Sunflower looked up at her mother, who had been crying for a long time after she had finished telling everything to Eugene. She wrapped her arms around her mother.
"I love you," she said.
Rapunzel looked at her, and said, crying, "I love you more."
Sunflower smiled. "I love you most."
Then they were just sitting there on the floor, hugging each other.
Eugene bent down and lifted her mother's chin. "Gothel isn't your real mother, you know," he said. "And your real parents miss you just as much as you miss Gothel."
Wait, what?
Gothel wasn't her mother's real mother?
But she couldn't think over this new information, because her mother began yelling at Eugene. She was angry, angrier than Sunflower had ever seen her.
"How could they miss me more than I miss her?" Mother yelled. "For eighteen years, Mother cared for me, and I loved her! They only had me for one year, and they didn't even care about me! And also, even if she wasn't my real mother, she was a lot better of a mother than my parents are!"
Sunflower looked up at her mother. "Mother..."
Her mother looked at her. "Flower..."
Eugene looked at her mother. "I have to take you back," he said. "They need you. Your kingdom needs you. I need you."
"You are the only one on that list that I need," said her mother. "If the rest of them weren't there, I wouldn't have left. But I can't go back. I don't want to see them ever again."
"Mother," said Sunflower. "Who are they? Why did he say something about a kingdom? Do you have a kingdom?"
"She is the princess of Corona," said Eugene. "Rapunzel, even if you can't go back, you can't keep your daughter from going. She's a princess too, and she can rule the kingdom after your parents are gone."
Rapunzel sighed. She looked very tired in that moment, though Sunflower had just sung to her a few hours ago. "I guess I can't keep you from the throne," she said. "Do you want to go?"
Sunflower frowned. Although having a kingdom sounded great, she couldn't just leave her mother all alone in the tower. She loved her mother more than anything else in the world.
"No," said Sunflower. "I will stay here."
Rapunzel smiled, and Sunflower knew she'd done the right thing. But her happiness went away when Eugene said, "Well, I guess I have to go back. The kingdom needs someone to be king when the king and queen are gone."
Sunflower watched as her mother was going to kiss her father goodbye forever. She could not let this happen! She could tell her mother wanted her father to stay. And she wanted her father too.
"No!" cried Sunflower. "Don't go! Let the kingdom disappear. Stay here with us. I can keep us alive forever with my hair."
Eugene looked at her. "No," he said. "The kingdom needs to stay alive. And everyone must die someday."