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Without a doubt, Flynn Rider had been stabbed before.
Once at a bar fight a few years back, another time during a run-in with a highway robber before he knew how to properly defend himself. Each time, he’d been- although he didn’t really appreciate it until now- lucky. He’d been stabbed in the shoulder, and once in his thigh, both times at such an angle that the wound was treated easily enough by the cheapest doctor in town.
But on this night, here in a tower in the middle of nowhere, it seems his luck had run out. Fate was cruel like that, taking his life the moment he finally had something to live for, a new dream. Rapunzel. He tried to focus on her to distract him from the pain in his gut where Gothel had stabbed him, but they were shouting so loud, and the pain-
The wound in his lower back was deep, and the witch had known to aim for his vital organs. The knife was long enough that it pierced entirely through him, leaving an exit wound as well. Flynn listened to his inner realist. He knew that in that moment, he was dying.
“I will never stop trying to get away from you!” If he was dying, he’d prefer to die listening to Rapunzel’s voice- painful as it might be to hear her cry out like that.
“But… If you let me save him... I will go with you.”
It took a moment for the man's hazy brain to process what she’d said, but when he did, he was with it enough to understand the gravity of what she was offering. Her freedom would be taken away in exchange for his life.
“N-no… No, Rapunzel…”
“I’ll never run. I’ll never try to escape. Just let me heal him! And you and I will be together, forever, just like you want! Everything will be the way it was… I promise.”
Flynn remembered first meeting her, the look in her eye as he was tied to a chair a few feet away from this very spot. Rapunzel never broke a promise.
“Just like you want...” she repeated, breathing heavy. “Just, let me heal him.”
It was hard to see from his place on the ground, clutching his stomach, consciousness struggling to hold on through the pain, but he heard the clinking keys in Rapunzel’s handcuffs. Run Rapunzel, now’s your chance, you have to get out of here… these thoughts raced through his mind, but to no avail.
Before he knew it, Gothel had handcuffed his right arm to one of the tower’s support beams. She pulled him painfully forward to see the vitriol in her eyes.
“In case you get any ideas about following us.” Gothel was as smart as she was cruel.
Eugene grimaced and coughed as she pushed him back again, and Rapunzel rushed to his side. The coughing was hard to control, he knew it was likely that his lung had been damaged.
“Eu-Eugene!” She gently cupped his face in her hands- he loved her hands. So small and delicate, and cable of climbing mountains and fighting with a frying pan- of all things. He began coughing again and let out a groan, sucking in a painful breath through his teeth as she examined the wound. He knew how unlikely it was that she’d ever seen a person dying before.
“Oh, I’m so sorry…” She seemed so out of breath from the crying. She began to fumble with her hair. “Everything is going to be okay though-”
“N-no Rapunzel…” he weakly pushed her hair away.
“I promise, you have to trust me-”
“No!” He grimaced.
“Come on…just breathe...” Her whispers were desperate.
“I can’t let you do this!”
“And I can’t let you die!” The look in her eyes as she said this broke him.
“But if you do this-” he spoke over her attempts to shush him, “y-you will die…” the thought of her wasting away, all alone, again-
“Hey.” She brought his attention back to those beautiful eyes, burdened with the sadness in knowing he was likely correct- then returned to a whisper. “It’s gonna be alright.”
Silence fell over them as they shared a look of longing. They were both trying to hold back tears, to put on a brave face for the other despite knowing how bad this was. Eugene wanted to fight her on this more, but knew if he died, he couldn’t protect her.
In that moment of silence, he thought about all the times he’d tried to tell her no on this little journey of theirs. He'd always lost in the end.
Maybe this time too, he should just let her win.
He stopped protesting as she touched her hair to the wound.
“Flower, gleam and glow…” she softly began to sing. Her voice struggled to come out. “Let your power sh-shine…”
As she continued the same song he’d heard the previous night, he once again felt the magic of her glowing hair flowing through his body. It was so powerful yet warm, just like her. The memories of the journey together played through his mind. It was the story of how he'd died... how he should have died.
“Bring back what once was mine, what once was… mine…” She choked up more at the final line, using her free hand to once again cup his face. She imagined a future in which he was hers, and she was his, and they were happy.
The dream was cut short as the girl was yanked away by Gothel, who quickly secured her hands with rope once more. Rapunzel couldn’t help the instinct to fight to stay close to him, to struggle against that woman’s arms, he still needed her and she needed-
“Rapunzel!” The familiar shriek snapped her attention as it had done so many times before. She turned her terrified gaze back to Gothel.
“Flower, you promised, didn’t you?” Her voice had that sing-song high pitch... which quickly shifted back to better fit her sour mood. “Now let’s go.”
Rapunzel nodded as if under a spell. And in a sense she was, but not a magic spell. The kind of spell only a mother can cast on a naive daughter sheltered from the world for so long. Years of obedience were not broken with a few nights of freedom, it seemed. She glanced back at Eugene, foolishly attempting to wipe the tears from her eyes to little avail.
He was healed but still weak from the shock of nearly dying as he attempted to pull at his chains.
“Rapunzel, don’t!” He yelled, trying to squeeze his hand out of the cuffs unsuccessfully.
“It’s okay, Eugene. Please, just rest. It’ll be okay.”
He looked at her again, tears in both their eyes. He’d never seen her so defeated, but even now she tried to put on a brave face for him. She even managed a smile, and truly she was so happy he was alive.
Gothel rolled her eyes and yanked at the ropes binding Rapunzel again. “Enough of this, before I change my mind and stab him again.”
Rapunzel winced, knowing how very real the threat was, and nodded once more, turning her back on Eugene. Gothel marched her forward towards the cellar door.
Eugene tried again to get these stupid cuffs off- he’d done this before, he’d just have to break his thumb and-
“Goodbye Eugene.” He looked up and saw her there, giving him one last smile.
“No! I will find you Rapunzel, I promise! Just- just hold on!” He yelled, free hand outstretched towards her, just before Gothel slammed the trap door shut with a thundering clatter of finality.
Even as he heard them climbing the ladder down and knew the sound would be muffled he kept yelling.
“I will find you, Rapunzel!”
He took a few quick deep breaths to prepare himself for the pain of breaking his own thumb- and then spotted a small pin with a flower emblem on the floor halfway across the room by Rapunzel’s bed. He couldn’t be more grateful to those little girls in town that had braided her hair.
He stuck his foot out as far as he could, barely touching the pin with his boot and trying to be careful not to push it further away. He struggled for a few moments...
...Until he unfortunately knocked it further back, groaning at his own incompetence.
His eyes darted around looking for a solution. Have to get out, have to catch up to them but how-
“Pascal!” he cried, shifting his weight and reaching out to the creature with his free hand.
The chameleon awoke, having been knocked back by Gothel previously, and looked around for his best friend.
“Pascal, she’s gone, I have to get her back, please wake up and help me Pascal, please, please!” the man anxiously cried out.
Pascal shook his head to snap back into it and nodded with determination. (Eugene was starting to see why Rapunzel liked the little guy so much.)
The small creature scurried forward, grabbed the pin with his outstretched tongue and brought it to Eugene.
“Yes! Oh, you beautiful little lizard! I’m sorry I ever called you annoying!” The chameleon rolled his eyes.
Eugene had plenty of practice picking locks. Getting himself out of the cuffs, especially with one free hand, was a piece of cake.
As soon as he was free, he scooped up Pascal who climbed into his pocket so the man could lift the trap door and jump down. Years of acrobatic stunts from daring escapes made it easy to swing down the ladder several rungs at a time.
He landed on the ground with a thunk and ran out the previously hidden door at the base of the tower.
He ran out into the grove, past the creek, out through the curtains of vines, and slowed to a stop, panting.
“Rapunzel!” He yelled as loudly as he could.
“Rapunzel, where are you!”
...
Aside from the tweeting birds in the trees above him, he was met with silence. He tried to listen for footsteps, horses, anything...but heard nothing. He looked for tracks but there was nothing he was able to recognize...
They were gone. Rapunzel was… gone. Just like that.
He yelled ferociously and slammed his fist into the bark of a nearby tree, scaring the chirping birds away, and slumped to the ground on his knees.
“I have to find her… I will find her.” He murmured, tears forming once again in his eyes.
He pulled out her flowery pin that had been used to free him and clutched it tightly in his hands. Pascal chirped sadly from his pocket. Eugene stood up slowly, taking deep breaths.
“I promised.”
And with that, he began chasing his new dream- his dream to find Rapunzel.