They stayed embraced, holding each other for a long time, as if fearing that letting go would mean losing their loved one. He stroked her new hair, short and brown, letting the sensation fill his fingers. She kept alternating between joy and sadness, and he quelled her weeps with little, soft kisses. Eugene knew that he had to take the lead, to talk, to take her mind away from the sadness they just went through and into the amazing reality that they were about to face. They were both alive, and free, and it was nothing short of a miracle, and miracles don't happen often, if ever, and they must not go to waste.
"Hey, pretty girl, know something? You look fantastic with short hair. I wish I had a mirror..." His joke made her giggle, and he smiled and caressed her face, wet from tears yet soft and warm. "For our next date, how about we do something a little quieter?". This time she laughed properly, her smile illuminating her face. He wept away her remaining tears with his thumbs, kissed both her eyes, and said, with a fake stern face: "If you keep crying you'll get wrinkles, you're too young and pretty for wrinkles!". She smiled broadly, and replied: "We wouldn't want that!". "Of course not, people wouldn't understand if a hunk like me hanged around with some wrinkled old lady!", said Eugene with a fake concerned stare. All that silliness had its effect. She looked at him with a mixture of joy and care that had a melting effect. She then held his head against her chest, her arms around him, and touched his hair softly, planting little kisses every now and then. He could hear her heart beat, and every breath she took, and all was soft and balmy around him. Heaven would have to be like this. He fell into a light sleep, his whole body yearning for rest, wanting to remain into this silent bliss.
When he awakened, his head was in her lap, she was holding his face with both hands, looking at him breath with a deeply worried stare, as if she expected him to die at any moment, and only her hands were holding him here. "Goldie, I'm not going anywhere, I was just sleepy.". She threw him the same look he had seen at their campfire, two days earlier, and now he knew what it meant. She looked at conflict between wanting to say something and fearing to say it. Back then she claimed to be lost in thought, but now he knew her better: there was something bothering her. So he would tell her everything. He could get cocky and think that he shouldn't have to, he just laid his life for her, but little deeds, untold words, tend to have a corrosive effect on trust, something that is quite fragile by itself, and he wasn't going to let their life together begin with nothing else but complete truth.
Suddenly the words he wasn't able to say, the story he didn't have time to tell, came running into his head. "Rapunzel, we need to talk, there is so much I need to tell you", he said sternly. "Perhaps, but for know you need to rest, Eugene. We'll talk later. We have time", she said, almost whispering. "No." was his response, and he sat down abruptly, and the seriousness of his voice made her tremble slightly. "First and foremost, Rapunzel, thanks! You saved my life, no, I wasn't here already, I was gone, and you brought me back. I'm not going to waste a single second of this second life you granted me." He continued without pause nor reflection, as the words kept flowing straight from his soul and needed no amends. "Rapunzel, first I need to tell you everything that happened in the boat…" "There is no need to" she interrupted, "you came back for me and…" "Please, let me, you have a right to know and I need to tell you!" She sighed and kept silence. Eugene then continued: "We were about to kiss, it was the brightest moment of my life, and then, on the shore, there they were, my former partners in crime, looking directly toward us and signaling me with a lamp. The Stabbington Brothers are not to be taken lightly. I thought that I'd better take care of this matter once and for all, and not risk them taking notice of you. So I took the satchel, went straight to meet them, and offered them the whole crown for themselves with my deepest apologies for any inconvenience." She drank his every word, staring intently into his eyes. "But then something happened. They weren't interested in the crown, but instead wanted the girl with the magic hair. I panicked. How blazes did they know about you? I fought them, tried to escape, to warn you, I put up quite a fight, but in the end they knocked me out. Next thing I know, I'm tied to a boat, the crown in my hand, and reaching the kingdom's shore, and just like that, a bunch of guards jumped on me!". She was gaping, everything made sense now! "I pleaded with them, screamed your name, tried to escape, to no avail, there were too many of them. They took me to the gallows, where I spent the worst night of my life. I imagined a thousand scenarios, each worst than the last, until the Guard Captain came for me, to take me to my execution." She gasped, but he continued. "I was frantic, evaluating every single escape possibility, there was no way in hell I would left you in the hands of the brothers, but then, a few meters away from my own cell, there they were! I don't know how, but the guards had captured them!" She looked at him keenly, but let him continue. "Suddenly I had hope, and knocked my guards out for a moment, enough to grab one of the brothers and asking, not nicely, how did they know of you. And he told me it was your mother who told them! At that moment I realized that you were in great danger, that she knew of me, and she would take you far away to keep you for herself, and I would never see you again!" She was deep into the story… "More guards came and took me forcibly, but then something happened… I saw a tiny ceramic unicorn in the wall, and suddenly the doors closed on them, and in a second, a hook took one of the guards, a big hand took another, and Attila came out of the door and knocked the Captain with a frying pan!" She gasped, and said: "Our ruffian friends from the Snuggly Duckling?" "Indeed", was his response, "I had no idea why they were here, nor time to ask, as every guard came after us, and we run. We came into the center plaza, and Hookhand instructed me on how to stand, I really didn't know what for, until I was catapulted by Vladimir, and flew out of the prison, falling right on top of… Maximus!" She let a little cry out. "Yes, Max had heard me crying out for you, and went look for our friends for help. We then rode like hell out of the castle, and right into the forest, you should have seen him run! We came straight into your tower, I hoped you'd still be here, and knew nowhere else to look, and then, well, the rest you know…" He sighed, looking weary and dreadful for once. "Well goldie, that's the story. I wanted you to know I didn't betray you, that everything I said was true." Her eyes were full of tears, but she was smiling. She took his hands, and stared deeply into his hazel eyes. His mind took a backseat, and his heart took control, and as if he had not a single second left, as if they weren't going to share a minute more together, he said, with his voice full of emotion, for the first of many times, "Rapunzel, I love you more than my own life…"
She wasn't prepared for the torrent of conflicting emotions his words rained upon her. Complete sadness mingled with utter joy, images of him dying in her arms mixed with his charming smiles, tears of dread and happiness flowing out like a river, not knowing what to think, much less what to say. She sobbed, and curled into herself, calling out his name, until he held her up into a tight embrace, saying her name, rubbing her back, her shoulders, carefully caressing her hair, "Don't, don't, Eugene, why did you!" She sobbed so hard it was shredding his soul into ribbons. It took quite some time, and a lot of effort, to make she settle down. Finally, she said, in such a tiny voice that it was hurtful to his ears: "You died on me, I was holding you while you died, and half of me died with you! How could you! Why!" She was suddenly so small, so fragile, that he choose his words carefully. "I had no choice. You were about to sacrifice yourself to a lifelong sentence of slavery and reclusion, so I did the only thing I could do to free you. All she ever wanted from you was your hair. Without it, you were free. I couldn't take the slightest chance of you being slaved. It was an easy decision then. Don't cry! Hear me! I'm going to say this once. If it comes to choose between you and me, I'll make the same choice a thousand times." She stared at him petrified, not having the strength to even cry. "But I promise you, with all my heart, that I shall shape myself into a man that can choose to live for you instead. I'll let not even hell stand between us again, I will honor the life you have bestowed upon me, and the love you have granted me. If you let me, I'll love you and protect you for life. I'll stop thieving, I'll mend my ways, I'll become a man worthy of you, so I swear!" His voice was strong but calm, filled to the brim with determination and love. She slowly stopped sobbing, and stared intensely into his eyes. "Eugene, I am who you see… I know almost nothing of the world outside, and have nothing besides this tower…" "Forget this tower, I'm going to take you away from here, I have some money saved, I can buy a little house for us to live, it won't be a castle, but I'll work hard and…" She interrupted him, as he was in a declaring frenzy. The sight amused her, and filled her heart with joy. "Eugene, you're not the only one that has something to say…" She suddenly had the face of a child that holds a dear secret, one she was about to reveal. He was getting used to her changing moods. Now she had heard the whole story, her heart had no doubts, her instincts were right, this guy really loved her, a shoeless, clueless girl that had nothing left in this world. He wasn't after her hair, and had no idea about the startling truth she was about to reveal him. But she decided to tell him everything, to honor his truthfulness, and would not skip any part out of shame or pity.
"When you left me at the boat, Eugene, I was thorn. I wanted to believe you, but you took your satchel away… There is something you don't know, it happened when we spent the night in the forest. At the campfire, when you went away to gather firewood… Mother came." Eugene looked surprised. "She came to take me back home. I refused, and told her I was living a big adventure, had met someone, and didn't want to go back just yet. She then showed me your satchel, threw the crown into my hands, and dared me to give it to you, saying you wouldn't last five seconds with me. Then she went away. Back then, I believed it possible. So I hid the crown and your satchel… That's why I looked so worried when you came back…" Eugene listened, not daring to interrupt. "So when you left with your satchel, leaving me behind, I was sick with worry. My heart wanted to believe in you, but my head was filled with all the betrayal stories Mother had told me. Time passed, it seemed like a year to me, and then someone emerged from the mist… but it wasn't you! There were two huge ruffians, telling me you had run away with the crown! I didn't believe them, but they told me to look for myself, and sure enough, there were you, sailing in a boat toward the Kingdom! Even worse, they told me you took the crown in exchange for telling them the secret of my magic hair… It was the worst moment of my life so far, but I couldn't dwell on my despair for long, as they tried to kidnap me, while telling they were going to sell me to the highest bidder. I ran, but my hair got tangled on a tree branch, and while trying to break free, I heard two thuds coming from the clearing. And Mother was calling me! To all purposes, it looked like she came running to my rescue. I ran to her, she was begging me to run home before they came over, and I took one last look at you, at your betrayal, so I could get myself to believe it was possible, it was true, and it surely looked like it…" Eugene sighed, looked at her sadly, but said nothing. "We went home together, my worst nightmares proved true, I had seen the lanterns, but at what cost… We took hours to make it back home, and I said nothing, my mind was numb and foggy, I had never before felt so much pain, I couldn't think. There I was again, at my tower, not to go away ever again to a world where people used and deceived you. Mother left to make dinner, scolded me a little, but left me alone, and then…" There was a long silence, as if she was thinking what to say next, or how to say it. "Eugene, please don't freak out". That had exactly the opposite effect. His head was running through all the possible scenarios at lightning speed, but he found it in him to fake calm and say "And then…" "Eugene, remember that little Kingdom flag you bought me in the town?" "Yes…" he muttered. "Well, I want you to see something, stand up!"
She took his hand and guided him towards the upper floor of the tower. There, behind a curtain, was the girliest room he had ever seen. Every wall, every object, every nook and cranny was girlish. He couldn't help noticing that every wall was covered with her naive, yet beautiful paintings. While he was checking everything she lied on her bed naturally, holding the little flag in her hand. "Come here, lie down with me", said Rapunzel. He was shocked for a fraction of a second, until he remembered she was the most innocent person he had ever know, and meant nothing of the sort he was used to hear when near a bed. He lied down besides her, with a little smirk on his face. "Here, take this, look at it and then at the ceiling" said the oblivious girl. He did, but couldn't for the life of him understand what she wanted him to see. "Rapunzel, what do you expect me to see". She seemed upset, as she had been expectant… "Look at the sun, and then at the ceiling!" Eugene thought that she could indeed be very childish sometimes, but that made him smile. He took a good look at the sun figure, and then at the ceiling, and repeated the pattern a few times, until it clicked. There it was, a dancing figurine that looked like the sun, a flower, a gaping hole, he was beginning to see sun patterns everywhere in the painting that covered the ceiling. He turned out to see Rapunzel smiling, but the question was: why? Why was this pattern repeating everywhere? "Rapunzel, had you ever been to the Kingdom before? Did Gothel take you there when you were little, or something? Have you seen this sun figure before?" She kept smiling mischievously… "Rapunzel, don't be like that, if you never got out of this tower before, how could you possibly know this pattern? " She was really having fun now: "Eugene, I have seen it before…" She took deliberate pauses, and seem to enjoy the anxiety on his face. "Come on, don't be like that, tell me!" "Ok, Eugene, but remember, don't freak out"… "I'm freaking out already, spill it sweet cheeks!" She laughed and then became suddenly serious. "I had seen it before, when I was a baby. It's my first memory". Now he was really freaking out… "It was hanging above of my crib, before Gothel took me away from my real parents". He was looking at her completely wide-eyed. "When I looked at this like you're doing now, it all came back racing to my mind. Images I had forgotten. It became very clear to me, so much and so suddenly that I lost my footing and fell". He dared not mutter a sound, and was drinking her every word. "I remembered the crib, my parents looking at me, and the mosaic at the plaza, in the Kingdom, and remembered when I tried the crown you stole on me, I hadn't told you that, sorry!" Eugene was getting really nervous now, and she finally took pity on him, and said cheerfully "Eugene, I'm the Lost Princess!".
He was stunned. Suddenly the memory of that wall, the Royal Family complete, with the baby Princess, came running into his mind. It was true. The baby looked exactly like Rapunzel did when she was blond. He sat up, turned around to see her face, and there was an even greater revelation. He had seen the Queen twice, and there she was, a younger, shorted-haired version of her, laying right besides him! He jumped out of the bed, looking at her. She was having fun… "You're the Princess, yes, but, no, it's not just the mosaic, Rapunzel, with brown hair, you look just like the Queen does!". She shrugged, obviously enjoying the show. Seeing a guy who had faced death twice in a day stuttering incoherently before her was indeed amusing, but she wasn't one to enjoy teasing others… "Eugene, look at me, it's still me!" She was right. There she was, the girl he loved more than anything, who loved him back, there was no time to dwell on anything else but to deliver her safely to her home, nothing else mattered. He regained his composure with such alacrity that it startled her. "Rapunzel, please, gather anything you want from here, I'll carry it. We're going now!" "Where, Eugene! Wait!" "But of course, to the Castle." said him. "But wait, if you…" "No buts!, you and your parents have been waiting eighteen years for this to happen, and I won't delay it for a minute!". He had a driven look in his face. "Well then, there's nothing here I want, Eugene, so let's be on our way". She took his hand, and smiled, and he felt, without the need for words, that she trusted him to take her where she should be, to guide her, to protect her, and knew she would do the same for him, so as long as they had each other, they'd need nothing else, and so they climbed down the tower, leaving behind her hair, her pain, her memories, at least for now.
Maximus came to greet them, looking at her intently, not recognizing her at first, until she spoke to him and her smell and smile brought it all back, and they greeted like true friends, and it was a happy reunion. "Maximus, Eugene told me everything, thanks! You saved my life!" The horse was very happy indeed. Eugene approached the horse with a stern look and said: "Well, Max, I couldn't have done it without you! For that I'm grateful, and will count you as my friend from now on." Max look at him dead serious. "But now, before you honor your duty and take me in, you have one more mission". Rapunzel was laughing at the scene… addressing their friend, she took its face between her hands and told him "Max, would you take the Lost Princess back into her Kingdom?" Eugene had never seen a horse make such a funny face. "Yes, Max, she's the Lost Princess. We just found out. It turns we were both racing to save the Kingdom's Princess without knowing it. So, would you bear us back to the Castle?" The horse turned to see her, and for a moment, it was like seeing the Queen again. Max then made something horses weren't supposed to do: he bowed. Rapunzel laughed, ran to him, and held him lovingly… "Max, never do that again, I'm your friend first, and Princess second, and friends don't bow to each other!" Eugene thought that if horses could cry, Max would have then… "Come on big guy, let's take the Princess back, it's high time!" said Eugene while patting the horse. He helped Rapunzel climb into the saddle, and jumped in afterwards. "Hold tight, goldie, you've never ridden a horse before, and this isn't any horse…" She was looking towards the tower, silently, and they stayed respectfully silent, and waited for her to come by. It was then that Pascal found his way up to her shoulder, tapping her cheek lightly with his tail, and smiling at her. She smiled back, as all was now clear for her. "We get away from all this without anything, but with everyone. I really couldn't ask for more" And with that Max was on his way, with a light trot, so as not to startle his passenger, and Rapunzel grabbed onto Eugene's back tightly, and laid down her head against him, and so they, friends as much as lovers, marched decidedly toward their future.