Elsa looked up at her. This girl, this beautiful creature that no time or position could age. Not in Elsa's heart.

It had been years. They stood at the edge of the land. Unhappier pairings may have urged the other to jump. But they didn't.

"Why do you always stare at it?" Asked Anna.

She was watching Elsa as she seemed to swim, from a distance, into that sea. Her eyes were so large and distant. That sea was wet. Of course it was, she thought, but Elsa was still amazed. Anna thought it was the sea that enraptured her. But it wasn't.

It was them. This love, it was truly long lasting. No natural force could spate it. No one could dare come between the two. They had loved each other from the beginning. School begot conflict and in it they took on each other, as friends first, then as lovers so often do, to loved ones. They had travelled the world. Taken themselves to many places.

So here they were. In Scotland, near an old coast. It was freezing. Their feet were wet, the wind tried to scalp them. It was to see the world take on mans work, to try and reduce them where they stood, for being loners, for being partners, for Elsa's shyness or Anna's clumsiness, even their sexuality. But it could not win.

"Because it's so...old." Elsa replied.

Anna put her hand on Elsa's shoulder, limiting contact, to see where her mind went.

"You mean the water?"

Elsa turned to her. She nodded.

"I just...I mean, look at it, Anna. Always changing. It's been here so long. The sea is so powerful."

Anna could only nod. Sometimes, Elsa would leave herself a little, collect her thoughts.

The sea was loud. The sky grey. There seemed to be nothing worth loving here. The wind screamed at them to leave. Anna wasn't sure why they were standing here. The car was a little walk away. They could be back in Ullapool and home in no time. Back in Norway. Or maybe Canada. Home was something they took with them.

Elsa regained composure and looked at Anna who was now looking very tired. She seemed to have aged. But only just a day.

"Anna, do you remember that museum we went to?"

"Yeah, the one with the poet?"

"That's right. Robert Burns. Well, last night, I looked up some of his stuff. He was very...good."

She rubbed her hands forcefully and lowered her head slightly, dipping herself in Anna's poolish eyes.

Anna stared back, anxious, wandering what was going to happen.

Elsa tried her best to enunciate the words.

"Till a' the seas gang dry, my dear,
And the rocks melt wi' the sun:
I will love thee still, my dear,
While the sands o' life shall run."

Anna cupped Elsa's cheek. "I liked that but...what did it mean?"

Elsa smiled at her, revealing eyes of gold hiding beneath a darker blue. Anna couldn't help but smile back, but she was confused by the quoting.

"He's saying that he will love his dear until the seas run dry."

Anna still held her cheek, then lowered her hand for a moment, staring blankly while mustering encouragement.

"So?"

Elsa lowered her shoulders, relaxing visibly. She peered back to the sea, still raging. But this force was eternal. It may one day have an ultimate end, but it was so far away to be of no bother to them.

That force was this sea. And it was love.

"The sea will never run dry, Anna. And I love you for as long as the seas are here."

She turned to Anna, the center of her world. The soul worth saving, the one for whom ones blood was worth spilling. Elsa felt more confident than ever. The cliffs and marshes here would not leave them unfulfilled. Elsa looked deep into her eyes, casting aside all thoughts of fear or being alone.

"Because I will love you forever Anna."

Elsa felt the tears coming. They were tears of so much joy. She couldn't stand. Her legs jiggled and failed her. It was so much.

"Oh Elsa. I love you too."

They walked away, Elsa being half carried.

As time went on, they revelled in all their memories, of their travels to Asia, America, and Europe.

But they never forgot that day. Every memory inevitably brought them back to that awful day, with he wind howling and the wet feet and the roaring sea.

They grew old. They watched time catch up with them, as it could be counted on to do. Youth was gone, but not togetherness.

Eventually, death greeted them and calmly, he took them away. He was kind enough to take them closely, so that neither had to live too long without the other.

In all this, they had lived as they imagined was right. Virtuously they pressed at each other's limitations. They rarely fought. Elsa was colder than she should have been, but that was all well. Anna had trouble keeping focus, keeping herself still. They complimented each other all the way. They never surrendered themselves to anyone but each other.

Fucks, fights, gaining rights, it was all worth it in the end.

Because as they lay beyond the world, their love was alive. It lived in their travels, and photographs, in their letters to each other and emails. It lived in their bones.

And it lived with its heart in the sea. And their love would last forever, til the sea ran dry.

A/N

The lines of the sea running dry is from "My Love is Like A Red Red Rose" By Robert Burns. He is considered my country's national poet.