The Alchemist's Princess | Rapunzel's Tangled Adventure

Chapter XVII

Varian raced down to the garden and when he was close, he heard her beautiful voice.

"Y-yes she will sing to those who'll h-hear... and in her s-song, all m-magic flows... but c-can you brave what you most f-fear... can y-you face what the river knows..."

Varian could hear her voice breaking as she sang and it hurt him to know that she was upset. He started to walk up behind her.

"Where the n-northwind meets the sea, there's a m-mother full of memory."

Varian decided to join in and sang with her, "come, my darling, homeward bound."

Aqua froze and went silent when she heard him sing with her.

"When all is lost, then all is found," Varian finished as he sat down beside her.

She looked at the ground, wiping her eyes.

"Hey, what's wrong? D-did you not like my machine? Was it boring?" Varian frowned as he put a hand on her shoulder.

"I just... you said you were coming to the Expo early so we could hang out before the Expo started... I had planned to take you around the city, but you chose Cass over me... then you asked Cass and then Shorty to be your assistant instead of me... I'm always your assistant... did I do something wrong in the lab on Wednesday? Did I mess something up? D-do you not want me to be your assistant anymore?"

"What?! No! I mean, you were never my assistant! We're partners. It's an equal team structure. I just wanted you to be in the crowd to watch my machine. I wanted you to be impressed... I didn't mean to hurt you," Varian said as he hugged her tightly, feeling awful for making her cry.

"Varian, I'm always impressed. I've told you that so many times," Aqua looked at him and smiled.

Varian's cheeks flushed as he looked into her eyes. Then he decided to go for it.

"Princess!" Pete called from the entrance of the garden just as Varian went to make his move. They both jumped at the sudden noise and Varian looked at the guard with a bright blush. "Your parents are looking for you," Pete said, not realizing the moment he had just ruined.

"I'll be right there," Aqua said as Varian stood up. She had no idea that he had been about to kiss her.

"I'm sorry... I-I'll see you later, Aqua. I gotta help clean up," Varian said nervously before he ran to go help clean.

He couldn't believe that he almost kissed her. He wanted to try again, but it had to be nothing less than perfect. She just looked extra gorgeous with her hair down, letting it frame her naturally beautiful face. Her dress complemented her perfectly and made her eyes seem to shine brighter than usual. Her beauty and hearing her say that she was impressed mixed with his feelings for her. He just couldn't help, but feel like that was the perfect moment to kiss her, but it was ruined.

He also wanted to be able to give her the necklace he had made. He would've shown his first new element at the Expo, but he wanted the necklace he was making from it to be special and a surprise. It was for Aquaria and he was putting all the details he could into it to make it perfect.

Eugene saw that Varian looked like a tomato and he raised an eyebrow. "Goggles? Did something happen?"

"What? No, no, nothing happened. I'm okay. Everything's fine," Varian brushed it off and Rapunzel hummed.