Chapter 10: When She Loved Me
"Guys, what do we do!" Rapunzel shouted as the water continued to rise.
"Isn't there a way out?" Quasi asked, his back pressed against the cave wall.
"The path is blocked!" Esmeralda cried from the other side of the cave, "It must have collapsed when the entrance did!"
"There has to be something we can do!" Flynn shouted as the water continued to rise.
"Maybe there's another way out!" Esmeralda cried as the water continued to rise. She quickly dove underwater, followed by Flynn.
"Do you know how to…?" Rapunzel asked, looking down at the water as it reached their chests.
"No," Quasi said, shaking his head with fear in his eyes.
"Me neither," Rapunzel replied, gulping in fear.
"It's no use!" Esmeralda said as she resurfaced, "It's pitch black down there, I can't see anything!"
"Me neither," Flynn replied with a defeated tone as he resurfaced as well.
"So we're going to…!" Rapunzel began, becoming increasingly frightened, on the verge of tears.
"It's alright, sweetie," Esmeralda said as she swam over to Rapunzel's side, "It's going to be okay."
"There has to be a way out of here!" Quasi exclaimed, starting to panic himself as he clawed at the cave walls. He hissed in pain as a sharp rock cut into his palm, leaving a large gash.
"You okay?" Rapunzel asked, worried.
"I'm fine," Quasi replied as the water reached their neck level.
"You know, I never thought it would end like this," Flynn said with an almost resigned sigh.
"I'm sorry Flynn," Esmeralda said sadly.
"Eugene," Flynn replied.
"What?" Esmeralda asked.
"My name isn't Flynn Rider," he explained, "It's Eugene Fitzherbert."
"Really?" Esmeralda questioned.
"Yeah, figured someone should know before we go," he said with a dry chuckle.
As the water forced them to stand on their toes to reach the ever shrinking pocket of air, Rapunzel gasped.
"I have magic hair that glows when I sing," she said quickly. A strange silence followed as they all stared at her.
"What?" Flynn asked.
"I have magic hair that glows when I sing!" Rapunzel exclaimed as realization struck. As the water began to completely fill the cave, Rapunzel quickly sung out the incantation for her hair, saying the last word just as the water swallowed her and the others up. There was a brief pause before the dark water was illuminated by Rapunzel's glowing, golden hair. Esmeralda and Flynn looked at her in shock. Glancing to her side, Esmeralda saw Quasi panicking in the water, thrashing violently in the water. Seeing him, a look of realization passed over her face as she looked back at Rapunzel, who had curled up into a ball and closed her eyes shut. Esmeralda quickly caught Flynn's attention, who nodded in understanding.
Turning around, Flynn looked for anyway out of the cave. Behind him, he found a pile of collapsed rocks. He quickly began digging at it, pulling the various rocks down. As he did, water began to flow out, urging him to dig faster. Soon enough, the entire wall burst outwards under the pressure of the water behind it, dragging the group with it as it flowed down the tunnel before ultimately shooting out and depositing them in a river flowing by the cave exit.
Each of them burst out of the water gasping for air. As they did, Rapunzel and Quasi almost immediately began to sink again. Turning back to them, Flynn and Esmeralda swam over to them, grabbing them and helping them swim to shore.
"You okay, sweetie?" Esmeralda asked as she helped Rapunzel out of the water.
"I think so," Rapunzel coughed, before smiling at Esmeralda "Thanks."
"Alright, up you go!" Flynn said as he dragged Quasi out of the water, depositing him on the shore, where he coughed and tried to catch his breath. Djali walked up next to them, bleeting angrily as he shook his hair to get the water out.
"Didn't get much swim practice up in that tower, huh?" Flynn asked with a smile.
"Not really," Quasi replied with a chuckle.
"This is going to take forever to dry," Rapunzel sighed as she began ringing the water from her hair into the river.
"Here, let me help you with that," Esmeralda said as she made her way over to Rapunzel and helping her ring out her long hair.
Quasi let out a sigh of relief as he pushed himself to his feet, only to hiss in pain and grab his hand. Looking at it, he saw the jagged cut he had received from the cave wall, still oozing blood and throbbing with pain.
"You okay?" Flynn asked, looking over towards him and seeing his hand, "Ouch, that looks painful."
"I've had worse," Quasi stated, trying to pass it off as nothing.
"Really now?" Flynn questioned, "Well, it's hurting me to look at it, so let's just get it bandaged up, okay?"
"I can do better than that," Rapunzel spoke up, catching their attention.
"What do you mean?" Esmeralda asked, ringing more water out of Rapunzel's hair.
"Well, I don't exactly have normal hair," Rapunzel stated with a shy smile.
"You mean it does more than glow?" Flynn asked, staring at her, "Because I'm still trying to wrap my head around that part."
"Yeah, a lot more, Eugene," Rapunzel replied with a smile, "A lot more."
Later
The group had set up a small campsite in the woods, a small fire burning in a clearing as night had begun to fall. Rapunzel and Quasi sat next to each other on a pair of fallen logs with Esmeralda, Flynn and Djali sitting nearby. As they sat, Rapunzel wrapped a length of her hair around Quasi's wounded hand.
"Rapunzel, what are you doing exactly?" Quasi asked, confused.
"You'll see," she said cryptically, before she looked at him with a pleading face, "Now, I have to ask you to please not freak out."
"Freak out?" Flynn asked.
"Just promise," Rapunzel replied.
"Okay, sweetie," Esmeralda reassured her, "We won't freak out."
"Okay," Rapunzel said before taking a calming breath and closing her eyes, Quasi's hand in hers, "Here we go."
"Flower gleam and glow," she began singing. As she did, her hair began to glow, starting at her scalp and making its way down the length of her long hair.
"Let your power shine," she continued, "Make the clock reverse, bring back what once was mine."
Looking down at her glowing hair, Quasi saw Pascal sitting on the ground, looking up at him. Pascal smirked and held up one of his paws before pointing at it with the other.
"Heal what has been hurt" Rapunzel continued to sing as Quasi looked at his hand, the hair wrapped around it beginning to glow, "Change the fate's design. Save what has been lost, bring back what once was mine. What once was mine."
As Rapunzel stopped singing, the glow faded from her hair as she opened her eyes and looked at Quasi with a worried look on her face. Slowly unwrapping the hair from around his hand, he looked at his hand in amazement. Turning it towards the others, he showed them his hand, which was now fully healed.
Looking at him, Flynn and Esmeralda's eyes widened in surprise. Continuing to look at it, Flynn's eyes continued to widen as he looked like he was on the verge of panic. Just as he looked like he was about to panic, Esmeralda reached out and clapped her hand on his mouth, stopping him from screaming.
"We're not going to panic, remember?" she said to him as she removed her hand.
"Right, no panicking," he said, clearly still panicking slightly, "I'm not panicking. Who's panicking? I'm not panicking. Are you panicking? Because I'm not panicking!"
Turning from the two of them, Rapunzel looked at Quasi who was still examining his hand.
"What do you think, Quasi?" Rapunzel asked, clearly worried what he thought.
"I think that was amazing," Quasi said, looking her in the eye.
"Really!" Rapunzel asked, brightening.
"Yeah, that was incredible. A miracle even!" Quasi praised her, "You're truly blessed, Rapunzel."
Rapunzel looked at him for a moment, a smile growing across her face before she leaned over and kissed him on the cheek. Quasi looked at her with a surprised look on his face as she pulled away and smiled at him. Flynn looked at the two with a confused look on his face as Esmeralda smiled at the scene.
"Thanks," Rapunzel said, blushing as Quasi touched the cheek she had kissed him on.
"N-No problem," Quasi replied, blushing as well.
"Hey Flynn, or was it Eugene?" Esmeralda asked.
"What do you want?" Flynn asked, slightly annoyed.
"Do you still have those water flasks with you?" she asked, chuckling at the fact she had pushed one of his buttons.
"Sure, why?" he asked.
"Can I have them? I think I'll fill them up for our trip tomorrow," she explained.
"You sure you want to be wandering off on your own?" Flynn asked.
"I can handle myself, Eugene," she chastised, "But even so, I figured I'd bring Quasi along with me."
"Huh?" Quasi asked, still feeling his cheek as Rapunzel giggled at him.
"Come with me," she said, smiling at the two of them.
"Uh, right," Quasi said as he got up and began to follow her. Rapunzel watched them leave, a smile on her face as she looked at Quasi. As soon as they were gone however, Flynn sat in front of her, flashing her a winning smile.
"Hey," he said suavely, "So you have magic glowing hair?"
Meanwhile
Quasi and Esmeralda leaned over the side of the river, dipping the canteens into the flowing waters, filling them. As hers filled, Esmeralda stood up and screwed the lid on, before slinging it over her shoulder.
"So how's the hand?" Esmeralda asked Quasi as he stood up as well.
"It's great! Good as new," Quasi said with a laugh.
"That's good," Esmeralda said with smile of her own, "So you and Rapunzel seem…close."
"I'd like to thinks so," Quasi replied happily, "I'm the first friend she's ever had, I think, and she's one of the only ones I have."
"That is true, but if you ask me, it looks like there's something more," Esmeralda commented.
"M-More?" Quasi asked, a blush appearing on his face, "What do you mean?"
"I think you know what I mean," Esmeralda said with a smile, "You have a thing for her."
"She's the prettiest girl I've ever seen," Quasi said, a smile growing across his face, "Even more then you. Sorry."
"I can live with that," Esmeralda laughed, "It seems I was right though."
"You were," Quasi agreed, "More then you know."
"What do you mean?" Esmeralda asked.
"It's difficult to explain," Quasi replied, running a hand through his hair.
"Try me," Esmeralda said, placing her hands on her hips.
"It all goes back to my time in the cathedral really," Quasi said with a shrug.
"How so?" Esmeralda asked.
"So many times out there," Quasi sang softly, walking over to the river and looking into it, "I've watched a happy pair of lovers walking in the night."
"They had a kind of glow around them," he continued, looking up at the moon, "It almost looked like heaven's light."
"I knew I'd never know that warm and loving glow, though I might wish with all my might," he said, looking down at his reflection in river, illuminated by the moon. Slowly, he touched his face as a sad look crossed it.
"No face is hideous as my face was ever meant for heaven's light," he sung sadly.
"Quasi," Esmeralda whispered as she moved to comfort him, but stopped as he turned and smiled at her.
"But suddenly, an angel has smiled at me, and kissed me on the cheek without a trace of fright," he continued, beaming at her as he touched his cheek.
"I dare to dream that she might even care for me, and as I sing this song tonight," Quasi sang as he looked up into the sky at the moon overhead, "This cold dark world seems so bright! I swear it must be heaven's light!"
"That's beautiful, Quasi," Esmeralda said, her eyes full of emotion.
"Thank you," Quasi replied, "Do you think she would feel the same way?"
"There's only one way to really know," Esmeralda said as she walked over and placed a hand on his shoulder, "You should tell her how you feel."
"But what if she doesn't feel the same?" Quasi asked.
"I think she will," Esmeralda replied, squeezing her shoulder reassuringly.
"Thanks, Esmeralda," Quasi said, his voice full of sincerity.
"Don't mention it," Esmeralda said with a smile, "Now let's get back to camp. Hopefully Eugene hasn't burnt the camp down."
Quasi laughed as they made their way through the forest back to the camp. He smiled broadly as they made their way back to camp, thinking of what would happen when he told Rapunzel how he felt. Maybe she would tell him she felt the same. Maybe she would even kiss him! Dozens of happy thoughts ran through Quasi's head.
Those happy thoughts vanished as they reentered the clearing.
As he and Esmeralda returned, they saw Flynn and Rapunzel sitting next to each other on the log next to the fire. They were sitting very close to each other, with Flynn's hand on Rapunzel's arm, rubbing it with his thumb. He leaned close and whispered something into her ear, causing her to giggle.
Quasi felt a crushing weight around his heart, causing him to take a step back as he began to breathe quickly. Tears began to well up in his eyes as he mentally berated himself. How could he be so stupid? Why would she feel the same way as him? She was beautiful and he was ugly, why would she want to be with him when she could be with someone like Flynn?
Quasi's eyes narrowed as his thoughts turned towards the thief. Even if Rapunzel didn't care for him, she deserved better then Flynn. He may have been raised in the cathedral, but even he could see what Flynn really wanted. He would steal the crown and leave her with a broken heart. He wouldn't let that happen.
Meanwhile, Esmeralda's thoughts were racing as well. She was mainly feeling sadness for Quasi, as well as angry at Flynn. But she also felt a pang of jealousy, which confused her. Shaking her head, she brought herself back to the moment, and coughed loudly, catching Rapunzel and Flynn's attention. Rapunzel let out a squeak of surprise as she quickly hopped to her feet.
"Hi guys!" she greeted, "Did you get the water?"
Quasi didn't reply, instead walking over to where he had left his satchel, before picking it up and stomping into the woods. Rapunzel watched him go with a confused look on her face.
"Where's he going?" Rapunzel asked.
Esmeralda ignored her for the moment, turning to glare at Flynn.
"Quasi went to go get firewood. Eugene here is going to help him," Esmeralda stated, glaring at Flynn.
"I am?" he asked, looking at her with a confused face. Seeing her burning glare, a look of realization passed over it.
"I am. Totally am," he quickly stood up, "Off to find firewood!"
They watched as Flynn quickly scurried off, before Rapunzel turned back to Esmeralda.
"Is something wrong?" she asked, concerned and confused.
"Come on, sweetie," Esmeralda sighed as she sat on the log and patted it, beckoning Rapunzel to sit with her, "Let's have a little girl talk."
A/N: Well, school's been slowing me down even more, so this took a long time to get out! Sorry for those who were waiting, I hope it was worth it! I really tried to do the character interaction well, hope you guys liked it and hopefully it won't take me like a month to get the next chapter out. Please review!