(ENORMOUS) AUTHOR'S NOTE: I LIVE! Although, life has been crazy. So, this is (FINALLY) the next chronological chapter, and I'm really happy to say that the hiatus, while still happening, is actually ALMOST done. I know, I know, I keep sayingthat, because I keep thinking it's true, BUT THIS TIME FOR REAL: THE NEXT TIME I POST, IT WILL BE AN ANNOUNCEMENT THAT THE HIATUS IS OVER (so, no new chapter, but lots and LOTS of new material—like, the entirely rewritten snowball fight, etc.).

FOR ALL THOSE OF YOU THAT HAVE ASKED SPECIFIC QUESTIONS, ETC, THAT I HAVEN'T ANSWERED YET: I am WAY sorry! If you've asked/said something SPECIFIC that you were hoping I'd respond to, AND I HAVEN'T, please, PLEASE ask again so that I can try to get back to you! Again, for contact OUTSIDE the fanfic, I have an email at IceAllianceAuthorPerson at gmail (NOT "NopeNotTelling;" that one was taken!). Also, a LOT of people in the guest reviews have given me some great feedback that I'd like to respond to, but have just left the name as "Guest," meaning, that I have NO way to differentiate you from everybody else for a response. As a request—um, can you wonderful, FANTASTIC guest reviewers please give me a way to respond, like, by putting yourself as "Guest23" or something? Because, I'd love to respond to a lot of you, but can't. (And, obviously, I reserve the right to not respond to trolling.)

TO GUEST REVIEWER KARA B: Of course!

TO GUEST REVIEWER RAVEN: Oh my goodness, thank you so much for writing to tell me that! For the number of times I've read your kind words, I can tell you that you have no idea how much your review has affected ME!

In the meantime, thank you thank you THANK YOU to everybody else that reviewed—it really means more to me than I can say; EXPECIALLY right now, in this blasted hiatus! Thank you for being awesome, for still being here and tolerating me, for being interested and reading, and I hope you have a fantabulous day! :)

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51: FATHERHOOD

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"Fourteen?!"

Queen Anna's jaw dropped as she and Elsa walked arm-in-arm down the hallway after dinner, satiated from a full meal of lefsa, fresh cheese, and fish. Jack saw Elsa laugh, shrugging as she leaned in close to her sister.

"It was—uncomfortable," Elsa chuckled breathily. "To say the least."

"I'll say!"

"I don't want to know what you would have said!"

The girls laughed, and Jack's heart swelled, seeing the pure joy on Elsa's face. Oh, thank Manny for Anna. She made her sister so happy…

That smile, though.

Finally reaching Anna and Kristoff's bedroom door, the Commoner King quietly stepped behind the sisters, pulling out his key. Pushing the door open for his wife, he raised his eyebrows.

"We're going to be turning in pretty quickly," he sighed, leaning up against the frame, "Sven and I are hoping to be up early tomorrow. What are the ol' Blizzard Bunnies going to be up to? Anything to be—concerned—abou—"

"—Kristoff!"

Jack restrained from a grin as the king leapt to the side, avoiding Anna's shove. The Ice Powers Girl didn't seem to notice the exchange.

"Oh, I was thinking more research," Elsa shrugged as Kristoff leaned back up against the doorframe. She looked to Jack. "Is that okay with you?"

Jack nodded. "Yeah, that's fine."

"I'll tell you what, though," the Snow Queen continued, turning around and lovingly taking Anna's hands in her own again, "In the morning, before you and I do the invitation trip to the schools, I'm going to line up some chocolate samples that we can take along. It doesn't seem that—"

There was a long, shrill squeal, and Elsa was cut off as a giggling, hip-height mass of snow appeared at the end of the hallway. Seeing the group, the snowman leapt into the air, his top half twirling independently of its bottom before he fell back into one piece and ran towards them.

"Olaf!" Anna exclaimed, dropping Elsa's hands and bending over to him. "How are you? I haven't seen you all day!"

"OoooOOOOOOH, I am GREAT!" Olaf squealed, running up to her and stopping to adoringly look up at the sisters, "There's sooOOOOOO much snow! We had LOTS of fun; we built snowmen, and a big FORT, and had a sledding race, and made snow angels, and had ANOTHER sledding race, and DADDYYYYYYYY!"

Jack startled as Olaf leapt into the air, shrieking in delight and shoving in-between the sisters to run to him. Before he had the chance to dodge, the little snowman was suddenly pummeling head-on into his legs, knocking the Fifth Guardian off his feet to tumble over backwards onto the ground with a yelp of shock.

Kristoff burst out laughing hysterically, pounding his fist against the doorframe. As the Spirit of Winter struggled to sit up, the little snowman still clutching his ankles, he noticed that Queen Anna was giggling as well, and—to his horror—that Elsa was also laughing, covering her mouth with her hand as she blushed.

Jack felt blood rising to his face.

"OOOOH, DaddyOhDaddyOhDaddy, I've MISSED YOOOOOOOOU!" Olaf squealed, clutching Jack's calves, "It's been SOOOOOOOOOO LONG since—wait, how long has it been?"

"Uh—yeah," Jack stammered, searching for a response, "I—um, I—missed you too—"

"—It's been TOO LONG," the snowman gasped, gazing worshipfully up into Jack's face, and then falling down and embracing his legs with death grip again as the others laughed behind him, "And I have SO much to tell you, because I love you and you're Jack Frost and you're my Dad because you're Jack Frost and that makes you my dad and I LOVE YOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOU!"

"Please stop calling me that," Jack begged.

"Wait," Anna giggled, turning to her sister, "Am I missing something, or…?"

"Olaf has decided that Jack is his father," Elsa explained.

"Awww!"

"Wait, wait, wait," Kristoff interjected, "His father!? How does that work out?"

Jack awkwardly managed to push himself up, leaning forward to peel Olaf's arms off of his legs.

"It doesn't," he choked.

"—OoooOOOOOOH, but it DOES!" Olaf squealed, "He's JACK FROST! And it makes perfect sense that he would arrive at this pivotal time in my development! He's here to fill the emotional void in my life left by my lack of a snowy paternal figure."

Queen Elsa laughed quietly into her hand as she looked to her sister. "The fact that Jack has ice powers means that he's the father Olaf's—um, apparently—always wanted."

"So, Olaf has a father now?" Anna gasped, "That's adorable!"

"I am not Olaf's father," Jack squeaked. Blushing furiously, he gingerly managed to peel the snowman's stick arms off one of his legs, only to have Olaf instantly lunge forward onto his other, his entire snowy body trembling as he giggled uncontrollably, bouncing up and down and practically sobbing with joy.

Jack looked up to Elsa helplessly.

Restraining from a laugh, she walked forward, bending down and placing her hands on Olaf's sides to begin gently pulling him off.

"DANG, Frost!" Kristoff laughed, turning back to him, "You've already had a kid together!? Blizzard Bunnies do NOT waste time!"

"I—I c-can't be a father," Jack stammered, his face going pale as the Snow Queen reached back to help him onto his feet. "I mean—come on, I've never even had se—"

"—AAAH, HA HA HA, WHAT HE MEANS, OLAF," Elsa interrupted, lunging forward and clapping her hand over Jack's mouth as she looked to the snowman, "Is that—it's, um, it's a difficult transition. It'll take him some time to—adjust."

She threw a dark glare at Jack, slowly removing her hand. Gulping, he drew himself up, gripping his staff.

"Um—right," Jack choked. "Big emotional transition, Olaf."

"But it's soooOOOOooo CUTE," Queen Anna exclaimed, "We—"

"Are going to bed," Kristoff chuckled, "I don't know if my awkward-ometer can take much more of this. Better get out of here before the snowmance resumes…"

She rolled her eyes, and Elsa laughed, pulling her sister into a last, goodnight-embrace. King Kristoff and his overwhelmingly pregnant queen then passed into their room, closing the door as Jack and Elsa watched the little snowman go bouncing down the hall to his own quarters for the night.

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From somewhere in the next room, Jack Frost knew that Elsa was fast asleep in her bed, getting a few hours of rest before their secret outing. He knew that her icy nightgown had probably slipped from her shoulder by now, revealing a few creamy inches of her soft skin, and that her hair was probably tossed about her head on her pillow, just like it always was. The golden strands were probably glistening in the moonlight, snowflakes and ice crystals sparkling as they moved with her breathing, her chest rising up and down beneath the covers as the Ice Powers Girl peacefully slept in the silence.

If he were in her bedroom to see it, he would probably just watch; just stand by her in awe and take it all in. If he were there to see it, Jack had a feeling that the Ice Powers Girl's bed would look like the most warm, soft, comfortable, wonderful, and altogether impossibly tempting place in the entire world for him to be.

Which was exactly why the Youngest Guardian was currently standing in the next room, determinately inspecting every inch of Elsa's art gallery to entertain himself.

Replacing the tiny, frosty ice-Olaf on the shelf of figurines, shifting two Annas and a random politician to the back, Jack bit his lip. Taking a step away from the shelf of statues, he reached into his front pocket, pulling out Elsa's pocketwatch.

One fifty-five A.M.

Five more minutes.

Jack shoved the watch back into his pocket, swallowing hard. How long could he keep this up? One night, a couple hours of temptation without the ice wall (they'd left it down, because Elsa was counting on him to wake her at the proper time), not a problem. He had more than enough self-control for that. But at this rate, he was going to keep restraining as MisterFriendly Friend-Friend Friendzoned Guy for the next fifty years.

Shifting his grip on the staff, Jack walked around the end of the last shelf again, coming into the opening of the room behind it. Elsa's art gallery, he'd discovered, wasn't really a hallway at all, or even the tiny offshoot room that he'd originally thought it was. Instead, it was an airy private office, with multiple faded places in the carpet where large pieces of furniture had recently been moved out to make room for the Snow Queen's clear, crystalline shelves of ice statues. And from the statues on them, it looked like it was installed soon after her initial coronation. Beyond the shelves, there wasn't really all that much to see, but the open space might have been good for pacing if Jack weren't avoiding that part of the room.

Even though it was just a painting, there was something about coming face-to-face with Elsa's father that deeply unsettled Jack Frost.

Letting out his breath, Jack walked forward across the carpet, letting his staff fall back onto his shoulder. The portrait of the last king's coronation was much wider than it was tall, hanging over a long table with a few royal-looking objects on it, and although the man didn't look much like Elsa, his identity was clear from the fact that it had been painted at some point in the last fifty years.

Without even realizing it, Jack suddenly found himself standing directly in front of the painting. Loosening his grip on the staff and allowing the end of the shepherd's crook to silently fall into the carpet beside him, he drew himself up, subconsciously throwing his shoulders back a little as he glared into the portrait's eyes.

"You know…" Jack whispered into the silence. "I don't really think all that much of you."

The painting of the king stared emptily back at him, still and unmoving. After a few moments, Jack scoffed, giving his head a shake.

"I'm not going to pretend that I know all that much about parenting," he continued, "But I know enough about it to know that you did a really bad job. You wanna know why?

"Elsa grew up scared of herself. That's not natural, in kids. That's TAUGHT. Trust me," the Guardian breathed, "I know. If you're always scared, you'll never be able to think about anything else. You're not going to be happy, and you're not going to be able to have fun, especially if you're a kid. And kids NEED fun.

"Everyone needs a little fun. And you stole that from her," he stammered, "You stole—FUN—from a kid. Maybe if you weren't so focused on your own fears, you could have seen that. Maybe if you'd just listened to her, or, I dunno, anyone, Elsa could have actually HAD a childhood, and then maybe—just maybe," he continued, his voice growing slightly louder, "She wouldn't be so damaged now! You stole the FUN out of a little girl's childhood."

Jack Frost drew himself up, tossing his staff into his other hand. Cenching his teeth together, he strode up to the enormous oil painting, glaring into the image's empty, two-dimensional eyes.

"Elsa doesn't think that she—deserves—to have fun," he gritted, "Do you have ANY idea how—how sick that is? That's SICK! And it sounds like she'd barely, barely been able to escape this place, escape from that, but now she's been reinstated, and she doesn't even think she can take a break for more than two seconds! I swear, I'm bending over backwards trying to convince her to just calm down! And I haven't even TOUCHED on the idea of her having a boyfrien—"

Jack froze, catching the word just as it was about to fall off the tip of his tongue. Swallowing hard, he shifted his fingers on the staff, feeling a little heat rushing to his cheeks as he looked to the portrait of Elsa's father again.

"Elsa's turned out okay. Because she's insanely strong, though, not because of what you did," he whispered fervently. "Fine. Anna helped. But still! Even though it's incredible that she pulled through, nobody should HAVE to be that strong. And, Elsa's got the scars to show for it.

"So now," Jack continued, slightly louder, "Before I can even do anything that I want to do, I've got to convince the most amazing woman I've ever known that she's even worth it. Like—that having a little FUN in her life wouldn't be the end of the world. Basically, I'm being friendzoned, because I'm currently stuck spending all of my time cleaning up your mess. And that's. Not. FAIR. It's not fair to me, and it's really, really not fair to HER. It's not fair that she's had to go through all of this, especially, ESPECIALLY, when her own father—instead of helping, instead of trying to legitimately ease the situation—made everything so much worse.

"So, back to Elsa and me. Do I want Anna's permission? Yeah. And Kristoff's? Sure," Jack hissed. "But yours?"

He scoffed with disgust, rolling his eyes and taking a step back.

"I don't need your approval," Jack enunciated coldly, glaring into the king's vacant, oil-painted gaze. "You sure don't have mine."

Silence.

With another scoff, Jack Frost picked up his staff and turned away from the enormous painting, walking back toward the crystalline shelves that divided the study from the art gallery. Realizing once again that he was alone, the moonlight refracting through the ice and falling onto the carpet all around him in the quiet, he looked back to the portrait. He'd been talking to a painting. Just… a painting.

Am I losing it for REAL this time? Jack thought bitterly, letting out his breath. It was a low point, talking to the pictures on the walls, but it was the closest thing to getting to call out the former king that he had. Not to mention—as embarrassing as it was, Jack knew that there was once a time, not too long before, when he'd been so lonely he'd actually started talking to the wind.

Approaching the painting again, a look of puzzlement swept over Jack's features. The man in the portrait looked more like the type that wouldn't understand the Ice Powers Girl, but—his eyes. If the artist had portrayed the former king accurately, there was a blankness there, a sort of hard emptiness, but—no cruelty. No deliberate cruelty, at least.

Huh.

How weird.

You don't look like the type that would actively teach a little kid that she was a monster, Jack thought, beginning to approach the painting again in wonder. I mean, who would actually DO something like that? That actually sounds more like—

Jack froze, shaking his head violently.

Well. Never mind who THAT sounded like.

BONG… BONG…

Jack snapped his head up, spinning around. The clock. The village clock. What time was it?

Pulling out the pocketwatch, he glanced down to see that the golden minute hand was now pointing straight up. Exactly two A.M.

His heart pounding, Jack spun around and leapt into the air, darting across the room and rounding the corner of the icy shelves in a flurry a snowflakes. In an instant, he was shooting past her balcony doors, swooping down into a silent landing as he came into her moonlit room and walked up to the bed where Elsa, of course, was fast asleep.

Exactly how he'd pictured her.

Wow.

There was more than enough room to fit two people in that bed, Jack found himself suddenly noticing. After a few moments of staring at the rich, untouched covers folded back beside her, Jack let out his breath. Oh, Manny, it was tempting. Just to have her against him, to feel her warmth and to hear her breathing. Just to crawl into bed with her and hold her and touch her and know that he wasn't alone, not to even necessarily do anything; but just—well, just to be there.

Not that doing stuff was out of the question, of course. Jack glanced down to blanket, a hint of a sly smile tugging at the edge of his mouth as he eyed the place where the curve of Elsa's hip was visible through the covers. Doing stuff sounded pretty good, actually. In fact, when he thought about it, there were PLENTY of things that he and the Ice Powers Girl could friendship, friendship, friendship, FRIENDSHIP, FRIENDSHIP!

Shaking his head vigorously, Jack reached forward and poked Elsa's shoulder, gently beginning to prod her awake before his Inner Creepy Voice had a chance to respond.

"Elsa?" he choked.

"Mmph…?"

The Ice Powers Girl groggily turned away from him, whimpering slightly in her sleep. Jack's heart swelled, and he bit his lip, restraining from a laugh at the sight. Elsa was so cute.

Maybe they didn't have to do this tonight. Maybe he could just stash his shepherd's crook under the bed, quiiiietly sneak around to the other side of it, and get in with her without her even notic-STOP IT, STOP IT, STOP IT.

"Elsa? It's time," Jack squeaked again desperately. "I… come on, Elsa. Wake up… waaaaakey wakey…"

Her eyes slowly blinked open, and he took a step back. Elsa shook her head slightly, and suddenly, her deep, startlingly intelligent blue eyes were staring directly into his own.

The Ice Powers Girl smiled.

"Hi, Jack," she said softly.

Jack's heart leapt into his throat. Just as he was about to open his mouth to respond, Elsa was sitting up, pushing her hair out of her face.

"It is really time already?" she yawned, "I feel like I just closed my eyes!"

"Um—yeah. It's two AM."

She yawned again, swinging her legs over the side of the bed. After a few moments, Elsa cleared her throat.

"Uh—Jack?" She glanced towards the icy room divider at the end of her bed. "Could you—um—"

"—Oh! Right!"

Snapping back into focus, Jack dutifully spun around, staring at his feet while Elsa darted behind the room divider. A few moments later, he felt a cold little gust of wind sweep past him, a faint sparkling in his peripheral vision as Elsa's nightgown disintegrated upwards into the air.

Eh, heh.

Scarcely a moment later, there was another tiny gust of wind. Relaxing slightly, Jack heard Elsa step out from behind the room divider, the floorboards creaking under her feet as she did so.

"Are you ready?"

Jack turned around, letting out his breath. "Uh… wait," he said, looking down to her dress, "You're… wearing that?"

A look of bewilderment swept over her face. "This is what I always wear in the castle," Elsa responded, whisking her long capelet forward past her right ankle and sticking out her foot, which was now encased in one of her standard, icy high heels. "Is something wrong?"

He let out his breath, his shoulders relaxing again as he arched an eyebrow. "Elsa, the point is to not get caught," Jack chuckled.

"I'm not planning on getting caught."

"Yeah. Nothing says inconspicuous like dragging ten feet of glitter behind you."

Elsa opened her mouth to respond, but then shut it again. After a few moments, her cheeks flushed, and she rolled her eyes in defeat.

"Fine, fine..."

Whoosh!

The capelet fell to the floor across the line she had drawn, sparkling in the moonlight. "Sorry," she apologized. "It's kind of hard to switch back from Castle Mode to Adventuring Mode, sometimes. Honestly, the longer I'm back here…"

Jack Frost huffed in disbelief, his face cracking into a grin. "You have an adventuring mode?" he chuckled.

Elsa's eyes narrowed.

Stepping out of her high heels, the Snow Queen then bent down to sweep her hand up over the sparkling fabric of her dress, the skirt beginning to disintegrate from the hem.

"I'm the Fifth Spirit," she enunciated, glaring at him with a mischievous twinkle in her eye. "I can't exactly ride the Nokk in heels. Of COURSE I have an Adventuring Mode."

Jack looked back down as she spun around, the dress shrinking into an athletic-looking tunic as another layer of sparkling ice shot out from underneath, then falling down to snugly encase her thighs. Stepping back, the Guardian's eyebrows lifted as Elsa's glistening blue leggings continued to materialize over her kneecaps and down her calves, finally coming to a stop at her ankles.

Oh.

Now that he could actually see them, Jack suddenly found himself realizing that the Fifth Spirit of the Enchanted Forest had EXTREMELY nice legs.

"I will have you know, though," Elsa added as she drew herself up again, bending down and picking up her icy high heels, "That I am perfectly capable of running in these shoes. Even on ice, I can take stairs two at a time."

"I never said I didn't like the shoes."

"Well, I feel like they help with posture. You know, so it's more regal," she shrugged, taking them over to the dresser and setting them neatly on the floor, "In addition to the height thing. I feel like they improve how I walk."

A dreamy smile spread over Jack's face.

"Oh, yeah," he breathed.

"Wait, what?"

"Nothing," Jack corrected, snapping back into focus. "Are you ready to go? Because we've gotta get moving. We don't have much time."

"How are—"

"—Balcony?"

"Sounds good."

Elsa nodded, and Jack tossed his staff into his other hand, turning and walking for the art gallery. She followed, and within a few moments, Jack found himself stepping out into the freezing wind of the December night, the young queen scooped up into his arms once again.

Scarcely a minute later, he was touching down onto the ground, silently bouncing on the balls of his feet and setting the Ice Powers Girl onto the cobblestone of the town square.

"Where are we going?" Elsa whispered.

His heart leaping, Jack tossed his staff to his other hand again. "Ivar Hauge," he said quickly, "I figured we should do backwards seniority. He lives with his sister's family in an apartment over the bakery. It's this way!"

He hopped back, gesturing for her to follow as he turned and ran across the square, ducking into an alley between the two nearest buildings. Spinning around, Elsa ran after him, finally joining him by the enormous doors of a cellar.

"I checked this place out earlier," Jack whispered, "I'm pretty sure the guy with the bakery never actually locks it. And it should connect to the apartments upstairs, once we're in."

He bent down and gingerly grasped the splintered edge of one of the doors, heaving it open as quietly as he could. The old hinges squealed in protest, and Jack carefully set the door down, revealing a dark, rickety set of stairs leading into the basement below.

Brushing off his hands, Jack stood up, looking back to Elsa triumphantly. Her eyes widened.

"Wait," she choked, "Are we—are we breaking in?"

Jack raised an eyebrow.

"Uh…" he said slowly, "…Yeeeeeah?"

Elsa looked down to the stairs, biting her lip. His eyes widened.

"Wait a minute," Jack breathed. "You've—you've never pranked anybody before?"

Her face flushed. "Heavens, no!"

"Daaaaw," Jack teased, giving her arm a gentle nudge as he passed her to hop through the doors into the stairwell, "You're such a good girl."

"As a matter of fact, I am! Just because I don't look for trouble…!"

He grinned, turning back to glance up at her. "We could fix that."

"Wait, what?"

"Nothing."

The Fifth Spirit looked down to her hands, nervously fidgeting with her fingers as she stood at the top of the stairs. All of her confidence, the earlier bravado that had been in her eyes, had suddenly vanished, replaced by the anxiety now written clearly across her features.

A look of concern swept over Jack's face.

"Uh… Snowflake?" he asked, "Is everything okay? I mean, you still want to do this. Right?"

"Oh! Yes," she stammered, "I—I have to. I mean, we have to. It's n-not exactly a conventional method for pushing reforms through, but if I'm going to get the—well, politically—I know that the Council is seriously keeping the people of Arendelle from—!"

She abruptly stopped talking, squeezing her eyes shut and giving her head a quick shake. After a few moments, Elsa nervously looked back up into his eyes.

Oh.

"Uh…" Jack stated, stepping a foot up onto the edge of the cellar doors again, "You're new at this."

She nodded. Restraining from a laugh, Jack shook his head and he stepped back down into the cellar, taking her hand in his own.

"Well, then—your majesty," he chuckled, "Let me explain this in the simplest way possible."

Queen Elsa swallowed hard as he played with her fingers, gently pulling her down to look into her gaze and peering up at her through his eyelashes. Before she could respond, the Spirit of Winter then grinned wickedly, leaning in very close to her ear.

"Welcome to the Naughty List, sweetheart," Jack whispered.

And he yanked her into the cellar.

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For those of you that skipped that enormous Author's Note at the top: The next time I post, it WILL BE AN ANNOUNCEMENT ending the hiatus! I love you all, you are fantastic, and I hope you have a fantabulous day!