The Moon Speaks

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the franchises featured in this fiction.

A/N: So to clarify, this is a crossover between Tangled/Frozen/HTTYD/Guardians with a lot of inspiration coming from old Norse myth. I may add other crossovers later, but for now this is what I'm going with.

XXX

He lay on a snowy field watching the moon and stars. It was a clear night, affording him the best view of the heavens. They twinkled in the darkness, a kind of beauty that never failed to leave him awed. He loved to lay on the ground and watch them for hours back in Berk. And after he and Astrid became a couple, they would do the same, usually with Toothless and Stormfly nearby.

For some reason, though, he was all alone in the snow. This didn't bother him, though he felt like it should.

The moon was beautiful and massive in the night's sky, a light against the darkness. He smiled softly, bathing in the moonlight. A sound echoed in the night, a sound that vaguely reminded him of an animal. It sounded very far off, so he let it go and closed his eyes.

The sound came again, causing him to sit up. It sounded so much closer now, though he had only closed his eyes for a moment. Now he recognized that sound: it was the howl of a wolf. He glanced back up at the moon and noticed the Stars had receded into the darkness. The moon wasn't shining as bright as before. Still, it was out and bright enough so he could see. He leaned back down and tried to relax, though it was harder to do this time.

Hiccup

He shot up to his feet at the sound, his entire body shaking in fear. He looked in every direction, and all he found was shadows where there had been light. A howl echoed out again, this time all around him. The darkness grew against the light, and a branch snapped behind him. The young Viking turned to confront whoever had joined him, only to feel his breath still in his chest.

Before him was a massive wolf, blacker than the night itself. It had glowing, yellow eyes and teeth that shined a sharp white. Its fur was matted and in tufts, with great patches of skin revealed. The fur seemed to be growing though, like the beast was healing somehow. It was smirking at him, a smug gleaming smirk that promised nothing but fear and pain.

The wolf turned its gazed toward the moon and howled again, a booming sound that shook his ribs. It took off at a run towards the celestial, it's massive claws making trenches in the dirt.

Fear gripped his heart, "No. No!"

He ran forward, trying to stop the wolf, but it was too fast and too far ahead. The wolf leapt off the ground and climbed into the air, much too close to the moon. The fear clutched his heart deeper and he ran faster, praying he could catch up with the beast. He knew terrible things would happen if the wolf caught the moon.

He saw-

XXX

Hiccup rose from his slumber, his knife drawn and his body covered in a cold sweat. He was breathing deeply, his body shaking as his eyes show wildly surveying his environment. He was in a small cave, the sun and cold were streaming in from the mouth of it. Toothless was by his side, his head up and his eyes wide as he stared at him. Slowly, Hiccup gained control of his breathing and put away his blade.

"Sorry, bud," the young Viking sighed, "A bad dream, is all."

He rose to his feet and walked to the mouth of the cave. From the shadows and the placement of the sun, he could see it was barely morning. There was no sign of the thing that had attacked them last night, even the blood had been covered in snow.

"Ok, Toothless," Hiccup said, "Let's get going. I don't want to stay here a moment longer."

The ebony dragon climbed out of the cave and began to stretch, or king the kinks out as he did. Hiccup climbed into the saddle and secured himself before the Night Fury let out and roar and climbed into the sky.

XXX

Queen Elsa studied the letter before her intently, confusion and concern etched on her face. Her cousin, Rapunzel, had written her yesterday and sent the letter via pigeon and it had arrived in the aviary several hours ago. Unfortunately, she had been backed up through the day. She wished it had been a slow day in her kingdom, so she could have seen the note sooner.

"Kai," she called, and her loyal servant stepped into her office, "Please have Anna come up immediately, there's something important I need to discuss with her."

"At once, my Queen," the man intoned before closing the door.

Elsa contented herself by reading the note once more.

'Dearest Cousin,

I regret that I have not written you and Princess Anna as often as I should. Life grows ever hectic in Corona, as I'm sure it does in the North. Mother and Father are training me every day in lessons of royalty, which quite honestly are more boring than anything I could quite imagine. Even the most boring days of my captivity held more of my attention. But I try my best, since one day the crown will be mine. I just hope it's a long time from now.

Eugene has grown worried over the last month. His own lessons are equally boring to him, but he has a lot to prove in my father's eyes. And in his own. It makes him feel like he's less than he is. It's a burden that I try best I can to lift, but he is stubborn and is hard to advise. On those moments when we can be alone, though, truly alone, he reminds me of the sweet sensitive thief who stole my heart six years ago.

But I am in need of your advice. You are the only one in the world that might understand what I am going through. For the last several weeks, I've been plagued with dreams from my captivity with Gothel. I would sing to her that same song I would sing to give her life. I'd sing and sing until this latest dream, where I asked her if there was another song I could sing. She seemed surprised in the dream, and instructed me to continue singing the song.

I can't remember her ever telling me where that song came from, nor do I remember whether or not I ever asked her if there were other songs to sing. But these dreams happen so frequently I find myself wondering if they're dreams at all. I find myself wondering if these are memories coming back to the surface after having been buried away for a long time.

I wish I had the answers. But honestly, I want someone who can understand what it's like to be unsure of your self, to be unsure of something inside you. You're the only person in the world that has powers like I did. Any help you can offer would be most appreciated.

I look forward to seeing you at the anniversary of your coronation. And a few days later when the day of my birth comes around, too. Imagine, the two of us Summer children born within days of each other. Both isolated for years, born with powers we didn't understand. And we're cousins too. Life's funny that way, isn't it?

With love,

Rapunzel'

Queen Elsa frowned a bit as she considered what she had written. Dreams of memories forgotten. How strongly that piece of information resonated in her, as it reminded her so much of the trolls' spell to make Anna forget. Still, there were good things to consider from the message. It was clear she and Eugene were as in love as ever, something which warmed Elsa's heart. She remembered them from her coronation, how in love they were. And after she'd returned from the docks with Anna and it was all over, she'd been the first person to embrace her and tell her it was alright. That was when she'd learned of Rapunzel's own powers.

Oh, how wonderful it had been to have someone to talk to who actually understood what it was to have powers. All the fear, doubt and joy of it. They'd spoken for hours on end about it before it was time for her to return home. They'd worked out a pigeon line between them, which let them keep in contact as often as they could. Unfortunately, as was so often with the passage of time, they fell out of touch as life grew more hectic.

A knock on her office door pulled her from her thoughts. She bade them enter, and Kai stepped inside. He was about to announce her sister but the red headed whirlwind all but barreled past him and came around the desk to give her a hug that threatened to squeeze all the air out of her. She shot Kai a look of understanding as he simply chuckled before closing the door.

"Anna," she cried, "Breathing's becoming an issue."

Princess Anna stepped away from her sister, a look of embarrassment covering her features. She mumbled an apology as she and Elsa sat down.

"When Kai told me you wanted to see me, I thought it might be something..."

"You thought I might need some cheering up," Elsa smiled, pleased her sister was so kind.

"Well, this time of year is always hard on you," Anna said, taking her hands in her own.

Elsa nodded in agreement, frowning lightly. It was a sad truth that this time of year brought out her guilt, and that guilt drove her to sadness more than she would care to admit.

"I'll get by," she said, showing Anna the letter, "Read this while I finish up some paperwork."

Anna shot her a concerned look but bent her head to read. Elsa went on to her next letter, finding it to be a report of wolf sightings not far from the North Mountain. That in and of itself was hardly a surprise, but the numbers were. Most packs consisted of somewhere between six and ten wolves, and rarely as large as fifteen. If these reports were accurate, a total of twenty wolves had been spotted a few miles North of Wandering Oaken's. Far too many for one pack, and far too close to civilization. She picked out a proclamation sheet and authorized a reward for wolf pelts, nor more than three a man. While too many wolves were a problem, too few was an equal problem.

Anna put down the letter, her eyes oddly narrow as she considered.

"She's having dreams of memories?"

"She thinks it's possible," Elsa said, setting her quill aside, "And considering our own history, it's possible. It's equally possible these dreams are just dreams, brought on by her coming birthday."

"Could it be true, though?" Anna asked, "Could there be other songs she could sing?"

"Even if there were, it wouldn't matter," Elsa suggested, "Once her hair was cut, her powers were gone."

"Do we know that for sure?"

Elsa started to say 'of course we do,' but paused. The truth was they didn't know for sure, they had no way to know for sure. The only thing they knew was that a glowing flower had been the source of her magic. Otherwise, they knew precious little of her powers. She could heal wounds, even return life to a mortally wounded man. They knew more of Elsa's own powers than Rapunzel's.

Except for the source, she realized. That was the one difference between them, really. Perhaps that would be enough.

"Anna, what are you doing for the remainder of the afternoon?"

Her younger sister paused, "Well, I was planning on going to the market to arrange some more items for the feast."

"Send someone else instead," Elsa commanded, using what most would call her 'Queen' voice, "Take Krisoff and visit the trolls. It's been too long since you last visited anyway. Ask them for any information they might have for Rapunzel."

Anna rose to her feet and snapped off a salute, "Yes, my Queen!"

Elsa giggled at that while Anna smiled and came around the desk to give her another hug. They bid each other farewell before Anna left, leaving Elsa alone in her office. She made to go back to her work but a thought made her pause. She called for Kai once more and the older man stepped into her office.

"Kai, our father researched extensively into magic and powers during his reign, yes?"

"Quite extensively, your Majesty," Kai replied.

"Where might his records be?"

Kai paused for a moment, considering, "His private library was removed to the archives, I believe. I cannot access it myself, only a member of the Royal Family may do so. I've actually never been down there."

Elsa smiled, "Well, I believe this must be rectified at once. After dinner this evening, myself and Princess Anna should like an escort to the Royal Archives."

Kai smiled slightly, "As you wish, my queen."

XXX

Rapunzel stood in a large, open room with a high ceiling inside the palace. She was dressed in a pair of cloth pants and a tight tunic, both a bright purple to match the dress she had worn earlier. Before her, suspended twenty feet above her were two ribbons, both the same shade of purple as her clothes. The ribbons reached down to the floor, easily within her grasp.

She strode forward and calmly grasped the ribbons and used them to pull herself up, and once she was high enough, she wrapped the ribbons between her legs and allowed them to hold her with their tension. She repeated this maneuver several times until she was high enough, then she flipped herself over while the ribbons were tight around her thighs. She went head first toward the ground, but the ribbons caught her before she fell even a foot.

She hung there for a moment, enjoying the feeling of blood rushing to her head before she straightened her legs slightly, causing her to fall several feet before she spread them in a split, stopping her downward motion altogether.

"Princess!"

She glanced down and saw her handmaiden Cora, her face white with fear as she stared up at her.

"Trust me, Cora," Rapunzel called down, "I've been doing this for over nearly sixteen years. It was the only way I could really move around the tower back then."

"I'm quite sure it was, Princess Rapunzel; but I'm also quite sure if you fell to your death, your parents would be quite beside themselves."

"You said 'quite' three times in that sentence," Rapunzel noted with a smile as she let herself fall again before grabbing the ribbons and using them to hold herself up while she did several slow arcs with her legs.

"That's because I'm scared for you," Cora cried.

"That's a waste of time," a new voice said, joining them in the room.

Cora turned and actively kept herself from swooning as Eugene joined them. The handsome rogue was officially the betrothed of Princess Rapunzel, but that never stopped most of the servant girls from eyeing the man. A few of the more daring girls had even tried their hand at the former thief, but all were rebuffed quite politely. Except for those who tried to press the issue, then if they were lucky the king or queen would step in. If they were unlucky, Princess Rapunzel would step in herself.

Usually with her trademark frying pan.

"Once Blondie here gets in the air, there's no pulling her down before she's good and ready."

Rapunzel grinned at his words and flipped herself over, letting her body slide down the ribbons until her face was just high enough to reach him. 'Flynn Rider' stepped forward and grasped his love by the back of her neck and pulled her forward, planting a loving kiss on her lips. Rapunzel wrapped her own hands around his neck and hair, blushing and smiling as the kiss deepened.

Cora turned towards the door, preferring to keep her eyes away from the two lovebirds. Were they not betrothed, this type of behavior would be seen as inappropriate, but even so they tended to stray past the line on occasion. It was her own embarrassment that allowed her to spot the brown haired figure walking towards the room.

"Queen Arianna!"

The two separated as if shocked and Rapunzel climbed up the ribbons again, angling herself away from the door so as to hide the blush on her face.

The Queen of Corona stepped into the room, with her own handmaiden a few steps behind her. The woman was the spitting image of Princess Rapunzel, a brunette beauty whose age served to enhance that beauty. She wore red flowing robes with her crown atop her head, a concerned look on her face as she spied her daughter higher than she should be.

"I question our decision to provide those for you."

"Mother!" Rapunzel griped good-naturedly, sliding down the ribbons to gently land on the ground.

She stepped forward and gave her mother a strong hug, visibly enjoying the comfort and love the older woman offered unconditionally. Eugene and Cora couldn't help but smile at how much love they shared.

"Has there been any word from Elsa," Rapunzel asked, curiously.

"None from her specifically," Queen Arianna answered, pulling away from her daughter, "We did receive the letter of invitation to the anniversary of her coronation. I've already sent a reply back, informing them that you and Eugene shall be there."

Rapunzel nodded, but couldn't keep the look of disappointment from her features.

"Rapunzel, it's only been a day," the Queen reminded her impatient daughter,

"It's very likely she received the letter hours ago and has already sent a reply."

Rapunzel nodded in reply, but couldn't quite keep,the disappointment off her face. Queen Arianna studied her for a moment.

"Whatever you wrote her must be very important," she stated, "What...what was it you wrote to her?"

Rapunzel hesitated before turning to Cora and Eugene. The two nodded and made their way outside the doors. Queen Arianna gestured for her own handmaiden, who nodded and walked out the doors as well, stopping only to close them behind her. The royals strode together through the large room, silent at first. Once Rapunzel began to speak, though, she couldn't help but pour her feelings and concerns out. Her mother, to her great credit, merely listened intently to her daughter.

When she finished speaking, Queen Arianna considered carefully before responding.

"There was a rumor about the flower, one that was spread more widely than any other. They say it was just a normal flower, as bright and pretty as any other. Then, one day, when the sun was hidden from view by the darkest clouds, it let a drop of sunlight fall to the earth and it landed on this flower. v.And the flower bloomed like never before, glowing with the power of the sun."

"I've heard that story before," Rapunzel nodded, "It's as good an explanation for the flower as any, but not for the dreams or for the song."

"There may not be an explanation for them," Queen Arianna suggested, "Or at least not one that witch didn't take to her grave."

Rapunzel frowned at that thought, but in doing so she had an epiphany.

"Gothel," she whispered to herself, "That might be the answer."

"I'm sorry, my dear?" Queen Arianna asked, concerned.

"When I left, I only took certain things with me. It never even occurred to me to search her things."

"Wait, stop," Arianna stepped in front of her daughter, forcing her to stop as well, "What are you saying?"

"The tower that served as my home for eighteen years," Rapunzel reiterated, "When I left it for the last time, I only brought my belongings. I didn't think to search hers. And...if I had, it wouldn't have felt right at all."

"...She was still your mother," Arianna realized, trying hard to keep the bitterness out of her voice and failing.

Rapunzel stepped forward and wrapped her arms around her mother, who returned the gesture quite fiercely, like a mother lion protecting her cub.

"Who she was then was a lie," Rapunzel whispered, "You and father, you're the truth."

The two held each other a moment longer before stepping away, Arianna wiping a tear from her eye as she did. Rapunzel held her hands and wished that all those years stolen from her could be returned, no matter how much she knew that wish could never be granted.

"When will you leave?" Queen Arianna asked, "You have the coronation to attend."

"Soon, tomorrow morning at the earliest," Rapunzel answered, "It's at least a day's walk. I'll take Eugene and Cora with me, mpake our way to the Snuggly Duckling. From there, it's not far to the valley. We'll be back in three or four days."

"What about your ruffian friends?" Queen Arianna asked, a small smile on her features, "Why not bring a few of them?"

"A few are there right now, actually," Rapunzel reminded her, "It'd be good to visit them."

"Indeed. Well, if you mean to depart, I'll have all your favorites prepared. I'll have a carriage prepared for you as well."

"Um, Mother," Rapunzel interrupted, "It would be safer if we walked. Bandits see carriages as prizes. If we walk, we can avoid the roads and the spots bandits prefer."

"Are the roads really all that dangerous?"

"Not really, but it pays to be safe."