"And as you can see by this diagram, the salad utensil would be located just…"

I let out a snore.

"MR. FITZHERBERT!" my etiquette tutor yelled at me. I woke up with a start and sat bolt upright in my chair.

"What did I do?" I asked, confused and sleepy.

"Mr. Fitzherbert, this is the third time this week that you've falling asleep in class," she told me sternly.

I let out a yawn. "Then it's not much of a surprise, is it?" I said sarcastically. She shot me a look.

"I believe we're finished for today," the tutor said, gathering up her supplies. I shrugged and got up from the cushioned chair I was sitting on.

"I will be visiting with family for the next three weeks; therefore your lessons shall be postponed until January," she yelled to me as I left the palace's huge library. As I walked down the long hallway, I looked out one of the clear windows. The early winter snow was falling heavily outside and was covering the ground in blankets.

I took a left, and spotted a bouncing brunette running towards me. Rapunzel was smiling wide, and was looking pretty excited. Her long green dress trailed behind her as she sprinted in my direction, wearing no shoes as always.

"Eugene!" she yelled, jumping on me in a tight hug. I was thrown back and almost fell.

"Whoa, slow down Blondie." I said stumbling backwards. "What's going on?"

She got off of me and crossed her arms, smirking at me, "First things first: why are you out of class so early?"

I dug my hands into my pockets and pretended to look innocent. "I don't know…"

"Eugene, you didn't fall asleep again, did you?" she asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Eh, maybe…" I said. She laughed.

"I'm not surprised. Honestly, those classes aren't much fun for me either," she said as we walked down the hallways leading to the entrance hall.

"Well, we've got a good three weeks before we have to go back. Anyway, what is it that you wanted to talk to me about?" I asked as we turned left into a large corridor.

"Oh yeah, I wanted to show you something," she said, grabbing my hand. She pulled me to the mahogany doors that lead to the main room of the palace. As we stepped through them and they shut behind us, I realized what she was curious about. People were running through the palace with trees, wreaths, and poinsettias. The palace was frantically preparing for the Christmas holiday that was only three weeks away. Maids were dusting and polishing every surface in the room while decorators maneuvered around them, hanging tinsel and garlands. It was a pretty chaotic scene.

"What's going on around here?" she inquired. "Oh, I'm sorry!" A maid ran into her and dropped a few ornaments on the ground, and thankfully they hadn't been broken. Rapunzel bent down to help her pick them up.

I took a large box of candles from a decorator and helped carry it over to a table. "They're decorating for Christmas," I told her. Seeing that more people were starting to come in and the crowd was growing, we exited into the lounge.

"Hmm…what's that?" she asked, as she sat down on a couch that stood in front of the fireplace. My mouth dropped open, but I shut it pretty quickly. After all of the lies she has told her, Gothel must have kept that from her too.

"Well… it's kind of hard to explain," I said, taking a seat next to her.

She rested her head against my shoulder as we watched the fire gleam in the marble fireplace. The stockings that were hung on the fireplace had each of our names stitched on it in gold. A pine tree stood undecorated in the corner of the room, still waiting for a decorator to tend to its barren branches. The beige walls were also untended to.

"What is the holiday in celebration of?" she asked, stretching out her legs on the couch.

"In Christian terms, Christmas celebrates the birth of Jesus Christ."

"What do you do?"

"Well, every year, friends and family come together and celebrate with each other. They drink hot coca, decorate Christmas trees, and give each other presents."

"Why? What did Jesus do?" she asked, looking at me and tilting her head.

"Well, the story says that Jesus was born in a manger on December 25. He died on a cross to save us, and expected nothing in return. I guess that's why we give each other gifts, to show our appreciation for the person out of the goodness of our heart and to spread the joy of the holiday and not expect anything in return," I answered.

"Why do we do all of those other things; like decorating trees and drinking coca?" Rapunzel asked, sitting up.

"Well most traditions were started by us over time. They are just our way of showing joy in the holiday," I said, yawning.

"I still don't understand," she said, looking disappointed.

"Surprisingly, a lot of people still don't." I saw that she did still look confused. "Tell you what, how about tomorrow we go into the kingdom so you can see what the Christmas celebrations are like first hand."

A smile formed on her lips, brightening up her whole face. Yup, tomorrow was going to be interesting all right.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~The Next Morning~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Eugene, rise and shine!" Rapunzel said, shaking me awake.

"Just one more minute…" I mumbled, pulling the red covers further over my face.

"Alright, but you made me," she said.

"What are you…?" I started. Suddenly, Rapunzel pushed her feet against my ribs, pushing me off of the bed and onto the wooden floor.

"Hey!" I said, lifting myself off of the ground and looking at her. She rolled her eyes at me.

"Come on Eugene! You said you'd take me into the village today."

"I did, didn't I?" I asked. She nodded and I exhaled. I might as well get up then, I thought to myself. After seven months of dating, I've yet to win one argument against Rapunzel.

"Alright, meet me in the front entrance in ten minutes," I said. She smiled and ran out of the room so I could get changed. Twenty minutes later, I stood in the grand entrance in multiple layers of clothing, waiting. The room was much less chaotic than yesterday, and much more joyful. Garlands were strung around the rails of the grand staircase, on the walls, and up the colossal columns. Festive wreaths were hung on every door and two medium trees, decorated with red and gold bulbs, stood at the base of the staircase.

Rapunzel walked down the stairs with a smile on her face that brightened up the whole room. Her long dress was covered by a purple shawl and her short brown hair was covered by a white hat. Her green eyes gazed about the room, taking in the beautiful sight before her.

"Wow…" she said before finally realizing that I was standing there. She composed her face; however the wonder was still visible in her eyes. I suppressed a laugh.

"What?" she asked. "It's beautiful."

"I know Blondie. Why don't we head out? Or do you want to stare at the walls some more?"

She rolled her eyes and approached the door. "Alright, let's go." She said. I followed her out the door. It was no longer snowing heavily outside; however several feet of the stuff still covered the ground. As we trudged through it to the stables, Maximus, who was eating hay at the time, looked up from his food and saw us coming in. He neighed happily; Rapunzel walked over and patted his snout.

"Hey Max," I said. "So, are you riding with me or Blondie today?"

He looked at me with a deadpan expression, as if to say "What do you think?" I smirked. Max and I had really grown on each other in the past few months, and we made a great team, but when put against Rapunzel's animal-loving nature, I might as well have asked if he had quit eating apples.

"Sorry Maximus. I think I'm gonna ride with Aggie today. I hope you don't mind," she said, scratching Max behind his ears. Aggie was a newer horse that Rapunzel had been taking care of when we visited Max. She walked over to Aggie's pen and opened the gate. She neighed happily as Rapunzel greeted her.

As Rapunzel was putting a saddle on Aggie, I gave Max a grin. "It looks like you're stuck with me this time Max," I said opening the gate. Max rolled his eyes as I grabbed his saddle off the hook. "Come on, I'm not that bad," I told him, hooking up the settle. Max gave me a look saying "Do you really want me to respond to that statement?"

After the horses were situated, Rapunzel and I hopped on Aggie and Max and started off towards town. "So Rapunzel, are we taking the scenic route or are you up for a little race?" I asked challengingly.

Rapunzel looked at me and gave me a gentle smile. "Why don't we just go slow today, take in our surroundings?"

I raised an eyebrow at her. "Are you serious?" I asked.

She winked at me and laughed. "Nope," she said. She whipped the reins and Aggie took off.

I chuckled, expecting that that would happen. "Come on Max. Let's show these girls who the fastest in the kingdom are," I said, and we took off after them.

As we rode into town, it was apparent that the holiday season was already in full swing. The festive villagers had taken pride in spreading the joy of Christmas through decorations and the people themselves. The small children had their noses pressed against shop windows, eagerly longing for the toys and gifts that were arranged on the other side, only to tear their faces away to gaze at the carolers whose voices belted out the notes of various Christmas songs. Shops and businesses were also in the spirit too; decorating their stands with garland and cranberries, and selling various holiday treats such as candy canes and fruit cakes. As anticipated, the large tree that stood in towns square was decorated with bright ornaments and wax candles, which would be lit on during the Holiday Ceremony that took place every Christmas Eve.

Rapunzel and I hopped off our horses. She was bouncing with excitement, and frantically looking around. I could tell that she was eager to get in the action. "What do you want to see first, Blondie?" I asked.

"Let's go look at the singers Eugene! They sound beautiful," she exclaimed, grabbing my hand and pulling me to the front of the crowd. The carolers were singing the melody to 'Deck the Halls'. Rapunzel picked up on the tune rather quickly and started humming along. After listening to 'Silent Night' and 'Santa Claus is Coming to Town', we decided to go look into the shops.

"So, you get gifts for people on Christmas?" she asked me, as we looked through some books in the library.

"Yeah; sometimes you buy the gifts for people, but in my opinion, gifts that are made by hand are way better," I responded, flicking absentmindedly through the pages of an Astronomy book. I put it down, and Rapunzel walked up to me with a slim book in her hand.

"Hey, look what I found." She said, showing me a copy of The Night Before Christmas. It was an old copy. I remembered reading one like it in the orphanage when I was younger.

"Isn't this the man that that song was about?" she asked, pointing to the large bearded man in red that was bending over the presents on the cover.

"Yup; that's Santa Claus. He gives the good boys and girls presents on Christmas," I said, picking up another book; this time about gems.

"Will you read it to me Eugene? Please," she asked. I looked at her. Rapunzel gave me a warm smile, her green eyes bore into mine. How could I say no to those eyes?

"Alright kid, take a seat," I said, putting down my book and taking hers. She sat down on the wooden ground, facing the ice crusted paneled window. I plopped down next to her, opening the book. I was reminded of being at the orphanage, reading to the younger kids just before the holidays while most of them were still there.

I took a breath and began. "'Twas the night before Christmas…"

"The end," I said shutting the book and looking at Rapunzel. She smiled at me. "That was cute. I liked it."

"Glad you did. I remember reading this to kids at the orphanage when I was little," I said, getting up and putting the book back in the bin. I turned back around to see Rapunzel looking at me with curiosity.

"Eugene…" she said getting up and walking towards me, "What…what was Christmas like at the orphanage?"

I leaned against the wall and crossed my arms. "Well it wasn't all sugar and candy canes, Blondie," I answered. She joined me at my wall, looking at me with both interest and concern.

I looked down at the ground and exhaled. "It was…tough. I mean, watching your friends get adopted right before Christmas. Spending it alone with the headmistress and a handful of other kids; thinking about all of the other kids unwrapping presents under a tree in a warm house while we got just a sock with a couple of pieces of candy in it. Some years were better than others, but we never got much. Our "Christmas feast" consisted of a small portion of chicken and bread. It wasn't awful; it just wasn't much to look forward to. Not much to believe in. You know?" I told her.

She looked at the floor, and then back at me. Her eyes filled with comfort. "Wow. Eugene I…"

I held up my hand, stopping her. "Hey, it's alright. Why don't we head back outside? I bet it's a lot more cheerful out there than in here," I offered, giving her a slight smile. She nodded and we turned to the door.

As soon as we opened it, the cold winter air blew into our faces. The exterior of the library was much less weighted than the inside, with the choir still singing their hearts out and the Santa ringing his bell for donations. Rapunzel seemed pretty removed as we walked towards the shops, but snapped back into reality when I nudged her arm.

"Huh? What?" she asked, looking at me. I pointed to a store window where a tree was being displayed. Her eyes brightened; she grabbed my hand and pulled me into the shop. The store displayed a wide variety of Christmas trees; tall ones, small ones, traditional ones and completely out of the ordinary ones. Rapunzel and I went about the entire store, admiring each and every one. Our favorite one was definitely the Corona tree. The dark green branches were hung with ornaments that resembled the lanterns that were released on Rapunzel's birthday last year, back when I was still Flynn Rider and she still had seventy feet of blond hair. The best part of the tree was the tree topper, which was the classic, bright yellow Corona sun. As we looked at it, we pulled each other closer, remembering what we almost lost on that day and everything we gained.

After we finished in the tree shop, we veered towards the carolers again. They had started another chorus of "Silent Night" and I looked at Rapunzel. She was singing the words quietly to herself and her voice sounded beautiful. Then, she jumped in. Singing with the rest of the carolers, her voice rang out with a soft tune. Suddenly, everyone else in the crowd started singing as well. I smiled; leave it to Rapunzel to make a crowd of people spontaneously burst out into song.

After she finished her set, Rapunzel and I decided that we should probably head back to the palace. The sun was starting to go down, but our day wasn't done yet. We lead Max and Aggie back on foot, trudging through several feet of snow. Rapunzel was quietly humming and smiling to herself. I couldn't resist. Reaching down, I picked up a handful of snow. Quickly compressing it into a snowball, I threw it at her. It hit her square in the back. She yelped in surprise and turned around, glaring at me. We had stopped, but the horses trotted away, most likely sensing that this was going to turn into an all-out snow-war.

Rapunzel gave me a competitive grin and reached down into the snow. "You're going down."

She quickly got up and chucked the chunk of snow at me. I ducked, grabbing another handful in the process. I threw it at her, hitting her in the stomach. She threw more snow at me; I dodged the first one but the second one pelted me in the neck. I shivered as the freezing water dripped down my back. As our snowball fight continued, the two horses stood off to the side, laughing at us. We went at it until the both of us were completely drenched and frozen to the bone.

After dropping off the horses at the stables and taking off our soaked coats, we sat in the lounge wrapped in blankets. Rapunzel sat on the edge of the couch, hot cocoa in her hands and Pascal curled up on her dripping wet hair. I had my arm around her, also sipping my hot cocoa. The lounge was as barren as it was yesterday, but the bin of decorations was sitting in the corner of the room, waiting to be opened.

Rapunzel started chattering excitedly. "That was so much fun Eugene. I can't
believe it has to end already."

"Blondie, we have three more weeks until the Christmas season ends. Trust me, it's far from over," I told her.

Rapunzel got up from the couch, setting down her mug and removing the blankets from her shoulders and lap. She made her way over to the pine tree. "I still can't believe that they made those entire trees look so beautiful. I wonder how they did it."

"Do you want to try it Blondie?" I asked. She turned around and her eyes
widened. She nodded quickly and I got up, grabbing the box of decorations from the corner of the room. We spent the next hour decorating the tree. Rapunzel and I strung popcorn from the kitchen on a string (Pascal increased our work efforts by eating the popcorn we had already put on the wire). I tried to use the needle, but Rapunzel had to do it after I had pricked myself a good thirty times.

After the popcorn garland had been strung around the tree, we needed to hang the ornaments. The place had very fancy gold and purple bulbs, but I grabbed a different one. The cook, who had a wife and three kids at home, agreed to lend me a spare box of ornaments he had at home. They were perfect. Glittered pine cones strung on red ribbons, hardened ginger bread men, and colored wood-woven bulbs where what remained in the bin, along with some cute handmade ornaments that his kids made. We took extra care in putting them on the tree, not wanting to return any broken.

The box had been cleared out; the only thing remaining being the star that was to be placed on top. Rapunzel pulled it out, eager to be the one to place it on top. However, she was about three feet too short. I assisted her, putting my hands on her waist and lifting her up onto my shoulder. As a smiling Pascal sat on the top of her head, Rapunzel reached out, placing the shining star on top of the tree. I pulled her down and we stood next to each other, admiring our work. The fire in the fireplace was illuminating the tree, creating a glow off of the glittering pine cones and the wooden ornaments that were rubbed with olive oil, creating a glassy shine off of them.

We stood side by side, admiring the festive display in front of us. She took my hand and placed her head on my shoulder. This moment was the happiest holiday memory I've ever had of Christmas. It gave me the sense that I had someone who loved me; a feeling I never had in my days of thievery. This naïve, stubborn, and courageous little princess is the person that I will love until the day I die.

And you can bet that nothing will ever change that.

Just want to add a quick shout out to allison-nannyluverchannel for being my beta. I'm not the best with grammar and she helped me with the editing. Thanks again :)