Epilogue
Darkness. That's the first thing I remember.
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8 months later…
The winter night was quiet, the silence spreading to all corners of the woods. A peaceful calm seemed to permeate the space, wrapping the snow covered trees in a protective veil, shielding it from the dangers that lurked in the dark. In this calm place, there would be no fear, no sadness, no suffering. Only the Moon's comforting glow.
Like a mother's careful hands that caress her babe's cheek, the glow broke the ice laden surface of the creek. A young man—but a boy, in the eyes of some—emerged from its icy depths, his stormy eyes blinking rapidly. His body trembled with fear, confusion on his face.
But as he looked up at the moon, he was no longer afraid.
Staff in hand, he learned he could do many things: his footfalls left a trail of frost, he could make snow appear at will. His breath became the kiss of winter that stained windows for years to come. He could turn the coldest of storms into the joyous of days and a good snowball fight would never be far from where he lurked.
But in that moment, slipping across the surface of the creek, he couldn't help but think it would be better if he had someone to share his fun with.
His first attempts of flight were a disaster. Wind carried him high above the clearing, then dropped him just as quickly into a tree. He laughed it off and tried it once more, joy warming him whenever he felt the wind against his light frame.
High above the woods, he could see a town square in the distance, passed the fields of snow-covered farmland. Surely, someone there would enjoy these winter games.
He drifted clumsily into the town square, waving at the many merchants and families who crowded around the few fires. He could see people bartering, children chasing each other against their disgruntled parents' wishes. Much to his dismay, nobody waved back to him, none would even say, 'Hello'.
Not really friendly, are they? He couldn't help but think.
Discouraged, he was going to try somewhere else, when a woman slipped on the trail of ice left behind by his bare feet.
"Sorry about that," he chuckled good naturedly, extending his hand.
The woman didn't reach for it. She turned to look up at the night sky and he was startled by how those large, blue eyes seemed to claw at something in the back of his mind. There was something devastatingly familiar about these eyes, filled with a sorrow he could not understand.
Her flaxen hair tied back in a bun, her skin as white as freshly fallen snow…she was beautiful, maybe the most beautiful woman he had ever seen (or, at least, in that marketplace). Yet the youth in her features was marred by the shadow of innocence lost. Whatever had hurt her, it seemed to be marked in the hesitance in her body language.
Realizing this woman was heavy with child, he felt guilty for having made her slip. He tried once again to help her, placing his hand on her shoulder.
"Miss, I'm—"
To his horror, his hand passed through her blue cloak.
"Elsa!"
He turned his head, gasping as a ginger-haired girl ran through him. He looked down at his hands, not quite believing this was happening.
They can't see me!
"You need to be careful," the girl said, helping "Elsa" to her feet. "The baby's coming soon!"
Stoically, the woman got to her feet. She wobbled a little, the extra weight throwing off her balance, and used the girl to support her. "I'm fine, Anna. I…I have a lot on my mind. I wasn't watching where I was going."
"You can't see me but you can hear me, right?" he said.
He tried waving his hands but neither Elsa nor Anna would even glance in his direction.
To his surprise, the girl burst into tears.
"I-it's my fault!" she sobbed. "If I hadn't—"
Elsa wrapped her arms around the girl. "Shh…Anna…you need to stop blaming yourself. He—he wouldn't want that."
As he watched her comfort the younger girl, he could see the unshed tears shining in Elsa's eyes. He wasn't sure what tragedy had befallen these girls but maybe if he could get them to see him, he could bring a smile to their faces.
As they began to walk away, he tried a different tactic to get their attention.
"Elsa!" he called, stumbling after them.
"Elsa!" he said a little louder.
The blond gasped loudly. He wasn't sure if he had a heartbeat but he felt something tighten in his chest. Slowly, the woman turned, looking him straight in the eyes. For a long, silent moment, they both stared at each other.
Her lip quivered. He could see confusion in her eyes.
"Elsa?" Anna asked, tugging on the woman's hand.
Elsa turned to look down at Anna. "I thought I heard…"
She looked back once more. Slowly, he felt his smile slip from his face. She was looking through him, not at him.
"Nobody," she whispered. "I didn't hear anything."
Hand in hand, Elsa and Anna went towards an older couple who seemed to be waiting for them. Jack Frost could only watch numbly as the people in the market went about their business, walking through him and paying him no heed. For the many years to follow, he would never understand why that moment with the blond-haired woman would haunt him like a constant shadow, becoming one of the many pieces in a puzzle left unfinished.
Jack Frost was alone. And it had always been that way, hadn't it?
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Author's Note: And here it is. When I initially conceived of this idea (all the way back in May 2014), I only had an ending. I ended up building a story that would get the characters to this point. So I need to apologize to any readers who were hoping for a happy ending: there was never going to be a resolution that would see Jack and Elsa together. There may also be frustration over the unanswered questions but the tragedy in this story is Jack remained spectator to only one side of Elsa. And with his death, that part of her that became part of him was taken away.
I know I said no powers. So if anyone is disappointed that this serves as alternate memories to Jack's past in the RotG film, I apologize for that as well. As you can tell, there is some deviation from Jack's awakening in RotG but beyond the little changes, I imagine that Jack would eventually learn the truth and the events would play out similar to as they had in the film. Thank you to everyone who had read and followed this story and I wish all of you a Happy Holidays!