A/N: This One Shot is part of my Hogwarts Rise of the Brave Tangled Dragon series. Please read Years 1-7 Part 1 before this, as this is only meant to link the movies to my other fanfiction. Like my previous One Shots, this follows the film very closely but with my own spin on it.

Tangled belongs to Disney.

"This is the story of how I died." -E

"Hey! You're doing it wrong." -M

"Yeah, we only do the narration on school years." -J

"All the other one shots were in limited 3rd person, and from the perspective of someone not in the movie." -H

"Well, this is my story and I wanna do it in first person. Now, shut up. I didn't tell your narrators how to write your stories. And anyway, Jack still has to go." -E

"Yeah, my narrator's going to conform, I think." -J

"Don't count on that." -M

"Can you all stop interrupting, I'm telling this, and this is how it goes." -E

"Once upon a time, a brave, heroic, noble-"

"Eugene!" -R

Okay, so, once upon a time, I planned the most daring robbery in the history of Corona. My plot? To steal the lost princess's crown. Unfortunately, this necessitated teaming up with the cruel Stabbington brothers, two Muggle thieves with whom I'd had an on-again/off-again captivity relationship.

The initial plan went off without a hitch. The brothers helped me get up to the castle where I managed to swipe the crown from right under everyone's nose. And if my goal had truly been the crown, then that would have been the end of it. I would have sold it and split the profit with the Stabbingtons, and gone on to live a luxurious life on my very own private island.

But unbeknownst to the Stabbingtons, I wasn't interested in money ... this time. I called attention to my theft, but the brothers pulled me out before I could tell the sneezing guard I wanted to see the king.

Now, I know what you might be thinking. Why not send a message to the king saying you've got the crown after you're safely away? Well … I wasn't sure how loyal the Stabbington brothers would be. There was always a chance that they might murder me now that I'd stolen the crown and keep it for themselves. I figured this way, at least the guards would be looking for me. I had Rapunzel's teeth, and mine, in a hidden pocket in my satchel. Hopefully, even if I turned up less than alive, the royals would find the teeth and the girl would be freed.

As we made our escape I found a way to ditch the Stabbingtons. I'd hoped that the guards would take their time arresting the brothers, but no such luck. Probably because they were led by the Captain of the Guard and Maximus, whom I'd last seen in India. I knew them fairly well and. from the way they pursued me, it was a safe bet they remembered me.

I ran, partly wondering if I should stop and state my demands. Five arrows nearly embedded themselves in my back. That answered that. I had to keep going. Now that I was free of the Stabbingtons, I could take my time getting an audience with the ol' king.

I got off the path and jumped through trees. Only one horse managed to keep up: Maximus. I knew the horse. I might be able to outrun him, but it would be close. When I found an opportunity to get on him, I took it.

I thought Maximus might recognize me and let me ride him, but he was too well trained. The horse stopped and we fought over the bag, falling over a cliff in the process.

The fall dazed me, but I kept enough wits to hide when Maximus walked by. The fall must have dazed him, too, because he didn't smell me as he passed. But doubting that my luck would last, I started to move away, stumbling into a hidden cave.

Through the shadows, I could see the horse. I saw his ears perk up. My heart pounded. This was it. Maximus would smell me, burst through the vines and take the crown away. While I might be able to explain to a guard why I took it, a dumb horse wouldn't understand. I might never get my chance to tell what I knew.

Just as all hope seemed lost, Maximus moved on. I blinked in surprise. Surely the horse could smell me? Taking the blessing, I moved deeper in the cave before Maximus could come back. I turned as I felt sunlight. Much like the caves in Tooth Mountain, this cavern ended in a hidden location. And there I saw the tower.

Making sure Max was gone, I ran back out and gathered up a few arrows that had fallen from his saddle when we crashed. Using them to scale the tower, I smiled knowing the horse wouldn't be able to climb this thing.

"Alone at last," I said opening my bag to see my prize. Then there was a pain in my head, and all went black.

I slipped in and out of consciousness. At one point, I heard a woman yelling, but I couldn't make out what was being said.

When I woke up for real, there was confusion, and a fair bit of panic. Let's just say of all the times I've been a prisoner, this was the first one by hair. Following the hair, I saw a girl at the other end, a frying pan clutched in her hand.

"Who are you?" she demanded. I knew who she was. There was only one girl on the planet with hair this long. Princess Rapunzel. The very girl I wanted to free. But the last I'd seen of her, she was in chains, being kept by a wicked witch. That didn't seem to be the case any more.

I played it cool, pretending to know nothing about her and using every line to find out what was going on without revealing anything about myself. I learned that she thought the lantern thing was floating lights, and had no clue that it was for her, Princess Rapunzel. Then she did the unthinkable. She blackmailed me into taking her.

She hid my satchel, crown and teeth, somewhere in her tower and wouldn't give it back.

I didn't like the prospect of going back to Corona without leverage over the kingdom, but apparently the crown and memories were just as good leverage over me as I was hoping they'd be with the king. I caved into her demands.

After we left the tower and Rapunzel went through several mood swings. I considered just taking her to the guards, but I still wasn't sure what was going on. And some of the gossip I heard in town made me suspect the guards wouldn't remember her as much as she didn't remember herself. No. The safest place for her was back in her tower, waiting until I told the king and queen what I knew.

I tried to guilt her into going back. It didn't work. I tried to scare her by taking her to the Snuggly Duckling. Well, that one backfired. How had so many wanted posters been made, and why was my nose never right?

I didn't have much time to protest as I was torn apart by the men. Of all the things I'd gone through, getting punched in the nose was the thing I wanted to repeat the least.

To my utter surprise, Rapunzel stood up to them and started a sing along. They even ended up helping us escape from the guards.

Rapunzel tried to prod me for my backstory. What else could I expect from a Ravenclaw? I shut her down. I couldn't tell her what I knew. Not now. Not only might it put her in danger ... but I was starting to like this girl. I was ashamed that I'd been lying the whole time.

I tried to turn the tables, to get her to tell me more about her backstory.

Her answer might have given me some idea of just how her memories were modified, but I never got to hear it. Perfect timing, Maximus. Way to go.

We reached the outside of a dam and my day got even stranger. As we were surrounded by all my enemies, I somehow wound up in a sword fight with a horse and a frying pan.

I did quite well, considering the circumstances, but I still lost.

"Best two out of three?" I asked, still hoping that the horse might have some memory of the year we spent traveling to India.

Maximus didn't look like he was going to buy it. Before I could do anything, Rapunzel saved me again. Sort of. She got me away from Max, but that put us in the path of a collapsing dam. We took shelter in what I thought was a tunnel. Big mistake.

Rocks fell behind us, sealing us and water in. To my horror, the tunnel seemed to be a mine. A collapsed mine. There was no way out, and water was rushing in fast. I dove under the water, searching for a way out. The water pushed me back, I tried moving the rocks, but only succeeded in cutting my hand.

Trying again, I dove under the water. This time, I saw someone. Pitch Black. Under the water. He grinned malevolently and I returned to the surface. He'd trapped us here on purpose.

Rapunzel started to dive down, but I pulled her back. This might be our last moment alive. I didn't want him to have the satisfaction of scaring the girl.

She seemed to move very quickly from scared to sad as we resigned ourselves to our deaths.

"I'm so sorry, Flynn," she whispered. She started to cry. I hated when girls cried. Especially when there was nothing I could do about it. Or was there? At least … maybe I could distract her from her pain. So Pitch wouldn't get the last laugh.

"Eugene," I confessed. It worked. She seemed to cheer up a little at hearing my real name. And then she confessed. I thought she might confess to being a witch, or being a princess, or having remembered something about her life. But no. Her confession took me completely by surprise.

"I have magic hair that glows when I sing," she said. I was taken aback. I'd never, ever, heard of magic hair. And I'd been all over the world. Then she demonstrated. Sure enough, the hair actually glowed. Better than glowed. It chased away Pitch Black, though I doubt Rapunzel saw him lurking in the shadows. Without him there to make trouble, we were able to move the rocks.

We popped out in a river just as the sun was setting. I couldn't believe it. Magic hair. Glowing hair. It was impossible. Granted, I hadn't graduated from Hogwarts. But you'd think if hair could glow it would have been in some book somewhere. Wasn't there some kind of magical law against enchanting hair to glow? And this didn't seem to be an ordinary enchantment.

Maybe it was the near death experience. Or maybe it was because I'd seen her memories and yet had missed every single time she'd used her magic glowing hair.

Now that the adrenaline had ebbed, my injured hand was starting to hurt. We went deeper into the woods and made camp. Once we were settled, she wrapped her hair around my cut and sang.

Just like the first time, her hair glowed. Now I had a lot more time to watch. It was no spell I knew. The glowing came out of her head, traveling down her hair to my hand. The pain of the cut went away. I unwrapped it … there was no cut.

I almost screamed. I don't know why it freaked me out so much. There were plenty of wizard remedies to heal cuts. But most of them involved plants. Not hair. Rapunzel begged me not to freak out. Trying to indulge her, I asked for backstory.

She seemed to have gotten over her reluctance to talk about her hair and freely explained how people tried to cut it in the past, and how it lost its power.

I thought of all the memories I'd seen. I always assumed she was hiding because she was a princess, or a witch. She explained a little more of her story, including the statement that she'd never left her tower. She looked so sad.

"You never left that tower?" I questioned gently. She gave me such a sad look that I knew she couldn't remember leaving it. She had no clue she'd ever been outside before.

What should I do? Tell her her memories had been modified? But that would mean admitting I'd stolen them. Would she hate me when she found out?

Fortunately, or not, depending on how much you like me, she saved me from having to talk about her by asking about me.

I gave her half the story. I told her about being an orphan, and my obsession with Flynnigan Rider. I didn't go into the details of Hogwarts, bullying, expulsion, my descent into thievery, or my very complicated relationship with the Stabbingtons and Pitch Black.

Then I noticed her staring at me. A nice stare. A warm feeling spread through me. Was this … admiration? The good kind? I wasn't sure. I'd spent so long with people who hated me. I couldn't quite recognize her emotion.

I got up to get more firewood and walked into the woods.

Despite all the lies I'd told to pretty much everyone I ever met, Rapunzel was the only person who ever made me feel like a fraud. I didn't know why. I'd told her more of the truth than most people ever got to know. But I felt uncomfortable with what I was hiding. Maybe it was because what I knew was about her, not me.

I was so preoccupied with my thoughts, I didn't notice until I'd run into Pitch Black.

"You tried to kill us," I snarled, throwing down the pile of wood I was holding, wishing I had a wand.

"I did, didn't I?" he smirked. "I was perfectly happy to leave the girl in that tower. But you had to ruin it, bringing her out."

"You said before that you didn't care if I rescued her," Flynn spat. "You helped me get to her memories."

Pitch shrugged, "I needed you. You proved to be a very good pawn, even with occasional bouts of heroic refusal. But all that is in the past. You have no more usefulness to me. Except in one way."

Pitch started to circle me. No matter how I turned, he always seemed to be behind me.

"The girl," he whispered in my ear.

"Her hair hurts you," I guessed, bristling.

"My dark creatures cannot be touched by celestial light," he confessed, "which makes the girl a danger to me. I have already snuffed one light that posed a threat."

"What? Who?" I asked. But Pitch just grinned.

"If you do not wish her to follow the same fate, you will keep her away from me. Away from my dark creatures. In her tower, and only in her tower, will I leave her alone."

"But - " I protested, searching for the words, "we've come so far. At least let me bring her to the lights. I promised her I would. Let her have a happy birthday."

Pitch smiled, "Very well. I will leave you alone for thirty-six hours. If she is not back in that tower by sunrise the morning after her birthday, everyone in the kingdom will have a dream about the witch girl with magic hair. And all the guards will dream that you are her captor. You think the posters are bad now? Just wait."

Pitch disappeared into the shadows, leaving me alone.

I needed to focus on something different. I couldn't let her see how I'd been rattled. She'd ask too many questions, and who knows how she'd react … I didn't really know her that well.

I glanced down at my hand as I picked up the wood again. Super strength. It was a light topic. Something she would laugh at, not cower at. I didn't want to scare her any more. I didn't want Pitch to win.

When I reached her, she was staring at the dark bushes. I wondered if Pitch had visited her as well.

"Are you okay?"

She brushed back her hair and smiled, "Just lost in thought."

I shrugged. I had no clue if she was telling me the truth or not, but even if she wasn't I didn't feel like prying. I kept up the conversation, keeping it to light topics. Rapunzel and I had a small cooking challenge where we made snacks (after all, we hadn't eaten at at the Snuggly Duckling, and I was starting to get really hungry.)

As some point, we both fell asleep. I thought about offering her my vest for warmth, but she seemed content to wrap herself in her hair. I wondered if it had any magic heating powers. If it did, she didn't offer to share.

To my surprise, the night was peaceful. No nightmares. My dreams were actually pleasant. That didn't happen much. Was Pitch leaving me alone at last? Or maybe it was the magic of Corona. From my travels, I knew Corona was less affected by the witch hunts than most of the rest of the world. Maybe that's why he'd given me 36 hours. He might not be able to carry out his threat in the kingdom of the sun.

My peaceful feelings disappeared when I woke up to a soaking wet horse. Once more, Rapunzel came to my rescue. Not only did she get me away from Max, but she convinced him not to bother me for the whole day. Maybe the horse remembered that she was the princess. Did memory charms work on animals?

We had fun over her birthday, and I came to realize that I loved her. I wanted her to be free, not just safe.

I gave her a lantern, and she gave me back my satchel. Where she was keeping it, I'll never know. I put it aside as we sang of love. As I was about to pull her in for a kiss, I spotted them.

On the bank of the mainland with a sickly green lantern stood the Stabbington brothers. I didn't know how they'd found us. Was it Pitch Black? Had he led them here, to ruin this night? To keep me in line? It wouldn't work. I loved her. I knew that now. I wasn't going to help Pitch hurt her anymore.

"Is everything okay?" Rapunzel asked.

I looked down at her. I didn't want to ruin her birthday. So I lied to her.

As quickly as I could without making her worry, I pulled our boat up to the shore where I'd seen the brothers. Maybe I could bribe them to go away. Leaving Rapunzel and taking the crown, I went to find them, taking care to hide her memories and mine in the hollow of a tree first.

The brothers were there. Sitting on rocks, sharpening sticks in a threatening manner. I acted like I hadn't betrayed them and gave them the crown.

But my worst fears were confirmed. They knew about Rapunzel. They knew about her hair. Pitch Black was behind it, I was sure.

All I remember of the fight is that it ended with me arrested.

"I need to see the king!" I said to the Captain of the Guard as I was dragged before him.

"Well, well, well," the Captain said stiffly. "You are too much, Rider. First, you lead my daughter on a wild goose chase. Then you abandon us to your thugs, steal the crown and evade arrest. And now you have the audacity to ask for an audience with the king?"

"This is important!" I protested. "It's about -"

The captain gave a nod and the guard holding my left arm hit me in the head. Dazed, I couldn't finish my thought.

"That's the guy you saw?" I heard the Captain asking one of the guards.

"That's him, alright," the Guard said. "He guessed I had hay fever. His nose looks different from the posters."

"Look, go check the tree-" I tried to say.

I was hit again.

"Shut it, Rider," the Captain said. "Take him away."

They brought me to a small cell in the dungeon. I sat down on the bench with my head in my hands wondering what had happened to Rapunzel. The Stabbington brothers must have seized her after they knocked me out. Would they keep her? Sell her? What if they accidentally cut her hair? If she was no use to them … would they free her or kill her?

I had the sinking feeling I knew the answer to that.

Moonlight filled my cell. I looked up. Was it me, or was the moon making a face?

"Please. Please," I begged. "I hid her teeth in the hollow tree close to the bay. If there are any fairies, or ghosts around, anyone, at least give her back her memories. Maybe once she has them, she can escape. Please let her be safe. Let her be free."

The moon gave no response. I spent the rest of the night and most of the morning pacing in my cell, worrying.

Finally, at noon, the Captain of the Guard showed up to take me out. I knew from his look this was my last day. I didn't care. All I wanted was for Rapunzel to be safe.

Resigned to my own fate, I followed the guards out to the hall. Then I saw something that made me stop. The Stabbington brothers sat dejected in one of the cells, but if they were here … where was Rapunzel?

I struggled away from one of the guards and demanded answers.

"It wasn't us," he said, appearing fearful for the first time I'd ever seen him. "It was the old lady."

The guards wrestled me away from them, but I didn't stop struggling.

Old lady? The old lady. I'd thought he would say Pitch Black. But it was Mother Gothel. I'd seen them working together before, in the past. But if Gothel was behind it, then I knew where Rapunzel was. She would be back in her tower. And if I didn't do something, she would be there for the rest of her life.

I struggled against the guards as they dragged me towards the hanging plaza. They ignored my pleas. Just as I thought all hope was lost, the Pub Thugs rescued me!

And Max. He took me over the hundreds of guards. Why'd such a small kingdom have so many palace guards? Maybe it was for the festival or something. Max ignored them, leaping over the side of the wall.

I most certainly did not scream as we went airborne, sliding down a roof on the other side. We charged out of the kingdom, reaching Rapunzel's tower in late afternoon.

"Rapunzel, Rapunzel, let down your hair!" I called. Hearing no response, I prepared to scale the tower. Then I heard a creaking. Her hair flew down. I grabbed on and hauled myself up. I didn't know if I was hurting her head or not, but time was of the essence. She was in trouble. We could worry about a sore head later.

I reached the window, panting, only to see her in chains. It stunned me enough that I didn't see Gothel until she'd stabbed me.

Despite the pain as I slowly bled to death, I was well aware of my surroundings. I heard Rapunzel as she made an unbreakable vow to her mother. She knew she was a witch, it seemed. My wish last night was granted. Someone had activated her memories. And she'd just made a promise to never leave again, if she healed me.

I couldn't let her do it. Gothel ordered Rapunzel to stay back as she switched the chains, removing them from Rapunzel and placing them around my wrists. As she moved me, my hand skimmed broken glass. From a mirror.

I was dying.

I knew it. But I had to do something. When Rapunzel was finally allowed to crawl over to me, I had the idea. A way to free her. From both Gothel and Pitch Black, and anyone like the Stabbingtons. I picked up the mirror shard and brushed back her hair.

I sheared it before either of them could see what I was doing. As Rapunzel warned me, it all turned brown. I could hear Gothel screaming. But I'd done all I could. I briefly passed out, only waking when Rapunzel tried to sing to me.

"You were my new dream," I whispered. Then I died.

I know I was dead. The pain in my gut was gone. I couldn't feel anything. But I could see someone. A little round-faced man. I knew him.

Professor Manny Lunoff, my old Astronomy teacher.

"What are you doing here?" I asked. It seemed like a rather odd way to meet someone. Did he always greet the dead? Was he dead? Did all dead people meet old teachers?

"Ah, Eugene. Or would you prefer Flynn?"

"I don't know," I admitted. "Is this like … what I'll be called in the afterlife or something?"

"No," Manny said. "You haven't crossed over yet. I wanted to speak to you first."

"Why?" I asked. As far as I knew, I'd always been okay in Astronomy. At least until I got expelled. It seemed a little late to be called to the teacher's office.

"I failed to speak to Jack Frost before he died."

"Wait, Jack's dead?"

Manny nodded, "That's why you were able to tell to the horse how to get to Rapunzel's tower. You and you alone could do it. But we haven't much time."

"Why? I'm dead, aren't I? Doesn't that mean I have all the time in the world?"

"Death is only a crossroads. Jack chose his next path before I visited him. He came back."

"Like as a ghost?"

"In a manner. I wanted to get to you before you chose."

"Why? What's so important?"

"You need to know, before you decide whether to come back as a ghost or not, that the world is shaken. Corona is the only place left that is safe for wizards. Pitch Black and his fear has infiltrated everywhere else."

"Why is Corona safe?"

"The drop of sunlight fell here. Though the flower that grew from it was plucked, the magic remained, entering the queen and then the princess. Gothel could steal the child, an event I witnessed, but the light could not be destroyed. Even now that you've shorn her hair, the drop of sunlight will remain."

"And let me guess. Rapunzel can be used to help heal the rest of the world. No. Forget it. I'm not going to make her do anything else."

"I do not ask that you make her. I heard your plea last night. The plea to restore her memory. I sent a moonbeam down to earth to tell someone where the memories were and restore them."

"Thank you," I said.

"But I must tell you how Rapunzel can -" Manny started to fade away.

The light came back. I looked into Rapunzel's shining face. I was alive. Like he'd said, the drop of sunlight wasn't gone. She healed me … though if she'd waited a few minutes I would have learned the secret of what she could do.

Oh well. If it was that important, maybe we could figure it out without him. Or not. I wasn't going to make her save the world.

We shared our first kiss and then she went to get the key for the chains I wore and we climbed down the stairs to the glen below.

Maximus was waiting for us. I put Rapunzel on his back and led the horse out.

Rapunzel kept tilting her head.

"Are you alright?" I asked.

"Yeah," she said. "It just feels weird. My head. Lighter, you know. I'm so off balance."

I chuckled.

She laughed at first, too, then got quiet. I looked up to her. She seemed sad.

"Is something else wrong?" I asked.

"Yes," Rapunzel said, brushing back her hair. "Mother is dead."

"You're free," I pointed out.

"I know. But she was … she was always there. Even at school -" Rapunzel stopped suddenly, gasping, looking at me.

"What's wrong?" I asked, though I thought I knew.

"School - Eugene … I ... I didn't mean to lie to you. But I've remembered something. Some things." She took a deep breath, "I'm a witch, and my parents are the king and queen of Corona."

She looked up from under her now dark locks in such an apologetic way that I almost laughed.

"I know," I said, blushing.

"You do?" she asked, taken aback.

"We met, remember?" I said. "When you were a first year?"

"Then you're a wizard?" she guessed, a puzzled look crossed her face. "But how come you remember me? I asked the Tooth Fairy to erase everyone's memory of me, so I could live outside my tower."

"Yeah. That didn't work. You were more a prisoner after the spell," I pointed out, trying to think of the best way to admit I'd been spying on her.

"Well, it would have worked if Mother - I mean Gothel, had let it," Rapunzel pointed out. "All those people we met. The Pub Thugs, the Guards. None of them knew me. Did they?"

"Nope. Just me," I said. I looked down at my feet as I admitted, "I was there. I was hiding while the Tooth Fairy cast her enchantment. I never forgot you."

"So all this time you were lying to me?" Rapunzel asked. I pulled Maximus' reigns so that we went a little off course.

"I didn't mean to. But I wasn't sure what was going on. I didn't know why you didn't remember. Your memories shouldn't have been affected by the memory charm."

I took her to the tree hollow where I'd hidden her stolen memories. I expected to find them as I'd left them. But they weren't there. In their place, there was a trace of frost.

"Frost? In summer?" I questioned.

"JACK!" Rapunzel screeched. She reached inside and found a piece of parchment.

"Dear Flynn," she read. "I can't find Rapunzel's tower. You're her secret keeper now. I'm taking the memories in case you weren't the one who hid them. If you want them back, come to Burgess."

Rapunzel and I stared at the letter. So much had changed for us, more than just her hair. I took a step back.

"Pitch told me Jack was dead," Rapunzel whispered.

"That's what ... I think I heard that, too," I said, not wanting to talk about my experience in the afterlife.

"But this letter," Rapunzel said, her hands shaking.

"What do you want to do?" I asked. She'd lived too much of her life bowing to what others wanted. I vowed to support her, and let her make her own choices.

Maximus whinnied, reminding me that I'd escaped from prison only a few hours before. If I went back, I'd be rearrested. They might, if I brought Rapunzel with me, give me a lighter sentence. I had no hopes of being pardoned. My guess was they wouldn't let Rapunzel leave them so soon. They would want to get to know her. To make up for all the lost years.

Rapunzel rolled up the paper and stuck it in Max's saddlebag.

"Get on," she commanded me. I didn't hesitate. "We're going to England."

A/N: You can find The Fate of the Fractured Part 2 at: w (ww)(d o t) (fan) fiction.n=e=t /s/13079633/1/The-Big-Four-and-the-Fate-of-the-Fractured-Part-2

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