A/N: I broke my New Year's Resolution just for you guys.

The Appointed Day Arrives

"So when were you planning to tell me about this?"

Jack rolled his eyes. He finished dusting the counter and turned a weary eye on Kristoff. "There's no need to be so dramatic."

"I'm not being dramatic."

Sven scoffed.

"You know what, if you love him so much then marry him already."

Jack laughed. "The reindeer knows what's up, is all. Besides, I thought you could care less about the coronation."

Kristoff threw his hands up in the air. "Well it's kind of a big deal when the crown princess decides to visit you, of all people, in broad daylight, for the first time in seven years, to model for an ice sculpture. Made by you."

"That's the plan."

"So forgive me for freaking out about how huge this is."

Kristoff and Sven had come in for one last drop-off while Jack was putting the finishing touch on his third rough model. Curiosity had gotten the better of the two, and it wasn't too long before Jack found himself explaining the secret he'd been keeping from them for several weeks. Sven had shrugged nonchalantly whilst sniffing around for carrots as Kristoff's eyes proceeded to bulge comically from their sockets.

Jack placed his hands on his hips. "Well she's coming in a couple of hours so you're going to have to vacate the premises soon. I don't want stinky reindeer to be the first thing Her Highness smells upon her entrance."

Kristoff pointed his thumb back at his friend. "That'll cost you some carrots."

Jack narrowed his eyes. He reached into his pocket and threw Sven a carrot.

"Happy?"

Sven grinned.

"Are you even supposed to be telling me this?" Kristoff asked.

Jack shrugged. "Probably not. What are they going to do about it? I doubt they know I'm talking to you right now. Besides, I'm certain none of you have sinister designs for the Crown Princess."

"Maybe I'll take her back to my ice cave in the mountains and make her my Stone Bride."

Jack winced. "Is that what they're saying nowadays?"

"Either that or I'm coupling with trolls in a demonic ritual every full moon."

"You're not?"

Kristoff raised his pickaxe, causing Jack to duck under the counter. "One of these days, Jack. One of these days."

Jack peeked over the edge of the counter and winked. "See you later, Kristoff and Sven."

"Good luck with everything. Hope it isn't too much of a screw-up."

"Love you too."

The two left. Jack leaned on the counter, stroking his chin and attempting to make sense of the emotions churning inside of him. Excitement, dread, hope, fear, happiness, all of them struggling to attain dominance over the others. In truth he was just a bundle of nerves.

Outside a crowd was forming in the square. Workers from the castle had come early in the morning to set up the parade walkway through the town. Soldiers were arrayed in lines to hold back the growing tide of people. The din of the crowd was loud enough that it breached the walls of Jack's store. Their energy was contagious, but it only served to heighten Jack's mess of emotions. He took a deep breath, detached from the counter, and walked into his work room.

He had cleaned the place up as best as he could the night before, and cleared up a space solely for the princess to stand as he worked on the sculpture. He'd left the window open to allow a breeze in and some light to shine on her eventual location. He'd even brought in some canteens in case she got thirsty, and a chair when she needed rest. He'd forced himself to make his rough drafts in record time, but in this case he needed to be patient with the art in order to be sure it was sufficient enough to represent royalty, much less reside alongside it.

Jack rested his hand on the large ice block Kristoff had brought in earlier, the final template he was to use for the sculpture. It was bigger than most, for the result was to be a little larger than life, a head above a tall man, probably taller in the end, for most likely it was to be set on a raised dais. Either way, it needed to be grand, and height was a big factor.

You got this, Jack. You got this.

XXX

You have this, Elsa. You have this.

The handmaiden tightened the corset, which elicited a squeal from somewhere inside of her she was instantly ashamed of.

Just try not to suffocate before it's all over.

"Sorry, m'lady," the young woman muttered. She was barely more than a child, picked up from the artisan district to assist in this matter. There were two other girls, all young and shy, with Gerda clucking about them like a mother hen. Usually Gerda alone would be enough to dress her up, but Forseth had wanted to be absolutely sure everything was perfect, so he'd allowed some outsiders in solely for this matter.

"It's fine, Heidi," Elsa said, a little breathless. "Perhaps we could lessen the tightness, Gerda?"

Gerda was in the process of twisting her hair into an updo. "You'll be fine, my lady. You're just not used to it, is all. Besides, you're in excellent shape, so the uncomfortableness will be over quicker than you think."

"What if they notice? What if I-?"

"What if, what if. No matter, my lady. They'll be too busy staring at your beauty to notice that you might be slightly out-of-breath. Ida, be a dear and retrieve the dress for me. Oh, would you look at that. Isn't it simply magnificent?"

The girls cooed as Ida brought it in from the wardrobe, and even Elsa allowed herself some indulgence. It was a beautiful dress, a shimmering, soft shade of blue from the modest neckline to the train. Upon closer inspection she could see a crocus pattern embroidered onto the translucent sleeves that ran down to the elbow. A kind of giddiness erupted inside of her, something she rarely ever felt. Elsa didn't get to wear dresses like this most of the time.

She couldn't help but smile as they put the dress on her. Gerda and the girls gasped in delight. "Oh, Elsa," Gerda said, hands on her chest. "You look stunning."

The girls nodded furiously. Elsa laughed.

"It's an improvement."

"Oh, enough of that." Gerda tidied up her hair a little more. "Arendelle won't know what hit them."

There was a knock on the door, and Kai poked his head in. "Is everyone ready to - oh, Elsa. You look absolutely beautiful."

The three girls squealed and hurried to push Kai out and close the door, but Elsa waved to them that it was okay. "Let him be, girls. He is perfectly within his rights."

The girls backed down, but were obviously uncomfortable with the situation. It was not proper for a man to view a woman in her chambers as she was dressing, much less the Crown Princess. However, both Kai and Gerda had been with the princesses since before the accident, longer than even her parents. He'd known her for as long as she was alive.

Plus, it was well known in the royal family Kai didn't view women in a way most men did. It was part of the reason he'd been allowed to stay while the rest of the male staff was sent away.

"Forseth and his posse are waiting in the foyer."

Elsa nearly snorted, but thought better of it. "And the bishop?"

"Heading down to the square to address the people. They're already a massive crowd, I hear. Hundreds of the townspeople have gathered to see you, princess."

Elsa's stomach churned violently. She rested a hand on Gerda and Heidi to steady herself. Gerda clucked at Kai disapprovingly; he apologized hurriedly and rushed off. Gerda stroked the princess's hair. "You'll be fine, dear. The guards will be with you, so will Nathanael. You'll be well-protected."

No guards can protect me from judging eyes and poisonous mouths.

"You're right. Thank you, Gerda."

"Trust me, you'll be through the town, in the store, and out quicker than you think. Kai, your sister and I will be here when you get back."

The store. Sculpture. Jack Frost. Anna sneaking out to see him.

What kind of man has a giant portrait of her parents hanging on the wall?

"I've seen him," whispered Zuzanna, the last girl. A conspiratorial grin had made its way onto her mouth despite herself. "Mother wanted me to pick up a figurine from him a few weeks ago."

"Isn't he handsome?" Heidi followed as she did worked on Elsa's dress from behind.

"Like a pale god," gushed Ida. "And that hair!"

They giggled.

Gerda glared at them.

They blushed and apologized, returning to their work.

When Anna had returned to the castle after being lectured by Forseth, Elsa had detained and interrogated her as big sisters normally did: What happened, what possessed you, what were you thinking?

What did he look like?

Anna had grumbled the usual responses, but when it came to that last query, her face changed, not unlike the faces of her new handmaidens as they giggled and blushed about Mr. Jack Frost. Anna's words had only been "he's okay, I don't see the fuss about it all you probably wouldn't like him" but her eyes hadn't lied.

Elsa surveyed herself in the mirror.

This man is talked about too much for his own good. He'll probably be a let-down, if things progress the way they always have. I'm sure he'll be ordinary. Like everyone else. Will he like me?

If you're going to be sculpted by him he better like you.

"Okay," Gerda said. "All set."

"Thank you, Gerda. Thank you, girls."

They blushed again and curtsied clumsily. They picked up her train as they left her chambers and walked down the corridors. Elsa sensed them gazing in awe at everything they passed whilst struggling to catch up with her nerve-quickened steps. When they reached the stairs they saw Forseth and five of the guards waiting in the foyer. Forseth looked up and an uncharacteristically soft smile appeared on his face.

"Princess. You look magnificent."

Elsa nodded, secretly pleased. "My thanks, Lord Forseth."

"Are we ready to leave?"

Gerda nodded. "Dressed her up as best as we could, my lord."

"You've performed excellently."

Elsa walked down the staircase, and the Captain of the Royal Guard, Sir Raine, offered his hand as she completed the last few steps. "Thank you, sir," she said, and the older man smiled. After Robert had disappeared along with her parents, the man had returned from retirement to serve the crown once more. He was a good man, with five children and a loving wife.

If he died today, would the fault fall on her?

The thought had come unexpectedly, but when it did, dread followed suit. The sight of grim-faced Forseth and the guards had elicited a feeling of apprehension. Elsa glimpsed movement outside the door through the windows. She spared a glance and saw a group of even more guards, fully armored, waiting outside. So much protection for a simple parade. Why?

Forseth must have seen the discomfort on her face.

"The guards are more for the crowd to worry about than you, princess. I assure you, everything is fine." He turned his attention back to Gerda and the girls. "Anna?"

Gerda shook her head. Elsa looked down at her feet, worried about her sister and the sudden gloom that had befallen her. She could be moody, that much was obvious, but this avoidance was unlike her.

"No matter," said Forseth. "This is your time, Elsa. Your sister will get over herself eventually. Everything is going to be okay."

Elsa knew what an exceptional liar Lord Nathanael Forseth was, but Elsa was good at reading people, and however trained Forseth might be, she could sense some hidden truth behind his words. She stared at him, and he held eye contact (something he would have another man whipped for doing), but still, there was something he wasn't telling her.

She looked away and put it aside. There were other matters to attend to.

"I'm ready."

The door opened.

XXX

A long time ago, perhaps a year after the Island, Jack had said farewell to the Indigo Queen and sought better fortune by himself in the new and wide world that was before him. They'd set port in a small fishing town south of Arendelle and left him there after profuse goodbyes. Left with his staff, a few foodstuffs and supplies, and a bag of one-hundred-and-fifty crown pieces, he'd set off to make a name for himself.

As he stood on the docks and watched the Indigo Queen sail off and eventually disappear around an arm of land that enclosed the bay, a sensation of intense importance had washed over him. That what just occurred was undeniably significant and would never be forgotten for as long as he lived, even if he outdid Time itself. He'd felt like that only a few times before: his awakening after his death, meeting the Guardians, meeting the Bennetts, defeating Pitch, Jamie leaving, Sophie leaving forever, the Island, what happened after. Things in between not as major but just as memorable. This time it was a feeling of nostalgia and hope, that he finally had a purpose, something to work for. A promise to keep. He would not waste away his eternal days wallowing in pity and regret. No, he had a mission. He was going to complete that mission - fulfill that promise - no matter what.

He didn't go straight to Arendelle like he thought he would. Instead he traveled the strange new world seeing fantastic sights and meeting new people, being horrified and entranced and taken aback and delighted at all these things that were different and alike at the same time. Women who were half-fish singing lovely songs to him as he sat on a white beach. Terrible beasts that roamed in dark woods and preyed on unwary travelers. Gleaming cities that sparkled in the sunlight more glorious than New York or the North Pole. And lands to the west he'd only glimpsed from a merchant's galley sailing from the Southern Isles, where he'd heard of roads built of gold and people made out of playing cards that warred on fields greener than ever.

Strange things. Different things.

And yet things were the same.

People were the same. They were as greedy and evil and avaricious and selfish as ever, but they were also good and kind and peaceful and generous. This had not changed. This he was happy with.

He'd done all these things because of one moment standing on a dock and allowing life to take him where it needed him to go.

Outside his new store the crowd's cheers multiplied. The roar was deafening. Jack, in all his travels, had rarely heard such a joyful noise.

It was finally happening.

And so the same sensation washed over him again as he leaned against the counter. This was importance. This was significant. This mattered.

I need to see her.

XXX

The chariot, Forseth had assured her, was built solely for this occasion, and was entirely fool-proof and incapable of failing to uphold Elsa as the horses pulled her along the city she had not fully viewed in seven years. That particular time had ended in disaster, her freezing a guard's lower leg when someone in the crowd had set off a firecracker in excitement. Her parents and Forseth had worked hard to cover the whole debacle up; fortunately in the people's joy no one had seen it, but the man had to get his leg amputated and was subsequently dismissed from service.

The memory added to her internal distress, already amplified by the unsteady rocking of the "fool-proof" chariot. Apparently not impervious to the fool who'd built it. Elsa did not know if it was the cobblestones, the horses, of the shoddy engineering, but whatever it was she cursed it to oblivion as she struggled to stand straight and wave at the endless faces of people who, for some reason, were incredibly overjoyed to see her.

But the chariot was, if anything else, exceedingly beautiful. White and encrusted with pearls, with blue waves carved into the side to make it seem as if she was riding out of the very sea itself. There was a pink cushion for her to use when tired of standing, which would probably never happen due to the amount of verbal prodding Forseth whispered at her when she unconsciously slumped. Forseth and the guards - two dozen in total - walked alongside the chariot, with countless more guards lined up in the street to push back the people.

There were hundreds of townspeople, as Kai had said, common men, women and children who she would eventually rule over. It was disconcerting for her at first, to see so many people at a single time when she was only accustomed to seeing less than ten at most at any given day. Forseth, her sister, Kai and Gerda, Bishop Joakim (who had retreated to the church after giving a wonderful speech about her magnanimity and grace), and a few nobility who'd fought their pride to come pander to her in the castle. Now they were everywhere, and so loud. It was hard for Elsa to hear her own thoughts. They were screaming and yelling things Elsa was sure - sincerely hoped - were pleasant, but the din was so deafening she honestly could barely distinguish a thing. But she smiled as best as she could and waved.

She was happier than expected, however. It began when she'd walked outside the castle for the first time in forever, and although she was hemmed in by guards, she felt free. Like invisible confines that had wrapped around her for years had fallen off and now, somehow the sky seemed bluer, the wind softer, the sun brighter than ever before. The sea was nearer and so much bigger than from behind the walls of the castle, stretching far into the horizon, a horizon rimmed with clouds so white and soft to look at. She wanted to weep at the beauty of it all. Smells and sights and sensations she hadn't experienced fully in seven years all came back to her in one mind-blowing rush. Was this how Anna felt when she disobeyed direct orders and visited the town? If so, Elsa understood. She could not say if there were many feelings more glorious than the sensation of freedom. She wished Anna was here to see this, to experience this with her.

Even now, standing on the chariot, she felt happy. The town that had seemed like a fabricated reality outside the castle windows was now real and true and near, and she loved it instantly. The small humble homes all arranged in a row, the bright colors and plain walls of the square they were approaching. It was more beautiful than anything she'd seen in the castle, the people more vibrant and alive than the perfectly composed features of the nobility. Streamers rained down from people standing on their roofs, and they had made signs on walls welcoming her to the city and praising her. It was all very...different. Good, but different. She wondered if she deserved any of this, but the thought must have made her slouch, because one look from Forseth banished any doubts in her head lest they ruin her stature.

As they progressed down the way she got used to the noise, and began to pick up words and noises from the crowd. There were whistles and screams and even catcalls and curses, which sent some guards penetrating the crowd to locate the offenders. Elsa didn't mind the words every much, they were as strange and foreign to her as the lauding and praise.

"God save you, princess!"

"Your beauty knows no bounds!"

"Took you long enough!"

"My children are hungry and I have no way to feed them!"

"We love you so much!"

"A thousand fortunes upon your rule!"

"Take it off!"

"We pray that a good man will seed you, your highness!"

And so on.

Forseth crossed over from his position, the closest to the chariot. "We are approaching Mr. Frost's establishment. After that, we will make our way through the town and return to the castle via the eastern gate."

Elsa nodded. She glanced at the man, who for the first time seemed nervous, something she'd noticed with curiosity and a little satisfaction. Yet it was not like the man to show so openly his apprehension, even if it was well guarded (his eyes were a little wider than normal, and his words clipped and hurried). Elsa leaned down and yelled over the noise. "What's wrong, Lord Forseth?"

Forseth visibly flinched. "Nothing, your grace! And do straighten yourself!"

Elsa did so, but the feeling of dread had not fully left her.

They finally stopped, which amplified the roar of the crowd. Captain Raine helped her off the chariot, and the cobblestones felt rough and hard beneath her blue heels, a feeling that was new to her and more welcome than expected. Elsa looked up and saw a large building with the sign in front saying: The Winter Gallery: Ice Sculptures and Other Unique Items.

Ice sculptures in summer? Elsa marveled at the audacity and perhaps plain stupidity of the owner of the store. Did Mr. Frost's sculptures really never melt? What kind of unique items did he possess? Was he as beautiful as they said? What would he think of her? Was she to make a good impression, or fail?

Elsa shook her head. Too many thoughts at once. That coupled with the intensity of the crowd was enough to make her legs tremble. This was all happening faster than she'd hoped and soon she'd break like she did seven years before.

Conceal, don't feel…

I can't…

A hand on the small of her back steadied her. She gasped and looked up to see Forseth closer than he'd ever been, his face tight and grim. "Don't let them see your weakness, princess. Fight it."

Elsa nodded. "I will."

"Let's go."

The guards opened a way through the crowd for them to walk up the steps of the store's large porch. The yells of the crowd became questions as they voiced their confusion as to why she was visiting the new store that had so recently captured their attention. She imagined this would only increase their gossip about Mr. Frost and his curiosity shop. Forseth dropped his guard and openly glared at the crowd (which silenced many) before opening the door and allowing her to be shepherded in by Captain Raine and his lieutenant.

Before she crossed the threshold, a peculiar feeling washed over her - as the sudden cold did her body, causing goosebumps to erupt over her bare skin - a feeling of intense portent that bewildered her and excited her at the same time. What was to happen was supposed to happen, and the events to unfold were as undeniable as the rising of the sun, or the presence of a full moon at the night of its coming.

She walked in, Forseth and the other guards followed, and they closed the door behind her with a momentous bang.

A/N: You didn't expect me to satisfy you so soon, did you? Anyway, I kinda hate you guys. I wasn't planning to upload this for a WHILE but your awesomeness overwhelmed me. Thanks for reading, and make sure to drop a review on your way out.