It was late at night and we were with Rapunzel and Flynn. Prince was trying to get them to say the important lines of dialogue that they were supposed to say in the cave but didn't. They were supposed to reveal secrets about themselves, Flynn revealing that his real name is Eugene, and Rapunzel revealing that her hair is magic. 

I was listening to Prince talk to them and trying not to cringe. He wasn't exactly being subtle.

"So," Prince said. "You guys seem pretty cool and all, and you know, it's a tradition where I come from to reveal something about yourself at a campfire. And look, there's a campfire."

I sighed.

"I'll go first." Prince said. "I go by Prince, but my real name is Roman."

Prince looked directly at Flynn and put emphasis on the "real name" part, which only made it ten times more cringeworthy.

"Okay, now it's Flynn's turn." Prince said.

Flynn looked like he didn't really know what to make of it.

"Okay, okay, okay." I said, stopping Prince. "C'mon, Prince, let's go collect firewood."

I grabbed Prince's arm and practically dragged him out of the area.

Once we were far enough away, I let him go. "That's not gonna work. Flynn has to willingly reveal his real name, and he has to reveal it to Rapunzel. It's part of the whole trust and budding romance sort of thing."

"You didn't have to drag me," Prince rubbed his arm. "God, Anxiety."

"You'll live." I said.

Prince started to say something, but I stopped him.

"Shh, Flynn and Rapunzel just started talking. C'mon." I whispered, and led Prince to a spot behind a bush where we could hear Flynn and Rapunzel but not be seen. 

"I wonder what Prince... No, Roman... meant by the whole campfire thing." Rapunzel said, trying to make conversation.

"I think he wanted us to reveal something. It was strange... It was almost like he knew." Flynn said.

I glared at Prince and gestured to Flynn.

"He knows you know." I whispered. 

"Don't know how he knows." Prince whispered back.

"Well, you weren't exactly King Subtle." I hissed.

"I'm not a king. What about Prince Subtle?" Prince replied.

"You're hopeless." I sighed and turned my attention back to Rapunzel and Flynn.

"Knew what?" Rapunzel asked.

"Well..." Flynn hesitated. "My real name."

"Your real name?" Rapunzel repeated.

Flynn nodded. "Eugene Fitzherbert."

"Your real name is Eugene Fitzherbert?" Rapunzel asked.

"Yes." Flynn said. "When I was a kid... When I was a kid, I had nothing. No family, no money, nothing. There was a book that I used to read to the other kids in the orphanage. The Tales Of Flynnigan Rider. Swashbuckling rogue, richest man alive, not bad with the ladies, either... Not that he'd ever brag about it, of course."

"Was he a thief, too?" Rapunzel asked. She didn't mean any harm by it.

"Ah... Well, no." Flynn said. "Actually, he had enough money to do anything. He could go anywhere he wanted to go, do anything he wanted to do. And for a kid with nothing... I dunno. Just seemed like the better option." Flynn paused. "You can't tell anyone about this. It would ruin my whole reputation."

"Ah, we wouldn't want that, now would we?" Rapunzel laughed.

"Well, a fake reputation is all that a man has." Flynn said.

Rapunzel and Flynn smiled at each other.

Budding romance.

"For the record... I like Eugene Fitzherbert much better than Flynn Rider." Rapunzel said.

"Well... Then you'd be the first." Flynn said. "But thank you."

The moment lingered for a bit, and neither one of them said anything.

"I guess I should share something, too." Rapunzel said.

"Oh, uh, you don't have to." Flynn said.

"No, I want to." Rapunzel said. 

Flynn looked at her, waiting.

"The thing is, remember back in the cave, when my hair glowed?" Rapunzel said. 

"Wait, so I didn't imagine that?" Flynn said.

"No. The thing is... My hair is magic. If I sing, it'll glow and it can heal or reverse time. It can even go as far as to restore youth to someone." Rapunzel said.

Flynn blinked.

"Here, give me your hand. The one you cut on the rocks, back in the cave." Rapunzel said.

Flynn gave her his hand. 

Rapunzel started wrapping her hair around the palm of his hand, completely covering the cut.

"Just... Don't freak out." Rapunzel said.

Then she began to sing.

Flower gleam and glow

Let your power shine

Make the clock reverse

Bring back what once was mine

Heal what has been hurt

Change the Fates' design

Save what has been lost

Bring back what once was mine

What once was mine

Rapunzel's hair lost its glow as Rapunzel stopped singing, and Flynn unwrapped his hand. 

Flynn gasped and looked like he was trying not to scream.

Prince and I both knew what had happened. The hair had healed him.

That's quite a statement.

"Don't freak out!" Rapunzel said.

"I-I'm not freaking out, are you freaking out?" Flynn's words came out in one steady stream of nervous talking. "No, I'm just very interested in your hair and the magical qualities it possesses, how long has it been doing that, exactly?" 

"Forever, I guess?" Rapunzel said. "Mother says when I was a baby people tried to cut it. They wanted its power for themselves. But once it's cut, it turns brown and loses its magic. A gift like that has to be protected. That's why Mother never let me... That's why I never left..."

"You never left that tower." Flynn said, understanding. "And you're still going to go back?"

"No!" Rapunzel hesitated. "Yes? ...It's complicated."

Neither of them said anything for a moment. 

"Well..." Flynn said, breaking the awkward silence. "I, uh, should find the other two."

"Yeah," Rapunzel said.

Flynn got up and left.

Prince and I moved to a place where it would look like we had been gathering firewood that whole time, and not spying on them.

Flynn found us, and we kept him there, talking, so that the next scene could play out. Rapunzel had to be alone. This was when Mother Gothel finds her and talks to her. 

A couple minutes later, Prince confirmed that Mother Gothel was gone and so I made an excuse for Flynn to go back to Rapunzel. I was going to follow him, but before I did, I stopped and turned to Prince.

"The story's caught up now. You did it." I told him.

"You helped." Prince said. "We did it."

I smiled at Prince, then we joined Flynn and Rapunzel.

~~~

This is not my best chapter, but it's something, so I hope you enjoy.