HI. C: So I've watched "Tangled" for the 343, 673, 908th time and I loved every bit of it-again-so I felt the need to do some "Tangled" work. XD This is probably just going to be a bunch of one-shots thrown together in no particular order, but if you've got an idea I'm more than willing to hear it. c: I chose the verse at the very end just because it's one of my favorites, and I found it relevant to the subject matter. R&R-please? 3

Enjoy!

Rapunzel's small frame heaved and shifted with each shaking breath she allowed herself to let in; her hands were equally as unstable and a chilled sweat fell from her temple as she stared into a gray sky, where nothing of great importance to her remained.

Nothing.

Her life was on the ground, a hundred feet below. Almost eighteen years of it. The sun no longer shined on lush grass—instead, sterling, crying clouds poured down upon wet ashes of a "mother" once beloved by her in her childhood. Her childhood had fallen along with the dark, heavy hood that laid sprawled upon the dirt below.

But she was numb—she wanted to cry, but no tears strayed from her emerald eyes. She wanted to scream, but there were no ears to listen to her shrieks for answers that she wished for so badly.

No…no, Rapunzel.

Rapunzel lifted a lock of chocolate hair into her petite hands; she frowned and her mouth fell agape slightly in amazement that yet another seventy feet of her life rested in her grasp. This hair was her life; she spent her days in a tower, being told that the world outside was cruel and unforgiving. Her hair was a treasure to many—it needed protecting and was worth more than a thousand pounds of gold, silver and platinum. This hair had been the key to life and health itself; the world could finally cheat death itself. Given the right spell; the average peddler could instantly become the world's renowned life merchant. And that was what was gone now.

And Rapunzel knewthat, in her heart, she was supposed to despise every bit of this tower, and every bit of the ashes piled within that cloak with every ounce of power and strength within her body. But she didn't—couldn't—not right at this moment.

Ngh. Rap…un—

And right at this moment, she couldn't give a single care about what was happening on the ground below her.

Rapunzel twisted back to find the heap of a limp form lying, splayed out across cold tile. She scrambled to her feet and fell once more upon her skirt, where a crimson stain set itself in like a memory into the innocent, pink satin of her slip. "Eugene, Eugene."

Upon rolling him onto his back, the thief's face was no longer its handsome bronze color and was now replaced with a thick, white veil of hastily-approaching demise. She lifted him into her arms quicker than her own mind could fully comprehend; her hands rose to his face where she brushed damp, feverish shafts of brown hair from his face. "Don't do this to me, Eugene. Please, wake up—please—stay with me, just a bit longer…"

Her eyes darted from one corner of the sinister room to the other, searching for one last strand of shining blonde to save him—that was all she needed. She could live out her life without seeing him another day; it would be more tough but she had already made the promise to Mother Gothel once—she could surely do it again if it meant saving the man that she loved more than she loved herself. If he wanted to, he could up and leave and she would be completely content with that idea, knowing that she had given him the chance to live out the rest of his days as a thief—as a prince. However he wanted to spend them…with or without her.

But there was no such magical blonde strand of hair in sight. Nothing but brown for as far as she could see, nothing. Hot tears began to obscure her vision and within a few seconds, she was struggling to breathe between gasps and pleas to keep a pair of fading, dull hazel eyes from closing.

"Eugene, no—no, no," She lifted his chained hand to her newly-found brunette hair and pressed it firmly against her scalp; trembling and quivering as she struggled to form verses and stanzas to her very own, essential incantation. "Flower gleam and glow; let your power shine—make the clock reverse,"

"Rapunzel."

"…Bring back—"

"Rapunzel." The hand's fingers twitched slightly, digging themselves further into her hair for a moment before they gave in and allowed themselves to slide mid-shoulder upon her pink satin sleeve.

"…What once was mine."

"Rapun-zel ."

Rapunzel squeezed her eyes shut; she shook her head in disbelief and her stinging eyes fell upon Eugene. "...What?"

He flashed his set of white teeth for a moment, and for a moment—just a moment—everything seemed alright. But it faded and he winced; the gurgling of blood building within his chest surfaced and nothing was okay anymore. But he maintained a smile, however weak it was and he wore it with every remaining bit of strength in his body. "You…were my new dream…"

And Rapunzel laughed. She didn't want to; it certainly wasn't appropriate for what was unfolding. But she grinned, with tears beginning to trickle from her sage eyes. She dug her fingernails into his knuckles and leaned closer, with her head giving him an affirmative nod and she giggled softly with her voice lifting nothing above a whisper. "And you were mine."

Eugene gave her one last smile, with his eyes finally losing their remaining luster and energy. And Rapunzel hated herself; she hated every bit of herself for not being who she used to be. She could feel his hand becoming more of a dead weight than an appendage, and his once-labored breathing fell to a shallow huff, until the air fell stagnant and there was absolutely nothing gently swaying the chops at the base of her head. She shook her head slowly, gently tugging on his hand until she watched as his eyes finally close and he was still in her arms.

She swallowed and with trembling hands, lightly ran them against his softly-stubbled skin. He was still so warm…she wouldn't let him go—couldn't let him go. Pressing her face into the crook of his neck, she choked on a sob and held him tighter until her knuckles turned a pale shade of white and the veins in her arms began to throb with constriction.

…She saw the lanterns.

He gave her the lanterns.

She knew that he crashed into her tower for a reason. The only thing that she thought that she would have ever really wanted ended up giving her more than just ten thousand lights in the sky. It gave her a reason to love the grass, the rain, the clouds—a reason to really desire freedom for the first time in her life.

And it was taken away from her, just like that.

She now, truly hated this tower; that woman that she called a mother. She hated it all.

She hated the world; she hated the birds chirping outside of that window. She hated the sun; she hated the real home that she never had. She hated her once-healing hair. She hated those lanterns, too—and her heart.

"...Heal what has been hurt," Rapunzel closed her eyes and whispered against his skin. "Change the fate's design. Save what has been lost," She sighed softly and allowed her tears to flow; her cries were stuck within her throat and ceased to come forth. "Bring back what once was mine…"

She slumped over her knees. "What once was mine." She buried her face into his teal vest and cried softly.

You were my new dream.

Her delicate hands slid to his hand, where the silver shard of glass that sliced her magical hair laid. Her fingers danced around the jagged, broken edges and she closed her eyes, cringing at the metallic scent of blood.

I hate you so much.

She hated Eugene, too. How could he be so selfish—to leave her, just like that? He could have let her heal him, but he was too stubborn to listen. After all, why would he listen to her? He did what he wanted, and he was dead now because he was a selfish thief, and wanted nothing but what he believed he should deserve.

So he thought that he must have deserved to die before her.

Rapunzel could feel her stomach dropping further and further into her abdomen; she felt as if she were going to be sick soon.

I deserved to die. He hadn't done anything wrong.

She stifled another cry in her shoulder and shook her head in doubt-she must have looked as if she were going crazy.

…Just given me the best memories of my life. He wasn't bothering anybody.

Her arm came across her face to wipe away the remaining stray tears from her red, weary eyes and she leaned closer to Eugene, making sure to carefully take in every bit of detail about him—enough to last her a lifetime. She ran a hand over his cheek, frowning upon noticing that the warmth that life had once brought him was slowly beginning to fade away. But she continued; her hands stopping when they reached an area of unusual warmth radiating from the uppermost right half of his lips.

And from that—

A single ray of golden sunlight, the color of her former locks, radiated forth from that one area. And then another, and another. The rays shone as brightly as the sun; as brightly as Rapunzel's magic itself and it was soon dancing across the floors, walls, and ceiling. Her mural's lantern's seemed to light up themselves, and soon the entire bedroom glittered and gleamed with yellow and white rays of light that made Corona's lanterns seem minute in comparison. Rapunzel drew her hand back as the rays began to twirl and caper between her fingers. They were warm—hot, really, and they surrounded her and Eugene from all four sides; the light was blinding. She watched from half-lidded eyes as the fascinating strands rushed to the wound within Eugene's side in an instant and conjoined as if forming an impenetrable lock with one another, and soon began to melt into one undistinguished mass of light that sparkled like the stars above.

Rapunzel watched in amazement as the tendrils of light engulfed the two of them, shrouding them in a thick layer until it finally began to subside at once. The dazzling lights drew back and unwound, and soon the painting's lanterns began to lose their lust. She lifted her head to the ceiling above, where the last remaining yellow tendrils faded and drifted off into the stagnant air of her musty prison.

Rapunzel turned back to the fallen man and cautiously removed her hand from his wounded side, where nothing—not even blood, left its mark. She sat still for several minutes, until she felt a slight stir in her arms.

In a few, agonizingly-long couple of moments, Eugene slowly opened his eyes to greet her wide, bright pair.

"Eugene…?" Her heart fluttered within her chest; she kept her breath withheld.

He gave her a faint, crooked smile and he chuckled softly. "Did I ever tell you…that I have a thing for brunettes?"

Rapunzel inadvertently grinned and finally let the air spill from her chest. She lurched forward and threw her arms around his neck in a tight embrace; her strength cracking joints in his neck. "Eugene!"

She held him as tightly as she could; she wasn't going to have to live a single day without the thief that she came to love so dearly. Drawing back from his tight hold, she maintained her grin and finally placed the kiss on his lips that was supposed to belong with the lanterns.

Eugene brushed the new, choppy locks from her face. "…Let's get you home," He slowly pulled himself to his feet.

Rapunzel turned to the window and looked out to the setting sun. An arm extended to draw her closer, and she laughed.

The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death.

1 Corinthians, 15:26