The adults stood outside of Varian's door and listened closely. They'd just finished talking to the king, and were on their way to tell Varian the good news. Rapunzel pressed an ear against to hear better. Cassandra had to bite her lip to keep from cackling.

Varian was playing with Ruddiger, and trying to be quiet about it. Rapunzel unlocked the door and cracked it open to peek through. He was holding a ball high above his head.

"Rud—Rud, watch out! The comet is coming!" After a few moments Varian made an explosion noise, "PFFFFFFFTT PEW PEW!"

Eugene couldn't stop himself from laughing, and Rapunzel opened the door all the way, ushered everybody in and closed it. Varian jumped, plummeting the ball across the room, only for it to bounce back full force and hit him in the face, causing another bout of laughter to sound throughout the room, "OW! Oh, um— guys! W—what Are you doing—"

"I thought we left those toys for Ruddiger!" Lance cried.

"I—um" Varian's face turned red, "I was just helping him play!"

"Really? Because it looked to me like you were the one playing" Rapunzel smirked.

Varian pouted.

"There's no need to be embarrassed, hair-stripe. That was adorable!" Eugene cooed.

"Okay fine. Moving on. What's my fate?" He asked, "is the king angry? Is he—"

"Woah hairstripe, don't get all worked up!" Eugene chuckled, "quite the contrary! And yes, he made some..accusations, and certainly wasn't compliant at first, but Cassandra and Rapunzel over there explained some things, and—"

"You're free!" Rapunzel exclaimed, practically vibrating with glee, "you're free! Free free free! He said you're not going back to the dungeons, and that you can still have your alchemy!"

"He what?!" Varian asked, his eyes going round with shock as Rapunzel related the news to him. No way, she must have threatened him or something. He wouldn't do that!

"Yes! Isn't it exciting? In a few days everyone in Corona will know! And then you'll be able to go places besides this room!" She exclaimed.

A grin began to creep up his face, "even outside?"

"Yes! Oh, I bet you can't even remember the last time you saw the sun!" She gasped, "we should have a picnic one day! —Getting too far ahead, whoops! There are a lot more legal things that need to happen. We still have to go public so citizens know, and even maybe have a trial!"

"I'm dreading every moment leading up to that" Varian sighed, "I have..so many...horrible charges. I don't think anybody in their right mind would let me free. I've proven myself capable of a lot of danger."

"Varian...this is a really complex case. With special circumstances. You wouldn't do something like this again, would you?" Rapunzel asked. He shook his head, "good. So you're not dangerous. Boom! Case closed."

"That—that's not how that works" Varian chuckled, "you can never be sure though. Oooh, maybe I have a stale truth serum cookie laying around at my house somewhere. We could use that."

"No—we will not be drugging a minor" Cassandra interrupted.

"I can do it to myself" he shrugged.

"Hey. It isn't a bad idea" Eugene joked.

"Yeah!" Lance smirked, "the trial would be way more believably honest to all the citizens."

"No. Absolutely not" Rapunzel said.

"Oh, I doubt he'll want to even have a trial! For you at least...it would flip a total 360 on him" Cassandra smirked.

Lance nodded, "we have so much evidence against him and that so outweighs the crimes you committed, given the circumstances."

"That doesn't matter" Varian whispered, "because if we have a trial, i'll be proven guilty. Everybody knows what i've done, there's no way i'd be proven innocent! But things like this need trials, and we didn't even have one! I just—was sent down there from the king and he never spoke to me again."

"Varian, things like these need trials. The King was supposed to have one, or at least question you—to get inside your head, to figure out the source, the motive, what's going on with you, and how to take further action" Eugene explained, "besides, the trial wouldn't be to prove you as innocent, it would be to pardon you for your crimes."

"Yeah, what he said!" Lance cried, "you deserved a proper trial! And this could be the perfect way to tell citizens that you're coming back!"

"Wait wait wait—let me be more clear..." Rapunzel began, getting into the conversation, "if we had a trial, it wouldn't be for what you did nearly two years ago! Citizens certainly still talk about it, but not with hatred. With curiosity! Like, for gossip! They're just interested in what happened to you! Y'know, you got locked up and were never heard from again!"

"Yeah, if we had a trial, it would be about what happened to you" Cassandra began, "In the dungeons. What you did may be brought up or mentioned for context, but you'll be given no repercussions. In fact, we may try to convince ol' freddy to drop the charges from you. Pardon you, like Eugene said. It would be a trial against the guards. Possibly my father and the king. The charges are quite serious."

"Wouldn't that be treason?" Lance questioned.

"Wouldn't be the first time" Varian chuckled, "but Cass, I don't think I want to...have any charges pressed against your dad and the king. I understand that things need to be done, but I feel like it was all just an honest mistake!"

"Oh, yeah, it was an 'honest mistake' that cost you two of your teenage years, your health, and your mental state" Eugene said.

"Okay but hear me out!" He exclaimed, "the reports were fake, they put false stuff on my file, right? And that in and of itself is illegal, very illegal, to lie like that, especially when something else is going on! And it's understandable. The captain of the guard is busy, and sometimes they only have time to read up on reports or something. I'm sure he wanted to visit. But just..couldn't."

"Well, that does make sense" Rapunzel began, "but—"

"A-and the king hears from the captain! And in all honesty, why would the king go down to the dungeons? If anything, he'd make the guards bring us up to him. And if the captain had been falsely reported to, then the king would be getting false reports too. Nobody could have predicted that this would happen! I mean, if everything was said to be good, then why would one of them check up on me? Especially when they could've just had Jeffery and Frank report to them!"

"Wow, kid. You really don't want to do this, huh?" Lance asked.

"No, no—he's right" Cassandra said.

"Yeah" Rapunzel said, "jeez, these laws are very finicky, they really need to be tightened up, because it seems conditional, like it's subject to change and could go either way."

"Um, duh" Cassandra smirked, "it has to be like that so, y'know, the King can do whatever he wants."

Rapunzel sighed, "right...well Varian, it's certainly possible that we can only have a trial against the two guards, but the captain and my father will most definitely have to be mentioned, and all the mistakes they made will be brought up. Now, I doubt that any action will take place against them. Though the citizens need to know, that even if it was a mistake, you were hurt."

"You can go to prison for mistakes too, you know. Most things are very...situational, but if you accidentally trample someone with your carriage, what usually happens?" Cassandra questioned, "like, it could have totally not been your fault. The horses could have freaked out, there could have been another one going on the wrong side of the road....etc.

"Well, usually in that situation, you'd be put into jail. But that's different! That's life and death—"

"And your case isn't?" Lance questioned, "your case isn't life or death, Varian? There weren't multiple instances in there, where you—where you thought you were going to die, but at the very last second they fed you a little. They gave you some water. They did anything they could to keep you alive, and they knew...they knew, that it was torture, to be kept alive in a place like that."

"I—I—" Varian began, tears bubbling up in his eyes, "It was. Sun, it was so bad" he whispered, covering his face, "I—I resisted food sometimes, I resisted offers of water, because I just wanted to die already, but they'd force it down my throat and—" his voice cut off when it cracked and he just began to cry, "and you're right, I was just a kid, and I was so scared!"

Rapunzel gazed at him sadly, looking like she wanted to say something, but just couldn't find the words, so Eugene stepped in.

"See, hairstripe? This is why we need the trial. Even if it was just an honest mistake, you suffered in there. That place was torture, every single day, for nearly two years. And you can't walk, you can barely move as it is, you can't sit yourself up or even pee on your own, you can't eat without puking, you can't even laugh without irritating your ribs, or busting open your stitches!"

"You—you guys should all be lawyers" Varian mumbled, "Okay fine. Trial it is. "by the way—Did you tell the king where I am?" He asked nervously.

"Hm? Oh! No, just in case. I don't want to wake up at three am to guards knocking down this door...i'm sure that wouldn't happen though. He seemed rather convinced. It won't take long for him to feel remorseful" Rapunzel explained.

"Well...what happens to me then?" Varian questioned, "after I get better? I'm a mentally unstable teenager, I can't exactly live alone while my father's in the..." he trailed off.

"Oh..." Rapunzel mumbled, her eyes sad, "oh, Varian, you'll get to stay here. As long as you need. We wouldn't just...abandon you after you're set free."

"Yeah. As far as we're concerned...this is your room. And you always have a place here" Eugene said, "I mean it."

"Yeah. And since this room is stupidly huge, we can set up a little alchemy station for you...so that you can work on solutions to free your father" Cassandra said.

"You guys would actually—want to take care of me?" Varian asked, clearly shocked.

"What gave you the impression that we wouldn't?" Rapunzel asked gently, "We care so much more then you could ever even imagine."

"Kid, you're strangely...like family now" Cassandra said, "you've wormed your way into all of our hearts."

"Thank you guys" Varian choked out, "I—just....thank you"

"Don't mention it, kid" Lance smiled.

"Oh!" Cassandra said, "did we forget to mention? Rapunzel punched Nigel in the face. His nose bled, and now he's in the dungeons."

"WHAT?!"

—————————————————————————

They accounted all the details from their meeting with the king, the story about Nigel shocking him. He had no idea Rapunzel was capable of violence.

When things calmed down, he remembered a question he'd been meaning to ask, "Oh! By the way. What—what season is it?" Varian asked, "it's definitely not summer, because it's not really hot at all."

"It's fall, pumpkin" Lance joked.

Varian had a physical reaction to that nickname, his shoulders tensing as he looked up with wide eyes.

"What? Is there some deep traumatic story behind that nickname?" Lance asked, only half joking.

"No—I just..." Varian smiled sadly, "it's a silly nickname my dad would call me. When I was really young—like, my mom was still around levels of young—my dad was carving a pumpkin with me during pumpkin harvest season on the farm, and I was small enough to fit in the pumpkin" Varian chuckled, "so when he wasn't looking i climbed into it and got its guts all over me. He called me pumpkin ever since then and it turned into a little inside joke."

"Awe...that's so sweet" Rapunzel cooed, "oh I can just imagine a little baby Varian playing around in a pumpkin!"

"Yeah, must've been fun times" Lance smiled.

"Oh yeah it was very fun until my dad noticed I was inside of it and then put the top of the pumpkin back on top and trapped me inside to scare me" Varian said, "my mom was baking a pumpkin pie with the pulp, and turned around and smacked my dad with a dish towel."

Cassandra smirked, "oh I wish I could see that."

"Me too, actually. Hey, you're pretty small, we should recreate that memory" Eugene smirked.

"Please no" Varian giggled, "i'm too lanky. My limbs would go flying everywhere."

"You're right. He needs some meat on his bones" Lance said.

"Then go get him a snack, peasant" Rapunzel joked.

Cassandra cackled, "ha!"

"You—I—" Eugene's mouth went agape, "you need a different lady in waiting. She's influencing you!"

"Oh please, you're worse then me!" Cassandra scoffed.

"You're both terrible" Lance deadpanned, "i've had to censor both of you, and Rapunzel has had to literally cover Varian's ears from some of the things you say."

"I'm old enough now to where I don't need you to do that" Varian mumbled, crossing his arms.

"Yeah, sure kid" Cassandra said, leaning down and whispering, "no no word."

"Ugh!"

—————————————————————————1

It was painful.

It was a feeling, deep down in his gut, twisting and turning, and god, he just wanted to puke it up. But he couldn't. Because this wasn't a sickness—it was emotion. He felt guilt and fear, such intense waves washing over his entire being.

He felt tears running down his face before he even registered the saddening feeling of longing he had. He just wanted his dad.

He tried to act chill—he tried to tell himself that they'd find a way. They have to find a way.

But even if they do, that won't guarantee his father to be alive. All he wanted was for those strong, comforting arms to wrap around him and tightly squeeze.

He heard Ruddiger chitter nervously and wrap his bushy tail around Varian's thin wrist.

A sob tore at his throat and he brought his hands up to his eyes. It was easier with his mom. He didn't even remember her, so he didn't know what he had lost. But with his dad—the man who raised him, cared for him and loved him despite the huge disappointment he'd been? Yeah, he was having huge feelings over the thought that he had lost him.

And knowing that if he did, it was all his fault.

He hugged his pillow and cried, biting his lip trying to keep the sobs at bay. He knew his face was blown up red from it, but he couldn't risk being heard.

He heard a slow creak of the bedroom door opening, and hid his face to cover his tears. He whimpered when he heard cautious footsteps against the tile and cracked an eye open. He saw a dim flame's flicker illuminate Eugene's concerned face.

"Hairstripe..." he asked, "are you ok?"

His lip trembled, and he shook his head rapidly, unable to find his voice.

"What's wrong?" Eugene murmured, slowly trekking deeper into the room.

"I want my dad" Varian whimpered.

Eugene immediately understood, opening his mouth slightly. Oh he was not equipped for this. Rapunzel—heck, even Lance would be much better than him. He pondered what to do for a moment, before he slipped beside Varian on the bed, just like he'd done the a few nights before and silently opened his arms. The boy sniffled before cuddling up next to him and trying to stifle his cries.

Eugene stared at the sniffling boy, holding him a little tighter. Hw wasn't sure if he was supposed to comfort or let the boy cry, so he made sure his next words were gentle and sweet, "i'm so sorry. It's okay to cry. Just, let it all out."

Varian gave a sharp nod, allowing the tears to flow down his face, biting his lip in an attempt to hold back his whimpers, "so—sorry" he mumbled, curling in on himself.

"None of that" Eugene said, "it's alright. We just need to calm you down, come on. Breathe with me, okay? Follow my lead" he demonstrated, before helping Varian do it as well, "that's it. In and out. Just breathe."

Varian calmed down, letting out shaky breaths.

"We are going to help your dad Varian. I swear to you. I swear, we will find a way...we'll do everything we can to help him. Something has the power to break that amber, we just haven't found it yet. Get some sleep...come on let's get comfy" he adjusted their position and Varian laid his head across his chest. He closed his eyes, and Eugene listened as his breathing evened out.

He himself closed his eyes, listening to the boy's slowing heartbeat.

—————————————————————————-

Lance woke up bright and early, surprisingly. It was a Friday, which meant they were giving out a little pass off for the new recruits. Thieving 101 wasn't as easy to teach as one would think. Some people just didn't have that natural talent.

He wandered around for a bit, looking for Eugene, only to bump into Rapunzel and Cassandra.

"Oh, Lance" Rapunzel smiled, "have you seen Eugene? He was supposed to help out with breakfast, but he never showed. Guess he must be tired" she shrugged.

"Oh, I was actually looking for him. We're testing out the thieving skills of some of the guards today" Lance replied.

"Oh! That's right..huh. Weird, he must be down there already then" she shrugged.

"Maybe he's with Varian?" Cassandra questioned, loading up a trey with some fruits, "you know the kid just adores Eugene."

"Sounds like someone's jealous~" Rapunzel sung.

"I think we're all jealous" Lance pouted.

"Guess that whole team awesome thing stuck around" Cassandra said, rolling her eyes, "boy things..I swear."

"How does one become a part of this..team awesome?" Lance inquired, holding the door open for Cassandra as they walked out of the kitchen.

"Thanks—and I don't know, maybe you should send Eugene an application" she joked.

"That's a great idea!" Rapunzel gasped, "we can put glitter and stickers on it!"

"I—you know what, yeah. You do that" Cassandra sighed, walking ahead of the two people who might as well be children, making her way to Varian's door.

"Okay, enough glitter talk. One of you come unlock this door" Cassandra said.

"Can I get a please?" Rapunzel asked sweetly.

"No" Cassandra deadpanned, a blank look on her face.

Rapunzel shrugged, "fair enough" and used her key to unlock the door.

When they entered, they saw Eugene and Varian bundled up, cuddling together in a loose embrace. Varian's eyes were opened, and his chin was poking out of the blanket from where he laid, cuddling against the older man's chest.

"Awe!" Rapunzel gasped, "you guys are so adorable!"

Varian gave her a buck tooth grin, "I trapped him yesterday and forced him into cuddles through manipulative tears."

"I'm sure the tears were genuine" Cassandra smirked.

Eugene stirred awake, adjusting to where he was holding Varian a little tighter, before blinking awake and squinting, focusing his eyes on the people in the room, "oh wow" he groaned, stretching out a little, "having a cuddle companion really does make for a wonderful sleep, let me tell you" he yawned, sitting up and getting out of the bed.

Varian pouted, "heyyy...you're my warmth!"

Eugene chuckled, "sorry buddy. You'll have to get your warmth through other means. Me and Lance have places to be" he ruffled Varian's hair, "feeling better from last night?" He mumbled.

Varian nodded, flushing slightly, "Yeah...sorry again for...all that."

"Nonsense!" Eugene exclaimed, "it's all good here, Varitos!"

"You guys really are adorable" Lance sighed wistfully, "well, we better get going. Bye guys!" Lance exclaimed as he whisked Eugene out of the room, "now about the whole Team Awesome thing..."

"Well! That was a lovely start to the morning!" Rapunzel said, clasping her hands together and setting an arrangement of fruits in front of Varian, "what was he doing here anyways?"

Varian wasn't sure how to explain that he was up all night overthinking until he started spiraling into a panic attack so he went for the easy answer, "I had a nightmare when he came to check up on me and I didn't want him to leave."

Cassandra nodded along, "must suck."

"Yep" Varian sighed, taking a small bite from a grape.

"Varian. It's a grape" Cassandra said dryly, "don't worry, you can eat it all at once. You won't choke" she smirked.

"Well I know that!" Varian exclaimed, "i'm just testing the waters, y'know...puking isn't fun. And I also don't want to burn the lining of my stomach away."

"Fair, fair" she shrugged, draping herself lazily across a wooden chair, "whatcha wanna do?"

Before Varian could answer, they heard pounding footsteps followed by the door bursting open, "Oh I forgot to ask!" Lance exclaimed, "Varian, do you need to go potty before you're left alone with the ladies?" He asked dramatically.

Varian's entire face went beet red, "Lance! No!" He cried, before giving it some thought, "I mean—now that you mention it..." he stuttered.

Rapunzel giggled, "we'll step into the bathroom for a minute."

Cassandra smirked, "yeah, and don't forget to wash your hands young man."

"How am I supposed to wash my hands-"

—————————————————

When all was said and done, they returned to the room and sent Lance off to drop the urine sample off to the doctor on his way to the practice field, and they simply stayed to entertain Varian.

"How about....hmmm...oh! Oh, I know! I cannnn.....drum roll please!" Rapunzel exclaimed. Cassandra rolled her eyes fondly and slapped her knees, before the princess continued, "cut your hair!"

"Yeah, sure let's have the girl who hasn't cut her or anybody else's hair ever hack away at some poor kid's head. Nope, not going to happen" Cassandra said, taking the scissors from the now pouting princess, "I've been cutting my own hair for years. I'll do it."

Rapunzel pouted, "how will I ever learn if I don't experiment?!"

"You don't need to learn, you have no reason to" Cassandra said.

"What if I have a kid?" Rapunzel asked.

"What if you took your kid...oh, I don't know...to one of the many royal hair stylists?" Cassandra questioned.

"Okay fine...oh! But maybe you could teach me how?" Rapunzel gave her puppy dog eyes.

Cassandra sighed, handing Rapunzel her own pair of scissors, "whatever you say, princess."

"Okay..what do you want to do with it?" Varian asked.

"Well...like i've said before, it's your hair..." Rapunzel chuckled, "do you want to keep it long or short? Like something you had before?" She questioned.

"I—uh. I guess for now...can we just get the dead ends off first? Go from there?" He asked.

"Yep!" Rapunzel exclaimed, "let's move you to the bathroom, shall we?"

Varian nodded, pushing himself up with shaky arms, and swinging his legs over the side of the bed. He stepped down, took one step and found himself in Cassandra's arms. He had fallen.

He sighed a little, not really expecting much else, "I haven't walked in...a long time...i'm sorry" he mumbled, trailing off as Cassandra helped him steady himself and take a few steps, limping horribly because of his wrapped leg. She frowned when she noticed how shaky and out of breath he was getting.

"It's fine, Varian. This is just another step in the recovery process" Cassandra assured, "but you look like you're going to cry, pass out or both. So i'm just going to carry you, alright?"

He nodded, squeaking when she picked him up with extreme ease, and set him down on a chair Rapunzel had brought into the bathroom. They draped a cover over his shoulders so his hair wouldn't get everywhere, and Rapunzel brought the scissors and supplies.

"Okay...let's get to work!" She exclaimed, nodding to Cassandra who began to section off his hair.

Cassandra took notice of how Varian's goggles were in the way and began to reach for them, "We'll need to take these off—"

Varian's eyes went wide and he whipped around to face her, leaning in the opposite direction. Taking into account the shocked looks on both her and Rapunzel's face, he knew he'd overreacted. He relaxed a little bit, leaning forwards again, "sorry..I just...well, you're going to give them back, right?" He questioned.

"Of course I am. We just need to get then out of the way for a while. We'll cut your hair, and then you'll be able to put them right back on, alright?" Rapunzel asked.

Varian bit his lip, nodding as he allowed Cassandra to take the goggles off of his head, "don't worry, kid. They'll be back to you in no time."

Varian nodded, but his eyes never left the sink in front of him where the goggles were placed.

Good enough.

"Okay. Nothing too fancy, Rapunzel, just use these ties to put certain pieces up" Cassandra demonstrated how to identify which sections were dead and which ones weren't, "put his hair between your fingers and slowly come down. You'll feel a texture change, like frizzy and rough."

Rapunzel nodded, doing just that, "okay..now what?"

"Well, this can be tricky for beginners, there are certain angles and stuff you need to do..but as long as you don't go crazy I can always come back and shape it" Cassandra replied, putting Varian's hair through fingers and snipping off the ends, "see? Like so."

"Oh, okay!" Rapunzel said, "let's do this."

—————————————————

"Alright, now that we've cut it all off, we need to let the hair out of the ties and make adjustments" Cassandra explained. Rapunzel nodded and they took the ties out, causing's Varian's thick hair to fall down to his chin, the back of it reaching just a small bit down his neck.

"Okay! Looking great!" Rapunzel exclaimed, eyes bright, "how about we thin it out a little? And try to make it more even?" She questioned.

Cassandra nodded, "of course, of course..." she took her scissors and carefully made some more snips, going through layers of hair.

When all was said and done they both held up a mirror for him, and he looked into it shocked, "woah" he said, tilting his head from side to side. His bangs were no longer all up in his face, "I almost look normal now..."

Rapunzel giggled, "how do you like it?!"

"I love it! Thanks guys" he grinned, before making grabby hands at Cassandra, "bed please."

She scoffed, rolling her eyes playfully and hauled the boy up, being mindful of his injuries, bringing him to the bed while Rapunzel swept up the hair.

"That took a long time" he said when she returned, his goggles in hand. She returned them to him and he quickly put them back on, before laying his head against the pillow.

"Which is why short hair is superior" Cassandra said, doing a little hair toss.

"Maybe i'll go back to my usual haircut soon" he said, "way easier to dry."

"Exactly!" Rapunzel exclaimed, "though I think the sundrop always kind of protected my hair in a way...you know? Kept it clean and healthy. So I never really have to wash it."

"Lucky" Cassandra joked.

"Yeah, it only cost me the first eighteen years of my life" Rapunzel shrugged.

"I—damn" Cassandra said.

"Gotta love that trauma" Varian smirked.

"Oh, I think we all have some sort of trauma" Rapinzel said, chuckling, "none of us are mentally okay. We just pretend to be."

"I'd drink to that" Varian said.

"What do you know about drinking" Cassandra questioned, quirking a brow.

"Apple juice" Varian said, blinking innocently.

Cassandra rolled her eyes, "oh. Of course. Silly me, what else could you possibly have meant?"

"Probably beer" Varian shrugged.

"It's called sarcasm" Cassandra said, rolling her eyes.

"Do you drink?" Varian asked.

"I don't desire that kind of high" Cassandra said, "I don't want to do something stupid that could get me in trouble. Or make me look bad as a guard or lady in waiting. Though at parties I may have a glass. Not enough to get me drunk though."

"Wow, that sounds responsible."

"Someone has to be" she smirked, "you should see Eugene and Lance."

"Well now I want to" Varian smirked.

"Hah! No, we don't need you to get even more traumatized" Rapunzel chuckled, "i'm kind of scared to turn twenty one now. Eugene is so going to take me to the snuggly duckling and get me wasted."

"Now I want to see that" Varian laughed.

"Me too, actually" Cassandra smirked, "but no, Eugene wouldn't do that. Lance would. But knowing how oh so romantic your boy toy is, he'd probably prepare a candle lit dinner on one of those stupid boats you guys like so much and get one of the most high quality wines he can find for you guys to drink in the evening under the starlight, with a picnic-like dinner. You'll probably leave tipsy at worst."

"No, yeah I can totally see that" Varian smiled, "it does sound like him."

"Awe!" Rapunzel cooed, "that would be so romantic!"

"Yeah, very" Cassandra sneered, rolling her eyes fondly, "And oh, by the way, what even is the deal with those boats? Do you have every date on them?"

"No! The boat is just special to us. He took me on a boat to see the lanterns for the first time after he snuck me out of the tower. It's really special to us" she smiled, a wistful look in her eyes as she thought back to it, "I think we both felt the spark, watching all of the lights fly around us. It was so romantic."

Varian hugged a pillow to his chest, eyes wide as he soaked up all of the information, "was that your first date?"

"Well we weren't dating then—it's just...well, it has sentimental value! We both were feeling the connection then" she smiled.

"That's so romantic" he sighed, a small smile on his face.

"No" Cassandra gasped dramatically, "don't tell me you, big bad alchemist, are a sucker for romance?"

"No! I'm not, I—well" he stuttered, before crossing his arms, "It makes me think of my future and if i'll ever find someone. Because at this rate, I don't really think i'm going to get the chance. I've messed up too much, nobody would want to spend the rest of their life with someone like me."

"Varian..." Rapunzel frowned, "don't think that way! I'm sure there's someone special out there just for you."

"Yeah, kid. Don't get so worried so early in life. You have plenty of time, you're still growing and changing. Who knows what could happen? Do you think Eugene, one of the most hated thieves in the seven kingdoms ever thought he'd get with the princess of Corona?" Cassandra asked.

Varian shrugged, "I guess not...I just, I hope you're right. I want that. That type of bond. To go on dates, surprise them with flowers, make them feel like they're so special..and to be loved..." he blushed as he looked up at the two women's smirking faces, before covering his, "oh my sun, you're right! I'm a sucker for romance!"

"No, no!" Cassandra laughed, "I think it's sweet" her smile faltered a little, "Not...not all men are like that."

Rapunzel sighed, "yeah. A lot of men think they're superior, or just...don't care about the woman. They marry a 'pure' lady, one who's charming and beautiful. She's used as a play thing, for his own pleasure, or—or a trophy to show off at parties. But we have to be careful, because it would be impossible to marry if we lost our value" she said, referring to virginity.

Varian frowned, "and by the time they realize how much it sucks they can't leave because the man inherits everything because women can't own anything."

"Bingo" Cassandra said, using finger guns.

"I've never quite understood why men are seen as the smarter, better gender" Varian began, "Honestly, the only reason why women are seen as less capable and smart is because they don't get a proper education system, if any. They're taught how to sew, cook, clean and tend to children. If they were challenged, or—or allowed to have an actual education and schooling, we'd have so many more doctors, engineers—so many new inventions! Or even just teachers! They don't even have to go off to be anything great! They should just be offered the same chance, though!"

(Varian is best feminist.)

"Right!" Rapunzel exclaimed, "that's exactly right! So many diseases and sicknesses could be cured, technology would get so much farther—society would become such a more advanced place!"

"I wish all men had your mindset" Cassandra said, "because that's so true. Men aren't the only ones who can do great things. We should get a petition going around."

"Ooh, Corona could set an example! And once the other seven kingdoms see how great it goes, they'll want to convert too!" Rapunzel exclaimed, a bright smile on her face.

"Yeah. If something doesn't change, I bet riots will start. Women are going to figure out they're allowed to have a voice sooner or later" Varian shrugged.

"Oooh, when i'm queen...." Rapunzel began, "just you wait!"

"Queens don't usually care about women's rights because they've always had everything they needed or wanted. They're pampered and spoiled, don't even know what happens beyond castle walls" Cassandra said, "Rapunzel is..quite a different case."

"Yeah, i'm glad I get perspective outside the castle!" She exclaimed, "this is the start of something! You know, i've never really considered any of this until now. Thanks for bringing it to my attention! I'll have to put it in my notes."

"Make it easier for us to join the guard while you're at it" Cassandra joked.

Rapunzel giggled, "will do! Oooh, it's almost lunch time! I'm going to go see what the chefs are preparing and see if you can stomach it. Also I put a wooden slate in the drawer next to your bed and some puzzles. Also it'll make it easier to write with paper on."

"Thanks!" Varian exclaimed as she left.

—————————————————

Lunch came and went, and soon enough they heard a knocking on the door.

"Oh! Lance and Eugene! Right, I forgot they existed!" Rapunzel exclaimed brightly, leaping off of Varian's bed where they had previously been painting together, opened the door, whisked the two men inside, and locked it again.

"You know blondie, I heard what you said. Forgot I existed?" He asked, feigning hurt, "now that's just cold—" he stopped in his tracks, eyes going wide as he stared at Varian.

"We leave you alone for a day—-A DAY" Eugene stressed, "and you cut his hair?! Varian! What have they done to you?! Why did you allow it?! YOU HAVE A MULLET!"

Varian shrunk in on himself, his voice small as he bowed his head and clasped his hands together in front of him, "i'm sorry, sir. I didn't know that you wouldn't like it."

Eugene's eyes rounded, and he exchanged a panicked look with Lance, "no, no Varian! I love it, I think it looks cute on you! Hairstripe it was a joke, i'm so sorry!"

"Oh..." Varian sniffled, biting his wobbling lip, "i'm sorry..."

Cassandra sent over a death glare, mouthing something Eugene didn't care to decipher.

"No, don't be sorry" Eugene said, "i'm sorry, it was insensitive of me..." his heart was breaking. If Varian called him sir again he was going to have to riot. It clenched at his heart, because he knew what it meant. It wasn't just something said out of respect, but fear.

"No—i'm just being stupid. It just set something off in me" Varian sighed.

"A trigger" Lance provided helpfully, "something about what he said triggered you."

"That's like the third time. Why am I the only one who makes you feel like that?" Eugene asked earnestly.

"It's not you it's me" Varian said quickly, "I just—I didn't want to disappoint, and I don't know, I just kind of see you as an...authority figure I guess? I don't know why..."

"Yeah, Eugene isn't the strictest. Or the most serious..." Cassandra began, "If anything I thought you'd be afraid of me."

"I am" Varian sighed, "i'm afraid of everything now. It's crazy. I never used to be this paranoid. I've always been curious, and let my wonder take over before fear did. But now..."

"It's different" Rapunzel murmured.

Varian nodded, "really different. Last year if you had told me Rapunzel and Cassandra were going to cut my hair I probably would have laughed in your face and threw a science bomb at you."

"Last year if you told me big bad alchemist Varian was going to cry over some rusty fifty year old goggles I would have split you in half with my sword" Cassandra smirked.

Lance chuckled, "really? Did he actually?"

"Almost" Rapunzel giggled.

"Why do you wear these things anyways?" Eugene chuckled, taking the things off of Varian's head to examine them, "they can't be for comfort—" his words died on his tongue when he turned around to see Varian's eyes brimmed with tears.

"Can I have them back? Please?" He asked, his voice quivering as he sniffled.

Eugene tossed the goggles back to the boy as if they had burned him, and he put his hands up in surrender, "sorry, sorry! I'm sorry!"

"Way to go Fitzherbert! Twice in the same two minutes! Trying to build up your streak?!" Cassandra hissed.

Varian hugged the goggles to his chest, and Rapunzel wrapped her arms around his shoulders as he attempted to calm down, "sorry. These are just...really special to me."

"I'll say" Lance sighed, "why though? My curiosity is getting the best of me...."

"They were my moms" Varian said simply, "she wore them every day down in the lab. She'd put them on my head when I was a baby. She'd sneak me in to help her out. She'd call me her little alchemist, and we'd spend hours together until my dad shooed me out, claiming that it was too dangerous" Varian chuckled, "when she died..I kept them. They reminded me of her, and made me feel closer."

He heard sniffling and looked up from where he sat fidgeting with his hands. Lance was wiping a tear away, "sorry. I'm a sucker for this kind of thing..."

"Awe" Rapunzel whispered, "that's so sad."

"Geez kid. I'm sorry..." Eugene muttered.

"No..they're just goggles. I shouldn't be like this."

"But they aren't just goggles. They're special to you" Cassandra stressed, "and it's perfectly okay to have those things you're protective over."

"I don't want to seem like...obsessed" he chuckled sheepishly, "but I think I already am."

"When you loose a parent, there are always going to be things like that you hold dear to your heart" Cassandra said sadly.

"Of course!" Rapunzel exclaimed, "everyone has those things from their parents!"

"I don't" Eugene said plainly.

"Same" Lance shrugged.

"I had a melody in my mind for twenty years from a stupid music box" Cassandra shrugged, "and finding out the truth, well, it caused me to do...some stupid things."

Rapunzel's eyes softened, draping an arm around Cassandra's shoulder, "but it's all okay now. And we're looking forward to the future."

Varian was interested now, and he totally wanted to hear the story. But he could tell it was still a sore subject, so he'd maybe wait until the waters settled.

"Oh, blondie! Speaking of our little trip—-have you heard back from Adira?" Eugene questioned.

"Oh! Right!" Her face brightened, "no...i'm guessing Owl took a while to actually find and deliver it to her. She probably hasn't even gotten it yet. Or is just now getting it—"

Hoot hoot

There was a light pecking against the glass window, and Cassandra rushed to open it, "Owl! I missed you, buddy!"

"That's adorable" Lance smirked.

"I bet it won't be so adorable when I skewer your eyeballs from their sockets with my sword" Cassandra blinked innocently.

"Okay! Okay, enough violence...." Rapunzel chuckled, "hm. It doesn't appear that Owl has returned with a letter. Perhaps Adira wants to keep up her element of surprise?"

"We'll just have to wait and see" Lance shrugged, "anyways, who wants a nap? I am positively pooped. And you know I can't miss out on my beauty rest when Adira could be showing up at any moment!" He sighed dreamily, looking wistfully ahead of himself.

Eugene gave him a dry look, though decided to throw the guy a bone and not say anything.

Cassandra, however was not as tactful, "you couldn't impress her even if you learned to fly. She's clearly not interested in you."

Lance scoffed, "she is all over me! Have you seen that look she's been giving me?"

"The look of pure and utter disgust? Yeah, every time you get anywhere near her" she said, rolling her eyes.

"Give the poor guy a break" Eugene said, "you never know what could happen!"

"I think Cass is right" Rapunzel began, "though she could have said it a little more thoughtfully...Adira really doesn't seem like the type who has...any desire to settle down. With anyone."

"Well maybe I could woo her! Trust me, I know what women like!" Lance exclaimed.

"You know what? I give up. Fine. Where's Ruddiger? I haven't seen him around lately" Cassandra said, deciding to change the subject.

"He decided to break my heart and sleep under the bed instead of with me" Varian pouted.

"Why would he do that?" Rapunzel asked, shaking her head in feigned disappointment before getting on the ground and looking underneath the bed.

"What—" she began, "what is this?" She pulled something out from underneath. It was a bowl filled with fruit, and Ruddiger clinging onto it for dear life.

"Oh, you little rascal!" She exclaimed, "you were hiding snacks under there!"

"Weird, he's never really hidden snacks before..." Varian began, "oof!" Ruddiger barreled into Varian, sticking his face into his chest and chittering wildly, pointing at Rapunzel as if he were afraid.

His eyebrows furrowed in confusion for a moment before realizing what was happening, "oh...oh, Ruddiger, no she's not going to take it away. It's okay, she was just trying to see what it was, buddy."

Ruddiger wrapped his paws around Varian's neck and burrowed closer into him, chittering sadly.

"I know, I know" Varian said, "it's okay now.." he petted his fur gently.

"What's...all that about?" Eugene questioned.

"I think that hiding the food was a-a defense mechanism of sorts. You know, Ruddiger was there with me in jail for quite a while...and they never provided anything extra for him. So when I did get some sort of food, I just, you know...gave it to him. Most of it was rotten or spoiled anyways" he shrugged, "he's a raccoon so he can handle it. I guess you taking his plate reminded him of the guards. They would..." his gaze hardened, "it doesn't matter."

"Oh...Varian, i'm so sorry" Rapunzel said gently, returning the plate back to the Raccoon slowly, "here you go, bud."

Ruddiger quickly snatched an apple from the bowl and devoured it, barely even leaving the pit.

"Really darkened the mood there, Varian" Lance chuckled awkwardly.

"Yeah, out of all me and Lance's times being in jail, i'm pretty sure the treatment has never been that harsh" Eugene frowned, "Corona runs a really tight ship."

"To be fair, we usually escaped within the day" Lance pointed out.

"Well, yeah" Eugene shrugged.

"Yeah, it was certainly an experience" Varian mumbled.

Cassandra put a reassuring hand on his shoulder. It was all going to be alright.

"Oh!" Lance exclaimed, "speaking of being pooped...Varian has yet to go number two!"

Varian blushed darkly, "absolutely not. I've already had this conversation with Eugene. I would rather sit here with stomach cramps for a week than whatever plans you guys have to help me do that."

"Well, when nature calls—"

"Lance!" Varian hissed, gesturing wildly to the girls, "stop talking!"

"We could always get a bed pan!" Eugene exclaimed.

"OKAY THATS ENOUGH YOU CAN STOP NOW!" Varian shrieked, not liking how everybody was laughing at him, "I am not doing that."

"Maybe they'll let you wipe your own ass if you cry enough" Cassandra smirked, before getting smacked on the shoulder by Rapunzel, "um, ow?!"

"Cassandra!" Rapunzel hissed.

"I am not letting them wipe me" Varian said flatly, "now that is weird. It's not just embarrassing, it's disgusting. I have long limbs, I will be able to reach, thank you very much."

"Yeah, Cass I am not wiping him" Lance snorted, "you're on your own to bend the wrong way and tear your stitches buddy."

"I agree" Eugene said, cringing.

"Good!" Varian cried, "don't go anywhere near there! I'd rather tear my stitches than have to go through that. I would never speak to any of you again."

"You are so dramatic" Cassandra smirked.

"Well i'm sorry that I don't want a grown man's hand up my butt again" Varian said flatly.

"Wait—again?!" Rapunzel cried.

"Wha—no! No you must have heard wrong! Hah!"