Through the Window

  Eugene placed his hands on his wife's waist and helped her to dismount from Max.

"Are you sure about this Sunshine. I mean, he said he was okay spending Christmas alone."

"I know what he said, but who would be okay spending Christmas alone?" Rapunzel answered.

"Well, uh.. Varian. I mean, he does go weeks without seeing anybody."

"Yes, but usually he has Quirin here, and with him spending the winter in the Dark Kingdom, I'm worried that Varian will forget to take care of himself properly."

Eugene smiled; his wife really was one of the most kind-hearted people he'd ever met. He took her hand in his as they walked down the little pathway to Varian's cottage.

"Varian is really lucky to have you as a friend you know, and I'm sure that although he'll complain at first he will actually have fun sharing Christmas with us at the castle."

"Of course he'll have fun." Rapunzel said with her usual enthusiasm, she was just about to knock on the wooden door when Eugene grabbed her hand to stop her. He'd noticed movement through the window, and something, some kind of information triggered a message in his brain that was saying that they shouldn't knock just yet. He knew to trust his instincts, they'd been honed through years of getting out of life threatening situations.

"Eugene, what is it?" Rapunzel asked, her voice dropping to a whisper.

"Just a moment." Eugene answered.

The window was further along the wall, knowing the layout of the cottage he knew it was the one to Varian's bedroom. Where he had been stood on the path it was half obscured, but as he took a few steps closer the scene before him took form and he was able to make sense of what he was seeing.

He heard a small gasp beside him and looked down to see that Rapunzel had silently followed him.

He put his finger to his mouth, as he turned back to take in the scene through the window. Varian was lying flat on the bed, fully dressed in his alchemy gear. It was the woman lying partially on top of him that was the unusual part though. As Eugene squinted through the slightly cloudy window he suddenly realized what had led Rapunzel to gasp. The woman Varian had his arms wrapped around, the one with her head resting on his chest was Cassandra! It made no sense though, Cassandra had left four months previous to help train guards in another kingdom, her last letter hadn't made any mention of returning anytime soon.

"What's she doing here?" Eugene whispered. "Did you know she was back?"

"No."

"What are they playing at?" Eugene turned his attention back to the window just in time to see Cassandra tilt her head up to Varian, she laughed at something and then her hand came to rest on his cheek, she stretched up further and kissed him. Everything about the kiss told Eugene it wasn't the first, the way they were so comfortable in each other's arms, unaware of the world around them, it spoke of an intimacy of people who knew each other well.

"Oh." Rapunzel said softly. Eugene looked down, and saw her face soften.

He wrapped his hand around her shoulder and led her back down the path towards the horses.

"You know, I think he's going to be alright." Eugene said.

"They wanted to be alone." Rapunzel stated. "That's why he told us he was okay spending Christmas alone, because he didn't want anybody to disturb them."

"Yep. You know, we'll give them a few days, and if Cassandra dousn't turn up at the castle to say hello, we'll knock the door down."

"Deal." Rapunzel said with a smile.

They were trotting back towards the castle when Rapunzel turned to look at Eugene again.

"Eugene?"

"Yes Sunshine?"

"Did you have any idea?"

"No, did you?"

"No. Do we tell them we know?"

"You know what could be fun?" Eugene said raising an eyebrow.

"What?"

"We could keep trying to set them up on dates with other people."

"Eugene! Be nice."