SPOILER ALERT, THERE ARE SPOILERS IF YOU HAVEN'T SEEN TANGLED

A/N: So I couldn't help but start writing something after I saw Tangled, which I loved by the way! I loved Flynn, I love a lot of men that have the word Fitz in thier names...Fitzwilliam Darcy, Eugene Fitzherbert...etc. I'll probably write more onto this story, so it's not a one-shot. And also this is my last new story, until I finish all my incomplete stories. I hope to be writing new parts to all my stories once my Christmas break comes! So I hope you guys enjoy this!

DC: I do not own Tangled, it belongs to Disney.

PLEASE READ THIS OR YOU WILL BE CONFUSED: This is an AU story in which Rapunzel remembered who she was during her festivities around the town square, which in turn caused her to tell Flynn, who at first didn't believe her. They ran to the castle where she was reunited with her parents, and they decided that very night to cut her hair so no one would come after her for its healing abilities and somewhere Mother Gothel turned into a pile of dust. This all happened within that one day, on her birthday, it is now nightfall and Flynn and Rapunzel are standing on the terrace of the castle about to part ways, both not realizing that they feel the same way about each other. And so this is where our story begins:

Flynn didn't quite know what to say as he stared down at the elegant stone flooring of the terrace, and her feet—a slow bittersweet smile came across his face, those dainty, fair, adorable feet of hers that never seemed to have shoes on them. To think he had wanted to get this petite, energetic, and somewhat bipolar, ball of sunshine out of his hair as soon as possible and now? He just wanted to hold onto this moment forever. He couldn't even look her in the eyes, but he knew he had to, he had to say—good-bye. He glanced into her eyes willing himself to say anything, but what he saw made any words he was about to say die upon his tongue.

"Rapunzel!" he cried out, looking into her eyes; they were filled with such melancholy, gazed over with unshed tears, she looked as if someone had died. "Good heavens, what's wrong?"

Rapunzel didn't say anything at first, she just stood silent, her bottom lip quivering, and then she spoke. "I killed her, Flynn," she said, her voice strained. "What kind of person am I?"

Flynn blinked at her taken aback. "W-what?" he uttered in his confusion. "Rapunzel, I don't understand. You didn't kill anyone."

"But I did!" Rapunzel choked out, raising her hands to clench her now short brunette locks. "My hair! My hair, Flynn! It was keeping my moth…," she let out a frustrated cry," I don't even know what to call her anymore! It was keeping her alive and…and I just let them cut it," her eyes widened at her forbidden act, she shook her head violently at the horror of it. "I wasn't even thinking about it before, but now..," her breath hitched in the back of her throat,"…I killed her." She looked up at him, the tears now running free down her cheeks, as she sobbed, "How could I? I am a despicable human being!"

Before he even knew what he was doing, he took her into his arms, holding her close, his right hand cradling the back of her head as his fingers fondled through her hair. He felt her hands clench at his vest as she leaned into him, her whole body trembling from the sobs that racked through her. The cold, sleek gold of her crown pressed against his cheek as he made shushing sounds trying to calm her down.

Flynn glanced up for a second to look beyond her, her parents stood a couple of feet behind her, close but still out of hearing distance, their faces held a look of horror at their daughter's sudden break-down. They began to take a step forward to intervene, but he waved his right hand slightly as a cue that he had everything under control—or at least he hoped he did. They faltered in their approach, glancing at each other and then back at them. They came to a halt seeing that their daughter wasn't in any real harm, which he was grateful for. He turned his attention back to the girl in his arms.

"No, no, no, you're not Blondie," he said using his nickname for her. "You're a wonderful person that cares about everyone, even if they're undeserving of that love." As the words left his lips, he didn't quite know if he was talking more about Mother Gothel or…himself.

Rapunzel pulled back having calmed down, her cheeks slightly red. He suddenly felt very cold from the withdrawal of her embrace. She wiped away her tears with the back of her hand. "You really think so?" she asked, her voice meek.

"Oh, I know so," he smirked at her. "What? Are you questioning the great Flynn Rider?"

Rapunzel gave a small laugh, sniffing her nose. She raised her hands to play with her hair, a habit she often did when nervous, but instead of hair she found air. She glanced at him and then back at the place her hair would normally be, she let out a nervous giggle. "Wow, I keep forgetting it's not there anymore." He watched as her features turned gloomy once again. It was easy to tell her thoughts were turning back to Mother Gothel.

He quickly tried to change her train of thought. "Yeah, your head must feel a hundred times lighter!" he remarked, rewarded with a laugh.

"Yeah, now I just have to get use to this crown," her eyes glanced up at the crown sitting on top of her head," "I'm sorry, you didn't get your crown back after all," she said genuinely.

Flynn raised his hands waving them back and forth in front of him. "No, no, no, I mean it is yours." His mouth formed into a cocky smile. "I would have looked ghastly in it, anyway." Rapunzel let out a laugh, making her face beam. "But on you it looks…," he trailed off in a daze staring at her more than the crown,"….beautiful."

Rapunzel started to turn red at his intense gaze. He shook his head coming out of his trance, lifting his hand to clear his throat. "Besides I never fulfilled my part of the bargain, you never got to see the lanterns."

"No," she turned to look back at her parents, the King and Queen," I got so much more." She turned back to look at him shyly through her long eyelashes. "Will you be okay?"

Flynn looked down at the bag of gold he had sat down beside him on the ground—enough gold to buy an island. He still couldn't believe they had given him a reward, and on top of that pardoned him from all his past crimes. What was even more unbelievable was that he had tried to refuse it, but they wouldn't hear any of it.

He crossed his arms. "Oh, you know me, I'll survive," he said in jest. "Will…will you be okay?" he asked her, his tone quickly changing. He looked down feeling ridiculous; of course she would be okay. Her parents were the freaking King and Queen! She had everything she needed, what was he hoping she'd say? That she needed…him?

"Thank you….Eugene."

His head snapped up at the sound of his true name upon her lips. He gazed into her eyes as she stared back into his. He wanted to say something, anything! But he couldn't form words past the lump aching in the back of his throat.

And so with a blink she turned away from him to rejoin her parents. He watched as they walked towards the entrance to the castle, the King and Queen's arms draped around their daughter's back—and for a moment, he felt like he understood Mother Gothel's selfish desire to keep Rapunzel locked up, because for an instant all he wanted to do was steal her away and keep her to himself forever.

He picked up the gold, the emotional weight upon his shoulders feeling much heavier as he turned in the opposite direction. Glancing back, he stared at her one more time. "No, thank you…Rapunzel," he sighed in his despair forcing himself to look away.

But she belonged to no one—much less him.