OH MY GOODNESS! I suck I suck I suck! How about we kill me?! GAAHHH! It's been a bajillion years since my last update! Grrr! Be mad at me, go ahead :(((( But it's here now, and I hope you still enjoy this chapter even if you might have re-read the last chapter or something! Don't be mad at Eugene and Rapunzel, it's aaaaaaall me! Okay. I'll stop the guilt rant. CHAPTER 17 IN 5... 4... 3... 2... 1... !

Eugene's POV:

I feel light.

I've never felt light before in my life. From being left at an orphanage to seeing my face on a 'Wanted' poster to being locked in Rapunzel's art room; every situation I'd been through had been heavy. But just thought of Rapunzel, all the events of tonight, makes me feel... light! There's no better word to describe it with! I swear I've never been so happy.

Much like any lovesick idiot, I walk away from the palace with a stupid goofy grin on my face and laugh at nothing every few minutes. Tonight, nothing can ruin my mood. I won't think about any of the reasons my new found feelings for Corona's princess might be a bad thing, I'll save thinking for tomorrow. Yup! I deserve to feel nothing but happiness for one night!

Still smiling, I arrive at shore, finding a group of about a dozen fishermen around a fire laughing and shouting.

"Hey! It's Rider!" shouts Chuck.

"Rider!" The rest of them yell in chorus, raising their mugs of beer.

I kind of just wave at them while Chuck and Red run up to me, excited to introduce me to everyone. They don't ask why I'm late. They just welcome me and take me closer to their gang. Smiling faces stare at me as I take a seat on one of the logs and a guy with an eye-patch offers me a beer. I take it and Chuck gives me a friendly slap on the back, "Everybody! This here's are boy, Flynn Rider! We found em' right over there," he points about a yard away, "a couple weeks back! He don't got no ide'er what happened before dat'!"

They all cheer and Red comes behind me and names the guys, "Flynny boy, that there's Rod, Sandy, Bill, Davis..." and so on. I didn't expect to learn all their names in one run through anyway. I take a gulp of the beer and sigh. When I look back at them, they're all smiling and gawking at me like they're waiting for me to say something. It would be creepier if I hadn't seen Red and Chuck give me these stares a million times before.

"Hi," I say break the awkwardness.

"Gosh, Rider! You're a handsome fella', aren't ya?" One of them says, Chad, I think.

"Uhh..." It's not that I disagree, it's just not something I'd normally hear from a man, "Thank... you, I think?"

They all proceed to touch my hair, my shirt and my face. I look at Chuck and Red for an explanation, and Chuck mouths the words, "That mean they like ya!"

"Woah, woah, woah, guys," or dogs, I think before realizing Rapunzel wouldn't approve of that thought, "a little personal space, please?" I say stretching to get them off of me.

"We never met... a... uhh... a guy who wasn't a fisher any of his life!" says Brud

"That's..." sad, I think, but again, realize it's mean, "interesting!"

We continue drinking and I remain the subject of attention, as if this was an actual job interview. They ask me valid questions like, am I allergic to anything. They ask me ridiculous questions like, how does the smell of fish make me feel. At one point, they ask me to step in the water and try to catch something. First I'm anxious, then I remember I know how to swim, and I remember why I know how to swim, then the lightness comes back. They take advantage of my momentary distraction and push me forward, letting the current drag me in the rest of the way.

"What exactly am I supposed to be doing?!" I shout over the sound of the waves

"A real fisherman can catch a fish with his bare hands!" says Davis

Personally, I think it's a dumb exercise. But I told Chuck and Red that I'd go along with whatever these guys made me do, and after everything they've done for me, I'm in no position to whine. They cheer and chant my name while I dive back and forth at the jumping fish. I kick my feet and flap my arms, like Rapunzel told me to, and thrash my head upward when I need to breathe. The fact that eventually I'll be able to tell her this story is the main reason I keep going.

Finally, I'm able to walk back the bonfire, fish in hand while they all give me the most enthusiastic congratulations I've ever heard. I never got appreciation for all the times I bent over backwards trying to make that disgusting excuse for an orphanage look better than what it really was. Today I simply caught a fish and they start treating me like a hero. It feels nice. Nice to have my efforts noticed for once.

They cook my catching over the fire and one of them gives me a cloak to wrap myself in. Sweet, sweet warmth.

"Did you see this guy?" Sandy asks the rest of them, "Part fish I tells'yah. Part fish!"

"Yeah, Rider! What else can yah do?" They start passing parts of the fish around

Red, coming out of nowhere slaps my back and answers, "Well, I'd be lyin' if I told ya'll this here boy wasn't the best dang story-teller I ever did hear!"

They cheer again and Chuck insists, "Tell em' the one about the kid in the forest!" They all agree and I can't help but laugh, and just as I'm about to start-

"Hold on just a minute!" says Sandy, "Best story-teller, eh? If you're as good as they say you are then I think we should save the best for last!"

"Yeah! I mean, who else wants to tell a story?" asks Red

"I'll do it!" goes Bill, who I notice doesn't have the unusual accent the rest of them have, "It's called, The Legend of the Princess of Corona!"

My head snaps up and I almost drop the fish in my hand, "Princess of Corona?" I ask curiously. There's a legend about her? An actual myth about her power? Maybe not. For all I know, this is just some crazy story, possibly about another princess of Corona, but I can't be sure. If there really was a rumour... Rapunzel...

The thought stiffens me.

"Come on, Billy! You tell that story every bonfire!" says one of them

"Yeah! We all heard that one!" somebody else says. It's followed by a bunch of cat-calls and requests for different stories, but I have to here this one!

"I haven't! I haven't heard- heard it! Sounds interesting!" I say pretending I'm more excited than anxious

"Thank you, Rider!" He flashes the rest of them a triumphant smirk and starts, "Everybody knows that Princess Rapunzel was almost kidnapped at birth,"

I gulp and my eyes bulge. Yup, this is about Rapunzel. But the kidnapped at birth thing? She never told me that.

"The legend says, that the mysterious kidnapper was not after any ransom. No, it's said that they tried to take her because of a powerful magic she had. The power to give you eternal youth!"

I sigh quietly, worried about how this story is going exactly where it should be. I look around and notice how everyone seems to be bored with the story. Some even mouth the words Bill says, which indicates he's told it enough times for them to have memorized it. I feel like one run-through of this horror story might be enough to get it stuck in my head forever. Knowing I'm his only real audience, Bill looks directly at me. I listen closely.

"Ever notice how the princess' hair is always tied?" I lie and shake my head, "Well, it is. They says it's because she can't cut it! It's indestructible! Not even diamonds could dent it! It's the source of her gift!" Well, that's half true. It is the source of her power, but it's not impenetrable. She chose not to cut it, and even though I understood it before. Now, hearing this story, I can't imagine why she would choose to live so risky.

I try to back-pedal, "Maybe it's just a signature look sort of thing? You know girls and their... styles!"

Bill continues, ignoring my little side comment completely, "It's supposed to be about 70 feet long at this point! Some people who have heard this little known legend come from all over the world to have the power, but kidnapping a princess isn't easy; especially after it's been attempted before."

"Strange things happen here, Rider. The sick; the dying people, you take them to a nurse and they come out perfectly healthy. They say the princess comes in and heals them with her hair. There's all kinds of stories like that! But you get it, don't you?"

I nod, "Psh! That's quite a story there, Bill!"

"Oh, I ain't finished. You thought that was bad, get this: Somebody related to the woman who tried to kidnap her is still after her. Nobody knows who. But they're out there... waiting"

Shiver immediately go down my spine. No. That's can't be true, "But don't you think if someone was after Rap- uh- The Princess, they- they would've taken her already?"

Bill smiles creepily, showing his gnarly yellow teeth, putting goose-bumps on my goose-bumps. He turns his head to watch the harsh waves I had to fight earlier, and then he moves his eyes to the fire keeping us warm and replies, "Takes awhile to pick the perfect poison..."

Just when I'm convinced it's all true, laughter echoes all over the beach.

"Hahahahaha! Look what you did, Billy! He's scared stiff!" says Sandy.

I try so hard to laugh with them, but every time I attempt a chuckle, the more I want to get away. Scream, cry something. This is Rapunzel. The first girl... the first person I've ever loved. I let them laugh, I'm just to lost to make sense of any of it. The sound is muffled and I feel sick.

So I get up and run with only Rapunzel on my mind.

I abandon this story for two months and leave you with a cliffy. I am truly evil. Review and stay tuned!