Tangled Part IV

Emi awoke to the sound of Aizawa's call for help. She turned and saw him being dragged away by a large male horse by a boot. In a flash she was up and sprinting towards them. Once she was at Aizawa side she helped him pulled his foot out of the boot the horse was trying to drag off. The horse noticing that it only had a boot tried to go after Aizawa again. Emi quickly stood up and got in between the two. The horse tried to get around her but failed.

"Woah! Woah, steady horsey steady!" Emi exclaimed. "Steady. Easy buddy. Easy." The horse calmed down and stopped moving. "Good job. Good boy. Now sit." The horse huffed. "Sit." He obeyed. "Good. Now drop the boot." The horse huffed again. "Drop it please?" He begrudgingly dropped it. "Ah, good job. You're such a good boy." Emi walked over to him and petted him which caused the horse to finally relax. "Who's a good boy? You are. You are."

Aizawa could only look at the scene in front of him with astonishment. First of all, this horse acted more like a dog than a horse. Secondly, Emi somehow tamed the beast rather easily. As he watched the pair, all the tension he felt dropped. Maybe the rest of this trip wouldn't be SO bad.

"Yes, you're a very good boy…" Emi told him. He looked down and saw his name printed on the chest piece of his saddle. "Maximus. A great name for a great horse. Hey! I know. Why don't we bring you along with us?" Then the horse noticed Aizawa again causing him to pout and glare.

"Wow, this horse does NOT like you, Sho," Emi said to Aizawa.

"Probably something this character did before I got here," Aizawa guessed. "Sho?"

"Sho short for Shota," Emi told him. Aizawa raised his eyebrow.

"Why do you need a shorter version of my name?" Aizawa questioned. "My name is already pretty short."

"Cause I like nicknames," Emi responded. "You can call me Em if you want."

"I think I'll stick with Emi for now," Aizawa said. "So what are we going to do about the horse?"

"I think we're supposed to bring him along with us," Emi told him.

"Sure, let's bring the horse that wants to kill me," Aizawa replied drily.

"Don't worry, I'll make sure he doesn't kill you," Emi said cheerfully.

"Why doesn't that make me feel me better?" Aizawa asked sarcastically.

"Oh don't be such a worrywart," Emi responded. "We've survived this long." She turned back to the horse. "Now, can you please not mess with him for the next 24 hours?" The horse huffed. "Please, today's a pretty deal to me." The horse still pouting begrudgingly nodded his head. "Good now let's hit the town."

The group arrived at the capital city not long after and immediately ran into a problem. Emi's hair was TOO long and was creating quite the problem. Emi held what she could while Aizawa got the rest, but they knew that this was not an effective way to travel. As they contemplated their situation, Aizawa's gaze found a small group of redhead girls braiding each other's hair near the fountain.

"Emi," he called. She turned towards him and he gestured at the girls with his head.

"Great idea Shota!" Emi exclaimed with a smile. With Emi leading they slowly made their way through the crowd towards the fountain.

"Hi girls," Emi greeted. The girls looked up and turned to face her. "Would you please braid this for me?" The girls' faces lit up and they smiled widely before nodding enthusiastically. One of the girls gestured for her to sit down the ground. Emi sat down as they braided her long, luscious hair. Aizawa smirked as he watched the girls braid Emi's hair and put colorful flowers in between some braids.

'This is too cute,' Aizawa thought. He frowned. 'Wait, what?' What broke Aizawa from his thoughts was a tug on his sleeve. He looked over and saw another one of the red-haired girls holding a small red flower.

"Um…mister…if you don't mind, could I please braid your hair?" she asked nervously. Aizawa hesitated, but once he saw that sad puppy-eyed look, he knew he couldn't say no. He sighed.

'Dang, I'm getting soft,' Aizawa thought. He knelt down to get on her level.

"Sure kid," Aizawa responded. She smiled brightly and walked around him so she could braid his hair. Aizawa sat all the way down and smirked to himself.

'She's just like Eri,' Aizawa thought. While the little girl was braiding his hair, Aizawa watched as the other girls finished braiding Emi's hair. Their little faces were filled with glee and they moved with great excitement to finish. The sight alone made him smile. The girl braiding his hair finished before the other finished with Emi's.

"Thanks, kid," he told her. The little girl smiled and handed him the red flower. "What's this for?"

"It's for you to give to your wife," she said sweetly. Aizawa felt all the blood rush into his face and his cheeks heat up.

"My wife?" he questioned. She pointed at Emi with an innocent look on her face. Aizawa felt his face heat up as he blushed. Emi joking about it was one thing but this little girl saying it, well, he didn't know how to describe how uncomfortable he felt.

"My daddy always gives mommy flowers on special days," she told him. "I'm sure your wife would like it too."

"She's…she's, not my…" Aizawa started but was unable to finish his sentence.

'Why am I acting like this?' Aizawa thought. The little girl giggled at his embarrassment before going back to the rest of her group. He looked over and saw that the girls had finished braiding Emi's hair.

"Thank you so much!" Emi exclaimed. "I love it!"

"We're glad you like it," one of the girls responded with a smile.

"Well you all have a great day and thanks again for doing my hair!" Emi told them cheerfully. "Bye!"

"Bye," all the girls responded. Emi walked back to where Aizawa, and the horse, was standing. She noticed the braid in his own hair and that he was holding a red flower down at his side.

"What's with the flower?" Emi asked curiously. Aizawa froze and she saw that he was… blushing?

"Um, well, the girl who did my hair gave me this flower to give to you," Aizawa explained with embarrassment written all over his face.

"Any idea why?" Emi asked.

"She…she thought you were my wife," Aizawa admitted hesitantly. Emi froze in shock unsure how to process this. "So yeah. Um." He hesitated before walking slightly closer to her and put the red flower in her hair on the right side of her face. "There. Is that good?" Emi hesitated before smiling.

"It's perfect," Emi said sincerely. "Thank you." Aizawa gave a genuine smile.

"You're welcome," Aizawa responded. Emi raised her eyebrows in shock before smiling wider.

"I did it. I got you to smile!" Emi exclaimed. "Now if only I could get you to laugh."

"Purr-haps some other time when we're not…" Aizawa started but then stopped when he realized what he had done. Emi burst out laughing.

"You used a cat pun!" Emi exclaimed while laughing. "Oh my gosh! I KNEW you had it in you." Aizawa's face was as red as a tomato and he was trying to hide it behind his hands.

"Can we please go now?" Aizawa asked.

"Sure, let's go," Emi responded cheerfully. "Afterall the paw-sibilities for this day are endless." Aizawa groaned.

"One time, one time," he muttered.

"Seriously, let's look around," Emi told him sincerely. "We're only here for a day." She took his hand and started dragging him around the capital city.

While Aizawa will probably deny this to his grave, he did enjoy going all around the city with Emi. He wasn't a big fan of social outings but he did love getting to spend some genuine time with Emi and seeing her smile. Emi certainly was having the time of her life exploring this city. A smile never left her face. Near the end of the day, Emi started dancing to some of the locals' music and started dragging people in to join her. She jester for Aizawa to join her and when he didn't go right away the horse used his side to whack him into the circle. The dance continued for a good length of time but Emi and Aizawa still hadn't danced together yet. The dance continued and just as the song ended the pair reunited.

"To the boats!" someone shouted. Aizawa gently led her to the harbor and to a small wooden boat. She got in and sat upfront while Aizawa took the back and paddled them into the center of the lake. He stopped once they were in the middle and looked over at Emi who was looking up at the sky.

"What are you thinking about?" Aizawa asked. She looked at him.

"Oh, I was just wondering if the lanterns are going to be as beautiful in real life as in the movie," Emi answered. "And about today. Thanks for making today great."

"I didn't do too much," Aizawa responded. "But…today was…. nice. Think we could hang out more when we get out of here?" Emi's face brightened up at that.

"I would love that," Emi told him. "So…like a date?"

"Well…maybe," Aizawa said. She gave him a genuine smile and then they heard music playing. "Another song?"

"Yeah," Emi responded. "Last one." She then noticed the lanterns were starting to rise.

'All those days. Watching through the windows,' Emi thought sang. 'All those years outside looking in. All that time never even knowing just how blind I've been. Now I'm here blinking in the starlight. Now I'm here suddenly I see. Standing here it's all so clear. I'm where I'm meant to be. And at last I see the light. And it's like the fog has lifted. And at last, I see the light. And it's like the sky is new. And it's warm and real and bright. And the world has suddenly shifted. All at once, everything looks different. Now that I see you.'

"So it is just as beautiful in real life as the movie?" Aizawa asked causing Emi to turn her gaze away from the lanterns. She saw him holding two lanterns with a smirk on his face.

"No it's even better," Emi answered. Aizawa handed her one of the lanterns.

"Why is that?" Aizawa asked.

"Cause I'm experiencing it with you instead of seeing it through a screen," Emi told him sincerely. Aizawa was surprised but it quickly vanished from his face and was replaced with a genuine smile. "You ready to launch these into the sky."

"Whenever you are," Aizawa responded kindly. Emi nodded and they both let go of their lanterns at the same time.

'All those days, chasing down a daydream,' Aizawa thought sang. 'All those years, living in a blur. All that time never truly seeing things the way they were. Now she's here. Shining in the starlight. Now she's here, suddenly I know. If she's here, it's crystal clear I'm where I'm meant to go.' Aizawa gently took his hands in his; Emi smiled as they sang the last verse together.

"And at last I see the light," they sang.

"And it's like the fog has lifted," he sang.

"And at last I see the light," they sang.

"And it's like the sky is new," she sang.

"And it's warm and real and bright," they sang. "And the world has suddenly shifted. All at once. Everything is different. Now that I see you. Now that I see you." Both looked at each other with sincerity and a smile. Everything was perfect and they were about to lean in for a kiss.