Friday

~Rapunzel~~~

Rapunzel's eyes slowly adjust to the blinding sunlight streaming in from the window across the room. Sitting up, she discovers that Merida hasn't gotten out of bed yet, and when she glances at the digital clock on the dresser, she realizes why. It's still before six o'clock on in the morning, and, judging by the quietness of the cabin, Rapunzel can tell that she is the first one up.

She doesn't remember changing into her pajamas, or even going to bed at all. As soon as she closes her eyes again, however, it all comes rushing back like a current she can't escape. The rain, the raft, the rope – all such distinct and vivid images that bombard her senses until they start to suffocate her. It's as if she's back under the waves, the cold water pressing in all around her, and she claws at her throat desperately gasping for air. Wrenching her eyes open, Rapunzel sucks in a gulp of oxygen and forces herself to breathe normally. The bed sheets and are tangled up around her legs, so she calmly extracts her body from the blankets and sets her feet firmly on the carpet. Fresh air. She needs fresh air.

Yanking on her old sweatshirt, Rapunzel silently pads through the family room into the built-in porch. She opens up one of the many windows that line the wall facing the lake, and takes a deep breath of cool, forest air. Peeking out the side door, she sees that the sun is just beginning to rise; the sky showing off a spectrum of pink. Cringing as the old screen door squeaks in protest, she tip-toes out onto the wrap-around deck and leans on the railing. Merida always teased about how weird it is for Rapunzel to be a such an early riser – the sun will still be there whenever she chooses to wake, so says the Red-head at least - but the serene landscape around her is the perfect example of why she loves the mornings. Rapunzel stretches her arms against the banister and basks in the glory of the sun's first golden rays, the scent of pine and lake water sending a wave of relaxation through her body.

She glances up and spots some straggling stars hanging onto the last streak of midnight blue lingering in the sky, still lazily blinking as if fighting off sleep, and she snorts softly at their stubbornness. For a moment, she wonders why they don't just give up, let go of the night and allow it to slip into day. It's not like the night is going to be gone forever; it'll come back in a dozen or so hours. But then, Rapunzel reasons, maybe to them that is forever. They have no beauty without the night sky to show them off; if there was no darkness, the world would never see them. Maybe that's why they hold on: so that they feel like they have a purpose, like they are needed to break up the dark, like they are wanted.

~Jack~~~

Jack's eyes pop open at the sound of loud creaking echoing through the cabin. He sits up and notices that Hiccup is sound asleep next to him. Curious, he silently cracks open the bedroom door, but all he can see is a shadow floating across the windows in the family room. Cursing under his breath, he dramatically sneaks across the carpet like an undercover secret agent tailing a mark. Peeking around the corner of the wall, he checks to make sure no one is following him and moves to carefully open the screen door, mindful of the noisy hinges. He inches his way across the outside wall and glances around the corner.

His eyes fall on a long golden braid shimmering like spun threads of the sun itself, and instantly he recognizes the girl leaning on the railing not ten feet from him. Worry quickly rises in him. Why is she up so early? Why is she even out of bed? Cautiously, Jack walks towards her and starts to say good morning, but Rapunzel suddenly spins around, her eyes wide and her mouth open, ready to scream. He quickly covers her mouth with his hand before she makes a sound. Her eyes relax and he watches the tension fade from her body as she registers him. Jack takes his hand away and she sighs with relief. A smile tugs at the corners of his mouth as he apologizes, "Sorry, I didn't mean to freak you out."

"Again," Rapunzel corrects as she blows a stray strand of hair out of her eyes. "You have to stop doing that, Jackson Overland. You're lucky I didn't try to assault you this time."

"I'd call that an improvement. I didn't realize how quiet I was being until it was too late, I guess."

She waves her hand as if dismissing the whole thing. "I was watching the sunrise again- it's kind of a habit now," she explains, looking out at the water before speaking again, almost as if she doesn't know she's talking out loud. "I think July's the best time to see it because the trees are lush and green and the water is clearer."

Jack moves to lean on the railing beside her, absent-mindedly tracing the skin on the back of her hand with his fingertips. "Why don't you try going back to sleep?" He suggests, not bothering to hide the concern lacing through his voice.

She shudders and rubs her arms as if chilled by the warm breeze wrapping around them. "I couldn't."

He senses the uneasiness in her voice, and decides to stop pressing. Remembering how natural her smile is whenever she looks up at the bright sky or out at the woods around them, he tries a new question. "I'm guessing you like coming up here, then, huh?"

As if he flipped a switch, her eyes light up and her wariness melts away. "Oh, definitely! I love it here. I know we've only been here for a few days, but I can't help but feel at home. Not like, home home, obviously. That would be silly." A flustered blush paints her cheeks as she visibly tries to piece together the right words. "Surrounded by nature and beauty and such lovely people, I feel like I-I belong here. You know what I mean?"

"I'm starting to," Jack whispers with a smile, twirling a loose strand of her hair between his fingers.

She turns to him, and he watches her face – a mixture of embarrassment and surprise – as she understands the full weight of his words. He reaches up to tuck the strand behind her ear and lets his hand gently rest against her soft cheek. An audible intake of breath causes the corners of his mouth to pull into a wider smile. Bright green eyes stare up at him, but his are focused on the small, cute curve of her nose and the dark little freckles scattered like polka dots on her cheeks and the slight part in between her pink lips. Of course he knows exactly how she feels. Sure, being here in the middle of nowhere is freeing compared to being stuck in that dull small town back home—

Home.

No. Home is not, and never will be, a house or a piece of land or a town. Jack thought he would never have a home because he thought a home had to be one place with roots to tie him down. Now, he's realizing that home can be a feeling.

Or a person.

A flashback floods his vision: they were talking – more like daydreaming, really – about this right here on this deck just a few days ago. He wanted to fly away; she wanted him to take her with. Staring into her eyes, he had promised, but it dawns on him now that a promise isn't even necessary. Jack thought he would always run away from home, but now he won't ever be able to stop coming back. To his real home. To her.

"All I know, Punz, is that I belong with you."

Unable to hold back any longer, he slides his hand around to cradle the back of her neck as he leans forward to kiss those impossibly pink lips. He presses harder, more firm, trying to show her just how serious he was, how sure. She is under his protection now, and he isn't going to go anywhere without her. His fingers burrow themselves in her soft hair, holding her like the precious flower she is. Sure, she is feisty and spunky and strong, but she's still precious to him – so precious; she might not need him, but he might, just might, need her. And he tries to tell her all of that in a kiss.

Rapunzel wraps her arms around his neck in reply, returning the kiss in equal measure almost like she's repeating his thoughts back to him. When she pulls away, his mouth is buzzing from the feel and taste of her lips, but he doesn't dare lean in for more. Instead, she folds herself into his arms and nestles her head against his chest, and he rests his chin on top of her head. Breathing in the scent of her flowery shampoo drives him crazy, but he has to restrain from ducking down and kissing her again. He will respect her boundaries, what she's comfortable with, and though he would do anything for another kiss, he steels himself not to rush into things. She's dealt with enough cornering from her mother, so he will do things the right way and take things slow. Jack knows that that's what she would want.

"You know you should try to rest again," he ventures carefully.

Rapunzel's arms tighten around his waist as she muffles into his chest, "I'm fine right where I am."

Jack shakes his head and laughs at her stubbornness. "You know, it's your stubbornness that got us into this mess." As soon as the words leave his mouth, he instantly regrets saying it. Her entire body stiffens as if she's remembering every horrible detail. Guilty, he quickly adds, "But you're fine now, obviously! So it's all okay."

Rapunzel tilts her head back to peer at him with a strange expression, but her voice is barely above a whisper when she states matter-of-factly, "I almost died… I. Almost. Died. And you know what I can't get out of my head? All I can think about is that if I had died, I would have never been able to make another mistake or live another perfect day."

After a few silent moments, she begins to say something, but then closes her mouth again. He can see the wheels turning in her head, her mind churning something over and over. A minute passes by, and then another, but still she says nothing.

Anxious, Jack asks, "Punz? Are you okay?"

She doesn't turn to face him, decidedly staring out at the water below, when she answers with a question of her own, "Will you tell me something?"

"Anything," he replies immediately, not hesitating for a second.

"Can you tell me everything?"

He studies her for a moment before asking, "What do you mean?"

"I looked death in the face," she says bluntly. "I have all these thoughts and feelings about things, and I've realized that if I came that close to dying once, who's to say it won't happen again?"

Jack doesn't reply, only gives her his undivided attention.

"And what happened to me could happen to anyone. It could have happened to Hiccup, or Merida, or even you." At this, she shifts to look him in the eye, silently telling him that she's serious. "No one would know your story except you. I don't believe anyone's story should have to die with them. So… will you tell me yours?"

"Absolutely everything?"

"Absolutely everything."

So he does. He takes a deep breath and starts where everything usually does: the beginning. Growing up in that small apartment on the outskirts of town; always wandering around the park across the street as if his feet could never stand still; holding tiny little Emma for the first time in the hospital; getting bullied in middle school for wearing the same outfit every day because they didn't have enough money for more clothes; he lay all of this bare to Rapunzel, and all the while she just lets him talk, nodding when necessary, but never pressing him to say more. That is, until he chokes on the memory of the frozen pond. For everything else he had tried to skim over the specifics, the embarrassment still stinging like a fresh wound, but for that one day, he can't help but spell out every image: the cold biting at his skin, the ice skate blades glinting in the dim winter sun, their frosted reflections in the ice. In his mind's eye, he can still see the ice cracking under Emma's feet like a spider web. Her face is burned into his memory, and no matter how hard he tries he just can't shake the terror in her wide brown eyes. The panic etched in her voice was coursing through his body, the adrenaline forcing his heart to race, but he had kept his voice even for her. He calmed her, he pulled her out of the web threatening to cave in, he saved her. The one thing he couldn't save, though, was himself.

Jack closes his eyes and gulps in oxygen as he fights to keep composure. Turning away, he grips the wooden banister with white knuckles like it's the only thing holding him up. A small, gentle hand presses against his back, and the heat from her palm brings his breathing back to normal.

"What happened, Jack?"

He focuses every ounce of his attention on the warmth radiating from her skin across his back as he answers, "Darkness. That's the first thing I remember. It was dark, and it was cold, and I was scared." He takes a shaky breath before continuing. "But then. Then I saw the moon. It was so big, so bright, it seemed to chase the darkness away, and when it did, I wasn't scared anymore."

"How long were you under there? Under the ice?"

"Could have been hours, could have been days. It just felt like forever. I don't remember being pulled out of the water, but when I saw the moon and tasted the air, it felt like I was breathing for the first time. Like I had been reborn. No one could explain how I had survived without breathing at all for so long. I should have died within minutes. No one could explain this either," he added, tugging at his bleached hair. "It used to be brown, darker than chocolate, and somehow it got stuck like this. Emma likes to think that the water froze all the color and turned it to ice. Then again, she also thinks the moon miraculously saved me, but I don't know what to believe."

Rapunzel leans against his side, the weight of her head on his shoulder like an anchor keeping him from drifting away with his thoughts. "You wanna know what I think? I think she's right—I think it was a miracle. You kept your sister from panicking, you saved her life, and against all odds you survived being trapped under ice. I think you are a miracle, and you should be proud of it. You're a hero."

Jack winces. "Tell that to everyone who took one look at my hair and my clothes and turned away, everyone who whispered behind my back. I wasn't a hero to them, I was a freak. I couldn't take it, and neither could my parents. I wanted to leave, move to a place where no one knew my past, but they decided to turn me into a wonder-boy instead."

"Your whole football career… but you're amazing, you're the star of the team!"

"Because I had to be. Anything less than perfect wouldn't have excused the way I am, so I worked my butt off, trained and practiced like my life depended on it, because it did. I had to erase the freak."

He can feel her stare, and out of the corner of his eye he watches her eyebrows knit together in confusion. "How can that erase anything? It's a sport, not a new identity."

"Football was a cover, a band-aid. No one paid attention to what I wore unless I wore the jersey; my hair wasn't freaky, it was edgy; as long as I hid behind the face-mask, nothing could hurt me. It was convenient, but that doesn't mean I liked it. I hated every second from the day I signed that stupid form." He'd never told anyone any of this. Even Hiccup – his best friend – only know most of it, but that last part, about the cover-up, came straight from his heart. His throat feels raw from trying to hold back tears of pain and tears of anger at his parents, and the silence filling up the small cove pressed in all around him.

Finally, Rapunzel breaks the void, her voice small but strong. "None of that defines you. Not a number on your back or the place you live or the color of your hair or your family. Nothing."

Her breath hitches on those last word: family. Suddenly, it's clear to Jack that this isn't about just him anymore; her life is intertwined in here too. Both of their families have tried – if in vain – to do what they thought was best for them; both their families have pushed them as far as they can go, even if it meant pushing them away. They may be stuck in similar places, but they definitely have different methods of coping with life. Jack grew up constantly feeling alone and unwanted, and he chose to run away from it as much as possible. Rapunzel, on the other hand, is the complete opposite. She's been caged her entire life, but she's still somehow like a ray of sunshine that can brighten anyone's day no matter the storm; her lack of freedom and abundance of fear only seemed to fuel her kindness. She is twice the person he'll ever be, but from where he's standing now, Rapunzel is both his inspiration and his motivation. Her kindness steels his cold heart to melt like hers, and he'll do it for her. He'd do anything for her.

Jack turns and cradles her face in his hands. For a moment, all he can do is stare into those beautiful green eyes, so big and bright and full of hope.

Without even realizing it, those exact words find their way out of his mouth.

Rapunzel just smiles before her face seems to firm into an expression of determination. "You want to know what I see when I look at you?"

"What do you see, Princess? Tell me."

"I see blue eyes that are so crystal clear that they can see the good in everything and everyone. They have such a deep understanding of sadness that they can't bear to see it in others. So you make everything fun, you make people laugh, you make everyone around you happy. Except yourself."

Instead of feeling embarrassed, instead of blushing, he only feels shame. Of course she knew. Of course she could see. But what does that make him? A mere shell of a person, to know joy and not feel it inside.

He can't look her in the eye, but she presses on anyway. "You care so deeply for Emma and Hiccup and even Merida, in your own special way – don't play dumb with me, Overland, you know what I'm talking about."

A laugh escapes his lips as he shakes his head. "Punz—"

"You know it's true. You care so much about every one of them—"

"And you."

"Can you stop interrupting me? I'm trying to compliment you, here." Her rosy pink blush betrays her attempt at a harsh tone. "My point is, it's okay to care about yourself now and then. You have to let yourself be happy. More than anything, you want to float away, but you'll never get off the ground if you never give yourself a reason to leave. Let a chance to be happy be your reason to fly."

"That's not my reason."

Visibly flustered, Rapunzel sputters, "Well, I was just trying to help—"

Jack cuts her off one last time by leaning forward and placing a quiet, gentle kiss on her forehead. "You make me happy, Punz. You're my reason."

A/N - I felt so bad about not updating in so long that I had to write this up quick to make up for it. Yes, more fluff! More movie references! And yes, I slipped in where the title of this story comes from :) Thank you to all who reviewed my last chapter, your kind words always life my spirits. Please let me know what you think about this chapter because I love hearing any and all feedback. Also, please don't hesitate to give me suggestions about what you'd like to see or what you think should be changed - I take it all very seriously. Again, thank you for reading my work, I couldn't do it without all of your support!

~Jackunzelhayniac3~