deconflagration

" Rapunzel grew into the most beautiful child under the sun... When she was twelve years old, the enchantress shut her into a tower in the middle of a forest. " [ Except it was really her whole life, silly story. Gosh. ]

" The tower had neither stairs nor door, but near the top was a little window. When the enchantress wanted to go in, she placed herself beneath it and cried: "

[ Leaning his head against hers. ]

"'Rapunzel, Rapunzel, let down... your hair to me....'"

[ Her grip on his hand grew a little more tight and she took a deep breath. It's been so long since she heard those words out loud. It was different when she said it to herself but...]

" R-Rapunzel had magnificent long...hair, fine as spun gold, and... and when she heard the voice of the enchantress, she unfastened her braided tresses, wound them round... one of the hooks of the window above, and then the hair fell twenty ells down, and the enchantress climbed up by it. "

"After... a year or two... it came... to pass... that the king's... son rode... through... the forest and... passed... by the... tower. Then he heard... a song... which was... so char... charming... that he stood... still and... lis...tened. It was Rapunzel, who... in her so...litude... passed her time... in letting her... sweet voice... resound."

[ Idly rubbing her hand with his thumb. ]

"The king's... son... wanted... to climb... up to her... and looked for.. the door... of the to...wer... but there was none... to be found.... He rode... home... but the singing... had so... deeply... touched... his heart... that every day... he went out... into the forest... and listened to it."

[ Must be that Flynn kid. ]

[ With her free hand she points to the King's son on the picture side of the page. ]

I know what you must be thinking, but he was no prince at all. He was a naughty thief who snuck in so he could hide from someone.

[ She leaned against him more and moved her hand back to the other page. She turned it to the next page and continued.]

" Once when he was thus standing behind a tree, he saw that an enchantress came there, and he heard how she cried: "

...Got it.

[ He doesn't believe that entirely. Since he just said it previously: ]

"'Rapunzel, Rapunzel, let down your hair to me.'"

" Then Rapunzel let down the braids of her hair, and the enchantress climbed up to her.

[ She curls up against him and stares at the words. ]

"'If that... is the... lad...der... by which... one... moun...ts... I too... will... try my... for...tune....' said he... and the... next... day... when it... began... to grow... dark... he went... to the... tower... and cried:'"

[ Leaning in to kiss her cheek. ]

[ As he kisses her cheek, she reads off: ]

"'Rapunzel, Rapunzel, Let down your hair to me.' "

[ Must be weird for her to have to read that line. ]

"Im...me...diately.... the hair... fell down... and the... king's... son... climbed... up."

And I never let him climb up my hair ever. [ Hmphs! ]

[ She points to her part and starts to read now. ]

" At first Rapunzel was terribly frightened when a man, such as her eyes had never yet beheld, came to her; but the king's son began to talk to her quite like a friend, and told her that his heart had been so stirred that it had let him have no rest, and he had been forced to see her." [ She takes a little breath. ] " Then Rapunzel lost her fear, and when he asked her if she would take him for her husband, and she saw that he was young and handsome, she thought: 'He will love me more than old Dame Gothel does'; and she said yes, and laid her hand in his. "

[ His faces gets progressively more sour as he reads. ]

"She said: 'I will... will...ing...ly... go away... with you... but I do... not k... know... how to get... down.... Bring with... you... a skein... of silk... every time that... you come... and I will... weave a... ladder... with it... and when that... is ready... I will... descend... and you will... take me... on your horse.'"

[ She places her hand on the page and covers it. ]

Maybe we should take a break from the story.

It's just a story.

Well yeah but....

[ You seem really uncomfortable, Zuko. ]

We're almost done, anyway.

Well.... okay.

[ She takes her hand off the book and frowns little. ]

" They agreed that until that time he should come to her every evening, for the old woman came by day. The enchantress remarked nothing of this, until once Rapunzel said to her: 'Tell me, Dame Gothel, how it happens that you are so much heavier for me to draw up than the young king's son - he is with me in a moment.' "

[ Slowly turning the page. ]

"'Ah...! You wi...cked child...' cried the... entran...tress. 'What do... I hear... you say. I thought... I had... se... sepa...rated... you from... all the... world and yet... you have de... d-deceived me....'"

[ She frowns and grips Zuko's hand a bit tightly. ]

" In her anger she clutched Rapunzel's beautiful tresses, wrapped them twice round her left hand, seized a pair of scissors with the right, and snip, snap, they were cut off, and the lovely braids lay on the ground. And she was so pitiless that she took poor Rapunzel into a desert where she had to live in great grief and misery. "

[ ...How pleasant. ]

"On the... same... day... that she... cast out Rapunzel... however... the enchantress... fast...ened... the braids... of hair... which she had... cut off... to the hook... of the window... and when the... king's son... came and cried:"

[ She closed her eyes and repeated. ]

" 'Rapunzel, Rapunzel, Let down your hair to me.' "

[ Giving her hand another squeeze. ]

"She let the... hair down. The king's... son... a...ascend...ed... but instead... of finding his... dearest... Rapunzel... he found... the... enchantress... who gazed at him... with... wicked and... veno...mous... looks."

[ She frowned and turned the page. ]

" 'Aha!' she cried mockingly, 'you would fetch your dearest, but the beautiful bird sits no longer singing in the nest; the cat has got it, and will scratch out your eyes as well. Rapunzel is lost to you; you will never see her again.' "

[ Hmph. Bastard Flynn. ]

"The king's son... was beside... himself... with pain... and in his... des...pair... he leapt... down from... the tower.... He escaped... with his life... but the... thorns... into which... he fell... pierced his eyes."

" He wandered quite blind about the forest, ate nothing but roots and berries.... and did naught but lament and weep over the loss of his dearest wife... Thus he roamed about in misery for some years, and at length came to the desert where Rapunzel, with the twins to which she had given birth, a boy and a girl... lived in wretchedness. He heard a voice, and it seemed so familiar to him... that he went towards it, and when he approached, Rapunzel knew him and fell on his neck and wept. Two of her tears wetted his eyes and they grew clear again, and he could see with them as before. He led her to his kingdom where he was joyfully received, and they lived for a long time afterwards, happy and contented. "

Th-the end?

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