A/N: last part! I hope you enjoy it. Nexus, you asked me who Rapunzel was telling the story to, and you know, I had no idea until today. And then I made the last part up because your question was a good one. Haha. But i hope you like it.

Disclaimer: I do not own Tangled.

Epilogue

"A hard beginning maketh a good ending."

-John Haywood

Since you have been so kind as to listen to this (very!) long story of mine, I have a surprise for you. It isn't a continuation of my life's story, although I would dearly love to tell it to you sometime. No, for this epilogue-or tying up all the loose ends-I have asked Eugene to help me finish my tale and he has agreed. Actually, I don't think agree is the right word. Don't tell him I told you this, but once he heard that I was telling my story to you, he practically begged me to let him tell part of it. How else will they get the right impression of me, he asked. I tried to convince him that I would portray him correctly, but he didn't quite believe me. Why he thinks that is beyond me, since you and I both know that I have extolled his virtues to the point of completely alienating you. I can easily recall your face when I went on and on about his amazing qualities.

Anyway, before I let him introduce himself, I do have a question for you. Do you remember the theme of my story, of seeing beyond appearances? I must admit that, at points, I forgot to fully discuss that in my earnestness. But I hope that you found glimpses of it throughout the story- like the fact that my dear Eugene, who, at first, seemed like a ruthless and callous thief named Flynn Rider was really a gentle and sweet orphan named Eugene Fitzherbert instead. Or the fact that Eugene thought that Maximus was a bad horse because he chased him around, but Maximus ended up saving his life. Or the Vikings who were scary at first, but underneath were sweet dreamers who also ended up saving Eugene. Or Gothel, who I thought was my mother for eighteen years, but was the one who stole me away from my birth parents. And let's not forget me. I thought I was just a normal girl, but I ended up being Princess of Corona! Now who would have guessed that? Not me, that's for sure. It just goes to show you that you can never ever know what is in a person's heart from simply looking at their outward appearance. And so it is wise to learn more about a person before you judge them one way or another.

Now that I have said my final piece, I introduce my beloved Eugene to you, and he will finish the story for me (though I am staying here in case he tells something wrong):

Well, hello there! Rapunzel tells me that you have been listening to her story for quite some time now, and that you are very intelligent. I have my own doubts about that- (Eugene! Don't alienate your listener!) (ahem) but I am pleased to tell the rest of the story. Because when do I ever pass up the opportunity to talk about myself? And who wouldn't want to hear about me and my life? I mean, is there anybody in Corona who is as smart, wily, intelligent, not to mention completely crafty- (Eu-gene!)- (ahem) as me? No one, that's who! Not only did I, in this story, manage to steal a crown, but I also cheated death three times, outwitted multiple people, not to mention captured the heart of the most wonderful girl in all of Corona. Who also happened to be a princess. Am I good or what? There should be some kind of statue of me in Caermor because- (Eu-gene! Can you please just tell them what happened after I reunited with my parents?) Oh, right. I'll have to tell you of all my excellent deeds some other time. Because, believe me, they are worth hearing.

Well, I'm sure you can imagine what happened next. The kingdom rejoiced for their lost princess had returned. The part lasted an entire week, and, honestly, I don't remember most of it. (That's because you were so completely in love with me!) I'm sure you expect me to deny that….but actually she's right. I was so in love with her, that all I remember is being happy that we were finally together with no one chasing us. Even though, I have to say that being chased is a lot of fun. Why? Well, it gives me an opportunity to show how brilliant I am, of course! Anyway, thanks to Maximus (who I grudgingly admitted was a good horse), crime in the kingdom disappeared almost overnight…as did most of the apples. And Pascal, Rapunzel's fro-(Chameleon!) right, chameleon never changed. He continued to love nothing better than sticking his slimy tongue in my ear. And Rapunzel? Well, she had, at last, come home. And she finally had a real family. She was a princess worth waiting for. (Aw, Eugene, you're too kind) Oh, you know it's true. Beloved by all, she led Corona with the same grace and wisdom that her parents did before her. You ask about what happened to me? Well, I started going by…Eugene again, stopped thieving (except my tiara- you loved nothing better than to sneak it off my head when I wasn't looking). But we had a deal about that-I steal the tiara, you give me a kiss to get it back. And you can't say that you minded it. (Unfortunately, he is right about that). Ahem, and as I was saying, I basically turned it all around. But I know what the big question is, 'Did Rapunzel and I ever get married?' Well, I'm pleased to tell you that after years and years of asking and asking and asking…...I finally said yes. (Eu-gene!) Yes, dear? (You know that's not how it went) All right, all right….I asked her (Of course you did-I was the princess and women didn't ask men to marry them back then ...but anyway, we're living happily ever after.) Yes, yes we are.

XXXXXXXXXXXXX

With those words, the elderly woman and man fell silent, looking lovingly into each others eyes. And they almost forgot about the two brothers who had been listening to them speak.

"That's quite a story," one of them said.

The woman smiled. "Well, it's all true, Mr. Schreiber. Everything from the magic hair to the tears that healed my beloved Eugene."

The old man spoke once more. "I can testify to that."

"But it's not possible!" the other brother said.

The woman gave him a serious look. "Is it? From what I can tell, you and your brother make your living off of writing tales such as these."

"Yes…but healing tears? Who would believe that?"

The woman smiled even more broadly. "Everyone wants to believe in magic and fairy tales, Mr. Schreiber. You should know that by all the people who read your stories."

The brothers exchanged glances. "Yes, but…"

"But?" she pressed.

"But we already wrote a story about a girl like you, and we told it….quite differently."

The woman glanced at her husband, who looked at her encouragingly. "Exactly. And that's why I invited you here, to hear the story of what really happened. So you can tell the world the truth about me. Do you think you could do that for me?"

The two men looked at each other again, consulting. "I suppose," one of them said at last.

She rose from her seat, and shook hands with the two men. "Thank you very much," she said. "And thank you for your time." At that, the two men said their goodbyes and left the room. And the woman returned to the seat next to her beloved with a sigh.

"Do you think they'll actually do it?" she asked.

He considered the question for a moment, and then took her hand. "They might. But even if they don't, we know the truth. So do our children and grandchildren. And that's what is really important in the end, don't you think?"

She felt a smile creep across her face. "Yes," she said. Because she knew a fact that some never learn their entire life:

Truth is always what matters, and not ever what people think.

And she would always keep truth close to her heart.

Footnote: The Schreiber brothers, as you might have figured out, are basically like the Brothers Grimm, who did in fact have a story about Rapunzel in their collection of fairy tales. I didn't want to use their exact name, of course, so I changed their name. They were both German, so I looked for German last names, and decided to re-name them Schreiber, which means scribe or writer. Perfect, right?

Acknowledgements:

Although it feels...odd to make one of these for an fan fiction story, I do make some shout-outs to all those who helped me with this story:

-Thank you to anyone who has read and enjoyed this story. I appreciate you reading my writing!

-Thank you to those who ever reviewed my story:

Mrs. Naara

Malicious Marshmellow

AIOFanNCRM

FishyIcon

Kutlessgurl 90

ClassicdisneyFTW

Loverly2467

I really appreciate the time you took to R/R.

-A big thank you to my very loyal readers/reviewers:

LilRockerStar

My Friend Mr Floor

Queen of the Elementals 09

Rebel-Angel-Hero

Without your encouragement, I doubt I would have finished this story. Thank you for all your very kind comments. I can't tell you how much some of what you said meant to me.

-And a very special shout-out to my very first reviewer, Nexus! THANK YOU!

-I also want to send out a special shout-out

-to those authors whose style influenced how I wrote this story

Meg Cabot

Cameron Dokey

Shannon Hale

Patrice Kindl

Ann Rinaldi

- and to those movies who inspired parts/dialogue/thoughts in this story

Anne of Green Gables: The Continuing Story

Ever After

Joe Versus the Volcano

Mulan

National Treasure: Book of Secrets

And, of course, Tangled itself

I've enjoyed almost every minute that I spent writing this story, and I'm truly sad that's over. :( I'm hoping that I somehow have a lighter load this semester because I'm going to miss Eugene and Rapunzel so much and I want to keep writing about them.

It's truly been an awesome (almost) month writing this story, and I learned so much-both about writing, Eugene, Rapunzel and even myself!

THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU