Someone Like You

She lay in the green grass next to him. She loved the way it felt. She loved the smells and the sounds of this place.

"Sweetie," she whispered as she turned on her side. "You don't have to listen to her." Her long blonde hair was slung over her shoulder.

He looked at her with his ice blue eyes shining with tears. He then turned back to the stars.

"You are better than she makes you out to be."

He finally breaks and weeps in her arms.

She wishes sometimes that her hair had the power to fix wounds like his. She knows his wounds are too deep for her to heal. She wants the pain to go away. It's in her nature.

He's brooded for so long now. His mother had left him. She left him saying that he'd let her down when he gave up everything.

His world lay somewhere in between perfect, broken and fixed. She kissed his forehead gently. He still clung to her.

"It all goes away." She removed the top hat and took off his gloves. She held the green things in her hand before throwing them and holding his bare hands.

"No, the guilt doesn't go away. It will never go away." He sobbed.

"But the pain of losing her, the pain that she caused you, that will fade I promise." She smiled. "And when I promise something I never break that promise."

"Rapunzel," he whispered. "Why do you care?"

"Because," she smiled, "I care about everyone."

He smiled.

"And I can tell underneath all that false pretense at greed. You do too." She smiled and poked him in the nose.

He laughed and swatted her away. He wasn't sure why he allowed her to treat him like a child. However, he loved it when she did.

She realized what Gothel couldn't be, because she was incapable, she had to be for this new comer. His . . . what did those silly humans at Disney call it . . . DVD had just come out and she was determined as soon as she saw him to find him.

She saw the horrible things people said and did with him which must have only confused him more. They made him a monster. They did awful things. So, Rapunzel sought him out.

She looked in Thneedville and eventually found him with the help of the Lorax.

"He never leaves," the creature had said. "He doesn't talk to anyone. He doesn't sing and it bothers me. He used to be, and you can't tell him I said this, fun."

She appreciated this Lorax. She learned from him and eventually got close to Once-ler.
The animals liked her. Once-ler loved her. Not like that not in that way, but she was like an older someone. She was an older someone who cared.

He'd never met anyone quite like Rapunzel before. Rapunzel wasn't sure if she'd ever met anyone like Once-ler either.