Hi everyone! In this chapter, Jack cusses but it's very small and only once, so I hope you don't mind. The only reason why I have him cussing is because I can picture him doing it which I normally can't.
Enjoy!
Chapter 4: Nightmares (Elsa's POV)
At first, my dream was just that. A dream. Jack was acting normally again, Olaf laughed in the green grass under his own personal snow cloud. Somehow, Anna, Kristoff, and Sven were there as well. We were all having a picnic. I was still Queen of Arendelle which, in my dream, still existed as it did when I was human. Everyone was talking and laughing, enjoying themselves as I amused my younger sister by making ice figures. All was well. Everything was as it should be.
Then it all changed and we were dancing at a winter ball. The nobles around us laughed and chatted as we made our way around the dance floor in a circular motion. I was dancing with Jack and he was smiling down at me. But when I caught sight of Anna over his shoulder, she wasn't with Kristoff. She was with Hans and Jack disappeared from my arms. I felt something encasing my hands and looked down. Gloves. Green gloves. I looked around and found myself at my coronation. Anna was yelling at me, yanking one of the gloves from my hand.
Fear trickled into me. No. I didn't want to be here. This was behind me. It's in the past. My powers were under control now. I didn't need the gloves anymore. I could change the course of the future. I tried to take the other glove off, but it was like trying to pull off my own skin and I couldn't. Anna was still yelling at me and when I sliced my hand through the air, icicles rose from the ground. The Duke of Weselton's voice whispered, "Monster," as the scenery changed and it was just me and Anna.
We were under the chandelier, but our conversation was different. She wanted me to put the gloves back on. Anger and betrayal coursed through me against my will. After all I sacrificed to keep her safe, she wanted to shove me back into a cage! I lost my temper and control of my powers, freezing her heart again. Only this time, she froze to solid ice instantly.
But then the setting changed again and she was alive, standing at the altar with Hans by her side. The sword on his hip was dripping onto the carpet beneath their feet, soaked with blood. Somehow I just knew it was my blood as he grinned maliciously over his shoulder at me.
However, the worst had yet to come because the wedding before my eyes melted away and I was standing in an unfamiliar, snowy landscape. Wind blew harshly around me, pushing the snowflakes into a blizzard. My bare toes touched something solid, getting my attention. Jack's staff. Jack's broken staff. I spotted a figure laying in the snow a couple of meters away and rushed towards it. It was Jack, but something wasn't right. He was too still and his blue eyes were too pale. Too unseeing.
My heart shattered. For a split second, everything was still in my shock. Then I was shaking him. "No!" I screamed desperately. He souldn't be dead. I needed him. I loved him. "No, please, no." Not Jack. I threw my shaking body over his cold one, sobs wracking through my body.
"Elsa!" My eyes flew open and it was gone. Familiar, living blue eyes stared into mine. Out of reflex, my hands flew up to grip his wrists tightly as he held my face between his hands.
Coming back to reality, my breathing and heart rate slowed to a normal pace, but I was still shaking as I sat up with Jack remaining next to me. I was in my bedroom at my Ice Castle, soaked in sweat. It was only a dream, a nightmare. None of it had been real. Wet pieces of my hair clung to my skin as I pushed them back, my hands still shaking noticeably.
"Jack," I said, looking at him. I hoped I didn't wake him up. Our time at he Ice Castle was the only time we were able to sleep. "I'm sorry, did I wake you?"
He rolled his eyes with an exasperated expression on his face. "You didn't wake me up, Elsa," he said as if it were of little concern to him whether I actually did wake him or not. "Are you okay? Was it Pitch?"
"If it was, he didn't tell me." My lips felt dry and chapped and I ran my tongue along them. I hadn't felt Pitch's presence in my dream, but I hadn't exactly been looking for it either. It was possible that it slipped my notice. "I'm fine, Jack. It's probably just stress." No need to worry him.
Jack seemed unconvinced and glanced suspiciously around my room. There was nothing to suggest Pitch had come for a visit. Nonetheless, he laid down next to me as I fell back asleep, wrapping his arms around me tightly. Keeping me close to him.
This time, I didn't dream. There was no nightmares or dreams. Nothing, just sleep, and I woke up feeling refreshed. By this time, the sun was higher up in the sky. I moved to stretch and noticed that I was warmer than usual and my pillow had a heart beat. My head was resting on Jack's chest, who was currently asleep with his arms still wrapped around me. I smiled and snuggled closer to him, deciding that I liked waking up in his embrace.
Unfortunately, the brief movements I made as I woke up, roused him from his own sleep. One of his arms removed itself from around my waist as he groggily rubbed his eyes and ran his fingers through his hair. His eyelids fluttered a bit before blinking open. They landed on me and he smiled, pulling me closer to him. I smiled back at him.
"Goodmorning," he said, his voice thick with sleep still.
My fingers closed around the fabric of his hoodie. "Goodmorning. How did you sleep?"
"Fine, but I think the real question is how did you sleep?"
"Better than before," I replied, laying my head back down on his chest. "This is nice."
He hummed in agreement, pressing his lips to my hair. "Maybe we should make this a more regular thing."
"Perhaps we should," I said. His chest rumbled with his chuck as he rolled his hands around and made a minimalist ice figure of Olaf. I gasped, shooting up into a sitting position, taking it from the palm of his hand to inspect it closer. "You did it!" I exclaimed with excitement and pride, turning to look at him as he also sat up, grinning at me.
"I may have practiced a bit last night," he admitted. "You were right; snow is a lot easier to shape than ice."
"I had a lot of time to learn through trial and error," I said, placing the figure on my bedside table and climbing out of bed. "We need to visit Annalise today."
"Actually, Elsa, I want us to go visit North," Jack said, rubbing the back of his neck as I turned to look at him.
"What?"
"Just as a precaution to see if anyone else has seen anything."
"This is about last night, isn't it?"
"Look," he said, climbing out of bed to come closer to me. "I'm just worried about you. The fact that you had a nightmare is concerning."
Sighing, I sucked on my teeth and pursed my lips before answering. "I understand that, but there's no evidence that Pitch Black was here. All it was is probably stress."
"Elsa, you were screaming, pouring sweat, and crying. Crying, Elsa. In the five years that I've known you, the only time I've ever seen you cry was when we first met and you couldn't control your powers." The volume of his voice had been rising and he took a deep breath. "Please, Elsa?" I looked at him with unwavering eyes, his own pleading. Begging me.
In due time, I relented. He wouldn't be comfortable until I agreed. "Fine, but we're immediately going to visit Annalise the moment we leave." He would just be impatient if I forced him to see Annalise before going to the North Pole. A blizzard surround me as I transformed my nightgown into my typical outfit of pants, boots, and the shirt version of my ice dress.
My hair was still down around my face and my finger set about styling the pale locks into my signature messy french braid. Jack stood behind me, watching my movements.
"I like your hair when it's down," he said. Our eyes met through the reflection of the ice.
"Really?" This wasn't the first time he had seen me with my hair loose (although those times were far and few between), but it was the first time I heard him comment on his preference. It's not like I took it down often. After all, when I was human and as Queen, it wasn't very proper for me to go walking around in public without my hair up in some sort of style. Yes, I know times have changed dramatically since then, but old habits die hard. Jack nodded his head and I smirked, finishing the braid. "I'll keep that in mind." I turned around to face him and ran my fingers through his white hair as I walked by him. "Lets go."
We flew to the North Pole and walked straight inside, the door clicking close behind us.
"North?" Jack called. "We need to talk!"
"Jack?" North said, poking his head around a corner. His eyes sparked and crinkled as he smiled when he saw me. "Oh, you finally did it! I told you that you would figure it out! Congratulations, I'm so happy for the both of you. You certainly think fast -"
"That's not why we're here!" Jack said loudly, his eyes widening in panic. He whispered something in North's ear and a look of comprehension washed over his face.
"Oh, er ..." He cleared his throat. "Well then. What is the matter?"
Personally, I wanted to know more about what North was saying before, but Jack steered the conversation clear of that route and diverted my attention.
"We think Pitch is back."
"He thinks Pitch is back," I corrected him.
Concern filled North's eyes and his body posture changed dramatically. "Why do you think that?" He asked Jack.
"Elsa had a nightmare."
"There was no black sand, ash, ice or snow." I interjected, making sure North knew all of the facts. "No evidence that Pitch Black was involved."
"She was screaming, pouring sweat and crying," Jack added.
North motioned for me to sit down on a nearby couch and I did so as he sat in a chair across from me. "In your nightmare," he said very seriously, "did you see or hear Pitch? Feel or notice any signs of his presence in anyway aside from the actual nightmare itself?"
I shook my hand. "Not once." I gave Jack a look that said I told you so to which he rolled his eyes.
"What happened in your nightmare?" North asked, regaining my attention.
My fingers started to fidget with each other, twisting and pulling as my gaze darted to different parts of the room. "A lot of things. Different stuff."
"Like ..." North prompted.
"I-It kept changing."
"Alright, why don't you just tell me what happened from start to finish in you nightmare."
Taking a deep breath, I nodded. "Well... At first, it wasn't a nightmare. It was a dream. jack and I were having a picnic with Anna, Kristoff, Sven and Olaf." I hesitated and North nodded encouragingly at me. I didn't look at Jack. "And then it changed and we were at a ball at Arendelle's Castle, but it was the way it was when I was human. I was dancing with Jack and saw Anna talking with Hans over his shoulder. Then Jack disappeared and it was just like when I lost control at my coronation. Anna was yelling at me, grabbing my glove but the scene changed again to when she had come to the Ice Castle. Only, it was different. She wanted me to put the gloves back on and I got angry and shot at her with my powers. She froze to ice instantly. And then, she was alive. But she was standing at the altar, marrying Hans and his sword was dripping with blood. Somehow, I knew it was mine ..." I opened and closed my mouth repeatedly, debating whether or not to tell him about the final transition of my nightmare.
North sensed my hesitation. "Is there anything else?"
"A-After ... that, everything changed again. I was in a blizzard and Jack's staff was broken at my feet. When I looked up, I saw Jack lying in the snow a few meters away and ran to him but -" My breath caught in my throat, I took a deep breath and tried again, "but he was -" Tears filled my eyes and I flicked them away with my fingers, "but he was dead." I wiped some stray tears from my face. "That's when Jack woke me up. When I went back to sleep, nothing happened."
Something took hold of my hand and I looked to my side to see that Jack had sat down next to me, holding my hand. His eyes were anxious and I forced a smile to reassure him before turning back to North, who was stroking his beard pensively.
"Do you think Pitch was involved?" I asked, voicing the question that both Jack and I wanted to know the answer to.
"It's hard to say," North said as if he was still thinking. "Such nightmares are Pitch's specialty and to have several of them in a row. ... You say that there was nothing out of the ordinary in the room? No black sand or unusual shadows?"
"No," I confirmed, shaking my head. "Nothing out of the ordinary."
"And nothing in your sleep gave you any reason to suspect Pitch, aside from the nightmares."
"Nothing," I confirmed again.
He hummed and leaned back in the chair. Jack pulled his gaze away from me to look at North.
"But you said that these types of nightmares were his specialty," Jack said. "And she had several of them in a row! Pitch practically signed his name on the damned things!" I looked at jack and blinked, shocked. I had never heard him curse before, but he seemed too far gone to notice.
"True," North said. "But both of your explanations are passible. Strange things happen while a person sleeps if they're under a great amount of stress, Jack. But, as you said, it is also very likely that Pitch is plotting his next attack. I think that, until we find more information, we proceed as we normally would. However, be sure to be more cautions and look for any signs that Pitch is gaining power. Keep an eye on the sky; I will call you if I find something."
What will they find, I wonder?
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Zerlinda
