I don't own Tangled! End/AN/

Tulip stared at the limp form of the woman on the floor. For a moment, he simply held the handle of his frying pan tightly, mind annoyingly blank.

Then thoughts started to rush back in, and he took in a huge breath through his nose.

This was a woman. Women had fanged teeth and sucked all the life out of you. Well, not all of them, but most. Mother was one of the exceptions.

He eased forward, worried she would awaken suddenly. He stuck the handle of the frying pan into her mouth, and found that no, she did not have fangs. She must have been one of the few.

A sudden elation struck him. His home had been invaded, and he'd known what to do! He was fine. He could feel a grin stretch across his face; he was capable.

Then the woman made a little groaning noise and he jumped back like lightning had struck. He had to do something with her; he couldn't just leave her there.

He looked around the room, trying to find something that could help him. Not paints, not a chair, not the new shirt he'd been sewing... the armoire.

He was already lifting her and putting her inside before he'd thought much further on it. When she woke up, he would tell Mother, and Mother would know what to do.

"Tulip, darling! Let down your hair!"

Mother was already here, he realized, as he jammed a chair up under the handles of the armoire. He rushed to the window, letting down his locks. As usual, he pulled her up, grunting just a little at the exertion.

"Tulip, are you a boy or a boar?" Mother teased, (at least, he was pretty sure she was teasing) as she stepped onto the stone floor.

"A boy, Mother," Tulip answered, starting to say, "Mother, you're not going to believe-"

"Honey, I'm teasing; of course you're not a boar," Mother said, giving a little laugh. She stared into the mirror, pulling her skin taut against her face.

"Of course, Mother," Tulip agreed, giving an obligatory small laugh, but he was quick to carry on. "Mother, you know how you said I'm too weak to be out in the world and see the lights? Well, guess what, I'm not!"

"Tulip," Mother groaned, rubbing her temples, "Honey, you're not ready."

"But Mother, you see, you thought I wasn't, but I am! I'm strong enough to take care of myself. Just let me show you-" Tulip was cut off.

"Tulip, I'm done with this conversation."

"But Mother, if you'll just let me show you-"

"Tulip!" Mother's face was stained red with anger. "You are not leaving this tower, not ever!"

There was a moment of silence. Tulip's dismay, the fact that he'd been shouted at for the first time in a very long time coloring his face, must have been obvious to Mother, because she sighed out,

"Honey, Mother doesn't want to yell, you're just safer here with me. Come here, honey," and she held out her arms.

Tulip walked into them, feeling his heart sink into his shoes. It was hard to explain a feeling of knowing you could do something and being disallowed. His arms wrapped loosely around Mother.

"There, all better," Mother said, letting him go after a squeeze. "Now, was there something you wanted?"

The unspoken words being, Nothing more about leaving the tower.

"Oh, I was just... I was wondering if you could make that mushroom soup I love so much for my birthday," Tulip said, trying to hide his disappointment.

"Honey, that's a long trip; two days or more," she said.

"Well... it is my birthday," he said tentatively, feeling his toes grip the stone.

She sighed, looking into his eyes. "All right, dear. You'll have the soup."

Shortly after, she left.


Azure had woken up with pounding headaches before. Usually, however, she didn't find that she couldn't move.

Her eyes flew open, and she looked around an eclectic room; painting covered the walls, a half-finished shirt hung off a dummy, and the remains of a pie sat alone on a table.

Further investigation showed that she was bound to a chair by what appeared to be hair. She wondered how hard she had hit her head.

"Hey! Hello!" Something had to get the attention of whoever had bound her to a chair.

"How did you find me?" A good-looking boy (no, more of a young man) walked out of the shadows, face in a frown. His eyes were green, big and innocent, despite the frown on his face.

"Find you? I don't even know who you are!" Azure was a bit surprised to find, as her eyes followed the young man's hair, that it appeared to be what she was bound with.

"Don't lie to me! I do horrible things to people who lie," the young man said, and he was wielding a frying pan, coming closer yet not too close.

It was a little too vague, combined with the face, to take seriously. Azure rolled her eyes. "What are you going to do, tickle me? Just give me back my diadem, and I'll leave you in peace."

"That's what it's called? I mean," the young man cleared his throat, "Of course that's what it's called. Well, I've hidden it, somewhere you'll never find."

Azure looked over at a pot, saying, "Is it in there?"

The young man looked dismayed, and promptly said, "No, no it is not! It's somewhere far more clever."

"Uh huh. Well, look, I don't want to bother you, and I'm sure you don't want to have to bother with me, so how about you just let me go?" Azure was thinking about how easy it would be to charm this boy-man if she wasn't tied up.

"Who are you, then? You've got a name, don't you?" The young man was circling, seemingly limitless in the length of hair between him and the chair.

"I'm Azure Blue; I'm sure you've heard of me," Azure said, tilting her head in her usual charming way.

It seemed lost on the young man. "Well, Azure Blue, something brought you here: fate, destiny..."

"How about a horse?" Azure said, rolling her eyes again.

The young man let out a huff of air. "No. You're here for a reason." He reached up to uncover a big painting, which appeared to be him with his hair (who else had hair like that?) and a bunch of lights over the trees.

"Azure Blue, I'm going to offer you a deal. You get your diadem when you take me to see these lights."

"What? No. Give it, it isn't yours," Azure said, and was startled when the young man yanked the chair forward.

"I'm not compromising. You take me there, and then we'll come back here and I'll give you the diadem. That's your deal." His eyes were surprisingly intense, to the point that Azure was starting to rethink her stance.

"Horrible choice of guide, but fine. I'll take you there, and then we'll go right back. Right back. Understand?"

She must have said exactly what the boy wanted, because he seemed to brighten up.

This was going to end badly, Azure was sure...

/AN/ Well, it's been forever since I updated this one... Hopefully, y'all will like it. It's been fun to figure out, except when college is killing my brain.