So, I hope you have kleenexs nearby, cause, even I want to cry at this. It's just my head canon for when Rapunzel and Eugene...yeah. Read it. You'll know. If you ask why, because I want to toy with your feels! Nah, I wanted to put my head canon out there.
The Fading Glow – One shot
Rapunzel sighed and Eugene's hold on her tightened.
"You tired?" he asked, quietly.
"Just a little, but I don't want to go to sleep yet."
"Is that so?"
"Yes."
Eugene chuckled at his queen.
It was late afternoon. Earlier that day, just before tea, Rapunzel had said she was suddenly very tired. She excused herself, as did Eugene; he found that he was tired also. They were lying in their bed, just resting and enjoying the other's company. If perhaps they'd been a few years younger, they would have been having more fun on the bed, than just lying there, but the magic of the flower was slowing in their veins now and all that mattered was that they were together.
Rapunzel shifted, nestling up closer to Eugene. Her head was resting on his chest, like it usually did. Her hand was placed idly over his stomach, where a tear of hers had once fallen.
"Your heart is steady," she said thoughtfully.
Eugene breathed deeply. Rapunzel's head rose and she heard the rush of air in his lungs. He exhaled and her head went down.
His hand came up to stroke her hair. It was still as short as the day he cut it. Her hair never grew back, but Rapunzel didn't mind; everyday, it reminded her that Eugene cared more about her than his own life. The thought still terrified her, but it meant the world to her too.
Rapunzel's head left Eugene's chest to look out the window.
"Do you think it will be sunny tomorrow?"
"It'll rain tomorrow. It'll probably start tonight."
"I know, but I would like to think that the sun will shine tomorrow." Rapunzel laid her head back down.
"The sun will shine tomorrow. It always is, right behind the clouds. All you need is someone who will brush them away."
"I'm tired, Eugene."
"I know you are. Why don't you just close your eyes?"
"I don't want to sleep just yet. I want this moment, right now, to last forever." Eugene smiled.
"You're still the romantic girl I met in that tower all those years ago."
Rapunzel frowned.
"I should have gone back, just once."
"Why?"
"To recall the happy times."
"Were there many?"
"Lots."
"I think you can remember those anywhere."
"But I've had more happy times with you, Eugene."
Eugene grinned and hugged his queen even tighter.
"I was never really happy, until I met you."
"I wish I had known you when you were a child, then we both could have been happy."
"People can wish for a lot of things, Rapunzel, but I like how my life has turned out." He kissed the top of her head. "It wasn't what I planned, but I wouldn't change a thing."
"I thought you had planned to live in a castle."
Eugene chuckled.
"I expected to be alone; not have a wife, in-laws…kids."
"Grandchildren," Rapunzel said coyly. "Flynn and Celeste, it seems like yesterday those two were born." Rapunzel thought fondly of her son and daughter and she thought of where their names had come from; from Eugene's past dream and from the sky she would marvel at, dreaming of her freedom. "And then Victoria, William, our other Eugene, Anastasia, Crispin, and Matthias. Such a large family we became."
"A large family full of love," Eugene said, picturing his son and daughter and his grandchildren.
"Do you remember when you first told me you name?" asked Rapunzel.
Eugene knew which name she meant.
"I don't know how I could forget; we almost drowned."
"Heh, yeah. We certainly didn't meet like most conventional couples."
"No, but that's never bothered me. It was always fun to tell Flynn and Celeste how we met." He remembered the children's faces when he would describe his and Rapunzel's first lantern festival together.
"It's never bothered me either, but of course we had to make it child friendly."
"Yes, because the hero dying is never a good thing in the story." Eugene paused, his memory dredging up the day he chose Rapunzel over himself. "And I think it suits us, how we met," he said after awhile.
"Frying pan and all?"
"Frying pan and all," Eugene said, sighing.
Eugene's life certainly had not turned out how he had expected. Though he always thought that his first dream was in fact unreachable (that is, until he stole the crown) it had been what he was striving for his whole life. And just when that dream did seem reachable with the obtainment of the lost princess' crown, he got hit over the head with a frying pan by a girl in a tower. And who would have thought that that girl would be the lost princess to whom that crown belonged? And who would have thought that Eugene Fitzherbert would get a second chance at a new life and a new dream. Not Eugene Fitzherbert, that's for sure.
Rapunzel's life had not been how she pictured it either. Her future always seemed clear; live in the tower with Mother. Forever, and her only companions would be Pascal and her dreams. Then a man came into her tower and she seized the opportunity to make her dreams reality. But Rapunzel got more than she bargained for in leaving her tower; not only was she able to see the lanterns, she learned she was a princess and was reunited with her real parents, but the best part was when she fell in love. But the new life she got had not come without heartache when her first mother's colors were revealed. All she cared about was Rapunzel's magic hair, but Rapunzel could not believe that Mother did not love her. She had to have, because Rapunzel could still recall the love.
"We've had a wonderful life together, haven't we, Eugene?"
"I think we have."
Queen Rapunzel and her prince consort were well loved by their kingdom. Long had they reigned, yet they still had the waning youthfulness some might have in their thirties. One day, the couple had just stopped aging. The two had their suspicions, but how could they really prove it was the residue of the magic of the flower? Rapunzel's hair was the last of that magic and it had been cut years ago. The people did not mind; the longer they had their queen and prince, the longer their prosperity would last.
But all magic, no matter how powerful, eventually disappears and Rapunzel was so tired. Her eyes kept drooping and she could not keep thoughts in her head for long. She knew that she had to go to sleep and Eugene knew too, and he seemed okay with it. He knew that they would still be together.
"Eugene, I love you."
"I love you more."
Rapunzel laced her fingers into Eugene's.
"I love you most."
Rapunzel closed her eyes, letting out a content sigh. Eugene's lids fell heavily and his hold on Rapunzel slackened. Within moments, the two began to dream an endless dream, where they were young and in love forever.
King Flynn was the spitting image of his father, the prince consort, but he had the gorgeous green eyes of his mother. As he walked down the corridors of the castle, his short cape billowing out behind him, her could hear the clicking heels of his sister tagging along behind.
Princess Celeste was the older twin, but by rights of succession, Flynn was named king when their parents retired. Celeste didn't mind. She would have never have wanted to sit on a stuffy old chair and act all royal. Celeste may have looked like her mother with blue eyes, but she had her father's spirit. When she was a child, she was always running off to have an adventure, of which, her father would tag along, to share in all her new discoveries and quests. Celeste loved the story Eugene would read to her and Flynn; The Tales of Flynnigan Rider. It filled her head with distant lands, all full of treasure and romance. She wanted nothing more than to ride off and explore those lands and live just like Flynnigan Rider. But she was a princess and princesses had duties. And one of those duties was chiding her younger brother.
"Flynn, just leave them be. They were tired. They're probably napping."
"Or they might be awake and wanting supper."
"There are servants for that."
"Excuse me for being a dutiful son. I just want to check on them, Celeste. I've been worried. Mother's been getting more and more tired of late. Father too."
"Papa has just been saying that so he can be alone with Mama." Though Flynn had given up calling Rapunzel and Eugene pet parent names, Celeste simply refused to grow out of the habit. "I'm sure they're fine. Besides, you try being old and not tired." Flynn rolled his eyes at his sister.
The siblings came to their parents' door. Flynn knocked gently.
"Mother, Father are you awake?" No answer came from the other side. Flynn knocked again. "Mother? Father?"
Celeste tapped her foot.
"They're probably asleep. Let them be."
"Well, let me make sure that they are." Very quietly, Flynn opened the door and poked his head in. He saw Rapunzel and Eugene lying on the bed together. He stepped into the room. "Mother? Father?" He walked closer to them, Celeste tiptoeing behind. As the two got closer, they realized how quiet their parents were, and they were very still. Their chests were not rising with air. The two stopped short and stared at their parents. They both knew that the queen and her prince consort were not going to open their eyes.
At length, Celeste said, "They're smiling." Flynn only nodded his head. "Isn't it romantic?" Celeste was having a difficult time keeping the tears out of her voice. "They went together."
"Papa was living on Mama's time," Flynn said, slipping into childhood for a moment to grasp the memories of his mother and father. "He had to go with her."
"And now, they'll never be apart."
Flynn did have to admit it; it was romantic.
The next day, all of Corona was in mourning. The bodies of their beloved queen and prince were washed, dressed, and made ready for their funeral. Rapunzel and Eugene were laid side by side on a stone table, with their fingers interlaced. One by one, nobles and commoners alike walked past the two to pay their respects. The last to pass were King Flynn and Princess Celeste. Flynn put a rose in his mother's hand and Celeste slipped a book under Eugene's arm. It was The Tales of Flynnigan Rider. They both put their fingers to their lips and then placed those fingers on the lips of their parents.
The bodies were covered with a sheet and taken to the royal tombs. And as the lovers were being taken to their final resting place, lanterns were released, just for the souls of the queen and her prince, because the people were sure that the two were watching. And the sun was shining, but for the people of Corona, it was raining.
And that is my head canon. When Rapunzel dies, Eugene dies, but it is good, because they don't have to live without the other one.