Work Text:
Cassandra keeps silence as she sees Rapunzel near Eugene. She keeps silence, frowns, tries to do anything just not to see her beloved princess, circling around - ugh, maybe - her future husband. Cassandra does her best to distract on everything: she sharpens her sword once again (the sword which will help Cass to protect her princess), cooks something for a snack even though she won't eat it cause she just can't; buries her head in the book even though it will be upside down and not really interesting. Just everything not to look at Rapunzel.
Rapunzel refuses on Eugene's proposal over and over again. She loves him but, maybe, not the way everyone expects from her? Not the way as it's usually written in the books? "No, no, no, what a nonsense! One day I'll marry him anyway. Do I love him? ...Or not?" But her possible groom suddenly quit coming to her dreams, and Rapunzel more often sees herself and Cass running away from the castle, running through the whole town, running outside Corona where they laugh and hold their hands, and Cass chuckles and wrinkles her nose in a funny way because of the flower scent of a wreath what was carefully weaved by Rapunzel and put on the Cass' head.
And when the girls are all alone, the princess tries to start a smalltalk but in her head there are only Cassandra's laughter from her dreams, Cassandra's hands from her dreams, flower wreaths, a wind what strikes their faces and doesn't let them breath free. In Raps' dreams Cassandra stares right in the princess' eyes, not hiding the gaze as in reality, not taking it aside, not turning her back.
When the girls are all alone, Cass doesn't know what to say. She sees the princess who nervously squeezes her own hands, whose shifty eyes are looking at the walls, the floor, the book-shelves. Cass sees the princess, opening her mouth and it seems as she’s going to say something but she just smiles and then looks at her lady-in-waiting and her lady-in-waiting looks away.
Cassandra realizes that something changes in Rapunzel when instead of kissing Eugene as usual she prefers to friendly steal a peck onto his cheek and hug him as if he was her brother. Princess is afraid to admit that she abruptly became cold to her almost-a-groom. She’s afraid to confess her feelings; she doesn’t have this courage to tell Eugene the truth. Will he accept her? Will he hate her? And won’t she regret if she tells him she loves him only as a friend, as a part of a family but not as a boyfriend?
And days, weeks, months of torment pass by; and nights, weeks, months of flower-airy dreams about running away with Cassandra pass by, too. They stay alone together so often, and princess almost forgot about her own inability to say something to her (for real hers?) lady-in-waiting. They talk for hours on end: Raps is talking about long walks, nature, people of Corona, festivals and drawing, Cass is talking about adventures, dragons, battles, history and princesses. The lady-in-waiting looks in the Rapunzel’s eye and is not afraid anymore but she feels heart in her mouth and unpleasant feeling of a lump in her throat. Cassandra’s no dummy. She understands what’s going on as she sees one more loving gaze from princess and looks at her lovingly in return. She lets Rapunzel take her for walks, weave wreathes and even lets her put these wreathes on her, Cass’ head. She comforts Rapunzel every time she’s crying in the evening, burying her fingers in her golden hair. Cassandra knows the reason Rapunzel cries about but desperately pretends that she doesn’t so she just gently strokes Raps’ head.
‘Cass, I need to tell you something,’ she has cried again so now she has a trembling voice and words are interrupted by whimpers and sighs. They both are sitting in the Rapunzel’s room, real close to each other. Cassandra nods without a word and gives the princess a chance to say her thoughts out loud even though they both totally understand what’s going to be spoken.
‘Cass… Eugene… I can’t tell him the truth, I’m so afraid of… I just can’t, Cass, do you understand?’ her shoulders are shaking, hands are hiding face just to Cassandra won’t see her red swollen eyes and nose. ‘He loves me but I…’ she gasps. ‘I don’t love him this way. Cass… Cass, I love another person.’
Suddenly Rapunzel freezes and stops breathing and, I swear, Cassandra can hear Raps’ furious heart beating. Or it’s her own heart humming in her ears. Princess straightens the back; put her hands away from her face and clings her knees with thin fingers. She’s afraid to look anywhere but her knees.
‘It’s you.’
‘Uh?’ Cassandra knew it but she didn’t thought this confession will be so surprising for her. She’s confused. Her hands want to hug crying princess, her lips want to kiss Rapunzel’s forehead, her heart wants to say ‘I love you’ in response.
‘I know.’
Rapunzel flinches so harshly, she even stopped crying. She doesn’t look at her pale skinned hands now, she’s looking at Cass.
‘I know, Raps. I feel the same.’
And Rapunzel sobs again, falling onto lady-in-waiting shoulders, and cries silently.
It takes a lot of time for them to calm down, and when night falls Rapunzel’s asking Cass not to leave her alone and stay tonight because she’s so scared, so much scared. The lady-in-waiting says yes and then she sits near princess’ bed all night long, holds her hand and tells her different stories in a low voice as long as it distracts Rapunzel from fear. She tells her how she used to admire Raps’ smile by stealth, how happy she was to hear Raps’ laughter and how hard she was crying with her face in the pillow when Eugene had proposed to Rapunzel. Cassandra dare not to go away in the morning and she’s the first whom Rapunzel sees after waking up.
They meet each other every day, they go for a walk again, they awkwardly kiss when it’s no one around, they both think how to tell Eugene the truth, they hold their hands and cries sometimes whether because it is happiness whether because it is the fear of the future. Rapunzel still weaves wreathes and Cass weaves flowers into the golden hair of her princess.
One day Rapunzel tells Eugene about everything, crying again, sobbing again, and sighing again. Eugene cries too but he also says ‘thank you for being my dream.’ They break up without any confrontation, greets each other in a strange way and engage weird dialogues. And when Eugene’s broken heart becomes intact, they have fun together as the best friends.
Cassandra embraces Rapunzel, saying, like, she knew everything would be alright. Rapunzel laughs and the girls feel so good they want to dance. Cassandra can’t hide her smiles anymore, looking at her lovely one. She will never leave her princess lonely. Never.