Destined Couple

Drops of Magic

By the time he was ten years old, Varian was a skilled fighter and had started to get into his mother's old alchemy lab. The first time Quirin came into the lab to find him and saw him reading one of her old alchemy books, her old goggles on his head andher old apron tied around his waist and looped around his neck, his heart ached. And it only got worse as the boy grew older and his hair grew longer. The streak and his bangs, thankfully, didn't grow any longer than his chin, but his hair was indestructible as one of theblack rocks.

Thankfully, it didn't grew as quickly as one, and by the time he was fourteen, it only reached down to his waist when it was loose. A braid kept it up at his lower back and he pinned it up in a braided bun when he was working on his alchemy.

"They still haven't found her, huh?" He asked thoughtfully, looking out the window in his lab at the lanterns flying over their little town.

Every year, the King and Queen and the entire City of Corona sent out paper lanterns, hoping to guide their lost daughter home. This year would be the eighteenth time, and there was still no word, no sign, of the lost Princess.

Varian decided that it had been long enough. He'd go out to find her himself if he had to, no matter what his father and Adira said.

The next day, though, he got word that Princess Rapunzel had been found and rescued from a tower and her captor, a witch named Gothel, was dead. A celebration was held in her honor, and he went with Quirin and Adira to attend it, keeping to the shadows so he wouldn't be noticed.

He tended to...glow when he got excited.

"There she is." Quirin directed his attention to the nervous-looking brunette standing with the King and Queen. Her hair was short, her haircut choppy, and she looked less like a princess and more like...well, not a princess. But, Varian could sense the Sundrop still inside of her, and he let out a soft, contented sigh. Her hair may not be long, golden and beautiful, but her power was still there. She was still his counterpart, the Sun's power wasn't lost.

He smiled up at her, well aware that she couldn't see him in the crowd. But still, he saw her look his way. She sensed his gaze, and that was enough. They would have a proper introduction later. For now, she looked like she needed a long rest.

The announcement ended and people cheered. Varian watched as she was ushered back inside and then the doors to the balcony were closed.

"Let's return home." He suggested.

"Don't you want to meet her?" Quirin asked, surprised.

Varian smiled at him. "She's too tired right now. I wouldn't want to overwhelm her. I'll have other opportunities." He headed for the bridge out of town. "Besides, I feel like our meeting is inevitable, whether I approach her now or not." He chuckled a bit. "After all, we are destined for each other."

Quirin and Adira explained glances, both of them questioning their telling him about the legends so soon.

They returned to Old Corona and life resumed as normal, as Varian waited for the Sundrop to find her way to him, as he knew she would.

After all, it was Destiny.

--

It had been six months since Rapunzel was rescued from the tower she'd lived in for the first eighteen years of her life. Six months of learning all about the life she didn't know she had, six months to get to know her real parents, to adjust to living in a castle. And now...now her coronation, the way she'd be officially recognized by everyone in the Seven Kingdoms as the Princess, was here.

Well, in a couple days, at least.

"Rise and shine, Raps." Her Lady-in-Waiting and best friend, Cassandra, said as she opened the curtains in front of the window, letting in the sunlight. Rapunzel hid in her blanket and she walked over to yank them off her. "Come on, you've got a busy day ahead of you."