Author Note: Wow—only one more chapter after this one! Hard to believe, huh? Well, once again, thanks for the reviews, you guys are awesome! :D Hope you enjoy it as much as I enjoyed writing it!
Soli Deo Gloria
Disclaimer: Disney owns Tangled, its story, and its characters
"What happened? Did he use the secret staircase?" Thomas asked.
Eugene shook his head, "Flynn didn't know about the staircase. He just looked upward and saw the closed shutters of the tower window. Breathing hard from the ride, he called up, 'Rapunzel?' There was no answer, and, cupping his hands over his mouth, Flynn cried again in desperation, 'Rapunzel let down your hair!' After another second, the thief began to climb up the side of the tower, finding handholds and footholds in the rough stone. He had to reach her—he had to make sure that she was okay. Then, with a faint creaking noise, the shutters opened above him. Flynn watched, his heart filling with relief, as long, blonde hair tumbled out of the window. He seized the golden mane, using his strong arms to pull himself upward as wind buffeted him from all sides.
"Flynn reached the windowsill and clambered up and into the tower room, panting, 'Rapunzel—I thought I'd never see you again.' He looked up, and his smile of joy disappeared when he saw that Rapunzel, her hair trailing to the window, was chained against the opposite wall. Her eyes widened when she saw him, and she tried to yell a warning through the gag binding her mouth. But her warning came too late. Suddenly, Flynn felt a horribly excruciating pain in his side. Something cold, hard, and dreadfully sharp had just slid into his lower chest and punctured several important things. Then, quite as painfully, the dagger was withdrawn maliciously from his body, and Gothel watched impassively as Flynn fell to the floor."
"No!" Ginger shouted, her eyes wide in shock.
"Dad…" Annabelle whispered sadly.
Thomas shook his head numbly, staring at his father, "It can't—not Flynn!"
Eugene gently took the hands of both his daughters and sighed, continuing the story: "Rapunzel screamed as Flynn collapsed onto the flagstones, clutching at his bleeding side. She strained against the chains about her wrists, her green eyes fixed on the man who had come to save her. Gothel gestured at Flynn, chiding over his groans, 'Now look what you've done, Rapunzel. But don't worry, dear,' she said calmly, walking past Flynn and towards her captured flower, 'our secret will die with him.' Rapunzel continued to fight against her shackles, scrambling to reach the moaning thief.
"Gothel sheathed her dagger and seized Rapunzel's chains, muttering, 'And as for us-,' she let out a cruel laugh, '-we are going where no one will ever find you again!' Pascal, who had been watching from the shadows, ran out and clamped his tiny mouth over the hem of Gothel's dress to prevent her from keeping Rapunzel back. The witch sneered down at the chameleon and angrily kicked the little reptile away."
"Pascal?" Ginger whimpered, checking to ensure that the snoozing chameleon in her lap was all right.
"He's fine, darling." Eugene said, even as his youngest daughter snuggled closer to him.
"What about Flynn?" Thomas asked, still worried for his hero.
His father narrated carefully, "From where he lay on the floor, Flynn stared blearily up through pain-misted eyes. He could vaguely hear Rapunzel still yelling around her gag, and every shriek made his heart hurt with agony that had nothing to do with the warm blood staining his vest and shirt. Then, inexplicably, his hearing and vision sharpened, and he saw that Gothel was having trouble tugging Rapunzel towards the hidden trapdoor. 'Rapunzel, really!' The witch shouted, jerking the girl backward. 'Enough already! Stop—fighting—me!' With a tremendous heave, Rapunzel fell back down onto the floor, her arms twisting behind her because of the chains. She turned around to glare at Gothel, her gag now lying loosely around her neck. She gasped out in anger, 'No! I won't stop! For every minute—of the rest of my life—I will fight! I will never,' she shuddered, 'stop trying to get away from you!'
"Gothel looked fiercely down at her struggling flower, reading the pain, the desperation, the truth in those green eyes. She wouldn't stop—the girl would never stop being a burden to her. And then Rapunzel continued to speak, her voice serious, 'But, if you let me save him, I will go with you.' Gothel relaxed her grip on the chains, frowning. Did the girl care more about that thief than for her own freedom?
"Flynn weakly tried to get up, protesting, 'No—no Rapunzel…' She shouldn't sacrifice anything for him—he couldn't let her. But Rapunzel ignored his plea and gazed up at the woman who had held her captive for eighteen years. She told Gothel, 'I'll never run—I'll never try to escape. Just let me heal him, and you and I will be together—forever—just like you want! Everything will be the way it was.' Rapunzel gritted her teeth, 'I promise—just like you want. Just-let-me-heal-him!' Gothel glared at her flower, considering the proposition. It would be far easier to find a new life if the girl would stop fighting her. And she knew, no matter what happened, that Rapunzel always kept her promises. Especially if they dealt with something she cared about—and evidently she cared about that thief a lot."
"Does Rapunzel heal him?" Ginger asked, lifting up her sad little face from where she had buried it into her father's side.
Eugene took a deep breath, "Well, Gothel unshackled Rapunzel and went over to the thief. Flynn had managed to prop himself up against the banister of the stairway leading to Rapunzel's room. Shrinking away from the woman, he felt Gothel roughly securing his right hand with one of the heavy iron cuffs. Then Gothel jerked him towards her, hissing, 'In case you get any ideas about following us.' She tossed his arm back onto his injured chest, sweeping away as Rapunzel knelt next to the coughing thief.
"The girl tenderly stroked Flynn's tormented face, stammering his name, 'Eu—Eugene!' She had never seen him so weak before—she knew all his strength was leaving him—and she had to act fast if she was going to save him. Gingerly, Rapunzel reached down and removed his hand from where it had been covering his wound. She winced, seeing how deep and angry red the gash was. He had already lost a lot of blood.
"'Oh,' Rapunzel apologized, brushing back her hair, 'I'm so sorry. Everything's going to be okay, though.' She gathered up a lock of her hair and tried to put it on Flynn's wound, but he pushed her arm away, groaning, 'No, Rapunzel.' She tried again, telling him even as he shoved her arm away, 'I promise—you have to trust me…' He shook his head, moaning, 'No.' Rapunzel pleaded with him, 'Come on—you just have to breathe.' And then she saw his face—his brown eyes gazing up into hers. Flynn coughed painfully, 'I can't let you do this.' She stared at him, at the familiar lines of his face now twisted in pain, and she whispered, 'And I can't let you die.' She set a hand on his cheek, and the thief continued to object, muttering, 'But if you do this—then you'll die.'"
Eugene looked at his children, and said softly, "He didn't want her to lose her freedom—especially since she had only truly had it for two days. He wanted to make sure that she got the chance to live, and he knew that as soon as Rapunzel had healed him—she would lose everything. But then Rapunzel was talking again, and Flynn let his hand slip down to his side. He could feel something cold and flat—one of the jagged pieces of the mirror. An idea formed in his mind and, as Rapunzel opened her mouth to sing, Flynn said her name. She stopped as he lifted a hand to pull back her bangs from her forehead—just like he had done on the boat amid all the lanterns. And then Flynn moved forward, suddenly grabbing the blonde tresses just behind her neck. Using his last ounce of strength, Flynn pulled the mirror shard upward, cutting every single strand of her hair."
Thomas stared at his father, mumbling, "He—he cut her hair? But…"
"That means she can't heal him!" Ginger cried, pressing down on Eugene's arm. "No! Why? Why'd he do it?"
Eugene looked down at his youngest daughter's face, and then glanced at Annabelle, noticing that she had tears in her eyes. He swallowed hard. This was not going to be easy.
Eugene sighed, responding quietly, "He did it, Ginger-snap, because he loved her. And any sacrifice, any cost, any pain was worth paying. He wanted to make sure that Gothel—that no one—would ever have control over Rapunzel again. So Flynn cut her hair, and by doing that, he cut the last chain keeping her away from freedom."
"What happened next, Dad? Did Flynn—what happened next?" Thomas asked anxiously.
His father said, "Immediately, after Flynn cut Rapunzel's hair, it transformed to brown. Rapunzel reached up to grasp her now extremely short locks, exclaiming, 'Eugene! Wha-?' She picked up the long hair that had fallen onto her lap, watching as the dark brown raced up its length. Gothel's eyes popped in shock and fury. 'NO!' The witch tried to gather up the rapidly changing hair in her arms, demanding it to return to gold. 'No! No, no, no!' Gothel gazed at the hair in her hand, feeling its power disappear. Her muscles instantly turned weak—her skin pale and wrinkly—and her hair switched from dark to almost transparent white. Her face changed also, its lush youthfulness vanishing so that it appeared as an old, sickly mask.
"'What have you done?' Gothel screeched. 'What have you done?' She tossed aside the useless, normal hair and ran over to the broken mirror. Staring into the cracked glass, Gothel backed up in horror at her own reflection. She continued to step backwards, getting closer and closer to the open window as her age caught up with her. Then, before anyone could do anything, Gothel tripped and fell out of the window, screaming in misery. Down, down, down she fell. And then, with a faint whoosh—Gothel's cloak hit the ground, and dust spread out from beneath it. And she was gone."
All his children stared up at him, eyes wide, waiting for him to continue.
"Breathing hard, Rapunzel looked away from the window to find that Flynn had slumped to the floor. She quickly pulled him into her lap, cradling his head in her hands. The girl shook her head, muttering, 'No no no no no. Eugene?' Flynn coughed feebly, barely able to open his eyes now. Rapunzel caressed his cheek, pleading with him, 'No… look at me. Look at me—I'm right here. Don't go—stay with me Eugene!' She grabbed his hand, bringing it to her hair as she tried to sing the healing song. She managed to sing the first few verses when Flynn interrupted her, 'Rapunzel—hey. Rapunzel.' Her face crumpled in sadness, and she held his hand against her cheek, whispering, 'What?'"
Annabelle pressed her face into her father's shoulder, crying silently.
"Then Flynn said, softly, 'You were my new dream.' Rapunzel felt tears burning at the corners of her eyes, remembering what he had said out on the water. She replied tearfully, 'And you were mine.' And then his pale face grew paler still, and with a sigh of release, Flynn died."
Ginger huddled against her father, gazing blankly at the floor in front of her. Her sister continued to sob quietly on the other side of Eugene, and he found himself looking at the stunned face of his son. Thomas raised his eyes to meet his father's, muttering in a hollow voice, "You don't mean dead dead? I mean, Flynn didn't really…" He seemed unable to finish his question. He just stared up at his father, waiting for him to deny the impossible. His hero could not die.
Eugene then spoke calmly, "Rapunzel gazed down at the man she had come to value more than life itself. He had sacrificed everything for her. And now he was gone, and Rapunzel was alone. Without knowing why she did it, Rapunzel began to sing the healing song again. She stroked the cold face of her thief, murmuring quietly, each word filled with sorrow, 'Heal what has been hurt. Change the Fate's design. Save what has been lost… bring back what once was mine.' She bent her head over Flynn's, whispering, 'What once was mine…' And then Rapunzel was crying, her tears falling onto Flynn's still face. The sky outside grew darker, and the tower, darker still. And the long, shorn hair lay dead and useless upon the floor." He sighed, finishing, "And Rapunzel cried."
There was absolute silence in the room. Well, absolute in the sense of the noise that was being made was a quiet noise. It only consisted of Annabelle crying, and Ginger whimpering, and Thomas just unable to speak—which spoke volumes in itself. Eugene listened to this silence, wondering if it really had been that quiet and lonely in the tower. For a moment, he felt a dull pain in his heart, and he wished his wife were there with him.
Thomas looked up slowly at his father, "Is that the end of the story?"
Eugene smiled, "If that was the end of the story, I never would have told it to you. No. The end of this story is much, much happier."
All three of his children turned to gaze at him. Annabelle noisily wiped her nose while Ginger gave a slight hiccup. Thomas just watched his father, hardly daring to breathe.
"Everyone composed themselves?" He asked, grinning slightly. "Okay. After she finished the song, one of Rapunzel's tears slipped from a green eye and fell onto Flynn Rider's face. For a second, all was still. And then the tear sank into his cheek, and his skin began to glow with a golden light. Rapunzel sat up, her eyes still wet, and watched in amazement as a shimmering radiance began to blossom from Flynn's wound. It was a bright, shining light that twisted and turned, its tendrils shooting up into the gloomy rafters of the tower. It spread outward like some wild, beautiful plant, filling the room with sunlight. It was magical. Then as quickly as it had come, it left.
"Amazed at what had just happened, Rapunzel reached out to check Flynn's wound. The deep cut had vanished, leaving unbroken skin behind as though it had never been. She quickly turned to his face, gazing at it intently. If it had worked—if it really had worked…"
"Well did it work?" Thomas demanded, gaping at his father.
Eugene grinned at his son's impatience. He cleared his throat, "Well, Flynn's eyes slowly opened-."
"YES!" Thomas crowed, jumping up and punching the air.
Annabelle frowned at her brother, "Stop talking! Let Dad finish!"
Her brother looked around in confusion, "It's over, right? I mean—Flynn's alive."
Eugene nodded, "Yes, Flynn is alive, but it's not over yet. And then Flynn said Rapunzel's name. The girl nodded, responding, 'Eugene?' The thief smiled slightly, and asked with that same rougish air, 'Did I ever tell you I've got a thing for brunettes?' Rapunzel laughed and jumped on him, hugging him around his neck. Flynn held her tightly to himself, hardly believing he deserved to see her again. And then, well, Rapunzel seized his vest and kissed him, rather enthusiastically."
Ginger cheered, hugging her father's arm. Thomas stopped punching the air and let out a disappointed groan. Annabelle just beamed at her father, her eyes bright with happiness.
"And, not to get into details, Flynn returned the gesture." Eugene smirked in a rather self-satisfied way.
"Now," he said, looking around at his children, "before I finish up and tell you about Rapunzel meeting her parents, there is something you should probably know."