Romance Fan Fiction ❯ Enemy of the Stars (A Stars Above Sequel) ❯ Chapter 4: Packing ( Chapter 4 )

[ X - Adult: No readers under 18. Contains Graphic Adult Themes/Extreme violence. ]

Warnings: Talks of suicide and serious subjects and ofc: major angst.

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Cassandra and Rapunzel have been packing all day. They had to pick and choose what they could keep and what they couldn’t considering they couldn’t bring everything with them. Fortunately for them, Rapunzel’s father let them have a small caravan that rarely got used for the road. It was small but it had a kitchen and two bedrooms; a master for Cassandra and Rapunzel and a baby room for Nova. Rapunzel was going through old boxes when a photo caught her eye. 

 

Picking it up, she inspected the foreign photo. It was Cassandra, she was crouching, wearing her usual cocky smirk, and was dressed in an outfit Rapunzel had never seen her in. She had never seen this photo either. “Hey, Cass?” Rapunzel called. 

 

Cassandra placed down the object she was holding and turned in her direction. “Yeah, Raps?”

 

Not completely looking at her, she kept her eyes trained on the photo as she took in every detail; an artist problem. “Where did this come from?” She asked, finally looking over her shoulder at her wife. Cassandra walked in her direction and when her eyes fell on the photo, something in her eyes changed. She wore a slightly pained, distant expression as Rapunzel handed her the photo. Cassandra took it hesitantly and looked down at it.

 

“Huh, I forgot about this…” She mumbled, staring at the photo. Rapunzel grew slightly concerned at the expression on her face.

 

“Where did it come from?”

 

Cassandra sighed, knowing she couldn’t get out of talking about where this photo came from. She tore her eyes away from the photo to meet Rapunzel’s curious ones. “Do you remember when I told you that I met someone out on the road?”

 

Rapunzel thought for a second, trying to recall the moment before her eyes lit up in realization. “The one who turned their back on you? Who, now I’m assuming, wasn’t a male.”

Cassandra chuckled. “No, she wasn’t a male. But yeah, that was taken about a year and a half after I left Corona."

 

Rapunzel tilted her head and gave her a teasing smile, hoping to relit her spirits a bit. Knowing Cassandra, she could tell that this was a tough subject for her. I mean, why wouldn’t it be? The woman turned her back on her when she needed her most. “Why do you never wear this outfit? You look hot.”

 

Cassandra rolled her eyes with a smile. “It got pretty much destroyed after I tried to escape prison.”

 

“You tried to escape prison?”

 

“Correction: I did escape prison.” Cassandra winked at her. “I told you, I have a lot of enemies.”

 

Rapunzel giggled. “Of course you do.” Then she paused as a thought came to mind. She hoped that this next question wasn’t too much… “...What was she like?” 

 

Something about the question caught Cassandra’s attention and she felt obligated to respond. But she hesitated. She hadn’t talked about her ever since… ever since she told Rapunzel about her two years ago. Rapunzel was starting to think she wasn’t gonna answer until a small, pained smile formed on her face. “The complete opposite of you, actually,” She started. “Think of Stallion… but worse.” Cass shrugged. “Honestly, I don’t know what I saw in her. Maybe a part of me wanted to ‘fix’ her or something.” She winked at Rapunzel. “Something I learned from you.” Rapunzel giggled. Cassandra traced the picture with her thumb and sighed. “Something about her just… pulled me in. Deep down, I felt so alone - I needed someone. I was still pretty upset after… everything that happened and at the time, I thought I ruined the relationship that we had. So when she started showing some interest in me, I mistook lonesome for love.” She gently placed the picture face down on the desk. “I didn’t want to be alone but I knew I couldn’t go back home. At least, not yet. Honestly - I thought I would never return but apparently, the pull to see you again was too strong.” Cassandra looked up to meet her eyes. “I guess I just wanted to feel like I was a part of something important; an important part of someone’s life again. I missed all the red flags, stupidly on my part, so when she deceived me and left me behind…” Cassandra shook her head. “I couldn’t help but think I deserved it. I mean, I did the same to you. And that was the first time… I realized how much it really hurt to love someone and trust them only for them to turn their back on you when you need them most.”

 

“Oh, Cass…” Rapunzel placed a comforting hand on her arm. “I’m so sorry…”

 

Cassandra smiled. “It’s in the past, it doesn’t matter now. I don’t think I ever really loved her anyway - at least, I didn't love her, love her… she was just a distraction to get my mind off of you.”

 

“It still must’ve hurt so much..” 

 

Cassandra shrugged and looked away. “It never would have worked out anyway. We got into a lot of fights - and I don’t mean just yelling matches here and there, I mean all the time. Most of them were nearly physical. She was mean, rude, egotistical, and only cared for herself. I don’t know what I saw in her. I think it was because I was desperate - and I thought that I didn’t deserve better. I guess I was punishing myself for all the pain and heartache I caused.. you. And all of Corona.”

 

Rapunzel suddenly wrapped her arms around the warrior’s torso and hugged her tightly. “I’m sorry you had to go through that..” She whispered. “...It must’ve been so hard; feeling so alone and lost... I should’ve gone with you..”

 

Cassandra smiled at her wife’s empathy and wrapped an arm around her. “You know as well I do that you couldn’t. At the time, it seemed like we both had separate paths. Your place was here and mine was.. well.. not here. I needed to figure some things out on my own... without you. And I did. And I realized that without you, my life meant nothing without you being a part of it. I never would have figured that out if I hadn’t left. Besides, I was still scared of… accidentally hurting you. I had nightmares for weeks.. of the time I had the moonstone. I had nightmares about what would have happened and how bad it could have been... If Zhan Tiri hadn't taken the stone when she did. Or even before that. If you hadn’t caught yourself in time or weren’t able to use the stone to fight me… It could have been really, really bad. The worst part is - at the time - I didn’t even care if you got hurt.” Cassandra took a shaky breath. Rapunzel only hugged her tighter. “...I wanted to hurt you. And even now, I still can’t understand it. I don't know what I was thinking or if I even was thinking. All I remember is rage and pain. I still can’t figure out how I could snoop so low… to the point where I wanted to hurt you. Where I wanted to hurt anybody. I can’t even fathom it. Out on the road, all I could think about was how disappointed the person I was before would be. Once upon a time ago, after I got to know you, I swore to myself that I would protect you and never let anything bad happen to you. But then I was the one who nearly…” She couldn’t even finish that sentence. Cassandra swallowed, trying to hold back tears.

 

“I felt the same way,” Rapunzel whispered. “...about how I treated you and everything else I did that led up to that point. About how I nearly completely took off your hand… and then blamed you for it. About how I pushed you aside and ignored your feelings even after telling you that you could talk to me. I treated you less like a friend or rather less as a ‘best friend’ as I often said, and more as a servant; a follower. I turned my back on you long before you turned yours on me. Maybe it wasn’t intentional - because I would never want to hurt you - but deep down, I knew that I was hurting you and I just… ignored it. I told myself that I was gonna fix all of it when we got home but when you grabbed the moonstone, I realized that I waited too long and was already too late.”

 

Cassandra pulled her in closer. “Guess we’ve both done some pretty horrible things to each other, huh?”

Rapunzel smiled and cuddled into her chest. “Yeah, but that’s what makes us so special.” She pulled back to look her in the eyes as she wrapped her arms around her neck. “The fact that we’ve both done such horrible things to each other and yet, we’re still here, together, stronger than ever… it really says a lot about who we are and how strong our relationship is.”

Cassandra smiled and placed her hand on her cheek. The princess leaned into it. “It means we can conquer anything together.”

 

Rapunzel nodded and smiled before she stood on her tippy toes and placed a small, soft kiss on the warrior’s lips before pulling away. “Yeah,” She whispered. “...It does.”

 

“And this time is no different,” Cassandra whispered back. “Everything’s gonna be fine as long as we’re together…”

 

Rapunzel couldn’t help but giggle. “Is that like a hidden message or something?” 

 

Cassandra looked away with a shy grin at being caught. “...Maybe?” Rapunzel shook her head with a smile. But then Cassandra looked back at her and gave her an empathetic expression as she rubbed her thumb across her cheek. “You’re not alone in this, you know that, right?”

 

Anyone that didn’t know Rapunzel like Cassandra did would say that she seemed completely fine. But Cassandra noticed how just for a split second, her smile faltered and something entered her eyes before she forced another smile and nodded. “Yeah.” She responded. “I know.” 

 

“Do you?” Cassandra asked herself.

 

Before she could read much further into it, Rapunzel pulled away, and for some reason, deep down, Cassandra felt like she didn't just pull away from her embrace… somehow in her heart, she felt like Rapunzel pulled herself away from her completely. It left Cass feeling cold and empty. Rapunzel’s fake smile never faltered. “I’m gonna take a walk, okay?” 

 

Cassandra was about to offer to go with her because she really, really wanted to but she knew that Rapunzel wanted to be alone. “...Okay.” She responded hesitantly. “Don’t go too far - and be careful, okay?”

 

Rapunzel’s smile faltered for a second as she gave her a somber smile. “I will. I’ll be back later.” Cass nodded and before she could even so much as say ‘I love you', because they never left each other without saying it, Rapunzel was out the door, silent as a mouse. For some reason, Cass felt deep down that she was slowly losing the princess. Like Rapunzel just detached herself away from Cassandra’s heart and broke their connection. She felt cold, empty, and… scared. 

 

----------------------------------------------------

Rapunzel sat in front of the streaming river, her hair blowing through the air. Sighing, she sat down and hugged her knees close to her body. Pascal squeaked and nudged her worriedly. Rapunzel smiled and gently rubbed his little head. “I’m fine, buddy.” Pascal gave her an ‘I’m not buying that bullshit’ look and Rapunzel’s smile fell. “Okay, maybe I’m not. But I will be. Eventually.” She paused. “...I hope.” Pascal squeaked a couple of times and Rapunzel shook her head. “No, I’m not gonna talk to Cass.” A couple more squeaks. “Yes, I know that she understands what’s happening more than I do and I get she only wants to help. But it’s only making it worse - talking about it... Is only making it worse. Thinking about it is making it worse.” Rapunzel sighed and lay her head on top of her knees. Pascal wasn’t giving up. “I know she’s worried and I know I promised her I would tell her eventually. But every time I want to, I back out.” Pascal squeaked. “No, I’m not ignoring it.” He crossed his tiny arms and gave her a deadpan expression. Rapunzel only huffed. “Okay, so what if I am? None of it matters because I'm fine. I don't know what all of you are so worried about. I can take care of myself and can deal with my own baggage. I've done it my whole life, it's nothing I can't handle.”

 

Pascal squeaked. “Dammit Pascal, I know that I don’t have to do this alone but I don’t want help and I most certainly don’t need it! I’ll figure it out myself, I don’t need any of you!” The hurt that flashed across Pascal’s face made Rapunzel drop out of her stupor as she realized what she just said. “P-Pascal, I didn’t-” The little chameleon only shook his head, an angry expression Rapunzel had never seen before placed upon his features, as he climbed down Rapunzel’s arm and started to walk away. “Pascal, buddy, wait, t-that’s not what I meant!” But he didn’t listen. He only shook his head and hopped away. Rapunzel groaned and ran her hands down her face. “Stupid, stupid, stupid…” She mumbled before peering into the stream. She looked at her reflection and realized… she didn’t recognize the girl staring back at her. Who was she turning into? Who was she anyway? Rapunzel didn’t know anymore. But suddenly, her reflection slowly turned into another.

 

“Why, hello there.” Rapunzel immediately jumped at the voice. She spun around and backed up quickly to see Azriel standing a few feet behind her. Rapunzel looked on her person then mentally cursed herself for not bringing a weapon with her.

 

“G-Get away from me!” She yelled, again mentally cursing herself for sounding so scared. Azriel only chuckled. “What do you want??”

 

“Oh, I’m pretty sure you know,” Azriel responded. Rapunzel stayed quiet. “But you want that anyway, don’t you?”

 

“What?” Rapunzel asked in disbelief at the accusation. “No!”

 

Azriel raised an eyebrow. “Don’t lie to me. I invaded your thoughts and heart remember? I know everything about you.” He suddenly smirked. “I know all about that family of yours as well. How’s your daughter?”

 

Rapunzel narrowed her eyes. “You leave them out of this!"

 

“Oh, don’t worry, I have no need for them. I won’t harm them unless I really have to and if that dike of yours keeps making it difficult…”

 

Rapunzel clenched her fist tightly. “Don’t talk about her like that!”

 

“Oh, did I strike a nerve?” He asked with a tilt of his head. Then he chuckled darkly. “Do you honestly think they need you? I mean - think about all the trouble you’ve caused since you left that wretched tower. You’ve gotten Corona destroyed, what? Three times? And you turned your own friend against you? Scratch that - two friends? And people call you a 'hero', a 'savior'. Pathetic.” He spat.

 

“S-Stop, you’re just trying to get into my head..!”

 

“Maybe,” Azriel admitted. “But am I wrong? Corona was a happy place before you came around. Safe, secure, and no dangerous, life-threatening magic nor were there any dangerous enemies attacking Corona. You’ve only made things worse. They’d be better off with you. And, oh the pain you’re causing everyone… especially that lover of yours. I saw bits and pieces inside her mind too. She was able to block me out - but what I saw..." He smirked. "You’re only hurting her; time and time again. When will it ever stop?”

 

“S-Stop…”

 

“And besides…” He smirked. “You’re a danger to them anyway.”

 

Rapunzel stopped, her eyes widening. “W-What?”

 

“Do you really think those dreams you’ve been having are just dreams? No, they’re visions.”

 

“B-But I would never…”

 

He grinned widely. “Maybe not on purpose. These outbursts you’ve been having are no coincidence.”

 

Rapunzel looked in front of her, her eyes wide with horror. “N-No, I w-wouldn’t… I-I’d never..” 

 

While she wasn’t looking, Azriel let out a triumphant smirk. “Unless…” 

 

Rapunzel snapped her head up. “Unless…?”

 

“Unless you fulfill your fate. Then no one will get hurt.” Rapunzel was about to respond with no but then she stopped. They really don’t need her, do they? He was right - ever since she returned to Corona, all she has done is cause trouble and pain. They needed her, right? ….Right? Or would they really be better off without her? If she wasn’t around, she wouldn't always be putting the people she loves in danger… but if she dies... She’d just cause more pain. Cassandra had told her countless times about how she felt when Rapunzel supposedly ‘died’. But is it really worth putting her life in danger…? Cassandra would get over it... They all would... Would they…? 

 

Rapunzel fell to her knees in horror. Azriel smirked upon seeing the conflicted expression on the princess’s face. Good. His plan was working. He had been feeding this girl horrific events for weeks now. But he was serious - all the dreams he had been feeding her weren’t fake. They really were visions; of her future, if she lived. He was the one who put all those conflicted thoughts into her head that were making her act the way she has been acting. He was the one bringing her down and he couldn’t be happier to do so. He always loved watching the bright, positive ones fall and break. They didn’t come often - and no one was more bright and positive than the sunshine princess. He loved watching his experiments slowly descend into madness and darkness. 

 

“Rapunzel!” Azriel growled in annoyance. That damn girl… she keeps ruining everything! “Hey, get away from her!”

 

Azriel turned to Rapunzel and narrowed his eyes. “Think about what I said.” With that, he disappeared into thin air. 

 

“Raps!” Cassandra was by Rapunzel’s side in a second as she placed her hands on her cheeks and checked the princess for injuries. “Are you okay? Did he hurt-”

Rapunzel grabbed the warrior’s hands and pushed them away. “I’m fine, Cass..”

 

That wasn’t normal… Cassandra hardened his eyes. “What did he say to you?”

 

Rapunzel ignored her and slowly got to her feet. Cassandra followed as Rapunzel started to walk past her, arms wrapped around herself. “Raps?” She took a step forward but Rapunzel turned her head and glared at her.

 

“Don’t follow me.” 

 

“But-”

 

“Don’t. Follow. Me.” Cassandra was taken aback by the tone of her voice. Rapunzel has never talked to her like that…

“There’s no way that I’m leaving you alone after-”

 

“Cassandra,” Rapunzel clenched her teeth together. Cassandra winced at the tone of her voice. “I just need to be alone.”

 

“No, what you need is-”

 

Rapunzel whipped around on her, a wave of anger like never before storming through her golden-green eyes. Cassandra even had to take a step back. “Stop telling me what I need and what I don't need! You don’t know what I need!”

 

Cassandra matched her anger. She was tired of this. “And you do?? You told me to be patient but things just seem to keep getting worse!”

 

“I can take ca-”

 

“Can you?! You keep saying that but you keep proving yourself wrong!”

 

“You have no idea-”

 

“You’re right, I don’t, because you won’t talk to me!”

 

“Did it ever occur to you that I don’t want to talk about it?” Her voice was cold and sharp.

“Yes, it has! Because that’s what you do! You need to stop running and face your problems for once in your damn life!”

“Oh-ho,” Rapunzel laughed bitterly. “You’re seriously talking to me about ‘running’?!”

 

“What the hell is that supposed to mean?” Cassandra asked cooly. Rapunzel didn't care that her tone turned dark and cold.

 

Rapunzel only narrowed her eyes and matched her cold stare. “You can’t chastise me for ‘running’ when that’s what you've been doing your whole life! You’ve even said it yourself!”

 

“Yeah,” Cassandra nodded. “But I actually did something about it and I faced it.”

 

Rapunzel let out another bitter laugh. “By ‘facing it’ you mean turning your back on everyone? At least I have the sense to not turn my back on everyone I claimed I cared about!”

 

Cassandra was taken aback by the insult. But it enraged her more than anything. Because how dare she. “So that’s what you call this? Not turning your back on everyone? Because I know for damn sure that is a bullshit lie.”

 

“How am I-”

 

“You’ve turned your back on me, on Nova, hell, you’ve turned your back on yourself!”

 

Rapunzel clenched her fist. “Yeah, well, at least I’m still here.”

 

“Are you? Because you haven’t been here here for weeks! God, when are you gonna learn that you’re not in this by yourself?!” 

 

“I don’t need your help!” Rapunzel shouted back.

 

“Why can’t you see that you do?!”

 

“Because I’m fine-”

 

“Don’t you dare!” Cassandra cut her off. “You’re only lying to yourself and me because you have proved time and time again that you’re not! Why can’t you see that?!”

 

“Ugh, dammit Cassandra, it’ll go away! If I ignore it long enough, it’ll stop!”

 

Cassandra crossed her arms and raised an eyebrow. “Yeah, and how is that going for you?” When Rapunzel didn’t respond, Cassandra narrowed her eyes. “Exactly.” Sighing, she ran her fingers through her hair and down her face before she remet the princess's angry eyes. “If you keep ignoring whatever this is, it’s only gonna get worse. Why won’t you just talk to me??”

 

“Why won’t you just leave me alone about it?!”

 

“Because I’m scared that you’re gonna end up doing something stupid!” 

 

Rapunzel pretty much growled. “Well, maybe I will!”

 

Cassandra stopped at that. “...What? ...No, you don’t mean that.”

 

“The hell I don’t! You really wanna know what Azriel said to me?” Her tone was bitter and venomous. “He told me that if I don’t, everyone will end up dead! Those dreams I’ve been having - they weren’t dreams, they were visions! Everyone was dead because of me!”

“That doesn’t even make sense. You would never-”

 

"No purposeful, maybe, but I thought that too before I nearly burnt your hand off! And it’s gonna happen again and this time, you won’t survive! Nova won’t survive! No one will survive!”

 

“Are you seriously gonna believe what some idiot told you? Especially considering that idiot is trying to get rid of you? He’ll say anything to make you break!”

 

“Well, he’s succeeded!” Cassandra pulled back in surprise. Rapunzel continued, her voice becoming angrier and even more distraught as she tightly hugged herself. “I’m so done with everything. The fighting, the back and forth, the constant danger over our heads… All I’ve done since I’ve returned to Corona is put everyone in danger. I turned not one but two people close to me against me because of careless mistakes. Corona has nearly been destroyed multiple times because of me. The more I try to fix everything, the more I seem to make things worst! Every time I think it’s over - that it’s finally over - some other deranged magical creature comes after me! Corona was a safe place before I came around, the people were safe, and you were safe. So what’s the point in even trying anymore when all the facts are directly in front of me?”

 

Cassandra shook her head, taking a step towards her. “Rapunzel, Corona was a horrible place before you arrived. The streets were deserted, the king executed and imprisoned even the smallest of criminals, and the people hated each other; they were against each other. It was nothing like it is now. The only time the people got together was in celebratory of you in hopes that someday you would return. Before you, I had no one. Absolutely no one. My father was never around, I was bullied and pushed around, and the only actual ‘friend’ I had was Owl. Which made kids despise me even more!” 

 

“...But at least you were safe...” 

 

“I’d rather have constant danger hanging over my head than be alone again.” 

 

“But you’re not alone anymore, you have Nova, Eugene… all of them.”

 

Cassandra continued to take small steps toward her, hoping that she wouldn’t run. “And who do you think is the reason for that?”

 

“...Then you don’t need me anymore.”

 

“The hell I don’t. I always need you. And you need me, whether you want to admit it or not. I experienced what life would be without you. And let me tell you, as I’ve said, a life without you - isn’t a life worth living. If you really did leave me again…” Cassandra shook her head. “...Nova would be without both parents. And do you really want to put our daughter through that? Do you really wanna make her an orphan?” At this point, Cassandra was only an arm's length away.

 

“...You’d be fine. You both would.”

 

“No, Rapunzel,” Cassandra responded. “No, we wouldn’t. Because I promise you, if you left me again, I’m going down with you without any hesitation.” She reached out for her with the same hand that Rapunzel burnt all those years ago. Rapunzel backed up a couple of feet in fear. Not fear of Cassandra but fear of herself.

“Did you not hear me when I said everyone’s gonna die?”

 

“Did you not hear me when I said that everything’s gonna be fine?”

 

“You don’t know that…”

 

“I do. Because, as I said, everything’s gonna be fine as long as we’re together. I see it - why can’t you? Think about everything we’ve survived through together. We’ve been through worse than this and we’ll get through it again. I don’t care what that man showed you - fates, destines… it can all be changed. They're not set in stone and you should know that better than anybody.”

 

“What I know is that I don’t have a ‘destiny’. I thought I knew what it was but now... I don't even know anymore.”

 

“That’s not true, everyone does.”

 

“Then, please Cassandra, tell me what it is?” She responded bitterly.

 

Cassandra sighed. “...I don’t know. I can’t figure that out for you.” 

 

“Exactly. So who’s to say that this isn’t?”

 

“And who’s to say that it is? Because some demon, a literal demon who wants to kill you, said so? Come on Raps, you’re smarter than that. He’s just trying to get into your head… and he’s succeeded. And that’s what makes all this even more dangerous. If you’re seriously scared that you’re gonna end up hurting us… then you need to get into a better mindset. All the stones run on emotion and this new one is no different; you should know that by now. So if he’s telling you this bullshit, then that means he wants you to be in a bad mindset so you either end up doing it yourself or by some chance, you do turn and it ends up destroying you. He’s saying anything and everything that he knows will hurt you. He knows you have a good heart and he’s playing that against you. He knows that by telling you this ‘possibility’, because that’s what it is, a possibility, you’ll end up sacrificing yourself and do the job for him. He’s playing you Raps. I should know better than anybody because I went through it myself. You saw how Zhan Tiri twisted the lies and the truth. You saw how she played my own emotions against me to get me to do evil deeds and turn into someone I thought I never could be. She made me believe that you were the enemy and that what I was doing wasn’t bad. I was so far gone that I thought that hurting you, fighting you, was the right thing to do and when I finally realized I was the villain, I couldn’t even believe it. This guy is no different. He wants to bring you down. He wants to destroy you. He wants to twist your mind so much until you forget who you are and can’t figure out right from wrong. And you need to stop letting him.” Cassandra reached out again and this time, Rapunzel didn’t back away.

 

Cassandra figured that it was safe to finally step all the way forward. She walked forward until she stood barely an inch away from the princess. “I…” Rapunzel started. “I... I don’t know how..”

 

“Then let me help you,” Cassandra whispered. Cass raised her hand and for a split second, Rapunzel winced; every muscle and instinct in her body telling her to run; to run and never return. But she didn’t. For once, she didn’t run as Cass placed her hand on her cheek. “I don’t want to force you into anything Raps and I’ve been patient. But enough is enough. There comes a point when… when it’s just so bad.. that I have to forcefully step in. And it’s gotten to that point. Whether you want me to or not... I’m going to push you and keep pushing you. I’m going to ask you thousands of questions daily and I’m sure hell not leaving you alone even just for a second. You can be mad, scream at me, you can push me away, I don’t care. It’s my obligation to take care of you and if it means that you slowly start to hate me, then so be it.”

 

“...I could never hate you.” 

 

Cass gave her a sweet smile as she rubbed her thumb over her cheek. “We’ll see.” Rapunzel looked downward, making the warrior’s smile fall. “Raps,” Cassandra said softly, hooking her thumbs under her chin and directing her eyes back to hers. Cassandra grasped her hand and interlocked their fingers. “It’s killing me seeing you go through… whatever this is. You’re seriously starting to scare me. So, if you won’t put in the effort for yourself… if you won’t do this for yourself... then do it for me. And do it for Nova.” She paused. “...Please..” 

 

Rapunzel was about to stubbornly refuse again but then she met her eyes… What Rapunzel saw was nothing like she’s ever seen before in Cassandra’s eyes. True, undeniable fear. As well as hopelessness and… guilt? There were so many different emotions in Cassandra’s eyes that Rapunzel couldn’t even decipher all of them. Cass has never shown this much emotion before - or at least, it has never been bad enough where it has shown through. Cassandra was great at masking her emotions but this was the first time Rapunzel had seen so many different emotions coursing through her lovers' eyes… and they weren't the good kind either. Has she really been scaring her lover this much…? How she’s been acting... Has it really affected Cassandra as much as her eyes told her it has?

 

Has she really been causing her this much pain by keeping to herself…? She thought that Cassandra was the selfish one, the one that was in the wrong by constantly nagging her about her personal well-being… But Cass was right, as always. She said vows. She can’t do what she’s always done in the past because her life wasn’t just her life anymore. She shared a life with Cassandra, they are one, they were a package. She always nagged Cass about her feelings and now… she knows how it feels. Now she realized that she was the selfish one. She promised Cassandra that they would go through everything together; emotions and all. And over the past couple of years, Cassandra had played into that role and hadn’t left her in the dark. She thought that she was doing the same but apparently, she wasn’t. Cassandra was the only one putting in the effort.

 

Ironic, isn’t it? The roles were usually switched. How did Rapunzel get so deep into her own mind that she continuously pushed the warrior away? How did she not realize that she was not the only one affected by this unbearable pain? How could she forget that their hearts were one - that they were connected? How did she ever forget that she wasn’t alone anymore…? She was stupid, oblivious, and selfish, that was the answer. 

 

Rapunzel looked down at their interlocked fingers; their rings gleaming in the sunlight. How could she be so stupid? This isn’t the first time she’s made this mistake… when will she ever learn? Rapunzel bit her bottom lip to try and hold back the tears that started to form. She realized she hasn’t cried once throughout all of this. She had been so busy trying to block out the emotions, so scared of what they meant, that she actually forgot to feel them. And that’s what was happening. With this newfound realization, she found she couldn’t hold it in anymore. She couldn’t hold any of it anymore.

 

Just like she always did, Cassandra knew what was coming and before Rapunzel could break down, she was pulled into the warrior's strong arms. As soon as she did, the dam broke. Rapunzel wrapped both arms around the warrior’s torso, her sobs wracking throughout her body so much that she could barely keep herself upright. Cassandra eventually brought them both to the floor. Rapunzel never let go, she only tightened her hold. It was all she knew how to do at the moment; cry and hold on.

“Shh…” Cassandra soothed as she dug her hand in her hair. “...It’s okay... I’m here...” Cass couldn’t help but squeeze her eyes shut to hold back her own tears. Every sob that wracked throughout the princess's body, every tremble that shook her person, ripped Cassandra’s heart into pieces more and more. Rapunzel said something that sounded a lot like ‘I’m sorry' but it was so broken and shaky, it was barely audible. But Cass knew what she said anyway. She always did. “...Hey, don’t be. It’s okay.” Rapunzel gripped her shirt so tightly her knuckles were turning white. “...I’m here sweetheart... I’m here..” As Cassandra pulled the princess in her lap and started rocking her back and forth, she could feel their broken connection being mended. 

For the first time since all this has begun… that empty, cold feeling she felt once before turned into warmth and security. Rapunzel had finally allowed her back in… She could feel her again.

And she knew Rapunzel felt the same way.