Elsa walked down the corridor with her head held high. She could hear Jack trailing behind her, saying hello to everyone they passed.
Nobody replied.
She felt a small twang of sympathy that nobody else seemed to believe in him, but he kept repeating that it was for the best.
"Doesn't living in a big place like this get lonely?"
She paused briefly, thrown off by his question. With a glance around the hall, she breathed a sigh of relief that no one else was there, making answering him a lot simpler. She turned to face him, regarding him coolly.
"Everybody gets lonely," she replied ominously, looking him straight in the eye.
The Guardian of Fun furrowed his brows at the coldness in her voice. "I guess..." he replied, though it sounded unsure.
She turned back around and continued on her way, taking advantage of the empty corridor. "I'm sorry if this room seems unfit, but I figured if we do receive any more unprecedented guests, this would be the last room we'd - " she began, but stopped dead in her tracks after opening the door.
Jack hadn't expected her sudden halt and walked right into her, pushing her further into the spare room.
The queen held back a scream of rage as she stepped into what she hoped was mud. "W-what?" she breathed, finding the scene before her baffling.
The room was a total mess. All the linens had been torn to shreds, and muddy hoof prints covered the floor. The bed looked like it had been chewed on, and the window was wide open, letting the summer breeze blow around the pages of the torn up books. In the middle of all this chaos sat a very happy reindeer, casually chewing on a carrot.
Jack jumped in shock at the squeal of fury coming from the blonde.
"Anna!" she bellowed, not caring that Sven shuffled clumsily to his feet in panic. She crossed her arms and turned towards the door, motioning with a nod of her head for Jack to move.
He complied, sidestepping into the room, but overly cautious not to step in any of the... mud.
Elsa continued to stand there, completely enraged. She tapped her mud-stained shoe violently on the marble floor, an occasional huff of indignation sounding from her mouth.
Jack's ears picked up the slightest sound of heels clanking on the floor, nearing the room. He held back his amusement as a very guilty looking princess poked her head in.
"Oh, hi again!" she smiled sheepishly.
Elsa closed her eyes, exhaling slowly. She reopened them, though her glare remained. "I see we have a guest."
Anna bit her lip as she glanced around the room. "Yeah, K-Kristoff is redoing the stables, and Sven was too big to fit in ours, so I improvised," she shrugged, avoiding her sister's gaze.
"I can see that," Elsa replied coolly, her demeanor betraying her frustration.
The strawberry blonde continued to smile at her sister, clearly trying the play up the "cuteness" factor as her eyes widened. "You're not mad at me, right, Elsa?"
The queen merely arched a brow. "Clean it up - Sven can stay in the ballroom; fewer items for him to... chew on."
Anna nodded tentatively, before her head shot up in worry. "The ballroom? But what if we have a party?"
Elsa glanced around the room, her eyes lingering on Jack. "What if we had a guest?" she bit back, her gaze returning to her younger sister.
The princess sighed in defeat. "We have other rooms..." she mumbled halfheartedly, but trudged into the room, avoiding the mud expertly. "Come on, Sven."
Jack smiled slightly at the excited reindeer, before he noticed the queen was leaving. He hurriedly followed, holding back a laugh as she removed her shoes and tossed them back into the room, narrowly missing his head.
"Whoa there," her grinned, ducking away.
She flipped her braid over her shoulder in response and strode back the way they had come.
The pale boy rolled his eyes at her obvious displeasure. "Hey, cheer up, your Majesty! I'm sure a big place like this has plenty of spare rooms!"
"Not any as far away as that one," she muttered under her breath, paying no mind to the maid who eyed her warily.
Jack snickered to himself - this girl was really something.
They continued walking, passing her room. He glanced at its tall doors, taking the time to appreciate the timeless beauty of the castle.
The queen stopped suddenly, and he again found himself bumping into her, although this time she held her ground.
"Sorry," he grinned, rubbing the back of his neck in a sheepish manner.
She huffed in response as she slowly opened the doors. He let out a small gasp as he stood beside her.
This room was twice the size of the one she had original taken him to, and three times as decorated. It had the most elegant of paintings, pottery, and fabrics occupying its walls and tables, and the bed was large, grand, and incredibly enticing. He was shocked at how magnificent it was - more so than the queen's own room.
"No one will be using this room," she stated, her tone flat and her eyes dead. "No one will bother you here."
He gave her a small smile of gratitude. "Thank you, but I honestly won't be doing much sleeping; I'm kind of - " he was about to say dead, but felt that for some reason, that word probably wouldn't be appreciated. He slowly realized that Elsa was young - very young. And this bedroom was fit for a king. With another quick glance, a feeling of sorrow settled over him. This must have been her parents' room. She must have lost her parents.
" - an insomniac," he finished lamely.
She finally looked at him, her mouth opening slightly in the beginning of a question, but closing when she decided against it. She shook her head slightly, ridding herself of her curiosity. "Regardless, you may stay here. Our library is downstairs; I hope you'll find something useful from it, though I insist you do your research here - I don't want my maids fainting at the sight of a floating book."
Rather than his usual, cocky smirk, Jack gave her a genuine smile. "Thank you, again."
She returned it slowly. "You're welcome, Mr. Frost. Like I had said earlier, I'd be honored to help you find your way home."
He blushed at the sincerity of her words, kicking himself for being such a sap. "Th-thank you," he repeated awkwardly.
Elsa blushed slightly as well as she let out a small giggle. "Goodnight, Mr. - "
"Jack," he interrupted, rubbing his arm tentatively and looking down to avoid her gaze.
She smiled as she used her finger to tilt his head back up, locking her eyes with his. "Goodnight, Jack," she amended.
He nodded sheepishly in response. "Goodnight, uh..."
"Elsa," she smirked, removing her hand as she began to walk back to her own room.
Jack watched her go, feeling a slight warm feeling in his chest at the prospect of becoming this girl's friend. "Goodnight, Elsa," he whispered, before shutting the door behind him as he stepped into the room.
Sorry again for the wait! I haven't had as much free time as I had anticipated
And wow - I am so thankful for the follows and favorites! And the reviews are a fantastic way to top it all off! Thank you!
And again, I do not own any of the characters from either movie!