When the golden flower doth raineth down,
Swirling colours of red and black were bold.
A million lives then changed as hair turned brown,
And the most brilliant light broke free from hold.
Yet pain and tears and change will now strike strong,
As flames of life ravage the kingdom land.
Will our star-crossed lovers be free from wrong?
Or are their greater tests that are at hand?
With chains of love they shall move forward now
through chains of fear as long as their hearts tied.
With golden courage to dark they won't bow
their heads in defeat, dark they shall defy.
Tale begins at crossroads of yang and yin
This is their story and challenge to win.
There was nothing.
No joy, no grief, no love, no light, no laughter, no soul, no life and no mind. Only a bizarre darkness everywhere, all consuming, all powerful, all mighty. All nothing. Everything felt so hazy. He could not think or feel, and yet he felt existent somehow. Yet he too was merely nothing. What was he again? Then his thoughts were silent. The darkness around him seemed to ripple somehow, like an ocean. Then it solidified, and all was quiet. Death was nothing.
At last, he saw it...a small light in the darkness, and he could think again. A small, but beautiful light- more beautiful than anything he had ever seen. Something amidst the nothing. It was growing, the light taking away more of the darkness.
I am Eugene, he thought, as he ran swiftly towards it.
He did not know what was at that light, but it was crystal clear it was where he was meant to go. The warmth, the beauty, the love, it was calling to him. A siren's call he was unable to resist. A call beckoning, he thought, to his destiny. He felt some kind of sadness emulating from it, sadness caused by him, sadness he had to stop somehow.
The light took on a new brilliance then glowing as bright as the sun as the sky. Rather than robbing him of his sight, it restored it. He felt like he could see again after the nothingness blinded him. The light seemed to start branching out, like a beautiful flower, slowly fighting and winning against the nothingness.
He was so close now he could feel it. He was running as hard as he could, desperately trying to get to his light, his love, his home. The only real home he had ever known. He could feel the warmth of the light affecting him. He was Flynn Rider. He was Eugene Fitzherbert. He was dashing, handsome, a famous thief. He had been an orphan. He had been lost and been found. His dream was the light beckoning him, calling him from the darkness. He shouted inside himself, reaching out and grasping the light, which had now filled the strange place..
He slowly opened his eyes, awakening. His senses and thoughts were buzzing in the background, yet he could still think clearly. He looked up at a pair of wide, teary green eyes. Staring down at him was his light, with short brown locks instead of the formerly long golden ones. The brown locks he had created. The air was so tense and thick he could practically feel it weighing down on him. Wait, that was Rapunzel, wasn't it? It was too tense, and Rapunzel looked so sad. So he did the only thing he could when he wanted things to lighten. He did the only thing he could to try to bring a smile to Rapunzel's face.
"Did I ever tell you I have a thing for brunettes?" He cracked a joke.
Rapunzel's face shined then, smiling, beautiful, golden, as he wanted it. She reached down, desperate to bring herself closer to him, and he met her halfway, taking her into his arms, trying to get as close to her as possible. She had saved him. Impossibly, somehow, she had saved him not merely from death but from being a wanted thief. She had rescued him from death, and from Flynn Rider.
Rapunzel pulled away, laughing, crying. Not that Eugene would ever admit it to anyone else but the girl in front of him, but the joy, the love, it had his eyes watering as well. Then the thing he had been craving for what seemed like an eternity occurred. His dreams were coming true. She lunged forward and pressed her lips to his.
Rapunzel wanted to lead, but Eugene Fitzherbert would have none of that. He kissed her back, relishing in the feeling of their first kiss. Her soft lips felt so wonderful against his; unlike anything he had ever felt before. The love she put behind it; he could not explain it, but he could feel it, and it made all the difference. It was magical.
Rapunzel broke away and went back to hugging him. Eugene took her back in his arms, and just closed his eyes, burying his face in her hair. Not even in his former dreams had he ever imagined being this happy. The...love?..the warmth, whatever it was, he felt it rising within him, glowing inside, making him feel better than he ever had. Rapunzel in his arms a bright and free future ahead of them. Nothing could possibly ruin this moment.
Eugene felt a rather strange and sudden sensation in his ear then. It was rather uncomfortable, it felt slimy and disgusting and wrong and the frog had his long tongue in his ear again, didn't he?
Flynn yelped then, jumping in surprise, causing Rapunzel and him to break apart. He looked around and saw Pascal sitting on the ground. He had fallen off Eugene's shoulder, and was not sitting wearing his usual green color, chucking. Flynn glared at him, but then Rapunzel laughed along with Pascal as she picked him up and hugged him close to her.
Flynn was perturbed at Rapunzel and Pascal's laughter at his expense, but his expression and mood softened as Rapunzel hugged the little chameleon too her. He smiled. He supposed he could learn to live with the chameleon and it's icky tongue for her sake.
Rapunzel gasped before running off somewhere. Eugene tracked her; she went over to the trapdoor Gothel was going to drag her down and searched around, before finding, on a small table, a small key that Gothel had placed whilst waiting for Rapunzel to heal him. She ran over back to Eugene and put the key into his shackles, unlocking them, freeing Eugene. Eugene rubbed his formerly shackled wrist tenderly before grinning up at Rapunzel.
"Thanks," he said. Rapunzel smiled back at him.
Then to Eugene's utter horror, she stopped smiling, and suddenly went very still, placing Pascal back on the ground. Pascal and Flynn wore identical expressions of concern. Rapunzel was very quiet, and seemed downcast, her face emotionless. She got up, and in spite of herself, ran over to the window.
Eugene's eyes widened, as he got up. His vision a bit fuzzy, but he did remember seeing Gothel fall to her death. He felt no remorse for his unintended killing of Gothel. How was he supposed to know cutting off Rapunzel's hair was going to immediately cause her to age rapidly and turn her into dust? He felt no sadness at her passing but he knew this would really tear Rapunzel up. The woman may have been evil, cruel, controlling, and selfish. However, the woman had still been the only mother and person Rapunzel had known for her eighteen years of life.
Rapunzel gazed down at the bundle of cape and hood below. They looked empty, and the body of Mother Gothel nowhere seen. She frowned. It looked like Mother Gothel was truly gone, her body degraded somehow to nothing. She tried to fight them, but she felt the tears in her eyes. Oh, she must be a terrible person, crying over this...that...witch! She had kept her imprisoned for her own selfish gain for eighteen years! She shouldn't cry over her. She sniffed, trying to wipe away the tears and stop crying. That made her a horrible daughter. Yes, she had been selfish, but this woman had been her mother for eighteen years! She had been mean at times, but she had been kind, she had bathed, fed, clothed, and nursed her, she had raised her as her own. She should be sad. Yet, she shouldn't. Rapunzel was so confused. She felt the tears rising in her again. What about Eugene? Gothel had stabbed him! Had killed him! Here she was, crying over his killer. He must feel awful. She was a despicable human being. She..
Rapunzel felt a strong and comforting hand on her shoulder. She turned around, still teary eyed, and looked at Eugene with Pascal perched on his shoulder. Eugene wore an expression of pure caring and concern; no anger or sadness at her, at what she was doing. She felt the tears start to fall, brought on by her heart swelling at Eugene being understanding and not angry as he oh so deserved to be.
"She's gone then?" Eugene asked cautiously. Rapunzel only nodded. Eugene then slowly brought her into his arms again, as she wept against him. Wept for the loss of the woman she had called mother for all her life. Cried for all the time she had lost. Wept because she was weeping. Wept because the woman she had called mother probably didn't really exist.
Eugene felt so powerless. He wanted to make her laugh and smile, but wasn't sure how to do it. How do you make someone make a joke about this? He did not have any convenient secrets to give her that might shock her out of it. He would have to try to do this the old-fashioned way.
"There there. It...it was for the best, right? She couldn't have lived without you...literally...but you deserve to be free. She lived a long life. It was time for her to go and...please feel better?" he said, fumbling through the comforting words awkwardly. Rapunzel gave something halfway between a laugh and a sob. Then a slight giggle will with tears streaming down her face.
Here he was, comforting her when he had been the one who died. She needed to stop her blubbering. Her mother...Gothel...was gone, but Rapunzel had a new life ahead of her. She had to get to a life in a wonderful kingdom; a life with wonderful friends; a life holding her and trying awkwardly making her feel better. A life she loved more than anything. A life she had always longed for. Therefore, she brought her hand up to dry her tears, stopping the flow of sadness.
"You're an expert at this huh?" Rapunzel said, giggling as she smiled up at him. Her eyes were dry now, but there was a red and agitated ring around them. He did not smile. He knew she was just pushing the sadness and grief away for now, trying to put on a strong face. He knew it would come back, eventually. Until then, he just wanted to see her smiling.
"Of course! The great Flynn Rider has made many damsels in distress feel better with his charm and brilliance," he replied in his most pompous and cocky tone, and he was laughing at his own ridiculousness, as she laughed along with him. Out of the corner of his eye, he could even see Pascal there chuckling on the ground. She gazed up into his hazel eyes, and he gazed down into her green ones. The same thought crossed their mind.
We'll get through it all...as long as we are together.
She grinned then and sang.
And at last I see the light, and I feel chains the chains are fading
He smiled, and responded, singing, clasping her hands in his,
"And at last I see the light, and it's like my life is new."
Then they sung together:
"And it's warm and real and bright.
And the world out there is waiting...
All at once, everything is different,
Now that I see you.
Now that I see you."
They brought their lips together, sealing the future with a kiss.