Chapter Eighteen
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Her magic was unstable.
Well, that figured. After all, her emotions and practically her entire mental state right now was not very stable either. Albeit, she's managed to conceal it as to not to worry the others for now. She had a bad feeling. Maybe she should ask Rapunzel or Mama Odie to check up on her...
Elsa shook her head at herself, diamond drop earrings swinging and annoyingly catching in her hair.
Perhaps I should just frost myself a dress... Elsa thought, it would be easier that way and I would be snagging a chance to have an early start on double checking Squad Kine's formation...
Elsa fiddled with her necklace, her other hand gently stroking the fabric of her dress. Luckily, this is quite strange to Merida, Elsa can run fast enough in heels. And if she can't, she'll have to improvise with an ice slope and ice-board along with Frozone or something.
Oh, Elsa chewed her lip, frowning, but then I'll be hurting Rapunzel's feelings!
An ivory satin and gold filigree strapless gown, the smooth material waving all the way down to barely cover her silver rhinestone stilettos. Elsa really had to admit, for such a last-minute outfit, the season Summer really had taste...or she and Anna had been plotting this from the beginning.
Anna.
Shaking her head even more violently than last time, Elsa braided her hair normally (It looked cool, anyway) and stared at her own blue eyes in her reflection, I suppose I'll have to exit the Ball a tad bit earlier.
She didn't need a purse or anything since all of her mission supplies were at the site, so she made her way into the lofts living room, waiting for the doorbell to ring and indicate her leave.
Hiccup said he was going to pick up Merida from the training area, Elsa thought, absorbing the eerie silence, Rapunzel must have already left with Jack while I was changing.
There was a small tug in her heart when she thought of that. It was her fault, really. She could have had Jack accompany her to the ball yet she had Rapunzel take her place instead. She felt as if she kept pushing Jack away. Always luring him in and then trying to shove him out of her thoughts.
If this were any other guy who liked her, he would have given up on her already.
Maybe he has some kind of motive... Elsa thought, but then scowled at the wall, why am I thinking like that? Feelings aren't like a battleground...sort of. Why do I think he wants to win something?
That's right. Jack Frost wouldn't just try get her attention by adorably smiling and trying to cheer her up all the time just to win something. Sure, Hiccup did that, too. Albeit, Hiccup was more like her best friend, people always misunderstood both of them. But Jack...
Right, Elsa puffed her cheeks out in determination and clenched her fists (then stopped incase Tinkerbell was flying past her window), I'll apologize to him tonight for doubting him!
Ding-dooong!
(Actually, the doorbell sounded more like a choked elephant since, earlier, Jack had used his staff instead of his finger).
Snapping out of her thoughts and quickly checking if her face wasn't red from all that thinking, Elsa lightly stepped around her loft and made her way to the door. She couldn't go to the ball alone since Rapunzel did mention it would ruin her season "Winter" status (Elsa didn't know how but she just went with it), so she had to go with someone in her same team.
Okay, Elsa, She took a deep breath, Keep calm and stay composed.
Turning the randomly multi-colored spray-painted knob, Elsa opened the door:
"I apologize for-"
"Corporal Westergaurd, you're late."
"Yes, my lady, I-"
"Such Incompetence!"
"No, I really-"
"J'espère que vous marchez sur un lego!"
"C-come again?"
Okay, maybe she wasn't that composed.
.
.
.
Why...why do I feel like the time when my brand new laptop froze...literally, by Elsa?
Rapunzel pursed her glossed lips. What was going on? Why was there this weird feeling in her heart? Was it because Anna wasn't here to enjoy the ball with her? No, it was something much bigger.
"Is something wrong?"
"Er...no, not really."
"You sure?"
"Y-yeah, it's just...my shoes..."
"Oh, I know exactly how you feel." Jack grinned, then pouted at the formal foot attire he was forced to wear. Rapunzel giggled in reply. Jack Frost looked even more handsome in formal attire. Though the heavy clothing didn't seem to fit his skinny frame, he somehow managed to pull it off. The suit he wore was white with tinges of blue here and there with trails of delicate frost patterns covering his sleeves and shoulders.
And his hair.
Slicked back, with little stubborn pieces of white falling over his eyes. But Rapunzel could clearly see his pupils. So intense. So blue. Anyone would just want to stand there and stare at the snowflake in his iris, dancing and twinkling with the beauty and mischief.
"You ready to go in?"
Rapunzel nodded, feeling nervous. Time to go in. Time to enter the ball. Time to be with the one she'd hoped to be with...
Jack opened the door and they took a step in. The room was huge, something out of a fairytale. Chandeliers hung from the ceiling, millions of crystals and diamonds reflecting light off each other and bouncing around the room in majestic ways. Rapunzel felt her breath hitch in her throat. It was beautiful. She took a step in and a dozen faces turned. Others continued chatting or dancing. A dozen colors and shapes, moving like a rainbow-colored rollercoaster, swirling in front of her emerald eyes in chaos. So many animals, so many objects, so many people, so many creatures...
He's not dancing.
Rapunzel's stomach did a somersault. Out of all people, the first she ever notices in a crowd...
Eugene.
Rapunzel felt a rush of emotions, all as confusing as the crowd enfolding in front of her. But, just like Eugene, one thing stood out to her, the only thought that seemed clear in her buzzing mind. She had been chasing after the wrong person all along. However, the right person was standing with someone else right now.
She'd have to change that.
Jack, as sweet as he can be if he wanted, winked at her, "C'mon, let's go hoard the buffet before the bears do."
Rapunzel had to think fast. Jack wasn't actually the brightest when it came to getting hint (she'd watched him flirt with Elsa), so she'd have to spell it out to him...but, being the ray of sunshine she is, she didn't want to do that directly.
"Um..." She cleared her throat, fidgeting with a strand of her hair, "You know what? I have a better idea."
Jack's stomach grumbled, "You do?"
"Y-yes! There's a...there's a hidden enormous buffet...on that side of the room!" She was a lousy liar.
Jack looked skeptical, "Really?"
"Yes," Rapunzel felt her voice enter a higher octave, "By Eugene!"
"Eugene?"
"Flynn."
"Why by Flynn?"
"I...I want to stand by Eu- Flynn."
"But there's no food by Flynn."
"Yes, there is!" She blurted.
"There is?"
"Yeah...no."
Jack frowned, "No, there isn't?"
"Yes!" Rapunzel felt her voice raise, "I mean, yes, there isn't!"
"But you said there is."
"I know, but Eugene..."
"Eugene?"
"Flynn."
"Oh yeah, Flynn. What about him?"
Rapunzel resisted the urge to pull her hair out, "I...I want to stand by him."
"But there's no food..." Jack paused. He stared at her and then at Flynn/Eugene across the room. His mouth slacked open, "Oh."
Rapunzel bit her lip and pressed her hands together sheepishly, "Sorry."
"Oh." Jack looked like a confused kid.
"I'm sorry!"
"OH!" Now he looked like he discovered cookies.
"I'm really sorry!"
"So...you..."
"Uh huh...."
"...and then Flynn..."
"Right."
"Oh."
She just wanted the ground to swallow her up now, "Jack..."
"Oh no, it's okay." Jack grinned playfully, eyeing Flynn across the room and then at her as if he were already matching them up, "Go get him."
Rapunzel felt her face heat up, "You don't mind?"
"Nah." Jack shrugged, "I just spotted Elsa by the buffet table, anyway."
Rapunzel felt the corners of her mouth lift up, a heavy weight lifting off her shoulders, "Good luck, Jack."
"You too, Rap." He gave her a two-fingered salute and took off towards the crowding table. Rapunzel waved him off. She could tell that he didn't mind and she knew they would be good bare-footed buddies in the future. They were both fun and enjoyed flying around whether it's from a long rope of hair or racing a dragon. And Rapunzel knew, deep down, she wasn't meant for him. Jack was much too similar to her. Both of them were dreamers and they deserved realists to keep them from flying too close to the sun.
Rapunzel smiled to herself as she made her way across the floor, I guess we both got someone who doesn't like to sing, huh, Elsa?
As she thought about it, she pushed through the thicket of dancers, avoided the Red Queen swatting her fan, and burst through with a bright smile:
"Eugene!"
But he was gone.
.
.
.
Jack stepped cautiously, careful of the mice being chased by Lucifer. The ballroom had been alive with loud chattering, but now that the music had started, creatures began to take to the dance floor for the classic waltz. Tiana had nodded at him as she left with her prince to dance to a livelier jazz. Merida was teaching her own weird stomping dance to Hiccup in the corner of the room. It was rather hot and crowded that night.
She was standing with her back towards him, her dress sweeping down to the floor. The chandeliers were dimmed for the dance and pale fairy lights twinkling softly through the semi-dark, glistening off of her platinum hair. He could feel his stomach twisting with nerves, yet he felt oddly calm as he held out his hand and said:
"Would you honor me this dance, Milady?"
Elsa turned to face him, eyes widening. Her cheeks were bulging and there was smidge of chocolate on her chin that she quickly tried to wipe off. Jack almost laughed at how adorable she looked when her entire face turned crimson.
She swallowed and cleared her throat, "Yes, however, we only have time for one dance."
"Right...I'm sorry I disturbed your lovely dinner, though."
She tinted into red again. "Shut up."
Jack laughed again, then took her hand and led her to the dance floor. As per usual, his smirk was on but his heart felt like it was going to burst out of his chest. He hoped Elsa didn't notice his hands shaking as he placed one on her waist and the other clasped in hers.
As the melody played on, Jack felt himself moving with Elsa through the rhythm and staring directly into her eyes. She was so close, he could feel her breath on her cheek as they swayed with the music. Small features about her that he hadn't noticed before now began to stand out - the slenderness of her hand, which had always looked so firm and strong as she used magic, now seemed small and fragile. Her lashes were dark and straight, and her eyes were a deep beautiful blue that seemed sharp but utterly kind at the same time. Her hair had the tiniest snowflakes sprinkled into them, platinum strands tossed without care.
And her lips.
Jack hadn't noticed before, but one corner would move slightly more when she smiled, as if she were the one smirking instead of him. Her lips weren't big and pouty as most girls want them to be these days, but they were absolutely perfect to...
To kiss.
He hadn't thought about it before until that moment. That moment, when she stared directly at him in the moving lights and semi-darkness of the dance, fingers intertwined in his. He's always trying to make her laugh and trying to get her to have fun, but the thought of running his fingers through her soft, messy hair and biting her lips gently...
"Jack." Elsa suddenly murmured, "I'm really nervous..."
"Yeah, me too, Snowflake." He muttered back, trying to concentrate. The slow song was playing out the last of it notes but he was wishing it could go on for even longer.
"No, I mean I'm freezing your hand."
Jack didn't move away. His eyes trailed to their crisscrossed fingers, tiny sparks of blue circling out of her fingertips, causing swirls of frost to cover his. But he didn't even feel it. Perhaps he could if she weren't looking at him in that way. If his heart was pounding in his ears. If the music wasn't drowning out as he leaned forward even more and whispered:
"The cold doesn't bother me anyway."
Then he kissed her. Without warning, without permission. Without even deciding to do it, but simply because he couldn't have done anything else. He needed that breath she was holding as she had taken his away and...well, he wanted to take it back. So he did.
It was slow and sweet. She tasted like the richest of chocolate. It was like a warmth suddenly started in his chest and grew and grew, spreading through his body. A sort of warmth that was...amazing. The sort that he had never ever felt before...a warmth that he desperately wanted to feel again as he pulled away when they had run out of air. Her cheeks had turned that adorable pink again. He pressed his forehead against hers and stared into her eyes as they caught their breath.
Unfortunately, the trance was broken as the chandeliers suddenly brightened and people bowed and curtseyed. The waltz was over.
"That...that was..." Elsa tried.
"So awesomely cool that I absolutely agree with you that we should totally do it again some time."
"Huh?"
Realizing how the paparazzi began to notice them with their cameras, Elsa quickly pulled away and politely curtseyed at Jack. However, Jack doesn't seemed to notice because he was resisting the urge to grab his staff, carry her off for a flight, cuddle on a sofa with hot chocolate and kiss her until he could no more.
"Snowflake -" He began, but a certain blonde suddenly cut him off.
"Hey guys." Rapunzel appeared next to them, looking rather sad, "Have you seen Eugene?"
"Eugene?"
"Flynn."
"Oh." Said Elsa, "No, sorry sunshine, but we haven't."
Rapunzel smiled and opened her mouth to reply but a sudden clapping began behind her. They turned to see Flynn strolling towards them with a disappointed look on his face.
"Well, well, well." Flynn laughed dryly, "Looks like you've won, Jack."
"Won what?" They all asked, including Jack. It seemed he had forgotten his own bet with the master thief.
"The first dance and a smooch?" Flynn rubbed his face in despair, oblivious to the problems he was starting, "A bonus point? Is this your way of making me do the dishes?"
"...bonus point?" Rapunzel frowned in confusion but then it dawned on her and her large, emerald eyes began to glisten, "Y-you...you had a bet on Elsa?!"
"N-n-no!" Jack said quickly but then stared down at his constricting shoes, "Well, maybe..."
Tears began to roll down Rapunzel's cheeks and her voice cracked as she tried to yell at them. Creatures began to look at what the commotion was about.
Flynn began to panic. "W-wait, Blondie, don't cry -"
"Don't call me that, you despicable human being!" Rapunzel wailed.
"The bet was nothing, I promise!" Flynn tried desperately ad then cleared his throat, "I mean, you're the one who's...you're my...my dream..."
As this was happening, Jack turned to Elsa. Her expression was unreadable as she stared across the room without saying a word. Jack followed her gaze. Moana stood there, using her hands discreetly for a message: All units detach. Mission is a go.
Elsa nodded in a business-like manner, and began to weave through the crowd of people, objects and creatures surrounding the sobbing Rapunzel and terrified Flynn.
"Wait, Snowflake!" Jack called, running after her as best he could through the commotion. She was already out the doors and into the empty hallway before he finally caught up with her.
"Wait, let me explain!" He grabbed her arm, trying to make her face him but she kept looking away, "Please, don't shut me out!"
"I can't believe I ever trusted you." She said quietly. Jack felt his heart crack. He had heard that before and had hoped not to hear it ever again. He made a mess of everything, he ruined it all, he hurt someone dear to him and it was all his fault...all over again.
"You don't mean that..." Jack tried to laugh it off but it came out weak and pained. She ignored him and pried his hand off of her arm, taking a deep breath and standing up straight.
"Leave me alone, Frost." Elsa said as she walked away, "We have a mission to complete."
She didn't collapse into a sobbing mess of a broken heart. She didn't even scream in rage. Because that wasn't what the Queen was. She did not turn sad and she did not turn angry. She was something much more painful.
She became cold.