#japunzel

The first day of February. Jack Frost usually detested it, since it opened up the doors to the worst ''holiday'' of the year: Valentine's Day. He didn't want to see the increasing public display of affection in the hall ways, thank you very much, or the paper hearts hanging from wherever-they-can-be-hung. He wasn't bitter because he didn't have anybody to spend the 14th with. In fact, he didn't consider it as much of an event. It was just another day. 

But a few years back, he realized something worth looking forward to on February one. A lantern festival. The Downtown Area usually sent paper lanterns flying in to the sky for some reason (Jack kept forgetting to look up why), and if he took a boat and sailed it off the lake near the woods at around 7 PM-ish, he would see them clearly. He'd been doing it for almost 3 years, his little secret.  

And now, while at the Journalism Club with Rapunzel sitting a few steps away from him, he wonders if maybe he can not do it alone this year... 

"Let's get out of here," he blurts out. The blonde-haired girl looks up at him, eyebrows raised. "But... I'm not yet done." she says, gesturing at the stack of comics she has yet to finish. Jack knows this is his last chance to say, 'Oh, yeah' then go alone. But, for once, he doesn't want to be alone. 

He moves his hands around in what he hopes is an act of dismissal. "You can always finish tomorrow. Besides, where we're going is a once in a lifetime opportunity..." He saw Rapunzel's green eyes light up, and for a millisecond, he feels his heart seize up. This girl, this girl, this girl... 

"Where?" she asks excitedly, but Jack merely shrugs. "You'll have to come with me to find out." he replies, failing to be nonchalant as a smile breaks out on his face. He watches Rapunzel consider it until she bites the end of her pencil, face a bit worried. "My mom--" she was beginning to say, but Jack let out a laugh. 

"Text her. Tell her we're out to interview people somewhere. I'll get you home before the Cinderella hour," he prompts, and he sees her eyes widen a bit. Jack awards himself a mental face palm, thinking: Cinderella hour? Seriously, Jack? He pulls himself together enough to grab his bag and stand, holding his hand out for the girl. The smile was still playing on his lips as he took great care to get out his next words: 

"Won't you run away with me, Rapunzel?" 

That's how the usual wooden boat Jack took out at night was graced with the company of two. Rapunzel and Jack were seated at two separate ends as Jack began rowing away from the shore and towards somewhere in the lake.

Jack had expected Rapunzel to blabber as they made their way through the forest, but, oddly enough, he didn't hear a word from her. A few times he asked her if she was okay, and she would always smile and nod and tell him that they should keep going. Jack, however, knew that this probably had to do something with the reputation preceding the woods. 'Haunted', some people called it, but Jack knew it was probably because he spent most of his time in there that people began to steer clear of it. 

They were in the Jack's 'perfect spot' by 6:30. 

Out at the lake, Rapunzel seemed a bit more relaxed. He could see her clearly, since the moon seemed particularly bright that night. 

"Wow," she mumbles, her eyes trained to the heavens. Jack looks up and smiles as well. The night sky is scattered with stars; he can name a few constellations, with all of them up. "It's beautiful." Rapunzel murmurs, and Jack feels like saying something cheesy; 'You're beautiful', 'Just like you' or 'Are you talking about yourself?'; but he knows she'll blush and brush it off. And he knows he'll never have the courage to say anything remotely romantic to her, too. 

Because yes, maybe Jack likes her. He's unsure, though. He's unsure about a lot of things. One of those things would have to be where Rapunzel truly stands in his life. Not a long time ago, he had refused to label her as his 'friend'. But they had to be that... the question was, were they stuck to just that? 

Jack shook his head out of his thoughts. He wasn't going to ruin the night with 'what if's. 

"They're lovely," he comments instead. "I see them from my house, not this much, though. Never this much." Rapunzel mumbles, somewhat to herself. "I always see them," Jack muses. "And I've tried to write about them, but..." 

Rapunzel's gaze shifts from the sky to Jack. "But what?" she asks inquisitively. "I can't seem to capture their splendor in to a piece of paper." Jack answers. Rapunzel nods, leaning forward. "I know what you mean," she says absent-mindedly, tracing lazy circles over the water's surface. "Sometimes that happens with my drawings. I can get it accurately, all the shades and the strokes and everything is exact, but it doesn't feel the same, you know? I don't feel like I've done whatever I'm drawing justice." 

Jack nods, glad to find someone who understands. He wants to tell her that's how he feels about her, too. That he can't put her in to words. That he can write her in to a million poems but it still won't be enough. That he's tried, he's tried so hard to arrange the phrases and sentences in to something coherent, but it all comes out wrong. She's too perfect for his writing. He doesn't say any of that, though. 

Instead, they talk about everything else except 'them'. Rapunzel tells him about the places she's been, since her mom is always moving around. Jack recounts to her stories of Walt Academy, events abolished after disasters, like the picnic cancelled after a rabid bee attack. They exchange knock-knock jokes until their sides hurt. 

"Is this it?" Rapunzel asks suddenly after a particularly bad joke on Jack's side that reduced them both in to cringes and giggles. "Is this what?" Jack asks, leaning back in to the boat. "Is this the once-in-a-lifetime experience?" she questions, a bit amused. Jack almost forgot about the lanterns. He pulls out his phone to check the time: 7:03 PM. He stuffs it back in to his pocket, glancing up the sky and squinting a bit. 

"Give it a second..." he says slowly, and then the first glint of light rises over the trees of the woods. "There," he laughs, pointing upwards. 

Rapunzel's eyes follows his hand, and the slightest gasp slides past her lips. The lanterns are starting to fly over. Paper lanterns of different sizes, all lit up. "I can't believe it!" she cries in awe as the little things begin to fly downwards, losing their momentum. This was why it was Jack's perfect place. He had figured the trajectory of the lanterns, and their exact spot was where all the lanterns would eventually fall, to float in the lake for a few days until someone cleaned them up. 

Jack felt the boat tipping, and he snaps his head towards Rapunzel who had stood suddenly. "Hey!" he half-yells, standing as well, catching the girl by the waist before she narrowly misses falling in to the water. Rapunzel apologizes, but Jack know it's half-hearted as she stares at the lanterns landing all around them. "Oh, Jack," she says breathlessly. "I'm glad you like it," Jack replies softly, acutely aware of how she isn't saying anything about his arm still securely placed around her waist. He prays to God that she doesn't hear how loud his heart is beating. 

They stay like that for a while, with Rapunzel staring at the lanterns with a fascination that makes Jack smile. He tries to focus on the lanterns, but he found it a mammoth task with a. Rapunzel so close to him and b. his arm still around her waist. 

"Look at that one!" Rapunzel squeals as a lantern begins to fall towards them. She reaches out for it, Jack tightening his grip around her so she doesn't fall as she stands on her tip toes to get it. The lantern gently floats in to her hands. It's a simple lantern with a single sun design, and Jack chuckles. "Fly it back out, Rapunzel," Jack suggests. He sees Rapunzel hesitate so he raises his eyebrows. "What's wrong? Do you want to keep it?" 

"I... just wanted something that I can bring home. To remember tonight." she replies meekly, and Jack's heart skips a few beats. He has to inhale a bit. "We'll find something else," he offers, voice quiet but kind, and Rapunzel complies, throwing the lantern back in to the air. She sits back down (unconsciously pulling herself away from Jack) and leans a bit over the boat to watch her lantern fly off. 

And she's watching it with such anticipation, such happiness and joy and childish delight that Jack pulls out his phone and snaps a quick picture of her--   

  The world was black and white but we she was screaming in color. 

He stuffs the phone back in to his pocket, embarrassed at what he had just done. He was sure that- if he asked- Rapunzel would've complied to getting her picture taken. But there was something about her expression then that Jack wanted to have with him wherever he went. 

They're silent for the rest of the lantern watching. Rapunzel watches the spectacle for a whole thirty minutes more, while Jack shifts between observing the lanterns and glancing at her. 

When the last lantern falls, Rapunzel turns to Jack, and he's surprised to see tears in the corners of her eyes. "Are you...?" he begins nervously, wondering what he did wrong. 

"What? Oh," Rapunzel wipes at her eyes, then smiles at Jack. "No, no. I was just thinking... it was just... it was... wow. It was all so beautiful." 

In a sudden push of confidence, Jack doesn't hold back. 

"Not as beautiful as you." 

Jack gets Rapunzel home by 8:30 PM, much earlier than the so-called 'Cinderella Hour'. They spend the drive to her house with corny jokes and a number of selfies ("Commander selfie!" Rapunzel said in between her laughter, scrolling through their wacky pictures.) (Mercifully, she didn't see the picture he took of her.) 

She had requested that he drop her off and let her go up to her house alone because, as Jack quotes directly, she "failed- acutally, neglected- to tell mother that I was with a boy" and "she might freak". So Jack let her off a few steps away from her house, in the shade of trees in case Rapunzel's mother may be looking out. 

"Thank you for today," Rapunzel says sincerely, a smile gracing her features. "I couldn't be more happy." 

"Any time." Jack replies, matching Rapunzel's smile. They stay like that for a while, teetering between awkward and comfortable, before Jack remembers something. "Oh! Wait, give me a second." he says, pulling his backpack off his shoulders and rummaging through it. Rapunzel's still smiling but her expression has shifted towards confusion, which Jack merely laughs off. 

Finally finding what he was looking for, Jack pulls out a smooth stone. "It's... a token. To remember tonight." he explains lamely, holding it out for Rapunzel. She takes it in her own hands, turning it over delicately. Jack knows it's nothing special: in fact, it's something he only picked up by the lake side when her back was turned to him. But as the clear stone shines and glints under the moonlight, and as Rapunzel's lips curve in to a smile, Jack knows he will never forget. 

"Hey, can I... tell you a secret?" Jack says nervously. Rapunzel looks up from the stone, eyebrows raised in curiosity. "I mean... friends tell each other secrets, right?" 

Then and there, Rapunzel's face lights up brighter than any lantern Jack had ever seen. "We're friends?" she says, the excitement evident in her tone. "Uh, yeah, we are." Jack mumbles meekly, rubbing the back of his neck. "We've always been. I guess. I've just been wary of calling you that because-- I don't know how friends actually work. I've never had much."

Without warning, the blonde-haired girl takes Jack's hand in her's, and it sends a jolt of electricity through the Frost's spine. Her warm hand in contrast to holding his cold one is something he thought he could get used to. "I'll be your friend." Rapunzel announces, and it reminds Jack so much of a kid that he has to stifle his laugh. "Thank you." Jack smiles. "Anyway, as I was saying, a secret?" 

"Of course!" Rapunzel beams, happy to be trusted with something. "But you can't tell anyone." Jack says seriously, even though his insides are churning. 

"I promise."  "This has to be something only we know. From the secret I'm going to tell you, to the lanterns, to the stone."  "Okay."  "You can't tell a soul."  "Alright." "Not Merida--"  "I won't tell her!"  "Not Belle--"  "Yes, Jack..."  "Not--"  "JACK!"

Jack sighs, chuckling, before leaning in towards Rapunzel until his lips are a few inches away from her ear. "Rapunzel," he whispers, squeezing her hand. "I--" Then, he planted a kiss on her cheek, and bolted. 

All the way back home, Jack's face was burning. The smile on his face couldn't be any wider. He stops to take a breath once he's a good distance away from Rapunzel, and even then, he doesn't stop smiling. 

For the last time that night, Jack pulls out his phone and checks his photos. Rapunzel, with her blonde hair braided with flowers and green eyes shining like stars; with her mouth always in a smile. He makes the picture his home screen and finds himself locking then unlocking his phone, just to see Rapunzel light up his phone. 

The ghost of a smile had tugged at his lips, but now it fades. Because he knows what this all means. He knows what consequences he will be facing. He knows why he's suddenly done and changed all of these things for a club mate, a classmate.

He's in love with Rapunzel. And he doesn't know if he can stop it. He doesn't even know if he wants to stop it.