Elsa ran as fast as she could. Snow kicked up beneath her feet. Not once did she look over her shoulder back at the castle she was fleeing from. In a few minutes, search parties would be looking for her. She didn't have very long. I have to get away, she thought, before I hurt anyone else. She tripped on a tree root hidden under the snow and flew forward.

"Are you alright?"

Elsa lifted her head from the solid ice. She pushed up with her hands, but they slid to her sides. She opened her eyes and saw that she lie on a frozen pond. A boy was sliding over to reach her, leaving a little girl sitting in the snow next to the ice. Two pairs of skates sat beside her. Elsa whimpered as she failed to stand again.

"Hey, calm down." The boy was over her now. He stretched a hand down to her. "Let me help you-"

"Stay away from me!" She screamed. The boy blinked, not having expected that reaction.

"Okay," he cooed after recovering. He held his hands up for her to see. "Here." He handed her the wooden staff he was holding. "Use it to help yourself up." She hesitantly took it and placed it upright, pushing her weight on it. Once on her feet, he took the top end of the staff and started to slide back to the little girl. Elsa still gripped the other end.

"What are you doing?" she asked the little girl, who looked only a few years older than her.

"Jack and I are ice skating," the girl giggled. "He promised he would show me how this winter." Elsa looked at the boy, Jack, who was putting the girl's skates on her feet.

"Would you like to try too?" he asked Elsa. She quickly shook her head. "Suit yourself." He helped the girl up and told her to try and skate before he taught her how. He replaced her in the seat next to Elsa as he set to put his own skates on. "Are you out here alone?" She just ducked her head away from him, not knowing how to answer. He shrugged and put his hand on her head. She turned back to him. The hand was warm. "Don't worry. I won't tell anyone as long as you don't stay out in the cold overnight."

A small grin formed on her face before she said, "My name's Elsa." He smiled at her. It was even warmer than his hand.

"Nice to meet you, Elsa. I'm Jack."

"Jack!" Both of their heads swung to the girl on the ice. She stood uneasily in the middle of the pond. Jack rushed onto the ice with his skates still in his hands. He slid on his knees until he was in front of her. Elsa stood and tried to see what had happened. A small crack echoed in the empty space that suddenly surrounded them.

"It's okay. It's okay. Don't look down; just look at me." His voice had died, no longer happy. It was hushed and frightened.

"Jack, I'm scared." The ice cracked more. Elsa could see it reaching out from beneath her feet. Wait, she thought, Jack is older. He's heavier!

"Jack!" she yelled. "The ice is breaking!" He looked down to see cracks in the ice beneath his own feet.

"I know," he told the girl. "I know." He continued to inch towards her. "But you're gonna be alright. You're not gonna fall in. Uh… We're gonna have a little fun instead." His smile beamed at the girl but was shaky.

"No, we're not!" she cried.

"Would I trick you?"

"Yes, you always play tricks!"

Elsa watched from the sidelines. Her hands were at her heart. Maybe I can use my magic, she wondered. I can save Jack and the girl! Maybe just this once it would be okay. Images of her sister flashed through her mind. No, never again.

Jack slipped the arch at the end of his staff around the girl and flung her away from the cracked ice. Only Elsa saw that as he did so, he jumped over to the very spot. He and the girl shared a quick smile, but then the ice gave out under his weight.

He yelled as the cold water hit his back. The girl screamed his name. Elsa was running out onto the ice. She fell to her knees by the hole. "Jack!" she called into the water. She held her hand up to the girl when she tried to join Elsa at the hole. "Stay back." Elsa put her hands flat on the ice next to the hole and imagined a block of ice rising up from the water carrying Jack on its top. The only thing that happened, though, was that a sheet of ice spread over the hole, covering it. "No! Jack!"

"Princess Elsa!" Two guards appeared from the trees Elsa had first come from.

"Help him!" she told them, pointing at the ice. One guard motioned to her.

"Princess, move slowly over here. The ice might break."

"You have to help him!" He glanced at the point she gestured to. "Jack fell in!" The second guard went around the pond to grab the other girl from the danger of the weak ice. "Please, you have to help him…" Elsa ran to the guard with her face in her hands. She cried into his shoulder. His hand found the back of her head.

"I apologize, Princess Elsa," he murmured. "If anyone falls in, they drown. The water is too cold for them to move."

"I will bring this one to her home," the second guard called to the one holding Elsa. The second guard held the other girl in his arms. She was still screaming Jack's name.

"Come, Princess. The king and queen have been so worried about you."