Dear readers, I am changing the name Emily into Elisa. Originally I was planning on using the heroine's name in the 1979 Jack Frost Movie, but it's been years since I've seen it, and I was confidante at first that her name was Emily. However, after rechecking the movie, it turns out the heroine's name was Elisa. So I hope this change will not be too inconvenient. If anything, I believe this new name fits even better then Emily, since Elisa is spelled so closely to Elsa. (I'll also go back and change Emily's name in the last chapter.) As always, please, ENJOY!
Chapter 29-A Girl Named Elisa
"Elisa…" Elsa repeated quietly. "Elisa…So even Jack Frost had a sweetheart."
"She was more than just a sweetheart," said Jack solemnly, and started drifting away from Elsa in a daze. "Elisa was my fiancée."
Elsa was stunned but couldn't afford to show it. She could only smile to hide the second needle that was inching deeper into her heart. Elsa parted her lips but now of all time, no words came. Instead, what came was a struggle. Not so much as to speak, but to keep her voice stable. "Was your fiancée…? So you—"
"—Died?" Jack finished. "Yes. I died before I could marry her…And if I am to be honest, I died not too long from when I purposed to her." He had drifted to the opposite side of the room, and was beginning to circle again just as Elsa was beginning to resume her walking. They kept each other in sync; their speed matches, and they every so mirrored their glances at one another.
"I-I'm so sorry Jack. You must have been real devastated when you remembered your past."
Jack shrugged his shoulders. "It may sound horrible of me, but when I first remembered Elisa, I felt numb—I mean, I didn't know how to feel…So much time had passed. It was eight-hundred years too late to go looking for her, eight-hundred years too late to get mad, eight-hundred years too late to even mourn for the lost years."
"But you missed her nevertheless?"
"And still do."
Elsa stopped walking. Jack stopped drifting. He was looking down towards the ground with empty eyes, his smile nowhere to be found. Jack didn't even bother to look up when Elsa made her way towards him. It was only when she took his hand into hers did he look up. Elsa then led him towards the lounge chair and sat herself down, still holding his hand. "Tell me about Elisa," she said. But there was no word from Jack. "It's not for me Jack, I can see that you're hurting. Perhaps if you talk about her the pain will lessen…But if you don't want to, then it's alright. We can talk about anything else instead, or—do something different for a change. Let me help you feel better, just like you have been doing with me. Please, Jack?"
Once more there was no reply. The moment Jack took his hand way from Elsa; she thought she had further upset his mood, and so lowers her head in dismay. "Snow Queen." He calls gently. Elsa inches her head back up, to find a slight comforting smile. Jack began drifting again with his feet lightly brushing the floor. "It's not that simple to talk about her. Not because of any complicated reasons but, where do I begin…?" His smile grew a little, and he laughed weakly. "To this day, I still don't know how we fell in love enough to get engaged. I mean, we were such monsters to one another that my village thought one of us will one day kill the other."
"She sounds like a formidable foe for The Village's Joker," Elsa teased. She forced herself to lean back in order to make herself look more comfortable. "Was Elisa a rival trickster?"
"Worse. Elisa was a stick-in-the-mud."
Elsa nodded her head in jest. "I see. So this is a case where opposite attracts."
"Haha, I guess you can call it so. But don't get me wrong, Elisa was fun in her own way; she was sassy—mainly towards me, and she had a better wit then I or anyone else in the village possessed. But the problem was that she was always work, work, work.—and it wasn't her fault for why she works so much, but she sometime goes and makes a fuss about people having fun in general." From there, Jack started retelling more details of Elisa.
She was the daughter of the village's shop keeper Mr. Cooper, who deals in a verity of commodities and merchandise. Elisa's mother was often ill, so she was taught how to mind the shop for her father at a very young age. That way, Mr. Cooper could go on long business tips to make bigger deals at far off trading guilds. He would regularly return with gifts for his family and the village children. Elisa loves it most when he returns with books for her. When she doesn't have any chores to do, and is free from tending to her mother and the shop, Elisa would usually go out into the forest to read her books. Jack would often run into her there. It was there in the forest where he would lead the village children to play, including his own little sister Emma. He would also herd a group of sheep and cows with a few other boys through there, so then the animals could get to the meadows and grazing fields for fresh grass. Other times, he can't help himself but to wonder off on his own. To see what sort of discoveries he can make about nature, a sort of adventure kind of thing. But when they do run into each other, and the encounter doesn't erupt into some sort of fight, they can have a decent conversation. There were even times when their encounter yields some pleasantry.
"And you really don't know how the two of you started loving each other?" Elsa asks.
Jack stopped drifting for a moment as he was puzzling with thought. His chin lifted up high, his eyes looking at distance stars, while his arms were lame and left to dangle. "Hmmm," he hummed in supreme bless, and he began to float. "I think, it was sometime after I turned sixteen," Jack said, in a toneless voice. "Back then in my time, a boy would be considered a man once he reaches seventeen. My Pa encouraged me more than ever to start thinking about my future. Where do I wish to be, what do I want to do, what sort of man do I want to be and so on. But I wasn't too worried about all that. I had a good life in my village. I didn't felt any need to go anywhere else, or go out and make my mark on the world. As for work, herding animals and maintaining a small farm isn't so bad, gives me enough for a decent living." Jack stops floating once he reached mid-level of the room. He turned to face Elsa sheepishly. "My main worry was finding a partner."
"You're blushing," Elsa comment.
"You don't think it's strange for me to have had those sorts of worries?"
"Well, just a little. But it's nothing to be embarrassed about."
"Ha, I supposed from your perspective it wouldn't be. But for me personally, interest towards the opposite gender was a big mystery. I kept wondering, 'how do people even start falling in love?' Growing up—believe it or not, I didn't have much interest towards girls. A few attractions here and there due to their prettiness, but that was as far as my feelings went. I was lost on the concept of intimacy love. I never even once had a crush either…After turning sixteen; my Ma gave me some tips on how to search for a partner. She told me to ask myself, what sort of person do I want to spend my life with: how will she act, her traits, her personality and such. But importantly…what sort of…mother, do I want her to be towards my kids."
Elsa perked up her head at the word kids. "You wanted to start a family?"
Jack tilted his head a little. "Is it strange for me?"
By now, Elsa knows how good he is with children, and with any age group. But to imagine him fathering children and having a wife was indeed a bit strange. It collides roughly with his image as a fun free spirit with no worries. "Slightly," Elsa replied in honesty.
Jack chucked and smiled. "I didn't have any particular taste," he said. "And I didn't want to limit my partner options either, since there are many kinds of good woman out there. So my list wasn't strict or complex or anything. It was just simple. I wanted a partner who knew how to have fun—of course, who feels wonderful to be around. Someone who was kind, a good person overall, and who would be a loving mother…
"After having some sort of bases for my search, I started noticing other things about the girls in my village. All suitable girls without any doubt, some of them were even beauties inside as well as out. However, I started noticing Elisa even more." Jack began listing Elisa's traits and habits. Like the way how she tucks the locks of her hair behind her ear, only on the right side whenever she's reading. She's easily surprised. She often stands on the side line, content with just watching the children play instead of joining. Elisa also tends to keep a little distance towards babies at first, but casually, she slowly inch her way closer to them. That's just her tactic. And when she's close enough, she waits for the right opportunity to have the chance to hold their hand, to brush their cheek with a single finger. And when Elisa gets to hold them, she holds them preciously. More so delicately than glass, diamonds, and pearls. She talks and sings to them so quietly whenever she's alone with them. If there's someone close by, she doesn't make a sound at all.
"And you know something else Snow Queen?" Jack asks. "Luck was one my side, because around that same time, Elisa was acting strangely around me. I guess while I was noticing her, she was noticing me. And things just seem to fell into place. No need for fancy or romantic courtship thank-goodness. It just felt so natural for the two of us to start getting together."
"Well that must've made quite a gossip for your village."
"Ha, if only they knew."
"You mean you and Elisa kept your relationship a secret?"
"Even from our own parents. It's like you said, too much of a juicy gossip to deal with. The only person who knew about us was my little sister Emma. She often relay messages between us when we can't meet in person. The best time for us to ever be together in public, was during the seasonal festivals. My village holds one or two celebrations in each of the seasons every year. During then, Elisa and I can stand side by side together, and even dance with one another. And no one would be the wiser except Emma…I purposed to her when Winter Fest was coming to a close. Eight years have passed, and I was finally ready to go into marriage with some possession to my name. I had saved enough money to buy a decent house, along with furnishing, to start a farm, some simple live stocks, and still have some left over to keep in my strong box.
"The proposal was still a secret. Even Emma didn't know. We wanted to surprise her along with our parents. So we made a promised to tell them the day after tomorrow, after I take Emma skating…Elisa must've cried a lot when she found out I died. I know that she would never blame or hate Emma for what happened, but I hope she didn't mourn by herself…Y-You know something? Sometimes, I can see her clearly in my mind as if she was alive. I see the way she smile, the faint freckles, her green eyes, everything. I-I-I, can see her going to the pond, where I drowned and crying at the edge of it, or even diving in trying to search for my body—that isn't even there. I can—"
"Jack," Elsa calls quietly. He heard her and stops speaking. Jack didn't know when she did it, or even noticed that she moved. But Elsa was now standing below him, looking up with hazel eyes and parted lips. She surprised Jack by suddenly creating a flat mountain of snowing beneath her, lifting her up to his level of the room. He was taken aback further when she placed a hand on his cheek, making him realize there was a slim trail of moister traveling down his skin.
Elsa wiped that one tear away with her thumb, and then she wrapped her arms around Jack, pulling him into a hug. "…Elsa?"
"Have you told anyone else about Elisa?"
"…No," Jack said in a whisper. "I didn't felt like there was ever a need to speak about her. And the chance to talk about Elisa never seems right. I guess I just wanted to keep her a personal secret."
"…When Anna and I lost our parents, I mourned for them by myself. I pushed everyone away including their warmth and comfort…If you prefer, I'll stop and let you go now. But if you are willing, please, accept this small moment of comfort and warmth."
Elsa was feeling foolish for what she's doing, and wanted to cry herself. Her body just moved by its own accord, while her mind went blank at the sight of Jack's one tear. She never considered that he and the others are still capable of crying, seeing how strong and powerful and supportive they've been.
Elsa felt cold arms wrapping around her, pulling her into a deeper hug. She felt Jack's hair brushing her cheek as he rested his chin on her shoulder. "Sorry about the cold," he said quietly.
She allowed herself to rest her head against his chest. There was no scent coming neither from clothing, nor from his skin she noticed. When she breaths him in there was only cold fresh air. "It doesn't bother me at all Jack. It doesn't bother me at all." …If only if it wasn't just the cold that doesn't bothers me. She said to herself.
