Disclaimer: I do not own characters from this fandom including Nightlight, Emily Jane, and Katherine. They all belong to William Joyce. As for ROTG… well, they kinda belong to him too… and Dream Works, yeah. Frozen belongs to Disney. I own… I own nothing, sadly. TT_TT

… …

Chapter 11: Shadows

My name is Jack Frost, and I think I snagged myself quite a prize.

Well, for starters I'm not supposed to be sitting inside a queen's office in the middle of the night. I was supposed to go all espionage on her as per guardians' orders. But no, I distinctly decided to see her because I wanted to. And I have no regrets.

I tried my best not to get distracted by how similar she was to me, yet at the same time different. And she was a looker alright. I guess I'm just glad that I found someone else like me… and gladder that this 'someone' is so beautifu-

Hold it, Jack Frost. Hold it.

Act professional.

…

Darn it, I can't stop looking at her mouth.

"Is there something on my face?"

I blinked, snapping from my mental rant when I noticed that she had stopped talking. This was the second time she told me the story about how the dark cloud came and attacked Arendelle and how Pabbie told her that we, the guardians, were supposed to help her. But I couldn't really pick up the bits and pieces of everything she said, because she was just too darn beautifu-

"Sorry," I apologized with a grin. I guess it's better to be just blunt about it than blush like a teenage fool. I squared my shoulders, leaning against my staff with what I assumed to be a mischievous glint in my eye. "You're too beautiful, it's distracting me."

The look on Elsa's face was priceless! Her pale face burned into a blush and her eyebrows scrunched together angrily. I chuckled.

"Have you been listening to everything I said?" she asked me sternly, trying to maintain her queenly composure. "This is no time for teasing me Jack. The lives of my people are at stake here and all you do is'-"

"Compliment you." I finished for her, wearing my winning smirk. "And it's true, your highness. How does the council put up paying attention to you when you always look all cute and flustered?"

Elsa was speechless, torn between anger and embarrassment perhaps. I laughed, holding both my hands up as I noticed that spikes of ice were close to slowly puncturing me from behind.

"I'm just messing with you, your highness." I said, not feeling threatened by her powers at all. I was already dead anyway, and ice never really hurt me. "Lighten up."

Elsa grit her teeth, yet her voice remained even, "How do you expect me to lighten up with an enemy on the loose?" With a wave of her hand, the ice retracted into nothingness. I breathed a sigh of relief. I may not be afraid of her ice magic, but I am afraid of making an enemy out of her.

My face turned serious, but the light of my center never leaving my eyes. I flashed a softer grin as I sat at the chair before her desk, twisting the staff in my hands while I stared off into the grandfather clock broodingly.

"Father Time told me you were different from me." I told her in a quiet voice. "He said you knew how to thaw a frozen heart. What does that even mean?"

The queen blinked at me and tilted her head in confusion. I turned to her, knowing the unspoken question behind my mumbling.

"We came to this place through Father Time. Though… he likes to call himself Hickory… He said we needed to find you, or else fear might consume you again… something like that." I shrugged. "And somehow implied that you were essential in saving Manny and the whole world… and Pitch knows it."

"To thaw a frozen heart?" Elsa mumbled. She was quiet a moment then whispered, "Love will thaw a frozen heart."

I raised a brow at her. Now I was the one who was confused. "Pardon?"

"Love will thaw a frozen heart." She repeated. "But what does that have to do with defeating the Nightmare King?"

She paused… then blushed. She stared at me looking like a cross between embarrassed and horrified.

"He doesn't mean I have to make the enemy fall in love with me, does he?"

Okay, I swear I kind of choked on my own spit right now.

"I highly doubt that." I said, also horrified at the idea of… of her having to seduce Pitch or anything. It was just sick and wrong. "Everything he told us was mysteries in themselves. Even the other guardians don't seem to tell me anything."

"Why is that?" she asked me.

"I don't know…" I admitted. Somehow, when North seemed reluctant with the idea of me being Elsa's guard, he kind of visibly stiffened. It felt like he didn't trust me all of a sudden…

Elsa lowered her shoulders, tired, and perhaps a little bit frustrated. "Then how can you possibly help me when you yourself don't understand anything as well? I've been asking you about what the guardians, or this Man in the Moon, or this Father Time might have told you about me, but all you do is… is…"

She stared at me, falling silent a minute as she watched me wear another winning smile. And for some reason, her eyes just stayed there… I felt my mouth go dry, swallowing a lump that wasn't even there.

Is it possible for Jack Frost to even feel so… hot? I've never known hot since I flew past the Ecuador by accident!

Elsa violently shook her head while maintaining that queenly grace of hers and stared me down. "Jack. Please, I have more matters to attend to besides cooperating with you. And I had to cooperate with you strangers because the matter is crucial. So please… just please…"

I sighed. "Look, all I can really tell you is about how the Man in the Moon is in trouble… and he being the most powerful of us all becoming…l-lost to us only means that the children-no-the world is in danger. And if we don't figure out how to either save the moon or defeat Pitch, we really can't stand a chance at the possible impending doom."

"But why me?" Elsa asked. "Why would he be after me? I know I have powers but…"

"Elsa," I called out to her, seeing the frost that was beginning to build up around her office. "Calm down."

The frost began to melt.

"Jack…" she murmured. "I think I know… it's because my powers are motivated by emotions… and when I'm afraid…"

I nodded. That I understood. As I've seen for the whole night, Elsa had an affinity to getting her powers out of control when she was excessively worried, angered, or scared.

"What are you afraid of Elsa?" I asked her suddenly.

She looked at me with those deep blue eyes of hers for a moment, holding my gaze, searching for answers…

"I'm afraid…" she began. "I'm afraid of… I'm afraid of being who I was… of hurting anyone ever again."

She leaned back against her chair and I began to sit on her table, watching her as I listened.

"When Anna and I were kids… I accidentally struck her. On the head." She sighed. "If it weren't for the trolls… we could have lost her. After that I locked myself away, trying to keep my powers in check…" she looked at me with a sad smile. "I always failed. I was always so afraid."

I waited for her to continue.

"For years I never talked to anyone except my parents. I shut everyone away, even Anna, who forgot about everything that happened, including stuff about my powers. I always tried to conceal it. To not feel it… so that I won't let it show." Elsa cupped her hands forming a small flurry of snow, only for them to disappear instantly. "That was until… the coronation. And then all hell broke loose."

And so Elsa began narrating the story of a queen who with her sister for attempting to marry a man she just met. Though justifiable, Elsa could not control her suppressed unease. She let go, and she was dubbed a monster.

I could imagine it, while Elsa told me the story. The Kingdom of Arendelle, draped in eternal winter as she struggled to let herself go. Just when she thought she was free, she only had to hurt her sister yet again… and it took Anna's sacrifice to thaw her own frozen heart.

"Nothing felt more like a blessing to me," she said, through glossy eyes "than to find that my sister survived. And I swore I'd protect her with my life… because she finally taught me to let it go."

I smiled at her, reassuring her that the past was already in the past. Somehow, there was this tug in my heart that felt like wanting to reach out. Elsa was a kindred spirit. I understood what she felt completely.

"We do anything for family, huh?" I murmured.

She laughed softly in agreement,

I scratched the back of my neck and replied with a grin. "Hey, I'm your guardian remember? Personal bodyguard and all... and I'm now like, sort of made of ice. You don't have to be afraid whenever I'm here." I cocked my head to the side, "and I think I kind of have better control with my powers than you do."

Elsa raised a brow and half-smiled. "Are you saying your powers are stronger than mine?"

I chuckled, standing up then balancing myself on my staff. "I'm Jack Frost remember? I'm supposed to be the embodiment of winter. I am winter."

She rolled her eyes, chuckling on her own until her eyes seemed downcast. That's when I knew she was already tired. It was way past midnight already, and I kind of kept her up talking for hours and hours just half-listening to her most of the time. She was close to collapsing I think. Guess I was gonna be carrying her to her room once she runs out of energy.

"You haven't answered my question yet Jack Frost." She yawned. She stretched, trying to stay awake but failing to.

"Huh, what question?" I asked her.

She smiled. Her head was cocking a bit to the side now…

"That's what you get for teasing me about being cute," she smiled wryly. "Who was that boy… with black hair?" she murmured. "I could have sworn…"

She folded her arms across her desk as she rested her head against them. She must have been so very tired…

"I could have sworn he was you…"

Soon I found myself floating across the empty halls, carrying her towards her bedroom. Everything was draped in blue and white. Simple and pretty, just like her… but being inside the room somehow felt so lifeless and depressing. What does this all even mean?

The sounds of her soft snores echoed inside the room. It was pretty cute actually… the way her chest rose and fell in a relaxed rhythm, and the way her lips formed a small pout while cuddling her face against a pillow. She looked so peaceful, so vulnerable, and so much younger than her years. It felt like I was suddenly guarding a child, or rather, Elsa's childish innocence found only when she was like this. It was a pretty sentimental feeling, and… I kind of enjoyed it.

My eyes drifted back to her lips… oh no… oh no, no, no… don't think about that now, Frost. You may have a small crush on her but you don't think about… about that when said crush is sleeping and inside her room!

I slapped myself in the face. Ow! It stung…

But what she said kind of bugged me.

What did she mean by a boy with black hair?

"Jack…" I heard Elsa mumble in her sleep. I chuckled, bending down beside her as I carefully tucked a stray lock from her cheek, the way I would to a little girl.

"What is it, your highness?"

She sighed softly, reaching out to open air. Tentatively I held her hand and waited for what she was about to say.

"Please stay…" she murmured against her pillow.

I raised a brow inquisitively at her. "Stay?"

"Stay." She repeated.

Okay, this is awkward.

"Please…" she said sleepily.

"Why?" I found myself ask. Stupid question.

"…"

For a moment, I thought she already fell asleep. I gently wriggled my hand out of her grasp and made my way to the window when—

"You make me feel safe."

And that's when I stopped.

Somehow, I wish I didn't. Because I had to stand guard outside, right? Survey the parameters for signs of Nightmares… or Pitch… or this boy Elsa spoke about.

But instead I stayed.

"Stay…" it should have been too quiet for me to hear. It was obviously a plea spoken to a dream. I could have left right there and then.

But instead I stayed.

"Always…" I whispered to the wind.

Always? Where did that come from now? Some cheesy soap opera? I could have sworn I was laughing at myself that time for saying something so out-of-hand.

But the reply felt right somehow. It felt warm. I never knew warm before, but I'm sure this was what warmth felt like.

"Always…" I repeated, looking at the sleeping woman in the room.

Always… That was such a dangerous word. A dangerous thing to promise to a mortal.

But that night, I knew… this woman needed me. She needed my help. And I'm pretty sure the Moon knows full well why I needed to be by her side tonight.

Gazing at the Moon, my eyes turned half-mast, carrying the silent vow of putting that good-for-nothing Boogeyman where he belongs once and for all… and to save everyone I ever knew and swore to protect.

And her.

"Man in the Moon." I whispered. "I hope you're know what you're doing."

I swear, when all this is over, I hope I'll be going back home with the Moon shining as brightly as the one I saw now.

"Always."

Always… such a dangerous word.

…. ….

Emily Jane stared down at the castle, hovering over the skies like a grey storm cloud. All was quaint and peaceful, but the Nature Spirit knew that what transpired beneath the shadows of the small kingdom was nowhere near the peace that the young queen of Arendelle so desperately tried to protect.

Oh, Mother Nature knew about the prophecy alright. Because the prophecy was written by her.

A girl of auburn hair, and open grey eyes. The only mortal guardian, weak in every physical way, to have won the eye of her father's wicked desire for destruction and death. The woman who told stories, who secured in every heart of every child in the world that the Boogey Man was a weak force to be dealt with.

Ah… the auburn woman had only fed the children with her beautifully wrapped lies.

"So much for stories of Mother Goose." the nature spirit sneered. "And now, your prophecy had only sentenced Tsar Luna to his death. Oh… I pity you Katherine… and now, another woman has come into view to be just like you. A nuisance."

Mother Nature looked to the full moon, shining in all its glory, knowing full well about the horror that would befall it and the world a century from now,

"All because you wanted the Guardian of Courage to return?" she asked the moon. "And you are willing to sentence a Winter Spirit to the same fate that befell my father… you are one cruel master… much crueler than Pitch Black."

She hovered around the moon halo for a bit, casting soft summer winds around the kingdom, billowing like sighs of a mourning song. It would be her gift to this world…. this time… before it ever reaches its bitter end.

"This is the reason why I don't like guardian duties." Emily went on. "I'm only glad Sanderson can stand by himself. But… to let Jack Frost turn dark? Oh…. Why oh why, Manny?"

She stopped and gazed towards the moon again.

"I do not understand…" she whispered. "All to grant my father his life back? To wipe away traces of the Boogey Man and turn him back to the man he once was?"

The moon began to shine brighter in all its glory.

"And you will do it… at the expense of the Winter Spirit's fall?"

The moon shined even brighter. Emily laughed.

"So… that's why you sent them back? To save my father and Jack Frost?" she cackled, causing thunder to boom from the far horizon. "You crack me up Manny… you crack me up…"

She turned silent as she turned her gaze back to the castle… her lovely eyes narrowing into slits.

"I don't give a hoot about what you do with Jack Frost." she whispered. "But I will not let you have your way with my father."

….

A/N: Okay, I'd like to apologize. This has been the worst writer's block I have ever experienced ever.

I already planned out how this story would flow and end, but writing it was a pretty hard experience. Argh! I hope I'm not dragging this story out too slow for your tastes.

Now I'm planning to change the genre to Mystery… *thinks for a moment then shakes head* nah!

Yeah, I know, I know. Not very long, and somehow confusing. But, believe me we are getting there! ^_^ And I hope you guys are beginning to have hints about the black ice/frost or whatever.

The key to the first mystery lies in the previous chapters… particularly a chapter, that if connected with these two latest ones, you might figure out what or who the prophecy is talking about. *wriggles eyebrows* hmm hmm?

Or you may pulverize me via review and tell me that it's still confusing ^_^ haha. PM me if something confuses you or if you want to tell me what your theories about the whole mysteries are!

Well, review away! :D

P.S. Hope you liked the Jelsa moment.