CHAPTER FOUR: THE NIGHT BEFORE CHRISTMAS

As soon as they arrived, they were greeted with jubilant cheers and Stoick announced the start of the celebration. Elsa did her usual round, she froze some of the fountains, she shot a ball of magic in the air causing it to explode and snow lightly like fireworks. She made an ice rink this time, and the villagers pulled out their ice skates and started dancing on the ice. An orchestra began to play festive melodies to accompany the ice skaters. She also made some other graceful structures made of ice. Everyone just loved every last bit of her, they adored her and her powers. No one could ever deny that.

While everyone was distracted, Elsa managed to slip away and began her search for Jack among the crowds of people. Finding it difficult to search for him at such a height, she waved her hands and a pillar of ice rose from the ground carrying her with it. Once elevated, she easily saw Jack standing on the side of a fountain waving both his hands at her. She jumped off her pillar and ran over to her friend. She then had a sudden urge to hug him tightly as if she hadn't seen him for years when in reality, it was only a few hours.

When Jack realized that Elsa wasn't letting go [pun intended XD] he cleared his throat to get her attention in which he failed to.

"Elsa" he softly said, slightly embarrassed at the same time.

"Hmm?" she said.

"You can let go now" As soon as Elsa processed the words she abruptly let go and stepped back in embarrassment while saying the words,

"Oh right. Sorry" and began fiddling with her fingers.

The sun was setting and it was getting dark, but the celebration was still beginning.

"Hey, do you wanna skate?" Elsa asked. She tried to brush off the awkward atmosphere that was forming between them which came out to be a success. Jack nodded in response but then realized that he forgot his skates back home.

"I uh, kind of forgot my skates back home" he said while rubbing the nape of his neck.

"That won't be a problem" Elsa beamed. She waved her hands and soon, icy blue skates appeared on her hands. She looked down at Jack's bare feet. How he could withstand the coldness of the floor was probably because he hung around her too much, though one may never really know.

"Here, try them on" She handed the skates to Jack and he put them on.

"Elsa! They're perfect" he said with sheer joy and excitement. He pulled her to the middle of the ice rink, and the two just had the fun they've been waiting for all year long.

The moon shined brightly in the sky as it illuminated the village with its shimmering glow. Although the villagers had lit up the lamp posts, the moon contributed something much more magical.

Through the window of her bedroom the moon's beam reached the drawer that she left unclosed. Slowly it started to glow and rose up into the air. The piece of string that she attached to it changed into a very fine yet sturdy crystalline chain. Suddenly the whole room was lit up with a blinding light and right after, the necklace was slowly drifting down to the place where it originally was. Not even the owner was aware of this yet so please don't tell her! [Just kidding…]

"That was fun!" Elsa exclaimed as soon as she and Jack got off the ice.

"Come on! Let's go find the others. We promised we'd meet them tonight" Elsa said as she dragged Jack with her right after he took his skates off.

They arrived at the base of the tree and sure enough, Hiccup and Merida were already there.

"What took you guys so long?" Hiccup complained. Elsa found this as an opportunity to tease him; a trait she had achieved from being with Jack for too long.

"Awww…you're just mad because we ruined your little date with Merida" she said with a sly grin plastered on her face.

"What?! That's ridiculous!" he exclaimed. She also heard Merida say something similar to which made Elsa utterly suspicious.

"Jack, what do you think?" she asked for back up. Unfortunately, Jack agreed on Hiccup's comment. It was silly, especially because he fancies her.

Elsa's smile turned upside down when she had taken in their reactions. That weird feeling started to churn in her stomach again and that made her uneasy. She flung her hand to her side expecting Jack's to be there but there was nothing; just cold air and emptiness. She tilted her head down. She would rather give up her friendship with Jack than keep him from his true love, as long as it made him happy. She truly loved him more than anything. She looked up to see that Hiccup was right there with a concerned look on his face.

"You okay, Els?" he asked. Elsa sighed deeply and smiled. But it didn't take her best friend to tell him that her smile had cracks in it.

"Want a hug?" Hiccup said as he spread his arms out with a smile on his face. Elsa just chuckled at him and said, "No thanks". She took one last glance at Merida and Jack talking at the base of the tree before leaving with Hiccup. When they arrived at the picnic table where their family was at, they had dinner.

"Elsa, can I go play with Holly?" the little girl with auburn hair said to her sister right after dinner. She looked up to Stoick who just nodded in response.

Since everyone was either sitting at a picnic table or on the ground, it was a piece of cake locating Jack's family.

Anna ran happily to join Holly on the ground sitting on a piece of cloth. There were fires everywhere to help warm up the place. So no one was uncomfortable.

"Where's Jack?" Rosaline asked Elsa upon noticing the absence of his son from her side.

"Probably with his girlfriend" Elsa said. She probably said it with a hint of annoyance because she saw Rosaline raise her eyebrow.

"N-not that I meant it that way!" she immediately clarified. This wasn't enough though to convince his mom.

"It's okay, Elsa. Your secret is safe with me" she reassured. Elsa wanted to hit her forehead with her palm as hard as she could but decided not to because she would probably look crazy. She did it mentally instead. 'Great, now Auntie Rosie thinks I like Jack' she said to herself sarcastically. Only when she snapped out of her trance did she notice the small flurry of snowflakes that started circling around her. She tried to calm herself down but instead, more memories that she didn't want to return to flashed back in her mind. It was as if someone was deliberately putting them there. The blizzard grew and the people were starting to get afraid. Then, she was starting to feel afraid. The blizzard continued to grow as the negative emotions inside her gained momentum. She ran in random directions and spikes of ice began shooting out from the ground. She could hear her sister shouting out to her to calm down but it was too vague that it almost sounded like a whisper. She could hear the people gasp in horror but her eyes remained shut. She was just on the verge of exploding but right on time, she felt a very familiar warm embrace that seemed to drive all her worries, troubles and pain away. The very moment that happened, the blizzard, the spikes and all the snow it produced dispersed in the blink of an eye.

Jack could hear the silent cries of his princess and began to rock her gently. Everything was quiet, still. Not a single soul dared to breathe.

When I was writing this chapter, I wasn't feeling so well after. The fluff was suffocating me, and I am lucky I'm still alive xD. You don't think that was fluffy? Sorry ): 'cause I definitely think it is ;)