Outside of North's rooms, Elsa was laughing while all the smaller fairies fluttered around her, playing with her new hairstyle and her new dress. It was much less conservative than she was used to, and she absolutely loved it. The icy blue fabric looked great against her pale skin and hair, and it felt amazing to finally let her hair down for once. She even allowed the ice to fly freely from her fingertips, watching in amazement as it morphed into snowy replicas of the small animals.

"Hi there," she breathed to one of them, feeling a genuine smile form on her face.

"Elsa," someone called from behind her. She turned around, the smile still on her face, only to have it vanish when she saw who was standing at the door to North's workshop. It was the guy. Like, the guy; her dream guy. She opened her mouth to say something before closing it. She was completely speechless.

He seemed equally as speechless, and she shifted uncomfortably. One of the fairies landed on her shoulder, giggling. He was even taller than she'd imagined, though his features were almost exactly the same—maybe a little older, but otherwise exact. Pure white hair hung messily around his face, accentuating his clear blue eyes. He looked strong, not in a bulky way, but in a lither manner. His dark blue shirt clung to his chest and he wore long, dark pants.

"Um, hi!" she said, trying to sound confident.

He just stood there, and she felt her confidence waver. The others all looked at him expectantly. He blinked once and Elsa suddenly felt like running away. Her cheeks felt hot and embarrassment burned hotly in her veins. "Okay, well it was nice meeting you…" she trailed off as she felt everyone's stares boring into her. Awkward didn't even begin to describe the situation.

North shot him an annoyed look before pushing him forward. "H-hi, I'm Jack," he managed to get out, still staring at her like he'd seen a ghost. He ran a hand through his hair, looking down at the floor before meeting her eyes.

"I'm Elsa."

"Yeah I know," he breathed. He was quiet for a moment before his eyes went wide. "I…it's just, well, I saw you sleeping, I mean, I just—!" he shook his head, shooting the others a pleading look. "They told me."

Elsa tried desperately not to laugh at his floundering. It seemed he was just as nervous as she was. Elsa glanced between the five of them, the question she'd been longing to ask suddenly flying from her lips. "Why am I here exactly?" she inquired.

They all froze, and a bad feeling settled in the pit of her stomach. Her face fell. Why exactly was she here? Was she in trouble? Were they-?

Tooth immediately moved forward, holding her hands out and interrupting her negative thoughts. "You're here because the Man in the Moon told us to bring you here. I'm assuming he knew you needed us somehow," she stated quickly.

Elsa still felt unsure. "The Man in the Moon?"

Jack was still looking at her like she had three heads and it was starting to make her feel uncomfortable. Tooth again was the only one to answer. Sandman kept flashing different phases of the moon over his head, grinning at her. "He's sort of like…the guardian of the Guardians," she explained. Elsa nodded slowly, still trying to come to grips with all of this.

Tooth fluttered over to her. "Come on. Let's get you situated." She took Elsa's hand and led her out of the room. Elsa glanced back to see Jack's eyes following her. When she made eye-contact with him, he quickly looked away. She could've sworn she saw a hint of a blush on his pale cheeks.

Later that day, after Tooth had explained everything to her the best she could, Elsa wandered about North's home. His workshop had overwhelmed her so much that she could only stay in there for a few moments before having to escape. At least she knew that the strange creature that had initially shown up at her door was harmless. They were everywhere in there, making toys, keeping watch over the elves, or doing other tasks within the home.

Instead she decided it was time to look for something to eat.

She walked from the huge room into where Tooth had told her the kitchen was. Everything was dark wood paneling. It fit North's personality well enough, she thought, smirking. And yet the sudden lack of being surrounded by people brought back the loneliness she had felt back in Arendelle. She bit her lip.

The sound of a door slamming behind her made her jump, ice shooting from her fingertips in jagged shards and gouging deeply into the cabinets. She clapped her hands over her mouth, staring in shock at the decimated wood. What on earth had just happened?

"Oh my god," she heard from behind her. Whirling around, she saw Jack standing there, glancing between her and her handiwork.

"I'm so sorry," she whispered frantically. "I-I didn't mean to. It was an accident."

Jack raised his hands, walking towards her carefully. She kept shaking her head, looking terrified. "Does that happen a lot?" he asked her slowly.

She nodded. "I can't control it. I've never been able to control it." Elsa felt sick. She couldn't even control her powers around people that were somewhat like her. Hell, he was Jack Frost. He probably thought she was an incompetent five-year-old with all the self-control she had over her own ice magic. Embarrassment mixed in with the fear and anguish.

Jack was standing right in front of her. She looked up at him sadly, not noticing his hardened features or soft blue eyes. "You should just take me back there so I won't hurt anyone here either," she murmured. Jack frowned for a moment before reaching up a hand to run his fingertips along her jaw.

"Do you want me to show you how to use your powers?" he asked softly, noticing how her eyes lit up at the idea. He smothered a smile at her elated expression.

Elsa, meanwhile, was envisioning an entirely new future, one where she didn't have to hide. "Really?" she asked breathlessly. Jack smirked and nodded. She held back the urge to jump up and down and clap her hands together. Instead, she did something even more humiliating.

In her excitement she wasn't thinking. She reached up on her toes and kissed him on the cheek before almost skipping out of the room, forgetting herself along with the food she had originally intended to get. Only when she reached her room did she realize what she'd done.

"Crap."

~~~Jack~~~

Jack felt like a statue as he sat on the counter in the kitchen. As shocked as he'd had been when she kissed him on the cheek, he was even more shocked by the darkness he saw swirling in her eyes when she was despairing. He knew it wasn't there because she was evil. Something—or someone—had infected her, and he had a pretty good idea who it was. That's why he'd made his offer. At least, that's what he told himself. His fast-beating heart told him otherwise.

But it explained everything. It explained her fear, her lack of control. He was feeding off of her fears, using it to expand his powers again.

"Pitch," he growled, running his fingertips along his cheek where she'd kissed him. He'd be damned if he let that monster get the best of him, and he certainly wasn't going to let him hurt Elsa.