A/N: Okay, so this isn't what I originally intended for this chapter. At all. But sometimes an idea comes to you, and you just have to run with it. That's what happened here, and I hope you enjoy it.

Disclaimer: I do not own Tangled.

Chapter 5- The Frying Pan

"I've had a perfectly wonderful evening, and this wasn't it."

-Groucho Marx

After Flynn finally agreed to my deal and I had untied him, I glanced around the room, looking for anything that I might need on my journey. I decided that there wasn't, except for Pascal (of course!) and my frying pan. Throughout my dealings with Flynn, I had become quite fond of it. It was a superb weapon, and it was the only weapon that Mother and I had in the tower. Plus, my trusty frying pan seemed to protect me very well.

Hmmm, I thought. Since this frying pan had become somewhat of a friend of mine, maybe I should name it, like I named Pascal. At first, I called him "Chameleon" because, of course, that was what he was. But eventually calling a chameleon "Chameleon" grew very tedious, not to mention predictable and boring. I ultimately decided to name him after Blaise Pascal because I had been studying Pascal's triangle when I first met him.

But what could I call a frying pan? Obviously "Fried" and "Panny" were out. So was "Blackie". Everybody would expect a frying pan to be called by those names. Hmmm. Suddenly, I remembered my book about Greek mythology and their numerous gods and goddesses. I also remembered Hestia, who was the goddess of hearth, home, and cooking. Perfect. My frying pan would be named Hestia, after her, and Hesty for short.

"Are you ready?" Flynn's voice broke into my thoughts. In my reverie, I had almost forgotten he was there. I glanced over at him. He looked seriously annoyed.

I was beginning to wonder if he had any other facial expressions besides complete annoyance and utter confusion. Well, there is the" smolder", whatever that's supposed to be. I quickly answered him, though. No need to completely alienate him when we had quite a trip ahead of us. "Of course! Pascal, Hesty, and I are all ready for this grand adventure!"

He appeared to be flabbergasted again. "Now I'm guessing that 'Pascal' is the frog, and you are yourself, but who on earth is 'Hesty'?" he asked me, as he crossed his arms across his chest.

I let out a slight chuckle. "Hesty is my frying pan, of course!" I told him. Silly boy!

His face became even more confused and shocked, if that was even possible. "You named your frying pan?" he asked me, incredulous.

I laughed again, completely and utterly giddy. Not even his scorn could ruin this day. "Why not?" I replied. "Hesty's certainly served me well today." I gave him a very pointed look. You've been the victim of Hesty three times today. Why shouldn't I name something so completely useful to me?

I watched him as his face changed from disbelief to exasperation to amusement. "O…kay," he said finally. "If you, Pascal, and Hesty", (he couldn't seem to help smirking at Hesty's name), "are ready, now would be a good time to get going. That is, if you can drag yourself away from all your other precious named objects."

Now it was my turn to be annoyed. "There's no need to flame me" I retorted.

He smirked and held up his hands. "Oh, no, Blondie," he insisted as he gestured around the room. "I wouldn't want to take you away from Bookie, Ovey, and Mopy here."

I began to fume. How dare he make fun of me! "That's quite-"

He ignored me, enjoying himself fully. "Not to mention Buckie, Tabley, and Chairy. Or maybe we should call the chairs "cheery" instead because you are so "cheery" when you sit down to eat." He began to laugh so hard that I almost was afraid he wouldn't be able to breathe. Not that that would necessarily be a bad thing…

He continued, through spurts of laughter. "I mean, how you could you even think of leaving your…"

That was enough. I walked over to him, and gave him my best glare. I also shoved my frying pan in his face. "I will use this," I threatened, "if you don't stop that right now."

He continue to chuckle, but I could tell that maybe he was finally finished his joking at my expense. "Oh, okay, Blondie!" he finally said, as he attempted to conceal his mirth. "No need to get yourself all fried." He couldn't contain one final smirk, snicker and snort.

I let out a deep breath. Now that he was done his mocking, I realized that I had over-reacted slightly. But still! I'd like to see him live in a tower for his whole life without becoming so lonely that you would talk to anyone or anything, even inanimate objects. My aggravation slowly vanished, even though I had not enjoyed his sarcasm. "Rapunzel", I corrected softly. "And I'm ready to go if you are."

He seemed to be slightly surprised by my complete change in mood, but he managed to cover most of it. "Oh, of course, I am. Flynn Rider's prepared for anything," he informed me. "I was just waiting to make sure you were."

Ah-huh, Right. That's what all the joking was about. "Yes, I am. And Rapunzel is prepared for anything too. That is, as long as she can have some of her precious objects with her. Otherwise, who knows how lonely she could become? I mean, wouldn't you be if you lived in a tower all by yourself for most of your life?" I tossed back, with another pointed look. Now, do you understand?

His facial expression changed into something akin to remorse, and I could tell that my jab had met its mark. I seriously doubted that he would admit as much to me, though. That would ruin his whole "tough guy" image. "Well, all right, then," he said finally. "Let's get you to see those lanterns."

I took another deep breath. "All right" I replied. I hope that the rest of the trip won't be continual verbal sparing, I thought. Maybe I had taken on more than I could handle!

A/N: In case you weren't sure- Ovey is oven, Mopy is mop, Bookie is book, Buckie is bucket, Tabley is table, and Chairy is chair :)