Merry Christmas! Even if that is a little late...Sorry that this is nearly a week late! My grandparents came, and since I'm supposed to be with them at ALL times, I couldn't get on my computer until it was like 11:30, and then I was really tired...So here this is. Random fact: I FINALLY got the Tangled, Deathly Hallows, and Dawn Treader albums! My life is complete! :D
Oh, and I will be posting the next and final chapter today. I decided that I was milking this long enough. Really, I would have ended this story at the previous chapter, but I was trying for 20,000 words. Fortunately, I'm there. Plus, I had a great idea for a Tangled/Narnia crossover that I hope you all will be interested in! I'll hopefully post the first chapter today and see if people are interested. But keep watching for the next and final chapter of THIS story. It should be posted by 2 o'clock at the latest. I hope...
Disclaimer: I didn't get the rights to Tangled for Christmas. Santa just wasn't cool like that. However, I did get a Tangled coloring book from my best friend! She knows me so well! :) Please enjoy and review! :)
Chapter IX – The Danger That Followed
Rapunzel, Eugene, Pascal, and Maximus raced through the forest as fast as Max possibly could, until they were far enough away to rest and make a camp for the night. Eugene built a small fire, Rapunzel helped (more like watched while carrying one piece of wood at a time), Pascal watched the two disdainfully with the mindset of 'I'm going to stop them if they try anything', and Maximus guarded the surrounding area. While Max didn't completely trust Flynn, he didn't hate him either, especially because he liked Rapunzel and Rapunzel seemed to like and trust him.
Once the fire was built, the four sat around and talked, rationing out the small amount of food that Rapunzel had managed to grab before her escape. They talked of everything and nothing, getting to know each other. Eugene found out how Pascal and Rapunzel met ("It was a stormy night, and Pascal crept into my room because he was scared…okay, fine, I was scared by the storm and he scared me when I saw him in the kitchen…"), Rapunzel heard about life in the orphanage ("It sucked. End of story."), and everyone heard about what exactly had happened to Rapunzel and Eugene once they were separated.
They listened to each other intently until Rapunzel's eyelids were drooping and Pascal was snoring, then they realized that it was probably very late and they should go to sleep. Eugene took the first watch, with Max planning to take over in a few hours. There was no way they were going to get caught this time.
Unfortunately, they were being watched. While Eugene was paying attention to their surroundings, he didn't realize that someone had followed them all the way and was waiting for the opportune moment to strike.
Eugene stared at the fire, ears attentive, fingers picking apart pieces of grass out of sheer boredom. The ground was littered with pieces of broken grass among the live and growing pieces. Eugene picked up another blade of grass…1…2…3…4…The time passed slowly.
It seemed even slower because he was nervous and—dare he admit it?—somewhat afraid. Not necessarily afraid for himself, but afraid for Rapunzel. He didn't want Gothel to find her and—wait. She was the lost princess! He had to tell her!
"Rapunzel," he whispered, desperately trying not to wake Maximus or Pascal. Heaven knows what the two animals would do if they found out that Rapunzel was the lost princess. Not that they wouldn't find out anyway sooner or later. "Rapunzel," he repeated, standing, walking to her, and kneeling beside her. Her eyes fluttered open and she smiled at him. "We need to talk."
Rapunzel sat up and whispered, "Can't it wait until morning?"
"No," he said slowly. "Do you…you don't know…I found…What I'm trying to say is, I found out about you and…the lost princess. I don't know how to say this. I guess I'll just be blunt. You're the lost princess."
"What?" she asked suspiciously. Rapunzel was shocked. How could he make such a huge discovery and not tell her immediately!
"You're the lost princess. It all makes sense if you think about it, Rapunzel. You and the lost princess have the exact same birthday. You saw the mosaic of the princess—you both have green eyes and long blonde hair. If you think about it, you do look like the Queen and the King, but I guess you've never seen them. And you feel like you're drawn to the lanterns, which is the point. The King and the Queen send out the lanterns so that the lost princess might see them and feel like they're calling to her, which they do. Do you understand?"
"Now that you mention it…" Rapunzel trailed off, as she realized that she had been subconsciously seeing the sun on the purple banner her entire life. And then she unearthed a memory from the deepest confines of her mind; a memory that included two people—the King and the Queen, as they were depicted in the mosaic—looking at her and smiling. "It does make sense." She smiled. "I'm the lost princess. I'm the lost princess! This changes everything, Eugene!"
"I know," he said dejectedly. "I guess you'll be wanting to go back to the castle now, won't you?"
"Of course!" she exclaimed a little too loudly. Fortunately, Pascal and Max did not stir. "We have to go, Eugene! I have to meet my parents!" Rapunzel was extremely excited. "I cannot believe that I'm the lost princess! My parents are going to be so excited, aren't they? I mean, they've been waiting for me for my entire life!" Rapunzel was standing and looking around for her things as she gathered them in her arms. "Oh, I'm so excited! This is what I've been dreaming of!" Eugene's heart sank a little and he didn't know why. "Oh, Eugene!" And then she realized what she had been saying. Her shoulders sank and she exhaled sharply. "Oh, Eugene," she continued sadly. "You can't go back. You'll be arrested and hanged. And…and I can't go back either. I'm with you."
"You'll be arrested, too."
"That's not what I was talking about," Rapunzel said darkly, shaking her head slowly. She smiled slightly as she said, "I can't go back because I don't want to leave you. I can't leave you. I just can't. You've been there for me. I'm going to be there for you, too, even if that means leaving the kingdom forever. We can get away. My parents…the King and the Queen have been waiting for me since I was kidnapped by Mother…Gothel…and, well, I suppose they might just think I'm dead now. I guess it won't make a difference to them if I go back at all, will it?"
"I'm sure they would want you more than anything, Blondie," Eugene said, not revealing that he was secretly glad that she was going to stay with him and not go back to her real parents and become a princess. "Why don't you go back to sleep? I'll continue watching for danger."
"Do you want me to watch so you can sleep?" Rapunzel asked.
"No," Eugene said. He smiled. "I think the frying pan will protect me."
Rapunzel giggled. "Yes, I think it will. But look at you, Eugene! You're dead on your feet almost! You've been watching for so long! I'll watch, just for a little while, just so you can take a nap. We won't be able to do anything tomorrow if you're sleep-walking!"
Eugene looked uneasy, but eventually gave in. "Alright, but just for a little while. Wake me up in about half an hour."
"Okay," Rapunzel said brightly. Eugene lay down and closed his eyes. Before long, he was out like a lantern.
Rapunzel sat and watched and waited and then watched and waited some more. She heard a rustle in the bushes to her left, and raised the frying pan as she slipped into a defensive mode and stance.
"Who's there? Is it ruffians? Thugs?" she asked, her voice shaking slightly. Rapunzel knew not to judge a book by its cover, especially after meeting the folks at the Snuggly Duckling, but she couldn't help but be wary of her surroundings and of the people her mother—Gothel had warned her about. Rapunzel stared at the bush for what seemed like a long time, but then out jumped a squirrel. She exhaled a breath she hadn't realized that she'd been holding. "Well, that's lucky. You're just a cute little squirrel!"
"Oh, yes, it is cute," came a voice from behind Rapunzel. She gasped and turned around, raising the frying pan before her. "Hello, darling," Gothel said sweetly. Sweetly evil! Rapunzel thought to herself. "It's good to see me, isn't it? I've come to rescue you from this wicked man and his cronies. They've been plotting against you the entire time. I found out from some trustworthy sources that they were planning on cutting your hair and selling it! But not before using it for their own selfish gains!"
"Like you did?" Rapunzel asked in a small voice.
Gothel sighed, "Rapunzel, please, you know how I feel about the mumbling!"
"They would use my hair for their own selfish gains like you did?Did I mumble, Mother? Or can I even call you that?" Rapunzel asked angrily.
"What on earth are you talking about, Rapunzel?" Gothel asked, quickly catching on that Rapunzel knew something.
"You're not my mother!" she exclaimed, still soft enough that no one would wake. Fortunately, everyone was tired enough that a little talking wasn't going to wake them. "I know about everything, Moth—Gothel! I know that you kidnapped me. I know that I'm the lost princess!"
Even though Gothel said, "Please, darling, that's demented," Rapunzel saw the truth in Gothel's eyes. The old woman wasn't nearly good enough at keeping secrets as she claimed to be. Rapunzel didn't understand why she didn't see this earlier.
"No, it's not! I know everything!"
"Keep telling yourself that, darling. I know that you're my daughter. I gave birth to you!"
"Liar!"
"I nursed you!"
"Liar!"
"I raised you!"
"Liar!" Rapunzel cried, tears welling in her eyes and slipping down her cheeks.
"Is it a lie, Rapunzel? I did raise you! I should've have just locked you up and never bothered with the formalities!" Rapunzel quickly glanced over to Eugene, who was sound asleep about ten feet away. "Don't even bother waking him, Rapunzel. Come on, we're going far away from—"
"No!" Rapunzel exclaimed.
"No? As if you had a choice," Gothel chuckled. She yanked on Rapunzel's hair, causing the girl to cry out in pain. Rapunzel hadn't even realized that Gothel had hold of her hair.
"Stop!" Rapunzel cried, feeling the hairs being pulled from her scalp. With every tug that Gothel pulled, trying to pull Rapunzel away, Rapunzel shouted and fought, making the pain worse so that the tears were flowing constantly down her cheeks. Eventually, the pain became too much and she flat out screamed.
Eugene, Maximus, and Pascal awoke to the sight of Rapunzel getting dragged off by her hair and sobbing in pain. Flynn Rider immediately grabbed the frying pan, which Rapunzel had dropped in an attempt to clutch her head and force Gothel to release her hair. Max whinnied and ran off to go find help. Pascal's eyes popped, but he recovered and ran over to the Gothel. He tugged on her skirts, but she kicked him away. Rapunzel shouted, "Pascal!" The chameleon lay unresponsive on the ground next to a bush.
The Flynn Rider portion of Eugene Fitzherbert took control over Eugene Fitzherbert's body, but Eugene took back control, because he knew that when it came down to it, he would rather rescue Rapunzel as himself, and not as a false identity.
"Rapunzel!" he shouted. She looked over at him, but was unable to do anything because she was still being pulled away. Rapunzel stopped struggling and finally attacked Gothel. Eventually, the old woman let go of Rapunzel's hair, or at least enough to where Rapunzel could get far enough away and back toward Eugene. Rapunzel grabbed Eugene's arm and held on tight.
Gothel released her claim on Rapunzel's hair and pulled out a dagger. Both Rapunzel and Eugene noticed the feral glint in her eye. Rapunzel grabbed the frying pan, rushed to Gothel with it, and beat the dagger out of Gothel's hand so it hit the ground. Eugene grabbed the dagger and held it over Gothel as Rapunzel forced her to the forest floor.
The campfire was the only light source, but it was enough to show the fear that now resided in Gothel's eyes. Eugene looked down at Gothel, who seemed to be having a staring competition with her ex-daughter. He wondered if Rapunzel would kill him if he just stabbed Gothel and killed her. It sure would save a heck of a lot of problems.
But Eugene knew that Rapunzel loved Gothel, even if it was subconscious and buried deep, deep, deep down. Rapunzel would always love the woman who raised her. Even if the woman who raised her was a selfish, old woman who only raised Rapunzel to cultivate the power in Rapunzel's hair which was keeping her alive. Wait…keeping her alive… Eugene thought to himself. If Gothel really is centuries old, then destroying her life source would kill her. Did I read that in a book? Whatever. Would Rapunzel kill me if I cut her hair off?
Then Eugene saw the look in Gothel's eye as her hand crept toward her leg. Somehow, Eugene knew that she had another dagger hidden and would use it in a way that would prove fatal to him, most likely, allowing the old woman to take Rapunzel far, far away and hide her where no one would ever find her.
Eugene made up his mind to act on the spot.