HEYO. How're you doing? Good? Okay! GREAT! LET'S GET ON WITH IT.

Whenever Jack spoke, he felt it. Whenever he looked at her, it was there. Ever-present and flowing in his veins. It made him feel light-headed, as if he was floating through the starry night.

Elsa was in front of him, with her usual messy up-do and her violet cloak. Jack had her gloves in his pocket, and he had almost convinced himself that the fire that he felt burning inside his chest wasn't there. It was a weird feeling, conflicting with the cold that was usually always present in his body. This was different, melting his insides, making his head go fuzzy. He also knew that it was only emotional, however, and didn't stress about it as he tried to get Elsa to strengthen her control. Why bother thinking about something that made him confused and yet elated for no apparent reason?

Jack tried to focus, but the lesson went by in a blur of the icy air glancing off of his heated face. Elsa asked him questions and he stumbled over half of the answers. When she replied with strange looks that seemed halfway between amusement and irritation, Jack found himself distracted by her eyes. He would catch himself and blink for a moment, trying to gather his thoughts. What was wrong with him? He didn't want to let himself come to the inevitable conclusion.

Feelings? For Elsa? The uptight rich girl that just so happened to see him? Sure, she had a pretty pale face with bright blue eyes. But her? The more he thought about it, the more he felt that it was just in his head. Yeah, she was pretty. Maybe even beautiful. But that didn't mean that Jack was attracted to her. He was basically still a teenage boy, and he had never felt feelings for anyone before, so it had to start somewhere. It didn't mean that Jack actually wanted anything to do with Elsa. It was just his hormones for God's sake.

He couldn't deny that something had grown in him since they had talked a few nights previously. Since then, he had felt constantly warm, and maybe even hot if she had ever brushed against him accidentally. But she had been cool and distant the whole time, without ever bringing up the conversation. She had laughed at a few of his jokes since then, though, and Jack couldn't remember her doing that ever before. The thought was surprisingly satisfying. He slapped himself mentally. She had opened just a little bit more, and now he was getting all flustered.

Jesus Christ, why am I being so stupid? She was being nice to me, and now it's messing with my head. She's being normal now, thank God, but I need to get over this. I don't have time to start lying to myself about what I feel.

Plus, the warmth in Jack's body felt weird. He had never felt anything but cold before, and all of a sudden his blood was rushing through his limbs and to his cheeks every time he made a simple observation of Elsa. If he wanted to actually focus on teaching, this was going to have to stop. It couldn't be good for his health to start feeling warm all the time, either.

"Hello? Earth to Jack!" Elsa's voice cut through his thoughts. "Knock, knock, anyone home?" She was waving her hand playfully in front of his face, a small touch of amusement in her expression

"Uh, yeah, do it again," burst out Jack, trying to remember what she had actually been doing.

"You've told me to repeat this three times now, and originally I was only supposed to do it twice. Are you feeling a bit occupied?" Elsa rolled her eyes and turned around, her question being an apparent joke, not waiting for an answer. "I think I've done enough."

Jack ran his hand through his hair, trying to think. It was a strange mix of emotions, being truly annoyed that Elsa was making fun of him and struggling to come up with an answer to impress her at the same time.

But Elsa had, surprisingly, already followed his blurted suggestion, and the lesson continued on in its blurred state. Jack's thoughts just kept piling up, like trees continuing to fall on top of each other, each with more branches and thoughts and ideas of their own. Elsa was just one girl in the world of a billion. Why did Jack look at her like this? There were probably a million girls that Jack had laid eyes on in his existence, and not one had stopped him long enough to make him think. It was all because Elsa could see him. That was the first thing that had made him stop and look at her truly, and start thinking about the life of another person besides his own.

The way Jack had compensated for having no one was to pretend people didn't exist at all. He would make mischief and play secretly with oblivious children, but he never thought of them as other beings that he could feel for and build relationships with. This girl was his first, and he didn't know what to do with himself. He had never had people to keep him company before, and now it was difficult to learn how to interact.

And she was a girl, for Christ's sake! Someone that he wouldn't have been able to probably communicate with very easily even if he had grown up as a child into a teenager surrounded by other people who saw him!

And now he was catching himself glancing at her messy hair or her pale, freckled cheeks more and more often.

Jack felt the caution inside of him. The feeling that he didn't want to put himself out there. He wasn't ready to deal with humans and human feelings yet, after being whatever he was for so long. He was terrified to open up to this random girl in this snowy night. And, with another self-conscious glance at Elsa, he thought that she would probably be just as guarded. There she was with her regal posture and the expression of an adult with a life full of responsibility. Sure, she was only - what? Sixteen? - but she had probably already left her years of childhood and simple crushes behind her. Hell, she might already be arranged to marry someone.

Jack felt an unexpected surge of bitterness at the thought, and he swallowed against the tightness in his throat, trying not to let the sudden anger he felt show on his face. Why was he feeling jealous now? He had just been complaining about his possible slight feelings in the first place, and now he was feeling envy for someone that may or may not exist. It was pathetic.

But Jack couldn't help looking up at Elsa, studying her concentrating face and the way her dress didn't quite cover her collarbone. Her waist, trimmed in navy velvet, her small hands, held fearlessly up to the night.

Why is having these feelings so wrong?

The thought was like a breath of fresh air after being held under water. Jack's eyes widened, and he considered the ideas.

What if she didn't have a suiter? What if she felt the same thing, the burning warmth, the tickling brushing over his skin?

Jack's hand trembled, and he fought the urge to reach out and swipe a strand of hair from her face.

God, he couldn't just go over there and grab her. Even if she might - might - have the same slight feelings, she would probably be disgusted if Jack were to just touch her for no apparent reason. Embarrassment suddenly ran through Jack, and he felt his cheeks flush against the frosted clouds of his breath. He had finally admitted it to himself; he wanted to have more of a relationship with Elsa. But that was where the problem lied: what if Elsa didn't feel the same way? What if Elsa barely even liked him? What if she only tolerated him because he had similar powers? What if she thought he was annoying? Obnoxious? Perverted? Jack shrank in on himself with each new possibility.

But each minute hardened his resolve. The way that Elsa was standing there, just far enough away that she was out of reach, facing away from him, hardly ever glancing back, drove him insane. He wanted to see her sneak a glance over her shoulder, blush as he did, brush against him accidentally, tell a joke - anything. Anything to show that she may feel it too. It became stronger and stronger as the moon sank lower in the sky, the ideas swirling in his mind. He could do it; he could declare himself.

But that would be stupid, he thought, frustrated. Why can't she just do it herself?

And there Jack was, again faced with the possibility that Elsa might feel anywhere between complete disinterest to utter disgust with him. He sighed aloud. In front of him, Elsa still struggled to create a statue of ice that looked like a tree, making small frustrated noises as the frosty branches grew brittle and disintegrated into the winter air.

Jack let his eyes linger on her crouched form, unable to see her face due to her posture angled away from his vision. But he couldn't wait forever, right? Soon the lessons on control would end, and Jack would leave Arendelle to wander the Earth aimlessly again. Elsa would marry some royal from another kingdom and grow old as a queen while Jack would live in Pennsylvania, seventeen and alone forever.

Unless he did something.

Before he could lose this sudden wild burst of courage and reason, Jack called out, "Elsa!"

She looked over from her position in the snow. "What?"

"I think you've done enough for tonight," said Jack, trying not to let his growing discomfort get to him. He looked over Elsa's head, feeling embarrassed, gazing above the tree tops at the first gray light of dawn.

"Can I actually . . . show you something?" he asked self-consciously, resisting the urge to ruffle his hair to distract himself from his goal.

"Um. I guess," said Elsa giving him a questioning look. She stood, brushing the snow off of the front of her dress. At first, she had been terrified whenever she hadn't worn her gloves, but now the bare-handedness felt apparently natural to her, and the gloves were forgotten in Jack's pocket.

"What are you going to show me?" asked Elsa as she stopped in front of Jack. She sounded slightly wary.

"It's . . . a surprise." Jack winced at how brittle his voice felt. Goddamn the nerves. "Come here."

She barely moved an inch. "What?"

Jack swallowed against his discomfort. "Come on! I'm not going to bite." He forced himself to smile.

This time, Elsa started walking towards him, her steps growing into more hesitation the closer she got to Jack.

She stopped when she was a few inches away. "Seriously, what are we doing?"

Jack glanced away from her face and at the ever-lightening sky. He could just see the roofs of buildings over the treetops, shiny tiles gleaming in the orange of the rising sun.

"I promise, you're going to love it." Jack stepped forward so that there was barely any space between them. "Sorry, but this is kind of required."

And without giving Elsa time to move away, he wrapped his arms securely around her body and gave a silent command to the wind.

Elsa yelped at the contact, but with a roar, the pair was caught up into the air. Within seconds, they were above the trees, looking down at the snow glowing a bright apricot in the break of day. She screamed and buried her face into Jack's chest, gripping the front of his shirt with a ferocity that suggested she thought she was going to fall.

"Hey! It's fine!" yelled Jack, trying not to shiver and feel too satisfied with Elsa's touchy reaction. It was awesome that she wasn't trying to fight him instead, but he also didn't want her to be scared.

They were in the clouds, mists of ice-cold vapor sliding around them, whisper-light and dampening their clothes. The sunrise was almost starting, and Jack could see an orange sliver on the edge of the horizon. The ground was far below, the forest extending to the west, with the distant castle casting lights across the snow. The town was just beginning to wake up, carts and horses like ants against the far-away road.

Elsa moved her head back, looking down. Her breaths grew shallow, and her grip grew even harder.

"W-what the hell? How - what -" her mumblings grew incoherent, her head whipping back and forth as she took in the view.

After a few minutes of silence, Jack felt Elsa's breathing growing more even and relaxed, but her hold on his clothing didn't lessen. He felt that the time to break the silence would be better now than never.

"I won't drop you. We won't fall. You're completely safe," said Jack quietly. He changed his grip so that both of his arms were around her waist, her snow boots propped on top of his feet. She shivered at the change, unconsciously leaning closer to Jack and away from the open air. He knew it was just her safety instincts, but he felt slightly smug that she was relying on him so much just the same.

"How long have you been able to do this? How did you learn?" Elsa's voice was shaky when she finally spoke, but her hands were gradually loosening on the front of his shirt as she gazed down at everything. The fear was leaking out of her expression, and she looked more and more in awe of the distant world. All around them was empty sky, and it made the planet seem so much bigger. When not even the air was a limit, how much uncharted territory really was there?

"I've been able to do it for as long as I can remember," said Jack truthfully. While Elsa was looking everywhere around them, Jack found it hard to take his eyes from her face.

Then there was more silence, Elsa eventually letting go of Jack altogether, leaning out, above his encircled arms, and stretching out her hands to linger in clouds of vapor. She unexpectedly let out a laugh of delight, and Jack saw the wonder and joy on her face.

God, how did he not notice how beautiful she was sooner? For the first time since he had seen her as a child that first, fateful night, Jack saw the expression of a child. She wasn't just a hard shell like she tried to convey; the young girl was still right there. She just needed gentleness and coaxing.

The sun was almost halfway visible, flooding the land in bright oranges and pinks. Wordlessly, he commanded the wind to slowly begin moving them. Elsa immediately withdrew her arms from the sky, back to clutching Jack's shirt. But she had very little fear, just excitement. They gradually picked up speed, until they were parallel to the very-distant ground, flying like a bird. Jack heard Elsa whooping into the early morning light, and he smiled, letting his laughter get caught up in the roaring wind, swirling along behind them, the white noise lost in the clouds.

After a few minutes, he heard Elsa calling him, and he slowed down to hear her.

"Jack! I think I'm actually getting a little cold."

He slowed to a stop, and the rush of wind was gone, and there was just him and her, alone in the sky, with glowing orange over their faces, smiling and laughing wordlessly as they gazed at each other.

Elsa's hair was fully out of her braid, tumbling free over her shoulders, tangled and windswept, looking like a pale lion's mane. Jack had never seen her face so alight, her expression so free. Her shoulders were shaking with her laughter, her eyes crinkled, her smile wide. Jack was laughing with her, feeling floaty and if he had left his fear and sadness behind them.

Eventually, they fell into silence, but it was a comfortable kind of silence. A light breeze played with Elsa's hair, causing strands to wind about and fly against Jack's cheeks. There was no space between their bodies, one of Jack's arms around her back and the other looped securely around her waist, holding them together. There were maybe a few inches between their faces.

Jack's chest was against Elsa's, and he felt her heartbeat alongside his own, racing just as fast. He could count each and every one of Elsa's eyelashes, if he stopped to focus. Her hair was a curtain blocking out the rest of the world, blocking the view of the castle and the rest of the sky.

Elsa was gazing right at him, the intensity in her eyes almost tangible. She was looking right at Jack, without glancing away. Jack could feel it in the racing of his heart, the quickening of their breaths, the tightening of their arms. He felt Elsa's bare fingers on his collarbone, slightly above the edge of his shirt. He could smell her skin, clear and crisp like ice, with a slight hint of sugar or something flowery.

Without thinking, he was leaning forward, gazing across the lines of her face. Ever so lightly, he felt the tip of his nose brush hers, and then he moved upwards, feeling his lips grazing her cheekbone slightly. She breathed something that sounded like a soft sigh into the hollow of his throat, her lips light as a butterfly's wings against his chin. He felt her eyelashes closed against his cheek, and he breathed in her scent, trying to memorize it. He closed his eyes, feeling the airy sensations of their skin barely brushing together, drunk in the moment, eyelashes like soft blades of grass. He wished he had his hands free so that he could trail them across her arms or something.

After a second that felt too short, Elsa pulled away, right before Jack had almost leaned all the way in to finish what he had started. Barely an inch of space between them, Elsa let out an airy laugh, her breath washing over his face. Jack felt the disappointment like an ache in his stomach, but Elsa was smiling at him, and it was too damn distracting.

"Jack, I have to go back. Take me to the ground." He could hardly hear her voice in the wind.

Dazedly, he obeyed. As soon as they were on the ground, Elsa gently extracted herself from his arms, her hands lingering for a moment. Then she smiled at him, pecked him on the cheek, and turned around, walking away.

"I'll see you tomorrow night!" she called cheerfully over her shoulder. Then she was just a billowing violet cloak in the distance, and Jack could see her hurriedly tying her hair up as she began to run, trying to get back before morning had fully woken the castle.

Jack reached up to touch the place on his cheek where she had kissed him, feeling the heat on his skin. the fire in his veins was more ferocious than ever, surging through his body and making coming back to reality very hard. His mind kept reliving the sensations that he had just experienced. He almost laughed allowed when he remembered the fears that he had felt about the warmth. How could he have thought something that was so right might have been wrong?

His feelings towards Elsa suddenly seemed a thousand times stronger, and he felt as if strings were tied to each of his limbs, raising them higher each time he took a step. He was being held up with those strings, and he thought that there had never been a sunrise so beautiful, and he remembered how the light looked glancing off of Elsa's pale hair.

The night couldn't come soon enough.

I am almost tearing up, that was so beautiful to write asdfghjkl;;j/

BAI.