She wasn't sure how long she had laid there, curled in a ball, hugging herself in an attempt for comfort that she knew she didn't deserve as great, heaving sobs wracked her body.
Anna had come. Elsa had heard her scream through the thick ice, beg for her to melt her prison and come out, but the ice had only thickened and storm worsened. It wasn't until lightning growled from the sky that had only gone darker, did Kristoff finally pull Anna away to find shelter from the storm that was steadily becoming a blizzard.
But still, it was Anna. She should have expected her younger, stubborn sister to come back. She heard the younger jump against her prison and use the spikes as stairs with surprising grace, but Elsa didn't mind it. She merely squeezed her eyes shut and curled into a tighter ball.
She knew her sister wouldn't get through the ice. Even if she managed to find the sword Elsa had dropped somewhere and try to chip through the ice using it, the ice would shatter the brittle metal, likely within the first few strikes.
Muffled footsteps clacked against the ice, but Elsa ignored it... not that it was difficult, with her conscience screaming at her. The guilt had not lessened, the self-hate and despair had only grown with the time that had passed.
When the sword didn't break within ten strikes, she didn't notice. It clacked and cut away at the ice, never shattering, even when the tip chipped through and got stuck, and the sword bent into a curve. The heavy booted stomps, the ice cracking, the chips falling into the center of her prison didn't register in her mind.
Feet landed lightly behind her, barely audible they were, but still the gasps for breath didn't get through her despair as she sniffled and tried not to sob. It wasn't until...
"Elsa..." The voice, raw and dry, raspy, yet filled to the brim with concern. She heard the person drop to their knees, and she didn't even turn around before arms scooped her up and held her close.
Everything hurt, everything ached at the familiar voice, and the blonde started crying even harder than before, much to the other's dismay.
"No, no, no," She rasped faintly, shifting the woman in her arms so she could bury her face into the cold-to-the-touch neck, ignoring her own discomfort as she breathed a whimper. "I'm sorry, I'm so sorry. Please, please don't cry. I-I promise, I swear on what life I have left in me, I'll never do this again. I'll never lie to you again, I-I'll never do anything even close to this again, unless you want me to. I'll stop - I'll never talk to you again after this if that's what you want.. Say the word and I'll go away forever so you don't ever have to look at me again, just please don't cry..."
Elsa pushed her back, tears streaming as she looked into the paler-than-usual face. Her nose and cheeks were flushed from the bitter cold, and tears threatened to pool from her eyes, looking like a kicked puppy as a whimper left her. A lump grew in Elsa's throat as she moved to touch her face, to make sure this was real, but she couldn't bring herself to do it as a sob ripped from her throat. Her hands trembles as they suspended in air for a moment before limply dropping back to her sides.
What if she hurt her again...?
She didn't pull away, but she didn't go back into the embrace. The other girl nodded, more to herself than to the blonde, before leaning in close, bumping her forehead against hers before pressing a shaky kiss to the fair woman's nose. As her thief moved her cold (but still quite warm when compared to the Ice Queen's frigid body temperature) hands to cup her face, a choked whisper left Elsa. "Ylva..."
"I'm here," She assured her gently, brows drawn together in concern. "I'm right here, and I'm so sorry..."
A mix between a laugh and a sob left the queen, as that was what finally made Elsa realize that this was reality. That was what made the red in her self-made prison freeze and begin to drip down, down into the earth and out of sight. Her thief would apologize for being the one pushed off of a cliff. She didn't dare touch her with her hands, but she pressed several chaste kisses all over the girl's chilled face. "You're an idiot," She gasped between kisses and sniffles and sobs. "You're my idiot. God, I'm so-" Her voice got stuck in her throat, but Ylva understood.
"You don't need to apologize, because I was never mad to begin with." But that didn't seem to be enough for the cursed girl, because she grabbed Elsa's wrists despite her protests, expression not quite mournful but not approving as she stared into the other's eyes.
A flutter of fear bubbled in her as a determined look filled mismatched eyes. "Ylva, no, you'll get hur-" She didn't get to finish. The shorter pressed her lips to the pale fingers that had nearly killed her, gentle as she made sure to kiss each one before moving on to the other hand. Elsa's cheeks flushed as she told her shakily, fearfully, "I don't want to hurt you again. Please..."
Frowning, she gently pried the fingers clenched into a fist open, splaying her own longer fingers over them. "You won't," She weaved her lightly calloused and scarred fingers with her smooth, near-flawless ones, "Ever," Finishing with a tender look to the fair woman, she leaned in and lightly rubbed her nose against Elsa's. "Hurt me."
When the blonde's face remained unconvinced and fearful, she gave her trademark, easy smile and used her other hand to cup her lightly blushing, tear-tracked face. Elsa protested weakly but still neglected to move away. "How can you say that I'll never hurt you...? I threw you off of a cliff."
"Not really," She corrected lightly, eyes fluttering shut as she inched closer. "You just tried to push me away. You were scared, and stressed, and pissed, and your powers got mixed in with what would have been harmless." Adding quieter, she mumbled, "Also, you have ice powers, wow, that really explains a lot..."
"You're not mad or surprised," Her voice cracked, making Ylva peek an eye open. "Why are you not angry. Why are you not flinching away...? You should be terrified. Why aren't you scared of me like you were before-" Her voice broke, so she just stopped before she started crying more.
Ylva gave an indignant look. "I was never scared, not of you. I was a little scared because, hey, falling off of a cliff does that sometimes. But I got my grappling hook in time, didn't I?"
"What if you hadn't?"
She waved it off nonchalantly. "I would've found a way to come out of it okay," Shrugging, her hold on the blonde tightened as she started to pull away. "But stop with the 'what if's, would you? I'm here now. That's what matters. I'm here, and your powers are never going to scare me off." She made a face. "We're gonna have to have a pretty serious chat, later on, though..."
Guilt washed over the her again, not as strong or as wracked with horror and dismay, but still there.
And without even looking, Ylva noticed and groaned. "Elsa, stop. Stop feeling bad, damn you," She joked meekly, lightly bonking her head to the other's. "You're gonna end up freezing my hands to you, and that's going to be awkward, crawling out of here with my hands stuck to you."
It occurred to her that her thief was joking, but still, fear spiked in her stomach at the thought. "Ylva-"
"Elsa," She breathed a laugh, far more at ease than Elsa knew she should have been. "I was kidding! I know you're not going to do that, woman, calm down!" She hesitated, a wry smile curving her lips as she added slyly, "Chill out." Then, she started giggling like she had just said the funniest thing ever. "Get it...? Because-because you have ice powers...?"
The blonde tried not to smile, but she knew one twitched at her lips. "Ylva..."
"Geeze, I'm just trying to make you you feel better, there's snow reason to look at me like that."
"Ylva."
Laughs spilled from her lips as she grinned, eyes alight as she told her, "You don't have to give me the cold shoulder."
"Ylva." A small giggle was quickly stifled.
"I'm just trying to be an ice person, here, and help my person out."
Elsa snorted. "That's terrible..."
"You're terrible," She corrected, grinning wide. "You were trying to put yourself in ice-o-lation." Her smile fell as the full weight of her words hit her. "Oh, wait... no, you really were... This was a prison, wasn't it...?"
Face falling, the blonde gave a small nod, voice barely even a whisper. "I... didn't want to hurt anyone else."
"You wouldn't have." She assured her firmly, gentle still as her brows twitched together. It seemed as though that even if her thief knew about her powers, she still didn't know. Her control over it was practically nil at the worst of times, and no one knew that better than Elsa.
"No," Elsa corrected glumly, "I probably would have..."
Her torn brow raised. "I've put my trust in you for quite a while. So has Anna, and Kristoff, and all of your subjects... When are you going to trust yourself as much as we all do...?"
That one question just struck a chord somewhere in the fair queen... Everything in her just screamed affection for the girl in front of her, and...
Elsa moved on impulse. She didn't think about the consequences or the what if's or the maybe's. She still didn't move to touch the cursed girl on her own, but she held onto the hand holding hers with everything she had as she threw her other arm around the girl's waist, nearly jumping onto Ylva as she pressed her lips to the cracked ones.
A yelp and squeak of surprise were muffled against Elsa's lips, but she didn't pull away. Elsa could feel the girl's other hand move about, going from lightly resting against her hip to cupping her neck before finally just getting a loose grip on the arm encircling her.
Sparks flew behind her eyelids, and her whole body felt inexplicably warm all of the sudden at the knowledge that she wasn't shoving her away with disgust...
Neither pulled away. And maybe she was mistaken (though she hoped she wasn't) but neither wanted to pull away, yet Ylva needed air. Still, she didn't pull completely away, just tilted her head back slightly, with enough space between their lips so that she could suck in a breath. In the end it was Elsa that pulled away, before the other could move any which way, face flaming as she studied the equally red girl.
In reality, it had only been a couple of seconds, but to her, it felt like near a lifetime. It wasn't an intense or passionate kiss, more of a mere brush of lips against lips, and tentative it was - but it was enough.
Ylva stared as a grin curved at her lips, corners of her eyes crinkling as she exhaled heavily. "That was... that was..." She struggled to find a word to properly explain it, finally settling on, "That was new, that was different... Definitely not a bad different. But different." Her eyes flicked up before going back to her blues. "Your thing-y is melting, by the way. Is that bad...?"
"No," She breathed, smile curving at her lips. "It's not bad at all. I suppose it's about time to take it down, anyhow..."
And so, she got to her feet, quickly followed by Ylva, and raised her hands with a deep breath. The knowledge that she was doing this in front of her thief made her insides churn, having gotten used to always doing everything she could to keep it hidden so that it became instinctive...
But still, she pushed past the swirling unease and insecurity, because if Ylva could do it with her curse, so could she. The ice started to melt into itself, dispelling into the air, appearing to be jagged fingers that retreated back into the earth. There were jerks in the speeds it would melt, pausing when her hands trembled and jerked with nerves.
Despite that, it didn't take long to melt; not even a minute for her prison to go back to the dirt. And when she was done, she glanced back nervously at her thief.
Ylva stared, jaw having dropped and eyes wide. Elsa blushed and fidgeted under her gaze. "What...?"
"You just made that melt. Like, just now. It was there, and then, 'poof!'" She threw an arm in the air to accentuate her words. "Gone. That's amazing. That's awesome! You have wings, too, don't you?!"
She gave a one-sided smile of feeble amusement and relief. "I might be able to make some, if I tried and concentrated hard enough..."
"I knew it!" The girl snorted, tugging her hood back on to fight the chilling wind with a quirk of her lips. "You are a god! Err," She quickly corrected, "Goddess." Her breath suddenly hitched as her eyes went wide, all but jumping on the blonde in her realization. "Is that what they meant when they said you smelled of the ancient's blood?! You have ancient's blood, and maybe that means you really are a god! Or a descendent of one, but still!"
Elsa's smile grew to be in her eyes as well as she her friend a look. "Let's not get ahead of ourselves, now..."
The shorter breathed a laugh and nuzzled the taller's arm. The action had started playful, but ended up just being full of affection as she regarded the blonde with awe in her gaze. She seemed to struggle with her words for minute, starting to say something but then changing her mind halfway through before finally asking meekly. "So... no more hiding, right...?"
A fond smile crossed her face as she hooked an arm loosely over her shoulders in a small hug. "Right."
As the two trudged through the snow, away from the cliff and to more stable, solid ground, they were covered in an air of relief and naive giddiness despite the swirling snow storm that was out of Elsa's control.
But still, the clouds weren't quite so black, and the wind and snow didn't cut like it had.
Both held an arm over the other's shoulders as they trodded through the snow in a companionable silence, content to just be within contact of the other and not needing words; neither were sure of what to do with the recent occurrences, but still they were plenty happy to have the other alive and well...
Until Ylva decided to come up with more puns about Elsa's ice powers.
Ylva grinned, having to nearly shout to be heard but giving the extra effort anyways. "You should have brought another coat, because even if you are the Snow Queen, it's cold as hail."
Playfully glaring, Elsa heaved a sigh. "That's terrible."
"Hey!" She laughed, raising her other arm in defense. "Don't give me the cold shoulder."
"You already used that one earlier." Elsa rolled her eyes, letting a smile tug at her lips despite the fact that she knew it would only egg her thief on.
The hooded girl harrumphed and pouted. "Give me a break, would you...?" Her eyes lit up as a grin grew back onto her face. "Or Elsa I'll cry."
"Ylva," She groaned, laughter lacing her voice. "Stop."
Said girl hummed thoughtfully. "Awfully cold crowd, tonight..." Elsa shot her a look, and Ylva finally chuckled and bowed her head in defeat. "Okay, okay, I'm done..."
They stopped near a large boulder that raised above their heads, getting out of the wind to stop and look around for Ingvar and the other horse.
Neither noticed the unnaturally large wolf crouched on top of the boulder, dark gray and white splotched fur camouflaging it into the rock's shape. The wind carried away it's low growls as it eyed the hooded girl with spite and hatred in its eyes, licking it's maw with eagerness.
A snarl filled the air as it leapt onto the shorter girl, sinking its teeth into her arm and quickly dragging her away despite the girl's vigorous protests and fighting, a jagged and sloppy path of red following her as she was dragged through the snow.
"Shit, Elsa!" The cursed girl crowed, thrashing and jerking, slamming her fist into the wolf's face only to cry out as the beast bit down tighter in response, sending blood gushing.
She saw red.
Elsa gave a snarl as her veins filled with ice and yet her limbs burned with adrenaline as fury reared up like a tidal wave. She sprinted after the wolf dragging her thief, easily hopping over the snow and forming an icy spear in her hands.
She pulled her arm back to beam it into the wolf's side, only to yelp as several heavy weights slammed into her middle and sent her to the ground; knocking her out cold as the side of her head slammed against a rock that had laid hidden in the powdery snow. In her last moments of consciousness, she saw furred paws and a black nose in her face, white teeth glinting as they were bared to her.
Her eyes drooped despite her struggles to remain conscious so she could save her thief, and a thought drifted through her mind as her body betrayed her and shut down.
This wasn't normal... even if the alpha wolf really did have a mental capacity high enough to want revenge against her killed mate, this wasn't something that just happened. There was a supernatural aspect at work, here...
And as pain blossomed in her skull, red hot tendrils flashing like a lightning bolt that branched from her head and down, down into the rest of her body, lingering as she left the world for oblivion, she found herself wondering... Why couldn't she just lead a normal life, without wolf armies and ice powers...?
Author's note~
HA. HAHA. Did you think that I was done making myself cry? Nooo, we're not done with the emotions, nooot yet...
But hey, we had a little itty bitty kiss! Seriously, be happy with that, because that was a last minute thing I threw in on impulse, cuz I've been mean af to Elsa and Ylva and everyone, pretty much - you guys included. There was originally gonna be no kiss, so the next one would be all WHAM, but I just... I dunno. I'm stupid. But I don't care because IMMA REBEL.
Hope this one was okay. You know how bad I am at writing kisses... Also, PUNS. I love me some good ol' fashioned puns, yo. Bear with me, guys! ʕ´ᴥ`ʔ
Now, I'm gonna go work on that Modern!AU oneshot thingy that is becoming way too smutty for someone who feels so awkward while writing said smut. They were both drunk and IT'S PRACTICE for writing sexexex. That's my story and I'm stickin' with it |:I oh sweet naked baby jesus i may chicken out and end up scrapping the whole oneshot thing fuck there's so much frick frack it's not even funny
, Blue