Gift for CrotakuShinobi

Tangled.

Prompt: Can you write some fluff with Rapunzel and Eugene while they're out on a date, post-movie.

~oOo~

Is it possible to fall in love with the night?

The sight of cascading constellations and incandescent moonlight always seems to make my heart flutter. The culmination of stars spread across the sky, like an inky canvass peppered with bright clusters – I can't look away. I want to stretch my hand into that pitch sea, and dust my fingers through its very essence. Capture the moonlight in a silver chalice and drink deeply from its radiant beginnings.

What's causing this feeling to blossom within me?

I can't tell if it's due to the mild, summer breeze shifting my dress as I walk. Or maybe it's the feel of cool grass slipping between my bare toes. But it feels like a weight has been lifted off my shoulders. I guess, losing that much hair would make anyone feel that way…I giggle at the thought.

But there's definitely something that is making me feel so light.

So – alive.

Then, I realize, it's the weight of your hand in mine.

"What's so funny?" Eugene asks, squeezing my hand. The pressure tingles up my arm and I can't help but grin wider at my recent discovery.

"Ah, nothing really. Just thinking about silly stuff. Hey –" I tug on our joined hands until he stops to face me. He raises an inquisitive brow. "– what if we just skip the musical."

He frowns. "But the Pub Thugs have worked really hard to put on this show."

"I know but…I kinda just want it to be the two of us." I peek up from beneath my feathered lashes; giving him the look I know he can't say no to.

I know I've won when he sighs like he's doing me a favor and grins.

"Okay – so we skip the musical! What did you have in mind for our date night then?"

I pretend to consider but really, I already know what I want to do with him.

"How about we do a little star gazing?"

Eugene hides his grimace behind a dramatic bow. "The lady wants to stargaze, huh – well…then let's look at some stars!"

He rights himself and turns the opposite direction of the city and takes off at a run, dragging me along behind.

"Where are we going?" I laugh as we rush into the forest.

"To look at the stars!" he calls over his shoulder, dodging a low-hanging branch. I fit beneath it without having to stoop.

"Okay – then why are we running?"

"Because it's faster than walking!" He chuckles like he's made the funniest joke and dashes us further into trees.

We're bolting and the feel of my legs pumping and heart pounding and his large hand in mine –

I feel frenzied – wild.

I imagine that we're deer loping through the woods. Graceful limbs leaping over fallen logs. Speckled fur mimicking the stars above. Eugene always said he wanted a crown – so I picture him with princely, looming antlers that graze against the sky.

The forest thins into rolling hills and our pace slows as he pulls me up the incline. We're both panting heavily and I can't seem to stop grinning. He drops my hand and I almost feel bereft at the loss of it.

Eugene flings his arms out wide and says breathlessly, "Blondie, I give you the stars for your viewing pleasure!"

I roll my eyes at his nickname for me. I haven't been blonde for quite some time but he insists. I plop onto the grass and throw myself backward into the soft grass. He lays beside me and our fingers meet in the barely-there space between us – like magnets drawn to one another.

I point up into the sky. "There – that's Capricornus, the sea goat." I point to another, "And that one is my absolute favorite – the chameleon."

"Of course it is," he laughs. "What about that one?" He points to the sky with his free hand.

I give him a flat look. "Eugene, that's the moon."

"Oh, I knew that."

He rolls over on his side to face me and I do the same. We become a mirror image of the other – a double sided creature conjoined by interwoven hands. His thumb strokes over my knuckles. I blush, but I don't think he can see it under the heavy cover of darkness.

"Hey Rapunzel?"

"Hmm?"

"Would it be alright if I – kiss you?"

I squeak and cover my face with my free hand. Gently, he pulls the fingers away.

"Is that a no?"

"It's not not a no."

"Then I'll take that as a yes."

He leans in, and I feel the tickle of his goatee before I feel the brush of his lips against mine. His mouth is soft, hesitant, and I melt beneath its firm touch. He goes to pull back but I follow him, relentlessly; until I'm straddling his waist and my hands are tangled into his shaggy chestnut hair.

His hands pull at my waist and our kiss deepens into something beautiful – feral.

Suddenly, the two of us become the night and the forest and the sky. The warm summer air and the cool tickling grass. A passion of nature that knows no bounds. We shift into binary stars that circle one another for an eternity – until we explode in a collision of stardust and light and this blissful joy. We are a whirlpool of emotions that churn and rock against the island we've created beneath the fiery heavens.

You, here with me.

Covered in moonlight.

The stars watching over us.

I thought I was in love with the night – but I know for certain that I'm in love with him.

I don't want this feeling to ever end.

Eugene pulls back, breathless for a different reason, and says, "I'm glad we skipped the musical. I think stargazing with you has just become my favorite date night."

"Yeah," I say with a smile. "Mine too."