The Clash, Book One

Chapter 39: One Little Tear, Part F

Lucy and other children laughed as they filed down the stairs after their ballet lesson. The dark-haired girl scrolled through her phone until she spotted her step-grandmother at the bottom of the first flight of stairs.

She then spoke, "Grandma? What are you doing here? My mom texted me."

Victoria told her, "Yes, I know. I'm having your things sent over to her place, but I-I wanted to give you something myself."

"I think I should probably go," Lucy stated before she began walking away.

"Wait, I have it right here," Victoria began before she opened her bag. Lucy sighed and turned back around, a disinterested expression on her face.

Victoria then pulled the original brown and gold storybook from her bag. Lucy's eyes widened as she rushed over to her grandma.

The young girl then questioned, "Is that...?"

A gaze of awe and wonder then appeared on her face as Victoria confirmed, "Yes. You were right, Lucy. Fairy tales are real. Henry's book was real. Your family, your belief -- it's all real."

Lucy began reaching for the book when Victoria explained, "But you don't know the whole story. Come now. I'll tell you the rest."

The dark-haired girl then rushed outside as Victoria followed, her expression revealing her ulterior motives.

Outside on a bench, Lucy held the book open in her lap and looked at an illustration of Rapunzel as she scaled the tower.

She could barely contain her excitement as she looked up at her step-grandmother and exclaimed, "So, wait, it's true? You're Rapunzel?! I thought you were Lady Tremaine, but Rapunzel, too?!"

Victoria smiled as she explained, "Tremaine was Marcus' name. I took it from him when we were married."

Lucy then turned the page and spied the illustration where Ella first met Rapunzel. She chuckled before she said, "My mom -- she is Cinderella. I-I I knew it! I was right!" her excitement never wavering.

"Yes, and it's that unfettered belief that makes you so special," Victoria stated, and she still wore a smile.

Lucy continued flipping through the pages, and she began to read. She then discovered that Rapunzel had squeezed the mushroom's liquid into a cup of lemonade. Confusion and sadness then overtook her voice as she asked, "Wait. You poisoned my mom's mom?"

Victoria vehemently defended, "The witch tricked me, Lucy. She twisted the truth. I was blinded by what was in my heart. I needed my family to be together again. You must understand that."

The dark-haired girl sighed and looked back down at the book. She then questioned, "So...she died?"

"No. Gosh, no. I could never hurt somebody like that, Lucy," Victoria assured her granddaughter. She then clarified, "I knew the poison would only cause Ella's mother to flee. What I didn't know was that Marcus would chase after her to...Wonderland," slight annoyance coming through on that last part.

She paused briefly before she continued, "Eventually, he returned, and we were reunited as a family. We even welcomed your mother in. Unfortunately, the story didn't end there."

Lucy then turned the page to reveal a snowy day from Rapunzel and Marcus' past with their daughters and stepdaughter.

New Enchanted Forest, Many Years Ago

Rapunzel and Marcus happily looked on as Ella, Anastasia, and Drizella finish building their snowman.