I also had way too much fun with this chapter. But you knew I would, didn't you? 8D

Beware the Frozen Heart
Chapter 13: Family

Zach's gaze dropped to the rock at Owen's feet. "Your... dad..."

"Run, Zach." Zara whispered and then stepped forward. "Hi, O's family." She said, walking towards a small rock. "It's nice to meet you." She patted the top of the rock with her stick arm. She glanced back at Zach. "Why aren't you running?" She hissed.

Zach watched Zara. Then lifted his gaze to meet Owen's. And the man was still smiling brightly, oblivious to the oddity that was this moment. Though if the man talked to rocks and called them family... he probably didn't know the difference between odd and normal. Zach bit his lip and took a step back. "I'm... gonna go." He said softly.

"Go?" Owen frowned. "No, Zach! Wait! Please!" He looked down at the rocks and glared at them. "Come on, guys! Stop it!" Suddenly, all the rocks began to roll towards Owen. He smiled down at them again. "Hey!"

The rocks stopped rolling and then suddenly sprang up and unfolded and Owen was surrounded by tiny, pudgy trolls. "Owen's home!" The one Owen deemed his dad said and others joined in. Owen let out a laugh and his dad grabbed his hand and pulled the man down towards him. "Let me look at ya, my boy!"

Another troll grabbed at his clothes. "Dirty! I wash!"

Owen pushed her hands away quickly. "Aunt Ellie, no!" He shook his head and looked around.

But another troll grabbed him and tugged him to the ground. "Come back to challenge me again?"

Owen pushed him off and shook his head. "No, Barry. No time to wrestle. Look, it's great to see you all. But where's grandpappie John?"

"He's napping." A tiny troll behind him answered. "But look! I grew a mushroom" He spun around, showing off the tiny red fungus on his shoulder.

Owen smiled down at the troll. "That's great, Timmy."

"Well..." Another tiny troll pushed to the front and held up a glowing, blue crystal. "I earned my water crystal!"

"That's awesome, too, Lex..." Owen started to say. And then suddenly both of the tiny trolls were jumping on him and laughing.

Zach watched silently. He tilted his head and shook it slowly. "Trolls." He barely believed his eyes. "They're trolls!"

As a group, all the trolls turned to look at Zach. Then all blinked at him. Owen quickly dropped the tiny trolls and pushed to the front of the group. "Yes." He said nodding. "This is my family." He turned. "Dad!"

The troll he'd talked to first came forward, a wide smile on his face.

Owen smiled and turned to Zach and Zara. "This is my dad."

Zach stared at him blankly for a moment. "This is your dad." He repeated.

Owen nodded. "Yeah."

Zach opened his mouth slowly. "Your dad is a troll?"

"Yes." Owen nodded his head again.

"You were... raised by trolls?"

"Yes!" Owen snapped, crossing his arms. "Is that such a hard concept?"

Zach tilted his head for a moment. "Sort of."

Owen rolled his eyes.

"You can call me Simon." The troll said, stepping closer. "We're all so happy to meet our boy's new boyfriend." Happy squeals erupted from the trolls around them.

Zach's eyes widened. "Uh..."

"No!" Owen said quickly, shaking his head and waving his arms. "No, no, no! This is the new King. I'm just helping him!"

"Owen, my boy. It's alright." Simon turned to Zach. "My son here, he likes boys. He doesn't like girls."

Zach blinked down at the troll. He wasn't quite sure what to say to that. He glanced over at Owen and then away quickly.

Owen's mouth dropped open. "Dad!"

"It's quite alright." The troll went on. "Just the way you were born."

"Dad! Shut up!"

"And I've told you for years, we all love you just the same."

"Dad, please! Stop talking!"

Simon spun around. He jumped up and grabbed Owen's shirt. The momentum of the oddly heavy troll made Owen stumble back. And then fall. "Owen, my boy!" Simon said, now sitting squarely on Owen's chest. "Love is the most important thing in the whooooooole world." The troll practically sang out.

Owen laid his head back on the ground and let out a sigh. "Yeah. Duh." He snapped out. "You've been telling me this my whole life!"

Barry let out a laugh as he bounced closer. "So you've finally listened, brother!"

"Listened... no! That's... the... King!" Owen snapped, his jaw clenched shut. "I'm just helping him! We don't even know each other!"

"Well... we can fix that." Ellie called out, bouncing over towards Zach.

Zach awkwardly smiled down at the happy looking troll. He lifted his hand and waved at her.

Owen frowned as he lifted his head up and glared at his dad. The heavy troll was still sitting on him and looked quite happy about it. "Get off."

Simon ignored Owen's request and leaned closer. He got right in Owen's face and turned to look at Zach. "He's cute, right?" Simon pointed at the fidgeting King and tilted his head. "For a human man? You do think he's cute?" Simon pulled back and tilted his head the other way. "Pretty is the wrong term... handsome!" Simon nodded. "You think the King is handsome, yes?"

"No!" Owen snapped, sitting up and pushing the heavy troll off.

"No?" Zach gasped loudly. Then his eyes widened and he quickly covered his mouth. He hadn't meant to gasp so loudly.

Owen held up his hands and shook his head quickly. "No, no, no! I didn't mean... I just... dad!"

Simon let out a sigh and shook his head. He turned to Zach and started walking towards him. "I'm so sorry, your highness. My boy's not the brightest when it comes to these things."

"Dad!" Owen attempted to scramble up but was suddenly thrown on his stomach. Barry happily perched on his back. "Damnit, Barry!"

"I'm sorry he doesn't like you..." Simon said, reaching out to pat Zach's leg.

"I do like him!" Owen snapped quickly. Then his eyes widened and he rolled over and dumped Barry off. "Uh... I mean... we just met!" He said, standing up. "And he's the King!"

Simon spun around, a large smile on his face. "So you do like him?" He asked, pointing his finger in Owen's direction."

Owen held up his hands. "Please stop talking."

"Good!" Simon clapped his hands together. "This is a great start." He turned back to Zach. "You like my boy?"

Zach opened his mouth slowly. "I uh..."

"Dad! No!" Owen stalked towards them. "You've got the wrong idea! That's not why I brought him..."

"What's the issue?" Ellie asked.

"Yes." Simon said, nodding his head. "Is there something you don't like about him?"

"Well... uh..." Zach was at a loss. He looked around at all the expectant faces.

"Enough!" Owen shouted and threw up his arms. "Please! Just stop all of this!"

Simon tilted his head. "Is it the clumpy way he walks?"

Ellie stepped closer to Owen and reached up to pull at his shirt again. "Or the dumpy clothes he wears?"

Simon nodded his head. "Or the weird excited way he talks?"

"Or how he never, ever shuts up?" Barry mumbled. "Ever?"

"Oh!" Timmy jumped up and waved his hand. "He hogs the covers when he sleeps!"

Lex wrinkled her nose. "And his feet are always ice cold!"

Simon let out a laugh. "He always smells like a reindeer even after he washes."

"What about the peculiar way he talks to his reindeer?"

"He sings in his sleep."

"And pees in the woods."

"And tells really bad jokes."

Zach looked from troll to troll as they all rattled off odd facts about Owen.

"And his eyes are super green!"

Zach frowned at the last one and looked down at the tiny troll in front of him. "Why's that's a bad thing?"

"Because!" Timmy said, throwing up his arms. "It's a weird thing."

Zach shrugged. "Green's not that weird."

Simon smiled. "Good!"

"Guys!" Owen rubbed at his temples. His head was starting to hurt. "Dad! Please! For the love of everything! Shut up!"

Simon let out a laugh and turned around. "My boy, just embrace this!"

Owen shook his head. "How many times do I have to tell you? We... just... met!"

"So..." Simon turned back to Zach. "We just need to get to know you better."

"Me?" Zach looked down at the troll.

Simon nodded. "We know you're the new King. You've got a younger brother. Parents died when you were younger..."

Owen's mouth dropped open. "Dad!"

"Oh that's so sad!" Ellie wailed.

"It is." Simon said with a nod. "Very sad. Just like Owen."

"His parents died, too." Timmy said.

"And we adopted him!" Lex added.

"Yes!" Ellie squealed. "You can be in our family, too!"

"Yes!" Simon nodded his head. "We'll adopt you, too!"

"No!" Owen yelled. "He's the King! You can't adopt the King! He has a family!"

Simon shrugged his shoulder and tilted his head to the side. "He can have more than one family!" He turned back to Zach. "Now... what else should we know?"

"He likes to dance!" Zara added, stepping forward. "In the snow. He really likes the snow."

Zach glanced sideways at her.

"And green!" She added with a smile. "His favorite color is green!"

Simon smiled widely. "Green!" He clapped his hands together and spun around.

Zach looked at Zara again, confusion on his face.

The snowgirl smiled brightly. "You and Claire spent a lot of time playing in the snow when you were younger, building me and snowballs."

Zach smiled slowly. "I remember..."

"That's it!" Shouted Ellie.

"It's a perfect match!"

"Meant to be!"

"True love!"

Zach was suddenly pulled back by a swarm of trolls. They rolled around him, tossing flowers and grass at him. Zach shielded his eyes and ducked his head. Then the trolls rolled away and Zach looked down at himself. He was wearing a cape of moss and there were flowers around his neck. He straightened up and looked around. And let out a laugh.

Owen was standing across the clearing, fending off troll hands. He was dressed in a similar looking moss and grass cape, and a crown of flowers and sticks on his head. Owen's eyes narrowed into a glare as he slapped Simon's hands away. "Stop it!" Then he caught the laughter and turned to glare at Zach. Then his eyes widened. "Wow."

Zach blushed slightly and looked away.

"Come on, let's get started." Simon ducked behind Owen and started pushing him forward. A few other trolls joined in and pushed Owen and Zach towards a large hole in the ground.

"Where'd that come from?" Owen asked. Then was roughly pushed inside. Zach fell down beside him and Owen caught him and helped him stand up.

"Do you, Zach..." Simon said, standing just in front of them. "Trollfully take..."

Owen shook his head. "What's going on?"

"Trollfully?" Zach said.

"You're getting married." Simon said frankly.

"Oh hell no!" Owen snapped. "You guys never listen to a word I say! Ever!"

"Yes we do, my son!"

Owen rolled his eyes as he climbed out of the hole. "No, you don't." He turned and leaned down. He held his hand out to Zach. "Not a single word, dad." Owen said. Zach glanced around at the saddened trolls. He swallowed and timidly took the offered hand and Owen pulled him up. Owen let out a sigh and stepped away. "I'm sorry." He said, scratching at the back of his neck. "They... uh... get carried away easily."

Zach dropped his gaze to the ground. "It's okay." He said softly.

Zara hopped down into the hole. She threw up her stick arms and spun around. "If you guys aren't gonna use it, can Claire and I?"

"You can't marry Claire!" Owen snapped. He reached over the hole to pull her out.

"Why not?" She flailed her arms against him. "If you can marry Just Zach, I can marry Claire!"

"I'm not marrying Zach!" Owen snapped. "And it's just Zach!"

"That's what I said! Just Zach!"

"No! Zach! Not Just Zach! It's just... Zach! His name is Zach! No just!"

"Just Zach!" Zara wailed. "O is being mean to me!"

Zach watched the two flail and fight fondly. He smiled and opened his mouth. "I..." He started but a shot of pain ripped through him before he could finish his thought. Zach bent forward and his knees collapsed out from under him. It was more intense than the other two times and he struggled to breathe.

"Zach!" Owen dropped Zara on the ground and rushed to Zach's side. He knelt down and gathered Zach into his arms. The King was unresponsive. And cold. Owen stood up and looked around. "Grandpappie John!" He called out loudly.

The trolls quickly parted and moved to the side. An old troll ambled towards Owen. His eyes were wide . He lifted his hand and waved his cane in Owen's direction. "There is strange magic here. Quick!" The old troll said, waving him forward with his cane. "Bring him to me."

Owen nodded and stepped forward quickly. He knelt down, still hugging Zach against his chest.

John touched Zach's hands. "His life is in danger. There is ice in his heart, put there by his aunt. If not removed, he will freeze forever."

Owen's eyes widened. "But you can remove it, right? I've seen you do it before!"

John shook his head. "I cannot."

"I've seen you do it!" Owen insisted.

"That was his head." The old troll said softly. "It was easy. The head can be persuaded but... only an act of pure love can sway a heart." He said gravely.

Owen's eyes widened. "Pure love?" He repeated, looking down at Zach. "He uh... I don't think he's... involved with anyone..." If such a thing had happened, he was sure he would have heard whispers of it at the coronation.

"An act of pure love." The old troll repeated. "Doesn't always mean romantic love."

Owen let out a sigh and shook his head. "His aunt did this to him. But... his little brother..."

"Is his only hope!" John interrupted gravely. "You must hurry! He doesn't have much time."

Owen nodded and stood up quickly. "Thank you, Grandpappie John. Blue!" He turned and the gray reindeer was already standing beside him. Owen blinked at her for a moment. Then she bent down and he smiled. He climbed on her back and shifted Zach in his lap as Blue stood up. "Zara, you coming?"

The snowgirl nodded and grabbed Owen's outstretched hand. He pulled her up and she settled down behind him. Owen glanced back at the other three reindeer. "Stay here!" He commanded loudly. "Stay, Echo!" He didn't need to worry about her wandering off and creating trouble. "Go, Blue! Back to the Kingdom!"

The reindeer nodded her head and took off like a bolt of lightning. Owen didn't even glance back.

-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-

Author's Notes: Wow that was long! 8D Hope you enjoyed meeting Owen's family!