Chapter 9

Eugene wakes to the sight of blonde hair scattered on the pillow next to him.

He smiles sleepily to himself as he watches Rapunzel's sleeping figure, curled up on her side in the back of his caravan. The camp is silent now in the late hours of the morning, with nothing but birds chirping and the leaves of the forest rustling outside.

He dwells on the blurry memories of last night as he slowly trails his finger along a strand of Rapunzel's hair, brushing it away from her eyes and behind her shoulder.

After a moment, she stirs and flickers her eyes open.

"Morning, princess," he mumbles.

Initially, she's confused to find him next to her. As the images of a bonfire and a swordfight flash into her mind, she grins softly upon remembering what had happened. She recalls running through the rain at some point and Eugene kissing her under a tree. As it replays in her mind, she wishes it could all happen again. She doesn't remember the last time she had been that happy.

The recollection of her stumbling into the back of a cramped caravan on wheels is vaguely familiar to her. She'd felt more tired than she's ever been. Eugene had helped her inside and she'd fallen asleep almost immediately.

"Oh. I'm sorry," Rapunzel blinks into full consciousness, suddenly embarrassed. "I didn't mean to fall asleep." She sits up fully, feeling the blood gradually rush through her body.

He watches her take a breath as she looks away from him silently. He sits up next to her, staring over her shoulder. "You okay?"

Rapunzel hadn't told anyone she'd left the castle. Not even Cass. Hopefully nobody has noticed she's gone yet. Though, she figures sooner or later she will have to endure her parents' wrath for this. They have a way of finding out everything. "I've never spent an entire night outside the castle before," she realizes, feeling guilty.

Somehow, she seems unhappy about that fact. "I didn't mean to keep you—"

"No. You didn't," Rapunzel reassures. She breathes in the smell of the forest, gazing up at the window of the caravan. The shutters had been left open overnight. There are residual raindrops from last night dripping off the awning. She sees sunshine, a bright blue sky, and luscious trees on the other side of it. She could get used to sleeping in the middle of nature. "I wish I could do this every night."

Eugene debates whether he should say anything about that at all, but since yesterday, he hasn't been able to stop thinking about it. He admires the way the sunlight reflects off her green eyes as he says, "You can."

She turns to face him. "What?"

"Rapunzel…" He shifts to face her, sitting back on his heels. "Lance and I are leaving Corona. Tonight."

She blinks up at him in confusion. She hadn't expected to hear that.

He grabs her hands out of her lap, excitement reaching his voice, "You can come with us. You can leave this place behind for good and then we can be together every day. We won't have to hide this anymore."

A breathy chuckle escapes her lips, not entirely believing him, "If only I could."

"You can."

"I can't," she says, sounding hopeless.

"Why not?"

"Because…"

"Because why?"

"Because of my parents, Eugene," insists Rapunzel, becoming impatient. "Corona is my home. It always has been."

"The orphanage was my home too before I left," he points out.

"That's not the same thing." Rapunzel shakes her head. She gently pulls her hands away from his, moving to stand up. "I'm sorry. I have to go. My parents will be worried about me." She rushes outside the caravan without another word.

Eugene follows her through the door, hopping down the steps and onto the dirt path. "Blondie, wait."

The caravan is surrounded by trees, parked further outside the main camp and away from the rest. The hideout is practically empty now, with everyone already going about their day hours ago.

Rapunzel stops, slowly turning around to face him.

"Just—help me understand something," begins Eugene, "If you want to leave so badly then why don't you? What's stopping you?"

"I… I don't—" Rapunzel stutters. A part of her isn't certain she even knows the answer to that. "I've built my entire life here, and… I refuse to believe it was all for nothing." She pulls back her shoulders with sudden determination. Even though she hates that it's true, she forces herself to say, "I have a responsibility to protect the kingdom. As much as I don't want to, I am going to be queen one day, and nobody can stop that from happening."

"But if you just keep doing what they expect of you then you'll be miserable for the rest of your life. And then what will it all be for?"

Rapunzel's eyes sink to the ground as she hugs her own arms somberly.

"Look…" He walks toward her and reaches for her hands, holding them between their chests as he softens his voice, "Once Lance and I sail away from here, I don't know when or if we will ever come back. So, I'm asking you now… be with me. We can be happy together, and none of these people will even matter anymore."

She stares up at him with a pained expression, her eyes frantically scanning his own. He can't be asking this of her right now. This is all happening too fast.

Rapunzel's heart shatters as she musters the strength to tell him, "I… I can't. I'm sorry, Eugene. But it's not fair for you to ask me to choose between you and my family."

His hopeful expression falls at what he is hearing. After everything they had talked about together, he never thought she would say this. Eugene drops her hands, stepping away from her, "I don't believe this. Last night you said you wanted to stay and now—"

"Last night was a mistake," Rapunzel realizes. "I shouldn't have come here. I shouldn't have even spoken to you in the first place."

For a while, Eugene only stares at her in disbelief as he feels his heart break. To him, last night had been anything but a mistake. Kissing her may have been the best decision of his life. He'd thought she'd felt the same way. He thought they had everything. "Rapunzel…"

"I don't have all the freedom that you have," she continues. "I don't have the option to just do whatever I want whenever I want." There's a lump in her throat now and she hates that she always cries when she's frustrated.

"You do have that freedom. You always have, you just choose not to use it."

"Don't do that to me," accuses Rapunzel, pointing a finger at him. "Don't tell me that this is easy because it isn't. You have no idea what it feels like… to have the weight of the entire kingdom on your shoulders and as soon as you crack just one time all of it comes crumbling down and it will all be your fault," her voice breaks as the tears fall from her eyes. "You haven't been sheltered and—and primped to perfection for every waking minute of your entire life!"

"Because I never let anybody else control me. I choose who I am, not them."

"It's not that simple," Rapunzel shakes her head, "Not for me."

"You know what?" Eugene raises his hands as he takes a few steps back. His voice is soft and almost emotionless, "It's fine. Forget I asked." He begins to walk away.

Rapunzel sighs, staring at his backside. "I'm getting married… Eugene."

He stops in his tracks as a silence falls between them. After a moment, he peers over his shoulder at her, "What?"

"…To a prince," she elaborates. "I don't want to, but my parents have already arranged it. I already tried to talk them out of it, but they wouldn't listen to me."

"Wh… Why didn't you tell me all this?"

"I—I don't know," Rapunzel stutters. "I just wanted to forget about all of it for a while. I thought that maybe—"

"Wait—wait, hold on," Eugene holds up his hands to stop her, walking toward her again. He closes his eyes for a moment as he attempts to piece this all together. Rapunzel has never seen him look remotely angry before, and it makes her stomach drop. "So, I was just… what, an escape to you? From whatever messed up situation that's going on in your life, is that it?"

"No! Everything that happened between us was real."

"Well, maybe you could have told me you were getting married to some fancy prince before you let me fall for you."

"I'm so sorry," she breathes, feeling her eyes well with tears again.

She hadn't meant for any of this to happen. Last night had felt like a dream, but that's all it was – only a dream. They were both foolish to believe it could have been anything more. There's just no way it could be.

"Maybe we just… aren't meant to be together," Rapunzel laments. Eugene doesn't say anything to that, and his expression is unreadable, but she needs him to understand. "I don't have a choice here. It may be easy for you to run away from your problems, but I have a responsibility. I'm the princess, Eugene."

"Yeah… and I'm just a scum thief, right?"

"That's not what I meant."

"You know, Blondie? Maybe you're right. Maybe we really aren't meant to be together." Eugene mumbles in defeat. He scoffs then turns away from her again, looking over his shoulder. "Who was I kidding anyway? Good luck with your life of royalty… princess."

When Eugene walks into the forest, Rapunzel can't find it in her to stop him.

Rapunzel cries as she walks back to the castle alone.

It's been hours since she left the thieves' hideout. With the camp being so deep in the forest, the long trek back to the kingdom leaves her mind swimming. Every step she takes is a chore, but there's no where else for her to go. She walks slowly as if it'll prolong the moment she steps back into that miserable castle.

Rapunzel has never felt so confused in her entire life. Somehow, she has found herself completely torn between two worlds, and she swears it's the worst feeling in the world.

She slows to a stop, her boots crunching in the dirt of the forest floor. She stares ahead at the path that trails back to the village. The thought of leading herself back to a prison makes her stomach feel sick.

Then she looks behind her at the way she came, and she can't help but miss the way Eugene had made her feel when he kissed her. It seems like forever ago. She wishes now more than ever that they could go back to that moment. A part of her wants to tell him she's sorry, and then maybe she could feel that way again just for a moment.

But Eugene is leaving, and she is getting married. After he's gone, they'll never see each other again.

In an instant, Rapunzel falls to her knees as she buries her face in her hands, sobbing uncontrollably.

Her entire life, she dreamed of adventure. She dreamed of leaving this place and traveling somewhere far away where she could be whoever she wanted to be. Then somehow, she had everything she ever wanted waiting for her at her fingertips, just calling out her name. Everything had been so perfect.

Yet for some reason, she couldn't accept it.

If she were to leave, she would not only be letting her parents down, but the entire kingdom of Corona. She'd be leaving Cassandra - her best friend since they were kids, and the only person Rapunzel believes ever truly understood her.

Maybe Eugene was right. Maybe there really is nothing stopping her from leaving, and everything else is only in her head. Maybe she will be miserable for the rest of her life, and it'll all be her fault, because she didn't take the chance that she had always been waiting for.

Rapunzel gazes behind her again at the path she had taken, staring through the endless trees.

It's not too late. Eugene is still there. He's probably waiting for her right now, hoping that she will come back and then everything will be okay. Or maybe he's already left. Then Rapunzel will never see him again, and she'll never know if they could ever truly have a life together.

The princess sniffles, wiping her cheeks as she slowly rises to a stand. Her hands and the front of her pants are caked in dirt, but she doesn't bother brushing them off. Her face is flushed from crying, but she feels numb to the tears.

All she can think about now is - how could she be so stupid?

Rapunzel doesn't know whether it's too late. All she knows is that she could never live with herself without trying to find out.

With sudden determination, the princess bolts back the way she came. She runs as fast as she can to the thieves' hideout, back to Eugene, back to a future that she is willing to risk everything for.

It's nearly sunset by the time Rapunzel finally returns to the camp.

Her limbs are shaking, and her heart is pounding from the nerves. Despite how anxious she suddenly is, she can't stop smiling from the excitement.

It hasn't even been a day, but she can't wait to see Eugene's face again. All she wants to do now is fly into his arms and never let go again.

She hasn't planned what she is going to say, but whatever is about to happen will determine the rest of her life, and that thought alone is terrifying and exhilarating all at once.

The princess pushes her way through the brush that surrounds the clearing where Eugene's caravan is parked. She pants for breath as she calls out, "Eugene? Eugene, I'm so sorry, I should've never—"

However, when she emerges on the other side, he is no where to be found. Her heart skips a beat at the thought of him having already left, but she brushes it aside. It isn't nightfall yet. Maybe he went out and he's coming back later.

Rapunzel steps slowly toward the caravan, hoping he is inside. Though before she can reach it, she feels someone roughly grab her from behind and a hand clamp over her mouth.

A voice mutters next to her ear, "Hold still, princess."

Rapunzel tries to scream.

She struggles beneath their hold before her limbs turn numb, and suddenly she can't feel anything at all. Becoming dizzy, her eyelids fall closed before Rapunzel even realizes what's happening.