Author's Note: So, unfortunately this is the last story I have to release for now. I'm certain to have a few more soon, but a bout of sickness has left me playing frantic catch up on work hours. Hopefully this weekend will give me a greater opportunity to finish the new short I started. I really like the idea, but I suppose it's all about finding the time. Don't worry! It'll get done! Thanks for the support thus far.
This one's shorter. But it's succinct. I hope you enjoy it.
Reviews and requests always welcome!
There was something about lying in the cold, white blanket that calmed her mind. It seemed funny, looking back, how this cold sensation had been the biggest fear in her life. Now it was her strength and, as each speck of snow drifted on to her face, she reveled in the energy it sent through her body. She drew power from the cushion of snow beneath her and tried to clear her mind.
"Your kingdom would be disappointed if its queen slipped off an icy rooftop," Jack said from behind. She'd stopped jumping at his voice long ago. He gleaned too much merriment from sneaking up on people – a product of his years spent invisible to the public eye, she supposed. Still, the sound of it brought a timid smile to her lips.
"I would never slip on ice. It wouldn't betray me like that," she quirked an eyebrow up and opened her eyes to see his figure standing tall against the mountainous backdrop. His white hair shone where the moon's light glinted off the strands.
"Maybe not the ice. I'm more worried about those heels." His face turned from the sky to hers, and his wide grin churned her stomach. To shake it off, she kicked a shoe of solid ice at him. Instead of trying to catch it, he ducked, and the glassy ice shattered against the wall.
"See?" he said, trying to sound offended, but laughing too much to pull it off, "Heels can kill."
Her laughed chimed like bells and his grin settled into a softer smile. "May I join you on your pillow of snow?"
"There's always room for two." She scooted over, leaving a faint impression where she'd just been. He nestled in next to her, and that feeling washed over her again, like it did whenever he was around. It was the strangest, most exhilarating phenomenon: warmth and cold uniting against her skin.
"You only come up here when you need to think," he said, bringing her mind back to reality. "What's on your mind?"
There was something about the vantage point the rooftop of the castle of Arendelle provided. From here she could she the distant snow-capped North Mountain, the powerful consistency of the fjord, and the village just outside the palace gates. Every one of them was a reminder of her power and her responsibility.
"How is it," she mused, struggling to put the feelings to words, "that when I was alone on a mountain I felt so powerful? But now that I have the power of a crown and a court and I don't ever have to stand alone again... How do I feel so helpless?"
He tucked his arm tighter around her. Her hair fell in a platinum halo against his chest. "Responsibility can be a heavy burden, especially if you're compensating for something."
"I froze my entire kingdom. What do you have to compensate for?" She'd meant the question seriously, but as soon as she heard the rumble of laughter in his chest, she knew he'd taken it differently.
"Absolutely nothing," he said proudly.
She swatted his arm playfully. "I'm trying to think about serious royal business and you're distracting me by being a royal pain."
His fingers squeezed her arm and she looked up at him. "Even decades of immortality haven't given me all the answers. I wish I could help you more, but I'm not the most suited for running a kingdom. You were right about one thing though."
"What's that?" she asked, momentarily mesmerized by the twinkle in his eyes.
"You never have to stand alone again."