Frosted (A "Jelsa" Fanfiction)

Chapter Four - Molten Chocolate

Jack helped her carry the deer meat as they meandered through the woods; each of them hovering millimeters above the snow, displacing absolutely nothing but air.  Elsa followed him closely, though her thoughts were elsewhere. How far away was she from Arendelle, exactly? What if things weren't going well, and Anna had no way to contact her?

"You look worried, Elsa." Jack had stopped, and turned around to face her. Elsa would've bumped into him if he hadn't spoken.

"Looks can be deceiving," Elsa snapped, and immediately regretted sounding so harsh.

"Okay." Jack turned around and kept walking. She'd partially expected him to say more. He didn't press the issue for the rest of the hike, or any issue at all, because they carried with them an awkward silence whole way there.

When they arrived at what Elsa assumed was Jack's house, she found herself not the least bit surprised. What lay ahead was gigantic, and quite impressive. A huge, towering log cabin style mansion. It had a massive terrace out front, stone columns, and huge modern windows everywhere- lit golden from the inside. Medium length icicles hung from the roof, adding the perfect winter touch.

Jack led Elsa around the back of the house, to a large shed.They walked inside. It was clearly a room dedicated to food storage an preparation. On one side of the room was a massive cutting board, with an array of butchering blades hung above. It was clean though, and Elsa liked the respectful vibe it gave off. The other wall was covered in huge wooden shelves, each packed to the brim with crates of dried fruit.

Jack left and got a ladder. He set it up by a clothing line along the back wall, where salted meat was hung, and presumably curing.

"May I hang your meat to cure?"

"Sure." 

"Okay. There's a box of netting to your left, can you wrap the pieces, salt the unsalted ones, and give them to me?"

"Yeah."

Elsa took the netting, and began wrapping the meat, handing them to Jack who hung them one by one. There fingers accidentally touched once during the process, and both of them visibly felt it- the contact was like a burst of electricity, only more pleasant and far colder

When they finished, Jack folded the latter back up, and stowed it away. They walked to the back door of the mansion, and Jack held the door for her on the way in.

Elsa loosed a breath at the sight of the interior. The decoration was tasteful, cozy, and far more modern than the medieval halls of Arendelle's castle.

"You can sit down- make yourself at home. I'll go melt us some chocolate." Jack walked away, leaving Elsa to take in her surroundings. She pulled a warm plaid blanket up over her knees. It was soft, high-quality material.

It was only when she looked out the window that she realized how high they were. The forest sloped downwards into the hills she'd hiked days before. The birch tree. Elsa remembered, and unraveled the map from her back pocket.

Jack Frost strode over, and handed her a cup of steaming liquid chocolate. He proceeded to sit in the leather armchair across from her, and curl up in one of the other huge blankets.

"I couldn't choose between dark and milk chocolate, so I went for more of a bittersweet." He smiled nervously, and ruffled his hair with his fingers.

"I like bittersweet." Elsa gave him a halfhearted smile back.

"What's that?" Jack indicated to the scroll Elsa was holding.

"If you lend me a pen, I'll show you." Elsa's verbal mask was well practiced, and she kind of liked the way the words rolled off her tongue. Years of isolation had left her with plenty of time to perfect her responses.

"Deal." Jack said. He was back in seconds, awaiting explanation.

"It's a map of where I come from. A lot of it's empty, though, because I had hoped to add onto it throughout my travels." Elsa blushed at her long-winded answer. Jack didn't laugh though, he nodded, accepting her intentions.

"I have a map too, but it's incomplete, like yours." Jack opened a polished box on the coffee table between them, and held up another scroll. He handed it to Elsa carefully. She unraveled it. The map was detailed, sketched neatly in pen. In the center was Jack Frost's home. It was encircled by a large crescent shaped mountain range in the north and then a smaller straighter set of mountains in the south. The forest between the two was drawn carefully.

Elsa pointed to the the lower mountain range. "Just south of that is Arendelle, on the coast."

"Is that where you come from?" Jack asked. Elsa nodded. He took Elsa's scroll, and slowly laid it over top his own. Then he began tracing, combining their maps into one. One map to rule them all.

Elsa sat, sipping her molten chocolate greedily, relishing the satisfying flavors. She watched Jack's face as he worked, the way it scrunched up and focused, like his current activity was the most important thing on the planet.

"Would you like to stay here over night? I have a guest bedroom an bathroom you can use." He offered as he worked, not taking his eyes off the papers.

"Are you sure?"

"Of course I'm sure."

"Then yes, I will, thank you."

"No problem, it gets a little lonely here."

"It must be beautiful here in autumn."

"Autumn?" Jack raised an eyebrow.

"You know, the season?" Elsa was confused,

"I don't know how it is in Arendelle, and I would've assumed it would be the same there, but it snows year-round here." Jack had paused his construction of the ultimate map, and looked up at her.

"An eternal winter..." Elsa whispered, concern coating every word.