They walked slowly down the long, dark tunnel with the guidance of the torches that hung on the damp, cave-like walls. Sure, it was convenient that the Snuggly Duckling just happened to have an escape route when the palace guards showed up, but, still, Flynn would have liked a nicer setting. Rapunzel gathered up most of her hair in her arms to keep it from getting too wet. She was humming again, but this time she was humming the recent tune of "I've Got a Dream". Normally, this would have annoyed Flynn to the point where he wouldn't have been able to control himself, but something about her voice made him enjoy it more every time.

"Hey, Flynn?"

"Yeah, Blondie?" Flynn replied, without facing her.

"What's it like being a princess?" He was surprised by her question, and even more surprised by the fact that she thought he would know.

He chortled slightly. "I wouldn't know; I'm not a princess."

"Well, I know that, but what do you think it would be like?" she wondered aloud.

Flynn stopped and turned to face her. He studied her curious expression for a minute, weighing different responses in his mind, trying to pick the least sarcastic one. She really wasn't very good with sarcasm. "I guess it would be like a fairytale." He shook his head at his own cheesy cliché, but he was satisfied with his answer.

Rapunzel's mouth popped open slightly, and her eyebrows knitted together, clearly lost in thought. Flynn rolled his eyes and continued forward.

"Wait!" Rapunzel ran ahead of him and stopped him in his tracks. "I don't understand. What's a…fairytale?" Her eyes widened as she said the word.

Hmm, what was a fairytale? Flynn had always grown up hoping to live the life of a fairytale – or, at least Eugene Fitzherbert did – but what did that mean? "Well, it's like another way to say 'happily ever after'," he answered. Suddenly, Flynn found himself looking back into yester-year, when hopes and dreams paved the way for a young orphaned boy; back to a time when this boy wanted nothing more than to find a beautiful woman to be his wife, or to at least experience what it would be like to live in a proper family. But, perhaps the term "fairytale" meant something different for everyone. For Flynn Rider, it meant living blissfully in mountains of money and jewels and other wondrous riches on a private island. Why did that thought make him sick all of the sudden? For Eugene Fitzherbert, it meant riding of into the sunset on a handsome stallion with a beautiful princess to call his own. Flynn shook his head to clear it. How could he be such a softy?

"'Happily ever after…'." Rapunzel let the phrase play on her lips as she tried to put two and two together. "I still don't get it," she admitted.

Flynn spotted a rock near the wall and pulled her down on it. Then, he squatted down next to her. "Okay, think of it this way," Flynn began. Rapunzel leaned in, on the edge of her seat. "A beautiful girl is locked away in a tower and guarded day and night by a wicked beast…"

Rapunzel's eyes glazed over as she tried to picture the scene. She took in each word and digested it completely as he spoke them, acting like a child a story time. He grinned at the way she gave him her undivided attention.

"Now this girl has a dream; a dream she dreamt for her entire life, hoping one day it will come true…" Flynn wasn't really sure where he was getting this, but he rolled with it. "That's where Prince Charming comes in." Flynn flashed a toothy grin in her direction, doing his best to look even more handsome. Naturally, that wasn't very hard, especially when he already looked as good as he did! "This said 'Prince Charming', appears on a horse and rescues her from the tower, killing the wicked beast in the process, and charming the girl into loving him for eternity." He waved his hands animatedly, making her more intrigued with every passing second. "From that day forward, they live blissfully together without worries or sorrows. Exactly the kind of life everyone dreams for." He let his hands fall to conclude his lame outline of a classic fairytale, following with a sigh.

"WOW. I've never even thought about a 'Prince Charming' coming to rescue me from my tower! I've only dreamt of the floating lights. I guess they're my fairytale," Rapunzel mentioned. This caught him off guard. Like any other girl in the Kingdom, he expected her to admit that she had always dreamt of a handsome young man saving her from the awful imprisonment in her tower. Yet, like she always did, she surprised him with her unprecedented view on things and her haphazard thought patterns. There really wasn't anyone like her. Flynn liked that, and quite frankly, so did Eugene. "What do you think, Flynn?"

"Huh? Uh, yeah, sure." Damn it. How did she do that? He was flustered – again. How many times was that now? Whenever their eyes met, his brain seemed to get foggy and his thoughts dumb. She had her own, personal smolder! "Totally."

Rapunzel giggled, and wrapped her arms around his neck in a flurry of golden hair and purple fabric. A refreshing lavender scent filled his nose and his brain went foggy again. His muscles had gone a little stiff and only managed to pat her awkwardly on the back. When she released him, it took Flynn a minute to recover and he swayed slightly on his rock.

Flynn cleared his throat and stood up. He stretched a little, then said, "We should get moving, in case the guards are on our track."

Rapunzel nodded, stood up straight, and gave him a salute. He laughed and walked ahead of her, letting her march behind. It was quiet between them as they continued at a brisk walk down the tunnel until a muffled group of voices came from behind them. It sounded like arguing and orders. The guards. How did they find them!

"Flynn!" Rapunzel's voice called, warningly.