Archive of Our Own

There are five arcs:

1. The Escape
2. The Guard
3. The Crown
4. The Healer
5. The Princess

1. THE ESCAPE

• Rapunzel must be stronk if she lifts an entire person more than once a day AND lugs her hair around the tower
• She's also very bored and exercise has to be somewhere on her to-do list
• So she's BUFF
• (Is this self indulgent because I love the idea of Rapunzel being super athletic? Yes. Yes it is.)
• She finds out about what Mother Gothel's doing keeping her in the tower through little clues she leaves
• Looks that are more at her hair than at her, emphasis on looks and youth, comparing the world as Gothel describes it to the world depicted in her books, etc.
• Point is, she gets the idea to break out
• She practices her climbing to get down because her hair's not long enough to double over and do what she does in the movie just yet
• She waits until Gothel's gone and climbs down
• Cue usual shenanigans of escaping, only with slightly less guilt and a lot more confidence in her abilities
• She gets in big time with the Snuggly Duckling people because of added stronkness
• Palace guards aren't after her this time but Gothel goes back to the tower, finds that she's missing an immediately calls for a manhunt
• She is jumped at the Snuggly Duckling and escapes like in the movie but with more success and without demolishing a dam
• She's found by a patrol on the very edge of the kingdom by (dun dun duuuuun) Maximus and his rider, who bring her inside and take her to an inn
• I headcanon that because she's literally of the sun, she can sustain herself on just that for a limited time without repercussions so she doesn't look too bad but she's hella dirty
• I'm taking complete head-to-toe covered in leaves, twigs, mud, you name it
• And when she gets to the city someone looks at her and goes 'hey, she looks like the lost princess'
• And this happens a lot while she's living in this inn (which I imagine to be run by two twins, older women who will rip you to shreds if you cross them who probably were part of a black market at some point but we don't talk about that, and their sons (one each, both late 20s) who are hoping and praying they don't inherit too many grudges when their mothers/aunts finally retire), making a living off manual labour and occasional book readings since I imagine not everyone can read
• Then the subject of the lantern festival comes up
• She finally sees a picture of the lost princess everyone keeps comparing her to and is like
• Oh
• And she remembers and runs immediately to the guards
• 'You have to let me see the king and queen!' 'Look we can't just let random people in—'
• Then the queen sees her
• And she knows
• And it's a beautiful moment, people cry, the guards cry, Rapunzel cries, the queen cries, and when everyone's finally calmed down the king arrives and also starts crying because his daughter is back!!
• Meanwhile Gothel hears about the return of the lost princess through some lose-lipped townsfolk after sneaking into the kingdomand goes to the Snuggly Duckling on the off chance some of them will help her
• She hears them talk about how Rapunzel's a good friend so she rules them out and is about to leave when they mention how she's supposed to be coming to the pub in two days
• Gothel has a plan

1. THE GUARD

• At this point, Rapunzel isn't quite ready to let the world know she's the lost princess, so she's allowed to join the guards
• SHENANIGANS
• By god do I love my shenanigans
• She gains like 7 dads on her first day, no fewer than 5 siblings (more are gained at a later date), and at least 16 secret admirers because she is still stronk and buff and hella friendly
• I do love me an extended family of losers and misfits
• She introduces the Yet To Be Named Inn Family to her new guard friends and chaos is caused
• The Inn Family Sons/Nephews facepalm exactly in sync when their mums/aunts steal a horse
• Anyway
• So she's on her way to the Snuggly Duckling when she's knocked out by none other than the two sideburn thugs that work with Flynn in the movie, who now work for Gothel
• She's brought back to the tower
• Meanwhile the Snuggly Duckling people are getting worried because she's supposed to have arrived by now
• They get her guard family and everyone looks for her
• Only problem is even Rapunzel doesn't know exactly where the tower is
• She's only been out for about three months and she wasn't exactly paying attention to distance in her mad dash for freedom
• So everyone's doing a whole lotta looking but not much finding
• While Gothel is trying to get Rapunzel to sing for her, and she's refusing
• I imagine she actually has a lot of trauma hidden in that song
• Gothel is doing everything she can to get her to just sing but it's not working
• OH MY GOD I FORGOT PASCAL
• So he's been with her for this whole time and he sticks his tongue in Gothel's ear
• Go him!!!!
• My little dude!!!!!!!
• But he gets batted away
• Which does help because it gives Rapunzel a break to get her thoughts straight while Gothel gets chameleon saliva out of her ear
• Because when she batted Pascal away, Gothel broke a mirror
• (We all know what this means)
• So Rapunzel pulls and pulls at her chains until one of the shards is under her foot
• She drags it towards her as Gothel realises what she's about to do and grabs her arms to stop it
• Rapunzel throws her off easily because of how Gothel's starting to panic and also because she be STRONK
• And then she cuts off her hair
• And Gothel crumbles to dust
• There's only a moment of pause before she sends Pascal out to get help, which comes fairly soon, but that's still quite a while to be in a dark room with the ashes of someone who put her though so much
• This is gonna cause a lotta trauma
• Ho boy
• So the search party finds her and gets her free once again
• She gets back to her parents
• But now the sideburn twins know about her and want her power too
• So they break into the palace a few days later while Rapunzel's still recovering emotionally
• They don't get her, but one of her guard family is injured pretty badly
• But she's not as sad as what happens when Flynn gets stabbed in canon
• She's angry
• And what's the sun if not a burning, blistering, raging star?
• There's this shockwave of golden light that burns for just a moment
• But then everyone, and I mean everyone in the city is healed
• All physical injuries just magically disappear as a result of a huge power she didn't know she could use
• The guard is alive, and happy reunions abound

1. THE CROWN

• They decide to keep her a secret for fear of people like Gothel coming and realising that even though her hair is gone, she can still heal
• (And do so much more, but she doesn't know that yet)
• Rapunzel isn't too pleased with this but it's miles better than her situation before, and she's allowed to do anything she wants within the bounds of the law and as long as she tells someone before she goes out of the city so they know when to worry if she's not back
• There are still rumours though, and anyone who's trustworthy enough knows that the lost princess isn't so lost anymore
• (There's a new royal guard who looks suspiciously like the king and queen and the other guards (*cough* extended family *cough*) have seen her mess up more than once and call them 'Mum' or 'Dad' instead of 'Your Royal Highness' so by this point it's pretty much confirmed, at least among the guards)
• But this all happens when she's about sixteen
• And Flynn hasn't stolen her crown yet, so it's still there
• But he does come to take it
• And when he comes Rapunzel is there
• 'Are you stealing my crown?'
• And Flynn's like 'holy shit, it's the actual lost princess' ('found princess' 'same difference')
• And Rapunzel's still stronk so he's kinda intimidated
• She lets him take the crown for some reason?????
• And she follows him??????????
• Flynn is so confused
• But really Rapunzel's just using him as a tour guide of sorts across the rooftops because she still wants that adventure
• He's alone this time because sideburn twins got executed for their crimes
• They have a few heart warming moments because Flynn wasn't expecting the lost princess to be both buff and endlessly energetic and wasn't she supposed to have blonde hair?
• And they get to the Inn Family's inn
• Oh dear
• The Inn Twins have a HUGE grudge against Flynn for several reasons and the only reason he doesn't get his ass handed to him then and there is because he arrived with Rapunzel (and the sons/nephews are holding the twins back with all their might, which is admittedly not much but they're trying okay)
• There's a whole Thing where someone calls the palace guards on them that I'm too lazy to think up but it ends with Rapunzel having to explain that Flynn is with her, she gave him the crown (not that she's the lost princess or anything, no, definitely not, just that she's also a guard so it's fiiiiine)
• But they end up wondering into the woods to give the more uptight of the guards time to process and maybe think about not arresting him
• SNUGGLY DUCKLING TIME
• Rapunzel enters the bar and there is an immediate shout of 'ARM WRESTLE!!!!'
• Flynn continues to be confused
• Friendly reminder that Rapunzel is STRONK
• Most of the matches end in a draw
• She loses more than she wins but that can't be helped because her focus is on core strength more than arm strength and besides she's improved!!! she didn't win against Kitten last time and this time she did!!!! (Kitten is a pet name for Cub which came from saying his actual name, Club, far too many times and far too fast)
• Flynn, as well as being confused, is now also Intimidated
• Because Rapunzel may be five foot one but she's five feet and one inch of power
• (Little does he know how true that is in more than one sense)
• They get out cuz one of the guards came to say it's all sorted now and Rapunzel's all rowdy and fired up and excited to have spent time with her new friend!!!! ('we're not—' 'we're friends now' 'but—' 'friends')
• (Flynn is not only Confused and Intimidated, he is also Afraid)
• Somehow, she finds him the next day and drags him back out to the Snuggly Duckling (because APPARENTLY Bruiser thought he looked like an interesting person to play cribbage with)
• He still has her crown
• He doesn't know why he hasn't sold it yet
• She doesn't seem to care
• On the way her emotions are running high and she's!!!! so happy!!!!!!!
• She's feeling all warm inside
• (Warm. Y'know, like fire. See where I'm going with this?)
• And she shoots Flynn the most brilliant smile he's ever seen
• And then the ground under her feet is suddenly super hot
• And then a bush catches on fire
• Cue a mad panic to put it out with both of them flapping about all over the place
• When it's sorted, they sit down and Rapunzel is thinking 'oh my god, oh my god, did I do that? was that me?'
• Flynn over here having a 'her hair glows' crisis only without the hair and with the joint input of Pascal's existential crisis
• They look at each other
• And Flynn asks
• 'Could you do it again?'
• 'I don't know'
• SCREW CRIBBAGE THIS IS MORE IMPORTANT

1. THE HEALER

• They mess around with her powers and there's a training montage or something, whatever you want
• Flynn's the one who convinces her to see if she can do things other than healing after he sees it firsthand
• And she practices
• They discover Several Things:
• She's already been practising her healing at the palace and she's all but perfected it (it comes out from her heart in a golden light in a circle and it's like a radius of healing and everything inside that radius is cured, at the cost of some MAJOR stamina though)
• She can control and set very light orange fires to varying degrees of success (the don't talk about the Wagon Incident)
• She can make lights from her fingertips, like mini suns in her hands (which Flynn things are very pretty and doesn't quite manage to stop himself from saying so out loud)
• She can make herself warmer? it's not that useful really since it only affects external temperature and not her internal temperature
• (Snuggling opportunities in the future will be plentiful though)
• All in all it's going pretty well
• BUT
• The sideburn twins weren't actually executed
• There was enough of a rumour mill going that they were broken out and the execution was staged to make it look like they were dead
• And they've spread the word of her power, gathered enough people top overpower the kingdom and are set to attack any day
• But Flynn and Rapunzel don’t know this so they just continue with their lives
• They arrive at the Snuggly Duckling where Boulder is Extremely Sad that Flynn missed their cribbage tournament but you know what’s better than cribbage?
• Card Darts: With Kitchen Knives
• (‘what’s—‘ ‘shhhhhhh, we don’t talk about it downstairs’ ‘but—‘ ‘SHHHHHH’)
• As Flynn is whisked away to his doom, Rapunzel sits at the bar to talk to the guy who has a hook for a hand and plays the piano really really well
• (I’m sorry my dude I don’t know your name, but in this au because he’s friends with Rapunzel he got to follow his dream!!! He’s a professional pianist for the kingdom!!!)
• Anyway
• Rapunzel sits down at the bar and she tells Pianist Dude about her powers!!!
• And he’s like!! Good for you!!
• But in all seriousness we need to start being more aware of who exactly Knows about your princess-ness and now also your SUPERPOWERS!! THAT YOU SHOULD NOT STILL HAVE!!!
• But that’s why she goes to him
• Because she knows the danger this could bring so she wants someone with an ear to the ground to look out for any trouble
• Pianist Dude says he’ll tell maybe three other people just to cover all bases, but they’ll definitely be people he trusts without question and he’ll vet them just to be 100% sure
• They shake on it, and Rapunzel goes upstairs to help Flynn
• Poor Flynn
• (Rapunzel beats everyone at Card Darts, with and without kitchen knives)
• Then because she has to be able to find Flynn tomorrow without having to run the length of the city five times (‘hold on you did what—‘) she drops Flynn at the Inn Family Inn and uh
• Sorry my Guard Dads are calling uhhhh
• BEHAVE
• Flynn would prefer Card Darts
• With the kitchen knives
• The twins aren’t as feral as the last time because he’s not just Thief Flynn Rider anymore he’s Rapunzel’s Friend Flynn Rider
• So he’s okay in their books
• Inn Family Sons/Nephews have a few more words to say
• Because earlier today some really shady looking characters checked in just upstairs and were seen hovering around the Lost Princess Mosaic earlier today and we’re not saying you should go somewhere else because we’re worried, of course not, why would you think that
• BUT
• You should probably go somewhere else
• (Rapunzel has everyone wrapped around her finger and she doesn’t even know it)
• So Flynn has this awkward moment of ‘uuuhhhhh okay then, guess I’ll just sleep by the road then’
• Until he remembers that Rapunzel is a GUARD
• And since she joined she’s been Doing Her Best to improve living conditions and provide emergency shelter to those who can’t find it elsewhere
• So he heads to the barracks
• And he gets there and everything’s fine, he checks in, he’s given a bed, it’s all good
• And then the crown falls out of his satchel
• Everyone stares
• ‘…would you believe me if I said that was mine?’
• Flynn is restrained, they call for Rapunzel
• Rapunzel’s like???? Flynn??? I thought I left you in the hands of someone responsible??
• (The guard restraining Flynn makes an indignant noise and is reminded by another guard that he once got so drunk he thought the cobblestones were people and tried to free them from their cages)
• (That shuts him up real quick)
• And Flynn’s like uhhh about that
• He tells her about the shady people at the Inn
• She’s understandably worried
• Once that’s done the guard not holding Flynn picks up the crown and is like
• ‘This… uh, this is yours, right?’
• He gets a jab in the ribs from his partner because great going dude you’ve blown her cover
• But all Rapunzel does is look at it contemplatively
• And suddenly something clicks
• She’s been hiding from her past for so long, even if it was for the safety of others
• But with this power she now has, she doesn’t need to hide anymore, right?
• She can protect her kingdom and be the princess they need, in wartime and in peace
• (Because she’s not so naive as to think that these peaceful times will last)
• (She knows how little it takes from the stories the Snuggly Duckling patrons tell in the evenings, keeping each other company around a fire outside)
• So she takes the crown and puts it on
• And for the first time in a long time, she is all that she is meant to be and more
• ‘Yes’ she says, and Flynn can only stare at her slack jawed along with the guards because half of him didn’t believe all the things that were implied
• All the little moments of her alluding to being the lost princess just seem so obvious now
• Flynn Rider looks up at Rapunzel, and he sees her
• And she’s amazing

1. THE PRINCESS

• Rapunzel convinces her parent to announce her return to the kingdom
• Not a day later, there’s an army waiting on the shore, just over the bridge
• She is, understandably, distraught
• How could she not see this coming, of course there were always going to be people like Gothel, why did she ever think otherwise, how could she have been so stupid as to expose herself like that—
• A Wild Flynn Has Appeared
• Out of seemingly nowhere, Flynn shows up to help her out of her own head
• (It’s totally on purpose. The Father Guard has been dropping hints in his general vicinity that Rapunzel needs him. It worked)
• Flynn snatches the crown off her head and puts it on himself
• He checks his reflection
• ‘Does it suit me, your Highness?’
• This makes her so shocked that she starts laughing, just a little bit
• It’s a win in the Guard Fathers’ books
• So Flynn continues like this, just generally joking around and being slightly awkward but it’s working and that’s the important part
• Slow transition to Serious Talk
• He tells her exactly how crazy he thinks she is, which gets another, more sheepish laugh
• He tells her how she turned his life upside down so fast he didn’t even think to sell off the crown
• (Which he taps, because he’s still wearing it and Rapunzel hasn’t told him to take it off yet)
• He tells her how he tried to stop his fear
• He’s scared for her
• There’s an entire army out there that heard nothing but rumours about her and still came for a taste of her supposed ‘immortality’
• And that terrifies him
• He tells her that she should never have had to hide who she is, what she is
• Because what she is is a being born from the purest concentration of fire, but who she is is a bright, strong, infectiously happy young woman, and as he’s speaking Flynn realises what he’s going to say and almost stops himself, but in the end he just…
• Doesn’t
• ‘And despite my best efforts… I love you’
• Because he does
• He really, really does
• They don’t kiss, because Rapunzel is too tense and there’s, y’know, an entire army waiting for battle
• But they have a good long hug, during which Flynn whispers that he believes in her into her ear
• She smiles
• ‘Thank you’
• He smiles back, takes off the crown, and hands it to her
• ‘This is your moment, if you want it to be’
• And by the Sun and all the stars has she longed for her moment
• She takes the crown and heads to the barracks, while Flynn goes to her parents to make sure they’re safe
• Meanwhile, the guards are getting ready for the battle, and Dad Guards are worrying over their daughter when BAM
• The door slams open to reveal Rapunzel in all her buff, armoured glory
• With her crown on her head
• Every single guard has to fight down a grin
• (Some of them fail)
• Rapunzel surveys them—
• Her friends, her family, her brothers and sisters in arms
• She sees her people, in more ways than one, and she does not want to see them get hurt
• So she turns to a Commander, and gives him her orders
• (Because she may not have been able to do that before, but she is a princess, has always been a princess, and her people are her everything)
• ‘I will deal with the first wave of attackers’ she says, ‘only if I fail will you need to fight’
• Protests from some of the guards, but she just walks away and closes the door behind her
• Rapunzel walks through the streets of her kingdom and she is recognised not because of her fame as the lost princess, but because she is kind and friendly towards everyone she meets, and in her time as a guard, she’s been nearly everywhere in the kingdom
• And as much as she loves her people, they have loved her since long before they knew she would be the one to rule over them
• A crowd follows her as she makes her way to the bridge
• They are innkeepers and merchants, they are guards and stable people, they are loving and furious, and they will not let go of their Princess without a fight
• But they will first let her fight for herself
• (The Sun only knows she deserves to)
• Overlooking this spectacle alongside the king and queen, Flynn sees Rapunzel lead a march like nothing he could have ever imagined, and his heart soars for her
• ‘Show them what you’re made of’ he says to the sun
• (It shines just a little brighter in response)
• Rapunzel instructs her people to wait a few meters away from the bridge
• Her Guard Family and Inn Family are at the front
• The Guard Dads get their own ‘good luck’ moments
• The Inn Family are a bit more rowdy, but they say their piece and step back so Rapunzel can do what she needs to do
• She steps onto the bridge and feels her hands shaking
• She knows that there is no way this can be a bloodless battle
• She can’t solve this with her healing alone, as much as she would like to, because this war is being fought for that very same ability, and giving them a taste of it will do nothing but make them fight harder
• She stops in the middle of the bridge
• Everything and everyone is silent
• Her heart races in her ears
• Her armour is comforting, something to focus on
• (It’s getting warmer under the sun)
• Heat bends around her, starting as a warm breeze and building to a crescendo of fire like a halo over her head
• Even the ocean stills, as if in awe
• (They should have known better than to challenge her under her Mother, than to try to face her under the Sun)
• (She is no Icarus)
• A single shout sounds from the opposite shore, and the army of immortality-seekers charges
• Rapunzel
• Is
• Light
• She explodes, but she is in control
• She has no idea what she’s doing or how she’s doing it but it’s working and that’s all that matters
• She sweeps her arm out like she’s holding a sword, and a burning blade appears at her silent command
• An arc of power concentrated through the jewels of her crown and burning so hot it turns blue speeds towards the oncoming army
• And it decimates them
• (They never even stood a chance)
• Rapunzel lowers her arm and surveys her work
• The silence persists
• She turns back to her people, and the forest behind her grows lush in her light
• Her eyes shine white-hot as they look up at where she just knows Flynn is standing, watching as she fights and she wins
• (Flynn can’t see her properly, no one can, not with the light pouring from her very soul as she burns bright and hot and fast)
• (Despite this, he knows, just as she does, that they have found each other)
• Shortly after, Rapunzel’s light flickers out as she passes out from exhaustion
• Some of her Guard Family carry her in a stretcher up to the castle and to Flynn and her parents
• Everyone kneels as she passes
• (So do the guards carrying her, once she’s set down on a proper bed)
• Word spreads of the terrifying power of the Lost Princess, now found
• Patrons of the Snuggly Duckling see these tales, see the fear they create, and think of the bubbly young woman who gave them all so much more courage than they could have hoped to find on their own
• And so they correct any misconceptions they hear, and a different kind of rumour starts to spread
• (The kingdom’s harvest is the most plentiful in a long time, and its forests are greener than ever before)
• (The Sun can be difficult to find on a coastal, storm-ridden area)
• (Less so when she walks among the people like she belongs)
• (And belong she most certainly does)
• Rapunzel awakens to a quiet room at sunrise the day following her awesome display of power
• Leaning half on her bed is one Flynn Rider, wearing her crown
• She smiles at him
• She doesn’t think she can do what she did on the bridge again any time soon, if it takes this much of a toll
• But that doesn’t mean she regrets it
• At all
• She thinks of her people and her family, biological and otherwise, all watching her, backing her up
• She feels warm