As they walked, Rapunzel felt a giddy thrill mingled with cold dread. This was it. The beginning of the end. After tonight, she'd never see him again. Their last dance.
"Alright then!" she answered, hiding her anxiety with a bright smile. "See you tonight, Fair Wind."
She thought she'd been getting over him, but as she turned to go and the urge to kiss him rose in her chest, she knew she hadn't. She hadn't even started, and at this rate, she never would.
She and Lottie headed downstairs, and the older woman murmured, "You'd better do something about that before it eats you alive."
"Oh, I plan to," Rapunzel grinned at her. "Tonight."
The rest of her day was full of ordering supplies and meeting with her crew for dinner so they could solidify plans. There were merchant ships aplenty to choose from, and they decided on their target.
"We ship out in two days, boys," she announced with a grin. "And with any luck, we'll have a new crewmate when we do. Lower those eyebrows, this one's a good one. And none of you are to lay a hand on her. You hear me, Big Nose?"
"It's a 'her?'" the pirate in question asked, then remembered himself and straightened up. "Yes, ma'am."
"That'll do. Have a good night, boys. Eat and drink what you can over the next few days, for then we put to sea!"
Her crew cheered, as excited to be out on the water again as she was. But Rapunzel had her own plans for the night, and headed from the tavern back to Blackwater. She checked the clock on the wall as she walked in. An hour and a half to kill before she could justify knocking on his door.
So, she ordered a bath and scrubbed up, washing her hair while she was at it. She spent some time prettying herself up, not with rouge, which she never wore, but just in terms of cleanliness and tidiness. It was halfway through combing her damp hair that she realized what she was doing.
She was trying to look nice for him.
She wanted to, because she wanted him to be attracted to her, to find her pretty and charming and impressive, just as she did him. With a groan, she realized at last what all the puzzle pieces her mind had been handing her all day lead to: she liked him, and wanted him to like her.
But it didn't matter! After tonight, they were never going to see each other again! Tonight was about having a good time with one another, because it was their last chance!
And so, as a last-minute addition to the plans, she headed downstairs and bought a bottle of rum from Bart, then headed up to his room, heart pounding. Would he see right through her? Would he have changed his mind? This shouldn't matter to her, but it mattered so much. It had started mattering on Rogue's Landing, and hadn't stopped mattering since.
She knocked and put on a charming smile.
