Romance Fan Fiction / Other Fan Fiction ❯ Cassunzel Short Stories ❯ The Party ( Chapter 1 )

Cassandra leaned against the bridge while looking into the dark water. She let out a small sigh. This was the first time she had been in Corona since the moonstone incident that was 2 years ago. It was the first time she had seen her friends face-to-face in 2 years. Rapunzel had convinced her to come to Eugene’s birthday party. Sure, she cared for Eugene, but she didn’t travel 3,000 miles back to Corona for his birthday. She returned because the LAST time he had a birthday, an actual birthday, she crashed it. So she thought it was fair, so she could make amends with that incident.

Rapunzel was of course ecstatic to see her. The others.. not so much. Her friends welcomed her but for the rest of Corona... She wasn’t blind. She noticed the fearful stares, the angry looks, the silent talking. As much as she hated to admit it, it bothered her. They all looked at her like she was... like she was some type of monster.

Cassandra groaned and laid her head in her arms. Maybe she was. She destroyed their home, betrayed the kingdom and tried to kill their princess. Her best friend. What type of person does that? Sure, Rapunzel wasn’t perfect, but she certainly didn’t deserve to watch her home, her kingdom, burn up in flames. She didn’t deserve to be targeted and nearly killed all because Cassandra wanted her “own destiny”. How selfish is that? Very.

The real reason she left was to exhale herself from Corona because the king wasn’t going to do it. She didn’t plan on coming back. Rapunzel deserved better and she knew Rapunzel would never admit that, so she made the decision for her. She made the decision for the whole kingdom. She tried to find something for herself out there but nothing ever felt right. So eventually she just gave up and traveled the seven kingdoms. Even farther than that. But now she was back and she was overwhelmed.

“I thought I’d find you out here,” A familiar voice said from behind her. As the voice walked to stand next to her, she didn’t look up. She couldn’t look Rapunzel in the eye. She could never look her in the eyes again. Rapunzel must’ve noticed her lack of movement and silence. “You okay?” Her voice was laced with genuine concern. God, she really didn’t deserve her.

“Yeah,” Cassandra eventually responded but when Rapunzel gave her a skeptical look, she continued. “I’m just.. a bit overwhelmed.”

Rapunzel nodded before leaning on the bridge as well. “Mind if I stay with you? It’s getting a little stuffy in there anyway.” Still without looking at her, Cassandra nodded. The silence that followed was awkward for a good 5 minutes before anyone responded. “What’s it like out there?”

“Hm?” Cassandra asked in confusion.

“You know, out there? Beyond the Corona walls.”

“You’ve been out there, Raps, you already know.”

“You know what I mean, Cass..”

Cassandra sighed. “It’s... big. Dangerous. There’s muggers, sex-traffickers’, thugs, pirates,” Cassandra raised her head from her arms and looked out at the glistening water that shined in the moonlight. “But it’s also beautiful. It’s never boring. There’s always an adventure waiting to happen.” Rapunzel made a sound in the back of her throat.

“Did you.. meet anyone out there?” Rapunzel tilted her to the side in wonder as she looked at Cassandra.

“A couple people here and there. Not what you’re asking though. I traveled with a small group of people for a while before going off on my own again.” Cassandra answered truthfully. Rapunzel nodded in acknowledgment.

“How do you feel being back?”

Cassandra shrugged. “Fine, I guess.”

“The truth, Cassandra.” Damn. She was caught. Cassandra let out an annoyed sigh. She knew she had to talk about it. She promised Rapunzel 2 years ago she would work on talking about her feelings. And she HAD been working on it.. but it doesn’t make it any easier.

“Overwhelmed. Scared. Judged. Distant.”

Rapunzel was silent for a few moments before responding. “Why..?”

And just like that, Cassandra resorted to anger. Like she always does when she talks about anything feeling-related. “Oh, I don’t know, it’s not like I didn’t destroy their home AND tried to murder their very-loved princess.”

“Cass..”

Cassandra ignored her and continued. “To them, I am just a backstabbing enemy. I turned my back on their princess, disobeyed direct orders and tried to kill her. I let a crazed demon into the walls that already ONCE tried to destroy Corona. I hurt people and destroyed their homes with black, unbreakable rocks. Did I mention I tried to kill their princess? Because that’s a BIG part of it. I’m just a backstabbing, good-for-nothing, EVIL, monstrous bit-”

“CASSANDRA!” Cassandra quickly shut her mouth, having never heard Rapunzel yell like that, but still refused to look at her. “Cass, look at me.” Cassandra ignored her. “Cassandra, PLEASE look at me!” When she, once again, refused to do so, Rapunzel made an annoyed scoff and grabbed Cassandra by her shirt to FORCE her to look her in the eye. When she finally got a look at her face, all anger dissipated at seeing the tears streaming down her face. Cassandra quickly looked down and stared at the floor. Rapunzel’s eyes softened as she slowly raised her hand and placed it on her cheek to slowly direct her attention back to her. Cassandra didn’t look away this time, she held Rapunzel’s concerned gaze but didn’t see anything.

Rapunzel sighed and dropped her hand back to her side. “Cass, you are NOT a monster or anything you just said about yourself,” When Cassandra started to open her mouth, Rapunzel raised her hand in front of her. “I’m not done.” Cassandra shut her mouth and let her continue.

“You were hurting. People do crazy things when they’re hurting. And if I remember correctly, it wasn’t JUST your fault.. I played a part in it too, Cass. I started to trust your judgement less and less, pushed you away, and led you to that point. I started treating you less like a friend... and more like a servant. If I was in your position, I would’ve done the same thing.” Cass gave her a skeptical look. “Alright, maybe not EXACTLY like that, but I would be mad too. And hurt. I am as at fault for what happened as you are.”

“I appreciate that, Raps, but.. they were MY actions. Not yours. And that still doesn’t excuse the fact that I WANTED to hurt you. You don’t know what Zhan Tiri and I planned to do for months.. What I had planned.” Cassandra started to tear up again. “I wanted to do horrible things. I was GOING to do those things. I destroyed your home. Your kingdom. I turned my back on you. I nearly crushed Eugene to death. I nearly got Varian killed. Hell, I KIDNAPPED Varian. I blamed you for something that wasn’t even your fault, that was out of your control, and I let Zhan Tiri manipulate me into thinking that you hated me, that you only ever used me. That you just wanted to take the moonstone and make me your ‘servant’ again. Rapunzel, I wanted to KILL you. And make you suffer.” She was hoping by giving Rapunzel the truth, she would suddenly agree with everything Cassandra was saying about herself.

“Yeah, but you didn’t, did you?” Cassandra opened her mouth once more, to argue, but Rapunzel continued. “You didn’t hurt Eugene. You didn’t hurt Varian. No one was killed other than Zhan Tiri. And you didn’t hurt me. You saved Corona, Cass. And as I said before, you saved ME from a destiny I probably wouldn’t have survived.”

Cassandra went from sad to pissed in a matter of seconds. She made a very inhuman-like growl in the back of her throat and jumped back away from Rapunzel. “Why do you keep trying to defend my actions?!”

“I’m not-”

“Shut it! God, Rapunzel, sometimes you can be so stupid!” She knew she was raising her voice and INSULTING a princess but at that moment, she didn’t give a damn. “It doesn’t matter WHAT happened, I still INTENDED to do horrible things! Things that are unforgivable! I shouldn’t even be free right now! Or alive! I committed treason, tried to kill a royal, and I PLANNED to do so much worse! I should’ve been hanged! But, here you are, acting like everything is okay, acting like nothing ever happened, acting like I literally didn’t try to murder you along with your kingdom AFTER I CLAIMED that you were my ‘best friend’! I said, I DID, horrible things! For my own SELFISH desires! Even Varian had a better reason than I did! I had no reason to act the way I did. Why can’t you just forget about me?! Why can’t you hate me?! Things would be SO much easier if you did! I wouldn’t be drawn to come back if you did! God knows I deserve it! I don’t deserve your friendship, or your concern, I don’t DESERVE your forgiveness! So why do you act like everything is back to normal when we both KNOW that it’s not?! That it’s never GOING to be?! I don’t understand, why?! Why?! WHY?!”

“Because I love you, Cassandra!” Rapunzel yelled back. “You are the first, TRUE friend I ever had! You’ve always told me what I needed to hear instead of what I wanted to hear! You’re honest and REAL! You’re right, what happened is ALWAYS gonna shadow us, it’s gonna follow us, it’s going to follow YOU for a long time. And you think I don’t know of what you intended? You made it perfectly clear. But I don’t care! You. Were. HURTING. And you had EVERY right to be! You need to stop with this ‘I’m a terrible person and everyone should hate me’ attitude! Because you’re NOT! Gothel was a terrible person and Zhan Tiri was a terrible person. But you? No. The fact that you’re thinking these things about yourself only proves that! I LOVE you, Cass, and I always will. I will do anything for you. I will do anything you ask, anything you need. Except when you’re asking me to HATE you. No. I’m sorry, but no. I will NOT do that. Ever. No matter what you do, I will never hate you and I will never EVER give up on you. Because I KNOW you’re a good person. I’ve SEEN it. Everyone has a breaking point, Cass, and everyone handles it differently. You can’t let what happened set you back because it’s in the past. You seem to forget all the times you threw yourself in front of me so I wouldn’t get hurt. You forget all the times you stayed up all night because I was having nightmares. You FORGET when I needed you, how you held me for as long as I was crying. You forget the times I’ve watched you force a smile and act like you were okay because I WASN’T. And the times you risked your life to save other people, people you barely knew, people that wronged you. You still fought for them. For me. And when you decided it was time to fight for yourself, you got lost. I wasn’t being the person that you needed. I wasn’t looking out for you like you were for me. I took advantage of our friendship and forced you beneath me when you tried to tell me how stupid I was being. So you took your destiny, your life, into your own hands. And I can hardly blame you. If that’s selfish, then you’re selfish! Sometimes you NEED to be selfish and that’s okay! And before you give me that ‘you’re just condoning my bad actions and now that we’re friends again, everything is okay now’ because it’s NOT and I KNOW that, Cass! I KNOW you’re still angry with me, I know you still hold some resentment towards me, and that’s okay! You have every right to be! I’m still angry with you! But that doesn’t mean we should suddenly hate each other because we’re mad at one another! Friends have downfalls, friends have fights and sometimes, friends get lost. God, I’m lost! After everything that happened, I’m questioning things about myself that I never did before. I mean, when you were by my side, everything was fine. But the moment you left, I started seeing things for what they really are. Do I even WANT to be queen someday? I spent 18 years of my life locked away from the world only to be forced into ANOTHER tower and yeah, I have more freedom now, but I want to be OUT THERE! Seeing the world, exploring it, making new memories! I was forced into a position that I had no idea how to handle but all these years, I’ve just been going with it because it was what everyone expected of me. I took the role and failed. Many, many times. I never wanted to be queen, never wanted to take leadership of an entire kingdom. Then all of a sudden, because I’m the princess and my life is so perfect, everyone suddenly hates me and blames it on me. And I took responsibility. Because it WAS my fault. The point is, Cass, no matter what happens, no matter how angry you are, how angry I am, I will always, ALWAYS love you. You made some mistakes, so what? You’re HUMAN. And you were in PAIN. You can’t hold that against yourself. I wish things would’ve gone a lot better, I admit. And I am still upset about what happened too. About how you turned your back on me. And left. And didn’t show up for MONTHS. I was so worried, Cass, and I was hurt. Not hurt for myself, but hurt for you. Cause I had NO idea what you were going through. I wanted to help but I knew I couldn’t because I was the CAUSE of your pain. Or at least part of it. I love you Cassandra and I will keep saying it until you REALIZE how much you ARE loved, how much I don’t blame you, and how much I want to move forward. With you. You’re hurt. I’m hurt. But we’re still here, aren’t we? Still friends. BEST friends. Whatever happens, whatever threat is brought to us, whatever obstacles that pull us back, we will deal with it. Together. I know it’s hard for you but you can’t keep going through this alone, Cass. This is the first time I’m hearing any of these feelings. You’re not going to progress, or get anywhere for that matter, and it’s going to pull you down to a point where you won’t be able to return. As much as I HATE seeing you go through ANY amount of pain, I can’t fix it for you. I will certainly try and do everything I can, but you have to start to mend for yourself as well. You NEED to LIVE for yourself. Not for me. Not for your dad. Not for Corona. Yourself. It doesn’t matter what they think. It doesn’t matter what anyone thinks. And until you face all these feelings instead of ignoring them and pushing them down, it’s going to overflow and explode ten times over. And this time, it will be A LOT worse. You’re an AMAZING, brilliant, BEAUTIFUL person Cass. And until you can finally see what I see, what Eugene sees, what your father sees, you are going to crumple and break. You need to mend your shattered pieces and stand up tall and be the powerful, strong, confident person I know you are. Whether you need to leave and never return to Corona, whether you need to do dangerous acts to get that back, then so be it. Do what YOU want Cass. Not what everyone expects you to do. Live for yourself. Breath for yourself. Stand proud of yourself. Because you deserve the world. Whether you think so or not, you DESERVE so much more. You’ve worked harder than anyone I have ever met to get where you are. You’re determined. But you’re gonna have to keep fighting, Cass, and never stop. Because the moment you do stop, you’ve already lost. Do you understand?”

Rapunzel was nearly out of breath from her very long speech but Cassandra was rendered speechless. She never heard Rapunzel talk like that before. Never knew what she was going through. Never knew this is how she FELT. She only stared at the passionate princess with her mouth agape for a moment or two before her walls shattered. She fell to her knees, Rapunzel was by her side in an instant, and she started sobbing. Not the type of sobbing that someone does when the ‘love of their life’ cheated on them. She was full-on, very-loud, snot and spit flying from her face, ugly-crying. The kind of sobbing that made your entire body shake violently. She cried like she never cried before.

The moment she hit the floor, Rapunzel had pulled her into her arms. Cassandra clung onto her like her life depended on it, like Rapunzel was the air she so desperately needed to survive. Rapunzel rested her on top of Cassandra’s and rubbed her hand lovingly up and down her back. She stayed silent and for that she was grateful. Everything that had built up from the last couple years was pouring out of her like a waterfall. She cried and cried for what felt like hours. And it probably WAS hours. Rapunzel didn’t move an inch the whole time. Eventually though, her sobs turned into small hiccups and sniffles as she still tightly clung onto Rapunzel. Her energy spent, she slowly started to unclench her fists that were clung tightly onto the princess’s dress.

Her voice dry, scratchy and hoarse, she finally spoke. “I-I’m sorry..” It was barely a whisper but Rapunzel heard it nonetheless.

“Shh..,” Rapunzel responded, her voice soft while rubbing her back in small circles. “Don’t apologize, Cass.”

“N-no..,” Cassandra cleared her throat and leaned back away from the princess, sitting on her knees, her eyes red and puffy. “...For everything.”

Rapunzel gave her the sweetest smile as she cupped Cassandra’s cheek, wiping away her tears. Cassandra leaned into her warmth. “I know,” She responded. “I’m sorry too.” Cassandra could only nod.

And for once, since she was planning to take the moonstone, she could finally look Rapunzel in the eye.