AN: Next chapter is up! I really did have fun writing this. Sorry about the late update. With being down yesterday, I couldn't get on.

Cashat: This chapter and the next were so much fun to write. In fact, I had a lot of fun writing my Flynn for this whole story.

Rapunzel let out a little shriek as the stranger collapsed face-first onto the floor. She quickly darted away to hide behind her dressmaker's judy. Mother had only been gone for a short time and the sounds of someone outside her tower had surprised her. Especially when those sounds indicated that whoever it was was climbing the tower. Rapunzel had grabbed the first thing she could find, her frying pan, and hidden near the window prepared to defend herself and her hair from the intruder.

Cautiously she peeked over the top of the judy. The stranger was still sprawled on the floor and hadn't even twitched. Rapunzel slowly crept closer, pushing the judy in front of her like a shield. She peeked again. Still nothing.

I – I didn't kill this person… did I? Rapunzel wondered in horror. Carefully she came out from her hiding place and stepped closer to the prone figure, holding her frying pan in front of her defensively. It looked like the man…? It had to be a man. Though the tail of brown hair was maybe a little shorter than Mother's, the clothing was not like anything she or Rapunzel wore. And he didn't quite have the same shape either. Nothing like Mother's vivid curves or Rapunzel's almost non-existent ones. Well, she could see his back rise and fall slowly so he was still breathing at least.

She hesitated a moment and then nudged the back of his head a couple of times with the pan. Again, nothing. Rapunzel glanced at Pascal for some idea of what to do next. Pascal merely shrugged an, I dunno. Rapunzel chewed her lower lip. That was no help. She looked back at the man again and reached out once more with the frying pan. She gently pushed the man's head to the side and again, there was no reaction. The only difference now was that she could see at least part of his face. What wasn't covered by his bangs anyway. Again, Rapunzel looked at Pascal for advice.

Her friend crawled over to the painting Mother had done on the floor earlier. Of the 'man with pointy teeth'. Pascal turned red and mimicked fangs with his paws. Rapunzel nodded. Right. Better check that, she thought. Though she had no idea what she would do if this man did have pointy teeth. She looked at her frying pan and turned it around until she held it by the pan part. The handle would work much better for what she needed to do. She stuck the end of the handle between his lips and pushed the upper one back to reveal…

…Perfectly normal straight white teeth.

"Huh." Rapunzel muttered softly. That was odd. Maybe Mother was wrong. Maybe not all men had pointy teeth. Curious now about what a man really looked like, she lightly flipped back the lock of hair obscuring half the man's face.

He was actually quite beautiful. High cheek bones, a straight nose, a defined but not overly strong jaw, and well-shaped lips. He had incredibly long lashes too. Rapunzel felt her breath catch in her throat and a flutter in the pit of her stomach. Without really thinking of what she was doing, she leaned in for a closer look.

That's when the man gave a surprised grunt and his one visible eye popped open.

Rapunzel was so surprised that she hit him again with the frying pan before she even knew what she was doing. The strange man was sent right back into unconsciousness. Rapunzel cracked open one eye that she hadn't even realised she had closed. She left out a gusty breath and wondered what to do now. She couldn't very well leave this man lying on the floor. What if he woke up again? What if he did and attacked her? What if Mother came home and he attacked her? Pascal had no ideas, he just gave the I dunno shrug again.

I guess… if I lock him up somewhere, that would be safe enough, Rapunzel thought finally. The question is where? She looked around the main room of the tower. She knew all the places a person could fit. This man wasn't much taller than her, but most of her hiding places weren't secure enough for Rapunzel's liking. After a moment her eyes landed on the blue wardrobe standing against the wall between the bay window and the entry one. That should do.

She wrapped her hair around the man's torso and dragged him across the floor. He was lighter than she thought he would be. Now the trick was getting him into the wardrobe. She quickly learned that an unconscious body was a difficult thing to manhandle into something. First she tried push him in by his feet. That didn't work; she only ended up with his head wedged underneath. Next, she tried swing him in with her hair. That almost worked except now her hair was trapped inside with him.

Somehow, as she was pulling her hair free, the man ended up upside down with his arms, legs, and head hanging akimbo out of the wardrobe. Rapunzel had to pause for a moment thoughtfully, wondering how that had happened.

On the third try, Rapunzel started by putting his feet in first and then standing him up. Like the last time, it almost worked. The only thing was that the doors to the wardrobe hadn't latched properly when she had slammed them shut. As she stepped away, they fell open and the man landed on top of her. Still not deterred, Rapunzel tried a fourth time, using her broom for extra leverage. With a couple more shoves and a good kick, she was able to get the doors shut successfully.

Except for four of the man's fingers which were still sticking out between the doors. Rapunzel blinked and stared at them for a moment before poking them inside one by one. She waited a moment to see if there was any reaction from the man. Sensing nothing, but not taking any chances, she grabbed her frying pan and one of the kitchen chairs, dragging it over to wedge under the handles of the wardrobe. With the wardrobe secure now, she slowly backed away from it.

"Okay, okay, okay. I've got a person in my closet. I've got a person… in my closet." Rapunzel glanced into Mother's mirror as she repeated herself. The impact of her words hit her and she laughed giddily. "I've got a person in my closet!" She hefted the frying pan and dusted it off as she spoke to her reflection. "Too weak to handle myself out there, huh, Mother? Well, tell that to my frying pa… ow!" In her exuberance, Rapunzel attempted to spin the pan around in her fingers, but ended up banging herself in the head with it. For a moment as she rubbed her forehead, she felt a shred of sympathy for the man she had just shoved in her closet.

Just then, a sparkle reflected in the mirror caught the corner of her eye. It was coming from the bag the man had dropped. Turning, Rapunzel set down the frying pan and bent down to draw the shiny thing out of the leather bag. It was nice, whatever it was. A large circle made of some shiny yellow metal with interesting jewelled designs on it.

"Hmm…" Rapunzel hummed as she examined the thing. Was it some kind of bracelet? She stuck her arm through the center of it and let it hang from her wrist as she looked at Pascal for his opinion. The chameleon shook his head and Rapunzel had to agree with him. Much too big for a bracelet, she thought. There were three large clear stones set into it. Glasses maybe? Or a magnifier?

She held the thing up to her face to look through one of the stones. All she saw though was multiple Pascals reflected in each of the many facets. The Pascals shook their heads. Nope not something you look through. Still pondering it over, Rapunzel slowly turned to face the mirror.

For the life of her, she couldn't fathom why she did so, but as she looked at her reflection she lifted the thing and set it on her head. It settled across her brow as if made for it. And in that moment, as she stared at herself, something happened. The image in the mirror changed and she was no longer looking at herself. Or rather, she was, but it wasn't a version she recognised. The Rapunzel in the mirror was a little taller, broader in the shoulders, and masculine. Like but not quite like the man in her closet. Behind her, Pascal was staring, but then shook his head a third time.

Rapunzel blinked and the strange image was gone. She saw only herself with the weird metal circle on her head. What was that? she wondered. It was so strange. She felt like she should know the man she had seen in the mirror, but she didn't know why.

Before she could think any further on it, she suddenly heard Mother calling, "Rapunzel!" Rapunzel gasped in surprise and spun away from the mirror, bumping into it and making it spin around as well. She had completely forgotten that Mother would be back soon and here she was. She quickly yanked the metal thing off her head, snatched up the bag from the floor, and dropped both inside a large clay pot. She ran for the closed window as Mother added, "Let down your hair!"

"One moment, Mother." She called back, looping her hair over the hook and tossing it down to her. This was perfect. She could show Mother the person locked in the closet as proof that Rapunzel was able to manage Outside. Then Mother would have to agree to take her to see the floating lights.

"I have a big surprise!" Mother shouted up to her as she took up the end of Rapunzel's hair.

"Uh… I do too." She replied as she started pulling her mother up the tower.

"Ooh! I bet my surprise is bigger!" Mother answered excitedly.

Rapunzel glanced over her shoulder at the wardrobe and muttered, "I seriously doubt it." There was no way that Mother's surprise would top a person in a closet.

As Mother reached the window, she swung around on the rope of hair. "I brought back parsnips. I'm going to make hazelnut soup for dinner. Your favourite." She sat on the window ledge and swung her legs inside. Standing up she spread her arms. "Surprise!"

Normally Rapunzel would be thrilled at the prospect of hazelnut soup. She loved having hazelnut soup. It was a special meal that Mother only made on special occasions. This time, however, Rapunzel had more important things to discuss with her mother than soup. "Well, Mother, there's something I want to tell you."

Mother apparently didn't hear her as she draped her cloak on the wall rack. "Oh, Rapunzel, you know I hate leaving you after a fight. Especially when I've done absolutely nothing wrong." She walked across the room to the table to unload her basket.

"Okay." Rapunzel continued quickly. She really didn't want Mother to just brush this off like last time. "I've been thinking a lot about what you said earlier…"

"I hope you're not still talking about the stars." Mother interrupted without turning around as she set the basket on the table.

Rapunzel felt compelled to correct her mother. As she inched her way over to the closet she said, "Floating lights. And, yes, I'm leading up to that."

Mother's tone became irritated as she spoke over her shoulder. "Because I really thought we dropped the issue, sweetheart." It was clear by her tone and words that Mother did not want to listen to anything Rapunzel had to say on the subject.

"No, Mother, I'm just saying, you think I'm not strong enough to handle myself out there." Rapunzel pressed on, not wanting to miss her chance to prove herself to Mother. She started to reach for the chair blocking the closet doors.

"Oh, darling," Mother looked back at Rapunzel as she took several parsnips out of the basket. Her words were amusingly cruel. "I know you're not strong enough to handle yourself out there."

"But if you just…" Rapunzel implored.

Mother cut her off sharply. "Rapunzel, we are done talking about this."

Frustrated, Rapunzel cried, "Trust me!"

"Rapunzel." Mother bit off warningly.

"I know what I'm…" She kept going right over top of her mother's warning.

"Rapunzel." This time was sharper than the last.

Heedlessly, Rapunzel continued, "Oh, come on!"

"Enough with the lights, Rapunzel!" Mother suddenly yelled, her silver grey eyes flashing. "You are not leaving this tower! EVER!"

Rapunzel froze with a wounded expression on her face. Her hand lifted off the back of the chair. Mother had yelled at her many times before, but not like this. This time had a definite finality to it. And she could actually feel her dreams of seeing the floating lights crumble to dust in light of that finality.

With a frustrated huff, Mother dropped into her chair and rubbed her forehead. "Great. Now I'm the bad guy."

Stunned into wordlessness, Rapunzel looked up at her painting of the lights. She had thought that it was just a simple, easy request; going to see them. Was she wrong? What if Mother didn't take you? asked a sneaky treacherous voice in her head. It was a voice that Rapunzel hardly recognised as hers. What if… you went on your own? Was that the answer? Rapunzel wasn't sure. But how? If Mother didn't take her, how would she make it to where the lights were safely?

You have a person in your closet, the voice reminded her. Rapunzel's eyes darted to the wardrobe beside her. The voice continued, You could get him to take you. That was it! Still, if Mother wouldn't let her go on her own and wouldn't take her; she certainly wouldn't let Rapunzel go with some stranger. The voice had an answer for that too. Mother doesn't have to know. All you have to do is get her out of the tower for a few days. That should be long enough to see the lights.

How was she supposed to do that, especially with Mother so angry at her right now? Tell her you want something else for your birthday. Something she would think was better than the lights.

Taking a deep breath, Rapunzel stepped in front of the wardrobe and spread out her hair to hide the chair holding it closed. She prayed that Mother hadn't noticed it yet. "All I was going to say, Mother, is that… I know what I want for my birthday now."

"And what is that?" Mother asked in an irritated tone, not even looking at Rapunzel.

"New paint." Rapunzel answered timidly, folding her arms against her stomach. That had been the first thing that had popped into her mind. It was something plausible and something that Mother usually didn't object to getting for her. "The paint made from the white shells you once brought me." she added. Part of her was agonizing over the lie, but another part, the one the voice came from, was congratulating her on the idea.

Mother looked up at her with narrowed eyes. "Well, that is a very long trip, Rapunzel. Almost three days' time."

Exactly, Rapunzel thought. That should be plenty of time. Still, judging by Mother's words, she wasn't quite convinced of the idea. What could Rapunzel say that would do the job? An idea hit and Rapunzel quickly put it into motion. "I just thought it was a better idea than the… stars." She tried not to winch at using Mother's term for the lights, but if that was what it took. She looked down at the floor and watched Mother through her lashes.

Mother looked at her for a long moment before letting out a sigh. She got up out of her chair and walked over to Rapunzel. "You're sure you'll be all right on your own?" she asked.

Rapunzel smiled, mostly in relief that Mother was agreeing. She hugged her mother tightly. "I know I'm safe as long as I'm here." To her further relief, Mother hugged her back and kissed the top of her head.

Rapunzel quickly made up Mother's basket, filling it with bread, cheese, and a few apples. Mother swung her cloak over her shoulders and fastened it as Rapunzel brought her the basket. As Mother went to slide back down Rapunzel's hair, she paused. Worry filled Rapunzel. Worry that Mother was about to change her mind. Rapunzel held her breath.

But Mother only looked at her and said, "I'll be back in three days' time. I love you very much, dear."

Rapunzel let out her breath and smiled warmly. "I love you more."

"I love you most." Mother finished and went out the window. Rapunzel held steady as her mother descended the tower and remained watching from the window as Mother made her way across the valley. Just before entering the tunnel, Mother paused and waved up to Rapunzel.

Rapunzel waved back.

With that final goodbye, Mother was gone. Rapunzel waited a few seconds just to be sure she had really left before darting away from the window, her hair whipping up inside after her. She snatched up the frying pan, thankful that Mother never noticed or questioned why it was on the floor. She made her way over to the chair in front of the closet. Carefully she lifted it away from the doors. To her relief, they didn't fall open right away. That meant they were still firmly closed. Rapunzel stepped back and placed the chair in front of her as something to hide behind.

Clutching the frying pan tightly, Rapunzel took a deep breath and slowly let it out. "Okay." She muttered before picking up a length of her hair and whipping it towards the wardrobe's handles. She gave a pull and the doors slowly swung open.

For a moment nothing happened.

Then the strange man toppled forward and fell face-first onto the floor. Rapunzel jumped a little in surprise. She had expected him to come leaping out of the closet and try to attack her for daring to lock him in there. Did I hit him harder than I thought? she wondered. After a moment, the man slid along the floor, stretching out for the hunched position he had landed in, until only his booted toes remained inside the wardrobe. When he didn't move again, Rapunzel stepped closer and leaned over his prone form. Yup, just maybe hit him a little too hard. But now what do I do with him? She hummed in thought.

After consulting with Pascal, who was of little help and thought they should just toss the man out the window, she finally came up with a plan. She quickly went around the tower, closing the windows except the skylight hatch. Then she heaved the unconscious man into the chair she had used to block the closet doors. Having no other kind of rope, Rapunzel used her hair to tie him into place. Once the man was secured, she dragged the chair into the circle of sunlight made by the skylight and climbed up to the safety of the rafters.

For his part, Pascal clambered onto the man's shoulder and prepared to wake him up. Rapunzel watched him eye the man suspiciously and then smack his cheek as hard as the chameleon could. Pascal instantly crouched down and turned blue like the man's tunic, trying to hide.

The man didn't even twitch.

Annoyed now, Pascal whipped his cheek a few times with his tail. Then the chameleon tried poking the man, which also didn't work. Getting no response, Pascal considered his options, turned to face the man's ear and opened his mouth. Rapunzel couldn't help but flinch as Pascal's tongue hit the man's ear. She knew just how startling a wake-up that was.

But it worked. The man's head shot up as he yelped in shock. Pascal fell off his shoulder from the sudden movement.

"Huh? What…" The man mumbled as he looked around in surprise. Then he seemed to notice his bindings and started to struggle against them. "Is this hair?" he asked aloud, his brown eyes following the trail of Rapunzel's hair as it looped across the room and up to where Rapunzel was hiding. His voice was surprisingly high for a man's. Not that Rapunzel had any experience, but Mother had always said that Men had deep rumbling voices like a bears.

Rapunzel shook herself to gather back her wandering thoughts. "Struggling… Struggling is pointless." She called out as she ducked back against one of the roof beams, mentally berating the stutter. She had wanted to appear brave before this stranger.

The man squinted up at her with confusion on his face and muttered, "Huh?"

Maybe he can't hear me from up here, Rapunzel thought. She clambered down from her perch, a little unnerved by the way the man's eyes followed her decent. She remained in the shadows near the door to Mother's room as she spoke again. "I know why you're here and I'm not afraid of you."

Again the man murmured a confused, "What?" as he tried to get a good look at her.

Taking a deep breath, Rapunzel stepped into the light slowly. "Who are you? And how did you find me?" she demanded.