Standard disclaimer applies
..
"I've learned that waiting is the most difficult bit, and I want to get used to the feeling,
knowing that you're with me, even when you're not by my side."
― Paulo Coelho
D
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C R Y
The morning sun shone through the window, cutting through the cold, winter morning air and warming his cheek. He blinked a few times, clearing the sleepy blurriness from his eyes, yawned and stretched his arms above his head, then using his elbows propped himself up on the bed, lazily staring out the window.
A cry cut through the tranquillity of the serene morning, causing Jack to groan and bury his head under his pillow. When the cries ceased to exist, Jack threw his covers off and left his room to be greeted with the sight of his mother trying to feed his three year old sister her breakfast.
"Jack!" Olivia exclaimed as soon as she spotted him, flinging her chubby arms into the air, some of the porridge she was being fed along with it.
"Hey little monster," Jack grinned, laughing as his mother scowled at him, wiping some food off her face before standing as Jack kissed her on the cheek. "Morning mum."
"Go brush your teeth and get changed, OK?" She said, wiping her hands on her apron, "I'll get your breakfast ready."
Jack nodded and left the room to freshen up, when he was back a place was set up for him at the table, a bowl of steaming porridge and plate of fruit beckoning enticingly at him. He sat down and started to eat, shovelling the food down his throat.
"Hey mum?" He said, spoon held in the air in thought, Olivia interrupted him, wailing a "NOOOOO!" to the pieces of banana she was being offered. After a couple of minutes, Jack's mother had managed to force the banana in Olivia's mouth and she turned to Jack, "What was it?"
"Have you ever heard of the name Elsa?"
"Isn't that the name of the crown princess?" His mother replied, "Why do you ask?"
Jack shook his head thoughtfully and shrugged, "Just heard someone say it and it sounded familiar, so I was wondering, that's all." taking the spoon from his mother and moving to feed his younger sister, allowing his mother to have her own breakfast.
After the meal, Jack started on his chores, yet his mind was entirely distracted. So, the girl he had met was the heir to the throne, he mused quietly in his head while scrubbing at a particularly stubborn spot on the window. He was curious, even more so, now that that he found out that he had spoken to the princess. A princess who clearly held an amount of grief deep within her. He grinned and decided would return to the castle that night, hopefully Elsa would be there again and he would get to talk to her.
When the sun set, temperatures dropped and candles blown out, the Overland family retreated to bed and silence descended on the house. Jack however, was preparing for another trip to the Royal Castle. Shrugging on several layers including a thick, fur lined tunic, he crept past his mother and sister's rooms before pulling on his mukluk boots and mittens. Lastly, he pulled on a warm hat and as quietly as he could pulled open the door slightly and quickly slipped out, making sure the wind wouldn't slam the door loudly shut behind him.
The trip to the castle was a 25 minute trek, another 10 on top dedicated to crossing the frozen fjord. Reaching the walls, Jack once again found the spot he had climbed over the previous day, as it was both the easiest point to scale and sheltered from view by large trees. Once he reached the top, Jack let himself fall, the powder cushioning him. He then made his way to the gardens, almost tripping over his own feet in his haste, barely taking in any of the beauty he had observed last night. When the view of the footbridge appeared in the distance, his heart sank for he could not spot the blonde head he had been hoping to see. He neared the bridge, disappointment weighing him down, he had been looking forward to talking to her again since their meeting, even more when he found out that she was the princess. He stood on the bridge, staring into the sky. A full moon hung in the sky, low, as if weighed down by its size. He rested his chin on his hands and elbows on the railing of the bridge and took in the scenery of the lake that he had missed yesterday during his brief encounter with the princess.
A small gasp broke the silence. Jack looked up, and was astonished to see Elsa standing just a few feet away. A large grin spread across his face before he could stop himself.
"I knew you'd come!" He crowed in triumph, darting towards the girl.
Elsa backtracked hastily, almost tripping over in the process. "D-don't come near me.." She muttered, eyes wide with what could only be labelled as fear.
Jack frowned, "Come on, I'm not gonna hurt you."
Elsa shook her head and mumbled something indecipherable to his ears.
"What?" Jack asked, "Sorry, I didn't catch that."
"No... Never mind its nothing," Elsa said, her posture relaxing a little, "What...what are you doing here again anyway?"
"To see you!" Jack said grinning cheekily.
Elsa rolled her eyes, casting him a suspicious glance as she moved past him to stand at her spot on the bridge, careful to maintain a respectful distance between them.
"So," Jack started, sitting on the ground and leaning on the railing, "Aren't you cold?" He inspected her clothing; a simple floor-length nightgown, coat and gloves.
Elsa gave him a sidelong glance and shook her head, "The cold... Well, it never really bothered me" she said staring at the moon, she shrugged after a brief silence, "I'm not cold."
Jack stared at her with a raised eyebrow, "Oookay, so do you come out here every night? "
"Only during the winter," Elsa muttered
"Cool!" Jack chuckled, "I will too then!"
Elsa ignored him, still staring at the sky, seeming enraptured.
Jack drew swirly patterns in the snow next to him then pushed on, "What's it like being the princess anyway?"
Elsa only ignored him again.
Jack huffed and crossed his arms, face scrunched together at the blatant rejection, "Fine. Why were the gates shut then?"
He didn't expect the reaction he got. Elsa's head whipped around, eyes widened in alarm and she wrung her hands together anxiously. She backed away, "N-no!" She choked out, "I didn't mean to.." She mumbled desperately, "It was an accident!"
She ran past Jack, her figure visibly trembling,
"W-what? Wait!" Jack called, "What's wrong? Did I say something?"
Elsa didn't stop, her form growing smaller as she ran
"Well... I'll wait here tomorrow!" He yelled after her, completely forgetting the fact that he could've been overheard by the guards.
Soon he could no longer hear her panicked gasps and her figure was hidden by trees in the garden. Jack scratched his head, thoroughly confused. He had no idea why she reacted so wildly to his question, he wasn't going to allow this setback to stop him though. He was known to never give up after all.
The next night, Jack visited the castle grounds again, following the same routine of waiting until his family were in a deep slumber before sneaking out in the dead of night. Elsa didn't show up. He waited for hours from the darkest hour of the night until only hours before sunrise. She forgot, he concluded and resolved to try again the next night.
The night after that was the same. Hours he waited but there was no blonde head that graced the bridge. This pattern continued for many nights. Hour after long hour, Jack sat on the bridge counting stars, looking towards the path at any sound he heard, hoping to see Elsa making her way to the bridge. The nights were long and often he would find himself drifting to sleep, when this happened he would bury his face in the snow to wake himself up. His mother too, noticed a difference in Jack, he was less perky and cheeky and often fell asleep while he did his chores. It worried her, she thought he was ill, when she asked however, he would smile tiredly an assure her that he was fine and 'just tired'.
The days slowly grew warmer, winter was nearing its end and spring would be coming. This worried Jack, with winter's end came an end to his meetings with Elsa, or the chance of them at least.
It was only a week until spring that things changed. He was waiting like usual on the bridge, watching the snow fall as he ate some bread he brought along with him. There was a crunch of a cracking stick but he ignored it, he had long learnt to ignore these sounds that just gave him false hope. He closed his eyes and let out a long breath, feeling the warmth escape him. He frowned as he thought he heard a small sigh, but ignored it, contributing it to his imagination, his eyes remaining closed.
He heard someone unmistakably, take a deep breath then, and words that made his eyes shoot open.
"..Hi Jack."
Yes, sorry I know, it's super short again, but I wanted to get it up since I am going to be bogged down with heaps of assignments in the next two weeks.
Please note that this has not been edited by me, I wanted to get it up asap but I will come back to it and clean it up later on.
Thank you so much for the reviews and follows/favourites I got for the prologue, they mean a lot to me. Thanks to EtchedInDiamond for being my first (non-anon) review and follow. I hope you enjoyed this one!
The next chapter is when (I think) that Don't Cry:Set Free, really begins, with actual interactions between Jack and Elsa.
Again, constructive criticism and suggestions are always welcome, please tell me if I've made mistakes in this too! (I know they're in there... hahah)
Until next time! xxRR
