Elizabeth tries to wake Elsa in the stillness before the dawn, knowing how much she loves to be up to watch the sun rise. "Elsa." she whispers, shaking her gently by the shoulder.
Elsa grumbles incoherently. "Anna... go back to sleep..." she murmurs.
Elizabeth smiles. "I'm not Anna." she says. "You have to get up or you'll miss the sunrise."
"Prove it." Elsa mumbles. "Prove you're not..." She yawns and rolls over. "A-Anna..." Her voice trails off and she's asleep again.
Elizabeth frowns, but only for a moment. Then she comes up with a plan. She lowers her hands beneath the bedsheets and begins to untie the queen's nightgown. Elsa is too busy snoring to notice. Not that she'd ever admit to it; 'deep breathing', she'd call it. "I'll show you 'deep breathing'." Elizabeth says with an evil grin. She loosens the gown and lets it drift down to the bed, exposing Elsa's back and nothing else. Not yet. Elsa shifts uneasily, as if she notices something amiss.
Elizabeth trails her fingers sensuously down the queen's spine. "Elsa..." she almost hums. "Wake up Elsa..."
Elsa moans softly. Elizabeth takes this as her cue, and lowers the stub of her pinkie down to join the other fingers. The cold metal touch of the thimble is enough to give Elsa goosebumps. She awakens blearily. "'lizab'th..." she mumbles. "What 're you-" she starts to ask.
"Shhhh." the young girl tells her. "It's time to wake up, Elsa." She inches forward on the bed and rests her chin on Elsa's shoulder, sliding her hand under the queen's ribs and rubbing her thimbled finger up and down Elsa's side.
Elsa moans again. "Elizabeth..."
The girl can't take it any more. "Roll over." she whispers into Elsa's ear. The queen struggles to obey. Elizabeth sits up, throws away the covers and sits on top of the woman she loves, straddling her. Despite all she's seen and done, she still considers herself more of a girl to Elsa's flowering womanhood. The queen knows more of normal life than she ever will, even with her self-inflicted exile to her lonely room. All this ripples through Elizabeth's mind as she lifts away her lover's nightgown. Elsa is always embarrassed when she's naked, but all thoughts of decency and being a good girl are banished when Elizabeth starts to work. Nothing improper, nothing untoward, just caressing Elsa's bare skin with her soft gentle hands. It hadn't taken long for Elizabeth to realize how sensitive Elsa was when it came to being touched; in fact it was one of the first things she'd noticed when they'd started courting. She'd put her hand on Elsa's cheek during a kiss and felt the queen jump. They'd ended up bumping noses, spoiling the moment somewhat. Elsa couldn't stop apologizing, despite Elizabeth's repeated assurances that it was fine, as indeed it was.
The past and present and future are somewhat hard to distinguish when Elizabeth's mind starts to wander. Somewhere out there, she thinks, we've only just met. We're only now kissing each other for the first time. Sometimes, if she tries hard enough, she can even feel things as they happen. It's awfully frightening, to be lost in a crowd of yourself. More than once, Elsa's had to remind her which one of the millions and millions of possible Elizabeth DeWitts she really is. Elsa's held her hand as Elizabeth's mind spiralled away into the distant infinity of the multiverse, sometimes taking hours or even days to return.
Elizabeth hears Elsa call her name. "Elizabeth!" she says, all trace of sleep now gone from her voice. Elizabeth blinks repeatedly. She struggles to focus. "It happened again, didn't it?" Elsa asks. Elizabeth nods. "It's getting worse." Elsa says in helpless worry. "It's like you're fading away." Elizabeth nods again. Suddenly she realizes how tired she is, and almost falls off of the queen. Elsa reaches out to steady her, easing her back onto the bed. "Can those...Luteces help?" Elsa asks. It's all so far beyond her, all this business with doors and parallel worlds. She'd always thought she'd been smart, not the smartest perhaps but smart, but she hadn't even known what smart was until she met Elizabeth.
"No." Elizabeth says vacantly. "They can't, or won't... I-I'm not sure what the difference is any more."
"Can you ask them?" Elsa asks, holding Elizabeth's damaged hand tightly in her own. "Can you...call them?"
"I already did, or tried. Tries, try, will try." Elizabeth makes an effort to focus. "I don't want to see them." she says. "I want to see you. Please..."
"No." Elsa says, stubborn like her sister. "We have to figure out what's wrong with you. We can do whatever this is later." She reaches for her nightgown, but Elizabeth stops her.
"Elsa," she says. Her voice is far away now, as are her eyes. Elsa knows that look. She knows that tone. It scares her. "I'll get used to it. It'll take me a while, a month maybe, or two." She's coming back to herself; she even tries to make a metaphor. "It's...growing pains. That's all." Elsa isn't convinced, but that terrible sense of otherworldiness is going away, and the life is coming back into Elizabeth's eyes. A ray of light shines through a gap in the curtains. Elizabeth squints and holds a hand up to cover her eyes, when suddenly Elsa kisses her. She can hardly help it. It's one of those moments where she can't stand how beautiful the woman she loves is. She's heard it said that you don't love someone because they're beautiful, but rather that they're beautiful because you love them. But there are times for philosophy to take a hike. She may have been scared of Elizabeth at first, but she'd been scared of herself too. They both had.
Soon the kiss deepens, and Elsa finds herself back on the bed again. This time both their hands are at play. Elsa even feels bold enough to throw a little ice into play, though what it's used for is their business.
