Heyy Everyone! Here's chapter three! I would love to thank you all for reading this, but I need more reviews! Please be kind enough to tell me your opinion, it would mean the world to me. Sorry about the switch between past and present tense, that always gets me messed up. Enjoy! And tell me what you think!

Chapter 3

Plans and Fears

I planned to tell Eugene as soon as possible. The next day, however, just happened to be the one day of the week I saw him the least.

I rushed from place to place, with too much anxiety in each one of my steps.

My hands shook with remembrance of the last few things Gothel had done to affect my life. She had tied me up, gagged me. I stumble down the stairs, remembering how trapped I felt.

Dizziness overwhelmed me when I pictured the dagger slicing through Eugene's back. As my heart had almost completely stopped then, it did again when the all too clear memory formed in front of my eyes.

I gripped on to the banister. I had to get a hold of myself. My paranoia had succumbed my ability to think clearly.

Sitting in my etiquette class, I tapped my fingers much faster and harder than usual. Everywhere I looked I thought I saw Gothel's hunched over silhouette; in the corner, at the door, down the hall. My mind was playing tricks on me.

And when I tried to act normal, my vision blurred and brought me back another haunting image of what used to be my life. I could barely contain myself. By lunch I had a horrible headache.

I needed control. If I kept this up, I would drive myself insane. After a filling meal, and a good deal of calming on my part, I felt more aware of the situation. I let the facts run through my mind:

Okay, Gothel is still alive, and she is waiting for me in the tower. She has people backing her up, but we don't know who, or how many. All I need is a good plan and I can definitely conquer her. I did it once before. Well, Eugene did.

The more I thought about it, the more confident I became. Eugene and I could come up with a good plan and could defeat her once more.

So, instead of freaking out inside my head for the rest of the day, I worked out a loose plan that I would present to Eugene.

Obviously, I would have to be used as bait for Gothel. The very thought of being the weak prey waiting to be snatched up by this evil woman was completely horrifying to me. Yes, I had nearly always been in her presence every day before I turned eighteen, but now she was out for revenge. We had been the cause of her death, and now she wanted us to pay.

But of course I would have to do it. If anything, that was the only way a plan could possibly work.

The other thing was, I couldn't tell my parents, or any other castle official, for that matter. I knew it seemed deceitful to keep it from them, especially when she had threatened me, and their kingdom, but at this time, I felt like if I told them, I would be putting them in more danger. Although Gothel hadn't specifically said in her letter not to tell my parents, I felt like it was implied. And I did not want to risk that. As much my parents wanted to protect me from any danger, I couldn't let that get to my head. I needed to be a responsible princess and take this matter into my own hands.

Eugene,

Please meet me outside near the back tower an hour before dinner. I will be waiting at the maids well. Do not disregard this message, for the matter is urgent.

Rapunzel

I sent the message with a trusted maid, and went on my way. I strode to a preparation meeting for the upcoming festival, where I felt more confident that I was in control of the situation.

While we are discussing what the décor will be for the festival theme, I wonder how I will go to face Gothel without letting my parents know. I cannot just pick up and leave and have no reason for leaving everyone. But if I leave a note or message telling about Gothel, my parents will surely send guards to fetch me.

After an extended amount of time thinking of what to do, I only come up with one idea, one that I am not proud of.

I must lie, even though I've barely done it my entire life, and I am extremely horrible at it. Eugene would laugh at me for taking this long to think of the solution of lying, but it pains me to be dishonest to those I love.

It's the only way, though, and I know I can do this. My stomach may still be a bundle of nerves, but I have done this before and I have courage that cannot be broken with a simple threat. My parents will be either proud or mad at me when I come back, I tell myself, but at least they will know why I did it.

It's dark as I creep outside to the back tower, exactly one hour before dinner. I can't help but imagine the night when Gothel appeared in the woods, just after Eugene had gone to get firewood. Pushing away the tormenting thought, I shiver in the cold. As I walk up to the maid's well, which luckily, is deserted at the time, I pull my cloak tighter.

I lean over the edge of the well as the night stars twinkle their reflection at me. A cold breeze brushes up against my face, but I don't turn away. Something tells me that if I lived my entire life at this castle, I would be an entirely different person. And one thing is for sure, I never would have met Eugene if I lived here. In fact, if I grew up at this castle, I am sure my parents would have choosen suitors for me to marry, not the most wanted thief. The only reason I was actually allowed to get engaged to him was because he had returned me to my parents.

Sometimes I take for granted the way fate works. I almost wish I didn't have to grow up with a kidnapper, but it was that that led me to the most important experience in my life, meeting Eugene.

As if on cue, Eugene's handsome face appeared in the water before mine.

"Your so beautiful." He whispered. His soft eyes begged me to jump into his arms, but all I could do was break our gaze and show him why we were here.

"Eugene." I walked over to the bench nearby and sat. He came over and sat on the edge. "I have extremely bad news." I didn't know how to say this. "I've received word from…from…fromGothel."

Eugene's lazy head snapped up and turned to face mine in less than a second. I noticed his eyes searched mine for a trace of jest, perhaps this was all a joke. But no. My eyes were anxious and scared, as were my heart and mind and everything else.

"No…" He let out this one syllable with much more emotion than most of his remarks.

Slowly I explained the remorse situation to Eugene. He seemed to understand perfectly, as if he too had feared this very event happening. As he held the letter I received, I saw his strong hands shake, for this was the very woman who had killed him, who we had pretty much destroyed by cutting my hair, and yet she was still alive. When he was finished with the letter, he said, "I'll go. I can kill her again, Rapunzel. Don't worry." His words were coated with a false sense of security, and I knew he was nervous. And there was no way he was going without me. Period.

"We are going together, Eugene. I'm not letting you do this on your own, and I need your help." I say softly.

"Rapunzel, I can risk you getting hurt by… her. You need to stay here and plan the festival." He looks strong now.

"No." I say, getting louder. "This is my problem. I won't get hurt. Planning the festival is…is...irrelevant!"

"Calm down." Eugene puts his hands on my arms. "Alright, we'll go together. But I cannot bear to see you hurt, Rapunzel."

"Then I won't get hurt." I bravely say.

Together we come up with a plan, a way to work out this gigantic trouble.

We will leave first thing tomorrow morning, and leave behind a note for my parents of how we will be out for a while in the kingdom 'visiting' for a small while. I knew it would seem suspicious but it was the best we could do for now. We couldn't end up telling my parents, who would send the entire guard out to the tower, when the worst trouble could be lurking in the castle walls.

When we reach the borders of the edge of the kingdom tomorrow, we will stop at the Snuggly Duckling to ask our friends their to reinforce us. We know they'll say yes, because they were always up for a good fight, although I fear they may back away when they see Gothel's troops.

Later, when we reach the tower, everyone will hideout nearby, so as to not be seen. I will go on my own up the tower, with Eugene's arrows.

And Gothel will be waiting there. For me.

We have no idea what's in store for us.

In the dining room during dinner, Eugene and I sit and exchange looks all night. It's so awkward to see my parents so calm while we sit on the edge of our seats, our eyes darting back and forth, wondering if someone will strike.

We barely eat anything, even though we should, because we will be without castle food for a while. It's just that the thoughts of Gothel control our every move, and our paranoia is catchy. If Eugene picks at the grand meal on his plate and his eyes don't stare someplace for too long, then I do the same. It's a sense of protection that considerably does not comfort us in any way.

After dinner Eugene and I stand in a dark corner saying goodnight, knowing it probably will be restless. I stay in his arms for longer than usual, but I know he doesn't mind. Actually, I feel his arms get tighter around me as I finally pull away.

"I don't want to lose you." He whispers, scaring me.

I act reassurance. "We can do this," I say, as a pit of anxiety and despair whirls around in my stomach. I need to pretend things will be okay or I won't be able to handle the fears pulling at my insides.

We slowly part and go to our rooms and my mind races. What will I bring? How should the note for my parents go? What if Eugene was right?

My prediction from earlier was right.

I don't sleep all night; instead I toss and turn while my tired body weakly protests. I think about the ifs and the whys of my problems knowing that that this will not repay me in the morning. I know I need to sleep, because I can tell that I have a lot ahead of me.

I know that I will most likely get near to no sleep on my trip, but somehow I don't comprehend that to my panicky brain, causing me to lie in bed and think of danger.

Apprehension clouds my mind, blazes over and through my thoughts, and pushes the normalcy of slumber away.

I restlessly pull myself out of bed in the morning to find Eugene nervously playing with his hands at my vanity. I nearly scream before I realize who it is.

When he sees my face he chuckles, but it's the laugh of someone who has something else on their mind.

Right away I send a maid to place the note in my parents chamber and Eugene hides. Then we escape out my window using Eugene's trusty arrows to climb the stone. In our short walk to find Maximus, the only horse that would ever allow us to pull off a secret like this, the dewy grass squishes across my feet, and I notice that they are bare.

Instantly I feel like I did on the day when Eugene showed me the world for the first time. Ever since I have been living at the castle, I of course have to wear shoes all the time. Just feeling the damp grass between my toes reminds me of a simpler time, when betrayal of the woman who now wanted revenge on me seemed horrendous.

I trod on, knowing there is no time and no way that I could go back and fetch sensible shoes. We reach the stables.

Fortunately there is a back entrance, though I doubt anyone is guarding the stables at this ungodly hour. The horses themselves did not need a large strict number of protectors anyway, they could fend for themselves. Eugene would know. But that's another story.

After we parade through the peaceful group of sleeping mares, we find Maximus awake and eating in his stall, being very 'responsible' for a horse.

He looks up, surprised, for whenever we have riding lessons, they are in the afternoon. He relies on Eugene and I to piece together our situation with Gothel, and it doesn't take long for his eyes to pop out at us. But when he realizes that we chose him to be the horse that is helping us 'save the kingdom' (and ourselves) you can tell that he wouldn't want any other horse to do this job.

So we led him out through the back door, with a little bit of trouble. Yes, we had to squeeze him though. But it worked.

After that we slowly climb up on him and ride off into town. I clung to Eugene on the back of Maximus, and we were quiet.

When we reach the forest, I decide to speak up. I had been thinking a lot, since there wasn't much of anything else to do while riding on a horse.

"Eugene?" I slowly start.

"Yes?"

"Well, I've been thinking and, well, do you really even like living at the castle now?"

"What do you mean, Rapunzel?" Eugene sounds inpatient with anxiousness.

"It's just that, I feel like in a way I ruined your life because I'm a princess and all, and now you have to become a prince, and its probably nothing you ever wanted-"

"Rapunzel, nothing can change the fact that I love you and will do whatever it takes to be in your life forever." Eugene interrupts me, turns around and looks in my eyes.

"But I don't want to be forcing you to live this life. It's hard enough for me to adjust to this life."

"Rapunzel. This life may be hard for the both of us to adjust to because we lived such different lives before. But if you are going to be the queen someday, I wouldn't want anything other than being your king. We can and we will get used to this life, and even if it gets hard, we can work through it Rapunzel. We have to stay strong."

Oh my gosh… What Eugene had just said was so heartfelt and sweet, I just wanted to run up to him and hug him and kiss him again and again, but of course we were on a horse so, yeah, I didn't.

This is the real Eugene. The one who shares what he is thinking, the one who talks to me like his heart is flying. This is the Eugene that I fell in love with, the one I want to marry. Sure its cute when he hides it all behind the highly respected Flynn Rider, but the guy that is spilling his heart out to me right now is the one I want to be with.

"I will. We will. Stay strong." I whisper. Tears are in my eyes. If I could hold on any tighter to him right now, I do. We ride on.

We reach the Snuggly Duckling. It looks as lively as ever, since the castle (because of us) has funded it for a while now. The shutters are bright and open, an inviting sign to come in and sit down. Even though the entire place has grown into a tilting tree, the atmosphere looks fun and warm. It still looks like it belongs in the forest, with the way it blends in with the surroundings.

Slowly we jump off tired Maximus, who has just been working since the sun rose.

I am stiff as I get to the ground, and I notice all the creases in the pale green dress I'm wearing. Certainly a princess would never look like this, but I really can't think about what I look like at a time when I'm working to save myself and possibly everyone else.

Taking Eugene's hand, we walk into the old pub where I was once scared out of my mind at the sight of all the ruffians and thugs there. Now, of course, I knew that each one was special in their own way and though they might carry around big scary swords and look very gruff, deep inside they were good guys. They even helped Eugene escape jail.

After saying hello to our old friends, I explained the circumstances of our problems, for the third time in two days. You'd think that each time I told my dilemma that it would get easier to handle, but no, each time the pure thought of what Gothel could do wrenched my stomach deeper down.

Vladimir, the biggest and fiercest of all the pub thugs decided that they would all help me. Suddenly, out of nowhere, everyone started cheering for us, telling us that we would do great together, and getting everyone excited to fight off our former enemies. Once I explained how most of them would have to hide in the bushes when we got near the tower, everyone quieted down. I wondered if they were used to that, having a plan, or if they always just did things without thinking. Whatever the case was, I was hoping they would be diligent enough to follow the plan, and not just barge into the tower. It would ruin any element of surprise we had over Gothel, and could possibly put her at an advantage.

Many of the thugs came with us, which I was glad for, even if they did have blood in their mustaches. I had known that these men would be up for a fight, and certainly would help us now that we funded them. And so we climbed back on Maximus and they gathered on their horses and we went on.

The forest had no particular sights to see, and the pub thugs were being unusually quiet. I yearned for something to take away the distraction of the impending task that lay before me. Alas, I took to searching the trees for sights to paint and sketch.

A bluebird sitting in her outstretched nest on a shadowy tree branch; a tall evergreen growing strait up to the everlasting sky. Hills of blue-green grass undying, filled with white peonies, fields of swaying dandelions that will never give way.

Suddenly, I start to recognize everything around me. Trees I once named. Grass that I had only felt once but knew so well. Creeks that I could mimic their sounds in my sleep. I knew, of course, where we were. I had watched this land for eighteen years, from the protection of a lot of stones piled high. Correction: from the entrapment of a lot of stones piled high.

That's right. I knew this place. I knew it like the back of my hand. As I forced my head to look up, already knowing what lay ahead, I held to Eugene even tighter that before.

For, as I pictured so clearly in my head, what lay ahead of me was once the only thing I knew in the world. My tower.

Okay, now that you've read it, what do you think will happen next? Chapter 4 will be out in the next week, because I've already wrote it, I'm just editing it now. And guess what? If you click that review button, I will mention you next time!