Chapter 25

There was a faint mist in the air that filtered the morning sun's light, giving the air a soft golden glow. What light that did make it through glistened across the surface of the frozen river and sparkled in the snow on the far bank. A lark could be heard singing in the distance and there was the faintest of breezes, but otherwise the world was perfectly still.

Elsa slowly drew in a deep breath as she took in the stillness and basked in the peace. The morning was so serene she didn't make a sound for fear of ruining it. And, if she listened closely, she could even make out the trickle of the water flowing under the ice.

After the hectic events of yesterday it was nice to be able to simply relax and watch nature for a moment. I can't imagine how Aaron managed to remain conscious through all of that, she thought as she gazed down at the shimmering ice. The battle with Hans followed by the frantic flight to the trolls had left her fatigued and she hadn't really done that much, so he must have been tired to the bone. Despite that they'd stayed up long after Anna and Kristoff went to sleep, passing the time by conversing and gazing into each other's eyes. Eventually, though, they had to rest and she'd fallen asleep in Aaron's warm embrace.

She experienced a deep and dreamless sleep until she woke the next morning. Waking up to find that she was still tucked against him, she'd spent a few minutes just watching him sleep before quietly rising. He was in such a deep sleep that he didn't even begin to stir.

Taking stock of her surroundings, she'd realized that no one else was awake yet so she decided to go for a short walk when she found this frozen river that flowed just beyond the geyser fields. The far bank was covered in snow, while this side was close enough to the springs for the frost to melt off, revealing the pebbly shore beneath.

She'd already spent an hour there, experiencing the serenity of the moment, and didn't feel like leaving anytime soon. The only way she felt this moment could get better was if Aaron of Anna joined her. To share this moment with someone she loved…

It was still taking some getting used to, this new sensation of love. While Elsa did love her sister as well, what she felt for Aaron was much deeper and more primal. As though it was the same kind of love with streaks of desire and passion mixed in that gave it depth and strength. And how much stronger the yearning became when she'd learned that Aaron loved her in return. An inexplicable longing to gaze into his amber eyes and lose herself within them.

I wonder if all new love feels like this, she thought as her heart quickened at the mere memory of last night. All the incessant lightheadedness and difficulty to direct her thoughts. All this change just because of her affection for one person. At least it's all worth it.

Elsa was pulled from her reflection by the sound of footsteps approaching across the gravely beach from behind her, but before she could react she felt a pair of hot arms wrap around her stomach and heard Aaron murmur into her ear, "Good morning."

Leaning back into him, she placed her hands on his and smiled. "Good morning. How are you feeling?"

She could sense amusement in his voice as he said, "Sorer than I've ever been in my entire life, but I'm alive. Thanks to you."

"All I did was kiss you," she replied, glancing back him.

He was giving her a warm smile and shaking his head slightly. When she looked at him he tried to look contemplative and rested his chin on her left shoulder. "True. If you don't count knowing about the trolls, helping me to get here or saving me from Hans. If you ignore all that, then yes. All you did was kiss me."

"Sounds like you may owe me one. Or two," she said as her gaze returned to the river.

"You saved my life. I will owe you as long as I'm alive."

Her tone turned slightly playful as she said, "Don't be so dramatic. It was only a true love's kiss." If Anna heard her say that she might die of shock.

"Who would have thought that all it would take to thaw a frozen heat was love?" Aaron replied as he reached up and brushed her braid onto her other shoulder, letting his fingertips trail across the back of her neck as he did so.

He then lightly kissed the base of her neck and a shock flashed through her. Elsa did her best to suppress a shiver but failed and could feel Aaron's smile as he kissed her neck again. He then began to work his way up her neck, one little kiss at a time. While she was a little anxious about this new display of affection she had to admit it felt exhilarating. Her eyes were slowly beginning to close when his words suddenly stuck in her mind.

"Wait. What did you say?"

Aaron didn't respond right away as his lips slowly trailed up her neck and planted a kiss under her jaw. As he did this he hummed, "Mm?"

It was very hard to focus while he was doing that, though she did her best. "You just said that love thawed your heart." Pabbie had said something similar last night but its significance hadn't occurred to her until just then.

"Mm-hmm."

She twisted slightly and looked at him. "Aaron, stop. This is important. Do you know what this means?"

He gave her an irritated look, clearly agitated that she asked him to stop, but didn't comment on it. Instead he sighed and said, "I don't know. What?"

Turning to face him, she smiled and said, "Love will thaw, Aaron. Love."

Elsa then took several steps back until she was standing at the edge of the river. Aaron didn't move or comment as she did so, choosing instead to merely watch as she looked at the frozen river behind her. Gazing out over the crystalline surface, she wasn't sure what exactly it was that she was about to do but she could feel her powers welling up inside her.

Raising both hands and reaching out towards the ice around her, she closed her eyes and focused on those she loved. On Aaron and Anna. How they changed and enriched her life. As she did this her powers reacted to her thoughts and spilled out to flow over the river.

Hearing a faint whispering sound, Elsa opened her eyes and stifled a gasp. A wave of glistening frost was slowly drifting away from her, arcing high into the sky. Wherever it went the ice below it quickly turned to snow and floated up to join the cloud, leaving the serene river waters behind. Eventually the wave reached the far bank and she raised her hands, causing the floating frost to rise into the sky. There it condensed together until she spread her hands and the ice dispersed to the winds. Looking back down, Elsa was elated to see that the river was now flowing peacefully, as though it had never been frozen in the first place.

Turning back to Aaron, she gave him an excited smile, which he didn't see. He was too busy staring up at the sky with a look of shock and awe on his face. Giggling slightly at his dumbfounded expression, she started walking towards him. When he finally looked at her Elsa gestured behind her and asked, "Did you see that? I… I thawed the river." Then she stopped as she realized something. "I can end the winter!"

The shock on Aaron's face vanished and he held up a hand, looking cautious. "Elsa, wait."

Not paying attention to what he said, she continued walking forward as she looked at the snow-covered land around them. "I can end it, right now! I can save Arendelle!"

This time when he spoke his voice was slightly louder and more urgent. Stepping forward so that he had her attention, he said, "Whoa! Slow down! I don't think that's such a good idea."

"What are you talking about? It's a great idea!" she replied, laughing lightly. The nightmare's finally over!

Frowning slightly, he shook his head and gave her a serious look. "No, Elsa. It's not."

That was when she realized that he was being serious. That he really didn't think that she should end the winter. Her own smile vanished and she took an uncertain step back. Giving him a level stare, Elsa said, "This winter needs to end, Aaron."

He seemed to notice that his words may have been misinterpreted and raised his hands defensively. "Yes, it does. And nobody's arguing that." Pausing for a moment, he added, "But, there's a time and place for everything and this isn't it."

Aaron stopped talking as though he expected her to respond, but she remained silent as she stared at him. There's a time and place? Well that's here and now! When it became obvious that she wasn't going to speak next he said, "Okay, all I'm going to ask is that you hear me out. After I've said my piece you can do whatever you like. End the winter, don't, whatever. Just hear me out."

Elsa's eyes narrowed suspiciously and she crossed her arms as he spoke but she gave him a nod, saying, "I'm listening."

He took a few seconds to apparently collect his thoughts before speaking. "I know you haven't given it much thought, but I think you should return to Arendelle and reclaim your place as queen."

Aaron was right when he said she hadn't thought about it much. She was caught completely off-guard by that. What's this have to do with the winter? Elsa started to say "I don't-" before he cut her off.

"You agreed to let me finish talking before responding," he said sternly, giving her a disgruntled look.

Her own expression soured, but instead of arguing she said, "I'm sorry, you're right. Please continue."

He gave her a gracious nod before resuming. "Everyone in the kingdom knows that you're the rightful ruler and that you should be sitting on the throne, not someone like Hans. I don't think anyone would deny that. Unfortunately, I don't think you have the hearts and minds of the people at the moment. All they know is that you brought down a curse of eternal winter and then abandoned them to freeze to death. While we may know that's not true, they don't. But do you know what would happen if you lifted the winter right now? There would be no explanation for it and people would just start coming up with whatever they thought was the most sensible reason."

Aaron pointed a finger at her. "Then say you came back to the city and claimed that you were responsible for the return of summer. Why should they believe you? What proof do you have? The last thing they remember about you is that you're supposedly a monster. So they'd turn on you. Cast you out, or worse, despite the fact that you're the rightful queen. Honestly, one of the worst thing you could do right now is end this winter."

He stopped talking and gave her a pointed look, indicating that he wanted her to respond. However, she was slightly confused. He still hadn't said when he thought she should bring back summer. Giving him a skeptical look, she asked, "So what do you propose I do? Let them all freeze?"

Shaking his head, Aaron replied, "No, not at all. I propose that you return to Arendelle immediately. Then, once there, end the winter and bring back summer in front of all of them. The people would see that you didn't abandon them but rather came back to save them, and while they may not trust you right away they won't necessarily fear you." He paused and shrugged. "And who knows? With time and the right moves they might come to love you. And, with the winter gone, you'll be free to reclaim the throne and begin to defend them from people like Hans."

Elsa still wasn't wholly convinced as she said, "You make it sound like it would be easy."

Aaron gave a small scoff at that, replying, "I doubt it. The people may not be too happy to see you at first and I'm sure Hans will do everything in his power to stop you once he learns you're back. But if you're ever going to wear the crown again then this is one of the only ways."

While she hadn't given the subject much thought, it was now clear that he had. It almost sounded as if he already had it all planned out. Despite that, though, she couldn't help but notice he'd missed a key problem. "Alright, let's assume that everything went as you say. That I lifted the winter and managed to take my place as queen. What if I don't want to be queen?"

As his expression saddened she realized that he had thought of this. He'd just elected not to address it. Letting out a small sigh, he said, "In my honest opinion, that doesn't matter. The people need you. Without Anna, you have no heir. Elsa, do you know what happens to a kingdom without an heir when the ruler leaves?" She felt like she had a pretty good idea but wanted to hear what he would say, so she shook her head. "It becomes chaos as everyone with any amount of power starts to try and seize the crown. Before long civil war breaks out and the entire kingdom's being torn apart. Not to mention what neighboring kingdoms would do if they saw Arendelle fighting itself and was temporarily weak."

Elsa saddened when she thought of civil war ravaging Arendelle. She wanted to deny any chance of that happening, but she knew of many kingdoms throughout history that had suffered a similar fate and collapsed. But not my kingdom. Closing her eyes and frowning, she quietly said, "You don't know that would happen."

"And what if it does?" He let that hang in the air for a moment before his voice perked up and he added, "Luckily, it doesn't have to, so long as you're alive. You were rightfully and legally crowned queen, so no one can challenge your claim."

She could feel him watching her intently but kept her eyes closed, trying to deny what she felt. He's right. I don't want to admit it, but he's right, she thought morosely. Arendelle needed her back as queen, and if she was going to return she would have go to the city to lift the winter. However, she still wasn't ready to accept it and threw out a weak excuse. "What if I let Anna take my place?"

"Do you really want to do that to her? You yourself said that you were groomed your entire life to rule Arendelle. I doubt Anna's also had such preparation."

You just have an answer for everything, don't you? Elsa thought, opening her eyes and looking at him. While Aaron was giving her a reassuring smile it was clear he knew she was starting to come around. And he hates the fact that I'm a queen but still thinks I should embrace it. Unfortunately, there was still one question that plagued her thoughts. It was the first thing she'd thought of when he suggested she become a queen again and she'd hoped that she wouldn't have to ask it.

Looking down at the ground and letting out another sigh, Elsa quietly asked, "What about us?"

"What about us?" His tone had turned slightly playful, as though he knew exactly why she was asking and was trying to lift her mood by joking.

But she wasn't in a joking mood. "Don't." Her eyes lifted to him and she said, "You know what I mean. If I returned to Arendelle, would you come with me? And even if you did, things would still change between us. Do you think I should jeopardize our relationship by doing this?"

Aaron's smile slowly drifted away and he looked at her with a serious expression for a moment. Walking forward slowly until he was about a foot from her, he gently took both her hands in his and patiently waited until Elsa looked up at him. When she did he leaned forward and gave her a soft kiss. While not very long, he managed to put a great deal of passion into the kiss and she felt her worries start to melt away.

After a blissful moment he broke away and gave her an earnest look, quietly saying, "Elsa, I love you. I know you know that, but I thought I'd just say it again anyway. As such, I will always be there for you as long as you'll have me. No matter what happens." His eyes saddened slightly as he added, "But, right now the people of Arendelle need you more than I do."

As she looked into his eyes she felt a small pang of sorrow as well. In a perfect world they could just be together and not have to worry about anyone else. But she had Aaron's love and he had hers, so that would have to be good enough. Giving him a smile, she asked, "And what if I'll have you forever?"

His lips pulled up into a grin and he said, "Then you'd better get used to me."

Laying her head against his chest, she slipped her arms around him and gave him an embrace. After a moment he did the same and held her close as they stood there and listened to the peaceful gurgle of the river. Elsa wanted to stay there in his strong arms forever, but there was something that she had to do. So she slowly removed herself from his embrace and took his hand, turning and walking back towards where the trolls lived. As she towed him along she said, "Come on."

"Where are we going?" His voice was puzzled but he didn't resist her pull.

"If I'm going to return to Arendelle, then Anna's coming with us and I need to explain to her why she can't marry Hans before we leave."