Elsa had thought she'd be able to handle this.

This being all these people.

After all, she'd handled being in the tiny, cramped nightclub well enough last night, hadn't she? Not at first, but she had gotten there eventually, hadn't she? So a giant, spread-out festival out in the open air should be no problem, right?

Wrong.

Because what she hadn't counted on was the Starlight Festival having one thing the nightclub didn't.

Children.

And they were everywhere.

Don't get her wrong, Elsa loved kids, but from a distance. With her powers still not fully under her control, that was kind of her only option. It was bad enough worrying about turning adults into human-icicles, but children? The thought made Elsa shrivel in on herself more and more by the second.

And they only seemed to be growing in numbers the longer she and Axel were here. Laughing near her, running past her, bumping into her. Oh gosh, there was a little girl with her auburn hair in pigtail braids that looked exactly like Anna did at that age. You know, the age when Elsa's magic had accidentally-

"Do we really need to be in the middle of the festival while we search?" Elsa suddenly blurted out, tugging and twisting at her braid as she took a step back, feeling her rear bump into the counter of the game booth they were currently stopped at. She'd only managed to put another inch between herself and the ever moving surge of fairgoers, but she'd take it. Every extra inch counted.

Axel snorted, tossing the baseball in his hand up and down a couple times as he closed one eye and licked the corner of his lips, taking careful aim at his target of a small pyramid of bottles. "Gotta better idea for how to search this place?" he asked, finally lobbing the ball. The stack was obliterated, just like the first stack had been only seconds ago.

Worrying her lower lip between her teeth, she glanced around, almost desperate for alternatives. Then a lightbulb went off and she looked up before pointing. "How about from atop one of the tall buildings? I bet we could see the whole festival from up there. Wouldn't it be better to keep an eye on everything at once?"

Best part? Completely and one hundred percent people-free.

Picking up the third and final ball, he began lining up his shot to take down the last stack, smirking with a tiny shake of his head, "And how exactly were you planning on us getting up there, Snowflake?"

"Er…" she shrugged and grimaced, "...figured you could just use one of your Corridors to get us up there."

"Put you through that kinda pain just for a slightly better vantage point that may or may not even help us?" He chucked the baseball and all the bottles went flying once again. "Don't think so! 'Sides, being right where we are is vital to our current search operations," he pumped a fist in triumph before catching the eye of the booth worker and pointing at something.

Elsa turned her head, drooping her eyelids at him. "...how exactly is you playing booth games vital for finding the Keyhole?"

Giving the festival employee a chipper little thank you, he then turned to her with a huge grin. "So I could win ya this!" he declared, proudly thrusting something into her face.

That something being a stuffed, huggable-sized snowman plushie.

Elsa leaned back from it, blinking a couple times, gaze flicking back and forth between it and Axel as her brow furrowed and she said nothing.

He cocked his head. "...what? Would you have preferred the giant chameleon doll? Cuz I'm sure it's not too late, I can probably still swap-"

"No," she deadpanned, crossing her arms, "I would not have preferred the chameleon. I just fail to see how this helps us locate the Keyhole."

He flashed his thousand-watt smile once more. "This lil fellah could be the key item that reveals it to us at the end once we've emerged victorious from all our adventures, mayhem, and hi-jinx!"

"...I highly doubt that."

"You don't know! C'mon, take this adorable lil bastard, you know you want to!" he held it out even closer to her, giving it a little wiggle for added enticement. Not looking tempted in the least, Elsa made no move to take it from him. With a sigh and shrug, he said, "Fine then, I'll just give it back, but don't come crying to me later when Corona gets guzzled up by a blackhole of doom and the only thing that coulda saved it was one itty-bitty, cute lil snowman pl-"

"Give me that," she snapped, snatching it from his hands before he could hand it back to the booth operator. At the smug little glint that flashed through his green eyes, she grumbled, "If you think giving me this will win back my trust in you, you got another thing coming."

He snickered, holding his hands up, "I'd never even dream of thinking such a thing!"

With a tiny harrumph, she spun on her heel and began navigating her way through the fair once more. It was only a second before she could spot Axel out of the corner of her eye, his longer legs easily keeping pace with her. With it being early afternoon now, the press of people seemed to have doubled at this point, if not tripled. Carefully dodging colliding with anyone, Elsa anxiously hugged the stuffed doll closer to her chest without even realizing it.

...she supposed it was a bit comforting.

She glanced to Axel out of her peripheral. Frowning, she then looked down, her fingers absently toying with the felt coal "buttons" running down the snowman's tummy. Then she sighed, "Sorry. The doll was a nice gesture and I don't mean to be cranky with you… it's just…"

"All these people getting to you, huh?" he asked gently.

Arms tightening around the snowman, she gave a single tiny nod.

He pursed his lips to one side, fingers scratching a spot behind his ear. Then, "Here, take my hand." He held it out in front of her, palm up.

Her eyebrows knit together. "Um… why?"

"Call it a safety precaution," he grinned and shrugged. When she still made no move to take the proffered hand, he snorted, "C'mon, just bear with me for a sec and then it'll all make sense, I promise."

Her eyes narrowed skeptically, but then she freed one of her arms from around the plushie to gingerly place her hand in his.

Closing his fingers around it, he beamed, "Wouldja look at that? Now it's almost like we really are on a date!"

Face reddening, she scowled and yanked her hand free once more.

He laughed, "Kidding, kidding! C'mon, give it back, I swear I'll be serious now." He stretched his hand out before her once more, fingers curling and uncurling invitingly. Rolling her eyes, she begrudgingly slipped hers into his once more. Lacing their fingers together, he used his free hand to tap at his chin, "Alright, now where'd we leave off again? ...ah yes, lesson four!"

Stubbornly ignoring how pleasantly warm his hand felt, she gave a small scoff, "More lessons?"

"Shush, you, Professor Axel is teaching at the moment! Now as I was saying, lesson four: fear doesn't always have to be scary. Sometimes, fear can be used to your advantage. Sometimes, fear is even fun."

Elsa wrinkled her nose. "Now I know you're joking, fear is never-"

He snapped his fingers and suddenly there were dozens of loud pops nearby that made Elsa jump and squeak. But then she blinked as the air around them filled with glitter and brightly colored confetti and streamers. It took a second of glancing around before it clicked what exactly had happened. They'd been walking past a stand filled with party poppers and it seemed Axel had used his fire powers to set off a bunch at once. A rather perplexed vendor was left scratching his head over how so many of his wares had malfunctioned at the same time.

With a start, she realized she was hugging Axel's arm, squishing the snowman thoroughly between them. Feeling heat creep up the back of her neck, she hastily released him, clearing her throat as she brushed some glitter out of her hair with all the dignity she could muster. "You shouldn't have scared me like that. What if it'd caused me to accidentally blast off some ice?"

"What'd I tell ya? Safety precaution," he grinned, holding up their still interlocked hands. "And see? Fun! Life's no fun without a good scare every now and again. That's why we watch horror flicks and ride roller coasters and whatnot. It's good for ya!"

She gave a tiny hmph. "Lesson five better not be getting on a roller coaster."

"Just be grateful this festival doesn't have any as far as I can tell," he winked with a chuckle. Then with a twitch of his free hand and a distraught squawk from the nearby vendor, a few more poppers exploded.

To her credit, she only flinched this time at the loud noises. "The lesson continues, I see?"

"Mm-hmm!" Axel nodded, closing his eyes as his smile twitched wider. "We call this training, young padawan. Soon, you'll have nothing left to fear, not even fear itself!"

Shaking her head, she couldn't resist a small grin herself as more and more gaudy streamers flitted and danced around them.

Alright, fine. She could admit it.

Sometimes - sometimes, mind you - fear could be a little fun.

"Whew!" Rapunzel puffed out a breath as she stood up, wiping her brow. Then she dusted her hands together with a very big, very pleased smile. "That oughta do it!"

Flynn stroked his goatee thoughtfully as he stood beside her and they both looked down. "Boy, you really are a big fan of the festival's symbol, huh?"

At their feet was once again that giant yellow sun now depicted in all its Crayola chalk glory. It was surrounded by drawings of people of all various shapes and sizes and relationships from families to friends to lovers. The masterpiece was made complete with a backdrop of purple abstract flowers and swirls. This was Rapunzel's contribution to the sidewalk chalk art contest they had discovered in this corner of the festival - though Sora had helped a bit with the flowers and swirls.

She hummed a tiny laugh and shrugged. "I guess. I dunno, there's just something about it that vibes with me, I suppose."

"Hey, why is the symbol a sun anyhow?" Sora piped up. "It's the Starlight Festival, after all."

"But the sun is really just one big star, so it sorta makes sense in a way." She then looked back down at their work before giddily glancing to Flynn. "So, what do you think? Do you like it?"

His gaze shifted her way, spotting Sora standing at her other side. They were both staring at him with big puppy dog eyes, as if his disapproval would shatter their worlds completely. Rapunzel was a complete mess by now with her hands practically a rainbow from chalk residue and chalk smudges all over her face.

Smothering a chuckle behind his hand, Flynn reached out, using his thumb to lightly swipe away some purple from the tip of her nose before saying softly, "Beautiful. That's what I think."

"Ah, I knew you'd like it!" she squealed in delight, giving him a quick hug before releasing him and reaching for a stick of chalk once more. "Alright, Sora, let's make it official and sign our work!" Once they were finished putting their names on it, she asked happily, "Alright, now what? Judging to determine the winner won't be for a few hours still, so what should we do in the meantime?"

As they began to meander off in a random direction, Sora folded his hands behind his head, looking thoughtfully skyward. "Hmmm, lessee here… we've already seen the magic show, ridden the ponies, done the bouncy castle-"

"Twice!" she chirped excitedly.

He grinned and nodded, "Mm-hm, twice! Eaten a whole lotta cupcakes, blown bubbles-"

"Gone to the library," Flynn added dryly. "Which wasn't even part of the festival, I might add."

"But still just as fun!" Rapunzel declared. Flynn quirked a dubious eyebrow. "Well it was! So many books I've never read, never even heard of!"

Sora continued to tick off on his fingers, "Pet some geese and piglets… hmmm, what else… oh! There was that clown."

"And determined that I do not, in fact, like clowns," she grimaced in distaste before giving a small wince. "Oh gosh, I still feel terrible, I hope I didn't break his nose!"

Flynn brushed it off with a wave of his hand, "Don't worry about it, you were startled, it was an accident, could have happened to anyone!"

Rapunzel perked up. "All in all, this is shaping up to be the best day ever! No, not just the best day, but actually the best birthday ever, woo!"

Sora stumbled before giving her a double take. "Wait! Hold it! It's your birthday and you didn't tell us?"

She tipped her head to one side. "...should I have?"

"Of course! We need to celebrate! We need cake!"

"You seriously still have room for cake after eating enough cupcakes to kill a diabetic whale?" Flynn shook his head in disbelief. "How? Just… how? You're both tiny, where do you even pack it all away?"

"Quiet, Flynn! There's always, always room for cake!" Rapunzel declared, backed up with a firm determined nod from Sora. "So… where do we get this cake you speak of?"

Shielding his eyes from the low hanging afternoon sun, Sora glanced around for a few seconds before excitedly pointing out, "There! Pastry stands! Betcha one of them'll have cake! Let's go!"

As the two ran off ahead, Flynn snorted with another shake of his head before following after them at a much more leisurely pace.

Blondie's birthday, huh? There were a few booths nearby selling jewelry too. Maybe while those two were distracted with their cake, he could sneak off for a sec and pick her up a little something. Nothing too big or flashy, nah, just something small but full of class, something that would say-

"Got you now, Rider, you stinkin', dirty, rotten, no-good thieving bastard!"

Dear god no, he certainly wouldn't want it to say that!

Wait… who…?

Flynn let out a yelp as a hand abruptly grabbed him by the scruff of his shirt and yanked him into a nearby narrow alley. He was flung roughly against the brick wall of one of the buildings that enclosed the little backstreet, throwing his hands up just barely in time to catch himself against it but still getting the wind knocked out of him. Spinning around, he saw his assaulter at last and his eyelids drooped as he half grumbled, half wheezed, "Oh. It's you. Detective Trench Coat."

"That's Colt to you, dirtbag! Detective Maximus Colt," he jabbed a threatening finger in his direction. "My name's going to be burned into your brain by the time I'm through with you, seeing as how I'm the man who's finally going to do it. I'm the one who's tossing the infamous Flynn Rider behind bars where he belongs," he smirked as he pulled handcuffs out of his pocket, brandishing them before he lunged. "Now get over here, scumball!"

"Ha! Like I'm gonna make it easy for ya, Detective Trench Coat," he dodged out of his grasp. Then he was clambering up onto the lid of the nearby dumpster to put some space between them and, in a fit of peak maturity, Flynn razzed his tongue at the investigator for good measure.

Maximus snorted. "Help me out here, Rider, cuz I gotta ask… what were you thinking? You had the crown, you had a jumbo headstart on any cops trying to hunt you down… why didn't you split town? Why stick around? Why come to a street fair, of all places? You had to know one of us would spot you here sooner or later, be it me or one of my fellow boys in blue."

Casually glancing about for his best escape route, Flynn inched back from the edge of the dumpster to press his back against the wall, then gave a flippant shrug and cocky grin. "What can I say? Half the fun is the thrill of the chase and I gotta give you lawmen a fighting chance, otherwise you buncha slowpokes'll just wind up chasing your own tails all day."

"C'mere, sleazebucket!" he snarled, making a swipe for his legs. Flynn hopped out of his reach before leaping over his head and landing hard on the ground behind him. He tried to bolt back out into the festival so he could lose Detective Trench Coat in the crowd, but he wasn't fast enough. He grunted as a weight landed on top of him, pushing him back down into the pavement.

He felt the handcuffs as they clicked into place around his wrists behind his back. Maximus barked out a haughty laugh, "Got you now, Rider. Thanks for the fighting chance, ol' pal."

"Oh-ho, you thought I was Rider? No no, this has all been one big misunderstanding, I'm actually Rooder. Flint Rooder." He winced. Alright, not his best lie. But c'mon, he was desperate and grasping at straws here. "So as you can see, you got the wrong guy. Simple mistake, happens all the time. Now, if you'll kindly remove these cuffs, officer, I won't press charges and-"

"Yeah, yeah, save it for the judge, Rooder," Maximus harrumphed with a roll of his eyes as he tugged Flynn up to his feet and gave him a small shove. "Now get a move on, it's a long walk back to the station. And don't even think about trying to make a run for it, or so help me," he growled, grabbing Flynn by the scruff of the shirt once more just as he'd begun to think exactly that.

Huh. Apparently Detective Trench Coat was psychic to boot. Imagine that.

Just as they were about to step out into the sunlight and re-enter the festival, Flynn's eyes caught something and he dug his heels in, bringing them both to a screeching halt.

There she was. Blondie. Apparently she and Sora had been successful in their mission to find cake, for the two of them were now strolling along through the fair, chowing down on a couple of slices as they laughed and chatted. They were even holding a third slice - was that one supposed to have been for him? Flynn could see them glancing around as they walked. Probably looking for him, wondering where he'd disappeared off to.

"What's the hold up, Rider?" Maximus impatiently ground out through his teeth from behind him before looking out into the crowd, following Flynn's gaze. "Ah. That's your little blonde friend from last night, isn't it?"

Flynn frowned and didn't answer, lost in thought. What was he going to do? He couldn't just… leave. Not without so much as a goodbye. He was supposed to have been Blondie's guide. But what were his options here exactly? It's not like he could just go up to her now sporting his new "bracelets." What would she say? What would she think? This would probably ruin the whole festival for her, and he couldn't do that to her. Not today. Not on her birthday.

"Just give me until the end of the festival," he said suddenly, still watching Blondie.

Detective Trench Coat cocked an eyebrow at him. "...excuse me?"

Now Flynn turned to look at him, his eyes earnest and pleading. "I have a promise to keep and I'd really like not to break it. Please, just… let me finish the day out with my friends, let us watch the big lantern show together after sundown, then I can make sure they get home safely and you can take me, lock me up and throw away the key for all I care. Just a few more hours, that's all I'm asking."

Maximus stared at him incredulously, then snerked. "You kidding me? What do I look like here, the Make-A-Wish Foundation? I don't gotta do squat for you, Rider. Take a good look at your buddies over there, cuz this is the last time you'll be seeing them without visitation glass between you and 'em. Now march!"

Another shove and Flynn stumbled, but firmly stood his ground as he blurted out, "What about the crown?"

That gave Detective Trench Coat pause, his eyes narrowing. "...what about it?"

"Don't got it on me. Go ahead, search me if you don't believe me, but you won't find it," he shrugged and smirked, knowing without a doubt he had the upper hand now. "Just think about it though… wouldn't the score be that much sweeter if you were handing in not only me but the crown too?"

His expression darkened. "Cough it up, Rider."

He chuckled, "Gladly! The thing has caused me more trouble than it's worth, believe me. But," he gave him a pointed look, pausing for emphasis. "...only after my friends and I are done with the festival. Then I'll go with you willingly and you'll have the crown too."

Maximus glared daggers at him and didn't say anything, just worked his jaw as he silently stewed and for a second there, Flynn didn't think the detective was going to take the bait. But then he spat, "Fine! You get until the end of the stupid lil light show, but that's it! And if I catch so much as a whiff of you trying to weasel your way out of your arrest, you shifty lil-"

"I'll be on my best behavior, scouts honor!" He flashed his pearly whites then turned, jingling his handcuffs. "Now, my good sir, if you'd be so kind as to assist me with my accessories…?" He heard a soft annoyed tch from Maximus as he dug a key out of one of his trench's pockets. With a small click, Flynn felt one of the cuffs fall loose from his wrist. Bringing his freed hand up before his face, he wiggled his fingers, "Ahhh, much better. Now the other one, if you'd be so-"

There was another click.

However, something was wrong.

That something being that he still felt cold iron wrapped firmly around his left wrist.

"What did you-" He turned back around and that's when he spotted it. That first cuff? The one that had been attached to his other arm and unlocked just a second ago? Was now locked again, only this time it was around a different wrist. Detective Trench Coat's wrist, to be exact. Flynn groaned, "Oh come on, was that really necessary?!"

"What, you thought you'd be able to just walk around like you're still a free man? Heh, I wasn't born yesterday, Rider. I'm keeping you on a short leash. Where you go, I go."

Flynn huffed out a breath that rustled his bangs. "This is just ridiculous! How am I supposed to explain this," he angrily gestured to the handcuffs that joined his wrist to the detective's, "to my friends?"

Detective Trench Coat's shoulders lifted and dropped. "Not my problem."

"Listen, you-"

"There you are!" Blondie's voice suddenly called out, making Flynn jump as he hastily concealed his shackled hand behind his back. Both Sora and her were now standing at the opening to the alleyway, peering in at them. "We've been looking everywhere for you! Why you hiding in here, silly? Wha-" she paused, just now spotting the investigator as well. She quirked an eyebrow, "...who's your friend?"

"Who, this?" Flynn gave out a nervous laugh, eyes darting about. "This is Maximus, my, uh… my old… college buddy! Yeah, that's it! Just happened to bump into him here, er, a few minutes ago and we were… catching up! Frat bros for life and all that, heh…"

Maximus just gave them all a cold, stone-faced stare and said nothing.

Sora's eyebrows knit together. "College? But he's like twice your age."

"Shush, kid! He's, er… " Flynn's mind scrambled for a second before he leaned in close, whispering behind his hand, "It's kinda a touchy subject for him, he was held back a few years."

Eyes darting back and forth between the two of them, Sora frowned. "...only a few?"

"Okay, okay, a lot of years, jeez, do you have to rub it in? Ol' Maxie here's not exactly the sharpest knife in the drawer, if ya know what I- yeouch!"

Ol' Maxie had just twisted the cuff painfully against Flynn's wrist. As Flynn shot him a tiny scowl, Rapunzel - who'd been scrutinizing Maximus this whole time with her head slightly tilted - suddenly let out a gasp and snapped her fingers, "You were at the nightclub last night!"

Ruffling his fingers through his hair as he shook his head, Flynn squeaked out, "Was he? I don't-"

"Yeah," she nodded, pointing at the older man now. "I thought you looked familiar! You and Flynn were fighting over my frying pan! And it didn't exactly look friendly…"

"Oh, right, that," Flynn gave an awkward chuckle. "That was just… two ol' frat buddies horsing around! Trust me, it's how we show affection, isn't that right, bud?" He gave a light punch to Maximus's arm.

His dull expression did not change and he kept his lips zipped.

"What's that?" Sora asked, and with a start Flynn realized he'd made a mistake.

That mistake being not keeping the handcuffs hidden when he'd slugged his "college bud."

"Oh these? There just, um… a prank! Yeah, courtesy of Ol' Maxie here, always been such a kidder!"

Maximus continued to be as silent as a grave.

Flynn laughed, "What'd I tell ya? This guy's a riot!"

Rapunzel squinted at the two of them. There was something fishy going on here. Maybe that's just how college friends were though? She wouldn't have the first clue honestly. Before she could further question it however, someone suddenly called out, "Rapunzel?"

And all thoughts of Flynn and his questionable "frat bro" fled her mind.

Her spine snapped straight and her breath caught in her throat.

She knew that voice.

She'd know that voice anywhere.

That voice had been her best friend for years now. The only voice besides Mother's that she knew by heart. The voice of-

"Pascal?" she spun around, eyes scanning the crowd, swiftly darting from face to unfamiliar face. The second she landed on the right face - his face - she knew. She'd never seen him before, had never had the slightest idea what he looked like, but in her heart she just knew. She broke out into the hugest smile and as if they had a mind of their own, her feet were suddenly pounding against the street as fast as they could carry her through the crowd, propelling her straight towards him. When she leapt, he caught her and the two embraced tightly.

When he released her, she was already babbling a mile a minute. "Pascal, is it- how are- could it- are you really you?! This is unbelievable! I can't believe I'm finally seeing you face to face and not just talking through a crackly cruddy old intercom! Not that I didn't like the intercoms, I Ioved the intercoms, they were the only things that kept me sane some days, but this is so much better and wow, you're ginormous! I always figured you might be, you're a bodyguard after all, you're kinda paid to be big, but still! But why am I rambling about this, you're here! Why are you here? Where did you come from? How did you find me? Did-" her words choked on an abrupt gasp as her eyes grew round, all color drained from her face, and both hands clasped over her mouth. "Oh no, Mother! Where is she? If you're here, she's here too, isn't she? Is she mad? Is she furious? Does she hate me? What is she going to do to me? She's going to ground me, isn't she? She's going to ground me for a million-zillion-bajillion years and lock me up in a deep dank dungeon and I'll never see the light of day again and I'll have to survive on moldy bread crumbs and worms I find and, and maggots and-"

"Woah now, easy there, kid, no one's getting locked up in any dungeons," Pascal gave a deep, warm laugh as he gripped her shoulders reassuringly.

She looked at him, hopeful but uncertain. "Promise?"

He chuckled again. "I promise." His face grew slightly more serious however. "Your mom is here at the festival though and, well… let's just say she's not exactly thrilled. But she's not here here, she and I split up so we could search the fairgrounds faster for you."

Rapunzel hung her head as she asked in a small voice, "...you're going to take me back to her now, aren't you?"

Pascal heaved a sigh, rubbing at the nape of his neck. "You have to understand, you scared your poor mother half to death when you ran away like that and... well… I was supposed to call her right away if I spotted you…" This was breaking his heart a bit. He knew she never got to leave her condo, knew just how much being here - being outside - really meant to her. But he also had a job to do.

"It's almost sunset though… my friends and I were supposed to watch the lantern show and I was so looking forward to seeing it up close too…" she pouted, looking up at him now with impossibly large, sad eyes.

Well shoot.

There was no winning against that.

"Two hours," he sighed in defeat as her eyes immediately lit up. "I can pretend I didn't see you for two hours and that's it. That should give you enough time to get you well into nightfall so you can watch the lanterns. Then you're coming straight home, you hear me?"

With a squeal of joy, she tackled the bodyguard in another hug, "Thank you, thank you, thank you!"

He gave a bashful little snort as he returned the hug before setting her back down and patting her on the head, "Don't thank me just yet. You still have to survive the reckoning your mother is going to give you once you're back home." He looked past her to see a few others had approached the two of them. "...and I'm assuming these would be those friends you spoke of?"

The pretty boy with the goatee was the first one to speak up, "And I'm guessing that would make you the very big, very scary bodyguard who could give a rabid gorilla on steroids a run for its munny that I've heard so much about."

Pascal exploded with laughter at that. "Is that how you've been describing me to your friends, Miss Rapunzel? Well then…" his face suddenly turned very serious as his eyes pinned the pretty boy with a cold, hard stare, "...she'd be right."

Mr. Goatee had the decency to gulp.

Pascal didn't like pretty boys, especially when they were around his ward. So if Pascal was making the guy nervous? Good.

But yeesh, the girl had only escaped her solitary confinement less than twenty-four hours ago and had already gathered a small posse. Kid worked fast. Not that Pascal was really surprised. Heck, Rapunzel probably could've been stranded by herself in the middle of a barren desert wasteland and still have found a way to make a new friend or two. But what an odd assortment of pals she seemed to have collected. From the pretty boy to the spiky-haired goofy looking middle schooler to-

...was that the detective that had come knocking at Ms. Gothel's door last night?

Odd bunch of new cohorts indeed.

But Rapunzel seemed to trust them, and Pascal trusted her. The kid may not have gotten out much, but she wasn't dumb. She had a good head on her shoulders and he knew she could pick out the good eggs from the bad ones.

He turned his gaze on her once more, reiterating firmly, "Remember: two hours. Then you better come back right to this exact spot so I can get you returned to your mother, understood?"

"Yes, absolutely! Thank you, Pascal, you're the bestest protector a girl could ever ask for! Alright guys," she turned to the others, eagerly gesturing for them to follow, "let's go! Still a lot of festival to see and not a lot of time left to do it in! I-"

"Not that way," Pascal's stern words stopped her dead in her tracks before she'd even managed to take two steps. When she looked back at him with one puzzled eyebrow quirked, he responded with a simple, "Your mother's that way."

"Ah! Good looking out! Alright, fellahs, this way to the fun!" she declared with an immediate about-face, charging off in the opposite direction. The other three were quick to follow, though the pretty boy cast a quick glance over his shoulder back at Pascal as he went.

Pascal pointed two fingers at his own narrowed gaze, then pointed those same two digits at the pretty boy followed by punching his fist against the palm of his other hand.

Mr. Goatee paled and hastily looked away, stumbling to keep up with Rapunzel and the rest.

Pascal trusted the girl to be a good judge of character.

Didn't mean it'd hurt to throw in a dash of intimidation here and there, just to be on the safe side.

As he watched the small group disappear into the crowd, Pascal puffed out a low breath that made his lips flap. He couldn't believe he'd let Rapunzel go.

Lord help him if Ms. Gothel ever found out about this.

"Watch it, you clumsy overgrown neanderthal!"

Axel held up his hands as he took a step back from the huffy woman, trying to placate her, "My bad, lady, guess I wasn't looking where I was going."

Even though you were the one who'd bumped into him, you kooky batshit old hag.

She merely harrumphed, sticking her nose up in the air regally as she none too gently pushed passed him to wend her way further into the sea of fairgoers.

"Huh," came Snowflake's voice beside him as they both watched the woman march off. "Wonder what her problem was."

"Right? It's a crowded festival, there's bound to be a rando head-on collision or two, especially when you're barreling through it all like a bat outta hell like that old bag was. No need for her to get her panties all in a twist over i-" The words died on his tongue as something caught his eye.

Or rather, not something. Someone.

Jakob.

Or maybe it was Josef? Bah, one of those two shady bastard twins, who could tell the difference? It didn't really matter anyway. All that mattered was that one of them was here, and that meant they had to be up to no good. They were always up to no good.

The punk hadn't noticed Axel, seemingly too focused on trailing after that crabby ol' harpy that'd just crashed into Axel. Were they together? ...why? What were they doing here at the festival? And where had his brother slinked off to? Just what-

"What's wrong?" Snowflake's question broke through his thoughts. She arched an eyebrow at him as she shifted her snowman plush to one arm, using her other hand to shadow her eyes against the daylight while she attempted to follow his gaze. "Why are you so fixated on that angry lady?"

That's when it clicked in Axel's mind. She hadn't seen Tweedledum (or Tweedledee, whichever of the dumb-and-dumber twins it was). Probably a good thing too because if she had, she might have had a panic attack that'd set off a pocket-sized blizzard in the middle of all these people.

Still, he couldn't let Tweedledum get away without knowing what he was up to, could he? Especially not when Tweedledum was with that shrew that was shady as all get out. Those two had Axel's spidey senses tingling and it was all bad. It'd be best to tail them and keep an eye on them.

Without Snowflake. Better to keep her out of all of this, at least until he had more intel first.

But now how to give her the slip without raising her suspicions…

He snapped his fingers.

Got it.

"Hide-and-Go-Seek!" he abruptly, not to mention loudly declared, making her jolt beside him and clutch the snowman more tightly to her side.

She blinked a couple times, apparently too startled by his sudden outburst to realize he'd never answered her question. "...hide and…?"

"-Go-Seek, mm-hm!" He nodded rapidly with a big grin. "That's it!"

Her eyebrows knit together. "Um… what is?"

"Isn't it obvious?" He hunched down to her eye level, holding up a hand in front of her face, all fingers outstretched and wiggling. "Lesson Numeros Five!"

Snowflake gave him a flat look. "Help me out here, because I'm having a hard time seeing how a children's game is supposed to help me conquer my emotions."

Axel scratched his cheek, squinting one eye. "Uh, well… clearly people have a tendency to hide from their fears, and it's… only when we seek that fear out that we can make it our bitch!" he explained as he tucked her doll into the crook of her arm, freeing up both her hands which he pulled up to cover her eyes with. "No peeking now or you'll ruin the lesson."

She snatched her hands down from her face, frowning at him, "But that doesn't make any sense."

"Work with me here, Snowflake, it's a metaphor. Trust me! I mean c'mon, of the two of us, who here has mastered their emotions, hm?" he took her hands, planting them firmly over her eyes once more.

Dropping her hands again, she rolled her eyes now. "Mastering emotions and not having any are not the same thing."

"Would you stop that?" he snerked, once again moving her hands to her eyes and holding them there this time. "And might I say, it's really insensitive the way you keep bringing up the fact that I'm a unfeeling, dead inside robot."

She was silent for a few seconds. "...does that really bother you?"

"Pffft, I was joking. Again: unfeeling, dead inside robot here." This time when he released her hands, they stayed put. Good. "Now count to one hundred. Slowly. We're talking using Mississippies here. If you do it Mississippilessly, I'll know, you'll fail the lesson horribly and we'll have to start all over, capisce?"

He watched her huff out a perturbed little sigh through her nose, could all but sense the second eyeroll behind her hands, but then she began to grumble, "One Mississippi… two Mississippi… three Mississippi…"

With that, Axel took off running into the crowd.

Now where had Tweedledum and the Wicked Witch of the West skulked off to? They'd had a couple minutes headstart on Axel, but even so, they shouldn't have been able to get too far ahead of him. Hopefully Axel would be able to find those couple of troublemakers before they could get into whatever sketchy BS they were clearly about to get into. Spotting them should be no problem, Tweedledum towered head and shoulders above most of the people here and would stick out like a porcupine in a nudist colony.

But damn, this festival was huge. And packed. He'd been searching for a few minutes already and hadn't caught sight of them. Not even so much as a single grotesque sideburn. Where had those couple of shifty, evil creeps gotten off to?

"Hello, Firecracker."

Axel froze, then closed his eyes slowly, releasing a low almost inaudible hiss through his teeth.

Oh, he'd found a shifty, evil creep alright.

Just not one of the two he'd been looking for.

He whipped his head around towards the sound of the familiar voice. The crowd parted to reveal Larxene, watching him with a wicked little grin on her face as she purred, "Did ya miss me?"

Author's Note: Dun dun dun, the lightning sass queen is back! Uh oh, what nastiness is she gonna be up to now? Little more Axelsa fluff starting to creep in this chapter, slowly but surely :3 The ice queen begins to thaw bit by bit. And a lil fluff for Punzie and Flynn as well, since this IS the Tangled arc of the story after all! Plus Maximus is back in the mix, and Pascal and Punzie had a sweet reunion/first face-to-face that I enjoyed writing ^^

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