Title: Creative License
Summary: Rapunzel, Pascal, and Eugene weren't the only ones that went on an adventure. Someone else was there too, though he remembers things a bit differently.
Rating: K+
Word Count: 2,166
Warnings: No warnings, except that the characters may be a bit OOC. I've never written these characters before, so this is a bit of a learning experience :)
Author's Notes: This was part of a Fic Exchange by Airplane. I couldn't post it until the exchange was over, but I really like how this came out, considering this is my first Tangled story. Enjoy!
This was the day, he could feel it. The sun was barely over the horizon, but already the thrill of the hunt coursed through his veins, the pursuit coming to its victorious end. Even the birds seemed on his side, their sweet melodies carelessly flowing through the breeze in a manner perfect for distraction.
Yes, this was the day Max was going to catch Flynn Rider. He had eluded his grasp for far too long, and it was time to put an end to that.
Slowly, he crept around the forest, following the scent he had been following since just as early the day before. It seemed stronger than it had been the entire day before, which he knew meant he was close.
A small clearing was coming up, he knew because of having to stop for water the day before. Meaning they were close to the kingdom. Very close, in fact.
This day just kept getting better and better.
He wasn't even into the clearing when he saw Rider, instincts getting the better of him, making him jump behind the closest tree he could find. He peeked over the lowest branch, though the tree didn't hide much, and surveyed the surroundings.
Flynn slept to the right, curled tightly into a ball on his side, a rock serving as a makeshift pillow. Something shiny and golden pulled his gaze to the left of Rider. It was a girl, small in size, sleeping under a pile of thick, blonde what seemed to be hair.
Quietly, he slipped out from behind the tree and snuck up to the thief's sleeping figure, Inches away from him when Max stopped mid-step. He had been chasing this character for years, and it all would end without a challenge?
Just as quiet, he scampered back from his rival and slowly stepped into the river close by, making sure not a spot on him was dry, then proceeded back to finish what he had come for.
Standing over Rider, a small drop of water fell off his face, hitting his forehead directly. Flynn stirred slightly, then turned up to look at him. Max tried to look as ferocious as I could, attempting to portray every emotion he felt in finally capturing this man.
"Well, I hope you're here to apologize," was all he said, turning back to his rock to fall back asleep. Apologize? Him, apologize? Who did he think he was?
With that, he grabbed Flynn's foot in his mouth, dragging him away from the small campsite, his screams of protest waking up his partner in crime.
His screams were futile though, as he had already bound him at his hands and feet and pulled him onto his back. The girl attempted to chase them, but her small legs could only get her so far before he had complet-
"Hold it, hold it," Eugene said, standing from his spot in the hay of the royal stables, "What is this?"
"Max wrote a story," Rapunzel explained, pulling her eyes away from the pages in front of her, "about when he caught you in the forest."
"Max never caught me," he said, "and you never chased him through the forest."
"Okay, so max made a few changes to the story," She defended, Max nodding over her shoulder, "Can't you just appreciate the story and let me finish?"
"No," Eugene said, snatching the story out of her hands, "no, I cannot. Besides, in case you haven't noticed, Max is a horse. How on earth did he manage to write a story? A handwritten story, mind you."
Rapunzel looked slightly guilty at his question, "Well, I kind of helped him write everything down since he couldn't. He told me what to write, and I did."
He looked exasperated as he shuffled through the pages, finding the part he was looking for. "Read this part," he said, holding the pages out for Rapunzel to grab, "Let's see if the horse got this right."
She took them and looked at the part he handed her. She smiled at his choice, a look of nostalgia in her eyes as she settled back into the pile of hay she read from.
Max watched as they got onto the boat, keeping a close eye on Rider still. He was slowly building his trust though, seeing as he had been able to leave for the entire day, yet seemed intent on staying and making sure the girl,- Rapunzel was her name,- got to see the lights he had promised he'd show her.
"Hey Max!" Rider said, throwing something in his direction. A thick burlap sack landed at his feet, at least ten apples falling out with a lot more still in the bag. Max looked at Flynn accusingly, his pointed look going seemingly unnoticed by Rapunzel. "What? I bought them," he yelled back, turning his attention to look in front of him once again.
Max relaxed and grabbed an apple from the floor. It exploded with a burst of flavor in his mouth, and he quickly grabbed a couple more from the ground, savoring the taste in his mouth longer this time.
"Most of them," Flynn said, still rowing out onto the lake without even a glance back. Max Stopped chewing, torn between finishing the succulent bite in his mouth, and spitting the stolen goods into the lake beneath him.
There was no concrete way to know if Rider was even telling the truth, so after deliberation, he decided to eat only half of the apples, giving the rest back to whatever apple merchant he saw first.
"Where are we going?" he heard Rapunzel ask, curiosity prominent in her voice.
"Well, for the best day of your life, I figured you should have a decent seat," Flynn answered before they were out of earshot. Max watched as they got farther and farther away, until he could barely see them out on the water.
The sun had set, and the lanterns were only a few minutes from lighting the sky in various colours and hues. As professional as Max seemed to be at times, the lanterns was one of the only things he ever looked forward to, and this year, he was actually able to watch them.
Taking this fact into consideration, he decided to get a better spot; somewhere he could keep an eye on the boat and see the lights over the water, though it would be really hard to miss the latter. He found a small hill, close to the ships already leaving the docks.
Then the first lantern glowed in the sky. The meaning behind the lanterns had never been clear to him, but the one thing he knew always happened was that the King and Queen launched the first one, the one with the sun on it, and signaled everyone to let theirs go.
Within seconds, the sky began to fill with lanterns of every shape and colour, all with an orange hue framing them. Some were extravagant, with five or six different colors and ribbons hanging off the sides. Some were simple, one long sheet of paper with a simple picture drawn on the side. Those ones flew the highest.
Hundreds upon thousands seemed to colour the sky, and they just kept coming. He looked onto the water, finding the boat after a bit of difficulty, and watched as Rapunzel stared in awe at the sky, the castle a perfect backdrop.
He saw Flynn pull two lanterns down from the sky, and hold them in front of him. He must've gotten Rapunzel's attention somehow, because she turned in his direction, getting very excited when she saw the lights in the boat with them.
They talked about something before she pulled out a bag from behind her back, explaining something to him. He knew it was the bag Flynn needed, and he knew what was in it. All that he had done for this girl was to get the bag back from her, and now all of his perseverance had paid off. Now he had his satchel back.
Max became very interested in how Flynn would react. He seemed caught off guard at first, but quickly relaxed and reached his hand out to her, lowering the bag to the floor of the boat and handing her a lantern instead. Max felt a sense of pride swell up inside of him, knowing that Flynn finally found something he cared about more than himself.
They launched their lights into the sky, watching them for a moment before a lantern that came close to the boat distracted Rapunzel.
Max watched as Flynn grabbed her hands and the look in their eyes was so intimate, so loving, that Max felt a bit uncomfortable watching them. His eyes were getting heavy, and his body felt achy and tired, so he walked back down to the dock the tiny boat had taken off from.
His apples were still there, and he suddenly felt hungry again, even though he had only eaten a half hour ago. He decided to eat some of the apples that littered the ground, not the ones in the bag, and quietly nibbled on the cores in content.
He waited on the dock, looking for any sign of the couple on the boat, but there was none. It had been at least a half hour since the final lights had fallen into the lake, and a chill made its way through the night air.
A few moments later, he heard yelling from a familiar voice. He slowly looked around the corner, as not to alert the guards that he was there, and saw the guards pulling Flynn away from a boat, completely different from the one he had left on.
"No, no, no, wait! Guys! Guys!" Flynn yelled as he fought the guard's unrelenting grip. He called for Rapunzel, which is when Max noticed that she was missing. He looked across the lake to the forest, but it was far too dark to see anything.
Immediately, he ran to the edge of town, grabbing a lamp from a post in town, and headed into the forest. There was only one group that could get Flynn out of the prison, and they were all at The Snuggly Duckling.
The stables were silent as Rapunzel put the pages down, a sad smile on her face. Eugene looked torn between being surprised and confused, deciding on indifference and turning back to the stable door, the sleeping goat outside suddenly a fascinating creature.
Max pushed his chest out in pride at his work, looking between the couple for their reactions. Rapunzel was looking down at her hands, avoiding his gaze as a few tears slipped down her cheeks.
Eugene was acting similar, his eyes on various things outside the stables, a sullen look on his face. He wasn't crying, but it was obvious he was holding some kind of emotion in.
Max's face fell. He never wanted to upset them. He only wanted to tell them the story from his side. True, it was a sad story when you knew the ending, but everything worked out, right?
He knew he had to fix this. Quietly, he walked out of the stables, nudging Eugene on the way out. He looked up at the horse questioningly, to which Max just looked over at Rapunzel. Eugene followed suit, frowning as he saw her shoulders shake with her tears. He looked back at the horse, who just nodded his head and walked out. He quickly made his way to the side of the stable, curious to see what would happen next.
As soon as Max was out of the stables, Eugene stood up and walked over to Rapunzel, sitting next to her and pulling her into his arms. She wrapped her arms around his neck, clutching him tightly as he whispered reassurances in her ear, letting her cry into the front of his shirt.
She stayed there for a few minutes, her crying stopping and her breathing calming down. Finally, she lifted her head up, looking at Eugene as he wiped the last tears from her eyes, kissing her gently and resting his head against hers.
Rapunzel smiled as she looked over at Max in the corner. She waved her hand for him to come in, kissing Eugene once before standing. Before Max could get into the stables again, Rapunzel ran to him and hugged him, squeezing as tightly as she could. "You're a great writer, Max," she said, "and I love your story."
He smiled as he put his head on her shoulder to hug her back, looking up at Eugene. He shook his head and smiled, giving him a thumbs up and sitting back down on the haystack.
Rapunzel pulled away from him, "Do you wanna go write another one?" she said.
He nodded happily as they ran back to the castle for more paper, leaving Eugene in the stable to wait for them.
Please review. I really wanna know what y'all think. I love getting reviews, they brighten my day:)