Prologue –

It was a cold January evening. Elsa, only age six, sat beside her younger sister on a snow covered log. The two had spent the chilly snow day together, building silly snowmen and brushing the powdered pearls off their shoulders. The birds of Arendelle began to grow silent as the sun slowly set.

"Girls!" Elsa's mother called. "It's time to come in now. I've made some hot cocoa for you."

Anna giddily rose from the log and tottered towards their mother. Elsa also rose, but slowly and sadly. She felt safe in the snow. She wasn't ready to feel the harsh warmth of the castle. "Mommy, do I have to?"

"Yes, Elsa. You've been out here all day and I don't want you to catch a cold. Hurry along now." Her mother placed her hand on her shoulder and shuffled her into the castle.

Anna happily climbed the stairs with her mother by her side. Elsa dawdled behind, gazing at the snowflakes out the window. "I wish it could be winter forever."

"I don't," their mother chuckled. She scooted Elsa along and escorted them into their bedrooms. She sighed at Elsa's pout. She peeled off her icy clothes slowly, trying to get the least amount of snow on the floor as possible. She helped Elsa tug a nightgown onto herself. Elsa climbed into bed, but refused to pull the covers over herself.

Her mother sat on the side of her bed. Elsa turned away to stare at the frost coated window. "You'll end up like Jack Frost at this rate."

"Jack Frost?" Elsa squeaked. "Who's Jack Frost?"

"Well when I was a little girl, my mother used to tell me that if I stayed in the cold too long that I would become frozen in time like Jack Frost. He's a playful, troublesome boy that is permanently stuck in an endless winter. If you're not careful, that could happen to you too!" Elsa's mother was frankly telling her daughter tall tales to keep her distracted from the soon to be spring Arendelle.

Elsa gasped and stared out the window. "Jack Frost," she softly muttered to herself. Her mother kissed her cheek and began to exit her room.

"Goodnight, my dear."

Elsa was too amazed to respond. With every snowflake that fell, her desire to meet Jack Frost grew.

Chapter 1 -

Elsa pushed back the stray piece of platinum hair from the center of her forehead. She gazed out her balcony and into endless foggy snow. The sun was begging to set and unleash the bitter temperatures of winter nights. She didn't mind the coldness though. It comforted her. It made her feel as if she truly belonged somewhere.

She smiled as the soft snow caressed her skin. It made her feel sleepy and safe. She turned away from the frost bitten window and strode through the lifeless hallways. The only sound was the soft taps of her shoes and the fierce roaring of winds echoing throughout the empty castle. She took pride in her creation of her ice castle. It was a requiem to her former self. It provided safety, security, and seclusion.

She climbed the stairs slowly. She had no hurry to be anywhere or get anything done. She found herself slipping into her nightgown and pulling the thin, white sheets over her pale body. She laid pondering about her sister; she wondering if she was handling the kingdom well.

A low sound coming from outside interrupted her thoughts. She quickly shrugged it off, assuming it was the howl of the harsh winds. She turned her body and adjusted the pillow to cradle her tired face. After a few moments of silence, she heard the noise again. She knew it wasn't the storm. She heard the sounds of the storm every day for years. This was animal-like—or human-like, rather.

She quickly rose from her bed and hurried down the halls. She dashed down the stairs, gripping the end of her nightgown tightly. The doors swung open with a violent push.

She slowly examined the grounds surrounding the castle, making small footprints in the snow. She followed the noise until she reached the wall of which her bedroom window peered out of. There, covered in a thick coating of snow, was an uneven lump.

Elsa moved closer. She hesitated as she peeked over the large abominable pile. She contemplated her options. If it was an evil creature of some sort, it would be too numb to move or attack her. If the creature meant no harm, it would slowly die alone out in the cold. Something tugged at her heart. She thought of her sister. What if it was her? What if she came to find her and perished just as she reached the castle?

She quickly dropped to the snow and started digging the being out from underneath. Tears formed in her eyes and spilled over her cheeks and she caught a glimpse of blue fabric. Her mind was clouded with thoughts of her sister.

Elsa slowly came to a stop. Before her was not her sister, but a boy with hair as white as the snow around him. His skin was also pale with freckles sprinkled over his peach colored cheeks. A soft moan leaked from his pink, parted lips. He had to be at least 18 or so. His breath was jagged and started to give.

Dumfounded, Elsa quickly finished dusting the snow off the beautiful boy beneath her. She tried to lift him up, setting his weight on her side. She dragged him steadily towards the front of the castle, adjusting him a few times along the way. She feared that it would be too late once she got inside.

She glared at the stares and grumbled. It would be a challenge to safely get him up there without causing more harm to him. But he had to be in a bed, not on the icy castle floors. She carefully took one step at a time, shifting him softly so no harm was done. She already did enough already, considering it was her blizzard after all.

When she finally reached the top of the stairs, she was out of breath and feeling weaker. "Only a few more steps," she muttered, assuring herself.

The boy's body collapsed onto her bed. She quickly pulled all of the rarely used blankets over his chilled body. She laid her hand against his cheek. Her body temperature learned to cope with the harsh standards of her powers; it was higher than a normal person's. However, the ice and snow produced from her powers was not affected by her body temperature due to the fact that it was made by her. In this case, her heat was useful in making the peach in his cheeks flush a shade darker.

She pulled back when he stirred suddenly. His eyes slowly opened, revealing two pale blue pools. Elsa couldn't help but stare at them.

"Who…are you?" his raspy voice muttered, his breath altering.

"I'm Elsa," she said sternly. "I found you outside. You were covered in snow. I thought you were hurt, so I brought you inside." She felt almost sorry for invading him this way. She hated scaring people.

He squeezed his eyes shut and slowly shook his head. "Where am I?"

"The mountains of Arendelle. I'm not exactly sure how you made it up here, or how you found it, but you're lucky to be alive. This blizzard gets worse and worse every day."

He chuckled. "I'm not scared of any blizzard. I doubt that's the reason I was knocked out in the snow. The cold doesn't get to me like it gets to most hu—people." He tried to sit up in the bed, but let out a groan and slowly sank back down. He rubbed his back and sighed. "I must've taken a nasty spill or something. I remember trying to get to the top of this mountain, but not much else."

"Is there anything you need?" Elsa asked.

"No, I'm alright. I should be back on my feet shortly as long as I have my staff." He glanced around the room. Panic struck his face. "You…you did find my staff, didn't you?"

Elsa stared at him with wide eyes. "Staff?" She was curious about the thing. How could his injuries be better by just having an object? The boy seemed very suspicious to her.

"Oh no," he muttered, sitting up again. "No, no, no. Oh no." He slowly swung his legs over the side of bed and attempted to climb out.

Elsa quickly rose. "What are you doing? You're obviously injured."

"Well I'm not going to get better without my staff." He groaned as he tried to gain balance. He stumbled a bit. When Elsa extended her arms to help him, he shook his head in decline.

His decision backfired when he suddenly tipped to the side and began to fall. Elsa quickly caught him and draped his arm over her shoulders. "I know you don't want me to help but you're going to need it. I'll find your staff."

"You don't even know what it looks like!" there was a slight irritating tone in his voice. "I need my staff. I take it everywhere. I sleep with it. I-I breathe with it!"

"You're too weak to find it yourself," Elsa muttered, also with a hint of annoyance. "I'll help you find it but then you have to rest."

"Fine," the independent boy hissed.

Elsa shuffled him out of the door as he leaned on her and hopped slowly. They eventually made it to the step case. Elsa would step down one stair, and then the boy would use her to balance himself as he hopped down the same stair.

"By the way," the boy said, trying to gain his breath from all the hopping, "I'm Jack."

"It's nice to meet you, Jack," she mumbled sarcastically.

When they reached the bottom of the staircase, they took a small break. "Why were you up here anyways?" Elsa asked. "It's not a safe journey to go on, especially alone with nothing to protect you. You're not even wearing shoes!"

"I don't need them. The cold doesn't affect me in the slightest. I mean I am—" Jack paused. He looked at Elsa. "I just wanted to see what was up with this castle. I should be asking you why you're up here."

Elsa bit her lip and sighed. "I like seclusion. It soothes me."

"Fair enough. Let's keep moving."

The two stumbled out the palace doors and into the snow. The skies were dark and only illuminated by the full moon. It made the falling snowflakes look like glittering dancers being swept up and brought down by the wind. It was difficult to trudge through the thick snow, but Elsa managed to do it with very little assistance from Jack. They finally discovered the area in which she found him.

"It's got to be here. It just has to!" Jack dug around in the snow. Elsa attempted to help, but wasn't quite sure what they were looking for. Her hands suddenly grazed against a piece of ribboning wood. She slowly picked it up, examining it. It was short and seemed to be curved into some sort of demented hook-like shape. It seemed awfully small for a staff. She then saw that the bottom was mangled as if it had been broken.

"Jack," she said softly, awaiting his disappoint. "I think I found some of it."

Jack swore under his breath when he took the broken staff out of her hands. "No, not again." He clutched it and continued looking for the other half. He frantically pushed the snow around. After a few moments of failure, he slumped down. "Even if I were to find it, I'm too weak to fix it at this point."

Elsa sunk down with him. She reached out her hand and placed it on his shoulder. He flinched at her touch, but then slowly turned to look at her. "I'm sure we'll find it. When we do, I'll help you fix it. Until then, you can stay here and rest. I wouldn't mind having some company." She smiled a bit, trying to lift his spirits.

He stared cautiously for a few seconds, but then also cracked a small smile. "Thank you," he muttered, gazing at her. "You know there's something about you that's different. I can't quite put my finger on it, but I think it might have something to do with the fact that you live in an ice castle in the middle of nowhere."

Elsa giggled and shrugged. "Well, what can I say? C'mon, let's get you back inside."