Disclaimer: Tangled belongs to Walt Disney Pictures.


Flashback - Bold and Italics

"Speech" - Double Quotes

'Thoughts' - Italics and Single Quotes

"Singing and Animal Speech" - Italics and Double Quotes

Narration - Nothing


To Repair Twisted Knots

Chapter One: Choices Lead To Paths


Flynn Rider's thoughts swam as he rode Maximus, the horse sprinting as fast as he could. Yet despite the flashing scenery flying past them, Flynn felt they were still going at a snail's pace.

He leaned slightly forward, a frown of determination etched deeply on his face. Why did nothing make sense? Confusion hit him more often that he liked these past couple of days. From meeting a girl with seventy feet of beautiful golden hair, parrying a sword-wielding horse with a frying pan, watching glowing hair with healing magical powers and unhelpful comments from a frog-chameleon, getting knocked out by Mark and Crick who refused the Crown, and a jailbreak by people who he clearly remembered hating him, Flynn didn't know nor cared how a heist for the Lost Princess's Crown could end up with a broken heart and a desperate need to redeem himself in the eyes of the girl he — grudgingly admitting — now loved.

Now that girl was in danger because of an idiotic mistake on his part. Guilt and despair clawed at his mind, and only the single-minded determination to save the girl, Rapunzel, kept him from breaking down on Maximus. He briefly pondered how Maximus would react to a twenty-four year old man sobbing like a child who lost track of where his mother was.

Somehow, the pain his heart felt was so, so much worse than just that. Even considering the incident five years ago, his emotional pain now seemed to trump it almost immediately.

The thought of the incident made his hand subconsciously move inside his vest, to the pocket right over his heart. The fabric changed as his hands brushed over it; Flynn could feel the patch of much tougher material that held the only possessions he kept close. He mentally sighed in relief as he felt the items contained within before dropping his hand back on the bouncing reins. With a quick glance at Maximus, he was relieved the horse didn't notice the gesture.

Looking forward again, Flynn noticed the cave entrance. Gripping the reins tightly, he steered Maximus towards the harmless-looking ivy vines. Thankfully, Maximus didn't question nor relent in his speed and plowed through the vines like Vladimir did to the guards back at the Royal Prison. He jumped off Maximus and ran up to the tower, breathing heavily with growing panic. Flynn nearly shouted Blondie's name but stopped before a sound could escape his mouth. Doubts filled his mind and suspicions kept his guard up.

What would happen if the mother was there? Would Blondie even accept him after what he seemingly had done? How long did he have to rescue her and hand her to Maximus before the guards come to drag him back to the gallows? The questions wanted to overtake him, but Flynn kept his calm and opted to search the base of the tower. The mother had to get in somehow, right?

He rounded the back of the tower, his hand frantically searching for some sort of handle. He felt Maximus's confused stare for choosing not to shout for Blondie, but he ignored the horse and kept searching. A crunch sounded from underneath his boots, and he looked down to see a wall of flowers. Quickly climbing the hill, he found clusters of stones surrounding a small arched doorway. A spiral stairway led into darkness that made the thief tense. Nonetheless he trudged up the stairs, trying to keep his steps silent and only partially succeeding. The shadows seemed to close around him, but he pushed his fear aside for concern for Blondie.

He expected to force open some sort of cellar door, but stumbled up to a small window of dimmed light instead. Only mildly surprised, Flynn forwent caution as he jumped through the entrance… only to meet a dagger coming straight at his face. He forced himself to dodge despite how paralyzed his legs felt. He gritted his teeth as the dagger cut deep into the side of cheek and dug into his shoulder. He rolled away when he felt the knife wrench itself from his shoulder by the attacker. He grabbed his arm tightly, looking up from where he crouched. He stared into the contempt-filled gray eyes of a middle-aged woman, her silvery black hair curled behind her onto a cloak covering a blood red dress. Flynn eyed the dagger in her hand, dripping with his blood, and his hand gripped his arm tighter. He could feel the blood dripping down his face and pooling into his clothes. He assumed this woman was the 'mother' Blondie had briefly mentioned.

Blondie's flip-out mood swings suggested the mother to be a kind but overprotective woman. He wasn't feeling the kind, and the overprotectiveness was a bit too extreme. Not really the 'gentle' image, if anyone bothered to ask for his opinion. Eugene agreed, though shot a look of concern to Flynn. Something felt off about it though…

A muffled sound distracted him from the mother only to stare at a gagged and bound Blondie. His eyes widened, his worry skyrocketing through the roof. Unfortunately, the look cost him as he looked back — too late — and the mother plunged the dagger into his chest. He vaguely heard the dagger hit the precious coin he kept in the secret pocket, but the pain mostly overwhelmed everything else. He could hear muffled screaming, but he looked up at the mother instead. Strange, he could see fear and desperation behind the disgust as they briefly locked eyes.

"Now look what you've done, Rapunzel."

Flynn somehow noted that there seemed to be a shaky edge to the mother's voice, but that was probably the blood loss messing with his head since it sounded familiar. A part of him felt enraged that the mother would blame Blondie for something she didn't even do. He watched helplessly as the mother grabbed the chains that bound Blondie, her wrists bruising and occasionally bleeding as she struggled. He weakly reached out to them, but his strength left him and his arm dropped back onto the cold tile floor.

"Oh don't worry, dear. Our secret will die with him."

More muffled yells followed and he swore he heard his name being called, but the shaky edge in the mother's voice never left and it seriously bothered him. He wondered if he was going crazy again after six years of trying to repair what little sanity he had back then. He lay limply on the floor, but managed to gather his breath despite the waves of pain crashing down on him from his chest.

"Why?" He rasped, but his voice seemed to silence the struggle between Blondie and the mother.

"Why what, Flynn Rider?" She seemed to spit out in disgust, but he could hear undertones of curiosity.

He could barely make out Blondie looking back and forth between them. He was fading in and out of consciousness fast, his vision blurred to smudges of dull colors and grays. And the shadows threatened to devour him; he could feel his body shaking slightly and his eyes glaze over. Funny, he thought he got rid of the shaking four years ago.

"Why do you… want her… so badly?"

She scoffed, as if the answer was obvious. Of course, he didn't really understand and waited for her to elaborate. He wished she hurried though; he didn't have much time. He could feel his life slipping through his hands and onto the floor where his blood pooled around him. But… didn't he deserve to die? After all the crimes he committed and the things he had done to Blondie, did he not deserve to descend into Hell where he knew he was destined to go?

Still, he was curious, and curiosity killed the cat.

And Flynn no longer had nine lives to use.

"She's my Flower! She's mine and I have to protect her and the Kingdom!" She started out angrily but softened, "I need her, I care for her… She's my daughter. I love her."

The mother had briefly glanced lovingly at Rapunzel during her short admission, but it went unnoticed to Flynn. However, this wasn't the case for the princess who stared at her fake mother in intense surprise. The mother was looking at the floor now, not meeting either Flynn's or Rapunzel's eyes despite the muffled pleas of the latter. Flynn's vision had gone black completely, but he focused the last of his energy into speaking and hearing. A scoff escaped from the mother, and the shaky edge was back. Again, a ripple of familiarity flowed through what little left he felt.

"Not like you would understand. I don't even know why I'm admitting this to a dead man."

At the mention of his impending death, he heard the renewed effort of Blondie through the rattle of chains, muffled yells, and struggling grunts from both her and the mother. He knew he was a dead man, barely breathing, and Blondie probably wasn't going to heal him in time, but he had to voice out his thoughts and one final goodbye to Blondie for both him and Eugene.

"Your voice… It was… shaking. Why? I'm probably… just imagining it, but you sound… heartbroken."

Heartbroken, that word finally fit what he desperately wanted to convey. It was the sound he had spent years training to eliminate from his own voice. Flynn heard the struggle stop, but he didn't know what was going on. He just felt so tired… He never felt this tired before. Not even the kingdom's biggest chase between Maximus, the Junkor Sisters, the Stabbington Brothers, and the Captain of the Guards and his gang had made him this tired.

Unbeknownst to the dying thief, Mother Gothel had reeled back as if struck. Her eyes were trained on the prone form of the man she just stabbed. Although she didn't realize, Flynn's words had rung true and struck a chord in her heart. However, Rapunzel took the opportunity to make a dash for Flynn only to be jerked back as the chains dug painfully into her wrists, blood dripping onto her hair. Rapunzel looked back to the terrified face of her fake mother who held the chains in an iron grip. The rattles of chains broke the silence once again; Gothel was pulling on the chains, looking for all the world like she wanted to get away from Flynn.

"Stop…" Flynn's voice echoed off the walls.

"What?" The mother replied, her voice now openly shaking. An accompanied muffle told Flynn that Blondie had heard too.

"You're… hurting her wrists."

At that, the mother must have looked and dropped the chains when he heard a rattle and a startled gasp. Heartfelt apologies and the clink of unlocked chains followed soon after. There was singing, but he could feel himself fading for good. He whispered his last words, knowing Blondie wouldn't be able to hear him. Eugene's message went first, then his, because Flynn Rider always had the last words. Eugene rolled his eyes upon hearing that.

"You were my new dream. I'll always love you, Rapunzel," Eugene whispered into the song while Flynn quipped, "This is how it should be, Blondie. You be well now."

With that he faded from reality as he listened to the lulling tones of the Healing Song. With his conscious gone and no strength left, Flynn's body finally stopped shaking as the shadows gobbled up the rest of his mind. His death went unnoticed to the other two occupants of the room as golden rays of sunlight filled the room and healed bleeding wrists.


This story was inspired by bStormhand's "Rapunzel Goes Home Extended Edition" and "The Trial of Mother Gothel", both excellent stories that are great reads for me. However, this story is my take on the possibility of Mother Gothel surviving, the connected worlds of the Disney princesses, and my own thoughts of Tangled. I don't have a Beta, so please excuse the occasional grammar mistake and strange writing style.

Thank you for reading my meager story. Please take the time to read and review. Please share your opinions and criticisms are most welcome.

[EDIT: Many thanks to Beta Wolfram-and-Hart-Sauron for correcting my many mistakes!]

- Kenna Cat