Jack flew through the skies with a swiftness that few eyes could follow. The cold wind of winter caressed his fair skin and hair, his whole being surrounded by his own icy mist. He perambulate this path often, especially on winter. As he glided over the woods, he noticed something he had not seen in his former excursions. A tower? Curiously he descended and tried to look closer. A tower!
He approached carefully. His presence freezed the tangled weeds. The place looked abandoned, but he decided to linger. And then he heard a melody. At first it came from an old woman's, but soon it sounded younger. Odd, he thought. He hovered next to the window. It was covered with old and rotten wood. To his surprise he saw what seemed like a golden glimmer, escaping through the cracks, illuminating the stone walls.
What on earth? He tried to come closer, but he stayed static as soon as two voices started to chat. He recognized the first one, it was the same woman who had been singing, The second one came from a girl, Jack guessed that she was around 17 years old.
"It is late already, Rapunzel. I must get some rest for my long journey tomorrow."
"Yes, mother. I understand"
The younger voice seemed loving, sweet. Jack was so captivated by it, that he did not noticed that the glimmer had disappeared. Maybe if I stay until the mother is gone, I can talk to her. And that way, he decided to await for the mother's departure, so he could interact with the girl more freely.
Jack saw the woman go away through a hidden path on the woods. Geez, she got horrible hair! For a moment he was worried that the girl was just as ugly as her mother. He tried to push the thought away with little to no results. Now, how am I going to talk to her? He has no idea in what to do, was he supposed to knock on the window? He knew the woman had gotten out from there, though he did not know how, since he had been hiding on the other side of the tower. Meh, I'll just knock and see how she reacts. And that is what she did.
The girl was in shock when she heard the knock on the window. How could someone be able to climb all the way up there? She took her pan and positioned Pascal, her always loyal chameleon, on her shoulder. Cautiously she moved toward the window, and just as cautiously opened it. She could not avoid to notice that as the wind entered it was unusually cold, even for a winter evening.
If she was in shock before she was catatonic now. A faired hair boy, with eyes as ice. He is gorgeous. She was so submersed in his beauty that she did not notice the fact that he was levitating.
"Ummm… Hello?"
His voice snapped her out of her mind. She blinked several times as if she was waking up from a dream. He giggled, her appearance matched her voice. Sweet, kind, lively and beautiful. He entered the room casually, inspecting the room with a childish curiosity.
"Hey!"
Jack turned and saw the girl with her pan in the air. She seemed mad, rosiness had filled her face. She looks so cute, when she's mad. Her big, green eyes stared at him with a glare. Suddenly he notices that she had an impossibly long hair. It took several twists and turns and hanged from the ceiling. He found it as incredibly beautiful as her eyes. It was golden, the same scheme as the glimmer he had seen the night before. Magic hair?
"Who are you?"
Jack ignored her question and continued to stare at her hair.
"Answer m-"
"Is you hair magical?"
She was taken aback with the question. How could he knew? And who was he? She had so many questions, and he was just a stranger, but she felt safe, she felt as if she could trust him. Her mother had told her that people were bad, but somehow he did not seem as one of those people. He seemed different.
"Y-yes…"
"What does it do?"
She stared at her bare feet, his eyes cut right through her, she could feel the weight on them. The weight of hundreds of years. She glanced a little bit up, just enough to take a glimpse of him and answered.
"It heals and rejuvenates people."
He tilted his head to the side, as if he tried to look at her better.
"I am Jack, and you?"
She finally straightened up and he could contemplate all her beauty. He had never met someone as lovely as she. And the fact that somehow she was able to see him, it made him feel as if they were meant to meet.
"Rapunzel"
He smiled and so did she. That was the best evening of their lives, and the days afterwards. They spent their time talking, laughing, playing, and get to know each other. By the second day, they knew each others back stories. By the third, Rapunzel had painted a wall just for him and Jack had built an ice slide just for her.
They were locked in their small world. Each night they slept closer and closer together. On the third night, Rapunzel's head rested on his chest. Their breathing was synchronized, everything was perfect.
Rapunzel opened her eyes slowly and gazed up.
"Hullo…"
Jack had his hands behind his head and stared back at her with a smirk on his face. Everytime their sights met love poured from them. It was the fourth day, and they planned to cook together.
Rapunzel crawled to his side and cupped his face on her hands. He could feel her warm breath caress his nose, and the brush of her lips on his made his skin prickle. He placed his hand on her waist and pushed her closer, so they would kiss. It was like a symphony of lips, each movement as tender as the one before. Now, he hugged her waist and Rapunzel placed her hands on his chest. They felt as if they were on paradise, too bad nothing lasted long.
"Oh, Rapuuunzeeel!"
They both had totally forgotten about Rapunzel's mother. Now what they were supposed to do? Both of them shared a desperate look. With haste Rapunzel pointed at the closet on the opposite wall. Jack hurriedly hid as Rapunzel helped her mother up.
"Hello, darling. What have you done while I was gone?"
Rapunzel couldn't find the voice to answer, it was as if her throat was clogged. Her mother stared at her with increasing suspicion as the girl's face started to flush.
"Rapunzel what are you hiding from me? RAPUNZEL!"
Her mother gave a deep gasp and took a step back. Then she spoke under the hand covering her hand.
"Your neck, it is… No, after all I have done for you, all the sacrifices, you decide to thank me by bringing some stranger and letting them touch so… so… inappropriately?"
Really? From all words you choose that? Jack was peaking through a gap at the closet's door.
He stayed there, completely still, for about half an hour, hearing Rapunzel's mother yelling at her, pondering about the stranger and Rapunzel's sobbing, unable to answer any question.
Jack couldn't stand it any more, he stepped outside; ready to confront that horrible bitch. But nothing happened, neither of the women in the tower seem to notice him.
"Rapunzel? Look at me. You can not ignore me Rapunzel, RAPUNZEL. Hello? I'm Jack, your boyfriend and you don't dare to look at me?"
Though, his tone was sarcastic, he felt more and more nervous. Then it struck him. He finally understood, the mother's words, Rapunzel's slow nodding.
"Rapunzel, that stranger you took wasn't real. Your were imagining stuff, yes, you were hallucinating. No one knows the whereabouts of this tower. Your bruises, you made them yourself, you were alone this time…."
Jack slowly approached Rapunzel, until he was just in front of her, and she just stared past him, nodding at her mother's words.
