No one knew how it happened; where the conversation started. No one knew where it was going and very few knew exactly what was going.

The only thing that mattered to Jack Frost was that he was having fun with his friends. The other guardians rarely got together, even after they had a new member and that day was not an exception. Bunny had dropped in for a short visit, Tooth had come for some new candy cane floss, North had come downstairs for Tooth and Sandy wasn't there at all.

Jack visited each of the Guardians at least once a week and just happened to be there at the same time.

"Stop calling me kangaroo!" Bunny cried for the hundredth time that day. He tried to sound annoyed but he was rolling his eyes and smiling.

"Aw you know you love it," teased Jack.

"No, actually, it makes me uncomfortable. I come from Australia mate! I'm around real kangaroos all day."

"It makes you uncomfortable?" Jack grinned mischievously.

"Of course Jack," North nodded knowingly. "Everyone had something that makes them uncomfortable."

"Not me," Tooth pondered. "Honestly I can't think of one thing..."

"What if Jack came in without a shirt on," Bunny gagged.

Tooth turned bright red as Jack smirked. "You're welcome!" He muttered under his breath.

The boys chuckled as Tooth began to blubber. "Well- that's not appropriate and..."

Jack put an arm around her shoulders. "He was kidding Tooth." He laughed.

"Of course she'd love it," North was still laughing. "You are together are you not?"

The friends looked at each other and blushed wildly. "No!" Tooth protested, Jack pulling his arm from around her shoulders.

"No," Jack shook his head with a small blush playing across his cheeks.

"I mean we're just friends," Tooth smiled.

There was a pause.

"And I have a girlfriend," Jack's tiny voice broke through the silence.

"What?" North asked.

"No you don't!" Bunny laughed.

Jack's face was bright red, or would have been if he was a normal person. But as he was the spirit of winter his face had turned a pale blue.

"Yea I do," he smiled.

Tooth squealed with happiness and flitted around him. "Who is she? Do we know her? Is she mortal?"

A little disoriented by the questions Jack struggled to answer.

"Told you he didn't," Bunny rolled his eyes. "He's lyin' to us."

"Her name is Merida." Jack fumbled.

Bunny, North, and Tooth paused right in there tracks as if they had been frozen.

"Merida?" Tooth choked.

"Isn't she the wild one...?" North mused.

"With the red hair?" Bunny continued.

"Jack isn't she..." Tooth's voice trailed off and she gasped.

"The summer spirit?" Jack smiled. "Yea."

"But mate you're the winter spirit," The rabbit said skeptically. "You're polar opposites!"

"But," Jack's voice trailed off as his eyes lit up. "We're so similar. We like the same music, and places, and times and food and... Everything! It's like we can't disagree on anything. We never fight and she..." Jack realized what he was saying and blushed again. "She's perfect."

"You're polar opposites," North agreed with bunny. "Can you even touch her?"

All the air left Jack and his shoulders slumped. "No. Not for longer than a couple of seconds."

"But I thought you said that you were together."

"We are!"

"And you've never touched her." Bunny raised an eyebrow.

"That last time I touched her for longer than a few seconds..." Jack lifted his hoodie sleeve to show a shiny pink burn that wrapped around his lower arm. "But that was a long time ago."

The scene flashed through his head. It was over a hundred years ago.

"Come on Jack!" Merida-former princess of Scotland- cried.

"I'm coming!" Jack felt his spirits soar. It was mid spring in Utah and the two of them were wondering the maze of rock in one of the many national parks. Both had forgotten which park it had been.

Jack had his staff but Merida couldn't fly without her horse. Jack couldn't touch her and they were both hopelessly lost, but they were both having fun.

"Where are we?" giggled Merida a few moments later as they met another dead end. Her Scottish accent still clung to her speech, but it was lighter than it had been in life.

"I have no idea," Jack laughed, wiping a thin line of sweat of his face. It was a bit warm for his liking but he didn't mind. He was with his girlfriend and nothing to make him feel better.

"Agh," Merida sat down in a heap of dark blue fabric, which swirled around her knees and stopped mid shoulder. It gripped her neck and lined her warm face. She had once been pale, but now her cheeks were permanently sun kissed as was her tiny nose. Her dress clung to her thin frame, but had just enough movement for her to do all she wanted. "We're never going to find the way out."

"Does that matter?" Jack smiled, kneeling next to her. He wasn't wearing his normal hoodie as the heat would've been too much, but instead had a white tank top that looked almost cream next to his hair and skin, and was wearing his normal tight brown pants. He kissed her cheek quickly, fast enough to make contact but not long enough to cause them pain.

Merida smiled, wishing beyond life that she could touch her boyfriend. "I guess it doesn't matter that much."

The deep throated whiney of a horse made them both jump up. "Angus!" She cried. "Jack its Angus, he can come and get us!" She gripped his exposed upper arm and her excitement lit her bright red curly hair on fire. She tended to do that when her emotions got the best of her. But with the winter spirit right next to her it wasn't the best plan. Her hand was nearly two hundred degrees and the heat seared across Jack's entire arm.

"Merida!" He yelled his frost melting as he tried to get her hand off.

"Jack come on!" She yelled running forward. Jack held his staff in the other and dropped it scrabbling against the back of her hand.

"Merida!" He practically screamed in her ear. She looked back and her sky blue eyes widened with terror.

She let go and Jack dropped to his knees gripping his bright pink arm. His skin was never supposed to go past a normal human shade. But this had gone to a point far past that.

"Oh Jack," Merida started to cry the liquid evaporating as it touched her cheeks. "I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to. I wasn't thinking."

"Calm down Meri," he soothed covering his arm in his bright white frost. "See all better."

But it hadn't been 'all better'. The burn had stung for days and the scar had never faded and probably never would.

Jack finished his story of the burn. Bunny look shocked, North seemed at a loss for words, and Tooth was appalled.

"And you stayed with her?" Bunny asked. "After she hurt you so badly?"

"She didn't mean it," Jack begged them to understand. "And I've done the same to her."

"What so you mean?" Tooth recovered her voice.

"She has a few frostbite marks on her arms," Jack seemed almost ashamed. "It was just a hazard of being together. We could hurt each other."

"How many times?" North asked.

"Lost count," Jack shrugged.

The first time had been when they had met.

Jack flew around the middle of South America, searching for some water fall he could freeze. It would be so funny to see the animals' confusion as their water supply changed. It was to warm for the freezing to be a serious problem.

But he hadn't calculated how hot it would be.

He stopped below a tree and sighed, wiping sweat of his face. It was unseasonably warm considering that it was only spring. Moaning slightly he closed his eyes.

When he opened them again he saw the sharp tip of a silver tipped arrow.

"Who are you?" said a Scottish female voice. Jack tried to pull his senses together, his thoughts muddled with the heat. "I said," the arrow almost went up his nose, "Who are you?"

"Wha'?" He looked up at the sun kissed cheeks and the grim expression, beautiful despite the distrust across it.

"I asked you a question boy!"

"You, you can see me?"

"'Course I can I'm not blind. Now who are you and why are you here. Answer me before I put this arrow through yur skull!" she cried.

"I'm Jack, Jack Frost."

She lowered the arrow. "What in the moons name are you doing in South America! You'll melt like a Popsicle."

Jack had no idea what a Popsicle was but he got the message. "I was having a little fun," he said honestly.

"And turning into a puddle is fun?" The girl smiled slightly.

"Maybe it is!" Jack laughed.

"You're crazy," she sighed. "But we gotta get you back to somewhere cold."

"'We'?" Jack asked, trying and failing to support his own weight.

"Course'," the girl rolled her eyes. "I'm not tha' mean."

"I got that impression from the bows and arrows," Jack tried to laugh but he was out of breath.

"Come on," the girl held out a hand to help him up.

Jack took the hand hesitantly, wondering what it would like to touch someone real. Her hand was warm, really warm, but Jack endured it as she lifted him to his feet. He leaned on his staff but the girl didn't let go. She put a hand on his shoulder to steady. Her touch was getting painful but still Jack said nothing.

"You able to stand?" she asked, looking just as scared about touching him as he did her.

Jack nodded. "It's just... Hot." His voice trembled as her touch became almost unbearable.

"You're really cold." the girl didn't move her hand but her face was confused as if she had never felt cold before.

Jack moved from under her hand suddenly, it had started to sting wildly. "That's really hot." He gasped.

The red haired girl looked at her hand which had turned slightly blue. "And you are really cold!"

"Well that would be obvious as the winter spirit!" Jack became defensive.

"And the reason I'm warm is because I'm the summer spirit!" The girl shouted.

"Really?" Jack smiled. "I didn't think that there were others like me..."

"I guess I never thought about it either..." She blushed and the pink suited her. She stowed her bow and arrows and held out her hand. "My name's Merida, Merida Fire."

Jack tentatively shook her hand, then pulled back when he felt her heat again.

"How long have you been around Merida Fire?" asked Jack as he slowly got use of his legs again.

"A little over one hundred years now, I became a spirit long ago, but people could see me and I was the immortal guardian of my family. Then the moon made me spirit of summer." She looked downcast. "Everyone stopped being able to see or touch me after that." Her bright free grin appeared. "Wha' about you?"

Jack shrugged. "The moon made me a winter spirit about one hundred years ago."

Merida waited for more. "Is tha' it?"

Jack nodded. "That's my whole life, running around winter trying to make people see you."

"You've never touched anyone?" Merida asked.

"I've touched you." Jack's smile was warm on his slowly reddening lips.

Merida smiled. "Come on frosty, we have to get you back to winter."

The summer spirit called for her huge horse and explained how he could fly and she couldn't. Once on her horse they talked all the way to France, where winter was in full tilt. Merida looked longingly at the continent.

"I've never seen winter before," she sighed.

"Never?" Jack was incredulous. "Come on I'll give you a quick tour."

"No!"

"We don't have to stay long," Jack's huge ice blue eyes pleaded with her.

"You're still not at full strength." Merida smiled. "But we do need to see each other again."

Jack nodded. "Here, in spring, that's mutual territory."

Merida smiled. "Alright Snowflake." She grinned at the nick-name and her horse flew off.

"See you then Frizzy!" Jack used a nick-name of his own. He smiled for the whole rest of that day.

"And what happened the day you got together again?" Tooth asked. They had all migrated to the side hall and were sitting on the couches to listen to Jack's story. Jack was as far from the roaring fire as he liked, sitting on the cold stone ground as he told his story. He had made a small ice circle where he was sitting, but it seems he hadn't noticed it was there.

"We wandered Paris," Jack's face was a gentle happiness, the kind he only got when talking about his past. "Mostly we talked, I learned everything about her past that day."

"What happened after that?" Even Bunny was interested now.

"We kept seeing each other in the area's that had spring and after a while our friendship grew stronger."

"Did you ever kiss her?" North asked a teasing smile playing across his lips.

Jack shook his head. "Not a real one, maybe a couple of seconds. I would freeze her and she would burn me."

How did you do it?" Tooth asked. "You're that close to her and you still..."

Jack smiled sadly. "Be inches away from the person you never want to let go. And you can't touch them. Yea, it's something like that."

Bunny looked shocked to see such emotions cross the annoying little frostbite's face. "So what did you do with each other?" He asked.

"During Halloween season we would go through the mazes and during spring we would go on roller coasters." His face lit up. "Even if the humans couldn't see us, we could still come in contact with the structures. She couldn't get very cold and I couldn't get very warm but sometimes we would go surfing or ice skating. I even got her to come on a hay ride to see Christmas lights!"

"Do you have favorite?" North asked.

"About seventy or so years ago..."

Jack and Merida were sitting in the pink blossom park somewhere in China. It was early spring and all the blossoms were finally opening. Merida and Jack made sure never to miss the annual opening of the blossoms. Merida would always send a warm breeze through the trees and the flowers would come alive all at once.

Jack had only ever seen one thing more beautiful, and she was right beside him.

This year was one of the most beautiful as many more trees had been planted causing the lighter newer blossoms to make a baby pink carpet.

"May I have this dance?" asked Jack holding out his hand.

"But Jack..."

He didn't move. Gently she took his hand. He was wearing gloves; firefighter gloves.

"Not the most romantic thing in the world," he said.

"But I can hold your hand," Merida kissed him on the cheek quickly. "And that's all that matters."

They swirled around in the pink petal air. Jack staff was forgotten by the bench as Merida's bow and arrows. They were lost in each other.

"Let this never stop," Jack whispered in her ear.

She lightly ran a hand down his face, not enough to burn him but just enough to leave a warm tingle. "Why does it have to be like this?" tears ran down her beautiful face.

Jack took her face in his gloved hands. "Love is hard but I promise I'll never leave you."

"I promise on the moon, the stars and this love I will never forget this." Merida whispered. The gentle wind stopped and all the petals swirled around their feet but none clouded the sharp spring air.

"We need something to remind us," Jack said. "Something we'll see every day."

That's when they had the idea.

It only took a moment, the pain was fleeting, but the mark would stay forever. Merida burnt a small heart on his hip bone; the injury would mark his skin blood red for the rest of his immortal life. Jack did the same on her side in the same spot. Hers was a frost bite that was blacker than the midnight sky.

"Never forget?" Jack asked.

"Never forget." Merida confirmed.

"You... What marked each other?" Bunny asked.

Jack nodded. "It will never fade, I'll always remember." His tone was light but it held a slight sadness.

"Can I... see it?" Tooth said hesitantly.

"Sure," Jack pulled up the corner of his hoodie. Right there on his hip bone was a rose red burn in the shape of a heart.

"You love each other that much?" North's smile was a bit watery.

"Loved." Jack's voice cracked a bit. "I haven't seen her in over fifty years."

"But I thought you said you never fought?" Tooth protested.

"And that she still was your girlfriend." Bunny chimed in.

"We are!" Jack defended. "Were... It's just. It's so messed up." The young winter sprit ran a hand through his stark white hair.

"Explain," Tooth put a hand on his arm.

Jack nodded and his voice cracked when he began. "It was a little over fifty years ago."

Merida was with a Jack trying to apologize for a burn he had given him on his lower leg. He was freezing it with his powers he promised her it was fine.

"But it's not!" She screamed. "It's not fine!"

"Merida..." He soothed, limping over to her.

"No Jack!" When she turned back to him her hair was in flames again and tears were spilling down her cheeks, too fast to be evaporated by the heat. "I hate this! I want to be with you every second of the day, but all we do is hurt each other."

"Merida, it's worked this long, why shouldn't it keep going?" Jack's face begged her to see reason. He ran a cold finger down her face, lightly.

"Because of everything. I can't kiss or even hug my own boyfriend!" She was becoming slightly hysterical. "I spend sleepless nights thinking of ways around our temperature differences. And I probably will until the end of time!"

"Don't you think I feel the same way!" Jack wanted to hold both her hands and speak with fire in his voice. But he could do neither of those things. "It hurts, and if I didn't love you beyond life it would be too hard, but that doesn't matter!" His tone softened. "Because I love you Merida."

"And that's the problem," her voice broke. All her fury faded into a cold monotone. "I love you too much, and I can't touch you. It's too hard."

"Merida please don't be saying what I think you're saying." Jack begged.

"We need to take a break from each other. I need space to clear my head." She sighed. "As much as we both love this fun together we still have duties."

"So what?" Jack asked.

"Our seasons are slipping. Summer is never on time and winter is becoming more and more unpredictable."

"Merida please no..." Tears touched Jack's skin and turned to ice; shattering on the ground beneath them.

"I love you snowball, but we need to stop," her smile was so sad it was more like a grimace. "I can't do this anymore."

Jack took a step back. "Alright. See you later then."

"No," she shook her head. "Goodbye."

"Please don't make me say that." Jack pleaded.

"I have to hear it!" Merida screamed at him. "Or I won't be able to accept it."

"Goodbye Merida Fire." Jack struggled to say more but a warm wind snatched him away and onto his duties as winter spirit.

Tears threatened to spill over his eyes as Jack finished the story. Tooth was openly sobbing, North seemed shocked and Bunny was stone faced.

"I haven't seen her since then."

"It's just a break," Bunny tired to find a solution. "She said she would come back." It sounded more like a question.

"That's what I thought," Jack tried and failed to smile. "I couldn't handle the thought that I would never see her again." This time he managed the smile. "That was the reason behind the blizzard of '68."

If bunnies could blush the oversize one would have been. "Jack I didn't realize... Every time I brought it up you would think of her."

"Yea," Jack's throat was holding all of his sobs.

"So what are you waiting for?" North asked, his energy bringing him to his feet.

"What are you talking about?" Tooth looked confused.

"Jack you must go to her and tell you how you feel. I cannot stand seeing you so sad." North continued.

Jack shook his head. "It won't work North. I love her but I don't want to hurt her by coming back. If she doesn't want to be around me then I'll stay away." He called on the winds to make him float a few feet above the ground. "That's what love is."

A few hours later the four original guardians were sitting by the fire with mugs of hot coco in their hands. Tooth was filling Sandy in on what had happened earlier that day. As he couldn't interrupt Sandy was one of the best listeners in the world.

"And then he just left!" Tooth finished.

Sandy patted her hand with a comforting expression on his face.

Tooth smiled, knowing what he was trying to communicate. "I know it will be ok but how do we fix this?"

North stood up, pacing, and trying to think of an idea.

Bunny stayed sitting, lounging on North's most comfortable couches. "But what can we do? He said himself that he wants to stay away from her."

"But that was only for her sake," Tooth countered. "He wants to see her more than anything in the entire world. He stays away because she doesn't want to see him."

Sandy began to pace with North.

"If that little frostbite can love her that much than it's obvious she's shown him that she loves him back." Bunny's head began to pound, trying to process all that information.

"Which means the only reason she wants to stay away is because she doesn't want to hurt him!" Tooth's eyes widened as she came to this conclusion. "Bunny you've met her before."

The Easter Bunny nodded. "North and I met her a long time ago. She took a liking to me and she'll visit me on the solstice every year."

"Summer solstice is so far away through." Tooth put her head in her hands.

Sandy waved his hand in the air, an idea having come to him. All turned their attention to the tiny man. He made a snowflake symbol over his head. Jack. Then he created a bow and arrow. Merida. Then a broken heart symbol. He brought the bow and arrows and the snowflake together and they mashed to make a bigger heart.

"If we bring them together they'll fall in love again?" Tooth interpreted. Sandy nodded.

They had some planning to do.

Jack returned the next day, hoping his friends had forgotten the experience of yesterday. Well, moreover that they had let it go if not forgotten.

It had been hard to tell them about what had happened. But it felt like a dam was breaking, which he had always thought would be shut.

"Hey Phil!" Jack smiled at the yeti.

"Harrumph!" Phil waved but he looked a little disgruntled. The fur on his arm was covered in soot.

"What happened to you?"

"Augh!" Phil waved his hand dismissively.

"North here?"

The huge yeti waved a hand toward the back of the workshop.

Jack saluted comically and flew to the back.

"North, you here?" he called.

"In back room Jack!" called the big man.

Jack looked around. This was a room in the pole he hadn't entered yet. The whole thing was enormous with ceilings higher than in the front; which was saying something.

As Jack walked in to the far room he was shocked. The entire back wall was stained glass. Red, yellow, blue and green stained everything in bright colors. The design was in frailer to him but a huge silver moon hung in the center and cast smaller glittering rainbows everywhere.

"Whoa," Jack muttered.

"Jack?" A voice he didn't recognize said. He looked over to the small group wondering if it had been Tooth. The fairy was blushing wildly and her wings were moving a mile a minute. Bunny looked pretty happy too. North was beaming and Sandy couldn't stay still. Why were they so happy?

Then he saw an unfamiliar figure step forward.

She was wearing a bright blue dress that flowed making it look like a river. The top was lined by a cape of fire... No not a cape; hair. Jack couldn't speak as those sun kissed cheeks raised in a smile and those sky blue eyes filled with tears.

"Jack it's me," she whispered her Scottish accent thickening with emotion.

"Merida?" Jack choked.

She smiled. "How are you?" But Jack didn't listen to her.

"Why are you here?" he looked to the other guardians who were trying to blend in with the shadows. "Did you bring her here?"

"Jack-" Tooth began but it was Merida's turn to cut her off.

"I thought you would want me here!" Her hair blazed above her head.

"I thought you didn't want me here!"

"Come on," Bunny tried to get in between them. "Let's all just calm down."

Merida ignored the rabbit and snatched an arrow from her sheath and cocked it. Jack gripped his staff in preparation to fight.

"Do you know how long I waited for you?" Jack asked, begging in to circle the large room Merida staying exact opposite from him.

"The same length of time I waited for you!" She cried.

"You?" Jack spluttered. "Waiting? You were the one who sent me away!"

"Please," Tooth fluttered forward, but North held her back. "North why are you stopping me? They could hurt each other!"

"They are talking it out." North said grimly. "And for fight like theirs they need time to talk."

Sandy nodded and waved his hands in a gestured to calm down and wait.

They turned back to the younger immortals and watched.

"I didn't send you away!" Merida cried. "You left! You were the one who said goodbye!"

Jack rolled his eyes. "You made me say goodbye. You told me you couldn't stand to be around me anymore and you told me I had to say goodbye!"

Merida let loose an arrow which Jack narrowly avoided. "I just needed a break I never expected that you would actually stay away!"

"Then maybe you should've mentioned that before I cause I blizzard that knocked out all electricity in the U.S.!"

Merida lowered her bow slightly. "The blizzard of 68' that was because of me?"

Jack nodded. "I tried everything to get your attention after that. But nothing worked."

"Why didn't you just come and find me?" Merida stowed her arrows.

"I don't know."

"Yes you do Snowflake." She smiled gently. "Why didn't you come after me?"

"I was scared you didn't want me to." Jack glared at her accusingly. "Why didn't you come after me?"

"I don't know."

"Yes you do Frizzy," Jack took a step closer as her fairy hair tamed down. "Why didn't you come after me?"

She shook her head, her sky blue eyes welling with tears of frustration. "I wasn't scared." She protested, her knees buckling under her. "I wasn't!" She knelt on the floor, her quiet sobs the only sound.

Jack walked forward and knelt next to her. "I know you weren't scared, you're never scared." He smiled. "So what was the real reason?"

"I was angry," she said. "I was so mad at you for leaving that I couldn't handle it. I never wanted to see you again but at the same time I wanted to come charging after you."

Jack put a hand on hers, forgetting all the consequences that would come. "That's exactly how I felt Meri."

She looked up at the touch and smiled. "Are we...?" She asked. No words needed to be said as Jack nodded.

His hand was still on hers and he hadn't pulled away. Both looked down and realized that it didn't hurt.

"What?" Jack looked to his fellow guardians who were al smiling with great pride. "I can..." He looked back to Merida as she pulled her fingers through his. "I can touch you." Merida nodded, her eyes again filling with tears, but those were ones of joy.

As if without his consent he threw his arms around her in a tight embrace. A hug; a real hug.

Once they had finally let go he smiled at his friends. "How?"

North smiled. "Man in moon still owes me many favors."

"Thank you," Merida held Jack's hand tightly. She turned back to Jack and laughed slightly. "So you're a guardian now?"

Jack told her everything. For an hour Jack spoke relating everything that had happened to him from the time he left her, to Bunny's anger about the blizzard, to the man in the moon calling him, to his last visit with Jamie.

Merida listened, her head on his shoulder the whole time.

When Jack had finished Merida told him everything she had gone through. How she had found a tribe of people who believed in her down in Sahara desert. By the time she was done Jack had his head in her lap and she lovingly ran her fingers through his white hair.

Tooth just watched the two with no words. She loved seeing Jack so happy. Bunny also just watched without saying anything. Nothing needed to be said by anyone. No one had ever seen Jack so content. It didn't even compare to when Jamie had first seen him.

North smiled like a father, eyeing his frost child so happy and Sandy simply sat there grinning like an idiot. He stood as the story came to an end. "And now you two are together!" North cried. "This calls for celebration!"

"North," Jack turned a bit less pale, they assumed his version of a blush. "You don't have to."

But the big man would hear nothing of the sort. He grinned and stood, calling to the yeti's to get his record player and records.

Merida was grinning and with one glace from those wide sea blue eyes he kept quiet.

Tooth was watching them, catching the small glances, the way they still touched each other so hesitantly, scared to be hurt, then leaned in, their fingers never far from the others. Suddenly there was a tap at her shoulder and a small golden hand was offering itself. She laughed. "Why yes Sandy I would love to dance."

Bunny was vehemently protesting, even as a lively Russian waltz sounded. North was just as insistent, simply grabbing the rabbit like a child's toy and dancing in circles.

"North let me g—" met everyone's ears as he was spun like a rag doll.

Everyone instantly noticed that Merida was quite the natural. She had this air of grace about her; despite the jerky movements of her limbs she knew every step as if she had practiced her entire life.

And Jack? Jack was laughing like he might never stop. He let himself be led by Merida, his face split into a wide childlike grin. His eyes shone with a joy that was hardly ever there.

By the end of the song North had tired himself, letting a grateful Bunny escape. The two of them took up control of the music played, which consisted of a wide variety of styles from Indian to South American to Gaelic right up North's favorite, Russian classical.

Tooth and Sandy joined them for most but by the end of the dozenth song they left the merry making to the kids.

"Enough!" Merida cried, resting back against Jack and closing her yes. Her chest heaved with exertion but nothing to stop the entirely too content smile on her face.

"One more?" Jack begged.

"I couldn't take one more step," she kissed his cheek gently.

"Please?"

"No," she went to grab her bow which she had flung to the ground when the dancing had begun.

That's when a sweet low rumble spread through the room, a sweet innocent tune. The four elder guardians looked around for the source when it occurred to them. They had never heard Jack sing. It turned into a gentle whistle, a hint of Gaelic air to it.

"I'll swim and sail on savage seas," he began to sing slowly. It was low and sweet, clear and ever so soft. Only the wide room with its stone floors carried the sound. "With never a fear of drowning. And gladly ride the waves of life. If you would marry me…"

Merida had frozen, her face turned from them.

"No scorching sun nor freezing cold will stop me on my journey. If you will promise me your heart. And love…" Jack stopped, worry crossing his face.

"Jack?" Tooth asked.

"I don't remem—"

A new voice joined his; Merida had turned around, a sheen of happy tears over her eyes, singing in a bright voice. "And love me for eternity. My dearest one, my darling dear your mighty words astound me," She held up her arm, upper arm straight and lower arm vertical, waiting for her partner.

Jack gladly joined her as Merida continued.

"But I've no need for mighty deeds when I feel your arms around me," they turned, their other arms taking up position, turning in a small circle.
Jack began again, taking her hands, "But I would bring you rings of gold, I'd even sing you poetry."

Merida laughed "oh, would you?"

"And I would keep you from all harm if you would stay beside me," Jack went to one knee and spun her so she took a wide circle around him, hopping his leg.

"I have no use for rings of gold," Merida took up the words, Jack standing so they could dance hand in hand. "I care not for your poetry. I only want your hand to hold."

"I only want you near me." Jack cried.

This time they sang together, their voices mixing in a harmony of joy only two lovers could have. "To love and kiss to sweetly hold, for the dancing and the dreaming," They sped up twisting and turning in an intricate dance, their feet knowing the steps. "Through all life's sorrows and delights I'll keep your laugh inside me. I'll swim and sail a savage seas with ne'er a fear of drowning." Jack lifted in her in the air by her waist, making her laugh through her song. "I'd gladly ride the waves so white if you will marry me!"

He set her down and they grinned at each other.

Then Merida did something entirely unexpected. She took Jack's face in her hands and kissed him.

Every other member of the room froze in shock.

But Jack couldn't say he minded that much. In fact he didn't mind at all.

I Love Jerida so much if you can tell. I hope you enjoyed. Please review and tell me.