Beauty
Only an hour had passed since Jack's encounter with Elsa, but he still hadn't been able to decide on what was the best part, seeing Elsa happily practice her powers, the construction of her gorgeous ice place, or her transformation into that of a true 'Snow Queen'. However, Jack couldn't help but wonder if Elsa would soon feel lonely while he was gone, even with the knowledge she had that there was someone 'like her'. Although he could tell that Elsa's ice palace was very impressive from the tour that she had given him, Jack thought it felt absolutely still and eerily quiet too. Who could be there for Elsa when she felt like talking to someone about having to leave Arendelle behind for the safety of everyone who lived in the kingdom?
What about the fact that Elsa had a sister who was still living in the same kingdom that she fled from, and how did she feel about Elsa being away from her? Jack was flying away from the ice palace right now, but he didn't think that he had any other place to go, and the last thing that Jack wanted was to face another person who couldn't see or hear him, but it seemed like Elsa had no problem when Jack was around. He noticed that Elsa did smile a few times when he talked about all the places that he'd been to during his travels. Jack also managed to get Elsa laughing with his sense of humor, so Jack believed that Elsa wouldn't mind if he stayed somewhere nearby.
Instead of sleeping in a cave or tree, Jack could just sleep in a snow bank that's not too far from the ice palace. It would be much more comfortable for him, considering that snow is what he's created for a lot of kids and families from many parts of the globe over the years. With that decided, Jack turned around and flew his way back to Elsa's ice palace, but it wasn't long before he saw her standing on the balcony. He could already see Elsa's gossamer frost cape sparkling from the rising sunlight, which Jack had to admit was a marvelous sight to see. When he noticed that Elsa had a look on her face that didn't match the way she felt while using her magic, so that's when he knew something was on her mind, but if Elsa didn't want to talk about it, then the least Jack could do was try to cheer her up.
"Hey, Elsa, sorry to disturb you, but what's the matter?" Jack asked, as his bare feet landed on the railing of her balcony.
"Oh, Jack, you don't have to apologize, and I was just thinking about the snowman that I made earlier." Elsa answered.
"If you're going to say that snowman looked bad, I wouldn't believe it, because I thought it looked pretty cool to me." Jack replied.
"Thank you, Jack, and believe it or not, that wasn't the first time I've built a snowman exactly like that one." Elsa mentioned.
"Really, so when was the first time?" Jack asked, while becoming more interested in the conversation he was having with Elsa.
It was back when me and my sister were kids, and I remember that I called him 'Olaf' and said he liked warm hugs." Elsa responded.
"That's umm. . .cute, but I don't think you mentioned your sister's name when we talked earlier, so what is it?" Jack inquired curiously.
"Her name is Anna, and we weren't just sisters, but the best of friends, so she always loved to play with me." Elsa revealed.
"So, did Anna even know about your powers in the beginning, or did you always keep them a secret from her?" Jack asked.
Even though Jack was starting to feel a little bad about asking Elsa all these questions, he couldn't really help it, considering that he's never talked with anybody in so many years, which is why it made him feel good to get to know someone for the first time.
"No, Anna knew about my powers, and we had a lot of fun together, but it all changed one night when I hurt Anna by accident." Elsa replied.
Jack noticed that Elsa was doing her best to keep any tears from falling down her face, so that's when he knew it's time to change the subject.
"Hey, Elsa, if you don't want to talk about this anymore, then it's okay with me, and we can talk about something else." Jack recommended.
"I do, Jack, and I'll just end with this, I didn't want to risk hurting Anna ever again, so I shut her out to protect her from me." Elsa divulged.
After saying that, Elsa turned around to walk back into her ice castle and Jack followed, with the doors to the balcony closing behind him.
"You don't have to feel bad about your powers, Elsa, because there's nobody around that you can hurt with them." Jack mentioned.
Elsa had to admit that's true, but she didn't want to take a chance and go back to that kingdom, only to have her powers Anna or anybody else.
"I know, but Jack, you should've seen everyone down in Arendelle, and the looks on their faces when they saw my powers for the first time, like I was some kind of monster." Elsa responded, with her head down.
"You're not a monster, Elsa, and your powers don't make you one either, so all those people are just wrong if that's what they think." Jack declared.
"No matter what they think, I'm a danger to them because of my powers, but as long as I stay away, then they'll be safe." Elsa claimed.
"Your powers aren't dangerous, Elsa, and I should know, because I literally saw you create this ice castle we're in right now." Jack said.
Jack was determined to prove to Elsa that her powers were nothing but beautiful, and so he came up with an idea to make that happen.
"Oh, Elsa, what do you say that we have a little fun by showing off our powers, and not much talking will be necessary." Jack suggested.
Elsa raised her head, before turning around to face Jack, and he could tell from the grin on her face that she liked his idea.
"If you put it that way, Jack, I don't suppose it would be too bad to pass the time by using our powers." Elsa replied.
Jack walked over to a corner of the room, and rested his staff against the wall before he went back to stand in front of Elsa.
"Let's start with something that's easy and simple for the two of us, such as snowflakes." Jack announced.
He formed a pretty snowflake in one of his hands, then let it float off his palm, and across the room, until the snowflake burst into a bunch of little sparkles, all of which soon vanished into thin air, so after that happened, Jack brought his eyes back to Elsa.
"Now I know you can do something like that, so let's see you at least try." Jack said, as he took a few steps away to give her space.
Elsa gave a nod to Jack, before she looked down to her left hand, and she got it halfway in a clenched fist, kept it in that position, while having her eyes closed for five seconds, then extended out her hand to have a snowflake appear on top of her palm. Jack wasn't sure if he was only imagining it, but he could've sworn that he saw a smile make its way onto Elsa's face. With a slightly fast wave of her hand, Elsa sent the snowflake up high into the air, where it burst into a flurry of snow. They watched all of the snow quickly melt as soon as it made contact with the floor, and Jack moved to face Elsa again.
"You did great, Elsa, but I think that it's time to make it a little harder, so how about we try this now?" Jack requested.
After saying that, Jack conjured an intricately designed snowflake in one hand, along with a snowflake featuring a similar pattern in the other, and he threw both of them in the air, then he created a lot more snowflakes in his hands which he also threw. Instead of each snowflake bursting into sparkles, they remained absolutely still as if every one was being held by an invisible string from the ceiling.
"It's your turn, Elsa, and by the way, you don't need to have as many snowflakes that I have up there." Jack reminded.
A lot of weight had been taken off Elsa's shoulders from hearing Jack say that, and in one of her hands, Elsa created a snowflake, which she threw into the air to join Jack's own collection, but not before smiling of how the ice crystal danced just above her fingertips. Elsa didn't stop herself until she made twice the amount of snowflakes that Jack made, which was a total of six. Now, there was an amount of eighteen lovely snowflakes that all floated while being apart from one another.
"Congratulations, Elsa, and here's something for you to keep as a reward for your effort so far." Jack declared.
Jack turned around to have his back to Elsa, then he created a short stemmed rose with his hands, before presenting it.
"Thank you, Jack, it looks so beautiful." Elsa replied, as she held out her palms for Jack to safely pass on his rose to her.
"Your welcome, Elsa, I'm glad that you like it." Jack said, before smiling to see that Elsa was happy with her reward.
Looking at the rose had given Elsa an idea, which caused her eyes to widen, and she moved her head up to face Jack.
"Hey, Jack, how would you like to join me outside, and also use your powers to help me craft a garden?" Elsa asked.
For many lonely years, when Jack saw a garden being planted, it was either done by a young girl or an older woman. Jack used to think that gardens were made by just women, but he knew it would've been rude of him to say that to Elsa. It's not like there would be anybody to come across Elsa's ice palace and see him making a garden, much less actually see him. Jack didn't feel like leaving Elsa and he still wanted to spend more time with her, since Elsa didn't mind having him around.
"Sure, Elsa, I'd love to do that, but first, I think that those snowflakes up there should be taken care of." Jack reminded.
With a stomp of his staff to the floor, each of the eighteen snowflakes burst as if they were fireworks with colors of blue and white. As soon as there was no sign of the snowflakes anymore, Elsa went down the stairs while still holding the ice rose in her hand. Jack didn't bother with simply walking though, as he flew past the staircase and above Elsa to approach the front door first.
"Jack, I seem to remember you were always floating off the ground during the tour of my palace earlier today." Elsa mentioned.
"I much prefer flying, because if I walked to every place that I wanted to go, then my feet would get very tired." Jack replied.
"You know, Jack, it's not that hard for someone to go from one part in the castle to another by walking." Elsa reminded.
"Sure, if they didn't happen to have a magical staff to help them fly off to their next destination." Jack said sarcastically.
Elsa rolled her eyes before opening the large front doors and she began to walk down the long shimmering icy staircase. She paused to take a glimpse at the snowy white ground, which shone brightly from the sun's golden rays coming down on it from high above in the sky, and luckily, there was a lot of space for Elsa to use for a garden that she'll have near the end of the staircase. The woman had gotten herself just halfway down the staircase when she turned her head to see if Jack was behind her.
He wasn't standing at the front doors, which were already closed, and Elsa wondered where Jack could have gone off to. When she returned to going down the staircase, Elsa noticed that Jack was hovering at the bottom with a smirk on his face. Elsa decided to wait until she finally came down the staircase to give Jack a response, which was more of a question for him.
"So, Jack, how long exactly have you been using that staff to get you places?" Elsa asked, since she was now very curious.
"A pretty long time, Elsa, but I don't think that you would really believe me if I told you the number of years." Jack answered.
Just when Elsa was going to ask Jack for that amount of years again, she saw that there was no smirk on his face anymore, and it had been replaced with a deep frown, which Elsa took as a sign that Jack didn't actually want to talk about it, so she changed the subject.
"You know what, Jack, it doesn't matter, so I was thinking the garden should be on both sides of the staircase." Elsa suggested.
"Okay, so how many flowers would you like on each side, because I don't want to go overboard with creating them." Jack replied.
"Jack, do you truly want to make a garden with me, or did you just say that you would because you didn't want to turn me down?" Elsa asked.
Although the boy was impressed of the rose that he'd given to Elsa earlier, he couldn't really imagine crafting a garden full of those roses. Still, he believed that Elsa deserved to hear the truth, since it was kind of her to allow Jack to visit her ice palace whenever he wanted.
"I'm sorry, Elsa, but I always thought that gardens were made by women, and I don't mean to be rude saying that." Jack responded.
"No, it's okay, Jack, and I'm glad you were honest, so how about I make the garden on my own while you can stay and watch?" Elsa offered.
"Yeah, sounds good to me, and to give you some help, I'll keep myself away from the ground until you're finished with the garden." Jack informed.
Elsa gave a nod before she ignited the icy magic between her fingers, and brought both of her arms out, then she ran in a straight line, sending bursts of light into the ground from her hands, and a mountain flower blossomed from each light that sank into the snow. She had begun planting gentians at first, but then Elsa moved on to make harebells with her magic. Elsa felt a little disappointed that she couldn't quite capture every single color of the flowers, especially when they were all made out of ice, but she had to admit the way that the sunlight refracted through each petal of the flowers was absolutely exquisite. Next, she turned around to create a pathway to the staircase by stomping her shoes onto the snow underneath, where lovely patterned ice tiles dusted up from the ground, and it wasn't until Elsa was at the bottom of the staircase when she was done.
Jack was left feeling completely awestruck of all the things that Elsa conjured with her powers, from the flowers to the wire fences. Although he wasn't too sure of how many types of flowers that Elsa created, Jack could obviously tell that there was a lot of them. Eventually, Jack brought his eyes back to the Snow Queen herself, as she did a few cute twirls on the ice tiles while laughing softly. He didn't think that he would ever have the courage deep within to say it out loud to the woman herself, but to Jack, she was beautiful. Jack couldn't actually decide on what was Elsa's best feature: her delicately braided platinum hair, or her crystalline blue eyes, her contagious laughter, or even her brilliant smile that can easily brighten up any room in her ice palace, but he did know that Elsa was a pure beauty.