11: ALONE AND FREE

The record came to an end much too soon, the last ringing, soaring notes of the waltz resounding through the dome as the music fizzled out. Realizing it, the Snow Queen and the Spirit of Winter simultaneously looked down, staring at the crystalline floor of the private ballroom as they suddenly remembered where they were.

And who they were with.

Elsa felt him slowly move his hand off of her back, her long capelet sliding off of his arm to float softly down to the ground.

"So—um," Jack laughed nervously, "Should—should we start it over, or—?"

"Oh! I—!" Elsa pushed a hair behind her ear, blushing slightly as he started to back up, pulling her towards the phonograph. "Th-that would be lovely."

He grinned, letting go of her hand and turning away, quickly pacing towards the phonograph. Elsa followed, the capelet flowing freely over the slick floor of the icy ballroom.

"Could I ask you a question?" she blurted.

The Spirit of Winter paused, holding the record and turning back to her. "Sure," he shrugged. "What is it?"

She pulled her hands into her stomach, taking another few steps towards him as he leaned back against the icy table. Pulling in a deep breath, she hesitantly looked up into his eyes.

"The jail cell," Elsa stammered. "You broke out. Like, I didn't make it strong enough. You broke the bars."

"Once I was out of the handcuffs, I could back up and get enough momentum to do it," he said casually. "Why?"

She bit her lip.

"So, you could have escaped at any time," Elsa choked.

He raised his eyebrows.

Letting out a breathy laugh, he shook his head, glancing down to the record and tossing it gently in his hands. Then, a flirtatious hint of a smile twitching out of the side of his mouth, Jack Frost looked back up to her, peering through his eyelashes.

"Escape from you?" he chuckled, turning around. "Why on earth would I have wanted to do that?"

She froze, her mouth falling open with shock as he flipped the record over, dropping it back onto the phonograph. Before she could will her vocal cords to function and respond—

"Are we still doing a one-for-one trade?" he asked suddenly, spinning back around. "Because if we are, you owe me the answer to another question, now."

Elsa shrugged. "Ask away."

"Why didn't you know how to dance?"

The question caught her off-guard.

"Not everyone dances," she whispered.

"But you're royalty."

She looked down, nervously fidgeting with her fingers, her hands pulled into her stomach. After a few moments, Elsa sighed, sliding her right hand up onto her opposite elbow.

"Dancing like that requires—touching people," she admitted sadly, "And certain—turns—and things—basically, I couldn't wear gloves. I mean, my gloves. Thick ones."

A look of concern swept over his face. "So… your powers?"

"Right." Elsa swallowed hard, looking back up into his eyes. "Anna had lessons, but for me—well, it never really came up. My parents didn't have to explain, because I knew why I was never invited to join in. I couldn't be trusted to hold a tutor's hands. I mean—with mine."

She stared at the ground again, rolling her foot on the ice as the memories came back into her mind. The sweeping feeling of isolation washing over her, she heard Jack pull in a long breath.

"Just—just so you know," he said softly, "I don't know if my opinion counts for much, but—I think your hands are fantastic."

Elsa hesitantly looked up. Meeting his gaze again, she felt herself relax slightly, staring into the Spirit of Winter's face. He was watching her intently as she anxiously ran her fingers over the icy sleeve of her dress, his expression absolutely sincere, like he truly meant it, as the peaceful quiet fell over them again.

His eyes were so kind…

"Sooo," Jack blurted suddenly, making Elsa jump back into reality, "Um—if you've got another question for me, then—"

"—Yes!"

He raised his eyebrows.

"I—yes. Actually," Elsa stammered, "I do."

Grinning, Jack stuck his hands into his front pocket, taking a step up to her. "And?" he laughed softly.

Fighting the heat rushing to her face, Elsa drew herself up, putting aside her squealing inner fourteen-year-old's list of the few thousand Jack-Frost-related questions that she desperately wanted to ask.

"My question—um," Elsa tried again, "I—okay, since when does the Spirit of Winter know how to dance?"

"Oh."

She watched as he scoffed, looking down and running his thumb over the edge of his pocket. A grin on the edge of his mouth, he then looked back up to her, choosing his words carefully.

"I haven't just been pranking random guys for my whole existence, despite my—reputation," he said carefully, bringing a smile from Elsa, "I've been watching people. For—a while. I mean—so, it wasn't hard to see how dancing was done. And, I'm into pretty much any kind of fun, so, you know, why not?"

He shrugged, leaning back against the table.

"So, you've seen people dancing, and you wanted to try it out yourself?" Elsa asked.

He shrugged again, nodding. "It looked fun, sure."

"Why didn't you just join in?"

Jack Frost's mouth fell slightly open with shock.

After a few moments, he looked down.

"Uh…"

Letting out a nervous, breathy laugh, Jack shifted on his feet, turning around and picking up the record again. Shaking his head, he slid it back onto the phonograph, letting it clunk into place and moving the needle to the side.

"Let's just say that there were some—obstacles," he said carefully, "That would make my dancing with anyone sort of difficult."

He turned back to face her.

"But—for the record," Jack added. "It was fun."

He grinned again, pushing himself off from the table. Elsa smiled shyly, fidgeting with her fingers.

"I'm glad. I mean, I'm glad you thought so," she added quickly. "I thought it was fun, too."

"So," he ventured, "If it's my turn again—so, you couldn't dance, but you do know music?"

"I love music," Elsa laughed, snapping her head up again. "I mean, like—I can't play any instruments, I understand the basic structure and such, but I—well—um—"

Her voice trailed off, and she blushed, looking down. He took a tiny step towards her.

"You couldn't have a teacher for that, either?" he asked softly.

She shook her head. "I sort of—well, we tried, but—"

Elsa bit her lip.

"Okay," Jack chuckled. "What happened?"

She looked down, fidgeting with her fingers.

"You have to promise not to laugh," she breathed.

He took another step towards her, gazing into her face with concern. After a few moments, she pulled in a deep breath.

"ISortOfFrozeThePiano," Elsa choked.

He jolted.

"I—I d-didn't mean to!" she stammered as Jack clapped his hand over his mouth, his eyes bulging as he visibly struggled not to burst out laughing, "I just—it was my first lesson, and—well, my teacher said I had to take off my gloves to play, and I did, and then I touched the keys, and it froze, and then my fingers got stuck, and—"

"—You GOT STUCK to the PIANO!?"

"Well—more in the piano," she blurted, blushing furiously as he turned around, his back shaking with suppressed snorts as he leaned onto the table, "In-between the keys—it was a C chord, and they had to get one of the royal artisans to chisel me out, and th-then my father had to bribe everyone, and—and—!"

Elsa abruptly stopped talking, cringing in embarrassment. After a few moments, Jack shook his head, slowly turning around to her again and pulling his hand away from his face, looking to her in horrified delight.

"I would have paid to see that," he choked, smiling helplessly.

Elsa blushed harder.

Pulling in a deep breath, his face red from trying to suppress his laughter, Jack looked back to her.

"Man," he chuckled. "So, no more music lessons for the princess, huh?"

"No, I sing."

He raised his eyebrows.

"I—well, you can sing with gloves on, so it wasn't a big issue. I could have lessons that were gloves-friendly, like singing, and public speaking, and horseback riding—which has actually turned out to be surprisingly useful. And I—wait, why am I telling you this?" Elsa giggled breathlessly, "I'm probably boring you to death—this probably isn't interesting to you, and I'm sure that—"

"—Whoa, whoa, whoa. Hold on," he scoffed, "Uh—did you just say that you're not interesting?"

"Well—not any more than anyone else," she admitted, "I mean, I suppose that everyone's interesting, if you get to know them, now that I think about it, b-but given your company, I really shouldn't be going on and on about my childhood, and—"

"—Ma'am?" he chuckled softly. "You can see me."

Elsa fell quiet. Then, looking down, she nodded.

"And you have ice powers."

She nodded again.

"And, you're a—you're—um," he said carefully, his voice trailing off.

Elsa watched as he slowly looked down, his gaze lingering for a moment on the sparkling fabric of her bodice. Squeezing his eyes shut as he pressed his hands together, touching the tips of his fingers to the bridge of his nose, Jack Frost then let out a breathy bark of laughter, looking back into her eyes.

"You're a—girl," he enunciated.

Silence.

Elsa stared at him in confusion as he suddenly shook his head, stepping up to her and grasping her shoulders.

"You are very interesting to me," Jack breathed intensely.

Elsa stumbled back a step as he let go of her shoulders, a hint of a sheepish grin tugging at the edge of his mouth. Jack Frost then spun around, snatching one of the mugs of hot chocolate and holding it out to her.

"And that includes finding out about your past. But it occurs to me," he laughed nervously, "We should drink these. They're probably already cold."

"It's never particularly bothered me," she admitted, taking it. "But thank you."

"Want to sit down?"

A look of confusion swept over Elsa's face. "Sit down?" she asked quizzically, "Where? We didn't make any chairs."

Putting his mug back down onto the table and picking up the staff, not saying a word, Jack walked a few paces to the side, flipping it the shepherd's crook his wrist and letting the hook fall onto the ground. Sweeping out a large arc in the ice, he then scoffed, flinging his staff into the air.

Creeeeak!

The icy platform shot upwards, stopping a few feet above the ground as Jack Frost walked around behind it, dragging the staff along its edge and pulling a long, gleaming backrest up out of the ice.

"Didn't make any chairs, she says," he muttered dramatically, rolling his eyes and grinning up at her, "Don't have anywhere to sit, she says…"

"But we didn't have any place to sit, a minute ago!"

"Oh, because that's a problem." He swept the staff over the frame of the icy couch, a thick blanket of snow materializing out of the air behind it and settling onto the platform and backrest. "Picky, picky, picky…"

Elsa scoffed, her cheeks flushing as she readjusted her grip on the mug. "Not all of us can have a seat by floating in the air!"

He said nothing, shaking his head with another grin. Jack then turned and leaned the staff back up against the table, picking up his mug of hot chocolate and gesturing for her to sit down. She walked over to the new ice couch and did so, turning around and sitting in the snow as politely as she could as he casually leapt back into the powder with a crunch.

"Mr. Frost…"

"Mr. Frost again?!" he laughed, "Really?"

"Oh—I'm sorry," Elsa stammered, "I just—I don't know you all that well, so—"

"—We can fix that."

Her heart skipped a beat as he crossed his ankle over his knee, glancing to the place on the couch next to him. Peering back up at her through his eyelashes, he shrugged, sitting back into the snow.

"I think that you still need to give me that color comparison sample," he said casually.

"Color comparison?"

Elsa watched as Jack raised his eyebrows, twisting around and setting the mug down on the end table. Then, looking to her flirtatiously, he grinned, pushing up his right sleeve and holding out his forearm. Elsa felt blood rushing to her face in embarrassment.

The lipstick smear.

"I—I didn't really mean to do that," she protested weakly. "I thought I was—"

"—Dreaming?"

"Um—yeah."

He raised his eyebrows again, grinning mischievously as he pulled down his sleeve. "Well," he chuckled, "If that was you, thinking you were asleep… I would love to see what it'd be like when you're completely awake."

Elsa blushed, staring at the floor as he picked up the mug again, handing it her. She shakily took it.

"I—um," she choked, "I'd—actually really appreciate it if you stopped bringing it up."

"It embarrasses you?"

"I just—it wasn't proper. At all," Elsa admitted.

"Snowflake, you were loopy."

"Believe me. I know." She bit her lip. "I'm really sorry. I mean, if I'd realized tha—"

"—Hey, hey, hey. No apology necessary," he laughed, taking a drink from his mug.

After a pause, Elsa watched as Jack Frost slowly looked back up, grinning mischievously as he peered at her through his eyelashes.

"Ma'am," he added slyly.

Elsa blushed harder.

She looked down to her mug, struggling to swallow the sharp sting of embarrassment in her throat. "I—um," she laughed nervously, "I guess I—I guess I had just always sort of supposed that I'd be completely—awake. For my first kiss."

"If it's any consolation," he shrugged, "Rest assured—if you hadn't actually grabbed me, it wouldn't have happened."

She nodded. Pulling in her breath, Elsa opened her mouth to say something, and—

"Wait. I—hold on," Jack jumped. His eyes wide, he dropped his voice to a whisper. "That—that was your first kiss?"

Elsa said nothing, but nodded. A strange expression swept over his features, and Jack's eyes softened.

"It was mine, too."

They stared at each other in silence.

A cold wave of self-consciousness hitting her, Elsa quickly broke eye contact, hunching her shoulders and staring down into the mug of hot chocolate. After a few moments, she heard the Spirit of Winter start breathily laughing in disbelief, and snapped her head up.

"Wow," he exhaled, running his finger along the edge of the mug. "First dance, first kiss, first person I've ever met besides me with ice powers—!"

Elsa felt herself blushing slightly. He shook his head, laughing again.

"This," Jack breathed, "Has been a very big day."

"Starting in the middle of the night?"

"Hey!"

His mouth fell open, and Elsa giggled in spite of herself, shrugging and readjusting her grip on the mug. Jack shook his head, raising the mug.

"Well," he chuckled, "Whatever this is—I feel like we need to make a toast, or something."

"What should we toast, then?" Elsa asked.

"No idea. What do you think?"

She looked down into her mug, drumming her fingers on its side. Giving a nervous little shrug, she pulled in a deep breath, holding it up.

"Nice to meet you?" Elsa squeaked.

He burst out laughing, and Elsa looked down into her mug, feeling herself blushing. Shaking his head, he scooted an inch closer to her in the snow.

"Here's to…" his voice trailed off, and he closed his eyes. After a long pause, he pulled in a deep breath, opening them and gazing into her face again.

"Here's to… not being alone," he said softly.

He smiled hopefully, holding up his mug.

Staring at it—without raising her own—Elsa shifted uncomfortably again, glancing to the icy floor. "There's something to be said for being alone, though," she admitted, looking back to her mug and running her finger down its side. "It's—it's free, really. I mean, sometimes being alone and free is the best option you've got."

"Yeah. Well…"

He sighed, glancing downwards.

"That kind of freedom isn't necessarily all it's cracked up to be," Jack Frost said softly.

Looking slowly up through his hair, Elsa's breath caught as his piercingly blue gaze suddenly locked onto her own. As she stared into his face, incapable of pulling herself away from his eyes, Elsa suddenly realized that his usually playful expression had gone soft with sadness. Strangely familiar, his eyes were pained, somehow, like there was a relatable agony behind them that the Snow Queen couldn't quite place, and yet… perfectly understood.

A loneliness.

Elsa nodded.

She clinked her mug against his, and Jack let out his breath, a bitter hint of a smile tugging at the edge of his mouth as he sat back into the snow. After a moment of watching the light brown foam slowly turning on her cocoa's surface, Elsa raised the mug to her lips, hesitantly taking a drink.

She gasped.

"This—th-this is the best hot chocolate I've ever tasted!" she exclaimed, looking up to him with shock, "How—!"

His eyes suddenly lighting up again, Jack laughed, shrugging and wiping his arm across his mouth. "Oh, it's just the same old stuff," he chuckled, lifting his mug, "But, of course, it was made at the North Pole. Best hot cocoa in the world."

She nodded, raising the mug to take another drink. "Elves, right?"

"WRONG. Oh, so wrong," he snorted, "The yetis. Best cookies, best cocoa, and by far the best chocolate."

Elsa raised an eyebrow. "Oh, I think Arendelle could take you on in that category."

"Oh, really?"

"Oh. Really really," Elsa laughed. "In fact, there's this one specific type that I requested to be at my coronation... I thought they'd forgotten to bring it, but then I found out later that my sister Anna had—"

Elsa stopped abruptly, her eyes wide.

"ANNA!" she gasped, slamming her mug down onto the table and standing up.

Jack laughed. "Man," he chuckled, "What happened?"

"No, it's not th—I—oh, no!" Elsa cried, stumbling backwards, "Anna! My sister Anna! I was supposed to meet her right after the meeting! I completely forgot!"

Jack stood up, placing his own mug on the table and reaching for his staff. "Was it important?"

"YES, it was important!" Elsa snapped, spinning around to face him, "It's my SISTER! She'll be freaking out! She'll go into labor!"

"Alright," he sighed, "I can take you home. Come on."

Elsa's mind raced, words beginning to tumble out of her mouth before she could stop them as she followed him towards the balcony. "And if Anna goes into labor, and the baby dies, and there's suddenly no heir, and—"

"—Wait. Hold on," Jack chuckled, bending down as she put her arm around his neck, "Are you telling me you'd need to have a child?"

"I'm sorry. I'm just thinking out loud," Elsa stammered, her heart leaping into her throat as he scooped her up, "I just—I suppose I would, and then that would be even HARDER, for—wait, what's so funny?"

He didn't respond immediately, grinning. "Just let me know if you ever need help with that, m'kay?"

"Wait, what?"

Pushing back the icy door and stepping out onto the balcony, Jack Frost shook his head.

"Aw, nothin'."

With a gasp, Elsa clutched him harder as the Spirit of Winter suddenly leapt off of the balcony back towards Arendelle.