WHEN I WAS YOUR MAN
It has been years since the optimal or golden years of the Big Four. Jack Frost found himself sitting on the same tree branch that had a good look through Jamie Bennett's window.
Jamie has grown up now. He's now a college kid who moved out of his parents' place. The room which Jack was now looking at was vacant. The bed bare from Jamie's blue bed sheets, the shelves cleared of books and toys, Jamie's stuffed toys such as the bunny were kept away in the attic and there was Sophie who was also a teenager now. Both Bennetts have stopped believing in the Guardians.
Because humans just have to mature, right? Jack asked himself in sarcasm. He pulled the hood of his sweater up as he got off the branch and flew away, taking his time.
Memories of his time with Hiccup, Merida, and Rapunzel flashed through his mind. For a moment, he felt like he was alive again. His face lighting up with a tired smile, his cerulean blue eyes dazed... But that all finished as soon as it started. It dawned back to him that they were long gone now.
Merida and Hiccup have eloped together after Merida's parents refused her plans of marriage to the Viking. So the two left together in search of a better life. They were young and in love, so who could stop them from doing what they want?
Jack Frost had decided to visit them just the other day in their new community. They looked older from the last time Jack saw them. Merida and Hiccup were just like any other married couple. Blessed with many children: an eldest boy, followed by a girl, and twin boys. Red and browned haired, green and hazel coloured eyes... It wasn't exactly the perfect life they were living but they were happy together - happy enough to forget about Jack Frost.
He remembered how he visited them. He approached Hiccup who was busy on his working table, and when he was just a short distance away from him, he heard Merida call her husband from his back and before Jack knew it, Merida had walked past through him to get to Hiccup. None of them noticed Jack Frost at all. Not even their children whom they had promised to make them believe back then.
If heartbrokenness, anger and betrayal were the appropriate feelings to have at that moment, Jack was enduring twice or thrice of that pain altogether. As soon as he realised that neither of his (former) best friends believed in him any more, he left.
Jack Frost was now flying. He didn't know how long he had been flying from the Bennett's but all that he knew was that he was allowing the wind to stir him and change the direction of where he was heading to. The Guardian of Fun didn't have much purpose now. He was only surviving on one single light from North's Globe of Belief and it was not Jamie. He did not quite know who it was anymore and having grown up and shaped to become pessimistic, he had no interest in finding out who it was, fearing that he would eventually be forgotten and left hurt again.
Just then, the wind got stronger and he was blown violently down back to the Earth, landing in the most unceremonious way in a large oak tree.
"Ugh!" He groaned in agony. As he moved, the branch below him gave in and he slid down to the grass patch below, hitting it face first. "Oof!"
Grimacing in pain, he forced himself up and searched for his staff. "Stupid wind," he muttered, dusting himself after picking up his staff. That was when he noticed the faint music playing. It was a familiar rhythm. And out of nowhere, he wanted to know where he was. He scanned his surroundings and with a moment of thinking, he found out that he had landed at the garden of Corona's palace.
The music was getting louder now. Clapping, beating, drums...It was the Kingdom Dance that he remembered admiring Rapunzel dancing to when they wandered around the streets of Corona together as the Big Four. Without hesitating, he flew off from the ground and searched for where the music was coming from.
The ballroom! They must be having a celebration right now. Jack Frost immediately searched for the balcony that could give him a view of the inside of the ballroom.
When he found it, he hid himself from behind the balcony railing. He peered through the loops of its intricate designs so that he could see the ball within the palace. There were many socialites dressed formally as they carried champagne glasses. But where was Rapunzel?
Eager to see her, Jack flew again to find another window that was high enough for him to see everything. The roof! Right. He flew to the top where the glass hemisphere served as the roof to the ballroom. Nobody would care to look up anyway - not that they would even see him if they looked. Focusing his eyes down at the ballroom, Jack Frost searched for the golden blonde haired girl. But he couldn't spot her.
Disappointed, he clicked his tongue and decided to wait outside Rapunzel's room instead, in the hopes of seeing her again at least. With that, he settled himself next to the rose bushes below Rapunzel's balcony at the other side of the castle. He had his arms behind his head as he gazed at the stars on his own.
This was how it was like then. He remembered how when Merida and Hiccup were furiously infatuated with each other then, he and Rapunzel would be left to watch the stars together before they slept around the bon fire. The other two would still be out somewhere else, dealing with whatever sort of feelings they had to talk through.
Don't get Jack wrong though. He was certain that he and Rapunzel had their own flame together once or twice. Unlike Merida and Hiccup, Jack and Rapunzel never really opened up about their feelings for each other.
It could be because of the fact that Rapunzel was still the naive, careful and reserved girl then, since it was her first time outside the tower and she was only being cautious and wary of everything that was happening, while Jack on the other hand, was afraid of commitment.
They shared their moments together: the best one yet was when Rapunzel finally gave him a hint about her strange feelings for him when they were on the highest branch of a tree, stargazing on it. He did the same to her too, and although they did not tell each other everything, they somehow just knew that the other felt just as strongly about themselves.
Jack replayed their conversation on that special night on his head. They were stargazing on the highest branch, just like what he was doing then, only that he was on the ground instead of a branch.
"Jack," Rapunzel said, breaking the silence of the calm night air as she shuffled around on her back so that she'd be lying sideways with her arm holding her head up, facing the Winter Spirit. "Can I tell you something?"
"Mm, yeah," he replied, tearing his gaze from the stars to look at the beautiful youthful face next to him. "What is it?"
"I was just thinking, if I was a queen," Rapunzel started, not realising how ironic that statement was if she (and the rest) had known what was to come in the near future then. She slowed down a little towards the end of her sentence to give her more time to think about the next words she was going to say. "I wouldn't want anyone else to rule my own kingdom alongside with me unless it was you, Jack."
At this, Jack Frost's brows knitted in slight confusion. And perhaps, suspicion. He replaced that look with a smug smile as he positioned himself the same way as Rapunzel so that they would be facing each other.
"What makes you say that?" He asked.
Rapunzel, whose cheeks were then suffusing with a shade of red, shook her head and forced a sheepish grin. "Nothing," she said, playing with her golden strands. "Just dreaming of such scenarios."
Sitting up, Rapunzel tucked her arms around her knees as she looked at the stars far ahead.
Jack thought about getting on his back again, but what the heck. This was probably the only chance the two of them could say such things to each other.
"Well, for the record, Punz," he breathed out, running a hand through his silver hair as he sat up too, "I would love to have you as my queen too."
And he smiled at her. It wasn't his cocky or devilish smile that he usually wore after a prank or joke he had just played. It was the genuine, and sincere smile that Rapunzel secretly loved so much because his eyes would be the softest and the handsomest and the world was just a better place when he smiled like that at her. This, of course, Jack never knew.
Rapunzel grinned back at him, hoping that hers would level up to his award-winning smile. And without realising it, she had leaned forward to plant a kiss on Jack's cheek.
"Thanks, Jack," she whispered next to his ear, her voice melodious and heavenly. "You're a good guy, you know that?" She smiled once more at him before retreating back to her personal space.
"I know."
Finding himself back on the grass patch below, Jack finally noticed the light emanating from Rapunzel's room. He did not know how long he had been there waiting, but as soon as he heard Rapunzel's familiar humming, he got off the ground and flew up to her balcony and perched himself on the railing.
She was hidden behind the dressing wall, and it was translucent, allowing Jack to watch her body outline as she got dressed. Her head wasn't draped with the long hair anymore. From behind the the dressing wall, Jack could see a jagged outline forming around Rapunzel's head. This baffled him a little.
When Rapunzel finally walked away from the back of the dressing wall in a night gown, she settled herself in front of her make-up table and brushed her short brown hair. Jack's brows perked up at this.
A "wow" escaped his lips, and even though it was softer than the howling of the wind, he had never expected Rapunzel's back to stiffen upon the sound of it. Slowly, she turned to look. Jack watched her closely, bracing himself for the worst in case she saw through him just like Merida and Hiccup. She was still staring out at the balcony, her eyes still with suspicion. It was a long time of staring, and Jack finally came to the conclusion that she was seeing through him. Sighing, he got off the railing and turned to his back to fly away.
"Where are you going?"
It was Jack's turn to stiffen now. Slowly, he pivoted on his heels to look behind him. Rapunzel had gotten up and was now approaching him, her pace increasing at every step.
"Jack Frost?" She asked. "Is that really you?"
Jack turned his whole body around to face her fully. "Punz."
This caused the princess to giggle as she crossed her arms modestly. "Nobody has called me that in a long time."
"Nice hair."
"Yours too."
"Why the change?"
"I was inspired by yours."
Jack smiled. She smiled too. And they took that moment to take in each other's presence.
"I've missed you, Jack," Rapunzel finally said, her voice shaking a little. Without any warning, she wrapped her arms around Jack's body and took him by surprise. The last Believer, he thought. Of course! Why had 't he thought of her? Jack knew that Rapunzel would never bail on her closest friends.
Playing with the new short hair on the back of her head, Jack wrapped his arms around Rapunzel too and rested his chin on her heard. "Me too."
They stayed that way a little longer before they hesitantly released each other.
"So have you reunited with Merida and Hiccup again? I heard they have children! It's so exciting! I wish I could see them again! Wouldn't it be nice for all the four of us to just sit down, have lunch together, and just catch up with each others' lives? Oh, Jack - I miss everybody!"
Rapunzel chirped away excitedly and Jack let her. Back then, he would usually cut her off to throw an insult or a teasing remark at her. But at that moment, he just wanted to take in everything about her. She was still the beautiful princess he knew. Older, mature, and wiser, but still the same down-to-earth Rapunzel.
He didn't tell her about his encounter with Merida and Hiccup though, knowing very well that it would only upset her. So instead, he asked, "So you were having a party, huh? What's the event? It's not your birthday, from the last time I remembered."
Rapunzel smiled bashfully at this question as she looked down, fiddling with her hands. Her lips were pursed and Jack couldn't tell if she was excited or nervous. Finally, she looked up at him, her eyes wide and alive, before a wall of glistening tears started to layer them.
She held out her hand to take his, and that was when he noticed the beautiful golden ring she was wearing.
"Jack, I'm getting married."