A/N: Hello! Sorry 'bout the wait, I went to go visit my grandma for a few days and was thinking I'd have internet to post this when I finished it at her assisted living place. But I didn't :P But anyway, here it is!
You know, old people crack me up. They're so hilarious sometimes! Like, when they make up stories that didn't happen, but they think it's totally the truth. So, maybe someday, when I get old, I'll think Tangled is mine. That'd be awesome, because I'd own Tangled (in my mind, at least.) ! But, alas, at the moment I do not. But that doesn't mean I won't someday (in my mind)!
Rapunzel awoke the next morning, blinking at the light streaming in through the windows, trying to figure out where she was.
She sat up, looking at the beautiful room she was in. She ran her fingers through her hair and started a bit when she felt the ends of it.
Oh, yeah. The whole Eugene cutting her hair to save her thing. And the whole Lost Princess thing.
And speaking of the Lost Princess thing, her return was supposed to be announced this morning. She was nervous, excited, scared, and completely happy, all at the same time.
There was a knock at the door and the voice of the Queen soon followed it.
"Girls? Are you two about ready for breakfast?" she asked.
Rose, who had decided to sleep in Rapunzel's room, sleepily lifted her head from her pillow. Her eyes widened when she realized what her mother said.
"Uh, just a second, Mama!" she called, throwing back the covers and leaping out of bed.
Rapunzel swung her legs over the side of the bed placed her bare feet on the ground, knowing they had to get ready quickly. The announcement was supposed to be shortly after breakfast, and they were supposed to be at breakfast now.
Rose ran out into the hallway after she heard her mother leave and darted into her room, which was next to Rapunzel's. Once inside, she yanked open the door that connected the two rooms.
"We've gotta do this fast." She said, pulling her nightgown over her head and running to her wardrobe.
"I know! I can't believe we slept this late." Rapunzel said, splashing her face with water from the basin at her nightstand.
"The maids almost always come in and wake me up way before breakfast, even when I tell them I don't want them to. But of course not this morning. I don't like the maids. They hate me." Rose grumbled, rummaging around for something.
Rapunzel pulled on a dress that had been laid out the night before for her to wear today. She sighed as she ran a brush through her now-brown, short hair and looked in the mirror, missing her long blonde locks, though she was very thankful to Eugene for what he did for her and to be free from captivity.
Not even bothering to put on shoes, the girls hurried out the door and down to the dining room, where they were greeted by their parents and Eugene.
Fortunately for the girls, after breakfast a few of the King's advisers and a few guards had called together an "urgent meeting" with the King, supposedly regarding the Lost Princess's return, postponing the announcement to the kingdom for a bit.
But as the King listened to the men talk, he realized that this had much more to do with Flynn Rider.
"All due respect, Your Majesty, but how do you know it's her? What if it's another one of Rider's ploys?"
King Jonathan shook his head.
"She looks almost exactly like your Queen. And her story fits. We just…know. It's her. Do you doubt my ability to recognize my own daughter?"
"No, no, no, Your Majesty. I'm sure it's her. But what about Rider?"
"He returned her. We always said that whoever returned the Lost Princess would be rewarded." The King responded.
"Exactly what kind of reward, sire?"
"We're not certain yet. I've given him until the end of the week to make a final decision." Jonathan informed the men.
"He gets to choose, Your Majesty?" one adviser asked.
"He brought her back and should be treated the same as any other." King Jonathan said simply.
"But he's a wanted thief!
"The Princess trusts him. And from what I've observed, they seem quite fond of one another." The King replied.
The men in the room looked horrified.
"Your Majesty!" one exclaimed. "You cannot let them continue this! What if she eventually wants to marry Rider? She cannot marry a disgusting, lying thief! Do you realize what that would mean? The man would eventually be a king and rule Corona! All the more reason to hang him now!"
"No. We will wait until we tell the kingdom and the celebration is over until we make a final decision of what to do with him. And as far as I'm concerned, as long as I approve, Princess Rapunzel may marry whomever she wishes when the time comes." King Jonathan affirmed.
The men were obviously outraged that nothing negative was happening to Eugene, though he was the one who returned their Lost Princess.
"This is absurd!" one man screamed.
"We cannot let a band of thieves rule Corona, even for a moment!"
"Rider cannot go unpunished!"
"Flynn Rider is a thief. A liar. He's untrustworthy."
The King slammed his fist on the table beside him to silence the men.
"Eugene Fitzherbert returned my daughter, the Lost Princess, and will be treated as any other." He declared.
The men stared at him for a moment, dumbfounded.
"Very well," one guard huffed, "for the time being, Flynn Rider will go unpunished."
As the King sat, staring at the wall as the men left, he couldn't help but think that maybe they were right. Maybe the man wasn't trustworthy, and maybe he should be punished.
But how could he take him away from Rapunzel? He couldn't start off his relationship with his daughter by stripping away the man who saved her. How could he do that to her?
But if Fitzherbert got his reward and left, Rapunzel would almost certainly heartbroken, as she seemed very attached to him.
Jonathan sighed as he stood up, pushing these thoughts to the back of his mind, telling himself that he didn't need to worry about this just yet. At least not at the moment. For now, he had an announcement to give.
Once the King returned to the rest of the family and Eugene, they informed the guards they were ready to make the announcement and headed towards to balcony.
As they walked, Eugene came up behind Rapunzel and whispered in her ear.
"Don't worry, Blondie. You'll do great. Everyone is going to love you." He assured her, softly rubbing her shoulders for a moment.
"You think?" Rapunzel asked hopefully.
Eugene grinned at her.
"I know. You're way over-thinking this."
Rapunzel giggled.
"At least this time you're not telling me to break someone's heart and crush their soul." Rapunzel said.
"Yes, but aren't you glad I did tell you that at one time?" Eugene smirked.
"Yes." Rapunzel smiled, swinging their entwined hands.
As the balcony doors opened, and Rapunzel saw the crowds that had gathered in the kingdom, her mind captured the moment, as if silently whispering, "Remember this moment."
Rapunzel stood at the balcony she'd stood at the night before when she was waiting to meet her parents – the same balcony that her parents released lanterns on every year with Eugene, Rose, and her parents standing beside her.
The excited buzz of the crowd below echoed through her ears as the people anxiously awaited the announcement talked of what they thought it was concerning. Rumor already had found its way to the kingdom, saying that the Lost Princess had returned.
But despite the people's excitement and her outward smile, she was nervous about her father's announcement.
She was scared that the people wouldn't like her. That they wouldn't believe that she was the Lost Princess. And they'd all gathered together to hear the announcement – what if they were disappointed?
Eugene came to her side, sensing her worry and took her trembling hand in his, kissing it softly.
"Don't worry. I love you, your family loves you, and that's all that matters. But I'm sure that everyone else will too." He whispered.
She smiled her thanks and tried not to worry, but it still scared her to think about what this all meant, like that someday she'd be the Queen of Corona.
But for now, this was a day she knew she'd never forget.
Her father walked to the balcony's edge and cleared his throat.
"Good morning, faithful citizens of Corona. Today I have a very important announcement to make. As most of you know, two days ago was the Lost Princess's eighteenth birthday, and we again sent out lanterns to call her home, as tradition, and I am pleased to tell you that she was returned to us last night by Eugene Fitzherbert, formerly known as Flynn Rider."
She let out the breath she didn't know she was holding as the air filled with sounds of rejoicing and happiness as the crowd cheered, though they were confused by the Flynn Rider/Eugene Fitzherbert business.
"And if you are willing to listen, she would like to tell her story." Her father told the crowds.
Eugene squeezed Rapunzel's hand to encourage her and she stepped closer to the crowds, resting her fingertips on the balcony railing. She drew in a deep breath and began.
"Well, for eighteen years, I lived in a tower in the forest, and I had seventy feet of long, blonde hair that glowed and healed when I sang this song. But the day before my birthday, Eugene climbed up to my tower. My whole life, I'd seen those lanterns you all sent out for me, and I'd been dreaming to see them in person. So, I made a deal with him, and made him take me to see the lights…"
She enchanted the crowds as she began the tale of how she left her tower. The people listened anxiously as she told about their adventures of singing with the Snuggly Duckling thugs, escaping the palace guards, getting trapped in the cave, and finally getting to the kingdom. Their eyes were filled with wonder and knowing delight when she told about getting to see her dream at last. They reflected her look of sadness when she recounted how she was tricked into thinking that Eugene had betrayed her and when he came back to rescue her, only to be stabbed by her fake mother, and they cheered and clapped when she finished.
Her father stepped forward and stood next to her with her crown in hand. He turned towards her and ceremoniously placed the crown on her head. He stepped back and declared, "I give you Princess Rapunzel Aubrianna of Corona!"
The crowds went wild, cheering and clapping and celebrating the return of their once lost Princess.
"Long live Princess Rapunzel! Long live!" they cried.
Rapunzel beamed, a feeling of relief and acceptance washing over her as she looked out over her kingdom.
"Long live!" Rapunzel screamed with delight unexpectedly. She giggled and covered her mouth with her hands.
And that began the weeklong celebration of the Lost Princess's return.
Rapunzel spent the week exploring the kingdom and enjoying the festivities with Eugene and her new family between talking with the townspeople and playing with their children, who loved the Princesses and Eugene.
By the end of the week, the children had dubbed Eugene "Uncle Eugene" and constantly followed him around (But he learned that they quickly skedaddled when he and Rapunzel were being "yucky", as the children called it). But not that he minded it, of course. It reminded him of his childhood days, especially given the fact that many of them were from the orphanage, as he was.
"Eugene! You have to promise you'll come see us sometime and tell us more stories." One little girl of about five or six from the orphanage informed him one day near the end of the week.
"Okay, Violet." Eugene agreed.
"Pinky promise?" Violet asked, holding out her pinky and looking up at him seriously with her big brown eyes.
"Promise." Eugene said, accepting her pinky.
One day, Rose and Rapunzel discovered a folklore saying that if you slept on seven wildflowers on Midsummer's Eve (which happened to be that week), you would dream of the one you would marry. So they decided to try it and went to a beautiful field filled with wildflowers to gather their wildflowers on the evening of Midsummer's Eve. Eugene wanted to try very badly, though the girls insisted that the folklore was only for girls, but he finally backed off when Rapunzel threatened to get her frying pan and "make him stay there".
The night's dreams revealed that Rapunzel would marry either Pascal, Eugene, or a man that she couldn't see the face of, as she dreamed that she kissed Pascal, and man appeared for a moment, and then Eugene and Pascal fought over "national secrets".
Rose, who dreamed that she was a fairy and trying to turn Wilson into a piece of grass, jokingly said she would probably either marry a piece of grass, or Wilson would get turned into one.
Later that week, Rapunzel really did find her frying pan and use it on Eugene (though of course, on accident this time).
"I am confiscating that frying pan!" Eugene yelled, chasing Rapunzel down the castle hallways after she'd dropped in his room and teasingly informed him that she had her frying pan in hand and wasn't afraid to use it.
"But Eugene, then how would I protect myself against ruffians and thugs?" Rapunzel asked innocently as she still ran ahead of Eugene.
"Bringing up the subject of dreams worked quite well last time and seems to be their weakness, so I wouldn't worry about it, Blondie." He answered her.
Rapunzel just giggled and kept running for the sake of keeping the best weapon in the kingdom in her hands.
"So where'd you hide it this time?" Eugene asked her.
"I didn't hide it, Eugene. You just simply didn't know where it was!" Rapunzel replied.
"Yes I did! Like I told you the other day, it was somewhere obvious. Like that pot." He said, pointing to a pot in the hallway.
"Eugene!" Rapunzel exclaimed, whirling around, still clutching her frying pan.
But she wasn't expecting Eugene to be so close behind her.
Or to accidentally hit him in the head.
Or knock him out.
And apparently, fourth time was a charm and must've done more damage, because after that, he had quite a bit of trouble remembering the last few days of the celebration.
They'd laughed and playfully bickered about it for days, Eugene complaining and playing up the collisions between his head and the frying pan, Rapunzel defending herself and telling Eugene he needed to watch where he was going.
But thankfully, Eugene remembered enough to be able to have his conversation with the King by the end of the week. But just because he was capable of doing it didn't mean he wasn't extremely nervous.
"Now, after having this week to think about it, I will ask you again what you want as a reward." King Jonathan said as he and Eugene sat in his study.
"Well…after thinking about it a while…I know I want Rapunzel to be happy. And if I'd be allowed to stay with her, I think that's what would make her happy. And I would really love that, too. That would be…amazing. But if that's not how things are supposed to be, and I can't be with her, then…" Eugene trailed off.
"Before I make a conclusion, I'd like to ask you what your intentions are if I do let you stay." Jonathan said.
"Well, I guess…I'm not exactly sure. I told her on our way back to the kingdom that I never planned on leaving her again. And I meant it."
The King leaned back in his chair with a smug look Eugene couldn't quite read. He seemed to perhaps want to know more, but looked content and like he understood the whole situation and was quite proud of himself for it.
"I will let you stay, at least until further notice, under the condition that you treat Rapunzel and the rest of the palace's occupants well and prove to us that you have reformed your thieving ways. Do not, I repeat, do not hurt her in any way, or I will immediately have you sent to the gallows and hanged, if not more."
Eugene nodded.
"Yes, sir." He said, fully intending to keep every promise he'd made within the last week, whether it be to Rapunzel, the King, or a child in the streets of Corona.
A/N: Tada! So how did you like it? Just so ya know, next up is the final chapter, the songfic! I can't believe it! But yeah. Anyway, review!