Hello! Thank you to all of you who read this! It really does mean a lot for you guys to review my writings. :) So thanks to all... four of you? Five? Anyway just thanks! Let me know how I did on this one. Thanks!

Chapter 2

And then, at sixteen, she is a woman. Jack noticed her before, but now, now it was different. Now he noticed the way she moved, the way she brushed her golden hair out of her eyes, the way she preformed small acrobatics in the air to paint the high ceilings above every room in the house. He started to resent her mother's comments even more now. He was watching Rapunzel through her bedroom window that afternoon, painting frost on the windows while she painted flowers on her wall. She was strung up above her bed, using her forty-foot long hair to rig herself up above the door, using the rafters. He smiled as he saw one strand of hair, tied to her ankle, thrown around a rafter and held in her hand. Her other hand held a paintbrush, detailing a flower above her door frame. Each time she need paint, she released more of the hair in her hand, lowering herself to her nightstand, placed in front of her door, with multiple jars of paint set atop it. Her brows knit in concentration as she pulled herself back up.

"Rapunzel!"

Rapunzel's eyes widened as her mother's piercing voice broke her focus. Her mouth opened and her hand released her hair and she yelped as she fell straight down. Jack quickly flew into her room and grabbed her waist, pulling her upwards and setting her back on her hardwood floor before she could hit the night stand face first. He immediately flew upward. What have I done?! He asked himself. He looked back down at Rapunzel. She was clearly confused, looking around at everything. Jack felt his heart rate jump. What if she suspected? What would she think? Would she start to see him?

He had to admit, he was a little thrilled by the idea. The thought that her, she, Rapunzel, would actually start to see him… Well. The idea was absurd and thrilling at the same time. And as he hovered at the top of her bedroom, he couldn't help but be a bit…thrilled at the idea.

Fortunately, there was no more time for Rapunzel to consider how she had avoided face planting into her night stand. Her mother pushed open the door with such force, the nightstand was toppled over, Rapunzel scrambled and just managed to pick up her box of paint jars just before it hit the ground. Paint sloshed out of the jars anyway. Rapunzel's mother stood in the doorway, hands on her hips. "Now look what you've done child!" She hollered immediately. Rapunzel lowered her eyes.

"I - I'm sorry Mother Gothel." she mumbled. Jack realized that this was the first time he heard Rapunzel say her mothers name. "I- I was painting above my door."

"Well clean up this mess you've made now." Gothel said bitterly. "The paint will stain if you leave it there. Clean. Now, princess." She said, practically hissing the last word and slamming the door behind her. Rapunzel sighed and looked down at the mess.

"I'm sorry." Jack muttered. He hovered to where she knelt, scrubbing paint off the floor.

He knelt across from Rapunzel and touched one of the wet blobs of paint with his index finger. It immediately froze over, intricate patterns dancing on the surface of the bright red paint. Rapunzel gasped and bent down to touch the blob. It pried away easily from the floor and she picked it up, studying the pattern. Jack smiled. "And that is nothing." He said. Rapunzel, of course, didn't respond, just kept turning the blob over in her hands, frowning as the pattern faded as her hands warmed it. Jack stood up and walked toward the window and stood on the ledge. He touched her window with a finger and made another pattern on it, drawing her eyes to the window. He smiled, savoring her green eyes once more as he flew out the window muttering, "I'll be back tomorrow."

**************

Jack was, indeed, back the next day, with winter in full swing. Snow blanketed the ground, frost coated every window around the edges. Gothel left the tower more and more, bringing back firewood to keep the fireplace going in Rapunzel's room, her room, the sitting area and the living room constantly. They had obviously stocked up during the summer, but it was a chore to keep it fully stocked all the time. Gothel would often leave and make several trips up and down the tower about twice a week, her and Rapunzel devoting an entire day to the task. Rapunzel's cheeks would turn red and she breathed heavily during these days. One day, Gothel seemed to notice her daughters strained face. She carried the wood to the growing pile and looked at her daughter. "Oh come now, its good exercise pet." She said, walking towards Rapunzel. "You tend to get chubby in the winter dear." She said, patting Rapunzel's cheek. Jack balked.

"What!?" He bellowed. "You're kidding right lady?" He said. Gothel, of course, paid him no mind. She just burst out laughing, like it was the best joke she had heard in her entire life.

"Oh do stop being so serious Rapunzel! I'm only teasing." Rapunzel just did a little half-smile and nodded. "Now throw you're hair out the window again would you darling?"
*************

Jack spent all his time around the tower now, floating above the roof, sitting on various rafters, and occasionally he would go into the kingdom to have some fun with the children. Even if they didn't know it. But mostly, he just stayed around Rapunzel's tower. He rarely ever left.

One evening, Rapunzel sat by the fire with her mother, reading a book. Gothel was sticking up a tear in her dress.
"Mother?" Rapunzel asked, looking up.

"Hmm?" Gothel replied, not looking up at her daughter.

"Where does snow come from?" Rapunzel asked, looking up at the window at the howling snowstorm Jack had made.

"Well I could tell you." Jack said, jumping down from one of the rafters. "That would be me and me and nothing but me." He said, flipping his cane around in his hands and flipping up to sit on its curved end, looking at her.

"I have absolutely no idea Rapunzel." Gothel said, intending to dismiss the conversation entirely.

"But, it has to come from somewhere right? I mean it doesn't just pop up out of no where I mean…" She trailed off, mumbling the last words in a way that made Jack watch the way her lips moved more than ever. Gothel looked up.

"Rapunzel we talked about the mumbling. Stop the mumbling, speak with words dear." Gothel said. And despite the 'dear' at the end, the sentence had a bitter edge to it.
Rapunzel looked at her. "Where does it come from then?" She asked again. Gothel picked up her stitching again with an exasperated sigh.

"When I was young they used to tell us Jack Frost made winter come to different places around the world. But that's a child's story dear he's not real." She said.

"Hey!" Jack said. "I can make this entire room freeze over before you even have time to blink!" He said, hopping down to his feet and pointing his staff at her. She didn't notice.

"Jack Frost…." Rapunzel said, glancing at the window again. Jack felt his breath hitch. His name… She had said his name. He smiled. "Sounds pretty good coming from you." He muttered, flying up to rest in the rafters. Rapunzel paid him no mind.

"Do, do you think he's real? That would be amazing!" Rapunzel said, eyes lighting up as her mother's expression turned sour. "Like, he could make it snow fifty feet tall! And maybe he could make icicles, and-"

"Rapunzel!" Her mother said, looking at her daughter with disapproving eyes. "It is very hard to count my stitches with you hollering like that! Now please, be quiet!" Rapunzel curled inward again, seemingly wanting to melt into the chair.

"Sorry mother Gothel." She squeaked. Gothel looked up from her stitching again.

"In fact, isn't it time you were in bed dear? It's getting late. And we both need to rise early, I have to get us supplies tomorrow." Gothel said.

"From town?" Rapunzel asked, her voice fading a little bit on the word town, aching with longing. Jack's heart squeezed.

"Yes, from town. Now, off to bed."

"Yes mother." Rapunzel said. She rose from her chair and went to hug Gothel, who kissed the top of her head.

"I love you." Gothel said.

"I love you more."

"I love you most." Gothel finished. She turned back to her stitching and didn't pay Rapunzel a second glance as she walked around the chair to her room up the small flight of stairs. Jack flew down and out the window and watched her go, resting his arms on the ledge.

"I'll be back tomorrow." He said, and flew off into the night.

***************

The next day, Gothel had already left, and something was different. Rapunzel was talking to herself. An odd habit she picked up, no doubt from being on her own for sometimes days at a time. Jack thought it was odd too, but he loved it. Watching her talk, hearing what was in her head. He thought it let him know more about her. But this time. Rapunzel was talking about him. And looking out the window a lot more than usual.
"Jack Frost…" She said, as he sat, one leg dangling off the rafters. "I wonder…."

"What if I'm real?" He said, talking back, even though he knew she could not hear, not yet. "Of course I am! I bring all the cold." Rapunzel picked up some of the snow from the windowsill.

"I do wish he was real." She said. "I wonder what he would look like. Would he be an old, wise man with a beard? Or a child?"

"Woah, hey now you're getting into North's territory here. I don't have a beard, or a pot belly." He said. "There is one thing I'm wondering here Rapunzel," He said, looking down at her, "if you are starting to believe in me…why, why can't you see me?" He asked in a whisper. He usually didn't let himself hope, he had resigned himself to the fact that he would always be invisible, always in the wrong place at the wrong time. But if Rapunzel was starting to believe in him, despite her mother's words, why couldn't she see him? Much less hear him? "Maybe…maybe you just don't believe enough." He said, flitting a snowflake in-between his fingers.

Then he heard Rapunzel gasp. He looked down to find her staring… at him? His heart leapt. Could he be wrong? Was she looking at him? He looked behind him: nothing. Then he sent the snowflake in his fingers down to her and her eyes followed it until it landed on her nose and melted. He sighed. She was not looking at him. "Could you be real?" She whispered, whipping the water off her nose and looking at it.

He sighed. "Maybe Blondie, maybe." He flew out the window with such force he knew she was feeling the cold now. He let the winds carry him, fill his lungs with new air. He opened his eyes and looked out at the rest of the forest and screamed. He screamed out all his frustration, his longing, his loneliness, and all his hurt. "It's not fair! Its not fair!" He hollered, aware he sounded very, very childish. But he couldn't help it. He was tired of this. He was tired of the hurt, the throbbing in his chest. "I'm so sick of it…" He said. He looked up where he knew the moon would sit in the sky in a few hours. "Why did you bring me here!? Hu? Why did you do it, what use am I!?" He yelled. "I have no purpose, everyone forgets! No one believes…" He said. "This isn't fair! How am I supposed to not go insane!? I have no one to talk to, no one to respond to. I have-" He stopped and sank into the trees, coming to rest on a branch. He put his head in his hands. "no one." He whispered, "I - I have no one."

Jack stayed in his tree all night. He didn't try and head back to Rapunzel's tower until it was very late. He'd never been there at night before, but he had to make himself feel better. He wasn't himself when he was like this. If Pitch ever found him…well, he didn't think about that. He alighted himself on Rapunzles' window ledge and found, surprisingly, she was still awake. Burning a candle to its bottom reading a book. He sighed as he watched her, green eyes scanning the page with remarkable speed. He touched his fingertips to the window, covering the entire thing with frosty designs. He could no longer see her, and he knew he should really leave. The wind ruffled his hair as he backed away.

"Jack Frost?"

He stopped dead, he almost lost his power of the winds for a moment. Was that….

He turned around slowly. And there she was, standing at her open frost-covered window. Looking at him with her sparkling emerald eyes. And some how, he couldn't quite convince himself she was looking at him. "What did you say?" He asked her quietly. She blinked at him and opened her mouth, then closed it. He flew forward fast, blowing cold wind into her room, ruffling her hair. He was practically nose to nose with her. "What. Did. You. Say." He asked again, barely whispering the words to her. She cocked her head.
"Are you, Jack Frost?" She asked, her eyes looking his face all over. Jack smiled out of the corner of his mouth.

"You, you can see me?" He asked, putting a hand of his chest and backing away from her a bit. "You actually know I'm here?" She knit her brows, then nodded at him slowly. Jack gasped and smiled, the most genuine smile he had smiled in as long as he could remember. "Oh yes! Finally!" He said, flipping up side down in the air. "Yes yes yes!" He shouted at the sky. "Thank you!" He said, spinning around in the winds over and over again, more snow came out of the sky, and she shot arcs of it from his staff. He felt electric, elated, happier than he had ever felt in his life. Someone finally saw him! Someone could finally see! And who should it be but Rapunzel? Rapunzel, the kind, good-hearted beautiful Rapunzel he knew. He laughed and looked at Rapunzel from his vantage point in the sky, still standing at her window, looking at him with wonder and smiling at him. "You have no idea what you've done for me." He said, feeling like he was tingling with electricity. He swooped down to her so fast she didn't even get a chance to blink before he grabbed her face in his hands softly and pressed his lips to hers. He heard her give a 'Mhfff!' of surprise, but he couldn't stop himself. Slowly, Rapunzel tilted her head to him, and kissed him back, moving her lips with his. And for once in his life since becoming the winter spirit, Jack felt himself getting…warm. He felt the heat of her mouth and radiating off her body into his hands. He felt the way her lips moved against his, and felt himself breath cold air into her lungs. She gasped and put one hand in his hair, drawing him closer. He moved forward and kissed her again, and it felt just as good as the first time.

Jack pulled away, realizing what he was doing. He immediately put his hand over his mouth.
"Oh! Oh I'm, I'm so, so sorry about that I, um….." He was so flustered. How could he do that? Why had he done it? It hadn't been in his mind to kiss her before, he would have never thought to do it before. So now… He looked at Rapunzel, she was breathing fast, and looked a little bit dazed. "I am so sorry. So sorry I don't know what came over me I just…" He stopped. Was she… laughing? He flew a bit closer and saw that yes, in fact, she was. "You, you're not angry?" Jack ventured. She stopped laughing and looked at him.

"Of course not! How many girls can say that their first kiss was with the spirit of winter?" She said, putting her hands on her hips. "So what did I do for you?"

"Excuse me?" Jack asked, completely thrown off by the change in subject.

"You said I had no idea what I had done for you. So what'd i do?"

"Oh, that." He said, flying closer to the window. "Well, you can see me." He said. She cocked her head to one side and looked puzzled.

"Cant everyone?"

Jack looked down and then back up at her. She must have seen the hurt in his eyes. "No, they can't." He said. "No one can."

"No one?" She whispered. He shook his head.

"Not that I've seen." He smirked, laughing at his own joke. Rapunzel frowned and turned back into her room. Jack followed and sat on her windowsill, leaning his back on one side, spinning his staff with his right hand inside her room.

"So how can I see you?" She asked, pulling up her desk chair and sitting on it backwards, facing him. She rested her arms on the back of the chair and put her chin on her hands, looking at him.

"Because you believe." He said simply. "People can only see me if they believe in me. It's the way it works. Usually, only little kids believe I exist. Adults usually outgrow me." He said, frowning. Rapunzel's eyes gleamed with sympathy.

"Oh." She said. "How does it start?"

"When you start believing." He said, looking at her. "When your mother mentioned me, the fact that I bring winter, you started to believe, but it took awhile of staring at frost and snow before you let yourself truly believe what you were considering. It took time."

Rapunzel looked at him and smirked. "Well I definitely believe in you now." She said. Jack blushed. "How old are you anyway?"

"I'm not entirely sure." Jack said. "I've kind of lost track of my age… seventeen? Eighteen maybe?" Rapunzel smiled.

"I'm seventeen, we're the same age!" She said.

"I know." Jack said before he could stop himself.

"You what.?" He sighed.

"Ialreadyknowyou'reseventeen." He said hurriedly, looking down.

"How?"

"I've known you since you were small." He said, looking at her. He was sure if he could blush as deeply as he could when he was human, his entire face would be red. It was embarrassing to admit that he had watched her grow up without her knowledge.

"How?" She asked again.

"Well, I've brought winter here for what seems like eons now…" He started. When she seemed like she was looking for more, he went on. "One year when I came back something was different in the forest, your tower was here, and it was odd." He said.

"So you were here when I was born?" She asked, shocked. Jack winced internally.

"Yes…"

"What was I like?" She asked. He looked at her, well as long as she wasn't mad…

"Excitable." He said. "You could never sit still, and you had so many questions all the time. You're mom was very annoyed with you at times." He said, smiling. Recalling the fine memories.

Rapunzel smiled. "Really? I was?"

"Yes." Jack said, going on. "And your ridiculously long hair glows and gives you both long lives." He said, folding his arms across his chest. Rapunzel's eyes widened. She jumped out of her chair and looked at him with fear in her eyes.

"How, how do you know that? What do you want with it?" She asked in a panicked, rushed voice.

Jack raised his hand, putting a bit of concern into his voice. "Easy Blondie why would I want your hair?" He asked. She looked at him, the panic subsiding, replaced with uncertainty.

"I, I don't know…" She said, playing nervously with a strand by her face.

"Look I already got the living forever thing down okay? I don't need it." He said, she looked at him with wide eyes.

"Really?"

"Yea." He said. She sat back down in the chair. "How long have you been able to do, ahh…." He gestured to her hair all over her bedroom floor.

"As long as I can remember." She said. "I was just born with it that way. My mother says that when I was a baby, some people in town saw what it could do, the whole living forever thing, and they tried to cut it." She said, reaching a hand up to pull back her long blond locks to reveal a short brown one just behind her ear. Jack flew in her room and took the brown strand in between his fingers and rubbed it. He let it drop and walked back to the window. He picked up his staff and sat against the wall.

"They all wanted a piece hu?" He asked, not looking at her.

Rapunzel nodded. "But once its been cut, it loses its power to heal, that's why it turns brown. Mother told me that my life was in danger, people wanted to take me. So she took me here and hid me." She said, looking out the window with a forlorn expression.

"You've never been outside…" Jack said, his voice trailing off.

"No…" Rapunzel said. "It's too dangerous. Mother says that what I have is a gift, it has to be protected. That way it can't be misused. And I can't be… taken advantage of." She said, pausing.

"Makes sense." Jack said. "I can't imagine this is the easiest stuff to have around though." He said, picking up the nearest blond strand. Rapunzel smirked.

"It's not so bad, it has its uses."

"Like painting?" He asked, eyes flashing with amusement.

Rapunzel's eyes widened. "That was you!" She said. Jack put a hand to his chest and gasped.

"The lady has no proof!" He said, mocking her. He eyes danced with laughter as she smiled.

"You kept me from falling! When mother scared me and I almost fell on my nightstand." She said, pointing a finger. He smiled.

"So what if I did? You know you should really try and not have things right below you, you never know what might happen. Next time maybe you will smash your face on something." He said, frowning at the idea.

"So it was you!" She said, smiling. He shrugged. "Thanks." She said, and he noticed her eyes were getting heavy.

"You had better get some sleep." He said, "You seem tired." He stood, she looked up.

"Will i see you tomorrow?" She said fast. Jack climbed on to the window ledge and looked back at her.

"Only if you want to." He said.

"Well ya!" She said, smiling and going to the window as he hovered out of it. She put her hands on ether side of the window. "See you tomorrow."

"Tomorrow." Jack said, and it seemed more like a promise than anything else.

***************

And There it is! I hope you liked it, I tried to make this one longer. Also, coming up, there will be some of Rapunzel's POV as well, don't wanna leave her out of her own story. But let me know what you think! And as always, more to come! I have lots more planed for this plot... (hehehehe..)