Broken and Beloved (6)
Searching For Elsa

Elsa went on and on until her arms ached and couldn't possibly take any more. The ice under her wheelchair softened into snow, bringing her to a gentle stop.

The ice path she made for herself had smoothed her way through the woods. She diverged from the paved roads, aiming on isolating herself from everything and everyone as much as she could. The great strain she had exerted on her body didn't hit her until now. The incoming wave of dizziness and exhaustion made Elsa hunch over in her chair, her chest heaving in the struggle to catch her breath. Eventually her pants subdued and she clutched her arms close to herself. Tears formed and fell from her eyes again. Tiny flakes of snow suspended in the night air, a reflection of the sorrow fresh and heavy in her wrenched heart.

She pressed both hands to her face, her body shaking as she sobbed. For the first time ever, Elsa had no idea what to do. She only knew and stuck to one thing in her life: 'Be the good girl you always have to be.' She always obeyed her parents, got good grades, did her best to be a good daughter and sister. Once she had gotten news of being accepted to her top choice school, Elsa thought she was all set. She would honor her deceased parents, succeed in life, and look after her little sister.

But it wasn't so simple. Bad things happen, however unexpected or unintentional they may be. Elsa bit her lower lip as she looked to the ice trail that dwindled in the distance behind her.

'Will I ever go back? I'll have to, at some point. What will happen to me, then? What will happen to Anna?'

She clenched her jaw and shook her head numbly. "No...I can't go back," she whispered to herself. "This is the best way out for both of us. I'm meant to be alone. I don't have to be in her way anymore."

Her parents had left behind the family's vast fortune in her hands. She could move out and let Anna have the house. She'll drop out of college, get a small house away from here, and take care of herself. Somehow. But the more she thought of it, the more absurd it seemed. Elsa was far too ambitious to leave behind everything she worked so hard for. Even if she did it to protect Anna, could she really find it in her heart to leave her little sister for good?

All she could do was let more tears fall, and let the sound of her crying drown out the confused despair of her thoughts.

"Elsa, I'm sorry...I'm so sorry..."

Anna was beside herself with guilt.

She felt awful for venting such hurtful words at her big sister. She wished she could take it all back, forget about it and have her sister return. But she wasn't so naive to believe that such a childish thing could be possible. She had hurt Elsa. Now her big sister was gone. It was up to her to get Elsa back.

Anna pulled out her phone, which had been set to silent when she and Hans had fun with their little get-together. Her screen opened to a cascading stream of notifications: nine missed calls and three voicemails from Elsa. She didn't need to open them to hear what they said. They all bore the same frantic and frustrated message: Where are you? Why aren't you picking up? Anna, I need you.

Her heart sunk. 'Elsa needed me, and I failed her. What kind of sister am I?'

In an ironic, almost cruel twist of events, Anna realized that now she would be the one desperately calling for her sister, only to run into the likelihood of getting no response. Elsa was probably too upset and angry, maybe even beyond the point of ever forgiving her little sister.

Anna blinked away the tears in her eyes and swallowed the lump in her throat. 'Elsa's all alone out there...she could seriously get hurt. She could be in great danger. I'll bring her home, even if she'll never love me again...'

"What are you going to do now?" Hans's soft inquiry snapped Anna out of her thoughts.

"What am I gonna do...? Find my sister, of course." She looked away from him uncomfortably. "I...I understand if you don't want to help me. It's not your problem."

"No, I'll help you find Elsa," Hans insisted. "I can't just sit back from this. Your sister could be in danger, and she needs us."

His valiant tone made Anna look to him with gratitude. "Thanks a lot, Hans. You're a great guy."

He tried to console her with a brief embrace, then pulled away and said, "Excuse me for a moment. I have to let my family know it's an emergency." He stepped back to make a call on his phone.

Anna took this as time to get prepared. She rushed into her messy room to dig out a scarf and a pair of gloves to wear. It was still autumn, but considering the nature of Elsa's powers, Anna wanted to be safe rather than sorry when dealing with an unexpected change in weather. When she stepped back into the living room, Hans had finished his call and Kristoff and Sven still waited by the kitchen.

Upon seeing the latter two, she mumbled, "Oh, right. I need to pay you."

Kristoff muttered his thanks as she handed him the cash. He wanted to get out of here while he still could. But as he cracked open the front door of Anna and Elsa's house, he peeked outside and quickly ducked back with wide eyes.

"Um, you guys might want to take a look at this..."

Anna, Hans, and Sven joined him at the door. They gawked. The driveway and the entire street, as far as any of them could see, was completely covered in ice. It covered lawns of grass and poles of streetlights too. They would've taken the scene for a charming winter wonderland, if it weren't for the grim situation and the "winter" that had come too early.

"I guess this gets rid of my theory," Anna said with a sigh. "There was ice trailing after Elsa as she left. I figured we could just follow her ice trail and find her that way. But it seems that it's not an option now."

"I'll say. The ice has spread everywhere." Hans exchanged a look of concern with Anna. "Do you think this will get big enough for the news?"

Dread mounted within her. "I hope not."

Kristoff tried to squeeze past the couple and headed for his iced over car parked in the driveway. A loud, braying grunt from Sven made him stop and groan.

"What can we possibly do, Sven? It's none of our business, and it's not our problem. I don't want to get dragged into something that has nothing to do with us. Besides, I have to get back. I don't want to get fired." But his younger brother would not relent. He stepped forward to tug at Kristoff's sleeve to keep him from leaving. Kristoff grimaced at the mixed disapproval and puppy-dog look in Sven's wide eyes. He looked to Anna, who remained at the door and stared down the ice-slicked street with overwhelming worry and sorrow. Seeing her so sad made his heart twinge with guilt despite himself. Then he heaved a big sigh.

"Sometimes I hate it when you're right," he muttered. Sven's face brightened at this. Kristoff turned around and trudged back to the porch. He directly faced Anna and declared, "We saw it all happen, so Sven and I might as well help. Count us in."

The gloom on Anna's face broke into a bright show of gratitude. "R-really? You're serious? Thank you so much! We need all the help we can get."

Kristoff sighed as he called his manager. "I'm gonna be in so much trouble..." Half a minute later of angry words exchanged over the phone, he rolled his eyes and hung up. "Look who just got the pink slip."

Anna was completely taken aback. "Y-you got fired? Only because you wanted to help us?" She looked away in shame. "It's all my fault...I'm so sorry."

He shrugged. "I didn't like my job, anyway. The pay sucks and my manager's an ass. I can always find another job. Anyways, back to the more important matter at hand: where could your sister have gone?"

Anna chewed on her bottom lip as she tried to think. "W-well, considering she's in a wheelchair, Elsa couldn't have gone far."

"I wouldn't bet on that. She seemed to be going pretty fast with ice under her wheels."

"Let's call 911 and start a police search," Hans suggested.

Anna shook her head. "I don't want this to blow up into something huge."

"We'll find Elsa faster that way."

"I don't want her getting into trouble for running away," Anna insisted. "I don't know all the details, but I know there are legal consequences for what she did. If we involve the police and let them handle this, it'd be huge damage to her psyche...she's already been physically and emotionally traumatized as it is. We'll find Elsa and bring her back ourselves." Her voice lowered to a sad whisper. "I just hope she can forgive me."

To her surprise, it wasn't Hans who replied, but Kristoff. "Sure she'll forgive you."

"You really think so?"

"You're sisters. Sure, siblings fight a lot. I would know that." At this, he playfully nudged Sven's arm. "Sometimes this big guy right here drives me crazy, and I explode. I lose it, I get angry, I say stuff I'd come to regret. But Sven always has the heart to forgive me, even if I feel like I don't deserve it. In the end, things always work out somehow. We forgive and forget, no matter how bad the problem is from the start. It's weird, but that's life. That's just how it works."

Hans looked away as Kristoff said this. Anna seemed almost impressed at the former pizza delivery man. "Wow, that's the most I've ever heard you speak. No offense."

"None taken."

Feeling a bit better, Anna looked between Hans and Kristoff. "So, what's our plan? Should we split up or stick together in our search?"

"I think we should stick together," Hans replied with firm assertion. "We should narrow our options and search only the most likely places where Elsa could be, rather than spread ourselves thin and risk losing communication with each other."

Kristoff didn't look particularly happy about this, but Anna nodded. "Sounds like a good plan."

Hans stroked his long chin thoughtfully. "Is there anywhere in the city she would flee to? A favorite store or coffee shop, perhaps?"

Anna frowned and shook her head. "I don't think so. She likes to be in places away from people, where she could be alone..."

"Like the park, or the woods?" Kristoff suggested.

"Come to think of it, that seems likely." Anna eyed them with resolution. "Okay, then. We'll start off with the nearest park."

Like a pianist lifting and pressing at the foot pedal, Jack's feet touched and left the ground in gentle bounds as he followed Elsa's trail through the woods. He frowned as he ventured further in, with only a soft blue glow from his staff lighting the way for him. The night air was still as it was dark. Not even an owl or bats could be heard. Jack focused only on the ice trail, intent on finding Elsa and hopefully figure out what was going on.

Finally a soft, muffled sound meters away made his ears prick. The sound of someone crying. At this hour and given the circumstances, it couldn't be anyone else but Elsa. Jack flew forward and ducked behind cover. He didn't want to startle her. Leaning carefully against obstructing tree branches, Jack peered down.

He had seen her physically hurt before. Seeing her emotionally hurt now made his heart ache all the same. She looked so miserable and alone, slumped in her chair and fallen tears wet on her lovely face. Running away with the wind against her had freed her hair from the tight braid. Jack wanted to know why she was so upset. More than anything, he wanted to shed away her pain. Obviously she was here to get away from everyone and everything, but no way in hell he'd turn his back on her now.

Done with simply watching and doing nothing, Jack quietly stepped into plain sight, illuminated by the pale blue glow emanating from both his staff and her ice.

"Elsa, are you okay? What's the matter?"

She dropped her hands from her face and gasped. "Jack? Wh-what are you doing here?"

"Well, I saw you down the road and-"

"You saw me? All of it?" A cold wave of panic flooded her. She drew both clenched hands to her chest. "You have to go. Leave me."

He shook his head, his eyes darkened from concern. "Elsa, I can't leave you alone like this."

Dread filled her as he stepped closer. "What are you doing? Stay away! I...I don't want to hurt you!"

"You won't."

"How do you know?" she cried. Ice bred from her emotional tumult burst from her body before she could stop herself.

He didn't have time to throw up his sketchbook or staff as a shield. The bolt of ice shot him straight through the chest. He staggered back, as if inflicted by a fatal wound. She gasped in horror and tears welled in her eyes. A strangled sob escaped her.

"Jack, no-!" 'I'm horrible...I'm a horrible person...what have I done?'

He looked down at his chest, where he could see the dark blue fabric of his hoodie once more. Her ice had faded, leaving him unharmed. He lifted his eyes back to her and tried to console her with a gentle smile. "Don't cry, Elsa. Everything's going to be okay."

To her utter astonishment, Jack returned her horrified gaze with eyes that bore no pain, disgust or fear.

He closed the distance between them with slow steps, knelt down, and took her pale, trembling hands into his. "It'll be okay, Elsa," he said again.

"H-how are you still...? I could have really hurt you!" She trembled before this young man she thought she knew. Her lips barely moved as her whisper almost lost itself in the wind. "Wh-what are you, Jack?"

He gave her a soft, disarming smile. "It's kind of crazy, but you've got to believe me. I am a Guardian."

"Oh, she is? Excellent. I will be there soon."

Pitch chuckled as he hung up. His class assignments completely forgotten, he spun in his chair to toss his phone onto the bed and let out a triumphant laugh. A cruel smirk etched its way up his cheeks. He would have to reward his cousin Hans generously for all of his hard work.

"Just ran away, now likely alone in the woods? That stupid invalid has doomed herself. There couldn't be a better time and place to steal her power for my own."

He sent his Nightmares dispersing throughout Philadelphia. When any one of them managed to find Elsa, he'd close in on her himself. Like a nimble predator closing in on its crippled, frightened, helpless prey.