Chapter Text
It was easy, back when she’d first escaped the tower, to believe that Gothel was wrong. The world isn’t a cruel place, life isn’t unfair, you just need to have faith in people and they’ll reward you with their good intentions. The King and Queen- her mother and father- had gone out of their way to shelter her from the reality, which had been its own kind of tower.
Gothel was right; Life could be cruel.
Animals will leave their babies behind if they are too weak to keep up, surrendering them to predators so that they can better slip away. Weeds, parasitic and unbidden, need to be pruned. Friends can betray you. And every chameleon has a determined lifespan, even one carrying the blessing of the Sundrop.
Pascal let out a small whine as he settled down in the plush cushion that made his bed, disappointed with his own faltering stamina. He just couldn’t cling to shoulders like he used to, and Rapunzel’s working hours weren’t getting any shorter.
“It’s okay, buddy,” Rapunzel kissed his crest. “Get some rest.”
She held her smile until his eyes shut and his laboured breathing evened out to a slow but steady rhythm. Cassandra didn’t say anything as she led the two of them to her own bedroom, which was still close enough to Pascal to be reassuring but far enough that they wouldn’t wake him with the volume of their thoughts.
Time had aged all of them, and while Cassandra bore new scars and a few new strands of silver, Rapunzel’s years were reflected in her eyes. They shone with all the emotions she’d discovered in her condensed lifetime outside of the tower, and with all the memories of her lifetime within it. They shone with words she’d never articulate because she knew she’d regret them, like time’s almost up.
Cassandra grimaced. She was no stranger to grief, but she was to mourning— her father had lost his mother early on in life, and he hadn’t been on good terms with his father when he’d passed, so Cassandra had never endured the loss of family when for so long her family had consisted of a single man.
Pascal wasn’t dead yet, but Cassandra was familiar enough with Death that she could see the spectre’s shape haunting each dark corner. She felt guilty for the thought, but she wished that they’d just finish the job already. What she does know about mourning is that it’s a process, and that it takes time, and that it typically can’t start until someone actually dies.
But Life was cruel, and they weren’t happy to let go of Pascal just yet.
The two of them lay together on Cassandra’s bed, swamped with blankets and each other’s arms. The remaining light of day was steadily dimming until the distant ships on the horizon became foggy silhouettes, but neither of them moved to light a lantern, resigning themselves to the looming darkness. Only when the dusk settled into the black carpet of night and they could no longer see each other’s faces did it feel safe to talk.
“I’m scared, Cass,” Rapunzel said.
‘Me too,’ Cassandra thought. “I know,” she replied.
It didn’t need to be said that there was no Sundrop anymore, and after the third times’ charm there was no Death-defying magic left to spare. There was a lot that didn’t need to be said.
‘He’ll be okay’ felt like a lie. ‘We’ll be okay’ felt like another. Cassandra settled on the truth.
“He’ll always be with you, no matter what.”
“Do you really believe that?” Rapunzel whispered.
“I believe that no matter where I go, I’m always stuck with you in some way or another,” Cassandra replied, feeling more comfortable in the more familiar kind of discomfort. Rapunzel responded with an agreeable hum, heartened by the thought.
“I guess that’s true. It’s the same for me, with you, I mean.”
“Right.”
“Right,” Rapunzel echoed under her breath.
There was a lot still left to be said, and one day it would all be immortalised in eulogy. But for the remainder of the night they held each other in silence only until stiff limbs demanded otherwise.