A/N: Thank you to all of you who are reviewing my story! I'm so glad you are enjoying each chapter. I hope you have fun reading this chapter, because I sure had fun writing the part with Flynn and Rapunzel.

Disclaimer: I do not own Tangled

Chapter 3- The Confrontations

"But a wise parent humors the desire for independent action, so as to become the friend and adviser when his absolute rule shall cease."

-Elizabeth Gaskell, North and South

I relished my triumph for a few more moments until something sparkling in the mirror caught my eye. Surprised, I turned around and saw something glittery poking out of the Unnamed Man's brown leather satchel. I was too curious not to take a peek, and took it out of the satchel. Whatever this is, I thought decidedly, it has to be one of the most beautiful things I have ever seen. It had lovely sparkling white things that I guessed were opals or diamonds (I knew what they looked like because I had seen them in one of my books), strung along on a large circular gold band. It appeared to be a very big necklace or maybe a bracelet. Hesitantly, I carefully put it on my wrist and then shot a look at Pascal. Does that look right? He shook his head, and then pointed to my own head.

"Ah," I said, delighted. "I should put it on my head, right?" I turned back to the mirror and cautiously placed it on my head. I looked carefully at my own reflection, slightly astonished at what I saw in the mirror. Instead of a naive and silly girl, I saw a strong and capable woman who was quite capable of fulfilling her duty as a…princess. It almost seemed like the head thing was made for her. Shaking my head, I laughed quietly to myself. That's ridiculous; you've been reading too many fantasies, Rapunzel. You're not secretly some lost princess.

My thoughts wandered back to the Unnamed Man. He obviously wasn't some prince or even somebody who seemed to have a lot of money. His disheveled appearance made that quite clear. So, how on earth, I wondered, had he found the head thing?

"Rapunzel, let down your hair!"

For the second time that day, my mother's call broke into my thoughts. Instinctively, I knew that Mother should not see the satchel or the head thing, so I quickly hid them both in the closest thing that I could find: our pot.

"One moment, Mother," I called as I dashed toward the window, and carefully draped my long blond hair over the hook. I felt nerves creep into my stomach, like butterflies. I was about to ask Mother again to take me to see the floating lights, and even though I knew now that I was capable of handling myself outside, maybe the capture of the man still wouldn't be enough. Would I be able to bear it if she said no…again?

"I've got a big surprise for you!" I heard her say. She sounds a lot happier than when she left, I thought, relieved. Maybe I'll be able to convince her this time. And I have a great surprise for her too!

"Um, I do too!" I yelled back as I started to pull her up.

"Oh, I bet my surprise is bigger!" she replied in a sing-songy voice.

Bigger than a 5 foot 8 man? "I seriously doubt it", I muttered quietly to myself. What could she possibly bring in her basket that would be bigger than the Unnamed Man? I was pleased, though, that she was bringing me a surprise. She might not be upset with me anymore, and maybe, just maybe, the surprise is something special for my birthday!

As she entered the tower, she looked happily at me. "I brought hazelnuts and I'm going to make hazelnut soup for dinner. Your favorite. Surprise!" she told me, throwing her arms out wide.

Although I did love hazelnut soup, I was slightly disappointed. She still did not seem to remember that my birthday was tomorrow. There's still time for you to ask her about the lights again, I reminded myself. Remember Unnamed Man!

"Thank you, Mother," I said, gratefully. She smiled at me, seemingly pleased by my gratitude. My stomach became turned up in knots. How should I begin to tell her about what I had done?

"So, Mother," I began. "I have something I want to tell you…."

She didn't let me finish before she broke in. "Oh, you know I hate leaving you after a fight, when I've done absolutely nothing wrong," she said.

Inwardly, I groaned to myself. She's thinking I mean to apologize. That thought was quickly followed by Oh, sure, I'm the only one who ever does anything wrong. I became irritated, and it gave me enough energy to follow through with my plan of telling her about Unnamed Man. I watched her as she walked over to our table and started unloading the hazelnuts.

"So, Mother," I started again, "I've been thinking a lot about what you said earlier and…"

She cut me off. "I hope you're not still talking about the stars."

I decided then and there that I really did not like it when she interrupted me when I was trying to tell her something. Couldn't she just hear me out? "Floating lights," I corrected, "and yes, I'm leading up to that." I started walking over to my closet, mentally preparing myself for the big unveiling.

Mother answered me in somewhat of a condescending tone. "Because I really thought we dropped the issue, sweetheart."

You dropped the issue, not me, I thought. I'm still prepared to argue this with you. Especially now that I captured the stranger. "No, Mother, I'm just saying that you think I'm not strong enough to handle myself out there," I continued.

She chuckled to herself. "Oh, I know you're not strong enough to handle yourself out there."

Yes, I am, I thought. And if you just trusted me, you'd see that I am capable of defending myself and keeping myself safe.

"But if you just…" I began again, and my hand crept over to the handle of my closet. I'm ready to prove myself to you.

"Rapunzel," she said, firmly. "We're done talking about it."

No, We're not. Not when I've done something so huge! I captured this man all by myself!

"trust me…" I pleaded.

"Rapunzel," she repeated, annoyed now.

Even though I could see that Mother was on the verge of losing her temper, I was determined to tell her about Unnamed Man.

I continued. "Oh, come on, I know…"

"Rapunzel!"

Determined to finish, I began again. "I know what I…"

Her face was almost red with rage now. Overcome with dread, I knew she was going to let me have it. But I was unprepared for how angry she was.

"Enough with the lights, Rapunzel!" she exploded. "You are not leaving this tower! Ever!" She enunciated every single word, and each word was said even more heatedly than the last.

Shocked by her vehemence, my hand crept away from the handle. I couldn't have been more stricken if she had slapped me. I stared at her, shocked at how emphatically she had forbidden me ever to leave. I knew Mother did not want me to leave the tower, but I had no idea how badly she wanted me to stay with her. I thought that maybe once I reached an age where she thought I was mature enough, I could leave the tower and take care of myself. Maybe go paint somewhere. Those hopes seemed to wither and die before they had a chance to live. I felt my heart tear in two-partly because of how upset my mother was, and partly because I wanted to go see the lights so badly. What am I going to do now, I thought desperately. I can't stay up here forever, no matter how much I love Mother!

Mother slumped into a chair by the table, seemingly exhausted by her words. "Oh, great, now I'm the bad guy," she muttered. She dropped her head into her hand, as if she had a headache.

I decided to take pity on Mother, and I also decided that I would ask for something else for my birthday. Maybe some paint because I was out of my favorite kind, the one she had made for me once from the white shells. The white shells that took her 3 days to get. And if she left today that would give me 3 days without Mother. Hmm…

"All I'm saying, Mother," I said softly, "is that I know what I want for my birthday now."

"And what is that?" she said in a weary tone.

"New paint," I asked, "the paint from the white shells you once brought me."

Mother sat upright again and began to protest. "Well, that is a very long trip, Rapunzel! All most three days time!"

"I know," I answered. "But I just thought it would be a better idea than the stars." I winced inwardly. They're not stars, and I know it!

I watched her carefully. She took a deep breath, and I could tell that she was giving in. "Are you sure that you'll be all right on your own?" she asked, and placed an arm around my shoulders.

"I know I'm safe as long as I'm here," I assured her.

XXXXXXXXXXX

I helped Mother pack, and she reminded me to be careful and that she would be back in three days. As she left, I waved at her and watched her disappear. And as I did, I remembered Unnamed Man, who was still trapped in my closet. What does he want with the tower, I wondered. It's not like we have anything valuable in he- A cold fist of fear gripped my stomach. Yes, we did. My hair. Hair that could heal anything. What if the man had somehow heard of my hair and had come to cut or steal it?

Pacal, who (of course) had hid while Mother had been home, came out from behind the pot. What's wrong, Rapunzel?

I answered him, with another tremor in my voice. "The man, Pascal. What if he wants my hair?" He looked at me, with a little bit of fear in his eyes as well, but he answered me bravely. Well, there's only one way to find out, isn't there?

XXXXXXXXXXXX

Pascal and I made a good team in this adventure. He helped me tie (with my hair!) the man up in a chair, and he even told me that he would be the one to wake him up so that I could make some kind of fearful entrance. He also told me that the key to this mission was to never let Unnamed Man know that I was scared.

When I was sure that I was ready to question him, Pascal jumped onto his shoulder, and tried to wake him up. First, he tried to poke him with his tail, but the man never stirred. I watched with a slight laugh, as Pascal stuck his tongue in the man's ear. That will work! He had done that to me on several occasions and it had never ceased to wake me instantly.

And of course it worked on Unnamed Man as well. He bolted upright in his chair with a slight screech. I watched him silently as he looked dazedly around the room, and heard him say, "is that…hair?" in a astonished voice. Pascal looked at me, pointedly. It's time.

I gulped, knowing that he was right. I took a deep, deep breath and assured myself that everything would be all right. After all, I still have my frying pan. I watched as he attempted to break free of my hair.

"Struggling," I said, trying to erase all fear from my voice, "Struggling is pointless." I walked closer to where he sat. Taking another deep breath, I continued. "I know why you're here and I'm not afraid of you." Never let them see your fear, I reminded myself. I continued to look at him from my secret hiding spot, watching for his reaction.

He still looked dazed and confused. Actually, he looked like somebody had hit him with a frying pan and he had been hit more than once. His expression was kind of comical, and I would have laughed if the situation hadn't been what it was. "What?"

Pascal gave me another pointed look. Time to reveal yourself, Rapunzel. I nodded, knowing he was right. With every ounce of me I did not want to have to do this but I forced myself to walk into the light, where he could see me.

"Who are you, and how did you find me?" I asked firmly.

He continued to look stunned. Maybe he lost a few brain cells when I hit him. "Who are you and how did you find me?" I asked again, louder this time. I raised my frying pan higher too, like I would hit him with it if he didn't answer me.

He gazed at me, and he seemed to finally regain some of his composure. "ah ha," I heard him mutter. He loudly cleared his throat and started to speak in an elegant and refined manner. "I know not who you are, nor how I came to find you, but may I just say…"

I was dumbfounded. Had I come across a poet?

His tone changed abruptly. "Hi. How ya doing? The name's Flynn Rider. How's your day going?" he finished suavely with a wink and a smirk.

That's more of what I was expecting. A refined man would not be running around the woods, and climbing into random people's towers. I continued with Pascal's and my previous plan: Question him vehemently and don't take no for an answer.

"Who else knows my location, Flynn Rider?" I inquired in a strong voice. At the same time, I threatened him with my ferocious frying pan.

He seemed to have had enough of the frying pan. "All right, look, Blondie," he began.

Blondie? No one calls me Blondie. Who was this character anyway? "Rapunzel," I corrected him.

He snickered. "Gesundheit." I felt annoyance replacing my fear. My name was nothing to laugh and joke about. I gave him a pointed glare.

He seemed completely unaffected by that as well. He has an awful lot of confidence for a man who is tied up in my hair with no immediate way of escape. "Here's the deal," he continued blithely. "I was in a situation, gallivanting through the forest. I came across your tower and….oh no!" Suddenly a look of complete horror crossed his face. His gaze quickly darted around the room. "Where is my satchel?" he asked nervously.

Ha ha. Now I have the upper hand. The satchel and head thing are obviously things he wanted to keep. "I've hidden it," I said smugly. "Somewhere you'll never find it."

His gaze darted around the room again, examining every nook and cranny. Against my will, my own gaze seemed locked on his eyes. His very nice hazel eyes. Eyes the color of my favorite hazelnut soup. I shook my head, trying to banish those thoughts. Rapunzel, what are you thinking? Finally, his eyes settled on the pot. The pot where I had hidden his satchel. "It's in that pot, isn't it?" he asked.

Annoyed, I hit him on the head with my frying pan. Time for a new hiding place….and maybe a new strategy too.