Chapter 3: The Forest

BTW, I think this whole story is going to be narrated. This means no POV's of the characters. Sorry! That could change though. Do you prefer narrated or the characters telling the story? Anyway, here is Chapter 3. Review. Review. REVIEW. PLEASE! Tell me what you think and tell me any suggestions you have! Enjoy

Disclaimer: I don't own….

Rapunzel

Eugene

Pascal

Maximus

Hook Hand

Big Nose

The list could go ON AND ON AND ON! But most importantly, I DON'T OWN TANGLED. Disney does. But, Disney made Tangled so awesome so, YAY Disney!

Narrator

Rapunzel ran to catch up to Eugene. He pulled the vines away for her to walk through. She took one last look at the tower. It really was a pretty tower. The vines and the flowers all around it made it even more majestic. It had always been neatly kept up and it pained her to think that when she left, it would just sit there with no use. Then the cloak of a certain someone caught her eye. She thought of all of the wonderful things she had done for her. Then, thinking of the terrible crime she had committed, Rapunzel's heart seared with hatred for her. Had Gothel actually loved her, or did she just love her hair? She had so many questions about Gothel. How old was she? Why did she want to stay young? How did she find me? She knew they would never be answered though. What Rapunzel did know was that it would be best if she tried to forget about Gothel, but how could she? She had been raised by the woman for 18 years. Then she looked at Eugene. "Eugene", she thought to herself, "I have Eugene, and once I meet my real parents I can live a real life. Now is when my life really begins". She cast one last look of triumph at the tower and with that, Rapunzel walked through the vines to a better life.

Maximus was waiting outside with a look of pure distress on his face. He was so worried, that is until he saw Rapunzel. He neighed and jumped around with excitement.

"Max!" she cried and ran over to greet the horse

He looked at her, almost as if here was inspecting her for any harm. Rapunzel watched him and realized what he was doing.

"It's all right Maximus. I'm fine, but…" She gestured to Eugene. He was no longer in pain because she had healed him, but there was a nasty scar. For once, Maximus looked as though he felt bad for the criminal. Rapunzel felt bad too, she had saved him, but left him with a permanent mark of the incident. Rapunzel started tearing up again.

"What's the matter Rapunzel?"

"I left such a bad scar on you! Now you will always remember what happened" she cried

Eugene walked up and gave her a comforting hug.

"It's not your fault; at least I'm not dead"

She looked up at him with her big green eyes, filling with tears.

"Besides, I would have remembered it anyway"

She gave him a small smile. They stared into each other's eyes until Max nudged Eugene. He was eager to know what happened in the tower. Rapunzel decided to tell him the main points, instead of the full story in detail because they needed to get back to the kingdom. She told him about Gothel stabbing Eugene, herself begging to save him, and Eugene's cutting of her hair. She decided the kiss was private. She was too afraid of what he would do. Eugene knew something that Rapunzel and the horse didn't know. He was quite proud of himself about it too. Eugene decided that from then on, he would no longer be a thief. He was kind of nervous about it too. He had tried it before, and it didn't go well. He knew that with Rapunzel around him he could keep himself motivated to do better. The only problem was could he still be with Rapunzel once he brought her home?

His long thoughts were silenced when a cold wind started to pick up; however, it was not storming. On the contrary, the clouds started moving faster and the sun started to peek out from behind them. He looked over at Rapunzel petting Max. Her hair no longer shimmered in the light, but somehow she looked even more beautiful to Eugene. He felt like he finally had a purpose in life, that wasn't stealing.

Maximus was very shocked about Rapunzel being the lost princess. When she told him about it he was very excited, but a little angry at himself for not realizing it sooner. He knew there was something about her; he just couldn't put his hoof on it! Eugene pulled the satchel with Rapunzel's crown over himself and helped Rapunzel up onto Maximus. Rapunzel felt very strange with such a light head. She felt very weird not having to hold it up. She was very glad it was gone though, now leaves and dirt didn't get stuck in it. She also didn't have to spend 2 hours, or more, on brushing it. Her short jagged locks barely even blew in the breeze. It felt so nice to have it gone! Once Rapunzel was situated behind Eugene on Max's back, they started to ride through the forest. This time it wasn't very urgent, so Maximus didn't have to go full speed. His speed was more than a trot, but less than a gallop. As they rode on, Rapunzel put her arms around Eugene's stomach and laid her head on his back. She didn't want to fall off the horse, but she was also glad to have Eugene with her. For good this time. She didn't want anything happening to him. He was finally hers.

She was contently snuggled up behind Eugene when the light started getting brighter. While they were in the forest, all of the clouds had blown away. They never noticed because the forest had once shielded them from the sun. The light getting brighter could only mean one thing.

They were leaving the forest, and heading towards the kingdom.

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