Author's Note: Lindsey here again! I am so sorry I haven't updated anything in so long! I just got ungrounded! Sheesh, I miss ONE assignment on my progress report, and I lose my laptop, iPod, Kindle, Nintendo, and I couldn't talk to Marie on the phone! Well, I am updating once again. Please, if you favorite this story, leave a review. This story is lonely!

Ouch

"Aah!" I yelped as a wet, sticky something went into my ear, giving me a very unwanted wake-up call.

Ow, my head, I thought groggily. My hand, too, I added as an afterthought. I tried to raise my hand to rub my temple, but it wouldn't move. I opened my eyes and saw that I was tied to a chair! Whoever did it knew what they were doing, too.

This is really soft rope, I thought. Wait, this is too soft. It feels like…

"Is this…hair?" I asked in disbelief to no one in particular.

"Struggling-struggling is pointless," a shaky voice called from the rafters. It was obviously female.

"Huh?" I responded. I followed the sound of her clambering down.

"I know why you're here," the woman continued, " and I'm not afraid of you."

"What?" I asked, clearly confused. "Show yourself!" I demanded, wanting to know exactly who was at the other end of this hair.

A woman-correction, girl-stepped into the shaft of light. She was holding a frying pan at the ready, clearly not afraid to use it.

"So that's why my head is killing me!" I blurted, looking pointedly at the frying pan. This elicited a giggle from her before she composed herself.

"Who are you, and how did you find me?" she asked.

"Flynn. Flynn Rider," I responded automatically. Mentally, I kicked myself. You idiot! She wasn't supposed to know that! Luckily, she didn't seem to be fazed by this information.

She pointed her frying pan at my face and asked, "Who else knows my location, Flynn Rider?"

"Look, blondie-" I started.

"Rapunzel," she interrupted.

"Gezundheit," I replied, irritating her a little bit. "Here's the thing. I was in a situation, gallivanting through the forest. I came across your tower and f-" I stopped when I suddenly realized I was missing the reason for my "gallivanting."

"Oh. Oh, no!" I cried, looking around. "Where is my satchel?"

"I've hidden it," she said smugly, crossing her arms, "somewhere you'll never find it."

I seriously doubted that. After all, it was a small tower, and there weren't many places to hide it. Plus, she was a blonde.

"It's in that pot, isn't it?" I said, pointing toward said pot. The look on her face was priceless! I would've laughed, except for one thing: she knocked me out AGAIN!

X X X X X

"Ouch," I said, wincing as I registered my throbbing head. Why is my ear wet? I thought. And what is on my shoulder? I looked at my shoulder to see some green, frog-thing on it…with its tongue in my ear!

"Gah!" I jerked my head, knocking it off. "Would you stop that?" I demanded, rubbing my soiled ear on my vest.

"Now it's hidden where you'll never find it," Rapunzel smirked.

"Mmm," I groaned.

"So, what do you want with my hair? To cut it?"

"What?" I exclaimed.

"To sell it?" she continued, circling my chair.

"No! Listen, the only thing I want to do with your hair is to get out of it-literally!" I explained, emphasizing by jerking the strands of hair wrapped around my wrists.

"You-you don't want my hair?" she asked, as if that could be my only goal in life.

"Why on Earth would I want your hair?" I questioned. "Listen, I was being chased, I saw a tower, I climbed it. End of story."

"You're telling the truth?"

"Yes!" For once, I added in my mind.

"Hmm." The little lizard-frog crawled to the end of Rapunzel's frying pan and looked me right in the eye. It stayed there for a little bit before motioning the other way with its tail. What happened next caught me completely off guard: she started talking to it.

I started trying to shift my chair, but stopped when she said, "Okay, Flynn Rider, I'm prepared to offer you a deal."

"Deal?" I repeated skeptically. I didn't exactly trust someone who knocked me out three times and tied me to a chair.

"Look this way!" Rapunzel commanded, tugging on her hair and spinning my chair around. She misjudged the force, however, and only the palms of my hands saved my face.

"Do you know what these are?" she asked, pulling aside a curtain to reveal a painting.

"You mean the lantern thing they do for the princess?" I asked.

Rapunzel mumbled something before continuing. "Well, tomorrow evening, they will light the night sky with these lanterns. You," she said, pointing her pan at me, "will act as my guide, take me to these lanterns, and return me home safely, and then, and only then, will I return your satchel to you. That is my deal."

Is she out of her mind? I thought incredulously. "Yeah," I grunted, shoving myself onto my side. "No can do. Unfortunately, the kingdom and I aren't exactly simpatico at the moment, so I won't be taking you anywhere."

Rapunzel looked at the frog. He put his fist into his paw. She jumped down from the mantle. "Something brought you here, Flynn Rider," she said, slowly coming toward me. "Call it what you will: fate, destiny…"

"…a horse," I supplied in a deadpan voice. She continued as though I hadn't spoken.

"So I have made the decision to trust you," Rapunzel stated.

"A horrible decision, really," I answered.

"But trust me when I tell you this," Rapunzel said, jerking my chair forward so that she was the only thing keeping my face off the floor. "You can tear this tower apart brick by brick, but without my help, you will never find your precious satchel."

I didn't think it was possible for that sweet, innocent voice to snarl, but she managed it.

"Let me get this straight," I said. "I take you to see the lanterns, bring you back home, and you'll give me back my satchel?"

"I promise," she replied. I looked at her skeptically. "And when I promise something, I never, ever, break that promise." I cocked an eyebrow, still not convinced. "Ever."

I looked at her and said, "All right, listen, I didn't want to do this, but you leave me no choice. Here comes the puppy eyes."

I lowered my head and adjusted my face before bringing my head up. It was fairly simple. I enlarged my eyes until they watered, thought of something embarrassing to make myself blush, and quivered my lower lip just slightly. All in all, extremely adorable.

Rapunzel didn't even blink. "This is kind of an off day for me. This normally works. Fine," I sighed, "I'll take you to see the lanterns."

"Really?" she squeaked, bringing her arms in. The naturally caused my chair to fall forward. I'm just thankful that I didn't break my nose.

"You broke my puppy eyes!" I gasped, attempting to lighten the mood.