The lion, the sorceress and the wardrobe (ROTBTD chronicles)

The sunflower girl

Some say that Rapunzel was not always there. Some think she appeared out of thin air. Few knew where she came from, and few bothered to know. The truth is it was hard for her to know it, for her own mind blocked every memory related to her past. The oldest memory she had is that of her taking a train through the English fields.

Her home, long lost behind the train, the past forgotten as she saw life rushing by her window. It was, as she liked to say, the day she was really born. Not earlier, not possibly, the day she arrived to Professor Disney's foster home was, for everyone, the day of her birth. 

She didn't fit in with the other kids in the orphanage. You see, they liked to talk about what they remembered and play games that required memory, while she was just a new-born. She didn't know what she liked because all she could remember was too new. She liked trains, she liked fields, she liked flowers and she liked books, because there were a lot of those in Disney's foster house. And since other children just avoided the blonde, she was used to choose random story books and sit in the garden, reading about princesses and love and all of those things she could only dream of.

And one of those days a twig hit her head while she was reading. She heard rushing footsteps and two children bickering.

"You just hit the weirdo, Meri-duh!" Scoffed a little boy. He was thin and he had brown hair and eyes, and he was running after another girl.

"Shut yer gob, Frostbutt, we both know it was your fault that my arrow missed" Hissed the girl, who was more hair than person. Her mass of red curls almost made her trip over herself.

Another kid came rushing behind them.

"Did you hit her too hard?" Asked the newly arrived boy. He had tan skin, brown choppy hair and green eyes. There was a cut scar under his chin.

"Nay, Hicc, this muttonhead spoiled my shot." Said the redhead, casually picking up the twig that had hit Rapunzel straight in her forehead.

"Actually-" Tried to say the blonde, interrupted by the first boy.

"Nu-uh! I didn't spoil nothing, it was your stupid idea to use shoelaces to build a bow that caused all of this" Scolded one brunet to another. "If you hadn't been so... Hiccup-"

"Actually-" Tried again Rapunzel.

"Shut it, you two, the girl es tryin' tae say something" Interrupted the red-head.

"You hit me" Said Rapunzel, shyly. "But it's okay, really, it didn't hurt"

With that, the other three kids started fussing again, blaming one another and completely ignoring the girl they owed an apology to. She sighed and, picking up her storybook, walked to another spot in the garden, under a willow tree.

"Wait!" Yelled the red-haired girl. "We're sorry! what is your name?"

The sweet blonde raised her head from the book once more and smiled at the three aproaching kids. 

"Howdy, I'm Rapunzel" Said she, warmly.

"Bless you, sweetheart" Giggled the taller brunet. "I'm Jack."

"Me name is Merida" Said the curly girl.

"I'm Hic... I'm Hiccup" tried to say the green-eyed brunet.

"He's kinda dumb" Explained Jack. "Sometimes he can't say complete sentences without starting over."

"That is why" Said Merida, shooting Jack a death-glare. "We always stick together. To take care of each other. 'Right, Hicc?"

Hiccup nodded. "Do... Do you want... If you want you can ... You could join us?" 

Rapunzel nodded warmly, holding back the tears from her eyes. She couldn't understand why she was crying, but before she noticed, her three new friends hugged her and comforted her as she wept.

"See, carrot-head? You hurt her with your dumb arrows" Said Jack, punching Merida with his closed fist.

"Did not!" Replied Merida, punching him back. Hiccup held the two children before they could hurt each other.

"Oh, no, Jack, I'm not crying out of pain. I think I'm too happy!" Cried Rapunzel, earning a laugh of relief from the other three.

Since that day on, the four kids became like glue, never apart from each other. It was nice while it lasted. They liked to go out to the garden and run around each other, and hear Rapunzel's fairytales, and to watch Jack mocking the adults. They helped Hiccup grow his confidence and, eventually, he could speak outloud without stuttering. They all learned from each other as they spent their days strolling though the woods, ignoring all the sorrows they came from and just enjoying their new, small family. 

That, until one dark, stormy day hit the orphanage. The four children, along every other orphan, stayed inside the whole day, longing for the sun that didn't seem to come back. To distract each other from utter boredom, they started talking.

"And, after I was rescued from the cold water, the officers explained to me how my ship wrecked and that my family didn't make it" Finished Jack, frowning. Neither of the four liked the stories of how they had lost their parents, but their lives had been so short and the day so long that they ran out of things to talk about. Poor Jack had the misserable idea of telling their stories, and as he was the one who came up with it, it was only fair that he started. "The next thing I knew, I was being sent to England to live in a foster house."

The four stood in silence after his story, showing respect the way grown-ups did.

"I used to live in Scotland with me parents" Started Merida, startling the other three. They immediately turned to face her and all quietly listened to her as she spoke with a broken voice. She sounded almost too mature to be a little girl, but in reality, she was just one who had been stolen from her childhood. "We lived in a cottage neer' the woods. Aye. I remember we ne'r worried about the beasties or anything else, we just lived happily. I was too young to go to school back then and they were me only friends. One day a bear followed us to the cottage. We did nae notice until father screamed at et to go away. He tried to fight but it was all for naught.  Mum hid me under a kitchen drawer and I waited until I couldn't hear nay. That's when I ran to the nearest village and told what happened. They accompanied me back to the cottage but the bear was nae found and now I'm here"

She finished and started sobbing silently, almost too embarrassed for showing weakness.

"It's okay, Merida" Said Hiccup as he held the little girl in his arms. They were both too awkward, but they both accepted it. "My mum died when I was a baby, I don't even remember her face. My dad died... He passed in a fire, when I was just a kid. If I had known better, I could've gotten out of the house in time and he wouldn't have had to come in to get me... I... It was my fault." 

It was his turn to start crying, and it was Merida who hugged him, comforting him. The other two joined in the hug until all the tears were cried.

"I can't remember much, besides what Professor Disney has told me." Started Rapunzel, faced by the three reddened faces. "They say i blocked my memories after the traumatic experience."

"The doctors say I stuttered for the same reason." Hiccup sobbed.

"Aye. I went mute for months after the bear incident." Completed Merida.

"I tried to kill myself" Said Jack, nonchalantly. He couldn't realize that such a statement was too dark for the other three kids. They all looked at him worriedly.

"What?" Asked Rapunzel.

"Nothing, Zellie, go on." Jack said, avoiding the details.

"O-kay." She half-cried, half-stuttered. "Disney told me that I was kidnapped by a woman that pretended to be my mother but enslaved me during my first years. But, of course, I can't remember."

"Sure, lass" Nodded Merida, "We all know you think of the day you came here as the day of your birth."

"And we respect it." Hiccup pointed out.

They all smiled at each other. They then realised that even in the darkest day of the darkest storm, Rapunzel was there to provide them with sunlight and flowers in her smiles.

And they could not ask for more than a sister like Rapunzel.