Chapter 17: A Clash of Storms
Finally! The long awaited reunion is here! I warn you. I hope you were ready cause this one's angsty. I'm sorry if you were expecting something sweet, but you all should be used to this by now, lol. Fluff? We don't know her. At least not yet. As always thanks for all your lovely reviews and all the support, I appreciate each and everyone of you! Now, enjoy the angst!
Deliver my heart with the pieces and parts of me left (…)
I could live with your ghost if you say that's the most that I'll get
Darkness to light, move from day into night to the new you
Still here I stand, I am sinking like sand in your sea.
~Send Me The Moon
Eugene had been witness to his fair share of storms during his various years living on the run, often times with nothing but the vast sky above to act as his endless ceiling. He knew the telltale signs of nature when the skies were about to open in a ruthless downpour; the rich smell of damp soil, the whisper of rustling foliage as the wind blew in powerful gusts, the air charged with electricity foretelling lightning followed by the distant rumble of thunder that cracked right through his chest and rang in his ears.
The situation he now found himself in was not much different. The calm before the most powerful storm he had ever witnessed. Eugene wasn't sure if the clap of thunder would come from him or the wayward princess standing frozen a few feet away from him, but seeing her again did feel like being struck by lightning. For a moment, neither of them made a single move as they stared at one another with a mix of wonder and heartache in their disbelieving eyes. The sound of mindless chatter all around him seemed to drown out as his attention focused solely on her, like there was nobody else in the room but them.
Rapunzel looked like a deer caught in the headlights, as though she wasn't sure whether to run towards him or bolt right out of the dimly lit tavern. Eugene too was rooted to the spot. His brain was apparently having a hard time catching up with the sight before him.
Once upon a time he could have counted on one hand the amount of times he had been stunned into speechlessness. Eugene now found the unwelcome occasions were becoming an uncomfortably common occurrence. Rapunzel was like a mirage, a vision taken right out of his most cruel dreams, the ones he woke up from with the hope to see her next to him only to realize she was worlds away. The only consolation to him in those nights had been the certainty that Rapunzel was at least safe and protected within the walls of her palace. Now she stood before him, close enough to see her clearly, and yet the space felt like an ocean separating them. She was here, alone and exposed and utterly vulnerable and only a few days away from the blasted kingdom that posed a threat to her safety.
Rapunzel's mouth was slightly parted in a look of complete astonishment, and he saw her lips curl into silent words that might have been his name, he wasn't sure standing there, far enough away from her, he couldn't hear over the sound of chatter all around him, yet she didn't move. Eugene's eyes scanned her face, ravenous of her sight. She looked… different than the last time he'd seen her. Exhausted. Her petite frame was drowned by a long cloak not much different from the one she had worn the first time they'd ventured out of the tower. Her eyes didn't sparkle like they used to, her face didn't split into a brilliant smile at the sight of him. She looked… almost scared, hesitant, unsure. As though the brilliant light that had been ever bursting out of her had dimmed over the course of the weeks, months, he hadn't seen her. None of it mattered to him, his heart thought Rapunzel was just as dazzling as ever.
"Rapunzel." Eugene felt her name leaving his lips in a breathless whisper, like a drowning man panting for air.
"Wait, you know her?" Eugene barely registered Lance's surprised inquiry as his muscles stiffened in anticipation. He didn't answer.
It could have been mere seconds, it felt like a thousand years. But after a moment's hesitation Eugene finally felt his legs moving on their own accord, so suddenly he almost knocked the stool on which he had been sitting when he stood up abruptly and shouldered his way across the crowding patrons mingling about in the tavern, blocking his way from the only person his eyes could focus on. An arrow flying straight to his heart's bullseye.
Rapunzel's eyes fluttered and widened as she saw him approaching, shaking herself from her stunned stupor and finally registering that he was actually here. Eugene watched with something akin to dismay as she took a startled step backwards when he came closer, and he halted in his steps only a few paces away from her, his heart clenching painfully in his chest. Rapunzel hadn't had that reaction to his presence since he had first kidnapped her. Before she had trusted him.
Eugene saw it now, clear as day; doubt in her gaze, a profound pain hidden in her emerald irises. The same eyes that had once glinted with such joy and hope and tenderness now looked at him laced with hurt and a hint of wariness. He had caused this. He had hurt her. He couldn't bear it. He felt his throat tightening, words trapped inside his mouth.
Rapunzel's tender voice broke through the loud chatter around them in an almost broken gasp. "Eugene."
Eugene felt his heart soar and break all at once. She was here, finally within arm's reach. She was speaking his name again. She looked broken and scared and he could see it marked all over her face. Her voice shouldn't sound like that; unsure and hoarse and lacking all the warmth it had once held.
He wanted so desperately to pull her close, to feel her near and wrap his arms around her in a protective embrace and never let go, he wanted to fall to his knees and beg for her forgiveness. He did neither of those things. Eugene also felt acute panic wrapping like a vice around his heart and squeezing the breath out of his lungs. Rapunzel shouldn't be here. She was in more danger than she could even realize.
He felt the words leaving his mouth before his brain could even register them. "Rapunzel, what- how… what are you doing here?"
Definitely not what he'd hoped his first words to her would be. A myriad of emotions rushed in her green eyes within seconds at hearing his voice again, none of them good, he decided. Rapunzel dropped her gaze to her feet and wrapped a hand around a lock of her golden hair, a nervous gesture he recognized all too well. Eugene could see the frog out of the corner of his eyes perched upon her shoulder, he could almost feel his glare. For once he didn't blame the reptile. He hated himself in that moment too.
It was only a moment before Rapunzel's eyes met his again, chin tilted up almost defiantly. "I guess I could ask you the same thing."
If the situation had been different he would've smiled proudly and chuckled at the boldness of her words and the fierce determination in her voice. Now, Eugene only felt like swallowing his own tongue. He didn't know what to say, where to begin. How could he even begin to explain everything? His addled brain apparently could only register for the moment the most blaring sign; she was in danger.
"You shouldn't be here." Eugene wanted to swallow back the words as soon as they left his lips. Rapunzel flinched, as though that single sentence had felt to her like a slap across the face, and Eugene wanted to kick himself. She averted her gaze once more and bit the corner of her lip.
"Oh." Was all she muttered, shoulders hunched.
Eugene wanted nothing more than to tilt her face up and kiss the frown away from her beautiful face. He didn't touch her though.
"No, that's- that came out wrong, that's not what I meant. I…" Eugene sighed and ran a frustrated hand across his hair. He was rambling like an idiot. "What I'm trying to say is, it's dangerous for you to be here. What are you doing here? You're supposed to be back in Corona, where it's safe."
Eugene took a hesitant step forward, his eyes desperately seeking her green gaze. Rapunzel hesitated for a moment, but didn't make a move to retreat like he'd half feared. She didn't meet his eyes either.
"I was… I-I came looking for you, I was trying to find you, I… thought you might be in trouble." She mumbled, fingers twisting in a lock of her hair. Her shoulder rose in a dispassionate shrug. "But you're here, and you're okay so I guess I was wrong."
A million questions ran in Eugene's mind, so many he didn't even know where to start. She'd come for him? To help him of all people? How had she even known he'd needed help in the first place? His usually sharp mind was definitely not at its best with her sudden presence clouding his every sense, and the knowledge that she had come all this way looking for him, that she had not given up on him, on them. She'd cared enough to leave everything behind just to come to his aid. His heart swelled in his chest as much as it bruised at the sight of her downcast eyes. It took all of his self-restraint not to pull her into a desperate embrace. Rapunzel should never have such a despondent look in her perfect face. She was made to shine as bright as the sun itself. She was the Sundrop after all.
That simple thought was enough to send Eugene spiraling once more. The Sundrop!
"Blondie, you can't be here." Eugene murmured urgently, his mind already racing with plans on how to get her back to the palace safe and sound. "You have to get back to Corona, as soon as possible."
That made her finally look up, eyes wide with apprehension. "No! I can't go back."
"What do you mean you can't go back?" Eugene frowned in confusion, hands itching to brush back a strand of golden hair falling onto her face.
"I can't- I-" Rapunzel looked panicked, trapped, her eyes traveled across the packed tavern as if looking for an escape route. It reminded him painfully of the princess he had kidnapped, the one who had feared him. After a moment, her gaze finally settled over him once more as she took a shuddering breath. "We need to talk."
Eugene almost sighed in relief. She wasn't looking for an escape from him. She was giving him a chance. A chance to talk, to explain himself. He gave a resolute nod before casting a careful glance around the dimly lit pub. Their conversation could absolutely not be overheard. He wouldn't risk it.
"Not here though. We need somewhere private. I have a room upstairs, we can talk there." Eugene gestured for Rapunzel to follow him, hand coming up as if to rest on her shoulder to guide her through the crowd of patrons surrounding them.
"No." Rapunzel retreated once more before he could even come close to touching her, before she caught herself and paused. She seemed to have acted out of pure instinct, her startled expression smoothing marginally after a second. "No, uh… I have a room here too. I'd rather we talk there."
If Eugene didn't know any better he'd swear he felt his very soul constricting. Rapunzel didn't trust him anymore, she didn't need words to show him that much. He couldn't blame her at all. He'd caused that all on his own. He'd destroyed what had been building between them as soon as he walked out of that dress shop with her crown in his satchel as easily as crushing dry leaves under his boots. Eugene could see the weight of his betrayal in the tense set of her shoulders, the way her eyes didn't linger on him too long, the tremor in her voice, the way she seemed to restrain herself from fleeing. He hated every single sign of her distrust. Hated the way it made his heart bleed in his chest.
Flynn Rider would've thought this was for the best. It was better this way. Letting her go when she'd already given up was far easier. But Eugene had let go of Flynn Rider and his ever pragmatic and calloused way of thinking a long time ago, and so he couldn't help but want to cling to the thin hope that maybe Rapunzel could understand. That she could forgive him if he could only bring himself to ask.
Eugene nodded stiffly and gestured for Rapunzel to lead the way. He didn't come any closer. She hesitated, and after a moment of doubt in which she seemed to be considering if leading him to her room was actually a good idea she finally moved. Rapunzel walked back towards the staircase, her back to him, and silently made her way upstairs without once turning back to make sure he was following. Eugene could feel Lance's curious eyes following their movements all the way until they both disappeared upstairs. He didn't glance back at him. To hell with whatever anyone at the tavern might think. They were both perfect strangers here in this town in the middle of nowhere, their reputations didn't matter in the slightest so far away from Corona.
Eugene followed a few paces behind Rapunzel, making sure to leave enough room between them to not startle her again. Pascal glanced back at him, accusatory glare firmly in place on his reptilian face. Eugene fought the urge to cringe. He had it coming this time, he knew. Rapunzel finally paused before a wooden door at the end of the first floor hallway, and retrieved the key from a pocket in her cloak. She jiggled the key once before the door gave in and opened for her. Rapunzel stepped inside, glanced around the room as if to make sure it was empty for some reason he couldn't quite comprehend, and finally looked back at Eugene, eyes uncertain. He didn't miss the way her fingers tightened around the doorknob as she nodded for him to come inside. Eugene followed without another word.
The room was plunged in darkness, with the faint moonlight streaming from the open window being the only source of light to guide his eyes. Rapunzel closed and locked the door behind them, and Eugene was momentarily reminded of the first time they had ever shared a room at the first inn they visited after leaving the tower. Back then, Rapunzel had balked at the idea of being alone in a room with him, she had trusted him so little she had slept with a frying pan in hand. She didn't look much different now, as she busied herself with lighting a few candles around the room, all the while entirely avoiding his eyes and making sure to stay far enough away from him so he couldn't even come close to touching her.
As the warm light from the candles slowly illuminated the small space, Eugene noticed two tiny beds instead of one on each side of the room, separated by a simple nightstand. A pair of leather bags rested on the foot of each bed, one decidedly fuller than the other. It looked as though there had been someone else occupying the room along with Rapunzel but Eugene was too distracted to wonder further. There was not much else that occupied the space, save for the papers that appeared to be maps strewn haphazardly over the rickety table on one corner of the room. Rapunzel finally lighted the last candle available, and extended her arm for Pascal to climb down from her shoulder and settle on the nightstand. She didn't turn back to him.
Eugene's fingers twitched at his sides, his body desperately fighting the urge to come closer to her. If Rapunzel had given even the slightest hint, the smallest sign that she would welcome his touch, Eugene might have given into temptation. Now, in the privacy of her room, he might have allowed himself to take her hand in his, intertwine their fingers, pull her close, wrap his arms around her, maybe even kiss her forehead and tell her just how much he'd missed her. But she didn't. Instead Rapunzel looked almost sick, her complexion unusually pale as she took a shuddering breath as if to steel herself before she finally let her eyes travel back to him. She bit her lower lip, Eugene could almost feel the anxiousness radiating off of her. He promised himself he wouldn't come closer, wouldn't even touch her unless she asked for it. He wouldn't be the source of any added discomfort for her. He had fucked up enough between them to add fear to her already uneasy demeanor.
An awkward silence stretched between them for what felt like ages, before his vocal chords finally decided to cooperate with him.
"Rapunzel, I…" Eugene trailed off with a heavy sigh, his chest felt uncomfortably tight. "I thought I'd never see you again."
Rapunzel let her chin dip just slightly, but this time her eyes remained on his. He thought he could detect a flash of pain in her emerald irises. When she spoke, her voice came out impossibly small.
"Was that what you were hoping for?"
"No!" Eugene sputtered, eyes wide in dismay at her assumption. "No, of course not, Blondie, I-"
"Please, Eugene." Rapunzel held up a hand to stop his blabbering. She sounded exhausted, defeated, worst of all, her eyes were laced with something akin to disappointment. "I don't want your pity. And I don't need your kind lies, not anymore."
She sighed, eyes trailing somewhere over his shoulder as if she didn't have the courage anymore to meet his gaze. Eugene didn't miss the way she tried to mask her emotions, the slight purse of her lips, the way her shoulders stiffened as if bracing for a fight. He felt the overwhelming urge to argue, he'd never lied to her, not really, at least not since he let Flynn Rider drown in the bottom of the ocean and dug Eugene Fitzherbert out of the pits of his dry heart, but she continued before he could even begin forming the words.
"I just want to know the truth." Rapunzel murmured, taking a hesitant step forward. The distance between them was still far too large for Eugene's liking, but that seemed to be as close as Rapunzel would allow. Her green eyes bore into him, searching, desperate. "Why?"
Eugene didn't need to ask what she meant. That single broken whisper was enough to convey everything. Why had he done what he'd done? Why had he abandoned her without another word, why had he hurt her so deeply?
Eugene's throat felt impossibly tight, tongue tied into invisible knots that prevented him from speaking a single word. He'd always been eloquent enough yet now that he needed his silver tongue more than ever before, words seemed to fail to express just how deep his remorse reached into the caverns of his very soul. How could he answer that?
Because he couldn't live with the idea of her being in danger for something he'd caused. Because for once he wanted to do the right thing. Because he didn't feel like he deserved her affection, he wasn't worthy of her company at all, much less her love if she felt that way about him. Because Rapunzel deserved the world in a silver platter and there was no way in hell he could ever give it to her. Because what if she grew to regret her decision to leave everything behind and stay with him? It had been easier to run, he now realized.
Because I might very well be crazy in love with you and I don't know what to do about that.
The thought alone terrified him.
But Eugene never voiced any of those thoughts out loud. He settled for the simplest truth, something he could say without keeling over.
"I wanted to keep you safe."
Rapunzel's delicate eyebrows furrowed in confusion, it was clearly not the answer she was expecting. "Safe? Safe from what?"
"The Stabbingtons were hot on my trail, I found them lurking around the woods the day you left." Eugene ran a hand through his already slightly tousled hair. "They wanted what I took from them and I knew they wouldn't rest until they had it. I couldn't risk them finding me while I was with you. Those two are ruthless, Rapunzel. They knew who you were, they knew you were likely traveling with me and there was no telling what they would do to you if…"
Eugene trailed off with a huff. He couldn't even bring himself to imagine what they would've done if they'd found Rapunzel with him that day.
"I thought giving them the crown would be enough to appease their rage. I thought I could maybe fix my mistakes." Eugene's voice came out like a low murmur much to his chagrin. "You didn't deserve to be burdened with my past, Blondie."
Eugene suppressed the urge to avert his eyes as he watched Rapunzel's face carefully, taking in every minuscule change in her expression. Her brow creased further as his words sank in, and he was marginally pleased to find he could still read her like an open book. What he found however wasn't something that brought him much joy. Rapunzel was upset with his answer.
"Why didn't you say anything?" She asked. Eugene could tell she was trying to keep her voice even. "You left without an explanation, not a single word, no note, nothing to let me know what had happened."
"I couldn't have you following me, Rapunzel." Eugene closed his eyes for the first time against her intense stare. He couldn't see the pain in her eyes anymore. "I thought it would be for the best. If I'd told you what I was planning to do, you might have insisted on coming with me. If you knew where I was and I didn't return… I couldn't risk you deciding to come after me, not with the Stabbingtons around."
Eugene couldn't bare to look at her as his voice sliced through the silence surrounding them like a knife cutting through silk. He waited for his words to sink in, holding his breath for the outcome. "I told Max to fetch the guards, to show them where to find you, if I didn't return by nightfall. If nothing else, I knew you would be safe back in the Palace."
He was acutely aware of the moment Rapunzel's breath hitched as the full knowledge of what he'd done hit her. She took a step back and Eugene felt like the very minuscule progress they'd made when she didn't run out of the tavern at the sight of him came unraveling before his feet.
"Y-you… you were going to let me believe that you'd left with the crown, that none of it mattered, that all you ever cared about was that priceless tiara." It wasn't exactly a question. Eugene didn't have to look at her to sense the heartbreak lacing her words, and perhaps this was just as much of a betrayal as leaving her in the first place had been.
"Rapunzel, please, understand." Eugene was not surprised to hear the pleading note in his hoarse voice. "I thought it would be for the best, that it would be easier for you to forget about me if you thought that. If worse came to worst and I didn't come back… I needed to know you would be safe back home. You wouldn't be tempted to go looking for me that way."
Eugene finally chanced a glance back at her. What he saw almost made him regret his decision. For the first time ever since he'd met her, her emerald eyes were set ablaze with something entirely too close to fury. He had seen Rapunzel upset, peeved with him more than once. But never furious. He was almost sure that was one emotion she wasn't capable to muster, with her ever vibrant spirit and bubbly personality. He decided right then and there being in the receiving end of one of Rapunzel's rare glares was probably the worst experience of his life.
"That was my choice to make, Eugene." Rapunzel's tone was quiet, steady, cold as a blade. Eugene would've almost preferred an enraged shout. This sounded deadly, poisonous, wrong in her always delicate voice. "I had a right to know the truth, to make that decision on my own. I told you I didn't want to go back and you disregarded my wishes completely."
Eugene couldn't suppress a grimace, but Rapunzel continued, unrelenting. Weeks of pent up anguish coming out in harsh words.
"Do you have any idea how horrible it was for me? How much it hurt?" Tears welled up in Rapunzel's eyes, but she seemed adamant to not let them fall. "All this time I thought you had played me for the biggest fool, and you would've just let me believe that for the rest of my life!"
Her voice broke at the end of her sentence and Eugene was seriously debating whether to sink to the ground in shame or crawl to her and wrap her in a comforting embrace, murmur a thousand apologies into her hair. His feet however seemed to have grown roots, chains from which he couldn't break free as he watched in silent dismay as she suppressed a broken sob.
"I'm so sorry, Rapunzel." Eugene murmured, eyes pleading. "I swear, Blondie, hurting you was the last thing I wanted. But I don't regret not telling you if it meant keeping you safe."
Rapunzel seemed baffled by his answer for a moment, her wide eyes blinking in disbelief at what she was hearing. But Eugene meant every word. He would sooner take an arrow to the heart than hurt Rapunzel on purpose. But he would also rather die than endanger her. And that day the decision had been very obvious to him. His only remorse was leaving her in the first place, but he couldn't bring himself to regret not telling her where he was going once he'd decided to give the crown away.
"I'm not sorry you didn't follow me that day." Eugene forced himself to continue, against his better judgement. His heart was sure he couldn't bear another one of her glares. "When I found them, the Stabbingtons didn't want the crown anymore. They wanted you instead. I've made countless mistakes in my life, Blondie, and I will probably never be able to atone for even half of them but at least then I knew I made the right call, I knew I kept you safe."
Rapunzel regarded him quietly for a moment that felt like a lifetime before she broke his gaze. She blinked away her tears, eyes focused on the dusty floorboards beneath her feet. Bare, he noticed, heart warming marginally as he remembered just how much she loved being barefoot.
When she finally spoke again her voice was barely above a whisper. "That doesn't explain everything."
Rapunzel took a deep breath. Eugene didn't miss the way her lip quivered before she pulled it between her teeth.
"I came looking for you because I thought you might be in danger. I thought maybe it had been a misunderstanding. I wanted so badly to believe you hadn't left because you wanted to." Her shoulders lifted in a dispirited shrug. "Yet here you are, perfectly safe, free to do as you please — which is good, great! But I can only assume you never came back to Corona because you didn't want to. Guess you didn't care enough, and I was wrong."
"No, Blondie, that's not—"
"It's okay, Eugene." Rapunzel interrupted before he could even finish explaining. "It was my mistake, I shouldn't have assumed… I… I read more into it than what was actually there."
"No, I wanted to come back! I was trying to come back to you, but I couldn't. I was kidnapped, Rapunzel." Eugene explained hurriedly.
Rapunzel's eyes snapped back to him in an instant, and for a brief moment he could detect a hint of curiosity rather than despair.
"So they weren't lying." She muttered to herself as her eyebrows furrowed in thought.
Eugene shook his head. "Who wasn't lying?"
"The Stabbingtons, they said you had been taken." Rapunzel answered distractedly, and Eugene felt a sudden chill creep up his spine.
"The Stabbingtons? You spoke with them?! How…?"
"They were arrested when they were trying to sell the crown." Rapunzel explained. "That's how I figured out where to find you. I needed to know the truth. I needed to know you were safe."
Eugene had half a mind to chastise her for carelessly risking her safety for his sorry ass, but he was honestly more impressed with her resilience.
"Well, you weren't entirely wrong. I was trying to make my way back to you, I swear. I would've done it sooner but I've kinda been held hostage this whole time." Eugene rubbed the back of his neck, a sting of shame coating his senses. In that moment he couldn't quite recall how the Dark King had managed to keep him captive for so long but the explanation sounded lame to his own ears nonetheless.
Rapunzel quirked an eyebrow, head tilted in question. "Who held you hostage?"
Eugene heaved a heavy breath through his nose. Wasn't that the one detail of this whole ordeal that had been haunting the back of his mind so much he would rather keep it hidden under lock and key in the deepest recess of his brain? But, he supposed if he had to reveal the secrets of his past that had shaken him to his very core, it might as well be to Rapunzel.
"It's a long and complicated story."
Rapunzel blinked once, turned around and promptly walked away. For a brief horrible moment, Eugene thought she was just done with their conversation and that was her silent dismissal, but she merely sat down on the edge of one of the tiny beds, looking at him expectantly.
"Well, we have enough time right now." She said with a simple shrug.
The glimpse of a memory flashed in his mind's eye, of a very different time in front of a warm fire, when Rapunzel's eyes had sparkled in the moonlight, and they had each shared a piece of their soul with each other. Back when he had told her his real name for the first time, uttered from the innermost corners of his heart, and the story of an unfortunate orphan who'd dreamed of becoming someone great. And Rapunzel had looked at him with wonder in her eyes, like she was slowly uncovering a very rare treasure, and for the first time in his life Eugene had felt like maybe he was worth something.
The situation couldn't be more different now. The room felt cold and dark despite the warm light of the candles, and Rapunzel's eyes no longer twinkled with barely restrained awe, instead they were dimmed with a strange sort of wariness that still spoke of her mistrust. It made his insides twist.
Eugene followed her lead and gingerly sat on the edge of the spare bed, facing her. He felt like an unwelcome intruder in a stranger's home, not comfortable enough to even sit properly on the stiff mattress. His fingers fidgeted involuntarily with a loose thread in the tattered bedcover. Finally, his roaming eyes settled on Rapunzel's frame, the warm light of the candles bathing her face, making her skin look a bit less pale than before. Her cheeks had filled out just a bit since the last time he'd seen her, barely enough for him to notice just now that he looked more closely, and Eugene had the sudden and quite unwelcome urge to run a hand across the apple of her cheek in a soft caress. He shook the thought away.
"Have you ever heard about the Dark Kingdom?" Eugene questioned, voice slightly gruff to his own ears in the quiet of the room.
Rapunzel's head tilted in contemplation. "Only after speaking with the Stabbington's. They didn't know where you had been taken, but they gave me a lead to figure out I could probably find you there."
Eugene didn't know exactly how Rapunzel managed to find out enough information to discover anything about his whereabouts, but it wasn't important in that particular moment. Eugene bit the corner of his lip, his heart squeezed at the prospect of reviving the myriad of emotions that the truth about his past had brought upon him, but with one final steeling breath, he began his story.
Eugene recounted with minute detail his experience of what had happened to him during the past months. Ever since the moment he had been drugged with whatever poison managed to keep him unconscious for the entirety of the trip. Rapunzel listened intently without interrupting, her eyes expressive enough to let him know what she thought of his story. For a moment she'd looked skeptical as Eugene explained it had taken him a few days to regain consciousness, and even more so to recover his memory completely. But as his retelling progressed, the shadow of disbelief in her face slowly morphed into one of careful curiosity.
Eugene tried not to falter when he got to the part where he found out the truth about his parentage. Much to his dismay, he couldn't help the hitch in his voice as he revealed what the Dark King had told him about his mother, the cruel way he had dealt with the whole situation, the fact he had knowingly let Eugene become an orphan, casting him aside like an unwanted garment. He could hear Rapunzel gasp as he spoke, even though he hadn't been able to hold her gaze as his own eyes averted, suddenly too interested in the floorboards below. Thankfully, Rapunzel didn't interrupt him, he wasn't sure he could've found the courage to continue as the feelings he had stubbornly repressed inside himself seemed to burst out of him like his heart was unraveling at the seams, the scars that had never healed quite right opening all over again, leaving him vulnerable like a fresh wound.
Eugene had spent the majority of his life trying to ignore that familiar ache in his soul, the feeling of being unwanted, a burden, the fragile fear of abandonment. All of it came burbling to the surface with unwavering force as he was forced to voice the secrets of a past he didn't really want to acknowledge. Now, as he spoke the words out loud for the first time, he couldn't really ignore the deep sting in his chest. He had been robbed of a family, of a place to call home, of a mother who hadn't been forced to abandon him before decease had taken her, of a father that might have wanted him had he known of his existence at all. All of it because propriety and tradition and the prestige of royal blood deemed it so. How many sleepless nights had he spent wishing it had been different? How many times in his childhood had he longed for a single soul to care about him, to give him a scrap of love or affection? Eugene wondered now, had destiny not given him a cruel King for an uncle, if he might have had the chance to not have grown up an emotionally starved man, if perhaps then he wouldn't have taken all the wrong decisions and screwed up everything in his life.
Perhaps everything would have ended up the same anyway, Eugene thought wryly. Perhaps his own father might have rejected him too. He still might, and he wondered if maybe a small, insecure and fragile part of him had refused to meet his father when he had the chance because of the ever present doubt that he may not accept him. After all, the only person who had ever genuinely wanted Eugene for himself had been Rapunzel, and he was entirely too aware of the fact that he had probably fucked that up too.
The mere thought felt like a twisting knife in his gut, and he forced his eyes back towards Rapunzel, if only to reassure himself that despite everything she was still there, listening. The look with which she regarded him was one he had never seen before. She no longer held anger in her fiery eyes, her posture wasn't oozing wariness like before, but the gleam in her emerald irises had a softness to it that surprised Eugene. It wasn't quite pity —he would've hated that— but a deep compassion and empathy, like she could somehow sense how difficult voicing this was for Eugene and she felt deeply for him.
Despite everything he'd done, how spectacularly he'd failed her, she still looked at him that way. Eugene didn't deserve the kindness. He couldn't dwell on it any further, couldn't bear it. Eugene forced himself to continue, move from that particularly horrid revelation of his origins and explain what had brought him here in the first place, what had forced him to make a reluctant alliance with Adira in order to escape and the urgency behind his insistence for Rapunzel to return home. That was all that really mattered in the end.
He explained with as much clarity as he could the magic hiding within the castle in the Dark Kingdom. Eugene spoke at length about the Moonstone and the apparent power behind it. The deal that King Harold had proposed for him. The insistence of the Dark King in destroying it once and for all, the concern of Adira and everything she had explained about the dangers of attempting to destroy such powerful and deadly magic.
Eugene paused before broaching the subject of the Sundrop, watching Rapunzel carefully as she took it all in. She looked contemplative for a long moment, her face turned towards the small window, faraway in thought. She finally seemed to notice he had stopped talking after a few minutes of silence, turning back to him with an assessing look in her eyes that Eugene wasn't sure didn't unnerve him a little.
"I'm sorry about your father, Eugene." Rapunzel said, voice soft and quiet. "It must have been really hard to find out about that the way you did."
Eugene waved her off with a dismissive gesture. "Don't be, I try to pretend it didn't happen. Doesn't change a thing anyway."
"Doesn't change a thing?" Rapunzel's eyebrows raised in an incredulous expression. "Of course it does! It makes you a prince!"
"I'm still a bastard." Eugene scoffed. "And a wanted criminal. None of that will change unless Edmund recognizes me as his son and without a proper legitimization I'm as much of a nobody as I was before."
Rapunzel's face sobered with the hint of something Eugene couldn't quite name. "Did he… did he reject you?"
"He didn't really get the chance to."
"You never met him?" Rapunzel asked, perhaps unconsciously leaning forward, a tiny bit closer to where he sat.
"Not really. Anyway it doesn't matter, it's not what's important."Eugene shook his head, trying to steer the subject back to what really mattered to him in that moment. "What's important is what that crazy King intends to do with the Moonstone."
"Apparently, such a deadly thing cannot be destroyed without equally powerful magic. The Moonstone has a sibling, a drop of sunlight that fell from the heavens. It too, took the form of a magical object." Eugene studied Rapunzel closely as he continued. "In this case, it was a magical flower. This flower had the exact opposite magic of the Moonstone. While the Moonstone destroys everything within reach… the power of the Sundrop has the ability to heal any wound, cure any illness."
Eugene could practically see the cogs turning in Rapunzel's head from the moment he mentioned a magical flower. He could pinpoint the exact minute realization hit her like a ton of bricks, her mouth parting in a barely restrained gasp that made her voice sound slightly strangled. Eugene could do nothing else but nod in silent confirmation.
"You get it now?" He willed his voice into a gentle tone, the caress of a whisper against the silence of the night, only interrupted by Rapunzel's now slightly labored breath. "You and I both know it's not a coincidence. You are the Sundrop, Blondie. And as long as the Dark King wants the Moonstone destroyed you are not safe outside Corona, much less here."
Rapunzel shook her head, face pale once again, voice trembling just slightly. "Nobody knows about my power Eugene. No one but you."
Her eyes zeroed in on him in an instant, and Eugene could see the moment an ugly and glooming shadow of suspicion clouded her dazed expression, like stormy clouds clashing in an overcast horizon. He deserved it, he knew, though the thought still stung. He held her gaze, steady and sure, willing her to look into his very soul if she wished, she would find nothing but truth, no masks to hide behind, no armor to conceal his emotions anymore. Flynn Rider and his smooth, cool nonchalance was long gone, and in his place could only stand Eugene exactly as he was, uncomfortably vulnerable and raw but never once unsteady in his loyalty to her. He would never betray her secret, even if he had abandoned her. Rapunzel's distrust seemed to last only for a moment, her shoulders sagged slightly when she found whatever she was looking for in his eyes, and Eugene was momentarily glad no words were needed between them to communicate. She understood. He wasn't sure he could've expressed the depth of his devotion to her in something as simple as words.
Rapunzel fidgeted nervously in her seat, one of her hands coming to rest over her stomach. He wondered if she could feel the churn of anxiety in there as he felt his in the depths of his chest. She sighed, Eugene noticed it was not quite in relief.
"Nobody knows about my hair." Rapunzel repeated, sounding more like she was trying to reassure herself. "There's no way they would figure it out."
"Actually," Eugene grimaced. "Adira is dangerously close to figuring it out."
She startled at that. "What?! How?"
"Every legend has a bit of truth behind it." Eugene shrugged. "The legend of the healing flower was quite popular in Corona from what she told me. Popular enough to be a plausible option, I suppose, when your mother fell ill. She took the flower, didn't she? To heal herself while pregnant with you. That's how you got your hair."
He didn't really need Rapunzel's confirmation. She never told him that part of the story, but Adira had been thorough in her research. He tried not to let guilt consume him at the thought that he was partly to blame for that. If he had never asked Adira about Rapunzel's whereabouts… but it was too late to wallow in self-reproach now, it would do neither of them no good.
"Adira knows the Sundrop is not just a myth." Eugene continued. "She knows about the rumors of what saved your mother, she knows the magic cannot be destroyed. It was easy enough for her to put two and two together. She's not truly certain you have that power now, but she's sure the magic lives either within you or your mother. Or else Corona's royal family has been hoarding the flower. Either way, she told me it was only a matter of time before King Harold came to the same conclusion."
Rapunzel's already pale face had taken on a sickly, almost green hue. She looked alarmingly close to a panic attack, her hand tightening over her midriff, and Eugene wondered if she was feeling nauseous, she certainly looked lightheaded.
"Where is Adira now?"
"She went back to the Dark Kingdom, to gather intel on what the King intends to do about the Moonstone."
"Can we trust her?" Rapunzel asked, and where once the question would've come out as hopeful, Eugene could tell Rapunzel was not quite as trusting as she had been months ago.
"I… I don't know." Eugene shook his head. "She seems intent on protecting the Moonstone, and by extent the Sundrop too. And she hasn't exactly given me a reason to doubt her but…"
Rapunzel nodded. She was well aware that he was not a man who would give his trust easily. She sucked her lower lip between her teeth, and Eugene tried to focus on her shrouded eyes instead of on her soft mouth.
"I don't… I can't go back to Corona, though."
The simple yet firm statement was enough to shake Eugene out of his dazed reverie on her lips.
"Rapunzel," Eugene sighed, willing his tone not to show his slight exasperation. "Corona is the only place where you would be safe right now, you have to go back."
Rapunzel started shaking her head, adamant, but before she could utter another word Eugene interrupted.
"Is this about your engagement?"
"What?" She looked completely stunned that he even knew.
"Yeah, I heard about it."
Rapunzel said nothing for a long moment, her eyes not meeting his as she looked about the dismal bedroom. Her gaze settled on Pascal, who seemed to be making encouraging squeaks and patting his belly for some odd reason. Eugene frowned. Really, what a ridiculous time for the frog to tell Rapunzel he was feeling hungry. Rapunzel apparently agreed, as she shook her head almost imperceptibly. Eugene elected to ignore the silent conversation clearly going on there.
"What is he like?" He asked instead. He didn't need to elaborate, he knew Rapunzel would understand what he meant, or at least part of it.
Does he treat you well? Is he worthy of you? Can he give you everything that I can't? Could he make you happy?
Rapunzel remained thoughtful for a few minutes, while Eugene felt his heart flutter in his chest like a distressed, caged bird, suddenly unsure he wanted to know the answer to his own question. She delivered it nonetheless.
"He's… good, I guess." Her voice was the caress of a flower petal; gentle and soft and so small and fragile it seemed almost breakable. "He's kind and quiet. Prince William isn't much for conversation, but he's gentle, gets along with my father, always compliments my mother. He's perfectly polite to say the least, and the Council has no objection to the union, in fact they quite encouraged it. His family is respectable, and powerful. He's everything a prince ought to be."
For some odd reason Eugene couldn't even comprehend, he felt his chest clench at Rapunzel's words.
"Good. That's good." He muttered, biting the inside of his cheek. He tried to remind himself it was what he should've hoped for, the pain inside himself was completely unwarranted. "I would've hated for you to be stuck with someone horrible."
It was a gross understatement. Eugene was sure he couldn't have bared it if Rapunzel had told him her fiancé was a cruel, despicable man. He couldn't have parted with her then, couldn't have insisted on her going back home. Alas, it wasn't the case, and so Eugene had no excuse to indulge Rapunzel in her dangerous wishes.
"You belong back there, Blondie." Eugene sighed, feeling like he was ripping his very heart out of his chest. "Back in you palace, with your family, in that lavish life that can give you anything you wish for. Besides, Corona needs someone like you, someone kind and strong and generous, someone to look out for the less fortunate."
He forced his eyes to look past her, towards the open window and the starlit sky ahead, certain that if his eyes found hers he wouldn't be able to say what he had to say.
"You will make a wonderful queen one day." He continued, his voice a strained murmur. "And your respectable prince will rule by your side. And soon all of this will be a distant daydream."
She would forget about him, Eugene would become a hazy memory, a flutter in the wind. Rapunzel would get over her pain eventually, she would be the happy, bubbly soul he once met again, the brightest ray of sunshine Corona had ever been graced with. And he would watch forever from the sidelines, unable to move on, to forget even for a second. But all of it would be worth it if she was safe and far from the dangers of the Dark Kingdom.
"Is that what you want? For me to forget about all we went through, forget about you?" Rapunzel asked, and Eugene had the distinct feeling that if he said yes she would raise no argument, she would simply let go.
Eugene didn't have it in himself to lie to her, however.
"This isn't about what you or I want anymore, Rapunzel." He ran a frustrated hand over his face, feeling close to desperate. "Adira said it was only a matter of time before King Harold figured everything out, and he made it very clear he would stop at nothing to destroy the Moonstone, but as long as you are back in Corona's palace you will be untouchable to him. He can't make a move against you, not unless he wants to risk war with Corona and all its allies, and the Dark Kingdom is certainly in no shape to take such a blow. You need to warn your parents, increase security around the borders and inside the palace, you will be safe then."
Rapunzel frowned and looked away. Eugene could practically see the war waging in herself, but the pain that was very evident in her face was enough to shred his already tattered heart. He needed her to understand that it tore him apart just as much.
"Look… I may have lied about every single thing in my life for years, Blondie, but never about what we had." He drew just a bit closer, leaning ho head slightly down to seek her gaze. "I need you to know that. Meeting you was the greatest thing that could have ever happened to me, but I can't give you what you need, what you deserve. And if I have to live with only the memory of you, of what we once shared, I can make my peace with that. As long as I know that you are safe, and happy, and loved, that is enough for me."
Rapunzel released a shaky breath that might have been a sob, her green eyes meeting his in a watery gaze that held so much anguish it almost made him cave in and pull her into a tight embrace.
"No, you're not listening, Eugene." She insisted. "I can't go back to Corona, not even if I wanted to. It's not an option for me anymore!"
"Heavens, Rapunzel, why not?!"
"Because…!" Something seemed to stop her before she could finish, as though her throat had suddenly tightened around the words, preventing them from escaping. "Because I… I need to tell you something."
She was stalling, he knew, and Eugene felt suddenly wary.
"What is it?"
"I-I…. uh… gosh." Rapunzel released a shaky exhale, pinching the bridge of her nose as if to conceal her dizziness. "Eugene… I'm p-"
She was interrupted by the sound of the door unlocking and subsequently slamming open. Eugene's face whirled toward the unfamiliar silhouette of a young woman framed by the threshold at the entrance of the bedroom. He sprang to his feet in an instant.
"It's useless, Raps, I swear I've been asking everywhere and I can't-" The young woman stopped abruptly, stunned into silence at the sight before her. Eugene raised a curious eyebrow as the brunette's gaze traveled from Rapunzel and back to him a few times, assessing.
And then her olive green eyes narrowed into dangerous slits. Eugene felt the strange urge to gulp under her stare, uncertain as to why exactly he had earned the positively murderous glint in the young woman's eyes.
He was about to ask, but then all hell broke lose.
Okay I promise we will get Rapunzel's POV in the next chapter and how she's dealing with all of this cause there's a lot to unpack here, but the chapter would've been ridiculously long if I kept her POV here. So you'll have to wait just a bit. Anyway, as always, please consider dropping a review if you liked it. I'm looking forward to what you think about this chapter!