CHAPTER FIFTEEN:

ENGAGE AND FIRE

Jack approached Elsa's door and raised his hand to knock. He had a whole afternoon, and that was enough to say goodbye, right? But there was too much going on in his mind that he couldn't leave Elsa in the dark. He had to tell her the truth, even if he didn't know just how to say it. But he had to, and that was what motivated him to give the white-painted wood three hard knocks.

"Elsa? It's me." He said before Elsa could mutter a 'come in'. Although he had a hunch she wouldn't say such a thing, because she told him what happened to her and Anna.

"Yes, come in." he heard her say from the other end of the door. For her they were strange words, and she only knew how to say them these past few hours in two years.

He turned the knob and went inside. Unlike any other rooms in the castle, hers was always noticeably colder.

"I need to talk to you." He straight-out said and led her out to the small balcony.

"Is there anything wrong?" Elsa asked with worry in her voice.

"No." his eyes wondered to the view below them. He clasped his hands together while his arms were on the railing and balanced on them.

Elsa took a few steps forward and placed a hand on his left arm.

"Then what do you want to talk to me about?" she asked with a serious tone. She had to know Jack was going to tell her bad news. It was as if she were a bad news magnet. Wherever she went, disaster followed.

"Do you remember the last Christmas we spent together two years ago?" He asked her with his head turned so he could see her stunning blue eyes.

Elsa's cheeks flushed at the memory and answered, "Yes".

Jack briefly smiled at her reaction before continuing.

"While Aunt Gerda and I were walking down the garden to find you, she said something to me…" he trailed off, slightly embarrassed to continue.

"Yes, go on." Elsa urged, curiosity getting the best of her.

"She said, 'Don't wait to speak your heart and mind until it's too late'. I'm not sure what she meant by it so I figured you'd know." Jack paused. "Since, you are her daughter after all", he continued. He had a vague idea of what the phrase could've meant, but he kept that idea to himself.

"Hmm…" Elsa mumbled and gave a quizzical look. "It probably means to say what you have to say before you run out of chances to say it to someone. Like what happened to Merida, you never got the chance to tell her how you feel and now you can't ever see or speak to her again. Maybe Mama meant something like that." She said in a calming gentle voice. Jack nodded in reply.

"Yeah I guess it makes sense. Thanks Els."

"No problem, Jack." Elsa beamed him a cheerful smile and turned to head inside.

"Wait", he quickly grabbed her hand.

"Hm?" Elsa hummed.

"There is something else I need to tell you", he said in a low voice.

But the sudden feeling of guilt flooded through him. He swallowed the lump in his throat that he didn't even know existed, but nonetheless did.

"Yes, what is it?" She asked with a hint of anxiety.

"Well, actually, it's something I've been meaning to tell you for a long time now." Jack's voice turned serious and he took a few steps forward. Elsa, feeling nervous, took a few steps backward to decrease the proximity between them. Yes, they were still best friends, but the current mood made their closeness a bit awkward.

Jack let go of Elsa's hand he realized he was still holding and cleared his throat. He felt his whole face warm up. A sheepish smile made its way onto his lips and he felt the urge to scratch the nape of his neck.

"I…" Jack began to say but trailed off when his nervousness lowered his confidence.

Elsa held her breath and hoped Jack couldn't hear her heart beating in her throat like a horse gone mad. She clenched her hands together and hardly noticed the cold sweat they produced. A quick thought came to her mind, saying that she didn't knew it was possible, but swiftly brushed it off and returned to the current situation. What she didn't realize was that she looked the exact same way Anna did while waiting for Elsa to say 'yes' to building a snowman in the ballroom of the castle, the only difference is that Elsa bit her lip.

"I…" And he looked at the way Elsa bit her lip. He knew full well of Elsa's traitorous lip-biting whenever she told a lie, and although this was a different situation entirely, he couldn't help but think of how cute she looked.

Jack placed his hands on Elsa's shoulders and gently pushed her down; he just didn't feel that Elsa's current height was right, as he was used to always being a head taller. And Elsa standing on her toes wasn't exactly easy for her feet as well. Her shoes weren't made for ballet where you dance on the tips of your toes. So when her heels met with the ground, her feet felt relieved and once again, she had to tilt her head back to meet with Jack's beautiful brown eyes.

"Just say it already!" Elsa said in impatience. She couldn't handle this kind of torture, well at least, not anymore. She just NEEDED to know what Jack was meaning to say. And with a single, quick breath and fingers crossed behind his back, Jack blurted out,

"I like you, okay?"

Elsa was dumbstruck. She stared at him with disbelief evident in her eyes. She quit biting her lip and her mouth hung open. A combination of various emotions flooded through her, just like the never-ending swirling storm in her soul. She felt joy, then anger, then confusion, rage, fear, love, sadness, envy, and every other possible emotion that could exist within the human heart. On the inside, she was a complete mess; and on the outside, she barely managed to keep her cool.

"You like me?" she asked as she furrowed her brows.

Jack sighed. The whole situation seemed knew to him. It was like; he never confessed his feeling to a girl before. He thought about the way Merida took his confession, although the memory seemed hazy to him now. In fact, he couldn't grasp the memory of how they came to be in the boyfriend-girlfriend situation.

"You see," he began to explain; hoping to lift Elsa's growing frustration on god-knows-what. Elsa simply nodded as a sign to continue.

"I've been meaning to tell you ever since, well, before you left two years ago. But I was afraid to confess because, well, I had Merida at the time and you," he paused, slightly embarrassed. "I was afraid you'd reject me", he said sheepishly and rubbed the nape of his neck in unease.

Elsa gazed into Jack's brown irises. She focused on his pupils and watched intently as they were bigger than they normally would be. She cupped both of his cheeks and pulled him to her level so she could get a closer look. She turned his head to the right and saw his pupils decrease in size. She turned his head back to her and saw them enlarge.

"Elsa, what are you doing?" Jack asked. She instantly let go of him and her cheeks were getting all rosy.

"I'm sorry, it's just, it seems as if I don't know you that much anymore. I just needed to know if you were telling the truth; as it is hard to find these days." She said with almost an encouraging smile.

Jack said nothing and waited for her reply.

"I believe you are telling the truth, and you better be Jackson! Because I swear if I find out that this is all just a silly game to you then forget the day we became friends." Elsa's voice rose.

When Jack had fully analyzed what Elsa had said, he gained a confidence boost. A smug grin played on his lips.

"So that means you like me too, don't you?" he said while crossing him arms.

"I said no such thing!" Elsa quickly denied.

"Ooh but it sounded like you did. No wonder you get mad every time Merida is around me." Jack started taunting Elsa. Before she could reply Jack continued,

"You can't hide anything from me, snowflake." He gave her delighted smile.

Something hard hit him in the face, something cold. He opened his eyes and saw his clothes covered in snow.

"That's what you get for teasing me, Jackson!" Elsa said, and threatened him with the snowball she threw up and down in her hand. Oh it was on!

Jack quickly dodged the second snowball Elsa threw at him and the rest that came after. He ducked and jumped as many times as he had to until a brilliant payback plan popped into his mind. As Elsa continued to throw balls of snow at him, she hadn't realized he was getting closer to her. Jack also continued to dodge her snow, and with a final roll forward he was close enough to quickly stand up and give her a peck on the cheek.

Jack watched in amusement as Elsa's pale face reddened like a tomato, further justifying her presumed feelings for him.

"That is it! I've had it Jackson Overland! You're definitely going to get it!" she screeched in aggravation. She lifted her palms and summoned as much snow and ice she could muster and aimed them at Jack. Jack, on the other hand, stood confident as he clutched his neckla- crap! Where was his necklace?! His eyes rapidly scanned the room and found his necklace on the floor. It must've fallen off while he was busy dodging Elsa's snowballs. He swiftly leaped for the necklace and held it to his chest, eyes closed as he braced for impact. A second passed, and then five seconds passed, then ten. He waited for about a full minute before he opened his eyes and saw Elsa laughing her heart out.

"Hahaha! Got you Jack! You should've seen the look on your face." Elsa clenched her stomach in pain. Jack rolled his eyes.

"Now we're even." Elsa said after she finally stopped laughing.

"Call it quits, for now." Jack smirked devilishly.

"Aww, come on." She nudged his arm with her elbow.

Just then, the door opened to reveal the wise, yet mysterious, Eunice Vladimir, also known as Elsa's most trusted maid.

"I'm sorry did I interrupt anything?" She asked when she noticed the Jack and Elsa exchanging smiles.

"Eunice! I wasn't expecting you to be back so soon." Her excitement was short-lived.

Eunice gave a warm chuckle. "Wasn't expecting? I thought you told me to inform you when your bath's ready." She beamed a sweet smile.

"Oh! Right, I'm sorry. Let me just clean up this mess." She said referring to the snow scattered on the floor.

"No, let me. Your bath will cool down if you don't get there soon."

"Thank you, Eunice." Elsa said and turned to Jack.

"How about you go hang out with Anna or Rapunzel for a while, hm? Since Hiccup is obviously not an option anymore." Elsa suggested. She guessed he couldn't be around her all the time.

Eunice released a short chortle causing Elsa and Jack to turn their attention to her.

"I'm sorry. It's nothing. Why don't you carry on to your bath?" Eunice reminded.

"Yes, indeed I will." Elsa remarked and walked towards the bathroom.

Jack watched in silence as Elsa walked out of his field of vision.

"As for you, it would be best if I accompany you back to wherever it is you are going. You wouldn't want to get lost, am I right?" Eunice gave him a disdainful look, proving that she was serious with her words.

"Where would Anna be at a time like this?" He asked the maid.

"She would be in the parlor by now. Come, follow me." She said with certain indifference. She held her hands behind her back and walked with her chin up. Jack followed shortly behind.

When Eunice finally arrived back to Elsa's bedroom, she noticed that most of the snow had melted into the rug and floorboards. Quickly she reached into her pocket and pulled out a small brown leather-covered notebook. She swiftly scanned through its pages until she stopped on a particular page. She took in a deep breath and chanted the verse:

"Moon so bright,

In the dark of the night

Reverse this fright,

The darkness' spite

And spread your kind light"

Well, that's chapter 15 for you guys. And I won't promise anything anymore. Eunice sure is creepy isn't she?

Have any questions? Leave a review and I'll try to answer them without spoiling the story.