Chapter 12: Troubling News

Eyes wide with shock and feeling numb, Rapunzel, for a brief moment, temporarily had forgotten about Flynn since she just witnessed the death of Gothel. Sure, she kidnapped her and used her hair for her own reasons, but maybe…deep down, Rapunzel believed that she truly cared for her.

After all, she didn't knew her real parents at all.

"Rapunzel?"

Her world had just came crashing down and she lost everyone. Almost.

"Rapunzel!" Sora's voice managed to break Rapunzel out of her thoughts.

"What?" she replied, still feeling numb.

Sora closed his eyes before he reopened them, staring straight into hers. "There's…something I need to tell you…"

Rapunzel shook her head, sadly; a remorse look came on her face. "I know," she said bitterly which made Sora be surprised. "I'm the lost princess…" she gave a small laugh, sending him a small smile. "Who knew, right? Heh…"

Suddenly realizing that Flynn was dying (even though there was a chance that he was already dead), Rapunzel stared back at Eugene, grabbing him so that he was in her arms and tears were flowing down.

"No, no, no, no. Eugene!" Rapunzel said through her tears. Her heart ached with so much pain. Everything was like this because of her. "Look at me. I'm right here…" she sobbed. "I'm right here…"

She placed his hand on her head in hopes that could heal him. She didn't wanted to accept this fate just yet.

"Flower, gleam and glow. Let your powers shine," she gritted her teeth. "Make the clock reverse. Bring back what once was mine…"

"Rapunzel!" Flynn slightly shouted but it was weak though this seemed to have gained Rapunzel's attention.

"What?" she sobbed, the tears were no longer controlled.

"You…you were my new dream," Flynn shot her a weak smile.

Rapunzel cried, hugging him closer. "And you were mine."

And then, Flynn knew no more. Her body was shaking badly as she felt his hand slipping away from her grip and Rapunzel knew she lost him forever. The room was completely silent since no one spoke a word about anything. They merely put their heads down in respect for Flynn while Rapunzel softly resumed singing her enchanting song.

"Heal what has been hurt…" she whispered, her eyes flowing with tears. "Change the fates design… Save what has been lost. Bring back what once was mine. What once was mine…"

Like that, Rapunzel nuzzled against the cold skin of Flynn and the only thing that was heard were her sobs. Sora felt Kairi nudging him as she hugged her arm, staring at the front with a bitter look.

"I'm so sorry…" Sora muttered. Rapunzel didn't deserved this. Her tears fell on Flynn's cheek and nothing what the group did or say would comfort her. Rapunzel was completely heart-broken. She lost all the willpower to even say anything.

"If I had done something…" Sora started.

"Don't," Rapunzel replied through her shaky breath. "Nothing…you say would change…what has happened…"

Sora softened his expression while Kairi whispered in his ear.

"We can't meddle with things. They have to go along with the original plot," Kairi whispered.

Just then, the tear that fell on Flynn's cheek got absorbed and then, unexpectedly, a bright glow shone at his cheek. Donald lifted his head since he was also feeling terrible but because of the light, it grabbed his attention.

"Hey, look!" Donald exclaimed, pointing at the light.

"What…" Rapunzel lifted her head slightly as she saw the glow running its course. The light trailed down to the wound, shooting out its rays of light as it began to heal Eugene. Trails of light began to illuminate the dark room as everyone stared at the scene with amazement. The ribbons swirled in their path, filling the entire room with its light as it also consumed Rapunzel who stared at it, being stunned.

As it was releasing its powerful rays of light, the patterns was eventually formed into a flower—the very flower that gave Rapunzel's power. Everyone felt its warmth; their heavy hearts being relaxed at the illumination before it died down.

Barely breathing, Rapunzel frantically looked back at Eugene as she waited for the change. Anything.

What it felt like forever, Eugene's eyes had finally flickered open and he turned his head to Rapunzel, muttering in a soft tone where Rapunzel could only hear it.

"Rapunzel…?" Eugene mumbled.

But from that simple sentence, it made Rapunzel's world complete. Happiness took over as she stuttered out his name.

"E—Eugene?"

Flynn breathed heavily since he was just starting to compose himself but he still managed to find some strength into talking.

"Did I ever tell you, I've got a thing for brunettes?" he grinned silly.

Sora let out a sigh of relief even though Rapunzel tackled Eugene from pure happiness, hugging him.

"You're okay!" Sora cried out. "Guys, Flynn's alive!"

"Oh, boy!" Donald exclaimed, delighted.

The two shared a moment as Rapunzel let out a small laugh before she did the next thing that surprised everybody even though most of them saw it coming. She even surprised herself.

Rapunzel threw herself against Eugene, planting a kiss on his lips. For a second, Flynn went numb and was unable to collect himself at the moment before he gradually shared the kiss. Sora grinned.

There was a happy ending after all.

"Aww," Sora smiled slyly. "Eugene got himself a girlfriend."

Blushing furiously, Rapunzel pulled herself away and stammered; her cheeks going red.

"Hey, only Rapunzel can call me Eugene. You guys have to stick by Flynn," Eugene smirked.

Sora rolled his eyes.

"Yeah and you're being a bit of a hypocrite yourself, Sora," Riku's voice came as he kneeled down, grinning.

"Huh?"

He then looked to the side and noticed that Kairi was still lingering beside him. Eyes wide, Kairi quickly pulled herself away, moving herself away from him. Riku laughed though he was met with a glare from Kairi.

"You great big prick," Kairi hissed.

Sora eyed them skeptically until he realized that he was still chained. "Erm…anyone got something that could get me out of this?" he lifted his hands to show the chains in a helpless manner.

Riku shook his head, amused. "Don't worry. I got something."

At his left hand, a glow came which revealed his weapon though it made Sora widened his eyes.

"Your Keyblade!" he exclaimed. "It came!"

Rapunzel shot them a confused look. "A what?"

"It's our weapon. It's how we can fight," Riku summarized before Kairi slid backwards in order to allow Riku to perform his action.

Sora brought his hands up at the front and with a swing, Riku cut through the chains, breaking them apart. The metals clanged against the ground and Sora rubbed his wrists, breathing out a sigh of relief.

"Ohh…finally," he muttered. "No more chains."

Riku gave him a playful grin as he placed the Keyblade across his shoulders from behind, having his arms flop over it.

"You know, I'm starting to think that we should carry chains for Sora," Riku replied, having Sora widened his eyes as he stared up at Riku.

"Huh? What do you mean? I've been chained enough, thanks."

Riku laughed. "I'm saying because almost everywhere we go, we would always lose you. You just can't stand still, can you?"

Sora winced but he grinned anyway. "No, I guess I can't."

Everyone laughed until Flynn spoke.

"Before you guys leave, there's one more thing we have to do…"

He gave a knowing look at Rapunzel who stared at him until she realized what she meant. She bit her lip, not sure if she should proceed. Not sure if she's even ready to meet them. Eugene's hand caressed her cheek and he gave a reassured nod.

"It's time," Eugene replied, softly.

The guard furiously ran down the halls. He didn't even stopped running. Not after he heard the news. And when the castle heard the news, the whole city itself from excitement.

He panted, not stopping until he reached his destination. Once he did, he allowed himself to compose himself for a few seconds before taking in a breath and opened the doors where he knew the King and Queen would be.

The guard didn't even have to say anything since they automatically knew. He simply gave them a nod and without a wasting a second, the Queen jumped from her seat and ran down the halls, chasing after the solider.

Her heart was racing with anxious and happiness. Happy that their daughter had finally returned. Happy that they would be able to see her again. Once more. Happy that she would finally live with them.

As how it should have been.

But she was also anxious since she didn't know if their daughter would welcome them as her real parents. It had been too long, the Queen admits so it'll take some time for her to accept them and the Queen was okay with it.

At last, the Queen arrived at the entrance where she practically flung the French doors wide open; her heart racing furiously.

There, upon hearing the doors being opened, Rapunzel slowly turned around only to see two people who stared at her with wide eyes. The Queen didn't even notice that there were several people behind Rapunzel. None of them spoke but the Queen made her move as she slowly came to her.

To her baby girl.

Only she wasn't a baby but rather a full grown woman.

The Queen didn't mind that she suddenly had short dark brown hair or that her dress was dirty. She just wanted her daughter.

The Queen placed her hand on Rapunzel's cheek and then, the two shared a moment as the real mother gave her a tight hug, feeling overjoyed that her daughter was home at last.

Upon hearing the return of the lost princess, the whole city went berserk as they were cheering loudly than they ever had before, celebrating. Everything had been returned to normal.

Flynn was received an enormous gesture from the King and Queen who were profusely thanking him until Flynn mentioned that it wasn't just him. He motioned to Sora and his friends but Sora shrugged it off, telling him that he was fine with it.

After all, if anything, Flynn deserved this.

"So…now what?" Goofy asked as they were slightly withdrawn from the large crowd but even to where they were, the crowd was still there, surrounding them.

Sora shrugged. "I don't know. I guess we go out to a new world…like before…" he said, turning around as he gazed up at the clear blue sky that was filled with hundreds and hundreds of the floating lanterns.

"Do we really have to?" Kairi asked. "I almost…feel…home at here…"

Sora gave a small smile. "But we're heroes, Kairi. We help the people, save them and in the end, we defeat the ultimate enemy that had been causing us and everyone else so much problems."

Kairi sighed. "It's just a long stretch hope though…" she replied before she noticed Flynn and Rapunzel walking towards them. She tapped Sora on his shoulder and he turned around to see the two.

"Quite a party, huh?" Flynn asked, earning nods.

"Yeah, no kidding," Sora grinned.

Despite the loud cheers and the music, silence fell between the groups as none of them spoke.

"So now what?" Rapunzel broke the silence. "What's in store for you guys?"

Sora stared down with a saddened look, placing his arms over his chest. "Now…now we go to a new world…to help other people. We must never allow the worlds to fall into darkness."

Rapunzel looked at him, upset. "Is…is this really goodbye then? We won't ever see you again?"

Sora looked up, flashing her a playful grin. "Hey, don't say that. Just because we're going away, it doesn't mean we won't come back. Remember, we're always here…inside your hearts," Sora said as he placed his hand on his chest.

Rapunzel nodded, smiling until she roughly grabbed Sora, pulling him into a hug. "Thank you," she whispered.

Sora sighed as he stared down on the floor of the ship. By the time, the group got here, Chip and Dale had fixed the ship and was working perfectly. He closed his eyes, placing his hand on his chest though he winced a bit. He bit his lip as he remembered how Cruella tortured him in order to awaken the power that was apparently hidden inside him but it proved to be futile.

But that didn't stop him from wondering if he actually had that power of which Cruella was talking about.

"You okay?" Kairi asked, snapping Sora from his thoughts.

"Hmm…? Oh, yeah. Lost in thought," Sora said. He gave a glance at Riku who resumed sulking since Donald had won over a small contest and he was now the Captain of the ship.

Scowling, Riku looked up only to see Sora looking at him though Sora flashed him a small smile.

"What's up? You look like you need something to get off your chest," Riku pointed it out.

Sora slightly winced. He still needed to tell them about Cruella and how she was here. Taking a breath, Sora spoke.

"Listen…" he started. "When I was at the prison for being wrongly accused, I met someone there…it was Cruella."

Everyone widened their eyes from shock.

"What?" Riku shouted. "Cruella's here? Why?"

"During my time as a prisoner, she mentioned to me something about the power. The one where King Mickey told us about. For a brief moment, she used her dark magic on me in hopes to retrieve the power but it was futile since I didn't had it apparently. Either that or it was still in deep slumber."

"Gawrsh then we better find those lost pages before she does," Goofy said. "Who knows what will happen if Cruella finds them. We can't let her get to it."

Riku nodded. "Goofy's right. We have to get it before she does."

Sora agreed. "Yes or otherwise, everything we had fought for…it'll be for nothing."

In a dark room where a dim light had shone from an orb, two green eyes were visible from the shadows.

"So…it appears that they had made out alive on this one," the sinister voice replied. The orb which showed the image of Sora and his friends died down, revealing nothing but blank.

The figure turned around, going away from the orb; the green eyes still gleaming brightly. "No matter…I'll make sure that their next trip won't be so friendly…"

Author's Note: Whoo! Tangled is done! Huzzah! (And finally XD ) but this is also where I'm going to leave it off just because I gotta update my newest Spider Man story—I know, so many stories—but until then, feel free to guess what the next world is. What happens next? Find out! Toodles!