WINTER'S HEART

Souls_&_Swords: You should all listen to The Ice Dance by Danny Elfman, from Edward Scissorhands. The track that made me love this couple and inspired this one scene!

Jack took Elsa farther down the mountain; since it was snowing up higher it'd be difficult to tell what was what. They were in a generally frosty area when they came across a pond, "This looks like a good spot." It wasn't cold enough for the pond to freeze over yet, so Jack planned to impress her by creating an ice rink. Elsa however, had a better idea. It was a beautiful night, and it was still pretty early—the moon was barely raised. She rushed over near the edge of the pond, Jack put his staff down, trying to catch up.

"I think I know how you can teach me." She took off her two-inch heels, which Jack had commented on were unnecessary earlier, since they made her look six feet tall. Back to her normal height and barefoot, she took advantage of being resistant to the cold and placed her foot onto the pond. It froze over, one stream of glittering frost at a time. Once it was completely frozen over, Elsa held her dress up and stepped onto it, making sure she had her balance.

"Are you sure this is how you want to learn?"

"It's not just that." She smirked playfully, "You owe me a dance!" Elsa waited adoringly for his reaction, until Jack hesitated.

"Elsa, I don't know. I mean after all this, it's not-" Because he talked with his hands, Elsa took the opportunity and grabbed them, dragging him onto the rink.

"Come on!" She deepened her voice jokingly as they both twirled hand in hand on the ice. Elsa was able to make it snow around them. Beautiful patterns of snowflakes drizzled lightly around them as they moved around the ice involuntarily as they span. At one point, Elsa had Jack raise his arm and twirl her. She twisted his arm around her torso and looked up into his eyes, twirling back and straightening their arms. All with a smile on her face, so enchanted by how natural it felt. They waltzed across the rink and at one point Elsa let go, sliding away. Jack never realized how beautiful their powers were. He grabbed her hand once again and as they span and released, Jack smiled… He was feeling like having some fun with this.

As the moon rose higher, Elsa and Jack created snow patterns with each other—tossing them in the air and bouncing them. Some came in the shapes, like a dolphin. It swam around Elsa and the dolphin tapped her nose with it's before it burst into little crystalline flakes. The more they continued on, the better Jack felt. He even willingly grabbed her hand and hip from behind and gently danced with her across the rink. Their beautiful winter was endless. Elsa raised her arms and twirled to catch the flakes, only to have a little slip. She was about to fall forward, but as Jack caught her, she landed on top of him on said ice ballroom.

She blew her bangs out of her face and they grinned at each other's clumsiness. Finally feeling as though she'd learned the jist of it, Jack took her back to the castle and showed her everything—the fountain and throne, his bedroom. Elsa was dazzled by what such a simple element could do… For Jack Frost, he created a home, "How long did all this take you?" She saw the frost blanket, and ice body, but the mattress was real.

"Not long at all. I had some help though." He tossed his staff in the air and caught it, setting it down. He was surprised by how stable Elsa had got it. She was busy still looking at the structure of everything.

She felt a little tight in that small room, "You know… I think this could use a little something." Jack shook his head and chuckled. He'd built a castle, what more could she want?

"Like what?"

"Like I don't know… Something so that you can see everything from up here! Like a window!" Elsa said excitedly. Jack looked to the left side of his bed.

"Hmph." He scratched his chin, "I think I can make a little more than that." Jack raised his arms and created an arch-like doorway. He then added onto the ground below them, stretched outward, adding a rounded balcony. To finish it off, Jack rushed out and created a safety rail. He then swept his hand over it, refining the ice so that it was flawless. Elsa, highly impressed, quickly rushed to see the view, "You were right." They saw everything; the moon, the stars… and far down below, a seemingly vacated Arendelle—the castle's lights were still on, "I remember when I first made it here and I saw that castle. I fell in love with it." Jack admitted, "I wanted a home just like it… So I made this. Here I can live in a castle but still be myself." Jack lamented, "Without hurting anybody."

Elsa stood next to her dearest friend and looked at her "kingdom" below, "I never realized how small Arendelle was. Now I realize I really was trapped inside." Jack turned to Elsa, who looked at her kingdom sadly, "When I was little, my parents never had time for me…" She remembered the eight-year-old little girl in a dark blue dress running down the hall with dolls in her hands, "Whenever I wanted someone to play with, they'd just pat my back and tell me go play by myself." She went on, "Gerda was my only playmate… She raised me better than my own parents. She'd always be the first one to have a tea party with me… To read me a bed-time story… To eat my meals with me." Sometimes her parents didn't even have time for that. Elsa slowly folded her arms in sadness, "But there were very few instances where Gerda had busy work… So I spent my time alone." She'd play with her dolls in the garden, spin around just to see her dress twirl, sometimes just lay out there, bored.

"I always hoped that one day I'd meet someone who'd listen to me… Someone like me." Elsa sighed, "Maybe I belong alone too."

"No!" Jack stepped closer, "You belong in Arendelle—they're your people! And your parents, they love you, Elsa!" He knew they'd be devastated if anything happened to her. The blonde exhaled and looked at her small home again. She walked inside without another word. Jack pouted and followed her in, leaving the view of Arendelle behind and shutting the doors. Though Jack worriedly tried to convince Elsa to go home, she refused. She told him of what had happened; that the village was attacked. Jack wasn't sure if she was any safer with him, but he wasn't going to make her walk back in the middle of the night.

He let her sleep on the bed while he made a frost pallet down on the floor. The two were both exhausted and slept through every gust of wind and sough that went on outside. Elsa eventually woke up from her deep sleep and saw light filtering into the room. The walls were pretty thick, so it was odd that this was happening; until she sat up and saw that Jack was on the new balcony, looking at the early morning sunrise. Why was he up at this hour? Especially since how late it was when they fell asleep.

Elsa slipped her heels on and walked outside. She saw the young man deep in thought, not really looking at anything in particular, "You alright?" He was startled by her sudden presence, but he nodded.

"Yeah. Did I wake you up?" Elsa couldn't lie; she pursed her lips and nodded, "Sorry." She could see dark lines under his eyes—definitely in need of some sleep. The Princess worried if he'd stayed awake watching out for her.

"Why are you out so early?" She joined him at his side—the sunrise was actually beautiful, especially with the castle facing east.

"I don't know; I woke up." Jack shrugged.

"Did you sleep well?" Elsa had never seen the normally lively teenager like this. He shook his head.

"Fine. It's just-I… Bad dreams." He blinked his heavy eyes and set his elbows on the railing, "I really don't want to talk about it." Jack admitted, but Elsa felt horrible, like it was her fault. Had she caused him pain? She didn't have the courage to go any farther into it, but to her surprised, the white-haired seventeen year old continued, "It was about how I even got here." He'd never told anyone but Pitch this story, "I was born with this gift, you see… My parents blame it on some weird lunar eclipse. And I was always locked up inside my home." Elsa's jaw dropped slightly, her eyes quickly fixed on him—he really did know her pain, "I didn't have anyone to play with either… But I eventually had a sister when I was eight years old."

"Sophie loved me more than anything… My family used to say love is what kept my powers in check—that I only have to worry about people who love me to accept me." He'd started to smile but it faded, "Well, three years ago… Sophie wanted to go outside and see the moon. So I went with her… It turned out; she wanted to play in the ice too. So I showed her my powers." Elsa smiled, thinking of how beautiful it was, "She loved it. And being six years old, she had so much energy!" He couldn't help but grin a little whenever he thought about his sister, "But Sophie started to hop on the frozen river, knowing I'd catch her before it could break… She went too fast and I missed and—Sh-She fell in."

There was a beat of silence, Elsa felt wind whip past them, as if Jack had created it on cue, "I grabbed her and pulled her out—she was fine, but after that… My family told me to never go near her again. I lost control and people saw and… I ran away." Elsa grit her teeth at how heavy her heart was—it was a stone in her breast. "That's when I came here, I found Pitch." Jack explained to Elsa that once he collapsed from exhaustion on the very mountain they were standing on, he woke up to Pitch's nursing, who'd brought him food. He'd brought him food ever since—he told Jack not to fear his gift and to release it. Then he remembered one day, when a blizzard hit, and not even Jack's magic could halt it. One day, Pitch had secretly visited Jack's old village.

"JACK!" He shouted over the raging sough, barely able to see Jack who'd came out of the castle to see him, "THERE'S SOMETHING YOU NEED TO KNOW!"

"Did you see my sister?"

"Your little sister?!" Pitch shouted, heavy despair in his yellow eyes, "I found your family dressed in all black at their home, but Sophie wasn't there!" Jack's jaw dropped.

"What?"

"I saw right through them what had happened! After you left, your sister got hypothermia!" Jack's eyes gained more and more shock and denial as he went on, "Jack I'm sorry… But Sophie is dead!"

"No…" Jack mumbled, he felt his knees crumpling, suddenly the white out began to slow its speed. Jack fell to his knees and bowed his head, "NOOOO!" His screamed so that his lungs bled. The blizzard that had been raging for an hour suddenly ceased; the snow hung in silent stillness… His grief had halted the storm. It was three years ago, not too long after he'd built his lavish palace. Pitch was the only one there to comfort him. Elsa was aghast at the pain he'd been through… It explained so much.

Her lips noiselessly said his name, but he went on, "After that… I was scared to leave the castle… I wouldn't even let Pitch touch me." For some reason, it seemed Jack's tears had been stilled that day too. He hadn't cried, perhaps his tears were frozen too… Like his icy heart that he was cursed with. Elsa knew that his pain would fade, but she also knew that Jack still wasn't ready to change his lifestyle, not after giving another person powers and frightening an entire village. "Pitch told me last night that I was a monster… That I should embrace it… It haunted me in my dreams."

There was a sweeping silence afterwards… Elsa felt like he'd finally opened up to her. And now that they both had icy magic, there were no worries when she wrapped her arms around his neck and hugged him, resting her cheek on the back of his neck, trying to ease him… Jack hadn't forgotten his pain nor his guilt, but at least now, he released the burden of never speaking of it.

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