Whoo! First Tangled fic! :) I loveloveloveloved this movie. I've been following it since it was Rapunzel Unbraided and featured Kristin Chenoweth as a talking squirrel. Disney has done a fantastic job on its more recent films, mainly Tangled and Princess and the Frog. This'll be a series of oneshots. I'll add 'em as I come up with 'em!

Flowers

The air was fragrant, accented with everything from the boldest of roses to the lightest of lilies. Every tangible color, it seemed, was represented here. Rapunzel took another whiff and tightened her fingers around Eugene's. She must come out here to paint soon, although she wasn't sure she had a sufficient amount of pigments to represent all the flowers properly. The royal gardens were nothing like she had ever seen before. Beyond the potted flowers upon her windowsill and the small variety of wildflowers that grew in the tower valley, up until last week, she hadn't known anything like this could -or did- exist. As the pair passed a grassy knoll, Rapunzel paused.

"Something wrong?" Eugene questioned her sudden halt.

Rapunzel wiggled her toes within her bejeweled shoes ('only the best for a princess,' her mother had said). She glanced at the hill, dotted here and there with small blue and yellow blooms. "O-oh. Sorry. I'm fine..."

They continued along the path at a slower pace than before, neither saying anything. Rapunzel released her hold of Eugene's hand in favor of walking behind him. She bent slightly to take in a whiff of the roses that enclosed the incline. Never had anything smelled sweeter. Rapunzel liked flowers. Her mo- Gothel had once brought her some wildflowers that Rapunzel had taken to tending to in her one and only window. So many times she would look out that window and dream, dream of seeing what was beyond the valley. On cold days, she would go to the sill and stretch her arms up, raising her face to the sun and taking in its warmth, as if she herself were a flower. Gothel had called her that.

Rapunzel snapped back into reality.

Eugene trudged along the gravel pathway, headed towards an overhang of trees. He wasn't quite used to walking on walkways, having made his own paths during the later half of his life. Flynn Rider didn't make use of roads, instead, he used the land to his advantage. He wasn't told where to go; he decided for himself. But he wasn't Flynn Rider now, he was Eugene Fitzherbert, and Eugene Fitzherbert stayed on pathways just like any royal courtier would. He shifted his head slightly back to speak.

"You're being unusually quiet, princess..." He emphasized the word unusually because, well, normally he couldn't get her to shut up. But he eventually learned to love her incessant rambling, and actually had grown rather fond of it.

No answer.

Eugene circled around. "Rapunzel?"

He caught sight of her. ... What on earth was she doing? Boots crunching along the gravel, he went to get a better look.

"What on earth are you doing?"

Rapunzel continued twirling, the flowers in her hair flashing their colors at Eugene. "What does it look like I'm doing?" She questioned, smiling.

Eugene let out a chuckle. "It looks like you're spinning about like a madwoman." He took a step closer and tripped a little. He knelt and picked up a glittering slipper. He laughed again. "A shoeless madwoman."

"I'm dancing!"

"How in the heck is it that you managed to whip off your shoes, climb over the rose hedges, cram a million flowers into your hair, and start flailing around in two minutes flat without me even noticing?"

Rapunzel stuck her tongue out at Eugene, who was playfully taken aback. "Maybe you should be more observant."

"Well, I-" Eugene began.

"Come dance with me," Rapunzel interrupted.

"Pardon?"

"Come dance with me," she repeated, holding a hand out.

He waved his hands in front of his chest in denial. "Oh no, no, no. We've been over this. Flynn Rider doesn't do dancing."

Rapunzel didn't lower her hand. "But you're Eugene Fitzherbert," she stated simply. "He dances, right?" She gave him a knowing smirk.

"I suppose he could..." He smirked back. "For you." Eugene winked, a bit of Flynn coming out.

He heaved himself over the rosebushes, being careful of the thorns. Feigning a sigh, he reached out to take a hold of Rapunzel's hand, but she jerked it back, surprising him.

Rapunzel waved a finger back and forth. "Ah ah ah," she clucked. She then used the same finger to point down at Eugene's boots. Those have gotta go."

"What?" Eugene asked confusedly. "Why?"

"It's not the same if you can't feel the grass under your feet," Rapunzel pointed out.

The first time she had felt grass was when she left her tower with Flynn. The grass in the tower valley had been cool and slightly prickly, and also a bit sparse. Here it was warm and thick, and soft as a kitten's breath.

"My feet stink."

Rapunzel giggled to herself, knowing that he was just trying to excuse himself. "The smell of the flowers will cover it! And if they stink, then they need to be aired out!" She laughed again, amused.

"My feet are ugly. And I need to trim my toenails."

Rapunzel let out another laugh. "Gross, Eugene! Come on, you know I don't care." She looked at him pleadingly, her jade green eyes shining at him. "Please?"

Throwing his hands up in the air, Eugene exclaimed, "Oh, all right!"

Rapunzel let out an excited squeak and went back to flailing while Eugene sat on the ground and began to remove his boots. He took one off. How did she do this to him? A week ago, he would have said 'no way', turned on his heel, and left. Eugene pulled off his other boot, setting it down next to its brother. He grabbed a sock and pulled. I mean, who was the charming one here? She had charmed him into giving her what she wanted. Not that it was a large price. Maybe just his dignity. He removed the second sock and stood up.

Eugene cleared his throat. Rapunzel continued to thrash about, waving her arms and jumping. He cleared his throat again, louder, and she stopped. Rapunzel flashed him a brilliant smile and once again offered him her hand. He took it, bracing himself for the sudden jerk she gave his arm. Rapunzel began to twirl around, taking him with her.

"Wave your arms!" she said. He complied. Yup, dignity gone.

"So," -he hopped- "why are we - doing this?" he asked between breaths.

"Eugene," she began, "You've lived in this world your whole life. Well... maybe not this world," she waved an arm, indicating the palace, "but one with grass and leaves and flowers and a million smells." She didn't stop dancing while she was talking. "I only arrived in it a week ago! Do you know how long I dreamt of feeling grass?

"All right, so you've never danced barefoot in the grass before. Why are you making me?" Eugene quipped.

Rapunzel tightened her grip on his hand. "Because I don't think you ever have, either." They stopped frolicking for a moment. Rapunzel reached into her hair and pulled out a bluish bellflower, a campanula. She reached her fingers up and set the flower into Eugene's hair. Eugene extended a hand to touch it, then smiled. He wrapped his arms about her waist and pulled her closer, resting his forehead upon hers.

"Thanks," he said, and gave her a kiss on her brow.

Rapunzel looked down. He hadn't been lying about his toenails.

• • •

A/N: Rapunzel is SUCH a hippie. XD She has insanely long hair, loves flowers, she's artistic, and calms a bunch of ruffians and keeps them from starting a fight. Not to mention her 'I want' song is based off of a Joni Mitchell song. Total hippie, RIGHT?

A couple of subtle things:

LOL Rapunzel stopped and smelled the roses. xD

A campanula is a rapunzel flower, and was Rapunzel's namesake in the original fairytale. It looks like this: tinyurl .com/243pnuk

This is sorta how I picture the royal gardens: google .com/images?q=butchart+gardens

And if you've ever been to Brighton Palace in Brighton, England, imagine the gardens there too.