AUTHOR'S NOTE (original, from FIRST part of two chapters that have now been squashed into one): Thank you, SO much, again for reviewing! You really have no idea how much it means to me. To "Frost Fangirl": NO, I most certainly do NOT have the time to read long, thoughtful letters written by adorable people on the internet like you carefully detailing how wonderful I am. I would MUCH rather be spending that one minute putting my face through the monitor trying to figure out why my (GAURGH!) LaTex code isn't compiling for my (GUARGH!) senior thesis and muttering g-rated curse words under my breath. (Seriously, your review made my day. And the next. And the one after that.) To answer your question, I usually try to update about once a week, but sometimes, life happens. Example: a week and a half ago, my college laptop kicked the bucket, and I was without my fanfic files for a week. Thankfully, that morning, I'd had a VERY strong feeling (which I followed) that I needed to send myself the files for Ice Alliance. Hours later, my hard drive was totally destroyed. I would have lost about 40,000 words of Ice Alliance's future chapters! (Call it what you will, but in my religion, I'd proclaim that was the Holy Spirit, because the Lord knows this stupid little project is important to me. Message or email me, and I'll tell ya ALL about it.) ;) To "TaraTolmeny": You have NO idea how much that means to me! The satire chapter's styling was written in more of what I'd call my "normal" voice (read: I am NOT a romance novelist), and your comments have really been encouraging. ;) To "Polar Panda": You are adorable! Thanks so much for the reassurance about the pace… yeah, we'll be speeding up again soon enough. ;)

CONTENT WARNING: Jack, as usual, will be hitting on Elsa with the "Subtlety Dial" set to "Steamroller."

AUTHOR'S NOTE (original, from SECOND part of two chapters that have now been squashed into one): Thanks again to everyone that reviewed! You cannot KNOW how much it means to me. Even though some authors might get annoyed with the reviews that show up a week after the chapter was posted, basically pressuring the author to post faster, I love those too. It's a great reassurance/reminder that people are actually reading this, which I still can't believe. (Seriously, people! Thanks for being here and justifying my secret hobby; you ROCK!) ;)

Also, I was a bit surprised, which is why I grateful for the feedback: it appears that more people want longer chapters, even if they take long to post! (I would NOT have guessed that.) So, longer it is!

And, I'm still working on "Broken, Jagged Edges" and the List of References, which is apparently going to take, oh, I don't know, a few millennia. So, I'm just going to TELLING YOU AS WE GO some of my favorite ones, that I'm hoping people noticed. (DID YOU?!) First of all, remember Grandpabbi's weird little line in the beginning of Frozen, when he asks the king if Elsa was "born with the powers, or cursed?" That line should have a LOT more meaning, now (HINT: Chapter 31, "Some Are Cursed"). ;)

ALSO: There's this absolutely GORGEOUS little one-shot Jelsa piece called "The Unplanned Visitor" by an author with the username "BattyBigSister." I keep going back to it for inspiration, because it packs SUCH a punch in so few words... it will rip your heart out, but it's awesome. I'm giving it a shout-out because of the LEVEL to which it's inspired me to try to be better in my own work. Anyway, if you want to read a short bit of incredible stuff, go and look it up. ("BattyBigSister" probably has no clue who I am - no, she doesn't know I'm doing this shout-out - but yeah. Her writing is awesome, and I couldn't resist.) ;) THANKS FOR READING, and have a fantastic day!

CONTENT WARNING: Extreme, extended innuendo. Because Elsa (having spent her adolescence locked up hiding/studying in her room) is... clueless. (Seriously, innuendo-wise, this is AS FAR as I am willing to go!)

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45: LIKE A SNOWFLAKE

"Elsa, this really isn't necessary."

Elsa smiled in spite of herself, restraining from a laugh as she finished sealing off the thick wall of ice soundproofing her bedroom door. Her usual night guards (who she believed should remain blissfully unaware of the Fifth Guardian's presence) now stood at their posts outside the door. On the previous evening, she'd been so traumatized and exhausted from the King Edvin experience that she'd fallen asleep long before they'd come, so the soundproofing hadn't even crossed her mind.

The snow packed well around the door's cracks, the Snow Queen took a step back, brushing her hands together and eying her handiwork. For the third night in a row, she suddenly found herself realizing, she and Jack Frost were once again standing together in her bedroom, sealed in from the outside world by a thick layer of ice.

Alone.

Wait, what?

"It would've been different if the guest rooms weren't filled with suitors, and I could've just crashed in one," Jack protested weakly as they walked towards her art gallery, "But this is ridiculous. I can just pass out in a snow bank somewhere."

They went through the open door, and Elsa stomped her foot on the ground, sending swirling spirals of ice shooting across the carpet. Standing in the door frame dividing the rooms, she then raised her arms up into the air, pulling a bed-sized platform of ice out of the floor with a dull creaking.

"No guest of mine is going to be sleeping in a snowbank," Elsa retorted, walking around the platform and running her hand along its edge. A spiked, elegant headboard of ice sprung up from the end of the platform where she'd touched, and Elsa turned around and took a few steps backwards into her room, inspecting her handiwork. "I mean, come now. You're going to at least have a respectable bed."

Looking up, she saw Jack raise his eyebrows. After a few moments, he shrugged and glanced over her shoulder, gesturing to hers.

"Or, we could share that one," he offered.

Elsa jolted.

RUMBLE RUMBLE RUMBLE RUMBLE.

Lowering her hands, she calmly took a step back from the solid wall of ice that now divided her bedroom from the art gallery.

There was a muffled yelling from the other side of the ice.

Rolling her eyes, the Snow Queen stepped forward, raising her hand to the wall. After a few moments of concentration, the frozen particles began to gently lift away from it, layer by layer, floating through the air and into her palm until a small, square window appeared between them.

"What is it?"

Kneeling on the icy bedframe in the next room and peering through the window, Jack grinned. "I said," he chuckled, "That I liked it better when you just kicked me."

"The flirting…"

"Can I take down the wall?"

Elsa paused. After a few moments, with Jack pleadingly stared at her through his eyelashes through the window, she nodded, taking a step back.

Jack tossed his staff to the side, standing up on the platform and setting his feet, and from what Elsa could see, he was positioning his hands flat on the ice. With a triumphant bark of laughter, Jack Frost then suddenly flipped backwards off the platform, sweeping the ice off of the wall and pulling it into the air after him.

Elsa's breath caught, watching through the tiny window as her wall of ice grew thinner and thinner in front of her, spiraling trails of frost spinning and shooting down through the art gallery. As her wall continued to disintegrate, Jack calmly walked down the corridor, flicking his fingers towards the ribbons of frost and making the ice particles begin to dance and swirl into themselves.

Finally, dozens of floating clusters of snow floating all around him, Jack held up his right hand in the air, his middle finger against his thumb.

SNAP.

POP pop CRACK pop pop POW!

And the snow clusters around him in the gallery collapsed onto themselves and exploded, bursting apart like firecrackers in dozens of tiny explosions of shimmering frost.

Elsa's eyes bulged.

A playful little smile on his lips, the white-haired Spirit of Winter shrugged, casually sticking his hands into his pocket and spinning around to face her. Elsa, paralyzed with shock, stood frozen in the doorway, her mouth hanging open with disbelief.

That wall had been thick. And her ice was strong. Like—really strong. In fact, from all appearances, Elsa's ice was stronger than—no, than—well, stronger than one hundred men. And Jack had simply snapped his fingers, and—!

Whoa.

In her mind's eye, Elsa suddenly found herself in Anna and Kristoff's bedroom again, her brother-in-law staring solemnly into her eyes.

That guy is INSANELY powerful.

"You okay, Snowflake?"

Elsa jolted, her eyes snapping back into focus. Jack Frost was suddenly standing right in front of her, on the other side of the icy bedframe.

"I—um!" she stammered, stumbling a step backwards, "I just—sheets. I didn't ever give you, uh, any sheets. Or anything."

"Not a problem," Jack laughed, effortlessly leaping up onto the bedframe and twirling his staff over on his fingers.

SWISH. A burst of ice particles materialized beneath him as he swept the shepherd's crook across the bedframe, a fluffy mound of snow floating down and settling onto it as he pulled up his feet to effortlessly float in the air.

Elsa crossed her arms over her chest. "You still think I'm letting you sleep in a snowbank?" she scoffed. "I'm the Snow Queen. You are my guest. If my poor deceased mother ever—"

"—Oh, come off it," Jack chuckled, swooping forward and landing on the floor next to her. "You still have the bed part. I'm meeting you halfway."

She bit her lip. Laughing, Jack flipped backwards into the air, collapsing into the mound of snow with a crunch. He dramatically sighed, stretching out his arms and folding them behind his head with a grin.

"And besides," he added, turning to look at her, "Snow is infinitely more comfortable than some silly bedsheets."

"Even if they're made of ice?" she asked. "I always use a snow mattress up in the Forest, but I still make sheets."

"Why don't you come over here and see?"

Jack winked, glancing mischievously to the space beside him, and then looking back up into her eyes.

Elsa's heart leapt into her throat.

"I—I only made that bed for one person," she stammered. "That wouldn't leave you much room."

"We could squeeze." Jack raised a single eyebrow, readjusting himself in the snowbank. "Come on, Snowflake. Don't be shy."

He shot her a flirtatious grin, gently patting the snow beside him. She opened her mouth to say something, and then blushed, abruptly closing it again. Feeling the heat rushing to her face, Elsa then squeezed her eyes shut, pulling in a deep breath.

"If I—were—going to flirt back," she started carefully, "What—what would you expect me to say?"

Jack's eyes widened slightly at the statement. Then, shaking his head, he abruptly sat up in the snowbank, running his fingers through his hair.

"Well," he chuckled, "I guess I—I just figured there'd at least be some witty, and hopefully suggestive, banter or something."

"Like what? What would be an example?"

"Hmm… alrighty." He grinned, jumping off the bed and landing on the carpet again, walking towards her. "I'll go first. Come kiss me."

"No."

Jack let out a sharp laugh, shaking his head. He then looked back up into her eyes. "Okay, see, that's where the witty, teasing retort was supposed to go," he chuckled. "But it was a start. I guess."

"You think that's flirting?" she sputtered.

"I'm thinking that I'll take whatever I can get."

Elsa shook her head, and put a hand on her hip. "I'm just trying to figure out what on earth you're expecting me to say."

"Then, let's try that again. Come kiss me."

"You can't be serious."

"You can do better than that. Come kiss me."

"Why should I?"

"A little wittier. Come kiss me."

"Touch me, and I'll have you executed."

Jack jolted.

"Ooooookay," he choked. "A little wittier, and a little less…terrifying?"

"But you're being obnoxious!"

"Flirting is obnoxious by nature. That's how it's supposed to work."

Elsa blushed, pulling her hands into her stomach and staring at the floor in embarrassment. This was not happening.

This was not happening.

"I—!" Elsa choked suddenly.

Rubbing her opposite elbow with her hand, she abruptly cut herself off, turning away from him and walking towards her dresser. She couldn't do it. Nope. Not even—

"EEP!"

"Sorry," Jack apologized, having suddenly materialized in front of her, "I—you're upset."

She swallowed hard, taking a tiny step back. He was standing in front of her in her bedroom now, having leapt over the bed, and was staring intently into her face. After a few moments of her continued silence, she heard him let out a long sigh.

"How about this," Jack said softly. "Don't try. Alright? Forget about the stupid flirting thing, if it's scaring you."

Elsa bit her lip, looking down to her hands again. Jack leaned in a few inches closer to her, peering up into her face through his white hair, his eyes soft with concern.

"And I can see that it's scaring you," he added. "I hate it when you look scared."

Something was sparkling in Elsa's peripheral vision. She looked up, and realized that a tiny, glowing snowflake was slowly turning in the air above Jack's fingertips.

The Snow Queen swallowed hard. "Is that—?"

"—Yeah," he sighed. His eyes soft again, he shifted uncomfortably on his feet, letting out a tiny, nervous laugh. "You—um—can I?"

She nodded. Jack flicked his hand towards her, and the snowflake spun and floated through the air, landing on the bridge of her nose.

A beautiful wave of calm swept over her, and Elsa looked up, a nervous smile on the edge of her mouth. As the shimmering in front of her eyes glowed and then faded away, her gaze met Jack's.

He raised his eyebrows. "Better now?"

"I—um—yeah," she stammered. "Thanks."

He smiled, taking a tiny step forward and reaching for her hand. As he took it, Elsa felt a tiny rush of excitement sweep through her body, feeling Jack Frost interlacing his fingers with her own once again.

Jack Frost.

Jack. FROST.

"That—that fun magic thing of yours," Elsa suddenly blurted. "I—I have no idea what to call this feeling. It's just—it's really happy, and then it's calm, and—I don't know. But I sort of—love it."

Jack paused, slowly looking up into her face and raising his eyebrows. After a few moments, an excited little grin began to spread across his face.

"Uh… come again, ma'am?" he chuckled.

"Well, I—this feeling!" Elsa stammered, "When you—well, that thing you keep doing to me! I have no idea how to describe what you're making me feel, but I'm just—like, happy, and—like, really happy, through my whole body, and—wait, what's so funny?"

Jack was now buckled over with laughter, his hand clapped over his eyes. Leaning into his staff, and sinking down against it, he shook his head, looking to her. He opened his mouth to speak, and then—after a brief moment of hesitation—blushed furiously, bursting into hysterical laughter again.

Elsa felt her heart jump into her throat.

"Look," she stammered, "I know it probably sounds weird to you—"

"—Ooooh, there ain't nothin' weird ABOUT it!" Jack gasped, clapping his hand over his mouth and turning away, "I just wasn't expecting to hear THAT come out of your mouth so soon!"

A wave of confusion swept over Elsa's face.

"Hear what come out of my—"

"—N-Nothing!"

His ears were bright red as he stood turned away from her, his back shaking violently as he tried in vain to suppress his laughter. Turning around to face her again, he slowly pulled his hand down from his eyes, looking to Elsa in horrified delight.

"Ooooooh," Jack groaned, shaking his head and grinning from ear to ear as he kneaded his eyebrows, "I have always wanted to know what it'd be like to have a woman say that to me."

"Jack, I don't understa—"

"—Don't worry about it."

"But your fun magic!" she exclaimed, "It—your magic feels really good, okay? I'm trying to thank you! I'm just happy, and then everything feels wonderful, and then—"

Jack was now laughing so hard he was crying.

"Jack—"

"Okay," he interrupted, "Seriously, stop."

"But—"

"—For your sake. Stop," Jack laughed, putting his hand over her mouth. "I am enjoying this way too much."

The Snow Queen fell quiet, staring at the ground and fidgeting with her fingers as he pulled his hand off. Blushing furiously, her mind raced as she tried to figure out what was so funny.

Was it something she'd said?

After a few more moments of silence, she felt the embarrassed sadness sweep over her again. Pulling in a deep breath, Elsa looked hesitantly up into his eyes.

"I—I'm sorry," she choked. "The whole—flirting—thing—I've never tried before. And—"

"—Oh my word," Jack scoffed, "Are you trying to apologize?"

"But you—"

"—Snowflake, don't worry about me," he retorted, "I'm not going to die. You aren't obligated to flirt back. I'm just—hoping that you will. Eventually."

He shot her a sheepish grin, leaning into his staff. Elsa slowly moved her hands down, looking into his eyes.

"So…" she said quietly, "What should I do in the meantime?"

"Just be yourself. Don't worry about it." Jack shrugged. "And, besides. I like who you are when you're just being yourself, anyway."

She glanced back down, giving a tiny nod. Fidgeting with her fingers, Elsa then gestured towards the door of the art gallery and the icy bed on the other side of it.

"So," she started quietly, "Um—the wall?"

The Spirit of Winter chuckled. "Right," he sighed. "We should probably stand on the same side of it if we're going to be talking about the structure, though."

"Probably for the best."

"On three?"

Elsa smiled weakly, stepping forward. Jack joined her, planting his feet solidly on the ice-covered carpet.

"Alrighty… one… two…!"

With a long, dull rumbling, they simultaneously raised their arms into the air, pulling a thick wall of ice out of the ground in the doorway. It grew taller and taller in front of them, until it finally hit the top of the frame, sealing itself to the edges with a creaking thud.

Jack Frost and Elsa lowered their hands, looking to each other in wonder.

After a few moments of silence, Elsa jolted slightly, snapping back into focus.

"I—um," she blurted, "Can I—can I put in a window?"

Jack raised his eyebrows. "A window?"

"So—um," Elsa admitted sheepishly, "If I wake up in the middle of the night, I want to be able to see you. You know—to make sure you're still here?"

"I could also just promise you that I won't leave." He smiled. "Because—um—I have no intention of leaving. But, if it makes you feel better, then, why not?"

Elsa blushed, smiling weakly again herself, and took a step back. Her arms outstretched, she pulled in a deep breath, concentrating on a tiny, square area.

Shimmering ice particles began to loosen from the wall, obediently floating away from its surface and swirling through the air towards her. Her eyes closed, the Fifth Spirit then let out a happy sigh, gathering the frosty mist into an enormous snowflake above her head. Pulling her hands apart, the snowflake burst, glittering dust falling around her and silently disintegrating into the air before reaching the ground.

Jack tossed his staff into his other hand, walking up to her again. Shaking his head, he looked up, raising his eyebrows and letting the staff fall onto his shoulder.

"Not bad," he whispered.

Elsa smiled shyly, feeling her heart flutter as he stepped up next to her, the air going slightly colder by her arm. Then, just as she was about to open her mouth to say something, Jack reached forward, placing his hand on the small of her back.

Elsa jolted, spinning around and sucking in her breath. Jack abruptly pulled his hand back, letting out a nervous laugh.

"Sooooo," he said quickly, "Why—why did you build the window like that?"

Elsa looked back to the wall of ice dividing the rooms, and the window she'd melted out of it. It was angled down towards the floor in the direction of the art gallery, and up towards the ceiling in the direction of the bedroom, through the thick ice in front of them.

"Well," she shrugged, "It's—um, it's so that I can see you, but you can't see me."

"How is that fair?"

Elsa blushed.

Taking a step back, she gestured to the window. Jack walked up to it, placing his hand on its sill and closing his eyes.

In a rippling sheet, the ice leapt off of the bottom angled portion of the window, flying into the air and wrapping in upon itself, just like it had earlier that day in the library. And a second later—

CRACK!

And the window was a square block cut from the ice, unangled, as the sheet of frost disintegrated into the air.

"So now, we can both watch each other sleep, if we so desire," Jack laughed. "The question is, is that endearing or creepy?"

"It is definitely creepy."

"Yeah, but—in an endearing way."

The Snow Queen giggled in spite of herself, rolling her eyes. "Alrighty, Mister Endearing," she whispered. "Fair's fair, and you have your creepy spying window. But you have to promise to leave the rest of that wall of ice in place for the night. You know, if you're going to be staying in my room."

"Technically, I'm in the next room."

"Technically, they're all my rooms."

"Touché."

He walked forward and placed his palm flat on the wall of ice, then looking back to Elsa.

"So," Jack asked, "Are we agreeing on this design? Because—if we are—then I probably need to melt this to get onto the other side."

She nodded. "I suppose that hadn't really occurred to me—"

"—If you still want me sleeping on the other side."

Elsa blushed, laughing softly under her breath and rolling her eyes again. "Yes."

"Well, the offer's still open, if you ever change your mind."

"You'll be the first to know."

They both stepped up to the wall, raising their arms.

Frost and snow swirled and spiraled through the bedroom, the wall growing thinner and thinner as Jack and Elsa pulled the layers of ice back, some ice particles floating away in calm procession, some leaping from the wall and whirling into the air as Jack leapt backwards, away from Elsa. Moonlight pouring in through the window caught the frost as it flew, reflecting off the ice particles' tiny, prism-like structures and setting them glittering and shimmering as they danced through the air.

Standing on opposite sides of the room, Jack and Elsa pulled it into an enormous, sparkling ball of snow in the center of her bedroom.

POW!

It exploded, just like the others had, bursting apart and falling softly towards the floor around them in a shining mist.

And the wall was gone.

Jack and Elsa simultaneously lowered their arms again, standing on opposite sides of the room and staring at each other once more in quiet, fascinated awe. Elsa's heart fluttered, the reality of his identity hitting her fresh once again as her gaze was locked into his piercing, snowflake-marked eyes.

Jack Frost.

All those years…

He cleared his throat, blushing slightly and running his fingers through his hair. She jolted, blood rushing to her face as well as she looked down, fidgeting with her fingers.

"So," Jack said, "I—I guess this is it."

She nodded sadly, walking over and meeting him at the doorframe.

"I suppose it is," Elsa said quietly. "Goodnight, Jack."

Pausing, Jack turned and picked up her hand, running his thumb over her skin. "See you in the morning, Snowflake," he whispered.

She froze, her heart leaping into her throat again as he bowed, bringing it to his lips and gazing up into her face through his white hair. Then, letting it go, he smiled sheepishly, turning around and walking into the art gallery.

"You keep calling me that," Elsa blurted.

There was a brief moment of silence.

Jack paused. He turned back to Elsa, a wave of confusion sweeping over his face as she stood, frozen, in the doorway.

"You—you always call me that," she stammered, starting again. "Why do you always call me that?"

Jack raised his eyebrows. "Call you what?"

"Snowflake." Elsa shifted uncomfortably on her feet, crossing her arms over her chest as he walked back towards her. "You've always called me Snowflake. Ever since I met you. I mean—literally, the first minute I met you!"

Jack opened his mouth to say something, and then quickly shut it again. Trying once more, he pulled in a quick breath.

"I—well," he admitted, "I guess it—I guess it seemed fitting as a nickname."

"Because I'm—cold?"

Jack laughed, seeing her expression. "No," he said, "I mean—well, okay, at first. You know, because of the ice powers thing. But it's kind of come to mean a lot more since then, because—well, never mind."

Elsa raised her eyebrows.

Jack gulped, looking down at his feet and nervously kicking at the carpet. After a few, pained moments of silence—realizing that Elsa was waiting for an answer—he anxiously reached up, rubbing the back of his neck.

"It's—it's sort of—okay." he mumbled. "It's—it's really cheesy."

The Snow Queen felt a hint of a smile twitching out of the side of her mouth. She raised an eyebrow. "Um… and I'm Norwegian…?"

Jack looked up, shifting his fingers on the staff. He let out a sharp bark of laughter.

"You're good with cheese," he chuckled.

"I love cheese."

He nodded, his cheeks flushing. Then, with Elsa watching him expectantly, he sucked in a deep breath, squeezing his eyes shut.

"After three centuries of being—well, of being—me," Jack Frost laughed nervously, bringing a tiny smile from Elsa, "I have seen a lot of snowflakes. And something I've noticed about them is that—well, snowflakes are beautiful from far away, but you can't really notice all the details unless you look at them close-up. Little miracles of nature. Every one of them. I mean, they're—amazing."

Elsa felt her heart skip a beat, and she blushed.

"But—um," she stammered, "But what does that have to do with—me?"

"Well, that's why I think it works. The nickname, I mean."

Jack looked down, sheepishly reaching forward and taking her hand in his own. He pulled in another breath.

"Elsa, I call you Snowflake because the closer I get to you—and the more carefully I look," Jack said softly, hesitantly peering up through his hair into her eyes, "The more intricately beautiful and complicated you become. I call you Snowflake because the closer I get to you, the more I realize exactly how incredible you really are."

Elsa's breath caught.

Jack shifted uncomfortably on his feet, his face flushing. Letting out a nervous laugh, he gave her hand a little squeeze, shrugging.

"You know," he choked, "Like—like a snowflake?"

She slowly looked up into his eyes as he dropped her hand, pulling in a deep breath and stepping backwards. Jack Frost then quickly broke eye contact, gasping for another breath and nervously running his fingers through his hair.

"And—uh, and snowflakes are pretty—"

"—You have been waiting for three hundred years to use that line on someone," Elsa breathed.

"For once, Elsa," Jack sputtered, anxiously rubbing the back of his neck again, "I'm actually not trying to flirt at yo—"

He was cut off, stumbling back a step as Elsa embraced him, throwing her arms around his neck. After a brief moment of shock, she felt him relax, hesitantly putting his arms around her as well.

Elsa bit her lip, feeling the cold softness of his shirt. After a few seconds, she then pulled back slightly, giving Jack a quick kiss on the cheek.

He jolted.

"Wha-what was that for?" Jack laughed nervously.

Elsa felt a little heat rising to her face. Breaking from the hug, but leaving her hands clasped together behind his neck, she took a tiny step back from him.

"I don't know," she admitted. "I just—felt like hugging you. I was being myself."

Jack shifted his hands on her sides, blushing slightly. He opened his mouth to say something, but before he could do so, Elsa embraced him again, feeling his white hair brush against her cheek. Wrapping his arms around her waist, still holding the staff, he gave her a gentle squeeze.

He was so cold…

As the wave of calm rushed over her, the Fifth Spirit felt herself relax a bit as the Fifth Guardian pulled her in tighter, the end of the staff sliding past her ankle. She smiled weakly.

"I'm glad we're friends," Elsa whispered.

Jack's body stiffened.

"Um—yeah. Friends," he choked. "Me too."

Elsa's heart leapt, and she sighed happily, standing on her tiptoes in her heels giving him another squeeze. Breaking from the hug, she then took a few steps back, stumbling slightly.

Jack stepped back as well, standing by the icy bedframe with the snowdrift on top of it. Seeing her expression, he quickly forced a grin, then blushing as Elsa planted her feet on the frost-covered carpet.

As the wall rose up between them, Jack and Elsa kept staring at each other through the tiny window, their eyes locked as the ice hit the top of the doorframe with a dull thud.

Silence.

Snapping back into focus, Elsa turned around, glancing to the room divider on the other side of the room. Worriedly pulling her hands into her stomach, she bit her lip. She could just melt the existing room divider and build a new one directly in front of the window, but it would be bringing further attention to the matter of—

Jack was laughing softly under his breath. Elsa snapped her head up, and saw that he was shaking his head on the other side of the ice, a good-natured little half-smile twitching out of the side of his mouth as he turned away from her.

"I'm not looking, Elsa."

She felt heat rising to her face, and then blushed, letting out a nervous laugh.

"I—um," she stammered, "It's—I guess I—"

"—Look," he chuckled, "I'll just stay on the bed, okay? And I'll close my eyes."

After a moment of hesitation, Elsa gingerly crept towards the tiny window in the ice, peering into the art gallery. Jack flipped backwards into the air as she did so, landing in the snowdrift on top of the platform again with a crunch. Readjusting himself in the snow, he pulled up his hood, holding it closed over his face as he closed his eyes.

"See?" he said. "Not looking. Can't see a thing. I'm practically asleep already."

Elsa blushed, her throat still tight with embarrassment. Rubbing her hand over her opposite arm, she gave a little shrug.

"Well," she started softly, "I suppose that if you promise to stay there for a few minutes, then I—"

"—GLA-A-A-A-A-AULGH," Jack stage-snored dramatically, "Zeeeeeeeeeeee…"

The Snow Queen giggled in spite of herself, and she saw the bottom half of Jack's face crack into a grin as he held the navy fabric shut over his eyes. Letting out a sigh of relief, she watched for a brief moment longer, then turning and running across the room to the room divider.

Like every other night, she pulled in a deep breath, closing her eyes in concentration. Elsa then swept her hand into the air, the chill of her icy dress flying away from her body and disintegrating into the air.

Hardly a second later, she swirled her arms over her head, a simple sheet of white bursting from her skin and falling around her. With another flick of her fingers, purple dye leapt out of the carpet beneath her, infusing the ice to transform the white into her favorite deep maroon.

"I know this probably isn't proper to say," Elsa laughed breathily, pulling the frost out over her arms into sleeves, "But I—I'm really glad you're here, Jack. I mean, the timing—everything that's happened. I don't know where I'd be right now, if you hadn't showed up."

Feeling the snowy folds of the nightgown rolling down over her legs, the Fifth Spirit shook her head, quickly walking over to her dresser, out of sight from the window. She flicked her hand across the end of her braid, beginning to pull it out for the evening.

"I'm just really sorry that you had to be here for this," she added, "I mean, the council, and the suitors, and—well, my life seems to have blown up. So It's really nice to have a new friend through all of it. I love my sister and the spirits and all, but I've never really had a friendship like this, Jack."

She finished pulling out the braid, shaking out her light gold hair, the gentle waves falling across her shoulders.

"So, I know that the research and such is probably pretty boring for you, but I really like having someone doing it with me," she said quickly, "I mean, you don't seem to mind it—do you?"

There was a silence from the other side of the wall.

Oh, no.

Stupid girl! Elsa thought frantically, You've said too much. Now he's uncomfortable. You are SUCH a horrible friend. A wave of panic gripping her mind, she gulped, walking towards the wall of ice that divided the rooms.

"Um… Jack?"

Peering down through the window, Elsa fell quiet. Her heart swelling at the sight, a tiny smile formed on her lips, and she let out a long sigh.

Sinking into the snowbank and protectively clutching the staff to his chest, Jack Frost was already sound asleep.