i don't have a choice

For years, Rapunzel had dreamed of seeing the lights. In fact, as far back as she could remember, they were the only things she had ever wanted for. Her mother had been more than generous in every other way, indulging her and her hobbies by providing materials for them, teaching her to cook, bake, mend and sew, and encouraging her in everything with only the odd sharp comment if she felt that Rapunzel was overstepping her boundaries in asking for anything. She had hardly even mentioned seeing the lights to her, if at all, simply because she felt it would be far too selfish to do so – after all, hadn’t her mother already done enough for her? Even as a child, she had stayed quiet about her desire to see what they really were, preferring to wait until mother was asleep before sneaking down to the window, watching as the sky turned from deep blue to a brilliant, beautiful gold. It was the most magical experience of her life, and she had promised herself that one day, her dream would come true and she would stand where they were, able to see them for what they were and bask in their warm glow.

She knew what they were now, though. Not stars, as her mother had told her, not intangible balls of gas she had no hope of ever reaching, but lanterns, gorgeously designed and intricately patterned and real. She hadn’t quite been able to believe it when she had been told what they were, simply because of all the things she had theorized they might have been, lanterns never factored into it. Had she not been so excited that they weren’t stars, she might have questioned it, but her emotions had gotten the better of her, and there had been only one thing to do – demand the man currently tied up in her hair take her to see them so she could see the proof for herself. Admittedly, it hadn’t been a very well thought out plan. She had spent years being fed stories about people from Outside, about ruffians and thugs and murderers and thieves, and currently had the latter bound in her tresses, which meant any amount of harm could have come to her. In fact, it almost did. But it was the very person she should have been afraid of who had helped her, time and time again, all for the sake of helping her achieve her dream, and her opinion had been drastically altered. Even now, sitting in the middle of a lake and excitedly waiting for the lanterns to rise, she kept casting furtive glances up at him, a small smile playing around her lips. Eugene was certainly something else. Not that she had much to compare him to, of course, only the stories that her mother had told her, but he was changing her viewpoint quite a bit. She no longer felt like she was outside looking in at the world, hoping and praying for a chance to join it, nor was she the naïve, scared girl who had almost been too afraid to seize the only chance she would probably ever get to step outside her tower. No, everything was different now, and all of it was down to him.