SET YOURSELF FREE: tangled

a new home for a couple of dreamers

The castle was quiet at night. Besides for the faint footsteps of guards on their night shifts, the palace almost felt empty. Silent, serene, and beautiful. Rapunzel could hardly believe it was hers.

The day had been a lot. It was hard to wrap her mind around all of it — it was all just so unreal. It felt like a dream, a distant memory, long ago, yet so recent and vivid. Would it always feel like this? Like her past self was so out of reach from where she was now, like it was an entirely different life? Now is when her life begins, the last 18 years had just been the prologue — a long one, at that.

Rapunzel shook her head, clearing her mind. This was why she was out wandering the halls, because her brain was racing with too many thoughts to sleep. She didn't have a journal, an easel, and she didn't want to paint over the palace walls. She hadn't brought her guitar. She hadn't brought her books. She barely brought anything except for the essentials. She had nothing.

And yet, she had everything she ever wanted at the same time.

It just took some getting used to.

Footsteps behind her broke her out of her trance. The guards, she thought. Guess Pascal couldn't keep them running around forever. She turned, expecting — what were their names? Stan and Pete? — to be standing there out of breath (for as much as they were intimidating, they were not the most agile). Instead, there was him. Eugene.

Her face softened. Thank goodness.

"Well, didn't expect to run into you here, Blondie," he smirked, though it soon faltered when he realized the nickname. "Oh, wait, that doesn't exactly suit you anymore, does it?"

Rapunzel laughed, a smile tugging on her lips, "No, it's fine. I've kinda grown attached to it."

The two stood there silently, taking in each other's company, until more footsteps arrived. "Princess," a voice called out. "Princess Rapunzel?"

Oh, so there were the guards.

"You tryna get away from them too?" Eugene raised an eyebrow at her as he saw her smile drop.

She sighed, "Yeah, they just...won't let me have any alone time—"

"Princess, there you are! We have been looking all over for you," the guard with the mustache came into view behind the former thief, a frown forming on his face at the sight of him. Yeah, it would take some getting used to seeing the WANTED DEAD-OR-ALIVE: FLYNN RIDER in the castle legally, let alone near the long-lost princess.

"Oh, um, hi, sir..." Mustache...stache...sta- Stan. "Stan. I was just taking a walk."

"I see, Your Majesty. Do warn us next time, will you? We could accompany you and-"

"No, no, I don't need accompaniment. Really. Eugene's here, right?" Please don't. Rapunzel's eyes found her way to Eugene's again, now standing beside her, with a painstakingly obvious forced smile.

Stan eyed the two suspiciously. "Very well. I will meet you at your room soon?"

"Of course."

"Thank you, Princess." With that, the guard walked away (he actually just stood around the corner, still wanting to protect the dear Rapunzel from anything that may happen).

Rapunzel let out a breath she didn't even realize she was holding. Eugene softly put a hand on her shoulder, and she turned back towards him. "Sorry, it's just..."

"Don't worry; I get it. Pretty overwhelming, right?"

She chuckled softly, playing with a strand of her now-short hair, "Yeah. A lot, actually."

He frowned, "Do you wanna talk about it?"

"Yes, please," she replied hastily. She had been yearning to get her thoughts out all evening.

They took a seat on a bench near the wall, in between a pedestal and armor stand. Rapunzel immediately pressed her head into Eugene's chest. "I'm so tired," she murmured.

"Couldn't sleep?" He rested a hand on her back, the other in her hair.

She nodded. "Not at all. Plus, everything today...was just way too much, y'know?" What with the argument with her 'mother,' almost being kidnapped (again), seeing two people die (only one being permanent), and then hours upon hours of happy tears and reunion, who could blame her? It was a lot for a young woman to handle in just one day.

His hand moved from her hair to her cheek. She immediately leaned into it, feeling the warmth against her skin. The warmth he didn't have in the tower. She never knew a human body could become so cold and still. She never paid attention to her own breath until she saw someone not breathing at all.

She shivered. Don't think about that right now, she told herself. He's here. He's here. He's not going anywhere.

Rapunzel pulled herself away from him, taking his hand and examining it in her lap. She memorized each line and crease, each color and blemish. (She once had a book that mentioned palm reading. She didn't really get it, nor did she remember anything, but it was interesting nonetheless.) He didn't question any of it — frankly, he didn't care what she did to him, especially when she picked up his hand and brought it to her lips, kissing it softly.

"Stay," she simply whispered.

"Wasn't planning on doing anything else, Sunshine."

The castle may not have been home yet, but Eugene was.

* 891 words (November 22, 2021)