Gothel paused out of sight, waiting for the perfect moment to burst out of the trees. She had already planned the whole performance. Tears streaming, heavy breathing, distraught eyes. Her poor son. Her poor, sweet boy. It didn't take too long for her chance to appear – the guard had just been rotated for the new shift, and a fresh-faced young soldier was stood on the river bank, looking ready to protect the next damsel in distress that came running. His next quest was to find her Arieh. Then she could regain her youth.

She grabbed the hem of her dress and ripped, pulling and tugging at the material until it looked as if she had been in a fight. She then pulled the dagger resting at her hip out of its holster, using it to create more tears. If she caught herself a few times before she dropped the weapon to the floor, she didn't care. Made the look more realistic. The aging woman looked down at herself. She looked quite the victim. Show time.

Gothel hobbled out from her hiding place, tears running thickly down her face. Her leg then gave, and she fell with a cry. The young guard immediately ran over to the woman, helping her to stand and assisting her to a nearby bench.

"Ma'am? What's wrong – I am a Royal Guard, I can help!"

The dark-haired woman applauded her performance internally. The trap had worked perfectly. Now to move on to the second stage.

"M-my Son!" She wept, sobs causing her body to shake, "He wa-was taken! Bandits ambushed us, took all o-of our money! And then they took him!" Gothel made sure to increase the pitch of her voice as she spoke, giving the pretence of hysteria. She performed it perfectly.

"Don't worry Ma'am, you came to the right person! We can find him for you! Would you be comfortable with talking with one of my superiors? They will be able to find your son and apprehend the disgusting culprits who did this!" The young man's chest puffed out with pride at his ability to help a troubled citizen. Gothel could tell he was a new recruit already.

She nodded at the man between sobs, and he showed her to the headquarters of the Royal Army. It wasn't an hour before she was sat in front of the head of the Royal Guard, General William Turnage.

"What can I help you with?" He stared her down with dark eyes, and she opened her mouth to stutter out her answer.

"M-my s-s-son!" Cue the tears once again. "H-he was taken! Bandits a-am-ambushed us in the woods when we w-were heading to the city!" The General frowned at Gothel, his stern look turning sympathetic. Perfect.

"Well, Ma'am, we will do our best to find these criminals and get your son back to you safely. All we need is a description of your son, the perpetrators and where this happened. Whilst we carry out this, you may stay in the city for a few days. There is a chance that we will not find them within that time. You will have to go home, but do not worry, we will continue to search."

"Thank you! Thank you General!" Gothel cried, playing the role of sweet and worried Mother. "M-my son is quite short for his age, and has brown hair and blue eyes. He doesn't speak often, and he's quite shy! Please find him, I couldn't live without him!" A frustrating fact that was more literal than the General realised.

"And what of the people that did this?"

"We were about a day's walk away, towards the sea. There w-were t-three of them. There was a girl, no older than 18, I'd say. She conned us into thinking she was lost. We didn't want to leave the poor girl there, it wouldn't have been nice! She was brunette, short hair, with a blue dress and green eyes. Little did we know she was a distraction. She had two men with her, who jumped us when we were trying to help! One of them was tall with red hair. Lanky. He took my money, and tried to s-st-stab me! My sweet Arieh tried to stop him, he really did, but the third man grabbed him and k-knocked him out. C-carried him off. All I can remember was his dark hair…" She trailed off into sobs. The General stood from his desk and sat next to her, resting a hand on her shoulder.

"Thank you for the details, we will try our best to find them. Is there anything else you can recall? Anything they said?"

Gothel paused, trying to suppress a smirk at the success of her act. "O-one of them was called 'Finn' or 'Flynn'. It was unclear. I'm sorry I can't tell you more."

At the mention of the name, the General's face turned stony. "Of Course. Orson!" A new soldier entered the office. "Take our Guest to a suite." The General then turned and stalked out of the room, heading towards the stable. Gothel couldn't wait to see the rest of the plan play out. It was perfect. Soon she would be beautiful once again.

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William had his men searching for days for the three criminals and their hostage. It was on the fifth day that they struck gold. A patrol had stumbled across four travellers, all fitting the description given to them by the Mother. According to the guard who had reported this to him, they hadn't even been trying to hide their approach to the city. Or the satchel with the missing heir's crowns. More confusingly, the Hostage had been described as travelling willingly with the others. But that happened at times. He could have been threatened for all William knew.

Currently he was going to meet the patrol party on their way towards the city. He wanted to see these criminals for himself. And with Flynn Rider's track record, they needed all the soldiers they could spare. It took him the better part of two hours to reach the group, but the time spent riding was made worth it by the sight of Rider in chains. Behind Rider was a tall red-head and short brunette, just as described.

What didn't fit the description was the newly freed hostage. Unlike the quiet teen that the Mother had described, there stood a furious looking young man, shouting outraged comments at William's men.

"Let them go! Let me go! That's my sister you're man-handling you moron!" He was thrashing about on the horse, the soldier sat behind him struggling to keep control.

"Excuse me, young man!" William spoke up, infusing authority into his tone. The man on the horse stopped shouting to glare at him.

"What?"

"What right do you think you have to cause my men such trouble? We are trying to assist you." William spoke sternly.

"Assisting? Well they're doing a terrible job!" He slipped off the horse, much to the frustration of the soldier behind him. William waved the man off. "They locked up my travelling companion," He gestured to Flynn (who was trying to hide his face from the General), "And my sister!"

"According to your Mother, you were kidnapped by these criminals. Are you saying this is untrue?" William raised his eyebrows imperiously.

"Yes! As if they could ever kidnap me!" Flynn snorted quietly, earning a slap on the shoulder from the brunet man. "My Mother is a horrid liar. She never liked me. Always preferred Rapunzel." The brunet moved towards said sister, and the pair looked up at William.

But the General had no response. Because they looked (with the exception of the girl's hair) exactly how he had imagined the lost heirs would have, had they still been with the King and Queen. The same eyes, noses, mouths. He didn't know what to do. How could it be them? They have a Mother (who for some reason is only looking for one…). Plus the girl – Rapunzel – her hair was the wrong colour. But that's not too unusual. Things change, right?

The only thing William could think to try was to sing. It was a regular occurrence with his men to sing for entertainment, so he didn't feel out of place doing so. The only thing that was different about this song was that he had made it up, and performed it on a regular basis for the Royal Twins. They were the only ones to know it. If this pair knew it, then William would have confirmation of their identity. If they didn't the group could carry on back to the city jail as planned.

"Two young soldiers marched,

Feet pounding on the ground,

One's hair dark, the other fair,

Decked proudly in red and gold,

They're on their way to save the kingdom,

From their terrible foes,

Who threatened the land,

And all its people,

With their rotten goals-"

"The battle was long and hard,

But red and gold prevailed

And two young soldiers marched back home,

With peace again restored."

Two voices joined the General's own, deep and aged mixing with youthful softness. It was them! He had finally found the twins! He turned to them, staring in awe. Around them, the soldiers were shifting in their places, sensing that they'd missed something big.

"How do you know that song?" William demanded. He needed to be sure.

Rapunzel spoke up for the first time in response, "We used to sing it to each other all the time when we were little. We've always just known it."

"Well, the only people who could possibly know that song other than myself, are the King, Queen and their missing heirs." Silence fell over the party as the announcement sunk in. They needed to go to the castle. Now.

Hope you guys all enjoyed the chapter!