A/n: I love writing this goofy ahh story thank you to everyone who's reading

Cassandra knew she shouldn't have had faith. After a solid twelve hours of Varian never waking up, not even stirring, she was convinced that Eugene and Lance had accidentally killed him. "I knew I shouldn't have left him alone with you two bone heads!" She seethed, "I should have known better!"

"Hey, we didn't even touch him!" Lance argued, "don't jump to accusations!"

"He still has a heartbeat, Cass" Rapunzel said after checking his pulse. She hadn't really thought he was dead, but he very well could have been from all his complications, "plus, he must be exhausted. His body is just giving him a chance to heal is all that's happening. I'm surprised he's even been awake at all honestly, look at him."

"Yeah!" Eugene cried, spinning to face Cassandra, "he's perfectly fine."

"He is not perfectly fine! I already knew you don't have a brain, but now i'm starting to think you don't have eyes" she smirked. He opened his mouth to retort, but Cassandra held a hand up, "Okay, sorry, whatever—you're just lucky I found a doctor before he kicks the bucket. I gave her the directions on how to get here" Cassandra said, "any minute she'll knock."

"You gave her directions? What if she reports back to the King?!" Eugene asked with worry.

"Rapunzel has already spoken with her. She won't be telling a soul." Cassandra said, "she's from Old Corona. Used to babysit Varian as a kid. She's one of the few people who don't hate him."

Rapunzel shook her head, "I can't even fathom what babysitting him must have been like."

"I dunno, but I would need to be paid double for that" Eugene smirked.

———-________—————___—————————

So the doctor, Rosa had...a lot of things to say about Varian's case.

First off: she'd never seen such intense starvation. Such horrid abuse, "this is all of great concern" she said once she'd finished looking over him, "i'm sure he's in a lot of pain. Has he said anything about hurting?" She was clearly trying to keep professional. It must have been deeply unsettling to see the boy so damaged.

"Vaguely" Rapunzel answered, "he isn't showing any outward signs of physical pain, though."

"He may be in too much shock to feel it right now. Or, maybe he's hiding it? I doubt the guards cared when he was hurting" Rosa told her.

Cassandra nodded, "well, what can we do for him?"

"I'm going to take this blood sample i've gathered and i'm going to test it for diseases and sicknesses. In the meantime, i'm going to administer painkillers and medicine for him. You said he's been a asleep for twelve hours?"

The doctor got a nod from Lance, "perfectly normal in this situation. Expect lots of sleeping spells, nothing to panic over unless you notice him not breathing, or a lack of a heartbeat. His body is trying to catch up and heal. It must feel a lot safer in a nice, warm bed with bandages over his wounds. Oh, which reminds me, i'm going to get together some numbing creams for when you need to replace his stitches. And for the whip marks on his back."

Eugene sighed with relief, "Great, that's—thank you. So, about feeding him. He pukes after almost everything we give him, even just water. Is there a certain way to go about this? I have a few questions about bathing him too."

"Hm" Dr. Rosa strummed her fingers along her clipboard in thought, "well, it's hard to tell with feeding him, every case is unique. His is...well, it isn't good. Stick to light liquids such as broths and water. After a few days try small things like crackers, fruits, and cheeses, those could be good snacks to give him. Make sure he really listens to his body though. He needs to tell you guys when he's hungry."

Eugene nodded again. Rapunzel had never seen him pay such close attention to anything.

"As for bathing, I think he'll be ready soon. Let the stitches and stuff set in for a while so they aren't as sensitive. His wounds have had time to close up enough to where they aren't constantly bleeding as well. Though, moving him so early in the recovery process could have some undesired affects. I'd stick to the washcloths for now. Maybe a hair wash?" She questioned.

Rapunzel let out a sigh, "thank you so much for all the help."

She nodded, "any time. Please, stop by my office for any questions. Your prescriptions will be done as soon as possible, and when you pick them up i'll also have written down notes with more details on things like feeding him and addressing his wounds."

Eugene flashed her a small smile, and she turned to leave before stopping, "oh! Monitor his bathroom habits. His urine may be red, but once he recovers a little and drinks more water it may return to normal. I'll have notes on that too. I'll come by with the creams and medicine sometime."

"Okay—do you think that he's going to wake up soon?" Rapunzel frowned.

"I'm going to be honest. I'll be surprised if he wakes up before three days pass" she smiled gently, "speaking of his urine—you may want to think about putting him in diapers, just until he wakes up from this sleeping spell. His body isn't going to focus on waking him up to go pee."

—————————/—————//-/-/———————-1

Lance turned to Varian and shrieked upon noticing the boys eyes were starting to open, "guys look!" He whisper yelled.

Varian groaned a little, rubbing his eyes and blinking slowly awake.

Four days had passed. Four days, and he hadn't stirred once.

"Varian!" Rapunzel squealed, "oh my goodness, you're okay!" She opened her arms wide and ran up to him.

He shut his eyes tightly and flinched away from her, putting his arms up in front of his face.

"Varian! Why'd you move?" She asked gently, stopping herself.

"Oh! I—I thought you were going to attack me" Varian mumbled.

"I was going to hug you" she frowned, sharing a look with Eugene.

"Why would you hug me?" Varian questioned, tilting his head to the side and furrowing his eyebrows in confusion.

"Um, why would I attack you!?" Rapunzel asked incredulously.

Varian simply shrugged, though he could certainly think of a few reasons. It was a pure shock waking up in a bed, but after a few moments passed, he remembered everything and relaxed.

He shifted in the bed, his eyes widening when he felt a soft, padded material and heard a crinkle. He froze, not moving a muscle.

Rapunzel cringed, "don't freak out—"

"What am I wearing?" He asked, scarily quiet, "is this a diaper?"

Cassandra sighed, "please stay calm. Yes."

"H-how long—why?! Who has been changing it?!" Varian yelped.

"Do you really want us to answer—"

"YES!"

"Okay—you've been in bed asleep for four days, and we put it on you because we wanted to avoid accidents, and I've been changing you" Eugene explained.

Varian's blush was deep, but he allowed himself to relax when he heard that neither of the girls had been changing him. But he didn't like that the men had, either. He had been asleep, and they'd been alone with him. They could have done anything to him, and be would never know.

"I—I want it off" Varian whispered, "I d-don't like it."

"Varian. You need it. Please, at least for a little while longer, just until we know you're not going to have another sleeping spell" Cassandra said.

Varian looked like he wanted to protest, but he clamped his mouth shut and nodded, "i'm not using it."

"Thank you" She smiled gently, "you don't have to use it when you're awake—"

"Good, I don't intend to!"

"When you're awake, you can use like—something, I don't know what yet, just until I can get you a urinal bottle" Cassandra said, "you will definitely not get out of this bed. I don't think you'd be able to walk, even with help." Cassandra groaned as she checked her pocket watch, "I can not believe that as soon as you wake up Rapunzel has to go to some fancy overdone banquet and I have to assist her. The last time we left you alone with those idiots, you didn't wake up for four days."

"Speaking of—you okay, kid?" Eugene questioned, "how are you feeling? You really were asleep for that long."

"Wait—you weren't kidding?! Four whole days?!" Varian asked in shock, "I—I mean, I feel...not great. But I don't think my hibernation had anything to do with that."

Cassandra snorted, "pfft—hibernation."

"How about Eugene and Lance give you that hair wash while we're gone?" Rapunzel questioned, "And Eugene found that my invention back at that expo was pretty useful! Remember that? Yeah, he could dry your hair with it. Hair looks so much cleaner when it's blow dried!" She exclaimed.

"Ooh, yeah princess your invention was so cool!" He exclaimed, everyone in the room going silent in shock when they noticed his eyes gleaming with excitement, "I actually drew up a blue print for it! You know, if the air stream had been adjusted a little more, and the whole thing was smaller, like, really smaller, you wouldn't have to adjust the setting for your hair specifically, anybody could use it! And if it was able to be hand held it would be much more convenient, but the air would have to come out much faster, so you'd need better materials and—" he stopped suddenly, shrinking in on himself, "oh, sorry, sorry sorry, i'm speaking out of turn.."

"Varian that's called a conversation" Cassandra said, "and you don't need permission to talk. Remember, we aren't them."

"Sorry, I just haven't talked to anyone in so long and you know how excited I get about this kind of stuff" he twiddled his thumbs and looked down at his lap.

"As you should be!" Rapunzel gasped, "and you're right! We could totally do that! It would be so much more useful that way—and it could probably even benefit the townspeople! Maybe I could bring the parts I used in here one day and we could try to make the version you're talking about! You can tell me all about your idea when we get back!"

"Really?!" Varian's face lit up again, "you'd let me build something with you?!"

Cassandra looked a little apprehensive, placing a hand on Rapunzel's shoulder, "Raps, I told my dad that I wouldn't let him use any alchemy..."

"This isn't alchemy! This is inventing! And, he clearly has no ill intentions, right Varian?" She asked.

"No...I don't, but Cass is right" he sighed, "these kind of things tend to not work out so well on the first few tries. I'm not a stranger to blowing things up on accident."

Cassandra frowned, hating seeing the kid like this, "ah, what the heck, not much could go wrong. You're just going to be building something simple, i'm sure it'll be okay." Damn it, she was getting soft.

A smile began to creep up on his face, "really?!"

She smiled, "really. Now come on Raps, you two can nerd out later but we have business to attend to."

"Oh, okay! Bye Varian, make sure Eugene and Lance don't get into any trouble!" Rapunzel called.

Both men made looks of protest, but Varian just chuckled, "sure thing, princess!" He tried to calm the nervous feeling that made his heart beat faster. He was afraid, being left alone with the two men, but what he remembered of them from a few years ago helped him calm down. They were Lance and Eugene. They wouldn't hurt him.

"Boys daaaaay~" Lance sung as soon as the door was closed, "what do you want to do?" He asked once Cassandra and Rapunzel left.

"Stay silent and be good so I don't get hurt?" Varian asked seriously.

"...Yeah, no" Eugene said, not quite sure if he wanted to unpack any trauma right now, "how about we wash your hair like Rapunzel said?"

Varian nodded, "Whatever you want."

"Alright, let's do this! I don't think we should move you, so I think that we're just going to lay a mini storage tub or something down behind you with a towel so the bed doesn't get wet" Eugene said, heading to the room's connected bathroom to grab the items needed.

Eugene noticed Varian trying to sit up in the bed on his own and fail miserably, falling back down each time, "Come on is that the best you can do?" He joked.

Varian teared up, "yes actually i'm really trying here."

Lance glared at Eugene, who was quick to rectify his mistake, "oh—oh, i'm sorry kid, here, want some help?"

Varian nodded, and Eugene was quick to lift the boy up so that he could sit behind him.

The boy gasped, clutching his chest as he began to cough violently. Eugene was panicking, because within seconds, Varian had tears running down his face.

"What's wrong?!" He questioned, sharing a look of fear with Lance. Cassandra would never shut up if Varian got hurt under their watch.

He hacked up something into his arm and then began to take sharp, shallow breaths, "chest" he wheezed, "moved wrong—ouch" he hissed.

Eugene froze when he saw Varian's arm, covered in a thick layer of bloody mucus.

"Oh my sun he coughed up blood!" Lance cried.

"No no i'm fine! Happens all the time" Varian assured.

Eugene let out a sigh, "that isn't normal, kid! Cass is gonna have to check you out."

Eugene sat Varian between his legs on the bed, brushing his hair gently to get all of the tangles out. It took a while, but apparently he wasn't tender headed, "are you sure this doesn't hurt?" Eugene asked.

Varian shook his head, "no, the guards would pull my hair and swing me around by it a lot so I think I grew a tolerance."

Lance shared a very concerned look with Eugene, grabbing his little clipboard that Cassandra had told him to take any suspicious notes on. Varian began to cough again when he shifted wrong, and all of a sudden, he froze, sitting up a little straighter. He whimpered and covered his face with his hands, "i'm sorry."

Eugene and Lance shared concerned looks, "what's the matter? Lance asked.

"I. Um. I didn't mean to, I swear" he whimpered, and his face had gone red.

"Mean to what? Eugene asked, his heart pounding in his ears. Every waking moment was an anxiety attack with this kid.

"I. Um. I need to be..." he cringed, shifting, "changed...."

Eugene almost wanted to laugh. That was the problem? The kid was so embarrassed. But he kept his expression neutral and shrugged, "oh, okay. No big deal kiddo, that's what it's there for."

Varian still looked very upset so Lance found the words to continue Eugene's sentiment, "All that coughing put some strain on your bladder, kid. It's fine."

Varian wiped his teary eyes and nodded, "okay. Okay, thank you. Uh—uhm, I can do it."

Eugene frowned, "Vari, I know you want to, and you think you can, but you can't even move much right now. Look, How about when I change you, I close my eyes, okay? Putting a diaper on someone is as easy as one two three."

Varian nodded slowly, "okay" he whispered. His face was red, and he stared at his lap."

Varian had his eyes squeezed tightly shut as Eugene changed him. He didn't want to think about rough hands running down his body against his will. But...Eugene's hands never wandered. He patched him up quickly and that was the end of it.

"How about I help wash your hair?" Lance asked, cutting the tension.

"Says the guy who doesn't have hair" Eugene scoffed.

"Hey, I have hair! In..other places.." Lance smirked.

"Ew!" Eugene exclaimed, punching Lance's shoulder.

"What? In your armpits?" Varian asked, tilting his head.

"You're too innocent" Eugene whispered, "wait, have you even hit puberty?"

Varian blushed, "yes! I—I dunno if I finished it! Maybe my lack of health stunted it..."

The conversation wasn't getting them anywhere except depressing territory. They tried to keep the conversation light as they finally finished brushing Varian's hair. Eugene gently lowered Varian's hair into the bucket of water and began to wet and wash it. He put an ungodly amount of product in his hair and told him to trust the process.

Varian had trust issues, but he nodded.

"Ooh. I'll go get the princess's invention! She actually did make it a little smaller, so now it can fit through doors!" Lance exclaimed, "it's like a fan. Except bigger."

When he returned with the dryer, Lance waited for the go to press the button and turn it on.

Varian's hair went down below his shoulders when it was wet, and Eugene had to admit that it was adorable.

"Okay Lance, do the thing" Eugene gestured. It didn't take long for the powerful air to dry his hair, and they both smiled at how soft and fluffy the boys hair was. His bangs went below his eyes and over his ears.

"It's so long! And your blue hair stripe has never been brighter!" Eugene exclaimed, handing the boy a mirror.

"It really is long" Varian said, shaking his head around and watching as it flowed past his shoulders. He giggled, "I like it! Thank you, it feels so much better now!"

"I'll say" Eugene muttered, looking down into the water they'd used, which was a dark shade of brown, and filled with small chunks of only god knows what, "certainly looks better too" he grabbed a glass from the nightstand, "Here, let's try to drink some of this water."

Varian nodded, taking a few sips as Lance and Eugene put everything away. He stared into the cup and bit his lip.

"Something on your mind?" Eugene asked.

"Um, it's silly..." He mumbled.

"Nonsense! What's up?" Lance asked.

"Well, uh...I was just wondering if maybe we could braid my hair..?" He asked, trailing off, "it's stupid, I know you probably don't even know how—"

"Of course we can!" Eugene interrupted, "I braid Rapunzel's hair all the time!"

"Yeah! And I used to braid Red's hair, even though i'm not the best at it!" Lance chimed in.

Varian smiled, "really?! You'd do it?"

"Of course! Now, what kind of braiding were we thinking? Simple? French style?" Eugene asked.

Varian smirked, "pigtail style. It can be a competition."

Eugene and Lance glanced between each other before rushing forward with combs in hand, "I'm going to win!" They simultaneously exclaimed.

—————————————————————————

When Rapunzel and Cassandra got back, noticing the door was unlocked, they didn't expect the sight before them. Varian was giggling while Eugene and Lance were braiding his hair, the two men deep in conversation about something they couldn't even keep up with and Varian giggling at the stories being told.

When Varian noticed them he waved, "hey Rapunzel, hey Cassie! Do you like it?!" He asked, "they're braiding my hair!"

Cassandra chuckled, feeling her heart swell at the mention of her old nickname, "I can see that. It's very cute" with that, she turned her eyes to the two men, "But you know what isn't cute? Leaving the door unlocked" she glared, "which one of you did that?"

Lance tensed up, "whoops..I went to go get the princess's invention and forgot."

"Lance!—"

"Awe! His hair is so long and fluffy!" Rapunzel cooed, patting his head, "Cass, leave him alone, nobody got hurt!"

Varian smiled brightly, "yeah, they're having a competition!"

She looked at both the men's work. Eugene was being calculated and precise, using a comb and everything to make sure nothing was out of place, just like he did with his own hair.

Lance was..giving a good enough effort.

"Wow! You're both doing so good!" Rapunzel lied.

Cassandra laughed, dropping the topic of the lock. She would chastise them later, but for now, Varian seemed happy, so she would cut them some slack, "No one's as good as me. I braid this girl's hair every single day" She jabbed a thumb in Rapunzel's direction, "maybe next time i'll show you two how it's done."

"Oh, please! Mine is practically perfect!" Eugene scoffed as he tied his work with an elastic band.

"And mine's good too!" Lance argued.

Varian grabbed a mirror and looked between them, "thanks guys! I really love them!" He said it like an excited little kid, bouncing around slightly as he looked at them, "the winner is...both of you!"

The men laughed at that and Eugene rolled his eyes, "sure, kid. We all know who the real winner is."

"Really excited about braids, huh?" Cassandra asked as the boy stared in the mirror.

Varian nodded rapidly, "when I was really little I had long, curly hair. All the old people couldn't possibly fathom boys with long hair so they thought I was a girl. My mom used to braid my hair all the time" he smiled fondly, "dad cut it by the time I was four. The other kids were shocked when they found out I was a boy."

Rapunzel smiled too, "that's so sweet, Varian."

"Yeah" he sighed, laying back and looking up at the ceiling.

"Don't worry kid, we've got mommy issues too" Eugene and Lance said.

"That reminds me!" Rapunzel gasped, "Varian, while we were at the dark kingdom we met Eugene's dad! The king of the dark kingdom! Which makes him royalty!"

"Which makes him have bigger of a head than he already does" Cassandra said with a roll of her eyes.

Varian raised a brow, "Eugene? Royalty?!"

"Yeah, You can't tell me the fact that he met Rapunzel is just a coincidence! It must be destiny!" Lance exclaimed, covering his mouth as he noticed Cassandra tense up at the mention of destinies.

"As a man of science, I can't believe in destiny. Coincidences though...those are more plausible" Varian said, "could you tell me more about your journey? I've been wondering what you were up to!"

"Well, a lot happened" she chuckled, "and by a lot, I mean a lot. I mean, me and Cassandra turned into birds for crying out loud! Eugene got engaged to someone, Lance almost died to a spider bite, Cass, Lance and Shorty got turned into kids...I learned a new incantation! And that's how...that happened to Cassandra's hand" Rapunzel rambled.

Varian looked up, "yeah, I was actually wondering about that...I thought it was a sore subject though, so I didn't ask. What was the incantation?"

"Opposite of the healing one I guess. Hurt incantation. My eyes and hair turned black and I got stuck in a trance. Cass had her gloves on, and just one touch to my shoulder while I was in that state completely crippled her hand. I think it's getting better now though" Rapunzel said, cringing, "maybe..."

"The incantation destroyed everything in its path. It was scary" Lance said.

"Yeah. We also met these two really annoying people...Adira and Hector" Cassandra scoffed, "Their fighting skills are commendable, I can give them that. They're part of something called the dark kingdom's brotherhood or something—"

"Wait wait wait!" Varian cried, "back up a little bit, I just realized—did you say Eugene got engaged to someone?!" He exclaimed.

—————————————————————————

Rapunzel was conflicted. The next morning when Cassandra was helping her get ready, she voiced the burning question on her mind, "Cass, why hasn't Varian mentioned Quirin?"

"What do you mean?" She asked, brushing out Rapunzel's, oh, you know, seventy feet of hair. This was the real reason she had muscles.

"He isn't talking about his father" Rapunzel told her, "He isn't trying to formulate a plan to save him. He isn't doing anything. I'm worried" she explained, "I was sure that would be the first thing he talked about, but he hasn't said a word."

"Now that you mention it...you're right. I don't remember him saying anything about him" she frowned as she put the hairbrush away.

"Maybe we should bring it up. He might be too scared to talk about it" Cassandra offered, "it's understandable."

Rapunzel nodded, "you're right."

They made their way to Varian's new little room, and unsurprisingly, Lance and Eugene were already there, giving him medicine. The kid looked sickly.

"Hey, Varian. How are you feeling this morning?" Rapunzel asked gently, cautiously making her way over in an attempt not to startle him.

"Um—not really good, but it's okay, princess" he said.

"I'm going to check your fever, alright? Don't be scared" she explained gently, placing a timid hand on his forehead before frowning, "oooh, there's that fever. You're burning up."

"R-really? 'Cause i'm cold..really cold.." he mumbled.

"Hm. Okay.." she said, looking over at Cassandra, as if asking if this was the right time to bring up Quirin or not Cassandra just shrugged, and Rapunzel sighed, "so, Varian. I was wondering if you've thought of any plans for helping your father?"

Varian froze, coughing wetly from the shock while simultaneously choking on his medicine, "W—What? M-my father?"

"Yes..Quirin" Rapunzel said slowly.

Varian bit his quivering lip and tears filled his eyes, "I—" he stopped for a moment, looking up at the princess, "oh, um. I mean I haven't really brought it up, because uh...I don't know what to do..." He kept running over chemical equations in his head, he kept thinking of possibilities and coming up with theories. He thought about his father every waking moment, "the amber is a compound similar to the rocks. It's unbreakable."

"Varian" Rapunzel said, "just because you haven't found out the solution yet, doesn't mean there isn't one. There's still hope. Even the rocks aren't unbreakable, we found that out on our journey! All we have to do is test out some—some solutions, or—"

"What if he's dead?" Varian whispered.

Everyone froze. Rapunzel's words died on her tongue.

Varian continued, "How could he possibly be alive? It's been—been—nearly two years! No food or water. No oxygen—unless the amber is like a-a-a preserver of some kind, but it's manmade, and.." his voice broke and he trailed off, "I should have just listened to him."

"Varian.." Cassandra began, not sugar coating anything in her typical fashion, "I can't guarantee you that he's alive" Varian hung his head, and her voice shifted into something more gentle, "But I also can't sit here and tell you that he's dead. If we don't try, we'll never know. And if we don't like what we find...then, well, we'd at the very least be able to give him a proper funeral" she offered him a small smile, and he returned it.

"You—you're right..thank you.." He whispered.

"It's no problem, kid" Cassandra smiled.

Rapunzel ran through possible solutions in her mind, before gasping, "Adira!"

"What?—"

"Cassandra! Adira's sword! It can shatter the black rocks like they're nothing!" Her eyes lit up excitedly, "what if it could break the amber too?!" Rapunzel asked.

Varian sat up, "r-really?! Wait—is Adira the woman you were talking about who's in the brotherhood? But-but how would you even get ahold of her?"

"Owl! Owl could look for her!" Rapunzel said, "or-or a messenger bird of some kind! Oh, i'll write a letter right now!" She squealed.

"Do you think it could actually work?" Varian asked as the princess ran off.

"I sure hope so" Eugene sighed.

Varian swallowed down his negative thoughts and focused on his excitement. He didn't care if his dad wasn't going to love him anymore once he found out what he did—he'd be able to see him—But that was if he was still alive.

"Me too" Varian said.

"We'd still have to wait until things clear up with you a little..By that I mean you being healed enough for bone crushing hugs, and the people of corona being comfortable around you again" Cassandra said.

Varian nodded, "that..will certainly take a while" he mumbled.

"Okay I sent it off!" Rapunzel exclaimed, "I sure hope she gets it!"

"Me too" Varian sighed.

"Speaking of getting things..." Rapunzel said, "I'm going to get you some water!"

"Wait, Princess!" Varian exclaimed, before shrinking in on himself, "i'm sorry for yelling, I was just wondering if..maybe..possibly...you could figure out where Ruddiger is? Please? Or at least what happened to him! The guards took him away a while ago and I miss him a lot...they told me they killed him. I just want to know where—where they put his body."

She gasped, "I completely forgot! My mom has Ruddiger! He isn't dead Varian, my mom saw the guards with him, and she offered to take care of him!"

Varian sputtered, "T—the queen?! The queen has Ruddiger?!"

She nodded rapidly, "she's been taking wonderful care of him! Playing with him, feeding him, letting him run around the castle, he's been in really good hands, I promise! My dad swears she spends more time with Ruddiger than she does with him!"

"Can you blame her? I would rather spend more time with a rock than with the king" Varian deadpanned.

"Ha!" Eugene exclaimed, wiping a tear from his eye while Lance collapsed beside him in laughter, "the kid has jokes!"

Rapunzel rolled her eyes playfully, "oh, i'm sure it's not a joke."

Varian relaxed, "but..why would she..?"

"Varian, my mother holds no ill will towards you. She cares about what happens to you. She doesn't know what the guards did, but she'll be furious when she finds out. Speaking of which, I think I need to figure out a plan to tell her and my dad what happened. I've been meaning to speak with them. I'll get Ruddiger while i'm at it."

"You won't let the king take me back, will you...?" Varian asked, twiddling his thumbs.

Rapunzel's eyes softened, "of course not, Varian. You'll be safe. I won't even tell him you're here. I know in the past that I didn't prove to be the best at keeping promises, but I promise you" she said gently, "I swear, you will be safe. We will get you better, you will never go back to that dungeon, and we will free your father. Whatever it takes."

Varian's eyes filled with tears, and a lump formed in his throat, "thank you, princess..."

She smiled, "now, i'm going to go get Ruddiger...or at least see if he's available" she chuckled, "you know, my mom has been spoiling him rotten. He's getting the finest fruits and veggies, frequently scheduled appointments for the vet, professional fur cleanings and regular baths. He's the only animal i've ever met that actually likes baths. Even pascal doesn't like them"

"Pascal's freaking me out. He's just been looking at me from your shoulder this whole time in a trance of sadness" Varian said.

"He is...well, you're right. He's also heartbroken about everything that's happened" she chuckled.

"I'm so glad your mother's been taking good care of Ruddiger while I couldn't. I just...I don't know how I can thank her" Varian said, "he means a lot to me..."

Cassandra smiled, "oh yeah, the queen's kept him in perfect health. She's a real Ruddiger softie. Rapunzel wasn't lying, the king has complained that she spends more time with the raccoon than she does with him at this point."

Varian shrugged, "hey, I mean, I would too if I were her. Actually, who wouldn't?"

Eugene choked on his gasp and started bawling laughing, "Varian!"

"Ha!" Lance exclaimed, "oh man, kid you're funny!"

Cassandra smirked, "well, he has a good point."

Rapunzel rolled her eyes playfully, a smile plastered across her face, "oh well, I suppose he does. I'll see what I can do about Ruddiger, okay? My mom may not be willing to give him up so easily" she joked.

Varian giggled, "he has that affect on people."

She grinned, "i'm not going to tell my dad about this whole thing just yet, but I'm probably going to have to tell mom. Don't worry about it, Varian—she's wanted you out of the dungeons for the longest time."

"Thank you, Rapunzel. So much. Can you tell her that I'm very thankful for what she's done for Ruddiger?" He questioned.

"Of course. While i'm gone, try to relax, okay?"

Varian nodded, even though he knew that would be impossible.