"I can't." Her face was icy cold, and all seriousness. Just then she appeared to James every bit the Ice Queen and not the Elsa he knew and loved.

"What do you mean, you can't?," he slowly stood up, his face sagging from the unanticipated dejection, but quickly hardening with anger. "You already wear my ring! You're raising my nephew as your son! You have apparently spent over a year grieving for me!" He paced the room. "This is completely unacceptable, Elsa. It makes no sense! After everything we have shared and meant to each other… I refuse to accept your refusal. You yourself said just the other day that we're a team! If you can't accept me as your husband, then there really was never anything between us at all, I suppose."

He started to turn and walk away from her, hurt, dejected, and most probably forever, but her slender hand caught his arm and stopped him. "I can't accept your proposal."

"There's no need to rub salt into the wound, Elsa. Whatever feelings you have for me, they obviously aren't enough!" His hurt was growing into anger. "I'm not some play thing to be toyed with, Elsa. I am a man whose heart bleeds for you!"

"I am the sovereign queen," she stated, her face showing no emotion.

He said nothing in return, because he was so angry the words escaped him. Elsa rolled her eyes at him. "James, for someone who has spent his life at Court, you can be quite dense when you lose your temper."

"I can't accept your proposal, because tradition and protocal, and most importantly the law demand that I ask you." Her icy expression melted as tears ran down her porcelain face, and a smile filled with more warmth than the sun contained gently graced it.

"Excuse me?" he asked, the anger softening from his face.

Her voice was shaking, but truer than it have ever been before. "James, from the moment our eyes first met, I knew in my heart you were mine even if it took my head a while to catch up with it. You are my best friend. You are my confidant. You are the better half of me and make me want to be a better person. You are the only man whose touch I crave, the only man I trust with all my heart and all my soul. Will you do me the extreme honor of becoming my consort, my husband, and lover? Will you, James Harris Westbrooke marry me?

He didn't answer her with words, but rather slid his arm around her waist, pulling her up against him, and kissed with a hunger that only she could satisfy. She responded in kind, moaning as his hands began to gently glide over the geography of her dress, his lips trailing down her neck, causing a fire to burn within her supposedly icy soul. She pulled him with her as she backed to the chaise lounge nearby, falling onto it with him on top of her.

He stopped his ministrations, cupped her head into his hands, and gazed into her blue eyes that told him she was ready to be his completely then and there. He brushed a stray strand of hair from her face and considered taking what she so willingly offered just then, but hesitated.

He hesitated just long enough for Anna to come bounding in without knocking. "Hey Elsa, have you seen Elsabet's purple blanket?" She found them in a position very close to what Elsa had once called "marital congress" when explaining it to her just after the Great Thaw, and was quite shocked and embarrassed. "Oh, I'm sorry to have interrupted you two! Look over there is that blanket!" She jerked her daughter's blanket into her hands. "I guess I should be going now. Carry on!" She was no longer in the room.

Elsa's porcelain face was painted in a deep blush as was James'. "She's not really gone. She's just behind the door, listening," she whispered. She then said in a much louder voice, "I think we should marry as soon as possible. I want to be able to finish what we started," she said into his hair as he hung his head in a mixture of mirth, shame, and mortification.

He started to kiss her again but the squeal behind the door reminded them that they needed to make their engagement known to at least Anna. Reluctantly, they got up from the lounge and attempted to make themselves presentable again.

Once she felt comfortable enough, Elsa called to her sister, "Anna, you can come back in here!"

Before she could finish her sentence the door was open, and her sister was hugging her and squealing, forgetting her daughter's blanket for the time being. Wedding plans were being made by the industrious sister-of-the-bride. As Anna chattered about whether to serve soup, roast, and ice cream, Elsa could only smile at her beloved as he returned with his own. So much joy and love abounded from the queen that she quite possibly couldn't have conjured a snowflake had she wanted to just then.

However, as James listened to Anna discuss all of the elaborate details she had probably been planning for his marriage to Elsa since he met the sister, he realized he didn't want any of it. He only wanted Elsa.

Balls , receptions, parades, and all the other pandering could be planned and done after, but he didn't want to wait for everything to be planned and carried out to be her husband. "No!" he practically yelled.

"No to what, James?" Elsa asked, confused.

"No to soup, roast, and ice cream! No to waiting until the spring when our families and countless other dignitaries can converge here again. No to the parades and balls and whatever else if it means that I have to wait any longer for Elsa to be my wife!" He knelt down to Elsa and took her hand in his. "Don't you think we've waited long enough, Elsa?"

Elsa glanced at Anna, who was surprisingly speechless then back to James. "Yes, as a matter of fact I do. We can throw all of the celebrations in honor of our marriage we want to after the fact. However, we do have all of our closest family members here for a short time. Most importantly you are here. Marry me tomorrow?" she asked with a glimmer in her eyes James and Anna both thought might be lost forever.

James jumped up to kiss her far more passionately than he normally would have in front of Anna. "I'll be the one in the dress uniform!" He left the sisters to plan what they needed to do. He would have all the time in the world with Elsa after the morrow.

"What are you going to do for a dress?" Anna asked, still in shock.

Elsa hugged her sister and laughed. "Have you forgotten that I'm the Snow Queen and can conjure up my own dresses whenever I wish?"

"Oh yeah, right! I actually did forget that for a bit," she laughed. She then clasped Elsa's hand and just looked at her, loving this sister of hers. "You're getting married… tomorrow!"

Elsa genuinely beamed. "I know! You know what though?" she asked Anna.

"What?"

"I wish it was yesterday, then I would already be his wife, and he would be my husband."

Anna leaned her head on Elsa's shoulder and sighed. "It seems like so long ago we were both so very alone in this castle."

Elsa kissed Anna, the new mother's forehead, and agreed. "It's like it was a lifetime ago."


The morning dawned, bright and beautiful but not quite as beautiful as the queen who was to be a bride that day. She made certain to awake before the sun that day, as there were many things to attend to. James made sure not to see her, even when she announced to the entire family at breakfast that they were to attend a wedding that day in a most interesting way. She was surprised that Anna was able to keep quiet as she did it.

"Where's James?" Aunt Lillian asked as a footman poured her coffee.

"He had some things to attend to," Elsa slyly avoided telling them that he was acquiring the priest and appropriate documentation. "Uncle," she asked, seeking not only his attention, but everyone else's.

"Yes, dear?" he answered, not thinking she would request anything too important.

"Are you busy this afternoon and evening?"

He glanced at his wife and smiled, "I have no fixed plans. Can I be of service to you?"

Elsa smiled, "Well yes actually. Do you remember some time ago, just after Anna and Kristoff's wedding, when you asked when you would have the pleasure of giving me away to James?"

A small smile began to spread across his face. "I remember it quite clearly."

Elsa stood from her seat at the head of the table and announced, "I am overjoyed to announce to all you whom James and I love more than any others on this world that the time has come for Uncle Alfonse to give me away to James… this afternoon in the chapel."

Anna screamed with joy, now that the secret was finally out, causing her grandmother, who was seated next to her, to jump and drop her tea cup."Anna please, I am not a cat. I haven't nine lives to lose. Please try to contain yourself somewhat."

"I'm sorry Granny, but I've known since last night when I walked in on the two of them celebrating their engagement in a very compromising position," apologized but wasn't really sorry.

"Oh, there goes my appetite!" Kristoff moaned as he dropped his fork.

Fergus stood up to congratulate the woman who was to be his sister before the end of the day. "May I be the first to kiss the bride-to-be… today?"

Elsa leaned over for him to kiss her cheek, 'Absolutely, brother!"

"I like the sound of that," he whispered into her ear.

"So Frosty, can't wait any longer, heh?" Eugene asked with an evil smirk that garnered him a "Eugene!" and slap in the gut from Rapunzel. He just looked at her and smiled. "I love it when you say my name like that."

Elsa laughed, "Actually no, to be quite truthful. We've been forced to wait for far too long, and that was at least a day and a half too long!"

"Is such a rushed wedding quite legal, dearest?" Granny asked.

"Quite, actually. It does help to be the queen in matters like this though. James is taking care of all the legalities as we speak."

Aunt Lillian stood to hug her dear niece. "Well I for one can't think of two people more deserving than Elsa and James! Let's get you ready to be married!"

So it was on that evening, King Alfonse was finally able to give his last girl away to her most deserving bridegroom. They recited the vows that they had both had repeated over and over to themselves during the time they were parted. It was just as Elsa had imagined it, only better with the added family members, especially the very special ring bearer. When the priest announced to James that he could kiss his bride, he did so with such gusto that most everyone had to turn away their heads.

They held a small, dinner celebration of just family. Then Aiden was entrusted to the care of his many doting relatives as James picked up his blushing bride and whisked her away to a secluded wing of the castle where signs at every entrance read: "Do Not Disturb! Violators To Face Punishment By The Queen!"

Once the bride and groom were gone, and everyone else was left to feel the emptiness that often follows such a happy event, Eugene spoke up. "Okay, who wants to put down fifty marks on when there will be a new prince or princess?"

Granny handed him a small purse, "Put me down for nine months to this day!"

Alone in their bridal room, with only candles illuminating the room, James placed Elsa on the bed, and began to take down her hair, letting it fall to her shoulders. She pulled his face to hers so that she could kiss him and began to unbutton his shirt. "Husband," she called to him, staring into the depths of his soul. "Wife," he murmured into her neck as they gave themselves freely to each other.


A Prologue:

Queen Elsa sat alone on the balcony of her bedchamber. She watched the summer stars twinkling over her kingdom and window after window grow dark from candles being blown out for the night. A warm breeze danced through her hair, and she felt a miraculous flutter in her stomach. "Alone no more and never again," she thought to herself, caressing the promising bulge of her abdomen. Hers was no longer a kingdom of isolation, but a kingdom of love and open gates. Like the grandest glacier, it took time to thaw the heart that had been frozen from fear and isolation. Awaiting her inside was a sister she who had given her life for her, a brother she adored, a niece she helped bring into the world, a grandmother she was learning so much about life from, and a dear, dear man reading to the little boy they made their own. Most of all a promising future she never could have fathomed in her darkest of days awaited her. It was a gradual thaw, with more than its share of bumps, bruises, and tears, but the journey had been the making of her and had been worth it all the while.

Finis


Notes:

The love of Elsa and James is largely inspired by the real-life courtship and marriage of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert, including how Victoria had to be the one who proposed to Albert. I personally love to watch the old A&E miniseries "Victoria and Albert" and the 2009 movie "The Young Victoria." Rupert Friend as Albert was what I imagined for James, actually, but without the mustache. James is very much a mixture of that character, Fitzwilliam Darcy of Pride and Prejudice, and a few others.

Granny is in my mind the Dowager Countess of Grantham from Downton Abbey, mixed with a little of Lorelai Gilmore's grandmother, Lorelai Gilmore, from Gilmore Girls. I honestly envision and hear Maggie Smith's when writing for her.

Some of my favorite scenes were the family conversations around the dinner table or in the drawing room. They were inspired by television shows like Gilmore Girls, Downton Abbey, Brothers and Sisters, and even The Waltons. Some of the best dialog has always come around the dinner table.

If you enjoyed my writing, please read the works of Jane Austen, Charles Dickens, Dorothy Parker, F Scott Fitzgerald, and Lucy Maud Montgomery. They are my greatest literary inspirations.

As to Elsa's relationship with Aiden. If you have a child, you understand it completely. I remember hearing my child's first cries and knowing the moment I saw her eyes in my heart that she was mine.

Thank you for reading and reviewing. I'm thinking of a sequel, but it may be a while before I begin it. I've neglected a great many things as I've lost myself to this story. Again, thank you for reading and reviewing. If nothing else, I hope to edit and possibly expand The Gradual Thaw some day soon either here or on Tumblr.