"Rapunzel…"

Rapunzel paused. She was just about to start singing. She was just about to save Eugene's life. But even in his weak state, his voice was pleading, and she had to listen to what he had to say.

"Wait…"

She leaned forward as he did, thinking that she was about to receive a kiss, their first and last one they would ever share. Eugene gently moved her hair out of her face, running his hand through it. Their faces came closer when suddenly a sound came from behind her. The familiar sound of hair being cut. Eugene's hand holding the mirror shard dropped.

"Eugene, what…!" Rapunzel couldn't form words. The weight of the hair she'd been carrying for eighteen years was gone. All that was left was a patch of brown on her head.

"No!" Rapunzel turned at the cry of anguish. Her mother watched in horror as the formerly beautiful golden locks of hair gradually turned a dull brown. She gathered as much as she could in her arms, but the magic was gone. There was nothing left.

Gothel's skin turned pale and fragile. Wrinkles grew all over her body. Her bones were visible to the point that she almost looked like a skeleton. "What have you done?!" She cried.

She pulled her hood over her face as in an attempt to hide her freakishly elderly face. She stumbled and cried in agony and humiliation when she tripped.

Rapunzel hadn't processed what had happened until after Gothel had tumbled out the window. She rushed to the window and watched in horror as the woman she had grown to love as her mother screamed as she fell to her death. "Mother!"

By the time she'd hit the ground, only her cloak was left. Rapunzel felt tears form in her eyes. Her betrayal had already broken her heart, but now her death? She couldn't handle this. Then she remembered the last person she knew she could trust, "Euge-"

And just like that, she was alone. No Eugene, no Pascal, and no mother. She was all alone in the tower. Even if she were to leave, there would be nothing out there for her. She didn't even know her real parents.

Rapunzel fell to her knees, pained and utterly alone. She cried, wanting to go home but already there. This place didn't feel like home to her. Nowhere did.

Rapunzel's eyes opened. She was no longer in the tower. She was in her bed, in the castle. She sat up slowly and felt her cheeks. She had been crying in her sleep. She looked to her right and saw her husband sleeping peacefully next to her. "Eugene…" She whispered his name and gently touched his face, hoping not to disturb his sleep. It was all a dream. None of it was real. At least, most of it.

Rapunzel let out a shaky breath, knowing she wasn't going back to sleep anytime soon. She slowly got out of bed and walked out to the balcony. She breathed the fresh air and leaned against the railing.

This wasn't the first time she'd had this nightmare. It had been frequent, ever since she'd begun to live here. She knew it was months ago, but even then, this was all so new to her. She was just getting to know her parents, and just getting used to referring to Eugene as her husband and herself as a princess.

And what about her mother? Not her real mother, but the one she grew up singing to, having her hair brushed by, joking with, reading with, living with? The mother she knew for eighteen years? Her betrayal struck her hard, and her sudden death even harder. She thought she'd recovered by now, but deep down, she still longed for those peaceful times reading in her bed after taking half an hour to brush her hair, smelling hazelnut soup from the kitchen that always made her mouth water.

"Rapunzel?"

Rapunzel flinched at the sound. She whipped her head around and saw a sleepy, yet concerned Eugene standing by the doorway. "What's a pretty lady like you doing, staying up so late?"

Even minutes after waking up, Eugene never failed to crack a joke. Rapunzel gave him a small smile, but turned away to look at the kingdom below, "I… couldn't sleep."

Eugene had expected a bigger reaction than the one he got, and the way Rapunzel's tensed slightly with the tone of her voice made him a little worried. He approached her and lay a hand on her shoulder. "You okay?" Rapunzel sighed and touched his hand, "Not really." She said, "I, uh… had a bad dream."

"A bad dream?" Rapunzel nodded. "Do you want to talk about it?" She shrugged. Eugene gently wrapped his arm around her. "What was it about?"

Rapunzel closed her eyes and leaned into her husband's chest. "It… it was about that day… in the tower. When you cut my hair… After my moth- um, Gothel… fell out of the tower, you disappeared. I was all alone. You were the only two people I truly loved…and then you were gone…" Rapunzel felt tears threaten to fall, and she buried her face in Eugene's sleep shirt.

Eugene ran his fingers through Rapunzel's hair comfortingly, "Oh, Rapunzel, it's okay. It was just a dream. I'm here."

"I know. But she isn't."

"She?"

Rapunzel sighed in defeat, "My mother. I know she was horrible, and I know she lied, but…" She looked up at Eugene, "Eugene, she was all I had! I know that I have you, and I love you, but she was my mother! She raised me and cared for me, and loved me! And even if that love wasn't real, mine was!"

Tears were pooling down Rapunzel's face now. She gasped and cried, burying her face in her hands, "Her betrayal was bad enough, but she...she died! She died right before my eyes, I just…" She covered her face as much as she could as she sobbed, her legs ready to give way and let her collapse to the ground in tears.

Eugene was surprised by Rapunzel's words. He didn't understand how Rapunzel could still feel love for that retched woman, but then again, he didn't understand how it felt to have parents in the first place. But he did know how it felt to lose someone you love, and that was enough for him to provide empathy. He grabbed Rapunzel and held her tight as she sobbed almost hysterically. "Sshh… Rapunzel?"

Rapunzel's sobs ceased briefly so she could listen to Eugene. "I completely understand how much you miss your mother." He said, "I never knew my parents, but I do know how it feels to love someone that much. And I think it's nice that you remember her for who she was, even if that wasn't the truth."

"But I can't…" Rapunzel cried, "I can't do that… it wasn't real… it was just an act so she could use my hair… I don't know what to think."

"Listen," Eugene cupped his wife's face and wiped away any stray tears, "you're right. Maybe it is better to accept what was true, even if it hurts. But you can't let that bear down on you forever." Rapunzel sniffed and held his hand as he spoke. "If you ever want to talk about this, or anything that's bothering you," He said, "you can come to me. I want to help you."

Rapunzel gulped and shakily sighed, her crying not completely through with yet, "Okay." Eugene hugged her tight and ran his hand through her hair, "Geez, are princesses always so emotional?"

This time, Rapunzel laughed at his joke. A small laugh, but a laugh nonetheless, and that was enough to make Eugene smile. "I love you, Eugene." Rapunzel said. Eugene leaned down and kissed her forehead. "I love you too, Rapunzel."