AUTHOR'S NOTE: Hey, guys! I'm alive, I swear! For the record, I altered my version of Jack's new clothes a bit (I need to fix that from a couple chapters ago) from a modern dress shirt to a simplified old-school early 1800's one (think "pirate," but no ruffles). It feels more Jack to me, to give him something simpler and softer, for more freedom of movement and as a callback to his pre-drowning cream shirt.
Also, for those of you who didn't see the 1960's Christmas special Frosty the Snowman growing up, I weep for your childhood. Thanks again for reading, I always love hearing from you guys (even if it takes me an eternity to respond), keep being awesome and have a fantabulous day! :)
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99: OATMEAL
The swirling colors overwhelmed her as they fell, reality whipping itself into a kaleidoscope of lights as they were sucked into the portal. Elsa sucked in her breath in shock, jolting to grip the Spirit of Winter as hard as she could, every muscle in her body freezing up.
And then the portal shot them out.
Queen Elsa restrained from a scream as they were flung into the freezing air, suddenly plummeting towards the ground below as as the colors collapsed behind them. She clung to his body in desperation, pressing her face into his chest as they spun through the wind. Feeling them starting to slow down to a hover, she gasped for breath as Jack Frost rocked back slightly, kicking out his feet and bringing them to a stop in the air.
They floated in the middle of the sky, Elsa hearing nothing but the whooshing of the air currents whipping around their hair and clothes and the pounding sound of her own heart in her ears.
"You okay?" Jack asked.
Elsa nodded. Still gripping the Spirit of Winter with white knuckles, she pulled away from his chest by the tiniest bit. She blinked in the sudden light, barely able to open her eyes, when—
Seeing the ground below, the Fifth Spirit suddenly sucked in her breath, grasping for him again as her eyes bulged. "Is that—?!"
"Yeah," Jack nodded, grinning with pride. "That's the cloudbank, down there."
"We're over the clouds?"
Beaming, he nodded again. As her eyes finished adjusting to the brilliant, clear blue sky above them and the churning, brilliant white sea below, Elsa felt him shift his grip on the staff, its gnarled wood moving against her dress.
"The oxygen's a little thinner up here," he admitted, clearly noticing her expression, "But we shouldn't be up this high for all that long. I could move us down, if you want."
"That's not it. I've just—I—!"
She swallowed, her face flushing. Gathering her courage, she then pulled in a quick breath, squeezing her eyes shut.
"I've been up in really high places before," the Fifth Spirit admitted in a rush, "A million times. I'm not scared of heights. But—!"
Opening her eyes by the slightest bit, she squinted to sneak another glance down towards the cloudbank, the fluffy white ocean beneath them surreal. Her heart pounding as the wind whipped around them in the air, tearing at their hair and clothes, she could feel her head begin to spin, her stomach light as she gripped onto the Guardian's shirt.
"Then don't look down," Jack Frost offered, his voice soft. "Just look at me."
For a moment, Elsa hesitated.
Then she looked up.
Their eyes met. The Guardian's eyes were as deep and piercing as always, his startling blue irises focused in on her face as they hovered thousands of feet in the air. His expression was soft with concern, yet firm in a confident reassurance that nothing bad was going to happen to either one of them… for as long as he had any say in the matter.
Elsa felt herself relax, nearly swooning in his arms as her grip slackened of its own accord. As her heartbeat slowed into a calm, she smiled shyly, drowning in the depths of the Spirit of Winter's beautiful, intelligent eyes.
Jack let out his breath in a huff, his face melting into a sheepish smile as she felt him readjust his grip on her, clearly being as careful as he could.
"You okay now?" he asked softly. "Do you want me to start flying again?"
She nodded. "Please," Elsa whispered.
Biting the edge of her lip, she adjusted her own hold, her arms tightly wrapped around his neck.
"Can I ask where we're going?" she blurted, right as he was about to begin again.
Jack's face cracked into a full grin once again. "To have some fun," he replied.
Snuggling into his extremely nice shoulder as he began to move them again, picking up speed as he joined the air currents, Elsa raised her eyebrows, smiling even more and barely restraining from a laugh.
"I'm shocked," she said.
He snorted, looking to her as they flew. "Well—more specifically," Jack Frost admitted on a laugh, "I—kinda—have a sense of what areas need snow the most. And we're going to give it to them."
"We?"
He started to slow once again in the air. The wind pulling at their hair and clothes, Jack Frost paused, letting them coast as he looked down into her eyes.
"Yeah," he said, this time softer. "We."
He gave her an affectionate smile.
Elsa's heart leapt, her breath catching at his expression. As Jack nodded—offering her nothing more yet in the way of explanation—he then looked forward again and kicked off of the wind to regain their speed. Letting out a sigh, the Fifth Spirit of the Enchanted Forest then completely melted into him, snuggling into her childhood hero's freezing shoulder and closing her eyes in the moment.
She didn't know exactly where they were going, or what they were going to do there. But perhaps that was okay. Because, there was something that she did know.
Elsa knew that this was good.
And this was right.
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.
Storm clouds hung low and threatening over the land (just as Jack had been mentally commanding them to), readily and obediently waiting for his next—and his date's next—orders.
Sensing the ground below, he carefully tightened his grip on the Snow Queen, altering their trajectory and beginning to fly them downwards to meet it. Picking out the highest yet broadest peak of the mountain range, he soared towards it as the Ice Powers Girl squeezed him a bit harder, snuggling into his shoulder and chest. Manny, this felt amazing… getting that trust from her again, which now somehow felt stronger than ever. But he couldn't get ahead of himself. Her beautiful hair, the long hood of her dress whipping in the wind, her soft, curvy body curled up against his own… as much as he was loving every second of this, he couldn't let himself forget the extreme pressure that was riding on this date. After all—this was his chance.
And probably the last one.
The mountaintop rushing up to meet them, Jack held her close as he gauged the landing, his eyes narrowing in focus. Feeling the wind releasing its grip, he touched down into a run, then slowing to a jog as gravity fully reclaimed its pull on his body and the beautiful Ice Powers Girl's in his arms.
As he finally slowed down into a walk, Elsa pulled a bit away from him, looking up in curiosity.
"Are we there?" she asked.
Jack nodded. Setting her onto her feet, he waited until he felt the Snow Queen completely regain her footing, stepping away from him, before he straightened back up.
"It's better from the air, but a decent mountain should be fine," Jack said, tossing his staff into his opposite hand and considering their surroundings. "This should work great."
"Great for what?"
He raised his eyebrows, huffing a small laugh. Rubbing his chin as he carefully considered his words, he looked back to her.
"You've never—intentionally—done a blizzard before, have you?" he asked.
She shook her head, her eyes lighting up as she grasped his meaning completely.
Jack grinned, giving her a nod and picking up his staff. Letting it fall back onto his shoulder, he sauntered up to the Ice Powers Girl, placing his hand on her back (not too low or too high, he hoped) and gently pressing for her to turn around. Elsa did so, and Jack pulled down his shepherd's crook, using it to point into the distance.
"That," the Guardian said softly into her ear, "Is our target. Armonk should be that way. If we make the blizzard start here, then with the direction and speed of the wind currents, I'm pretty sure it should be snowing hard there within about twenty minutes."
"How can you tell?"
"Practice. Also, instinct."
She blushed a bit, particularly on the word instinct, and Jack's heart swelled. On the sudden surge of confidence, he pulled himself up, stepping away and letting his staff fall back onto his shoulder as he turned to face her again.
"Now, personally," Jack declared, drumming his fingers on the shepherd's crook, "I think that making kids go to school on Christmas Eve should be a crime punishable by law, but—well, at least we can help. A good couple hours of really hard snowfall, and they'll have to let 'em loose a bit early, don't you think?"
She nodded. The light of excitement was still clearly written in her eyes, and Jack took a step back, flipping his staff down again as sitting on it in the air. Biting the edge of her lip, Elsa looked to him, her smile slightly faltering.
"So… we just…?"
She awkwardly lifted her hands a bit, looking to him in pleading confusion. Jack's eyebrows lifted.
"You want me to get it started?" he offered.
"I've never—"
Queen Elsa cut herself off, her face flushing. She let out a nervous laugh, rubbing her hand across her opposite elbow.
"I've studied blizzard dynamics," she said, "Anna found me a book…"
Her voice trailed off, and she looked longingly toward the sky. Jack leaned forward an inch on the staff.
"Well…" he asked, dropping his voice almost to a whisper. "What do you know?"
"Um…" She bit her lip. "I know that you get storms when cold and hot wind fronts meet. Cold from the arctic, and hot from the equator, usually."
"I love it when cold meets hot."
Her hand flew to her mouth as she tried to cover a laugh, closing her eyes for a moment and looking down as her cheeks went pink. Jack's face cracked into a grin.
"So…" he prompted. "Wind currents. Basically."
"But I can't control wind."
To this, he shrugged, taking another step towards her as her face fell. "I think you'll find that it listens to you a bit more than it used to," Jack said.
Her eyebrows lifted. "Wait… what?"
"I've made some introductions."
Her breath caught, her eyes widening again. Then, Elsa's expression shifted, her gaze somehow lighting up and going dreamy all at the same time as she stared at him with unhidden longing, like she was unable to look away.
Suddenly self-conscious, the Spirit of Winter shrank a bit on the staff, smiling shyly and feeling his own cheeks flushing as he reached up to rub the back of his neck.
For ONCE in my life, Jack thought pleadingly, his heart pounding as he looked back at her, Please let me NOT be misinterpreting this…
His skin unusually warm as the Ice Powers Girl stared at him in an almost worshipful adoration, he huffed a laugh.
"Besides. It already knows you," Jack told her, unable to stop himself from smiling. "How long have you been doing the 'Fifth Spirit' thing?"
"A little over a year."
"So, what's the problem?"
Her look of intense desire suddenly vanished, replaced by discomfort.
Dangit!
"I just—I'm one of them," Elsa admitted, starting to rub her hand over her opposite elbow again, "I don't want Gale to think—I mean, if I started giving orders, and—!"
Her voice trailed off. Realizing what she was saying—
"Wait," Jack ventured, gesturing towards her with his hand, "You're—scared of offending the wind?"
"Well… we're friends."
"Yeah, okay, I think that's the issue right there," Jack chuckled, hopping up off of the staff and snatching it from the air, "Wind doesn't work that way. It's more… having fun. Rather than worrying about being polite. So, you need to kind of think of it that way, too."
She nodded. "You think it's warm enough up there?" she asked. "I can make things colder, but I've never tried to actively stir around the atmosphere."
To this, Jack glanced to the side, his grin faltering by the tiniest bit. Glancing back to her, he saw the Fifth Spirit's eyebrows lift.
"You already did that, didn't you?"
The Guardian of Fun nodded, giving her a non-committal shrug. "I… might have gotten everything already set up for us," he admitted with a grin. "While we were flying."
"That's why we couldn't come straight here, isn't it?"
He nodded, once again unable to restrain from a grin. "The upper atmosphere currently has a nice, big blanket of hot, moist air from the Gulf," Jack told her, "And all it needs is a bit of colder… persuasion, coming from down here. Instant snowstorm."
With that, he flipped his staff down again and casually sat upon it in the air.
For a long few moments, Elsa said nothing, staring at him as he watched her, waiting for her to take the cue. Pulling in her breath, the Ice Powers Girl then stepped back, glancing downwards with a shy, excited little smile as she subconsciously rubbed her fingers against her palms.
She looked up to the sky.
The Snow Queen started to roll her hands together, a sparkling little ball of snow beginning to materialize midair as she did so. As it grew, both in size and luster, Jack Frost watched her eyes light up, the nervousness beginning to fade. The ball grew bigger and bigger, floating in the air, and Elsa stepped back, her brow setting with determination as she kept swirling her hands, more and more sparkling snow spiraling into existence and wrapping itself onto the expanding, enormous snowball. As her creation grew, rising up above them over the mountaintop, Jack's eyes widened.
Now the diameter of a small house, Queen Elsa suddenly threw her arms into the air, shooting the snowball into the sky.
POW!
"YEAH!" Jack exclaimed, leaping to his feet as the snowball exploded, brilliant streaks of sparkling white and blue shooting outwards over the sky.
As the snowflakes started to fall, he looked to her with a nod of encouragement as the Ice Powers Girl let out a giggle of excitement, lifting her arms to the side as she turned away from him.
WHOOOSH! A gust of icy wind tore past them as she swept it over the mountaintop, the sparkling remains of the snowball above them beginning to swirl into a cloud in the air.
WhooooooOOSH! Elsa swept her arms around again, the cloud growing larger and larger, spreading over the entire section of the mountain range. The wind started truly whipping now, tearing at her braided hair as her navy blue dancing gown and hood flew out behind her and around her.
Before long the snow started to fall all around them; majestic, sparkling flakes flying through the air on the frigid mountaintop. Suddenly, Jack felt that he was no longer there to encourage her, or even interfere—he just wanted to watch. The Fifth Spirit was in her element, sweeping her arms this way and that, her angelic laugh somehow audible over the ferocity of the winds as she danced, alone, on the peak of the frozen mountaintop. Seeing her enraptured expression, her delight, the Spirit of Winter's heart leapt as her stared in excited awe at the Snow Queen.
I love you, Jack thought.
He could hardly stop smiling. She was dancing faster and faster in the building, sweeping snowstorm, one with the wind and sky, her arms out and hair flying as she spun, her head thrown back in the purest of childlike joys in the snow. He closed his eyes, looking down and biting his fist against the overwhelm of the fresh and impossible-to-restrain realization.
I LOVE YOU.
"Jack?"
He jolted, his eyes flying open as he looked back up to her. Elsa the Snow Queen was suddenly standing motionless in the center of the mountaintop, letting the storm rage on above and around them as she stared at him in question.
Jack Frost was on his feet in an instant, running the few paces over to where she was standing. "What? Is everything okay?"
"Oh! Yes. It's just… I…"
The Fifth Spirit was twisting her fingers against each other, biting the edge of her lip as she snuck a longing glance at the sky. Just as he was opening his mouth to say something, she pulled in a deep breath, glancing towards him, and then to the sky again.
"Could you—um," she asked shyly, pointing upwards. "Could—you maybe take us back up again?"
Jack's breath caught.
His eyes bulging and mouth hanging open in the excited gasp, the Youngest Guardian was beside his Elsa and scooping her up in an instant, her shriek of delight sending his heart soaring as he laughed, launching the two of them off of the mountaintop and into the sky.
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.
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Physically exhausted in the best possible way, the Fifth Spirit could still feel her hands and arms trembling from the exertion of the blizzard, the sound of the intense winds still ringing faintly in her ears. They had flown together for quite a while, commanding the clouds, and sending gust after gust of sparkling, billowing Christmas Eve snow flying in the direction of the American town. She hadn't had THAT much fun, since—honestly, since as long as she could remember. In short: Mister Jack Frost had officially worn her out.
And she had loved every SECOND of it.
Holding her arms around his neck once again, Elsa could hardly move her gaze from off of his face. The Spirit of Winter's brilliant white hair was whipping in the wind as they flew, his eyes sharp with focus and dress shirt (billowy, but not too billowy) pulling across the muscles of his chest and arms. Letting herself look down, Elsa found herself suddenly aware not only of the icy fractals of frost spiking out across the fabric of his new shirt, but once again of the lithe, athletic form that was clearly beneath. Goodness, Jack was strong. Much stronger than he looked. If she was completely honest about the gender norms regarding average upper body strength, then most gentlemen probably were, but—that didn't change how nice he felt.
Was it completely proper, given the Snow Queen's royal and magical titles, for her to feel so completely at ease while admiring the upper arms of this young man?
Probably not.
Was Elsa determined to enjoy herself anyway?
YES.
Letting out a happy, contented sigh, she nestled her head into his shoulder, snuggling up against him as she felt the Spirit of Winter coast them onto the ground.
He touched down into a run, his grip on her tightening as he bounced on the balls of his feet, slowing them to a jog and then to a brisk walk as the feeling of the rushing winds subsided. Before long, Elsa looked up and realized that Jack Frost was walking them to a cluster of bushes, near what she could now see was a schoolhouse.
Rounding the hedge, he gently set her down, shifting his arms so that her feet could reach the snow-covered ground. Thanking him (while nevertheless trying to hide her disappointment as she felt the Guardian's extremely nice hands pull away from her body), Elsa stepped forward, a bit shaky on her feet.
"So…" she began, shyly looking back to him as Jack Frost shouldered his staff, "Are we j—"
BRRRRRRRRRRRRING!
She startled and whipped around as the door to the schoolhouse was flung open. As Jack grabbed her hand, pulling her down to duck behind the bush, an entire class of schoolchildren was soon running out, laughing and shouting with joy as they poured into the snow-covered lawn.
Shifting her legs underneath herself to kneel in the snow behind the bushes, she looked to Jack. The Guardian was crouching beside her and grinning ear-to-ear, but didn't look particularly surprised.
"They must have let 'em out early. It's only lunchtime for these kids," he said. "At least we were able to give them a couple of extra hours."
The Guardian of Fun grinned wryly, and Elsa smiled as well, her face flushed with excitement. She looked back to the children, who had now—to her extreme approval—begun to build a snowman, a pair of boys rolling an absolutely enormous body while a blonde girl in earmuffs worked on the head. They were speaking English, but Elsa knew enough to be able to make out most of what they were saying.
"The head is the most difficult part," the girl said, pushing up the snowball. "Ask anyone!"
Elsa looked to the Spirit of Winter again, who nodded in agreement. He was also mostly watching the schoolchildren, his expression proud and relaxed.
"What'll we call 'im?" one of the children asked.
A number of names were put forward, and at last, one small boy added a word she couldn't quite understand, to which the others all balked. Jack Frost snorted.
A look of confusion sweeping Elsa's face, she turned to face him. "I'm not familiar with that word," she whispered, "What did…?"
The Guardian grinned, clearly struggling to suppress a laugh. "That kid just said they should name it Oatmeal," he translated, "You heard right."
"Oh!"
Elsa restrained from a giggle as well, her hand flying to her lips as he nodded, looking back to the group. The Guardian of Fun's eyes were both bright, and soft with affection, at the same time.
"Kids are amazing," he whispered again, a laugh on the edge of his voice.
"They are."
She looked back to the group, her face melting into a contented smile. The children (who had apparently agreed on a name) were now all holding hands, singing together as they stood around the snowman in the Christmas Eve snow.
Suddenly, the Fifth Spirit had an idea.
"Um… Jack?"
His eyebrows lifted. "Yeah?" he whispered back.
"Do you think they'd like it if I… um…"
She wiggled her fingers, nodding towards the snowman. The Guardian's eyes lit up.
"Yeah! But—wait," he recommended.
Her brow crinkled in confusion. "Wait?"
Jack nodded. "Magic coming out of nowhere freaks people out. Magic appearing alongside an object, or a 'magic word,' or something? That's something they can grasp," he whispered. "People are more comfortable when they think they know why things work—ah!"
He nodded back towards the schoolchildren, and Elsa followed his gaze. Surely enough, a black satin top hat was suddenly blowing through the air towards the group.
Their object.
Her eyebrows lifted as she looked to him for confirmation, and Jack nodded, chewing on the edge of his lip as he watched. He leaned over close to her, his whisper on her ear sending a shiver over her skin. "One… two…!"
As the little blonde girl snatched the hat out of the air and tossed it upwards, Elsa shot a tiny burst of magic at the group, the faint shimmer hitting the side of the hat just as it fell onto the snowman's head.
In an instant, the snowman shivered from top to bottom, animating like it was just waking up. Opening its eyes, the snowman looked around upon the group of children standing in a circle below him.
"HAPPY BIRTHDAY!" it bellowed.
Elsa's hand flew to her mouth again as she giggled, looking to Jack as he, too, was restraining from another snort. Glancing back, she could see that the group of schoolchildren—now joined by a man in a tuxedo—was frozen, staring at the snowman with eye-bulging awe and disbelief.
"That hat brought Frosty to life!" the little girl exclaimed.
It was a good name, Elsa decided. She could hardly contain her smile, watching the scene unfold with glee. A few moments later, the Spirit of Winter leaned over close to her ear again, his freezing breath sending another little jolt of electricity across her skin.
"Okay," he whispered, a grin on his voice. "I have got to bring you on more of these things."
Elsa giggled softly into her hand. "You've never just sat and watched children with a snowman before?"
"I've never brought one to life before—!"
To this, she completely pressed her hand over her mouth, unable to keep from laughing. Jack laughed as well, his eyes bright, and then softening once again with affection.
"I know, I know…" he chuckled under his breath, shaking his head as he looked back to the children. "Probably a girl thing…"
She could only smile, blushing as she looked back to the group. The man in the tuxedo had snatched back the hat, arguing with the children as the snowman went strangely still. She frowned, but—even without intervening—she could somehow sense that everything was going to be okay.
Children were amazing.
From beside her behind the bushes, Elsa heard Jack Frost try to clear his throat. She jumped slightly, turning to face him.
He pulled in a deep breath.
"Elsa, have you ever—I—I mean," he started quietly, "Have you ever considered—"
Elsa's eyebrows lifted. Studying him, she realized that Jack Frost was struggling for words, his expression tight with anxiety.
"Thought about—maybe," he choked again, "I mean, if you were wanting—"
Finally, his gaze slowly moved over in her direction.
"Wanted—to have kids?" he whispered.
Elsa's eyes widened as he hesitantly looked up into her face, the unexpectedly personal question sitting unanswered in the air between them. After only a few moments of eye contact, Jack crumbled and looked away from her, his face flushing as he let out a nervous laugh.
"I, I mean—in the general sense," the Guardian added quickly, rubbing the back of his neck.
His eyes wandered back up in her direction, anxiously waiting for her response. Elsa's heart jumped into her throat. "Oh—I—"
She looked down to her lap, fidgeting with her fingers. Collecting herself, the Fifth Spirit then pulled in her breath.
"Honestly… I haven't really given it much thought," she admitted. "I—I never really imagined that I'd have the opportunity. But if I did—well, then I think it really seems like the right thing to do."
The Spirit of Winter had gone strangely quiet, hanging on her every word.
"You think so?" he asked softly.
Elsa shrugged. "It's pretty naive to talk about wanting to do things for the good of 'future generations,' without connecting it to the fact that somebody has to actually make those future generations exist." She shook her head, letting out a quiet, bitter laugh. "You can't just go through life assuming that other people are always going to take care of everything for you. Not to mention—I'm royalty. If I were to have children, if would have significant political repercussions."
"Well, yeah, but besides that."
"What do you mean?"
His face looked pained. Struggling for words again, Jack swallowed.
"I—wasn't talking about duty, Elsa," he tried again. "I—I was asking about you."
Her eyes widened, and she looked away in thought as he fell quiet again. She—hadn't ever considered that, either.
For the vast majority of her life, the then-Princess Elsa had been dually focused on trying to prepare for queenhood, and trying to conceal her powers. Between those two things, she simply hadn't had the time for dreams about love or children or some sort of long-term future domestic bliss. And now, trying to live up to her role as the Fifth Spirit, as well… it wasn't like she was at all lacking for ideas or responsibilities or personal ambitions, or was somehow just waiting around for something to come along and fill up her time. And that wasn't even to MENTION the fact that she'd never particularly seen herself as a "mommy-ing" type. It was just… in Elsa's eyes, there was so much to be done in the world. And she wanted to accomplish ALL of it. The idea of having to set her own goals aside for a time, even for a relatively short time, was terrifying to say the least.
And yet—!
She closed her eyes, pulling in a deep breath.
"I think that family is everything," Elsa decided, shattering the silence as her eyes flew open again, "And even though things weren't exactly perfect, I've never doubted that my parents loved me. Not to mention, if Anna had ever given up on me, I just—I—!"
She cut herself off, shaking her head.
"I know that there are no guarantees. I know that," Elsa stammered, "But speaking as someone who's actually studied history and politics and everything, when there are so many other things in life that just crumble and fade away…"
Jack was listening to her in complete silence, crouched beside her on the balls of his feet behind the bushes. As she looked to him, he pulled in a deep breath.
"And… family doesn't?" Jack prompted softly.
Elsa closed her eyes once again. Finally, she nodded.
"Family doesn't," she whispered. "Love—true love—is permanent."
The Fifth Spirit looked down to her hands, fidgeting with her fingers. Without looking, she could feel the Guardian's eyes watching her face, a silence falling over them as she considered her own words. In all her years of concealing her powers, in all that time of always assuming that she would never even reasonably have a chance…!
Elsa snuck a glance towards the beautiful, white-haired boy beside her, not quite lifting her gaze to match his own as he crouched silently in the snow.
In her entire life, no one had ever actually asked her this question.
"So…" Jack started again, his voice suddenly very small. "…Yes?"
"I—I think so."
The Fifth Spirit nodded, looking back towards the schoolchildren. The man in the tuxedo had by now disappeared, and the children were happily following their new snowman friend away, marching and singing some silly little song as they did so.
"What about you?" Elsa asked suddenly.
He jumped, blinking a few times as he shook out of the stupor. "Wha—huh?"
"Have you ever wanted to have children?"
"Oh! Uh—"
Jack Frost blushed furiously, reaching up and rubbing the back of his neck. Letting out a nervous laugh, he glanced in her direction, not quite making eye contact. Elsa didn't miss the extra flurries of sparkling snow that suddenly began to appear from the freezing air directly over their heads.
The Guardian of Fun swallowed with effort, not noticing the snowflakes as his hand slowed nearly to a stop on his neck. "Kind of need a… girl," he muttered, his voice trailing off into a self-conscious mutter. "For… that…"
He blushed again, suddenly appearing extremely shy as he stole a hesitant glance in Elsa's direction. As she watched in interest (and a bit of mild confusion), Jack then let out another nervous laugh, continuing to rub the back of his neck and looking down towards his feet.
Elsa's brow furrowed as she studied him. Jack glanced up towards the schoolyard again, a strange longing in his eyes, and she could have almost sworn that the 319-year-old Guardian of Children was—
Elsa's eyes bulged.
The Guardian. Of. CHILDREN.
The obvious truth hit her all at once. She could practically feel his unspoken answer sitting on the air, making her shrink with embarrassment at her own stupidity for having failing to connect the dots. Jack Frost was a young man who, for three hundred years, when given no real directions or communication whatsoever, had chosen to spend all of his time inspiring the joy and happiness of…!
Guardian.
Of.
CHILDREN.
Oooooh, of course…
Queen Elsa was busy mentally berating herself when she suddenly heard the Spirit of Winter clear his throat again, making her jump. Glancing towards him, she could see that Jack was pulling in a careful breath, appearing to gather his courage.
"I guess I… never thought I'd have the opportunity, either," he admitted softly.
He looked up into her face. With the snowflakes floating softly down in the silence around them, Jack Frost and Elsa stared into each other's eyes for a long, intense moment.
They both crumbled at exactly the same time, tearing their gazes away from each other with the Snow Queen letting out an uncomfortable heh and the Spirit of Winter clearing his throat. He pretended to cough into his fist, and she laughed nervously, pushing a strand of hair back as her face flushed. Jack let out a forced little laugh as well, desperate to ease the tension as they both looked back towards the children following the snowman out of the schoolyard, their excited voices carrying over the freshly-fallen snow.
The realization returning, the Fifth Spirit's smile faded.
Her face fell, and the Snow Queen glanced in Jack Frost's direction, looking towards him without making eye contact as she gathered her courage.
"Prince Frederik proposed," Elsa said quietly.
Jack froze, abruptly sucking in his breath.
"…Oh," he choked at length.
For a long moment, they crouched behind the bushes in silence. Hesitantly looking up, Elsa saw that Jack was struggling to come up with a response.
"Have you—um," he tried again, the words strangled in his effort to get them out. "Have you—given him an answer?"
She shook her head.
"I mean," Elsa corrected, blushing furiously as his eyebrows jumped, "I told him no, but—it was a reaction. I could probably reverse it, if I wanted, but—I don't really think I should. I don't want to, and I—I'm not planning on it."
Jack was still frozen in his place, his eyes bulging with disbelief. A strange expression on his face—like he was trying to determine if he'd heard her correctly—he looked to her in amazement.
"You—said no?" he breathed.
She nodded.
Jack didn't verbally respond for a moment, a spark looking remarkably like hope lighting up in his eyes. His face starting to melt into a smile, he glanced to the side, touching his forehead.
"You said no," he repeated to himself again.
Elsa's heart leapt, a relieved smile of her own tugging at the edge of her mouth. She had said no to Prince Frederik, and—well, now thinking back on it, she was becoming more and more confident that it had been the right thing to do. And Jack looked so happy…
She absolutely loved seeing him look so relieved.
"Welp!" the Guardian suddenly declared, grinning as he placed his hand onto his thigh, "I think it's safe to say that our work here is done. We should probably get going."
He pushed himself up, then turning back and offering his hand to Elsa. The happy feeling suddenly vanished, and her face fell, her smile gone.
Forcing it back onto her face, she reached over to him in response. "I'm sure it is getting to be rather late at night," she said, "It probably is best for us to get back. And thank you for everything. This has been an absolutely wonderful date."
Taking her hand in his own, the Spirit of Winter pulled her onto her feet. Smiling, he just stared into her eyes for a long moment, the snowflakes in his brilliant blue irises as warm and adoring as she had ever seen.
"It's not over yet," Jack whispered.