A/N: Should I be starting another story? Probably not, but I did it anyway. I'm writing this for a few reasons. One, because I think Rapunzel would have a lot of emotional problems when adjusting to her new life. Two, because I've been having a lot of feelings lately, and I thought putting some of my problems into characters might help. Enjoy.

Rapunzel was often perceived as a bubbly and happy young woman. Being a princess, it was sort of part of the job requirement. All she had to do was smile, wave, and look happy in front of her subjects. If only it were that simple.

It was fine at first, until the stress started to set in. Rapunzel didn't know how to be a princess. It was quite different than what she had imagined. She managed to keep a cheery disposition around other people, but when she was alone, fears would creep up inside her, whispering to her, like a parasite she couldn't eliminate, telling her she wasn't ready for this. One of the first things they told her, after the initial week of partying was over, was that she would have to take lessons sometime. The thought had never even occurred to her before. It made sense, of course, but when she imagined being a princess, she hadn't really thought about…that aspect.

She suspected the lessons wouldn't be as bad as they sounded. Rapunzel was very curious and she loved learning new things – even the boring subjects. She just hoped that they wouldn't take up her time. In her tower, she had had unlimited time to do anything she wanted. If she didn't complete something she wanted to do, it was no big deal, because she could just do it the next day. But here, things were different. Here, she had to comply with everyone else's schedule. She always had things she had to attend and places she needed to be – mostly introducing herself to various townspeople, or meeting with her parents, who were slowly teaching her how to act like a royal. She wished she could just do whatever she wanted.

Through all the changes, Eugene was the one thing that kept her sane. No matter what, he was always there for her. A few minutes of talking to him and she would forget about all of her worries. After he had brought her home, the King and Queen had cleared him of all criminal charges and let him live in the castle. Rapunzel was very happy about this – she loved him so much and spending time with him was the best thing ever. As long as he was here, she told herself, everything would be okay.

One afternoon, about three weeks after Rapunzel had been living in the castle, she and Eugene were sitting in the garden. It was a lazy kind of day. The summer sun was beating down on them as strong as ever, but it wasn't altogether unpleasant. Bees and other insects buzzed around the garden, but kept a good distance from the princess and her beloved. Rapunzel happened to feel rather relaxed.

She was currently looking at all the flowers planted along the perimeters of the small garden courtyard and showing them to Eugene. She was fascinated by the garden. She had always loved plants, but it was pretty hard to grow them in the tower. They definitely grew much better in actual soil. Crawling over to a patch of purple and yellow flowers, she grinned and pointed to them. She immediately started talking about them – she knew everything; the Latin name, what parts of the year they grew best in, what climate they were adapted to… And she did this for every single kind of flower they came across. Eugene got the impression that she may have read her botany book one too many times.

After they had covered almost the entire garden, Rapunzel sighed and leaned against Eugene. She was feeling tired. The sun has that effect on people, sometimes. Looking at the girl in his arms, Eugene absentmindedly stroked her short brown hair. "So, which flower is your favorite?" he asked softly.

Rapunzel contemplated this, her eyes focusing on nothing as she thought. "Hmm, these ones," she said, a faint smile coming over her as she indicated the light pink flowers nearest to them.

Eugene smiled and reached forward, plucking one of the flowers from the ground. Rapunzel was mildly agitated at the fact that he had moved and she had to sit up straight again. Then, upon seeing what he did, she very much wanted to scold him for killing that flower, but perhaps that wouldn't be a very nice thing to say. Instead she stayed quiet as he tucked the flower behind her ear. She blushed and looked down as he did so.

"For you, Flower," he whispered into her ear, smiling as he pulled back a little. She looked even prettier with that flower in her hair.

Rapunzel laughed softly, almost like she forced herself to, but her smile faded as she kept her head down. A feeling of dread spread over like wildfire, and she felt frozen. "Please don't call me that," she said quietly. Something had overcome her and she couldn't bring herself to look at him right now.

"Why?" Eugene asked, a bit concerned. He was always calling her cute nicknames. Usually she liked them. But he could tell that he had obviously done something wrong here.

Rapunzel took a deep breath, on the verge of tears. How was she supposed to explain this? "Because, I haven't been called that since…" All at once, horrible thoughts invaded her mind. Gothel falling out the window and turning to dust; memories of she and Gothel in the tower… Everything about that horrible woman was rushing back to her at once.

"Rapunzel?" Eugene asked, bending down a little bit so he could see her face. She looked…quite distressed. "Rapunzel, are you okay? I'm sorry. I didn't mean to – "

"I'm okay. I just, I…have to go," Rapunzel said, not looking at him as she quickly stood up and started walking back to the castle, her face covered with her hand. Eugene was pretty sure he heard her sobbing. And his heart sank.

"No, Rapunzel – " he said, standing and starting towards her, but giving up when she began to walk faster. She was back inside now and she obviously didn't want him around her. But he couldn't just let her leave. She had been so happy and then he ruined it. He had to go apologize.

But then again, what had he done wrong? He called her "Flower" and that seemed to spark something in her. But what did it mean? Why was that important? He tried to think, resting his thumb and forefinger on his temples, trying to make some sort of connection… Flower… From what he understood, that's how Rapunzel got her magic hair. He had just been a little kid when the Queen was sick, but he could remember how all the townspeople were searching for that magical, golden flower that they eventually found. No doubt the magic of the flower was what caused Rapunzel's hair to possess such healing powers. What else was there? Well, she liked flowers… So it wasn't anything about the actual word, more the fact that he called her that.

Sighing, Eugene started walking towards the castle, rather slowly. Rapunzel shouldn't have gotten that upset. He didn't like the idea that something so simple could upset her that much. Had he upset her before and just not knew it? He knew she could pretty emotional at times, but he wished she wouldn't.

Next thing he knew, he was in the hallway, not quite sure where he was going, until he ran into the King and Queen. Seeing them, he slowed down, awkwardly giving something of a bow, which was more of a nod of his head. He was never sure how to greet them. They were his rulers, after all, but saw them just about every day. He mumbled some sort of hello, not sure whether to keep walking or to stay and talk.

"Good afternoon, Eugene. Where's Rapunzel?" the Queen asked.

"Rapunzel?" Eugene felt immediately guilty. It was an unspoken rule that Eugene kept tabs on Rapunzel, since she was always flitting from place and place, and he was one of the only people who could keep track of her energy. "I'm not really sure." He was stuttering now. He assumed she had been going to her room, but he didn't know for sure. What if she wasn't there? He wasn't even sure how long ago she had run off. Five minutes, ten?

"You don't know?"

The King's worried tones made Eugene feel even worse, so he explained himself. "She was with me a little while ago," he said, his hand jabbing in the general direction of where the garden was. "We were looking at flowers. But she got sad and ran inside."

Rapunzel's parents looked skeptical and confused, and Eugene realized that he really shouldn't get them worried about something that had nothing to do with them. "Look, I'll go to her room now and check on her."

The King and Queen reluctantly agreed to this, and, telling them everything was under control, he laughed awkwardly and started walking to her room. Now that he had a solid sense of direction, he knew where he was going, and it only took him a minute or two to reach her bedroom. He knocked lightly before opening the door. It was unlocked. There was a brief moment of fear as he took this to mean she might not be in here, until he recalled that her door usually seemed to be unlocked. He had to wonder if she had even had locks in the tower at all… Probably not.

Scanning the room, he didn't see her. It was a large room, though, with a huge bed and a couch and a couple of chairs. As he walked farther in, he didn't find her in any of these places. Great, he'd lost the princess…he'd lost the Lost Princess… "Rapunzel?" he asked, desperately wishing for a reply, because it would be hell to tell the King that he wasn't sure where his daughter ran off to.

He heard a slight rustling coming from her closet. Really? She was in there? What a stupid place to hide. He crossed his arms over his chest and leaned against a chair facing the closet. "Rapunzel. You have one minute to get out of there."

She appeared a few seconds later, standing in the doorway of her large closet. Her eyes were puffy and a little red, so she was obviously still crying. Her hair looked slightly disheveled and she avoided his gaze, looking ashamed of herself. "You don't have to boss me around like that, Eugene. I'm not a child."

Boss her around? He didn't – well, sure, he was a little forceful with her sometimes, but only because it worked. She was pretty obedient and did what she was told. Giving her an order was the only way to be sure she would do what you asked. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to," he said. Not a lie. "Are you alright? You really scared me out there." Also not a lie. He didn't know what was wrong and that worried him.

"Yeah, just fine," Rapunzel said, nodding. He noticed that she still wasn't looking at him.

"Do you want to tell me what really happened out there?" Eugene ventured.

She shook her head. After thinking and taking a deep breath, she decided that at least kind of telling him would be better than leaving him completely in the dark. Then maybe he would leave her alone. She didn't want him to stress about it, either. "It's just, that's what Gothel used to call me. Flower. And when you said it, it…bought back memories…"

Eugene frowned and walked over to her, taking her hands in his. Gothel was always a difficult topic. They had never talked about it too much. He couldn't stand the way she had treated Rapunzel. He was trying to get to her to forget about Gothel and accept her new parents, but he wasn't sure if that was working. "I'm sorry. She's not going to hurt you ever again, okay?" He kissed her forehead.

Eugene didn't understand that there was more than one reason that Rapunzel was upset. It wasn't just that she was scared of the way Gothel mistreated her, but she missed her. She hated that she was dead, that she didn't have her anymore… Even if Gothel had been a terrible mother, she was still just that – her mother, whether it was all a lie or not. Assuming that no one would understand this, Rapunzel hadn't told anyone how she felt. She knew that she was supposed to be relieved that Gothel wasn't in her life anymore, and she was, it was just…sometimes she felt differently…

"Would you like to go to library or something before dinner?" Eugene asked softly, still holding her close. It seemed like a good way to cheer her up.

"Mhmm. I'd really like that," Rapunzel said, allowing herself to smile a little bit.

Throughout the rest of the day, Rapunzel acted like nothing had ever happened and tried to forget the whole incident. Neither she nor Eugene brought it up again. As long as she pretended like nothing was bothering her, she would be fine. That was her plan, anyway.