My submission for the first day of Jackunzel Week on tumblr. I've never written this pairing before, so I am a little nervous. This is also my first drabble in a while. But I hope you enjoy it!

Rise of the Guardians belongs to DreamWorks Animation and William Joyce. Tangled belong to Disney. Hiccup and Merida make an appearance in this, so I should mention that they belong to DWA and Disney Pixar respectively.

Once In A Blue Moon

"Remind me again why I agreed to this," Jack said, as he trailed a few steps behind Hiccup and Merida as they walked down the main street of Burgess.

A breeze was blowing, the temperature dropping as night came a little closer every moment. The weather had taken a decided turn for the colder recently, and that Jack liked.

This whole outing, however, was not his idea of fun.

From the movement of Merida's head, Jack could tell that the Scottish girl had rolled her eyes.

"Would yoo stop complainin', Frost?" she asked, with a glance back over her blue clad shoulder. "Hiccup's doin' ya a favor?"

"I do not need Hiccup's help to find a girlfriend," Jack said – for the hundredth time this past week. "I'm just fine being single. I don't have time for a girlfriend!"

He didn't know why he bothered, really.

Ever since Hiccup had finally asked Merida out, he had become convinced that Jack must be in denial. And while Jack was happy for his friends (they really were a great couple – even if they were occasionally so sweet he felt the need to make a dentist appointment), but that didn't mean he needed a girlfriend.

His schedule was full. Unlike Hiccup and Merida, who were students at Burgess College For The Arts, he had a job. Two, actually. Three if he counted that he was the regular babysitter for the Bennett siblings (his favorite job).

The mountain would be opening soon, which meant he would be back at his winter job, and all his free time would be spent snowboarding.

Where in that did he have time to try and keep a girl happy? His one or two experiences with dating his been more trying than enjoyable, and he had given up wasting his time and energy trying to appease a girl who didn't know how to maintain her own identity.

And now Hiccup was convinced he had found the "perfect girl".

Jack had argued there was no such thing as a perfect anything – and Hiccup had told him to stop being so literal.

"Quite mopin'," Merida said. "Honestly, you're worse than ma brothers."

"I resent that."

"Just give her a chance," Hiccup said. "Rapunzel's a little shy, but she's nice."

"My last girlfriend was 'nice'," Jack muttered. "Sophomore year. Remember that?"

"That was your fault," Merida said. "Ya clearly don't know how t' choose a girl."

"I don't, but Hiccup does?" Jack asked. He was now in step with his friends, but only to make conversation easier. He was still here under protest.

"He chose me, didn't he?" Merida said.

"For me, I mean," Jack said.

"It won't be that bad," Hiccup said, too cheerfully for Jack's taste.

"Please," he muttered. "Things like this only work out once in a blue moon."

"Then at least I'm paying for dinner," Hiccup said, as he pulled open the heavy wooden door of The Toothless Dragon.

And that was the answer to the question of why Jack was here. He had refused vehemently... until Hiccup had agreed to pay for dinner.

Jack went inside, to warm air that smelled of wood smoke and roasting meat. The Toothless Dragon was a bizarrely named rustic restaurant, but it had the best food, and the most reasonable rates, in town.

At the bar to one side sat mountain men and wood cutters, nursing large glass tumblers of beer as they talked on about whatever it was they talked about. Jack had never been curious enough to find out.

Yet despite the well-stocked bar (he didn't drink, but the menu, and the sign in the window, said it was well stocked, so he would take their word for it), it was still a family restaurant, and there were tables and booths of couples and young families.

Hiccup led them to a table near the back, where a golden haired girl sat, pencil scraping over the rough pages of her sketchpad.

Her long hair was tied back with several complex braids, and she looked up with large green eyes as they approached.

"Hey, Rapunzel," Hiccup greeted. "This is my friend, Jack Frost. Jack, this is Rapunzel Gothel."

Jack had been wondering what kind of name Rapunzel was... but he decided Gothel was much the worse of the two.

Rapunzel tucked a stray lock of hair behind her ear and offered Jack a shy smile. "Hi."

Jack slid his hands in his pockets, now more uncomfortable than upset. She was so nervous (and this clearly wasn't her idea) so it was hard to be upset with her. And she was cute...

"So... what are you drawing?" he asked, when he was seated across from her. Hiccup was to his left, Merida on Rapunzel's right.

"Oh, um... it's the dragon on the menu," she said. She held up her sketch of the black dragon that was the restaurant's logo. Hack wasn't an art critic, but her skill was evident.

It was better than he could have done, that was for sure.

"I've never drawn a dragon before," she said.

"I'm guessing you're in Hiccup's art class?"

She nodded. "I'm an art major – mostly painting. What about you?"

Jack shook his head, in contrast. "I'm not a student."

"Oh."

"Jack's a barista at Starbucks," Merida said, with a vicious smirk as she tore apart a steaming roll from the bread basket. "And a snowboard instructor. And a babysitter. Mostly he's a ski-bum."

"Snowboarding," Jack said. "And I'm not a bum. Or do you forget who pays most of your boyfriend's rent so he can keep up with tuition?"

He and Jack shared an apartment close to the campus. Hiccup usually paid his fair half of the rent and bills, but Jack didn't mind taking on a little more when Hiccup's money was tight. He made enough to cover it.

Merida shook out her curly red hair.

A waitress came and took their orders before Jack made another attempt at conversation. His brief clash with Merida seemed to have silenced Rapunzel.

And now that Jack had considered how much Hiccup was putting down for dinner, it wouldn't hurt to give it a chance. Rapunzel wasn't so bad. Skittish, though.

"So... do you snowboard? Or ski?"

She shook her head.

Jack fought the urge to roll his eyes. In his mind, that was kind of a deal breaker. Snowboarding was half his life.

"I mean, I want to learn," she added quickly.

Jack looked back at her.

"I've just never really had a chance."

Okay. That was forgivable.

"Do you like the snow?"

"Mm-hmm." She nodded. "It's so beautiful, the way it sparkled in the light, especially in the moonlight. I've been trying to paint it for years. When it snows, the whole world feels so peaceful... and safe."

Not what he was looking for.

"What I mean is: do you like snowball fights?" He had resolved never to have another girlfriend who didn't like snowball fights. "Sledding? Ice skating?"

Rapunzel nervously played with that lock of hair that was free from her braids. "I- I don't know. I've never done any of those things."

Even Merida was looking at Rapunzel strangely. "Ya've seen the snow, but ya ain't ever played in it?"

Rapunzel shook her head again. "My mother was kind of... over protective?"

"No. Ma mother was over protective," Merida said. "And I can almost beat Jack on the slopes."

"No, you cannot," Jack said, then turned back to Rapunzel. "You've never played in the snow?"

A shake of the head, her eyes growing more nervous with each moment.

"Your mother let you come to college, something that should make even the most liberal parents nervous, but she didn't let you play in the snow?"

He still couldn't get past the fact she hadn't been allowed to play in the snow, whatever else her mother had and hadn't allowed.

"No, just..." Rapunzel paused a moment, and licked her lips. She didn't exactly let me come to college. I kind of... ran away?"

They all stared at her, new respect lighting Merida's eyes.

Jack leaned back in his chair, completely forgetting that he was supposed to be here under protest.

"Why would you do that?" he asked. "I mean, I get some people want to go to college and everything, but, to run away?"

Rapunzel's fingers were playing with the edge of her napkin, looking down at her sketchbook, though he doubted she could see it.

"I... growing up, mother always told me that the world was a dark, scary place. And to a point, it is. But it's not like she said. I homeschooled, so I never left the house."

"That explains a lot," Jack said. "Not that home schooling is bad," he added, when she glanced up.

"I used to paint on the walls of the house. Mother didn't mind. But I painted everywhere. The walls, the doors, the fridge... if I had been allowed outside, I probably would have painted the outside of the house to. But when I turned eighteen, I looked around and there was nowhere left to paint.

"And I realized that if I stayed there, my life would never begin. So, I applied for scholarships and came here. This was actually the only school I could afford to get to. I'm still on scholarship, I live in the dorms, and I work in the school library."

That explained why he hadn't seen her before.

"Ya might be my new hero," Merida said.

Rapunzel's cheeks colored, and she shrugged humbly.

And with that, Rapunzel was initiated into their circle.

It would be a while, and a number of snowball fights and snowboarding lessons, before Jack thought of her as more than a friend.

And another year or so before he realized that a life without her wouldn't be worth it.

But that night, the moon was definitely blue.