Chapter 8: Saying Goodbye To My Soul

The evening continued on with jolly laughs and singing. Everyone was having a great time and the moment was simply too perfect. Anna gobbled up all the chocolate she could, Hiccup was busy reading a book he got as a present, Holly and Elsa were playing with Holly's new pet puppy from the queen, and the rest were either joking around or talking to each other.

While Holly was busy watching her new pet sniffing a passed-out Anna, Elsa managed to catch a glimpse of Jack who was looking at her, while talking to Merida at the same time. Jack winked at Elsa, causing her eyes to widen and suddenly turn away as she felt her cheeks warm up. Merida seemed to notice and turned her head in the direction Jack was looking and saw Holly staring at them. She shook her head and continued their conversation.

"Hey Elsa" Hiccup said.

"What?" Elsa blankly said as she shifted her attention from the pup to the person sitting cross-legged in front of her. But instead of answering, Hiccup pulled out a sprig of mistletoe from his pocket and held it above their heads. He had a confident smirk on his face right before he closed his eyes, puckered up and leaned in.

Elsa could feel her heart beat abnormally fast out of anxiety, she was unsure of what to do. She leaned back in attempt to avoid contact with Hiccup's lips but to no avail, he kept coming closer. However Elsa held her hands out in front of her and her nervousness caused her powers to make an ice barrier to stop him from coming any closer.

After a few seconds, Hiccup was kissing ice and everyone was snickering or giggling. He still had his eyes closed, and when he tried to pull away, his lips were stuck to the ice. His eyes flew open and he was in a state of alarm.

"Elsa get this off me" he struggled to say. Elsa was too amused, however, and a light snowfall began to shower around them.

"Elsa, that's enough." Her father said with full authority. Elsa abruptly stopped laughing and retracted her magic and Hiccup's lips were free. She cleared her throat.

"Sorry, father." She replied with obvious fear in her voice.

"Come with me." Elsa didn't hesitate to obey and followed her father outside the room.

"What were you thinking? You know it's dangerous to use your powers on anybody!" Her father scolded as soon as they got to a private room. Her eyes were already welling up and she did her best to hold back the tears.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to!" she blurted out.

"This is exactly why we should have kept your powers hidden before!" he continued, ignoring Elsa's apology. Elsa had already burst into tears yet once again as if she hadn't already shed enough.

"Father, why are you like this?" she whispered to herself through her sobs.

"Maybe it's not too late…never mind. What I'm truly upset about is why you keep turning down Hiccup. " Kai explained when he at least calmed down a bit.

"What?"

"Elsa, we're not going to be here forever. When you inherit the throne you're going to have to choose a king and Hiccup is perfect for the position. It's time you took responsibility as a princess and stopped fooling around with that kid who is no more than the son of a common lumberjack!"

Every word that escaped her father's mouth only fueled the spark of anger inside her. She felt insulted, belittled and most of all controlled. She began to wonder, is this really why I am here amongst the living because my father only wanted an heir to the throne? She pursed her lips.

"No." she firmly said.

"No?"

"NO! I will not let you control my life. I….I'm running away!" she blurted out before thinking. She immediately regretted what she said and covered her mouth.

Her father chuckled.

"You wouldn't last a month."

"I'm not going alone."

"Who thinks that little street rat will go with you?"

"His name is Jack!"

"Elsa! When will you realize that that boy doesn't actually care about you? Power and riches are what they want. When will you wake up from your little fantasy?!"

"That's not true!" Tears kept flowing down her cheeks.

"I have already made up my mind. On your 18th birthday, you are to be wed with the Councilor of Burgess's only son, Hiccup Horrendous Haddock The Third."

She couldn't take it anymore. She was simply too mad and hurt.

"Kai! What've you done?" Gerda burst in and ran straight for Elsa.

"She needs to start being responsible-"

"She's already been through a lot!" She protested. She sat down on a couch and pulled Elsa into a motherly hug. However she didn't try to make her stop crying. She let Elsa let it all go [pun intended…? XD].

Kai's face softened when he realized what he had done. He quickly walked over to his wife and daughter and sat down next to them.

"Elsa, I'm sorry. I was only trying to keep you safe." He stroked her hair gently. Elsa wiped the tears on her cheeks and looked up at him. She gave him a faint smile before standing up.

"Can we go back now?" She asked. Gerda stood up and held her hand, leading her back to the solar. Kai shortly followed.

"Are you okay, Els?" Jack sprung up to his feet and over to Elsa's side the moment he saw her. Elsa nodded and gave him a smile. Before Elsa could react, he grabbed her hand and pulled her to where Merida and Hiccup were sitting on the carpeted floor.

Elsa remembered her father's words about Hiccup. This gave her an uneasy feeling.

"Wait, when did you two get along?" Elsa asked, referring to Jack and Hiccup.

"A few minutes ago…" Hiccup answered.

"And it's all thanks to Merida." Jack explained. Merida gave a proud smile before glancing at the clock.

"Oh my! It's past my curfew. I must be going now…"

"But there's a blizzard outside" Elsa was looking out the window.

"Why don't you stay here for the night, dear?" Gerda added upon hearing their conversation.

"But Your Highness I-"

"It'll be alright. I'll have Hiccup explain to your parents."

Elsa saw Jack glaring at Hiccup and decided to tease him.

"Looks like someone is jelly~!" She said in a sing song manner.

"Like you are?" Jack shot back.

"Hey! What's that supposed to mean?"

"Thank you very much, Your Highness…" Merida said as the two were arguing.

"You are very welcome, my dear. And please call me Aunt Gerda."

"Yes your- I mean! Aunt Gerda." She felt awkward saying those words.

She turned her attention back to the duo and chuckled at their silliness.

Jack put a hand over Elsa's mouth to shut her up. Which was a big mistake though because his hand felt so cold it hurt. Jack jerked his hand back and clasped it with his other hand in attempt to soothe the almost frozen skin.

"Serves you right." Elsa muttered.

"It definitely did." Hiccup smirked at Elsa. She only shook her head.

"You alright?" Merida scooted over to Jack and pulled out his hand to observe the injury.

"It's nothing, I'm used to it." Jack only replied back. He could hear the adults lost in their own world talking in the background.

"I can help." Merida calmly said. She pulled out a small vial from her pocket and poured a drop on his hand. Soon a sun shaped image appeared in his palm and sank into his skin, healing the pain instantly.

"Wow, how'd you do that?" Jack asked in awe.

"Juice from the magic golden flower from Corona." Merida explained.

"Impossible" Elsa said under her breath.

"Corona? I've never been to Corona before. Can you tell us what's it like there?" Hiccup asked eagerly.

"I'm sorry, I don't remember. I was only three years old. My father gave this to me actually."

"I can tell you about Corona." Elsa said. They only ignored her so she stood up to get a plate of chocolate.

She sat down next to Anna, who was sleeping on the floor mumbling something about Easter. She began to wonder if she could be as peaceful as her little sister, always looking at the bright side of things. She couldn't help but rub Anna's hand. After a few minutes like that, Stoick spoke up.

"Alright kids, it's getting late. Time to go to bed" he announced.

Everyone stood up and headed to their designated bedrooms. Elsa decided to lead Merida to hers.

"And here we are." She stopped when she reached the door.

"Elsa, thanks." She simply said and entered the bedroom.

"There are clothes in the drawer if you want to change." Elsa smiled at the girl she almost wanted to freeze. Merida smiled back before shutting the door.

She then headed to the kitchen and grabbed a glass of eggnog. Someone was going to pay for stealing her first kiss…

She knocked on the door twice before the brown haired boy came to open it.

"I brought you something." She said as she handed over the eggnog. She was holding her own glass of milk in her other hand.

"Cheers!" She said as she bumped her glass into Jack's drink. Jack drank it wholeheartedly not expecting it to taste disgusting. Elsa watched as his face turned a pale green and ran for the nearest window.

"Eww! Elsa what was in that?" he said when he already spat out the eggnog out the window.

"Oh nothing…just a little cream and maybe some eggs." She grinned deviously.

"Ugh, now the taste won't leave my mouth."

"That's what you get for pranking me."

"I think I deserved it, Snowflake." He smirked.

"Give me one good reason why I shouldn't turn you into an ice statue right now, Jackson."

"Trying to sleep here," a voice in the room called out.

"Sorry Holly" Elsa replied to the girl trying to sleep. She walked outside the room and Jack followed.

"See, now you woke up my sister!" Jack shouted in whispers.

"Sorry! I'm just really upset that we're leaving tomorrow."

"Ah so you miss me already?" He teased.

"Yes, along with everyone in this town." She answered sincerely.

"Elsa, what are you talking about? It's not like you're not coming back." Jack's expression turned serious.

"Jack, I don't think I'm coming back. What my father said,"

"Yes, yes. I know, you told me. You don't have to believe everything your father says. You don't have to follow everything tells you to do. You need to follow your own heart. What do you want?"

"Such wise words from a foolish boy…" Elsa commented with a smile.

"Yet, you're words speak the truth. That's one of the reasons why I came here in the first place. I'm running away." She blatantly said.

"What?! Elsa when I said follow your heart, that's not what I meant-"

"I know what you meant, but…Papa, he…he doesn't want us to be friends anymore." Elsa didn't cry. She simply couldn't. There were no tears left in her eyes. Jack knew that this wasn't the only reason Elsa was upset. He was dumbstruck, he didn't know what to say. When he did though, the words wouldn't leave his mouth so he just closed it shut.

"Can he do that?" Elsa asked in disbelief.

"I don't know, Elsa. But you probably know why he'd do such a thing."

There was a long pause before he continued.

"*sigh* Just promise me you won't run away. Your heart is not the only one that's going to break. Think about your mother, your sister, what would they think?"

Elsa tilted her head up to face Jack.

"You're right. I should just accept the fact the I'm going to die tomorrow and-"

"Elsa! You are not going to die! At least, not so soon. I still have to plan my revenge to get back at you for making me drink such awful-" Jack stopped in his sentence when he heard her giggle.

"You're such an idiot. Maybe that's why I love you so much."

"Heh, I love you too, frostbite. Now go to sleep, I still have to plan my revenge."

"Whatever 'Mr. Seeker of Vengeance', don't let my ice give you a frostbite like it almost did earlier." She stuck her tongue out and waved her hand so ice kept his feet on the floor, preventing him from moving.

"It was your fault you wouldn't stop talking."

Elsa didn't reply, she only started walking away.

"Hey, aren't you going to let go of my feet?" He asked in a panicky tone.

"Nope." And continued her way on.

"Aha!" She heard him say. Just before she could turn around to see, someone from behind her covered her eyes.

"Jack! I can't see!" Elsa said while giggling a bit. He turned her around to face him and then pulled his hands away from her eyes.

"How did you get out of my ice?" Elsa asked, bewildered.

Jack simply pointed to the necklace on his neck that was his present from Elsa.

"You didn't tell me this thing had magical powers. Now I feel bad for not giving you anything special."

"Nah…it's alright. Wait, magical powers? Sure I made it with my powers but I never thought it had magic of its own."

"Well, it thawed your ice."

"That's…good. I guess."

"Thanks Els." He said before planting a kiss on her forehead. Elsa had a shocked expression on her face but Jack had already retreated to his bedroom to avoid her ranting. She decided to head back to hers as well.

This is what happens when you read ATLA comics right before writing an update to your story. It's really weird. Even my already OOC characters are acting OOC. Darn it, what the heck is happening?!

It's up to you how you would interpret the true meaning of their "I love you"s. Seriously -_- For me, they are merely best friends...because I am EVIL! :D

One more thing...what's going to happen to Elsa?

P.S. The Chapter Title makes no sense to me.

P.P.S. I think the whole story doesn't match its title...whatever. hehehe :*

~~ Snowflakes! Snowflakes everywhere! ~~