Chapter 7

Elsa and the others had finished their breakfast and were just sitting around at the table. Everyone was so chatty and polite… except one. Linguini seemed a bit off. For one thing, he sat on his feet with his knees in his chest and was a bit blunt.

"So tell me Elsa, why did you freeze your home last year?" he asked.

"Linguini!" Jack snapped immediately.

Elsa looked away while he dropped his head onto his knees and brought his shoulders up to his ears. "You said to make conversation with her. A way to start one is to ask a question, right?"

Astrid put her hand on his shoulder. "Yes sweetie, but there's a time and place for personal questions like that."

Linguini looked confused. "Personal means something private. But what she did is known by everyone. Even out here. How is it a personal question?"

"Because I didn't mean to do it." Elsa interjected.

Everyone looked at her. "I had just turned 21 and my father thought it was time for me to find a husband. I didn't want one but I didn't have much choice. So while one was making moves on my sister, the others were trying to woo me. One of them was drunk and he tried to touch me in an improper place."

Linguini was about to ask something but one glance from Jack told him to keep his mouth shut.

"I tried pushing him away but he wouldn't go away and I accidentally froze him in a block of ice. I then ran away and kinda… brought winter to my home."

"Ya mean yee can't control it?" Merida asked.

Elsa shook her head and shrugged.

Merida looked up at Jack. "Is tha' why yee brough' 'er 'ere?"

"It's part of it, yes." He answered.

Elsa looked up at him with a confused look. "What do you mean?"

Jack sighed. "I have ice powers too. So I know what 'out of control' looks like."

Elsa gave a slight smile.

"I want to help you. Part of it being… I'm the only one I've heard of with powers like mine."

"That has to be very lonely." She responded. "When do you wanna start?"

Jack stood up from his chair and took her hand. "Right now. Let's see what you can do."

Jack lead Elsa through his castle and out to his courtyard. It was very big and beautiful, in a gothic sort of way. There were stone statues of different looking dragons in each corner and a fence along the outline. In the center were two stone benches.

"So…" Jack started, "My powers are different from yours. I can shoot ice blasts but mostly I can only control the weather. But I also can influence people with my snow."

"I can… kinda do all those things." Elsa said. "Although influencing people might be different than yours."

Jack sat down and patted Elsa to sit next to him.

"Anything else?" Jack asked.

"I can create constructs, I can freeze pretty much anything…"

"Is it true you can create life?" Jack asked.

Elsa froze. Then she started to whimper, which evolved into crying, which became sobbing. All while snow began to drop from the sky. Jack scooted over to her and wrapped his arms around her.

"I… I'm sorry. I didn't mean to upset you."

In between sobs she managed to get out, "It's not your fault."

"What happened?" Jack asked as he rubbed her arms and back.

"When… Anna and I were kids, we would always make a snowman whenever it snowed. His name was Olaf, and he liked warm hugs…"

"That's cute." Jack said.

"He was. He was adorable. When I ran away from home, I built him with my magic. It wasn't until later I found out he was actually alive. He was like a child. So innocent. He… he wanted to experience summer."

That last sentence made her and Jack chuckle.

"After I unfroze Arendelle, my dad saw him for the first time and…"

She started to cry again.

"Threw him in the nearest fireplace!"

Jack was shocked, he knew her dad was a jerk but that… that was evil.

"He said he was an unholy abomination and that if I ever brought another snowman to life he would kill me!"

Jack tightened his grip around her, letting her cry it all out. The falling snow didn't bother him, nor did the intense wind. Soon she eventually calmed down.

"You're dad's not here…" Jack started. "You could bring him back."

Elsa shook her head. "It wouldn't be the same. I don't even know if I can." She looked at her hands. "Dad hated my powers and didn't want me to use them. He said I was a monster."

"You're not." Jack said, making her look at him.

"I know what it means to be a monster. Trust me, you're not a monster. You're an exquisite creature Elsa. It's time for you to be free."

No one other than her sister had shown her such kindness. They barely knew each other and yet she knew she could trust him. She knew he would never hurt her. Never lock her away or shame her because of her powers. He wanted her to embrace them.

Jack wiped the tears from her cheeks and gave her a genuine heart warming smile. "Now, seeing as you covered my castle in snow…"

Elsa looked around the courtyard to see it blanketed in snow. She stood up and walked a few steps away from the bench.

"Oh my God, I am so sorry!"

Before she could turn around she felt something hit her back.

She turned to look at Jack who was tossing and catching a snowball. "I'm not." he said before throwing it at Elsa's shoulder.

Much to her surprise… she started to laugh. She bent down and picked up some snow and molded it into a ball shape and threw it at Jack, who tilted his head to dodge it.

"You gotta do better than that." He said as he flipped behind the bench and made another snowball. Elsa ran behind the bench and threw her ball at his back. He retorted by throwing two balls at her at the same time. She began to laugh harder as they spent a good hour having their snow war.