icarus_chained (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
icarus_chained) wrote2013-06-28 11:10 pm
icarus_chained) wrote2013-06-28 11:10 pm
Entry tags:
RotG/Last Unicorn Epilogue
Someone asked for a second part to The Tough Get Going, where Molly comes back and sees Jack after the movie. And I thought, why not?
Title: Got Across That river
Rating: PG
Fandom: The Last Unicorn (1982), Rise of the Guardians (2012)
Characters/Pairings: Molly Grue, Jack Frost, also the Guardians and Schmendrick. Molly & Jack, mentioned Molly/Schmendrick
Summary: Hours later for her, and centuries for him, the magic drops Molly on Jack once more
Wordcount: 1089
Warnings/Notes: Bit of angst, bit of schmoop
Disclaimer: Not mine
Title: Got Across That river
Rating: PG
Fandom: The Last Unicorn (1982), Rise of the Guardians (2012)
Characters/Pairings: Molly Grue, Jack Frost, also the Guardians and Schmendrick. Molly & Jack, mentioned Molly/Schmendrick
Summary: Hours later for her, and centuries for him, the magic drops Molly on Jack once more
Wordcount: 1089
Warnings/Notes: Bit of angst, bit of schmoop
Disclaimer: Not mine
Got Across That River
For the first few moments as Schmendrick's magic died around her once more, leaving her stranded who-knows-where among who-knows-who, Molly had considered being nervous. Standing in the center of a dark room, surrounded by several equally-startled and rather aggressive-looking beings, she'd wondered if she ought to be a little alarmed.
Not afraid, you understand. She couldn't be having with that. But nervous, yes.
But then there had been a cry, "Molly!", sharp and shocked and joyful, and a small, lithe figure had slammed into her and wrapped skinny arms around her, clinging with all the strength of a child, and she'd gotten distracted from the hulking figures of the swordsman and the six-foot rabbit and the green-feathered fairy and the baby sun. Which probably oughtn't to be something you could do, really, but then Jack was rather special.
"Molly! You're here! You came back!"
He looked up at her, half-flying as the wind held him in the air, his arms still close around her, and Molly smiled at him helplessly. It had only been a few hours for her, a bizarre series of misadventures while Schmendrick tried everything he knew to pull her closer to home, but goodness alone knew how long it had been for Jack.
Goodness knew how long he'd lived with only the memory of one stranger's hug to pull him through.
"Hello, Jack," she murmured, soft and warm, and reached up to wrap her own arms around his shoulders. "You remembered me, then, did you?"
He grinned at her, a child's smile beneath ancient eyes, and heavens help her, it was like Amalthea all over again. The expansive, instinctive love of a child, in the still, silent breast of an immortal. No wonder she had thought he might be a unicorn.
"I promised I would," he agreed, bright and earnest, leaning against her. "Well. Maybe you didn't hear that part. But I did promise." A tiny wobble in his smile, a tiny tremble. "I remembered. I wanted to remember."
Her breath hitched, an ache in her chest, and she knew then that it had been a long time for him. From that fragile moment of pain, she knew it must have been a great deal of time since last someone had held him close.
And my, did that thought make her angry.
"... Jack?" One the surrounding figures, the swordsman, moved cautiously forward. Molly found herself shifting instinctively, trying to put herself between him and Jack. For some strange reason, the great bearded lout smiled at her for it. "Jack, you are knowing this woman? She is friend of yours?"
Molly snorted angrily, ready to give the man a piece of her mind, but Jack pre-empted her, darting back from her with a sly turn to his grin and flitting forward to hover in the air between the strangers and her. He winked at her as he passed, the irrepressible mischief and joy that she suspected was his deepest nature.
"North, guys, this is Molly," he said, turning in the air to include them in his grin. "She saved me once, when I was just starting out. She ..." He paused, thought about it, and when he looked back at them there was knowing in his eyes, sad and solemn, and he was looking at the rabbit in particular. "She gave me hope when I needed it. You know?"
They flinched a little, the four of them to a being, and Molly felt the stir of suspicion, of understanding, rise inside her. She frowned, looking at them carefully, and then stepped forward to stand beneath Jack, crossing her arms beneath his hovering form.
"Don't tell me," she said slowly, glaring around at them. "These people ... they're your unicorns, Jack? Your dream?"
He spun, a bright, pale figure in the light from the dome, and spread his arms in soft, glowing joy, in the expansive love of a dream fulfilled after all life's hardships. He hung in the air before her, more the immortal now than the lonely, heartbroken child, and the four of them stood like supporting shadows beneath him.
"Yeah," Jack agreed, smiling down at them. "Yeah, they kind of are."
Then the smile changed, grew sly and a little wicked, a smile not for them but for her, and he flew down to rest beside Molly, all cold air and cocky charm, and slipped his arm through hers.
"And you know what?" he told her, smiling like the child he was at heart while the others stared and Molly herself looked askance at him. "You know what I did when I first met them?"
He grinned, shy and happy, sharing a secret between them, and suddenly she knew what he was going to say. She knew before he ever opened his mouth, and the thought spread enough warmth through her that all the frozen cold of his touch could never dent it again.
"Yeah," Jack said, seeing her knowledge in her eyes, in the small, fierce smile she gifted to him. "I remembered," he told her quietly. Proudly, with a lift of his chin and all the strength his wiry spirit contained. "I remembered what you told me. And when they came to me, I yelled at them." He smiled, soft and crooked. "I yelled at them, and it helped, and it ... it all turned out right in the end."
And they didn't get it, his unicorns, not a one of them understood what he was saying with that, the years of pain and struggle and hope he laid bare in those words, but Molly did. She knew, she understood, and she loved. As instantly and fiercely as she had loved her unicorn, as she had loved her husband, as she had loved the young, foolish prince who'd fallen for a creature he could never hope to keep. Jack smiled at her, while she reached out and pulled him desperately to her chest, and in that moment Molly had never loved him more.
"Good for you," she whispered, ragged and fierce while he pressed a cold nose into her chest and tangled his fingers in her shirt. "Jack, my boy. Good for you."
And if she left him hiccuping behind her when the magic snatched her again, if she left him smiling lopsidedly with all his joy and his pain in his eyes while his new friends gathered close around him, well.
Her own eyes, when Schmendrick finally caught her in his arms, weren't very dry either.
And that, she thought, was all right too.
For the first few moments as Schmendrick's magic died around her once more, leaving her stranded who-knows-where among who-knows-who, Molly had considered being nervous. Standing in the center of a dark room, surrounded by several equally-startled and rather aggressive-looking beings, she'd wondered if she ought to be a little alarmed.
Not afraid, you understand. She couldn't be having with that. But nervous, yes.
But then there had been a cry, "Molly!", sharp and shocked and joyful, and a small, lithe figure had slammed into her and wrapped skinny arms around her, clinging with all the strength of a child, and she'd gotten distracted from the hulking figures of the swordsman and the six-foot rabbit and the green-feathered fairy and the baby sun. Which probably oughtn't to be something you could do, really, but then Jack was rather special.
"Molly! You're here! You came back!"
He looked up at her, half-flying as the wind held him in the air, his arms still close around her, and Molly smiled at him helplessly. It had only been a few hours for her, a bizarre series of misadventures while Schmendrick tried everything he knew to pull her closer to home, but goodness alone knew how long it had been for Jack.
Goodness knew how long he'd lived with only the memory of one stranger's hug to pull him through.
"Hello, Jack," she murmured, soft and warm, and reached up to wrap her own arms around his shoulders. "You remembered me, then, did you?"
He grinned at her, a child's smile beneath ancient eyes, and heavens help her, it was like Amalthea all over again. The expansive, instinctive love of a child, in the still, silent breast of an immortal. No wonder she had thought he might be a unicorn.
"I promised I would," he agreed, bright and earnest, leaning against her. "Well. Maybe you didn't hear that part. But I did promise." A tiny wobble in his smile, a tiny tremble. "I remembered. I wanted to remember."
Her breath hitched, an ache in her chest, and she knew then that it had been a long time for him. From that fragile moment of pain, she knew it must have been a great deal of time since last someone had held him close.
And my, did that thought make her angry.
"... Jack?" One the surrounding figures, the swordsman, moved cautiously forward. Molly found herself shifting instinctively, trying to put herself between him and Jack. For some strange reason, the great bearded lout smiled at her for it. "Jack, you are knowing this woman? She is friend of yours?"
Molly snorted angrily, ready to give the man a piece of her mind, but Jack pre-empted her, darting back from her with a sly turn to his grin and flitting forward to hover in the air between the strangers and her. He winked at her as he passed, the irrepressible mischief and joy that she suspected was his deepest nature.
"North, guys, this is Molly," he said, turning in the air to include them in his grin. "She saved me once, when I was just starting out. She ..." He paused, thought about it, and when he looked back at them there was knowing in his eyes, sad and solemn, and he was looking at the rabbit in particular. "She gave me hope when I needed it. You know?"
They flinched a little, the four of them to a being, and Molly felt the stir of suspicion, of understanding, rise inside her. She frowned, looking at them carefully, and then stepped forward to stand beneath Jack, crossing her arms beneath his hovering form.
"Don't tell me," she said slowly, glaring around at them. "These people ... they're your unicorns, Jack? Your dream?"
He spun, a bright, pale figure in the light from the dome, and spread his arms in soft, glowing joy, in the expansive love of a dream fulfilled after all life's hardships. He hung in the air before her, more the immortal now than the lonely, heartbroken child, and the four of them stood like supporting shadows beneath him.
"Yeah," Jack agreed, smiling down at them. "Yeah, they kind of are."
Then the smile changed, grew sly and a little wicked, a smile not for them but for her, and he flew down to rest beside Molly, all cold air and cocky charm, and slipped his arm through hers.
"And you know what?" he told her, smiling like the child he was at heart while the others stared and Molly herself looked askance at him. "You know what I did when I first met them?"
He grinned, shy and happy, sharing a secret between them, and suddenly she knew what he was going to say. She knew before he ever opened his mouth, and the thought spread enough warmth through her that all the frozen cold of his touch could never dent it again.
"Yeah," Jack said, seeing her knowledge in her eyes, in the small, fierce smile she gifted to him. "I remembered," he told her quietly. Proudly, with a lift of his chin and all the strength his wiry spirit contained. "I remembered what you told me. And when they came to me, I yelled at them." He smiled, soft and crooked. "I yelled at them, and it helped, and it ... it all turned out right in the end."
And they didn't get it, his unicorns, not a one of them understood what he was saying with that, the years of pain and struggle and hope he laid bare in those words, but Molly did. She knew, she understood, and she loved. As instantly and fiercely as she had loved her unicorn, as she had loved her husband, as she had loved the young, foolish prince who'd fallen for a creature he could never hope to keep. Jack smiled at her, while she reached out and pulled him desperately to her chest, and in that moment Molly had never loved him more.
"Good for you," she whispered, ragged and fierce while he pressed a cold nose into her chest and tangled his fingers in her shirt. "Jack, my boy. Good for you."
And if she left him hiccuping behind her when the magic snatched her again, if she left him smiling lopsidedly with all his joy and his pain in his eyes while his new friends gathered close around him, well.
Her own eyes, when Schmendrick finally caught her in his arms, weren't very dry either.
And that, she thought, was all right too.