Jack leaned against the tree, laughing as he watched Jamie and the others run around, throwing snowballs at each other. Sophie was attempting to follow them, growing angrier as they continued to ignore her. She stomped over to Jack.
"You'll talk to me, right?" She said.
"Of course," he said, still laughing.
She glared at him. "You're lucky you don't have any siblings. They always leave you out."
Jack's smile faded slightly.
"I had a sister once," he said. Sophie look up at him, eyes wide.
"Really?"
"Really. She looked just like you." He tapped the end of her nose. She giggled, her attention already directed somewhere else.
"Can you take me flying Jack? Please, please, pleeeease?"
"Isn't your brother going to miss you?"
"No. Him and his stupid friends won't even notice I'm gone."
He laughed again. "Alright. Really fast though."
He picked her up, and jumped into the air, as she squealed in delight. She had gotten bigger since the "Incident" with Pitch. She was still pretty little, however, not big enough to keep up with her older brother and his friends.
He landed on a roof, high above everything, keeping a hold on Sophie. She paused, pointing to a couple who were passionately embracing each other below.
"Do you have a girlfriend, Jack?"
He shook his head, smiling and marveling at the wonders of four-year old's train of thought. They jumped from topic like it was nothing.
"Nope," he said.
"Do you want one?"
"I don't know... Maybe someday."
"Would she have ice powers too?"
"Sure, why not?"
"That would be fun. Two Jacks Frosteses." Her face scrunched up as she tried to say the plural of his name.
"Yeah," he said. "It would be fun." He didn't have the heart to tell her he was alone.
When Jack landed, there was a moment of silence, a moment nothingness, of sweet oblivion.
It was a blissful few seconds that ended much too soon.
He opened his eyes, trying to sit up, before he realised that that was a very bad idea.
His ears were ringing.
His side burned.
His head ached.
He ran a hand through his hair, only to pause, staring at his palm. It was covered in red, and that same red now streaked his white hair.
He looked up, and saw her.
He saw her standing, regal and proud and brave. He saw his Snow Queen, facing off against a mountain of dark.
She was speaking calmly. Her hands shook. Snowflakes danced lightly of her skin. She probably didn't even know she was doing it.
She turned back, looking him, and he caught his name.
"…Jack…"
He was going to watch the woman in blue die.
It was happening. He knew what would happen next.
"Elsa!"
She was hit, squarely in the chest, flying back. Her arm landed at an usual angle, and he heard a crack.
It was like watching a nightmare unfold before him. It was a nightmare. It was his nightmare. His vision. He had seen this.
"Elsa!" He screamed again.
It reeled above her, as if in slow motion.
No.
He wasn't ready to see her die.
He didn't want to see her die.
He was supposed to save her.
But there was nothing he could do.
He was going to lose her.
He was going to lose Elsa.
"Please! Please, not Elsa! Elsa!" He released a quick blast of ice from the staff. Instinct. He knew it couldn't save her. All he could do was scream her name, over and over and over again. "Elsa."
She lifted her hand, her own magic meeting his, and forming a wall above her.
There was a flash of light.
Bright and sudden and deadly.
But when it faded, there was no wall above her, no mass of living shadow, no Mara or Tyra.
The danger was gone. For now.
The only things in the room were him and Elsa and the rift in time.
He struggled to get to his feet. Everything hurt. His side was covered in blood. He didn't even remember cutting it.
Elsa had sat up, and was rising to her feet, as well, cradling her arm. He stumbled towards her.
"Elsa," he whispered. She crashed into him, wrapping her good arm around his chest. He caught her as she slumped against him, holding her just as tightly.
"Jack."
She stared up at him with eyes shining from pain.
"Jack, your side," she said
"I know. It's okay. It's not that bad, I promise. But we need to get out of here."
She looked at him sadly. "They'll be back."
Elsa stood to the side, laughing as Anna danced around her room.
"What do you think of this dress?" Her sister said, spinning around in a flurry of painfully bright orange cloth.
"A bit much, don't you think?"
"Nope," she said. "I want to make an impression." Anna said, twirling around, and batting her eyelids. "I feel so sophisticated."
Elsa coughed.
"What? You don't like it? What if no one else likes it? Well, I like it, so it doesn't really matter, but-"
"Anna, breath. It's just a ball."
"Just a ball? Just a ball, Elsa?" Anna said, indignantly. "This is Kristoff's introduction to society! And he's not going to want to make a statement. That falls to me."
"Make less of a statement," Elsa said, rolling her eyes.
"Never," Anna said, pulling her into the center of the room and spinning her around. Elsa laughed. "See? It's a fun dress."
"Too fun."
"Unlike you."
"Hey," Elsa said, raising her hand, and forming a little ball of snow.
"Kidding!" Anna said. Elsa smirked, aiming a snowball at her. "No, Elsa, you'll ruin it!"
"Well, in that case..." Elsa said, throwing one at her sister.
"Ellllsa!" Anna said. "Now I have to find another dress!"
"Good."
Anna stuck her tongue out, crossing her arms.
"What are you going to wear?"
"Probably this," Elsa said, gesturing down at her usual blue dress.
"Oh, cause you're boring."
"Anna, I'm not boring."
"Yes, you are."
"I'll throw another snowball at you."
"Fun! You're fun," Anna said, raising her hands in mock surrender. Her eyes lit up mischievously again, as she leaned forward. "Hey... Is anyone going to ask you to dance tonight?"
Elsa sighed. "Not this again."
"Yes, this again. Perhaps a young prince? Or maybe a dashing rogue?"
"Anna, no one is going to ask me to dance. I will decline if they do."
"Why?"
"Because," she said. "There's no one out there for me. I'm an Ice Queen."
"Oh, you are so tragic. I'll find someone, mark my words. Olaf is going to help."
"Anna..."
"Nope. Hey, maybe he'll have magic too."
Elsa smiled, a little sadly, as she watched her sister skip to the closet to find a new dress, not having the heart to tell her she was alone.
"They'll be back..."
His back was to the rift, the light illuminating his hair like a halo.
"You know what you have to do."
The words she had heard in her mind as the light died down echoed in her skull. Vetr's voice, containing all the guilt and sorrow, from what he was telling her.
"Jack," she whispered. "You have to go back."
"What?" He said, shaking his head. "No, no, I'm not leaving you."
"Jack, please. It's the only way."
"No! I won't leave you!"
"They'll come back, and they'll kill us! I don't know what they have planned, but it's bad. I won't let that happen. Jack, this is the only way."
His eyes shown with unshed tears. "Please, Elsa... Please, I want to stay with you."
She leaned forward suddenly, her lips ghosting against his. He stood in shock, before returning the kiss.
Their kiss.
Their first kiss.
Their last kiss.
She pulled away, meeting his blue eyes. As blue
"Goodbye, Jack," she whispered, before she pushed him, hard, watching him stumble backwards, into the light. It wrapped around him, embracing him, taking him home.
He reached for her a final time, eyes showing the pain, and betrayal, and sadness, an terror, and most importantly, loss.
And then he was gone.
