Alright, here we are with the next chapter of Moonlight Phantom. I was worried I wouldn't finish this today since I had errands for my mom's wedding tomorrow. I'm not sure if I'll get any writing done tomorrow, but you never know.

Disclaimer: I don't own anything related to Tangled. I only own this story idea.

It was another day at the castle. Eugene and Cassandra followed Rapunzel and Varian as they walked through the halls with King Frederic and Quirin. "What did you want to show me, Your Majesty?" Varian asked curiously.

"Patience, Varian, we're almost there," His father smiled at him.

The King chuckled. "It's been difficult keeping you distracted so we could get this done, but I think you'll like it."

"He wouldn't even tell me what he's been doing the past week!" Rapunzel added excitedly.

"We've had a lot of fun this week, though." Eugene chuckled. At the King's request, they did everything they could to keep him distracted. They did everything from horse rides to exploring the woods to throwing random contests to keep his attention. He and Cass even started teaching Varian how to fight to keep him busy. Now, it was all going to finally pay off.

"Here we are." King Frederic stopped at a door.

"Go on, Son." Quirin encouraged him.

Varian stepped toward the door and gripped the handles before opening the doors. His eyes widened when he saw a large room built like a proper alchemist's lab and workshop. It was full of lab tables, alchemy equipment, and boxes of materials. Varian took it all in before letting out a breathy laugh. "Wow, I… I don't what to say," He turned to the King with a big grin. "This is awesome, thank you so much!"

"It was my pleasure. Now, go on and see what all we put in," King Frederic smiled. "Quirin and I put this together for you, so you don't have to keep going back and forth to create your alchemy."

Varian beamed before hugging his dad. "I promise I'll still come home to see you," he said before going inside to poke around. Ruddiger followed him closely, looking just as interested.

"Thanks for doing this for him, Dad." Rapunzel smiled at her dad.

"Well, after he came at night last week to deliver the 'goo bombs,' I figured we should put a rush on his lab for here at the castle." King Frederic smiled at her.

"Mm, good idea." She smiled at Varian, who was already lost in his own little world. Goggles over his eyes, he turned on a burner and started working on his alchemy.

"That didn't take long," Quirin remarked fondly.

"Let's leave him to this," Rapunzel suggested.

"Varian? You good?" Cassandra asked.

"Yeah, I'll catch up with you later. Thanks again!" Varian said, looking over his shoulder. "See you later, guys."

The Princess giggled. "I'll drop by later."

"Have fun, kid," Eugene said, wrapping an arm around Rapunzel's waist.

"You too," Varian said distractedly.

Quirin looked at his son before turning to the others. "I'm going to stay for a few more minutes. There's something private I want to discuss with my son."

"Okay. We'll leave you two alone," Rapunzel nodded, and the others walked away.

Once alone, Quirin took a deep breath and approached his son. "Varian?" He said, getting his attention. "Before you get started, there's something I want to show you."

"Okay," Varian nodded, turning off the burner. Quirin led Varian to a corner of the room where a chest sat. "What's in here?"

To answer, Quirin pulled out a key and held it out to his son. "There's one way to find out."

Confused but curious, Varian took the key and kneeled to unlock the chest. He opened the lid and saw that it had books, various knick-knacks, and… women's clothes…?

Varian's eyes widened when it realized what this was.

These were his mother's things.

"The King and I had a conversation not long ago, and I realized he was right about something," Varian looked up as his father kneeled beside him. "Son, I'm sorry. Losing your mother was hard on us both, but I shouldn't have let that stop you from knowing her. I–" Before he could say anything else, Varian launched himself at his dad, surprising him as he hugged his arms around his neck.

"I miss her, too, Dad," Varian murmured, and Quirin could hear the tears before feeling them when they fell. The village leader frowned sadly as he hugged his son, knowing this should have been done long before now.

(The next day)

After an emotional hour together, the rest day went by quickly for father and son. Quirin had to return to Old Corona at one point, so Varian spent his first night at the castle and decided to take the night off from patrolling.

The following morning, Varian and Eugene joined the Royal Family for breakfast, meeting up on their way to get food. "'Morning, kid," Eugene grinned. "New clothes?"

Varian was dressed in a different outfit that looked similar yet nicer to his usual outfit. He had brown pants that fit his size and new dark brown steel-toed boots. He wore a long-sleeve deep blue shirt under a turquoise vest with his usual gloves and goggles. "Yeah. They made me extra clothes to keep at the castle when I stay over, so I figured I should try some on."

"You look good." Eugene complimented.

"Thanks." Varian grinned.

After getting food, they walked to the pavilion, where Rapunzel enjoyed breakfast with her parents. "It's the first thing people see when they enter the castle, Dad!" Rapunzel was saying. "I mean, maybe we could remodel it or something. You know, make it warm and welcoming."

"That archway is an important line of defense, Rapunzel." King Frederic said patiently. "It is imperative it convey strength and security."

"You want strength and security," Eugene said, food in his mouth. He and Varian took their seats on either side of Rapunzel. "Here's what you do." King Frederic raised a skeptical eyebrow at him. "Lion statues! Ohh, ohh, better yet, turn the archway into a giant lion's mouth!"

"Sounds like a carnival's archway," Varian remarked. "Besides, Ingvarr's got the lion motif sewed up."

"That is not entirely false," Queen Arianna agreed.

"No, wait! Let's do the whole lion–" Eugene continued, getting up as he got excited.

"Thank you, Eugene." King Frederic said patiently. "I'll take those suggestions under advisement."

"Ah, teamwork!" He brushed off his hands and held up a hand, not noticing Rapunzel and Varian cringing. "Up high!" Frederic ignored him and went back to his food.

Varian sighed, shaking his head. "Eugene, not now."

"Oh, right." He sat back down and gave a sheepish smile. "Not the time. Next time, then… cool."

(Later)

Rapunzel planted a rose in Pascal's mouth, who posed for a portrait. After breakfast, Rapunzel had talked Varian into painting with her, so they were both sitting side-by-side with small canvases. Ruddiger popped out from behind the flower vase next to them, making them laugh.

"Ruddiger, not now." Varian chuckled.

"It's alright, he can stay there." Rapunzel smiled. "We'll just add him to the painting."

"You know, Blondie, you might wanna start coming up with lion designs for that archway," Eugene said casually, leaning on the table beside them. "I think that idea got some real traction with your dad. You can help too, Varian!"

Varian sighed. "I'm really not sure if I should tell you or not…"

"Tell me what?" Eugene frowned.

"When a dad says 'I'll think about it,' it rarely ever means 'yes,'" Varian looked at him. "It often means, 'I want you to shut up about it, so I'm going to make you think I'm going to do it.' Ask me how I know." He muttered at the end.

"Wha–"

"He's right, you know," Cass rolled her eyes behind them before leaning on Rapunzel's chair. "The King was just being polite and probably didn't want to call you a nitwit to your face."

"Guys!" Rapunzel scolded them lightly. "If my dad didn't like Eugene's ideas, I think he would just say so."

"Rapunzel, you have a lot to learn about having a dad," Varian mumbled before returning to his drawing.

"Oh, come on," Eugene argued. "He's never been shy about calling me names to my face before." Pascal rolled his eyes at this.

"Well, before you have your royal advisor nameplate made up, you should probably know that whenever the King wants to ignore an idea, he always says, 'I'll take it under advisement,'" She used finger quotes to emphasize her point.

Varian fought a cringe but didn't say anything.

"Ha!" Eugene laughed at her. "Shows what you know! I clearly remember him saying, 'I'll…" He cut himself off as the rest of the King's words echoed in his head. His eyes widened with horror when he realized Cass and Varian were right. "Oh no! He does think I'm a nitwit!"

"And there it is!" Cassandra gestured to him mockingly.

"Told ya," Varian added as Rapunzel glanced between them.

"This changes everything!" Eugene panicked, holding his head. "I cannot have a father-in-law who doesn't take me seriously!"

"Why not?" Cassandra retorted with a smirk. "No one else takes you seriously."

"That's not true, Eugene," Rapunzel said, getting up from her painting and approaching him before adjusting his vest. "My dad thinks very highly of you." Cassandra shook her head exaggeratedly as the Princess spoke. "Though, maybe there are times you could be a bit more selective about the kinds of things you suggest to him." Cassandra nodded in the same manner as Varian sighed. "He is the King, after all."

"Varian?" He looked at the younger male.

"I did say your lion-head idea reminded me of a carnival." Varian set down his pencil. He paused as he smirked in thought. "Although…"

"Whatever you're thinking, stop right now," Cass said bluntly.

"Okay, fine," He relented. "You have a creative mind, Eugene, but you gotta think about practicality, too. Other kingdoms wouldn't take Corona seriously like that, plus lions are more Ingvaar's thing. A castle archway is supposed to convey strength, but it also has to be sensible."

"Et tu, Hairstripe?" Eugene asked hurtfully, turning away from them.

Varian got up, trying to damage control. "Why not put your ideas towards other suggestions, like… security improvements."

"Yeah, I'm sure you can tell us all the weak points," Cassandra said with a smirk.

"Not helping," He deadpanned at her.

"Okay, you know what? It's fine, it's fine. I can fix this." Eugene said, then turned back to them. "Quick, name things your dad likes that I can pretend I also like to impress him!"

"That's not how it works, Eugene," Varian raised a brow at him.

Bells started ringing, interrupting the conversation as they all looked up. "The emergency alarm!" Cassandra gasped a little.

All four ran into town, where they found King Frederic, Queen Arianna, and the Captain of the Guard, along with townspeople stopping to gawk. The three were looking at a statue of the King, which had been painted in a goofy way, a wreath with a sign that said "EQUIS RULES!" and little birds sitting in the crown. Arianna glanced at her husband worriedly as his mustache twitched slightly in agitation.

"Equis?" Rapunzel asked in confusion. "As in, the kingdom next door, Equis?"

"Mmhm." Cassandra nodded with a hum.

"What's that got to do with my dad's statue?" She glanced at Varian. "Why is it all messed up?"

"Your dad's lifetime rival, King Trevor of Equis, likes to play pranks on him." The Captain whispered to her.

"By just drawing a silly face on Dad's statue? I can't imagine any intelligent person finding this funny."

"Yeah, it is kind of pathetic," Varian frowned as he crossed his arms before the four heard laughter. They turned to Eugene, who apparently found it funny, as he wiped his eyes. He suddenly realized what he was doing and quickly stood up straight, clearing his throat before smiling sheepishly as the other gave him looks.

"Smooth," Varian deadpanned at him.

"Anyway, King Trevor always manages to thoroughly embarrass your father." The Captain went on.

"I can hear you, Captain." King Frederic suddenly spoke up in a tense tone. "And, yes, I am embarrassed… Embarrassed for him! Really. The very idea of a grown man partaking in such… infantile boobery!"

"And it's not even a decent prank." Varian criticized. "If you're gonna sneak into a kingdom under cover of darkness to mess with them, at least have something clever in mind." King Frederic looked at him, and Varian held up his hands in surrender. "I'm just saying."

"I still don't get it," Rapunzel said to Cassandra.

"I'll explain later," She assured her.

"Trevor has been trying to lure me into partaking in his shenanigans since our youth." King Frederic said irritably as he stepped closer to the statue. "Well, I won't partake! Do you hear me, Trevor?! I won't partake!" He shook his fist, shouting so loud birds flew away in fear.

The King stormed off to the castle, the Captain following behind him. Queen Arianna watched him go before sighing as she turned to a guard. "Let's get this cleaned up."

"Yes, ma'am." The guard said as they walked off.

"And we might as well head back to the castle now," Cassandra suggested. "There's nothing more to see here."

"Good idea," Varian agreed as the friends returned to the castle.

"Hey," Eugene walked up beside him. "Did you ever run into those Equis guys while on patrol?"

"Sometimes. But they're not out to actually hurt anyone, so I usually just leave them alone."

"That makes sense," The boys were quiet for a minute before Eugene asked. "… Do you think I'm a nitwit?"

"I think you're trying too hard to impress Rapunzel's dad," Varian replied. "You should try being more genuine like you were with the Queen when you returned her ring. I don't know for sure, but I think you won her over already."

"You sure?" Eugene raised an eyebrow.

"Well, you haven't been kicked out of the castle or banished from Corona, so I'd assume she either hasn't told her husband the truth about the ring or convinced him it was handled."

"Good point," Eugene said, though he kept glancing at Varian with concern, catching the teen's attention.

"What?"

"It's… When we talked about dads earlier, it seemed like you wanted to unload something."

"I'm fine, Eugene," Varian assured him. "I just… Dad finally opened up about Mom yesterday. I'm happy he did, but it took nearly a decade to do it. It's just stuff I need to sort through on my own."

Eugene smiled sympathetically, patting the younger male's shoulder. "You know I'm here if you need me, right?"

"I know," Varian smiled back. When they returned to the castle, he turned to the older and said, "I'm going to work on something in my lab and then head back to Old Corona after lunch. Dad will probably want to know how this is working out."

"Sure, kid, I'll cover for ya with Blondie."

"Thanks, Eugene." As Varian walked away from the others, his smile faded. He no longer had the energy to keep it up.

When he reached his new lab, Varian locked the door behind him, catching Ruddiger's attention from one of the tables. The alchemist walked over to his mom's trunk and sat beside it, leaning on the lid as he rested his head on his arms.

"I miss you, Mom…" He murmured, knowing he was going to grieve for a while as the tears started falling again. Ruddiger padded over and curled up on his lap, trying to offer his human the comfort he needed.

Suddenly, there was a knock on the door. "Hello? Varian?" The Queen called from the other side, surprising Varian. He thought she was still in town.

"Uh, just–just one moment, Your Majesty," He replied, wiping away his eyes as Ruddiger moved for him to stand up. Putting on a smile, he opened the doors to greet Queen Arianna. "Sorry about that. How are you, Your Majesty?"

"Arianna's fine, Varian," She assured him with a kind smile. "I was wondering if I could see your new lab since I didn't get the chance to do so yesterday."

"Oh, of course," He agreed, stepping aside to allow her to enter. "Welcome to my lab, Your Majes–Lady Arianna."

"My, this is certainly a professional area," She commented as she looked around. "How do you like it so far?"

"I love it," Varian responded. "I can't thank your husband enough for doing this for me."

"You've done so much for our daughter since becoming her friend. This is the least we could do," Queen Arianna replied before noticing the trunk in the corner. "What's this?"

"Oh, that's, uh," The alchemist started before sighing. "It's… my mom's things." Arianna instantly turned back to Varian when he said that, seeing the sad look return to his face.

"Oh, Varian, sweetheart," She walked back over to him, pulling him into a hug. "I know, I know. Losing her was hard on all of us."

"I just… didn't think it was going to hurt this much," Varian said. "It's been ten years for me, and I barely knew her. Now… Plus, I'm mad at Dad for not doing this sooner."

"And you're more than allowed to feel that way," Queen Arianna assured him before they pulled apart. "I can imagine it wasn't easy for your father to open up either."

"What do you mean?"

"I'm not sure how much Quirin told you about his past, but he lived a life before you where he couldn't be open with his feelings. Sometimes, those traits can pour over into your personal life and affect how you interact with others, including your family," The Queen sighed heavily. "I've seen that first hand in my own family."

Varian glanced away, not sure what to make of her words. "But I think this is a big step forward for both of you," she continued, taking Varian's hands. "Now, the healing can start."

"… Yeah… it can," The alchemist agreed, smiling slightly.

"If you'd like, I can tell you some of my stories about her," Arianna offered.

"I'd like that very much…" Varian agreed, tearing up slightly.

"Then, why don't we have a private lunch, just the two of us," She suggested before guiding Varian out of the lab. "It's been a long time since we spent time together."

"This'll be nice, Lady Arianna." Varian agreed.

(Meanwhile)

After returning to the castle, Rapunzel read up on Equis, sitting in a little nook she had made on her bookshelf. "Blondie, great news!" She looked up at Eugene as he walked into her room. "Your dad just asked me to steal the Royal Seal of Equis for him!"

"Stealing from Equis?" Rapunzel closed her book, glancing at Pascal, who slapped a claw to his face. "That doesn't sound like a great idea." She slid down the ladder and walked up to him, holding up her book. "Did you know that they have over a thousand guards on duty at any given time?" Pascal turned the pages, showing pictures of Equis's guards.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah, I know." He took the book and closed it. "But don't you see?" He set the book aside as Pascal climbed onto the globe next to it. "This is the perfect way to prove to him I'm more than just some nitwit thief!"

"By stealing something?" Rapunzel crossed her arms, raising an eyebrow.

"No," Eugene spun the globe around, Pascal hanging on. "By stealing something well." He stopped the globe, and the chameleon fell onto the book.

"Hm," She gave a look of disapproval.

"Hey, come on, it's for the official royal prank! I'm sure that makes it completely legal… ish." Eugene added at the end, not entirely sure.

"Oh, well, then let me come with you!" Rapunzel grabbed her blue purse. "I'm pretty good at surprises."

"Sorry, Blondie, but I've assessed the situation, and this is a one-man job. Luckily, Flynn Rider does his best work alone." The former thief smirked.

(Scene Break)

"Let's go, partner!" Frederic, dressed in an all-black outfit, walked away from the archway when Eugene arrived.

"Wait, I'm sorry, you wanna come with me?" Eugene asked in surprise.

"Of course, I'm coming with you," Frederic turned around, hands on his hips. "You think I'm in the habit of dressing like this?" He gestured to his dark clothes. "Though, this new, dashing adventure suit I had made is quite slimming. I must witness Trevor's humiliation firsthand!"

"Ooh, yeah," Eugene winced as he approached the King. "See, um…" He chuckled nervously. "I was thinking you wanted, you know, me, to do it alone. Uh, not that I wouldn't love to have you along. It's just… you probably have way more important–"

"This is a matter of national pride, Son," Frederic interrupted, not taking no for an answer. "Of course, it's important. And I specifically said 'we' would steal the Royal Seal of Equis, remember?"

"I do, I do re–yes, you did say 'we!' I thought you were using the royal 'we,' you know, being king?" He smiled nervously, not wanting to anger the King.

"Come on, let's do this!" King Frederic cheered, the former thief dropping his smile. "How'd you put it before? Teamwork! Up high," He held up his hand, and when Eugene went to slap it, the King walked away.

"Yeah, you know, when you say 'up high,' you usually–" He started to say before a satchel was thrown in his arms. "Okie dokie, never mind…" Eugene sighed as he put the bag on, following Frederic before muttering, "Hopefully, this heist goes better than the last one."

As the men headed out, they didn't realize Varian had seen them from the castle window. "Now, where are they going?" He wondered, growing concerned.

And that's the first half of In Like Flynn. I'll get a few pages of the next half done today.

Stay tuned for the next chapter of Moonlight Phantom or Outcasts of Corona.