I was feeling pretty good as I gathered up a few bits of firewood. I felt more real, more genuine, and I couldn't have done it without Rapunzel. Now, don't get confused here. I wasn't changing because of her; I was changing because of the person she was. She was…well, perfect, and she made me ashamed of my terrible morals and low standards. That's why I was changing.

I picked up all of the wood I had gathered and began to make my way toward our campsite. When the light of the fire came into view, I shouted to Rapunzel, "Hey, uh, can I ask you something? Is there any chance that I'm going to get super strength in my hand? Because I'm not going to lie, that would be stupendous."

I grinned, waiting for her to respond. I stopped walking when I was about a foot away from the fire. Rapunzel was standing on the opposite side of it with her back to me, staring off into the forest.

"Hey," I said, a bit concerned when she remained silent. I dropped my flippant tone and added, "Are you alright?"

Her head snapped around. She looked at me as if she hadn't realized that I was there. "Oh, sorry, yes." She turned to face me and continued, "Just, um, lost in thought I guess."

She dropped her gaze. I could tell that something was bothering her, something she didn't really want to share with me. I could see it in her eyes: worry, uneasiness, and a bit of fear. What could have shaken her up so much? I was only gone for about ten minutes. I was about to ask her about it when I realized that it may have been something really personal. She'd tell me if she wanted me to know, and it would be wrong of me to push her into sharing.

Instead, I shrugged as if I accepted her explanation. I made it my mission to lighten the mood a bit, hopefully making her feel a bit more comfortable. I put down the wood and said, "I mean because here's the thing: superhuman good-looks—I've always had them, born with it. But superhuman strength, imagine the possibilities of it!"

Rapunzel giggled as I added some wood to the fire. "I don't really know. I've never really healed anyone before. I mean, I knew that my hair could do that, but I don't ever see people that are hurt...I never really see anyone besides Mother…"

Her voice trailed off and that bit of fear returned to her features.

I cleared my throat, pulling her attention back on to me. "Don't get too many visitors up in that tower, eh? Well, no worries. We'll just see what happens to my hand over the next twenty-four hours." I sighed happily, thinking of what I'd do with super strength.

An owl hooted softly from a tree nearby. I was pulled out of my cheerful thoughts, and I looked around. The fire was still burning nicely, so my extra wood wasn't really necessary at all. I glanced up and noticed that Rapunzel was staring at me with a soft smile on her lips. I grinned back and she hurriedly looked away. Weird.

"Well, Blondie, I don't know about you, but I'm beat," I told her, leaning against a tree. "This has been a very…interesting—"

"Complicated?" Rapunzel offered.

"Yeah, an interesting, complicated day…" I thought about everything that had happened within the course of the past few hours. Too many adventurous, life-changing things had taken place. It almost didn't seem possible that I'd only stumbled across the hidden tower that morning. "Well, anyway, we should get some rest. Big day tomorrow."

Rapunzel smiled. "Thank you, Eugene, really. Thanks for, you know, putting up with me and doing all of this."

I shrugged and grinned. "No problem. It's been pretty fun so far. Well, it was fun when we weren't almost dying or being chased or anything like that."

She giggled and sat down on the floor, arranging her hair in a circle around her. "Goodnight, Eugene."

On the other side of the fire, I laid down as well. "Sweet dreams, Rapunzel. See you in the morning," I murmured idly as I pulled a rock under my head to serve as a pillow.

To think, I'd been planning on leaving at that point. As soon as Rapunzel fell asleep, I was going to betray her, grab my satchel, and split. But now, I really just wanted her to see the lanterns. She deserved to have that. Plus, I'd made a very fatal mistake that would prevent me from ditching: I'd developed an attachment to her. She was no longer the annoying little girl I was being forced to babysit. No, now she was Rapunzel, the young woman who inspired me to be better, who showed how sweet, naïve and innocent everyone else should be.

With these thoughts in mind, I slowly emerged into a deep, dreamless sleep.

Something cold and wet hit my cheek. I twitched a bit but ignored it. Then another drop splashed on the side of my face. I groggily pulled myself out of the deep sleep I'd entered and opened my eyes.

"What?" I mumbled lazily.

I looked up to find that it was water dripping onto my cheek. It was coming from the large, wet white horse glaring over me. The drops would slide off the end of his nose and splash on the side of my face.

This horse was same one who chased me through the woods until I found refuge in Rapunzel's tower. He also was the one that fought me by holding a dagger in his mouth.

"Well, I hope you're here to apologize," I said, resting my head against my rock-pillow. I really wanted to go back to sleep, to return to that peace.

But that didn't happen. Apparently, the horse didn't like what I said. He bit my foot and began to pull in an attempt to drag me away. Well, when I say "attempt," I really mean that he succeeded in dragging me away.

"Ah!" I shouted. "No, no, no, put me down!"

I saw Rapunzel spring up from where she'd been laying. My screams woke her up, and she came running over to help me. I was trying vainly to find something to hold on to, but nothing helped. The horse was pulling me toward a part of the forest that could potentially lead back to the kingdom.

"Let. Me. Go!" I commanded, though the animal didn't seem to care about my pleas.

Rapunzel grabbed my arms and pulled. I held on to her for dear life. She was actually quite strong for a girl of her size.

"Give me him," she said.

She tugged harder and harder until I finally came loose. My foot popped out of my boot, which remained in the horse's mouth. I was flipped over Rapunzel's head and landed with a thud on the hard ground. The horse began to gallop fiercely back toward me, a terrifying sort of determination in his eyes. I backed up against a tree, trying to get as far away as possible.

"Whoa!" Rapunzel called, standing up in front of the stampeding animal.

What was she doing? She could get herself killed! But then I realized that she was saving my life yet again. This girl was fantastic.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa," she repeated, holding her hands up. The horse slowed to a stop right in front of her. He tried to sidestep her, but she moved with him, blocking his path to me every time. "Whoa, whoa, easy, boy, easy. Settle down. Whoa." She continued to speak calmly to the horse, trying to get it to calm down. And it actually seemed to be working. "Easy, boy, easy, easy." The horse stopped trying to get around her and instead paid attention to what she was saying. "That's it," she said to him. "Now sit." The horse lowered its backside but didn't completely submit. "Sit," she repeated, a bit more harshly. He finally plopped himself down all the way.

"What?" I said. How could she get everything and everyone to do whatever she wanted? This was insane. It was a horse, not a dog, so why was it acting like a trained house pet?

"Now drop the boot," Rapunzel told it, smiling at her success so far. She seemed rather pleased with herself. "Drop it." The horse reluctantly obeyed. "Oh, you're such a good boy," she cooed, petting his nose affectionately. "Yes you are." The horse wagged its tail…just like a dog. This was ridiculous. "Aw, are you all tired from chasing this bad man all over the place?" The horse nodded.

"Excuse me?" I cried, though no one was paying any attention to me at all.

"Nobody appreciates you, do they? Do they?" Rapunzel spoke to the horse the same way one would speak to an infant. She hugged him.

"Come on," I shouted. "He's a bad horse!"

This time Rapunzel heard what I was saying. She turned to me, still stroking the horse's nose. "He's nothing but a big sweetheart," she assured me. "Isn't that right?" She glanced at a collar-like thing around the horse's neck. "Maximus." He whinnied affectionately.

"You've got to be kidding me," I muttered. How could this horse—the same one that had been on a mission to turn me in—trick Rapunzel into thinking he was a "big sweetheart?"

Maximus suddenly grew rigid and glared at me when he heard the sound of my voice.

"Look," Rapunzel said to him, lifting his head so that he was staring at her, not me. "Today is kind of the biggest day of my life, and the thing is, I need you not to get him arrested." She walked over to me and lifted me up, hanging on to my arm and pulling me closer to Maximus. The horse narrowed his eyes and I glowered back. "Just for twenty-four hours and then you can chase each other to your hearts' content, okay?"

The glaring contest continued for a moment, but then I remembered how important this would be to Rapunzel. I sighed and held my hand up, waiting for the horse to shake it. Maximus turned his head away, clearly refusing to agree to even a temporary truce.

"And it's also my birthday," Rapunzel murmured loud enough for the horse to hear. "Just so you know."

Maximus sighed loudly. He turned to face me again and shoved his hoof into my hand. We stood there like that, still staring fiercely at one another. Rapunzel walked through our little handshake after something apparently caught her attention. Both Maximus and I watched her as she made her way over toward a brilliant blue butterfly that had landed on a rock.

I was reflecting on how peaceful she looked as she knelt down beside the creature when I felt the powerful force of a hoof colliding with my stomach.

"Oof," I muttered breathlessly as I doubled over.

I heard Maximus laughing as he trotted away to join Rapunzel.

This was going to be a long day.