A Reason to Fly - A Rise of the Brave Tangled Dragons Fanfiction

Friday

~Rapunzel~~~~

When Rapunzel got the call, she was already ready to leave. That day had been one of many in which she wishes she could just crawl into a hole and cry to her heart's content. Her step-mother had been through some terrifying emotional roller coasters , but none had been this intense before. Rapunzel can't stand the constant yelling and hitting and noise. She's staring at her bedroom ceiling, trying to drown out sound of glass shattering from the floor below, when the house phone chimes in the next room over. Needing something to take her mind off of the chaos downstairs, she races to answer it, and a sigh of relief escapes her mouth when her best friend's voice reaches her ears.

Merida has been her best friend ever since elementary school, yet she couldn't think of a single time in which Merida had failed to be there for her when she needed her. Merida's house has always felt like a kind of haven for her, but now it's her refuge, a retreat, and she can't wait to get there. While her best friend informs her on the plans for that night, one word echos in Rapunzel's mind: lake. "I can't wait to finally be up there again," she breathes.

"Yeah isn't it great! We'll be up there for a whole week!"

Ever since February, when the Dunbroch's had last taken her, she's been dying to go back. Mrs. Dunbroch grew up in a quaint cabin on a lake in Wisconsin, and her family often travels back to her hometown for a vacation. The lake is about as far north in Wisconsin as you can get without accidentally wandering in the Michigan's Upper Peninsula, and although it's only a five hour drive, it always feels like a million miles away. In a word: it's paradise. There's nothing but trees, cabins, dirt roads, and lakes as far as the eye can see, and that's how it's always been.

She barely remembers to say goodbye before hanging up the phone and scrambling to stuff her belongings into her beat-up suitcase. For the first time in weeks, she's going to be away from the fear and tension; this week will be all about forgetting everything about her life at home and really living.

By the time she parks in the Dunbroch's driveway, the sun has already set, and the stars seem to shine brighter than usual, as if they are shining for her. Merida ushers her in as soon as Rapunzel slips off her sandals and practically drags her up the stairs to her room. Glancing around, Rapunzel admires all of the clutter strewn around the room and how starkly it contrasts with her own painstakingly spotless step-mother, Gothel, hates messy rooms, and Rapunzel has learned over the years to always keep her bedroom pristine for that reason. The chaos of the room is comforting, somehow, as if it is a physical reminder that although she's not at her house anymore, she feels more at home than she ever has. Off in her own little world, she suddenly realizes that Merida's trying to talk to her and only catches the last part of her friend's sentence.

". . . and I wanted to call the king-sized bed in the other room for us, but Hiccup just had to claim it for him and Jack."

The name echoes in her ears, and she's positive that she had heard wrong. "Jack?" She squeaks.

Merida looks sideways at her, a knowing smile creeping onto her face, and teases her by drawing out his name. "Yes, Jack!"

An excited shiver crawls up her spine as she asks weakly, "You mean, he's right across the hall . . . in Hiccup's room . . . right now?"

All Merida does is giggle, and Rapunzel's breath is sucked out her lungs at the thought of only being separated by the thin wall that is shared by both Merida's room and Hiccup's, her best friend's older brother. What only one other person in the world knows is that Rapunzel likes Jack more than she's willing to admit. Merida is the only one she's told, but she's starting to get sick of holding all of her emotions inside her head. Every time he's around, her heart pounds so hard that it's a mystery how it hasn't burst right out of her chest by now. There's nothing about him that doesn't make her heart melt. He could be walking down the stairs, and all she can do is stare. It wouldn't matter if he wore a baggy T-shirt and sweatpants; he'd still be beautiful to her. Jack has this way about him, a care-free ease that just pulls her in.

The problem is that he doesn't even act like he notices her most of the time. It never seems like he does it on purpose, but for some reason he just doesn't seem to notice that she's there, no matter how hard she tries to stand out. That said, it doesn't make her like him any less. Actually, it's the exact opposite. His blindness just makes her fall harder for him, even though it doesn't make sense to her. Every time they've been in the same place, Rapunzel's tried to catch his eye, grab his attention, but she's only managed to hold his gaze for a few seconds at a time. At the beginning of the summer she'd promised herself that that would finally change, even if she would have to make it happen herself. What she didn't plan on is for her opportunity to come so fast, and, frankly, it scares her half to death knowing that she'll have to tell him the truth already.

Pushing the distracting thoughts away, she sheds her jeans in favor of her fluffy pajama pants and spreads out her sleeping bag across the carpet. Her best friend switches off the light before whispering goodnight. For a few minutes, Rapunzel stares at the black space where she knows the shared wall is, and a million thoughts compete for attention. How can she be so close to him but feel like he's halfway across the world? A sharp pinch tugs at her heart, but she quickly wills it away and tries to imagine herself lying on the sand at the beach with the bright sun warm on her skin. When she closes her eyes against the darkness, however, all she can see is her step-mother's shadow looming over her, screaming as her anger flares more and more. It's a sight that she knows all too well, and even miles away, she can still hear Gothel's voice haunting her. All Rapunzel wants to do is make it stop, but no matter how hard she tries, she can't wake herself up. She's trapped.

~Jack~~~~

Jack is beside himself with excitement about spending the next week with his best friend at his family's lake house. All he ever thinks about is how thrilling riding ATVs beneath the canopy of bright green trees will be. He had spent all day just daydreaming about the wind in his shirt and the trail of dirt that would lazily swirl behind him.

He smiles to himself just thinking about it, and before he knows it, it's already eleven o'clock, with the consequences of staring at a TV screen for too long starting to take their toll on him. Unsuccessfully, he tries to stifle a yawn while Hiccup fumbles in the dark trying to shut the game system off. Jack doesn't even have to force his eyes closed, instead letting gravity work its magic as he slips into his sleeping bag.

Just as sleep threatens to take him away, he's jolted awake by muffled noises. The neon red numbers of Hiccup's digital clock across the floor read 11:31 P.M., and Jack lets out a frustrated moan. He scans the room from the floor, but Hic is still sound asleep in his bed. Once again, soft cries reach his ears and it dawns on him that they're coming from the next room. Merida's room.

All annoyance disappears as he quickly gets up and picks his way over Hiccup's creaky floor before peeking into the other bedroom. At first, all he can see is a girl's figure in the bed on the opposite side of the room, obviously Merida, but as he opens the door a hair wider he notices another on the floor in front of him. The girl's body is shaking underneath a heap of blankets,her entire form shuddering all at once. When a little bit of moonlight streaks in through the slats in the blinds, he immediately recognizes her.

Rapunzel?

Jack sinks to the floor, sitting back on his heels in shock as white beams reflect off of the tears streaming down her cheeks. Her unexpected presence catches him off guard, making his whole body tense up in the dark. The girl a foot in front of him looks nothing like when he last saw her, six months ago. Before, she had been almost as confident and stubborn as Merida with only hints of vulnerability here and there. Now, however, she looks so helpless and scared; whipping her head from side to side in her sleep; her long blonde hair sprawled like golden spun sugar across her pillow. But there isn't anything he can do. He can't risk waking her up and getting caught watching her like this. He furiously rakes his hands through the cropped white-blond strands of his hair, his hands itching to reach out and stop her pain. Guilt gnaws at him just watching her toss and turn and cry. A whimper escapes her tight lips, and it's all Jack can do to keep his feet firmly planted where he crouches. This isn't just a normal nightmare, he realizes as Rapunzel suddenly starts to break out in a sweat; something is seriously wrong.

A/N - This is my first story on here, so I'm just testing out the waters. To me, this seems like a short chapter, and to be honest, I'm nervous to see how readers react to it. So please review and let me know what you think! Also, since this is my first fanfiction, please go easy on me if you can...

Side Note: I strongly ship Merricup, but this pairing will not be featured in this fanfiction in case you were wondering. I wanted to use the Big Four because I think their bond is, and should be, unbreakable, but it fit better in my head if Merida and Hiccup were siblings, so there you go.

~Jackunzelhayniac3~