Wow, I'm impressed with the feedback I'm getting with this story. So impressed, that I decided to write another chapter before I went to bed. 10 reviews already! 8D
To clear up some confusion (without giving away some of the story) Eugene CAN physically touch objects, but he cannot feel them. If something tries to injure him, that's when it goes right through him. Just FYI.
Oh yes, and I do not own Tangled or any of the characters.
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Rapunzel woke with a scream. She was sitting straight up in bed. It took her a minute to remember where she was. In the palace, in her new bedroom, in her massive bed. She was safe, she was home. Her true home.
She tore the sheets and blankets from off of her and placed her feet on the cold, stone floor. She was in a cold sweat. She needed to get up and walk around, clear her head. These nightmares had been tormenting her since she arrived almost a week ago.
She picked up her robe from a nearby chair and wrapped it around herself. She walked towards the balcony at the other end of her room. There was frost on the window. It was probably freezing outside, but she needed some fresh air to help calm herself.
Sure enough, she was met with a very crisp draft as she pulled open the doors to the balcony, but she still stepped out. She leaned on the railing and rested her chin on her fist, taking slow intakes of air.
She felt herself very slowly calm down with each inhale. These nightmares were getting far too terrible for her to handle. Nightmares about her still being held captive by Gothel while Eugene bled to death on the ground. Each one would be worse than the last. She would be forced to rewatch Eugene being stabbed, forced to relive the feeling of him going limp in her arms, forced to leave his lifeless body alone all over again. It was awful.
She closed her eyes and allowed herself to feel the cool breeze on her face. She began to remember the moment when she left the tower after Eugene had... after Eugene had... well, after he had left.
After she had woken up the day after the event in the tower, she had to tear herself from his body and had to make herself think rationally. She had left him with a kiss on his cheek. She allowed it to linger for a long while, his cheek was ice cold beneath her lips, but she didn't care. It was the last time she would ever see him and she wanted to make the most of it.
Once she finished the kiss, she went down the secret staircase by the fireplace and left. Left behind the life she had always known. How she had managed to do it, she was not sure. All she knew was that she could not allow herself to think about whom she had left up in the tower, nor whom had fallen from the window of it.
Maximus had been dozing at the base of the tower. Rapunzel cringed at the memory of his face when she told him Eugene was not coming. Despite their rocky past, the horse seemed to have grown to like Eugene at least a little because his expression had been so full of sadness and compassion.
He had kindly taken her back to the palace after she informed him that she was the lost princess. He even vouched for her when she informed the guards of who she was. He really was a good horse. She was then led to the king and queen. She had tried to keep her thoughts away from what she had left behind and focus on what to say that would convince them of her identity.
It seemed, though, that she didn't have to say anything at all, because the queen took one look at her before pulling her into an embrace. It was a wonderful feeling, Rapunzel had to admit, the feeling of a true mother's love, but she could not be fully happy. Not with Eugene gone.
Rapunzel filled her parents in on all she had been through and shocked herself again when she did not cry about Eugene's death. She still had not shed one single tear since it happened and she felt she never would again.
Her memories were suddenly interrupted by a concerned squeak from the railing. She averted her eyes and saw Pascal perched on the rail by her elbow. He was colored blue and was looking at her with big, sorrowful eyes.
"It's alright, Pascal," she told him, "Just a nightmare."
About him? he asked her through his squeaks. Rapunzel knew by 'him' he meant Eugene. She nodded.
Do your parents know about how you feel?
"Well, sort of. They know that he rescued me from the tower and that he gave up his life to save me."
But do they know how you feel about him?
"I..." Rapunzel wasn't sure. She had never actually said anything about it, but she was sure it was implied. "I don't know."
Why don't you tell them?
"Because it hurts to talk about him."
But maybe it'll help.
"How would it help?"
Pascal shrugged. I don't know, but I would talk to them if I were you. With that, he leapt off the railing and scurried back into her room.
Rapunzel sighed and looked back out over the castle's grounds. She supposed she could talk to her parents. It would show them that she truly did care for them and trust them. Besides, maybe Pascal was right. It could possibly help her feel a little better.
She walked back into her room and shut the doors behind her. The night chill immediately ceased as she did so. When should she talk to them? Tomorrow? No. She would have to talk to them as soon as possible, otherwise she would lose her nerve and probably never do it. Yep, as ridiculous as it seemed, she was going to go find them and tell them.
She looked outside the window. It couldn't have been past midnight so her parents could still be up. In fact, at least one of them probably was. She decided to check the library first.
The library was down a couple levels from her room, but she reached it in good time. To her relief, she found the queen sitting on a chair by the fire, her nose pressed into a book. She was so engrossed in her book that she didn't notice Rapunzel come in.
"Mo-Mother," the word still seemed rather foreign to her as she said. The queen looked up from her book, surprised.
Her face softened when she saw her daughter. "Hello, dear," she greeted her, putting the book aside, but not before she marked her place, "You're up late."
Rapunzel just nodded. The queen watched her, concerned. "Is everything alright?"
"I was wondering if I could talk to you," Rapunzel mumbled.
"Of course," the queen smiled warmly, "What is it?"
Rapunzel was not used to such warmth and compassion. Gothel had always scoffed at whatever problems Rapunzel had and tried to laugh them off with some snide joke that often didn't help at all.
"You remember the man I told you about," Rapunzel began, "The one that found me and then died?"
"Yes, the thief, Flynn Rider," the queen nodded, "What about him?"
"Well I... I don't know how to say this, but..." Rapunzel stumbled over her words. This might have been harder than she thought. The queen waited patiently for her to speak her mind.
"You see, he... I came to think of him more than just my guide..." Rapunzel said as calm and collected as she could, "...and more than just a friend too, and well, you see, I think he might have-actually I KNOW he did because he told me and then he died, so now I don't know what to think-"
She was rambling now. She cut herself off before she ranted on. The queen nodded, understanding shining in her eyes. She motioned for Rapunzel to sit next to her on the sofa. Rapunzel obeyed and plopped down on the cushion beside her mother. The queen hesitantly put an arm around Rapunzel's shoulders, as if she wasn't sure how Rapunzel would react to such a movement. Rapunzel didn't mind though, she liked the feeling that washed over her when the queen's hand came into contact with her shoulders.
"You think you might have loved him?" It was said more as a statement rather than a question.
Rapunzel exhaled, exasperated with herself for not feeling more emotion towards the subject. "I-I think so. He must have loved me because he told me I was his new dream right before he died. What else could that mean? I was sure that I loved him back so I told him he was my new dream too. Then he died. Now I'm beginning to wonder if I really did love him because I haven't even cried over him yet-" She was rambling again.
She buried her face in her hands. Why? Why was this happening to her? "I'm so confused," she confessed through her fingers.
The queen didn't say anything for a moment. Rapunzel was afraid she had overwhelmed her with her rants, but then she finally spoke. "I think you did love him," she said, almost in a whisper, "And I think he loved you too."
Rapunzel peeked through her fingers. "You think?" she asked hopefully.
The queen nodded. "Nothing says love more than giving up your life for whoever you gave your heart to. He did die for you didn't he?"
"Yes," Rapunzel replied. She still was not crying and it was frustrating her. Crying always made her feel better.
The queen fell silent again, pondering the situation. "Would it make you feel any better if we pardoned him of his crimes?" she asked, "I mean, I know it probably doesn't matter since he's well... but it might be good if he had a clear record, don't you think?"
Rapunzel shrugged. "Yeah, I would like that... he probably would have liked that too."
The queen gave Rapunzel's shoulders an affectionate squeeze. "I'll talk to your father about it. Now, you go to bed and I'll see you in the morning."
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I hope this wasn't as tedious to read as it was to write, but I felt this necessary for a number of reasons.
Reviews are my best friend. They mean a faster update *wink wink*