AUTHOR'S NOTE: Hi, everybody! As a friendly reminder, I absolutely ADORE getting reviews and feedback! Bonus points for anyone who *doesn't* ask me for money. I love you all! :) ~NNT

.

A CHRISTMAS MIRACLE

Jack Frost decided that having Elsa's body snuggled up right next to his felt every kind of perfect as they started to walk down the hallway, taking their sweet, glorious time as they followed the bouncing and ridiculous little snowman. He held her close, the weight of her head resting against his shoulder as she leaned into him, the most wonderful burden that his shoulder had ever upheld.

But he wouldn't be holding her for very long.

"Your present!" the Fifth Spirit exclaimed suddenly, jolting away and looking to him with with her brilliant blue eyes bulging in horror, "I—I left it by my dresser!"

Jack startled back into reality as Elsa leapt out of his grip, whirling around like a snowflake in the wind and racing for her door. He watched, wanting to take her all in as she came to a stop, grasping the handle. Her long blonde hair, her beautiful hips, the graceful, swinging movement of her steps, even as she ran back like an excited child to retrieve the gift—! Ugh. It was just amazing. And cute.

His Elsa was so cute.

Jack let his head drop forward, smiling so hard that he thought his face could break. He dropped the end of his staff into the carpet, starting to spin it. His heart was soaring. This wasn't the first time he'd had a girlfriend, but this was definitely the first time he'd seen a lady look SO excited, just at the prospect of being with him. And, the fact that the lady was Elsa? Greatest. Feeling. EVER. To Jack, her love wasn't just flattering. It was straight-up intoxicating.

He turned slightly, looking out the windows across the hallway from the doors. Christmas snow, bright and fluffy, was falling from the sky, Mother Nature naturally doing its thing without any help whatsoever from the Spirit of Winter on this amazing and wonderful morning. Jack hasn't actually gotten to spend Christmas WITH anyone since before he died, and—while he was a little nervous, to see Elsa's family, and pray that they'd actually approve of him this time—he could hardly contain his excitement. No matter what that creepy old demon had taunted on the night before, Jack knew that everything was going to work out with his Elsa. In fact, it was going to be GREAT.

Everything really was better in the snow…

Hearing the characteristic ca-CHUNK of the door handle being depressed again, Jack turned back around. The door swung open and Queen Elsa quickly rushed through, now wearing the navy blue, hooded dancing dress from the night before and clasping the tiny ice box he'd made her in her hands. Looking up at him, their eyes met.

Elsa blushed. "I caved," she admitted, laughing nervously, "We have my cousin here, and—well, you're dressed, and I probably shouldn't be wearing just a nightgown, even though it's Christmas morning, and—!"

Her voice trailed off, and she smoothed a strand of hair back behind her ear, glancing away. Jack's heart swelled.

"You look beautiful," he said.

He meant it, too.

Elsa looked back up into his face, biting the edge of her lip. Smiling with a shy excitement, she then stepped up to him, closing the space and snuggling into him, leaning her head forward to rest it on his shoulder.

"Thanks," she whispered. "So do you."

Jack huffed a laugh, trying and failing to hide the jolt of excitement that shot through him as the beautiful young Snow Queen gazed into his eyes with adoration, if not actual hero-worship. He wrapped his arms around her, pulling her closer as she eagerly came, the inherent chill of both her ice dress and her curvy body against his own feeling more amazing and reassuring and perfect than he even knew how to describe. Except—

Christmas.

For the first time in three hundred years… this felt like Christmas.

.

.

.

The door was standing ajar, and the sounds of eager, happy voices lilted out of Arendelle castle's private library and into the hall, making Elsa's heart leap. Christmas Morning. Even as a young princess trying to conceal her powers, Christmas Morning had still been just as exciting for Elsa as it was for any other child—presents, family, and the fact that snow and ice were literally a part of the decor, lest she accidentally make a flurry and need an emergency coverup excuse. The pressure was off, and nothing was left but love, and excitement, and joy.

But standing next to her, Jack Frost had gone strangely still.

Her eyebrows lifting, Elsa looked to him in surprise. Her boyfriend looked happy, just like he had a few moments earlier, but also—nervous?

"Are you alright?" she asked him.

He gave himself a little shake, as if trying to shudder off some nerves. "Sorry," he muttered, "It's just—your family."

Her eyebrows lifted. "My family?"

Jack left out a long breath, then swallowing with effort.

"It's nothing bad," he said, "I'm just kinda nervous. We've changed, since yesterday. I mean, we've changed what this is."

He gestured back and forth between them with the end of his staff, and Elsa's heart leapt.

"They're going to love you as my boyfriend," she laughed softly, giving his hand a squeeze. "You know that."

A strange look swept over his features, and then, Jack Frost was blushing, grinning from ear to ear as he looked down towards the carpet. Giving her hand a squeeze, like he needed the reassurance, Jack then pulled in a breath.

"Thanks," he breathed.

Elsa nodded, her heart swelling for him. She was nervous for this, too. But watching Jack's expression, he only appeared to be slightly more relieved.

"Is there something else?"

He looked to her in confusion. "Huh?"

"You still look nervous," Elsa pressed. "If—if you don't want to do this—"

"—I do."

She fell quiet and waited waited, watching as he blushed, a sheepish, embarrassed little grin tugging at the edges of his mouth. Jack Frost was clearly gathering his courage again, but just his face was enough to make her swoon. That grin. Those eyes.

"It's just… been a while," the Guardian finally admitted, his voice hardly more than a whisper. "You know? It's Christmas."

Her eyes widened a bit at the realization. Jack had been alone—COMPLETELY alone—for 300 years.

300 Christmases.

Biting the edge of her lip, Elsa looked down to their clasped hands, his larger one tight around hers. Smiling as reassuringly as she could, the Snow Queen then looked back up into his eyes, leaning forward an inch.

"Yes," Elsa said. "It is."

Jack swallowed again, looking back into her gaze. Elsa could suddenly see the vulnerability in his eyes, the pain, with a new and perfect understanding. But he was going to be fine. In fact, Elsa had reason to believe that Jack was going to be absolutely wonderful, on his first shared Christmas morning in such a very long time.

Holding her breath, she squeezed Jack's hand as they turned the corner, walking into the room.

Everyone else was already there, in the small private library where their tree and presents had been set up. Olaf excitedly bounded over to where Sven was sitting by the beautifully lit tree, Kristoff stood holding a mug of hot cocoa by the fire, and Eugene and Rapunzel were snuggled up together with their mugs on a couch. Queen Anna, as she often was at this point in her pregnancy, was lying down on another couch, happily eating chocolates with her head and back propped up by a number of pillows.

It hardly took her an instant before she noticed her sister's entrance. Seeing Elsa and Jack standing together by the door, Anna's eyes lit up.

"Elsa!" she exclaimed, "You're here!"

"I am," Elsa laughed, feeling Jack squeeze her hand a bit tighter, a few flurries of snow beginning to sparkle into the air around them.

As everyone individually registered their presence, it was Rapunzel who finally sat forward a bit, her eyebrows lifting in question.

"And…?" she asked quietly.

A hush fell over the room, the tension practically crackling through the air as everyone waited for a response. Elsa glanced at her boyfriend, and Jack Frost turned his head and looked towards her, saying nothing, but raising his eyebrows. The side of his mouth played with the idea of a smile, hesitant, but waiting.

It was her decision.

Pulling in a deep breath, the Fifth Spirit gathered her courage.

"Um—heh," Elsa stammered, looking back towards the group and blushing as she gave an awkward little gesture back and forth between Jack and herself. "Boyfriend, girlfriend."

The room immediately erupted into cheers and applause.

"YES!"

"Whoo-hoo!"

"FINALLY!"

"Ooooh, thank Flemmy…" Kristoff exhaled, glancing upward in a silent prayer.

Elsa's heart leapt, giggling as the anxious fear lifting from her shoulders at the sight of her family's excitement and approval. Glowing with pride, Jack pulled her in and planted a confident kiss on Elsa's cheek, and she blushed even harder, stumbling a bit as he looked to him in delight. This was perfect. Everybody was happy. They were SO. HAPPY.

And so was she.

"At LONG LAST," Eugene exclaimed, collapsing dramatically back into the couch and looking to his wife with his mug raised aloft. "Frosty and Elsa have communicated with each other. It's a Christmas miracle."

"It is indeed," Rapunzel agreed, clinking her mug against his.

"And now that they're here," Olaf exclaimed from over by the tree, "We can get STARTED!"

Sven the Reindeer snorted in agreement, bending down and gently biting on a piece of ribbon, pulling a present out from under the tree with his teeth. He straightened again and then proudly held out the box to Kristoff, who set down his mug on the nearest end table and walked forward to take it.

"This one is actually for you, Elsa," Kristoff said, reading the tag as he turned the box around in his hands.

"Oh—you two will want to sit together," Anna realized suddenly, glancing between Jack and Elsa and grunting as she struggled to push her enormously pregnant body up off of the couch, "I—"

"—You don't have to get up," Elsa interrupted with a little jump, "You just stay where it's comfortable. Jack and I can easily make anoth—"

"—We can share," Jack blurted at the same time.

Elsa stopped talking, looking to him in surprise.

"There's plenty of room in that chair," Jack added hopefully, gesturing to a nearby armchair with a shrug. "I mean—if you don't mind squeezing."

I LIKE SQUEEZING!

"I think that's a good idea," Elsa agreed, nodding a little too quickly to be convincing, "Let's—!"

Jack Frost was already pulling her over to the chair, and she eagerly followed, nearly stumbling over her feet as they came to a stop. Spinning around, the Guardian of Fun plopped himself down into its cushions, scooting as far as he could to one side of the chair to presumably make a show of "leaving room" for Elsa on the other. She smoothed her skirt and obliged, attempting to lightly sit in the narrow spot, but—upon seeing that it was much too narrow to accommodate her hips—the Snow Queen then simply twisted by ninety degrees, and threw her legs over the Spirit of Winter's lap. Jack draped his large hand on top, looking to her with an unhidden eagerness and excitement in his eyes as she wrapped her arms around his neck, pulling her feet up a bit. Her smile so wide her cheeks were starting to hurt, Elsa rested her head on his shoulder, snuggling into him as close as she could and feeling that her heart was about to burst with joy.

It was only after a few moments of curling up in her icy little paradise of his arms before Elsa reluctantly remembered they weren't alone in the room.

"Taking one for the team, I see," Kristoff drawled, shooting Jack a look. "It's so selfless of you to let Anna keep the couch... Snowmeo."

From the couch across the room, Eugene snorted. "Yeah. Frosty's an absolute saint."

Jack laughed self-consciously, looking down and reaching up to rub the back of his neck as his face flushed pink. He opened his mouth to respond, but before he could do so, Elsa abruptly leaned forward and kissed him.

Jack froze, his eyes wide with surprise. With a silent giggle, Elsa pulled back and then snuggled into her ice powers boyfriend's shoulder once again, letting out a happy sigh.

Kristoff huffed a laugh of disbelief.

"Guess I can't argue with that," he mumbled. He gave them a good-natured smile as he walked across the room to them, handing Elsa the box before turning and beginning to walk back towards the tree.

"No," Elsa whispered after her brother-in-law. "You can't."

She looked back into Jack's eyes and he smiled sheepishly, pulling her in tighter and giving her a romantic little squeeze. For a few moments, all that the Fifth Spirit could do was to stare back—absent-mindedly twisting her fingers in a lock of his thick white hair (so soft), snuggling closer to him in the chair, and drowning in his sweet, loving gaze.

"You know," Olaf offered thoughtfully from somewhere across the room, "Physical touch has been experimentally shown to help with feelings of depression and pain. Although I think that the article I read was specifically talking about the benefits of massage—"

"—Stop giving them ideas, Olaf."

But Elsa wasn't listening. The Fifth Spirit's vision had gone hazy, her expression melting into a smile.

"You have the most incredible eyes…" Elsa whispered, stroking back the Guardian's hair behind his ear.

Jack's face flushed, his eyes lighting up as he stared into her gaze with adoration and a little happy embarrassment.

"Wait," he whispered back, a second later, as if he was questioning if he'd correctly heard what she'd said. "What?"

"Your eyes."

His eyebrows lifted, and Elsa shifted her hips next to him, still half-sitting on his lap with her legs casually thrown across his thighs as she continued to feel his soft white hair between her fingers.

"They're beautiful," she said softly. "Bright, and deep, and so blue… I love them."

Jack was silent, staring at her in wonder and not pulling away. Realizing how forward she was being, Elsa blushed, quietly taking her hand down from his hair. Amazingly, she hadn't even begun on everything she loved about his eyes… or his hair… or his smile. She could probably wax poetic about his appearance for an hour, but she didn't want to sound as crazy as she felt.

He was just… he was really cute. And he deserved to know it. That was all.

"Thanks," Jack whispered back, blushing a bit himself, but for apparently different reasons. "I like your eyes, too."

"But mine don't have snowflakes in them."

A look of confusion swept his face.

"Huh?" Jack stammered.

"Snowflakes." Elsa pointed at them with her finger, snuggling into him another inch as she did so. "The irises aren't just blue—they have white and silver streaks in them. And the streaks look a lot like snowflakes. They do to me, anyway."

"I didn't know that."

"I'll find you a mirror."

Having rested her hand back down onto her leg, Elsa felt her boyfriend gently place his own hand on top of hers.

"I think I'd rather look into your eyes, right now," he whispered.

The Fifth Spirit's heart fluttered as she looked back up into his face, her breath catching at the sincerity in his expression. Jack simply kept watching her, beginning to rub his thumb over her knuckle.

"Did you write down that line beforehand?" Elsa breathed.

Jack let out a breathy laugh, shaking his head. "I—like you," he said, shrugging.

Looking down to her lap, Elsa said nothing, turning her palm over to take his hand in her own. She gave it a squeeze.

"I like you, too," she said softly.

Jack didn't respond, but only smiled. Sitting up a bit, Elsa shyly reached up and touched his hair again, just above his ear, before stroking it back. She didn't know why, but just—wanted to touch him. And his hair was incredibly soft. Soft, thick, and white, just like a perfect blanket of snow. Before she realized it, Elsa could suddenly feel the weight of Jack Frost leaning the weight of his head into her hand as she stroked his hair back again, the Youngest Guardian visibly relishing her touch. He closed his eyes, like he was focusing on simply breathing in the moment, committing every word and touch and point of contact to memory. Elsa shifted her hand onto the back of his neck, and his eyes fluttered open, his usually-intense gaze locking onto hers with wonder and relief.

Her heart melted.

I can see you.

Almost as if he could hear her thoughts, Jack's mouth pulled into a dreamy, worshipful smile.

From somewhere beyond their perfect little bubble, Elsa slowly began to realize that the Christmas Morning chatter of the room had gone strangely silent again, trailing off into an almost complete quiet. With some hesitance, she pulled her hand back from Jack's hair and leaned back a bit, looking around in confusion to realize with embarrassment that everyone in the room was staring at them.

"Please," Eugene drawled. "Don't let us interrupt you two."

"I'm just grateful it was all worth it," Queen Anna exhaled, popping another chocolate into her mouth and looking to Princess Rapunzel, who started nodding in agreement.

"What was worth it?" Kristoff laughed, before looking to his wife. His voice trailed off, and then his smile started to fade, his eyes bulging at he stared at Anna. "Wait—WHAT was worth it!?"

Elsa huffed an embarrassed little laugh, sitting up a bit and looking down to her first two gifts—the box Kristoff had handed her, and the one she had earlier from Jack. Her boyfriend was awkwardly adjusting himself in the chair, blushing and moving her legs a bit on his.

Knowing which Christmas present she was more excited for (sorry!), the Fifth Spirit gently leaned down to place the gift from her lap onto the ground, looking across the room apologetically. "I'm going to unwrap that next," she said, "I'm—already holding another one?"

Kristoff wasn't even paying attention, his horrified eyes as wide as saucers as he had a silent—and apparently, very intense—mental exchange with his wife. After a few moments, he turned back to Sven for emotional support and the other conversations slowly started to pick back up again, laughter and joking filling the happy space as Elsa looked into Jack's gaze.

"I can open it now," she asked quietly, "Um… right?"

Jack nodded. Unconsciously holding her breath, Elsa touched the little ice-bow, pulling on it to realize that it wasn't merely a decoration, but a handle for the little box. With the soft and familiar sound of creaking ice, the top of the box opened, revealing a sparkling something sitting in a little pile of snow. She reached in, carefully taking hold of a long, slender chain and pulling in up. It was a necklace—rather like the one that Jack had made for her almost two weeks prior, glinting in the light. But instead of one snowflake as a pendent, this necklace had two, delicately touching in the center like a kiss.

"See, I was thinking," Jack explained, pointing at one of the snowflakes in the pendent with an awkward edge on his voice, "It's two—this, uh, this fancier one is you, and—"

"—And this other one is you."

He nodded. Elsa's heart had started pounding as Jack reached up and began to rub the back of his neck, glancing away. The first of the two snowflakes—they were touching each other's sides, neither one higher up than the other—was what Elsa was fairly certain was called a stellar dendrite; elegant spines branching out and then out again, like ferns covered in a wintery silver frost. That was meant to be her. Jack had represented himself with a much simpler, bolder snowflake, with a hexagonal center and sectored plates instead of the lacy spines that he had thought of for his girlfriend.

It was absolutely perfect.

"I love it," Elsa breathed.

She could tell without looking up that Jack had relaxed, his muscles releasing a bit like he was letting out his breath. He gave her a squeeze, and Elsa continued to study the pendant, as—

"There's no magic in this one," Jack blurted suddenly, drawing her attention up again, "I—I was kind of hoping we could start over and try again. With that."

Elsa looked up to see that her wintery boyfriend was blushing, his pale cheeks flushed shade of pink. She restrained from a laugh, her heart swelling.

"It's perfect," she whispered, beaming, "And I trust you. I want to put it on right now."

He released a breath again, his smile returning. Gesturing for it, Jack took the necklace as Elsa handed it to him, and she twisted away, holding her hair up off of her neck. He threaded it around her lifted arm, and Elsa felt a tiny whoosh of cold air as Jack Frost fastened the chain together, letting the ice fall against her skin.

She dropped her hair back down, eagerly feeling for the pendant. The chain was exactly the right length—and, feeling the two icy snowflakes now dangling a few inches below her collarbone, Elsa felt a rush of joy and relief sweep over her that had nothing to do with magic.

She looked back into Jack's eyes.

"Thank you," Elsa whispered.

He just smiled, relaxing back into the chair and watching her. Feeling the beautiful necklace with her fingertips, the Fifth Spirit felt a pang of guilt in the back of her chest.

"Your gift isn't going to be until a little later," Elsa admitted, "But I wish I could even begin to match a present like this one now. If there were only something that…!"

Elsa's voice trailed off as the idea struck her. Looking down to where one of Jack's hands was resting on her legs, she reached forward and picked up his wrist, turning it over. Surely enough, his new shirt did have buttons—one on each narrow cuff. Tiny, silver, and unadorned.

She looked back up into his eyes. "Would you be alright if I…?"

Her eyebrows lifted.

After a few moments, sensing her meaning, Jack's expression took on something indiscernible. With a curious look in his eyes, the Spirit of Winter gave her a slow nod, saying nothing as he pulled his other arm out from behind her back on the chair, offering her his wrists so that she could see the button on each one of his shirtcuffs.

Looking down and squeezing her chin to her chest, Elsa strained to see the two snowflakes in her new necklace, mentally noting their specific design. Reaching forward, she then picked up one of Jack's wrists.

Whoosh!

The first snowflake flowered into existence over the first button's silver surface—a faint, subtle white sparkle in the light. With a smile, Elsa let go of that wrist, picking up the second as he eyed her work.

Whoosh!

And the second snowflake appeared, etching itself across the second silvery button's surface.

Elsa pulled her hands back, clasping them together in her lap and nervously looking up into Jack's eyes. To her excitement and relief, he didn't just look happy or approving, but—

Dreamy.

In what appeared to be an adoring disbelief, the Guardian looked up from the buttons and into her face.

"Matching?" he asked quietly.

Elsa nodded. "But secret," she whispered, "I mean—no one has to know. But if you don't like them, I—"

"—I love them."

With a grin, he reached up and tapped one of his wrist buttons against her pendant, making her give a little jump. She giggled, and Jack beamed, his kind eyes as loving as she could have ever hoped to wish for.

I call you Snowflake because the closer I get to you—and the more carefully I look, Jack had once told her, what now felt like so long ago, 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 smiled, her heart swelling at the memory. She leaned against him, the chill of his body seeping through his shirt and feeling safe and welcome as she snuggled into the Spirit of Winter's shoulder, a mere moment before his arm was around her once again, affectionately pulling her body against his own. Feeling more confident than she ever had before, Elsa could finally admit to herself that—in a secret, unspoken way—she truly was Jack Frost's "snowflake."

And he, in turn, was hers.