"Yeah, see you later.."
Elsa smiled as she closed the door of the meeting room before releasing a deep sigh. She took slow and tired steps to the elevator and pressed the familiar button, rubbing her face in exhaustion as she bit back another yawn.
Two entire days of resting and doing absolutely nothing STILL didn't rid the fatigue in her bones and no amount of stretching relived the pain in her muscles. She looked at herself in the elevator mirror and noticed her haywire hair and the bags under her eyes.
She had tried to make herself as presentable as possible for the meeting between her Ice Rink family and the Guardians; but seeing Anna and Rapunzel come to accompany her to the meeting room looking like recently-risen zombies dampened Elsa's determination as well. She thought she looked pretty decent when she had left her room in the morning but now that she actually took a closer look, she looked like she had pulled several all nighters at work without a wink of sleep.
Sighing, she stepped out of the elevator and opened the door of her room.
Inside, lying on the bed and staring at the ceiling was Jack Frost, the most beloved Race of Rapidity racer of all time aka her boyfriend of the past two days. He turned his head towards her and gave a tired smile, opening his arms wide for her while not rising from the bed.
Elsa dropped into his embrace, humming in approval as he wrapped his arms around her. She buried her nose in his neck and threw her leg over him, sighing in content as her body finally relaxed.
"How did it go?" Jack mumbled, busy nuzzling into her hair.
"Mmhm, nothing special." She settled her head a little away from him so that she could talk comfortably, "North announced that everyone from the Guardians will be back to work from tomorrow except Tooth and Sandy who will be helping us out here. Bunny and North will be busy with running the company so they'll only be coming here during the nights and then leaving for work as usual.
"And both North and Manny decided that it would be better that those of us from the rink who came and helped here should stay for at least a week more, until we're completely rid of the aftereffects of overusing our quirks."
"So you'll be here for a week more?" Jack grinned, rolling and partially lying on her before nuzzling into her neck, "Nice."
"Not so fast, Frost," Elsa chuckled, leaning away so that she could look at him as she said, "You were repeatedly healed by Punzie during the race so you'll be recovering way faster than all of us. So you're gonna be attending interviews regarding the race in two days time."
"Oh come on," Jack whined, shuffling closer as he pinned her under him with his weight, "I wanna cuddle with you for at least a month!"
"Yeah, sorry to inform you but you're gonna be busy," she smirked.
Jack just grumbled and remained silent after, both of them basking in the silence and in each other's presence.
"So how's Emma?" She asked, gently and slowly weaving her hands through his hair.
Jack hummed and settled more comfortably before answering, "She's recovering well and we spoke the whole morning. I apologized properly and she forgave me for being a douche these past years, and then we just sat and spoke about a few of our memories." His fond smile slowly turned into a pensive line as he continued, "She still is traumatized by everything that happened with Pitch so I told her that I'll ask Sandy to introduce her to a nice therapist. She didn't want to go to therapy at first but she understood that it would be better for her."
"Yeah, that would be for the best," Elsa pressed a kiss on his forehead comfortingly before sighing, "Maybe we all should attend a few sessions. I know Manny and I definitely need a few."
"Oh yeah, what happened with that particular conversation?" Jack asked, leaning back to look at her properly, "did you both speak about it or did it end in another fight?"
Elsa sighed, playing with the end of her braid as she replied, "He apologized and explained why he'd been so pissed at me all this time. I told him that if he'd bothered to speak with me instead of ignoring me, I would've won the final race and we would have got our justice soon enough. I mean-" she huffed and sat up straight, finally letting out the frustrations she had bottled up all this time, "-I understand that I had a role to play in my parents death. If I had not been a racer or in Pitch's company being his no. 1 annoyance, then they probably would still be alive! I know that! But-!"
"Elsa Winters you are in no way the reason for your parents' death!" Jack sat up as well, holding her hands as he stated, "You were a young girl well on her way of accomplishing her dreams. It was Pitch who decided to kill your parents in order to make you lose the race! So you are not the reason and had no role in their deaths whatsoever!"
Elsa just stared at his face, conflict evident in her expression before she sighed and looked down, holding onto his hands tightly.
Seeing her desolate face, Jack sighed and let go of her hands, "Come here, you," he mumbled and gathered her in his arms, letting her wrap her legs around his waist as she sat on his lap and hugged him tight.
After a few seconds of silence, Jack finally asked, "So what happened after?"
Elsa sighed again before replying, "I told him all the reasons why his hatred was completely irrational 'cause ultimately, Pitch was the one at fault. He told me that he had realised that just a few days back when a certain someone," she pulled back and looked him in the eye, "beat it into his head that a grieving young girl couldn't have possibly figured out why she had to win the race."
"Oh yeah," Jack grinned sheepishly, remembering his conversation with Manny that prompted the man to get rid of him by calling the paparazzi on him. "I overhead him talking to Tooth and forced him to tell me everything."
Elsa just stared at him in disbelief until acceptance washed over her face and she laid back down, pulling him down with her.
"Speaking of which," Jack continued, "who knew that Manny was the one who created Guardians Inc. huh?"
"I did, well, sorta," Elsa admitted, eyes still closed as she tried to relax, "He had always wanted to be a racer but when none of the companies accepted him because he wasn't that fast, he offered to train the kids from North's orphanage, or at least those who wanted to but couldn't afford the usual procedure of attending the academy or joining a training company. He also worked as a professor at our academy which is where he met my dad for the first time, way before I was born.
"He appointed North CEO of the training branch when he started training me and completely quit both of his jobs after my failure; after which he started investigating about my parents' deaths. I knew he trained kids from an orphanage and that he was a good coach back when I was young but I didn't know that he had ambitions of being a racer or that his company was the same one you worked for."
"What a small world," Jack mumbled, and then remembered what they had initially been talking about, "so what now? You forgave him and all is well?"
Elsa hesitated to answer but didn't hide anything from him, "Call me selfish if you want but I couldn't bring myself to forgive him completely. I've told him that I accept that he's made mistakes but I was too hurt to just let it all go. So for now, he is on probation and eventually, I might forgive him and accept him as my godfather again."
"That's not selfish at all, Snowflake," Jack smiled before kissing her on her forehead, "I'm so proud of you."
Elsa smiled and turned pink at the praise, pressing a light kiss on his lips in gratitude.
"So when are you going to visit Jamie?" She asked, knowing how worried he had been even after knowing that Jamie was well and good at the hospital, thanks to Rapunzel who had paid him a visit at the hospital on the way back from the stadium to the hotel.
"Tomorrow, first thing in the morning. I've tried to sneak out so many times already but I either ended up fainting or Bunny and Sandy caught me," Jack sulked, remembering his multiple failures in just the past two days.
"Well... if you had asked your smart girlfriend's help, you wouldn't have fucked up so much," Elsa smirked, obviously joking.
"Yeah, I should've probably done that. We make a good team," Jack smiled back and bopped her nose, both of them giggling softly as they settled back into bed. A few moments passed as they laid in the comfort of the other's presence until Jack sighed and tightened his grasp around her.
"You're not completely leaving after a week, are you?" He asked, unable to hold back the frown that slowly crept onto his face. "The past week without you has been hell, Snowflake, and I dont think I can remain sane if you leave again."
Elsa sighed as well, weaving her fingers through his silky hair as she contemplated her answer. "I wish I could stay with you as well, Jack. I wish I could just throw you into a suitcase and take you back home-"
"I'm not objecting to that."
"-but we both know that I can't stay here and you can't come back to the rink as well. We both have duties and responsibilities in our respective lives. I still need to be working for the expenses of the Rink and continue running it as well because Manny's gonna be busy with suing Pitch. On the other hand you need to attend your interviews and all the other activities as a Race of Rapidity finalist and you also have to take care of Emma. We just- can't live together anymore..." Elsa unconsciously tightened her arms around him, which Jack reciprocated.
He carefully thought about his next few words before deciding that she'd prefer it much more if he stayed completely honest with her and asked, "Are you sure you dont want to come back to racing?"
Elsa remained silent for some time before she replied, "Nah. I love racing and it was my passion, but from the very beginning, my interest had always been about magical abilities and such, not just racing, you know. Who knows, now that I'm slowly recovering from purposely not using my powers, I might start racing some day in the future. Heck, I might even end up racing again if you manage to break my record!"
"Is that a challenge, Ms Winters?" Jack smirked, leaning close to her face.
"That's a promise, Mr Frost," Elsa winked and smirked, sealing the promise with a kiss on his forehead.
Jack smiled before capturing her lips in his, humming in glee as Elsa kissed him back. The kiss didn't last long as Elsa pulled back to kiss him on the nose. But Jack didn't seem to think that was enough as he pressed closer, lips seeking hers more insistently.
Elsa resisted and teased him for a few seconds but finally gave in, her hands running through his hair as Jack's rested around her waist.
Daring to be a bit bolder, Jack bit her bottom lip and poked it with his tongue. Elsa gasped in surprise, which gave him an easy entrance into her mouth. He happily swallowed her moans, letting out a few of his own, pulling back only when Elsa slid her leg up his.
While Jack was surprised at her uncharacteristic move, Elsa just smirked before pulling him down by the collar. They continued making out for quite some time, both of them finally releasing and savouring their desire to touch each other after two and a half days of being too tired to do anything.
Their kisses weren't limited to just their lips or cheeks. While Elsa tried to catch her breath, Jack slid down, pressing chaste kisses down her throat. He sucked on her skin where her neck met her shoulder, eliciting gasps and moans from her which just turned him on even more.
He rolled to her other side and wrapped his arms around her from behind her, effectively pinning her to his body before pressing an open mouthed kiss right over her snowflake tattoo and sucked on the skin. Elsa gasped loudly but let him do what he wanted, trying not to writhe in pleasure. When he was done, she rolled over to face him, heart skipping another beat at his smug grin and hungry look in his eyes.
Deciding that two can play this game, Elsa straddled his body, pinned his hands to the bed and towered over him before leaning to his ear as she whispered, "my turn."
Satisfied at the sight of Jack actually shivering under her breath, she leaned forward and stopped just over his lips. She smirked when she saw Jack's eyebrow twitch in annoyance. Just as he moved his head up to connect their lips, Elsa quickly moved to the side and pressed a deep kiss right under his ear.
Pleasure coursed through his entire body as Jack gasped. He quickly switched their positions and smashed their lips together hungrily, hand trailing down to tease her skin at the waistband of her pant. Elsa gulped in arousal and decided to surprise him back by trailing her hand up his abs, satisfied at his surprised grunt.
But before they could continue, the room door opened with a loud bang. Elsa yelped and threw Jack off of her, turning and seeing Flynn standing at the door with one hand on the doorknob and the other on his mouth as he realised just what he had interrupted.
"Oh my gAWD," Flynn screeched, running out of the door as he yelled, "BLONDIE YOU NEED TO SEE THIS!"
"FLYNN FUCKIN RIDER I SWEAR TO GOD, IF YOU UTTER A WORD-!" Elsa ran out of the door, all her previous tiredness and arousal forgotten as she chased after her cousin's husband.
"One of these day," Jack, still lying flat on the floor, huffed before muttering, "I'm gonna kill him and I'm gonna enjoy doing it."
"What did he do this time?"
Jack lifted his head off the floor from behind the bed and saw Merida standing outside the door with Emma by her side. He forced himself to rise and walked out, fixing his shirt as he met with the redhead and his sister.
"What he's been doing from when I first tried kissing Elsa," he deadpanned, staring down the corridor where Elsa had trapped Flynn in ice covering half his body as she threatened him. "What did y'all come for?" He asked, turning to Merida and Emma.
"Well, old man Moon just left the hotel, telling that he's gonna get started with suing Pitch for, well, everything. Mistreatment of trainees in the company, accepting bribe from the Westerguards, plotting Elsa's failure, killing her parents, every single case he has avoided using his money, kidnapping relatives of the racers and threatening them to lose, hiring his own workers in the race's committee and controlling the race, intentionally targeting the racers during the races and also for attacking you and Elsa after the race." She was breathless by the end, taking deep breaths to regain her normal breathing pattern.
Jack just stared at her in disbelief until a whistle and an impressed "wow" escaped his lips.
"You know what this means, right?" Merida asked.
Seeing his clueless face, she just shook her head in exasperation before answering, "When the case is started at the court, all of you including Elsa, Emma and Flynn will have to attend as eye witnesses and victims. And you'll also have to talk about things even if you don't want to," she stated softly, placing a hand on Emma's shoulder.
Jack looked at his sister in worry as well. Despite her obvious fear, Emma gave them a brave smile as she placed a hand on Merida's, "It's okay. If it means that that asshole will end up in jail, I'll be okay to tell the story to the judge."
Pride filled Jack's heart as he smiled at her until he gasped dramatically and began poking her forehead, "Watch your mouth young lady! Who the hell taught you such disgraceful words?!"
Emma pushed his hand away and poked her tongue out, giggling when her brother did the same. She soon screamed and started running away when Jack started to chase her.
Elsa watched them with a smile, trying not to think too hard about what she'd heard Merida say. Her attention was stolen by her whining brother in law, who was complaining that he was definitely getting hypothermia because of her. Rolling her eyes, she released him from her Ice right as Anna and Rapunzel ran out of the elevator, looking like they were in a hurry.
"Jack! Jaaacckk! You need to watch this right now!" They grabbed him and ran to the elevator, signalling everyone else to join them as well. They all piled into the small space, confused about what might have happened.
They got their answer soon enough when they reached the lobby where everyone else was gathered around the television. The Race of Rapidity's official channel was playing and they all understood what this was about.
"-And there you have it folks, those were the final reports regarding the incident at the race of the Tachyons Cup. And now-" The host of the show started as he pulled out a cue card. "-the announcement we all have been waiting for! Who is the true winner of this year's Race of Rapidity?!"
Jack's heart skipped a beat, hand instantly seeking Elsa's as he saw clips of all four racers played on the screen.
"As we all know, the first one to cross the line this year was Hans Westerguard, finally gaining his third victory; a feat that has been achieved only by one other person in the entire history of the Race of Rapidity, who is none other than Elsa Winters, the Snow Queen! So since he crossed the line first, he is obviously the winner right?" The host paused, looking at the camera with a pointed look. "But apparently, the people don't think so!"
"Say what?" Jack blinked, hope slowly filling into his heart.
"As we all know, it has been discovered that an immense amount of illegal manipulation of the race has taken place, and the Race's Board has been taking several measures to solve this problem. It has also been found that Mr Hans Westerguard and his sponsor Nightmare Inc have been well involved in these activities.
"And hence, taking into account the number of charges that have been filed against Mr Westerguard and Nightmares Inc, the Race of Rapidity Board has declared that Hans Westerguard is banned from the Race of Rapidity and so is Nightmares Inc.!"
"What?!" Elsa and Jack yelled, eyes wide and jaws dropped as they stared at the screen. Everyone around them cheered loudly whereas Anna and Emma hugged their respective siblings in joy.
"But there's more!" The host gained everyone's attention again as he continued, "Since Hans is now out of the question, who IS the true winner of the Race? After plenty of discussion and taking their level of participation in account, Dash Parr, despite being the bravest and youngest racer ever, is unfortunately not qualified for the title, as he was out of commission before he could complete his race. That leaves us with two, very interesting options. Will the winner be Hiccup Haddock, one of the most compassionate racers we've ever seen, or Jack Frost, the racer to have gained the most love and affection from the audience?"
A hint of nervousness seeped into Jack's heart but strangely, he felt calm.
"This was hard to decide, since the two racers walked the line together in the most heartwarming show of sportsmanship in the history of the Race of Rapidity, that left quite a lot of us in tears. But after scrutinizing the video clips for a long time, it was discovered that despite both of them walking together, one of them did step past the line before the other. And hence, we decided that this person should be named as the winner of this year's Race of Rapidity. So who is it? Is it the loving Hiccup Haddock or the dashing Jack Frost?"
"Oh, get on with it already!" Anna hissed, voicing out everyone's frustration.
"Ladies and gentlemen, may I present to you, the winner of the Race of Rapidity," the host yelled cheerfully, grinning as he stepped aside to show the big screen behind him, "Hiccup Haddock!"
Everyone present in the lobby went silent as the show played the clips in slow motion, in which it was pretty obvious that Hiccup, who had been struggling to walk with just one leg, stepped on the white line just milliseconds before Jack's foot touched the line.
Few of them present including Merida, Flynn, Bunny and North started yelling in outrage whereas the others looked at Jack in concern.
A hand gripped his shoulder and Jack looked at Elsa who stood in front of him along with his sister.
Seeing the clip of Hiccup and him cross the line one more time, a sense of calm washed over Jack as he gave them a small smile. He was a little disappointed, for sure, but strangely, he was okay with the results.
He assured them that he was okay, but that just increased the worry in their eyes.
"Jack, it's okay to be disappointed," Emma offered, hand reaching out to hold his.
Jack squeezed her hand reassuringly and gave her a smile as he replied, "I know, Em. But I really am okay," he looked back at the screen where Hiccup's smiling face was displayed, "He deserves the victory."
They just stared at him as if trying to see if he was genuinely fine until Elsa smiled at him and stroked his cheek.
"You really have come a long way from the man I met on the day you crashed our rink, Mr Frost," she whispered, eyes gleaming with pride.
Jack grinned back and accepted her hug, sqeezing her tightly with one arm while the other still held onto his sister's hand.
"But," the host suddenly jumped back into the screen, looking more excited about what he was about to say, "there rose a problem with this."
This caught everyone's attention and suddenly, there was absolute silence in the lobby.
"We sent an email to Mr Haddock's team, requesting his presence today for the traditional interview of the winner of the Race of Rapidity. But surprisingly, instead of an email confirming his attendance, we instead got a request for a video conference with the entire Board. We of course thought it was unnecessary, until we were told that Hiccup Haddock does not intend on accepting the title."
"He said what?!" Jack blinked in shock.
"As per their request, a conference was held, wherein Hiccup Haddock explained his reasons. He pointed out that truthfully speaking, none of this extra deliberation would have taken place if Jack Frost had crossed the line when he had the chance. But, he threw away his ticket of eternal fame and glory, and chose to instead help a friend, a fellow racer out when they couldn't finish the race themselves.
"Isn't the Race actually conducted to find out and honour those with immense control over powers and also quick wit and compassion, not just someone who is able to cross a line before others? Isn't Jack the reason Hiccup even got to finish the race in the first place? It would be a shame to honour the helped without giving any appreciation to the helper whose kindness and good intentions were the only reason for Hiccup's victory."
Jack facepalmed, muttering to himself, "Hiccup you idiot."
"This certainly moved the hearts of everyone present. There's also the fact that in all the mails we had received from the audience, the majority requested for Jack to be named as the winner. So basically, Hiccup Haddack is technically the winner of the race while Jack Frost became the winner of our hearts." The host placed his hand on his heart for extra measure.
"Hmm, Jack Frost, winner of hearts, huh?" Elsa smirked, nudging him teasingly.
"The only heart I wanted is already mine though," Jack pecked her cheek, grinning at the way her cheeks flushed.
"But by the end of the day, a race is still a race," the host's mood dampened as he continued, "and we can't just name whomever we like to be the winner. And hence, the Board and Mr Hiccup Haddock finally came to an agreement, by which the title of the winner and the cup would go to Mr Haddock whereas the cash prize and additional prize of this year's race, the huge mansion popularly known as the Glacial Haven surrounded by hundreds of acres of land, would be given to Jack Frost!"
Surprised by the unexpected outcome, those in the lobby took some time to process the information, until everyone broke out in applause. Congratulations were showered on Jack, who still looked pretty shocked. He accepted their wishes in gratitude, grinning widely as Emma jumped on him to give him a big hug.
Once everyone was done showing their happiness for him, North decided that it was about time they arranged a celebratory party. But taking into consideration how most of the VIP's of the day were still half dead and that Jack's interviews start in two more days, the party was set for the next day, for which everyone showed their gratitude.
Bunny and North took their leave, already starting with the party arrangements and invitations that they had to send to all the Guardians staff and to Hiccup and Dash's teams.
The rest of the gang decided to hang out together in one of the bigger rooms, recounting past stories and sharing laughter as they were too tired to either go out somewhere or to play any games inside.
Nighttime eventually rolled in and after a hearty dinner filled with banter and laughs, everyone made way to their rooms after congratulating Jack once again. Jack and Elsa were the last to leave the dinner room, flopping into bed together as exhaustion finally rid them of any extra energy.
Elsa kept her eyes on Jack's peaceful face, until he asked her what was wrong to which she replied, "Nothing's wrong, I just-" she paused, raising her hands to stroke his cheeks before she smiled, "I'm so very proud of you Jack."
Jack smiled back, taking one of her hands in his before placing a kiss on her palm. He leaned close and rested his forehead against her cool one, letting the coldness calm him down as he whispered, "I love you."
"I love you too," Elsa bit back a smile.
They shared a long but sweet kiss before Elsa finally drifted off to sleep.
But Jack couldn't fall asleep. An idea had been forming in his head ever since the results of the race had been revealed and he didn't think he'd get any sleep if he didn't reveal this idea to a certain someone right away.
Leaning over, he picked up his phone and searched the contact. The call rang a few times until the person finally answered.
"Hey Jackie boy." Hiccup's cracked yet teasing voice brought a smile to Jack's face and he couldn't help but snicker. "How'd you get my number, huh? Are you stalking me?"
"Thats not important right now because you, mister, are a complete dumbass."
"Aw, thanks for the compliment Frost."
"That was anything far from a compliment, you dumbfuck. By the way, I'm pretty sure you know why I've called."
"If it is to tell me that you dont want the money and the mansion, I'm hanging up."
"Well, I am actually very tempted to tell that. But if you are really sure about me getting the money-"
"I am a thousand percent sure and nothing you tell is gonna change that."
"...wow, okay then. That makes this easier for me then." Jack took a deep breath before stating, "Haddock, I have something to propose."
"Dude I'm already married and have a baby girl coming soon like can you believe that?! My wife is amazing! So yeah, I'm too loyal to Milady to even consider your proposal bruh."
"Dont worry, I have a loving and fantastic girlfriend so I'd never settle for you even if my life depended on it."
"Okay asshole, so whats this about?"
Jack glanced down to the angel fast asleep in his arms and tucked away a strand of her hair behind her ear before continuing.
"A plan on what I wish to do with the money and the mansion, and I think it could benefit both The Guardians and the Berk Association."
"I'm all ears, Frost..."