Author's Note: Hello, fellow fanfic readers! My name is LBIGreyhound13, and welcome to my first Tangled oneshot on this site! You know, I've been on this site for about…four years, and I had yet to write a fanfic for one of my top 3 favorite Disney movies and its TV show. Thankfully, that is going to be fixed today! This oneshot is takes during the TV show's season 1 finale, "Secret of the Sundrop," immediately after the scene where Rapunzel confronts Frederic regarding the automaton attack in the castle and before the scene where Eugene confronts Frederic regarding him confining Rapunzel to her room. Obviously, we know that Eugene was against this, and he was going to do whatever he can to keep Rapunzel safe. So, here is what I think happened when he first found out.

Hope you all enjoy it!

Disclaimer: I do NOT own anything related to Tangled franchise.

Back in the Tower

"So in light of this vicious assault, it is with heavy heart that I make this decision. Until the threat of Varian has been neutralized, you are to remain under constant surveillance in the most secure room in the castle."

It felt like it all happened in the blink of an eye since that moment she heard her father give that order. Everything seemed to be a blur from the very moment the guards escorted her up to her room as soon as her father...the King ordered Rapunzel to remain in her room...locked up with guards posted outside her door.

"Captain...make sure your men know that no one is allowed in...or out of the princess' room, unless it is the Queen or myself. You are permitted to use any means to make sure that order is enforced..."

"O-Of course...Your Majesty..."

At the time, while she was escorted out of the throne room, Rapunzel had no idea what that meant. As she was forced to return to her room and to listen to the doors slam behind her, she figured that he would simply have two guards posted outside her door. That was fine...at least that would give her...alternate means of remaining in the outside world. She was supposed to meet Eugene down by the docks for their birthday date, and she's had experience of climbing down a tower with her hair.

However...that plan was completely shattered...when more guards came in later that day-just after sunset. She gasped when she saw them carrying a huge metal grille with a few workers and going straight to her window. Rapunzel could only sit there with Pascal right next to her and watch as they installed the grille on the window-what was supposed to be her only passage into the world...until Varian was no longer considered a threat. Rapunzel would've tried to stop them, but it would've been useless. These guards were loyal to the King, and of course, the King outranked the Princess.

The day slowly turned into night when they finally finished, and as they walked away to leave the room, Rapunzel could only stare at the bars that kept her inside the tower. She couldn't help but wonder if Gothel would've done the same at the old tower if she had the resources to do so. She chained up Rapunzel and stabbed Eugene, so there was no question she would've done whatever means necessary.

Now...her own father was doing the same: locking her in a tower claiming it was for her safety. Of course, Rapunzel knew that there was some truth to her father's statement. He loved her for her and wanted to protect her...his daughter. Why? She didn't really know. She couldn't figure out what he was so afraid of. He's seen what she could do at her coronation.

Before he read my journal... she thought bitterly.

Without acknowledging the guards as they left, the Princess walked forward and sat down at the window staring at the grille silently hoping that they would just magically disappear or that her hair would somehow remove it for her. Knowing that that wish would never come true, she could only place her hand on it shivering slightly at the cold metal.

"I will have two guards posted at your door," a voice said from behind. Rapunzel didn't even need to turn around to see that it was her father at the door. "Your food will be delivered to you at mealtimes."

"It's bad enough that you lied to me and invaded my privacy by reading my journal," she said coldly. "Now you treat me like a prisoner. I'm surprised you haven't chained me up yet."

"Rapunzel, please," Frederic pleaded, "everything I'm doing is to protect you."

Rapunzel cringed as a memory made its way to the surface.

"Everything I did...was to protect you."

Rapunzel glared harder at the bars in front of her as she gripped onto them even tighter as the memory disappeared into the back of her mind. "Funny...that's what the woman who kept me locked away in a tower for 18 years said," she replied.

There was a moment of silence, and she quickly felt horrible for what she said. Of course her father was not like Gothel. He was the complete opposite. He wasn't keeping her here for her hair. He really was trying to keep her safe from...whatever it was, but that still didn't make this right. He was smothering her...locking her up...sheltering her, and he needed to know how angry she was at him...how she was not happy about this.

She heard him sigh. "Rapunzel..." he said, "I know this is the last thing you wanted right now, but...you must realize that I have no choice. If I have to keep you up here to make sure that you are safe from harm, then I will do it without any hesitation."

Rapunzel refused to answer or even acknowledge his words. It was such a lie. He was the King. Of course, he had a choice. He was choosing to not see his free-spirited daughter as the capable woman that she was.

Frederic continued to speak. "Only your mother, Freidborg, and I will be allowed entry into this room, if needed."

Rapunzel's eyes widened slightly. He only mentioned himself and her mother being allowed to enter the room. He didn't mention any of her friends...the Pub Thugs...Max...Lance...or even...

"W-What about Eugene?" she asked.

The king sighed again. "Unfortunately...Rapunzel, as of now, Eugene will not be allowed to enter," he said. "You can have the guards bring him here to speak with you for a short period of time, but I will need his help in dealing with Varian. I can't have him giving you ideas on possibility of interfering with the issue."

Her heart dropped to her stomach. She was glad that her father was going to ask her boyfriend for his help in dealing with Varian, but...for him to not be able to enter her room...for her to only speak with him only for a short period in a day...she couldn't bear the thought of that...being separated him...not being able to hold him and kiss him as often as they already did. It was bad enough that Cassandra...her best girlfriend...was leaving forever and was not allowed to say goodbye, but for her boyfriend to not be allowed to come into her room...that was simply too much after everything they had been through together.

"Do you even hear yourself...?" she asked still refusing to even look at him. "You're treating me like a baby...like a...a prisoner... You really are no different from...her..."

"Rapunzel..." he said obviously at a complete loss for words. She could hear him inhale. "As I mentioned before, you will be released when...and only when... Varian is dealt with. As of now, you are not...to leave this tower...ever..."

The door suddenly closed startling Rapunzel out of her anger for a brief moment causing her to gasp. However, as she gripped onto the bars, she could only hang her head low. It was official...she was locked in a tower...once again.

Pascal squeaked as he sat himself on her lap, and she tried to smile at him. However, that smile failed to stop the tears that welled up in her eyes. The Princess grabbed onto the pins that kept her hair in a braid and yanked them off letting her 70-feet long hair flow freely, and then she leaned against the cold bars and began to cry.

Eugene ran as fast as he could up the stairs leading to Rapunzel's bedroom on the top floor of the tower. He had just finished his "How To Think Like a Thief" class, and he was going to meet up with Rapunzel for a special birthday date after all the craziness of the kingdom festivities. She had agreed to a date with him after his class and her talk with her father regarding Varian's automaton attack.

It was supposed to be a romantic night on the gondola-just the two of them-to celebrate not only her birthday but the one-year anniversary of the day they first met and the day she finally left the tower. Although, Eugene had considered leaving that part out since the black rocks destroyed the tower recently.

Nonetheless, the night was completely shot to pieces when he learned what happened after Rapunzel spoke to her father. Stan and Pete told him. Her father confined her to her room-no one, not even her friends-were allowed in...until Varian was dealt with, and as soon as he heard that, he bolted for Rapunzel.

His heart pounded in his chest, and his muscles ached as he ran up the many stairs leading to the princess' bedroom. Sure enough when he arrived, there were two guards posted at her door, Conli on the left...and one of his comrades on the right. Eugene furrowed his eyebrows together as he stomped toward the doors prepared to open them and to make his way into Rapunzel's room...only to have the guards cross their halberds in front of him stopping him from walking any further.

"Sorry, strict orders from the king, no one is permitted in or out," Conli said sternly.

It was at that moment where Eugene wished he had Cassandra with him to threaten them with her wrath, but it was difficult to do just that when the former lady-in-waiting was leaving for a convent tomorrow.

"Look, Conli, I get the King ordered for Rapunzel to stay in her room," Eugene began not even trying to hide the annoyed tone in his voice, "but you got to let me see her, please."

Conli sighed. "Sorry, Eugene," he said, "but we can't. We don't want to see the Princess cooped up in here, but we don't have a choice."

"I won't go in," Eugene retorted. "I just want to make sure she's okay."

"I won't go in. I just want to make sure she's okay."

That voice jolted Rapunzel out of her knew that voice anywhere, and as soon as she realized who it was, she gasped and ran for the doors with her long hair flowing behind her. She opened the door wide enough for her to see who it was, and sure enough, there he was.

"Eugene!" Rapunzel said happily as tears flowed down her face.

Eugene looked up, and his face fell when he saw the love of his life standing at the door with tears flowing down her face. She had been crying. "Rapunzel..." he moved to go to her only to have a hand stop him.

"Listen, Fitzherbert, we-" Conli began to say.

"Whoa, whoa, Conli," Rapunzel quickly said before wiping the tears from her face. "It's okay. My dad said I can talk to Eugene if I wish. Please...we can talk right here."

Conli sighed realizing the Princess had a point. She and Eugene were permitted to talk if the Princess wished it. "Of course, Princess," he said. "Go on ahead, Fitzherbert." He brought his hand down allowing Eugene to move toward the door.

"I'm so glad you're here," Rapunzel said when he walked to her. She wanted to run up to him and jump into his arms hugging him tightly, but she couldn't. She wasn't allowed to leave her room, and he wasn't even allowed into her room. "I guess...now you know why we can't have our date tonight..."

"Aw, Blondie..." Eugene said sadly. He wanted to hug her so badly...to hold her close and to tell her it was going to be okay, but that was hard to do when he wasn't allowed in her room and when she opened the door wide enough for her to talk to him face-to-face with no physical contact. He then looked at her room behind her, and his eyes widened when he saw the bars on her window.

Rapunzel noticed this and sighed. "Looks like I'm back in the tower...again..." she finally said.

"I should've gone in there with you," Eugene replied. "I could've said something."

Rapunzel scoffed. "Come on, Eugene," the Princess responded, "there's nothing that you could've said that would change anything. My dad is as stubborn as they come."

"But even he has to see that this isn't right. He can't keep you up here forever...not after what Gothel did to you for the first eighteen years of your life."

"Eugene, this is the same father, who lied to me about the rocks for months and who read my journal and sent Cass away. He's not going to listen to reason."

"I'll talk to him first thing in the morning," Eugene replied. "I...I got to admit I don't know if I will be able to talk him into letting Cass come back right away, but I'll try. I'll get you out of here and get Cass back, I prom-"

"No...don't say that...don't say that you promise. If there's one thing I've learned, it's that you shouldn't make promises you can't keep." Tears continued to roll down her face.

He knew immediately what she meant, and it broke his heart. This was the same woman, who valued promises immensely. Now, after this whole debacle with Varian, she learned the hard way that sometimes...promises had to be broken. His heart broke in two as he reached forward trying to squeeze his arm through the door wiping the tears from her face. "I will do whatever it takes to get you out of here," Eugene whispered. "I didn't die and come back to life for you to become a prisoner again, Rapunzel."

She stared into his eyes, and she knew without a doubt that he was serious about this. That was one of the many things she loved about the former thief. Once he set his mind to something, he never stopped until it was done, and after everything they went through when they first met last year, he was going to do whatever he could to make sure that she didn't feel like a prisoner in her own home ever again.

"Thank you," she said. "I love you so much, Eugene."

"I love you, too, Rapunzel," Eugene replied before leaning forward on giving her a quick kiss on the lips. "I'll come see you again tomorrow. We may not be able to have our gondola date tonight, but I'm not letting this new rule stand in the way of us celebrating your birthday."

Rapunzel's smile widened. "I look forward to it," she replied. "Good night, Eugene."

"Good night, Rapunzel," he replied. With that, he slowly stepped away from the door his girlfriend stood behind watching her smiling sadly at him before she finally closed it. As he walked away, Eugene's smile turned into a look of determination. It was too late to try to talk to the King now, but tomorrow morning, he was going to look his future father-in-law in the eye and convince him to let Rapunzel out of her room...out of the tower.

As soon as she closed the door, Rapunzel leaned against her door and slid down until she reached the floor, and she hugged her knees to her chest. There was a brief moment of silence before she heard a squeak, and she saw Pascal crawling up to her knee with a concerned look on his face.

Rapunzel sighed. "If I can't make Dad see why this is wrong, then...maybe Eugene and Mom can," she said. "Then again...if Gothel was willing to do whatever it took to keep me in the old tower, there's no way Dad is going to be any different." She sighed again and buried her face in her arms as the tears streamed down her face. She had been back in the tower for barely a day, and she already felt so trapped. It was stifling...and she hated it.

Author's Note: That's all for now, folks! I really hope you all enjoyed it! Don't forget to leave a review and a favorite! Thanks again, guys!