Alrighty! So for the last few months I have been obsessed with the Hunger Games! With the movie coming out and all, it was hard thinking of other fandoms (I was actually even thinking of discontinuing this!) :( But I recently got a notification in my email that someone favorited this story and I got all guilty! So here I am! I really want all you guys to know that your support and words of appreciation are what keep me going with this :) So enjoy this chapter!
Flynn's POV:
I've done nothing but sit here, staring at the back of the princess' easel for the last 3 hours. What could she be painting? Even though I'm bored, the fact that I've been in the exact position for the last week or so, makes it one of the most fascinating things to do. I peer outside the window, longing for freedom; still, if this is the life of the average captive, it's not as terrible as one would think. Yes, not being allowed to go anywhere is awful, but… as much as I hate to admit it, I very much enjoy when the princess comes to talk. She seems genuinely interested in all my adventures. She's the first to listen to my stories with eyes bright with attention. It makes me feel like the hero instead of the outlaw. I let myself to smile just a little. Just then a light knock sounds on the door.
"Flynn?" Princess Rapunzel says poking her head in the room. She smells awful and her eyes are a little red. She quickly answers the question on the tip of my tongue even before I ask it, "It wasn't exactly the best engagement party…" She tries to force a smile, but ultimately fails.
"Come in and tell me about… if you want of course…." I say
She closes the door behind her delicately, and leans against it, "I got soaked in soup in front of everybody in the ballroom."
I try my best to stifle a chuckle and question her, "You… fell into a bowl of soup?"
"No! It was the prince!"
"The prince pushed you into a bowl of soup?"
"No! He was actually nice… I think. But he was acting really weird and it ended up embarrassing me."
I roll my eyes at the prissy little princess. Being raised in a castle and all, a spot of water on your shoulder must mean the end of the world, I assume. I turn my attention to what she said about the prince. "Maybe you made him nervous." I say carelessly.
She looks confused, "Nervous? It was nerve-racking for me too but he didn't make me that nervous!"
I smirk, "You obviously don't know the effect you have on men!" I say. But after thinking about it for a half second, I wish my hands were free so I could smack myself in the face. I'm her captive for heaven's sake!
Her jaw drops a bit but then she looks down, blushes and begins fiddling with her fingers. "I- I… I have an effect on men…?" She asks timidly.
Great. Now I'm blushing too. "Uh- Well-"
She cuts me off, "Do I… have an effect on you?" She says smiling a little.
Oh god, why did I start this? "You… kind of- well you-"
"Flynn?"
"Yes?" I ask abruptly.
"I'm just joking!" She giggles
"Oh! Phew!" I say all too relieved. We share a good laugh before it dies down awkwardly as we both begin to wonder what my answer would have been. We sit there I silence for quite awhile, neither of us looking at each other.
"Does it still hurt?" She asks, "You got that after jumping out of my room didn't you?"
I look at her and follow her eyes to my leg. All the blood has dried and left a wet sensitive scab. Yes. It still stings a little, but not much, "Not really and yeah." I reply. Her hair is suddenly put over the hideous wound and she looks at me for approval. Only then do I remember the reason I'm here is because I found out about her magical healing hair. I've never actually seen it in its glory, and I have to say that I am a little curious. I nod once and she begins singing an unfamiliar song.
Flower gleam and glow
Let your power shine
Slowly, the roots of her hair start glowing, spreading bit by bit to the tips.
Make the clock reverse
Bring back what once was mine
My leg tingles slightly. I feel something happening, but I don't know what.
Heal what has been hurt
Change the fates design
Save what has been lost
Bring back what once was mine
What once was mine
She removes her golden locks away from my leg and reveals the fresh new skin underneath. I knew it could do that, so I'm just a little surprised. Any thoughts that the princess might be crazy and think she had magic hair get tossed out the window. She didn't have to do this. I look at her and she gives a small shy smile.
"Thank you." I say simply
Her face breaks into a grin, "You're welcome, Flynn."
Flynn. The name I've been lying to everyone with since I was just a kid, including me. The name that I saw in books, that gave me hope that there was a better life waiting for me outside the orphanage. I feel something I haven't felt in all my years of being a thief. Guilt. I never get close enough to anyone to feel guilty about lying to them. I hate talking about my past. It makes me seem so weak. But can I ever really live with the fact that this girl who saved me from imprisonment, healed the wounds I got trying to steal from her, would be trusting the wrong me? No.
"I have to tell you something…"
Her eyebrows narrow and I continue, "My name isn't really Flynn."
Her face gives of a mixture of emotions. Shock. Anger. Curiosity. Confusion. And worst of all, hurt. "Who are you? What- Why?"
"You like it when I tell you stories, right?"
"I guess." She says without any of the said emotions leaving her face.
"Well, 22 years ago, a little boy named Eugene Fitzherbert was stuffed in a basket and left in front of an orphanage. He spent years being looked at as 'poor little Eugene'. People would walk in front of the orphanage while he and all the other children would clean the porch, they all looked at him with the most awful, pitiful eyes." I flinch remembering every single pair of eyes and Princess Rapunzel listens closely.
"One day, while Eugene was fixing up, he found a book called The Adventures of Flynnigan Rider, and it was incredible! He was a swashbuckling rouge, the richest man alive, and not bad with the ladies either… Eugene read that book to all the kids at the orphanage every night."
"Was he a thief too?"
"No…" I say quietly, "But Eugene thought long and hard about what it would take for him to become just like Flynn Rider and he knew that he wasn't going to accomplish that where he was at the time, so…."
"So?"
"So he left. That's the end." I say glumly. Talking about my past always makes me depressed, that's why I never do it. I look away, knowing the princess is probably looking at me with those pitiful eyes that I despised so much.
"I've never seen you so vulnerable, Eugene." It weird hearing her say my name for the first time, but oddly enough, I kind of like it. I turn my head to look back in her direction but her arms are abruptly wrapped around me in a warm embrace. At first it startles me but then the sweet sensation of home, like the feeling I got when I walked into Chuck and Red's little cottage, but a hundred times better, washes over me. I tentatively put my arms around her and stroke her soft golden hair. She shift her head so that her lips are inches away from my ear, "I trust you." she says and I feel the ropes around my wrists loosen until they fall to the ground.
"You're letting me go?" I say feeling grateful and happy for my freedom.
She gives a sad smile and nods as we both stand. I smile and laugh when I utter the words, "Thank you." pulling her into another embrace. She makes and sound somewhere between a chuckle and whimper. We release and I look at her big emerald colored eyes, tears threatening to spill. Is she actually going to miss me? I get a feeling in my chest; it's so strong it hurts. Longing. Longing to close the space between are faces. Longing to hold her and never let go. But I know I shouldn't be feeling this way. Not only is she royalty, she's engaged. She shyly kisses my cheek and mumbles, "Goodbye, Eugene."
I nod, "Goodbye princess."
I turn around to walk to the window when she says urgently, "You can just call me Rapunzel!" I smile and look back, "Okay, Rapunzel."
"And visit! If you want…" she adds
I want to see her again, badly, but I don't know if I should. If I keep coming back I'll begin to like her more and more, and dare I say it, fall in love with her. I don't say anything more, I simply continue down the window, scale down the side of the castle and disappear into the night.