AUTHOR'S NOTE: Hey, guys! In an effort to get the actual Author's Notes shorter again, I'm moving to putting personalized stuff in italics. Hope it works. Shoutout to reader for reminding me of something that inspired a lot of this chapter, and also, there's a certain phrase at the end of this chapter... well, if it confuses you, go re-read Chocolate and Analysis to remind yourself what it's referring to. ;) I love you all, a HUGE thank you to everybody that's reviewed, thank you SO much for reading, and I hope you have a fantabulous day! :D

To Guest Reviewers Guest986 and Amethyst: I love you forever and you are wonderful. Please feel free to keep showering me with praise. ;)

To Guest Reviewer RandomReader: I'll admit, I was sort of confused by your review, because chapter 36 is literally almost exactly the same… I stopped rewriting as soon as I reached the under-the-bed scene, and then just tied the new stuff to the old stuff. Are you sure it didn't just get shifted?

CONTENT WARNING: Sexual innuendo. As usual.

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54: SNOWFLAKES AND SAXIFRAGE

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"So… every time you sneeze."

"Pretty much."

Elsa bit her lip and determinately kept staring down into her lap. Jack laughed softly under his breath, shaking his head as the tiny snowman squeaked and leapt up into his hand, practically shivering with delight as it nuzzled his fingers and then collapsed down happily against the Guardian's thumb.

"Okay," Jack chuckled, "If we hadn't almost just gotten caught—I'm pretty sure that this is the most adorable thing I've ever seen."

Sitting on the floor and leaning up against the wall of her art gallery, Elsa swallowed hard.

"And," she choked, "Um—if we did almost get caught?"

Jack snorted. "Still the most adorable thing I've ever seen," he countered. "It's hilarious."

"It's embarrassing."

"Daw, you don't mean that," he laughed. "Just wook at dees widdle guys!"

"New favorite type of ice?"

The Spirit of Winter grinned wryly, his eyebrow twitching as he glanced over to her again.

"Not a chance in the world, Snowflake," he chuckled.

Elsa blushed, rolling her eyes and pulling her knees into her chest. It didn't really bother her as much as it had the day before.

If she was completely honest with herself, it didn't particularly bother her at all.

"Ah-choo!"

Three more tiny snowmen suddenly materialized out of the air, the first falling onto the nearest ice shelf and the other two bouncing happily onto the carpet. The Snow Queen sniffed, rubbing her arm across her nose as the closest snowgie spun around, running into Jack's leg and falling over backwards as he laughed.

"Only you, Snowflake," he grinned, reaching down with his free hand a scooping up the tiny snowman. "You sneeze, and cuteness appears. I don't see a downside."

"It would be different if I had made them intentionally," she admitted, watching the snowgie curling up in Jack's remaining free hand. "Seeing as they're sort of my children, now."

He shrugged. "Okay, that I can sympathize with."

"What do you mean?"

"Think Olaf, sweetheart."

Elsa shoved him.

Jack laughed, rolling back into place as the snowgie squeaked and leapt out of his hand. It dropped onto the floor, immediately running forward and bumping into the tiny snowman that was already standing there, setting off another chain reaction of confused, giggly squeaks as they tumbled over next to Jack's outstretched foot.

Elsa's heart swelled.

"Thank you," she said quietly. "Again. By the way."

"For what?"

Elsa looked into his eyes.

"Wait," Jack asked, laughing breathily, "For—for that? For introducing you to pranking?"

She shrugged, scooting an inch towards him on the floor. "You're helping me with my Council."

Before he could respond, Elsa leaned over, and gingerly placed her head on his shoulder.

Jack froze, looking to her in surprise. After a few seconds, the Spirit of Winter then shifted against the wall, his muscles relaxing as the Snow Queen scooted another inch closer to him. He reached his arm around her shoulders.

"Your majesty," Jack Frost whispered, giving her a gentle squeeze. "It has been: an honor."

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Early the next morning, despite the fact that the sun wouldn't be up for another few hours, Elsa was up and dressed, putting on her makeup as Jack sat on the floor playing with the small hoard of miniature snowmen that were now gathered in the corner of her room.

"Ah-CHOO!"

Jack looked up in surprise as two more snowgies materialized out of the air, falling onto the Ice Powers Girl's dresser.

"You're STILL sick?!" he exclaimed. "How is that even possible?"

Elsa didn't answer, flicking her wrist and whipping an icy handkerchief into existence.

HOOOOOOOOOOONK.

Disintegrating the tissue into the air, she sniffed.

"No immune system," Elsa choked. "If I'm not in the super-clean castle, I basically get sick every time I'm around people."

"I'll say!"

"Mr. Hauge's room was dirty, okay?"

Jack shook his head, uncrossing his legs. Picking up his staff and planting the end of it in the carpet, he then pulled himself up from the floor, carefully hopping over the icy playground that he'd constructed for the now forty tiny snowmen that were happily squeaking and running around in the corner of Elsa's bedroom.

Walking up to her, he came to her side just as she whipped another icy handkerchief into the air, pulling it to her nose again.

HOOOOOOOOOOONK.

"Uh—Elsa?" Jack asked quietly, looking at her in concern as she folded up the tissue, "I—okay, I usually like the ice-cloth thing, but are you sure that's a good idea?"

A wave of confusion swept over her face. "What do you mean?"

"Well—you're sick," he said, "And that's—ice. Like—you have a cold—and you're putting more cold on it."

"It's never bothered me."

"Are you sure about that?"

Elsa leaned back up against the dresser, staring down at the folded-up ice tissue in her hand. After a few moments, she sighed, flicking her fingers and disintegrating it into the air.

"I suppose you're right," she admitted.

Jack watched as the Fifth Spirit pushed herself away from the dresser, turning around and bending down to pull out one of its bottom drawers. Kneeling down onto the carpet, her long capelet spread out behind her, she then began to dig through it.

"I know I have a box in here somewhere," she muttered, pushing aside a pile of lacy, cream-colored fabric as the Guardian of Fun raised his eyebrows, "And I pretty sure that—ah-hah!"

Reaching all the way into the back of the drawer, Elsa took hold of something, pulling it forwards. As she sat back onto her heels, placing it onto the top of the dresser, Jack realized that it was a tiny wooden box, elaborately painted with flowers and crowns in Arendelle's traditional style.

"Memory Box," Elsa explained, taking Jack's hand as he helped pull her up onto her feet.

"And you'll have a handkerchief in there?"

"I was a princess. I did a lot of needlework."

She opened the box, the tiny hinges creaking softly as she did. Jack then watched as the Snow Queen pulled up a delicate piece of cloth, handing it to him.

"See?" Elsa laughed. "Needlework. Welcome to having a royal childhood, Frost."

He took it. "This is what you did for fun?"

"No. It's how we pretended to have fun," she retorted, "Princesses start basic needlework pretty young, so I was still with Anna sometimes when we were sewing. Then, we'd take over the ballroom in the middle of the night and build snowmen."

"Ah, that's more like it."

Jack looked down to the handkerchief, stepping to the side and leaning his staff up against the dresser as he did so. Inspecting it with both hands, he raised his eyebrows.

"So—wait," he realized, "How young were you? If you were still with Anna? This does NOT look like a little kid's work."

"Oh. Well—that one isn't," Elsa admitted, leaning forward and looking down at the little piece. "I think I was about—wow, I haven't thought about it in a long while. I think I might have been about nine, when I stitched that one."

"Still a kid."

"I was a princess."

"Nine-year-old girl. Same difference."

Queen Elsa's smile faded. After a few moments, the Fifth Spirit pulled her hands into her stomach and looked down to her feet, her eyes soft with sadness once again.

Jack's stomach twisted.

"So! Uh," he blurted, making her snap her head up, "This—the design. Flowers?"

"Oh! Right. Wildflowers!"

Jack relaxed slightly as the Ice Powers Girl took a step towards him, starting to smile again. "Wildflowers, huh?"

"All of my favorites. Cloudberry, lily of the valley, foxglove, willowherb, and, of course," Elsa explained, pointing to the stitching, "I always included PLENTY of white saxifrage flowers. I kind of made a point of it, actually."

"Saxifrage?" he asked, a look of confusion sweeping over his features. "But—those flowers usually have five petals—don't they? And all of these have six."

Glancing back up into her eyes, Jack Frost realized that Elsa was grinning.

"Whoops," she whispered slyly.

His mouth fell open.

"You," Jack gasped, "You—you passive aggressive little—!"

The Ice Powers Girl giggled self-consciously, covering her mouth with her hand as Jack looked back down to the cloth, studying the dozens of delicate, six-petalled white flowers sprinkled across the little princess's embroidery. The girl's defiant snowflakes were hidden in plain sight.

Oh, Manny, she was good.

Jack laughed softly under his breath, shaking his head as he tossed the handkerchief to himself. He looked back up into her eyes.

"Are you sure you were never on the Naughty List?" he chuckled.

Her cheeks still flushed, Elsa shrugged. "I liked snowflakes."

He raised his eyebrows.

"So do I," Jack said softly, reaching forward and flicking the end of her nose.

Elsa blushed again, smiling shyly as her cheeks flushed a light shade of pink.

"Can I keep this?" Jack asked, running his thumb over the embroidery.

"Oh. Sure! I mean, of course," Elsa said. "And I'm sort of impressed that you know Saxifrage. I wouldn't have figured that the Spirit of Winter would know his flower varieties."

"When you've spent three hundred years snooping around for edible plants, you get pretty familiar with that sort of thing," he admitted. "And, besides. Saxifrage was always Emma's favorite."

Elsa jolted.

"Emma?" she stammered, her eyes wide. "Who—who's Emma?"

"Oh. My—um," Jack said softly. "Emma was my sister."

Suddenly nervous, Jack looked down to his feet, reaching up with his free hand and rubbing the back of his neck.

Elsa's shoulders relaxed slightly. "You had a sister?"

"Before I died."

He pressed his lips together, wincing internally as the word hung on the air. Hardly seeming to notice it, the Snow Queen's eyes softened. She dropped her voice to a whisper and took a tiny step towards him.

"Oh, Jack… I'm so sorry," she said. "Did she die, too?"

"No, I—actually," Jack admitted, snapping his head back up, "That's—well, she was on a cracking part in the ice."

"What do you mean?"

"Well—we were skating. And then—okay, the ice wasn't as thick as I thought," he choked softly. "But Emma was on it. And—she was scared. And that scared me, but I figured that, if I could get her to move forward enough, I could grab her."

Looking around, Jack remembered his staff, and leapt forward to the dresser, picking it up with his free hand. Dropping the handkerchief back next to the box, he then took a step back with the shepherd's crook.

"And then, I—well," he said, tossing it to himself, "I—did. I was able to yank her out and switch places. I mean, it's a pretty simple to do that."

Elsa's eyes were wide, hanging on his every word as Jack gently swung the staff outwards to demonstrate.

"And then, it—I—um," he finished under his breath, pulling the shepherd's crook back into his chest, "I fell through."

An uncomfortable silence descending over the room, Jack stared down at his staff, gingerly rubbing his thumb along its familiarly gritty old texture. It softly glowed in response, a fine layer of frost flowering over its length beneath his fingers. Shaking his head, Jack then took a step to the side and leaned the staff back up against the dresser, taking the handkerchief again and staring at the hidden snowflakes in its embroidery.

In his peripheral vision, Jack saw Elsa take a hesitant step forward, the sparkling swirls of frost on her skirt glistening in the lamplight. He looked up.

"Jack Frost—are you telling me that you died," she breathed, "Because—you were saving your little sister's life?"

"Well—yeah." Jack let out a nervous laugh, anxiously reaching up with his free hand and running his fingers through his hair. "I mean, I guess. Manny was pretty impressed, apparently, and—uh—"

His voice trailed off. Looking back to her, Jack suddenly realized that the Ice Powers Girl was holding her hands over her heart, silently gazing at him in adoration.

"Uh—Elsa?" he asked hesitantly, "Are you—is everything okay?"

She said nothing, her mouth hanging open in dreamy disbelief.

"Oh," Elsa swooned.

Knock knock.

They turned to the door. The knocking came again, this time accompanied by an eager sing-song.

"Oooooooh, sister!" Queen Anna's voice giggled from somewhere out in the hallway, "Are you almost ready? They're getting the carriage right now!"

"Coming!"

Letting out his breath, Jack took a step back, pocketing the embroidered handkerchief as Elsa ran for the door. Pulling it open, she laughed as her heavily bundled-up sister lurched forward into the room, falling into her arms.

"I'm so excited!" Anna gasped, "I can't wait to see all the kids! It's been at least two months—right? Are we still bringing books to read to them?"

Elsa nodded, helping the pregnant young queen back onto her feet. "That's the plan."

"And I just got breakfast from Carol," Anna bubbled, pulling a bag out from underneath her cloak. "We've got biscuits, and berries, and sausages, along with our dessert samples, and apparently, they've already packed lunch. We're going to eat on the road and, I'm personally REALLY excited for—oh, hi, Jack!" she exclaimed, noticing him for the first time. "How are you?"

"Morning, your majesty," Jack chuckled. "I'm fine. And you seem pretty happy to be alive."

"I am!" she squealed, "I am SO excited! The kids are amazing. And, we're the bearers of good news today!"

"Wait. Is this—is this about that Children's Party thing?"

"Yes!"

Elsa laughed, smiling at her sister's delight. "We usually go around to the children at the schools every couple months, but winter makes traveling ah-CHOO!"

She suddenly sneezed again, and two more snowgies spun into existence around her. Queen Anna looked down, seeing all of the tiny snowmen with a gasp.

"This baby bump is making me blind!" she groaned as the pair of squeaking snowgies fell to the ground and ran past the bottom hem of her dress. "Elsa! How long have you been sick!?"

"Just since last night," Elsa sniffed.

"Are you sure that you can still do this?"

"I'm fine!"

The redheaded queen turned to Jack, raising a skeptical eyebrow. "Is she actually fine, or is she just being Elsa and saying that?"

Before he could respond, the three suddenly heard the clomping of hooves as Kristoff and Sven came into the bedroom. The reindeer whinnied, and the young king gave him a hearty pat on his back.

"I don't know what you guys are talking about, but forget the stupid carriage," he said proudly. "If you want it, I've got the best sled around. And, we've just gotten back, so I have time to—"

"—No, you need to get your sleep," Anna interjected. "You've been up since two in the morning working with my Christmas present—whatever it is! And I do not want you to be a Cranky Kristoff when we come home."

"I will not be a Cranky Kristoff."

The reindeer snorted, rolling its eyes. Jack restrained from a laugh.

"Oh, hush," King Kristoff muttered, glancing to the reindeer with disdain.

"Seriously, though, we need to get going," Anna said, looking to her sister again. "Do you want to…?" She gestured to Jack.

Elsa's face fell. "Oh…"

Jack felt a wave of disappointment sweep over him as well, realizing what Queen Anna meant. Elsa took a step towards him.

"So, I—um," she choked. "I—I have to go."

"Yeah."

She bit her lip, fidgeting with her fingers again as the two simultaneously looked downward, awkwardly staring at the carpet as the others stood by. Letting out a nervous, breathy laugh, Elsa then took another timid step forward.

"So—uh," she stammered, "Did—did you want to—"

"Right!"

"I mean—"

"No, we could! If—"

"Um—"

"Heh—!"

Queen Anna and King Kristoff exchanged smug glances as Elsa suddenly leapt into Jack Frost's arms, cutting him off and throwing her own arms around his neck. Aware that he was being watched, Jack awkwardly hugged her back, his heart leaping as he felt the Ice Powers Girl's soft hair brush past his face.

Wooooooooow…

"Well—um," Elsa asked softly, pulling away from the hug. "I—I'll see you at dinner? Then?"

"Oh. Uh, yeah!"

Jack forced a smile as he let go, reluctantly dropping his arms back to his sides. Giving him a last, shy little smile, the Ice Powers Girl then stepped back away from him, turning and quickly walking out of the bedroom after her sister.

Jack's heart sank as the last of Elsa's sparkling, icy capelet whisked from the room.

The reindeer whinnied empathetically, and Jack turned around. The Commoner King was staring at him, a slight smirk on the edge of his mouth.

"Don't worry," he said. "They're always back before they think they're going to be. The guy driving the carriage likes to get home before dark."

"That's good to know," Jack sighed. Not looking directly as Kristoff, he then drew in his breath, turning back to the dresser and picking up his staff. "Honestly, though, I—I should go, too. I've got some snooping to do. Castle to explore, you know?"

He turned and started walking for the door as Elsa's brother-in-law started chuckling under his breath.

"Yeah… waiting for your girlfriend to get back is always a bummer," King Kristoff enunciated. "Even for a… let's see, what was it? A... Sexy Humanoid Ice Powers Thing?"

Jack froze.