Just as his lips were a heartbeat away from claiming hers, Elsa screwed her eyes shut and turned her head away.

Axel froze, his lips hovering a hairsbreadth over her cheek, his breath warming the skin there. Then she could feel his weight on her shifting, slowly lightening as he pulled back. She peeked one eye open, then the other as she looked back up at him. He eyed her now with a slight frown, head tipped to one side as he began softly, "You don't…?"

Then he was getting off her completely, freeing her hands as he rolled over to instead sit beside her on the bed. As she sat up herself, she could feel her heated cheeks beginning to cool as she self-consciously smoothed her clothes and fidgeted with her hair. Then she hazarded a glance at him out of the corner of her eyes. He was hunched forward, elbows propped on his knees, curled fingers brushing over his mouth as he squinted hard off into space for a quiet second. When he didn't seem to find whatever answers he was looking for there, he turned his gaze to search her eyes for them instead as he uttered a single word. "...why?"

Tucking in her bottom lip, her hands fiddled with her hair for a few seconds more. Finally, she disentangled her fingers so she could press one to his lips. To the frown still settled there. "Because of that."

He blinked back at her, his total lack of understanding plain on his face.

Sighing, she clarified, "Because it… that frown, it's not… real. None of it is. None of it would be, not your emotions, not… any sort of relationship, none of it. It would all just be for show, or it would be for you anyway. For me, I…" she paused, wrapping her arms around herself. "...I don't know… I just don't think I could handle it all being so… so one-sided."

"But I'd never make it seem like it was one-sided. You'd never know-"

"I'd know," she insisted, hugging herself more tightly. "Deep down, I'd always know."

Out of her peripheral, she saw him start to lift a hand towards her. But then he hesitated and withdrew it to instead ruffle his fingers through his hair as he puffed out a low breath. "...I'm usually so good at reading people…" he muttered, shrugging uncertainly, "...I thought this is what you wanted."

"I did too, at least at first. I think… if I'm being totally honest, there's a part of me that still does," she admitted quietly, gaze flicking to him briefly before hastily shifting away as a bit of that warmth started to creep back into her face. "But then when it was actually about to happen just now… reality just kind of suddenly hit me like a slap. That what I really wanted and what I would actually get wouldn't be one and the same and… I just couldn't…"

He shook his head. "You don't think I could make you happy?"

"It's not that, not exactly. It's more like…" she paused thoughtfully before looking at him once more, eyes a touch sad. "...I wouldn't be able to make you happy."

Axel looked genuinely taken aback. And she supposed he very well might be. Confusion wasn't really an emotion, but it might be the closest she'd ever actually see him coming to one. "Me? What're you talking about, course I'd be-"

"No, you wouldn't," Elsa said firmly. "Not really. It wouldn't be possible, it's not in your nature."

"Feh," he scoffed, looking away as he rubbed at the nape of his neck and shrugged. "Does my happiness, or lack thereof, really matter? I mean, who cares if-"

"I'd care. My happiness shouldn't be the only thing that matters, not in a relationship or whatever you want to call what we would be trying to make work here. Your happiness should be important too. Or rather, both our happiness. We need that… that connection. Otherwise, it'd just be empty. Meaningless. I don't…" her face scrunched up as she sighed and looked down, staring hard at her lap. "...I don't want to be merely a whim or just be a way for you to… to pass your time, okay?"

There was a pause where even though she wasn't looking at him, she could still feel his eyes boring into her. "Snowflake… Elsa, you're never just a way for me to pass the time."

She breathed a tiny harrumph. "I don't see how I can be anything but."

Leaning back on his hands, Axel contemplated the ceiling as the silence stretched for a few seconds. Then, "You said we need a connection, right?" She wordlessly glanced towards him again. "Well, do you remember back when we were-"

Suddenly her door banged open, making them both jolt as Sora came barreling into the room just then, "Elsa! Come quick, there's-" a strangled noise of surprise squawked out of him as he stumbled and slapped a hand over his bulging eyes, spinning around to face his back to them. "Sorry, guys, guess I shoulda knocked! But good thing you're here, Axel, I was trying to find you too!"

Brow furrowing, Elsa asked, "Sora? Why are you covering your-" the words died on her tongue as realization hit her like a ton of bricks, her head whipping back around to look at Axel.

A still quite thoroughly shirtless Axel.

Alone with her.

In her room.

In her bed.

Groaning, Elsa buried her burning face in her hands. Oh god, Sora was going to get the wrong idea.

…or technically the right idea, but he wouldn't know that that idea had been stopped dead in its tracks, dammit!

Axel asked, "Ya need something, kiddo? Kinda interrupting something here."

Elbowing him in the ribs and forcing a (rather satisfying, she wasn't ashamed to admit) pained little grunt out of him, Elsa then hastily rose to her feet and rapidly shook her head, "No! No you weren't! Interrupting, that is! Nope. Not a single thing to interrupt, not in this room!" She gave an awkward little heh before clearing her throat. "So, uh… what did you need?"

"Oh! Right!" he nodded, still with his back to them, still (oddly enough) with his eyes covered. "There's trouble!"

"Trouble?" she echoed, head rocking back slightly. "What kind of trouble?"

"Punzie's mom!"

Elsa blinked. "...what about her?"

"She's here! And she's mad! She and Punzie are- Just c'mon, follow me! Hurry!" And with that, he bolted… straight into a wall. Didn't help that he still had one hand over his eyes. Groaning and rubbing his nose, he fumbled his way to and out the actual door, disappearing down the hallway.

Axel and Elsa exchanged a quick glance. "Get your hoodie and let's go," was all she then said before she hurried out the door after Sora.

Mr. Tyrann's mansion was massive and like a maze, so it was safe to say Elsa was not at all used to navigating it just yet. That said, it wasn't hard to figure out where they were going - all she had to do was follow the faint sounds of an apparent shouting match going on somewhere else in the house. As she got closer and the voices grew louder, she could pick out one of them as Rapunzel's. That probably meant the other more unfamiliar sounding one belonged to her mother.

It wasn't long before she started to make out words - they had to be in the next room over. As Elsa ran towards the door, she could hear Rapunzel yelling, "-thinking you can just show up here and-"

She burst through the doors and into what appeared to be the foyer just then, startling a gasp out of Rapunzel and silencing her as every eye in the room turned towards Elsa. She skidded to a stop and froze, eyes shifting from one person to the next. From Mr. Tyrann to Nigel the Butler, the pair of them silently observing in one corner. From a huffing Rapunzel to the older woman (presumably her mom) standing across from her in front of the main entrance. From the large muscle-bound giant of a man in a suit looming behind her to… uh, what was one of the Stabbington twins doing here? From a rather concerned looking Flynn to-

…why was Sora once again smacking a hand over his eyes?

Elsa's right eye twitched, then she whirled around, "What did I just tell you?!"

There Axel stood behind her, still in all his topless glory. "What? Got my hoodie right here," he shrugged, holding it up in one hand and lazily waving it about. "See?"

"Put." Her hand shot out to latch onto the offending garment. "It." She yanked it out of his grasp. "On." She chucked it at his face. As he rolled his eyes and began to pull it on over his head, Elsa turned back around towards the others with a weak chuckle before telling Rapunzel, "Er, please… continue. Act like we're not here."

"Huh?" Rapunzel blinked owlishly a couple times, blank stare darting back and forth between Elsa and Axel. "...oh! Right." Giving herself a small shake, a scowl returned to her features, one she directed at her mother as she rounded on her once more and pointed an accusing finger in her direction. "As I was saying, you think you can just show up, barge on in here, acting like you own the place, trying to boss me around and tell me what to do, making demands and I'll just hop to it like your obedient little daughter who always did as she was told like I used to, well you've got another thing coming, you-"

"Enough, Rapunzel," the woman across from her said, not quite yelling but the command was unmistakable. It was not a request.

Her daughter half scoffed, half laughed, "Oh-ho no, you also can't just barge in here and tell me 'enough' either! Not anymore! You don't get to say that, I do! I tell you when it's 'enough' now and I-"

"I said enough!" This time she did shout, startling a jump out of Rapunzel. Taking a second to regain some of her composure, Ms. Gothel then slowly stretched out a hand towards her as she more calmly said, "Come with me. We're going home. Right now."

"No," she said firmly, shaking her head and glaring as she took a step back from the proffered hand. "I'm not going anywhere with you. Not until you tell me the truth!"

Those words seemed to strike the woman like a blow, her eyes growing round. "...I've only ever been honest with you."

"Oh yeah? What about dad?" she pointed at Mr. Tyrann, still directing the full force of her frown at her mother, her hard penetrating stare never wavering. "You told me that he abandoned us! That you never saw him again! And now I find out that you've been in contact with him this whole time?! That you've been taking his munny and that he's been wanting to see me but couldn't because you wouldn't let him?! That you've been keeping me from him, keeping us from each other? Why?"

She winced, averting her gaze. "It's… complicated, Rapunzel."

"Yeah, well uncomplicate it. Uncomplicate it right now or leave!"

Holding up her hands in a placating gesture, Ms. Gothel soothed, "I will. I promise, I'll explain everything, but back at home, if you'll just-"

"No I will not just!" Rapunzel snapped. "Why does it have to be back at that prison you locked me away in for years, why can't it be here? Now?"

"Sweetheart, please, if you'll just listen to me. Everything I ever did, it was to protect you and it's just…" she paused, eyes darting over to Mr. Tyrann momentarily and narrowing. Focusing on Rapunzel again, her words were calm but urgent, "It's not safe here, we have to-"

"I told you to stop lying!" she shouted now, hands balling into fists at her sides. "I spent my entire life hiding from people who would use me for my power. But this whole time the only one I should have been hiding from… is you. You were wrong about the world! And you were wrong about me!"

"Rapunzel-"

"Get out!" She turned her back on her now, crossing her arms. "I can't even look at you right now."

Ms. Gothel opened her mouth to say something more, but Pascal's hand on her shoulder accompanied by a solitary shake of his head seemed to make her think better of it. She shot one final dark look towards Mr. Tyrann before whipping around and walking out the front entrance, Pascal and one rather uncomfortable looking Stabbington twin not too far behind her.

As soon as those heavy doors slammed shut, Rapunzel's face fell, her shoulders slumping as she hung her head. Flynn tentatively approached, gently placing a comforting hand on her back. In an instant, she'd spun around and threw herself at him in a tight hug, burying her face into his chest and letting out a tiny, muffled sob.

Flynn stiffened, glancing towards Mr. Tyrann - the way the older gentleman was scrutinizing him now with the corners of his lips tugged down did not escape his notice. Still, he only hesitated for a second before awkwardly returning the embrace. "...you okay, Blondie?"

Pulling away slowly, Rapunzel heaved a low sigh but nodded. "I will be. I just think I… dunno, need a walk or something… Yeah, a walk sounds good. It'll help clear my head. I'll be alright." She braved a smile before turning to head towards one of the many corridors branching off the foyer. However she stopped at the threshold, glancing back towards Elsa. "You coming?"

Elsa blinked once. Then twice. Then glanced around before pointing at herself, "...who, me?" A beat, then, "Oh! Um… yeah! Okay, I guess…" With a sheepish little breath of a laugh, she hurried to join Rapunzel before the two girls walked off.

Now that this little soap opera had come to a close at least for the moment, the others began to disperse as well. Before the boys could get very far however, they were all stopped by, "A moment, if you would." They glanced back to see Mr. Tyrann, who bowed his head slightly. "Mr. Rooder, I believe it was?" he gave a small knowing smile as he uttered the name. "If I could have a quick word with you back in my study?"

"Uh… sure, of course! Heh…" Flynn turned to Axel and Sora, waving them off, "Go on ahead, I'll catch up in a bit." Then he gestured for their gracious host to lead the way, "After you, er… Sir."

A short walk brought the two men back to the cozy den Mr. Tyrann had had the whole group waiting in earlier. As he took up position behind his desk once more, he gestured across from him with a small nod to Flynn, "Please, have a seat."

Flynn quietly obliged, settling into the armchair and crossing his legs. Then immediately uncrossed them. He propped his elbow on an armrest and rested his chin in his hand. Then he sat up straighter, folding his hands in his lap instead. He shifted in his seat a bit.

…why was he suddenly feeling so uneasy and fidgety?

Like a trouble student who'd just been sent to the principal's office.

Lowering himself into his own chair, Mr. Tyrann addressed him, "Now, I presume it is little wonder as to why I asked you here."

"Actually, it's more of a big wonder," Flynn chuckled awkwardly, to which his host just gave him a flat look. He cleared his throat, shifted in his seat again and tacked on another hasty "Sir" for good measure.

Mr. Tyrann lifted his chin, "Very well, Mr. Rooder, permit me to cut straight to the chase then. What are your intentions towards my daughter?"

His what?!

"My what?!" Flynn almost fell out of his chair, his hands latching onto the armrests now to steady himself. He rapidly shook his head, "Woah now, you got the wrong idea here! I don't have any intentions, zip! None! Not one single solitary intention, let alone plural! Nope, I don't even have an intent! Not even so much as… as… an 'int!' Not-"

…wait… unless…

…did he?

I mean, there was that almost kiss they'd had during the lantern show.

But did an almost really count?

…dear lord, did he have intentions?

Quirking an eyebrow at Flynn's sudden silence, Mr. Tyrann heaved a low sigh through his nose. Then he was opening one of the desk drawers, sifting around inside as he began, "Do not misunderstand me, young man. I will forever be grateful for your hand in reuniting me with my daughter, not to mention everything else you've done to help her. That said, I think we can both agree she's had enough excitement to fill several lifetimes in just the past couple days alone. I'd rather not see her getting mixed up in any more trouble, not anytime soon at least." Finally he pulled from the drawer what appeared to be a checkbook and pen. Setting the former on the desk before him, he clicked the writing implement. "...how much?"

Flynn stared at him blankly. Then he squinted with a small shake of his head, "How much… what?"

Another small sigh, then Mr. Tyrann was jotting in his checkbook. After several long seconds where nothing could be heard but the scratching of the pen and the ticking of the grandfather clock, he then ripped the check from the booklet and held it out over the desk. "I trust this amount should more than suffice?"

Flynn tipped his head to one side. Then he slowly reached out to take the little slip of paper, curiously glancing towards the number written on it.

He came this close to falling out of his chair for the second time in as many minutes.

Holy cow, that 1 certainly had a whole lot of zeros written after it!

There had to be some kind of mistake. A decimal point forgotten somewhere. Seriously, what was this even for anyway? What could possibly-

Then it clicked.

"...You're paying me to disappear," Flynn muttered as the realization slowly sunk in.

Mr. Tyrann bowed his head slightly. "The sooner, the better I think. I figure a clean break is best. If there's any personal effects you left back in your quarters, I can send Nigel to fetch them discreetly for you. That way there will be no incidental encounter between you and my daughter and we can avoid any long, drawn-out, tearful goodbyes. Then we can usher you out quietly and-"

"No."

Both eyebrows shooting up his forehead, Mr. Tyrann frowned. "I beg your pardon?"

Rising to his feet now, Flynn firmly planted the check on the desk and slid it back across to the man. Glaring daggers at him, he merely repeated more loudly, "No." Then he turned and started walking towards the door.

"Very admirable, Mr. Rooder. Very admirable indeed. But I wonder…" Mr. Tyrann's voice followed him as he went. A voice he ignored as he continued marching towards the exit. "...what if I were to add another couple zeroes to the end of that number, hm?"

Flynn's hand froze halfway to the doorknob.

Then he glanced back towards Mr. Tyrann.

There was something majorly fishy going on here.

Maximus paused, shooting a suspicious glare towards the towering mansion belonging to none other than the famed tycoon and recluse known as Thomas Tyrann. Then with a tiny scoff, the detective resumed pacing a hole into the expensive driveway, replaying in his mind for the hundredth time the conversation he'd had with said gentleman before being all but forcibly shown the exit.

No doubt about it. The whole thing stunk to high heaven.

It just didn't add up! Why the hell would he do that? Why, when Maximus had at long last finally had that lowlife Rider dead to goddamn rights, had Mr. Tyrann dropped all charges? Reunion with his long lost daughter or not, it just didn't make any sense! No one ever dropped the charges, no one was that forgiving, no one! Especially not when something had been stolen. Especially not when a precious priceless family heirloom had been stolen! And especially not when it had been stolen from a multibillionaire! C'mon now, the rich just didn't do that! The rich never let anyone who they even thought had so much as remotely wronged them off the hook! The rich were too entitled for that altruistic nonsense!

If that alone hadn't been enough to alert Maximus's BS detector, then Mr. Tyrann's other guests the detective had spotted on his way out were enough to set off freaking alarm bells and shrieking sirens in his brain. The small group had been arriving just as the butler was escorting (or rather, kicking) Maximus off the premises. He'd all but crashed into her as they'd passed each other at the front entrance.

That shady dame who lived in a condo atop the second largest building in Corona and who'd had a not-a-cat named Fluffy.

What the hell had she been doing here and how did she tie into all of this?

And the cherry on top of this whole little mystery cake? One of those chump twins he'd been questioning back at the precinct had been following behind her like a timid, clingy little puppy.

Was it the same twin who'd tried to kidnap Rider's little girlfriend? Or was it the other one? Where was the other twin anyhow? And what was this twin doing hanging out with the shifty broad? In fact, what was either of the twins even doing out of holding? Probably a question he should've been asking himself back when he'd encountered one of 'em at the festival, but give him a break, there'd been a lot going on!

In any case, there was something weird going on with this night. And no, he wasn't just talking about the swarm of murder nightlights he'd just fought off with some random band of plucky adventurers. That was a bit of madness he was choosing to compartmentalize for the moment. But this whole case was getting more and more confusing by the second. So many unanswered questions swirling around, and at the center of it all?

Mr. Tyrann.

Bringing his furious pacing to another halt, he glowered up at the manor once more. "Just you wait, I'm onto you, you son of a-"

Just then those massive double front doors swung open and out stomped the dame in question, followed closely by her hired muscle and that chump twin.

Huh. Speak of the devils.

And from the look in that lady's eyes, whatever talk she'd just had with the billionaire hadn't exactly gone her way.

Now to find out just what that talk had been about.

Maximus stepped forward, taking in a deep breath to speak. Before he could utter so much as a single syllable however, the broad spotted him and was gasping, "Detective! Thank goodness you're here!" Then she was rushing towards him, the two goons in tow.

His brow furrowed. "Wha-"

She reached him, hands desperately grabbing his shoulders, fingers latching like claws into the fabric of his coat. "You must hurry! There isn't time! She's not safe in there!"

"Woah, woah, lady, slow down. What seems to be the trouble here?" he asked, eyes darting back to the ominous estate. "Who's not safe in there?"

"My daughter! Please, you have to believe me, her father can not be trusted and-"

"Wait," he interjected, eyebrows knitting together as realization began to dawn on him. "...your daughter is the one with enough hair to start her own wig factory?"

Come to think of it… back in Tyrann's study, Rider's friends had been saying something about one of the chump twins being seen with that girl's mother. Maybe if he hadn't been so tunnel-visioned on bringing Rider to justice, he would've put two and two together sooner. Still, that didn't explain why this odd alliance between the unlikely pair had been formed.

Yeesh, this little web of mystery continued to grow more and more tangled by the second!

"Yes, yes," Ms. Gothel nodded impatiently. "But did you hear me? She's in danger! I demand you storm in there immediately and… and… persecute to the fullest extent of the law! Take no prisoners! Brook no quarter! Do not stop until she's safely back in my arms where she belongs and-"

"Hold it, Ma'am. Sorry, but that's not how it works. Now I'm gonna need you to start at the beginning here. Just what-"

She released a growling huff. "I told you already, there's no time!" Her eyes shifted about as she momentarily seemed to get lost in thought. Then she was snapping her fingers. "Come! I know a way we can sneak back inside!"

"Now hang on just a damn-ack!"

She took off running back around behind the mansion, her firm hold on the detective's sleeve yanking him along with her. Caught off guard and with the goons bringing up the rear, Maximus found himself following before he even realized what was happening.

"I mean I can't believe her! Can you believe her?! I can't, just simply can't, can not believe her!"

Elsa did not know what she was doing here.

"The way Mother just showed up here, unannounced, acting like the friggin' Queen of Sheba, barking orders, no- issuing decrees! Oh, and saying it's not safe?! What's not safe?! Please, I bet there's no safer place for us to be in all of Corona than right in this very spot! Not safe, ha, not safe my sweet tush! I mean, c'mon! She's being ridiculous!"

What with her long standing and deep-rooted fear of accidentally harming someone with her ice powers, she'd never really gotten much practice in the whole socializing department. Thus she was now finding herself rather ill equipped for figuring out just why exactly Rapunzel had invited her along on this little walk, what exactly it was that was expected of her. And even if she could figure out what it was she was supposed to be doing here, there was a good chance she wouldn't have had the first clue how to go about doing it.

"I mean, who even does that?!" Rapunzel huffed in exasperation as she continued forward in an agitated march, Elsa having to walk quickly to keep pace beside her. "Huh? Huh?! Who does that?"

Elsa blinked.

Oh no, was she supposed to say something here?

"I'll tell you who! The same deranged madwoman who hid me away and kept me captive at the top of a literal tower for my whole friggin' life, that's who!"

Oh good, no she wasn't. Whew, false alarm!

Now onto another pressing question… where exactly were they?

Seeing as how they hadn't set off with any particular destination in mind, Elsa had been letting the other girl lead the way in her mostly blind blustering. By now their aimless wandering had found them in some random corridor on the second floor of the mansion. At least, Elsa was pretty sure it was the second floor. There'd been a set of stairs at some point, anyway. Huh… hopefully they'd be able to find their way back! Maybe if nothing else, they could follow Rapunzel's hair back the way they'd come, like a trail of breadcrumbs!

"I mean, sometimes she can just be so… so…" Rapunzel growled, hands grabbing onto a clump of her long golden hair and strangling it. Then she released it, more gently smoothing it out as she took in a deep, steadying breath before blowing it back out again, turning her tired gaze towards Elsa. "...ya know?"

Shoot. She was pretty sure now she was actually expected to say something.

"Um… yes, your mother seems like she can be very… erm, very so."

Nailed it.

With a soft chuckle, Rapunzel shook her head, "Sorry to unload on you like this. I hope I'm not being too TMI or making you uncomfortable or anything."

"Oh no, no, not at all. It's just…" Elsa paused, fingers absently plucking at her braid as she bit down on her bottom lip. Then, "...wouldn't you have rathered Flynn had come on this walk with you or…?"

"Flynn?" her head rocked back slightly at that. Then she was tapping a finger to her chin as she mused, "...well yeah, I like to think he and I have gotten pretty close over the past few days, but…" Rapunzel wrinkled her nose slightly. "He's a boy and talking to him about stuff like this just isn't the same. What I really needed right now was my gal pal!"

Elsa's steps faltered, nearly tripping and falling flat on her face. Managing to catch herself however with the help of Rapunzel's hand on her arm, she stared wide-eyed back at the other girl. "...you think of me as your… gal pal?" she asked slowly, the phrase sounding so weird and foreign to her ears.

"Course I do, silly! I mean, you're a gal, right?"

"Yes, of course, but-"

"And we're pals, right?" Rapunzel pressed.

"...well, I suppose-"

"Then bam! Gal pals!" she beamed in victory.

Head tipping to one side, Elsa asked, "Is it really… It's that simple?"

"Yup!" she chirped, but then her lips pursed to one side as she began toying with a lock of her hair. "I mean, I think it is. You'd be the first one I ever had." She gasped in delight and started bouncing as she walked, clapping her hands together, "I think we might even be besties!"

Elsa's eyes widened and she asked slowly, "You think of me as your best friend?"

She nodded rapidly. "Uh-huh! That's okay, right?"

"Of course, it's just…" she hesitated. She'd never been a best friend before. Part of that whole being the queen of all things antisocial. Closest she could think of was Anna, and that was a relationship she'd only just recently repaired after years of neglect. Even so, they were sisters — they were kind of stuck with each other. Before that fateful night at Prom where she'd met Axel and Sora, Elsa had never been friends with anyone before who wasn't related to her, let alone best friends. Elsa glanced to Rapunzel uncertainly, eyebrows knit together, "...are you sure?"

She flashed a grin bright enough to rival the sun. "Absolutely! I can tell, you're one of the good ones," she hooked elbows with her, reaching her free hand up to give Elsa a light noogie. "Total BFFAEAE material!" At her so dubbed bestie's questioning look, Rapunzel elaborated, "Best Friend Forever And Ever And Ever."

"Oh! Well, alright then… Bestie," she tried the word out with a timid smile. She kind of liked the sound of that. Now… what exactly was it that a bestie was supposed to do? …probably give advice on the problem their fellow bestie had been ranting about for the past several minutes. Clearing her throat, Elsa ventured, "So, about your mother…" Rapunzel's grin faltered slightly and Elsa nearly lost her nerve. However, she pushed on, "Maybe you should possibly… hear her out?"

"What?!" she jerked back, looking aghast as her walking came to an abrupt halt.

Stopping as well, Elsa's hands flew up as she quickly continued, "Now I'm not saying to forgive her or let her off the hook or anything! I'm just saying listen to whatever it is she wants to tell you. After that, you can feel free to send her away and never talk to her again or whatever you want to do, just… don't you want an explanation? Don't you want to know why she did the things she did like keeping you from seeing your father? Not that knowing her reasons will undo the past or anything, but just… to have that closure, you know? Otherwise, you might spend the rest of your life having these unanswered questions plaguing you and wouldn't you rather not spend another minute thinking about unhappy things if you don't have to?"

Rapunzel stared at her for a long, silent moment. Then she was looking down at her feet as she crossed her arms. "That's… actually a really good point."

Elsa shrugged. "I've had my own problems with my parents. Not 'keeping me captive at the top of a literal tower' kind of problems, but… they were never really the most… hands-on when it came to parenting. They've always been very distant and more often than not left me and my sister to practically raise ourselves. And it just got me thinking… there's so many questions I wish I could ask them now about why they were the way they were in raising us. I'm sure I'll get to have that talk with them one day, but I probably won't be seeing them again for a long while." She paused, idly fidgeting with her braid once again. "...your mother's right here, right now, willing to answer your questions. I just think that's something you should take advantage of."

Wrinkling her nose slightly, Rapunzel seemed to mull over her words for a few seconds. Then she looked at Elsa again, giving her a small but firm nod, "You're right." A tiny smile emerged once more. "Thanks, Elsa." Then she was doing the last thing Elsa expected her to do.

She was hugging her.

Elsa went rigid, arms stiff at her side, hands closing and opening and closing again. Oh no, Rapunzel shouldn't have done that. This was bad. What if she panicked and set her powers off? What if she hurt her by mistake? Elsa's breathing was already becoming shallow, her pulse was beginning to thud more loudly in her chest. She swore she even saw a snowflake flutter by as the temperature dropped around her by several degrees and-

Lesson two: Forget where you are or what's around you. It doesn't matter. Just trust yourself.

Axel's reassuring words from before filled her mind and brought the creeping anxiety to screeching halt.

Then Elsa inhaled deeply, letting calm fill her and chase that nervousness away.

Just trust yourself.

As those words repeated, she hesitated for another second more. Then slowly, haltingly, she returned the embrace.

"You know," Rapunzel began, giving her one final friendly squeeze for good measure, "you're not half bad at this whole bestie thing."

Elsa hummed a small, bashful laugh. "...if you say so."

And Axel wasn't half bad at this whole advice thing either it seemed.

Pulling away slightly now, Rapunzel shifted her hold to instead clasp at Elsa's hands now as a blinding grin broke out across her face. "Enough of that heavy stuff now, such a bummer. Let's talk about something more fun!"

"Oh?" Elsa asked chipperly but uncertainly, eyeing their hands and doing her best not to worry about the continued skin contact.

Nodding eagerly, her grin stretched impossibly wider. "Uh-huh! Boys!"

"...oh?" She said again, decidedly less chipper this time.

"Cuz I've been absolutely dying to talk to someone about a moment Flynn and I had earlier!" She took off walking once again, except it was more like skipping now. Elsa hurried after her, struggling to keep up both in stride as well as with the words all but exploding out in a rush from Rapunzel now. "At least I think it was a moment! You were there, right? Did you see it? Did it look like a moment to you? At the lantern show? When all the lanterns were launching up into the air and it was all so beautiful and magical and wonderful and- But Flynn wasn't looking at that, he was looking at me and I was looking at him and we were looking at each other and he tucked some of my hair behind my ear and it made my belly do a little flip-fop and then I'm pretty sure he was leaning in so I did too and we almost- But then Larxene, ugh! Worst. Possible. Timing. Ever! I mean, seriously! Did she not see that Flynn and I were kinda in the middle of something? At least, I think we were… and she probably did too, which is probably exactly why she did it! Talk about evil! I mean, only if she was interrupting what I think she was interrupting, which I'm pretty sure it was!" She came to a sudden stop once again, turning to Elsa with big, imploring eyes and forcing her to stumble to a halt herself so as not to run into her. "...was it? It was, wasn't it?"

"Er…" Elsa blinked a couple times. "Was what it?"

"A moment!" Rapunzel urged. "Was Flynn about to, you know…" The blank look in Elsa's eyes clearly stated she did not, in fact, know. Releasing a tiny impatient huff through her nose, Rapunzel said, "Do you think he was about to kiss me?"

Elsa averted her gaze, face scrunching up slightly. "Maybe I'm not exactly the best person to be coming to for boy advice."

She tipped her head to one side. "Really? But I thought you had loads of boyfriend experience."

"Huh? Who told you about Hans?" She frowned, then shook her head. "Regardless, I'm not sure that's the best example to be looking at. I mean sure, we were dating for six months, but he was only using me and kidnapped my sister and tried to turn me into a Heartless and he basically became Darkness incarnate himself, so… not exactly like we'd win Couple of the Year or anything," she chuckled feebly.

Both eyebrows shot up Rapunzel's forehead. "...okay, one: wasn't talking about Hans. I didn't even know this Hans guy existed until you mentioned him just now but wow, are we gonna talk more about him later! And two: I actually meant Axel."

"Ax-?!" Elsa spluttered and all but choked on the name, face suddenly erupting in heat. "Y-you think he's my boyfriend?!"

She giggled, "Well duh! I mean, I wasn't sure at first, but I always kinda got… I dunno, this sorta vibe between you two that something was maybe going on. Then earlier when I was in the middle of that fight with Mother, you two showed up together and him without his top and it just seemed totally obvious at that point and I thought: yup, no doubt about it! Those two are definitely together!"

Hastily waving her hands back and forth in front of her, Elsa insisted, "But we're not! Definitely, definitely not!"

"You're not?" She cocked her head again, this time to the other side. "Then what was the platonic explanation for him being shirtless?"

"Simple, he-" she cut herself off, mouth twisting like she'd just sucked on a lemon. She couldn't give Rapunzel a platonic explanation. Because there wasn't one. So instead, she went with, "...I'm not at liberty to discuss it at this time."

She rolled her eyes with a little snort. "Yeah, uh-huh, okay sure. But let me just say this? Boyfriend or no, it's clear he cares a lot about you."

Elsa grimaced and sighed, "No, he doesn't. He can't. He's a Nobody. Like Pyjama Monsters, remember? And Nobodies don't have feelings."

Rapunzel squinted at her, the corners of her mouth turned down. Then she was shaking her head, "Mm-mm. Nope. Not buying it."

"Wha- There's nothing to buy, that's just the way it is. Axel said so. The Cricket, that little device Sora wears in his ear, said so too and it basically knows everything about everything. Axel is… he's just a really good actor because he had to be in order to survive as a Nobody, but it's all just pretend. Make believe… a show he's putting on. That's all it is and all it ever will be."

"I don't care how good an actor Axel is, if he really were totally empty and unfeeling, there would be just some things he couldn't fake, not that well anyway!"

"But-"

"Maybe Axel doesn't even realize it himself!" Rapunzel pressed. "And maybe that ear-doo-hickey thingamajig is wrong! It's basically a tiny computer, right? Computers run on outta-date, obsolete info all the time! There's probably loads of things it doesn't know about Nobodies!"

Elsa drew in a slow breath before releasing it, eyes downcast, "Now you're just grasping at straws."

"You're damn right I am, the question is why aren't you?! Why are you fighting this so hard? Who are you really trying to convince here, me? Or yourself?" Elsa looked taken aback and Rapunzel met her gaze with a sigh, asking more gently, "...why are you so scared?"

Elsa took a step backwards, arms coming up to hug herself. She opened her mouth, then shut it immediately. Then she tried again, "I-"

Suddenly with a loud fizzle and pop, all the lights went out around them, casting the hallway in darkness save for some moonlight coming in through windows. Both the girls gasped, trying to glance around as their eyes began to adjust to the abrupt gloom surrounding them now.

"...power outage?" Rapunzel's voice asked hopefully from somewhere to Elsa's left.

A sinister giggle suddenly came echoing down the hall.

A giggle the girls recognized, unfortunately.

"If only we could be so lucky," Elsa muttered back to her.

"Oh gal pals!" the voice that had giggled now singsonged from the shadows. Then with a crackle and a hiss, lightning burst up and jaggedly danced at the far end of the corridor from them, the sparks lighting up Larxene's maniacal smirk for a few tense seconds before everything went black again.

"Come out, come out, wherever you are~!"

Author's Note: Hoo boy, lot crammed into this one update! A swing and a miss for our boi Axel way back at the start of the chapter - he was just trying to handle relationships how his Nobody brain figured they're supposed to be handled, but Somebodies are a bit more complicated than that xD Then the blowout between Punzie and her mother, Mr Tyrann trying to pay Flynn to disappear (was he swayed, did he end up taking the munny after all? We'll find out… sooner or later xP), Gothel and Maximus and rest of that oddball crew running off to sneak back into the house - I'm sure that can only end well lol! And Punzie and Elsa having some girl talk time, which honestly was very fun to write these 2 ladies who are both ill equipped and inexperience when it comes to friendships for very different reasons and yet they're both doing their best in their own ways to navigate it ^^ But then BAM! Darth Pikachu returns! Let's see what mayhem she causes… next time!

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