Rivals (A Jelsa Story)

Chapter 25 - Closing Ceremonies

A/N: Artwork is by The Artic Scarf.

Elsa's POV

I don't think I'd ever seen Jack so tense. He wasn't even looking at me as we wove through the tables.

I bit my lip. "Are you okay?"

He stopped, sighed, and ran a hand down his face. "No, but I'll be fine." He turned to me but kept his eyes on the floor. "I'm... sorry you got dragged into the middle of that."

"You have no reason to apologize," I replied, rubbing his arm in what I hoped was a comforting motion. "Do you...want to talk about it?"

"Not really."

"Okay." He hadn't pushed when I didn't want to talk about Merida, so I was going to show him the same courtesy.

"Miss Winters," Mr. Genie said, walking up to us, "could you please make your way to the dais? The closing ceremony is about to start."

I looked at Jack. "What about you? Is the council not coming up?"

He shuffled uncomfortably. "I'm, uh, not on the council anymore."

"Mr. South has also been removed from the ceremony," Mr. Genie said before I could reply. "Mr. Fitzherbert will be filling in for him."

I started to say something to Jack, but Mr. Genie cut me off. "I'm sorry, Miss Winters, but we really should start soon."

"I'll explain later," Jack said. "Go on. Good luck."

Bewildered, I walked over to the dias. Bunny, Tooth, Sandy, Anna, and Kristoff were already there. Hiccup and Astrid soon came, followed by Merida, and finally Rapunzel and Flynn.

"Did you hear that you're going up instead of Hans?" I whispered to Flynn.

"Yeah, good riddance," he replied. "It sucks that Jack can't come up though."

I nodded as Mr. Genie came up to us. "Alright everyone, please go ahead and step up onto the dais while I gather the other faculty. We'll be standing in the same formation as in the opening ceremony."

We ascended the steps to get onto the platform. Behind me, Astrid tripped on the top step. "Uff da!"

I turned around, my eyes wide. "What did you just say?"

She chuckled. "Oh, it's a Norwegian expression –"

"I know!" I said excitedly, pointing to myself. "I'm Norwegian!"

"Wait, really?" She pointed to Hiccup. "We both are!"

"Ohmygosh that's so cool!" Anna squealed.

"Ladies, please," Mr. Genie said, suddenly appearing in front of us. "You can talk afterwards. The ceremony is about to start."

I looked around to see that Mr. Disney, Mr. Mouse, Mr. Moon, Mr. Shrek, Ms. Fairy, and Mr. North were already up on the dais. A little embarrassed, I stepped back so Mr. Genie could get everyone's attention.

It wasn't much different than the opening ceremony. Headmaster Disney and Principal Moon both gave speeches about how well the event had gone. No one mentioned the Jack-Hans incident, so I guess that was a good thing.

We thanked everyone and then walked off the platform as they clapped for us. "Nice job, snow queen," Jack said as I walked back over to him.

I groaned. "Please don't call me that. That's what Hans calls me."

"Ah, gross, okay." He thought for a second. "How about 'ice princess'?"

I smiled. "That works."

"So, my ice princess." Jack grinned and held out his hand. "May I have this dance?"

I giggled and took it. "Of course you may."

* * *

"You did great, sweetie," Papa said, pulling me into a hug and kissing my forehead.

"Thanks." I hugged him back.

"We want to leave soon," Mama said. "That way we can miss traffic."

"Okay, just a minute, I want to find someone first." I looked around the room for Jack, but I didn't see him.

"Elsa, your father and I have to get up really early tomorrow, remember?" Mama said gently.

"Just wait one minute," I pleaded.

Papa shook his head. "I'm sorry. Please go get your things so we can go."

I sighed and walked across the room toward the door, Anna in tow. I didn't see Jack or any of my friends from DreamWorks for that matter.

"I'm sorry, Elsa," Anna said as soon as we'd entered the hallway. "But I'm sure you'll see him again."

"Yeah, I hope so," I murmured.

We got our bags and went back into the dance. "Okay, we're ready," I said, although I didn't mean it.

"Good. Come on, let's go."

As soon as we got home, I went up to my room and locked the door. Then I lay on my bed, curled around a pillow. A single tear fell onto it. I didn't get to say goodbye...

Jack's POV

I walked back into the dance after leaving to use the bathroom. I looked around for Elsa, but I didn't see her anywhere. Rapunzel walked past me, and I waved her down. "Hey, have you seen Elsa?"

"Oh, um, I think I saw them leave just a minute ago," she replied, biting her lip.

My heart sank. "Oh," I said, trying to sound casual. "Okay, thanks." I turned and walked away before she could say anything else.

Astrid found me sitting at a table by myself. "Hey, what's up?" she asked, sitting down.

I shrugged and took a sip of my punch, not making eye contact.

"Where's Elsa?"

"She left." Those words leaving my mouth just felt so wrong.

"Oh, sad. I wanted to say bye to her."

"Yeah, me too."

"Wait." She looked at me. "She didn't even say goodbye to you?"

I shook my head, not trusting my voice.

"Oh, I'm sorry," she said a little hesitantly. "Maybe she had to leave in a hurry or something..."

"Yeah, it's whatever." I polished off the rest of my punch. "Have you seen Bunny? I'm ready to leave."

* * *

I got out of the car, said bye to my friends, and went up the walk to my front door.

She didn't say goodbye...

But that's what happens, isn't it? Relationships like that never last; I should know. Sooner or later, everyone becomes unhappy, and it all goes downhill. It was better for everyone that it had ended there.

I just wished I hadn't let my walls go down.

"You're home!" My mother smiled brightly as I walked through the door. "How was the dance?"

"Fine."

She frowned. "Is everything okay?"

"Yeah, I'm just tired." I headed for the stairs. "I'm going to bed now."

"Oh, alright. Let me know if you need anything."

"I will."

I went into my room and lay down on my bed. But instead of falling asleep, I just stared at the ceiling for what seemed like forever.