Merida couldn't wait to finish dinner and remove herself from the presence of her unhappy mother. Queen Elinor's anger had grown after their argument thanks to the triplets who had stolen food from the castle chef. So while Elinor lectured her sons as her husband sat and ate in silence, Merida slipped away from the dining hall just as nightfall came. With a lantern in hand, she mounted Angus and rode off to meet Jack.

The ride to their secret place wasn't long, only a fifteen minute ride by horse from the DunBroch castle and a five minute walk, Merida guessed, from Jack's house. She scanned about for any signs of fireflies, a habit she had acquired when she was a child. She adored chasing them and catching them, enjoying the glowing sight. But this was the season of ice and frost. The fireflies no longer resided in Scotland, but somewhere further south where the weather was kinder. She missed them.

As she approached the clearing, she slowed Angus to a walk. She glanced up at the black sky thick with dark clouds and watched as snow started to fall and dance to the cold ground. Merida dismounted Angus and patted his neck before walking forward, scanning her eyes for Jack.

That was when she spotted a yellow glow from behind a tree and watched as it sneaked around to reveal her friend.

"Evening, Merida." Jack said with a smile.

"Whut are we dooin' out 'ere so late, Jack?" Merida asked.

"No hello?" He smirked.

Merida rolled her eyes, smiled and playfully punched his arm. In reaction, though it didn't hurt, Jack rubbed where Merida had punched him, chuckling as he did. He could feel his cheeks heating and his stomach twisting with nerves. Maybe he should keep quiet, save his pride, and throw it all away. Watching her marry someone else wouldn't hurt too bad, would it? No, he would be fine.

"Jack Frost is back," he said as he gazed up to the falling snow.

Merida glanced up at the fluttering white specks and nodded in agreement. Jack glanced at her, smiling, hoping she'd look his way. She looked so calm as a light smile framed her porcelain skin, her sapphire eyes gleaming like frost. No, he couldn't let her go. And it was now or never. But what was he going to say? How could he tell her?

"Merida," he started.

She looked at him; her smile lightened his heart, filling him with wicked hope, and he grew nervous no matter how hard he tried to compose himself.

"I asked you here to talk."

"About whut?"

Jack scratched the back of his head, unsure of what to say. The one thing he was sure of, he was afraid to lose her.

"Merida, when will the suitors come?" Jack asked.

He watched her suppress a groan and roll her eyes, "Please Jack, Ah don't want te talk about it."

"But when?" He pressed.

"A few days." She said, irritated, "And the games will start the following day."

"What if I joined the games?" She frowned at him and before he could try to explain, Merida spoke.

"Jack, the games are fer the suitors of each of the clans. Ye can't join just because yoou want to. And whut do yoou want te join fer? Yoou 'ave no reason to."

Jack could feel his cheeks burning, "I... Don't want to lose you."

She furrowed her brows, and Jack could see she was becoming uncomfortable. He gulped in fear. But he had to tell her; he was in too deep.

"Merida, I don't want to see you married off to some other man." He said.

"I don't want te be married either." She said bitterly, crossing her arms.

Jack shut his eyes, turning his back to her with a sigh. He ran his fingers through his hair, fear overcoming him.

"Merida, I'm in love with you." He confessed, turning to face her. His eyes pierced through her and shook her to her core. He was pleading to her.

"Jack, yoou know Ah don't want to be married. Ah don't want to be in love. I-"

"You want your freedom, I know." Jack snapped, growing defensive as the hurt coursed through him.

Merida flinched at his tone. His words stung. "Don't be mad at me. It's not my fault Ah 'ave to get married. Ah don't want to!"

"It's not just that," Jack growled.

"Jack," she hesitated, "Ah don't love yoou." Is that what she truly felt?

He could feel the blood leave his body, as if the entire world went cold. Even as the snow fell on him, he felt as if he had never known warmth. He could feel her rip his heart out, throw it back, and let it plunge away like his feelings meant nothing to her.

Merida's frown twisted and strained. Guilt seeped from her eyes. "Jack, yoou're my friend. Don't try to change that. Please!"

He shook his head, rage and hurt flooding him, filling him to the brim, "You're afraid I'll take away your freedom!"

"Even if Ah did feel the same it wouldn't matter anyway!" Shot Merida.

Jack was left silent. Even if she did love him, they could never be together. That truth hurt him just the same, like a disease eating away the spirit. At this moment, he couldn't stand the sight of her, wanted nothing more than to be away, to be alone.

"Being in love doesn't mean giving up your freedom."

With that, Jack left colder than snow, unable to look back the girl that froze his spirit and spit out his heart. But no matter how much anger and hate he felt towards her, he couldn't deny his love. And that hurt him most.

He was relieved when he finally made it home. The house was silent with sleep, and Jack gave out a sigh. He walked by his mother's room, past his sister's and entered his. He slumped on his bed and did all he could to keep from thinking, to shut down and forget. But he couldn't sleep. For hours he lay in bed tossing and turning, hearing every little noise around him, the wind, crickets, an owl here and there.

His door opened.

"Jack?"

Rubbing his eyes, Jack rose up to rest on his elbow and saw his fear struck sister before him, "Mary?"

"Jack," she whimpered, "the Boogieman came after us. He got Mom, and he hurt you! He was going to get me but—and I—I was so scared Jackson!"

Jack pulled the frightened girl into his arms and held her close, "Hey, hey everything's fine. It was only a dream. I won't let the Boogieman hurt you. He's no match for your big brother anyway."

Mary smiled lightly at his joke and snuggled into his comfort and warmth, feeling safe and protected. She sniffed and wiped her eyes.

"Thank you." She mumbled, taking a couple seconds to composing herself, "So did you see Merida?"

Jack's heart stopped and the blood drained from his face. She was the last thing he wanted to talk about.

"Yes."

"Was it fun?"

"Yes." He lied, hoping this conversation would end.

Silence lasted a few moments, and Jack was grateful.

"Jack?" Mary spoke softly, "will you take me out of the pond tomorrow? I want to learn how to ice skate."

Jack smiled, not only at the thought of getting his mind off Merida, but at the joy tomorrow will bring by spending time with his baby sister. "I'll teach you how to skate tomorrow."

"Promise?" She asked innocently.

"Promise. Will you be okay now?"

Mary nodded and hopped out of his embrace. She left Jack's room for her own, and Jack didn't hear from her for the rest of the night.

Morning couldn't come quick enough for the Overland siblings. They had quickly finished all their chores their mother had told them to do, and quickly grabbed their skates.

"Jackson you watch over Mary!" Called their mother, "Make sure she doesn't get hurt."

Jack turned back as Mary excitedly pulled on his arm to keep walking, "don't worry Mom."

"Be safe!"

"We will!" Jack called back with a smile as he and Mary walked through the snow towards the pond.

The walk was longer than the one he took to see Merida, and Jack was feeling rather content with his little sister. The sky was clear blue and the sun was bright and Mary was beaming with happiness. Jack smiled and to Mary's surprise, he scooped her up as squeals and laughter rang through the air. Jack chuckled at her expense and lifted her up onto his shoulders.

"You could have warned me," Mary said between giggles.

"Where's the fun in that?" Jack said.

As he was walking, Jack leaned forward so that Mary faced the snow covered ground. He continued to lean until Mary felt as if she was going to fall.

"Jack don't!" Mary complained, afraid of falling.

Smirking, he cruelly leaned farther until Mary was crouched over his head, trying to grip anything, even his head, to keep from falling off his shoulders. Even though Jack was tightly holding her legs that were clutching around his neck and shoulders so she wouldn't fall, Mary still became frantic and tried to fight gravity.

"Jack!"

"Yes?" He straightened his up with ease and could feel Mary relax in relief.

She smacked the top of his head, "Don't do that!"

"Ow," Jack said with a chuckle.

"Not funny," Mary pouted.

He continued to smirk at his little trick and quickened his pace to the pond. They were almost there. As he followed the path, he noticed a long stick with a hook and picked it up. Finding a sudden interest in its strange shape, and Jack decides to keep it as a staff for the day.

"Excited Mary?" He asked, changing the subject.

"Yes. It'll be fun!"

When they got to the pond, they slipped on their skates, and Jack began skating around on the ice with the staff. He took Mary, who was nervous, by the hand and did his best to teach her how to skate. And when he felt she had the hang of it, he let her go, skating about with the staff until he got bored of it and tossed it away. And then his mind started to wander. And it wandered onto Merida. He mentally kicked himself for it, but in truth, he couldn't help himself. He couldn't rid their last conversation from his mind, and it haunted him, and he regretted it more than anything.

"Jack?" Mary snapped him out of thoughts.

He looked up to see his sister frozen in fear. And that was when he saw the ice breaking. His stomach dropped.

"It's okay, it's okay. Don't look down. Just look at me," Jack said, quickly removing his skates and walking as close as he could to her. He stopped when he felt the ice crack.

"Jack, I'm scared," Mary said, ice cracking under her.

"I know, I know." He took a step and the ice began to break. He cringed in fear, "But you're going to be all right. You're not gonna fall in."

He tried to think of anything to rid each other of their fears, to focus on anything other than the fact that either of them could fall in at any moment.

"Uh," his eyes lightened with a thought, "We're going to have a little fun instead."

"No we're not!"

"Come on Mary, would I trick you?" Jack asked innocently.

"Yes, you always play tricks!" Mary's voice broke out of fear, and Jack knew his time was running out.

"Well, n-not this time. I promise, you're… You're going to be fine," He said attempting to convince both Mary and himself. "You just have to believe in me."

Mary nodded, her eyes filled with fear.

"We're going to play hopscotch. Ready?" Jack took a step forward, the ice cracking beneath him, "One."

He then looked ahead if himself and saw his discarded staff a couple steps away. "Two," he began to lose his balance, struggling on one foot as he tried to catch himself. Mary couldn't surpass a chuckle as she watched him. He lunged forward beside the staff and the ice no long cracked, "three."

He looked up at Mary, the staff in his hand. "Now it's your turn."

Mary took a step, gasping as she did while Jack counted. When she was close enough, he was able to catch her in the crook of the staff and fling her across the ice. She gave out a low grunt when she hit and slide. As for Jack, he had accidentally landed in the very spot he was trying to get Mary out of. But she was safe and that's what mattered. They locked eyes for a moment, the two of them chuckling now that they had escaped death. Jack stood and took a step toward her and the world seemed to flash and sink. The ice broke away, and Mary called for him as he fell into the icy water below.

No matter how hard he tried, Jack could not move. The water was so cold that it felt like millions of burning needles stabbing him at once. The layers of heavy clothes he wore also kept him from surfacing, dragging him further and further into the icy water. But still he struggled to swim up as he continued to descend, and when the need for oxygen became too great, the instinct to breathe over took his mind. He sucked in the freezing water, filling and burning his lungs with it as he tried to cough it out with the little air he had left. He felt light headed, and his body ached. Death was so close. He thought his mother, the woman who had loved and cherished him to the moon and back. He thought of Mary, his dear sister who he'd gladly give up his life for. And, before darkness over took him, he thought of Merida.