Why Don't You Love Me?

Chapter 3: Angel in the Snow

I have the found the paradox, that if you love until it hurts, there can be no more hurt, only more love." ~ Mother Teresa

Rapunzel was awakened by a loud, wet sniffle, and she blinked her eyes several times to banish the blurry quality of her sight, and smiled at what she knew was Maximus' nose, hovering above her face.

"Hello, Maximus," She said, untangling a hand from her bed covers to stroke him, to which he whinnied softly, and sat down next to her bed.

Spreading her palms out on her bed, Rapunzel pushed herself up and looked around the room. She could see that the townsfolk had heard of her nervous breakdown, which is why her room was filled with every type of flower that the people could find at this time of year. Yawning, she tickled the air above her head with outstretched fingers, then leaped out of bed, and Maximus smiled at her perky early bird charm.

"Pascal? Oh, Pascal, where are you?" Rapunzel said in a melodic voice, and out of the corner of her eye, she spotted a lily turn bright red, and then, bright purple, and finally, bright yellow.

"Ah, there you are!" Rapunzel cheered, spinning and scooping her laughing little friend up in her hands.

Smiling back, Rapunzel began to investigate her room turned greenhouse. "Look at this! Pansies! Zinnias! Morning Glories! How can anyone find these flowers in winter?"

Pascal scurried up her arm and onto his normal spot on her shoulder to take a look, shrugged, and then the little chameleon turned to glance at Maximus, and both of them knowingly rolled their eyes. Rapunzel jumped when she felt a hand on her shoulder, and she spun around, while Pascal squeaked in protest as he clung to her shoulder, to see her mother kindly smiling at her.

"Oh, hi, Mom!" Rapunzel said, blushing at her embarrassing reaction, threw her arms out, and swung them around, gesturing to the flowers surrounding them. "Can you believe all these flowers?

Queen Primrose shook her head and chuckled. "I can see you are enjoying them. Please be sure to tell the townsfolk when they're not busy shoveling the streets."

Rapunzel saw Maximus widen his eyes, stand on all four legs and shuffle his hooves, seemingly sheepish about something.

"Oh, I'll definitely tell them," Rapunzel said, then comprehended the rest of her mother's words. "Shoveling the streets? Why?"

She looked from Pascal, who shrugged, to Maximus, who did his best to shrug, to her mother, who smiled and fondly squeezed her daughter's shoulders.

"Dear, did Maximus not tell, or ah, show you?" Queen Primrose asked, turning to look at Maximus, and if the horse could look any more embarrassed, he sure did right now.

Rapunzel frowned. "No, but I didn't give him much of a chance to show me anything. I was too busy looking at the flowers." The princess explained, and when the queen turned back to Rapunzel, Maximus shot her a grateful look and the princess giggled.

"But, show me what?" Bouncing on her toes, she looked around the room. Was there something beyond the flowers?

Queen Primrose chuckled. "Take a look," she said, gliding to the windows. "Maximus, dear fellow, would you mind helping me with the curtains?" She asked, while kindly smiling at the horse, whose composure had returned.

As he joined her at the other side of the obscured window, Rapunzel blinked in surprise, since she hadn't noticed that the only light sources were candles placed sporadically around her chambers. Spinning to face the window, Rapunzel grinned as Maximus closed his teeth on one golden curtain rope, and her mother delicately grasped the other.

"One. . .two. . .three!" Queen Primrose said, as the two yanked their cords, and Rapunzel was greeted by a city draped in white.

"Snow!" The girl squealed, rushing to the window and fogging the panes with her breath, while Pascal squeaked in delight and leaned forward.

Queen Primrose joined the princess, laying a hand on the girl's other unoccupied shoulder. "So, what do you think of your first snowfall?" The woman asked.

"So, what do you think of your first snowfall?" Jack asked, breaking their gaze and spinning around.

Rapunzel hopped up and down in the dried grass, gasping at how wonderful, yet how cold, everything was. She giggled at the snow falling around her; it was so. . .different, and the air! She twirled around, forgetting that her hair was still attached to the hook above her window.

"Ah-Ah-Ah!" Rapunzel yelped, yanking her hair off the hook and promptly crumbling to the ground in surprise.

"It's all so cold. . .a-and fresh. . .and everything is new!" She looked around, with her hair in a pile beneath her.

Rapunzel looked up at Jack, and she noticed how his hair was the perfect shade to match the snow. It seemed symmetrical, as each strand curled a bit at the end, all was different, like the snowflakes themselves. Suddenly, something small and white obscured her vision, and she wildly blinked. As she shook her head back and forth, the girl noticed that Jack was laughing.

He knelt at her side and smiled. "You have snowflakes in your eyes." He said, cooly, wringing his staff with pale fingers.

"Eyelashes, I think," Rapunzel sweetly corrected, and slowly fluttered them, trying to the get the flakes out of her vision.

When she looked back at Jack, he had the strangest and most awestruck look on his face.

"What is it?" She asked, slightly tilted her head as she curiously stared at him.

He shook his head and shrugged. "Aw, nothing," The boy said as he stood up. "Wanna look around?"

The boy glanced down at her and grinned. Marveling at his energy, almost like hers, Rapunzel jumped up and ran ahead toward the ivy gate. She heard the wind pick up, and craned her neck to look behind her. She gasped and laughed as she watched Jack speed by on the back of the wind. He winked at her and whooped as he sped past her.

Rapunzel stopped short, and again, she left the flutter of a skirt in her heart. She wondered about it, but quickly put it behind her when she saw that Jack was standing by the grassy wall. He bounced around, impatiently motioning for her to hurry, and the girl put on a burst of speed and joined him there. With a motioning bow, he pulled back some of the vines to create a gateway to the cave. Rapunzel giggled and after cautiously peering through it, she extended a foot forward and began her hesitant walk through the cave, but to where?

"Let's go, Jack Frost," She said and began to run. "We have so much to explore!"

Rapunzel felt her face glow as his cheery laughter echoed behind her.

Rapunzel blinked away happy tears as she stared at the somehow familiar snowflakes darting through her kingdom. Her fingers rested on the glass, and she knew that if she kept thinking about Jack, the tears of sadness would dribble down; it was winter.

"You promised that you would come back, "Rapunzel mouthed. "You promised, but where are you, Jack?"

Queen Primrose draped a dainty arm across the girl's shoulders, with her kind eyes studying Rapunzel's face. "Dear, what's wrong?" She asked.

Rapunzel looked at her bare toes. "This isn't my first snowfall," She said quietly, and stroked the window.

"And Eugene. . .was not the first boy." She whispered this so quietly that the queen leaned forward to hear it.

When Rapunzel looked at her mother again, she was shocked to see tears in the queen's eyes, and then, both women hugged. Maximus trotted forward and laid his snout on their heads, while Pascal curled up in the crook of their elbows. The wonder of winter continued outside, with the four all staying together, as silent and still as the snow.