Chapter 1

"Eugene." Flynn was have a marvelous dream. It involved a great deal of money being left in a bag and forgotten on the road, luckily for him he just happened to walk by and happened to pick it up and happened to run as fast as he possibly could in the opposite direction of the man who left it. He had very good luck it seemed, in his dreams. "Eugene!" He snapped out of his dream, but did not stir from his position, slightly sad to be awake now.

"My conscience is calling me," he said with a smile, peeking one eye open to see the lovely face of his princess cocking an eyebrow at him. He stretched and sat up in his bed pulling the girl into his arms and giving her a kiss. That didn't seem to change the expression on her face, one of suspicion and annoyance, so he sighed and finally asked, "What's the matter, Rapunzel?"

She wrestled her way out of his embrace and stood up before him, one of the only times she could hope to be taller than he was. Flynn took a moment to appreciate her face, the charming curve of her cheeks and her brilliant green eyes, framed with the short brown hair that just didn't seem to grow any longer since he'd sliced it off with that shard of glass. It seemed like so long ago that it happened, but really, weeks had passed, mere weeks, since the day Mother Gothel had died, vanished into a pile of dust outside of the tower she had kept Rapunzel in for so long. Her words, slightly biting, though he couldn't fathom why, broke through his thoughts. "What were you doing last night?"

He winced, suddenly realizing that he wasn't as sneaky as he had previously thought. Busted. "I went to go visit Max," he made up on the spot with a wave of his hand, as if he had some magical ability to make her not angry with him anymore. She narrowed her eyes slightly, and Flynn felt as though she could see straight through him at that moment, and felt a bit bad for lying to her. But he couldn't bring himself to tell her the truth either, he couldn't bear to let her down. He didn't want to be the one spot of darkness in her perfect life.

Rapunzel crossed her arms, her head tilted, looking suddenly peaceful. "I can go ask Max," she said with a rather intimidating smile, and Flynn wanted nothing more than to kick himself. Why was he lying to her? She would love him no matter what right? He would do anything for this girl, anything and everything. Except tell her the truth. He shook his head; maybe a tiny little white lie wouldn't hurt.

"I was just taking a walk," he replied, standing up from his bed and wrapping an arm around her shoulders gently. He pressed a kiss to the top of her head. "I didn't see Max, I'm sorry I lied to you. I just didn't want you to worry about me." He had no idea where he was going about this, but that part rang true. The last thing he wanted was for her to worry. Rapunzel seemed to pick up on that and smiled at him, looking for the first time since he'd seen her that morning like her old self. Happy, innocent, beautiful, everything he wanted her to be. He smiled back and she tugged him out of his room, leading him down the stairs to have breakfast with the king and queen, like they did every morning.

"I'll take your word for it this time, Eugene," she said teasingly, with a very faint note of seriousness buried. "But next time I won't go so easy on you." He laughed slightly, and sat down beside her and gave her parents a smile that they returned with warmth and affection. He truly did like Rapunzel's parents; they were kind, forgiving people and he was very grateful to them for letting him stay in their daughter's life with no questions asked. The bounty on his head was lifted, and his crimes waived. Petty crimes they were, besides stealing the crown. But he returned it, and it all seemed to be a thing of the past.

His entire life before he met Rapunzel seemed to be a thing of the past.

For a moment, Flynn watched her eat, a smile on his lips. He really loved her. He knew he did, more than anything else in the world. He knew that he had to stop what he had been doing, he had to stop sneaking out at night just for the thrill of it, just to feel more like Flynn Rider and less like the little orphan. He was Rapunzel's Eugene Fitzherbert, and she loved him too, he couldn't do this to her. Her green eyes met his, and she watched him for a moment, her spoon hovering midair between her bowl of porridge and her mouth, looking concerned. He glanced for a moment at Pascal, who was sitting next to her elbow and giving him a look that he knew all too well.

Flynn shook his head, and smiled at her before finishing his own food and excusing himself from the table. He could feel Rapunzel's eyes on the back of his head, burning into him, and sighed. Tonight would be the last night he'd go out. He'd behave from now on, he would be perfect for his princess, he'd be the prince that her parents would approve of. All he wanted was for Rapunzel to be happy, and if he had to suppress a huge part of who he was for that to happen, then so be it.

He heard quiet footsteps and saw that his girlfriend had followed him from the table. "Eugene, something's wrong, I can tell. Why are you acting so... so weird?" Flynn looked down at her, meeting her eyes, and he could tell that she was truly worried about him. He smiled at her and kissed the top of her head.

"Rapunzel!" he said with a laugh. "What gave you that idea? Everything is fine. I mean sure they don't serve my favorite meal in the kitchen, and the bathroom is about a ten minute walk from my bedroom, and hey, I can barely move in these clothes, but what's there to complain about? Life is good!" His smile shrunk a little as her face stayed stoic and he frowned. "What do you think is wrong, Rapunzel? I'm happy here with you."

She smiled. "You're happy here?"

"Of course I am," he replied, kissing her once and smiling. "C'mon, let's go for a walk." He took her hand in his, and it felt fragile, but the smile was back on her face and that was all that mattered to him. With a grin, he reached up and tugged her crown from her head, making her squeal in annoyance as he rushed away from her, calling back, "Can you catch me, Rapunzel?" She smiled determinedly and hurried after him, her bare feet hardly leaving a mark in the grass in the courtyard. After about five minutes Flynn let her catch him, and she tackled him to the ground, laying on top of him as she pulled her crown from his hands.

"I got you!" she said happily, sitting on his stomach and putting it back on her head where it belonged. "I win!"

He chuckled, "Yes, you win, your majesty." Rapunzel pulled him to his feet and dusted him off lightly.

She said, sounding very formal and quite like a queen, "Well, rogue, I will let you off easy this time for stealing the royal crown. Only 50 years in the dungeon ought to do it don't you think?" Flynn looked baffled for a moment until Rapunzel burst out laughing, and he rolled his eyes, lightly pushing her in the shoulder.

"You're going to be a very strict queen aren't you?" he teased, putting a hand on his hip and raising an eyebrow. "Oh, look," he mocked her voice, sounding high pitched, "Eugene Fitzherbert is at it again, ate from the royal cheese shelf! Life sentence in prison for his crimes!" She laughed at him and pushed him in the shoulder, not so lightly, and almost knocked him off his feet.

"You know me so well, Eugene," she said softly, giving him a look. Rapunzel twirled around for a bit, dancing lightly through the grass and he followed her, watching her figure move so gracefully from behind. Flynn could hardly believe his good luck, and he knew that he would trade a life of riches a thousand times over if he could stay with Rapunzel forever. He stopped following her, feeling a pang of guilt in his heart that he could no longer ignore.

She stopped dancing and she blinked, her eyes wide in confusion. Flynn gave her his trademark grin, and she smiled back at him. Rapunzel was everything to him, he couldn't lose her, so he had to change.

-break-

There was a creak in the castle. Everyone was asleep, dreaming, lost in the sea of blankets and sheets except for a guard or two on duty. Crime had been next to nothing since Maximus had taken reign of the guard, and it didn't seem necessary to post many men in the castle anymore. Slow methodical footfalls, the sound boots would make, were padding down one of the corridors, towards an alternate door near the side of the castle. The wooden aperture made no noise when stirred, as if it had been used often, and a flash of gold disappeared into the darkness.

Outside of the castle, grass was treaded on lightly, crushing it in the wake of heavy footsteps, darkness shrouding the figure of the man leaving the castle. He vanished into the forest, and the world was quiet.

AN: Chapter one is up now, obviously. I have a lot planned for this story!