Just a little something I wrote for Cassandra Appreciation Month, for yesterday's theme of hurt/comfort.
I have actually wanted to write a fic like this for a long time because I always hated that Cass's villain arc came out of nowhere and I think if they had had a scene like this somewhere in the beginning then it would have made more sense. I know Cass said that she didn't remember her real parents in S1 but since she never looked anyone in the eye when she said that I am going to assume she was lying to Eugene specifically which .. tracks. Okay, without further ado...
“According to the Princess, she went out the window.” said Stan.
“The window? Really?” asked Pete.
“Yeah, said she tripped over the rug or something.” Shrugged Stan.
“Well, I mean… It's not like we would have been bringing back anything.” said Pete.
“Yeah, not after Frederick got through with her.” said Stan with a shake of his head
“Who are you guys talking about?” asked Cassandra, who had just entered the barracks. She had been listening at the door. She knew the lost princess had returned, but she had been out for a ride when everything had gone down.
“Oh, we’re talking about the old witch who had the Princess all these years! Apparently she fell out the window and died!”
Cassandra blinked. Old witch? That's who had held the lost Princess captive all those years? It made sense, considering no one had ever even stumbled upon the Princess before now, and both she had Cap had always theorized that the crime was literally just too perfect for the Princess to not still be alive, turns out they were both right.
“But, which old witch was it?” because Cassandra knew of several that existed in Corona, but none that Cassandra knew of seemed like the type to take an entire child.
“One we thought was gone.” said Stan. “Gothel.”
“Yeah, we thought she had been caught up in the sweep when Frederick did the crime crackdown years ago, but turns out she got away and was hiding underneath our noses all these years!”
The name… Cass knew that name.
“Oh.” she said. “Oh.” her mouth had gone dry, suddenly. She turned toward the door of the barracks.
“Where ya goin’, Cass?” asked Pete. “You just got here! We’re planning a pot luck for the Princess’s return!” he called after her.
“I’ll bring my lamb stew!” Cass called over shoulder as she left the barracks, though, truth be told no one could hold her to that promise because she barely remembered the words that had just came out of her mouth.
Cass made her way toward the stables, the place she always liked to go when she was upset, because being among the horses was helpful. At least there, no one could tell her to turn that frown upside down, or worse… ask why she was crying.
She knew that name, she knew that name better than anyone, but she had never said anything. When her Father had found her, she had been alone. She had always assumed her Mama had met a pack of slayer wolves on the way back from her travels, but now she knew the truth.
Her Mother had abandoned her. She wasn't an orphan, she was merely unwanted, not to mention her Mother had gone and raised a whole other child… because why, exactly? Had she been bad? She had done everything that her Mama had wanted, sure, some of it hadn't been that great, but she was four!
The Princess had every memory, every moment, that she had wanted with her Mama. And she couldn't even ask because… who would want to remember their kidnapper?
Her Mama was a kidnapper. No better than any one of the guys that they kept in the dungeon on the daily. Nothing could save her reputation, and Cass remembered how much her Mother prided herself on what other people thought of her. How beautiful she was, how they would compliment her for her “age” or so Mama always said, she had been four at the time, she didn't know, Mama never let her out of the house.
She had always hoped in the back of her mind that, if her Mother hadn't met with Slayer Wolves, the. Maybe someday she would find her again, or they would find each other, and then.. they would get back the time they lost. When she was little, she used to think about finding her Mama and taking her back to the cottage and finally giving her that one red heart that she had made for her. It… was probably still in the same place, right? It would be so worn now… if termites hadn't already gotten it.
Did her Mama even care? Had she even cared? Ever?
As the tears began to roll down her cheeks, she heard a squeaking sound beside her. There, peeping out of the straw, was a little grey rat.
“H-Hey lil’ guy…” she sniffled.
The rat climbed up on her knee, stood up and cocked it's head at her, much the way a confused puppy would.
“I… I shouldn't be crying.” admitted Cass. “Sh-She abandoned me…” her throat burned with the admission.
“But… I.. I did everything she wanted… Everything… e-even though I was too short to do m-most of the house, I-I found a way…” Cass remembered her inventive four year old cleaning techniques.
“Why didn't she want me? Why didn't she want to raise me? What did I do wrong?” she sobbed.
The little rat gave her a sympathetic look and climbed on her shoulder, it began to affectionately preen her hair.
The bad thing was, she couldn't even properly grieve her Mother. Not only was there nothing left of her, but she would be looked at as the town crazy for grieving the witch that took the Princess. That was just unheard of!
And… the Queen would hate her, if she knew, that she was the daughter of the woman who had stolen her child from her.
But what was she to do? Her Mama was gone. There would be no more reunion… there would be nothing. All Cassandra had was her memories of the Mother she loved so dearly. A Mother that she wasn't even sure ever even loved her.
She couldn't go back to the castle like this, her Father would know something was up, the rest of the guards would know something was up, the king and Queen would know something was up and absolutely no one could know why.
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