After a long walk up from the dock, Lukas, Arthur and Vlad finally found themselves outside the main cabin. They were so entranced by the vast yet beautiful view, they didn't realise that Elsa had caught sight of them. There were too many memories of this place.
Carefully setting down a crate of logs, Elsa found herself staring at the three men. As soon as she was upright, she cleared her throat. "Can I help you gentlemen?" She asked, getting their attention.
Vlad was first to greet Elsa. "Oh, hello! I'm Vladmir but everyone calls me Vlad! We're here for the wedding!" he stated cheerfully, his crimson eyes gleaming with mischief.
"My name is Arthur Kirkland" Arthur replied in a manner he usually used at the office. His green gaze stayed firm.
"Lukas Bondervik" Lukas simply answered. The normally serious demeanour that was usually in his purple-blue eyes was replaced with a look of curiosity; Elsa had a sense of familiarity after all. "You were expecting us, weren't you?" he asked.
"Ja (Yes)" Elsa answered in Norwegian, quickly shaking off her confusion; she thought she would know right away which of the three was her real father but she had been wrong. She still didn't know who it was.
Lukas, Vlad and Arthur then realised why Elsa seemed so familiar; she was Hazel's daughter. After all, she looked so much like her mother did over 20 years ago. "You're Hazel's daughter, aren't you?" Lukas inquired. Much to his relief, Elsa gave a nod in confirmation.
"I thought there was something familiar about you.." Vlad agreed.
"Ah yes…Ella, was it?" Arthur guessed, trying to rack his brains as to what name had been in the letter.
"Elsa" Elsa corrected the British man.
Lukas' eyes briefly flashed with a look of amusement. He knew that Hazel would give her daughter a Norwegian name. He had done the same when his son, Erik was born. He looked over at Elsa; she reminded him so much of how Hazel used to be 20 years ago. "Hazel chose a good name…" he stated.
Arthur cleared his throat. "Do you mind showing us to our rooms? We'd like to get settled in before the big reunion" he asked.
Elsa quickly ushered the three men around the main cabin to a large shed in the back area. She opened the large doors and led them to an upper part that was sturdy enough to be an emergency room.
Lukas raised an eyebrow.
Vlad merely chuckled as he made himself comfortable.
Arthur had a look of pure confusion. "What's going on? I thought Hazel knew we were here?" He questioned.
Elsa then admitted the truth. "I sent the letters…Mor doesn't know anything. I mean, she's been such an incredible mother for all these years and I've heard her talk about you guys and the good old days so I thought to surprise her by inviting you.." she told the three.
Luka's expression became stern and serious; the last time he had been in Ny-Ålesund, things had ended badly for him and Hazel. "Elsa, I can't be here. The last time I saw Hazel, she told me she never wanted to see me again" he remarked.
Elsa rolled her eyes. "That was years ago. She's gotten over it by now!" She counter-argued; her response shocked Lukas. She then took a step back to look at the three men. "You guys haven't been here for years…surely there was a reason that you came back. Like…a siren's song brought you here?" she stated, hinting to why she had sent the letters.
Soon Vlad and Lukas were laughing. While Arthur managed a bewildered but amused expression.
"You're something else, you know that? You're just like your mother. Glad my Erik hasn't met you, he'd never recover" Lukas pointed out as he started to recover; Elsa reminded him perfectly of how Hazel would easily make him laugh.
Elsa grew curious after Lukas had mentioned the name 'Erik'. "You have a son?" She asked him.
"Ja, a 14 year old. One day, I'd like to bring him here. And my brother, Emil" Lukas replied.
"Like you used to bring Mor?" Elsa asked again.
After convincing the three to stay in that shed without her mother's knowledge, Elsa went off to find Ronnie and Hiromi.
Later on, Hazel had come into the shed to store a few things safely for Elsa's wedding, which was going to be the next day. She heard a strange clutter upstairs. Stealthily, she climbed up the ladder to the upper part of the shed. Lifting up the trapdoor slightly, a look of shock crossed her face as she immediately recognised Lukas, Arthur and Vlad. She quickly and quietly lowered the door down.
Hazel rushed over to the shed doors and shut them. She crossed her arms as she looked up towards the roof of the shed. "What the hell are they doing here?!" She asked herself. How she hated the bubbling pain she felt in the pit of her stomach when she remembered them or the fact that she didn't know which of them was Elsa's father. She had gotten on just fine without them!
It was definitely worst of all to see Lukas, considering that they had gotten into a fight the last time Hazel last saw him. She swore she'd never let her past catch up to her, not now that she had raised her daughter while managing to be as vague as possible about the identity of Elsa's father. She wondered if she ever did learn from her mistakes; she thought she had. Did Elsa knew they were here? She hoped not.
Hazel knew she had to confront her former flames right this instant. Using the nicks in the brickwork, she climbed up to the roof. She wasn't sure what to feel at the moment. She was pissed that they had all come back without her knowing, but also sad since a small part of her had missed the good times she'd had with Lukas in particular, confused as to why they were here, just so many things at once. Quietly she opened the latch door that sat in the middle of the roof tiling. Unfortunately, her careful attempt to jump into the door had been poorly timed so she ended up falling, landing on an old mattress Vlad was setting up.
Lukas couldn't resist a slight smirk. "You always had a talent with making an entrance, Hazelnut.." He remarked.
Now there was a nickname Hazel hadn't heard in years; 'Hazelnut' was an affectionate nickname Lukas had come up with for her a long time ago. Her nickname for him had been 'Lukie'. That was before she'd found out about Natalya. Hazel then sat up to glare up at her old flames. "I better be hallucinating. You idiots better not be here!" She warned.
Vlad chuckled. "Need me to pinch you, Hazel?" He teased.
"Helvette ikke! You keep your hands to yourself, Vladimir Ducovic!" Hazel scolded.
"Close but wrong!" Vlad laughed as Hazel's guess of his last name was wrong yet again. (Note: With Romania, I plan to do a running joke that no one knows his last name. Everyone guesses but are never right. Just thought of it as being a fun little personal detail to his role in the crossover, since I can't remember if he had a last name in the actual series. So I'm merely poking fun at myself)
Arthur cleared his throat. " I bet you don't remember me.." He stated.
Hazel let out an exasperated sigh. "Artie..it really is you!' She remarked. Last time she'd seen him, he had green, red and blue dye streaks through his blonde hair. He'd also wore dark ripped jeans, a 'Sex Pistols' band t-shirt and black Doc Marten boots. How he'd changed so much.
"Yes, I've certainly changed a lot. You haven't changed that much.." Arthur said sheepishly.
Hazel jolted to her feet. "What the hell are you guys doing here?" She questioned.
Vlad grinned, remembering what Elsa had talked about earlier - not to tell Hazel that she invited them; so he had a perfect alibi. "I'm writing a new travel article!" He stated.
"My company encouraged me to take a spontaneous holiday" Arthur answered. What was true was that he had never once taken a proper holiday in 20 years.
Funnily enough, Hazel could see that Lukas was struggling with a response. She crossed her arms. "What about you, Bondervik?" She asked firmly.
"I just wanted to see the village again. You know what it meant to me" Lukas simply replied.
After a moment of confused silence, Hazel regained her composure. "Well, you can't stay here. Uh, a local girl's getting married and there's so much to do as it is. I'll call the ferry captain to see if he can take you back to the mainland tonight.." She stated as she went to leave via the trap door. She wasn't going to tell them about Elsa, for 20 years they didn't know she existed and Hazel was going to keep it that way.
Lukas rose an eyebrow. "Hazel, I borrowed a boat. How do you think we got here?" He reminded her.
"Good, use it then. And anchors the hell away from here" Hazel remarked as she climbed through the hatch.
"Oh, Hazel?' Vlad called.
"It's good to see you" all three stated.
As soon as she was outside, Hazel let out a frustrated sigh. "What the hell am I going to do now?" She asked herself as she went off to go talk to Alison and Liz.