Before you read this, you should take a look at the author profile.
This story is not a "true story" part of my history as you will find in other stories on this account. This one is all fiction, and it's a Christmas present for a RL friend. I have met Elsa once or twice, but never gone on a date with her. I'm sure it would be fun though, and it might go something like this. Enjoy!
A Date With a Queen
by Jack Frost
Anna's POV
I was on my way back from ice skating with Christoff when I ran into someone... literally! I'd never seen him in person, but I knew who he was right away: Jack Frost. I was super excited!
He tilted his head to one side and looked at me hard and said, "Wow, you're the oldest person who's ever been able to see me."
"Oldest?" I asked, surprised. I mean, I'm not exactly old. I'm not a kid, but I'm not old.
"You are a grown-up, aren't you?" he asked, coming to land beside me (he'd been hovering in the air) to compare our heights. He was taller than me by a good bit.
"Yes," I said, after only a moment's hesitation. I was engaged, after all. Kids don't get engaged. Well, sometimes their parents arrange their marriages. But they don't generally do any courting. You know what I mean. Anyway, I felt more like a grown-up than a kid at the moment, in spite of the threat of being called old. "You have me there. I'm Princess Anna."
"I thought grown-up princesses were called queens."
"Only if they don't have an older sister."
Well, we got to talking about Elsa, and he said he'd heard about her, although he had doubted the stories were true. He looked sheepish at that—guilty, actually. I assured him that everything he'd heard was probably true, and then some. Other than flying, my sister could do anything that he could.
That got his attention, I can tell you. "Are you sure about that?" he asked.
"She brought a snowman to life."
"Yeah?" He sounded skeptical. "Well... I can make a rabbit made of frost jump right off a windowpane and bounce around the room. I can make it snow inside your castle. And I can even send a blizzard down in the middle of summer."
"I don't know about the rabbit... but she can definitely do those other things," I said, grinning in triumph. "Hey, why don't you come back with me and meet her?"
"Uh... right now?"
I realized I'd put him on the spot. "Tell you what: come back the day after tomorrow. I'll tell Elsa all about you and we'll give you a royal welcome. Come on... how often do you get a date with a queen?"
He made a show of making up his mind, but I could tell I had him. "OK," he said at last. "Day after tomorrow. I'll come in the afternoon."
"Sounds good! See you then."
Jack's POV
Time for my side of the story... I almost didn't tell the other Guardians about my date with Elsa, but I ended up going to Toothiana for advice, and Sandy happened to be visiting her when I got there, and whenever three of us are in the same place for long, the other two are bound to show up.
Tooth's advice about... well, everything (gosh, that fairy talks fast)... kind of made me more nervous, not less. Sandy seemed to have the most useful things to say, but I couldn't follow it because everyone else was trying to talk over him. I tried to stay cool, not wanting to let Bunny see my nervousness, but it was North who ultimately dominated the conversation, as he so often does.
"Jack, you are a Guardian. If you have problem, you face it how you do any other problem, yes?"
I frowned a moment. Find your center. That was the advice he had given me when I first became a Guardian. "I don't let things bother me," I said, lifting my chin. "I find the fun in everything, and it all turns out fine."
He laughed his Santa laugh. "That's our Jack Frost. You see? Everything's fine. My work here is done." He got out his snow globe.
Bunny rolled his eyes and I heard him mutter something like, "Oh yeah, that settles everything. What he'll wear, what he'll talk about, etiquette... you're a hero." He turned to me as soon as North had made his exit. "So, you gonna take her flowers? How you gonna keep the frost from killing them before you get there?"
My confidence wavered only a moment. "I'm not taking her flowers," I declared. "I'll take her something that travels well in cold. After all, what girl doesn't like... chocolates?"
Bunny couldn't help himself. Both long ears cocked in my direction. "Ah, now you're speakin' my language, mate. I suppose you want the best."
"Only if it's not too much trouble," I said, appealing to his ego. "Just as a favor, friend to friend."
"Trouble," he scoffed. "Tell me three things about this girl, and I'll make her a chocolate egg that works faster and more effectively than a love potion. Just you wait."
"She's known as the Ice Queen," I said, knowing the time for strategy was over—he was halfway to his confectionery in his mind already. "Her powers are similar to mine, I'm told."
"OK, cold. Ice."
"But she's also known for being compassionate."
"Warm center. Got it."
"And she's beautiful. Tall and slender, pale blonde hair, likes to wear turquoise."
I thought Bunny was about to fall in love with my description. Turquoise was a favorite color of his. "I got it, I got it, I got it!" he exclaimed, already tapping the ground to open a tunnel to his warren.
I glanced at Sandy, who was urgently pointing at sand shapes over his head: an egg and a question mark.
"Hang on a sec," I said quickly. "Maybe it shouldn't be egg-shaped. It's not Easter... it wouldn't make much sense."
Other shapes started drifting over Sandy's head: a snowflake, a heart, a star... then they moved more quickly: horseshoe, clover, moon, rainbow, balloon, and what looked like a pot of gold...?
"Sandy... are those the Lucky Charms marshmallow shapes you're going through there?"
Sandy's sand disappeared abruptly and he looked down, twiddling his thumbs.
"Don't worry, mate," said Bunny. "I got lots of ideas." Then Bunny disappeared down his hole.
"Now, what to wear," Tooth said thoughtfully.
Sandy planted himself between us and showed us the shapes of my hoodie and staff.
"You know what? he's right. You should just wear what you normally do and be yourself. After all, you have plenty of charisma as you are..." Tooth's little fairies hovering around her nodded and gave squeaky little sighs in unison. "And that way, she either likes you or not, and there's no disappointment later on."
I smiled. "Thanks, guys. You're the best."
The morning of the big day, I flew down to Bunny's warren to find him busy in a warm chocolate factory.
"Jackie!" he greeted me with more enthusiasm than usual. "You're just a tad early—they haven't quite cooled yet."
I grinned. "Bunny, I'm Jack Frost. Show me what needs cooling and I'll cool it."
He hesitated. Bunny is super protective of his chocolates; almost as much as he is of his eggs. "Well, all right. But take it slow. You cool it too fast, it won't settle right and the shapes'll be off."
"I'll be careful."
He slipped on a pair of heat-resistant mitts and passed a box to me. "This is the first mold," he said. "Nice an' slow."
I cooled it as I took it, so it wouldn't burn me; then I gradually sapped the heat out of the box until I knew it was cold to the core.
Bunny took the box back and peeked inside. "Perfect." He gave me two more and I did the same to each of them. "Good work. We make a pretty good team."
This was high praise from Bunny. "Yeah, we do," I said. "So, can I see?"
"I dunno. It might be more fun if you see them the first time together."
He had a point, but I couldn't help being suspicious. "This isn't a trick, is it?"
"Please. Mischief is your department. Anyway, I wouldn't pull something like that on anyone's first date. 'Specially not a mate."
He sounded sincere, so I relaxed. "OK. Thanks, Bunny. I'm sure they'll be great."
"Eh, get outta here." He put the boxes into a small bag and gave it to me. "Good luck."
"Thanks."
I told myself that this was no big deal... it was a blind date, really. Often there was never a second one, from what I understood, and since this was thrown together by Elsa's sister, I shouldn't take it so seriously. But everyone had been so nice about it—some of them uncharacteristically so—and I just wanted it to go well. Which is probably why my stomach started feeling weird as I headed back to Arendelle.
Elsa's POV
I didn't know what to expect. When Anna said she'd set me up, I was mortified. I had seen her taste in men—one a traitor and one a commoner—so I held no hope that this "Jack" would be a proper suitor for a queen. Besides, I had my hands full figuring out how to be an effective ruler. I wasn't ready to start seeing anyone. Then she assured me that he was something special: Jack Frost, in fact. That did change things, but the spirit of winter didn't seem much more like a fitting match than a commoner did.
"Did you make it clear that this was a real date... and not just an audience?" I asked, hoping to find a loophole.
She put on her pondering expression, and then smiled. "The word 'date' was definitely in there."
I groaned and found myself in the face-in-hand position. "That's what I was afraid of. Was he the one who said it, or did you?"
"I said something about it not being every day you get to go on a date with a queen," she said brightly.
"So, you were trying to persuade him. This gets better and better." I softly thumped my free hand against the wall in a fist. "When?"
"Day after tomorrow."
I took a deep breath. "Let me see what's on the itinerary..."
As it happened, I wasn't very busy they day he was to visit, and it was easy to clear my afternoon. I was also able to order a gift made for him, and it turned out quite nice. I figured I wouldn't give it to him right away. I would wait and see if things went well, and if the occasion merited the gift, then I would give it to him.
I waited in the throne room (a room I use as little as possible, but it seemed appropriate now) while Anna met him in the entrance hall. I could hear her chipper voice saying something about where our guest could leave something while he was introduced to me, and then a voice answered her. It was deeper than I had expected, since Anna had described him as looking like a "prematurely grey kid."
Then they were entering the room, walking toward me together. Anna is quite slender, but next to this willowy creature, she looked almost stocky. His simple clothing shimmered a little with a dusting of frost, which seemed to suit him well; the deep blue of his sweatshirt brought out the blue in his eyes, and the shimmering pattern on it complemented his hair. He carried a long staff, but didn't use it to help him walk.
"Queen Elsa," Anna said grandly, "allow me to introduce Jack Frost!"
Frost bowed his head and tilted his shoulders forward a bit. Then he looked up at me with a smile. "I'm pleased to meet you, your highness. Please, call me Jack."
I stood and stepped down from the dais. He was taller than me, too, but that was easy to forget when looking at his boyish features. "Very well. You may call me Elsa as long as you are welcome here. I hear we have a lot in common."
"That's what your sister told me. I'd love to see your technique. I'll demonstrate mine for you, if you like."
Anna was quietly clapping her hands and almost hopping up and down in excitement.
"Let's go outside," I suggested, not wanting to damage any chandeliers or suits of armor.
He agreed, and we turned toward the entrance hall together. Out of the corner of my eye, I could see members of the palace guard subtly ducking out through discreet exits. I knew they would follow us to see that this stranger posed no threat to me or my sister.
Jack's POV
My first impression of Elsa was that she was cold and stiff. But, to be fair, anyone would seem that way after Anna. I noticed the guards sneaking after us, but I wasn't offended. She's a queen, and they have to protect her. It's what they do. I didn't mind Anna coming with us, either. Honestly, I was glad she stuck around. It's good to have a chatterbox along when you don't know what to talk about.
It was the end of summer and not nearly cool enough for a natural snow, especially at the warmest time of day. It was always fun to see how people reacted to the unseasonable weather I sent them, so in my eyes, conditions were favorable.
"So, snow? sleet?" I suggested. "Or one of my personal favorites: graupel!"
"Fancy," she said dryly. "How about a normal snow—light flakes, small and steady?"
I gently waved my staff around, stirring a few dozen snowflakes out of the air. They multiplied into hundreds, then thousands of lacy, frozen water droplets. This kind of snow was delicate, and I suspected that Elsa knew it was a tiny bit trickier than the heavier snow or sleet.
"Oh, so pretty!" Anna exclaimed. "Show him yours, Elsa!"
Elsa lifted her hands and bobbed them up, down and across, rather like someone conducting an orchestra. My light snowfall doubled, looking more like a blizzard when she was done. In spite of the warmth of the ground, the snow began to accumulate from the sheer bulk of it.
"Very nice," I said, flashing a smile at her. "What else do you like to do for fun?"
Elsa waved one hand, and the whole snowstorm seemed to hit the ground all at once, covering us and the ground for a hundred yards or so in about a foot of snow. We brushed ourselves off, laughing.
"Do you want to build a..." Elsa began.
I was sure I knew what she was going to say, and before she had all six of those words out, I had stirred up the snow from the ground, curled it into three balls, added lumpy eyes and a nose, snatched up a twig for an arm, and was just getting my staff in position as the second arm when I answered, "Sure!"
Then she got out her seventh word. "...snowman?"
I grinned. "Anything else?"
I could hear Anna giggling from a distance.
"Yeah, wise guy," Elsa said, conjuring a white mass in her hands.
I grabbed the round nose off my snowman and prepared to return fire. Soon, the three of us were in an all-out snowball fight. I quickly raised a wall of snow to shelter behind, only to see Elsa construct one with actual, distinguishable bricks and turrets at the corners... it was very impressive work for just a few seconds' time.
We kept trying to outdo each other in ballistics, creating and manipulating bigger and bigger snowballs to try to take out each other's fortresses.
Finally, Anna suggested hot chocolate, and we realized that whereas she had been firing on both of us without bias, she was now rubbing her mittened hands together and shivering.
"Sure, I've had enough," I said. I held out my hand to Elsa. "Cease fire?"
"I accept, for the sake of the neutral party," Elsa said, smiling at me with warmth of personality, if not actual heat.
We went back inside and up to Anna's room where servants brought up hot chocolate. I had snagged my gift bag from the entrance hall when we came in, and as we were being served, I presented it to Elsa.
"I brought this for you. A friend of mine made them. He's the best in the business."
"Thank you." Elsa opened the bag and pulled out one of the boxes. She tilted the lid back and I saw genuine delight in her eyes. "Chocolates?"
"Custom-made for the occasion," I said proudly.
Anna leaned over to look. "Oooo!" she exclaimed. "I wanna try it. Can I have a little?"
"We'll all have some," Elsa said, giving Anna a look that seemed like a sister thing to me. One that said something along the lines of, "Contain yourself, will you?" She took out two chocolates and gave them to Anna, who gave one to me.
It was shaped like a snowflake and seemed to be made of white chocolate. When I bit into it, the next layer was turquoise and mint flavored, and the center was a rich, dark mousse.
"It's just like you!" Anna told Elsa.
Elsa arched an eyebrow, but didn't argue. Instead, she asked, "Who is this friend of yours?"
"Oh, just an ancient fellow called E. Aster Bunnymund," I said nonchalantly.
"Tell him his work is excellent."
"I'll say you liked them... I don't want to inflate his ego too much."
Elsa opened a second box. This one contained blue star-shaped chocolates sprinkled with confectioner's sugar.
"This one must be you," Anna said, eagerly taking a nibble off hers.
This one tasted like vanilla until you got to the center, which had a strong hazelnut flavor. I loved it. I wanted more, but I knew better than to say so.
The last box contained heart-shaped chocolates. They were two-toned, white on one side and dark on the other. Inside was a cherry in thick syrup.
"Oh, they're all so good!" said Anna. "We need to order chocolates from this guy for every special occasion!"
"He's pretty busy," I said. "But if you host an egg hunt in the spring, I'm sure he'll bring some for you, free of charge."
"Really?"
Elsa was blinking at her mug of cocoa. She looked up at me. "Did you say 'E. Aster Bunny...'?"
"Bunnymund," I said.
"The Easter Bunny?"
I grinned. "That's him."
Anna's mouth hung open. Then she cried, "Well, of course you're friends with the Easter Bunny!"
I laughed. "Yup."
Elsa turned to a maid who was hovering nearby and took a package from her. "I have something for you, too," she said. "I hope the colors came out right."
Surprised, I took the package and opened it to find a soft, loosely knitted blue and silver scarf. I looped it around my neck and the blue seemed to adjust itself to match my hoodie exactly. I wasn't sure if that was my magic or hers. "It's perfect," I said. "Thank you so much."
"Did you see that?" Anna whispered. She turned her adorable smile on me. "You're amazing," she said.
"Ha, thanks... your sister's pretty amazing, too."
"I know! Aren't you glad you came?"
"I am," I said, looking happily at Elsa.
I thought I could see a tiny blush on the queen's cheeks. "I'm glad you came, too," she said. "I hope you'll visit us again. It was nice to take some time just for fun."
"She really works way too hard," Anna put in.
"Then I'll have to come back. I had a good time, too."
When I was ready to leave, they both walked me outside.
Anna gave me a hug. "Come back soon!" she said.
"Thanks; I'll try," I answered, hugging her back. I liked hugs and this was a good one.
"Send word ahead and we'll plan a proper visit for you," Elsa said.
"OK." I took to the sky and felt some satisfaction at the girls' delighted expressions. "Hey, Wind," I called. "Take me home!"
Then the wind came from the northeast and whisked me away. I didn't feel like I was in love, and I didn't know what would come of our little date, but I knew one thing for sure: I would be going back.
Merry Christmas and thanks for reading! 3
