Cassandra stopped her slow stride and straightened her sore shoulders, blowing out a tired breath. Raising her canteen to her lips she took several sips from it. The afternoon air hung in heavily forested patch of land she was searching hung over her and her companions like a heavy wool blanket. She wished for a breeze to pass through. Looking to either side of her, she could tell she was not the only one. The heat was so intense, it had managed to penetrate the current atmosphere of extreme worry and haste.
The lady-in-waiting, along with dozens of others were lined up, searching the forest for Rapunzel and Veda Mal. As soon as the alarm that Rapunzel had been kidnapped, the king had organized a massive search party, it had been all hands on deck. Four soldiers had been sent to the manor to collect Mel Rose. She was found still tied to the dining room chair. Several hundred other soldiers lead by the King headed out into the countryside. Cass, Eugene and Stan had all insisted on going as well, despite protests about their wellbeing by members of their family and friends. Stan had been devastated when he awoke to find his charge missing. He felt that it was his duty to right his perceived wrong.
The search had lead them quite quickly to Veda Mal's abandoned coach. They had started the search at the site of the mind doctor's coach and dead coachman and fanned out through the ancient forest. The trail of hoof prints had initially been clear, but now about a third of the way through the forest, they had lost it. Immediately to Cass' left was King Frederic. On his left was the Captain. Beyond the Captain were dozens of soldiers in a line. To Cass' right was Max with Eugene on his back and Pascal between his ears. To the right of the horse was Lance Strongbow, then Pete, then Stan, then still more soldiers, all hoping to pick Dr. Mal's trail back up. They all figured she was headed for the mountains that loomed up in front of them, just beyond the woods.
Eugene had accompanied Cassandra and the others against everyone's wishes. Cass reasoned that he could barely walk and would just be in the way. King Frederic felt Eugene going out with the search party would be detrimental to his health. The man refused to listen to either of them. He was going to find the love of his life, his dream, wherever she had been taken.
"Do we know if Mal has property in those mountains?" Eugene asked, his question mostly directed at Cass. "A hideout maybe? Or is she just running for the closest source of possible of shelter and escape?"
"Didn't have a chance to check property records," Cass said, staring at the gloomy mountains. "But, those are the same mountains the bandits from the forest have a hideout in. She could know about it and be headed there."
"We should go there immediately," Eugene cried.
"I think we have a better chance of finding out where Mal took Rapunzel if we try to find her trail," the king said. "We could just be wasting precious time running off blindly into the mountains, besides, I sent a platoon of soldiers to check out those bandits' cabin hideout yesterday. There was no one there."
"Well, that was yesterday," Eugene said. "Rapunzel wasn't kidnapped yesterday. I say Cass, Lance and I go check it out. If Rapunzel isn't there, we can make our way back and check for signs of Mal and her horse on the other side of the forest, see where she came out of."
Lance came over to stand next to Max and Eugene. Both the horse and Eugene's childhood friend nodded to the former thief their support of his plan. They looked to Cassandra. The raven-haired woman turned to the king.
"I agree with Fitzerbert," she said. "It won't take much time out of the search to be sure if she is at the hideout or not. It will also be beneficial to start our search from the other side of the forest and find Mal's exiting point."
"Well, I also agree with Fizterbert, we should search the other side of the forest for Mal's exit point," the Captain said. "And it is true that the tracks we have found all lead to the mountains and, from what I read in the soldiers' report, seem to line up with where the bandits' hideout is situated. I feel this is a worthy endeavor."
"Very well," King Frederic said, nodding to Eugene. "You, Cassandra, Lance and Maximillian head to the hideout and if she is not there, make your way back."
"Yes, Your Highness," Cass said. "Also, if we should find signs of Mal being there and left, we will send word and follow her trail from there."
The king nodded. With Eugene on Max's back leading the way, Pascal still positioned between the steed's ears, the small group headed west towards the mountains. While they kept a watchful eye on the ground and surrounding vegetation for signs of Mal and Rapunzel, they moved quickly. They hope that the kidnapped princess was not too far ahead and unharmed.
Veda Mal sniffled and sneezed. The old hunting cabin she had taken refuge in had an established layer of dust and grime coating the interior. It was not a hiding place she would have willingly chosen, but she was short on options. Vince had told her the truth about it, it was well hidden. Set at the base of an approximately two-hundred foot tall cliff part way up a mountain, it had been built over the entrance to a shallow cave. Whether the cave was natural or the remnants of an old mine, Veda couldn't tell.
The building was old, very old based on its state of decay and tiny windows, of which the glass was thick and rather opaque. The walls were built from rectangular slabs, originally held together firmly by some type of mortar. Now, that mortar was being eaten away by the elements. In several places the mortar had fallen away leaving small holes that the cool mountain air could easily pass through. The single entrance to the building was a low hanging door that even the average heighted Veda had to stoop to pass under. The heavy oak door that fit into it was held together by rusting wrought iron fittings.
The mind doctor scrubbed the grime from the insides of the windows. She had retrieved the water from one of the three large casks at the back of the cave. The state of the cabin was dismal, but it was well stocked, she would give her bumbling band of bandits that much. She had managed to clean one window and was moving on to the second when she turned around at the sound of a creaky chair.
"Don't bother trying to escape, dear," Veda said to the young blonde woman tied securely to an old, heavy chair at the back of the room. "I made them very secure. I've learned many things during my time as a human trafficker about keeping prisoners as prisoners. Unlike those bumbling fools…"
Veda muttered the final sentence to herself. Tied to the chair was none other than the missing Princess Rapunzel. The princess' hands were tied behind her back and her legs were tied to the legs of the chair. An additional rope was wound several times around her midsection. Veda had not gagged her, figuring no one was anywhere close enough to hear her should she start shouting for help.
"Where do you think you will go?" Rapunzel asked, glaring at the other woman. "My father will have every person in Corona looking for me."
"I have contacts all across the continent. I just need to wait until things die down here."
"They will find me. They won't stop searching for me."
Veda laughed loudly and went back to her window cleaning.
"You were kidnapped before, remember?" the woman scoffed. "They never found you and you weren't that far away! I was in Corona during those first few years you were missing, they stopped looking for you quite soon after you were taken. I remember that very clearly."
Veda's words had their intended effect on the princess. Rapunzel felt a twinge of sadness pass through her chest.
"But don't worry, I'll take good care of you," Veda said, not turning from her window washing. "You are too valuable to me. You know, we could be partners, or even friends if you like someday. It's best that you be cooperative anyway, you will be more comfortable that way."
Rapunzel finally stopped twisting her hands around in an attempt to loosen the ropes. The last thing she said to Gothel was playing through her head, echoing between her ears.
"Rapunzel, enough already, stop fighting me!"
"No, I won't stop for every minute of the rest of my life! I will fight! I will never stop trying to get away from you, but if you let me save him, I will go with you. I will never run, I'll never try to escape. Just let me heal him and you and I will be together forever, just like you want, everything will be the way it was, I promise, just like you want. Just let me heal him."
"I've been in a similar situation to this before," Rapunzel said. "The last time I was with Gothel in the tower. She had be gagged and chained to the wall. She was planning on escaping to some far off place with me. Eugene was looking for me then and I'm sure he is now."
"History does seem to repeat itself doesn't it," Veda turned from the window, finished with washing it. "If I recall, your Eugene was stabbed by Gothel. Believe me, I will do the same if he attempts to enter this place."
Rapunzel didn't doubt the mind doctor's words.
"Gothel and I share so many things, to many personality traits. We are more like mother and daughter than ancestor and decendent."
"What?" Rapunzel exclaimed. "You are descended from Gothel?"
"Yes, by several hundred years. As you know, she prolonged her life with the flower."
"That is why I thought you looked familiar when we first met. You look so much like her. It's the cold look you have in your eyes. She was never warm or kind to me."
"This must be dredging up a lot of memories for you, Rapunzel," Veda said, walking over to face the princess. "We can talk about it if you'd like. I did enjoy being a mind doctor."
"I'm sure you did," Rapunzel spat out. "You enjoyed having the power to manipulate those who were weaker than you, those who were desperate for help. You've always used your position as a tool for manipulation. You got close to my parents in hopes that they would lead you to me, didn't you?"
"That is true."
"Why didn't you seek out the flower or Gothel?"
"I did, but could never locate the flower," Veda said. "I met Gothel once. It didn't end well. Gothel has a habit of stabbing people."
"I won't go with you," Rapunzel said, looking directly into Veda's eyes. "I won't negotiate. I will fight you every step of the way. I've learned a lot since I was chained to that wall by Gothel."
"We'll see about that."
Cassandra, Lance and Eugene on Max's back carefully approached the ramshackle wooden cabin sitting in the shade of several ancient oak trees. The building was dark and quiet. The small horse shed next to the cabin appeared to be empty. On their way to the bandit hideout they had discovered Mal's track again on the far side of the woods from the coach. The trail continued on for some distance from the forest across a small prairie. They pointed directly towards the cabin's location.
"Hey, what's that?" Lance whispered to his companions.
He pointed to what had grabbed his attention. Crumpled up against the closest side of the cabin to the group was a dark shape. It became apparent that the dark shape was a person as it began trying to drag itself to the door, groaning quietly as it inched forward for a short time before going still. The group looked at one another, undecided on whether to approach the obviously injured unknown person or stay where they were until they could verify whether they were safe to move forward or not. Cass finally decided to risk it.
Creeping forward, Cassandra approached the figure from the nearest line of trees to the cabin. Eugene, Max, Lance and Pascal held their breath as Cass peaked inside the cabin before checking on the fallen person. Finally, she stood and turned towards them.
"It's Vince!" she called. "He's not good. There's no one in the cabin or nearby, I think we'll be safe."
The men and animals hurried over to where Cass was kneeling next to the injured bandit, whom she had rolled onto his back. Eugene dismounted Max and settled down between Cass and Lance. Vince looked up at them through slitted eyes. He clutched weakly at a wound in his chest.
"Who did this?" Eugene asked.
"D-D-Dr. Mal…"
Eugene felt the world shake beneath him.
"Where is she? Where is Rapunzel?"
"She…went to…hunting cabin…by the cliffs…" Vince coughed. "She betrayed me…stabbed…"
"Where's the cabin at?" Lance asked.
"To the north…east is a tall cliff…built of stone…at base…built over a cave…I told her where…it was…then…she stabbed…me…Why…?"
Tears sprung to the dying man's eyes.
"We will avenge you, Vince," Cassandra said.
"Cliff is very tall…directly northeast…can't miss…if you know…where…"
Vince's voice trailed off and he shuddered, before falling silent and still. Cassandra used her hand to close the bandit's eyes. She stood and turned to Eugene.
"Go back to the king and bring them to this place. I will leave clear tracks to the cliff hideout."
"No, Lance can go back, I'm going with you to find Rapunzel," Eugene said, hopping onto Max's back. "You can try to argue with me, but I'm going now."
He signaled for Max to start off in a northeastern direction without another word. Lance stated that he would bring the king and the soldiers to the other cabin as soon as he could and hurried back the way they had come. Cass hurried after Eugene and Max and with Eugene's help, swung up onto the horse to sit behind Eugene.
"You better not get us killed, Fitzerbert."
"Don't think I can fight with a broken leg? For Rapunzel, I could fight with two broken legs and win."
"Well, it's most definitely going to be a fight," she said.
The pair quieted at the sound of Pascal's frantic chirping and halt of Max's forward motion. The small chameleon sprung from Max's nose to the space between his ears and pointed to a spot in front of the horse. Cass dismounted and stepped in front of the animal. Pascal followed her, jumping to the ground, landing directly next to a fresh hoof print in the dirt. Cass looked around for more prints. She could only find one more about fifteen feet to the northeast. The ground around them was littered with leaves, sticks and pine needles and shrubs and patches of grass grew at regular intervals, not pristine conditions for finding hoof prints. The young woman looked back the way they had come. She didn't see even a single hoof print left by Max since leaving the bandit's cabin, approximately fifty feet away. Cass turned to Eugene.
"These prints do head northeast and they are fresh. Our best bet is to try to find more as we head in our original direction."
"I agree."
Cass pulled a small dagger out of her belt and approached the nearest tree. She carved an arrow into the southwest side of the trunk, pointing northeast. She did the same in the nearest tree to the next hoof print fifteen feet beyond the first. The lady-in-waiting decided to continue carving arrows showing their direction of travel every fifteen feet or so. They searched the ground and surroundings for signs of Mal, Rapunzel and their horse. It was very slow going and the wind was starting to pick up. They didn't find a third hoof print until fifty feet beyond the second, the fourth was just a few feet beyond the third.
They searched in the same northeasterly direction for several more minutes. Eugene was getting a crick in his neck and a burning in the back of his eyes from staring at the ground for so long. He closed his eyes as he raised his head and rolled it from side to side. He flexed his shoulders and opened his eyes, looking up at what he could see of the horizon through the tree tops.
"Cassandra, look!"
Cass looked at what Eugene was pointing at. Just peaking over the top of the trees, barely visible, was the flat, gray top of a cliff formation. Cass gauged it to be about five miles from their current position. Just beyond the cliff a tall mountain climbed high into the sky.
"Let's just make it to the cliff," Cass said, jumping aboard Max.
Now, as the small group hurried forward as a far faster pace, Cass used her sword to gouge marks into passing tree trunks ever ten feet or so to let the king and his soldiers know where they had gone.
I'm coming Rapunzel, Eugene thought, gripping tightly to Max's reins.
"So, what's the plan?" Eugene asked.
He and Cassandra were lying flat on their bellies behind a bush, Pascal was perched on a stem within it. Max had been sent back to retrieve the king and his soldiers. About thirty feet past the bush was the ancient hunting cabin. The dilapidated building had been built perfectly into the side of the cliff. Tied to the cabin was a tired, saddleless, black horse. He had the remnants of a pulling harness on his back. If the horse had picked up on their scent, he didn't let on.
"We need to make sure this is the right cabin," Cass whispered. "Pascal, you find a way in and report back, please. Just verify that Raps and Mal are there, don't talk to her yet."
The little lizard saluted her and crept towards the cabin. He turned the color of the dirt beneath his feet and quickly made his way to the door. He managed to squeeze under the two inch space as his friends looked on from the cover of the bush. As soon as he entered he turned the color of the stone floor and ducked under a table set against the front wall. Peeking out from beneath the table he took stock of the interior of the cabin, lit only by a single lantern on a table in the center of the room. He gasped at the sight before him. Rapunzel was tied to a chair, her chin was resting on her chest. She was conscious, but her eyes were half closed. She appeared to be studying the fabric of her skirt. Mal was sitting in another chair, staring listlessly at the lantern on the table.
It took everything he had to leave his princess behind in the cabin and return to Cass, Eugene and Max.
"Is Rapunzel there?" Eugene asked anxiously.
Pascal nodded and motioned to the humans and horse that Rapunzel was tied up.
"Did she appear hurt in any way?" Eugene asked.
Pascal shook his head no.
"Thank goodness," Eugene said. "We need a plan."
"Pascal, did you see any other exits to that cabin other than the door and two windows?" Cass asked.
Pascal shook his head.
"Ok, I think our best bet is to smoke them out, or just Mal anyway," Cass said, rummaging in a pouch on her belt.
She pulled out a tiny dagger. She handed it to Pascal. Despite the blade's miniscule size for a human, it was about the size of a good size sword for the chameleon. From the same pouch she produced a fist-sized ball of string. Cass gave one end of it to Pascal.
"Sneak back into the cabin, keep ahold of this string, I'm going to be starting a fire," she said. "Use the dagger to cut Raps free and then tug on the string when you are ready for me to start the fire. As soon as the room is full of smoke run out of there. Use the string as a guide to reach the door. Hopefully, the smoke will give Raps the chance to escape and Mal will flee the building. Max and I will be waiting for her when she exits. Eugene, you stay behind this bush and hold the other end of the string, tell me when Pascal tugs on his end. When Raps comes out, call for her to go to you."
"But, I…" Eugene began.
"No arguing, Fitzerbert. Does everyone understand the plan?"
Max, Pascal and Eugene, begrudgingly, nodded.
"Good, now go, Pascal."
Pascal saluted Cass and scuttled quickly to the cabin's door. He was easily able to squeeze under the door again and pull the string and dagger in with him. Before ducking under the nearby table, he peaked make out Cass pulling branches from the bush and clustering them into a bundle. He scurried around the perimeter of the room, but avoided going under any furniture so that the string wouldn't get caught around table or chair legs. He took a breath when he finally made it to Rapunzel, only realizing then that he had been holding his breath the entire time. The chameleon looped the string lightly around a leg of the chair Rapunzel was tied to and climbed up the back of it to the princess' ear, the dagger still clutched in one of his hands.
Pascal very softly chirruped in Rapunzel's ear. Luckily, Rapunzel recognized his voice before she could feel startled and all she did was look to the shoulder Pascal was now perched on. He silently pointed to the dagger and motioned to her hands. She gave a nearly invisible nod. Pascal made quick work of the ropes around her hands and around her waist before moving on to the ropes securing her ankles to the chair legs. Rapunzel knew she was free from the chair, but remained still, waiting for further instruction from Pascal. She kept a sharp eye on Dr. Mal. The woman was examining an old chart she had found in a crate at the back of the cave.
Rapunzel's attention was grabbed by Pascal pulling on her right hand. She felt him tying a string around her right wrist. He crawled onto her lap with the string in his hand. He tugged on it several times. After that, everything seemed to happen in a blur to Rapunzel. There was some slight scuffling at the door and then the cabin began to quickly fill with thick smoke. Dr. Mal shot up from her chair.
"What's this?" she cried.
The room was nearly filled with smoke now. Rapunzel jumped up and using the string, which was being pulled from the other end, as a guide she hurried to the door. Fumbling with the lock, a violently coughing Rapunzel managed to fling open the door and run out into the fresh air. In her hurry two things occurred, she unintentionally kicked the smoldering fire, scattering the embers over the bare dirt and rocks in front of the cabin, and she didn't notice that Veda Mal had caught ahold of the very end of her braid and had been lead out of the cabin immediately behind her.
The mind doctor didn't waste any time. She put the sword she had grabbed when the smoke first began filtering under the cabin door to Rapunzel's throat and used the princess as a shield. Cassandra had figured that it wouldn't be so easy to escape someone like Veda Mal, had positioned herself to the side of the door. While Mal had expected an attack from the front, Cass attacked from the side, swing her sword around to strike at Mal's upper back.
Mal was very quick on her feet and seeing Cass' attack out of the corner of her eye, pushed Rapunzel forward and quickly parried Cass' sword. Cassandra was not one to be easily beat and thrust forward with her sword in another attack. Mal again deflected the younger woman's sword and stepped to the side. This time the mind doctor attacked slicing at Cass' stomach. The young woman just barely avoided being gutted.
During this very brief time, Rapunzel had regained her composure and balance. She turned around after being shoved forward to see Cassandra narrowing escaping having her stomach sliced open by Mal and Eugene limping towards Mal from behind, a sword leveled in his hands. Mal heard him coming and spring forward to attack him. Eugene managed to trade a few sword thrusts and parries with the woman before she kicked him in his injured leg. With a sharp cry of pain Eugene clutched his shin, falling to the ground and dropping his sword. Mal raised her sword over her head, preparing to strike down at Eugene, but Cass charged at her from behind. Mal jumped to the side and blocked the raven-haired woman's attack. The two women continued to fight as Rapunzel ran to Eugene. He grunted and held his leg. As soon as Rapunzel was in reach, Eugene wrapped her up in a brief bear hug.
"Blondie, are you alright?"
"I'm fine, Dr. Mal didn't hurt me. She hurt you though…"
Eugene let go of the princess.
"I'll be fine, but you need to run. Follow the marks Cass made on the trees. Your father and his soldiers are headed here right now. It's not safe here."
Rapunzel ignored the chirruping and pointing chameleon that had taken up residence on her shoulder, placing a gentle hand over Pascal's mouth to quiet him.
"No Eugene, I'm not leaving you."
Rapunzel grabbed Eugene's sword from where he'd dropped it and turned to watch the fight between Cass and Veda Mal. Both women seemed tired, but were meeting each other blow for blow, swing for swing, parry for parry. It appeared to Rapunzel that they would both collapse from exhaustion without either one overcoming the other as the clear winner. But, Mal had a trick up her sleeve, she had only been waiting for the right moment. Rushing forward, she tossed what Rapunzel guessed to be the same sleeping powder Mal had used on her into Cass' face. Cassandra grabs her face, coughing and stumbling back. After a couple seconds, Cass lay on the ground, out cold. Mal advanced on the defenseless woman, her sword raised.
Thinking quickly, Rapunzel undid her hair and used one lock to catch the sword in Mal's hand as she swung down at Cass. Pulling back hard in nearly the same movement, Rapunzel pulled the sword from the older woman's hand and flung it into the nearby tree line.
"Don't you touch my friend," Rapunzel said, stepping towards Mal.
Veda took a few steps back.
"I just want what is rightfully mine."
"The power of my hair? What would you do with it? I don't know what to do with it now."
"We could work together then," Mal said. "We could find the answers even you want to have."
Rapunzel took a few quick steps towards the other woman. Mal responded by turning to run, but she was tripped by a lock of hair pulled across her path by Pascal. Mal didn't fall all the way to the ground, swearing, she caught herself with her hands and scurried on all fours for a feet before righting herself and racing off into the woods. Fearing Mal would escape, Rapunzel took off after her. Both women were soon out of sight of the cabin.
"Rapunzel, come back, please!" Eugene called, but there was no response from the woods.
Dr. Mal proved to be as fleet of foot as she was steady with a sword, but the princess was quick as well and was easily able to keep the other woman in sight. For what to Rapunzel felt like an eternity they ran, only coming to a stop when Mal reached a two-hundred foot deep ravine. The middle-aged woman nearly fell over the edge, skidding to a stop at the last moment and wind milling her arms to regain her balance as she wobbled on the edge. Rapunzel fared much better with stopping her quick forward dash. She approached Mal and stopped just five feet short of where the former mind doctor was standing. Mal quickly glanced to either side of her, looking for an exit route.
"You have nowhere to go, Dr. Mal," Rapunzel said. "Just come back with me. You will get a trial."
Mal sneered at the princess and shook her head.
"I'm the Serpent. I've sold and enslaved countless people. Murdered people. Destroyed people's lives. Do you think I'd go anywhere other than the gallows? Either I escape or I die here."
"My father will…"
"Your father will see me dead, just like everyone else."
"He can show mercy…"
"There is no mercy in this world, child," Mal scoffed. "Where was mercy when I lived in a hut made of mud and branches? Where was mercy when my innocent aunt was hauled away and murdered for being a witch?"
"I-I'm sorry that happened to you, but…"
"Forget it…" Mal shouted, lunging to the side.
The sudden movement and pressure from Mal's movement was too much for the cliff edge to bear. It gave way beneath the woman's feet. The portion of stone and dirt she had dislodged created a sort of domino effect on that side of the ravine for dozens of feet on either side of where she was standing. Mal disappeared over the edge as Rapunzel was shaken to the ground. The world around the princess was consumed by the sound of the landslide and of rocks crashing and breaking apart at the bottom of the ravine.
As soon as she was able to, Rapunzel rushed to the edge to see if Mal had survived. The princess gasped at what she saw and threw herself flat on the ground, her arm dangling over the edge. Veda Mal had survived, apparently unharmed, and was clinging to a root jutting out of the side of the ravine about ten feet down from where Rapunzel was lying. The princess lowered her hair to the woman, stopping when it was in easy reach for her.
"Grab my hair, I'll pull you up!"
Dr. Mal just looked at Rapunzel, smiling sadly.
"Maybe there is mercy in this world," she said. "But, I don't deserve it."
At that moment, Mal let go of the root.
"NOOO!" Rapunzel screamed.
"She…she looked so peaceful when she fell," Rapunzel said.
It was the day after Veda Mal's death. Rapunzel was sitting in a chair next to Eugene's bed, holding his hand. Mal's kick to his leg had refractured his barely started to heal leg.
"Why wouldn't she grab my hair?"
"Well, I'm sure she was right about going to the gallows if she were apprehended," Eugene said. "She clearly wanted to go out on her own terms."
"But, why did she look so calm when she died? I don't understand."
"No one but Veda Mal will probably truly understand," Eugene said. "She was born into a family that was cursed and had something thrust on her that she didn't choose. She was evil, but I think she was also just trying to survive and make things better, for herself only of course."
"I had this magic hair thrust on me and I didn't choose that. Maybe Dr. Mal and I aren't so different."
"No, you two are very different, Blondie," Eugene said, squeezing her hand. "Mal had a book of magic and alchemy at her disposal that she could have used for good, but she didn't. She was most definitely evil and nothing like you."
Rapunzel gave Eugene a kiss on the forehead.
"I'm sure you're right."
"Are you going to be alright? You know, with your nostalgia?"
"My mom has already lined up a different mind doctor to work with me. I'm nervous about it."
"I understand," Eugene said. "But, you have to work through this. I'll be here for you whenever you need me."
Rapunzel squeezed onto the bed, cuddling up against Eugene. She sighed happily as she snuggled her head up against his shoulder.
"I love you, Eugene."
"I love you too, Rapunzel."