#like the scene where honeymaren is worried about elsa and checks on her

[justlookatthosesausages]

‘Emergence’ - an interactive fanfic

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CHAPTER 7

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Kristoff rose his hands.

“Elsa, breathe calmly. I came alone.”

The Fifth Spirit’s nervous breathing slowed down, and her shoulders lowered a bit. Around her, the air seemed to warm up.

She just had a panic attack when she saw Kristoff in the forest, walking by Sven’s side. She lowered her arms that she had put up earlier to use her magic if needed.

“Hey, it’s okay.” Assured the man, seeing how panicked she had been.

He stepped to her, and they hugged as a greeting. Elsa smiled weakly to Sven, petting his head.

Kristoff then frowned in confusion. “What are you doing here? The camp is miles away. And you don’t have Nokk with you.”

“I, uh... I needed to take a walk.”

Elsa had her left hand clutching her right arm, and Kristoff knew this posture really well. Including which mental state it meant.

“What are you doing here?” Asked Elsa, a bit defensively, before he even said anything.

“I was around, for work, and I thought I could drop by. I’m exploring the nearby lakes to see which spots we could use with my team of ice harvesters.”

“Spots?” Repeated Elsa, a bit numb.

“When the lakes will get frozen this Winter. With the cold. As we are up North. To get the ice.”

“To get the ice?” Repeated the Spirit, again.

Kristoff had a scoff chuckle at her state.

“You made me Official Ice Master and Deliverer 4 years ago, remember?” He laughed.

Elsa blinked, and nodded when everything finally clicked in her mind. “Yeah, yeah, right.”

She still wasn’t looking at him, and he got concerned.

“Are you okay?”

That was a stupid question, he knew that the sisters weren’t okay. He was naturally clumsy at social interactions, so he briskly coughed and found another topic of discussion.

“How was your week?”

Elsa stared at him in an odd way, and the blond worried.

“What?”

She sighed. Elsa realized, by Kristoff’s kind and soft presence, that she needed a confidant. She hadn’t talked to anyone about what happened with Honeymaren, and was even avoiding the Northuldra people just in case someone would ask, cleverly pretending that she was busy in the wild to not spent too much time in the camp.

“I... Can we talk?” She asked.

Kristoff smiled with his usual kindness. “That’s why I’m here.”

Elsa had a relieved sigh. “We should sit down.”

The mountaineer looked around. They were in the middle of nowhere, and there was no fallen trunk on which they could sit. Suddenly, a crunching noise came to Kristoff’s ears, and he recognized it as being Elsa’s ice crafting an object. He looked down and saw a bench, transparent and shining in its magic. Sven jumped in appreciation, and the ice harvester whistled.

She sat heavily, like she had a very tiring day, and he passed a hand along the backrest. “Flawless. Like always.”

His compliment finally made Elsa smile, and they exchanged a happy face. He sat down next to her.

“What is going on? Tell me.”

He turned his face to his sister-in-law. She didn’t have her arms crossed anymore, but her hands were clenched on the ice seat on each side of her thighs, and he wondered if that was any better. Elsa took a long time before gathering enough courage to speak.

“IkissedHoneymaren.”

“Excuse me?”

“I...”

She tightened her fingers, and took a shaking breath out.

“I kissed Honeymaren.”

Kristoff’s eyes widened. Sven abruptly lifted his head from the grass with a surprised grunt.

And Elsa immediately buried her face in her hands.

“Ooooh, why did I say that...” She muttered, her voice masked by her palms.

“Wait wait wait... You...”

He couldn’t believe it. He was happy for her, but also completely bewildered. Elsa had gained a lot of confidence in the passed years on the physical plan, both for her and about touching others, but... This?

“Were you... The one who initiated the kiss?”

She looked at the horizon. “Yes.”

Her eyes widened suddenly. “I mean, NO! No, it wasn’t me. But then... Yes.”

A thousand questions bumped each other in the blond’s head, and Sven and him exchanged a glance, yet he shook his head and stayed on the supportive aspect.

“Was it... Great?” He asked.

She lifted her palms to the sky.

“I don’t know, Kristoff! It was the first time I ever kissed someone!”

The mountaineer put a soft hand on her shoulder to calm her down.

“Okay. Okay. I just want to know if you were comfortable with it. It’s important, you know. How did it feel?”

Elsa bit her lip, hesitating to confess. She hesitated on telling Kristoff, but after all, he was caring and listening, and they knew each other well. They were family. She took another breath in and tried to remember the details.

“It was... Humid, and...”

The blond frowned. “Ew.”

“I was crying, Kristoff.”

“Oh. Oh, okay. My bad. Keep going.”

He wanted to ask why she was crying, but he had a little idea about it. Anna was shocked since their dispute as well. Elsa fidgeted with her hands as she continued.

“It felt... Warm. Like, I never felt this warm in my entire life. I mean, I have, when I’m with you, and Anna, and Olaf, and Sven, and... In the castle, and in the Northuldra camp, with-”

“I think you mean that this time, it was the warmth of love.” Said Kristoff, cutting her nervous rambling.

She looked at him with a still expression. As if it just occurred to her that it’s what it was. Yet, she knew it from the very second it happened. Why did it help to hear Kristoff saying it?

“Yes. Yes, it was the warmth of love.”

Elsa’s worried face broke in a soft smile for a moment. “It was.”

Kristoff nodded with happiness, sharing her glee. She kind of exhaled an aura.

He laid on the back of the ice bench, smelling the forest. He let her have a pause in her story to decompress. Some birds chirped in the distance, and Sven munched on the grass a few meters further.

“Did you like it?”

“I... I did, yes.”

He nodded. Those were important questions, and she seemed honest about it. From the corner of his eye, he could see her blush, and he smiled.

“So you both love each other. I’m hoping it wasn’t rushed?”

“No, we... It was mutual.”

The mountaineer nodded with approval.

“Great. The first time Anna and I kissed, I asked for permission first. It was clumsy, I admit it, but I still asked.”

“It kind of was awkward for us both as well.”

Elsa suddenly groaned and buried her face in her hands again. “Why is love so complicated?”

Kristoff burst of laughter. “It always is! And you’re at the beginning of it. For now, it’s still blossoming...”

He made a gesture with her hands to mime the opening of a lotus flower, and he froze in his move when he saw how Elsa was looking at her.

“I mean...” Coughed the man. “I guess.”

She continued to stare at him, then groaned again, this time wiping her head back. She looked like she was imploring the gods, but above all was very dramatic, and it reminded Kristoff of Anna.

“You and your sister are a lot alike, you know that?”

Elsa sighed at the sudden change of topic. “If it’s a way to make me talk to her again...”

“No, I meant, on the groaning plan. You have the same way to complain about stuff.”

“We do?”

“Don’t tell me you never noticed?!”

Elsa stared down, thinking. And it just occurred to her how much time had passed since the last day she saw her little sister. Her heart felt pinched.

She didn’t dare to say it out loud, but she needed to talk to Anna. To share this, to be completely open about to someone. Kristoff could understand most of it, and she would wilfully share how it went to him, but it wasn’t the same thing that talking about it to Anna.

“Elsa.”

‘I need to talk with Anna again. I have to. I must...’ She thought.

“Elsa!” Said Kristoff, snapping his fingers in front of her face.

The Spirit blinked at the sudden call. “What?”

“You were daydreaming for a moment. Ryder has just arrived. He wants to see you.”

“What?”

They turned around, and Ryder was waving at Elsa from the back of a reindeer.

“There you are!” Shouted the Northuldra. “I have to talk to you!”

Elsa blushed and panicked. “Ohhhh no, no no no, I’m not ready for this conversation right now.”

Kristoff frowned at her. “He’s just asking you to call for the Giants help to check if all the reindeers are in his enclosure.”

“Oh.” Muttered Elsa.

She thought that Ryder was going to talk about his sister. Did he know, anyway? Did Honeymaren confessed to him, like Elsa just did with Kristoff?

Elsa nervously stood up in one go, and Kristoff yelped when he suddenly found himself slamming the ground with his butt. Sven had a laughing grunt. Elsa had vanished the bench without looking behind.

“Ouch.” Grumbled the man.

“Oh, sorry, I just...”

“No, it’s okay. You’re used to thaw everything once it’s not of use anymore, I get it...” Said Kristoff, wincing however as his coccyx hurt.

He joined Sven, and looked at the sky. “I should go. Otherwise, night will fall before I get to Arendelle, and I promised Anna I would arrive before dinner.”

Elsa looked away from Ryder to stare at Kristoff with panic.

“Don’t tell her you saw me today.”

“She won’t get jealous.” Joked Kristoff.

“No, what I mean is... She’ll want to get some news, and...”

“You know she’ll ask.”

“Just lie, then.”

“I’m not gonna lie to her, Elsa. I never do.”

The blonde looked down. “Fine. Then tell her. But... Please make sure that she doesn’t worry.”

He climbed on Sven and chuckled. “Oh, when I’ll tell her how you are, I’m sure she will be the opposite of worried.”

Elsa blushed, a bit her lip. “That... That doesn’t change what I said. I still stand my ground.”

“Hmm-hmm.” Smiled Kristoff.

He gave her a last nod, and tapped his heels in Sven’s flanks. Together, they rode down to the South.

“So...”

Elsa startled with a jump at Ryder’s sudden voice.

“Could you call the Giants for me? I need to check...”

“Right. On my way. I’m going.” Blabbered Elsa clumsily, trying to avoid eye contact and walking past him.

“Cool.”

=======

Elsa went down from the Giant’s shoulder with the help of their enormous hand, and thanked them with a deep smile and a soft touch on the chin. They gave a smile that was the size of a house in return, and stood up to join their friends who were sleeping in the distance.

“Thank you so much!” Exclaimed Ryder after he counted the reindeer. “That was awesome. And badass.”

Elsa chuckled at the compliment and vocabulary.

“Oh, while I’m thinking of it!” He added, scratching his head under his hat. “Honeymaren was looking for you, just earlier. She couldn’t find you for the whole day, apparently.”

Elsa’s glee vanished. She gulped.

“Have you been hiding?” Asked Ryder.

“What? Me...? No, not at all!” Blushed Elsa, looking elsewhere.

“Uh-uh.”

“I just... Explored. So, if you see her again, you can just tell her that I’m... Exploring.”

“Uh-uh”, nodded the Northuldra, on a different tone this time, smirking.

Elsa waved with an awkward by-bye and walked to the forest. The trees somehow made her feel like she was isolated without getting too far from the village.

“She’d be the worst at hide and seek”, muttered Ryder with a shake of the head. His reindeer grunted in approval.

The Fifth Spirit walked for several minutes on her own, then found a welcoming shadow cast by a big tree in an isolated glade. She sat on the grass and sighed.

There was a crack sound above her head, and some leaves fluttered to the ground. She frowned with confusion and lifted her eyes.

“Hey.”

Elsa screamed at the top of her lungs when she suddenly faced Honeymaren upside down.

She froze a part of the ground, spiky layers of ice covering the grass and the tree.

With a heavy breathing, she stared angrily at the woman for scaring her, and tried to take her hands off the ice, both clamped to the ground on each side of her hips.

Honeymaren skilfully dropped off the tree with a flip from the branch she had been hanging from with her legs and bent to her.

“You’ve been avoiding me. Is this how you deal with emotions?”

Elsa looked elsewhere, blushing. Honeymaren softened her tone.

“I’m not reproaching anything. I’m just asking. Is this how you deal with your feelings? By running away? Hiding in some place? Do you want to be left alone? For how long?”

Elsa stared at her, her mouth twisting.

“Okay maybe that was too many questions at a time.” Admitted the brunette. “You’re an introvert, I get it. But I just want to know why you’re shunning. Are you okay? That’s all that matters to me.”

The blonde gulped, and nodded. “I’m alright.”

Honeymaren smiled, sighing a bit. “Perfect.”

Somehow, her care helped Elsa to melt the ice, and she shook her hands as the magic vanished.

“No spooking anymore, noted.” Said the Northuldra when she understood the state she was in.

“You scared the hell out of me”, muttered Elsa.

“And you swear a lot when you’re scared.” Pointed Honeymaren, sitting in lotus position in front of her. “One unprepared moment and you loose your regal and poised mask, uh?”

Elsa smiled a bit. “Anna had noticed that out as well.”

“Then it’s true.”

A silence fell. Honeymaren gently nudged Elsa’s knee with her finger, like a ‘boop!’ gesture.

“What’s wrong? Why are you needing all that space? Communication is important.”

Elsa stared at her. She was right. The Spirit took a long breath in and out.

“I just need to think.”

Honeymaren bent her head. “Do you need to think because you kissed someone? Or because you kissed a girl?”

Elsa blushed, and looked down shyly.

“It’s the first time I ever kissed someone.”

“Oh.”

A new silence passed. They both looked elsewhere. Honeymaren smiled.

“So it’s not me. Thanks Ahtohallan, I thought you didn’t like it.”

She snorted at her own joke. “Sorry. I thought that some humor would help.”

Elsa smiled. “No, it’s not because of you. I just... Need some time to process everything.”

The Sami nodded. “If you want to have a positive thought, just know that you’re actually a really good kisser.”

Elsa blushed strongly.

“This just makes everything worse, stop.”

“Excuse me. I was too sincere.” Apologized Honeymaren, and she had a tender laugh. “It’s just... We both loved it, Elsa. And kissing a girl apparently isn’t the problem. So... Is there something else bothering you? Do you want to talk about it? I’m willing to listen, at your own rhythm.”

Elsa bit her lip with emotion at her words.

“Oh no, you’re crying.” Gasped the Sami, noticing now Elsa’s eyes had filled with tears.

“Those are happy tears”, said Elsa.

Honeymaren’s eyes widened. “Really?”

The blonde nodded, her pout turning into a smile. She sniffed. “I’m just very emotional, that’s all.”

Honeymaren melted in a warm smile. “It’s great to be emotional. It’s normal. As an example, I couldn’t sleep all night after you left the tent.”

“You mean, after I ran away from the tent.”

The brunette shrugged. “Details, details.”

Elsa snorted. Honeymaren smiled in victory to see that she had managed to make her laugh again.

Her confession touched Elsa. “I couldn’t find sleep either.”

She sniffed and kept going, feeling in a good mood to express her emotions. “I’m used to insomnia, but this is a whole other level.”

“Yeah, no kidding.” Laughed Honeymaren.

She was staring at the blonde, particularly enjoying when she blushed.

Elsa smirked, noticing the way she stared. “Do you actually enjoy watching me being bashful?”

The brunette smiled dreamily. “You have no idea how cute you look when you are.”

She then blushed a bit. Words had escaped her mouth.

The two woman looked elsewhere awkwardly. Honeymaren massaged her neck, and Elsa nudged some blades of grass with the side of her ice sandal.

“Do you-”

“Can I-”

They had spoken at the same time.

“You first”, invited Elsa politely.

“No, you first. Go ahead. You’re a Spirit.”

“Don’t treat me religiously.” Elsa laughed.

Why was Honeymaren always making her laugh?

“Well, as far as I know, you’re basically a goddess, so…”

“Honey, please.”

They both widened their eyes.

“Ugh, I did it again.” Grumbled Elsa, pinching the bridge of her nose.

“It’s alright. I like it.”

“...It’s very cheesy.”

“Actually, it’s sugary. But even if it’s ridiculous, I like it. You can stick to it.”

Elsa shook her head. Then sighed. Why struggling? “Okay, fine. Honey.”

Honeymaren bit her lip at the effect it had.

“I like how it sounds, now that you actually say it.”

“I’ll stop if you make it awkward.” Warned Elsa.

Honeymaren bit her lip again with a smirk and looked at the trees.

After a silence, the blonde passed a shy finger along the Northuldra’s boot. “I didn’t mean to hide from you, I just... It’s been a lot, lately. What happened with Anna... What happened with you...” She moaned. “I feel like my heart’s going to explode.”

Honeymaren tapped on her hand with comprehension. “Would that help if we talked about it? You were overreacting yesterday, but now it looks like you stepped back a bit. We can have a chat.”

“I’d love that.” Smiled Elsa.

And in the warming light of the sun, they talked together, their fingers intertwined.

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Elsa hesitated before calling out the Wind Spirit and giving them her new letter to Anna. She had been putting everything in it. Her deep thoughts, her apologies... How would Anna react? She had been waiting so long before finally sending a message to her young sister. Would she be mad?

Her fingers pressed the paper as she thought about how she included the news of her kiss with Honeymaren. The Northuldra had made her comfortable enough to share it with her sister, and she thought it was a good decision to tell her, as they promised they would never hide anything to each other. But how would Anna react to that, as well? What would she say?

Elsa sighed with a shaking breathing, apprehending Anna’s answer. With a trembling voice, she called Gale, and her call echoed in the empty portion of the woods she had been retreating in.

After a few seconds, the Wind Spirit arrived, chiming in the air, and Elsa cleared her throat to chase her emotion.

“Could you please give this message to my sister?”

She raised her letter and Gale did a twirl and swooped the paper. They rose in the air, above her head, and threw the paper to her.

Elsa caught it and sighed. “Don’t throw it back, I mean it. Send it to Anna, please.”

She gave the letter back, but the Spirit brought it in her hands again.

“What are you doing? You’ve been annoying me for days saying I should message her, and now you give it back to me? Send my le--”

Then Elsa realized that it wasn’t her letter. The folding shape... It was Anna’s.

“What the...”

She stared at it, unbelieving. It indeed was Anna’s. “She wrote too?”

The Wind Spirit chimed. Elsa interpreted some impatience from it, and suddenly she understood. Her eyes stung and her vision blurred.

“She... She asked you to give me her letter only once I was ready to write mine?”

Gale swooped in a round, the equivalent of nodding.

Elsa was shocked. Her sister has respected her time of reflection and chose to only message her once she was in the mood to talk to her?

The blonde brought her hand to her mouth, gasped, and melted into tears. She slowly fell to the ground, sit on her heels, her legs bent.

“Oh, Anna...” She muttered, smiling despite the tears. “What would I be without you. And your patience. And your understanding.”

Elsa sighed with a warm smile. She looked up and saw that Gale was still standing there, or rather, floating there, as if waiting for her to open it. They apparently have been waiting a long time to deliver Anna’s letter.

“You can go deliver mine, now”, smiled Elsa.

The Spirit did a twirl before leaving, which would mean ‘Of course!’, and went out of the forest to the South.

Elsa was in a calm and silent setting again, and was glad to be so in order to read Anna’s letter with all the attention it deserved. With slightly shaking hands, she looked at the folded paper. Despite their dispute, her sister still had wrapped the message in a cute little shape, like always. This time, it was a horse.

The blonde sniffed, gently unfolded it, and rubbed her eyes before reading, so she could see her sister’s warm handwriting clearly.

So you finally decided to message me. - Elsa had a tearful giggle. - Look, I’m sorry. I truly am. You know that I can get very heated and outspoken when I’m worried, and, you know, I was.

You say that this is a default that actually can be a quality for a Queen, in tough meetings and all, but I hope that it’s not going to be a default for us both, as family, as sisters.

I can see Olaf from where I’m writing (the ballroom’s balcony) and he’s really sad since our argument. The village’s kids are in the market square and traced a hopscotch on the ground with him, but he’s barely in the mood to play. This reminds me that, as soon as we arrived home, he told me that I shouldn’t have said that you weren’t good at goodbyes, for he had forgiven you about that time when you sent us away on the ice boat. - tears went down Elsa’s cheeks, and she laughed nervously when Anna’s next sentence was ‘He truly is what connects us.’.

I already forgave you for what you told me. I know that, as well, you can lose your temper when you’re angry. I’m sorry if I made you say bad stuff (that you surely regretted as soon as you went away on Nokk), and I hope that you can forgive me too. I came to realize that it’s something I’ll often have to do, as a leader.  

Take your time, but if you want to meet up some day, message me when and where.

I love you Anna PS: Don’t pick up ‘midway’ as the meeting place, I found ants in my travel boots again the other day, and ugh.

Elsa re-read the letter several times, delighted to lay eyes on her sister’s words again, and then started to laugh. It was a sniffing laugh at first, but then it became clear, and happy, and finally she laughed openly in the woods, filled with her sister’s love. She had missed her so much.

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Elsa wrote a new letter to her sister in the following afternoon, after an idea crossed her mind. In fact, once she got the idea, it then took her several hours to think it through, but when she finally stop listing the thousand pros and cons of her decisions, she took a paper in her tent and grabbed a pencil, and went to a calm place in the village to write.

Anna

First and foremost, I love you with all my heart. You were right about me waiting such a long time before eventually sending you a message after our dispute, and you were right about everything. You ARE right about everything, in fact.

That’s why, for the place we’ll meet, I suggest you the Northuldra village. It’s not very exceptional, you may think, but that’s because I want to take you on a ride.

I want to show you Ahtohallan. It is time. We’re going to Ahtohallan together. And find answers there. I know I refused each time you suggested it for the past year but now I’m certain. I took my decision. You were right, again, when you said that I have to go there and know once and for all the reason why I got those visions. We’re going to get the answers, sis. Together.

I love you.

Elsa

PS: Bring as many warm clothes as you can, obviously.

She closed the letter by folding it twice and sealing it with a big five elements snowflake. Her perfectionism hit and she made sure it was symmetrical.

Once done, she joined the middle of the village, where Honeymaren and some kids were playing with the Wind Spirit. When she approached, Gale noticed the letter in her hand and strongly twirled around her arm to pick it up, making Elsa giggle at the sudden tug in her sleeve.

“Yes, it’s for her. Go.”

Gale didn’t wait any longer and brought the letter to the South. Elsa shook her head at how the Spirit was the number one fan of their correspondence.

Honeymaren approached as she was looking at it flying away.

“So, you agreed about going to Ahtohallan with her?” The brunette smiled.

Elsa smiled back with a nod, then suddenly froze. “How do you know?”

The Northuldra winked. “I know you, that’s all. You have that little sparkle in the eye when you’ve done a right action.”

The blonde stared at her, then smirked lightly. “Do I have this little sparkle often?”

“That’s one of the things I like the most about you.” Whispered Honeymaren, bending to her.

Elsa had a pout in-between happiness and awkwardness.

“This and all the moments when you smile. And the bashful faces, like the one you’re making right now.” Smiled Honeymaren.

The Spirit nervously held her arm and looked down. She smiled and came closer to Honeymaren to kiss her on the cheek.

“I’m gonna go check on Bruni. I haven’t seem him in a while.”

“Okay.” Muttered Honeymaren, standing still and blushing.

Honeymaren watched her walk away through the village, admiring her, and when she turned her head back to the kids who she had been playing with, they all looked up at her with devilish and significant smiles.

“What?”

They all started making smooching faces and sounds, and she pushed them away with a laugh.

“Oh, stop it!”

=======

To say that the two sisters were happy to see each other again was the understatement of the month, and probably the year.

Elsa had asked Gale to not tell her when Anna would be here because she wanted to give her her own rhythm, something her younger had respected and that she intended to do too.

So when Elsa had stepped out of the tent and heard hooves coming from the woods and saw Sven hurry to her with a very excited redhead on his back, she didn’t expected it at all.

Elsa let out a soft emotional gasp, her gaze blurry, and Anna jumped down Sven with a cry of joy. They both ran to each other, and tackled each other into a hug so hard that they lost their balance and fell together to the ground.

Unfortunately, they were on the bottom of a hill, and rolled together on the grass for a moment before arriving to a full stop. Sven grunted with concern. They giggled nervously a few meters below, then fully laughed. They grinned and stared into each other’s eyes, taking in the incredible fact to see her sister again, to be happy with her again, to have forgiven everything. Azure and teal blue eyes switched from eye to eye.

“No, don’t cry!” Gasped Anna. “Because if you cry, then I’ll cry too, and then we’ll both cry, and we’ll spend all day crying.”

Elsa giggled with a sniff. “Too late. I can’t help it.”

Anna blinked, and one tear rolled on her cheek. “Oh, you cutie.”

They hugged each other again, and they were still down, so they sat up with a giggle. Elsa smiled at Anna’s travel outfit and hair, and took some leaves out it. They hugged again, instinctively.

“There’s so much I want to say...” Murmured Elsa, emotion tightening her throat.

“Then say it all. We have all day.” Smiled Anna.

She then suddenly gasped, and parted the hug. “Oh my goodness!! You have to tell me about Honeymaren! When was it? How was it? Where was it?”

Elsa blinked, and winced. “Are you sure you want to know in details?”

“I want to know EVERY detail, are you kidding me?!” Laughed Anna. “Come on, do tell.”

The blonde breathed in and out, looking into Anna’s teal blue eyes. She had missed her caring gaze. This few days separation was far from being the longest one they had in the past year, and yet it felt like forever.

Why did they even yell at each other the other day? She couldn’t believe how stupid they were.

Elsa held Anna’s hand, and she started to tell what happened in the tent.

=======

“Should we stay seated here?” Asked Anna.

“Why? You don’t like it?” Laughed Elsa.

“No, it’s just... I arrived, and we basically fell on the ground. And we haven’t moved since.”

“I like improvising with you. And as you said, we’ve got all day.”

Anna smiled deeply.  

“Hey, I noticed, after our fight... I didn’t even ask you what was the Ahtohallan vision about. What did you see?”

Elsa fidgeted with the grass. “It was more of a flash. It was short, and intense.”

She looked up.

“You were right in your assumption. It was another memory of ours. This time, it was a memory of the coronation.”

“What?”

“Wait, mine, not yours. The one three years ago.”

Anna stared at her, and her eyebrows lifted when she guessed which memory it was.

“I had a flash of the very first moment we actually talked to each other in thirteen years.” Specified Elsa, gulping.

Anna put her hand on hers on the grass, trying to make her smile. “It’s a positive memory, no?”

“Yes. Yes, it is. But I’m still confused at why Ahtohallan showed it to me...”

Anna winced. “What is ironic is that we fought each other right afterwards, whereas the memory was about us being united for the first time in a long while.”

“It’s okay. We’re together now.” Assured Elsa.

Anna nodded with a smile, and a silence passed.

“I think that it’s official: Ahtohallan only submits visions of memories of the bridge.” Suddenly stated Elsa.

“Of the bridge? Do you mean, like…”

“Us. Both of us, the bridge linking the humans and Nature Spirits.”

“I see. Well, you actually brought even more sense to it than I did.”

“No, I only figured it out thanks to you. I was used to see so many memories, I didn’t even perceive the pattern until you pointed it out the other day in the reindeer enclosure.”

“Oh.”

“You’re the smart one, Anna. How many times do I have to remind you?”

Anna snorted. “Well, I’m dumb enough to have stopped counting.”

“Don’t say that!” Nudged Elsa with her finger poking Anna’s ribs. “You truly are more clever than me.”

Anna laughed at the tickle and smiled at the compliment. “Okay, if you say so.”

Elsa turned to Sven. “Did you bring warm clothes?”

“As many as I could.”

The reindeer happily showed the pile of winter clothes stacked on his back. Elsa grinned to her little sister.

“We’re going to Ahtohallan together. Whenever you’re ready.”

“I was born ready!”

=======

Elsa lifted her hands as a serious warning.

“I feel like it’s important to remind you that I don’t know if Ahtohallan got any less colder since I became the Fifth Spirit. I can’t tell if the temperature got better in the memories room.”

“It’s gonna be okay, Elsa. Relax.”

Elsa lifted an eyebrow.

“You’re the one who needs to relax now. You’re so tense, you look like you’re going to sink in your layered clothes.”

Anna clenched her hands in her gloves. She was staring at Nokk, standing near them.

The redhead had never dared to ride the Water Spirit because she felt like she didn’t belong on their back, and wanted to leave that honor to Elsa. She also still was resentful for having drowned her sister, even if it was in the context of a challenge, and she hoped that the magical being wasn’t feeling her anger.

The elder’s gaze switched from the Spirit to her.

“Are you scared of them?” Worried Elsa.

“What? Of course not. I know how to ride horses. But... A water horse... This is definitely not something I’ve done before.”

“Well, Nokk can only run in and on water anyway. I need to freeze them if we want to ride from land to the shore as well.”

The Fifth Spirit raised her left hand, and petted the magical horse on the nose. With a simple touch, their translucent body turned into a gradient of white, and their long waterfall mane looked like a stylized curtain. Anna had already seen them in this condition, but she gasped and smiled in admiration anyway.

The redhead looked at Elsa as she stroked the happy Water Spirit. “We’re gonna ride them in... Ice form? Are you certain?”

“Do you prefer to have your butt wet and lukewarm, or dry and cold?” Asked Elsa, surprisingly serious in that odd question.

Anna went speechless for a moment, then snorted. “Yeah, when you put it like that, I prefer the second option.”

“That’s what I thought”, said Elsa, petting Nokk’s neck. “Also, it’s a good way to prepare yourself for Ahtohallan’s temperature.”

The younger could see that Elsa was still very nervous at the idea of bringing her there. She went next to her and joked to light up her mood.

“Are you saying that my buttocks will turn into pop-sicles?”

Elsa laughed. It had worked.

“Maybe.”

She checked that they had all they needed in Anna’s backpack, and asked: “Do you want to go in front or behind?”

Anna didn’t even have to think. “Definitely behind you. There’s no way on Earth that I’m gonna guide them with ice reins.”

“We don’t use ice reins since a very long time. We know each other by heart, there’s no need.”

“I’m also saying that because I prefer to hold to you.” Muttered Anna, on a lower voice this time.

“Oh, okay.” Smiled the elder. “Alright, let’s go!”

With a baffling ease, she mounted Nokk, her leg admirably passing above their back and seating in a second on top, despite their tall size. Anna stared at her like she had just produced a miracle.

“How the heck did you do that without stirrup?? They’re huge!”

Elsa laughed with a cute tone, both amused by Anna’s face and appreciating the compliment. “Come, I’ll help you.”

She let out a hand, and Anna used her help to climb on their back. Clumsily - and she almost fell on the other side - she set herself behind Elsa, and looked around.

“Yep, definitely taller than any horse I ever rode. Oh my gosh.”

“It’s gonna be okay”, said Elsa’s soothing voice in front of her.

“I know.”

She was glad to have chosen to seat behind her. Elsa’s presence in front of her was reassuring, and the ice below them vibrated with her voice.

With a twirl of the wrist, Elsa made her double train vanish, just in case it would get in Anna’s face as they ride, or obstruct her vision. She looked up North.

“Do you want me to start slowly? With a simple trot at first?”

Anna smirked. “Are you kidding? Don’t spare me. I like fast. Dash to the horizon, mighty Spirit!”

She let out an excited war shout with her fists up, then it suddenly turned into a strangled scream when Nokk briskly ran forward at Elsa’s order, and she grabbed her older sister’s waist with force.

The blonde laughed openly, her voice spraying in the wind as they went at full speed. Anna could feel how her diaphragm moved with sincere laughs, and she was even more happy now to share this moment with her.

She loved to have Elsa back. Her happiness was all that mattered to her, and Elsa had never felt more happy than in this time of her life.

=======

It wasn’t the same feeling at all than when she rode her own horse; Anna forgot for a moment the urgency to ask Ahtohallan, and her worry for Elsa. All she wanted now was to laugh and have fun with her riding Nokk.

Riding the Water Spirit, she had the feeling that she was on another plane of existence. Was this what living with magic felt like?

The redhead felt how joyful Elsa was anyway. It was like riding through the magical lands on a magical horse had unveiled the final version of herself, and, sitting behind her, Anna admired the way her elder expertly looked at the landscape around, gave directions to Nokk to avoid bumpy paths for Anna’s comfort, and waved at Giants in the distance.

Soon they arrived to the shore of the Dark Sea, and the younger widened her eyes when she realized that Nokk wasn’t slowing down at all. She squinted in apprehension, her legs clamping the water horse’s body, her arms tight around Elsa.

And then nothing happened. Nothing, in the good way. She opened her eye fully and let out a silent gasp as she saw the waves passing by, on each side of them, and the Spirit galloping with ease through it like it were casual land.

“Waow.” Muttered Anna.

“Is the view great from where you are?” Asked Elsa, smiling as she turned around.

Anna couldn’t believe it. That was her first concern? To make sure she enjoyed the landscape fully?

“Yeah! Yeah, it’s amazing.” Smiled Anna.

The sisters had to shout a bit when they talked, because of the whistling of the wind and the sound of Nokk’s ice hooves splashing the water. If they kept them in their regular state and they were made of water, it wouldn’t make a sound, for the water spirit’s hooves were magically connected to the surface.

Anna blinked.

“I can’t believe it. I’m literally riding water. I’m literally sitting on moving water that literally gallop on water.”

Elsa heard her sister’s mutters in her back, and giggled.

“This can’t be the weirdest thing you’ve ever experienced.”

Anna shook her head, her arms still clenched around Elsa, and she was surprised that her elder was confident enough to look behind her and not check where they were going at such a speed.

“No, your magic made me used to way weirder.” Laughed Anna. “But still. This is... Waow.”

The redhead smiled, tension finally leaving her, and she was appreciating the moment. “How did it feel the first time you rode them?”

Elsa smiled, and turned to the horizon with a blessed sigh. “Incredible.”

“Yeah, well, I can’t believe it either. This is insane.” Snorted Anna.

The water horse neighed, and Elsa laughed. “They like the compliment”, informed the blonde.

Anna detached her gaze from the sea to look at her sister. “You can understand everything they say? I mean, feel?”

“Yes. It’s like a bond. A magical one, certainly. I have the same with Bruni, and Gale, and every Earth Giant.”

“Every single one? Damn, that’s a lot.”

Elsa laughed. “I don’t feel the emotions of everyone all the time. It’s like... When I need it. And when they need it. We understand each other.”

Anna grinned. “It’s cute.”

She hugged Elsa tighter, and the Spirit wondered if she was scared of something despite how calm the water was. Then she realized that Anna was casually hugging her. She smiled and put a hand on her sister’s.

=======

After dismissing Nokk and letting Anna admire the entrance of the glacier, Elsa looked at how Anna was exhaling smoke.

The younger noticed how she stared, and chuckled at how she was the only one to do puff smoke. She imitated a dragon to make Elsa smile. But joy didn’t stay long on her sister’s face.

“You should put your beanie on already.”

Anna put the hat on her hair and nearly sank her head into it.

“Is your coat closed tight?”

“Yes, don’t worry.” Smiled Anna.

Elsa came to her, and checked the state of her clothes herself, from her toes to her head. She took a full minute doing so, and the redhead stared at her in silence, with a touched expression. The elder was looking at her with deep focus in her blue eyes, and Anna felt like she was a kid again, when the elder checked on her before they went outside to build a snowman. She also knew that Elsa had issues about her getting cold because of her.

“Elsa, I’m fine.”

“What did we say about the conditions?” Frowned the blonde.

Anna had to physically restrain herself to eye roll. “No lies; If I’m too cold, I tell you; And I don’t protest if you decide to cancel everything and to get out.”

She repeated that rule with a very annoying tone, and Elsa actually laughed at it. “You sound like you just recited a poetry you hate.”

“You made your rules that way.” Joked Anna. “Wait, did I use to recite poetry?”

“I can find you the memory again if you want. You look adorable when you’re little.”

“Oh, I don’t know if I’m ready for the awkward parts...” Winced Anna.

Elsa smiled. “Trust me, I have the worst ones.”

She took Anna’s hand in hers. “Come on, let’s go.”

The redhead gave her a giant smile, and together, they stepped inside Ahtohallan.

=======

Wooo, this was a long chapter! I had lots of fun writing it, and really wanted to include all of that. Ice Bros, Snow Sisters, Elsamaren... Those are all dynamics that requires tons of drama and confessions hahaha - but also cute moments!

What do you want to see next? This is an interactive fanfic! You get to choose, yep I listen to you. Give suggestions in your reblogs, fellas.

(If you like my style, you can check out Untangling the Frozen Knots, my 140K words fanfic novel! :D)

[thecassadilla]

Bump in the Night

Pairing: Kristanna (+ a minor appearance by Elsamaren)

Word Count: 2,988/AO3

Summary: To kick off the start of “spooky season,” Anna plans a scary movie night with Kristoff, but things go awry later that night when their real life begins to imitate conventions of a horror film. 

Author’s Note: Happy October! While I absolutely hate Fall (cold weather + less daylight, yuck), Halloween is my favorite holiday. I planned to write a couple of fics this month to help me “embrace” this season and this is the first. Enjoy!!!

“Are you almost here?”

“I’m pulling up to your house now,” Kristoff chuckled, reversing into the empty spot behind her car.

“Oh, okay! I’ll open the front door!”

Suddenly the line went dead, and he couldn’t help but smile. He cut the engine, grabbed his overnight bag from where it rested on the front seat, and climbed out of the car.

“Hi, sweetie!” Anna called from the doorway.

“Hey, baby,” he called back with a grin.

When he finally made it into the house, she pulled him into a tight embrace before leaning up onto her toes and pressing a soft but brief kiss to his lips. “How are you? How was work?”

“It was crazy busy and I had to stay a little late,which is why I got here so late, but I’m doing a lot better now that I’m here. How about you?”

“Today was great, I’m great. Here, do you want me to bring your bag upstairs?”

“Nah, I’ll just bring it up later,” he answered, sliding the strap off of his shoulder and placing the bag on the bottom step of the staircase. “Just don’t trip over it.”

“I won’t,” she laughed, walking towards the kitchen. “I ordered us a pizza and it should be here any minute.”

“Why didn’t you tell me? I could’ve picked it up on the way.”

“It’s not a big deal,” she said, turning around to make sure that he was following her. “Elsa is staying at Honeymaren’s this weekend.” 

Kristoff raised an eyebrow. “I see?”

“Do you...maybe wanna have a scary movie night?”

“Uh...sure,” he answered.

Her face fell. “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing,” he shrugged. “I just don’t understand the correlation between Elsa being away and us watching a scary movie.”

“Oh!” Anna giggled. “Well, we’ll have the living room to ourselves and we can put on whatever we want without Elsa butting in. I’ve never been able to watch anything scary because she hates horror.”

“I’m not too fond of it, myself,” Kristoff admitted.

“Ooh, is the big, tough guy afraid of scary movies?” she teased, poking her finger into his ribcage.

“No,” he huffed, swatting her hand away. “I’ve watched a whole bunch and to be honest, I think they’re stupid and predictable.”

She opened up one of the cabinets and pulled out two plates. “Well, it’s officially ‘spooky season’ and I think it would be fun.” 

“We can watch whatever you want,” he promised.

“Yay!” she squealed, bouncing up to press a kiss to his cheek. 

“Did you have a specific movie in mind?” “I found one called The Summoning. It’s basically about a young married couple that moves into a new house, only to find out that the house is haunted by a demon.”

“Sounds exactly like every other horror movie that came out in the last decade or so,” he remarked. 

“Is that a bad thing?” she asked, furrowing her eyebrows.

“No,” he shrugged. “Just an observation. A lot of old horror movies had masked murderers; Freddy Krueger from A Nightmare on Elm Street, Michael Myers from Halloween, Jason Voorhees from Friday the 13th. Now it’s all about the invisible villain; Paranormal Activity, The Conjuring, and now I guess The Summoning.”

“I’m impressed! You really know your stuff, huh?” she proclaimed enthusiastically, but before he could respond, the doorbell rang. “Ooh pizza’s here!”

“Do you want money?” he offered.

She thrust the plates in his direction and he accepted them. “Nope! It’s on me. The only thing I need you to do is sit your butt on the couch.”

He obeyed her command and made his way to the living room, setting the plates on the coffee table and plopping down in the corner of the couch. A few short moments later she joined him, placing the pizza box next to the plates.

“Help yourself. I’m going to put the movie on,” she stated, grabbing the remote.

He reached over and flipped the lid to the box open. “You want to eat and watch at the same time?” 

“Yeah, I figured we could multitask.”

He shrugged, and handed her a plate with a slice on it and then took one for himself before sitting back. 

“Thanks,” she smiled, leaning into his side and pressing the play button. “I hope it’s good.”

“We shall see.”

The movie opened up to upbeat music, and an attractive young couple moving boxes out of a moving truck and into their new, yet clearly antiquated house. Less than ten minutes in, the tone changed and elements of horror started creeping in.

While Anna was completely engrossed with what was happening, it was abundantly clear to Kristoff that the movie was the opposite of good; between the cheap jump scares, the poor acting, and the lack of any real action, it seemed more like a comedy than a horror movie. Though he tried to focus on what was happening in front of him in order to keep his promise to Anna, he was growing more bored by the second. Eventually it became close to unbearable.

“How about…” he started, pressing a slow, ardent kiss to her neck, “We turn this off and put something else on?”

“No, I want to watch,” she giggled, shying away from his touch. “You promised that we could watch whatever I wanted.”

“I know, but it’s so bad,” he whined.

“It’s half over and it’s not that bad.”

“It’s terrible.”

“Look!” she exclaimed, pointing at the television screen. “The demon just pushed her down the stairs.”

“Demons aren’t real.”

“Please watch it,” she begged.

“I’d rather kiss your neck.”

“You have all night to kiss my neck, and I’m going to hold you to that,” she teased, wiggling away from him. “But the only thing I’m paying attention to for the next forty-five minutes is this movie.”

“Fine,” he huffed, resting his chin on her shoulder. “What about Hocus Pocus? You love that movie.”

She looked at him out of the corners of her eyes. “I will only turn this movie off if you admit that you’re scared.”

“I’m not scared,” he insisted. “I’d actually enjoy it more if it was scaring me.”

“Too bad.”

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

“We should see a horror movie in a theater soon,” she remarked as they laid in bed later that night. “I wonder if there are any good ones coming out this year.”

“I don’t trust your judgment on what a ‘good’ horror movie is,” he chuckled.

“Well, we could always just sit in the back and make out like high schoolers if it’s really bad.”

“We could do that here, for free,” he noted.

“Yeah, but it’s about the thrill of the chase. It’s more exciting when you’re in a room full of people who aren’t paying attention to what you’re doing.”

“You are truly something else. And I love you for that.”

“Aww, I love you too,” she smiled, reaching out to squeeze his hand. “Did you really hate the movie?”

“No offense, Anna, but it was beyond bad.”

“Can I just say that I still can’t believe the guy in that movie let his wife become possessed like that?! Newly married, new house, seemingly perfect life and then bam! He chooses to save himself instead of fighting for her.”

“Good thing it’s just a movie,” he reminded her.

“I know, but it’s still so terrible,” she said, shaking her head. “Would you abandon me if a demon was trying to possess me?”

“No, because it literally would not happen.”

“But if it did happen?”

He sighed. “No, I wouldn’t abandon you.”

“Thank you. I wouldn’t abandon you, either.”

“Great, it’s all settled then. Do you think that can be incorporated into our wedding vows?”

She playful swatted his arm. “Can you stop mocking me please?”

“Only when you stop worrying about real people in fictional scenarios.”

She glared at him. “It was a hypothetical question.”

“That I answered honestly,” he added. “I’ll save you from all the bad guys - and if that includes demons or ghosts or werewolves, I still won’t abandon you.”

“Thank you, sweetie.”

“I’m gonna crash, so…” he leaned over to peck her on the lips. “Goodnight.”

“Goodnight.”

Within moments, he was asleep, while she found herself tossing and turning. As the clock ticked forward, she tried to convince herself that she wasn’t anxious; every thought that popped into her head was clouded with scariest scenes from the movie. Though her mind was racing, she tried to focus on Kristoff instead, watching as his chest rose and fell with each breath. 

Until she swore that she heard a noise and nearly jumped out of her skin. She could hear her heart beating in her ears, and though Kristoff looked completely at peace, she needed someone to ease her racing mind.

“Kristoff,” she whispered, gently shaking his shoulder. “Kristoff!”

“Huh?” he mumbled, his eyes slowly blinking open.

“I heard a noise,” she responded, her voice slightly louder. “What if someone is in the house?”

“A person or a demon?” he teased.

“Kristoff, I’m not kidding.”

“No one is in the house,” he assured her. “You probably just heard a car door close.”

“It didn’t sound like a car door,” she rebutted.

“I think that movie made you paranoid.”

She rolled her eyes. “Would you please make sure the front door is locked?”

He groaned in response, before scrubbing at his face with the palms of his hands a few times. He tossed the blankets aside and stood up, taking a moment to stretch before shuffling out of the room. 

Anna anxiously awaited his return, wringing her hands over and over again. After what felt like an eternity, he reappeared.

“All the doors are locked,” he announced as he collapsed back onto the bed. “Front door, back door, door to the garage.”

“I feel a lot better now,” Anna breathed. “Thank you for checking.”

He motioned for her to slide closer to him. She laid her head on his chest, and he placed a hand on her shoulder before pressing a kiss to her temple. “Anything to make you feel better. Try to get some sleep.”

She nodded against him, feeling safe in his arms, and after a few moments, she felt her eyelids start to grow heavy. Until a loud crash from downstairs snapped her out of it.

Her eyes widened and she tensed up. “Did you hear that?”

“Yeah,” Kristoff answered hesitantly.

As if on cue, another crash sounded from beneath them. They both sprang into action, jumping out of the bed.

“What should we do?”

“Do you have any weapons?”

“No!” Anna exclaimed. “Only the kitchen knives.” “Tomorrow I’m buying you a bat,” Kristoff remarked before charging out of the room. Anna followed swiftly behind him.

“What exactly are you planning on doing?” she whispered as she chased him down the stairs, trying to stay as light on her feet as she could.

“I want to see where the noise came from.”

“And then…?”

“I haven’t figured that out yet.”

“Maybe we should call the police?” she suggested in a panicked whisper.

“And do what in the meantime? Get killed?”

For a moment, they stood quietly in the dark, and it quickly became apparent that the noises had come from the garage, though the sounds had morphed from crashes to voices. 

Kristoff and Anna slowly crept toward the kitchen. He pulled each knife out of the knife block until he determined which one would be the most effective. Anna, on the other hand, went for the cast iron skillet that was resting on the stovetop.

“What are you going to do with that?”

“Throw it?” she shrugged. 

They approached the door to the garage, and Kristoff held out his left arm in an attempt to keep Anna safely behind him. When they finally reached the door, Kristoff slowly reached out for the doorknob, before twisting it and forcefully pushing the door open, immediately resulting in two girlish shrieks from the perpetrators.

“You’ve got to be kidding me,” Kristoff snorted.

“Elsa?!” Anna exclaimed, gently pushing Kristoff’s arm down. “What are you doing?”

It was quite the scene. Elsa and Honeymaren were crouched on the floor of the garage; Elsa was sweeping a pile of dirt into the garbage bag that Honey was holding open. Gardening tools and pieces of broken ceramic were scattered behind them, in addition to the plant that Elsa had mentioned buying the day before. 

Elsa cringed, clearly mortified. “It’s a long story.”

“It’s really not,” Honeymaren corrected, looking rather amused. “She forgot to take out the garbage and it was bothering her. I suggested that she text you, and ask you to take it out, but she wanted to handle it herself. You wanna tell the rest of the story, Elsa?”

Elsa hung her head in shame, understandably embarrassed by the entire situation. “I tripped and knocked over the bin of gardening tools. Then while I was trying to pick them up, I knocked over the plant and the pot shattered.”

“Which is why we’re crouched on the floor, cleaning up dirt,” Honey stated, reaching out to place a reassuring hand on Elsa’s shoulder. “It’s really not a big deal though.”

“Accidents happen,” Anna sympathized. “But you guys kind of scared the crap out of us. We thought someone was breaking in.” 

“So you decided to handle it yourselves?” Elsa asked incredulously, her eyes widening.

“The alternative was calling the police. You could’ve been arrested for breaking into your own house,” Kristoff pointed out.

Honey smirked. “I don’t know what would’ve been worse; going to jail or being stabbed,” she remarked, her eyes bouncing from Kristoff to Anna. “Or whatever you were planning to do with a frying pan.”

“Have you ever picked one of these up?” Anna asked, moving her arm up and down to demonstrate the heftiness of the skillet. “They weigh a ton. One swing of this pan could knock a person unconscious.”

“Good thing neither of you had to use your weapons of choice,” Elsa cringed. “I’m sorry that we scared you.”

“Next time, just let me know if you plan on coming home in the middle of the night to take out garbage,” Anna pleaded with her older sister. “Or, you know, just ask me to do it.”

“Or,” Kristoff interjected, draping his arm around Anna’s shoulders. “Ask me to do it, because someone is too paranoid from the scary movie we watched to go downstairs by herself.”

“Am not!” Anna rebuked, looking up at him. “You’re just...a lot bigger and more intimidating than I am.”

He smiled smugly. “Whatever helps you sleep at night.” 

She stuck her tongue out at him, before turning back to her sister. “Do you need our help cleaning up?”

Elsa shook her head. “No, I think we got it. You two should go back to sleep.”

“Okay, if you’re sure.”

The group exchanged goodnights, and Anna and Kristoff returned their weapons back to the kitchen before heading back upstairs. 

“That was, uh...interesting,” Kristoff commented when they finally made it back to the bedroom.

Anna closed the door behind them and climbed back into the bed. “I know, right?! It’s just garbage, it’s not a big deal!”

“Maybe she was worried that she was going to stink up the garage,” he suggested, laying down next to her.

“She could’ve just moved it outside when she got home tomorrow if she didn’t want to bother us,” she countered. “And I bet she’ll never spend another night away again after this. We may be spending weekends with Elsa and Honeymaren from now on unless we stay at your place.”

“I have no issues with that and honestly, I feel like you would do the same if the situation was reversed -  you know, to avoid inconveniencing her.”

“Oh, I totally would. But I’d at least give her a heads up first, so if I made a ton of noise in the middle of the night she wouldn’t think I was a murderer or a burglar. Maybe we should consider getting an alarm installed. Do you think Elsa will go for that?”

“Alarm or no alarm, I’m going to buy you a bat, just in case there’s a ‘next time.’”

“If there’s ever a ‘next time,’ we will call the cops and avoid running into the line of fire,” she said, narrowing her eyes at him. “Ahem.”

“I know it was risky and stupid, but at least your sister and Honeymaren didn’t get hauled away in handcuffs. And I promised I would protect you.”

“From fictional bad guys. And jerks, of course. If that had been a real murderer or robber, we could’ve been killed.”

“You were fine with sending me downstairs when you heard a noise,” he stated.

She scoffed. “That’s different.”

“How is that different?” he asked, raising his eyebrows.

“It just is.”

He hesitated for a moment, before reaching out and caressing her cheek. “Anna, did that movie scare you?”

“A little,” she confessed. “Obviously I know that it’s just a movie, but I lost control of my imagination. I really did hear a noise and before you say it - no, I didn’t think the noise was a demon.”

“Look, I’m sorry for teasing you,” he sighed. “It was wrong of me, and it probably seemed like I was less than thrilled to make sure the doors were locked but -”

She cut him off mid-sentence. “Kristoff, I woke you up out of a dead sleep because I heard a noise. Cut yourself a little slack here.”

“And I immediately accused you of being paranoid - the point is, I don’t want you to hesitate to wake me up if you hear a noise, okay?”

“Fine,” she agreed. “But as a compromise, I’ll probably be skipping horror movies from now on.”

He smirked. “I have no issues with that.”

“And if you want...we can watch Hocus Pocus tomorrow.”

[willowthefair]

How ‘Frozen 2′ Could Have Been Better

I didn’t care that much for Frozen 2. I didn’t hate it, but there was enough stuff that brought it down, that I can’t really say that I liked it either. So, for this review, instead of just saying what I liked and disliked, I’m going to do a little rewriting with explanations of why I would have preferred my version. Hopefully, it comes off as more than bias. Obviously, SPOILERS ahead.

The beginning I did like and I wouldn’t change most of it. We see Elsa, Anna, and Kristoff getting along together. There’s a song about celebrating autumn and everything. The one change I would make would be that we show Anna going around town helping the townspeople in a way that showed she understood their needs.

Other than that, everything stays the same, including the charades scene, up until “Into the Unknown” and the elemental disaster that forces Arendelle to evacuate. It’s here that most of the diverging happens. Mainly, when it comes to going on the quest to find out what is happening, Elsa and Anna don’t argue about whether Anna should go with her but rather who goes and who stays to protect the people. Anna claims that she is more of an adventurer and more qualified to go out and find what is the problem is. Elsa claims that the problem is magical and she’s the only one who knows anything about magic, so Anna, even if she figured out what was happening, wouldn’t be able to do anything. Elsa also points out that Anna has a better grasp on what the kingdom needs than she because Anna is always among them while Elsa, though does mingle often, has still been keeping herself distant.

Eventually, it’s decided, much to Anna’s and Kristoff’s worry, that Anna, Kristoff, and Olaf will stay in Arendelle to make sure the people are safe, and Elsa and Sven would go alone. Olaf isn’t sure why they should split up, but stays with Anna nonetheless.

This would be a much better version for several reasons. First, it sets up a more convincing plot line for Anna becoming queen. As the movie is, the people of Arendelle are forced out of their homes, but almost immediately, the queen and princess leave them. Sure, it’s to fix the problem, but that still leaves them to rule themselves. Not a great look for the royalty.

Second, the real film showed Elsa getting stronger when she left her sister. I don’t know if that was intentional, but that is what happened. My version could explore the idea that their familial, sisterly bond wouldn’t break because of distance. Which is what they showed at the end anyway. My version would explore it better, not just show it.

Thirdly, it would improve Kristoff’s story. As most of the characters, he had a shtick and that’s it. There really was no character development with him (or Anna, or Olaf, but it was more obvious with him. He was only there to try and fail at his proposal and sing an ill-fitting 80′s ballad.).

It would also better Olaf’s story line. He was so annoying in this one, but here his annoying nature would have a purpose, which I’ll get to later.

Finally, it would allow for better development of characters that were just kinda pushed to the side shortly after their introduction. Mainly almost everyone caught in the enchanted forest. We got Mattias the Arendelle guard and Yelena the tribe leader with some character, but for the most part everyone else was forgettable. Even Ryder and Honeymaren were mostly forgotten by the movie after the main crew left.

Anyway, back to my revision.

So, why is Sven going with Elsa? Well, a few reasons. Anna won’t let her go without a friend going along. Olaf won’t be that helpful, and Kristoff would be more helpful to the townspeople, which leaves Sven. Also, Elsa will need help carrying everything.

This would highlight an aspect of the films that should have had more light than what they got. Despite being different species, Sven and Kristoff are brothers. So just as the sisters are being separated, so, too, the brothers. This will lead to a heart wrenching scene where Sven and Kristoff say goodbye to each other. They’ve been together since they were children, so it’s a big deal that they are separating now.

The queen and reindeer finally leave after everyone says their goodbyes.

From here on out, the movie would go back and forth from Elsa and Sven’s adventure and Anna and Kristoff’s story with some Olaf thrown in.

Elsa and Sven come up to the entrance to the forest, Elsa does her thing. As they travel, they come across the Northuldra reindeer. They’re different then what Sven is used to. More free. Even though he never really thought of himself as not free and has enjoyed his life with Kristoff, he still admires these new reindeer and their lifestyle.

That’s when they come across the Northuldra tribe. They are, like Elsa, magic users, but none use ice magic. They are greeted warmly by the tribe’s leader, Yelena. After a brief intro into who they are, they are taken care of by the siblings Ryder and Honeymaren.

Ryder, who is in charge of the reindeer, takes care of Sven and introduces him to the other reindeer. Ryder talks to the reindeer in a similar manner as Kristoff, with just as much understanding. The reindeer take on Sven as if he’s already one of their group. Sven loves it, but is sad that Kristoff isn’t there.

Elsa is seen by Honeymaren who is very much infatuated by Elsa’s ice magic. Elsa, in turn, is fascinated by Honeymaren’s wind magic. Honeymaren is also a bit of a magical scholar, and thinks she knows what Elsa is hearing.

The two of them, along with Sven, traverse the land trying to find the source of the voice.

Back in Arendelle, Anna is checking on the people. They have set up temporary shelter, with the help of the trolls, and have fires going to protect against the cold. While Anna is doing her rounds, Kristoff is resting, looking at the ring he wanted to give to Anna. Olaf asks him what he’s holding, and Kristoff tells him. Olaf wonders why he doesn’t just ask Anna to marry him, and Kristoff tells him that she’s busy and shouldn’t be distracted by their engagement when she’s trying to help the kingdom. Olaf doesn’t really understand, but ultimately leaves the decision to Kristoff. The two go and help Anna.

The next day, Anna and Kristoff realize the supplies are getting low. Anna decides to ask for help from a neighboring kingdom (possible Tangled reference maybe), but realizes that they wouldn’t get what they need soon enough. She decides to take Kristoff and go back into the city to get more supplies. They ask the people who has anything that the town could use, and more than a few offer up what they can. Olaf is told to stay with the people, but as they enter the town, they realize he followed them. He tells them he doesn’t want to lose any more friends. They realize he doesn’t think Elsa will come back and allow him to come along.

Elsa, Honeymaren, and Sven are travelling the woods, Elsa and Honeymaren learning about each other and clearly enjoying each other’s company, when they are accosted by soldiers. Honeymaren realizes that they have accidentally wondered into their territory. As they are being led to their camp, Elsa realizes they are wearing old uniforms with Arendelle’s colors.

When they reach the camp, the soldiers’ leader, Mattias, scolds them for treating the girls with disrespect. He apologizes for them, claiming they keep forgetting they aren’t fighting a war anymore. He recognizes Honeymaren and assures her she will be unharmed and will be allowed to go back to the tribe. He notes that Elsa isn’t from the tribe and asks her who she is. She tells him she is the queen of Arendelle. Many of the men laugh, saying they saw her use magic and that no one in Arendelle could use magic. However, Mattias seems to understand something and asks of her parents. She tells them who they are and that they died at sea. Mattias tells her he knew them and is saddened by their loss. This seemed to confirm her story, so he genuflects. Most other soldiers follow, but there are still those that don’t believe her.

Elsa and Mattias talk inside his tent with Honeymaren standing to the side and Sven waiting outside, glaring at the soldiers, trying to act tough in front of the horses. He tells her what happened to the city and how she found herself in the enchanted forest. He explains the situation that caused the rift between the soldiers and the tribe. He knows there was a disagreement between The king and the tribe’s leader at the time, but he didn’t know what. In a flash, the two started fighting. This caused a fight between the villagers and the soldiers. When the barrier was discovered, the soldiers set up camp to wait it out, but do to a lack of resources, they had to move farther and farther away until they found the spot they were at. After hearing about Honeymaren’s idea of what’s happening and her plan for fixing it, he lets the two go, warning them, especially Elsa, that it will be dangerous. 

As Anna and her team travel through the city, they are a little creeped out by the emptiness. There are flareups from the elemental attack, which startles them, especially Olaf. Anna suggests he tell the group some of the facts he’s been learning about with all his reading. Kristoff agrees. We then get a montage of Olaf’s facts and Anna and Kristoff becoming increasingly agitated with their own plan. Anna watches Olaf while Kristoff checks the houses for supplies.

The two get attacked by fire, and are unsure what to do. As a line of fire comes at them, they dodge only for us to realize that they were standing in front of a light post. The flame runs into it knocking himself out. It turns out to be a salamander. Anna realizes all the elements haven’t been acting as randomly as she originally thought and believes they are all some kind of elemental creatures. She only sees the salamander though.

While Elsa and Honeymaren are passing through a plain, the wind starts picking up. Elsa thinks it’s Honeymaren being playful, but as the winds pick up she turns to see Honeymaren struggling to control it. Having a feeling, Elsa uses her magic to slow the wind down. Honeymaren is surprised that she could do that. She believes it was an elemental that attacked them, then describes what the elementals are.

Later, the three have to cross a river. They make a makeshift boat for the crossing. Like the wind, the water started acting up. Honeymaren is thrown overboard and is dragged in a different direction, landing on the wrong shore. Before Elsa can call out to her, Honeymaren gestures to stay quiet. She points to nearby hills and Elsa and Sven realize that they are actually rock giants. These are the Earth elementals. Honeymaren uses her magic to spell out a message with leaves. The first is “FOLLOW YOUR INSTINCTS” and the second is “I’LL MEET YOU THERE.” Elsa nods and continues on, worry on her face.

As Anna and her team return to the camp, Kristoff, being the dork he is, does something goofy to bring Anna’s spirits up, trips and falls. Unknown to him, the ring falls out of his pocket. Anna picks it up and immediately realizes what it is, but like Olaf, wonders why he hasn’t asked yet. She plans to confront him at camp.

Before she does, the salamander wakes up, but before he can return to the city, Anna feeds him. He immediately changes his mind, and becomes much like a pet for the princess. Kristoff is too busy passing out supplies to confront about the ring. She gets busy doing the same.

Elsa expresses her concerns with Sven. She doesn’t know what she’s supposed to do, her instincts failing her. She misses Honeymaren, which she clarifies is only as a guide and a friend, far too flustered for Sven to believe. She also misses everyone in Arendelle. She says she’s glad that Sven is with her, hesitates, then attempting to mimic Kristoff, says as Sven that he’s glad to be there too. It turns out to be more embarrassing for the two of them, and Elsa apologizes. Sven gestures his agreement anyway.

Elsa then hears the voice again and, with a little exploring, comes to the coast and sees an island. She senses a great power coming from the island. It seems to be creating storm-like waves. She uses her ice powers to try to cross, but it proves impossible. After one particularly strong push out to sea, she falls deep into the water and sees the water spirit, a horse-like being. She tries to tame it, struggling, but in the end she succeeds and rides around the stormy waters, ecstatic at her success. She manages to convince the elemental to calm the seas and she creates an ice bridge for Sven, who seems a little intimidated by the magical steed.

Kristoff is talking to a bunch of people, again too busy for Anna to talk to him, Olaf continues to bring up random facts and bouts of wisdom he read about. Given the frustration she has been having trying to talk to Kristoff, she snaps at Olaf and storms off. She finds a cave that appears to be made of ice, reminding her of Elsa, and hunkers down in it.

Elsa and Sven come across a wrecked ship that looks like the one her parents died on. The ship is empty, but a little exploring shows that it was the same ship. She finds her mother’s journal and finds out that she was originally from the Northuldra tribe. In fact, it was her that saved Elsa and Anna’s father. She tells the story of how the tribe and kingdom had made a treaty to work together with Arendelle using the magic provided by the Northuldra. However, King Runeard, Agnarr’s father and Elsa and Anna’s grandfather, wanted to control the magic. Northuldra refused and a fight broke out. The breaking of the treaty caused the barrier around the forest. Iduna (the girls’ mother) barely got Agnarr out in time, but he was so distraught about everything. The two went to the trolls for help, and they used a spell to have Agnarr to forget what exactly happened. When Iduna tried to use her magic, the people who she tried to help were afraid of her, which caused her to hide who she was.

When Elsa showed her magic, Iduna was worried she would be shunned like she was, so they kept her busy inside the palace. She was curious about Elsa using ice. After what happened with Anna, she looked deeper into the manner and discovered information about the fifth spirit. She knew Elsa must be connected somehow, and she and Agnarr went to the island to find help.

Suddenly, Honeymaren shows up, proud that she found them, and thankful for the ice bridge. Elsa rushes to her and hugs her tight. She then starts to cry and explains about her parents. Honeymaren holds Elsa and comforts her.

The three enter the island caves.

While Anna is sitting on the cave floor, Olaf comes in. He apologizes to Anna for being annoying, but Anna brushes it away, apologizing herself for snapping. She confesses that she misses Elsa and wishes she could talk to Kristoff about the ring. Olaf confesses that he knew about Kristoff’s plan and that he held off proposing to Anna to help the kingdom. She realizes that he put off his own happiness for Arendelle, which would make him an honorable king, and now can’t wait for him to ask her.

In the island caves, Elsa can feel the energy of the elementals. It starts to become overpowering. She hears the voice again, but hears other voices as well, voices that appear to be saying something. She rushes ahead, finding it hard to concentrate and finds herself alone on an odd design that references the four elements on the outside and another on the inside. There’s writing that on the wall that says only the one who can unite tribe and kingdom in love can be the fifth spirit. However, while reading it, she accidentally steps in the center of the design, and becomes frozen. This is witnessed by Honeymaren and Sven.

Honeymaren rushes to the now frozen Elsa, but can do nothing to save her. She cries over her. Elsa remains frozen. Sven and Honeymaren leave.

In the ice cave, Olaf says he’s becoming sleepy. In front of Anna, he loses his magic and turns into a normal snowman.

Honeymaren and Sven are walking down the ice bridge when they realize it’s collapsing into the sea. They rush to get to shore.

Arendelle has another attack of elements. Kristoff and the rest of the team try to keep everyone safe, but it’s actually the salamander who is able to fight off everything. Eventually the attack stops, and everyone is safe.

As the elements get more violent, Yelena realizes that the village is going to need the help of the soldiers. Before she leaves to discuss it with Mattias, he and the soldiers arrive, having come to the same conclusion, and believing they would need the magic of the village to survive. Working together, they do just that.

Kristoff finds Anna in the cave, trying to keep Olaf cold to stop him from melting. Kristoff asks why Elsa’s magic isn’t working, and the realization hits Anna hard, knocking her down. Kristoff also realizes it, and comforts Anna.

Honeymaren and Sven return to the tribe and Honeymaren tells everyone what happened to Elsa.

Kristoff is standing in front of the people of Arendelle telling them of the loss of Elsa.

The people of both mourn the loss, and their cries reach the heavens. Then another elemental attack comes.

Fires begin to rage around the village, and those that can use fire magic find their abilities to be utterly useless. When the soldiers try to escape with some of the village children, at the request of the villagers, they find that they are completely surrounded. The fires close in on the village.

While the wind blows everything every which way, it is relatively harmless, but then some of the townsfolk realize there is a huge tidal wave heading straight for them. There is no time to escape.

As the fire reaches the edge of the village, it begins to go out. It turns to steam, starting in one location and going all around. When the villagers and soldiers realize they had been saved, they celebrate, forgetting the distance that had grown between them. Honeymaren smiled when she realized there was snow falling, believing she knew who had saved them.

As the wave approached the coast of Arendelle, the people huddled together. Kristoff noticed a strange sight. A woman on horseback was riding on the water itself. He almost didn’t believe what he was seeing. He asks Anna if she was seeing what he was. She realizes immediately who is there.

Elsa uses her knew found water abilities to stop the wave and calm the seas. In her presence, the other elements calm, and the salamander gets excited.

As the town watches and cheers, Olaf waddles up to Anna and Kristoff and asks what he missed. Anna picks him up and laughs with tears in her eyes.

When Elsa reaches shore and dismounts from the water elemental, Anna tackles her. The two make up for lost time, telling each other what happened. Elsa comes to a conclusion. She realizes that Anna is really the queen that Arendelle needs.

At the Northundra village, Mattias is speaking with his soldiers. When he is done, they approach the tribe and genuflect in apology for how they treated them. Mattias knew it was King Runear who struck the first blow but was too ashamed to do anything about it. Yelena, speaking for the tribe, forgives them and wishes for the animosity to end. The two groups celebrate.

Elsa, this time with Anna, Kristoff, and Olaf, revisits the tribe. Some soldiers are returning to Arendelle, but many are staying to live in the forest with the tribe to help make up for everything, despite the villagers telling them it won’t be necessary. Sven and Kristoff have a heart to heart, with Sven deciding to stay with the tribe. Ryder walks by with some of the reindeer and talks to them like Kristoff. Kristoff asks if he sounds like that, which Sven nods yes. Kristoff thinks he sounds awesome.

Anna gets along well with Honeymaren. When she is called away, Elsa asks Anna what she thinks of Honeymaren. Anna gives Elsa a big smile and says she doesn’t think Elsa should marry someone she just met. Elsa blushes and playfully shoves Anna.

As Anna and the rest leave, Elsa, the tribe and the remaining soldiers wave them off. Anna and Kristoff are holding hands. Elsa and Honeymaren are doing the same.

Some mid/post-credit scenes could be:

Anna walking beside Kristoff then stepping back, saying he dropped something. When Kristoff turns around, Anna is on her knee with the ring. After saying yes, Anna, forgetting the ring was originally meant for her, tries to eagerly put the ring on Kristoff’s finger, painfully succeeding.

Sven getting to know the other reindeer, then seeing the girl of his dreams.

Elsa and Honeymaren riding the water elemental to go to charades with Anna and Kristoff.

Elsa and Honeymaren leaving the ice palace. Honeymaren is impressed with all of the creatures that Elsa had made. Elsa apparently reiterating that most of them was by accident. She then calls to Olaf. Cut to Olaf telling all the creatures from Frozen and the shorts that he’ll be back to tell the a story or teach them about something.

Anyway, I’ve been working on this for hours, which, since I didn’t even have the idea to do something like this today, l wasn’t planning on spending so much time on it. I actually thought I would just do a short summary of what I was thinking, but I should have known better. 🤣  Hope you like!

[bigfrozenfan]

Frozen III plot / fanfic - part 3

I finally decided to write this fanfic completely by myself and finished part three today. Thanks to all who commented to the first two parts, for the support and that you convinced me to go on, especially big thanks to @the-spastic-fantastic and @fericita-s.

Now i also have a preliminary working title for it too, which is:

“The Secret of the Northuldra”.

It has become a bit longer than the previous two parts which you can find here: part one, part two, additional thoughts.

I had a beta-reader for the translation and writing style on the FrozenFanfic subreddit on reddit. Thanks to Athenagoddessofwar7 for your support!

I hope you like this next part of my fanfic. Part four is already in progress and hopefully i can post it next week.

Elsa opened her eyes. Whether it was the light coming in from above or the voices near her dwelling that had woken her, she did not know. She lay still and tried hard to understand individual words. She could distinguish three people, but they were too far away to get any sense out of the conversation. A short time later she heard the sound of hoofbeats, which was rapidly departing. After that it was quiet, nothing moved anymore.

Elsa looked around the simple wooden hut, which tapered towards the top and ended in a small opening covered from the outside. Except for her bed, a small fire pit in the middle and some laid out fur, the room seemed to be completely empty. Some metal hooks were attached to the wall near the entrance and except for a small bag hanging from one of them they were unused. It smelled odd and seemed to come from all these furs here.

She looked to the side and discovered a small woodstool with a bundle of clothes on it. Were they hers? She reached over, but immediately regretted the attempt and groaned in pain. Her arm hurt so much that she could hardly move it. She tried to support herself with her other arm and to straighten up a little. A pulling pain shot through her arm and upper body immediately and without warning and she could not suppress a scream. She cursed softly. What had happened to her? Why was she lying here? Who had brought her here and why did everything seem so strange to her. A thousand questions flashed through her mind.

She didn’t know the answer to that and tried to remember the before, or just something. But there was nothing. Nothing at all. Her head was as if swept empty and it somehow felt as if she had woken up in a body of someone else. She did not even know her own name! She drew her breath in sharply with shock, accompanied by an intense pain in the chest area. She cursed again.

Then suddenly fragments of memories flooded through her head, words of this strange woman who called herself Anna or something similar and who was with her last night. Or was it longer ago? What had she called her? Elsa? Was that her name? She tried desperately to remember, but she had trouble remembering all of it. This woman had told her many strange stories she didn’t know what to do with. She had talked incessantly, held her hand and stroked her hair. And she cried even as she sang a song to her softly. Apparently she knew her very well but Elsa just couldn’t remember anything else but her name. She absolutely had to talk to her. Elsa flipped the fur open with great effort and was shocked as she realized that she was completely naked!

At that moment she noticed a noise and the flap at the entrance was opened. Immediately she covered herself again and watched two women ducking inside. The first of them was holding a steaming little bowl in her hand while the second was balancing bothhanded a big wooden bowl in front of her, carrying some cloths over her arm. Elsa and them looked at each other. Then they came closer and while the second woman set her apparently heavy bowl down in relief, with some liquid spilling over the rim, the other woman finally spoke to Elsa.

“You’re already awake, that’s good. I brought you some hot soup, because you need some strengthening after all you’ve been through. When you regained consciousness for the first time last night and Queen Anna visited you, we heard afterwards that you apparently do not remember anything. How are you today?”

Elsa cleared her throat, “Every muscle in my body hurts and I have so many questions. For example what happened, where I am and who you are. I don’t even know, who I am myself-” She hesitated for a moment, then narrowed her eyebrows and finally added, slightly angry, while looking down at herself, “Besides, I’m completely naked!”

“We can’t explain everything, Elsa, but I promise we’ll tell you all we know in the next few days. My name is Myrtha, I’m the healer in our village and it was me who brought you here. This is Ikka, my assistant.” Myrtha pointed with her thumb behind her, “She will wash you later.” Ikka smiled shyly. “You must know that you’ve been lying here for three days, after we found you unconscious and completely naked on the beach. You are in the village of the Northuldra, the people of the sun.”

Elsa was confused, but Myrtha had just casually confirmed her name. She now also had a first pale idea of the events and wondered in amazement why a queen was visiting her. Was she herself so significant? More questions and she feared that this would continue for a while longer. But her mind was still working and she drew first conclusions from what had just been said. “So I’m not a Northuldra myself and this-” she nodded her head towards the bundle of clothes, “isn’t either my normal clothing?”

Myrtha raised an eyebrow in surprise. “That’s right. You’re from Arendelle and our-” she hesitated. Should she tell Elsa the truth already, or would this only confuse her more? “Well, let’s say you’re a good friend of the Northuldra. We’ll talk about everything else later. The soup is getting cold and you need something to eat urgently. In case you’re wondering what’s in it… it’s a mix of vegetables and black grouse meat. It will give you new strength.”

The two women helped Elsa to sit up a bit and stuffed her neck with more furs, which they pulled out from under the bed. Myrtha carefully spooned the soup into her mouth. It smelled tempting and tasted the same. Elsa slowly felt the spirits of life returning within her.

When Myrtha finally left a little later and only Ikka was left behind, Elsa called after her before she could close the flap behind her. “What’s in that bag over there?” The healer turned once more and took the object off the hook.

“This, Elsa, is from your own property. This is all you brought back from Arendelle.” She put the bag on the bed next to Elsa and opened it. Elsa looked inside and was astonished. “As far as I know, they are letters from your sister, Anna, Queen of Arendelle.”

Elsa’s mouth remained open as she gazed into Myrtha’s eyes in disbelief. That explained a lot.

***

When Myrtha was outside she saw Honeymaren standing not far from Elsa’s Kota and she looked at her questioningly. “I know what you want to ask me, but it’s better she has some rest now. She’s got a lot to process right now.”

“You told her?”

“Not all of it, but enough to get her started. Besides, she’s not well and she’s in pain.”

Honeymaren lowered her head sadly. “I see.”

Myrtha wanted to go on, but changed her mind and put a hand on her shoulder as she stood beside her. She looked at her forcefully as Honeymaren raised her gaze. “I know how much you like Elsa and how much you would like to provide assistance. But please don’t take it wrong. It’s only in her interest if we pressure her as little as possible in the present situation. You saw what this could lead to yesterday. Be a little patient.”

Honeymaren pressed her lips together and nodded slowly. Myrtha squeezed her shoulder encouragingly and then went on to look for Anna. The queen had to be informed of Elsa’s current condition.

Honeymaren looked over to the Kota once more and then turned around as well to do her duties. Between the Kotas in the forest there was already a lot of activity and the Northuldra started their daily work.

***

Anna, Kristoff and Olaf strolled leisurely among the trees at the edge of the Northuldra village. It was early in the morning but the sun of a beautiful late summer day was already warming the clearings and a lukewarm wind was blowing through the forest.

It was beautiful up here in the north at this time of the year Anna thought and if the reason for her visit hadn’t changed so drastically she would probably now take the walk with her sister and ask her why she didn’t show up in Arendelle so often anymore. It had not always been easy for Anna in the last months, now that she was the queen. But all in all everything went well and she was very happy with herself and the progress in Arendelle.

The citizens were satisfied, the trade relations remained good and almost every day a brisk traffic could be observed at the port. Ships were coming and going and one had the impression that nothing had changed at all. Except for a few Northuldra, who now brought the products of their reindeer breeding to Arendelle and slightly changed the street scene. She wished Elsa could see this now and how the new peace between her two peoples had developed in the meantime.

“Queen Anna!”

Anna turned around and saw a middle-aged woman coming towards her. She smiled at her.

“Good morning. I am Myrtha, the healer.” She bowed slightly and nodded at Kristoff and Olaf.

Anna was immediately alarmed and her questions gushed out of her. “Is something wrong with Elsa? How is she? Has she said anything or does she remember anything?”

“Don’t worry, it’s all right. I just went to check on her and brought her some hot soup. She is weakened and has severe muscle pain, but otherwise she is fine. We talked and I told her what happened and where she is, but her memory has still not come back. I will observe her for the next few days and if her condition does not improve, I do not recommend transport to Arendelle for the time being. I’ve heard you’re planning on it.”

Anna shook her head in amazement and asked, “She has muscle aches? From what? How can that be?” Kristoff was equally astonished and put a reassuring hand on her shoulder. Olaf stared at the healer with his mouth open.

Myrtha looked around in astonishment. “Didn’t Yelana tell you about her suspicions?”

Everyone shook their heads in confusion, and Kristoff said, “Last night she only told us the events as they happened, but not what she thinks about all this.”

Myrtha sighed, “She assumes Elsa was on her way back from Ahtohallan when the Spirits and probably Nokk as well suddenly disappeared and she had to swim through the Dark Sea because of it. All the way here without her magic powers. If she hadn’t shown this almost inhuman will and held out until the end, Elsa would have drowned for sure.

"But then why didn’t she swim back to Ahtohallan?” Kristoff asked.

Before Myrtha could reply, Anna already knew the answer and said quietly and with her head bowed, “Because Elsa had no other choice. Without her magic, she would have frozen to death in Ahtohallan.”

***

To be continued...

Remark: I did some research on Elsa’s muscle pain, because normally swimming is a very healthy sport. But with extreme swimmers over very long distances it can happen that they get a severe muscle ache, especially when the water is very cold. This can happen just by the violent trembling of the body. Since the action takes place in summer, the sea might not have been so extremely cold, at least not in some distance to Ahtohallan. However, Elsa could have swum at night and the temperature could have dropped again strongly.

[swimmingnewsie]

Of Coffee and Cookies (Chapter 5)

Is it even my fic if I don’t update at three in the morning? Have some delicious angst guys!

Enjoy!

Link to AO3

---

"Oh come on! How was that supposed to be Santa Claus?"

"He's got a hat! And a bag and a sleigh!"

"If you can call those circles that, Krissy, we may need to get your eyes checked."

Anna smiled as she watched her family. Christmas magic filled the air as she watched her sister and friends squabble over pictionary. In the weeks leading up, Anna had been worried. It was the first Christmas she had spent without Hans in almost seven years after all.

She still missed him some days. Missed the way that he would cuddle and coddle her on his good days. The kisses and the flowers to make up for all the bruises and drunken arguments. Anna knew she was right to get out of there. His bad traits far outweighed the good, and at her core she knew that. She might not even be alive if Elsa and Kristoff hadn't come and got her out that day. 

But some part of her still missed him, or perhaps she just missed the feeling of being a part of a couple. The feeling came in waves, apparent small moments that would seem insignificant to others. Like now, their pictionary game was divided up into teams of couples or times when Elsa and Kristoff would go on double dates. While other times, the thought of being with someone paralyzed her with fear, never wanting to love someone like that again. The bruises on her skin may have healed, but the ones on her heart hadn't.

Elsa had gotten her started with a therapist when she moved into her sister’s apartment. Elsa knew well enough that Anna wasn’t alright, even before Anna would admit it to herself. She was having nightmares every night, wasn't leaving the house, wouldn't talk to anyone aside from her sister. Anna needed more help than she could provide alone. Therapy helped to bring her back to her feet. She felt less jumpy, less afraid overall when she talked with the therapist. She had a job now, and money of her own to spend without guilt from Hans. She was healing, but other wounds still needed more time. 

Even though she was nervous, something felt better about this Christmas. The California rain replaced the picturesque Colorado snow she was used to, but it was beautiful in its own way. While others might describe the weather as less than ideal, it felt homey to Anna. The decorations she and Elsa put up felt real and authentic compared to the decor Hans arranged to be put up every year. And a December 23rd with pizza and good friends was most definitely better than a December 24th with caviar and her high society "friends".

"Come on, Anna! Your turn, siblings versus siblings!" Ryder called coming over to give her a shake on the arm. Anna reflexively jerked backwards. She tried to brush it off, but Ryder noticed. "You okay?"

"Yeah, yeah. I'm fine. Let's go play." Anna gave him a half smile. "Elsa and I are going to kick your butts!"

"Oh no you aren't!"

---

Anna woke up to a scream the next morning coming from Elsa's room. She bolted out of bed, running to her big sister's bedroom.

"What happened? Are you hurt?" Anna asked before she was able to take in the scene.

"Anna! Amundsen! They- they approved our grant! Oh my god, oh my god!" Elsa squealed in a way that Anna had never seen before. She pulled her laptop screen and showed it to Anna. "Dr. Porter and Ms. Arendelle, we here at Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station are happy to inform you that the National Science Foundation has approved your grant for an extended stay in Antarctica for your study on microorganisms in glacial environments!"

Anna's eyes widened as she realized what her sister was saying. Elsa and her advisor had been working on that grant for months with a hope and prayer for their dream project. "Elsa, that's amazing!" She grabbed Elsa into a tight hug.

"I- I can't believe it's actually gonna happen." Elsa wiped at her eyes, trying and failing to stop her tears. "I've dreamed about it for so long. It doesn't seem real."

Anna gave Elsa a squeeze. "It very much is real, Elsie, very much so. That's one hell of a Christmas present though. I'm not sure Maren or I will be able to match that," she teased.

"Oh hush," Elsa teased.

"Says the one screaming at 7:30 in the morning."

Elsa blushed heavily with her eyes softening. "Sorry. I couldn't help it." Her eyes drifted to her girlfriend lying in bed softly snoring. "I'm surprised I didn't wake her up."

"Vodka can certainly work some magic," Anna laughed. "...among other things."

"Anna!" she scolded playfully. "We haven't done...whatever it is you're insinuating."

"Sure you haven't." Anna rolled her eyes before taking her sister's hand. "Come on! We've got celebratory pancakes to make!"

Elsa smiled, allowing her sister to drag her to the kitchen. "Chocolate chip?"

"What kind of celebration would it be without them?"

---

Christmas Eve and Christmas Day went by in a blur. There was plenty of good food and cheer all around as Anna and Elsa jumped from house to house. Ever since their parents had passed five years ago, Christmas was spent with found families of all shapes and sizes.

Elsa had grown to love Christmas in a way she hadn't as a child. Their parents were kind and loving and there was never a lack of presents, but it couldn't compare to extravagance of Christmas Eve with Kristoff's family. A house filled to the brim with children and adults, where dinner was eaten on knees over good conversation, and no one was alone. The first time he brought her, it was overwhelming and scary. But now, it was something to look forward to, something she was glad to share with Anna. 

Bulda, a portly woman of 50, accepted the two of them as if they were part of the family, no questions asked. Well that was a lie. Plenty of people asked them plenty of questions there: what was she studying now, had she been eating enough lately, how long until we can call you Dr. Elsa? But those were questions she would happily answer, questions that were simply part of being in a family.

Anna thrived with Kristoff's family. There were plenty of kids she could run around with and entertain. She told stories about Christmas in Colorado where the snow came from all angles and how it always snowed on Christmas like the songs said. It brought joy to Elsa's heart to see Anna so happy. Her younger sister had always wanted a large family, and it thrilled her to see Anna get what she always desired. Bring with Kristoff's family was a dream come true.

Christmas with Maren's family was calmer in comparison. It was a far more formal affair, and Elsa couldn't help but feel a bit uptight. She had met some of them at the wedding, but it was still nerve-wracking. She wanted to impress, but it proved challenging when all the men sat stiffly with their cigars and the other women were engaged in conversations of marriage and motherhood and white picket fences. Elsa was used to sticking out, but it didn't make it any easier.

"It's okay," Honeymaren whispered in her ear during dinner."That's just how Dad's family is at these things. They're showboating."

"It didn't feel this tight at the wedding," she muttered. "What's different?"

"Open bar."

But soon enough, the day's festivities came to a close. Anna and Elsa ended their night together, just the way they wanted. They exchanged presents with one another before curling up to watch It's a Wonderful Life.

"Did you have a good day?" Elsa asked running an easy hand through her sister's hair.

"I did," Anna said, resting her head against Elsa's side. "Did you?"

Elsa hummed in agreement. "We were together. That's all I've wanted for so long." She felt hot tears falling into her side. Elsa looked down to see her sister crying. "Anna, love, what's wrong?" she asked, wiping away tears.

"It's my fault we haven't been together all those years! If I just left him! If I didn't believe his lies! We could have- we could have!" Anna broke into heavy sobs in her sister's arms.

Elsa felt her heart shatter, just like it did every time Anna blamed herself. She would be damned if that manipulative asshole ruined Anna's first Christmas in forever though. "Anna. Look at me," she said gently. Elsa knew firsthand how easily scared Anna could get in this state. "You are not at fault for his choices and what he did to you and how he made you feel. You did what you thought was right. And I never want you to think that I'm upset because you did what you needed to survive."

Anna sobbed loudly in her arms while Elsa rubbed soft circles on her back. "I love you more than anyone or anything, Anna. You are not unworthy of that love, regardless of anything that has happened in our past or anything that will happen in our future. Do you understand?"

Anna nodded as she clinged to Elsa. Her tears were starting to slow, but she still felt so so much. "Thank you."

"Why don't we get ready for bed? It's been a long day for everyone," Elsa suggested, looking around the room at their three cats, happily sleeping.

Anna nodded again. "Can I sleep in your bed tonight? I don't... I don't wanna be alone right now."

Elsa stood and offered a hand to her sister. "Only if you bring your own blanket. You're a blanket hog!" she teased.

Anna smiled, taking her hand. "At least I don't talk in my sleep!"

"You can put headphones on and ignore my lectures. There's nothing I can do about a cold bed!" It made them both laugh. "Come on, you stinker, let's go."

Anna fell asleep as soon as her head hit the pillow, while Elsa's insomnia visited her yet again. But for once, she didn't mind. The day was great. Her grant was approved. She spent a lovely day with Maren and her family. But best of all, her sister was safe and sound, and they were together. That truly was the greatest present of all.

[justlookatthosesausages]

Oooh how about a drabble where Elsa asks Ryder (essentially) “Ryder is it gay that I want to kiss your sister” and Ryder is like “Elsa I may not have what you and your people call a dictionary... but I’m like 99.9% sure that’s the very definition of gay.”

YOU KNOW YOU WROTE THE WHOLE THING jdhfgjkhfdsghfds this is awesome okay hold on maybe a follow-up

=======

“R-really?” Repeated Elsa, now blushing so hard she was almost as red as the beets Ryder and her were preparing for the soup. 

He looked up from his stirring. “Well. Yes. Wait, do we mean the same thing?” He suddenly worried, thinking that sass probably wasn’t the first approach to have had if she was only talking about happiness. 

She was clearly flustered. “Y-yes. Like... Gay.”

He frowned, preferring to double check. “You do mean gay as in... Homosexual, right? Not super happy. As in, attracted by someone of the same gender.” 

A silence passed, punctuated only with the cracks of fire in the calm forest. 

“...Like, having feelings for another woman.” Added the Northuldra. 

“Yes, Ryder!” Grumbled Elsa. 

He did an apologetic gesture, then smirked. “Then yep. Totally gay.” 

The blonde gulped. Was that it then? Did she finally put her finger on what had been on her mind for days? Weeks, if she were honest with herself? 

Bruni, who had been curling in the fire he provided beneath the kettle, looked up to her and peeped in concern. He could sense that her heartbeat rose to an alarming level. Was the Fifth Spirit having a stroke? 

“I’m fine”, muttered Elsa, feeling his silent question and reassuring him. 

“Oh, you are, I’m certain of it.” Grinned Ryder, thinking she was talking to him. “After all, there’s a reason why overjoyed and homosexual are linked in one word. And, may I add, I’ve known my big sister for all of my life, and I have yet to see someone who has ever talked to her and not smiled afterwards. She’s a real mood lifter.” 

Now Elsa blushed completely, the tip of her ears feeling like she literally was burning. Indeed, whenever she talked to Honeymaren, she felt better than the minute before. In those doubtful times, where Elsa was still thinking about the decision of starting a new life away from Arendelle, her support was therapeutic and always made her... Warm inside. 

Ryder had finished cutting the carrots and looked at the blonde’s face again. Her skin was usually pale, and it was even more now that Winter was approaching and that the first snow enhanced her features. So the blush was noticeable. He smiled, but chose not to comment. 

Then in the background, over Elsa’s shoulder, he saw Honeymaren approach with the meat they were going to add to the soup. Oh, he wouldn’t comment, but she would... 

So he just stood and wait, smiling wider at the scene about to happen.