Chapter 15

"My favorite shoes, Meg; there's one's missing."

Megan shrugged and handed her another pair. "Just wear another pair right now, Rapunzel. We'll find that one later. Right now we have to get you ready for the ball. You have a meeting with Fitz a little less than an hour away."

Rapunzel smiled and nodded. "Where the heck do you think I might have lost it?"

Meg shrugged. "I think it was when you tripped over those cobblestones. I never went back to look for it, I thought one was in your room. Well, no matter. I'm sure someone will deliver it."

Rapunzel shook her head and smiled. "Yeah, sure. A princely suitor will bring it to me and ask me to try it on. Just like Cinderella."

"And so what if it is, Rapunzel. You deserve a happy ending, especially with some one you love."

Rapunzel frowned, "What does that mean exactly?"

"Stop asking so many questions and get out there. How would it look if the man your dreams comes by once in a lifetime and you're here with me?"

Rapunzel smiled. "Oh alright, but you've got to be close by, Meg. I might need you."

Megan nodded. "I've already been asked to look after you. There should no problem. The physician wouldn't let you out of here if I hadn't promised him I'd look after you. It's that and that Guardsman out there who has been a constant presence since you were brought in here."

"My father's idea, I suppose?"

Megan nodded. "You know the reason, Princess. Why do you always have to ask?"

Rapunzel smiled. "Come on, let's go."

And as soon as the princess and her lady left their rooms, Gabe made sure he stayed close behind.

XXXXXX

Eugene reached the castle gate in no time at all. He jumped off Max, handed him to the waiting groomsman and headed toward the castle gates when he collided with another guardsman who wasn't watching where he was going.

Eugene fell to the ground as did the other guardsman. The shoe went flying and landed right near the other man.

"Are you alright, guardsman?" Eugene asked, standing up. He extended his arm to help him up.

That's when he noticed the shoe was gone from his waist. By the time he discovered where it had landed, the other guardsman had gotten to his feet.

"Thanks for the hand, guardsman; I didn't mean to…" Flynn Rider stopped and stared at Eugene who was already staring back at him.

The resemblance was uncanny.

Elvira held a back a bit when she saw what happened. Could she stop this? Eugene must have the shoe. There was no way that she was going to allow Rider the chance to get it.

The two couldn't stop staring at each other.

"Who are you?" Eugene asked.

"Who do you think I am?" Flynn Rider said, smiling.

Eugene snapped out of it. "If you don't mind getting out of my way…"

Rider's eyes followed Eugene's gaze and smiled. "Oh, you mean this?" He bent down and retrieved the shoe, but sparks flew when he picked it up.

It was a mild shock, but it was enough to cause Rider to drop it again.

"It's my shoe," Eugene protested, picking it up from the cobblestones where it lay again."

"Now you listen to me, it's mine,' Flynn Rider said, trying to pull it from Eugene's grasp, but something was stopping him. Something or someone wouldn't let that shoe out of Eugene's hand, whether he wanted to give it to Rider or not.

And he certainly did not want to hand it over to him.

"What's going on here?" one of the guardsman asked before he saw what Eugene held in his hand.

Where did you get that?" the same guardsman asked, drawing his sword. "That's…"

"Everything's fine, Guardsman," the Captain of the Guards answered, suddenly appearing out of nowhere. "I'll handle this. Now if you'll get back to your duties?"

The other guardsman bowed, leaving Rider, Fitzherbert and the Captain alone.

The Captain looked from one to the other; there was that resemblance that Elvira had warned him about. Right now, Mike was a bit confused until he spotted Elvira floating above.

She was pointing at Eugene. There apparently was a slight difference in the uniform.

"Go ahead," he told Eugene handing him back the shoe. "The Princess is expecting you."

He turned now to Rider. "You have a ticket, don't you? You'll wait for the rest of suitors, which will be in half an hour. Just wait here."

The Captain smiled calmly and then turned away.

XXXXX

Eugene couldn't believe he was inside. Finally, after all these years, he was going to meet the Princess and he had only one person to thank or so he thought.

Another guardsman came out to meet him with another woman by his side. That woman looked exactly like…

"Hello Fitz, it's good to see you again."

Eugene's brown eyes widened. "Megan?"

"Yes, it is," Meg smiled and walked over to embrace him, which Eugene found a little weird. He thought that their relationship was a little more than that.

"I thought that…"

"She's in the garden, Mr. Fitz," Gabe said, nodding. "She's waiting for you."

"And she'll be expecting that," Megan smiled, pointing at the shoe. "We weren't sure where it disappeared to."

"It was right outside the…"

Come along," Gabe said, ushering him inside. "We've got a half hour before the ball starts. We're late already."

Megan grabbed his arm and brought him inside. Eugene stopped and took her hands in his. "What's going on here, Megan? You and I…"

"Hello, Fitz, remember me?"

Eugene looked at Megan who nodded.

"May I present Princess Rapunzel," she said, smiling, unhooking his arm from hers. Meg stepped back and waited.

Eugene was so nervous; he hadn't realized that she called him by the name that he only made up for Megan. With a last look at her Lady in Waiting, he turned to face the Princess.

And he wasn't prepared for what he saw.

XXXXX

Flynn Rider was furious. Something was working against him, he was sure of it and one of them was that shoe. There was something magical about it, it was way to hot for him to hold, yet that "Fitz" could easily pick it up without a problem. Rider wasn't used to this treatment, he was always used to getting what he wanted

And he was going to make sure that he did get it. He wasn't through yet, not by a long-shot..