Romance Fan Fiction / Other Fan Fiction ❯ Cassunzel Short Stories ❯ A Friend ( Chapter 11 )
Rapunzel stared at her former best friend standing in all her glory in front of her. "Cass, you need to stop this. This isn't you."
Cassandra sneered. "And who are you to decide that?"
"I am your friend, I would-"
"Friend?" Cassandra repeated. "Some 'friend' you are."
"I AM your friend, Cass, I-"
"No, no Rapunzel, if you were my friend you would not have treated me as you did."
"What are you talking about? Cassandra-" She was interrupted again.
"The fact that you have no clue makes it even worse! If you were my friend, you wouldn't have treated me like I was below you!"
"What? Cass, I always treated you as if you were equal with me, I always treated you with respect!"
"Really?" Cassandra asked in disbelief.
"Yes, I-"
"The Challenge of the Brave. That time you stuck me in a cell with Eugene after I was pissed off at him for touching something that had meaning to me. Oh, let's not forget! Every time I tried to warn you, tried to protect you, tried to protect the group, myself, you always outlawed me! I had no choice but to sit back and agree or suddenly I'm the bad guy, I'm wrong, like my opinion never even mattered in the first place! I nearly got myself killed because you refused to listen to me!"
"I didn't have a choice! And I apologized!"
"No, no you didn't Rapunzel. You were sorry because I got hurt. But yet, you still stood by what happened. You made it seem like it was my fault. No, you basically said it was my fault! You weren't sorry that you didn't listen to me. You weren't sorry because of how it happened. You were sorry for yourself. Every little thing I have ever done, I did for you. And yet, after everything I did for you, you still chose Adira over me! And now, when I finally did something for myself, I'm suddenly the bad guy and everyone's against me!"
"Well, you did kidnap Varian.." Rapunzel mumbled. What else was she supposed to say?
"And is he hurt? No. Did I wreak havoc on Corona? No. I should've burnt Corona to the ground, but I didn't. Yet, there's wanted posters of me everywhere and I'm Corona's enemy!"
"Cass, I know we've had our.. faults this past year. But this isn't just my fault, you should've talked-"
"Are you serious?" Cassandra sneered. "I tried! But you were to stuck in your ways, you didn't see it, you didn't listen! Hell, everyone saw it! Even Fitzherbert saw it! Somewhere along the line you stopped trusting me. Somewhere along the line you became my boss instead of my friend!"
"Cass, I am your friend-"
"Really? Because a friend wouldn't neglect you. A friend wouldn't treat you like you didn't matter." Cassandra started walking towards Rapunzel, her eyes filled with rage. Rapunzel started backing up, her hands up defensively. "A friend wouldn't constantly remind you that you are below them. A friend wouldn't disregard your feelings. A friend wouldn't stop trusting you. A friend wouldn't suddenly start agreeing with someone they knew for 5 minutes rather than someone they called their 'best friend'!" Rapunzel was backed up into a wall, her squeezed shut in fear, preparing for the inevitable.
"And you know what else a friend wouldn't do?" Cassandra said, her voice barely above a whisper. Rapunzel slowly opened her eyes. Cassandra was 5 feet away from her. Her eyes were still filled with rage, but there was also immense hurt in them. "Look at you as if you're a monster."
Rapunzel took a step forward and reached a hand out. "Cass-"
Cassandra turned away. "Goodbye, Rapunzel." With that, she opened up a wall that led to a staircase to lead her down to safety. Without looking at her, Cassandra said: "I'll lower Varian down to safety. I already got what I needed." Her voice was barely above a whisper.
Once Rapunzel stepped onto the staircase the wall began to close. "Cass-" Rapunzel tried one last time. The wall stopped closing, only for a second. Rapunzel wanted to say so much. But what could she say when she knew Cassandra was right? Sorry? She knew that sorry wasn't enough. Realizing there was nothing she could say, she only responded with: "...Thank you." Cassandra turned away and closed the wall.
Once Rapunzel reached the outside, Varian and Eugene were already safely on the ground and her other friends were already there. Rapunzel stayed silent. They decided not to press as they all made their way back to Corona. Rapunzel stopped and looked back. She couldn't see Cass, but she knew Cass could see her.
Whispering, she vowed: "I'll fix this. I promise." With that, she turned back around and headed towards Corona.