AUTHOR'S NOTE: If I take the time to write a decent note right now, this chapter will never be posted. It's also NOT perfectly drafted, so for that, I also apologize profusely. It's by FAR the longest chapter of Ice Alliance (8,000-ish words!), and I could have chopped it, but I figured that everybody would prefer to have it all at once. So, here's to hoping that I'm right. Sorry for being so long-winded, but given the content of this chapter, I have a feeling that you'll come to forgive me. ;) I love you all, thank you SO much to all those wonderful people that have reviewed, thanks for reading and being interested, and I hope you all have a VERY MERRY CHRISTMAS! :D :D :D
REGARDING THE BACKSTORIES: Because there was some confusion in the last chapter... NO, North ABSOLUTELY did NOT "send" Pitch Black to Elsa! North sent reading material on Jack Frost, and-because she was looking for Jack, and therefore was believing a LOT-that was what unintentionally opened the pathway for Pitch to come into her life. I have the backstories all done, and I'm actually super-proud of them but (spoiler, sorry) we're not really going to get BACK to them until after Jack and Elsa are married. That being said, I can't wait... and I PROMISE you, you will NEVER watch ROTG in the same way again! ;)
CONTENT WARNING: Innuendo, more sexual tension than usual. But don't worry, I put things to a stop before they go too far! ;)
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58: BETWEEN FRIENDS
"Ellllllsa…"
"Mmm?"
Elsa groaned, her head spinning as she shifted on her arms, nuzzling her nose into the crook of her elbow again. After she and Anna had returned from the schools to find that Jack Frost was not yet back himself, she had tried to mask her disappointment the best that she could. After a quiet dinner with her sister, deciding that work was the best distraction, Elsa had retreated into her secret study to work on a new reform, and had eventually decided to rest her eyes. It was only going to be for a few minutes.
But her eyelids felt so heavy…
Whimpering slightly, she shifted on her arms again, burying her face into her sleeve. A moment later, something cold was gently jostling her shoulder.
"Elsa?" the voice tried again softly. "Snowflake? Come onnnn… you need to wake upppp…"
Her eyes fluttering open, the colors and light around her started to slowly come back into focus. Realizing that—
"EEP!" Elsa startled.
THWACK!
"WHOA!"
Jack Frost flung the end of his staff forward, blasting a sparkle of ice at the ink well as Elsa's flailing wrist sent it flying off her desk. It froze just before it crashed into the floor, and, her heart pounding, Elsa shook herself into focus as he walked forward to where it lay.
"I've been gone for—what—twelve hours?" Jack Frost scoffed, crouching down and picking up the frozen ink splatter, the solid puddle all coming off of the carpet in one piece. "And you're already back falling asleep on your desk again? Sweet Manny, Snowflake, have I taught you nothing at all?"
Elsa blushed, her heart leaping as he straightened back up and turned around with a flirty, teasing grin on the edge of his lips. He was so handsome, when he smiled that way.
It was SUCH a relief to see him again.
As Jack walked back to her and replaced the frozen ink well on the desk, Elsa let out a nervous laugh. She gave him a little shrug, pushing a stray hair out of her face and looking into his eyes.
"I lost track of time," she admitted.
"Uh… huh."
"I did!"
"Well, let's see what's been so important to be worth turning the Snow Queen into a little stress ball again," Jack Frost enunciated, reaching forward and snatching the top paper out from in front of her.
"I—!"
Elsa's heart leapt into her throat. As his eyes fell over the writing, her face went pale.
"It's just some ideas," she stammered desperately, "Like—a brainstorm. I mean, well, it's not a brainstorm, but I've gotten it up to a messy outline. Like, for a proposal, but it's nowhere near ready yet."
She shifted anxiously in her seat, watching his expression. After a few more moments, Jack's eyebrows lifted.
"Wait," he realized, looking up from the paper. "This isn't about the child abuse thing. Or the housing reform thing."
"It's about the literacy program."
"Literacy program?"
Elsa nodded, getting onto her feet. "While we were going around to the schools today," she explained, "I noticed that the books—well, the ones on loan to the schools from the Royal Library—the children aren't getting any new ones. It's been costing too much time and effort to get them back and forth to the castle, so the rotation has been stopped."
Jack's brow furrowed in thought. "It's costing too much to borrow new books?"
"Unless Queen Anna and I do something about it, yes. So, I figured—why not just take an inventory of all the books we do have, scrape together a budget from the old shipping costs, and then create a rotation that would go from village to village, instead?" Elsa took a tiny step forward, smoothing a few stray hairs back into her braid once again. "I mean, there's no real reason to get those books back to the Royal Library each time, especially when you consider the fact that the town school is in the rotation, and hardly goes to the main library anyway. And, the kingdom can certainly afford to donate a few children's books, for the investment in the literacy program. I talked about it with Anna on the way home; she's totally on board."
Jack's previously teasing smirk had faded into an expression of interest, his eyebrows lifting again as she spoke. After a few moments, he looked back down to the outline, a hint of a smile tugging at the edge of his mouth.
As Elsa nervously watched his face, Jack let out a long, low whistle. He looked back up into her eyes.
"Wow," he breathed.
Elsa winced. "Wait," she stammered, "You don't—is it—?"
Her voice trailed off.
"What? Oh! NO, no, no, no, no! This—this," Jack corrected quickly, letting out a nervous laugh and shaking the outline, "THIS is great. I think it's a really good idea."
Elsa's heart leapt. "Really?"
"Yeah!"
Letting his staff fall back against his shoulder, he looked back down to the outline. The joking gone from his expression, Jack's face then cracked into a wide, sincere grin.
"No, I think this is great. Reading—making sure everyone can. It's important," he said, his gaze falling onto the parchment again. "Back in the village, I was actually one of the only ones that could read."
Elsa's eyes widened, her breath catching as she realized what he was referring to. "You were literate?"
"My father knew how to read, so he taught me," Jack nodded. He then tossed her a casual shrug, as if bringing up his past life were no big deal. "He knew how because he'd have to go and represent us to the rich folks, and such. But most people didn't have the time to learn how to read. Or resources. Mostly resources, actually."
"I assume they had other priorities," Elsa nodded, struggling to contain her excitement.
I can't believe he's telling me this!
"Yeah. Like, not starving. And chopping enough wood for the winter—so nobody froze to death." He grinned wryly, looking back up into her eyes. "Which is actually pretty ironic, now that I think about it."
Elsa shook her head, smiling as she scoffed. "You."
"Yeah, yeah. Dead guy humor."
She laughed, her heart swelling with joy as she admired him, practically basking in his presence as she took it all in. It had only been a day, but—well, Elsa had already gotten accustomed to the Spirit of Winter's fun, playful company, from his snarky remarks to the chill of his touch and brilliant gleam of his white hair. As he had casually brought up something from his past—rather, the dynamics of a peasant village that had existed three hundred years before—Elsa felt a fresh thrill of excitement jolt through her body, once again overwhelmed at the breathtaking reality of who this deceptively young-looking man actually was.
Blinking herself back into the present, Elsa looked up to realize that Jack's face had fallen, his stunning smile and piercing blue eyes suddenly soft with sadness.
"I'm sorry," he whispered.
A wave of confusion swept over her face. "Sorry for what?" Elsa asked, her own heart sinking at his expression. "You haven't done anything wrong. I mean—well, if this is about missing dinner, I—"
"—No, no, it's not that. It's just—okay, I am sorry about that," he corrected, looking back up into her gaze, "I—I got held up, and I—it's just—!"
As if in pain, he let down the hand grasping Elsa's outline, letting it drop to his side.
"Your childhood," Jack whispered painfully. "I wasn't there. I really realized that today, and—I could've—I could've been there for you, Elsa. And I wasn't."
Elsa's breath caught at the statement.
Jack swallowed hard, with effort, and then scoffed to himself. Hanging his head with shame, he then pulled in his breath. "If I'd just been more—vigilant," he stammered weakly, "If I'd actually checked out Arendelle, if I'd actually—"
"Jack, you were there enough."
He stopped, looking up in surprise as Elsa took his large, icy hands in her own. Giving them a gentle squeeze, she gave him a reassuring smile.
"It made me stronger," she whispered.
Jack pressed his lips together in frustration. "No one should have to be that strong," he muttered.
"And yet, here we are."
Jack said nothing, staring down at his feet.
"And—and besides," Elsa added, making him reluctantly look up, "Maybe it was better this way. I mean—I would have loved to have you there, but—I had to figure it out on my own. The ice powers, the spirits… all of it. With Anna's help, of course," she added quickly. "If there's one thing that Ahtohallan taught me, it's that I couldn't let myself believe my identity was dependent upon your approval. I had to accept my destiny for myself."
To this, Jack grinned bitterly as his response, his eyes not smiling with his mouth. After a brief moment, Elsa's heart leapt into her throat.
"Not that I don't want your approval," she blurted suddenly, "I mean, if you—"
"—I know what you mean. It's okay."
His bitter grin melted into a real one, the tension of the moment broken. Elsa let out her breath. As she stepped forward, starting to reach for the piece of parchment, the Spirit of Winter suddenly leapt away.
"Jack!"
"Well—speaking of letting things go," he retorted, hopping back and jerking it out of Elsa's reach again as she lunged for it, "This is really important and all, but it's not worth your shriveling up into a little bundle of nerves again. Everything that happened in the past aside, you've got to let this go until the morning."
"But I have suitors in the morning."
"Afternoon, then," he scoffed, his previously teasing expression back on his face. "You can't run a political reform if your brain isn't working."
"My brain is working!"
Jack raised his eyebrows.
"My brain stopped working three hours ago," Elsa mumbled sheepishly.
"Right. Go to bed."
She bit her lip, longingly looking back to her desk. As she started to pull in her breath, Jack stepped in front of her.
"Nooooo," he teased, gingerly placing his hand on her shoulder and turning her around, "It's that way, Snowflake."
"I can remember where my bedroom is, Jack."
Jack snorted. Clearly restraining from bursting out laughing again, he then dropped the outline back onto her desk and gently pushed her forward, guiding her back towards her room. Elsa scoffed and rolled her eyes, letting out a giggle in spite of herself at the chill of his hand on her skin again.
Jack was right, of course. She would be more effective in the morning… not a reason to put things off, of course, but this particular reform didn't have a deadline. She could take a break for some sleep.
Before long, a new, fresh ice-bed for Jack Frost was in her art gallery once again, its foot by her desk, with the standard wall of ice dividing his sleeping quarters from her own. Without even discussing it as they'd swept the wall into existence, the Fifth Spirit and the Fifth Guardian had built it with a window, as was now their pattern.
A pattern that Queen Elsa sincerely hoped would never cease to repeat itself.
"Uh… Snowflake? Your bed's over there," Jack chuckled, standing up on his own and pointing through the window into her bedroom. "Remember? And if going to sleep requires you to have a…"
Boom.
His voice trailed off as the Snow Queen pulled her hand into the air. Directly across from his, she had conjured another icy bedframe on her side of the wall of ice, identical to his own, and big enough for just one person.
Swirling her hand over the last touches of ice in the solid, crystalline frame, Elsa looked back up to him. She drew in her breath.
"I—um," she shook, shyly drawing her hand back. "I—thought I could sleep on the other side of the wall tonight. Next—to you?"
Staring down at the bed through the window, Jack's mouth fell slightly open in surprise. After a moment of staring at the second bed in disbelief, he then looked back up into her eyes.
"Next… to me?"
Elsa nervously fidgeted with her fingers.
"Oh! Um, yeah!" Jack blurted suddenly, snapping back into focus and letting out a quick laugh. "That—that's great! Go for it."
Whew!
Dropping her hands back to her sides, Elsa let out her breath. "Well—you said that snow is more comfortable," she exhaled in relief. "Right? I mean, even without ice sheets."
"Oh. I mean, right! It is."
Elsa smiled, excitedly whirling away from him. Thoughtfully tilting her head to the side as she looked into her own room, she considered how much space was on the carpet. From where she was standing, it looked like it had just enough room to…
Hmm…
Flicking her hand forward, the Snow Queen sent a graceful streamer of frost swirling into the air. As the flurries floated down to the floor, expanding and settling into a large square across the carpet, she held her breath, throwing her hands apart and conjuring a flat, enormous snowflake out of its center. Perfect.
As she glanced back towards the icy bedframe to compare size, Elsa realized that Jack was pointedly watching her again, leaning as far as he could through their little window and straining to see.
"What are you making?" he asked.
"I'd still like to have a blanket," Elsa admitted, setting her feet.
"But isn't that too wide for—"
Shinggg!
Throwing her hand upwards into the air, Elsa lifted a line of frost straight down the middle of the enormous snowflake, splitting the blanket through its icy center. Now seemingly cut in two, she pulled her hand back, running forward and gathering up the right side of it into her arms as Jack Frost fell silent once again.
Restraining from actually skipping, the Fifth Spirit rushed back to the wall of ice. Yanking her skirt out of the way with her free hand, she then stepped up onto her icy bedframe, coming up to meet him.
"For you," she said hopefully.
She beamed, holding it up to the window.
Jack's eyes widened.
"Oh—um," he realized, his face flushing. "Thanks. Elsa."
Elsa felt her heart leap again as he smiled, taking his half of the blanket and stepping back to spread it out on his bed. As she stepped down from her own bedframe, Elsa swept her hand over it, sending a soft, thick snowdrift across its surface. Seeing that it was even, she then ran back for her half of the snowflake blanket, gathering it up from off of the carpet and running forward again to throw it on top of the snow mattress.
"You know," Jack commented, his voice floating through the window to her as she straightened her half of the blanket on her ice bed, "From above, I'll bet these would look like they're two parts of the same bed. But cut in two by a wall."
"Well—we do have a window," Elsa replied, straightening up. "We could see them from above."
"By all means."
"Should we expand it?"
Jack didn't respond.
After another moment, as Elsa was about to ask him again, she looked up to realize that Jack had lifted his hand, placing it flat on the crystalline wall between the two rooms. Sweeping it to the side, she then watched as a long, elegant spiral of frost leapt up from the ice, unraveling and swirling back behind him into the art gallery.
As the last of the upper ice disintegrated, leaving behind a waist-height wall between them with a thick ledge at the top, Jack Frost glanced back to the glistening snowflakes dancing behind him in the air, bringing his middle finger to his thumb.
Snap!
And the frost melted, disappearing into the thin air in a glimmering mist.
That confident, handsome little grin tugging at the edge of his mouth again, Elsa swooned inwardly as she watched the Fifth Guardian step up onto his bedframe, then leaning against the now-exposed door frame and setting his elbow on the thick ledge between the rooms. Struggling to keep herself from actually squealing with delight, she bit down hard on her lip, picking up the edge of her skirt and stepping onto her crystalline bedframe as well.
Stepping and joining him at the wall of ice, which now came up to her waist, Elsa looked back down. Seeing what he meant, her breath caught.
Oh.
"They really do look like the same bed," Jack asked softly. "Don't they?"
Elsa blushed furiously, suddenly wondering with horror if the snowflake blanket had been overstepping the line of what was proper.
"I—um," she breathed, twisting her fingers. "I—suppose they do."
Biting her lip again, her heart pounding, the Snow Queen looked down to her fingers. Beneath them, the two small beds with the two halves of the same snowflake blanket, divided by a short wall of ice… it did indeed look like a king-size bed, but—it also looked like more than that.
More than just a bed, Elsa felt that she was staring down at the picture of an absolutely impossible future.
But it had always been impossible. Now, it simply felt out of reach for—different reasons. Unless—!
She bit her lip. Suddenly keenly aware of the fact that her childhood hero's kind, patient gaze was resting on her features, Elsa shakily pulled in her breath.
"I've always wondered what it would be like," she admitted quietly.
Jack raised his eyebrows. "What?"
"Being—being married. To someone."
A heavy silence fell over the room.
Feeling a little heat rushing to her cheeks, the Fifth Spirit looked down, fidgeting with her fingers once again as the word hung upon the air. After a few moments—from the other side of the waist-height wall of ice—she heard Jack pull in his breath.
"Yeah," he admitted sadly. "Me too."
Her eyebrows lifting, Elsa looked back up again in surprise. Seeing her childhood hero's pained, miserable expression, her eyes widened as the realization sank in.
Marriage hadn't ever been an option for him, either.
"Well—for one thing," Jack scoffed, suddenly looking up, "We wouldn't have to put up a wall."
"Yeah, NO."
Jack and Elsa both laughed, glancing to each other over the ledge. Leaning onto its sill, Elsa gazed down, staring at the wall of ice dividing the narrow beds.
"I suppose that—well, if we were marr—I mean, for married people," Elsa corrected quickly, blushing and giving her head a quick shake, "I—I suppose this would be when we'd just—talk about the day."
He nodded. "And get ready to go to bed."
"And not have to say goodbye."
Leaning onto the ledge of the now waist-height ice wall, Jack slowly let out his breath, saying nothing. Smiling half-heartedly, he then gave her a little shrug.
"It'd be nice, right?" he admitted.
"I should think so," Elsa agreed. "Really nice."
They simultaneously cast their eyes downward once again, the silence falling over them with the thought.
Elsa sighed.
"I guess the whole 'alone and free' thing has its drawbacks," she said softly.
"Yeah."
And the blanket of quiet fell again.
"You know what really drives me crazy?" Jack asked suddenly, breaking the silence. "Watching people—something that really ticks me off?"
"What?"
He glanced to the side for a minute, as if to see if anyone else was there. Then—leaning in closer to her from over the ledge—Jack grinned bitterly.
"Married people," he whispered.
A look of confusion swept over Elsa's face.
"Married people?" she asked, leaning away from him. "What's wrong with being married?"
"Nothing's wrong with it. That's why they tick me off," he scoffed with disdain. "Married people—who complain about being married. The ones that whine about it. They don't even realize what they've got! It's like, the moment they find someone, they forget how much it hurts to be alone, and—!"
Elsa bit the edge of her lip, waiting for him to continue. After a few moments of contemplation, he painfully sucked in his breath.
"Like, oh, boo-hoo, you have to take care of a family!" Jack sputtered, "So tied down! Oh, that must really suck, except, wait, you wanna know what REALLY sucks?" he gritted, his voice growing louder. "Try—NOT—HAVING one!"
WHAM!
He slammed his hand down onto the ledge, a violent blast of ice shooting out over its surface.
Her eyes widening, Elsa looked down to the ledge of the ice wall, the sharp, uncontrolled blast of frost spiked out over its surface. Seeing that flurries of snow were beginning to materialize out of the air around Jack's body as he stared forwards—his chest rising up and down as he struggled to control his breathing—she bit her lip.
"Um… Jack?" Elsa asked, gently placing her hand on top of his own. "Are you okay?"
"Oh. Yeah. Sorry, I just…"
His voice trailed off. Noticing the snowflakes falling around him, Jack sighed.
"They just—they act like it's such a trivial thing," he choked. "I mean, can you—can you even imagine what it would be like? To be able to just come home, and maybe talk for a few minutes, and then—go to bed. Like—to be able to just go to bed, with someone? Like it's no big deal?"
He scoffed again, shaking his head and ruffling his fingers through his hair. Elsa nodded, giving his other hand a squeeze.
Looking down to the beds again, Elsa's heart sank, the years of loneliness and isolation coming back into her mind once again. Jack had a point—and a point that she completely understood. She hadn't really considered it, because she hadn't allowed herself to linger on impossible ideas, but—truly. What would that even be like? To just—have someone, to go to bed with?
To not be alone?
"And—well, at some point in there," Elsa admitted wistfully, drawing back her hand and staring off into space, "There'd probably be a goodnight kiss, too."
His fingers halfway-back in his hair, Jack froze.
Not noticing his stunned, wide-eyed expression as he stared at her in shock, Elsa sighed, looking back down to her hands once again. Fidgeting with her fingers—and absent-mindedly sending a tiny sparkle of ice particles into the air—she then heard him shift on his feet.
"We—um," Jack said softly, making her look up, "We could still have that. I mean, if—if you wanted."
She pulled her gaze away from her hands, the ice particles dematerializing from the air. "We could?"
"Well, just—yeah," he stammered, "It—you don't have to be married. For that part."
Elsa stared.
After a few moments of silence, she looked back down again, trying to process what he was suggesting. Jack stepped back from the window in the wall of ice.
"Just saying," he mumbled.
Pressing his lips together as blood rushed to his face, he closed his eyes, as if he were in pain. Giving his head a quick shake, Jack then turned away, hopping off the bed to get his staff.
"We could try it," Elsa blurted.
Jack froze.
Now standing next to her desk with the shepherd's crook, he turned around to face her again. "Yeah?"
"Well—we could," Elsa admitted, "I—I mean—to find out what it's like."
Clunk.
The staff falling against the desk, the Youngest Guardian was back on his bed in an instant, lurching forward to the ledge where she was standing.
"A goodnight kiss, you mean," he clarified.
Elsa nodded.
Jack's eyes lit up. Stepping up to the wall of ice and leaning over it, Elsa froze as he then reached up to her face, hesitating for a moment before sliding his fingers into her hair.
An instant later, Jack's eyes were suddenly right next to hers, the chill of his breath sending a jolt of electricity across her skin. This was happening. Now. NOW?
Elsa's heart started pounding as he pulled her closer, over the ledge of ice. This was happening, right now, and with him, and he was Jack Frost, and she was going to be horrible, and—
"—I HAVE NO CLUE WHAT I'M DOING!" Elsa blurted.
Jack stopped, freezing just as his lips were about to make contact with her own. Opening his eyes again, he pulled back and inch and looked to her.
"Uh…" Jack ventured. "What?"
"I'm sorry. I mean, just saying," Elsa stammered, blushing furiously and pulling away, "It's—the last couple times I probably didn't do all that well. But now, we're thinking about it, and I have no idea what I'm doing, so I'm probably really bad at this."
His hand still in her hair, Jack's mouth fell open in shock. He closed his eyes for a moment, then opening them again and giving his head a quick shake.
"You'll be fine," he told her, letting out his breath. "Elsa—I mean, I know you're fine. It's not a performance, or anything. And, we've kissed before."
"But I wasn't thinking about it, then."
"Maybe that's the point?"
"B-b-but that doesn't make any sense!" Elsa sputtered, her heart leaping into her throat as he reluctantly pulled his hand out of her hair and stepped away from her, "How—how can you do something, if you're not thinking about it? I mean, and now I AM thinking about it, and I've clearly offended you, and—"
"—Wait, wait, wait. Slow down," Jack interrupted. "How am I offended? I mean, I—why would I be offended?"
"Because I've messed up."
"Elsa, you haven't messed anything up," he sighed with exasperation.
Her cheeks flushed with embarrassment, Elsa gingerly placed her hands on the ledge of ice, twisting a spiral of frost on its surface.
Without looking up, she heard Jack let out another sigh.
"And, I—I probably shouldn't have—done that, anyway." Swallowing hard, he crossed his arms over his chest. "I—I thought you wanted to, but I—yeah. I'm sorry."
Elsa stopped tracing, snapping her head up. "Wait. You're sorry?"
He smiled bitterly. "For freaking you out?"
"I freaked myself out."
The words had tumbled out of her mouth before she could stop them. The Fifth Spirit snapped her mouth shut, blushing furiously again.
"Okay," Jack shrugged, visibly restraining from a laugh. "You freaked yourself out. That's fair."
"Why?" Elsa stammered, "Why do I always freak out? What's wrong with me?! WHY can't I do the SIMPLEST things, without freaking out!?"
"Because you don't believe in yourself?"
Elsa's eyes widened. The words hitting her hard, she bit her lip, and Jack shrugged, sticking his hands into the front pocket on his shirt.
"I believe in you," he offered.
She didn't respond.
After a few more moments of silence, Elsa heard Jack Frost shift on his feet. Leaning up against the wall again, he then raised his eyebrows.
"Okay—here's an idea," he whispered, making Elsa look up. "Let's just try this as—an experiment. Like, let's pretend it's just going to be something we'll keep secret."
Elsa bit her lip, staring down to the ledge of ice between them again. As she started to open her mouth to respond, Jack Frost then suddenly grasped her hands together in his own, making her jolt and snap her head up to realize that the Spirit of Winter was staring pleadingly into her eyes.
"Between friends?" Jack begged.
His expression was suddenly so desperate, so filled with longing, that Elsa was taken aback. It was—it was almost as if he truly wanted—!
Don't flatter yourself, Elsa scolded herself frantically, trying to will her heart to stop beating so loudly against the inside of her ribcage as she looked down to her hands. He's Jack Frost. Jack. FROST. You're about to humiliate yourself. You're so hopeless, and he's so amazing, and you'll never in a MILLION years have another chance at—
She swallowed hard, forcing herself to wrench her gaze away from her hands on the icy ledge. Looking back up into his eyes, Elsa suddenly realized that the snowflake markings on her childhood hero's piercingly blue irises were somehow even more prominent than usual, picking up the stunning contrast of his ice-covered navy shirt and white hair.
The Fifth Spirit drew herself up.
You know what?
She nodded.
"Between friends," Elsa whispered shyly.
To this, Jack's expression relaxed. His face melting into a sheepish smile, Elsa then watched as the Spirit of Winter carefully reached his hand up to her cheek again, his thumb brushing over her skin as he slid his palm back onto her neck. He gently pulled her forward again, and Elsa pulled in her breath, struggling to keep her breathing even as she closed her eyes.
And their lips met.
Her muscles relaxing into the kiss, Elsa felt her heartbeat slow down into a calm as the feeling of peace washed over her. She felt her knees starting to give out from beneath her in the silence, suddenly enveloped in the overwhelming sensation that everything, every hour spent alone, and every single pin in her childhood map, had all simply been leading up to this moment.
And was worth it.
Jack's lips pulled back away from her own, and the kiss was broken. Her eyes still closed, the Fifth Spirit suddenly realized that it was over, her mind racing to catch up with what had just happened.
"See?" Jack whispered, smiling knowingly and leaning his forehead against her own. "Not so hard, right? And you were all caught up thinking that you'd—uh—Elsa?"
THAT HAPPENED! Elsa was thinking frantically. That—HAPPENED! HOW did that just happen? How is he so amazing; he's AMAZING, and I love him and want him and can't even imagine being without him, and he's so completely and impossibly out of my league and HOW COULD HE KISS ME, OH MY HEAVENS I JUST WAS KISSED BY JACK FROST.
"Elsa?" Jack stammered suddenly, his voice jolting her from her downward spiral of anxiety as he leaned back. "Are you—crying?"
"Nmmh!" Her lips pressed together into a thin, terrified line, Elsa squeezed her eyes shut, shaking her head vigorously. She was not going to cry.
She was NOT going to cry.
Queen Face! Elsa thought frantically, Queen Face, Queen Face, QUEEN FACE; WHERE'S THAT BLASTED QUEEN FACE, WHEN I—
"Wait," Jack choked. "I—I'm that bad?"
"NO!" Elsa blurted, snapping her head up, "NO-no-no-no-no-no-NO, it's not—I just—I—"
"—What? What is it?"
Elsa squeezed her eyes shut again, biting down hard on the edge of her lip and giving her head a quick shake. After a few more moments—trying to desperately control her breathing—she let out a breathy, helpless gasp of laughter, her eyes stinging as her vision went blurry. He was perfect. Jack was absolutely, and completely, perfect with her, and she had NO idea how to describe it, and—!
Forcing herself to look up into his gaze once again, Elsa sucked in her breath.
"You are the greatest friend," she sobbed.
Jack's face went pale.
"What?" he squeaked.
"I don't know what I did to deserve you," Elsa stammered, the words tumbling out of her mouth faster and faster as her eyes started stinging again, "I mean, you're helping me with my research, and my Council, and then there was the thing with King Edvin, and you took me on a date, and—!"
She stopped talking, gasping for a quick breath before bursting into tears. Jack Frost was frozen with shock, visibly struggling to come up with a response.
"Uh," he breathed. "It—it was really my pleasure, Elsa—"
"—And now you're staying with me, and researching with me, and my family, and you're kissing me, and everything! Even though I'm horrible, and I don't know what to do with my lips, or anything else, and—but you're still willing to do it! Just so I could know what it's like!"
To this, Jack's eyebrows nearly lifted into his hairline.
"Yeah," he scoffed, staring at her in disbelief. "I definitely didn't kiss you just because I wanted to."
"Of course not. Don't be ridiculous."
Elsa spun around, her cheeks flushing with embarrassment as she crossed her arms over her chest and leaned back against the waist-height ledge of the wall of ice.
There was a brief moment of silence.
"Are you serious?" Jack breathed.
"YES! I mean—no—maybe, but—but, see? This is exactly what I MEAN!" Elsa stammered, whipping around again and staring into his eyes, "You're so—NICE!"
Jack's mouth fell open, and he looked down to the ledge of the ice wall standing between them. Setting his fist on its top edge—and then gently pounding it a couple times—he pulled in his breath.
"I'm really—um," Jack admitted carefully. "Not."
"What are you talking about? You're the best friend I've ever—"
"—OH-kay, see," Jack blurted, slamming his fist down onto the ice and snapping his head up, "That's what I'm talking about. You keep saying that we're friends!"
Elsa's heart leapt into her throat, realizing that his eyes had instantly shifted from soft to piercing once again, his snowflake-marked irises lit up with frustration.
"But—but that's what we are!" she choked, her cheeks flushing, "I mean—right? That's what you said! Just—this was an experiment! Between friends!"
"No!"
"But you said—"
"—I know what I said! But we just—I thought it might—I thought it might convince you, that—!"
Jack snapped his mouth shut, blood rushing to his face again in embarrassment. Closing his eyes, he slowly pulled in his breath, as if taking a moment to carefully plan out his next statement in his mind.
He opened his eyes again.
"Elsa—um, can we be like—we can keep—having this," Jack said slowly, "As—as long as we say it's between friends? Is that what you're telling me you're okay with?"
Looking down to where her hands were pulled into her stomach, Elsa fidgeted with her fingers. Of course she was okay with it. She was more than okay with it. Kissing aside (which was very, very nice), Jack Frost was the most wonderful, and thoughtful, and funny, and smart, and sweet, and—I
Gathering her courage, Elsa looked back up into his beautiful, snowflake-marked eyes.
"I would love to keep having this," she admitted. "I—if I'm totally honest, I—don't ever want this friendship to end."
A long moment of silence fell over the room.
Looking down to his feet, Jack nodded, pressing his lips together and taking a step back on his bedframe, away from the wall of ice. Pulling his hands from her, Elsa watched as he then turned away, his shoulders tense and his expression hard as if he were considering something.
Deciding something.
"You know what?" Jack breathed, breaking the quiet and making her look up again. "For right now—I'll take it."
Before Elsa could respond, her childhood hero then suddenly whipped around, leaping up to the ledge and kissing her again.
Her breath catching, Elsa's eyes bulged as she realized that Jack's mouth was suddenly smashing up against her own, this time with a ferocity, a desperation, that the last kiss hadn't had. As one of his hands moved around her waist, Jack broke away and gasped for a quick breath of air before jerking her up against the ledge and fervently kissing her again. All of a sudden, Elsa was hyper-aware of every inch of his skin as well as her own; the chill of his breath, the strength of his hands, feeling like nothing in her entire life had ever felt so good, and so comforting, and so safe, and—
And so right.
Reaching up to touch his face, Elsa was just starting to relax into the kiss when she felt Jack starting to pull away.
NO!
Elsa lunged forward and grabbed the front of his shirt, yanking him back to her against the wall of ice. He tripped forward, and an instant later, Elsa felt his mouth on her own again, his cold hands on her waist. As she was reaching up to grasp his hair, she then suddenly felt Jack's palms slide down onto her hips.
Elsa froze, glancing down with shock as he continued kissing her, her heart leaping into her throat as the Spirit of Winter gingerly felt her sides, his hands sliding forward onto the small of her back. His fingers suddenly digging into the fabric of her skirt, he then yanked her hips forward, slamming her up against the waist-height wall of ice.
The polite, proper, safe, stupid, blasted, AGGRAVATING WALL!
Gasping a quick breath of air before going in to kiss him again, Elsa suddenly realized that Jack's large, ice-cold hands were no longer on her hips. Suddenly, they were on her shoulders, weakly pushing her away.
Her eyes flew open, and Elsa snapped her head up in confusion. His cheeks flushing, Jack swallowed hard.
"We should—um," he choked softly. "We should—!"
Elsa froze as Jack cleared his throat, still breathless. Gingerly pulling his hands away from her, he then gave her a tiny, pained little nod.
"We should probably stop," Jack whispered.
Shifting uncomfortably on his legs, Jack stuck his hands into the front pocket of his hoodie, looking down to his feet. Elsa instantly felt color rising to her cheeks.
"Oh," she muttered. "Um… right…"
She'd gotten too into it. She'd messed up. She was getting too enthusiastic, and too passionate, and Jack didn't want her to get attached, and—!
Jack was suddenly shifting on his legs again, awkwardly pulling his hands back out of his front pocket as if he weren't entirely sure what to do with them. Letting out his breath, he then stepped forward and settled on placing his elbows on the ledge, leaning over and interlacing his fingers with his hips pressed up against the ice. Staring determinately downwards and struggling to take deep, long breaths, it was almost as if he were also trying to convince himself to calm down.
This is why we have to have the stupid wall, Elsa thought miserably.
She squeezed her eyes shut.
Because of me.
"I'm sorry," Elsa choked, opening her eyes again breaking the silence, her voice hardly more than a whisper. "That—that wasn't ladylike."
Jack snorted, looking up, but not in her direction. Shaking his head while still leaning over the wall, he then let out a breathy laugh of disbelief.
"Snowflake," Jack scoffed, "You are extremely ladylike."
Still not making eye contact, Elsa saw Jack glance to her dress, his gaze lingering on the bottom edge of her bodice for a few moments. Clearing his throat, he looked back down, nodding and ruffling his fingers through his hair.
"Ma'am," Jack added breathlessly.
Elsa stared at him in confusion, her heart giving a tiny flutter at the offhanded compliment. If he had meant it to be a compliment.
It felt like it was a compliment?
She looked down, fidgeting with her fingers and analyzing the statement. He was so sweet. And kind. And always trying to make her feel better—yes. That was it. Jack was simply trying to make her feel better, after she'd unintentionally fished for reassurance and praise.
But it was such a sweet thing for him to say…
"So—um," Jack ventured, breaking the silence again and making Elsa snap back into focus. "Well?"
She tilted her head to the side. "Well—what?"
He pushed himself up from the ledge, looking up into her eyes and clearing his throat again. His cheeks flushing pink, the Spirit of Winter swallowed hard.
"You—um," he pleaded, his voice a squeak. "You—did you like it?"
Jack's enormous blue eyes were wide with pleading as he worriedly stared into her face, visibly bracing himself for the worst. Gathering her courage, Elsa smiled shyly.
"It was—fun," she admitted.
Jack's eyes lit up. "Yeah?"
She nodded.
A wave of relief washing over his features, Jack let out his breath, his face breaking into a sheepish smile. He then stepped up to the wall again, Elsa's breath catching as he reached over the ledge, sliding his fingers into her hair. Feeling him gently pulling her forward once again, Elsa's heart leapt, and she took another tiny step up to the wall as Jack silently leaned his forehead up against her own.
Their faces right next to each other, the Fifth Spirit and the Fifth Guardian stood in silence, saying nothing as they shared the perfect, beautiful moment.
Closing her eyes, Elsa felt Jack's thumb gently brush over her cheek. She didn't flinch, but smiled, her eyelids fluttering open as her gaze fell into his own again.
"I liked it, too," Jack whispered.
Elsa felt she was ready to burst with joy.
All of a sudden, Jack twisted his head and nipped the end of her nose, his teeth affectionately brushing over her skin. Jolting, Elsa gave a breathy half-giggle of shock, straightening up.
"Wait," she stammered, "Did you just…?"
Jack looked at her flirtatiously, peering up through his eyelashes. "Did I just what?"
"I—!"
Elsa fell quiet, trying to decide if she had been imagining things. Then, before she could respond, Jack Frost suddenly bit at the air, his teeth clicking together and making her jump.
Seeing her expression, he laughed, and she relaxed again, blushing and rolling her eyes.
"You, and the—the," Elsa scoffed, "Nose-biting thing."
"It wasn't a bite."
Elsa shook her head, her heart skipping a beat as he reached for her face, cradling the side of her cheek in his large, ice-cold palm once again. Inwardly swooning, and feeling another wave of warmth rushing through her body, she smiled and looked into his eyes.
"I love being friends," Elsa sighed happily.
"Uh-huh. Friends," Jack whispered, a mischievous little smile twitching out of the side of his mouth. "Sure."
He shook his head, then opening his eyes again and knowingly peering up at her through his eyelashes. Elsa's heart swelled, the rush of warmth sweeping through her body as he gently stroked her hair back, pushing it away from her face.
"Why are you saying it like that?" Elsa stammered, "Why—am I missing something? What's so funny?"
"That you still think we're friends," Jack chuckled, stroking her hair back again. "It's just—it's so—you. Of you."
"But if we aren't friends," she asked, "Then—um, then what—are we?"
He didn't respond for a moment. As Elsa worriedly watched his expression, the Spirit of Winter pulled in his breath, running his thumb over her cheek as his expression softened.
"How about I explain it to you in the morning," he whispered, tilting her head back an inch.
And he was kissing her again.
Elsa's heart swelled, the strange feeling of warmth and joy washing over her again as she felt his lips on her own, his strong hands in her hair and on her waist. Reaching up and running her fingers along the ice-covered edge of his hood, she could feel his muscles through the fabric relaxing, as if he were every bit as relieved as she was. Like—like he was—confident.
Elsa suddenly became aware of the fact that—she felt confident, too.
Their lips pulled apart again. Saying nothing, Elsa's head swam as she stared up adoringly into his face, feeling like she was drowning in the warmth and comfort of her best friend's startlingly intelligent, deep, and beautiful snowflake-marked gaze.
And Jack had the strangest look in his eyes…
"Morning. Okay," Elsa breathed. "We'll talk in the morning. You'll explain this all to me in the morning."
Jack's eyebrows lifted in disbelief. "Wow. Just like that?"
"I have no idea what you're trying to say, but I—um," she admitted sheepishly, "I like the—the way you're—saying it?"
Jack snorted. "You like kissing," he laughed. "Good to know. I'll go write that down."
"Please don't write tha—"
"—Kidding, Snowflake."
The flash of panic that had shot through her subsided, and the Fifth Spirit blushed in embarrassment. Biting the edge of her lip, she looked up into Jack Frost's stunningly beautiful eyes again just as he was starting to speak.
"To be totally honest, though," he said softly, his gaze dropping to her mouth for a few moments before then moving back up, "I think that this counts as a good reason to stop being friends."
NO!
"Wait," Elsa stammered, "We—you don't want to be friends anymore? Are you leaving? Was it—did I do something, or—"
"—Of course I'm not leaving," Jack assured her. "That's not what I meant."
Then what DID you mean?
"But, for now—we're an Alliance," Jack said softly. "Remember?"
Elsa sighed. "That makes sense."
Men make NO sense.
He smiled, lifting a single eyebrow as he looked into her face.
"A lot of things would make sense, if you'd let them, Snowflake," Jack whispered.
His eyes glazing over again, he let out his breath, picking up her hand and beginning to absent-mindedly play with her fingers. As Jack reached for his waist with his other, pulling her hips up to the wall again, he brought her first hand to his lips, affectionately kissing it over and over.
"Um… Jack?" Elsa asked suddenly.
He smiled, gazing worshipfully up into her face and interlacing his fingers with hers.
"Snowflake?" he whispered.
Elsa leaned an inch away from him, gingerly taking a tiny step back from the wall. "I—um, I kind of need to change."
He raised his eyebrows. "Sounds great."
A look of confusion swept over Elsa's features. After another few moments of silence—still running his thumb over her hand and giving her waist a tiny squeeze—Jack's eyes suddenly snapped back into focus.
"Oh—you—um," he stammered, jerking his hands away from her and clearing his throat. "You want to me to—right."
"Because I have to change."
"Right."
His face flushed bright red. As he turned away and stepped down from off of her bed, Elsa could hear Jack mumble something about being married and a watch. She was tempted to ask him to repeat whatever he'd said, but decided that she'd rather just get on her nightgown and be back next to him as quickly as possible.
A minute or so later, now wearing her standard deep purple nightgown with its sparkling overskirt and glancing out from behind the room divider, Elsa saw through the ice wall that the shadow of Jack's body was still lying dutifully on his bed, his arm over his face like he was holding his hood shut as he respectfully stayed out of sight. Darting across the room past her regular bed, she leapt onto her icy one next to the wall, scrambling into the pile of snow on top of its solid frame and pulling the snowflake blanket up over her chest.
As she was starting to settle into the snowdrift, Elsa suddenly saw movement next to her in the corner of her eye. Her breath catching, the Fifth Spirit turned over to realize that Jack Frost had twisted in his bed, reaching across and placing his hand flat on his side of the thick wall of ice.
Propping herself up onto her elbow, Elsa flipped over, reaching around with her opposite hand as well. Seeing the shadow of his large hand outlined through the ice, she then placed her hand flat on her side of the wall to match his.
Through the window above them in the wall of ice, she heard her childhood hero let out his breath.
"Goodnight, Queen Elsa," he said softly.
Elsa's heart swelled.
"Goodnight, Jack."