Title: Learning to Paint
Fandom: Tangled
Rating: G
Length: 325 words
Content notes: None
Summary: I always wondered why Gothel allowed Rapunzel to paint the entire tower from floor to ceiling.


"What on earth?" Mother looked around her in shock. She had only been gone for one afternoon, but she had returned to find that half of Rapunzel's room was painted with what appeared to be a self-portrait and the kitchen was a shambles.

"Do you like it, Mother?" Rapunzel popped into her line of sight. "In that book you got me, of indoor activities, it talked about painting. And I really wanted to try it. But we had no paints. So I improvised with what I found in the kitchen."

"You foolish girl!" Gothel yelled. "Did it not occur to you that we would need what was in the kitchen to actually eat?"

Rapunzel froze, her face sliding from proud to horrified in an instant. "I'm so sorry. I didn't think. I mean, it just sounded so much fun, and I was only going to do a little bit, but I guess I got carried away. I'll go get more right now!"

"No!" Mother dove across the entrance, preventing her daughter from climbing out the window. She had been trying that more and more, recently. Something about her recent birthday... Gothel rubbed her temples. She simply was not equipped to deal with an eight year old.

"The world is not safe for you out there, my dear," she said. "I've told you this. You stay in here and clean up, and I'll go get more food."

She was halfway out the window when Rapunzel quietly asked, "and some paint?"

Gothel sighed. Well, it might keep her quiet and contained for another few years. "And some paint."

"Yay!" Rapunzel shrieked, throwing her arms around her mother.

"Ack!"

"Thank you thank you thank you!"

Before she knew what was happening, Gothel was out the window and rappelling down to the ground as fast as Rapunzel could lower her braid. On the ground, she shook her head to get her bearings and then set off to the market.