I don't own Frozen or Rise of the Guardians!

Chapter 24

It was then Pitch felt it for the first time.

Was it fear? He shook his head; if it were fear, he would have been able to feed on it instead of it freezing him from where he stood. He clambered up to his feet and tried to crawl away from Jack, scrambling into the darkness. He looked back with panic gleaming in his yellow eyes and his heart pounding. An unsettling feeling twisted around his stomach and the air around him began to freeze and drop down on him with its weight.

"Jack, please," Pitch couldn't believe he was begging. "I-I didn't mean to...!"

"Didn't mean to? Didn't mean to," Jack roared and slammed his staff to the ground, summoning frozen stalagmites to knock Pitch back. "You didn't mean to what, Pitch? Be the sad, empty and, pathetic shade that you are? To be this... This attention whore?!"

Pitch shuddered at the coldness of Jack's voice as the blizzard outside got stronger. He knew now that it wasn't Elsa powering the storm. But it was Jack who menacingly stalked towards him with a blade forming at the tip of the shepherd's crook. While looking deep into Jack's vengeful eyes, he finally found what feeling had been swirling inside him.

Despair.

Pure, unadulterated despair.

"Don't give me that crap," Jack laughed scornfully and stomped on Pitch's shoulder repeatedly, ignoring the sickening cracks his stomping was making. "Don't make me want to grind you into little sand granules like you already are, Boogeyman."

/\/\/\/\/\

Elsa?

Anna roamed around in the dark, trying to warm her hands. She sauntered around only to find herself looking at nothing but darkness. Her hair stood on ends and chills ran down her spine. She shivered as her legs began to tremble, embracing herself to keep warm.

"Elsa," Anna weakly called out.

"Anna?"

The brunette looked up when she saw a bright light. She looked up and saw Elsa walking towards her. Anna's heart leapt out of her throat with her body jumping and suddenly warming itself. It was Elsa! She beamed and broke out into a sprint.

"Elsa," she cried out in delight.

Elsa suddenly turned around and bolted towards her. "Anna!"

The two sisters ran and embraced each other, holding each other tightly. Anna melted into her sister's embrace; ironically, even if her sister was the Ice Queen. Nonetheless, she didn't want to let go. It had been a long time since she had felt Elsa's embrace. Ever since the accident, they had drifted apart simply because Elsa had been afraid to hurt her again.

"Anna, I'm so sorry," Elsa broke down in tears. "I know I shouldn't have left you alone."

Anna shook her head. "Elsa, it's okay. I understand. You were afraid... A wise troll once told me..."

Elsa pulled away and blinked several times at Anna. "You met a troll?"

"Yeah, Kristoff was raised by them," the brunette princess laughed sheepishly, scratching the back of her head."I don't know! He called them "the love experts"."

Elsa giggled and smiled. "I see you had a lot of adventures."

"So did you," Anna grinned and leaned closer to Elsa, bouncing her eyebrows. "So... You and Jack?"

Elsa, upon the mention of Jack's name, looked away and blushed madly. "Ah, I uh... Well..."

"He is good looking and he's known us for like," Anna pondered before throwing her hands up in the air enthusiastically. "Forever! At least you didn't meet him just yesterday."

Elsa laughed and raised an eyebrow. "Are we talking about Hans?"

Anna nodded with a shrug. "Yeah, he was a jerk."

"Why? One moment you wanted to marry him and then now," Elsa stared in surprise at Anna; she never knew her sister to be that fickle. "Now you hate him. What happened?"

Anna hung her head and sighed. "He didn't really love me. He just used me to get to the throne. It was you he was more after because..."

"Because he wanted to be king. If he married me," Elsa pieced things together and explained it to her younger sister. "He would have been king a whole lot faster, expanding the territory of the Southern Isles by establishing an alliance in the North."

Anna stared at her sister, astonished. "Wow, how did you know that?"

"Had to cram that. It's not easy being queen."

Anna laughed and held her hands. "Oh Elsa, there's so much I want to tell you."

"Yeah," Elsa nodded before her expression became more serious.."Wait, we can do that later. Right now, the kingdom is under siege. We have to get into the fray. Jack may be my personal champion but what's a champion without his queen?"

Anna nodded with a determined expression that was endearing and held her sister's hands. "Yeah!"

/\/\/\/\/\

Pitch shuddered until a bright light began to shine from behind Jack. The light also caught the Guardian of Fun's attention as he turned around. The fused being of both Elsa and Anna began to glow as both figurines began to crack. Much to everyone's surprise and joy, Elsa emerged completely unscathed and Anna had returned to her bouncy and warm self.

"Elsa," Anna asked and looked at her hands with delight.

"Anna," Elsa exclaimed and jumped into Anna's arms.

Olaf gasped. "Ah! The act of true love! Elsa and Anna...!"

The two sisters gave each other a firm hug. Jack couldn't help but smile as he backed away from Pitch. The moment the guardian of fun saw Elsa, he began walking towards her before breaking into a sprint. How was it possible? She had turned into a black stone statue and her sister had turned into ice..

"Elsa," Jack called out.

Elsa turned to see Jack, smiling in relief. She felt her chest relax and her heart soared at the sight of him. Although she had missed the warmth of embracing her sister, she had missed Jack as well. He had done everything he could to make her happy. They fought back to back and even when she had pretended to abandon him, Jack stayed in Arendelle and watched over her.

"Jack," she beamed.

Now the smile he saw on Elsa's face was a smile he had not seen in long time. Anna let her go as Elsa bolted towards Jack. The two ice-wielders jumped into each other's arms as Kristoff and Bunnymund were watching. Kristoff chuckled and put his arm around Bunnymund who backed up.

"Aww, I know you need a hug," Kristoff teased.

Bunnymund scrunched up his nose before pushing Kristoff away. "Hey hey, I'm perfectly fine. Easy on the fur. I just brushed it!"

While the two were bickering, Jack gently cupped Elsa's face. He had never imagined that his trip to Arendelle would result to his being a guardian and champion of the queen. He sighed and gazed intently into her eyes. Elsa had become more than just his apprentice but had become his queen. As her personal champion, he had to answer to her every beck and call.

But not that he minded.

Elsa smiled and melted into his hands. Despite him being the Winter Guardian, she crooned and pressed his hands against her cheeks even further. She couldn't believe that someone who she believed was just an imaginary friend became her teacher, her companion and now, her personal champion. Her heart stilled into a slow, steady beat as her body relaxed into his arms.

"Jack," Elsa began.

However, Bunnymund suddenly began poking them both. "Hey before you two lovebirds start playing "hide the zucchini", I suggest we start looking for Pitch because he ain't there!"

Jack and Elsa looked around only to find the Guardian of Fear missing. Anna backed up when she saw shadows crawling on the walls. Kristoff staggered back with his hand on an ice pick as Bunnymund pulled out his boomerangs. The storms faded but the room darkened considerably.

"Ah, Love," Pitch scowled with a scornful growl. "Such a powerful emotion. It can overturn anything."

Jack narrowed his eyes and tightened his grip on his shepherd's staff. "C'mon Pitch, quit being a chicken. Come out and show me what you got! You had all the fear in the world yet you're too chicken to fight me head on!"

"Well Jack, you see," Pitch chuckled. "While you're just attacking without brains, I prefer a more hit and run approach you see."

Bunnymund scoffed. "Yeah, you're doing more running and less hitting, mate."

Pitch laughed. "Well, haste always made waste. You should know that by now, Bunny Rabbit."

The Easter Guardian bristled at the thought and gripped the boomerangs tightly. "Don't remind me, bub."

Elsa quickly stood in front of Anna. "Anna, stay close with Olaf. You're the only one who can't really fight at the moment. No offense."

Anna shrugged. "None taken but I know how to punch."

Elsa sighed before laughing a bit; that was the one thing she missed about her sister. "Alright but when you can't handle it. Don't hesitate to yell "help"."

Anna grinned and gave her a thumbs up. "Got it!"

Elsa nodded before standing near Jack, preparing her own ice blasts. "So, any way to make finding this guy easier?"

Jack shook his head sourly. "No, Pitch always liked hiding in the shadows."

"Well obviously, that's his element. You don't expect him to just jump out and wave 'hi, come and hit me', do you?"

Jack chuckled and shook his head. "Glad to see someone got a sense of humour."

"Well," she smiled and laughed sheepishly. "Having you as a companion made me remembered what having fun was like."

"I am the guardian of fun," Jack shrugged until the room suddenly became brighter. "Eh?"

Anna looked around, in admonishment. "Wow, he's gone...?"

Bunnymund looked around with his nose twitching. "Yeah no sign of him. I'm not hearing his footsteps."

"Maybe he ran away," Olaf offered cheerfully. "Who knows? He saw Jack go pew pew, kapow and, ka-whammo!"

Jack laughed but still could feel butterflies fluttering around in his stomach. Why would Pitch suddenly leave, Jack pondered and looked around. He looked whwre the black sand demon that he and Elsa destroyed together and then the black shards that Elsa had broken herself free of. He scowled darkly; how long did Pitch take to come up with the elaborate scheme? His thoughts were suddenly cut short when they heard the door open from behind. The wooden door creaked open and they found a perfectly unscathed Hans standing by the door. All of them gawked in surprise as he bowed.

"Hello, Queen Elsa. Princess Anna."

/\/\/\/\/\

Whoa where did Hans come from?! Find out in the next chapter! Please don't forget to review!