You're beautiful! Rules are: copy this to 10 other beautiful people/blogs who think deserve this message! Keep the game going and make everyone else feel beautiful. <3
She nodded, a sheepish chuckle parting from her lips. She tended to get a little excited when doing or seeing something new. As Jack now knew all too well. Trying to keep her cool, she smiled and held onto his hand. “Yeah, okay!” she exclaimed before sighing. She wasn’t going to calm down any time soon. Everything was so bright and colourful here. It only made Rapunzel want to stay longer. She couldn’t get attached though. She had to return to her tower after today. The thought made her brow furrow and she nibbled on her lower lip, her eyes shifting to gaze down at her feet.
Before they had even stepped foot into the bakery, the scent of different freshly cooked pastries surrounded the place. Rapunzel could almost hear her stomach rumble lightly. Once Jack opened the door and gave her a playful bow, she smirked before curtsying, “oh, why thank you, kind Sir,” she replied, a small laugh escaping her lips afterwards. Skipping inside, she stopped and looked at all the food. Her eyes lit up and she rushed over to the cabinets, encasing the pastries, almost pressing her nose to the glass. Her eyes shifted along, taking in all the rolls, tarts, muffins, cupcakes… cupcakes! She wanted a cupcake. “Are you going to get anything?” she turned to glance over at Jack. “I think I want a cupcake,” she grinned before pointing to the little pink-iced cupcake, a red blob of a heart in the centre — kind of like the ones that the little girl’s had had earlier.
He smiled a bit at their small role play, and followed her into the bakery, gently closing the door behind them. It was only then he remembered he wasn’t all too fond of pastries–usually he only consumed cold products. He was easily burnt by even the slightest warmth of something he ate, or drank, or touched. But things have changed. Rapunzel got out of her tower and began seeing the world, even though she was strictly forbidden not to. So it probably wouldn’t hurt him to try a warm loaf of bread or some other sort of pastry.
“Yeah, I think I’m gonna get some of these,” he said, pointing to a small batch of newly-baked cupcakes. They were simple velvet ones, but they looked scrumptious. And for someone who’s never tasted cupcakes before, he sure was sure of his decision. He then noticed she was also pointing to a certain set of cupcakes and started to grin back. “Well, well. We think alike.” He proceeded to the counter and ordered the cupcakes they had chosen. The boy on watch was a believer–which was why he was able to buy the box of cupcakes they’d given to the girls earlier–and so it was easy for him to purchase everything. When everything was settled, he took the two cupcakes encased in some napkins and went over to Rapunzel. “Here ya go,” he said, handing over her cupcake. “Bon apetit.”
Rapunzel glanced over her shoulder at Jack, a small smile appearing on her lips at his compliment. Even a hint of pink seemed to tint her cheeks. Once he made his way over to her, she glanced down at the box he held out. “What is it?” she opened the lid, seeing a few cupcakes inside. Her eyes lit up. They even had cute little hearts and things on them.Turning back to the little girls, she held out the box. “Here,” the little girls looked up at her before taking the box, their eyes lighting up once they saw what was inside. She smiled at Jack before glancing down as they gave her a hug. She really wanted to mention Jack. To tell them that he was the one who had bought the cupcakes. But she didn’t want to have him go through any pain if they didn’t know who he was, or couldn’t see him.
Soon after, they were busy munching away on the cupcakes. Rapunzel turned to Jack and gave a small smile. “Thanks for that,” she said, sincerely. “So where to first?” she asked, her eyes lighting up rather quickly as she glanced around the bustling kingdom. There were so many things they could see and do. She didn’t know where to start. “We can go to the bakery! Or the book store! Or we can paint! Or dance!” she looked around quickly, starting to feel a little light headed from the excitement.
The girls seemed to like the cupcakes he bought and for him this was enough. They didn’t have to see him or thank him. Just knowing he made some people happy made him contented. But he appreciated that Rapunzel didn’t mention Jack, and gave a thankful look for being sensitive with those kind of stuff. When she began enumerating the things she wanted to do during their trip in a really excited manner, he let out a slightly amused chuckle. She was just so adorable. “We can do all of those. But one by one, ‘kay?” he said, trying to calm her down a bit.
He gently took her hand and pulled her along to the first thing that she said she wanted to do. “Mm, you hungry? Why don’t we get something to eat? From the bakery,” he suggested, pulling her towards the direction. It had been a couple of hours since they’d last eaten. It had to be ice cream. And they’d only taken about two scoops. Reaching the place, the pleasant aroma of different pastries being baked was everywhere, and to him it was almost addictive. Even though he’d never really tried them before. He opened the door to the entrance and made way for her to enter. “Madame,” he welcomed playfully with a little bow.
Birthday girl. She liked the sound of that! She glanced back as he picked some of her hair up and smiled, “no, I don’t mind,” she replied, with a slight playful roll of her eyes. She recalled the other day, when she’d refused to let him hold her hair. She actually felt kind of bad about it, but she’d only refused because she wasn’t comfortable with others near her hair — not that that happened often. She looked over at the younger girls, who seemed all too eager as they braided each others hair. Glancing from the girls to Jack, she realised he was wanting them to braid her hair for her. She smiled and nodded before gathering their attention.
Once they had agreed to braid her hair for her, she knelt down on the ground. Her hair was sprawled out, but not too far away, and she could feel the girls parting it into sections. She glanced over her shoulder every now and again, seeing that they had made progress rather quickly. After ten or so minutes, they tapped her on the shoulder. “We’ve finished!” they exclaimed excitedly. She stood up, doing a little twirl so she could see before smiling widely. They’d even added cute little flowers and everything! “It’s amazing! Thank you!” she replied gleefully. The little girl’s eyes seemed to sparkle proudly and Rapunzel knelt down, giving them all a quick hug and a smile. She wished she could do something else or buy them something as a token of her gratitude, however she never had money on her. Gothel always kept a stash hidden — not that Rapunzel would ever need it.
Watching the girls prepare to braid seventy feet of golden hair, he stepped back, not wanting to be an obstruction in the process. He knew it would take a while so he said, “I’ll be back, okay? Just gonna look around.” as permission and headed off. He was contemplating on where to take Rapunzel first, passing by libraries, boutiques, and small restaurants here and there. When about ten minutes had passed, he decided to go back and reached the area where the girls were braiding her earlier. It was all done, and Jack, who was now carrying a different basket, got in just in time to see the little twirl she did.
“Wow,” he said in a prolonged manner. He studied her altered appearance and liked how neatly they had braided her hair. “Looking good, Punzie.” He couldn’t say it aloud, but he thought she was beautiful, and he let out a small sigh of admiration. After quickly getting over yet another trance, he approached her as she was thanking the girls. He wanted to thank them too, but he wasn’t sure if they could even see him. Nevertheless, he knew they deserved a gift of some sort for their hard work, so he brought out a little box of cupcakes—which he’d bought during his little stroll earlier—from the basket he was carrying. “D’you wanna give this to them?” he asked, handing it over to her. He’d give it to the girls directly, but again he was doubting his visibility as usual.
Rapunzel’s face was horrified. Who in their right mind would kidnap a baby? Especially one of royalty at that. She glanced at Jack, curiously as he cleared his throat. “A lock of hair?” her face grew puzzled. Why would someone leave a lock of hair? That was just… weird. A hand flew to the back of her neck, where her hair had been cut as a baby. Gothel had always told her that when she was young, people tried to cut it because they wanted to use it for it’s magical powers. “A lock of hair… huh?” she shifted uncomfortably, her brow furrowing as she tried to think it through. No… there was no way she would be related to that…
She soon forgot about the conversation once he mentioned that they had reached the Kingdom. Her eyes lit up in excitement and she had a slight bounce to her step as they grew closer. She smiled warmly as the sun hit their skin. The trees had seemed to block most of the sunlight on the walk there, so finally feeling the warmth was pleasant. As they walked across the bridge she let go of Jack’s hand and ran towards the entrance, her eyes sparkling with glee. She looked up at the archway, which seemed to be the only way in or out of the kingdom, which read ‘Kingdom of Corona’. She turned to look at Jack, squealing in delight before rushing through. The Kingdom was buzzing with people. The civilians all decorating and preparing for some big event. She looked up at all the purple flags, each having a golden sun painted onto it. She smiled brightly and took a step forward before some of the villagers ran into her, others stepping on her hair. “Ow, ow, ow,” her head tilted to the side as people unintentionally pulled on her hair. She scooped some of it up and bit her lip as she glanced around, not knowing what to do first. She just hoped her hair wouldn’t ruin the experience.
Jack was more than relieved to see Rapunzel so happy and excited upon reaching the Kingdom. Seeing her horrified expression earlier made him feel pretty guilty. He hated making her feel bad, and wished he hadn’t brought the topic up at all. But it was no matter. They were in the Kingdom now, and they were supposed to be having fun already. “Welcome to the Kingdom of Corona,” he said with a grin as she saw the archway that bore a similar text.
“How about a tour for the birthday girl?” he invited in a tour guide-like kind of voice. He was about to show her around when he noticed how she was struggling with her hair. Almost as if he was mirroring her, he carefully picked up some of her hair up so that people could avoid stepping on it–and to let a horse-drawn carriage pass by. “Hope you don’t mind me holding your hair now,” he said with a chuckle, referring to the day before when he offered to carry her hair and she refused. Searching around for a solution, he paused to see a few little girls braiding each other excitedly and an idea came to mind. Gesturing over to their direction, he looked at Rapunzel with a small smile. His eyes showed that he was waiting for her approval.
Rapunzel smiled. The Kingdom sounded like a wonderful place. This only managed to excite her even more, if that were possible. Her attention was captured however, when he mentioned the King and Queen. The story sounded familiar, but was totally shocking that she didn’t really think much into it at first. A magic flower that healed people? Now that was surely a coincidence. ”What happened to the daughter?” she asked, interested, since he had said they ‘had’ a daughter. She hoped nothing bad had happened to her, like an illness or a death. That would be terrible.
She thought it over more, wondering who the daughter, or rather, princess, was. Was she okay? Was she alive at that? She glanced at Jack before letting out a short laugh, “can you tell? I didn’t think I was making it obvious enough,” she teased, nudging him with her elbow gently. “Really?” her eyes lit up and she felt more of a bounce in her step as they walked. She thought she could see something from where they were, maybe the top of a building? The top of the castle? She wasn’t too sure, but it sure as heck excited her even more. She tugged on his arm, now walking quickly ahead of him, still gripping his hand tightly.
A slight frown appeared on Jack’s face as he began to tell Rapunzel about the King and Queen’s daughter. “Well, uh, one night, the King and Queen and their baby were all sound asleep, someone broke into the castle and took her away,” he paused, clearing his throat before continuing. “No one figured who it was and why he or she took her. But it was said that a lock of brown hair was left on the bed. I guess that person tried to cut it off, for some reason. No one’s found her since.” He looked down for a moment, as respect for the lost princess.
He’d barely noticed how they had already reached a clearing, where the bridge connecting the forest and the village was found. When his thoughts regarding the sad story with the princess were cleared, he looked out into the open and realized where they were. “Oh look, we’re here,” he said, the smile slowly returning. He took more steps forward and went out into the open, feeling the gentle rays of sunlight hit his skin. It’s been a while since he’s felt this kind of warmth. Physically, at least. He looked at Rapunzel, half-expecting her to squeal with excitement or something along those lines.
She glanced at him sheepishly, her cheeks a light pink as he chuckled at her mistake. Looking down at their hands once he took hers again, she smiled a little before he pulled her over to a pathway on their right. “Okay!” she smiled slightly, swinging their arms out of enthusiasm. She was excited to see the kingdom. She could imagine that there would be so many things to do there, she wasn’t sure where she would start! “Have you been to the Kingdom before?” she asked, tilting her head to look up at him curiously.
She swayed gently to and fro as she walked, Pascal growing a little dizzy. He grabbed a strand of her hair and tied it around himself to secure his position on her shoulder. Rapunzel felt unable to contain her excitement. She could feel it bubbling up inside of her. If she could, she’d be running around, jumping, screaming, laughing and probably crying all at once. If that were even possible. “Are we nearly there?” she asked, looking up at him quickly as she slightly bounced up and down. She felt like a little kid right now. And she probably looked like one too. Bouncing around with a wide grin on her face.
Still holding on to Rapunzel, Jack went on, going straight towards the pathway he was following, walking around bushes here and there. It wasn’t the most convenient pathway, but it was good enough to walk through without having to complain. The forest was peaceful, but it had lots of noises–ones of nature, if that made sense. “Maybe a few times,” he answered, looking at her. “Tidy streets, inviting stores, friendly people. You’ll like it there.” He smiled a bit, but then remembered the Kingdom’s tragic past.
“There is this story about the King and Queen, though,” he said, looking down, still walking on. “They had a daughter… I don’t remember her name, but they say that before she was born, the Queen got really sick, so they gave her this magic flower that healed her.” He then remembered Rapunzel’s healing powers, and thought how much of a coincidence it was. Going back, he shook his head, trying to remember more of the details. For someone who had been staying in the area for about a week now, he hadn’t really picked up much. “Excited, are we?” He let out a light laugh. “Don’t worry, we’re almost there.”
“Oh okay,” she smiled with a small shrug. A bright colour caught her eye to the right of Jack and she looked over spotting something bright and yellow. “What’s that?” she asked, pointing behind him before realising what it was. She walked over and chuckled sheepishly, realising it was a flower. “Never mind,” she felt kind of silly now but decided to pick the thing anyway. Returning back over to Jack, she lightly twirled the flower in between her fingers as she looked around the forest.
Rapunzel’s eyes lit up at the mention of going to the kingdom. “No, I want to!” she exclaimed, a little too excitedly. She shook her head when he mentioned hanging around the forest a bit longer, “I think I’ve had enough of the forest for one day,” she chuckled before grabbing his hand and pulling him in a random direction out of excitement. She then realised she had no idea where she was going. She stopped and turned to him, “how about you lead the way?” she chuckled sheepishly before letting go of his hand, realising she was still holding onto it.
His eyes turned to the direction Rapunzel was pointing at, and for a minute there he thought she had found the crown he was looking for. When she realized it was only a flower, he shrugged, a bit disappointed. He went on about finding the quickest way towards the village when out of instinct, he gave the area Rapunzel had pointed at and picked the flower from earlier, and noticed that something else was there. Seeing that Rapunzel was still sort of engaged in looking around the forest, he crept up to the area and saw. It was the crown, slightly peeking out from the satchel, causing it to mildly sparkle in the sunlight.
It took almost all of Jack not to yell with excitement. Quickly yet carefully, he took the bag and hid it inside the pocket of his sweater–good thing the space inside was wide enough to conceal it. Heading back over to Rapunzel, he stood beside her as he tried to continue on with the conversation. “Yeah, me too,” he said, nodding. He was slightly startled when she took his hand, ran towards a certain direction, and stopped. “You are adorable, Punzie,” he said with a small chuckle. Almost as soon as she let go, he took her hand again and let her to a pathway on their right. “Let’s go this way.”
Rapunzel tilted her head slightly, as he bit his lip. She didn’t know whether he was sincere about it, or pleased with how well his prank had worked out. “I know, but—” she stopped. Why was she defending this man? Jack was right. He had obviously done something wrong if the King’s men were after him. She hadn’t seen the man drop the satchel, so she didn’t know what Jack was looking for. “You looking for something?” she asked, curiously, looking around for… something out of the ordinary.
She decided to wait back patiently, folding her arms as she watched Jack search high and low for something important. After a few more minutes of searching, he seemed to have given up. “O-Okay,” she turned her head to look back at the fallen trunk where the brunette had once been before following Jack in the direction he gestured to. “So…” she slightly swayed from side to side with her hands behind her back. “Can you tell me where we’re going?” she asked, a slight grin on her face. She wondered if it was a surprise, or if he was just taking her for a walk. She honestly didn’t know what to expect.
“Not anymore,” he said with a shrug, returning to where Rapunzel was waiting. He suddenly felt stupid for even having attempted; what was he doing, anyway? He tried to shrug it off–the more he reflected on it, the stupider he felt about it. Eventually all thoughts of wanting to find the crown vanished, or so he thought. Little did he know it was only lying somewhere nearby, all he had to do was look back.
When she asked where they were going, he felt the words slip out of his mouth. “We can head over to the kingdom,” he suggested, but almost immediately added, “If you want to… I mean, it’s still pretty early.” He looked up and noticed that the sun was only so high up in the sky–it probably wasn’t even time for lunch yet. He, of course, wouldn’t know that. Because he didn’t eat. “If you wanna stay and hang around in the forest, then…” he trailed off, trying to stifle a chuckle. He liked the forest and the woods–it was one of the few places he would go to if he wanted to be alone or peaceful. But he’s had quite enough of it, for now at least. Besides, he couldn’t wait to take Rapunzel to the kingdom. It was busy, but he thought she would like its liveliness and cheer.
“The King’s men?” she looked up at Jack with a puzzled expression as he took her hand. However before they could get anywhere, the horses galloped through the bushes, arriving in front of the brunette man. Rapunzel clung onto Jack’s hoodie, slighty afraid that they would be discovered too, or, she would, considering they wouldn’t see Jack. She also felt worried for the brunette man. What would they do to him?
She looked back at Jack, thinking they should stay put for the meantime. If they tried to escape, they’d be caught. She couldn’t hear much of what they were saying. She managed to pick up, ‘lost princess’ and a bunch of other words that were muffled now. She sighed, her brow furrowing. As soon as the talking and galloping disappeared, leaving nothing but their silent breathing. She let go of Jack and poked her head out from behind the rock. “Where’d they go? They took him!” she looked at Jack with wide eyes. She stepped out and walked over to where the man had once been. She slipped a little and landed on her bottom, letting out a slight sigh and tilting her head to look up at Jack. “Well, it looks like your prank worked after all,” she said, not knowing whether she meant it jokingly or seriously. If he hadn’t iced the surface, the brunette man might have escaped — however she wasn’t sure if he was totally innocent. She stood up, brushing any dirt and grass off of her dress before cautiously walking back over to Jack.
“I’ve noticed,” he said in a less concerned, less sympathetic voice. Unlike Rapunzel, he had seen a lot in the world and therefore was used to all the cruelty and the evil displayed by the people in it. He hoped, however, that he would be able to protect Rapunzel from these people. He turned his head when Rapunzel slipped and rushed over to her to help, but nearing her, he found himself slipping a little. But being fond of ice, he managed to keep his balance and met her just as she was walking back to him. When she mentioned that his prank had worked, he wasn’t sure how she meant it.
“I didn’t know,” he said, and bit his lip, not knowing if he should feel pleased or guilty. "But he’s a wanted man, Punzie. He must’ve done something the kingdom didn’t like,“ he explained, not specific about how the crown might’ve been stolen. But now that he thought about it, where was the crown? He knew for sure the soldiers never got it from the man earlier, so where was it now? Walking around for a bit–not too far from Rapunzel, though–he kept an eye for any sign of the satchel where the crown was contained. It couldn’t have gone that far, Jack thought. He looked through some small shrubs and bushes, but to no avail. After a few minutes of searching, he eventually gave up, wondering why he wanted to find the crown in the first place. Like he was going to do anything with it. "C'mon,” he gestured towards the direction with his head. “Let’s get outta here.”
