Elsa turned in her bed yet again. Her mind was in overdrive since Grace had kissed her cheek. She knew it was a simple friendly gesture that she was overthinking, but she could still feel the place where the older girl's soft lips had touched her.

She sighed and stared at the ceiling. That ceiling that she had spent all of her life staring at. She sat up. There was no way that she would be sleeping any time soon. She had been trying to fall into the dreamworld for an hour and she was still restless. Elsa threw her legs over the side of the bed and stood, feeling the cool stone beneath her bare feet. The last thing that she wanted to do were her queenly duties so she opted to go to the library instead. Hopefully she could lose herself within a book before tiredness finally hit her.

Elsa wrapped her robe around herself before silently leaving her room. It was the middle of the night and she really didn't expect to bump into anyone, not even the servants. She moved quietly through the castle and soon reached the library, letting herself into the big room before noticing that it was occupied.

The fire was lit, casting a warm glow into the room and Elsa could see that someone was sitting in one of the large, comfy chairs by the fireplace. As the Queen approached, she saw it was the very person keeping her awake.

"I thought I told you to rest." Elsa said, announcing herself.

Grace, again unsurprised, smiled, not taking her eyes off the book that she held. "Couldn't sleep." She seemed to finish her sentence before looking up at the Queen. "Shouldn't you be resting?"

"Couldn't sleep." Elsa mimicked Grace, smirking at the white-haired girl. Grace raised an eyebrow in amusement.

Elsa sat in the chair opposite, taking in the other girl's appearance. She still wore the clothes that she had worn in the council room, that slightly see-through top allowed the Queen to see Grace's markings and bra. She blushed and looked towards the fire.

"Are you hot?" she questioned.

"Always." Another round of what felt like molten lead coursed through her veins, causing her to grit her teeth and take a sharp breath.

"Is it getting worse?"

"Unfortunately yes." Grace's eyes swept over Elsa, causing the blonde to feel hot all over. "Not expecting to bump into anyone?"

Elsa laughed. "I guess not."

Grace sat forward, placing the book she had been reading own on the table beside her. Elsa looked over and saw it was her favourite book, Beauty and the Beast.

"Why are you reading this?" she asked curiously.

Grace shrugged slighting, wincing at the action. "I saw it was well worn on the spine and so must have been read a lot… it was you, wasn't it?"

"What do you mean?"

"You're making that face." Elsa frowned, confused. "You know, that face where your eyebrows pull together and you purse your lips- Yes that one!" Grace exclaimed excitedly when Elsa pulled that exact face. The truth was, that face only appeared when Elsa found something very touching. Apparently she was using it quite a lot around Grace.

Elsa sighed, trying to contain her butterflies. "Yes. It was, is, my favourite." She admitted.

"It's a good story. One I've heard before but never had the pleasure of reading." Elsa smiled at Grace. "So, I believe that you wanted to know a little about me…?" Elsa nodded, leaning forward. "Well, then, My Qu- Elsa, ask away."

"Where are you from?"

"Another world. A dying world, ravaged by war, far from here."

"Dying?"

"The land itself was collapsing in on itself. Floods, droughts, famines. It wasn't sustainable."

"What about you?"

"Me?"

Elsa hesitated, thinking of the right words. "Who are you, exactly?"

Grace leant back, sinking into the chair. "My name is Grace Forester, just a girl from another world. I never asked for power, let alone to be what I am." She sighed. "But, I do believe that this was going to be a two way get-to-know each other?"

Elsa inwardly cringed. She had wanted to avoid any questions her way, but her desire to know about Grace made her nod.

"Alright, go ahead."

"What do you think about your powers?"

"I've spent my entire life hating them. I hurt Anna when we were little, freezing her head. For the next thirteen years I locked myself away, even from my parents, but it did no good." She took a shaky breath. "I lost control of my powers at my coronation and fled. Anna followed me and I froze her heart…" Elsa choked back a sob. She hadn't spoken about this to anyone, not even Anna. She was sure that Grace would think she was a monster after she finished her story. "She saved herself when she saved me, her act of love thawing her when she froze…" a stray tear escaped the blonde's eye and she looked to the fire.

She felt a warm hand on her knee and turned her head to see Grace kneeling before her. "I know there is little that I can say to make you feel better, but dwelling on the past can hurt so much. Anna is still here, alive, and keeping your focus on the future will help the pain fade."

"Does it get easier?"

"No. But it can get better if you let it."

Elsa smiled. "Thank you."

"No. Thank you for telling me that. It can't have been easy admitting that." Grace stood stiffly and made her way back to her seat. "Now, feel free to ask me anything."

"How did you get that scar?" the blonde asked without thinking.

Grace's jaw clenched. "Topless huh? I guess I expected this question. When I was sixteen, I faced creatures called Titans. They are giant humanoids, always grinning," she closed her eyes slowly as if she were trying to suppress the memory, her expression pained, but not from her injuries. "I helped fight them. So many people were killed." She closed her eyes and Elsa was worried that she had pushed her too far. "Humanity prevailed, but the costs were so great it didn't feel like a victory. One of the titans tried to grab me but it was hurt. It already had a sword through its hand. It cut me up."

Elsa stared at Grace. What she had been through sounded horrific. No wonder she lost her temper at Khione earlier. "What about those markings on your skin?" she asked, hoping to change the subject.

Surprisingly, Grace's face brightened. "It's like my body is a blank diary and when something important happens, another mark appears."

"Tell me about them."

"You know that tree on my forearm represents my life. A constant reminder of my mortality really." She looked at the mark before showing it to Elsa. Half the branches were bare, startling Elsa at first, but when she looked more closely, there were buds of blossom beginning to appear. "As you can see, I took a blow that nearly killed me. But as I recover, so does this tree. My other forearm shows-" She stopped when she looked at it. Elsa could see the snowflakes had aligned. "Um, yeah, snowflakes. Did you see the eyes on my collarbones?" she pulled her top open, exposing the markings and also her flawless chest. Elsa nodded but chose not to question the snowflakes. "Well, they reflect my own eyes but are an ancient design from my world. I got them after the Titan war."

Elsa was still staring at Grace's chest. "Have you ever been in love?"

"Huh?" Grace frowned in confusion.

Elsa blushed. "Oh, nothing, uh-"

"Have I ever been in love? No. I guess I never found the right person. I mean, come on, you can't exactly fall in love with someone in a day."

Elsa laughed, thinking about Anna and Hans. Grace had said pretty much exactly what she had said to her sister.

"Ok, so what do you like doing? What are your interests?"

Grace smiled when she thought that it sounded like the kind of question you get on a date, a thought that sent unexpected jolts through her. "I was from a family of wood specialists, a mix of carpenters and wood-choppers. I always liked making things from wood. It calms my mind. I guess it's because with ice, you can think what you want to make and create it easily, but carving wood is hard work. What about you?"

Elsa smiled at the thought of Grace working on a little piece of wood, eyebrows furrowed and tongue sticking out in concentration. "Well, I must seem incredibly boring compared to you." Grace raised an eyebrow, allowing Elsa to continue. "I like to read quite a lot-"

"What do you like reading?"

Elsa was shocked that Grace seemed interested in her. "Anything; poetry, history, stories of faraway places…" Grace was staring intensely at the queen, causing the blonde's heart rate to quicken.

"Your own interests are what make you unique and you are not boring at all, Elsa."

"How is it that you know exactly what to say in any occasion?"

Grace smiled widely, displaying her perfectly straight white teeth. "Well, I wouldn't say that I always know what to say, but the truth is important."

All of a sudden, pain shot through Grace, ten times worse than it had been before. She could feel the fire in her blood, shooting through her veins, rushing to her heart, causing it to constrict painfully, before sending it to her brain, blackening her vision entirely.

Grace's eyelids felt heavy as she fought to open them. She was aware of coolness on her cheeks as she finally pried her eyelids open.

Elsa was knelt beside her on the floor, her hands on Grace's cheeks, trying to get some reaction from the girl who had just keeled over. When Grace's mismatched eyes opened and met Elsa's wide, worried brilliant blue ones, she breathed a sigh of relief.

"Ugh, Elsa, what happened?" her head was pounding and her chest was aching.

"I'm not sure, you just slumped and fell to the floor. I thought you were dead."

Grace attempted to sit up, hissing with the effort. Elsa wrapped an arm around her back and helped to lift her, feeling the muscles working. She helped Grace to lean back against the chair.

Grace smiled. "You must know by now that I'm not that easy to get rid of."

Elsa stared at Grace before smiling too. "How can you joke when you just fainted through the pain?"

"It's a skill of mine."

Elsa laughed, properly for the first time. She looked to Grace and realised how close they were. Her arm was still wrapped around Grace's waist and she was leaning into the other girl. For the first time, she didn't blush, but held Grace's gaze, marvelling, yet again in her strange eyes.

It had been hard, accepting who she was, in every way, but with Anna's support, and unintentionally, Grace's support, she felt more confident and less embarrassed about herself. She didn't choose to be this way, or to have powers, but it happened, and rather than fight it, if she discreetly went with it, maybe it would get better.

"You should get back to bed and rest. If your episodes are getting worse, I don't want you doing something that could hurt you."

"So no woodcarving?"

Elsa chuckled, "No, no woodcarving."

"But anything could hurt me." Grace whined and Elsa's chuckle turned into a proper laugh.

"You're such a child." She said, causing Grace to laugh momentarily before grimacing in pain. "Sorry." She said.

"Don't worry, but I think that you're right. That last one took it out of me." She sighed.

Elsa nodded and helped Grace get slowly to her feet. The older girl groaned, leaning heavily on Elsa. She let the queen guide her, not actually paying attention to where she was going, rather focussing on not stepping on Elsa's feet.

"We're here."

"That was quick- this, uh, isn't my room…?"

"No. This is mine. I hope I wasn't too forward in thinking that it would be alright if you slept here?"

"Uh, no, that's fine, but, um, why?"

"Well, you were right. You shouldn't sleep alone tonight. You could have an episode and suffocate."

"So you're going to watch me all night?"

Elsa laughed. "As much fun as that would be, I think I would very much like to sleep."

"Ok. So I'll sleep on the floor." Elsa looked as if she were about to protest. "No. I'm sorry but there has to be some sort of rule about sharing a bed with the queen."

"I'm not just a queen." Elsa said quietly.

Immediately, Grace regretted her words. "I'm sorry Elsa. I wasn't thinking. I know that you are so much more than a queen." Elsa looked away, showing that she didn't believe Grace. "You are not only powerful, but you are smart, my God you're smart, you're funny, you're beautiful and you are my friend." Elsa blushed. "Like I said, you are so much more than a queen."

"Thank you for your kind words-"

"Please believe them."

Elsa sighed. "One day. But yes. Of course there is a rule about sleeping with the queen, per say. I have a rather large sofa in my room, I will sleep there tonight."

"No Elsa, please. I can't force you out of your own bed."

"Well, you are definitely not sleeping on the sofa."

"And neither are you."

"Fine."

"Fine?"

"You wanted to sleep in the same bed as me so badly then fine. You get your wish."

Elsa stormed to one side of the bed and threw her robe off, climbing into the bed. She watched as Grace painstakingly took off her boots and then she was surprised when Grace took off her top, leaving her in just her bra, again. As she turned to put her top down, Elsa saw the full extent of her scar, starting from her right hip and extending to her left shoulder blade. Neither said anything as Grace joined Elsa in the bed.

Elsa leant over and blew out the single candle that had illuminated the room. They both lay on their backs, staring at the ceiling.

"I'm sorry Elsa."

Grace's voice broke the silence. The blonde turned her head to look at the other girl, only to find her already looking at her. She could see her eyes, reflecting the sky that was awake.

Conceal. Don't feel. Don't let it show.

"I'm sorry too, Grace."

Elsa could see Grace's smile before she closed her eyes and drifted off to sleep.