Alright my lovelies, this is the epilogue. I'm sad that it's over, but it was a blasty blast writing this, with all your support. :) Speaking of which, here's a thank you to all the reviewers: TheVampireChickWithNoFangz, BrittneyluvsChrist, Umbre0n, Lissa Salvatore. You are all amazing, with every one of you reviewing multiple times. Your encouragement makes my heart melt :D No words to express the thanks I have for all of you. :D For those who added this to their favourites or started following me (TheVampireChickWithNoFangz, BrittneyluvsChrist, Umbre0n, VintageViolet91, imagination-disney, and VioletLily2010), you helped me feel this story was worth someone's time. Kudos to those who made both lists ;) Now without furthur ado, here's the final chapter.

You come home from work, and you kiss me on the eye
You curse the dogs, you say that I should never feed them what is ours
So we move out to the garden, look at everything we've grown
And the kids are coming home so I'll set the table; you can make the fire

"Eugene, I'm back!"

I grinned, marking my place in my book before going to meet her at the door. She smiled when she saw me, dropping her easel and box of paints to the ground to wrap her arms around me.

"I missed you." She hummed, combing a hand through my hair.

"You were gone for an hour Blondie."

"Still breaks my heart to be away from you."

"I know. I missed you too."

"When are the kids going to get here?"

"An hour. That gives you enough time to wash up and help me with the finishing touches on the meal, okay?"

"Okay," she kissed my cheek before picking up her paint supplies and skipping away. I grinned before I headed into the kitchen, looking at the roast ready in the oven. It was just keeping warm now, filling the house with delicious aromas. The potatoes were boiled and ready to be mashed, which Rapunzel loved to do. I thought it was a great way to get rid of the little anger that she had.

I pulled the ham out, wanting to expect it closer. One of the dogs that we had brought along whined at my feet. I looked at him, then the ham, and then my stomach after it growled again.

"We're going to be cutting it up anyway," I reasoned to myself out loud before grabbing the knife and taking off bite sized pieces for my canine friend and I. Putting the ham back before Rapunzel found out, I leaned against the counter, looking around at our latest home.

During one of our yearly trips to other kingdoms, one king suggested that we should get away from the castle and live the humble life in a cottage. Rapunzel was immediately taken by the idea, and before I knew it, we resided in this stone building for a portion of the summer. It was homey and comfortable, perfect for just the two of us to keep up and running, but large enough to invite some guests.

I smiled as the dog drooled watching me eat the piece of ham. Relieving him of his misery, I tossed the other piece to him just as Rapunzel walked back into the room. She gasped, frowning at me before shaking a finger at the dog.

"You know better than to beg for food, mister. Now, get outside." She tapped the back of his legs gently with her foot, prodding him to the back door. He whined, but other than that followed what she had ordered.

"As for you!" I raised a brow as she faced me.

"I had no part of this. I was just doing what the dog had asked of me." I defended quickly before she could say another word.

"You know he can't have the good ham. Give him the bone later, but don't give him the people food." She kept her frown on, which was rather impressive.

"I thought he was a person."

She rolled her eyes at me, the frown disappearing before swatting me away so she could get to the bowl of potatoes.

"Could you get some of the beans from the garden for me, darling?" She asked as she pounded away at the boiled spuds.

"Right away." I left her in the cottage as I followed the same path as the dog. I looked from the doorway to the yard behind the cottage, filled with every sort of food that could grow just outside of Corona. Rapunzel and I made a great gardening team, taking our time to carefully weed them and give them the right amount of water daily. Our efforts paid off since we had so much food here that we couldn't finish it ourselves.

With the beans quickly picked and washed, I brought them back to my wife for inspection. She smiled her thanks, busily adding butter and milk to the potatoes. I leaned on the counter once more, observing her quietly. It was just last winter when I almost lost her, the memory almost too painful to recall. But here she was, with the right amount of fingers and toes and no lasting repercussions of her dip in the freezing waters. She didn't even develop a cold after that, because of the magic of our tears.

We had discussed this as a family when we could talk about it without bursting into tears right away. When we described the phenomenon with Rapunzel, she also started to cry, but with a different reason. That's when I heard the retelling of my death, but with the story of how I managed to come back alive. I knew that it had to do with the song and the magic in Rapunzel's hair, but it had always been too sensitive of a subject to bring up with Rapunzel. I knew little of the details. But after she told the story about how her tear still had the magic in it, I knew that was the only possible explanation.

When we approached the reasoning why it took all of our tears to bring her back and not just one persons, she had a very reasonable excuse. The magic transferred over to me when she brought me back, but only half of what was left inside her. Then, with our children, we both had our magic resources cut down to quarters. By this point, the magic was too weak to work alone, but with the combination of the three of us and with the magic left inside of Rapunzel, we managed to heal her.

I didn't care that I barely understood how she explained it, it only mattered that she was alive and well. She seemed adamant about it, so I believed her whole heartedly.

The clatter of a buggy had me look to the front window, and sure enough I could see our children and their spouses turn their horse to the driveway.

"The children are here!" I called to Rapunzel excitedly. She placed the bowl of mashed potatoes on the table, wiping her hands on the apron that was covered in food as well as paint.

"Okay, can you-"

I cut her off, kissing her flushed mouth quickly. I pulled away to see her bewildered but happy expression, my heart beating a little faster at the sight. The fact that I couldn't possibly love her more was the only thought going through my mind. But a knock on the door with a curious "Hello?" brought me back.

"I'll set the table." I said with a smile. "You can light the fire."

Fin.

:')

Love, Ella