XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Eugene stared at his body still sprawled out over the floor. He had not moved from its side since the cloaked figure had left two days earlier. He had not slept for those two days either. Even if he wanted to, he couldn't. He was dead after all, so it was no longer a necessity.

So he had been staring at his body for two days straight, trying to figure out how the heck he could get back into it. This is ridiculous! What good is staring at it going to do? He began to pace around. It was eerie not to hear his footsteps echoing as he did so, but that was hardly important at the moment.

What could he do? He couldn't stay in the tower forever. He was wasting valuable time there. His body would begin to decay soon. He remembered what the cloaked figure had told him 'As long as you remain here on this earth, your body will take much longer to decay, but that doesn't mean it won't. You will be able to tell how much your body has decayed just by looking at yourself no matter where you are.' Was there even a way to get back in his body or was it just false hope? Was it punishment for his life of thievery, to roam to Earth as a rotting... spirit?

Whatever the answer was, he would have to leave the tower to find out. Where should he go? Back to Rapunzel? No. What good would that do? It would only make him depressed. She probably couldn't see him, so he wouldn't be able to make any contact with her either physical or verbal. He couldn't feel anything. He didn't exist.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Rapunzel wearily made her way to the breakfast room. Her eyes were red and puffy from lack of sleep and she was sure there were dark shadows beneath them. Even after talking to the queen two nights ago, her sleeping patterns had not improved in the slightest.

She finally entered the large double doors leading to the breakfast room. Her parents were already seated at the table that was covered in all assortments of breakfast foods. They both looked at her as she entered. Their faces simultaneously dropped when they saw the state she was in, but they quickly recovered and faked nonchalance.

"Good morning, dear," the queen greeted her as cheerily as possible.

Rapunzel forced a small smile as she took her place at the table. She quietly served herself as her parents resumed their eating. She took only one bite before beginning to poke at it with her fork.

"Is everything OK?" the queen asked, forcing back the concern flooding her tone.

"I'm fine," Rapunzel hastily replied, placing her fork beside her plate, "I'm just not very hungry this morning, that's all."

She put her napkin on the table. "May I be excused? I thought maybe I would go for a walk before I went to etiquette lessons today."

"Yes of course. By all means."

Rapunzel stood and walked out of the room. She could hear the queen's voice whispering from behind, "I'm getting worried about her. She hasn't had so much as a bite of anything since she came back."

"Did you see her eyes?" the king added in the same hushed voice, "I don't think it just food she's been deprived of..."

Rapunzel didn't hear the rest of the conversation as she rounded a corner, heading for the stables. She hated worrying them, but she couldn't help herself. She paused, staring at the door to the stables. She could have sworn she saw... nothing. She hurried into the stables and found Maximus enjoying his morning oats. He looked up when she entered, his mouth full.

She approached him and put her hand on his muzzle. He looked at her with questioning eyes. His face seemed to ask: Are you OK? You look terrible. Rapunzel didn't answer and took to stroking his neck.

Maximus nudged her with his nose. You're not, I can tell.

Rapunzel heaved a sigh. "I know you didn't like Eugene very much-"

Snort, shrug. Meh, he wasn't so bad.

"Well anyways, I did. He's always on my mind," Rapunzel continued, "I keep thinking that... somehow he could come back. That I could see him again."

Nudge. And...?

"But I know that's not possible. I saw him die with my own eyes. I left him in that miserable tower with all my other memories."

Maximus rested his head on her shoulder and she wrapped her arms around his thick, white neck, tangling her fingers in his mane. "I'm worrying my parents," Rapunzel went on, "You'd think that after 18 years of worrying, my return would finally bring them relief. Well it hasn't. I'm just making it worse."

She closed her eyes, savoring the warmth radiating from the horse's neck. "It probably would have been better if I had just not come back at all," she whispered.

Maximus pulled away from her and gave her a disapproving look. "What?" Rapunzel asked, "I could have found somewhere to go."

Maximus rolled his eyes and snorted. Yeah right.

Rapunzel threw her hands up in the air. "Ugh! You're right! I know!" she practically wailed, beginning to pace in frustrated circles, "I just hate being a problem and I feel like that's exactly what I am. I'm sloppy, clumsy, ill-mannered and all I do is brood and mope! What must my parents think of me? Can they blame me? I just lost someone I really cared about and he's never coming back. I can't sleep! I can't eat! I'm completely hopeless!"

Maximus interrupted her rant by pressing his nose into her cheek. She immediately quieted, breathing heavily. She threw her arms around his neck and buried her face into his fur. "I wish I could cry," she said, "I sometimes think about going back to my tower. I just want to see him again."

Her horse companion gently snuggled with her as she forced herself to calm down. "I'm sorry, Max," she finally said after a moment, "I won't ever go back there. I'm just frustrated. I'll... I'll get over it."

She took a deep breath and sat on the stall door. "It doesn't help that sometimes it seems like..." she trailed off.

Maximus scooted closer to her, ears perked. Seems like what?

"It seems like... he's here. With me. I know it sounds crazy, but I could have sworn I saw him just outside the stables, watching me, but when I did a double-take there was nothing there," Rapunzel sighed, "I think I'm going crazy. I'm starting to hallucinate. He's gone and he's never coming back."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Oh poor Rapunzel *hugs*. I know how it feels to be so frustrated that you don't know what to do, but rant. (I've got this stupid English teacher who... made serious [false] accusations against me. I'm still fuming and it helped me write this chapter. See? I'm ranting.) Anyways, I hate writing sad stuff, but this is how the story goes.

The plot will start to thicken after this. What's gonna happen? Ooh the suspense! :O