"Mother?"

A little girl peaked around the corner of large dining hall, her big green eyes watching the grownups talk. Her mother and father were best of friends with the queen of Burgess, a small country along the Atlantic Ocean. Her mother told her that both families had been fond of the other for generations but when war broke out when her mother was just a child, it was the princess of Burgess that befriended her. Since then their families had been inseparable and lived in harmony with the neighboring country of Corona. They had only grown closer when the King of Burgess had died years ago to sickness. Yet they kept tradition, always visiting for balls and holidays with summer time on the beaches of Burgess.

Both sets of parents looked to the little girl, she thought they might have been speaking of the Christmas celebration that was to be coming soon. Yet each held a very sorrowful look, much like when someone brought up Ms. Overland's husband. The young girl of seven looked the queen then back to her parents.

"May I play outside?" she asked. She was already bundled up in her pink coat and boots. Her stockings were thick under her dress, her small hands gloved and ready with a knit cap on her head to keep her ears warm in the winter. Her blonde hair was pulled into two big tails, her cute button nose decorated with freckles.

The elders looked at each other while Ms. Overland looked away with a heartbroken expression.

"Yes, sweetie, just be careful. Stay on the grounds." Her mother said softly.

Rapunzel grinned and nodded before taking off around the corner towards the bed chambers. She knew he was here. She was beginning to doubt herself, thinking they had sent him to relatives or lessons like her parents did, but she had seen him! Just before lunch a day after they arrived, he had been walking into his room. He was acting strange though. He didn't wave at her and just closed the door. He didn't even say hello yet.

She bounded up the stairs and toward the large door she knew was his. She grinned and knocked on the hard wood.

"Jack?" she called, "It's snowing outside!"

Her brow furrowed when she got no response. She tried the door but it was locked.

"Do you want to build a snowman?" she asked excitedly. "Can we go out and play?"

There was no excited answer, no throwing open of the door to reveal the nine year old ready to take on the world with her. They used to best friends. They would always go and play in the snow and in the town. Jack always loved winter time, he was best at snowball fights and none of the other kids stood a chance against them. Even if she was smaller than everyone else. The blonde's lips pursed, falling to her knees to look under the heavy door. All she could see was darkness and she sighed in defeat.

"I mean, we don't have to build a snowman." She said, standing and leaning her ear against the door. Maybe he was mumbling, "We could go sledding or-or-have snow ball fight! Or skate on the lake or make snow angels or—"

"Go away Rapunzel!" a voice called from inside the room. The young girl flinched, her smile fell. She backed away from the door, her shoulders slumped and her bottom lip quivered.

"But Jack…" she said softly. With a sigh of defeat she turned and walked back toward the staircase, "Bye."

"I can't touch anything." The small boy said, his snow white hair in a mess of this way and that. His blue eyes watched as his mother walked to the window, touching the window seal with soft delicate fingers. The ice that formed around the base and up the glass almost burned with its coldness. Her brown eyes looked out the window and saw Rapunzel rolling large balls of snow together, playing with the servants in order to stay on the castle grounds as instructed.

She knew what this did to Jack, this ability. When they had first found out, everything had been fine. Both her and his father knew that he was still their son and if he was blessed with extraordinary powers, it would only help him when he became King himself. She never expected that he would be a danger to others. She closed her eyes as she remembered the day that he had gone too far. The morning that had he had almost killed another child, the child of her dearest friend.

She turned and looked at him. He sat in the corner of the room by the door, his knees up to his chest with his arms wrapped around his calves. He looked so lost. Unlike Rapunzel, Jack never got to forget what had happened.

"Maybe this will help." She said softly, a smile at her lips in hope of making her son feel better. But this ability relied heavily on his emotions. Every time he got too excited or frightened it would lash out with warning. The queen walked over to a large trunk next to the heavy oak dresser. She tried to ignore the cracks of ice along the bedposts and floor boards. She opened it and thumbed through the expensive clothes that were reserved for dinner parties and holidays. She hummed in delight when she found them.

"Here." She said, grabbing the white thick gloves. They were for winter outings, when it was required of them to look their best. But they would do. She made her way over to her son and kneeled before him, her purple dress flowed and fell gracefully around her. She gently took his small hand and placed the gloves on them, "You have to try and conceal it, Jackson. I know it's difficult but you can't let your feelings get the best of you. Do you understand?"

Jack caught her brown gaze with his own blue one. He felt his stomach drop, his heart hurt. The guilt ate away at him. He hated that he had hurt his best friend, hated to hear her beg him to play and he could only disappoint her. Like he disappointed his mother. She was scared for him and scared of him. He didn't know what was worse, lacking the control to be around his friends or being alone. But he knew he couldn't let anyone know. They would fear him. She would fear him. If Rapunzel remembered what he had done to her, she would hate him.

"Yes, mother."

The blonde watched the snowfall outside her window, humming to herself as she brushed her hair. Her had grown longer in the last couple of years, now falling down to the middle of her back. She always got compliments on it and the occasional questions. She noticed that unlike her mother and father, her hair was not the same chestnut brown. While her eyes matched her mothers, there was no one in her family with golden blonde hair. She was a rare oddity that her people found to be beautiful and unique.

It was that time of the year again, the Christmas ball. Or at least it would've been. There hadn't been a ball for years. Not since she was a little girl. For some reason when she came to the country of Burgess she was confined to the castle for the months they stayed. Her mother and father would spend time with the queen. Sure there were small dinner gatherings of the dukes and such but very few confined to the dining hall. The queen was always solemn and seemed to be rather sad. She believed that her mother was trying to always cheer her up.

She grinned as she heard a knock on her door. She grabbed her hat, pulling it on before grabbing her scarf. The door opened to reveal a redheaded girl around thirteen, dressed in a thick winter dress, stockings and a forest green coat lined with brown fur. Princesses always wore dresses to be more lady like and Princess Merida of Dunbroch hated it.

"Yuh take so long!" the red head whined, her bow in hand. Rapunzel giggled,

"You just got here!"

"Aye know, but ma and pa are hav'n breakfast with the queen and yer folks. Boring as all hell."

Rapunzel giggled at her friend, wrapping the purple scarf around her neck. The only time she got to play with someone her age was during the holidays. That's when the queen of Burgess would invite a few other dignitaries to join the small dinner party. The Dunbroch clan was an ally of Burgess and Corona and Rapunzel had always got along with the red head. When she actually came.

They walked out of the guest room, heading for the stair case when Rapunzel looked back down the hall towards the right wing. She watched the door decorated with the family crest, waiting for it to open. But somewhere inside her, she knew it wouldn't. She bit her lip.

"Punz, yuh try this every year. Hes not gonna come out." Merida crossed her arms as she scowled.

"I know but.." she looked from the Scott to the door once more, "But I have to try."

She barely heard the sigh of exasperation as she walked toward the door. She took a deep breath and knocked softly on the hard familiar wood. It sounded as hollow as it did every year.

"Jack?" she called. There was no answer. "Merida here, she's…we're gonna go outside and have some fun. Shooting arrows and…and building snowmen…" the longing in her voice was not lost to the Scottish princess whose scowl slowly faded into a look of sympathy.

"Do you want to build a snowman?" she asked softly, a smile on her face when she heard the footsteps just beyond the door.

"Just leave me alone." A male voice called back. It was not full of anger or hatred. She could hear the same desperation in his voice that she had in hers yet she had no idea why. She wanted to demand him answer why he was shutting her out. Why he hated her. Why he wanted to be alone when she knew, she knew he was as lonely as her. She missed her friend. She missed him terribly and she didn't know what to do anymore.

She backed away from the door, "Sorry," she mumbled.

The blonde princess walked slowly back to the staircase, her heart felt heavy with her sadness. Merida placed an arm around her friends shoulder as they made their way down the stairs to the gardens. The gardens right outside Prince Jackson's window.

"Mom, it only gotten stronger! The gloves aren't working!" Jack cried, his blue eyes wild as he looked at his bedroom.

He didn't mean to. He never meant to but this time he really didn't realize until it was too much. He had been watching Rapunzel and Merida out in the gardens. Both built snowmen while Merida played target practice with them. He had never seen a weirder couple of princesses. He sat on his window seal, watching as they played in the snow, smiling as he watched his beautiful best friend throw snow balls at the redhead, giggling and crying out with joy. When she fell back into the powder, her arms and legs spread out, her braid to the right of her as she took in the needed air after running from the Scottish princess.

Her green eyes looked up at his window and he felt his heart beat faster in his chest. The windows started to become hazy with his icy presence. He watched as she sat up and leaned forward, her eyes searching the window for him. No! She couldn't see him watching her. She would come back up stairs and try to coax him out again. He would have to reject her all over again and he was so tired of making her cry. He hated to hear her cry just beyond the walls.

The white haired boy jumped back from the window, ice show from under is shoes coating the ground in icy spikes and frost. God, he couldn't stop it. If she came up here, if she saw him, he would just end up hurting her. His heart pounded in his ears as he replayed his fears over and over in his head. He never noticed the room icing over, the way spikes of ice jutted out from the ceiling or how the wood of the window seal splintered from the exposure to such as sudden cold.

When he opened his eyes he knew this wasn't getting better. He wasn't controlling it any better than he had been before. No matter how good of a prince he tried to act, as much as he tried to shut it all down, all the feelings, it wouldn't go away.

"Jackson, you need to calm down. You're not helping by getting upset, you need to try and control it—" Her son backed away from her out stretched hand, moving more into the icy cold corner her preferred. His hands were tucked into his chest, trying to make himself as small as possible. He had grown into a young adult behind closed doors, his dark blue jacket and brown trousers looked far to grown up for him.

"Don't!" he shouted, sparked of frost and ice bit at her skin, "Don't touch me…I…I don't want to hurt you." He said. His voice was filled with such pain and loneliness that she could not help but weep for her son who was forced to become an adult before he had the chance to be a child.

Rapunzel didn't expect him this time, just like every time before now. She had stopped asking him to play with her as the years went by. She learned to ignore the empty seat the dinner and entertained herself in the town rather than wait for him to show himself like she used to. Yet she still missed him. Every once in a while she would catch glimpses of him when walking down the hall or passing the large halls. Everything was closed up, all the curtains drawn and the house felt empty. It was as if he ceased to exist in the home, an invisible entity that roamed when no one was looking.

She watched servants walked back down from where they had taken her trunks and suitcases. Her parents waited patiently for the queen to join them down stairs before heading to the ship. The queen had fell farther into her sadness and her mother had thought it would a good idea to visit an ally for a treaty together, making it more of a vacation rather than a business trip. Rapunzel was brought to Burgess with them upon the queen's request. She didn't want Jackson so be alone. The royal family of Corona had held their tongues, not wanting to crush her by reminding her how alone he already was.

"Just two weeks right?" she asked. The king chuckled,

"Just two weeks and then we can go to Dunbroch, alright?"

"Oh, thank you!" she said with delight, giving them both a hug.

They all became quiet as small voices echoed from the stairwell.

"Do you have to go?" the male baritone was a new sensation to their ears.

"You'll be fine, Jackson. I'll be back before you know it."

A deep chuckle vibrated down the stairs then was followed by a resounding 'thump-and-click' of the door.

Rapunzel walked into the castle, the servants all moved around with heavy hearts and draped in black. She had never worn the color black before. Her country was known for its fields of colorful flowers, vibrant forests and shining landscapes. They embraced color and wore it in times of both peace and war as a symbol to their people that no matter want, they were a happy and strong country.

Not today though. Today was filled with darkness. She wore a black dress, her golden hair fell down to her hips in beautiful waves that seemed to be the only beacon of light in the dark castle. She was informed by her uncle that she was to stay in Burgess until they know that the ship wreck was an accident and that it wasn't an assassination attempt. Her father's brother would rule in her stead, since he was already her father's second in command. She was glad that he was the one to step up and take the throne for now. She wasn't sure how to handle her parent's death as well as try and take on the responsibility before her time. She was only nineteen years old. She didn't know how to rule a country.

The princess lifted her head from her feet and found herself in a familiar hallway. Her heart felt heavier, knowing that she had not seen Jack at all. It had been three days since they got word of the fallen ship, three days she had cried alone in her room. Three days she had to spend on a land that was not her own and mourn the deaths of her parents by herself. The worst of it was having to stand next to the stone of the King and Queen of Burgess. Buried together yet their son never showed his face.

She walked up to the door, lifting her hand slowly before knocking on the hard wood. That hollow sound was the same as the hollowness in her heart.

"Please…" she said softly to the wood, touching it lightly with her delicate fingers. "I know you're in there. I don't know what to say to them. They needed you to be there today, Jack. Why didn't you…" she closed her eyes and leaned her head against the cool wood.

There was no reply. There never was.

"I'm trying, I really am but I can't do this by myself. You can't just shut everything out, Jack. I'm here for you, I've been right here you just have to let me in." she pleaded, her voice cracked with tears. She didn't know she had more to spare. She let herself slide to the floor. The same floor she would crawl on and try to catch a glimpse of him from under the door. The door didn't make a sound as she leaned on it, bringing her knees up. The barrier between them was just as cold and impenetrable as she remembered.

"It's just us now.." she said softly, leaning her head back against the door as tears threatened to fall down her cheeks. She let the silence hang as she tried to sniff away her sadness,

"Do you want to build a snowman?" she asked softly, broken and longing for some kind of reply. Some kind of comfort.

Just behind the door, Jack sat on the floor with his back against the hard wood listening once again to his beautiful friend cry. His own tears glazed over icy irises, his body shook as he felt like a child once more, pulling his knees up to his chest. She was gone. His mother was gone and he was too afraid to even hug her goodbye. His gloved hands clenched into fists and he slammed one against the hard wood floor before looking at his prison. Angry sharp icicles glared down at him from the ceiling while more sharp manifestations surrounded stemming from the ground. The floor boards were iced over and windows cracked from the exposure. Everything had suffered from his sadness, his anger, his depression. Wood cracked, glass broken.

He wanted to let her in.

But he knew that she would only be hurt.

He was better off alone.