"This is the story of how I froze to death."

"Eugene."

"Okay, well maybe not to death."

A few weeks ago, but not many:

I trailed my fingertips across her bare shoulders, and she nestled closer to me in response. These were the most important moments, when we could be alone together with no one else around. As you could guess, princesses get a heck of a lot of attention, and it's hard for anyone, even her husband, to get alone time with her.

"What do you think about asking your parents about us sharing a room?" I asked idly, touching the short brown hairs at the base of her neck. She sighed and opened her large, green eyes, looking at me shyly.

"You know my father wouldn't allow that," she breathed. I had already known the answer, but I couldn't help asking.

"But, we're married, you know?" I whined, and to be fair, I did have a point. Most married couples get their own houses, so was it too much to ask for one room? "And plus, think of all the things we could do," I teased, touching her lips with my index finger.

It worked like a charm of course; her lips parted under my touch and I felt her breath against my finger. She fluttered her eyelashes at me and purred, "Oh? Like what?"

"Well, Princess, please allow me to demonstrate." I slid down to kiss her softly on the lips, and then –

"TOO FAR BACK."

"But this is the best part!"

"Eugene!"

"Ugh, fine…"

A few weeks ago, but several hours in the future:

"We would like the two of you to travel to Arendelle, to attend the coronation of Princess Elsa, Rapunzel's cousin."

"I have a cousin?" Rapunzel asked excitedly.

"Two, yes," the Queen responded, smiling at her energetic daughter. The four of us – myself, Rapunzel, and her parents – were all seated in the grand dining hall for breakfast. I was just digging into my eggs when the Queen had cleared her throat to make the announcement.

Rapunzel immediately began asking questions so rapidly that her mother could hardly keep up. Were they both girls? What were their names? What were they like? Did they have any pets? What was Arendelle like? Was it warm?

It turned out that yes; Arendelle had two princesses, Elsa, the oldest, and Anna. The sisters had never visited Corona and Rapunzel's parents had not been to Arendelle since the death of Elsa and Anna's parents. Even then, the sisters were very busy with the funeral and grieving and unable to socialize. The Queen described Arendelle as a quiet town in the north with long winters and a lot of reindeer.

Seeing Rapunzel with her parents made me happy. The King and Queen were caring and soft hearted, and they adored their daughter. Her mother would giggle and joke with Rapunzel constantly, like they were best friends, and her father was protective of her but always tried to spoil her with expensive gifts. Seeing the change between the shy and insecure Rapunzel that I first met and the confident one I now called my wife was amazing. She had changed so much, but yet she was still the same at heart.

"Eugene?" Rapunzel had been saying something to me, but I had missed it.

"Sorry, what?"

She giggled. "I asked you if you could come with me!"

"Was my attendance ever optional?"

"Well…okay, but I thought maybe you might not want to come," she said, wrapping a short strand of hair around her finger.

I smiled at her reassuringly. "And make you go alone? I would never dream of it! Of course I'm coming with you."

She grabbed my hand under the table and suddenly I was daydreaming again, hardly able to pay attention to the King's plan for us. The Queen and King were unable to go with us, since they believed it was bad luck to leave their kingdom unless it was an emergency. We would leave in two weeks for Arendelle, and should arrive there the day before the coronation. We should pack warm clothes since the people of Arendelle were used to the mild weather, but Rapunzel and I would likely be sensitive to the slight chill. And there was something about a ship…

Two weeks later:

"I'm sorry Pascal, but you'll have to stay here with mother and father," Rapunzel said sadly to the chameleon in her palms. Pascal gave a little disgruntled squeak in protest, but Rapunzel was right. She would have loved for her cousins to meet her pet, but chameleons and lizards were very sensitive to temperature changes, and going from a warm climate to a cool one could harm Pascal. I knew this because Rapunzel had made me go to the library with her to do hours of research. It was boring, but I knew it was important to her so I didn't complain too much.

The ship was ready and our two palace escorts were loading our luggage on board. It felt a little ridiculous, having other people do work for me that I was perfectly capable of doing myself, but the King and Queen insisted, blah blah blah. Plus, I was trying to focus on settling my stomach, which did not like the idea of a two day travel on a small ship. Small boats, like a canoe or something, I could handle, but this was completely different.

Rapunzel kissed the chameleon on the head and handed him off to her mother. She placed a hand on my arm and looked up at me with a worried expression, as if to ask, "What's wrong?" I shook my head and tried to smile reassuringly.

The guards announced that the ship was ready to leave, and Rapunzel hugged her parents goodbye.

"Stay safe, my dear," her mother said, kissing her forehead.

Her father looked at me as he hugged her, with a stern but not unkind expression and said, "Take care of her."

"That's my job," I answered easily. Rapunzel rolled her eyes playfully at her father before kissing him on the cheek. She returned to me and took my hand, leading me onto the ship. Once we were on board, I thought, Hey, this isn't so bad.

I was wrong.

Five minutes after leaving the dock my stomach was twisting and contorting painfully. Rapunzel wanted to stand on the upper deck and watch Corona shrink smaller and smaller behind us, so I tried not to let her see why I was standing as far back from the railing as possible and trying my best not to see the rolling waves. I tried to focus on her, and that helped until we hit a particularly rough wave and I fell ungracefully onto the deck.

She immediately rushed over to me, making sure that I was okay. "Are you hurt?" She asked worriedly, but I couldn't answer her. I pushed her hands away, stumbled to my feet, and hurried to the side of the boat. And then I barfed up my breakfast into the sea.

After my stomach was empty, Rapunzel guided me to the cabin of the ship with my arm slung across her shoulders and her arms firmly around my waist. What she lacked in size she made up for in strength. I guessed that lugging around what felt like two tons of hair for eighteen years builds quite a bit of muscle. I was too exhausted and queasy to be embarrassed when the guards snickered behind our backs.

She led me to my bedroom – her father had again insisted that we have separate rooms on the ship, and no doubt the guards would be enforcing that – and tucked me under the blankets. She forced me to have a few drinks of water before placing an empty bucket on the ground beside me. With her propped up on pillows beside me, stroking my hair and singing softly to me, I fell asleep quickly.

The rest of the trip followed in suit. I ate only the bread and drank only the water that Rapunzel forced on me, and hated every minute of it. She stayed by my side as much as she could, comforting me until the guards made her go to her own bedroom to sleep. Thankfully, the exhaustion of sickness kept me drifting in and out of sleep so that I could not focus on the lurching of the ship.

On the third day, we miraculously reached Arendelle. With the ship firmly tethered to a dock in the harbor, it only gently bobbed and I was starting to feel better. Not well enough to leave, however, much to Rapunzel's dismay. She wanted to explore the city with me, but I didn't think I could even stand, much less chase after her all day long.

"Go and have fun without me," I urged her, not wanting her to miss out and stay trapped inside with me all day. "I'll pass out chasing after you, and then you'll have to carry me back here. I'm much too heavy for that," I joked lightly.

She laughed a little bit, but I could tell she was still slightly upset. "But what if some strapping young Arendelle man sweeps me off my feet?"

I laughed weakly and said, "Then I'll punch him, and my display of gallantry will win back your heart."

She sighed sadly and stroked the side of my face. "Get some rest, and maybe tomorrow we can go out together. I'll take Monroe," one of the guards, "with me today and order him to protect me from handsome gentlemen, okay?"

"Okay," I agreed, leaning back onto my pillows. She bent forward to kiss me on my forehead, then ran her fingers through my hair. When she left, shutting the door quietly behind her, I selfishly wished for her to return. I drifted back into sleep, wrapped in warm blankets and cradled by soft pillows.

I awoke later, though it couldn't have been more than a few hours, to a cool hand pressed to my forehead. When I opened my eyes, she was crouched before me like a nurse caring for a sick patient. She smiled at me, some of the worry leaving her face. I must have been looking less green, because she seemed happier.

"How are you feeling?" She asked me softly.

"Better," I answered, and my voice was already sounding normal.

"I brought you something," she announced excitedly, sitting on the bed beside me. She pulled her brown purse over her head and dug around inside until she found whatever she had been searching for. "There's a glass blower in town, and he makes all these lovely vases and figurines. He also makes jewelry, and this reminded me of you!" She pulled a leather cord with a gold-yellow glass tear drop hanging from it.

I couldn't deny that the woman had good taste. It was pretty while still looking masculine. In fact, the golden tear drop reminded me of her, but I didn't say so. I sat up in bed so that she could tie the cord behind my neck. I thanked her and told her that I loved it, which elated her, causing happiness to roll off her in waves.

"I got souvenirs for mother and father, too, and even Pascal. And I bought some medicine for you for the trip home," she rattled on, showing me the various other treasures she had found. I stole a kiss when she was done, which she gratefully allowed. Since turning my life around, kisses were about the only thing I could steal anymore, and thank god it wasn't illegal.

"What about the handsome gentlemen?" I asked when we paused for air.

She giggled and settled down beside me to lay her head on my chest. "None so handsome as you, my love."

"Ah, of course," I agreed. "I bet it must be heartbreaking for the men of the world to know they will never come close to my devilish good looks." Rapunzel laughed hard at that, the sound of it vibrating through my chest and causing my stomach to clench, but in a very healthy way. "And your cousins will be jealous of you," I added quietly. "They'll wish they could be half as beautiful as you are."

She turned so that her chin was resting on my chest and she was looking up at me. Very seriously, she asked, "Do you think they'll like me?"

I ran my fingers through her dark hair and said, "Of course they'll love you. Who wouldn't?"

This seemed to make her feel a little better, but I could tell she was still nervous. I had never had any family, so I could only guess at the anxiety she was feeling right now. I supposed it was comparable to what I had felt when we met her parents for the first time. I knew they would be focused on her, and overjoyed to have their princess back, but I was anxious for what would come after, when she told them that we were together. I had had no idea if they would accept me or if they would simply thank me for returning their daughter and send me away. I was a common thief, after all, and I didn't expect them to accept me as easily as they did.

The Queen and King were kind and very grateful to me, and after saving and being saved by their princess, it was almost like they had to accept me. I wondered for a while what her father would say when I asked for her hand in marriage, and even imagined him laughing at me and saying that of course I wasn't good enough to marry the princess, no matter how fond of me she was. But, graciously, he gave me his blessing and the Queen did, too. I had never known acceptance until I met Rapunzel, and it seemed that her parents shared that quality as well.

And Rapunzel well, she was just…amazing. I reminded myself every day of how lucky I was to have her in my life. As wrong as it felt to admit, I was almost glad that Mother Gothel had kidnapped her and locked her away in her tower, because without that I never would have met her. Had she been raised a princess her entire life, constantly protected by guards and hidden away from people like me, I never could have dreamed of meeting her. Had she been raised a princess, she'd probably be married to a handsome prince from god knows where and be way out of reach from me. Without her, I'd probably still be a thief, stealing from good, honest people just to get by and survive. I wouldn't even have time to think about a beautiful princess.

"What are you thinking about?" Rapunzel was still laying draped over me, with her arms folded on my chest and her chin propped up on them, her head tilted to the side. In the dim light of the bedside lamp, its flame flickering and causing shadows to move around the room, her big eyes sparkled and her full lips glistened. I reached my hand up to trace the shape of her bottom lip, loving the way the soft skin felt to my touch.

"You," I said honestly, except now I was thinking about her in a completely different way. I was not thinking of the "what ifs" and imagining what my life would be like without her, I was thinking about her, here and now, on this wretched ship, her body pressed against mine with only a blanket and clothing separating us.

"Well," she purred, "you don't have to think so hard about me, 'cause I'm right here." She slowly stretched out her arms, running her hands over me and finally linking them behind my head. I wrapped my arms around her waist and guided her up to me, our lips meeting blissfully. We were kissing for what seemed the first time in ages, since I had been too sick to move and she did not particularly want to exchange saliva with a man who had just violently vomited into a bucket. But now I had my energy back, my mouth had been rinsed, and I had eaten an almost real breakfast that managed to stay in my stomach.

My god, she drove me crazy. I knew there were people not too far away – at least one of the guards right outside the door, no doubt – and yet I wanted her so much closer to me in every way. Suddenly feeling very, very warm, I kicked the blankets off and pulled her onto my lap, running my hands over the perfect arch of her back. Everything about her was soft, her lips, her skin, her body; so delicate and perfect that I almost couldn't believe it. She was here, and she was mine, and that was an amazing feeling to feel.

I was just about to tug at the laces of her corset when there came a knock at the door. Regretfully, she pulled away from me with a gasp and a small, quiet giggle. One of the guards cleared his throat loudly and called through the closed door, "Princess, dinner is served. Will Sir Eugene be joining you?"

She didn't seem to notice the contempt with which the guards treated me, because even though her parents did not think I was unfit for the princess, many of the guards and townspeople sure did. It was irritating, but for the most part I ignored it. They were much more respectful when the Queen and King were around, of course, because they would surely chastise them for it. Rapunzel called back to him, "Yes, he will. He's feeling much better." She winked at me when she said that, which made me wish desperately that we could skip dinner and just stay locked in this cabin for the rest of the night.

Instead, I obeyed my growling stomach, put on some fresh clothes, and followed her out of the room I hadn't left since beginning our trip. The dining room was located on a different part of the ship, so we had to go up a set of stairs and onto the upper deck to get to it. Being in the fresh air felt nice in contrast to the stuffy bedroom, and it was a welcome change to have the open sky above me rather than a low ceiling. Rapunzel watched me stretch and inhale the fresh air deeply, smirking to herself before grabbing my hand.

"Geoffrey, do you think that maybe Eugene and I could eat our dinner up here?" She asked sweetly, batting her eyelashes at the guard. Honestly, I felt bad for him because I knew that look, and it was impossible to say no. I also knew that, while her father had instructed the guards to remain diligent, he probably also ordered them to indulge her every whim.

"Of course, your majesty. It will be one moment," he said, before bowing and disappearing below deck.

"That's completely unfair, treating them like that," I laughed, squeezing her hand.

She spun around to look at me, shocked, "But I asked nicely!"

That made me laugh harder, pulling her to me and wrapping my arms around her. "That's not what I was talking about," I chuckled, referring to her irresistible charm.

We laid a blanket on the deck and ate our meal under the stars. Instead of whatever they usually served, the cook had made an Arendelle recipe using local ingredients. For the first real meal I had had in days, it was absolutely delicious and I ate every last bite without feeling sick. We cleared off the blanket and laid on our backs while watching the stars, a slight, but not unpleasant, chill in the air. We talked about anything and everything, with me keeping the conversation going just to hear her voice.

When she started nodding off beside me, I scooped her up in my arms, despite the disapproving looks from the guards, and carried her to her bedroom. I should have tucked her in and left, but instead I climbed under the blankets with her and curled my body around hers. She nestled herself against me with a contented sigh and fell asleep in my arms. I told myself I would leave soon after, but did not resist when I began to drift off to sleep beside her.