Chapter 25: Shores of Arendelle

The waters of the fjord stood tranquil. The night was cold and still. The rowers were swift, but silent.

Whoosh!

There was a flash of blue light followed by a distant splash. The whiz of a flying crossbow bolt proceeded another splash. Elise sighed in relief. That was the last lookout until they reached the first layer of coastal defenses.

Elise turned back to the people in her boat – foreigners dressed in Arendelle uniforms. The boats around them that remained hidden in the dark were the same. American marines dressed as Royal Marines. Elise had been told these men were well experienced fighting pirates and savages alike. They should have been in the Mediterranean right now. Elise was going to see what they were really made of.

"It's fucking freezing out here."

"This is no Goddamn Mediterranean cruise that's for sure."

Elise was glad she didn't speak English.

"When we cross this bend, we'll be within sight of the fortress," Lieutenant Jacobs pointed out in Norwegian for Elise. He was her personal translator now.

"I suppose this it then," Elise concluded. She took a deep breath as the lieutenant turned to his men and gave out last minute orders. While he spoke, Elise sent out a wave of snowflakes towards Arendelle's coastal defenses.

There was going to be a lot of lookouts on the wall to take care of. But the way in was easy. The lookouts were few and far between up the fjord and Elise and her marines had handled each one with ease. This time however, Elise had to kill or incapacitate as many guards as she could before they raised the alarm. The alarm was going to be raised regardless, she couldn't kill everyone at once, but the trick was to get as many boats to the wall before all hell broke loose.

This was it. The trip in and her constant surveillance had already taken its toll on Elise's body, but from here on out there would be no time for reprise. It didn't matter to Elise if she collapsed as soon as she was done as long as she reached that goal.

The defenses and lights of Arendelle came into view. The lights of Arendelle's Castle across the fjord caught her attention for the briefest of seconds but she didn't let that bother her. Elise closed her eyes and struck.

For the moment, her attention on the rest of her forces became irrelevant as she found all her targets through the snowflakes. Spears of ice flung out towards their unsuspecting victims. A few had seen Elise's boat come within range in the moonlight, but none had managed to say a word.

Unfortunately, some guards had seen their fellow comrades fall. That was something Elise hadn't anticipated to be an issue.

"Row faster," Elise ordered, eyes still shut. The command was relayed and her boat picked up the pace. The rest of the boats followed the lead. Spikes of ice continued to fly towards the wall as Elise picked off her targets individually. She was becoming overwhelmed though.

How close are we?

Unknown to Elise, not even her entire assault force had rounded the corner yet.

"Faster," Elise urged. Their pace picked up more. The entire assault force was now beyond the threshold.

Elise slammed her fist on the side of the boat as her snowflakes at the wall dissipated on command. They would be no use now. She had failed. Half a second later, a bell started ringing at the wall.

"Forward!" Elise screamed as her eyes shot open. She stood up on the front of the boat. She needed a good view to defend the boats as the made a dash for the wall. They weren't going to give up yet.

The American major that rode in the command boat of the formation immediately withdrew his sword and ordered the full on assault at the sight of Elise standing.

Elise let out a burst of magic that exploded above the wall, illuminating it in blue light, but not the small boats forming to make a mad dash towards it.

Small arms fire erupted from that fortifications. They were still too far away for that to be effective thankfully.

The cannons though…

Elsie found the gun ports that held the cannons within. If their lookouts would have worked, Elise's boats would have been blasted out of the water as they came around the bend. Instead they would remain silent. Elise iced over the gun ports.

A few of the cannons that were located on the top of the defenses managed to fire off a salvo before Elise silenced them too by plugging their barrels with ice. A cannonball whisked past the boat, startling her. The second impacted the water directly in front of them, showering Elise in fjord water and knocking her over. All too soon Elise heard the sickening explosion of a cannonball impacting one of the boats.

Elise was too focused to bother looking behind her to see who they had lost. Instead she returned to the task at hand, fighting off the defender's counter attacks.

They had made surprisingly quick progress as Elise became aware of the increasingly close plumes of water from musket and rifle fire. Elise closed her eyes and lifted her hands into the air. The droplets of water from the plumes as well as from the surface itself froze solid and rose into the air. Elise shot them through the air at the wall. Anyone caught in the open would be peppered with ice shot. They hadn't been heavy or moving fast enough to cause death, but it bought them time as the defenders were stunned.

Elise resumed the role of picking off individual soldiers and guards with blasts of magic and spears of ice. She had gotten so lost in the killing that she hadn't even noticed how close they had gotten. Her body locked up and a gasp escaped her lips as a round flew by her face, striking a marine in the boat behind her.

His screams were cut off when Sergeant Connors fired his rifle from his position next to Elise. He had been waiting in that position for the perfect shot since they had started the assault. They were now within small arms range.

"Light, Elise. We need more light, your magic is fading," Jacobs screamed. Elise was startled out of her shock at his request, quickly flinging another blast of bright magic behind the wall. The defenders were silhouetted for the attackers.

Elise grabbed more water out of the fjord, forming larger hail-sized ice shot. She sent these sailing at the defenders while she cursed to herself for her mistake. If she had done this earlier, instead of the pellet sized shot, she would have had the range to pick up the speed necessary to give them a fatal effect. Instead they were just a major nuisance, though still advantageous for the attackers.

Cannon fire from off to the side, probably from smaller batteries on the shore, started impacting the water around them. Something twitched at the back of her mind and Elise summoned a wall of ice in front of her. A volley of musket and rifle fire impacted the wall at the same time the boat did. Elise forgot they had been moving and she smashed face first into it, cutting her chin open. Jacobs pulled her back into the boat while other marines pushed the now floating wall of ice out of the way. They had lost precious speed and momentum, a practical death sentence in a situation like this.

Elise, still dazed, threw out her hand and angry spikes of ice flew out of the surface of the fortification where the volley had come from, skewering anyone who happened to occupy the space. She regained her balance and threw off Jacobs just in time to see a boat that had overtaken theirs explode before her. Her eyes traveled to the battery that had been firing at them from the shore. They hadn't accounted for the army to set up its cannons on the shores outside the city walls. Elise formed a chunk of ice out of the water and flung it at the batteries with all her might. She continued flinging boulder-sized chunks of ice at every shore battery until not a single gun remained unsmashed.

They had talked about trying to preserve Arendelle's defenses and equipment...at least the coastal defense cannons that were put out of action were kept intact.

Marines and defenders alike had paused to watch Elise throw her ice in rage until the shore guns remained silent, but not even their awe could stop the fighting as the attackers continued to row and the defenders continued to fire. Her fists were balled and she was heaving for air when Jacobs grabbed and turned her towards front. The wall loomed in front of her.

"Look, we're here," he bellowed at her.

Shit, focus Elise.

Their boat slowed as it reached the wall. They were safe from small arms fire for now, but anything could be dropped down on them at any moment. Elise swiped her hand along the length of the wall. Ladders of ice rose out of the water in intervals for the rest of the assault force to climb up with.

She turned back to the men of her boat. "Get your guns ready and hang on tight," she ordered. The marines were staring wide eyed at her in amazement of the feats Elise had been pulling. Jacobs relayed the order and the men quickly rushed to prepare.

They could still be slaughtered trying to scale the walls. Elise's ladders were a convenience, but not their only [ace in the hole?][trick up their sleeve][same meaning]. So, she and her men, and the two boats that had pulled up alongside hers, would go up first to give the rest of the force cover fire. The looks she received from the two other boats confirmed their regret for getting to the wall early.

Elise prepared herself and waited until Jacobs gave her the go ahead. Everyone in all three boats were clinging to their rifles or swords and the sides of the boats. Ice was already forming at the bottoms of the boats, fusing them to one surface. The two other boats signaled ready. Jacobs nodded to Elise.

They would be taking the express route.

A pillar of ice shot them into the air, ending up level with the top of the wall. They had gone so fast that all of the marines had to take a moment to recover their equilibrium and shock. Thankfully they had that moment, for the defenders were so shocked by the sudden appearance of the three boats as well. The marines fired a salvo and stormed out onto the walls, bayonets and swords ready. Down below, the first wave of marines were climbing up the ladders.

In the first salvo, Elise had skewered a man with ice and the close up effects of her killing had suddenly become all too real. She veered over and vomited as the marines stormed out of the boats around her. Elise recovered and jumped out of the boat to follow them.

As soon as her feet hit the ground she collapsed onto the ice screaming in pain as what felt like searing fire ripped up her left thigh. Elise tried to fight back tears as Sergeant Conners came rushing back to help her. She risked a glance at where the pain was now coming from.

She wished she hadn't. There was a six-inch piece of wood sticking out of her left thigh. It must have hit her when that boat exploded and she hadn't realized until now.

"Oh, fuck..." Elise cried out, her whole attitude and demeanor changing in a flash. "Elsa, please, I want to go home." Conners's eyes fluttered as he watched her turn from calm and collected to hysterical. "I don't want to be here anymore. Elsa, please, I don't want to die, Elsa, please help me," she started begging.

Conners tried to speak and his hand reached down to her thigh. Elise screwed her eyes shut and covered her ears with her hands trying to shut out the sights and sounds around her.

"Your majesty?" Elise opened her left eye. A Royal Marine had joined Conners to attend to her injury. "You're not going to die," he assured her. "But you have to seal the wound with ice, okay?"

Elise stared down in horror at her thigh. Both of their hands rested on the wooden splinter. "No..." It was barely a whisper.

"Are you ready?" Elise shook her head. "On three..."

"1..."

No.

"...2..."

Elsa, please, don't let me die.

"...3."

Elise screamed in pain and almost passed out as they yanked the splinter out. They had to place their hand over the gaping hole, her magic worked on its own to seal the wound. Elise remained propped up against one of the boats as she breathed shallowly.

"I don't want to be here..." she mumbled to herself over and over again.

"Elise, you need to send up the signal," Jacobs ordered as he approached them. He stopped when he saw the blood on the ice. "Is she going to be okay?"

Conners nodded.

"Elise can you send up the signal?" Jacobs asked more forcefully.

Elise met his eyes and slowly nodded. She slowly lifted her shaking hand into the air and sent out the signal. A burst of ice shot up into the sky and exploded high enough for the fleet to see it.

"Watch out!"

Conners and Jacobs had been so distracted by the flare that they had missed the soldiers that had broken from the melee to finish off the queen. Conners was knocked to the side. The Royal Marine pulled a pistol and fired off into the assailants, but that failed to stop them from coming. Elise watched as time slowed down.

Jacobs was going to die if she didn't do anything. If he died, Elise would also die. Then then all her men would follow. Their attack would fail and...Elsa and Anna would most likely be next.

Elise launched herself from the ice and ran into one of the attackers. A blade of ice had been materialized just in time to impale him. With the other hand, Elise shot a blast of magic at another man. The rest were finished off by the marines.

Elise stumbled towards the melee. Pain shot up her body at every step, but her mind had a goal to complete and it wasn't going to be distracted. She froze the wound in annoyance, effectively freezing the nerve endings. The pain went away. Elise reinforced her leg with ice and her new limp soon disappeared as well. Her ice blade turned into a full sized cutlass.

Elise joined the melee, flanked by several marines, slashing at the enemy. Two enemies fell to her blade before she even registered what she was doing. A blade came down on her chest. Ice formed over her uniform just in time to stop it, but Elise was sure she bruised a rib. Ice continued to form around her body until she was covered in her own light-weight suit of armor.

Her attacker died at the hands of one of her marines. Elise moved on to another enemy, an army soldier. The traitors wearing Arendelle's uniform infuriated and goaded Elise to a greater intensity as she went mad with blood lust. Two more fell to her blade before Elise realized there wasn't anyone else to fight. She looked around the bloody fortress confused, no doubt in a state of shock. When she realized there was no more danger present, Elise collapsed to her knees and wailed.

Thankfully, the major in charge had survived the rush to the wall and taken charge of the situation as Elise had become incapable from a command standpoint. The marines had overwhelmed the defenders rather quickly and most ended up fleeing. The most intense fighting had been where Elise's vanguard landed. Seven boats didn't make it to the wall, all blasted out of existence by cannon fire. Dozens of more marines were killed by rifle or musket file in the charge to the fortifications. In fact, the marines suffered the least amount of casualties taking the wall itself. Most of the defenders had been killed or fled before the boats arrived at the wall. Elise's team had taken the brunt of it.

The major found Elise kneeling on the ground. He tried to approach her to inform her of the situation and thank her. If it hadn't been for her, they would have been slaughtered. However, the major was stopped by her translator, Lieutenant Jacobs. He would have to wait for her to recover now.

Earlier that night...

"Nice place..."

"Shut. The. Fuck. Up," came a hushed order.

The trespassers moved silently down the deserted halls of Arendelle Castle.

"Here's her hall," one of the marines whispered.

The local ice harvester that was still with them had guided them to the castle undetected.

"Charge at them and take them down before they can raise the alarm."

The spot that Queen Elise had told them about was still there, intact. They had been able to enter the castle undetected as well.

Two marines flew around the corner and charged the two guards that stood at Princess Anna's door. They were both taken down before the alarm could be raised.

"Hurry up and unlock the door. The attack could begin at any moment now." Another marine was fumbling with the keys taken from the two knocked out guards. They finally found the right one and unlocked the door.

The first marine that entered managed to see the ambush before it was too late. He managed to grab the thin wrist of his ambusher and twisted it around her back. The dagger dropped out of her hand.

"Au! Au!" Princess Anna cried out.

Anna was surprised when the man that had grabbed her suddenly let go of her just from her own command. She backed away from her attackers and turned to face them. She didn't even take a look at the man that had entered her room when her eyes wandered to the hallway beyond.

Kristoff?

Anna sprinted into the hallway without a second thought.

"Krist-" Anna started to cry out before she was snatched up by another man who slapped his hand over her mouth.

"Your highness, please be quiet," he ordered before releasing her. Anna glowered at the man, but quickly ran into Kristoff's arms.

"Kristoff, what's going on?" she whispered to him.

He stared at her blankly before answering. "We're...well, they're getting you out of here."

"Oh."

Anna turned back to the man who was exiting her room, the one she had just tried to kill. "Sorry..." she whispered.

"Listen Anna," Kristoff started. "Before we go, we need to know everything about the secret passages throughout the castle. We need to make sure the rest of the council is safe too, and the attack will be kicking off in any minute. We won't be able to sneak around the halls once it happens."

"Oh, that's easy. I know them like the back of my hand," Anna answered confidently.

Elise found herself once again in a boat. This time heading for the inner harbor. Now they had the ships of the entire fleet supporting them.

Elise recovered from her complete break down on the coastal defense wall and took the major's report with sorrow. She regained control over her snowflakes to make sure everything was going as planned. She sent more out to gauge the response from the enemy within the city. In the meantime, they were to wait for the fleet and the second wave of marines to arrive. Elise spent the time waiting, staring off into Arendelle, completely unblinking. Elise tried desperately to focus on the situation her snowflakes were trying to present to her, but all her mind wanted to do was relive the horrors she just had been through.

They had told her she had probably killed most of the enemy and saved the operation. She was the sole reason the marines arrived to the wall. Elise wanted to be happy, but she really couldn't feel anything.

It was just like when she was child and had killed her adopted family and village. Elsa and Anna were the only things keeping her from breaking down completely.

When they came for her to tell her the fleet arrived, they found her huddled and were sure Elise was dead to the word. The marines would describe her sporting a thousand yard stare with cold, dead eyes. To their surprise, Elise snapped out of it and went down to meet Admiral Hoffman.

They briefly discussed the next part of the plan and upon his insistence, Elise allowed a physician to look at her injuries. She thawed what she had frozen, bringing the intense pain with it. Admiral Hoffman held onto her like his own daughter as she screamed in agony while they cleaned the worst wound and she clung back onto him like a small child. Elise assured them she was going to be fine and departed for the attack on the city, making sure to fix her limp and numb the pain again.

"You look like shit," Jacobs observed as the boat glided through the water.

Elise glared at him. Bloody, bruised, scared, and tired. She was beyond shit. Elise had taken a terrible toll both physically and mentally during that last battle. Using her magic had worn her down at the beginning of the night, however, trying to use her magic after the battle proved almost fatal. She had so little power left, that Elise was sure she was going to die before morning came. She was going to will herself to keep going until she saw Anna alive. Only then Elise would allow herself to die.

Elise wasn't going to be afraid anymore like she had been on the battlefield earlier. She had felt the pain and survived. She had to be brave and strong just for a little bit longer. Then she would sleep, even if meant never waking up.

Panic flared up within her at the sound of cannon fire.

Oh...

Just as expected, the makeshift fleet of gunboats that the interim government had at their disposal launched a last ditch attack on the wave of shore-bound marines. Since it had been night, the enemy was blind and fired wildly into the darkness. Sporadic cannon fire from within the harbor joined the fray.

Elise sent out a flare of magic, which subsequently sent a wave of pain shooting through her body. Elise was reaching her limit. The flare of magic burst into the sky over the harbor, casting a blue shadow of death over the enemy. The guns of Elise's fleet roared to life. It was over within a minute. The guns in the harbor itself – Elise had counted only two batteries during her reconnaissance – were too light to damage the bigger ships that were now entering the harbor behind the marines. They surrendered before Elise's forces made landfall.

Her wave of marines arrived at the docks unopposed. Elise stepped onto the docks and looked back to the USS Potomac. It was time for Admiral Hoffman to take over now. It was his duty to secure the city while she dealt with the castle. The nationalist militias and General Holt's forces knew that staying within range of the harbor was suicidal as they scattered inland. As such, the guns of Arendelle's fleet remained silent for the remainder of the liberation, but they served as a constant reminder that the crown controlled the waterways now. Two of the brigs and five of the schooners remained outside the harbor to remain vigilant for escapees, especially from the waterfront castle.

More marines and sailors were landed at the docks and fanned out throughout the city. A platoon of American marines was sent to relive the besieged American consulate from militiamen while a company was sent to secure the interned American-flagged ships and their crews. Civilians – many of which had been up all night watching the battle unfold – rejoiced in the streets as the marines secured the city. Interim government forces were left scattered and cut off. Most were tracked down and captured. Very few resisted. The greatest resistance came from the armory itself, where two companies of General Holt's best men held out for four hours against marine assaults. They surrendered after suffering heavy casualties.

Arendelle citizens turned on the militias and army units in droves. A few situations became violent and marines actually had to intervene. By noon of that day, the marines had completely secured the city and were moving to restore order. By that evening, Admiral Hoffman and Princess Anna were meeting with local leaders to begin returning to normalcy.

Before day break however, Elise had grabbed her company of marines and headed to Arendelle Castle. It was all going to come to an end here.

*break*

General Holt had been gazing out the castle window at the approaching ships when Hansen burst into the room.

"General, where are your men?" Hansen demanded. Hansen had ordered Holt to send his two best companies to the Castle to defend it earlier that night. He never carried out the orders, instead ordering his men to stay put at the city armory. "Holt, I asked you a question."

"They're not coming," Holt answered apologetically.

"What do you mean they're not coming?! We need to hold this castle until Princess Anna is found. Once we have here, we can put a stop to their attack."

"Princess Anna is gone," Holt pointed out for the umpteenth time tonight. They had learned of Anna's disappearance when the attack had started. Hansen had sent for her immediately and they had found her room empty. By the time they had reached the councilor's jail cells, they too had been emptied. Hansen had been tearing through the castle looking for them ever since.

"This isn't over," Hansen tried to argue.

"But it is." At that moment, Elise's burst of magic lit up the harbor and the ships of the royal fleet opened fire on the last ditch-counter attack. Blue and fiery light poured through the window, casting an eerie shadow over Holt's tired face.

"How did they even manage to pull this off, General? We saw Queen Elsa take all of her forces out of Trondheim, how is this possible that their navy is overrunning Arendelle?" Holt was beyond caring anymore, but he decided to humor Hansen none the less.

Holt nodded towards the largest ship in the attacker's formation. "That ship wasn't ours," he explained. Holt had in fact anticipated a seaborne invasion despite the reports from Trondheim. He suspected that, while they were distracted with Queen Elsa, Queen Elise would attack from the fjord with the navy. Holt had prepared extra shore batteries in anticipation. With the few numbers they had at their disposal, not even Queen Elise's direct intervention would allow the attack to succeed. Holt had planned on trying his best, regardless of whether Hansen chose to hold the princess at knife point. Unfortunately, they had arrived with far greater numbers than Holt could have imagined. "I suspect most of these marines weren't either. They have outside help."

"You assured me they wouldn't," Hansen spat.

"I don't actually care anymore," Holt said as he got up. "Good luck with finding the princess, but I doubt it will make a difference now anyway."

"What? You can't leave now. General, get back here now!" Hansen cried as Holt walked over to the door.

Holt never looked back as Hansen's pleas fell on deaf ears. It was time for Holt to leave this place.

Elise marched through the deserted town square with a company of marines at her back. The castle loomed ahead of her. A blizzard picked up in the space between the mainland and the castle walls, dropping visibility down to zero. If they couldn't be seen, they wouldn't be shot on the way in. The winds were so powerful that even blind firing would have been useless.

Elise entered the blizzard and crossed the bridge that led to her home. Unconsciousness was tugging at the corners of her mind and Elise struggled to move forward in her own blizzard. Her body ached and the ice numbing her injuries was starting to fade. Searing pain shot through her body, intensifying at each step. Twice she almost tripped over her own feet as she crossed the bridge.

There was sudden sense of déjà vu as she found herself in front of the closed gates in a whirling storm. Elise raised her hand. A glance behind her confirmed that the marines were in position.

The castle was going to need a new set of gates for the second time.

Princess Anna had never been found after Holt ran away, but the queen had been spotted marching towards the castle. There was no indication of a siege, but a direct assault. Hansen and the remaining guards were going to make their last stand here.

The blizzard prevented them from firing from the walls, but there was no doubt they were going to come through the front gate. Hansen and his men were going to ambush them as they entered the courtyard.

The front gates blew apart in an ear shattering explosion and the castle grounds erupted in gunfire. Hansen realized they were in trouble when the dust settled and revealed fortifications of ice forming around the open gates. Instead of being shot down as they entered, the attacking marines were pouring into the courtyard unscathed, firing at the defenders from behind solid cover.

The ice barriers were growing forward towards the castle itself like a caterpillar. The attackers were leapfrogging between firing from cover and advancing at alarming speeds. Guards were dropping like flies.

Hansen knew they had to stop them before they reached the castle. It was barren, except for the skeleton staff that the interim government kept around to maintain it. They were safely tucked away in the cellars, but if the marines reached the castle, they would be able to roam free while Hansen and his guards were caught outside.

Hansen turned to the Captain of the Guard, withdrawing the sword he now carried. "We need to put an end to this now." The Captain of the Guard, with a face pale in dread, simply nodded.

It's time to cut down this witch queen once and for all.

Hallvard Hansen and the remaining guards charged at the advancing marines, intending to drive them back in melee.

This was the beginning of their comeback.

Elise barely felt like she was in her own body anymore. Her magic and movement was operating exclusively on pre-planned reflexes. The combat wasn't as bad this time around though, probably because she had almost no idea what was going on around her. She just had to get to the front doors of the castle and it would all be over.

Not even Lieutenant Jacobs was able to get her attention to warn her of the sudden charge of the remainder of the defenders.

Elise didn't take notice as the marines hunkered down and fired salvos at the charging guards. Half the guards fell before they reached the marines. The first ones to reach the lines were cut down with ease. The survivors threw down their arms and surrendered promptly. It was over within minutes. Their last stand was cut short.

Elise, however, unaware what was happening around her, stumbled outside of the halted line of the marines. Lieutenant Jacobs and Sergeant Connors were in the middle of reloading when they spotted an enemy charging at Elise. There was nothing they could do.

Minister Hallvard Hansen was mere steps away from finishing the job that should had been done at the beginning of the coup.

For the briefest of seconds, Elise became acutely aware of her surroundings. She lifted her trembling hand at the same time. The man charging at her was frozen solid by the time her hand dropped back down to her side.

The sound of battle was fading as General Holt and his remaining staff rowed away from Arendelle. There was nothing stopping their escape now. Upon casting off from the castle, one of the schooners that remained in the fjord intercepted them. Thankfully they hadn't shot them on sight and it took a hefty bribe to convince the captain of said ship to let them go. A large chunk of the crown's fortune had bought them their freedom.

Aboard the schooner, Commander Bergdahl handed the 'bribe' to his first mate.

"It was a good thing the general decided to return her majesty's money to the treasury. How gracious." The commander watched the small dinghy sail away with disgust. The nerve of that traitor. "You may fire at will."

The time between firing and impact had been too short for General Holt to register.

The surviving guards at the castle surrendered almost at once. Marines spread out to secure the castle as Elise stood in the courtyard alone. All the ice around her disappeared.

The doors to the castle, only meters ahead of her now, cracked open. A flash of red caught Elise's attention, forcing her to painfully look up.

Elise only registered one thing around her. Anna's face was poking out the door. Elise sighed in content and relief. It was like a distant dream as she watched Anna spring towards her. Anna was maybe halfway when Elise's vision went black

Anna reached Elise just in time to catch her mid-fall.

A/N: Thanks to my beta readers, Mig and Rd.

The end of this story is getting close now. Thanks for reading and feel free to leave any questions, comments, or reviews.

Merry Christmas.