Thaw (Jelsa Fanfic)

Broken

***Chapter inspired in part by "If You Could Read My Mind" by Gordon Lightfoot. I do not own this song or anything related to it. It just fits**

He never left.

Even as her ability to see him faded until he was nothing before her eyes, Jack still stayed. She'd fled the room, tears spilling from those beautiful eyes...but if those eyes could have seen, she would have witnessed the same torture in his own.

Jack remained with the dying snow within her quarters. Small drifts had blown against the walls, and icicles protruded intimidatingly from the floorboards. The windows were covered in layers of ice, and fingers of frost had wound their way along the canopy of her bed. It was an ugly scene, one that attested perfectly to the heartbreak the room had just witnessed.

Her whispered apology had given him just enough hope to cling to. When she came back, she'd surely see him again. All she needed was time to cool off...for she couldn't have possibly meant what she'd said. When she returned, he would make it right. He wouldn't give her the chance to rage at him...no, he'd wrap her in his arms and hold her tight until she understood. Until she realized that he couldn't possibly have ever forgotten her.

Jack paced the room over the course of two hours. He had shun to consider the possibility to going in search of her when at last Elsa quietly entered the room. She looked tired as she locked the door, her blue eyes red from tears. Jack hated witnessing her misery, and went to her immediately.

"Come here..." He whispered as he moved to embrace her. "I've been so worried about you..."

She walked right through him.

Jack gasped at the sheer ferocity of the hallow sensation her passage left him with. He had been so confident that she would be able to see him that he was utterly unprepared for the alternative. He felt gutted, as if her blindness to him had removed some vital piece of his being that he wasn't entirely sure how to live without.

He turned toward her, his widened eyes watching as she slid beneath the covers of her bed. She hadn't bothered to change, still dressed in the pretty yellow gown she'd worn in the meadow. She pulled the blanket up to her chin and curled herself into a small and fragile looking ball as snow began to fall in huge, slow flakes.

It was her silent sobs that broke him.

Jack lowered himself to his knees at her bedside, reaching to stroke her hair from her damp cheeks. His fingertips passed right through her, causing that horrible, empty feeling to pass through him again. "Elsa. Snowflake, I'm right here. I'm here..." Jacks voice broke as he moved closer, trying again to touch her, to reach her in any way. "Please see me...please. Just let me hold you...let me do something. You've got to believe...Elsa, that's all you've got to do." His vision blurred as he looked upon her beautiful face, twisted in pain. "If you can just find it in your heart to do that...Elsa, I swear, I'll fix this. I'll make it all okay again."

The helplessness that he felt in that moment was incapacitating...there was nothing he could do to ease her pain, no way he could dry her tears. It was tearing him apart. Given the chance, Jack would have traded anything, everything to have her be able to see him for just a few more minutes. Just long enough for him to tell her she'd been his everything too...and still was.

He remained at her side, his whispered pleas falling upon her deaf ears until finally her sobs receded to the occasional watery hitch of breath. She had cried herself to sleep, and as she passed from consciousness, the snow swirling in the room finally quieted.

Jack's voice was hoarse with emotion when he whispered into the silence. "Dream sweet dreams, snowflake. I'm sorry...I'm so sorry..." He raked a hand through his hair, unable to continue. Pushing his back against the nightstand, Jack lowered his head into his hands and allowed himself to break. For the first time, Jack had truly been stripped of everything...and he had no one to blame but himself. His foolish attempt to do what he'd thought was best for Elsa had caused him to lose her...and for the first time, he was confronted with the possibility that he'd never get her back. The very idea of never being seen by her again shattered him completely.

How long he sat, curled against her nightstand with hot tears flowing into his palms, Jack didn't know. He could have mourned his loss until the sun broke the horizon, but it was still dark in the room when the middle of the floor opened into a wide tunnel. Jack heard the snow stir, and his wet, raw gaze shot towards the sound.

A moment later, Bunny appeared.

"Snow in August. What's with this kingdom..." The rabbit growled, thudding his foot against the floor. The tunnel closed, leaving melting slush in its wake. Bunny looked around, his green gaze falling on Jack. "Mate? Hey...what happened?"

Jack rubbed his sleeve across his eyes, unable to make eye contact with the rabbit. There was something humiliating about being caught in such a vulnerable moment, especially by the Bunny. "She can't see me anymore." He said huskily.

Bunny frowned, looking at Elsa's sleeping form. "Was it the Tooth thing?"

Jack hung his head. "It was a lot of things."

The rabbit moved closer, regarding Jack with a little more compassion than was usual. "Crikey. That's a tough one. I know she meant a lot to you..."

"She meant everything, Bunny. Everything." Jack said hotly.

The rabbit held his paws up. "Hey, sorry. I'm just trying to say I'm sorry."

Jack shook his head, looking away. "What are you doing here anyway, Bunny? I'm not going to the Pole, so if that's what you're trying to, you're wasting your time."

Bunny shook his head. "No. Tooth figured getting you there would be like pulling chompers. So we came here."

"Here?" Jack's red gaze met Bunny's as he pushed himself to his feet. "I don't want to see Tooth. I'm not...I just can't do this right now, okay?"

"Hey." The rabbit said gently. "No ones asking you to do anything. But you can't shut us out, mate. You took that vow, and that binds us like a family."

"Family doesn't do what Tooth did tonight." Jack nearly snarled.

Bunny nodded. "She feels bad for that. She wants to apologize. The rest are at the meadow, Jack. Why don't you come with me and have a chat?"

"I'm not leaving her." Jack pointed to Elsa. "If she wakes up...maybe she'll see me again. Maybe..."

"She's asleep, Jack. You'll be back before morning. You just...you gotta come, okay? You gotta talk to us." Bunny's expression was severe, but Jack ignored it.

"I told you no..." He started.

"That girl there means everything to you, yeah? Well this has to do with her. If she means as much as you say, you'll come. She's in danger, Jack. They all are." The rabbit's gruff voice raised a notch, his frustration becoming evident.

"Danger? How? What's going on?" Jack asked in alarm.

"Come on and find out." Bunny tapped the ground, and his tunnel opened once more.

Jack looked at Elsa, still sleeping sweetly. With a ragged sigh, he raked his hand through his hair before fixing Bunny with a glance. "I'll stick to the wind. Tell them I'll be there shortly."

Bunny smirked. "You got it, mate." In the next instant, he was gone.

Jack moved to Elsa's bedside, kneeling by her once again. "I'll be back. I promise. And when you're ready to see me, I'll be waiting." He told her, though he knew she couldn't hear him. With one last lingering glance, Jack rose and headed to the window. The wind outside howled as it lifted him, taking him toward the meadow.