Chapter 10: What is a Wedding?

Hello everyone! I´m back with chapter 10, I have to tell you that I´m having a terrible writers block. I mean, I had already planned each and every chapter of this story since the beginning, but one thing is to have the plot of each chapter an another is to write it with details, dialogue and everything, so yes, that´s what I´m having troubles with. But anyways, I have to thank all of you guys for reading this story! Especially the ones who had reviewed, you all are amazing! So here´s the next chapter for you. Enjoy!

Review Replies:

MrAndersIversen: Thanks for your review as always! Hope you like this chapter :)

An Unknown Foreign Beauty: I´m glad you liked it, thanks for your wonderful review! I´m still reading your stories and I really liked them, even if they are getting really sad haha. Hope you like this chapter as well.

Pale-eye: thanks for your review! I´m glad you like this story so far ;)

TheMagicWorks: Thanks for reviewing :) oh and by the way, you should really see the movie I loved it! Hope you like this chapter.

Disclaimer: NO, I DON´T OWN TANGLED.

Xoxoxoxoxoxoxox

Rapunzel searched through another thick book, hoping to find the answers of her new problem. The answers for the questions that had been cursing her mind during the last few days. What is a wedding? What is marriage? Why was Eugene so nervous about this?

Rapunzel had found several things about marriage and weddings, but she still couldn´t find the answer for all her thoughts. She now knew that a wedding was a great celebration to unite two persons and where the couple vowed eternal love for each other. That it involved the woman wearing a white dress and the man wearing an elegant tux. That there had to be a best man and a maid of honor. And that after the wedding, the couple got to experience all the things that came with a marriage. They could share the same room, the woman got the first surname of her husband, they could form a family and have babies, and the couple would be together forever "till death do them part". Those were some of the things that came with marriage.

That sounded beautiful. And a wedding seemed to be a wonderful celebration. There was just one thing that Rapunzel didn´t understand. Why didn't Eugene want to get married? Didn't he love her enough to vow her eternal love? Was it too soon for them to get married? Rapunzel didn't find in the books she had read a specific time for someone to get married. Apparently, the couple could get married when they were both ready. So, why wasn't Eugene ready yet? She knew she wouldn't have a problem to get married soon. She loved Eugene more than anything in the world, and she couldn't imagine a life without him. Didn't Eugene feel the same way?

Pascal, who was lying beside her, pointed to a thick book with a crown painted in the cover. Rapunzel turned her head and examined the book.

"Umm… I don't know Pascal; this seems to be a book about royalty and all those things…"

Pascal shrugged and kept looking through the pile of books that she already had read. After half an hour or so, Rapunzel had read every book she had found about marriage in the library, every book except the one that Pascal had pointed at. Rapunzel delicately opened it and started to search through the many pages. The book told everything about royal ceremonies and important occasions. Rapunzel skipped to the part of the wedding things and she read the whole chapter. It said pretty much the same as the other books about a wedding, but the celebration was a lot fancier and formal. And after the wedding there was a fancy celebration at the castle to celebrate the union of the two royals. There was a huge ball where many other royals were invited and there were many details involved.

Rapunzel thought that it was pretty fancy compared to the things she read in the other books. The only thing that she was interested in was the fact that two people got married because they loved each other. She was about to close the book, not feeling really interested in the description of the fancy elegant celebration when a peculiar title caught her attention, 'Arranged Marriage'. It was printed in big black letters. 'What does this mean?' she thought to herself. She started to read through the pages with curious eyes, but as she went farther and farther, her eyes widened in shock. She started to get worried about this particular part of the book and its contents.

An arranged marriage was a marriage set and planned by the parents of two royals. It said that they got to choose the person whom their child will marry; it could be when they are babies or eventually, when they grow up. They chose the best option, which always had to be a member of royalty. The purposes of an arranged marriage were mostly to unite two kingdoms or to set an alliance between two important royal families. There were other cases in which arranged marriages were set just for tradition or to maintain the royal family line. But what Rapunzel feared the most, was that, once an arranged marriage was set, the two people involved couldn't do anything to change it. They had to get married and pleased their parents and their kingdom, and offer hearings to the throne. It was like their duty. And the official age for a royal to get married was when they turned eighteen.

Rapunzel felt really confused and worried by this. What did that mean? It sounded pretty horrible that someone planned your wedding and chose the person whom you will marry and spend the rest of your life! What if you didn't love the person they chose? What if he or she was a bad person and you didn't want to marry him or her? What if you were in love with someone else but you had to marry that person?

"Oh Pascal this is horrible!" the young princess said while turning to look at Pascal with wide eyes. The little chameleon nodded with the same expression as hers. Pure horror filling their eyes. Suddenly a horrible thought filled her mind. She gasped and covered her mouth with her hands, eyes wide in horror.

"Pascal what if my parents set an arranged marriage for me?" the princess asked horrified by the thought. "No, sure they wouldn´t… right? But what if they have to… oh that would be horrible Pascal! I would never be able to marry Eugene some day! Although…" she trailed off, and her expression changed from horror to sadness. "I don't really know if he ever wants to get married with me…" she said as tears began forming in her beautiful emerald eyes.

Pascal turned a deep shade of blue and put one of his paws in Rapunzel´s hand to try to comfort her. The young princess smiled sadly as one single tear slipped from the corner of her eye. She quickly wiped it away and sighed, sure she was just overreacting. She knew that if Eugene gave his own life to safe her once, he loved her enough to marry her one day. But the sudden worry about an arranged marriage made her stomach flip. She had to know if the arranged marriage would ever be an option for her parents, so she decided to ask her mother about it, she had to know if they would ever plan something like that for her. So she stood up from her sit and held her arm for Pascal to climb up to her shoulder, then, she headed out of the library and into the big hallways of the palace in search for her mother.

Xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo

Rapunzel arrived to the sitting room, where her mother usually spent her free time. She entered the room quietly and saw her mother. The Queen was sitting on a comfy chair reading a book. She seemed so peaceful that Rapunzel thought about coming later. But she knew that she wouldn't be able to think of anything else but the arranged marriage, so she approached her mother silently.

"Mother?" Rapunzel asked softly as her mother looked up from her book. She seemed surprised to see her, but smiled immediately.

"Hi dear! What are you doing here?" Queen Catherine said sweetly, a loving smile gracing her beautiful features. But it slowly faded and a slight frown took its place as she saw the worried look on Rapunzel´s face. "What´s wrong?" the Queen asked, concerned for her daughter. Rapunzel hesitated and embraced herself, she still wasn´t used to ask questions to her real mother, not after knowing how her fake mother reacted whenever she asked something related to the outside world. Gothel would get really angry, and sometimes she would close the window as a punishment, so Rapunzel couldn´t see through the only thing that connected her to the outside.

The Queen seemed to notice her distress, and she quickly got up from her sit and hugged her beloved daughter tightly. Rapunzel immediately relaxed at her mother´s embrace and returned the hug. Now all those days of fearing to ask or say something that wouldn't please her mother were over. Now she could trust her mother and ask her and tell her anything she wanted.

The Queen guided Rapunzel to a couch and sat down with her. "Now tell me, what´s wrong sweetie? You know you can tell me anything." The Queen said tenderly as she stroke Rapunzel´s long blond locks lovingly. But she quickly stopped as she saw how Rapunzel flinched when she did that.

Rapunzel remembered how Gothel would always do that. Now she understood why, she was just admiring the power of her hair, she was not trying to comfort her, like her real mother was doing, no, she was just using her, as always.

The Queen patted Rapunzel´s hands in encouragement. Now that she knew what Rapunzel had been through, she assumed that her reaction when she stroke Rapunzel´s hair was because what that horrible witch had done to her precious daughter.

Rapunzel relaxed again. She took a deep breath and then she looked at her hands. "Mother, I was in the library looking for something in a book, and then I found a book which explained something about… arranged marriage. So… I was wondering if…"

"If we had set an arranged marriage for you." The Queen finished for her. Rapunzel looked up from her hands and looked into her mother´s eyes. They were identical to her own eyes. She saw the look of motherly love in the Queen´s face, and she nodded slowly.

"Well, you have to know Rapunzel that in many many kingdoms; arranged marriages are set for almost every royal. Most times they are set since the royals are babies, in order to have treats with other kingdoms, or just to have a good family line. But here in Corona we have a law that says that members of royalty can marry whoever they want, as long as it is with another member of royalty." Explained the Queen. Rapunzel exchanged a worried look with Pascal, who was still on her shoulder. Did that mean that she couldn't marry Eugene anyway? She was about to ask but her mother kept talking.

"However that doesn´t mean that there are arranged marriages set sometimes. The law also says that if the kingdom presents a threat of war or has economic problems, an arranged marriage can be set in order to help the kingdom." Rapunzel was getting more worried as her mother kept talking. The Queen seemed to notice this because what she said next calmed Rapunzel immediately. "But don´t worry dear, the kingdom does not present any of those problems so far, so you´re not forced to marry someone you don't want." Said Queen Catherine with a smile as she patted Rapunzel´s hands. Rapunzel let out a sigh of relieve. But she wasn´t totally calm. What about the fact that she had to marry someone of royalty?

"But Mother, if I have to marry a royal… that means that I can´t marry Eugene? Because he is not a member of royalty and…" but she couldn't continue because her mother interrupted her.

"Well, we could fix that little problem." Said the Queen with another sweet smile. Rapunzel´s eyes lighted up and she smiled back before hugging her mother tightly. "Oh that´s wonderful Mother, thank you!"

"You don´t have to thank me dear!" said the Queen hugging Rapunzel back. "But, if I may ask, why were you looking about marriage in the library?" asked the Queen curiously.

Rapunzel bit her bottom lip nervously. "Well, the other day when Eugene and I went to the Snuggly Duckling, we discovered that a friend was getting married and he invited us to the wedding."

"Oh that´s wonderful sweetheart!" said the Queen happy to see that Rapunzel had adjusted to her life outside the tower and that she had made a lot of friends by now, though that never seemed to be a problem, everyone seemed to love Rapunzel and her bright spirit.

"Yes, but… G-Gothel never told me what was exactly a marriage nor a wedding, so until then, I just knew that people get married because they love each other, but that was all I knew, and I wanted to know everything about it because…" Rapunzel trailed off and her eyes met the floor of the big room. When she spoke again, her usual bright voice seemed distant, and instead it sounded almost sad. "Because Hook Hand teased Eugene about marrying me soon and he got all nervous and said that it was too soon to get married and… well… I think that maybe he doesn't want to marry me someday…" she said the last thing in almost a whisper, and the Queen noticed the hurt that was behind her quiet voice. She hugged Rapunzel tightly once again and tried to comfort her.

"Rapunzel, I know Eugene loves you very much dear. You don't have to worry about it. You have to know that a marriage is a great commitment. It´s a commitment that you can´t ever break unless you have a very powerful reason. And it doesn't mean just to swear that you will love and care for your partner forever, you have to know that with a marriage, also comes the fact of having kids and forming a family together. Especially for you that are a princess and have to have heirs for the throne. And, for Eugene, there are a lot more things that come with marrying you. He won´t be just Eugene Fitzherbert anymore, he will be Prince Consort Eugene Fitzherbert, and eventually, he will become a king. It´s a very big responsibility not just with you, but with the entire kingdom. And maybe Eugene is not ready to make that big step in his life yet. So, you don't have to be worried about it. I know he loves you and, with time, he will be ready to marry you and make the great commitment that comes with it." The Queen said as she stroke Rapunzel´s cheek.

"But you have to give him time, alright? You´ll see that when you least expect it, he will be proposing to you." She said tenderly. Rapunzel nodded and smiled at her mother before hugging her again. The truth was that the Queen´s wise words had calmed her a lot. She now understood why Eugene got so nervous about the subject, and she was incredibly relived that she won´t have an arranged marriage. That she would be able to marry Eugene someday and then, when they both were ready, they would form a happy family together.

That though made her smile the whole day. Knowing that, after everything they have been through, they would have their happy ending someday. Or that´s what she naively thought.

So, what do you think? I know is long and quite boring but that´s all I came up with. I think that Rapunzel would be worried about Eugene not wanting to marry her and I really wanted to write something about the relationship between Rapunzel and her mother and how different it is compared to the relationship that she shared with Gothel. Sorry for any Rapunzel/Eugene romance but I promise there will be a lot in the next chapter.

Love you all and please review! :)