Tangled Stories

3 || Come back

When Cass realizes who her new friend really is, she decides to return to Rapunzel and help her defeat Zhan Tiri. After the final battle, the evil warlock is gone forever, but that victory comes with a price...

It was over. It was finally over.

Rapunzel felt the weight fall of her shoulders. She was incredibly tired, but that didn't matter. They have won, evil was gone, and most importantly, she had Cassandra back by her side.

"We did it!", she cried, and couldn't hide a smile on her face. She wanted to run to Eugene, but he was too far – she had told him to stay there in case her or Cassandra's powers would hurt him. She knew that he's probably on his way to them, though. Soon they'll be safe together.

And she had someone else to celebrate with. It was hard to believe, that after months of fear and hope, Cassandra was there with her, just like the good old times. Rapunzel now realized how much she had missed her. Even though she had grown enough to be able to live without her, she couldn't be more grateful to the universe that it gave her best friend back.

She turned around to see Cass barely standing on her feet. She was shambling to her, trying to smile, but the pain was too strong. Rapunzel watched in terror as her hair slowly went from bright blue to almost grey, and her face was more pale than ever.

"Cassandra? Oh my God, what..."

"I think... I used the incantation... too many times. I'll be okay...", she whispered, and fell over.

Rapunzel ran up to her to took her in her arms. She was terrified, had no idea what to do.

Cassandra was breathing heavily, pointing at her chest, where the Moonstone was placed.

"It takes away... my energy. And the more I use it... the weaker I am. I think I have... gone too far."

"Shh, it's okay. Don't... I'm gonna... It will be alright...", Rapunzel said, but she knew she was lying.

"Maybe... if I remove it..."

"No! No, it will be even worse, I..."

"Rapunzel. It's too late."

Cass slowly raised her hand and brushed Rapunzel's hair. It brought back the memory too painful to remember, but still so vivid, that she broke into tears. Not again. She couldn't go through it again. She couldn't count on a miracle again.

Cassandra closed her eyes, her hand went to Rapunzel's cheek and wiped away the tears.

"I'm so happy I could come back", she whispered.

*

The ground was cold and hard, but Rapunzel didn't care. She only felt the emptiness deep inside. It felt so unreal, that after such happiness a moment ago, she was now in such grief. She thought she had everything, but now everything was lost.

She gently laid Cassandra's heavy head on her lap and grabbed her hands. One of them had a special protection, a blue glove. Rapunzel pressed the hand to her heart. It was

her who had done it. She had hurt Cass. And not only then, she had hurt her countless times. All these times when she hadn't trusted her, hadn't kept their secrets, had cared only about having fun. Cass never said a thing, but she had been more and more broken. Till she couldn't stand it anymore and had decided to finally do something for herself.

But it ended as it always had: Cassandra had recognized it still wasn't what she wanted. Because after all, their friendship meant more than anything. And she had sacrificed everything to save it, even though it was difficult. Now, she did the same. But for the last time.