Disclaimer: Guess who still doesn't own Jack and Rapunzel. This girl!
Jack folded his arms his staff harshly fused with his own skin from his tight frozen grip. The bitterness crept within him like acid with every second that passed, dashing away his foreign hopes. The tip of his fingernail drug itself along the grain of his wooden staff finding that acute hate he'd been nursing begin to churn and brew with in.
"...Punz?" He whispered the nickname quietly, hardly recognizing the frail sound that escaped his lips. She didn't turn her head or even look at him. The silence that he'd fiercely fought against was now his lone company. Instead she leaned on the tower window as if being closer to the blue sky would help answer her prayers.
"I don't want to have just imagined it. ...Mother is wrong. Jack is real. I know that he is." Her mother's accusatory words still haunted her sinking her teetering resolve like fiery quicksand. Her eyebrows furrowed as she glanced at the ground below. No matter how close it seemed it was still a million miles away. Everything beyond her elevated room might as well have been halfway across the world.
Getting to Jack couldn't happen. Where would she even bother to start looking? She felt a wave of guilt assault her as she surveyed the landscape outside her gilded cage.
"I don't need any proof to remember. How it felt being around Jack...that wasn't imaginary." She stated fighting against the only reality she'd ever known.
Turning on her heel she rubbed her brow in frustration letting the lengthy golden locks trail behind her without a care.
"When Jack comes back I'll tell him I'm sorry for doubting him...if he comes...back." She halted her speech as the blurry image of Jack was set before her, fading in and out of focus like a dizzying ring of faintness.
The haze curled through drops of air whirling together like an intricate maze in time with her jumbling thoughts. Her fingers itched to reach out to him as she surveyed his current state. The spirit was leaning against the wall seemingly saturated in a distorted melancholy aura.
His hood rested upon his head hiding his face away from no one but himself as he scraped the ground with the end of his staff. He willed no frost to escape the instrument a painful reluctance pulling at him. Why should he make himself be seen? Why couldn't someone finally just believe in him?
Jack's lowered gaze slowly made its way upward as he carelessly met Rapunzel's stare of mystified awe.
Jack showed no surprise of his own. Being seen was usually an impossible marvel. Now this felt like a mere slap in the face. Was this how it was always going to be? Being seen was now even more fragile than before. It was a delicate rip of himself into reality that could be mended any time.
"Surprised to see me?" He questioned the tone coming out a bit more bitter than he had anticipated.
His hazy form slowly solidified and Rapunzel rushed toward him without hesitation capturing him in a strong embrace.
"Jack! I'm so glad you're here." She called out before quickly stepping back as that particular memory hit her.
"Really? I didn't think you were expecting me." He stated with a roll of his shoulders. His arms had hardly returned her gesture when she embraced him, the feeling of betrayal settling in his heart despite his efforts to push it aside. He skimmed the crook of his staff along the floorboards as his stomach twisted in fervent knots.
"I waited for you. Mother wanted to lock the door when I told her that Jack Frost might be coming in the window." Rapunzel looked up for Jack's response but he looked throughly distracted as if he were somewhere else. Opening her mouth Rapunzel continued her explanation hoping it might ease the tension.
"She said that was just a tale to humor children but I didn't listen. I left it unlocked and eventually she found out. Mother got angry with me and I started...doubting you." She paused again hoping to elicit some kind of response from him but she received nothing in return.
"I'm sorry Jack. Maybe my mother isn't always right. Sometimes it's better if I listen and believe in what I know is true. ...Would you maybe... forgive me?" Her plea was almost silent as she wrung her fingers together at his quiet reply. He stiffly turned his face away from her unable to meet her current gaze.
She didn't know how it felt to be forgotten. To have no one believe in you and survive through utter loneliness. He'd spent a life pretending through curved smiles and sly tricks but it never filled that gaping emptiness that careened about like a fierce blizzard inside his soul.
For Rapunzel, the hanging moment was a lingering poison that kept seeping fear and indecision into her veins with every second that ticked by.
"It's hard not to be believed in. I thought that you of all people would understand how it feels for me to be alone."
"Wh-what are talking about Jack?"
"I haven't really talked to anyone at least not anyone human since the moment I was born. That was three hundred and seventeen years ago."
"You mean to say that no one else can see you?" She asked looking him over trying to figure out exactly what could have been different in their eyes.
"Yeah, I can never figure out why it is for the life of me, but there's no point in asking because everyone just walks right through me." Jack said throwing his hand in the air with a slightly exasperated expression.
"You mean...literally?"
"I mean literally. Your Mother can't see me so she phased right through me, you did too." He repeated plainly with a bit of a dark chuckle behind his words. His eyes widened as she tentatively reached a hand out towards his spiky silver strands her palm brushing softly across them as if testing his words for validity.
"I don't know. You feel pretty real to me right now." She delivered the words to him with a gentle smile hoping she could somehow free him from his feeling of solitude. Jack was always joking around. Maybe for a moment he needed someone to see the real him, not the mischievous imp that conjured winter but the boy that had only ever known loneliness.
Jack stared at her unsure why exactly he felt this stirring within himself. It was happening more often now each time he'd accidentally touch her hand or find himself coming up with some excuse to scoot a little closer to admire the details she'd point out in her drawings. Every moment with Rapunzel was never a chore and he found himself rushing through his duties more often than not in the hopes to come back to visit with the girl with the golden hair.
That was why when she had walked right through him, it stung him like the embers of eternal hellfire. That hope that he'd hesitantly held onto was crushed by the pungent truth that always attacked him in the fullness of that torturous phase. It was why he avoided getting close to people. Illusion was simple to maintain at a distance. He could believe that he was one of them. He could believe that people of all ages and backgrounds cheered for his handiwork and that he was in someway a necessary part of their lives.
All delusion came crashing down whenever the shocking truth stepped through him. With Rapunzel it was different though. He couldn't stop himself from wanting to be close to her, if only so he wouldn't have to walk the world alone. She'd always implore his curiosity when she'd look at him when she thought he couldn't see, that cherry red hue he'd come to adore skirting it's way along her cheeks.
'Not again.' He thought clearly aware of the trouble those initial feelings had gotten him into before. He didn't want them eating away at him until he had nothing left but more bitter goodbyes to whisper without any chance of reply.
"I'm going." He said his voice sharp as he flew to his feet the wind whirling about his heels.
"Oh...did I say something wrong?" Rapunzel questioned suddenly very in tune with the stale prickly atmosphere around them.
Jack perched his bare feet upon the ledge his toes curling around the thick wood.
"I've been laxing on my duties lately. Not that I care much but hey I have a reputation to uphold." His voice was masked with his usual cocky tone yet it couldn't hide the tinge of regret within it as he spoke the next words.
"I probably won't be back for a while so you don't need to wait up for me anymore. There's a lot that needs to be done as it is."
"Oh well I-understand." She said her own voice masking her emotions.
"But you'll come back for Christmas won't you? I mean Mother can't see you or anything. There's no reason why you can't join us."
"Maybe, I don't know. Everyone and their mother's wishing for a white Christmas this year. I doubt I'll be able to stay." He replied his voice softening at her forlorn expression.
"But hey-I promise to bring a mess of flurries your way. After all what kind of spirit of winter would I be if I didn't give the one person in this world who appreciates me a gift of their own." With a wave of his hand his fingers caressed the air, his wind blowing an icy chill her way before it carried the boy in the hoodie of deep blue with it.
Rapunzel wrinkled her nose feeling somewhat assured by the frozen chill that lingered there. It kept her in confidence that this definitely wasn't just a dream. She rested her arms on the edge of the balcony where the winter spirit had once stood. Looking out into the distance she felt that familiar emptiness take over her.
"I would actually rather just have you here Jack." Rapunzel let out a sigh as she buried her face under her hair an uncharacteristic groan escaping her lips. She hadn't expected they would get along so well, hadn't even thought she'd see another real living being in her life. But Jack was more than just another person to talk to, he was the only one who understood. He knew how it felt to spend your years alone longing for some kind of companionship that wouldn't ever come. Of course she had Mother and she loved her dearly but it just wasn't the same. Mother didn't understand how it felt to long for adventure, for something more than these four walls. She was so convinced the world was so completely evil that she didn't even dare discuss the wonders of it. That's why she'd enjoyed her time with Jack so much.
He'd told her stories of places he'd visited around the entire world. Vivid imagery of snow-capped mountains and people who dared to face the odds, climbing through the blistering storms that he sent their way. After all what was the point of having an adventure if it wasn't even a challenge.
Pursing her lips she tossed her hair on the free hanging hook above her deciding she'd busy herself with even more chores. After all she needed to figure out where Pascal had been hiding. He always seemed to excuse himself for some odd reason when Jack came around.
"Pascal!" Rapunzel called her jade eyes darting around her space to try and discover her elusive chameleon. Hearing his small rolling chirp she turned down at her smiling at her loving friend.
"Pascal! There you are. Did you see Jack?" She asked curiously. Pascal nodded with an mmmhmm squeak looking at Rapunzel with a sly expression. Pascal bit at the air teasingly imitating the memory Rapunzel couldn't forget with a snicker of glee.
"W-what?"
A nervous laugh escaped Rapunzel's lips as Pascal looked upon her all knowingly. He gestured out the window with an appreciative nod as if he held some form of approval for the troublesome winter spirit.
"Of course I like Jack. He's a good friend like you Pascal."
Pascal lowered his eyes and shook his head clearly indicating that it wasn't the same. He pointed out the window then gestured toward Rapunzel his color morphing into a lovely blushing red.
"Pascal!" She chided her face growing to match the chameleon current hue.
"Jack is precious to me but I don't know what this-"
"Oh Rapunzel! Let down your haaaair!" The singsong voice called out ignoring the girl's pondering.
"Coming Mother!" Pascal lightly hit himself on the head rolling his eyes in annoyance at Gothel's interruption. How would his ship ever set sail if Gothel kept up her blocking?
Mic Mic: There we are you have your ages answered and your where is Pascal answered. He keeps excusing himself in the hope that one day he'll wake up and have grandkids. Don't get me wrong Pascal is protective but he wants Rapunzel's happiness more than anything. Hence why he likes Jack.