Chapter 39-Under the Moon
Higher and higher the wind took them until they were as high as the clouds, moving farther away from the castle and the town. With each wisped of the wind Jack easily balanced himself along with Elsa in his arms riding the currents, smoothly adjusting his position against each brushed for a steady flight.
At first Elsa pressed herself as tightly as possible against Jack, but once she felt how fluid the wind was carrying them, she relaxed her muscle just enough to let the tension in her body go.
"They sky is pretty isn't?" Jack asked with a grin.
"It is," Elsa replied with a smile, turning to watch the clouds as they passed. "I never thought the sky could look so different once you're flying through it."
"Well the sky is not the only thing that looks different once you're up here. Don't just look forward—or even at the moon. Take a look down Snow Queen."
Hesitantly, Elsa looked down. What struck her was not how small things appeared, but how serene everything seemed to be: the trees and brooks, the low cliffs to the steep slopes, the hills and large rocks and protruding stones, they all fit perfectly together. Even bits of manmade structures like bridges, paths, and the Safe Camp as well when they were flying over it, all imply naturally, as if they too belong on earth.
"How do you like the view Snow Queen?" asked Jack.
"It's beautiful," Elsa said in a daze.
"Glad to hear it," he said quietly with sincerity. "Hold on tighter alright? I'm going fly just a bit faster." Once Jack felt Elsa's hold on him tightened, Jack bended his legs as though he was about leap. The wind behind them shifted, blowing slightly harder now. Jack kicked off of the current and zoom forward.
They flew beyond the woods and into the mountains, pass all that was green and entered the white snow covered surface. "Jack?" Elsa started. "Why are we heading in this direction?" Jack didn't answer though, but kept his eyes looking straight.
Elsa had her suspicion on where Jack may be taking her and it was confirmed when her ice palace came into view. When the palace was near enough, Jack slowed down and landed in front of the bottom steps of her ice stairway. Afterword, Jack put Elsa back on the ground.
"Why are we here Jack?" asked Elsa, looking up towards the palace.
"Well why else?" Jack replied in humor. "I always wanted to take a look inside this place. And now you can give me the grand tour."
Elsa wasn't buying all of it. Jack was hiding something again. "I find it hard to believe you have never visited this place by yourself before."
"If I recall correctly, you have quite the security here. And I somehow get the feeling that he'll be harder to deal with then the yetis up at North's Workshop."
"…But at this time of night Jack?"
"Yes," he said more seriously, "It can't wait."
Elsa was taken aback at Jack's response, making her wonder why he's so persistent. But then again, if there was anything she understands well by now about Jack, he doesn't do anything unless there was a purpose behind it. "…Alright then, just follow me." Elsa took the lead and led Jack up the stairs and opened the door with a simple push.
The door creaked open. From the inside the whole building was illuminated by the moon's light, in which impressed Jack greatly, to be able to see the whole place completely despite it being night. It made Jack wonder if the palace would still glow when there's no moon to illuminate the place. Jack was especially captivated by how elegantly spacious the first floor was, with no furnishing except for a large fountain standing in the center of the room. The fountain was made from ice with its water droplets frozen like glittering stings, draped down like a shawl of glittering mist. Arching over and around the fountain was a massive stairway, with one end on one side of the fountain, and the other end on the opposite side. Jack could see there were two other long stairways running symmetrically from each other, starting a bit further back, but is at the top and middle of the archway.
"Well Jack?" Elsa asked, as she closed the door behind him. "What do you think so far?"
His face was facing away from her, so she couldn't see the expression he was holding. Jack chuckled a bit softly after a moment. "This place is great Snow Queen. You will never cease to amaze me with your magic will you?"
Elsa smiled, and could feel her cheeks blushing. "I'm flattered to hear that from the spirit Jack Frost…But honestly, even after creating this palace, I still sometime surprise myself with what I can do with my magic," she said simply.
Jack turned himself around to face Elsa with a grin. "One of the best upsides to having magic don't you think? You'll never actually know the capability of your skills, and there could be endlessness possibility of what you can do."
"I sometime wonder about that," Elsa said while looking at her hands," but only for a few seconds before looking back up. "Now, if you think this is part of the palace is great, than you should come and see the second floor. Elsa started walking, but stopped on the seventh step after seeing Jack's hesitation to move. He was looking around curiously compared to seconds ago. "Jack, what's wrong?"
He glanced over at Elsa before turning to look over the room again. "Nothing," he said plainly. "Just wondering where Marshmallow is that's all."
Elsa giggled, and thought he may have heard the name from Anna or more likely Olaf. "He won't come as long as he senses that you are welcome by me. And if we don't see him inside, then most likely he's keeping guard somewhere outside. Come, follow me Jack." And Elsa continued up the staircase with Jack a few steps behind her.
They climbed and climbed the long flight of stairs, with Jack marveling at everything in every direction his eyes could encompass. Once they reached the very top floor, Elsa led him towards the two massive doors in the room and stopped for a moment. "This is my favorite place in the palace Jack, and I think you may find it even more beautiful than downstairs." And she gently pushed the doors open.
Jack followed Elsa out to the balcony, and before him, there was the snow covered mountains as far as the eyes could see. He could imagine just what the land would look like in the light of day, with the sun just right beyond the line of horizon, glittering the snow in its light. But right now, it was night, and Manny was out in full gown. The land was illumined in pair with the palace. Jack was surprised that he hadn't noticed it earlier while flying, but the stars, he didn't realize there was so many of them out tonight.
"Did you notice Elsa," he began, "that there are so many stars out tonight?"
Elsa smiled and leaned her weight on the rails. "I did…When I'm up here, so many stars are always visible, and they feel like they are all just there for me to see. When I'm up here, in the palace, in these mountains, and with the stars and the moon so full, I feel as if I'm in a whole new world. Fantasy like don't you think?"
Jack nodded his head. "I can see that. It isss a real good view of the world up here…" They stood out there in complete silence, with nothing to break it except for the light hiss of the wind. "You know something Snow Queen?" Jack said suddenly, "it's way too quiet," and he started back into the room. Confused, Elsa followed him without knowing where he was going. She didn't think he was leaving; otherwise he could've just take flight from the balcony.
Elsa watched as Jack positioned himself in the center of the room. There his staff started to glow and cracked with frost. Jack pointed his staff at one end of the room, and shot a thick blanket of snow and slowly moved his staff towards the other end of the room.
Elsa couldn't make out what it is and wanted to ask Jack what he was doing, for she could see something else was forming behind the thick blanket, but decided to wait for him to finish instead. When he did, Jack turned to face her with a grin, and cocked his head towards his creation. The blanket drizzled away revealing large clear ices of pipes varying in sizes, with long oval holes from the top of their heads with exits at the bottom. They reminded her of panpipes by the way how they are lined up almost horizontally, but there were some that was hanging from the ceiling instead on the walls, bythemselves.
"Remind me never to hire you as a decorator," Elsa said, examining the pipes against her ice walls.
"Ha! Funny Snow Queen," said Jack, as he swung his staff to rest over both his shoulders.
"But really Jack, what are these for?"
"You'll see," he said with a smirk, and went back towards the balcony's doors. At the entrance he leaned against one of the door and whistled sharply out. Elsa felt a strange sensation. Despite being able to hear the wind coming, and she could feel it, a tender sweep of air come whispering in against her skin, Elsa thought she could almost see it too. She thought she could just see the way how it bended and twisted itself in any form it wills, as it followed Jack's command and traveled up and around towards the pipes.
It started with a harmony of faded sounds, like flutes, produced by some of the medium thin size pipes, while some of the smaller ones with thick widths, breathed out stronger, but still lightly soft hums. And before Elsa knew it, she was listening to the enchanted music of the icy pipes.
XxXxXx
Elsa wasn't sure for long she stood, listening to the wind play the pipes, perhaps for two or three songs already. But the next one that had just begun, Elsa felt herself inching on her toes just to listen harder. "I know this song," she said with sweetness.
"You do?" Jack asked in surprised.
Elsa turned to her right to find Jack standing right beside her, making her curious as to when he had gotten there. "Back when I was little, and Anna was just still a mere baby, there was this old soldier who was assigned to guard us while our nanny took care of us in the leaves of our mother when she was busy. The soldier would sing to us this song whenever it came time for us to take our nap. The nanny complained about her voice sounding to horst to be lulling children to sleep, so she would insist the soldier to sing us to sleep instead..." Before she could stop herself, Elsa started to sing the song, doing the best she could to imitate the way how the old man soldier would sing it, with a soft, soothing warm voice.
Mid Pleasures, and palaces though I may roam, / Be it ever so humble, there's no place like home... / A charm from the sky, seems to hallow us there, / Which seek thro' the world, is ne'er met with elsewhere.
Home
/ Home! Sweet, sweet home! / There's no place like home. / There's no place like home…
To thee I'll return, overburdened with care,
/ The heart's dearest solace will smile on me there. / No more from that cottage again will I roam, / Be it ever so humble, there's no place like home. /
Home / Home! Sweet, sweet home! / There's no place like home. / There's no place like home.
Jack didn't clap when Elsa finished singing, nor did he said anything for a long while, which made her even more nervous for what she'd done. Elsa couldn't even build up the courage to look at him.
After a moment of just music playing, Jack finally spoke. "I want to rephrase what I said earlier," he said with all sincerity and seriousness, Jack even moved himself closer, forcing Elsa to look at him when there was just a hand spread of gap between them. "You really never cease to amaze me Snow Queen."
Elsa wanted to thank Jack for his compliment, but she couldn't hold his gaze on her, so Elsa ended up tilting her head way in embarrassment. Noting her state, Jack slightly took a step back and asked, "So what ever happen to that old man soldier? Is he still in the army now?"
Quickly recovering herself, Elsa turned once more to face Jack. "No. He retired sometime before I turned ten. His home was on the farthest end of Arendelle's land boarder, and I never heard from him since he left…I really missed listening to him singing that song."
"Well, I don't know if this will make that memory of yours even more special, but I'm happy that that soldier knew this song, and now both you know it too…This song is very old one—older then what you would imagined. It was composed during the time when I was still alive, by a shepherd with his panpipe. I'm not sure how it got around but it somehow ended being sung by many livestock herders, I was no exception. You could even say it became the honorary song of livestock herders: traveling far and facing many possible dangers just to keep our animals alive, and the greatest reward after all the hard work, is getting to go home…well, if they did have a home per-say. But anyway, it makes me happy that this song survived after so many years."
This information from Jack sparked a curiosity within Elsa. "Then, is there any other songs you like Jack?" she asked, "or is this only your favorite one?"
Elsa caught a small glint in Jack's eyes as his brows cringed in response to her question. Jack now looked somewhat uncomfortable. "None in particular," Jack said, as he turned to watch the pipes. "But now that you'd mentioned it, there is one that does come to mind, especially for now."
"Oh? Why is that?"
"…It was composed on Tooth's side of the world, so the style of music was different—but good."
"You're avoiding my question Jack," Elsa pressed, though he didn't like where her curiosity was taking her.
"For one thing, it wasn't composed by a human. It was written by a Being, he also shares that side of the Earth with Tooth and many others…The Being wrote the song in dedication to a human partner of his."
"You mean like in honor of their Pact?"
"Sort-of." Jack said flatly.
Elsa was sure now that there was something wrong, and was afraid to asked more about it. However inside, she knew that this—thing, this feeling, was just going to reappear again if she didn't confront it now. "Can you have the wind play the song on the pipes Jack?" Elsa asked cautiously. "I would like to hear it."
Jack nodded his head in resign, but still kept his gaze forward. "I thought you would," he said quietly, however Elsa didn't hear him.
Jack tapped his staff twice on the ground and almost instantly the pipes fell silent, even the whipping sounds of the wind suddenly went quiet: its movements could only be lightly felt. Jack then clapped his hands flat together, surprising Elsa. From it, he formed a perfectly rectangular slab of clear ice, as big as a regular sheet of paper with a centimeter of width, and he handed it to her. "Just keep your eyes on this ice," he plainly said without any other explanation.
Next as if Jack had found what he was looking for, he brought buck up one of his hands, and with two fingers, flexed them three times in the direction of the pipes. Elsa was confused by the gesture, but then she realized Jack was indicating for an air current to come. She could just thinly make out the wind as it slowly curved towards Jack. When close enough, Jack gently blew on it splitting the current in two, sending the first one that came round back towards the pipes, while the other one went in its own direction carrying bits of frosts and snowflakes.
The first current entered into a lone medium thick size pipe, and from it, it produced a long flute note. Not too high, or too low. The second one didn't enter any of the pipes. Instead, it brushed, shimmered, slammed, even rammed itself again the smaller pipes of either in similar thickness to the lone medium one, or thinner delicate ones. As a result, it produced pockets of quiet sounds similar to that of light tapings on hollow wood, but just on glass somehow. It even imitated sounds of chimes and harps, and others that Elsa couldn't identify. Elsa was bewilder by the ranges of sounds the pipes were producing, just by having the wind current hit them on the outside with particles of frost and snowflakes in it.
Bothe currents, along with their sounds, started gradually getting louder. They both originally started off at different time, but when it came near for the music to truly begin, the sounds fell into harmony, and the other pipes also joined in as well. The next sound that came after the harmony was quiet, catching Elsa by surprise. More so then anything else she had experience ever since the declaration of war…Jack sang.
…His voice was low and deeper then what she would imagined. It wasn't as low like say of a bass voice of a choir man, but a decent tenor. Jack was singing in a language that she didn't recognize, but that didn't matter; the way Jack was singing, was warm and filled with care, but it was also filled with melancholy, a yarn for something but what?"
Without turning to look at Elsa, Jack tapped the top corner of the ice in Elsa's hand. She had forgotten that the slab was there, distracted by the range of new sounds and Jack's sudden singing. So she snapped her head back to look, just in time to see the first lines of words of frost on the ice before they faded away and was replaced by new ones.
The most beautiful scene in my life / Was when I met you. / In the midst of a crowd, silently looking at you / Strange, yet also familiar.
Aaaah-ah-ah, Ah-ah-aaaah-ah-aaah, / Aaaah-aah-aaah-ah-aaah.
Despite breathing in air from the same sky
/ I am not able to embrace you / If time, identity and name were changed, / I hope I will still remember your eyes.
Where will you be in a thousand years' time?
/ What would the scenery look like around you?/ Our story does not count as beautiful / Yet it is unforgettable…
Elsa felt her heart tightening, as tears threaten to form in her eyes. She had a feeling—wasn't too sure, but deep down, Elsa knew what Jack was trying to say.
Aaaah-ah-ah, Ah-ah-aaaah-ah-aaah, / Aaaah-aah-aaah-ah-aaah…
Despite breathing in air from the same sky
/ I am not able to embrace you / If time, identity and name were changed / I hope I will still remember your eyes.
Where will you be in a thousand years' time?
/ What would the scenery look like around you? / Our story does not count as beautiful / Yet it is unforgettable.
If we had bravely remained together
/ Would there be a different ending today? / Would you also have lots of words to say to me / That were silently buried in your dreams.
Once the song came to a finish, no other song started. The pipe sung no more, and the wind just vanished. Elsa continued to look onto the slab of ice long after the last lines of words faded. When she finally lowered it, Jack waved his fingers turning it into bits of snow, and had them flow into the palm of his hand before dissolving them with a tight squeeze. Elsa could see droplets of water falling through his fingers.
After a moment of silent, she built the courage needed to face Jack, but he still refuses to look at her. "So what happened to the Being and his human partner?" Elsa asked honestly, though she could probably guess the answer.
Jack smiled sadly. "I don't feel like telling another long story tonight Snow Queen. You can imagine right?"
"Yes," Elsa said like softly. "But I'm not asking for a story Jack. Tell me the ending."
Jack finally turned to look at her, eye to eye, with his brows pressed down. "They try and it didn't work out. Too many things separated them, and they'd lost so much in the process as well."
"…Were they the only ones?" Elsa asked, but Jack was confused by the question. "Were they the only example of human and Being romance relationships?" Jack didn't answer, but gripped his staff tighter in one hand. "Were there absolutely no happiness in such relationships?" Jack turned his head away, now gritting hard on his teeth. "…Then there is hope, a chance—"
"A very slim chance," Jack said harshly. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath to calm himself before continuing, turning back his head to face Elsa properly. "Snow Queen, listen, once this war is over, my Pact along with the others to you and Anna, will be completed. And we will disappear from your vision for good…You will no longer be able to hear us, see us, or even touch us."
"…I know," Elsa said with strength, though it was still softly spoken. She then smiled sadly as well. "But I still can't help how I feel…can you understand that, Jack?" There was no response from him. Elsa started taking a few small steps back away from Jack, with her hands clutching in balls of fists. Meanwhile, around the room, snow began to fall. "I'm not asking you, I don't expect you to return my feelings back Jack, I never even wanted you to know about my feelings towards you…I just wanted to keep it quiet, keep things the way they were between us before this...Can that still be possible?" Elsa pleaded.
Jack's smile shifted from sadness to a grimace of pain, as he leans most of his weight onto his staff. His voice was quiet when he spoke. "Even though you'll be hurting inside?" he asked. "That won't do well for the Pact between us and the others."
"…Of course," Elsa said flatly, "It's for the sake of the Pact." The snow falling within the room was slowly turning into a storm. "Then what do you want me to do? Forget about my feelings? How?! Forget about our friendship—forget about you?! How can I do that during this war when I need you?! That would hurt me more than anything else!"
Faster then what Elsa have ever seen Jack move, he was gone completely for one second, to appear before her again with the gap she created minimalized. "No!" Jack stated in rage. However, Elsa surprised herself; she was neither disturbed or frighten by Jack's sudden anger. Elsa actually felt a little satisfaction for getting a strong reaction from Jack. Before speaking again, Jack pulled back on his tone. "No, I wouldn't want you to do that either."
"Then what?!" Elsa pleaded, the frosts under her feet starting to spread out like a web. "What do you want me to do?"
"I don't know!" Jack finally said, stabbing the bottom end of his staff onto the ground. The impact echoed in the room, producing a strong force of wind and frosts, icing the floor and freezing the storm in place as though time was standing still. "I honestly don't know…Snow Queen you have to understand, we are in a war—"
"Don't use that excuse with me Jack," Elsa said in anger, "—I understand that better then you apparently think! I am the Queen of Arendelle, I am responsible for the lives of my people: if they're happy, satisfy, safe or are in danger—I am responsible for them. And so far, many of the men are dying in this war and I can't do anything to end this war faster or stop them from dying! So don't use that excuse with me, I understand." Elsa stopped herself from continuing, keeping the rest of her anger in check.
"I'm sorry," Jack apologized. "I shouldn't have said that."
Elsa heard his apology and nodded her head as a sign. She then closed eyes to breath in deep breaths, before re-opening them to speak in a calmer voice. "…I also understand that the Pact we made to each other and what I made to the others, requires me to be in the best state of mind and body to give you all strengths to fight." Next, Elsa then surprised Jack by taking his hand into hers, and held it between them. "But don't you see Jack? The best state that my mind can be in right now, is knowing that we can still have our friendship despite everything. Wouldn't that be alright?"
"…For the duration of the war, sure. But it's about after when it's all over that I'm worry about." Jack said, in a much calmer and softer voice himself.
"What do you mean?" Elsa asked, looking Jack straight in the eyes.
Jack sighed and shook his head. "When the war ends and we vanish from sight, will your feelings for me still remain?" Jack squeezes Elsa's hand firmly, but not too hard that it would hurt her. "What will you do with them? Will you hold on to them? And for just how long? …Forever? If not then for how long will it take for you to forget them? A few months, a few years, never maybe? It's just there to drag you down?"
"It won't drag me down," Elsa stated. "Beside, why would it matter to you what I do with them?" she posed. "By then—if we win the war, how I feel shouldn't matter. Our Pact will be over."
"But it does matter," Jack said with importance, "because if you hold on to them, then it'll be unfair to you…If you hold onto them, then you'll be missing out on a lot of things Snow Queen." Jack loosened his grip, and softly started massaging the back of one of Elsa's hand with his thumb, in a slow circular motion.
Challenging Jack on his words, Elsa took a step forward, leaving about a few inches of space left between them. "I don't see how so," she said, as she lifted up their hands to be leveled with her gaze, slightly looking down.
"For one thing," started Jack, sadly, but he didn't continue on yet. Next, Jack did the last thing Elsa would have expected him to do during this night, especially after everything they had talked about. Jack closed the rest of the gap between them. Taking the step forward and smoothly pulling away his held hand, but also gently pulling Elsa along, and then wrapping both his arms around her, holding her in a firm hug. Elsa didn't know how to respond. Once more she could feel Jack's hair brushing her cheek, and his chin resting on her shoulder. But then he shifted his head slightly, and she could feel the tip of his nose grazing part of her neck. Elsa stiffened. "You'll be missing out on the warmth of a simple embrace like this. If somehow, someway, you are able to see me after the Pact, and be able to even touch me, all you will be feeling is the cold…isn't that so empty?"
Elsa brought up her arms and wrapped them around Jack, tighter than his hold on her. The time frozen storm around them broke, and the snowflakes began to fall, casually, like first new fallen snow of a winter season. "It will never be empty as long as I know I am holding you. And that it is really you whom I'm holding. Jack, I don't see or feel the cold when I'm holding you. Not because of my magic resistance against the cold, but my heart beats faster whenever my thoughts wonders to you. It warms me starting from my chest and spreads throughout. Jack, I'm not missing out on the warmth at all. I am filled with it because of my feelings towards you. Jack…I love you."