It was the strange, almost disembodied laughter that first grabbed Elsa's attention. And she probably would have dismissed it as the unfamiliar winds on the North Mountain had it not been for the fact that there was clearly no wind. Instead, she was intrigued by the sound for a number of reasons. For one thing, it seemed to be coming from all directions at once. But that could be easily explained by the echoes on the mountains…couldn't it?
The other reason was that, for some strange reason she couldn't quite put her finger on, the noise sounded familiar to her. Like a sound from a long forgotten childhood dream. This reason was far harder to explain away – and it made the laughter impossible to ignore.
Because the noise seemed to be coming from everywhere, though, Elsa had a difficult time deciding where to start looking for its source. Finally, deciding that any one place in her new ice palace was as good as another, she began in the upper levels and started working her way down.
It wasn't until she reached the large antechamber in the palace's east wing that she began to hone in on the noise. It seemed to be loudest in the direction of the double doors that led to the balcony that looked back out toward Arendelle. You couldn't see the kingdom from there, but she knew that was the direction she'd come from. Taking a deep breath, Elsa walked toward the doors, pushing them open.
She couldn't see anyone, but the laughter was definitely clearer here than anywhere else. "Hello?" she called hesitantly. "Is someone there?"
"Yes!" a voice, a young man's, shouted, letting out another laugh.
Elsa froze. She was hearing things. Clearly that's what it was. The thin atmosphere was messing with her head. But try as she might to convince herself of it, she could still hear the laughter. And now she could definitely see what appeared to be a small snowball balancing on the railing of the balcony.
"Who's there?" she called, and it's likely she would have felt foolish for asking had it not been for the fact that the snowball was suddenly knocked in a high arc off into the distance, followed by another cheer and yet another bout of giddy laughter.
And as she stared at the balcony, a shape began to form. It started as a vague outline against the sunlight, but it soon took on a very clear form: A young man with white hair, dressed in ragged peasant clothes with bare feet and carrying a crooked stick balanced on the balcony railing, looking out in the direction that he'd hit the snowball. After a moment, he turned around and Elsa saw that he had a huge grin on his face.
"Did you see that?" he asked, doing a little dance. Then, without waiting for an answer, he made another snowball and then swung his stick in an arc, knocking it into the distance like the other.
It took her a moment, but Elsa finally found her voice. "Who are you?" she asked.
The man stopped and turned back to Elsa, his huge grin replaced by a frown of confusion. "You can see me?" he asked, clearly surprised.
"Well…yes," Elsa said, crossing her arms.
Slowly the young man's grin returned. "Well it's about time," he said as he threw his staff over his shoulder, stepped off of the railing and drifted to the floor. "I thought you were never going to believe in me again."
Elsa's eyes narrowed in confusion. "Again?"
Again, the man's grin faded. "You don't remember me?"
"If I did, would I be asking who you are?"
The young man considered this, then let out a sigh. "No, I suppose not. Well this is disappointing." He took a step closer. "Think back," he said. "Back to when you were a little girl, just discovering your powers. You had a friend. A friend who could do the same magic you could. A friend only you could see."
Elsa's eyes narrowed as a memory she hadn't thought about in years came back to her. A face appearing at her window one night as she was in the middle of experimenting with her powers about five months after she first discovered them. The same face that was in front of her now…and he had showed her what he could do…and told her his name…
Her eyes flew open and she looked on the face as though for the first time, a warm feeling welling up inside of her. "Jack Frost," she said quietly.
And the grin was back. "Yes!" he said.
"Jack Frost!" she said again, louder this time. "I thought…you'd left…I thought you were just a dream."
"No, I'm real. You just…well you stopped believing in me, I guess. About three years after we met, I think."
Elsa froze, frowning. "I…There was an incident with my sister. I hurt her with my powers. After that…I tried to learn to control them, but it was hard. I was so scared of hurting her…" She trailed off, hugging herself.
Jack gave a small nod. "That'll do it. I wondered what had happened. I only got hints of it from your parents and the servants. I'm sorry." He looked over her shoulder at the castle. "Although it looks like you came out of your shell with a bang. I mean this…this is amazing." He walked past her and through the doors into the antechamber.
Elsa smiled, blushing slightly as she followed him inside. "Thank you. I didn't know I could do anything like this."
"Not to mention that dress," Jack said with a small laugh. "I like it much better than your coronation outfit."
"Thank you, I –" She stopped. "How do you know what my coronation dress looked like?"
"Oh, I was there," Jack said matter-of-factly. "I've been coming around every year, just to see you." He paused. "You know, now that I've said it out loud, it sounds really creepy… I guess I hadn't thought about it that way…But how often do you meet someone who has the same powers…and believed in you…And when I heard you were going to be crowned queen…well how could I miss that?" he asked with a small smile.
Elsa frowned. "So…you saw what happened with Anna?"
"You mean how everyone found out you have the ability to create and control ice and snow? Yeah, I saw all of that."
Elsa closed her eyes, hugging herself again. "I didn't want it to happen like that. I never wanted her to find out that way."
"Hey," Jack said, his voice quiet and soothing. "It's okay. I know it's not ideal, but don't you feel better now that she knows? You don't have to hide anymore. And that allowed you to create all of this." He gestured around him. "This is something to be proud of, Elsa. Or is it Your Majesty?"
A small smile crept over Elsa's face. "Elsa is fine," she said.
"Elsa it is, then," he said. "But this palace…this is amazing. This is what you're capable of when you're not being held back by fear."
Elsa smiled, unable to take her eyes off of Jack. The flood of pleasant memories that was washing over her was almost overwhelming. "So if I stopped seeing you after what happened with Anna…why can I see you now?" she asked.
"That…is actually a very good question," Jack said. "If I had to guess, I'd say it's because you accepted your powers and what you can do with them. You let go of the fear that was holding you back…and once you started believing in yourself, you were able to believe in me again…" He trailed off with a small smile. "Just a wild guess," he said with a shrug.
"It's better than my theory at the moment…which is nonexistent." She let out a small laugh. "So…are you going to teach me how to make snowballs like yours, or do I have to beg?"
Jack's face lit up (an impressive feat, given that he was already beaming) and he nodded enthusiastically. "Of course! Let's go back outside!" He ran past her, sliding to a halt by the railing. Elsa let out a small laugh and followed him outside.
Jack was leaning over the railing, looking down to the mountain below them. "Huh…it looks like you might have visitors coming," he said. She frowned and walked to him, looking over the railing. She could see figures moving below, one wearing a purple cape and the other wearing black. There was a reindeer too and something white she couldn't quite make out. "Do you know who they are?" Jack asked her.
"I can't tell…no one knows I'm up here…" She looked over at Jack. "Wait here. I'll go see who it is."
Jack nodded. "Okay. But be careful."
She gave him a small smile. "I'll be fine." She held her gaze for a moment, a small part of her worried that if she took her eyes off of him he would disappear again, then turned and walked inside, making her way downstairs.