"Rapunzel," Rue whispered.

Jack stared. "No." He looked around frantically. "No, no NO! There has to be something else, something else is missing!" he screamed, leaving Rapunzel's side and flying into the air.

And then, it clicked. Jack knew. He flew to another window, the one they had not crashed through. Tearing down the curtains, Jack opened a pathway for the Moon's light. But the glass was split into segments, and it fractured the beams into tiny points of light spreading all over the room.

Jack took his staff and drove it straight into the window, shattering it into a million pieces. There was a full Moon tonight, rising majestically over the mountains and shining down into the room. Blinking in the sudden, bright light, Jack turned to look at Rapunzel. Bathed completely in the moonlight, she remained motionless, hand in hand with her mother.

"Rapunzel," Merida said in Gaelic, sobbing. "Come back. Please, come back!"

There was a long moment of silence. Jack's heart slowed in breathless torment.

It has to work! It just has to work! Don't leave me, Rapunzel! He turned and faced the Moon angrily. "You brought us together!" he yelled. "All four of us, even across time. You did that for a reason, you can't just rip us all apart again! You can't! You have to save her!"

Hiccup and Merida sank to the floor, Merida still clinging to Hiccup for dear life, sobbing. Jack floated down, his feet barely touching the snow-dusted carpet. Silence suffocated the room.

"Save her!" Jack screamed again.

Rue looked at Robert hopefully through her tears, but he shook his head in defeat.

"It's too late. She's gone."

I failed. All this work and I failed her. In agony, Jack threw down his staff, coating the entire room with a thick sheet of ice.

Then it happened.

"Rapunzel Rampion, awake," spoke a deep voice, filling the room. Jack looked out the window at the Moon, which suddenly seemed brighter. He knew it was Manny speaking.

Rapunzel's eyelids fluttered, and, miraculously, they opened. Jack slid to the floor in relief. Rue gasped in delight.

"I hereby appoint you, Rapunzel, as Guardian of Creativity."

"Mother?" Rapunzel asked weakly, looking up into her face.

"It's alright, darling, I'm here!" Rue said as she and Robert embraced their daughter.

"Rapunzel!" Hiccup and Merida cried. They ran to the bed and climbed on like little children. Rapunzel left her parents and hugged her friends tightly.

"Where's Jack?" she asked, looking around.

Jack stood again, although he was still shaking slightly. "Hope you're not mad about the room," he said with a weak grin.

"Jack, it's just a room. We owe you so much," Robert said. "Thank you, old friend."

"You're welcome," Jack said. "Um, I'm going to get some food. I have a feeling we're going to be here awhile talking."

"I'll come with you," Rapunzel said, sliding out of bed.

"Rapunzel, you just DIED," Robert said. "Absolutely not!"

"But the Moon brought me back. I'm perfectly fine now. Besides, I'm positively FAMISHED! I can't wait until Jack climbs back up here! Not to mention, the rest of the staff may not be able to see him."

"Oh!" Rue said, seeing her look at Jack. "It's fine, I understand completely. Go ahead."

"But..." Robert began. Rue elbowed him in the side. "Oh. Yeah, ok. Just don't hurt yourself."

"Don't worry, she won't, I'm going too!" Merida exclaimed.

"Um, no," Hiccup said as Rapunzel and Jack left the room. "You stay here."

"What? Why? I don't understand why they get to go and not me."

"You've never been in love," Hiccup said with a grin.

Rapunzel and Jack walked in silence down the hallway. Rapunzel had no idea where the kitchen was, but Jack seemed to know where he was going. The freaky thing was, he hadn't said a word since they left. His eyes, ice cold, looked straight ahead. She had never seen him so quiet before. He turned and opened a door, leading them into a ballroom. Rapunzel gaped at the arched ceilings and magnificent paintings. Jack, however, did not look so impressed.

"Jack?" she asked timidly. "Jack, are you ok?"

"Don't you dare do that again," Jack said in a low tone.

Rapunzel blinked and backed away, confused. "What do you...mmf!"

Suddenly, Jack leaned forward and pressed her against the wall kissing her. Rapunzel melted and leaned into him, slipping her arms around his waist. She could've stayed like that forever, but he had more to say and broke off.

"You have no idea how much that scared me," he whispered, leaning his forehead against hers.

"I thought you were angry with me," she said, relieved. "I've never seen you like this before."

"We've only known each other for two days."

"And in the last two days that have been the happiest days of my life-even surpassing the day Gothel left me-I've been the happiest when I'm with you," she whispered. "I didn't know that it was possible to fall in love in two days."

"How about one second?" Jack asked, smiling slightly. "And about two hours of absolute agony and torture a few days later to seal it?"

Rapunzel smiled. "It was 15 minutes."

"It seemed like forever."

"I know," Rapunzel whispered. "I know."

"Weren't you hungry?" Jack asked, suddenly remembering.

"Was I?" she said absentmindedly, running her hands through his hair. "I don't remember."

Smiling gently, she leaned forward and kissed him again.

"Good morning, Jack," Queen Rue said as Jack sauntered happily into the grand dining room.

"Good morning, your majesty. Robert."

He joined the other Companions at the long table. They all looked pretty tired, having stayed late into the night telling the King and Queen about Rapunzel's story.

"Lewis," Robert said to one of the guards. "Please tell the cook to bring up a plate for Jack."

The guard paused uncertainly, then went down to the kitchen.

"Did you sleep well?" Rue inquired.

"Pretty good," Hiccup said. "But the bed was too soft."

Merida giggled. "Hiccup's a Viking. They don't use soft beds."

"Ahem," Lewis said. "I brought up the food. Um, where is he?"

Jack rolled his eyes and sent a trail of snowflakes to guide the poor man to his place. Astounded, the guards watched as the food floated into space and disappeared.

"It's moving," another guard named Wilbur whispered.

"Duh," Jack said. Mischievously, he picked up his knife and waved it ominously.

"Jack," Rapunzel said teasingly as she elbowed him. "Don't scare them."

Hiccup laughed. "How is it that your majesties can see Jack when the rest of the palace staff can't?" he asked.

"Magic is a family trait," Rue explained. "That, and Robert and Jack have been friends since Robert was only a child."

"Oh yeah," Rapunzel said. "I meant to ask last night. How do you know each other?"

Robert smiled in remembrance. "I've been obsessed with magic since I was little. I would chase after so-called "invisible" trolls, dragons, fairies, and unicorns. But I knew they were there 'cause I saw their trails. For as long as I can remember, I've been able to see magic working."

"Really?" Merida said, interested. "What does it look like?"

"Like tendrils of colored light, almost like smoke. Jack's magic is light blue, and Rapunzel's is pure gold."

"That's how he found me," Jack said, picking up the story. "In the winter he noticed a lot of blue "smoke" around ice and frost patches and wanted to know who made it. Of course, he found me, and from then on we would go exploring together, looking for more magic."

"Did you ever find any trolls?" Hiccup asked, grinning.

"Oh sure, lots of them," Robert said.

"And the unicorns." Merida said. "How did you get so many?"

Rue laughed. "My husband is very fond of protecting the endangered magical species. One year when my parents were visiting Arendelle, Prim and I went walking out near the woods. All of a sudden, the crazy boy comes running towards us, begging us to come and help him rescue a unicorn. Primrose knew who he was of course, and raced back to the palace to let his parents know that Robert had finally gone mad. But I went with him."

"We rescued the unicorn," Robert said. "And as time went on I found others in need of a home, so I built the underground sanctuary for them. My hope is to one day let them live in the wild again."

"Wow," Hiccup said. "That is amazing. Did you keep any trolls?"

"Oh, no. They're much too intelligent beings for that. They already had a community up in the mountains, so there was really no need to protect them. If you have time, perhaps we can take a hike to go visit them."

Hiccup looked up eagerly, but Jack shook his head. "Unfortunately, they need to be getting back to their own time."

"It's time travel," Merida said. "We can go home whenever we want."

"Not exactly," Jack said. "It's complicated. If Bunny is awake when we get back to the Pole, he might be able to explain. He's kind of the keeper of time. If not, then maybe North can help."

Rapunzel frowned. "I was really hoping we would have more time. Merida could give me some tips on being a princess."

Merida practically cackled. "Och, no. Yew don't want me for that, lassie. Yer mother can help yew better than me."

"Don't worry, dear," Rue smiled. "We'll have plenty of time for that when you return from saying goodbye."

North was waiting for them at the Pole.

"So, I heard that Rapunzel became a Guardian?" he asked, grinning. "And you defeated Pitch and Gothel in one night!"

"How did you know already?" Rapunzel asked excitedly.

"I am Santa Claus, I know everything. Congratulations."

"Thank you," Rapunzel said, smiling.

"Where is everyone?" Merida asked, looking at the strangely empty workshop.

"The yetis are down in the Warren, about to move everything back in here," North said. "They are not happy they had to do it twice, but precautions had to be made. Speaking of, you two need to get back to your own time. The longer you spend away, the harder it is to return."

"See, I knew there was a good reason," Jack said. "I just couldn't remember what it was."

North looked down at him sternly. "There are rules for a reason. Now, it is time to say your goodbyes."

The girls hugged each other tightly, but Jack led Hiccup a short distance away.

"I wanted to apologize for being so uptight," he said. "I didn't trust you when I should have. And I shouldn't have challenged your leadership yesterday. I wasn't thinking straight."

"Oh man, was that just yesterday? It seems ages ago. But hey, don't worry about it. We are all under a lot of stress. And you were a little distracted with Rapunzel."

Jack grinned and looked over at her fondly as the girls chatted away. "You never miss a thing, do you?"

"Well, I notice a lot more than Merida. She's pretty clueless in this matter. But I've been where you've been."

"Astrid," Jack nodded seriously.

"You remember her, too?"

"Oh, yeah," Jack said quickly. "I mean, she's a pretty hard character to forget."

Hiccup laughed. "That's for sure."

Rapunzel ran over to them and hugged Hiccup.

"Goodbye, Hiccup," Rapunzel said. "Thanks for letting us use Toothless so much." She pet the dragon fondly.

"No problem, he was happy to help. Bye, Rapunzel. Bye, Jack."

North had a snow globe in hand. "Ready?" he asked.

Merida and Hiccup mounted Toothless and nodded sadly. North opened the glistening portal. Quietly, they stepped through the portal and disappeared into their own world.

"Will we ever see them again?" Rapunzel asked.

"Eh...it's very complicated," North said. "I'll explain more to you later, but it's a lot to take in. But right now, they deserve a nice long rest. And so do you."

"Hiyah!" Bunnymund slammed open the door, Sandy right behind. "Don't worry, mate! We're here now, just let 'em show their little faces and we'll beat them up!"

He ran around the room, holding his boomerangs up threateningly. Sandy stood in the doorway and slapped a hand to his face, embarrassed. He tried to get Bunny's attention, but, as usual, couldn't.

"Um, hi, Bunny," Jack said. "Glad to see you could make it."

"Sandy!" North said, ignoring Bunny. "You're back!"

"Pleasure to be here," Bunny said, hopping anxiously and throwing punches in the air. "Just sorry that it took us so long. North! Open up a portal to Pitch immediately!"

"I'm afraid that's not possible," North said.

Rapunzel threw her hair out and wrapped Bunny up completely. "Sorry, you were making me dizzy," she said. "Pitch is dead."

"Dead?" Bunny asked.

"Since yesterday," Jack said.

"Oh, well crisis averted. Who's this?" he asked, looking at his captor.

"Everyone," Jack said, putting his arm around her, "I'd like you to meet Rapunzel."