What friends are for
All was silent. Not even an owl dared to hoot, and no hedgehog could be heard snuffling around the bushes, either. The darkness clung to the sky, a lot of it also sweeping down onto earth and limiting anyone's sight, with only the moon and stars giving off the smallest amount of light.
With it this dark, no one noticed a figure running through the forest, keeping their head down and refusing to look at anything, acting as if they were running away from something. When the figure finally stopped to catch it's breath, one would have been able to see it was a young girl, about 18, with short, brown locks, piercing green eyes and a ripped dress. Of course, once upon a time, if anyone had been out at this ridiculous time, they would have noticed the girl. After all, you couldn't exactly miss 70 feet of golden blond hair trailing after a running figure.
The young female shivered in the cold night air, clutching her arms as she sat down on a nearby log, tears falling from her gentle green eyes. She couldn't understand. A few minutes ago, she had been so happy, nestling up against her fiancé and laughing, soaking in the heat. Now she was alone in the forest, crying, after witnessing her ex kissing another woman. She was cold and alone, like she had been once before. She had been trapped in a tower for 18 years, kept there by a woman who posed as her mother, known as Gothel. She had been made a prisoner because Gothel wanted her hair in order to stay young forever. Then her fiancé came along and took her to see the lanterns that appeared every night on her birthday, where she had discovered she was the lost princess. Gothel had attempted to keep the young girl one last time by trying to kill her saviour, and before she could heal him, the man had cut off her hair, causing it to turn brown and lose it's power. She then returned to the land of Corona, claiming her rightful place as the lost princess, with Flynn Rider, or Eugene Fitzherbert, as her chosen husband.
Princess Rapunzel.
How she wished that wasn't her name.
Sometimes Rapunzel wished that Eugene had never come to her rescue, that she had stayed with Gothel. Maybe she would have never had this heartbreak if she was still living in that tower now, calling Gothel 'Mother' all the time.
Left with no other choice, alone and heartbroken, and with Merida in Berk with Hiccup, the lost princess had run straight to the forest, only wishing he was there.
Her wish was granted.
Up in the beautiful sky was a boy, floating in the air, although most people wouldn't have seen him. Those who could wouldn't question why he was flying. The boy looked about 18 and clutched a wooden staff in his left had that was covered in frost. He had pure white hair and icy blue eyes, his pale skin a huge contrast against his blue hoodie and brown pants. Like Rapunzel, he was barefooted.
When his blue eyes fell upon the weeping princess, he immediately flew down into the thick trees, watching her. Then he took a step forward, then a second, then a third, putting one foot in front of the other until he was right next to her. The boy sat down next to her, and pulled her into a hug. Rapunzel stiffened at first, until she felt how cold the other person was, then relaxed, realising it was her cold best friend, Jack Frost.
Rapunzel leaned into him, sobbing into his shoulder, clutching onto his hoodie like her life depended on it, while he swayed back and forth, one hand rubbing her back, the other stroking her hair in a gentle manner.
"Oh Punzie." He sighed, nuzzling the top of her head gently. He had always claimed that Rapunzel was a bit of a mouthful, so nicknamed her Punzie or Punz for short. The nickname just kind of stuck, and soon Merida and Hiccup were calling her that, too.
"Come on, Punz, spit it out, tell me what happened." He soothed, wiping away a tear. If there was one thing the winter spirit hated, it was seeing Rapunzel cry.
"Jack." She whispered, so quiet he could barely hear her. She looked up at him, pale green eyes connecting with icy blue ones, hers full of tears and pain, his full of concern and worry. "I-it's Eugene. He... he cheated on me." She could feel Jack's grip tighten on her as his breathing changed. "What?!" He hissed, his voice dripping with venom and hatred, but he attempted to calm down. For Rapunzel's sake.
The brunette sniffed. "Yeah. With Astrid." She said quietly, so that Jack could barely hear her. You could feel his clutch on her tighten and hear his forced, controlled breathing. He knew Astrid very well. She had been Hiccup's first crush before he met Merida, even though she always insulted him and hit him. She clearly expected for people to do as she asks first time, which is why she not only got on Jack's nerves, but on Merida's as well. They both hated being told what to do all the time, so usually refused to listen to her, or even act like she was there. One time Astrid had even attempted to hurt Merida with her axe, making Rapunzel jump to her defence, which got Jack involved in the case. It didn't end well. In fact, it ended up with Hiccup and Rapunzel dragging Jack and Merida off of a bleeding Astrid, while Gobber held off the screaming blond.
Jack muttered something, probably cursing Astrid under his breath. He also knew that Flynn and Astrid got on well with each other, for some reason. In fact, he had noticed the two of them disappearing a lot, saying they were hanging out with friends, but Jack hadn't wanted to hurt Rapunzel, so decided to keep quiet. The last thing he wanted was to make Rapunzel cry, and it was not because he feared one of Merida's fire arrows piercing his brain.
This continued for a few minutes, Rapunzel crying on Jack's shoulder as the winter spirit whispered comforting words into her ear. Eventually he stood up, holding the princess in his arms.
"Come on." He said, smiling at her. "We're going ice skating." Rapunzel giggled and clutched Jack's neck, tightening her grip slightly as they took off. No matter what, Jack always knew how to cheer her up. And ice skating was one of her favourite things to do. He would take her to the lake he had awakened in, and let her skate there, always making sure the ice was thick and solid.
Rapunzel was right. She had a fantastic time skating around, chasing after a laughing Jack and throwing snowballs before finally collapsing on the soft snow, giggling weakly as Jack pounced on her and began tickling her. Rapunzel squealed and kicked out playfully at Jack, and was rewarded with a more tickles. Her sides hurting, she weakly attempted to reach her hands up, but found them pinned down by Jack as he continued his assault.
"Stop!" Rapunzel gasped, her legs kicking wildly. "I – hahaha! - I surrender!" Smirking, Jack released her, letting the princess catch her breath. She had snow all over her hair, her face was flushed with laughing and running around and yet her skin was cold. The life had returned to her eyes, making Jack feel a little better.
Eventually, Jack returned Rapunzel to her balcony at the palace, smiling at her. "Thanks for cheering me up, Jack." Rapunzel smiled. "You're always there when I need you." That voice, just hearing those words made Jack melt inside. Instead of showing that, he grinned. "And thank you, Rapunzel, for having fun with me earlier. You just made this night the best." He replied, his voice calm and cool as he tried to ignore the butterflies in his stomach.
"Of course, that's what friends are for." Rapunzel smiled, not noticing anything change in Jack's mood.
Suddenly the immortal wasn't finding it so hard to ignore the knots in his chest. Yeah, friends. He thought miserably. Jack supposed he couldn't complain, though, Rapunzel was the best person to have around if you were feeling lonely. Almost everyone loved her. If you gathered ten different people ten times, nine out of ten all of the chosen people loved her. As a result, Jack considered himself lucky that Rapunzel hung out with him more than any of her other friends. The only person she spent as much time with, in fact, was Merida, and that was mainly because they were like sisters.
Which is why Jack never told her about his feelings.
He had tried, many times, but he had failed each time, and had to come up with something else to say. It wasn't worth the risk. Rapunzel was a great friend, and Jack would rather spend the rest of eternity as her best friend with his feelings bottled up inside of him, screaming to be released but never escaping, than risk it and lose her as a friend altogether. No, he didn't want that. He'd rather die again.
This was why, instead of letting his feelings betray him, the winter spirit grinned and even managed to tame his eyes into faking happiness, hoping Rapunzel wouldn't see right through his defences and into his real feelings like she usually did.
"What, so friends are there to try and tickle their friends to death and bury them in a huge pile of snow?" Jack laughed. He then hugged her. "So, uh, can I see you tomorrow then? It's been a while since we've hung out." He said casually, leaning on his staff. Rapunzel just smiled. "Yes, it has been. So, we'll meet by the lake at seven o'clock, grab a quick breakfast, and decide what to do from there. Sound good?" Jack nodded, smiling from ear to ear. "Deal. See ya tomorrow, Punz." He said, waving and floating off of her balcony. He turned just in time to see Rapunzel walk through the doors and enter her bedroom. Sighing, he flew off.
Rapunzel slowly closed the glass doors and sighed happily. She would be able to get to sleep tonight and relax the next day, without worrying or being upset about Eugene. Thanks to Jack. He was really the best friend anyone could ever have. She collapsed onto her bed, a smile pinned on her face. She fell asleep for a few hours, dreaming peacefully of her and Jack spending time together.
Suddenly she heard the door move and her eyes snapped open, immediately falling on the figure of her ex.
In that moment, her happiness was gone.
Rapunzel leapt up and mentally cursed not having her long hair any more. She could have used it to grab a tree and escape. Now she felt like a tiny mouse cornered by a cat.
The girl gulped as he advanced towards her, smirking. He backed her up against a wall without so much as a 'hello'.
"Sorry about what you saw before, Rapunzel." He purred, trapping her in. "Astrid started everything. I need to apologise to you. And I know just how to do that."
Rapunzel gasped slightly as Eugene reached his hand up to her shoulder and began sliding the sleeve down. He immediately pressed his lips against hers to silence her, his hand gently stroking her skin. Rapunzel pushed his mouth away desperately.
"Eugene, please, stop." She pleaded. This couldn't be happening. "I'm not ready."
Eugene just smirked. "Well that's too bad, princess, because I'm not leaving here until I get what I want."
Rapunzel shuddered at his tone of voice as he slid her other sleeve down, knowing there was no way she could get out of this. If she tried to scream, he would just capture her lips again. The girl whimpered and closed her eyes as a hand moved to her back and started to pull down the zip to take off her dress...
Suddenly he was off of her, leaving her personal space, and her eyes flew open. Eugene had been thrown violently on the floor by someone. A figure was standing over him and glaring.
It was Jack.
And he was not happy.
Jack, in the hours that Rapunzel had been asleep, had flown over to Berk simply so that he could talk to his other best friends. Well, they were his younger brother and his rival in his eyes, but they were still his best friends. Merida was sat next to Hiccup, stuffing her face with a huge plate of chicken legs when Jack had burst the door open. He had collapsed next to his friends and told them about what had happened. Merida was immediately furious when she heard about Flynn, and Hiccup scowled. Jack also told them about his feelings. Of course, Merida snorted slightly and told him to grow a backbone and admit it already. Hiccup had been slightly more understanding and told the winter spirit that he needed to tell her, she was sure to like him back, and even if she didn't, Rapunzel wouldn't let it ruin their friendship. She was too forgiving for that. After an hour or two, Jack had flown back to the palace to see if Rapunzel was asleep. That was when he saw Flynn beginning to take off her dress and had slowly opened the door, then grabbed the man and flung him to the floor.
Jack was fuming. His rage boiled inside of him until he could have exploded as his piercing blue eyes ripped through the pile of filth on the floor. But he calmed down slightly and turned to Rapunzel, his eyes now filled with worry. He rushed over to her and grabbed her hand.
"Punzie, are you OK?" He asked, concern filling his voice. His voice. It made Rapunzel feel safe as she wrapped her arms around him desperately, trying not to cry. The sound of his heartbeat soothed her as he pulled up her dress zip and returned her sleeves to her shoulders, where they belonged.
"Shh, it's OK, I'm here." He whispered, gently stroking her hair with one arm around her waist. "I won't let him hurt you, I promise. He won't touch you." Rapunzel's fist tightened on his hoodie, burying her face into it for a few seconds before backing off. She smiled at him, peace filling her when he smiled back. Then her eyes widened as she saw something move and she gasped. "JACK!"
Said boy turned around and grabbed Eugene's wrist with one hand. Fury filling his eyes once again, Jack brought his knee up in one quick, swift movement, catching the man where it hurt the most, before flinging him into a wall. Jack grabbed his staff and froze Flynn's legs there before looking at Rapunzel again. "We need to go, now!" He said urgently. That ice wasn't very strong, and it wouldn't be long before Flynn would break it and get up. Without another word, he grabbed her hand and made straight for the single wooden door that led to the hallway.
Just as Rapunzel reached the door, Jack was slammed into her. He grunted in pain but put an arm either side of her, as if to protect her. Rapunzel screamed as she watched Eugene slice at Jack's back with a dagger, drawing blood each time. Jack's jaw clenched and he hissed in pain every now and then but didn't move, refusing to let Rapunzel come to any harm.
Finally Jack let out a yell of pain as the dagger went into his back, hitting his stomach. The minute it was removed to prepare for another blow, Jack spun around and punched Flynn in the face as hard as he could, sending the man sprawling onto the floor. Jack faced Rapunzel, now afraid for her safety.
"Rapunzel, go! Run and tell your parents!" He yelled, urgency in his voice, then he stumbled back, gagging as Eugene's arm wrapped around his throat. Jack was pushed violently into a wall. At once Eugene was there, holding both of his wrists with one hand, the other pressing the dagger against the spirit's throat, gently dragging it across and drawing blood. Jack choked and tried to scream, but only a strange, gurgling sound escaped. Jack kicked Eugene in the stomach and attempted to run away, only to find the arm around his neck again. His hands flew up and grabbed the arm, trying to pull it off him. When that didn't work, the teen flipped Eugene over. The man once again got up and started strangling Jack from behind. This struggle continued for a few seconds, before Jack started pushing against Flynn and ramming him into nearby walls. His eyes flickered around the room finally targeting what he was looking for – the glass doors for the balcony.
Grunting and now unable to ignore the screaming pain in his chest, Jack silently called for the wind to blow them open. Wasting no time, the winter spirit forced Eugene past the double doors and threw him over the banister, before quickly following over the edge. Without his staff, which he had dropped after calling upon the wind, he was unable to fly, and would fall to his death. Of course Jack had known this, he had considered the penalties and decided to take them. Anything to keep Flynn away from Rapunzel.
That's why he closed his eyes and sighed when he felt himself tip over the edge. He didn't mind that he was about to die. Rapunzel would be safe and would soon be happy again, which made Jack happy in return. That's why death didn't frighten him.
Jack suddenly gasped as he felt his hand being grabbed. His eyes opened and discovered Rapunzel leaning over the edge, clutching onto his wrist with both hands. Her mother was behind her, grasping her ankle. Eugene had slipped down and was now hanging on to Jack's legs.
Rapunzel blushed slightly, noticing how close they were. Jack just grinned weakly. "We do end up in some awkward situations, huh Punzie?" He chuckled, his hand slowly curling around hers. For a moment their eyes met – and Jack found himself, once again, unable to look away.
Then he let out a yell of pain, one hand moving to his chest. Eugene let go of the dagger he somehow still had and smirked evilly, watching Jack's blood running down the blade. In his distraction, he didn't notice Jack's legs kicking wildly, and he somehow managed to catch Eugene in the stomach with his knee. Letting out a gasp, Eugene let go of Jack by accident for a split second, then tried to grab on again, only just grabbing Jack's foot in time. It was then that an arrow landed in his side, making Eugene slip and let go. Practically the whole kingdom could hear the former thief's screams as he fell to the ground.
Somehow Jack still managed to grin in pain. "That will leave a mess in the morning." He laughed, then groaned in pain, the dagger still embedded in his chest. Panicking, Rapunzel wasted no more time in pulling Jack up. This wasn't very difficult, since he was light enough for the wind to pick up, and soon he was back in Rapunzel's room, leaning against a wall and gasping for breath. He began coughing, and drops of blood flew from his mouth, revealing what made the strange sound earlier when he had tried to scream.
Rapunzel's eyes began to fill with tears. Jack looked awful – he had two stab wounds, he had blood still dripping down his neck, his back all covered in slashes his hoodie was caked in blood and he still had the dagger sticking out from him. It was uncomfortably close to his liver. In fact, Rapunzel was praying it hadn't been pierced.
Jack's hand gripped her own. His breathing was heavy, and his eyes were slowly dulling. Rapunzel was panicking, and tried desperately to stop the bleeding. She yanked the dagger out and threw it gently to the side. Out of the corner of her eye she could see that the walls and carpet were all covered in blood – and every drop of it was Jack's.
His eyes flicked to hers, growing more lifeless with every passing second. Jack grunted as he attempted to sit up a bit more. "Rapunzel." He gasped, trying to speak. Rapunzel went to silence him at once. "Shh, don't talk. You need to save your energy." She whispered, clutching his hand even tighter before passing him his staff, which he gladly took. For some reason, it gave him a bit more energy, and he ignored Rapunzel's warning. "No, I want to talk. There's – there's something I need to say, something I should have said a long time ago." He said, squeezing her hand back. Rapunzel sighed in defeat and nodded, dimly aware of Merida and Hiccup bursting into the room and kneeling beside Jack.
"I'm sorry, Rapunzel, but I don't have much time left, he stabbed my liver. So I need to tell you this now." Jack broke off for a moment, clutching his side and gasping. Rapunzel tightened her grip on him, now knowing her fears were true. After a few moments, the pain faded away and he continued. "We've been best friends for a long time now – and I started to grow closer to you than anyone else. Then I started to get jealous of you and Flynn, but I didn't want to let you know because I was afraid it would ruin our friendship. I would rather die than let that happen. That's why I got so mad when I saw what he was doing." Jack's arm reached up and rested on the back of her neck. "I – I love you, Rapunzel."
The minute he said that Jack gasped and arched up against her, almost yelling in pain. He drew in one sharp, jagged breath, before slowly letting it out and going limp in her arms. Frantic, Rapunzel felt for a heartbeat. It was there, but it was slow and faint. He was already past being able to see or hear anything.
"No, Jack! You can't die! You won't die! Please, Jack, please!" Rapunzel yelled, tears streaming down her face. "No, Jack... please, I –" Rapunzel's head fell, as she finally muttered the words she had always wanted to say to him. "I love you too."
With that, Rapunzel bent her head and let her tears run more freely, creating mini waterfalls as she felt Jack's heartbeat flutter and die under her fingertips. Merida leaned into Hiccup and cried into his shirt, Hiccup buried his head into her wild hair as his own tears fell, and Rapunzel's mother tried to calm her daughter, but her attempts were useless, and so picked up Jack's arms and rested them on her back, as if he was hugging her. Rapunzel simply broke down. She remembered that Jack used to love to hear her sing. Quietly, Rapunzel opened her mouth and began to sing the song she had known by heart for so many years.
"Flower gleam and glow.
Let your power shine.
Make the clock reverse.
Bring back what once was mine.
Heal what has been hurt.
Change the fate's design.
Save what has been lost.
Bring back what once was mine.
What once was mine."
Her almost silent sobs continued as her tears dripped down onto Jack's hoodie.
Her mother noticed it first. As a tear fell into one of Jack's wounds there was a faint golden glow. It slowly rose up above Rapunzel, just a single golden thread of it.
Then there was a silver glow, which attracted Merida and Hiccup's attention. As far as they were concerned, Rapunzel's powers never appeared silver and Jack could not do this, so this was odd. A thread of that silver slid under Jack's lifeless body and rose up to meet the gold. The two met above the two figures, the ends entwining together, creating the image of a heart. Then they sank back down into Jack and Rapunzel's bodies.
At first, nothing happened. Then Jack's finger twitched, the movement so small that no one was sure if it had even happened. Then his grip seemed to tighten on Rapunzel, pushing her down to him. The girl's eyes flew open as she stared at him, looking for movement. After about ten seconds, she noticed his heartbeat began to return, and his chest started to rise and fall. Jack's eyelid's flickered open and fell on hers. Neither attempted to break away their gaze. Finally Jack's mouth opened, letting out one word. "Rapunzel?"
Gasping in delight, said princess flung her arms around him and pulled him into a bone crushing hug. She pulled away, staring at his face for a moment, before crashing her lips against his.
Jack lay there for a few seconds, stunned, until he felt her begin to pull away. His hand rested on her head and pushed her back down as he began to kiss her back.
They stayed like this for several moments, until they finally noticed their lungs screaming for air, forcing them apart. They looked into each other's eyes, both of them looking into the eyes they though they would never see again. Jack spoke first.
"Not so good with the love confessions, huh?" He chuckled. "Well, that's alright, mine was pretty lame anyway." Rapunzel giggled, and pulled him up into another hug. Jack's arms tightened around her for a moment before he let go and pushed himself up. Then he gasped.
"Punzie..." He whispered. "You might wanna look in a mirror."
Puzzled, the brunette obeyed, then gasped like Jack had done. She was no longer a brunette, but a blond again. Her hair was nowhere near as long as it used to be, but it was pretty long, stopping at her waist. It was just as golden as it used to be, and somehow, Rapunzel knew that if she sang, her hair would glow again, like it used to.
Shocked, she looked back at Jack, who was now standing, and grinning. "You know, Punz." He said, keeping the grin in place. "I always thought you suited blond better than brown."
Rapunzel laughed and flung herself at Jack, pulling him into another hug before looking at Merida and Hiccup, who were now in an argument.
"I told you not to shoot that arrow!" Hiccup yelled. "You could have hit Jack by mistake!"
"Are you questioning me, Haddock?" Merida shot back. "My aim is perfect, thank you very much! There was no way it could have hit Jack!"
"Well his legs were kicking about enough to accidentally get in the way and hit him!"
"Yeah, well they weren't, and it didn't, so quit your complaining!"
Jack pushed the apart. "Wow, I know I'm amazing, but I didn't expect to see my brother and rival fighting over me about if an arrow would have hit me or not. And not even a 'hello' or an 'oh my god you're alive'!" He laughed, letting Rapunzel keep Merida from tearing Hiccup to pieces. Neither of them could help but laugh slightly and tackle Jack with hugs, knocking him to the ground. Laughing, Jack pushed them off of him then got up. He smiled at Rapunzel before pulling her into another hug, only this time he captured her lips with his.
Because that's what friends are for.