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After the conversation with Mother, Eloise needed to clear her head. She was going to bake something, but the kitchen was full of people making treats for Family Day. She remembered how peaceful it was to paint and how welcomed she felt in Rapunzel's class, so Eloise decided to go there.
However, when she reached the door, she noticed that Rapunzel was packing away paints and canvases. "Oh, sorry, I thought you were open," Eloise apologised before going to walk away but she was stopped by the shout of her name. Eloise turned to Rapunzel on the heels of her feet, smiling as she faced her, "If you want to paint, I can leave stuff out for you."
Eloise nodded her head before quietly making her way inside the classroom. Rapunzel watched over at Eloise, glancing at every small move she made; how she did them so delicately and daintily. "I heard you are going to the Coronation with Ben," Rapunzel said as she placed a canvas and pots of paint in front of Eloise, setting herself up next to Eloise as well.
The blonde shrugged her shoulders, forgetting that Ben had even asked her to go to Coronation — well, asked Mal if Eloise would go because she had run away before he got the chance. "Yeah. . . It's all so strange," Eloise smiled before picking up her paintbrush and dipping it into a navy blue colour, scratching it across the canvas.
Rapunzel smiled, "I remember my Coronation. Eugene was there, and he was so nervous for some reason. I think it was the presence of my parents that scared him, him being a well-known thief." They both chuckled slightly before sighing, Eloise enjoyed hearing stories from Rapunzel.
That was when Rapunzel glanced over at Eloise's painting: the bottom of the canvas was filled with shades of green to create trees, and her background painted a navy blue to represent a night sky as white paint twinkled in spaced dots to secure being stars. She giggled slightly before opening her mouth to speak, "That painting reminds me so much of the one I drew in the tower."
Eloise went quiet at that, she stopped painting before turning her head towards Rapunzel. "I'm sorry. . . About my Mother. She was, and still is, crazily driven about this magic, golden flower." It had been a while since Eloise had bought up the flower in conversation, remembering how Mother wanted her to steal it if she had found one. Rapunzel shook her head as she dipped her paintbrush into a pastel purple colour, moving towards Eloise's painting.
Her hand was so gentle when painting a little person, using the colour purple to create a dress and then a golden colour to create long heaps of hair.
"Don't apologise. You are not her," Rapunzel turned to Eloise, scrunching her eyebrows as she did so. She couldn't believe the resemblance between herself and Eloise, down to the freckles across her nose and cheeks. "Can I ask you a question?" Eloise asked before facing back to her painting, choosing a deep shade of teal.
"Sure. . ." Rapunzel said as she stopped looking at Eloise to focus on her painting. "When you were living with Mother, did she have an interest in your hair?" Eloise asked, Rapunzel instantly stopped painting before her small hands grabbed onto the ends of her short, shaggy hair.
"Once upon a time, Eloise, I used to have magic hair," Eloise couldn't believe her ears when Rapunzel told her, Eloise nodded her head before turning away from her painting after finishing drawing herself next to the person Rapunzel had recently drawn.
"Really?" Eloise was ecstatic to hear about magic hair. How cool would it be to have magic hair?
"Yes! Ah, I remember it so well, it healed people and glowed. Do I remember the song?" That caught Eloise's attention, a song? Her mind rushed back to being with Mother and how she used to hum a certain tune every time she touched Eloise's hair, that was when Eloise hummed the tune and Rapunzel began to sing along once remembering the song.
"Flower gleam and glow, let your power shine, make the clock reverse, bring back what once was mine. . . What once was mine. Heal what has been hurt, change the fates' design, save what has been long, bring back what once was mine, what once was mine. . ." Eloise gasped, watching as her hair glowed as Rapunzel sang the song.
Just like it did when she was in the library.
"Eloise?" Her voice was a mere whisper, watching in confusion as Eloise took her glowing locks into her hand, watching as they faded to her natural colour once the song was finished. "No, no, no!" Eloise exclaimed as she threw her locks behind her shoulders, Rapunzel reaching the grab them and singing the song again — watching intently as they glowed once more.
"They're— you're— I mean, Eloise," Rapunzel repeated Eloise's name continually as she figured something within her brain.
Rapunzel's green eyes scanned over Eloise's face: the freckles, the eyes, her smile, the faint pink across her cheeks. Everythingreminded Rapunzel of her daughter; her missing daughter. Even her name. Princess Eloise Fitzherbert was the name of her daughter in an attempt to match it to Eugene.
Eloise didn't understand anything. Nothing was connecting within her mind as Rapunzel stared at her in silence. Had she said anything wrong? Why was her hair glowing? Why did Rapunzel look so upset?
Down from her habits, to her appearance, Rapunzel made her choice. "You're my daughter. . ." Rapunzel whispered before taking Eloise's cheeks into her hands, Eloise furrowed her brows as she settled into Rapunzel's touch, feeling herself melt under her gentle grab.
