A/N: This chapter is a long one, to say the least. It kicked my butt, especially because I struggled with the direction I wanted it to go. I hope you enjoy this chapter more than me (I've re-read and re-edited this way too much!) I hope you all have a wonderful holiday season and a great new year! Hopefully, I'll finish this story early next year; we are almost to the end, after all.

Without further ado, here you go! :)

Chapter 7

Cass' POV

The next few weeks passed in a blur, and Cass watched in dismay as Rapunzel failed miserably at hiding her broken heart. The girl wandered the halls in a sort of daze, her footsteps barely audible on the marble floors. Worse still, Rapunzel had all but neglected her passion for painting and instead poured herself into her laborious studies. It was as though the tedious text of historians kept her held together, aided her in her quest for distractions. And thereby, Cass' relationship with Rapunzel had begun to suffer, like the petals of a flower wilting at the edges. Mother Gothel's trips to the city had become more frequent, and her interactions with Rapunzel did nothing to help the situation, much to Cass' irritation. There was always a phrase like 'I told you so' or 'You should have listened to me' tossed into every sentence. It was clear the woman meant to cause Rapunzel immeasurable guilt, and her tactics worked.

Rarely did Rapunzel seek out Cass; from what the handmaiden could see, Pascal had become Rapunzel's sole companion. It was as though Rapunzel actively avoided conversation with Cass, and when it did happen, she only asked about her mother or if Cass could bring her more books from the library. This greatly disconcerted Cass, who was not quite accustomed to being treated like the help by someone as open-minded as Rapunzel. To make matters worse, each attempt to try and broach the subject of Flynn Rider fell on deaf ears, and Rapunzel always changed the subject by giving Cass an order of some kind. And though Cassandra would be the last person on earth to proclaim herself a fan of Flynn, she resentfully admitted that he had wrought change within the girl. He'd cultivated and nurtured her adventurous spirit and allowed her to see past the strict ways of her overbearing mother, forming opinions of her own that did not conform to what she'd been taught. The pair, though different as could be, brought out the best in one another, and Cass couldn't stand seeing Rapunzel being so terribly affected.

On one such occasion, after Cass had brought Rapunzel's afternoon tea to the desk in her room, she'd decided firmly that she'd had enough. Her patience wore thinner while the days went by, and she knew Rapunzel could not keep all her emotions to herself.

"Raps, you need to stop this." Cass spoke firmly, her white-knuckled grip on the silver tray unrelenting. "Talk to me."

An eye twitch from the girl indicated that she had, in fact, heard Cass, but chose to remain silent and instead sipped the hot tea. Cass noticed with a hint of pity that Rapunzel's fingers trembled as she held the delicate china. Gray circles lined her eyes as though she'd gone days without rest.

"Rapunzel. Say something, anything. You've hardly said a word to me since Flynn―" At the mention of his name, Rapunzel gulped and fixed her gaze to the notebook laid flat on her desk―"was arrested, and when you do acknowledge me, you treat me like dirt. It feels like our friendship is hanging by a fraying thread and―"

Rapunzel's head snapped up and she looked at the handmaiden with a whirlwind of emotions raging behind her green eyes. She set the teacup down with enough force that the tray rocked and her cup cracked, amber liquid spilling onto the desk and seeping into the grain. "What do you want me to say, Cass?! That I lay in bed tossing and turning for hours on end, foolishly wishing he'd come to my door and wrap me in his arms? Despite all he's done, I should hate him. I want to hate him, but...I-I just can't." A tense silence followed this statement, and Cass patiently waited to see if she would speak again.

Rapunzel twisted her hands in her lap, squeezing the life out of her fingers. "I think that I'm in love with him. I wish I didn't care about Flynn, especially because Mother will surely despise him and he caused me so much pain, but here we are. It doesn't excuse how I've treated you, and for that, I'm truly sorry."

"Apology accepted." Cass offered a gentle smile, placing a hand on Rapunzel's shoulder. "I'm glad you told me. Now, what do you plan on doing next?"

"Next?" Rapunzel repeated, wiping the mess she'd created with the napkin previously nestled underneath the teapot.

"About Flynn. I thought that was fairly obvious."

"What is there to do? There's no way I can prove his innocence, especially when he is, unfortunately, guilty of all accusations. The court would never grant me an audience in the first place." Rapunzel's fist bunched up the cloth in her hand, soaking her skin with the tea.

Cass smirked, feeling a sense of rebellion rise up within her. Clearly she'd been friends with Rapunzel too long, but she couldn't find it in herself to care. This was a time to do the wrong thing for the right reasons. "Who said anything about seeing the court?"

Rapunzel stared at Cass, trying to understand her suggestion. Cass watched with mild amusement as her friend's mouth gaped open in shock, the gears clicking into place.

"...You're thinking of breaking him out? As in, disobeying the law?"

"Exactly."

"Who are you and what have you done to Cassandra?"

"I know coming from me, it sounds insane, but trust me when I say it may be our only option left. If we don't act quickly, he'll be hanged." Cass placed emphasis on the last part of her sentence, hoping to stress the severity of the punishment. That would be the end of the line for Flynn Rider and his partner, and Cass would not allow the terrible event to occur, not if she had any say in it. Although she didn't necessarily approve of him, she knew he was undeserving to leave the world in such a grim manner.

Rapunzel set her jaw in a determined line. "Okay, what's the plan?"

Flynn's POV

You can only remember what you want to forget

You feel it tugging at your heart

Like the stars overhead

'Til you rest your bones on the killing bed

~The Things I Regret~

Drip. Drip. Drip.

Flynn's gaze looked absently at the tiny crevice in the stone ceiling, watching as water droplets repeatedly hit the hard earth of the cell. No other sounds were detected but Lance's groans of discomfort as he slept on a flat cot attached to the opposite wall.

Drip, drip, drip.

The droplets came in faster succession, creating a puddle on the floor. Streaks of rain could be seen from the tiny window built high on the wall. And should anyone entertain the idea of escaping, the stout, thick bars of iron secured in the window's opening would immediately discourage them.

An involuntary shiver coursed through Flynn's cold body, and he wrapped the thin blue blanket tighter around his shoulders. He'd slept in uncomfortable places before, from hidden alleyways to seedy caverns, but this time, it felt different. They'd finally made a home of their own, and despite its proletarian image he'd grown fond of the little hut. Flynn missed the ratty couch, the warmth of the fireplace, and the thick wool of his blankets. He wished he could be there now, reading one of the few books they had by the fire's glow and listening to Lance's mumbled singing as he carved birds from scrap pieces of wood―but most of all, he wanted to see Rapunzel.

He craved her tinkling laugh, the joy in her eyes when she looked at him, the awe written on her face whenever she talked about seeing the world. He yearned for her forgiveness though he knew he did not deserve it. Closing his eyes, he pictured gathering her porcelain body into his arms and kissing her with everything he had. The taste of her lips would be sweet, and he'd gently thread his fingers through the silky strands of her blonde hair. His fantasy lasted a brief moment when he realized the selfish nature of it. Rapunzel needed a man of good social standing, a man who could offer her everything and more in life, someone who gazed upon her countenance with love and affection. All Flynn could give her was the latter; a thief and a duchess' daughter were simply not meant to be. Their budding relationship would end as swiftly as it had begun, and in modern society, they could never achieve acceptance from others. Besides―he chuckled bitterly to himself―his hanging was scheduled early tomorrow morning. It would take a miracle for Flynn to be saved, and dwelling on wishful thinking of an imaginary life wouldn't magically change his fate. It wouldn't change all the dirty deeds he'd done for his own gain, or the ladies he'd scorned over the years and the lies he'd hidden from the only woman he truly loved.

Years worth of regret came crashing down on him, and his chest squeezed with the weight of it. When he'd first run away from the orphanage and decided to become a 'swash-buckling rogue'―just like his fictional hero Flynnigan Rider―it had seemed like the most desirable option compared to living out the rest of his days within the walls of a place that offered no hope. He believed if he traveled the world and lived according to no one's rules but those created by him and Lance, then he'd finally find purpose in life. Yet in spite of the freedom granted to him by choosing to be a renegade, he'd lost himself along the way. The kind and lonely Eugene Fitzherbert had been buried and suppressed, replaced by the arrogance and charm of Flynn Rider. He used his good looks and skilled words to his advantage while bribery and cons became like a second language to him, and only when he met Rapunzel did he see the error of his ways. Now, their relationship was water under the bridge, never to be rekindled again. Ironic how it took being on the edge of death's door for Flynn to steep in a lifetime of regrets he could not rectify.

Too little, too late.

He supposed this was what he deserved, after everything he'd done. One small consolation was that he'd leave this mortal life with his brother by his side and they would not have to exist without the other. As he lay staring at the damp stone bricks above, he prayed the judgment of God Almighty would be merciful at the end.

Rapunzel's POV

Her feet moved soundlessly along the humid tunnel, keeping her eyes trained on the torchlight sconces as she followed Cassandra. The moisture in the air adhered to her heavy cloak and stuck to the insides of her lungs, making the simple task of breathing rather difficult. She wasn't sure how much time had passed since the pair of them had escaped from her bedroom window using the old fashioned method of tying sheets together and securing it to the bedpost. At the time, the sky had darkened considerably and a tapestry of blackened clouds gathered on the horizon, with a light drizzle on the grounds. Rapunzel had decided to leave a note lying on her pillow explaining to her mother that she'd be gone awhile, and though Cass had fervently protested the idea, she needed to come clean. It felt wonderfully cathartic writing about years worth of bottled emotions and expressing how she'd begun to feel about her mother's control. Consequences be damned―she'd deal with them at a later date.

Rapunzel had been so wrapped up in her web of thoughts that she rammed into Cass' back, yelping at the brunt impact.

"We're here." Cass said dryly, withdrawing a thin, long pin from her brown trousers and inserting it into the iron lock. "Time will not be on our side once we enter the prison block. There will be a short interval where the guards will switch shifts, so we need to hurry. They usually start around―"

"How do you know so much about this place?"

A satisfying click from the lock told her that Cass' efforts had been successful, and the oak door groaned as it opened. "I applied a few years back to work as a guard in the prison and I passed the entrance exam….but when I showed up to the first day of training and they saw I was a woman, they rejected me. Good thing I still kept the manual; I knew it'd be useful one day."

"Cass, that's awful."

Cass dismissed her reply and put a finger to her lips, indicating they needed to be as stealthy as possible. "Follow my lead."

Together, the two women draped the hoods of their cloaks over their heads and linked arms, carefully traversing the corridors. Each side was lined with grimy, dirty cells containing equally unsavory characters. Most were asleep and snoring loudly, while one sat in the corner of his cell muttering a string of nonsensical gibberish to himself.

She hoped the guards wouldn't discover them before they were able to complete their mission. Cass steered them around a sharp right-turn, and as Rapunzel's eyes quickly scanned each cell searching for Flynn, her heart rate spiked with a mixture of anticipation and sadness. She hadn't seen him in weeks, and as much as she wanted answers, she dreaded the state he would be in. Alas, once they neared the end of the second hall, she spotted Flynn's figure uncomfortably curled up on a cot, with a tattered blanket slipping from his shoulders. Opposite Flynn sleeping with his snores intermingling among the fellow prisoners was Lance. His large body barely fit on the cot, and his bulky fingers grazed the floor.

"There he is." Rapunzel gripped the thin iron bars, pressing her face against them. "He looks so...fragile."

Though Flynn's weight had dropped by a few pounds, she noticed with mounting worry that he had taken severe physical beatings, and the sight brought tears prickling at the backs of her eyes. Discolored bruises marred his jawline, while a slit in his bottom lip had dribbled spots of blood onto the collar of his shirt. His partner Lance wasn't in any better shape, from what Rapunzel could see in the subdued lighting. His left eye had swollen to twice its size, and a swath of purples, yellows, and greys affected the pigment of his skin. The hand resting across his chest seemed bruised as well, and wrapped with grimy bandages crusted in dried blood across the knuckles.

Cass' gaze narrowed as she looked at the two men, her voice quavering with barely restrained anger. "Is this the type of punishment given to all criminals, regardless of their misdeeds? These men are thieves, not murderers!"

"I know. This is all so wrong."

"Keep a lookout for any guards." Cass instructed, finishing picking the lock and pushing open the barred door. "I'd prefer not to meet the faces behind these beatings."

Rapunzel winced at the awful whining sound it created as it swung open, glancing around to make sure it hadn't awoken any of the men. Luck seemed to be on their side, however, and the prisoners continued sleeping heavily. She listened out of sight for the potential sound of footsteps while Cass quietly awoke Flynn and Lance, using hushed tones as she spoke to them.

First, she heard Flynn's voice as he addressed Cass. Rapunzel's chest tightened with a painful twang; his voice was hoarse from misuse like the very action caused him great discomfort.

"Cassandra, what are you doing here?"

Cass released an impatient huff. "Rescuing you. Now hurry as fast as you can―we don't have much time." He moaned with the effort of standing up, and Cass spoke once more. "Here, put your arm around my shoulders."

Rapunzel snuck a glance around the corner, watching while Cass supported a weak Flynn and quickly inspected Lance.

"Can you walk, big guy?" Cass asked. He offered a quick nod, walking towards the ajar door. When Lance saw Rapunzel, he smiled―though it looked more like a grimace due to the condition of his bulging eye―and placed a hand on her shoulder.

"Thank you," he said, his brown eyes swimming with gratitude. "You risked a lot coming here."

The brief camaraderie they shared weeks prior came flowing back into Rapunzel's response. She stepped forward and wrapped her slender arms around his muscular frame, and judging by his stiffness, he hadn't expected the gesture. "It would be a shame if we didn't have the chance to become better acquainted with one another."

Lance's half-hearted chuckle vibrated into her body. "I couldn't agree more."

When they pulled apart, Flynn's eyes met hers, and Rapunzel's heart leapt into her throat. She forced herself not to blush at the intensity of emotions she found in his gaze. Oh, how she missed him. She wanted nothing more than to rush into his arms and talk with him, to understand his motives from the moment they met. She wanted to caress his face in her hands and plant a kiss on his lips. Her anger at everything he'd done festered in her gut for weeks, but it had dissipated once she'd seen the true regret in his expression. There was no trickery; of that, she was certain.

Just then, the chatter and practiced marching footsteps of guards came within earshot, and a bolt of panic shot through her. The prisoners had been aroused from their slumber, and began howling at the escapees. Cass' urgent tone rose above the din of noise. "We need to leave. Now!"

"Right." Rapunzel shook her head, grabbing Lance's arm. "Cass, lead the way."

The group darted through the prison maze, not stopping until they'd passed into the underground tunnels and Cass had slammed the door shut behind them. Soon thereafter, frantic shouts and orders permeated the tunnels; by then, they were long gone.

Misty fog spilled onto the quiet docks, with the silhouette of birds perched on wooden posts and ropes sitting in a pile. The rainfall had slowed for the time being, though the air remained damp. Storm clouds began thinning out and gradually moving towards the horizon line. It was difficult to see anything when the night sky bore few stars and the moonlight became concealed by drifting clouds. The only objects Rapunzel could discern with confidence were two mid-sized ships anchored to the docks as they rocked to the placid wind.

Dragging Flynn along the length of the docks, Cass stopped before the rope tethering the nearest ship and beckoned Lance and Rapunzel to her side.

"Lance, untie the rope. Rapunzel, take Flynn onto the boat and see if you can find medical supplies."

Wordlessly, Rapunzel wrapped an arm around Flynn's shoulder and started the walk up the plank, careful not to jostle him. Once they reached the top, she guided him towards the captain's quarters and took him inside. She proceeded to lay him gently on the large bed against the wall and searched the night stand table adjacent to the window. Her nimble fingers rummaged around in the drawers for anything useful, and it wasn't until she pulled out the last drawer that she found a roll of bandages, white cloths, and small, colorful glass bottles labeled with various extracts.

"This should do," she muttered to herself, scooping the bottles in her arms and setting them down on the flat surface. "Hopefully, you'll feel fit as a fiddle after I'm finished." She recognized her lame attempt at humor, but she couldn't find the words to say. The ship moved with a swaying jerk, before settling into an even pace. Rapunzel noticed the city line retreating further into the distance with an odd sense of detachment. The first order of business, before she tended to his wounds, was to find some water for him to drink. As chance would have it, she discovered a full waterskin pouch hung on the bedpost, and she took care in squeezing the liquid into his mouth. Minutes ticked by in silence while she worked trying to recall information from her book of medicine at home, and applying the remedies with a cloth as tenderly as she could to the sensitive areas.

"Rapunzel?"

Her head snapped up at the soft sound of his voice, becoming entranced by his tired honey gaze. "Yeah?"

"I'm sorry. For everything." Flynn placed his hand on top of hers, brushing his thumb across her knuckles. "You were the best thing that's ever happened to me, and I shouldn't have hid the truth from you for as long as I did. What we had―our friendship―it was, and still is, real. I just wanted you to hear it from me."

Rapunzel smiled warmly. "I appreciate it. I've really missed you, and I…"

I think I love you.

"...I'm glad you're okay."

A knock sounded at the door, followed by a familiar voice. "Raps, you and I are sharing a cabin."

"Yes, ma'am."

Cass lightly chuckled. "Very funny. Lance is at the helm, but I'll be taking over steering the ship. Our cabin is below decks."

Once her footsteps had faded, Rapunzel stood from her kneeling position on the bed and cleaned up the leftover supplies, filing them neatly in the drawers. "I should probably leave and let you rest for the night. It'll help with the recovery process."

A part of her wished Flynn would protest, to ask her to stay, but the question never came. She glanced back at the bed and found he'd fallen fast asleep, his chest rising softly. He looked serene, his features relaxed where there'd previously been tension. Without thinking, Rapunzel padded over to his sleeping form and kissed him on the forehead, allowing the gesture to linger on his skin before draping the blankets across his body. She left and shut the door quietly, missing the sigh of contentment escaping Flynn's lips.

We are finally approaching the long awaited lantern scene! *gasp* Leave a review letting me know what you think and I'll see you next time!