A/N: Sorry for not posting yesterday, but my iPad just wouldn't connect to the internet. Anyway, I hope the chapter's good, even if a little short :)

Thanks to LunaFlower217, bubzchoc and MakorraLove97 for reviewing :D

Enjoy!

"Ahhhrg!"

Eugene gritted his teeth and tried to ignore the pain his wound inflicted him whenerver Rapunzel dabbed it with a handkerchief she'd previously wet with some rum the thugs had provided. They didn't really have an emergency kit, and Rapunzel had gathered the few things that could be useful to mend Eugene's wound.

"Sorry" she apologized, pressing the tissue against the wound with both her hands. She'd have stopped right then, hadn't she known that if she did stop, then the wound could've gotten infected, and that would've probably been far worse than the pain Eugene was feeling at the moment.

"It's ok" he replied, through gritted teeth, his fists clenched, trying to ignore how much the cut burned. He opened his eyes, and looked at Rapunzel. The sight comforted him immensely. He knew it was dumb, but he still had some trouble believing she was there, with him. It seemed too good to be true. She took off the handkerchief and pressed it on the wound again, as a new pang of pain hit Eugene. She definitively was real, he decided, as he shut his eyes again.

He was lying on the ground, the thugs scattered around him, and Rapunzel kneeling at his side to take care of his cut. He hadn't imagined their reunion would've gone like that. Actually, his plans hadn't gone much further than managing to save her. He'd never thought about what'd happen after that.

"Killer?" Rapunzel called, leaving her spot to let the thug take it.

Oh, no. Not Killer! Eugene thought as the thug kneeled beside him. It could only mean one thing: he needed stitches. He'd only needed stitches once before, when he'd cut his hand during training, and it wasn't something he had a happy memory of. Fortunately, Killer had been summoned just to check if stitches actually were needed and, after saying the wound was going to heal just fine without any stitching, gave back to Rapunzel the spot, so that she could bandage the Prince Consort. Eugene let a relived sigh escape from his mouth.

"Next time I come to rescue you, I'm coming with a full armor and the best sword your father can get me" he commented, while Rapunzel wrapped a piece of the Innkeeper's apron around his waist.

"Who says there'll be a next time?" she asked, hiding how worried she truly was. If the cut had been deeper.. she wasn't so sure she'd still have a husband.

"Well, a certain Princess sure doesn't seem to be able to keep herself out of trouble.." he replied with a weak grin. He still felt like his left side was on fire, but the worst had passed, and the fact that he was now a bit more relaxed showed it.

"Oh, shut up" she smiled and gave him a slight poke. She looked into his deep hazel eyes for a moment, before asking "Do you think you can stand?"

"Let me try" he answered, slowly lifting himself on his elbows. That was already something, he thought, while Rapunzel helped him sit up straight. He let out a moan as his wound reclaimed attention and the pain exploded once more. But, when he rested his back against a piece of tree trunk the thugs had brought him, he began feeling better. Rapunzel sat next to him and rested a hand on his shoulder "Does it hurt a lot?"

"Nah, not that much" he answered, straightening himself. The pain was already beginning to fade. If it kept going on like that, next morning he'd be completely fine. Or, almost.

"So, Rapunzel, what happened?" asked Hook Hand, who was one of the thugs closest to her. Now that the Prince Consort had been tended, he and the other wanted to know the story: what had been going on while they were looking for her?

"Where do I start?" she wondered, as she laced her fingers with Eugene's. She decided she'd better begin with when she'd woken up in the tower. So she started telling how she'd dealt with the realization she'd been kidnapped, how she'd befriended Jean, how Conall's visit had turned out and how she and Jean had managed to escape. The thugs listened carefully, without interrupting, as if she were telling them the best story of all times. Occasionally, they'd nod, or gesture for her to continue whenever she stopped to take a breath. Eugene did the same, but more than listening, he watched his wife, the way her lips moved while forming all those words, how her glance shifted from thug to thug and how she gestured to explain better with her free hand, since the other one was still laced through his. Listening and watching he realized that she wasn't anymore the girl he'd found in that tower a year before. He realized she'd changed, and had become more sure of herself, more independent and brave now that she was free to live her life as any normal person would.

"But then they caught us and, if it hadn't been for you, I'd be locked up in that tower right now" she finished. She hadn't skipped the part about Jean, and had been happy to notice that the thugs had her same opinion about the girl: she wasn't an enemy, but an ally. The Princess wanted to ask if they were ready to help Jean escape, but she thought it'd be better to learn what had been their adventure before focusing on how to save her friend.

"About that, how did you find us?" she asked, looking first at Eugene an than at the thugs.

"Well, first I think you should know how we ended up together" said the Prince Consort. Rapunzel told him to go on, and he explained her how Max had found the creek and Shorty had shown up, giving them a promising lead to the thugs' location. At that point Shorty jumped up, asking "Who said my name?! I didn't do anything!" and causing the rest of the group to laugh.

"He should really give up drinking" Hook Hand managed to say, between a laugh and the other. They were laughing mostly because they were together, and they were relieved to be safe and sound, after the fear that had guided them for the past two days. After the laughter had died down, Eugene let Hook Hand tell the rest of the story, while the other thugs nodded in agreement and added this or that to the main stream. When he came to telling how Greno had alerted them about their presence, he let him take the word, that went back to Hook Hand as soon as he'd told how he'd delivered the news to the others. As for the battle, the thugs took some extra pride about it, and exaggerated the details a bit, while Eugene kept whispering in Rapunzel's ear things like "Totally not true" or "They're just making stuff up to impress you", which made the Princess have to bite down a chuckle.

"And now we're here, laughing and everything" Hook Hand concluded with a smile. Rapunzel smiled back thinking about how lucky she was to have all those friends ready to save her, no matter who there was to go through. She'd have never dreamed of finding them, when she lived in the tower, not after what Gothel had told her about the outside world. She replayed all those years of lies, sometimes, and realized how hypocrite Gothel had been, saying she wanted to protect her. She was just glad that chapter of her life was over now. She didn't know how her life would've been if Eugene hadn't climbed up her tower that day. Maybe she'd have ran away on her own, eventually, but she preferred the way things had turned out to any hypothesis she could've come up with.

...

Eugene and Rapunzel were sitting next to each other while the thugs were making supper or talking, finally getting the chance to be alone.

"Promise you'll never put yourself in danger again. You have no idea how worried I was when you were battling that soldier with a frying pan" Rapunzel said softly, hoping Eugene wouldn't have any objections to make.

"Ok, I admit I should've thought about bringing a weapon with me, but how can I promise that if you don't promise to stop getting kidnapped by evil people who want to use your magic hair?" he asked. It was something between a tease and an excuse, and she wasn't sure how to react, so she just commented "I hate when you're so difficult"

"I am not!" Eugene defended himself, a smile slowly appearing on his face.

"Oh, yes you are. But I think I love you anyway" she replied grinning.

"How kind of you!" he mocked before pulling her closer to him to kiss her. He thought he could've lived just of her kisses, they made him feel like every day was the best of his life, even if he'd just had to go through a really hard session of training, or his plans had just turned to dust.

"Promise" she said, again. This time she was almost pleading, and Eugene didn't hesitate to reply "I promise, no more putting myself in danger" From the way he said it, you'd have thought he was going to keep his promise, no matter what, but he knew that if Rapunzel's safety would be at stake, he wouldn't hesitate to break it. Maybe the Princess read it in his eyes (she was the only one who managed to know what his thoughts were) because she sighed before kissing him.

"I love you" he whispered, brushing a strand of hair away from her forehead.

"I love you too" she replied, smiling weakly and resting her head onto his shoulder.

"I hope for you that people will stop kidnapping me, otherwise you'll break your promise, and you have no idea how angry I get when someone doesn't keep their word" she said, looking up at him.

"I'll keep that in mind" he chuckled, wrapping his arms around her.