That spring was the first time Jack attended a wedding- the noisiest, largest, most chocolate-stuffed one Arendelle had ever experienced. After all, one could expect no less from Anna and Kristoff's marriage.
After that was the first time Anna set foot outside the gates of Arendelle, as she and Kristoff left on their honeymoon to a sunlit kingdom by the sea. And that summer was the first time Elsa single-handedly and successfully forged an alliance with another nation; a tribe of Vikings from across the mountains.
It was the first time they danced, making patterns across the frozen courtyard as the glaring summer sun blazed above them. It was the first time they kissed. Tentatively, shyly at first, making each other hiccup with snowflakes after and then burst into laughter. He took her breath away before she even had time to catch it, and all either of them felt was warmth, warmth, warmth, spreading between them like the gentlest of candle flames.
"What if somebody sees us?" Elsa giggled.
"What if somebody sees the Queen making out with an invisible boy?" Jack said. "No regrets, right?" He lifted off the ground a couple of inches and she took his hands, tugging him down again gently.
"Absolutely no regrets," she said before kissing him again.
And then—barely a year after- came the first time Elsa ever held a baby in her arms. She was scared at first-terrified that she might freeze him- but Anna insisted. He was small and soft, already born with a few thin wisps of hair, auburn like his mother's and grandfather's. Elsa held her nephew gently and loved him at once.
"I want one," she found herself saying aloud one evening, when only Jack was there to hear.
He was silent for a long while. "If we tried, it probably wouldn't work."
Elsa sighed. "No, I suppose it wouldn't."
That was the end of that conversation, but Elsa doubted if all the children she grew to love were always someone else's child.
One day she kissed him, and his reaction was unexpected. He pushed her away and gasped.
"Jack?"
"I can't breathe," he said. An odd sense of heaviness weighed him down. His knees buckled. "Or- I don't know- I'm breathing too much. It hurts."
Elsa tried not to panic. Already ice was streaking out across the floor where she stood.
"Jack, don't worry, I know where we have to go."
Kristoff and his reindeer took Elsa and Jack into the mountains, while Anna stayed home with the baby. To their surprise, Pabbie the head troll was already waiting for them.
"We need your help," Kristoff said desperately.
The troll nodded. "Yes, I knew you would come. The Moon has been speaking to me."
"The moon has been what now?" Jack said, suddenly alert.
"Kristoff, I'm sorry, but this matter concerns Elsa and Jack alone," Pabbie said. "We must speak somewhere more private..."
"How can you hear the Moon?"
"It's really not that hard for one magical being to speak to another," Pabbie said as they arrived at the seaside cliff. "And what the moon has told me is most extraordinary. He knew this would happen. Not just what you are experiencing, Jack, but everything- your meeting, your friendship..."
"It's more than that now " Elsa said.
"I figured," said Pabbie. "Elsa, do you remember what I told Anna not more than three years ago? About true love..."
The answer came to Elsa at once. "It will thaw a frozen heart."
"Yes. And that's exactly what is happening now." Pabbie folded his tiny grey hands. "Jack is thawing, becoming human again, because of your love for him. And the Man in the Moon knew only you could make it happen."
Elsa looked up at the glowing half-lemon overhead. "Only me?"
"Yes, you, the queen who ended a curse because she finally let herself love again," Pabbie said softly. "Anna was the key to helping you. And you...are the key to helping Jack. It is no coincidence that he was resurrected on the day you were born!"
Elsa and Jack looked at each other. "What?"
"Is this why she could see me from the beginning?" Jack said, trying to catch his breath. "The moon knew all along...that we would meet?"
Pabbie smiled. "Jack, you may sometimes feel like the moon has abandoned you, but he never did. You were reborn to guide Elsa to in controlling her powers, to help her battle fear and be her Guardian. For the Moon knew that somewhere out there was a young girl, scared of her own abilities, who would need you." He turned to Elsa. "Only you could see him. So only you could love him. But you could not learn to do that until Anna gave her life for you."
Elsa let out a cry of delight. "So technically, Anna saved everyone!"
"And it took you both a very long time to reunite and resolve things," Pabbie said, "but despite twists of fate and moments of doubt, you have found each other again. The Man in the Moon's plan pulls through. Jack, you will regain the life you once had."
"I had no idea it would hurt this much, though," Jack said uncomfortably.
"Yes, like all things, this comes at a price. No longer being a spirit means you will become mortal.
You will age, like everyone else. And you will eventually die, like everyone else." He paused. "You will also lose your powers."
At first Jack felt like protesting, like cursing at the moon for making it so unfair. But was it, really? All this time he thought that Elsa, lonely and afraid, was the one who needed him. But now that she had accepted her powers, perhaps he, isolated and unseen, needed her now...
"You'd still- still love me even if- I didn't have magic?" Jack asked, looking up at Elsa expectantly.
"Of course," Elsa said softly. "Powers or not, you would still be Jack Frost. Take away the magic, but leave the fun."
He grinned. "Then this isn't going to be as bad as Troll Guy makes it sound."
"Jack, there are some changes that you'll have to get used to," Pabbie later said. "It hurts more to live than it ever does to die. But...if you have each other...well I wouldn't be...too worried." He trailed off as Elsa and Jack started making out in front of him.
Pabbie shrugged. "Ah, you'll be all right."
Well, you have suffered enough
And warred with yourself
It's time that you won
Take this sinking boat and point it home
We've still got time
Raise your hopeful voice, you have a choice
You've made it now
Falling slowly sing your melody
I'll sing it loud
Ohey y'all! Well, it's just another chapter after this, and then an epilogue to wrap things up!
So, about this chapter. Well, what did you think? Hit me up in the comments to let me know, and hang tight for the full playlist after the epilogue. Then go and listen to all those songs on Spotify or something and sit in a corner and cry about this ship. That's one of my hobbies XD
Also, for those who follow this story and like Marvel fanfiction, do me a favor and check out Not Another Iron Man Fanfiction, which I'm trying to upload every day! Give it some love, and I will return the favor :)
