Cassandra walked down the steps, feeling more nervous than she had felt today. Cass couldn't understand why though. She had apologized to Varian for kidnaping him and keeping him hostage, thousands of feet in the air before she left 6 years ago. Yet, she couldn't help but be nervous even after a they mended their friendship

Even after years she remembered the day crystal clear.

Cassandra spotted Varian on the corner of the garden, picking up apples. She had apologized to everyone including the king and queen but for some reason apologizing to Varian was the hardest. Maybe it was because she had not been a good friend to him from the start, the last health conversation they had on the day of the science exposition 2 years ago.

she made her way towards him and stopped a few meters behind him ,waiting for him to turn around.

As he turned around with a bucket of apples on his hands, he just stared at her, face expressionless.

"Hi" Varian said breaking the awkward silence.

"Hi Varian"

" So... I heard your leaving"

" um yeah. I just came by to say Sorry for.. well.. everything. Kidnapping you, trapping you and  everything that came after that.

"....Cass " Varian spoke in the soft voice she had last heard him use when they were talking about their fathers on the day of the expo.

"I'm sorry too. For trying to crush you with my automatons. And agreeing to build an amber gun to kill you though I didn't mean to hit you. Friends?" He said holding his hand out 

"Friends" Cassandra said shaking his hand, grinning ." Oh and call me Cassie"

That felt so distant yet close.  As she reached the end of the staircase, She saw a metal door which led to Varian's lab. She just stood there for a minute gathering her nerves, getting ready to go in. 

She knocked on the door, receiving a come in.

When she opened the door, she heard noises which she guessed were of metal banging on metal. She located the sounds to be coming from behind a huge machine. She could see strong arms working on something but the person's face and body was hidden from view.

"Morning Eugene"

Cassandra was surprised by how different the voice sounded compared to the last time she heard it. It was definitely Varian but this voice sounded more manly than the one she was used to. 

"Sorry I missed breakfast "

Varian had came out from behind the machine, his back turned to her. 

Cassandra was taken aback by how much Varian had changed. He had  grown a lot taller, about a inch on Eugene. His hair was now longer placed in a tiny ponytail in tha back.But the part that made Cassandra blush was that his shirt was off. He had perfectly toned muscles and strong muscular arms, probably from working with all this metal.

"You have got to keep Nigel away from my lab. He accidentally broke my water heaters." Varian continued talking quoting the accidentally. He took his shirt and started wearing it. Cassandra couldn't help but smirk as she saw him talking shit about Nigel. She never liked him either.

" I'll never understand why you still keep him. That guy doesn't like anyone but the royals.I mean  he barely even likes Rapunzel. Did Lance save some sou- CASSANDRA!" Varian had done putting on his shirt and turned around to see a wine red and smirking Cassandra.

They just stood there looking at each other for a few seconds before Varian lunged forward and pulled Cassandra into a tight hug.

"Cassie!" He hugged her close, face buried into her shoulder."I missed you so much"

"I missed you too nerd"                               

Cassandra felt oddly relaxed at his hug. His hug was unlike Rapunzel's, which was utterly bone breaking and tight. His hug was soft and warm and she felt relaxed in his arms.

After a few seconds they let go each other .

"Um sorry about that" Varian said turning into a red balloon.

"Don't worry, no one really likes Nigel anyway. He always made me feel like dirt on his shoes. "

"Anyway how about we go outside?" Varian said holding the door open for her. Cass couldn't help but notice how grown up he was.

Once they were outside, they made their way to the gazebo and and sat down.

" How long are you planning to stay Cass?" Varian enquired.

" I was thinking about settling down and finding a job."

" that's great! I'm sure Eugene will have a place in the guard for you."

"I hope so. How old are you anyway?"

Grinning like a schoolboy, Varian replied."22"

"Look who has become a young man!" Cassandra said reaching up to ruffle his hair. "Rapunzel already told me about your royal engineer job"

" Oh yea, it's nice to have a dream come true." Varian said smiling, a light blush on his cheeks.

"By the way, Eugene was talking about some new piece of land."

" Did they decide what they wanted to build in it?" Varian asked taking out a notepad.

"They wanted to build a training ground in it. Say hello to your new designer "

" that's great Cassie! Though you will have to deal with a lot of late nights and annoying visits from Nigel."

"Oh I think I can deal with that" Cassandra said chuckling"

"Then how about we head to dinner Milady? We got to hurry before Rapunzel comes to pull us by the ears. Trust me, She can be quite scary when she wants to be." Varian said standing up and holding his hand out.

"If you say so Milord" She said standing up too and with that they went inside, talking and laughing all they way.  

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2nd chapter done! I'm getting secondhand embarrassment for the two. Don't worry, there will be a lot more Cassarian fluff before the real plot starts setting in. I hope you really liked the chapter and as always, criticism is welcome.