Disclaimer: I don't own Frozen or Rise of the Guardians.

So I would like to start out by saying thanks to everyone who read Winter and Snow Love and loved it. This is the midquel to it. It is set during Leif's childhood (so Leif is 8 at the start of this story). Since there was so much interest in my idea for a midquel I decided to write it. I hope you guys enjoy it.

Chapter 1: Preparations To Begin

Elsa was walking down the corridors of her castle. She had just returned from another meeting with her advisors about recent events that were to be happening. Within the next month, Arendelle will be hosting a Trade Ball where kingdoms from all around will be coming to exchange products for other products. Arendelle was famous for its ice and so that is what Arendelle will be putting up as its trade good. Since it was so hot at the moment, Arendelle's ice was high in demand which was good news for Arendelle. Many kingdoms participated in this event and even took turns hosting it. It was Arendelle's turn now.

Elsa always looked forward to this particular event. It doesn't happen very often and the last one she went to was a year after the Great Thaw. Anna enjoys them too. She liked seeing what different things were up and what she could get. Anna liked seeing the flashy things whereas Elsa preferred the more practical things that could aid Arendelle.

Elsa walked into the dining room where she found Anna and Kristoff eating their lunch alongside Elsa's eight year old son who was in deep in conversation with his cousin, Josef. Elsa took her place at the head of the table and when she did, Anna immediately launched her into conversation.

"So what was the important meeting you had to go to?" Anna asked.

"Oh it was just discussing the Trade Ball this year," Elsa explained.

"It's really happening?" Anna's eyes lit up.

There had been a lot of talk about whether Arendelle could host it and if was going to happen this year or in a few years. Elsa had been in favour of the Trade Ball being hosted by Arendelle and it looked like her work had come to a satisfying answer.

"Oh yes," Elsa said, "and Arendelle is hosting."

"Wow," Anna breathed.

Elsa grinned at the look on Anna's face. Anna's other children, Helena and Heidi, soon entered the dining room and took their seats next to Josef. Kai placed plates of food in front of them and they dived into the food. Elsa and Anna watched their own children talking about whatever they were talking about.

"So where's Jack?" Anna asked. "I haven't seen him in a few days."

"Oh, Guardian duties or he's off to visit North and the others," Elsa answered. "I believe he said something along those lines."

"Oh, cool. When will he be back?"

"Oh sometime soon. I'm not worried."

"Oh neither am I. I just miss him."

"So do I."

Elsa stood up from the table when she finished eating. She told Leif that he best be running off to his lessons soon. He did so grumbling as he went.

Leif was sitting in his private quarters at a desk that had a textbook open in front of him. His teacher, Mr Bakken, was an old man who was set in his ways. He would drone on and on and Leif tried to listen but sometimes it was near impossible. Leif would have his classes alongside Helena as they were of similar age. Josef was a bit older and so he was doing higher level things compared to what they were doing and Heidi was just starting out. Sometimes Heidi would ask one of them for help which they would happily obliged.

Mr Bakken was teaching geography today. He had a large map out and was showing them where the different countries were.

"This is we are," Mr Bakken said pointing to Norway and then moving his finger over to where Arendelle was.

"And one day I'll rule it," Leif whispered to Helena who giggled.

"No talking," Mr Bakken said sharply.

Leif quickly regained himself and tried to focus on listening to what Mr Bakken was talking about. At the moment he was droning on about Arendelle's trade relations with other countries. Apparently knowing that was quite important at the moment because of the Trade Ball coming up. Leif looked at the handsome parchment in front of him and he managed to follow Mr Bakken lesson.

The days rolled by and Elsa was busy with preparations for the upcoming ball. She was so busy that she hardly got to see her own family as there was so much to do in such little time. So many people were coming and Elsa was busy making sure that they would be given rooms to sleep and much, much more. Being busy had one advantage though. It would keep her from missing Jack too much. Jack had recently retaken up his Guardian duties and would only disappear for a small period of time from time to time. He tried not to stay away from them too long but this time he was taking a bit of time. Elsa wasn't worried though. Jack always came back. He had promised he wouldn't pull a stunt like he did around Leif's birth although Elsa had forgiven him ages ago for that. She knew that Jack didn't mean to stay away for that long of time and Elsa had forgiven him for that reason.

Elsa continued onwards to the dining room ready for dinner. She was glad that most of the work that needed to be done was coming to a close. She would have a few days off before the actual ball itself. However during it she would need to woo a few foreign leaders. Her advisors had been telling her that a good chance of doing that would be to promise one of her nieces' or nephew's hand in marriage. Elsa wasn't on board with that idea though. She didn't want to have to marry off any of her family. Her own son had been a bit of chess piece in the political game of marriage and Elsa did not like that one bit. She had already been offered several hands in marriage in exchange for Leif's but Elsa had turned them down. She liked the idea of marrying for love which she and Anna did and Elsa wasn't about to change her perspective on that anytime soon.

When she entered the dining room she found just Anna and Kristoff eating alone. Their children and Leif must have already eaten. They both looked up and smiled when they saw Elsa approaching.

"Busy day huh?" Kristoff asked when Elsa took a seat at her usual place.

"More like busy life," Elsa replied groggily as Kai placed a plate of food in front of her.

"Well things are more likely to calm down when the ball is over," Anna said.

"I really, really hope so Anna," Elsa said.

Jack was currently perched on a tall steeple of a massive church. He had just finished bringing winter to the town he was currently in and he was currently watching the children play in the snow. Jack noticed that one kid sort of looked like Leif in a way. Jack missed his family but he had to perform his duties and Elsa understood. It wasn't as if Jack was away for long periods of times. Only a few days here and there. Jack would perform his duties and before anyone knew it, he was back in Arendelle.

Jack continued to watch the children for a bit longer before he decided to move on. He had the wind take him to the North Pole. He hadn't seen the other Guardians in a long time and he missed them as well. Sometimes he would see North at Christmas or Tooth whenever one of the children lost a tooth but that was really it. Since Jack had retaken up his Guardian duties, he saw them a lot more often which made Jack quite happy.

His feet touched the snow that was outside North's workshop. He entered and he found the other Guardians in there. They all had grins on their faces when they saw that Jack was standing right in front of them.

"So what are you doing here?" Tooth asked. "Not that we don't like it when you drop by, of course."

"Oh I just popped by on my way back to Arendelle," Jack explained.

"How long has it been since you saw Elsa?" North asked.

"Oh maybe a few weeks," Jack said thinking hard. "I don't think it's not anything more than that."

"That's good," Sandy suddenly said appearing out of thin air.

Jack and the rest of the Guardians had a small catch up before Jack decided it was best he be getting back to Arendelle. Jack flew through the night and when he could see Arendelle in the distance, the sun had started to come up. Jack flew past Elsa's Ice Palace. He stopped for a moment to admire the beauty of it. He then continued on his way to Arendelle. When he arrived he could see workmen building things and putting up flags and many other things. Something was happening in Arendelle and that spiked Jack's curiosity.

Jack landed and took a good look around. People smiled at waved at him and Jack smiled and waved back. The amulet that Jack still had around his neck, allowed people to see him. It was originally used so people could see him on his wedding day to Elsa and Pabbie said that it would continue working long after. Jack was thankful that the amulet hadn't worn out its magic. Pabbie said that the amulet worked as long as Jack's truest believer still believed in him. At that current moment, that person was Elsa and Jack knew that Elsa would never stop believing in him.

When Jack moved through the crowds of people, he could see that Arendelle was getting ready for something. Jack didn't know what it was. If he had to take a guess, he thought that some fair was happening at the moment. Jack could see that plenty of people were getting excited. No matter what it was, it seemed to spark an interest in all of Arendelle's citizens. Jack thought that he best find someone like Anna or Elsa to help him out.

Jack continued to move through the people towards the castle. Once he arrived, Kai and Gerda arrived to help Jack with anything he needed. He asked them if they had seen Elsa or Anna but they said they went out that morning into Arendelle and had not yet returned. Jack thanked them and headed back out into Arendelle. He soon found Anna with Kristoff, Sven and Olaf by the town fountain. Jack didn't know how he missed them. He must have flown right over them.

"Jack!" Anna waved at him. "It's been so long!"

"I know it has," Jack smiled. "I've missed you all very much. Have you seen Elsa? I need to see her."

"Well of course you do," Anna said it as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. "She should be coming soon."

Jack kept his eyes peeled for any sign of Elsa. Soon a crowd of people made their way towards them. Jack could see that the crowd of people mostly contained men giving the person in front of them updates on what was currently going on. The front person was of course Elsa looking as important and beautiful as ever. She was dressed in her usual ice dress with her hair in its signature French braid. Her eyes caught Jack's and she smiled. She gave words to the people around her and they bowed before departing.

Elsa walked towards Jack and she smiled at him when she had finally approached him. Jack grinned at Elsa before giving her a hug.

"Oh Jack, three weeks is too long for one to be without their wonderful husband," she said.

"I know," Jack said breaking out of the hugs. "I was a bit busier than I thought this time. Hopefully it won't be like this again."

"Well at least he's in time for the fair and the ball," Anna said.

"That is true," Elsa nodded.

"I'm sorry, I'm a bit lost," Jack said. "What fair? What ball?"

"Oh it's just the Trade Ball which is a time for kingdoms to come and exchange goods for other kingdoms goods. The fair is just for everyone to enjoy what the kingdoms have to offer," Elsa explained.

"Oh sounds fun," Jack said.

"It is rather," Anna said. "The last one was ages ago and we had to sail for weeks to get there on time."

"Is the Trade Ball at Arendelle this time?" Jack asked.

"Got it in one," Elsa said.

"When is it?"

"Oh in a few days," Anna said. "Like I said you're in time for it."

"Yeah," Jack smiled as he looked over all the people hard at work. "I'm in time."

A/N: So this is the start to the midquel. I hope that everyone enjoyed it. Please review =)