Austrian: Thank you, once again, we are slowly reaching the end... Hoffentlich gefällt dir das Kapital.

Guest: Thanks for the lovely review!

Sorry for the late update everyone, I was honestly being plain lazy... Hope you'll enjoy this chapter!

Chapter 19: The Snow Queen

The small, cute leaf which had slightly wrinkled skin, was completely red. The time for this leaf to leave home had long passed, it had to join its siblings... The wind blew towards the leaf with a sweet breeze, the feeble leaf broke from the branch it held on to, it was unable to resist the strong and powerful wind, so it began to fly through the air.

Oh, what it didn't see during the short period of floating in the air! The couples walking on the streets hand in hand, the naughty children making mischief, the old people beaming at the younger generations... There was a festive atmosphere in the town.

Now that the wind ceased, the little leaf was falling dramatically towards the ground. It had a short but breathtaking journey, now ready to join its siblings. Contrary to its expectation, things didn't go as planned. The leaf turned to ice as soon as it touched the ground...

Winter finally arrived at Burgess.

"Jack!" Jamie Bennett, the eighteen years old young man shrieked enthusiastically as soon as he realized the glaze of frost on his window.

He quickly unlocked the window, the cold breeze entered his room, caused him to flinch. However, Jamie Bennett was too joyful to care for the cold, his best friend finally paid him a visit.

"Hey Jamie!" the Spirit of Winter, Jack Frost greeted his best friend as he entered the room with a goofy grin on his face.

Jamie crossed his arms and pouted, tried to seem mad and annoyed. Jack hasn't shown up for a year, which was very rude if you asked Jamie. That's why, he held his tongue and tilted his head to indicate that he was expecting an explanation from his best friend.

Jack's goofy grin turned to a sheepish one, he rubbed his nape as he laid his staff against the wall. As he whirled around to face Jamie, the spirit simply put his hands on his hoodie's pocket and pursed his lips, attempted to seem innocent.

Jamie wasn't buying it, Jack Frost was a lot of things but the word 'innocent' never described him... The guy retained the first place in the naughty list, god knows how long!

"Where have you been, Jack? It has been a year!" Jamie blurted out, he made a facepalm for not being able to hold his mouth.

"First of all," Jack said with a confident manner as he raised his index finger, "As the Spirit of Winter and the Guardian of Fun, I have many responsibilities and duties-"

"Your fancy work schedule is nothing compared to the stressful life of a senior."

"Secondly," Jack proceeded without paying attention to his friend, "I... Well, that's pretty much everything."

Jamie rolled his eyes in irritation but he did not say anything, he knew ignoring him would be the best option... He had a lot of homework to do anyway. He casually sat down on his chair and began doing his math homework, he tried not to focus on the noises that Jack was causing.

After a while, when he heard the light snores of his friend, he smiled to himself and stood up. Jack was sleeping peacefully on the floor, he was using his left arm as a pillow. Jamie carefully placed his soft pillow under Jack's head, then put a blanket on him. The Spirit of Winter was of course immune to cold, but Jamie couldn't bear to do otherwise.

He then, headed towards the window to shut it down because the sky became darker and the room got colder... Jamie knitted his eyebrows when he saw the northern lights, dancing in the sky joyfully.

"Jack!" he yelled when he returned to his side. He nudged his friend hard, the excitement he has been feeling came out, his throat became dry whereas his fingers were trembling.

"Ow, what's going on Jamie!?" Jack asked, he sounded curious and also irked. He has already been getting up, he didn't seem that much sleepy.

Almost instantly, Jack directed his gaze at the window and realized the lights before Jamie could explain, his eyes were shot open now. He swiftly grabbed his staff and opened the window. He was about to leave the room, but he halted all of a sudden and rested his eyes on his friend.

The young man, Jamie sighed tiredly and shook his head. However, then his distressed features softened, a kind beam spread over his face. "Being an adult doesn't mean that I will stop believing in you. That's why you didn't visit, right? You were afraid that I wouldn't see you once I turned eighteen."

Jack raised an eyebrow, he fiddled with his hoodie nervously. Eventually, he nodded briefly in agreement, then offered a sincere smile to his best friend. "Thank you for still believing in me, Jamie."

"You are late." she remarked with a poker face, her voice sounded strict. Still, from the corner of his eye, he could see that she was trying not to smirk.

"Hello to you too, Mother Goose." he greeted the auburn-haired young woman, who was standing right next to him.

"Jack!" he heard Tooth's enthusiastic yell, the hummingbird-like woman has already been clasping him so tightly.

Before Jack could return the embrace, as always, he felt her hands unlocking his jaw, the Tooth Fairy began to analyze his teeth with a sparkle in her pink eyes.

"Mmph!" he only managed to say, it was impossible to speak whenever Tooth observed his teeth.

"Tooth! Hands off!" North ordered while he was massaging knuckles, he seemed a little bit distressed.

Even though it was unusual of him, Jack couldn't blame the old man, Tooth was babbling non-stop, the tiny elves were getting in his way. On top of it, North attempted to calm everyone down while he was arguing with Bunny. For centuries, they were always at odds over the same issue that arose whenever they met. Bunny was defending Easter, North was insisting that Christmas was better. At least, Sandy and Katherine remained calm.

Jack took pity on Father Christmas, for once, he decided not to be the troublemaker. When Tooth finally removed her arms, he slammed the edge of his staff on the floor. Everyone eventually quietened when they felt the coldness underneath them.

"What's going on?" Jack asked in a serious manner.

An arrow appeared on Sandy's head, it was signaling something. Jack turned around to discover what it was, his eyes grew bigger as soon as he saw the transparent stone that was resting on a marble.

The moon's lights illuminated the globe room, they were targeted at the transparent stone, which led a magical light to appear. As a result, a mysterious figure showed up and Jack's breath hitched at the sudden realization. A guardian... The Man in the Moon, Manny was choosing a new guardian. It has been only seven years since they had defeated Pitch, since he had become a guardian... What made Manny choose a new one this early?

The figure was surely a woman and she looked young, however, Jack couldn't pick any more details about the figure. Who was this woman? He had no idea, he took a glance at his friends to search for the answer, everyone seemed as baffled as him, except for...

"The Snow Queen." Katherine declared with an emotionless tone, her facial figures were also impassive.

Regardless, a couple of seconds later, she stumbled, she was breathing heavily. Without giving them a chance to ask her condition, Katherine turned around and ran out of the globe room. Instinctively, Jack followed her without a second thought.

"Here you are!" Jack exclaimed loudly whereas he was panting.

They were in the library of North's workshop, Katherine absolutely adored spending time there, it was obviously her favorite place in the workshop.

Katherine paid no mind to Jack, she was too busy with looking over a book. Jack bent his head to see the cover of the book... "Fairy Tales of Hans Christian Andersen".

The Winter Spirit raised an eyebrow to reflect his curiosity. He met Katherine a year after he became a guardian. He was shocked when he found out that there was another guardian. No one had told him the existence of Katherine until one day the young woman appeared out of nowhere.

His lips curled up as he recalled the memories. When they met, they immediately hit it off. The other guardians thought that a romance would blossom between them, however, neither of them were interested in each other romantically. Katherine easily became Jack's best friend, besides Jamie of course.

Still, even though they were close, he sometimes couldn't figure out what she was up to, just like right now.

"Have you ever heard of the Snow Queen, Jack?"

"The fairy tale character? Yes. She was created by a Danish guy, right?" he replied whereas he was leaning onto his staff.

She chuckled in amusement, then she shook her head. "Oh Jack, Hans Christian Andersen is not just a normal guy. He is one of the best fairy tale authors of all time."

"If I did not know you, I would have said you were fangirling." he teased her with a soft, toothy grin on his face.

Katherine's cheeks reddened at those words, she averted her gaze away from him. "I am not fangirling. I am simply impressed with his works, as a storyteller to another. I remember his childhood vividly, I always knew he was special. All I had to do was a little bit of a push... Anyway, let's not wander away from our topic."

"We were talking about the Snow Queen."

The woman nodded, the blush on her face vanished, she seemed more serious now. She closed the book and placed it in the bookshelf, then proceeded to explain... "She is not a fairy tale, Jack. She exists, just like you, me and the rest of the other guardians. She has a different story than Andersen had created, the reality has nothing to do with cursed children and mirror pieces."

"So she is not evil-ish?"

"No." Katherine shook her head and laughed wholeheartedly but it also sounded... sad. "She is one of the best people I've ever meet." she whispered, her lips were curled up bitterly.

"Wait," Jack knitted his eyebrows in bewilderment, he blinked to digest what she has just said. "You know her and you never told me? Does she have the same powers as me?"

Katherine shut her eyes, she winced in anguish. "It is not that simple, Jack. I remember her now and I just have the memory of what she looks like, that's all... You are the only one who can find her."

"M-Me? Why? You know every story, you are the Guardian of Storytelling. You should know where she lives." he claimed in disbelief, he felt even more puzzled now.

"I can't, Jack. I can't remember." she muttered under her breath in frustration while she was fuming. "... I can't remember because this is the way it's supposed to be. I am not supposed to save her, you are. Only you can find her, I can feel it. She needs you, Jack. And, believe it or not, you need her too."

"Why? Why am I the only who can save her? Why would I ever 'need' a girl who I haven't even met yet?"

"I..." Katherine's voice trailed off, she wrapped her arms around herself as she searched for the right words. "I don't know."

They started their journey with Norway. Hans Christian Andersen was from Denmark, but since the Snow Queen castle settled in a mountainous place and since Denmark was flat, Jack insisted on checking out Norway first.

It was absurd, he has been in this geography for multiple times, thousands even. He would surely know if a woman who could manipulate ice and snow lived here. Nevertheless, his guts were telling him not to give up, he had to find her.

Hours turned to days, days turned to weeks... Jack flew all around Norway, Denmark, Sweden and Finland, North and Katherine escorted him with the sled, even Bunny, who utterly despised the cold, opened many tunnels to find her. Despite their efforts, the Snow Queen was nowhere to be seen.

Jack slumped on the ground, his face was buried in his hands. He wanted to scream, to punch, to do something to let his frustration out, but nothing came out. He felt defeated, he felt like a failure.

"Son," he felt North's huge hand on his shoulder, clutching him in a supporting way. "You did the best you could."

Jack shook his head, he did not say anything. He didn't want to talk or do anything at all, he just wanted to find her...

"Hey are you okay?"

He grunted in response, however, when he heard Katherine's high-pitched scream, he flinched. As soon as he removed his hands, his eyes grew wider in disbelief. He was facing a circular rock, who had a big nose, eyes, hair that consisted of grass, who was wearing a dress that made with grass.

"W-What?!" he stuttered out in shock as he leaped backwards, he was pointing at the very much alive rock with his index finger.

"Never seen a troll before?" the troll asked tauntingly, she, at least she sounded like a woman, was smirking at him.

Jack stood up quickly, then he glanced at North and Katherine, they too, seemed bewildered.

Soon, the ground began to shake. The young-looking man took a few steps away when he saw many other round rocks, rolling toward them. Almost simultaneously, the rocks unrolled, they were staring at the three guardians.

"So the trolls are also real." Katherine muttered under her breath, she seemed calmer now, more like herself.

"And we are not evil, not like in the fairy tale that Mr. Andersen had written." a troll continued for her. He seemed the oldest one, his hair was longer than the others, even though he was a rock, thanks to his collected, elegant composure, it was crystal clear that he was someone wise.

"I am Pabbie. It is good to see you again, North and Jack." the troll introduced himself.

"Again? What do you mean?" North asked with his heavy Russian accent.

The troll let out a tiny, mysterious smile. "It is a long story and I am sure the Guardian of Storytelling will explain better than me, once she remembers. Right now, my duty is to help you to find the Snow Queen."

Jack crouched down, he darted his gaze on the old troll seriously. "Do you know her?"

"I do." Pabbie replied with his raspy voice, he then, took Jack's hand and looked at him in the eye. "Only you can find her... But first, you have to believe in her."

"What do you mean?"

"Believe in her, Jack Frost. Don't deny that she exists, trust yourself." Pabbie advised him, his smile was more sincere now.

Jack sighed, but he nodded to indicate that he understood him.

"Let's call the other guardians and tell them what we have just discovered." North murmured under his breath and Katherine agreed with him.

Believe... He had to believe. This was not absurd, it was not ridiculous to believe there was someone out there, who was a little bit like him...

"D-Did you hear that?!" Jack cried out as he jumped in surprise, Pabbie, who was still beaming, simply shook his head and North shrugged in response.

"What are you talking about, Jack?" Katherine inquired, there was a frown on her face.

"The voice..." he mumbled under his breath, he did not bother to explain.

When he heard the mysterious voice once again, he was sure that it was calling him. Jack began to fly, he had to follow the voice, he didn't want it to leave him alone...

"Jack! Where are you going?"

"Into the unknown!"

"Mate! You are out of your mind!"

"We are close, I can feel it!" he shrieked enthusiastically, his joyous laughter filled the air as he accelerated his speed.

"Jack, stop! We can not see anything because of the fog!" Tooth cried out from his behind but once again, for the hundredth time on that day, he did not care.

Apart from the heavy fog, the harsh breeze was trying to shove them aside, for the first time, the wind wasn't on his side. Nonetheless, Jack did not stop, he was planning on giving up.

"Jack!" he heard Tooth's yell once again from the distance.

He was not in control, the wind gained strength, they were repeatedly tossed around by a massive storm now. Before he shut his eyes down and lost his consciousness, he discerned that he was trapped in a whirlwind.

The last thing he remembered, was an anxious but beautiful sound that he had never heard before...

"Gale! Stop!"

"Are you alright?"

He was breathing heavily as his eyelids fluttered. He managed to nod although he was slightly in pain. He was appeased when he felt the soft, delicate hand on his skin, it was caressing his face gently...

When he opened his eyes, he found himself staring at the most mesmerizing blue eyes he has ever seen, her red, rosy lips were formed in a genuine, glamorous smile.

He gladly accepted the hand that she had offered to him, he stood up silently and let himself observe the young woman in front of him.

She had a very pale skin, a slender feminine shape. Her exquisite, really long platinum blonde hair was waving freely due to the wind... She was wearing a lovely white gown. She was... She was simply breathtaking, gorgeous. Jack has never seen someone like her before.

"E-Elsa!" Katherine gasped, Jack had to take a step away and gave them space when his friend jumped into the platinum blonde, Elsa...

Katherine was sobbing loudly, she was hugging her so tightly that Jack was sure the young woman had difficulty with breathing.

"Katherine... You remember me." he heard her melodious voice speaking gently, tears were also streaming down her face.

"I do!" she proclaimed gaily, she wiped her tears away when they finally broke their embrace.

"I believe, we must introduce ourselves." Katherine stated, she swiftly returned to her composed attitude as she fixated her posture. "I am Katherine Shalazar, the Guardian of Storytelling. I am also as known as Mother Goose."

Jack knitted his eyebrows in confusion when Katherine mentioned being a guardian... Did Elsa know about the guardians? She didn't seem baffled, therefore Jack supposed, she did.

Tooth, being the cheerful one, she was the second one who introduced herself. Before she did it though, she squealed like a lunatic whereas she was examining Elsa's teeth without caring about personal space.

"Your teeth are as white as a freshly fallen snow!"

"Tooth!" Bunny warned her, she immediately let out an apologetic smile and finally gave Elsa some space.

"Hi, it is so nice to meet you! I am Toothiana, the Tooth Fairy, the Guardian of Memories. Please call me Tooth!"

"Sorry, sheila." Bunny intervened before the half-hummingbird could ramble. "She is just really excited to meet a new person."

"It is okay." Elsa replied, then she let out an amused giggle.

Aster offered her a handshake, she gladly accepted it. "I am E. Aster Bunnymund, the Easter Bunny. I am the Guardian of Hope. You may call me Bunny or Aster." he said politely, then he gestured at Sandy. "He can't talk. He is Sanderson Mansnoozie, aka Sandy. He is the Guardian of Dreams."

"Ho-ho-ho!" North laughed as he pushed Bunny aside and ignored his grunts, then he shook Elsa's hand with great enthusiasm. "Privet! I am Nicholas St. North, aka Santa Claus and the Guardian of Miracles. It is so nice to finally meet you!"

Jack was the last one. When the young woman rested her gaze on him, he inhaled deeply. He came closer to her, he honestly felt a little bit nervous.

He deliberately raised his right hand whereas he was staring at her eyes without bothering to feel ashamed. She too, lifted her hand, soon, they felt each other. Neither of them seemed to be embarrassed by the fact they had intertwined their fingers.

Her creamy skin felt so soft and fragile. He shivered sweetly because she also felt... cold. Jack Frost did know how heat felt like, he could not tolerate it at all. Whenever he touched someone, they felt either hot or warm, but never cold.

"You feel cold... I've never sensed the cold before." he announced his thoughts aloud with a husky whisper.

"I've sensed it before. Though, some of them were unpleasant. But you feel..." her beautiful voice that sounded like a melody to his ear trailed off, she was blushing all of a sudden.

"Pleasant."

When they parted away, they both didn't resist the urge of creating a snowflake... His snowflake was bigger but simpler, hers was tinier but more detailed.

"My name is Jack Frost, I am the Spirit of Winter and the Guardian of Fun."

"Nice to meet you, Jack Frost. I am Elsa Arendelle, the Fifth Spirit, the Guardian of the Enchanted Forest... Though, I must admit, most people know me as the Snow Queen."

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