Varian raced down to the garden and when he was close, he heard her beautiful voice.

"Y-yes she will sing to those who'll h-hear... and in her s-song, all m-magic flows... but c-can you brave what you most f-fear... can y-you face what the river knows..."

Varian could hear her voice breaking as she sang and it hurt him to know that she was upset. He started to walk up behind her.

"Where the n-northwind meets the sea, there's a m-mother full of memory."

Varian decided to join in and sang with her, "come, my darling, homeward bound."

Aqua froze and went silent when she heard him sing with her.

"When all is lost, then all is found," Varian finished as he sat down beside her.

She looked at the ground, wiping her eyes.

"Hey, what's wrong? D-did you not like my machine? Was it boring?" Varian frowned as he put a hand on her shoulder.

"I just... you said you were coming to the Expo early so we could hang out before the Expo started... I had planned to take you around the city, but you chose Cass over me... then you asked Cass and then Shorty to be your assistant instead of me... I'm always your assistant... did I do something wrong in the lab on Wednesday? Did I mess something up? D-do you not want me to be your assistant anymore?"

"What?! No! I mean, you were never my assistant! We're partners. It's an equal team structure. I just wanted you to be in the crowd to watch my machine. I wanted you to be impressed... I didn't mean to hurt you," Varian said as he hugged her tightly, feeling awful for making her cry.

"Varian, I'm always impressed. I've told you that so many times," Aqua looked at him and smiled.

Varian's cheeks flushed as he looked into her eyes. Then he decided to go for it.

"Princess!" Pete called from the entrance of the garden just as Varian went to make his move. They both jumped at the sudden noise and Varian looked at the guard with a bright blush. "Your parents are looking for you," Pete said, not realizing the moment he had just ruined.

"I'll be right there," Aqua said as Varian stood up. She had no idea that he had been about to kiss her.

"I'm sorry... I-I'll see you later, Aqua. I gotta help clean up," Varian said nervously before he ran to go help clean.

He couldn't believe that he almost kissed her. He wanted to try again, but it had to be nothing less than perfect. She just looked extra gorgeous with her hair down, letting it frame her naturally beautiful face. Her dress complemented her perfectly and made her eyes seem to shine brighter than usual. Her beauty and hearing her say that she was impressed mixed with his feelings for her. He just couldn't help, but feel like that was the perfect moment to kiss her, but it was ruined.

He also wanted to be able to give her the necklace he had made. He would've shown his first new element at the Expo, but he wanted the necklace he was making from it to be special and a surprise. It was for Aquaria and he was putting all the details he could into it to make it perfect.

Eugene saw that Varian looked like a tomato and he raised an eyebrow. "Goggles? Did something happen?"

"What? No, no, nothing happened. I'm okay. Everything's fine," Varian brushed it off and Rapunzel hummed.

"Do you wanna talk, Varian?" Rapunzel asked as she looked at him.

"Thanks, princess, but I-"

"Team Awesome needs to have a talk!" Eugene pulled Varian off to the side.

"Woah!" Varian yelped as he was pulled suddenly.

"You gotta tell me what happened? Did you kiss her? Did she kiss you? Are you dating? Did she reject you?" Eugene asked quickly.

"No... the answer to all of those is no... I-I was about to kiss her, but a guard interrupted... I was so close..." Varian sighed as he sat down.

"You're making progress, kid!" He knew Aquaria already liked Varian and he honestly didn't know how they were both so oblivious. It was blatantly obvious that they liked each other. Eugene wanted to tell Varian that Aqua liked him but he really wanted to see this play out.

"I'm gonna try again but it has to be at the perfect moment." Varian thought about when he could do it.

"Oo! What about the Empyrean Shower next week? It's the queen's birthday, but Rapunzel and her mom are going out so Aquaria will be free for you to watch the shower with her and then you can make your move. It's the most beautiful shower that Corona has. All the showers are beautiful, but the Empyrean Shower is special."

"That's perfect! I haven't gotten to watch the Empyrean Shower with Aqua yet. The last time I saw it with my dad was when I was five. They only happen every nine years. I'll ask her to watch the shower with me and then I can ask her to be my girlfriend under the night sky!"

"You know, they say that any wish you make during the shower comes true and if you kiss someone during the shower, they will be yours forever," Eugene said.

"You made up that last part. No one says that," Cassandra's voice came from behind them.

"Cass! Hey! How long have you been standing there? How much did you hear?" Varian asked with a blush.

"Just what Eugene said," she said with a shrug and Varian sighed in relief. "But it's obvious that you were talking about asking Aqua out during the Empyrean Shower."

"Please don't tell her! I really wanna ask her out myself," Varian said and Cass laughed.

"You think I'm gonna tell her? I don't do matchmaking. That's up to you two to decide for yourselves. Even if I knew who she likes, I wouldn't tell anyone. Not my place and I honestly don't care," Cass said.

"That's cold, Cass. Just when I thought you were as cold as a person could be, your heart froze even more." Eugene shook his head.

Cass rolled her eyes and they went back to cleaning.

🧪

Quirin came to pick Varian up as they were all just finishing up cleaning.

"Varian, time to go," he said and Varian looked up.

"Dad, can you wait? I need to talk to Aqua before I leave."

"Very well. I'll be waiting," Quirin said to his son.

Varian ran to Aquaria's room and knocked on her door.

"Come in!"

"Hey, my dad's here but I-" Varian walked in and froze when he saw her in a beautiful long flowy dress. "Uh, wow. Y-you look amazing."

"Heh, thanks," she said with a blush. "You don't look too bad yourself."

"Why thank you, your majesty," Varian said with a smile, trying to distract himself from how stunning she looked. "What's with the dress though?"

"My mom wanted me to show her how it looks. She wants me to wear it for the Day of Hearts celebration," Aqua explained. "I was just about to get changed."

"Well, it looks really good on you. I still prefer your dress from earlier though," he said and she giggled.

"Me too. I much prefer simple dresses."

"Anyways, don't let me stop you from changing. I just wanted to ask you a question," Varian said before she stepped behind her changing divider. Varian still turned his back to her out of respect.

"What did you wanna ask?" Aquaria questioned she as she got out of the fancy dress.

"Well, next week is the Empyrean Shower and it only happens every nine years so I was wondering, could we watch it together?" Varian asked as he walked over to look at a few paintings that she had drawn of them and of her family. "You know, j-just the two of us?"

"Of course! I won't be able to come till after dinner because it's my mom's birthday, but I'll definitely come to see it with you!" Aqua stepped out, back in her previous dress.

"Great! I gotta go now. My dad is waiting for me," he said, not realizing she was changed until she grabbed his hand and he turned around.

"I'll see you soon then, Var. Just remember, I'm proud of you. You did amazing today. I'm sorry I took it all the wrong way. It was a very impressive machine." She leaned up and kissed his cheek.

Varian blushed and let out a little giggle. "I-it's okay. I-I will see you soon," he stammered before rubbing the back of his neck. "Bye!" He ran to his father and felt his cheek with a bright smile.

Aqua giggled and watched him go. "Maybe I do still have a chance."