Thaw (Jelsa Fanfic)

Storm

"Elsa?" Jack's stomach felt as if it had fallen to his feet, and his heart had begun to hammer in his chest. The foliage was thick, obscuring his view. He soared from tree to tree, his panic growing with every passing second. "Elsa!" He screamed.

There was a rustle in the brush, and Jack whirled to face it with his staff raised an ready to strike. His lips were drawn back in a silent snarl, and he undoubtedly looked far more fierce than he felt. Inside, he felt like a piece of him had been carved away...

He blinked.

Elsa was standing beneath the bough of a pine, looking up at him with wide eyes. The shock on her face would have been comical in any other setting, but in that instant, all that Jack felt was incredible and all consuming relief. "Elsa! Oh my god, you're here. You're okay!" He cried, lunging from the tree top to scoop her up into a fierce embrace.

Her stunned silence lasted only a moment before she wrapped her arms around him in return. "Of course I'm here...I told you I would be!"

He pulled back, taking her face between his palms. "You said you'd be right where I left you. You weren't there and I panicked. I thought Pitch or Grim..."

"They didn't, Jack." She said, but he wasn't listening. He kissed her lips, her nose, her forehead, her cheeks...reassuring himself that she was real and whole and with him. "Jack!" She laughed softly. "What's gotten into you?"

"Elsa, you scared the hell out of me. I thought I'd lost you. Where did you go? Why didn't you stay put?" His heart was still galloping wildly, his adrenaline still like fire in his veins.

Elsa quirked a brow. "I didn't exactly go far, Jack. I was just over there, warming up my powers." She lifted a hand, pointing in the direction she'd come from. She didn't make an attempt to pull out of his grasp, though...even as his gaze swept over her shoulder toward the icy tree trunks beyond. She'd done a number on that section of forest...and he would have likely noticed if his panic hadn't sparked when he hadn't immediately seen her.

"Oh." He felt his shoulders slump, and Jack rested his forehead against hers. "You can't do that to me, Elsa. When I didn't see you here I thought I was going to die all over again."

Elsa raised her own hands, pressing them on either side of his cheeks. She raised his head just enough that she could look into his eyes. "You can't be so protective of me, Jack." Her own were stern as she surveyed him. "When the battle comes, I'm going to fight. We might get separated. And you're going to have to be okay with that. I'm not glass, and I won't break."

"The thought of them getting their hands on you..." He started.

"If it happens, we'll figure it out. But it didn't." She kissed him softly. "I'm sorry I scared you, Jack."

He wrapped her in a tight embrace, holding her against his chest as he let himself breathe her in. He was gradually beginning to relax, to convince himself that everything was okay. "It's okay, Elsa. Just...next time, don't go far, okay? I'm going to worry until this is over. I know you're strong...but I love you, and we worry over those we love."

"I know Jack. I love you too. That's why I needed to practice. I was worried about you as well. I needed something to keep my mind off of it." She leaned up to kiss his chin. "Can we go make a storm now, please?" She looked so excited over the prospect that the last of Jack's fears melted away.

"Is that what they're calling it these days?" He teased with a Cheshire grin.

Elsa laughed and gave him a half hearted slug to the shoulder. "Oh, you're impossible!"

A few minutes later they were soaring back to the mountain pass. Jack tightened his grip on her as they slipped into the storm clouds, through the whipping winds and blowing snow. He landed them at the base of the mountain, not wanting to brave the higher elevation with the reduced visibility. Elsa raised a hand, squinting against the white arctic blast that was blowing all around them. "This is pretty impressive!" She shouted to him over the wind. "But I think I can do just a little better!"