By The Campfire

It had been a long day. Way too long in Cassandra's opinion. She got into an argument with her best friend, accidental erased her best friends memory, lied to her, searched for the ingredients to make a potion in order to give Rapunzel her memories back, saved her from falling down a cliff, has been trying her best not to think that Rapunzel's overly curious nature was way too cute, and was currently sitting under the starry night sky with Rapunzel leaning against her.

How can she be so touchy feely with a complete stranger? Well not a stranger actually, but a stranger from her perspective. It's fine though, tomorrow morning I can give her the potion and we can put this whole thing behind us. I just have to...

"Cass?"

Cassandra was snapped out of her thoughts by the sound of Rapunzel's voice and turned to face her. She was still leaning against her, and Cassandra knew that all she had to do was lean forward and they could...

I just have to keep myself from doing something stupid.

Cassandra blinked and turned back to look at the fire, "What is it Raps?" she asked while moving slightly away from Rapunzel. She thought her movement was subtle but apparently Rapunzel noticed because she once again leaned against Cassandra.

"I wanted to thank you." Rapunzel said and smiled, "For saving me from the ruffians, and falling down that cliff, escorting me back to the tower, and showing me the outside world for the first time."

Cassandra knew that most of what Rapunzel said wasn't the truth, just something Cassandra lead her to believe.

"Yeah, no problem." Cassandra saw Rapunzel smiling from the corner of her eye but somehow the smile didn't bring Cassandra the joy she usually felt when seeing her smile.

"So... Cass... tell me more about yourself. What do you do when you aren't rescuing people from ruffians?" Rapunzel asked looking at Cassandra and smiling.

"Well I'm traveling with some friends of mine at the moment. Before that I was training to become a guard and helping... another friend of mine with various things." Cassandra answered carefully, knowing that what she said wasn't a lie, but also not the whole truth.

"Oh wow. That sounds amazing! I wish I could travel to a lot of places. And a guard you said? That explains the armor. You look so cool in it!", the excitement in Rapunzel's voice was more than obvious and Cassandra could tell that she was really impressed by the stuff she told her, even though it wasn't that big of a deal in her opinion. That being said hearing Rapunzel compliment her combined with the way she was smiling and looking at her still made Cassandra blush and her heart skip a beat.

"Thanks. The friends I'm traveling with can be a real pain sometimes.", she chucked a bit.

"But you're still traveling with them even though they annoy you? They must be really good friends." Rapunzel looked down, looking a bit sad and Cassandra guessed it was because she must have always wanted a bunch of friends while being stuck in that tower.

"Do you miss your home? Your parents?" Rapunzel asked while still looking down.

"Yeah. I miss my dad a lot. But I know he's doing okay. And I know I can see him again when this journey is over." Cassandra smiled thinking about all the times she drove her dad nuts when she was a kid.

"And... do you also have... you know... someone special?" Rapunzel asked looking back at Cassandra smiling again.

"Someone special? Oh, no I don't. Men aren't really my thing. And I don't really have time for that mushy stuff." Cassandra was now back at the fire, with a hint of blush on her face.

"Mushy stuff? Love is a beautiful thing Cass! You just have to find the right person." Rapunzel was very excited as she spoke.

"I already found her though." Cassandra whispered hoping Rapunzel didn't hear her. She was wrong.

"Really? Who is she? How did you two meet? Have you confessed?" Rapunzel was even more excited now, it seems like the topic of romance was something she is very fond of.

Cassandra looked back at Rapunzel, whose eyes looked like they were shining.

Oh what the hell, she isn't gonna remember this anyway.

"She's a very kind person. She sees the good in everyone. She tries to help. She's beautiful. As for how we met... well I saved from some ruffians." Cassandra smirked at Rapunzel and wondered where in the world this courage was coming from.

Rapunzel's eyes seemed to widen and she blushed while quickly looking away then back at Cassandra.

Cute.

Cassandra never knew Rapunzel can blush like that.

"Oh, um... well... thank you Cass. I'm very flattered." Rapunzel was still blushing and fidgeting a bit.

Cassandra closed her eyes and turned her head towards the potion.

It doesn't matter that she knows. The potion will be done soon, everything will go back to the way it used to be. No need to over think anything...

"I like you too." Rapunzel said not sounding embarrassed at all.

Cassandra's heart started beating faster and she looked at Rapunzel wide eyes. Despite how Rapunzel sounded she was still blushing and looked nervous.

"It's nice of you to think that. But there's no need for you to spare my feelings like that.", she knew it wasn't true. The things Rapunzel thought she felt weren't true and knowing that hurt Cassandra even more.

"I'm not! I really do like you Cass! I like you a lot! You smart, brave, handsome, caring, and I really am attracted to you." Rapunzel sounded serious and placed her hand on Cassandra's.

Cassandra looked down at their hands and sighed. She felt Rapunzel tighten her grip on her and and she looked back up at her. Rapunzel closed her eyes and started leaning towards her.

For a moment Cassandra thought about just letting this happen. It would be like a dream come true for her, but just like her dreams, this too would be a lie.

She brought her other hand to Rapunzel's shoulder to make her stop. Rapunzel opened her eyes and she looked hurt.

"What's wrong?" she looked away briefly, then back at Cassandra, "I thought... don't you want to?"

"I... I do. I really do, but..." Cassandra thought about what she wanted to say.

But it would be a lie.

"But I don't want to rush into things. Like I said, I like you and I know this is all new to you so I don't want to move to fast." Cassandra's heart hurt so badly. No matter how much she wanted Rapunzel to love her, no matter how much Rapunzel might love her in this moment, she can't cross that line.

If she did she might not be able to go back. She might decide to take Rapunzel away. Just the two of them. Take her somewhere where they can be together.

Cassandra cursed herself for thinking that. She knew that it would be a horrible thing to do, to make Rapunzel live a lie, to live a life of false happiness and love. No matter how much Cassandra wanted that life with Rapunzel she knew that some dreams were meant to stay just dreams.

"Oh well, that's... actually really nice of you. Thank you Cass." Rapunzel smiled at her and intertwined their fingers.

Cassandra allowed herself to live this lie a while longer, she knew that it would end in the morning so she wanted to enjoy this moment for what it was, just a moment.

A moment with Rapunzel by the campfire.