The Lost Princess - A Once Upon A Time Fanfic

Escape // Enchanted Forest

Rapunzel looked out from the tower for the thousandth time since she had been there.

One-thousand and ninety-fifth to be exact.

Each day she stared out at the golden sun and blue sky aching to touch the ground once more.

Three years she had been trapped. The witch didn't bother to go to her anymore, there was nothing Rapunzel could do to escape. The witch would leave food, enough for the week, but Rapunzel never saw her. She was swift and quiet, only coming through the night.

The years drug on, Rapunzel realized, as she finally knew what it was to age, even just a measly three years. She just had her nineteenth birthday spent by herself. The witch was kind enough to leave her sweets, though she had never felt more alone than she did on her birthdays. 

She heard a thud from the ground which startled her. She had just finished putting her long hair into the tie that made it much more manageable. She stared at herself in the floor-length mirror for a minute, expecting the witch to make an unwarranted appearance or to leave more food on the ledge, but she didn't come. Rapunzel turned, confused slightly as footsteps wandered...pacing...back and forth at the foot of her tower. 

That's when she felt it. The rage. She knew it couldn't be the witch. She only felt contentment from her, finally having the magical being trapped in her precious tower that she'd always wanted. 

Immediately, Rapunzel stood and ran to the ledge. Below her was a small woman dressed in all black with hair to match. Still pacing, Rapunzel could feel her heart race. Maybe she had just lost a battle. Or maybe she was closer than ever to getting her revenge. 

The woman looked up, saw the girl and smiled. "Oh, excuse me!" Her voice called from below. "What's your name, child?" 

Rapunzel was frozen. She didn't dare speak to the evil that stood there. Instinctively, she touched her hair, thankful to hide the magic that laid there. Rapunzel could feel the magic gleaning off of the woman and was fearful she had come to steal hers. 

The woman sighed, groaned and moved her arms up and down, vanishing into a purple cloud of smoke. "You know it's not polite to ignore royalty," a deep, dark voice said from behind her. Rapunzel jumped and turned around. 

"You have magic," she breathed, her face conveying the fear she felt. The woman laughed. 

"You really don't know who I am?" She asked. Rapunzel quickly shook her head. "Regina - Queen of the Northern Kingdom." 

"The Northern Kingdom?" Rapunzel asked, thinking immediately of Leopold. "You're married to Leopold?" She asked. Regina smiled, her eyes narrowing. 

"So it is true. You're the bastard child of Eva, aren't you? Snow White's sister." 

"I didn't say that," Rapunzel said quickly. 

Regina scoffed. "I've seen the portrait," she said, enunciating the singular word. "What strikes me is that you look exactly the same. Didn't you escape 20 years ago?" 

Rapunzel didn't answer. 

"How did you get trapped up here?" She asked, looking around at the small tower. It contained a big room in the center with a table and a few chairs, and two open rooms off to each side, one with a fireplace for cooking and the other with a bed and nightstand. It was quaint. Rapunzel could hear Regina's laughter in her head. 

She shrugged. "Wrong place, wrong time." Regina narrowed her eyes. "I had just come back from..." she trailed off, not wanting to give anything about her away, "...a different kingdom. She found me."