Jack started and hurriedly tried to wipe his face.
"Nothing... Thought you had hurt yourself..." Jack lied.
"No no no no, Jack, no more lying to me," said Elsa, leaning forward and pulling his hands away from his face.
"But I really am worried about you. You're like my best friend." "Jack, you've been worrying about me since the moment we met! I think it's about time that I started worrying about you," said Elsa.
Jack looked up at her, his ice blue eyes still glistening with tears. She smiled a small smile which he tried to return.
He bit his lip
"So... I talked to Toothiana... She wanted me to ask you if you wanted to go shopping for clothes and shoes later..." Jack said. Elsa looked at him sadly. Why wouldn't he tell her what was bothering him? She just sighed. "Ok. Um. Yeah...that-that sounds great," she said.
Jack nodded and stood up, about to walk out. But as he passed Elsa, she took his arm.
"Jack," she said. "If you need anything, if something's bothering you, I'm here for you okay?"
Jack nodded weakly , attempting another smile. "Thanks Elsa. I mean it...thank you. Now, uh, let's go let the others know that you're alright." "Okay." Elsa got up, but immediately bent over again. "Ugh! Ow!" Jack rushed to her side. "Elsa? Elsa, are you okay?"
She shook her head.
"Headache... I get those sometimes...I'll be okay." "Oh, okay...I thought it might have been an after effect of when you fainted."
"Yeah maybe that too. Okay, well...let's go!"
They walked out of the lounge where North was pacing, ringing his hands again, and Toothiana was chattering on and on even though no one was really paying attention. She saw them come out of the room.
"Oh, Mademoiselle! Juene homme! Are you all right? You gave us such a fright!" She said, clutching her heart with one hand and fanning her face with the other. "Yes, yes, Toothie, I am fine. I was just...excited to finally be home."
"Are you sure you're okay?" North asked
She nodded . "Yes, I'm perfectly fine," she said, doing her best at a bright smile. "So, Toothie! Jack mentioned something about new clothes and shoes?"
Toothiana immediately jumped on the subject. "Oh, oui, mademoiselle! Paris has some of the best shopping in the world!"
"Oh you simply MUST see the Eiffel Tower mademoiselle! But first we shall go to dinner! Come come!" Toothiana said, tugging Elsa's arm .
Despite herself, Elsa felt a tingle of excitement. She had always wanted to see this Eiffel Tower that she had heard so much about and she had just realized how hungry she was when her stomach growled extremely loudly.
Toothiana laughed .
Despite herself, Elsa felt a tingle of excitement. She had always wanted to see this Eiffel Tower that she had heard so much about and she had just realized how hungry she was when her stomach growled extremely loudly.
"Come child!" Now Elsa laughed, because Toothiana was at least a year younger than she was. Toothiana took off skipping down the sidewalk into the heart of Paris. Elsa looked back at Jack and Vlad. North was beaming at Toothiana, but Jack was looking at her sadly.
Paris holds the key to her past, she was the princess, found at last
No more pretend, you'll be gone, that's the end... Jack thought . That was it...she would be gone. No more petty little arguments, no more dances on the deck, no more snickering at North's oversized furry coat. He would be on his own again. He wasn't good enough for her anyway, he thought. He shook he's head, snapping out of his thoughts, realizing that he was staring at her. He quickly smiled.
"What?" She asked.
"Uh, nothing, I'm, I'm just really hungry."
She shook her head laughing.
"What is it with guys being hungry all the time?" She teased .
He scoffed. "Says the girl who complained for 2 hours about wanting chocolate right after lunch!"
She just rolled her eyes and they laughed together, something they both desperately needed. "Well, if your so hungry, let's go! Toothiana says she knows of a great place."
He smiled halfheartedly and followed her .
She ran ahead to catch up with Sophie and started giggling and talking together as though they had known each other all their lives. Elsa looked so beautiful when she was happy. Her cheeks glowed a rosy pink and her eyes sparkled like diamonds in the moonlight.
It took his breath away, so it really didn't help his situation when, as Sophie took them on a tour of the sights of the city, she took them to the Eiffel Tower "Great. Just great." He muttered bitterly to himself.
But the rest of the group thought it was wonderful. They were all talking at once, Toothiana filling them in on the history, North talking about the vendors, and Elsa saying every 5 seconds how she couldn't wait to see it.
She stared in awe out the window of the taxi carriage. Everywhere she looked there were people; all kinds of people. Aristocrats wearing rich furs and layers of silk and middle class men and also the occasional beggar. Those are the people who tugged at Elsa's heart. She had been like one of those only a short while ago.
"STOP THE CARRIAGE!" She shouted
"W-what's wrong Elsa?" Jack said
"Mon dieu! are you all right Madamoiselle?!" Toothiana said
Elsa got out of the carriage and gave a nearby beggar her last few dollars out of her handbag . He was a small boy, probably about 13 years old, but he was so frail and small that he could have been 8. At first, he didn't take the money, but Elsa gently took his small, dirty hand and pressed the money into it. The boy looked at her with wide eyes. "M-merci, madam..."
She smiled and kissed the boy's forehead . He blushed, looked at her one last time, then scampered away into the crowd. Elsa stared after the boy for a moment, then walked back to the carriage. When she got in, Jack, North, and Toothiana were looking at her.
"What?" She asked. Toothiana immediately became flustered.
"That was the sweetest thing I've ever seen!" She blurted out
Elsa flushed pink . "It was nothing, it just felt like the right thing to do."
"Nothing?" Said North. "You might have changed that boys life for the better, Elsa!"
Elsa blushed again. What was the big deal? She glanced at Jack, who had said nothing, but was looking at her with a small smile, his face had flushed pale pink . Wait, why was his face pink? Was he blushing from embarrassment? ...or pride? She hoped it was pride. She smiled back at him, then he made a silly face at her, making her giggle. It felt good to laugh, she realized. She hadn't done that very often since embarking on this voyage. She was scared , lonely, shy...but now, for the first time, despite the fact that she was about to pretend to be the Grand Duchess Elysia, she felt happy. And she was going to hold on to that.
She put on a huge smile. "So, Sophie, how is the food at this place?" "Oh it's fabulous! It is known for it's exotic foreign foods! They have Indian, Japanese-"
But she just tuned her out, staring out the window again in worry... What if She wasn't the Duchess? What if as soon as she said something in the court everyone would know I wasn't her and they would drag her off to the dungeon to rot? North would be crushed, Toothiana would probably lose all her trust and Jack...he would turn his back to she forever. He just wanted money... He didn't have anything to go back to Russia for, he said so himself, he'd just run away to Norway or something .
But she would do it.
She would make them believe her. For Jack.
For North.
For Toothiana.
For herself.
After supper they went to see the Eiffel Tower, Jack seemed nervous, but everyone, especially Elsa, was having a good time. Toothiana was going on about the history of the tower, the architect, and the significance of the shape. North was in a deep discussion with a crepe vendor, and Elsa was staring down at the beautiful city from above Jack stared in awe at her, and put his hand in his pocket, his fingers curled around a flower in his pocket he had meant to give her.
He was stupid to even think he had a chance with her.
He threw the flower out the window and watched it float down to the pavement far below. "Hey," Elsa came up to him.
"Oh, uh, hi," said Jack , shaking his head.
Elsa sighed and leaned her hands agains the railing, the breeze sending her hair out in waves behind her.
"This is the most beautiful view in the whole world..."
No, thought Jack, I could probably think of one more... She turned to look at him and he hastily looked away over the shining city.
Nothing he could do now... He looked back at her, trying to put on a neutral expression. Elsa's eyes were shining from the lights below and her smile was radiant, but there was something sad in her expression.
"Hey, what's the matter?" He asked.
"What?" She asked, confused.
"You look pretty..." He couldn't help it, it was true... Well actually not really, it was actually an extreme understatement but he couldn't tell her that...
"Thank you..." She mumbled, blushing . Suddenly he blushed too. Why would he say that!?
"Uh, s-sorry, um, I- I-that was awkward. I- um...ugh. Never mind."
He turned away, pressing the heels of his hands against his eyes. "It's just... I mean it's the truth... I'm sure that you'll make it..." He muttered .
"What did you say?" Said Elsa, coming up behind him.
"I-uh," he didn't know what to say. Should he tell her the truth? That she was the real Duchess Elysia? That they could never see each other again after she took her rightful place on the throne?
He decided to tell her the truth and sighed, mentally preparing himself.
He turned to her and looked at her intently. She was looking back at him with concern.
"Jack, what's wrong? You can tell me," she said gently.
He sighed again.
"See the thing is..." But he couldn't bring himself to do it . Come on, don't be a baby. She deserves to know, he told himself. He could see that she was struggling to understand his pain.
"Jack, come on, talk to me," she said, trying to look him in the eye.
Finally he squeezed his eyes shut. "You're the Grand Duchess Elysia!"
