Omg, this story is officially 1 years old today! Thanks to everyone who read/reviewed so far! It truly means a lot! :D
Anyway, this is sort of the continuation of the previous chapter explaining how Jack and Elsa first met! If you stick til the very end, there may or may not be a bit of *ahem*, y'know...fluffy stuff.
After Elsa placed Oliver in his crib, she gently secured the blankets around his little body before leaning in to kiss the top of her baby's head. This was one of the hardest parts about being a parent; kissing your child goodnight and knowing that you won't be able to see their precious little smile until they wake up in the morning. If she could, Elsa wouldn't let Oliver out of her arms. She just adored and treasured her three month old infant so, so much.
Back downstairs in the grand living room, just when Anna was starting to become a bit impatient, she sighed in relief when Elsa finally returned. The Princess was just so intrigued by the story Jack was telling them so far, the story of how he and Elsa first met. Elsa smiled before returning to her spot beside Jack, stifling a laugh when she saw her sister sigh exasperatedly.
"Is Oliver asleep?" Jack asked, turning to Elsa.
She nodded her head. "He was already asleep by the time I reached the nursery."
"Okay, now that Elsa's back," Anna turned to the Guardian. "Now can you continue?"
"Anna..." laughed Elsa.
"What? I love stories," said the Princess.
Jack just chuckled. "Alright. Anyway, like I said earlier, after North and the others didn't believe me, I made it my mission to get to the bottom of this. And I knew that in order to do that, I had to come back here, to Arendelle."
...
A week had passed since Jack's first visit to Arendelle, and since then, the images he saw did not leave his head. All that ice and snow, the ice castle and that girl who somehow possessed the same powers as him. It just seemed impossible. Surely, Jack and the others would have known if there was some other person out there who could conjure up magic, especially powers that matched one of theirs.
The thoughts were burning his mind. He hated how he wasn't able to return to Arendelle right away. He could have, but he knew that as a Guardian, he had more important obligations than some frozen village down in Norway. But now that Jack has finished his Guardian duties for the time being, finally it was time to take another trip to Arendelle, and to hopefully get answers to the thousands of questions that kept his mind busy for seven whole days. And most importantly, it would get North, Bunny, Tooth and Sandy to finally realize that Jack was telling the truth the entire time, that he had nothing to do with Arendelle's sudden winter storm.
After making sure that the others wouldn't spot him, Jack took a hold of his wooden staff, silently jumped out of a window and flew, watching as North's Workshop grew farther and farther with each mile, until there was nothing left. He sped through the north winds, until he found himself in Norway yet again a few hours later.
Just as Jack was closing in on Arendelle, he stopped mid-flight when he saw what he was looking at.
Green. Grass, flowery hills, trees, stone paths...
Everything wasn't frozen anymore. In fact, it was the complete opposite. Everything was thawed.
Jack's eyebrows knitted in confusion. Just last week, everything was covered in white, like an unending snow storm that ceased to stop. But looking at Arendelle now, you would have never expected it to have even touched a single snowflake.
"Okay, there is definitely something going on," Jack whispered to himself.
Jack only continued to grow more curious. He started to fly through the air, wondering to himself if he made a mistake; maybe this isn't Arendelle? But there was something inside of him that told him otherwise.
As the Guardian continued to fly, little stone buildings and stables and bridges started to come into view, until seconds later, he realized that he was in the middle of a village. Jack kept a safe distance, but his eyes wandered around, taking in the surroundings and people until his blue eyes caught something else.
There was a castle leading into a large body of water. Not like the ice castle he saw last week, but an actual castle with opened gates. It was surrounded by water while a valley of hills and mountains sat in the background. Jack raised an eyebrow again. What's with Arendelle and castles?
But what really caught Jack's attention was when he looked down to what seemed to be the front doors to the castle. There he saw a brown haired girl and tall man standing at the entrance, while a reindeer stood a few feet away. Jack's eyes widened - he recognizes them. They're the ones that he saw last week, the ones that were at the ice castle while he was there.
Jack wasn't sure if they had anything to do with the ice castle or the blonde girl with the ice powers, but he slowly flew in closer, hiding behind one of the tall towers that surrounded the castle walls, and peered down.
"Ooh, Kristoff, I'm so excited! I've never been to the other side of the kingdom before!"
"You haven't? But Arendelle is your-"
"Our parents didn't allow us to leave the castle. With the whole incident between me and Elsa years ago, remember?"
"...Right. Sorry, I still gotta get use to this whole thing."
Jack raised an eyebrow as he listened to them. The girl's words were interesting, and Jack wished he knew what they were talking about. Arendelle is her what? And what incident? And why didn't her parents let them leave? But all those questions flew out of his mind when a third person entered their conversation.
The Guardian's eyes widened. It was her. The blonde girl he saw in the ice castle last week, the girl who, somehow, is able to produce ice and snow with her very own hands.
Jack watched as the blonde girl stepped in to give the other girl a hug. "Now, take care of my sister, Kristoff. Make sure she doesn't go wandering around on her own."
"I'll be fine!" said the girl with brown hair.
The tall man laughed and said, "Don't worry. I think we both know that it's best to keep an eye on her."
"And what is that suppose to mean?" asked the other girl.
"Nothing," he answered.
The girl playfully rolled her eyes before turning to the blonde. "Are you sure you don't want to come?"
The blonde shook her head. "I'd love to, Anna, but I have a lot of things to take care of."
"Oh, right. Queen stuff," teased the other girl.
The blonde just smiled and said, "Have fun and stay safe, okay?"
And with that, Anna and Kristoff, Jack assumed were their names, walked out of the castle gates with the reindeer trailing behind them, leaving the blonde girl at the entrance of the castle gates. When Anna and Kristoff disappeared around the corner, Jack turned back to look at the girl, but saw that she was no longer there.
Jack didn't understand what was going on. Did that girl live in this castle? And what did the brown haired girl mean by 'Queen stuff'? Jack shook his head to himself. No, that girl can't be the Queen. But then again, it does seem like she lives in this castle. And the way she spoke gave off a sort of...regal air to her.
Jack frowned again. This whole thing was suppose to be about proving the other Guardians wrong, and getting proof that he had nothing to do with Arendelle's freezing. But how on earth is he suppose to do that now when this entire village is somehow thawed? Jack wanted an explanation, but how? It seemed impossible.
Or, almost impossible.
He breathed in through his nose as he looked back at the front doors where the blonde girl was standing just moments ago. Jack knew that if he wanted to get his questions answers so that North and the others could realize that he was telling the truth, then Jack knew that he had to confront the one person he knows could answer all his questions.
The blonde girl with the blue dress; the girl who somehow has the same powers as him.
He shot up into the air before looking down at the castle below. He carefully flew to the other side of the castle where he immediately spotted an outdoor balcony from the top floor of one of the rooms. Even though Jack knew that he was basically trespassing, he didn't care because all he wanted was to get what he came here for; he was just so sick of the others blaming him for things he didn't do.
He descended his flight before landing both feet on the balcony before hopping off. Luckily for him, the balcony doors were open. Jack raised an eyebrow as he swung his staff over his shoulder before pushing the white curtains behind to peer inside.
He found himself staring into a royal, office-like room. It was a large room with bookshelves on each walls, with regal furniture and expensive looking decor. But what really caught Jack's eyes were the portraits that were lined on each wall. He placed his staff against a table and slowly walked over to look at the many portraits that decorated the walls.
There was one portrait of a man and woman. Husband and wife, probably. And at their feet were two young girls, one with brown hair and one with blonde hair. It didn't take too long for Jack to realize who those two girls were. But when Jack saw the next portrait, he found himself staring at it for a long time. It was of the blonde girl; she had her hair up in a bun while she wore a very conservative black and teal dress. But what made Jack stare was the expression she wore on her face; there was a tone of seriousness, fright and loneliness. He knew, because it was an expression he wore on his face for over 300 years.
Jack continued to scan over the portraits, that he didn't hear the sound of footsteps approaching the room until he heard the doorknob click. The Guardian snapped his head towards the door while his eyes widened. As panic seared through his body, Jack moved and hid behind a tall bookshelf, which was the closest thing to him.
He cursed under his breath, realizing that he could have just flown out of the room. But because he panicked, here he is, hiding behind some shelf in the middle of a castle. Great; now how was he ever going to get out?
The door opened, and to Jack's absolute dismay, the blonde haired girl walked in with her sparkling blue dress trailing behind her gracefully. Jack sighed and shook his head to himself. Wonderful; out of all the rooms in this damn castle, he just had to pick this one.
The blonde walked in, slowly sweeping her braid over one shoulder before walking over to the opposite wall to grab a couple of books. Jack tried his best to squeeze against the shelf, hoping that she wouldn't see him. What was he going to do if she did? How on earth was he ever going to explain this to that girl - a complete stranger?
Jack closed his eyes shut as he heard her footsteps pace around the room. But then he heard the footsteps stop in their place, and just when Jack thought she had maybe sat down, giving him the chance to stealthily fly out of the room, he heard a big -
CLANK
"Oh my...what...what's this?"
Jack's eyes flew open when he heard the blonde's voice, because he knew exactly what she was referring to. He peered behind the shelf and saw her staring at his wooden staff, which had left it's place against the table, and was now lying on the ground. He sighed inaudibly at his stupidity; he completely forgot he had placed it in plain sight.
He stared in horror as the girl started to reach towards it. And that's when Jack snapped.
"Don't touch it."
The girl gasped out loud when she heard the voice. She looked up and saw Jack, a young man with striking white hair and blue eyes, emerge from behind one of the bookshelves. At first, she was too stunned to speak, unable to wrap her mind around the fact that there was a stranger in her royal office. She took a few steps back as she held her hands out in front of her, which Jack instantly noticed.
The girl opened her mouth in fright, as if ready to yell for help, but Jack was quick before she could say anything. "No, wait. This isn't what it looks like," he said.
She took a few more steps back, allowing as much space between them as possible. "Wh-Who are you? How did you get in here?" she asked.
"Look," Jack sighed. "Can I get my sta-"
"Who are you?" she demanded again, but her hands were trembling.
"Let me get my staff first, and then-"
"Please, I'm asking you nicely," she said, trying to hold back the shakiness in her voice. "Tell me, before I get my guards."
Jack's eyes widened. "Guards?" he asked in disbelief. "Whatever it is you're thinking, I'm not here to hurt you or anything."
The blonde girl couldn't help but feel frightened. Not only was she in the same room as this stranger, but in her castle! But she couldn't allow her emotions to show, so she tried her best to keep composure as her eyes pierced into his.
"Then how did you get in the castle? Where are you from? The Southern Isles?" she asked.
The Guardian raised an eyebrow. "The what?"
"Are you here to steal from my kingdom?" she asked him.
Jack stared at the blonde like she was insane. "What are you talking about? I'm not here to steal anything!"
The blonde slowly lowered her hands. His voice sounded sincere, but she knew from past experience to trust her instinct. And this intruder felt like bad news.
"How did you get in the castle?" she asked him again.
Jack sighed deeply. "Can I at least get my staff first?"
The girl frowned, unimpressed with how blunt this guy seemed for being stubborn and not answering her question. All she wanted was for him to answer her, to leave her castle and to leave Arendelle. She wasn't very fond of being around people, especially those who seemed dangerous and suspicious to her.
The girl was hesitant at first, but she gave a quick, vague nod of her head, allowing the intruder to walk over and pick up the crooked stick off the ground. Her eyes never left him; he is certainly not a citizen of Arendelle. She has never seen anyone with hair lighter than hers and eyes as blue as her own. But the intruder had hair the colour of snow, and eyes the colour of ice. It was like something she has never seen.
Once he returned back to his spot, he looked up, only to see the girl staring at him. Jack found himself staring back for half a second, before remembering his reason for coming here in the first place.
"Okay," the girl said warily. "Now that you have your stick-"
"It's called a staff."
"Tell me, how did you get up here?" she demanded.
He sighed. "Okay, first of all, I-I didn't mean to barge into the castle. Your castle, I'm assuming. But I-"
But Jack stopped talking before he could say anything else. How was he ever going to explain the truth? That he's a Guardian with ice powers who got blamed by the other Guardians for freezing an entire town? That he flew to Arendelle to find proof that he had nothing to do with it? No, Jack couldn't tell her that. He would sound absolutely insane. But then again, this blonde girl was the answer to all his questions; she has all the proof that Jack needed. But judging by the way she was staring at him, Jack knew that it would take a lot to get answers out of her.
"You what?" she asked.
He sighed. "It's hard to explain. But trust me, I didn't mean to come into the castle like this. I wasn't going to steal anything, or whatever it was that you said."
The girl continued to look at him. She was never the type of person who would trust or believe someone without getting to know them first. But for some reason, this white haired boy sounded sincere, and for some crazy reason, she believed him.
"What's your name?" he asked her suddenly.
The girl raised an eyebrow at him. "Excuse me?"
Jack shrugged. "Just curious. There's no harm in asking what someone's name is."
"I'd prefer to keep my name to myself," said the girl; she knew that her family's name is no secret, but she just didn't want to say it right now, especially in front of someone who had somehow entered her castle and got away with it.
"Why?" he asked. "It's just a name."
The girl didn't respond. He was beginning to get on her nerves, which surprised her since she usually has a very stable temper. Maybe it was because she is only starting to get use to being around people again after years of being alone; in fact, it has only been a week since Arendelle's thaw. But this white haired boy was starting to become annoying, and all she wanted was for him to leave so that she could focus on her work.
Jack couldn't help but laugh, which earned him an unimpressed glare from the girl. "Not much of a talker, are you?"
She continued to glare at him for a moment before saying, "What's yours?"
"Mine?"
"I think it's only fair, since you did intrude my castle," she said.
Jack rolled his eyes at her choice of words, but he shrugged. "Jack Frost."
She raised an eyebrow. "Your last name is Frost? Like, snow?"
He shrugged again. "It's a long story. Literally."
The blonde looked at him, wondering what he meant, but decided to leave it.
"Okay, so now that I've told you mine," he started. "What's yours?"
As annoyed as the girl was at Jack, she couldn't help but admit that there was something intriguing and interesting about him. It wasn't everyday that you walk into your office to get ready to read dozens of treaty letters, only to find a young man with hair and eyes as light as hers. She has always been a very private person, despite her ranking, but she was never the one to introduce herself. It felt odd.
"Elsa," she said quietly. "My name is Elsa."
"Full name?" he asked.
Elsa took a deep breath, wondering again why she was even telling him these things in the first place. "Queen Elsa of Arendelle," she said quietly.
Jack raised an eyebrow. "A Queen, huh. You don't look like a Queen."
The girl's eyes shot up into his, frowning at his insult. "Excuse me?"
"I mean, if you're a Queen, then where's your crown?" he asked.
Elsa's memory flashed back to when she took her tiara off her head and threw it into who knows where. But she looked at him and said, "Not all Queens wear crowns."
"I thought they did?"
"It really does not concern me if you don't believe me," Elsa snapped, trying to sound as polite as she could.
Jack just laughed. "I also thought that Queens were suppose to be old."
Elsa wasn't sure if that was a compliment or just another rude insult, but she said, "I was born into monarchy," she replied.
He raised an eyebrow. "The shouldn't your mom be the Queen?"
Elsa wanted to sigh out loud; this guy thinks he knows everything, and it was only irritating her even more. "My parents passed away," she said, trying to keep it as short as possible; she felt her heart shatter when she said it.
"Oh," said Jack, who had immediately regret asking her.
She gulped before folding her hands together. "Now, I suggest you tell me how you entered my castle before I order my guards up here."
Jack chuckled to himself. A Queen. Of all things, she was a Queen. He couldn't wait to tell North and Bunny about this. But speaking of the other Guardians, Jack had to remind himself that he was here for answers, for proof. And this girl, Elsa, was the answer to all of them. But he also knew that in order for his questions to be answered, he had to answer hers.
The Guardian shrugged before motioning to the item he held in his hand. "This staff," he said.
She raised an eyebrow. "What about it?"
"It helps me fly," he replied as if it was no big deal, as if flying was a common trait that everyone had.
Elsa stared at him in disbelief. Was this some sort of a game to him? Jack noticed the way she frowned when he said it, guessing that she thought he was lying. So instead of using words, Jack carefully lifted his feet a few inches above the ground, which resulted in a gasp of shock and fright from Elsa.
"H-How did you do that?" she asked.
"I told you, it's the staff," he said.
"You...you can fly," she whispered.
Jack raised an eyebrow before setting his feet back on the ground. He swung his staff over his shoulder and said, "Considering the fact that you have ice powers, I don't think you should be too surprised."
Elsa's eyes widened as quick breaths escaped her mouth, feeling the all too familiar feeling of anxiousness rise in her body. She stared at the ground for the longest time, trying to figure out what he just said. But she shook her head to herself before connecting her blue eyes with his once more.
"H-How do you know about that?" Elsa asked him. This guy doesn't even know her; they 'met' literally five minutes ago, so how on earth does he know about her powers?
He sighed deeply. This was either going to come out good or bad. He has never had to reveal his own powers to anyone because everyone just knew he had them. But this was different. For hundreds of years, he thought that he was the only person, mortal or immortal, who has the ability to create snow and ice from his own body. It was just last week when he was proven wrong.
And he is now staring at the one other person who possessed the same powers as him.
"Because I have them too," he said under his breath. It was almost inaudible.
Elsa felt herself freeze in shock. She didn't need to question if he was lying because she believed him; for some reason, she really believed him. Like Jack, Elsa also thought that she was the only one with ice powers. After years and years of isolation and feeling like some sort of monster for being different, there was someone else out there who has the exact same powers as her all along?
"But that's impossible..." she said.
"Apparently not," Jack muttered.
"What are you?" Elsa asked him.
Jack raised an eyebrow. "Excuse me?"
"I mean..." she took a deep breath. "Y-You can fly and you have ice powers. That's not exactly...normal."
"Don't you think you're being a bit hypocritical?" asked Jack.
Elsa didn't bother to respond. A long, long moment of silence passed between them. Elsa was still lost in her deep thoughts while Jack stared at her. He could see that she was frightened, that she was as confused as he was when he first found out. But he cleared his throat and asked her the question he was meaning to ask from the very beginning.
"It was you, wasn't it?"
Elsa looked up. "Pardon?"
Jack sighed. "Last week. Everything here was frozen."
Elsa felt her heart rate accelerate. "H-How did you know?"
"I was here last week," he said.
Elsa raised an eyebrow. "Why?"
"It's...a long story," he said. "I saw your ice castle too."
"My ice castle?" she said quietly, almost as if she was talking to herself. "You saw that?"
Jack nodded. "Yeah. It was pretty impressive. Even I'm not capable of making something like that."
She didn't respond. Instead, she just stared at him in confusion. She suddenly had so many questions, along with the shock that he, apparently, has the same powers as her. She wanted to speak up and ask him, but refrained from doing so. Again, maybe it was because she was starting to get use to being around people again that she suddenly felt intrigued, but at the same time, she knew that as Queen, she had to maintain her regal stature.
"Why did you come here? To Arendelle?" she asked him suddenly.
Jack glanced at her. "If I tell you, will you believe me?"
"I usually don't trust strangers."
Jack couldn't help but roll his eyes. "And I usually don't talk to people who threaten me with their castle guards."
Elsa frowned at his remark. "That wasn't a threat," she stated simply. "Now tell me, why did you come to my kingdom?"
The Guardian exhaled deeply. "I came to look for answers," he said quietly. "I have...friends back where I, uh, live. But to make the story short, they found out that this part of Norway had somehow froze, and they blamed it on me. Of course, I had nothing to do with it, but they didn't believe me, so that's why I came here to find proof. But then I saw that everything had...thawed, so..."
"Why did they blame it on you?" she asked.
"Because they think that I'm the one who did it," he said.
"Do they have ice powers too?" she asked.
Jack shook his head. "No, just me."
Elsa's eyebrows arched in confusion. "But how did your friends find out about Arendelle? How did they know that I...that it was frozen?" asked Elsa.
Jack sighed. "It's a long story," he said.
"You're always saying that," said Elsa.
"Trust me," Jack said. "It really is a long story."
Elsa frowned again, but decided to let that go. "So, you came to my kingdom to find proof to prove your friends wrong?"
Jack nodded. "Yeah, something like that. But it doesn't really help, now that everything's back to normal," he shrugged. "Now it's my turn to ask you. Why did you freeze everything? Your own kingdom?"
At first, Elsa didn't want to respond. She felt her heart cringe at the terrible memories that happened just last week. She knew that despite everything being normal again, and despite her and Anna fixing their lost sisterly bond, Elsa knew that the painful images of hurting her own kingdom will be something she will never forget.
"It wasn't intentional," Elsa admitted. Again, she didn't know why she was even telling him this, but it just felt right.
"What, so you froze everything accidentally?" Jack laughed.
Elsa glanced up at him, feeling hurt that he had laughed, but did her best to keep composure. "Like yours, mine is a long story too."
Jack felt the grin disappear off his face when he realized that she was telling the truth, that she did freeze Arendelle accidentally. "Oh. Wait, so, how?"
Elsa sighed and glanced down into the palms of her hands, while Jack watched in confusion. Elsa looked up again and said, "My powers got out of control. Th-Things happened along the way, and I was scared. Terrified, even. My fear and emotions got the best of me."
"So you froze everything?"
"I didn't mean to," Elsa said. "I-I didn't even know I had froze my kingdom until my sister found me in my ice castle."
Jack suddenly remembered seeing the brown haired girl that was approaching the ice castle when he was there last week; the same girl he saw earlier today.
"Your sister is the one with the brown hair, right?" asked Jack.
"Yes," answered Elsa. "You know her?"
"No, I just saw her last week," said Jack. "Is she a Queen too?"
Elsa laughed, almost inaudibly. "No, she's the Princess. Arendelle is thawed because of her."
Jack raised an eyebrow. "She has powers too?"
"No," Elsa said again. "She's perfectly normal, but...she helped me thaw the kingdom."
"How?"
"It's a long story," said Elsa.
"Touche," said Jack.
Another moment of silence passed as both Jack and Elsa's minds were drowning in the very situation they were in. It still seemed surreal that there was someone out there who was just like the other, and it was even more unreal that they were speaking to that one person.
The longer the silence went, the more awkward this situation was becoming. They were basically standing at the opposite ends of the room. Elsa looked down for a few seconds; the fact that this guy trespassed into her kingdom wasn't much of a problem any longer, because as much as she didn't want to admit it, she was intrigued by him. He seemed like a nice person, despite his annoying attitude. But why wasn't she telling him to leave?
"What do you use your powers for?" he asked her.
Elsa thought about it for a moment. What did she use her powers for? When she was a child, her powers were used as something she and Anna would play with. Of course, something terrible happened as a result. But she has come to realize that her powers may not have been as bad as she thought they were. After all, other than freezing Arendelle and creating her ice palace, she did create a few snowmen along the way, and an ice rink in front of her castle.
"I don't really know," she said. "I'm only beginning to get use to them again."
"Again?" he questioned.
"I refrained from using them for years," said Elsa.
"How'd you get them?" asked Jack, wondering if she got her powers the same way he got his.
Elsa sighed. "I was born with them."
Jack raised an eyebrow. "Really? How?"
"It's still a mystery," Elsa admitted.
"Then I guess you can't really help me with my problem, huh. Everything's thawed out," said Jack.
"I really wish I could help," Elsa said quietly. "I know how it feels to get blamed by people."
"That's alright. But I do appreciate you telling me about how you, y'know, froze everything. At least I know that I'm not crazy," said Jack, disappointed that he didn't exactly get what he came here for, but it didn't really matter to him anymore. Even though it does frustrate him that the others still don't believe him, at least he knows that at least one person does.
"I'm sorry," Elsa said quietly as she kept her eyes on the ground.
"That's okay. It wasn't really that important anyway. I just wanted to prove them wrong," said Jack before he sighed. "Anyway, I better get going. I have stuff to do."
Elsa looked up. "You're leaving?"
Jack smirked. "What? You don't want to me go?"
Elsa felt her cheeks rise up in heat. "No, I-I didn't mean it like that, I-"
"Don't worry, I was just teasing," laughed Jack. "But yeah, I better get going. My friends are going to start wondering where I've gone off to."
"Okay," Elsa said. For some crazy, odd reason that she will never understand, she was a bit upset that he was leaving. Even though he was a complete stranger that intruded her castle, talking to him almost felt...good, like a relief of some sort.
"Yeah. Thanks, um, for you know, not calling your guards up here. Again, I really didn't mean to trespass. I was just curious," said Jack.
"You're welcome. Just...just don't do that again," Elsa said simply.
Jack chuckled under his breath and nodded in return before gripping onto his staff. He looked up, gave her a sort of vague smile in thanks before turning around. He pushed the white curtains to the side to walk onto the balcony, and after a few seconds, he flew up into the air and was gone.
Elsa waited a few moments just in case, before making her way to the entrance of the balcony. She pushed the curtains and peered outside, and like she expected, he was gone.
...
"Wait," Anna said abruptly, which made Jack stop. "So, you just left just like that?"
"I did decide to return a few days later," said Jack.
"Multiple times," Elsa added.
Anna gasped. "Because it was love at first sight, right? Oh my gosh, it was totally love at first sight!"
Jack laughed and shook his head. "No, it wasn't. But I guess I returned because I felt like Elsa and I had something in common, that there was something about her that I understood. That, and also because I knew that it irritated Elsa whenever I came back to Arendelle. It was fun seeing her look so annoyed each time I returned."
"Believe me, I was shocked when Jack returned the second time," said Elsa.
"So how did North and the others finally believe that it wasn't you who froze Arendelle?" asked Kristoff.
"Well, first I had to explain my side of the story to Elsa, about me being a Guardian and everything. Surprisingly, she took it well," said Jack. "Then I took Elsa to the North Pole and introduced her to North, Sandy, Bunny and Tooth."
Anna squealed. "Oh my gosh, you two did the whole 'Meet the family' thing!"
"Not exactly," laughed Jack. "I wanted to finally prove the others wrong, because they still thought that I froze Arendelle. It took weeks of convincing, but Elsa finally agreed to go to the North Pole with me."
"So it was like a first date?" asked the Princess.
"Anna!" Elsa sighed in embarrassment.
"Not really. This was about six months after we first met," Jack said before he laughed. "The looks on their faces, especially North's and Bunny's, when they realized that I'm not the only one with snow powers was priceless."
Anna leaned forward and gave Jack a teasing look. "So, you took Elsa to meet the other Guardians six months after you two met?" she asked.
Jack nodded.
"So, by that time, were you already in love with my sister?" Anna teased.
"Oh goodness, Anna!" Elsa exclaimed, putting her face in her hands.
Jack laughed as he took a quick glance at Elsa. He shrugged and said, "Yeah, I think I was."
"Aww!" squealed Anna.
"I remember when Elsa introduced us to Jack for the first time," said Kristoff.
"I remember that too! I've never seen Elsa so flustered in my life," Anna teased.
Elsa groaned in embarrassment. Obviously, there was nothing to hide about hers and Jack's relationship, but since she's the Queen, she has always been a very quiet and private person about it.
Anna continued, "I gotta say, Jack, I'm pretty impressed that you were able to win my sister's heart. You're the only one who has ever done so. I always thought Elsa was too strict for love."
"Oh my gosh, you are all so humiliating," Elsa frowned.
"What? We think it's sweet," said Anna. "Oh! Tell us about your first kiss with each other!"
Elsa looked up, more embarrassed than she has ever been in her life. "No, absolutely not," she scolded.
Anna laughed. "That was just a joke. But who would have ever thought that you two would end up together?"
"Definitely not us," Jack smiled. "We were barely even friends. Just acquaintances."
"And here you two are, two years later, together and in love, with a baby and engaged and..." Anna stopped mid-sentence when she realized what she just said.
Jack looked at Anna in absolute horror as the entire room fell quiet. But to his relief, Elsa just laughed.
"Engaged?" Elsa asked quietly. "Oh, no, Anna. We're not...we're not engaged."
Anna wanted to die right there, knowing that Jack was probably horrified at what she just did. She had promised not to tell Elsa, or even mention anything about Jack wanting to propose. But instead, she covered up her embarrassment by laughing.
"Oops, my mistake. Heh," she said. "It's just, you and Jack already seem like you two are married because you're always together and you guys have a baby and..." She stopped herself before she could ramble on any further.
Elsa smiled shyly before taking a glance up at Jack, whose expression was unreadable; she and Jack have never spoken about marriage. Elsa wasn't sure whether it was because they weren't ready or if it was because they just didn't seem like the type. In fact, before Elsa was pregnant with Oliver, they have never talked about having children either.
Jack was thankful that they didn't linger on that topic much longer. When Elsa wasn't looking, Anna gave Jack an apologetic glance in which he just nodded and smiled in return. It was starting to get close to midnight so Anna and Kristoff bid Jack and Elsa goodnight before exiting the living room to get ready to go to sleep in their room.
Soon after, Jack and Elsa also left the living room before ascending the flight of stairs, making one quick stop at the nursery to check on their son, before walking into their room.
Of course, since they are both immortal, they didn't need to sleep. But after getting out of her dress and into her nightgown, Elsa smiled as she climbed into bed, motioning Jack to follow her. Jack removed his hoodie and climbed into bed, in which Elsa cuddled up beside him.
"The story of how we first met really brings back memories. I almost forgot about how much I disliked you," said Elsa.
Jack laughed. "Same here. But it was fun thinking back on it."
Elsa just smiled before leaning in to press her lips onto his. "Do you mind closing the curtains?" she asked, referring to the silk curtains by the windows that allowed the moonlight to illuminate her room.
Jack raised his eyebrow at her. "Why?"
"To give us a bit more privacy," she whispered.
Jack stared at her for a few seconds before finally understanding what she meant. He chuckled under his breath before holding out his hand to create a soft but cold winter breeze which flew over to the curtains to shield the window close, blocking the moonlight from spilling into the room.
Jack turned back to her and saw Elsa's pretty blue eyes staring back. Her body looked absolutely stunning against the dim room, with her silhouette outlined in the shadows. He felt his stomach crave and yearn for feelings they both haven't felt in months. He smiled at her through the darkness before leaning in to kiss her gently.
"I don't think you'll be needing this nightgown anymore," he whispered against her lips as he let his fingers graze along the curves of her hips.
Elsa laughed silently before pulling herself closer to his bare chest to kiss him even deeper. "And I don't think you'll be needing these anymore either," she whispered as her fingers fumbled with the button on Jack's pants.
Jack chuckled under his breath before Elsa's lips returned to his.
And now, since they are both immortal, they knew that they had all night long to spend in each other's presence. With their lips occupied by the other's, and with their hands exploring the familiar planes of each other's bodies, Jack and Elsa kept each other very busy until the morning sun peaked through.
Ooh, steamy. (Sorry, I don't know how to write rated M stuff, but you guys get the idea.)
Well that concludes how the Guardian and Queen met for the first time! Aww.
Thanks so much for reading and please REVIEW! Reviews are always greatly appreciated :D
See you next chapter!
