Chapter Text
She's exhausted but she can't sleep. High above her head, the moon glows bright and Cassandra feels her pulse racing through her veins. The pull towards Rapunzel has lessened for now but she can still feel it itching under her skin, like it has since they met. Her hair isn't glowing anymore, though.
She's still keenly aware of what direction her princess is in, but Cassandra only has enough energy to stare at the sky above her and think.
Moonlight. The language wasn't familiar to her, yet she knows instantly what Rapunzel had said. What she had called Cassandra. The word had been almost reverent, yet laced with that familiar warmth that Rapunzel resonates so easily.
Yet there had been such a reaction, not only within Cassandra herself, but the Moonstone itself. Even now, the stone was singing with energy at Rapunzel’s word. It shouldn’t surprise her that the Moonstone reacts to the Sundrop’s presence, since she’d seen plenty of evidence of the Sundrop doing the same, but she hadn’t been prepared for the intensity.
Hell, if she’s being honest, Rapunzel’s reaction to her grabbing the Moonstone out from under her surprised her most. She’d seemed almost excited that Cassandra had played her intentions so close to the vest and basically stolen her destiny.
Something pulses deep in her chest in response to the thought and Cassandra shifts on the ground, ignoring Owl’s everlasting stare. No, Rapunzel had been more than excited. Rapunzel had been thrilled. Thrilled and impressed and a whole other slew of emotions that she’d always picked up on from the princess but never quite this clearly.
And like usual, Cassandra felt her own emotions react to Rapunzel’s freely expressed ones. Except this time, it felt so much more, just like the blonde had suggested.
Free and ready.
But for what?
-----
He feels different come morning. Or, at least, that his concern the previous night was not entirely directed in the right area.
“You’re saying you have no idea why Cassandra took the Moonstone.”
“No.”
“And that doesn’t concern you?”
“What happened was meant to be.”
“You keep saying that, but not explaining, Blondie,” he finally points out, not frustrated but still confused.
Rapunzel doesn’t look up from her journal. “I can’t explain it. It’s just a feeling, Eugene.” She flicks the page over so quickly he simply catches a swath of blue before she’s sketching on a blank space. “I know it looked bad, but it wasn’t.”
Eugene rubs his face. “She literally reminded you to be careful who you trust, and she did it menacingly. ” Max shoots him a look as Fidella huffs besides him.
Rapunzel finally looks up at him, eyes dancing with mirth. “It was a pretty dramatic line, huh?”
“Why are you defending her?” Eugene asks. “It’s not that I don’t trust Cassandra, just… walk me through this so I can wrap my head around why the plan changed.”
Rapunzel smiles at him. “It’s Cassandra, how could I not trust her?” She kisses his cheek. "Besides, you heard Adira, we don't know what would have happened to me if I tried to combine the Sundrop and the Moonstone. I was the added element here."
"Well it can't be a more stable reaction with Lady Venom involved, now can it?"
"Eugene," she stares at him, and he hates that it almost feels like she's finally seeing him for the first time since this entire conversation started. "If we learned anything from dealing with Varian's alchemy, it's that sometimes we have to even the scales before these kinds of things work."
He stands up quickly. "I need a moment," he manages through the lump in his throat.
"Eugene," Rapunzel starts.
"No," he says firmly. "I'm going to go over there," he points to a cliff a good distance away from their clearing. "And in five or so minutes, you and the frog can come talk to me."
Eugene strides away before she can say anything further.
-----
He hears Pascal chirp at him before he senses Rapunzel, and a small part of him wonders when she got so good sneaking around him.
Still, Eugene takes her hand when she settles next to him.
"I don't like the thought of losing you. I mean, clearly," he says, "I love you after all, and I don't know what my life would be like if you weren't in it anymore. I don't want to know." Eugene pauses, squeezes Rapunzel's hand when she starts to reply. "Losing you terrifies me. You and the little guy here are the most important person in my life," he continues, scratching under Pascal's chin, as ever, accepting the fact that they are a package deal. "But Cassandra is… almost as important to me, and the thought of losing both of you, that terrifies me the most."
Eugene leans back on his free hand. "Lance is like my brother, and I'd do almost anything for him. But, somehow, Cass is the same for me as Lance is, except we're closer, because we have the same goals."
"Huh?" blurts Rapunzel.
"Oh, not on the surface, no, not at all. But deep down, where it counts, beneath my gorgeous face and her serpentine scales, both of us are allied with the goal to protect what's precious to us and that's you. We both would do anything for you and that's what bonds us."
"But that's not what I want! I want," Rapunzel fumbles, "friends, partners. You and Cass always use this protection thing to single me out, when you both know I'd give anything for either of you."
"Of course we do. That's not the issue. Well, I mean, it definitely stresses us out, because you're much more important than either of us, don’t give me that look, it's not the point right now. What I'm saying is, Cass and I have the same goal, but we have different ideas about how to do it. And I think that's actually something you need."
"I still don't understand," Rapunzel says, and Pascal nuzzles her chin.
"You need both of us, just like we need you. We both know you can handle yourself, and you trust us to do the same. I like to think that I encourage you to find new things that make you happy, but I'm always ready to step in if something happens. Cassandra prefers to be already in place if something goes wrong." He makes a face. "Must be that guard upbringing."
"Yeah, must be," she says, in thought.
"This is just my opinion, of course. I don't know how Cassandra's mind works and I don't exactly want to know sometimes," Eugene points out. "But for now, this is how I understand it. And maybe that makes it a little more understandable to me how I could stand aside and let you take the Moonstone, while Cass couldn't."
"Hey," Rapunzel cuts in sternly. "What you did-"
"Was exactly what you needed from me," Eugene finishes. "And what Cassandra did, I bet, is exactly what you needed from her."
"Then why are you so upset?"
"Because you both didn't seem like yourselves last night," he replies, "and the thought of losing both of you, I know we're wrapping back around to this, but it scares me more than anything else. Neither of you felt right to me last night and my gut said to get you out of there away from each other until we figure this thing out. And neither of you were in a position to agree or argue. I don't think the Sundrop and the Moonstone have the same goals as us and I don't trust that."
“Maybe you should trust that Cass and I can handle it.” Rapunzel shrugs. “We got this,” she calls over her shoulder as she steps forward to help Lance and Max pack up what little supplies they have left.
“That’s exactly what worries me,” mutters Eugene.