Disclaimer: I only own this plot, though I would love to own Tangled.

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Chapter Ten

Flynn didn't know what he had been expecting when he first walked into that stable two hours ago, but it certainly wasn't being dragged into the castle to meet the king and queen! Then there was the whole issue of explaining why he was here in the first place, and the strange connection that now existed between Flynn and the Princess. Flynn himself didn't fully understand what it was, so how exactly was he supposed to explain it to anyone? Granny hadn't told him much of anything about it, after all, beyond the main ingredient in her supposed healing potion. This just kept getting better and better.

He didn't have much time to consider what he was going to say, as Rapunzel had managed to pull him into the castle by now, and she was now tugging him along through the halls. Flynn didn't know whether he should be nervous or fearing for his life. After all…he was about to meet the king and queen, only a short time after he had managed to steal their daughter's crown. Not exactly a fun thought.

They both came to a halt so suddenly that Flynn nearly overbalanced and toppled over. Thankfully, Rapunzel was there to grab his arm and prevent that happening as she beamed up at him. "My father's in here," she explained. "It's the library. He's always spending time in here."

Great…he was meeting the king in his inner sanctum. Flynn was more than dead. He was going to be crucified, wasn't he? Grimacing a little bit, Flynn glanced down at Rapunzel, who was smiling up at him as though he made the sun rise and set. That didn't make Flynn feel much better, but he did manage to at least try to smile back at Rapunzel, though he suspected that it was much more of a grimace than anything else. As Rapunzel gave his hand a squeeze, she turned to the door and pulled it open.

At first, Flynn couldn't spot the king, but he wasn't about to assume that he had gotten lucky and wouldn't have to face the king until morning. That would be a stupid assumption, and Flynn wasn't exactly stupid. Following Rapunzel into the room, Flynn felt a cold sweat starting to form on his forehead. This was not something that he wanted to do right now. He'd prefer spending the rest of the night in the stable to explaining why he was now in the castle-him, a famous thief-and holding the Princess' hand no less.

That was when he spotted the king, and Flynn's first instinct was to bolt right then and there, rather than stay here and face the ruler of the kingdom. This wasn't going to be easy at all. But Flynn couldn't bolt, as Rapunzel had a death grip on his hand, preventing him from going anywhere but after her. Closing his eyes and gritting his teeth, Flynn forced himself to at least look calm, but that wasn't something that was going to come easily to him at this point. Still, it was better to at least try.

"Hello, Daddy!" Rapunzel cried happily, skipping forward and bending down to kiss her father on the cheek.

The king looked up at his daughter in surprise and smiled fondly up at her. "Hello, my dear," he said softly, reaching up to gently pat her on the elbow. "You're up rather late, aren't you?"

Rapunzel managed to look a little sheepish, which was surprising to both the king and Flynn, but the look was quickly replaced by a bright smile. "Yes, I am, but I have someone for you to meet!"

This was it. The moment of truth, it seemed. Flynn winced in anticipation as Rapunzel rushed over to grab his hand. He hadn't noticed the ache in his heart when Rapunzel had first released his hand, but now that there was once more physical contact, he noticed that the ache had disappeared again. Smiling weakly down at Rapunzel, Flynn let her lead him forward. The smile died on his lips when the king looked up at him and began sizing him up.

"Er…" Flynn coughed nervously and smiled again, very weakly. "Hello."

There wasn't any expression on the king's face. At least, not anything that Flynn could quite make out. That really intimidated Flynn, though he tried not to show it as he continued smiling weakly at the older man.

"And who is this?" he asked carefully, arching a dark eyebrow.

"This is Eugene Fitzherbert," Rapunzel said with a fond smile up at Flynn, who managed to hide his wince as she said his given name. "He's the one who saved me from Gothel in the tower."

A look of surprise crossed the king's face as he heard this. His blue eyes went from Flynn to Rapunzel and back again for a few moments as Rapunzel simply beamed at both men. Finally, the king managed to voice what was obviously a question that had been preying on his mind since Flynn walked into the room.

"Didn't you say…that he had died?" he asked slowly.

"Oh, he did," Rapunzel said, as though this were the most natural thing in the world. "But someone brought him back! And now he's here to stay!"

Flynn hadn't been put on the spot like this for a long time, and he shifted nervously, looking very much like a child with his hand caught in the cookie jar by his stern mother. The king glanced up at Flynn with an arched eyebrow, his gaze piercing and rather unnerving, if Flynn was perfectly honest. Clearing his throat self-consciously, he waited for the king to say something more.

"And why has he waited this long?" the king asked, his eyes seeming to bore a hole into Flynn's soul.

"I couldn't come sooner, Your Highness," Flynn said as his neck and cheek flushed hotly. "I wasn't…I wasn't well enough to come. Otherwise, I would have come much sooner."

The king seemed a little surprised that Flynn had the nerve to speak up like that, but he managed to cover up his surprise rather quickly. "I see, Mr. Fitzherbert…" he said slowly. "But why bother coming here at all? You could have gone anywhere."

"No. I couldn't," Flynn said firmly. "I had to come here."

"And why is that?" the king demanded.

"Because I care a great deal for your daughter," Flynn said with a slight glare. "And because I…I had to come here. It's not easy to explain, Your Highness."

The king leaned back in his seat, crossing his arms over his chest. "Try to, Mr. Fitzherbert," he said with an arch of his eyebrow. "I am very interested in your explanation."

Flynn almost regretted saying anything in the first place, but he was in too deep now. Clearing his throat with the look of a martyr, Flynn decided it was now or never. "I'm connected to her. I have to be near her, and she needs to be near me, otherwise we'd both die," he said in a rush. "The…the magic that brought me back used Rapunzel's tears, and so…we're connected. I don't really understand it, but…that's it," he finished lamely, looking rather like he'd just had to sit through having his teeth pulled rather fiercely.

This story seemed to surprise Rapunzel as much as it did the king, but Flynn guessed that wasn't a surprise, really. She hadn't heard it yet herself, after all. Looking from father to daughter, Flynn waited for something to happen. Anything, really. He was starting to get uncomfortable in the silence. Glancing over at Rapunzel, Flynn felt the ache building up in his heart again as he realized that they weren't holding hands again, and he instinctively held out his hand to her. Without a second thought, Rapunzel rushed towards him and took his hand. The ache had probably been something she felt, too. The king watched all of this closely, his eyes fixed on the hands of his daughter and the man who had saved her life.

"A connection, you say?" he asked after a moment's silence.

Flynn nodded and tightened his hold on Rapunzel's hand, something that brought another smile to her face as she looked up at him. Moving still closer to Flynn, she leaned against him in an attempt to have more contact between the two of them, something that Flynn couldn't complain about right now. The more contact between them, the less of an ache there was in his chest. He could only assume that it was the same for Rapunzel. Once more, Flynn felt as though the king's eyes were boring into him.

"What sort of connection?" the king asked slowly, frowning a little. "And how would this affect my daughter?"

"I really don't know, Your Highness," Flynn said with a shrug before instinctively wrapping an arm around Rapunzel's waist. "I just found out about it today myself."

Once more, the blue eyes moved to Flynn's hand holding Rapunzel, and Flynn felt his face burning a bright crimson as he noticed this. But he didn't release Rapunzel. It would hurt too much to do so.

"All I know is that when we aren't at least holding hands…it hurts," Flynn finally said, shrugging.

Rapunzel nodded emphatically and wrapped her arms around Flynn in a tight hug. Burying her face against his chest, she glanced over at her father with pleading eyes. "Please, Daddy…you have to let Eugene stay," she said quietly. "It hurts so much to not have him here."

Frowning a little at this, the king looked as though he was puzzling through something. Finally, he looked at the two young people with a frown. "And if this does hurt as much as you say…what does that mean for Mr. Fitzherbert's living arrangements?"

Once more, Flynn's face flushed a deep red as he looked down at Rapunzel. Sweet, innocent Rapunzel, who didn't know exactly what her father meant by his question. And she didn't seem to find her next answer very odd, though it caused both Flynn and her father to cringe.

"He'll sleep with me, of course!" she cried with a smile up at Flynn, not seeing the pained expression that crossed his face.

The king and Flynn met one another's gazes for a moment, and a silent understanding seemed to pass between the two of them. Sighing in slight relief, Flynn tightened his hold around Rapunzel as the king seemed to ponder something over. Finally, the king made a slight gesture.

"It seems, from what I understand," the king said slowly, sounding as though someone was twisting his arm viciously, "that I have no choice but to allow this."

Rapunzel looked quite pleased with herself, rather like a cat that had gotten into the cream. Smiling up at Flynn, she tightened her arms around him and then rushed forward to place a gentle kiss on her father's cheek. The pain was already starting to build up inside of Flynn's chest as he watched the Princess with her father. It must have been just as bad for Rapunzel, because her eyes went wide with the pain and her hand flew to her chest, resting over her heart. Turning suddenly, she practically flew to Flynn and threw her arms around his middle, burying her face against his chest and whimpering slightly. Wrapping his own arms around her, Flynn sighed in relief.

"You two go on to bed," the king said with a sigh. "I'll discuss all this with your mother, Rapunzel." Standing up and walking over to where the two were standing, the king gently kissed the top of Rapunzel's head. "Sleep well, Rapunzel," he murmured, his eyes briefly meeting Flynn's with a slight warning in them.

Swallowing harshly at this, Flynn nodded respectfully as Rapunzel beamed up at her father and wished him a good night. Once the king had gone, Flynn sagged against Rapunzel and softly kissed her forehead in relief. Rapunzel gave him a questioning look, but Flynn simply shook his head.

"Just tired," he fibbed, smiling crookedly at her.

Smiling back up at him, Rapunzel gave him one last squeeze around the middle before taking his hand and leading him to her bedroom. Flynn really didn't know what to think about this new arrangement. He would have to be very careful with what he did and said now, but he was fairly sure he could manage that much. Hopefully. The last thing that Flynn wanted to do was give the king a reason to hate him.

Rapunzel's bedroom proved to be enormous. The entire inside of her tower could have fit in here, with room to spare. Unlike her tower rooms, however, the walls were very blank. No paintings covered the walls, and Flynn found that he missed the paintings. They had been so like Rapunzel herself; vibrant and full of energy for life. And the bed…

Flynn gaped at the bed for a moment as Rapunzel reluctantly released his hand long enough to pull off her robe. It was huge! They could both sleep in it and never touch, if they had wanted to. And probably fit Max in there too, while they were at it. Shaking his head in amazement, Flynn followed Rapunzel over and began kicking off his boots. Once they were both ready for bed, Rapunzel clambered on top of the large mattress and burrowed under the thick covers, motioning for Flynn to join her.

For the first time in his life, Flynn found himself hesitating to climb into a bed with a beautiful girl. Probably because this girl's father was the king, who would execute Flynn on the spot if he did anything to put her virtue at risk. Swallowing nervously, Flynn obeyed the silent request and joined Rapunzel in the enormous bed, his body practically sinking into the soft mattress as he did so. In an instant, Rapunzel was curled up against him, her hand finding his somehow under the sea of sheets and covers. Looking down at Rapunzel's big green eyes, Flynn managed a soft smile as he squeezed her hand softly under the covers and settled more comfortably next to her.

This was still very weird for the former thief, but he'd dealt with weird before. He hadn't freaked out when Rapunzel's hair healed his hand, after all. All right, so maybe he freaked out a little bit, but her hair had been glowing and had just healed a large cut in his hand! He had a right to be bothered by that. This, though…this was a different sort of weird. The sort that, if he messed this up, might end up with him dying. Again. Flynn didn't want to die again anytime soon, so he decided then and there that he wasn't going to do anything that Flynn Rider would normally do when left alone in a large, comfortable bed with a pretty lady.

"Good night, Eugene," Rapunzel whispered, snuggling closer to him, her face relaxing as the closer contact further eased their discomfort.

"'Night, Blondie," Flynn whispered back, wrapping his free arm around her as he closed his eyes. Maybe things weren't as weird as he thought they were.

Yeah…and maybe Max would sprout wings and start flying to the moon.