It was drizzling. Elsa blinked. It wasn't rain. Golden sand hung in a mist all around them, shimmering as it pattered on the ice. She looked down and couldn't see her feet; it was like standing in a cloud. She turned to see Jack, their fingers still linked together. He was looking up, watching the soft sand shower down on them. Grains of gold shone in his hair. He looked down at her, his mouth slightly open. Sun rays pierced the clouds.
"This cannot be," a voice said in a rough whisper.
Elsa turned. Pitch was there, but he looked smaller. Shriveled. He glared at her, and the skin of his face was stretched taut over his skull. The sun shone through his face as if he were transparent.
"What's happening?" Elsa whispered.
"I'll tell you." Dropping her hand, Jack stepped forward to stand beside her. His eyes narrowed. The veins stood out on the backs of his clenched fists. "You lost, Pitch!" he shouted, his voice too loud in the mist.
"It's over!" he practically screamed.
Pitch sniggered, showing his teeth, but his eyes were cold and humorless. "We are not through," he said softly.
"Yes, we ARE!" Jack lunged forward.
Elsa couldn't move. But before Jack could reach Pitch, the Nightmare King began to break apart, bits of his face becoming dark grains of sand in the breeze. His arms, legs, cloak disintegrated, disappearing into the golden haze. When Jack stumbled onto the patch of ice upon which Pitch had stood, nothing was there. He was gone.
Elsa watched Jack turn this way and that, his breath coming in gasps. "Jack?"
Jack whipped around, eyes wild.
"Jack? I think he's gone."
Jack stared at her, his chest rising and falling. Then he closed his eyes, and his cheeks became wet with tears. His shoulders trembled as he mopped his eyes with his hand.
Elsa's feet carried her forward.
Jack rubbed harder, looking away.
She touched his arm and he finally met her eyes, his own bloodshot red. She hugged him tightly, closing her eyes as his body shook, as his head dropped down to her shoulder, until at last he was still. She rubbed his back, and smiled faintly as she felt the tension begin to release. Then her eyes widened. She stepped back. "Jack. Look."
Jack lifted his head. The sand around them was coming together. Before their eyes, it coalesced into four columns. They shone brighter and brighter until Elsa had to shield her eyes.
When she opened them, the Guardians were there. Tooth, North, Sandy, and Bunny. While Tooth and North looked puzzled, blinking in the haze, Bunny's eyes were fixed on Jack. His face was lit up like a candle.
"You did it," he said.
Beside him, Sandy smiled knowingly, looking from Jack to Elsa.
"What happened?" Tooth exclaimed. "Where's Pitch? What-"
"He's gone now," Jack said. His eyes were dry. "Thanks to Elsa."
"You showed me how," she said.
Jack only shook his head. "You're back," he said simply, looking at his friends.
"Can't get rid of us that easily," Bunny was quick to add.
"All of you…" Jack was unable to finish his sentence.
"Of course." Stunning everyone, Bunny sprang forward and tackled Jack in a hug. Sandy joined them, closing his eyes and promptly dozing off, a smile on his face.
"I believe we must have…missed something," North remarked.
"You're telling me," Tooth replied.
Elsa saw Jack shut his eyes tightly and drop his head until only the mop of white hair was visible. She averted her eyes, feeling as though she'd intruded on something private.
Suddenly Jack clapped Bunny on the back and shoved him away. "Get off me, you overgrown kangaroo."
Sandy stumbled as his nap was interrupted, and Elsa couldn't help but laugh. The noise brought the Guardians' attention back on her. She didn't know what to say. "I'm glad you're all all right," she managed.
"Are you?" Jack cut in, concern returning to his face.
She paused. "Yes. I think I am."
Jack's gaze softened, but there was still something behind his eyes. Something that hadn't been there when he'd reunited with his friends.
"Wow," Tooth began. "I know I'd really like to know what happened. Feel like I'm missing something here. A lot."
"Well…"
Jack trailed off, looking down. He frowned.
"Jack?" Elsa asked.
Jack looked up at her. To her surprise, he was smiling an almost teasing smile. "Look."
Elsa did, just as she felt dampness begin to seep through her socks. She pranced, trying to step out of the puddle, but it was everywhere. She looked back up at Jack, and he was laughing. He closed the distance between them and hugged her tightly, spinning her around.
"I knew you could do it, Snowflake," he said in her ear.
"Do what?" Elsa murmured around her smile. It was impossible not to smile, even as she felt her face begin to warm.
"Thaw Arendelle." Jack released her, and they looked around. The ice was melting backwards, top layer first, turning the frozen fjord into a wading pool. The clouds were fleeing the sky. In the distance, they watched a mass of snow slide off the castle roof and pummel the ground.
"I can't believe it," Elsa said. "I'm not doing anything!"
"Maybe it is not about what you do, but how you feel," North said.
"I feel like we should get off this lake before it melts completely!" Bunny said, looking thoroughly displeased that his paws were wet.
"You can always find something to complain about, my friend," North said to him, clapping him on the shoulder and sending him lurching forward. Bunny mumbled something inaudible, and trudged back towards the shore.
North nudged Sandy, who had fallen asleep again. Blinking blearily, the Sandman floated after Bunny. Tooth shot a glance at Jack and Elsa, but fell in beside North to walk ahead of them.
All at once Jack kicked the water, sending water splattering up Elsa's skirt.
"Hey!" she cried.
Jack grinned evilly. "What are you going to do about it? Don't want to risk freezing Arendelle again."
"I'll freeze you!" Elsa cried, playfully lunging towards him, but the laugh died as she remembered what had happened. She quieted, and resumed wading towards the shore.
Jack splashed after her. "Hey, is everything okay?" He caught up to her. "I'm sorry, that was a stupid thing to say."
"It's fine," Elsa said. She was overreacting, of course. It was just a stupid joke. Just a stupid joke.
"Hey." Jack caught her by the arm. She followed his gaze down, and saw little whiskers of frost by her feet. She caught her breath.
"What's wrong?" Jack said quietly.
Elsa stood still, looking down at the thin kiss of frost on the water. "Pitch is gone," she said. "But I can't stop thinking about what he did. What I did." She looked up at Jack. "I stood up to him once, but what if he comes back? What if he wins? And now I have to go back to Arendelle. After everything I've done, will they still want me there?"
Jack was silent for a moment. "It's not gonna be easy, but we have to try. Every day. We'll never let him win."
"And what about you?" She looked closely at Jack. "Are you really okay?"
Jack smiled a hard smile. "I'm always okay." He broke eye contact, kicking at the water. The ice disappeared in the foam. "Don't worry so much."
Elsa sighed. "Maybe I shouldn't."
"Of course not! Now c'mon, before this ice melts through."
He started towards the shore, and Elsa followed him. Just as they stepped onto the sand, the remaining under-layer of ice cracked and dissolved.
Looking out at the fjord, Jack squinted. "I don't believe it."
"What?" Tooth asked.
Jack began wading into the water.
"Hey!" Tooth cried.
"What're you doing, Mate?" Bunny put in.
Jack grabbed something and lifted it out of the water like a trophy. "Look!" he cried, beaming. It was his staff.
Everyone had to smile.
"I'll never leave you again," Elsa heard Jack murmur as he splashed back to shore.
"It came back to you," she said.
"I guess it did," he replied, still grinning from ear to ear.
"Did...?" North trailed off.
Jack's smile faded. Brows knitted, he felt in one of his pants pockets, then the other, then finally in his jacket pocket. Finally, he lifted his head, his lips pressed together. He shook his head.
After a beat, North patted him on the shoulder. "I make you new one."
The corners of Jack's mouth turned up. Then he frowned.
Elsa turned to see what he was looking at.
Bunny had been licking slush off his paws, and now he stopped, mid-lick. "What?" he demanded.
"Nothing," Jack said, crossing his arms.
Elsa looked across the fjord. In the distance, the town really was thawing. She thought of Anna. What could she be doing right now? She heard the sounds of bickering behind her, and suppressed a smile. They were like a big family. They worked. But what about her own? Her smile faded.
She turned back to the Guardians. Jack was grinning as Bunny spewed insults at impressive speed, North was watching the show, Tooth was conferring with her fairies. And Sandy...
As if he could feel her gaze, Sandy glanced at her and winked. She grinned at him.
Jack caught her eye. "You know, you're right, Bunny," he said, a smirk beginning to play about his lips. "And, wow, you're so right about everything, you'd be the perfect person to explain everything that's happened to North and Tooth." He lifted his eyebrows, stepping away from the group. "I won't get in your way."
Ignoring the immediate uproar, Jack snatched Elsa's hand and yanked her into the woods.
The other Guardians' voices faded quickly, leaving only Jack's chuckle as he pulled her along. The trees smelled fresh and damp, water trickling from the branches.
When they were a ways away, Jack slowed, and he was still smiling when he turned around.
It was quiet now, and Elsa waited. The trees seemed to hold their breath with her.
Jack seemed to notice they were still holding hands and he dropped hers, letting out a breath. He looked at the ground, then the trees, then back to her. A lone bird called in the distance.
"I...wanted to say," Jack began. His eyes met hers and he seemed to flush. "Thank you," he finished.
Elsa felt color rise to her own cheeks. "You don't need to thank me for anything."
"I really do." Jack looked down. "I know you don't want to talk about what happened."
"It's hard. But…maybe we should." Elsa hesitated, trying to find the words. "If we push it all down, then, well, then later we'll just explode." She felt hot from Jack's gaze and the struggle to express her thoughts.
"You're right," Jack said. "I was thinking the same thing." He shifted his weight, putting his hands in his jacket pocket.
"Good," Elsa said.
Jack nodded. He shifted his weight again. A trickle of water ran from his hair to his face, and he flinched, slapping at it with his hands. "Shit."
Elsa's mouth twitched.
Jack looked up at the sky. "Wind?"
A gust of air suddenly slapped Jack head-on, knocking him back a few steps and blowing his hair into a ridiculous array of spikes. But it was dry. He looked at Elsa and she couldn't hold back the laughter anymore. He looked like he'd been struck by lightning.
He grinned. "You want her to do you too?"
Elsa shook her head, still smiling. "No, I think I'm good, thanks." She stepped forward and tried to flatten his hair with her hand. He caught her eye, standing still, and she realized what she was doing. For a moment they were frozen, her hand in his hair. It was soft from the blow-dry. Like feathers. Elsa carefully lowered her hand.
Jack let out a breath. "You're going back to Arendelle?" His voice lilted at the end, just barely revealing it as a question.
Elsa's stomach hardened like a stone. "I…" She searched for words, a story, a mask to hide behind. But this was Jack. Jack, who knew everything. Who had seen everything. She couldn't hide from him. She didn't know if she wanted to. "I don't know. How can I?"
"It's your home."
"The home I destroyed. Stop, I know what you're going to say," she continued as Jack opened his mouth. "But we can't ignore what happened. I can't go back to how it was before everyone knew about my powers. And I can't imagine anyone wants me back now. You can't tell me I'm wrong. I can't pretend everything will magically be fine, because it's never fine. That's not my life."
Jack was silent. "I know there's at least one person who wants you back," he said quietly.
Elsa pressed her lips together. "She's been through enough. I don't want to make things more complicated than they have to be."
"Complicated?" Jack raised his eyebrows. "You mean you don't want to try."
"I don't want to put her in danger!" Elsa hurled back. "I'm the evil ice queen now. The less she's associated with me, the better. Maybe if I just stay away, if we're lucky, they'll forget about me and accept her as the true heir to the throne.
"Like she always should have been," she muttered.
Jack scowled. "You're not evil anything. And you thawed Arendelle! You saved it! If we can just explain…"
"Explain what?" Elsa crossed her arms. "That an evil spirit was pulling the strings? That there was more going on? We can't. Jack, they won't believe."
"Then what?" Jack's voice was flat, wooden. "What do you want to do?"
"I don't know." She spread her hands. She looked at Jack and let him see that she had nothing. "I don't know." Her voice cracked.
Jack put his hand on her shoulder. "Don't worry," he said.
Elsa almost smiled at the futility of it.
Jack stood straighter. "We'll figure it out. Together."
"Okay," Elsa said through dry lips. Somehow, looking into Jack's impossibly blue eyes, she felt calmer. His hand was a steady weight on her shoulder. "Together."
"Um," said a different voice.
Jack and Elsa both turned their heads to see Tooth hovering between two trees.
Jack dropped his hand from Elsa's shoulder. "What is it?"
Tooth's violet, inhuman eyes flicked to Elsa. "Anna is here."
Elsa's breath disappeared from her lungs. "What?"
They followed Tooth back to the beach. Elsa's legs felt alien. Jack kept glancing sideways at her. At the beach, Sandy, Bunny, and North were standing back from the water. Elsa's eyes widened.
"ELSA!" Anna leapt from the tiny rowboat, nearly capsizing the blond man who remained inside, and splashed the rest of the way to shore.
Elsa had no time to react before Anna sprinted unknowingly past all five Guardians and caught her in a hug.
"I knew I'd find you," Anna said fiercely over Elsa's shoulder. "I knew you weren't dead."
"Anna." Elsa almost didn't know what to do. Then carefully, tentatively, she put her arms around Anna. That almost broke her. The Guardians' faces blurred as her eyes filled with tears. "Anna."
"I missed you so much," Anna murmured.
"I missed you too." Elsa sniffed.
Anna pulled back. "Elsa?"
Elsa wiped her eyes. "No, I'm not—"
"Don't cry. You can't cry, or I'll cry. Elsa!" Anna's eyes were brimming.
"Sorry. I'm just, I'm just really happy." Elsa shook her head to clear it. "You came all this way in that little boat?"
The blond stranger pulled the boat up on shore, water clearly sloshing around in his boots. He turned, and finding Anna and Elsa's eyes on him, his own widened uncomfortably. He dropped into a bow.
"Um, my, uh, Your Majesty," he managed.
Elsa turned to Anna. "Who is…?"
"Oh, this is Kristoff!" Anna beamed. "He's been helping me look for you! Uh, we also owe him a...few things."
Kristoff's cheeks visibly reddened as he rose. He waved his arms in protestation. "Oh no, you don't have to worry about any of that. It's, um, it's a great honor to meet you, Queen Elsa."
"It's just Elsa." Elsa's heart went out to the man. Judging by his clothes, he was an ice harvester. "Thank you for helping my sister. I'm very grateful."
"No problem," Kristoff mumbled.
"Now come on!" Anna tugged at Elsa's arm. "Let's go back to Arendelle."
Elsa froze. "Oh, I-"
"The boat's small, but it got us here. I'm sure it'll be enough to get us back to town. Oh, I'm so glad I found you! You're a hard person to find." Anna chuckled quietly. "If you knew where I've been…"
All the while she pulled Elsa towards the boat.
"I don't…" Elsa looked back almost desperately. All the Guardians were watching them, but she had eyes only for Jack. Soundlessly, her lips formed his name.
He stood at the edge of the forest, flanked by Bunny and Tooth. Impossibly far away. He smiled at her with sad eyes.
"Don't miss your chance," he said.
Sandy lifted his hand in a wave.
And Elsa let Anna lead her into the shallow water, Kristoff grunting as he shoved the boat off the sand. She let Anna seat her in the rickety wooden seat. And then they were moving away from shore, Kristoff rowing, Anna's words washing over her like water.
Elsa looked back. The Guardians stood in a little cluster on the beach. As she watched, Jack raised his fingers in a wave. Then he turned away, the others closing ranks behind him, and they disappeared into the trees.
A tear slid down her cheek.
Anna was speaking. Elsa forced herself to concentrate on the words. She turned around, wiping her cheek as surreptitiously as she could. "Sorry, what?"
The port grew larger and larger, ships' masts rising up in sharp angles. Beyond, the tallest building in Arendelle cast a shadow over town. Elsa shivered as the windows of the castle studied her.
The boat bumped the dock. Kristoff leaned back, sighing in exhaustion, then swung himself out, turning around to offer Anna his hand.
Safely on the dock, Anna reached out to Elsa. Seeing no alternative, her heart sinking lower with each passing moment, Elsa took Anna's hand and stood. In the absence of weight to counterbalance it, the boat wobbled, and Elsa stumbled, her free hand snatching at the air. Something caught it, and held steady. Elsa looked up, and her eyes met blue.
"We need to talk," Jack said.