I know that we are upside-down
So hold your tongue and hear me out
I know that we were made to break
So what?
I don't mind

You kill the lights
I'll draw the blinds
Don't dull the sparkle in your eyes
I know that we were made to break
So what?
I don't mind

Darkness.

It was the first thing I remember.

It was dark; it was cold…

…And I was scared.

Coronation Day

"The big day finally came, huh?"

Her response was the sound of her comb being settled on the marble dresser and the soft sigh that escaped her lips. She had painfully twisted her platinum hair into a bun behind her head and began draping a cloth around her, completely ignoring his hovering form at her balcony. She clasped the cape securely on her small shoulders and stood up in a way that surprised him. Golden silk linings, green, purple and black velvet of her clothes – they were the colors of Arendelle's royal family.

Jack eyed the dress with disdain. He preferred more casual clothing for her – something that would make her true beauty stand out better.

But what the heck. Whatever it was she wore, she was still his princess.

And, now, his queen.

But there was something odd about her today.

Maybe she was just too nervous to speak.

He watched, confused, as Elsa took one last look at herself in the mirror. The finality in her crystal blue eyes was unlike anything he had seen in her. Gone was the fire in them.

Was there something wrong?

"Elsa," he called, his voice a little louder this time. The wind was howling outside. Maybe she didn't hear him the first time… "Don't worry about it. Everything will be fine."

The queen stood up and paced in a slow and aching manner towards the heavily-decorated double doors leading to one of the castle's many corridors. Servants had opened them from the other side and she walked through them with small uniform steps, clasping her hands in front of her as she always did.

Panic and bewilderment began to build inside him. Anxious or scared, she was never like this. Jack gripped his wooden staff, felt a surge of current in his body and willed himself to fly. He halted just behind her, his feet barely brushing the carpeted floor as he followed. He was in plain sight, but the servants wouldn't be able to see him though – they didn't believe in him after all.

"Hey," he said, swerving to float in front of Elsa as they made their way through the lengthy antechamber. He managed a playful, apologetic smile, as though he had done something wrong. Something against her will.

Had he?

Not that he could recall anything…

She spared him a quick half-glance and looked straight ahead. Her pace was still steady, calculated, as though she had planned for this moment a long time ago. And, as much as he refused to admit it to himself, each step she took was killing him from the inside.

"Elsa, what's wrong?" Jack placed a hand on her shoulder in an attempt to stop her, but the queen closed her eyes, as though refusing to see him, and shrugged him off. "Look, if it's about me throwing ice-balls at the foot soldier singing outside your window last night, can you blame me?"

There was no answer.

"The man sounded like a dying reindeer!"

Her footsteps echoed throughout the hall.

Why was she doing this?

Why?

…

…

…

Sixteen years ago

For a seasoned traveler much like himself, towns had always appeared the same at night – cobblestone roads, small yet quaint homes, windows glowing with yellow light from fireplaces and the silhouette of families sharing a quiet meal. In every settlement he would come across, a fountain of sorts would be sitting in the middle of a small town square – his favorite place for havoc.

But by havoc he meant just pure icy fun, of course.

This one was different though. A town at the edge of a mountain, beside the sea, it had rocky beaches and forts for trading, lined with a dozen or so sailing ships. It was larger than most, but not the biggest he'd seen, and would've been teeming with townsfolk had it been morning. It was surrounded by tall brick walls partially submerged within the sea's depths and, right in the heart of it all, was a towering fortress capped with green.

This tiny hamlet baffled him to some degree – of all places to settle, they'd chosen this place. Why not choose a flat plane of land instead? It would've made their lives much easier.

The tips of his fingers prickled with excitement. He grinned. Well, whatever the reason was, it shouldn't be an excuse not to have a little… fun.

One of the perks of being able to fly, and being invisible to most people, was that he could go wherever he pleased. Other than making it snow at the most unexpected time of the year, Jack's other hobby was exploring new locales while admiring the lives of random residents going about their own businesses. It was soothing to see something so natural, so… alive.

It was something he will never have.

After growing tired of watching a fish vendor disembowel a particularly large tuna, he soared higher to get a better view of the town in search of whatever it was that may interest him for the day. The town had received its fresh coating of snow on what was supposed to be a rather clear midsummer morning. Jack beamed proudly as he appreciated his work, laughing as he spotted a group of children throwing snowballs at each other.

He had seen what this town – Arendelle, according to the merchant he had overheard earlier this day – had to offer, and was planning to leave maybe later this afternoon. Somewhere warmer, more southern perhaps.

The town square, check. The forts and ships, check. The people, check… yes, he pretty much covered everything.

Except for one.

Leaving behind a gust of wind and ice dust, Jack Frost glided through the air, towards the palace.

"Wow, this place is fancy," he whispered to himself.

Jack hovered slowly through one of the hallways of what appeared to be the royal family's home. There was a ballroom that would probably fit five or so small houses; a grand entrance foyer whose floors were made of shining marble bearing intricate designs of greens, purples and gold; and around fifty or sixty (he had lost count) sleeping chambers. Oh, and he wouldn't even begin to think about the servants. They were everywhere!

The ballroom was his personal favorite though. He had already spent a good hour looking at the oil paintings covering the walls. Whoever it was that lived in this castle apparently had a lot of ancestors and had been here a long, long time ago.

He was beginning to feel bored when the largest canvas hanging in the middle of the enclosure caught his attention mid-yawn. It bore the images of a regal-looking man in a dark suit, as tall as he was broad, his chest covered with golden medals. Beside him was a beautiful woman with auburn hair – his wife perhaps – and by his feet were two young girls, one with golden locks, the other with brown tresses, the same shade as their mother's.

They were the royal family.

...Family.

The words echoed in his head.

Another thing the moon had forgotten to mention during one of their many silent conversations—

"—No! I didn't do it—!" A small female voice yelled from one of the hallways.

"Elsa, my dear, that's not what we meant—" There was another voice, a woman's. She was cut off by the slamming of a heavy door.

Jack flew to the source of commotion, making a few wrong turns before finally reaching the right corridor. The man and woman from the painting were standing outside a closed door, both looking tired and worried beyond compare.

"Elsa—"

He heard muffled cries from inside the quarters. "I never made it snow! Just go away!"

"My love, please let us in," a male voice pleaded.

Being the curious spirit that he was, Jack thought for a quick second before flying out the nearest open window.

He landed softly on the balcony, expecting to see a bedchamber of to suit that of an apparent princess, but what he saw was something he never would've expected. Not in his fifty years of existence.

Everything, from the floor to the ceiling, the four walls, the bed, everything was covered in ice and snow. And behind the closed door was a little girl – the elder one, no older than seven, from the painting – whose knees were drawn close to her chest as though she was cold. Jack gently hovered to her, experimentally prodding her with his staff to announce his presence.

She felt that.

How in the—

The girl looked up and her blue eyes, swollen and bloodshot, widened with surprise.

She squealed.

It was the last thing he remembered before being hurled unceremoniously out the window with a powerful blast of ice shards.

And that was how their unlikely friendship had begun.

Two years later

"What are those?"

"They're gloves, silly."

"No, I meant, what're they for?" Jack asked as he examined her collection of hardbound books by the shelves. There were new ones. He scoffed and pulled out a particular tome whose title was familiar to him.

Elsa, who was sitting by her study desk took it from his hand. "They're a gift from father. Conceal, don't feel, don't let it show, he said."

"You didn't answer my question, your highness," Jack retorted as he hovered beside her, hands behind his head.

She rolled her eyes good-naturedly and looked down on her covered hands. "They're supposed to suppress my powers somehow. The trolls blessed them with their magic."

Jack snorted as he poked the top of her golden head with his staff. It was incredible how his powers didn't affect her in any way. "You don't really believe in that kind of stuff, do you?"

"Of course, I do," Elsa snapped, waving his weapon away. "It saved my sister's life once. And these might keep me from doing something like… that again."

He almost cringed at how mature she sounded for her age. But, like what she had told him, future queens, young as they were, were expected to think beyond their years. It was saddening for Jack to watch her grow much faster than he would've liked, but then he realized, with the passing of time, that there wasn't much he could do about it. So he just simply sat back and watched that girl of seven bloom into a young lady.

A power like that… that can't be kept inside her, he thought as he stared at the heavily-embellished ceiling of Elsa's chamber. It'll come out sooner or later. She was chosen. Just like me.

Deciding to change the topic, he jerked his head towards the book he had handed to her. "Really, now?" he taunted with a raised brow.

The title read: The Tales of Jack Frost.

Elsa looked at him matter-of-factly. "That's another one of the gifts I got for my ninth birthday last week. It's quite nice."

"What, you're starting to doubt me now, princess? The stories I tell you are the real tales." he boasted with a smirk.

"I didn't say that!" she retorted, not without a hint of amusement. Elsa then opened the tome and flipped the pages to show him an illustration. "Although I think the artist did a wonderful job depicting you. The resemblance is quite uncanny."

The picture showed a gaunt, aged, snow-covered man with scrawny icicle limbs surrounded by a small, pathetic excuse for a blizzard. Jack wrinkled his nose in disgust as Elsa giggled playfully, looking satisfied.

They reveled in the silence that followed, but was interrupted with a soft knock on the door.

"Princess Elsa, your lessons await," a male voice spoke.

"Coming!" She gathered up her satchel bag full of parchments from the floor and stuck out her tongue at Jack before leaving.

Nine years later

Jack had been gone a long time – two months perhaps, the longest he had ever left her – before deciding to return to Arendelle during the eve of the autumn solstice. His journeys were important as the entire world needed the fun and mischief he caused. As much as he would like to have stayed with her all the time, he just couldn't. He had duties to the children of earth.

With a breath of soft wind, he landed on her balcony and tapped on the window. It was shut, which was peculiar. Even when he was away, she usually left it open for him, especially at night, when he would visit her after his rounds.

Through the glass, he could make out a figure, most probably Elsa, who was sitting by the far corner of the room. He watched, excitement bubbling in him, as she walked towards him, unlocked the window and opened them, letting him in. Oh, he had so much to tell her, about his adventure in a country in the east where warriors called samurai yielded strange weapons that could cut through flesh like a hot knife through butter. She had always enjoyed his stories and would listen to him tirelessly until she fell asleep in his arms.

But tonight was no ordinary night. Instead of her usual nightgown, she donned a black silken dress and an ebony head cap, which was slightly askew atop her head. Her bright blue eyes were bloodshot, as though she had been crying for days.

"Hey, what's the matter?" he asked her, concerned, as he wiped away a tear on her cheek with a thumb. He relished the warmth on his fingertips as he did so, but he didn't like seeing her like this. "I told you I'd be gone for some time..."

Elsa continued sobbing for a few moments before she threw herself onto his chest and cried a little bit longer.

"They're gone, Jack…"

"W-What?" he stammered, his head spinning in circles. The princess wrapped her arms around his neck and held him tightly, as though letting go would kill her. Oh, wow. Her hair smelled like peppermint and strawberries — it was intoxicating. His arms, trained in the art of cryokinetics, hung uselessly at his sides. It took him approximately a minute or so to will his hands to move. He held her by her arms and pulled away a little to look at her tear-strewn features.

She was just so beautiful.

Beautiful and sad.

So this was how it felt like having butterflies going berserk in his insides.

"Father and mother…" she choked. "…They're gone."

It hit him like a collapsing glacier. "W-what? How?"

She took in a deep breath before speaking. "They left a week ago, out to sea, to make alliance arrangements with a nearby queendom. There was a… a storm. The sailors didn't see it coming… Everyone on board was washed away—"

"I'm going," he interjected, surprising her. He couldn't take any more of this. He had to make her stop crying somehow.

"What? W-Where?" Elsa's bewilderment masked her grief for a fleeting instant. "You just got here—"

"I'm going to look for them. They might still be lost at sea. Who knows, they might still—"

Elsa grabbed his arm as he was about to fly away. Tears began to form in her eyes again. "No, Jack. They couldn't have survived. If the storm didn't take them, the sea will. It's already fall and the waters are freezi—"

"They didn't recover their bodies, right?"

She covered her mouth to stifle a sob as she shook her head.

"Then there's still a chance that—"

"Jack, you think like a child. I'm trying to accept the truth and this is not helping!" Elsa looked at him, begging. "Please, stop this."

"Elsa, why do you lose hope so easily when there's—"

He was cut off as she grabbed the back of his neck and pulled him down into an awkward and desperate kiss. Fire erupted inside his chest, sending jolts of electricity throughout his body to the tips of his fingers, thawing the ice and cold inside him. Despite being caught off guard, he regained his senses and wrapped his arms around the small of his waist and pulled her close, their lips fitting perfectly like they were made for one other—

What was happening?

Against his will, Jack pulled away gently to look at her. "Princess..."

"Please, stay," she whispered to him. "Just for tonight."

Whatever inhibitions he had ebbed away as he pressed his forehead against hers. "Alright."

Three years later

"I can't believe it's tomorrow," Elsa whispered as she rested her head on his shoulder. There it was again, that burning sensation on his skin that she alone could make him feel.

"I know," Jack said, reminiscing. "And to think, it was only yesterday when you lost your front teeth."

She elbowed him and attempted to push him off the ledge on which they sat. "Must you always be so unbearable, Spirit of Winter?"

"And must you always be so lovely, Queen of Arendelle?" Jack asked as he kissed the back of her hand.

"Soon-to-be-Queen of Arendelle," she corrected, pulling her hand from him playfully. "I'm still a princess until before the Coronation Ceremony tomorrow."

They were sitting on the rooftop of one of the royal palace's many towers, admiring the glow of houses and street lamps below them. Many of the townsfolk were retiring for the evening as both of them watched, like guardians, from above.

Elsa, he noted, had conquered her fear of heights. She now looked very peaceful as she dangled her legs from the roof's edge with a good hundred feet drop to the ground. It was during brief, stolen moments like these that he truly enjoyed her company. Elsa was always so uptight and stuffy when inside her castle, especially after she had matured into the handsome woman she was today. Outside her home, however, she would kick off her heeled shoes and laugh at his jokes without inhibition.

"Does the Man in the Moon talk to mortals?" she asked him when she noticed the astral being in question peeking out from beneath the clouds.

"I'm not sure," Jack answered, placing a finger on his chin in thought.

"Try talking to him, then. See if he wants to talk to one."

He focused his eyes on the moon and pointed to the woman beside him. "Hey, I'd like you to meet Princess Elsa of Arendelle."

She smiled and hesitantly waved towards the sky. "Hello, there, er, Man in the Moon."

"She says she wants to talk to you." Jack paused and then nudged her in encouragement. "Go on, he says it's okay."

Elsa glanced at Jack before looking at the moon and closing her eyes as though in prayer. Her words were silent, but Jack knew that he could hear it. One need not speak to the moon to talk to the man in it. He gazed at her with a hopeful expression, but raised an eyebrow when the smile on her face began to falter.

When she opened her eyes, they bore perplexity that wasn't there before.

"Did he talk to you?" he asked her, curious.

Worry began to show itself across her face, but she quickly hid it with a small smile. "Yes, he did."

"Well, what did he say?"

"He said that… You and I were…" she trailed off, looking unsure as she pressed her lips together. "I meant, he wished me good luck on my Coronation."

Jack looked at her, waiting for more. Apparently, she was more nervous for tomorrow than he knew. "That was it?"

Elsa nodded and placed her hand on his. The prickly heat was still there and the more he felt it, the more he longed for it. "It's getting late, Jack, and I have early-morning preparations tomorrow…"

"Sure, princess," he quipped as he bent his knees to allow Elsa to climb onto his back. "Hold on tight, love."

…

…

…

"Damn it, Elsa!" In frustration, he swung his staff and sent icicles towards the incoming double doors, freezing it shut. "Talk to me! What did I do?"

"Nothing, Jack… Just leave," she whispered, pleaded, keeping her focus on every minute step in front of her. Elsa's voice, once filled with melody and happiness, was cracking like thin ice.

Leaving was the last thing on his mind, and so he remained unmoving.

"Please, Jack. The servants might see…"

"I have news for you, Elsa: They can't see me!" He floated in front of her as they reached the end of the foyer. There was something really wrong here. He had to find out. He needed an explanation.

Anything.

He didn't deserve silence. Not after everything they'd been through.

"So you're just going to start ignoring me, then? Without even telling me why?" He asked her as she removed the glove from one of her hands and placed her palm on the frozen door. The ice he had created began evaporating, surrounding them in sparkling snow before disappearing. She then replaced her hand within the glove and laced her fingers together.

Jack was stubborn though. He was a spirit, wandering the earth for almost a half a century, but he was still a boy – a child. And he didn't understand. He hovered defiantly between her and the giant, elegant egress as he watched the queen, his Elsa, close her eyes and then open them in resolution. And within the crystal blue of her irises was something… indescribable.

He was suddenly very cold.

"I'm sorry."

The doors behind him opened and it was then that Elsa, the Queen of Arendelle, his love, walked through him.

"Goodbye, Jack Frost."

Darkness.

It was the first thing I remember.

It was dark; it was cold…

…And I was scared.

He was immortal, while she was human.

He was chosen after his death, while she was born with her magic.

Jack Frost now understood. Somewhat.

It was what the Man in the Moon had told her the night before she became queen – that the love they shared was against all odds, bending against the rules of nature, defying the laws of the human and spirit world.

It was just not meant to be.

But then again, he was a boy. His mind was easily persuaded by his thoughts and the words of others.

His heart, however, was another story.

Fin

Author's note: I just had to get this out of my system, 'cause this has been bugging me for the past couple of weeks. I keep on thinking about this when I talk to my patients or when I'm stuck in really sucky traffic, and it feels so awesome to finally get the chance to write it!

*insert battle cry here*

Although I highly approve of the Jack and Elsa romance that the kids (and, dare I say, young adults such as myself) are raving about all over the internet, I just can't help but feel that their relationship is strained and complicated. So yeah, haters gonna hate. ;)

Btw, was Jack and Elsa in character? Were they too OoC or did I go overboard? I'd love your constructive criticism!

Belated Happy Valentines' Day!

Disclaimer: I do not own Frozen or Rise of the Guardians. Both are properties of Disney/Pixar and DreamWorks respectively.

Credits:
- MyMonsterStuff of DeviantArt for the cover photo of this story. (I hope you don't mind!)
- "Stay the Night" by Zedd (feat. Hayley Williams of Paramore) for the song at the beginning. This is just perfect for this fic!
- Miss Alianne for kindly correcting the timeline of my story. Thanks! Hugs and cookies to you!