Forget-Me-Not (Varian x Reader)

Chapter 20- Community Service

Dear (Yn),

You're never going to guess what happened to us today. Cassandra and I went out into the forest to escape the guys, and we found a cottage hidden away in the forest. Believe it or not, we met a man there who offered us magic tea, and we turned into birds!!!

How crazy is that?

Cass and I had an hour to be birds before we would go "bird-brain" and be stuck forever. When we returned to the man so he could turn us back, he kidnapped (or is it 'bird-napped?') us so he could add us to his bird collection! Long story short, it was a bad time. Thankfully, we were able to escape him in time and made it back to the caravan safe and sound.

Just don't tell dad about this, okay?

Love,

Rapunzel

~•~

"Community service?"

I quickly nod while smiling at Varian. "Think about it! It's the perfect way to take a bit of time off of your sentence while proving that you aren't all bad."

"I don't know...I'm pretty sure that nobody in this kingdom wants to see me outside of a cell." Varian looks down at his feet. "Are you sure that this isn't too soon?"

"What do you mean?"

He sighs. "Well, I'm just still amazed that you don't hate me. I don't think the rest of Corona is as forgiving as you are."

Forgive. My thoughts stop for a brief moment. I forgive Varian...right? I've moved on. It's in the past. So then why does it still hurt to think about what he's done? I just want my friend back. Surly I can brush one mistake under the rug, right? Right?

"It's okay," I say in a wavering voice. I couldn't tell if my tone was more of an attempt to ease Varian's worries or my own. "We'll make it work."

:-:-:-:-:

I'm standing on the road of Old Corona. A familiar feeling of metal on my skin reveals that my wrists are chained. I look around my surroundings as eerie fog rolls into view. Black rocks are scattered around me, and a familiar voice cuts through the silence like a knife.

"(Yn)~"

I quickly jerk my head around and see Varian appearing through the fog. I suddenly gasp. The blue streak in his hair was illuminated by a bright blue. It was glowing.

"Varian?" I try to approach him but the chains hold me back. "Your hair..."

Varian smirks. "I should say the same to you~"

I gasp as the gold streak in my hair brightly gives off a golden glow. It was like the sunshine of a summer's day.

He ignores my surprise and glances down at the chains bolted to the ground. "I knew you haven't moved on." His eyes meet mine. "You're still haunted by the past. By me."

"No...I-I moved on! We're friends! Friends make mistakes all the time!" I nervously laugh. "Sure, maybe I still can't seem to move on from being held captive by you, but I'll work through it. I can fix things! We can start again."

My hair glows brighter, as does Varian's. With every step we take closer to one another, our hair becomes brighter. I slowly extend my hand out to Varian. He mirrors me, and our fingers touch.

A blinding light explodes out from the contact.

...

I quickly sit up in a cold sweat. I take a few quick breaths as I look around. It was pitch black outside my window; not even the moon could illuminate the sky. I breathed a sigh of relief when I check my hair and see the gold streak wasn't glowing.

I hug my bed covers close to my chest.

What was that?

:-:-:-:

It had been a couple of weeks of Varian doing community service around the castle. The king was still hesitant to let him out of the palace walls, so for now, Varian was stuck mopping floors. Not that he was complaining. He was willing to take just about any job he could find.

After I told him that Rapunzel was looking for a cure for his father, he was much more eager to help and get his prison sentence over with.

As I helped Varian with the floors, I still couldn't get the strange dream out of my head. Had I really not moved on? I stop mopping "Hey...Varian?"

He looks over at me. "Yeah?"

"Are you...sorry...for what you've done?" I hesitantly ask.

Varian stops mopping. "Well...I'm sorry that I said I wanted to make the people of Corona pay. Looking back a lot of the people of Corona never did anything to me. I'm glad I didn't hurt them."

I take a shaky breath. "W-What about my family?"

"I..." Varian sighs. "I've had a lot of time to think in that cell...and I know that I sunk pretty low. I'm not proud of what I did. But your family isn't innocent either. Even when Rapunzel had turned me away during that snowstorm, nobody once came to check on me. You were the only one." The boy's eyes water. "Once you said you'd leave...I-I realized I had nothing left to lose. All I ever wanted was to make my father proud, but I think if he was here now, and saw everything I've done...I think he'd just be ashamed." A few tears drip down his face. "I just wish that I could erase the past. I never wanted this."

I walk over and hug him. "We can't erase the past, but we can still write the future." I gently say.

Varian nuzzles his face into the crook of my neck and I softly smile. I rub small circles on his back as the boy quietly sobs. "I'm s-sorry...I'm so sorry."

:-:-:-:

I skip down the hall, feeling better than I had since the Battle of Old Corona. Varian's genuine apology eased my nerves and convinced me that giving him a second chance was the right thing to do.

As I enter the prison and head to Varian's cell, any positive feelings I had once felt vanished. Varian was still in his cell, but he wasn't alone.

A lanky, brown-haired man wearing a fur vest sat on the bench across from Varian's.

I scowl.

"Andrew."