The secret of the Moondrop

Chapter 23: Friend

Cassandra's POV:

The lady-in-waiting watched anxiously as a ginormous sand hurricane started to form around Varian and Rapunzel. She was about to call the soldiers to retreat and regroup when suddenly, something amazing happened.
Eugene's mouth hang open, staring intently at the large mass of water while it swirled around the glowing-headed freaks she had as friends.
The sand got wet and slowly, the tornado started to fade away.
It was only after Varian and Rapunzel trapped Gothel completely that they ceased to hear her gutural screams.
The black rocks started sinking deep into the ground, leaving no trace that they had ever been there.
And then there was silence.
A. Freaking. Awkward. Silence.
A silence Cassandra was hoping would break soon, she was getting impatient.
She looked back at the soldiers standing behind her, brave men who had been in battle before stared with horror at the scenery beneath them.
Unbelievable, Cassandra though.
"Uh, what just happened? I mean, I know what happened but, the...the water and then that huge tornado and..." Eugene was positively shocked.
"Keep it together, sticky boot" she replied harshly "and all of you, what are you waiting for?"
The captain and the king exchanged dubious glances. "Ri...right" her father finally said.
Cassandra then motioned the army towards the cliff, Eugene and her leading the soldiers and the king.
She watched the two figures in the middle of the crater: Rapunzel was waving her arms frantically at them, wearing the brightest smile she could muster. And Varian, well, he looked kinda scared to be honest, but who wouldn't? The poor kid had been through hell: First, he lost his father, then he was thrown to prison, only to be kidnapped and tortured by a psycho witch.
Cassandra glanced at the king, he would surely understand that Varian had been through enough punishment, right?
"Cassandra!"
The lady-in-waiting's head shot up to the voice. There she was. Her best friend, her first friend in fact.
Rapunzel's golden hair levitated wildly in the air, standing right next to a figure with floating/glowing icy blue hair.
"Geez, I'm also alive" Eugene grumbled.
Nevertheless, they both run towards Rapunzel and were about to wrap her in a tight hug, when...
"Careful!" She warned them.
Her friends then noticed the compacted mass of water which was holding a sand version of Gothel.
"Is that...?"
"Yep" Rapunzel answered Eugene with a smile. "Do you happen to have an empty bottle or...?"
Cassandra took a bottle of water from her satchel, emptying the content in the ground she hold it so that Rapunzel could use.
The princess nodded, turning her head towards Varian, who seemed to be hiding behind her. Cassandra tried to meet his eyes, but the boy only looked at the ground with... shame?
"Varian, can you lend me some energy?" Rapunzel asked.
Varian nodded slightly, still not daring to say anything. He placed a hand on Rapunzel's shoulder, a white light shone during a second where he had touched her.
Okay, that's new, Cassandra thought wide-eyed.
Rapunzel easily bottled Gothel, and Eugene hurried to put the lid and sealed it inside my satchel.
Cassandra was going to be in charge of getting Gothel to the palace: sure, why not?
Eugene took a deep calming breath. "What were you thinking, blondie?!" he exploded "I was worried sick! Do you have any idea what you've put me thought? You were out for weeks! Don't you dare do something like that again!"
The lady-in-waiting snorted. "She went missing for a day"
Rapunzel giggled, reaching to give him a quick hug. "I'm sorry Eugene, I probably should have told you but... it was something I had to do alone"
Behind her, Varian shifted uncomfortably.
Casandra then took notice of how different he looked from the last time she'd seen him: it was obvious that he had been completely healed, judging by the lack of a corpse. But still, he was surprisingly thin and malnourished, his clothes were completely torn and soaked with blood. He even looked smaller, without his apron, googles and way-too-big gloves.
But the greatest change was something that couldn't be seen, something only Rapunzel, Cassandra and maybe Eugene noticed. He had changed. He had redeemed himself.
She could tell by the way he looked at the ground with remorse, by the glint in his eyes when Rapunzel had asked for help, they were the same innocent and happy eyes he used o have. And that meant.
Varian was back.
Cassandra reached for something inside her satchel and took a step towards the alchemist. He took a step back, maybe as a involuntary response after his days of imprisonment.
"Hey, Varian" she said softly.
He still wouldn't look at her.
"Look at me" Cassandra demanded.
He did as told, hesitantly.
She pulled something out of the bag, and Varian stood there taken aback. He reached for the object in her hands and carefully took it.
"My...my googles" he whispered.
The cristal's were all shattered, the leader wet and old. But Cassandra could see that he was fighting back tears.
Rapunzel looked at her curiously, even Eugene seemed interested.
Varian put the broken googles back in place.
And then, without thinking, Cassandra pulled into a hug the guy that had almost killed her.
At first Varian didn't returned it, but then, slowly, his arms also wrapped around her. Cassandra could feel him shaking, to be honest, she was also at the verge of tearing up.
When they separated, Varian wiped a few tears from his big round-shaped blue eyes.
This time he looked directly at her.
"I'm so sorry" he murmured.
"You think she will forgive you by just saying...?" Eugene started.
"No worries" she cut him off.
Rapunzel grinned, and so did the rest of them, including the newly timid Varian.
But that happiness wouldn't last long.