Rapunzel had dreamed for as long as she could remember. When she was with the witch, it had been about leaving the tower, going to see the lights. Only recently had her dreams become intricately entwined with another's; became something that she could reach for with Eugene.

She stared at her reflection in the mirror and straightened down her dress, eyes drifting occasionally to the ring on her finger. A small smile graced her lips as she remembered the moment she'd accepted the proposal, the way Eugene's eyes had shone with tears, and then he'd slipped the ring onto her finger, pressing a kiss to the gem encased in the thin silver band, securing and tying her to him.

And the day had come, her wedding day. Her parents had looked a little... bemused when she asked to have Pascal and Maximus be part of the ceremony, but agreed nevertheless. In many ways, they seemed to have come to accept her many quirks, teaching her how to act like a princess instead of the obedient, naive girl she'd grown up as.

The thoughts of her childhood had, as always, brought a frown to her face, and she quashed the thoughts quickly. It was her wedding day, the happiest day of her life. She wouldn't let that be tainted by the imprint Gothel had made in her life. She was happy with who she was. Any lingering affection towards the woman was just something she'd been forced to believe she felt.

Her father entered the room, and any remnants of her dark thoughts were washed away. He loved her. He took care of her. She had nothing to worry about. With a final deep breath, she slipped her arm through his, hoping that nothing would go wrong.

Everything had ended up being a disaster. Maximus and Pascal had ended up covered in tar (and no one had the slightest idea how), she had Eugene had ended up laughing about something during the first dance, and the news came to her that the King and Queen of Arendelle's boat had gone down on the way to the wedding- leaving her eighteen and fifteen year old cousins orphans- and she had ended up crying inconsolably for over an hour. But despite the mistakes and the tragedies that had occurred around the time of her wedding, she couldn't have been happier about it all. She had Eugene. He was hers, and she was his, and she was happy for the first time in a long time.

There was one thing she wasn't sure about, however. 'The wedding night'. Her mother had hinted at what would happen during 'the wedding night'. Something some pain, and really having to adhere to her vows. Rapunzel had frowned and attempted to question her further, but her mother had just shaken her head and placed a slender finger over her lips.

"You will learn, my child."

From what she could gather, she was supposed to just let Eugene do whatever he wanted, which meant she'd have to keep to her promise of 'obeying' him. Which was how she ended up lying there while he kissed her, not responding to them at all, tense as a board. After a few moments, he moved back to his haunches and tilted his head to the side with a frown.

"Rapunzel, what's wrong? Are you alright?" he asked, hand reaching for his. She managed a small, barely perceptible smile and nodded.

"Yes. I'm just... am I not supposed to do this? Just do what you tell me? Nobody told me what I was supposed to do, just that it would hurt and that you would teach me. And I was supposed to do what you told me! So. I'm... doing what I'm told," she gestured helplessly around herself, laying on a bed in her wedding dress and completely unsure as to what she was supposed to do, and Eugene's features relaxed slightly after a brief moment of shock and realization. His fingers squeezed her hand and he brought it up to kiss it.

"No, Rapunzel. I... I will teach you, okay? As best I can, but I do... it's easier to show you. But if you don't like it, you tell me to stop and we just go to sleep, okay?" he smiled at her, and she nodded as her heart slowed slightly. She had some control over the situation. That was comforting.

This time, when he kissed her, she returned them, though there was a kind of heat and urgency to them that she hadn't experienced before. His hands were on her hips, and he was half-lying on top of her. Though heavy and new and a little scary, it wasn't altogether unpleasant. He was warm, and she trusted him. He'd never hurt her, and so she let the kissing continue and reached up to tangle her fingers in his hair. The low groan that left him was new, and she pulled back immediately when she felt... something pressing against her that caused a curl of heat in her lower body. The curl she actually did recognize- there had been times before where she'd felt it while exploring herself, but never quite so intensely.

"Eugene?" she squeaked, and he muttered something under his breath and pulled back, getting up and pacing, his fingers raking through his hair. She sat up a little bit and stared at his back, the way she could see his hands wringing in front of him. He let out a low sigh and went to sit on the edge of the bed, his arms arranged so that he was hiding some of himself from her. For some reason, she blushed and returned her eyes to his face.

"Do you ever touch yourself? Between your legs?" he asked suddenly, and her mouth opened in shock.

Ohgodohgodohgod how did he know?

"I..." she broke off and her face reddened further. She remembered how Gothel had reacted when she found out about it, and shuffled to the edge of the bed, sobbing into her knees. Eugene was going to be angry with her. Would he tell her parents? She could see the looks she'd get for it already, the way they'd cast her out of the Kingdom and tell her never to come back. Almost immediately, she felt his firm warmth next to her again, and he placed a hand on her shoulder.

"Rapunzel... honey, what's wrong?" he asked. The second time he'd asked her that. She was already shaping up to be a terrible wife.

"A-are you going to tell my parents? Please don't. They'll cast me out. I know it's wrong, she told me I shouldn't. I understand if you want to divorce, I just... it felt nice..." she broke off again, her sobs increasing in frequency, and Eugene seemed to tense for a moment. Perhaps he hadn't realized before, and now that he did he was disgusted. She should have just denied it and continued to obey him. It would have been much easier. But after a moment there was a finger under her chin.

"Rapunzel, it's okay to do that. Whatever she told you was a lie. I was just using it so I could help explain," he pinched the bridge of his nose, and she stared at him a moment before giving a hesitant nod. An affirmation that she was okay and he could keep going. He nodded and brought her close to him again, resting his chin on top of your head.

"Maybe... instead of going straight into what everyone's expecting us to do straight away, we could touch ourselves. Just... show me what you do, and I'll show you what I do. And then we can touch each other. And then, if you're okay with it- and only if you're okay with it- we can go one step further," he moved his head to look at her, and she bit her lip before nodding. He leaned down to kiss her again and slowly began to undress her, barely fumbling with the laces she still had difficulty doing up. When she was down only to her chemise, he moved back from her and stared. There was something almost... hungry in his eyes.

"You handle that. I'm just going to..." he gestured to his own clothing and began to remove it, piece by piece.

She'd never seen a man naked before. That stood to reason, as she'd never been around a man until she reached the age of eighteen, and aside from one time she inadvertently walked in on Gothel after the woman finished in the bath, she'd only seen herself naked. Since she moved into the palace, the most she'd seen of other people's bodies had been in paintings throughout the palace, and even then they had strategically placed blankets or the like to disguise their nudity. All she'd come to conclude from these pictures was that she had very small breasts and men seemed to be more feminine than she would have imagined.

Eugene... Eugene was far from feminine. He was sharp, strong planes, his chest and arms muscled (no doubt from years scaling buildings to look for something to steal), a small trail of hair leading down to... oh.

That she had seen. Again, in paintings, and in a manner that made it look... well. Small. Deflated.

Eugene's stood tall and proud from among a patch of hair, and she outright stared. He sat in front of her and when she finally managed to meet his eyes she noted a pinkness high in his cheeks.

That was the difference between Eugene and Flynn- Eugene was more human. Easily embarrassed. Where his alter ego would swagger around not caring if anyone looked, Eugene exuded the same confidence on a different scale. It was a quieter confidence, and this side- his weaker side- was one she alone got to see the whole of. In public, pieces of Flynn always slipped into his personality. When they were alone together, he was all Eugene.

"Your turn. Chemise..." he nodded to it and she bit her lip, letting out a breath before slipping it off. Eugene's intake of breath had her covering herself, but he shook his head.

"No. You look... god. You look beautiful."

She slowly uncovered herself, and he raised an eyebrow. An indication of what they'd agreed. She reached a hand between her legs and slowly began to slip her fingers over herself, finding the nub that seemed to be the source of her pleasure straight away. Eugene circled a fist around himself, and that was it. Within minutes he was over her, discovering where to touch her and gently reaching out to hold her hand when he guided himself into her. It did hurt at first, but that soon gave way to friction and togetherness, and she didn't care any more. All that mattered was that she was with him, they were together in every way, and she still wasn't entirely sure what was happening, but that was okay.

The explosion inside of her hand every single part of her tingling, and she grasped at Eugene, breathing heavy. He kissed on her shoulder before screwing his own eyes shut, and she felt something warm spill into her.

"Eugene... that was wonderful," she murmured, stretching out and snuggling into him. He let out a 'hm' sound and curled himself around her a little more firmly.

"What's it for?" she eventually asked. He let out a laugh and shook his head.

"Babies. Now go to sleep."

For the first time since the Lost Princess returned, she slept without nightmares of the witch who raised her clouding her mind.