Elsa had her eyes clenched shut until they landed. When she felt her feet touch solid ground, she quickly extricated herself from Jack's arms. She still hand her one hand pressed against her ribs. North, Bunny, and Sandy ran from the main room to outside where they stood. Tooth was probably still at her palace trying to clean up whatever mess had been created.
Sandy floated forward and took Elsa's hand. He offered her a reassuring smile which she returned uneasily. He led her over to her room and made her lay down on the bed. He went to work, different symbols and pictures flashing above his head as he worked on bandaging her ribs. For a moment she wondered why he didn't just project words. He would be much easier to understand. Regardless, she enjoyed the silence. It was an opportunity to think.
A house, a snowflake, and a question mark suddenly flickered over his head, and she grimaced. He wanted to know more about her. She thought it would be difficult talking about her past, or at least stressful, but apparently having a silent listener and having had very few people to talk to had driven her to a breaking point.
Everything came pouring out in a rush that both startled and relaxed her. Everything was out in the open now. She wasn't hiding anything.
When she finished she realized that Sandy had finished and was gazing at her sympathetically. "Sorry," she offered. He simply shook his head and patted her shoulder, a heart flashing above his head.
He had gone floating towards the door when she realized it was open and that Jack was standing there. He looked shocked, sad, and even a little guilty. She felt her cheeks blaze under his scrutiny. Sandy waved to Jack and disappeared out the door.
"How are you feeling?" Jack asked her, leaning his staff against the wall as he came to sit by her.
"Better, I guess. Still not great, but I suppose that's to be expected," she replied quietly, not meeting his gaze. "What happened down there Jack?" He knew what he was referring to, the giant black mass or person or whatever it was that had attacked them.
He took a deep breath, leaning against the bedpost before telling her everything. He told her a lot more than she necessarily needed to know, but she now had an idea of who Pitch was and what he was capable of doing.
"All of those children…" Elsa breathed when he was done.
Jack nodded. "I know. We can't allow him to do anything like that again." He was so serious that it even made her nervous. After being with the Guardians for even a short amount of time, she'd come to find that Jack was by far the most rambunctious of them all.
Elsa felt something cold and unforgiving tear at her heart. "He was trying to use my fear, and my powers, as a weapon, Jack. He knows that I'm out of control, and he wants to use that to hurt people!" Her voice shook as she spoke and Jack longed to hold her, to comfort her, to do anything. He was afraid of hurting her again. After hearing her story, he found he wanted nothing more than to make sure she never went through anything like that again.
But first he had to tell her the truth. He had to rid himself of this nagging guilt that was festering inside him.
Jack swallowed nervously. "Elsa…your powers…you only have them because of me." He had to practically force himself to get the words out.
Elsa shook her head, not understanding that his words were completely truthful. She thought he was simply trying to shoulder the blame himself. He gripped her arms tightly. "Elsa, listen!" she froze, staring at him wide-eyed. "When you were born, only about a month or two after, I gave you your powers. It was me."
He tensed, waiting for her to fly off the handle, to scream and rave at him, but it never happened. Instead she did something he didn't suspect at all. She burst into tears.
"I-I can't go back there ever, can I? It's hopeless. I don't have any control. Damn! This is why I went off by myself. This is why I should be by myself. That way I can't hurt anyone anymore!" she cried, turning away from him and towards the window. She winced as a stabbing pain ran through her side. Though Sandy had done a well enough job with them, they still hurt.
Jack felt helpless for a moment. He suddenly hated himself for what he'd done to her, and what he hadn't done to help her. "Elsa I'm so sorry," he told her earnestly. Her shoulders were hunched, partly in despair and partly from the pain she was feeling.
She started when she felt his hand on her shoulder. She looked up at him with sad eyes. "I'm not mad at you, Jack. You gave me these powers, but my decisions caused all of this to happen. You couldn't have done anything," she said softly, looking down at the ground. "You didn't turn me into the monster I've become." The duke's accusations echoed in her mind.
Shaking his head, he pulled her closer, being careful of her ribs. She felt a myriad of emotions swirl within her, some good, some bad. Jack's eyes looked wild for a moment before she suddenly found he was growing nearer. His face was getting closer to hers, and just like last time he'd kissed her, she decided she was okay with it. She was more than okay with it. She cared about him, deeply, and in that one moment she didn't care if he reciprocated anything. She just wanted to kiss him.
As his lips found hers, his arms wound around her waist. Her breath caught as he pulled her flush against his body, still careful of her ribs. He kissed her feverishly, as if he would never get this moment back, and for a second she felt a flash of fear that he would pull away and abandon her again like last time. It lasted only a moment before she relaxed into him, kissing him back with equal passion.
She suddenly felt very warm, a feeling that was strange to her. Jack pulled away, a small smile gracing his lips. Pressing a brief kiss to her forehead, he wrapped his arms around her and hugged her tightly to him. "You're not a monster, Elsa. Stay with me tonight," he pleaded quietly. She wasn't sure she heard him correctly at first.
She lifted her head from where it was resting on his chest to stare at him in shock. "Jack, I—" she started. She felt her cheeks warm again.
He grinned wryly. "I don't mean like that Elsa. I just don't want to let you go yet."
She felt tears sting at her eyes. She hugged him tightly and kissed his chest right over his heart. "Okay," she whispered.
"You can rest now, snowflake, I've got you."
