She looked around, but the sight was bitterly bleak. She was less alone than usual, thanks to Jack, but standing in what looked like a snowy wasteland. Elsa had never been anywhere as cold as this, not that it bothered her much; her natural temperature was rather low anyway. Jack looked unfazed by her icy hand in his, but Elsa had noticed that it was just as cold as hers.
"What do we do now?" Elsa asked nervously. In her fit of adrenaline and sudden freedom, she had led the two of them to a place she had never even seen before. It was barren of any life or civilisation, and while that was- in some ways- a comfort to Elsa, it was also somehow disconcerting. And Elsa would not- and could not- forget that this was her first time to be alone with a man, and that thought only added to her anxiety. Looking around, it was blatantly obvious that there was nowhere to stay, or sleep, or eat, or even rest her feet. "Where do we stay?"
Jack paused, and then made a suggestion that seemed both bewildering and crazy to Elsa, "We make a place to stay."
Elsa was about to question him, but he- right before her eyes- performed a piece of magic, beautiful for the eyes to behold. His fingers moved in quick gestures, and the Elsa watched as the snow on the ground where he pointed elevated and circled into a hut of sorts. It was beautiful indeed, with ice crafted walls and a roof that almost looked like it had been woven out of snowflakes. There was a small, round door that Jack was opening with ease, "See?" he said, gleaming with pride at his creation. Elsa followed him inside, but there was hardly any room at all inside the four walls of the ice hut, and the two full-grown adults took up at least three quarters of the space, and Elsa saw that Jack was having to bend his neck a little, so as not to hit his head on the shiny ceiling. Elsa felt quite grim, but she tried to smile at Jack, even if it was weak. "I know, not quite a castle." He agreed.
"No," she said warily, "It's lovely… quaint." She finished with a slight chuckle. She caught herself, fearing that Jack would hate her and call her rude and callous, but he didn't. Instead, Jack laughed a loud, intoxicating laugh, his body shaking a little. Elsa grinned at him, "Let me give it a go?" she didn't wait for an answer. She stepped outside, glad for the space again, and took in the landscape; her blank canvas. At first, she tried to copy Jack's hand movements, but before long, she had lost herself in an odd dance, jumping around and running in circles. Underfoot, an icy staircase began to rise, obeying her commands to stretch tall and far. With a definitive gesture to the staircase, it became clear and beautiful, without any foreseen dangers or unruly edges. A pair of more untrained feet might have slipped, and Elsa knew full well that her sister, Anna, would be stumbling and tripping all over the staircase, too busy whining about the cold and how she missed summer to appreciate the gorgeous creation. Jack, however, was making sounds of wonder, gasping for behind Elsa. She cast a glance over her shoulder, and saw he was grinning. Turning back, Elsa ran as fast as she could up the staircase, new steps appearing just in time to catch her feet and stop her from falling.
Before long, Elsa had created a gigantic, round floor, and was quickly manufacturing beautiful snowy walls. Jack, who had followed close behind her, was trying his best to help, but he had only seen places of such finery a handful of times, and never had her created such elegant, intricate things. Elsa was making a ceiling, and furnishing it with a wonderful chandelier. It slightly resembled the ballroom back at her castle, but in this one, she actually danced!
Jack watched with well hidden joy as she unleashed a stunning smile, and graceful dance moves that had been hidden and restrained in her old home, where she only ever cried and sat on her own. She ran her fingers through her hair, pulling it out of its masterly done bun, and into a thick, pretty braid. Her fingers messed it up a bit, pulling her fringe free. She seemed so much more… happy, now. Jack didn't care where she was, in a hut, or the palace of ice. All he cared about was her smile, which lit up the room she had created so incredibly. She was so talented, so blessed, but all she ever saw it as was a curse, a cruel trick; a mean, nasty talent that could drive a person to murder.
She turned to Jack and grabbed his hands, making him drop his staff and forcing him to dance in circles with her.
They stood still, finally, and for the first time, Elsa admired her handiwork in quiet amazement. She was impressed, to put it simply. She wanted to be modest, and remember that it was a curse- an unnatural, evil craft, designed to bring pain and death down upon the heads of her loved ones. Elsa tried her best; she really did, to remember how people always hated the cold. She tried to remember clearly the expression her sister always made when winter frost visited the castle. It was difficult though, because she was falling in love with her new castle- and she could quite happily imagine calling it her home. Sure, it may need a few finishing touches, but it was a happier place than the Arendelle Castle already.
With a subdued smile, Elsa looked at Jack, recognising a similar smile playing on his features. "So you're Jack Frost?" she asked, eyes narrowed but her smile even more prominent.
He smirked and, in a sort of leap, put his staff under his feet and suddenly, he was flying. He whizzed around her, leaving her on her feet, gaping in amazement. She had never seen anything like that before, but she supposed that she should really be used to odd happenings by this point in her life.
He didn't have to say anything, she met his gaze, and he knew she hadn't ever doubted that he wasJack Frost.
"I have to say," Elsa mused, "I hadn't expected Jack Frost to be so young. I kind of presumed he would be some old man with a white beard." She giggled, looking at the young man who was hovering in front of her now. He certainly wasn't old, and he definitely didn't have a beard. He looked clean cut and fresh. As she inspected him, she saw the difference between him and the other young men she had met. Yes, she hadn't met many men before, since she never really stepped foot outside Arendelle, but the ones she had met were always stiff and cautious; so well groomed, it was off-putting. Jack was oh-so different. His smile was careless and crooked, his hair so ashen white, it might blend seamlessly with winter snow. Somehow, his eyes managed to be an extremely cool shade of blue, yet still hold a mischievous charm that only warmed Elsa to him. He was different in all the right ways, and his charisma made him out stage every man in Arendelle; no, to Elsa, he suddenly stood out among every duke and prince in every kingdom, far and wide.
She thought to herself, that if she ever had to take a husband to be King at her side, she should like it to be Jack, even though she had only met him a short time ago. It crashed upon her that she wouldn't ever have to pick a man to be by her side as Royals, because she was surely not one herself anymore; monsters weren't queens in the real world, only in fairy tales. She was just some ordinary girl in a pretty dress, standing opposite an ordinary boy who had captivated all her senses at once. In some ways, she thought it was nice. All royalty ever brought her was heartbreak and misery; tear soaked skirts and aching lungs. She was a perfect equal with a nice man, and she was free of all the bonds that had kept her inside the castle. She had created something magical, an ice castle, and there was a magic blooming, finally, in her heart too.
But there was one significant, devastating factor in her removal- or was it resignation- from the throne. Anna, she would be alone, more than ever, now. Elsa didn't trust Hans, the man Anna was newly besotted with, and she didn't trust Anna to come to her senses in time to stop him from weaselling his way into all the things she held dear. Yes, Arendelle didn't hold many good memories of Elsa's, but it was still her home, and she could fondly recall the time of open gats and a close-knit community in Arendelle. She could so vividly recall running along the cobble-stone streets with her little sister, hugging, squealing and giggling non-stop. She remembered her parents walking, hand in hand, smiling lovingly at their perfect little girls. They were the happiest times Elsa could remember, and she was scared she would forget if she stayed so far away.
"Elsa, are you okay?" Jack's voice was distant.
Elsa looked up at him, feeling strangely dizzy and anxious, "I have to go back." She told him, holding out her hands, almost to stabilise herself. Jack watched in hesitant confusion. "I have to go back to Arendelle. I can't leave Anna; she's too young to be on her own. She can't make decisions for the kingdom! She's immature and reckless and in love! I have to go back right now." she spun away from her magical castle, and took off towards the frozen lake, her feet stumbling in the snow.
"Elsa, wait- wait!" Jack called. He was getting desperate. Yes, he agreed: Anna, from what he had seen, was everything Elsa had said, she was every bit as immature as Elsa was mature, and as rooted to the ground as a butterfly. She couldn't be trusted with an entire kingdom at her age, but, equally, Jack couldn't let Elsa leave- he couldn't be alone again. The snow was a bitter place indeed when you were there alone, but here with Elsa, the magic and creativity and childlike amazement was back with dazzling force, and Jack knew all too well that as soon as she left, it would be a bleak wasteland again. He had to stop her, even if it was the selfish, ungentlemanly thing to do. "You really think the people will accept you?" it was cold, Jack was aware, but he was cold, and it was an excellent, wicked weapon to possess.
Elsa paused, "If they don't accept me, I'll lock the gates again and tell them to leave me alone. They can't stop me from being queen, or being there."
Jack flew so he was in front of the white haired girl. She was so perfect, engineered just for him. Her eyes were alive with a wild storm of nerves and terror. "Elsa, stop, the only reason you want to go back is to protect Anna, I know…" Jack could bitterly remember the need to save a sibling, but he wouldn't let precious Elsa end up the way he had; dead. "But you need to let it go. You belong here, in the cold with me, as the ice queen." He grasped her hand, stopping her in her place. Her eyes were fixed on his, and he knew what she wanted- for him to stop her, and he would. "Stay with me, Elsa. Be here with me, please." He was flailing for something to tell her. "You don't have to conseal your powers anymore. You can let them free here with me. Just let the storm rage on, because the cold doesn't bother either of us- I know that."
She swallowed; inhale, exhale, inhale, exhale. That went on for a few minutes, and when she opened her eyes again, they were calm, collected and grateful to him. She looked beyond Jack, at the Arendelle castle in the distance. She didn't want to go there. Turning back to Jack, she smiled, and spoke in what wasn't completely speech, more song, lyrical and beautiful; her voice melodic and smooth, soft and muted. "Let it go, let it go, and I'll rise like the break of dawn, " she paused for a breath, "Let it go, let it go, that perfect girl is gone, here I stand, in the light of day, let the storm rage on…"
She stepped closer to him, stroking a piece of his messy, white-silver hair, "The cold never bothered me anyway." her voice was just a whisper when she finished, and then she turned and walked back to the ice castle; it was her home now, and in that home, she had a companion- Jack Frost.