#yes there is a town named corona

[thisphantomlife]

Songs Hozier has covered

Bowie - Changes, Young Americans (see also Trinity Orchestra section)

Prince - I Wanna Be Your Lover, Raspberry Beret, Jungle Love

James Carr - The Dark End Of The Street

The Beatles - Blackbird

John Lennon (Donny Hathaway version) - Jealous Guy (at the goldenplec block party with Zaska)

Ariana Grande - Problem

Warren G - Regulate (mashup with Problem)

James Blake - Retrograde

Tom Waits - Strange Weather

Florence and the Machine - Cosmic Love

Stevie Wonder - Living for the City, As

Sting - 7 Days

The BeeGees - To Love Somebody

Lauryn Hill - Doo Wop (that thing)

Amerie - One Thing

Skip James - Illinois Blues

Muddy Waters - Catfish Blues

Van Morrison - Caravan, Sweet Thing, Domino, Brown Eyed Girl, Saint Dominic’s Preview

Bill Withers - Ain’t No Sunshine

Arctic Monkeys - Do I Wanna Know

Demi Lovato - Sorry Not Sorry

Led Zeppelin - Whole Lotta Love

Fun - We Are Young

Paul Simon - Bridge Over Troubled Water

Sam Smith - Lay Me Down

Destiny’s Child - Say My Name

Britney Spears - Toxic (snippet)

The Band - The Weight

Otis Rush version of Willie Dixon and the Big Three Trio - My Love Will Never Die

The Talking Heads - Burning Down the House (Instagram live messing around with friends)

The Staple Singers - Let’s Do it Again

The Weather Forecast 🤪

Ed Lewis - I Be So Glad When the Sun Goes Down (Instagram snippet)

Mavis Staples - Eyes on the Prize

Jackie Wilson - (Your Love Keeps Lifting Me) Higher and Higher

The Meters - Just Kissed My Baby

Traffic (song originally by Traffic, Andrew covered the Joe Cocker version) - Feeling Alright

Christmas Songs - God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen, Winter Wonderland, Santa Claus is Coming to Town (with others at the Xmas Eve Ball 2015)

Traditional Irish songs - My Lagan Love, The Humours of Whiskey, I Am Stretched On Your Grave, The Rolling Wave (on the low whistle), The Parting Glass, The Lonely Jig (on the low whistle)

(Live) Collabs - that are not Andrew’s own songs

Alvin Youngblood Hart - Illinois Blues

Maren Morris - The Bones, My Church, Girl, The Tree

Annie Lennox - I Put a Spell on You (Screamin Jay Hawkins cover)

Tom Odell - Another Love

Noah Kahan - Northern Attitude

Allison Russell - Requiem, Stop Dragging My Heart Around (Stevie Nicks & Tom Petty cover)

Brandi Carlile - The Joke, Walk On (U2 cover), The Weight (The Band cover)

Jamala - Walk On (U2 cover)

Mavis Staples - The Weight (The Band cover), Keep Your Eyes on the Prize (with Our Native Daughters, Jason Isbell and Phil Cook)

Boygenius - Salt in the Wound

Alana Henderson - Ae Fond Kiss (poem by Robert Burns)

U2 - When Love Comes to Town

Tori Kelly - Blackbird (the Beatles cover)

Mumford and Sons - Guiding Light, Awake My Soul, With a Little Help From My Friends (Beatles cover, with other artists)

Lake Street Dive - Everyday People (Sly and the Family Stone cover)

Rachael Price - Rental Love

Victoria Canal - Swan Song

Elwood (his dog) - Don’t Go Breaking My Heart (Elton John and Kiki Dee cover, Insta snippet)

All the artists at Love Rocks NYC 2022 - Like A Rolling Stone (Bob Dylan cover), Feeling Alright (Traffic cover)

Brian Kennedy (and others) - I Wish I Knew How It Would Feel to Be Free (Nina Simone cover)

His Dad - The Weight (The Band cover at MSG)

Zaska, Wyvern Lingo, Loah - Sir Duke (Stevie Wonder cover)

Eabha McMahon - Bright Blue Rose (Jimmy McCarthy cover)

Brittany Howard - Feeling Alright (Joe Cocker version cover)

Joan Baez - We Shall Overcome, The Weight (The Band cover)

Christmas Eve Busk 2015

Bono, Glen Hansard - When Love Comes to Town, Every Breaking Wave

Glen Hansard, Imelda May - The Dark End of the Street (James Carr cover)

Christmas Eve Busk 2017

Glen Hansard, Coronas, Imelda May, Liam O Maonlaoi - So This is Christmas (John Lennon cover), The Aul Triangle

Music Groups

Nova Collective - (original songs) Tuile, Closer, Quick Bossa

Zaska - (original songs) In Your Own Sweet Time, Different Light, She Gunk Gunk Dunk A Funk, Oh Yeah

Anuna - with Andrew on lead vocals: The Raid, La Chanson de Mardi Gras. With Andrew in the choir: Jingle Bells, An Uaithne

The Wiggles - Cherry Tree Carol with Anuna

Trinity Orchestra - songs covered with Andrew on lead vocals

~ Queen - Somebody To Love, Don’t Stop Me Now

~ Arcade Fire - My Body is a Cage

~ Pink Floyd - Time, Breathe, Comfortably Numb, Shine on You Crazy Diamond, Money

~ Michael Jackson - Earth Song, Black or White, Smooth Criminal

~ David Bowie - Heroes

*This list may not be complete. It only contains songs that can be found online.

Please let me know if any songs are missing so I can add them 🫶

I’ve not included the songs he sang snippets of on that Song Association interview

[tangledbea]

Who named Rapunzel? If it was the king or the queen, why Eugene couldn't recognize her by the name? And why Gothel kept this name?

If it was Gothel, then why the king and the queen kept the name? Doesn't it mean "lettuce" or something?

According to the series, it was canonically her parents who named her. We know this for two reasons:

In Tangled: Before Ever After, when Fredric is remembering the night she was kidnapped, he calls out her name in his memory.

In the season 3 episode "No Time Like the Past," we see missing posters of her up around Corona with her name on them.

I have headcanons that go way back to before the series existed about her name, so strap in, because this is a kind of involved answer.

First, I'll address the meaning. Rapunzel is not lettuce. Rapunzel is another name for the rampion plant which, yes, has edible leaves and roots and can be used as a salad green, but more closely resembles a radish than lettuce. However, it is also the name of the plant's flower, and just like how Rose, Daisy, Lily, Hyacinth, etc are all names, why not Rapunzel? Furthermore, Disney's Rapunzel was not named after the rampion flower, specifically. She was named after the Sundrop flower that saved her and the queen's life.

Here is what the rapunzel flower looks like:

And here is what the Sundrop flower looks like:

Notice how the center of the Sundrop flower essentially contains a rapunzel flower. This was deliberate on the part of the artists who designed it. Rapunzel was named after this flower.

As for why Gothel kept the name, I have a headcanon for that.

Back in the day, in ye olden tymes, babies were often not named until they were Christened, which didn't really happen until the parents were relatively sure the kid would survive. Now, Corona doesn't appear to be a Christian nation (it appears to be a sun-worshiping one that has the trappings of Christianity, if you ask me, but that's neither here nor there), and the king and queen clearly named their baby. So my headcanon is that the night they lifted the lantern was not the day she was born. I mean, look at that baby. She has the wiggliness and personality of a three-month-old, at the youngest. I think the lantern lifting was their version of her Christening, when her name would be revealed to the people. Up until then, I headcanon she was called Baby Princess by the citizens. Now, since the people only knew her name for one night, they sort of defaulted to calling her The Lost Princess after she was kidnapped.

My headcanon goes on to say that Gothel either didn't know the baby's name and also named her Rapunzel after the flower that she now embodied, or else she did know her name and figured that the girl was never going to see this kingdom again, so was too lazy to come up with anything different when it already suited her perfectly.

Eugene is, canonically to the series, not raised in a Corona orphanage. He's raised in a Vardaros orphanage. If the citizens were by and large calling her The Lost Princess, then that's the name that would spread to other kingdoms and territories. Then, by the time Eugene was doing that job in Corona that was happening in "No Time Like the Past," he wasn't looking at "lost baby" posters around town, just keeping an eye out for the guards (and other things worth stealing). He wasn't consciously aware of the posters, he didn't hear anyone referring to the Lost Princess as Rapunzel, he didn't know that was the princess' name.

All of this is a long way to say that the series actually complicated things by having the king and queen name her Rapunzel. If it had been Gothel, I wouldn't have had to come up with a convoluted headcanon to explain it all.

[dangara2610]

(4/10) Adult Ulla - Part 14

I forgot to tell the details I imagined before and after Ulla married Quirin before disappearing

Donella came back to Nesdernia and found no Faber family, and then, she selled weapons to the royalty of the place, (of course, after Cyrus selled weapons to the invasors, haha, round businesses) , the war ended as soon as the weapons were finished and delivered.

Then Don researched for Ulla in order to ask her to complete the trials together, but on the way, she and Cyrus would delay making their business get higher and make their fortune.

Meanwhile, Ulla and Ulf keep working on Pittsburgh, their natal land, a little desmotivated , both feeling like their love interest turned them down for too long, what if they never marry?

What if they are not as interesting or lovable as they thought?, well, mom and dad, they know they are proud, but yet, they feel unsatisfied and incomplete.

What if both, convincing their most recent knowledge, search for the love of their lives with divination? Instead of that Demanitus offspring like they did long ago.

They do, and they go to the location, the 7 trials no longer their interest, Holda and Tenax (their parents, now more old) give their approvals.

And OmG!, In Corona kingdom, Ulla finds Quirin as the love of her life, this looks like only a confirmation, but why him? If their last relationship didn't worked out, why it should now? Or is she destined to live as he showed her? She escapes

Quirin finds her, and speaks about what he is now, a man who is loyal to his death past, but loyal to his future and present, his ex-king gave him freedom, and his current king gave him a whole town to build and take care

Even with this new responsability, the current king asked him to pick a bride and live the joy of having a child, unlike himself and the sadness of getting his baby princess kidnapped.

He had no other women in mind than Ulla and her love she offered and he rejected, if she wouldn't come back, he wouldnt search no other, also he didn't searched for her, he doesn't deserve a new chance, but her visit to Corona is like a shooting star, Would she grant his imposible wish to marry her and have a family?

She said yes, and they renew their romance, she couldn't hold her emotions of feeling found (instead of Lost, the meaning of her name, why did her mom named her like this?), Quirin would be serious but lovely.

Ulla and Quirin were truly in love, but, Quirin would keep his way to act, so, the wedding would be a secret, she couldn't invite any of the friends she made, due to Quirin making not close friends, she couldn't invite her parents, due to Quirin having not parents.

Brothers? Maybe, but, his "death past" should be keept as secret, so...

She insisted al least her parents should come to that secret wedding, he agreeded, but the parents shouldn't talk about what happened.

They came, and they tried to bring Ulf, but postal service was not fast, and he was unreachable in time, at least, he would know the date of the wedding... Oups, why didn't they obeyed the "secret" part? , no postal service should had been involved.

Faber family explained the letter didn't mention Quirin, just Ulla, if there was ever a spy on the postal service, they can't find him, nor his location.

Donella wanted to find Ulla but couldn't find her in Pittsburgh, yet, she would waste no time,she set a war between the royal members with daftness and other body sickness against the "not sick" royal cousins with menaces of insurrection.

The she went back to Ingvarr, the business is flourishing on the server caves, she even has some clients who will transport her to the Baron headquarters near Barbados and Corona

In Ingvarr, she tries to find again her "not friend" but client who has a mansion-hospital, but , there is no one, she trespasses easyly, there is no security, all is stained with dry blood and hints of a battle on the walls, lots of walls, even hints of explosions.

Then she had a bad feeling, so, she used again that Ulla invention to scan paths on the soil and floor, and she found a secret room, she worked her way to that subterranean path.

There was a room locked, she opened it, and Don attached the thing that "jumped to assault her" but that dropped to the floor, the odor of death was there, at least, 5 deadbodies tried to open this very door from inside but they had not acid like Don, Don actually, so, they couldn't, and they died, the cause of death? Donella doesn't want to find out.

But looks like her initial shout had a delayed effect because after a minute, she herd a weak baby wail inside that room, her guts and disgust for this place's odor told her to leave, but she came back.

Don made her way and found the baby wailing, thin and dirty, there were 5 water bags of leather empty near him, maybe they got filled with maternal milk, how many time was this baby here ? And why was him the only one clearly chosen to stay alive?

No other baby had this opportunity, here there were 5 women and 4 babies deadbodies, all blondes, maybe the mothers noticed the person with the key to this lock was never coming back, and there were no supplies, were they left here because of a surprise attack?

Yep, the brothel client Donella had also hadn't been seen by the people in town, they may gad done a ridiculous not strategic warfare and both parties died, the bodies were retrieved except on this secret room.

Donella carried the baby outside this place, and leaved him outside an orphanage, she can't offer any milk to him, but the nuns will, yet, she may come back for him once he is older, she this time feels remorse, a little, deep inside, her outside is indifferent as ever.

Of course the mother of this child died because a war she created between people who didn't even meet before, she made a fortune, but she never took a look to the victims of the crossfire.

Donella wrote a paper with a name she picked for the baby, "Hugo", put it on the basket at the entrance of the orphanage and left, he was soo unhealthy thin, he may not survive, but she will visit again to know.

Thankies for reading , this will continue 🌌🌌🌃🌠🫐❄️🌀🌊☄️🪐🌑🌘🫐🍇🎆🎑🧵 Have a great day

[talesfromasnarkylisa]

Stranded In Arendelle: Chapter 6

July 24th, 1843

Eugene and Tony were hiding in an abandoned warehouse. Eugene used a blond wig which he found on the way out of the dungeons to disguise himself. Likewise, Tony wore a set of hair extensions with bangs and blue contact lenses for his green eyes.

“Any guards out there?” asked Tony.

Eugene looked through the peephole of one of the doors.

“Nope,” he answered. “There’s a lot of shivering people, but no guards.”

“Good,” said Tony. “Let’s go explore some more.”

The two men snuck out to wander Arendelle’s icy streets. The snowstorm had only worsened, but they were both lucky enough donning thick coats to safely go exploring anyway. 

Tony and Eugene turned right into a residential area.

“This is my house,” Tony pointed to his home. It was grey and a little run-down beneath the snow covered surface.

“Looks nice,” stated Eugene. “Back when I was young, I dreamed of living in a house like that.”

“I wish I could go back home,” Tony lamented. “But I wouldn't want to get my family in trouble.”

Later, they walked down the streets of the city markets. They were also covered with nothing but snow. They kept walking until another set of buildings were visible.

“I went to this schoolhouse as a kid,” Tony showed Eugene a pentagonal building.

“Where?” Eugene asked. Almost every building looked similar at this point due to being covered in white.

“The one shaped like a pentagon,” Tony responded.

Eugene squinted. He was able to make out the name “Offentlig Hovedskole” as an outline.

“Ohhhhhhh….” he realized. “Wait, you went to school?”

“Yeah,” said Tony. “I went to this schoolhouse until grade 8. After that, I went to a couple of high schools until I graduated. Couldn’t afford university, unfortunately.”

Eugene offered to help Tony pay for university.

“No thanks, I’m fine,” Tony insisted. “I’m sure you have more important things to spend your money on. Speaking of which, how’s Corona doing?”

“Pretty well, actually,” Eugene answered. “For the most part. King Frederic’s kind of sick,  but I’m sure he’ll be just fine.”

Tony thought to express a more ambivalent opinion on Corona’s king, but he didn’t say anything out loud. He figured it was probably a bad idea to do so in front of his literal son-in-law.

Eugene and Tony turned left to walk down a somewhat abandoned area. A former farm, it was mostly snow covered grass here.

“Are these the outskirts of Arendelle’s capital?” asked Eugene.

Tony inspected the vicinity.

“Yes,” he stated. “We should probably go back now.”

“Definitely!” agreed Eugene. “I need to go to find Rapunzel as well. Speaking of which, have you seen her anywhere?”

“She’s brunette now,” responded Tony, “right?”

“Correct,” said Eugene. “She normally wears a purple dress, but has an orange-pink overcoat for weather like this.”

Tony attempted to remember if he saw a short-haired Coronan brunette in the kinds of outfits Eugene described.

“No, unfortunately,” Tony told Eugene. 

This worried Eugene even more.

“Ok then,” he stated. “We really need to get back now.”

Just as Eugene said that, the temperature dropped.

“Are you sure about this?” Tony shivered. “It’s pretty cold out here. Would either of us make it to Princess Rapunzel in this weather?”

“If we’re freezing out here, so could she!” panicked Eugene.

“You have a point,” said Tony.

Eugene took out some jackets he found in the warehouse. 

“We’ll wear thicker jackets,” Eugene said to Tony. “Come on.”

“Understood,” Tony ultimately decided to go with Eugene.

The two men then ran as fast as they could towards the heart of town.

(Wattpad version: https://www.wattpad.com/1466995061-stranded-in-arendelle-chapter-6)

[phoenixbsblog]

Tangled: The Next Generation!

Eugene

Okay, where were we? Oh yes, Rapunzel and I got married everything was perfect until Max dropped the rings. I took my eyes off that horse for a few minutes and he gets himself covered in tar, a pink frock, a hat and shoes. You guys had one job!

The reception was not as expected, we were going to have a big party in town but all of the wine and bimberry juice was spilled. The tables were turned over and the food was lost, the cake had fallen down the hill. Instead we gathered around in the good old Snuggly Duckling!

Soon after Rapunzel and I made our own baby. Our folks were thrilled, the hard part was choosing a name then it hit me! Aurora!

It was perfect since Rapunzel is the Queen of the Sunshine Kingdom and I am from the dark side with the moon. Aurora is the Latin word for ‘Dawn’ the time between night and day.

The day our little ray of sunshine was born was one of the best days of my life.

I was in my office doing the usual boring paper work when Stan came to me in a panic.

I jumped up onto my feet, panicked thinking something terrible had happened.

“Sir!” Stan called as he tried to catch his breath. “It’s Rapunzel!”

I felt my heart in my throat at that moment. “Is-Is she okay?”

Stan looked a bit unsure. “She’s-She’s having the… The Baby now!”

My jaw dropped at that moment, the doc said she was not due until another week but Arianna said babies do not always come dead on the date, I was born a bit early according to Dad. I shoved past Stan and ran up two flights of stairs to the upper floor and the tower.

“Ahhh!” I heard her scream from the end of the corridor.

“I’m coming!”

As soon as I got in, I sat by her side and held her hand. “Rapunzel, squeeze my hand as tight as you want, it’s okay.”

She did, she squeezed my hand real hard, yeah it hurt but it was nothing compared to the pain she was going through.

“It’s okay, Rapunzel,” Varian said softly as he placed his hands over her stomach to ease her pain with his moon magic. Oh, yeah, Varian has that, who knew right?

“Okay, Your Majesty, push whenever you feel a contraction, work with your baby!” The midwife said as she watched her progress.

Rapunzel groaned as she pushed, I am just glad she is healthy so we won’t land in the same situation her mother was in.

Eventually, Aurora came out crying her little head off, she got washed and handed to her mother.

“Oh! Hello, darling!” Rapunzel smiled as she laid on her chest. “She’s beautiful.”

“She sure is,” I nodded. “Just like her mommy, Princess Aurora.”

“The newest addition to the Coronan Royal family, she’s going to be a great Queen one day,” Varian said as he smiled fondly at her. “I just know it.”

Yeah, with us to guide her, she will be brilliant. “Who knows, maybe there will be a mini Science Nerd in the future.”

Varian chuckled but shook his head. “No, I don’t think so… It would run the risk of passing on the Moon power and I can’t have a bunch of Moon People running around.”

Eugene hummed thoughtfully. “There’s adoption.”

Varian shrugged. “I’m not sure I want kids, you know, I’ve got a lot of stuff going on with my work and… Haven’t had much luck in the romance department… Anyway, never mind me, today is about you, Rapunzel and your baby girl!”

At that moment Stan came in with Frederic and Arianna. “Are you alright, Your Majesty?”

“Yes,” Rapunzel smiled. “We have a Princess.”

“Oh, wow! That’s brilliant!” Stan beamed. “She’s adorable, congratulations Queen Rapunzel and Captain.”

“Oh my goodness!” Arianna gasped as she put a hand over her mouth, her eyes brimmed with tears. “She’s gorgeous!”

Frederic placed a comforting hand on her shoulder, tears of joy welled up in his eyes as smiled adoringly at their granddaughter. The future of Corona, the circle of life went on.

“Mmm,” Rapunzel nodded as she looked down at her, we do not want to put too much pressure on her. Let her enjoy her childhood while it lasts, experience things that we never got to do.

My wife and newborn daughter had a nice long rest before we presented her to the kingdom. Part of me is relieved that she did not get Rapunzel’s Sundrop Power, honestly parenting is stressful enough without thinking about someone stealing your magic child!

“Good afternoon, everyone, thank you for coming we are pleased to present to you our daughter, Princess Aurora!” Rapunzel called as she turned her around for people to see her face.

There was a roar of applause and cheers from the crowd, overjoyed to meet the new Princess.

To celebrate her birth we had a small party for close family and friends only, my dad came all the way from the Dark Kingdom to see her. He was relieved that both mother and child were okay but also saddened that he could not hold her.

“Hello, Aurora, I am your Grandpa Eddie!” King Edmund smiled as he held her little hand. “She’s so tiny! Reminds me of when Hor-Eugene was born!”

Rapunzel chuckled. “Yeah, it was hard but Varian’s magic took the edge off.”

“Well done, Varian,” King Edmund said.

Varian nodded. “No problem, anything I can do to help.”

“Wow, she’s so sweet,” Catalina smiled.

“Aww man! You’ve got me crying now!” Lance moaned as he wiped his face with a handkerchief. “We’re growing up so fast!”

I place a hand on his shoulder. “You’re as young as you feel.”

“Brace yourself for the long nights and early mornings!” King Edmund chuckled then turned solemn.

“Oh, don’t worry, we’ll be fine,” I waved my hand dismissively. I thought how hard could it be?

“WAAH! WWAAAHH!”

It turned out to be very hard. She woke up crying in the middle of the night or early in the morning for her mommy although sometimes I stepped in for her. As any good father should, I helped in any way I could.

[ronniextorres]

(LINDSEY MORGAN, CIS FEMALE, SHE/HER) Oh, is that VERONICA “RONNIE” TORRES I heard the THIRTY-ONE year old is RESOURCEFUL. But don’t let that pretty face fool you, they are also CLEVER. Makes sense seeing how they are GETAWAY DRIVER in THE SOCIETY gang. penned by ally.

STATS;

Full Name: Veronica Isobel Torres  (call her Veronica & see what happens) Nicknames: Ronnie, Vee, Torres Age: thirty- one DOB: May 9th Sign: taurus Preferred pronouns: she/her Languages: Spanish, English Birthplace: Mexico City, Mexico Current location: New York City Sexuality: bisexual gang: the society  rank: getaway driver cover: manager and mechanic at a luxury car dealership theme song: desperado by rhianna

APPEARANCE; 

face claim: lindsey morgan hair color: dark brown, almost black eye color: dark brown height:  5’ 5 build: thin and curvy in all the right places  tattoos: yes, tba

FAMILY;

Parents: Mateo Torres (father, deceased),  Maria Torres nee Cruz Siblings: TBA older sister Extended Family: Tia Noemí, Tio Alfred (Estranged), TBA Cousins Pets: TBA

PERSONALITY;

(+) ; resourceful, intelligent, determined  & reliable (-) ; blunt, stubborn, imbalanced, & jealous element: earth hogwarts house: ravenclaw  aesthetics: the smell of gasoline, crossing the finish line with a moment to spare,  the thrill of adrenaline coursing through her veins, going zero to sixty in 3.5, grease stained cut off tees, a corona with lime, well worn leather jackets and short denim skirts Character Inspiration;  letty ortiz (fast and the furious), raven reyes (the 100), mikaela banes (transformers), jane ryan (new york minute), viola (she’s the man), santanico pandemonium (from dusk til dawn) luisa (encanto)

biography. 

TW: parent death, car accident, street racing  

Whoever said diamonds were a girl’s best friend, had never built a Plymouth Cuda from the ground up– now that’s the kind of best friend that was ride or die. Born the second daughter to the town mechanic in Mexico City, Veronica Torres had grease between her finger nails before she’d even heard of nail polish, much to her former beauty queen mother’s dismay.

While her mother had urged her to be more like her perfect older sister (wanted connection), to take up dance and learn to make the family recipes, Ronnie found herself sneaking off to help daddy at his Auto Repair Shop whenever she got the chance, learning how to take cars apart and put them back together. She was sharp and a fast learner, becoming the son Mateo never had. By the time Ronnie was in middle school, she could build a carburetor from scratch and drive a stick shift even if it wasn't legal for her to drive yet.  

When Ronnie was fifteen, the days of helping her father in the garage and the world as she knew it came crashing down on her, hard and fast and all at once. Her parents was killed in a car accident, or so that’s what she was told anyway. It never sat right with Ronnie that the very thing that her father made his livelihood from was also the very thing that took his life.

And so, Ronnie and her sister went to live with their father’s sister in New York. Tia Noemí had married an American man in a whirlwind romance which Ronnie’s father had never approved of. The marriage only lasted ten years before Alfred Sr. cheated on her aunt and left her for another woman. But Noemí had built a life in America and her children were going to good schools, so she opted to stay.

Life in New York City was different. Unlike her sister, Ronnie had trouble fitting in. She was the weird, new kid who liked to tinker with car parts in her spare time and could barely speak English. Even with her cousins showing her the ropes, all of whom she thought of like siblings, it was only a matter of time before Ronnie fell in with the wrong crowd and eventually became involved with the street racing scene. It was fast and exciting and the perfect distraction from all her unresolved pain. She could keep up with all the guys and earn a little cash on the side, no stranger to the occasional heist for parts or car break in.

For a while, Ronnie had finally felt like she had belonged, living life in the fast lane, narrowly avoiding the law and a fate similar to her father, but living life in the fast lane always did have its consequences. At eighteen, she had fallen for a member of her street racing crew. They had dated for years, racing and falling more and more in love with one another until the day he revealed himself as an undercover cop (wanted connection).

It may not have all been a sham, since Ronnie only got off with a hefty fine instead of any jail time. Her aunt helped her pay it off in exchange for a promise that Ronnie would let go of this life of racing and petty crime. This was the price for the truth she had withheld from her nieces. Noemi couldn’t be sure, but she also believed that her parents death was no accident. She revealed that Mateo had owed some very bad people a lot of money and that he was also involved in the underground world of street racing. Noemi didn’t want that life for her niece.

Though Ronnie couldn’t completely stay away from her cars, she got a job as mechanic and sales person at Luxury Motors Car Dealership to ease the itch. Little did Ronnie know that the dealership was actually Society affiliated and her gateway back into the world her aunt forbade her from.

Now, at thirty-one Ronnie was broken her aunt's promise and is a getaway driver for the Society. She has driven for them for around eight years now and also helps with boosting cars and selling car parts for them.

HEADCANNONS;

Ronnie can change a flat tire in 5 minutes flat. As a kid, her dad used to time her with a stopwatch, and she worked hard to beat her previous record each and every time.

She once built her own Plymouth Cuda from the ground up with spare parts from the shop (and her father's guidance). It took her a little over a year, and the car was named Bianca.

Her favorite type of music is classic rock and latin rock. She likes to listen to it while she tinkers and can sometimes be caught singing along. There’s something about old school Santana that never fails to get her going.

She wears a thin gold chain that belonged to her father which she never takes it off. It’s the one item she kept from him after her parents death. She also has a leather jacket that belonged to her mother. Ronnie was surprised her mother even had one, but took it as a sign and kept it.

Speaking of signs, Ronnie believes in them and can be very superstitious. Before every race or heist she has to tap the dash board 3 times and kiss her necklace. She also will never race/own/use a brown car. It’s the same color of the car that hit her parents. 

WANTED CONNECTIONS || SPOTIFY || PINTEREST

[bad-at-names-and-faces]

Fancy Dress

Day 7, picking the prompt "partner costumes" with my OCs Lars and Elizabeth. For context, Lars Nilsen is the Arendelle ambassador to America, and while his mother is originally from Arendelle, he grew up in Corona, as did Elizabeth. (If you're wondering why, you just have to read The Young Diplomat...) Mr. Curtis named after an actual historic ship builder, but the similarity probably ends there.

“What are those?” Lars asked Elizabeth, looking at the outfits hanging in their bedroom.

“We’ve been invited to a fancy dress ball hosted by Mr. Curtis.”

“The ship builder?” Lars asked.  “When is it?”

“Not until tomorrow evening, don’t worry,” Elizabeth replied.

Lars sighed. “That much is good. It was a particularly grueling train ride today.”

“Oh, dear,” Elizabeth sighed.  “You can rest tonight, but Mr. Curtis was quite hopeful that we would both attend, since the contract with Arendelle is something of a bragging point for him with his colleagues.  Your mother will watch the baby, of course.”

Lars nodded, looking closely at the costumes. “Where did you get those outfits, anyway?”

Elizabeth smiled. 

“While you were out of town last month, your mother helped me make them,” she explained. “She said they’re typical Arendellian wedding outfits.”

Lars looked at them, smiling. “Yes, yes, I remember seeing some like that now.”

“Once you’ve rested a bit, you should try yours on. I’m sure it’s the right size, but honestly I really want to see what it looks like.”

Lars couldn’t help but laugh a bit. “Yes, of course. And what about you? May I see it? Or would that be bad luck?”

“I think it’s only bad luck if you’re not married yet,” she smiled.

[phillipcole]

The Morning Show with Eric Kaelin part 3

Kaelin: We’re back and I now present Phillip.

Phillip: Greetings, my name is Phillip the Boston intellectual.  (Sigh) It feels good to say that, more correctly, it feels good to say that without a long groan somewhere in the process.  As some of you know I’ve been very ill for about the last 8 years.  It’s not a crippling illness, though I use these crutches because I might fall down if I stand too long.  It isn’t even this corona virus that stopped the world for a time.  It’s because there are certain celebrities in the world that make me physically weak every time I hear their names.  One of them started doing something 8 years ago that has made most of the world sick and the only way to survive it was to go into a few comas.  However there is some good news.  That person and another man on my list might finally receive some comeuppance for their crimes.  That good news has brought me to the point where I can cautiously begin to resume my duties with Phillip and Cole’s Variety Team.  Thank you.

I have learned that, while some have been hoping and praying for my recovery others have risked, squandered their money gambling on who the last name on my list of celebrities that make me sick might be.  Not only that, I learned that some have made bets that are not only unlikely but impossible.  There are some who have wagered that one of the persons already on my list is the last name.  I assure you there is no one so dastardly he makes me sick twice.  Also there is a whole family on my list as a group.  Some are wagering on individual members.  That too is a waste of money.  For those who look elsewhere I have heard there are at least a few guesses almost as bad.  It seems that in my absence my colleagues-in pursuit of fame and fortune-have undertaken to remove individual suspects, yet people are still betting on those individuals.  Folks, these lists are not secret, only one human name is.  For those who still wish to gamble on the subject, better yet pick one name, write it down, tell no one and wait for the answer, think a bit first.  Cole and I auditioned for America’s Got Talent in February of 2014, so children born after that date are not likely to be on my list.  Celebrities who were only children at the time are also remote longshots.  So consider who is on the list.  Look at the list of persons eliminated from consideration, think about people who were already famous in February, 2014, then think about me.  I am a Boston intellectual.  I know a lot about many subjects of history, geography, science, literature, politics and the arts.  I can’t name every contestant in the run of a tv competition series.  Most of the people who are on my revealed list are overexposed persons I might have avoided knowing altogether if not for a media bombardment.  Look at the list and think who else might have similar characteristics and you will at least be making an educated guess.  Thank you and good night.

Kaelin: Wow!  Phil, is that the routine Phillip delivered last week?

PBC: About the same, yes.

Kaelin: Did anyone laugh?

PBC: Most of them were taking notes.

Kaelin: Ha ha ha ha ha.  That’s great.  So are you going to be performing at all while you’re in town?

PBC: Yes, at Tony Roley’s Comic Vibe Friday and Saturday.

Kaelin: Will Phillip be performing?

PBC: I’ll decide just before I go on.

Kaelin: That’s great.  If you’re ever in Michigan again look us up.

PBC: Not likely, but possible.

Kaelin: Thanks again for joining us.

PBC: My pleasure. 

[stepphase]

EARN MONEY Online from Your Mobile - Sell Your Photos to Make Money

Hello friends. Nowadays, the world has gone very fast; you and I know it all. And in this pandemic, like Corona, many people are unable to go to the office. So those people can sit in their houses and do their office work at home easily. and can Earn Money Online. But those people who have to leave home for work, end up putting their lives at risk.

So to avoid this pandemic, many people are looking for part-time jobs or full-time jobs they can do from home. Generally, you all want to generate good income by sitting in your office, in your free time, or as a student. And everyone wants to do something which is not too hard to do.

Friends, today I am going to tell you something like this unique part-time job from home to earn money online. Everyone can do this, whether a student, an employee or a housewife! Now the question will come to your mind how can you earn money online by selling your photos from your phone ..? So guys, you can only do this: click good pictures using your phone. Now you will feel that if you take photos on your phone, what will you do with those photos?

So it is like this, there are many such online photos or videos of 2 to 4 seconds all over the world. They have a library of clips that run online. and they do business for millions of rupees. There are many sites that do this business. I am going to tell you about such a particular site today.

Shutterstock

It is the world's largest international company. It is a photo stock library. Its name is Shutterstock. Yes, Shutterstock.com is an international website. There are millions of contributors. Contributors mean any country, any village or town, or any country in the whole world. All these companies run campaigns that need all kinds of photos or videos. So basically people go to this site and search for a particular topic. There they get 200 to 500 photos of many types. Then they click on the photo they like. The cost is written below. So they pay the price to Shutterstock. Sites send those photographs to them. Shutterstock transfers 50 or 40 percent of that price to your account.

What you have to do is...

Now you have to upload 20 to 30 such pictures that you like to this site. Now you will think about what kind of pictures you can upload here. You can upload your own photo. Now you will also think that who will like my picture ..! So, let me tell you that there can also be a search on this site where people would like to pick up photos of people of normal size for modeling or a video.

Because not all people are like those who only like the pictures of well-maintained, healthy people. In short, you can upload your pictures. If this picture sale is successful, you will get money as well as publicity. when that picture appears in a video or a magazine. If you do not want to put your picture up, then you can click on the nice and interesting 100-200 pictures in your area or wherever you go to roam and upload them. There is no special skill to do this thing and no investment is to be made. So basically you can earn 20000 to 25000 in a month and can earn money online easily. Now I will tell you step by step how to do this process.

Steps For Upload a picture on Shutterstock

First of all, you have to go to Shutterstock's site and create your account.

Here is the link: https://contributor-accounts.shutterstock.com/login

If you click on Create Account, some such screen will appear where you will have to add all your personal details.

After doing this, an email will come from Shutterstock on your e-mail, which you will have to verify.

In this way, you have to click on "PLEASE CLICK HERE TO VERIFY YOUR EMAIL." Which will verify your email ..!

Now you will see some interfaces.

Now you have to give some more details. In which you have to give the address information.

Now your account will be registered on this site, so now you can upload pictures on this site.

On this site, people search by putting in particular keywords. Like Mountains in India. So related to this keyword, pictures will be found here. So you can add any type of picture here. Here you have to click on upload image.

Here you will be told from which specifications you have to insert pictures. You just have to click on GOT IT.

Here photos/files should be at least 4 megapixels. You have to upload at least 15 to 20 images here. Which Shutterstock will select selected photos.

One pop up will come which is why people who upload pictures for the first time, their team will check your uploaded photos to see if these pictures are good or not. Then they will give approval to your pictures.

It is important to give all the details such as the categories and especially the keywords.

If you upload the image for the first time, then this site will recommend that if you upload 15 to 20 images, it is good so that all 5 or 7 of your images can be approved. Now you can go to the dashboard.

If you upload the image for the first time, then this site will recommend that if you upload 15 to 20 images, it is good so that all 5 or 7 of your images can be approved. Now you go to the dashboard.

Come on guys, I will show you how your money will come and where it will come from…! Now, You have to go to your account settings. As mentioned the below image.

By going to the account settings, you must check your name, email, and all details. Once this is done, select your payment method. You have to choose PayPal. Why PayPal is an international site where you can easily transfer money. And if you have not registered on PayPal's site yet, then you need only one mail to register your bank account. So you can register on PayPal and can give PayPal account here. Whatever mail id is entered while registering PayPal, has to be put in the payout email here.

Below is the option for minimum payout. This means that when your earnings are up to 35 $, then you can transfer the money to your account. If you want, you can increase more than 35 but you cannot insert less than 35.

Conclusion

So that's it, guys. I have told you the easiest way to do this is to click photos from your phone and upload them to the Shutterstock site. Wherever you go, the view you like is an animal or a person. You can upload their picture by clicking. You can do all this because nowadays it is common to click pictures. So you can If you want tips on earning money like this, please leave a comment. And yes, also tell us whose payment will come through this site, also tell us. Thank you.

We are here to hear from you

After all, you can contact us to let us know if we are missing something on our page. I hope you like and thank you for your visit

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[fuckyeahanimatronics]

corona california [2007]

[badhockeymom]

Roope Hintz: on skating, style and growing up

So, the episode of the Finnish podcast Total NHL Forever with Roope Hintz was full of so much pure gold that I want to share some of it here. The episode came out on Tuesday 15 February, 2022.

This is a big chunk of text, sorry for that, but if you're interested - here you are:

Roope is from Nokia, the neighbouring town of Tampere. He started his actual hockey career in Tampere, playing for Ilves. (Yes, Nokia is also the home of the rubber products (boots and tyres) factory that later became an international tech giant and is now the name sponsor of the new hockey arena in the bigger Tampere.)

He got a big boost for his skating when he played in Florida for a team called Tampa Bay Juniors in EMJHL in 2012-2013, after junior high school (yläaste), at approx. 16 years of age.

"I wasn't a great skater when I was a kid, but I went to Florida to play hockey, and we had a Russian lady who coached some of us in skating 3 or 4 times a week, teaching us skating technique. The level of the game in the league wasn't too high, I don't know what Finnish league to compare it with, but it was good to get out there, see the world a little, learn the language, and the skating coach helped me develop a lot. I shared an apartment with a couple of players and attended online classes, and I had an English tutor a couple of times a week."

Ilves Tampere was his junior team growing up, and he played a little over one season for them in the men's Liiga team before moving to Helsinki to play for HIFK in 2015, after his NHL draft.

"I wanted to challenge myself in a bigger organization, and a lot of players have moved on to the NHL from there. Also, I got to live on my own, move away from home. HIFK has the reputation that you grow from boy to man on that team, and I thought that it is a challenge that I want to take. The finances [Ilves was near-bankrupt at that point in time] had nothing to do with it. I made the decision based on where I thought I would personally develop best and what would be the best next step for me. I had great mentors there, Juhamatti Aaltonen and Siim Liivik for example. Liivik took me under his wing, he was kind of a big brother for me, and we have remained good friends."

About WJC 2016:

"The team spirit was great from the start. We all knew each other, we had been on the same path [the youth NT development program] from very young, and it all peaked in the home tournament, and we got the brightest medal, it was amazing. The fan thing after that was so huge, we'd be asked for pics and autographs everywhere after that, got recognized on the streets even though we were only the junior team. But you learned interacting with fans there, it's just a thing that you do, take the pics, sign the autograph, and go on to do the thing you're there to do."

"I have some kind of contact with everyone from that team basically, and of course with some the contact is more frequent. When we play each other, we'll at least meet up after the game. Lately we haven't had the chance to go to dinner because of the corona situation, but that's what we usually do."

The closest friend(s) from the WCJ team:

"I have pretty many. Pulju, Pate, Sepe, Mikko, Kassu. [Jesse Puljujärvi, Patrik Laine, Sebastian Aho, Mikko Rantanen, Kasperi Kapanen] I'm very close with all of them."

About the NHL:

"My mindset was that I'll play that one season in the AHL but I want to be ready to play in the NHL after that. I went back and forth on the next season, and I was never told what I should specifically focus on improving, the message was just that they want me to get more minutes."

"Little by little I got more responsibility and playing time on the Dallas Stars. In this and the previous season, we have found a good line and learned to play well together."

On playing with Robertson and Pavelski:

"We see the game similarly. We all are like, when you pass to the other guy, you know there's a chance you'll get the puck back. I try to use my speed to our advance, and Pavelski is a magical goalscorer, he is one of the best close to the goal in the whole league. And Robertson, he's not necessarily the fastest guy on the ice, but when the computer he has starts to run, his game IQ is just ridiculous. When I know that he has the puck, and find the space for us, I know that he will find his way there.

Pavelski is special.

"He's easily the best golfer on our team, and his hand-eye coordination is amazing with the puck. He practices his shots every morning. I have noticed that his will to win is outstanding. When the stakes are high, there is a big game or a clutch moment, he has the ability to play his best game right at that moment. He can do things that not everyone can. He's not too over-the-top pump you up hype guy, but he will say "we're doing fine, let's just keep going." I'd say he's the biggest leader of our team, in the locker room and on the ice.

Who leads the Finnish Mafia?

"Miro on the ice, in the locker room we Finns are not the loudest. When we're just Finns? I don't know, maybe Esa, he's been here the longest, but we stand our ground against him pretty well when we need to. It's unique to have 5 finns on the team. When I was in the AHL team, I was the only Finn. It's great to be able to communicate on your own language, and we are all alike and like the same things, we like hanging out together. We all except Esa live in the same building, Esa has his house a little further away."

The hardest D-men to play against: Makar, Hedman, Josi. The hardest Finns to play against: Last year it was Hakanpää.

The most stylish player in the NHL [when it comes to their game I think]: Patrick Kane and Panarin.

"Panarin is always a threat when he has the puck. He can pace and control the game, and he's pretty skilled too."

About style and fashion off the ice:

"Style is important to me. I like to wear clothes that not everyone has, I pay attention to that kind of stuff. I have been like that ever since a kid, I have always paid attention to my outfits. We have to wear suits on game days. The dress code was looser last season but now it's suits again. I think it should be the same as in the NBA, you can choose what to wear. I liked last year, you could choose more freely and express yourself with your clothes a bit."

"You've got to love how Pate (Patrik Laine) comes to the arena in his yellow glasses and different hats. Pate is who he is, he's himself, he doesn't ask what other people think."

"Older players like it too, that younger players dress differently and show personality. Out of older players, Radulov is really stylish. When he puts his teeth back in his mouth after the game, he's a totally different looking guy."

What do the Dallas Stars need now?

"We need consistency, and we have to be able to win the best teams on the road."

[rocksandrobots]

Phantoms of the Past Chapter 28 - The Halloween Hunt - Part 3

 "The Lucky Cat..." Rapunzel read the sign on the cafe door out loud. Normally she would have found the inviting atmosphere of the cafe exciting, but knowing that Varian might be inside, waiting for her, tied her stomach into knots.

 Thus far she hadn't allowed herself to think about what their meeting would be like after so many years. Would he still hate her? Did he still blame her for everything? Would he attack her again, and endanger all of the people here, or would he simply sulk and make vague threats to her? Would he be remorseful of anything? Would he even care about helping Corona? It was once his home too, but he had vowed to destroy the place himself many times before, and had come very close to doing just that on more than one occasion.

 "Quick question," Lance said, interrupting her bad memories. "How are we supposed to get Varian to go along with anything? I mean, it's not like we can arrest him and drag him back to Corona with us like this... Can we?"

 As if to prove his point, he tried to open the door and his hand went through the door handle.

 Eugene sighed, "I don't know, but he doesn't have to know that we can't... Let's just ask him about the scroll first and go from there."

 Just then a customer walked out of the cafe, and Rapunzel tried to shove all her doubts away as the trio hurried through the open door. Only to find out when they entered that she had been worried over nothing. Varian wasn't there.

 "Hi, Welcome to The Lucky Cat!" A petite woman with short brown hair called out to them. She was all smiles as she placed a coffee pot on a stand next to a bunch of cups and wooden stirrers. "Happy Halloween! Today's special is our mean green matcha mocha. How may I help you?"

 Rapunzel started to breathe easier. This was the warmest welcome that they had received since arriving in San Fransokyo and Rapunzel decided that she liked this enthusiastic woman. "Hi, nice to meet you. Oooh, what's a mocha?"

 The woman blinked in surprise, but then quickly recovered with another beaming smile. "Oh, well usually it's hot chocolate mixed with coffee, but in our matcha mocha special, it's matcha green tea with white chocolate."

 "Both those sound great!" Lance said. You could practically see his mouth watering.

 "Oh wonderful... so you like one of each?" The woman said as she walked around the counter to take their orders. "We're also offering a special 'trick or treat' sale today. Buy any drink and get one of our specialty made treats, like our monster muffins or ghostly donuts for half off."

 "Oh cuuute!" Rapunzel bent down to see the decorated sweets behind the glass counter. The 'ghostly donuts' were frosted beignets; round and covered in powdered sugar with black frosting forming eyes and mouths.

 Eugene lightly coughed in his hand to gain his friends' attention and put them back on task. "As delightful as that sounds, we unfortunately don't have any money." This announcement elected disappointed frowns from everyone present, but Eugene ignored them. "We're actually new in town and we're looking for a particular person. We were told, by an old acquaintance, that we might find him here."

 The woman behind the counter tilted her head. "Oh... and who's that?"

 "His name is Varian." Rapunzel said. "We saw his raccoon outside and figured that he was here."

 "Yes an honest assumption to make seeing as how he's never seen without the little vermin," Eugene hastily added before the woman found the explanation odd,"Does... does he frequent this place often?"

 The woman gave a soft laugh. "Well, I should say so. He lives here! Oh, but I'm sorry, you've just missed him. He's probably at the school by now."

 "The school?" Eugene echoed.

 "Oh yeah, they're holding a big Halloween event at the SFIT campus. It'll go on all night, so you still have time to get there. Are you three from the art institute instead?"

 The trio exchanged confused looks with each other, unsure how to respond to that question.

 "Umm... not exactly..." Eugene stuttered, debating on what to tell the woman. He decided to turn the tables instead. "How do you know him, by the way?"

 The woman smiled again and offered her hand to them. "Oh, I'm his Aunt Cass."

 "Cass?" Rapunzel whispered. They may have shared a name but she couldn't picture two women being more opposite than this baker and their Cassandra.

 However, Lance was far more interested in the woman's title than her name. "Aunt? You mean we have another aunt!?" he excitedly blurted out.

 Eugene gave Lance a warning glare, and the taller man shrank back as he realized that he had given too much away.

 For the first time however, the smile faded away upon the kind woman's face. "Wh-what do you mean... 'we'?"

 Eugene coughed again, "What my brother means... is... you wouldn't happen to know an Edmund would you... or maybe a Quirin?"

 "Or an Adira, or a Hector?" Lance added, despite himself.

 Aunt Cass slowly lowered her hand and Rapunzel could see the transformation on her face as her friendly demeanor was replaced with a more guarded one.

 "Quirin? You mean Varian's father. You're from Corona." It was a statement not a question.

 Eugene sighed, there was no point in skirting the truth now. "Yes, we're from Corona. I'm Eugene Fitzherbert, this is my adopted brother Lance..." Lance waved at her enthusiastically, "and my lovely girlfriend Rap-"

 "Just call me Raps." Rapunzel hastily interjected. She didn't want a repeat of the conversation with the police officer, and there was no telling what Varian had told the woman.

 "Yes, well, as it turns out that my father, Edmund, and Varian's father, Quirin, were brothers, and we only just all found each other again after several years of being separated." Eugene gave a nervous chuckle, "Honestly, we're still trying to piece together the whole family tree as it is, and we were just wondering how you may fit into it."

 The woman closed her eyes as realization hit her and her beaming smile returned. "Oh... now I see." She gave her own awkward laugh. "Sorry, no, y-you wouldn't recognize me. I'm not his biological Aunt... I've just been fostering Varian while he's here in the states."

 "The states?" Rapunzel echoed.

 "Oh, yes, the US. " Aunt Cass noticed the trio still staring blankly at her... "the United States of America."

 "Oh.. America!?" Rapunzel shouted. "Yes... I can't tell how exciting it is to finally see the Americas. I've only gotten to read about it in books before. They really undersell how insanely amazing this place is. Like those horseless carriages everyone rides around in. I've never seen those before."

 'You... you mean… cars?" Aunt Cass asked surprised. "They don't have automobiles in Corona?"

 Rapunzel shook her head, not understanding why the woman was surprised. "Oh no. Everyone has horses in Corona. Like Maxumis, he's the best horse ever! So sweet... Come to think of it, I haven't seen any horses here at all. Do they just not have them in America?"

 Aunt Cass tried her best not to laugh at that question. "Oh, no, we do have horses here, just not everybody owns them. Especially here in the big city." She flashed them another wide smile. "Listen, there's no other customers right now. I can take a short break. Why don't you all have a seat and I'll bring us some drinks. On the house. Would you prefer coffee or tea?"

 Eugene tried to politely turn down the invite, not the least of which because they couldn't drink anything in this state. "Oh no, you don't have to go out of your way just for us."

 "Nonsense, any family of Varian's is more than welcome in my home." She insisted. "How about I brew up some of that matcha? I'll go put the kettle on." And with that she walked behind a swing door into the cafe's kitchen.

 "Quick, we need to get out of here." Eugene whispered in a panic.

 "We can't just run away now." Rapunzel whispered back. "She'll think something is wrong for sure and warn Varian. Besides, we might learn a thing or two by talking to her."

 "Like what? How to brew tea?" Eugene hissed. "In case you haven't noticed right now, we're kind of incorporeal right now."

 As if to prove this point, Lance tried to take a seat in one of the chairs and fell right through it. He rubbed his backside as she stood up again.

 "Oooff... Incorporeal or not, it still hurts when you land on your rear end."

 "See!?' Eugene squeaked. "If we don't get out of here now, she'll definitely know that something is wrong."

 "Ooh... where is that white chocolate..." They overheard the woman's voice call out to them. "Hey, do you mind if we just had plain green tea instead?"

 "Uhhh... anything is fine with us!" Rapunzel awkwardly called back into the kitchen. "Heh... Take your time. No rush."

 No sooner were the words out of her mouth before everyone started running around the cafe looking for a solution. Yet everything they touched passed through their hands as if made of air.  

 "Do you want any sugar?" Aunt Cass called out again.

 "That'd be wonderful, thank you!" Eugene yelled back as he tried and failed to get on a bar stool. Beside him Rapunzel sunk through a booth; only her nose and eyes were visible over the top of the seat cushion.

 "Whatta we do?" Lance whimpered.

 Eugene widely cast his eyes around for anything that might help.

 Then Rapunzel stood up and grabbed their hands. "Quick. I have an idea!"

                                                ----------------------

  "Nervous?" asked Trina, as she and Varian tuned their instruments.

 Varian softly laughed. "Nervous? Me? Naw, we both know that my ego won't allow me to be nervous."

 Trina smiled at the joke. "That's true. Your big head probably swells up so much that it blocks your ear drums and prevents you from hearing the audience's boos."

 Varian snorted as he failed to not laugh. "Yeah, well how about you? Are you ready to show everyone what you're made of?"

 "Umm... titanium steel alloy and circuit breakers?" She giggled. "Don't worry, we've been rehearsing for weeks. We got this."

 "Drums are set up." Megan called down to them from the stage. "And Mole said that the sound system is ready to go. We should do a sound check before everybody gets here, though."

 "Well, looks like things are going smoothly over here." Tadashi called out as he sauntered over to them with his usual cheeky grin.

 "Hey, Tadashi." Megan waved.

 "How's the haunted house going?" Trina asked.

 "It's almost done. I asked Carol to help Gogo and Honey Lemon with unpacking the concessions, she should be back over here in just a minute." Tadashi explained. "Hey, umm... Varian can I talk to you for just a moment?"

 "Sure... What's up?" He asked as he followed Tadashi out on the manicured lawn that connected the various buildings on campus. It was called the Quad; so named because there were four main structures spread out in each direction on the compass.

 Tadashi sighed and cast a quick look about them to make sure no one was nearby to hear them. "I... don't want to worry you... but I just got a call from Chief Cruz. He... he was asking a lot of questions."

 Varian raised an eyebrow. "What kind of questions?"

 "Well mostly the usual.. 'How are things? What's Megan doing? Is everyone safe?' but he mentioned you by name and asked if 'you were alright'... You wanna tell me what that was about?"

 Varian just shrugged. "I don't know what he's talking about. Everything's fine.... Unless you told him about the fainting incident last week."

 Tadashi closed his eyes in exasperation. "And why would I tell him that?"

 "Because you're over protective and you won't let things go." Varian accused.

 His brother snorted. "Look who's talking? Listen, if I was to tell anybody about your fainting spell it'd be Aunt Cass. I'm not exactly on the Chief's good side."

 "Then why did he call you?" Varian asked, confused.

 Tadashi awkwardly rubbed the back of his neck. "I think he knows something is up... with Big Hero Six, I mean. He hasn't come forward, probably because he doesn't have any concrete evidence yet... but he's onto us."

 "You mean he's on to Hiro. We're not superheroes, remember?"

 "That's just it. He didn't mention Hiro. He asked if you were alright, specifically, made some small talk, 'casually' mentioned watching a special feature on the news tonight about the 'Portal Pirate'... and then said 'You know it's Halloween tonight. There's a lot of weirdos out there. Keep an eye on your brothers, and make sure everyone's safe. Call me if anyone shows up trying to start trouble.' and then hung up."

 Varian blinked in confusion as he tried to figure out the policeman's cryptic warning. "Do you think he knows something we don't? Like maybe a supervillain escaped jail again?"

 Tadashi shook his head. "I think he would have been more forward if that was the case. If he honestly thought anybody was in danger tonight he'd step in, regardless of whether or not he had evidence for it."

 Varian once again mulled over the officer's words in his head... "If he just thought I was the one in trouble... then why didn't he call me instead?"

 Tadashi shrugged. "I don't know... maybe he didn't want you flipping out and running off again."

 Varian narrowed his eyes at the cheap shot. Tadashi met his glaze coolly.

 "And you've not done anything stupid lately, like poke around Madam Canardist's anymore?"

 Tadashi sharply inhaled before stopping himself from snapping back a harsher retort. Once his initial anger subsided he slowly exhaled. "For the last time... I was only trying to help..."

 "Well don't. I don't need your help, no one does, there's nothing happening... that old lady is just trying to toy us and if we ignore her she'll go away."

 Tadashi looked at him as if he had suddenly grown two heads. "Nothing's happening?... You traveled here from another world, you invented time travel just to rescue me from a fire, and now there's this creepy old woman who somehow traveled from the same world that you came from who owns a weird glowing rock that caused you to faint. And I still can't figure out how I was able to read that incantation in the first place, it wasn't in English or any other language that I could recognize."

 Varian rolled his eyes and started to walk away. He didn't want to discuss this with Tadashi now. Yet, his older brother wasn't done. Tadashi firmly grabbed him by the shoulder and forced him to turn around.

 "Look... I know that your past is traumatic and that you don't want to be reminded of it... but it's just not going away. Especially when you're actively trying to get back to Corona again. As long as you keep fooling with that portal we could all be in danger."

 "No one is in danger Tadashi!" Varian pushed back. "Nothing can get through that portal without my knowing."

 "Oh and what about Canardist? How did she get here then?"

 "I... I don't know." Varian mumbled.

 Tadashi didn't say anything more but Varian could feel his stare. Varian refused to meet his gaze and after a moment Tadashi continued.

 "It's magic, isn't it?"

 Varian sucked in his breath as if he'd been punched in the stomach, but he didn't deny his conclusion. Tadashi pressed on.

 "This Canardist has figured out how to harness the power from those radioactive rocks that you said destroyed your home, and she has one just sitting in her shop right now."

 Varian bit his lip. "Wh-what did the stone look like?"

 "It was black, with a mirror like sheen... b-but it started to glow blue whenever I read that spell written on it."

 Varian darted his eyes back and forth across the field, still refusing to meet Tadashi's gaze. "Was... was it pointed at the end.. like a spike?"

 "Yeah..." Tadashi slowly nodded, encouraged that at least Varian was asking questions now. "... and it had a symbol on it. Hiro said, that      you     said, that it came from your father's home country."

 "The seal of Umbra... the mark of the brotherhood…" Varian finished.

 "What does that mean?"

 "The rocks come from Umbra... they destroyed my father's home first. Be-before they started to spread... I.. I really don't know much. All I could find out from his diary was that our family were knights sworn to protect the rest of the world from the rocks. He and his siblings were trained since childhood to be these protectors. That's why they're called the Brotherhood, I guess.... Anyways, they failed. The rocks took over the whole kingdom, causing everyone to evacuate,  and the plague was free to travel wherever it will, destroying more homes in its wake. "

 "B-but how?" Tadashi asked, more gently this time. "How do the rocks keep spreading… I mean, they're rocks... is it the radiation coming off them, this 'magic' or... wh-"

 "Tadashi, can we please just drop this!" Varian hissed as he blinked back tears. "What does it matter!? The rocks can't get here. It's a whole other world, alright, and there's no magic to be had in this one. I.. I just fainted, alright. I must have gotten a bad migraine from the blaring music at the dance hall or something. It was just a coincidence and there's no reason to keep bringing it up!"

 Now it was Tadashi's turn to roll his eyes as he grew exasperated with Varian's constant excuses to avoid the subject. "If you had just 'fainted' like you said, then you need to go to a doctor, because people don't just 'faint'. There's a reason for it. So either you need medical attention or there's something to this magic business after all. Either way, a check up wouldn't hurt you."

 "Baymax already looked me over. I'm fine, and this conversation is done."

 Varian turned and started to storm away again. Tadashi glared after him as he left and pulled out the cloaking sheet from his back pocket.

 Varian hadn't made it ten paces before Tadashi suddenly reappeared in front of him, as if by magic himself, and Varian fell back with a surprised yell.

 "Don't do that!"

 Tadashi ignored him as he finished pulling the sheet off his head. "What are you afraid of Varian?"

 "I don't know!? Maybe my big brother, jumping out of thin air and giving me a heart attack!"

 "That's not what I mean, and you know it! Why are you afraid to talk about the rocks? What are you afraid of us finding out about you? I know it's painful to think about your past, but its been months now and none of us know the full story!"

 "Why do you need to know anything? What does my past have to do with Cruz calling? I'm here now and I finally have my life together again. Why isn't that enough, Tadashi!?"

 "I don't know!? If all this really was enough, then why do you need to keep fooling with the portal?"

 "You know why..." Varian's voice dropped to a dark whisper.

 Tadashi frowned. "Look... I want your Dad to be safe too... alright? But if you're going to keep messing with magic then we need to know what we're dealing with."

 "For the last time, the portal isn't magic."

 "Oh, isn't it?" Tadashi stepped forward, arms crossed. "What powers it up then?"

 Varian titled his head to the heavens. "Electricity. Same as everything else in this very, non-magical city."

 "What about that focusing device you need?"

 Varian stiffened. "Wh-what about it?"

 "Hiro said it was a yellow rock, from your home. Is it related to these rocks?" Tadashi smugly thought that he was winning the debate. After all, if Varian was experimenting with these radioactive crystals in order to return to his homeland, then surely they needed to know more about these experiments.

 Varian however didn't agree. Suddenly he snarled and lunged at Tadashi. And before he knew what was happening, the smaller teenager had grabbed him by the shirt collar and lifted him off the ground.

 "Woah!" Tadashi's eyes went wide. "Talk about your adrenaline rush."

 Varian didn't appreciate his attempt at humor. "Stay away from the amber. Stay away from the rocks, and stay away from Canardist. Do you hear me?"

 "I told you, you don't get to order me about."

 Varian gave him a firm shake, before finally letting him go in a huff, almost flinging him to the ground. Tadashi had to react quickly to keep from falling as he righted himself.

 "You're a fool." Varian spat. "Stop messing with things you don't understand."

 "I would understand them, if you'd just talk to me, you hypocrite!" Tadashi indignantly shouted as he straightened out his shirt collar.

 Varian screwed up his face and looked for a moment like he would retort, but instead gave a wordless cry of frustration before turning to leave yet again.

 This time Tadashi let him go, before shaking his own head in annoyance and stormed off in the opposite direction.

 "What was that about?" Carol asked as Varian rejoined them on the stage.

 "Nothing... my brother is just an idiot." Varian dismissed as he grabbed his guitar. "You got the sound system set up and ready to go Mole?"

 "Sure do buddy." The short twelve year old said with a thumbs up. "With your band and my DJ-ing skills this party is going to be off the hook!"

 "All right, first sound check in 3.. 2.. 1..."

                                               ----------------------

 "Alright, the tea is ready." Aunt Cass called out as she re-entered the cafe carrying a tray with a tea pot and china cups. "And I brought out the good china-"

 She stopped abruptly when she saw her guests. They were all sitting on the floor!

 "Haha... Old Corona tradition..." The young gentlemen called Eugene explained with a tight smile. "We always take our tea sitting on the ground."  

 "Oh… Oh like in Japan?" Aunt Cass recovered, "Oh, well I have some seating cushions and floor pillows up stairs if you want me to go get them."

 "Oh no, don't trouble yourself on our account, we're quite comfortable, aren't we?"

 The other Coronians nodded enthusiastically and so, Aunt Cass found herself sitting on her knees as she placed the tray between them. Fortunately the little stand was still large enough to hold all of the cups. She poured out the tea for each of them and then filled her own glass. "So... Umm... I hope you had a nice trip over here." She said as she picked up her cup and leaned back on her haunches.

 "It was a breeze." Eugene lightly dismissed.

 "Yeah, and hardly took any time at all." His step brother said. "It was over in the blink of an eye."

 "Well, I'm glad your flight went smoothly." Aunt Cass politely commented. She was having difficulty navigating the conversation. She was too afraid to dive straight in with the questions that she really wanted to ask, and it was also clear that her guests were equally nervous at meeting her.

 She decided to make with some small talk. "Does Corona have a nice airport?"

 This must have been the wrong thing to ask however as the trio all exchanged bewildered looks.

 "Umm... does Corona have airplanes?" She asked, "I just assumed... though I guess you could have come here by boat. I'm sorry that was rude of me."

 The young man with the goatee gave her a wide, tight smile, "No... no, it's not rude at all... Ummm, it's true, Corona has limited flying transport..."

 "Though the Saporians have hot air balloons!" Lance eagerly butted in.

 Aunt Cass stiffened. She recognized that name. They were the rebels that Varian had joined. Her foster child hadn't told her much, but she knew that they were fighting for their independence from what they believed to be oppressive Coronian rule.

 What did these people know? Probably more than her, that was for sure. Whose side were they on? Indeed, if they were on anyone's side? Surely they were here to escape, just as Varian had... Also, who used hot air balloons in combat?

 Aunt Cass was too taken aback by the casual mention of what she believed was an ongoing war to notice the disapproving glare that Eugene gave his brother. She was also too caught up in her own worry and paranoia to notice that none of the Coronaians had even tried their tea.

 "Th-that interesting. Soooo, where are you staying while you're here in San Fransokyo?"

 "Oh, uh... we won't staying for very long." The woman with the cute Rapunzel costume replied.

 "Yes, unfortunately we are a bit on a time crunch..." Eugene explained. "In fact we really should get going if we want to see Varian again before our... uh... 'flight' back..."

 Aunt Cass blinked in surprise. "Go back? You're going back there?"

 The tone of her voice caused everyone present to look at her in confusion and suddenly Aunt Cass felt very foolish. Who was she to judge their home like that? She had next to zero knowledge about the conflict. Maybe things had calmed down...

 "I mean... so soon? You just got here... Why... yo-you haven't even tried your tea yet."

 Once again she noticed her guests giving each other awkward stares. She frowned. Had she forgotten something again? She looked down at the tea set as she took a nervous sip from her own cup. That's when she noticed what was missing.

 "Oh, the sugar! I'll be right back."

                                               ----------------------

 Rapunzel watched the kind woman stand up and rush over to a counter where sugar, and what looked to be other spices, were placed next to a stack of more cups and wooden stirs.

 "Whatta we do now?" Lance whispered to her. "We can't drink anything like this."

 "I still say we should make a break for it." Eugene said through gritted teeth as he watched the woman with a plastered smile, in case she turned around and saw them conspiring together.

 Rapunzel took a deep breath. This wasn't going to work, unless they could touch something; anything. Maybe if she concentrated really, really hard...

 She tried to envision in her mind the way a teacup should feel in her hand as she reached out and tried to grasp the handle. She imagined she could feel the cool, hard porcelain between her fingers, and could swear that she almost felt it's smooth texture pressed against her fingertips. She dared not look down, for fear that wouldn't be the truth, as she lifted up her hand.

 The baker turned around just in time to see Rapunzel lift the cup up, she saw nothing unusual in it. However Rapunzel couldn't have been more delighted as her companions looked on with awe and admiration.

 "I did it! Haha!" She crowed.

 "Did what?" The woman innocently asked as she sat next to Rapunzel and placed the sugar on the table.

 Rapunzel momentarily lost her concentration with that question and the cup slipped through her fingers once more as if she'd been made of air. The china teacup shattered on the ground.

 "Oh! Oh, I'm so sorry." Rapunzel moaned.

 "Oh, no, it's okay. It's okay." The woman gently cooed as she grabbed a towel to clean up the mess. "There's plenty more where those came from."

 She smiled as she picked up the broken pieces and placed them in the towel. "What kind of cafe owner would I be if I didn't have more cups?"

 She stood up. "I'm going to throw these away and I'll be right back with a new one for you."

 Rapunzel pouted as she watched the kind woman hurry away into the kitchen once more.

 "Well that was an abject failure." Lance commented. "Maybe we should cut our losses and just run for it."

 Rapunzel hung her head in her hands as embarrassment washed over her.

 "Hey, don't worry about it sunshine." Eugene said as he rested a comforting hand upon her shoulder. "When she comes back out again, we'll just simply ask her where this school is located and then politely excuse ourselves."

                                               ----------------------

 "Can you believe that guy?" Tadashi complained as he joined Gogo at the concession stand. "Here I am, trying to help, and he practically throws me across the yard."

 Gogo gave him a frown, but said nothing.

 "Oh. You think I'm overreacting?"

 "No." she sadly shook her head, and sighed. "Varian has a bit of... an anger management issue that he's working on."

 "So you agree with me then? He's the one who's blowing this out of proportion." He reached out for a cupcake and Gogo lightly smacked his hand away.

 "No."

 Now Tadashi was just confused. "'No', as in 'you can't have sweets right now', or 'no' as in 'I don't agree with you'?"

 "I don't agree with you." She plainly said as moved the plate of cupcakes out of reach. "Also, don't eat our profits."

 "Who's side are you on?"

 "I'm not on anybody's side. You're both wrong."

 "How am I wrong?"

 His girlfriend gave him another pout. "Do you like talking about the car wreck?" she gently whispered.

 Tadashi stiffened. "Th-that's different."

 Gogo crossed her arms and raised her eyebrow at him.

 Tadashi relented with a sigh. "Ok, fine... maybe I should have been a little more tactful, b-but.. I really believe that this itsimportant an-"

 "And you're the only one who's obsessing over this." Gogo interrupted.

 Now it was Tadashi's turn to pout. Gogo gently cupped his cheek. "Babe, I know that this past month has been.. stressful.. to say the least... But ever since we rescued you from the fire you've been... sort of... well... sort of..."

 "Roguishly handsome, and devil-may-care?"

 Gogo rolled her eyes at the joke. "Been acting kind of crazy."

 "Ooof.. ouch, again." He over dramatically placed his hand over his heart.

 "Okay, yeah, saying it out loud, that did sound harsh, b-but you know what I mean right? It's like... it's like you're trying too hard to fit back in, and you don't have to. We're just happy that you're here."

 Tadashi sighed. "I... I know I may have gone a little overboard on a few things lately, but this isn't about trying to fit back in... not anymore. I'm genuinely worried something might be wrong, now. You weren't there, you didn't see it, but I'm certain that whatever that stone was in Madam Canardist's shop it's connected to Varian, and his home world."

 Gogo tilted her head and genuinely considered this possibility. "Well... even if that's true... which it might very well be, we don't know... then what makes you think trying to pressure him for information is going to help?"

 "And what do you suggest we do? He's not willing to talk about it, and yet he's still fooling with that portal. What if something dangerous comes through?"

 "Like what?" Gogo seriously asked.

 "I don't know." Tadashi shrugged. "It's another world. It doesn't even follow our rules on physics. There could be anything on the other side that we're not prepared for that Varian isn't considering because he thinks it's 'normal.' Like for all we know, Cthulhu could be considered a pet over there."

 Gogo snorted with laughter.

 "Alright, that maybe a bit of stretch, but you see where I'm coming from now? I just don't want anyone getting hurt."

 Gogo gave him a loving smile and rested her head against his shoulder. "I know what you mean... and I think we're all nervous about Varian's experiments. But all we can do is be there for him. If something comes through that portal, we'll handle it."

 "Because you're superheroes?" Tadashi quipped.

 "No... cause we 're all too stubborn to give up on those we love." She gave him a peck on the cheek. "Now go finish getting ready. The first guests will be arriving soon."

 Tadashi gave in and pulled out his ghost costume. "Fine.. but don't say I didn't warn you. For all we know some bugged eyed, hairy monster could already be roaming the streets of San Fansokyo as we speak, intent on stalking us down, and feeding off our flesh."

 Gogo rolled her eyes again, but this time she smiled at the joke. "Sometimes you're just as bad as Fred, you know that!?" She called after him, and they both had a good snicker before he disappeared under his cloak.

                                               ----------------------

 It wasn't a bugged-eyed creature however, that currently sat inside the Lucky Cat. Though he had come from another world, and he was hunting down a certain alchemist...

 Eugene frowned at his reflection that swam inside the tea cup. How he managed to cast a reflection, despite not physically being in this world, he couldn't say. All he knew was that magic was weird, and very,  very annoying.

 They were running out of time and yet if they didn't play nice at this tea party then... well, Eugene had trouble thinking of a consequence. If nothing could touch them then it wasn't like anything could hurt them either, but Eugene hated to give the nice lady before them a fright by walking through the walls to escape or something.

 This 'Aunt Cass' was genuinely trying to welcome them, and treat them as extended family, even if she didn't have any real clue who they were and was not actually related to them at all.

 It was an awkward situation to say the least, and Eugene began to wonder if this was what real family reunions were like. He had heard people complain about such boring get togethers before, but he had always assumed they were exaggerating, until now.

 "So, umm... 'Aunt Cass, (Shall we call you Aunt Cass?) you have a very lovely home here" He told the lady as she finished pouring Rapunzel another glass of tea. "Is that a genuine cashmere curtain?"

 "Umm, I think it's miro fiber?" Aunt Cass gently laughed. "Honestly, I don't know. Those curtains were a house warming gift from my sister and brother-in-law, when I first opened the cafe, and you can call me whatever you'd like. Cass, Aunt Cass... Cassidy... It doesn't matter."

 "Does your sister live nearby?" Lance innocently asked. "What do we call her?"

 Aunt Cass gave a sad smile. "I'm afraid that my sister and her husband are... no longer with us. It's just been myself and my two nephews for years now... until Varian that is. Oh, would you like to see the family portrait? I just got it taken a few weeks ago!"

 "Oh, yes please! I love paintings." Rapunzel answered.

 "Well, it's not necessarily a painting, but I'll show it to you." She got up and walked over to the stairs and pulled a picture off the wall. "He we go." She walked back and flipped the fame around to show them.

 It was a group portrait alright. In the middle stood Aunt Cass and Varian. She was holding a calico cat, while the goggle wearing teen held Ruddiger in his own arms. Beside them were two other teenage boys with dark hair and brown eyes. They looked far more related to each other than the rest of the occupants in the photo, but it was clear from everyone’s smiling faces that they were all a family.

 Aunt Cass pointed to each person in the picture, "This is Tadashi, my eldest, and Hiro here is the youngest, and that is our pet Mochi that I'm holding. There's also Baymax, but he's the one who took the picture."

 "Oh my..." Rapunzel beamed. "and he did such a good job. It looks almost real! Baymax must be very talented."

 Aunt Cass seemed bemused by this comment. "Yeah, I suppose he is. Not many robot nurses moonlight as photographers, I guess." She laughed and went to hang the picture back up.

 "Robots?" Lance asked.

 "Oh, sorry, yeah Baymax isn't human, he's a robot." This elected questioning stares from everyone.

 "I'm sorry, were not familiar with that word..." Eugene suggested.

 "Oh.. oh, sorry, I don't know what you would call them in Corona. But... you know. A robot is a mechanical being… a machine that looks kind of like a person and can walk around but is all metal instead..."

 "Oh you mean an automaton!" Lance said.

 "Yeah, that's it! That's the word Varian sometimes uses."

 "Oh man, is the kid building more of those?" Eugene asked.

 "Well, actually, Tadashi is the one who built Baymax." Cass explained as she took her seat again. "The 'automaton' is suppose to be a nurse... you know, to help people."

 Eugene could barely comprehend what he was hearing. "Wait, wait… You're telling me that you live with two teenage mad scientists?"

 "Three, actually." She proudly smiled. "They all go to SFIT. That's the San Fransokyo Institute of Technology. All of my boys have managed to get scholarships there. Tadashi and Hiro are both majoring in robotics. Tadashi specializes in programing software, while Hiro is more of an engineer. Meanwhile Varian is going for physics."

 Eugene's mouth nearly hit the floor. He was sure that the boys admittance into a university was a notable accomplishment, but what really impressed him was the idea that this petite woman, who was all smiles, somehow lived with and raised such children while doing it.

 Her home must have been swarming with weird inventions, ready to go boom at any second! And if her biological nephews were anything like Varian, she must have had her hands full with their antics.

 "You are the bravest woman I have ever met." Eugene said with all seriousness.

 The woman only laughed at the compliment. "Oh, it's nothing really. So long as you don't mind the occasional appliance exploding."

 "What has the google head blown up this time?" Eugene slyly smiled.

 Aunt Cass's smile grew wider as she realized that these people genuinely were Varian's family. Who else would know about her foster son's chaotic nature?

 "Well, there was that issue with the oven, a couple of weeks ago, but fortunately it was only a small fire." She waved away the incident. "Oh, but you should hear how well Varian is doing in school. You'll be so proud. Professor Granville, that's the dean of the college, she submitted Varian's work to be peered reviewed by a science journal. She says he may be up for a Noble Prize! Isn't that exciting?"

 Eugene didn't recognize half the words that the woman used, but he could tell from her enthusiasm that this was some sort of big deal.

 "Oh, a, uh, a prize? For being the smartest guy around? Yeah... of course we're proud of him. Aren't we, gang?"

 Rapunzel didn't comment. She had remained unusually silent for most of the exchange. Lance however was in his usual good humor.

 "Sure we're proud, but it's not like it's a surprise or anything. Few can match the kid when it comes to alchemy."

 "Alchemy?" The woman echoed.

 "Uh, yeah, that's Varian's favorite science." Eugene explained.

 "Oh, you mean chemistry! Yeah, he loves it. I'm honestly surprised that he didn't major in it, but he's determined to get his portal invention working, and you know Varian, once he gets an idea in his head it's hard to get him to focus on anything else."

 "Yeah… do we know it." Eugene said through a plastered smile.

 "He'll be so excited to see you, I'm sure." Aunt Cass continued. "I don't know what time your flight is, but if you're willing to wait a few hours... Well no, the boys won't be back till late tonight... Umm perhaps we can meet tomorrow? Have lunch together?"

 "That sounds wonderful, Miss Cassidy, but I'm afraid we don't have that kind of time." Eugene saw his opening. "You said that there was this party tonight, at the university, maybe we can just meet Varian there?"

 The smile faded momentarily from the woman's lips and Eugene could sense her hesitation.

 "We just want to catch up with him. Talk about old times." Eugene insisted. "Seeing as how we'll be gone by the 'morrow."

 "Alright then," She said with a sigh and stood up. "Let me call ahead and tell him that you're coming."

 Eugene, Lance, and Rapunzel all hastily stood up as well.

 "Oh, there's no need. We'd kind of like to surprise him." Eugene hurriedly explained as the woman pulled out a small, thin, box. She pressed the screen on the box a couple of times and the box started to ring.

 Everyone was too confused to ask what she was doing. Soon however, Varian's voice, of all things, sounded out from the box.

 Both Lance and Rapunzel hid themselves behind Eugene, while Lance made a protective cross with his fingers to ward off the bad voodoo.

 "Hi, this is Varian. I'm too busy to pick up the phone right now, but just leave your name and message, and I'll see if I can't get back with you as soon as I can. Bye."

 "What was that?" Eugene asked.

 Aunt Cass huffed. "That was his answering machine. The party must have already started. He and his band are performing tonight."

 "Performing?" Rapunzel asked.

 "Yeah, he and some of his friends started a garage band. They're playing tonight at the party."

 "Friends?" Lance echoed. "You mean more of those robots?"

 Aunt Cass laughed in spite of herself. "Oh no, they're human." Then she paused. "... well most of them, anyways."

 After a moment she turned back to the box in her hand. "How about I text Tadashi instead and explain to him what's going on? He's the one in charge of the event. He can help you when you get there."

 "No, really, that's not necessary." Eugene insisted. "After all, your nephew won't know who we are. Maybe it'd be best to save the introductions until we actually get there?"

 Aunt Cass pouted and there was an uncomfortable silence as she hugged her phone. She looked like she wanted to protest, but she couldn't come up with a good enough excuse to fall back on.

 "You're ... just going there to talk to him, right?" She finally asked, her voice barely a whisper.

 Eugene was taken aback. The once smiling woman seemed.. well, afraid. Of them, no less! And this was the woman who'd been living with Varian, of all people, for several months now.

 Eugene spared a quick glance at his friends, to see if they had any ways to deal with the situation, but they didn't. "Ummm, of course... wh-what else would we do?"

 This didn't calm the woman down. "What about?" She hurriedly asked, before excusing herself. "I'm sorry, I don't mean to pry... but Varian... Well he... He's doing so well, and he's been through so much, which I'm sure you already know all that, or maybe you don't, not to the full extent, b-but he's still... He's getting better, we've made a lot of progress, but.. uh... I j-just don't want him to get upset. Do you understand? Not that he'd be unhappy to see you, I'm sure, it's just.. well... certain things can.. set him off..."

 "And make him a teensy bit.. erratic?" Eugene finished for her.

 "Well... I wouldn't say 'erratic' necessarily." Aunt Cass excused. "M-maybe, a little impulsive aaaandd..

 "Angry?" Rapunzel timidly suggested from behind Eugene.

 "Temperamental." Aunt Cass corrected.

 "And violent?" Lance added.

 "Nooo, no," She shook her head. "Varian would hurt anyone."

 The Coronians stood there quietly frowning at her, and all four of them knew that this wasn't quite the full truth.

 "What has Varian told you about Corona?" Eugene softly asked.

 She visibly stiffened at the question. "N-not much... I know about the war, and how he fought in it. He doesn't want to talk about it, obviously, so I don't know anything in great detail. Just that his home was destroyed, and he fell in with these Saporians."

 "Oh don't worry. The war ended months ago." Lance cheerily offered up. "All the Saporians are in jail now."

 This news, however, didn't have the calming effect that Lance had hoped for. Instead the woman's eyes went wide with horror.

 "Lance, I don't think she finds that fact very comforting," Eugene said between clenched teeth."seeing as how the kid that lives with her was a part of that rebellion."

 "Oh.. right." Lance nodded.

 "Y-you said that the war is over?" Cass asked, hopefully. "That's why you're going back? Is it safe now? Then why did you come here to begin with?"

 "We need to talk to Varian." Rapunzel explained, her voice barely above a whisper. "We need him to translate this scroll."

 She unrolled the parchment, so that Cass could get a better look at it.

 "What is it?" She asked.

 "It's a family heirloom." Eugene stepped in. "It's been passed down through generations. We've been collecting the pieces from our Aunts, Uncles, and Fathers, trying to figure it all out. It explains an important part of our family history, but it's written in a code that nobody can read. Varian's the only person who's been able to translate some of it.. before... well, before..."

 "Before his father was injured." Aunt Cass finished.

 Eugene hung his head, unable to meet the woman's gaze.

 "How is is his father?" She asked. "Varian's been talking non-stop about bringing his dad over here  to live with us, which would be wonderful, but I just don't... fully know the extent of his... condition."

 No one wanted to answer her.

 "Has he recovered yet? Can Varian call him?" She hopefully pressed.

 "Oh... there's no recovering from where he's at." Lance sadly broke the news.

 Aunt Cass cupped her hand over her mouth and blinked back tears. "Oh my poor baby." She sobbed, and then suddenly remembered who she was speaking to. "Oh and I'm so, so sorry. He was your uncle. You must have been devastated."

 "Yeah.. th-the news came as a shock to all of us, when we found out about the accident." Eugene truthfully admitted. "In fact my father only found out today and he was very upset. You could tell."

 The kind woman gave a sympathetic sob. "And you came all this way over here just to tell Varian in person.. so he wouldn't be alone. I'm sorry, I didn't mean to pry, I just... I was worried..." She awkwardly laughed. "Well I was afraid that you were going to try and take him back to Corona tonight. That was silly of me. Let me grab my coat and I'll just drive us down there. I won't be a moment."

 "Oh, well, that's kind of you.. b-but we kind of wanted to speak with him in private." Eugene panicked.

 "Yeah, and what about your business?" Lance added. "Isn't this like a busy night, what with all the trick or treaters."

 "Oh who cares, about the cafe?" Cass said as she slipped on her jacket. "My child needs me. Varian is going to be heartbroken, when you tell him the news."

 "But he already knows." Rapunzel said, flatly. All the usual warmth in her voice had dissipated as she sought to correct the woman. How dare Varian take advantage of this woman's kindness and generosity. "He was there when the accident happened."

 Eugene gave his girlfriend a disappointed frown, but she wouldn't be deterred.

 "I don't know what Varian has told you, about Corona or his dad, but it's probably not the full truth."

 "Sunshine...please?" Eugene patted her shoulder. "What my lovely future bride-to-be means... is that... Varian has never fully accepted the reality regarding Quirin's... predicament. He's not in a good headspace, and possibly hasn't been for a long time, and he's… uh… made some poor choices since then."

 "Such as?" Now it was, Aunt's Cass's voice who turned cold.

 "Such as joining a terrorist group and trying to over throw the government. He told you that part himself." Eugene thought that was an obvious answer, but their host seemed to disagree.

 "He's just a boy! A poor traumatized little boy. Lost and alone, and... those people took advantage of him!

 "Aunt Cass... I'm not saying that you're wrong... I'm just saying that the situation is more complicated than th-"

 "And what about that king? Is he still in charge? Huh?" Aunt Cass pressed. "That leader from your country that persecuted and imprisoned him to begin with? Why, of all the barbaric things..."

 "He's not barbaric!" Rapunzel suddenly snapped. Eugene held her back and gave her another warning glare.

 "Look, we're getting off track here. We just want Varian to help translate the scroll; we're not here to dig up old grudges, or play the blame game." Eugene huffed. This momentarily calmed down Rapunzel, but Aunt Cass was having none of it.

 She stepped closer to him, though she was too short to reach his eye level she stood on tip toe and gave him the fiercest glare he had ever seen."What are you really here for?"

 "No-nothing, we just need Varian-"

 "You are not taking Varian away."

 She then sharply turned around and ran back upstairs.

 Eugene was shocked. "We... we' aren't trying to take him away... we just..."

 Before he could finish Aunt Cass came bounding down the stairs. In her hand she held a large stack of papers. She stopped in front of them and then held the papers up so that they could see them. As if the documents were a shield to protect her.

 Eugene's eyes quickly glanced over them. "Adoption papers." He breathed.

 "You're adopting Varian!?" Lance squealed with joy. "Oh that's wonderful! I just adopted my own two little girls and let me tell you it's the best decision I've ever made in my life! Oh I'm so happy for you. Give us a hug , Auntie!"

 Eugene stretched his arm out to prevent Lance from rushing up to the now clearly bewildered woman.

 Eugene stepped forward. "Listen, Aunt Cass... Cassidy.. ummm, I understand your concern, and while I can't promise that Varian won't get upset by our... uh news... I promise you we aren't here to hurt him, or take him away. We just need him to translate the scroll. It's of vital importance."

 "Important? Why?" Aunt Cass demanded. "What is it for? Is it even an heirloom? Are you even his family?"

 "Everything we told you is the truth." Rapunzel insisted. "Corona is in danger and this might be the only was to stop the roc-"

 "Y-you... you just want to drag him back into that mess he just escaped from." Aunt Cass interrupted. She was shaking with anger and fear now, and all of her previous friendliness was gone. "Well, I won't let you! He's my child, and I got the papers to prove it. True... it'll be a few months until they're finalized and I still haven't asked Varian to sign them yet... but... But I'll... I'll take you to court if I have to. You're not taking him back there to that awful, horrible country!"

 No one knew what to say to that.

 Eugene had always heard that mothers protecting their children were more dangerous than the most seasoned warrior. He had never believed it till now. The short woman was bravely blinking back tears, daring him to defy her.

 “Ma'am... no one here is trying to take Varian anywhere. We physically can't. We're just going to ask him about the scroll and be on our way. And, who knows if he'll even bother to help us, but I would, never, ever, try to deny an orphan a loving home."

 Aunt Cass pouted up at him. She looked like she would cry. She felt foolish now, but she couldn't fully displace her fear.

 Suddenly a 'ding' sound filled the air as the bell above the door rang. Everyone turned to see a large group of people at the door.

 "Trick or Treat!" One little toddler, dressed as a mummy, called out.

 "Well, it looks like you have a lot a customers, and we'll just take our leave and get out of your hair." Eugene said, taking advantage of the opportunity. He motioned behind his back to single Rapunzel and Lance to escape through the crowd at they filed in. He started to back away himself as Aunt Cass started to protest.

 "I'm so glad you're open tonight! We got a bus load of kids." One of the customers called out, and Aunt Cass didn't know where to turn, or what to give her attention too as Eugene backed away.

 "Hold the door open for me my good man!?" Eugene requested the customer who helpfully held the door as the last of the children and adults filed in. However, before he took his leave, Eugene paused long enough to tell his hostess farewell. "Goodbye, and thank you, for taking care of Varian. I mean it. The world would be a lot nicer a place if there were more people like you in it."

 And with that sincere statement he ducked under the customer's arm and ran outside.                                              

                                               ----------------------

 "Can you believe that!?" Rapunzel fumed as Eugene rejoined them outside, "She called my father barbaric! As if they don't arrest and jail people here too. And.. and how would she know what Corona is like? She's never been."

 "Well, it's not like Varian would have given the place a glowing review." Lance pointed out.

 "Listen, listen..." Eugene interjected, "We need to get to this university before Aunt Cass does, and she probably has one of those horseless carriage things. Not to mention we still don't know where this place is, so we gotta hustle people. Come on."

 Eugene was about to walk off, with Lance close on his heels, when Rapunzel noticed the flier. "Wait! I found it! Look!"

 The poster was stuck to a street lamp and the image of a green skinned monster with large black eyes and a bulbous head was painted on it.

 "'Fight Night' Sic-fi Bash at the SFIT campus this Halloween night. Thrills, chills, and more. Concessions, live music, and an Alien Spaceship to explore." Eugene read out loud, confused.

 "Man, sounds like a party!" Lance cheered.

 "Oh and here's the address, with directions even!" Rapunzel pulled out her sketch book from her purse and wrote the street name down. "Got it! Let's go!"

 She pocketed the journal again and started to march off, followed by Lance, but it was Eugene's turn to stay behind. He frowned at the advertisement before stealing another look at the cafe.

 Aunt Cass was  still busy with the crowd of customers and she wouldn't be able to leave until she got rid of them. They might still have time yet to track Varian down before the woman warned him.

 The thought didn't give Eugene any pleasure. Especially when the kind woman caught him staring and made eye contact with him again. She was no longer angry, just sad, and Eugene felt his stomach turn with guilt.

 "Hey Rapunzel?" He called out to his girlfriend. She paused and waited on him to catch up. "We're just going to ask Varian about the scroll... right? I mean... I know he's the most wanted criminal in the land and all that but... umm... it's not like we have any physical way to bring him back with us, and well, he seems to be doing good here.. and,.." He stopped rambling and gave a sigh.  "I just, I think we need to rethink our plan here."

 Rapunzel looked at him confused. "All I care about is getting the scroll translated, and saving our home and Cassandra." She said. She sounded almost hurt by Eugene's question. "If Varian wants to stay here and not bother anybody, then that's fine by me."

 "But what if he refuses to help?" Lance asked.

 "He can't." Rapunzel said flatly, as if her simplifying saying so out loud would will it into reality. And with this resolution she marched away.

 Lance shared a questioning look with Eugene, shrugged, and then followed after her.

 Eugene however couldn't help snag one last glance at the cafe before hurrying after.

                                               ----------------------

 Edmund violently snorted as he jolted awake.

 "Who goes there!?" He hollered as he brandished his axe with his one good hand.

 "No one! You just fell asleep!" Angry snapped back.

 "Oh..." Edmunds eyes went wide with embarrassment and sheepishly tucked the axe back into its sheath.

 'I can't blame him for getting tired." Catalina yawned. "This is worse than watching paint dry."

 She gestured to the princess and the others who were seated next to her. They hadn't moved in hours and the eerie white light still shown from their unblinking eyes. The only thing that had changed was that the green flamed candle in the center was halfway melted down.

 Angry poked Xavier in the arm to nudge him awake as well. The aging blacksmith blinked his eyes rapidly, and quickly sat back up. Pascal fell off his shoulder from the sudden movement.

 "How much longer is this going to go on?" Angry whined to him.

 Xavier rubbed his eyes and took another look at the candle. "They only have a few hours left. Hopefully they were successful in their quest and are speaking with Varian now. I imagine it will take some time to translate the scroll."

 "Who is this Varian guy anyway?" Catalina asked. "I mean, I get that he's Eugene's cousin, but what makes him so special that he's the only person able to translate the scroll?"

 Xavier sadly smiled. "Varian is a most accomplished inventor and scientist. Not to mention a very talented and skilled blacksmith in his own right. Unfortunately, he does not agree with the king's rule and so fell in with Separatists of Saporia before fleeing the kingdom. There's is no telling if he'll even be willing to help us, but we must try."

 Edmund tilted his head. "Surely he must. It's not just Corona at stake but the whole world."

 Xavier only shrugged his shoulders. "Who's to say? Varian can be a very difficult young man to predict."

 Edmund frowned at this description. It didn't sound anything like what he expected Quirin's son to be like. His brother was a fiercely loyal soldier who placed the safety of the community, and his loved ones, above all, but one didn't have to take after one's parents, he supposed.

 "Well if he does refuse to help, can they bring him here?" Catalina asked. "Let him see for himself what's going on?"

 "Oh, I assure you Catalina, no one understands how dangerous the rocks are better than Varian." Xavier informed her. "However, as for bringing him here... I'm afraid I don't know. I would have to research the matter."

 He stood up and walked over to a stone bookcase built into the wall and started to search through his collection of spellbooks.

 Suddenly, screams could be heard outside in the distance and Feldspar, the cobbler, ran inside the shop.

 "The rocks! They're back!" He yelled in a panic. He then saw the princess and her friends sitting in the magical circle like zombies. He let out a little squeal of fright at the sight.

 Angry rolled her eyes. "Feldspar, calm down."

 "Yeah, what do you mean the rocks are back?" Catalina asked.

 Feldspar twisted the strings of his apron as he nervously fidgeted. "Oh me! Oh My! The black rocks are tearing up the kingdom again! They're heading right this way! We need the princess!"

 Everyone shared worried looks before Edmund stepped forward and brandished his axe once more. Poor Feldspar stood there shaking in his boots as the former dark king towered over him.

 "Show me." Edmund softly ordered.

 Feldspar's knees knocked together. "Th-this way." He pointed back the way he had ran from. "They're this way. Oh do hurry. Please. Oh woe is me, my poor shoe shine stand was demolished!"

 Edmund and Xavier followed the lanky shoemaker outside, where the townspeople were already fleeing from the black spikes that appeared in the distance.

 "Girls, stay here." Edmund ordered and started to march forward.

 "B-but what are you going to do?" Catalina asked.

 "Yeah! You can't fight rocks!" Angry shouted.

 Xavier turned to them with a serious frown. "Guard the princess until we get back." His voice was gentle as always, but there was an worried edge to it that he couldn't fully hide. He handed them Pascal, who empathetically squeaked at them, before hurrying after Edmund with a spellbook in his hand.

[tangledbea]

Do you ever come up with little backstories for the town extras? I've seen stuff like that kid Seth being the stepson of one of the guards, that thug from Not in the Mood being the father of that flag boy and the little girls with the braids, and even all the kids of Corona running the local newspaper. Oh and there was another one where the fiddler in Queen for a Day is crushing on the barber and is trying to serenade him.

Haha, those are all wonderful! I've never really come up with headcanons or backstories for the extras, just names here and there (often for a fic, but inconsistent).

Wait, no, yes, I have one. I headcanon that that one thug of Lady Caine's with the skull mask is Old Lady Crowley's grandson. (Because his name is Crowley, according to the character design he's based off of from the Bastion version of the story.)

[nerdasaurus1200]

We also named some of the kids in Corona as well

The four girls are (from left to right) Chrysanthemum, Petunia, Poppy, and Daisy Blume. Their parents own a flower ship in the city.

These two are Emily and Seth. Seth is Lemare’s stepson. He married Seth’s mom Sofia after the biological father walked out on her.

This boy is Jack. (Yes, he is named after Jack Kelly from Newsies)

The little boy in the top hat is Justin.

The girls here are Lydia (on the right) and Audrey (on the left).

The kids are all in the same class together, but the le Fleur girls help out their parents with the flower shop so they can’t always hang out. But when they are all together, they’re with Miss Cassandra in the stables playing with the horses. However, they have deep secret….

They’re the ones behind the kingdom’s newspaper, the Corona daily. They used to work in an old storage shed in town that doubled as their clubhouse, but the printing press that they had was VERY old and set the place on fire. Now they have a secret news room in the stables that only Cassandra and their parents know about. It's called the super secret news lair. They thought that Cassandra was none the wiser, but she caught them scaling the castle walls within the first week of them hiding there. But instead of ratting them out, she kept it a secret and now she helps them spell check their newspapers. And so do all the horses. And sometimes Owl will help the kids write too.

[its-queenofthesilence]

Weirdest idea for a Encanto fanfic that I want someone to write other than me

So this idea, to start happened from a dream. And after I woke up and thought it out I was like, wait, what if, what if?????

Idea, Mirabel is Bruno's daughter. Yes, yes, already been done and the movie isn't that been out that long. But here's where it gets weird. Her mother is Cassandra.

Wait, Cassandra the-bad-ass-moonstone-from-Tangled?

YES. THIS IS FUCKING LONG I JUST COULD NOT STOP THE IDEAS.

So, synopsis, I came up with after thinking how this could work. SOMEONE WRITE THIS, I AM TOO LAZY

Cassandra never partnered or trusted Zhan-Tiri and never repaired her relationship with Rapunzel. Instead, she wandered the world in search of destiny, and as time passed, her hatred of her adoptive sister diminished and she was left with regrets and shame. Rapunzel eventually grew old and died Queen of Corona, which would someday become part of Germany and lose its name. The story of Rapunzel faded, becoming a children's bedtime story rather than history. Cassandra however, never died. Perhaps it was the stone lodged in her, maybe it was some other reason but she remained the same.

Anyway, time passed and eventually she began to hear legend of a magic flower growing in the South Americas. Not sure where, but it the legend seems to be prevalent enough amongst people to make her believe maybe another sun drop had fallen and perhaps greed, curiosity or boredom, she begins to pursue leads on where the story originated from.

She spends a long time traveling through all of South America, usually with caravan's or anyone willing to give her a ride. Eventually, she finds Encanto and despite the hostile welcome from the locals being an outsider, stays for a bit when she learns there is magic in the town and specifically someone who can heal with food. She thinks perhaps she found the new flower but that is quickly dismissed due to learning how the gifts of the Madrigal's came to be and also, Juliette doesn't seem to be able to heal anything more than superficial wounds.

She’s ready to leave, when oh boy, she discovered Bruno. The man can see the future. And this has her interested. While other’s may fear his gift or his odd behaviors of needing to knock on wood or toss salt over his shoulder, she is enraptured. All that potential, hidden away in a man too afraid of his own shadow. She seeks counsel after counsel with him during her stay in Encanto, first for information on where to find the sunflower [Which she didn’t find out but did find out that she is on the right path to find it.] and then because she likes his company. Sure, the rats are weird but she knows what it’s like to be the outsider. I wouldn’t say she falls in love with him but damn did he fall for her quickly and they had some alone time if you know what I mean. He had never had someone treat him like a normal person, even his family seemed to distrust him. That’s why it hurt so much when she left.

After that, he resigned himself to never trust another person and turned from semi-hermit to near permanent-hermit, almost never leaving the house [before later turning into a full, hermit after Mirabel ’s failed ceremony.]

Time skips a bit later, or roughly nine months and Cassandra is at his door. Or rather, in his bedroom holding an infant, clearly tired and had also recently given birth. And just kind of shoves lil’ baby girl into his arms and disappears into the night, only telling him when he begs that she’s better off with him then her. A now confused and panicky Bruno is forced to approach his older sister and husband and basically, he’s not sure what the fuck to do. His mother is going to kill him [or he believes banished] when she finds out he had sex with that really weird blue-haired lady who came through town a year ago.

Juliette had recently given birth herself to a baby girl a mere day before, or rather what would have been her daughter. The child was stillborn and no matter how much she sobbed and tried to bring the child to life with her magic, nothing worked. She is depressed and dead inside so when Bruno presents this babe, she’s like, I’ll take her! In fact, she snatches her out of Bruno’s hands before he can say what? and pretty much tells him, Mirabel is hers now. He didn’t want that but there was nothing he could do; the only option was tell his family the truth and he feared his mother more than anything. So, he is resigned, never telling Mirabel the truth.

Abuela and the others assume she must have gone mad and stole some kid when she presents the child, saying the house had resurrect their baby. However, no one in town had given birth recently or reported a missing child and Abuela didn’t even consider for one second that Bruno was involved. So, it’s a real head scratcher but Abuela suspects that Mirabel isn’t actually related to them and after the lack of gift, keeps the little girl at arm’s length as she doesn’t view her part of the family. She does look a lot like the family though, she does have to admit but she considers that to be coincidence. Any attempts to pry the truth out of her daughter ended in an angry lashing of how dare you assume this isn’t my child and eventually she stopped trying to discuss it.

Eventually time passes and the events of Encanto happen, maybe the same, maybe different and Cassandra is still on her quest to find the sun drop. She’s travelled far but eventually she gets her answer from an Oracle. And she discovers two things. One, that baby girl holds the key to finding the flower and two, she [Cass] is being stalked by someone who also wants the flower and also knows Mirabel is the answer. Someone who happens to be a resurrected skeleton with flesh falling half off the corpse and that Cassandra knows well.

Her mother.

Well shit.

[roseworth]

'cause i know you won't

word count: 6.8k

description: “As much as I appreciate everything you’ve done for me and my family…" the King said. "We can’t have a criminal living in the castle. Even a reformed criminal.”

Eugene and Rapunzel are separated by circumstance, and they need to learn how to live their new lives without each other.

(title inspired by One More Weekend by Maude Latour)

AO3

“Mr… Fitzherbert,” King Frederic said, his face stoic. “My daughter has told me you played a substantial role in her return home.”

“Oh, well, she did most of the work,” Eugene responded, nervously fiddling with the hem of his shirt. “I, uh, I just wanted to keep her safe.”

The King hummed in approval, scanning his face. “She certainly cares a lot about you.”

“And I care about her, too.”

“I see,” he said simply, then cast his gaze away. “As much as I appreciate everything you’ve done for me and my family… we can’t have a criminal living in the castle. Even a reformed criminal.”

Eugene nodded. “I understand, Your Majesty.” He kept his eyes glued to the floor in front of him. He wasn’t sure he could trust his own face if he looked up at the King.

“However, I have pardoned all your previous crimes in Corona. As of now, you are a free man in the kingdom,” he said as he handed Eugene a small stack of papers. Records that he had been pardoned. “And as promised, you will receive a reward for the return of the Princess.”

He didn’t want a reward.

“Thank you, Sir.”

The King examined him for a moment, then sighed. “I understand that you and Rapunzel are… close. But there’s no room for you in her new life, and I hope you can both accept that.”

Eugene forced a smile. “Yes, I understand, Your Majesty. Trust me, this pardon is more than I could ever ask for.”

Frederic nodded curtly, then extended his hand for Eugene to shake. Eugene shook it quickly and stood up, praying his legs wouldn’t collapse under him. He quietly walked out of the room before the King could change his mind and throw him in a prison cell.

He was a free man for the first time in… he didn’t know how long. He was running from guards for as long as he could remember. It felt wrong to walk past them now without fear of being arrested.

What would he do now? He honestly didn’t think he was going to make it this far. He was half-expecting to be strung up as soon as Rapunzel was safe. Yet he had still let himself hope that he could stay with her. That was his mistake.

As he walked down the hall of the castle on his way out, he glanced over at the door leading to Rapunzel’s new room. Her mother had brought her there to show her around and spend more time with her as the King talked to Eugene. She was probably still in there if he wanted to say goodbye.

He stopped in his tracks and stared at the door for a long time. Should he say goodbye? He wasn’t sure when he would see her again, and he did care about her. He wanted to make sure she was okay.

But maybe it would be better if he didn’t. It would be easier for her to let him go if he just left. It was like the King said, there was no room for him in her new life. She had her parents now, and a whole kingdom. She didn’t need him to cause problems when she’s finally happy.

Then again, maybe it would be better for closure if he said goodbye. So she could see that she didn’t need him, and she could easily transition into life without him. But that was selfish, wasn’t it? He just wanted to see her one last time even though it would hurt worse to see her again knowing that he could never be with her.

In the end, anything he could say to her would make it worse. He wanted to see her, but it would be better in the long run if he would just leave now without causing problems. That was what she needed, right? A life without problems. A life without people that would care more about themselves than about her. A life without him.

He took a deep breath and turned around, walking away from her room and out of the castle.

*

With the reward he received for rescuing the Lost Princess, he was able to buy himself a place to live in the kingdom. It certainly felt weird; having his own house and his own bed was all new to him. This life of not-crime was going to take some getting used to.

He had started talking to himself to cover the silence pretty quickly. Silence didn’t sit right with him now that he wasn’t hiding from anyone.

“Alright, straight-and-narrow day one!” he said cheerily, clapping his hands together. “Step one: make amends.” He figured if he was going to be living among the people of Corona, he couldn’t have them thinking of him as Flynn Rider anymore. He wanted them to know him as Eugene, and that started with fixing the mistakes Flynn Rider made.

Besides, making amends would be easy! Or it would be the hardest thing he’s ever done, he still wasn’t sure. Could go either way.

He opened the door and walked into the street, taking a deep breath and looking around. He would have to take it one by one, finding a way to make amends individually with everyone he had stolen from. That might take a while.

He didn’t steal anything too big from citizens. Most of his heists were taking from royalty and the elite, but he would often steal money or other essentials from normal people. It was enough to disrupt their lives, and they deserved some kind of restitution for that.

His first stop on his apology tour was the local shoemaker. Eugene had stolen a crate of boots from him a few years back, so he figured that was a good place to start. It wasn’t big enough that it was unforgivable, but it still might be memorable.

When he walked into the shop, he saw a familiar-looking mousy man with red hair standing behind the counter. The man looked up at him as he entered. “How can I help you?”

“Hi, I don’t know if you recognize me but-”

“You’re Flynn Rider!” the man interrupted, his eyes widening.

Eugene laughed uncomfortably. “Yes, but I recently had my crimes pardoned and I’m trying to turn over a new leaf, starting with making amends for the things I’ve done wrong.”

The man eyed him suspiciously. “I heard you saved the Princess, is that right?”

“Well, kind of. I didn’t really do much to save her, just happened to climb a tower where the Princess happened to be,” he admitted. The cobbler chuckled.

“Well, Flynn, what can I do for you?”

“Actually, it’s more what I can do for you,” he said. “I stole some shoes from here a few years ago, and while I can’t un-steal them, I’d like to make it up to you somehow.”

The man paused in thought, looking Eugene up and down to try to distinguish whether or not he was lying. “Alright then, how much do you know about making shoes?”

Eugene grinned. “I’ve actually been repairing my own shoes for years!” he said proudly. He lifted his foot and pointed to his boot. “This shoe has fallen apart more times than I can count, but look at it now! Perfectly intact!”

The shoemaker inspected the shoe and hummed his approval. “Impressive cobblering!” he said. “How would you like to do some work to repay me for the shoes, Flynn?”

“That sounds perfect,” he replied with a grin. “And my real name is actually Eugene, not Flynn.”

He raised an eyebrow. “I get why you went by Flynn for so long,” he said with a shrug. “I’m Feldspar.”

“It’s nice to meet you, Feldspar,” he said. “And I’m sorry for stealing from you all those years ago.”

Feldspar waved a hand dismissively. “Well, Eugene , if you’ve really changed like you say you have, it’s glue under the sole,” he said. “That’s a cobbler phrase. It’s like ‘water under the bridge,’ but better, because it’s about shoes.”

Eugene laughed. “Got it.”

.

Over the next few days, Eugene learned more about shoes than he ever thought he would know. He learned that the things he had been calling “that thingy” and “that other thingy” for years actually had their own names (it was the “welt” and the “outsole,” Who knew?).

He had made more shoes than he had stolen, and he was honestly pretty proud of himself. He had done a job and not a “job.” Honest labor was a new concept to him, but it was very welcome.

“I think you’ve more than paid off your debts,” Feldspar said at the end of the day, polishing his equipment. “But if you ever wanted to work here permanently, I’d be more than happy to hire you.”

“Really?”

“Of course! You’ve got some real skill here.”

Eugene grinned proudly, looking at the shoes he made. “I would love to. I just need to finish making amends to everyone else first,” he said. “But if the offer still stands once I do that, that would be great.”

“You’re a good kid, Eugene,” Feldspar said, patting his shoulder. “I can put in a good word with the rest of the town. I’m sure they’d all love to hear you out.”

“I sure hope so,” he said. His tone was lighthearted, but they both knew he wasn’t really kidding. He truly did want the rest of the kingdom to realize that he had moved past his old life, and he wanted to make it up to them.

He arrived back at his house later that night and breathed a small sigh of relief. “One forgiveness down, a thousand more to go,” he said to himself. “But that wasn’t so bad! I could have done this years ago!”

And maybe if I had done this years ago, the King wouldn’t have seen me as just a thief, and I could-

He closed his eyes and waved his arms in front of himself as if he could swat away the thought. He couldn’t dwell on Rapunzel. He had to move on. Even if she had changed his life for the better and brightened his entire outlook on life, and she was maybe the only person he had ever truly cared about.

Yeah, he had to forget about what he had lost, and stay focused on what was ahead of him. He sighed, running his hands over his face. He wondered if she was doing okay. She had been home for over a week now, and he hoped she was adapting alright.

He wished he could be there. He wanted to help her as best he could and make sure she was okay. She had other people now, a real family that loved her. He couldn’t provide her with anything.

But he missed her. He was constantly thinking about what it would be like if he didn’t have to leave her. He could be with the love of his life, and they would be happy. Maybe that was selfish. She deserved better than him, and he knew that. He was trying to move past the selfishness that he had held onto in his past.

He took another deep breath, trying to stop drowning himself in thoughts that would just hurt him. Instead, he chose to think about his forgiveness mission again. He still had a long way to go before he repaid all the debts he could, but he was proud of the small amount he had accomplished.

He knew he changed; he wasn’t who he was just a couple weeks ago. Himself from a month ago wouldn’t even recognize him now. He wanted to believe he really could be a better person than he was before. Abandoning the “Flynn Rider” persona might be the best thing he ever did.

.

He spent a lot of time the coming weeks meeting Coronans and doing what he could to make amends. Most of them just asked that he work to repay what he had stolen, which he was more than happy to do. Even though he wasn’t exactly the best at many of the jobs (apparently you can’t speed up baking by turning the oven to 600 degrees), he did his best to help out where he could.

His next stop was the blacksmith. He had been told that the blacksmith was kind, so hopefully, it wouldn’t be hard to get on his good side.

He approached the shop carefully, then waved to the man standing there. He looked tall and intimidating (especially since he was holding a huge hammer), so Eugene hoped the rumors about him being a gentle giant were true.

“Hi, uh, Xavier, right? My name is Eugene, but I used to go by Flynn Rider, and I stole some stuff from you. And I want to make amends for what I did,” he said. He had tried to get his opening statement down over time, but he never knew how to phrase the words ‘I stole from you and I can’t get your stuff back but I would really like it if you forgave me!’

Xavier smiled at him. “I appreciate the gesture, Eugene, but I do not believe you ever stole anything from me. So you don’t need to make up for anything!”

Eugene grimaced. “See, you don’t think I stole from you, but I know I did. Whenever weapons or gold would randomly disappear from here, that was usually me.”

“Oh,” the blacksmith said simply. He paused for what seemed like forever (but was really only a couple seconds), then chuckled. “I don’t know what you could do to make it up, but I do not mind that you took from me. I am sure you needed it.”

Eugene chewed on his lip. True, he definitely wouldn’t have survived without the weapons he stole, but that didn’t make it okay that he stole them. “Is there any work that you would need me to do? Or anything to just make your life a little easier? I want to make it up to you somehow.”

Xavier smiled. “You know what, I do have something. You’re an adventurer, right? Give me a good story, and I’ll consider your debts paid.”

He was taken aback, but smiled back anyway. “A story? Like what?”

“You saved the Lost Princess, right? How did that go?”

Eugene paused. He wasn’t sure how to tell a story like that. In all honesty, he was still grappling with everything that had happened, and he was pretty sure the story was going to sound insane. But the man asked for a story, and so as weird as it was, he was going to tell it as best he could.

“This is the story of how I died,” he said dramatically, then smiled. “Though, it’s not really my story. It’s Rapunzel’s.”

He launched into the story of the girl in the tower who only dreamed of seeing the lanterns, and the guy who only had a crown on his mind. There were quite a few holes in his story where he had no clue what happened. He had never figured out why her hair was magical in the first place, much less how Gothel found out about it.

Throughout the whole story, Xavier looked intrigued. He wasn’t sure how the man wasn’t at all phased by talk of magic healing hair and swordfighting horses, but he didn’t bother dwelling on it.

“And so, once I was brought back to life and she told me she was the Lost Princess, we went back to the kingdom. Now she’s with her family, and it’s the happy ending everyone wanted,” he finished. He looked at Xavier, trying to decipher what he was thinking.

“Wow,” he said. “That must have been quite a lot to go through.”

Eugene chuckled. “Oh, yeah. I know it sounds a little crazy, with all the magic and whatnot-”

“Trust me, I have heard all about that magic. The story of the magic healing flower has been passed down through generations.”

“Seriously?”

“Yes, there have been myths about the Sundrop for millennia. It’s impressive that you got to see it in action.”

Eugene pressed his thumb into the palm of his left hand, rubbing it thoughtfully. The Sundrop’s powers were nothing compared to the way Rapunzel made him feel like his heart was bursting whenever she smiled, but that was neither here nor there.

“So, you are in love with the Princess, right?”

Eugene choked on his breath, then let out a shaky laugh. “Th-the Princess? Who? In love? Pfft, I don’t- I wouldn’t- I’ve never even met- I mean, I uh, I don’t know what you’re talking about,” he stammered, his hands fidgeting uncomfortably. Nice one, Fitzherbert, that was really convincing . Apparently, he completely lost his ability to lie when he stopped thieving. Fantastic .

Xavier simply smiled lightly. “The way you talk about her, it is easy to tell.”

Eugene sighed and shrugged halfheartedly. “It doesn’t matter, she’s with her family now. I couldn’t come in the way of her happiness.”

“Maybe her happiness is you, too.”

“Even then, a princess can’t be with a criminal. That’s just… that’s how it is.”

“Would a ‘criminal’ go around to everyone in town just to atone for every crime he once committed?”

Eugene’s gaze fell to the ground. He was trying to fix his past mistakes, but that doesn’t mean his mistakes didn’t happen. No matter how much he wanted to be a better person, he couldn’t undo what he had done.

After a brief silence, Xavier rested his hand on Eugene’s shoulder. “Well, Eugene, I’m glad you’re focusing on doing the right thing these days. And thank you for the story.”

*

Eugene had gone to all the townspeople and made amends within 3 months. Everyone was surprisingly receptive to his apologies, which made it easier. He still got the occasional glare as he walked down the street, but he did his best to ignore it. He had done what he could. He didn’t need everyone to like him, he just wanted to right his wrongs.

After he finished making his amends, he went back to the cobbler shop and took the job that Feldspar had offered him. He never would have guessed it, but he had a knack for making shoes. Having an honest job was new to him, but it was a welcome change.

.

6 months after he and Rapunzel had first returned to Corona and his crimes were pardoned, he had a steady job and was getting along the best he could with the others in the kingdom. Life was going pretty well for him, all things considered.

He was walking to work one day when a group of kids ran up to him with excited smiles on their faces. “Eugene!” Seth called out, waving his arm as he ran up to the man.

“Hey, kiddo, what’s up?”

“Can you tell them the story you told me last week?” the boy asked, gesturing to the other kids following him. “They don’t believe me.”

He smiled and sat down on the edge of the fountain in the street. He had a little bit of time before he had to get to work, right? “Alright, just a quick story,” he said. “This is the story of how I died,” he recited, sweeping an arm in front of himself. He stuck with that introduction whenever he told the story; he liked the way people reacted to the line. The kids’ eyes widened, and they sat on the ground in front of him, already completely engaged in what he was saying. “Well, don’t worry, it’s actually a very fun story, and the truth is it’s not even mine. This is the story of a girl named Rapunzel, and it starts with the sun…”

The kids hung onto his every word as he recounted the tale of the weirdest and best days of his life. He chose his words carefully, though, and made sure to keep out the part where he fell in love with Rapunzel. That small detail made the story seem more like a tale of lost love than the fun and rousing adventure that it was.

When he finished the story, his audience of children (and a few adults nearby that were pretending not to listen) looked stunned. “Whoa,” one kid said. “What happened to the chameleon?”

Eugene couldn’t help but smile at how the frog was the kid’s most important takeaway from the story. “Well, that little guy is still with the Princess,” he said. “And he’s living it up in the castle, blending into things just like he loves to do.”

Seth smiled excitedly. “You know, the Princess is coming into town today! Maybe you two can reunite now!”

“She— what?”

“Yeah! They announced that she’ll have a day in town before her coronation celebration!”

Eugene plastered on a smile but felt his stomach plummet. He didn’t know if he could see her without becoming a complete mess. He had been avoiding his feelings for months, but he was positive his resolve would break the second he saw her.

Besides, she wouldn’t want to see him. She had a whole new life, she must have moved on. He wasn’t going to hold her back, that wouldn’t be fair to her. She’d been living outside her tower for months, she probably didn’t think about him the way he constantly thought about her.

“Well, I should get to work, but it was great talking to you guys,” he said, standing up. The kids bid him goodbye, and he made his way to the cobbler shop. Making shoes would help distract him from thinking about Rapunzel. He just needed to focus on his work, everything would be fine.

.

“Did you hear the Princess is supposed to be in town today?” Feldspar said later that day. “I’ve heard you used to be friends with her,” he added with an eyebrow wiggle.

Eugene did his best to grin casually. “I heard, but I think I’m going to stay back. I’ve got a lot of shoes to finish.”

“Good on you! You know what we say in the shoe business: stitches before bi-”

“Whoa whoa whoa, you really shouldn’t call a princess that. Or anyone, for that matter.”

“I’m not just saying it about the Princess, it’s just an expression. All I’m saying is that in general, shoes should come first!”

Eugene didn’t bother arguing. He turned his attention back to the shoe he was working on. He didn’t have any interest in romance right now, given that he was still deeply in love with a girl he could never be with. That put a bit of a damper on his romantic life.

Later that day, a crowd gathered near the shop as it was announced that the Princess would be passing by. “Are you sure you don’t want to see her?” Feldspar asked. Eugene shook his head.

“I’m alright here,” he insisted.

Feldspar shrugged. “Well, I’m going. I’ve got to see what kind of shoes the Princess likes so I can make plenty of them.” He walked confidently out the door, and Eugene didn’t have the heart to tell him that the Princess didn’t wear shoes at all.

He immersed himself back into the work he was doing, shoving away the thoughts of Rapunzel clouding his head. That wouldn’t help anyone.

And still, he couldn’t stop himself from glancing out the window in the front of the store to see if he could spot her. As much as he tried not to care, his heart stopped when he caught a glimpse of her in the street. She was surrounded by guards, and she looked… sad. She had a smile on her face, but something about it seemed distant.

When they had been in town on her birthday, she had found so much joy in talking to everyone around town. Now, with guards on every side of her, all she could do was smile and wave at the citizens. No wonder she seemed so sad.

He noticed something in her expression change, and he couldn’t figure out why until he realized what she saw. She was looking directly at him through the window. Oh.

His heart quickened. He wasn’t sure what to do now. Should he wave? Should he pretend he didn’t see her? They both stared at each other through the window for a moment, neither of them moving, until she was pulled away by the guards.

When she was out of his line of vision, he sighed heavily and leaned against the table in front of him, trying to steady his breath. He wouldn’t let one moment of eye contact ruin him.

“You’re never going to believe this,” Feldspar yelled as he threw open the door of the shop. “She doesn’t even wear shoes!”

.

As it turns out, just a moment of seeing her was, in fact, all he needed to be completely wrecked. He didn’t think about how much he missed her until he saw her in person again.

Eugene was lying awake in bed that night, unable to stop thoughts of her from infiltrating his head. He couldn’t fall asleep just because he had seen her for maybe 10 seconds that day. He couldn’t even be surprised, he had always known this was exactly what would happen when he let himself think about her.

What hurt most was how unhappy she looked. Before, he was able to convince himself that she was happy in the castle, so he couldn’t keep her from that happiness. But she wasn’t happy. She was trapped again. She was being kept from what made her happy, and to make matters worse, there was nothing he could do about it.

A soft knock at the door momentarily pulled him out of his hole of wallowing in self-pity. He furrowed his brow and sat up. Who would be at his house this late? It was the middle of the night, who could possibly need him right now?

He got up and walked to the door, grabbing his sword on the way (he wasn’t sure why, it’s not like an intruder was going to knock on the door first). When he opened the door, his eyes widened as he saw who was waiting there. “Rapunzel?”

“Hi,” she greeted softly.

“What are you doing here? Are you okay?” Instinctively, he reached out to touch her face, tossing his sword to the side. She smiled softly and leaned into his hand.

“My friend Cass helped me sneak out,” she said. That didn’t answer either of his questions, but he moved on anyway.

“Why did you sneak out?”

“Being a princess is… great , but it- it’s just a lot. And I needed time away from the castle.”

Eugene paused, his eyebrows creasing with concern. He wished he had been there to help her. He had been afraid she was going to struggle assimilating into the life of a princess, and he should have been there.

And now she’s standing in front of him, looking scared and tired and excited all at the same time. She had a dark hood over her head, covering her face in shadows. He knew the King would have him killed if he found out that Rapunzel had run away to his house in the middle of the night, but at that moment he couldn’t even pretend to care. “Do you want to come in?”

She smiled and nodded, and he stepped aside to let her in. She looked around as she walked in, taking in every detail of the room. “This is a nice place,” she remarked.

Eugene shrugged. “It’s not very exciting, but it’s much nicer than anywhere I’ve lived before,” he said with a grin, then added, “I’m sure the castle is much fancier than this, though. And probably complete with lots of beautiful paintings by Princess Rapunzel herself.”

Rapunzel blushed, pushing a strand of hair behind her ear. “Yeah, I’ve had a lot of new space to paint in my room,” she said. “I could probably paint a little in here if you’d like!”

“As much as I’d love that, I don’t think you want to spend your one night out of the castle painting my house,” he responded with a slight chuckle.

Her eyes fell to the floor as she rocked back and forth on her feet. “Oh, yeah,” she said under her breath.

“So, speaking of that,” he said, shifting uncomfortably. “Where are you going now that you’ve run away?”

She paused for a moment, then let out a small laugh. “I don’t know,” she said. “I just knew I had to come here, I didn’t think of what I’d do after that.”

“Well, if you don’t have any plans,” Eugene said with a grin. “How about I take you on a quick trip out of the kingdom?”

Her eyes widened. “Out of the kingdom? Like, past the wall?”

The King would absolutely kill him for this. And yet, he still could not care less. “Yeah, we can get out for tonight, then back in before anyone notices. What do you say?”

The bright smile he got in return could rival the sun itself. “I would love to.”

Eugene quickly pulled his boots on, and they headed out the door. Once they were out in the open, a familiar horse came into view. Maximus snorted as he met Eugene’s eye. “Hey, Max! Didja miss me?”

Max closed his eyes and shook his head aggressively. Eugene patted his head. “I missed you, too.”

“Max helped me leave the castle without being seen,” Rapunzel said, scratching the horse’s chin. “And he agreed to bring me here.”

“So then where’s the frog?”

“Pascal and Cass are both at the castle making sure no one knows I’m gone.”

“Wow, Blondie, you’ve got quite a network for your scheme,” he teased lightly. She giggled softly, her eyes lighting up at his nickname for her. “Well, we can’t have that all be for nothing! Let’s get going,” he said, sticking his arm out for her.

She grabbed it happily, and they climbed onto Max’s back to quickly and quietly make their way to the border wall. Max stayed ducked in shadows and trotted carefully to make sure his hooves didn’t make too much noise when guards would pass nearby.

They climbed over the wall, collectively heaving a sigh of relief once they made it out of Corona. They were past the guards and the wall, and now they had the rest of the night to explore the world outside of Corona.

Rapunzel’s smile grew with every step she took, looking around at the forest around her. The stars were hanging in the sky, shining down on her. Fireflies dotted the trees around them. The river next to her was flowing smoothly, the rushing adding peaceful background noise to the scene. “Wow,” she whispered, completely enamored by her surroundings. “Have you ever seen anything so beautiful?”

“Yes, I have,” Eugene answered without thinking, staring at the girl in front of him. Her green eyes were full of the same joy they had when she first left her tower. He could feel his heart doing cartwheels in his chest every time she smiled. The gentle breeze was hitting her face and letting her short hair wave back and forth.

She turned back to him and beamed at him. “Come on, we have so much more to see!” She grabbed his hand and rushed forward, and he was more than happy to be dragged along in her journey.

She stopped to study every new plant or tree she saw, and she made sure to greet every animal that came into her path. She skipped excitedly through the forest, constantly making note of things that she would need to paint next time she got the chance.

After a few hours, she found a soft section of grass and sat down, her legs stretched out as she leaned back on her arms so she could get a good view of the stars in the sky. She patted the ground next to her, gesturing for Eugene to lie down next to her. He did, but he was paying more attention to Rapunzel than he was to the stars.

“There are so many of them,” she whispered. “I learned the other day that they’re all distant piles of gas, far away from here. I guess it puts everything into perspective, thinking about how on that star, no one even knows who we are.”

“Yeah,” he breathed. From the perspective of a star millions of lightyears away, they were just specks. Not a princess and a criminal, but just… people. People that were sharing one moment together, just like millions of other people in the world.

She looked over at him and grabbed his hand. He smiled and leaned in closer to her. Her eyes fell shut as they drew closer to each other.

Then without warning, her eyes shot open and she moved away. “I’m sorry, I’m sorry,” she said quickly, standing up and wrapping her arms around herself.

Eugene took a quick breath in, standing up and taking a step backward to give her a distance. “I- I’m so sorry, Rapunzel, I shouldn’t have tried to-”

“You left,” she interrupted quickly, her eyes gradually filling with tears.

“What?” His eyes flitted over her face, trying to decipher how she was feeling. She didn’t seem scared or mad, just... hurt. He felt a pang in his chest knowing that he was the reason she was feeling like that.

“You left, and you didn’t say goodbye. And they told me you were gone, and I didn’t believe them because I was sure that you would tell me when you left. But you didn’t,” she said quietly, her voice breaking with every word.

He didn’t answer for a moment, trying to remember how to speak. He should have known that she would have felt abandoned when he left without a word. He had been so sure he had made the right choice when he left, but looking at her now, he realized he couldn’t have been more wrong.

Looking back on it, his choice to not tell her when he was leaving the castle was entirely selfish. He couldn’t handle seeing her again, couldn’t trust himself to not run to her. So he had slipped away, hoping that he wouldn’t have to deal with his own heartbreak seeing her face one last time before he went.

And here she was. He had left her behind without a word, yet she still came to him. After he abandoned her and completely cut himself off from her, she came back. That was what hurt most. He knew she deserved better than him. She deserved someone that would have the guts to see her one last time despite the world pushing them apart. It hurt that she was willing to come back to him after he hurt her.

And still, he loved her. He wanted to go back and fix all his mistakes and find a way to be with her. Ever since he had left months ago, there was not a day that went by where he didn’t think of her. It killed him that he had hurt her when all he wanted to do was sweep her up in his arms and hold her so nothing could ever hurt her again.

She was looking at him with wide eyes as his throat dried up. His mind was swirling with all the thoughts and feelings he had tried to keep buried for months. He loved her. He wouldn’t blame her if she hated him and never felt the same way about him, but he loved her with his entire being. And he had no idea how to tell her that.

“Rapunzel, I’m so sorry I never said goodbye when I left. I had to leave to let you start your new life, but I thought it would be easier for both of us if I could just leave-”

“It wasn’t,” she said. “It wasn’t easier. I had no idea what I was doing, and all I did was wish you were there beside me.”

He let out a breath and ran a hand through his hair. “Trust me, Blondie, I felt the same way. I wanted to be by your side, and it hurt that I couldn’t be there with you.”

“It hurt me, too.”

“I know, I’m sorry.”

“It’s… it’s not your fault that you had to leave,” she said, chewing on her bottom lip nervously. She stepped towards him and grabbed his hand hesitantly. “But I missed you so much.” She took another step closer, and he could almost feel her breath on his face. She was just inches away, and he tried to ignore his heart pounding out of his chest.

“I missed you, too,” he said, his voice barely above a whisper. “But we should-”

The rest of his sentence was completely lost as she grabbed his shirt and pulled him into a kiss. His eyes widened, then immediately fell shut as he let his composure completely fall away. He pulled her closer, wishing he could live in this moment for the rest of his life.

He knew they shouldn’t be doing this. The King had tried to keep them apart for a reason, and they would have to leave each other behind again after tonight. But at that moment, he didn’t care about any logic. All he cared about was trying to communicate everything he felt about her through one kiss. Feeling her lips pressed against his was all that mattered to him. They had both been wishing they could be just like this for months, and being able to hold her felt like a dream.

They softly broke apart from the kiss, but their faces remained close together as they tried to catch their breath. She smiled at him, and he rested his forehead against hers. “I’m sorry,” he said again. “I’m sorry I didn’t say anything when I left, and I’m so sorry I couldn’t be there with you.”

She grabbed his hand and squeezed it. “It’s okay,” she whispered, casting her eyes to the ground. “I’m sorry… I’m sorry I had to be the princess and separate us-”

“No, hey, don’t apologize for finding a new life, your real life,” he said, putting his fingers under her chin and softly tilting her head up to look into her eyes. “All that matters to me is that you’re safe and happy with your family.”

“But you’re part of my family. I’m happy with you,” she said, her eyes starting to water. He reached up to wipe a stray tear off her face.

“And I’ll always be here for you, Blondie. Princess or not, I’m always supporting you, even if it’s from afar.”

She sighed and leaned her head against his chest. He wrapped his arms around her and held her close to him. They stayed like that for a moment, just enjoying each other’s presence while they could. They were acutely aware that the night would end sooner than they wanted it to, and they would have to go their separate ways yet again. It would be the same as before, but it hurt even worse now that they had gotten a taste of what they were missing.

But he would still love her no matter what. Even if they were apart for the rest of their lives, he still loved her more than he ever thought possible.

The night would end soon, and so would their time together. She would go back to the castle, he would go back to his house. He couldn’t do anything to change their situation, all he could do was hold her tighter and hope that the memories of her would keep him grounded.

Rapunzel looked up at the sky, her brow crinkling when she realized how soon the sun would rise. “We still have time tonight,” she said quietly. She didn’t know what would happen to them when the night ended, but she could only hope this wasn’t the end.

“Then let’s make the most of it,” Eugene replied, grabbing her hand and squeezing it gently.

Their eyes met, and he smiled at her. Every glance at her twisted his heart more, but he wouldn’t dare look away.

Despite everything, she was the love of his life, and he was hers. And even if he couldn’t be by her side, he wouldn’t trade that love for anything.