Author's Note

Minor mentions of the show in this chapter!

Blondie untied me from her hair. "Ugh," I moaned, rubbing my chin. "I'm definetly going to feel that later."

Blondie seems excited, however, she's doing a terrible job hiding it. I can tell. No one bounced around like nobody's business if you aren't excited. And I mean, the kind of excitement where you can barely sit still and pressure the other person to move faster. "Come on!" she excliamed. I stared at her, dusting off my sleeve. "Uh, I mean..." Blondie said. She cleared her throat. "Uh, lead the way, Flynn Ryder," she demanded, in a pretended, commanding voice.

"Give me just a moment, Blondie," I replied.

"Rapunzel," she corrected.

"Whatever," I said. "You broke my smolder and dropped me, helpless I might add, a couple of time in that chair! I need time to recover!"

"Okay, fine," Blondie said. "Five minutes! Come on, Pascal. Let's go get ready."

She walked away with her frog. I shuddered. Why did he have to shove his tongue in my ear? I'm never gonna get that feeling out of my ear.

About five minutes later, which I inly know since Blondie kept telling me how much longer I had, which I just tok the time to stealthily find my satchel, I pulled out two daggers I had on me and started scaling the outside of the tower, digging the daggers into the rocks, taking me down.

Blondie, however, stared at me, watching me slowly climb down the side. IS she just going to stare at me the whole time or start coming down? I stopped climbing about a quarter of the way down. "You coming, Blondie?" I asked, impatiently. If she's not coming down, I'm just gonna go back up and find my satchel the hard way.

"Y-yeah!" she called. "Just...give me a minute!" I sighed. This is gonna be a long day.

I took two steps down the tower before Blondie's hair shot out from above me. I ducked against the tower. All that hair HAS to be heavy. How does she even live with that much hair? It's impossible!

She grabbed her hair and swung down on it, cheering the whole way until she stopped, just before the ground. She hesitantly put her foot down on the grass. I rolled my eyes. Okay, let's get this over with.

"Just feel the grass, the dirt, just like I dreamed they'd be," Blondie sang. Darn it. Now I'm living in a musical. Can this day get any worse? "Just feel that summer breeze, the way it's calling me. For the first time ever, I feel completely free!" She ran off before I could catch up with her, through the vine wall that I fell through.

I finished climbing down the tower, stashing my daggers away, and cleaning off my hands. "Now where'd she go?" I asked myself.

"That's when my life begins!" she continued. Please be done singing. I don't have the time for this, Blondie! She turned around and smiled at me. "I can't believe I did this!" she exclaimed. Her expression changed to shock and her voice quieted. I couldn't hear what she said, but judging by how she repeated herself with a bigger smile and more cheering, I'm going to say it's safe to assume she said the same thing again.

Blondie ran around various parts of the forest near her tower, cheering and panicking. I just followed her the entire time. Part of the deal was to keep her safe. I have to make sure nothing bad happens to her, as irritating as it gets.

"Mother will be so furious," she said to her frog. "But, that's okay, right? I mean, what she doesn't know won't kill her." She gasped. "Oh my gosh, this will kill her!"

She rolled down a hill, wrapping herself in her hair. "This is so fun! I am a horrible daughter. I'm going back."

"I am never going back!" she cheered as she swung around a tree with her hair. When is this going to end? Just kill me now, universe! I promise I won't steal again!

Eventually, she ran out of my vision. I couldn't tell if she was celebrating or crying. But I went to find her anyway. Maybe it is best if she just goes back to her dark, cramped tower. I mean, what harm would it do? It's not like Corona is any fun or anything. I mean, come on! Corona? Pfft! I've been to better kingdoms than Corona! Corona's just...fancy and...nicer than most places but there are better things to see than the light show for the Lost Princess, I mean, come on, Blondie!

I found her crying by a large cluster of rocks. I cleared my throat to grab her attention. It seemed to have worked since she calmed down a bit. "I can't help but notice you seem to be at war with yourself, Blondie," I said.

"Really?" she asked.

"Just from picking up the pieces, I mean," I said, coolly. "Overprotective mother, uh...a forbidden road trip. Let me make it easier for you. This is just a part of growing up. You gotta show some rebellion! It's good!" I punched the air a little in front of me.

"You think?" Blondie asked, wiping her eyes.

"I know so, Blondie," I replied, winking. "Trust me. You're over thinking this! I mean, really, Blondie-" I picked a small fruit sticking though Blondie's hair, "-does your mother deserve it? Probably not. Will it crush her spirit and break her heart? Yes, but you just gotta do it!"

"Break her heart?" Blondie repeated.

"In half," I stated.

"Crush her spirit?"

"Like a grape," I said, crushing the small berry in my fingers.

"You're right, she would be heart broken!" Blondie said. She stood. Aha! That's more lie it! Back into the tower she goes and I get my satchel back! Piece of cake! "Oh, I can't believe I'm saying this, but...I'm letting you out of the deal," I said.

"What?" Blondie cried.

"Yep, that's right," I said. "We'll just turn around right here and take you back home. Here's your pan, and your frog," I pulled her frog off my shoulder and shoved it at her, handing her the pan at the same time, "and you can get back to that mother daughter relationship built on mutual trust, and we can part ways as unlikely friends!"

"No!" Blondie cried. "I am seeing those lanterns!"

What? Oh, come on! "What's it gonna take for me to get my satchel back?" I asked. She pointed her pan at me again. "I will use this," she said.

I sighed. This is going to be a lot harder than I thought. Blondie's a tough shell to crack.

There cam a rustle in the bushes nearby. Blondie squeaked and jumped onto my grab, pulling me down a little. "Who is it?" she asked quickly, pointing the pan at the bush. "Is it ruffians? Thugs? Have they come to steal my hair?"

There was silence for just a moment before a rabbit popped out of the bush. "Be calm," I said, sarcastically. "I think it can smell fear."

"Oh, uh," Blondie said. She shuffled off my back and giggled nervously. "Sorry, guess I'm just a little bit jumpy!" She walked over to the rabbit and started scratching behind its ear. "Probably best if we avoid ruffians and thugs, though," I said.

"Yeah, probably," she replied, watching the rabbit kick its foot.

She's so jumpy! This is-SHE'S JUMPY! THAT'S IT! If I can just scare her, then maybe she'll call it off and I can get my satchel back! Flynn Ryder, you're a genius!

"Are you hungry?" I asked quickly. "I know a great place for lunch!"

"You do?" Blondie asked, standing back up. "Where?"

"Oh, don't you worry, Blondie," I replied. "You'll know it when you smell it."

"What does it smell like?" Blondie asked.

"Trust me, Blondie, you'll know," I replied.

"Hmm, okay," she said. She walked in silence for a little minute before she started mood swinging again. "This is going to great!" she muttered to her frog. "I can't believe this is actually happening! But what if it's all just a dream? What if I'm still inside that tower? Nah, that's delusional! That can't be real, right, Pascal?" She stared at him. "What if I'm just daydreaming? What if I still have Flynn in my dresser? Nah, this is gonna be great! This is totally real! Nothing can go wrong! But, what if-"

"You know what, Blondie?" I asked, irritated. I can't take her mood swings anymore! "How about you answer a few questions!"

"Ooh! I love questions!" Blondie replied.

"What do you do up there all day?" I asked. "You know, since your mother won't let you leave?"

"I paint, clean, sew, brush my hair, paint, read, crafts, paint-"

"It seems like you really like painting," I interrupted.

"Oh, I love painting!" Blondie sighed. "It's my absolute favorite thing!"

"Hey, why don't you paint me?" I asked.

"You, oh come on, Flynn!" she replied, waving her hand at me. "You? Really?"

"Well, you didn't need to put it that way," I muttered.

"You know, I painted Pascal once-"

"Your frog?" I asked. "Oh come on! He's a frog!"

"Pascal's not a frog! He's a chameleon!" she said protectively. "And not just any chameleon! He's my friend! Which you wouldn't know anything about, Flynn." She said my name mockingly. "Hey! I have friends! I've had lots of friends!"

"'Had?'" Blondie repeated.

"I-I mean HAVE!"

"Mhm, sure," she replied. "Where are your friends now, then?"

"Two of them are probably captured by the palace guards and..." I paused. Lance. I haven't seen Lance in years, not since I left him behind when the Stabingtons stole that weird hourglass thing. You know, that was a weird day.

"Flynn?" Blondie's voice called through my thoughts. "You okay?"

"Huh?" I paused. "Oh, yeah, I'm fine. My other friend is somewhere. You know, we haven't kept in touch much."

"Oh, that sounds awful," Blondie said.

"Nah, he's okay. He's probably pilfering some rich guy's house right now."

"Are all your friends thieves?" she asked skeptically.

"Yes-er-maybe-uh, no!" I cried.

"Hmm," Blondie said. "Who taught you your tricks then?"

"Why are you so interested in me?" I asked. I gasped. "Did my smolder work on you, Blondie?"

"Hah! You wish!" Blondie exclaimed.