Sunshine

"And it's warm and real and bright
And the world has somehow shifted
All at once everything is different
Now that I see you."

He would never, ever openly admit to it, but Flynn Rider absolutely loved the sensation of wamrth and comfort that enveloped him whenever he woke up and found Rapunzel nestled against his side. It was Rapunzel's own fault, really; she was made of sunshine, for God's sake. Flynn only thanked his stars that he didn't start sharing a bed with her until after she'd cut off her eighty thousand mile long thick blonde locks (Alright, alright, sometimes he wished she still had it, but purely for him to hold on to when they were being intimate. Again, not exactly something he could bring up in casual conversation).

The best part about all of it, perhaps, was the fact that Rapunzel didn't seem to have any idea just how insanely affected he was by her presence. He would feel her tiny, delicate body shift and curl against his own in the middle of the night, would wait for the telltale, dreamy sigh of tranquility to slip past her rose-tinted lips as she fidgeted in her sleep, and would know she was none the wiser to any of his thoughts. She slept so soundly, Flynn discovered, and on the nights where he stared vacantly up at the dark ceiling hanging high above their heads, he wondered how it was that a girl with so much black smeared all across her history could manage to be so pure and filled with light.

She was like a ray of sunshine peeking through dense, stormy clouds; she was a flower sprouting up among a garden of weeds. She was always happy, always restless, always eager, always Rapunzel in every single way that mattered. Flynn was pretty sure he could write down every single redeeming and wonderful quality about the girl and he still wouldn't feel satisfied that the list was fully composed. That was just the thing about Rapunzel, though; she was unlike absolutely anyone else in the entire world and in the most magnificent way possible.

Sometimes, when her body was folded up against his own as shafts of moonlight filtered in through the castle window, Flynn would gaze up at the moon and wonder about the stories about its relationship with the sun he'd read about as a kid. Something about the sun and the moon being lovers, always chasing one another. Another variation of the story claimed that they were enemies, destined to orbit one another endlessly. Flynn didn't like that version as much.

And he would think to himself, with Rapunzel's tiny, warm hands splayed across his stomach, that if she was the sun, then he was the moon. And she…she was always ahead of him. And like a faithful and dutiful lover, he followed wherever she led. But, much like the moon, he felt destined to stand in the shadows; to live a life sheltered by the cloak of darkness and illuminated only in dim, milky hues. But God, there she was, brightening his world and shining light in all the shadowy, smudged areas of himself he hadn't even bothered to look at before. It was a contradition—something that shouldn't have existed—and Flynn felt himself nearly blinded by her presence. Looking at her now, as she slept so peacefully, he swore he was going to suffocate under the crushing weight of his feelings.

Because she was warm and she was whole and she was somehow a home inside a person's body and he didn't know how to deal with any of it.

In a way, it was kind of like lying; he could have entire conversations with himself in the middle of the night as he relished in the warmth of her body and the way her small frame fit so snugly against his own. It felt like living a double life, studying Rapunzel like this and wondering what he'd done to deserve it. And every once in a while as they sat down to breakfast with one another and she chattered on and on about the perplexing dreams she'd had the night before, he felt tempted to remind her of how beautiful and rare she was. He wanted her to know that the flower wasn't what had made her special; that she was special entirely on her own. He wanted to remind her that she didn't need magic hair to be like the sun; that she embodied sunshine in everything she said and did. It was in her smile and the way it reached her eyes; in the crinkled lines it made on her face and the way it ate up her whole body. It was the twinkle in her eyes and the way they sparkled whenever she was filled with mirth or joy.

Rapunzel was so much more than a warm body or a companion in bed. She was the sun, and he was her faithful servant.

His favorite part, perhaps, was when she'd stir in the middle of the night, blinking up blearily at him and fighting the sleep from her eyes. Realizing Flynn had yet to fall asleep, she'd rub at her drowsy eyes fitfully, and in a voice thick and slurred with sleep, would murmur something along the lines of "Flynn? Is something wrong?"

And he, in not-so-typical Flynn Rider fashion, would tug her body more securely against his own, kiss the top of her head and inhale the enticing aroma of her lavender-scented shampoo, and brush the hair from her face. And always, always, without missing a beat, he would whisper the same response to her:

"Nothing's wrong. Nothing at all."

What he wanted to say, though, and never did, was that nothing was wrong anymore…nothing could ever be wrong, because he had her. He'd captured sunlight and had made it his own, and no one in the world could take that away from him. No one ever would.

Because Flynn Rider didn't just see the light, he'd reached out and touched it with his own bare hands. He'd made the light his own, had watched it chase the shadows, and had allowed it to completely envelop his being.

And he wouldn't go back. Not for anything.

a/N: I'm new to writing in the realm of Disney characters, but I love them-good old Flynn Rider in particular-and I thought I'd take a crack at one of my absolute favorite Disney pairings. Just a short, fluffy one shot about Flynn Rider and what he thinks about the adorable beam of sunlight that's Rapunzel, basically. I wrote this for my best friend, Holly, and if you're reading this (I know you are), then I hope you enjoyed it, and I hope I did your babies justice! And, as always, reviews are appreciated and amazing!