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It was odd being back in Corona. So much has changed, the people, the atmosphere, the town itself...though the latter was slightly her fault due to damage via black rocks. She winced at the thought and straightened the skirt of her forest green dress and brushed a stray curl from her face.
She was here for Rapunzel...and Eugene. Kind of.
She already missed their wedding. She would not miss their child's royal debut. She may not be one to celebrate every little thing, but this was worth coming back to Corona. Worth all the glares and whispers thrown her way as she passed. She could do this. She could get through this.
As she walked through the crowds of people surrounding the Castle, she felt like the air was getting warmer and warmer. She took deep breaths, but eyes seemed to be on her everywhere she turned. She needed to get through this crowd and to Rapunzel, then she would be safe. That was the goal. She fought monsters and beasts worse than a group of townspeople. Just a little bit farther…
Finally!
She let out the breath she was holding when she was finally at the entrance of the Castle. She made it through the crowd. Now she needed to find Rapunzel.
"Cassandra!" Pete gasped from the entrance and shared a nervous glance with Stan. "Hi! Um…" he looked down at the list of guests, moving his finger down the list as he looked for her name, causing her to let out a huff and cross her arms. "There you are!" He cried, causing her to roll her eyes. "Enjoy!" He gestured for her to go inside.
She spared them one more glance before moving past them quickly. As she walked further from them, she heard them whispering frantically, no doubt about her being back. She rolled her eyes again. She was here for Rapunzel.
As she entered the Castle, she was overwhelmed by how different it was from the paint to the decoration. The structure was the same, but everything else...she rubbed her arm with a frown. She missed so much in the five years she was gone! It felt like Corona wasn't home anymore. She had no home…
"Cassandra!" She heard coming up from behind her, causing her to jump and place her hand on her hidden knife. She relaxed when she saw who it was and broke out into a slight smile. "Dad!" She hugged him tightly, which he returned wholeheartedly.
"Oh, my little Cassandra, I missed you." He murmured, kissing the top of her head in a surprising display of affection.
"I missed you too, so much." She pulled away to look at him. Though everything has changed, her father has not. Maybe a little more gray appearing, but he was still her dad.
"I'm so happy you could make it." He gushed, leading her closer to the throne room. "When I got your letter saying you were coming, I was over the moon." He chuckled.
"You didn't tell Rapunzel, right? I've been gone five years, dad, and I want it to be a surprise." She said, feeling nervous about seeing her best friend again.
"No, I didn't tell her." He chuckled and paused when they were at the doors of the throne room. "I can't wait to see the child! I hope it didn't inherit anything from Fitzherbert."
"Oh, one can only hope." She agreed, sharing an amused smile with her father before they walked in.
Her eyes skirted around the crowds, looking for any familiar faces, but was once again feeling overwhelmed. There were royals from different lands, people Rapunzel and Eugene must have befriended in the last few years. It was so crowded, and everyone was dressed in their best and fashionable attire, it made the handsewn, modest dress she was wearing look like a sack of potatoes.
On instinct, her hand lifted to her necklace, running her hand over it as a way to calm herself. She would be lost without the Cassadrium. Over the last five years, it had become her source of comfort when she missed Corona or when she had another nightmare. Soon, she never took it off, and whenever she felt anxious or stressed, she would just touch it and know that there are people who love her and believe in her. She will do whatever it takes to make them proud.
She let out a breath when she saw a familiar face with two beautiful young women trailing behind him. "Lance!" She smiled, walking over to him.
"Cass!" The young redhead smiled happily, waving. Causing Lance and the dark-haired woman to look over at her with surprised smiles.
"Well, aren't you a sight for sore eyes!" Lance grinned, walking over, already holding a plate full of appetizers.
"You remember my daughters, Catalina," he gestured to the redhead in a pretty blue dress, "and Kiera." He gestured to the dark-haired one 8n the red and black dress.
"Wait. Red and Angry?" She gasped, looking them over, "you both look beautiful!" Causing Catalina to blush and smile shyly.
"Thanks, but to tell you the truth, I cant wait to get out of this stuffy dress." Angry said, pulling at the bodice of her dress uncomfortably.
"I know the feeling, kid." Cass winced in sympathy, before looking at Lance, "so, you finally adopted them?"
"Well, it's more they adopted me." He smiled at the girls who smiled back, "I couldn't be happier."
"That's good to hear." She smiled. She looked behind her and noticed her dad had wandered off, causing her to sigh and look back at Lance.
"Any idea when this is supposed to start?" She asked, her anxiety starting to flare again.
Lance pulled out his pocket watch, gifted to him by his best buddy, and shrugged. "Any time now."
"Oh!! Let's go find a place in the front so that we can get a good look at the baby!" Catalina gasped, taking her sister's hand. "Do you want to stand with us, Cass?" She asked the older woman.
"Why not?" She smiled, following the little family through the large crowd.
"Out of the way! The king and Queen's best friends are coming through!" Lance said as he pushed through people until they were at the front.
"Wait, king and queen?" Cass asked once they were in the front.
"Oh, yeah, they were crowd king and queen about a year ago when Fred and Ari decided to step down." Lance said, "we didn't know where you were at the time, Owl had come back with the invitation, so…" he shrugged, nibbling on his cocktail weenies.
"The old king and queen are now adventuring, and hunting rare eggs!" Angry exclaimed with a grin.
"We found 32 of them." The old king said, from behind them.
Cass turned around and smiled at the people she used to serve. "Your majesty." She bowed, "it is so good to see you again."
"Ah, Cassandra, it is good to see you as well." He smiled, "my daughter will be thrilled to know you are here."
"Eugene, too, though he probably won't admit it." Lance chuckled, nudging her in her side.
Cass rolled her eyes but smiled. She wouldn't admit it either, but she missed the annoying, self-absorbed, fleabrain as well.
"You will have to tell us about your adventures." The former Queen said, "I would love to hear about them."
"Of course, I'd be happy to share." She said, right when trumpets started to play.
Everyone grew silent, and their eyes went to the doors near the thrones, eagerly awaiting to meet their new prince or princess.
After a moment, the doors opened, and Eugene and Rapunzel stepped out with a bundle of a purple blanket in her arms. They smiled at each other and then to the baby, the wide eyes baby staring up at them.
"I wanted to start by saying thank you to everyone for coming." Eugene started, "some of you traveled a great distance, so thank you."
Rapunzel looked over the crowd and broke out in a wide grin when she saw her best friend. "Some old faces as well, thank you for coming."
"So, without further ado…" Eugene started, looking at his wife.
"We would like you to meet, Princess Lettice." Rapunzel said, "bringer of joy and gladness."
"May our little Lettie grow to be a kind and strong woman in the peaceful kingdom of Corona," Eugene said.
"Long live the princess!" Lance cheered, causing the Queen and king to chuckle.
"Now, we would like to take this time to ask Lance Strongbow...and Cassandra to come here please," Rapunzel said, not being able to hold back the grin.
Lance immediately jumped over to them, trying to sneak a peek of the baby.
Cass was shocked for a moment, before following Lance to the couple. She smiled shyly at them both and waited for them to say why they asked them to them.
"Lance." Eugene smiled at his best friend, "We would like you to be Lettie's Godfather."
Lance gasped and teared up some, "I would be honored!" He said, bowing to them.
"Cassandra." Rapunzel, grinned at her friend, "will you be her godmother?"
Cass blinked in shock and nodded, too stunned to find the right words.
"Great!!" Rapunzel squealed happily, "without further ado, let us celebrate the new princess!"
At that, the music started to play, and everyone started to socialize once more.
Instantly, the baby was free from Rapunzel's arms and into Lance's. "Such a pretty little princess, yes, you are!"
"Lance, don't drop her!" Eugene panicked, following his best friend.
Rapunzel smiled and turned to Cass. "Cass." She pulled her into a tight hug, "I missed you so much." The brunette turned blonde turned brunette again, Queen said.
Cass closed her eyes and hugged her friend just as tightly. Goal met. Now she had to spend the rest of the evening answering questions and retelling adventures. Oh, what a joy.
"Hey, Sunshine!" Eugene called, "they want to start the dancing, shall we?"
"Um, Fitzherdork, Raps, and I were talking?" Cass bit back, causing him to chuckle.
"Yes, but you seem to have forgotten this is our big day." Eugene gestured to himself and Rapunzel.
Cass walked up to him and glared, "actually, it is your daughter's big day. The child you just handed off!" She said, looking over to where Lance and her father were gushing over the baby.
"She's in safe hands! And what's so wrong with wanting to dance with my wife?" He questioned.
Rapunzel walked over to them with her arms held out, "guys, guys, that's enough." She said, trying to get them to stop fighting.
"Nothing is wrong with dancing, but I haven't seen her in years. Once again, you are proving to be selfish." Cass accused, causing him to gasp.
"Selfish? I'm selfish?? I think you are just jealous!" He glared at her.
"Jealous? Of what exactly?" She laughed, glaring right back.
"Of my amazing dance moves! You don't want me to show you up!" He smirked, crossing his arms.
"I can dance just fine!" She glared at him.
"Oh yeah? Prove it!" He said, taking Rapunzel's hand.
"I will!" She said, grabbing the arm of the first man that past by.
They both pulled their dance partners to the center of the room, glaring at each other the whole time.
"Um…" the man Cassandra grabbed cleared his throat, causing her to look at him. When green met a confused familiar blue, she gasped in shock.
"Hey, Cassie." Varian smiled at her. "What exactly is going on?" He scratched the back of his head awkwardly, looking down at the woman.
"Varian!" She smiled back at him before looking serious again, "we are taking Fitzherbert down by dancing."
"Oh, okay then." Varian shrugged and took her hand in his to get in position.
She looked up at him in surprise but narrowed her eyes at the mocking face of Eugene as he started to dance with Rapunzel. He was using some fancy footwork, trying to show off.
She growled, and pulled Varian closer to her and started to dance, using some moves she learned on her travels, not even looking at the young man. Too focused on the competition.
Varian flushed from how close they were, but followed her lead, doing his best to keep up. When the song finally ended, he let out a breath of relief and shared a glance with Rapunzel.
"Okay, Eugene," Rapunzel said, cutting through her bickering friend again, "I think we left Lettie alone long enough." She said, taking his hand and pulling him to their daughter.
Cass smirked at them as they walked away. She then turned her attention back to who she was dancing with. It finally set in how close she and the young man were. With a small cough, she stepped back a little but kept dancing with the man who was finally taller than her.
"Thank you." She said, changing the dance to simple swaying, as the music slowed.
"Any time, though warnings would be nice." He chuckled, staring down at the older woman with a smile.
"I promise, I'll warn you next time." She laughed softly.
When the song ended, Varian felt his heart racing as he gazed down at the beautiful woman before him. So many emotions and feelings he once held for her, all came rushing back at once. He tried to shake them away, but he couldn't. It was like he was 14 again, but this time it felt more intense than a simple crush. It felt real.
He pulled away from her and looked down awkwardly. He needed to take a step away from her and clear his head before he did something he would regret. "I have to go do something." He rubbed the back of his neck, not meeting her eyes. "Thank you for the dance." He said, before hurrying away.
Cass watched the retreating man with a frown. She looked around and saw her friends all wrapped up with their friends and family. She spun around in the middle of the dance floor, and the anxiety started to flare up again. She saw people looking at her critically and heard whispers all around. They still were scared of her; they still saw her as the bad guy! She felt her heart pound hard in her chest before she started to push her way through the crowd. She needed to get out of there.
She felt her breath grow heavy as she pushed through the crowds, but it felt like she was swimming through a stormy sea. Waves of people kept going in front of her, and shoot her looks of judgment and hate. She thought she could handle this, she thought she could just come home, and everything could go back to normal.
Rapunzel! Rapunzel can pull her from the ocean that was sweeping her away. She trusted her. She asked her to be her child's godmother! She could save her!
She tried to push through the crowd some more, but the Queen was nowhere to be seen.
She stopped walking and was pulled back into the sea of people. She couldn't breathe, she couldn't think. She felt tears brim in her eyes, but she refused to let them loose. If she was to drown, she refused to let them see any weakness.
Suddenly, she felt a hand in hers and felt it gently pull her through the crowd and out of the room. Down the halls, down the stairs, a left turn, then a right, one more flight of stairs, into a room, and then the hand finally let go. That's when she crumbled.
She fell to the floor and started to sob. All the pain, the guilt, the anxiety, and the stress came tumbling out through simple tears.
She felt someone sit next to her and rub her back gently, whispering for her to let it out.
Finally, once her heart and tears started to slow, she lifted her head and saw Varian sitting there, gazing at her with worry and understanding.
"I should have never left you alone." He murmured, reaching up to wipe a stray tear from her cheek. "I'm sorry."
"Varian…" she whispered hoarsely.
"Shh." He pulled her into his arms and held her, "after all that happened, I felt overwhelmed and anxious around large crowds of people too. It felt like everywhere I turned, they would know what I did and hated me." He closed his eyes as Cass laid her head on his chest, suddenly exhausted.
"I had nightmares, and though I tried to push through and right my wrongs, I needed to have my solitude." He leaned his head on top of hers as they took in each other's comfort.
"Does it get better?" She asked softly
"Talking to someone helped...but there are still days that I don't want to leave my lab." He gestured around them, and she noticed all the alchemy equipment and tools scattered around, with a half-finished project sitting on the table.
She smiled some and closed her eyes, "thank you, Varian, for saving me."
"Anytime, M'lady."