Arrival in Arendelle
*Weeks earlier*
Princess Rapunzel heir to the kingdom of Corona, struggled with juggling both her toddler twins on her hips. One was crying, where the other one was poking the crying baby's face. "Stop that!" She chided. She sighed. She had handled Mother Gothel, an ancient demon, more than one coup on her kingdom, and before she gave birth, a disease that threatened her life. Yet this was totally different! The twins gave so much life, joy and noise in her world. Almost too much! They were almost always active! They didn't seem to sleep as much as other children she had seen and were constantly provoking one another, even though they weren't even two yet! Her daughter was named Ruby, and she still had inexplicably blonde hair. It hadn't darkened to brown and wasn't showing any signs of that yet. As she and Eugene were natural brunettes, she couldn't explain it to herself. Her son was named Ferdinand, but thanks to her husband, they all called him 'Din' for short. It was less stuffy sounding she supposed, and it fit him. He was always making lots of noise!
Despite their mischievousness and fighting, she knew that the twins had a deep-seated love of each other and an almost a mystical connection. She had seen it firsthand when she and Eugene had a scare with Din. Like a lot of twins, they were born one month early, but due to the stress on Rapunzel's body, the doctor said, they were born just over 31 weeks. Ruby, her daughter, didn't seem to be any worse for wear for it. In fact, she seemed to be the picture of health. However, her son Din's health steadily degraded, even after initially seeming fine when he was first born. He wasn't thriving, the doctor said, and his little lungs seemed underdeveloped.
It was normal, he told them, for newborn girls to rebound better than newborn boys. He grew worse and worse. Then, in a few days' time, the dutiful doctor told them the worst news possible. It was time to say goodbye to Din. Heartbroken, they all held him, they thought for the last time, and were told to place the little boy infant next to his sister for one final time. When they placed him next to his sister, their skin touched, and Din seemed to relax. Then a miracle happened. Din's breathing seemed to improve, and he made a remarkable recovery. He survived! And he was making all this noise now! She laughed. The doctor seemed to think this type of miracle wasn't completely unheard of. Twins simply had that special connection, he related. Rapunzel only knew that the memory of it, made her cuddle close with little Din, putting her nose to his nose. Ruby got jealous and let her mother know immediately. "I love you too, Ruby!" Her mother reassured. "I was just remembering when you saved Din. You remember that?"
The baby babbled at her incoherently in response.
"Everything OK in here?" Eugene poked his head in, with his captain's uniform still on. He had just finished morning drills.
"Oh, you know just the normal Din and chaos!" Rapunzel winked. "So thankful for that noise though!" Her eyes welled up at the memory of the loss that might have been. He pecked her on the forehead. "I know what you mean. Ruby really had this little guy's back, right?"
"But you know, he has her back too Eugene. It's weird, but you remember how she was having night terrors for a while?"
"Ugh, how could I forget?" Eugene frowned. Just when it seemed the two littles were going to sleep through the night, Ruby started screaming in the middle of the night, practically waking up the whole palace. Or at least it seemed like that to Eugene and Pascal. Rapunzel asked the doctor about that, and he seemed to think little Ruby had a developed a sudden fear of the dark. That could happen when infants matured, he said. However, Rapunzel doubted what the doctor said. She told him she watched her baby and it always seemed she started in her fits when she was still sound asleep, almost like she was having nightmares. The doctor smiled in a way she was sure was supposed to look sage, and said not to worry, that babies this age didn't have enough experience to have nightmares. But then something else weird happened. Din was awoken each time by his sister's shrill crying and squirmed like crazy in either her arms, Eugene's arms, or the nurse's arms. Whoever happened to be holding him at the time. They thought he was just fussy after being woken up, but Rapunzel came to realize he was squirming towards his sister. On a hunch, she placed him next to his wailing sister, despite Eugene's cranky protests that "Great! Now we'll have two grumpy wailing babies!"
After Din was placed next to her, Ruby didn't immediately settle down. But Din fell asleep quickly. In just a few minutes after Din fell asleep next to her, Ruby fell asleep too, her wailing subsided, and she began cooing in her sleep with a peaceful smile on her face. Rapunzel couldn't believe it! 'It worked!' cried Eugene incredulously, and promptly woke up both babies again. After that first night though, Rapunzel always laid down Din next to Ruby. Then Eugene and her…and the whole palace really, slept more peacefully.
"Yeah no, they're twins." Eugene shrugged and agreed with a half-smile, after she finished reminding him. She kept hearing that, yet Rapunzel felt somehow their connection was more than that. There was a knock on the door. "Your majesties," a servant called to them. "Are you ready to board the ship to Arendelle?"
"Yup!" Rapunzel replied cheerfully. It would be their first trip abroad since their honeymoon. They had been invited to Princess Elsa's coronation as Queen of Arendelle. Though the soon-to-be queen was her age, she was being crowned early because both her parents had died, leaving her and her sister Anna orphaned. Rapunzel shuddered when she thought that had nearly happened to her children. The day they were born, Eugene almost died in a duel, while she almost died giving birth. They wound up saving each other in a way, and themselves. That was a whole other adventure. Arendelle was a country extremely faraway from Corona, but because of her own experience, she wanted to show the young, would-be queen as much support as she could. The servants and her father urged her to leave the twins here in Corona to let the wet nurse take care of them, but Rapunzel wouldn't hear of it. She wouldn't leave her twins behind for that long. "Besides, they like sailing!" She quipped.
"Uh, I think a canoe is a little different than a weeks' long journey on a galleon ship." Eugene retorted back.
"Nonsense," Rapunzel shook her head with a smile. "It'll be fine, you'll see."
The highlight of the trip was that their friends Cassandra and Adira were coming with them. They had been on a secretive quest to hunt down magical artifacts, especially ones that intentionally or unintentionally caused harm, in order to counteract or destroy them if needed. Adira said she had a hunch about rumors that were coming out of Arendelle. Pascal, her faithful chameleon opted to stay behind. He was getting older, she thought with a touch of sadness, and he didn't like the cold. Arendelle was a northern country.
On the journey, for the most part the twins did handle sailing like champs. Hilariously, Eugene and Rapunzel did not. Without the vast spaciousness of the palace and the mass of servants more than willing to fuss over their twins, they found that they got no break. The two little tikes always needed something and at night, they only slept for five hours at most before waking up and being needed to be comforted back to sleep. Nevertheless, Rapunzel felt like she got to know her children better this way. At this young age, they were quickly developing their own personalities. Din always seemed playful and mischievous, while Ruby seemed thoughtful and dreamy for the most part. One hazard Rapunzel completely forgot about was that the twins were relatively new to walking. While Rapunzel, Eugene, Cassandra and even Adira had enough sailing experience to give them sea legs, it was a mess with toddlers.
The poor little things were tumbling over themselves at every big gust that rocked the boat or turn. Rapunzel and Eugene found themselves carrying them around a lot more. Thankfully the toddlers somehow seemed to avoid getting bruised in their toddling mishaps. Though Ruby avoided it more than Din. Their little family was just starting to get used to the routine of the boat, all the pitfalls of sailing, and the increasingly crisp and cooler air, when one evening, as Rapunzel tickled little Din and Eugene propped Ruby up to ride on his shoulders, they were met by the most beautiful red sunset they had ever seen. The family all pointed in delight as they saw a strange black and white whale jump out of the waters and back down again, right next to the boat! In the middle of this breathtaking sunset, accompanied by this fascinating sight, there was a speck of a dot way out on the horizon. A sailor shouted, "Land ho!" That apparently was Arendelle.
The twins were absolute terrors that night. They must have picked up on all the excitement of spotting land and woke up every hour or so. It seemed like they thought they would be there already, even though they were still miles off. Rapunzel handled the first part of the night, and Eugene took the early morning hours. However, since Rapunzel nursed them, the twins had a greater attachment to their mother, and they wound up gravitating to her. She fell asleep with both of them fast asleep at her sides. Eugene kept up watching, unable to fall asleep with all the ruckus of docking and decided to help out. It was way past sunrise when a servant woke her. "Milady?" She gently called. Rapunzel woke up with a start. Her children weren't by her anymore. "Where are they? Where are my kids?" She demanded both shocked and still half asleep. The servant stepped back to reveal that they both were sleeping peacefully in the makeshift crib they had made on the ship. The young servant had a partially panicked look on her face as well. As if she had taken great pains to shift them from her side to the crib without waking them up, and now Rapunzel was making a lot of noise. "Oh!" Rapunzel put a hand over her chest, where her heart was still fluttering. "Sorry Vicky!" She whispered, calling the servant by name. "And thank you! I didn't know."
"It's ok. I know you didn't get a lot of sleep your majesty. I woke you though, because the coronation festivities will be starting soon."
"Starting soon?" Rapunzel worked to keep her voice quiet though now she was feeling a sense of urgency. "Oh no I've got to get myself dressed and the twins! They need to get in their outfits." Her panic seemed comical to her own ears as it was whispered and spoken rapidly. Mother Gothel would have told her to stop mumbling.
"Don't worry your majesty," Vicky laid a hand on her arm in an attempt to comfort her. Other nobles had told her they didn't let their servants get this close or speak so openly, but Rapunzel not only thought that was ridiculous, but she also thought they were missing out on an asset. The servant continued, "They are getting good sleep now after last night, and a coronation is no place for babies! They will be grumpy and bored to tears! I and the other servants can watch the children on the boat, while you and your husband attend. If I may be so bold, I think that perhaps you would like to take the opportunity to spend some time together after this long journey with the twins?"
"My husband," Rapunzel started. It would be nice to have some alone time to spend with him. "Where is he?" She continued. He was nowhere to be found below deck.
"He is above on the deck your majesty. He's already dressed for the occasion."
"I bet he is!" She grinned. "What about Cassandra and Adira?" She asked.
"They are above deck too. Although they said something about exploring."
Rapunzel got dressed hurriedly to go above deck. Sure, enough when she went above deck, Cassandra and Adira were already gone. The ship had already fully docked, and they departed at first light. She didn't blame them. They hadn't been exactly invited to the coronation, and they were here on their quest for magical artifacts. They told her depending on what they found they might stay instead of returning back to Corona with them. In the interim hours that the twins were actually asleep last night, Cassandra and Adira had already said their farewells to Rapunzel and Eugene just in case they didn't see them again on this journey. They said goodbye to the twins. They were even able to play a card game or two with Rapunzel and Eugene beforehand, though it was interrupted whenever the twins woke up. Adira won both games, but Cassandra and Eugene were sore losers and blamed it on the twins' distraction. Rapunzel laughed to herself. She'd miss her friends and didn't know when she would see them next, but this quest was something they seemed born to do. They had already saved her life through it.
"Sunshine!" Eugene interrupted her thoughts. He spotted her as she arrived on deck. He frowned temporarily as he looked around her. "No twins?" They were almost an extension of her now. She laughed. "No they're sleeping below deck."
"Finally?" He sighed "And without you?"
"Finally. Snug in their crib." She smiled as she recalled them cuddling together. She had only worn her simple lavender dress. The coronation was a good excuse to wear it again and she didn't want to put on airs. All the attention should be on the new queen. She knew her husband would do things differently though. She stifled a laugh when she saw him. It seemed she knew him well enough.
Her husband was dressed in a royal purple vest jacket with dark blue sleeves embroidered with gold at the cuffs. It was obvious he was royalty, but she had to admit he was looking as handsome as ever. He had helped with docking and despite the cool summer air, sweat glistened on his forehead. Looking closely too, she could tell he hadn't gotten enough sleep either. She could see dark circles under his eyes. Not that she would ever tell him. He'd be in a panic if he thought he didn't look his best! She smiled again to herself. But her husband was smiling at something else. "Rapunzel," he said, "I think the mast is blocking your view." He pulled her out of the shadow of the mast's white billows and showed her where they had landed. "Presenting Arendelle!" He said with a flourish of his hand. Before, she had seen rolling green hills with evergreen trees dotting their curves.
That was impressive enough, but they had similar landscape in Corona, though the forestry was different. Yet as Eugene took her in front of the ship's mast, and her view was no longer obstructed, she saw Arendelle's majestic castle practically floating on the water's edge. Elegant towers and green turrets welcomed them to the land. Behind it as a backdrop were the most breathtaking and imposing snowcapped mountains Rapunzel had ever seen. There was only one mountain in Corona, Mt. Saision, and it barely qualified as a mountain. They could walk up and down it easily enough. This was a mountain range. They were draped in rich greenery that faded up at the top to reveal their crystal white crowns and seemed to stretch on forever. Eugene caught her gaping at everything and stood behind her, so as not to block her view. He wrapped his arms around her shoulders and held her close. Their heights were such that his head rested comfortably right above hers. "You've never seen mountains like these have you?" His eyes glinting.
"N-nooo." She stammered looking up at him. She had seen big cities and a few other countries besides Corona, but nothing like this.
"Yeah, welcome to a country that isn't hostile to us, being run by a slum lord or in bad need of repair. Arendelle's has been an incredibly stable, established country for decades. I think the only thing we'll have to worry about here is which room to stay in!"
"Wait a minute." Rapunzel thought. "Eugene, you're not surprised by the scenery. Have you been here before?" Then she gasped. "Eugene, were you here as Flynn Rider? Did you steal from here?" It was Eugene'sturn to stammer.
"N-noo, not here per se." He put his hands up defensively. She twirled around to face him.
"Maybe in the neighboring kingdom of Weselton."
"Eugene!"
"What? It was a million years ago, and I think everything has been returned since then!"
Eugene stopped thieving and using his old alias long ago, but they still felt repercussions for it now and then. Rapunzel shook her head. They were lucky that they had been able to secure pardons nearly everywhere. Plus, unbeknownst to them at them at the time, the old Captain of the Guards, and two of his other guards, had witnessed her bring Eugene back from the dead with a magical tear. They had shared their side of the story with her.
That day they galloped in the direction they had seen Eugene escape with Maximus, furiously trying to recover the fugitive, then known to them as Flynn Rider. They thought they had lost him, when they heard an old woman's scream as she fell. They looked behind a curtain of ivy and saw an old witch's body fall to the earth, turning to dust. They looked on aghast and speechless, when they caught sight of Maximus standing alert next to Rapunzel's tower. Also stunned from seeing the old witch disintegrate, the horse looked at them in alarm and, on impulse, ran off, trying to direct them away from the tower.
The guards naturally followed suit, but then they saw the tower's backdoor. Thinking they had found Rider's hideout, they abandoned chasing Maximus, quietly dismounted and opened the door, not wanting to alert Rider to their presence. Maybe they could get to the bottom of whatever in the world was going on here! The men crept up the hidden stairwell and discreetly peeked through the entrance of a trap door, just in time to see Rapunzel crying over Flynn's body, a blood stain on his vest. Underneath the opening of the trapdoor, they were hidden from her view. She was so distracted by grief, they stayed there, to give her a moment. They took in the scene in confusion. The fatal wound must have been caused by a large, used knife, placed right next to the trapdoor. Due to trauma, Rapunzel had edited the stain on the knife out of her memory. By that, there was a manacle and attached chain, flung in a disjointed heap, with something that looked like a gag on top.
Glass shards were everywhere, and Flynn's hand itself was chained to a banister. One of his men pointed to the long trail of brown hair behind Rapunzel, and they all looked at each other. Wasn't she the same girl with Rider they had been chasing earlier, with the extravagantly long blonde hair? The one Flynn had been prattling on and on in prison about before he escaped? Why was her hair cut and brown now? They could only guess what happened. They were still assessing the situation when they saw a little lizard bump his head into the back of Flynn's upturned hand, trying to arouse the thief, but the chained hand only flopped over lifelessly. Rider was gone.
Then the little lizard seemed to spot them. They held their breath as the he scampered quickly straight towards them, down to the top step underneath the trap door and sure enough made a motion to alert Rapunzel. They grabbed him. They would rather not to have Rapunzel find out about them this way. She obviously had been through something traumatic, and they didn't want to frighten her more. They were trying to figure out what to do, when to their shock one of Rapunzel's tears gleamed and blossomed into a beautiful golden flower made of pure light. It sprouted from the blood stain at Flynn's side. The Captain of the Guards had only seen that type of light once before. He saw it when the queen was healed by a magical golden flower. It was right before she gave birth to the lost princess. The princess who had been kidnapped by a wicked old witch.
The captain gasped as realization dawned on him. The supernatural light did its work. Rider's wound vanished. Then the impossible happened. The once dead thief was suddenly breathing again and talking! Their mouths fell open and they were frozen by sheer disbelief. And then they saw Rapunzel kiss Flynn, although she was calling him Eugene for some reason. That was it. They broke it up pretty quickly after that. However, since they had witnessed it, there was no denying after that, Rapunzel had to be the lost princess. Flynn or Eugene, whatever he was calling himself these days, had somehow found her, and must have died saving her. Afterward, as they had seen, he was magically restored to life. Thank goodness they had seen it happen! Rapunzel couldn't imagine that anyone would believe them if they hadn't seen it for themselves! After word of their story spread, most of the death sentences out on Eugene were lifted. Most kings didn't want to sentence man to die twice, especially one who helped save a princess!
"C'mon Rapunzel, you still tired?" Eugene beckoned her out of her thoughts. She shook her head, abolishing the sad thoughts. "Let's go have fun and see the making of a new queen Eugene!" She slipped her arm around his to signal she was ready to go. "To Arendelle!"
Just as they were about to get off the ship, Rapunzel could swear she saw a unicorn horn jut out of the water before it submerged again. She grabbed Eugene's arm. "Eugene. Was that a unicorn?!"
Eugene saw it too. He seemed to think it was some type of whale though.
"A whale?" Rapunzel giggled. "How silly, what kind of whale would have a unicorn horn like that? That had to be a unicorn, Eugene!"
"Maybe." He responded, still unsure. At any rate, Rapunzel already felt Arendelle was magical, and that there was more magic in store for them to experience here. She couldn't wait!