Hey, y'all! I wrote this as a sequel to my friend Kelsey's amazing oneshot, which you can find here: fanfiction(dot)net/s/7341156/1/Kiss_Me_Slowly
I was inspired and didn't want it to end, so now it's a doubleshot... And will eventually evolve into a tripleshot after I finish writing the next chap... Maybe even a quadruple shot. Heh.
Kelsey's story was inspired by Kiss Me Slowly by Parachute. This one was inspired by If You Ever Come Back by the Script.
I think that you should listen to them while reading, but that's just me.
Anyway, I hope you like it and any reviews/ comments are much appreciated!
Eugene set a slow pace as he walked down the once familiar hallways. This was the best part of his job: being back in the castle, no matter how brief the time might be. He listened to the familiar sound of his boots on the marble floor, admired the intricacy of the tapestries hung on the walls... Five years ago he had walked down this hallway at least once a day. He knew all of the halls that were less traveled by the King and Queen, and usually took one of these for his secret meetings with Rapunzel.
She had to be about twenty-three now. He wondered where she was, what she was doing right now, how well she was getting along with Robert after five years of marriage. Five years... It felt like forever ago, but he still remembered the night before he left as though it was yesterday.
The first year after his leaving the castle was spent doing odd jobs around the kingdom for money, and drinking... Probably too much drinking. Rapunzel wanted him to be taken care of regardless of whether or not he had a job, which was smart because employers weren't very eager to hire ex-thieves, and he had too much pride to just accept their money.
Most of the time he was put to work was repairing roads or bridges among other odd jobs that needed to be done around the kingdom. He didn't mind; his favorite part was reporting to the castle in the mornings. He didn't get to go in the main entrance, he went to the side where the workers went, but it still provided him with some kind of odd relief from the emptiness he felt... Until he had to leave and do work.
Even though it was physically exhausting, his thoughts would always find their way to Rapunzel. It was pattern that repeated every day. He would go to the castle and feel slightly better, knowing she was nearby. Then he would leave to go work and his thoughts would torment him, his heart would ache for her. On a good day, he could catch some gossip about the royal newlyweds. From what he had gathered, Rapunzel and Robert didn't waste much time after getting married to start a family because they had a son named Deaglan.
...
When he first found out that she was pregnant, he felt sick to his stomach; he didn't feel like eating. He knew it was inevitable that they would sleep together after getting married, but he didn't want to think too much about it. There was no avoiding the fact after that, though, there was undeniable proof.
When he lived with her in the castle, she had expressed her fears and hopes to him about having a baby... how wonderful it would be to be a mother, but also how scary it seemed to her that she would have a little person inside of her, as she put it. He wondered if she was scared, then. At least she had plenty of people to help take care of the baby once she had it, he had told himself. He wanted to go back and talk to her, relieve any stress she might have. Her mother and father were not the type to confide in, and Robert seemed too stiff to be the type she would open up to. Did she keep her fears to herself? Who did she ask about the small things that everyone else seemed to know?
She figured it out, he assumed, never having gotten a letter from her after his departure. He didn't blame her, though... he didn't send her letters, either. Hearing from her would only prolong the pain of separating from her. It was better that way.
A few more years passed, and he was promoted to being a royal messenger, although delivering letters wasn't the only thing he did. Being a royal messenger was a step above a messenger, which meant he got to provide the guards with information about thieves (something he was particularly good at), run information between military leaders, and arrest the occasional criminal. Best of all, though, he wold be in the castle from time to time, and could charm a laundress or -if he was lucky enough to find one- one of Rapunzel's maidservants -who were very informative- into relinquishing some bits of information about her life.
Being back in the castle, though, he questioned how he could have stayed away from her for so long, as he did every time he returned. She was the girl of his dreams and she was married to someone else. If he had known this would happen, he and Rapunzel would have never stepped foot in Corona. They would have lived as vagabonds; they would have been completely happy as long as they were together. He was snapped out of his thoughts, though, as he walked past two women talking in a doorway, catching part of their conversation:
"This type of unruly behavior is completely unacceptable for a prince."
"She needs to be more strict with that boy! Making up these ridiculous stories is upsetting the other children he meets."
A prince? As in Prince Deaglan? He had to admit, he was curious about what Rapunzel's son was like. If he was anything like Rapunzel, he could definitely see the kid being... spirited.
"Can I be done now?" he heard a small voice ask. "I want to go outside and explore in the jungle!"
"There isn't a jungle anywhere near enough for you to explore, Deaglan." A voice answered coldly. "And anyway, you still have an astronomy lesson to complete, even though I don't understand why your mother wants you to be taught on such an impractical subject."
"Can't I just do two tomorrow? My mom said that it's going to rain so I won't have anything better to do then! Pleeeaaaase?"
"Fine. But you will come back on time tomorrow. Understand?"
"Yes, ma'am!"
Eugene heard footsteps running towards the door, and he quickly wondered if he should turn back around and take another hallway. Maybe the sight of Rapunzel's son would be too painful... Then he spotted him as the boy pushed past the door. They both stopped, dead in their tracks, staring at each other.
The boy's eyes were green, startlingly so... like his mother's.
He looked up at him through his hair falling in his eyes, and pushed it away from his face. Eugene couldn't look away from him. He was the smaller, male version of his mother. He had her face and expressions, down to the freckles that were scattered on the bridge of her nose and cheeks.
His hair was darker than hers, though, and his nose was slightly different. Maybe he got it from the King or Queen? It definitely wasn't from his father, whose hair was lighter than Rapunzel's. Every other trait he possessed, though, was so obviously his mother's that it caused the grief he had from their last night together to hit him again at full force. Seeing Deaglan felt like a punch to the gut... But somehow, it was a good hurt. Looking at his face made all of those old emotions come rushing back, but he had missed her so much, he needed to make sure he remembered what she looked like (even if he could only see her son).
After those few years, he was afraid that his memories of her would grow dull, but examining the boys features and being able to tell exactly what belonged to Rapunzel, he knew they hadn't. If he had any drawing skills like she did, he would have drawn her. He knew every detail of her face, every scar (she only had a few) and little mole. He missed her. God, did he miss her.
"Who are you?" asked the boy, breaking the silence and snapping Eugene out of his thoughts.
"I, uh, I'm... Eugene," he said slowly, looking at the boy. The resemblance between him and his mother was almost too much to bare. He had here eyes, nose, everything. His brown hair was messy and falling into his eyes as he peered up at the unfamiliar man. "Eugene who?"
"Eugene Fitzherbert... I'm a royal messenger," he added.
"From where?"
"From here."
"Do you send secret messages? Like a spy? Will you teach me how to be a spy? I want to be sneaky like one so that I can steal cookies off the counter in the kitchen without them noticing."
"No, not like a spy... But if you want to know how to steal cookies off the counter, you should ask... uh... oh, what's his name...?"
"George?" Deaglan asked, rocking on his heels.
"Yeah, George! Tell him you saw a roach on the counter, and he'll have a fit, then start complaining to the other kitchen staff, and scrub the counter for a good five minutes. Works every time." Eugene said with a small laugh, sticking his hands in his pockets as he looked at the kid. For a moment, he almost forgot about the pain he had suffered the past five years.
Deaglan smiled. "Well, Eugene Fitzherbert, royal messenger who is not a spy, I'm Deaglan... I don't like my name that much but my mom and dad always call me that and they say I can't change it because it's a 'strong name' or something like that. If I have a strong name, though, I don't get why Charlie can always beat me up so easily. I don't like Charlie."
Eugene nodded as though he knew exactly who Charlie was, and got down so that he was at eye-level with Deaglan. "Well, Deaglan, I don't think a name is gonna make you any stronger... So how about I call you Dex?"
The boy smiled, "that sounds like a pretty good nickname to me."
"Good, then Dex it is. And as for Charlie beating you up, show me how you throw a punch." He said, straightening up again. Deaglan threw his fist at him, and Eugene caught it in his hand.
"Here," he said, examining his fist. "Keep your thumb here, instead of here, and make sure your fingers are tight," he said, adjusting his fingers. "There. Now don't swing out like that, keep your arms closer to your body. Like this," he said showing him. "Like this?" he asked, punching him in the arm.
"Ouch! Yeah... That was pretty good," he laughed, rubbing his arm. "Keep practicing that, Dex, and you'll probably have an easier time fighting Charlie next time. See you around."
Dex looked at him, wearing a forlorn expression as Eugene walked away. "Wait! When are you gonna be back?"
Eugene paused. "I don't know... Sometimes I'm gone for a few days, sometimes a few months... I'll find you when I get back, though, if you want."
Deaglan nodded excitedly. "Okay. Promise?" he asked, holding out his pinky for him to swear on.
Eugene chuckled, and shook pinkies with him. "Promise."
"Great! Next time I see you, I'll introduce you to my friend Pascal! He's the best. Here, have this! I made it but my teacher didn't want it," he said, handing him a small wood carving of a chameleon. "It was nice meeting you, Eugene Fitzherbert," he said politely before taking off down the hallway towards the gardens.
Eugene left the castle that day feeling different. He didn't see Rapunzel, but he had met her son, who reminded him so much of her it made his heart clench in his chest, and had him itching to reach out and hug the kid. That probably would have scared him, though, so he refrained from any kind of hugging. He wasn't sure what would come out of meeting Dex, but he was hopeful. Maybe seeing Dex again would create for possibility for a run-in with Rapunzel.
...
He was gone for two weeks, delivering messages between two of their military's higher-ups, but his mind was elsewhere. His mind was with Rapunzel and Dex. The small carving Dex had given him had been kept in his pocket since they had met, reminding him that he would see the boy again soon. As he rode back over the bridge into Corona, he could feel his heart quickening in his chest. He couldn't help but smile to himself as he brought Max into the field to graze, giving him a thankful pat on the pack for being his partner for the past two weeks. Eugene pulled out the chameleon from his pocket and looked at it for the hundredth time since he had gotten it. Max gave him a questioning look as he had the past times he pulled out the small figurine, but Eugene had refused to answer.
"Go eat some oats, you're home now," Eugene said in an exasperated tone. Max didn't budge.
"I got it from a kid in the castle. It's a pretty cool carving isn't it?" Max's look still seemed questioning, and Eugene could tell he was wondering what kid in the castle he got it from.
"I got it from Deaglan." Max looked surprised.
"I'm actually going to visit him now." He let out a whinny, as though he wanted more details.
"Oats, Max." He let out a snort in protest, but reluctantly made his way towards the other side of the pasture as Eugene walked off. His heart was pounding in his chest, his grip tightening around the small wood figurine as he made his way up the hill leading to the castle, unsure of what he would find there.