The ride to the pass was uneventful, although the prospect of combat kept everyone alert and on edge. As they got closer to the pass, more and more of Arendelle's army joined the ranks, with the regiments stationed on the outskirts of the kingdom, arriving in dribs and drabs. There was no doubt that the Valadorian army would far outnumber the Arendellian, however with the addition of the Korun-Do force that was due to meet them at the pass, Alder was not worried about the slight advantage that Gratham would have with the size of his force. The pass, whilst being wide enough for most activity such as trade and travel, was narrow enough that at most, you could have 15-20 men standing side by side. Numbers would mean nothing in a space like that, which was the main reason Alder had chosen this spot to make a stand.

By nightfall of the third day, the arrived and made camp. As Alder walked amongst the men, all who saw him acknowledged him and despite their feelings of nervousness and unease, nodded with smiles or saluted him. Despite having no rank or authority over any of the troops from Arendelle, he had earned their respect and they treated him as such. Even the officers and those in the upper echelons of command saluted him as he walked past and Alder felt a strong sense of responsibility. Whilst these men would fight and some would die as they fought to protect their kingdom, Alder knew it was up to him to make sure as many of these men as possible would return to see those families that had given them a teary farewell. He walked back to his tent and found Jarel standing outside.

"There you are, thought you'd gone out to meet Gratham by yourself! I was starting to get worried!" he grinned.

Jarel never seemed to let any situation get him down, always cheerful and able to see the bright side to everything. But despite his cheerful demeanour, there was a reason why he was one of the highest ranking member's of the Korun-Do. His willingness to do whatever was necessary to ensure the success of any mission made him one of the most feared and talked about leaders of the Korun-Do and everyone knew that behind that cheerful smile, was a man who could get any task, regardless of how difficult, done.

"Tempting, but no. I was just inspecting the encampments. Gratham is a sly bastard and I know he wouldn't stick to a strictly honorable form of warfare. We need to be prepared for anything," Alder said.

"Come on Alder! You've been prepping for weeks, you have everything covered. There is no way Gratham is even gonna get near us without someone knowing. Relax, everything will be ok," Jarel smiled, patting his friend on the back.

"I really wish I shared your optimism my friend," Alder muttered quietly.

Jarel stopped and motioned to Alder to sit down.

"What's wrong Alder? This isn't anything new to either of us? Why are you so... Gloomy?"

Alder hesitated for a moment, contemplating what it was that made this battle different from so many of the others that he had faced. He had done this kind of thing half a hundred times and yet every time he thought about the upcoming fight, he grew nervous, something that had never happened to him before.

"I guess... I guess this time the real difference is that I have something to lose. Of course whenever we fought alongside armies as member's of the Korun-Do there was always a chance we'd die in doing so, but back then dying was the worst of our concerns. Now it's all changed..."

Alder stopped momentarily.

"It's Elsa isn't it? You're afraid you are going to lose her?" Jarel queried.

"Yes... But it's not just Elsa... It's Anna, it's Kristoff, it's Kai, it's Gerda, it's every single person in Arendelle. I thought when I left that I would be alone for the rest of my days, wandering never to find the peace and happiness that I once had... But now I have that and I have every person in that city to thank, whether it be how welcoming they were, or the fact that the have helped me to see that which I was blind to."

"I owe it to all of them to defend their home... MY home..."

As Alder spoke the words, he felt the warmth that he had felt, every moment that he had been with Elsa. Caring and love filled every fiber of his being and he understood now why he was nervous. It wasn't just the fact that there were others relying on him, it was the fact that he didn't want to lose his home for a third time.

"Well if it's any consolation, I have something back there that I'm fighting for too..." Jarel said slowly.

Alder looked up at his friend and studied him. Curiously, Jarel couldn't make eye contact and was blushing.

"Jarel are you... blushing?" Alder laughed.

"No! No... I'm not... Not at all... Forget I said anything."

Piecing it together Alder clapped his friend on the back and smiled.

"It's Regina isn't it?"

Horror filled Jarel's face.

"Is-Is it that obvious?" he cried.

"No my friend it's not... I only assumed. I'm thrilled for you both and I guess that makes another person who will kill me if we don't make it back though," Alder chuckled.

Jarel laughed.

"I guess it does. Why is it that I find myself more afraid of dying and having Regina angry at me than I do of dying itself," Jarel jested.

"It's love my friend, it's love. When you find that one person who you'd do anything for, the thought of not being with them for the rest of your days is terrifying."

The two friends laughed and stood up.

"Well I had best be off to sleep. We have a big couple of days ahead of us and I hate to be tired when I fight," Jarel shouted back to Alder as he walked off.

"Sleep well," Alder chuckled, turning and walking back to his own tent.

Three days had passed in Arendelle and the city seemed to be alive with a nervous buzz. The reserve troops had arrived and begun to shore up the defenses and Elsa was currently standing on the balcony that overlooked the town, watching as men hurried backwards and forwards, carrying weapons and supplies. Whilst the army had moved out, there was still much to do in Arendelle. She had sent out messages to the surrounding kingdoms, informing them of the situation and requesting any aid they could spare. She was disappointed however when only three of the seven kingdoms agreed to assist.

'I'll have to reconsider our trade agreements when this is all through,' she thought bitterly.

Whilst she knew that the kingdoms surrounding Arendelle were not the most militarily advanced, nor the wealthiest, the fact that Gratham posed such a great threat had made her believe that they would be more forthcoming with assistance. Despite her disappointment, she could not blame them entirely.

'Gratham is a monster but he is also powerful. I can see why they are hesitant to join us. Should we lose perhaps they think they can appease him and negotiate some sort of truce.'

Elsa knew however that Gratham would not negotiate. If he was victorious in Arendelle, he would seize their kingdoms before they could even dispatch a messenger with an invitation to talks. She moved away from the balcony, deciding to return to her office and finish some papers that needed signing before dinner. As she turned the corner to head down the hallway that led to her study, Regina appeared, almost bumping into her.

"Oh Regina! My apologies, I didn't see you there," she said hurriedly.

"It's no trouble your Majesty, it is my fault. I had been searching for you for some time and I was beginning to think you had disappeared," Regina replied.

Elsa smiled.

"Look I understand that Alder asked you to look out for me but you don't need to be by my side all day, everyday. I can take care of myself. And please call me Elsa, you are a friend Regina and I insist you treat me as such."

Regina hesitated for a moment.

"Very well your Maj- Elsa. I know that you can handle yourself, however Alder is as much of a family as I have ever had and I swore to him that I'd protect you," she replied sternly.

Elsa knew that this wasn't an argument she was going to win, despite the fact that she could invoke the whole 'I'm the Queen you do as I say', she had no desire to. She enjoyed Regina's company and whilst she took her oath a little too seriously, she was always enjoyable to have around.

"Well I'm just heading back to my study to finish a few things before dinner, if you would like to accompany me?" Elsa asked.

Regina only nodded her head and the two began to walk down the hallway.

"So you say Alder is like your family? I take it you have known him for a while then," Elsa asked, curious to learn more about the woman standing next to her.

"For as long as I can remember. Alder, Jarel and I were all very young when we were brought into the Korun-Do and since then we've always kind of stuck together. When it came time for us to be assigned missions, the masters thought it best to keep us together, as we worked very effectively as a team. Growing up in that kind of environment and always knowing that someone would have your back, I guess the easiest way to describe that would be a family. It was only really when Alder left that Jarel and I had to adapt and change because it had always been the three of us."

They walked silently for a few paces and then Elsa spoke again.

"So what was Alder like back in those days? He's told me quite a few stories," she said smiling softly.

Regina gave a half smile in return.

"He was calm and collected, but he had a mischievous streak a mile long. When we were younger, he and Jarel used to get into all sorts of trouble playing pranks on the masters and other members. It usually ended up with a stern talking to from Velkar and days of physical excercise. They never learnt though, as soon as one punishment was done, they were looking for their next big prank. As he got older he matured quickly, becoming a fierce warrior but one who would always follow what he thought was right. Where some might have thought it easier to kill a guard, Alder would plan around only killing if necessary, never taking a life unless he absolutely had to."

Regina trailed off, her face darkening slightly.

"It was only when it came to fighting bandits did I ever see a side of Alder that frightened me. He would chase bands of them down, spending days ensuring that every last one of them was either dead or captured. He had no mercy when it came to bandits and when I found out what had happened to his family I understood why. When someone confronted him one day about it, he turned to them and simply said 'These men forfeited their lives when they preyed on the innocent. The more of them that we throw behind bars or run them through with our swords, the less that are out there to hurt the people we care about most.' No one every challenged him on the subject again."

They had reached the study and Elsa walked inside, sitting down behind her desk and gesturing for Regina to sit down as well. She thought on the subject. She realised there was so much more to Alder than she had known but she was surprised when the thought did not worry her. She thought she knew him well but her conversation with Regina had revealed that so much of Alder's life was a mystery. Whenever she had asked, he had answered her, truthfully, every question she had about him and yet there were things that she hadn't felt comfortable in asking. She knew he would have answered them, however, she didn't want him to feel like she was judging him for his past.

"I'm sorry if I have upset you Elsa," Regina said, bringing Elsa out of her thoughts.

Shaking her head Elsa replied.

"No, no you have done nothing of the sort Regina. I guess that the things I didn't ask Alder were the things I didn't really want to know. I didn't want there to be any chance of his past affecting how I thought of him."

"And has it?"

Elsa sat for a moment before replying with a small smile.

"No. It hasn't. I know the man I fell in love with is the man that Alder has become. He may have done things in his past that he regrets but so have I and I would be no better than anyone who has ever said unkind things about me if I judged Alder on that."

Regina leaned back in her seat, clearly relaxed at Elsa's words.

"So you do love him?"

Elsa gave Regina a curious look.

"I do. With all my heart I love him and I hope that he does return so that I can tell him that over and over until the day we die," Elsa replied, blushing slightly at how open she was being with Regina.

Regina smirked.

"Well that's all I really needed to hear," she said, rising from her seat.

Elsa now realised what had been happening.

"You were testing me, weren't you? To see if I would think any differently of Alder if I knew what he had done?"

Smiling slightly, Regina went to exit the room.

"Perhaps but I've seen the way you look at him. I know what he means to you and I know what you mean to him. Call it me being the protective older sister. But don't tell Alder I said that. See you at dinner Elsa."

Elsa gave Regina a warm smile.

"See you at dinner Regina."

A/N: And there is chapter 25 my friends! Ive planned out the last couple ready to go and I think there is probably only going to be maybe 5 chapters left! This has been an incredible journey and it's almost saddening to see it come to an end. Alas though this won't be the end. I've started writing up a couple of the AUs I suggested and then I think I will get to working on the sequel!

I have also recently published the beginnings of one of the AU stories that I have started writing. It's called Fireteam Blizzard and if you could all give it a quick read for me and tell me what you think that would be greatly appreciated!

Once again thank you all for your follows/favourites and if you could review this for me and tell me what you like/didn't like etc etc that would be fantastic!

Until next time,

Caedous