunzel was clearly a little more naïve. He could tell from her scent, that whoever she was staying with was of no relation to her. Normally, he would assume that just meant that she was adopted, but the situation was just too strange for that.
Then there was her hair. Varian could tell the moment he saw it that it was magical. He didn’t bring it up, not wanting Rapunzel to think he was there to ‘steal’ it as she had said.
Everything she said laid out the situation clear as day to him. Someone had found her, realized her hair was magical, and decided to keep her. And it clearly made Rapunzel unhappy. She had outright told him! Varian didn’t like that she was unhappy, but he felt conflicted. If he took her with him to the fae realm, wouldn’t he be doing the same thing this ‘Mother’ of hers was doing?
Every instinct in him said to take her away with him, that was what fae did. They took what they liked with them to their realm, no matter what it was. He’d seen other fae take entire homes with them to their realm, so even if she wanted to stay in the tower, that wouldn’t have been an issue.
But Rapunzel didn’t like being kept. She said as much; how she didn’t like being cooped up in here, how she wanted to leave when she got older. Varian had to admit to himself, he didn’t really know any other faeries who’s missing piece was a human, so taking her with him might be different than just taking an item or even a building.
It wouldn’t make her happy, and that’s what ultimately mattered to him. Rapunzel should be happy, he needed her to be happy. It almost felt like it physically hurt him when she started crying earlier.
But he was glad, he thought as he watched her sleep in her bed from the rafters above her.
Rapunzel had made a promise with him, something humans were generally opposed to since they knew how manipulative faeries could be. He supposed she didn’t know as much about faeries as she really should, but that was just fine with him.
He’d purposefully kept the promise vague, so that as they grew older their ‘relationship’ could bloom from friendship into something more. He already knew he loved her, but they were a bit too young for anything like that. Humans didn’t mature as fast as the fae, he knew, so he’d have to be patient.
Varian reached over to pull some of Rapunzel’s hair closer so he could use it as a hammock. He liked being able to watch her from above, so this was perfect.
Closing his eyes, he looked forward to the coming days of being able to bask in her presence. ____________________________________________________________