"Jack!!" Everyone greeted him happily as he walked into the dining hall for breakfast, his hand in mine.
North picked him up in a giant bear hug as everyone gathered 'round, so excited to see him like himself again.
"Good to have you well again, mate," Bunny said, putting his paw on Jack's shoulder.
"Since when have you been so touchy?" Jack teased, flashing a brilliant white smile.
"Shut up," he grumbled a little, shoving him a bit as Jack laughed.
As everyone else took a turn to talk to him, Merida came over and stood by me,"Looks like things are getting back to normal, huh?"
Still looking at Jack, I smiled,"A little."
She turned to face me so I did the same, knowing that she wanted to talk to me,"Hey, I just wanted to say that I'm sorry for the way I've been treatin' ya these past months. It wasn't fair of me to discard you like that."
"Don't worry about it, Merida. I wasn't myself then," I responded politely.
"Yeah, but I knew you were under Pitch's magic and whatnot and bein' hard-headed as I was, I should've been more of a friend to ya," she said sheepishly, playing with an arrow in her hand.
I put my hand on top of hers and looked her in the eyes,"It's alright. I probably deserved it anyways."
She laughed a little,"Sometimes, you kinda did."
I laughed too,"Well, that's not going to ever happen again. Because of the extraction thing hat Elsa did, Pitch and Gothel can no longer enchant me in any way, which goes for Jack too."
"That's a relief!!" She said, her face glowing with joy. "I'd hate to have to see anyone go through any of that again."
"Then it's settled!! We shall have it tonight!!" North bellowed gladly, his arms in the air.
"What are ya up to now, North?" Merida asked him, smiling as she watched him get excited when she asked.
"Esa has ever so kindly planned a celebration for us tonight!!" He said. "We will have it down in the main hall and there will be music, dancing, cookies, and fun times to come!!"
"What's it for?" I asked curiously, glancing at Jack who gazed at me romantically. I blushed a little when I saw it.
"For you, Rapunzel," Elsa replied.
"Me? But I haven't done anything greater than the rest of you have. This should be for all of us, not just me," I spoke to them, humbled and a bit shocked by their reason to celebrate.
"Nonsense!!" Tooth said, moving her way forward so that she could face me,"You saved all of us."
"Not to mention that you overcame the dark mist that poisoned you to come find your friends," Elsa joined.
"And not only that, but you risked your life to save everyone here, including mine," Jack added. "I think you very much deserve to have this party, Rapunzel."
"You're forgetting that she also stood up to Pitch and Flynn and Gothel multiple times to save our hides. Mate, you may not feel worthy for this but to us, it's the least we could do," Bunny said.
"You guys...I don't know what to say," I smiled, blushing madly as they all gathered around me.
"You don't have to say anything. You've done enough already," Jack said, coming over to me and taking his hands into mine.
"But what about Flynn? He's around here somewhere," I remembered, recollecting all of the events that had happpened last night before I had fallen asleep in Jack's arms as we sat by the fire.
"What about him? He's long gon!!" North chuckled, as if it were a joke to hear his name.
"Wait, you knew he was here?" I said, taken back at his remark.
"Of course we did. You didn't think we'd let you get hurt again, now did we?," Elsa responded. "We were actually on our way to help but Jack emerged from his room and we figured that it'd be better if he helped you istead, especially sine he wanted to deal with Flynn personally for all that he's done to you."
I looked at Jack and saw his face harden when they spoke about Flynn. I squeezed his hand to reassure him that I was alright, but I knew that he wasn't convinced, especially after what he saw last night.
I looked down and said,"W-Well, couldn't he come back?"
"No," Elsa smiled proudly. "Once he stepped foot out of the castle, he could no longer return to it because he was not needed here. Nor can he ever find it without me or someone who's being sen here and the possibilities of that are close to nothing."
I sighed and relief and smiled,"Good."
"So this party will go uninterrupted!!" North said, obviously excited for it.
"Speaking of, Rapunzel and Merida, come with me. We must create the attire you are to wear for tonight," Elsa said, signaling us to follow.
"I don't do fancy dresses, with all due respect, Your Majesty," Merida said honestly.
She nodded respectfully,"Of course. Then Rapunzel, it'll be you and me."
I looked at Jack one last time before lettin go of his hands and following Elsa through the castle to her room. It was practically a mansion within itself!! Her bed was all the way across the room, sitting under fine draperies. She had a lounge area with handcrafted furniture sitting around the fire with a beautiful rug underneath them. She had a giant walk-in closet next to a masterbathroom as well. It was absolutely breath-taking.
"Come on now, we have much to do," Elsa laughed, giggling at my reaction to her grand bedroom.
-----------------------------------------------
"You look beautiful, dear," Elsa smiled, smiling at me as she admired the beautiful work she had just did. I gazed at myself in the mirror, a huge grin crossing my face. The dress she made for me was a cream ballgwon with golden threads swriling through it magnificently. The sleeves were long and flowing, the train to the dress trailed behind me gracefully and the neck of it scooped down modestly, but not showing any cleavage just as I liked. With the dress, I wore golden high heeled shoes with simple, yet elegant jewlery. She put a little make-up on my face to hide the bruises caused from Flynn, which I didn't mind a bit, and my hair was pulled back into a beautiful half-back, decorated with mine and Jack's favorite flowers.
"Elsa...It's beautiful..." I said in awe, turning to look at her. "Thank you so much."
She too had dressed herself into a beautiful icy blue dress that hugged her body around the torso and flowed down with a slit going up a little on her leg, followed by see through material which was decorated with blue sparkles that formed into icy formations.
"It's the least I can do for you," she said to me. "Now come!! We can't keep them all waiting, now can we? Especially Jack."
She winked at me and led me out of the room and down the hall. She stopped me just before we hit the staircase,"Wait here."
I watched as she walked over to the top of the frozen stairs, grabbing everyone's attention from down below.
"She's ready," she smiled and then I heard the room hush to a silence. "Just before I let her come down to see you all, I would just like to add that it would be my honor to escort her down the stairs and pass her to Jack, who will be leading in the first dance. To everyone's enjoyment, I have gathered refreshments that will be served throughout the night and musoc as well. The balconies are also welcome to anyone as well as the gardens."
Gardens? That didn't make any sense to me, but I didn't have too much time to question it because Elsa was suddenly by my side again, takin my arm in hers as she led me over to the staircase. I saw everyone gathered in a neat circle around the dance floor with Jack waiting for me at the bottom. He looked breathtaking...He had on a snowy white suit with blue and gold accents on it that fit him comfortably. North was dressed in an up-graded version of his suit, Tooth wore a strapless purple, blue, and green dress that flowed like her feathers, Bunny didn't do much but put a loose black tie around his neck, Sandy wore a bow-tie and a golden sash over his normal sleepwear, Hiccup wore a ashy black suit with dark green accents, and Merida coordinated her colors with his like Jack with me and wore a simple yet elegant dress that was dark green with black accents. They all looked wonderful. Even Toothless and Angus was dressed for the occasion!!
Once we reached the bottom, Elsa offered me to J ack, who was more than happy to take my arm into his as he led me onto the dance floor.
"You look absolutely stunning," he complimented shyly, as he took my hand in put his other around my waist as I put my free hand on his shoulder.
I blushed and looked down, smiling wide,"You don't look too bad yourself."
He tilted his head to the side and smiled at me, a look that always caused butterflies to flutter in my stomach. He loved it when I blushed. I don't know why, but he did. I didn't mind it though, because he had his looks tha I absolutely adored as well, especially the one he was doing now.
"Do I? I'm not really a suit kind of guy," he laughed as we began to dance.
"I know your not, but this on looks great one you," I told him, gazing into those icy blue eyes of his lovingly.
Soon after we started to dance, everyone else began to join in as well. Hiccup and Merida danced with one another, North danced with Elsa, Bunny danced with Tooth, and Sandy created a sandwoman about his size to dance with as well. Despite them dancing alongside us, Jack and I were in the middle of it all.
"So what do you think of the party?" Jack asked curiously. I glanced around the room. Decorations of all sorts hung elegantly around the room with lights, blue and gold, strung across them in organized clumps. Elsa had created a magnificent chandelier above us, adding to the beauty of the room tremendously as it's beautiful light glowed radiantly throughout the room. A neatly set up table was in the back of the room, littered with delicacies ranging from desserts to dinner items.
"It's very honoring," I said simply, admiring the work done to beautify the place.
"But?" He said, sensing that something was probably bothering me.
"But I just don't feel like I deserve all of this." I sighed, as he spun me around and held me in his arms.
"Rapunzel-" he began. I knew very well that he wanted to convince me otherwise about it, but I stopped him before he could.
"Think about it for a minute. The Guardians, including yourself, have stood up to Pitch and kept him at bay for countless years, Merida had saved not only her mother but her whole kingdom from a cursed prince who wanted nothing more than to conquer the kingdom and kill anyone in its path, and Hiccup had defeated the most dangerous dragon in the world in order to protect his tribe and the dragons, whom he had the great talent of training. And me? I'm just a girl with really long hair who was stuck in a tower for most of her life. I haven't done anything extraordinary to deserve this grand party for myself. It's you all who have." I explained to him.
He placed his hand on my cheek gently,"Rapunzel, don't dismiss yourself like that. You've done so much more than you think you have."
"Like what?" I challenged, glancing down.
He took a finger and put it under my chin, lifting it up to have me look at him when he spoke,"You had the courage to fight. You single-handedly stopped every plan that Pitch had planned and not only that but you even stood up to him an his allies when they threatened to do awful things to you. You saved everyone here and you did the one thing I couldn't, which was fighting against the darkness that Pitch had cursed us with. Don't you see? You are so much more important than you think yourself to be. An for that, you deserve to be treated like the princess you are," he said happily, twirling me around.
"But what about all those times when I gave up? When I said horrible things to you and to everyone else?" I said as we returned to our original dancing position.
"We've all had our times like that, too, Rapunzel. You can't blame yourself for that. Half the time you said it, you were under Pitch's control so technically, that doesn't count," he reassured.
"But I wasn't when we were down in that cell-"
"Rapunzel, don't do this to yourself. A couple mistakes doesn't define everything that you've done. I've messed up, too. Until I was made a Guardian, I didn't care about anyone but myself. I didn't understand why I was made to be what I am and it frustrated me for hundreds of years. Believe me when I say that I've made mistakes, too. But the Guardians looked beyond all of that and saw everything good that I've ever done rather than my mistakes, with the exception of Bunny," he chuckled. "They gave me a second chance and ever since then, I've turned my life around. But you? You haven't done hardly a single thing wrong in your entire life even when you didn't unerstand why you could never leave the tower. Sure, these past couple of months have really put us all to the test but you came through it with more bravery and courage than any of us here. And that's something to celebrate for."
"I'm sorry, Jack. I didn't even think about it like that," I said sheepishly, feeling a little guilty.
"What's there to be sorry for?" He smiled widely, pulling me in closer. "You're a hero!!"
I smiled back, knowing that I hadn't been giving myself the credit that I had earned,"I guess you're right."
"You guess I'm right?" He teased. "I know I'm right."
Soon the music had come to an end and we all bowed to our partners before we were escorted off to the side as Elsa came into the middle of the floor, holding a glass of hot chocolate in her hand.
"If everyone wouldn't mind grabbing a glass, I'd like to make a toast!!" She announced. And once everyone had some hot chocolate in their hand, she contined,"Tonight, we are gathered here to celebrate the heroic efforts of one of our finest and most dear friends. Rapunzel, for demonstrating courage and bravery when there was nothing left to hope for and for fighting against every will of the enemy to save everyone here in this room, we raise our glasses to you. You truely have blessed us with your talents and with your bright aura. Here's to Rapunzel!!"
"To Rapunzel!!" Everyone cheered loudly, raising their glass in my honor. I blushed shyly as they came up, one by one, to congratulate me. I couldn't have been happier. It didn't even seem like we had been through everything we did. We had all banded together and got through it all with the best efforts we could manage and now we were being rewarded for it with this wonderful party, which was put together by such an amazing woman. It was truely humbling.
For a while, we all danced with one another, having a merry time as we talked and laughed and ate the delicious refreshments provided for us. We played lots of simple and fun games, we made complete fools of ourselves while dancing, and we enjoyed ourselves so much that Pitch and everything he had done was just a distant memory. As the hours of the night grew later, things began to settle down. Hiccup and Merida stepped out onto the candle-lit balcony, Sandy had left earlier to take care of his duties of bringing dreams to the children of the world as did Tooth with the teeth, Bunny and North talked in the corner of the room, and Elsa had gone up to bed, exhausted from such a long and exciting night.
"Do you want to come out to the gardens with me?" Jack asked me, seeing how things had calmed down a lot. "I don't think anyone would mind if we stepped out for a little while."
I laughed and nodded,"That would be wonderful."
He took my hand in his and we walked out into the biting cold. Jack, seeing me tense up, took off his jacket and put it around my shoulders to keep me warm. I took it with much appreciation and hugged it close to me, leaning into Jack as we approached the frozen garden. It was an amazing sight to see. Despite it being in the middle of winter here all the time, the weeping willows were covered in ice and light that strung down them, giving off a romantic light as we walked through. Flowers which were preserved by a light layer of frost graced us with their beauty in brilliant patches surrounding the trees and alongside the winding path that led us through the gardens. Not to mention that the wispy formations of ice that surrounded us were lit up due to the light radiantly off of the branches of the trees, creating a beautiful glow.
"This is so beautiful," I said quietly, snuggling into Jack as we walked through the gardens.
"I thought you might like this," Jack smiled, combing his fingers through my hair, being careful not to mess up the beautiful masterpiece that Elsa had done to decorate my hair.
"I do," I smiled back, looking up at him. "Thank you so much."
"You've been doing a lot of thanking tonight," he laughed, using his other hand to lace his fingers through the long light strands that stooped low to the ground.
"Well, of course I have!! There's so much to be thankful for," I responded politely, shivering slightly from a soft breeze that blew by.
"Speaking of, I think it's my turn to say thank you," he said to me, guiding me off the path and over to a patch of beautiful flowers where a warm blanket lay on the ground, waiting for us.
"What do you mean?" I asked him curiously, sitting down next to him. I glanced around and noticed that the flowers around us were our favorite ones...his blue roses and my stargazer lilies. It was so beautiful to see them in full bloom around us, each of them touched with a soft layer of frost.
"Rapunzel, you almost died to save my life," he began quietly, taking my hands in his. "I was already close to dying anyway but you...you saved me anyways."
"Well of course I did. Jack, I love you. I would do it all over again if I could, in a heartbeat," I said gently to him.
He smiled slightly and looked down,"I know you would..."
"What's upsetting you?" I asked him, trying to get him to look me in the eyes.
"Rapunzel...I couldn't do the same for you...In a time where you desparately needed me, I wasn't there to save you and for that...I-I'm so terribly sorry," Jack said slowly, stuttering over his words.
"Jack, what're you talking about?" I said to him, not understanding what he was talking about.
"Flynn...h-he....took you...And I couldn't stop it from happening." He whispered. I felt his hands tense up when he said his name.
"Pitch had-"
"I know. Pitch had poisoned me. But that doesn't excuse me for not being there," he said a little more sharply than he meant.
It took me a minute to respond. I wanted to comfort him just like he always did for me, but I didn't know what to say. He was so much better with words than I was,"Why are you doing this to yourself? I'm fine. See? Look at me, I'm fine. I'm right here and I'm not going anywhere."
"That's what I love about you, Rapunzel." He said, a faint smile edging the corner of his lips. "You're always trying to make things better than what they appear to be."
"W-What do you mean?" I stuttered.
Jack turned to me,"You hide so much pain so that others can feel better."
He then took his thumb and wiped away some of the makeup that masked my bruises, revealing them to him. Immediately, I turned away to hide it from him,"Jack, please don't."
"Rapunzel...Please, let me look at you..." his voice trailed, quivering a little as I slowly turned back to him. He took the rest of it off so that he could get a good look at me. He sighed deeply, his face dropping.
After a little while, the silence grew unnerving for me and I could no longer stand him looking at me with the bruises showing as I tried to block out the frightening memories that followed. I loved it when Jack held me and kissed me and such, but if I didn't push back all of those memories that haunted me, I wouldn't even let him touch me. I did my best to swallow my fear but someimes, I felt like it was too much to hold back...
"Don't hold it back It'll only be harder to deal with," Jack spoke quietly, noticing my hesitation.
"Hold what back?" I asked him, curious as to how he knew what was bothering me.
He tilted his head and gave me a look, as if he was saying I'm-Not-Stupid,"I know you better than you think I do, Rapunzel. You're terrified of me, admit it."
"I'm not scared of you, Jack." I said plainly, hugging his coat closer to me.
"Then you're scared of me touching you, isn't it? Because of Flynn?" He answered, his tone dropping coldly as his name escaped through his lips.
I sighed, knowing that he knew,"Yes..."
"I wouldn't ever hurt you, Rapunzel. You know I never will." He said, almost a little defensively.
"I know you wouldn't, Jack. It's just...I've just been..." I shruggled to get my thoughts out. I didn't want to talk about this. I didn't want him to see how broken up I really was. It was so much easier to shut it out, but I knew Jack was right. In the long run, keeping it in would only destroy me if I didn't deal with it now.
"I know," he answered, taking me in his arms. "I just need you to know that you can be yourself around me. You don't have to hide."
"If I were to let it out, you wouldn't like what you'd see, Jack. I don't want anyone to see." I told him, feeling myself beginning to shake as the memories began to arise.
"Rapunzel," Jack said, pulling away so that he could look at me dead in the eyes. "I love you. And I don't want you getting hurt or hurting yourself either. Don't hold back from me. I can help you."
I swallowed hard and thought for a moment. I began to get glimpses of the night Flynn had....well...taken me. I remembered the horrible things he had done...The torture...Suffocating me in the water...The Beatings...The more I thought, the worse it got and I quickly stood up so I could pace, taking in quick breaths.
"Just let it out," Jack's quivering voice said to me. I knew he hated wanting to put me through this but I knew he had to, as well. "Make peace with it, let the fear go."
"I-I can't....." I croaked out, my throat tightening as I felt tears sting the corners of my eyes. Suddenly, his arms were around me, comforting me as I went through those terrifying memories...His touch almost made me feel a little better. It almost made the pain go away from all of those times I had been beaten and cut and even strapped down.
"It will take awhile, I know, but you can do this. I will be there for you every step of the way...I swear on my life that I will," he promised me, keeping his arms around me tightly as I began to sob. "He can't hurt you anymore."