Rapunzel gave Maximus a wave as Flynn guided her aboard a boat and rowed away from the docks.

 

"Where are we going?" Rapunzel asked him.

 

"Well, if it's the best day of your life," Flynn replied, "you might as well have the best seat in the house."

 

Rapunzel turned back toward the docks and saw the kingdom laid out before her. "Oh, this is perfect!" she exclaimed.

 

"Yep," Flynn said, feeling proud of how well the day had gone. "Now we just sit and wait," he told her, knowing that the best was yet to come. "So, are you excited?"

 

"I'm thinking that I'm terrified," Rapunzel replied, staring silently at the water.

 

"Why?" Flynn asked.

 

"I've been sitting at a window for eighteen years, looking out and dreaming about what this place might look like, what I might feel when those lanterns rise tonight," she told him. "What if it's not everything I dreamed it would be?"

 

Flynn smiled. "It will be."

 

"And what if it is?" Rapunzel asked, feeling overwhelmed by it all. "What do I do then?"

 

"That's the good part, I guess," Flynn said as they gazed at the kingdom together. "You get to go find a new dream."

 

From their balcony inside the palace courtyard, the King and Queen launched the first lantern.

 

Rapunzel was nervously¹ tossing flower petals² into the water when she saw the reflection of the lantern as it floated into the sky. Overwhelmed, she turned her head upwards³. Thousands of lanterns followed the first, filling the sky! Rapunzel was so excited when she looked up that she ran along the side of the boat, almost tipping it over.

 

It was as if she and Flynn were floating in a sea of stars.

 

Then Rapunzel turned to Flynn and saw that he had a lantern in his hands. He had gotten it in the village and hidden it in the boat, waiting for this moment to surprise Rapunzel with the gift.

 

Rapunzel was so thrilled, she rushed to him and held the lantern. "I can't believe I'm really here!" she exclaimed. "I don't know what it is, but I feel like I belong here."

 

Reaching down, she grabbed Flynn's satchel⁴. "I have something for you, too," she said, handing it to him. "I should have given it to you before. But I was just scared. And the thing is, I'm not scared anymore. You know what I mean?" She wanted Flynn to understand. She wanted to confess to him that Mother Gothel had always told her that people like Flynn were evil, but that now ... now Rapunzel believed in Flynn.

 

"Yeah. Yeah, I do," Flynn said truthfully. He knew that the crown was still in that satchel, but it no longer meant that much to him.

 

Quickly, he turned back to Rapunzel. Holding the lantern together, they released it into the sky.

 

Then Flynn leaned in closer.

 

He stopped just short of kissing Rapunzel. He glanced over her shoulder. The Stabbington brothers were on the shore, waiting for him.

 

"Is everything, okay?" Rapunzel asked.

 

"Yes ... yes, of course," Flynn said, not wanting to ruin the day for her. He started rowing back toward the shore to face the Stabbington brothers.

 

"I'm sorry," he said. "Everything's fine, but there's just something I have to take care of."

 

Rapunzel, their journey together, all of it had changed Flynn's view of the world. He wanted to make things right. He was in love with Rapunzel. He no longer wanted to be a thief, a lone⁵ highwayman always running away from everything.

 

Flynn landed the boat on the shore and leaped out. He told Rapunzel to wait for him.

 

Flynn searched the bushes and found one of the Stabbington brothers by himself.

 

Flynn tossed the satchel down in front of him.

 

"There," he said as the crown fell out of the bag and onto the ground. "You got what you wanted. Now leave us alone. I never want to see you again." Flynn turned to leave.

 

"Holding out on us again, eh, Rider?" said the one Stabbington as his brother sneaked⁶ up behind Flynn.

 

"What?" Flynn was confused, but one thing was for sure: the Stabbington brothers were not just interested in the crown anymore.

 

费林领着乐佩登上一艘船，从码头划开去的时候，她向捍马挥了挥手。

 

“我们去哪儿？”乐佩问他。

 

“那么，如果这是你人生中最棒的一天，”费林回答道，“你也许想要一个最好的座位。”

 

乐佩转身背对码头，看到王国展现在她的眼前。“哦，这太完美啦！”她兴奋地大叫。

 

“是的。”费林说，这一天过得很快乐，他非常自豪。“现在，我们就坐着等好了。”他对她说，他知道好戏还在后头，“那么，你兴奋吗？”

 

“我想我害怕极了。”乐佩回答，默默地盯着河水。

 

“为什么？”费林问。

 

“十八年来，我一直坐在窗边眺望着，梦想着这个地方会是什么样子。今晚，那些灯升空时我会有什么感觉，”她对他说，“如果它不是我梦想的那样呢？”

 

费林微笑着说道：“会是的。”

 

“如果它不是呢？”乐佩问，感觉有点不知所措，“那我该怎 么办？”

 

“那也是件好事，我想，”他们一起凝望王国时，费林说道，“你可以去追寻一个新的梦想。”

 

国王和皇后在宫殿庭院的阳台上放飞了第一盏天灯。

 

乐佩紧张地把花瓣扔进水里，这时她看见升上天空的天灯在水中的倒影。她不知所措，抬起了头。几千盏天灯紧接着第一盏升空，填满了整个天空！乐佩抬头看时，激动不已，她沿着船舷跑动，几乎弄翻了船。

 

她和费林仿佛飘浮在星海之中。

 

乐佩转向费林，见到他手中拿着一盏天灯。他从村庄弄来的天灯，然后把它藏在船里，等着这一刻，作为礼物给乐佩 惊喜。

 

乐佩激动万分，她跑向他，捧着天灯。“我不敢相信我真的在这儿！”她兴奋地叫道。“我不知道是怎么回事，但我觉得自己属于这儿。”

 

她弯下腰，拽出费林的包。“我也有东西要给你，”她说着把包递给他，“我早应该把它给你了。但我只是害怕。而现在，我不再害怕了。你懂我的意思吗？”她想让费林明白。她想对他坦白，高瑟妈妈总是告诉她，像费林这样的人很邪恶，但是现在……现在乐佩信任费林。

 

“是的，是的，我懂。”费林诚恳地说。他知道皇冠还在包中，但是那对他而言没有那么重要了。

 

他很快转向乐佩。他们一起捧着天灯，把它放飞到空中。

 

然后，费林靠近了些。

 

就在快要亲吻到乐佩的时候，他停住了。他从她的肩膀瞥过去。钉刺兄弟正站在岸边，等着他。

 

“没事吧？”乐佩问。

 

“没事……当然没事。”费林说，他不想毁掉她的这一天。他开始向岸边划回去，去面对钉刺兄弟。

 

“对不起，”他说，“一切都很好，只是还有件事我一定要 处理。”

 

乐佩以及他们一起的旅程，所有的一切转变了费林的世界观。他想去弥补错误。他爱上了乐佩。他不想再做一个盗贼，一个总是逃跑的孤独的拦路强盗。

 

费林让船靠岸，跳了上去。他让乐佩等着他。

 

费林在灌木丛中搜索，找到了钉刺兄弟中的一个。

 

费林把包扔在他的面前。

 

“好了，”他说，皇冠从包里掉出来，滚到地上，“你们得到了想要的。离我们远点。我不想再见到你们。”费林转身离开。

 

“又想耍我们吗，呃，雷德？”一个钉刺兄弟说，他的兄弟悄悄地走到了费林的身后。

 

“什么？”费林疑惑不解，但是有一件事很确定： 钉刺兄弟不只对皇冠感兴趣。

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