Alright folks, this is my very first fanfiction so any advice or tips later would be nice. Please be generous though. Most likely, this will be the worst chapter, even more of a test so that I can adjust accordingly for future chapters based on feedback from people. First I would like to elaborate more on what this story is about, since the description wouldn't let me put all that I wanted. Only three months after the event of the film, Rapunzel and Eugene are newlyweds, though it isn't the happy ending everyone had hoped for. In fact, it begs the question that Rapunzel's life in the tower may in fact had been better. This story is a darker drama in the Tangled universe. Eugene and Rapunzel are suddenly thrust into a world of politics, treachery and conspiracy. A secret that even the king was unaware of. A mysterious colony of people, locked away in prison, after shipwrecking on the shores of the kingdom seventeen years earlier, will do whatever it takes to ensure their own survival, even if it means tearing the kingdom, and everyone in it, apart. Read and Review please! :)

Prologue

"Hey everyone, remember me? Sure you do, though in case you forgot, my name is Eugene Fitzherbert and there is something that I would like to ask you. What if you knew a secret? What if it was a secret that could change the world forever? What if you took that secret and hid it away for seventeen years? What if that secret was an event that could end anything you ever loved and cared about? It's always there. The answer to the most important question in the world? That one burning question that is always lingering at the back of people's minds though ignored as we go on with our lives, 'How will the world end?' What would you do? What would you think? Well, you would probably think I'm crazy, but what if I told you how it all could end? How the fate of the entire world could rest on a mysterious people's desperate fight for survival, that nobody else's life mattered to them. Crazy right? Well, don't everyone jump at once; let's go back, way back to that time in my life when nothing would ever be the same again."

.

"It was the story of how I died. Though, of course, I've already told you this story. I was a wayward thief and after my latest escapade, I tried taking refuge in a secluded tower to enjoy my spoils in peace. Yeah, fat chance of that happening. I was held hostage by a certain girl named Rapunzel. She wasn't exactly your typical girl. She had long hair golden hair that glowed if she sang, still creepy if you ask me. Turns out she had mommy dearest issues and if I was to ever see my stolen object of interest again, I was forced to escort the Blondie see the kingdom's floating lantern ceremony for her birthday. Things didn't go as smoothly as we had hoped and when all was said and done I, against all intentions, fell in love with Rapunzel and ended back up at the girl's tower and then I died for her. Who knew right? Right. Well, let's recap where we left off"

Eugene felt light headed as he began bleeding out on the floor of the tower. Light headed and cold. He hadn't noticed the scene, though it was all taking place right in front of his eyes. He never saw the witch, Gothel, fall out of the tower window to her death though it happened right before his eyes. He was getting colder and everything was getting dark and all he had eyes for was a beautiful young woman he recognized. The only thing he noticed amidst the chaos. The woman he had died for. She had short brunette hair. She was beautiful. A good image to end his life on he figured. "At least I had something worth dying for," he thought to himself. At least it wasn't all for nothing, she would be free now to live her own life. He heard only her when she spoke to him, as she took his face in her hands.

"No, no, no, no, no...Eugene..."

He only heard her in the distance, from seemingly far away, though she was right there.

He began coughing up blood.

She began to sob. "No... Look at me! Look at me! I'm right here. Don't go, stay with me Eugene!" She picked up his arm and held it to her hair, hoping, though she knew it was hopeless. "Flower gleam and glow, let your power shine, make the clock reverse bring back what once was mine- " She began to choke out through her sobs.

He cut off her singing, gently placing his hand on her cheek. "Rapunzel..." She took his hand in hers. She opened her eyes and stared into his. Her eyes were full of tears as she choked out a weak, "What?"

"You were my new dream." he whispered to her, his eyes beginning to flutter, his vision became like a tunnel and everything became darker.

Her expression took on the look of a joyous smile and pure, hopeless anguish all at the same time. "And you were mine." She whispered back through choked tears.

She faded from his vision, he felt himself engulfed by darkness. He managed what seemed a weak and peaceful smile as he passed way in her arms.

Holding Eugene in her arms, she moved one hand to the side of his face. She moved her face close to his and began to sing her magical melody in a sorrowful voice, hoping, though she knew it was useless. This time, the song was more of a farewell than any hope to heal him.

"Heal what has been hurt...change the fate's design..." She moved her hand from the side of his face and down to let it rest on his chest. She then moved her hand from his chest to rest on his shoulder. "Save what has been lost...bring back what once was mine...what once was mine..."

As the melody ended she was unable to stop her soft sobs, a single tear fell on to Eugene's cheek. For a moment there was only the silence and the sound of Rapunzel's quiet sobbing.

She didn't notice the glow on Eugene's cheek or that for a moment a design like a flower appeared there and disappeared, she opened her eyes as she noticed light emanating from his wound. All she could do was watch, speechless as the light morphed and took shape, taking the form of what looked to be a flower from the heavens themselves. It began to grow from his wound, as though a magical seed had taken root and sprouted within his blood. It engulfed both of them in a golden light as root-like golden tendrils snaked all over the tower, finally forming the shape of an even larger magic flower. Finally the magic of the golden light dissipated.

Eugene sighed as the life rushed back into him and he slowly opened his eyes.

"Rapunzel..." he whispered.

With a gasp, her face lighting up like the sun she whispered back, "Eugene?"

Eugene gave her a small smile and asked in a soft voice, "Did I ever tell you I've got a thing for Brunettes?"

With a joyous laugh she exclaimed, "Eugene!" and they embraced.

She was both sobbing and laughing in his arms. As the embrace ended she forcefully and joyously kissed him. Eugene, looking surprised, but pleased, indulged her.

"It was after that night that everything changed. What I thought was the end, was only the beginning"