Dear readers, I'm so sorry for taking so long to upload in the last...3-4-5 weeks? But with finals coming up, exams and projects became my first priorities. But all of that is over for now, I hope that this chapter and the next one will make up for the lost time. I had special plans for chapter 27 and 28, so I couldn't bear to upload 27 without 28 being finish. (I promise you, chapter 28 is like 3 chapters encompassed all into one.) As always, please, ENJOY!

Chapter 27-Define Fun

Elsa was in her study room alone when night fell. This was the time in which Elsa was the most concerned for her people and the army. Now that she has a better understand of the power and strength of the Nightmares, she was worried about the possible night time attacks. If that happens, the Nightmares will be at their most strongest, and Pitch is free to invade peoples' dreams as they sleep; and with darkness on his side, he will have extra leeway to scare them while awake.

Elsa was walking back and forth from the door of her study, to the window that allowed her an overview of the castle's bridge and gates. She'd lost track at twenty-three, the number of times in which she had look through that window, hoping to see the young Guardians return from their trip from the safe camp. They said they would return as soon as night fell, but they were late—increasing her worry even more.

XxXxXx

Three hours have passed and there were still no signs of them. Tired from pacing, Elsa finally decided to seat herself down at her desk. She sank into her chair relaxing her body but not her mind, wondering if something have happen to them; it wouldn't be long before the commanders come inquiring her on what's taking the spirits so long to return.

There was a knocking on the door. Well speak of the devils, Elsa thought. She pushed herself off of her chair and made her way to open it.

When she did, she only found a maid servant with a tray of warm supper on a cart. "Pardon me Your Majesty; Princess Anna was afraid that you might forgo dinner for work, so she had me take some food to you, and wants me to make sure you eat it," the maid explains.

Elsa smiled at the thought of her sister's concern for her. The last Elsa had seen of Anna for the day, was when they were having a private meeting with Lukas, the Arendelle counselors, and with the two commanders. Eugene was busy once more acting as guide for Jack and the others, taking them to the citizens' safe camp. After the meeting was done, Elsa had a bulk of paper reports to go through, but Anna volunteered to go with Lukas instead, to help oversee camp settlement of the Southern soldiers. As it turns out, the morning attack led by Hans completely destroyed their base camp on the Southern East side of town. There's a lot of cleaning to do, and the men could use as much help as they can get. Elsa step towards the side to allow the maid entry. "Now that's very much like Anna."

"Indeed Your Majesty," replied the maid.

"Has Anna eaten yet?"

"She started not too long ago Your Majesty." The maid started setting the tray on the center of Elsa's desk before taking the silvers out. She quickly brew the tea, and mad to remove the lids covering the food.

"—It's alright just leave it be," said Elsa. "Come back in about an hour and I'll be done with the food by then." The maid stops in the middle of her work, and looks hesitantly between the food and her queen. Elsa smiles at her. "There's no need for you to watch me dine; I promise to eat, so don't worry about what Anna told you to do." The mid dip and excuses herself, although she stops half-way in closing the door. "I promise to eat it all, you can tell Anna that." The maid smiled, and shuts the door.

Elsa settles back into her seat, removing the lids covering her food and taking the tea pot to pour herself a cup. She then organized the unread reports onto one side of her desk, where she could still reach for a slip and read while she eats…There was another knocking at the door. Now who can that be? Elsa pushed her chair back and made for the door once more, but stops when the knocking came again. Realizing that the knockings were coming from the window, she turns started. Jack was there, not by the one overlooking the bridge, but the other one that overlooks the courtyard.

Elsa rushes over to open it. "Gooood Evening Snow Queen," greeted Jack. He tries to look over her shoulder after sniffing the air. "I'm not disturbing you am I? I smell food in there."

"You're late," she replied, with her arms crossed over her chest. "Where are the others?"

"Straight to the point I see. May I come in then? I don't want to be shot down by accident if you know what I mean."

"What's wrong with the door?"

"I saw One Two Punch near the hallway, looking ready to pounce on any of us once we try to report back to you."

"One, Two, Punch?"

Jack chuckled. "If you let me in, I'll tell you who they are." With no other choice, she opens the window wider to let him in. Once inside, he started floating around the room, and he whistled an impressed tune at the grand mass of her study. "There's a small round table there, a lounge chair there, a small library…" He stops to look at the portrait of Elsa's parents a bit longer than any of the other objects in the room. "And good taste in paintings. Not bad of a study."

"Well Jack?" Elsa prompts, after closing the window and was now leaning on one foot.

"Alright, it's an inside joke between me and the others. We decided to call Commander Atlas and Gorm One Two Punch! Because they look as if they want to punch us, and Merida—for understandable reasons, wants to punch them back."

Elsa busted a laugh but quickly covers her mouth; turning away as to not let Jack see her face, but she couldn't stop herself form hunching over near the wall, leaning against it for support. Once she recovers most of herself, she turns back to Jack. "Alright fine, a good enough excused for not using the door. But where are the others, and why did you come back so late?"

"Well for good news, we were a big hit with the citizens, especially Rapunzel—and Toothless if you can believe it. The little kids couldn't stop playing with him like a big cat."

Elsa nodded in understanding. "And how did they take to the dream sands?" Elsa had the Guardians take two of the dream sand trunks with them, and instructed them to distribute the sand to every family there if possible.

"They're a bit skeptical about the dream sands—being, the actual dream sand of the Sand Man. But the parents like the idea that their kids will be getting some good night sleep."

"That's good. Anything else?"

"…Yeah, other than because of Toothless playtime, the reason why we were late was mainly because of Rapunzel. She was setting up some charms, painting pictures on the nearby trees surrounding the safe camp. She told the people that so long as they stay behind the charms, then the Nightmares can't get them, and likewise, the Nightmares can't go beyond the charms. If they try, then they'll be destroyed."

"Do the charms really work?"

Jack shrugs. "It's another one of her new developing skills. The intended case was for her paintings to come alive and fight Nightmares if they near the camp, but otherwise, she hopes that her paintings can at least inspire the people to feel safer and not afraid. That way, the Nightmares can't find or get to them through fear. She also hopes that the paintings can intimidate the Nightmares to stay away at least.

"…Should she really be taking such a gamble? If the charms fail then the citizens may not be in favor of her—or any one of you anymore."

"Well some parts of it must be working; on our way back, we found some Nightmares scouting the forest—but no worries, no fight broke out. That was another reason why we were late coming back. We were watching them to see if they can sense where the safe camp was. One of them got close to where Rapunzel placed one of the charms; it acted hesitantly the closer it got, but otherwise it didn't go any further beyond the charm. But for safe measures, we took only that one out."

Elsa released a sigh of relief. "Then the charms work."

"Partly," Jack corrected.

"Partly," agreed Elsa.

"But any rate: Merida wanted to tail the scouting Nightmares, with any luck, she may find a portal that leads to Pitch's lair"

"That would be a tremendous break for us."

"You got that right. Hiccup is doing a bit of guard duty at the moment, flying around on Toothless. He also took charge of Rapunzel's spirit doll, giving Bellflower an alibi while Rapunzel is free to rest for the night. Blonde had really worn herself out for today…From now on it's really going to be tough for her, juggling her job around while maintaining two identities."

"Unfortunately, she's in a more restrictive position then the rest of us. And we can't give her a decent moment of rest."

"That can be said for yourself."

Elsa ducks her head a bit. The talk of tiring reminded her of her own growing fatigue. "Is there anything else to report Jack."

"Kristoff came back with us in order to see Anna, and Rapunzel told us about your idea of letting Kristoff into the know-how of her identity. We decided to wait for a few more days to see how he gets along with us, but otherwise, looks like we'll be telling him soon enough. And that's all I have to tell you for tonight."

"If that is all, then I suppose this is good night."

"Well, not quite Snow Queen."

Elsa stiffens a bit, wondering what else he has for her. He was floating near one of the corners of the ceiling, looking over the detailed carvings on the wooden panels before descending down to the front of her desk. "Is there something else you want to discuss Jack, something urgent?"

"Not really." He swings his staff over his neck, letting it to lie parallel with his shoulders, and allowing his arms to rest on the wood. "I'm just going to stay a little to perform my Pact."

Elsa raised an eyebrow. "…You want me have a little fun, now?" His head rolled to the right side and he smiled. "I'm sorry Jack but, I'm not in the mood to have fun. Perhaps you can go and perform your Pact with the soldiers, or the staffs of the castle."

"Performing my Pact isn't as easy as you think…Or at least not in every situation. Timing is involved and it's critical that I get it right; there's a time for fun and a time for…work. Right now, it's too soon for me to go reminding people how to have a little fun. I need to wait a bit longer. But for you, it's the perfect time."

"What do you mean?"

Before continuing, Jack hinted at her chair encouraging her to sit and be comfortable. After sitting down, she hinted the same to the chair next to him. He complied. Jack raises a hand and produced a snowflake. He didn't send it to her as she expected him too, or at least not yet. For the time being he was playing with it by twirling it around his hand and fingers. "You and Anna are our partners, and we are bind to you by the Pact; so long as the two of you don't break your promises to us, and we keep ours, then the Pact will only serve to strengthen us. Therefore, it's part of our job description to make sure that the two of you are alright, physically, and mentally. And right now, you seem to be distress."

"I am a bit tired, but that is all Jack."

Jack arched an eyebrow before melting the snowflake in his hand. He sat-up straight and slightly leans onto the right arm of the chair before speaking again, more gently this time. "I can see that, but I would've left sooner if I didn't feel like something was wrong. So what is the matter Snow Queen?"

"…What about Anna?—"

"I did felt her in distress as well, but it faded not too long ago. I'm gonna go out on a limb and guess Kristoff is with her now."

Elsa sank a little in her seat, looking away from Jack. "…Even if I am a little distress, I'm really in no mood for—a snowball fight."

Jack made a show of a sad looking face, but then switched it over to a small smile. He leans forward a bit and knocks on the wood of her desk before singing, "Do you want to build a snowmaaan?—" Elsa's face quickly turned hot. Faster then what the two could realize what was happening, Elsa had instantly made a snowball and threw it right into Jack's face, stopping him from continuing the song. Chuckling quietly, Jack wipes the leftover snow away from his face with his hand, revealing a crooked grin at the end. "Well Snow Queen, so much for no snowball fight…Turning a bit red there aren't we?"

Jack wasn't joking about the redness. Elsa's cheeks were as bright as liquid strawberries, and the blush looks like it was going to stretch over to her ears as well. "Sorry Jack, I didn't mean to…I-it's just that song. It was cute when Anna and I were small, but now…it's kind of embarrassing to hear…and it's something private between Anna and me."

"Plus it never works, add that to your list." That earned him a small smile. Next, Jack surprised her by grabbing his staff, standing up, and started making his way towards the window that he came from.

"Jack? Where are you going?" Elsa had pushed her chair back and was standing as well.

"Your mood changed. You're feeling a bit better now, right?" Elsa nodded. Jack then opens the window and hops onto the ledge. "Good, if you're feeling better, then my job with you is done for the night."

"Wait, I though you wanted to hear about what was stressing me."

His eyes soften, and his smile grew gentle. Balancing well on the ledge Jack opens the window a bit wider, and with his free hand, he waves it like he was encouraging someone from the outside to come in, but there was no one there that Elsa could see. She hears the soft whistle of the wind and then felt its cool touch upon her skin. Elsa couldn't help but close her eyes and breathed it in as much as she can through her nose. It felt refreshing as it quietly stimulates the base of her mind as it moves up. When she couldn't take in any more, she calmly breathed it out through her mouth. She opens her eyes again and looked over at Jack. Her small smile was a bit bigger this time. Still perched on the ledge, Jack turns his body in order to fully face her. "Define fun for me Snow Queen."

"Pardon?"

"Define fun for me in your definition."

"Eh—well, fun is something that you do, that you get enjoyment or amusement out of."

"Right, so it's not always going to be fun in a winter wonder land, nor can it be fun time anytime…Don't forget, I am the Guardian of Fun. Though I admit, my strength in—'fun magic,' does lies in the encompassing of winter. My center on the other hand, lies in me in doing these that are fun in general. Enjoyment and amusement comes in many forms: playing games, going on a walk, reading…or sometime just talking to someone." There was a short silence between them. After a minute, Jack waves for Elsa to come closer, and she did. The moon was in a waxing gibbous phase, but its light was still bright enough to illuminate Jack—clothing him in its beam, making him look like a fantasy portrait. "So Snow Queen, do you feel like telling me what's wrong?" She shook her head. "But you do feel better overall?" She nodded. "See, timing is involved. And for now, talking is just the right amount of fun you need." Jack floated off the ledge but still remains close. "I'll come back tomorrow night and we can talk again, around the same time and place will be good?"

"Through the same window I assume?"

Jack grins, and replied, "I'll surprise you." He started floating away but stops a few feet. "Oh, and I'm sorry about disturbing your dinner." Dinner! Elsa turns back to her desk and looks over at a small clock on the corner. There was about fithteen minutes left before the maid comes back. "Elsa," Jack calls. She turns and was met with a snowflake to the nose. "Good night Snow Queen," and then he took off towards town.