"Now where did Rapunzel go wrong with the Nadder today?" Gobber asked as the teens sat around a fire pit, roasting either fish or chicken.
"She needs a better weapon than a kitchen tool" Snotlout said as he casually put his arm behind her, "Need to keep that pretty face of yours safe"
Rapunzel smiled tightly and shifted on the balls of feet uncomfortably. Snotlout had been like this for the past couple days, and she knew from an informative Astrid that he was trying to look for a trophy he could have. It was between the two girls, Astrid for her being a prime Viking warrior or Rapunzel for her giving the impression that she would be his little women in the kitchen as Astrid had put it. So Rapunzel would let Snotlout chase her, but she knew for a fact that she wouldn't play his game.
"Thanks" the blonde said politely, "but I can handle my weapon of choice just fine"
"It's your hair" Astrid said bluntly, "It's throwing off your balance and messing up all the moves I showed you"
"It's not my hair" Rapunzel responded immediately, "I've lived with this for eighteen years, and it's not going anywhere"
"Actually Astrid may be right" Fishlegs said informative, "It makes you an easier target with the weight of your hair for the Nadder to get you with its speed eight and burn you with the hottest dragon fire ever"
Rapunzel gulped a little at the sound of being cooked alive, but she couldn't break her promise to her mother, not even if she was planning on never going back. "No, no we're good" But it felt like no one was even listening to her.
"Come on" said Ruffnut, "Even I wouldn't let my hair get that long"
"Just leave her alone" Hiccup said angrily, but who was finally seeing what was going on. But Snotlout wasn't paying any attention to Hiccup.
Snotlout simply grabbed Rapunzel's braid, "Don't worry I'll take care of this for you" He said as he reached for his axe. Everything around Rapunzel began to blur and she felt as if a dragon was sitting on her chest. She only half saw Snotlout raise his axe and Hiccup make his way to the surely deaf Viking. Then something just exploded out of the petite blonde.
"NO!" Rapunzel screamed at the top of her lungs as her fist automatically swung out and cracked into Snotlout's nose. The Viking guy toppled onto the ground, blood squirting out of his nose as his axe slid out of his hand and falling over the edge of the platform.
Rapunzel's breath was ragged and she simply started at the fire with her vision still blurry.
"That was awesome" Tuffnut commented with his mischievous grin.
"Not as much as a powder-puff as I thought you were" Ruffnut replied with an impressed tone, but Rapunzel didn't hear them as she began running down the platform's railing as fast as her legs could carry her.
"Rapunzel wait!" she heard Hiccup call after her, but she didn't want to stop. What if he was only acting that he would never hurt her so he could get her hair and make his father proud? Had her mother really been right?
She could only trust herself right now. She kept running right into the forest with no real destination; she just needed to get as much space between her and the village until she thought things over and cool down. Suddenly she was slammed into the ground by someone.
"You…know…" It was Hiccup as he took breathes in between each word, "For…someone who…lived in a tower….her whole life…you sure can run"
Out of fear, Rapunzel began kicking out from Hiccup; she couldn't be with him right now. Especially when she still had these swirling feelings about him, "Please stay away from me" she said as she clambered to her feet.
"No wait" Hiccup replied as he quickly caught her wrist, "Tell me what's wrong…please Rapunzel"
Rapunzel just stood there silently for a minute, considering whether or not she should tell him the truth. But she couldn't…even though this was Hiccup, on the inside he could still be the ruffin that Mother had always warned her about. Before she could stop herself, she began to cry, she had never felt more confused or lonely in her entire life. "I…can't" she choked as she pulled her wrist free.
But she didn't even take two steps, when Hiccup's arms wrapped around her and crushed Rapunzel into his chest. Rapunzel though was so uprooted on the inside already that she only gave a less than half effort to try and push away from him.
Then she realized that there was something comforting about being in this position with Hiccup. The way his vest smelled like fresh earth, and how his thin arms could radiate off so much heat through her being, it felt all so right. She felt as if there was more emotion in this first hug with Hiccup than all the ones she had ever received from her mother. And that's when she felt guilty.
She had doubted Hiccup- who had nothing but kind to her, let her know of his secret on committing the highest account of treason, and giving her courage to her naïve nature of the outside world- of his loyalty to her. How could she have ever thought that? She made her decision.
Rapunzel looked up into Hiccup's concerned green eyes and sniffled, "I have magic hair that glows when I sing" she gave a half-hearted laugh.
Hiccup raised an eyebrow as his face twisted into one of the most confused expressions ever. He tried to begin a sentence at least five before he concluded with, "What?"
The blonde giggled a little, she had never told anyone her secret before and it looked like she was going to have to give a demonstration. Rapunzel remembered Hiccup getting stabbed into leg today but Astrid's spike skirt for when she fell onto of him. Perfect.
She peered over his shoulder to make sure they were far enough from the village, Rapunzel then led them to sit on a fallen log. She took a deep breath, "You still have that injury that Astrid gave you?"
Hiccup kept his confused expression on as he rolled up his loose leggings; to reveal a perfect line of slight puncture wounds just below his knee. Rapunzel bit her lip as she began to unravel her long braid and began to wrap it securely around Hiccup's wound.
"You know this is one of the strangest things that's happened to me" Hiccup said as let Rapunzel continue with her hair, "And I've already befriended a dragon…Ow"
"Sorry" Rapunzel said nervously, "Just…just don't freak out, ok." Rapunzel sighed again as her lifelong lullaby's special words flowed from her memory to her vocal cords. Even with her eyes closed she could feel the magic pulse at the roots of her hair, down to Hiccup's leg. She felt him jump slightly as she finished the song, "…what once was mine…"
Hiccup with his mouth dropped open, hastily unwrapped Rapunzel's golden hair; to reveal not wounds, but new flawless freckled skin. "Oden's great ghost!" Hiccup exclaimed as he fell off the log.
Rapunzel jumped off the log and grabbed Hiccup's arm so he wouldn't try and run away in confusion, "Please stop freaking out!"
"I…I'm not…fre…freaking out" Hiccup stuttered his voice now a whisper, "I'm just…surprised that your hair is more than just long; how long has it been doing that exactly?"
"Since forever, I guess" Rapunzel said giving her friend a small smile, "Mother said that when I was a baby, people tried to take my hair. But once it's cut, it turns brown and loses its magic" Rapunzel pulled back her hair to show a tiny brown piece of hair at the nape of her neck. "A gift like this has to be protected" Rapunzel began to redo her braid, "that's why mother never let me—that's why I never…"
"You never left that tower of yours" Hiccup finished for her. "That's why you freaked out back there"
Rapunzel nodded, "My mother warned me that if I went outside, I would only face horrible people and scary monsters. And for that moment with Snotlout, I thought she was right, that I can't trust anyone"
Hiccup lightly put his hand over her now throbbing hand from that punch she delivered. "But you showed me your secret, does that me you trust me?"
"Of course!" Rapunzel replied quickly, "…no…" she then said unsure. Rapunzel dropped her face into her hands, "It's just complicated"
"I promise I won't tell anyone your secret" Hiccup sighed a little before he got up, "But if you do decide to trust me entirely, I'll have a helping hand ready for you" But Rapunzel quickly grabbed Hiccup's fingertips immediately after he said that.
The two of them stared at each other for a few minutes, and then Rapunzel finally stood up. "My mother's voice may be telling me this is wrong" she said as she looped her fingers through Hiccup's, "But my heart is telling me that you are someone I can trust with every part of me"
Hiccup smiled gratefully, and the two of them began to walk back to the village, both unaware of how tight they were holding each other's hand.