Rapunzel, Rapunzel, let down your hair!

        A pale tower, crawling with ivy, stood against the backdrop of a night sky littered with stars.
        "Rapunzel, Rapunzel, let down your hair."
        The sweet murmur was like an incantation, echoed over and over. The witch had come to call on the captive Rapunzel yet again. And Rapunzel responded to her call, lowering a sheaf of golden hair down from the tower.
        They were not alone. A handsome woman in men's clothing stood in the shadow of the trees, stealthily observing them. Let us be forthright-- this woman was none other than the queen of the land. Wishing to view the maiden whose lovely hair she'd glimpsed, she mimicked the witch's words one day: "Rapunzel, do let down your hair......"
        Rapunzel, shocked at the arrival of the stranger, inquired, "Who are you?"
        "I... am your lover..."
        Their lips gently brushed in the moonlight.

The daylight greeted her as she lay wrapped in the witch's arms.

-oink-
-oink-
-oink-
-oink-

        However, Rapunzel was in fact the witch's lover.
        "Tell me, Onee-sama, when shall you take me to see the outside world?"
        "Hehe...... In time."
        "Always the same response! How dreary......"
        Rapunzel's peevish expression suddenly brightened, replaced with mirth. An amusing memory had just come to mind.
        "What is it?"
        "Oh, nothing of importance. I was simply reflecting on how heavy you are, Onee-sama. Why, when the queen makes love to me, I barely feel her weight......"
        "What?! The queen? And _I_ am heavier than she?!"
        The witch divested Rapunzel of her hair, crying, "Off with you! You have betrayed me!"
        The queen, unaware of what had passed, fell headlong from the tower, grasping Rapunzel's newly-shorn hair. Thorns pierced her eyes, blinding her.

        "I spoiled her for far too long."
        The witch could hardly believe that Rapunzel, whom she'd lovingly raised from a young age, had betrayed her.
        "Some evil spirit must have possessed her. Else, she would never have made a laughingstock of me in this manner."
        Just as the witch was beginning to feel sorry for Rapunzel and considering going out to fetch her, she thought she heard a sweet female voice: "Rapunzel, Rapunzel, let down your hair..."
        "Hmm? Whatever could it be? Did I not just drive off the queen......?"
        When she glanced down at the bottom of the tower, she received quite a shock! A crowd of girls had gathered there.
        "Rapunzel, let down your hair for me!"
        "What?! No, let it down for _me_!"
        "No! For _me_!"
        In fact, the lovely Rapunzel had betrayed the witch to a far greater extent than she had imagined.
        ".................."
        This turn of events was enough to render even the witch speechless.
        Meanwhile, Rapunzel was enjoying her first taste of freedom.

She was mine and mine alone. I locked her away in this tower...

I belong only to you, and you only to me...


        What do you suppose became of the queen after she was blinded by the thorns? Why, she had traveled in search of Rapunzel! In truth, it was the queen who truly loved Rapunzel from the bottom of her heart.
        A girl stood silently before the queen.
        "Such soft locks...... Rapunzel?"
        Rapunzel took the queen's hand, and twin tears dripped from Rapunzel's eyes to the queen's. These tears showed that Rapunzel, who had toyed with the affections of so many, had been struck by another's sincerity for the first time in her life...
        Just then, something miraculous occurred. The queen's eyes opened once more-- indeed, her sight had been restored!
        "I love you, Rapunzel."
        "I'm sorry to have caused you such pain, my queen."
        The two embraced fiercely, swearing their eternal love to one another. Rapunzel had already had enough dalliances to last a lifetime; her attentions never wavered again.