AN: last chapter and I know you'll like it :)

thank you for the reviews! I love them, and please feel free to leave one for this chapter.

Chapter 20-Questions and Answers

"Someday somebody's going to ask you a question that you should say yes to."

-Old 97's

I love thee, I love but thee
With a love that shall not die
Till the sun grows cold
And the stars grow old.
~ by William Shakespeare

Actually, we weren't able to go home soon. Not at all. That was partly because I needed to recover from my injury and partly because of the wonderful person who caused my injury in the first place. Indeed, something needed to be done about Lorcan. My parents, after long discussion and contemplation, decided to strip Lorcan of his title and charge him with conspiracy. They didn't want to execute him, because he was family (even if he hadn't acted like it), so they sent him into exile. However, the ship encountered a storm, and Lorcan….Lorcan foolishly tried to escape in one of the ship's spare boats and he drowned. Poor Leana was devastated by the news, and my parents decided that we should remain in Screlandria for at least another month for her. That month stretched out into two. By then, it was the middle of December and we couldn't go home because of the snow. My parents also needed to decide who would take over the Screlandrian crown. Of course, Leana, being the princess, was the obvious choice, but she couldn't do it without marrying. Yes, I know. Crazy law, right? But you have to remember that things were different then, and most queens weren't like Elizabeth I. For several weeks, the crown remained in limbo until Leana joyfully told us she was engaged to Geralt. Now that the crown was secured, my parents returned to Corona. But they wanted Eugene and me to stay in Screlandria, much to my dismay. So, we had to stay until spring, until Leana married Geralt.

The days were long and gray that winter, but there were a couple of bright spots amidst them. Like how close Eugene and I became. He already was one of my friends, along with being my one true love, but in those long winter days he became my best friend too. And we had long chats about anything and everything.

One day he told me about his father's offer. "Rapunzel," he said. "Did you know that my father offered to make me his heir?"

"Really?" I said. "Are you going to say yes?"

He sighed and ran one hand through his hair. "I don't know." He glanced at me. "What do you want me to do?"

Surprisingly, I didn't really care either way. Now I don't mean to say that I didn't care what he did, because I did. And still do. But I didn't care what his name was. I loved him when he was Flynn, I loved him when he was Eugene, and I would love him if he suddenly became a Seymour. It didn't make any difference. It was the wonderful man within him that I loved. "Honestly? I want you to do whatever will make you happy."

"But wouldn't….wouldn't you like it if I was a lord?" he asked.

You know I love every bit of him, but he could be exasperating sometimes- those times when he didn't seem to be hearing what I was saying but some made up things in his head. For instance, somewhere deep inside his brain he thought he wouldn't be enough for me if he wasn't a noble. Which meant he was listening to the silly nobles here. Still! "Eugene," I said firmly. "I don't care if you're a lord, a baron, or an earl! It makes no difference to me. I love you just the way you are."

"Well," he said with a frown. "You're probably the only one who thinks that. All of the noble here have their nose so stuck up in the air…"

"….they'd drown when it rains," I finished. I had heard something like that a million times. Sometimes it grew old, even if it was completely true. Most of the nobles here-except Leana, Geralt, and Lord Herbert- were as stuffy as the ones back home. "I know. But what I want to know is why you care so much. We're going to be leaving here soon enough, even if it doesn't feel like it."

"Rapunzel," he said. "It's not just the nobles here though, and you know it. They're back in Corona too.I'm thinking seriously of accepting my father's offer just so they'll stop looking at me like pond scum on the bottom of their shoes. Maybe if…maybe if I was a lord's son…"

….They'd stop acting like he wasn't good enough for me. I decided it would best if I didn't tell him that he (and his father) would have to endure the ridicule for the whole….illegitimacy thing. "I'm okay with whatever you decided. But you do know that if you accept your father's offer, you'll have to spend time with him on a fairly regular basis."

He winced. "I know. But if I was going to be a lord, your parents might be happier if I were to…." He paused briefly as if he wasn't sure what to say. "…let's say ask for your hand."

I looked at him sharply. "My….hand? You do know what you're saying, don't you?"

He looked at me intensely. "You would say yes, wouldn't you?"

For a moment I felt as if I couldn't breathe. He wanted to marry me some day! Oh, sure, he wasn't proposing, but still. My heart soared.

"Wouldn't you?" he repeated.

"Yes," I said softly. "Oh, yes."

A slow smile stretched across his face. "Good."

XXXXXXXXX

If you can believe it (and amazingly enough) he actually didn't say anything about marrying me for at least a few months- until we were back in Corona once again….and until he had decided that he would accept his father's offer. I know. To be honest, I was surprised too. But to be brutally honest, I was glad- I was glad that he and his father were finally getting along. I guess it took him almost dying (again! Eugene, if you truly want to know, has more lives than a cat) to let Lord Herbert into his life again. Of course, it could have something to do with the fact that he basically saved Eugene's life by throwing him that sword. Otherwise, Prince Lorcan might have succeeded with running his through Eugene. It's hard to be angry at someone who saved you and was willing to admit that they were wrong. I think that a corner of him continued to blame his father for his mother's death, but they were civil to each other, and I think I even spotted them laughing one time. Personally, I didn't find that too unexpected. After all, they did have a similar sense of humor, in addition to their other similarities. I believe that's why they eventually were able to reconcile- their similarities bonded them together whether they liked it or not.

I remember being so happy that spring…happy to be back in Corona, happy to be back with my parents, happy to be with Eugene, happy that he and his father were getting along, and happy that for once, I could decide what I wanted to do on my birthday. Well, that's what I had thought then. But it wasn't long before I realized that both my parents and Eugene had their own ideas of what I should do for my birthday in June. And neither would tell me what those ideas were. Okay, that's not completely true. My parents eventually told me that they would like to have a small party for me, and I agreed, as long as it wasn't on the day of my actual birthday. That day was reserved for me. And Eugene too, because he had a very clear idea of what I should do. But he wouldn't tell me anything about what he was planning, even though I was fully aware that he was planning something. You might not know this, but he has very expressive eyes. So I can always tell when he's scheming. I nagged, and nagged, and nagged him to tell me, but all he would ever do was smirk and say if he told me what he was planning then it wouldn't be a surprise and didn't I trust him to come up with something that I would like. I would say back that I did trust him, but that didn't keep me from being curious. I think I was probably quite annoying, but he never complained. He would only get this glimmer in his eyes and say something like you're going to love it.

And of course I did. The morning of June 6, I woke up to Catherine bring me a tray of breakfast in bed and she told me (with a big grin-I'm guessing she knew what Eugene had been up to) that this was only the beginning of what was going to be the best birthday of my life. Then she further told me that I was supposed to wear something special today and that something special turned out to be the purple dress that I wore for my birthday the previous year. It was then that I realized what (partly anyway) he had been up to- he was going to re-enact what happened on my 18th birthday.

And that's exactly what we did, and it was just as wonderful as it had been the first time. Actually, parts of it were even better because I was with the three people that I loved most in the world and I didn't have to worry about….Gothel or the Stabbington Brothers ruining it. I have to say, though, that during the day I looked forward to the boat ride and the lights most of all. Because the last time, Eugene had almost kissed me and it was one of the most romantic moments of my whole life. Of course, I loved the thought of the lanterns again too, because they made ordinary moments made my last birthday night perfectly magical. And I was sure that they could do the same for this year too.

And you know? As it turned out, I was absolutely right.

XXXXXXXXX

You might be curious as to what we talked about that boat ride….like did we say the exact same things. Well, I'm happy to tell you that it didn't go that far. Besides, I didn't need to ask about the lost princess this year, because I was the lost princess, and I didn't need to ask if the lights would be all I dreamed because I knew that they would be. And they were just as beautiful the second time. You might find it amusing that I had the same urge to send a lantern up as it drifted by us. And you might find it further amusing that I leaned out of the boat again, determined to send the lantern in the sky. Suddenly I felt Eugene's hand on mine. I turned toward him with a smile. Much to my surprise, he looked quite….nervous about something, and a nervous Eugene was not something that happened too often. His mouth opened. And closed. Then opened and closed again.

"Eugene," I said gently. "Is there something that you want to tell me?"

A slow smiled spread across his face. "Yes. Yes, there is."

"So?" I said. "Tell me."

His eyes grew serious. "Rapunzel, you know I love you, don't you?"

I smiled. "Yes, my sweet RobinHeart, I do. And you know I love you, don't you?"

He smiled back. "Yes. So, will you do something for me?"

"Of course."

He took something out of his pocket, placed something in my palm, and curled my fingers around it. "Marry me?"

For a moment, I was completely speechless. "I…I…don't know what to say." Inside though, my brain was singing joyfully he asked me, he asked me over and over again. I didn't think I could have been happier that I had been that night, but I guess I was wrong. Because I knew that all of my dreams about me and Eugene could come true. The dream that I had begun to hold close to my heart exactly one year ago was finally within my grasp: All I had to say was one simple word.

"Well," he said with a grin. "I can help you with that. This is when you're supposed to throw your arms around me and say yes, telling me something about how you never imagined that somebody as wonderful as me would ever ask -…."

I couldn't help it: I laughed. "You are so silly! Isn't this supposed to be a serious moment?"

"I tried to be serious!" he protested. "But then you didn't say anything. Do I need to ask you again?"

"Actually," I said teasingly. "You do. I'll be ready this time."

"Okay," he said. "But you'll have to give me the ring back first. And don't complain if I make a long speech this time. I actually have some sap and romantic mush that I could say."

I handed it to him, and stared at the lights again. He took my hands again with a grin, but then it vanished and I could tell that he was going to talk seriously. "Rapunzel," he began. "Sweet, sweet Rapunzel. I have to take this moment to tell you how much I love you-from the top of your hair that I managed to cut so well to the tips of your cute feet. I am ever so glad that you hit me with that frying pan of yours because along with knocking me out, you knocked some sense into my hard skull. You showed me that Eugene was worth something….you basically saved me when I saved you. I know this is cliché but I can't live without you. And I don't want to. So," he put the ring back in my hand and curled my fingers around it. "Rapunzel, will you marry me?"

I smiled, this time knowing exactly what to say. "Yes. A thousand times, yes! There's nothing that I would like to do more than marry you."

He beamed a huge smile. "I knew you'd feel that way."

I felt that I needed to interject something. "But-…"

He frowned. "But-…."

"But I think we should," I continued, stumbling over my words. " ….wait a while. For my parents' sake. And yours. Let things calm down some…and let me plan my dream wedding." I watched his face closely, hoping that he wouldn't be too disappointed. But I felt that I needed more time with my parents before I married and "left them" in a sense.

He sighed deeply. "Well, I wouldn't want to keep you from planning your dream wedding," he said. "But if we wait, I don't have to keep asking and asking and asking you, do I? Because as much fun as the agony of waiting for your answer was..."

"No, silly!" I said. "I already told you yes." Though I would tell him yes as many times as he wanted me to.

A smile crept back on his face. "Good. Because here's my favorite part of this whole proposal."

"And what," I asked, completely curious. "Is that?"

He smirked and drew me closer to him. "The part where I get to kiss you, of course!" Then he kissed me, and I felt my heart soar. And in that moment, I didn't think that I could be any happier. Everything in my life was almost perfect.

Finally we broke apart, and I remembered that I still had the ring in my hand. I opened my palm to look at it. I glanced at him.

"Go ahead," he said with a smile. "Look at it. I thought you might like it. It's actually my father's mother's ring. Once I told him that I was going to propose, he insisted that I give it to you."

My breath caught as I finally looked at- the ring was thin, but solid gold, a diamond in the center surrounded by two emeralds. "Oh, Eugene…." I said, unable to say anything further.

He grinned. "So you like it?"

"I….I love it." It was the most beautiful, most wonderful ring I had ever seen. Plus, it symbolized that we were promised to each other and would be married one day.

"I thought you would," he said. "I like it too especially the emeralds- they're just like the ones in your face."

I blushed slightly. "Thank you." I cautiously held the ring out to him. "So, do I have to put it on?"

"No," he said. "I can do that for you." He gently slid the ring on my ring finger on my left hand, and smiled at me, total joy in his eyes.

I smiled back. And, as I did, I finally realized that my new dream- the dearest dream, the wish that my heart made- was going to come true. I was going to marry my beloved Eugene.

And we were going to live happily ever after.

only the epilogue left! I hope you enjoyed this story because I certainly enjoyed writing it. And as for Lorcan, I had to get rid of him-he had to die somehow because I didn't want there to be any possibility of him coming back to haunt Eugene and Rapunzel.

I have other good news for you- I have two stories about them that i'm thinking of writing and I have the name for one of them

So, by results of my poll...the next story is:

Chasing Daydreams

Flynn Rider had one goal: steal the lost princess's crown, sell it, and buy the island he always dreamed of. However all that changed the day he meet the girl with one very hard frying pan- and the crazy long hair.