Romance Fan Fiction ❯ Enemy of the Stars (A Stars Above Sequel) ❯ Chapter 12: The Beginning of Something New ( Chapter 12 )
It had been a couple of weeks since Rapunzel and Cassandra ended up at the place they did. They still barely knew much about the place other than it was hidden from the public and wasn’t found unless you were directed there by the people who lived there. Which meant it was hidden from Azriel and his shadows. They also learned that the place was run by strong women who trained non-stop. Only women. The only men that seemed to live there was either family of someone who lived there or a kid.
After Cassandra and Rapunzel were emitted from the hospital, they were sent to an open place to live for the time being considering it was going to take some time before both women were back to their full potential. The only reason Cass agreed to stay was because that it was safe and there was no way they would survive back in the open land with the condition they were in. Rapunzel spent weeks barely eating and sleeping and considering her weight, her energy was zapped 95% of the time.
Although Nova was happy that both of her parents were okay, she still refused to talk to Rapunzel. Rapunzel tried on more than one occasion but she even refused to look at her. Of course, Rapunzel immediately reverted with that she ‘hated her’ so Cassandra had to remind her that she just needed time and that she needed to be patient. Rapunzel hated that she hurt her daughter and she wanted nothing more than to fix it but she knew Cassandra was right so, although it was hard, she gave her her time until Nova was ready to come to her.
Currently, it was late at night. Cassandra was passed out on the bed but Rapunzel, on the other hand, was staring at her skinny, cut-up body. Although she had gained some weight, she was still skin and bone. She stared at the scars on her arms with disgust as she traced them. Although Cass saw the scars as a positive thing, saying that they showed what she survived, Rapunzel herself was ashamed of them. She often wore long sleeve shirts nowadays to hide them.
Rapunzel heard a low groan behind her. Cassandra rubbed her tired eyes in the dark room as she propped herself up on her elbow. “Raps?” She asked into the darkness, her voice hoarse and tired. It took a second for Cassandra’s eyes to adjust to the darkness before they landed on Rapunzel, who was standing in front of the mirror.
“Hey, Cass,” The princess responded, her voice slightly sullen.
“You okay?” The warrior asked softly.
Rapunzel seemed to hesitate before nodding. “I’m okay,” She confirmed. “I didn’t mean to wake you up.”
“Don’t worry about it,” Cass yawned before sitting up. Rapunzel didn’t respond so Cassandra got to her feet and stood behind the princess before wrapping her arms around her stomach and pulling her back into her chest. They both stared at her reflection; both seeing a completely different person. “You sure you’re okay?”
“Yeah,” The princess confirmed a second time. Cassandra gave her a skeptical look. Rapunzel leaned back into her. “Really, Cass, I’m fine. I just…” Rapunzel paused before turning around to her arms. “...Can you help me with something?”
“Sure, what is it?” Cassandra responded with no hesitation.
“I want to cut my hair,” The princess responded quickly.
“Okay..” Cass tilted her head. “Is there a reason why?”
Rapunzel shrugged. “With everything that’s happened…” She trailed off. “...I just want to start off.. with a new beginning, you know?”
Cassandra nodded slowly. “I get that,” She responded. “What do you need help with? I doubt you want me to cut your hair, I can’t promise it’ll look very good.” Cassandra responded with a lop-sided smile.
Rapunzel giggled. “Yeah, that’s not happening.” She paused. “I just need some emotional support is all.”
Cass sat on the bed with a smile, her head resting on her knees. “I’m all here, baby.”
Rapunzel couldn’t help but smile. “You sure? This may take a while. I don’t want to keep you up all night.”
“Please, sleep is overrated anyway.”
Rapunzel giggled. “That’s not what you said a few weeks ago.”
“That was then, this is now.” Rapunzel rolled her eyes with a smile.
“Alright then,” The princess smiled, slightly rubbing the top of the warrior’s head as she passed by to the bathroom. It was something new that she started doing recently; occasionally ruffling Cassandra’s hair as she walked by or placing a hand on her shoulder. Cassandra honestly didn’t care as long as Rapunzel didn’t start repressing again. She kinda liked it, actually. "I’ll be out in a bit.”
“Mhm,” The warrior responded half-heartily as she watched the door shut to the bathroom with tired eyes.
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When Rapunzel said ‘be out in a bit’, she meant ‘be out the next morning’. Cassandra was barely awake as she propped herself on her elbow to try and keep herself up. She let out a tired yawn as she leaned back. It was then that she heard the door start to open. “About time,” Cassandra teased without looking at her. “When you said ‘in a bit’, I didn’t think you meant- woah.” Cassandra stopped short as she got a good look at her wife. Cassandra couldn’t help but stare at the princess’s seemingly well-done haircut in amazement. Rapunzel’s hair was about shoulder-length, the ends of it curling up, making it appear almost curly. Cassandra couldn’t stop staring. The haircut seemed to compliment her in the best way possible.
“So… what do you think?” Rapunzel asked eventually, shifting slightly under Cassanadra’s stare.
“You look…” Cassandra started, her voice nearly breathless. “...beautiful.” Cass quickly looked up to meet her eyes. “Not that you didn’t before,” The warrior quickly added. “But you just…” She shook her head and tried for a simple answer: “...It suits you.”
Knowing Cassandra, she knew exactly what she was trying to say. The princess smiled. “So you like it?”
Cass smiled and nodded. “I love it,” She responded. “...It kinda reminds me of when we first met. Although, with minor differences.” Cassandra got to her feet, making it over to the princess.
“Differences, hm?” Rapunzel asked. “Like what?” She tilted her head. In all honesty, she really didn’t care. But she loved compliments from her wife from time to time.
Cassandra smiled and cupped her cheek, pushing some stray hair behind her ear. “Definitely a difference in person. Then, you were so new to everything, young and carefree… still a child at heart. That’s what I saw then.” She paused, running her hand down her arm. “You wanna know what I see now?”
“What?” Rapunzel whispered, gazing into her eyes.
Cassandra smiled. “I see..” She trailed her hand down her side. “Someone strong… and resilient. A young woman who had to go through hell to get where she is and somehow… came out of it stronger. Before, you were so eager to please everyone and make everyone else happy… While now, you’re finally starting to focus on what make’s you happy instead of bending over backward for everyone else.” Cassandra paused and gave her one of those rare smiles and ran her thumb over her arm. “I’m proud of you.”
Rapunzel couldn’t help but smile. “T-Thanks, Cass.. that... that means a lot. Once upon a time ago, I didn’t think I’d get this far…” She looked downward.
Cassandra cupped her cheeks and pulled her forward so she could place a gentle kiss on her forehead. “Well, you did. Don’t ever forget that okay? You got yourself here.”
“..I had a little help.”
“Maybe, but you chose to want to get better, you chose to get help and you chose to keep working on it. We still may have some ways to go… but you’ve come so far already. Don’t sell yourself so short.”
Rapunzel leaned into Cassandra’s hand and turned to press a small kiss to it. “...I couldn’t have done any of this without you, Cassandra. You’ve been there for me since day one, even when no one else was. You stayed with me through everything, even the fights and the resistance… and the constant battling. I-I guess what I’m trying to say is... Thank you. Thank you for being..” Her voice started to break. “....f-for being everything I needed and the best possible partner I could ask for.”
Cassandra’s only response was a sweet smile and a loving kiss. As always, she was a woman of few words. But she showed how she truly felt through the loving kiss she shared with the princess. After nearly a minute, Cassandra pulled away. “I love you, Raps. And I will always, always be here when you need me. No matter what.”
Rapunzel nodded with a smile, tears in her eyes. “I know.” Suddenly, the princess looked down, her smile dropping. “A-And I’m sorry for everything that I put you through, I-I-” She didn’t get to finish. Cassandra softly shushed her with a finger to her lips.
“Don’t even,” Cass responded gently. “Don’t apologize… don’t apologize for hurting. I know you didn’t mean any of it, not really.” Wanting to cheer up the mood a bit, Cass added with an amused smile: “If we were to apologize for everything we’ve done to each other over the years, we’d be here all day.”
Her plan worked. Rapunzel giggled. “Yeah, I guess you’re right.”
Cassandra smirked. “When am I not?”
Rapunzel rolled her eyes with a smile. “And cocky.”
“Oh, yeah?” Cassandra teased, pulling the princess into her body by the loops of her pants; causing a surprised squeak to arise out of her. Cass leaned down and nuzzled her nose with her own. Rapunzel giggled and wrapped her arms around her neck.
“Yeah,” Rapunzel responded.
“Well, I could be like you; all insecure and what-not.” She teased.
“Hmpft, you’re one to talk.”
“Last time I checked I wasn’t the one who went all psycho.”
Rapunzel raised an eyebrow and crossed her arms. “I can name a couple of times, actually.” Rapunzel started counting off her fingers. “The time with the moonstone, that time you took out an entire village, that other time when you went all crazy upon seeing Gothel, that time when Nova was kidnapped and I had to basically corner you, oh! Let’s not forget the time a couple of weeks ago when you cornered and trapped me in our room to ‘punish me’, then the day after when you freaked out on me-”
“Okay, okay, I get it!” Cassandra quickly resorted. “You didn’t have to name every single time.”
“Oh, I didn’t,” Rapunzel smirked. “That was only the last couple of years. That was still only the tip of the iceberg.”
“Okay, so maaaybe I’ve had some… moments of my own.”
Rapunzel raised her eyebrow. “Maybe? It was just one time for me. I have years of… ‘freak-outs’ on you.”
“But none of those ‘freak-outs’ concerned me trying to take myself out.”
Rapunzel crossed her arms and eyed her. “That’s a lie and you know it,” She huffed. “You even admitted to me that when you had the moonstone, you contemplated it.”
Cassandra had to hide back a grin. She loved teasing the younger girl, especially when she made that cute pouting face. “‘Contemplated’ is the keyword.” Rapunzel let out another frustrated huff. Cassandra was about to tease her more because ever since Rapunzel’s mental health worsened, she hasn’t been able to do that much. But before she could get a word out, Rapunzel rolled her eyes, fully expecting the tease; but instead, she pulled down the warrior by gripping tightly onto her shirt and pressed her lips firmly against hers.
Cassandra was taken off guard at first but immediately melted into the kiss as she tilted the princess’s head back, making her let out a small moan. The kiss lasted for a couple of seconds before someone pulled away. Neither pulled away all the way through as their foreheads touched. “What was that for?” Cassandra mumbled, still staring at her lips.
Rapunzel giggled and Cassandra nearly groaned at how heated she sounded. “I was trying to get you to shut up.”
“Well, it worked,” Cassandra responded before giving her a suggestive, teasing smile. “You should do it again.”
Rapunzel rolled her eyes and smiled but otherwise recaught her lips. Cassandra smiled and melted into the kiss, relishing in the taste of Rapunzel’s lips against her own. Cassandra eventually pushed the princess against the wall, her lips never leaving hers. Cassandra lifted the girl by her bottom, making her let out a surprised squeak as her legs wrapped around Cassandra’s waist. Cassandra thrust into her making the younger woman throw her head back and moan.
Cassandra took the opportunity to attack her neck with kisses and nips, leaving already darkening hickeys wherever she could. Rapunzel would have stopped her but she was too far gone to care. Cassandra eventually recaught her lips before carrying her over to the bed and dropping her onto it. With that, she crawled up the princess’s body before taking her position above her; catching her lips in another fiery kiss. Rapunzel groaned into the kiss when Cassndra’s tongue met hers, both battling for dominance, with Cass winning in the end.
Cassandra lifted the princess’s shirt over her head before recatching her lips. Before things could get any further though, they heard a knock on the door. They both froze and Cassandra growled, pissed off at the fact that they were interrupted. “Who is it?” She asked harshly.
Rapunzel, still breathless, glared at her. “Cass be nice!” She reprimanded, gently pushing the warrior off her so she could sit up. “Who is it?” Rapunzel asked in a much nicer tone than her frustrated lover. But even Cass could hear the sexually-frustrated aggravation in her voice.
“I’m terribly sorry to interrupt,” The voice on the other side responded. “But I was tasked to show you around.”
“We’re busy!” Cassandra responded harshly.
“Cassandra!” Rapunzel glared before turning her attention back towards the door. “We’ll be right out!”
Cassandra groaned. “Do we have to? We were in the middle of something."
Rapunzel gave her another reprimanding glare. “Yes we have to,” She responded. “They saved our lives and Nova’s too and let us stay here for however long we needed for free.”
Cassandra pouted. “Fine.”
Rapunzel couldn’t help but giggle and placed a kiss on her cheek as she grabbed her shirt. “Come on, it’s not gonna be that bad.”
“We’ll see,” Cassandra mumbled, following Rapunzel to the door.
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It was bad. It was very bad. Cassandra followed along as the princess chatted constantly with their new ‘friend’ who was named ‘Clarissa’. From the moment they opened the door, it was clear that the young woman was flirting with Rapnuzel. Rapunzel clearly didn’t realize or if she did, she didn’t act on it. She probably mistook being friendly for being flirted with. It was slowly driving Cassandra mad and she had no idea how many times she glared at the younger woman.
And to make matters worse, Clarissa kept glancing over at her and giving her a mischievous smile behind Rapunzel’s back. Which meant she was doing it on purpose. Cassandra was glad that Rapunzel finally made another friend but she wished that this ‘friend’ didn’t continuously take the princess’s attention away. Cassandra barely paid attention to the tour itself but merely kept her attention trained on Clarissa. The place wasn’t anything special, at least not to the lone eye. As they were told, the town was run by women; strong women. Buff women. Some of them even scared Cassandra.
Cassandra paid attention to both her surroundings and Clarissa at the same time. She mapped the place out, paying attention to what could be used as emergency exits. The princess and herself got a couple of waves from the town women, some glared at them, while others just coexisted with them. Rapunzel talked to some of the women, whom Clarissa introduced her to, but Cassandra kept to herself; leaning against a wall with her arms crossed as she waited for Rapunzel to finish her conversation. Then they were off again.
“So, Rapunzel, what’s it like beyond the walls?” Clarissa asked.
Rapunzel tilted her head. “You’ve never been outside the walls?”
Clarissa shrugged. “Not since Azriel started to come around.”
“How long has it been since then?”
“A couple of years.”
Rapunzel shared a confused look with Cassandra on that one before looking back at Clarissa. Wasn’t he after Rapunzel? Why did he only start showing himself to them recently? “When did he start showing up?” Cassandra came forward with that question. Unlike Rapunzel, who was talked to with kindness and respect, Clarissa gave Cassandra a bored, almost annoyed, expression.
“He started showing up after the black rocks disappeared for good.” She responded, waving her hand nonchalantly. “But the shadows have been around way longer. They were what you could call ‘in an eternal slumber’, only a couple of shadows here and there showing up, nothing we can’t handle. But he woke all of them up and now the lands are filled with them.”
“Wait, you guys are the ones who’s been taking care of the shadows?” Rapunzel asked.
“Yep,” Clarissa responded. “We have been for centuries. Generations and generations of ‘shadow fighters’, as we call ourselves.” She then turned to Rapunzel and gave her a confident, cocky smirk. “Cool, right?”
Rapunzel nodded. “Very,” Cassandra merely rolled her eyes. “So, how do you fight them?”
Clarissa smiled and pulled some kind of paper from her pocket. “With these,” Rapunzel examined it before her eyes widened. Turning to Cassandra, she asked:
“Aren’t those the things Carina had?” Cassandra looked at the piece of paper. But before she could respond, Clarissa beat her to it:
“Wait - did you just say Carina?”
Rapunzel turned towards Clarissa with a confused look. “Yeah? You know her?”
A sour expression placed itself on Clarissa’s face. “Unfortunately,” She responded bitterly. “She grew up here - she trained and fought with us. But one day, she just disappeared. Months later, she returned and ended up stealing a bunch of these papers from us; among other stuff… She hasn’t returned since then.”
“Yeah, that sounds like her,” Rapunzel responded bitterly. But Cassandra was genuinely surprised to hear that. She was told by Carina that she grew up alone.
“How do you know her?” Clarissa asked Rapunzel, tilting her head. Cassandra took notice of how she said ‘you’ as in singular.
“I met her on the road,” Rapunzel responded. “But Cass dated her in the past.”
Clarissa’s eyes slowly met hers and something about how they stared into her… made Cassandra feel incredibly uncomfortable. “Briefly,” Cassandra corrected.
“Hm,” Clarissa made a sound in the back of her throat. “Interesting.” Rapunzel didn’t seem to take notice of how… strange that response sounded. But after the fact, Clarissa paid no attention to Cassandra and re-directed her attention back towards Rapunzel. The young woman continued to flirt with her but Rapunzel still didn’t take notice. She didn’t return any of Clarissa’s advances but she didn’t exactly say anything about them either. I mean - it was clear that she was flirting at this point and she was getting bolder with it. But yet, Rapunzel said nothing about it nor turned her down. Even Rapunzel wasn’t this naive.
After another flirtatious comment, Cassandra finally had enough. “You know what? You two continue, I’m going back to the house.”
“What? Cass, hold on-” Cass didn’t even wait for the rest of Rapunzel’s response as she stormed away. That wasn’t right. Also knowing the warrior, she could hear the aggravation in her voice.
“Bye,” Clarissa responded with a bitter-filled voice. Clarissa tried to continue but Rapunzel stayed in the same spot, staring in the direction Cassandra went with worry. “Are you coming?”
“I think…” Rapunzel started. “I think I should go check on her. Something’s wrong.” She began to walk away but Clarissa blocked her path. “Clarissa, I need too-” Before she could continue, she was suddenly shoved into an alley and shoved against a wall.
Rapunzel’s ears were ringing as she tried to push the woman away. Clarissa didn’t budge. “Get off me!” She yelled at the warrior.
“Come on princess,” Clarissa started, running her hands up her body. Rapunzel tensed. But not in a good way. “I’m so much better than that useless piece of dirt,”
That seemed to do something to Rapunzel. Her eyes glowed a bright black as she growled. Without thinking, she then punched the woman in her stomach, causing her to fall back in pain “Don’t ever talk about her like that again,” Rapunzel growled, her voice dark and threatening. “She’s better than you’ll ever be.” She tried to escape but Clarissa quickly rebounded and pinned her again.
“You really shouldn’t have done that.” Her cold voice rang out. But Rapunzel wasn’t scared. She was pissed.
“I said… get.. OFF!” With a final yell, she blasted the girl into the wall. Rapunzel heard a crack when she hit the wall then the girl fell unconscious.
It was quiet for a second or two as Rapunzel tried to figure out what the hell just happened. “C-Clarissa?” Rapunzel asked. No response. She slowly approached the unconscious girl. When Rapunzel caught sight of the blood running down her head, staining the floor below her, Rapunzel slapped a hand to her mouth in horror. From the looks of it, the girl wasn’t breathing.
Not knowing what else to do, she quickly left the alley; making sure no one saw her before she started to intently search for Cassandra.
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Cassandra stormed through the grounds, mumbling angrily. She marched back towards the house in fury as she clenched her fists tightly. The nerve of that woman… and the nerve of Rapunzel for not doing or saying anything. She was about to quite literally kick down the door before she heard a panicked Rapunzel call her name. “Cassandra!” She would’ve responded harshly but the panic in the princess’s voice made the anger subside for the time being.
Cassandra quickly turned around to face her and her worry heightened when she got a look at the look on Rapunzel’s face. “Rapunzel? What’s the matter?” She asked, rushing towards her. It was then that Rapunzel started quickly rambling, her breathing labored and fast.
“I-I was… she… I-I didn’t-” Rapunzel tried to get out. It was barely audible as her breathing quickened.
Cassandra placed her hands on her shoulders to get her attention and try to get her to focus. “Rapunzel, come on, breathe. I can’t help you if I can’t understand you.” Cassandra had never seen her act like this before; nor had she ever seen such panic in her eyes.
Rapunzel, who calmed her breathing only slightly, grasped onto Cassandra’s arms that held her at shoulder length. “I-I didn’t mean to,” She started. “H-Honestly, I didn’t.” Rapunzel wanted to tell her what actually happened but she knew that if she did, Cass wouldn’t want to help her and even if she did, she knew that the warrior would go after her as soon as they were in clear. There was also the possibility that Cassandra wouldn’t even believe her considering the last time something like this happened…
“Tell me what happened.” She stated simply, trying to keep her voice level.
“I-I don’t know! E-everything went black then all of a sudden she was blasted into a wall!” Rapunzel’s whole body shook. “Cass, she’s not breathing!”
“Take me to her.” Rapunzel quickly nodded and brought Cassandra to the alleyway where Clarissa lay. Cassandra didn't even question why she was laying face-first in an alley. She was in the same spot, blood running down her head. Cassandra bent down and pressed two fingers to her neck to check her pulse. There was none. “Shit,” Cassandra mumbled. Rapunzel didn’t like the sound of that. The warrior started CPR.
Rapunzel was pacing back and forth before stopping in front of the warrior. “I-I didn’t me-mean to, I-It was an accident, I-I swear! S-She-” Cassandra really needed to calm Rapunzel down before she had two causalities on her hands. Cassandra quickly stood up and blocked the princess’s path, again placing her hands on her shoulders to get her attention.
“Rapunzel, you need to breathe.”
It did nothing to calm the princess down. She tightly grasped the warrior's arms. “I-It was an accident,” She repeated. “I sw-swear Cass, I-I-”
“I know, I know,” Cassandra tried to reassure as quickly as she could.
Rapunzel quickly shook her head. “N-No, I-”
“Raps,” Cassandra said in a softer tone. She cupped her cheek to try and calm her. “I know it wasn’t on purpose,” She started. “But freaking out isn’t gonna help her. We'll deal with what happened later. Right now, we need to focus on helping her. Okay?” Rapunzel looked away and Cassandra tried to recatch her eye contact. “Okay?”
Much to her relief, Rapunzel nodded. “R-Right… Right, yeah..” But she didn’t sound convinced.
Although she knew that the princess was not even close to being calm, she was calm enough and that was all Cassandra needed to focus on the drastically fading woman. Cassandra continued CPR and Rapunzel watched intently, hoping, wishing that she’d just wake up. After what felt like an eternity, Cassandra announced: “I got a pulse,” She said quickly and before she could lose it, she turned to Rapunzel. “I need you to go get help. Can you do that?” Rapunzel merely nodded and off she went.
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It had been a couple of hours since they were able to get help and get Clarissa to the hospital. The doctor eventually came out and Rapunzel was on her feet in a second. “How is she? Is she-?” She trailed off, hoping that she was fine and that she wasn't a murderer.
Much to her relief, the doctor gave her a tired smile. “She’s gonna be just fine.” Rapunzel let out a sigh of relief.
“Now,” The doctor started. “How exactly did this happen? The explanation we were given earlier was pretty unclear.”
“S-She wasn’t paying attention and someone shoved into her…She hit the wall and wasn’t breathing… I called Cass then she told me to run and go get help after that.” Cassandra gave her a surprised look. Did she just lie? Rapunzel rarely ever lied. The doctor didn’t seem convinced but she just gave them a nod and left without saying a word.
Rapunzel slowly pulled her still-shaking hands against her chest and let out a sigh of relief. “What was that all about that?” Cassandra asked, crossing her arms. “You need to tell them the truth, Rapunzel.”
“And then what?” Rapunzel asked in a hushed whisper. “Tell them that I nearly killed her? I blasted her into a damn wall,” Rapunzel spat.
“You still haven’t told me exactly what happened,” Cassandra stated and when Rapunzel merely tensed, even if it was just for a split second, Cassandra knew something wasn’t adding up. Eyeing the princess, she quickly looked around to see if anyone was watching them, before pushing her into what looked like a janitor's closet. She shut the door and crossed her arms, giving Rapunzel a suspicious look. “What aren’t you telling me?”
“W-What?” Rapunzel stuttered at being caught. “I-I don’t-” The response even sounded pathetic to her own ears.
Cassandra merely rolled her eyes. “Please, Rapunzel, don’t even try to lie to me. You know that it won’t work.”
“W-Well, what about you?” Rapunzel asked, quickly changing the subject. “Why’d you just run off like that?”
“Because I wasn’t gonna stand there and listen to her continuously flirt with you and watch you say nothing,” Cassandra responded bitterly. She didn’t mean to make it sound as bitter as it sounded.
“There was no point in saying anything,” Rapunzel admitted.
“So you did know she was flirting,” Cassandra responded with the same bitter tone.
“Yeah, and?”
“And you didn’t even say a damn word about it with me standing right there.”
“Because I didn’t need to!” Rapunzel whispered harshly. “It didn’t bother me and it shouldn’t have bothered you either! Her advances meant nothing to me. If it bothered you so much then why didn’t you say anything?”
“Because you’re capable of standing up for yourself, as you always say. It wasn’t my place.”
“Not like that’s stopped you before,” Rapunzel responded sarcastically.
“Excuse m-??” Instead of continuing, she took a deep breath and tried again. “We’re getting off-topic here. There’s something you’re clearly not telling me. Do you seriously expect me to believe that nothing went on to cause you to attack her? Even with these weird new powers, it’s usually brought on by something. And by what you have told me, they usually come out when you need to protect yourself."
“M-Maybe whatever this is is just getting worst…”
“You’ve been fine the entire time we’ve been here. Something had to cause it and frankly, whatever happened you shouldn’t be keeping it from me. She’s going to wake up and she’s going to tell everyone you attacked her. I need to know what happened so I can better understand the situation in case I need to protect your honor.” When Rapunzel didn’t respond, Cassandra asked: “Did she attack you?” Rapunzel tensed. Ah, so that was it. Cassandra instinctively already had her hand on her sword. “How?”
Realizing she was already caught, Rapunzel gave in. “S-She pushed me in the alley, she had me pinned…” Rapunzel mumbled, trying to read the warrior’s expression. Rapunzel watched as the warrior's expression turned into one of realization before it darkened and she tightly gripped her sword, her eyes dark. Cassandra looked away. Rapunzel must’ve mistaken it for mistrust. “I-I pushed her away,” Rapunzel quickly reverted, her voice slightly panicked. It caused Cassandra to snap her head back towards her. “H-Honestly, I did… I-I would never… " She shook her head before adding, "C-Cass, I promise.” Cassandra’s eyes softened upon another realization striking her. Her mind flashed back to the last time something like this happened; how she refused to hear her out and abandoned her… Cassandra must’ve been quiet for too long because Rapunzel asked in a small voice, the sound of it fearful: “C-Cass? Y-You believe me right? I-I would never…”
Cassandra sighed and closed in on the princess before pressing a gentle kiss to her forehead to try and reassure her that this time wouldn't be like last. “I believe you,” Cassandra responded softly.
“...I’m sorry.." Rapunzel continued nonetheless in a panicked voice. "M-Maybe I should’ve said something, maybe I led her on…”
Cassandra shook her head and bent down slightly so she was more at eye level with the princess. She placed her hands on her shoulders. “Hey, you don’t need to apologize, none of this is your fault.”
“B-But-” Not knowing what else to do, she pulled Rapunzel into her arms. Rapunzel succumbed to the hug and let out a shaky sigh before wrapping her arms around Cassandra’s torso.
A minute or two passed before Cassandra gently pushed her back but she still held the princess at shoulder length. “She didn’t… did she?” Much to her relief, Rapunzel slowly shook her head.
“N-No, I was able to get her off before then…”
“Okay, that’s good… then it was self-defense, Raps, you need to tell-”
“No!” Rapunzel yelled, catching Cassandra off guard. Rapunzel then lowered her voice. “I nearly killed her, Cass, we can’t tell them anything.”
“They're going to find ou-”
“Then we need to leave.” Rapunzel said quickly. “W-We’ll leave and never come back…”
“Rapunzel, neither of us are in any condition to leave yet.” Rapunzel looked away. Cassandra peered over to try and catch her eye contact. “Raps, you need to stop running.” Cassandra started slowly, trying to bring up the topic with caution. Unlike other times when Cassandra tried to bring this up, this time she presented it with caution and understanding. The last couple of times they’ve talked about this… it ended up in huge fights.
Rapunzel snapped her eyes back to Cassandra’s and she opened her mouth, getting ready to argue and Cassandra prepared for yet another fight. But, unlike before, she closed her mouth as she remembered the events that had taken place the last couple of weeks and the promise she made to herself as well as Cass and her daughter… So, much to Cassandra’s surprise, Rapunzel slowly nodded. “Y-You’re right,” She admitted.
Cassandra gave her a startled expression. “I’m sorry, what?” Now wanting to cheer her up, Cassandra grinned. “Did you just admit that I was right? I never thought I’d see the day.” She teased.
Rapunzel gave her a half-attempted glare. “Stop that!” But when Cassandra snickered, Rapunzel couldn’t help but crack a smile. “This is serious,” Rapunzel reverted but when Cassandra poked her in the side, she couldn't help but giggle.
“Please, the girl is fine. She deserved it anyway.”
“Cass-”
Cassandra gave her a half-attempted glare. “You’re lucky that I’m not storming over there right now and running my sword through her cold-hearted chest.”
Rapunzel shook her head. “Always with the violence…”
“First of all, she messed with you. Second of all, she messed with you. And third of all, I wasn’t the one who blasted her into a wall.” She teased.
“It was an accident!” Rapunzel rebounded. But knowing she was being teased, she couldn’t help but crack a smile.
Cassandra nuzzled her, making the princess giggle. “Sure it was.” She teased.
When Cassandra pressed her nose into her neck, Rapunzel couldn’t help but laugh. “Cass!” Her beautiful laugh, the same one that was lost for so long, brought a smile to Cassandra’s face. “Stop that.” She giggled. But a question that was plaguing the princess’s mind caused her to change the subject “Hey, Cass?”
Cassandra tilted her head towards her. “Yeah?”
“...Would you ever think that I would, uhm…” She trailed off but knowing the princess, Cassandra knew what she was asking.
“Cheat on me?” Rapunzel nodded in confirmation. “I wouldn’t have left you alone with her if I did. I trust you.” Cassandra ran her hands up her arms. “....Unlike before.” She looked downward, her voice going solemn. Before Rapunzel could comment though and because she didn’t want to bring down the mood again with past mistakes, Cassandra suddenly smirked. “Besides,” She lifted Rapunzel; her legs once more wrapping around her waist. Rapunzel squeaked as she was pushed against a wall. Cassandra leaned forward until she was barely an inch away from her lips, her breath fanning over Rapunzel’s mouth. “I’m the only one who can you make you feel as good as I do~”
Rapunzel made a humming sound in the back of her throat as she stared at Cassandra’s lips. “That’s for sure,” She mumbled.
Cassandra’s smirk widened as she pressed a soft, but still ever so passionate, quick kiss to her lips. She went in for another but Rapunzel stopped her. “Cass, we can’t. Not right now.” She whispered.
“Why not?” Cassandra asked with a cute tilt of her head.
Rapunzel gave her a deadpan expression. “Uh, maybe because not only are we in a closet with a door that doesn’t lock but we’re also in a hospital.”
“And?”
“And we should wait till we get back to the house. Besides, I’m pretty sure it’s disrespectful to have sex in a hospital. I’m probably already gonna be on thin ice when I tell them I was the one who put Clarissa in the hospital.”
“Ugh, don’t say that name.” Cassandra huffed. “It’s already taking everything I have to not march down there and finish off the job.”
“You’ve been wanting to ‘start the job’ ever since she interrupted us the first time.”
“Nah, I wanted to punch that dirty mouth of hers. It was after she started flirting with you that I wanted to kill her.”
“You-” Rapunzel stopped as a realization struck her. Suddenly, an amused grin filled her face. “Hold on, we’re you jealous that I was placing my attention on someone else?”
Rapunzel’s theory was proven when a small blush filled Cassandra’s cheek and she huffed. “I was not jealous.”
“You so were!” Rapunzel laughed, making Cassandra mumble grumpily under her breath.
“You’re mine,” Cassandra responded. “And she didn’t have any right to flirt with you like that. Especially considering I was standing right there. And she damn well knew about our relationship.”
“So that’s why you stormed off,”
“...And you didn’t say anything,” Cassandra mumbled that part but if Rapunzel wasn’t imagining it which she most likely wasn’t, she heard some hurt in her voice. “You just… left her flirt with you.”
“Did it really bother you that much?” When Cassandra merely gave her a slow nod, Rapunzel sighed and cupped her cheek. “I’m sorry if me not saying anything bothered you but I didn’t see any point in it. Her advances meant nothing to me and at first, I didn’t even really notice. After she became much… bolder… I admit, I probably should’ve said something. But I know who my eyes are only for and who my heart belongs to. Don’t you?”
Cassandra leaned into her hand and let out a sigh of contentment as a small smile filled her face. “Yeah,” She confirmed, placing her hand over Rapunzel’s.
Rapunzel smiled and nuzzled her before removing her hand and unwrapped her legs before starting to walk past Cassandra. “Alright, come on, we ne-”
“Wait,” Cassandra said, and before the princess could ask why, Cass grabbed her arm, spun her around, and tilted her over as she pressed her lips firmly against the princess's. Rapunzel was taken off guard but she didn't complain as she wrapped her arms around her neck as Cassandra kept her hands on her waist, still tilting her over. After what felt like an eternity, Cass returned her to a standing position.
Rapunzel was frozen to the spot, her eyes wide and face flushed. “I was not…” She started, her voice breathless. “...expecting that.”
Cassandra smirked as she walked past her. “That’s for making me wait.”
Rapunzel, whose face was still gravely flushed, her legs feeling like jelly, and her womanhood most likely seeping, mumbled grumpily as she followed close behind the warrior.
--------------------------------
After they left the closet, while getting strange looks from passers, the duo went to go tell the hospital members the truth. Rapunzel seemed incredibly nervous at first but after much pushing from Cassandra, Rapunzel finally told them what really happened. After it was told, the doctors seemed genuinely surprised but they didn’t call her a liar which was the main thing Rapunzel was worried about. She knew that there was a slight chance that they wouldn’t have believed her and she would’ve ended up putting her family in danger. Again.
The doctors notified the town's guard almost immediately. When they arrived, some of the members, the highest ones, went into the room where Clarissa was to take fingerprint samples. They weren’t even in there a minute before one member came rushing out. “She’s gone.” She said quickly to her leader. That caught Cassandra and Rapunzel’s attention.
“Gone?” Cassandra stepped forward. “What do you mean she’s gone?” The member seemed hesitant to respond to Cassandra but when their leader nodded toward her, the girl suddenly gave Cassandra a note. Cassandra took the note and as she opened it, Rapunzel came to look over her shoulder.
It read:
“I’ll be back, princess.” And that was it, there was nothing else written on the note.
Cassandra swallowed and shared a worried look with Rapunzel. Cassandra’s eyes suddenly turned angrily toward the guard. “What kind of guard are you?” She asked, her voice angry. “You should’ve had someone constantly watching her!”
The leader stepped forward and glared at Cassandra. The women towered over her and although the women appeared terrifying, Cassandra wasn’t easily deterred. She stood her ground and matched the women’s glare. Her people backed away from the leader; all seemingly terrified of her. “We didn’t know that she was a threat until recently,” The leader explained calmly but her voice shook with untamed aggravation. “None of this is any of your concern. Stay out of it.”
Cassandra merely glared. “It is my concern because it’s my wife who she’s after!”
The death glare that both women sent toward each other made everyone nearly shake in their shoes. The older warrior placed a hand on her hilt, Cassandra did the same, and knowing that Cassandra was probably about to launch at any given second (because she always became aggravated, pissed off, and tended to jump to anger when it came to her safety) Rapunzel stepped into the middle. She was the only one who had the bravery to do so.
“Stop it, both of you!” She yelled, glaring at both of them. “Fighting isn’t gonna solve anything.”
“Then tell your guard dog to back down.” The older women growled.
“Excuse me?!” Cassandra yelled, trying to push past Rapunzel. But the princess merely placed her hands against her chest to hold her back. Cassandra narrowed her eyes but otherwise didn’t move forward. “I’m not the one who lost a dangerous sex-crazed criminal!”
“Technically, she didn’t commit a crime.”
“Attempted rape is a crime!” Cassandra yelled back.
The older woman suddenly grew taller, her demeanor growing dark. So dark, it made the others back up in fear. But Cassandra’s demeanor also darkened, double-scaring everyone around them. Even Rapunzel had to move away from being in the middle of them. “If you want help,” The older woman started, trying to keep her voice level. “Then you need to let us do our job.”
“Yeah 'cause you’re so good at that,” Cassandra responded sarcastically.
The older woman’s eyes narrowed. “You better watch it.”
Cassandra merely narrowed her own eyes. “Fuck. You.” She spat.
“Cassandra!” Rapunzel reprimanded but Cassandra didn’t budge. She didn’t even look at her. She kept her eyes narrowed and onto the annoying older women. The room went eerily quiet. No one said a word. The air was thick with anger and everyone was tense waiting for a fight to break out.
The older warrior’s eyes turned dark towards Cassandra but again before they could murder each other, Rapunzel stepped in the middle, this time placing herself in front of Cassandra. “I-I’m sorry about her,” Rapunzel quickly said. “She just gets overprotective and tends to forget how to talk to other people. But she’s sorry. Right, Cassandra?” Rapunzel narrowed her eyes and glared at the warrior. Cassandra’s pissed-off eyes slowly met her own. But at first, she didn’t budge and merely glared back at her. “Right?” Rapunzel repeated, this time with a much harder tone. They seemed to have a battle with their eyes before Cassandra rolled her eyes and looked away.
“Fine, I’m sorry...” The warrior mumbled under her breath.
Rapunzel sighed and shook her head before looking back at the older warrior. But Cassandra just had to get one more remark in there. “....that you’re so bad at your job that you easily lose one simple, injured, girl.” She couldn’t help but smirk as she said it. She loved teasing her enemies and she loved seeing their eyes slowly explode into anger.
“Cassandra!” Rapunzel snapped her head back towards her.
The older warrior’s eyes shifted into anger and she launched herself at Cassandra. Cassandra smirked and got ready for a fight but before she could, the older warrior was held back by her troops and Cass was held back by Rapunzel.
“That’s ENOUGH!” A voice suddenly rang out. The voice was so loud, sudden, and filled with authority, it made everyone stop in their tracks. The older warrior and her troops suddenly shared a scared glance and started to bow. A woman suddenly started walking towards them, her head high. She was a big woman. She was the buffest woman with the most amount of scars Cassandra had ever since. Even she knew not to mess with that woman.
The women glared at them. “You two are guests in my home,” She started. “And you will act as such.”
Rapunzel bowed her head. Although it was strange for her, she knew she had to. “Yes mam,” She said quickly. “I’m sorry about her. She’s truly sorry. Right, Cass?” Cassandra seemed to be lost in a trance staring at this very large woman towering over them. Cassandra's eyes drifted down at the much older's woman's horribly scarred hand. It kinda reminded her of her own from when it was burned. Rapunzel elbowed her in the stomach, knocking her out of her trance, and Cass quickly got her bearings before bowing her head. One thing was for sure: This woman was not one to be messed with.
“R-Right, yeah. I’m sorry.” Even Rapunzel was surprised at how fast she apologized without any sarcastic remarks. Or the fact that the warrior bowed her head. But who could blame her? The woman was highly intimidating.
The women eyed them suspiciously before nodding. “I’ll let you off with a warning. My guard won’t stop until Clarissa is found,” She stated simply. “Now you may leave.” Cassandra and Rapunzel quickly nodded before leaving the hospital. Before she left though, Cass sent the older warrior that she was trifling with a smirk; knowing that she was in trouble. The warrior narrowed her eyes back at her.
Outside the hospital, Rapunzel elbowed her. “You need to stop picking a fight with everyone.”
Cassandra rolled her eyes. “Maybe she should’ve done her job then.”
“She didn’t know until the last minute, Cass. None of them did.”
“Yeah but now Clarissa is out there roaming and free, looking for you.”
“Yeah, just add her to the list,” Rapunzel said jokingly. “She’s injured and besides, you’re with me. It’ll be fine.”
“Famous last words.”
Rapunzel rolled her eyes in exasperation. “She didn’t look very tough. I could probably take her down if I had to.”
“Looks can be deceiving,” Cassandra commented before she shook her head with a smile. “I swear, you make more enemies than I do.”
Rapunzel huffed. “I seriously doubt that,” She responded. “You try to make enemies, mine are… accidental.”
“I do not try to make enemies.”
Rapunzel rolled her eyes. “Please, you enjoy getting under people’s skin. If taunting that women didn’t say anything about it.”
“She challenged me,” Suddenly Cassandra gave her a heated smirk. “And you know better than anyone what happens when you challenge me~”
A deep blush filled Rapunzel’s cheeks as she playfully shoved the warrior, making her laugh. “Those are two different types of ‘challenging’.”
As they walked up to their door, Cassandra stopped Rapunzel before she opened it. “We should probably check the house to make sure Clarissa isn’t hiding in there.” Rapunzel merely nodded.
They looked all over the house, even checking seemingly secret hiding places, but found nothing. She wasn’t there, much to their relief. “Alright, now that that’s out of the way…” Cassandra mumbled and before Rapunzel could so much as move, she was pushed into the wall and Cassandra’s lips were on hers.
Rapunzel was taken off guard by the sudden attack but she didn’t oblige as she wrapped her arms around her neck and kissed her back just as feverishly. Eventually, Cassandra parted, her nose rubbing against Rapunzel’s as she panted softly. “I’ve waited all day,” Cassandra mumbled.
Rapunzel giggled softly. “Cass, it’s only like 2 pm.”
“That’s long enough. I swear, if there are any more distractions, I’m gonna kill someone.” She groaned.
Rapunzel let out a laugh at that one, making the warrior grin. “When do you not want to kill someone?”
“When they actually leave us the hell alone and take a damn hint.”
Rapunzel merely shook her head with a smile before a realization struck her. “Hang on, what day is it today?”
“Uh… Thursday?” Cassandra responded, giving her a confused expression.
A smile formed on Rapunzel’s face. “Cass, our anniversary is coming up!” Then her smile turned into a slow smirk. “That means I get to spoil you.”
Cassandra chuckled. “Or I get to spoil you.”
“We could… spoil each other?” Rapunzel suggested, giving her a sly grin.
Cassandra rolled her eyes and pressed a ghost of a kiss to her lips. “Whatever you want.”
Rapunzel giggled. “You’re gonna regret saying that.”
“You know what I regret?” Rapunzel tilted her head as Cassandra’s voice lowered a couple of octaves. “Not gagging you.”
“Do you even own a gag?”
“Anything can be used as a gag if you’re motivated enough,” She responded.
“There are other ways you can shut me up, you know~”
“Oh, believe me, I have every intention too.” Cassandra pressed her lips to Rapunzel in a quick, soft kiss before nuzzling her. The princess giggled which turned into a moan when Cassandra rocked against her. Cassandra took the princess’s hands and pinned them against the wall above her head. “Are you done talking now?” The warrior asked, raising an eyebrow. To confuse her thoughts, she thrust against her a second time.
Rapunzel moaned. “Depends,” The princess responded, her voice low. “What are you gonna do to me?”
“Mm, I think you’re about to find out,” Cassandra said before she caught Rapunzel’s lips in a fiery kiss. Rapunzel pushed herself even closer to Cassandra and deepened the kiss but she wasn’t able to push herself as close as she wanted due to the restraint Cassandra had on her arms. Despite the passion starting to quickly become more intense, Rapunzel could still tell that Cassandra was putting a lot of restraint on herself with how she handled the princess.
Rapunzel pulled back, which was followed by a moan as Cass thrust into her. “Cass,” The princess panted. “...Please.” That was all she was able to say. But Cassandra knew what she wanted.
The warrior pulled back and fixed her with a concerned look. “I can’t, Raps,” She responded. “You’re still not healthy enough for me to let loose like that.”
“...I’m healthy enough,” Rapunzel responded. “I’ve gained weight..”
“But it’s still not enough. I can’t risk hurting you. I promise, just a couple more weeks.”
Rapunzel groaned. “A couple of weeks? Come on Cassandra, that’s a bit overdoing it, don’t you think?”
Cassandra fixed her with a reprimanding glare. “You were so severely malnourished-”
“Keyword, ‘were’.”
“-And you still are. You spent like two months without barely eating, nor sleeping, you can’t expect to suddenly be better after merely a couple of weeks.” Rapunzel looked down and pouted. Cassandra sighed and hooked her finger under her chin before lifting her head back up so that she could re-meet her eyes. “I promise I’ll make it up to you. Just, please... Give it some more time.” When Rapunzel didn’t respond, Cassandra gave her a small smile: “For me?”
Just as she expected, Rapunzel’s eyes shifted and when she let out a deep sigh, Cassandra couldn’t help but grin at how her plan worked. “That’s not fair,” Rapunzel mumbled. “You can’t use that.”
“I just did,” Cassandra smirked. “Besides, you’ve been doing it to me for years. It’s totally fair.” Rapunzel mumbled annoyingly under her breath, knowing that she was right, making the warrior grin.
Rapunzel gave her a half-attempted glare. “You better seriously make it up to me.”
Cassandra chuckled, flattening her palms out and running her warm hands up her arms; making Rapunzel involuntarily shiver. “Oh, trust me, I will.” The warrior leaned forward, her lips inches from Rapunzel’s. “Going easy doesn’t mean we still can’t have fun though~”
“You do realize we have to pick up Nova in like 15 minutes though, right?”
Cassandra chuckled. “That’s plenty of time.”
“Alright, Ms. Cocky.”
“Oh, you know I can bring you over the edge with ease. Even without our ‘little magic worker’.”
Well, time’s ticking.” Rapunzel said, pointing her head towards the clock. “So whatever you’re gonna do, you might want to do it now.”
Instead of responding, Cassandra chuckled and caught her lips into another fiery kiss. She picked Rapunzel up once more and carried them over to their bed, their lips never leaving each other. With the utmost gentleness, she lowered the princess down onto the bed before climbing between Rapunzel’s legs and started to kiss the hell out of her even more. She started leaving open-mouth, hot kisses down the princess’s neck before returning to meet her lips.
Cassandra started to slowly trail her hand down her body as she feverishly kissed the princess. Although Cassandra was most certainly taking it easy, Rapunzel found it difficult to keep up with her fast-paced kisses and electric touches. Without warning her, Cassandra dug her hand into her underwear and started to thrust in and out of her with her fingers. Rapunzel had to pull back and moan deeply, her head falling back, exposing her neck.
The warrior took the opportunity and started to attack her neck; leaving a trail of wetness wherever she kissed. The faster the warrior went, the louder the princess’s moans grew. It didn’t take long before the princess became close. She bit her lip as she rocked against her hand, signaling to Cassandra where she wanted; where she needed. Cassandra knew before the princess even told her as she quickened her pace, pressing a thumb down to her clit, and then started to rub.
That did it. Rapnuzel’s mouth went slack, her head fell back as her body convulsed. When she could catch her breath, Cassandra spoke: “You know,” She started, mumbling against her lips. “Restraining myself isn’t as easy as you think. It’s hard for me too.”
“Then stop restraining,” Rapunzel responded, still slightly panting, hoping that the passion in the air blinded Cassandar’s senses.
Rapunzel could tell that it almost got her but then the warrior narrowed her eyes. Clearly, no matter how horny she was, her will to look out for Rapunzel’s well-being was way too strong. “Nice try,” Cassandra gave her a half-attempted glare.
Rapunzel gave her a small, sly grin and shrugged. “Worth a shot.”
Cassandra rolled her eyes before she started to move off of Rapunzel. “Now come on, we have to-” But before she could get too far, Rapunzel pulled her back down and recaught her lips into a passionate, deep kiss. The kiss was filled with so much desire and passion that it made Cassandra’s head spin.
Rapunzel then pulled back and upon seeing the dazed, desire-filled expression on her face, the princess giggled. “And I just made it harder.”
Cassandra cursed under her breath. “That wasn’t fair,” She mumbled and for a split second, she was about to say screw it and let go but again, her will to protect Rapunzel was still much stronger.
“If I have to endlessly suffer, then so do you.”
“You’re not gonna make these next couple weeks easy, are you?”
“Oh, hell no. I agreed to wait but I never said that I was gonna make it easy on you. It’s on you if you can’t…” Rapunzel smirked, thrusting up against her, making Cass let out a surprised moan. “...hold out.”
“You’re not gonna change my mind so why even try?”
“Because it’s fun to watch you flustered and it’s fun to fluster you,” Rapunzel teased, earning her a huff and a pillow thrown at her. Rapunzel laughed which ended up making Cassandra grin.
“Come on, princess,” Cassandra said, pulling Rapunzel up with her. “We gotta go pick up Nova.”
Rapunzel smiled. “Right.”
--------------------------------------
The group made their way towards the town daycare but once the colorful place came into sight, it was immediate that they could tell something was off. The place was swarming with guards, detectives, and so much more. It looked like a crime scene. Rapunzel and Cassandra shared a worried glance before quickly pushing their way threw the crowd. When Rapunzel saw the warrior Cassandra tried to fight earlier sending troops out, she rushed forward and got her attention before Cassandra could.
“Hey, what’s going on?” She asked the warrior, getting her attention. The warrior seemed to consider her, something in her eyes preventing her from responding.
Cassandra narrowed her eyes and stepped forward. “Answer her.” She said, crossing her arms.
The warrior shared a glance with her right-hand woman before turning her attention back towards the couple, sighing.
“Your daughter is missing.”
------------------------
Hey guys, I know I don’t write a lot of dialog for little Nova but she’s still part of this story. Let’s just say that there’s a daycare in the town where she goes for the day.