it finds a way

The Princess of Arendelle sat on the windowsill; she stared at the moon above her. Brimmed with defiance, she designs a strategy so flawless. Nightmares were proverbial for their nightly visits to people plagued with troubles. But Elsa found the resolution to her problem.

It was obvious! How her mind missed the overt answer, she stayed aghast… Just don't fall asleep!

With cross legs, she sat still in front of her triangular window. Elsa propped her elbows on the white rim. If it was truly destined for her to spend her nights alone, she ought to start the development of bookshelves and add literature to accompany her.

She turned her head back, looking past her shoulder. The Princess took in the sight of her immense, vast, yet so barren of a chamber. To the left of her four-poster bed, a fireplace occupied the corner of her wall.

As if I will ever need that. Although Elsa indulged in playing pretend to feel the affection of the hot crackles of fire, she relished it better with her sister at her side. Toasting marshmallows, staying warm in winter and watching the flames spark.

The cold had never bothered her; she felt indifferent to snow and ice. But this is what it must feel like, she supposed. This was what Anna feels when the fire dies down on a cold, winter night, she thought.

It felt so cold in her room. Impossible, yes, but she could feel her insides glaciate. Her fingers were frozen, intertwined with each other. As she gaped at her room, this was what feeling cold felt like, she settled.

Elsa decided to examine the geometric pattern of her window. The glass was clear of prints of a seven-year-old with sticky, chocolate-covered fingers. She sighed, "this is boring."

Speaking of boredom, a brunette boy gnawed from the back of her mind. Elsa's forehead rested on the glass as guilt harrowed her lean frame. Jack Overland pestered the corners of her mind as much as she tuned it out. She was becoming more and more of a villain by the likes of the fairy tales she had read. Could it be that she was the Big Bad Wolf?

No, she shook her head. Elsa was merely guarding Anna against harm, taking care of her from a distance. The same with Jack; she was capable of hurting both of them. She had been avoiding them with utmost necessity. That's what good people do, she was good.

Elsa did miss Jack. She wagered that he would know what to do to cheer her up. Or to have fun. To dwell upon it was fruitless, she shouldn't let her thoughts wander under such subjects.

She let out yet another sigh.

"I wish I could talk to you."

The Princess thereupon swiveled her body toward the noise. Or the voice that seeped through her wooden door. The hair on her arm sat upright at the commotion.

"My day couldn't get worse. I mean it could be because I'm trying to talk to you. I mean- I- I didn't mean it like that! I pray to all the gods you're fast asleep because this is just…sad?"

Her mouth agape, Elsa jumped on her feet. If she didn't know any better, she would have thought that Jack could somehow read her mind. She stood still from her position, frightened at the thought that if he figured out she was awake, he would stop talking.

"I haven't been home in a while and I'm so bored of this castle. No offense to your parents, they possess such a wonderful home! Really, they do! Maybe for you and the Princess, some events occupy your time. But not for me, I have nothinggg-" he whined, lengthening the last syllable of his word.

Elsa scrunched her nose, tucking a fallen piece of hair from her braid. If only he knew that she had to bear the synonymous quandary he had fallen into. In retrospect, the castle did not house amusement for the children that visited it. Fallen from the paradigmatic revelry that the Arendellian castle once upheld, it's not necessarily a place of fun. Elsa would know.

"My mother made me stay in the quarters because apparently, I'm not a servant. Thus, I shouldn't be out with the servants. "

That is what I said, should have listened to me.

"UM- hello! If she brought me to stay to sleep in the servant's wing, that is clearly for servants, if I sleep there, am I not one?"

Good point, I suppose. But that's not how it works.

"Can I be frank with you, your highness?"

Aren't you always?

"What's the point of you listening to me if you don't actually respond?"

Wait, what? Are you reading my mind?

"I heard you jump. You are sooo boring."

"Excuse me?" Elsa inquired sharply, bobbing her head to the side.

She picked up chortling from the other side of the door. "Got ya!"

Elsa stuck her nose in the air, sighing. Jack was inconceivable in every way.

Their circumstance was almost farcical by nature. Elsa would unwind her enthusiasm, if not for the uneasiness she felt. The mere thought of Jack had actualized him outside of her door! Although, it wasn't actually her who had summoned him like a witch. Unless… no, she was not a—or was she? No, that would be impossible. Or would it be?

Suffice to say, Elsa had been awake for too long.

As if he read her mind, Jack added, "You should be asleep."

"Umm and so should you?" The Princess sauntered toward her door. Her feet stopped within a couple of steps, sitting down with her legs crossed.

"I just can't fall asleep." He murmured in a wooden voice. "Why are you awake?"

"Neither can I."

The tapping of what Elsa surmised was Jack's finger, lingered in the air. A pregnant pause stretched between the both of them, isolating them far greater than the wooden door before them.

Odd, she thought, Jack was not the type to be reticent. For the most part, he talked for the both of them. It nearly reminded her of her own relationship with Anna. Elsa was a listener and an observer, rarely speaking unprovoked.

Tap. Tap. Tap.

"Are you- are you angry with me?" Elsa worried, her shoulders slumping. Her eyes avoided peering at the door as if Jack would be able to see right through it.

"What- wait, no, why? I'm not, are you?" Jack queried. He must have shifted from his position, the way his voice became more coherent. The tapping had stopped as well. "You haven't talked to me since… forever."

"I'm sorry about that," she said in a taut voice, rubbing the heel of her palm. "But I'm glad you aren't."

"Are you going to leave again?"

A beat.

Would she? She wasn't allowed to entertain any kind of exchange, except for her parents and the royally appointed faculty. A Princess did not contravene regulations and etiquettes, she conformed.

However, in theory, Jack was a constituent of the faculty. If Elsa abided by this rationale, would she be more inclined to stay?

"No," she shook her head, blonde strands spilling from her braid. "Not right now."

The tapping began once again in rhythmic intervals.

Then it stopped again.

"Okay." Jack decided. "So, you're still not sleeping?"

"No."

"And your reason is…"

Elsa took a deep breath before answering, "I have been getting these… nightmares. I found that when I refrain myself from falling asleep, I don't get them."

"You get them too?" Her eyebrow quivered at the question. As if he could read his expression, he added, "I'm sorry, it's just that- you're a Princess."

"A royal cannot be exempt from nightmares." Elsa reasoned.

"I don't think that's how it works, your highness." Jack pondered.

"What would you do if you and I traded places?"

"I talk through my problems with my mother. As she does with me. My mother would help me calm down so I could go back to rest. But it doesn't matter, nightmares don't keep me up at night anymore."

"What were your nightmares like?"

"Monsters. The Boogeyman. My father. Yours?"

Elsa narrowed her eyes at the latter. Although, she supposed that she would astonish Jack with her nightmares about her own sister as well.

"I used to have nightmares about hurt-" she sighed, "but that has been ousted by nightmares that are just as awful."

"Okay… ousted… I'll pretend I know that and add it to many words I've yet to understand."

"Your vocabulary is really good," Elsa interjected. As much as Jack deplored his education and the tasks that accompanied it, it seemed as if he was doing exceptionally. He was
adept at literature, largely on mythologies.

"I learned fancy words from my mother. My favorite word right now is resplendent." Jack explained. She imagined a toothy grin plastered on his face as he mentioned his favorite word.

"I learned fancy words for my parents." Most of her anything was for the King and Queen anyway. Studying, learning, avoiding the citizens.

The King and Queen were well acquainted with wisdom, Elsa discerned their counseling for what it is, verity. She put her abounding trust in them because they possessed the knowledge concerning, well, everything. They were the King and Queen after all. The best form to reciprocate their guidance would be by diverting into a deferential figure. To metamorphose into a Princess that acquired the same ideas and creed as her parents had.

"But your nightmares?" Jack asked intently from the other side.

"Oh, right." The Princess muttered, realizing her mind had fluctuated elsewhere. "I'm always stuck in these different rooms, but one window is perched in all of them."

"Different windows?"

"No, it's the same," Elsa shook her head no. "I try to open the doors but they are locked. I've tried to go out this window, but it's impossible. It's sealed. And I'm alone. Sometimes I'd see some people outside the window, sometimes I don't. Sometimes I see this man just staring through the window. But they never say anything. They don't see me, I think. I try to listen to the walls but it's so quiet that it's deafening. There is nothing I can do."

Elsa had been deeply engrossed in her recounting. When hot tears welled out from her eyes, it became too fast for her to wipe. The sticky trail of her tears began to stream down her neck. Little white dust danced around her as it materialized into a more complex design. The snowflake orbited around the Princess.

"I'm scared." She whispered, wondering if Jack heard her. The Princess hoped he had not.

Elsa sat on the floor and tucked her knees. She had to control herself! She was once again making a mess out of her juvenile emotions. This was exactly what her parents would be opposed to, disappointed even!

If only she knew how to control her surroundings. But she didn't.

"Wait, are you crying?"

"I don't want to be alone. And sometimes it's too dark here and I don't know what to do. I don't want to be alone." Elsa mewled, shaking her head. The heat from her cheeks broadened all the way to her chest. "The nightmares won't stop. I can't control them. I can't control any of it."

"Don't cry! You don't have to be alone, I'm right here." Jack assured. His footsteps clicked with each step he took. "Let me help."

"You can't!" The snow stopped spinning.

"I can accompany you."

"I can't– I can't leave my room."

Silence permeated the air.

"If I go in there instead, you won't get in any trouble, right?"

"I shouldn't open the door; I'm not allowed."

"You aren't allowed to open this door. How about the other one in your room?"

Elsa's eyes widened, frantically looking at her walls. "There is no other door in my room."

"Hmm… it wouldn't be easy to see, my father told me."

"I don't understand. Is this a joke? Are you attempting to frighten me? I'll have you know-"

"No! I wouldn't try to distress you even more! Fine, I can be a little bit of a trickster, but I wouldn't scare you if we're not in the same room! Why would I scare you if I can't see your face? Where's the fun in that?"

"Jack!"

"I promise, I'm not playing this time."

"There are no other doors." Elsa pointed out.

Elsa would like to think that she was well versed in the knowledge of her own room. Even though she had only moved recently, surely her parents would mention information so crucial to her? Or had they and she had simply forgotten?

"There has to be! The castle houses hidden doors in plain sight. Some are on the wall and some are on the floor." Jack said as if reciting. "It's not supposed to stand out, it's supposed to conceal."

"Okay… how do you know this?"

"My father used to be a General, trust me on this."

"General Alexander? Your father is General Alexander?" Elsa squeaked.

Jack sighed. "The late General Alexander."

"Jackson, I'm so sorry, I didn't know your father passed."

"Huh? What? No, he was discharged by the royal- by your parents. The late-person doesn't mean losing your job?"

"No…"

"My mother needs to start reading to me again," Jack mumbled to himself. "You need to find something that sets the door apart, but not too far apart?"

"That doesn't help, at all," Elsa whined, her shoulder dropping.

"Well, it's either on the wall or the floor, I don't know what else I can tell you!" Jack huffed from the other side.

Elsa rolled her eyes as she embarked on humoring his plan. As vexed as she was, at least the tears stopped descending to her cheeks.

She started combing the crack of her walls with her delicate fingers.

"Are you doing it?"

"Shh!" Elsa hushed, continuing her counterproductive search of said door. She began at the corner nearest to her door and abruptly halted before she turned to another wall.

That's weird.

Elsa looked down at the floor that trembled within contact with her foot. Covered with a deep purple carpet with intricate design, the hollow mahogany quivered at the slightest tap.

She peeled the rug halfway off the floor, but the weight of it forestalled her from uncovering it all the way. The lush material slipped from her fingers and sagged itself on the floor.

With stubborn persistence, Elsa hoisted the rug with her two hands. Stripping the floor open step by step as she shuffled backward. Rapid, little steps imprinting on the soft textile, Elsa could only gasp when her left foot caught the other.

When she dusted herself after standing up, she was astonished to see the floor had been bare. Her efforts were not for naught then.

The floor looked like… well, wood. Nothing seemed conspicuous, at least for her untrained nine-year-old eyes.

Elsa settled on inspecting the floor and putting her foot on it once again. Once more, the wooden panel jerked at the contact.

"What is happening?"

"Jackson, please, stay still. I'm still looking." She half yelled across her room.

"This is taking so long!" He said, his sigh becoming muffled through the door.

Elsa crouched and palmed the wooden surface, her fingers stopping at the inconsistent breadth of the panels.

Not necessarily certain with what procedure to enact, she employed her thumbs to work. Elsa pulled the panel which resulted in the other adjoined panels being lifted off.

"Elsa, what's that noise?" Jack asked when the panels plopped next to her.

With the panels absent, a square ragged wood canvas with a metal circular handle came into sight.

Elsa's eyes widened when she pulled the handle up and opened the hatch. The staircase leading down to darkness became visible with the help of the moonlight.

"Uh… Jack?"

"Yes?"

"I think your father was right."

Even though her room door was closed, Elsa just knew that Jack put his fist in the air as he crowed, "I knew it!"

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this is a reminder that i don't have a beta reader!

ok, i know you're going to be like, eve what the fuck? where have you been? the answer is depression and college.

i know that this is shorter than usual, but the next chapter will be the same length as the others. chapter four will be posted in a couple days after this, as a gift after five months of no update.

a little spoiler for chap 4 (look away now!):

jack in the present word :o ! … and maybe elsa in the present world? we'll see ;) … jamie and jack are cursing! and everything is alright in the late spring universe… NOT.

-eve