The Queen's Guardian Ch 3: Realm of Reverie

A fresh blanket of snow carpeted a field of icy, protruding weeds on a frigid evening in South America. A sea of chilling breezes whip lashed warm-seeking pedestrians as they made their way home after treating their off springs to a trip in the neighborhood park of what was once a soccer field, but now crystallized sand.

It was during his earlier years when Jack discovered an additional pass time that increased his interest with his winter abilities, and that was the children's smiles. No matter how old people aged, a child would always find a reason to smile-even in the present of a blizzard.

He saw it in a mother, as she held her children's hands with both ends. The way her eyes glimmered when she looked at the sky, or how she laughed when her curious infants crossed their eyes when a snowflake landed on their nose. Of course at that point, she would bring up the nursery rhyme and the kid would ask who he is, and she would smile and bring back a story that her ancestors passed down. Seeing, or believing in his existence, came down to them. Some would meet the curious, floating teenager's gaze and express their excitement with a shrill shriek or wave at him. While others would just stare at the horizon, and never experience such a rare encounter.

The young guardian decided that he had accomplished brewing his storm for the South American children who were on break, and to return to the United States to visit a special friend. Jack Frost launched himself into the air, calling after the wind to send him back to his homeland. With a yelp of exhilarating excitement, Jack was spiraled back into a small neighborhood that was once called his home.

A mixture of euphoria and nostalgia settled in him as Jack landed on an auburn roof of a two story home. He lied flat on his stomach and cautiously inched his upper body to dangle himself off the edge of the roof-even with his ability to take flight, Jack still found it unnerving to hang upside down.

Straining in the darkness to look for the familiar small figure, he suddenly felt an unexplainable sensation in his chest-a limbo between satisfaction and sadness-when he found a bigger frame in the bed, and it baffled him. This sensation was hard to grasp, let alone express in words. He didn't recognize until a certain woman easily expressed it with gentle gestures. She emerged with utmost silence with each step to make up for her squeaky entrance to the boy's bedroom. The pouring moonlight revealed a tired look on her face, but her eyes maintained such a soft expression as she made her way to her growing child's bed. She sat near the sleeping figure and brushed his messy locks aside and kissed his naked forehead. She played with his hair another couple seconds before getting up and heading for the exit. As she closed the door, she murmured something so softly, that Jack could have easily missed had it not been a silent environment.

"My little boy's growing up too fast."

And that's when it hit the immortal guardian. He knew that he was sharing the same emotions as his very own mother. Now he knew what he was feeling: a disheartening sensation of watching a life grow too fast before your very eyes, well for Jack, it left him devastated to miss a life full of adventure. To him, Jamie was not just a friend but, daresay, like his very own child or brother, or kin-well, you get the picture-he saw him as someone he had watched over.

It was then Jack pondered to himself if the boy ever spared a thought about him every once a while, or ever at all. He also wondered if he'll still have the time to witness Jamie's growth into adulthood. But in most cases, he couldn't. Even before his position as a guardian, the children Jack used to interact with have grown up and left no trace of a memory of him other than keep his legacy living with hand-me-down stories. With a sad smile, Jack touched a section of the window, spreading misty swirls of branching petals. With an index finger, he drew out the symbol of their blooming friendship. As he floated away, he finally found the word that perfectly expressed his feelings during their brief reunion; a certain word that he naively sputtered without fully comprehending its true meaning: missing a special individual.

For several more seconds, Jack watched Jamie's peaceful face as he dreamed of endless, fun adventures; times that he wished that he was still present for. But alas, he needs to leave and hold on to the promise he had made the previous day. He made no attempt to hide the growing excitement tugging on the edge of his lips as he floated across the sky on his back. He took his time, not wanting to arrive too early, but also not too late-he was aware of the time difference.

No matter, Jack arrived when the sun still hid behind the North Mountain. Since he had free time, Jack flew to the stone bridge that connected the natural site to the kingdom, and decided to explore the unfamiliar territory by foot. Almost immediately, he was hit by a wave of peace and tranquil atmosphere-a remarkable difference from the usual bustling and tentative atmosphere that he's usually submerged in at North's workshop and his previous hometown, Burgess. He factored out that their location in a rural landscape influenced such atmosphere, then again, it wasn't any different other than its, captivating and breathtaking site.

It was a high pitch squeal and laughter that brought Jack out of his dazing wander. He was surprised to see little ones emerging from their homes and into the humid air at such an early hour. their jubilant behavior and energy appeared unaffected by the heat, rather, it seemed to increase their reaction twice as before. They giggled and squealed as they ran out of the house after wishing their father a good, hard day's at work. The oldest of the two-about seven years old-knelt on the floor to allow his younger sister to hop on his back. Almost immediately a smile crept on to the young guardian's face as he followed after them, gracing the siblings with a cool breeze to offer some relief from their combined heat along with the weather.

A chiming giggle from the girl perked her brother's attention. "Queen?"

"Yeah," the eldest replied, "I feel it too. I think she's encouraging us to keep going!"

The girl replied with a impulsive line of nods.

"Careful, Gracie, don't want to fall off now, do you?"

"No!" she chirped, "Queen!"

"Alright we're almost here!"

Jack was amazed by how motivated the children of Arendelle were in the heat in comparison to Burgess. Like them, he would rather stay in an area that promised a cooler atmosphere. These kids, on the other hand, were insane! But still, he admired them, and wondered why the queen played such a big roll in their lives.

At that moment, the gates to the kingdom opened to reveal a pair of built body guards standing beside the gates. At the center was a small young woman with her hair braided and tied in its pristine condition-at the base of her neck. She wore a deep sapphire heart shaped bodice that trickled down into a light blue, unfolding flower-like skirt. Her arms and shoulder were shrouded by varying sizes of snowflakes caught in a transparent web of delicate wisps and swirls. At the crown of her head was a small tiara with a snowflake embedded just beneath the center point.

Jack's jaw hung open, and had to blink several times to make sure that he was matching the children's chant to what he was visually seeing. Luckily, he was at a safe distance from her view.

"Queen Elsa," the boy bowed, as he set his sister down, "are you going on another stroll?"

She replied with a gentle smile and squat to their height. Without vocally answering his question, she pat his head gently with a gloved hand, followed by his younger sister. Then she removed a glove to form a floating snowflake on the palm of her hand and presented it to her. She made another one and give it to the boy. Both squealed with delight and hugged the queen on impulse. The guards besides the gates tensed, but she brushed off the guards' action with a fluid wave of her hand.

"Take care of each other, okay?" she commented gently as she walked on. The children in turn bowed once more before hurriedly returning home whilst gushing about how they would tell their mother of the Queen's present to them.

By the way he observed her, Jack noticed how gentle, serene, and graceful she carried herself around people in Arendelle in contrast to her spontaneous, yet gullible personality when alone. But in both cases, her sense of caution remained intact. He noticed the way her fingers fidgeted as she slipped on the silky fabric over her right hand.

As soon as more of the village children emerged to greet their queen, Elsa became more stiff and rigid. Her gloves would slip off once more for a source of entertainment, even as granting a light snowfall on the kingdom for relief. Despite putting up a front that her people were unaware of, besides Jack, her eyes and her smile gleamed with genuine care and gentleness.

She excused herself from the gathered children and they bowed to show respect. Soon the crowd dispersed into a village tag while Elsa walked to the stone bridge and stared at her reflection in the rippling lake. She was quiet, contemplating a troubled thought as her hand squeezed the silky material with her exposed hands. Then his face showed up in the lake and she jumped back with a mix of a squeal and a gasp.

He swallowed the erupting tickle in his throat with a fist to the lips, while she crossed her arms and glared at him.

"Hey," he chuckled, but quickly maintained it with a cleared throat, "you know I should be the one that's mad." He paused to bow with an arm to his stomach while the other hand held his wooden, rooted staff beside him. Still bowed, he looked up to meet her eyes. "Your highness, " he addressed in an overly formal tone, then stood back up. "Why didn't you tell me?"

"That's why I didn't," she replied, gesturing to his presentation. "I don't want to be treated like that." She turned away to stare at her reflection once more.

It sounds as if she missed the sarcasm, Jack thought to himself. "Well," he added, "not if you don't want me to, you know." He flew to her side and offered her a free hand. She smiled almost immediately by the gesture and took his hand. "Well, Elsa, shall we go?" He is about to pick her up when Elsa protested her disagreement.

"Jack! You can't do tat at this time!"

"Relax, they won't notice. It's not like they're watching you at this distance."

"And if they are?"

"Do you trust me?" His fingers didn't brush against her this time. The atmosphere between them seeped tension. He wasn't sputtering these words just for nothing. His eyes were hard, serious.

Silence and a squeeze to his left hand was her reply. She kept his gaze intact and applied a little more pressure then relaxed, but she didn't pull away. Very introverted today, he noted. It was adorable. Taking the action as her answer, he wrapped an arm around her waist securely, and dragged her close to his body.

"Alright! Excuse me there your highness, you may want to wrap your arms around my neck and hold on tight," he instructed. The gesture caused them to connect their cheeks. Was he the only one weary of this?

"Wa-Wait! Why can't we just walk?" she interrupted.

"Why walk when we can fly?" Jack chuckled. "Now hold on!"

As they levitated, Elsa exclaimed, "J-Jack don't let me go!" She was choking him with such a tight embrace, she was really holding on to dear life.

He could only choke out a gasp and she untightened her grip. Still it didn't ruin the light atmosphere between them. He let out a chuckle. "Relax, Elsa, I got you."

Almost immediately, the shriek ceased into a hum. Her eyes were squeezed shut while he chuckled at the cute sight. She opened an eye and glared at him, but he was unaffected, drowning in an adrenaline of euphoria.

Within seconds, they finally land at their destination just twenty feet below them. To poke some fun at the damsel in distress, Jack allowed them to free fall for two feet, then into a sudden stop.

"Jack!" she exclaimed. He liked it better when she was more vocal.

"Okay! Okay!" He laughed. That earned him another glare. He chuckled once more, wincing at the pain in his stomach while catching breath. "Sorry, I won't do that again."

She replied with silence and a raised brow. She knew he would never give up his silly actions for anything. His face gave it away.

Once their feet met dry soil, Elsa walked ahead of him without a second glance.

"Hey!" he called out, but she didn't turn. "Wait up, Elsa. I'm sorry, okay? I couldn't resist."

She stopped in her tracks, and he almost fell frightened by her posture, although held regal and great importance, an ominous feeling radiated off of her.

"Elsa?" he called out as he approached her cautiously.

She didn't turn. Perhaps he really did tick her off. Well, that was an understatement. Being tackled by a boulder-sized snowball told him otherwise.

He heard a muffled, bell-like laughter from underneath the snow, and couldn't help but smile and chuckle as well.

"Okay, I deserved that," Jack stated as he pushed himself out of the snow. "And that was impressive for someone who doesn't practice on a daily basis." He pulls himself into a squat to search for his staff before standing up front and a free hand to his hip. "Let's see what you can do."

The queen shrugs, unsure on what to start.

"How about something simple? Like this?"

Jack cupped a free hand in front of him. He wiggled his eyebrows for a second to emphasize his magic and she replied with rolling her eyes and playfully pushing his shoulder. He smiled cockily then blew into his hand to form a snowball. He crushed his fist over it, adding slightly more pressure to his middle finger then reopened it. He approached Elsa with the snowball spinning wildly on his index finger.

"A heart," he stated, then leaning closer to connect their foreheads with a soft, husky voice, "for a beautiful queen."

"S-shut up!" She fell silent right when those words escaped her lips. She had unintentionally blurted a pair of words that she scarcely used in her lifetime. It was an attempt to remain regal and poise, but with such a close proximity, her mind was jumbled. Only the sound of her accelerating heart drummed in her ears. Oh, and her face! It was scorching hot-had she been overexposed in the heat lately? Maybe she should start wearing sunscreen...

But then he pulled away, with a saucy grin on his lips. He was enjoying the way he manipulated her, oh she can see it in the glimmer in his cyan eyes. "I didn't think queens had the audacity to say such words."

That earned him a snow ball to his face, and with his own creation, might she add.

"Ow," he whined, "you broke my heart!"

But she paid no mind to him and approached the edge of the mountain, the very same spot as where they met the previous day.

"Hey! Hey!" he ran in front of her, bringing his staff to block her path, "you remember what happened last time, right?"

But she brushed off the question with a hand to her hip. "You want to see some magic," she huffs, "then you may want to stand back for this one."

"Really?" he challenged, dropping his staff to his side, "Let's see what you can do!"

"You better move!" But before Jack could get out of the way, Elsa unleashed a strong breeze to manifest a bridge shrouded with millions of minuscule ice. Unfortunately for the trouble making boy, the strong gust knocked him off the same ditch that they had fallen the previous evening. Had he not have the ability to fly, Jack would surely have fallen to his death.

"Woah!" he exclaimed, "I could have died there you know!"

Elsa shrugged, planting her arms on her petite waist. "But you didn't," she replied bluntly. It was payback. A scare for a scare, a racing heart for a racing heart.

His lips moved to say something, but reclined. Instead, he tucked his head to his chest, and gave her this pure, innocent image-like a bad seed learning his lesson, except his eyes twinkled with mischief. The boy was concocting something, she could smell it. Instead he raised his head and nodded in a rhythmic manner from observing her to her creation. He was silent, trapped between two reactions: to challenge her if she could do it better or cautiously share his concern to her ice stairwell-incomplete, might he also add.

"Uh.." was the only word that fell out of his lips and Elsa uncrossed her arms to walk in front of the bridge. She lifted her dress gracefully to expose her white flats, and with one foot, contacted the first tread. The scattered ice dissipated to form a circular, smooth, surface with her foot at the center. Jack replied with silence, a slightly parted lip, and a raised brow. then her hands took hold of the handrails and dashed forward forming a repetition of smooth treads, handrails, and a set of three overlapping v-shaped balusters in her wake. Jack ran after her, temporarily forgetting his ability of flight by his amazement of the stairwell's durability. At the top, she's waiting for him, with her hands lying on top of the other over her lower abdomen. She has a small, regal smile on her lips that gave a silent, yet powerful image. She was mocking him in a subtle manner with her half closed eyes and slightly raised chin.

"Okay," he stated leaning against his planted staff. He refused to be defeated this way. "Anything else?" he asked with a smirk and wide eyes.

She hated that haughtily air he carried. For the first time in her life, she wanted to see a person's defeated look. She wanted to see him look surprised, breath taken, disheartened-anything but that cocky grin. She'll make his over confidence be his downfall... wait, what?

Instead she smiled gently before raising her hands in the air. A triangular point erupted from the exact spot where her castle once stood, and continued to grow as tall as a hundred feet, but shrinking in width. It was a beautiful, transparent ice drop that shot out a multitude of color right when the sun had reached its zenith.

The guardian pulled away from his staff and stared at the giant monument with awe and wonder. "Wow..." he mouthed. As for the finishing touch, she summoned a cluster of flurry and sprinkled a light amount of snow. It was perfect.

"Okay, I'm impressed," Jack commented, as he met her eyes with an earnest and gentle smile.

Elsa giggled, feeling accomplished, but equally surprised by her capabilities. After a moment, she looked up to meet his eyes, "What about you?"

He shrugged whilst wearing a childish grin. "Well, I suppose a magic trick..."

"A magic trick?" she repeated.

"Yup!" he stated proudly, "now tell me, what animal do you like?"

With such an abrupt question, of course Elsa didn't know what to say. "Uh... I don't know. You pick."

"Hm...well..." the guardian hummed, staring at her long and hard. He would go for the rabbit as he usually would, but Elsa was not a child. He glanced at the ice drop for ideas and back to her. He knew what to make. "Now, watch..." Jack tapped his staff on one of the ice drop's surface to form frosty swirls of snow and drew out what seemed like an animal. He backed away to present it proudly. "Ta-dah!"

Elsa chuckled with his lollygagging behavior, "A bird?"

"No... look closely," he instructed. Then he gathered his hands hands in front of the drawing with his fingers parted and erect to form a spherical shape. then the drawing moved. Tiny snowflakes gathered from the cool surface to form the three-dimensional bird. It flapped its wings as it swirled around the duo before landing on the young queen's shoulder.

"Guess again?" he chimed. "Look closely."

She studied the bird once more and took notice of the small twig on its beak. Suddenly an epiphany hit her. "A dove?"

"Yes," he smiled, "Do you like it?"

"Jack..." she began, "How did you...?"

He shrugged then returned to draw another specie on the glass. This time, several butterflies swirled around them. His magic trick earned him a childlike laughter from the mature woman. He watched her lift her skirt to chase one of them. It was a sight that he would never forget. The closest things to describe it were: a bird taking flight form its harness or a butterfly revealing its true colors. She was a breathtaking and lively sight.

While she was distracted, Jack drew once more on the ice drop and pulled it to life, fluttering gently into his hand. The young guardian hid the creation from sight as he approached the awed queen. He cleared his throat to gain her attention and bashfully shifted his weight from one foot to the next. If not for his staff, the young guardian may have collapsed due to the sudden loss of strength in his legs. This surprised him, since his goal was just to tease her once more.

"A-a rose..." he stuttered with the flower stretched to her. "For a l-lovely queen." Why was he nervous? It's a joke!

But she was reflecting an equal amazement on her face, and flushed from ear to ear as she took the rose hesitantly. To her surprise it felt exactly like a legitimate rose despite its snow-like physique.

He chuckled to himself softly, earning a curious concern from Elsa. "What?"

His laughter went on for a good second or two. Then he answered, "I didn't think that an independent and well-poised young queen could openly express her childish side."

Jack you idiot, the back of his mind nagged.

She blinked at him for a few seconds, but says nothing. He falls back into a fit of laughter, unaware that Elsa's hands are quickly forming another snowball. It is moments later when jack noticed Elsa's gesticulations and wiped a tear from his eye. Although the laughter was not initially intended to make a farce of her, but it certainly did remove his shaky behavior. But all thoughts faded once Elsa held another boulder sized snow ball over her head.

"Wait! Wait! Elsa! Your majesty!" he protested, but she heard nothing of it. He starts to run, and she's only a few feet behind. He almost forgot, yet again, of his ability to fly, but it was already too late. He was eaten by the enormous snow. With a groan and wiggling his way out, Jack finally resurfaced on the lower area of the sphere. "Alright," he declared, "this means war!"

Now it was Elsa who fled away while Jack was still pulling his arms and legs out of the snowball. When he was finally out, Jack flew over her, whilst blowing his first ammunition on to his right hand. He landed several feet in front of her, aimed, and launched the snowball to at her face.

In attempt to protect herself, Elsa covered a hand over her face while the other was over her abdomen. Without meaning to, the snowball Jack had thrust stopped at a hair's length away from the hand that protected her face.

Jack scoffed out with shock. "Hey! No fair!" but she only smirked back as she grabbed the ball and threw it at his direction. With quick thinking, Jack whipped out his staff and swung out the trajectory, breaking it into hundreds of pieces. "Hah!" Jack exclaimed, but Elsa was two steps ahead of him and chucked out two newly-formed snowballs. He dodged with his flight ability, followed by forming two of his very own snowballs and launched it from overhead. It was the same time-freezing result, but he did not falter. He had to move faster in order to get a hit, one where she's off guard. He knew immediately that her current ability was used by voluntary control. So he tried again, encircling her to the point that she almost fell of balance. After twelve rotations, he got her from behind, at the center of her back. But before he could whoop out a victory cheer, he remembered the frozen snowballs gathered in a spherical dome over her. She fell tensed at the contact, but she smiled over her shoulder in a menacing manner as the snow balls gathered into a clumped line of ammo's.

"Shoot," he scolded himself. Then it was launched straight at him. He shrieked for a moment as they buried him once more. And that concluded the sport. It might as well be a part of the Guinness World Record, he chuckled to himself. He could see the headlines now: The world's unbeatable and most impossible snowball war. This was the most fun he ever had in ages!

"Truce! Truce!" Jack exclaimed once he pulled himself out to meet an armed queen.

"I promise," he exhaled, "no more."

She was weary of him, second guessing his word. She dropped her snowball to her side, prepared just in case.

"Let's try something else for now," he suggested while standing up. He tucked his staff on his right arm and reached for her left hand, armed with the snowball. "You're not planning to hit me with this again, are you?"

Elsa replied with a shrug. "Depends. What are you going to do with it?"

"I wanna try something," Jack answered, "can you change this shape into something else? Well, something than can produce more snowflakes?"

"I'll try," she replied. Elsa concentrated on the snowball and transformed its physique to a palm size snowflake. Then her concentration fell on to the snowflake, serving as an open gate to release sprinkling fractals. Jack gathered his hands over the producing snowflake and stretched the image out. Smiling back at them was the face of a cutely drawn rabbit. They both exchanged an eager smile. Then Elsa changed the snowflake in her palm into a tiny snowman. With Jack's ability, it also came to life as a transparent figure.

It smiled and waved at the two of them. Then it hopped off from Elsa's hand and to Jack's sleeve.

"Woah there, little fella," Jack gasped out whilst keeping an open palm to catch it in case it fell. The snowman crawled up his arm, until it rested on his shoulder and waved back to a smiling, smitten Elsa.

All it took was three chiming bells to bring her back to reality. The snowman disappeared. The fun was over, and she had a duty to return to. Her smile faltered as she glanced back.

"I-"

"-have to go?" Jack finished, a hint of sadness trailing after the last word.

She nodded, "I have some announcements to make." She paused and her eyes glowed, as she grabbed his hand. "A ball!" She retracted, concealing her eagerness with a cleared throat and her hands folded properly in front of her. "In honor of my late parents."

"Oh," Jack responded, his expression falling apologetically.

"N-no, don't be sorry... don't be-at all. It's not something we could control of," she explained, "but thank you for your compassion."

Worried, Jack recalled the previous day's event. "Elsa, about yesterday..."

"Don't worry about it," should have been her answer, but for some odd reason, she wanted to tell him the truth. "My anxiety usually triggers it..." she looked down at her palms, recovering them with gloves, but Jack stopped her and held her bare hands with his.

He caressed them gently with his thumbs, met her eyes, and stated, "It's beautiful, Elsa." That earned her a flushed face, and an embarrassed Jack as he broke their contact and stared at her hands. "Y-your powers," he added for the save, "it's beautiful." He kept his eyes down, while his cheeks flamed, "Elegant and graceful swirls, like a million stars in the sky." He almost wanted to slap himself for sputtering something extremely cheesy.

She was a brighter red, staring at her hands then to his large pair of hands. "Yours as well..." A silence loomed for a moment as she gathered her words carefully. "Brilliant and striking... strong." They met eyes and turned away again, this time their hands dropped to their sides.

The bell rang again as a final warning. Saved by the bell, both thought.

"Let's go back," Jack answered. Then offered a hand, "your majesty."

She took it gratefully and hugged herself securely to Jack.

"Uh, since we're gonna go straight to the castle, I think it'd be better if you were..." he offered both of his arms at either side of her, hinting that onlooking residence will notice her if they had flown above their heads.

"Oh," she blushed, "y-you're right."

Gently, Jack cradled the young woman in his arms and flew towards the castle. They were quiet for the most part of the travel, except for Elsa's guidance on where she wanted to be dropped off, and in minutes, they were back at the castle in Elsa's bedroom balcony.

"Well, we're here," he announced. An awkward silence loomed over them. "If you need anything-" she tugged on his sweater as he turned away. Her hands were still exposed.

"I'm scared, Jack..." He knew those words all too well, and immediately faced her. "What if I can't control it?" she whispered as she hung her head.

He planted his hands over her shoulder and looked squarely in her despondent eyes. "Hey, Elsa," he whispered, "look at me."

She glanced up to meet his confident pairs reflecting her color-drained face.

"I believe in you."

He took her bare hands in his. "I saw what you an do. I know you're not the type to harm anyone."

He dropped her hands to her side with a smile, then stood on the rails, prepared to take flight.

"Jack," she called out as he levitated.

"Yes?" He quickly turned to face her.

"Will you come to the ball tomorrow?"

He smiled at her brightly and bowed to her while floating in the air. "It would be an honor."

She curtsied back to as he glanced at her one last time before flying away. "Ill see you soon, your majesty."

Elsa planted her elbows on the handrail, watching the young guardian fly away from sight. She had a smile on her face the entire time, even when she turned away and entered her bedroom chamber.

Several steps later, she was in front of a large mirror, checking over for any signs of any disheveled appearances. Then a familiar tenor voice greeted her from behind.

"Long time no see, your majesty."