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The black rocks had become such an ordinary thing by now that Eugene didn’t bat an eye when more began growing. Been there, seen that.
But these new rocks, they were different. Bright red, and glowing. And people ran from them screaming with terror.
Lance ran past him and Rapunzel, screaming “You can’t make me sing in front of all those people! Nooo!”
“Hey now, what’s gotten into him?” Eugene asked, puzzled.
“It’s like these new rocks are making people see their worst fear,” Rapunzel replied.
He supposed that would explain the screaming. Still…
“Yeah, but the rocks aren’t doing anything to me,” Eugene said matter-of-factly, walking by the red rocks. “Probably because I’m not scared of much— oh…oh no…nonononono.”
He could hear Rapunzel calling his name, but only barely. He stared into his reflection with horror in his eyes. The man staring back at him was someone he hadn’t been in a very long time, and someone he never again wanted to be.
That wasn’t Eugene Fitzherbert staring back at him.
It was Flynn Rider.
Held tightly in one hand was a sack of loot; gold coins, medallions, the works…and in the other…
“Oh God,” Eugene choked out, wondering why he was feeling so cold all of a sudden.
In Flynn Rider’s unoccupied hand was a crown.
Rapunzel’s crown.
He seemed to smirk at Eugene, the latter shaking his head, repeating, “that’s not me anymore. It’s not, it’s not, it’s not.”
The cold sensation was getting worse, and he looked down at himself. He couldn’t even find his voice, he was so stunned.
His entire lower half was encased in the red rocks.
He looked back up at his reflection.
Flynn Rider mouthed something to Eugene, and he could tell right away what he was saying.
You can’t change.
“No…no…you’re wrong.”
“Eugene!” Echoed a voice, just at the edge of his awareness. “Eugene! Snap out of it!”
Mercifully, Eugene pulled his eyes away from his waking nightmare.
He was met with a pair of green eyes, bright and wide with worry. “Eugene, what is it? What did you see?”
But the sight had him at a loss for words.
He looked back at his reflection. This time, he only saw himself.
The only thing his reflection held was Rapunzel’s hand, their fingers interlocking.
Eugene looked back at Rapunzel. Gently, she cupped the side of his face, asking again, “What was it?”
He sighed, and said in a low voice, “Flynn Rider.”
“You’re afraid of Flynn Rider?” Rapunzel asked, not unkindly.
“It’s not that,” Eugene replied. “I’m afraid of going back to the way I was before I met you. Who I was before I met you. A criminal. Going back to being him would be like…like losing you, Rapunzel. I already lost you once. I can’t lose you again.”
The night he’d been arrested, fighting against the castle guards’ grip on him, shouting Rapunzel’s name, having no way to get to her and no way of knowing if she was okay, it had felt like he’d lost her.
That was why he didn’t want to become Flynn Rider again.
She leaned in and pressed her lips softly against his, before pulling away and saying, “You won’t lose me, Eugene, and you won’t go back to the way you were before. You’re stronger than that, you’re smarter than that.”
Eugene knew in the deepest part of his soul that she was right. He’d come so far, he couldn’t go back to the way he was before. He wasn’t Flynn Rider anymore. He was Eugene Fitzherbert, and nothing—not even these red rocks—was going to change that.
Eugene smiled and brushed a lock of hair away from Rapunzel’s face. “Thanks, Sunshine.”
THE END