"Heh. One of these days, I'm going to get you out of here and it will be glorious."
Rapunzel smiled warmly until she heard the voice of her mother screaming for her to let down her hair.
"Oh no! It's my mother. You must hide!" Rapunzel panicked.
"Pfft. She won't be able to see me. Trust me."
"Would you stop that about being invisible already because you're very real to me!"
Because you're very real to me, Jack thought to himself. It had been a very simple statement that kept Jack coming back to the tower. Each visit he feared would be the one where Rapunzel wouldn't be able to see him anymore. Although the fear was great, when he would actually arrive, things would be ten times better when it became clear Rapunzel still believed in him. Jack had been visiting Rapunzel for a year and at times, he basically seemed to live there. He was able to prove he was Jack Frost on the day he first met her. When her mother did come inside, she of course, could not see him. This left Rapunzel flabbergasted as well as Jack. But Jack had his own reasons for being surprised.
The woman that was suppose to be Rapunzel's mother looked very familiar. She definitely looked like someone he had seen before when she would wear her cloak. It hit him six months later. She was the figure he had seen steal a baby princess. Jack at that point had to put two and two together and finally decided to share the truth with Rapunzel now that her eighteenth birthday was coming up.
"So Punz, you always like to hear me tell you stories right?" Jack asked while hanging upside down from a ceiling beam.
"Of course I do. You have another one?" she asked starting to get a little excited. "Did you fight more snow goblins?"
"Snow goblins? Uh, Punz, you have to remember that some of my adventurous stories are greatly exaggerated."
"Oh right. Anyways, what is this new story?"
"What if I told you that-" he tried to find the right words. "What if I told you that Mother Gothel, excuse me, Gothel, wasn't your mother." Jack inquired.
Rapunzel looked somewhat confused at Jack but that quickly changed into a laugh. She put a puzzle piece down while looking to him.
"I'd say you're crazy. Certainly she doesn't look like me but, yeah. She raised me in this nice little hou-"
"Prison." Jack interrupted.
"Aw come on now Jack. You don't honestly think I've been living with a stranger have you?"
"I really do. You don't find it suspicious that when she's brushing your hair she makes you sing that song?"
"She likes to hear me sing, so what?"
"So what?" Jack repeated a little irritated. "She's using your hair to keep herself in a youthful state. You know you're healing powers work when that tune is sung."
"You're talking crazy. If this was all true, how do you know and why tell me now?" Rapunzel interrogated.
Jack looked into her eyes for a moment and then looked to the ceiling above him. He envisioned the day as best he could remember: the baby Rapunzel smiling at him, the figures shaky,old woman voice and the hand going from wrinkled to smooth. After recapping the events to himself he looked back to Rapunzel.
"I know because I was there. You were just a baby."
"When you say you were there, where is 'there?"
Jack opened his mouth to answer but soon the woman in questions voice was heard out the window. Jack hunched his shoulders while Rapunzel waltzed over to the window tossing her hair out to reel in the woman she called Mother. Jack glared at her as she came inside.
"How are you my darling?" Gothel asked in a disinterested tone.
"I've been rath-"
"Good!" Gothel exclaimed while setting down a basket of minor groceries. "I've just been all over the place trying to find the right herbs. I think I need to take a little breather."
"Yes of course Mother. You know, I actually want to as-" she was interrupted again.
"Rapunzel dear, are you ready? I certainly am." Gothel sat upon her comfy chair.
"I'll be right there." Rapunzel answered as she glanced over at Jack who was still mad dogging Gothel.
Jack watched as Rapunzel sat on her little cushioned stool and begin to sing her song. Her long golden tresses lit up brightly while Gothel was brushing. As she brushed, the few wrinkles she had began to disappear from her hand until Rapunzel started to sing much faster then she usually did.
"Whoa. Can you please slow dow-" Gothel began.
"Now that I've gotten your attention, I need to ask you something?"
"What? What do you possibly need to know? You read so much you should probably know everything." Gothel inquired annoyed.
"Well as you know, I'll be turning 18 soon."
"Yes of course dear. How could I forget your birthday?"
"Right. Well I would think that I'm wise enough to finally, if only for a moment, go outside the tower. With age comes-"
"Wisdom." Mother Gothel finished. "Hm. Well let's take a look at you dear. You're a very naïve, immature and clumsy girl. Let's not forget gullible. You'd be eaten up alive out there." Gothel laughed.
Rapunzel peered over at Jack. He still hung upside down but gestured with his hand for her to try again.
"Yes. I am quite inexperienced but if you just let me go out, I can learn to adapt like you. I mean that's kind of the purpose of a Mother. To teach the-"
"I know what a mother does!" Gothel shouted. Rapunzel jumped a little.
"Oh dear...I'm very sorry. You must promise me something my flower." Gothel went on as she stood from her chair.
"Y-yes Mother?"
"You mustn't ask to leave this tower again."
As much as she didn't want to, Rapunzel agreed to her mother's terms. Instead of asking for permission to leave her tower, she requested new paints. This was a gift Mother Gothel had agreed to. The ingredients to fetch was a few days away so Gothel decided she would just set out now.
"Alright then. I shall be home within a few. Make sure to keep our home nice and tidy." Then with a kiss to Rapunzel's forehead, she slowly set out using Rapunzel's hair as a bit of a ladder
"Yes Mother. I'll be here." she whispered forlornly.
Jack observed Rapunzel casually return to her bed and plop into a sit. Her emerald eyes contained a somber look which only made the spirit more aggravated at her so called mother. This negative aura that emitted off of Rapunzel wasn't something he was entirely use to. It was as uncomfortable as walking around in wet trousers.
"Hey Punz." Jack flipped down from the ceiling and made his way to the heart broken maiden and put a cold hand under her chin. "The thing that matters is you tried."
"Don't you get it? I got turned down. That hurts. Especially since I've never wanted to go out of the tower so much until I met you."
"Heh. That means I'm certainly doing a good job in spreading mischievous thoughts." Jack smirked.
"I suppose so. Remember when we met? The idea of leaving the tower made me nauseous."
"Obviously not anymore. But hey, let's forget about that and just have a little fun ya?"
Jack took Rapunzel's hand and roughly pulled her up from the bed. Her eyes widened with great surprise as she started to be forcefully pulled around the tower. He spun her around and flung her to the right only to pull her back to him. Rapunzel couldn't help but smile once she finally realized what was going on. They were dancing. Of course it was in a very rough fashion but nonetheless it was dancing and she was enjoying herself. She laughed as he let go of her hand and she did her own little solo of twirls throughout the tower. Her pet chameleon named Pascal watched with slight interest from Rapunzel's dresser.
"Yeah! Transfer all that negative energy into fun." Jack encouraged from the other side of the room with a big grin. He then ran over to grab his staff and started to make a beat on the floor.
Rapunzel pranced over to Jack in rhythm with the beat. She gave one last solo whirl before she found her hands in Jack's again.
"Alright now. Time for the finale!" Jack yanked Rapunzel into him. "You ready Punzie?"
"F-for what exactly?" she attempted to ask but it was rather late. She was suddenly launched into a elegant twister until she tripped over her own flowing hair. She stumbled forward and fell face first into the floor. The golden locks snaked itself around Jack's ankle bringing him down as well. Before Jack could hit the floor he attempted to catch himself only to knock over Gothel's spare lantern. It fragmentized almost instantly. The noise of broken glass made Rapunzel rise at lightening speed.
"Oh no. Jack! What happened?"
Jack slowly sat up running his fingers through his hair looking at the broken mess. He turned his gaze to Rapunzel who was eager to have an answer. He couldn't help but grin stupidly.
"Blame it on the boogie?" he semijocularly answered.