Disclaimer: I DO NOT OWN THE PREVIEW PICTURE! IT BELONGS TO SweetasTea ON DEVIANTART! I also do not own any of the characters. All I own is the storyline.

Word Count: 2373

AU: Icicle!Jack AU

UAs: None

Prompt: Releasing from the Promise

Rapunzel wasn't entirely sure what she was expecting to find when she finally found her way to the dark room hidden deep in Pitch's lair, past all of the spiked black birdcages and dark stone bridges and inky stalactites. Past the point where any eerie white light could filter in from the gaps in the ceiling. Past the throne where the Nightmare King himself kept watch over his dark kingdom.

She knew Jack wasn't going to be himself. She knew Pitch had changed him, corrupted his heart. She knew when walked into the room where the boy she loved was being kept, he wouldn't be the Jack she remembered.

But when she used her stolen key to unlock the door and slowly pushed it open, what she saw was so much worse than anything she could have imagined.

She didn't even recognize the hunching shape in the corner as human at first. She assumed it was some sort of dresser or chair that had been completely frozen over in the neverending chill of this awful place. As soon as it began rising up, she backed up against the wall, startled.

"I've already told you, I'm not going and making anyone else cold today," came a tired voice. "You've made me do enough."

"Jack?" she called out uncertainly.

He whipped around, blue eyes filling with terror as soon as he saw her. "Rapunzel? What are you doing here?"

Rapunzel sucked in her breath. She had tried so hard to believe that the thing she saw earlier wasn't Jack, but now it was unmistakable.

His entire torso was covered in long, razor-sharp icicles, and his hair, which had once stuck up in soft, white waves, was now completely frozen over. His skin had been pale before, but now it was a stark white. His staff lay on the ground next to him, completely coated in ice.

"Jack!" she gasped. "Oh my god, what did he do to you?"

She ran toward him, wanting to find a way to kiss him, touch him, anything. In response he backed hastily away, eyes still wide with fear.

"N—no!" he stammered. "Don't come near me! Everyone only ever gets hurt when they touch me…"

Rapunzel's heart broke at the haunted look in his eyes as he said it. It sounded like he was speaking from a lot of experience.

"The icicles…they can cut right through flesh…" he whimpered.

She took another several steps toward him, and this time he backed away more slowly, pressing himself as close against the wall as he could with icicles protruding from his back.

"What did Pitch do to you?" she repeated.

"He…he tried to make me join him, after he captured me. I refused, and then somehow…I don't know how he did it, but he made my powers go out of control and made me freeze myself."

"And he's been keeping you locked up all this time?" she gasped.

"Well, not exactly. He…convinced me that no one would ever want to be near me like this, that everyone would be scared of me. He said that the other Guardians would reject me …he said that you would reject me because you could never touch me. So I stayed. There's no other place for me in the world."

Rapunzel's eyes darkened. "That's completely idiotic," she growled. "I'll still love you no matter what you look like! And why would the Guardians turn you away for something that's not your fault? You only ended up like this because you were trying to do the right thing!"

He looked at her with a pained expression. "Because I could kill children if they ever try to touch me? Because I can't even walk through the woods without some curious animal dying because they get too close?"

She wanted more than anything to hold him close, to tell him everything would be all right. But she knew if she got injured by the icicles, it would hurt Jack far more than it would ever hurt her. And she couldn't be the reason for him seeking even deeper into despair.

"We'll figure something out, okay?" she whispered. "We'll find a way to make you better. I'm sure North can think of something…" Jack looked at her skeptically.

"But you can't stay here with Pitch!" she went on. "He's…he's vile and cruel and he keeps telling you things that aren't true so you'll stay with him and he'll have someone to push around! He was the one who did this to you, and you want to stay with him?"

"I don't want to, I have to!" Jack spat, suddenly growing angry. "I have to stay where I can't hurt anyone, even if it means being with Pitch. And I have to keep doing what he says, or else…he says he could make it even worse…"

"Wh—what?" Rapunzel stared at him in horror.

"He says if I don't behave, he can make icicles come out of my face too. And my hands and my legs. I'll be completely untouchable."

Rapunzel shot a seething look at the door, and then looked back at him. "That's it," she hissed. "I have to get you out of here now."

Jack shook his head. "No, you're the one who has to get out of here," he whimpered. "It's too late for me. If you ended up getting hurt because of me, I don't think I could ever forgive myself. And if Pitch finds you here…who knows what he'll do? Just…just leave. Before anything happens."

"But—"

"Just get out of here, Rapunzel!" The words came out harsher than Jack had intended, but he didn't care. She winced, but made no move to leave.

"GET OUT OF HERE OR I'LL FREEZE YOU!" He picked up his staff and pointed it straight at her. Maybe scaring her into leaving was the best approach.

He took a threatening step towards her, but she still didn't move. "Why can't you just leave me alone?" he snarled. "Why can't everyone leave me alone? The Jack you knew is gone, so just let it go!"

Rapunzel could tell he was trying to build up icy walls, trying to shut her out. But she wasn't going to let that happen.

"No!" she said defiantly, standing her ground. "I made you a promise, Jack Frost, and I intend to keep it!"

His eyes softened slightly at the word "promise," and he slowly lowered his staff.

"Remember that, Jack?" she whispered. "How we were out on the lake, watching the lanterns I'd always wanted to see from that little boat…and you told me you were in love with me, but you were just so terrified because you thought you would have to watch me grow old without you. And your whole face just lit up like the moon when I showed you my hair…how it could glow, heal, keep someone young forever…and I told you how if I sang that healing song every day, I could join you. And then I…"

She felt tears begin to wet her eyes as she continued to look at him. "I promised you I'd always love you and be there for you, and I'd spend eternity with you. You think I'm going to back out now, when you need me the very most?"

A smile gradually tugged at the corners of Jack's mouth, although Rapunzel could see tears pooling in his eyes as well.

"It's okay, Zellie," he said, his voice cracking. "I'm letting you off the hook with that one."

Rapunzel gave him a perplexed look. "You're what?"

"Well, you made the promise to me, right?" he said. "So I'm telling you right here, right now that I'm letting you out of it. You don't have to spend forever with me."

Rapunzel started to make her way toward him. Jack instinctively backed away, but Rapunzel shook her head ever so slightly.

"Just trust me," she whispered. Reluctantly, he stayed put. He still seemed to flinch a little when she reached out and rested her hand on his cheek.

His skin had always been cool, but now it felt like it was laced with actual ice. Despite the biting cold eating into her hand, she forced herself to keep it there. "Jack…I want to spend forever with you," she whispered.

"And I want to spend forever with you," he replied, sounding broken. "I love you, Zellie. But it would make me so much happier if you stayed away. Kept yourself safe. Can you do that for me?"

She gently massaged his cheek. "Would that really make you happy?"

"Well, no…but it would put my mind at ease. You're not safe around me or Pitch."

She reached out and rested her other hand on his other cheek, pulling his face forward before he could protest. He let out a yelp of alarm, but she leaned delicately over the icicles on his chest and kissed him hard. His lips were stiff and frigid beneath hers, but after a few seconds he cautiously began to kiss back. He may have been blisteringly cold, but the way his mouth moved gently against hers assured her that he was still her Jack.

"Too bad," she murmured after she finally pulled away. "You're not getting rid of me that easily. I'm not giving up on you, Jack, and I'm going to keep my promise to you, even if you don't think I need to."

Jack let out a frustrated sigh. "I literally just let you off the hook! I've already told you, I'm not going to be offended if you don't follow through with staying with me forever. And I'm not just saying that, I really do mean it. It's so much more important that you're safe than that you keep some dumb promise."

"I don't care," she said stubbornly. "As long as my hair can keep me young, I'm going to stay with you."

Wait…my hair…she thought.

Rapunzel quickly began to gather up her hair and cautiously began to wrap it around Jack's chest, careful not to let it get too close to any of the icicles' pointed ends.

"What are you doing?" Jack asked.

"Saving you," she replied casually, continuing to wrap her hair around him.

He sighed, giving her a downcast look. "It's not going to work."

"At least let me try!" she retorted. To her relief, Jack didn't struggle or protest. When she had finished wrapping him in her hair, she closed her eyes and started to sing.

"Flower gleam and glow

Let your powers shine

Make the clock reverse

Bring back what once was mine

Heal what has been hurt

Change the fate's design

Make the clock reverse

Bring back what once was mine

What once was mine"

The golden glow faded as she finished the song, and she looked over Jack to see if anything had changed. Every last icicle was exactly the same, just as long and cold and sharp as before.

"No," she whimpered. "Why isn't this working?"

She tried again, and once more, but the icicles didn't start to melt in the slightest. Jack watched her as she went, blue eyes drained.

"Rapunzel." He reached out and put a hand on her arm after the sixth time. "Stop. You can't save me. No one can."

"N—no, there has to be a way!" she cried, eyes swimming with tears again. "I can't just let you stay like this. I have to save you!"

"Rapunzel…hey…"

"Why can't I help you? I'm so useless. Why won't my stupid hair work?" she added through clenched teeth.

He let his hand slide down her arm and laced his fingers with hers. "Don't you dare be mad at yourself, Zellie," he told her sternly. "It's not your fault. You did the best you could. It's going to be okay—"

"No, it's not!" she sobbed, starting to get hysterical. Several tears fell from her eyes and landed one by one on the icy boy's chest. Each one made a sizzling noise as it hit, making her look up.

Her eyes widened as she realized every tear that landed on him seemed to be absorbed into the ice in a tiny golden flower of light. She and Jack exchanged a puzzled look.

Rapunzel gasped as golden streams of light suddenly began to sidle out of Jack's chest, wrapping around him like liquid sunbeams. Through the bright golden light, she could make out the icicles melting one by one, running in trails of dripping water down Jack's legs. Wet blonde hair fell to the floor with a heavy thump, spikes of ice no longer holding it in place.

When the light faded, all that was left of the icicle prince was a shivering and soaking teenage boy in a blue hoodie. Rapunzel let out a cry of delight and surged forward, wrapping her arms tightly around him. He hugged her back even tighter, and they stayed that way for a long time, laughing and crying and wanting to never let go.

At last Rapunzel pulled her head back so that she could meet Jack's eyes. "You saved me," he murmured. "I guess I shouldn't have underestimated you."

"I wouldn't have given up until I did," she replied.

He gave her a crooked smile. "You know…I'm still letting you out of that being-with-me-forever thing. If you get bored of me, or decide there's someone cooler you want to spend eternity with—"

"Nope," Rapunzel cut him off. "You can try and let me out of this all you want, but I'm sticking to my word. When I make a promise, I never, ever break that promise."

"Even if you're formally released from it?"

"Even if I'm formally released from it."

"Well, I guess I can't complain." He leaned forward and kissed her deeply. Rapunzel was delighted to find that his lips had gone back to being cool and soft like they used to be. She kissed him for a long time, not caring that the cold, wet hoodie pressed against her thin dress was starting to send shivers through her.

"All right." After they pulled apart, she took his hand and started to lead him to the door. "Let's go home."

YASSSSS Icicle!JackxRapunzel! I've been wanting to write about this pairing for a long while, and now I've finally gotten the chance! I've seen plenty of fics with Dark!JackxRapunzel, but none with Icicle!JackxRapunzel. So I guess I'm the first! I'm just really fascinated by the idea of Icicle!Jack, and the thought of Rapunzel still loving him and trying to save him after he's literally covered in freezing spikes and basically kills anything he touches provides me with the delicious angst I constantly crave and also warms my cold black heart. I pretty heavily based the Icicle!Jack in this story on One-Cannot-See's Icicle Jack Frost profile on deviantart, so definitely check that out if you want to see where I got a lot of my inspiration! Hmmmm…if I get the chance, I might do more with this AU, because I really, really like it. ENOUGH ANGST TO KEEP MY UNHEALTHY ADDICTION IN CHECK FOR A LONG TIME! But if I DO come back to this, it probably won't be for a while since I have so many other projects to work on ^^;

TOMORROW: Jack decides it can't be the end of the world if he tells Rapunzel he loves her…because the end of the world is already happening. Now he's running out of time to tell her how he feels, and it seems that every conceivable thing is getting in the way.