Despite the fact that no one had seen the princess since breakfast several hours ago, no one seemed particularly distressed. She had a bit of a nasty habit to become engrossed in one thing and completely forget about her surroundings or the time. The first few times it had happened, Eugene had watched as her parents frantically searched for their daughter they had lost for eighteen long years. He had seen the apologetic look on her face when someone finally came across her. But it always seemed to happen, and eventually everyone began to relax about the idea.
On this particular day, however, Rapunzel had planned to have tea with her mother. Seeing that the staff in the castle was busy enough with their own tasks without the added chore of finding the daydreaming princess, Eugene had taken it upon himself to find her. After all, it would mean a moment or two alone with her.
It was only after he had searched her usual haunts in the castle that he thought to look outside. Honestly, he should have checked there first. The air was warm, the sun was bright, and the light breeze rolled by to keep things from getting stuffy. In short, it was perfect weather to find Rapunzel enjoying.
He came across her, sprawled out asleep underneath the shade of a tree. Pascal was resting curled on her chest, and a book detailing the wild flowers native to Corona was lying open beside her. As he grew closer, he saw the content expression that graced her face, and the way her short hair fell around her face and tangled in the grass.
Kneeling down, he considered simply nudging her until she awoke when a different idea formed in his mind. Bending forward, he brought his face closer to hers and pressed his lips gently against her eyelids, one at a time. He then continued to move across her face peppering kisses against her forehead, her cheeks, her chin, her nose, her jawline…
When he was finally certain she was awake, he brought his lips to hers, kissing her sweetly. He felt the smile tugging at her lips, and her arms wrapping around his neck as she kissed him back.
Finally, they pulled apart and she wrinkled her nose at him in delight. There was a silent pause before she spoke up. “You know,” she said, playing with the buckles of his doublet instead of looking him in the eye, “I would be okay if you wake me up like that from now on.”
