Cold Against Dark (a Jelsa Fanfiction)

Chapter Six

A year later

Jack looked inside the room as she braided her hair carefully, muttering to herself, "conceal don't feel, don't let it show."

He tapped gently on the window and she smiled, even without looking over, she knew it was him.

She took off her gloves and waved her hand, opening the window and letting Jack jump inside. "Nice to see you stranger."

He laughed in response, "I've only been gone four days, I had some business to deal with"

"Fours days," she said, putting her glove back on and securing her braid, "is a long time when you're on your own."

"Try hundereds of years on for a try" he said and they both laughed together.

A year had passed since Elsa had last seen Pitch. He left on an ominous note, talking about her parents death being the beginning, but the girl was just glad he was gone and out of her sight.

One year later and she had changed a lot. She'd grown up. Jack also had something to do with how happy she was.

Two weeks after Pitch had left her, Jack came back. He promised her he'd changed, and he was going to protect her from then on. Of course, she insisted she could do it on her own but he wouldn't take it, so after his insistent please, she let him stay.

They had grown closer over the time. Everyday he would come by to check how she was, some days to talk, other times to play board games. It was just nice for Elsa to have some company - company that wasn't gaining enjoyment from her despair.

Not that she was despaired any more. Ever since Pitch had left, a weight was lifted from her shoulders and she felt happier, more content. There were no bad dreams, no more nightmares, no more scaring.

Jack sat on her bed and Elsa turned around to face him, "Pitch has been gone for a long time now..." she paused for a moment, "do you think he'll ever come back?"

"I don't know. We have to stay alert though, he's a psychopath," Jack muttered and Elsa raised her eyebrows, "what!" Jack said defensively.

She shook her head, chuckling at his comment, "nothing, nothing, I just remember you too being pretty chummy at one point."

Jack rested his head on his palm and scoffed in disgusted, "God, don't remind me, please."

She giggled once again and turned back around in her chair, looking at herself in the mirror. Her vanity mirror had been in her room since she was a little girl and she had looked in it so many times over the years at different stages of her life.

The reflection she could see this time was a strong woman. One forged in hurt and despair but one who had risen to the top.

Elsa had been alone most of her life if you don't count Jack and Pitch – which she didn't really. She thought often about how her life might have turned out if she had never injured Anna that fateful night.

Anna.

She still hadn't seen Anna.

Elsa sighed. Anna would be grown now too, she'd almost be a woman like her. What did she look like? What food was her favourite? What did she do all day? How does she wear her hair?

Normal sisters are supposed to know all of this about each other, but Anna and Elsa were not normal.

"I want to see Anna, Jack."

He looked back startled. "What?"

"Anna. I want to see her," she repeated with a firm look upon her face.

"Elsa, I don't think-"

"I'm going to, she's my sister, Jack." She stood up and Jack tried to get in her way, but she dodged him as she walked towards her bedroom door.

"Elsa, you can't, she can't know about your powers," he said, frantic and worried. She couldn't obey the story - he had to change her fate.

"Then she won't," she replied, waving her glove-covered fingers at Jack.

Elsa got to the door and took a deep breath, reaching for the door handle and opening it slowly.

Anna stood there and blinked at her sister. She began to ramble, "I-I um, I was just taking a walk, not by your door purposely, I mean, I was, but I wasn't. I-um hey." She gave Elsa a small but slightly awkward wave and smiled.

Elsa smiled back. She hadn't seen her sister since her parents left. And she still looked beautiful.

"Hello Anna"

Jack panicked in the background as the two sisters spoke, exchanged hugs and laughed awkwardly with each other for moment.

This was how the story went and if Elsa was already following the story, it would be harder for him to change it.

Elsa knew she had to keep it brief and so she said her goodbyes to Anna, making her way back inside and closing the door again, knowing she wouldn't see her sister again till her coronation.

She closed the door behind her looking over at Jack as he sighed. Elsa stared at him. "What?" she asked.

"You..." He shook his head, "never mind Elsa, it's done now. It's done," he said starting to get irritated.

Growing confused at Jacks sudden change in attitude and Elsa went and sat on her bed. "Well what I'm I supposed to do Jack! Wither away in here until I die! I wanted to see my sister, I missed her!"

Jack scowled at her. "I'm just trying to protect you, Elsa!"

"Protect me? How? By keeping me lock up in here all alone?" She stood, back up, beginning to get enraged with Jack. "You have no right to do that, not after what you and Pitch did. You say you want to change but here you are, treating me the same as you did all those years ago!"

Elsa could never understand why Jack was doing what he was doing but her comments added to his anger.

"How dare you. I have changed, I have! How dare you assume I haven't!" He stepped towards her.

She jumped off the bed, coming face to face with him and in some attempt to intimidate him, she hissed, "I am not the naïve girl I once was, Jack. I know how to use my power now and I am stronger that I used to be. You can't control me anymore."

"I'm not trying to cont-" he stopped himself, "you know what. It doesn't matter, you're not going to listen to me, are you?"

Elsa gave no response, standing still with a stone look upon her face.

"Fine. If that's how it is Elsa, maybe you should be alone." He stepped away from her, holding one of his hands up as if in defeat and he continued speaking, "After all, a woman of your power clearly doesn't need anyone else."

She watched him walk to the window, the cruel façade on her face faltering slightly as he opened it – He was leaving her.

"Jack..."

"Goodbye Elsa." He said, and with no other words, he disappeared into the breeze.

The girl stood in her bedroom and the front she had shown Jack began to crumble, the icy stare melted by the tears welling.

Once again, she was sad and alone and could feel the happiness she had felt moment before slowly fading away from existence, into the void of black. Eventually, she thought, she would have nothing left and she would just be replaced with an inevitable black darkness.

Elsa, despite how confident she was with her powers, knew that one day, she would bring danger and fear when she didn't mean too. It was that unavoidable future that filled her with dread and kept her from seeing Anna before that day.

She would just have to remain hidden away until the day came for her to be crowned and she would have to be cautious around Anna and everybody forever, no matter how much for controlled the powers inside of her.