Author's Note: first of all, thank you to eeryone who has followed and favorited! Since the last chapter was so short and this chapter was so much fun to write, I'm posting both of them today. Enjoy!

Chapter Five: Jack

"Hey, Bunny! Why was Pitch such a good dancer?"

"Pitch never danced," Bunny said, refusing to look up at Jack's fifteenth attempt to make him laugh that hour. He took out his boomerangs and polished them, hoping the gesture was threatening. "Trust me, I was there."

"It's a joke. Geez, what are you? A funeral director or a cheerful Easter Kangaroo?"

Bunny gritted his teeth. "Easter Bunny," he corrected.

"Whatever!" Jack flew towards him, hanging upside down and getting right in his face, so he was forced to see him. "Why was Pitch such a good dancer? Say why."

"Why?"

"Cause he was the Boogie Man!"

Laughing, Jack flipped in midair.

"Ha. Ha. When are you gonna get a place of your own, kid? All the Guardians have a place, now it's your turn."

"No clue," Jack said cheerfully. "I'd much rather be on my own, not tied down to any one place, you know? And anyway, I don't know how to build mine. Got any idea?"

"Completely soundproof and...inescapable," Bunny said dryly.

"Ha ha. Well, I guess staying here and pranking you guys is more fun anyway."

Bunny narrowed his eyes suspiciously as he took out his last boomerang. "Whadd'ya mean, prank...?"

He stopped there, however, when he realized his paw was stuck. Alarmed, he tried to shake it off, but ice suddenly shot out and covered his entire arm.

"FROST!" he bellowed as Jack shot down the hallway, barely able to fly straight as he laughed hard.

He burst into North's office breathlessly. "Got anywhere I can hide for a an hour or two?" he asked, grinning.

North looked down at him disapprovingly. "You really have to stop pranking Bunny like that," he said. "Especially since he knows all the good hideouts at the Pole." Jack's face fell as he heard ice shatter in the other room. "But I suppose you can follow Phil. I spotted some people walking across the tundra. They weren't equipped for the cold so I sent Phil to collect them."

"Thanks!" Jack said hurriedly, opening the window hatch and speeding out.

In the distance, he could see a large, brown, furry shape that he knew must be his favorite yeti. As he grew closer, he saw the small group of people huddled together, apparently out of fear, not cold. There was a middle aged, African-American man, a teenage girl who looked only slightly older than Jack, and a young girl who looked about ten. All of them wore light clothing, as if it were winter in Florida. Definitely not what Jack expected mortals to wear to the arctic.

Phil waved his hands around in a friendly, welcoming gesture, which terrified the girl almost to a faint. Jack hurried to their side.

"It's ok," he said quickly. "He's just saying 'Hello, come inside for cookies and chocolate.'"

Then he realized that the mortals probably couldn't see him and what he said wouldn't help. But the three strangers stared a him, a feeling Jack still wasn't used to.

"Are we at the North Pole?" the little girl asked timidly.

The older girl swayed in the wind and looked sick, like she was about to faint. Phil quickly stepped toward her, but she backed away and shook her head.

"Uh, yes," Jack continued, slightly distracted. An idea began to form, one that quickly took hold. "I'm Jack Frost."

The man's mouth dropped open. "I'm Peri, this is Elsa and Frozone," the youngest girl said. "Jamie told us about you."

"North Pole?" Elsa confirmed, voice trembling.

Jack nodded; girls who looked like him and didn't mind the cold? No, it couldn't possibly be…

"EVERYBODY DUCK!" Elsa screamed, her silvery voice echoing across the wastelands.

Instinctively, without question, everyone hit the ground, and a massive ice wave exploded from Elsa's chest in all directions. Jack had never seen ice come from one person in that great amount. Even when he had defeated Pitch after Sandy was killed, he hadn't used as much as Elsa let loose now. After a few seconds, the wave stopped, and she collapsed onto Phil. Gently, the yeti picked her up and started walking back to the workshop.

"Why don't you come inside," Jack said graciously.

Excitedly, he flew above them. Mortals that could control ice? Aww yes! This was almost too much to process. He couldn't wait to hear their story.

Once inside, Bunny took over Elsa's care, and a few minutes later they were all sitting around a blazing fire, sipping hot tea. North let them sit for awhile so they could calm their nerves. Frozone was especially shaken; apparently he hadn't really believed in the legends and had been shocked out of skepticism by Phil the yeti. And with Elsa still weak from her meltdown, it was up to Periwinkle, a fairy, to tell the tale.

Not a word was spoken and hardly a breath breathed as the Guardians (and yetis) listened. Her voice was light and airy, and as she spun the tale, her words seemed woven together, forming a silver, delicate tapestry of mystery. As she spoke, Peri demonstrated her powers on North's old shoe, covering it in a ball of frost. Finally, after a humorous account of adjusting to modern life, she explained how thy had met Jamie, Jack's first believer, in Burgess, Pennsylvania. He saw right through their disguises and realized they could create ice. So he directed them to the North Pole, and eventually they had made it.

A heavy silence followed the end of her narrative.

"Any idea how we got here?" Peri ventured after nearly a minute.

"Jack," North said deeply.

"Hmm? What'd I do?"

"When Pitch stranded you in Antarctica, you fixed your staff. A magical staff, broken by powerful dark magic, can only be fixed by a powerful magic. The magic in you alone was not enough. You three, you said you felt a pull and watched the ice to from your hands and disappear into thin air?"

"Yes, sir," Peri said. The other two simply nodded.

"It must have gone straight from your hands to Jack's staff. That pull across time must have pulled you girls right alone with it. Though how exactly...I cannot say."

There was another long moment of silence as they tried to wrap their minds around the whole thing.

"What now?" Elsa asked, her voice still shaky. "Do you know how we can get back?"

"Not at the moment," North said.

"You can't leave yet!" Jack said simultaneously. "You're the first mortals to ever have the powers to use ice and snow. I'm not letting you out of my sight till I know what you can do! You HAVE to show me!"

"No," Elsa said immediately. "No more snow. That was too dangerous."

Peri frowned. "The reason you did that was because you held it back for almost two weeks! It had been building up in you, and then KABAM! It just all came out at once. You need to use it more often."

"I think Peri's right," Jack said.

He grabbed his staff and flew straight toward Elsa, picking her up around the waist and flying out the window. Screaming, Elsa squirmed in his arms until he dropped her in a snowdrift. Jack landed a few feet away, grinning ear to ear. Before Elsa could stand and brush herself off, she was hit with a snowball.

A magic snowball. One that had the power to make even the grumpiest people be happy and have fun.

Elsa was extremely surprised. She blinked, then smirked back at him. With one, swift motion, she raised her arms over her head, and a huge snowball nearly the size soccer ball hit Jack's chest dead on. He crashed backwards with a muffled 'oof!' He lay there, the wind knocked out of him, inwardly laughing. Suddenly Elsa's face appeared above them, the picture of pure panic.

"Jack! Are you ok?" she asked.

"I'm fine!" he assured her. "That was great! Let's do it again."

"No."

She turned and walked away, hugging herself tightly, though Jack knew she wasn't cold. Even his magic snowball HADN'T worked? Man, this girl was a turning out to be a very complicated puzzle.

"Why not?" he asked bluntly.

"Because..." She bit her lip anxiously. "I could seriously hurt you and I don't want to hurt anyone. Why do you think I didn't use my powers while we came up here?"

"Aww, you would never hurt anyone." But her guilty face told him she had. "Not on purpose," he added more gently. "Besides, you can't hurt me. Because of our powers, we can't be hurt by ice or snow. Well, as far as we know," he added, throwing a snowball at Peri.

Peri squealed and instantly retaliated. Elsa quickly stepped back as the snowball fight grew into a frenzy, even with just two players.

"Come on, Elsa!" Peri called, gently throwing a snowball at her.

"That's not how you snowball fight!" Jack said, throwing another one at her.

"Guys!" Elsa protested sharply, holding up her hands and unintentionally making a smooth ice shield. They stopped, afraid they'd gone too far. "THIS..." She dropped the shield and raised her hands over her head, and the biggest snowball she'd ever created appeared. It was massive, the size of a yeti's head. "…is how you snowball fight."

Periwinkle dove behind Jack as the snowball barreled through the air and hit both of them at the same time, burying them in a deep snowdrift. In spite of himself, Frozone laughed.

"Us against them?" Elsa suggested.

"Sure, why not?"

"It's me and Frozone versus you and Peri, Jack!" Elsa called as Jack emerged.

"Oh, it's on!"

Instantly, the air came alive in a flurry of snowballs in all shapes and sizes. Once Jack was hit with a snow robot from Frozone, and Elsa was struck by a snow tree from Peri. Not long into the game, Frozone realized that Jack and Peri were flying over their heads to get better aim and avoid the missiles.

"Hey! These teams are unfair! The fliers can't be on the same team!"

"Girl's versus boys!" Peri shouted, turning on Jack and pelting him.

"Traitor!" Jack teased, aiming his staff at her.

With a squeal, Peri flew down to Elsa's side and helped her ward off Frozone. After another furious volley, Jack decided that they needed some better protection, a good old-fashioned snowball fort.

"Hey, Frozone! Cover me!"

"You got it, man!"

Quickly, Jack ran around in the snow tracing a star with his staff. Then he flew up so he could see the whole thing directly above him. He moved the snow from the inside of the star to make walls surrounding the outside. When it was finished he and Frozone leapt in, and Jack looked out in triumph at the girls.

To his surprise, Elsa looked amused. She eyed it critically, and winked at Peri. Before Jack could think, the girls rose in the air on a platform of nearly packed snow. Thick walls and towers swirled into being, and the star-shaped battle fort became feeble and minuscule in the shadow of the medieval castle. On the ramparts stood the Snow Queen, manning a fully functional snow canon that shot snowballs.

For a moment neither side did anything, both taking in Elsa's latest masterpiece. Then the canon deluge started, and the boys were nearly buried instantly. With a clear head, Frozone created a frosty dome over their heads, though they knew it wouldn't last long under the steady, harsh barrage. Jack whistled appreciatively.

"Dude, did you know she could do that?"

"No, she mostly kept to herself," Frozone said, fixing a hole where a ball had pierced through. "Through the whole two weeks that I've known her, I've never seen her use her powers. Not till today."

"That's powerful stuff. I think it's time to surrender."

"You kidding? You never back down from an enemy that looks stronger than you. If the Americans had done that in the revolutionary war..."

"Hey, man, chill. It's just a snowball fight. A game, remember?" Jack dodged another stray snowball. "It's not like your superhero/super-villain wars."

"Ok, ok. Guess you're right. Besides, I'd like to call my wife. Do you guys have cell service up here? Or phones?"

"Again, you're at the North Pole, Santa's Workshop. North makes anything. You can call your wife."

"Great! Now how do we get out of here? We can't exactly throw up a white flag of surrender. They won't be able to see it in this mess. Geez! How does she keep going like that?"

Jack thought for a moment, then made a strong double ice shield that would cover both of them so they could get to the castle. He figured they could break in underneath the canon's range, and be able to keep out of range till the girl's could hear them.

The plan worked...until they broke through the castle gates. It seemed the girls thought his was not a move of peace and surrender, but a move of attack. From the battlements, Elsa created a twisting labyrinth, with only one path leading to her, and half the tunnels with no roof. Periwinkle was sent down to attack and keep them away, while she manned the canon (which of course could swivel around with ease) and prevented Jack from flying out of the open tunnels.

That was fun, and the boys' plan changed back to offensive. Their main objective now was to capture the Ice Queen and force her to surrender and call off her angry pixie guard. Who, by the way, loved chasing them down the tunnels, changing the pathways, and making more dead ends. On the other hand, Jack and

Frozone loved to throw her off their scent.

The battle went on for another half hour, when at last Jack managed to take out the canon and Frozone was able to subdue Peri. This much made Elsa surrender, and the victory went to the boys. The four of them lay laughing and panting on the ramparts, each secretly planning strategies for the next game.

"I say we go in and have some hot chocolate," Frozone suggested. "And we need to start thinking about how to get home."

"Great idea," Jack said. "Except for the thinking part. I say after we recover, we switch up the teams and have another round. Bunny and North can come, too!"

"Are they protected by the ice, too?" Elsa asked eagerly.

"Hmm? Oh, no. But I think they'll be fine."

It was incredible, and terrifying, how fast Elsa's mood changed. One second she's having fun, completely unworried about her powers, and the next she holes herself up again.

"No. I'm not playing with them," Elsa said firmly.

Jack and Frozone exchanged confused glances; Peri, however, seemed unsurprised.

"Elsa," she said gently. "You can't let fear rule your life. We talked about this. What happened to An..."

"Leave me alone," Elsa said bitterly, rising to her feet.

Without another word, she jumped over the ramparts and landed on a snowlike a few feet below. The others watched in stunned silence as she ran in the opposite direction of North's workshop.

"Let her be," Peri advised as Jack got to his feet to follow. "I expect she needs alone time after being with people 24/7 over the past two weeks."

"She's introverted?" Frozone asked.

Peri shook her head, confused. "I don't know what that means, exactly. But she's used to being on her own. Come on, lets get some hot chocolate. Elsa will follow us in eventually."

"Especially when she hears the wolves," Jack joked. "You guys head on without me. I forgot, I have to...deliver snow to Russia."

"Russia's got plenty of snow," Frozone said wryly. "Go give some to Metropolis. They'd LOVE it this early in the year."

"Ok," Jack said with a grin. "I'll keep that in mind."

With a bound, he shot directly into the sky, and hovered in the cloud layer for a moment. Frozone was right, Russia had plenty of snow. Jack had just sent a fresh batch over the whole county last night, and he had no intention of going again today. Instead, he waited until Peri and Frozone were safely back inside, then flew back down again. Flying low to the ground, he followed Elsa's footprints.

It was really easy, especially when Elsa realized she didn't want to get lost. She grew an ice trees on either side of her path, and though they were grown in a hurry, they were still beautiful. A sycamore towered over the others, competing with a study oak tree in a height contest. Delicate pine needles clinked gently against each other, and several already lay shattered on the ground. But overall, maples and willows seemed to be Elsa's favorites.

At the end of the avenue, Jack was not surprised to find, a huge ice castle. This was massive, and much sturdier and well thought out than the snow fort. Jack crossed a flat bridge, which seemed to have no purpose, curling his toes and enjoying the smoothness as he walked. He passed into the massive towers and incredibly thick walls into the courtyard, which frozen ice fountains decorated. It was a perfect ice skating rink, but Jack resisted. He continued into the keep, and spent nearly an hour wandering through spacious ballrooms, a grand dining room, a library, a huge spiral staircase, completely empty and lifeless rooms with no furniture, and long hallways before he finally found Elsa.

She was sitting quietly on a bed made of snow, with patterns of ice. Across the room was another, similar bed, and toys and books were stacked nearly around the room. In her hands she held a stiff doll, and traced its features longingly.

With a sudden flash, Jack realized this was where Elsa grew up. The whole thing she had built from memory, and the empty rooms must have been the ones she never saw but knew were there. And this was her bedroom.

"Are you a princess?" he asked, immediately regretting it. Dumb thing to say when you invade someone's privacy intending to ask if they're alright.

"Yes," Elsa said, not even jumping at the sound of his voice.

Awkwardly, Jack sat on the bed across from her, but Elsa glared at him, almost protectively. Even more confused, he stood up again, thinking.

The way Elsa was so careful with her powers, her guilty face when Jack told her she wouldn't hurt anyone, the sadness in her eyes as she looked between the doll and the other bed...it all made sense now.

"You had a sister," he said quietly.

Elsa dropped the doll, which shattered on the floor, and buried her face in her hands, choking back sobs. Realizing she didn't know about Guardians or how to become one, Jack sat next to her and told her his story.

"I had a sister once, too. See, I'm a Guardian. I'm immortal. But too become a Guardian, you need to prove you're worthy. I had a sister, Emma, when I was human. We loved goofing off: climbing trees, exploring the forest in our area, and ice skating in the winter. Only one day...I misjudged the thickness."

Elsa looked up, interested and concerned.

"She was caught on cracking, fragile part. I nearly didn't get her out in time. I did, but it cost me my life. Anyway, that sacrifice convinced the moon to bring me back to life to become a Guardian. The point is, I understand, somewhat, about having a sister, and putting her in danger." He stopped, unsure where to go from there, but Elsa spoke almost immediately, drying her tears.

"Anna and I were best friends when we were little. We liked to sneak out at night and play with my magic in the ballroom. Then one night...she jumped from my hill and she fell. I tried to save her but I accidentally hit her in the head."

She paused, breathing deeply and trying not to panic at the memory. Nevertheless, frost crept up the wall in alarming patterns. Patiently, Jack waited.

"We took her to some trolls," she finally managed.

Jack smiled in spite of himself. So THAT was why she had seen him so easily. She already believed in magical beings like trolls, then met a fairy. Why shouldn't she believe in Jack Frost when Jamie told them he was real?

"The trolls healed her, but removed all memories of magic. She didn't know I had powers. I was told not to use them, and since emotions triggered them, I was not to feel anything. Apparently this had been prearranged by my parents and the trolls. When they discovered I had ice powers they were advised to let me use them and learn to control them. Then Anna was born, and my mom was afraid I would hurt her, but let us play until that happened."

"How'd that work out?" Jack asked.

"Not good. I hid myself from Anna, even got a mew room, until I could learn to control it. But I never could. Almost every day she would knock on my door, singing and begging me to play with her again. I hated it. But the magic grew stronger, and I went with my parents plan. Do you know how much I had to resist opening that door?"

"No. I bet it was a lot."

"You literally died for your sister. A part of my died every day, listening to her knock. I dreaded its coming, and I hated listening to it, but I was scared that one day she would stop. She did, when she was around 13. The last time Anna knocked was after our parents' funeral."

"I won't say I'm sorry," Jack said. "Because I know that doesn't cover it."

Elsa didn't say a word, she simply nodded in appreciation. They sat together in silence, watching the evening sky. Of course, it looked exactly the same as it had for the past few weeks: a misty twilight. The sun wouldn't fully rise until late March, which was still a few weeks away.

"When we had the snowball fight, you controlled your powers perfectly," Jack ventured at last. "Heck, you made a fully weaponized canon, out of snowed to fire snowballs."

"Actually, it was mostly made of ice."

"Well, I couldn't actually see that because I was blinded by the functionabilty of your weapon." Elsa laughed, for the first time in who knows long.

"The point is," he continued, "You live your own life now, you don't need to follow your parents' rules. They were meant to help you, but they weren't working. The truth is, you can do whatever you like with your powers...as long as you believe you can."

"I don't know if that's possible," Elsa said sadly.

"Well, even if you don't, I believe you can. Honestly, after all the things I've seen you do today, I find it positively ludicrous that you don't."

Elsa stared at him. Obviously nobody had ever spoken that bluntly to her before about her powers. For a moment Jack was afraid he had pushed too far again. But then, miraculously, she smiled.

"Thank you, Jack," she said, smiling.