Elsa watched Merida pass her by, followed by Elinor. Part of her wanted to reach out and stop her, but that would only be confirming Merida's assessment. She had to let Merida work this through on her own. She looked around and realized she stood in the middle of the throne room in a ruined dress, tears rolling down her face. Suddenly a large hand clapped her shoulder.

Fergus smiled gently at Elsa. "She didn't say 'no' lass. Give her some time." He nudged her in the direction of the stairs. "Come on, let's get you to a room."

A man in the group of Scotsmen muttered something about a sea monster before the rest hushed him and Fergus shot him a glare. Elsa wrapped her arms around herself and let Fergus lead her out of the throne room.

"I imagine you left the day of your wedding?" he asked.

Elsa nodded. "I almost went through with it to be honest. But when I saw him standing there, I just couldn't do it. I don't know why it took me so long." They walked toward her old lodgings. Elsa was almost surprised Fergus had remembered.

"You hurt her," he said quietly.

Elsa bit her lip, "I know. I was so angry. I was trying to deal with everything and she pushed me. For a while I thought she'd come back, that we could talk through it. But she didn't. I know this is my fault but I couldn't help but feel…" She paused, unsure if she should go on.

"Feel what, lass?"

"Like she abandoned me, like she didn't trust me. Which isn't fair, I know, I should have been more firm with my council."

"Well, my daughter can be a bit brash; I don't know if you're the only one at fault. It seems to me, both of you have something problems to deal with." They stopped in front of a door and Fergus opened it, stepping aside to allow Elsa in. "You wait here and think it over. I'll find something more… suitable for you." He shut the door and walked away, leaving Elsa to listen to the retreating thud of his footsteps. After those vanished, just the hammering of her heart remained.

Merida swung at her bedpost again. The wood splintered but did not break. She growled and tugged the sword free. It would not take her mother long to catch up. She would take the sword away as soon as she saw.

Two swings later and the doorknob turned. Merida's mother walked in, keeping her distance as Merida swung the sword one last time, embedding it in the bedpost and leaving it there. "Who does she think she is?" Merida asked, pointed toward the doorway. Elinor stood back and folded her arms. "She just – I mean, she bursts in here and apologizes, thinking everything will be all right with a few words. Does she realize what she did to me? How painful everything I went through was?"

Elinor still said nothing. She waited while Merida began pacing.

"I gave up my home for her! I sailed all the way to Arrendelle and stayed there for months just to be with her! And she… and she." Merida stopped pacing and turned to Elinor. "Mom, she chose them over me."

"I know it feels like that, dear. So why is she standing here, in this castle?"

Merida sniffed and wiped her eyes. She still wanted to be angry, but could not muster up the strength. "Maybe he was really ugly," she said.

Elinor shook her head. "Hush now. Come here." She opened her arms and Merida allowed herself to be pulled into a tight embrace. She released a shuddery breath that turned into a sob and held her mother tightly while she cried.

"Oh mom," she said. She could feel Elinor's hand gently stroking the back of her head. "I thought I'd never see her again, and then she showed up here and asked me to marry her." Merida's hands tightened on her mother's clothes. Her knees felt weak. "Why would she do that?"

"Perhaps she really does want to marry you?"

Merida sobbed again. "She couldn't have realized that weeks ago?"

Her mother made another hushing sound and continued to stroke her hair. "Well, how long did you give her to decide?"

Merida looked up at her mother. "What do you mean?"

"When you asked her, how long did you wait before coming home?"

"I…um, well it was complicated. We were sort of fighting about the fact that she was even considering the agreement and I…just sort of blurted it out. I mean, this…this isn't sounding good is it?" Merida asked.

"So you proposed to her in the middle of a fight when she was scared and vulnerable, then left before the two of you could calm down and talk about it like reasonable adults?" Elinor raised a brow. "Honestly, I'm surprised she's not furious with you."

Merida let go of her mother. "Me? She almost got married!"

"You knew when you two started courting that this was all new for her. She admitted to me that even she didn't know what was going on between you two. And suddenly you propose to her? You don't think that was pushing her? Just a little?"

"I…" Merida looked away.

"I know the idea of running off into the sunset and getting married is romantic, but the world doesn't work that way, Merida. The two of you need to talk about this seriously. Discuss your future with her and decide what you both need in order to still have one together."

Merida took a deep breath. "I think you're right. I should go talk to her." She headed to the door.

"And Merida," Elinor called. "Try to be patient. Remember she is hurting too."

Elsa sat at the window overlooking DunBroch. The winter snow had already begun to melt and she was trying her best to keep from adding to it. She heard the creak of the door opening and turned.

"Hi," Merida said. She hesitated in the doorway before coming into the room and shutting the door behind her.

"Hi," Elsa replied. Merida leaned against the wall on the far side of the room.

"Um, nice dress." Merida gestured at the plain green cloth embroidered with a gold trim. "Is that my mom's?"

Elsa nodded. "Yes. Your father was kind enough to get it for me." She tried to catch Merida's gaze, but the redhead studied the floor intently.

"So, you didn't get married then?" Merida said at last.

"I'll admit I cut it a little close, but I just couldn't do it."

Merida met her gaze. "How close?"

"The priest was very surprised when I jumped out of the window."

"You jumped out of the chapel?"

"The roof is surprisingly easy to slide down, given proper amounts of snow." Elsa felt a trace of a smile tug at her lips. "I thought you would approve; everyone was scandalized."

"I'll bet." Merida smiled briefly. They fell into silence. "Elsa." Merida took a breath. "Were you – are you mad at me?"

"I was at first. I felt a little…abandoned. I wrote to you trying to explain what I was thinking through. Did you read it?"

"Some of it. I stopped after a while."

"Part of me thought that if you'd just stayed, we could have fixed it. But as I sat on the ship and thought about what I was going to say to you, I realized I couldn't leave everything up to you. As much as you like to take care of me, I need to be able to do things on my own. To stand up for you. I didn't stand up for you and I should have."

"Elsa, it wasn't fair of me to storm off like I did either. I'm sorry that I wasn't more patient with you." Merida took a step forward. "We won't get very far if I run across the ocean after every fight." She ran a hand through her hair. "It's just that, whenever I get upset I always feel like the rooms are closing in and I feel the need to just…breathe. To get as far away as possible. To be honest, I was hoping you'd stop me from leaving."

"I should have. I certainly thought about it," Elsa admitted. "I was stubborn and stupid. There's no excuse for it, really."

"We're a pair aren't we?" Merida moved closer, just a few steps away.

"Are we Merida? Are we still?" Elsa asked.

Merida held her gaze. "I want to be. Do you?"

Elsa blinked back tears. "What the hell do you think I'm doing here? Of course I do."

"So, what do we do now?"

"Can I hold you?" Elsa asked.

In response, Merida closed the remaining distance and wrapped her arms tightly around Elsa. Elsa pressed her face against Merida's neck and buried her fingers in Merida's hair.

"I missed you so much." Elsa's words were muffled against Merida's neck.

"I missed you too." Elsa felt Merida's tears falling against her cheek. "I thought I'd never see you again."

"I'm so sorry. I'm so, so sorry it too me this long." Elsa's own tears fell and she hugged Merida tighter.

"I never should have left you. I don't want to ever leave you again." Merida nuzzled against Elsa's cheek.

"I won't let you. I won't let you walk away again. I'm going to hold onto you like this and not move ever." Elsa muttered.

Merida chuckled softly. "That's going to make some things a little awkward."

"I don't care." Elsa pulled back enough to look Merida in the eyes. "You…never answered my question earlier."

"Which?" Merida asked.

"The one where I asked you to marry me."

"I don't recall it being a question." Merida teased. "You just said you wanted to."

"I do want to marry you." Elsa said softly. "I did when you asked me in Arrendelle, I just was too frightened to say yes."

Merida smiled. "We don't do anything properly do we? You don't even have a ring."

Elsa bit her lip. "I have thought about that." She took a step back and dropped to one knee. She cupped her hands together and closed her eyes. A moment later she opened them.

"Merida, will you marry me?" she opened her hands. Resting on her palm was a small ring made from ice. It was impossibly intricate with small Celtic knot-work surrounding the crystal in the center.

"Elsa," Merida breathed. "Are you sure?"

"I've never been more certain," Elsa said.

Merida knelt down as well, meeting Elsa's gaze. "Yes."

Elsa took Merida's left hand and with shaking fingers and slowly slid the ring on.

Merida stared at it. "It's not even cold."

"It's magic ice Merida. As long as I live, it will never melt."

Merida smiled and rested her forehead against Elsa's. "You're so romantic when you've a mind to be."

"Don't tell Anna, she doesn't think I have a romantic bone in my body."

"It'll be our secret. You'll have to give me a little time to get you your ring. I can't just conjure one like some people."

Elsa laughed and cupped Merida's cheek. "I'll wait as long as it takes. I don't mind." She sighed and dropped her hand back down, standing and pulling Merida up with her. "So what do we do now?"

Merida shrugged. "I suppose we could tell my parents. They both seemed a little concerned about us."

Elsa's eyes widened at the mention of family. "I have to tell Anna," she said. "Oh goodness. I've left her in charge of the kingdom all this time."

"I wouldn't worry about her." Merida tugged on her hand and led them toward the door. "She seems to manage well enough when left to her own devices." Merida grabbed the doorknob and turned, but stopped when a loud shuffling sounded from outside the door. "What in the name of-" She pulled it open the rest of the way to reveal many of the clansmen crowding the hallway, all of them blushing and doing anything but meeting Elsa or Merida's eyes. "And what exactly are all of you doing outside Queen Elsa's chambers?" Merida asked.

One of the men nudged another forward. "Oh, er, she looked distressed, you see!"

The rest the men shouted their agreements.

"And, well, she did make such a grand entrance and such a pretty speech."

"And you left us hanging with no answer, Princess Merida!"

"We had to listen in. Had to know what you'd say." This man got elbowed in the stomach. "Ow – I mean, we had to make sure you both were all right. We weren't listening in on anything."

Merida sighed and shook her head, but Elsa just laughed. "Well, you can all stop crowding up the hallway," Merida said. "We have important wedding arrangements to make with my parents."

The men all stepped respectfully out of the way. Elsa held Merida's hand as they walked past, and none of the men stared or commented on them. It was strange. All this time she had expected everyone to react in some way to her and Merida. She had never imagined their union would bring people joy. She turned back and glanced at the men still crowding the hall as Merida led her away. "Are we inviting them to the wedding?" she asked.

Merida chuckled. "I think they would be very insulted if we left them out."

A/N: Michelle here. Sy is resting, all exhausted from school work. But she did ask me to pass along this important message: Sy will be streaming and available for conversation starting at 4 pm AK Time (5 pm pacific) Friday, October 3 on twitch. Her channel name is luraline if you want to look it up,

Also, Sy and I will both be online and chatting with our audience starting at 6:30 AK time (7:30 pacific) Friday, October 3. This will still be on the same account on twitch, and we'll be playing an interesting looking game called Heroine's Quest. Join us for the laughs or to ask questions about our projects or hang out. We'd be more than happy to talk about fanfiction and original fiction we have in the works. See you all then!

Oh, and I should mention we have one more chapter planned for this project. Then we're going to shift our focus to our Korrasami fic.