To Thaw a Frozen Heart

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Chapter 1. (Prologue) Nemesism

Jack

Sometimes he lost control.

The wind raged around him as he clutched his head in his hands, his eyes squeezed shut and his teeth clenched.

You are Jack Frost.

That was all the Moon had ever told him.

Fifty years had passed since he had risen from the ice and gasped his first breath and looked into the face of the one who had spoken only four words to him and nothing else;

You are Jack Frost.

Fifty years was a long time to be alone. It was enough time to lose your mind.

It would be ten more years before he would accept his loneliness.

It would be twenty more years before he'd discover the overwhelming joy of making a child smile with his powers, and he'd use them for making snowmen and starting snowball fights and freezing over lakes for skating.

It would be thirty more years before he'd never lose control again.

For now, after only fifty years of life, he knew nothing but one thing.

You are Jack Frost.

And it drove him crazy.

He sat on the highest branch of the tallest tree in his forest with his knees pressed against his chest and his shoulders hunched forward and his face buried into his palms. His hands curled into fists around the icy white locks of his hair, and he pulled at them, his eyes squeezing shut tighter as he tried to keep from screaming. The brown cloak he wore billowed and flapped loudly around him as the wind picked up even more, carrying blindingly white snow with it.

Despite the oncoming blizzard he was causing around him, his blood felt boiling hot.

"Jack."

He shook his head as the Wind whispered to him, not looking up, his teeth still grit tight.

"Jack, stop it."

"No," he choked softly through closed teeth, his voice swallowed by the howling storm, but he knew Wind could hear him. His staff dangled beside him, it's arch around the branch he sat on, but he didn't need it; His rage fueled the storm. "I can't."

"You can. Please. Jack, you'll make me hurt someone."

He shook his head again, but this time he looked up, releasing his hair from his hands and opening his eyes, which were brimmed with frozen tears. "I can't!"

"Control your temper. Before the people of Burgess freeze to death."

"I can't!" he bellowed, clutching his face once more as the blizzard strengthened, shaking the tree he sat in and snapping branches off of it. Soon the deafening sounds of breaking tree trunks filled the air as trees fell to the ground.

"This is the third time this year, Jack. The other two weren't this bad. You have to stop before someone is killed."

"Killed?" He started to tremble, his anger making him weak yet strong at the same time, and he raised his head and looked up at the sky, his blue eyes wide and pained. "I- I can't."

"Try, Jack. Just try."

He stared up at the sky, trying to take deep breaths, but it was no use; The anger and fear hit him in waves. Loneliness was so... suffocating. He couldn't breathe.

Through the snow-filled wind and flying branches, the Moon was barely visible, full and staring down at him.

He felt as though It was judging him.

"Why did you put me here?" he whispered, so quietly even he couldn't hear himself, but he knew the Moon could.

A second went by without answer.

Two seconds.

Three.

The wind went faster still, destroying everything but Jack himself.

Four seconds.

He bowed his head again, closing his eyes and allowing the fury to take control once more.

Five seconds.

The very tree he sat in began to sway dangerously, and he pushed the Wind on, urging It to break the tree and knock him down.

Six.

"Jack, you need to stop."

Seven.

The tree was bending farther; Surely it would snap any minute.

Eight.

"Jack."

Nine.

Wind was resisting him now. He pushed harder against it, stubbornness joining the anger.

Ten.

"Jack, stop!"

"Help!"

He gasped, and looked up, and the noisy racket around him quieted slightly.

That was not the wind that had said that; That was a person.

Was his mind playing tricks on him?

"Help m-m-me!"

No. That was definitely someone crying for help through the deafening whistle of the storm around him.

He snatched up his staff and leaped off the tree branch that he had nearly broken, falling gracefully to the ground and squinting through the icy white wind, his wrath momentarily forgotten. "Hello?"

He walked blindly over the swirling snow beneath him, before his bare feet came in contact with the frigid hardness of ice, and he knew exactly where he was; The lake.

"P-p-please..."

The voice was closer.

He was running now, and, without his knowledge, the wind had stopped completely. The snow began to settle, and Jack could see now.

And what he saw horrified him.

A girl, she couldn't have been older than ten, lay curled up on the ice, long dark hair covering her face, but he could still see her chattering teeth.

"D-d-d-d-daddy..." she called softly, her teeth snapping together rapidly in the cold, "H-h-help..."

Jack stared down at her for a moment, his mouth and eyes wide, and his staff dropped to the ground with a clatter as he stared down at his hands.

I did this, he thought, staring at the pale flesh of his palms in horror, This is all my fault.

He looked back at the girl, who was clad in thick Winter-wear that was not thick enough for the storm he had caused.

She was going to die here before long.

Without thinking, he reached down as though to pick her up, and his eyes closed as he flinched at the nauseating feeling caused by his hand going right through her shoulder.

He watched as her lips started to turn blue, and he knelt down beside her. He reached out a second time, only to helplessly brush her cheek with the back of his hand, ignoring the uncomfortable feeling of his hand going right through her skin. What else was there to do?

He gasped when she stirred, as though she had felt his touch, and her hair shifted slightly out of her closed eyes, which fluttered.

She stared directly at him for the briefest second.

"You..." she whispered.

Then a voice rang out from only a few feet away, causing them both to jump.

"Here she is! King Jeremy, I've found her! I've found the princess!"

A man came sprinting into view. He wore thick armor and a relieved expression, and within a few moments, a dozen men were suddenly surrounding Jack and the girl, all wearing the same armor.

Another man shoved his way through the crowd, one who wore a regal golden crown over his snow-covered brown hair.

"Luciana!" he cried, falling to his knees beside the girl and taking her into his arms.

But she didn't look at him; Her eyes were locked with Jack's.

"Is she frostbitten, your highness?" the first man asked, the one who had found her, "There's a spot on her cheek..."

The king looked down at his daughter's face, brushing the light blue spot with his fingertips. "'It is not frostbite..." he murmured, "I cannot identify it. There is a town nearby, we must take her to their doctor."

As he gave additional orders to the men around him, the girl, Luciana, never looked away from Jack. Her breath plumed out from between her blue lips, and she moved them as though attempting to speak to him. "Y- y-you-"

"Hang in there, darling," the king pleaded, lifting her as he got to his feet, "We'll get you to warmth."

The little princess tore her eyes from Jack's and looked up at her father, four of her shivering fingers closing together as she pointed weakly at Jack. "D-d-d-don't you s-s-see...?"

But the king was already hastily running in the direction of Burgess, disappearing into the trees. Within seconds, his men followed.

Jack blinked, wide-eyed, staring down at the numerous footprints embedded in the deep snow.

She could see him!

The shock eventually wore off, and his mind clouded with questions.

But why?

It couldn't have been because of his touch; He had come in physical contact with many people and never once had they been able to see him afterward. They always just walked right through him without looking back.

Never once had he left a faint blue bruise-like mark in their flesh.

All of the anger that had rushed through his blood ten minutes before was now gone, replaced by confusion, curiosity, and wonder.

The following morning, he searched the entire town for the princess, but couldn't find her anywhere. Disappointed but still thoughtfully amazed, he walked idly through the streets, catching an occasional bit of conversation from the townspeople.

"How about that storm last night, eh?"
"Forget the storm, did you hear that the king of Arendelle visited us in the night?"
"He was supposedly seeing family in the next town over."
"Why did he come here?"
"The princess got lost in our forest."
"Thank goodness she was found!"
"Where are they now?"
"They've sailed back to their kingdom."

So she was gone. Overseas. He had a mind to go after her, but decided against it. He was probably a danger to her anyways.

After all, he'd already almost killed her once.

"You must learn to control this," the Wind advised him one night many days later as he lounged on a tree branch, watching guiltily as a building was being repaired, one that had been destroyed by his fit. "One of these days you'll do something you regret in your anger. You could have killed that girl, possibly the one child on the planet that can see you."

Though Jack did not reply, these words frightened him. He was glad the girl was taken from him before he could do her any real harm. Though the thought of forgetting her was nearly painful, as she was the only person who had ever acknowledged his existence, he realized it would be best for her if he never attempted to find her, or even think of her again.

"Perhaps," the Wind said thoughtfully, "once you've got your powers in control... You could go search for her."

Years passed, and Jack discovered new things about himself.

His powers could be used for more than just random bursts of anger; They could be used to make children smile.

He expanded his horizons, finally leaving Burgess and exploring the world, favoring Antarctica, where he often went when his anger rose and he could be free to lose control.

Within fifteen years he had managed to bring snow and fun to every country on Earth... except Arendelle. He went out of his way to avoid the quaint kingdom just outside of Norway, for he knew visiting meant remembering, and remembering meant searching, and searching meant finding, and finding meant hurting.

And he was not going to hurt that child again.

But Wind's words circled through his head as the years passed.

Once you've got your powers in control, you could go search for her.

Little did he know that the child was no longer a child.

She was a woman now, one who had married at twenty, become queen at twenty-one, and had her own child at twenty-two. The blue mark on her cheek had faded by then, but the powers within it had not. They seemed to have no affect on her, but the same could not be said for her daughter.

Despite Jack's efforts to keep the queen safe from his dangerous temper, the damage had been done.

The firstborn princess of Arendelle was born with frightening powers that the king and queen tried desperately to keep hidden from the world.

*Nemesism (English) - n. Frustration, aggression, and hatred directed against oneself; "Self-Loathing"