For the First Time in Forever
Elsa sighed as she stared at her reflection. She was going to kill Anna for this! How could she have let her crazy, extroverted sister talk her into this? Nothing about this felt remotely comfortable – in fact, the only part of the plan Elsa was looking forward to was it being over later that night. She carefully pinned her hair into its queenly position at the back of her head just as a familiar knock sounded on the door.
"Elsa!"
"Go away Anna," Elsa groaned.
"You know that doesn't work anymore," Anna replied in a sing-song voice. "It's time for your party, and everyone is waiting!"
Elsa groaned into her hands. Although no one would know it based on her actions, today was Elsa's twenty first birthday, and the entire kingdom was celebrating. The morning was reserved for just the court: a luncheon with her closest advisors and family. Elsa wasn't truly dreading that part. She had meetings with the court all the time, and being the center of attention in that group was normal by now. This was the formal part of the day. This was the time when Elsa's uptight manner wouldn't be questioned, it was required. What Elsa was dreading was…
"I can't wait for you to see the ballroom tonight!" Anna said excitedly through the door. "This party is going to be perfect!"
Elsa made no sound, but the look she gave herself in the mirror was one of utter terror. That was the part of the day she was dreading with every fiber of her being. Anna, in all her good intentions, had planned a party for the kingdom to celebrate their queen's birthday. When Elsa had found out, she had shut herself in her room for the remainder of the day – too afraid and angry to face her sister.
When she had finally emerged to demand the party be called off, Anna had flatly refused and insisted on the crazy celebration anyway. Unfortunately, Elsa had not been able to deny Anna anything since the Big Freeze as Arendelle referred to it, and she had caved to the power of her sister's persuasion.
"You're not still worried about this, are you?" Anna asked.
"Of course I am!" Elsa sighed. "Do you remember the last time we had a party?"
"That was before you revealed your powers," Anna argued as though it was obvious. "This time will be different. Besides, I have a surprise for you that you can't miss!"
Elsa opened the door and peered at her younger sister through the crack. "What surprise?"
"Oh no! I'm not telling!" Anna laughed. "I wasn't even supposed to say I had a surprise. He'd be so mad if I ruined-oops!" she gasped and covered her mouth.
"He?" Elsa asked, getting more worried now.
"Uh…yeah…Kristoff, yeah!" Anna stumbled. "He worked so hard to set this up and would be really upset if I ruined it, so…got to go, bye!" she rushed away before Elsa could press her further.
The luncheon with her court went as Elsa had expected: simple and proper. She wasn't expected to let her hair down, relax, or feel anything at all. She was the queen in that environment: in charge. Nothing happened to drive her out of her comfort zone…nothing made her afraid.
Now, though, she was faced with the prospect of a party with the kingdom where she would no doubt be expected to dance, mingle, and generally live outside of her comfort zone. For the thousandth time, she considered just not going downstairs and locking her door against her sister, but she knew that would never work. Anna would be so disappointed, and a tiny part of Elsa would be disappointed too.
That part of Elsa had only recently formed due to a random encounter she had had on the North Mountain one day. After the Big Freeze, although she had been accepted by her people, Elsa still found herself craving space and isolation from time to time. So, she had decided to travel back to the North Mountain and fix her ice palace as a place to relax and get away from everything when she needed to.
She had just finished fixing the fallen chandelier and was standing on the balcony watching the sun gleam off her beloved ice when she had first heard his voice.
"And I thought I knew ice." The smirk was obvious even before Elsa whipped around. "You could put me right out of business."
The speaker was a young man dressed in a hooded jacket and torn pants and leaning on a wooden staff. His hair was almost the same color as Elsa's: white blonde. His eyes sparkled and gleamed brightly from the light caught in her ice.
"Who are you?" Elsa gasped. "How did you find me here?"
"Whoa easy there, icy," he laughed, raising his hands in surrender. "This ice is pretty hard to miss. I just wanted to see where it came from. And by the way, I'm Jack Frost."
Elsa's eyes widened. "Are you really?" she asked in awe. "I've always wanted to meet you."
"Is that right?" Jack asked, cocking an eyebrow. "Any particular reason why?"
"I thought you might be able to understand…" Elsa muttered. "Or at least help me."
"Help you how?" Jack frowned, picking up his staff and taking a few steps towards her.
"Get rid of these powers," Elsa admitted quietly. "When I was little, all I wanted was to be normal."
"I can understand that," Jack sighed. "But don't you see how wonderful you are?" he pressed. "I mean, look at this place! It's like…perfect!"
Elsa smiled. "Thank you."
"What's your name?" Jack asked finally. "And how have we never met before?"
"Oh I'm Elsa, and I don't get out much. I stayed locked up in my room for most of my life."
"Why?" Jack wrinkled his nose in disgust.
"My powers were dangerous…are dangerous," Elsa sighed. "My parents did it to protect me from everyone, and to protect everyone from me."
Jack frowned. "That doesn't sound right. You're special, not a monster."
Elsa smiled sadly. "Not many people saw it that way." Suddenly, she started. "Wait, why am I telling you all of this?" she cried. "I don't even know you!"
Jack threw his head back and laughed. "I guess I'm just that kind of guy. I know how to get to people."
"How do I know I can trust you?" she asked suspiciously.
"You don't," Jack replied with a shrug. "But, if you wait to find out if you can trust me, you never will."
"What?" Elsa whispered from behind her rapidly closing walls.
"Well, you have to get to know a person to know if you can trust them, but you can't get to know them if you don't trust them, so if you wait, you'll never know," Jack explained. "It's what I've learned over three hundred years of existence."
"Three hundred years?!" Elsa repeated, her eyes wide.
Jack rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly. "Yeah…mine's kind of a never ending gig, you know? I'm a Guardian now – responsible for spreading fun wherever I go."
Elsa's eyes widened even further. "And I thought being Queen was tough," she muttered finally.
"Tell you what," Jack laughed. "Why don't we both take a day off and just have some fun with our powers?"
Elsa bit her lip. She knew there was a pile of proposals and taxes waiting for her at home, but she had come out here with the express purpose of giving herself a break, so…
"Ouch!" she suddenly gasped as a freezing snowball collided with her shoulder.
"Took too long, Elsa!" Jack laughed.
"Oh yeah?" Elsa smirked, twirling her left hand behind her back. "Your turn!" she yelled as the snowball left her hand and hit Jack dead in the face.
She giggled behind her hand as Jack gasped and sputtered, trying to wipe the worst of the snow from his eyes.
"Oh now it's on!" he growled, leaping into the air and chasing her giggling form through the ice palace and out into the snow.
Several hours and hundreds of snowballs later, Jack and Elsa sat on the balcony of her ice palace watching the sunset gleam off the surrounding snow making it look like thousands of the brightest diamonds.
"Jack?" Elsa said finally.
"Hmm?" he hummed softly.
"Can I be honest with you?"
"'Course you can, El." The nickname was a result from a rather timely snowball to the face, cutting off her name from his lips. He had decided he liked it.
"Today was the best day of my life."
Jack smiled at her hurried speech. "Mine too, El…mine too."
"I don't want to go back…" she admitted quietly.
"But you have to."
"Will you leave?"
"Not yet. Meet me here tomorrow, please?"
"I don't know…" Elsa sighed. "I have work to do…"
"Pleeeeeease," Jack begged, giving her his best puppy eyes.
Elsa smacked his shoulder. "Don't do that to me!" She sighed. "I'll try, alright?"
Jack grinned in triumph and stood, offering his hand down to help her up as well. "Then I'll see you tomorrow, Elsa."
"Ok," Elsa replied with a smile.
They spent the rest of the week meeting at the North Mountain to talk, goof around, or experiment with their powers. It was clear to Elsa that Jack was honestly impressed with what she could do, and she found herself craving his company more and more as the days wore on. There was just something about him she couldn't explain or rationalize, but she knew that she wanted to be around him all the time.
It was on the last night of the week that Jack broke the silence as they watched the sunset yet again. "Hey El?" he began, turning to face her.
"Hmm?" she sighed, looking at him with a smile.
"There's something I need to tell you." He hesitated, rubbing the back of his neck. "I…I don't think you're going to like it very much."
"What's wrong?" Elsa asked, immediately concerned.
"Listen, this has nothing to do with you, believe me I'd love to stay here, but I have…I have to…to leave for a little while."
"L-leave?" Elsa stuttered. "Why?"
"It's my job," Jack sighed. "I'm a Guardian, and I have responsibilities to the kids of the world. I have to go take care of them."
Elsa fought the tears pricking at her eyes.
"I'm so sorry, El," Jack gushed. "I wish I could stay, really I do, but this…this is…"
"Your responsibility," Elsa finished with a small sniff. "I understand. I have responsibilities too."
"So you're not mad at me?" Jack whispered.
"Of course not," Elsa smiled sadly. "I'm not mad. I just…"
"I know, Snowflake," he replied, using the other, more special nickname he had given her earlier in the week. "I wish I could stay too." He pulled her to lean on his shoulder, but she turned and hugged him tightly instead.
"Will you be back?" she whispered into his sweatshirt.
"I promise," Jack whispered back, resting his head on top of her hair and reciprocating the pressure of the hug. "I don't know when for sure, but I'll be back."
Elsa sighed at the memory as she brushed through her hair. That had been almost a year ago, and she missed Jack terribly. She had eventually been caught crying by her sister and had to confess what had happened. Anna had been thrilled at the notion her sister might have a love interest, and quickly assured her that Jack would keep his promise.
Every now and then Elsa could swear she heard his laugh faintly through the winter wind, but she couldn't be sure it wasn't just her imagination.
"He would want me to go tonight," she whispered to her reflection. "He would tell me I was being silly and to go have fun. If only he were here…"
"Elsa?" Anna's voice echoed through the door.
"Come in, Anna," Elsa smiled.
"Want some help getting ready?" Anna asked, already dressed in her gown for the evening.
"I'd love some," Elsa replied.
"You were thinking about Jack again, weren't you?" Anna smiled knowingly.
"I miss him so much! I just wish…"
"Don't worry, he'll show up again…probably when you least expect it too," Anna smirked behind her sister's back. "Trust me."
An hour later, Elsa stood at the doors to the ballroom dressed in her favorite ice dress with her hair in its famous braid over her shoulder. Her nerves had by no means calmed as the party came closer, but she was determined to do Jack proud and try to enjoy herself. It was her birthday after all, she should have fun!
She could hear the crowds of people talking and laughing on the other side of the door, and the sound nearly drove her back up the stairs to her room, but she forced back her nerves and stayed put. Finally, she heard her sister announce her, and the doors to the hall opened: no going back now.
Elsa held her head high and walked slowly into the room to greet the applause and well wishes of her people. She smiled and nodded as she walked through the crowd up to her appointed place at the head of the hall. Once she had reached her throne, she turned with a smile. "Please, enjoy yourselves!" she called, and the music and dancing began once again.
With a sigh of relief, she practically fell into her seat beside her sister who was smirking at her.
"I am so glad that's over," Elsa smiled.
"I'm glad you're glad because it's time for your surprise!" Anna squealed.
"Oh no, Anna!" Elsa cried. "Nothing over the top, please!"
"Trust me, you're going to love it!" Anna reassured her.
"What is it?" Elsa groaned, resigning herself to the worst.
She suddenly caught the scent of fresh snow as a voice whispered in her ear, the smirk obvious, "Gee, I'm happy to see you too, Snowflake!"
So this is my first attempt at Jelsa, but I really love them, so I had to give it a try. What did you think? I'll have the second part up as soon as I can, but I would love your feedback, so please leave a review! Thank you!