"What time do you leave?" Elsa asked over her book.
"Seven tomorrow." Emily said, not looking up from the flames that leap at her will. The couple sat alone in the library this night. The rain that fell heavy against the glass of the windows created an atmosphere in the large room that Elsa didn't care for but Emily couldn't seem to get enough of.
"I wish you wouldn't do that!" Elsa mumbled as she watched her wife reach directly into the fire and shift the logs with her bare hands.
"You know it won't hurt me." Emily chuckled as she started to play with the flames again.
"Ya well it still scares me to see you elbow deep in flames." Elsa said as the corners of her mouth turned upwards.
"Hey!" Emily protested as the flames were extinguished by Elsa's ice smothering them.
"You need to learn to hold your ground. Your fire was there first so my ice shouldn't be able to budge it!" Elsa mocked, as she quoted what the girl had said two years ago in their first lesson together, with a wink.
"Well… look who has gotten sassy." Emily laughed as she sent sparks flying towards her smug wife. Elsa laughed as they tickled her cheeks and sent snowflakes to dance around the girl. One of the flakes found Emily's skin and it sizzled on contact with the girls higher than average body temperature. This sent Emily into fits of laughter as she fell onto the couch next to a very bitter Elsa.
"You know what this means…I am hotter than you." Emily joked as she gasped for air through the laughter.
"That means nothing; it was just because you were playing in that fire." Elsa's demeanor cracked and a small smile slipped onto her face as she watched her wife laugh. It was moments like this that Elsa lived for with her girl.
Various grunts and the bed wiggling woke Elsa from her peaceful dreams of winter the next morning, her eyes flying open and brain running through a million possible things that could be taking place on the other side of the bed behind her, none of them true. She rolled over to see Emily sitting on a traveling case trying to do up the last latch, colourful sleeves and old socks still hanging out of the dark case as her wife forced the lid shut.
"What am I looking at right now?" Elsa smiled as she watched the girl struggle for a few moments.
"Just…ugh…trying to…close this stupid thing." The brunette grunted without looking up at her.
"Packing already huh? I thought you didn't leave until tonight." The queen smiled as she rolled onto her back, watching.
"No I told you I leave at seven." Emily confirmed when she finally slid the last latch shut on her trunk.
"Oh…I thought you meant seven at night." Elsa finally took her eyes off the girl she loved to take in her surroundings, seeing the sky was still dark outside. "What time is it?"
"Five am."
"Come back to bed love." Elsa said with a smile as she reached for the girl. Emily chuckled before locking eyes with her wife.
"I need to get down to the docks to check that the crew is all there and the boat is ready."
"Since when do you worry about things like that?" Elsa asked curiously, propping herself up on her elbows.
"I just want to make sure everything is…prepared, so that I can make this trip and come back home to you safe and sound, in no time." She smiled before climbing onto the bed and crawling towards Elsa. The blonde smiled mischievously up at her before kissing her gently.
"It's just a trip to Torandale, that's a two day trip maximum and you are acting like you are going to sail to the edge of the earth, silly girl." The younger of the two joked in between kisses. "We have made the trip dozens of times."
"Yes but this time you won't be with me to protect me from all the scary sea monsters." Emily laughed as she rolled off the bed. "Come on love; walk me down to the docks."
Elsa reluctantly stood and created an ice dress that hugged her form, making the slit that ran up the leg a little higher than usual, much to the appreciation of her wife. Emily smiled as she watched Elsa walk out the door in front of her; she could tell Elsa was swaying her hips more than normal, maybe trying to convince her to stay. It was almost working…
The boat slowly drifted out of the fjord as Elsa watched the sun come up behind it, illuminating the outline of the ship. Her hand lifted to play with the end of her signature braid that was lying on her shoulder. She may have been standing on the shore but her heart and mind were on that ship with the woman she loved.
"Be safe my love." Elsa whispered as the ship finally reached a point out of her sight.
She stumbled through the town towards the castle, vaguely aware that her guards were casting worried looks in her direction as she walked. All around her Arendelle was coming to life, shop keepers opening their windows and the smell of baked goods wafted through the windows of the bakery. People started to pile into the streets, going about their normal daily business, many nodded to the queen or shook her hand but Elsa didn't really notice any of them. A numb feeling had consumed her body the second the ship had pushed away from the dock; it filled her veins with lead and clouded her mind. Emily had gone on trips alone, ones far longer than this one, but something seemed off about this time. Maybe it was the suddenness of it, or the way Emily had worried about the crew and ship. Or maybe it was the way Emily had said goodbye one too many times for it to be normal, the way she had said she loved her with just a hint of sadness tickling her tone.