Disclaimer: I don't own Frozen.

A/N: This was another plot bunny that bothered me until I typed it up.

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Frozen In Time

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Prologue:

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A little girl with bundles of matchsticks stood in the snow, looking lost and all alone. When the cold became too unbearable, she struck a match. Holding the small but warm flame to her face, she began to feel sleepy. She couldn't even go home, because her father would be angry that she hadn't sold any matches, and even used one. Maybe after the matchstick burnt up, she could curl up in the snow and rest a bit; it was building up and it looked very soft and comfy…

"You must be cold, little one."

She whirled around, and saw a lady – dressed in a pale blue that almost blended in with the snow – looking at her kindly.

The girl automatically asked, "Would you like to buy a matchstick? Only a penny for a stick."

Smiling, the lady – she had blonde hair, a very pale blonde that also almost blended in with the snow – knelt to the girl's height and said, "I'll tell you what. I'll take all the bundles for a krone* each. I have a friend who likes warmth."

(*Danish version of the British crown)

The girl was taken aback. She had only asked out of habit. She hadn't even expected the stranger to actually buy a match, much less every bundle. And a whole krone! A bundle wasn't worth even a skilling. And a match was already burnt.

As the lady – she looked regal, almost as if she belonged in the snow – handed her a handful of krones. The girl had barely glimpsed, much less ever held a krone before in her life, and now she held a handful of them. She traded them for bundles of matches with fingers trembling not because of the cold, but from awe. The lady was so beautiful, and so unearthly, that the question, "Are you an angel?" tumbled from her lips.

If the lady's smile was beautiful before, it was dazzling now. "No, nothing like that, dear."

At this, the girl visibly deflated. "So you can't take me to heaven?"

The not-angel but still angelic lady's smile faded a bit. "I'm afraid that's beyond my ability." After a brief pause, she asked, "Do you want to go to heaven? Is that why you're standing out here, in this cold without even wearing shoes?"

"It's better than going back home." She looked down at the coins in her hand and reconsidered, mumbling mostly to herself, "Though these might stay his blows awhile."

If she'd been looking at the lady instead of the coins, she might've seen the lady's blue eyes harden with cold fury at the mention of abuse.

"Then would you like to come with me instead?" The lady's voice broke through the girl's dreaded line of thought of more bruises and breaks. "I can't take you to heaven, but I can take you to someplace where you won't get hurt. Where you won't have to be afraid." The lady stood up to her full height and held out a hand for the little girl to take.

The girl was tempted. Oh so very tempted, to let herself be whisked off by the fairy-like being.

So she gave in and took the lady's hand, oblivious when the lady made a perfect replica of her from ice, down to the bundles of matches and forgotten burnt match.

…

Chapter 1

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Elsa, formerly known as Queen Elsa of Arendelle, stood on the balcony of her ice palace thinking, for the umpteenth time, about her odd – to say the least – life. Initially, the only (she couldn't help but scoff at the word 'only,' as it had consumed her childhood with fear and isolation) strange thing about her had been her ice powers. But it hadn't stopped there.

At first, nobody noticed, least of all the ones who saw her daily. But a decade after she'd ascended the throne, she'd noticed the lack of difference between her image in the portrait as regent of Arendelle and her image in the mirror. She'd long since coaxed Anna and Kristoff sit in on council meetings, and was now strong-arming them into attending every meeting, citing her reason as a vague, "Just in case". Another decade later, she'd abdicated the throne to a more understanding Anna, who had been sufficiently prepared to inherit the throne by then.

Why had Elsa abdicated?

Because after freezing Arendelle over and subsequently gaining control of her powers by thawing the frozen country out, she hadn't aged. Sure, she'd felt that something was a little off, and had staved off marriage during the early stages of her reign by telling the council that it would be better off if the crown prince was her perfectly normal nephew, Jerrik. After all, they didn't want Arendelle to be alienated from other kingdoms because of a second generation of ice wielding rulers, did they?

No, Jerrik would be, and later was, officially named the crown prince.

Elsa didn't need to marry; having a sister, nephew, and brother-in-law were enough. But it was hard having to see them age while she stayed the same. Jerrik came to understand why his aunt never made public appearances anymore, even though she still helped behind the scenes. He understood when she didn't come out for his wedding, or come down to join the festivities in the ballroom.

But she'd still dined with her family in private, given them advice when they sought it, perhaps steered them in the right direction when Anna strayed a bit off course, but she'd been there for them. Right up until the new generation of servants, come to replace the old, started whispering of the Ice Witch.

Of her unnatural powers and unnatural youth.

All of Anna's attempts to stomp out the rumors were futile. The great Freezing, as the summer of Elsa's coronation had become known as, was legendary, and as soon as Elsa's 'eternal youth' was leaked out, the public would be crying for blood. As soon as Anna realized this, she had packed for Elsa what almost seemed like half the crown jewels and other unnecessary things one night. Elsa hadn't been sure whether to laugh or cry when she saw a jeweled scepter poking out of corner a very full and heavy bag.

"Go!" Anna had said, tears in her eyes and wrinkles more prominent than ever, "The rumors are getting out of hand, and… I'm afraid for you."

Elsa herself had been worried as well, and felt guiltily relieved and saddened that it was Anna who had been the one to make the decision for what was really her only choice. Tears pooling in her eyes as well, Elsa fiercely hugged her family and fled with Olaf to her ice castle that night.

From then on, she kept an eye on the royal family – her family – and faithfully brought a controlled winter to Arendelle like clockwork. Not too harsh, but not too weak either, in deference to Kristoff's background. Not too short, not too long. Just right.

She suffered through devastating times when Anna died, and Kristoff not long afterward. She could only watch from the crowd as the funeral procession took place in the sweltering heat of August 14th, and whilst the crowd mourned the passing of their ruler, Elsa mourned for her once bright and caring younger sister. Anna would not be around to care for her when she caught a summer cold. Not anymore.

Decades passed, and after her nephew and his children fell victim to time, Elsa fell into a familiar pattern, exchanging meaningless chatter with Olaf as she carried out another meaningless day, withdrawn into herself once more, not daring to get close to her sister's descendants – not that she even could – because in what seemed like a blink of an eye, they grew old, while she remained the same.

But Elsa grew restless, and she eventually took to wandering around in the winters of Arendelle and neighboring countries, making sure nobody was out and about getting frostbitten.

On one New Year's Eve, she had come upon a girl trying to sell matches, not wanting to go home because her father beat her. It had to have been so cold, and the little girl was dressed in rags, but she had practically said that she'd rather die than go back 'home'.

It was then and there that Elsa decided that no children would be lonely or isolated or live out anything remotely reminiscent of her own childhood. Not under her watch.

She'd temporarily left the child at Oaken's (or rather his successor's) sauna to recover, and created (more humanoid) snow men to build a sturdy house at the foot of the mountain for the little girl – she couldn't well live in the ice palace, not after all she'd been through on New Year's Eve.

The child would need warmth; so the house would be crafted of wood.

Though the process was nowhere near as quick as Elsa with her own ice palace, the cabin was built with relative ease and swiftness.

It had been so long since Elsa had been seen that nobody recognized her even when she wandered about the markets with a rented sleigh being pulled by rented horses. It was freeing, in a way, Elsa thought as a shopkeeper helped her load an armchair amongst other furniture and furnishings that the cabin would need. She even bought several knick-knacks she hoped a child would like. A snowglobe, a doll, and several games that included a puzzle, a deck of cards, and a wooden block set. Not to forget a pen and several sheaves of paper, as well as learning books. She didn't know whether the girl could read or not, but as long as she was under Elsa's care, education was not to be neglected.

Then came the moment of truth. Clothing.

She'd made an ice sculpture of the girl when they'd left Denmark, so Elsa could more or less accurately judge what size her dress should be. But it was the material she fretted over. Organza, the fabric closest to the light blue outfit Elsa's iconic dress most certainly wouldn't be warm enough, but on the other hand, thick brocade just wasn't practical to move around in. She took a cursory glance about the crowd and wasn't surprised at the lack of cotton clothing – a favorite in the other seasons. She thought back many years to what Kristoff had been wearing when she'd first met him. Wool? Leather? Furs? Keeping that in mind, she chose a fur-lined coat with matching boots and thick socks. With a distinct fondness, Elsa held up a green woolen dress. Green would always be a color she associated with Anna. Of course, she didn't forget the necessary white shifts and dressing gowns as well as underclothing and several other changes of clothes. Paying for it all, she tipped the bulky packages into a sleigh with the pile of furniture.

The sleigh, with its haphazard pile of luggage, looked like a parody of what Elsa imagined Father Christmas' sleigh would look like, full of presents for children. Sighing with nostalgia over long past days filled with laughter and innocence, Elsa hopped onto the sleigh and whistled for the rented horses to go, directing them toward the nearly completely built cabin.

That evening, Elsa went to Oaken's shop to pick up the girl.

Shyly, the girl greeted her. "Hello." She was currently practically swimming in an overlarge shirt.

"Hello to you too, Aimee." Elsa smiled. "Would you like to see what I've brought for you?"

With each article of clothing Elsa laid out, the girl's eyes grew rounder and rounder. Finally, when Elsa held up the pair of boots, her eyes began to tear up.

"Is this all… for me?"

Elsa smiled softly. "There's more, but we have to go home first."

After all this time, the word 'home' sounded foreign on Elsa's lips, but the child needed a home, so it wouldn't hurt to leave her Ice Palace for a few decades to provide Aimee with one.

Elsa's ice sleigh (she'd returned the rental sleigh and horses) pulled to a stop in front of the now finished and furnished cabin, courtesy of Elsa's hard-working snowmen, who seemed to have gone outside to enjoy the cold.

They were greeted by a certain snowman. "Surprise! You're Aimee, right? Elsa told me about you and I couldn't wait to meet you!"

Elsa continued to smile, but inwardly groaned as Aimee's jaw dropped at the sight of Olaf. How was she going to explain to Aimee that she kept a talking snowman around?

But to her surprise, Aimee just looked on with childlike wonder – of course, she was a child – and began to play with Olaf.

With some encouragement on Olaf's part, Aimee opened up; and while Elsa had a good idea of what Aimee's past was like, she knew better than to dredge up old wounds. Her new motto was: focus on the present. And for a child uneducated for her whole life, the girl was smart and a quick study. She knew basic maths quite well from selling matches, but had to learn and adjust to Arendelle's currency, to buy groceries and a new carrot to replace Olaf's nose whenever his current nose started to wilt.

Over the years, they'd had to expand the cabin, as Elsa had brought more children – mostly orphans – neglected and in the cold. This was mostly during winters, but occasionally during other seasons.

One day, she brought a brother and sister named Hansel and Gretel. She'd been appalled to see them wandering around in a forest (nevermind that she had been wandering in the forest as well) and had purportedly been abandoned by their parents because they were not-so-slowly starving. Taking pity on them (not to mention burning with righteous anger) after hearing their tale, she'd decided to take them into her motley family.

But no matter how well the siblings got along with the other children, they always seemed unhappy, and Elsa discovered that they wanted to return to their father. After asking them for the third time whether they were sure if they wanted to return to their parents, she'd sighed and given them some of her trinkets that could be sold for money and sent them off with strict instructions for her snow men to keep the two children safe.

All too soon for Elsa, a decade had passed and Aimee was seventeen, being courted by a merchant's son, with other children at varying stages of their teenage years.

The older children had noticed that Elsa didn't age, but hadn't asked her about it, realizing that it had to be a touchy subject, as their teacher and caretaker always seemed somewhat sad, especially near mid-August.

When Aimee came to her waggling a large ring on her finger, so reminiscent of Anna, Elsa wasn't sure if her fluttering heart was filled with emotions of joy or despair. Her children – she had really come to see all the children she'd rescued as hers – were growing up, and even if she still brought home at least one new child every winter, the older kids were now ready to live their own lives, armed with the knowledge, be it maths, politics, history, art, or the languages she'd taught them; they were prepared to go out into the world.

But Elsa knew she couldn't keep the children – now adults – forever, so she held back her tears and clapped politely at Aimee's wedding as Peter – a boy who had cried wolf one too many times and had been chased out of the village and been on the verge of freezing to death – walked the bride down the isle in place of the bride's father.

And so the years went on, and Elsa continued to carry out her mission to save children who were abandoned and/or freezing, and Olaf his mission to play with them while she raised and taught them.

Sometimes, when she had to get away from all the hullaballoo, she left one of the older children in charge and basically fled to her Ice Palace, where she visited Marshmallow and all the other little ones she had inadvertently created on Anna's birthday almost two centuries ago. And here she was, dressed in 21st Century clothes of jeans with just a touch of the fashion back from her own time: a tunic top. Yes, she knew it was what men had worn, but what was the difference now? Currently, she ran what was called Arendelle Orphanage, though the upkeep was quite expensive, what with taxes and all. She missed the good old days where people just took her word for who she said she was and not have to forge a new identity every few decades. Which was getting rather hard, come to think of it, as technology was progressing very quickly.

Elsa shook her head at the thought of hacking into her own (distant) successors' system.

Olaf, since the beginning of the founding of Arendelle Orphanage (officially est. 1914) was a well-kept secret among the children. Elsa's powers most children didn't even know about.

But after two centuries, she still didn't understand why it was her. Why her? Why have her live for an indeterminate (she preferred not to think of it as 'forever') period of time?

Staring at an incidentally full moon, she asked aloud in frustration, "Why! Why am I like this? Is this punishment for freezing Anna? Am I doomed to live an eternity alone?"

She felt a stick touch her forearm. "You're not alone Elsa. You've got me." Elsa almost shed tears at this. "And Marshmallow. And Sludge and Slush and Slide and Ansel and – " when Olaf proceeded to name all of what he perceived as his little brothers (A/N: from Frozen Fever), Elsa tuned him out.

But I just want to find someone like me. A human, she thought, staring at the looming moon, when a bitter afterthought occurred to her. If I'm even human anymore.

…

A/N: I wanted to get past the caveat restricting an Elsa and Jack pairing. So I kind of cheated. Hey, it's not too unreasonable that Elsa would gain immortality after gaining control of her powers, right? Even if it is, oh well.

Plus, I thought original!Elsa living in modern times would be cool to see.