Hello everyone! It's been a while. I don't think I've written fanfiction in years. Literally. I saw Tangled last Friday and became completely obsessed, though.

This is greatly inspired by Goku's Daughter's Piece by Piece.

Hope you enjoy. (:

Disclaimer: I don't own Tangled. Happy belated birthday to you, Walt Disney.

Many questions surrounded the controversial relationship between the kingdom's one and only beloved princess and… well, the kingdom's former public enemy number one. The first question was, naturally, "How on earth could such a sweet girl fall for a scoundrel like Flynn Rider?" No one ever flat out asked this question of course, but it was on everyone's mind. Including mine.

Who am I, exactly? That matter is rather irrelevant, but seeing as the whole point of my telling this story is to answer everyone's questions, I suppose it would be rather hypocritical of me to ignore this one.

My name is Emelia Alden. As a young girl I would fantasize about the lanterns ignited for the Lost Princess' birthday. Sometimes I would even dream that I was the Lost Princess (our birthdays just happened to coincide), but I knew it was impossible because I lived with my parents. My completely normal, working middle-class, bakery-owning parents. Thoughts about the possibility of my having any connection to the King and Queen were squashed immediately; even as a six year old I felt as if that was a betrayal to my parents, whom I loved very much.

Nothing stopped me from hoping that the Lost Princess would be returned however, and I was determined to be one of the first people to hear the news when it happened. But there was one obstacle. I lived in a small cottage by the shore; the distance from where I was to the castle spanned the radius of the whole island. My six-year-old self vainly concocted plans to somehow land a position within the castle's inner circle (or even the outer circle, really) but eventually I realized that this was one dream that I might just have to surrender. As I grew older, my aspirations of meeting the Lost Princess gradually faded, but fate seemed to have other plans for me.

Long story short, I, the daughter of the best two bakers in the kingdom, ended up being the assistant of the castle's head patiesser.

Adjusting to the castle life was not as difficult for me as it should have been. From the get go I was worried that the kitchen staff and the castle as a whole, would see me as a worthless sixteen year old who had nothing but a somewhat famous last name and an affinity for all things baked. I soon realized that my worries had been unnecessary though; for the majority, the former had the same background as I and the latter, well… they were either too busy searching for the Lost Princess or too busy hunting down Flynn Rider to notice the newest addition to the castle.

Even years prior to their fateful meeting, the kingdom's most interesting couple already had more in common than they thought.

After I recovered from the initial shock of being fortunate enough to be paid on a castle employee's salary, my inner six-year-old screamed, "We made it! WE'RE IN." Now it was only a matter of waiting for the princess to show up.

Two years later, my dream was realized. The kitchen had been asked to cook a dinner for four.

My first meeting with the princess was not what I had always expected it to be. Somehow, in my head, our meeting involved me nearly fainting and falling over in shock and elation. What actually happened was something I never even considered.

I was on my way to the kitchens the morning after the reunion, bitter about missing my chance to meet the princess. (The staff was far too busy; none of the food we had prepared was good enough for the princess. Or rather, it was too… lavish. She asked for hazelnut soup of all things!) I was wrapped up in musings about what the princess could possibly look like, and the fact that she was returned by Flynn Rider of all people. Would she be as beautiful as I expected her to be? Was he in it for some sort of ransom? Would the princess be willing to be friends with me? Was he the fourth place we had to set for dinner last night?

I was pulled out of my ponderous thoughts by a loud, girlish giggle from around the corner of the hallway. It was followed by, "Oh, Eugene, what would I do without you?" Eugene? Who in the world was Eugene? I mentally recounted all the possible Eugenes in the castle, but the voice that followed did not match any of the faces.

"I don't know Blondie, you're pretty good with that frying pan of yours…" Blondie? Frying pan? Was there some sort of new blond kitchen assistant? And my goodness, who was that man with the most amazing voice I had ever heard? My brain raced to process all of this mysterious information as I turned the corner, trying to think of a man named Eugene and a blond kitchen assistant. Had the man not spoken at the exact second that he did, I might have missed the couple in question entirely.

"Do you know where we're going?"

"Nope, I have no clue!" A nervous giggle. The source of the voice seemed to spot me, however, and I felt more than knew that I was being addressed. "Hi! Excuse me, are you familiar with this castle?"

I turned and nodded slowly. This girl was definitely new. "Yes…?"

She brightened up considerably, and I felt a strong inclination to like this mystery girl. "Oh, in that case, would you mind leading us to the kitchens?" I nodded slowly, still confused. Who were these people? I quickly glanced at the man, making sure not to seem like I was staring. He looked familiar, but the girl… Again, I glanced quickly. Brown hair, green eyes… I felt as if I should know her. Maybe this was the princess? I glanced at her again. The purple dress she was wearing was definitely no poor girl's dress, but it was not nearly luxurious enough to be one fit for a princess. I discarded the possibility. The Lost Princess' hair was blond, anyway.

It did not take long for my misconception to be completely shot down.

As we twisted through the complicated corridors of the castles, the girl seemed to remember something. "Oh, how rude of me! I forgot to introduce myself. My name is Rapunzel, and this is my… uh…"

"Beau?" The man supplied, smiling.

"This is my beau," she beamed at the title, "Eu—"

"FLYNN RIDER!"

Flynn Rider? Where? If I could find him then I could also track down the princess! I turned around, confused to see a guard pointing in my direction. Why was he doing that? I turned around again. The man, Eugene, was rolling his eyes exasperatedly, and the girl (Ra something?) was giggling behind her hand.

"You'd think they know not to embarrass themselves like that by now…"

"I guess news doesn't spread around the castle as quickly as the Qu—mother said it does."

At this point the guard reached us. He stood with his hands on his knees, panting, because apparently the run down the hallway was too taxing on his system. "Flynn… Rider… you are… under… arrest!" He tried to yell with as much conviction as his body could manage. The guard moved to shackle Flynn Rider/Eugene/whatever his real name is but the girl stepped in his way. "Excuse me, Sir Guard, but I would reaaaally appreciate it if you didn't arrest him." The guard, having caught his breath, stood up straight and glared down at her, "And who might you be?" Her body didn't sag at all in response to his intimidation tactics.

"My name is Rapunzel." The guard's eyebrow shot up in response. "And?"

"Uhm…" The girl trailed off, biting her lip, trying to assess how to handle the situation. "I'm the princess?"

I almost fainted. And apparently, the guard was experiencing something similar. In an instant he was on his hands and knees, profusely apologizing in between bouts of hyperventilation. The princess (oh my goodness, the PRINCESS!) frantically sank to the floor as well, trying helplessly to assuage the man's panic.

"Deepest apologies, your Highness! I had no idea that you were—that he was—"

"It's alright! Really, it's alright! Please get up, there was no harm done!"

While the chaos ensued a few feet next to me, I was trying to gather my thoughts. The princess was here. In front of me. In front. of. me. I had a mini panic attack. What if she thought I was boring? Or weird? Did she notice that I was almost staring at her and her be—

"Do you think I should step in right about now?" Flynn/Eugene's voice cut in.

"Eh?"

He gestured towards the general direction of the princess and the guard. I stared blankly at the two figures on the ground, not sure what he was referring to. Flynn/Eugene looked at me for a few seconds, expecting a response. Once he realized he wasn't getting one(Don't judge! My mind was still in a complete haze!) he released a small sigh and stepped towards the two.

His intervention turned out to be unnecessary though, because before he could do whatever he was going to do, Rapunzel stood, her hand on the guard's shoulder. "Don't worry, I won't tell the Ki—Father. You were only doing your job." The guard bowed once again, his steps quick as he left the hallway.

Rapunzel turned back to me. "Now, what is your name?"

In a course of a few weeks, our mutual love for baking evolved into a close friendship. She shyly revealed to me early on (after she insisted that I stop calling her "Princess") that she had never had a girl friend before, and I felt honored to be her first.

It was evident that Rapunzel was a truly kind-hearted and naïve creature. She often frequented the kitchens and set to work, singing and humming, completely unaware of the disruption of status quo. She also held an affinity for painting; Rapunzel made it a point to give away paintings as presents for birthdays. Everyone, including myself, found her innocence endearing.

Of course, no one adored her more than Eugene Fitzherbert. His adoration towards her was as evident as hers towards him. Everyday he would walk her to the kitchens hand in hand, laughing quietly at an inside joke that they shared. They were very publicly affectionate; during the earliest days of their relationship, seeing Rapunzel without Eugene was an extreme rarity. Later on, Rapunzel revealed to me that their meeting was a rather serendipitous event. She jokingly told me that if he wasn't such a criminal, they never would've crossed paths.

I tried not to make it obvious, but I quickly developed a new obsession: I wanted to have all the answers to the questions the kingdom was asking about the long lost princess and the thief turned prince-to-be.

I quickly realized that if I wanted any of my own questions answered, I would have to go straight to the source. This revelation came to me not only because of Rapunzel's completely honest personality, but also because, well, there wasn't anyone to ask. The origins of their relationship were a complete mystery to everyone. As far as I knew, anyway. Through my friendship with Rapunzel, I also developed a relationship of sorts with Eugene. It was clear to me why she was so attached to him. Eugene was attractive, confident, and protective. Even though his background said otherwise, Eugene Fitzherbert completely embodied a prince. In my opinion, anyway.

Being around the couple as much as I was, it was completely obvious to me that they loved each other. The kingdom, however, was not privy to them like I was and doubted the details of their relationship. I even heard rumors that Eugene was interested purely in the wealth that Rapunzel now possessed. I already knew that Eugene was completely devoted to her, but nonetheless, curiosity ate at me and I needed to get inside the couple's brain.

I approached Eugene first. Not intentionally, it just happened that way. We were headed towards the kitchen; I was about to start my dinner shift, and he was setting out to meet Rapunzel for an afternoon meal. As we passed through the more frequented halls of the castle, several people turned to stare at him. Some unabashedly, some a little more subtly. After a few minutes of this, I turned to him and asked, "Does it ever bother you that even after all these weeks, people are still staring?"

He spared me a quick glance and answered, "No. I'm gorgeous after all. Why would that bother me?" I couldn't tell if he was being serious, or if he was just attempting to hide the fact that it did bother him. Looking back, I realized that it was completely and undoubtedly the former.

"They're staring because they think that you're only using the princess to marry into the wealth you've been trying to steal all your life."

"Really? And here I was, thinking that they were just admiring my abnormally good looks." I rolled my eyes.

"I'm serious."

He didn't respond until we were close to the kitchens. "It doesn't bother me. I'd rather they think badly of me than her, anyway. And besides, I'm with Rapunzel because I care about her. I've already proven that to the only person who matters."

There was a determination in his eyes that I could not question.

I never did get around to hearing Rapunzel's side to this story. More pressing questions arose and I decided that Eugene's answer was more than adequate. I later found out the answer to that question, anyway. Apparently Rapunzel had doubted Eugene once and it almost cost them their lives. Clearly, she was not about to do it again.

As the months passed I found more and more questions being answered and even more and more new questions being asked. Eventually I realized that I could never answer all of them. By the end of my quest though, instead of being disappointed because of this epiphany, I felt… well, I wasn't completely sure what I felt; I just knew that it wasn't an emptiness that one would expect.

Through my questions and inquiries I got to know the kingdom's most controversial couple. I learned that they both completely changed each other's previous views on life. That Rapunzel loved it when Eugene remembered things, like why she despised wearing shoes or how long she's known Pascal. That Eugene once worried that he wasn't going to be able to compete with all of Rapunzel's suitors and how she convinced him that his worries were for naught by refusing to leave her room until her Father declared that she was not an eligible bachelorette, and never would consider any other suitor besides Eugene Fitzherbert because no one else could understand her like he does.

Even though I will always be curious, (I never did get an answer for my "What convinced the King to let Eugene sleep in the same bed as you so early on in your relationship?" question) I realized that there are just some things that will stay between the couple.

Like why all the murals depict baby Rapunzel's hair as blond and now it's somehow naturally brown. Or why said hair hasn't grown out since she returned. Or why Rapunzel constantly insists on being outside. Or why Eugene flinches at the sight of Rapunzel cooking with frying pans.

… Okay well, maybe a lot.

This I know for sure though: the fates of these two individuals were tangled from the start.

Hmm. I feel like this should be longer. Oh well. Maybe I'll churn out a series of one-shots wherein Emelia asks all those unanswered questions. Who knows?