Popping

…

Warning very fluffy.

#Author's Note: So Disney says Rapunzel's brown hair won't grow, eh? Well, let's just see about that. That means she still has some magic in her. There's some fun to be had in that. Don't you think?

…

Finally, after all this time and waiting. Trying to rebuild Rapunzel's family and reform himself, Eugene was ready. Well, sorta, ready. Were you ever ready when something so totally life changing like this came up?

They were on the plaza balcony looking out over the harbor, the sun was setting on one side of them the nearly full moon on the other. It wasn't going to get any better then this.

Eugene got down on one knee, took Rapunzel's hand and placed in it a small velvet box and asked. "Rapunzel, will you marry me?"

Rapunzel burst into tears. He expected that. It was still disconcerting, but it was expected.

What came next, not so much.

"I don't know." Rapunzel wailed and ran away.

After kneeling there for a minute in dumbfounded amazement, the King came out and gave him a hand up. "I take it that was a no."

"Actually, she said, I don't know. Which doesn't exactly help." said Eugene in confusion.

"Well, you better go chase her down. Women like that. She'll probably explain. It looks like she went to her room. I'll have to comfort the Queen, she was so hoping this would go well."

Eugene slowly walked to Rapunzel's room and knocked. "It's me, Eugene."

"Come in."

Rapunzel was on her bed, which was flanked by life-sized paintings of her parents on one side and himself on the other. Which he still found odd, not that she hadn't done a good job, it captured him perfectly, it was just odd to see a life-sized version of himself not in a mirror.

Sitting on the bed and putting a comforting hand on her back and asked casually, "So did we find another snake?"

The queen had coined a term for the family, snakes in the grass of Rapunzel's soul. As a way to talk about all those emotional traps Gothel seemed to have strewn in Rapunzel's heart and mind. It put a name on it, and somehow it was a bit easier.

With lots of love and understanding and talking they had spent a lot of time helping Rapunzel deal with them. They considered themselves very lucky. They all hurt in different ways, but they didn't seem to find too many all at once, and they have been finding fewer over time.

It was one of the reasons it had taken so long to ask her to marry him.

"No. At least not in the usual way." She got up and turned toward him. "What do you see?"

Wow, That had been a rough snake. She had told them what Gothel had done to that phrase, but he knew what he saw. "I see my new dream, the woman I want to spend forever with." and she smiled a little.

"More specifically, my hair."

"Um, it's brown and short." Not sure were she was going.

"And the same length as the day when you cut it in the tower." He could see the emotions play in those huge green eyes: fear, happiness, sadness, love, a dozen more moving so fast, but the fear was always there.

"Yes, yes, it is. We talked about this before. We just don't know why and there is nothing we can do about it. We just have to keep living our lives and deal with whatever comes, when it gets here. We can't fear the future so much we forget to live now." He quoted her mother and father.

"I know," she said, looking down and biting her lip, "and I want marry you and have children, but I. am. so. scared. What if whatever magic is still in me manifests in our children?"

"Then we will deal with it then, when it actually shows up. You have loving, supportive parents, a kingdom that loves you and would defend you and your children to the last, and me." he added in an offhand way. He was so glad he didn't have to worry about droplets of magic sunshine floating about in his body like she did.

"I know, I know, but it's still scary." And snuggled into him as he put his arm around her protectively.

"It's alright. You're allowed to be scared, but you are not allowed to dodge the question."

Rapunzel frowned, her eyes scanning back and forth as she reviewed the last few minutes trying to remember what question he was talking about, but came up empty.

She looked up at him. "What question?"

Eugene gave her a look and then down at her hands which still held the little black velvet box.

Rapunzel followed his eyes and opened the box. It was a not too big, but finely wrought engagement ring. A diamond flanked by two emeralds, that went with her eyes.

"Wow, it's beautiful." then she blinked, "Oh, that question. Well, let me tell you the answer to that question…"

Next door in the royal apartment, the queen is leaning against her husband's chest, she had stopped crying not too long before and he had his arm around her, keeping her close. She just honestly wanted her daughter to be happy even for just a little while. They had worked through so much pain together. Dealing with so many snakes that Gothel had left behind. Had they stepped on another snake? Were they everywhere?

If, when! they get married she would be spending the wedding night in the palace chapel, praying they don't find any snakes in the wedding bed. She thought determinedly.

Then they heard a loud whoop from the princess' quarters, next door.

"I'd say the answer is yes," grinned the king and gave his queen a kiss.

…

And then there was much planning.

Oh, was there planning and meetings and decisions. Eugene knew that women loved weddings, but a royal wedding was absolutely insane. Eugene was wondering why anyone would care about the color of the ribbon on the flowergirl's baskets?

Rapunzel had insisted on the Little Braid Girls, as he called them, to be her flower girls, he was even getting good enough to know when to cover his ears before the squealing started.

Pascal was hanging out with him more too, you know it's bad when the frog thinks the squealing was getting to be a bit much.

The Princess Aurora came to be the Maid of Honor, which was hardly a surprise, they were just like sisters.

…

One of the biggest things he had worked on was building trust with Rapunzel. He knew she felt keenly the betrayal Gothel had done to her and his own apparent, but unwilling betrayal, still had some residual effects.

He had betrayed a lot of women and that made him feel guilty, there was no way to restore what he had taken. Flynn Rider didn't think it was stealing if it was freely given, but Eugene Fitzherbert knew better, the smolder was powerful stuff. He would do right by Rapunzel!

He asked the King and Queen to have the talk with her about what was going to happen to her on the wedding night. Well, probably not on their wedding night, after all the parties and people, she'd probably fall asleep earlier rather then later. The queen had given him such a rib-cracking hug and the king a pat on the back that he had felt humbled.

On the morning of the wedding the Queen had called him into her sewing room and had given him a talking to that had blown him away, he had thought he was a man of the world, but the queen's advice was frighteningly frank, and revealed something he did not know about Rapunzel.

Eugene found Rapunzel's innocence so compelling and violating it, no! not violating, they were consummating, consummating. Remember that! They were going to be married and it was okay then.

…

When Eugene, in his official Prince Consort uniform, saw the Princess Rapunzel come down the aisle in her fabulous wedding gown with thread of gold in the veil it was like having the old Blondie back.

Not that he didn't love Goldie of the heart of gold. He didn't care about the flowers or the ribbons or anything else just that he was pledging his life to the most wonderful and beautiful girl in the world.

…

Carrying his sleeping wife, yup, she had fallen asleep, in to the "honeymoon cottage" an old isolated manor house on the mainland that they could "get to know each other" in. And laid her in their bed to rest up. They had plenty of time now. Boy, that dress was heavy and he wasn't exactly sure how to get it off without waking her up. Besides she would need her rest for what he had planned.

The next day, knowing that the royal parents were praying for them that they wouldn't find any snakes here. He set to work, seducing his wife.

They went exploring around the grounds first. Just to get comfortable with the new surroundings, and so Rapunzel could satisfy her seeing-new-things curiosity out of the way. He was thinking that to set the mood they might want to play spin the bottle and other kissing games, something light and fun so she wouldn't get scared by all the new things that would be happening to each other.

They were passing by a small meadow that had a large boulder in the center, when Rapunzel said. "Oh, this would be the prefect place to play Capture the Unicorn."

Eugene hadn't heard of that one before. He didn't think there were any unicorns in the area, he did remember that you would use an innocent girl as a lure somehow, but wasn't sure about the specifics. Wondering if it was something like Capture the Flag or something, but with only the two of them it wouldn't be much fun.

Then again she came up with some of the most amazing games, her variations on chess were formidable.

"So how do you go about capturing a unicorn?" he asked.

"Oh, you stand by a tree, this one looks pretty and hold onto it. You stay here. And I go out to the rock."

He held onto the And she left him by the tree and she walked out to the rock her bare feet peeking out from under the hem of her dress. And then she started to dance.

Eugene loved to dance with her, but it was even more fun just to watch her dance. She danced with an innocence and freedom that was just amazing. It was just her and the music in her head and it was beautiful and shiny and where did her shirt go?

His jaw dropped open as the rest of her clothes soon ended up strewn about the meadow. He found it hard to think as she enthusiastically danced around the meadow.

"Who could have taught her this? The PubThugs, they'd tell her some innocent story and she'd …. I'll Kill…" His train of thought derailed and exploded as Rapunzel cartwheeled past him.

Eventually, she sat down on the rock, skin glistening, chest heaving and lip pouting.

After prying his fingers off of the tree, Eugene hobbled over, sweating for completely different reasons.

"I don't understand, I danced as hard as I could and there are no unicorns." Rapunzel said sounding very disappointed.

"Um, who taught you this "game"?" Eugene tried to say neutrally, but it just came out painfully,

"Mama, She told me it was a favorite of her's and papa's for their honeymoon. I don't get why it didn't work."

"Mama taught you this." he said slowly. Eugene suddenly found it a lot easier to walk.

After her "little" talk with him which had surprised him at how direct and frank it was, he would have thought Rapunzel's talk would have cleared things up. But this was Rapunzel and she tended to interrelate things that didn't really go together and come up with amazingly different conclusions. He tried to put things together in his head the way he thought his bride might and decided to do something completely different.

"Here, let's go back to the manor, I think I have to clear up some details that may have gotten mixed up." He started picking up her clothes.

"I did it wrong again, didn't I?" Rapunzel looked all disappointed, she tried so hard to do things right, but she always got some detail wrong that messed it all up.

He stopped, picked her up by the shoulders and made her look into his eyes. "Actually, no. You did it just right. It was me that was the problem."

"You?" she asked confused.

"Yes, I wasn't expecting something, anything like this from you, just now. But let's head in before you get a sunburn. Then I'll tell you, no, show you what I mean. It'll make a lot more sense then. Trust me. Then we can try playing again, it looks like fun." He finished with a smile.

And they went back to the manor, holding her in the crook of his arm. He explained what he was going to do to and with her and what she should expect from him and herself as they snuggled on the sofa in front of the fire.

And then Eugene seduced his beloved wife Rapunzel, slowly and carefully. Oh, there were some missteps, giggles and forgiveness, but in the end their love which he thought was burning intensely before, blazed like a bonfire compared to a candle.

He held her close as the power of their togetherness overwhelmed her and she calmed down. And he finally, finally relaxed, there were no snakes here, just love. The queen's advice had come in handy.

The honeymoon was the best time of their lives.

And now the smolder finally worked on her. Oh boy, did it work. He knew that it made girls weak in the knees, but he was glad he had been holding Rapunzel in his arms when he tried it on her this time, her knees gave way completely; he caught her before she hit the floor.

The look on her face said it all. He swung her into his arms and gave her the ravishment she so thoroughly deserved.

And they played Capture the Unicorn and she was a vey good Lure now that they both knew the rules of the game.

He had arranged for a room to be made into a library, since she liked books so much. He remembered how weak in the knees she had gotten in the library the first time, she still did. They spent a fair amount of time in the library, but didn't do much reading.

After two weeks that bonfire was a full fledge forest fire. The emotional intensity of their love was beginning to scare him a little. He knew she threw herself totally into things, this was no exception, but his own reactions were far more intense then ever before. After 2 years he thought he knew her deeply, but now... even Flynn Rider in the back of his mind was in awe.

And he wouldn't trade it for anything in the world.

And the best thing was Rapunzel's nightmares seemed to be gone. They actually slept in past dawn for the first time in years. That was the best wedding present of all, where ever it came from.

…

He was lounging lazily around one afternoon on a sofa in a white shirt and dark pants, his shoes in the corner, watching Rapunzel sketch something in her notebook in the drawing room, "Well, where else should I draw?"

After a while she got up and walked into the bathroom which was across the hall. His eyes drank in her movements as she walked barefoot across the dark wood floor in a thin, pale pink sun dress, the hem swishing back and forth provocatively.

After a short time he heard Rapunzel sneeze, in that cute little way she does and he smiled, it was just so cute, then she went, "Eek." which caused him to sit up, was it a mouse or something?

"Eugene, Eugene!" He strode to the door, she sounded concerned, but not panicked. What was going on?

"Coming." he called.

As he crossed the hall, she called again "Ah, Help!"

Eugene dove for the door, concerned about what might be happening to his precious Goldie.

Ripping the door open, yards and yards of golden hair spilled out of the bathroom. And it was still growing. The glowing, growing end passed between his legs and grew down the hall as he twisted around to watch it.

It finally stopped after growing nearly 80ft, which is how long her hair was supposed to be after all this time.

Eugene, his mouth hanging open, turned back to Rapunzel who was still standing in the bathroom, arms full of blonde hair, her massive green eyes the biggest he'd every seen.

He'd tried to be ready for all kinds of possible problems, but this was not one of them, why did that keep happening anyway?

"What? Why? How?" He gestured vaguely.

"I-I dont't know." Rapunzel said uncertainly. She climbed out of the bathroom. "I was washing my hands, when I sneezed. And then it changed color and it just started glowing and growing."

She got a look on her face, dropped her hair and ran off to her-their bedroom.

Oh, the sound of her hair rustling behind her, how she had missed even that. The tugging of it as she rounded corners. But she wanted something else, something more important, something she couldn't see in the tiny mirror of the bathroom.

Running into the bedroom she closed her eyes and stepped in front of the big stand mirror. She fanned her hair behind her, opened her eyes and looked.

She was herself, her old self, with her distinctive cape of blonde hair.

Breathing fast and hard and with a shaking hand she reached behind her and felt it. She brought her hand forward and there it was, her hair in her hand. It really was there. It wasn't a dream or a nightmare. She cradled it for a moment, and ran it along her cheek. Then seeing the handle on the balcony door she whipped out her hand and grabbed the handle and opened the door.

Eugene came into the room, stepping carefully over the hair.

Rapunzel dashes over to him and pulls up the sleeve of his shirt exposing a ragged scar from a training accident with the Palace Guard. Quickly wrapping a loop of hair around his arm she looks him in the eye with pleading eyes and a finger to his lips, closes her eyes and begins to sing in a shaky voice. "Flower, gleam and glow, let your power shine…"

Even with her eyes closed, she could see the intense glow of the hair through her lids.

She finished the song and slowly opened her eyes, hanging onto hope with everything she had. She removed her hair from around her true love's, true lover's, arm and it was smooth and healed.

She looks up at Eugene, wanting, trying to express the wild oscillations of emotions coursing through her soul. Elation for getting her hair back, and deeply instilled fear of people wanting to cut her hair, and love for whatever power made this miracle happen, and concern because who she is has changed again and she'll have to rebuild herself all over again, and joy that she'll finally be able to heal Hookhand and the children and all the others, and, and, and …

"What are you looking at?" Rapunzel asks Eugene, Eugene had a shocked look on his face and was looking down. What's he doing that for?

His head snaps up, she could see emotions running rampant in his eyes.

"You were glowing."

"Well, yeah, my hair glows when I sing. I know that, and I know you know that."

"No, You were glowing. Here." He kneels before her and holds her tummy in both hands.

Her hands cover herself protectively. "I-I must be pregnant. You must still have had a drop of magic in you from when I cried on you and brought you back and I had some in me and they combined and I'm pregnant, and the baby glows, that means she'll have the power too and that means…." Rapunzel's great green eyes roll back in her head and she collapses on Eugene, who catches her and carries her carefully back to bed. Trying not to trip on all the hair.

Eugene had tried to prepare for so many things on their honeymoon, he had even made a list, it filled a small book. Having magic, glowing hair reappear had not been on the list.

"I guess it must be time for a new adventure." He said to himself as he put his arm around his beloved unconscious wife. They were a family now and he wasn't going to let anything happen to her…them, he smiled and neither would the King and Queen, or even the people of the kingdom.

I was thinking about a way for Rapunzel to get her hair back. If her hair wasn't growing a droplet of sunshine must be in her somewhere and Eugene certainly had a little left, they just needed to get them in the same place. Besides a little, okay, a lot, of fluff makes for a nice change of pace.

Some of my writing has been a little on the heavy side lately.