OH MY GOD OH MY GOD OH MY GOD OH MY GOD OH MY HOLY FLIPPING FREAKING GOD!
104 REVIEWS!? YOU GUYS! I DON'T KNOW WHAT TO SAY! OHMYGOD! THANK YOU ALL SO FLIPPING MUCH! YOUR WORDS MEAN THE ABSOLUTE FREAKING WORLD TO ME! GOD, I DON'T KNOW WHAT TO SAY! JUST THANK YOU ALL SO MUCH!

Okay, so I wasn't going to mention this until I posted my final chapter to this story, but after receiving every one of your incredible reviews on my last chapter, I think I owe you all this much so here it is; DA! DA! DA! (drum roll please), I HAVE A SEQUEL PLANNED FOR THIS STORY! :D
I do not yet know what the title will be, but I do have my main plot for the story, although I am still smoothing out a few rough edges here and there. You guys have no idea how excited I am to begin writing this! (which I do not yet know when that will be), but I will most likely have a better idea of when I will start by the end of this story:) Anyway, yeah, I am super excited and I sincerely hope that all you amazing favorites, followers and reviewers that have accompanied me on this story's journey will join me on my next installment to the Jack and Elsa fandom! I just cannot get enough of our favorite frosty couple! I'm fairly certain I have an extremely unhealthy addictionXD

Anyhow, I really hope you all enjoy this chapter that I had a ton of fun writing just as I do with every one of them!;)
Let me know your thoughts if you can, and do know that your words really helped shape this story and make me the writer I am now all thanks to you wonderful reviewers!:)

-birdywings


28

To Fly


Jack

In one hand, my fingers skim along the rough material of my staff, wrapping around the bark as they caress the thin middle.
In my other hand, a snow globe dominates my palm, the cool, round surface cradled in my palm as it sits nestled against my pale skin.

"I still say my tunnels would be faster." Bunny mumbles from behind me.

I turn to face him, smirking as I reply with, "North's right, be glad you're not riding in the sleigh."

He grunts, and without another word, I toss the globe to the floor where it erupts into a flurry of sparks at the contact, revealing to me a disoriented image of my desired destination.
I grin and leap into the portal, plunging myself into a world of color as my surroundings melt into one another.
Greens melt into blues, blues bleed into purples, purples merge into pinks until finally a clear blue cuts through the sky above me, and I follow the color with my eyes as it stretches over me and leaks into the distance against the halo of sunlight that shines across the land as it dips into the horizon.

Snow-peaked mountains take shape around me, their crests rising up from the earth and cutting through the sky. I wriggle my toes into the damp ground, digging them into the soft snow at my feet as the white glistens in the early morning light.
My eyes strain against the glare of the sun as it bathes the land in its brilliant glow with the slick, glossy surface of the ice palace reflecting the light as it sprouts from the earth and towers high above our heads as a halo of sunlight outlines its form.

"Crikey!" Bunny groans. "It's freezing here!"

I turn to him with a retort hanging on the edge of my lips when Sandy weaves his dust, producing a pair of earmuffs in his palms, and I watch, rather amused as he offers the item to Bunny who waves it away with a grunt.
I shake my head, grinning as we make our trek up the mountainside, en route to the ice palace, which remains untouched and undisturbed as it casts a shadows over us.
I pause at the entrance, my feet refusing to budge under the gaze of the set of double-doors that await entry.
The last time I was here, was the day she faded from my world.
How can I unlock the door I have tried so hard to shut after all these years so easily?

"You planning on opening those doors anytime soon Frost? Don't mind me, it's not like I'm not freezing our tails off back here." Bunny mutters, luring me out of my daze.

My eyelids draw closed, and with one final deep breath, I shove the cool doors open with a creak that echoes through the space, rattling the icy walls.
The deep red has drained from the walls, leaving only the blue to fill the ice. The sharp, jagged icicles have melted back into the floor, leaving it smooth and slick once more. The cracks that had lined the walls and cut through the blue have been repaired, the gaps they created now smoothed over and mended.
A smile finds its way to my lips.
She has remarkable talent hidden in those hands. Beneath her skin. Streaming though her veins. Pulsing through her every fibre.
She is alive and she is mending.
She is searching, and she is finding.

A spine-chilling scream pierces the silence and pulses through the hallowed halls.
Bunny and Sandy's hands clamp over their ears as they cringe away from the shriek.
But I can't move.
Not even to tune out this blood-curdling sound that my ears throb with and have never been acquainted with before.

That sound.
That voice.

Frightened and scared.
Broken and shattered.

She is fading.
Falling.
Losing.
But will never be lost.

My hands grip my stave, the bark rough under my skin, as I kick from the ice and drive myself toward the second floor, where her cries call to me from as her voice pounds in my ears.

The space is dark with the shadows that dance along the walls and cold with the aura of fear whispering in the air.
I find her in the center of it all, her frame shrouded in a puddle of darkness where she drowns under the weight of it with her knees drawn into her chest and her head buried deep in her skirts, shielding her tear-stained face from me.
They reach out for her, their dark talons tugging at her skirts, brushing against her pale skin and weaving their claws into her thick braid as they seep into her mind, clouding her thoughts with their gloom and shrieks of frightened children.
I can just detect their cries. The sound inhuman and jarring.

"Elsa."


Elsa

Darkness.
That is all I am left with.

It encroaches my vision, boiling at the edges.
It surrounds my body, swallowing and consuming me as it pulls me under.

Cold.
That is all I feel.
In the very pit of my heart.

My body is numb with it.
My mind swimming with its scattered thoughts.

I am somewhere else.
Lost to the shadows that scrape at me.
That tug at me, clawing for my soul.
Digging for whatever light may still remain flickering within me.

I hug my knees to my chest, trying to fold up within myself the way a flower does when dusk casts upon it, as I wither away one petal at a time.
I am wavering.
Sinking.
Drowning.
Fading.
Falling.

There is nothing left to save.


Jack

"Elsa." I breathe when the words find me.

I take a quiet, wary step forward causing shards of ice to crack beneath me.

"Elsa," I whisper to her, my voice cracking and breaking with desperation. "Elsa, listen to me."

"I'm a monster. I'm a monster. I'm a monster." Her sobs fill the gap between us, her shattered voice piercing my heart, causing me to grimace at the sound as her tears cascade down her cheeks, the salty water staining the blue in her dress a shade darker.

"Elsa. Elsa, listen to me. Hear my voice. Hear me. Elsa." Please. Please hear me.

I close the distance between us, my bare feet sliding on the ice as I draw near her and reach a hand out to touch her shoulder.

"Please."

"She can't hear you Frost."

I freeze.
My teeth dig into my lip until I taste blood.
My hands form into fists at my sides.
My blood runs cold.

A cackle hollow with the cold slices through the air, sending shivers down my spine. I remain frozen into place, refusing to even shudder at the sharp nip in my skin, which is crawling with the cold wafting through the room.

"She can't even see you anymore."

I raise my staff, aiming the tip at the cloud of silhouettes that begins to devour the space around me, taking the ice and us with it as its talons outstretch toward us, their long, thin fingers lingering at my feet. But instead of drawing back, I step into the black, my feet becoming lost to the darkness around me as I draw nearer to Elsa.

Pitch's chuckle rings throughout the space, filling the blackness as the sound rattles my mind. I give my head a shake, clearing my senses as Pitch materializes at Elsa's side, his pale skin making his figure difficult to distinguish against the silhouettes that surround him, leaving only his golden orbs to stare back at me as they float there in the blackness.

He entwines a finger with a loose string of Elsa's blonde hair and a shudder runs through me as I direct my staff at him. "If you so much as touch her Pitch," I growl through gritted teeth. "I swear I'll-"

"You'll what?" He challenges, his voice calm and cool.
He chuckles again as his frail fingers come into contact with her skin and trail down her cheek.

"Incredible isn't it?" He speaks. "How easily corrupted the will of a soul is by even the smallest quantity of fear. The simple process will never cease to astound me."

My eyes narrow, causing my view of him to shrink as I try to search for the voice within me, but I come up empty-handed.

He chuckles again, the sound sending tremors through my body and deep into my bones.
"It's over Frost. The sooner you and your fellow guardians along with your precious little pathetic believers accept that, the easier it will be to succumb to the power of the pitch blackness that will swallow the only light you shall ever see again."

I am trembling, my every limb shaking with anger, yet, I still manage to find the words. "Elsa, listen to me."

"She cannot hear you Jack," He spits, as if the words hold a bitter taste to his tongue. "She is gone. Long faded with the shadows just as you and all those you care for will be with time."

I fly at him, my instincts taking over as all rationality I possess dissolves into an ocean full of dismantled thoughts, leaving their remains scattered and disrepair as they float out at sea.
Ice bursts from the tip of my staff only to erupt into a flurry of sparks as it collides with a barricade of shadows that Pitch summons up from the floor.

"You cannot win Frost. I know what you fear most. I can see it growing in your eyes. I can feel it wafting through the air. I can hear it pulsing in your thoughts."

I lunge at him, sending blasts of ice his way, all of which he dodges easily as he dissolves into the shadows at his feet, leaving me alone in the dark.

"I know you fear that your efforts to protect the children of the world will waver and end with your failure." He chirps, his voice echoing through the darkness and from all angles.
I spin in a circle, my eyes scanning frantically for his piercing golden strips.

"I know that you fear losing your precious little Snow Queen. You fear letting her slip through your fingers again." I feel his cool touch brush against my shoulder and I whirl around as the ice shoots from the end of my stave, sending the advance to soar into the ceaseless black as it misses him by a solid few inches.

"But most of all," He says, his voice singing with glee. "I know that deep down, you fear losing all of your believers. That you will once again become the ghost roaming the earth among its inhabitants in plain sight with not a soul with the vision to see, or the ears to detect, or even the hands to feel you."

"You don't know anything!" I shout, my lungs screaming with frustration as I send another blast of ice into the darkened void.

He only chuckles in reply. "Oh, but I do Jack. I know everything."

He melts into the shadows, his gold orbs fading into the darkness.
I whirl around, my ears straining as they listen for his next advance, for the eerie silence that accompanies him as well as the frightened cries of children that follow.
But all is quiet through the darkness.

All is silent with the cold and dark until, "Jack."

I spin on my heels, my feet slipping on the ice that is hidden from my feet as I run to her, toward her voice. Only to be struck from the left by a wave of demon stallions, my vision obscured by the colors that blotch my vision from the blow and, as I blink the green, blues and purples away, the vibrant colors are replaced by the golden rings that paint the stallion's eyes.
I snatch my staff, scrambling to escape their field of attack when a single sound slices through the silence, the source hidden by the darkness, and suddenly, the light returns and leaks into the room through the palace walls as the moon settles in between the snow-topped mountain peaks in the distance.

The cluster of stallions standing over me with their nostrils flaring dissolve into the air, their black sand disintegrating into ash as it is swept away by the light bathing the room in its glow.
My eyes dart through the dim moonlight to find Sandy and Bunny standing in the entryway, Bunny with a boomerang in hand and a snarl plastered to his features as he glares at Pitch.

"You alright mate?" He asks me without averting his eyes from Pitch, who stands at the edge of the room.

I can't help the grin that spreads in my features. "Just perfect, but you know, it wouldn't have hurt to arrive a little sooner." I say with a shrug.

"Well, we're here now." He scoffs, his nose twitching.

I climb to my feet and draw nearer to Pitch, my staff raised and held firmly in my hands, preparing for whatever he dares to throw our way.
He chuckles, the sound still icy and cold but wavering a little as his golden strips register what he's up against.

"Alright mate," Bunny says, his voice firm. "We can do this the easy way or the hard way, and I don't know about you but I think Sandy here is leaning towards the hard way." He says, nodding over to Sandy, who stands at his side with his right hand balled into a fist as his pounds his knuckles into his left palm.

A chuckles rattles Pitch's body, causing his shoulders to shake and his dark robes to swirl at his feet. "You all have no idea who you're dealing with."

"No mate, it's you who hasn't any idea."
Boomerangs fly from Bunny's paws as he takes off bounding throughout the room, his paws padding against the slick walls as he gains speed.

I dig my staff into the floor, summoning a force of wind that catches Pitch and sends him sailing through the air, his limbs flailing as his hands search for something to anchor him into place.
He lands in a corner with a thud and manages to push himself to his feet only to be knocked to his knees again as Bunny runs into him, his fist coming into contact with Pitch's jaw.
He sweeps across the room and rises to his feet with a groan before melting into a pool of shadows through the floor.

We scour the room for him, but find that all darkness has drained from the ice, leaving the blue to fill the walls around us.
Another scream comes from behind me and I turn to see Elsa kneeling on the ice with her hands pressed to her temple as her nails dig deep into her skin.
I rush to her side, my feet slipping on the ice as my fingers pry at her hands, drawing them away from her face to reveal to me her tear-stained face, which is drained of all color.

"Elsa. Elsa, look at me." I breathe, the weight heavy upon my chest as I struggle to find my voice.
But her eyes remain closed, her features twisting into a grimace as she cringes away from the darkness playing out beneath that curtain.

"Elsa. Elsa, listen to me. Hear me. Elsa."

Her eyes flick open, revealing the familiar black pits they were the day she melted from my world.
Her hands close around my wrists, her nails digging into my skin and I have to grit my teeth from crying out.

"I'm a monster!" She gasps, her eyes wide and endless.

I shake my head at her. "No Elsa, you're not a monster. You're a bird, a bird spreading its wings and just learning to fly, you hear me?" I take her by the shoulders, shaking her slightly, trying to rid her of the darkness that works to drown her.

"I'm a monster!"
With those words, a gust of wind sweeps through the room, taking Bunny, Sandy and me with it.

I'm tossed through the air, my limbs flailing as my hands claw for something to grab hold of.
My fingers close around the door hinge, my nails scraping at the ice as my eyes follow Bunny and Sandy who sail through the door, their shouts lost to the howling wind as they're tossed down the glossy staircase.

I grit my teeth, my eyes narrowing as the wind stings at my face.
With my staff grasped tightly in my hand, I dig the tip into the floor below and use it to anchor me to the ground as I tow myself back to her.

I have to reach her.
I have to.

My eyes fall shut, showing me the shadows beneath the curtain as I pull myself the rest of the way, my muscles aching and numb from the exertion.
I plant my knees on the ground as I settle before her, the wind pinching my skin as I caress her face in my palms, her skin cool against mine.
Her head lolls back on her neck as if she is fading, losing to the darkness.

But she will not drown.
She will not drown.

"Elsa, you are strong, you can fight it! You hear me? Break free!" Her head lolls back again, hanging loose upon her shoulders and I'm suddenly not so certain she can hear me anymore.

Don't fall Elsa.
You hear me?
Don't you dare fall.


Elsa

I am drowning.

"Elsa!"

I am sinking.

"Elsa!"

I am fading.

"Elsa!"

I am wilting.

"Elsa!"

I am falling.

"Elsa!"

I am flying.