(Another story set in the Avatar verse. Imagine that this is set well before the Hundred Years' War; let's just say in the era of Avatar Kyoshi, because I really like Avatar Kyoshi.

This story is inspired at least a little by the upcoming Frozen. Okay, more than a little. And it's months after the events of Blue Moon.)

Rapunzel shivered, and blew on her hands. Her Breath of Fire was the closest she could come to practical firebending, and for a moment heat moved out from her lungs to her whole body. Then she was cold again, colder than she'd ever been in her life.

"We could be at the Festival now," she said to their little fire.

"You saw the first day of it; the first day's the best anyway. There's the dancing lights in the sky, the dancing and the singing, and then the second day's nothing but speeches and awards. At least," Jack corrected himself, "That's how it is in the South."

"And we came all the way to the North Pole for this Festival. I just wish we could have stayed a little longer."

"There'll still be dancing lights in the sky when we get back," Jack said to her. He paused. "Probably." A light shhk shhk noise filled their little cave: Jack was whittling on his staff.

Rapunzel sighed, and remembered the previous two days. She and Jack had come to the North Pole to visit the Dancing Lights Festival, which Jack remembered fondly from his days living in the Southern Water Tribe. They had hoped that his white hair and her golden hair could remain safely hidden under braids and hoods; however, a chance wind had exposed Jack's moon-silver hair to the world. The North tribespeople had reacted with outright shock and fear. They had just been making plans to leave quickly and quietly when a summons came from the Chieftain of the tribe.

When they arrived at the northern palace, they were met by the acting Chieftaness, a slight young lady, no older than Rapunzel herself. She wore her black hair, streaked with silver, in two simple plaits, and her blue eyes were rimmed in red. She introduced herself as merely the Princess of the Water Tribe, and explained to them her story.

She was never meant to become Cheiftainess, being the younger sister of two. Her father died two months ago, and her older sister, being unmarried, took on the responsibilities of Cheiftainess, in spite of all their tradition. However, her older sister had long ago been cursed – or blessed – or somehow involved with – a spirit of winter, leaving her hair as white as Jack's. With the stress of ruling, this curse drove the older sister mad, and she attacked her own Tribe with vicious bending of water and ice, and fled into the frozen north.

The tribespeople had decried the older sister as a monster, and claimed that Jack was a lackey of hers, sent out to do harm. But the Princess said that she knew her sister wasn't a monster, and tasked Jack and Rapunzel with going towards the north pole and finding the "Snow Queen," as the tribespeople called her, and bringing her home.

And that led to Rapunzel, her hair crusted with snow, feet and fingertips numb, curled up in a cave in the middle of a blizzard, while Jack, her friend and the expert on traveling in Arctic conditions – 'What do you think a Fire Girl knows about life in the ice, Jack? Are you paying any attention to me at all?' – sat whittling at his staff at the mouth of the cave.

"Isn't the wind rough?" she asked.

He shrugged. "The cold never bothered me anyway."

She frowned at the staff. Had he been doing more than whittling? Was he sharpening the crook at the top into a point – a weapon? He'd started using the staff to help his Waterbending at the Northern Air Temple, like the monks used gliders. In the canal-laced city of the Water Tribe, he'd proudly shown off his unorthodox waterbending tool, as if to emphasize how different he was from his tribesmen. Because he wanted to stand out. The tribe had rejected him, and he'd reject them right back.

Right?

"What are you whittling?" she asked, casually as she could through chattering teeth. The spasms of shivering were the worst, she thought.

"A symbol of the Northern Water Tribe. Below the symbol for the Air Temple. I've decided this staff is going to tell a story, sign by sign."

"How nice!" she said. "Glad to see you're taking after me."

"Yes," he said, sending a smile her way. "Your artsiness has a contagious effect."

She laughed, and fell still, right before another severe fit of shivering fell on her. "F-f-funny, I thought-t you were carving it into a weapon."

"And so what if I am? Put some more wood on the fire, Zel, you'll freeze."

"What? What do you need a weapon for?"

"Um, did you forget what we're up to?" he asked. "Chasing down a monstrous Snow Queen who can animate snow to her whims – and there's snow everywhere – I'd say a weapon is a good thing."

"Don't you remember what the Princess said? 'My sister is not a monster.' Those were her exact words."

"I'm not taking a chance on that. She's her sister; not exactly unbiased." He left the mouth of the cave and sat opposite the fire to her. "What's up with you?" he asked, after Rapunzel dropped her eyes, avoiding his gaze.

"… Why did you accept this so readily? Jack, I can't really firebend, and you're a good bender, but I'm not sure you're capable of facing this – the way the tribespeople talk about her, she's like a force of nature."

"Zellie, we're forces of nature. It's written on our hair, or have you forgotten?" he asked with a grin. "I'm sure we can handle this together."

"But why were you so eager for it?" She punched at the fire morosely, and a sad spurt of flame jumped from her hand. "Did you find the Princess to be that pretty?"

"No! I mean, she was pretty, but… she was the first person I've ever met who looked at me and didn't see a freak. She—"

"The first person? Jack, what about me?"

"I'm sorry! I meant the first person from the Water Tribe."

"I thought you'd left them behind…" Rapunzel said into her furs.

"What was that? You're mumbling, Zellie."

"Please don't say I'm mumbling," Rapunzel said, the flames flaring up. She calmed herself, rubbing her hands steadily closer to the fire. "If it's not to impress the Princess, why are you doing this? We don't need reward money, and we don't need to mess with spirits more than we already have. So… why?"

Jack didn't answer for a long time. Finally he said, "In the Water Tribe, we believe that the community comes first in everything. A favor to the community, and then a favor to the individual. That's how we achieve balance. Push and pull. For a young man – such as myself – who's lost his place in the community, he can attempt some brave task that the Tribe needs to be done. You could call it a quest, if you want to be old-fashioned about it. It restores your place in the Tribe. It restores your honor."

"Wait – you mean like a hunt?"

"Well… yeah."

"Where you track down an innocent animal and bring back its pelt and eat its meat?"

"Hey, Zel, don't give me that. I've seen you chow down on pig-chicken roast as much as the next girl."

"Yes, but we're hunting for a person here."

"That's according to the Princess, who, doe-eyed looks aside, is not an unbiased source."

"Jack, have you forgotten that according to some people, we're monsters?"

"That's what I'm trying to undo. If I can be recognized as a warrior, I'll be able to hold my head up high in the Tribe again."

"Is that what you've really wanted? All this time we've been adventuring? I thought you were running away!" Rapunzel bit her lip. "With me."

"Well… m-maybe I'm not ironclad sure what I want." Jack curled up, his staff pressed close to him, a barrier. "And maybe I don't want you nagging me about it, either."

Rapunzel clenched her fists so hard that her nails dug into her skin. She dimly heard Jack warn her that she should really put some gloves on.

"I know what I want," she said abruptly. "I want to find the poor girl who's lost in a blizzard and who's scared and who's lost even herself. I want to find her, and I will treat her like a person. Like someone who needs to be healed. Like a friend."

"And when that friend freezes you solid, I'll be there to break you out of it," Jack answered, eyes on his staff.

Rapunzel shook her head. "You taking first watch?"

"Yes. I'll keep the fire lit."

She lay with her back to him, curled up tightly in the fur-lined sleeping bags (courtesy of the generous Princess), and tried to sleep. But the words she wasn't saying were bouncing inside of her worse than playful porpoises.

'I thought that you were beyond this. I thought you were beyond wanting approval, and thirsting for honor and glory. I thought you were beyond seeing people as monsters.'

'Or maybe,' she thought, 'I'm the one who can't see monsters, as I was raised by one. I can't comprehend honor, because there's no competition in an isolated convent. Maybe I'm the one who's wrong, aren't I so often wrong?' and these old, old fears kept her from sharing her worries with Jack, and made her sleep restless.

When she woke up to take the second watch, she kept the fire lively with as much energy as she dared expend. Oh, how she hated this cold!

(A/N: I have an idea that shortly afterwards, the Princess joined them on this adventure to rescue her sister. Were they successful? You'll probably have to wait until November to find out!)