I woke up from something cold, and wet touching my face. I opened my eye to see that horse from before. You remember him. "Well, I hope you're here to apologize," I said, closing my eye again. The next thing I knew, the horse had grabbed my foot and started pulling me along. "Aaah! No! Put me down!" I cried. That woke up Blondie, who was armed with a frying pan.

She ran over to the horse. "Put him down!" she demanded. The horse stared at her, and stopped pulling. I took the chance and scrambled away from him. He took my boot off! And my sock! That horse is a pain in my side!

The horse apparently didn't like me leaving, and got excited. Not the good kind of excited, either. "Woah, woah! Easy, boy! Easy! Calm down!" Blondie said, putting her hands up in front of the horse. "There you go. Now sit." She pointed at the floor. She repeated herself when he didn't comply. "Good, now drop the boot," she said. "Drop it." The horse actually listened to her and dropped my boot.

"You're such a good boy!" Blondie said, petting the horse.

"What?" I cried.

"Are you tired from chasing this mean man around everywhere?" Blondie asked.

"Excuse me!" I said.

"No one appreciates you, do they?"

"Come on!" I cried. "He's a bad horse!"

"He's nothing but a big sweetheart, aren't you..." she looked at his saddle, "Maximus?"

"You've got to be kidding me," I said.

"Look, guys," Blondie said. "Today is kind of a big day for me. I need you to not get him arrested," she said to the horse, pointing at me. I rolled my eyes. Like the horse is going to listen to her. "Just twenty four hours. Then, you can chase each other to your heart's content, okay?" She smiled at us. "It's also my birthday, just so you know."

She smiled at us. "If you can just shake on it, that would be wonderful." I stared at the horse. This is ludicrous. This can't be happening. I can't be making a deal with a horse. But...I promised I'll take Rapunzel to see the lanterns so, I guess I have no choice. If I don't make a deal with this horse, I'm going to get arrested, Rapunzel will never see her floating lights, and I'll never see the light of day again.

Now, remember last night when I said I would stop thinking of Rapunzel in the morning? Well, I was wrong. Just trust me on this.

Ugh, fine. I have no choice. I held my hand out to the horse. Rapunzel smiled and then looked at the horse. "Come on, Max!" Rapunzel said. "I know you can do it! I know you can! Just remember, twenty four hours!" Max rolled his eyes and put his hoof in my hand. We skeptically shook on it. Max glared at me while I lead Rapunzel to Corona. Not like I was looking at him. But I could feel a venomous stare behind me and I know it wasn't Rapunzel, or her frog.

Rapunzel excitedly looked back at us as she ran into Corona. "Oh my gosh, it's amazing!" she called. She ran ahead, leaving me behind with the horse. I saw a wanted poster of me on the bridge and pulled it off.

I crumpled it up and shoved it in the horse's mouth. I've seen him eat my posters before. Max, however, didn't like that and spat it onto my face. He laughed at me, which is the first time I heard a horse laugh, before today, I had no clue, so I threw it off, into the water, and started wrestling with him. The horse fought me before Rapunzel's frog turned around and did the 'I'm watching you' sign at us.

We both stopped. The horse shoved me, I shoved him back, and then he pushed me to the ground.

We followed Rapunzel in, who kept getting stopped. I picked up her hair as I caught up with her. She looked at me, a look of worry on her face. "Maybe we should just go," she said.

"And you miss your chance to see those lights?" I asked. "I don't think so."

"What are we going to do then?" Rapunzel asked.

I looked around for anything that might help. By a nearby fountain, I see three red head girls braiding each others hair. That's it! We'll braid her hair. I whistled to get their attention. When they looked, a raised Rapunzel's hair a little. They gasped.

They ran Rapunzel to an empty spot of the square, lied her hair flat and completely stretched out, and started braiding her hair. I stood back, watching. They braided another bit of her hair and braided that into it. Basically, they put a small braid in her big braid. And they used flowers.

I smiled watching her. Rapunzel wanted to come for the lanterns, but I think she's having more fun in Corona itself. The lanterns aren't until tonight anyway. And it's still early day. We can get a lot of things done. I can show her around. I've been in and out of Corona so many times, I practically know every bit of it, even the small alleyways.

Yeah, I'll give her a tour. She'll love that! It's a great way to start the best day of her life! I noticed some guards walking in my direction, so I ducked under a wall ledge. Max nudged me and motioned towards Rapunzel.

The girls finished and admired their work. "Oh, it's beautiful!" Rapunzel said. "I love it!" The large braid went down to her ankles, instead of dragging ninety or something feet behind her. She has flowers interwoven in her braid, and like I mentioned, that small braid in there.

If you thought she was lovely before, wait 'till you see her now, in person. Her wonderful, emerald eyes sparkles with excitement, as she twirled, her braid fitting wonderfully. "Thank you, girls!" Rapunzel smiled.

She walked back over to me. "So...what do you think?" I couldn't answer. "Ah-" was all I could get out.

"Eugene," Rapunzel said, waving her hand in my face. "Eugene? Hello?" Max took that chance to shove me. "Hey!" I cried.

"You okay?" Rapunzel asked.

"Y-yeah, I'm fine," I said. I stared at her. "You...you look wonderful..." I muttered.

"What?" Rapunzel asked.

"I-uh-I-I-I...I said, uh...let's go on the grand tour!" I stammered.

"I don't think you-woah!" I grabbed Rapunzel's arm. I pulled her to the main center of Corona. "Here we are!" I exclaimed. "Corona Square! It has all the good places."

"Uh, Eugene?" Rapunzel asked, tugging my sleeve.

"What is it, Blondie?" I asked.

"What is that?" She asked, pointing at a sign.

"Oh, that? That's just the puzzle store, where, you know, they sell puzzles," I replied.

"Puzzles?" Rapunzel asked, her eyes lighting up. "You have puzzles here?"

"Yeah, but they aren't-" Rapunzel pulled me inside. I introduced her to the trial room, where they let you put together one puzzle for free. Rapunzel was overjoyed with this and went right to work.

And, as much as I hate puzzles, I actually helped her put it together. The finished product in the end was a stunning drawing of Corona's palace, along with the bridge leading to it. "Oh, it's wonderful," Rapunzel said.

"Wait until you see the real thing, Blondie," I said. "Now that one's a jaw dropper!"

We walked back outside, to where Max made known his irritation on having to stay outside. I just think it's mostly because he couldn't keep an eye on me, but he has nothing to worry about. I'm not going to pull anything today. Today's Rapunzel's day. No day to be thieving.

Rapunzel gasped. "What? What is it?" I asked. She turned around, smiling at me. "You guys have a bookstore?"

"Yes," I said.

"With more than three books?" She asked.

"That's...weirdly specific, but yeah."

"Can we go inside, please, Eugene?" Rapunzel begged.

"Oh, all right," I said.

"Yes!" Rapunzel ran inside. Even though she's never been inside a library, she already knew she had to be quiet. "Ooh! Let's check out this one!" she exclaimed quietly. She pulled it off the shelf. "Ooh, and this one!" She handed her books to me. She started stacking more books. By the time she was done collecting them, I could barely see. "Blondie, slow down," I whispered.

She brought me into an empty room inside. "Here, we can use this room!" I put the stack of books down, Rapunzel instantly charging for some of them.

"What's this?" she asked.

"That is an entomology book," I explained. "Its about bugs."

"Ooh, Pascal might like that one!" Rapunzel said.

Rapunzel and I went over every book she had gathered, ending with an atlas. "Where's Corona?" she asked, opening up to a page with the entire globe on on it.

"Right around here," I said, pointing towards Germany.

"Germany," Rapunzel repeated.

We left the library and entered a bakery. "You know, Blondie," I said. "My favorite part of Corona is the cupcakes."

"Really?" she asked. "Why?"

"Oh, you'll see when you taste one," I replied. I bought two cupcakes, one for me and her. Buying cupcakes instead of stealing them? I know what you're probably thinking: 'Doesn't it seem weird for a thief to buy things? Especially cupcakes?' Well, these cupcakes were special. These were Rapunzel's birthday cupcakes.

And yes, it did feel strange buying things instead of stealing them, but...it wasn't a bad feeling. It felt really good, actually. Like, really good.

We walked outside, only to see guards. So we booked it and hid in a small archway on a building wall. I watched to make sure they left. I looked back at Rapunzel and smiled at her.

After a while, I led Rapunzel to Corona Square again. "Why did we come back here?" she asked.

"There's supposed to be a dance," I explained. "They do it every year, although, usually, it's not too entertaining. I was hoping you could...use a little of your 'Rapunzel magic' on it."

"Aw, Eugene!" she said.

"Yeah, don't make a big deal out of it," I said.

I smiled at her as I walked towards a stand. This is the happiest I felt in a long time. Since...actually, I can't remember when the last time I felt this happy was. Hmm. Maybe there is something more to Rapunzel than I thought.

I bought a Corona flag for her, for a memento of her visit. When I gave it to her, she smiled and held it up to the Corona banner hanging above us. She hugged me. I was hesitant at first. I haven't had a hug in so long. Lance was the last person to give me a hug, and that was before the Stabingtons stole that weird hourglass.

I hesitantly reached my hands towards her. Her frog smiled at me again, this time, more sincerely. I returned her hug.

At another stand, I bought some bread, and a slice of gouda. Maybe Rapunzel and I could have a small lunch break first, before she starts dancing. It was too late, however, as she had apparently painted the Corona Sun on the ground with purple paint and already had people dancing around it. I dropped the bread and cheese as she grabbed my wrist and pulled me in.

The crowd is much happier this time than they usually are. She did it. She helped the kingdom celebrate again. Rapunzel is special. She really is different than most girls I've met. Rapunzel is something else. Something...I could get used to. Someone...I want to be friends with.

Rapunzel and I reached for each other during the dancing, but we were both pulled away by someone else. At the end, we finally did get back to each other.

It was at that moment, the whole world stopped. It's like, it was just me and her. Staring into her eyes brought a comfort that...I've never felt before. Brought a peace I've never seen. A happiness that never existed. A safe space that...that's inviting me in.

This is new. This...feeling. This comfort, this happiness, this...everything really. I've never felt this way before. All the girls I've dated weren't right. I always found something...well, you know, something that I didn't like about them. Their height, their smile, their eating habits, but, Rapunzel...I can't find anything wrong with her.

She's sweet, she's kind, she's thoughtful, caring, and determined, and she carries a lot of perseverance and bravery, something like I've never seen before. What is this feeling? What is this feeling taking over? Is this what...love feels like?

"Eugene!" Rapunzel's voice cried.

"Huh?" I asked.

"Are you okay?" Rapunzel asked.

"Yeah, Blondie," I said, "why?"

"Because I was asking you something," Rapunzel said.

"Oh, uh, sorry, I didn't hear it," I said.

"I asked you what you meant by 'Rapunzel magic,'" she said.

"Oh, uh, well, you know, that thing you did at the Snuggly Duckling, and how you got everyone here to celebrate after years," I said.

That's when I noticed I was still holding her hand. I quickly moved my hands away. "I-er-I'm going to go and...do something! I'll be back later!"

"Uh, okay," Rapunzel said as I ran off.

Author's Note

There's a lot of great scenes in this movie, and this one is one of my personal favorites. The scene is just so wholesome and the song is wonderfully catchy, and captures the moment perfectly.