Title: Chapter 36: Lost
3 years, 8 months until correction
Clouds form and gather above the north mountain. Large ominous clouds from the south race across the ocean towards Arendelle. The top of these clouds reaches the upper atmosphere to create an anvil shape of a thunderstorm. Their dark bottom illuminates with each flash of lightning striking the ocean. Clouds roll in from the mountains and cover the sun. A strong wind blows from the ocean whipping up the waves as they crash onto the shore. Kristoff wraps his arms around Anna and Georg leans into the winds trying to block the fjord's spray. The incoming tide consumes the shore line.
Elsa stands knee deep in the water, but she continues to stare down at Sam. Her body tingles with the absorption of his energy. Each lightning strike sends a surge of energy coursing through her body. It is like nothing she has ever felt, but it is a good feeling that satisfies her hunger. She is surprised that she desires more. Her senses amplify all she detects. Her ears hear the town's people panicking to get into their homes and latch down loose objects. The wind howls across the fjord and rushes through the trees. Her hair stimulates her scalp with the moving air.
Pabbie moves back to the wall and transforms into a boulder.
As quickly as it started, the wind stops. The thunder and lightning stops. For several seconds two distinctive hearts beat as one, but she detects a slight delay in one.
A loud crack echoes across Arendelle and the fjord. A blue bolt of lightning pierces the clouds and strikes the ice surrounding him.
An explosion of white light gives the sensation of moving through the air. The ground rapidly slides past her feet. A momentary glimpse of Anna and Kristoff moves away from her. Gray stones replace the white light. A blunt force impacts her body. The sky passes followed by the fjord. The ground races towards her. The ground expels the air from her body. Sharp pains and burns assault her body as she struggles to breathe. Her movement strikes more pain into her mind. A voice calls her name. She reaches for the voice. A salty, burning, taste coats her teeth.
The voice calls to her again. "Elsa . . . Elsa, please talk to me."
The voice sounds familiar. With each breath and with each movement, pain shoots through her body. She tries to inhale, and her lungs spasm. A cough coats the insides of her mouth. It oozes past her lips. A shadow touches her head. Please stop. The shadow slides across her face and the strands of her hair inflict pain. She coughs again. More thick fluid oozes past her lips. I'm so tired. Let me sleep.
The voice cries in her ear. "Elsa wake up."
Another voice calls to her, a comforting voice, a voice of peace speaks to her, Elsa, do not give up. I know you are hurting and I will help you. Stay awake a little longer.
Anna cries to Georg. "Please get the doctor."
Georg starts to run towards the castle, but stops to stare at the glowing ice.
Sam's left hand glows orange. The ice cracks and he frees himself from his ice cocoon. After several more seconds he pushes away the remaining ice and gets to his feet. He doesn't wait for his head to clear and staggers towards Elsa. Rocks crunch and the sand shifts. Kristoff and Georg charge towards him.
He speaks to them in his language. "What are you doing? We need to help Elsa."
Georg scoops up a stone and throws it at him. The stone momentarily glows a blue halo and bounces into the water. Kristoff picks up a larger stone and throws, but it also bounces off harmlessly to the water. He stops as Kristoff picks up another stone. The sand shifts near his foot. Georg swings his fist at his face. He ducks, steps forward, and swings his right hand against the back of Georg's head. Georg's inertia carries him past and into the fjord. Sam hesitates a second before hooking his left arm under Kristoff's right arm in mid swing, and launches Kristoff several meters past the shoreline.
Georg gets to his feet.
Sam points to him and speaks, "I don't think Kristoff knows how to swim, so you better go and save him before he drowns. I will take care of Elsa until you get back."
Georg does not move.
He leaps to close the distance and grabs Georg's shirt with both hands. With a mighty push Georg sails into the fjord with a splash next to Kristoff. He turns just as a rock hits his arm and a second later, another rock hits the right side of his face. He swings his head toward the thrower and begins moving towards her.
Anna, red faced and tears streaming down her cheeks. She picks up more rock screaming at him. "You did this to her." She throws another rock which he easily deflects away. "Stay away from her, you monster, I will not let you near her."
The gate behind her starts to open. Sam waves his hand towards it and freezes it close. Guards on the other side, pound on the door and yell.
Sam continues moving forward and swats away the small barrage of rocks Anna throws at him. He scans Elsa's injuries. A pain pierces his heart upon detecting her broken arm, broken lower leg, scrapes on her arms, and the side of her face. He sees the sparkles in the red around her lips and sparkles in the red splatter on the rocks.
Without looking he catches a large rock centimeters from his face. Just as the rock hits the ground Anna launches herself at him with both hands towards his face. He catches her right arm and turns as he steps to the side. Her left hand scratches across his face. He sweeps her legs out from under her. Her back impacts the ground expelling the air from her lungs. She gasps for a breath. He straddles her and crosses her arms in front as he holds her hands to her sides. Angry eyes stare up at him.
She wheezes for air. Behind him Kristoff splashes in the water as he yells, "Get off of Anna or I will do more than hurt you.
He leans down and whispers, "Please Anna. I know I'm to blame for your sister's injury. She is still alive at the moment, but you have to let me save her. I need your help to do it. If I can't save her, you, Kristoff, and Georg can do whatever you want to me. I will not fight you. Truce for right now?"
She still has the fight in her eyes, but she nods her head.
He lifts her to her feet and blows a cool mist into her face. "Anna, I did not mean for this to happen. I will do what I can."
He kneels just enough to get Anna's arm over his shoulder and wraps his arm around her waist as he stands. He carries her to Elsa.
Kristoff and Georg wade to the shore and run towards them.
He sits Anna next to Elsa's head and kneels next to them with his back towards the wall. Clasping his hand together over his head, he slowly opens them. An almost transparent blue cone covers the three of them to the ground.
In a very weak voice, she says, "Anna, he is the only one who can remove this energy. He was not trying to hurt us." Elsa coughs up more of the purplish blood.
He moves his hand slowly over Elsa's body detecting the damage. Above them the storm clouds unleash a torrent of rain over Arendelle. He searches the sky and speaks in his language. "Why are you doing this? She is innocent. I'm the one you need to punish. I caused all of this. Strike me."
Samuel, it is not your fault. You need to focus. I know you can remove this energy, but my body cannot hold on for much longer.
He continues to stare at the rain.
She screams into his mind, Admiral Samuel Christopher Ryan of the Starship Aurora, if you love me, you will stop this, that is an order.
Sam looks at her lifeless body. His brain shifts his body into action. He points to Anna and then points to near Elsa's head. "Anna move here."
She does not move. He stands behind her and grabs below her knees. He lifts her and sets her behind Elsa's head. He motions to Anna that he will roll Elsa.
Anna nods.
Sam kneels behind Elsa and rolls her body onto her back and her head onto Anna's lap. Elsa lets out a long moan. He touches Anna's arm and Elsa's arm. "She is still alive and I know you have no reason to trust me now, but please with your heart reach out to her. She will hear you."
Through her anger Anna begins to smile as tears leap onto her face. "I can hear her. She is alive."
"Talk to her. Tell her she will be all right." He takes Anna's hand and places it on Elsa's shoulder and neck. "Stay in contact with her skin and you two will be able to communicate. I need to heal the cut on the inside of her cheeks. Please do not get upset for what you see me do."
Anna continues to smile and brushes Elsa's hair with her fingers.
Elsa opens her blood shot eyes partially. Anna cuddles her face as she looks up at her. With a gurgling voice Elsa touches her hand. "Anna, promise me . . . promise me no matter what happens, you will not harm Sam. Promise me!"
Anna lets the tears stream down her face and nods in agreement.
Elsa tries to smile, but blood trails down from the corner of her lips and flows into her ocean blue hair. She reaches for Sam's hand and places it over her heart. "You can do this. You did it before."
Sam slowly shakes his head no. "I don't know how."
"Yes, you can. I believe in you." She turns her head and coughs up more blood. "I know your pain. I know the storm you fight to control. It is a tool to be used in your quest. I know you have a servant's heart. Together, your heart and the storm will do you well. If you do not wish to save us, you need to walk away and let me die."
Die? So many times he evades death with the sacrificial life of another. Death is the enemy that always accompanies him. Where he stopped death was there. Where ever he ran death was there. Whomever he loved, death took them away. Not this time, he will fight death and force it to take him.
He nods as his tear drops onto her face. It creates a trail and connects to a blood trail. The mixture turns the purplish blood red and a blue mist rises from it. He understands. He does have a fighting chance. Moving his hand over her face, the polarized charge in his hand causes the blue mist to rise. Her facial color returns to a pale white. He places his hand over the cut on her forehead and covers the right side of her face. His hands glow a light blue and a few minutes later he moves his hand to the left side of her face and to her right shoulder. The blue mist slowly rises out of her as his hands pass over her body. Gradually he removes the massive amount of energy she absorbed. He sets her left arm straight and encases it in a block of ice. His hands move just above her abdomen healing every cut, bruise, and internal injury. He moves his hand slightly above and down both of her legs. Again stopping long enough to set her left leg and encasing it in a block of ice. He sits at her feet tapping her uninjured leg.
Elsa, it is time for you to wake up.
He points to Anna and motions for her to tap Elsa's face. Anna stares at him. He points to his hand and slaps his own face. He points to her then to Elsa.
Elsa barely opens her eyes. "Anna, you slap me and I will hurt you."
With tears Anna hugs her big sister. "I thought I lost you."
Elsa starts to move and groans. She looks past her shoes at Sam.
You need to move your arms and legs. Sam states in a monotone voice in her head.
Elsa grimaces and relaxes. I don't think I can move my legs.
He takes her shoe off and runs his finger nail across the bottom of her foot. Her leg twitches and she pulls it close to her body. He puts her shoe back on her foot and takes the other shoe off. Running his nail across the bottom of her foot, there is no indication of movement.
It is possible the ice is blocking the nerve signal to your brain. He puts her shoe back on. He glances at the movement across her face.
She states in his language. "I know why you are suffering."
He stares at her, no smile, no emotions. "Who said I was suffering?"
"You did. You have a storm in your head that has been raging for a very long time. If anything I know exactly what you are going through."
"And what am I going through?"
"Your actions have caused a lot of pain to many who trust you, even to the point that you believe they will not trust you again."
"How do you know such things?"
"You told me."
Anna patiently listens. "I do not understand. What are you saying to each other?"
Elsa glances up and forces a smile. "This is his native language. This is the language he spoke to the guards when they found him so many years ago."
"How do you know his language and why is he speaking it, when a couple of hours ago, he was speaking our language?"
"Take my word. I understand and speak his language because he taught me. He doesn't speak our language because his mind is in the process of resetting. When his mind has been completely reset, I hope he will be speaking our language. If not, he will have to learn again."
He stands and the rain stops. He touches the energy sphere causing it to pop. A shower of mist falls on to Anna as she leans forward to cover Elsa's face from the water.
Anna looks up at Sam with a not so pleasant face, "You had to do that. Could you have removed the water before popping it?"
He does not understand what the red head is saying, but notices a beam of sunlight widening to cover his hand. He glances at the sky. Clouds separate to reveal the blue sky. The sun runs behind the mountains and leaves a trail of red and orange colors. He closes his eyes and breathes in the sunlight as he breathes in the fresh air.
A grimace of pain sounds behind him. He holds out his hand to Elsa. "Get up. Your dress is wet."
Elsa rolls onto her right side. Anna moves to her knees and tries to help her sister up.
The pain in her arm and leg overwhelms her and Elsa rolls onto her back.
Anna glares up at Him and snarls, "Do not stand there. Help her up so she can walk to the castle."
He slightly tilts his head. "That would not be advisable for Queen Elsa to walk back to the castle at this time."
"Then carry her," Anna snaps.
Elsa grabs Anna's arm. "Please, he is not himself right now. We have to be patient until his mind clears."
A dull pain throbs in her arm and leg. She closes her eyes for a moment. When they open, she sees the blue mist surrounding the ice. A string of mist radiates out from the ice and connects to his hand. She glances up at him. "Please help me to the castle."
Sam turns his head. His eyes begin to dart around looking at nothing specific.
Anna demonstrates very little patience. "What is he doing now?"
"Anna, please."
Elsa tries the move her arm and speaks in his language. "Samuel, please help me to the castle. I cannot walk."
He focuses on her. "You are injured. Walking will make your injuries worse. I will carry you to the castle."
He sits her up and moves her left arm into her lap. He rolls her dress around her legs and slides his arm behind her knees. His other arm slides across her back. She wraps her right arm around his neck. He lifts. With a moan she closes her eyes and lays her head against his shoulder.
He whispers. "Are you in pain?"
Anna yells, "Of course she is in pain, you Neanderthal. Now do not drop her."
He asks in his language. "Did I cause you this pain?"
Without moving her head, she whispers back to him, "yes, but it was not your fault."
"I'm sorry. I will fix it."
Anna slowly walks towards the gate. "You drop her I will have every guard use your body for target practice. You hear me."
"Do not listen to my sister. She is afraid."
He walks towards the gate and does his best to keep her on a leveled plain as much as possible. "She loves you. Her words are truth. I did this to you, because of what? Fear of what?"
He steps through the gate to encounter four guards pointing their swords at him. Kristoff and Prince Georg dripping wet follow close behind them.
He stops. Elsa opens her eyes. "Do not stop him. He will not harm me."
Anna is not so forgiving and commands the guards. "If you think he is harming her do not hesitate to run him through."
"Anna!" Elsa holds her head up just long enough to watch Anna move towards the castle. She drops her head on his shoulder and closes her eyes. She takes a deep breath and holds it.
"The pain is strong?"
She nods her head slightly.
"Do you want me to ease the pain?"
She nods her head again and opens her eyes as a tear runs down her cheek.
"Let the star's energy transfer to my love and ease her pain." A blue mist forms around her.
The pain subsides. Others point at them as he continues towards the castle.
Anna stands at the top of the steps. "Why do you have that blue mist around you?"
He comments as he takes each step carefully. "The pain level was getting too much for your sister. The blue mist, as you call it, acts to inhibit the neurological transmission signal from her leg and arm to her brain."
"What are you talking about?"
The town doctor walks past them and up the steps. "Basically what he said is the mist calms her pain. If he could bottle that mist, he would make millions."
Anna glances at the doctor and Sam walks past her.
He turns his body sideways and eases her through the door. Anna runs past them and up the stairs. He moves towards the stairs and a slight smile forms on Elsa's face.
"Thank you, the pain is easing." She nuzzles into his neck and awakens a sensation she has not felt in many years.
He stops at the bottom of the stairs and asks, "Elsa, when did you take my heart?"
Her smile grows a little wider and replies, "When you saved my life those many years ago."
Gerda runs from a hall and starts up the stairs. "Take her to her room so I can get her cleaned up. The doctor can examine her up there."
Kai orders four guards to take Elsa.
She turns her head to the guards. "Stop, he will take me upstairs." The guards bow and step aside to allow him to pass.
Sam takes each step slowly trying not to exert any unnecessary movement to Elsa. After ten steps he stops and looks straight ahead.
Anna runs back down the stairs. "What are you doing? Do not stand there, move," she voices loudly.
Elsa cringes her face. "Anna I am right here. There was no reason to yell at him." She looks up at his partially closed eyes. Her right hand slips under his hair and creates a faint cooling effect on his neck.
His head turns down to her. "You are hurt?"
"Yes."
"Did I cause your pain?"
"Yes, you need to carry me up the stairs." She increases the cooling effect on his neck.
Slowly he starts moving up the steps. "I don't remember hurting you. Do I need to be punished?"
"You bet your childish attitude you need to be punished," Anna scowls.
She narrows her eyes at Anna. "If my sister does not knock the noise off, she will find herself frozen to her bed in the morning." Elsa slides her hand past his neck and the tip of her finger feels his rapidly beating heart. "Samuel, it was not your fault. Had I not touched you, I would not have been injured."
"Is this why you feel angry with me?"
He said feel? Did Anna detect it before I did? He is acting afraid like a child. She watches his facial expressions. Did something happen to him in the ice? Did he not heal completely?
She answers, "Samuel, no, you saved my life."
A young boy's voice whispers, "Saved . . . your life?"
"Yes, you saved my life. You drank the poison that was meant for me."
"Why?" His heart beats visually faster in his neck.
"I'm not sure. Maybe you did it because you care for me."
"How do I know if I care for you?"
"By the things you do for me."
"Like what things?"
She searches his eyes. "Like the way you make sure I have everything I need before you sit down to eat with me. Like when you held your coat over my head to keep me from getting wet in the rain as you got soaked." She smiles with that memory.
"Do I care for you a lot?"
She raises her brows. "I think you do."
"I care enough to drink poison?"
She searches his non-emotional face. "Yes, you could say because you drank the poison meant for me, you were showing me you care." A thought occurs to her. "You like me a lot."
He steps on the top floor level and stops. "Do I love you?"
Has that been an issue for him? Is that why he keeps saying he is a commoner?
She continues to search his eyes. "Why did you ask?"
He frowns. "It is logical that if I do these things for you, and drink poison, am I showing my love for you?"
He more than cares for me. She holds back a grin. "I guess you can say you love me."
Gerda steps behind Him and pushes him to walk, "Sounds like love to me."
"Are we husband and wife?"
Gerda snickers with a grin. "There you go, now how are you going to answer that?"
Elsa narrows her eyes at her. "No, we are not husband and wife."
He wrinkles his forehead as his eyes dart back and forth.
She pushes. "Why do you ask?"
He stops and looks down at her. His eyes leisurely trail down her arm. "When I think of you, I can't think of anything else. It becomes very confusing."
She asks, "Why is it confusing?"
He stops a short distance from the door to the royal suite. His eyes dart back and forth across her face. "Like right now, I know you are in pain and as long as the blue mist surrounds you, your pain is greatly diminished. If I set you down and break contact with you, the mist will disappear and your pain will return. I do not wish for you to suffer, but the doctor needs to examine your wounds." He stares at the floor in front of him.
"What are you thinking?" He does not respond. She generates more cold on his neck.
Gerda steps back and comments, "Oh my, she is freezing his neck."
Anna and the doctor move next to Gerda. Anna clamps her hand over her mouth as she squeaks. A thin layer of ice covers the back of his neck. A trail of cold air flows down his spine.
Sam's eyes focus and he turns his head.
Elsa asks, "What is your solution?"
"Either, I can set you down and maintain physical contact with you to keep the mist around you, or I don't set you down and let the doctor examine you in my arms."
She pulls his head towards her. "You cannot do both, so which is it?"
"Which method will cause the least discomfort for you, I will do."
"Choose!"
Several moments pass before he answers, "I will sit you on the edge of the chair and sit on your left side with my arm around you. My leg and arm will maintain the physical contact with you to preserve the mist. Is that acceptable to you?"
"Yes, that is an acceptable course of action."
Anna runs past them and opens the door. "Finally, get her in here."
Sam walks to the door and turns side way not to jostle her as he passes through. The doctor and Gerda follow him into the royal suite. He sits on the edge of the chair and starts to sit her in the chair, but a low moan escapes her lips. He stops for a moment and draws her closer to him.
He states in a matter of fact voice. "Change of plan, I will sit here and you will sit in my lap. This will create more contact area between us."
With her eyes closed, she smiles as he sits her in his lap. He slides his arm down her back and hooks his hand around her waist. She feels his hand on her knee, then her arm. He shifts his weight. She opens her eyes. He places his hand behind his back. She whispers as she moves her finger on the broken arm, "Take my hand."
He watches her fingers wiggling and slides his hand under her hand.
She distinctively detects a quick intake of air on his part. She senses his confusion and asks, "What is wrong?"
The doctor kneels in front of them and looks at the ice encasing her arm. He interrupts, "Can you remove the ice?"
Sam presses his fingernail into the ice and scores a line the length of the ice. It breaks in half. The doctor places each half of the ice in the bowl held by Gerda. The doctor slides his hand over her arm. With a little pressure he slides his hand slower.
Sam watches what the doctor is doing, then says, "Stop, there is the break."
The doctor looks up at Sam, "if that is the break I do not feel it. I would not find it under my normal exam. Wiggle your fingers, now your hand."
Her hand and fingers move.
"Does it hurt? Do you feel anything in your arm?"
"It feels a little tender like I overworked it."
Sam wraps his hand around the break and a shimmering layer of ice forms around her arm the width of his hand. "When it melts, you will be healed." He lets go of her hand and looks away.
She grabs the back of his neck and turns his head to her, "What is wrong? What sensation are you feeling?"
He gazes into her eyes without emotions. "Do you know your eyes glow an ice blue?"
"Aww, your eyes are also blue in your blue mist," Anna bellows from across the room.
"Focus now, answer my question then I will answer your question." Elsa pulls on his frozen hair.
"The sensation?"
She nods.
"When I touched your hand, it felt good. Your hand is soft and smooth. It must hurt your hand to touch my rough hands."
"No. Your hands are strong. I like it when you hold my hand."
"I like holding your hand." With a twinkle in his eyes, he asks, "May I hold it some more?"
She holds out her hand and whispers into his ear. "You can hold it as long as you like."
"Then I want to hold it for a very long time."
Anna shakes her head. "Grr, are you a moron or do you like speaking as a child? That is exactly what she wants you do. Hold her hand for all of our sakes."
He closes his hand around hers. A glimmer of a smile moves across his lips.
"Do not listen to her. You listen to me?"
"Okay, but you have to tell me when I should stop holding your hand."
She smiles as she lays her head on his shoulder.
"I like that too."
"What do you like?"
"Your face touching my shoulder and the way you breathe against my neck. I can smell your hair. It is like a flower stretching its petals to the sky after a rain shower."
"My hair smells wet?"
"No, it smells like the freshness after a rain shower. It's clean and pleasant." He turns his head just enough to lay his head on hers and closes his eyes.
The doctor taps her knee. "I need to raise your dress to see your leg."
She opens her eyes just enough to grab her dress below her knee and pulls it up exposing the ice splint on her leg. "Samuel, please remove the ice from my leg."
"Okay." With his eyes still closed, he motions with his hand as though he was scoring the ice and a second later the ice splits in two and falls to the floor.
Gerda and the doctor place the ice in a bowl.
The doctor slides his hand down the length of her leg, and then starts back up when Samuel tells him to stop. He nods. "Yes, I can feel the break here. It is more pronounced." His assistant helps to splint her leg.
He presses his thumb into her hand and she wraps her fingers around his thumb. His fingertips lightly trace the back of her hand. His hand moves to cover her hand. With a light squeeze he pushes his hand into her palm and forces her hand open by pushing her fingers up. His fingers push between her fingers. She parts her lips to breathe easier and deeply.
"Do you have a husband?"
Her eyes pop open. "No, I do not."
"Did you have a husband?"
She raises her head and turns his head towards her. "I have never been married, so I have never had a husband."
"Do you want a husband?"
Gerda grins at her.
She should have expected it, but she was not prepared to answer truthfully. "Someday I would like to have a husband. Why do you ask?"
She stares at him with intent. Even Anna tries to hold back her enthusiasm, but her grin and nodding head, tells what she wants to hear. Everyone in the room hesitates as if their silence would enable them to hear clearer.
He holds her hand against his face. "I'm not sure what a husband is supposed to do. I would suspect, it has to be more than what I do."
Elsa leans her head against his forehead. "Do you wish to be my husband?"
The voice of the young boy changes to a slightly deeper voice, but not quite that of a man. "If I learn to be a husband and it is acceptable to you, May I be your husband?"
Her smile grows as the tears swell up in her eyes. "I would be honored for you to be my husband." She moves her lips close to his lip, but Anna yells with joy. "He did it."
Kristoff runs into the room. "What is going on?"
Anna hugs him. "Sam asked Elsa to marry him, but not the way most men ask, but in front of all these witnesses he did ask."
The doctor stands and pats them on their back. "Congratulations."
He looks deeply into her eyes. "Something must be wrong."
She lifts her head and leans back. "What do you mean something is wrong? Are you not happy?"
"Well, I do not know what happiness is."
"What do you feel?"
"I can hear your heart beating faster than it was a minute ago. The color of your complexion has shifted more to the red spectrum. Your eyes are dilated. I'm detecting a chemical change radiating from you."
The doctor grins. "Well, I have never heard it described like that, but your description is accurate."
Sam turns to the doctor, "What did I describe?"
The doctor places his hand on Sam's shoulder and snickers. "If all men could learn to observe the woman's reaction as you observed hers, I would think the world would be a better place. It is rather fascinating that you even describe her chemical release that science is just now asking the question of how men and women are attracted to each other. It is fascinating indeed."
"You have not told me what it is I described?"
"Sam, there is no specific word to identify what you described. Some people call it love. My personal opinion, Love is a verb, not a noun." He kneels next to Samuel. "Think of it like this. You can't point to a thing or person or object and say this is love. Love describes the overall collection of what you say, what you do, what you feel to make someone happy."
"Did I make her, happy?"
"That is not for me to say. You need to ask her and she may not answer you vocally."
"If she does not vocalize how will I know?"
The doctor shakes his head. "I am quite confident when she communicates to you that she is happy, there will be no misunderstanding on your part."
Sam turns his head back to her. "Are you happy?"
She just smiles at him.
After a few moments of silence, the Doctor intervenes, "Sam, she asked you a question a few minutes ago. Maybe she is waiting for you to answer her question."
"What question?" He searches her face, then his eyes dart around searching. He squints. "What do I feel?"
With no words she slowly nods as her smile grows wider.
"What do I feel? My heart feels warm with you next to me. I do not wish for the sensation to end. I don't want to let you go. I want to feel you against me all the time. I wish to get drunk from your fragrant. I want to explore your hands . . . your body. I want to know what I can do to make you happy, to keep you safe, and to minimize your worries. I want you to be happy that I'm here with you. I do not wish for you to be sad. I want to protect you from the world." Then his eyes fixates on the wall behind her.
Elsa watches his hesitation. "What are you seeing?" She turns his head towards her.
His eyes focus on her. "What is wrong with me?"
"What do you mean, what is wrong?" She asks with confusion.
"I am trying very hard to see you, to stay focused on you, but my mind sees many images. I'm hearing many voices."
She whispers in his ear as tears swell in her eyes. "What are the voices saying?"
"I do not understand them. It is going too fast." His eyes begin to twitch from side to side. "I have to leave before I hurt you."
Elsa slides off his lap and onto the chair next to him. Tears run down her cheeks. His body quivers. The doctor reaches for Sam. She stops him. Sam stands and wobbles as he walks towards the door.
She stands. "Get out of his way. Do not touch him. Let him go."
Anna and Kristoff move away from the door giving Sam a wide area.
For a moment he controls his body's movement and looks back at her. With his normal voice he says, "Elsa, you know what you have to do. You know what might happen. Don't let me forget. Don't forget me." Tremors run through his arms as he looks at his hands. "Whatever happens, I want you to know." He tries to turn back to her, but falls to his knees. "For the short time I was with you, I was free and happy. I do not wish it to ever end." His face twists in pain and the tremors take over his body.
Elsa hobbles towards him and stops a meter from him. Her vision blurs and the tears take the air out of her life. Her hands rise as the air around her palms form ice crystals.
He falls onto his side and pulls his knees to his chest. Sam calls to her. "Elsa, I love you."
"I love you Sam." With those words, a large shower of ice crystal from her palms completely encase his body in ice. She kneels next to the ice and places her hand above his face. His eyes are open.
Anna kneels and hugs her big sister. "Why?"
"This is the only way he can survive. He was injured by the poison. His body needed him to shut down so it could repair the damage, but he was fighting against it. He knew there was a threat against me and if he was incapacitated, he would not be able to protect me." She turns her head to Anna. "I missed it, even when you pointed it out."
"Pointed what out?"
"You said he was speaking like a child. That was the clue. His higher functions had been shutting down to protect it. His mind is that of a child in a man's body. He needs to reset his body and mind." Her face distorts in pain, "Had I not touched him in the ice, he might not have suffered." She lays her head on Anna's shoulder to sob.
Anna strokes her sister's hair. "If you had not touched him and he was functioning on a childlike capacities, you would not have known his true feelings for you."
She raises her head up. "But that is just it. I did know"
"When?"
"Last week, he told me that if he could not get the poison under control he would have to shut down for a short period of time to heal, but he warned me it was possible he could lose some of his memory or not remember me. He said I would know that something was wrong when he would suddenly stop and appeared lost. If I could get him to focus on me as much as possible, it would minimize the memory loss. Before that happened, he wanted me to know he loved me the first time he detected my presence and he enjoyed every moment we had together."
Anna says, "You make it sound like he has known you all your life and not just the last nine months."
"He has known me all my life. Only after he removed the mental block did I remember the last time he froze himself to heal."
"Elsa, you are talking crazy."
Gerda moves towards them. "Anna, Queen Elsa is correct. I remember the day the horrific accident occurred in the yard. He saved your sister's life. I saw your father pull her out from under the debris before it collapsed on him. I can still hear her calling for Admal. When they dug him out, his body was already frozen. The doctor at the time detected he was alive. We placed him in the room next to the kitchen."
Gerda place a comforting hand on both of their shoulders. She turns to Anna. "This happened seven months before you were born." She turns to Elsa. "Your mother and father would find you sitting on his cot leaning against him. You told him about what you did that day. Your father asked why you insisted on visiting him." She lightly strokes Elsa's hair. "Do you remember what you told your father?"
She thinks for a second. "I told Papa he was talking to me. He was asking me questions." She looks at Sam's frozen body.
Gerda asks, "And when he finally thawed, what did he say he did before he was able to talk to you?"
"He could hear me, but it took a few days of healing before he could talk to me."
Gerda leans close and whispers, "before that accident your mother allowed you to ride on the horses with him, do you remember?"
She turns her head to Gerda. "Yes, I remember. I remember how much fun it was. I remember he allowed me to stand on the horse while he held me tightly against his chest. I felt free. I had no fear of falling off the horse as long as Admal held on to me."
Anna shakes her head. "How many names does he have? You called him Admal."
Elsa chuckles. "For a three year old, the best I could pronounce Admiral was Admal."
Gerda smiles. "And did Admal forget you after he thawed?"
She searches her mind and smiles. "No, he did not."
"Why do you think he did not forget?"
"Because I came to his room and talked to him before he could talk to me."
Gerda leans her head against Elsa. "At the bottom of the stairs before coming up here what question did he asked you?"
She pulls her lips tight, but the tears force their way through and race down her cheeks. "When did I take his heart?"
"And your answer?"
"When he saved my life. Thank you for giving me focus." She lays her face on the ice. "I will not let you forget. I will talk to you every day until you come out of the ice."
Kristoff kneels down and hugs Anna. "Ok, I'm confused, so he is not dead, but alive, frozen in the ice." He whispers in Anna's ear. "Did you know about this?"
"I'm just as confused as you are. I can understand where he was partially frozen to be alive in the fjord, but he is frozen in a solid block of ice." Anna replies.
Gerda stands and touches Anna's shoulder. "I don't understand it myself completely. I only know what I saw back then. Elsa was reserved and kept to herself. Once she met Samuel, she would pester her mother until she was able to see him or her mother would stand just outside of the door with her so she could watch him walk the horses."
Kristoff helps Anna stand as she asks. "Mother once told me she knew Elsa and Samuel had a bond the first time they met."
Gerda nods. "Yes, Elsa was about six months old." She tells them of their mother's walk around the courtyard that one evening. "In her words she said he held Elsa like she was his own daughter. She held his shirt collar and nuzzled against his neck. Your mother knew they had something special."
Gerda ushers everyone out the room and as she closes the door, Elsa curls up against Sam, just as she had done eighteen years earlier.
Kai standing in the hallway asks, "Well, rumors buzzing around here he asked her."
Gerda gives her husband a big hug. "The King and Queen would be proud. Our little Princess has grown up. Unfortunately, he is still reacting from the poison he drank. She had to freeze him."
"Oh, does she know what might happen?"
She wipes her eyes on his shirt. "She knows what could happen."
Kai glances at the Queen's door. "Is she in there now?"
Gerda nods.
"Well, I guess we need to bring her meals to her room, until it's over."
Gerda lets go of Kai and walks down the hall. "I will say a special prayer for them."
Kai nods and follows after her.
End of Chapter