I know, I know, it took me a looong time for an update with the English version (even though this is the original...oh, the irony!)
Hope you guys like it. PM me or leave a review to know what do you think while reading this fic.
Frozen, Tarzan and their characters belong to their authors.
Part VIII
After the Great Thaw, Elsa felt entirely different. She started to spend more time with Anna, taking her time to enjoy the company of her little sister, something she denied herself for so long, she also took the time to visit every room in the Castle, since she was basically confined to her bedchamber or the gardens; during a bright day of spring, she decided to visit her parents' chamber, trying to come to terms with the memories of her childhood and the separation her parents forced in a way with her.
Thanks to Gerda, the room was clean and tidy, their belongings just like before they left, not a single object was out of place, the young Queen's heart ached. She wandered through the room touching the bedposts, the closet, the drapes; she opened her mother's closet and welcomed the familiar perfume of lilies, her fingers played with rings and necklaces she remembered on the former Queen so well. Elsa kept opening and closing drawers until she found an envelope with her name on flourished calligraphy, she broke the wax seal and took the letter from the inside.
My dear Elsa.
Once you have this letter in your power, your father and I will be back from Corona, and in no time, Princes, Kings and Emperors will be asking for your hand in marriage, you may feel it is too soon, but in these kind of affairs, time is not a luxury we have as regents.
I will tell you a story now, one I never told you before when you asked for a bedtime story as a child. Once upon a time, in a faraway kingdom, there was a widowed nobleman who lived with his only daughter; the girl was promised to a Lord's son, someone of her status and whom she knew quite well, but the young girl was not fond of him although he was a caring and gentle man. One day, riding through the forest, the girl met a young man near a lake resting next to his horse; he was really handsome, his smile was as bright as the sun and his eyes deep as the sea, it was love at first sight. They secretly met every day for months and every moment together only confirmed their feelings; the young man knew well the girl's identity, but he always kept his identity as a secret or changed the subject when she asked personal questions, she only knew his first name. During one of those encounters, the young man declared his love and although that made her the happiest girl on Earth, she declined her feelings and told him about her betrothal, their hearts broke. They decided to cease their encounters, but after a week of the resolution, the girl started to receive love letters with "A.A" as signature, she could only guess. The girl talked to her father, unable to stand the idea of being married to a man having feeling for another, and against his will, she broke the engagement with the young Lord, the news spread like powder.
Few day later, a Royal emissary arrived to the nobleman's land and announced the Prince was visiting in matter of days; three days after the announcement, the young man she used to meet by the lake arrived dressed in regal clothes and joined with a Royal court, she soon discovered he was the Heir Prince, paying her father a visit and asking for her hand in marriage. She said yes. They married, lived happily ever after and had the two most beautiful daughters anyone could ever ask for.
I have never told you this story, my dear Elsa, because it is my very own, and some stories are to be told only when the time is right. Your father and I are well aware of your feelings toward Miss Porter and that she loves you back as only true love is meant to be. We have been wrong all along asking you to deny your feeling and taking you away from your sister, because only in the companion of those who love you, you seem alive.
As I said before, suitors will ask for your hand in no time, but yours is the decision to accept or decline their feelings as well as your own. Love is an open door, do not close it rejecting who you are, for those who mind do not care and those who care do not mind.
-Your mother who loves you.
"Elsa?" Anna's voice broke her silent cry, her sister sat by her side and hugged her whipping away the tears. "What's wrong?" The young Queen gave her the letter, the redhead smiled shyly as tears were summoned to her eyes as well.
"They knew, Anna, they always knew" Elsa whispered.
"We all did, you were pretty obvious" her sister half laughed half cried, the blond smiled sadly.
"I ruined it."
"You thought the same about us and here I am, now it's time to find Jane and let you have your happy ending."
"She probably doesn't have the same feelings as before."
"I don't think so."
"Why are you so sure about it?"
"Because yours is true love."
Jane couldn't sleep so she went for a walk, with the moon as her only guide, she decided to go to the lake with the waterfall; she knew every tree, every branch and every root from her current home.
"Bloody hell" she said as she tripped with a root…maybe she forgot about that one; once she reached her destination, the girl took off her garments and ran into the welcoming cold water. She swam for a while, hopes set on that water would clean her mind as well as her body, Jane asked to forgive and forget, to start again. Facing the sky and surrounded by the liquid, her mind flew to the constellations she learned so well as a child.
"That one over there is Ursa Minor" a sixteen-year old Jane pointed from the woollen blanket they shared on top of the greenhouse, both girls sneaked out of Elsa's bedchamber as the young brunette promised the Princess the star gaze as a birthday gift "it is used by the travellers to find north and never get lost."
"It's beautiful" Elsa murmured "Did your father thought you all that?" Jane nodded.
"My father believes this could be useful" she shrugged, a sad expression crossed the blonde's eyes, Jane took her gloved hand "what is it, dear?"
"It's just" Elsa hesitated "I wish to spend more time with my parents, without fear to hurt them." Archimedes once told her daughter that actions can compensate the lack of words, so she just leaned, took the younger girl on her arms and pulled her close.
"I don't know what to say, Elsa, I wish I could help you." They held each other in silence for a while.
"I don't think I could identify Ursa Minor or any other constellation that easily" the Princess pondered, her eyes turning to the pale celestial body on the sky "I think I like the moon better."
"Really? How come?"
"Well, it's bigger and brighter, and it's there although you can't see it, also it doesn't matter where you are or which season it is, you will always see the same moon." Jane smiled and rested her head over Elsa's.
"Sounds beautiful, Your Highness." They turned facing each other, different kinds of blue met. "I have another gift for you" she whispered.
"What is it?"
"Close your eyes" she did, a hand cupped her cheek and a soft caress brushed her lips, it was new, yet she remembered the sensation from certain stormy night; they kissed clumsily, with the naivety and chastity of the first kiss, once they broke apart, shy smiles met.
"I love you, Jane." The Princess' young heart assured her.
"I love you too, Elsa" the night kept their love as a secret, the full moon and stars as the only witnesses of their feelings.
Jane stared at the sky, her fingers reached her lips, savouring the memory of her first legit kiss; her eyes then directed to the moon, the stories her father told her about how it controlled the tides as well as woman's cycles came to her mind, but her own were now following a different schedule, her tips moved down slowly and laid her palm on her belly closing her eyes.
"Are you going out today too?" Kristoff asked Elsa during breakfast, the girl already dressed in her now usual khaki trousers and boots with a pale blue shirt and her messenger bag on the floor.
"Maybe" she said sipping her tea, the boy smiled at her.
"You know, I originally came here like some sort of bodyguard to you, but you're doing fine without me."
"Kristoff, I didn't mean to…"
"Sorry, that came out wrong, it's just you seem relaxed, this Jane girl must have something to do with that, right?" Elsa blushed and looked away.
"Maybe" she muttered, the boy laughed.
"Hey, but seriously, you have to talk to her soon, we just have a couple weeks left."
"I know, it's just…I don't know where to begin."
"Oh, come on, whatever you did couldn't be so bad, right?" Elsa's expression made him think his statement twice "Right, maybe it was, but you're a different person now, even Anna says so and you guys had a rough story, you just have to show her that."
"Sounds like a good plan, any ideas?"
"Well, maybe you guys should do something together, you know, like when you were kids."
"Honestly, how do you come up with all this?"
"Blame it on the trolls." He simply answered with a wink.
Elsa's mind was set on finding Jane once more, to talk to her, tell her everything and make things right, then ask her to come back with her to Arendelle and live together like she always dreamed of, probably she could ask her to be her consort and…stop! Maybe she was moving fast. The Queen reached the cliff once more and sat down, taking out her sketchbook, she continued the drawing from the day before.
"Well, you've improved a lot" a soft voice said from her back, Elsa just smiled and turned around "How come I didn't scare you?"
"You were quite noisy, my dear, at first I thought it was a lost elephant."
"Glad to see you regained your sense of humour, Princess" the brunette answered sticking out her tongue and sitting next to Elsa.
"Queen" Jane looked at her. "I became the Queen of Arendelle two years ago." They both let the information set.
"The Queen" the brunette muttered "I've been gone for so long."
"Indeed, but it was all my fault."
"You could say." Jane's tone was harder than she intended, looking Elsa's pained expression, the brunette reached for the blonde's hand. "You don't wear gloves anymore" she pointed out in a small voice.
"Neither do you" little by little, their fingers interlaced, more like a reflection of their bodies than a conscious action. "I missed you, Jane."
"No, you didn't" sad, resentful eyes pierced cerulean orbs, both afraid of each other reaction.
"I did, I was a fool, I missed your laugh, your smile, your jokes at my expense. I missed your hands, your voice, your knowledge, your lips, the sweet gestures you always had with me. I missed you, Jane, all of you" teary eyes on both of them; a part of the brunette felt the same way, while the other wanted nothing more than nurse her anger.
"And when did you realized that?" Jane huffed her voice hard and ironic, trying not to break again in front of the person who shattered her.
"Five years, three months, two weeks and five days ago" the Queen answered containing her tears "since the day I was stupid enough to let you go." They would never knew who moved first, but suddenly they were embracing each other, tears running freely and hearts beat as one; all the anger, the resentment, the pain banishing probably by mere instants, but relieving their souls. They felt home again.
