"It has felt like forever since I was happy," Elsa whispered to herself as she walked through the woods, deep in thought. "My sister got married to the guy of her dreams, she is now the queen of Arendelle, she has all the responsibilities she always wanted. I feel like I ended up as the leader of a group of people who can't stand me." And it was true. Even though the people of the Enchanted Forest liked her enough to make her their leader, over time, her ice and snow powers weren't as helpful to them as the powers of fire, earth, and water. Elsa tried to learn to control different elements over time, but her attempts only tended to end in destruction. She accidentally set fire to a building, ruined a large amount of food when trying to create water from her fingertips to boil something, and caused a small earthquake to form when trying to move a a boulder from the ground.
So, instead of taking her frustrations out on her people like she did the first time that she had a meltdown, she decided to take long walks at night to chill out. Usually, she would find a small clearing and use her powers of ice for good there to remind herself that there was a still a purpose to her powers, even if the people of the Enchanted Forest couldn't see it. She had even created herself a beautiful ice palace in the middle of the woods that she would stop at every once in a while. She felt something different in the air on this particular night, though. It could be that winter was just beginning to let the snow fall, but she felt a shift in the air that just didn't feel right to her. Like she wasn't in control of the snow slowly falling along her shoulders. She just had to resolve her gut feeling, but she didn't know how.
Slowly, an hour passed, and then almost two, when she heard laughing in the middle of the woods that she trekked nightly. Nobody ever came this far out after dark, so the laugh chilled her to the core. She knew without a doubt that she should be the only one in the woods this late. Slowly, she made her way to the source of the sound, ready to blast someone with a bolt of ice if they so much as tried to jump out at her or scare her. As she approached a clearing in the trees, she peered out to see a man playing in the snow. No, he wasn't just playing in the snow. He was creating the snow around him. Bolts of snow shot out of a wooden staff he carried. His hair was even whiter than hers, shining brightly under the moonlight. Elsa watched the man, intrigued by someone else who had powers similar to hers.
After watching him for several moments, she realized something else. The man, with some unknown force, could float up into the sky. After he came to the ground, his back to her, she decided to act, stepping out from the trees and creating a wall of ice around him. The man startled for a moment before acting, disintegrating the wall of ice and turning towards Elsa. "Who are you," Elsa said, locking her gaze with that of the unknown man. He couldn't have been past his early twenties from what Elsa could see, probably around her own age. The man swung his staff up before placing it across the tops of his shoulders, holding each end with one hand. "You can see me," he said. "I'm not going to ask again. Who are you," Elsa said, creating a block of snow and hurling it at the man. He moved one hand, and the block broke apart in midair. "Jack Frost. And who would you be, little spitfire," he asked, throwing a little cocky grin her way.
Elsa, a bit taken aback by the man's smug response, said, "I am Elsa, leader of the people of the Enchanted Forest, sister of Queen Anna of Arendelle." The man said, "Ah, so a princess then. Should've known. You look like someone with an icicle stuck up their behind with the way you carry yourself." Elsa felt her face heat at his words. She was seeing red at this point. First, this unknown man shows up on her lands, then treats her with utmost disrespect. "You wouldn't know the first thing about being royalty," she said. "I've been around a while and seen a lot. Usually, people can't see me. I wonder, do you believe in the old fairytales?" Elsa looked at him baffled and said, "Old fairytales? What nonsense are you going on about?" The man looked at her and said, "You know... Santa Claus, Easter Bunny, Tooth Fairy... Jack Frost nipping at your nose." Elsa said, "I've heard of the first three. But not the last one. And those three are all just children's stories." Jack finally looked at Elsa and said, "Never mind. I'll just leave then. I thought maybe we could discuss how we seem to have the same powers... but I have more important places to be." He seemed like he was about ready to take off when Elsa yelled, "Wait!" The man turned towards her with a grin on his face. "I knew I'd get you with that one," he said. Elsa looked at a tree branch above his head that was covered in snow. She turned her hand and let the snow fall on top his head, which wiped the grin off his face.
Elsa stood up straighter as Jack wiped the snow from his shoulders and said, "If you would like to follow me, I think it's time we talk." Elsa began to walk, hoping that the man, Jack, would follow. Finally, he started to follow her, keeping a few feet of distance between himself and the ice princess. "You can control snow. I've never met anyone else who could," Jack said. "I've never met anyone else either. And, I would just rather talk with you in the comfort of my own ice palace I built in the woods out here." "Ice palace," he asked. "Let's just say that all people need a getaway from time to time. I've been trying to control my temper since the time I created a blizzard that almost froze over the entire kingdom over." "How did you manage that," Jack asked. "Well, my emotions tend to control how my powers form. If I'm in a bad mood, the ice does not tend to melt until I'm feeling better." "I usually just create weather patterns, especially during the winter," Jack said, gesturing towards the sky. "Like the snow tonight, I created that." "That's why I felt like I couldn't control the storm," Elsa said. "You were the source of the magic I've been feeling all night. Is this like your job or something," she asked. "You could call it that," Jack said, shrugging his shoulders. "My job is to bring fun to the people of the world, especially those who can see me and believe in me. Snow usually brings out a feeling of exhilaration, especially because it usually doesn't last for long. People tend to play in it, make snow angels... well I'm sure you know." Elsa shook her head and said, "People tend to fear when I make snow, even to this day. After the first time, people don't trust that I won't eventually turn on them and use my powers for evil. They see snow as destructive." Elsa thought back to when she almost killed her sister in a bout of anger. She thought to herself, 'If it wasn't for my sister, what kind of monster would I have become?'
Jack was lost in thought for a moment, seeing the vulnerability on the woman's face as she continued walking through the snow. "I can see that you are just misunderstood," he said. "So was I... for a long time. I was supposed to be a guardian, someone to protect the world's magic. I didn't know exactly what my role was supposed to be though, so I almost ended up failing, giving up on the one thing that I was supposed to protect. But then I realized, if even one child believed in me, then everything would be alright." "So, you aren't human..." "I said I've been around a long time. It's been a little over a hundred years," Jack said. "And for a long time, no one could see me except the other spirits, the other guardians. Let's just say that North... I guess you would call him Santa Claus, and the Easter Bunny, they drive me nuts. So, I tend to stay separate and continue doing my own thing until I am needed." "They are real," she asked, looking back at the man behind her. "As real as I am," he said. "How do I know you are real and not just a figment of my imagination," she asked him, stopping for a moment. Jack closed the distance between them and said, "Well, I know I'm real. And you probably can see me because you needed hope. But, if you want to see if I'm real, well..." He then reached out and took her hand in his. Elsa looked bewildered as he held her hand, looking at where their fingers were joined. His skin was not warm. It actually felt cold like the ice and snow that she controlled, and it comforted her in a sense. "You're cold," she stated. "I'm out in the snow more often than not. So, I tend to feel as cold as the snow. But it doesn't bother me." "Come on," Elsa said, pulling Jack towards the ice palace that they were steadily approaching.
Jack looked up in wonder at the giant ice palace as they emerged from the tree line. He had never seen a structure made of solid ice quite like this one. It towered above him and the princess he was following, being composed of at least three stories. It looked to have multiple rooms as well. All of a sudden, Elsa began to glow before being engulfed in a dress that looked fit for an ice queen, shining like ice in a light blue color. A tiara appeared in her hair and shoes that looked to made of ice appeared on her feet. "Jack Frost, welcome to my palace," she said, raising her arms as the doors to the palace opened.