AUTHOR'S NOTE: Hey, everybody! Sorry; I suppose it's Sunday NIGHT, not Sunday morning. But anyway, three things: First off, thank you SO MUCH for the reviews; it REALLY encourages me to keep trying to turn this out, if people are actually enjoying it! Honestly, I still can't believe people are reading this. THANK YOU SO MUCH; YOU ARE ALL WONDERFUL AND I LOVE YOU! Secondly, there's been a sudden influx of guest reviews and views… (which I love). Has this been shared on a pinterest board somewhere, or something? If it has, I have no IDEA how to tell. (Halp. I'm still pretty new to fanfic!) Third, for "Authors Like Me" You requested a code word! At first, I was thinking that I'd do something really clever, like write you a little Mathematica program to spit out 100,000 random letter combinations from which you could choose any word that happened to form (a "code" word… get it? A word, from computer code? Ha? Ha ha?), but then it occurred to me: I don't feel like it. (For the record, if you prefer, I could also code it into either C++ or Matlab, both of which I am competent in, and both of which I hate.) So, how about this: As soon as I can, I'll set up a special email for people who can't PM me, so that I can be contacted. Okie-doke?

CONTENT WARNING: Sexual innuendo. Because, of COURSE there is.

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36: INVESTED

Kristoff shook his head and stopped sanding, dropping his voice to a whisper.

"Seeing Jack Frost in action—almost no one ever has," he said, gesturing with the rod.

"Why not?"

Kristoff grinned. "Well," he chuckled, "He's usually surrounded by a blizzard. And is a few thousand feet up."

Elsa felt a little blood rushing to her cheeks at the realization. "Of course," she choked. "But—but Grandpabbi's mother—"

"—Saw him. Right," Kristoff shrugged. "And apparently, it was incredible."

I'm sure he was, Elsa thought. She drew herself up again, her eyes narrowing.

"How so?" she asked carefully.

Kristoff resumed absent-mindedly sanding, his eyebrows lifting slightly. "Grandpabbi said—well, Grandpabbi's mother—she was up in top of the mountains, and she could see the storm forming from its side. Really rare position to be in," he explained. "She said that the entire valley—as far as she could see—was filled with swirling, thrashing storm clouds. She was above the cloudbank, and it was—well, she described it as being a white ocean, all around the mountain."

Elsa said nothing, transfixed. It was just—wow. Really?

Jack could do that?

"And then, this shape shot out of the center of the storm," he continued, "Darting into the upper atmosphere, and then diving back into the clouds. She only saw the shape for a couple seconds, but—well, it was pretty obvious to her, who it was."

"He was controlling the whole thing?" Elsa whispered.

A tiny hint of a smirk tugged at the edge of Kristoff's mouth. He raised his eyebrows, pausing in his sanding for a moment and looking to her.

"He's Jack Frost," Kristoff chuckled. "Remember that whole Spirit of Winter thing? Who do you think was controlling it?"

Elsa's heart fluttered. Feeling blood rushing to her face, she clasped her hands together in her lap, shyly looking down to her wrists. This was the young man that had caught her in the snow? This was the young man that she had kissed on the previous afternoon? This was the young man that—

In her mind's eye, Jack was blushing furiously, perched on the library table and running his fingers through his hair.

I guess I DO have a favorite type of ice.

Elsa bit her lip, blushing harder.

Shaking his head, Kristoff laughed softly, seeing his sister-in-law's expression. He resumed sanding the rod, kicking out his right foot and crossing it over his ankle as he leaned back against the bed.

"Yeah. You are definitely just friends," he muttered, the smile twitching out of the side of his mouth again as he inspected the rod. "Anyway, though—yeah. According to Grandpabbi's mother, the entire storm across the valley was being controlled by a scrawny, laughing guy with white hair and a stick."

"Jack can do that?"

"Who do you think brings kids all the blizzards and the snow days?" Kristoff continued as she looked back up to him, her eyes wide. "That guy is insanely powerful. Grandpabbi's mother said that it was like the entire sky was trying to fight against him, all at once. And Jack Frost just—well, he just casually laughed, and flew around the mountains in the snowstorm until he'd successfully wrestled it into submission."

"That sounds… amazing," Elsa breathed.

A long, awkward silence fell over the room.

"The storm!" Elsa blurted desperately, Kristoff bursting out into hysterical laughter and sinking down against the side of the bed, "I was talking about the storm! You know—like—seeing him making a snowstorm—I—aurgh."

Kristoff had clapped his hand over his eyes, buckling over guffawing and pounding the side of the bed with his fist. After a few moments, he shook his head, pushing himself up again and looking to his sister-in-law. "OOOOOOOOOh, I reeeeeeeally should have just kept my mouth shut," he laughed, gasping for breath. "I was trying to convince you that getting involved with Frost was a bad idea. Clearly, I've had the opposite effect."

"You know exactly what I meant, Kristoff!"

"You have such a crush on him!"

"I do not!"

He smirked, raising his eyebrows. Elsa drew herself up, unsuccessfully trying to fight the blood back away from her face, as Kristoff pushed himself up and started sanding the rod again.

"What, exactly, were you two doing under the bed?" he chuckled.

Elsa crossed her arms over her chest, trying to appear casual as she shifted on her feet.

"Talking," she replied.

Kristoff didn't look convinced.

"And…?" he prompted.

Elsa pressed her lips together, her breath catching. Hiding it, she then quickly shrugged.

"And, I gave him a hug," she added reluctantly.

He stopped sanding the rod.

"Uh… huh," Kristoff said, rolling his eyes.

"Kristoff, it was just a hug."

"Did this hug last for more than ten minutes?"

Elsa opened her mouth to speak, and then closed it again, pulling in a sharp breath and drawing herself up.

"No," she lied.

Kristoff raised his eyebrows.

"You hesitated."

"No, I—no, I didn't!"

Elsa felt her throat harden with embarrassment, a new wave of nausea sweeping over her as Kristoff's sweet smile crooked into a little smirk.

"Basically," he chuckled, "You cuddled with him."

"Wha—I—no!"

"DAWWWW, YOU CUDDLED WID HIM."

"Keep—it—down!" she hissed. "I—am—the Queen! I do NOT—cuddle—with people—"

"Oooh, bud appawently, da Queen WILL cuddle with thumbody if ith Jack FWOST—"

"—Kristoff," Elsa gritted, blushing furiously, "If you say that word—one more time—"

"—Cuddled?"

"—I will have you executed," she finished icily.

Kristoff shook his head, laughing softly under his breath as he resumed sanding. After a few moments passed, the sly little smirk spread across his face again, and he looked up to his sister-in-law.

"Ith Eltha embawwassed of dah snuggles?"

"Auuuuuuuuurgh," Elsa groaned, "Kristoff—we're just—"

"—Just friends?"

"Yes!"

"Really."

Elsa's face flushed, and she looked down, twisting her heel into the carpet. The silence fell again as Kristoff's smile faded. He then sighed, shifting uncomfortably against the edge of the bed and slowly looking back into her eyes.

"You're playing with fire, Elsa," he said softly.

Elsa set her jaw. "Wrong. We're playing with ice," she retorted, drawing herself up. "And, you know what? It's fun. It is really. Really. FUN."

Blushing furiously, she turned away, leaning onto her hands over the table and staring down at the icy vase she'd made a few minutes earlier. She could practically feel Kristoff's gaze on her back as she struggled to keep herself together, a few flurries of snow materializing out of the air around her.

From somewhere behind her, she heard her brother-in-law let out a long sigh.

"My word, you're in love with him."

Elsa's back stiffened. She didn't respond, gripping the edge of the table and willing the snow flurries to stop. Conceal! She thought desperately.

The flurries began appearing faster.

"Well, if you two are already in this deep, I guess there's nothing that can be done to prevent it," Kristoff started again. "I just hope that you realize how difficult it will be to back out, Elsa."

"There's nothing to back out of."

"Uh-huh. Right. You know," he chuckled bitterly, "When I started calling you guys Winter Bunnies, it was because I just thought you two were sort of cute. You know, how you stuck together like glue, from the moment he showed up. But that little episode at the table—I didn't realize how much you two were already emotionally invested in this. And how bad it could potentially get, if this snowy little love affair turns sour."

"There's nothing to turn sour!" Elsa protested weakly, walking over to the chair again and collapsing into it, "We're friends! Jack would never be interested in me like that—"

"—Elsa—"

"—And even if, by some miracle, he was," she interrupted, "He wouldn't lose control if it didn't work out!"

"Are you sure about that?"

She fell quiet again. He placed the rod and sandpaper on the bed, crossing the room to where she was sitting. Dropping his voice to a whisper, Kristoff then leaned in close to Elsa's face.

"If the Spirit of Winter goes berserk, we are all very dead." Kristoff put his hands on Elsa's shoulders. "Please. Just marry him. Sleep with him—"

"—Oh, now you want me to sleep with him?!"

"Well, Frost is obviously eager enough."

"HOW—"

"—And frankly, I don't even care," Kristoff interrupted, slightly louder. "At this point, I'm a lot more concerned about preventing an emotionally-induced ice age than I am about your virtue."

"Our virtue?!" Elsa sputtered, "WHAT the—! You know that we'd never—"

"—Hey, who's the one getting up close and personal with one of The Guardians under the bed?" he retorted angrily. "You can't help it if he likes you, but—"

"—Kristoff!" Elsa gritted, "NOTHING. HAPPENED."

"If you say so, dear sister. But if you're going to get romantically involved with Jack Frost—oh, don't give me that; you clearly are," he snapped, holding up his hand as Elsa opened her mouth to protest, "You've can't afford to ignore the potential for disaster. I'm begging you, Elsa. Whatever you do, do not break this guy's heart. I just don't want him to get depressed and freeze Europe, alright?"

Elsa set her jaw again, staring into her lap and refusing to meet her brother-in-law's gaze. A hard silence swept over them, and she fidgeted with her skirt, fighting the blood rushing to her face.

After a few more moments, she slapped her hands down onto the arms of the chair, pushing herself onto her feet.

"Thank you for your concern, dear brother," Elsa shook, "But I—Jack and I are friends. Frankly, this is the first real friendship I've ever really had, and I'm not letting it go that easily, no matter what you think of it."

He didn't respond at first, taking a few steps back. Elsa snuck a quick glance at the vase on the table, and then turned away from him, walking for the door.

"You know," Kristoff said softly, "Maybe—maybe you're right."

She paused.

Without turning around, Elsa bit her lip, hearing her brother-in-law's approaching footsteps. Right behind her, he stopped.

"Maybe this—friendship—is actually a good thing. I mean, despite the danger," Kristoff added quickly. "…Maybe it wouldn't be a terrible thing for the Snow Queen to have a little fun in her life."

Another silence fell. Finally, Elsa swallowed hard.

"I know," she choked. "I know that I probably need to have a little fun in my life. It's just that I—"

She stopped abruptly, blushing. As Elsa shook her head, starting to walk towards the door again, Kristoff leapt in front of her, putting his hand on her shoulder.

"You what?"

Elsa stared at the ground, closing her eyes.

"I just…" her voice trailed off, and Elsa sighed. Then, taking another deep breath, she hesitantly looked up into his gaze again.

"I just think he needs to have a little love," Elsa whispered. "In his."