Chapter Fifty Azalea's Point of View

Azalea followed Liam back, who was walking at an easy pace for Rapunzel, who waddled next to Azalea.

Azalea felt eyes on her and glanced at Rapunzel to find her staring. "What?" Azalea blushed.

"It's bad there, isn't it?" Rapunzel was frowning. Her hand cradled her stomach absent-mindedly. They were outside of town near the stables. Liam must have remembered that the stables were placed halfway between the palace and the prison, even though it was closer to the palace. The sun beamed down on them, and Azalea relished the warmth on her skin. She didn't want to ignore the warmth when in the next few days it could be raining.

"All prisons are bad." Azalea pointed out.

Rapunzel went quiet and looked around wearily. Azalea stared at her with alarm and new eyes. Her hair was much longer than when Azalea had last seen her. Though it was braided, Rapunzel's hair reached for her ankles. Her eyes were still dark, and Azalea wished she could figure out why. Rapunzel was waddling along with exhaustion in her movements, and Azalea worried whether the princess had worked herself too hard. "Liam, can we rest for a moment?"

Liam halted. "Everything okay?" He glanced back, his eyes grazing the foliage that crowded around the trail before it reached them.

Azalea nodded and Rapunzel shot her a grateful glance. She sank down onto one of the few benches. They were more than halfway there now. They had passed the stables a little more than a while ago.

"Sorry." Rapunzel's quiet voice made Azalea glance at her. "Being with-child is surprisingly difficult."

Liam walked up to them, looking at Rapunzel with worried eyes. "You alright? You're sweating."

Rapunzel wiped at her forehead. "I'm fine." Azalea scowled and looked at the trail. "How far are we?"

"Not far at all." Azalea said, then took Rapunzel's offered hand to pull her back to her feet. "Want to keep going?"

"I could probably take Maximus back." Rapunzel's eyes dimmed at the thought of leaving them. "Let's hurry, please."

When they finally got to the prisons, Rapunzel was sweating buckets. She sat down on the wood floor. Dwayne was washing one of the spare iron cells with a bucket of water. He looked at them when they entered. He took in Rapunzel's sweating form, and ran over to her. He dumped the remaining water over her head.

She started coughing. "Dwayne, I wasn't asleep!"

Dwayne didn't look repentant. "Sorry."

Azalea found a spare shirt on one of the corner and started wiping Rapunzel's wet skin dry. Rapunzel took the shirt and stood up to wring out her dress. She looked at Dwayne. "Do your scratches hurt?"

Dwayne had started refilling the bucket. He looked up with tranquil dark gray eyes. "Who wants to know?"

"This lucky princess does." Rapunzel went over to him as Nathan stormed through the Prison, cursing.

"What's wrong, Nat?" Dwayne edged away from Rapunzel. He eyed Rapunzel with wary eyes.

Nathan paced the Prison angrily. His hands were clenched in fists. He looked flustered and disgusted. "That's it, guys. I'm going to kill Diego. That son of a b- Damn." He whirled to them, staring at Dwayne. "The innuendoes he makes! They make me sick. I need to kill him."

Dwayne looked worried. "Nathan, are you all right?"

"Hell no!" Nathan sank down onto the floor next to Azalea, though he hadn't seen her. "He's saying nasty things."

Dwayne sighed. "Nathan, do you need some water? You're looking flushed."

Nathan groaned. "Dwayne, shut the hell up."

Dwayne held the full bucket of water tightly. He scooted around Rapunzel and stood over Nathan. Nathan looked up with hazy eyes. Nathan mumbled something and put his head between his knees. Dwayne looked at Azalea. "He's been working in the sun all day."

Azalea remembered how hot the sun had been, and paled. "Is this his first time back inside?"

Dwayne nodded grimly and sighed. "So I'm the water boy? Fine." Dwayne dumped the water over Nathan's head. Azalea wiped away Nathan's wet hair and felt his skin. He was hot, but she could feel the heat simmering down.

"Again, please." She looked at Dwayne. Dwayne refilled the bucket and dumped more water on Nathan.

Nathan sighed and opened his eyes. He looked at Azalea and Rapunzel, then at Dwayne sheepishly. "They heard my rants?"

"Every word I'm afraid." Dwayne managed an embarrassed look. "Feeling better?"

"Much." Nathan squeezed out his shirt. "I think I was just peached."

Azalea smiled and looked at Rapunzel, who had leaned against the wall and rubbed her stomach. Rapunzel stood up straight and looked at Nathan and Dwayne. "How hurt is David?"

"Not really hurt-" Dwayne started to say.

"If you mean by not dying, he's fine." Nathan stood up. "He should be in his cell."

Azalea looked for spare keys and looked for David. She found him in the cell next to Dwayne's and unlocked it. He crawled out, looking happy to see her. He heaved himself to his feet to give her a hug.

She smiled and pulled him over to Rapunzel.

"Take off your shirts." Rapunzel ordered. Dwayne smirked and pulled his shirt off. Rapunzel went over to him and began to unbraid her hair at the ends. She put the golden tips on Dwayne's scratches before Azalea had a good look at them.

Rapunzel began mumbling under her breath and Azalea stared in amazement as Rapunzel's golden locks began to glow. Dwayne gasped as the healing glow swept through him, and Azalea saw his face relax. When Rapunzel was done, he stood up.

"That's amazing." He murmured. Nathan looked ill at ease while Rapunzel did David and Liam. When it was his turn, he sat down and sighed.

"It won't hurt." Rapunzel gently stroked his back for a moment. Nathan met her eyes and nodded wordlessly.

He was smiling when it was over, and walked to Azalea to kiss her hand. "Fancy meeting you here."

"I live here." Azalea pointed out teasingly.

David and Dwayne stifled laughter while Liam and Rapunzel snickered at their exchange.

Rapunzel looked at them and smiled brightly. "I need an escort."

Dwayne stood up straighter and his eyes smiled when he looked at Azalea. Azalea suddenly remembered the morning's events with a pang. Would he actually let them be together, or had she really been asleep?

Nathan held her hand as they followed Liam leading Rapunzel back to the palace. Liam began telling stories of David, who was holding a full bucket of water, and his misadventures as children which had Rapunzel laughing until she doubled over. Dwayne told David how to mold the red clay bricks into squares more quickly, and Nathan just held Azalea's hand.

Rapunzel brings people together. Azalea realized when she saw how they were all enjoying each other's company. Dwayne looked at Nathan and her holding hands and told Nathan what to do when he saw Diego again.

She laughed when she overheard Dwayne's statement:

"Tell Diego to grab one of those bricks and hit himself in the head with it."