Here's Chapter 7, as promised! (Sorry it's kind of short) Hopefully this relieves some of your suspense (or might make it worse...whoops) either way, hope you enjoy it. Who knows? Maybe I'll get Chapter 8 out tonight, too! (Yeah, not likely...I WISH THOUGH!)

:-) GO HORIZONTAL RULER! Ok, that's enough.

Bob: Hey, do you own Tangled?

Sheep1215: No. No I do not.

Bob: Well...that stinks.


As Flynn stared at the sharp blade only inches from his face, he realized that there truly was no way out of this situation. A huge army of guards had him restrained beyond escape, and the Captain was just about to carry out his execution two days early. Now that Flynn thought about it, he realized that when he had that sword pointed at the Captain, no matter how angry he was, there was no way he would be able to kill somebody. Stealing was one thing, but murder…

Only someone horrific would be able to do that, and Flynn wasn't that kind of man.

The Captain, however, seemed to show no hesitation as he moved in close to Flynn, triumphant that he was finally about to bring down his worst enemy.

"Are you aware that you talk in your sleep, Rider?" the Captain pointed out, lowering his voice to a hiss. "You let her go."

All Flynn could do was breathe in deep and give the Captain a killer glare.

"Any last requests?" the Captain sneered, staring into Flynn's eyes, which were mixed with fire and tears.

Suddenly, Flynn felt a little wriggling in his front vest pocket, and a second later, Pascal poked his tired little head out of the pocket. However, as soon as he spotted the Captain, he quickly and frightfully changed his color to match that of Flynn's vest.

Suddenly, Flynn had an idea.

"Um, actually, yes…" Flynn nodded. He then turned down to the little chameleon. "Pascal, get him!"

Without a second to lose, Pascal hopped up and stuck his tongue in the surprised Captain's ear, causing him to yelp out and drop his sword. With lightning-fast speed, Pascal scurried up Flynn's shoulder, shooting out his abnormally-long tongue and planting it in the ear of every guard accessible, causing them to let go of Flynn to bat the reptile off of their shoulder. Finally, Flynn had been completely released, and he wasted no time in grabbing Pascal and bolting off to where the horses were. He needed to get Max.

They needed to get out of there. Now.

Flynn's thoughts were a blur as he flung himself up on top of the horse, which had awakened in all the chaos. Slipping Pascal back into his pocket, he started Maximus on a run. He didn't know where he'd end up, or where he wanted to end up…

He just knew he had to get away.

Numbed by grief, he let the tears fall. The pain was unimaginable—he couldn't believe she was gone. Sweet, beautiful, innocent Rapunzel…lost forever.

"I'm so sorry," Flynn choked out, as if Rapunzel could hear him. "I should have found you…I should have saved you…I should have let them take me instead…Oh, Blondie, I'm so sorry they did this to you…"

He let Maximus run freely as he leaned his head against the horse's mane, letting out all his emotion in a never-ending line of tears. Flynn had never cried like this…

…but he had never loved anyone like this, either.

Flynn barely noticed that they had lost the guards, after Maximus had ducked into a tunnel of ivy to keep them from being seen. Flynn was still overwhelmed by his grief. How could someone…anyone…do something this cruel?

And all that time in hiding, Flynn Rider cried for his lost princess.

Because he had broken his promise.

O-O-O-O-O

Flynn had no idea how long he had been in that tunnel, but he knew that when he finally ran out of tears, the sun was just beginning to appear and the guards were long gone.

Flynn slowly emerged from the tunnel, with Maximus following close behind him, with a sorrowful expression. Even the horse seemed to understand what was going on.

Flynn stared at the sun through his watery eyes, and though the sun was rising, it felt like it was setting on all his hopes.

He had failed Rapunzel.

And now, nothing mattered. Flynn thought of his dream, and what the captain had hissed in his ear earlier. He'd let her go…just let her go…

What the heck he was going to do now? Should he go back and tell the King and Queen? Or should he just…end it now? Going to tell the royal family was the responsible thing to do, but Flynn just couldn't handle having to break such terrible news to those already grieving parents. And if he tried to tell them about the Captain's scheme, no way they would believe a former thief over their most trusted official. Flynn sighed. Maybe it would just be better if he disappeared forever.

Either way, both solutions would spell doom for him.

But one thing he would not do—he would not give those guards the satisfaction of hunting him down. That was one goal that the Captain was not going to accomplish in his plan.

Pascal sort of squeaked inside Flynn's pocket, and then poked his little nose out and looked up at Flynn sadly.

"She's gone, buddy," Flynn whispered. "Just…gone."

And Flynn couldn't help, once again, thinking that it was all his fault.

If I had just returned her to the castle and then left her life for good, he thought, beating himself up inside, she'd still be safe, in her castle right now, and that gorgeous smile would still be on her face. It'd be a big price to pay, never seeing her again. But he'd give anything…anything…to have her safe again.

His thoughts still on Rapunzel, Flynn once again mounted Maximus, allowing the horse to lead him just…wherever. It didn't matter anymore.

Flynn, Pascal, and Maximus all journeyed along at a slow and miserable pace, especially Flynn, who had once again allowed the tears to flow down his cheeks once again.

You were my new dream, Blondie, Flynn spoke in his mind. Forever and always. And nothing will ever change that. No matter what happens…you'll always be mine.

Suddenly, Maximus jerked to a halt, and abruptly changed course, charging through the trees to where Flynn had to grip onto the stallion's reins to keep from flying off.

"Max, what—" Flynn said, confused. "What—What are you doing?"

Maximus showed no signs of giving him an answer; instead, he just kept racing through the forest, and all Flynn could do was hope for the best.

Suddenly, Flynn saw something come into view that made his stomach lurch. There, right ahead of them, was the shimmering blue river, though in all of its beauty it made Flynn overcome by anger and pain.

"She's not here, Max," Flynn told the horse, aggravated by the fact that he had to face this once again. Already, he could feel the hot tears threatening to fall. Still, Maximus paid no heed to his words, and continued on, turning and trotting along the riverbank.

"Max," Flynn said, a bit sterner, "I'm telling you, she's gone. Rapunzel's not here!"

Still, the horse went on, paying no attention to his master's objections.

Finally, overwhelmed by emotion, Flynn couldn't handle it any more. He jerked on the white stallion's reins as hard as he could, forcing Maximus to stop in his tracks, no matter how hard he tried to journey on.

"She's gone!" Flynn yelled, his heart breaking with every word of reality he spoke. "We can't find her. It's…It's over. She's gone. Rapunzel's gone!"

Putting his head in his hands, Flynn tried to calm himself, but to no avail. Why? Why was this happening? Why now? Why to her?

In fact, Flynn, swallowed by a drowning wave of depression, took a while to notice that Maximus was motioning to something across the river with his head, neighing even louder each time to get Flynn's attention. Finally, Flynn raised his head, squinting through his teary eyes to see what the heck his horse wanted to show him so badly.

Suddenly, he saw it.

Across the river was a figure, collapsed on the ground, wearing a lavender nightgown covered in mud and a few rips. Her wrists were covered in rope burns, result of a small rope that lay unwound beside her. Another rope bound her ankles, right over her bare feet.

What gave her away was her brown, pixie-cut hair, though tangled and matted, revealed her true identity to Flynn.

He couldn't believe it—he was just speechless. He felt like pinching himself to feel he wasn't dreaming, but the hot sting of his tears in his eyes proved that he was in reality. For the girl, lying, abandoned just across the river…

…was none other than Rapunzel herself.


-) More on the way!