Jack wandered through the world without a care. He flitted from place to place wherever the snow called him. It was the way he lived, alone with a wintery world of beauty. He saw his snowstorms in a light that no one seemed to share. And yet he managed to smile still. He had to smile, it was what the Man in the Moon wanted from him, and if he pleased him, then maybe they would speak again. That was the hope that Jack held dearly for some time.
Arindale was a country of summer. It had about a month of snow each year and the rest of the year was at worst briskly cool and at best clear skies and blooming flowers. Over the years Jack had watched this kingdom build itself up from a few houses to the land it was now. He had watched a monarchy rise to the just king and queen it had now and watched the nursery on a particularly cold day when a little girl with almost white hair moved away from the girl with strawberry blond hair. It wasn't that he was extremely interested in Arindale, more that he had noticed the white of the girls hair, almost as white as his. It would be years before he thought of her again, but he never forgot her.
The day that his memory of her resurfaced was on a brisk winters day. He had been having fun freezing people's door's shut so that they would later have to climb out of their window when he saw a teenage girl with white hair running through the town and into the woods. What caught his attention weren't her big blue eyes but the way the snow reacted to her. He felt it pulsing from her and realized that she was making her own snow. Well that was certainly different. He decided to follow her, it wasn't like she could see him, and he was curious about the Princess and the snow. She veered towards the woods, running deeper into the winter and away from her problems. When she was out of breath and far away she flopped into the snow and began making a snow angle. She laughed to herself as she removed the gloves that covered her hands and, much to Jack's surprise, began making a snowball out of thin air! This startled Jack so much that he fell out of the tree he had been sitting on and landed in front of the girl. She screamed, threw her snowball at him, turned, and began to run. Jack sat up bewildered by her actions.
"You can see me?" He called after her. This gave her pause. She turned to him with a look of 'yah you crazy stalker' which was oddly comforting to Jack. "It's just, well most people can't see me… I don't know why but they can't."
"Okay well your crazy, pleas don't follow me." She said with a look of concern as she slowly backed away.
"Wait! No!" Jack was frantic. He didn't know why she could see him all he knew was that he had to keep her there so that she wouldn't forget him. "I can do it too!" He blurted out.
"Do what?" She asked suspiciously.
"This." Jack used his staff to create a snowball. He watched as the girl's eyes grew wide.
"It looks different than mine…" She said hesitantly, and then added, "The magic, I mean. The way yours works looks… different…" She stepped forward slightly to show him what she meant. He watched in aw as her hands seemed to pull the moister out of the air and frost danced around her fingers and the snow grew. Her hands worked around the snow, growing it, expanding it, until she had a reasonably sized snowball. She was right, it did look different. He inched closer trying to get a good look at it.
"That's amazing." He breathed. She smiled, and was she blushing?
"That's what my sister used to think."
"Used to?"
"When we were kids… before she … forgot…"
"I understand what you mean, about forgetting." She looked away. "Can I ask you something?" She nodded. "Why are you running away?"
"It's complicated…"
"Who am I going to tell? Also, you are the first person I have talked to since the Easter bunny so I am up for some long conversations."
"Okay… I still think your crazy… but whatever." She inhaled deeply before beginning. "When I was younger my sister and I were really close. She loved what I could do too, like she wasn't afraid like my parents were. We used to sneak away and build snowmen in the ballroom… it was so fun. Anyway one day it went wrong. I accidently slipped on my ice and froze her head on accident. We took her to the trolls and they had to remove memories of magic. Then my parents separated us so that I could learn to control my powers but I can't and Anna doesn't understand. I just thought maybe I should leave because I might end up hurting them and I don't want to do that."
"So you thought you would hurt them by running away." Jack said bluntly.
"Would you rather I accidently turn my family into popsicles? Or maybe give them frostbite so bad that there fingers fall off? Oh or I know, maybe I could put ice in their hearts and let them turn into ice statues. Yah that seems like a much better alternative!" She was distraught.
"Well I mean if you, I don't know, learned to control your powers, then maybe you wouldn't have to choose."
"I tried that and it didn't work."
"Okay how did you try? By hiding it? You, what, put on gloves, long sleeves, and locked yourself away? That's not control that's hiding."
"Hey! It's not like my parents had anything to go on, they are doing the best they can with no idea of how to handle it."
"Okay but what if you had a trainer? Like someone who has had ice powers and had control over them for ages?" Jack didn't know what had possessed him to say that. Maybe he just wanted to be seen and he couldn't let that slip through his fingers.
"Yah but I still think you are insane." She said in a way that made Jack smile.
"I am, but I also have control."
"I don't even know your name."
"And I don't know yours."
"I asked first."
"Fine. I'm Jack Frost." The girl giggled.
"Okay well that name isn't obvious at all." He rolled his eyes at her comment.
"Your turn." He prompted.
"Elsa."
"Okay Elsa, here's the deal. I will come back here every day for the next week. I will be here from sunrise until sunset. If you change your mind and want me to train you, I will be here. But if you don't come within the week I will leave and let you be." She smiled and nodded. "But right now I think you should get back before you are missed to sorely and think about my offer." Elsa stood up, sighing as if it physically pained her. Jack smiled and watched as she tugged off towards the castle.
