So I'm a story teller right so... once upon a time, there was an aspiring writer who went by the pen name "graciebuzz" now Grace loved to write but sadly she also loved to read, and act, and do well in school, she was also dreadfully forgetful. This led to the unfortunate event of Ms. B not finishing her chapter in the time line she had suggested she would and well... she is very sorry. Seriously guys, I am so sorry, I realize this is becoming a bit of a pattern and that is not acceptable, and unfortunately it may stay that way for a few more weeks, but my goal is to be finished this fanfic by the end of June (unless I continue on past the end of the movie but that is still completely undecided and very unlikely) Thankfully I was able to edit two chapters for you guys and I edited what I have of my most recent chapter, so you guys will get chapters 17, 18 and most of 19 (hopefully that makes up for my absence?) Thank you guys so much for reading this, I love you for staying with me, especially the readers who have stuck with me from the start, don't forget to comment, Thanks -Grace

I grabbed Rapunzel's hand as nervous energy thrummed through my body. The man's call of 'to the boats' had reminded me of something, I knew exactly how to make this night perfect for Rapunzel.

I'm not sure why I cared so much; maybe it was the way she had looked at those maps in the library, so curious and in awe. Maybe it was the way she laughed without a care in the world after we took the cupcakes, or maybe it was the way I held her when I finally caught her in my arms while dancing, the way her tiny hand fit into mine; soft yet surprisingly strong. Whatever it was I knew how to make her smile and I wasn't going to miss the opportunity.

The mention of the boats had stirred up an old memory, a really old memory.

Despite the fact that I was a wandering thief, and I had lived everywhere, I had originally grown up in Corona. The orphanage was down the road from the library, I had intentionally avoided that spot, but once upon a time, down by the docks there was a little cottage, a small and humble little house with a row boat docked at the back.

Well, at least there was a house and boat there when I was four, it was the cottage Nana took care of me in.

The lights festival had started when I was two years old, when the baby princess was born. That year Nana had went out and found an old row boat, our neighbour Joey fixed it up for us in exchange for some of her famous Mulberry Pie. (God I missed that pie.) Nana had taken me out on the boat while the lights shone overhead and told me more of the stories of Flynnigan Ryder, it was that night that I really got into the idea of such a swashbuckling hero, that night and the same night the next year. It had been so long ago that I had almost forgotten about it, but I found that today had stirred up a lot of old feelings.

As we approached the old cottage I slowed down slightly pausing in front of the door, Rapunzel squeezed my hand looking up into my eyes, "Eugene? Where are we?" she asked me in confusion, "nowhere that matters anymore, just a little boy's past is all." Rapunzel looked at me questioningly but decided not to push it.

The small cottage looked almost exactly the same, but there was something off. The lights were all off and the small garden that used to be in perfect order was wild and over grown, there was no smell of baking or the sound of little Eugene running around hitting things with his makeshift sword. It was empty, a shell of the happiness I used to know.

Taking a deep breath I let go of her hand and turned away subtly wiping my eyes, today wasn't about me, it was for her, the best day of her life.

Walking around the building I gestured for her to follow, slowly she came after me watching me cautiously like at any moment I would snap. I couldn't have her worrying like that about me, today was too important for that.

"Hey, Blondie," I said getting her attention as she silently waited for me, not nearly as happy as she had been moments before, "ya?" she said glancing up "Your chariot awaits." I said with a flourish gesturing to the small row boat that was docked near the shore, it wasn't much but it would give her a great view of the lanterns.

The way she reacted you would think the boat was some kind of flying ship from Peter Pan, "Oh my gosh, is this a boat?" she asked jumping up and down before running up to it to look inside.

I cleared my throat suddenly worried she had some kind of problems with water, "ya," I said stating the obvious.

"So," she said, "If we go in this we'll float on water?" I blinked scrunching my brows, "Ya that's kind of the-" Rapunzel darted past me before I could finish and plopped down in the front seat staring straight out, she bounced up and down, I worried what would happen when we actually got out into the water.

With a small smile I lifted the back of the boat and pushed it out so that I could hop in and start paddling. Once we got past the dock and were completely floating she relaxed slightly trailing her fingers through the water. Maximus came galloping around the corner to stand on the dock, nostrils flaring he stood there watching us go, he probably thought I was running away or something. The brown sac at my feet caught my eye as I smoothly propelled us through the water. Horses generally liked apples and there's no way I could eat that many of them. Anyways, it would help me later if the horse felt a little bad about putting me in jail and having me hanged. With a sigh I grabbed the bag and paused my paddling to turn around, "hey max!" I called out catching the horse's attention, he turned to me snorting in anger, he probably thought I was going to gloat or something, before he could walk away I tossed the sac of apples towards him so they landed on the dock at his feet. Max snorted and took a step back raising his eyebrows (that is if horses even have eyebrows) He assessed me up and down, he probably assumed I had stolen the apples, those happened to be the ones I paid extra for. "Whhhhaaaatttt" I said with a biting back a laugh at the expression on the horse's face, "I bought them," I told him honestly. I turned back around and began paddling again away from the dock, a thought occurred to me as I kept going, the extra apples that the shop keeper had put in; technically I hadn't bought those apples. "Most of them," I said rephrasing my previous statement, although I was obviously too late because Max had already started chowing down on the apples, I chuckled to myself as I heard him whinny in distress as he realized there was no way for him to identify which was which. Rapunzel tilted her head to the side as if trying to understand what I said, she knew I had paid for them, after a few seconds she laughed, obviously she had come to the same realization as I had. She turned back to face me some of the laughter still in her eyes, "Where are we going?" she asked me with a chuckle.

I smiled at her "Well, best day of your life," I said with a bit of my old Ryder charm, "I figured you should have a decent seat." With a soft smile I took Pascal off from my shoulder and put him on a small pedestal on the back of the boat.

I was floating, while obviously ya we were in a boat which in itself was just wow, but ok getting off topic here. Eugene sat behind me steering us forward as we glided across the water without a sound, the night slowly became darker and I knew the lights, or lanterns that is, would be rising up through the sky soon.

We reached the halfway point between the Island and the main land and Eugene stopped paddling, instead he put the paddle in the water so that we slowly stopped with the side of the oat facing the island. I leaned forward towards the water resting my elbows on the side of the boat. I looked out to the castle patiently waiting for the lanterns to arise. Slowly my heart rose so that it was in my throat and my thoughts slowly soured, I had looked forward to this very moment for the last eighteen years of my life, I had risked so much for it, and yet what if everything mother said was true, if they were just lights? What if nothing happened, and after it's over… I would have to say goodbye to Eugene. I swallowed trying to hold back tears, what was wrong with me? This was supposed to be the best moment of my life and yet I could barely keep from sobbing from terror and loss. I bit my lip glancing up from my reflection to look out over the water and to the castle. For whatever reason the towering building seemed comforting in the darkness, it seemed somehow familiar, at the time I just assumed it was the fact that it had towers and reminded me of my prior home, I didn't realize my familiarity went farther than that.

Home… did I even have one? What was I going to do after this? I could go back to the tower but… I may never leave again, and after seeing and experiencing so much, I wasn't sure if I would be able to survive that.

My shoulders slumped and I let out a sigh. Today was supposed to be happy, but I had already ruined it by worrying and overthinking things, why would the lights be any different?

Eugene looked over at me noticing my sudden lack of excitement. "You ok?" he asked me leaning towards me slightly. I blinked looking away, "I'm terrified." I breathed admitting my fears. I didn't look up from the water but I could feel Eugene's eyes on me quietly scoping me out, "why?" he asked me, why indeed I repeated to myself. "I," I paused collecting my thoughts, "I've been looking out a window for eighteen years," I said turning towards him, "dreaming about what it might feel like when those lights rise in the sky," the importance of this moment started to press down on my shoulders as I looked up at the castle, "what if it's not everything I dreamed it would be?" I still couldn't look at Eugene afraid he would think I was being stupid, or worse, he might think I was right. But instead of laughing or shrugging it off he simply smiled, "it will be." He assured me in a tone so lacking of Flynn Ryder, so much Eugene, I almost believed him. I finally looked over at him, "and what if it is?" I asked him more of my doubts flying through my mind, "what do I do then?" I asked him so unsure about the, the vast world around me. Eugene looked away for a moment as he thought about his answer, "well that's the good part I guess," he said in a faraway voice staring at the shore line, "You get to go find a new dream." He looked back at me a small smile curving the one side of his mouth. I laughed softly at the truth and the thought of that statement. We sat in silence, but not the silence I used to know, this wasn't silence after a fight with mother, or silence all by myself when mother left me, this kind of silence left you feeling warm and safe. A petal fell from my hair and landed softly in the water causing a few ripples, instead of sinking it floated on the surface. I laughed lightly and took another flower from my hair and placed it on the surface of the water to float beside the other blossom. Inspired by the first two I began pulling out more flowers to float in the water, Eugene laughed lightly and swiftly plucked several from the side of my braid, placing them on his palm he offered them to me. Smiling I picked one and placed it in the water. We sat like that for a few moments, him with his hand covered in daisies and daffodils splayed flat facing the sky, me placing the petals onto the water to drift away. Eugene gave me a small smile as my hand hovered over his, I couldn't decide between a purple one and a bright yellow one, I decided on the purple because Eugene had mentioned he liked the colour earlier today, gently I took the flower plopped it down in front of the others on the calm surface. Resting my elbows back on the hull I watched them float away, twirling as they went. A light reflected on the surface of the water caught my eye as it drifted up past the towers of the castle and into the sky. A beautiful voice drifted over the water, intoning a slow yet dreamy song that I vaguely recognized from earlier today. At first I was in a daze, my brain didn't exactly know how to deal with what was going on, I looked up from the reflective surface of the water to see the lantern drifting up over the castle in the distance. I sucked in a breath and Scrambled to the front of the boat nearly tipping it in the process to get a better look, I clung to the decorative mast at the front of the canoe that went straight up, my eyes glued to the speck of light on the horizon.

I don't know why but I started listening to the lyrics of the song that seemed to float over the water

All those days watching from the windows

All those years outside looking in

All that time never even knowing just how blind I've been

Even though it was impossible I found I knew the words as if while they played in the background this morning they had been engrained into my memory.

As I hummed along to the song thousands of lights drifted up past the palace walls to join the first lantern in the heavens, the sight was captivating and I found myself forgetting to breathe, Eugene was right, it was everything I had dreamed of.

I sighed watching them slowly rise my heart and mind aglow.

"Now I'm here blinking in the starlight," I mouthed the words my heart matching the melody as it soared through the sky, "Now I'm here suddenly I see," and I did see, I saw what I could have never seen perfectly from my window. I saw the hope and the love of two parents who never gave up on their baby, their daughter, I saw it in millions of shining lights that drifted up from dozens of boats and from the people who lined the streets. "Standing here, it's crystal clear, I'm where I'm meant to be." The lights were everywhere floating through the air all around us, over the water and over the land like sparks flying out over a fire.

"And at last I see the light," I softly sang the words their meanings too important to not be said aloud, "and it's like the fog has lifted," the lights reflected on the surface of the water doubling the already millions of lanterns to brighten the night sky more than the stars ever could, how silly I was to think these were mere constellations. "and at last I see the light," I clung to the wooden support in front of me my heart beating slowly in time with the music, "and it's like the sky is new," I rested my head against the wood smiling softly at the view that could only be described as magical, "and it's warm and real and bright, and the world has somehow shifted," This was all so much thought, so perfect, and it was all because of him, Eugene had brought me here, showed me this, and made this day the best I had ever had, and probably would ever have. A soft rustling stopped me from singing, instead I let the melody fall over me.

All at once everything looks different,

I looked back to Eugene, he was holding two of the lanterns just smiling at me softly, letting me enjoy the moment as my own.

Now that I see you

He looked beautiful sitting there his face set aglow by the lanterns he held so delicately, he was… he was perfect, and I was amazed it had taken me so long to see it. The music faded into an interlude with no words, as if it was giving me time to think.

I turned around and went to sit in front of him excitedly, he really had thought of everything.

"Hm," I mumbled as if agreeing with myself, he had more than kept up his end of the bargain. My eyes widened as I realized, the bargain, the satchel, taking a deep breath of air I steeled myself,

"I have something for you too." I told him, suddenly not afraid at all, I trusted Eugene, I trusted him even more than Mother, I knew he wouldn't hurt me.

I pulled out the satchel and placed it on my lap, Eugene looked at it blankly, not nearly as full of joy as I would have initially expected him to be when he finally retrieved his satchel, it proved that I had been right. "I should have given it to you before but," I took a breath as Eugene lifted his yes to mine, he still looked a little dumbfounded, "But I was just scared, and the thing is," I took a deep breath looking away from him and at the lanterns, our lanterns, "I'm not scared anymore, you know what I mean?" I asked him shyly looking up at him and biting my lip.

Eugene finally smiled putting his hand on the satchel and gently pushing it away, "I'm starting to." He told me, and in that moment I saw Flynn Ryder disappear for good, there was no selfishness, no cunning in his eyes, only love and a good man.

Eugene handed me the second lantern, and with our hands still touching we raised the lights into the air for all to see.

Eugene looked into my eyes and in that moment I knew I would never feel alone again, he would be there by my side showing me how to truly live.

And that was when Eugene started singing, now before I truly explain the wonder of that moment let us remember yesterday when Eugene was at the Ugly Duckling, he only sang when at sword point, and yet here he was willingly singing… for me.

I watched her as she stood there leaning on the boat watching the lanterns go up, in that moment I felt the magic of the lights just as much as she had for the last eighteen years. Rapunzel sang softly with the music that drifted across the water from the shore, I remembered the words but I wanted her to have her moment, she had been waiting for so long to see this, I would leave her be until she turned to me.

I had known her voice was beautiful but hearing her on the boat with the lanterns glowing and just her and I; I realized that just like the rest of her, her voice was sweet and lovely.

Rapunzel rested her head on the wood of the boat as she watched the lanterns span across the sky, I decided now would be a good time to bring out my final gift for her, at least for tonight. Reaching down I picked up the two lanterns I had purchased from one of the stalls while she was doing her chalk drawings and unfolded them as quietly as I could so as to not disturb her, than with a match I had scrounged for earlier in my saddlebags I lit them so that they glowed in my palms side by side like stars that I could hold and touch. Rapunzel abruptly stopped singing to look back at me. Her face glowed in the lantern-light and she shined brighter than it all. She was radiant.

She looked at me and for the briefest moment I saw something flash through her eyes, something that I knew if you really looked, you would see mirrored in my own, I was falling for this girl, this beautiful wild haired and adventurous girl. Rapunzel had reminded me who I really was and she lit my world up more than billions of these lanterns ever would. I didn't care what it would cost me, I was going to do right by her.

As her gaze landed on the lanterns I held her soft smile stretched into an excited grin and she rushed to sit down in front of me bouncing up and down in her seat, my lips curved up at the sight of her energy and her light, she made me feel young and more importantly, pure, she made me feel like I was a good person. Suddenly something changed in her eyes and she looked less energetic and more shy, more hopeful in a way, I reigned in my feelings so that I could think sensibly, she was in a fragile state; I didn't want to hurt her.

She looked me straight in the eye and leaned in her hands resting lightly on her thighs.

"I have something to give you too." She told me never breaking eye contact. I tilted my head to the side suddenly curious, she didn't need to give me anything, this was her day, not mine.

Then she pulled out the satchel, my mouth dried. I had known that eventually she would give it to me and out time together would end, but I had assumed we would at least have the journey back to her tower, I was planning on having time to somehow convince her to stay with me, and yet suddenly, that time was gone.

I couldn't look her in the eyes, and for the first time since I was very little I truly felt afraid, the thought of losing her simply because she would have to go back to that sadistic mother of hers terrified me. After gave me that tiara I wouldn't have an excuse to stay here.

Then I looked up into her eyes, and instead of seeing closure or a readiness to go home, I saw hope and fearlessness and… and something else.

"I should have given this to you before," she said suddenly looking away from me as if she was ashamed of keeping my "precious satchel" from me, I felt disgusted that this had been bothering her, disgusted with myself that is, "but I was just scared," this stumped me, and then suddenly it occurred to me that maybe she didn't want me to leave her either, and suddenly a small pinprick of hope blossomed in my chest weeding out all of my fears and worries for the future, for our future. "And the thing is," she said briefly looking down at her bare feet as if she was nervous, "I'm not afraid anymore." She looked up into my eyes and everything else faded away, it was just her and me and the soft sound of the music drifting over the water. "you know what I mean?" she asked me shyly looking up through her lashes and fumbling with her hands, I knew what she meant, she was afraid of me leaving, but he had grown to trust me, and I realized I owed her the same respect, reaching out I covered her trembling fingers with my own, "I'm starting to." I told her gently placing her lantern into her hands.

Together we rose our lanterns up into the atmosphere, they twirled together in an intimate dance soaring towards the stars.

In that moment the next verse of the song started, and for whatever reason, maybe I was possessed by a demon, or maybe I just needed to show her that I felt the same, I began to sing, and instead of laughing Rapunzel just smiled and hummed along, reaching out to lightly lift a lantern that had drifted down too close to the water.

"All those days, chasing down a daydream" She smiled and tilted her head back to watch our lanterns spiral upwards, after a few moments she just closed her eyes and relaxed backwards.

"All those years living in a blur," my voice came out smoothly and somehow I didn't even hesitate, the lyrics came to me as if from my heart. And maybe they did, come from my heart that is, they definitely described my life.

"All that time never truly seeing, things the way they were."

I looked to Rapunzel as she leaned out over the brim of the boat reaching watching the lights float by. "Now she's here shining in the starlight," she of course I realized was Rapunzel, "now she's here suddenly I know," Rapunzel's face lit up as she noticed one light that was floating down towards us, she pointed to it excitedly before reaching down to lift it back up into the sky. "If she's here, it's crystal clear," Rapunzel's eyes watched the lantern soar through the sky and in that moment she glowed, more beautiful than anything I had ever seen before, "I'm where I'm meant to go." Stealing myself I reached down and picked up her hand holding it in my own. Rapunzel looked down at her own soft palm now resting in mine, shock registered on her face for a moment before she looked up at me, and instead of letting go she smiled and with me she began to sing.

"And at last I see the light." We sang our voices echoing softly around us, "and it's like the fog has lifted," I told her singing from my heart, "and at last I see the light," I took her other hand and we looked into each other's eyes, my heart missed a beat as the truth of what was happening truly sunk in; I loved her. "And it's like the sky is new." She sang her voice crystal clear and as beautiful as she was. "And it's warm and real and bright," the lanterns swirled around us creating our own little world, a world I never wanted to leave, "and the world has somehow shifted. "all at once, everything looks different, now that I see you."

Eugene held my hands in his softly, looking into my eyes with more love and affection than I had ever experienced. Love. That's what it was, I was in love with Eugene, the thought bubbled through my mind and if that moment hadn't been so perfect I would have squealed and jumped up and down like a little kid.

"now that I see you," we sang our souls being bared to each other, I was never going back to that tower, I would live out the rest of my days exploring the world with Eugene, we would see everything we could see and do everything we could do, Eugene brought my hands up and I leaned towards him my heart beat picking up, "now that I see you." Eugene's reached forward and brushed the hair off my face, his hand trailed down the side of my face before he leaned in more cupping my neck with his hand. In that instant I knew what was going to happen, even though I had been locked in a tower I still knew what true love's first kiss was, i had asked mother what kissing was, I knew, and well…

I closed my eyes as Eugene leaned in and I knew I would never want my first kiss to be anyone but him.

I stilled waiting for Eugene, but the kiss never came.