Title: When Heroes Fall

Rated: T

Summary: Jack and Elsa meet in limbo, a place where heroes who fail to defeat their villains go. Jelsa. Inspired by the new Frozen 2 trailer.

Warnings: Dark. Major character deaths. Psychological torture (the characters don't do this to each other). Angst. Very mild smut in chapter 2. Alternate Universe - canon divergence (what if Elsa and Jack were defeated by their enemies?).

Why do you try? A boyish voice asked.

How can you not? A young Queen replied.

Elsa stared at the dark waves, refusing to be cowed by their violent onslaught and daunting size. Pebbles and rocks dug into the soles of her bare feet and specks of sand rubbed irritably against her skin. Her drenched clothes clung to her like an uncomfortable second skin and her soaked hair was plastered messily to her face. Her body ached, every muscle tense and throbbing with pain. She could already feel the bruises forming along her arms, legs and ribs.

Give up.

I won't.

With a determined glower, Elsa dashed down the beach again. Ice bloomed under her feet like icy flowers with every frantic, unbalanced step she took. Her lungs burned as she ran and leapt across the ocean. Water sprayed across her from every direction and waves seemed to rear up like demons, ready to engulf her. A massive wave formed in front of her and she dived straight into it, intent on breaking through and continuing on. She had no such luck. The force of the wave battered her into the sea, her feet slipping from her ice lily pads. Waters rushed through her lungs as she cried out.

Everything hurt.

When she came to she was back on the pebbly beach.

You're never going to make it.

Watch me.

She tried again. Elsa raced across the beach, teeth gritted and body thrumming with energy fueled by a terrifying trepidation. High above her, the thunderous clouds boomed, jagged, white light flashing across the sky. The wave roared to new life, casting threatening shadows over the Queen as she scrambled across the waters.

She had to it this time! She had to make it!

Anna...

She got further this time, further than she had ever gotten. Nails dug into slick rock and muscles screeched in protest as Elsa found herself clinging to an ancient stump. Waves smashed against the rock, trying to knock the desperate women from her perch. Like a barnacle poised on a ship in an unrelenting storm, Elsa clung on, enduring each wave that slammed against her. The seaweed ridden platform almost proved her undoing. She staggered to her feet and lost her balance on the slippy surface, barely managing to cast a slide of ice to save herself.

Again the sea charged for her, wave after wave trying to devour her. The sound of rushing and chomping water was deafening to Elsa's ears.

I can do this, Elsa thought, her heart beating faster than a stallions. I can make it this time...

The ocean would not be conquered, not even by a powerful queen with the powers of winter in her veins and starlight in her hair. It towered over her, sending one monstrous wave from its infinite darkness to send her back from whence she came.

Elsa's eyes widened as the watery beast curled over her.

Everything went black.

"Why do you try?"

Elsa threw her hair over her shoulder, refusing to look at him. She was tired of his questions, tired of his doubts, tired of his lack of belief.

"Are you ignoring me now?"

Elsa pulled on her boots, pointedly keeping her stare on the ground.

"Come on, Snowy. Considering we're the only two people on this forsaken island it'll be pretty boring if we can't try and get along."

Elsa grabbed her coat and fastened it around her. She heard him sigh and ruffle his hair.

"Look, I'm trying to help, whether you believe me or not."

With grace and poise, Elsa walked away. She would find somewhere else to try and escape, somewhere where the waves weren't so large. A cynical part which grew with each failed attempt told her it was pointless; it didn't matter which section of the sea she tried to leave by, the ocean would never allow it. It was almost like it was alive, an all-knowing prison guard, keeping them marooned.

She closed her eyes and took in a deep breath. She had to stop thinking like that! And listening to that infernal spirit would not aid her in that. His pessimism was tainting her hope, bringing her down.

"Elsa, wait... please."

"Will you just stop!" Elsa snapped, whirling around to face him. "You may have given up but I haven't. My sister is out there waiting for me. She needs me. My kingdom needs me. I have to get back."

"It's too late, Elsa."

"No, Jack... it isn't."

Elsa looked at the young man before her. He was the same height as her, perhaps a few inches taller. He dressed unusually, in garments she had never seen before. A blue jumper (a hoodie, he had called it), brown three quarter length trousers and no shoes. His hair was as white as snow and his eyes were as bright and blue as the sky at the peak of summer. Perhaps once they had been filled with something other than defeat and exhaustion. Not anymore.

Like her, he was trapped here in this barren wasteland of an island. It was a place void of greenery and sunlight. There were only mists of grey and black lingering eternally.

He called it limbo.

She called it hell.

Heart-wrenching sobs shook Elsa's body, fat tears trickling down her rosy cheeks. She wrapped her arms around her legs and buried her head against her thighs. Her muffled cries echoed down the sea cave.

She had tried. She had failed. She had tried again. She had failed again. Over and over and over the cycle repeated.

Again. Again. Again.

She was tired. So very, very tired.

I'm sorry, Anna... I'm sorry...

As always, she had failed her younger sister. When Anna needed her most, she wasn't there. When her kingdom needed her most, she wasn't there. She was never ever there, was she? Some big sister I turned out to be, Elsa thought miserablly. Some Queen I turned out to be too.

"I'm sorry."

Elsa stiffened and did not look up. She flinched when she felt Jack sit down beside her, one leg bent and the other stretched out before him. He leaned his head back against the cave wall, his white bangs falling across his eyes.

"I know you want to get back home to your sister. I get that, completely. If I could see my little sister again..." Jack's words trailed off, ending in a wistful sigh. "But there's only so much you can put yourself through. Believe me, I have tried everything to get out of here. Nothing works. No matter how far I swim, the waves always push me back. We're trapped here. There's no escape."

"If there's a way in then there's a way out," Elsa insisted, her voice quiet but strong as steel. "There has to be."

"I've been here for centuries, no ones ever gotten out."

No one?

"We're not the only ones here? There are others?" Ever since Elsa had arrived on the island, the only being she had encountered was Jack, the self-proclaimed spirit. "Who?"

"Well there used to be," Jack replied, sadness in his eyes. "He was a guardian, like me. Well... almost. I never really saw the appeal of becoming a glorified briber of kids to get them to behave. They were all hard work and deadlines and I was snowballs and fun times. His name was Sandy."

"And Sandy was one of these... guardians?" Elsa asked, brow furrowing.

"Yipe, the noble protectors of children, whether they be naughty or nice," Jack said with biting sarcasm. Elsa wondered why he sounded so bitter. "Bringing joy, hope, dreams and guarding their childhood memories. Or... something like that. It's all pretty boring if you ask me."

Elsa said nothing, once again finding herself at a loss of what to say. The knowledge that there was magic and supernatural entities out there should not be so hard to accept. She wielded impossible powers at her fingertips. She could bring to life a snowman; conjure a storm with the potential to wreck a kingdom (her kingdom, she thought with a pang); freeze an entire lake; and so much more. Her father and mother had once taken her to the secret troll village, where she was witness to their strange magic. Why then, was it so hard to grasp the thought that other magic and otherworldly communities existed?

After all, wasn't it something she had always hoped for? Longed for. For there to be others like her?

And here she was now, stuck on a magic island (a desolate prison) that wouldn't let her leave. She wasn't even sure how she had gotten here. After that loathsome Hans and her guards had stolen her away from her ice palace (her sanctuary) and tossed her into Arendelle's dungeon, everything was a blur. She couldn't remember what had happened. All she remembered was the feeling of unbearable guilt tormenting her, killing her slowly, rotting her away from the inside and hollowing out her heart. She didn't want to remember what brought on such strong emotions. It wasn't important, not now. She had to get home.

"Sandy got here before me. But then one day he just... vanished."

Elsa perked up. "Perhaps he escaped?"

"No," Jack murmured, shaking his head. "I mean he just vanished, into thin air, right in front of me. It was like he just faded away into nothing."

Jack shivered, wincing at the thought of his fallen companion. Elsa wasn't sure who this Sandy was to him, but it was clear Jack at the very least respected him dearly. His absence was acutely felt, visible in the young man's dejected eyes.

"How did you end up here?" Elsa asked quietly.

"Same way you did," Jack shrugged. "I died."

Elsa stormed down the beach, hands clenched at her side.

"What do you think I meant by limbo, Snowy?" Jack called out over the wash of the waves. "This is an in-between place, beyond space and time. Its were immortal beings go when - if - we die."

"I am not immortal," Elsa hissed. "And I am not dead!"

"Let me broaden that definition to supernatural beings then," Jack rolled his eyes. "You're not a normal human Elsa. You're like me. Like the guardians. You were blessed by the Man on the Moon. You have to be; that's the only explanation for your powers and why you ended up here when you-"

"Do not say it," Elsa snarled, turning to scowl at him.

"Elsa," pity shined in his eyes, a kindred spirit that knew the painful truth she was denying. "I'm sorry, but you need to accept that-"

"I am not dead! I would remember that! I... I know I would," Elsa stammered. She felt panic racing through her veins. It was difficult to breath; she was almost panting for air. Why was it so hard to breath? She couldn't understand why she was feeling so anxious and jittery - the spirit was talking nonsense. Nonsense like he always did. "I can't be... I can't be dead."

"Elsa, what do you remember?" Jack asked, taking a tentative step forward. He reached out for her. She moved out of reach, glaring at his hand like it was a hot poker. "Think about it."

She remembered prison bars and heavy cuffs pressing down on her hands. She remembered a blast of icy wind as she shattered the frozen chains restraining her and the walls containing her. She remembered a blizzard of white beating against her and a voice calling out.

Your sister is dead... because of you.

Pain. She remembered unbearable pain. Guilt. A feeling of utter despair. It was as if her heart had shattered into thousands of pieces, along with her entire world. She remembered striking Anna with a wave of ice back in her icy castle.

Elsa let out a tormented sob.

Anna... no... no, Anna...

She hadn't meant it. She hadn't meant it! Just like the first time it was an accident. She hadn't meant...

Her sister was dead. Because of her.

Anna... Anna! No! You can't be dead. You can't be...

Elsa shook her head, staggering backwards and clutching her chest.

I'm sorry, Anna. I'm sorry...

I love you...

She remembered the feeling of a sharp blade slicing into her back, striking her down.

The monster had been slain.

"Hans... he... he-" Elsa choked back a cry, her hand covering her mouth. "He... he killed me."

I deserved it, she thought with a vicious sob. I deserved it...

Elsa fell to her knees. Jack knelt beside her, wrapped his arms around her and held her tightly to his chest until her eyes dried and she had no tears left to shed.

Her sister was dead... because of her.