Title. Entangled
Chapter. Prologue
Chapter Title. Not My Story, but Close Enough
Authour. ~sushisama~
Fandom. Hetalia – Axis Powers
Pairings. PruCan (Gilbert/Matthew) mainly, with USUK (Alfred/Arthur), mentions of AusHun (Roderich/Elizaveta). Any other pairings, I'll warn about as they come up.
Warnings. First warning, as with all my fanfics, this is a story about shounen-ai/yaoi. You know, boy-on-boy action? Mmm, boy-on-boy action. Also, there will be some cursing, a dash of violence, and failed attempts at humour.
Disclaimer. The characters of Hetalia do not belong to me, nor am I making money off this story. Also, same goes for the story of Tangled, I'm just using it as a base.
Notes. Wow, it's been too long. Eventually, I'll get back to my Tapestry story, but that'll be a while. You know, when I'm not obsessing over Hetalia anymore. Anyway, this story is based off the Disney movie Tangled, because when I watched it, Flynn Rider just screamed, "Don't I make you think of Prussia with how awesome I am?" So, this idea came to mind. Squee. The prologue and epilogue will be first-person from Gilbert's perspective, like in the film. And there will probably be bonus chapters of little scenes in my head that must be written (must be!), but don't fit in the actual story.

::*~~*::

This is the story of how the awesome me died.

But don't be discouraged! This is still a great story and all, with action, adventure, suspense, and romance. I know, romance isn't really all that awesome. Except when I'm in it. Which, in this tale, I am involved in some of it, so that part will be somewhat awesome.

This story isn't mine, though. It's actually about a boy named Matthew.

And it starts with the sun.

See, the sun once dropped a bit of itself from the sky, to give us a gift. This gift was a gorgeous flower that shined with a golden hue, the only thing that could compare to the beauty of the actual day star. You could be a hater of flowers, and still smile in appreciation when you laid eyes on it. It was that significant and stood out that much.

The gift from the sun also had another benefit besides its outstanding beauty. It could heal the wounded and the sick. The sun gave us this gift in the hope it would be used wisely. But that's not what happened. Instead, an aging wizard found it, and used it to turn himself young again. Once he found the flower and used it the first time, using a song to bring its powers to life, he became greedy. The sun had given us all that flower, but for hundreds of years, this wizard, Father Francis, hid it and kept it to himself.

During this time, a kingdom grew not far from where the sun gifted the land. It spanned several lifetimes, several seats of nobility. The current royalty were a good pair of people, King Roderich and Queen Elizaveta. Everyone loved them, for they were just and kind.

The queen was with child, and everyone waited happily for the birth of the new line of royalty. But she fell sick only weeks before she was due. The king could only stand by in despair, as nothing the healers from lands all over could do brought her health. He fretted for both his wife and his unborn child, until a soothsayer came to them. Desperate, King Roderich listened to the man, though he had no high hopes for what was to be said.

"There is a way to heal your wife," the man from the orient said. He swung his thin ponytail over his shoulder as he regarded the distraught king. He stared at him with brown eyes over the light of a candle as they sat at a lone table in a room away from the ailing queen. "The sun gave your kingdom a gift, long before the first building was erected." He gestured out the window, into the forests that surrounded the island that made up the kingdom. "Go find the flower that is gold as the sun. This is how you will save your wife and children."

King Roderich knew it was silly to believe in such things, but when situations were dire, people started looking for a miracle. That flower would be their miracle. So everyone in the kingdom, not just the guard, went to find the flower, as all the queen's subjects wanted to see her and the child well. They searched and searched, but after three days, no one could find the flower.

It wasn't until the night Francis had to go back to his flower that the captain of the guard and his son were able to find it. You see, Francis had thought he left his precious plant covered and hid by a fake bush he'd built, but as he heard the knights coming, he toppled it over in his haste to flee.

It was the captain's eight-year-old son, Arthur, that came upon the flower. (I only mention this un-awesome name because he does come up in the story.) He called quickly for his father, and they pulled up the plant, root and all, to bring back to the waiting king.

Back in the palace, the China-man waited for the flower that he could crush it and mix it properly. Once he made the potion, he gave it to the king for delivery to his wife. In the queen's bedroom, the captain guard, his son, the soothsayer, and a few other choice people were allowed to witness the king giving the tonic to the queen. Almost the moment she was done consuming it, all the eyes in the room shone with delight at her obvious recovery.

Shortly after, the queen gave birth to twins. They looked alike for the most part, except the younger of the two, Alfred, had stunning blue eyes and sandy-blond hair while his elder brother (by only about ten minutes), Matthew, had violet-blue eyes and golden hair, just like the flower that had saved their mother. The kingdom rejoiced at their birth, and even threw a huge party that lasted a week. When the festival was over, the king and queen lit two lanterns and set them into the sky.

But it wasn't long before Francis (you know, in case you weren't keeping up, the wizard who was hiding the flower?) found what happened to his precious spring of youth, and wanted it back. He stole into the twins' nursery and hovered over Matthew's crib. He swatted at the mobile that hung over the baby's head, pushing aside the stuffed hanging bear, cupid, yellow bird, and horse. Francis grabbed a bit of the golden strands as he began to sing his song, holding a pair of scissors.

"Flower gleam and glow, let your power shine..." Matthew's hair began to light up like the sun as the melody came from Francis. The wrinkled skin on his hands and face started to tighten, taking on the form of his younger self. He opened up the blades, readying them to snip a bit of the babe's short hair. "Make the clock reverse, bring back what-" The moments the blades came together and parted the strands from scalp, the glow vanished from the bit he held, turning the bunch into the same shade as Alfred's.

Francis dropped the bit he held, a glare coming to his blue eyes. He knew what he had to do. He picked up the infant, who instantly opened his eyes and started to cry. Alfred, hearing his brother distress, woke up and started crying as well. The king and queen flew into the room only to see the backside of Francis as he escaped through the window he'd crawled in, still clutching the boy to his chest.

The wizard took Matthew to a tower in the middle of a valley surrounded by mountains. Only Francis knew the way in and out, and kept his precious 'flower' away from the world, letting his hair grow out, longer and longer. And each time Francis brushed the boy's hair, his new son would sing for him, and he would receive the gift of youth from the glowing locks.

And Matthew would commonly ask, "Papa, why can't I go outside?"

"Because ze world is a scary place, wit' selfish and cruel people. So you will stay in 'ere, and I will always protect you from ze 'arsh world. Do you understand, ma fleur?"

"Oui, papa."

But that didn't stop Matthew from his curiosity. Every year on his birthday, the king, queen, prince, and the rest of the kingdom would light lanterns in the hope it would lead the lost prince back to his true family. This tradition continued for several years, and each year, Matthew would watch from his window as the lanterns went by. And each year, Arthur would stand beside Prince Alfred, promising to one day find his brother, like how he had found the flower years before. And Alfred would hold his hand and smile, because he believed in the green-eyed boy. (Yes, this is important, too, no matter how much of a loser Arthur is.)

So, eighteen years later, Matthew was still in that same tower, never having left, but always wanting those lights. And it would be the curiosity of those lights that would lead him home, and, ultimately, to my death.

Translations. (I fear this fanfic will have a lot.)

Ma fleur = My flower. (French)
Oui = Yes. (French [You never know, someone may not be familiar!])

And another note. Gods, I'm full of them. Probably because I haven't be on in forever. Oh, look, I'm rambling! And you all have to suffer.

There's a reason I actually mention the items on the mobile. If you watch the movie, the things hanging from Rapenzul's mobile are a duckling, horse, blue bird, chameleon, and cupid, all images that show up in the film. So, I followed along. Because I actually give way too much thought to all my stories. Ha.

Anyway, I'll post the next chapter in a couple of days.

Read and review, please? Always makes me want to write faster!