Is That Why You're Running Away?

Jackunzel Week Stories

by Vifetoile

Explanation: in mid-May, timebenderss and compeltely-twitterpated hosted the first ever "Jackunzel Week," followed by "Merricup Week," on tumblr. Check it out on jackunzel-mericcup-week dot tumblr dotty com . I was proud of what I wrote for this week, so I decided I would share it (about a month later) with my readers. This is what happens when one gets involved with the Rise of the Brave Tangled Dragons crowd - creative madness!

Meta-Disclaimer: I don't own Tangled. I don't own Rise of the Guardians. I don't own Rise of the Brave Tangled Dragons. I don't own the Avatar-verse, or Hogwarts, or anything. Just enjoy what I cobbled together from pre-existing material, and feel free to review!

Once in a Blue Moon

(Avatar verse AU. I've see some good Avatar-verse incarnations of the Big Four - the one that inspired me in particular had Rapunzel as Water Tribe, with white hair a la Yue, Jack as Air Nomad, Merida as a Yu Yuan Archer of the Fire Nation, and Hiccup as Earth Kingdom. It was really cool, but for this challenge, I thought I'd give it a different spin.)

Rapunzel knew that the two of them made quite a sight: a Water Tribe boy with stark white hair and bloodless pale skin, sitting restlessly beside a girl whose hair, when not pulled into a loose Fire Nation topknot, trailed behind her feet, and was as yellow as gold. The whispering fire and the moonlight brought out the colors even more. And most peculiarly, she was wrapping her hair around his hand, which had a bad cut in it.

"Are you sure this is really necessary?" Jack asked. "Because I've had worse than this. I can give healing it myself a go. I mean, I know nothing about healing with waterbending, but…"

Rapunzel took a deep breath, and her hazel-yellow eyes met his blue ones. "I told you once, remember, that you rise with the moon, but I rise with the sun. I'm about to show you what that means."

His eyes widened.

"Just… don't freak out, okay?"

He gave a questioning nod. She took a deep breath, closed her eyes, and began to chant. The chant had been used by the Sun Warriors, her mother said, the tribe that had revered and understood the sun better than any people since. She felt the crown of her head begin to pulse with energy, and her hair began to glow, growing warm and bright. She could feel Jack's hand twitching in hers, but she wouldn't let him pull away until the chant was over.

She opened her eyes sadly. Now he would see her for the spirits-touched freak that she was. And they had been getting along so well, too.

He was staring at his hand, his jaw hanging open slightly. He was about to say something…

"Don't freak out!" Rapunzel begged.

"Freak out? Freak out?" Jack didn't listen to a word she said. "Rapunzel, you are a bender!"

"What?"

"You bend sunlight! Sunlight – in your hair – and – wow, WOW!" He leapt up, inspecting his hand from all angles. "I had no idea – you're a shaman? A healer? You're – you're amazing! But you gotta explain." He sat down on the log beside her, suddenly all seriousness. "C'mon. Spill the beans."

"Okay… well… you certainly took the news better than I expected," she said, giving a small laugh as she pulled her hair over her shoulder.

"How did you expect me to take it?"

"… Badly," she answered. "I thought you'd be frightened and not want to understand it. The fact is, I don't even understand it that well." She took another deep breath and wrapped the hair around her wrist. "Mother has always told me that my chakras… do you know what chakras are?"

"Uh…"

"They're like the hubs in your body, through which energy flows. Each one corresponds to a different body part. And it so happens that for me, my thought chakra – which is located here—" Rapunzel patted the crown of her head –"has always been a little overactive. This means – well, one, that I'm a very spiritual person, not to brag or anything." She gave an uneasy smile. "Two, I'm more connected to the energy of the cosmos than most… particularly the energy of the sun, since I would be a firebender. This energy flows through me and through my hair, and lets me… yeah, I guess you could say bend sunlight. And sunlight is the only thing that I can bend. Any fire that I try to bend is just a little spark. You've seen it. And it's not very well-understood – firebending to heal is a lost art nowadays."

"I didn't understand all of that," Jack admitted, "Mostly blah-blah-blah something about space, here comes the sun, doodoodoodoo. But fire for healing? You should share that with the world!"

"No, I shouldn't!" Her vehemence surprised him. She leaned back. "The thought chakra is the highest chakra of all, and if a person keeps it open and balanced, they can attain perfect enlightenment. But it's blocked by earthly attachments."

"You mean, like… food?"

"No, not food," she glared at him mock-seriously. "I mean like… anyone, or anything, that I might grow to love too much. It's why Mother kept me in the temple so that I could meditate and grow more spiritual, it's why I never left…" her voice faltered.

"You never left that temple?" Jack asked, disbelieving.

Rapunzel shook her head. "I only was allowed to visit the rest of Ember Island if… but you know what, I've talked too much. It's your turn."

"What?"

"How did you get your hair color?" she tugged at his forelock, and he jumped back, ruffling it back into its desired tousledness.

"Well, it's a story I'm sure you've heard. Born in the water tribe… obviously…" he indicated his blue parka. "Really sick as a baby, family prayed to the Moon Spirit to heal me, they were that desperate. I mean, those kinds of prayers only work once in a…" he stopped.

"Once in a blue moon?" Rapunzel finished.

"Yes. I was trying not to make that… was that a pun? I guess it was a pun. Anyway, this time, to everyone's surprise, I got better. But, to mark me, my hair and skin turned white. I mean, you've heard this story, haven't you?"

"Why?"

"Well – didn't something like that happen in the Fire Nation a while back? Some high-born lady was really sick with a baby, prayed to the Sun spirit, yadda yadda?"

Rapunzel shook her head.

"Oh. Right, really sheltered, aren't you… well, it didn't end all that happily. The baby that the Sun Spirit healed vanished right before dawn, like a month after she was born. Because the Spirits always take back what they give." Jack curled up and rested his head on his knees.

She bit her lip, confused and thinking. "Do you think that the Moon Spirit is trying to… take you back? Is that why you're always running away?"

"Who says I'm running away?" he asked with a short laugh.

"I do," she answered, completely serious.

"You don't know what you're talking about." His face darkened. "Do you know how hard it is to walk around in skin and hair that screams 'I'm different'? Do you have any idea how it feels when everyone who looks at you knows that you're touched by the Spirits? Afraid to make you mad, because then they might insult the Moon, or afraid to make you happy, because the only thing worse than a Spirit that hates you is a Spirit that loves you… You know, it's ironic. The Water Tribe is all about family and community and togetherness—" as he listed the words, he waved his arms back and forth in a simple waterbending form –"but that community, when it decides to exclude you, is like a wall. It's like ice. I'm not running away from anything, Rapunzel. I'm running towards my freedom, which neither the Water Tribe nor the Moon will ever give me."

After a long pause, she said, "Jack, you dolt, of course I understand what you mean."

"… Really?"

"Yes… really. I'm not sure if you've noticed, but…" She ran one hand through the hair at her temple, pulling it into her lap and giving him a wry look.

"Oh… oh, you do. Sorry, I got a bit, uh, carried away."

"It's fine." She pointed her head at the fire, but her eyes kept flicking to his long hands, his blue eyes, his uncertain smile. "Are you… running so fast, that you can't let anyone run with you?"