AN:So I only listened/watched Kingdom Dance a million times to get this right, haha. I think this whole scene is my Waterloo or something because it wasn't any easier this time around either (though I am more pleased with it this time).

Anyway, I wrote part of this because I noticed that Rapunzel had her hand behind her back when they're hiding from the guards, and I wanted to know why. I want to send a shout-out thank you to RenesmeeXD over at Fanpop, because they've uploaded basically a million screencaps from the movie and it's helped me so much in getting both Eugene and Rapunzel's expressions right.

Much love to all you readers!

FL6

Disclaimer: I do not own Tangled.

Chapter 10- Eugene vs. the Best Day Ever

"Remember to let her into your heart."

-John Lennon and Paul McCartney

As you might have imagined, I gave Rapunzel very specific instructions for retrieving some of my money. I told her that once she was there she had to ask for one woman-Mrs. Jean McIntyre in particular- the one women there that I actually trusted to a) not turn me in to the guards, b) knew my real name, and c) would be kind to Rapunzel. I also told her not to say anything about Flynn Rider at all. Unbelievably, she asked me why, and I answered (almost impatiently) that for heaven's sake, didn't she know by now why I didn't want her to say anything about that. She in turn said that of course she did, and asked me where I hid my money and how much to take. Some days I wish I'd told her to take all of it-considering what might have happened later- but I told her ten silver coins.

We were both pretty quiet after that, and I think might have been having some second thoughts, though I personally wasn't sure why. She would be perfectly safe. Finally we reached the block where my boardinghouse was, and I stopped. Okay, Blondie," I said. "This is as far as I can take you. Just walk three houses down until you reach The Eagle and Crown, okay? I'll wait for you right here, in this alley." Allies, in case you are interested, are perfect places to hide for rogue thieves.

She bore up her shoulders bravely. "Yes." Then she turned around and walked in the direction of the house. I watched her go, and part of me wished that I could go with her instead of sending her alone.

XXXXXXXXXXX

Waiting for her seemed to be an eternity, though it was likely less than an hour. But I must confess to you that I didn't know why it took her so long, because I had only expected it to take her around twenty minutes. Of course what I didn't know then was that she had found the other things (besides my small bag of money)that I had kept under that floorboard-like the cameo I had of my mother, my copy of The Tales of Flynnigan Rider-and the letter that she wrote me before she died inside it- and had looked at them, and read the letter.

Since I told you that I'd tell you the story about my father (and my mother), I'll do so now….

Once upon a time….there was a girl named Vivian Lewis, who was as intelligent as she was sweet and beautiful. Okay, so I know what you're thinking: of course you think your mother's gorgeous, she's your mother! But you don't know how lovely she really was: she had the kind of looks that turns men's heads and the kind that makes you feel like you've been kicked in the side with a horse (like Rapunzel actually). She had this thick, wavy brown hair and the biggest, sparkling green eyes (also like Rapunzel). She began to work at the estate of Lord Herbert Seymour as a maid when she was seventeen and everyone there thought she was fantastically beautiful. Unfortunately, Lord Herbert, Duke of the Scums….I mean, of Somerset….thought she was pretty too. Do I need to elaborate? Nine months later, I was born and she named me Eugene Fitzherbert-Eugene to remind me that-despite my inauspicious beginnings- I was well-born and Fitzherbert to remind me who my father was. I know, I found that hilariously ironic too…Me, of all people, a noble! But frankly, as soon as I learned what my father did, I didn't want to have anything to do with him, and he in turn didn't seem to care much about me either.

That was fine for about the next ten years. Since my mother was only eighteen when she had me, she was tons of fun when she wasn't working and she taught me how to read and write in her spare time. She also had the most vivid imagination and told me stories of fairies and dragons, stories of magic. It might sound odd to you but we were practically inseparable. She loved me dearly despite the fact that the whole matter hadn't been her choice, and constantly told me how thankful she was for me. And I loved her too, and until Rapunzel, she was the only one I had loved truly.

One day when I was about eleven years old, she grew grievously ill with consumption and out of desperation I went to Lord Herbert to ask him to send for a doctor. He answered in turn that he would not, because he couldn't afford the expense. Well, I grew completely infuriated then, considering what he had done to her, and told him off. I said that I couldn't believe he wouldn't help her, it was the least he could do, what kind of noble was he, and I wasn't the bastard here, he was (yes, I had a temper, even then). After that, I stormed out without waiting for his response. That was the last time I talked to my father in at least eleven years. I returned to my mother, took care of her as best I could, but she….died anyway. After that, I was sent to the orphanage and the rest, as they say, is history.

Now, Rapunzel had learned about my father from the letter, but that day I didn't know it because she didn't tell me until three months afterward that she had read it. She told me that she didn't want me to think of her as a snoop, but she read it because she was starting to love me too and wanted to know more about me. Being the sympathetic girl that she was, she felt horrible about what had happened to my mother, though she didn't fully understand all of it.

When Rapunzel returned to me, she looked…..quite upset about something, but I couldn't be sure why. However, she didn't give anything away and simply handed the money over to me. Then she asked me where we should go next. I honestly didn't have much of an opinion, because it was her special day. "Where do you want to go?"

A thoughtful expression entered her eyes. "Well," she answered. "How about we go back to the city square? There's so much to explore there!"

I smiled and agreed.

XXXXXXXXXX

So, we went back to the city square and I soon learned that-when you haven't been outside a tower your entire life- everything excites you. She dragged me from store to store, completely enthralled with everything there.

I have to confess that sometimes I tried to impress her with me as much as all the wonders of the city. After a while, I gave up on trying to impress her, because all she did each time I said something cocky was roll her eyes. Soon I discovered that the thing that would impress her the most was if I stopped trying to impress her. Now, of course that was upside down, warped, strange, and out of the ordinary. But I soon learned that everything the world was, Rapunzel usually wasn't: Most girls swooned at my smolder. She didn't. Most girls liked my bravado Flynn Rider act. She didn't, she'd rather that I was myself.

So eventually I dropped my Flynn persona and was …Eugene again. Though even Eugene wasn't big on dancing. When I was in line for our bread, one second Rapunzel was standing beside me, and the next -when I had finished buying our food- she was twirling around the square with first a little boy and then a bunch of others that she had pulled into dancing with her.

I stood there, contentedly watching her, because she looked adorable dancing around the square like that. She gestured to me to come join her, but I was not someone who danced. So I held up my hand, my signal for no, until Maximus shoved pushed me into the square and a woman pulled me into dancing with her. The dancing was….okay, I guess, but it would have been more fun if I could have danced with the one person that I actually wanted to dance with: Rapunzel. But every time we got even close to each other, somebody would carry us off in separate directions. After a while, the dancing died down, we ate the bread and cheese (though we..had to slightly dust it off, because I had dropped it when I had been roped into dancing).

After that, we wandered the square and, at one point in the day, we passed a boy selling small purple flags with the symbol of Corona on it-a golden sun. And when I gave it to her, it was instantly worth it because her eyes started to shine and her face took on its now-familiar exuberance. "Wow!" she exclaimed. "Thank you, Eugene." Her reaction, to be completely honest with you, was priceless and I couldn't help but smile. I soon learned that it didn't take much too much to make her happy, and I found myself wanting to make her happy every minute of that day. I told myself it was because of her birthday. But I think you and I both know that I wanted to see her happy because I was falling for her. Hard.

She held up her flag, and as she did, I couldn't help but place my hand lightly on her back and rest one cheek on her hair. She almost didn't seem to notice though (but she told me later that she did- and liked it) and turned toward me with another big smile. "Eugene," she said. "I have the best idea."

I did too-her cheek was so close that I could easily kiss it. "And what's that?" Somehow I doubted she was thinking the same thing that I was.

"Let's go back to the square," she said. "I'd love to go back and draw something like this flag there."

So, we went back to the square and she drew her large golden sun surrounded by a purple background with people dancing. And that was just another thing that I started to love about her- her artistic ability was amazing. Besides that, she was so happy when she drew and I loved seeing her like that. Rapunzel had started to find herself a place in my heart, and there was really nothing I could do about it. And I found that I didn't want to do anything about it either. She was just too wonderful.

In the afternoon, we passed a bakery and I decided to buy something sweet for her to celebrate her birthday. And even though it disgusted me, I enlisted Maximus to distract her while I went in and bought two cupcakes- one with pink frosting (for her of course) and one with yellow. For a second, I thought about how the yellow of the cupcakes was only a few shades lighter than the beautiful sunlight that was her hair. Oh boy, was I far gone (and this is probably a little too much insight on my thought process at that time).

But can I take a minute and just tell you how much I liked her blonde hair? It was the prettiest blonde hair I'd ever seen and shone like the sun every minute that we were outside. It also reminded me that magic golden flower that I had heard stories about, though I doubt the flower could have been prettier than her hair. Okay, I know what you're thinking: please don't make me listen to your poem, Ode to Her Hair. And don't worry, I'm done now. Please don't start believing though that I don't like the way her hair is now, because I do. I love her hair-it's so cute and adorable. Actually, everything about Rapunzel is cute and adorable.

Ahem. Anyhow, I walked back to her with the cupcakes behind my back. Rapunzel was petting Maximus again, and he was whickering in pleasure. But when she saw me, she stopped and smiled at me. "Eugene," she said. "Did-…." Then she noticed my hands behind my back. "Why do you have your hands behind your back?"

I smiled at her. She was so endearingly straightforward. "Well, I have a….surprise for you."

Her eyes lit up. "Really? A surprise for…me?"

"Yes," I said. Then I handed her the pink cupcake. "Happy birthday."

Her eyes started to shine now. "Thank you! I've never had a birthday quite so special before."

I hoped that I had something to do with the increase of special-ness of the day, but I didn't say anything like that. "Well, you're eighteen now-it's a notable birthday."

"Yes," she agreed. "What did you do on your eighteenth?"

Ha. She didn't really want to know-the truth was I had been miserable about losing my mother, felt lonely, drunk myself silly, gotten in a fight when somebody insulted my nose, and ended up in jail that night because of it. "Uh….nothing special like this, that's for sure."

"Well," she said thoughtfully. "If I had been there, I would have made sure it was amazingly special for you."

She would have. And if she had been there, she would have listened to me about my mother- and I wouldn't have felt lonely so I wouldn't have drunken myself silly, gotten in a fight, or gone to jail. I wished she had been there. In fact, a part of me wished that she had been around the last ten years. No one could ever feel lonely around somebody as cheerful and sweet as her. And maybe my life would have been different because of knowing her.

But my life was already different because I knew her; I was different because I knew her. I felt a lump in my throat."Uh," I said again. "….thanks."

Suddenly, I felt a nudge in my back. I turned around only to see Maximus….who was trying to show me that there were guards only a few yards away. Without thinking, I grabbed her hand-that wasn't holding the cupcake-and started to pull her down to the alley at the end of the block.

Immediately a confused look appeared on her face."Eugene….what-?"

"Shh," I whispered, and gestured toward the guards. She saw them, and nodded at me. Then she followed me quietly down toward the alley, though I noticed with a pang that she had taken her hand out of mine. Once we reached the alley, we ducked into it-while guards patrolled the street. It seemed to me that they would unfortunately be here a while. I glanced at Rapunzel, hoping she wasn't scared this time. She didn't look it at all for once, and instead gave me a smile."So seems like we'll be hiding out a while," I whispered.

"Guess so, but I have an idea for a game while we're waiting," she said.

"And what would that be?"

She placed one arm behind her back. "Guess how many fingers I'm holding out."

"Um…two?" I guessed.

"Nope!" she said with a grin.

"Is it…three?"

"Guess again."

"Four?" She shook her head. "Five? One?" She shook her head twice, one for each wrong answer. "Ra-…Blondie, it has to be one of those. You only have five fingers."

"Actually," she said. "I have four fingers and a thumb." She laughed triumphantly, and I couldn't help but smile back at her. Her pleasure at outwitting me was too cute. "And I was holding out my thumb. So no fingers. See?" She held out her thumb to illustrate her point.

'Yes," I said. "I see…." That you are adorable.

XXXXXXXXXXXX

After we ducked from the guards, the day seemed to go by much too quickly. I knew that my time with her was ending, and so I savored every minute of it. One of the last things we did that day was go to the palace's library and archives. Of course, that was Rapunzel's idea because I didn't want to go any closer to the palace than was necessary.

One of the official-looking men came up to us and asked us what we were looking for. I looked at Rapunzel, because there was nothing that I particularly needed to see.

"I would like to see the records…of the nobles," she told him. Instantly I gave her my best "why do you want to see something so boring" look. She wanted to see records of the nobles? Really? Did she suddenly have an urge to take a nap? How could that possibly be interesting to her? Of course (and once again), what I didn't know was that she was looking up my father because she wanted to know more about him, which makes much more sense than what I had thought then: that I didn't understand her sudden interest in genealogy.

"And Eugene here would like to see books about islands," she continued.

The library-keeper briskly showed me to the island section, and then took Rapunzel to the archives. I sighed as soon as he did, and looked half-heartedly at the books. But none of them really interested me, and I thought that even if looking at records would be boring, at least I'd be with Rapunzel instead of standing here by myself. I must have waited there for an hour, but I felt a small thrill when she came back. She greeted me with a small smile.

I smiled back."What do you want to look at now, Blondie?"I asked her.

She thought for a minute. "Well," she began hesitantly. "I would like to look at more of the books here. That is, if you don't mind. I've never seen so many books in my entire life!" I told her that it was fine (or course it was!) and so we spent another two hours in the library. She dashed from aisle to aisle, showing me book after book. I would act excited and she would sit by me, read a little of one, leave it open on the floor, and the she'd go look at another one. I don't think I can fully express how cute this was, but it sort of amazed me that this same behavior would have annoyed me to no end the day before.

One of the last books she brought over to me was a world atlas. We sat on the floor again to look at it, and we sat so close together that our shoulders almost touched. While we looked through it, she asked me what it would be like to see all those places. I told her that I didn't know, because I had never been outside of Corona. She said that she'd really like to go anywhere too, and I thought briefly that it would be the most fun if we could go to those places together.

Of course, Corona had a place in the atlas, and she showed me a little island off the coast. "There's your island," she said, with a half-smile. I just stared at it. My island….Did I even still want an island? She glanced at me, and I knew I should say something. "Oh yes," I said. After that, I couldn't really think of much else to say, and I caught all the confused looks that she sent in my direction, though I didn't know what to say to her, because I was so confused myself.

Soon, we finished, left the library, and returned to the city square. Musicians were playing again, and she immediately perked up. So she dragged me into the dancing again, but this time I was determined that I would dance with her. While I danced with the people (again, with everyone, it seemed, except Rapunzel), I always kept one eye out for her. And as the music ended, I saw her twirling in my direction. Instinctively, I caught her in my arms, one hand clasping hers, the other around her waist. And it felt just as amazing as I always thought it would be. Her hand felt perfect and small inside mine.

She looked up at me with the most beautiful smile. Then suddenly she pulled away, as if she had just realized how close we were and a pink blush rose in her cheeks. She backed away from me, clearly embarrassed. I smiled reassuringly at her, and she smiled back. "Well," I said, trying to make her feel more at ease. "I think it's about that time."

Her eyes started to shine. "You mean….the lights?"

"Yes," I told her. "The lights."

The lights, I thought with another pang. And those lights that would mark the end of this wonderful day.