A/N: I plead the 5th! *defends* I'm a huge fan of Jelsa. For some strange reason, my news feed has been flooded with Jelsa stuff and everything for the past few weeks so I just had to get it out of my mind - er, system. Not to worry though, I AM working on The Scent of Jasmine (Prince of Tennis) still. I finally know where I want to go with the second chapter..

Aaanyway, hope you enjoy this little Jelsa ficlet. Cheers!

Disclaimer: I don't own these characters, blah, blah, blah.

A Simple Meeting

It was only supposed to be a meeting. But who was to know that the Winter Spirit would fall for a mere mortal, and she, in turn, fall in love with him? Jelsa.

"I'm Jack Frost," The white-haired male introduced himself with a friendly, disarming grin – offering a hand.

I blinked, momentarily taken off-guard. While some time had passed since the Freeze and Arendelle had accepted my powers, there were still others who were reluctant and wary, not that I blamed them in the least. Especially the Duke of Weselton.

"Elsa," I said quietly and lightly shook his hand. It would be remiss of me not to. Not to mention the fact that I was a queen and I had an image to maintain.

He seemed to be a fairly laid-back person, casually attired in an odd-looking garment that seemed to be a cross between a sweater and a hood and a pair of slacks.

Seeming to notice my distraction, unusual blue eyes followed my gaze to his top. An amused expression crossed his face as he tugged at the collar.

"It's a hoodie," He explained with a chuckle.

I blushed, mortified at being caught and silently thanked the Heavens that Anna wasn't around to see me at this very moment.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to - "

"It's fine," Jack said, dismissing it with a wave of his hand as his eyes were alit with laughter. "So, you're the queen of Arendelle, right? Can I see your powers?" He asked, almost pleadingly.

"How did…" I trailed off for a moment before sighing. Of course; it was not surprising that news of both I and my powers had spread. It would have been difficult, or near impossible, to conceal the knowledge of an entirely frozen kingdom after all.

But this was the first time seeing someone reacting like, well, this. Jack seemed, almost…different. There was an air of anticipation from him, but not a tense one. It was relaxed, and light.

Without thinking, I conjured up a cloak of ice that was somewhat similar in terms of design to my ice dress, but in a darker hue.

"Wow. That's…" Jack poked at the cloak, an expression of surprise and amazement on his face. He seemed fascinated with it as he curiously lifted up the hem and examined it closely.

It was utterly amusing.

"You can have it."

The words tumbled out unexpectedly from my mouth.

Jack blinked.

"Are you sure?"

I nodded, handing the ice cloak over to him.

"Well, who am I to refuse a gift from a queen?" Jack said in playful humour as he took it from me.

I rolled my eyes at his comment but a smile tugged on my lips.

"So, what's it like? Being a ruler and all?" He inquired curiously.

"Well…"

We ended up spending the day together. Jack was easy to talk to, and an excellent listener as I admitted that sometimes I wish could be a normal girl without royal duties ("Yeah, a normal, magical girl," he teased, making me laugh) and everything else ("Wait, wait. So you can actually make an ice-castle? And you were the one behind Olaf? The snow midget?" resulting in me whacking him on the arm, "Olaf is not a snow midget.") – it was fun.

The time flew by, and soon it was dark.

"It's that late already?" I blinked as I realized that it was evening. Anna must have been worried by now.

"I should get back…" My words trailed off in disappointment as I realized that I had to go home. I didn't know if I would see Jack again.

Jack seemed to have picked up on my mood as he swept into an exaggerated bow that made me stifle a giggle, "If I may escort you, my lady?" His eyes were alit with playful mischief.

"You may," I nodded in agreement, playing along.

The walk back home was filled with more light-hearted banter and laughter as Jack told me about some pranks he played on people when he was younger.

He stopped when we neared the castle.

"Well, we're here. I'll see you around, Elsa." Jack smiled.

"The same to you. Take care of yourself, Jack," I returned with a smile of my own. "I had fun today. Thank you."

The corners of his lips lifted as his smile widened.

"You're welcome."

A year passed, and both of us got to know each other better. It was over this time as I gradually began to develop feelings for him. Jack held a genuine quality about him that was refreshing, and he was a good person despite his penchant for mischief and love for pranks and fun. He truly enjoyed life and didn't let anything daunt him.

He had also met Anna, Kristoff and the rest of the castle household. After a lot of pleading from Anna, I had reluctantly given into inviting him over two months after our first meeting. Her puppy-dog eyes should be classified as a weapon…

Long story short was, everyone liked Jack and, since then, he became a frequent visitor. He was like an elder brother to Anna, a mischievous younger brother to Kristoff, Sven's closest friend (besides Kristoff – how he did that was a mystery), an idol to Olaf (Heavens help us) and generally good company to everyone else.

"Hey, Elsa!" Jack's familiar voice snapped me out of my thoughts and I looked around, finally spotting him outside my window.

What on earth…

I opened the window to let him in.

"Hello, Jack," I greeted, a smile making its way onto my face.

"Come on, I want to show you something," He said, tugging on my hand. Curious, I agreed and followed him as he pulled me along.

A few minutes later, we stopped in front of a row of hedges.

"Close your eyes."

I did so, knowing that he wouldn't show me anything unless I did.

I felt him carefully leading me so that I didn't bump into anything, and was pretty sure that I was blushing at the contact.

"Now open them."

His voice was soft – softer than usual and I opened my eyes to let out a gasp.

It was a small, stunning evergreen glade lined with lush grass and dotted with vibrant starbursts of flowers. The glade was also surrounded by an abundance of colorful plants. A stone bench sat beneath a beautifully large tree of wisteria. With the moonlight, everything seemed as if they were from a fairytale.

"Jack, I…"

"Gertrude told me about this place. There's more, of course, but I found this one to be the best," Jack shrugged, leading me over to the bench. Both of us sat down. It was clear that Jack wanted to say something, but was struggling to say it. I waited, letting him gather his thoughts.

He sighed.

"Elsa, I'm going to have to leave soon."

My eyes widened in shock, and I could feel my heart thumping furiously in my chest.

"W-what? What do you mean? Can't you stay?"

A bittersweet smile crept over his face.

"I can't. I'm a Spirit, Elsa. More specifically, the Spirit of Winter. I'm not supposed to be here, much less be seen."

"Impossible. You can't be a Spirit. People can see you. I can see you..!" I started shaking my head in disbelief.

"That's because of Pabbie and his clan. Their magic allowed it. But it's only temporary."

"The spell was to only last for a month. And then after that, I should have already left. But I never expected to meet you. And over time..."

"I fell in love with you."

Tears spilled out from my eyes at his admission.

"So everytime the spell expired, I went to Pabbie to reinforce it. Though I could have done without the - " Cutting himself off as he realized he had said too much.

"The what?"

Jack hesitated before reluctantly speaking, "The pain. Everytime the spell is reinforced, the pain increases. But just a bit, of course." He hastily said.

"You idiot..!" I half-heartedly moved to hit his chest with trembling fists, but Jack caught them easily with his own hands.

"I didn't know if you felt the same way or not, so I kept quiet about it. But I didn't want to leave without telling you."

"Pabbie…he can't reinforce the spell anymore. If he does, one more time...I will either cease to be or permanently lose all of my memories."

"No…" Feeling emotionally drained, I choked out a sob as he pulled me into a hug. Why? Why did this have to happen? Just I finally found someone who loved and accepted me for who I am, and actually returned the feelings…why?

"I love you, Elsa," Jack's arms around me tightened.

The words that I had been holding back for so long, finally escaped.

"I love you too, Jack."

Blue eyes widened in shock, but he quickly recovered. Brushing a stray strand of platinum hair to the side, he kissed me – a kiss that I returned, as I felt my heart falling into a million pieces.

==XXX==

I awoke. Had it all been a dream? Desperately wishing it was so, I opened my eyes to see my hope crushed. It hadn't been a dream. I was in the glade.

Feeling an unfamiliar weight, I looked down to see a small parcel on my lap. As I unwrapped the parcel, something fell onto my palm. Tears started welling up behind my eyes.

It was an intricate snowflake pendant made of ice.

With shaking fingers, I lifted it and caught sight of the message behind.

For my Lady Elsa

With love,

Jack