minty-fresh warnings: floppy hats, violent warhorses, clumsy dancing, and a growing hint of femme!slash.

5. hear my being dance

Flynn quickly proved to be terrible with horses, but to be fair Maximus didn't seem to be an average horse. He seemed like a bloodthirsty warmonger who just happened to be in the shape of a horse. He was… terrifying, but he'd gentled under Rapunzel's touch and unexpectedly, she'd fallen in love. Why not, she'd thought, feeling all reason leave her anyway when she saw the city bloom up over the hill, resplendent in gold. A thief, a runaway, a chameleon, and a warhorse. I made it, Mother. "You know," Flynn said, examining a 'Wanted' poster of herself, "they always overemphasize my lips. These look like duck lips. And when the hell would I have the coin to rouge up my cheeks?"

"Maybe they're trying to pretty you up so men won't want to kill you," Rapunzel suggested. "You're wanted more alive, right?"

"This is going to give people the wrong idea," Flynn said, unconvinced.

"What's the right idea?"

"… you're missing the point."

"Come on," she said. The sounds of the city were just beyond the bridge. Excitement was quickly driving the patience from her and – but there was business to attend to first. When Flynn was distracted by grousing at yet another poster stuck on the front gate, Rapunzel took the opportunity to hide the satchel a little more securely under Maximus's saddle.

Maximus turned his head to knicker questioningly at her. Rapunzel patted his neck and rested her forehead on his nose a moment, taking everything in peripherally. Her heart was thundering so loud she would have been surprised if the horse wasn't hearing it. "I don't want this to end," she whispered. "Right now, right here. This is okay."

Maximus whuffed. Pascal nuzzled her neck. It really was okay. Just seeing the city, being here amid all the bustle and the explosively colorful streets, she could go home happy. Too much might break the spell. She'd paint her experiences on the wall behind the curtain, replace the portrait of her watching the lights, and she and Mother would get along as they always had, and…

… was that music?

.

"How do you even know how to dance, anyway?" Flynn griped, staggering as Rapunzel spun her around. "Did you have magical spirit dance instructors hidden in your hair too?"

"You're overthinking it," Rapunzel laughed. The fiddles and the laughter and the clapping made a wall of sound. Rapunzel could hear children squealing with delight, trailing streamers behind them wherever they ran. The air was thick with purple and gold and silver confetti and the blur of a hundred people dancing in time.

The rhythm and the feel of the cool stone beneath her bare feet were setting a fire in her again. This time she didn't bother to suppress it. She let go of Flynn and let herself be swept up in the storm of sound and colors, spinning and spinning until the faces around her smeared and her hair flew and her skirts soared around her and this, this was the city, this was the source of the lanterns and everything that was west in her heart. Lights, she thought dizzily. Lights and lights and more lights. Are you proud of me, Mother?

Flynn was lingering at the sidelines, looking as if she expected one of the dancers to assault her.

Rapunzel dashed back out and snagged her hand. "Oh, right, sure," Flynn said. "Why stop at just one humiliation? Let me take off my pants, wait."

"Think with your feet, okay?" Rapunzel grabbed her other hand and lifted it above her head, trying to spin her around. Flynn was taller and the result was awkward, but after a moment Flynn got the hint and turned, nearly knocking their heads together. "Dance," Rapunzel said.

Flynn tripped instead. Her nose came dangerously close to mashing against Rapunzel's.

Rapunzel pulled away a bit and repeated, "Dance," and Flynn reluctantly moved her feet, kicking at the cobblestones with her boots. The crowd Rapunzel had drawn together was whirling around them, the lines of dancers ebbing and flowing into flower shapes, into squares, into suns.

She'd thought she'd maybe had enough at the gate, but now, surrounded by the people and their laughter, she realized that what she'd been mistaking for contentment had been caution. Looking at Flynn, everything she wanted suddenly lined up with brilliant, dizzying clarity.

Flynn tripped over a lady's skirt. Rapunzel moved back the other way to give them some room. "Here," Rapunzel said, and swung Flynn around.

Again the clumsy stagger. Not that Flynn was particularly graceful, but she was nimble and that should have counted for something, right? Strength that would bend to pressure only to whip back twice as hard. But dancing, dancing was easy. Dancing…

It was a ruse, Rapunzel realized, swinging her around again. Of course. That was the way Flynn was. Once Rapunzel called her on it, she'd drop the act, and the real dancing would begin.

Rapunzel decided to act surprised when it happened. Maybe slap her shoulder and laugh. Flynn would take Rapunzel's hand and snap her out into a sharp, brisk spin like the couple to their right – maybe dip her down to the ground like the couple on their left. And Rapunzel would…

Well, that was hazier, because Mother had inked out most of the pages that involved that in her bedtime story book. What she'd left still had the echo of grandness in them. Dances, ballrooms, girls like her (or maybe not so much like her, because she wasn't elegant or beautiful and don't pout, flower, it's unbecoming) being swept off their feet.

Flynn could do that much. Sweep her off her feet. She had that way about her, and Rapunzel suddenly very much wanted to be swept off her feet by Flynn, almost as much as she wanted to see the lights.

She looked up at her, smiling, about to speak, but Flynn wasn't even looking at her. Flynn's face was crimson, her mouth set in a razor-thin line.

The playfulness in her disappeared. Rapunzel brought them to a stop amid the flurry of other dancers. Flynn's shoulder was tense under her hand.

After a moment Rapunzel said tentatively, "Flynn?"

Flynn's gaze drifted, looking out somewhere past Rapunzel's head. When she spoke, her voice was quiet and a little rough. "Not good at dancing, Blondie."

"That's okay." Guilt made her stomach clench. She forced a smile and took Flynn's hand, ignoring the way the others glanced at them, the way the crowd seemed to part for them, just a bit. "Let's go and do something you are good at, then."

.

"Okay, well," Flynn said to the air, her back to Rapunzel. "I can think of about twenty different reasons why this isn't a good idea either. And over the last twenty-four hours, I've become an expert at recognizing bad ideas."

"Shh." The scarf was purple and gold, the symbol of the city embroidered at each end. The man selling them had given it to her for free, blushing furiously when she'd complimented him on the beautiful arrangement, and also his cart was lovely, and she bet his daughters loved his artwork and weren't they so proud of their father? "I'm trying to concentrate."

"You're doing it wrong anyway," Flynn said, shifting her weight. The scarf dangled from her belt like a colorful tail. "Why are you tiptoeing? Why are you asking me for tips on how to be a thief? You practically stole this already."

"What? I didn't steal it!"

Even from the back, she knew Flynn's expression was exasperated. All in all she'd seemed to have regained her equilibrium, but irritation seemed to have a calming effect on Flynn in general. "Do you know me or something?" Flynn asked.

"What?"

"Because you're also coming straight at me. Any reason you're acting like you know me? It's a little suspicious, if I want to be honest. Maybe kind of threatening. Who knows. Maybe the palace guard's around and can help protect me from your thieving ways."

"You don't have to make fun of me," Rapunzel said, a bit stiffly. She walked back to the start. The alley between the shops was spacious and dusty, littered with empty crates and discarded streamers.

She turned resolutely and started toward Flynn again, this time meandering, looking down at an empty crate, down at a half-eaten apple in the dust.

Flynn was examining her fingernails, looking bored with the entire situation.

Well. Let her take it lightly. Her bare feet were working to her advantage as well, Rapunzel realized as she drew near. She was as light as a spell. She could take the air itself if she wanted.

Closing the distance, Rapunzel brushed up beside her and casually stretched her fingers out.

They missed by maybe a hairsbreadth. Flynn had lifted up onto her toes to stretch.

Rapunzel reached out again. This time they missed by more: Flynn had unexpectedly twisted down to tie her boot. The scarf fluttered with the movement.

Rapunzel made an impatient grab for it, only to knock against Flynn's wrist as Flynn rocked her arms back, seemingly working out a kink in her shoulders.

Out of patience, Rapunzel lunged, and then she was stumbling past Flynn, skirts flaring above her head.

Flynn was laughing.

"It's not funny," Rapunzel said, bullying her skirts back down, but she was smiling. She'd never seen Flynn laugh before. She snagged the scarf out of Flynn's belt and tied it around her own waist. "Fine. If you're such a master, show me. Give me a demonstration."

"What, a scarf? That'd be too easy."

Rapunzel rolled her eyes. "You really think so little of me?" Flynn asked.

"I just don't see how—"

"Wait here," Flynn said, and walked out of the alley.

She returned a few minutes later, a set of bells jangling in her hand. "Um," Rapunzel said. "Where did you get…"

"Around."

"But those look like the ones the shopkeepers hang over their—"

"You're imagining things. Turn around."

"This doesn't prove anything," Rapunzel said.

"That's because it wasn't the test. Turn around."

Rapunzel reluctantly did as instructed. Flynn stuffed the bells into the scarf. "We're not going to keep them, right?" she asked the wall.

Flynn didn't respond. Sighing, Rapunzel pressed her lips together and listened.

She expected to hear scuffling at least. Flynn had already demonstrated in the woods that she could move quietly, but Rapunzel's hearing was excellent, and anyway boots made a lot of noise on this much grit.

She waited. Her legs protested, alerting her to how tense she was. She relaxed, shifting her weight, hearing the muted clink of the bells as she moved. She counted to ten, then to twenty, to thirty.

After a count of three minutes, she glanced over her shoulder to ask what was taking Flynn so long.

There was no one there.

Alarmed, Rapunzel spun around. A quick sweep of the fruit crates and empty sacks turned up nothing. She jogged forward a few steps and skidded to a halt. Had she…? No. But maybe. Streets? Maybe she'd dropped something earlier? No, she would have told Rapunzel, would have stopped the game or…

Rapunzel started forward and stopped again, breath quickening in escalating panic. Never mind the game. Without Flynn she had no idea how to get back to the tower. She'd starve, she'd get attacked by ruffians who would steal her hair, steal her hair and demand horrible things, and Mother would be so furious if she came back bald and she'd never, she'd never—

A muted thump from behind her had her whirling again, but there was nothing except the stack of crates.

She backed up a few steps, then turned to start running.

She felt the faintest hint of a breeze brush her, and then she being pushed back against the wall. Flynn was frowning. "Flynn," she gasped.

"Hi," Flynn said. "What are you doing?"

Her heartbeat felt like a flutter in her throat. "You weren't paying any attention whatsoever," Flynn said. "A toddler could've nabbed those bells."

"I…" She swallowed. "But where did you…"

"Go? On the roof, of course. And then I dropped down behind you. You really think I would have tried to steal these from you with the sun at my back?"

Flynn dangled the bells in front of her. Rapunzel's hand shot down to her empty scarf reflexively. Fuming, she reached up and snatched them. Flynn was laughing. "It's not funny," Rapunzel said. Her voice was still unsteady. "You disappeared, and I thought…"

"Oh, come on, really? Why would I bring you all the way to the city just to dump you off while I'm trying to show off? I have my professional pride, you know."

Bells in hand, Rapunzel didn't know whether to laugh or hit her. At Flynn's continued grin, however, she felt something in her give, and she said, "I hate you."

"Oh, I'll bet," Flynn said. And then, before Rapunzel could say anything else, Flynn untied the scarf from her waist, shook out the wrinkles, and draped it around Rapunzel's neck. She fluffed out the edges, taking care to display the sun design, and very suddenly there was no spite left in Rapunzel at all. "Now where to?"

"I want you to show me the city," Rapunzel said. "Wherever you want to go. I want to see it."

"That'll take a while."

Yes, Rapunzel thought. The angle of the sun was throwing half of Flynn's face into shadow. Before Rapunzel could think, before she thought to stop herself, before she thought this is a bad idea, she stood on tiptoe and planted a kiss on the sunlit cheek, just to be sure.

When she pulled back, Flynn's face was a little pink, but that could have been from anything. "You didn't have to bribe me."

Rapunzel gently closed her fist around the bells, left the alley, and made her way down the street.

Four shops down, a shopkeeper was outside, looking agitated, scanning the ground. There was dust on his hands and knees.

Rapunzel approached him and held out her hand. "Are these yours?"

He turned to her and saw what she held. "Yes," he said, looking relieved. "I figured some brat took off with them. I appreciate it, you bringing them back."

"It was my pleasure." And she helped him hang them up where they belonged, right over his door.

"You're a lousy thief," Flynn said when she returned.

"You're a lousy teacher," Rapunzel said. "Let's go. We have a lot to see before tonight."

.

Flynn said something.

"What?" Rapunzel said.

"I said I've stolen from this place."

"Really? From this one?"

"Glass is worth a lot. Glass figurines are worth a lot more."

Rapunzel stared at her. "What?" Flynn said. "I'm a thief. This is not news to you."

"Yes, but I didn't think…" She wasn't sure what she'd thought. Rapunzel grabbed her arm and tugged her away from the storefront. "Let's go to that one, then, over there. The one with all the food in it."

Flynn planted her feet. Rapunzel stopped. "You mean you've stolen from that one too?"

"Yeah," Flynn said, and squinted around some more. She was sweating. "And… that one. And that one over there. And that one has my poster up on it. And—where are you dragging me."

"To go buy you a hat," Rapunzel said grimly.

.

"I can't eat that," Flynn said, somewhere underneath the drooping brown brim. "It'll make me fat."

"You're not fat," Rapunzel said. "And stop saying 'no' to everything. You're supposed to be my guide."

"If I get too fat then I can't wriggle in through windows," Flynn said. "And then I'll have to starve in order to eat again, and the whole thing will be ironic."

"Live an honest life and there'll be no problem," Rapunzel said, and without further ado shoved the end of the pastry twist into Flynn's mouth. Flynn gagged. "Isn't it delicious?" Rapunzel pressed, enthused. "I've never tasted anything like it. I have to try to make this at home. Do you know what kind of nuts are on this? I don't recognize them. Mother never brought them home for me. Maybe we can buy them in the market. Do you think there's a place we can buy them in the market?"

"Fmmrmmf," Flynn said, and looked mildly murderous.

"Do you think we can get other things?" Rapunzel was already twisting herself around. If only things would stop smelling so good. "There's someone else selling pastries at the corner. And another, he said he puts vegetables inside a little pie crust. That you can just carry with you! Can you imagine?"

Flynn removed the twist from her mouth, swallowed her mouthful, and said, "Sure. They make meat ones too."

That sounded revolting, but she didn't let it diminish her enthusiasm. "And can we visit the booth that sold those hard candies?"

"Sure."

"Okay!" She tugged on Flynn's hand. "Let's go!"

"Where?"

"Everywhere! To all of them!"

"Blondie."

"Yes?"

"You want the rest of this?"

"Well, okay, but only if you don't want—"

"Good," Flynn said, and then mashed the pastry, nuts and dripping icing and all, against Rapunzel's forehead, right between the eyes.

.

"Is there any reason you have to befriend everything with a pulse?"

"Shush," Rapunzel said, and to the little girl said, "I have an idea. Let's share. I'll put some in your hair, and you put some in mine. Deal?"

The little girl's smile was shy. Together they split apart the bunch of flowers she'd offered to Rapunzel, then took turns burying the stems in each other's hair. Rapunzel chose the prettiest – a large daisy – and tucked it carefully behind the girl's ear. "There," Rapunzel said, grinning at her. "Now we're flower sisters."

The girl nodded. Rapunzel flicked her nose, coaxing another gap-toothed smile from her, and without another word the girl turned tail and ran. She joined up with her sisters a ways down the street, and the group of them giggled as they scampered away.

"Kill me," Flynn said.

Rapunzel straightened, patting the flowers to make sure they'd stay, and grabbed Flynn's hand before suicide could occur. "I have a better idea."

.

"Well," Flynn said. "As far as punishments go, this one is both inventive and traumatizing."

"It's not a punishment." Every time she looked there were clouds of blue fabric and Flynn's bare shoulders. The dress was a little short, a little big in the waist, and the shopkeeper was looking extremely concerned, eyeing the exits in the area and looking like she was trying to gauge how fast Flynn could run in skirts. "You look…"

Flynn watched her. "I did mention I'm a woman, right?"

"Yes, but…"

"So why are you so surprised?"

"I just…" The breeze caught the skirts and ruffled them, exposing Flynn's ankle for a second. It was a little hairy, and strangely, this helped restore Rapunzel's voice. "You look beautiful."

"Well, thank god I can do something right as a woman," Flynn said. "My entire existence has finally been validated. Now if only I could cook. Can I take this off now?"

"Nope," she said. She realized she was smiling. "You have to curtsy first. That was the deal."

"You know, I don't remember the conditions being exactly fair in 'the deal'," Flynn said. "In fact, I'm pretty sure I'm not getting anything out of 'the deal' at all. How did that happen again?"

"Curtsy and you can take it off. I promise."

"Sorry. I don't do curtsies."

"But you just said you used to wear dresses."

"It was a lie."

"No it wasn't." Rapunzel smiled brilliantly at her, the way she knew by now could be counted on to make Flynn roll her eyes. "I'm a lady. It's the right thing to do in my presence."

"Oh, ho," Flynn said. "You're out of luck. It's been ages."

"It's easy. Here, I'll show you." Rapunzel drew a deep, deliberate curtsy –hands on her skirts, bringing them up sideways, right foot behind the left, knees dipping.

"Oh, lord," Flynn said.

"Come on. Try it."

She did it again, even slower this time. Flynn lifted her eyes heavenward, closed them as if shielding herself from the glare, then grabbed her skirts. She lifted them up, placed one foot behind the other, and bent her knees.

Then her toe caught on her heel and she overbalanced, and without much ceremony she was on the ground.

Dust flew up, accompanied by the startled squawking of nearby chickens.

She couldn't help it; Rapunzel burst out laughing. The vendor was fretful, saying please be careful and are you sure I can't interest you in a pair of trousers. "I'm going to kill you," Flynn said, but the effect was ruined by the dirt on her face.

"Oh, don't worry," Rapunzel said, still gasping for breath, tears in her eyes, "I think I might be dying already."

.

While Flynn was off negotiating the price for a package of street chalk with the vendor, Rapunzel took a moment to explore the area by herself.

The street was flooded with movement and colors so fantastic they hurt her eyes. Flynn had said it wasn't always like this, that this was the summer's biggest festival, and wasn't she lucky she was visiting when the town was in full bloom?

She walked slowly, taking everything in. Up one side, by the flower girls and the bread carts and the woman selling scented scarves, down the other side to the vendor who was selling miniature watercolor paintings set on ivory discs. ("I can paint your portrait for a discount, sweetie," the vendor said when he caught her eyeing the paints. "Though I might have to charge you extra to include all that hair.") On to the man selling bangles, to the woman selling beads, to the woman selling perfumes, to the man selling lace.

She didn't hear the group of men talking until she was nearly on top of them. Engaged in a discussion with the vendor selling miniature clay figurines, she only turned her attention to them when she overheard one of them say, "… lack of the belt if you ask me. If it were my girl, I would have whipped some sense into her before letting her go out like that."

"It's not the same. My day, a girl knew how to dress proper."

"Tempting the lads. I've seen it before."

"Miss?" the vendor asked Rapunzel.

Rapunzel blinked herself back to attention. She complimented the vendor a final time, excused herself politely, then drifted closer to the three men.

They were all looking off in the same direction. Rapunzel came a bit closer, then craned her neck to follow their gazes.

Flynn was still negotiating with the chalk vendor, gesturing emphatically with a coin pinched between her thumb and forefinger. The vendor had her hands on her hips, looking like she was fighting a smile.

"Saw her with a horse earlier. Doesn't ride side saddle dressed like that, either, I can guarantee you that."

"She'll get hers," the man on the right said grimly. "Disease always brings 'em down. Seen it a hundred times."

The vendor shook her head, and Flynn laughed.

And then something shifted in Rapunzel's gaze, and for the first time she saw Flynn as others might see her. Tight trousers and boots – not the skirts the other women in the city wore. Messy hair, cut short like a man's. Shirt open at the neck, chest bound by the vest. The weapon at her side, when most here went unarmed.

"Either that or the jealousy, and you've seen it before, where the men—"

"Stop it."

The men turned to her, surprised. Rapunzel hadn't realized she'd spoken out loud. Her heartbeat sounded loud in her ears. Her hands hurt, and she realized belatedly that she'd balled them into fists. "You're being cruel," she said.

The men looked at each other. One started to respond, but Rapunzel was already walking away, barely feeling herself move, barely seeing where she was going. She ran into a woman and heard herself apologize, then barked her hip off a cart so hard she nearly fell. She straightened and walked faster, not stopping until she could see the water, until she felt the damp slats of the docks under her feet, until she couldn't go any farther.

She fetched up against a post and leaned there for a long time, listening to the lake slosh underneath the deck.

By the time she understood what it all meant, all of it, she was dry-eyed and Flynn was calling to her from the gate. She turned, briskly sliding the back of her hand over her nose. Flynn was jogging towards her, grinning, waving the chalk over her head.

When Flynn brought the boat around that evening, Rapunzel had Pascal distract her while she slid the satchel under her seat.

two hundred hits and one brave reviewer among you? XD You guys spoil me.