A walk with Rapunzel

Eugene again....I'll let you know when/if I can get Rapunzel to blog.  But from now on till then, it'll be me.  But anyway...today, I got up feeling determined...I was so sure I'd get her to like me right away, just like how we'd kind of accidentally fallen for each other when we first met.  So when she hesitantly peered around the divider, I was ready to go. 
"You...up?"  she asked.  It was ten in the morning --I'd been up for hours!  I had hardly even slept, too.  
"Yep - come on in," I told her.  She stepped over to my side, and I gave her a grin.  "So...you ready to go?" 
"Mhm," she was staring distractedly, looking around the table; her eyebrows furrowed. 
"What?"  I asked hopefully.  Did she remember the table somehow? 
"Nothing," she said, turning back towards me and clasping her hands behind her back. "Shall we get started?" 
We hopped down onto the chair, and then I jumped off the chair onto the floor.  She stared at the floor, clearly nervous.  I was about to ask her why when she leaped off the chair, landed on the floor... a second before tripping over her hair and falling on her backside. 
Yup...some things never change.  Is it wrong of me to be happy to see that at least her personality and everything was still the same, just not her memories?   I strode over to help her up, and I could tell she was horribly embarrassed. 
"You alright?" 
"Y-yeah...sorry.  I'm...I'm really clumsy," she straightened her skirt out and her face blazed red. 
"That's fine," I told her, and she looked up sharply. 
"You're definitely something else.  Flynn would've...he would've gotten embarrassed with me and left me alone if I would've done that."  A cloud of sadness wavered over her eyes when she made mention of Flynn. 
Geez...the dude had obviously not been the best guy ever and hadn't treated her the best, he had been such a jerk and used her...and she KNEW that he'd used her, but she missed him.  Guess love is blind AND deaf.
"Wow....that's nothing to really get upset about, y'know?  Things happen-"
"To me.  A lot." 
"Still nothing to be upset about.  C'mon...let's see...where do you want to go first?" 
"How about...OOH!  Sometime, can we go up on that windowsill?"  She looked a little surprised at her sudden outburst, but I grinned and nodded all the same. 
We went everywhere -- all over the room and on the windowsill.  I attempted small talk at first, but later faded out.  She was so hung up on Flynn.  If either of us said anything, that would somehow remind her of Flynn, and she'd feel bad.  I hated how she bummed around after making mention of Flynn, so I slowly stopped talking, except for making mention of any special locations or anything.  We did talk a little about stuff we liked to do, and the mutual, 'walking, reading, music' is still the same.  At least two things are the same - her likes and her clumsiness.  I've never been so happy to see her be clumsy.  I always thought it was kinda cute to begin with, but it just reminded me that she's still the same girl, and she'll eventually fall in love again. I hope...
We were silent for the walk back to the table, and as soon as we got back up to the chair, I expected her to leave for her side, and I'd go to my side.  But...she followed me up to my side.  As I was freaking out on the inside, she gave me a serious expression. 
"Did I bother you with too much talk about Flynn?  I'm sorry," she messed with her hair and glanced down at her feet. 
"No, no...you're fine.  You just seemed to...feel bad every time you mentioned him, and I just...didn't want you to be upset." 
She gave me a smile.  "I see.  And my next question is...are they always jerks over there?  I guess it's just Punzie, but...ugh." 
I chuckled.  "Yeahh...Punzie's a jerk.  Don't let her get to ya, though." 
She glanced around my side of the table once more before asking why I was alone.
Well, honey...my life was full, and so was this table...just a few days ago.
I explained to her why I wasn't on the other side of the table like everyone else -- Punzie.  I'm pretty sure Rapunzel posted that info when she first started the blog?--and she was simply fascinated.  For the first time all day, we led a conversation without making mention of Flynn.

Then Zelia showed up, iPod in hand.

She dragged me aside and showed the iPod to me, speaking in a whisper.  "I was on here messing around and saw an email come in.  It's Flynn.  He saw your post about her and..."
It read:
"Good to know she finally got hurt bad for her clumsiness...let me tell you, I've known it was coming forever and I haven't missed THAT for a day, nor have I missed any of her, which you should already know.  Maybe now she'll stop being so curious and interested in activities other than sitting around.  Dolls should just sit around, that's what they're MADE to do!"
I didn't realize she was standing on tiptoe, reading over my shoulder.  She must've finished at the same time I had, because she gasped -- right when she lost her balance on her toes--and grabbed at my shoulders, trying to keep from falling.  I whirled around and grabbed her arms before she fell. 
"Did you read that?  DID you?!"  Zelia demanded, a little too nastily.
"Y-yeah..." she took in a shuddery breath before sobbing.  I was still holding onto her arms, so I pulled her close and let her cry on my shoulder. 
For a minute, I worried that I would freak her out, but when I realized that she had been the strongest girl ever when we'd met for the first time, and had hardly ever cried -- around me, anyway--, I decided that this was something I would have done if I had had to the first time. 
Then, I flashed a LOOK at Zelia.  "We'll talk later," I mouthed.  She rolled her eyes and left.
Some sister...

Rapunzel cried for some time, but then she seemed to catch herself.  "Oh.  Ohh!  I'm so sorry, you probably have things to do, and here I am blubbering all over the place over..s-stupid things that don't even involve you, I'm so sorry!"  She backed away, pushing awkwardly at her hair...and managed to get her hand tangled in her hair.  When she realized her hand was stuck fast behind her head, her eyes widened.  "I-I...I better go-"
"Hey, hey, hey...wait a sec," I snagged her shoulder, turning her so I could see to untangle her hand from her hair.  When I was done, she turned back to face me, her face beet red.
"Uh...thanks...um..." she stumbled over her words, and then just buried her face in her hands.  "I'm sorry." 
"Don't worry 'bout it.  If you...okay, so even though you don't really know me, you can talk to me...anytime.  I've got nothing to do, like...ever...so..yeah.  Feel free - anytime, anywhere." 
She smiled despite her obvious angst.  "Thank you.  Thanks for everything."  And with that, she left.
I sighed, staring at where she had stood.