"Isn't she gorgeous?" the Queen gushed to her husband, the king of Arendelle. The King looked onto his newborn child—a beautiful baby girl with big, blue eyes and a layer of red fuzz capping her fist-sized head. He smiled.
"She is indeed very beautiful. She will make a great princess, yes?" He looked up at his wife, who had eyes only for the child, Anna.
"Definitely," the Queen replied, parting her lips to reveal her snow-white teeth in a grin. The swaddled girl fidgeted in the Queen's arms and made a contented noise.
They looked a perfect family: A mother looking lovingly upon her child, who smiles toothlessly, and a father who sets one hand gently on his wife's shoulder and the other under his baby girl. Everything was right.
Princess Elsa of Arendelle sat in the corner of the room, trying to suppress the raging ice storm inside of her. All her parents ever talked about nowadays was Anna. Anna is gorgeous. Anna will be an amazing person. Elsa was sick of it.
I'm important too! the three-year-old thought angrily. I'm older, so I'll be queen. Then you'll have to pay attention to me!
However hard she tried, she couldn't keep the scowl off her pale face or the small bits of ice now littering the carpet beneath her fingers. She knew she couldn't hold on much longer.
She rose awkwardly to her feet. She wasn't yet used to fast movement, but she still slipped out of the ballroom and ran as fast as her stubby legs could carry her, stumbling every few steps and panting all the way through the castle, leaving a small snowflake-shaped piece of ice behind her with every step.
She threw open the back door of the castle and paused a moment or so to catch her breath before sprinting out into the biting cold of winter. Her small feet pounded onto the cobblestones, then crushed the snowflakes resting on the ground into grey piles of dirt and snow, and finally hit the ice of the fjord with such force that hairline fractures appeared in the frozen water but the ice still stayed in one piece.
Elsa reached the other side of the frozen bay and jumped up onto the snow beds of the opposite shore, leaving a faint blue chill in her wake. As she continued on her faulty way, she kicked up chunks of snow that floated a bit longer in the air than was natural before settling back onto the snow beds.
Almost, Elsa thought. Almost there.
She could see the edge of the woods only a few yards in front of her, and . . . . yes! She was in the trees! Under the cover of the dense evergreens. Here she could find release.
She slowed to a light jog until she found a clearing where she could settle for a while. She finally came to a break in the trees. She sat down in the middle of the clearing with her arms out, closed her eyes, and, with a deep breath, let the magic begin.
Her palms glowed blue, then brightened to a dazzling white, and suddenly, icicles were shooting from her hands. Impossibly long icicles, jagged and unfinished, gracefully arching in the bare winter sun and making contact with a tree and exploding into millions of snow flurries that floated towards the ground carelessly, many landing in Elsa's hair and on her shoulders, nose, and cheeks—like cold, white freckles.
Meanwhile, high above the forest, a boy with white hair and a strangely shaped staff had found an air current that satisfied his needs. A glint had caught his eye—a glint that unmistakably belonged to ice. Jack Frost changed his position to swoop down and investigate.
Elsa had been too absorbed in the flow of cold energy surging through her to notice anything else—like, say, a barefoot teenager in a blue cloak landing silently a few yards in front of her. Or the tears of anger, loneliness, and the hurt of being ignored that were spilling from between her thick, black lashes accompanied by soft, high-pitched sobs issuing from her throat.
But Jack noticed her tears—hot at first, then freezing on her face, forming crystals on her cheeks. He took a tentative step towards her, but she seemed not to notice, so he continued through the snow until he was only a foot in front of her. He took one more step, the soft snow pushing up between his toes, and knelt down on one knee before the upset Elsa.
"Hey," he said softly. Elsa's head snapped up, and her eyelids parted to reveal big, scared blue eyes, much like her sister's. A breath visibly hitched in her chest, and she froze. "No, it's okay,;' Jack said, sensing her fear. "I won't hurt you."
Elsa didn't look convinced.
"Here," Jack said, raising his staff. "Let me show you something."
Elsa's curiosity was the only thing keeping her from bolting. What did this stranger want to show her?
He stretched out his arm so that the rough, wooden staff in his hand was pointing at one of the few trees that Elsa hadn't already frozen. The end of the staff flashed blue for only a second before emitting a ray of concentrated, glistening snow that hovered in the air before ricocheting off the bark of the tree trunk into the air above the clearing as light snow, leaving strange yet intriguing patterns of thin ice on the wood.
"Whoa," Elsa breathed, eyes reflecting the wonder she felt at how easily and gracefully he controlled his powers. I wanna do that! she thought.
Jack caught her quiet exclamation and turned to look at her gob smacked expression. He smiled, but not his usual mischievous grin—it was an amused and appreciative kind.
"See," Jack said, and she looked back at him. "We're alike, you and me. We both have powers. And I'm assuming you don't like to use them for bad."
She shook her head and held his gaze. Then it hit Jack.
She can hear me! And see me! He laughed out loud, then tried to be nonchalant by turning it into an obviously fake cough.
"So. . ." Jack started. He ravaged his mind for a question. "What's your name?" he settled on.
"Princess Elsa," she replied, sticking her thumb in her mouth.
Jack blinked in surprise. A princess? What was she doing out here in the forest? Then he saw the outline of the castle's towers just above the treetops, and it all made sense: the princess had run away. She was using her powers in a secluded clearing. Either no one knew about her powers or she couldn't control them. And judging by how she was crying earlier, she wasn't enjoying it.
"Hi," he said after his analyzation. "I'm Jack."
She pulled her thumb out of her mouth and waved at him.
"What're you doin' out here?" he asked, gesturing to the scenery.
"Ran away," Elsa answered, a look of anger and sadness overcoming her beautiful features.
"Why'd you do that?" Jack inquired with a slight frown.
"I got a sister," she said. "Yesterday. Mommy and Daddy only play with her now." The last sentence was spat out with as much venom as a three-year-old princess can muster.
"Oh." Jack, though he had always been alone (as far as he knew), thought he understood: Elsa didn't know that a newborn required a lot of attention, so she thought her parents wouldn't want to spend time with anyone but her sister. After all, a day that is drastically different from the one before it must be agonizingly long to a toddler. "I'm sure they still love you. They're your parents," he assured her, sincerely placing a hand on her shoulder.
It's so small, he thought. She's so small. She's too young to have to feel all this stuff. Being ignored is a feeling that should be reserved for older people. Like, say, a 100-year-old someone who doesn't know a thing about his past, and the only one who can help him is a certain celestial being who only ever told me four words! Those four words are nothing but my name! Man in the Moon, if you're listening to my thoughts right now, you better be glad I can't breathe in space, otherwise I'd be coming after you!
Jack's face had contorted into a grimace of pent-up rage and hurt, his mouth filled with a bitter taste.
Elsa didn't notice, because, once again, her vision had been impaired by tears. Jack was now just a pale-and-blue blob to her.
Jack rearranged his features back into a friendly face and put other hand under Elsa's chin, applying a slight pressure upwards to lift her face to his. She met his eyes tearfully.
"You think so?" she asked desperately.
Jack knew that even if she wasn't loved, he couldn't have said no to a lonely little girl this close to breaking down.
"Absolutely," he replied with a warm smile. Immediately, relief washed over Elsa's face, and she returned Jack's smile.
They sat in silence a while, Jack kneeling in front of Elsa who played with the hem of her long, blue dress.
"Hey," Jack said, struck with a sudden idea. Elsa looked up at the sound of his voice. "Wanna have an ice fight?"
"Yeah!" Elsa's eyes lit up as bright as the icicles she could produce. Jack helped her to her feet and made his way to the opposite side of the clearing.
"Start on 3, okay?" he called, and Elsa nodded.
"1 . . . 2 . . ."
"3!" Elsa yelled.
Jack sent a small jet of ice at a point just over Elsa's left shoulder. She easily dodged it, giggling, and sent a snowball at Jack. It made contact on his chest, and he pretended to look shocked as he pressed a hand to his 'wound'.
"Ah! I've been hit!" he dramatized. He playfully staggered back a few steps, then laughed it off. He raised his staff again and sent a string of relatively large snow flurries at Elsa's feet. She squealed and tried to jump over the white missiles, but she ended up tripping over her clumsy feet and landing in the snow with a soft "oomph".
Jack's eyes widened in shock, but he calmed back down when, after a moment, Elsa climbed awkwardly to her feet, giggled, and sent more snowballs his way.
It went on like this for about an hour: neither speaking, but both shooting frozen ammunition at each other in turn.
Finally, the exhausted pair collapsed next to each other in the fresh snow that had come of their previous battle. Their labored breaths rose in a mist above them. To any normal person, laying in a snow bed with no boots and cloak in this sort of weather was and insane idea. But Jack and Elsa were anything but normal. The cold never bothered either of them.
Elsa had loved the ice fight, but it had taken a lot out of her, and what she really needed was a nap. At home, in her bed. And despite her previous anger at her parents, she wanted nothing more than to be in their presence right now.
She sat up and rubbed her eyes sleepily. Jack righted himself in time to see Elsa yawn and her eyelids droop. He smiled. She'd been tuckered out by all this fun. Time to get the Princess home, he thought as he stood up and raised her in one arm while he held his staff in the other. She wrapped her arms around his neck and buried her face in his chest as he prepared for flight. He checked one last time on Elsa to make sure she was secure, then bent his legs and effortlessly climbed fifty feet in the air.
Jack called on the wind to carry him to the front of the castle and off they flew.
A few minutes later, Jack was hovering next to the tallest tower of the castle. He landed silently on the rooftop and began descending the tower. Being seen himself wasn't a problem—no one believed in him anyway—but he had to make sure no one saw the sleeping Princess Elsa apparently floating towards the ground unsupported. He paused about halfway down the tower to find a way to conceal her, but instead stumbled upon a window ledge dusted with frost.
He peeked in and saw a scene of chaos: The King, Queen, and a few others bustling about, the Queen in tears, and he could faintly hear shouts and a wailing sound he assumed was coming from the cradle in the corner. Looks like baby missed her sister, Jack thought and glanced down at the peacefully sleeping Elsa. Lucky girl.
Jack waited a minute or two, in which a lot of yelling and commotion took place in the room, before the King ordered everyone out, presumably to search for the missing Princess, leaving only the crying infant in the room. Wow, Jack thought. They must be really concerned about Elsa to leave their day-old child alone in a room with the door wide open.
He pushed on the window, and, with a little help from the wind, it opened. The warmth hit Jack like a pillow. He swung one leg through the window, then the other. He hung his staff on the corner of the window frame and wrapped his arm around Elsa so he wouldn't drop her.
He landed softly on the plush carpet and padded over to the baby crib holding the newest Princess. Jack looked down at the crying child. He assumed she was as pretty as her sister, but he couldn't tell for her face was twisted in her upset wailing.
He looked back at Elsa, still snuggling closely to his chest. He found a chair and, with one hand, dragged it next to the crib before nudging Elsa awake. Elsa's eyes fluttered open and she blinked up at Jack serenely.
"You're home," he whispered, and she tried to sit up, which was proving difficult. Jack gently set her down on the chair and said, "Here's your sister."
Elsa stood on her tiptoes and leaned over the edge of the crib.
"Hi Anna," Elsa said, and Anna immediately stopped crying and peered up at Elsa. Elsa took a deep breath. "I'm your older sister. Elsa."
Anna seemed to like Elsa's name. She smiled a toothless smile and giggled in an enchanting, baby way.
Elsa laughed too. She turned to thank Jack for bringing her home, but found nothing but an open window through which Jack had just exited.
"Jack?" Elsa called, but by that time, Jack was already soaring away from Arendelle, from his first believer, high as a cloud and fast as the wind current he had been riding just that morning.
"Jack!" Elsa called again, this time louder.
"Elsa?" a male voice answered from the hallway. Jack? Elsa thought. No. This voice is too deep. Elsa's shoulders drooped with disappointment. She had had a fun afternoon playing with Jack. She didn't want it to end.
She heard quick footsteps growing louder and louder until they finally stopped.
"Elsa!" a relieved voice cried. Elsa's head snapped up to see the flushed face and exhausted body of her father framed in the doorway. He stuck his head back into the hall and shouted "I found her!" before running to his eldest and embracing her in a bone-crushing hug.
"Thank God you're all right," he breathed in her ear.
"I'm fine, Daddy," she whispered back as she threw her arms around his neck. "I'm fine."
The King set his daughter back on the chair and took in her windswept appearance.
"My dear Elsa, where have you been?" he asked breathlessly.
"I snuck out," Elsa answered, ducking her head in shame. "To the forest. I couldn't hold the ice in, so I had to go somewhere no one would see." She nervously tucked a stray piece of white-blonde hair behind her ear.
"How did you get home unnoticed? Half the Guard was looking for you!" The King was still puzzled.
"I was lost in the forest," Elsa lied easily. "Then a boy, Jack, found me and brought me home. But he didn't hurt me. See?" She flung her arms out to the sides so that all of her was visible. "I'm okay, Daddy."
"That is the most important part." He lifted her eyes to his. "That you're safe."
Elsa smiled. It was the first time in a long time she had felt this loved by one of her parents.
In the corner, Anna giggled again, and Elsa vowed that she would show this same love to her little sister. Maybe she could have a snowball fight with Anna once she was older! Elsa liked that idea.
She also liked the idea of being loved so much that she had extra love to give to another person. She imagined how that would feel when she put that plan into action.
It felt good.
~THE END~