Jack usually forgot about Arendelle.

It was a small kingdom, almost quietly hidden by sea and snow-covered mountains. The sea winds drew in the nearby frost, and he never had to worry about the winters there. Instead he preferred the larger bustling places where he could pretend everyone was too preoccupied with their own lives to see him. And then gleefully disrupt their daily routines with a well-placed snowball. Weselton, for instance, was full of interesting and large crowds of people, though perhaps prone to odd theatrics.

Still, he decided to make his rounds there.

He started in the nearby woods – there was always something about the woods – with a little frost here and there, ice in the water, brisk in the air.

Then he saw her.

Or rather, he thought she saw him.

"Is… Is anyone there?" A woman with labored breath called out, and as he drew nearer, he saw the pained expression on her face. And the swollen belly.

Shit.

What the hell was a pregnant woman doing out in the woods?

Almost as if she could hear his thoughts, the woman murmured to herself, "It's okay, baby… We'll get home soon… And maybe we'll take a walk around here after – when you're older…" She bit back a whimper and stroked her hands across her stomach in soothing motions. "It's getting colder, isn't it…?"

Double shit.

He had already started the beginnings of winter. They had maybe a few hours before snow would start drifting down. For lack of anything else, he sat down next to her with a plop. At the very least, he could keep her company, even if she wasn't aware of it. He considered going to look for help, but he wasn't familiar with the area. He hardly needed to retrace his steps as a drifting spirit – or whatever the hell he was – and the cold was pretty good about spreading where he needed it to.

And it wasn't as though he could tell anyone about her.

She gave a pained gasp and drew into herself. Out of reflex, he tried to cover her hand with his own – stupid, stupid, it wasn't like it wouldn't just phase through –

It worked.

For a brief, tantalizing moment, he felt warmth.

He snapped back with stunned eyes as the woman gave another gasp, this time a mixture of surprise and relief. After a few long moments, she cautiously stood up – he wished he could help her – and stroked her belly once more. "Elsa… Let's get home now, okay…?"

Jack remained on the ground, watching the woman walk away. He had felt – he wasn't sure anymore. The memory of it was fading. But he remembered what he saw. A pattern of frost – if it had been frost, it gleamed too bright to be made of ice and snow – that disappeared where the lady's hand had been.

Over her unborn child.

Triple shit.

What had he done?

He didn't go back for several years.

When he finally visited that small kingdom once more, he drifted in without bringing the winter. Not just yet, anyways. He searched for that woman, murmuring wishes to the man on the moon. Please let her be okay, please please please

He found her in the castle. Of course. She had to be the queen of all people.

With an apologetic look that she couldn't see, he trailed after the woman. She treated her servants kindly, kissed her husband, and all in all, seemed to be a rather nice person for a monarch. And then she was accosted by a tumbling ball of energy and red braids.

"Mommy! I want to go outside, can I go outside? Please, please, please!"

Kneeling down, she greeted her daughter with an indulgent smile. "Of course, dear. But stay in the courtyard. It'll be dark soon, and it's getting colder."

Jack let out a breath of air that he hadn't realized he had been holding in. The queen was fine. The kid was all right. He thought maybe she would be a little older by now, but the years tended to meld together, so he brushed the thought away. She was fine. He hadn't done anything. Hell, he could go back to starting snow fights if there were more kids around the place.

"Anna, don't forget to go with your sister," the queen said as her daughter ran off with a happy squeal.

Oh good, there was another-

"Elsa, let's go make a snowman!" the little girl bellowed as she ran down the hall.

…Elsa?

Shit. He remembered that name. With a renewed coil in his gut, he followed the energetic girl as she scrambled to find Elsa.

It didn't take long.

And then he wasn't sure he could breath.

Her hair. It looked almost, almost like his. For a moment, he thought her head was full of silver, but as the pair of girls ran past, he saw the pale yellow. Parents with dark locks. A sister with ginger hair. He didn't know much about human genetics, but that was a bit of a puzzle. Unless you throw some magic frost into the mix.

Shit shit shit.

It got worse.

With tiny hands, Elsa drew together a ball of frost, letting loose a landscape of snow to an adoring sister. It was cute, really. They made a snowman and played and made an actual snow castle and-

Well, Arendelle certainly didn't need his services anymore, he thought weakly.

Think.

Think, dammit.

He squinted at the pair, trying to untangle his thoughts. A girl with your powers and hair that gleamed like snow – in comparison to her family at least. Had he created some sort of… protégé? An apprentice of sorts? Man on the moon, is that what happened to him?

He felt sick.

And worst of all, she still couldn't even see him.

He left.

He visited, at first.

The carefree sisters that once played were now separated. He had a feeling it was his fault, his powers that led to this. He tried to leave little gifts. Beautiful designs of frost, miniature snowmen and houses, something to make her smile.

They only upset her, and she wailed to her parents that they couldn't control her powers.

He was right.

One night, with the best of his efforts, he tried to take it away, whatever cursed gift he had given her so many years ago. Her powers lashed out at him, even as she slumbered, and Elsa woke up in a room full of protective frost.

The next morning her father gave her gloves, and he left once more.

Years later, Jack found another castle. This time, one of gleaming ice and hidden in the mountains. No bright-eyed sister with red hair to be seen. Elsa curled up against the wall, murmuring as if in pain, almost like her mother all those years ago. "Control it, you have to control it, you have to, you have to, please…"

The ice cracked, splintering into something menacing as Elsa grew more distressed.

…This was his fault, wasn't it?

Just as he did before, he sat down next to the woman. She looked a little older than him now. Beautiful though. Her mother had been pretty, too.

"I'm sorry, Elsa."

But she didn't hear him.

Shit.

Shit shit shit.

They almost killed her! What the hell? They called her queen, and they almost killed her. And now they locked her up, like some sort of monster.

Elsa stared at her shackles, and in frustration, he sent a spark of frost to them. Metal could only take so much cold. But a key would better, he seethed. Do all I can, he mimicked with distain. Who the hell was that guy anyways? And why wasn't he looking for Anna if she was missing? He didn't remember a brother in the family – was it a lover then?

Do all I can, his ass.

His only comfort was the cracking metal.

In the end, there wasn't much he could do.

Fighting fire with fire - or rather frost with frost - would have been pretty futile. At best, he was able to contain the storm within the general area – no need for a world-wide ice age. The dash of frost to a life-not-yet-begun had certainly grown, he thought with a humorless smile. Aside from her decidedly human nature, she would probably end up stronger than he was.

That same powerful woman sobbed for her lost sister, and his heart clenched.

Still, it turned out all right. In the end.

His eyes grow soft as the two sisters embraced, remembering the pair of little girls that once played in the snow. What was it that they said? Act of true love. Magic of love? It was as corny as it was heartwarming. With a sigh, he watched with envy as Elsa and her loved ones prepared for their happy ending.

There was a moment of devious glee towards Hans, who was mysteriously pelted with snowballs. Inside his cell. At sea. In the middle of summer with Elsa back at the castle. He might have accidentally started a few rumors about the extent of the queen's magic just then. Fine by him, as long as no more greedy royals set their sights on Arendelle.

The kingdom shifted into celebration mode – complete with ice skating in the middle of summer. Nice. He couldn't even do that without pissing off some people.

When the festivities ended and the evening came, he prepared to leave. Elsa seemed content to stay in her kingdom now, and he really wouldn't need to come back, not for winter. At her window, he prepared a design of frost as a message farewell. Or at least, he would have, had she not opened the window with wide eyes.

"Who are you? How did you do that?"

Well, shit.

Elsa stared at him, eyes darting everywhere – his hair, his hands, they lingered on his feet – oh right, they were on the second story weren't they and he was in the air.

What the hell was he supposed to say? Oh wait, she asked who he was.

"I… I'm Jack Frost. Nice to… meet you?"

There was a flash of something in her eyes before Elsa gave a nod, the small gesture befitting royalty. "I am Queen Elsa of Arendelle." Her expression flickered for a moment. "My mother once told me about a Jack Frost."

"Yeah, well… that's me." He laughed weakly. There was a guarded expression on her face, a contrast to how free she had been just moments ago. He hovered nervously under her gaze.

He didn't know how to start explaining any of this, especially with so many gaps in his own history. So, he began with hers. "She probably doesn't know it, but we met once, a long time ago. Your mother, I mean. I was just bringing in the winter, and she was sitting there. With you. Sort of. You weren't born yet."

She listened to his story carefully, with only a few questions here and there. "…I see. I suppose you're the reason I have these powers then," she said finally.

He winced, awaiting judgment.

"…Thank you."

Wait, what?

Elsa smiled a little at the expression on his face. "There were… so many times I wished I didn't have these powers. I would have screamed at you if you told me this just a day ago. But… they're a part of me. I just forgot how much joy they can bring. So… thank you."

He couldn't even look at her now, the mixture of guilt and relief and everything else rushing through him. "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry."

"…You should come to Arendelle more often. It's tough being by yourself. I would know." Of course she would know, he thought bitterly. She was locked up for so long, whether by her hand or others, because of his mistake.

Her hand covered his clenched fist. It was warm.

There was a smile on her face when he flinched and looked up. "I'd like to be friends, Jack. If that's all right with you," Elsa said kindly.

Slowly, he smiled back.

He should definitely visit more often.