But His Heart is So Cold
A Jackunzel One-Shot
(Songfic inspired by watch?v=97Xgaem0rcE )
Jack Frost emerged from the deep, dark recesses of the frozen lake. He looked around, down to his hands, confused. The last thing he remembered was falling into the ice. There was someone with him- a girl- he had seen her face as he fell. She was so sad. Thinking of her brought back a feeling of longing. Who was she, and where was she now?
He lifted his head again. He was soaking wet in the middle of winter. Shouldn't he be dead? Or at least a little cold? He shook away the thoughts. It didn't matter; all that mattered was that he was alive. The light of the moon shone down and lit up a pathway through the snow. He couldn't remember where he was, or how to get home, or anything. All he knew was his name- Jack Frost.
~.~.~.
"Rapunzel, you need to let this go. That was two years ago."
Gothel sighed. Her daughter could be so troublesome. And this brown-haired boy that she had been so enraptured with, the boy Gothel had fought to keep her daughter away from, had finally left them alone. But was the blonde happy? No, of course not. The little brat continued to cry at night, and walk around as if she were dead. The people in the town had been talking; she had been losing so much weight. Gothel tried to get her to eat. At one point she resorted to stuffing cake down the girl's throat. The last thing she wanted was for her little mistake to ruin her reputation.
"Mom, please. We can't leave."
"You don't have a choice in the matter. We are moving, and that is final. We are getting out of here. There's no place for you here, this town is just making you sick."
Rapunzel buttoned up her coat and grabbed her gloves, walking out the door. Gothel just sighed once more. She would be back, and when she had finally finished throwing her little fit they could leave.
The blonde walked through the small town of Burgess for the last time. The snow fell softly, catching in her long braid. She refused to cut it after the incident, and it was already starting to sweep the ground. She put her brain into auto-pilot, so she shouldn't have been surprised when her feet found the familiar pathway that led into the woods. She stopped when she realized where she was going. Looking back at the little town she called home, tears brimmed and threatened to fall. Should she go? Certainly it would only break her heart.
Before she could make a decision, a dark shadow loomed over here. She turned slowly and met face to face with a dream.
~.~.~.
Jack stumbled along the pathway. He saw lights in the distance- he was almost there! He didn't know where "there" was, but something told him that this place was where he needed to be, almost as if it were instinctual.
He turned to the right and saw a familiar silhouette. A girl whose posture and golden hair brought back enough emotion that sent him reeling. Could it be? The girl from the pond? He had to get to her. She would know what was going on, she would be able to answer his questions. He tried to call out to her, but she turned to him and he was taken back. Her bright green eyes lit up the night around them, and her face held the same terrible sadness that he remembered from his visions.
"…Jack?" she whispered in disbelief. Instead of relief, her face filled with fear and pain.
"You…" he responded. What was her name? He racked his brain trying to figure it out.
"It can't be…" she was shaking her head.
"You…" he was trying as hard as he could to remember.
"You died…" her eyes were filling with tears now.
It finally hit him. "Rapunzel," he said softly.
Her eyes rolled to the back of her head and she hit the ground.
~.~.~.
"Rapunzel! Rapunzel!"
It had been hours. Where was the little brat? If she had fallen asleep somewhere she would surely pay for making Gothel brave the cold to find her.
The baker's shop had a light in it, so she trekked over to make her inquiries.
~.~.~.
"Rapunzel?"
He softly shook her. Her eyes opened and she blinked a few times.
"…Jack?"
The boy who was smiling down at her definitely looked like Jack. He had the same crooked smile and smooth voice, except this boy's skin was practically silver, and his hair was stark white. Who was he, and how did he know her name?
She looked into his face. Despite his excited smile, his eyes seemed… empty somehow.
"What happened?" he asked.
"What do you mean 'what happened'? Shouldn't I be asking you that?"
"I don't know. I don't remember." He looked down. His face shifted to sadness, but again his eyes were dark and emotionless. She reached out to put her hand on his, then immediately retracted.
"You're freezing!"
He looked down at his hands. They looked alright. He didn't feel cold. Her hand had felt a bit warm, but it wasn't anything out of the ordinary for him.
He sighed and sat back against the wall of the barn he had taken her to. After she fainted he had carried her to the closest structure. She was shivering, so he had scrounged around for a lamp and some matches. At the moment they were laying on soft hay, safe from the snow that fell outside.
Rapunzel had regained her wit about her. This didn't make any sense, so she needed to sort it out. "Who are you?" she asked.
"Jack Frost," he replied, as if it were obvious.
She lifted an eyebrow.
"You look beautiful…" he began, leaning in close to her. Ever since he remembered her name, he couldn't take his eyes off of her. She felt herself blush- he had confessed his feelings before, but never with such intensity. Though she couldn't shake the odd feeling that came upon her when she looked into his vacant eyes.
"How did you get here? I thought you had fallen in the pond…"
He smiled triumphantly, though the emotion never reached his eyes. "I swam out. If you had stayed, you would have seen."
"That's impossible."
"I'm here now, aren't I?"
She was still trying to figure that one out.
"Why did you leave, anyways? Did you go to get help?" he asked.
"Yes, I did. First I tried to pull you out. When I realized that that wasn't working, I ran back to the village. When we got back, you had sunk to the bottom. We couldn't even see you anymore."
He scoffed. "That's nonsense, when I broke through the ice there was no one around. Why did you leave?" His tone became accusatory. From what he remembered, she was his best friend, if not more. She should have tried to save him.
"You couldn't have broken through the ice, it's too thick."
"It was thin enough for me to fall in the first place, wasn't it?" He didn't understand her confusion. Did she not believe in him?
"Jack…" Her tone was soft. "That was two years ago."
His brows furrowed in confusion. "That can't be right…"
She pinched herself. Perhaps this was a dream? She reached out to touch his hand again. Still cold, deathly cold. Her hand traveled up to his heart where it rested, sensing.
"I can't feel a heartbeat," she said, still incredulous.
His hand reached to touch her heart, mimicking her movement. She radiated heat, and as he stilled himself he felt the steady rhythm of its beating. His eyes were closed. He placed his other hand on his chest, over hers. Her pulse quickened, and he opened his eyes to see that her face had gone red. He leaned forward, closing the gap between them, and softly meeting her lips with his. Her eyes fluttered and she looked into his face, only to be met with an unfeeling gaze.
~.~.~.
When Rapunzel arrived back at her house the following morning, her mother was gone. All that was left in the place was her things and some kitchen supplies. She had a feeling this day was coming. It wasn't at all surprising to wake up in the middle of the night from a bad dream and her mother was nowhere in the house. It seemed as though she finally decided to leave for good. Rapunzel was eighteen, and old enough to take care of herself, anyways.
Jack had stayed behind. She warned him about getting too close to the town. If the people saw him, certainly they would think him a ghost. She had invited him to stay with her, and he had told her he would be by later that night. Now that she had him back, she never wanted to let him go. She was afraid that she would wake up tomorrow and it would have all been a dream. She had already gone through the heartbreak of losing him once, and she didn't want it to happen again- if, indeed, he was still her Jack.
The night passed and he never showed up. She awoke the next morning and went about her normal routine, pushing him from her mind. She decided that she would just have to think about him later. It worked, too, up until dusk.
She finished sweeping the place for the third time when she decided that she had to find out if last night was just a dream or not. She bundled herself up and walked back to the barn. When she saw that no one was around, she walked down the pathway leading to the forest.
"Jack?" she called out. No response. If any villagers were listening, she probably sounded completely off of her rocker.
She continued through the thick wooded area until she heard twigs crunching behind her. When she turned, however, there was no one.
"…Jack?" she called again, more tentatively this time. Another snap, this one to her right. She turned again, and her heart was racing. Who was there? Was it a wolf? They weren't common around here, but one or two were seen every once and a while.
Jack's killer instinct kicked in. She was his prey, and he enjoyed the chase. She scampered through the woods wide-eyed and alert, like a doe, and he followed her with his steady wolf-like gaze.
"Jack!"
He leapt out from where he was hiding and met her head on. She stumbled, falling to the cold ground. The snow crunched softly under her. When she looked up, he knelt down, bowing his face to meet hers.
"Gotcha."
"That wasn't very funny, Jack."
His crooked smile only widened. Something about the look he was giving her sent a shiver down her spine. How could someone so familiar look so alien? He held out his hand, helping her up. Before she could speak, his lips were on hers. His kisses were greedy, and they soon trailed to her cheek, then down her neck. He was mumbling something in a language that she didn't understand, it sounded like gibberish.
"Jack? What are you-"
A shrill, blood curdling scream shot into the night, scattering birds from their warm nests. The village lights seemed to dim as people shut their doors and pulled their children in for supper. Rapunzel laid on the snow that was now red, her breath becoming shallow. For a long time she was fighting the cold, fighting to stay warm, but eventually her strength ran out. The funny thing about her fight was that, after she had given up, she didn't feel cold anymore. In fact, it was as if all pain had left her, and she opened her eyes slowly.
"Jack?"
"Rapunzel."
"What just happened?"
Only a smile, the smile she remembered, the smile that reached his bright blue eyes. She smiled in return, glad to have him back.