A/N: Here's another long chapter for you.

CHAPTER 10: My Best Friend

After the revelation of the truth, Elsa decided to lock herself in her room. Right after she and her father got home from the troll's sanctuary, she darted to her room and answered to no one. She refused to talk to anyone. Not even Anna, not even her own sister. Frankly, her mother was getting worried. Seeing her daughter out of her room was a rare opportunity. Of course, she had assigned a maid to send her food during mealtime, but other than that, she had no human contact.

She walked right past her daughter's room and decided to give it a knock. Although the chances of anyone answering were slim, she still had her hopes up. Maybe today, she thought.

Just as she held her fist up to knock on the door, a maid suddenly came through it with an apologetic remark.

"I'm terribly sorry, Your Highness. I didn't know you were there." She bowed in embarrassment and closed the door.

"It's alright, Eunice." The Queen beamed.

"How's Elsa doing?"

"I haven't the slightest clue. She won't talk to me. Other than 'okay' or 'thank you', she doesn't say a word."

Gerda sighed. This made the maid tense up and shiver.

"It's alright, it's not your fault." She told the maid. She nodded shyly and politely dismissed herself.

"Eunice?" Gerda called out.

"Yes, Your Majesty?"

"If you can make her to talk, please tell me everything she says. I worry for her and want to know what is causing her to act like this." She looked down at the floor.

"Yes, ma'am." Eunice replied before scurrying down the hallway.

"Jack, if what you heard scared you, I can take those memories away if you want." Pabbie explained to the boy.

"No thank you Mr. uh Troll." Jack replied. There was an awkward silence before he spoke again.

"Uh, can I go now?" he asked.

"What you have heard is important and crucial information. You must swear you will tell no other soul about this. Especially the king, he will have you beheaded if he finds out you know."

Jack nodded his head in response. "I swear." He said before running off to find the cinnamon-brown horse he borrowed from the manor when he raced after Elsa and the King. No one noticed him leave until it was too late. And he was too far behind the two for them to know. He didn't want to get into trouble, so he had to hide. After what Anna told him, he simply had to make sure his ice princess was going to be alright. He was ready to jump out from his hiding place and take the blow from the king's sword when his necklace started glowing. That was when the barrier made of a blue light appeared in front of Elsa and knocked the king and his sword back several feet.

After what seemed like an hour of riding in the woods, he finally came to the familiar village he knew his whole life. He grew up there since he was born. It was his home. It might not be much but he was contented.

It was 10 o'clock when he arrived there. He returned the horse to the Haddock manor with an apology for taking it off into the woods without proper consent. He was especially lucky to have taken Hiccup's horse, as words that were not-so-nice were thrown at him. It was for a good cause, he thought as he shook off the insults. He was pretty sure the fellow cared about Elsa too, just maybe not in the same way he did. The bond between best friends is simply different from those of close friends. Someday he'll understand that, but for now he's got to let off some steam. Time to prank the neighbors.

Anna was sitting on her mother's lap while her mother braided her hair. They were talking about Christmas, New Year specifically.

"Are we going back to that town Elsa visits a lot for New Year, Mama?" she asked curiously. Even with only the short time she's been there, she had already fallen in love with the place. There was something about it that made her want to stay there forever. It was so unlike the city of Arendelle. The busy streets, the murmurs in the crowd, the deafening shouts of merchants advertising their trade. There it was somewhat more peaceful and quiet.

"Maybe not this time, sweetheart. Your sister isn't feeling all too well lately." Her mother replied in a glum tone and a frown. They were all worried about Elsa. Everyone in the castle knew how she's been acting. The Royal Family decided to keep it away from the townspeople as to not worry them. It'll pass, Gerda thought. It's just a part of growing up…

"Is Elsa sick?" Sweet Anna asked innocently. Gerda was just about to reply when a maid came bursting into the room. Sweat covered her face and her heart was racing. Her breath was short and shallow.

"Your Highness, come quick. The Princess…I- I'm not sure, she's very hot!"

Gerda dashed after the maid and Anna followed not far behind.

"Elsa, darling are you alright?" The queen kneeled beside Elsa's bed where she lay in a layer of blankets. She was shivering, her skin was pinkish, and indeed, she felt very, very hot.

"M-my skin i-is bu-burning!" she managed to answer. There were thick beads of sweat on her forehead. She tried to summon her powers to reduce the heat, but it hurt her even more as the cold made contact with the hot.

"Eunice! Call a doctor, quick!" Gerda ordered. Immediately, the maid ran off to find a physician. Anna watched in pain as her sister suffered. Within minutes the maid was back with the doctor.

"Drink this." The doctor handed Elsa a little vial with purple liquid. Through her shaking hands and extremely uncomfortable condition, she managed to gulp down every single drop. By now the King was already in the room with the rest of his family.

After a few seconds, Elsa began to calm down. Though the burning sensation in her skin cooled down, it was still there, the pain lessened by a bit.

"Your highness, I'm afraid to say that I have never in my entire life have encountered an illness like this." The doctor said to the queen as they walked through the hallway. Elsa had fallen asleep minutes ago, which was a good thing because it almost seemed as if she needed it badly. Anna already left the room to play with her dolls, so the only people there were her father and Eunice.

The queen frowned at his statement. "You mean, there is no cure to Elsa's sickness?"

"I'm not entirely sure, Your Majesty. It's just the first time I've heard of such a thing. When I took her temperature, it was above what the normal body could withstand. It's a miracle she's still alive. I've heard how she could withstand very cold temperatures but I never thought of heat." He explained. The Queen dismissed him after that and slumped down on her favorite chair in the parlor. She let her mind wonder and easily got lost in her thoughts a moment later.

Elsa felt absolutely miserable. She was bedridden and couldn't walk. She was very weak. Aside from her extremely hot temperature, which caused her head to ache and her eyes to water, she longed to see Jack. And although the medications helped relieve the pain at least a tiny bit, she couldn't help but long for his company. She felt like she was dying, and just in case she was, she wanted to see Jack at least one last time before she said farewell to the world of the living.

"Eunice" she called out to the maid who was sitting across the room, a book in her hands.

"Yes, Your Highness?"

"Could you please write a letter for me?"

"Why, yes. Of course." She said, putting the book down. "Who do you want to write to?" she asked as she walked over to the desk to grab some paper and ink, as well as a quill.

"I'll tell you later, just please write down what I say."

"Alright."

"Dear Mr. Snowballs-and-fun times,

I am not feeling well and would love your company here in the castle.

Love,

Elsa"

"Done. Who do you want it sent to, ma'am?"

"Jackson Overland in the town of Burgess." Eunice nodded and slid the letter into an envelope. She started for the door, but paused when Elsa spoke. "And please just call me 'Elsa'. You are my friend." she asked the girl who was only two years older than her. "Right." Eunice affirmed with uncertainty and proceeded with her previous task.

Days have passed, and Elsa has not received any reply, nor did Jack show up in the castle. She didn't hear from him for an entire week. She was growing worried, he didn't usually pass up the chance for a visit at the castle. Her condition didn't get any better. However it also didn't get any worse. It was the same for every day. The same routine. Wake up, breakfast in bed, take medicine, find something to pass the time, lunch in bed, take medicine, entertainment, dinner in bed, medicine, sleep, medicine, sleep some more, then wake up again, and the cycle continues.

She had no idea how long she would have to go through this. And she got anxious as Jack's birthday neared and she couldn't at least give him a present.

"You think he got my letter?" Elsa asked Eunice one day.

"I think he did. Maybe he's just busy with, who knows what." She replied, not taking her eyes off the book she was reading.

Her sentence made Elsa flinch. It made her uneasy. Jack? Busy? What could be more important than her? She thought. Even through her acts of selflessness, Elsa can be pretty selfish when it comes to Jack without even realizing it. Then the image of Merida popped into her mind. Oh right, I forgot he has a girlfriend now, she suddenly realized. She slumped further back into her bed if that was even possible, and closed her eyes.

She felt something cold poking her cheek. She slowly opened her eyes to see who it was disturbing her peaceful slumber. But before she could fully wake, a person suddenly jumped on her while yelling, "Rise and shine, Frostbite!"

"Ow! Jack get off. You're hurting me!" Elsa whined. He instantly got off when he remembered Gerda telling him that Elsa's whole body ached and mock bowed. Elsa scanned the room to see Eunice was nowhere in sight.

"I'm sorry, You're Majesty. I just found the perfect opportunity to bug you."

"Could you please stop?" she said. "What took you so long?" she murmured softly as to not let him hear. But regardless, he still heard. He sat down beside her in a crisscross [is that what it's called?]

"Please forgive my lateness, Your Iciness, There were certain matters to be handled and I came here as soon as I could."

"What did you just call me? Anyway, what 'certain matters' are you talking about?" she raised an eyebrow.

"Mother was sick and I had to find a way for us to get food while father was away." He replied with a rather glum tone. Elsa instantly felt guilty.

"I'm sorry, Jack. I didn't know. How is she now?" she gazed into his blue eyes with solemnity.

"She's okay now. How about you? How are you feeling?"

"The same. It's been the same for the last few days. Nothing's changed. Of course, the pain can be dealt with so long as I take the medicine. The doctor says he hasn't experienced anything like this and that I'm lucky to still be alive."

"I'm sorry I couldn't come any sooner." He looked solemnly into her blue sapphires.

However, despite his quite serious look, Elsa sensed a ghost of a smirk on his lips.

"Really?" She drew out the 'e', half teasing, half serious.

"Oh alright, I admit. Serious is not my thing." His lips curved into a smile.

"So how are you guys doing?" Elsa changed the subject.

"Eh, about the same. Nothing's really changed."

"And Merida?" she raised an eyebrow. She wanted to know what was really going on between them and thought it was better to get the details from Jack himself.

"Merida?"

Elsa looked him dead in the eye. She knew he knew what she meant. When she finally figured he understood, his cheeks flushed red.

"We're just friends." He said it as if he was hiding something and felt guilty about it. Elsa couldn't really know for sure. But she did know one thing, he was lying.

"Uh huh"

"No really!"

"Whatever."

"I'm serious." Jack immediately regretted saying that. She knew that he wasn't [or was he?].

"Yeah right."

"Ugh…if you would just listen to me"

"About what? It's not like you have to explain anything to me. You are my best friend. I should be supporting you."

Jack was taken aback. His eyes widened as if he just realized. Why did he feel guilty? Why did he feel like Elsa deserved an explanation? It was one crucial thing, something so important yet at the same time didn't matter. Did he actually forget they were best friends? Did he actually think they had something? Maybe, maybe not. The answer could be either, or could be both. He didn't know. He didn't know. He just didn't know.

He sighed. Not because he didn't know [I think that's enough], nor because of what she said. He sighed because he was tired. Literally, tired. His trip from Burgess cost him 6 hours of sleep because he went alone; resting for only an hour before hitting the road again.

"Hey Elsa," he glanced at her direction. He was going to ask if it was okay if he could lie down beside her. But nonetheless, she was already sound asleep, so he allowed himself to do the same thing.

He slowly and silently lied down beside her. He was on his back, while Elsa was on her side, facing the empty room. She was under covers, he was not. He didn't care if he got Elsa's sickness, he just wanted to rest. And why not beside someone you care about a lot? Besides, they were both used to it.

Elsa woke up when she heard the door to her room creaking. Who she saw come in partly startled her. Jack was carrying a tray of tea and set it down a table near Elsa. She chuckled at his effort.

"We have maids in this castle for a reason."

"I know." He said while he was pouring tea (or at least trying to) in a cup. But due to his lack of experience, he was spilling it all over the place.

"Jack, stop it. You're making a mess." Elsa giggled. "By the way, what time is it?"

"Uh, about three o'clock." He replied, not removing his gaze from the hot liquid splashing onto his clothes.

"Here let me try." She said as she slowly sat upright. Jack immediately made an attempt to stop her.

"No, you're sick. You need to rest." He grabbed her wrists to stop her from hurting herself. Or at least, that was what he thought.

"I'm fine." She protested and struggled to fight him. However despite his skinny appearance, the boy was strong, and since Elsa was sick, she didn't stand a chance.

"No you're not! You are very cold!" He said with great emphasis on the word 'very'.

"I'm- what? " She asked in bewilderment. Last time she checked, she felt like a volcano.

"I said you feel very cold." He said while trying to spread the quilt over her.

"I feel just fine." She said as the tone in her voice marked her anger. She didn't know what made her this way, but she couldn't stop it.

"But Elsa-" She cut him off by grabbing his hand, making him drop the edge of the quilt.

He saw a glimpse of fury in her eyes. Although he wasn't sure where it came from, he felt the need to be afraid.

"I said…I'm fine!" she barked, causing her to shoot Jack away with a blast of magic. He landed on the frost covered floor and had a cut his hand. He looked up to her in fear, in pain, then looked down to his wound. He clenched his wounded hand with the other and let the blood flow down his wrist and onto his sleeve. His once dirty white shirt was now stained crimson.

Elsa looked at him in horror. Jack slowly stood up and attempted to console her. Tell her it wasn't her fault.

"Get away from me! I'm a monster!" She shouted. She held her hands close to her chest as if they would protect him from her. Tears started to flow down her cheeks. She faced the other way to avoid his hurt and scared gaze. It pained her so much as she thought that she couldn't even be with Jack without hurting him. Conceal it, don't feel it. Don't let it show, she repeated to herself harshly.

"Elsa, it's just a small scratch" he tried to hide the pain in his voice.

"Don't come any closer!" she said coldly. Maybe it was the only way. "Eunice!" she called. In a matter of seconds, she came into the room with an audible gasp. Elsa felt her heart crack.

Eunice stared at Jack, his wound, the blood on his sleeve, the drops of blood on the floor, Elsa, and vice versa. She was unsure of what to do and was waiting for Elsa's orders.

"Take him to the clinic." She said without even bothering to turn around. The pain in her voice was audible even from a thousand miles away.

That was the last time she saw him. And for years she's been punishing herself, regretting what she had done. She won't ever let it happen again, she thought and cried herself to sleep. Never had she been so wrong in her entire life.

A/N: Okay, I personally dislike this chapter. I didn't put much thought into it [like when I decided to post this really boring story]. But I am very grateful that there are people who want to know what happens next. And like I said, this story doesn't have a stable plot other than just filling it up with fluff. I do have an idea for a story about adventure, but I'll start working on that when I finish this one. [This is about halfway, I guess?]. Thank You! Thank You! Thank You! Have a great day/night.