"I love you!" the five year old Gothel told her mother.

"I love you more!" replied the mother, Gertrud.

"I love you most!" continued Gothel, finishing their little "I love you" game. She giggled as Gertrud tickled her sides gently. She was so lucky to have such a loving mother! Gertrud's thoughts were traveling a similar path. Gothel was her whole world, and she loved the little girl more than word could ever describe. Ever since Gertrud's poor husband died, it had only been her and Gothel, against the world, but so long as they had each other, they would make it through just fine…

"May I have a bit more stew?" 10 year old Gothel asked politely as she finished her meal.

"I'm sorry, love, but I'm afraid that was it," her mother replied sadly, showing her an empty pot.

"Oh," Gothel's face fell as she set her empty bowl back down. She was still very hungry. Gertrud's face twisted in sympathy.

"Ever since the king raised the taxes, we haven't been able to afford very much," she explained.

"Yes, Mama," Gothel replied. She may not have understood what all that meant, but what she did know was that she and her mother didn't have enough money to pay for food anymore. It was a sad reality. Gothel was still very hungry. Her stomach even began growling to prove that point. Gertrud felt tears spring into her eyes. This wasn't right at all. No child should be starving. It wasn't even like the kingdom was going through any hard times. Food was relatively abundant. People shouldn't have been starving, but they were. Gothel and Gertrude were among those people. It was a painful and embarrassing life to live.

"Oh, may I have that dress?" 15 year old begged Gothel, as she and her mother walked about the snowy market. They were trying to find something cheap to eat, but most of the stalls were either empty or the food was too costly. They had just passed one caravan selling warm and beautiful winter dresses. It was a deep red one that caught Gothel's eyes. She pointed to it as she and her mother passed it by.

"No, Gothel, we barely have money for food!" Gertrud sighed, anger rippling just below the surface of her words.

"Just asking," whined Gothel, angry at her mother's harsh rebuke. Gertrud rolled her eyes.

"You must stop being so selfish," she chided. Gothel bit her lip in anger at this remark. She was literally running around the frozen kingdom streets in rags, thinner than a pole, yet her mother had the nerve to call her selfish. Hadn't Gothel sacrificed meal after meal so her mother could eat too? Hadn't she fought long and hard to find a job outside of prostitution? How dare Gertrud call Gothel selfish?

"May I go out? I'm bored," 20 year old Gothel asked her mother as they lounged around their tiny shack of a house.

"No! You must stay in here with me, where it's safe from the cold, cruel, dark, and deadly outside," said Gertrud warningly. "Ever since the Black Death struck, people have been dropping like flies and it would be a death sentence for you to go outside. Don't you see that?!" Gertrud's voice continued to rise as she lectured Gothel against the dangers of the outside. "The world is full of ruffians, thugs, cannibals, snakes, bugs, and more!"

"I'm strong enough to care for myself!" protested Gothel, temper decreasing and voice increasing.

"We're done talking about this," Gertrud interrupted her daughter. "Stop fighting me. You know I hate being the bad guy."

"But if you would just listen-" Gothel tried, though her voice wasn't much softer than her mother's at this point.

"NO!" Gertrud finally lost it. "You are not leaving this cottage, EVER!"

There was silence for about five seconds before Gertrud collapsed into her seat, stewing in anger. Gothel could only stare at her. Was this the same woman who had once sung her to sleep every night and brushed her hair every morning? Was this the woman who had laughed, played, and danced with her? No. Surely it wasn't. This lady was cold, cruel and callous. The woman Gothel used to know would've despised the woman sitting in front of her now. Gothel shook her head. She was done. Without another word, she turned away from her mother and walked right out the cottage door. Her mother gave one last attempt at stopping her.

"Gothel. You get back in here at once," she growled.

"No," Gothel replied.

"You don't know what you're doing!" Gertrud's voice was rising fast again.

"I don't care," Gothel replied again.

"You'll die out there! It's safer in here!"

"No it's not," Gothel argued. Then she stepped past the threshold and the very last thing she ever heard her mother say was:

"MOTHER KNOWS BEST!"

Years later, Gothel returned to that cottage to find her mother long gone, apparently having died less than a year after Gothel had fled. The plague had finally caught up and even the walls of the "safe" cottage weren't enough to protect Gertrud. Apparently, Mother didn't know best. At least not this time. Gothel stared at the ashes that once made up the walls of the cottage and she shook her head slowly. In the back of her mind, she vowed that if she ever became a parent, she wouldn't ever say or do the things her own mother did to her in the last years they were together.

ooo

After kidnapping the baby princess, Rapunzel, Gothel took the infant to a secret tower she had discovered deep in the heart of one of the kingdom's many forests. It would be in that tower that Gothel would raise the stolen child for her own, using her magical golden hair to stay young and healthy forever! Such a plan seemed simple enough at first, but then…

"Waaaaaaaahhhhh!" Gothel held her aching head. Rapunzel was crying. Again. Who knew being a mom was so hard? Gothel almost considered returning the brat until she was older. Almost.

"What now?" the lady asked the infant. "Can't you shut up? You whiny, selfish, ugly, stupid, fool!" she continued to growl under her breath before finally giving a sigh of defeat and, reluctantly, going out to change the girl's diaper. It was disgusting. Oh, the things Gothel did for vanity!

"I don't like children," the woman growled as she took the freshly-changed Rapunzel back inside. But then Rapunzel looked up at her and her green eyes seemed to piece Gothel's very soul. Gothel felt slightly ashamed of what she had told the girl, strange as that sounded.

"I'm sorry I said that," she said. "I just don't know what to do with you. But I am trying. And I do love you. Honest!" she said.

"Wuv ooo mur," mumbled the baby. Gothel almost dropped her in shock. Not only had Rapunzel spoken a coherent sentence, but she had just said a line of dialogue that Gothel hadn't heard in centuries. But on instinct, Gothel finished the dialogue.

"I love you most," she said, and though she wasn't 100% sure if she believed it, she figured that it wouldn't hurt to try. Who knew? Maybe she would someday come to love Rapunzel as her own after all.

"I promise I'll be a good mommy and we'll be together forever," whispered Gothel. "Yes, I'll teach you all you need to know and you can trust me to be right because…" Gothel paused to smirk. "Mother knows best!"

AN: I am not a Gothel supporter, but I like to think that this was how she grew into the cold and callous woman we all know her to be. I like to think that, at least initially, she might've genuinely loved Rapunzel, though of course, we all know that love did not last. I just want to be clear that I'm not trying to excuse her actions, I'm just speculating on what might've caused them, and how they might've originally started.