A/N: So...I admit this pairing is starting to grow on me. At first I didn't like it because I thought it was sort of random, but the more I thought about it, the more I realized that they have a lot in common and now I sort of ship it. XD RapunzelXEugene is still my OTP, but this one was cute enough to compel me to write a little one-hot for them. Enjoy. :D

There was a party at his factory. A celebration of Thneed Co.'s first anniversary. He should be in the party hall in the middle of it all, soaking up the attention, the attention that he had been craving for so long. But he wasn't. For some unknown reason, the Once-ler had suddenly felt the urge to withdraw into his office, alone. While the positive attention was most certainly welcome, he found the party atmosphere to be slightly suffocating.

It had been one whole year since his company had skyrocketed. A whole year of press conferences, meetings, and endless hours of paperwork. The Once-ler often tried to convince himself that he enjoyed this, that this is what he had been dreaming of. But sometimes, he just wanted to be by himself, in his office, where he could relax without being judged by everyone for once. And right now was one of those times.

It was ridiculous, really. Here, a party was being held in his honor, with tons of fancy dignitaries from all over the world attending, and he instead chose to be in alone in his office, picking at his red guitar and spacing out. He had told himself that he would go back in a few minutes, but it had been nearly half an hour and he still had no intention of returning to the party. Strange as it felt to him, he enjoyed the solitude. It reminded him of the days that he had spent alone in the Truffula forest, when he could do whatever he pleased. At the time he had wanted nothing more than to escape that life, to get to where he is now. And yet, he found himself missing those days…if only just a little.

Oh well. This was better, right?

At that moment he heard the sound of soft high-heeled footsteps from outside his office, snapping him out of his thoughts. The Once-ler looked up and frowned slightly. Nobody was supposed to be here. They were all supposed to be in the party hall on the other side of the factory. The young businessman stood up and stepped out into his empty factory. It was silent except for the quiet whirring of the thneed machines. Scanning the room for the source of the footsteps, the Once-ler's gaze fell upon a young brown-haired woman who was staring up, fascinated, at the machines.

Once-ler sighed. He had no idea who she was or how she had gotten here, but her presence annoyed him a little. He didn't want anyone interrupting his alone time.

Slowly so as not to startle here, Once-ler walked over to the brunette and cleared his throat. "Excuse me, miss," he said. "What are you doing here?"

The woman seemed to snap out of a daze and turned around, startled, to face him. Once-ler was just about to tell her to leave…but he stopped when he saw her face.

She seemed relatively young, with a round pale face and soft-looking cheeks. She had a tiny nose, and small pink lips that covered two slightly oversized front teeth. Her short, chopped brown hair framed her face lovingly and her eyes…her eyes were like shimmering emeralds.

Once-ler gulped absentmindedly at the beautiful girl before him. He recognized her from earlier that night, but for some reason, he hadn't noticed at the time how pretty she was.

It was Princess Rapunzel of Corona. The Lost Princess.

Rapunzel's eyes were wide and her face was flushed a little with embarrassment. "I-I'm sorry," she stammered. "I didn't mean to disturb you." She totted awkwardly in the purple high heels that she clearly was not used to wearing.

At the sound of her voice, Once-ler blinked out of his momentary trance. "Uh, no…it's alright." He told her. "But, how come you're not in the party hall?"

She shrugged. "Oh, I don't know…My husband kinda disappeared and I started wandering around." She laughed a little and rubbed her arm nervously. "I-I just…I'm not used to parties. I spent most of my life alone."

Once-ler let an amused grin cross his face. She really was adorable. And somehow, he felt a certain kinship to her. He had been pretty lonely for most of his life as well…

Rapunzel had curiously turned away from him and pointed in front of her at the thneed-making machine that towered over her. "These machines are amazing," she commented. "Did you make them yourself?"

"Yes," Once-ler replied proudly. "Well, not all of them. But I designed them all. And this whole factory too."

"That's amazing!" exclaimed Rapunzel. "You're really talented."

Once-ler felt himself blush slightly as he walked over and gently touched one of the machines. "Thank you," he chuckled. Then he paused and thought for a moment. "…You know, back before this company started I used to have so much time on my hands…I used to just knit the thneeds myself." He grinned over at the princess. "You can probably tell why I can't do that anymore, huh?"

Rapunzel giggled and nodded. "You knit?" she asked him with a smile. "Me too!"

Once-ler smiled at her again before looking up at his machine with a distant look in his eyes. "Yep. Like I said, tons of time on my hands." He sighed, remembering the old days once more. "I used to just hang out in the forest, knitting thneeds, cooking for myself, and playing my guitar…"

"Oh, you cook?" Rapunzel interrupted enthusiastically. "And play the guitar? Me too!"

Once-ler raised an amused eyebrow at her. "Interesting…do you by any chance happen to be a singer?"

The princess grinned. "Yes!"

Once-ler smirked. "Me too," he chuckled.

Rapunzel beamed in delight. "Wow, we have so much in common, Mr. Once-ler!" she squealed.

Once-ler felt his heart flutter at these words and mentally slapped himself. Stop that! he thought to himself. She's married, you idiot!

Rapunzel didn't notice him and just stared at the ground, continuing. "I used to have a lot of time on my hands too. I lived in a tower my whole life…and then, next thing you know, I'm a princess!" she chuckled a little and smiled at him. "Funny, right?"

He nodded softly. "Amazing how quickly life can turn upside down on you, huh?"

"Yeah…"

At that moment, a bright lavender thneed popped out of the other end of the machine. Rapunzel perked up and ran, as quickly as she could in her wobbly heels, over to pick it up.

Once-ler followed her and chuckled quietly when he saw her holding up the thneed with joy. "Do you like it?" he asked.

"Oh, yes!" she replied. "It's so pretty…and it matches all my dresses."

He laughed. "Well, if you like it, then you can have it."

"Really?" her emerald eyes widened with glee. "Thank you so much!" she held it up happily. "These are terrific! I want one for my husband too!"

Once-ler continued smiling as he watched her wrap the thneed around her small neck, using it as a scarf.

"It's so soft," she commented. "What's it made of?"

"Truffula tufts," Once-ler replied. "for the Truffula trees."

"Trees? Interesting, how do you make them exactly?"

Once-ler shrugged. "It's quite simple, really. After we chop down the trees, we bring them here—." He pointed to the other end of the machine, where a pile of bright red tufts was currently being fed in. "—and the machine turns it into a thneed, which pops out here."

Rapunzel frowned slightly. "Oh, I see…" she turned to him with sudden concern. "You…you chop down the trees?"

Once-ler suddenly felt himself stiffen. "Yes…why do you ask?"

The princess' frown deepened. "It just…doesn't seem right to me, that's all. What about the poor animals that live in the trees? What do they do?"

Once-ler frowned right back at her, but then he just shrugged and looked away. "Well, I don't know," he said. For some reason, he found himself wandering slowly away from her. "I don't want to harm them, but I do what I have to do to keep my business running. I don't have much of a choice."

Rapunzel simply followed him, mimicking his aimless wandering. "Oh, but it doesn't have to be so black and white, Mr. Once-ler," she told him hopefully. "There must be some way you can compromise."

He stopped and turned to face her. "Compromise," he repeated, as if the idea was ridiculous.

"You know, collect the tufts without chopping down the trees," Rapunzel explained. "Then maybe more people will but thneeds."

Once-ler just blinked.

"…Tell you what," the princess continued. "I'll make a deal with you. If you stop chopping down the trees, I'll come back and buy a whole bunch of thneeds for me—no, for everyone in my kingdom."

Once-ler said nothing, just looked at her skeptically.

"Come on, we could have like a huge trade agreement or something, what do you say?" Rapunzel urged. "I promise."

Once-ler just shook his head with a laugh, and began to wander around some more. "Yes, of course you do," he said sarcastically.

"What do you mean?"

"Well, people make promises all the time," he told her simply. "That doesn't mean anything is going to happen. I can stop chopping down the trees, and you can just walk out of here and forget all about me. How do I know anything you say is true?"

Rapunzel looked extremely upset. "Mr. Once-ler, you don't understand," she said quietly. "I never break a promise. Ever."

He laughed again. "Really."

"Yes of course!" she insisted, standing up to her full height. "Why, if I broke a promise, that…that would make me a liar! And I, sir, am not a liar."

At these words, Once-ler stopped smiling and turned away from her once more.

Rapunzel seemed to sense his unease and softened. "Don't…don't you keep your promises, Mr. Once-ler?"

He said nothing. He wanted to tell her that promises didn't matter, that they were all superficial, that they weren't meant to be taken seriously. When he looked into her emerald green eyes, however, he found himself unable to speak.

But apparently, his silence gave away his answer. Rapunzel reached up to her neck, took off the thneed-scarf, and slowly placed it into the Once-ler's hands.

"…Well, maybe you can keep this one." She said softly. "It will make everything better. Please," she looked at him with big, pleading eyes. "For me."

Once-ler swallowed and went slightly pink. He wanted to tell her no way, but he couldn't.

"I'll…consider it," he finally said.

"Promise?"

Once-ler hesitated for a moment, and his answer was barely audible. "…Promise."

This seemed to satisfy the princess, for she relaxed and let a smile cross her face. "Thank you," she said. "And I promise that I'll buy some for me, and my husband, and my parents, and the servants, and…and well, everyone else."

Once-ler laughed slightly in spit of himself. "Ok, Princess. And speaking of your husband, you should get back before he misses you."

Oh, yes, of course!" she turned her head around for a moment, then laughed in embarrassment. "Um…Mr. Once-ler? Do you mind taking me back? I seem to have lost my way…"

He smiled. "Of course, Princess. I should probably be getting back as well." Once-ler held his elbow out to her, and she happily hooked on.

As they walked through the empty hallways, Once-ler couldn't help but steal a few glances at Rapunzel's lovely face. It was amazing what crazy things a beautiful person could make you do. He had never met someone who took a promise so seriously. The Once-ler had never been one to dwell on a promise for too long, but maybe, just maybe, he could keep one this time.

Just this once.