A/N: Next to last chapter! :) I hope you like this one. I enjoyed writing it, because Eugene and Rapunzel, the couple, are so fun to write.

Thank you to all who have read my story! you are awesome

Disclaimer: I do not own Tangled

Chapter 19-The Second Campfire

"I have had dreams and I have had nightmares, but I have conquered my nightmares because of my dreams."
-Jonas Salk

Can you guess where we camped that night? Yes, indeed, we stayed in the very same spot that we did the night before last. And even though many things had changed since then, some did not. For instance, Eugene's ability (or inability) to successfully light a fire on the first try. Oh, how he grumbled and grunted and growled in frustration! And I'm sorry to say that this time I couldn't help but laugh. Until tears came out of my eyes. I couldn't help it; he just looked so funny!

He scowled at me (but even that was completely amusing). "Hey, how would you like to do this?" he complained.

I wiped tears from my eyes. "Oh, all right," I said. "I'll try to do it this time."

His scowl vanished, and a smug smirk replaced it. "Oh, go ahead," he told me, handing me the flint. "Enjoy. You'll find it's not as simple as you think it is."

I took it from him, and settled next to the firewood. "Thank you", I said politely. I took the flint, and carefully struck it next to the kindling. A small flame flickered from the wood, and it gradually grew into a crackling fire. A bubble of triumph rose within me. Ha! I glanced over at Eugene. He seemed completely bewildered that I had lit it on the first try. I felt laughter overcome me once more. "You're right," I guffawed. "It isn't as simple as I thought it would be. It's simpler!"

"Yeah, yeah," he said, in good humor. "Are you ready to eat, then, Miss Pyro?"

I smiled. "Why yes, I think I am."

And so we did, most pleasantly.

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After we finished, we sat next to each other silently, watching the fire sizzle. You might be surprised that we were quiet then, but I think we had a lot on our minds. For me, I was thinking about the next day-when I would see my first parents for the first time in years, who also happened to be the king and queen. I found that I was only a trifle anxious about it. I mean, what if the guards didn't believe or listen to me? What would I do then?

And Eugene, as I'm sure you can imagine, was only slightly nervous about returning to the capital of Corona-where he was supposed to be hanged. You know what's amazing about him? Well, of course, there are many amazing things about him. Like his smile, his quick wit, his street smarts, his overall charm, his sparkling eyes, his….Oh! Sorry. At any rate, what I was trying to say was one of the amazing thing about him was his ability to not die. Think about it. In the short time I'd known Eugene, he had managed to cheat death no less than three times. And that was only in a couple of days! Can you imagine how many times he might escape it in a year? But anyway, he still was a wanted thief who was supposed to be executed, and he was going back to the place where it could easily happen. Suffice to say, we both had a few things on our minds.

But eventually, the silence was broken. "What are you thinking about?" he asked me.

I sighed heavily. "I'm thinking about tomorrow." And meeting my…parents.

I watched as the fire made shadows flicker across his face. "Me too," he said.

I forced a slight smile, because I didn't want him to worry about me. He had done enough of that already. "And?"

"And…." I heard him sigh. "It would make any other man very…anxious." His tone suddenly changed to one I recognized when I had first met him, one that I hadn't heard in quite some time: his bravado, I'm so strong, no one can touch me voice. "But of course Flynn Ri-"

I immediately interrupted him. Flynn Rider, my foot. He was scared about tomorrow, and he was putting up his Flynn persona to cover it up. Because he didn't want to admit it. Men! "Eugene, stop it."

He glanced at me, with a puzzled look. But I knew he knew what I was talking about. "Stop what?" he asked.

It was my turn to sigh. "You know very well what I mean," I said. "Stop with the whole Flynn Rider act."

Now, he actually looked confused. "What?"

I held his eyes with my own. "Eugene," I said. "I'm going to tell you something now, and you don't have to say anything right away. I just want you to start thinking about it. Okay?"

A baffled glint still appeared in his eyes. "Okay…."

I inhaled deeply and then began. "Please don't ever feel like you have to….pretend with me. If Eugene feels a certain way, don't let Flynn cover it up. I want you to be honest with me, and don't worry that it will change the way I feel about you. Because it won't. All right?"

Throughout my speech, I felt him tense up beside me and his eyes wandered over to the fire. He was silent for a long moment. "All right," he said at last.

Oh, Eugene, don't you know that I fell in love with the Eugene part of you, not necessarily the Flynn part? Don't ever mistake the two. I wanted to say that, but all I actually said was "Good."

Another silence descended, one that wasn't as comfortable as the first. That one had been…almost companionable. This one was more heavy-like it could drown us with its weight. I kept darting glances at Eugene, but he continued to stare at the fire. He isn't…mad at me, is he? Somehow I couldn't imagine him angry with me about….anything, but the quiet began to trouble me. I was about to say something- like are we okay- but then he looked back over at me with a grin.

"So," he said brightly. "Are you ready to become a princess tomorrow?"

I let out a relieved giggle. He wasn't mad. "Uh…yes. I guess so."

He smiled broadly. "Good! Well, Princess, if you're going to wow everyone tomorrow, then you'd better get some beauty sleep."

An unladylike snort escaped me, and I felt myself warm inside because he was starting to tease me again. "Are you saying I'm not beautiful now?" I asked sweetly.

He glanced at me, with a mischievous gleam in his eyes. "Well, actually..." he began.

I swatted his shoulder playfully. "Eugene!"

He laughed. "I'm kidding!" Then he turned toward me, and took my hands gently in his own. And I had a happy feeling I knew what was going to happen next. My heart quickened, as his eyes took on that tender look that I loved. "You know I think you're absolutely beautiful," he said, as he softly caressed my cheek.

I felt utter giddiness rise up inside me. I loved it when he did that! "Even as a brunette?" I whispered.

He smiled."Especially as a brunette." His hand cupped the back of my head, and then he kissed me very affectionately.

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After that, we both decided to get some sleep. Of course, he fell asleep immediately, and I heard him snore softly. I smiled contentedly, staring up at the twinkling stars in the sky. And at that instant, I felt as happy as I had ever been. Soon, I turned over on my side, and I felt myself drift off to sleep, hoping I would dream about my love….

My eyes opened rapidly, and I discovered that the darkness I saw wasn't the darkness of the forest at all. Where was I? I glanced around, and soon I realized that one of my hands was chained to the wall. A horrified shudder racked my body. I was back in the tower!

Soon, my "mother's" face appeared in front of my own. "Don't worry, dear," she said. "I can take care of him." A dagger appeared from out of her cloak. A feeling of dread came over me. She was going to kill Eugene! I attempted to rid myself of the chain, and stop her, but I knew that I couldn't. What was I going to do? This time, I immediately thought of my hair. I can use my hair and stop him from dying! That is what I would do.

Eventually, Eugene's face appeared in the tower window. "Rapunzel," he said. "I thought I'd never see you again." His eyes widened as he saw me chained to the wall, and he started toward me.

But "Mother's" dagger found him first. I watched as he slumped to the floor, but I didn't panic. Not this time. "It's all right, Eugene," I said. "I can heal you with my hair."

Unexpectedly, she laughed. "Are you sure about that?" I, confused, reached up to touch my head. Stunned, I found that my hair had already been cut. I couldn't heal Eugene! The magic was gone.

She cackled wickedly. And then, suddenly, everything seemed to rewind-Eugene came back into the tower, and I could only watch in horror as she stabbed him again. And again. And again….

"No!" I screamed, now completely terrified. "NO!"

"Rapunzel!"

Still half in my dream, I kept muttering "no, no" over and over. And then something was shaking me, calling my name. I finally managed to crack one eye open, wondering what was happening.

Eugene's hands were on my shoulders, his worried eyes staring at me. I blinked in surprise. I wasn't in the tower anymore, but back in the woods. With a very alive and concerned looking Eugene -a whole Eugene who hadn't been stabbed repeatedly, who would eventually bleed to death. He was safe! He was still with me! With a reassured cry, I threw my arms around and buried my head in his chest. He was alive! Sobs of relief shook my body. Eugene wasn't dying!

He gently wrapped his arms around me, and his hand stroked my hair. "Everything's going to be fine," he assured me. I knew that he was right, that my so called mother couldn't harm either of us ever again, but I couldn't help my tears. They just kept coming and coming. I soon realized that I was crying because of more than just the nightmare-I cried because although she turned out to be...a witch, the women who had raised me was gone. I cried because I had left my tower, the only home I had ever known. I cried because Eugene had almost left me. And I cried because I was nervous about meeting my parents and living in an entirely new place.

Eugene held me the entire time, whispering words of comfort in my ear. Eventually, my tears stopped. "Thank you, Eugene," I said shakily.

He softly kissed my hair, and then drew me away from a minute so he could look into my eyes. "Mmm. Do you want to tell me what happened?"

My first reaction was to say no-I didn't want to worry him, but I knew he would worry more if I didn't. "I was….back in the tower. With…her. And…I had to watch her stab you…over and over and over…" Tears began to fall again, even though I tried to hold them back. "It was awful."

As soon as I had said "I was back in the tower," he had taken me into his arms again, and I could hear him now angrily mutter something-like if she wasn't already dead, he would strangle her with his bare hands.

I stopped crying when I heard that because it was such a Eugene thing to say. I felt myself smiling through my tears. "I have no doubts about that," I said softly.

He pulled away to look in my eyes again, and I could see some of the worry leave his eyes. "Oh, good," he said, quite relieved. "You sound like Rapunzel again."

I almost laughed because it was so ridiculous."Of course I sound like Rapunzel, you goof. I am Rapunzel."

He smiled sheepishly. "I know, but…" His eyes took on a concerned look once more. "The way you were screaming…crying…..I was really worried about you."

I smiled back. He was so sweet! "Well, thank you. But I think I might be all right now. And I'm ready for more beauty sleep."

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I'm sure you can imagine what I will say next. You're right, he didn't believe me at all. In fact, he insisted that I stay awake longer. And I did, because he had been so nice to me. Eventually, though, I grew tired and I finally convinced him to let me go back to sleep. I am pleased to tell you that I had no more worries that night. I can't say the same for Eugene though, because he worried about me the entire night. But I can tell you that he went back to sleep. How do I know? I woke up once more that night, with his arm around me, his breath soft in my ear. And he was snoring. So, I think it's pretty safe to say that he did.

As for me? Well, I drifted back to sleep too, with a happy smile on my face. Ready for our next adventure.