Chapter 1

Disclaimer : I own neither Frozen nor Rise of the Guardians. I have only watched Frozen once, and Guardians not at all

It was her fault.

Those were the only words that Elsa could think of as she looked at her little sister. Her sister was in her father's arms, her eyes closed. It would look as if she was sleeping, but her breathing was shallow, and the new lock of striking white hair was a harsh reminder of what had happened hours earlier.

It had happened so fast. One moment Anna was happily flying through the air, asking for more, and the next moment, she was on the ground, knocked senseless by Elsa's powers.

It was her fault.

Elsa looked up at her mother. Her mother, the beautiful regal Queen of Arendelle. But at that moment, there was nothing regal about her. The Queen spurred the horse on to match the gallops of the horse next to her. The fear was in her eyes. The fear that it could be too late.

Elsa's stomach growled. Anna and her had sneaked out to play in the throne room before dawn, before breakfast was served, and they had rushed out of the castle after the incident. There was simply no time for breakfast. There was not even time to pack some food for the travelers.

Her stomach growled again, and the Queen heard it. She looked at her eldest daughter with love and concern, and wrapped her arms around the little girl, so close that the princess could hear the rapid beating of the Queen's heart.

They rode through the grasslands and the forests. They rode through the folds of the mountains. It was only evening that they reached their destination, a secluded area in the middle of the forest, filled with green moss and boulders – the Valley of the Living Rock.

"We need help!" the King called out as he slid down his horse, his younger daughter in his arms.

All at once, the boulders in the middle of the valley turned around and revealed the Trolls. The Queen and Elsa gasped. They had never seen a troll before.

The trolls trudged towards the new arrivals, whispering among themselves.

"It's the King."

"Please," the King kneeled down. "We need help." He showed them unconscious figure.

"Pabbie.." the crowd spoke among themselves.

And then suddenly the crowd parted to reveal a troll who walked towards the royal family. The other trolls looked at him, respect in their eyes. Pabbie.

He took one look at the girl, and it seemed that he knew what had happened.

He stretched out a hand and placed it on the girl's forehead.

"You're lucky it only struck her head. The head is easy to cure. If it's the heart….. " he trailed off.

Pabbie touched Anna's forehead, his eyes closed. All at once, it seemed that Ana's breathing was soother, and the girl stirred in her father's arms.

"I will wipe away her memories. She will have no recollection of what has happened. But she will retain her happy memories."

The King nodded. It was for the best.

The troll turned and looked at Elsa.

"You have a very powerful gift, but you need to learn how to control your capability. To control your capability, you must learn to control your emotions."

"We'll teach her," the Queen spoke for the first time since their arrival.

"May I have another request?" The King asked.

Pabbie looked at the King.

"Can you…. Can you let Elsa stay and teach her how to control her powers?"

"Daddy!" "Your Majesty!"

The Troll King looked at the King. He did not look surprised.

The King looked at his wife.

"It will be for the best. We will let Elsa stay here for a while so that she can learn to control her magic. It is too dangerous for her to be near to Ana, or anyone, until she has it under control. We will bring her back the moment we can."

The Queen looked down, and after a while she gave a slight nod, her hand still holding on to her eldest child.

"No, Mommy, no!" Elsa pulled her hand away.

The Queen placed her shoulders on Elsa's shoulders and kneeled down so that she was at eye level with her child.

"Elsa, please understand. We need you to be brave. We love you," the Queen pleaded.

But Elsa only shook her head. No, they would not leave her here with the trolls if they loved her. They did not love her.

"I hate you!" she shouted at her mother. "I hate both of you!" She ran away.

She ran into the forests of the valley, not caring where she went. Behind her, she heard her parents called after her, calling her name, but she did not look back.

It was her fault that Anna was injured, but did they have to abandon her like that?

She ran without a sense of direction, without thinking, without stopping. She ran with only one purpose – to get away from her parents.

Her soft shoes stepped on the grass and her legs ached, but she continued running, until her foot struck an exposed root and she fell onto the grass.

Elsa lifted herself using her hands. The patch of grass under her hand froze, and the tears from her eyes solidified into icicles.

"I hate you….." she repeated, unable to control the tears. "I hate you…." But there was an ache in her heart which told her otherwise.

She had no idea how long she stayed there, the nearby grass and tree all frozen. And then she heard a voice.

"You OK?"

She looked up. There was no one there. But she saw a scattering of snow flakes from the sky. But that was not possible. It was summer.

"Who are you?" she asked as she slowly stood up. One of the snow flakes landed on her arm, and it stayed there.

"Who are you?" she repeated again.

A laughter filled the air. It was so close that she flinched in surprise.

"You can't see me."

Elsa narrowed her eyes.

"I can't see you, but I can hear you?"

A pause.

"Well, you aren't supposed to hear me either. But I guess… you're different."

Elsa looked at the frozen greens in front of her.

"I guess you can say that again."

The voice continued.

"So…. Why are you crying?"

She looked at the source of the sound. Just a sound, not a face, not an outline. But somehow that voice put her at ease. It sounded as if the owner of the voice was very concerned about her. As if he was genuinely concerned about her.

She looked down at her hands.

"I ….. I hurt my little sister, and …. And my parents are going to send me away. To live with the trolls."

She felt something on her arm. It was cool. Cool, not warm, not cold. But cool. Like a welcome breeze on a hot summer, like a warmer breeze in a cold winter night. And it felt like fingers of a hand. A hand placed gently on her arm. She could feel the gentle pressure.

She smiled. "I can feel your hand."

"Woahhh…. " The hand moved away. "This is creepy."

"Creepy?" No one had ever described her as creepy.

A nervous laugh in front of her.

"Yeah.. creepy in the good way. No one can ever hear my voice.. and now … on the same day… someone can hear me… can feel my touch…."

A hand brushed against hers. Elsa wrapped her fingers around his. A handshake.

"My name is Jack," the voice said.

"My name is Elsa," Elsa told him, almost forgetting about her unhappiness for a moment.

"Jack," she called his name. It was a nice name, and somehow she thought that it suited him, even though she had only known him for a while and had no idea how he looked like.

"Jack…. What's your family name?" she asked.

There was no reply from Jack, but his hand was still in hers.

"Jack…. Jack Overland….," he said after a while. And then he removed his hand from hers.

"Somebody's coming. I got to go." He said.

Elsa wanted to remind him that no one could see him, but she blurted out something else.

"Will I see you again?"

Another nervous laughter.

"Did you say that you will be staying with the trolls?"

She nodded.

"I'll come and find you," he said and then his presence was gone with another scattering of snowflakes.

Elsa heard the sound of rustling behind her. She spun around. The tall grass separated to reveal a pair of trolls.

"Princess Elsa. Their Majesties….." one of them said. There was pity in their eyes, and Elsa knew that her parents had left without saying goodbye.