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The next morning, Flynn was sleeping soundly until he was disturbed by water dripping onto his face. "Hmm, what?" Flynn woke up and looked up to see that Maximus had finally caught up with them and he looked enraged. "Well I hope you're here to apologize," Flynn said smoothly only to be attacked by Maximus, using his teeth to grab him by the boot. The boot fell off and he proceeded to grab him by the shirt. "AHHHH! No, no put me down. NO, NO!"
Meanwhile, Sora, Riku, and Kairi were talking with each other.
"So, yesterday was pretty rough, wasn't it?" Sora awkwardly asked his two best friends.
"Yeah it was," Riku simply answered.
"At least Rapunzel will be able to see the lanterns tonight," Kairi said, trying to look on the bright side.
"Look, I'm sorry I got you two and everyone else involved in all this. I just wanted to try and do something nice for this girl and try to bring back my lost sister that I-," Sora apologized only to be interrupted by Riku.
"Look, I may not fully agree with you running off and getting into trouble, but I don't hold this against you. Your heart was in the right place and I believe it will all be worth it when Rapunzel gets to finally see those lanterns in person," Riku reassured.
"Yeah! We don't blame you for wanting to do the right thing or wanting for the rules to be less strict. After all, things haven't been the best ever since the lost princess was kidnapped, whether or not she is Rapunzel or not. However, hopefully wherever the lost princess is now she'll hopefully find her way home and be happy to see her family," Kairi agreed.
Sora looked like he was holding back tears of joy as he rushed to hug his friends. "Thanks. For everything. We should probably go back to the others. They should be done looking for Rapunzel's mother by now. I do wish I knew where Dolly went to last night. The last I heard she was about to be given a talking-to by Dylan."
"Well, hopefully she is doing okay. Maybe you can ask one of her siblings where she went," Kairi suggested. Suddenly, the trio was taken out of their thoughts by a yell that came from a familiar rogue.
Early that morning, when Da Vinci woke up, she expected to find Dolly not that far away from Sora. However, for some reason she wasn't there, which was worrying to the young dalmatian. So, the young artist decided to ask the only available sibling if he knew where she went.
"Diesel? Hey, are you awake? Diesel?" Da Vinci prodded, trying to wake up the digging pup.
Diesel groaned as he woke up. "Hey, Da Vinci, not that I don't appreciate the alarm, but can you wake me up later? I'd love to dig right now, but I need at least one more hour to have all the energy I need to dig all the way to sunset."
"Um, actually, I was wondering if you knew where I could find Dolly. I haven't seen her since last night and I was getting worried," Da Vinci brought up her worries.
"Oh. The last I remember of her is being yelled at by Dylan over her letting Sora go out of the castle. Now let me sleep some more, ya dig?" Diesel said as he fell back to sleep.
"Dylan, what did you do?" Da Vinci was worried about what her older brother had done. Immediately, she began to look for him. At first, she couldn't quite find him, but eventually she found him sitting under a large tree not far off from where Flynn was fighting Maximus.
"So, what if Dolly is mad at you? So what? She should have listened to you from the beginning rather than refuse to listen to you. What I don't get is why she was sounding so upset. Did I do something wrong? No, you didn't Dylan. She's just being difficult like usual," Dylan said to himself.
"Dylan? What is going on here?" Da Vinci asked the responsible pup.
"How much did you hear?" Dylan asked Da Vinci.
"I heard enough to get an idea. However, I'd like to know for certain," Da Vinci responded.
"I called Dolly out for bringing you and Sora out here, putting you and everyone else in massive trouble! She should know better than to cause trouble like this, but of course she just had to risk our lives with the royal family and guaranteeing us all staying together and happy," Dylan explained.
"Really, Dylan? Really? Look, I get you want us all to stick together and that you're just looking out for our family, but you're also not seeing things from her perspective!" Da Vinci argued.
"Which would be?" Dylan asked, genuinely confused.
"She hates that you're apparently the golden child while she always gets in trouble. She just wants to be able to be herself again without being judged for it by you and our parents," Da Vinci explained.
"Oh… Maybe I've messed up a little. I never meant to make her feel this way. Maybe we should find her," Dylan said sadly.
"Yeah. We should go ahead and find her. Maybe by doing so we can fix things between you guys," Da Vinci said.
"Good idea. But wait. She could have gone who knows where by this point," Dylan argued.
"Well, lucky for us we have an expert digger and tracker to help us," Da Vinci reminded Dylan.
"We just need to go get Diesel!" Dylan agreed.
"Perfect! I'll stay with Rapunzel and the others while you and Diesel go on ahead!" Da Vinci said.
"Hopefully things will end with us not getting into major trouble," Dylan commented as he ran to find Diesel.
"Stupid Dylan and how he thinks he's always right. I just wanted to help out Sora, maybe even make everyone happy and finally be seen positively by mom and dad for the first time in forever. Aw, who am I kidding. As much as I hate to say it, Dylan is right. I just messed things up. Well, hopefully Sora and the others will be happy without me messing things up," Dolly sadly muttered to herself.
"Now, do I need to explain the plan to you two again?" A black haired woman, Gothel, asked the Stabbington brothers.
Dolly heard them, but was about to leave. However, before she could leave, she heard more of their conversation.
"Sure thing, lady. We capture that Flynn Rider so that the royal guard can put an end to him. Meanwhile, we capture blondie and sell her for her magic hair and make out like kings!" Sideburns said.
"Perfect! Now just remember to play your part properly, and you'll get what's coming to you. Just remember, Rapunzel can't know I'm involved or that you had anything to do with Flynn's disappearance," Gothel said.
"Don't worry, lady. We'll get blondie in one piece. By the way, what should we do about their buddies?"
"They're of no use to us. Do whatever you like with them," Gothel decided.
"Oh no! This is bad! I've gotta warn the others!" Dolly realized. She tried the best she could to find the others, but unfortunately she didn't pay enough attention as to where she was going. "Darn it! Why couldn't you pay attention to where you were going, Dolly?! At this rate I'll never find the others! Dylan really was right! I can't even fix my mistakes when I try to!"
Just as Dolly was about to give up, she suddenly heard a voice. "Diesel! Where are you? I need to find Dolly! Otherwise I'll never get to apologize and fix things with her!" Dylan yelled out, much to Dolly's relief. However, wanting to joke around with him a little bit first, Dolly decided to remain hidden a little bit more first. "Why couldn't you understand her a little bit more first, Dylan? If you did, then maybe you could have avoided getting into a fight and chasing her away! Look, Dolly, if you're listening, I'm sorry for what I said. There's just so much going on recently and I've wanted to look out for our family and make sure they are looked after and cared for. But maybe I should have tried to understand you more rather than get on your case for goofing off. What will I do now?"
Deciding that she's done enough messing with Dylan, Dolly got out of her hiding spot behind a tree, saying, "That's easy. Continuing being a massive dork!"
"Dolly! You're okay! Wait. Were you hiding to get me to talk more?" Dylan suspiciously asked.
"Maybe. Anyways, I'm sorry about getting us into this mess. I just hated being singled out all the time. I never really got punished much when I was just expected to be a big sister, but now that we're the dogs of royalty things got more complicated and I could do so much less," Dolly explained herself.
"I'll accept your apology if you accept mine," Dylan said.
"Deal," Dolly agreed. "Now that we've got that settled, I need to tell Sora that we're in trouble. Some lady and her two big tough guys are going after Rapunzel! They want her for her magic hair and they may also hurt the others if we don't warn everyone!"
"Then we have no time to lose! We've got to warn everyone!" Dylan decided as the duo began to run off to look for Sora to deliver their warning.
Suddenly, Rapunzel returned and commanded Maximus to,"Release him."
"OW!" Flynn said once he was dropped to the ground.
"Whoa! Whoa, whoa-whoa-whoa," Rapunzel responded as Maximus looked angrily to Rapunzel. "Easy boy, easy, calm down. Easy boy. Easy." All of a sudden, Maximus, after taking a close look at Rapunzel and sharing a look with Pascal, calmed down. "That's it. Now sit. Sit. Good, now drop the boot. Drop it. Oh, you are such a good boy. Yes you are. You all tired, chasing the bad man all over the place?"
"Excuse me," Flynn was outraged at the comment and how Rapunzel was siding with Maximus, as accurate as the comment was.
"Nobody appreciates you, do they? Do they?" Rapunzel asked as Maximus responded with a nod.
"Come one, he's a bad horse," Flynn countered.
"Aw, he's nothing but a big sweetheart. Isn't that right? Maximus," Rapunzel said as she read the tag that told her the horse's name.
"You've got to be kidding me," Flynn groaned.
"Look, today is kinda the biggest day of my life. And I need, I need you not to get him arrested," At this, Maximus was outraged before Rapunzel added on, "Just for twenty four hours and then, you can chase each other to your hearts content. Okay?" Maximus still didn't want to agree to the deal and let Flynn go any longer. "And it's also my birthday. Just so you know," At this, Pascal gave Maximus a look. While still reluctant, Maximus decided to finally agree.
Sora, Rapunzel, and the others were walking down the bridge into the town.
"So, remember, we give Rapunzel a great birthday and then we sneak back in before we get caught," Sora said.
"That's correct. Let's just hope that Ventus can keep things up," Roxas commented.
"I'm sure he can. We just need to avoid the guards as effectively as possible," Xion agreed.
"Hey, I haven't seen Dolly in a while. Do you think she's doing alright?" Kairi asked Sora.
"I don't know. I haven't seen her since last night," Sora was uncertain.
Rapunzel mouths 'wow'. Flynn and Maximus get into a fight, only for Pascal to motion for them to behave. Then Flynn and Maximus simply beat each other once. Rapunzel enters the city but bumps into animals and people because her hair was stuck.
"Oh, oh, sorry!" Rapunzel apologized as she continued to bump into people.
Flynn quickly collects Rapunzel's hair as Maximus gallops to catch up. Finn then whistles to a group of little girls that were braiding each other's hair. When they see Rapunxel's hair their face goes into a mixture of surprise and happiness. They braid Rapunzel's hair for her and fill it with flowers.
"Thank you." Rapunzel said gratefully.
The group explores the Marketplace, Rapunzel buys some fruit, but runs on quickly and the pieces of fruit fall upon the stallowner's hands. While Flynn buys some food when Rapunzel sees a mosaic of the King and Queen and the lost baby princess.
Holding a flower A village girl Said,"It's for the lost Princess." and puts it on the steps of the mosaic.
Rapunzel looks closely at the mosaic. The princess had golden hair and green eyes like her. Rapunzel was left confused and intrigued by the appearance of the lost princess and how she resembled her. Could there be a reason for them looking similar or was it just coincidence?
At this, Sora and Roxas approached Rapunzel and began to talk to her.
"So, you enjoying today so far?" Sora asked the blonde.
"I'm enjoying my birthday immensely so far, Sora! I've met so many nice people and seen some interesting sights that I never would have seen back at home in my tower," Rapunzel explained.
"Good to hear. Any idea of what you're going to do once your birthday is over?" Roxas asked.
"I'm going to return home with my mother," Rapunzel responded, a bit less enthusiastically.
"But… Aren't you trapped? Wouldn't it be better to actually live life and be free rather than be miserable for the rest of your life back at the tower?" Sora asked.
"Maybe… but the world can also be dangerous and my hair should be protected rather than abused by selfish people. Besides, I can't just abandon my mother, not after all that she's done for me," Rapunzel explained her thoughts.
"You make a good point. But sometimes you need to make a decision that is best for you. Sora and I have been trapped inside for pretty much all of our lives in order to make sure we don't get stolen or worse like the lost princess. We aren't even supposed to be out here today," Roxas brought up.
"But I couldn't ignore my feelings of wanting to live life to the fullest or to try and help out my family as best as I could. Speaking of which, are you sure that you aren't the lost princess, Rapunzel? I mean, you're about the same age, have blonde hair, and share the same eye color," Sora said.
"I agree with Sora. It may be wishful thinking, and we may be wrong, but if you really were her, well then maybe you wouldn't be so trapped," Roxas said.
"I'm not sure. " Rapunzel responded uncertainty.
However, before Rapunzel could think about this any further, she got distracted by the sight of a man playing an unfamiliar instrument. She followed after the source of the music, dancing all the while. Eventually, she ended up getting the other people in the marketplace to start dancing as well.
Eugene noticed the dancing and, at first, wanted no part in the dancing. That is, until Maximus and Terra forced him to join in, taking amusement in this.
And so, the others soon followed and began to dance. Sora and Roxas had to admit, in spite of the risk of being found out and in trouble, they and their friends were having fun. They were able to do more than they would have been allowed to do back at home. Not only were they able to dance with the people of Corona, they also bought some purple fabric with a sun on it, helped Rapunzel paint a mural of the sun on the ground, ate delicious sweets in secret, and were able to go into the town's local library to read about far off places and other unfamiliar things.
Eventually, Eugene and Rapunzel finally rejoined each other while dancing just as the dancing ended. One citizen yelled out, "To the boats!"
Sora, Roxas and the others watched Rapunzel and Finn in the boat from the docks.
"Well, looks like the two of them are very happy with each other, right Roxas?" Sora commented.
"Well, I guess so. Though, maybe it would be better if she fell for a non-criminal," Roxas said.
"Come on, Roxas! You have to admit that they look cute. Maybe she can convince him to change his ways for the better," Xion said.
"Xion is right. We can talk to him about it when the two of them are done having their moment," Riku pointed out.
"Okay fine. We should probably be careful though. However, if Flynn is willing to listen maybe we can make a deal with him," Roxas relented.
"So, when do you think the lanterns will be released?" Kairi asked.
"Well, judging by the current time and the time the lanterns have been released in the past, the king and queen should release their lantern right about… now!" Namine guessed, which turned out to be right. The king and queen released their lantern, with the others releasing their lanterns shortly after.
The sight was amazing to Sora and the others. They'd seen the lanterns in the past, but never this up close.
The many lights paraded about as they floated in the night sky, creating a beautiful display for all to see.
"Wow! So pretty!" Xion was amazed.
"Yeah. If nothing else, we can say that Rapunzel will be satisfied with the lanterns," Riku commented.
"You have a point. So, maybe you guys should head back in, Sora , Roxas. After all, the last thing we need is you both getting into trouble because of Rapunzel and Flynn," Namine said.
"All right. But first I want to talk to the two of them one final time," Sora agreed.
"Just be careful not to get caught, Sora. The last thing we need is for us to be caught by the guards right as the lanterns are going out," Roxas warned Sora.
"Don't worry! I've got this! I can easily find and talk to them before the night is through," Sora confidently said.
"Well, maybe you should consider it now seeing as how they are back at shore," Kairi noted, pointing to the duo's boat which was parked next to the shore some distance away.
"I was starting to think you ran off with the crown and left me." Rapunzel said relieved as she saw a male figure walk from the shadows up to her. However, the figure turned out to be two people, Sideburns and his brother, not Eugene.
"He did." Sideburns said as he and his brother approached the blonde.
"What? No. He wouldn't" Rapunzel yelled at them, not wanting to believe that Eugene would betray her after all that they've been through.
"See for yourself." Sideburns said as he pointed at what looked like Eugene leaving on a boat with the crown.
"Eugene? Eugene!" Rapunzel yelled confused.
"Fair trade. A crown, for the girl with the magic hair. How much do you think someone will pay to stay young and healthy forever?" Sideburns asked his brother.
"No, please. NO! NO!" Rapunzel ran off, her worst fear having come true. However, her hair got stuck on a root on the ground, preventing her from fleeing. However, just as she was certain that her fate was sealed, she heard the clinging of a frying pan.
"Rapunzel!" Mother Gothel cried out in concern.
"Mother?" Rapunzel was confused as she got herself free and saw the unconscious duo along with Mother Gothel, who had knocked out the duo.
"Oh, my precious girl. Are you alright? Are you hurt?" Mother Gothel asked as she hugged and looked over her "daughter," making sure to check and make sure her hair was fine.
"How did you?" Rapunzel was confused as to why Mother Gothel was here.
"I was so worried about you dear. So I followed you. And I saw them attack you. Let's go, let's go before they come to," Mother Gothel explained as she picked up her green lantern.
"You were right, mother. You were right about everything," Rapunzel miserably muttered.
"I know darling. I know," Mother Gothel "comforted" Rapunzel with a hug. Meanwhile, Da Vinci was hiding nearby, not knowing how to feel about this woman.
"Look! The crown." said the guards as they grabbed Flynn from the boat.
"Rapunzel. RAPUNZEL! Wait, wait, wait. Guys, guys. Rapunzel!" Flynn said as he woke up, trying to struggle and break out of his bindings, but to no avail. As he tried to break free, Sora and the others heard the yelling and ran over to where Flynn was. To their shock and worry, they saw that Flynn was calling out for Rapunzel in worry.
Concerned, yet confused as to what was happening, Sora, Roxas, and the others tried to interfere with the guards.
"Stop!" Sora commanded, shocking the guards as he stood in front of them. "Let him go!"
"Yeah! Look, we know that Flynn isn't the most trustworthy guy, but he is changing at least a little bit!" Kairi agreed.
"Hold on! Prince Sora? Prince Roxas? Is that you? What are you doing outside of the castle?" The captain questioned.
"Wait. You two are princes?! Wow. I did not see that coming," Eugene was surprised.
"That doesn't matter right now! What matters is that we should give Flynn a chance before we lock him up!" Riku responded.
"I agree! Flynn has shown signs of changing for the better ever since Sora and Kairi first met him," Namine said.
"Yeah! Listen to these kids! We need to help Rapunzel before they-," Flynn tried to say before being interrupted.
"Look, we can't just let him go! Remember, Rider is still a criminal that stole the crown! Besides, the king and queen have the final say on what happens to criminals, not you kids," The captain explained factually as he motioned for a guard to get the king and queen. "And considering all that he has done in this kingdom alone, things aren't looking so good for him."
"Maybe if we explain to mom and dad what has happened then maybe…," Sora considered.
"I'm afraid that they may not be willing to listen, Sora," Roxas pointed out.
"How do you know that Rider wasn't lying to you or planning on holding you ransom?" The captain asked.
"I-," Sora, at this, stopped as he had no idea how to convince them of the truth.
"Look, shouldn't Flynn get a trial or something? We can't just lock him up forever," Xion suggested.
"Seriously? You're thinking he'll be locked up? Sorry to say this kids, but after all that he has done, Rider will most likely be-," The captain said before he was interrupted.
"Please! Don't do that to him! Shouldn't we give him some chance to turn over a new leaf?" Riku demanded.
"Look, kids, just stop, okay? Do you want to get into trouble defending this crook? The king and queen sure won't be happy hearing about all this," The captain warned.
"Wait. You contacted them?" Roxas asked worriedly.
"I'm afraid so. I'd get your reasoning straight and come to your senses before they get here. Would you rather just get into trouble for sneaking out or also get into trouble for spending time with a dangerous criminal?" The captain asked.
"He's changing, okay? And apparently he believes that Rapunzel may be in trouble! Shouldn't we at least check out what happened over there?" Kairi asked.
"Who is this Rapunzel? Is it her or… You know what, never mind! It's likely just a trick to try and escape!" The captain ignored the plea.
"But it isn't, captain! Please believe us!" Namine pleaded.
Before things could continue, the king and queen finally showed up. "Sora! Roxas! What are you doing outside of the castle?!" The king demanded.
"D-Dad!" Roxas muttered nervously.
"We're sorry for sneaking out today and yesterday! We just wanted to-," Sora began apologizing only to be interrupted.
"Wait, you snuck out yesterday?! Did Ventus know this?" The mom asked.
"Y-Yes," Roxas answered.
"Well, I'm afraid that all three of you will be in trouble for this. I can understand you wanting to see the lanterns, but I'm afraid that doesn't excuse you getting yourselves into danger. Riku, you and the others head home. Your parents are likely to be worried about all of you. As for you two, Sora and Roxas, come on, let's get back inside and take Rider away to be punished," The king said as he began to have the guard lead Rider away and lead him and his family back inside.
"Wait! You don't understand! She's in trouble! Go help her!" Rider cried out as he was dragged away.
"Let's get this over with, Rider." said the captain of the guards as they arrived at his cell in the dungeon.
"Where are we going? Oh…" Flynn said as he realized what was about to happen.
