I'M STILL ALIVE! Hehe, sorry for being super duper late on posting the thirteenth chapter. I could give you a list of reasons why I took so long, but you guys just probably want to read. So I give you a long Chapter 13 [my fav. number ;)]

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

HEARTBREAK

"Gods Jack! You almost scared me to death." Elsa said when they finally broke apart from their embrace.

"Well you're the one who almost killed me." He joked, however Elsa took it seriously.

"It was an accident." She mumbled softly.

"It's okay. I'm fine now, thanks to you." He reassured.

Elsa stared at the floor silently. She didn't quite understand what is truly going on. The Snow Queen, her powers, her father, Jack, the necklace, Anna, her mother, everything really. She didn't know what to do. What was her next goal? Stay isolated in her room forever? Sneak out to meet her friends when she had the chance? Continue hiding from Anna? She didn't know, perhaps she needed more time to think.

Jack noticed her fall silent once again.

"What's on your mind?" He asked, snapping Elsa back to reality and stopping her mind from creating more questions that she doesn't know the answers to.

"Nothing that should concern you." She bit her bottom lip.

"Elsa, I know you're lying." He let out a tiny smirk.

"That's not fair. I can never tell when you're lying." She said, hoping not to answer his original question.

"That's because I'm the prince of mischief, and you're my ice princess."

"Pffft. Will you just listen to yourself? I think you've been around Merida too much." She teased, turning away from Jack to hide her blush.

"I was just kidding." He chuckled a bit.

His feet began to twitch again as he tried to make his shoes come off. Elsa looked down to his feet.

"You can take off your shoes if you want to." She calmly said, peace emanating from her words.

Jack bent over to take his shoes off. He really thought of them as a burden because they were itchy and tight. He gladly set them aside and let his feet breathe.

"So aren't you going to thaw all this snow?" He asked her when he noticed all the ice and snow around them. Elsa looked around with him and silently agreed. Her room was a mess.

She concentrated for a while, and soon the snow returned back into her fingertips. She exhaled after. Ever since two years ago, thawing the ice caused by her powers seemed to be increasingly harder as time went by; but she still managed.

"You never cease to amaze me, frostbite." He smirked.

"Here we go again. Do you want me to permanently turn you into an ice statue?" She threatened.

"I highly doubt that you'll do that."

"Shouldn't you be getting back down to the others?" She changed the topic.

"I came here to see you."

"I can't believe you want me to walk you back down there." She grumbled, a ghost of a grin appearing on her lips.

"Come on," she stood up and grabbed his arm, heading down to the party.

"I didn't ask you to be my escort."

"Well if I didn't, you wouldn't leave my room and I'm already sleepy. God knows what kind of pranks you'll pull on me while I'm asleep."

"Oh come on, you know me better than that." He smirked.

"Shut up." She grumbled.

Elsa pulled Jack's arm and led him down to the party.

"Here we are. Have a great evening and please don't come again 'til tomorrow." She said with a lot of fake enthusiasm.

"Elsa. I can't go to a masquerade party without a mask."

"Stop looking for excuses!" she hissed.

"Don't you miss me?" he teased.

"Yes I do, but tonight is my sister's ball. It's supposed to be all about her. And what about your girlfriend? She's probably dancing with some other guy right now because you left her. So if you want to keep her I suggest you go back and apologize." She practically shoved him through the doors that lead into the ballroom.

"Elsa!" Jack called to her but when he turned around; the girl in the blue nightgown was gone.

Elsa hastily made her way back to her room as fast as she could, hoping that Jack wouldn't follow her. When she was halfway there, she noticed no footsteps following her so she slowed down her pace. She quietly walked back into her room locking it shut, hoping that no one would knock on it. She slammed herself onto the bed and got under the covers, smiling herself to sleep.

The very next morning, her pleasant dreams were interrupted by a not-so-pleasant awakening.

"Elsa, are you awake?" a masculine voice asked after a few loud knocks on Elsa's bedroom door.

Elsa jolted up, got out of her blankets and sat on her bed. After clearing her throat to whisk away the drowsiness in her voice, she said "Yes, Papa. Come in."

"Elsa, I need to talk to you." Kai said once he was in her room. He was fully dressed in traveling clothes. Gerda followed behind, the same attire worn.

Elsa could feel her heart pulsating faster than usual. She felt guilty, and she felt nervous. She felt like she was in trouble, like he knew what she did. However, she kept from telling him anyway in case he didn't.

"Your mother and I are leaving for Fjordane in fifteen minutes. We'll be back next week. I trust that you won't go behind my back again. You are not to leave the castle without my permission. If you must go out of your room, your maid shall accompany you at all times. Do I make myself clear?" He said, his voice rising towards the end, indicating that he was furious. Further justifying the statement, he had his eyebrows furrowed and eyes narrowed.

Elsa had lost her voice in fright. The only words she was able to muster up were,

"As you wish, Papa".

Kai shot his daughter a fake smile, proven by the flash of pale yellow in his eyes while doing so. Elsa had noticed something like it before. Every time her father would scold her, his eyes would do that. What could it mean? She decided it was probably just a coincidence and not to focus all of her energy on it. She had other things to worry about at the moment.

"Good. I expect you to behave and, what is that filthy peasant doing in one of our guest rooms?" He asked sweetly, in a way that anyone would know he was faking it.

Elsa was left dumbfounded. He knew about everything. The king and queen soon left the room and she was left in silence in the solitude of her room. She fixed her eyes on her door, but her brain was floating in the vast space of her mind. In a way, she felt relieved, her father took the issue better than she had expected. But she knew that he wasn't done chastising her. She had one week to feel all guilty about herself until they came back for the real scolding.

Her eyes darted towards the triangle-shaped window. Elsa rose to her feet and neared the window; she sat on the cushion right beneath it, and placed her hands on the sill. She silently observed the outside world, as she would do this all the time when she had nothing better to do. The busy streets of Arendelle amused her, watching the people roam around the town, the children playing happily together. She smiled at how happy and carefree they are, with no worries and troubles to bother them except for their parents telling them it's time to go home. Suddenly she was engulfed by the feeling of envy. She couldn't be as carefree as the other kids, she had a responsibility, and not an easy one too. She had to rule the kingdom one day. But luckily for her, she didn't have to worry about that yet.

Her room was as silent as it could get with the ticking of a clock the only thing that produced noise. She heard the rumbling of her stomach quite clearly. She glanced at the ever-ticking clock. It was 7:16 am, Eunice wouldn't be here with her breakfast until 8. She couldn't wait that long… or at least her stomach couldn't. So she decided to go downstairs to the dining hall instead, right after she changed into her everyday clothes.

There she saw her cousin Rapunzel, eating breakfast with her pet chameleon. They were the only people there. Elsa assumed the other guests were still sleeping, estimating the time Anna's party ended, they were out cold.

"Good morning, Elsa. We missed you at the party last night." Rapunzel greeted with a sweet smile.

"Good morning to you as well, cousin Rapunzel. I was…busy last night. So I couldn't attend." She returned her smile, while making her way to the kitchen.

"Oh, too bad."

Rapunzel's comment caused Elsa to stop in her tracks.

"Why?" Elsa asked curiously.

"They were so many handsome princes! One of them even asked me to dance with them. It was magical." Rapunzel twirled a lock of her long blonde hair around her finger, while her mind was floating into the daydream of the memory she had of last night.

"It was a masquerade ball. How can you be sure they were all handsome?" She asked. However, before Rapunzel could answer, Elsa interrupted.

"Wait just a minute." She said and walked into the kitchen to inform the servants that she'll be eating in the dining hall. When she had placed her order, she returned to the hall and sat beside her cousin.

"What was your question again?" Rapunzel asked, observing proper manners and gulping down the food in her mouth before speaking.

"I said that it was a masquerade ball. How can you see if they were all handsome?" Elsa asked again, repeating her last asked question.

"Well there was one who didn't have a mask on. He said his name was Prince Jack of Burgess."

Elsa immediately burst into a fit of uncontrollable laughter. She tossed her head back and bumped it on the dining chair. Tears were forming around her eyes and a light snowfall began to fall around them.

"Why? What's wrong?" Rapunzel asked nervously.

However, only the servant carrying her breakfast managed to make her stop laughing. With a nervous, "Your breakfast, Ma'am", he laid the platter of food on the table. Elsa abruptly sat straight and cleared her throat, though tiny giggles still escaped from her lips.

"Thank you." She said to the servant with a dismissive tone. She began to dig in to her breakfast.

"Oh I'm sorry Rapunzel, but that wasn't a prince. Did he have brown hair and an annoying smirk on his lips? Maybe a red-haired girl accompanying him?"

"As a matter of fact he did. No one was with him though. I'm wondering what he was doing at a masquerade party without a mask. Which reminds me, how do you know Anna's ball was Masquerade themed if you weren't there?" Rapunzel asked suspiciously.

"Uh, Mama told me." She was only half-lying about her answer.

"Well that would make sense. Back to the original topic. What do you mean he wasn't a prince? How can you be so sure? You said you weren't even there. Besides, he was too cute to be anything less than a prince. I can tell by the fancy clothes he had on. It was impossible if he was just a peasant. Plus his posture and manners and everything were spot on. Though his dancing was pretty lousy."

"Definitely not a prince." She remarked before taking a sip of her hot beverage.

"Hey ladies, I couldn't help but overhear your conversation, were you talking about me?" The brown haired boy himself walked towards their direction.

"Jack!/My prince!" the two blondes chorused.

"You know him?" Rapunzel immediately turned her head back to Elsa.

"Of course." Elsa answered confidently. "He's my bestfr-"

"Boyfriend." He cut her off, ending her sentence with something they both weren't expecting.

"What?!" the two chorused yet again, both in utter shock.

"No we're not!" Elsa immediately corrected.

"Jeez, calm down I was just kidding." He said while walking over to Elsa. When he got near enough, he mumbled

"Or was I?" right next to her ear, audible enough for Rapunzel to hear. Elsa flinched at the proximity between them. Out of reflex her hand pushed his face away.

"Would you stop?" Elsa asked, quite aggravated.

"'fraid I cannot m'lady." He bent down on one knee and kissed the back of her hand.

"Aww you two are so cute. Especially you." She said, referring to Jack. In return, Jack winked a playful wink at her. Rapunzel almost swooned.

"What has gotten into you? You're more obnoxious than normal." Elsa said after pulling her hand away and wiping the saliva on her skirt.

Elsa got suspicious when she heard him whisper, "One more".

"I think you're hungry." She remarked, recalling the odd things he'd do if he hadn't eaten well. "Sit down." She ordered the boy. The boy in turn did as she said and sat down on the chair next to her. She slid her plate across the table so Jack could reach.

"Fina, serve this boy some breakfast." She ordered one of the maids. The maid Fina quickly scurried to the kitchen and did her majesty's bidding.

"Elsa, what are you doing?" Rapunzel asked curiously.

"Sharing my breakfast." Elsa answered with little form of enthusiasm.

"Okay…" Rapunzel simply replied. She silently observed the two sharing Elsa's breakfast until the maid brought in Elsa's request. The older princess slid her plate back and Jack dug in to his own breakfast.

The first to break the awkward silence was Rapunzel.

"So Jack, Elsa said that you're not really a prince. Is this true?" Rapunzel asked with a disappointed look on her face.

"No, Elsa was just- ow!" Jack cried. Elsa had kicked his foot, as a warning not to lie to her cousin.

"Are you alright?" The younger princess asked with a pause between each word. By now, some of the guests had already woken up and were starting to eat their breakfast on different tables.

Jack sighed, seeing there was no escape from the situation.

"Yes, I'm afraid so princess. I'm sorry I lied to you." He said with reluctance, staring blankly at his plate. Rapunzel frowned in further disappointment. Not at the fact that he wasn't a prince, but at the fact that he lied to her. Then again, she couldn't be mad at him because he was too cute; at least in her opinion.

"But you certainly acted like one. I don't understand this at all!" Rapunzel exclaimed in disbelief.

"I asked Hiccup to teach him how many years ago." Elsa explained, pleased with the fact that Jack's training was successful and even managed to convince her cousin that he was a prince.

"But why?" Rapunzel asked, her curiosity only growing.

"We used to play knights and princesses when we were little." Jack answered this time, right after gulping down the food in his mouth.

"It was a long time ago." Elsa remarked, and felt her face flush red.

"Elsa, you're blushing!" Rapunzel teased, amused with her recent discoveries.

"What? No I'm not!" Elsa quickly denied, trying as best as she could to stop herself from smiling.

"Elsa…~" Jack teased from the other side. The current situation put her in a difficult condition. She was put in a labyrinth with no way out. Snow began to circle around her and she shut her eyes to 'escape'. Jack was the first to stop teasing and put a hand on Elsa's shoulder. However instead of calming her down, the action merely caused her to feel more nervous and thus the snowfall doubled. Rapunzel abruptly stopped and watched in fear. The other people gasped in horror.

Jack moved immediately, maneuvering his chair to face Elsa and pulled her chair to face him. He noticed Elsa's closed eyelids and scooted his chair closer. He placed both of his hands on her cheeks and leaned in. His forehead met with Elsa's and their noses almost touched.

"Elsa." He said in a calm and soothing voice. "Open your eyes." He said gently. Elsa did as he said and opened her eyes but quickly closed them back up. She shuddered at their proximity. She felt even more at edge.

"No, no. Open your eyes, slowly." He said, and Elsa reluctantly followed, tempted to close them again. "Okay, now, just look into my eyes,what do you see?"

Elsa looked straight into Jack's brown orbs and lost herself in the deepness of it all. She saw in Jack what she never saw in him before. It was, extraordinary, eccentric, beautiful, and…peaceful. Her uneasiness came to a halt as well as the snow production around them. Rapunzel stood several feet away to avoid getting caught in the small blizzard.

Elsa was so lost in his eyes that the snow disappeared almost instantly without a trace. Jack chuckled at the sight of her expression. She looked so fascinated and disoriented at the same time. But just like Elsa, Jack had seen into her soul and now he understood. Fear. But fear wasn't the only thing he saw.

Elsa began to giggle as well. The cackling duo broke their heads apart and continued eating. "Thank you Jack." She said in a solemn manner. Jack replied with a simple "You're welcome."

After a long pause of silence between them, Jack decided to shatter that silence.

"I wish it could be like this all the time." He said, savoring the explosion of flavor in his mouth. He changed the serious atmosphere into a lighter one.

"Specifically which 'this' are you talking about?" Elsa asked curiously.

"All of it." He said then quickly added. "I mean living in a castle with servants to order around, and you don't have to worry about not getting enough food to eat all the time." Jack felt a pang of sadness hit him in the chest. He remembered how their family was barely making enough to get by, ever since his father had died.

"It's not impossible." Elsa mumbled, quickly turning away to hide her reddened cheeks. She felt grief in his voice, as well as she saw it in his eyes. She dared not to ask the wrong question.

"What are you talking about?" Jack questioned.

Rapunzel stood up from her seat and said, "You two could get m-". Rapunzel didn't finish, Elsa shot her cousin a death glare; her eyes as sharp as daggers.

"I'm done eating. If you're to find me, I'll be in the town." Rapunzel shot back at Elsa an apologetic look and left the hall. Elsa waved her a goodbye.

"As I was about to say, maybe you're the long lost heir of some forgotten kingdom or something, and there's always…" Elsa trailed off before even finishing.

"What?" Jack asked her to finish as two pairs of footsteps were heard entering the hall. Hiccup and Merida were walking towards them. The redhead had her arms crossed and a sour expression plastered on her face.

"You were right." They heard her say, and watched her march over to them.

She stopped a few feet behind Jack and Elsa, and then marched even more loudly with her arm up, heading for Elsa. Jack's reflexes are what caused him to be hit by Merida's painful slap. Elsa didn't move from where she was, she was too dumbfounded by the situation. Jack had sprung up from his seat and protectively acted as a shield from Merida's assault. His poor footing caused him to lose balance and sit on the tiny piece of chair Elsa couldn't occupy. Merida widened her eyes.

"Jack I'm so sorry." She gasped; her hands flew to cover her mouth.

Jack's eyes fell to the ground with his head titled in a way Merida couldn't see his face. "That's it." He said, slowly lifting up his head to meet Merida's shining blue orbs. "We're done." His voice was firm; his eyes seemed to burn a hateful regret.

He was dead serious, he wasn't kidding, he wasn't pulling another prank- no he wasn't. The darkness in his voice intimidated the princess. She only heard this side of him when it came to his family's well-being. She envied how serious he probably was with her. They lasted two long years, and no doubt he had already fallen in love with her. And a single act of almost hurting Elsa is what caused them to break apart. Or at least that's what she thought. She felt guilty, was it her fault a love so perfect ended just like that? But wasn't she here first? Before all of this ever started. Before he met her…?

Merida's eyes began to tear up and before any of those tears could fall, she ran out of the room. Hiccup followed after her. Jack stood up, he was almost about to cry as well, but he fought the urge to. A boy crying in front of a lot of people would hurt his ego, as well as the little reputation he had.

Elsa gently rubbed his back in order to comfort him, a sad expression on her face as well. She felt sorry for her friend, and thought maybe he needed some fresh air and a cool breeze.

"Let's go, Jack." She said, trying to pry herself out of Jack's arms, but he wouldn't let go. Instead, he squeezed impossibly tighter, and dug his face into her shoulder.

"Jack, walk with me." She uttered gently. She felt his head nod, and he soon released her from his inescapable prison. Elsa breathed in large amounts of air as if for the whole minute of being locked in Jack's embrace she wasn't breathing at all.

"Sorry." Jack stifled to say with a smile. A tear ran down his cheek.

Elsa silently held his hand and led him in the gardens in the back of the castle courtyards. She found a nice tree to plop under and pulled Jack to sit down next to her. They were facing opposite of the castle. Elsa waved her hands around so the small area around them was covered in a thin layer of snow.

Jack sat with her silently, sobbing his heart out. All his hidden frustration, troubles and pain became visible droplets of tears flowing from his eyes. She handed him the handkerchief, but he wouldn't take it. So she gently wiped his tears instead while Jack stared into space. After a while, Jack stopped sobbing, but his eyes remained bloodshot. They didn't say anything for a while. Jack lay down on the soft snow-covered grass and gazed at the sky. On the other hand, Elsa couldn't stop thinking how much trouble she could get into by leaving her room while 'unattended'. She was too deep in thought she hadn't noticed she had mumbled what she was thinking about.

"I'm in so much trouble…" she said softly. The only reply she got were soft snores coming from the person sleeping beside her. He looked so peaceful asleep. He almost looked like an angel, a guardian angel meant for Elsa; but she knew how wrong that thought was. He was a mischievous prank monster, and that was far from an angel.

Eventually, Elsa dozed off into the dreaming world.

Jack woke up with the most beautiful creature he'd ever seen sleeping next to him. He sat up and noticed all the snow had melted away. He saw a girl with long black hair sitting Indian style with her back faced to them two feet away. She wore maid's clothes, and her hands were relaxed on the side of her knees with her palms up. She didn't say anything, so Jack walked over to her. When he got a full view of her face he identified her as Eunice and noticed that her eyes were closed.

"So you're awake." She suddenly said before opening her eyes. Her sudden speech startled Jack.

"How did you know it was me?" Jack asked.

"I know a lot of things, Frost." She replied while looking out in the field.

"What did you call me?" He asked quizzically, intrigued and puzzled by Eunice's statement.

"Nothing, Jack." She turned her head to send him a cheerful smile.

A whimper escaped the sleeping princess's mouth. The two peasants shot their heads towards her direction.

"Oh no, she's having a nightmare." Eunice remarked in concern. She got up and neared the sleeping girl. She then sat on her legs and gestured for Jack to come near.

"Is that a bad thing? Should we wake her up?" Jack asked as he followed.

"That would be best." Eunice replied. Another whimper escaped from Elsa's lips and light snow began to fall around them.

Eunice positioned herself closer, as did Jack, and both gently shook her shoulders to wake her up. To their success, Elsa had a startled awakening. The look on her face caused Eunice to frown in concern.

"You had a bad dream", she explained. Elsa sat up from her laying position and pulled Eunice into a hug.

"It was terrible! I almost killed Anna again." She said, her eyes watering up. Jack neared them and placed a hand on her back and rubbed it gently.

"It's over now. You don't have to worry about anything." He reassured.

After a short minutes and a few kind words, Elsa calmed down. Something bright red in the distance caught her undivided attention. It was Merida, walking slowly towards them.

"What does she want now?" the boy in the group asked with a ferocious glare. Elsa glanced at him and saw his pale yellow eyes.

"Elsa, Jack isn't himself. You must stop him from hurting your friend." Eunice whispered into Elsa's ear.

"Let him be. She deserves it anyway." The princess scowled. Eunice braced as Elsa's blue eyes became a pale blue. She sat there powerless against what was going to happen.

A/N: Don't worry guys, the next chapter shouldn't take two months this time. I promise!

Hehe I know there are a lot of mistakes in my story...so I'm sorry for not taking all the time I need to correct these mistakes.

I totally understand if you guys have forgotten about me. It's my fault entirely. Thank you guys so much for reading anyway.