AN: Hello again! Just a note to say there will be one more chapter after this and the epilogue, and they might be combined into one chapter, depending on how long they are. and then this story will be done. wow!

Which means if I'm done with this story it's time for another (I can't help it; I'm obsessed) and I have three in my head that are partly written out: 1) the story after this one 2) the AU story for Delilahgirl about what might have happened if Eugene kissed Rapunzel on the boat and 3) the story after UA. Do you have a preference? I have the most work done on the first two (as in I have them almost completely outlined) but i'm working on the third one...

Paocg- Aw, I'm glad you liked it :) and thank YOU for reviewing.

Crystal-ice-fire- Thanks! :)

Delilahgirl- thanks! I'm glad that the "mini-fight" didn't bother you too much. I don't have them fight all the time, but it wouldn't be realistic if they didn't fight at all, you know? nobody is that perfect, and I try to have at least some semblance of reality in my stories. And I love fluff too :)

Unraised-Clock- Thanks! I'm very glad it was funny :)

Playgirl16- Wow, thank you! I'm happy that you like how i write them, because I work pretty hard at that. :)

Thank you for reviewing! 3

FL6

Disclaimer: I do not own Tangled.

Chapter 17- Rapunzel vs. her Dream

"Love takes off masks that we fear we cannot live without and know we cannot live within." -James Arthur Baldwin quotes

"One must have a good memory to keep the promises one has made."

-Frederich Nietzsche

We hadn't ridden very far before I heard Rapunzel gasp. Naturally I couldn't help but feel slightly alarmed about that. Had she seen something horrible? "Uh….Rapunzel?"

She glanced back at me. "Yes?

"Why were you just gasping like that?" I asked her. "Are you okay?'

She smiled reassuringly at me. "Oh yes, Eugene," she answered. "I'm fine. It's just….I have the best idea- we should go by the Snuggly Duckling and thank them!"

It was a good idea, and classic Rapunzel to think of other people. "Okay….but what about your parents?"

"I know…" she said. "But going and thanking them for what they did is really the least we can do."

She was right about that. After all, they had saved my life: I would be a dead man if it hadn't been for them. And I supposed that if her parents had waited eighteen years for her, they could wait a little longer. "All right," I agreed.

I didn't tell her that I wasn't even sure that they would be there- they might be in prison for helping me.

XXXXXXX

However, and astonishingly enough, they were there and were very happy to see us (I guessed that if they could break me out, they could break themselves out). Well, they seemed almost indifferent to me (all they said was a brief "Oh, hey Rider"), but they were thrilled to see Rapunzel. They greeted her warmly, and affectionately called her "That sweet blonde little lady." Of course, they were very curious about her hair though, considering it was long and blonde the last time they had seen her, and now it was short and brown. They asked her what happened, and she looked at me questioningly, almost asking my permission to tell the story. To be perfectly honest with you, I was glad that she wanted to tell it, because I sure didn't. I told her emphatically it was all hers.

She basically told them everything, including her healing hair, and her being the princess, and I silently listened (and I drank flip too. Ah… Hey! They offered it to me. What, was I supposed to decline their kind offer and hospitality?). But when she reached the part where I was bleeding and dying, I could hear the heartbreak in her voice and saw the faintest hint of tears in her eyes. So I walked over to her, sat next to her, and took her hand comfortingly. That seemed to encourage her, and she finished the story without another waver. And she was a very good story teller too, almost as good as me.

After she finished, she continued to be the center of attention, and I went to go get my flip again. Somehow thinking about dying and leaving Rapunzel made me want to. While I was over there, Hook Thug came up to me.

"That was a great thing you did for her," he said quietly to me, a hint of new respect for me in his eyes.

I gave him a barely perceptible nod, and I didn't even think of saying something cocky to his apparent compliment. "I guess, but I'd do it again in a heartbeat."

"Really. Why?"

Why? Was he serious? Didn't he know how wonderful Rapunzel was? "She's worth it."

He looked sharply at me. "She's changed you, you know," he said. "You're not the same person that you were two days ago."

Hook Thug was absolutely right about that, but I had to admit that I liked myself better now that I wasn't constantly trying to exploit other people and get their money. Besides, I hadn't lost any of my charm and wit just because I was nicer. "I know, but I think this might be a better model."

"Uh, huh. So, Rapunzel's the lost princess," he said. "What do you think about that?"

Ha ha, I wasn't going to tell the truth about that. Maybe somehow what I said would get back to Rapunzel and it might hurt her feelings if she knew that I thought it was horrific. But honestly, I did kind of hate the fact that she was the princess because there was a good chance that I could lose her again. But Flynn, now my alter ego (a little part of my brain that was very hard to shake), was telling me that I was incredibly lucky that Rapunzel was the princess- because there was the possibility that I could become fantastically rich, and I could get all those piles and piles of money.

I told him to shut up and go find some deserted island somewhere so he couldn't bother me anymore. "I think it's stupendous."

He looked like he wanted to laugh. "No, you don't."

"I do so," I protested.

"You don't," he said. "You hate it, because you know that for one, if you go back you could get executed again, and two, princess don't usually marry thieves."

In truth, I had thought the same thing, but he didn't need to know that. "Those thoughts never crossed my mind."

He looked at me skeptically. "Right…."

"Besides," I continued. "Now she'll have a real family, instead of that witch."

He was about to say something, but then Rapunzel came up to us. "Hey," she said. "Sorry to interrupt, but I need to ask you something." She stood on tiptoe and started to whisper something in my ear: "Eugene, when do you think we should go?"

I smiled at her. "Pretty soon, I guess. Whenever you want to."

XXXXXXXXXX

Whenever she wanted to ended up being pretty soon after that, but I didn't mind leaving that much because then (and it was selfish of me) it would just be the two of us again. I helped her up on Maximus, and she gave heartfelt goodbyes to all the thugs. She (and I too) both thanked them for what they had done. And then we set off again.

"So," she asked me curiously as we rode away. "What were you and…uh… Mr. Hook talking about?"

Mr. Hook….she's so adorable. I grinned at her, even though I wasn't going to tell her all the ins and outs of our conversation. "You."

She blushed at that. "Oh, stop. You were not."

"Yes," I told her. "We were." Truthfully, we had been talking about her, just not as much as I was making her think we were. But what was I supposed to say? We were almost talking about how much I hate the fact that you're the princess? No way I would tell her that.

"Well," she said. "What did you say about me?"

I couldn't help teasing her a little, and that would take all the seriousness out of the conversation. "How pretty you are."

She giggled and blushed again. "You did not." Clearly she didn't believe that her prettiness was what we were discussing.

And of course she was right. "All right," I admitted. "We didn't, but you are pretty." I caught a look at the sky, which was darkening fast. "And we probably need to camp out again tonight."

She smiled at me, and agreed.

XXXXXXXX

Once we reached our camping site, I tried (unsuccessfully) to light another fire, and she eventually started to laugh at me. Annoyed, I told her that she should try it. Of course, she gamely said yes and lit it on the first try. I was a little befuddled by that, but I took it in stride. After that we ate a little dinner, and once we finished, we sat in silence, staring at the fire. You might find it curious that we were so quiet because we could talk (Okay, I talk more), but we had a lot on our minds: Like she was thinking about her new family, and I was thinking about her new family too- just I was thinking that I hoped they wouldn't kill me. I know that most men feel nervous about the whole "meeting the parents" thing, but my anxiety went to a level far beyond that as I'm sure you can imagine. Eventually though, I glanced over at her, thinking that she looked lovely in the firelight, though she did seem worried about something. "What are you thinking about?"

She sighed. "I'm thinking about tomorrow."

Of course she was thinking about tomorrow. I felt almost like an idiot for not thinking of that, because I was thinking about tomorrow too, and hoping I wouldn't be dead by the end of it. I was no idiot and I knew that by returning to Caermoor, I could end up executed again- and by Rapunzel's parents (doesn't that strike you as slightly ironic?). If I was completely honest, the thought terrified me. "Me too."

She looked at me. "And?"

Clearly, she was asking me how I felt about it, which was a little silly of her. I guess she didn't know yet that often men either weren't "in touch" with their feelings, or if they were, they didn't really talk about them. Besides that, admitting I was scared didn't exactly go with my whole Flynn Rider bravado act. "And…." I sighed, mostly because I was about to give her some Flynn Rider rubbish and she wasn't going to like it. "It would make any other man very…anxious." I paused. "But of course Flynn Ri-…"

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw her roll her own eyes. "Eugene, stop it," she said.

I played dumb, even though I knew that she didn't like that I wasn't being honest with her. "Stop what?" I asked.

"You know very well what I mean," she said. "Stop with the whole Flynn Rider act."

Oh, Rapunzel. Okay, I'm going to admit to you something now, and I want you to promise you won't repeat it. Promise?

Good. So, I think you're starting to get the sense that Rapunzel doesn't put up with any of my Flynn nonsense. And I actually like that about her. I like that she wants me to be myself with her. It's very nice to feel like I don't have to act around her, even though I do anyway sometimes. Some habits are very hard to break. "What?"

"Eugene," she said. "I'm going to tell you something now, and you don't have to say anything right away. I just want you to start thinking about it. Okay?"

Now I had no idea what she was talking about. "Okay…."

"Please don't ever feel like you have to….pretend with me," she said. "If Eugene feels a certain way, don't let Flynn cover it up. I want you to be honest with me, and don't worry that it will change the way I feel about you. Because it won't. All right?"

Unbelievable. Did she know what she was saying? Okay, that was a dumb question; Rapunzel always knew what she was saying- and she always meant what she said too. But still. What I had ever done to deserve somebody as amazing and sweet as her? The amount of love she had for me was inconceivable. It didn't matter what I felt or what I did, she would still care about me the same way. For a long minute, I didn't know what to say at all, and I caught all her concerned glances at me, like she was afraid I was mad or something. How could I possibly be angry with what she said though? "All right," I said at last. Time to talk about something else."So," I continued brightly. "Are you ready to become a princess tomorrow?"

A look of surprise crossed her face, then she giggled a little. "Uh…yes. I guess so."

I smiled at her. "Good! Well, Princess, if you're going to wow everyone tomorrow, then you'd better get some beauty sleep."

"Are you saying I'm not beautiful now?" she asked sweetly.

I couldn't resist the opportunity to tease her again. "Well, actually..." I began.

She swatted my arm. "Eugene!"

"I'm kidding!" Of course I was. Rapunzel was probably the prettiest girl I had ever seen. Her hair was beautifully brown, her eyes were stunningly huge and green, she was becomingly slim….basically perfect in every way. I didn't love her because she was beautiful, but she was even more beautiful because I did love her. "You know I think you're absolutely beautiful," I said, as I softly caressed her cheek.

"Even as a brunette?" she whispered.

Of course I did. I loved her brown hair; I had cut her brown hair. Her new haircut made her look sophisticated and just generally stunning. "Especially as a brunette." I couldn't help it; I kissed her again. And naturally she kissed me back. Why would she do anything else?

XXXXXXXXX

Soon after that, we said good night, and went to our own separate spots. Once again, I made sure there was space between us. I fell asleep fast, mostly because something about dying had really tuckered me out. And I thought of my lovely Rapunzel…..

But ascream woke me out of a deep sleep. "NO!"

That was Rapunzel. I immediately rushed over to her, and she tossed restlessly in her sleep. "NO!" Sure she was having a horrible nightmare, I put my hands on her shoulders and shook her awake."Rapunzel!" She cracked her eyes open, and they were wide with terror. Then she let out a strangled cry, threw her arms around my neck, and buried her face in my chest. Heartbroken sobs wracked her body. For a second I just sat there, unsure of what to do, but then I put my arms around her comfortingly and stroked her hair. "Everything's going to be fine," I whispered in her ear. She kept crying, and it was soon clear to me that something was upsetting her beyond just a bad dream. But each sob was like another dagger in my side, and I wished I could do more to help her. All I could do was keep holding her and whispering things like "Everything's okay" and "I'm here" to her, hoping that it would help her feel better.

Eventually she stopped crying, much to my relief. "Thank you, Eugene," she said in a shaky voice.

I pulled away slightly so I could see her eyes. They were still teary and red. "Mmm," I said, because saying you're welcome to that seemed silly, as if I hadn't liked holding her and it was some kind of burden. "Rapunzel, did you have a nightmare?" A barely perceptible nod. "Do you want to tell me what happened?"

For a minute, she didn't say anything. "I was..," she said finally. "I was…back in the tower. With…her. And…I had to watch her stab you…over and over and over…"

That sounded absolutely terrible. Poor, poor Rapunzel…I should have known that watching me die would emotionally harm her. Could there be anything worse than having the person you love die in your arms? I held her close to me again. "It was awful," I heard her whisper.

I was sure that it had been. But what could I tell her that would make her feel better? I tried to think from her perspective: My dying meant…I'd left her- willingly or not. And she didn't want me to; that much was clear to me. So maybe if I told her I wouldn't ever leave her, she'd feel less sad. "Hey," I said gently. "Let me tell you something."

Another tear trickled down her cheek. "What?"

"I just want you to know that-as long as I can help it- I will not ever leave you again," I told her.

She sniffled and rubbed a hand across her eyes. "Really?"

"Yes," I said. "Never ever."

She looked at me soberly. "You….promise?"

I knew how seriously she took promises-both ones she made and ones others made. The thing that would assure her the most would be if I did promise it. In reality, it was an easy one to make, too. "Yes."

"And when you promise something, you never break that promise?" she asked.

I had a feeling she didn't know how many promises I had broken over the past ten years. I didn't even know how many promises I had broken- because I had stopped counting once I reached the hundreds. "Well…..no," I admitted. "It used to be one of my favorite pastimes to see how many I could wrangle myself out of." She almost laughed at that. "But this one," I continued. "I won't ever break." And see the nice thing about this promise was that I really, honestly, and truly meant it with all of my heart.

Her eyes were solemn again. "Well, I won't either."

It was nice to know that she basically promised to never leave me either, but the mood was getting much too serious for me. "Of course not," I joked. "Why would you want to?"

This time, she laughed and I felt better. She couldn't be still really sad if she could laugh, right? Then she smiled. "I wouldn't," she said softly. "Eugene?"

"Hmmm?" I said.

"I think I'm ready to sleep again."

Huh. I wasn't going to let her do it; she needed to stay awake, at least a bit more. "No, Rapunzel," I told her, feeling like her older brother, in addition to being her love. "I'd feel better if you stayed awake longer, just because of how bad your dream was."

She frowned a little, but she did what I asked, though it wasn't much more than twenty minutes before she started yawning so much that I gave in. She went and lay down again, and I sat up because I was concerned about her. I watched her in the dark as she curled up, and her face grew completely peaceful- as if she wasn't anxious about anything.

But I still worried about her, even after I heard her steady breathing and knew she was asleep again. I thought something bad might happen to her if I fell asleep, which was completely irrational. First of all, both the Stabs were still in jail, and Gothel was gone and they were the ones who would hurt her. Second, her magic hair was gone so no one would want to kidnap her. And no one knew she was the princess but me. I kept tossing around, and eventually it got so annoying that I sat up again, wondering what would help me calm down.

Finally, I crept close to her, put my arm around her, and held her close to me. I felt my anxiety ease. There. If anyone tried to hurt her, they'd wake me up, and I'd be able to protect her.

Assured now of her safety, I drifted off to sleep.