Elsa saw it happen. She saw the moment Jack fell in love again.
Elsa had not interacted with boys her age since she was five. However, none of them had really accepted her powers, so she had spent much of her time alone with her sister. That being said, Elsa was clueless as to what to do next. So she repeated her question.
"Well?" she kept her eyes fixed on Jack, trying to read his reaction.
Jack traced the snow with his eyes. Every curve, every flake, every flurry. He inspected it at a distance first, and then took steps towards the trunk. He brushed away the layer of winter with his staff until he saw the trunk. Frozen. Small flurries of snow stuck in the bark, winter dancing with summer. Jack smiled to himself.
"Well done."
Again, Elsa was at a loss for words. Saying the first thing that came into her mind she blurted, "So you said you could help me?"
Jack snapped back to attention. "Hands, not feet?"
"That would be helpful."
He turned to face Elsa. "I can help you with that. Take your shoes off."
"But-"
"Off."
Elsa obeyed, confused. The only way she knew how to prevent her powers was by covering up her skin. She wondered if blindly following this total stranger was a mistake. She looked at his feet, bare on the grass. No ice. He must know what he's doing.
"Now step over here." Jack motioned to where he was, a few feet away from the fallen tree.
Elsa began to walk, but shrank back from her first step. Ice had already begun to form beneath her toes. The grass was cold. She felt the summer wind shiver as it blew through the forest. Apologizing in her head, she ran towards Jack, ice marking her trail. She unintentionally threw herself into Jack's arms in a panicked frenzy, heart beating fast as Jack caught her by instinct. He put her aside and bent down, inspecting the icy grass. Thin trails of ice wove around each blade, taking Jack's breath away. The grass was glistening like a spider web in the rain, and Jack was mesmerized.
Elsa was looking at Jack, the way he lost himself in nature. The way he saw the beauty in her work, in winter. The way he valued even the smallest icicle hanging off the tip of the blade. She was in awe of someone so appreciative of what she detested. Her powers, normally a barrier between herself and beauty, now seemed to be a portal. She looked at Jack and thanked him in her mind for showing her what her powers really meant.
Jack stood, having reached a conclusion. "Show me your feet," he said, looking at them expectantly.
Elsa hoisted herself up onto a tree branch and dangled her bare feet in Jack's face.
"What do you see?" she asked, curious. His hands were no longer warm, but cool to the touch of her feet.
Jack could see the snow flowing through the bottoms of Elsa's feet. It was swirling through her veins, causing her skin to be a pure white, which was his doing.
"I need to close off your feet."
"What?"
"There's snow in your veins. That's how your powers work."
"So, how do you just…close them off?"
"It's hard to explain, but it just takes a second," Jack went back to work, closing of Elsa's icy power channel in her feet. "It won't hurt at all."
"Wait!"
His head snapped back up. "What?"
Elsa thought about her wording. How to tell Jack that she wanted to keep those powers. How to tell him to stop.
"I just-"
A pause. Elsa got off her branch and stood on the ground by Jack.
"Don't."
"Don't?" Jack was confused. "I thought this was what you wanted."
"I don't want to be normal."
"But you won't be. You'll still have it through your hands. Your breath. You can still use it if you want."
"But that's the thing, Jack," Elsa's instincts told her to face him, to look into the matching set of blue eyes. "I just want control. I want to be able to hold my sister's hand and not freeze her to death. I want to be able to go outside without people being afraid of me. I want-"
Elsa turned away from Jack, hiding her face. He was confused. He had interacted with girls about as much as teenagers. This situation was a mystery to him.
"What do you want?"
"I want to be able to kiss my husband. To hold my children," Elsa turned back to him. "How can I be queen of Arendelle if I can't even be courted?" She burst into tears.
Jack, even more confused, had no idea what to say. He could honestly say that he had no response to give. The sun peaking over the mountain gave him a well-needed distraction.
"I've got to get you back. We've been out all night," he reached for her hand. "Let's go."
Jack and Elsa landed on her window seat, right where they had left. Jack, remorse and confusion in his eyes, turned to go.
"But I thought you were going to help me!"
Elsa, no longer crying, was angry now. Jack had not spoken a single word to her on the way back from the forest. Not a single syllable was uttered between the two of them.
He didn't even try to make me feel better.
"I will," Jack said, throwing the words her way as he headed out. "Later."
Jack left, and Elsa closed her window.