Jack let the winter wind carry him over the kingdom. It was a gorgeous and friendly town outside the castle. Too bad about those gates-Elsa would love playing tag with that group of munchkins over there. Why had the royal family put the walls around their yard, anyway? He'd been meaning to ask her that.

"Hey! Sven!"

Jack dropped down beside a blonde boy. He was sturdily-built, a pre-teen, with a sweet smile. He sat in a miniature wooden sleigh, allowing a young reindeer to drag it along. Jack had to summon the wind again to keep up with them.

"Nice ride!" he chuckled to the boy, but of course he wasn't heard.

The boy jiggled his reins and didn't give Jack so much as a glance, completely oblivious.

"Sven!" He called again to his reindeer. "C'mon, slow down!"

Jack grinned, shawl flapping beneath him as he lay on his back against the wind current.

"'But I'm hungry, Kristoff!'"

Frost was surprised. The boy had done the deep, gruff voice so perfectly, he'd thought for a moment that the reindeer really had responded. But the blonde was speaking in the animal's place!

"Tough! You're not getting supper anyway if we crash!" scolded the boy, Kristoff.

Sven began to trot, slowing down as commanded, rolling his eyes.

Well, that was a bummer. What use was a sleigh if you were gonna take the scenic route? Boring!

"Watch out!" Jack crowed, suddenly shooting in front of them. "Slippery!"

With his staff he created an ice path for the sled. Sven's trot grew messy, and his hooves slid on the glassy surface.

"Where'd that come from?" Kristoff sounded more annoyed than shocked. "It's not even cold out!"

Jack zipped alongside, one arm behind his head in a relaxed way as the wind pooled beneath his body. "Easy for you to say. You even breathing under all that?"

It was true. Kristoff was clothed in at least four layers of mountain-savvy cotton.

A fruit kart was being pushed just ahead.

Kristoff yelped. "Sven, stop! Stop stop stop!"

Sven snorted. Couldn't stop. Jack loved the look on the creature's face. A look of "I am so done with life." Priceless.

Jack's attention was drawn back to the situation at hand. "Woah, hang on, Kristoff, I gotcha!"

He jerked the ice path to the right. Kristoff, Sven, and the sleigh all ended up in a snowbank.

Jack leaned against a lamppost. He'd have to do this again someday. It was hilarious.

Kristoff emerged, shaking power from his long hair. "Sven?"

Sven's antler stubs popped out. Kristoff tugged him out with a hand on each one.

"'Thanks, buddy!' No problem. Sleigh okay?"

Sven nudged the snow with his big, wet snout. Kristoff started digging.

"That's not your only problem." Jack picked up one of the boy's boots. "Lose something?"

He shook the boot above the lad's head, but it didn't do much. Jack sighed and dropped it back into the snow. Figured.

Kristoff and Sven pushed the sleigh out of the bank. It was totaled. A plank of wood broken off, no more skis, chips and nicks everywhere...

"Aw, come on!" groaned the adolescent. Sven made an irritated huff, rearing a bit in exasperation.

Shaking his head, Jack turned and flew away. He knew one person wouldn't ignore him.

Elsa's furniture was being rearranged. The servants were moving her vanity and tea set, her table and chairs. They were airing out her rug by the open widow when Jack flew in. They hadn't moved the bed yet.

He held the edge of his shawl up against his nose to shield his face from the dust of the rug, stepping from the window seat to the floor.

If the servants were here, whatever, but why wasn't Elsa making sure they moved everything to her satisfaction? He didn't see her.

Then he spotted the heel of a turned-over slipper from underneath the bed. He felt himself smile.

Jack army-crawled into the shadows beneath the sleeping spot, ending up on his belly, right next to Elsa.

"Allergic to spring cleaning?" Jack asked casually.

Elsa jumped. "Shhh!" she whispered. "I'm hiding."

"Ah." Jack ducked his head and lowered his voice. "From what?"

Elsa pointed.

Jack squinted in the direction her finger gestured to. "A really polished pair of shoes?"

Elsa grunted. "No. The servants."

"Why?"

She gave him a glance full of nervous energy. "Well, I had hot chocolate this morning."

Jack blinked. "Okay."

"Anna and I get really hyper if we have chocolate. It's like her favorite thing in the whole kingdom. Mama says we get it from Papa."

"And...?"

"And I can't conceal when I'm hyper." Elsa drummed her fingers in front of her. Blue light glowed on the ground in the split second each digit touched the floor. Her legs wiggled.

Jack, amused, used the hook in his staff to pull her feet back out of sight. "So you think they're gonna notice your gift."

"My curse," muttered Elsa.

"But we've been practicing," Jack protested. "You can at least keep it in for a few hours now, right?"

"Hot chocolate," she reminded him, tilting her head in an impatient way.

Jack laughed. She tensed at the sudden volume, though she knew no one could hear him but her.

"I say we jump out and scare them," he whispered, leaning in enticingly.

Elsa shook her head hard. "If I get too excited it'll all just...pop out."

"Pop out?"

"Yeah."

"Pop?"

"Yes!" Elsa hissed, giggling.

"What? Snow doesn't pop. It dances. Like...court jesters."

"Okay, it'll dance out."

"On three."

"Huh?"

"On three we get 'em. One.."

"Wait-"

"Two!"

"Jack, no!"

"Three, let's go!" He shuffled, trying crawl out.

"No!" Elsa dragged him back by his white sleeve. "They can't find us!"

She'd spoken too loud. A polished black shoe tapped hers. "Princess Elsa?"

Jack grinned at her. Elsa scowled back.

Elsa clambered out from under the bed. "Y-Yes?" she stammered.

"Forgive me, miss," came the kind, uppity tone of a butler, "but whatever are you doing on the floor?"

Elsa rubbed an arm. "Um...I..."

Jack stood up, brushed himself off, and watched her sink further into humiliation.

"Think fast," Jack advised teasingly.

"I-I...that is...I was just...I was just, er, looking for something."

"There you go."

"Oh? For what?" The bald servant's eyebrows raised, concerned.

Elsa looked up at the man frantically. "For..."

Jack glanced around. He spied one of her gloves on her nightstand and slid it onto the ground with his staff, kicking it under the bed quick as a wink.

Elsa saw it out of the corner of her eye. "M-My...my glove!"

"Your...glove, Princess?"

"Yes, yes, my glove!" Elsa stooped low to tug it out. "Found it!" She put it on. Jack slid the other one into the hand that was behind her back. She held her now-covered hands up for the servant to observe. "See? Matching again."

"Together at last," Jack added, aware it wouldn't help even if it could be heard. Elsa had to fight a small smile.

The man looked bewildered. "I'm so sorry. We would've helped, surely, if we'd..."

"No, that's fine!" Elsa threw the door open. Her heartbeat had accelerated. She felt a familiar tickle on her skin, a swirl in her chest. "I can do the rest anyway. You can go."

"But-"

"All of you!" Elsa interrupted quickly. "Thank you for the help."

"If you're sure..."

"Yes! Go!"

The servants walked out in an orderly line, each giving her a smile. They couldn't leave fast enough, it seemed.

Elsa locked the door and slumped against it. "That was close."

"I've seen worse." Jack walked in wide steps along the wooden end of her bed, staff over his shoulder. "So when do you come down from the cocoa?"

"I dunno." Elsa's face turned a bit pink. "I hate it when this happens. I start talking like Anna."

Jack hopped down. "Really?" His voice had a mischievous, interested rise to it.

"Yes," sighed Elsa. "It gets embarrassing."

"What do you do to shake it?" Jack wondered.

"I usually just sit still for a while. Sometimes I hear Anna running up and down the stairs till it wears off. I heard her do it earlier." She looked at her feet, missing her sister's glee.

"We could do that," Jack offered.

Elsa stared at him. "But I can't see-"

"I know, I know," Jack held up a hand. "I'll make sure she's busy."

With that, he winked and left the room, calling, "Back in a minute!"

Elsa closed the door behind him, heart lifting. When Jack came to visit, as he did at least twice a week, she felt lighter than she could remember feeling in a long time.

Jack sat on the bannister at the top of the stairs. Anna would need to be at least outside in the yard when Elsa left her room. He would prefer drawing the two sisters together, but his ice-riddled friend wouldn't hear of it. Elsa was too afraid of herself to even talk to Anna.

He heard a voice rambling on down the hallway, getting closer.

Young, lanky Anna appeared, tossing an apple back and forth from hand to hand. She was chattering away to what seemed like no one in particular.

"I mean, I think it's kinda cool when it frizzes up. Only when it's hot out. And then I break like seven whole brushes trying to smooth it out. Mama had to help with the braids. Sometimes I try to do-"

Here she glanced up at an old photo hanging from the wall.

"Don't roll your eyes at me, Sam. If you don't like girl talk you can just get right back on that horse and ride into the sunset."

Jack cocked his head and narrowed his eyes at her, arm slung over a drawn-up knee on the bannister.

"Are you...talking to pictures?" he asked her aloud.

Anna sighed and sat against the door to Elsa's room. She couldn't hear his question. Her eyelids dropped and the apple rolled from her fingers across the carpet.

"Except you can't," she muttered in continuation to the photo. "'Cuz you're just a painting." Another, heavier sigh.

Anna stood and knocked on the door. She cleared her throat. "'Hem...E-Elsa? D'you...um...you wanna, maybe, climb that big oak outside? Or...we could ride our bike. The one with two seats? You can pedal. Oh, but I might be too big now. Yeah." Anna bit her lip and looked down at herself. "I mean-I'm not out of shape or anything! Promise! And you're not either! Not saying that. I think. I can't see you, so..." She used her heel to rub the back of her other ankle. "Just...if you aren't...we could..." She leaned her head back against the door. "Do you wanna build a snowman?"

Jack knew if Elsa had heard him say all that instead, she'd laugh at the babble. But it was Anna. Even Anna's voice troubled his friend. He also knew she was listening. She always listened. Never responded.

Anna seemed to know only half of that. She turned and began walking back toward her room.

Jack, caught up in his sympathy for her, shook himself and jumped from his seat. He slid in front of Anna, flinching as she passed through his body in a wispy blue blur.

"Hey, I've got an idea," he said. He swirled his staff in the air above her. "You like snow?"

He let a breeze carry a noticeable amount of fat snowflakes over her shoulder.

"Come on!"

Anna, gasping, followed it down the stairs. Jack slid down the rail and kept control of the breeze.

It led her outside.

Jack didn't stop there. The snowflakes shot high above the wall and disappeared.

Anna stumbled after them, tilting her head back to watch them go. "Aw. For a second I thought something fun was happening."

Jack rubbed his chin. "Huh."

He flew after his snowflake brigade.

Staff in his right hand, Jack guided the snowflakes to where a certain blonde was sharing a carrot with a young reindeer.

The breeze blew into Kristoff's face. He shivered, nose coldest of all.

Blue sparks did a jig in front of his eyes. Kristoff laughed; he didn't know why. It just felt good.

Jack's snowflakes whipped around Kristoff's head in a circle, then zipped across the bridge to the front walls of the castle.

Kristoff barely felt in control of his own square-shaped feet. He rushed after the snow, Sven on his heels.

Kristoff watched the snowflakes get buffeted up above the wall, then melt right then and there.

When he actually reached the wall about three steps later, he'd been going too fast and smashed his nose into the wall itself.

"Ow!" Kristoff grumbled.

Anna, directly on the other side, perked up. "Hello?"

Kristoff heard it; the wall wasn't as solid as it seemed on the inside. "Yeah?" he muttered, rubbing his nose.

Anna gasped. "Oh my gosh, hi! Hi person!"

Kristoff raised his eyebrows. He exchanged a glance with Sven. He shrugged. Sven shrugged.

"Uh...hi...um, Wall." He coughed. "How's it going?"

Jack, perched on top of the wall, watching each pre-teen on either side at the same time, grinned.

Anna chortled. "No-it's me-I'm a girl."

"Oh. 'Kay." Kristoff straightened his shoulders. "Well-"

"No, wait! Come back!"

Kristoff grunted. "I didn't go anywhere."

"Right. Right. Okay, um..." Anna ran both hands down a braid uncomfortably. "What's your name?"

"Kristoff."

"Cool! Nice to meet you, Kr...uh...Wait, say again?"

Kristoff sighed. "Kristoff."

Sven nudged him with his nose.

"And Sven. He's here too." The boy smiled.

"You're seven? You don't sound seven."

The middle fell out of Kristoff's smile. "No, I'm not seven! Sven! My reindeer!"

"See, that makes more sense."

Kristoff groaned.

"Who's a good reindeer?" Anna was speaking in a patronizing baby voice now. "Who's a nice fluffy reindeer?"

Sven grunted, but he seemed to be smiling.

"I got it! Dig under the wall, Sven!" Anna clapped her hands together.

Kristoff's eyebrows lowered. "You don't tell him what to do. I do!" He glanced at Sven. "Can you do that?"

Anna listened eagerly, ear pressed against the wall.

"'But I'd chip a hoof!' Don't be such a baby. 'I won't!' Sven! What else is there to do around here?"

Anna's eyes widened. "Your reindeer can talk?"

Kristoff huffed. "Whoever you are, you don't get out much, do you?"

"When you say 'much'..." Anna rocked back and forth on her heels. "Sorry, Kringle, I'm just rusty at this."

"Kristoff."

"I've never been in a kick-off. Sounds painful."

"No, Kristoff! You called me Kringle. That's not my name."

"Then what is it?"

"Kristoff!" He growled. "I just said that. Kris-"

"Christopher, got it."

"No! I'm Kristoff!"

"Stop yelling at me!"

"You stop yelling! You're getting on my nerves."

Anna crossed her arms. "Well, you're not exactly great conversation either, mister. Here I am yakking away to pictures all day and you're out there with your seven reindeer and sunshine and actual, real live people..."

Kristoff rubbed his eyes. "Uh huh. Come up for air, feistypants."

Jack chuckled. They'd be a while. Time to get back to Elsa.