A.N. In the run-up to my birthday I'll be updating this three-shot every day. To those of you reading Flowers, I'm in the process of writing the next chapter, it should be up by next week.

Flames=Leo Valdez

Can we create something beautiful and destroy it? Nobody knows I dream about it, this is my imagination. If you come over tonight we can travel through time. If it's the end of the world you and me should spend the rest of it in love.

Normally Elsa didn't mind celebrating her birthday alone. She had become accustomed to it when she was younger. Her parents usually tried to make some kind of effort, whether it was showering her with presents or baking her a cake. But no matter what they did, at the end of the day it was still her alone in her room, staring out the window and trying to ignore the ice that framed the windowpane as her hands lay on the glass.

Birthdays were not the joyous celebration for her that they were for most people.

And then she met Jack.

He appeared out of nowhere on the night of her sixteenth birthday, hovering outside her window with a staff slung over his shoulder. With a mischievous smile on his lips, he had rapped on her window sill. In hindsight, Elsa would admit that maybe opening the window to let a complete stranger in wasn't the smartest choice she could've made. But if she hadn't opened the window she never would've met Jack.

So, in hindsight, she was glad she had.

Elsa had frowned, shaking her head. Was he flying? More importantly, how had he known which room was hers?

Can I come in? he mouthed, giving her a pouty look with some of the bluest eyes she'd ever seen. Elsa felt her willpower crumble.

She opened the window.

"Happy birthday," were the first words out of the boy's mouth as he landed gently in her room. "Sixteenth, right?"

"Y-yes," was all that Elsa managed to say. She was already regretting her decision.

"Feel any older?"

"How do you know that today's my birthday?" Now that Elsa was starting to recover from the surprise she backed up until her back was pressed against the wall, her bare hands clutched together.

He looked at her with surprise. "I've seen you before. Eating cake, occasionally with some other people, but normally alone."

"What are you doing here? How can you fly?" As someone who had the powers of winter Elsa supposed that a flying boy wasn't the strangest thing she'd seen before, but it was the simplest thing she could grasp onto at the moment. "What's your name?"

"Jack," Jack said, taking a step closer. Despite herself, Elsa flinched away. A hurt expression crossed Jack's face. "I'm not going to hurt you."

"That's not—why are you here?"

"I think the answer to that question is why did you let me in? A strange boy you've never met before who can fly knocks on your window in the middle of the night and you let him in. Why?"

"You should leave," Elsa said coldly. "It was a lapse in judgment. Rest assured, it won't happen again." Truth be told, she didn't know why she had opened the window, but it definitely wasn't something the future queen of Arendelle should have done. Maybe it was because some part of her wanted to spend her birthday with someone, even if it was a stranger.

"You sure? This looks like a pretty pathetic birthday party to me," Jack said.

Elsa released a long breath through her teeth. "I don't—I'm too old for birthday parties."

"As far as I can remember you haven't had a proper birthday party since you were six or so."

Her eyes narrowed. "Have you been watching me my entire life?"

"Maybe?"

"Why?"

"I was curious," he answered. "Do I need any other reason?"

"You've been watching me since I was a child," Elsa repeated incredulously, her temper beginning to rise. She cast a nervous look at her bedside table where her gloves lay. They weren't going to be much help if she couldn't put them on in time. "Curiosity doesn't cut it."

"Maybe I just want to be friends," Jack said, an oddly longing look filling his eyes. It made him seem strangely vulnerable. "I know how you feel, Elsa. I can help you."

And that's when Elsa's temper completely snapped.

It had been a long day, she was tired, she was sick of people pretending they understood her and then telling her to hide who she was, and she was furious with herself for taking a chance.

"You don't understand anything!" The ground around her feet began to freeze. Eyes wide, Elsa let her eyelids flutter shut.

Conceal don't feel. Don't let it show. Conceal don't feel. Don't let it show. Conceal don't feel. Don't let it show.

She opened her eyes, feeling slightly calmer. "You should leave. It's late and I'd like to go to sleep."

Jack had given her one of his infuriating smirks, all traces of vulnerability gone. "As you wish your majesty." He twirled his staff and there was the sound of ice cracking. Elsa blinked. Dangling from his hand was a charm bracelet. Hanging from the first loop was a charm in the shape of a snowflake. Jack smiled with satisfaction, holding it out. "Happy birthday."

Without another word he left as suddenly as he had arrived, jumping out her window and sailing off into the sky, leaving Elsa staring after him with a bewildered expression, turning her new present over and over again in her fist.

…

The next birthday he was back. This time Elsa let him in without saying anything. The questions began before he had even set foot in her room.

Jack wouldn't say anything more about himself other than that he had ice magic too, and that he wanted to wish her happy birthday. Elsa offered him a slice of her birthday cake, said cake sitting on her desk. A disastrous attempt at a party with her family had led to Elsa retreating to her room, shaken and lonely.

The servants had sent the cake up later that evening, intact except for the small sliver that Elsa had taken herself earlier that day.

Jack had sat beside her on her bed, and as the two of them began to eat, Elsa found herself beginning to open up. Jack was a surprisingly good listener.

"Happy birthday Elsa," he had said a couple hours after. Like last time, he had flown off into the night. Elsa stood at the window, fingering the newest addition to her bracelet, a full moon.

This pattern had continued for several years, and gradually Elsa's charm bracelet began to grow. Things were better when Jack was around. She was in control. She knew that she didn't need to worry about hurting him. Jack was safe. He kept her grounded.

Then it happened—the first kiss. It had been so quick that she wasn't sure if she'd imagined it, but Elsa knew that she couldn't have imagined something that perfect. But the next words, whispered in an undertone in her ear banished any thoughts of accidents.

"I love you."

Elsa hesitated. Love hadn't brought anything but harm to her and the people she loved. But Jack was different. He was safe. He was here.

"I love you too."

…

For a while, everything had been perfect, forgiving the cliché. And then the inevitable happened.

"I'm sorry, Jack," Elsa said, her voice barely above a whisper. She avoided his eyes, knowing that if she found herself looking into them she wouldn't be able to continue. "The coronation is in a week. And then I'll have to become queen. And this," she gestured between her and Jack, her gut twisting. "This isn't going to work out."

She forced herself to meet his eyes, regretting it instantly. The blue depths were empty and filled with pain. No matter how upset Jack was, Elsa felt worse, but she pushed the feelings away. If she was going to be a good ruler she had to do what was best for Arendelle, not for her. Jack was dangerous. He made her into a better person but a worse ruler. And Arendelle couldn't afford anything but the best, even if it meant sacrificing her own happiness.

"Did I even mean anything to you?" Jack's voice was taunt with pain. It physically hurt Elsa to hear him sound his way, but she stayed firm. "Or was I just another distraction?"

"You were never a distraction Jack. You were never anything as simple as a distraction," Elsa whispered. "And you never could be." She reached out, tilting his chin up so that his eyes were locked with hers, taking a step forward until they were face to face. "That's why this has to end."

Jack nodded almost impeccably, his eyes never leaving hers as their lips collided for the last time.

…

The next time she saw him it was snowing.

Elsa was alone in her ice palace, kneeling in the same position she had been when Anna had arrived over two hours ago, her face buried in her hands. A blizzard raged outside, mirroring her emotions, but Elsa didn't care. The weather could do whatever it wanted, see if she cared.

She knew he was there before he even said anything. Then again, she always knew. He was her angel, and he was there to catch her.

"Nice weather we're having, isn't it?"

Elsa turned to find Jack standing behind her, covered in snow. Without saying anything she stood, taking a step forward before pinning Jack against the wall, her lips crashing onto his. He responded instantly, his hands absentmindedly unbraiding her hair. It fell around her shoulders. Elsa hated the way her hair looked down, but it was one of the things that Jack had loved most about her.

The next thing Elsa knew she was crying, and because he was Jack and that's what he did he was there to comfort her, his arms around her as she buried her face in his sweatshirt.

…

"Is this really where we are again?"

It was barely a week after Jack had found her and put her back together again, and now Elsa felt like she was breaking apart once again.

"Jack—"

"You always said that I wasn't a distraction Elsa, and that I never could be. But that's what I feel like. One year you're telling me that you love me, the next you're shoving me away, the next you're kissing me. My worth to you seems to vary on your mood and how much you need a distraction. That's all I am to you, isn't it?"

Elsa opened her mouth to answer, but Jack interrupted her. "Don't lie to me. Am I?"

"Jack—"

"Tell me I'm not. Please."

Silence.

"Fine." His voice was clipped as he continued. "I'm done. I'm done trying help you every time you dig yourself in too deep and then have you push me away after I've picked up the pieces and put you back together."

Elsa still didn't say anything as Jack walked through the ice doors to the balcony, nimbly jumping on the rail. "Are you going to say anything?"

Silence.

"Fine. Just—if that's what you want your majesty. Happy birthday Elsa," Jack said, an odd smile twisting his features as he jumped, flying off into the horizon and leaving Elsa utterly alone once again.

Because of course it was her birthday.

Happy birthday Elsa.

…

Normally Elsa was used to spending birthdays alone, or at least she had been. Even after Jack had left three years ago she still rejected Anna's offers of a birthday ball, instead electing to spend it alone in her room. Whether this was for memories sake or habits sake she didn't know, but this year was no different.

Except it was.

Jack's bracelet lay in her palm as she stood in front of the fire, rolling it between her fingers. She reached out towards the flames, the bracelet dangling limply from her hand. She hesitated, about to throw it in before she yanked her hand back, locking the bracelet in the wooden box sitting on the fireplace.

Every year.

Every year she unlocked the box and pulled out Jack's bracelet.

Every year she lit a fire.

And every year she almost threw it in.

And every year she put it back in the box.

But not this time. Elsa was tired of pretending that she didn't miss Jack, because she did. Letting him go was the hardest thing she'd ever done, but it was for his own good. Elsa would only hold him back. And to become the best ruler that she could be, she couldn't afford for Jack to be in her life.

In the end, the only choice was to let him go, which wasn't much of a choice at all.

With shaking hands, Elsa reached for the wooden box, unlocking it and pulling out the charm bracelet again. Before she could regret it, she hooked it onto her wrist, throwing the box into the fire.

She watched as the dancing flames crumbled the box, leaving nothing but ashes. She continued standing there long after the fire died down, watching the remaining smoke disappear up the chimney. It was probably her imagination, but she thought she saw the image of a boy with a staff flying up the chimney along with the smoke.

Even when he wasn't with her, he was.

Elsa touched the charm bracelet, smiling.

"Happy birthday."