Chapter Text
AUTHOR'S NOTE: YEAH, HI, I LIVE. So sorry this is so late! (To the wonderful people who've been reviewing to... uh, beg me to write more/update... I promise, I don't need to be coaxed into updating; this chapter has just been INSANELY hard to write! In the meantime, YOUR CONCERN MEANS THE WORLD TO ME, and thank you for it!)
In the meantime, I have a hypothesis: You will hate me, and then you will like me again.
I hope.
I might add another note to the bottom at some point, to explain why this chapter took so long to write/rewrite/figure out. But not right now. Thanks for reading, thank you to all of those WONDERFUL people who reviewed, and I hope you have a fantastically MERRY CHRISTMAS (a day late)! :D
RESPONDING TO GUEST REVIEWERS: Okay, I've gotten behind on EVERYTHING, but I'm guessing that people would just prefer that I POST, even if... let's give me until New Year's, to respond? (Please, oh PLEASE remind me, if I forget, which I might? I really want to respond to you!) 8-s
CONTENT WARNING: Sexual content, ALL through discussion and innuendo, that's—well, it's all well within PG-13, but Elsa may or may not feel the need to call Jack out a couple of times. ;)
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QUICK LIFE UPDATE, added 3/24/19: Yallo again! Because so many of you are asking (it means the world to me, btw!), I am in fact alive, and continuing to work on Ice Alliance... albeit slowly. I will almost certainly be bringing this up in the next Author's Note as an explanation, but long story short, the delay has been because I've been having some serious medical issues in the last few months that have made it rather hard to write. No, really- having to lie down all the time from the back pain and fainting issues has made it physically difficult to type. The plus side is, the baby is due in less than a month, so my symptoms SHOULD all be going away on their own pretty quickly here. ;) I wasn't planning on announcing this or anything (it's a girl, btw!), but the next chapter had been in a state of "almost done" for so many weeks now that it's officially driving me crazy. XD All I can say is, I'm sorry this has been so slow to update (especially since my third trimester hit me like a truck), if anyone is legitimately concerned I hope that they see this, your support means EVERYTHING to me, and I hope you have a fantabulous day!
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67: POSSIBILITIES
The statement hanging on the air, the Spirit of Winter let out his breath, giving her a little nod. He leaned back against the edge of the table, biting his lip.
Her eyes darting to the book in front of her, Elsa's head started spinning, her heart resuming in its function to violently pound against the inside of her ribcage once again. Was he—was Jack really trying to—?
"Well?" Jack stammered suddenly, tearing her from her frantic spiral of thoughts. "Don't you?"
Elsa blinked. "What?"
"Don't you—um," Jack tried again, his voice breaking, "Don't—don't you think—we'd do well together?"
His eyes were wide and pleading, anxiety written clearly across his face. Looking down to his feet, Jack Frost then let out a nervous laugh, reaching up and rubbing the back of his neck. The storm of emotions swirling up inside of her, Elsa swallowed hard, her mind racing in the moment, wanting to agree, to confess, to tell him absolutely everything she'd ever felt about him, to—
Wait.
She froze as the new thought occurred to her.
Better make sure.
Clenching her fists and then stretching her fingers out again, she swallowed hard for the second time. Struggling to control her expression, the Fifth Spirit then carefully drew in her breath, turning and looking up into his eyes.
"Are you just talking about sex again?" she asked hesitantly.
Jack jolted, looking like he had been caught completely off guard.
"Huh?" he stammered.
"Well—you know," Elsa tried again, her voice shaking a bit, "I—you were just objecting to Prince Frederik. Because he—well, he doesn't like my ice powers—so, you were saying that we'd do well together—?"
His eyes widened. "That—I didn't—"
Jack glanced to the vase of ice flowers, shifting on his feet. After a few moments, his eyes went from soft to determinedly piercing once again, his jaw setting with resolve.
"Well," Jack decided. "We would."
Elsa's heart sank.
"You're telling me that we'd do well together, physically," she repeated, trying to hide her disappointment.
Jack looked down to his crossed arms. He nodded. "Right," he said resolutely. "We're talking about this now."
"Jack, if you're not meaning tha—"
"—I could handle you."
He looked back up from his arms in her direction, his gaze intensifying as he stared into her face. Elsa's face fell, the disappointment washing over her.
She should have known.
"I mean," Jack added, a hint of a smile on the edge of his lips, "If that's what you're worried about, then don't. I could handle you, Snowflake."
Elsa closed her eyes. Then, she opened them again, not looking at him.
"I'm sure you could," she sighed, turning a page in her book and running her finger down the text to find her place. "If you wanted to. I mean."
Jack scoffed. "You have no idea," he muttered to himself.
The Fifth Spirit adjusted her sheet of parchment on the table next to her book, and Jack shifted uncomfortably on his feet. Letting out a bitter little laugh, he reached up and scratched the back of his neck, glancing to the vase of ice flowers.
"This is not how I thought this conversation was going to go," he admitted.
"You are always trying to build my confidence, Jack," Elsa choked, "And—look, I really appreciate what you're trying to do, but—"
"—You should be more confident about this."
And, THERE'S the confirmation.
Elsa turned back to her book, her heart sinking even further. This was just like him. He would never—you know—try to seduce her, or anything like that, but—he would try to flirt her into being comfortable with this whole thing. It was for her sake, not his. He was trying. Which was very sweet of him, but—
You are making this SO much more painful.
The smirk became a self-conscious smile. Jack laughed nervously, pulling his hand down from his neck.
"But—but, see? This is just what I mean," he stammered, "I mean, just—just think of it, Elsa! We'd be perfect together!"
Elsa raised a skeptical eyebrow.
"On the carpet, you mean?" she sighed.
"Well—yeah!" Jack's eyes lit up, "That too! I mean, think about it! LOOK at us! We're winter spirits! You, and—and me—us—it makes sense, doesn't it? We'd have so much fun!"
Except for in an actual relationship.
Her face tight with frustration, Elsa looked back down to her volume of court records. She was just starting to open her mouth to say something when Jack suddenly leapt forward, grabbing her hands and holding them in his own.
Elsa jolted, snapping her head up in shock.
"All the years in the shadows, and the past, and—and the pain," Jack pleaded, staring intensely into her eyes and he squeezed her hands, "We don't have to feel it anymore. We've both always thought we were alone, but—well, if we're not, shouldn't we do something about it?"
Elsa could feel her lungs clench in panic, all the air suddenly sucked from the room.
Because you're clearly going to fly away and never come back, the INSTANT after we—
"I know you've been through a lot, and I—I get it. And you get me. We just get each other, right? And we have ice powers!" he continued, speaking faster and faster as it started to snow, not noticing the freezing wind beginning to pick up around Elsa's feet, "We have ice powers, and you're a girl, and I'm a guy, and—see? It's perfect! And when is THIS ever going to happen again? Like—never?"
What am I even THINKING? Jack wouldn't do that. He's too honorable. He's trying to give me confidence! He's not actually interested!
"If we ended up together, our kids would have ice powers. We could LITERALLY start a new sub-species! If—well, if we wanted," Jack added, laughing nervously, "I mean, that's not why I'm interested or anything, but—"
He's NOT INTERESTED!
Elsa suddenly yanked her hand out of his grip.
His mouth hanging open, Jack cut himself off mid-sentence, looking up to her in shock. As the snowflakes silently fell around them at the table—the wind suddenly gone—Elsa shakily sucked in her breath.
"We should really get back to work," she whispered.
The Spirit of Winter looked like he had just been slapped in the face.
At first, Jack didn't move. Then—as he silently pulled his hand back into his lap—she could feel him shrink away from her, his cheeks and ears flushing crimson.
The shame washing over her, Queen Elsa glanced downwards, nervously smoothing back a lock of her hair. Looking like he was struggling to swallow, Jack looked down as well, the temperature dropping a few more degrees as he pushed himself from the table to start trudging away.
"I just wanted you to think about it," he muttered.
Elsa jolted.
"What makes you think I haven't thought about it?" she sputtered angrily.
His hands in his pocket, Jack froze. Turning back around to face her.
"Wait," he breathed, "You—you have?"
"You keep BRINGING IT UP every five seconds!" Elsa balked, her blood boiling, "What, are women just not supposed to be sexual, or something?"
Jack's breath caught. "Wha—"
"—In fact, I find you to be EXTREMELY ATTRACTIVE!" she interrupted, now nearly yelling as she swept her hand to the side, "Is that such a crime!? I might be new to friendship, and relationships, and—and flirting, and everything, but Frost, I will remind you that I am a twenty-three year old woman, with a KINGDOM to rule!"
"I—"
"—If I could ever get back to actually DOING IT!" Elsa gritted, angrily smacking the page of the book before her with the back of her hand, "So, YES! As you've brought it up over and over and over and over and OVER, as a matter of fact, the idea that you and I would potentially enjoy ourselves together physically HAS INDEED CROSSED MY MIND!"
Her chest rising up and down as she gasped for breath, Elsa clenched her teeth together, determinately ignoring the flurries of snow falling around her. From where he was standing on the other side of the table, Jack was staring at her in disbelief.
"Hold on," Jack realized, "Now, are—are you talking about—?"
The Snow Queen said nothing, reaching forward and shakily brushing a handful of snowflakes off of her open book. Without looking up, she could practically feel the hesitant beginning of a grin start to tug at the edge of Jack's mouth.
"You've thought about—getting with—?" He gestured back and forth between them from across the table, his smile widening.
"I wasn't saying that I—!"
Elsa cut herself off mid-sentence, her face pained. After a few hopeless moments, struggling for words, she groaned, setting her elbows on the table and burying her face in her hands.
Jack's eyes bulged.
"You have," he breathed. "You HAVE!"
She jumped, yanking her hands down. "I—"
"—What did you think?" Jack gasped, "Was this in a dream, or something? Were there any specifics?"
Elsa's face drained. "Jack—"
"—No, seriously, is there anything I should know?" he asked frantically, "Did you like it? Do you want me to hold you down again? Like in our snowball fight? I could hold you down; I know that's a thing for you—"
" —JACK!"
He stopped talking, pressing his lips together like he was struggling not to burst out laughing in triumph. Snow flurries beginning to materialize out of the air above her again, Elsa gaped at him in horror.
"Inappropriate?" she choked.
His smile faded. Reaching forward and pulling out his chair, Jack swallowed hard.
"Sorry," he mumbled.
"Thank you."
The Youngest Guardian sheepishly sat down, falling quiet, and Queen Elsa looked back to her book. Taking out the sheet of parchment she'd been recording references on, she let out her breath. She had to get back to work.
She had to get back to work.
"But…"
Elsa looked up, her finger still keeping her place on the page.
"What?" she groaned.
"But the snowball fight," he tried again, "I—I just—"
His voice trailed off, and he pressed his lips together like he was restraining from saying something. Just as Elsa was starting to open her mouth to respond—
"Well, earlier, you told me that you liked it when I—well?" Jack burst out, unable to keep it in any longer, "You know! I mean, you flat-out told me that you liked it; like that it was a thing for you when I—"
"—It's not a thing!"
He stopped talking. Having realized what he was referring to, Elsa's face was pale.
"It's not a—thing," she tried again helplessly, waving her hands up by her face, "I just—it was just because—"
Her heart pounding with frustration, Elsa snapped her mouth shut, shaking her head vigorously.
It was because it was YOU, YOU MORON!
She clenched her teeth together. Balling her hands into fists, she sucked in her breath.
"I don't think we should be talking about this," Elsa shook.
"But you think we'd do well together?"
She bit her lip and looked up. From where he was sitting across the table, Jack's expression was pleading, and she swallowed hard.
"Look," Elsa choked, "I—I think you're amazing. And wonderful, and such."
Jack beamed, his eyes dazed and happy as he stared at her adoringly from across the table. Elsa pulled in her breath, fidgeting with her fingers in her lap.
"And I really appreciate everything you've taught me," she admitted, her cheeks flushing pink, "But I—we—I don't want—"
Elsa's voice trailed off, and she fell quiet, looking down to her lap. Squeezing her eyes shut, she swallowed hard.
I want you to actually love me.
The painful, telling silence fell over the table again. Twisting her fingers together, a few snowflakes bursting out of her skin as she did, the Fifth Spirit could hear him shift in his seat.
"You—don't want this?" Jack choked.
She bit her lip.
Unsure of how to respond, Elsa shoved back her chair, getting onto her feet and turning away from him. After walking a few paces from the table—and struggling not to cry—she looked down to her feet, crossing her arms tightly over her chest as a sparkle of snowflakes began to materialize above her out of the air.
"Elsa," Jack sighed. "If—okay. Look, if you're telling me to back off—"
"—No!"
She snapped her head up, her eyes wide. The snow flurries stopped falling midair, and she spun around to face him again.
"No," Elsa stammered again, shaking her head. "Please don't back off."
"You—don't want me to back off?" Jack ventured, raising his eyebrows in the question. "Like—this isn't a rejection?"
"I could never reject you," she blurted. "I mean—it—well, you're—!"
Jack's eyebrows lifted by another millimeter.
Realizing what she'd said, Elsa cringed, stumbling a step back and burying her face in her hands. She shook her head.
"I'm sorry," she choked. "I—I don't know. I don't know anything, anymore."
And she stared at the floor.
Without looking up, Elsa could hear Jack push his chair back across the carpet. Getting up as well, he walked over to round the end of the table, leaving the staff behind him on the floor.
Elsa squeezed her eyes shut, unsure of whether she should move or stay put. From the chill on the air, she knew he was suddenly standing beside her.
"Snowflake... what do you want?" Jack asked softly.
"I want…"
Hesitantly looking up, Elsa's breath caught. Her gaze locked onto his, her heart started pounding as she stared into his intense blue eyes, the kindness and the empathy and infinite gentleness in them shocking and reassuring all at once. As Jack started to lift one of his hands to her face, as if to push back a lock of her hair, Elsa froze, overwhelmed with the feeling that her childhood hero was staring straight into her soul, his incredible eyes conveying such an impossible level of understanding that she suddenly knew she would never, ever be able to find or replace it with anyone else, ever again.
Elsa sucked in her breath.
"I have to get back to work," she blurted.
Her eyes stinging, the Fifth Spirit stumbled back from him and lunged for the table, lurching forward and grabbing her volume of court records. Yanking it towards herself, she then pulled back the cover, flipping through the pages to find her icy bookmark. Without saying a word, Jack stuck his hands into his front pocket, silently following.
"So… you need some time?" he tried again.
"I need to finish reviewing these records so that I can start figuring out how to structure the reform."
Elsa could feel the intensity of his piercing gaze on her face as he stood beside her, silently watching her, and saying nothing. After a few moments, she squeezed her eyes shut.
"Time—would be good," Elsa admitted.
She let out her breath. Still avoiding eye contact, Elsa then pulled out the bookmark. Jack took a step back.
"So, you're still considering the possibility," he clarified.
She scoffed, placing her hands onto the table and leaning over them. "Jack Frost," she laughed bitterly, "I am always open to possibilities."
And pipe dreams… apparently.
His eyebrows lifted. After a few moments, looking somewhat satisfied with this answer, the Youngest Guardian nodded to himself, sticking his hands into his shirt's front pocket and turning away.
Elsa's heart sank again as she watched him walk from her. Even from the back, she had decided that Jack looked just as handsome as he did from the front—well, she missed his eyes, but her breath still caught at the sight of his snowy, blindingly-white hair and the fractals of ice splintered out across his shoulders. The careless confidence in his gait, the way he always appeared ready to leap into the air in a flurry of snowflakes—the Spirit of Winter was incredible to watch. Even if Elsa only had a few moments to unabashedly stare at him, she was going to take them—painful, and hopeless as they were. Because—
Sigh.
As Jack Frost came around to the other side of the table, pulling out his chair and sitting down, Elsa quickly jumped, dropping her head forward to pretend that she hadn't been staring at him. Her mind racing, she didn't even notice the blood rising to her face or the way her throat had gone dry as her mind raced in the analysis.
Maybe being Jack's project wasn't so bad. Maybe this would be practice, emotionally. She wasn't good with emotions. She hated emotions. But maybe that was the point. Even if it was fake, even if she was just flattering herself, the illusion of being wanted by someone like him was—so tempting. Even though it couldn't last.
But, maybe that didn't matter. Being loved wasn't really all that big a deal; Elsa was royalty, and marriage was just political anyway—especially when she would probably only see her husband a handful of times in her life, now being needed up in the Enchanted Forest for the majority of the time. But it would help her a LOT to learn to be better with all of this—flirting, and everything, seeing as she was so obviously hopeless. If she was going to have to try to figure out this courting thing with Prince Frederik (or some unknown future alliance), it would greatly benefit Arendelle if she had any clue what she was doing. That was why Jack Frost was trying to help her. This was just part of being in the Ice Alliance. This was political.
Purely. Political.
But Jack's SNOW was just—
"What are you thinking?" Jack asked suddenly.
Elsa jumped. "What?"
"It's just that—uh," Jack tried, "You've got that look again."
Her brow furrowed in confusion. "I've got what look?"
His left eyebrow twitched upwards.
"Like you're overthinking something," Jack Frost deadpanned.
"I'm not overthinking," Elsa insisted, uncomfortably crossing her arms over her chest. "I'm just—thinking. Thinking. That's all."
From across the table, Jack's face fell. After a few moments—staring at each other in silence—both Elsa and Jack started talking at once.
"—Elsa, I'm sorry for the—"
"—Can I sit on your lap?"
They both froze, staring at each other in befuddled shock.
"What?" Jack stammered.
"I was wondering if I could sit on your lap again," Elsa said quickly, the words tumbling out before she could stop them, "Or be otherwise close to you, or something, because I'd really like to calm down, and you always—calm—calm me down."
Biting her lip, Elsa looked down, fidgeting with her fingers.
"I do?" Jack asked.
Elsa didn't respond.
The confession sitting on the air, she closed her eyes, as if in pain. He did always calm her down. In fact, everything always felt better around him, and when she was with him, she just felt like everything was going to be okay.
Overcome with embarrassment, the Fifth Spirit buried her face in her hands again.
"Forget it," she choked, her voice breaking, "I'm sorry. I'm being stupid."
"Why would that be stupid?" Jack sputtered, "Isn't that a good thing?"
"Well, yes, but—!"
She snapped her mouth shut, giving her head a hard shake. Glancing upwards, she realized that Jack was sitting back in his chair, and giving her that look again, like—well, like he knew something about her that she didn't. But there was more.
Like he thinks I'm adorable.
Elsa froze, her eyes wide with the thought.
Or pathetic, she mentally corrected, her face falling a fraction of a second later. Seeing as I'm his PROJECT.
"So… " Jack started again, jerking her from the stupor. "Are you coming over here, or do you want me to go over there?"
Elsa blinked. "Wait, what?"
He raised a meaningful eyebrow.
"Well," Jack hinted, his voice dropping by a few tones, "If we're only going to need one chair…?"
His voice trailed off, and a hint of a smile twitched out of the side of his mouth. Suddenly realizing what he was talking about, Elsa cringed.
"I'm sorry," she stammered, "It's just—look, I really like being close to you, and—I shouldn't have said that. Honestly, I didn't mean to. I really like—I just—well, with the kissing and everything, I—"
Her voice trailed off, and she lifted her hands to her temples again, squeezing her eyes shut. Without looking, the Snow Queen could feel his concerned gaze on her face as she shook her head.
"I have no idea what I'm doing," Elsa choked. "What—what we're doing. I don't know where the line is."
He paused, studying her for a long moment.
"You're scared?" Jack asked. "You're scared of going too far?"
Elsa bit her lip, looking down to her feet. Her face flushing with humiliation, she then gave him a quick nod, covering her face with her hands.
"I am so sorry," she whispered, her voice a squeak, "I swear it's not—or just—I don't want to do anything that—"
"—We're not doing anything that you don't want to do."
Elsa hesitantly looked up through her fingers. Jack, sitting on the edge of the chair he'd pulled back from the table, was staring at her, raising his eyebrows.
"We're not doing anything that you don't want to do," he repeated softly.
He held out his arms.
Still peering out from behind her fingers, Elsa's eyes started stinging. Her resolve crumbling, she then dropped her hands to her sides, running to him and collapsing into his embrace.
The instant she touched him, the rush of joy swept through her, the nervousness and anxiety melting away. Chasing the feeling, she flung her arms around his neck, overwhelmed with relief as Jack gingerly shifted his arm under her capelet to pull her up into a more stable position on his legs.
"Thank you," Elsa whispered.
"Uh—sure."
Burying her head in his shoulder, she could feel Jack smile, his wonderfully freezing hands clasped together on her hip—as if to hold her in place without really touching her side in the process.
Suddenly, a shock of fear jolted through her mind.
"I—um," Elsa stammered, leaning back from him, "Do you—do you think this is okay?"
"I think we're fine."
She bit the edge of her lip, shifting slightly as they stared into each other's eyes. Jack's usually piercing gaze had gone soft, his expression dazed and happy.
"I mean," he corrected suddenly, reaching up and rubbing the back of his neck with a nervous laugh, "I—I don't really know, either. But I'm pretty sure this is okay."
She nodded. Just as she was about to open her mouth to respond, he jolted.
"Unless you're not comfortable with it," Jack blurted.
Her eyes widened. "I'm fine with this."
"Then we'll just stay here."
Elsa let out her breath in relief, her vision starting to go blurry with emotion. Stay here. Yes, she could just stay here.
Stay here forever.
Elsa shyly looked back to Jack's shirt, studying the icy patterns splintered out over the navy blue fabric. She sniffed. "I'm sorry," she choked, "I have no idea what's going on with anything, right now, and—and the last twenty-four hours—it's been a really insane day, and—"
"—Hey, hey, hey. It's alright."
He gave her a reassuring smile. After a moment, Elsa bit her lip and embraced him again, the wave of relief and beautiful, crisp cold sweeping over her as she did so. Without looking, she felt Jack reach up and start to stroke back her hair.
"There's no reason to rush this, Snowflake," he whispered into her ear. "We can take things slow."
She nodded weakly, saying nothing.
"Slow—can be fun," he added.
Elsa nodded, hugging him tighter and burying her face in his shoulder.
"Um," Jack stammered suddenly, "Would it—uh, would you mind if I—?"
He glanced down in the question, and Elsa followed his gaze. Next to her hip, but not actually touching her, Jack was awkwardly hovering his hand in the air like he wasn't quite sure where he could put it.
He let out a nervous laugh. "I just don't want you to think—well, you know—"
"—You're fine."
Jack's eyebrows lifted with surprise. An instant later, a look of relief swept over his features, and he settled his hand onto her lower waist.
"Okay," he smiled.
He gave her a squeeze, then starting to rub his palm across the curve of her hip. Their gazes locked, and Elsa shifted on his lap, shyly smiling at him in response. After a few seconds, she broke eye contact, looking down.
"I'm sorry," she said again, sniffing and pulling back her right arm to rub her wrist across her nose. "I mean, just between Arendelle, and the people, and Anna, and—I don't want to let anyone down. I have to be the queen. A good queen."
"You are a good queen."
"No, a good queen would know what to do."
To this, Jack Frost chewed the edge of his lip, glancing to her dress. As she put her arms around his neck again, he cleared his throat.
"Snowflake… I think you do know what to do," Jack said carefully. "Deep down. I mean."
Knowing what you WANT to do isn't the same as knowing what you SHOULD do, Elsa thought miserably.
Not responding, Elsa felt Jack give her hip another little squeeze. She looked back into his eyes.
"I'm pretty sure that you know what the right decision is, here," Jack repeated, this time a little louder as he started to move his hand up and down her hip again. "You could try listening to your heart on this one."
"My heart is stupid."
Jack opened his mouth, but then quickly snapped it shut, deciding against the retort. Glancing away, he pulled in his breath.
"I don't think it's as stupid as you believe," he countered.
Elsa shyly pulled her free hand back into her lap, contemplating the statement. As she leaned into his chest, resting her head on his shoulder, Jack took his own free hand and placed it on top of hers. Turning it over, she watched as he interlaced their fingers, a sparkle of ice particles bursting out into the air and making her heart swell.
Elsa felt her shoulders relax as Jack twisted his palm against hers again, making another little sparkle of ice shoot out from between their fingers. As the feeling of peace swept through her, she sighed.
"Thank you," Elsa whispered.
Jack leaned his head away. "Thank you?" he asked with a laugh, "For what?"
"You—didn't you—?"
Lost for words, Elsa pulled her hand from his and swept it through the air, a flurry of snowflakes flying out from behind it as she did so. Staring at the ice crystals hovering over her palm as she turned it upwards, holding the snowflakes, the Fifth Guardian's eyes suddenly lit up with comprehension.
"Nope," he told her. "I haven't used any magic on you."
Her eyes widened. "None at all?"
Jack shook his head.
Elsa closed her hand, the snowflakes falling down from the air to land silently on her lap. Letting out a tiny laugh of disbelief, she clasped her hands behind his neck again, feeling a bit of his soft hair as it brushed up against her skin.
"This is just so nice," she admitted.
I wish it could be like this all the time.
Jack shifted, raising his eyebrows.
"Maybe—your heart is trying to tell you something?" he offered hopefully.
Elsa nodded, flicking away a bit of moisture that was starting to gather on her bottom eyelid. She was not going to cry.
She was NOT going to cry.
The joy and relief rushing through her again, the Snow Queen embraced him, burying her face in his shoulder. Which was a surprisingly nice-feeling shoulder.
"I'm so lucky to have you," she whispered, trying to not let her voice break in the emotion. "But I already knew that."
Jack laughed good-naturedly, rubbing his hand over her waist and pulling her closer. "I feel the same way about—"
"—You are the sweetest friend in the world."
Jack stopped, his hand pausing on her waist. A moment later, Elsa felt him shift his legs, and sigh.
"You know," Jack muttered, "For a moment there, I almost thought that—"
He was cut off as Elsa suddenly stopped squeezing him, grasping the side of his face and placing a solid, fervent kiss on his cheek.
Jack froze, his eyes bulging with confusion and shock. Elsa immediately felt a jolt of panic catch in her throat.
"I'm sorry!" she stammered, her face going pale as she started to reach for his again, "I thought that—um, I got some lipstick on—"
Jack caught her hand, stopping it a two inches before she could rub off the sparkly crimson smeared across his skin. "But I thought you—I thought you said you didn't want to kiss again?"
"Well, not on the mouth."
His eyebrows lifted. "So… like," he clarified, "On the face is fine?"
"Oh, yes. I'm fine with that."
As he pulled her closer on his lap, Elsa watched Jack's face crack into a grin.
"Okay," he said.
Before she knew what was happening, Jack Frost then suddenly pushed back her hair and kissed her on the cheek, his freezing lips pressing into her skin just above her jawbone.
Pulling back from her, he looked up into her eyes, his own eager and playful.
"Like that?" Jack asked. "That's okay? You're comfortable with that?"
Elsa nodded, biting her lip. Jack's grin widened, and he pulled her in tighter, kissing her on the cheek, again, and again.
After he suddenly kissed the end of her nose, then giving it a quick nip, Elsa let out a giggle of shock in spite of herself. Clapping a hand over it, she leaned back away from him, laughing.
"The nose thing," she whispered, struggling to not burst out giggling again.
"I know, I know…"
Jack blushed, still beaming with delight as he stared up into her eyes. After a moment, he raised his eyebrows.
"I nose," he corrected.
Elsa shoved him.
Jack threw back his head and laughed, and Elsa quickly found herself laughing as well, her heart leaping as Jack ran his hand over her waist. Letting it settle onto her hip again, he then gave her a gentle squeeze, looking up to her dress.
His gaze snagged on the top of her bodice for a moment, as if transfixed by the shimmering ice crystals on its edge. Closing his eyes, Jack then jolted and looked away, opening them again only to determinately stare down at the carpet beyond where she sat. As he took his hand off of her hip, pushing his fingers through his hair, he laughed nervously.
"What?" Elsa asked.
Jack shook his head. "Nothing."
Biting the edge of his lip, he pulled his hand to the back of his head, starting to rub his neck as he blushed. Elsa's heart leapt into her throat.
"What?" she stammered anxiously, "What is it? What's so funny?"
"I—"
Jack stopped rubbing his neck, letting out another nervous laugh. Reaching back to her hip again and pulling her up another inch onto his lap, he then looked up into her eyes.
"So," Jack started again hesitantly, playing with the fabric on the side of her skirt, "Uh—so have you thought about it more than once, or—"
"— JACK!"
"Sorry! Sorry."
.
.
Since the awkward confession, Elsa couldn't help but notice—with some degree of both mortification and relief—that the Youngest Guardian's mood had brightened considerably.
After they had gone back to their separate sides of the table, resuming their research (Elsa was up to four direct references to child abuse while Jack had currently listed fifteen, in great part due to the fact that the Guardian's definition of abuse was much wider in scope than her own), Elsa had practically jumped out of her skin when Jack's book suddenly ice-blasted to her side, leaving a trail of frost in its wake. Jack had picked up his staff and leapt into the air, flying over the table to join her, and had just started to whip up an ice-chair into existence when Elsa had stopped him, suggesting a piano bench instead. He had wholeheartedly agreed with this idea. Within a minute, his arm had slid around her waist once again, pulling her body up against his own. With it—that strange feeling of peace, and calm, that Elsa was starting to get used to, with Jack's presence. While he was definitely touching her again, Elsa couldn't help but notice that Jack was distinctly asking her for permission every single time, which was new and actually very comforting. She'd had no idea how she could have thought he would ever use her, or anyone. Jack Frost was apparently the sweetest guy in the world. After she'd calmed down enough to want to get back to work, he had EVEN offered that she could continue sit on his lap again while she read, if—you know—if, uh, if she found it more comfortable. To this, Elsa had laughed, pointing out that Jack wouldn't be able to see, with her blocking the view. He'd told her that his view would be perfect. She had yet to analyze what he could have meant by that, but she intended to do so when she had the time.
Which she did not (yet), because two hours of work later, Jack had decided that it was time for them to take another break. So now, sitting across from each other at the table once again, they were involved in a different sort of challenge altogether.
One involving—of course—ice.
"It's gonna break."
"No, it's not."
"Yeah, it is," Jack chuckled, "You're making it too heavy on the outsides. It's about to collapse."
"No, it isn't," Elsa insisted, her eyes narrowing in concentration as the long line of frost swirled slowly off her fingertips into the air, "I—it's—!"
Her voice trailed off into a groan as a spine on enormous, multi-sided snowflake floating between them broke, swinging downwards and crashing into the center of the structure. Thrown off-balance, the rest of the snowflake toppled and dropped violently onto its side in the air, disintegrating into a shimmering mist of ice particles.
Sighing in defeat, Elsa collapsed back into her chair, picking up a pebble from the open bag and tossing it into Jack's bowl. It fell onto the pile with a tiny clonk, and she leaned her chin onto her fist, looking at her own empty bowl on the table.
"Alright. You win," she sighed. "Again."
Jack grinned, picking up the pebble and eying it. "So… I believe that brings the score to… twenty-seven, zero?"
"You tell me."
The Fifth Spirit bit her lip, feeling blood rushing to her face as she stared down into her bowl. After a few moments, Jack sat back in his chair, letting out his breath.
"You're upset," he sighed.
"I knew I'd probably lose to you," Elsa admitted sheepishly. "I just didn't think I was this bad."
"Right. How long have you been in control of your powers?"
She shifted uncomfortably in her seat.
"Since three summers ago," Elsa mumbled.
Jack Frost leaned over the table, raising his eyebrows.
"Three. Hundred. YEARS," he whispered, a sly little smile twitching out of the side of his mouth. "I'm better than you, Snowflake."
She looked up shyly, a tiny, embarrassed smile tugging at her mouth as well.
"Not at everything," she breathed.
"OH-kay," he countered, "Just because I don't make talking snowmen, and sparkly ice dresses, and…"
His voice trailed off. Picking up a pebble from his pile, the Fifth Spirit saw Jack's eyes flicker down to her gown, lingering for a long moment.
Elsa's face turned beet red.
Suddenly realizing what he was doing, Jack jolted and looked back up, still absent-mindedly rubbing the pebble in-between his fingers. Dropping it with a soft clack onto the pile again, he then nodded, looking down to the tabletop and clearing his throat.
"Sorry," Jack mumbled.
"Thank you."
He bit his lip, blushing a bit himself.
"It's—it's funny, though," the Fifth Guardian started again, letting out a self-conscious laugh and changing the subject with a shrug, "It's a good thing that we're betting with pebbles, because otherwise, I think that I'd own half of Arendelle by now."
Elsa's face broke into a grin, relaxing again. "I'm going to win those back."
"Uh-huh. Sure," Jack chuckled. "You know, though… we don't have to tell anybody the score."
She scoffed. "Like you wouldn't bring this up again?"
"We could agree to alter the record a bit."
"On what terms?"
Jack's eyes slid thoughtfully upwards. After a few moments, he looked back down, picking up two of the pebbles from his dish. Staring at them, a mischievous spark twinkled in his eyes.
"Nah," he decided, shaking his head and dropping them into the dish again with a soft clack. "Don't worry about it."
"What?"
He shook his head harder.
"What?" Elsa demanded again with a laugh. "What terms?"
Jack shrugged, looking down to his dish of pebbles. The sly little grin beginning to tug at the edge of his mouth, he then raised his eyebrows as he picked two up off of the top, rubbing them against each other and eying them with interest.
"I wonder how many of these would be worth a kiss…" Jack mused.
"ExCUSE me?" Elsa laughed breathlessly, "We're betting kisses now?"
"No, no. Just you."
Jack grinned, tossing the pebbles into his dish. All of a sudden, his smile vanished.
"Unless you don't want to," he stammered. "I mean—I was just joking; I didn't—"
"—No, I think I need to hear this argument."
Jack's eyes widened. As he stared at her in shock, Elsa placed her elbows on the table, interlacing her fingers and resting her chin upon them.
"Well—for the sake of intellectual argument, I'd like to hear your reasoning," she said, suddenly feeling confident. "It sounds like a good debate."
Jack sat up a little straighter, visibly trying to decide whether or not she was being serious. The statement hanging on the air, the Snow Queen felt her confidence beginning to weaken.
"Debates—can be fun?" Elsa tried again helplessly.
Jack's eyes lit up, the snowflake markings seeming to become even more prominent against the fierce blue of his irises. Over the next few moments, a slow smile started to creep across his face.
"Okay," Jack grinned.
Elsa bit down on the edge of her lip in anticipation.
"So…" he prompted.
"So," Elsa repeated, raising her eyebrows and regally placing her hands on the table before her, "To recap: You're telling me that you'd agree that I would win—if I agreed to kiss you?"
"What? No!" Jack retorted, picking up a pebble from his bowl again and tossing it to himself. "I'd still win."
"WHAT?!"
He smiled slyly, his eyebrow twitching as he looked up into her eyes again. "We'd just pretend that I didn't destroy you," he laughed.
She scoffed, her heart leaping. "You're telling me that I should kiss you, in exchange for still not winning?!"
"I'm the Spirit of Winter, Snowflake," he countered. "I have a reputation to keep up."
She rolled her eyes, pointing to herself. "Uh—Snow Queen?"
"Not the same." Jack shifted in his seat, sighing dramatically as he rolled the pebble between his fingers. "And, this offer might not last forever. It'd be a shame. You know—turning down a shot at losing gracefully."
He flicked the pebble onto his pile again.
After a few moments, feeling Jack's teasing gaze on her face, Elsa looked down to her own empty bowl. Drawing herself up, a hint of a smirk on her lips, she then raised her eyebrows.
"Tell you what," Elsa offered carefully, "If you can win a pebble for every year older than me you are, then—"
"—You had to bring up the AGE thing!"
His jaw fell open in shock, staring at her in shock as she laughed, covering her mouth with her hand. After a few moments, Jack rolled his eyes, sitting back in his chair with a grin.
"So, you're ready to go again?"
"Again?" Elsa exclaimed, "Are you serious? You've already beaten me twenty-seven times in a row—"
"—And you just said that if I can beat you two hundred and ninety-eight times, I get a kiss."
"Wait, what?! I thought we were debating!"
"Yeah. And I just accepted your terms."
Elsa's eyes bulged. Jack smirked, raising a single eyebrow as he swept his hand through the air, a large, blank, multi-facetted snowflake skeleton materializing out of the air between them.
"Only two hundred and seventy-one more pebbles to go," he sang softly.
Caught completely off guard, Elsa stared at him in shock. After a few moments, she shifted in her seat, and he leaned a few inches closer to her from across the table, flirtatiously peering up through his eyelashes.
"Whaaaat?" he teased. "You think I can do it?"
"I—"
"—I think you're scared," Jack chuckled.
Elsa pressed her lips together, staring at the slowly turning snowflake skeleton indecisively. Then, setting her jaw, she slapped her hands down onto the arms of her chair, determinately straightening up and scooting forward to the table.
You know what?
"Yes. Again," she said forcefully. "I am going to take every one of those pebbles BACK, and then I'm going to beat you for every single time after that!"
"You think so, huh?"
"Don't push your luck, Frost!"
"You're gonna have to kissssssss meeeeee."
"I beg to differ!"
"Game on, ma'am."
"Why, you—!"
Elsa's voice trailed off as she watched Jack shake his head, pushing back his chair and getting onto his feet. Calmly walking around the table to where she was sitting, he then leaned back against its edge, drumming his fingers on the underside of the wood and looking to her smugly.
"You might as well just do it now," Jack chuckled.
Elsa's heart leapt into her throat.
Hiding it, she let out a nervous laugh, abruptly standing up from her chair and taking a step back from him. "Do it now?" she scoffed, "Why on earth would I give up now? We've got a competition to finish."
"Because I know you," he laughed, pushing himself away from the table and following her. "And I know that you make decisions based. Off. Logic."
She raised her eyebrows. "So, now it's logical for me to go ahead and kiss you?"
"Pretty much."
"Care to explain your reasoning?"
She crossed her arms over her chest, drawing herself up as Jack stopped in front of her. He stuck his hands into the stomach pocket on his shirt.
"Point number one," he began matter-of-factly. "I've already beaten you twenty-seven times. And I have about two hundred and ninety-seven years of experience on you, with snowflake design. So, it's statistically unlikely that you'll beat me."
Elsa scoffed. "Cynical argument."
"Point number two: You want to kiss me."
"ExCUSE me?!" she jolted.
He shrugged, sticking his hands into his front pocket and rocking back onto his heels. "You wouldn't have made the offer, if you weren't willing to pay up."
To this, Elsa's eyebrows lifted, her heart whumping again in her chest as he grinned. Well.
She couldn't argue with that.
Drawing herself up, she uncrossed her arms.
"What's point number three?" Elsa asked hesitantly.
Biting the edge of his lip, Jack smiled flirtatiously, peering into her face through his eyelashes. Before she could respond, he then stepped forward, picking up one of her hands and leaning in very close to her face as he interlaced his fingers with hers.
Elsa's breath caught as Jack then reached up, his cold hand brushing against her skin as he gently pushed back a strand of her hair.
"Je peux parler en Français," he whispered.
She froze.
Visibly restraining from laughter at her expression, Jack raised his eyebrows, a little smirk on the edge of his lips as he gazed into her eyes. Feeling blood rushing to her face, Elsa felt her heart skip another beat as—
Ca-CHUNK!
The knob suddenly twisting to the side, the door into the hallway swung open. Jack startled, dropping Elsa's hand and leaping away from her in terror. Seeing that it wasn't Kristoff, he let out his breath as the enormously pregnant Queen Anna lurched forward into the room.
"Anna!" Elsa gasped, picking up the edge of her skirt and running towards her, "Are you okay? What's going on?"
Thoroughly winded, Anna bent over, placing her hands on her thighs and struggling to catch her breath. Without looking up, she pointed an accusing finger in Jack's direction.
"YOU," she gasped, "Are VERY HARD TO TRACK DOWN."
Elsa came to a stop beside her sister, glancing back to him. The Spirt of Winter, who hadn't moved, looked at Anna with suspicious fear.
"Okay?" he quavered.
"And VERY HARD TO CATCH."
To this, the edge of Jack's mouth started to twitch into a smile. Restraining from a smile herself, Elsa looked back to Anna, realizing for the first time that she had something in her opposite hand.
"Okay," Jack said, walking towards them.
"AND," Anna finished dramatically, straightening up and glaring at him, "That is only PART of why YOU AND I will be having WORDS."
Jack stopped walking. His face went pale. "Uh—"
"—But not right now."
Nodding, the pregnant queen turned back to her sister. "Sorry to interrupt—whatever was going on in here," she said, raising an eyebrow at Jack's lipstick-smeared cheek. "But this is really important."
She held out a small pile of envelopes, and Elsa took them. "You—came past the guard to bring me my mail?" she asked, a wave of confusion sweeping over her face.
Anna shrugged. "Well, I figured I'd just bring the pile, but—"
"—Wait. This one is from Mr. Hauge."
"Elsa—"
Her heart plummeting to her stomach, Elsa took the pile and ran back to the table, dropping the mail on the edge. Without sitting down, she frantically tore open the envelope, her mind racing.
As her eyes fell onto the writing, her mouth fell open.
"This—this is a resignation letter," Elsa gasped. "Mr. Hauge! He—he's going ahead and taking his retirement! He's resigning from the Council!"
Anna's eyes bulged. "What?" she gasped.
Both women looked to Jack in disbelief, who was suddenly standing up a little straighter.
"Well," Jack shrugged, smirking a bit, "If the guy is trying to hold you two back from ruling your kingdom, then—"
"—And THIS one is from MR. ELLINGBOE!" Elsa squealed, ripping open another letter as Anna stumbled up to her, snatching the first and looking over it in shock, "It's—it's the same thing! He's RESIGNING! TWO COUNCILMEN ARE RESIGNING!"
Anna's eyes widened even further, her mouth falling open. Her heart pounding, Elsa let out a sharp, breathy laugh of disbelief, spinning around and looking to Jack. He gave her a little shrug, nodding and opening his mouth to say something again just as Queen Elsa squealed and leapt into his arms, throwing her own around his neck.
"Thank you!" she sobbed, "THANK you, Jack! This is—this is amazing!"
You know what? I DO want to kiss you, she thought, squeezing him as hard as she could, tears of joy coming to her eyes. Even with Anna here! I could TOTALLY kiss you right now!
"Jack… you did this?" Queen Anna's voice breathed from somewhere behind her, "The Council—you're responsible for—?"
Jack laughed nervously, shifting as Elsa squeezed him even harder, giggling into her shoulder.
"Elsa told me that they were—uh," he said over her shoulder, "Getting in your way, and—"
He was abruptly cut off as Anna stumbled up and threw her arms around him as well, her enormous stomach pressing into their sides and nearly knocking them off-balance as she joined the hug, embracing them both.
"Thank you," Queen Anna choked, "I can't—I don't even know what to say."
The Spirit of Winter laughed nervously again, squashed between the sisters. "It's not that big a deal."
"It's a HUGE deal," Elsa countered.
Anna nodded. "This changes everything," she agreed, "And if two of them are now gone—that would ALREADY make things way easier, for Arendelle. And I—do I want to know how this happened?"
Elsa pulled back slightly to look into Jack's face. His lips twisted to the side. "Mmm—"
"—Probably not," Elsa clarified.
Anna smirked, suppressing a laugh as she dropped her arms and took a step back. Elsa giggled quietly, beginning to pull her arms down from around Jack's neck, but letting her hands linger on the Guardian's shoulders. Suddenly, the Fifth Spirit realized that—again—she could feel the outline of Jack's lean muscles through his shirt. Absent-mindedly, she shifted her hands an inch, tracing her fingers along the icy patterns as the amazing chill of his skin leaked through the fabric to her hands.
Her eyes hazy, Elsa looked up into his gaze. Glancing to her hands—and then back up into her eyes—Jack's left eyebrow twitched upwards.
"Ma'am?" he breathed.
Elsa jolted and yanked her hands back, blushing furiously.
HE FEELS NICE, OKAY?
"Elsa," Queen Anna stammered awkwardly, the moment broken, "I'm sorry to break up the—that's not why I'm here. There's more."
"More?" Elsa asked, "What do you mean? There are only two letters from Councilmen in there. Everything else looked—well, diplomatic, and—I should be able to get back to that later—I think."
"It's the RSVP!" Anna exclaimed, her eyes wide as she stumbled up to the mail pile and shuffled through it, finally producing a tiny gold envelope. "And she's brought her husband, too! It—their boat was way faster than expected, for some reason. They weren't set to arrive for a few more days, but—well, their messenger beat them by twenty minutes. They're in the port!"
"Who's in the port?" Elsa demanded, "Is this for the ball?"
"Yes! And they're here—now! They'll be in the throne room in five minutes!"
"Anna, who's here?"
Without another word, the pregnant young queen handed her sister the delicate, golden envelope, covered in swirling patterns and warm to the touch. Flipping it over, Queen Elsa's breath caught as she saw their sister kingdom's symbol, an iconic image of a sun, pressed into a circle of lavender sealing wax.
Rapunzel.