Chapter 22: In Silent Screams, In Wildest Dreams
Lol if I was a writer of a modern tv show Eugene would be sooo dead. Alas, I'm soft. Anyway! As you may have noticed, I am completely incapable of keeping things short. I did it again, I could not wrap this up in a single chapter like I'd planned so I had to split this one in half. Anyway I wanted to explore a bit of Rapunzel's trauma before finishing this and my hand slipped. Enjoy a bonus!
Yes I gave Rapunzel ptsd what about it?
As always thanks for all your lovely support, you guys really keep my muse alive.
Title of this chapter courtesy of This Love by Taylor Swift from whom I draw all my inspiration. Great song for this chapter, highly recommend.
There's no morning glory
It was war, it wasn't fair
And we will never go back to that
Bloodshed, crimson clover
The worst was over
My hand was the one you reached for
~The Great War
Grief, she learned, was as dark, hazy and unpredictable as the woods that surrounded her.
There was a never-ending nothingness that wrapped around every corner, nebulous and all-encompassing in its infinite uncertainty. It felt like falling into a void, a place where time warped in an infinite loop of every single moment that landed her here, into the abyss of a tumultuous tempest. She could fight it but she could not escape it.
Rapunzel had thought she'd known pain intimately. She'd been certain that she'd known grief before, a terrible sadness that tore her senses. She'd thought she'd hit rock bottom weeks ago. She'd thought she knew what it felt like to lose him.
She was wrong.
Worst of all, perhaps, was the suddenness of it all. The absolute permanence. The swiftness with which life changed almost in the blink of an eye, leaving her blindsided, overwhelmed. Empty.
A fickle thing it was; fate. Cruel and teasing, dangling happiness right at her fingertips and snatching it away with equal abruptness. Letting her feel the warmth of sunshine on her face one moment and wrapping its icy fingers on her soul the next, snuffing every trace of light within her. Leaving her an empty shell with only the broken pieces of what used to be her.
And in the cusp of it all, she felt a great and vast… nothingness. Rapunzel didn't suppose it should feel this way. It shouldn't feel like time itself stopped, like the very universe froze in this hell of a moment as she watched him close his eyes for the last time never to open them again. She should feel like she was agonizing right alongside him, at the very least.
Instead she felt completely numb.
All that anguish and despair, all the adrenaline coiling inside her moments before as she struggled to keep Eugene alive just waned and extinguished like a blown-out candle the moment she felt him slipping away.
Rapunzel felt it in her hands, like sand slipping through her fingertips, as he exhaled his very last breath while she held him in her arms, eyes dimming and his last soft smile dying with him as his head fell limp over her lap, claimed by an eternal unconsciousness.
You were my new dream.
His last words echoed in her mind, ringing in her ears in the ghost of a whisper she was sure would haunt her forever. Just like the three words she never got to say to him.
And she should've screamed her sorrow into the damp forest air, should've let her wretched cries echo across the woods like the tormented wails of a tortured soul haunting these dead grounds. Should've let the entire world know the depths of her pain.
But it was like Eugene had taken away her very soul with him as he left. And now there was nothing left in her, nothing but a gaping hole inside her.
Rapunzel felt nothing but her own shallow breaths, eyes unseeing as grief gathered in the corners of her waterline, blurring her vision with all the love still burning in her chest now with nowhere else to go. She still refused to let it slip. Because if she cried it would all be real. And the shock was still too fresh. The great, black nothingness was far more welcome than the mourning awaiting just around the corner.
And so she stayed in that frozen moment, that gap in space and time where she still held his limp body in her arms, and her hands curled into fists around his shirt, and the tears refused to slip past her cheeks. Not just yet. She could stay here with him in this pocket of oblivion for an eternity and the memory of him would remain fresh in her mind, and it would still feel like a nightmare but a nightmare remained unreal, and she could wake up at some point if she could only just remain here, where the world was dark and quiet and numb. And he wasn't gone, he just couldn't be gone.
Because why would life laugh in her face like this? Why would it wrap its cruel clutches on her one and only dream left and steal it without warning? Despite fighting against all odds, after everything they'd been through, everything she'd given up just to be with him… it was wretchedly cruel, almost unfathomably tragic.
Maybe it was her own fault for believing things might end up differently for them, despite every warning, every obstacle in their way, every sign that they were just not written in the stars. Had it been too much to ask, too naive of her part to believe they would make it? Until the very last moment, Rapunzel had held onto the hope that a miracle would see them through this time, like it had happened many times before.
But Eugene's eyes remained closed, and his chest was no longer moving with labored breaths and she could feel the marked absence of weight on her scalp that indicated the one and only miracle that could've helped him was long gone.
Rapunzel stayed there, kneeling by his side with his limp weight over her lap, like a marble sculpture, unwavering and unmoving as time passed her by. It could have been minutes, maybe even mere seconds that stretched like hours. She couldn't find it in herself to care or notice.
Around her the world moved on. She could hear the shift of movement behind her, faintly noticing the voices around her as they drifted like faraway echoes. It felt as though she was experiencing things outside of her own body; her rational mind floating away, a separate entity from her still numb feelings. She was aware of her surroundings like one would be while on a daydream, just enough to notice but not enough to draw her attention.
Rapunzel distantly distinguished Adira's voice through the sea of uneasy murmurs, as the tall woman argued with who she could only guess was Hector, their conversation not really registering in her brain.
"It's over now. The Sundrop is gone, and so is Eugene. There's no point in drawing this out any longer."
"There must be something we—"
"Not anymore, there isn't!"
A scuffling sound interrupted the somewhat quiet atmosphere. Then, a grunt accompanied by a huff, immediately followed by an insistent whinny.
Rapunzel's eyes remained trained on Eugene's prone figure, wide and unblinking.
"Heavens! They cannot possibly be of any use to the King any longer. Besides, they have nothing to do with this. Let them go."
There was a tense pause, uninterrupted for a few seconds. Then the sound of clinking handcuffs broke the heavy silence.
"Rapunzel!"
Shuffling footsteps quickly approached her before Rapunzel could even attempt to make sense of what she'd only heard, and a second later she could see out of the corner of her eye as Cassandra skidded to a halt and promptly dropped to her knees by her side.
Funny. She'd almost forgotten she was there, being punished right alongside everyone else for Rapunzel's foolish mistakes. Somewhere in the near vicinity she could hear Maximus' indignant huffs. A second later she felt the familiar slight weight of Pascal crawling up her arm.
"Rapunzel! Are you okay? Are you hurt?" Cassandra's hands fluttered around Rapunzel's frozen frame in search of any harm, voice strained.
Yet Rapunzel's only response were her fists tightening around the collar of Eugene's vest in a wavering grip. She didn't trust her voice to come up with a suitable answer. How could Cassandra ask such a question? Could she not see? Was she not aware of the unmoving body lying right before her, the source of Rapunzel's greatest sorrow? Evidently she was far from okay.
As if she could read her mind, Cassandra's face swivelled towards Eugene's limp form, breath hitching. The handmaiden extended an unsteady hand, her long fingers resting over the side of Eugene's neck, pressing on his pulse point in search of any trace of a heartbeat that was no longer there.
Rapunzel didn't need to feel to know he was gone. She'd felt her very soul snap in half the moment he uttered his last words, felt the shadows of eternal grief fall over her like the entire world had dimmed around her, the sunlight draining to never be seen again just as his eyes closed.
Cassandra let her hand fall by her side in silent defeat. Rapunzel could feel her sympathetic stare boring on her. "Oh, Raps, I'm so sorry."
Her words snapped something inside Rapunzel, a chord deep inside her chest that had stretched taut until this very moment. She heard her own breath catching in a strangled sort of hiccup, like she'd finally managed to take a breath but was unable to shove it past her tightening throat. She pulled Eugene's unmoving frame closer to herself. Her hand traveled from its place on his vest up to his face, trembling fingers ghosting over his cheek in a silent caress. His skin was not yet cold to the touch, unnaturally wan.
She felt the lump in her throat growing. Words slipped past her lips in a quiet, broken murmur.
"Heal what has been hurt. Change the fates' design." Rapunzel's voice shook in an unsteady breath as she suppressed a whimper, fingers brushing Eugene's hair off of his forehead so tenderly, as if an abrupt touch could still hurt him. She'd never meant the words she spoke with quite this much fervour. "Save what has been lost… bring back what once was mine…"
She rested her forehead over his, holding him impossibly close as her hand finally came to rest over his chest. There was no heartbeat there, no breath expanding his ribs. Her eyes prickled.
"What once was mine..."
Her voice finally broke on the last syllable and with it the dam in her chest, letting loose the profound agony in her soul as it escaped the fragile barrier of her previously frozen emotions.
It started with a quiet whimper as Rapunzel squeezed her eyes shut, her tears finally slipping through her eyelashes, face crumpling, as if she could possibly erase from her mind what was lying right in front of her if she just didn't see it anymore. There was not enough oxygen in her lungs to expel the number of sobs that tumbled past her lips in rapid succession, deep and violent, shaking her to the very core and leaving her breath ragged and her chest tight with the weight of her sorrow.
Rapunzel was hardly aware of the soft murmurs around her, of Adira's admonishing dismissal, of Hector's quiet words of apology and his subsequent command, of the retreating footsteps and the clank of metal against metal of the Black Guards' armor as it grew ever more distant. She barely registered Pascal rubbing sympathetically against her neck, or a slender arm wrapping around her quivering shoulders, a hand squeezing her in silent comfort. None of it mattered at the moment, not when her silent sobs were not enough anymore to contain the onslaught of pain in her heart, acute and unrelenting.
A terrible sound suddenly reached her ears, a wretched sort of wail so profound it sounded almost like a wounded animal. With a start Rapunzel realized it was coming from herself.
"She needs to go." Adira's steady voice drifted past the sound of her weeping, somewhere close. "Hector won't pursue you any longer, but we don't know what the King might still do. It's not safe for her to stay here, not when the Black Guards know her secret."
Cassandra spoke up after a moment of hesitation. "But… what about…"
"I can take care of his body." Adira cut her off, and Rapunzel's arms immediately snaked around Eugene's sides, hugging him closer as though afraid someone might snatch him away if she didn't hold onto him. "His father will want to say his goodbyes, give him a proper burial along with his ancestors."
Rapunzel shook her head, face now buried in the crook of Eugene's neck as her tears soaked his pale skin. He wouldn't want that, he didn't want to go back to that place.
"Raps…" Cassandra's tone was a soft, coaxing murmur that Rapunzel had never heard from her.
"N-No." Was all she could reply, voice thick and shaky with her racking breaths, but the meaning was still clear and firm. She wouldn't allow it.
"Rapunzel, please…" She felt Cassandra's slender hand squeeze her shoulder. "We need to go."
Rapunzel didn't respond beyond her quiet sniffles. She felt Cassandra's hand now on her back, a soothing rub that didn't really feel comforting at all at the moment.
"You need to be strong, Raps. This can't be good for the baby."
This only served to prompt another wave of heaving sobs, a hint of anger now swelling in her gut. How was she to do this without him? It was unfair of fate to snatch him away before he could even meet his own child. Not when that very morning he'd been discussing names with her, hopeful of their future together. How could the sun keep rising every morning, the grass keep growing, how could life keep going on as if nothing had happened when he was gone? How could she be expected to move on?
It felt like her chest might cave in with the weight of her cries, and Cassandra's voice became a bit more insistent.
"Now, Rapunzel, I know this is terrible, but he wouldn't want you to stay here." She felt her arm being tugged gently, and Rapunzel instinctively tightened her hold on Eugene. "He did this to keep you safe, the least we can do is—"
Cassandra cut herself off abruptly and Rapunzel felt the handmaiden scramble away with a startled gasp. This, however, did not catch Rapunzel's attention quite as much as the unexpected warmth radiating from Eugene's previously cooling skin.
Rapunzel had not yet registered exactly what was happening, when a sudden light slipped past her closed eyelids, persistent but not piercing, like a faint warm sunbeam. She cracked her eyes open just a fraction, while Cassandra's unsettled sputtering began to resemble a panicked squeak, and the sight that met her was enough to freeze the air inside her lungs.
Eugene's shirt still lay unbuttoned from when Adira had inspected his wound, leaving his torso exposed, and where there once had been nothing but damaged skin now golden patterns appeared, painted across his chest in swirling trails of light like glowing tattoos.
Rapunzel felt her eyes widen and her jaw go slack, as the glowing tendrils slowly traveled down his midriff, erasing the gruesome black veins that had marred his flesh and leaving nothing but smooth, unblemished skin in their wake. They reached their final destination in the necrotic tissue surrounding Eugene's stab wound, and the shallow gash suddenly glowed with acute intensity, like the sun itself was shining through the injury, casting beams of yellow light in the otherwise gloomy atmosphere and twisting in new patterns that oddly resembled a golden flower.
"W-what the…" Cassandra's voice was an uncharacteristically strangled gasp.
Meanwhile, Adira watched with eager, curious eyes, leaning a bit closer with a murmur of almost reverent wonder. "The Sundrop… it's not gone…"
Eugene's frame was momentarily illuminated by an intense golden light, almost blinding as it flared with a soft hum of unnatural energy, and as Rapunzel watched in silent bafflement, the wound on his side closed, leaving not a trace of the damage it had caused save for a faint reddish mark that resembled a scratch.
The unnatural spectacle couldn't have lasted more than a minute, and all too soon the golden light faded until it disappeared to be engulfed by the shadows of the dark forest, but the warmth it had brought forth remained and Rapunzel's bewildered gaze snapped back to Eugene's face. His cheeks, while still somewhat sallow, had regained a tinge of healthy rosy color. Not nearly what he usually looked like but just a hint, enough to spark some hope —however foolish— inside her.
She waited with bated breath, only for a second, and then…
Eugene's eyelids fluttered, lips parting in a soft but overwhelmingly present breath.
Rapunzel could've sagged all the way to the mossy ground in relief, as Eugene's soft brown eyes finally opened. Bleary and disoriented, he blinked a few times before his squinted gaze settled on her.
"Rapunzel…?" His voice was a rough rasp, barely even audible.
"Eugene…" She breathed, awe bleeding into her previous heartbrokenness.
Rapunzel wondered for a moment if perhaps she'd finally lost her sanity and this was just a product of her imagination, of her ardent desire to bring him back. But then he decided to settle her doubts in true Eugene-like fashion; all debonair flair and faint but still somehow teasing smirk.
"Did I ever tell you I've got a thing for brunettes?"
It was ridiculous, absurd of him to quip in the midst of everything that had just transpired, like the last hour and a half hadn't even happened at all and they were once again carelessly walking through the woods discussing silly names for their unborn baby.
Rapunzel wouldn't have it any other way.
His name left her lips in a strange sound somewhere between a laugh and a sob, and she wasted not even a second in launching herself into his arms.
Eugene huffed, evidently taken aback by her sudden movement, and barely managed to catch himself halfway upright as her arms wrapped around his shoulders in a fierce embrace. Rapunzel had no words for the myriad of feelings crashing into her all at once, but her immense relief escaped her once again in sobs muffled into Eugene's shoulder. She felt his arms tightening around her as his face pressed into the crook of her neck, holding her just as close, as though neither of them were willing to let the other one go for the rest of eternity.
Rapunzel swore to herself in that very moment she wouldn't. Heaven and hell could conspire against them and she still would hold onto him, her soul intertwined with his. Against ferocious gales and rising tides, she would steer them clear from any tempest willing to part them again.
She reluctantly pulled away, if only to look at his face once more, reassure herself that he was real, and here and alive. Eugene still looked somewhat out of breath and pale compared to his usually sun-kissed complexion, but his smile was soft and his eyes held nothing but adoration as he looked at her like she was some sort of miracle.
As if he himself wasn't the very epitome of a miracle staring right at her.
Rapunzel couldn't help herself.
She cradled his cheeks in her hands and promptly brought him closer, crashing her lips into his in an almost desperate movement, trying to pour all of her relief and love for him into the gesture. He stiffened beneath her touch as she swallowed his startled gasp, but after a second, Eugene melted in her embrace, mouth softening against hers as he returned the kiss with equal fervor, his hand coming to rest against the back of her neck to bring her impossibly closer.
It had been so long, so long since the last time Rapunzel had felt his lips against hers, yet her skin knew his like the back of her hand, his touch was familiar and welcome, his kiss warm and soft despite his still cool and slightly chapped lips, and it couldn't have been more perfect. It felt like a gulp of fresh air after feeling like she'd been drowning, even as he stole her breath right out of her lungs, and she sought his lips like he was the last remaining drop of water in the desert, her body craving his.
It didn't last long despite feeling like she could remain there forever, and Eugene reluctantly broke the kiss, though he didn't move much further, his forehead resting over hers like he couldn't bare to part from her for even a second, still sharing the same air, noses brushing gently.
"Hi." His lips brushed hers as he murmured, eyes closed, savoring the moment.
Rapunzel giggled, giddy with newfound hope. "Hi."
"Could someone explain to me what in the ever-loving hell is going on?!"
Their bubble of blissful happiness was abruptly burst by Cassandra's slightly panicked voice. Rapunzel turned her head, still halfway over Eugene's lap, and was met with the unusual sight of her handmaiden's half-crazed face, eyes wide and mouth opening and closing like a fish out of water.
Rapunzel supposed this was a very expected reaction coming from someone who'd just witnessed a resurrection. Much more considering as of a few minutes ago, Cassandra had not even known about her magical hair.
Rapunzel winced. There was quite a lot to explain.
Eugene's approach, however, was not quite how she would've handled it.
"See, that's the appropriate reaction to witnessing the impossible right before your eyes! Thank you." Eugene gestured towards Cassandra like she'd just proven his point in some argument Rapunzel was unaware about and then nodded sagely, with all the air of someone who understood. "You're welcome to freak out, Cassandra, it's fine."
Cassandra looked between the two of them like she was seriously considering the possibility that she might be hallucinating, then blinked several times. All in all, she still looked nowhere near as panicked as Eugene had the first time he'd witnessed Rapunzel's healing magic.
She did not freak out, but Rapunzel suspected she was close to. Her olive green eyes settled on Eugene like he was a puzzle particularly hard to solve. Overall, she looked more confused than anything else.
"Y-you were… you were just— I felt it with my own fingers there was no pulse…!" Cassandra rambled. Rapunzel did not miss Eugene's very subtle flinch at her words. "H-how… why are you alive?!"
"Gee, you could look more thrilled that I'm actually not dead." Eugene grumbled, though there was no real bite behind his words. Perhaps a near death —or actual death— experience had made him less receptive to Cassandra's bluntness.
It was Adira who finally stepped in to clear the question hanging in the air between them.
"That would be the Sundrop's doing." Her eyes roved over Eugene with a calculated intelligence, piecing together the puzzle that Cassandra was unable to understand. "Its healing powers used to be channeled through Rapunzel's hair, but now that that vessel is gone… it must have found another outlet. My guess is on her tears."
There was a moment of silence in which everyone considered Adria's words, and then…
"That's a whole lot of hogwash. What even is the Sundrop anyway!" Cassandra exploded, the events of the day finally catching up to her flaring temper.
Rapunzel couldn't say she blamed her.
"Look, Cass, there's a lot I need to explain and I'm sorry I didn't tell you sooner." Rapunzel tried for a soft approach. "It wasn't that I didn't trust you with it, there was just so much going on and I… I guess I didn't dim it important at the time."
Rapunzel looked at her former handmaiden, eyes imploring. Cassandra didn't look as much upset as she did confused but there was a clear layer of hurt hiding in the green of her eyes. After everything she'd done for Rapunzel, everything she'd risked, and Rapunzel hadn't even had the presence of mind to warn Cassandra before everything went down the drain. She'd risked her own life to give Rapunzel a chance without even knowing the full extent of the danger she was facing or the reasons behind it.
Cassandra's lips pursed, choosing to avoid Rapunzel's contrite gaze. Instead her eyes drifted back to Eugene, and though her expression remained mostly neutral there was a hint of newfound respect hiding just beneath the surface. Rapunzel knew what Cassandra could finally see in him now. Eugene had known all along, the secret of the Sundrop and the invaluable gift of Rapunzel's hair. He could've chosen to exploit it if he so wished, sell her power knowing it was worth a thousand crowns like the one he'd initially stolen from her. He could've traded her to save his own life. Instead, he deliberately chose to die to assure her freedom.
The mere thought made an unpleasant chill run down her spine.
"Wait. Where is that cryptic guy with the crocodile eyes?" Eugene interrupted the awkward silence that had settled over them, head turning in search for the very present danger that had loomed over them just mere minutes before.
It was then that Rapunzel realized they were gone. The ominous presence of the Dark Guard and their leader had disappeared like shadows in the forest, leaving not a trace of the horrors they'd inflicted behind. It all felt like waking up from a particularly horrible nightmare.
But Eugene remained evidently unsettled, eyes roaming across every shadowy corner like he expected them to jump from their hiding spot within the bony trees, his arm tightening around Rapunzel's shoulder in a protective half embrace.
Adira looked around for a moment before heaving a tired breath. "Hector is gone, along with the Black Guard. I don't think he will be bothering you again."
Eugene raised a skeptic eyebrow.
"Hector's judgement was misguided, but he esteems Edmund too much to hurt his son. I know he never intended for things to come to this, even if his methods were… questionable at best." Adira continued, voice clipped as she tried to suppress her annoyance with her former companion. "He is loyal to the Crown but even that loyalty has its limits. I do believe the Dark King has lost his few remaining allies after this ordeal.
"What King Harold ordered today is treason in the eyes of his Royal Council if his decision was not approved by them." Adira explained with a deep frown. "He attacked a member of the Royal Family, and was willing to risk the safety of our kingdom by bringing the Sundrop into our lands without fully acknowledging the risks such a move could pose on how the Moonstone would react. I don't think Hector will stay quiet on what transpired here, and once word gets out…" Adira shrugged. "Well, I don't think King Harold will remain in the throne much longer, certainly not after Edmund hears about this."
"You will forgive me, Adira, but I don't trust that crazy-eyed creep and his judgement one bit." Eugene grumbled behind the hand he ran through his face, evidently exhausted.
"Understandable. You don't have to." Adira shrugged one shoulder, her other arm still braced across her bruised and battered body. "As far as Hector and the Black Guards know, you are dead and the Sundrop is no more. They had nothing left to do here, so they left before they could bear witness to what happened after."
Rapunzel felt Eugene sag in silent relief but his expression remained tense, which did not slip Adira's notice. "Of course, that information is safe with me, you don't have to worry about that. Nevertheless, you should leave, remain hidden for a while. These woods are not safe and you're still in danger as long as King Harold sits on the throne of the Dark Kingdom."
Somewhere beside them Cassandra scoffed, her eyes roamed Adira's frame with evident suspicion. "And how can we trust you on that? As far as I know, you show up out of nowhere and suddenly there's a bunch of foreign guards looking to arrest all of us. Do we even know her by the way?"
Cassandra's questioning eyes turned toward Rapunzel, who could only shrug in response. Technically, she didn't know Adira all that well either but the tall woman did not raise any alarm bells in her mind. She'd tried to warn them, and then to protect them, she fought Hector to give them a chance.
Besides…
"I trust her." Eugene spoke with a resolute nod, confirming what Rapunzel was already thinking. "She risked her life to help me, several times. I don't know how that thank you for that, Adira."
Eugene's gaze turned back to the tall woman, sincerity and gratitude clear in his eyes. Adira's usually serious mien softened into something almost like a smile. "You don't have to."
Something shifted in Adira's gaze, her eyes taking on a nostalgic glint, like she could see in Eugene a piece of a different lifetime. Soft and sweet and better.
For a moment Rapunzel wondered how Eugene's life would've turned out had his own uncle not conspired against him from the very beginning. If he had been raised in his homeland, as a prince of the Dark Kingdom. Would he have had a loving family? Would his relationship with Adira have been one resembling close and beloved relatives, like the one Adira had probably shared with Edmund and Hector once upon a time? Would Eugene have been part of the same Brotherhood? Would he have felt trapped like Rapunzel had felt as a princess or would he be happier now?
Would they have ever met had that been the case?
Most likely not. But then he would've never had the need to put his life on the line. The mere thought felt like an unwelcome thorn in her heart.
"I have to go. I need to get back home, things will certainly be complicated after what happened today." Adira interrupted Rapunzel's train of thought, rolling her stiff shoulders as though preparing for the long journey ahead. She hesitated, eyeing Eugene carefully for a minute. "With your permission, though, I would like to inform Edmund that you're alright."
Rapunzel felt Eugene stiffening beside her, his lips thinning in tense contemplation. She was surprised when he reluctantly nodded nonetheless.
Adira's tense posture visibly relaxed after that.
Eugene made a move to get up, but his limbs remained weak and somewhat wobbly and he was forced to accept Rapunzel's help to steady him as he stood.
Once he regained his balance, he took a step forward and extended a friendly hand towards the tall woman before them. "Well then, goodbye Adira."
"Not goodbye. We will see each other again, I'm sure." Adira's thin lips lifted into an enigmatic smirk as she shook his hand. "Until then, farewell Fitzherbert. Take good care of your princess."
Adira's dark eyes drifted towards Rapunzel, sending her a respectful bow. And with one last parting nod towards them and a still nonplussed Cassandra, she turned around. There was still a noticeable limp in her otherwise firm steps, but despite her bruised state, the three of them watched as the tall warrior steadily made her way across the uneven forest ground.
Soon the nebulous fog engulfed her frame until her shadow disappeared within the vastness of the wilderness ahead, taking the very last traces of the Dark Kingdom and the horrors that had transpired in that very same glen with her, like a hazy and faraway memory.
They say time heals all wounds.
Lately, Rapunzel wondered what the timeframe was for the scars that remained, stubborn and persistent. When the wound was not an open gash anymore, but the scabs that lingered in its wake were just as bothersome, if a little less painful.
When the memories became nightmares, when the damage was no longer superficial, but bone-deep, coursing in her blood.
It was ironic that despite the happy miracle that had transpired within the foggy shadows of the forest, she still carried more than a little bit of that darkness in her chest. One would think such a joyous and magical affair would precede a fairytale-like ending to their harrowing experience.
But the aftermath was not quite a happily ever after, after all. Instead if felt bleak and worryingly unpredictable.
It hadn't been long after they'd started their tread back to the village that Rapunzel noticed the first signs that not everything would be smooth sailing from then on.
Eugene remained weak and woozy, his legs unsteady beneath him and his pace slow and stumbling. For a few promising minutes Rapunzel had harbored the hope that perhaps it was just his body taking time to regain its former strength. But when the shadows of the scrawny trees became sparser and the light of day finally hit their faces once more as they left the dense woods behind, she noticed Eugene's cheeks were yet to regain their former color, his skin remained sickly pale, his lips had not quite lost that concerning bluish tint they had acquired with the poison.
Accepting that the very last traces of her healing magic had been enough to bring him back to life but not enough to heal him completely had been a hard pill to swallow.
By the time the the three of them had stumbled back into the inn definitely looking like the forest had swallowed them and spit them back out, Cassandra and Rapunzel had each taken one of Eugene's arms over their shoulders, carefully balancing most of his weight between them to help him walk, much to his immense chagrin. Even Maximus had lingered behind in quiet concern, while Pascal looked on from his perch on her shoulder like a worried sentinel.
One look at them had had Lance, the innkeeper, hovering over them like a distressed nurse, barraging them with an onslaught of questions for which they could not have a straight answer. It didn't take a genius, though, to assume what had happened in those woods. The Black Guards had swarmed the small village in search of one Flynn Rider/Eugene Fitzherbert, wanted posters at the ready. Swooping in and leaving just as abruptly, like the high tide come morning. The results of that search were pretty self explanatory considering Eugene's state.
Luckily for everyone involved, Lance had been particularly inclined to help despite Eugene's less savory reputation.
Two things became quite evident in the following hour. One; Eugene didn't seem to be in an exactly dire condition, just extremely tired and more than a bit dizzy. He would most likely need some time to rest to fully recover. Which brought them to their second conclusion; he was still not in any state to travel, much less a long distance. They would not be getting very far away from the sleepy town they'd been staying at as rapidly as they would've liked.
But they could not stay in the same place either, not after everything that had happened already.
Which left them where they were now, stuck in a remote, tiny cottage just beyond the very outskirts of town. Lance had very graciously procured the location, once they'd explained their need to remain hidden lest their armed pursuers returned in a new search. Turns out he used to occupy this tiny place as a safe house in the outlaw-ish days of his youth, and kept the house mostly habitable ever since, for the days when he wanted a peaceful retreat for a vacation of sorts.
The cottage was comfortably hidden behind a patch of sturdy evergreens, which provided ample cover and shade, and was just a small trek away from the edge of town, a good enough distance away from civilization but not too deep into the dark forest. There was a small creek of fresh water running nearby, which made the location ideal for a hideout without the need of constant visits to town.
But like everything else in this dark corner of the world, so close to the ever present decay preying on the Dark Kingdom's lands, there was nothing picturesque about the landscape whatsoever. The small building was dark and somewhat shabby, made out of the same sturdy dark grey rock and ebony wood that all the other structures in town displayed, making it blend perfectly into the shadows clinging to every corner. There was hardly any light of day that could filter through the dense boughs of the trees that surrounded them, plunging the place in a permanent semi-darkness that resembled an eternal early evening.
The cottage was only cozy in regards of its tiny size, consisting of a single bedroom and a small square of space that made up the kitchen and something that almost resembled a stance area. The lack of windows all around save for the two by the main door made for a stuffy and even darker atmosphere, a small price to pay in exchange for a safe place to stay hidden from the outside world.
Rapunzel hated every aspect of it and this abhorrent place that had already tried to take so much from her, but beggars can't be choosers, she supposed. And as long as Eugene needed to recover, the gloomy cottage would have to do for the time being.
But time seemed to stretch on forever in sluggish seconds that seemed like hours and hours that resembled centuries. And in the bleak spell of time Rapunzel had never felt more… unsettled.
The first night had been the worst. Rapunzel had clung to Eugene like a lifeline, reluctant to let him out of her sight for even a second. He'd been entirely too tired to do much except stumble to the run-down straw mattress in that single gloomy bedroom and fall into it with the exhaustion of someone who'd come back from war. She'd crawled in bed right beside him and promptly curled her body around his in a protective embrace, her hand resting over his chest, counting each deep breath, timing the space between each steady heartbeat. Her eyes never left his sleeping frame, afraid that if she let them slip shut he would somehow disappear beneath her fingertips.
And while his breathing remained steady and calm, hers felt like a pebble was clogging up her windpipe the entire night until he woke again the next morning.
She hadn't gotten a wink of sleep in those dark hours, and not much more after that.
Cassandra had decided to remain at the inn along with Maximus, while they stayed hidden at the cottage, claiming that the ones who were really in any danger of being pursued by the Dark King were the two of them and she'd much rather stay in town where she could be aware of any news that the Black Guard might be back. Rapunzel didn't know if the former handmaiden was just reluctant to share such close quarters with them, if she was trying to give them some privacy, or if she'd just decided to keep her distance out of some unresolved resentment she might still harbor towards Rapunzel for her lack of communication.
In any case, Cassandra had limited herself to visiting along with Maximus every now and then, bringing them supplies and food and any news from the outside world she might deem important. Sometimes she came with Lance, most times she came alone. Her visits were short and her conversation sometimes clipped, but she always asked after Eugene's health and the progress of his slow recovery.
The first time she visited she'd brought along with her a small vial. The tonic inside was thick and syrupy, a strong herbal smell wafting off of it in strong waves. Cassandra had explained it was an antidote she'd gotten at an apothecary in town. Apparently, Moonshade was not uncommon around these parts and the cases of poisoning were a regular occurrence. Eugene didn't seem to be suffering from the deadlier symptoms of it anymore, but he'd explained what he would surely experiment in the following days based on what he'd gone through when he'd been dosed with Moonshade before.
Still, it was better to be safe than sorry.
Rapunzel dutifully mixed a spoonful of the syrupy substance in the herbal teas she brewed for Eugene every morning and every evening. It payed well to have learnt some medicinal remedies from the countless botanical books she'd read in the Royal Library when the afternoons cooped up indoors proved to be entirely too boring.
She chanted the properties of each herb in her head like a mantra, trying to occupy her mind with something that wasn't absolute dread. Peppermint, to help with his nausea and cramping muscles; ginger, to relieve some of his pain; and turmeric to soothe his oversensitive skin.
Eugene drank and slept and woke up only in short intervals in which his eyes usually looked hazy and unfocused. Rapunzel worried but Eugene insisted he'd been through it before, he would only need some time to 'sleep it off'. And while he rested Rapunzel fretted with nothing else to occupy her overactive mind.
By the time the days turned into a week and a half, Rapunzel felt just about ready to colapse. And on Cassandra's next visit, the handmaiden's eyes lingered over her with evident concern for much longer than they'd done before. The bags under Rapunzel's eyes must have been terrible by then, for Cassandra forwent her usual inquiry of Eugene's health and asked after Rapunzel's instead.
"Not to be rude, but you look exhausted. You need to rest too, you know?" Cassandra had said with as much tact as she was capable of. Which was to say, not much.
Rapunzel tried to wave off her concern, but Cassandra insisted with stubborn finality.
"I'm fine. Besides, Eugene is sleeping right now, if he needs something and I'm not there…"
"I'll stay here until he wakes then. If something happens I'll be right here."
It was a logical solution. Besides, there was Pascal always present and alert by her side in case she was needed.
But Rapunzel could not sleep anymore, not even if she tried. The horrors of that harrowing day were waiting just under the surface of her consciousness, ready to strike as soon as she let down her guard. The image of Eugene lying pale and lifeless in the forest ground was permanently seared into her eyelids. She could see it clear as day every time she closed her eyes, the gruesome black veins that covered his torso, the festering wound, his dimming eyes. All of it haunted her every waking thought, but the nightmares were even worse.
Rapunzel had only been able to get a couple of hours of fitful sleep since that day, plagued by the visions of an even worse fate every time she surrendered to her dreams. There was a constant pressure in her chest, like she expected to open her eyes and find that everything had been a dream and Eugene was really gone, still lying dead on that clearing where her heart had torn apart.
Pascal worried, just like Cassandra did. But there was nothing to be done for it until Eugene fully recovered. So she'd ignored Cassandra's admonishing glare and kept chopping carrots for the soup she was preparing for dinner.
Cassandra's lips had pursed in disapproval, but she'd had the sense to leave that particular subject alone.
"He seems to be getting better." She ventured instead with an inquisitive tone. "He said himself he's been recovering just fine."
Rapunzel gave a halfhearted shrug. It was true, Eugene had been able to stay awake and focused for longer periods of time, and he had been regaining some of his strength back, enough not to immediately stumble over his own feet every time he stood up.
And yet…
"He could be saying that just to keep me from worrying." Rapunzel muttered, her voice laced with some foreign and unusual bitterness.
Cassandra quirked an eyebrow. "He does look a lot better though. I'm sure he will be good to travel soon enough."
When Rapunzel's only answer was a noncommittal hum, Cassandra continued with a huff.
"I think we need to go back home."
"You mean Corona?" Rapunzel frowned.
Cassandra must have noticed the concern behind Rapunzel's voice. She pressed her lips into a thin line, her olive green eyes boring into Rapunzel's with fierce seriousness.
"We can't keep going on like this. The money you took with you will only last us so long and we have no connections, no jobs, no way to sustain ourselves outside of Lance's generosity. What will we do once the baby comes, have you thought of that?" Cassandra's voice took on an urgent edge.
"I'm sure your parents won't turn you away, even after everything that's happened. They wouldn't be that cruel."
She was right, they wouldn't. Her mother would be absolutely distraught and her father would be utterly disappointed, but Rapunzel was fairly certain they'd rather she returned home.
But they still abided by the Royal Council's rules, and the laws and decorum came above all else for the Crown. She knew that better than anyone.
"The Council would never accept this, Cassandra." Rapunzel's shoulders sagged with the weight of it all, somehow feeling more trapped than ever. "And I won't give up my baby, not for the world."
"I know, but surely your parents would be able to come up with a solution. I cannot imagine they would leave you to deal with this all on your own." Cassandra insisted.
Even if they did, that would not resolve all of their problems.
"What about Eugene?" Rapunzel's voice sounded small to her own ears, laced with uncertainty and fear. "He's still a wanted criminal in Corona, he cannot return just like that."
"What if there could be some kind of pardon for saving the Crown Princess' life?" Cassandra wondered out loud, eyebrows furrowing in thought.
"That's a big if." Rapunzel returned, the expectation of it too optimistic even for her. "I will not put his fate on chance. I won't lose him again, I won't."
There was a fierceness behind her words that had Cassandra raise a placating hand in surrender.
"I know, Raps, believe me that's the last thing I would want." Cassandra considered her next words carefully. "Perhaps before I might have thought differently, but now… I've seen what you mean to each other. Despite his questionable past…" it seemed to take something big out of Cassandra for her to admit it but she continued nonetheless, "he's a good man. I mean, at least for you."
Rapunzel felt her lips quirk up into a faint smile at Cassandra's reluctant shrug. Her former handmaiden returned the gesture with a genuine grin of her own.
"We can come up with a solid plan on our way back to Corona." Cassandra spoke with firm conviction. "I'll help you keep him safe, I promise."
And for a moment Rapunzel almost believed her.
But that's the thing, wasn't it? Somewhere along the way, after everything she'd almost lost, every broken promise, every word she'd trusted that had ultimately not been true, Rapunzel's infallible trust had been broken far too many times for her to believe again.
Objectively, she knew most of those promises had been broken only with the intent to keep her safe. But the effect was still the same. Eugene claimed he was feeling better, but how could she trust his word for it when he'd done this to her before? How could she trust Cassandra on that promise and be certain she wouldn't go back to Corona only to lose it all again as soon as she stepped foot inside the Palace? Rapunzel would surely remain safe, she had little doubt about that, but what about the rest of them?
Cassandra had left that day without a straight answer from Rapunzel, only the vague assurance that she would give the idea some thought.
And think about it she did. Long and hard for agonizing hours until night turned to morning and she found herself where she was now currently sitting.
The crisp autumn air smelled damp and earthy outside. As she curled her bare toes on the mossy grass, Rapunzel let her fingers dip on the chilly water running on the creek near the cottage. She contemplated her reflection in the crystalline surface, and the distorted image still managed to startle her even days later. She could hardly recognize the woman starring back at her.
The prominent shadows under her eyes spoke volumes of her lack of sleep. Her skin had grown ashen and her usually full cheeks appeared a bit sunken. She wondered for a moment if the rot and decay plaguing these lands could also have an effect on its citizens, if the curse of the Dark Kingdom managed to reach all the way here, feeding on the liveliness of the people that stayed for too long. Still, nothing shocked her quite as much as the change in her hair.
Where there once had been an impossibly long mane of golden locks now sat a mop of dark brown hair that did not even reach her shoulders. The strands lay messy and somewhat irregular, most only long enough to barely rest past her chin. It was entirely too short to stile it, certainly not fashionable according to high nobility standards, and her former handmaids back at the Palace would surely have a stroke if they ever saw her again.
But surprisingly enough, Rapunzel found she didn't quite mind the new pixie cut. She thought it fitting actually. The spiky edges that refused to lay tame, the quirky and unusual hairstyle, it suited her personality better.
Still a part of her mourned the loss of her long blonde hair. Not for vanity's sake, not even for the useful ways she'd adapted to it. No, the feeling was more complicated than that. It felt more like losing an unwanted extra limb, an intrinsic part of herself that she'd liked and hated in equal measure. She felt naked and unbalanced without it in more ways than the obvious physical ones that came with losing a couple pounds worth of weight around her neck.
Rapunzel lifted a hand, fingers curling around the soft edges of a now brown strand, and frowned.
"I'm sorry about that."
The voice that abruptly interrupted the calm stillness of the place startled Rapunzel, making her jump. She whirled around to face the approaching figure of Eugene with a disapproving look.
"What are you doing out here! You should be resting."
"I've done nothing but rest for days. I'm feeling better now." He waved off, coming to sit right by her side with only slight difficulty. His movements were still a bit slow and stiff, but overall he looked the best that she'd seen him in days.
This only marginally eased the still persistent pressure in her chest.
Eugene considered her for a moment with a thoughtful look that made Rapunzel avert her eyes in slight self-consciousness. He extended a careful hand and softly ran his fingers through her short crop.
"I meant what I said, you know?" Eugene murmured. "I do like the new haircut, it suits you."
Rapunzel smiled, leaning into his hand now softly resting on the side of her cheek.
But despite his previous words, Eugene frowned. "I'm sorry about the length though."
Her eyebrows lifted in a quizzical expression.
Eugene shrugged a bit awkwardly. "I didn't put much thought behind it, I was a little preoccupied… you know…"
Dying.
He didn't need to finish that thought. Rapunzel felt a spike of pain shoot straight to her heart.
She braved it with a dismissive gesture of her hand. "I don't mind the length, Eugene."
He raised and unconvinced eyebrow.
"Truly I don't!"
"You seem bothered by it."
He was right, there was something bothering her, stubbornly stuck in the back of her throat and refusing to leave. Something raw and difficult to explain even to herself, it made her skin crawl and her jaw tense.
But the look of her new hairstyle had nothing to do with it.
"It's not the length, it's just…" Rapunzel trailed off with a frustrated sigh, voice impossibly small. "why did you do it?"
He looked at her like he expected her to elaborate, so she did.
"Why did you cut it?"
It was a question that plagued her mind at night, when the darkness allowed for nothing but to lie awake in her bed, eyes almost obsessively tracing Eugene's sleeping form like she expected him to evaporate into nothing. Still no matter how much she pondered it, there was never a satisfying answer. Why had he chosen that fate instead of allowing her the chance to heal him first, when there could have been another way?
Eugene gave her a peculiar look, like he couldn't understand where this was coming from, the hand still tracing her short hair falling limp at his side.
"Isn't it obvious by now?" He seemed genuinely perplexed that she was even asking such a thing. Rapunzel could only stare back, the same question reflected in her eyes.
"Because I love you." Eugene said simply as his gaze dropped to his lap, cheeks slightly coloring at the heartfelt confession. "Because I couldn't bare the thought of you putting yourself in danger like that. I couldn't let them take you. If anything happened to you and I wasn't there to protect you…"
He left that thought hanging between them. But Rapunzel was too concentrated in the first half of his speech to care. It was the first time he'd ever said those words to her, and Rapunzel couldn't help but fixate on them. And while it wasn't exactly the setting she'd imagined them exchanging that very important sentiment, it still echoed in her heart, blooming in her chest.
And with it came a very unexpected realization. It's not like it was exactly a surprising confession, after all he had quite literally given his life for her. In fact, that was the crux of the matter. He loved her so immensely, so unfathomably, that he would give up his life in a heartbeat, without a single doubt, if it meant keeping her safe.
To him the height of love meant sacrifice. He'd done it countless times for her. But to Rapunzel it meant commitment. It meant never giving up on the one you love, fighting for what you want, persevering against all odds.
He'd chosen her safety over his own life so easily, but she couldn't reconcile the thought of losing him again even against the highest of dangers.
"Well, did it ever occur to you that I love you just as much?" She murmured, the lump in her throat making her voice waver just slightly.
Eugene's eyes snapped back toward her, looking like he hadn't been expecting her to return the feeling. It almost made her smile, the genuine surprise in his face, just as much as it broke her heart.
"Did you think about how much it would hurt me to lose you? How it killed me to watch you just…" Rapunzel's breath hitched, unable to say the rest out loud. "And I couldn't do anything about it. Not anymore."
It meant the world to her, his selfless sacrifice, the fact she meant that much to him to be willing to do such a thing. Her short brown hair was a perfect sign of his immense love for her, the gift of her freedom, and she treasured the gesture with her whole heart, she really did.
But while Eugene contemplated her words in silence, she thought about how much it hurt her very soul too. He'd taken that choice away from her again, just like he'd done when he let Max alert the guards of her whereabouts to bring her back home. It was endearing as much as it was frustrating, that he seemed to have tunnel vision when it came to her safety.
Nothing else mattered more to him than Rapunzel's well-being. But this became a genuine problem to her when his own life came second to him.
"We could've found another way." She continued, voice thick with emotion, taking his hand in hers. "I could've healed you and we could've found another way without putting your life on the line like that."
"That would've meant risking your own life to save mine." Eugene said, his fingers interlacing with hers. "You know what they wanted with your magic, you know they would do anything to exploit it for their own purposes."
"But we could have figured something out!" Rapunzel insisted, her words becoming almost shrill to her own ears. "I just… It bothers me that you seem to think my life is more worth protecting than yours! I hate that you gambled your life away that easily."
Eugene sighed, suddenly looking exhausted all over again. "I know that you want me to regret it, Rapunzel." He removed his hand from her tight grip, opting to look her straight in the eye instead. "But I can't say I would do anything differently if it meant keeping you safe."
She knew that, couldn't say she was really expecting a different response. And still, it didn't sit right with her.
"Well, I can't accept that."
"We're gonna have to agree to disagree then." He said with a resigned shrug.
She shook her head. "No. I don't think this is an issue that we can just sweep under the rug and pretend everything is alright."
Because danger still lingered in the foggy air around them. Because he was still a wanted criminal no matter where they went, and the gallows were certainly awaiting him back in Corona and no matter how she looked at it she couldn't shake the feeling that it might happen again, that she might lose him this time for good, and without her healing magic how was she to help him at all?
Rapunzel stood up, suddenly feeling agitated. Desperate to make him understand.
"What if it had been me in your place, huh?" She rounded on him, chest tight. "What if you'd had the chance, the one chance, to save my life and I just took it away? Because I was too infuriatingly self-sacrificing like that?"
Eugene opened his mouth, ready to argue, but something in her statement made him pause.
"What if it had been you the one forced to watch me die without being able to stop it, what then?" Her eyebrows drew together in a pained frown.
That was the thought that truly made anxiety swell in her chest almost every night she spent awake. He could risk his life countless times and she could've saved him twice as many. But without magic hair there were no second chances.
Rapunzel deflated with a dejected breath.
"I don't have that chance anymore, Eugene, that's what bothers me. If you go and do it again, what will save you this time?" Rapunzel willed her voice to remain steady as she looked at him in earnest. Her hand came to rest over her belly in a gesture that was already becoming familiar. "And it's not just about you or me anymore. You would've left our baby too."
Eugene flinched, like the words had been a physical blow to him. She heard him sigh heavily. "I know, which is also why I did what I did." His voice was low as he spoke. "Their safety was at stake too. There is nothing I wouldn't do for the two of you."
Rapunzel felt her heart squeeze in her chest.
"I'm sorry, Rapunzel. I truly am." He tilted his head down, avoiding her piercing gaze. "I just don't think I'm sorry for what you want me to be sorry for."
Rapunzel thought she understood. He was sorry that hurting her was collateral damage to his choice. He would still do it again if the situation called for it.
She knelt by his side, cupping his face between her hands and gently lifted his jaw to bring his gaze back to her. His eyes shined with raw emotion as they hesitantly met hers, and Rapunzel ran her thumb against his cheekbone, as though wiping away the tears he would never let slip.
She was suddenly overwhelmed with the need to wrap him in her arms and never let him go, to hide him from the harsh, cruel world and protect him in her sweet embrace. Keep him safe and concealed like a precious secret in this corner of the world where they could never be found.
Eugene would hate that, and she would never subject him to the same treatment her own parents had once given her, so wrapped up in the fear of losing her they never allowed her the chance to actually live. Rapunzel thought she understood them now better than ever, though.
If she could not change Eugene's mind, she could at least show him.
She drew his face closer to her and pressed a gentle kiss to his forehead, then his cheek, and finally the very tip of his nose.
"I love you too, Eugene. So much. I don't think you even understand just how much you mean to me." Rapunzel whispered, face so close to his their noses brushed against each other.
He looked at her, eyes wide and almost awestruck, and she wondered if he'd ever heard those words directed at him before.
She pressed a chaste kiss to his parted lips for good measure.
"And I know you would do it all over again. That I cannot convince you to regret it." Rapunzel continued, eyes boring into his. "I just wish… I hope you realize you have something worth living for, someone who needs you."
"I need you." She rested her forehead against his, closing her eyes, and felt his breath shudder. "Our baby needs you even more. If it ever comes down to it again… I just want you to think about that before deciding there is no other choice. Can you promise me that?"
There was a moment of silence only interrupted by the sound of running water in the creek behind them and the gentle hush of the wind. And then she felt his arms wrapping around her waist, bringing her closer.
"Alright." Eugene pressed his face into the spot where her neck met her shoulder, lips brushing her skin as he murmured against the crook of her neck. "I can promise that much."
Rapunzel knew that was the best she would ever get from him on that subject. She prayed he would never have the need to feel like risking his life ever again. Knew him well enough to know he would do it in a heartbeat for her and their child. She could only hope he would now keep that option as the very last resort.
Rapunzel ran a gentle hand through the hair at the back of his head, felt her own breath catch in her throat, and finally let the tears she'd been holding back fall freely down her cheeks. She felt his arms tightening around her as a sob built in her lungs, then felt a strange wetness against her shoulder that could only indicate Eugene was letting his own emotions slip too.
Her entire body shuddered as she let all the grief and anxiety and despair that had built up inside her crumble like a wave crashing upon shore. And while Eugene remained mostly silent, hers was a messy display of emotions, raw and wet and noisy.
But they held each other through it all, through the tears and the silent sobs, and the whispered apologies and quiet 'I love you's
Rapunzel took a shaky breath, and for the first time in days felt a heavy weight lift off her chest.
Finally, it felt like catharsis.
The nightmares didn't quite stop after that day. They wouldn't really go away for years to come. But the terror became more bearable when they had each other to take comfort in.
Rapunzel soon discovered Eugene was not left unscathed from the emotional scars either, he'd just been entirely too out of it in an induced drowsiness to react to it. But as the effects of the poison slowly left his body, his mind became sound enough to react to what had really happened to him.
And the trauma left behind was not any less horrible than her own.
She learned how to notice the signs. While Rapunzel's nightmares left her whimpering in her sleep, tossing and turning until she woke with tearstained cheeks and loud gasps, his were a much more quiet torture. Eugene didn't make a sound, but Rapunzel noticed when his muscles tensed, when his breathing became more rapid, and the heartbeat beneath the hand she rested on his chest turned wild with silent fear. She noticed the beads of cold sweat on his forehead, and the way his hands fisted like a vice around the sheets.
Some nights it were her terrors that awoke them, some others it were his, either way they took comfort in each other's arms, always ready to soothe and chase away the demons plaguing their dreams.
Rapunzel soon got reacquainted with Eugene's reassuring presence, with his arms wrapped around her waist and his voice softly murmuring sweet nothings in her ear. Later on she learned again the contours of his body, mapped the scars across his skin like constellations in the sky as his hands trailed across her own heated flesh in scorching caresses that eventually lead to more. She relearned how his lips felt against hers, how they marked a blazing path across her body. She remembered how they made her feel ablaze, how his touch made her voice grow high and his name tumble past her lips in blissful sighs. How he made her feel alive.
Eugene reminded her how it felt like to be loved by him, mind body and soul.
Rapunzel truly thought there was no better sound than the one of his voice when they were intertwined together like that.
And this time there was no rush, they had all the time in the world to learn each other's bodies, to explore their every secret, every spot that made them come undone. There were no bittersweet thoughts lingering in the back of Rapunzel's mind, no regrets or hesitation holding Eugene back, there was only their fervent love chasing away the darkness until they tumbled over the edge of passion together, keeping the nightmares at bay.
As the days passed, they kept a steady routine of house chores and idle chitchats with Cassandra and Lance when they visited, until a little over three weeks came and went since that fateful day they'd been ambushed. And as Eugene's body recovered its strength and his bouts of dizziness and extreme lethargy became more and more sporadic, Rapunzel's mind contemplated Cassandra's words more often. Soon Eugene would recover enough to travel. Soon she would have to make a decision.
But for now they could stay hidden away in a moment that was only their own.
Unfortunately their peaceful cottage life was not really meant to last, and the quiet but safe atmosphere was suddenly interrupted one lazy Sunday morning.
The air was a bit warmer than it had been in the entirety of the days they'd been holed up there, although it remained as misty as usual, and Rapunzel had taken advantage of the more favorable weather to attempt to clear the weeds surrounding the perimeter of the small cottage, Pascal dutifully helping as he feasted on whatever plant suited his fancy.
Meanwhile, Eugene lay on a blanket spread across the mossy ground, one arm thrown over his eyes to shade him from the uncommonly brighter light filtering through the dense canopy of trees. It had been no easy fit to dissuade him from trying to help her, but Rapunzel preferred him to save his energy until he was well and truly recovered. There had been no convincing him to go back inside, however.
She looked over at him and felt her lips curl into a smile. Sure enough, he appeared to be dozing peacefully, no trace of any bad dreams sneaking up on him.
Rapunzel was about to pull out a particularly gnarly root when she felt Pascal insistently tugging on her sleeve with an unsettled squeak. She looked down at her scaly friend and frowned as he gestured wildly with his tail, pointing towards the obscured path that lead from the cottage back to the village.
Pascal never reacted like that with Cassandra or Lance's visits. She felt her skin break out in goosebumps, suddenly seized by familiar trepidation.
Something, or rather someone, was intruding upon their peaceful hideout.
Rapunzel abandoned her spot on the ground, standing up abruptly and whirling around to face the unfamiliar intruder. She could see Eugene out of the corner of her eye shifting too. Either he'd never been truly sleeping or his slumber had been light enough to be awakened by Pascal. He stood slowly, but wasted no time in making his way to her side, evidently on alert too.
Rapunzel squinted. She could see an enormous silhouette shrouded in the foggy air slowly making its way towards them. She didn't have time to react before the hazy shadows cleared to reveal the person walking towards them, and immediately felt Eugene stiffen by her side.
The tall man that emerged from within the fog was entirely unfamiliar to her, yet his brown eyes trailed over them like he knew exactly who he was looking for.
His deep voice rattled across the space between them, breaking the tense silence with a single word that made her heart skip a beat.
"Eugene?"
Now, I promise there's only one more chapter to go plus a short epilogue. You will soon get the long awaited finale, you have my word. I'm thinking maybe, maybe in a week's time. In the meantime, if you liked this one reviews always help to keep my inspiration alive so feel free to drop either if you've enjoyed so far! Until next time!