AUTHOR'S NOTE: Heyyyyy, so the last Author's Note got SO long that I just went back a few days ago and chopped out a huge chunk. Because I'm really proud of my weird little writing style that I'm using with this, though, I'm just going to put it here again, Because I Can.

Ahem. (The following chunk is copy-pasted from my last note, for lack of anywhere else to put it.)

I'm weirdly protective/proud of the writing style that I'm using for my fiction pieces because I specifically developed this style to imitate the feel of watching a movie (hence, all the "sound effects" and stuff). In my mind, this was part of staying true to the prompt of Frozen/ROTG. I call my style "three-quarter third" because it's technically third person, but "zooms in" on individual characters' thoughts and perspectives so much that it almost feels like it's first person. This is a loose reference to the camera angles used with Jack Frost in ROTG. While I'm not counting shots from midair (like the first battle scene), if you watch carefully, you'll see that the MAJORITY of the shots used in ROTG are either:

1. Angled slightly up at The Guardians, viewing them from the height of a child,

2. A first-person view from Jack's eyes, or

3. A tight, insanely zoomed-in shot of Jack's face, which sort of gives the same effect. ("HIS EYES! NOTICE HIS EYES! WE POURED SO MUCH MONEY INTO ANIMATING THESE RIDICULOUSLY DETAILED, SPARKLING WEEPY SADBOY EYES; LOOK, THEY HAVE SNOWFLAKES IN THEM!" –DreamWorks, probably)

For contrast, most of the shots in Frozen are standard, third-person-at-the-main subjects'-height angles, with a handful of frames soaring up through Elsa's ice castle. For a squealing, fangirl observation, this happens for the first time with the lyrics "my soul is spiraling in frozen fractals all around," as Elsa builds her castle… like the castle… is an extension… of HER SOUL. (*muffled fangirl shrieking*) From there on out, sweeping shots from the castle are used (just like the Olaf-height shots) like they're an extension of Elsa's perspective. THIS MOVIE IS SO BEAUTIFUL AND PERFECT I CAN'T. ADQOQASDKASDJOIG. (It's like a horcrux, but—not evil!)

ANYWAY. My writing style. (*COUGHS LOUDLY*) I'm proud of it. I could go on, but I'm going to try to wrap this up. You're all amazing and fantastic, a huge THANK YOU to everybody that reviewed, and I hope you ALL have a FANTABULOUS day! :D

To Guest Reviewer "Guest" who specifically commented on the part where Jack falls through Elsa after she stops believing: I said that you'd FORGIVE me, in two chapters' time. Did I EVER say that the conflict would be resolved by then? ;)

CONTENT WARNING: Angst. SO much angst. Also, sexual innuendo, because Of Course There Is.

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63: ALLIANCES

Prince Frederik was next in line for the throne in Kingsley, kept from the crown only by his elderly grandfather, who had fallen gravely ill. While the people were still holding their collective breaths for the good king's recovery, it was expected that 28-year-old Frederik, his eldest surviving heir, would be coronated within the year.

As they had talked (with Elsa subtly melting the room back into its natural state over the course of the discussion), Elsa had discovered that the Prince of Kingsley's political views and agendas—and not to mention, his general personal philosophies—were remarkably similar to her own. If they were to wed, they would have no insignificant amount of power, from the purely political standpoint. Even after she returned to the Forest, with Prince Frederik in the family, Queen Anna would have even MORE power added to her position.

Arendelle and Kingsley would make a very powerful alliance.

The debate had flowed so freely that Elsa had hardly noticed the time passing, and after the audience had lengthened into being nearly an hour long, a very concerned-looking Rolf had entered the room, most likely to make sure that the Prince of Kingsley was still alive. Upon realizing what had happened—the blasts of ice vanished, the completely relaxed prince happy and well—Rolf's expression had shifted from anxious to smug, clearly convinced that he and his cronies has successfully rid themselves of both their meddling young queens, and their outrageous intention to actually participate in running their kingdom. With a stern raised eyebrow from Elsa, however—along with a casual mention of her political compatibility with Prince Frederik, regarding the work that she and her sister were going to CONTINUE doing in Arendelle—Rolf's smirk had faded. But his obvious relief at the fact that the Snow Queen was interested in one of her suitors remained.

Elsa would have felt resentful, but—to some extent, she felt strangely relieved, too. Against all odds, her sexist, vindictive, power-hungry and altogether lazy Royal Council had SOMEHOW managed to locate her a suitor who was actually worth considering. Even though her duties as the Fifth Spirit of the Enchanted Forest had not yet been addressed, from what she had seen of him so far, Elsa was convinced that an alliance with Prince Frederik might actually work.

Somehow, and in some way—it. Might. WORK.

As Prince Frederik had bowed and politely kissed her hand goodbye, the still visibly-exhausted but triumphant Rolf had eagerly taken him up in conversation, leading the prince from the throne room while beginning to eagerly tell him all about the castle's history and traditions. Biting the edge of her lip to keep herself from actually squealing with joy, Elsa had then spun around to where Jack was standing, eager to see his approval.

But Jack Frost was glaring at the ground, his jaw set, gripping his glowing shepherd's crook so hard that his hands were trembling. As delicate, sparkling flurries of snow fell silently around him onto the carpet, she realized with dismay that Jack's normally playful, laughing gaze was now ice-cold, his eyes steely blue as he stood, frozen, on the side of the room.

Picking up the edge of her skirt, Elsa began to run towards him just as the men were exiting the throne room. It wasn't until the enormous doors closed behind them that Jack looked up.

BOOM.

"FINALLY!" he snarled, throwing a dark glare at the door. "I thought he'd never leave."

"I'm so sorry that took so long," Elsa apologized, dropping the front of her skirt as she came up to him. "I didn't mean to make you wait."

Jack smiled coldly.

"Wasn't the waiting I had a problem with," he grumbled.

"But did you—did you see that?" Elsa exclaimed, letting out a breathy laugh, "I mean, it—Prince Frederik! He seems—smart, and—and, well! You saw that! That could work!"

Jack sucked in his breath. Shifting his fingers on the staff—and then gripping it again, even harder than before—he took a step back, not saying a thing.

Her face flushed with excitement, Elsa laughed again, smiling uncontrollably.

"That could work," she breathed, "I mean, even with my destiny in the Forest, if I could still secure Arendelle another alliance—that—that could actually WORK!"

Creak!

Elsa looked down towards the source of the sound and froze.

Glistening with a dangerous sheen, long, violent-looking spines of ice were fracturing outward over the floorboards from beneath Jack Frost's feet, stretching and crackling across the carpet. The Spirit of Winter, however, didn't move, seemingly unaware of the ominous creaking around him as he gripped his shepherd's crook, glaring intensely at his feet.

Elsa could practically feel her heart stop beating.

"Jack," she quavered, "What's going—!"

She sucked in her breath as Jack suddenly jolted back into focus, grabbing her hand and jerking her forward. She stumbled slightly, her eyes wide with confusion as he determinately pulled her after him towards the side of the room.

"Jack!" Elsa tried again, her heart pounding, "What are you—wha—"

"—We're taking our break," he snapped, dropping her hand and stomping up to the enormous window. "Does this open?"

"I don't think s—"

"—Got it!"

Elsa's eyes bulged as the glass—a window that she had never in her life seen budge an inch before—obediently swung outwards, the hinges groaning with new life as Jack's magic sparkled over them, the old rust suddenly as slick as ice. Worried at the sudden tension in his voice, Elsa took a tiny step towards him.

"Jack, is—is something wrong?" she asked hesitantly, "Is—if you're not feeling like you want to take me out anymore, you—"

"—I'm fine!"

With a gust of wind, the window started to swing shut again, and Jack flung his staff at the hinges.

CRACK!

A blast of ice shot out of the shepherd's crook and smashed into the window, sealing it into place. Pulling his staff back, the Spirit of Winter then slowly turned around to face her again.

"I mean… if you're still interested," Jack bristled, his left eyebrow twitching upwards as more flurries of snow materialized out of the air around him. "I wouldn't want to waste your time. Going out with a peasant, and all."

Elsa's eyes widened.

What?

"What on—Jack, how could you even say that?" she stammered, "You could never be a waste of time! And we had a date!"

Jack's expression seemed to harden even further. His eyes blurry, he looked down.

"Yeah," he scoffed. "I thought we had a lot of things."

She stared at him in confusion.

Clenching his hands into fists, one gripping the shepherd's crook, Jack said nothing for a few moments, like he was visibly struggling to calm down. With a curt nod, he then carefully pulled in his breath.

"But—for now," Jack gritted, speaking more to himself than to her as he walked forward, "We should go on our date."

Elsa let out a little squeak of shock as he suddenly scooped her up into his arms. "B-but where are we going?"

"ICE SKATING!"

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"I just can't believe our luck," Elsa stammered, her mind racing. "Kingsley. I mean, it's not quite as big as Arendelle, but—Kingsley! It's never even occurred to me before! All this time, I figured that all of the suitors were going to be stupid, and everything, and then—well, you saw that! Prince Frederik! A legitimately smart, respectable man. It's a miracle."

Her capelet flowing out behind her, the Fifth Spirit threw out her arms as she twirled into a spin on the frozen lake. Her heart leaping, she laughed triumphantly, coming out of the spin and glancing to Jack. He was slowly pushing himself around the edge of the ice, glaring at his feet and saying nothing.

"I mean, that could actually work!" she exclaimed in disbelief, "Even though I'll still live alone up in the Forest, I might still be able to secure that alliance for Arendelle! Which I wasn't expecting at all, but—well, it COULD work. Maybe. But maybe is a better chance than—well, even the possibility of a decent political marriage for me is a relief. Like, that Prince Frederik could even be a legitimate option. It is a relief—don't you think?"

Jack Frost didn't respond.

A new wave of confusion swept over Elsa's features. Picking up her capelet and whisking it out of her way, she skated back to him, the frosty fabric skimming across the ice as she twisted her feet to a stop.

"Jack?" she asked, the capelet sweeping lightly up to his feet. "Is—is everything okay? You've been awfully quiet."

The Guardian of Fun pressed his lips together. As he stared determinately down at his feet—watching as the sparkling capelet shifted across his skin—Jack then pulled in his breath.

"I don't think relief is the word I would have gone for," he muttered.

"What? Why not?" Elsa asked. "You of all people know how hard it is to establish a decent political marriage. I mean, we were just talking about marriage last night."

"Yeah. I remember."

Jack shifted his fingers on the staff, closing his eyes. As Elsa started to take a tiny step towards him, he suddenly jolted again, snapping his head up.

"In fact—yeah! We were talking about MARRIAGE!" Jack sputtered, letting out a bitter scoff of a laugh. "Weren't we?"

"So, an alliance with Prince Fre—"

"—And weirdly enough, I kind of thought that meant something," he interrupted, cutting her off. "And that you were already in an alliance with me."

Elsa fell silent, staring at him in shock. The Spirit of Winter's usually playful, flirty gaze had gone piercingly cold once again, his left hand clenching around the shepherd's crook.

"Jack—you can have more than one alliance," Elsa said softly, disturbed at the sudden tension in his voice. "It's better for the kingdom."

Jack pressed his lips together, carefully drawing in his breath.

"I don't think we're talking about the same kind of alliance," he muttered angrily.

"What other kinds are there?"

"What other kinds?" Jack stammered, "Oh, I dunno! Maybe like the kind I thought we had going?"

Elsa backed a step away from him. "What are you talking about?"

"Oh, I think you know what, Elsa."

She scoffed in frustration, shaking her head and crossing her arms over her chest. "I'm sorry, I'm confused."

Gripping his staff so hard that his pale knuckles turned white, Jack pressed his lips together, flurries of snow beginning to materialize out of the air above him on the frozen lake. Glancing back up into her eyes—his face falling—the Spirit of Winter then sighed.

"Of course you are," Jack muttered.

Elsa's breath caught.

Her mouth falling open, she watched in blank shock as her childhood hero turned away from her, sticking his free hand into his pocket and letting the shepherd's crook fall back onto his shoulder. The words were a knife, cold and sharp, piercing through her heart like an icicle.

An instant later, Elsa was trembling in fury. Uncrossing her arms as her eyes narrowed, she set her jaw, balling her hands into fists. Sparkling snowflakes beginning to materialize out of the air around her as well, she stepped forward.

"Excuse me—Frost," Elsa demanded coldly. "But—are you telling me that I'm stupid?"

Jack Frost froze in his tracks. He looked back towards her.

"What?" he breathed.

"Because—I am not stupid," Elsa shook, her teeth clenching together as wind started to pick up from around her feet, "I am actually extremely intelligent—I mean, you might not have noticed or anything, with all the time you've spent—TEASING me, and—and making fun of my clothes, but maybe if you actually paid an ounce of attention, you would actually SEE that!"

Jack's face went pale. "Making fun of—?"

"—Being the Fifth Spirit isn't exactly a walk in the park, you know!" Elsa sputtered, her eyes stinging as the wind whipped around her harder and harder, "And now that I'm having to be the queen again, in ADDITION to keeping the Nature Spirits from freaking out, balancing everything is even harder! I can speak seven languages, NOT including the fact that I can understand the Spirits, along with being educated in music, math, science, history, policy, and pretty much all classics and literature! AND I will have you know that Arendelle's trade has increased by three hundred percent since my initial coronation, along with the fact that my average approval ratings from my citizens are through the ROOF!"

"I—"

"—You want to know why I'm NOT spending every third day sitting in the throne room with a line of peasants out the door?" Elsa yelled over the wind, her eyes blurry as the snow swirled faster and faster, "Hearing everybody's complaints? Because I've actually DONE SOMETHING ABOUT THEM! Closing down the asylum? ME. I did that! And, located the money, for proper care for those poor people, against pretty much everything! Oh, and that literacy program? Guess who had to rewrite the tax code, to find the funding! And I'm almost done with the proposal for the housing program, in addition to the fact that I'm only BEGINNING on the research for the child abuse situation, in ADDITION to—"

"—ELSA, I DIDN'T MEAN IT LIKE THAT!"

She abruptly stopped speaking and snapped her mouth shut, roughly sucking in her breath. Her vision blurry, Elsa bit down hard on her lip, clenching her fingers into fists as she struggled to keep herself from bursting into tears.

The swirling winds began to calm, snowflakes slowing in the air as the Spirit of Winter struggled for words. With effort, he swallowed.

"Snowflake—"

Elsa stiffened.

Jack cut himself off. Ruffling his fingers through his hair, he then squeezed his eyes shut, pulling in his breath to try again.

"Elsa," he choked, pulling his hand down, "I—I didn't mean it that way. That came out wrong."

The Fifth Spirit could feel her capelet settle back onto the ice as the wind settled down, the snowflakes disappearing from the air. Fighting back the stinging in her eyes, she stared at the ground, pulling her hands in towards her stomach.

Not looking up, she could see Jack's shadow shift on the ice as he took another step forward.

"I'm sorry," he added.

Elsa didn't move.

Staring at her feet, she could practically feel the snowflakes begin to materialize out of the air above her again, silently floating down past her onto the ice. She sniffed.

"I am not stupid," she whispered.

"No."

Jack shook his head. Elsa hesitantly looked up.

"Elsa, I'm just—okay, we're both new to this," Jack tried again, sighing. "But you're really impor—I mean, our—alliance is really important to me. So, I'm worried about you. With this guy. Alright?"

"Well—I appreciate your concern. But you really shouldn't be," Elsa choked. "This isn't going to change anything about our Ice Alliance. Even if I DO end up marrying Prince Frederik, our friendship will always—what is it NOW?!"

Jack Frost had burst out laughing, shaking his head, his bitter, breathy scoffs sounding almost like sobs. For some reason, he looked—angry, as if he hated what he was hearing so much that he didn't have any other way to respond, other than to stare down at the ice like he wanted to punch a hole through it.

While, above him—it had gently started to snow once again.

"Jack, wha—what has gotten into you lately?" Elsa protested, her cheeks crimson, "I know what I'm doing! Just because I gave up my crown, it doesn't automatically mean that I've forgotten how to reign! Arendelle has entered into SIX new alliances under my rule, I will have you know. If you don't think I'm stupid—"

"—NO! No, no, no, that's not—look, you're a great queen!" Jack stammered, snapping out of it to desperately backpedal as Elsa backed away from him, "And you're smart—like, really, really smart, and I love that about you, but it's just—I—well, I thought it was pretty obvious what we—!"

He abruptly cut himself off, snapping his mouth shut before saying anything further. Closing his eyes and opening them again, he then gave his head a quick shake, his face filled with pain as he stepped up to her on the ice.

"Not everything is about politics, Elsa," Jack groaned softly. "I just—I wish you could see that. I wish you could LET yourself see that."

She shook her head, sadly staring down at the frozen lake beneath their feet. "Maybe not everything is about politics, but—well, for me—it kind of has to be," Elsa admitted. "When I became the Fifth Spirit, I thought I'd escaped it. But I was wrong. I was born into royalty, and—my life is still about the future of Arendelle. With regards to this people, it's all that really matters, about me. It's all I am."

The Snow Queen hesitantly looked back up to him, swallowing hard as she fidgeted with her fingers. Standing in front of her on the ice while snowflakes silently fell through the air around him, Jack Frost was gripping his shepherd's crook with both hands, staring into her eyes with the saddest expression of longing that she had ever seen.

"Not to me," he said softly.

Elsa's eyes widened.

After a moment, unsure what to make of the statement, her face fell. Letting out her breath, the Fifth Spirit shook her head.

"Jack—that's a very sweet thing for you to say," she sighed, warily eying the snowflakes falling around them, "But I'm still an heir to the throne—even if I'm just the spare. Therefore, if I'm capable of considering a decent alliance for Arendelle, I'm still obligated to do so."

Jack's brow furrowed with confusion. "Is this because you've been reinstated?" he asked, "Because, I thought that was only supposed to be temporary."

She shook her head again. "I'm still single," Elsa choked, her voice barely more than a whisper. "And I'm still a member of Arendelle's royal family. I don't like admitting it, but—I think the Council is right. About this thing. As an heir, I still have responsibilities. Whether I'm physically in the kingdom or not."

"What are you saying?"

The Snow Queen swallowed hard. Balling her hands into fists, she then pulled in her breath.

"I never thought that I ever even could get married," she blurted, squeezing her eyes shut, "Okay? I never thought that I could even be a good queen, with my ice powers. But now, if there's a hope, even a chance that I could pull off a legitimately beneficial political match—I HAVE to at least try. For the good of Arendelle, I'm obligated to try."

A look of disgust swept over the Guardian's features. "Even if you don't like the guy?" he pressed, "Even if you don't have feelings for him?"

"I'm royalty. My feelings are irrelevant."

To this, Jack's face fell as well. Scoffing under his breath, he then looked down to his feet, tossing his staff into his other hand.

"So," he chuckled bitterly, sweeping it forward, "You're telling me that it would be a really bad thing for an heir to the throne to be making huge decisions to influence ALL of her people… while happy."

She bit her lip. "A responsible ruler isn't supposed to be happy. Unless her kingdom is happy."

"That'll happen!"

The Fifth Guardian snorted, rolling his eyes and turning away.

"I took an oath!" Elsa protested with a groan, walking briskly after him, "An oath to do what was best for Arendelle! Okay? And if it turns out that Kingsley is right for this kingdom, then—"

"—You think you're the only person who's taken an oath?"

She snapped her mouth shut. Jack Frost whipped back around, his grip iron on the staff.

"A good oath is supposed to add to who you are," he said passionately, "It's supposed to make you become a BETTER version of yourself. If all that this oath of yours is doing is convincing you to go back into your shell, then maybe it's not a very good one!"

"Or, maybe this isn't about me?"

The Fifth Guardian scoffed again, looking away.

"So, Prince Frederik—well, he's not exactly you," Elsa admitted, her cheeks flushing as she snuck a worshipful glance at her childhood hero, "But I—it—he might actually be a realistic match for Arendelle! He might be a legitimate answer to our problems."

Still not looking at her, Jack rolled his eyes. "It's not like HE'S a problem, or anything."

"How could he possibly be a problem?" Elsa stammered. "He just got here!"

"Well, I think he should go."

"But Prince Frederik has no idea what's been going on!"

Jack Frost's teeth clicked together in frustration. Looking back up into her eyes, he set his jaw.

"Yeah," he glared. "I'm pretty aware of that, Elsa."

"Well, I don't understand why you're so upset about the whole thing," Elsa huffed, crossing her arms over her chest, "It's not like I'm marrying him!"

To this, Jack's eyes widened.

"Wait," he realized, his gaze softening. "I thought you—you—you're not?"

"Well—not yet, at least."

And his expression hardened again, the hopeful sparkle vanishing from his eyes. Elsa sighed.

"I have currently only agreed to consider Prince Frederik," she stated matter-of-factly, "Which means that I will be doing more of my own research on him. If he has unsavory motives regarding Arendelle, I will find out soon enough. In the meantime, though, I'm fairly convinced that Prince Frederik wasn't putting anything on."

Jack Frost raised an eyebrow. "Oh?" he drawled with sarcastic interest, slinging his staff around his shoulders and draping his arms over it. "And, why might that be?"

"Well, I've seen that kind of behavior before. He wasn't like—well, like my sister's—former fiancé," Elsa admitted, suppressing a shudder. "Our discussion was entirely academic. He wasn't trying to muddle the debate with any of that romantic nonsense, or—"

"—NONSENSE!?" Jack balked, jolting and nearly dropping his staff, "Oh, THAT'S what this is to you, now? NONSENSE?!"

"Jack—you and I both know that this is purely political," Elsa countered, staring at him in confusion. "If I marry, it's in Arendelle's best interest that I keep a level head. My emotions shouldn't factor into this too much."

"Yeah. Ten seconds of that romantic nonsense for the queen, and she might start actually factoring love into her decisions," Jack stammered angrily. "Don't wanna risk that!"

"Well—exactly."

His eyes flashed with frustration. "You know, you promised me that you were gonna stop doing that."

"Stop what?"

"Suppressing your center."

The statement caught her off-guard. Staring at him in disbelief, Elsa was just opening her mouth to say something when he suddenly stepped up to her, gesturing with his staff.

"Your center is love, Elsa," Jack Frost enunciated. "Maybe try believing in it? Embracing it, or something? For once?"

"I am embracing love," Elsa countered. "I am considering Prince Frederik out of my love for Arendelle."

Jack snorted.

"It is love!" Elsa snapped back as he turned away. "And—and besides! Who's to say that I wouldn't actually fall in love with Prince Frederik?! I mean, you're the one that keeps telling me that I should be more confident, and embrace my sexuality, and—"

"—I DIDN'T MEAN WITH HIM!" Jack cried out, whipping around with his face flushed.

"Why not?" Elsa demanded, flurries of snow beginning to materialize around them again as Jack anxiously ran his fingers through his hair, visibly disturbed by the idea, "Prince Frederik appears to be a perfectly respectable man! He's responsible, and intelligent, and cares about his kingdom, and our political views seem to be amazingly aligned, and—"

"—Yeah, I'm sure that has NOTHING to do with his so-called research on you!" Jack protested, suddenly whipping around again and yanking his fingers out of his hair. "That wasn't creepy at all!"

Elsa's mouth fell open in shock.

"How could that possibly be a bad thing?" she demanded, her face flushing. "At least some men actually did their research—"

"—Maybe because SOME MEN had more than FIVE MINUTES NOTICE of the fact that you EXISTED!"

Elsa's breath caught.

"The world is big," Jack stammered, "Like—really, really big. You know that? And it's actually REALLY easy, to not know about every single person that lives in it?"

Elsa pressed her lips together, looking down to the ice around her feet. Even since befriending the Nokk, she'd never been more than a morning's ride from Arendelle.

But Jack Frost wasn't finished.

"So, you can imagine my surprise when I respond to a summons last week," he stammered, slightly louder, "To show up and get this surprise bombshell from one of the guys I work with that there's this amazing, single ice-powers lady in Arendelle who's just like me, and, oh, wanna meet her? Like, RIGHT NOW?"

Jack scoffed, shaking his head. Letting out a bitter, breathy laugh, he then looked back up into Elsa's eyes.

"I—I'm sorry I broke into your room. Okay?" he choked, "I know that was out of line, and—and I've already apologized. But, with the five minutes I had, I did try to research you, Elsa. Like—I saw your artwork and everything. And your desk."

She sheepishly pulled her hands in towards her stomach.

"One of my desks," Elsa whispered.

"Yeah, okay. My point? I know that I could have prepared more to meet you," Jack stammered, "I was blown away by the ice in that art gallery, Elsa. And the desk. And I could have done more—research, and stuff, but it would have meant delaying meeting you, and I WANTED to meet you, so—so, you know what?"

Elsa stumbled back a step on the ice as Jack Frost suddenly walked up to her, stopping right in front of her and staring into her eyes.

"I. Was. Not—putting that OFF," Jack whispered.

A long silence fell over the frozen lake.

"You—wanted to meet me?" Elsa asked timidly.

"Yeah!"

Jack ran his fingers through his hair again, spinning away from her with a bitter laugh. He shook his head.

"All those years, and I thought, no one could understand what this feels like!" he choked, gesturing to the ice with his staff, "And then—and then, YOU happened! And everything was clicking RIGHT along, and going great, and last night, when we—and—and this morning, it—well, I thought that we were—!"

Blushing furiously, Jack snapped his mouth shut and swallowed the rest of his statement, unwilling to say it out loud. Scoffing bitterly, he then shook his head and glanced away from her.

"Well—and now, some—GUY," Jack snarled, his expression hardening like he was glaring directly at the offender, "Thinks he can just—walk in, and—and MESS IT UP!"

His eyes watering, Jack pressed his lips together and looked down. His shoulders then hunched forward, his expression grave as he stared down at his feet in silence, sliding his big toe forward over the ice.

Taking a hesitant step forward, Elsa pulled in her breath. "I just remembered…"

Jack looked up, his eyebrows lifting slightly. "Yeah?"

"I—um, this morning," Elsa started again, "And last night—you kept saying there was something you wanted to explain to me—?"

Her voice trailed off. Realizing what she was asking for, Jack's expression hardened once again into a grimace, as if he were in pain.

"Actually? I don't know," Jack admitted, a hostile edge on his voice. He stepped back, swinging his staff to the side. "I don't even know anymore, Elsa."

Snapping his mouth shut, he then turned away, his shoulders hunching over again as he stuck his hand into his pocket. Elsa set her jaw.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Elsa stammered, "Why are you acting so—so angry at everything, all of a sudden? Ever since Prince Frederik's audience finished, you've been—just—you know what? Maybe you should try keeping the Nature Spirits at peace, while simultaneously running an entire kingdom, sometime!"

Jack whipped back around, his eyes blurred with tears of frustration. "Maybe you should try BEING ALONE for 300 years, and then finding out that there's apparently this super-powerful, gorgeous Snow Queen in Norway, who it's apparently YOUR FAULT for not knowing about, because she's spent her entire life locked away in a castle, trying to ACTIVELY CONCEAL HER POWERS!"

Elsa stumbled back a step, her mind racing in confusion. Her eyes stinging, she sucked in her breath.

"Okay—I do not know what's going on," she choked, "But—but you are seriously scaring me right now! I know you're angry at me, but I don't know why, and for one second, can you PLEASE try to understand what a big deal this is for me!?"

Jack Frost's breath caught. "Wait. I'm—scaring you?" he repeated.

"YES!"

He opened his mouth to speak, but no sound came out. Snapping it shut again, Jack looked down, his face draining of color once again.

"I HATE seeing you upset!" Elsa stammered, choking back a sob, "For the first time in for—I don't know, maybe forever, something GOOD is actually happening to me politically! And you're just mad about it! And now you're being all cryptic about all of this, and you're such a good friend, and I just—Jack, why aren't you HAPPY for me!?"

He visibly winced.

After a long moment of staring to the side—refusing to make eye contact with her—Elsa watched Jack's expression change. As the bitter, ferocious resentment contorted over his features softened into sadness, he let out his breath.

"Why aren't I happy for you?"

Elsa bit her lip.

Jack Frost looked back down, clearly at a loss for words. Glancing back up, his eyes then widened slightly.

"You've got—um," he said suddenly, taking walking towards her and closing the space between them, "Something—could I just—?"

Before Elsa could respond, Jack awkwardly cleared his throat and reached up to her head, smoothing back a lock of her hair like it had been falling out of place. Her body rigid, the Fifth Spirit then felt him gently twist the lock through his fingers, closing his eyes in concentration.

A slight chill suddenly swept past the side of her head, and Jack Frost pulled his hand down, sadly looking back into her eyes. Still feeling something cold above her left ear, Elsa began to reach up to touch her hair, only to have Jack suddenly leap forward and catch her hands in his own.

"I—!"

Elsa looked into his eyes.

"I just—I want you to be happy, Elsa," Jack choked softly. "That's all."

His face falling, the Spirit of Winter looked sadly down to her hand, running his thumb over her skin.

A new thought striking her, Elsa's breath caught.

"Are you sure?" she blurted.

Jack looked up, his forehead crinkling in thought. "What?"

"Are you sure—um," Elsa clarified hesitantly. "Are you sure that's—all you want?"

Jack stiffened.

His mouth falling open, he quickly looked back down to her hand, struggling for words. Elsa's heart pounded with anticipation as she watched him, studying his conflicted expression.

Closing his eyes, Jack Frost finally let out his breath.

"Tell you what," he sighed at length, dropping her hand. "I'm gonna look into this—Prince Frederik. Okay?"

Elsa's heart sank.

Her throat tightening with embarrassment, she took a tiny step back, pulling her rejected hand in close to her stomach. Her cheeks flushed with self-awareness. Stupid girl. Like the Spirit of Winter would ever—ugh. What had she been expecting?

What could she have been expecting?

"I don't trust him, Elsa," Jack added forcefully, the edge on his voice jerking her back into the present.

Her eyes started stinging. Fighting it, the Snow Queen drew herself up.

"Why not?" she asked.

"I just don't."

Elsa sucked in her breath as Jack stepped forward, placing his large hand on her back and bending down to scoop her up. A shiver running through her as she put her own arms around his neck, Elsa felt her heart leap into her throat, overwhelmingly aware of the closeness despite the pangs of fresh heartbreak.

Jack Frost was always SO wonderfully cold…

"You'd do that for me?" she asked breathlessly.

Jack paused.

An instant later, he dropped his arms, the shepherd's crook sweeping past her back as he straightened up. His expression soft with sadness once again, Jack Frost looked directly into her eyes.

"You don't even know what I'd do for you, Elsa," he said softly.

Before she could respond, Jack gave his head a tiny shake, bending down again with the staff and reaching for her knees and upper back. Elsa's breath caught again as he scooped her up again, holding her into his chest. It wasn't effortless by any stretch, but as she pulled herself up onto his neck and shoulders, she could feel his muscles flex under the fabric of his shirt. They weren't bulky, but—they were definitely there. And definitely—strong.

Elsa swallowed hard, feeling embarrassed at herself as Jack turned around on the ice, presumably to find a better place to take off. It probably wasn't ladylike to notice his strength, or—well, or to think about it, or—but his arms felt nice. HE felt nice. And cold. And, of course, with who he was and everything, it just—

"You're really strong," Elsa blurted suddenly.

Jack paused.

"Uh…" he asked, looking to her in confusion. "What?"

"You're really strong. I just—!" Elsa cleared her throat, blushing furiously, "It—every time you pick me up, I can feel—you. And, you're just really strong. And—such."

Elsa awkwardly reached over and patted his bicep, then pulling her hand back and blushing even harder. Clasping her arms together around his neck once again, she looked down.

"It's—nice," Elsa whispered.

Jack Frost was now staring at her in complete confusion.

"Um," he stammered, like he was unsure of whether or not he could smile. "Thanks?"

Elsa bit her lip, staring at the ice crystals webbed out across his hood. With a scoff, Jack shook his head.

"I am so confused," he breathed. "I mean, with everything that we just—that almost felt like a compliment, Elsa."

"It was a compliment," she protested. "Can't I compliment you?"

Jack gently tossed her in his arms, adjusting his grip on both her and the staff. "I am never going to understand women," he groaned.

"But friends give each other compliments all the time," Elsa insisted. "And you're the—best friend I've ever had."

The statement didn't seem to comfort him.

In fact, as Elsa hugged his neck, she could have sworn that the usual sparkle in Jack's eyes dimmed even further, his entire expression darkening with disappointed frustration.

"Yeah," he sighed. "Friend. Right."

Before Elsa could respond, the Spirit of Winter ran forward across the ice, leaping up into the air and catching the wind to fly them back to Arendelle.

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(Another) AUTHOR'S NOTE: Yeah, sorry for the angst, everybody. But we've got a favorite chapter coming up next, so thanks again for reading, and see you in "Prince Wonderful!" ;)