Omg sorry guys! Very busy and didn't have a lot of time. Apologies for the lateness and leaving you all hanging on such an important moment. I'll make up for the wait by answering ALL of the reviews! It will be a really long A/N but whatever.
Jack went bursting out the school doors. He didn't care that school was still in session, he just needed to get away.
He needed to think.
He stopped for a moment, leaning over and breathing heavily.
Kate was...is...
He couldn't even think it.
He was boiling mad. He had every right to be! She lied to him! She shouldn't have kept something like this from him.
But at the same time, he wasn't mad at all. He just felt even more broken because his best friend in the entire world hadn't trusted him enough to tell him who she really was.
He stood upright, running his hands through his tangled white hair.
Jack then reached into his pocket, pulling out his keys.
He ran all the way to his car, hopping in. As he started it, he grabbed at his tie, loosening it enough so that he could rip it off his neck. He unbuttoned the first two buttons of his shirt and pushed the sleeves up after taking off the blazer.
He blasted the warm air conditioning until his hair and clothes were mostly dry.
He drove and drove until he found himself at the park.
He walked with his one hand shoved in his pocket and his blazer slung across his shoulder.
Jack burst into the coffee shop to find Anna there with Kristoff.
"Jack, what are you doing here?" Anna jumped up, leaving Kristoff...who's arm had been around her.
"Uh, decided to skip. Aren't you supposed to be in school?" He raised his eyebrows at her. Sure, he skipped class but he didn't approve of Anna doing the same.
"Oh, silly, our school got out yesterday," she giggled. "Wait. Um, Jack, are you...wet?"
"I really don't want to talk about it. So, when did this happen?" Jack asked, eying her and Kristoff.
"Oh," Anna blushed. "Well, Hans...Hans asked me out but then a few days later, I found him cheating on me."
"Oh, I'm sorry. Were you upset?"
"Heck no," Kristoff chimed in. "Feisty pants over here went right up to him and decked him right in the face."
"But I was a sobbing mess when I reached the shop," Anna pointed out, before realizing what she had admitted and shut her mouth.
Jack laughed. Actually laughed. At a time like this.
He looked at Anna.
Should he tell her?
Even if he was upset, it wasn't exactly his place to tell her. He had to respect Kate...er, Elsa, he didn't know.
"Anyways, you were saying?" Jack said.
"Oh right. Well, we just sat and drank hot chocolate as I recalled what had happened. I just kinda realized that he had been right under my nose the whole time." Anna shrugged.
"Really?" Jack asked.
""Yeah. I mean, sometimes it's hard to admit that we couldn't see it the whole time when we do finally see it, but it's worth seeing if you give yourself the chance to look."
Jack and Kristoff blinked.
"And none of you followed me." Anna sighed. The two boys shook their heads. "Well, Kristoff and I kind of had a fight earlier and I didn't really want to talk to him and I thought he hated me because of what we were arguing about but he came and comforted me even after that happened."
Jack looked away, thinking about something (or, more to the point, someone) entirely different than Anna and Kristoff.
"People make bad choices when they're mad or scared or stressed, but love fixes everything, if you just give things a chance."
Jack thought really hard about what she just said.
He then realized that even though he had every right to be mad and angry and upset, it wouldn't change anything. He had wanted Elsa back. Now she was here. But if he didn't do something real soon, it wouldn't stay that way.
Jack stood up.
"I have to go," he announced.
Anna and Kristoff seemed too distracted to mind, but he didn't really care.
As he walked away, he smiled. Actually smiled. At a time like this.
Elsa had been here the whole time. He still had a chance to get her back.
He just hoped that it wasn't too late.
Kate slammed the door shut to her practice room.
She flung her wet bangs out of her face, catching her breath.
Why did it have to happen like this?
Jack would never forgive her. Not for this.
For the first time in her entire life, she wished the tears would come.
What was wrong with her?
She hadn't wanted to cry for her parents' death, yet the tears came anyways. She had kept them in her eyes. She hadn't wanted to cry for the loss of Anna, yet the tears came anyways. She had kept them in her eyes.
She wanted to cry for Jack, yet the tears didn't come. She would have let them fall.
How wrong was that? She felt incredibly guilty, but she couldn't help how she felt.
She dragged herself to the piano, her only solstice left. How could she ever face anyone ever again? Before she set her hands down, she took off her damp sweatshirt.
She started playing a very familiar tune, her wet hair clinging to her face.
Then, she began to sing her own lyrics.
The snow glows white on the mountain tonight
Not a footprint to be seen
A kingdom of isolation
And it looks like
I'm the queen
It looked like she was alone again. It was all her fault. If only she had been able to hold it in. But, strangely, she felt no regret now that Jack knew. Sure, she felt sad, frustrated, and confused, but no regret.
The wind is howling
Like the swirling storm inside
Couldn't keep it in
Heaven knows I tried
No one could argue with that. She had been able to hold it back for so long, even with Jack. But she guessed that secrets were never meant to be kept.
Don't let them in
Don't let them see
Be the good girl
You always have to be
Conceal, don't feel
Don't let them know
Her eyes glued down to her hands, with the brown dye still on them. Most of the dye had probably been washed out by now. Especially since she had freshly redyed her hair last night. The brown looked out of place. It didn't belong there. Not with her. At least, not anymore.
Well now they know
She gave her hands a hard stare, then looked back up, dismissing them entirely.
Let it go
Let it go
Can't hold it back anymore
Let it go
Let it go
Turn away and slam the door
As she was singing, she began to relax in a way she hadn't for over three years. Her posture was less stiff and more bent over, her voice soared happily, her movements more joyful and overall...free.
I don't care
What they're going to say
Let the storm rage on
The cold never bothered me anyway
She actually let a smile decorate her face. She was actually letting herself go, fully and completely.
Kate-or was it Elsa? She didn't know. For once, she didn't have to. For once, she didn't care.
It's funny how some distance
Makes everything seem small
And the fears that once controlled me
Can't get to me at all
Her smile grew wider. It was a little saddening that Jack would probably never even look at her, but her secret was out to him. Was she going to tell Anna? Whatever. She would just cross that bridge when she got there.
It's time to see what I can do
To test the limits and break through
No right, now wrong
No rules for me
I'm free
She needed to see what she could do without the restraints of the past. That had been the whole point with Kate, but she was so wrapped up in forgetting her past that she forgot who she was. It didn't matter anymore. Kate or Elsa, it didn't matter.
Let it go
Let it go
I am one with the wind and sky
Let it go
Let it go
You'll never see me cry
Here I stand
And here I'll stay
Let the storm rage on
She entered the fun part, finally allowing herself to actually have fun with it. It didn't worry her that she might mess up. It was only her and her alone. No one could tell her she was wrong when the only person in her world was herself.
My power flurries through the air and to the ground
My soul is spiraling in frozen fractals all around
And one thought crystallizes like an icy blast
She swiped the wet bangs out of her face once more. Her hair was mostly dry. And now her bun was killing her scalp.
I'm never going back
The past is in the past
As she held the note out, she reached up quickly and tugged out her bun, allowing her French braid to fall freely over her shoulder.
Let it go
Let it go
And I'll rise like the break of dawn
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 smiled again, finally feeling free.
The cold never bothered me anyway
Kate finished, standing up with a ridiculous smile plastered to her face. As she did, she realized who she was. The old her wasn't back, but she wasn't Kate anymore. She was just Elsa Katrian Summers-Hope. And that was who she would always be.
She didn't have anything to tie her down. She felt like no one would ever hold her back again, not even herself.
The feeling was short-lived, however.
"Let it go, huh?"
Elsa jumped, turning around, the smile vanished.
She found Jack leaning casually against the doorway, like this was just an ordinary day.
Elsa tucked an actual flyaway behind her ear.
"I guess I should have caught that." He chuckled nervously.
"Okay, Jack, please, just stop."
Jack actually looked surprised by her sudden and unexpected outburst.
"Look, I know you're angry, and you have every right to be. But just, let me talk. Then you can scream and yell and hit me, I won't stop you. Three years ago, yes, I lost my entire family. I blamed myself, Jack. I couldn't face Anna. I didn't want you there because you would convince me that it wasn't my fault, and bring me out of the dark. That doesn't seem bad, but the thing was, I didn't want to leave the dark. I liked it. I was terrified of what the light would bring and I shied away from it. You were the one person I still had left and I pushed you away. You relied on me and I left you. I'm sorry. You were the one person I trusted, the one person I still had left who I knew was there that I...loved. And yes, I...did..." Elsa cleared her throat, embarrassed. "Um, ahem, like you. More than a friend. More than a best friend. And when I came here, I convinced myself I didn't. I convinced myself up until a few days ago. But it doesn't matter. I want you to be happy. You live life to the fullest and don't let anything or anyone get in your way."
Jack stared at her blankly. There was a small smile on his lips. "Including you?"
Elsa winced, but nodded. "Especially me."
"I have a question." He said, shifting his position so that he wasn't leaning against the door frame anymore.
Elsa sighed, turning away.
Goodbye, Jack. I'll always love you.
"Yes?"
"Are you Kate or Elsa?"
She stiffened, but she didn't turn around.
She paused for a moment, wondering how to explain it.
"I guess... I'm not gonna say that I'm both because, honestly, that is just so cliché, and also because, well, I'm not. Kate was someone I hid behind. Elsa was someone I was ashamed of. But, when I wasn't ashamed of myself, I didn't need to hide. So, Jack, I guess to put things in matter, I am Elsa. I'm not back, though. Nothing can ever happen to bring me back."
He didn't say anything.
Elsa looked over at him, and his eyes were so dark, she couldn't read them. Elsa sighed, walking over to the wall furthest from him, biting her lip.
She couldn't stand the silence, so she finally asked, "What are you doing?"
He looked at her, almost amused.
"Why can't you just ask 'what are you doing here' like a normal person?"
She almost smiled. But it wasn't that simple. It never was. It never was going to be.
"Because I don't care about why you're here, to be honest. I want to know what you are doing, because it's killing me and I'm just waiting for you to yell at me, to scream in my face, for anything. So, I ask you, Jack Overland-Frost, what are you doing?" Even though it was a question, she didn't ask it like one.
Jack actually laughed. He looked away slowly, like he was going to leave.
Elsa bit her lip again, looking down at her feet.
But then, Jack muttered something that she just barely caught.
"What I should have done three years ago."
Her eyes snapped up then, meeting Jack's.
Blue on blue.
For the first time in three years.
Now, no one can really know what the future will bring. It's just too unpredictable to know anything about what was to come. But, in that moment, Elsa knew exactly what was going to happen.
Jack crossed the room in three long strides, gently grasping her face and leaning into her.
When her back touched the wall, his lips crashed down on hers.
The two best friends were finally reunited.
They hadn't gotten back what they had lost all those years ago. Elsa believed that that had been buried along with her parents. But they had found something different. Something much, much better.
Elsa had lost herself. That much was true. But she had only been lost.
And no matter how lost something- or one, in her case- may be, that something could always be found.
It just took one person to care enough about the thing that was lost.
It just took that one person to do a little searching.
OMG I am going to cry! Jk, I don't cry at things like this, but there are some serious emotion in this chapter. I hope you enjoyed it as much as I did!
Alright, brace yourselves for the extremely long A/N.
again-my-computer-won't-type-your-username-for-some-reason: um...I guess this answers your question(s). Haha, I love The Fray! I haven't really listened to those lyrics but I'll look it up. Well, this is kind of third person so it'd be hard to do Jasmine's POV and that's not what you meant, never mind. Um, I don't think so, but I'll consider it
TheDerpyMustache: yes, and she's all mad at you but oh well. Life goes on.
Livia Toric: thanks, also, thank you for reviewing this story for almost every chapter!
ElevenWhovian: darnit. I don't really have a plush bunny but...When do I get to be secretly a ninja the whole time and break out of the darn place? And lol, I don't take it as a threat, but my parents do occasionally look at my emails and the reviews are in those so thank you for adding that ;P Parents just don't have the same sense of humor as us... :3
Omega EX: lol ikr?!
ATA: this!
TheMashedUpSisters: well, Elsa now. I know it seems like she would become both but really, that's just too confusing. She was really Elsa the whole time. She just came to light. And thanks!
shobbs10: thank you so much ^-^
Snowman: yeah, well, that's just the way it goes. Elsa, in people's minds, is not that kind of person. She's just too kind. But that's kind of stupid unless they're going for a dark Elsa. Well they need to get over themselves. We don't make fun of their fandom (okay, well, maybe a little) so they shouldn't be all going out like that and that is just stupid and pointless. Haha, I am way too obsessed with Jelsa...Oh well, join me to the club, I guess. I feel like I needed to explain the 27 that for anyone to notice. And honestly, I don't care too much but I don't just pass it off as someone long ago who did something. Obviously he did something big and important enough to be recognized by someone(s) in the distant future so there's that. And eh, neither am I. It's not my forte but I'll pay attention. It's only interesting if the topic is interesting. I guess just listen and do the papers. Which, only works until it doesn't. Oh well. Yeah. I know, Jasmine is completely insane and needs a taste of her own medicine. Unfortunately, Elsa is not one to be physical. Or is that fortunately? I'm not one for much real life violence... But we all totally agree with you here. (Says the one writing this stuff in the first place)
x-pounce-x: thank you so much! And that is exactly what the point is. Why he's mad at her is because she didn't tell him and he found out another way
adrianazaba: haha thank you
Rose: haha you finally admitted it ;P Lol yeah and by the way, excuse me young lady what were you doing up at TWELVE IN THE MORNING?! Yes, I saw what time you reviewed... I may or may not have been up too but that is besides the point. Oh, happy birthday, by the way.
Z: thank you so much, and haha no, that is not me in real life. 1) I look nothing like ELsa in real life and 2) that girl has to be at least seventten (which is Elsa's age in this story) and I am only 14, so...
Falcon88: yes, I've established this. And well, excuse me! Not every state gets out at the same time! And Washington and Florida aren't exactly neighbors if you know what I mean so they COULD have different release dates. My cousins in the south get out before us but we're still in summer when they start school. Anyways, oh, that's cool, you're bilingual:) I always say I'm bilingual in crazuiness because I can understand and translate what my friends are saying when they are really hyper and ranting on about something. Haha, random fact... Anywho, HAHA SUCKER! I mean...ahem, sorry, you should just tell them that you're not depressed, you do indeed have a life, and you are just busy writing. My parents don't yell at me for being on Fanfic cuz how do you yell at a kid for reading and writing? Oh right. I like Plunge, that one I was like, 'oh, that's weird-ooooh now I get it' and now I sound like a rambling idiot so moving on now. Well, I guess that makes sense in a way. Oh okay. I have always been confused on that. I don't really watch The Little Mermaid everyday. Okay, and that title, I messed up on every word and had to go back and fix it. Stupid keyboard. Thanks, I try, and yeah I doubt that's gonna happen. Sorry, running out of space and time but that is a good idea, and I took it, just substitute Anna for Hiccup and minus the intention to get Jack to forgive Elsa.
Jewleia Rosha: haha thanks
CupcakeMonkey567: Pearlness4700; Alright every character of TSOKH, get back in the story! Okay, now that that's taken care of-
Grace; hello real-live person
Pearlness4700; WHAT THE HECK ARE YOU DOING HERE?! GET BACK TO YOUR OWN STORY!
Grace; but it's so boring, you never update
Pearlness4700; that's because I'm finishing this one- you know what? I am not going to argue with my own OC. Get back to The Shifters. Now.
Grace; fine... *grumbles*
EmmaWinterFrost: lol it's Bring Me To Life by Evanscene. And yes. I saw what you did there ;) And thank you!
Rose: and yet, 12 A.M. In. The. Morning.
Michelle-Lee: thanks, and you honestly explained it better than I could myself and I actually used some of that in this chapter (I hope you don't mind...) And yeah, there are so many Frozen references in here that I can't even count
Kat Biersack: we shall just have to wait and see...well, you will, I'll be busy writing it;P
IM DYING: first of all, interesting guest name (;P) and lol thanks. I normally update every day now that I'm on summer, this update was just really late cuz I had a busy day.
Alright, that's it, thank you so much! The story doesn't end here, so don't be afraid! Until next update!
Now I am going to sleep because I got new micro soft bedsheets and they are amazing. Good night/morning/wherever you readers are!