Thaw (Jelsa Fanfic)

Tooth's Arrival

"Jack!"

Tooth's voice sliced through the magic of the moment, shattering it like no more than an old and forgotten window. Elsa stiffened in his grasp, and had they not been floating fifty feet off the ground, he was sure she'd have pulled away like a child caught doing something forbidden.

"Jack, what are you doing?" The beat of Tooth's wings drummed as she drew near. "How...how could you?What are you thinking, being here with her! Look at the lights, Jack! How could you ignore your duty...for...for this?"

Elsa looked at Tooth, then at him. "Jack? What...who..." She began.

"I'm Tooth...and I've come to take Jack back where he belongs. He's got work to do...and you mustn't interfere." Tooth's hands were on her hips, and her violet gaze was narrowed at the Queen. Jack had never heard unpleasantness in the fairy's voice until then...and it sounded ugly cloaked in the sweet tones of her voice. "You're not a child anymore. You need to let him go."

"I...did. I did let him go." Elsa tried arguing.

"You can still see him, so apparently not enough. Others need him, you know. You shouldn't be so selfish to...to tempt him to abandon everything and everyone..." Tooth continued.

"I did no such thing! I didn't want this! I didn't want any of this!" There was anger in Elsa's raised voice...but Jack knew her well enough to hear the hurt there too.

Jack shot Tooth a narrowed, furious look. "Stop it, Tooth!" He roared, his voice raised over both of them. "It isn't Elsa's fault. I told you what I was going to do...where I was going..."

"Let me down." Elsa's voice was quiet but firm as she broke in.

The look on her face made his stomach turn. Any progress he'd made...any stitches he'd managed to knit across the wounds he'd caused...it had all been undone. Her shield was up, and her expression was so carefully masked he couldn't read an inch of it. And it terrified him. "Elsa, please..."

"Put me down!" Her command was sharp and when her eyes traveled to his, he saw they were burning with hot, unshed tears. Stricken, Jack let the wind carry them to the soft grass below.

"Elsa, it's not like that. Look, just listen to me. I'll explain..." She wrenched her arms from his grasp, pulling away from him.

"Go, Jack. I don't need to hear any of it! Just go back to your life and leave me to mine." Elsa turned, her hair blowing in the breeze as she started for her horse.

"Elsa, no!" He caught her arm, trying to get her to stop, to listen.

"Just let her go, Jack. It's for the best." Tooth said from behind him.

He whirled on her. "You! Get out of here, Tooth! Haven't you done enough?" He snarled at her with such ferocity that she gasped and fluttered backward.

"But Jack, your vow..." She whispered.

"That's between me and him." Jack glanced at the sliver of moon above. "Not you." He turned just in time to see Elsa swing into the saddle of her horse. "Elsa! Wait!"

She didn't look back.

The thunder of retreating hooves and her shadow dancing across the path was the only evidence that she'd been there at all...and then, she was gone. Jack stood on the path, staring after her...feeling as if his world was starting to crumble around him all over again.

"You shouldn't have let her see you." Tooth said. "It would have been easier..."

Jack turned, but he didn't move. Glaring across the distance, he pointed at her. "You upset her on purpose. You wanted her to think there was something between us! Why would you do that? Why?"

"Because she doesn't have a place in your life anymore Jack." Tooth said gently. "Being a Gurdian is your life. The children are your life. We are your life. Elsa doesn't fit into that, Jack. She's got her own life. Live yours." Tooth fluttered closer, putting her hand on his arm. "You've been alone a really long time. I understand loneliness, Jack. But you don't need to throw away everything for companionship, you know." Tooth fluttered to a halt in front of him, uncomfortably close. "You and I are the same. And together, we can push the loneliness away."

Jack pulled his arm from her grasp, stepping back to give himself distance. "Its never going to be that way! Not for us! Even if I never saw her again...it's not about companionship. It's not about filling some void!"

Tooth frowned, crossing her arms over her middle. "What is it then, Jack? You can't possibly love her. You don't even know her anymore..."

"I know that for me, it's always been her. And nothing--not you, not this job--nothing will ever change that." He reached for his staff, before fixing a narrowed gaze upon her once more. "You will never pull something like that again. You got that? Never. You'll treat her with respect."

Tooth raised her chin. "She's not my Queen."

"And this isn't your kingdom. If you won't respect her...then leave. I don't want you here anyway." Jack held her gaze a moment longer, and then turned away.

"Jack, you can't...you don't mean what you're saying. Just come back to the Pole. We'll straighten this out..." Tooth reached for him, but he shook her off.

"No. I've got enough mess to straighten with Elsa. If North needs to see me, he can come here." Jack didn't wait for a response as he took to the wind, heading for the castle. He couldn't get wet, wounded image of Elsa's eyes out of his mind, and desperately hoped the damage Tooth had done wasn't enough to destroy everything.