Author's Note: The next chapter with completely new material this time :)


The next day, the four returned to school with a smile plastered on their faces. The previous night had turned out better than they'd expected and they were eager to meet each other once again.

Hiccup, flying on Toothless, brought the two to the ground. They landed at their usual spot in the woods near the school. "Ok, Toothless, I'll see you, later." He hopped off the black dragon's back and turned around to find Merida beside a tree. "Gah!" He shouted.

"Good morning, Hiccup." She greeted casually, walking up to him.

"Uh… Merida… How did you-"

"I figured this was why you were in a rush the other day. I nearly followed you here last time, so I just kept on walking." Merida responded, walking forward. "'Morning, Toothless." She bent down so she was face to face with the reptile. Toothless bowed his head down low, closing his eyes and then lifted his head, opening his eyes again. Merida patted his head playfully, smiling. Hiccup stood to the side, scratching his head. "Hey, Hiccup, can I ride Toothless, now?" She looked to him.

Hiccup sighed, "I'd have to teach you first and first period starts in ten minutes." Merida puffed out a frustrated groan. "I thought we agreed on tonight."

"I know, I know. I just can't wait. Curse all these stupid classes." She stuck her tongue out at the school just visible upon the hill through the trees. Hiccup laughed.

"Come on. The sooner we get there, the sooner it'll all be over." He began to head to the sloping hill.

"Alright." Merida traipsed behind him. "Goodbye." Merida waved to the dragon and he lifted his head, letting out a small roaring sound with a small smile. "So that's why you call him Toothless." She muttered with a slight grin.

Inside the building, Rapunzel walked beside Flynn who held her dainty hand within his own. Within her mind, she compared his hand to Jack's. It was distinctly warmer, but Rapunzel noted that the chill she felt from Jack wasn't uncomfortable, somehow. "Hey, you want me to pick you something up for breakfast?"

"Sure. Oh, meet me in the library, ok?" Rapunzel spoke.

"No problem." He responded and headed into the cafeteria. Rapunzel walked into the library and pulled out the art book she'd previously check out, slipping it into the return slot. She headed into the arts section again, searching for a new volume to borrow. "Let's see…" She tapped her chin. A figure to the side caught her eye and she recognized it to be the red-haired girl she'd encountered before. The girl turned to her with an amused smirk.

"Will you be needing that ladder again?"

Rapunzel was oblivious to the fact that she was being poked fun at and replied, "No, not this time." She pulled a book on watercolors off of the shelf.

"Oh. Well, whenever there's a high to reach book you want, maybe you could try pulling it down with your hair." She joked with a snicker.

This time Rapunzel sensed the girl's jesting and frowned. Meanwhile, the red-haired student spied over the shelves and when she found what she was looking for, tried reaching for it. It was too high for her, though, even when she stood on the tips of her toes. Rapunzel gathered a lock of her hair and swung out her hair as if it were a lasso, knocking the book from the edge of the shelf. It fell into the red-head's hands and she gasped in surprise. She looked to Rapunzel who was grinning triumphantly, the lock of hair still gripped in her hand. "You're welcome."

Merida stared at her for a moment, but then cracked an impressed smile, chuckling. "Alright, thank you… um…"

"I'm Rapunzel." She introduced herself. "What's your name?"

"Merida." The red-haired girl answered, tucking the book underneath her arm.

"Rapunzel!" A voice called.

"Oh! That's my boyfriend. Gotta go." Rapunzel dropped her hair to the ground and clutched her book in both hands.

"See ya." Merida inclined her head, before starting to flip through the pages of her book.

Rapunzel ran around the bookshelf just to bump into Flynn, who was holding a latte and a doughnut. He nearly dropped them, before he steadied himself. "Whoa!"

"Oops!" Rapunzel helped him keep balance and then when she noticed what was in his hands, jumped a little in excitement.

"I got your favorite." Flynn grinned, holding out the food to her.

"Thanks, Flynn." She smiled, taking the coffee and doughnut into her hands. She stood on the tips of her toes to kiss his cheek. Flynn blushed and his grin grew even wider. Merida watched out of the corner of her eye and scoffed at the mushiness. Out of the corner of her eye, standing outside of the window of the library in the halls, she spotted the white-haired kid from earlier. He scowled deeply, staring at the same thing that Merida had just witnessed, before shoving his hands in his hoodie pockets and trudging down the hall.

The day continued on quickly and lunchtime came around. Hiccup and Jack met up and received their lunches. At the lunch table, Hiccup began with, "So guess what I found out?"

"What?" Jack asked, uncapping his bottle of chocolate milk.

"Merida's a princess." He put extra emphasis on 'princess'.

"Wow. Really? I would've never thought that." Jack said, his lip curling up as he pulled off the top to his drink.

"Yes. So remember how I told you me and Merida are partners on the animation project?"

"Yep." Jack's smirk grew bigger and he took a swig of his milk.

"Well, I went to her house- which is a castle!- and the whole gang was there: king, queen, princes."

"You didn't screw up, did you?" Jack asked, arching an eyebrow.

"No… at least, I don't think so. I mean, they sort of freaked out when they found out I was Viking, 'cause of some bad blood between us and the Scots in the past, but, uh… yeah, I think they like me." He ended with a contented smile.

Jack gulped down more of his drink and nodded.

"And, um… I also told Merida about Toothless." He added quickly.

"Mm!" Jack's cheeks puffed out as he almost did a spit-take, but swallowed down the milk. He exhaled and spoke, "You did?"

Hiccup bobbed his head. A big grin split across Jack's face and he leaned forward, patting Hiccup's shoulder. "I'm proud of you, Hiccup." Hiccup rolled his eyes, but still smiled. "So you're serious about this one, huh?"

Hiccup firmly explained, "We're friends." He looked out across the lunchroom to where a certain blonde-haired girl sat. "How'd things go with Rapunzel?"

"Good. I mean, we didn't get any work done, but…" Jack trailed off. Hiccup shook his head. Jack saw and said, "No, look, I learned a lot about her. Like, get this, she-" The winter spirit began, but when he realized what he was about to reveal, he stopped.

Hiccup looked to him to continue, raising an eyebrow. "She, uh… she's really into art. She's got these murals and paintings all over her house. They're amazing." A grin crossed his lips as he remembered the different images.

Interested, due to his own love of art, Hiccup spoke, "Huh… I'd like to see that…"

"Wouldn't you?" Jack took another sip from his drink before forking through the pasta on his tray. "I can't wait to go back tonight."

"Same here. I'm taking Merida to ride Toothless." Hiccup said. Jack, who'd shoved a forkful of spaghetti into his mouth nearly coughed that out, like before.

He swallowed and repeated, "So you're serious about this one?" Hiccup's eyebrows just knit together this time, but pink tinged his cheeks.

Later that evening, Jack eagerly flew to the tower hidden in the forest. He landed on the sill of the tower window and peered inside. "Rapunzel?" He called, scanning about the tower. At the top of the stairs, Rapunzel pushed past the purple curtains, clutching the book on animation in her hands; Pascal was perched on her shoulder once more.

"Jack!" She exclaimed, heading down the steps. Jack went into the tower and just like before, the room got colder. Pascal scampered into Rapunzel's pocket again, not wasting any time to regain his warmth. Rapunzel laughed, shaking her head at the chameleon. "Come on, I've got some things planned out upstairs I want you to see."

She gestured for him to follow her as she headed back upstairs and Jack did. In her bedroom, laid out on her bed, was a huge canvas. Most of it had been painted on, but most areas were left blank. "The first task of the project is to draw something. But I took things a little further than that."

"No kidding." Jack replied, approaching the bed and looking over the painting.

Rapunzel picked up a paintbrush and handed it to him. "Here. Paint anything you want." Jack took it and nodded, climbing onto her bed.

He thought for a moment, before painting out the image of the moon. Meanwhile, Rapunzel was finishing up creating a sun. As time passed, the canvas began to fill with images: Lights, Santa Claus, Pascal, and the Easter Bunny, the Tower, the Tooth Fairy, the forest, the Sandman and then a few skyscrapers. As she painted, Rapunzel looked over, "Santa Claus? Is that the Easter Bunny…"

"Yeah… and the Tooth Fairy and the Sandman." He pointed out the other two.

"Huh… Why do you draw them?" Rapunzel looked over the pictures.

"They're my friends."

"Your friends?" A smile was already spreading across her face.

"Yeah. We're a team. Known as the Guardians of Childhood."

"Guardians of Childhood…" Rapunzel repeated quietly, "So you protect kids."

"Right. As long as there are kids who believe in us, we're around to watch over them."

"That's so sweet. You're like a guardian angel." Rapunzel looked to him with a smile.

"I guess you could say that." Jack nodded, with a small laugh. Rapunzel looked at the pictures again.

"Do you think I could meet them?" Rapunzel asked, eagerness bubbling into her voice.

"They're pretty busy, but, sure, I could introduce you to them sometime." Jack sat up from the painting, satisfied with what he'd managed to draw out. He glanced at what Rapunzel was working, skyscrapers.

"You like the city?" He asked.

"I've never been to one, of course, but they look really fun." She replied as she finished the last touch to red building. A big grin appeared on Jack's face as he set his brush down.

"Then that's where we're going first." He announced.

"Wait- right now?" Rapunzel's eyes grew larger.

"Yeah." He jumped off of the bed, grabbing the wooden staff he'd leaned against the wall. Rapunzel remembered what Jack had told her the night before and a wide smile crossed her lips. She set down her paintbrush as well and followed Jack. Pascal poked his head out of Rapunzel's pocket curiously. Rapunzel descended the stairs as Jack hopped onto the windowsill. She came to a halt once she reached the window, though. She glanced outside and Pascal peered out as well. Butterflies began to grow in her stomach.

"You ready?" Jack asked and she looked up at him.

"Wait." She said and whirled around, heading toward the kitchen. Inside, she fumbled through the cabinets until she found the frying pan. She reached out for it, but as her fingers wrapped around the handle, she faltered. "What if… what if I shouldn't go? Mother… could be right about what she tells me… What do you think, Pascal?" She looked down to the chameleon, who climbed out of her pocket, and onto her shoulder. With his tail, he jabbed toward Jack's direction. Rapunzel showed him a small smile, before turning back to the pan. She pulled out the pan and patted it on her other hand, contemplating for a few more seconds. "Alright. Here I go." She exhaled and stood to her feet, and headed out of the kitchen. "Ok, I'm ready." She appeared before Jack, holding up her pan.

He eyed the pan, chuckling to himself. "What? I never leave home without it." Rapunzel declared, putting the pan under her arm.

"Let's go. Shall we?" He held out her hand and she gladly took it, letting him help her onto the windowsill. And then she was yanked out of the window, her hair trailing behind her.

"Ah! Jack! Jack!" She screamed as she dangled in mid-air, clutching his hand tightly.

"Don't worry." He replied, but he then dropped her for a moment and she squealed even louder, flailing about. Jack dove down to catch her, wrapping his arms around her, and now holding her more securely beneath him. Rapunzel panted, her heart pounding loudly in her chest. "You're fine." He said and she nodded breathlessly. Pascal, who was still within her pocket, poked his head out and glared at the winter spirit. He seemed unfazed, though, and grinned playfully at him.

As Rapunzel tried to calm herself down, she and Jack were halted abruptly and yanked back. He struggled to keep Rapunzel within his grip and nearly dropped her again. They both looked back and Rapunzel groaned as she saw a lock of her hair snagged onto a tree branch below. "What are we gonna do?" She asked.

"Can you tie your hair up somehow?" He questioned.

"I think so. But that would take, like, an hour." Rapunzel responded.

"Well, I can help. We'll never get to the city if your hair gets tangled in trees and stuff." Jack turned the two around and landed on the ground by the tree. He then darted up into the higher branches to free her hair.

"Oh… It is in here real good." Jack sighed, inspecting the way the hair weaved in and out of the branches. "Let's see…" He muttered as he carefully pulled the lock out of the branches. Rapunzel waited patiently on the ground. A few minutes passed and finally her hair was freed. "Here you go." Jack smiled, pleased with his accomplishment, and tossed her hair down for her to catch. He jumped down to the ground.

"Thanks." Rapunzel spoke, but then frowned. "I'm sorry to have made you go through all this trouble."

"No, it's no problem. But, you know, if you think it's such a hassle, why don't you just cut your hair." He asked. Rapunzel, who was gathering her hair, gasped a little.

"Oh, no. I couldn't possibly do that. You see, if my hair gets cut, it'll lose its power." She pushed her hair to the side and revealed a short piece of brown hair. Frowning in confusion, Jack walked forward, gazing at the dark lock. "And it turns brown." Rapunzel continued.

"Huh. What's so bad about that, though?"

"Mother says it keeps her well, just knowing that I still have my hair. I bet it'd kill her if I tried to cut it."

"Yeah, that's for sure." Jack muttered. Rapunzel's hair had clearly retained Gothel's youthfulness the day before. Who knows how old the woman would be without Rapunzel's magic. A moment passed before he spoke again, "Let's get your hair fixed up."

"Right." Rapunzel nodded. The two set to tying her hair up. But as Jack worked, frost began to form on the hair and he withdrew, wincing. Rapunzel glanced down and offered a smile, "It's fine." Jack bobbed his head, relieved and continued on, leaving patches of frost in her hair as he did. Several minutes later, the two finished and her hair was loosely gathered into a braid. The ponytail ended just above her ankles and stray hairs escaped the braid. Patches of frost and ice shone in the moonlight, and they actually looked quite nice. "I love it!" Rapunzel gushed, holding the braid out to see. Jack's eyebrows rose in surprise.

"Really?"

She nodded, smiling. "Thank you." She said genuinely.

"You're welcome." Jack said in response, still a bit surprised. Then he said, "Come on, Rapunzel." He took her hand and lifted her up again.

Flying was much easier now and within time, bright lights could be seen in the distance. "Is that the city?!" She yelled out against the wind.

"Yep. We're almost there!" He called. Anticipation bubbled up inside of Rapunzel as the lights became more distinguishable as belongings to tall buildings, street lights and cars. Pascal peered out from her pocket and gasped at the sight.

Soon they were soaring over the city and towards a huge building nearby. "What is that!?" Rapunzel shouted, gazing at the structure and marveling it's colorful domes and towers.

"St. Basil's Cathedral." Jack answered, flying over to it. On the tip of the highest tower, Jack landed and carefully set her down on the dome below. She held tightly to the point rising from the structure and her eyes swept over the city below. She felt no fear of being so high, for Rapunzel was too excited.

"Are we in Russia?" She turned to Jack with an amazed expression. He nodded, grinning widely. "Oh my gosh!" She squealed, her hand leaving the point momentarily. She quickly grabbed at it again, giggling nervously. Rapunzel looked down to her pocket. "Look, Pascal! Look, where we are." The chameleon came out of her hoodie pocket and ran up all the way to her head. Perched up there, he received a better look at the city and gawked.

"Pretty cool, right?" Jack spoke.

"Yes! Oh, can we go down to the city and-" Rapunzel began, pointing to the streets with her frying pan, but the clock tower nearby struck 8:00. "What?" Her face fell as she looked to the clock.

"Hm?" Jack crinkled his brows together, looking to the clock as well.

"Mother will be home any minute." Rapunzel said.

"Wha- Are you serious? But we just got here!"

"I know! But if she gets home and I'm not there…" Rapunzel's face contorted into one of extreme anxiety.

Jack sighed, "Yeah… Come on, let me take you home." He extended his hand and Rapunzel took it, a sad look on her face. Pascal returned to her hoodie pocket reluctantly. The girl gave the city one last look before she and Jack flew off the cathedral.

At the tower, Rapunzel slid into the tower and Jack stood on the sill. "I want to go back." She spoke sadly.

"You're gonna. Tomorrow night, it'll be the first thing we do." Outside the tower, Gothel appeared in the clearing and approached the building. "I should probably go now." He turned to leave.

"Wait." Rapunzel grabbed his hand impulsively and he turned back. "I'm happy that I could at least see the city tonight, so, thank you, Jack." She smiled at him and he found himself smiling back at her. He nodded and gave her hand a squeeze, before letting go.

Jack jumped out the window and was off just as Gothel's voice rang out, "Rapunzel, let down your hair!" Rapunzel's eyes looked back to the braid her hair was in and flinched. "Just a minute!" She shouted out the window.

Hiccup arrived at the castle of DunBroch just as the sky turned purple and dismounted from Toothless. He whirled around to find a figure standing a couple feet away. He jumped, then when he realized who it was said, "Again? Really?"

Merida laughed as she came forward, "I've been waiting here since before you arrived. How could you miss me?"

Hiccup exhaled, shrugging and walked a couple paces closer. Merida brought a piece of folded paper out of her hoodie pocket and unfolded it. It was the instructions sheet for the animation project. "Take a look at this, Hiccup." She held the paper out for him. Hiccup took the paper and as he looked over it, Merida added, "Read the second task."

Hiccup scanned the words until he found what she was talking about. "Animators get huge inspiration from experiences. Whether it be exploring the lands where the film is set or taking part in activities like the characters. Try having an adventure of your own."

"Do you know what that means, Hiccup?" Merida inquired, excitement dripping into her voice.

"Oh, yes. Toothless, you up for another run?" He turned back to his reptilian friend and Toothless bobbed his head. Merida hopped on her feet eagerly, a huge smile on her face. She came forward and climbed onto Toothless' back just as she did with her horse, Angus.

"You don't waste any time, do you?" Hiccup chuckled, handing her paper back. Merida shook her head, her curls flying about. "Your family knows you're out here, right?"

"Yes, yes. I told mum and dad that you and me will be working outdoors today. As for my brothers, well, they're up to mischief at the moment, no doubt." Hiccup thought of the mischievous youngsters he'd met the day before. He didn't disagree with Merida's words. "Well, come on, Hiccup." Merida patted at a spot on Toothless' back.

The Viking teen came forward and mounted himself on Toothless again, taking a spot in front of Merida. "You might want to hold on to something. Toothless is steady, but there's no guarantee you won't fall off." Merida nodded and looked about for something to grab. That's when it hit her what she was supposed to do.

"Oh." She scooted forward and wrapped her arms around Hiccup. His face grew warm as he felt her light touch and he cleared his throat, feeling flustered. "Alright, Toothless. Let's fly."

Merida bit her lip as Toothless started off trotting along the land. The cliff just beyond the castle came closer and soon Toothless broke into a sprint. His wings had spread out and begun to beat and when he ran out of earth to move upon he soared across the air. Merida gasped as they raised high above the cliff. She looked back as the castle grew smaller and smaller as Toothless sped further into the sky; her fingers instinctively clutched the fabric of Hiccup's clothes as the dragon flew up vertically. Merida laughed with glee and Hiccup smiled to himself. Toothless flew on and then steadied himself, causing Merida to loosen her grip on Hiccup.

She looked all about her and gasped. They were so high up that it seemed they were right next to the moon. The night was cloudless and the now dark sky had begun to display blinking stars. Merida's expression turned into one of complete awe. They sailed across the sky and she gazed down below at the forest. "I can't believe it… I'm actually flying on a dragon!" Merida shouted in disbelief. "Oh, this is wonderful!" She shouted, removing her arms from Hiccup. Merida spread her arms out wide like Toothless' spread wings; she closed her eyes and roll back until it was facing up. Merida laughed again and whooped.

"We shouldn't go any farther than here." Hiccup spoke, sometime later, as they approached an open sea.

Merida almost didn't want to go back, but nodded, "I think your dragon could use a break." She patted Toothless side.

"Come on, bud. Let's head back." He said and Toothless maneuvered about, going in the opposite direction. Merida's arms settled around Hiccup again as she took one final look at the view before Toothless dove back to the earth. After some time, the castle of DunBroch came into sight and Toothless slowed down. He landed at the spot near the castle again. The two dismounted and Merida jumped about with joy.

Hiccup grinned and spoke, "So how was it? Your first ride with Toothless?"

"Amazing! Hiccup, I haven't enjoyed myself so much as just now in a long time!" Merida whirled around to face him. She looked to Toothless. "I'd love to learn to ride a dragon." She spoke wistfully.

"It's like I said before. I'd be happy to teach you." Hiccup offered, placing a hand on Toothless' cool scales.

Merida bobbed her head eagerly, then she thought for a moment. "Why don't you tell others about Toothless? I'm sure there are people out there who'd love to have the same experience I just had."

Hiccup furrowed his brows, "I don't know, I…" He began when there was a rustling in the bushes nearby. His eyes darted up and Merida whirled about, growing cautious. Toothless' eyes narrowed; his teeth jutted out and he bared them dangerously. There was more rustling and then a figure fell out of the bushes, rolling onto his bottom. Merida's eyes grew wide. "Harris?" She eyed over the red-haired boy. He shook his head, a bit dizzy and then looked up. He smiled sheepishly at his sister and Hiccup. Then his eyes landed on Toothless. "Ooh!" He cried and stood to his feet running to the dragon. Toothless had calmed down and eyed Harris curiously. "Grrr!" Harris bared his teeth playfully and then tackled Toothless. The dragon nudged him and Harris held on tighter. Merida shook her head, but smiled. Hiccup laughed.

"Are your brothers here, too?" She asked. Harris turned to stare at her and shook his head. But then there was a sniffle and a sneeze heard in the bushes. A giggle was heard after that. Merida looked back to Harris. He nodded. "Hubert! Hamish! Come on out!" Merida called. The boys popped out of the bushes after a moment and ran to join their brother.

"What are you guys doing out here?" Hiccup came forward.

Hubert pointed at the dragon and then jumped at one of Toothless' legs, latching onto it. Hamish struggled to climb onto his back. "The wee devils…" Merida muttered before speaking louder, "Does mum know you left the castle?"

"Uh-uh." Hamish sounded, sitting on Toothless' saddle.

"Mum will be cross and I'm not about to take the blame." Merida tried to sound stern.

"Merida's right." Hiccup agreed, standing beside her.

"Merida! Come in! And have you seen the boys?" Elinor's voice rang out. Merida turned to the boys.

"Aw…" Hamish slid onto the ground and Hubert dropped to the ground, letting go of Toothless' leg. Harris, who was on Toothless' head, holding onto either side, pouted. He rubbed his cheek against the dragon's scales.

Merida sighed, "You can play next time Hiccup comes over. Isn't that right?" She glanced over at him.

"Huh? Oh, yeah. Uh…" Hiccup had found himself gazing at the triplets play with Toothless. Merida's words from before rang in his mind. They all looked happy. Harris, now, standing on the ground was nudged by Toothless playfully this time and Harris laughed. Maybe Merida was right about letting others know about Toothless. "They can play next time."

"See?" Merida said.

"Merida!" Elinor shouted again.

"We'd better get going. Come on, boys." Merida gestured to the three princes. "Goodnight, Hiccup. Toothless." Merida waved and so did the boys.

"Goodnight." Hiccup waved and the three turned around.

"Tomorrow's dragon training." Hiccup called behind her.

"Can't wait!" Merida called back. She turned around, walking backward for a few moments. "And thanks for today, Hiccup."

"No problem." Hiccup smiled and so did Merida before she turned around again. When they disappeared out of sight, he faced Toothless. "Let's go home, Toothless." He got onto his back and the two were quickly off. As they flew away, Hiccup continued to think about Merida's words.


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