So... yeah. It's been a while.
I don't have much else to say other than, I made some promises, I said I wasn't going to be giving up on this thing... and then I disappeared for almost a year. First and foremost, I want to apologize for the lack of communication. That's on me. Secondly, I do have some bad news, officially confirming that as of this instant, after I post these chapters, the story will be on an indefinite hiatus. These coming 8 chapters, or so, I had written throughout the month of August of 2020. My plan, before life happened, was to write all of these before posting them individually, as this was set to be a "climax" as you could say. The Royal Wedding chapters, as I began to plot things out more and more, were designed to be an introduction of sorts to my fanfiction taking on elements that originated from the series, but with my own little twists and turns. You'll see how, throughout this chapter and the lengthy ones that follow, I wrote this to happen.
Again, I'm sorry to those who have read my story up to this point and are frustrated, disappointed, and saddened by the official status of it being on an indefinite hiatus. The truth is... this thing became bigger than I had ever intended. This story began as a way to help me cope with the early stages of quarantine, and my looming first semester of college that eventually started in the fall of 2020. After becoming one with the fandom of Tangled, after discovering my love for fanfiction and the numerous works that have been posted in this subgenre over the years, I wanted to give it a go on my own. And this... was what came out over the course of many months.
Life caught up to me, though. In the back of my head during the months leading up to my fall semester beginning, I knew that at some point, this was going to have to be put on the backburner. I knew that with time, my duties would have to be majority reliant with that of my college work. My only fault here is that I completely underestimated how my mind and self would be able to react and cope with the work throughout my first two semesters. I'll be brutally honest: in the first semester, the fall of 2020, I couldn't even write if I wanted to. And I didn't want to... as time went on, I kinda grew out of the person I was during these few first months of writing this story.
But I'm back, because I do feel that the least you guys deserve is to see at-least the beginning, the foundation of an idea that I fear may never be. I had big plans for this story - hell, I don't know what the future holds, maybe one day I'll return to it? But I did have an outline of where I wanted to go... and, well, as I've said many times already, these never before posted chapters of the royal wedding event will give a hint as to what I was intending.
Chapter 59 - The Weekend Of: Part 1 of ?
"What... once... was... mine..."
By this point, Rapunzel knew it wasn't real. She knew it was a nightmare; but for the past twelve consecutive nights, she'd been forced to be a passenger in her own body, helplessly obeying this... monster's wishes. She was calling him a monster because deep down inside, she knew the real Eugene wouldn't ever put her through something like that, after all the trauma and nightmares she's had because of those eighteen long years she now knows were spent as a prisoner.
But this night, the twelfth one in a row she'd been plagued with this nightmare, was when Rapunzel finally had enough.
Rapunzel awoke with a start, her breaths frantic, eyes teary, cheeks dampened. She looked up to Pascal, who was sleeping soundly at the top of her bed, before looking over to her side where Eugene was fast asleep, his back turned to her. Gah, saying his name now just made her tear up at the main fact that she knew, without a doubt, her nightmares were about the prospect of marrying him. About sentencing herself to a life inside Corona forever.
And she finally had enough of sitting back and letting her mental stability slowly wither and decay when there were people in her life who could help.
Rapunzel wiped away the remnants of her tears as she slowly and carefully stood up from her bed. She was all too aware of Eugene's thief-like instincts, how he always slept light, so she was extra careful when she walked across their floor before eventually opening and closing their door as she entered the empty dark hall of the castle.
As she walked, she couldn't pull herself to even give a look at the numerous streamers and banners that were hung up all around with both her and Eugene's faces on them. They, of course, had been hung up in celebration of their soon to be marriage, marked as 'The Most Monumental Day In Corona's History'.
Yeah, monumental. As if feeling on the verge of falling apart was anything but.
It wasn't even five minutes before she stood outside Cassandra's door. She felt awful about it - about waking her friend up at such an ungodly hour, but out of all people in the castle, Cassandra was one of the few Rapunzel knew she could trust with such information. Because she wasn't intending on just exposing the fact that she'd gotten barely any sleep for the past two weeks, no. She was going to go for it all. She was sick of keeping it in; all those times Pascal berated her to tell someone, all those times she told him she would (when in actuality she never intended to tell anyone and only said she would to get him to stop asking), she now knew her friend was right all along.
As he typically is, ironically.
Rapunzel took a deep breath and knocked once. After about thirty seconds of silently waiting, there was nothing. No response. So she knocked twice this time. A minute passed this time, nothing; no response again. She then knocked three times-
"Goooo awayyyy!" she heard Cassandra groan from the inside. She took a deep breath before knocking a few more times, and heard the faint thumps of her friend's footsteps against the floor. She bit her lip in anticipation.
"Fitzherbert," Cassandra snapped behind the closed door, "I thought we agreed to stop with these stupid pranks!"
Hearing one of her closest friend's voice as clear as day was more than enough for the burn to return to Rapunzel's eyes. She felt herself tear up when the door flung open, and when Cassandra's frown and fierce glare immediately disintegrated into something much softer. "Raps? What-"
Cassandra's voice caught when Rapunzel flung herself at her body. "Rapunzel?" she gasped.
"I'm so sorry, Cass!" Rapunzel cried, holding onto her as if she'd fall away at any given second.
"Oh...kay." Cassandra shook her head and slowly moved to close the door. When she did, she spoke up again. "Rapunzel, why are you - how are - what's gotten you so worked up?"
"I've made a mistake!" Rapunzel cried. She jerked herself away and began to pace around the room, every so often pulling at her messy, cropped hair. "I'm in way over my head and I don't know what to do. I've been losing so much sleep over the past two weeks-"
"Sleep? Wha-?"
"-because of this awful, stupid nightmare where Eugene turns into Gothel and he locks me inside one of the towers in this castle and-"
Cassandra's eyes widened. "Gothel?-"
"-it's all due to my extensive fear of marrying him because once I do I'll never be able to leave Corona again and I feel so claustrophobic about-"
"Raps-"
"-everything but I'm afraid of saying something because I see how much this whole marriage thing means to him and the last thing I want to do is break his heart-
"RAPUNZEL!"
Rapunzel jerked her head away, her eyes pouring out tears.
Cassandra stared with a wide mouth before shaking her head. "Okay, wow; it's way too early for this." She wiped her eyes and yawned. "Okay. If you want me to listen and understand what's going on, you need to go slow." She grabbed her friend's hand and guided her over to the bed.
When they sat down, Rapunzel immediately cast her head down to the ground. Out of the corner of her eye, she watched as Cassandra's left hand slowly fell on her right kneecap. "Alright... what's this about sleep?"
Rapunzel's voice choked in her throat as the awful memories came flooding back in. "I don't know what to do," she admitted brokenly. Her eyes scrunched up as more tears fell through. "Fo-for the past two weeks... I've gotten barely any sleep be-because of this... of this nightmare that keeps replaying itself in my dreams."
"That's why you've been so out of energy lately?" Cassandra asked in disbelief.
Rapunzel lifted her head. "Ye-yes..." She wiped her nose with the backside of her palm. Cassandra cringed and stood up; she quickly moved to her bedside drawer and pulled out a handkerchief before walking back over and handing it to her as she sat down.
"Th-thank you," Rapunzel said quietly, wiping her nose properly this time.
"Don't mention it." Instead of dropping her hand on the knee, Cassandra chose to soothingly rub her friend's back. "So... nightmares? That's what's gotten you so worked up?"
"... Partially," Rapunzel said after a few seconds of silence. She stared front and forward, fighting back more tears, fighting back the pain in her heart as she began to build up her inner strength. This was what she was waiting for, this was why she came to Cassandra in the first place. Because she knew her friend would be able to understand in a different way than that her parents or Eugene would.
"You're saying there's something bigger at play, then."
"I... I can't do it," she sighed, defeated.
Cassandra's brows furrowed in confusion, her hand stopping in motion. "Can't do what?" she asked softly.
Rapunzel's eyes again scrunched up, and her voice came out as a broken gasp. "I can't marry him, Cass." A few tears fell. "I can't marry Eugene."
Cassandra's eyes widened, and she slowly dropped her suddenly still hand onto the bed. "You..-" she shook her head, "-what?"
"I can't marry Eugene!" Rapunzel finally cried, dropping her head into her palms. She began to sob, ignoring the all too confused look Cassandra was now giving her.
After a few seconds staying silent, Cassandra spoke up. "Wait. Does this mean you and him are..."
"No!" Rapunzel lifted her head, shaking it quickly. She lifted up her hands in defense. "No no no no no! I don't - that's not - UGH!" She jumped up from her seat and pulled at her hair. "Why is this so hard!?" she whined loudly.
"Rapunzel!" Cassandra hissed, "It's three in the morning, keep your voice down!"
"I can't!" Rapunzel cried, "I've held this in too long and I just need to vent and scream and-" Her voice caught as she suddenly felt something very fluffy hit her straight in the chest. She looked down to the floor, where one of Cassandra's pillows sat in a fumbled mess. "Hey! What was that for!?"
"It's me trying to tell you, that if you keep screaming and yelling, my Dad will wake up and immediately think something is wrong," Cassandra hissed coldly. "And he'll come bursting through my door, see you in a teary-eyed mess, and I'll be his first person to blame because in his eyes, you're the picture perfect lost princess who can do no wrong!"
"Really?" Rapunzel scoffed, "I'm standing here having a full on mental breakdown and you're sitting there thinking more about your own reputation and well-being? Those are your priorities?"
Cassandra stood up from her bed, her arms crossed and eyebrows narrow. "You know, comforting you at three in the god-damn morning while you're 'having a full on mental breakdown' is not something that is listed under the duties of my job as your lady in waiting!" she snapped. "So technically I don't even have to take whatever this is! I could throw you out of my room right now and go back to sleep as if this never happened!" Rapunzel's face fell at that line, and Cassandra sighed. "But I'm not going to do that. For whatever stupid reason, I want to stand here and do my best to comfort you because that's what you, ironically, taught me that friends do for one another. I want to help you, but the only things I've gotten are that you've apparently been having nightmares for the past two weeks and for whatever reason you don't want to marry Eugene anymore, or you never even wanted to marry him in the first place? Seriously Rapunzel," she groaned, "can't you see I'm working with almost nothing?"
Rapunzel opened her mouth to sharply retort, but found herself to have a hard time coming up with any sensible response. Maybe it was because she knew Cassandra was right; heck, Cass didn't even have to stand here right now and take her rambling. Like her friend said, it is three in the morning, and she could've very well kicked her out to the curb by now.
But she hadn't. Cassandra hadn't done that, and the thought warmed Rapunzel's heart.
"I... I'm sorry," Rapunzel finally whispered. She let her head drop towards the floor.
Cassandra walked up and placed both hands on her shoulders. "It's alright..." She pulled her close for a quick hug. "I'm sorry, too, for lashing out... but, as I said,-" she pulled away, "-I can only help you if I know what's really going on."
"O-okay," Rapunzel sniffled. She let herself be walked back over to the bed, where she sat down much calmer than before. Cassandra immediately wrapped an arm around her waist, pulling her close.
"Now, what's this about you not wanting to marry him?"
"I-" Her voice caught, and she took a deep breath. "It all started back in February," she finally admitted. "During that nonsense trip to the Snuggly Duckling."
"Wait,-" Cass shook her head "-hold on. Are you saying you've felt like this since the beginning of this year?" she asked in disbelief.
"Please," Rapunzel pleaded, her voice pained. "Let me... please, just let me explain," she ended quietly. Cassandra slowly nodded, and she took a deep breath before continuing. "Me and you weren't the closest back when it all happened in late October, the time of my... breakdown, and when Eugene proposed...-" she paused for a second to bite her lip, "-and when we became engaged."
Cassandra's expression had since turned into a sad frown. "Did you ever want to marry him?"
"I... I don't... I did?" Rapunzel sighed and dropped her head into both her palms. "I don't know. A lot had happened in those weeks leading up to the proposal. I wasn't in the best mental state because he had gotten that stupid job at the docks, and we barely saw each other because of it. I thought he-" her voice broke, "-wanted nothing to do with me. But, I was wrong; he proved to me that not only did he still love me, but he was working that stupid job to afford a ring so he could propose. I... I know now, looking back, that I said yes because I wanted to be close with him again. And that's exactly what happened after; the next few months were perfect, you know. I spent more time with him the month after the proposal than I had spent with him in the four months prior. But during that Snuggly Duckling trip, he said something that... that I never even thought of before."
"What did he say?"
"He said..." Her voice grew more pained, more broken, "He mentioned how we'll be living in Corona for the rest of our lives... how we're never going to travel or worry about a single thing regarding the outside world ever again," she cried quietly. "And just hearing him say things like that..."
"This is about what you experienced all those years in isolation," Cassandra whispered, beginning to understand.
Rapunzel nodded and sniffled. "Yes... I felt this sense of claustrophobia, the same kind I hadn't felt since... since Gothel brought me back to the tower after I thought Eugene had abandoned me." Fresh tears began to well up in her eyes, but this time, she immediately used the handkerchief to wipe them away. She knew she had to be strong. "Because I had finally gotten a glimpse of the outside world, then... and I didn't want to go back. I wanted to run around freely and explore everything I had been missing out on my whole life," she shrugged, "if that makes sense."
"It does. You don't feel ready to settle down yet... that's what you're saying." Cassandra wasn't asking, it was more of a statement of understanding.
"I..." Rapunzel sighed, "I guess that is what I'm saying." She then fell back-first onto the bed, holding both her intertwined hands against her heart. "But... but I'm torn, Cass, I'm really torn."
"Why didn't you say something sooner? If you... uh, if you've been feeling like this for months... why have you waited so long before telling someone?"
"Because... I was so afraid," Rapunzel said as she sat up. She quickly curled up and pulled both her knees to her chest. "I see it every single day how much the marriage means to him. Like, c'mon, I know you've seen it, too. How he looks like he's going to explode with happiness whenever it's brought up!" Cassandra slowly nodded her head in agreement. "And I feel so guilty about feeling this way because I'm freaking out over spending the rest of my life in a perfectly good castle and Kingdom with a family and friends who love and care about me..." Her expression grew more serious. "But I just can't help it; the nightmares have been too much." She curled up even tighter. "I want them to end," she whispered brokenly. Fresh tears poured through her bottom eyelids. "I just want the pain to end."
Cassandra stared at her with solemn eyes for a few seconds before contracting her plan, which was when she stood up from her seat and extended Rapunzel a hand. "I know what you need, c'mon."
"What?" Rapunzel looked up to her through her teary eyes.
Cassandra closed her own eyes. "I'm probably clinically insane for even suggesting this right now, but whatever." She took a deep breath and opened them before extending her hand even further. "You're obviously stressed out about everything that's going on, and you very clearly want to go exploring the world outside Corona. So... how about we do just that?"
"Wh-what do you mean?" Rapunzel took the hand and let herself be pulled up from the bed. She wiped away the remaining wetness on her face.
"What I mean,-" Cassandra patted her on the shoulder and led her towards her weapons closet, "-is that it's the middle of the night, meaning everyone in the castle is fast asleep, so this is the perfect opportunity for us to get out of here and do some real exploring." Rapunzel's eyes widened. "Yup, you heard me right. I'm talking about going beyond our border wall; there's actually something really cool I've been meaning to check up on that I think might interest you." Something kind of spooky, too she thought.
"That sounds... fun!" Rapunzel's voice was joyous... until a wave of fear rushed in. "But won't someone notice we're gone? What if Eugene wakes up?"
"He won't."
"Or Pascal, I know he sometimes sneaks out in the middle of the night to get something to eat! Oh, what about your father? He and his guards might... might suspect something!"
Cassandra flung open her weapon's closet door. "Raps, you're being overly cautious; remember, it's only a little past three in the morning. If we're careful enough, we'll be fine."
"I know, I know.. it's just - woah." Rapunzel gasped as she caught sight of all the different types of weapons and cloaks that had been hidden behind the two closed doors. "Where's the war?" she joked.
Cassandra walked to her outfit closest. She pulled out her more preferred piece of attire: a brown warrior suit, and began to pull it on. "Well, when your Dad is the captain of the guard, you tend to collect... a few things." She walked forward and waved a hand when she was all finished. "C'mon, let's get a move on. Don't have all night!... or morning!"
Rapunzel stood there, though, unmoving. "Cass..." she finally said, "I... I'd love to, I really would, and I appreciate you wanting to go out of your way to help me, but... but I can't. There's just too big a risk; how would I explain this to Eugene, to my parents if they found out I left Corona's territory?"
Cassandra bit her lip and took a deep breath before turning back to her. "Are you sure? I'm wide-awake now, and this is probably the only shot you'll have-"
"Before the wedding," Rapunzel finished, her voice solemn.
A sad frown grew on Cassandra's face. "You're still going through with it? Raps... I'm not sure that's the best idea considering all... this."
"What other choice do I have?" Rapunzel groaned, "Eugene will be heartbroken if I don't marry him on Sunday..."
Cassandra walked back and placed a hand on her shoulder. "I think it's best you hear this from me. Eugene and I have had our... own problems, yes, but the one thing I've come to respect about him is just how much he loves you. Yeah, you probably should've said something sooner-"
"You're not helping," Rapunzel whined, exhausted.
"I know, I know,-" Cassandra waved a hand, "-But... you know better than anyone else how much you mean to him, and despite everything you've both been through...-" her voice softened, "-if your heart isn't in this wedding, that's something he'll live with and learn to understand. Even if you're..." her voice grew uneasy, "calling it off a measly few days before."
"That's the only problem," Rapunzel explained, "I heard him say he didn't know how he'll live if it's called off. He's... he's acting,-" her voice broke, "-as if he's going to die if I don't marry him."
Cassandra stared at her for a second, thinking deeply, before her eyes widened in realization. "Oh... oh my god."
"What?"
"You heard that conversation... right before..." she whispered, the truth coming to a front, "oh my god, that's why you fainted last month, isn't it?" Her voice grew louder near the end.
"Uhhh..." Rapunzel stepped back.
Cassandra took a step back on her own. "This is... wow. This is way worse than I thought."
"Worse? Cass, I didn't-"
"You didn't what? You didn't faint because you couldn't handle hearing how much the marriage meant to him?"
"I-" Rapunzel's voice came out as a broken gasp, and she dropped her head in shame when she realized there was no arguing or excusing herself this time. "You're right," she whispered sadly.
"I know, and I'm so sorry you've thought you've had to go through this alone. But I'm here now, and I know just the way to make things right." Cassandra walked back to her and forcefully grabbed her arm.
"Wha-?"
"We're waking Eugene up right now to finally get to the bottom of all this." She tugged Rapunzel out of her room and into the hall.
"Wait, what!? Cass!" Rapunzel pulled her arm back, her voice having been lowered into a sharp whisper. "I can't!"
"Why not?"
"Be-because," Rapunzel stumbled, "I... I-" She felt the returning burn in her eyes as more tears welled up. "It'll break his heart..."
"It very well could, but focus for a second on how this is affecting you. You've been having nightmares for the past two weeks and just last month you li-te-ra-lly fainted because the stress and fear of marrying him was too much to handle! Can't you see that this is not okay, Rapunzel? It is not normal to faint because of things like this!"
Rapunzel spoke as if she didn't hear her friend pleads. "No, I fainted last month because the mere idea of breaking his heart after all he's done and sacrificed just to be with me was too much to handle!" Rapunzel cried. Fresh tears fell down her face, "Eugene has been nothing but a saint this past year; I've had an up front seat seeing everything he's had to deal with. The people, like you and your dad, who only saw him at first as a petty, no-life, gold-digging thief. But he stayed strong despite all the hurdles and obstacles because he knew just how much I needed him and still need him even now! So that's why I'm going to suck it up like a big girl and marry him in two days on Sunday, and no one's going to stop me." With that, she pouted her lips in an authoritative manner before stomping her way down the hall.
"Please, Rapunzel, I'm really not sure that's a good idea-"
"It's the only idea, Cassandra!" Rapunzel retorted sharply, "Because Eugene is all that matters. If he can suck it up and power through a few nightmares every so often, then so can I!" She turned the corner and disappeared out of sight.
There was a minimal pause right after.
"What's going on!?" The door to Captain Jones' bedroom flung open. He stood shirtless in its opening with a sword in hand, and looked down the hall where Cassandra stood all alone, when he let out an agitated groan. "Cassandra, what are you doing up?" he asked with a slight wave of the sword.
Cassandra stared at the empty spot where Rapunzel just turned and deadpanned before sighing. "Of course." She then turned to him, yawning and rubbing her eyes. "Dad, you wouldn't care to know how to handle a scared, frightened and naive princess who can't make up her mind about something that's very clearly eating her up inside?"
Jones' brows furrowed in confusion. "Wha-?"
Cassandra shook her head. "Nevermind." She mockingly saluted him before walking back inside her room. "Sleep tight, Daddy-o."
When Cassandra's door slammed shut from the inside, all Gainey Jones could do was shake his head. He grumbled some inaudible curse-words as he, now, walked back into his bedroom.
Finding her talk with Cass to produce... unwanted results, Rapunzel stormed off and away back to her and Eugene's bedroom. Ultimately she wasn't sure whether or not she regretted opening up to someone. Yes, she thought, it did feel good to have finally admitted to someone other than Pascal about all that she's been feeling, but she wasn't rewarded with that sense of accomplishment she was hoping for. Instead, she was rewarded with a sense of dread, a fear that Cass would go out and do something that would completely ruin everything.
Rapunzel carefully opened the door and walked back over to her side of the bed before slowly sliding back in. Her thoughts were running rampant about what might happen, but the extending feeling of sleep calling her name was more than enough to bring her back to her senses. Everything will be fine, she chose to think. Eugene will always be here for her, to hold her, to snuggle her, to be a shoulder for her to cry on forever and always.
In the process of trying to lull herself back to sleep, she did the best she could to just think of the positives. And the way she did was via a list system inside her head.
Positive 1: She'll always have her family, friends, and loved ones to lean on whenever times get rough.
Positive 2: As Eugene's told her, the castle life is, in-fact, 'the good life'. The view from their room is absolutely amazing, the castle garden and backyard grounds are beautiful and full of luscious, green grass. Plus, the library and her art studio are huge!
Positive 3: Ironically, Eugene was also right, she now understood, when he spoke about safety. She knows that they will be safe and sound and won't have to worry about a single thing or person hurting them ever again with all the protection and safety measures that have been taken inside and outside the castle.
Focusing on these three main thoughts, Rapunzel was able to slowly guide herself back to sleep without any fears of the nightmare recurring once more. And when she woke up a few hours later at her typical early morning hour, she felt like a new born baby girl. Though, unlike her typical self, she didn't feel like getting up so early, so she instead decided to snuggle up close to Eugene. She relished in the contended sigh that came out of his mouth, and she felt like absolute heaven.
Somewhere deep in the main town on the island, a crazed rat ran its way across and through the idle Coronan streets. As it ran, it saw a flyer on a nearby wooden post. This flyer that caught its eye depicted the soon to be royal couple, Princess Rapunzel and soon to be Prince Consort Eugene Fitzherbert. The rat wasted no time to rip the flyer down and roll it up before making its way into a nearby sewer. It was less than two minutes before it reached its destination; a small underground bunker full of all kinds of stolen jewels and valuables.
In the center of the man-made bunker was a desk and a chair, with an unfamiliar feminine figure sitting at its helm. Behind her, hung up on the wall was one singular, large portrait of King Frederic himself. Off to the side, a man stood slumped over as the very same rat ran up the legs of the desk with the poster in hand. It stopped right in front of the woman seated in the chair, and proceeded extend her the paper as the unfamiliar man off to the side opened his mouth to speak.
"Lady Caine," he said, stepping forward. "What is it?"
The woman, whose name was now known to be Lady Caine, smirked evilly as she took hold of the paper. In her free hand, she held up a candle to its left corner. "This..." she chuckled darkly, "this is blasphemy. Flynn, or should I say Eugene, marrying into the royal family?" She scoffed in annoyance. "I never thought he'd stoop to the lengths of seducing a naive little girl who knew no better, but we've all got to make a living somehow. The prized Princesses' coronation ceremony the day before, though,-" she analyzed the fine print and writing, "-could finally be our chance for revenge, my dear Pocket." She moved the candle closer to the edge of the paper, close enough for it to burn. A dark smile grew on her lips. "Our old pal Freddy is finally going to get what coming."
"Helmsworth will pay for his treachery, milady," Pocket assured her in a soft, yet decrepit voice. "Your father's wrongful imprisonment and disappearance will be atoned. We will make sure of it."
Lady Caine watched as the paper in front of her disintegrated into ashes. She grinned wickedly, "That we will, my friend. That... we... will."
..