Author's Note: This chapter contains the flashback where we find out how Rapunzel got her hair back. I wrote this flashback forever ago, but then I decided "I'll just wait until I watch Tangled the Series Season 3 so there's no inconsistencies." However, I watched Season 3 a long time ago, but I just felt like I needed the right timing so it wouldn't feel random. I decided to put it in this chapter because Rapunzel is going to get a little more attention and because the story is going to the kingdom of Corona soon. Enjoy.

Chapter 34

Six months ago.

Rapunzel rode on horseback with the wind in her short, brown hair. At her side was her husband, Eugene riding another. Her magic was gone and she felt somewhat at peace about it. She had always desired freedom, and she was "free" from the magic; "free" from the dangerous with her destiny fulfilled. But was it freedom, she sometimes wondered. Was it freedom, or limitation? Never the less, she had convinced herself that she was happy.

They stopped to take in the sights. Before them was a lush valley of hills, trees, birds flying, streams flowing; a world full of life. Rapunzel asked, "Isn't this exactly what you dreamed of?"

Eugene replied, "Oh, it is. Everything is perfect. There's just one thing missing."

Rapunzel had one guess what he was talking about. "Eugene, I've thought a lot about it, and I don't really need my magic hair back." Her guess was wrong.

"No, no. I'm actually glade it's gone."

"You are?" she asked confused. She didn't know how to feel about that. Was she supposed to be happy or offended; it was so complicated.

"That's not I meant. I mean it's good to have some sense of accomplishment, knowing it's all done."

Rapunzel wrapped her head around the logic and said understandingly, "Right." She thought for a moment before realizing how she cut Eugene off from his point. She said, "Sorry. What is this one thing we're still missing?"

Eugene said, "Well. We've been married for a couple years now. I think it's only natural that we start thinking about thinking about the possibility of you and me . . . maybe . . . having a few . . ."

"HELP!"

Their attention was grabbed by this plea. Eugene's thought would have to wait; a lot longer than he expected. They both rode off in search of whoever called for help. They came to a bridge over a waterfall. On the bridge stood a frightened woman and a crying little boy. Upon seeing them, the woman cried out, "Princess Rapunzel!" She pointed over edge and shouted, "My husband is about to fall!"

Rapunzel and Eugene jumped from their horses and looked over the edge. A man dangled from a branch in the middle of the falling water. Rocks lay at the bottom, ready to prevent a faller's survival. This was a dangerous situation, but Rapunzel could handle this. That man was only twenty feet away. All she had to do was let down her long, magical hair and he could grab onto . . . Oh, wait. She didn't have her long, magical hair anymore. That man was going to die. She took a look at the woman who was about to be a widow and the boy that was about to be a fatherless child all because she didn't have her magic hair.

Rapunzel's mind scrambled for ideas she could actually use. Which was hard considering that there was a faint voice whispering in her mind, "You've been lying to yourself."

Eugene ended up being the one to come up with a plan. He said, "We could climb down if we just had the tools. I don't suppose you might have something like a few arrows?"

The Widow nodded and gave them four arrows they were going to use for hunting. Eugene and Rapunzel climbed down the cliff, right next to the flow of water. They couldn't get any closer; if they did, they'd be washed away. Rapunzel had saved someone from a similar situation before. All she had to do was swing from the bridge using her long, magical hair and grab . . . Oh, wait. She didn't have her long, magic hair anymore. He was a dead man.

Eugene reached out and said, "Grab my hand!"

The Dead Man reached as far as he could. "It's too far!" The Dead Man was losing his grip.

Rapunzel shouted, "Hang on!"

But he couldn't. His exhausted fingers slipped.

All she had to do was jump and wrap him a sphere made out of her long, magic-

He was dead. They didn't hear a splash. They heard a crunch against the rocks. The Widow let out a scream of misery. The sound felt like a knife cutting through Rapunzel's flesh.

Eugene noticed that she was taking it even harder than he was and said, "Rapunzel, you did everything you could."

She told him miserably, "I know."

Eugene said unenthusiastically, "Come on. Let's head back up."

Rapunzel took her time before she started climbing up. She wondered what she would tell that poor family. She stuck an arrow into the cliff and pulled herself further up. She pulled the other arrow out and . . . Snap. The arrow in the cliff broke and she fell. Eugene shouted, "RAPUNZEL!"

"Stop lying to yourself."

Rapunzel woke up; kind of. It was all blurry at first. She looked around, trying to find an image to lock on to. There! To her right was Eugene. He was shaking his knee up and down nervously. He looked pale and sick with worry. Rapunzel struggled just to say, "Eu . . . Eugene."

Eugene looked at her, astonished to see her awake. He held her hand and said, "Rapunzel!"

"That . . . family."

"They're . . . It's not your fault, Rapunzel."

"Yes it is. This whole time, I should've been looking for a way to bring it back. If I still had it . . . three ways. I could have saved him three different ways."

"Don't do that, Rapunzel."

"Eugene . . . I've been lying to myself. I kept saying that I didn't need it, but I do. It was more than a part of my destiny, it was a part of who I am." Tears started sliding down her face. "I was magic. I had something I could use to help people. I need it. And as God as my witness I will find a way get it back."

Eugene said chocked up, "I'm not sure you can. I'm sorry, Rapunzel, but right now, we don't even know if you'll even be able to walk again."

Her heart sank, but her mind couldn't believe it. "What?"

"The fall took a heavy toll."

"No. That can't be right," she said, panting. She started propping herself up on her elbows. Despite Eugene telling her she had to rest, Rapunzel reach out and touched something under her blanket. She felt around, trying to find her legs. Until she realized she had been touching her legs. She hadn't realized before because, "I can't feel my legs." Rapunzel fell onto her back and stared up, too shocked to think straight.

"Rapunzel, you know deep down that your powers can't come back. Your magic came from the Sun Drop which launched into space. Now more than ever, you need to focus on what you still have." Eugene was right. She already had what she needed. She just needed to dig for it.

It was late into the night. Eugene was asleep, still sitting next to her. Rapunzel's eyes shot open for reasons unclear.

"I heard what you said."

Rapunzel whispered, "Who's there?"

"Just you. We are in pieces."

She realized; that voice sounded almost exactly like her own.

This strange voice whispered, "Today, you told part of the truth, but you're still lying to yourself."

"How? What lie did I tell?"

"Not only did you lie about needing me, you lied about having me."

Rapunzel's eyes lit up. "Are you the magic? Are you saying you're still there?"

"You shouldn't have thought that I could ever truly leave you?"

"What? You can't still be here. You . . . my powers came from the Sun Drop. But the Sun Drop isn't in my body anymore. It flew away into space."

"But what did it leave behind," the voice asked. "You had the Sun Drop in you for two decades. Every fiber of your body was exposed to its magic. Not only did you contain it, you were marinated by it."

Trying to understand, Rapunzel asked, "You're saying that I absorbed residual magic from the Sun Drop over the years and it's still inside me? You, my powers are still inside of me?" Rapunzel pleaded, "Please, come back. I need you."

"You buried me. If you want me back, you'll have to dig."

"How?"

"You'll have to be willing to make a deal."

"I'll do it. I'll do anything."

"You rejected the magic and didn't try to bring it back. This time, if I come back, it will be forever. Should our hair ever be cut again, it will grow back again in seconds. You will never be rid of me."

"I wouldn't have it any other way."

Her eye flashed gold. The voice wouldn't speak to her anymore. It had been reabsorbed into her soul. A streak of blonde spread over her hair; just the beginning. Little by little, her hair, every lock turned blond, beautiful, and bright. Her hair grew, expanding in every direction, covering her bed, creeping over the floor, slithering around the furniture. As soon as it was complete, she wondered what powers she would have this time. She wrapped her hair around her legs and recited the healing incantation.

"Eugene, wake up."

Eugene slowly woke up. And then his eye exploded open as he jumped from his seat.

Rapunzel was standing. Her hair was back and draped over everything. She looked fresh and stronger than she had been in a long time. Rapunzel said with a smile, "Much better."

After the battle of Atlantica.

In the midst of the celebration there were individuals that held secret dread. Phillip was rethinking his interactions with Merida. He wondered if he should keep some distance, wondering if he was too old to feel the way he felt about her.

Anna had a few things to be happy about, but she knew she'd have to tell Elsa about the attack on the Northuldra. She wasn't excited to see the look on Elsa's face once she's told there were only eleven of them left. Anna knew well Elsa's tendency to blame herself and that would make the heartbreaking news even worse.

Rapunzel couldn't get what the Enchantress said out of her mind. It was odd that the mermaid that killed Ariel's family just left the trident behind. Rapunzel hated thinking about it, but Ariel was a little suspicious.

Still, there was much good news. Snow White and Jack Frost had returned with the third piece of the Undoing Relic, Phillip and Merida had their wounds healed by Rapunzel, they had emerged victorious against the Enchantress's attack, they reunited with Anna who brought them very useful reinforcements, and they knew where the Enchantress was going next.

After celebrating long enough with the locals, the royals had an informal meeting. Everyone told everyone else what happened during the battle. Merida told the others that the Enchantress will be in Corona in five days. They doubted that the Enchantress was honestly going to wait five days before attacking. Rapunzel secretly hoped that the Enchantress would attack sooner than she said, because that would prove that she was a liar and Rapunzel could stop thinking about Ariel's possible guilt.

Elsa asked Snow White and Jack how their quest went and, after weighing whether or not to do so, Jack admitted, "Honestly, I think sending me with her was a bit of overkill."

"I was afraid you'd say that," Elsa replied. "I'm sorry I doubted what you said, Snow. We almost lost without Jack. If it hadn't been for Anna . . ."

"It's alright, Elsa," Snow White said. "We all made it."

Ariel said, "Rapunzel?"

Rapunzel became nervous at the sound of her name coming from that voice. "Yes?" she squeaked before clearing her throat and saying again in a normal tone, "Yes?" While waiting for Ariel to go on, Rapunzel thought, "Please don't ask what the Enchantress told me."

"What did the Enchantress tell you when she took you away?"

Rapunzel hoped that Ariel couldn't notice she was sweating. "Ooooh, you know the Enchantress. She just did that thing where she monologs about how 'evil all royals are' and how 'freedom is the most important thing.' You know, the usual stuff."

"There was nothing else?" Ariel asked, confused.

Rapunzel put on a fake smile that stretched far on each side of her face. "Nope. That uh . . . That was it."

M glared at Rapunzel, knowing she was lying. M said, "You know, Ariel, I think the fairies can magically repair the damages done around here, but they're going to need to know about everything that got messed up. Could you go ask someone to organize an account of everything that needs a repair?"

"Sure," Ariel said walking to the door. "I'll be right back."

Once she was gone and out of hearing distance, M looked at Rapunzel and said, "I didn't hear much when I came to save you, but did get something about Ariel's family. And now you don't seem to want to say around Ariel. What did the Enchantress really say?"

Rapunzel looked at the floor and robbed the back of her neck before saying with a heavy heart, "She said she didn't cast any forgetting spell and she blamed the death of Ariel's family on Ariel herself."

"That much we already heard," Merida said.

"Yes, but then she actually made a good point."

"What are you saying?" Snow White asked.

"She mentioned how weird it was that the trident was just left behind after their deaths. It seems like the killer wanted Ariel to have it."

Elsa's shoulders drooped. She looked at the door, hoping Ariel wouldn't be back soon. Elsa said, "Rapunzel, I didn't want to say this around Ariel, but is sounded to me like her father committed a murder/suicide."

"Why would he do that?"

"I don't know. But it makes more sense than our friend being the killer."

"Well, we thought Aurora was our friend, too. And look how that turned out."

"Wait, what?!" Anna exclaimed in confusion.

Everyone looked at Elsa who explained, "I haven't told her yet."

"Told me what?"

"Um, Anna, I'm sorry to say this, but . . . Aurora betrayed us and joined the Enchantress."

Anna let out a disappointed sigh. "I was afraid that would happen."

Rapunzel jolted so hard she almost fell over. "I'm I the only one she had fooled?" She wondered.

Getting back on track, Rapunzel said, "There was something else the Enchantress said. She told me she remembered cursing Adam to become a beast, but she thought no one ever broke his curse."

"And we believe her because . . . ?" M asked

Rapunzel explained, "We are considering that she might be telling the truth because I don't know why the Enchantress would want to make people forget about Belle and not turn her into an emerald statue. But I have an idea why someone else would. It's possible that someone wanted the Enchantress to do what she's doing."

Elsa said, "So you're suggesting that Ariel might have wiped the Enchantress's memory of her most successful non-violent solution; thus convincing her that only violent solutions work and causing her to start a war."

"It's possible," Rapunzel said meekly.

"It's insane is what it is!" Merida contested. "Let's ignore, for a moment, the question of why she'd do that. HOW on earth could she ever do that?!"

"Well, Merida, Ariel has shown us that she's capable of a lot more than she's told us about. We didn't know about her trident until we caught her with it. We didn't know she could turn into a giant until she needed to do it. What else could be up her sleeves?"

Elsa shook her head. "Rapunzel, I really don't think Ariel would do this."

"I don't think she would either," Snow White agreed.

Anna added, "Elsa, Snow White, and I have known Ariel for a lot longer than the rest of you have. And I just can't imagine Ariel killing her family or starting a war."

Rapunzel replied, "I know you haven't known me as long as you've known her. But in all the time you've known me, I haven't kept the kind of secrets Ariel has. When was she going to tell us about the . . ."

"About what? About the utopia she built?" Elsa asked. "Ariel hasn't done anything wrong and she's already explained why she wanted to keep her kingdom's events private. She's been working hard for her Atlantica and it has been stressful for her. She's a good queen." Elsa stepped closer and grabbed Rapunzel's hands. "Rapunzel, I know what Aurora did has made you afraid of another betrayal. But we agreed that we wouldn't let it break us."

"I know." Rapunzel held Elsa's hands a little tighter. "I just want to be a little more careful. I not saying I think she did it. I just think we should keep an eye on her."

Snow White said, "I'm sure that Ariel is innocent. But if you're that concerned about this, we should ask Ariel to drink a truth potion. I still have some left over from the last batch."

"If we do that, there could be chaos. We all remember how Aurora reacted. Ariel has a lot more firepower in that trident than the wand did and Ariel has more experience than Aurora."

Merida sighed. "Raps, ya know I love ya, but yer bein ridiculous! First you tell us we should suspect our good friend who's given us no reason to doubt her and then ya don't want to give that friend a chance to prove her innocence?!"

"I'm back!" Ariel announced with cheer as she popped back into the room. "Did I miss anything?"

Rapunzel looked around at the others, begging them with her eyes not to tell her. Merida begrudgingly grumbled while glaring at Rapunzel, "Oh, ya now. We were just talkin about the usual stuff."

Ariel could tell there was something odd about the way they were acting, but all she said was, "Oh . . . alright."

Elsa said, "I think we should combine the third piece of the Undoing Relic with the other two."

Snow White held up the third piece which was the shape of half a sphere with a triangle shaped slot. Rapunzel handed her the combined pieces that were shaped like a pyramid. Snow White took a deep breath and released it, not nervous, but excited. She inserted half of the pyramid into the slot with the other half outside waiting for the fourth piece and they combined. Just as before, these pieces could never be separated.

"Great work, everyone," Snow cheered. "Two days from now we'll find the fourth piece and two days from then, we'll have the whole thing."

Rapunzel added, "If what the Enchantress said is true, we'll have all the time we need before the next attack."

Merida grumbled through her teeth, "Not that we believe what the Enchantress says."

"What is the fourth challenge?" Ariel asked.

"That would be the Challenge of Humility," Snow answered.

"That will be mine," Elsa said.

"Seriously?" Merida asked. "Elsa, you're the most powerful one here."

"One of the most powerful," Jack and M both said at the same time.

Elsa said, "I might have magic, but I accidently froze my own kingdom and I failed to do in seven years what my sister did in five days."

Ariel remembered how Elsa spoke with her earlier. She knew that Elsa didn't presume do be all knowing. "I think she can do it."

"Thank you, Ariel." Elsa turned to her sister and asked, "Anna, you said that you had something you wanted to tell me?"

"I did," Anna replied nervously. "I think we should all go outside to talk about this one," Anna said with a heavy heart.

"Why ever do we need to be outside?" Snow White asked.

Anna pursed her lips and lowered her head. She answered uncomfortably, "So that Elsa doesn't trap us in here when she freezes everything."

That was concerning. They all knew what that meant. Elsa's powers were known to react to her emotions and it sounded like Elsa was about to be emotionally compromised.

Elsa walked the fastest as they exited the castle. Once they were outside, Elsa made sure she was a good distance away from the others. Anna stood the closeted to her, but still kept a distance.

"What's happened?" Elsa asked.

Anna began, "Elsa, before I tell you this, I want you to know that this wasn't your fault." Anna started getting choked up. "You always put the weight of everything on your shoulders and you deserve better than to blame yourself for this."

"Thank you, Anna. I'll keep that in mind."

Anna knew she couldn't put it off any longer. "Elsa . . . when I arrived at the Enchanted Forest, I found that the Northuldra had been attacked."

"Attacked?" Elsa's heart skipped a beat.

Tears slid down Anna's cheeks. "They said it was a dragon."

"A dragon?!" most of the group thought. The involvement of a dragon was news to them.

"Is everyone alright?" Elsa asked concernedly.

Anna could barely speak, but managed to choked out the word, "Eleven."

"Eleven death?" Elsa asked, snowflakes beginning to fall around her.

Anna squeezed her eyes shut. If only it was eleven deaths. Anna elaborated, "Eleven survivors."

"No," Elsa breathed. Ice spread on the ground from Elsa's feet. Elsa buried her face in her hands as icy fog started swirling around her, spinning higher and higher. Elsa was brewing a storm.

"Elsa! It's going to be alright!" Anna said, taking a step forward.

"Anna don't come any closer!"

Jack ran to just a few feet away, unharmed by the cold Elsa was exerting.

"Jack, don't touch me!" Elsa cried having no idea what kind of calamity they would create with her in this state.

He stared empathetically at his hurting girlfriend, wishing he could do more for her.

M was worried that Elsa could cause a calamity all on her own. She teleported to Elsa's side, put a hand on her shoulder despite the cold, and teleported away with her.

M and Elsa reappeared in the middle of an already frozen wasteland where Elsa wouldn't do any real harm. "COLD, COLD, COLD!" M exclaimed, ripping her hand away from Elsa and rubbing her arms for warmth.

In between sobs, Elsa said, "You can leave and come back for me later!"

"I'm not going anywhere!" M shouted over the wind.

"Aren't you freezing?!"

"Yeah, but . . ." M concentrated and flames began to spread from her hands, eventually covering her arms in fire. That would keep her warm enough while she waited with Elsa.

"I'm sorry, Elsa!" M shouted. "I'm sorry for your loss!"

Elsa sniffled a few times. "I really wish I could huge you right now!" Elsa said from six feet away. It was too dangerous. Elsa was too cold and M was too hot.

"I wish I could huge you, too! But trust me, Elsa, things are going to get better!"

"How do you know?!"

"I know because the Enchantress won't last forever! But we will! When this is all over, you and Anna will do things right, Phillip and Merida will start dating, and Rapunzel will see that Ariel is innocent! Someday, everything will be better than ever! It's only a matter of time!"

Elsa stared into the distance silently. She was silent until she said, "I hope you're right."

Author's Note: Do you think Ariel might be the murderer? Do you think Phillip should stay away from Merida? Do you think M just spoiled the whole ending?

Thank you for reading. Please follow and review.