Soli Deo gloria

DISCLAIMER: I do NOT own Tangled.

As the shrill voice pitched so loudly and angrily, I was shocked. Gothel rarely yelled at Rapunzel, and never to this extreme. I shrank back as I started to breathe really fast. Rapunzel? Well, she looked like she had been hit in the face with ice cold water and told that she could not open the window, which was probably going to be her punishment. Poor Rapunzel! I felt for her; she just wanted to escape this—this madness.

Gothel stood with big grey eyes, breathing heavily as she stared at Rapunzel. Once her outburst was over, she fell into a chair and muttered in self-pity, "Oh, great, now I'M the bad guy." You were always the bad guy, you piece of—

"All I was going to say Mother, is that," Rapunzel said nervously as she stood in front of the closet, almost as if to shield it. "I know what I want for my birthday now."

"And what is that?" came the irritable voice.

"New paint," she said timidly, "made from the white shells you once brought me?"

Gothel stopped pitying herself enough to look and say, "Well, that is a very long trip, Rapunzel, almost three days' time."

"I just thought that it was a better idea than the . . . stars," Rapunzel said. Oh, dear. White paint over magical floating lights? No! I peeked out from under the closet for Gothel's reaction. She didn't get more mad! Amazing! She and Rapunzel kinda made up, did this whole mother-daughter thing between them, and Rapunzel packed Gothel a lunch basket. I watched from the ceiling beams as I thought to myself. Why had she made the deal with that Gothel? Did Rapunzel have another plan up her sleeve? Wait, okay, there's Gothel going to get paint that will make her absent from the tower for three days, and there was a person in Rapunzel's closet. Wait, there was a person in her closet? What if—? The plan instantly came to me.

Oh, good, Gothel was leaving. I hopped down from the rafters as Rapunzel rushed back into the tower. I watched as she picked up the frying pan and removed the chair from the closet's doors. She took a deep breath and a few steps backwards, and used her hair to get a grip on the handle of the closet and pulled. The door fell open, and so did the stranger. He fell on his face and unbent on the floor, still unconscious.

Frankly, to be honest, I stifled a giggle at the noise he made. Rapunzel just stood, a little horrified. Once he was still, she crept closer and took a good look around. What was she going to do with him?

"Pascal, I have an idea and I need your opinion," Rapunzel said as she turned to face me on her right. "What do you think of the idea of me tying him to the chair? Once that's done, we'll wake him up and make him take us to see the lights."

It wasn't a bad idea, so I gave her the paws that went back and forth like a scale. "Oh, come on, help me!" she squealed. Then she noticed that he moved slightly, so she squealed loudly and thrust her frying pan to within an inch of his skull. Realizing he wasn't awake, she sighed in relief and looked at me again.

I paced back and forth and finally stopped and gave her a thumb's up.

Elated for my approval, she used the hair to tie him to the chair, making sure his hands were pretty much rendered useless. With one final glance at her work, she got a better grip on the pan and managed to scramble up the walls of the tower. I looked around, wondering what I should do.

Once she was balanced on a board, she looked down. I caught her attention and held up my hands in confusion. What should I do?

"Get on his shoulder," she whispered.

I gaped. I did! "What?" my face said.

"You'll see, you need to wake," she pointed to the prison/chair, "him up."

I threw her a dark look and turned to the task at hand. Remember that strawberry I had this morning? Wish I didn't eat it. My stomach lurched as I crawled closer and tilted my head. It was like a mountain, it was so tall! I gulped, spat on my hands, rubbed them together, and then crawled up the back of the chair, uneasy as I did so. Okay, I was on his shoulder. Progress! I poked him with my tail, and shrank back in a blue heap, prepared for a reaction. Nothing. Confidence growing, I slapped him harder and harder but nothing. With a sigh of "This is so wrong," I did the unbelievably disgusting: I inserted my tongue into his ear. I must have touched a sensitive nerve or—or something, because his head shot up, making me fly into the air in terror.

I fell into a heap on the stone floor, which, surprisingly, didn't hurt that much. I muttered as I stood up and dusted myself off. I watched along with who-knows-what-his-name-is as Rapunzel jumped down from the rafters and wielded her deadly weapon. I ran over to her side and gasped. This guy apparently wasn't listening to her because he was staring at her, like he was hypnotised or something. What the heck was wrong with him?

"Who are you and how did you find me?" Rapunzel almost whispered in a threatening manner. I stuck my hands on my hips in agreement. Who are you and how did you find us?

The stranger cleared his throat and said, "I know not who you are, nor how I came to find you, but may I just say . . . hi?" and he put the stupidest grin on his face, like she was supposed to be impressed or something. "The name's Flynn Rider, how's your day going?" Well, at least we know his name, if that really is his name, and why are you asking about the weirdest day ever?

Rapunzel looked about as if this was a joke she was supposed to get. She grunted determinedly, practically shoved the pan in his face, and asked, "Who else knows my location, Flynn Rider?" She said it a bit weirdly as she said it for the first time.

"Listen, Blondie," he tried to say.

"Rapunzel," she interrupted.

"Gesundheit," he said absentmindedly, and then he ranted about something about the tower that didn't make any sense—well, at least it didn't to me. "And, oh no . . ." he glanced about, "where is my satchel?"

Rapunzel folded her arms proudly and so did I. "I've hidden it, somewhere you'll never find it."

She stood with a smirk on her happy face while he looked about and casually asked, "It's in that pot, isn't it?" Without a moment of hesitation, she swung the frying pan and the target, which was his head, was hit perfectly. When his head hung limply, she dropped the frying pan and rushed over to the decorative pot. "How did he do that?" she asked me as she gathered up the satchel and stuffed the Thing in it. I shrugged as I climbed up her extended arm. She stood up and we nervously looked about.

"Okay, not my room. I want to keep an eye on this and him," she whispered, almost to herself. "The cupboards are obvious; they're practically made for hiding things." She started jumping up and down. "Um, um, um," she bit her lip as she scanned the room. Something caught our eyes.

"Under the staircase?" she murmured as she let me down. I ran over there and peeked through a crack in a random stair. To my surprise, it was hollow. She approached with the satchel and managed to lift the top of it off. "Hmm," she mumbled as she placed the satchel in and snugly put the top back on. She and I sat on it to seal the deal. "That should work," she said confidently as she grabbed her pan. "Now, about waking him back up," she dropped a hint as she fingered the pan nervously. I patted her foot. I'd do it again.

Back on his shoulder, he didn't jerk his head immediately like the first time. He woke up, noticed my tongue in his ear, and then jerked his head. I, again, fell on the floor.

"Would you stop that?" he said disgustedly as he wiped his ear on his shoulder. I will now, I thought as I wiped my tongue with my paws in attempt to get him off it.

"Now it's hidden where you'll never find it," Rapunzel said confidently as I climbed her shoulder; she gave me a grin. He gave her a dark look as she walked around him, asking what he wanted with her hair, thereby twisting her hair around the chair.

"NO! Listen, the only thing I want to do with your hair, it to get out of it, literally!" Flynn Rider said as he squirmed in his seat.

"St . . . wait, you don't want my hair?" Rapunzel asked uncertainly. I, too, was far from convinced.

"Why on earth would I want your hair?" he asked, exasperated. "I was being chased, I saw a tower, I climbed it: end of story."

"You're—you're telling the truth?" she wondered. I was skeptical.

"YES!" he almost yelled.

"Hmm," said Rapunzel. She was about to withdraw the pan from his face, but before she could do that, I quickly crawled down her arm onto the frying pan. Seating myself on the edge, I peered into his eyes. He looked bewildered, me being two inches from his face, but in his eyes, there was a look of truth.

I motioned for her to withdraw the weapon, but I still stared at him as if to say, "I'm watching you."

Rapunzel walked a few feet away and cupped me in her hands.

Me: I don't know. . .

Rapunzel: I know, but I need someone to take me!

Me: Okay, he may be telling the truth. . .

Rapunzel: I think he's telling the truth too!

Me: But then again. . .

Rapunzel: He doesn't have fangs!

Me: I don't know if I like this plan. . .

Rapunzel: But what choice do I have?

She put up a good argument. I sighed and signaled, "Okay, I approve."

She sighed heavily, let me on her shoulder, and twisted the hair to point the chair toward her painting that she had worked very hard on.

"All right, Flynn Rider, I am prepared to offer you a deal," she said calmly.

"Deal?" he asked, annoyed.

"Look this way," Rapunzel said as though he did not say that. She pulled sharply on the chair as she climbed up to the mantle. This motion caused the chair to spin, and to the expense of Flynn Rider, caused it to fall; he landed on his face. Ha, there, you deserved that.

"Do you know what these are?" Rapunzel questioned as she pointed to her artwork.

Albeit smooshed, he was able to answer her question. "You mean the lantern thing they do for the princess?"

"I knew they weren't stars," she said, vindicated. She and I nearly squealed in delight. Lanterns, that was what they were called! Out with the floating lights idea, we're going to go see the lanterns!

Rapunzel held back her excitement as she tried to act professional. "Well, tomorrow night, they will light the night sky with these lanterns. You," she declared as she pointed her pan at him, "will act as my guide, take me to see these lanterns, and bring me home safely. Then, and only then, will I give your satchel to you. That is my deal."

"Yeah, no can do," he said almost sarcastically as he managed to shift the chair onto his side, "The kingdom and I are exactly 'simpatico'," Rider said with air quotations, "at the moment, so I won't being taking you anywhere."

Rapunzel had no idea what to do in this situation. She hadn't thought that he wouldn't agree to go, so she looked at me for help. Well, I thought, this guy was for one, a jerk; two, self-centered; and three, needed to be taught that he can't always get things his way. So to answer her question, I pounded my fist on my palm. She looked from me to him, and jumped off the mantle determinedly.

"Something brought you here, Flynn Rider. Call it what you will, fate, destiny," she said as she drew herself closer to the chair.

"A horse?" he casually interrupted.

"But I have made the decision to trust you," she kept talking.

"A horrible decision, really," Rider sardonically commented.

"But trust me when I tell you this," Rapunzel ordered. She tugged on the chair, making it fall forward as she caught it. She looked firmly into his eyes and said, "You can tear this tower apart, brick by brick, but without my help, you will never find your precious satchel."

He cleared his throat and tried to confirm the deal. "Let me just get this straight. I take you to see the lanterns, bring you back home, and you'll give me back my satchel?"

"I promise," she said, trying to convince him that she did keep promises. He, however, gave her a look, a look I didn't like. "And when I promise something, I never, ever break that promise." He gave her an arched eyebrow. "Ever." I nodded in agreement; she always did keep every single promise she had ever made.

He sighed and looked around and then looked back at her. "Look, I didn't want to do this, but you leave me no choice; here comes the Smolder," and he put on this stupid face; he half closed his eyes and puckered his lips. Rapunzel looked at him, a tad uncertain, but then quickly made her face ever more serious. I stared at him like, "That's the best you've got?"

He gave a little sigh as he said, "This is kind of an off day for me, this doesn't normally happen," and when Rapunzel still gave him her glare, he gave up on his idea, dropped his 'Smolder', and said, albeit reluctantly, "Fine! I'll take you to see the lanterns!"

"REALLY?" Rapunzel squealed in delight. I grinned. We were going to go see the lanterns! In her excitement, she let go of the chair which she had supported, causing it to fall; Mr. Smolder cried out in alarm as he fell on his face.

"Oops," she apologized.

"You broke my smolder!" he said weakly.

I smiled and chirped, "Good."

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