Ah. Welcome back dear reader,

Like I promised at the end of last chapter, this chapter has more Eve. I hope you'll enjoy this chapter. Also, this will be the last winter-themed chapter. At least for now. I feel like it's about time for spring to show it's beautiful graceful face within this story.

Chapter 11: Melting the Ice

It was late in the evening. Rena had just crawled into bed. She was smiling, happily thinking back to Raven's surprised expression when she revealed the painting of Seris she'd made for him. Content with what she'd done that day, she went to sleep.

Rena woke up when she felt a presence right next to her. However, she kept her eyes shut as she knew this presence. She felt a soft and smooth hand caress her cheek. The hand was warm. "She's lying in my bed next to me?" Rena thought.
"I see you've learned more about Raven." A feminine voice whispered from right next to Rena. The voice sounded gentle and caring despite speaking in a monotonous tone. Rena felt a shift in weight beside her as the mysterious woman from before got up a bit and brought her head closer to Rena's. She supported herself with her arm by placing her hand behind Rena. Making her arm arch over Rena. Rena felt the woman's breath on her ear.
"You're awake aren't you?" The woman whispered in Rena's ear. This startled Rena. She shot up and quickly crawled backward in panic, causing her to fall out of her bed. As she fell she hit the nightstand with the back of her head.

As Rena sat on the floor, rubbing the painful bump on the back of her head as the mysterious woman crawled over to the side of the bed. There she lay on her stomach, supporting her head in the palms of her hands. Looking at Rena an amused smile appeared on the woman's usually emotionless face. Rena looked up at the silver-haired woman and was instantly reminded of how beautiful she was in person. The moonlight seeping in from the window fell of the woman's head, making it look like she was a living ice statue. Rena couldn't keep her eyes off her.

The mysterious woman stepped out of Rena's bed and walked up to the painting Rena had made of her. She stroked the painting's frame with her fingertips.
"You've always had real talent." She spoke softly. Rena continued to stare at her, looking at the wavy silver hair that seemed to flow down the woman's shoulders, reaching to just above her hips. "Her hair looks so smooth. And her waist and hips are perfect. Wait! What am I thinking? I still don't even know anything about her!" Rena shook her head and took a deep breath, gathering courage.
"Just who are you?" Rena asked in a whisper, just loud enough for the woman to be able to hear her.
"Not yet." The woman said as she turned to face Rena, her face back to her usual emotionless expression. "However," she continued. "You know who I am. You know my name. Don't you Rena?"

Rena felt cold sweat breaking out on her forehead. "I do? I do! Don't I? But, but, how?" Rena panicked as she didn't understand. The world seemed to spin before her eyes. "Why do I know her name?" She thought as the world before her eyes became fuzzy.
"Eve…" Rena whispered as she stared at the woman's expressionless face which had also been reduced to a blur.

Then, she lost consciousness.

Rena woke up violently. Sitting up in her bed instantaneously. Her eyes were wide open. She looked around. "Didn't I pass out on the floor?" Rena thought to herself. She groaned as she felt the bump on the back of her head throbbing painfully. Rena closed her eyes and sighed. "I must've been put back into bed by E-" Rena opened her eyes as she caught herself thinking of the mysterious woman's name as if she'd always known it.
"Eve…" She whispered the name. Rena was sure of it. The mysterious woman was called Eve. "Why do I know her name? It doesn't make sense. I never met her before I came here and she never said her name to me." Rena looked at the painting of Eve that hung opposite her bed on the wall. "She's so beautiful. Almost like an angel."

Rena was pulled back into reality by the sound of metal colliding with wood.
"Yes Raven?" She asked.
"Ah miss Rena, you're awake." Rena heard Raven's voice say from the other side of the door. "It is almost noon. Also, it has gotten less cold than the last few days. You should be able to go ice skating today." Rena almost jumped out of bed as she heard that. She had anticipated being able to go ice skating for so long now that she completely forgot about the things that she was worrying about.

After a quick, late breakfast Rena went by Aisha and now the two of them found themselves heading to Lake Noahs. Rena was incredibly excited and couldn't stop smiling with anticipation.
"You're looking forward to this aren't you?" Aisha laughed. Rena's grin only grew wider.

When the girls reached the frozen lake, they noticed quite a group of people already present. Rena watching in awe as she saw children and adults gliding over the ice. Some looked like graceful dancers elegantly swaying over the frozen water. Others looked like human bullets, moving as fast as they did over the icy surface of the lake. Suddenly Rena became a tiny bit nervous.
"Hey Aisha?" She said as she tugged on Aisha's sleeve like a nervous child trying to get their parent's attention.
"Hm?"
"Is Ice skating difficult?" Aisha giggled as she looked at Rena's expression. Rena looked so lost and cute.
"Don't worry." Aisha said reassuringly. "I'll teach you."

Aisha and Rena had gone to a more remote part of the lake after they'd rented a pair of skates for Rena to use from a woman named Helen that had set up a stall nearby the lake.
"Okay then." Aisha said. "Got your skates on?"
"Yup. Are you sure about this though?" Rena asked nervously.
"Don't worry. I'll cast a magic barrier around you so that even if you fall you won't get hurt."
"Fall?" Rena asked frightened.
"Yes, fall." Aisha said. "Learning is a process of falling and getting back up after all."
"I suppose that's true." Rena said, still somewhat scared to fall.

"That's it, you're doing great!" Aisha encouraged Rena as Rena managed to stand upright on her skates on the ice, maintaining her balance. "Alright, now you can try walking forward like normal. That'll get you used to moving on the ice. Once you're used to walking we can try doing the actual skating manoeuvres."
"O-okay." Rena stammered as she nervously moved her right foot forward. Then her left. Then her right again. So, she managed to take a few steps.
"I-I'm doing it!" Rena said overjoyed as she moved forward carefully.
"Very good Rena. Think you're ready for the next step?" Aisha laughed.
"Bring it on!" Rena said confidently.

About twenty minutes later Rena was skating across the ice as if she'd never done anything else in her life. She'd fallen once or twice but due to Aisha's barrier magic she hadn't gotten hurt. Both Rena and Aisha zoomed across the lake. Rena had never enjoyed herself this much before in her life. She felt like she was flying. Aisha was also having a great time as she was a bit more experienced and as such quite a bit faster than Rena. Rena watched Aisha fly by her with her eyes closed.

Suddenly Rena saw that Aisha was heading straight for a hole in the ice.
"Watch out!" She shouted but it was too late. Aisha skated right into the hole and disappeared under water. Rena quickly skated over to the hole.
"Aisha!" She shouted. The water was murky and dark but Rena managed to see Aisha. She dropped flat on her stomach and reached her hands into the icy cold water. Rena managed to just grab Aisha's hands. Pulling with all her strength she tried to pull Aisha out of the water. But she wasn't strong enough.
"What're you doing there?" Rena heard a boy's voice ask. Rena looked up without letting go of Aisha to see a familiar-looking red-haired boy standing on the shore of the lake. He was clad in red armour.
"Hey, aren't you that elf that came to live in the villa nearby Ruben?" The boy asked. "Rena right?"
"No time!" Rena shouted. "Aisha fell into this hole and I can't pull her out!"
"What!?" The young knight rushed over to Rena and also stuck his hands under water. He grabbed Aisha's hands as well and together Rena and the young knight managed to pull Aisha out of the water.

Aisha was shivering and was close to losing consciousness.
"We need to get her someplace warm." The young knight said.
"The villa isn't too far from here." Rena spoke.
"Then let's go." The young knight said as he lifted Aisha onto his back. Together they made for the villa as fast as they could. Raven was there so when they arrived and had quickly explained the situation he took Aisha and brought her to the bathroom.
"Miss Rena, you must get her out of those wet clothes and put her under the shower. Make sure the water isn't too warm. It should be about body temperature." Raven instructed. Rena nodded and went into the bathroom with Aisha.

Sitting down on the floor beside the bathroom door, the young knight sighed in relief.
"Could you keep an eye on them for a minute?" Raven asked. "I'll quickly swing by Aisha's place to pick up some dry clothes for her."
"Won't her door be locked?" The young knight asked.
"She entrusted miss Rena with a spare key a while ago." Raven explained.

A few minutes after Raven had left Rena stepped out of the bathroom.
"Where's Raven?" She asked, looking around.
"He went to Aisha's house to pick up some spare clothes." The young knight answered.
"Ah, Elsword!" Rena said as if she just noticed his presence. "I haven't thanked you for your help yet."
"You remember my name?" Elsword asked, genuinely surprised.
"Of course I remember. We met the first time I visited Ruben. I can't believe I haven't seen you since then. How's Elesis?"
"Strong and strict as ever." Elsword replied with a smirk. "But how is Aisha?" The knight asked, suddenly sounding very concerned which surprised Rena a little.
"She's still feeling cold but she's fine now." Rena said reassuringly. "I was thinking it'd be a good idea to get her to the living room and turn on the fireplace." A light blush appeared on Elsword's face.

"You might want to help her into this then." They heard a deep male voice say. They turned and saw Raven standing at the end of the hallway holding a set of dry clothing for Aisha.

The fireplace was warming up the living room. Aisha sat in the middle of the three-seat sofa wraped in a blanket with Rena sitting to the left of her while Elsword sat to her right. Raven was in the kitchen preparing some hot cocoa for the four of them.

It was mostly silent except for the crispy sound of the logs burning in the fireplace. There was an awkward tension in the air and Rena didn't quite understand why. She realized she didn't even know whether or not Aisha and Elsword knew each other. Although she had the creeping suspicion they did. Rena felt the silence taking way too long as the atmosphere became more and more uncomfortable. As she was just about to speak up, Aisha spoke up just before her.
"Thanks for saving me Els." She said quietly. Fidgeting with the blanket that was draped over her shoulders.
"Just doing my job." Elsword replied without so much as glancing in Aisha's direction. He seemed focused on the burning fire in the fireplace.

Rena observed the two youngsters. It was obvious something was going on between the two of them. Rena decided it might be an idea to leave them alone for a bit.
"I'll go help Raven in the kitchen real quick. I'll be right back." She said with a nervous smile and quickly left the living room. In the hallway Raven was just walking up to the living room holding a tray with four cups on them. White steam rose from every cup.
"Ah miss-" Raven was cut short by Rena as she brought her finger up to her lips, making it obvious she wanted Raven to be quiet. The black-haired man nodded and kept quiet. Rena leaned against the living room door and pressed her long, pointy ear against it.

In the living room Aisha and Elsword were quiet. Their silence lasted several minutes until Elsword let out a deep sigh.
"Are you okay?" He said, acting as if he did not really care. He didn't want Aisha to think he was worried but at the same time he wanted to know.
"I'm fine. Though I don't remember asking you to save me." Aisha huffed.
"Like I said, it's my job."
"Yes, your job that you thought was more important than me. And now that same job brought us here. The universe sure has a cruel sense of humour." Aisha snorted humourlessly. It became silent again. After another few minutes the silence was once again broken by a sigh. This time it was Aisha.
"So how have you been?" She asked.
"I've been training hard under Elesis' instruction. I've gotten quite a bit stronger." Elsword smirked.
"Of course, Elesis, your sister." Aisha said absent-mindedly. She didn't dislike Elesis. But she always thought Elsword was way too clingy to his older sister.
"You know," Elsword stared. "I know why you broke up with me. It wasn't because my job was dangerous. Or because you thought I was way too focussed on it." Aisha looked in Elsword's direction.
"It was because you thought Elesis was way more important to me than you right?" Aisha felt tears welling up. She nodded hesitantly. Elsword turned to Aisha and grabbed her hand.
"I'm sorry." They both said at the same time causing a blush to appear on both of their faces.

Outside the living room Rena was now peeking through the keyhole and saw the situation in the living room. Raven had handed her a cup of cocoa and she took a sip. She stood up and Raven looked at her. Rena smiled, causing Raven to smile as well.
"I suppose we'll leave them alone a little bit longer." Raven said. Rena nodded.
"I suppose we will." She smiled.

That night Aisha stayed the night so Raven and Rena could keep an eye on her. Elsword stayed for dinner as Rena insisted he should but after dinner he left quickly. Aisha waved at him happily when he left. Now knowing that she was the most important girl in his life as opposed to his sister.

Raven had prepared the guest room for Aisha and both he and Rena had gone to their own rooms. Rena was about to crawl into bed when she heard a footstep behind her. Turning around she saw a person she didn't expect to see again so soon.
"Eve…" Rena muttered, sounding a bit angry though she didn't mean to.
"You always manage to make the people around you happy. That is your special ability." The silver-haired and golden-eyed woman said softly. Eve walked up to Rena and laid her hand on the elf's cheek. Her hand felt warm and soft. Rena closed her eyes and concentrated on Eve's warm hand.
"Soon." Eve spoke. "Soon, you'll make me happy. And then I will make you happy as well."

Eve turned away from Rena and walked out of the bedroom through the bedroom door. Rena saw the door close and hesitated for a second before she walked up to the door, opened it and stepped into the hallway. As she stood in the hallway there was no sign of Eve. It was like she'd disappeared into thin air.

Rena sighed as she had gotten back into bed. "Making people happy is my special ability huh? I didn't even do anything for Elsword and Aisha. They worked out their troubles themselves." She didn't understand what Eve meant. But it made her happy nonetheless. She fell asleep with a smile on her face.

That night marked the first night strange, but familiar dreams would start to plague Rena.

This chapter was mostly written during early morning train rides from home to college and late evening train rides going home from a long day at college so if things don't make a whole lot of sense, there's the reason.

So yeah, Elsword x Aisha. I'm sorry if you don't like that pairing. Don't worry. There won't be much of a focus on it anyway. The main focus will be on Rena and whomever she ends up with.

Fun fact: This is the longest chapter in this story to date (2747 words of actual story). I believe it was also the longest in term of the amount of different events.

If you found this chapter to be enjoyable even the slightest bit then you make me very happy. If you have any ideas, suggestions, complaints, criticism or if you've found any mistakes, leave a review. I love reading your feedback.

Next chapter: Spring! Let us do away with the cold and heat things up! Huzzah!

May we meet again, fare thee well.