The Miracle

A/N: For those of you who have read "Favorite Things," by 9r7g5h you might recognize my plot bunny. I give full credit for the idea to her and recommend her stories!

A/N#2: This story "kind of" follows my other stories, so you might recognize a few of my OCs here that are still awaiting their full development there… I am also providing this spoiler alert. That said; I hope not to spoil things too much.

A/N#3: This is my own tear transference story. I hope you enjoy it. And, oh yes, I do not own Tangled or its primary characters, though I do own mine and the idea…

Chapter Eighteen: The Savior of Corona, His Amazing Tale; Part 2

Five Years Previous…

Flynn and Lord Marcus continue their hushed conversation, constantly ensuring that no eavesdroppers were near enough to make out their words…

"So, when is the best time to tackle this project?" Flynn nonchalantly asked as he looked around the tavern, his mind moving several kilometers a second as he developed his plan; his fool-proof plan that was to leave the entire continent reeling from the sheer audacity of it all, not to mention that yet another nightmare had ended.

"The new moon will come in two days' time. I would suggest that evening. I know the summer is not the best time to conduct this operation as we have such short nights…"

"But…?" Flynn impatiently prompted.

"…but, this will also leave the emperor's forces surprised as all other previous attempts had taken place under the cover of the long nights in the dead of winter."

"No wonder…" Flynn remarked; he could easily see why the other attempts had failed and why his was sure to succeed.

The Present…

"No wonder what?" Rapunzel asked as Eugene paused to allow this fact to sink in.

"You see, Punzie. When you attack a target in the dead of winter, especially in a region such as where Olvassia used to stand, you have many factors that will invariably stack up against you."

"Really?" Rapunzel asked; her naiveté shining through.

Eugene chuckled gently as he cupped Rapunzel left cheek with his right hand. "Can you tell me what you noted about winter during your previous winters?"

"Well, Eugene, I really could not see that much; but…"

"Yes, Punzie?" Eugene asked with an absolute look of warmth and affection for his true love.

"I saw the trees as they lost their leaves, and I saw the snow as it fell into the barren forest areas around my tower prison." Rapunzel replied as she started to get lost in the hazel orbs of her true love.

"And, what else did you see?"

"I could see animals as they moved deep in the forest…" Rapunzel stopped abruptly as it suddenly came to her.

"I see you figured it out. I knew you would." Eugene happily smirked.

"…because I could see much farther into the forest during the winter months due to the lack of leaves and other foliage."

"And…?"

"I could also see the animals as they stood out against the white backdrop created by the fallen snow."

"Exactly!" Eugene happily replied as William and Catherine looked on with obvious pride at their incredibly intelligent daughter.

"So, since there is so little concealment and since the background is almost all white…" Rapunzel began.

"…that the attackers would be seen long before they reached the target as they did not easily blend in with the surroundings. They also probably carried metal weapons and other items that made noise." Eugene concluded.

"So, if weapons of metal make noise as you carry them, what did you choose to arm yourself with as I can guess you did not go about it unarmed?" Rapunzel asked.

"Well, Punzie, I actually picked what had been Amanda's weapon of choice two years earlier; with a few modifications, of course."

"What?" Rapunzel asked. The confusion was plainly etched on the crown princess' beautiful features.

"Would you care to elaborate, Amanda?"

Amanda; shocked but somehow knowing that Eugene would know of her confrontation with the Stabbington's, thought back as she began, "Well, you see Rapunzel; I actually had the honor of saving your mother's niece, your cousin…"

"…Rachel?!" Rapunzel excitedly asked as she interrupted her.

"That would be correct. It was an ordinary day for me; out and about as usual with Nan…"

Seven Years Earlier…

Amanda, by now a rough and tumble 15 year old teenager and outwardly quite the tomboy, felt quite imposing and untouchable as she dressed head to toe in unfaded and lint free black, her favorite color. Her long sleeved tunic with sleeves rolled up halfway to her elbows was tucked into a very comfortable pair of black trousers. Her black trousers, adorned with a two-inch wide belt at the waist, were similarly tucked into a well-worn but comfortable pair of men's boots. The signature all-black outfit her "uniform;" she was ever ready to help those in peril, whether young or old, rich or poor. Amanda was also quite fearless and ever curious about the world around her.

Out with the orphanage headmistress as usual, as she desired to spend as little time inside the orphanage buildings as possible as she absolutely loved the outdoors and voluntarily fulfilling the role Eugene had prior to his descent into crime, she was helping to purchase the provisions for the other children. Her imposing look, coupled with her uncanny ability to unwittingly insert thoughts into the minds of others in the form of innocent 'suggestions,' caused many a citizen of Corona to bend over backwards to help the orphanage Headmistress. She had also learned over the past eight to ten years to accept the gift she had for having an uncanny sense for things happening outside her immediate area; automatically and subconsciously tuning into it and allowing her to hear those around her.

What she could not know at that time, however, was how completely in tune with the wider universe she had really become, or that she had begun to truly listen to the sense, as she was soon to discover. She was walking about four paces behind Nan gazing skyward and admiring the few clouds that flitted overhead, ever daydreaming about her old home village and its wonders; not really paying attention to where she was going, yet all the while very aware of everything around her. As she managed to deftly sidestep other pedestrians just as it seemed a collision was imminent, gaining peculiar looks from the headmistress, she sensed that all was not as it should be. She had begun to feel that something was wrong. Very, very wrong in fact; the usual and easily separable auras, eddies and currents she felt when close to other people were, in one small area, becoming an ever jumbled and confused swirling and ever turbulent vortex of mixed emotions.

She quickly sensed the unlikely jumbling of three distinct auras into one; one a seemingly familiar emerald green, the other two an imposing dark grey. The location: one small, dead end alleyway very near to where she was walking with the orphanage headmistress. Intrigued by this, she was preparing to walk towards this great disturbance — her curiosity rising. Yet, at the same time, quite apprehensive at the strong intensity of feelings such as she had ever felt before – intent on simply investigating it when the emotions became unbearably shrill and frightened. The emotional distress accompanied by an almost un-intelligible call; a call driven by absolute fear.

"HELP!" A young desperate voice yelled out, so muffled to near incoherence by nearby buildings that most people paid it no heed, but clear enough for her to easily discern; even above the normal din of a busy marketplace.

Sensing the call for help, though, more than hearing it, and amazed, yet alarmed, at the intensity of the jumble of anger and fear coalescing within the same small area, she instantly knew she had to act, or regret it she would for the rest of her life. Without thinking, as if she knew what to do instinctively and allowing those very instincts to kick in fully and finally take full and complete control of her conscious being, a first; Amanda quickly looked around and instantly saw what she was looking for, a disused blacksmith's sledgehammer handle forlornly and haphazardly leaning against the side of a nearby building, the head long since missing. The handle quivered for a moment before instantly flying towards her as she reached out for it, unconsciously willing it into her hand, the handle covering the five foot gap in mere microseconds. Handle held securely, with no immediate second thought of how it jumped towards her or why, she took off running towards the sounds of desperation.

The orphanage headmistress and best friend to all the orphans, affectionately known as Nan – and very accustomed to these seemingly rash actions on her young charge's part, and not noticing or conveniently ignoring the way the handle suddenly leapt into Amanda's hand – simply yelled. "Amanda! STOP THIS INSTANT!"

"I have to help, Nan! It is my way and, in this instance, my destiny to do this! Regret for the rest of my life, I will, my inaction." Amanda gently, yet urgently, called back in reply as she began running, accelerating with each step, towards the source, instinctively seeing the desperate scene and the surrounding areas to help lead her; her mind formulating a bold plan to take out the two thugs that she could now discern as the source of the anger; an attack plan solidly forming in her mind's eye. The very plan that, when implemented, was to leave those who witnessed it simply amazed and completely rendered speechless and immobile.

"Well, be careful Mandy." Nan quietly replied, more to herself than to Amanda, as she was soon left alone with her thoughts. Her quiet sighing, the mark that nothing she could do or say would ever change her young charge's desire to help, preceded her short prayer that all would end well, although she knew such a prayer was, indeed, very likely unnecessary. She had grown to know and realize that Amanda was very capable and able to take care of herself. She also knew that her young charge would never cease in her efforts to help those in need.

"HELP, PLEASE!" The muffled, yet slowly clearing and more legible, voice called out a second time, even more desperate than before; Amanda accelerating even faster as the levels of fear and anger increased.

Amanda covered the seventy-five foot distance in the five seconds between calls for help; all the while dodging those people she could, quite easily leaping over those she could not, using various produce stands and other market place displays as easily as one would use stones to cross a stream. Yet, never the less amazing all with her skill; still managing to stealthily arrive on the scene, the perpetrators none the wiser to her. Quickly and still very quietly approaching ever closer, she took in the sight of the well-dressed, yet terrified young woman with a strangely familiar, yet weakly pulsating green aura, most probably a noble and possibly around 18 or so, trapped in a dead end alleyway and being accosted by two red haired men; apparently twin brothers with ominous dark grey auras. These men, about six feet from the young woman, their backs to her and as yet unaware of her presence and maybe approximately 23 or so were attempting to either rob this noblewoman or do something more evil.

"Do you really think anyone will respond to you? No one heard your feeble call. Besides, we are the infamous Stabbington Brothers, wanted in this and many more kingdoms. All who meet us fear us." The one brother was heard to tell the terrified woman, sneering evilly, not noticing the arrival of Amanda quite closely behind him, no more than seven to nine steps in fact, her very presence to his brother and him somehow camouflaged by Amanda herself. Though, had he been paying attention, he should have seen the look of absolute terror once adorning the woman's face turn first to one of astonishment, and then to relief at her apparent salvation.

Amanda, having come to a shocking conclusion concerning the sledgehammer handle as she quickly covered the short distance to where the woman who Amanda realized was of noble birth and related to the current Queen Catherine was standing, and seeing a medium sized stone off to her side, deftly gestured to it with her free left hand. The stone briefly quivered, before gracefully and forcefully sailing into a large nearby rain puddle. Its loud impact caused the dirty puddle water to splash onto the two brothers, effectively getting their attention and causing them to clumsily jerk their heads around to see the distraction's source.

"Oh? Really now! You silly men! I do believe you are quite wrong. I most definitely heard her call, responded to it, and am prepared to render assistance. If you are so infamous, why do I not know of you or your infamies'? I think you are nothing but two morons who are second rate citizens." Amanda firmly, yet sarcastically, responded as she announced her presence to the brothers, so unexpected was her appearance that, coupled with the stone's splash, she easily startled them. Rachel; snickering to herself at Amanda's sarcasm and bravado, and not having really noticed the stone, continued to relax, somehow knowing that she would be quite alright now. Feeling, though, that she might be better off further away from her attackers, she took a few steps back as she saw the twins becoming quite distracted by the newcomer. The two brothers were understandably quite startled by her final words. "By the way, don't you think you should pick on someone your own size? I'd just hate to see you get hurt! NOT!"

The twins, absolutely shocked at the closeness of this newcomer, jumped and turned quickly towards her, completely ignoring their initial target, Rachel, and took stock of the situation, feeling some apprehension at the sight of the woman; one who did not seem to realize who they were. Or, if she did know who they were, showed a level of courage far beyond what one might expect from one so young. The newcomer, a fit and trim raven haired woman, standing five feet six inches tall and about five feet from the two men, was dressed head to toe in clean, unfaded black clothes, clean and tidy hair neatly put up in a close fitting French braid, a matching coal black bandana wrapped around her head to keep any loose strands of hair out of her startling blue eyes.

More alarming to the intimidating, yet unarmed brothers than her appearance; the ease with which she easily handled a three and a half foot long and 25 pound blacksmith's mahogany sledgehammer handle with one hand; held above her head at a 45 degree angle, as if it weighed mere ounces; easily twirling it in a menacing ready circular motion. They were still in such shock at the ease with which she had snuck up on them that they didn't even have a chance to either reply to her statements or question, move towards the trapped noblewoman or flee before she struck, faster than lightning; yet, as silently as a cat.

Simultaneously as Rupert arrived on the scene, his sword drawn and held at the ready, absorbing the sights of the scene before him, ever ready to strike out at the twins – not so closely followed by both his out of breath soldiers and the Royal Couple – and without knowing what she was doing, spontaneously acting entirely on some sort of inherent secret reflex, her eyes now closed and seeing all with her mind, Amanda suddenly leapt into action. For the first time in her young life she allowed the massively powerful flow of the universe within her – the Wirkungen as she later learned – complete and total control of her entire being, both physical and psychological. Without a conscious thought or volitional act she allowed this lightning fast reflex, a reflex she now trusted explicitly, to guide her actions as she quite impossibly – executing a graceful somersault in the process – leapt over six feet up and seven feet over and upon a stack of shipping barrels standing along the side of the alley, conveniently sited in such a way as to provide a perfect platform for her next move.

The two brothers, along with the other improbable spectators, were so shocked by her lightning fast move as to be rendered quite speechless and immobile. Amanda's move towards a suitable attack position to the brother's right side, the handle now firmly held in both hands as a club at the ready, took no longer than a blink of an eye, and made it seem as if Amanda somehow had the power of invisibility as she suddenly appeared many feet from where she had been. The two oafish brothers, belatedly yet finally beginning to recognize the danger Amanda represented and attempting to react to it, had barely started to clumsily turn to face her when she jumped yet again over twelve more feet laterally from her perch on the barrels to right behind the stunned pair while in a fifteen and a half foot high double twisting somersault, smoothly yet quite viciously, rapidly and accurately bringing the sledgehammer handle nearly simultaneously down on the backs of the twin's heads as she aimed for a landing behind them.

The force of the very powerful and expertly well placed blow, striking Dirk and then Lance in short succession, the almost simultaneous double thwack of their impacts loudly echoing within the small confined alleyway and several streets away, drawing more than one startled look from those passerbys lucky enough to have been near, succeeded in striking them exactly as Amanda desired. The two stunned brothers, their eyes open yet no longer seeing, stood there a brief moment, unmoving. The two, both apparently completely immobilized by shock after the blow – the hidden audience and Rachel audibly gasping at both the loudness and the violence of the strike – slowly began, eyes rolling back in their heads until only the white showed, falling to the ground completely knocked out.

Her amazing, gravity defying and acrobatic leap now ended, Amanda lightly and gracefully landed on both feet – the left held straight out behind her and the right bent at the knee – and her left hand; her right hand still holding the handle upright and in a ready pose; eyes still closed, actively scanning the alleyway for any other signs of trouble. As she smoothly and effortlessly stood back upright – bringing her left foot slightly ahead of the right, with the now dented and substantially cracked handle still held at the ready, and her left hand held out away from her body in an instinctive martial arts fighting-style pose – she noted with great satisfaction that the two brothers were a crumpled mass, their quiet groans fading to silence as they lay quite still and prostrate on the ground.

"Didn't I tell you, you two oafs? I warned you, didn't I? I bet you that'll teach you to pick on someone your own size, you two imbe…" Amanda, her eyes now open, firmly and sarcastically began to tell the crumpled mass at her right side as she lowered her left arm to her side and gently let the handle lie upon her right shoulder before being interrupted by the grateful young noblewoman.

"Oh, wow! You…! How did you…? You saved me!" Rachel quickly and successively cried out in relief at her somehow anticipated, yet still quite improbable salvation; absolutely stunned and still quite completely flabbergasted to the point of being immobilized by what she had just witnessed. Amanda simply smiled back at Rachel, whose emerald green aura was suddenly several magnitudes brighter, not understanding why she was making such a big deal out of the entire situation. Helping people was, after all, what she did best. Rupert and the Royal Couple, also stunned beyond words, found, too, that it impossible to move or even speak for a few moments, also rooted in place were they.

The quite relieved Rachel, her shaking knees finally too weak to support her as the adrenalin rush from her miraculous rescue quickly ebbed, gently dropped to her knees as she could no longer stand, two solitary tears of joy slowly running down her cheeks.

The Present…

"Wow! That is so incredible; especially as I did not really like those two when I met them at the dam. That is also when you met Rupert?" Rapunzel asked; she had not yet learned all the details of the young couple who were their contemporaries.

"Yes, it was the most amazing day of my life; save one." Amanda sighed, smiling at the looks gracing Rupert's and their two sets of parent's eyes. "So, to get back to Eugene's weapon choice, he chose a very stout round mahogany table leg that had been specially modified for his use on this mission."

"Specially modified; how?" Rapunzel asked with a perplexing look; a look shared by Stephanie and Chelsea.

"I will let Eugene elaborate."

"Ah, leave the details to me, will you?" Eugene replied with a smirk.

"But of course." Amanda replied with a smile.

"So kind of you. Anyway, I picked a former table leg. It was milled down so it tapered from about two and a half inches at the business end to about three quarters of an inch at the specially made handle. It was also varnished with a protective yet unreflective lacquer finish. The handle fitted my hand perfectly. This piece of wood had absolutely no flaws of any kind, making it extremely strong. As Amanda mentioned, hers cracked due to flaws inherent in some pieces of wood. This former table leg had the center milled out at one end. In that end was placed a stout piece of steel alloy; the best from Avandell. It was amazing that Lord Marcus was able to provide it to me as if by magic. It materialized beside my leg as we sat and appeared to be casually conversing about the weather."

"Wow." Rapunzel, Stephanie and Chelsea sighed.

"Yes, it was quite the weapon. It was put to good use, too…" Eugene replied as he got back to his tale of danger and intrigue.

A/N #4: Sorry for the cliff hanger. It is for dramatic effect!

A/N #5: Please review…