Elsa chewed on her lip anxiously as she stared at the strange man, still asleep before her. Images of ice flying from her fingertips and striking him in the chest kept replaying in her mind. She kept clenching and unclenching her fists, ice slipping out each time her hands stretched open even the slightest.
"Oh, Kai," she cried, "what if he never wakes up?"
"It's not your fault, Your Majesty," Kai assured her, placing a big comforting hand on her shoulder. "He was already in poor shape when he came crashing through that window."
"I know," Elsa said, "but I haven't lost control since-"
Kai didn't let her finish the sentence, knowing that Elsa was remembering nearly killing her sister the year before. "He'll be okay. Your Majesty, I suggest you get some rest."
"No, Kai, it's okay. I have to stay with him." She paused. "You should go though. You must be exhausted. Thank you, for everything."
Kai lingered for a moment, but eventually nodded, taking his leave.
Elsa returned her attention to the sleeping man in front of her. Kai had removed the man's sweatshirt to extract the broken glass from his torso, and he had washed away the blood. His skin was pale, nearly translucent, and along the dark blue veins that crossed his body, Elsa saw faint lines of frost. Peering closely at the ice that trailed across his collar bones, she hesitantly reached for his right hand. As she expected, his hands were cold to the touch, as cold as ice.
For a moment, she panicked that this meant that he was truly dead, that she had actually killed someone this time. But she could see his chest slowly moving up and down. She studied his face and was startled by how young he looked. She realized that this wasn't a man, but rather a boy. His lips were slightly parted, and his eyelashes were laced with a thin layer of ice. Mid-spring. Elsa blinked. She stared sadly at his pale hair, almost completely white, remembering that when she had struck Anna last summer in the chest, that her hair had become the same color. She struggled to remember whether his hair had been white in the first place or if she must be the reason. She wondered how long it took the effects of her ice to set in.
Sighing, Elsa lay her head down on the edge of the bed. She was far too tired to stay awake any longer, and with some disappointment she realized that Anna hadn't even returned from her date yet.
-break-
The slam of a door several rooms down startled Elsa awake. She listened to its echoes as she pulled herself upright, rubbing her eyes. It took her a few seconds to remember why she was in one of the guestrooms and why there was a stranger in her castle, but then she remembered what had awakened her. Anna?
Giving the boy one last glance, she hurried out of the room, gently shut the door, and half-jogged to Anna's room. She wondered if Anna and Kristoff had had a fight; why else would Anna slam the door? She knocked softly on her sister's bedroom door. "Anna?"
After a few seconds, Anna opened the door, smiling sheepishly. She had already changed into her sleep clothes and let down her hair. "Hi," she said, sounding cheerful but tired.
"Is everything okay?" Elsa asked, trying not to let Anna see how worried she was. "I heard the door slam-"
"Oh, that," Anna laughed apologetically. She sighed. "I was hoping I didn't wake you up. It's just Kristoff and I had such a great time, and I was tired, I don't know." She yawned. "Accidents."
"Okay," Elsa replied, relieved. She smiled at her sister. "You have to tell me all about it tomorrow."
"You mean today, Elsa," Anna said. "It's so late. Why are you still awake? Or did I really wake you?"
Elsa suddenly remembered why she wasn't in bed herself. She felt her eyes widen and her body tense as ice slipped down between her shoulder blades. "I was just," pause, "reading." It was hardly a good cover, but it seemed Anna was too tired to notice.
Anna yawned again, and Elsa smiled at her sister with adoration. "I guess you better sleep," Elsa said, pulling Anna close to her. Anna sleepily returned the hug, nuzzling into her sister's shoulder, and Elsa could smell the spring grass and sun on her sister's hair. After a moment, they pulled apart and exchanged "good nights" and Elsa sleepily shuffled back to the guestroom as Anna shut her door, softly this time.
(break)
Elsa sat down in the armchair next to the guestroom bed, searching the boy's face for any signs of consciousness. Every now and then, his face would twitch into an expression of pain or anguish, and Elsa didn't know what to do to help. She considered trying to wake him but had no idea how that would affect him. Eventually, she settled her head on her arms again, resting against the edge of the bed.
Just as she felt as though she might drift into sleep, she sensed movement from the bed, and shortly after the young man shot straight up, tossing away his covers, gasping and looking frantically around the room. Elsa caught a glimpse of his eyes, completely blackened, and she felt herself letting her ice form a thin, protective barrier around her. But as he continued to fidget and push back against the headboard, the color slowly faded away, revealing pale blue pupils, and Elsa relaxed. His eyelids seemed to lower in exhaustion and he slumped down in the bed, his chest still heaving.
Elsa blushed, noticing that Kai must have taken the boy's pants away to wash as well. Looking away, she cleared her throat. The stranger seemed to notice her for the first time. He quickly pulled his blanket up to his stomach, looking around again, though Elsa had a feeling that the blackness that had clouded his eyes before had prevented him from really seeing anything the first time. She felt his attention finally rest on her shoulder, and after a few moments he said, "Sorry about the window." His voice was husky from lack of use, she assumed, and he cleared his throat several times. "Sorry, sorry." More awkward throat-clearing. "Do you have any water?"
Elsa stood up and went to the bathroom where she filled a cup with water from the sink. She returned to the room and handed him the cup. "Thank you," he said. As he reached for the cup, Elsa let herself meet his gaze. It was almost upsetting, seeing this man suddenly lucid when just moments before she was certain that he was going to die. He ran a hand through his hair as he drank the water, and Elsa just stared at him because she didn't know what else to do. He finished the water and handed the cup back to her, saying thank you again. Elsa blinked several times and then finally remembered that she could talk, too.
"What's your name?" Elsa asked, not wanting to think of him as a stranger in her castle anymore. If he had a name, maybe some of the events that had transpired would make a little more sense.
Suddenly, he looked startled. He blinked several times, looking down, as if unsure of how to answer. Finally, he looked back at her. "My name's Jack." He said this with such gravity and determination that Elsa felt herself become more confused.
"Jack what?" she pressed, feeling the name tug at her memory.
Jack paused again, still hesitant. "Well, you don't have to tell me, I guess," Elsa began, but before she could finish, the young man replied, words heavy and eyes intense, "Jack Frost."