Chapter Thirty Six Azalea's Point of View

Nathan stalked to her. She was dismayed to see that his eyes were angry. "How could you pretend to be someone else?"

She met his green eyes shakily. "I didn't want to. I'm not going to anymore."

"I thought you were Rapunzel!" Nathan shook his head. "How could you do this to me?"

"I'm not going to be her anymore!" Azalea snapped. "I'm getting her back!"

Nathan's eyes were cold and he steered her back to their bench. "Okay," he said, his breath accelerating with anger. "You need to tell me everything."

Azalea felt like crying as she told him the story. She had dreamed of telling him so many different ways. It felt wrong for him to find out this way.

When she was finally finished, she was wiping away tears and eating pineapple. Nathan looked at her with sad eyes. "I'm sorry."

"For what?" Azalea was struggling to hold in sobs. "You reacted the way you were supposed to after hearing all this."

A cold breeze ruffled her hair and she shivered. "I'm just sorry that I didn't tell you sooner."

Nathan shook his head. "Don't be." He rubbed her shoulder with a warm hand. Her skin tingled. "I want to help you get her back."

She looked at him. "Really?"

He nodded. "I'm sorry also about Dwayne." He looked at her with sad sparkling eyes. "I can lay off, if you need me too."

Damn, Azalea's eyes watered. He must feel so bad. Falling in love with a girl, who was pretending to be another girl who was married to someone else. And then only to find out that the girl he fell in love with was about to marry someone else as well. Guilt surged through her.

Azalea kissed his cheek. "I'm so sorry, Nathan."

Nathan looked at the cloudy sky while his eyes reddened. "It's okay," tears streaming from his eyes contradicted his words.

Azalea wiped them away, starting to sob again. He stood up, not bothering to wipe his eyes, and took her hand.

She held it tightly as they began the long walk back to the palace. Thunder rumbled behind them. She was suddenly glad that Eugene was with Guy and Michael talking to Rapunzel's parents about her lastest episode. Fernidia and Olivia were refreshing themselves on herbs with their mother in the library.

Nathan escorted her to the washroom and instead of standing outside the door, he went inside with her, and locked it. The room was dark because of the cloudy sky. Azalea didn't bother to light any candles.

"What are you doing?" She asked him when she finished washing her hands. She was about to dry them, but Nathan took her hands in his and kissed her wet fingertips. She blushed and tried to pull them away.

"I want to know something," Nathan's breath was cold on her fingers. His green eyes were smoldering in the gloom as they focused on her gaze. "What do you really look like?"

Azalea breathed out. "I think you can imagine." She moved her hands from his and put them onto his shoulders. His hands flitted to her waist and she laid her head on his chest. "I have greenish gray eyes."

They began to sway slowly. Thunder shook the Kingdom, but Azalea paid no mind to it. Rain pattered quietly, responding to thunder's call.

"I have blond hair, shorter than Rapunzel's."

One of Nathan's hands wandered up to her hair and stroked it.

"I'm small, shorter than you." She was hardly breathing now. Just feeling his skin.

Nathan murmured into her hair, "Why can't I see?"

She looked up at him with Rapunzel's eyes and spoke with Rapunzel's voice. "You'll see one day." She promised him. Her heart throbbed painfully. Would she even be able to keep that promise?

They went quiet again and just swayed as the thunder and rain spoke to each other in hushed tones.

Dwayne's Point of View

He sank down onto the bed. "You look down."

Jacob was looking at him from the threshold of the house. He smiled at Dwayne. "Knock knock."

"What are you doing here?" Dwayne hurled himself to his feet. "They've got wanted posters for the both of us, and you act like you've come to town to buy a cupcake. Are you out of your mind?"

"Calm down, Dwayne." Jacob closed the door behind him. His black cloak as dripping. "Rapunzel's little flower got infected so I'm here for herbs to treat it."

Dwayne looked at Jacob. "She's at the house alone?"

Damn! We could have gotten her tonight if we had known he would have come to town! Dwayne realized with a surge of anger.

"Don't worry. She's shackled to the wall. She and her swelling stomach." Jacob frowned. "Is it the soup that's causing that or is it something else?"

She's with-child. Dwayne wanted to say. Quit feeding her so much soup!

"What's that?" Jacob eyed a small golden circle on Dwayne's nightstand. Dwayne grabbed it and tucked it under the upturned sheets.

"Are you hungry? It's a long way to town from the house." Dwayne stood up to go to the small kitchen. "I can make you some soup?"

"No thanks," Jacob's attention was easily averted from the ring. "I'll buy some rolls from town."

"Dwayne nodded, pretending to understand. He looked at the azaleas outside in the grass. They were beginning to shrivel up. Next Spring, they'd be bright with color and would bore nectar.

"How's Azalea with pretending to be Rapunzel?"

"She's doing fine," Dwayne grabbed an apple off the small fruit bowl on the even tinier wooden table. "I've spoken to her a few times. I saw her today to tell her about watching Rapunzel."

"Ah," Jacob grabbed an orange. "I'm glad to hear that she's doing well."

Dwayne nodded.

In the uncomfortable silence that followed, Dwayne eyed Jacob as he peeled the orange.

Jacob looked up at him. "Dwayne?"

"Yes?"

"Thank you for helping me do this. You have only a tiny idea of what this means to me."

Damn him! Now he tries to be my brother?