The room Jack looked into was dark as night. After countless minutes of useless watching, he was almost tempted to believe this was just an abandoned tower after all—maybe the thread lead even further than this after all. Even though the isolation of the place was a bit suspicious to say the least, Jack had no way of knowing whether this was what he'd been looking for now that the thread was gone.
So, the way he saw things, there was no harm in double checking.
But just as he was about to propel himself inside, the sound of a door opening and clicking back shut made him shoot back over the window's ledge. There was a squeak from somewhere around him. Close. Jack pressed himself against the wall beneath the window, glancing around for the source of the tiny noise.
It didn't take him long to find it, not at all. Jack spotted her immediately.
"Baby Tooth?" He breathed in utter disbelief. And, surely, the sharp-nosed fairy fluttered in front of him, a tiny hand lifting to her hummingbird-like chest as she struggled to catch her breath. With the golden feather on top of her head, she was practically a miniature replica of Toothiana... Which Jack suspected was the very person that had sent Baby Tooth after him in the first place. He decided to question her later, if he needed to. There were more pressing matters at hand now.
It was subtle, but Jack could hear the soft sound of shuffling footsteps inside of the tower. Slowly, he brought himself up to peer over the ledge again, hands curled on either side of his head. When he noticed the room was still drowning in darkness, he tried hard to activate the night vision ability in him that he knew he didn't possess. He wasn't really surprised when it didn't work.
He was surprised, however, when a match suddenly sparked to life within the black. It felt almost as if his hard focus had conjured up a miracle. Jack could see the shape of a girl in the faint glow of the flickering light, with bright blonde hair cascading down her shoulders. She lowered the match to light a candle, shook it out before the flame could reach her fingers, then brought the candle down to the floor with her. There was a thump as she reached under a bed and pulled out what looked to be a small book. Jack watched as she sat against the bedpost with it in her lap. It took him much too long to note that her shoulders were shaking. She's crying, he realized, something in his gut wrenching. It was a feeling he'd come to associate with his talks to the moon. But there was something slightly different with this one, a pull of energy he couldn't exactly pinpoint. Still, there was no doubt this was who the thread had been leading to; Baby Tooth's shiver beside him proved it thrice over.
Looking back at the girl's curled form, Jack suddenly realized that she wasn't praying for the Guardians like she had before. It made him hurt to think about how many times she'd suffered in silence while no one was there to listen. How many others had done the same thing?
With the swirl of a finger, Jack called forth a flicker of cold to bite at the air. Out of it, a single snowflake formed and swayed down toward the believer. It was a hard task, keeping it solid and true as it got closer to the heat of the candle. When she didn't immediately glance up at it. Jack sent a chill her way to rush her notice—and she did. Notice, that was. And the way her sorrowful features quickly melted into a bright, hopeful wonder was something Jack would cherish forever.
He'd seen kids, even some parents, charmed by the sights of snow before, but this was something else entirely. How must it feel, seeing the beauty that was snow for the first time in ones life? Even in his short human existence, Jack didn't think he could've bared the thought of a life without winter. There was so much greatness to snow, so much beauty, and blissfulness, and fun. The cold made one feel alive in a way warmth never could.
Jack gently pushed at the flake, watching, with great satisfaction, as it landed and vanished onto her exposed wrist. She gasped when it made contact, then jumped in time with Jack when the door suddenly burst wide open.
"Rapunzel!" I whiny voice called. "Get up, will you?"
The girl—Rapunzel, Jack assumed—lunged toward her bed to shove the book away. Something caused the flame to shadow over.
Jack realized what it was at the same time everyone else did.
Rapunzel screamed when a tiny flame suddenly sparked the edge of her long mass of hair—quite an impractical thing, Jack had to admit. Who let their hair grow so long it touched the floor? Rapunzel slapped at it frantically with the sleeves of her light blue dress to extinguish the growing flame. While the other woman practically tripped down the stairs to assist, Jack's fingers twitched to will back more snow—more water—but the girls had already gotten things under control before he could risk the Man on the Moon's wrath.
"Rapunzel!" The woman said again, breathing as hard as if she'd just run a marathon—or been on fire herself. She set her own candle safely on a dresser, igniting a candelabra on the way. "You clumsy child—I tell you over and over to be careful, and what do you hear? Nothing, apparently. You scared me half to death!"
"Nice way to comfort someone who could have just burned to death," Jack mumbled. Baby Tooth hummed in agreement.
The girl stayed sitting on the floor, hugging her knees tightly against her chest. Even through the candlelight, Jack could see how dark her dress had gotten from her desperately patting the fire out. Her hair, however, barely seemed burnt at all. Baby Tooth sighed dreamily as the both of them eyed the length of it. How completely impractical, Jack thought again.
"Are you alright?" The woman asked.
"Yes." Rapunzel answered, voice small. Her eyes were skimming the room, subtly. Jack noticed it just in time to duck when her gaze reached the window. He counted to twenty before daring to look back up. If she was the believer, which Jack was more than positive she was, she was perfectly capable of seeing him. And now didn't exactly seem like the time for surprise magical entities to appear out of thin air. He'd figure out how to help her later—and he didn't necessarily need to reveal himself to do so.
The woman was jabbering on with words Jack didn't particularly care to hear. Something about wrinkles, and turning grey again. "Sing to me, will you?" She finally finished. The woman sure liked the sound of her own voice. Without even waiting for an answer, she took a seat on the edge of the bed.
"But I sang to you a few days ago," Rapunzel said.
There was something dangerous in the woman's tone. "And?"
Without saying anything more, Rapunzel rushed forward to sit beside her. The woman lifted a brush Jack hadn't noticed before and, almost hungrily, started stroking it through Rapunzel's golden locks. As she did, Rapunzel bit her lip, closed her eyes, and started to sing.
Flower, gleam and glow
Let your power shine
Make the clock reverse
Bring back what once was mine
Jack was mesmerized by her voice. It must have been one of the most enchanting ones he'd heard. Almost like a soothing spell he—
From root to ends, a bright, yet soft glow started flowing over Rapunzel's hair.
Heal what has been hurt
Change the fates' design
It continued to spread, longer, and longer. Way past her ankles.
Save what had been lost
Bring back what once was mine
What once was mine
It took Jack a while to realize that the song was done. Slowly, the shine of Rapunzel's hair started fading again until it was no more—almost like the thread he'd followed to her. He knew Baby Tooth was just as stunned as he was. No wonder the moon had wanted him to come here. Magic, golden hair, Jack pondered. Why, exactly, did this girl plead for help again?
It was only when the woman stood up again with an approving hum that he saw it.
The few grey hairs peppered through black, the faint wrinkles that barely showed on her skin, even from where Jack floated—all of them vanished. As if Rapunzel's very voice had renewed her. Ripped away the woman's flaws.
No, no, no. It wasn't her voice, Jack suddenly realized.
It was her hair.
.
.
.
If you liked this chapter, don't forget to vote and comment your thoughts! :)
*Edited, (February 26th, 2020).