Jack Frost first saw Elsa when she was just a baby, cradled by her mother. The castle was quiet, the only sound heard was the faint humming of the queen as she rocked her child in her arms. Jack frowned in boredom, watching the queen lie her child onto the bed. He hovered towards the child once the queen had her back turned, and he smirked mischievously. Gently, he tapped the baby's blankets with his staff, and ice formed, freezing a small part of the fabric. The baby cried, and the queen was alarmed. Jack clutched his stomach as he laughed at the queen, who was scared out of her mind, screaming for the guards to call the king. Since he had nothing better to do, he decided to play along.
The queen rattled out incoherent words and the king examined the blanket. "Sorcery," he muttered, and Jack doubled up in laughter. They tested to see if Elsa would do it again, holding out the blanket again. This time, Jack froze the entire thing. The gasps of shock made him laugh even more. He looked at their faces, pointed and laughed at them. And since he really had nothing else better to do, he continued to play with them, following the girl Elsa around as she grew. And everyone believed that she really had some sort magical powers.
When Anna was born, Jack decided not to 'give' her magical powers, since two seemed like a handful. It looked like the king and queen thought the same, when they sighed in relief.
If the siblings could only see him, Jack would've scolded them for staying up late. They'd probably tell him that he was no fun (Anna would, he was sure), and in the end, he'd join their games. How much fun it would have been.
"Do the magic, do the magic!" Anna cheered.
"Sure thing." Jack said, and he did.
He made the entire ballroom snow. He built a snowman. He made a snow slide. Anna's and Elsa's laughter were like music to his ears, and he figured he wasn't doing it for his own amusement anymore. His mind filled with excitement. Maybe if this keeps up, Elsa will be able to feel his presence. Then she'd see him, right? Right? Elsa would tell everyone about him, and in no time, he'll make it snow in the ballroom not only for Elsa and Anna, but for everyone else too! Imagine all the fun, all the laughter, all the things he could do with the snow! Imagine all the ice carvings dedicated to him!
"Anna, slow down!"
Jack snapped out of his thoughts, his dreamy expression replaced by pure panic. He built a snow tower for Anna step on, but he couldn't rest, because Anna jumped out of it again. He created another one, and she jumped the second she landed on it. He was so, so slow and he couldn't catch up. By accident, he shot something similar to snow at Anna, and she fell, unconscious. He and Elsa gasped, the girl running towards her younger sister, kneeling down, hugging her sister close to her. Jack remained rooted on his spot. The voices of the king, the queen, and Elsa echoed throughout the ballroom and his head. If he hadn't been so careless, if he hadn't been so distracted, if he had been fast enough... Anna would be fine.
The king brought them to the trolls for help, and thankfully, they knew what to do. Jack sighed in relief, and also amazed at how knowledgeable the trolls were. It was funny as well, since they actually believed that Elsa did have powers.
"I did that." He said to the elder troll, who just turned his back at him. He wondered why people could see trolls and not him.
Elsa's powers were to be kept a secret. Jack felt bad for her, but it was for the best, and taking risks was not an option. But he also felt oddly worse if he stopped the 'joke', so he continued. He felt even worse whenever Anna knocked at her sister's door, only to be coldly pushed away. Jack wanted to stop, he really did, but a part of him felt committed to let it play out. And he did.
When Elsa's and Anna's parents' ship sank, Jack sat on Elsa's bed, watching Elsa hug her knees to her chest, trying to stifle her sobs. "I wonder if what happened to my parents."
He felt sad and angry at the same time. He scoffed at her.
"You think this is painful? Well imagine waking up in a lake with no memories. Imagine having no family, no friends. Imagine being invisible to the world. Imagine being alone for so many years." He gritted. Elsa sobbed, rubbing the ball of her palm against her cheek, wiping her tears.
"I've been alone since forever. And I've never cried." Jack glared angrily. "Look at me when I'm talking to you." Elsa sobbed. "Why won't youtalk to me?" She sobbed, louder. "Look at me, Elsa." She buried her face in her hands. "Look at me and tell me who's more miserable." She let out a silent scream, breaking into a series of sobs. "Why won't you see me, Elsa? I'm right. here."
Elsa brought her hands to her ears, covering them, shaking her head. Jack's eyes narrowed even more, his face flushed in anger. He leaned to shout to her ear, "Look at me! Tell me which is more painful!" Elsa continued sobbing. Her fingers curled at her hair, and she pulled at them.
"You don't know how it's like to be alone." Jack whispered lowly. "So I'm giving you a taste of what it's like."
He stood up, gripping his staff to the point of trembling hands. He raised it, and hit the floor. Ice formed, sharp and angry. Elsa gasped, pressing her back further into the door. "And after this, you tell me," he swung at the wall, "what the meaning of true pain is." Sharp icicles formed, and the entire wall froze.
Elsa panicked, her breathing rapid, eyes wide as saucers.
The entire room was frozen in ice, and Jack stood in the middle, glaring at the young woman sitting helplessly on the floor.
Anger burned inside of him once again, and oh did he want to hit her so much. His breath quickened, and he aimed for Elsa-
And just when he was a few seconds away from freezing her head off, he stopped. He took in a deep breath, ran his fingers through his hair, and pulled at them lightly. He blinked rapidly, eyebrows furrowed, mouth curled down. He turned to Elsa. "Why can't anyone see me? Why can't you see me?"
"Why can't this just stop?" Elsa asked herself in a whisper, voice cracking. She buried her face in her hands again.
Jack's hands balled into fists. "Yeah?" He laughed humorlessly. "Well I did everything for you to notice me, Els. Everything!"
"Why can't this monstrosity just stop?" She asked.
"This is a cry for attention, Elsa!" He gestured wildly at the frozen walls, the icicles. "Look at me!"
"I don't want this..."
"I don't want this either!"
Jack groaned and pulled at his hair. "Please, Elsa! Why can't you see me? Why can't I be seen?" He fell to his knees. "Just look at me," he begged. "I want to be seen. I don't want to be alone anymore." He stared at her, eyes shining with desperation.
Elsa wiped her tears. "I don't want to be alone. I want to see Anna again. I want to see my parents again."
"What do you think I feel?"
"I don't want to be alone..."
"I'm right here, Elsa." Jack whispered gently, face softening. "I'm right here." He inched towards her. "Just- please." He begged. "Please, look at me, Elsa."
Elsa cast her eyes upwards, blinking slowly.
She saw no one.
