Warnings: A LOT of fighting, flood, and threatened murder

Summary: To bail Cassandra out of jail, Arianna must team up with Gothel to find a diamond the witch had stolen years ago.

Author Note: I have been DYING to write this! Let's go!

The caravan arrives back at Vardaros. "What are we doing back here?" Kiera questions.

"We need supplies." Rapunzel replies.

Suddenly, Weasel boots Eugene off. That's not good. He thinks. He goes over to the caravan and opens the door. Cassandra sees him as he steps in. Isn't he supposed to be driving? She wonders. "Hey, pretty boy, aren't you supposed to be driving?" She asks him, placing her hands on her hips.

"I got booted off." He replies.

"Don't tell me, Weasel hijacked us again!". He nods.

They are thrown into a gray room. Baron is standing in front of the room. Staylan stands beside him. Please don't repeat what happened last time. Rapunzel thinks. "What do you want?" Arianna sighs.

"The Heart of the City." He replies. What do you mean? The group thinks.

"… Pardon?".

"That lady knows.". He points at Cassandra.

No, I don't. She thinks.

"Look, there must be a mix-up. I didn't steal anyone's heart…?" She starts. That sounds so awkward. She silently criticizes herself.

"Of course you did. I have a painting of it. Sure, your hair was a little longer.". Did his spider bite him? Eugene wonders.

"Look, I think your little spider bit you because our Cassie never stole anything. Sure she has beady eyes and a dark heart but a thief? Never!". Did you really have to say that? She thinks.

"Of course she did! I have a painting of it. Painted by Vardaros best painter. Claudia Bagos. Nice lady.". He pulls out a painting of Gothel creeping in a dark dungeon holding a golden diamond to her chest. "Sure, she cut her hair and her clothes are different. But...". The group screams. That's not Cassandra, Rapunzel thinks.

"Umm... That's not Cassandra. That's her birth mother." She tells him.

"'It's her birth mother.'. Weasel, take her away.". Weasel drags her to the dungeon and throws her in a black cell.

"Okay, guys, Eugene could pick the lock," Rapunzel suggests.

"Oh! Conspiring to break out? Weasel, take them away.". Weasel drags everybody else besides Arianna to the dungeon and throws them in Cassandra's cell.

I can't have Rapunzel locked up. Arianna thinks. "Please, is there any way I can set them free?" She pleads.

"Retrieve the diamond. Then I'll free them." Staylan replies. Arianna nods.

Meanwhile, in the forest, a ghost of a woman with buns in the front and straight in the back, a short-sleeve dress and gloves and an apron, and a headband made up of several tiny dots with a jewel in the middle, Zan Tiri appears. She raises her arm. Gothel rises out of the ground. "Thank you so much for bringing me back, mistress." She says. Zan Tiri smiles.

Arianna walks through the forest. She sees Gothel. She hides in a bush with yellow flowers. When Gothel walks over, she grabs her. Heh... I'm dead. Gothel thinks. "Arianna... So good to see you!" She says.

"Listen, Gothel; I swore to myself if I ever saw you again, I would chuck you off a cliff.".

"Feeling's mutual.". Arianna glares at her.

"But, now I need your help. The girls are in trouble over a diamond you stole years ago.".

"And why should I help you?". Arianna pulls her closer.

"Listen, Gothel; remember that millennia Coronian history book Mom gave me for my seventh birthday?". Gothel nods.

"I still have that, and if you don't help me, I will slap your face in.". And I'm stuck helping her.

Arianna and Gothel are walking through the forest. I wonder what the girls do together. Gothel wonders.

"Ari, what do Rapunzel, Cassandra, and you do together?". Like you care. Arianna thinks.

"We ride horses, do archery, go dancing, sing at festivals, read, go on adventures, swim... Rapunzel and I journal, play with our dolls, paint, and sometimes at night, we watch the stars. And sometimes, when we get really lucky, we sleep under the stars. She is a very interesting young woman, not just a bundle of magic hair.". Gothel glares at her. "What!? I'm not the one with killer black rocks coming out of her fingertips!".

"I'm not the one who ate a whole flower!".

"Everyone eats flour.". Did she just say that? Gothel glares at her.

"So that joke fell flat. But, you know what's even weirder than eating a flower? Singing to one. If I had a millennium of immortality, I would see the world, not stay in one spot.".

"And if my daughter was missing in action, I would go out and look for her, not stay in the castle and cry.". Arianna sticks her face in Gothel's.

"Who says I didn't go looking for Rapunzel?".

"Me.".

Meanwhile, further upstream, a wooden dam bursts.

"You are the most foolish, self-serving, naïve, idiotic, ugly, pitiful, insane brat I ever met." Gothel tells Arianna.

"And you're the most selfish, ugly, creepy, cruel, rude old crone I've ever met.".

Suddenly, the dam bursts. The water rushes to the ladies.

"I HATE YOUR GUTS!" Arianna yells at Gothel.

"I HATE YOUR ENTIRE BEING!". Arianna looks up. She sees the water. She sees a log. We can escape by log. She thinks. "Now, you may not like to admit it. But I know you well enough to know that whatever you're thinking is an awful idea.". Arianna grabs Gothel's hand and jumps on the log.

The log rushes down the river. Gothel screams, terrified. Arianna screams, thrilled. They go down a waterfall. The mist hits Arianna's face. She laughs.

They stop. They get off. "That was so much fun! After the incident with Rapunzel and the Sundrop, I thought I would never enjoy having fun with you again.".

"Shut it, pipsqueak.".

"And at the same time, some people never change.".

Arianna sees a maroon spark. "The gem! It washed up during the flood!" She exclaims. They run up to it and kneel across from each other. They dig it up. Ten-year-old Arianna, wore a dress with a white top and purple skirt and hair in a braid, and she dug in the soil. Gothel remembers.

"Just like old times.". Arianna giggles. She picks up a maroon heart-shaped jewel. It's an actual heart! Arianna thinks. "Huh, it's an actual heart!" She exclaims.

"And speaking of hearts, if you don't give me that heart, I'll put a black rock through your heart.". Oh no, Arianna thinks as she curls up.

Meanwhile, Staylan is riding a gray and black horse wearing a leather saddle. She sees the scene below. She whips the reins.

Staylan rushes over. "Gothel! What did I say about threatening people with your powers?!" She questions. Aww, she ruins all of my fun. Gothel thinks.

"Don't do it." She replies.

"Arianna, get on!". Arianna climbs in front of her. They ride off.

I should really ask her not to mention this to the others. Arianna thinks.

"Hey, Gothel's a terrorist in my home country; so could you not mention this to my family?" Arianna asks.

"I have to legally tell your family that you were being threatened. But, I won't name names." Staylan replies. I can work with that. Arianna thinks.

Arianna and Staylan arrive at the palace. Arianna runs up to Baron. She gives him the heart.

"Thanks, Arianna!" He tells her.

"You're welcome!" She replies. Weasel unlocks the cell. The group runs out. Arianna and Rapunzel hug.

"Mom! How did you track down the heart?!" Rapunzel asks her.

"A childhood friend of mine helped me." She replies.

"That was nice of them.". Heh Arianna thinks.

Author Note: Moral of the story: that Arianna and Gothel don't get along for the life of them.