A/N: 253 views now… :)

I want to thank all of my reviewers. They all mean so much to me! I'll be replying to reviews from guest reviewers here from now on.

Guest: YAY! Here's another update! I wasn't trying to make her dumb. If you're talking about the whole 'sharing the bed thing', she doesn't have any life experience, the only person she's ever been around is her mother… But she does understand how things work. And don't worry: this story is gonna stay K+!

PERSON: Awww… Thanks! I'm sorry for the spelling error. Apple Pages doesn't pick up on it when it's only one letter, and it doesn't have a grammar check like Word, so… And I meant to. Seriously. At the end of the last chapter, I was going to say "BTW, carpe diem means 'seize the day' in Latin"… I just completely forgot.

Chap by Chap: Yeah, I'm happy with it! Thanks for both your reviews. I would have said something at the beginning of the last chapter, but it was already posted :(

Again, the only Tangled related things I own are the DVD, and a Rapunzel Disney On Ice doll… :( Wish I owned the movie…

Chapter 3

"Wow. How did I not know about this?" Rapunzel asked, rhetorically. "I mean, there's a huge garden over here for my whole life, and I don't know about it?"

They had located Gothel's garden. It was about 20 yards behind the tower. It had taken them about 20 seconds to find it.

"Well, the window doesn't really point in this direction… And when you left before, you weren't looking over here. You were to busy running out there."

"I suppose…" She didn't seem especially happy with his explanation. "Let's figure out what all of these are."

She and Eugene set out examining each row, hoping to find some clue as to the identity of the various vegetables. Rapunzel only had to briefly examine a plant to tell what it was. Eugene was hoping that Gothel had labeled the rows, becuase he was never going to remember all of them: there were at least a dozen different rows. He was happy, though. They'd have a way of eating until the heat around him died down. Rapunzel might still need to make a few runs to town for bread every now and again, but they should be fine.

"Rapunzel?" he called. "I'm going to run by one of my old hide-outs, get a bow and a couple knives."

Her head appeared above some type of bush. "Okay. How long do you think you'll be gone?"

"Not to long. I think we might have passed it on the way back here last night."

As Eugene walked off, he began thinking. They would really need to come with a death-story for Flynn Rider soon, to throw off the castle guards. Immediately, he realized he had thought 'we'. He really cared for Rapunzel. As his thoughts drifted to her, he wondered if he'd ever get used to her much shorter, brown hair. She was still so beautiful; and now, she sort of reminded him of… someone. He couldn't put his finger on who though. Before, she had reminded him of someone, too. He was entirely sure, though, that now she reminded him of someone else.

Presently, he came up to a small cave. From the outside, it appeared far too small to be of any use. But, as Flynn Rider, Eugene had discovered that it was because there a tunnel-like entrance that bent behind a large boulder. The cave opened up quite a bit the further you went in. As he stooped to get in, he realized he didn't have a lantern. Oh well… I believe there is one in here, somewhere. He groped around a bit in the dark, searching for the lantern. Finally locating it, he was happy to recall that he had stuck matches to the bottom of several of his lanterns, so he wouldn't have to search for them in the dark as well. He struck a match at lit the small lantern, and began to look around the cave. He quickly found his bow, several arrows, and two hunting knives. They would be set on meat now, too.

Meanwhile, Rapunzel had finished determining each of the vegetables growing in the garden. She had also discovered some fruit trees on the other side of the garden, as well. She went back into the tower, and made some little signs, one for each vegetable. She painted each one with a miniature picture of what the vegetable was, and then the name beneath it. She was enjoying doing something useful with her paints. While the sketches she had done all over the walls were beautiful, they didn't serve any purpose.

She wondered if there were enough vegetables to sell at the market in town. It would be a great source of income in the fall. She thought about the tower. She doubted that it legally existed. Gothel hadn't wanted anyone to know about it, so she probably hadn't bought the land paid taxes on it. Basically, it was a free place to live for herself and Eugene. Maybe it's better if we stay, she thought.

After finishing the little signs, she took them down to the garden and began placing them. She had put them all in a basket, and now used it for gathering up some vegetables to begin making lunch.

She had been surprised earlier, at the condition she had found the plants in. Gothel had tended to them tirelessly, it appeared. There were only a few weeds in the entire garden, and only a few plants didn't appear to be healthy. She had no idea when Gothel found the time to tend to it.

After heading back to the tower once again, she set about making lunch. She decided on making a light vegetable soup for them. She pulled out a large pot, filled it with water from a barrel in the corner, and started a fire for it to heat over. Then she began slicing the vegetables. Presently, she heard footsteps coming up the steps. Eugene came into the main room, carrying a bow and several arrows. There were two knives in his belt.

"Hi, Eugene!"

"Hey, Blondie. What've you been up to?"

"Well, I made little signs for the different vegetables in the garden, and I also found several fruit trees on the other side of it. I was thinking, we could sell some of the excess vegetables and fruits at the market in town. We could save some of the money for a place in town once things cool down, and maybe use some of it to buy bread and other stuff. I could also sell candles, pots, small paintings, baked goods, dresses, and a bunch of other stuff."

"That's a great idea, Rapunzel! Speaking of things cooling down, we need to figure out how Flynn Rider died. Personally, I think he should go down in a blaze of glory, but that might not work that well… Your thoughts?"

"I don't know," she said, still chopping up vegetables. She picked up the cutting board and went to dump the contents into the boiling pot. As she went back to the kitchen she stopped. "Maybe he tried to steal from the thugs who rescued him, so they all turned on him? I think that would be a pretty believable story if they told it, because they didn't seem to especially like you as Flynn Rider. They'd probably get really into it."

"Not bad, Blondie… We should probably ask them first, though."

Rapunzel's smile grew from a grin at the continued use of her nickname, to an excited mouth drop at the prospect of seeing her favorite pub thugs again so soon.

Eugene wasn't at all surprised how quickly the pub thugs accepted the task. He knew it was partially because they didn't like Flynn Rider, but it was mostly because they really like Rapunzel. She got them to do another musical number (he couldn't remember what it was about), and then he and Atilla had started swapping stories of their own near-death experiences. Pretty soon the guy with a hook for a hand got involved (what was his name?) and then Vlad and a bunch of other people, too. Before he knew it, Ulf was acting out their stories (surprisingly well), and it had turned into a contest of who could tell their story the most dramatically.

As they left, the hook handed guy (he seriously couldn't remember the guy's name) had promised they would work on a good death story for Flynn. Leslie (the guy with the big nose and dreams of romance), stopped Rapunzel on the way out, giving her a little flower he'd found. She wished him luck in finding true love, optimistically believing that the guy could.

Eugene stopped, suddenly, on their way back to the tower. "Where'd Max go?"

"I don't know. He must have felt he needed to go back to the castle. He does work and live there."

"Man, I hope he doesn't try to turn me in. He only promised you 24 hours."

"Yes, but after that was up, he busted you out of jail. I doubt he'll try to get you arrested."

He looked at her. She was so optimistic about everything. He didn't know how that had happened, considering her mother had raised her to be afraid of the world. Pascal was riding on her shoulder again… and he looked just as optimistic as Rapunzel did. If the frog didn't think Max was coming for him, he should be okay.

A/N: Can I get some suggestions on what Hookhand's name should be? I want all of the important pub thugs to have real names, and he was one of the two that didn't already have a name. I don't know what it should be… Also, feel free to give me ideas on what Flynn's death story should be! :)