`*'
Elsa was tromping up the North Mountain again, breathing hard from her sprint across the fjord (She knew no one needed to sail in it, so she had allowed her fear to manifest itself in pounds of ice on the water). She needed a retreat. A few days, as she'd said, to calm down and put the image of that poster from her mind. She should've known it would eventually accumulate; it had been so cold lately, and while she'd cared for the people as best she could, offering food, fire, and warmth, but the stir crazy public had to have one outlet or another. But, would it still be there?
Rounding a stony outcropping of rock, her question was answered. In front of her, her staircase shone dimly in the moonlight. But, most of the right railing had been smashed away.
Taking a brief moment to recall that her own snow creation had done so, she glanced up at her castle, smiling, and set herself to work fixing the stairs. It felt good to be doing something, and no matter how much trouble her powers had caused, there was something about using them that just made her happy. She knew that next she'd have to mend that balcony and the main room from those men next. The memory of her attackers flitted into her mind, but she quickly let it go, not allowing herself to dwell. Swirls of ice wove themselves around her fingers and she began to mold new ice.
`*'
Bulda had been right.
Jack had never seen anything like this. Never. Not ever. Normally he would've whistled, or made some kind of impressed noise, but he couldn't close his mouth long enough to make a sound.
She made THIS?
Of course, Jack had every right to be astounded. He'd been doing 'ice stuff' for hundreds of years. He'd honed his skills over centuries, considered himself an ice king. He should have been the ruler of ice, truthfully. He was an immortal man that had made ice before people had discovered the word 'frost'.
And yet, the notion of an ice castle had never occurred to him.
It was occurring now, in a big way. It was awesome. Not in a "wow, how cool" way, but in an "I may begin to cry and/or worship" way. It sparkled and glistened, glimmering from white to violet to blue to green as Jack tilted his head. He spiraled around it, slowly flying lower and lower, entranced by the spectacular structure.
Hearing the soft swoosh of wind behind him, Jack turned, and was once again awed. There was a woman, a beautiful woman, and she was making ice with her bare hands into a railing and Jack needed to know her. She was humming and smiling, with blue flakes of snow in her braided hair and a thick dress, which looked as though it had been made to last in the cold, covered with ice drops that made her sparkle just like her ice.
She made the ice castle. He glanced back for a moment, checking to make sure he hadn't fooled himself with its grandeur. Still amazing. Then he turned back to her. She hadn't seen him.
Would she?
The spirit of winter was hit with intense and specific jealousy of all the mortals around him. Would she see him? No. No one ever does. He wanted to scream, or yell, or run up and grab her to see if she could maybe feel him. He wanted to turn around and get back to the trolls, and actually talk with someone again, not be crushed by the fact that even someone with powers just like his was nothing like him. He sank to the ground, staff planted in front of him, head down. Breathing hard all of a sudden, he let frost and wind seep from his staff onto the snow, creating swirls of ice all across the drifts.
"Wait, who are you? Are you doing that?"
Jack held stock still. Could she…?
"Um, sir? Are you alright? Are you making that ice?" Her voice was musical, the way he imagined frost would speak. Of course, he was too busy thinking to realize he hadn't properly greeted or even looked at her yet. His mind raced with possibilities and ideas, and he was still brainstorming plans for a joint ice storm when a sparkling dress hem came into his view.
He shot up, not thinking, hovering a few feet off the ground. "Oh, uh, hiya, I mean, hello, miss."
It took him a moment to realize that the lady was speechless from his hovering, not from the fact that she could see him. He was speechless about that. He dropped to the ground, with less grace than usual. "You can see me?" He finally asked, spitting out the sentence hurriedly.
"Um, yes I can."
"And hear me?"
"Yes. But did you-"
"Oh, uh yeah, sorry, your highness? Majesty? Um, yes I did make that ice." He was all jumbled now, elated and confused, but mainly just excited. "But, you made all this ice, right?" He waved his hand to the castle and stairs. "So you kinda trump me."
"That's not the point at all! You made ice. I've never met anyone else that can do that! I've never heard of anyone else that can do that!" Her eyes were sparkling, the mending of the stairway completely forgotten, along with the fears and worries that had driven her here. Someone who knew what the ice was like was standing- er, floating, again- right in front of her. She felt as though she was dreaming. "Show me!
Jack was eager to make himself noteworthy to his new friend. He thought for but a moment before shooting a bolt of snow into the air. His frost formed sparkling patterns in the sky, outshining the stars. He heard her sigh in awe, with maybe a small giggle of delight. He took a second to glance at her before gathering the flurries into dancing figures, who leapt from fractal to fractal in the ice walls of the palace.
"Oh, it's like an art from you, sir… Oh, goodness!" Her eyes widened a tad and she turned to him, slightly embarrassed. "I completely forgot to introduce myself. I'm Elsa of Arendelle."
"You're Queen Elsa," he recalled her title from the trolls. "That's an important part."
"I suppose so. Rank isn't very important up here though."
He nodded assent, taking in her features once more. Her eyes were like a winter lake; dark and thoughtful. She was looking at him, expectantly. "Oh, I'm Jack. Jack Frost."
"You mean Jack Frost, the spirit of winter?" She offered a dazzling, youthful smile. "An important title anywhere, sir. I can't say I would've ever expected to actually meet you! No wonder you made the ice so, so…beautiful."
I didn't expect you to see me, let alone meet me. "You mean you've heard of me?" Jack was delighted and surprised. "How? Why?"
Elsa glanced at him, pensive for a moment. He of all people would know the struggle with powers. "When I was much younger my parents and I read all the lore. We'd hoped to find a sort of, control, for the powers. I had no way to hold onto the ice. We kept searching for a solution. We didn't find it of course. But I know now. It's all in-"
"How you feel." Jack saw there was more to that story, but was too excited by the conversation to pry. "Took me a few ice ages to figure that out. But I'd imagine your magic is different than mine."
"It can't be that different. We both make ice, don't we? Yours must be a whole lot larger, to bring in a whole season." Elsa made a vague gesture around her. "I can't imagine covering much more than Arendelle!" She paused, smiling fully and closing her eyes. She took a breath, savoring the moment. "It's wonderful to really compare. I mean, I've never had anyone to compare to. Not that it matters."
"Of course it matters!" Jack was too excited to notice that he was hovering a few inches from the ground. Again. "I've never had the chance to really talk to someone about what I can do! No one cares about my powers, except that stupid kangaroo, when I mess with the egg hunts."
"Kanga-what? Never mind." Elsa waved her hand, deciding she'd find out what he meant by that later. "Surely you must've been able to talk to someone about it before. I mean when people see you bringing in the most beautiful season of the year, don't they get curious, at the least? I know I would simply have to go and talk to you. Well, I am, I suppose."
Jack was flattered by her compliment to his own creation, but not nearly as eager to discuss his isolation. "They can't see."
Elsa drew her eyebrows together in thought. "Well, whatever do you mean? Everyone sees winter." Thinking of her restless citizens back home, she added, "It's hard not to."
"Oh, they see winter alright." Jacks voice was suddenly bitter.
"You mean that they don't…"
"See me? No. Never. Not since day one. They don't believe in me. In fact, I've never met anyone who has believed in me. Well, not until now." Jack perched on his staff, one arm dangling, as he looked back towards Arendelle, where they'd come from. "You don't know just how lucky you are, you're Highness."
Elsa studied Jack, suddenly realizing fully how un-human he was. The emotions, the passion, the fear, those were all human. She'd seen and felt all of those. But the look he had in his eye as he gazed out over her kingdom was very foreign to her. Those eyes looked ancient. He's seen things I could never dream of. She didn't like his current serious attitude; the somber look didn't suit him. "It's 'you're Majesty'." She felt a smile lift part of her mouth as Jack turned to look at her quizzically.
"What?"
"The title of a Queen is 'you're Majesty'. 'You're highness' is used for princesses." Elsa smiled at him, offering a small curtsy. "I can't say I know how to address a spirit of the seasons, though."
Jack offered a smile back, drawing himself from his nostalgic reverie. Leaping down from his staff to stand across from Elsa, he donned a look of fake sincerity. "I think that 'you're totally amazingness' should suffice for now."
"Until you can come up with a better one, of course?" Elsa too composed herself as if the matter was of the utmost importance.
"Of course." Jack offered his arm to Elsa after a moment, striking what he thought was a dashing pose. "Until then, perhaps you're Majesty would endeavor to give me a tour of her handsome ice palace?"
All pretenses gone, Elsa beamed up at Jack, proud that he had shown continued interest in her creation. "Would you really like to see?"
"Oh yeah!" Jack was just as excited as she.
"Ok. But there are parts that got…broken." Elsa's smile faltered for a moment, not long enough for Jack to catch it.
"I could help you fix those parts!" Jack couldn't remember the last time he'd felt so elated. "I'd love to be a part of this castle."
Elsa thought for a moment, and decided that the idea of a patchwork castle was one she liked. "Follow me then." With her skirt in hand she swept up the steps and opened the doors, letting Jack Frost join her in her personal fortress.
