A/N: Here is my holiday gift to you guys. I meant to have this out by late afternoon or early evening as this was to be a free day, but surprise, surprise, one of our family friends succeeded in convincing my parents to cut our vacation a day short:( So, I spent most of the day on the road. It's a little family one-shot. Hope you all enjoy! Merry (slightly late) Christmas and Happy Holidays!
P.S.: Can anyone guess what the story Elsa is telling in the beginning is? I'll give you a hint, it's actually and animated movie. The answer will be in my Author's Note 2
Disclaimer: I don't own either Jack or Elsa. They are owned by DreamWorks and Disney respectively.
Waiting for Christmas
"And so, giving up his chance to have a normal nose, Rudolph used his wish to turn the evil snow witch, Stormrella, nice." Elsa read from the book to the little five-year old girl on her lap. The little girl was the spitting image of Elsa with the same platinum blonde hair in the same French braid, the only difference being hers was down her back, while Elsa wore her over her left shoulder. Her big blue eyes however, were a different shade then Elsa's. They were sharper and deeper, the exact same color as her father's. She was of course heir to the throne, and future Queen of Arendelle.
"Wow!" Said the little girl in awe. "So what happened next momma?"
"Well, Stormrella kept her promise and the evil in her was wished away. However, she revealed that once her storm had started up, nothing could stop it until it had run its course."
"But what about Christmas?!"
"Well, fortunately Santa was smart: he chose Rudolph, with his nose so bright, to guide his sleigh that night. Thus, they were able to see through the storm and they got past it in time to save Christmas."
"Yay!" The little girl cried, clapping her hands happily. Elsa smiled at her daughter than glanced at a clock over the fireplace. Still too early. "Momma?" The child asked, looking up at her mother with her big blue eyes. "When's papa getting back home?" Elsa smiled at the girl, stroking her hair.
"Soon darling. He just went to get your Christmas gift ready."
"I can't wait for papa to get home. I miss him."
"Me too little one." As mother and daughter waited by the fireplace, they heard a door creak open and both looked over. A small snowman walked in smiling broadly.
"Hi Olaf!" Said the little girl. Olaf saw her in Elsa's arms and his smile got even bigger.
"Hi Princess Lucy!" Olaf replied with a wave.
"Good evening Olaf. How did everything go?" Elsa asked. Olaf had recently taken to going out all day long to entertain the children of Arendelle. He loved it and considered it his job.
"Oh it as swell! I thought some kids to ice skate, and we had snowball fights and made snow angels and so much more stuff!" Olaf said with his usual friendly demeanor and laugh.
"That sounds fun." Elsa chuckled.
"Hey Princess Lucy, do you want to play?"
"Yes!" Said Lucy hopping down from Elsa's lap.
"Don't make too big of a mess." Said Elsa.
"We won't!" Laughed Olaf. They went to a corner so they wouldn't make a mess in the middle of the room and Lucy began to twirl her hands, much like her mother did and conjured a perfect snowball. She threw it into the air and it exploded in a flurry of bight, shining snowflakes that rained down among them. As the snowflakes landed, they froze the ground to ice. Lucy giggled as Olaf began to skate around. Elsa smiled at the sight. Lucy was so carefree, much like she had been as a young child. She loved having fun so much, which was expected considering who her father was. Elsa watched as Lucy continued to make more and more snow, and as she did, her hair got paler and paler. Soon, Lucy's hair was pure snowy white in color. The little girl giggled, oblivious to that fact.
"Okay you two." Said Elsa after Lucy and Olaf had played for several minutes. "It's late and Lucy needs to not be exhausted for Christmas."
"Aw, momma…" Lucy said, pouting cutely. Elsa couldn't help but smile.
"Now, now young lady, do you want to fall asleep and miss your father getting home?"
"No." With that Lucy made her way back to her mother and Olaf bid the Queen and Princess goodnight, before heading to turn in for the night. Elsa picked up her daughter and placed her on her lap. As she did, Lucy yawned.
"Tired, dear?" Elsa asked. Lucy sleepily shook her head.
"Uh-uh." She said. "I can yawn stay up all night."
"Sure, little one." Elsa replied, caressing her daughter's head. With her mother relaxingly stroking her hair and the her position on the Queen's lap so warm and comfortable, the young princess soon found her eyes growing very heavy. After a valiant fight, Lucy's eyes finally shut and she drifted off to sleep. Smiling, Elsa decided to let the little girl sleep for a while.
The Queen watched her little princess sleeping. Anna was now married to Kristoff, but they had no children yet, though they planned to eventually. Elsa had always wanted to have a child o her own, but she thought it would be impossible because of her ice powers. Growing up, Elsa would never in a million years ever think that someday she would become a mother. Yes, she loved children, but after the incident with Anna some years back, Elsa was too afraid of her powers. Even after she had learned to control them, she feared for the safety of any child she could have and she feared for any man who would try to court her as she could easily accidentally freeze him. All that changed of course when she met her husband, King Consort of Arendelle and Lucy's father. Before him, Elsa had never even dated, let alone had a boyfriend. He taught her not to fear for her future and showed her how to have even more fun that when she'd learned to control her powers, fun like when she was a child. Thankfully, this trait had been inherited by their daughter.
Lucy had been the greatest gift either of her parents had ever gotten.
Elsa let Lucy sleep until a few minutes before midnight. Then it was time.
"Wake up little one." Said Elsa, gently nudging her daughter. Lucy slowly opened her eyes.
"Momma? Is it time?" Asked the little princess
"Yes dear." Elsa smiled as Lucy gave a big yawn.
Elsa picked Lucy up in her arms and walked out the castle and into the courtyard. The moon was full and bright over the castle and the night sky was clear with the exception of a few sparse clouds here and there and the stars were twinkling brightly over all of Arendelle. As mother and daughter watched the sky, they became aware of what appeared to be a bright red shooting star streak across the night. Only, its movements appeared too fluid and organic to be a shooting star.
"What is that light, momma?" Lucy asked in confusion, staring at the light with awe. Elsa smiled knowingly.
"What do you think it is, sweetie?" Lucy looked again and she gasped as her eyes went wide and her mouth fell open.
"It's Rudolph!" She cried with joy. Out of the darkness of the night appeared a large red sleigh, with intricate designs painted on it, pulled by a team of nine reindeers, the leader of which had a bright, shining red nose. The sleigh and reindeer landed in the courtyard before the Queen and Princess. Onboard were two men. The first was an older man with long, flowing white beard. He was very large with bushy dark eyebrows and light blue eyes. He was dressed in a red fur coat trimmed with black and was holding the reins. The second man was much younger and thinner. He wore a blue hoodie with brown pants and carried a wooden staff, its top end forming a G-shaped arch, like a shepherd's crook. The young man's hair was pure snow white and his eyes matched Lucy's perfectly.
"Papa!" Lucy called running to the younger man.
"Hey Princess! I missed you so much!" He said picking her up in a huge hug and kissing the top of her head. "Even a few hours away from you and your mom feels like an eternity!"
"Hi Jack." Said Elsa walking up to her husband.
"Hey Elsa." Said Jack shifting Lucy to one arm so he could wrap the free one around Elsa.
"Lucy! So good to see you!" Said North walking over to the Frost-Arendelle family.
"Uncle North!" Lucy giggled, hugging the older man.
"Come, meet reindeer!" Said North gesturing them over. "Here are the reindeer." He said. "Dasher, Dancer, Prancer, Vixen, Comet, Cupid, Donner, Blitzen and-"
"Rudolph!" Lucy squealed happily. Rudolph's nose blinked with joy of being recognized and so well received by a child.
"This is your Christmas gift, Lucy." Said Jack. Lucy looked up at her father in surprise and confusion.
"You get to ride along on Christmas delivery run!" North chuckled. Lucy gasped, her eyes going wide.
"Really?!"
"Of course! Climb aboard!" Lucy, Jack and Elsa climbed onto a bench in front of a large sack of presents.
"Now, happy family, would you care to do honors?" Asked North. Jack and Elsa looked at each other and smiled at the pure joy on Lucy's face.
"On Dasher! On Dancer! On Prancer and Vixen!" Said Jack.
"On Comet! On Cupid! On Donner and Blitzen!" Said Elsa.
"On Rudolph!" Lucy cried happily. The nine reindeer began to hop and run as they pulled on the sleigh.
"Dash away! Dash away!" The family shouted, laughing. The reindeer and sleigh magically lifted into the air, rising higher and higher over the kingdom.
"This is so much fun!" Lucy squealed, giggling happily while the two proud parents looked on.
"Merry Christmas Lucy."
"Merry Christmas darling." Added Jack, giving his daughter a kiss on the top of her head. Then, the family settled in to enjoy the ride; Jack and Elsa cuddling and hugging Lucy.
A/N2: The movie/story Elsa is telling Lucy in the beginning is Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer: The Movie. No, not the Rankin-Bass ones, the 1998 traditional animation movie from GoodTimes Entertainment.
A/N3: Fixed up A/N2's appearance including Rankin-Bass's name and GoodTime's name, which had both been left in a typo. My mother and shut off my laptop before I could finish and correct things last night.
P.S.2: To anyone who was following The Journey, that story has been update and completed. However, for whatever reason, FFN did NOT bump it up on the stories list, so many of you probably wouldn't know (I'm not even fur it sent an alert to followers if it didn't update its own list).