❄️❄️❄️Part IV❄️❄️❄️

Sleep didn't always come easily for Elsa. Her duties as Queen often kept her up late, even when she wasn't actively working. In a great irony, Jaina had helped her focus on things that weren't just work. Elsa thought that maybe she'd been a little harsh with her but she had a meeting in the morning that she didn't expect to go well and Jaina was all she could think about.

Which was probably why she found herself standing in front of Jaina's room with her hand on the door before the sun was even up.

Elsa blinked, not entirely sure when she'd left her room. She sighed, deeply, and then leaned her forehead against it.

The door opened suddenly and she stumbled forward, flailing her arms before Jaina caught her.

"Elsa?"

Elsa steadied herself on Jaina's shoulders. "Uhm. Good morning."

"I guess I'm not the only one who can't sleep." Jaina's arms slipped around her, almost crushing her in a hug.

Elsa closed her eyes, inhaling her scent, then hugged her back. She let Jaina guide her into the room, and used her foot to close the door behind her.

"I'm sorry," Jaina said, rubbing her hands up Elsa's back and then cupping her face. "I'm sorry for making things difficult for you. For being so set in my ways that I had such a hard time seeing your side of it. This isn't Azeroth."

"To be fair, we have our own problems on Earth," Elsa admitted. "War seems to be a universal concept."

"Yes, but I have spent literally half my life engaged in it. First guiding people away from it and then diving headfirst into killing and bloodshed. There are things I've done I haven't even figured out how to tell you about and-"

Elsa put her finger over Jaina's lips. "Later. Right now I just need to know that … that what happened that night with those things isn't the start of something. I need to know that what I did…" She gripped Jaina tighter, "That it won't change me."

"I don't think any more came through, and we've had patrols hunting for days. The Old God himself is too far away to influence us. Any aggression, that's … All on us. On me." Jaina stroked Elsa's upper lip. "But I can't tell you that harming another living thing won't change you, Elsa. Some day, Arendelle might be attacked, and you might be called to defend it. And that will change you too. It's how you react to the change that matters. Guilt is normal. Gods know that most of us who came through don't remember what that feels like and it's going to be an adjustment…"

"Jaina…" Elsa leaned into the finger on her lips and the hands on her face. She didn't want to hear about the necessity of war, she was a monarch, she was aware of the possibility. But Arendelle was on good terms with most of their allies and-

"Please, let me finish."

Stomach clenching, Elsa replied, "Okay."

"I'm trying to tell you that you're right, and I could take a page from your book." Jaina stepped back, taking Elsa's hands. "To … keep reclaiming that part of me that I thought died in the ashes of Theramore."

"For yourself, or for me?" Elsa asked, needing to hear the answer.

"For myself." Jaina kissed Elsa's fingertips. "And maybe for you, a little. And Anna. And for the people, all of them. But mostly for myself."

"That's fair," Elsa replied, relieved. She didn't think it was that healthy for one person to be someone's only. It had always been why she'd felt Kristoff was so good for Anna. And a reason Jaina was good for her.

"…Are you still mad at me?" Jaina asked.

"No." Elsa laughed, pulling Jaina closer by their joined hands. "I was never all that mad with you to begin with. Frustrated. A little scared about losing you…"

"I'm not going anywhere." Jaina leaned in, their lips almost meeting, "Not with Dalaran. Not as long as you'll have me."

It had been the question that Elsa had dreaded asking her, before she'd gotten so angry and worried. If Jaina would stay with her, in Arendelle. And now that she had the answer. "I want you as long as you want to be here. If you need to be elsewhere, I shouldn't stop you. It would be wrong."

"I'm exactly where I need to be," Jaina assured her and the only response Elsa had was a relieved kiss.

❄️

Jaina hadn't gotten much sleep after Elsa had shown up at her doorstep. And not for the fun reason, either. They'd talked for hours, though whenever Jaina had tried to broach certain subjects, Elsa had shot them down in favor of speaking about them after the meeting and subsequent ball. Or party, as Jaina liked to think of it.

But she felt better, emotionally, than she had in days. Whatever the future held, she wanted Elsa to be a part of it.

If nothing else it was an easier thought to deal with than the meeting. Elsa had called it to finalize some trade negotiations between the Horde, Alliance and Arendelle and its allies. Open trade, equitable between all sides.

But trade negotiations could often go sideways in Jaina's experience, which was why she was there, with a four-hundred page document designed to cover any contingency the Horde or Alliance could come up with. At least as best as she could do with what little she knew of Horde tax code. But it should be sufficient.

At least, that's what she'd thought as she folded her arms and rubbed her temple, staring at Sylvanas as she and Anduin negotiated.

Loudly.

"You cannot expect the Horde to agree to these provisions," Sylvanas snapped.

"If you seriously think the Alliance will be happy with your suggestions, you've got another thing coming." Anduin jabbed his finger into a paper that Sylvanas had presented, "These fees are outrageous! Did you let the goblins draw this up?"

"The Bilgewater are valued members of the Horde and their input on monetary matters is in fact a requirement of their membership," Sylvanas replied.

Jaina unfolded her arms, half expecting this to come to blows. "You can't be serious."

"I am quite serious." Sylvanas turned her head, staring directly at Jaina, trying to unnerve her, "You are here to mediate. So mediate."

Sighing, Jaina walked around the table to look at Sylvanas's offer, glancing in Elsa's direction briefly before picking up the paper. The numbers were so outrageous it was obvious it was just an opening volley, and she tossed it onto the table. Normally, she'd suggest Anduin offer one-eighth.

And then Sylvanas would offer slightly lower than her original and so on until they met at a number somewhere in between acceptable to both parties, which was standard Goblin trade policy and really, Anduin should know that.

But she was tired and Elsa had her hair down today which was incredibly distracting and wholly unfair so she wanted to get this over with. "Fifty-fifty."

Anduin stared at her, "Pardon?"

Jaina squeezed Anduin's shoulder. "We can all go back and forth with numbers and suggestions, but it's always going to end up at roughly fifty-fifty, so I thought to just cut through the bullshit and make the final offer."

"You think it's going to be that easy, Proudmoore?" Sylvanas straightened, amusement glinting in her ruby eyes. "You can just suggest the number and that's that?"

"We could be at this all day."

"I've got the time."

That smile on Sylvanas's face set her teeth on edge. Jaina counted backwards from ten before speaking again. "Being dead has its advantages. That being said, I'm sure you still have other things you'd rather do."

"LIke you?" Sylvanas's eyes moved towards the Queen.

"That's enough," Elsa said. "We should get back on topic. I don't see the point in you trying to antagonize us, Sylvanas."

"Us, Your Majesty?" Sylvanas turned fully towards her, away from Jaina so she couldn't see the expression on her face, "I thought Arendelle was remaining neutral. Though how neutral can one be when they share a bed with the Lord Admiral of Kul Tiras?"

Heat rose to Elsa's face, but she didn't look away from Sylvanas, even to glance at Jaina. "I was referring to those of us standing here, personally. Arendelle is neutral territory and neither myself nor my allies will accept any conflict between your peoples while in our lands. As for my relationship with Jaina, it has nothing to do with these discussions and I would appreciate it if you'd cease your barbs."

Elsa's eyes narrowed, her shoulders tensing. "Or would you like me to inquire as to your relationship with my cousin?"

Sylvanas's ears pinned back, and almost as quickly they resumed their normal position. So Elsa had struck a nerve, which was interesting. Could the Warchief actually be fond of that adorable ball of sunshine? If the mood wasn't so tense Jaina might have laughed.

"I like it when you bare your teeth, Your Majesty." Sylvanas tilted her head to the side. "You might almost have survived on Azeroth."

"I don't know if I would have," Elsa admitted. She clasped her hands behind her back, lifting her chin and looking at Jaina, Anduin and then Sylvanas again. "It seems to me, that in order to survive your world one must commit increasingly worse crimes."

"Crimes," Sylvanas snorted, her eyes falling to the table, "Are subjective."

"Don't you-"

She interrupted Anduin, "Who attacked first at Stormheim, little lion? Which side sacked Zuldazar? What of alliance internment camps?"

Sylvanas turned her back to Jaina, directing her next statement at Elsa. "Has your lover told you exactly what she did in Dalaran?"

"I'm aware," Elsa replied, tone icy and face carefully neutral. "And I am sure they can name just as many crimes the Horde has committed. But that is in the past. I'm not asking you to forget, but if you don't try to move on then you'll burn this world down too and I don't think there'll be another for you to escape to next time."

"Oh, I could name them too. There are things that would keep me up at night, if I slept." Sylvanas reached down, picking up the paper with her offer on it. She studied it as she spoke, "I just want it to be clear that the blood on our hands is shared. If we are to move on, than I would like a written acknowledgement from the Alliance of their crimes and formal recognition of the Forsaken as a nation and a people."

"And will you acknowledge Teldrassil for the crime it was?" Jaina asked. By rights, it should be Anduin to speak for the Kaldorei, but she couldn't help herself.

"My dear, I'll even have the Horde accept responsibility for Theramore, in exchange for this."

"No," Jaina replied. She was long enough removed from that situation to see the truth for what it was. "Theramore was Garrosh, not you."

"The full might of the Horde was sent to crush Theramore," Sylvanas pointed out. "We all bear responsibility for not doing something about Garrosh sooner. The offer stands."

Jaina couldn't quite wrap her mind around the idea of Sylvanas being reasonable. They'd all been driven close to madness for so long that Jaina had forgotten what kind of person Sylvanas had once been. Like something had altered her character. Had altered all of them. "May I ask you a question?"

Sylvanas gestured for her to continue.

"Since you've come here have you felt … like you see everything more clearly? And that a lot of what has driven you is … duller."

"I feel something," Sylvanas allowed. "What that something is, I am not inclined to share."

"Are you less angry?"

"Yes," Sylvanas said, sounding like she actually kind of hated it. She started to tear her paper up, and then tossed the shreds like confetti. "Fifty-fifty, it is."

"You're right. There's no one in the leadership of both sides that is without sin." Anduin held out his hand and to Jaina's eternal surprise, Sylvanas clasped it.

The rest of the meeting went relatively smoothly, with only the occasional shouting match to make things interesting. Jaina occasionally felt Elsa's eyes on her, and grew more antsy with every passing hour; Elsa had straight out lied because Jaina hadn't had the opportunity to tell her about Dalaran.

Granted, some of that was Elsa pushing it off too, but Jaina could have brought it up months ago and she felt a lot like the time she'd been waiting for one of the Archmages to scold her.

So she was more than relieved when Elsa left Anna to handle Arendelle's part in the affairs. Elsa gave her a meaningful look, and she followed her after a moment.

"Anna seems to excel at this sort of thing," Jaina said, walking alongside Elsa and mostly trying to fill in the silence.

"We had the same schooling," Elsa said. "And I trust her to do the right thing, always."

"What if the right thing isn't something you agree with?"

Elsa stopped at the door to her office, hand on the knob. "Then I trust her to do the right thing."

"I can't see you two disagreeing all that often."

"Not really, but it happens." Elsa turned the knob and lead Jaina inside. She hesitated, then locked the door and walked over to her desk to lean her hip against it. "So. Dalaran."

"You didn't have to lie, Elsa. What if she'd pressed you?"

"Windrunner respects strength."

"That she does." Jaina sighed, folding her arms. "This is the thing I wanted to talk to you about. That I've tried to figure out how to approach for months. It's hard to even get into that headspace and…"

"You said you were ashamed." Elsa leaned her hands on the desk behind her. "Just tell me the facts, I know you can step back and view this dispassionately. Just tell me, what happened in Dalaran?"

"Like many things, it started with a powerful artifact. Dalaran has many locked away in the vaults. This one was called the Divine Bell, and it was stolen. At the time in Dalaran there were two factions, the Sunreaver Blood Elves and the Silver Covenant High Elves. I'll explain the difference later."

Elsa nodded. "Go on."

"We discovered that members of the Sunreavers used Kirin Tor resources to steal it for the Horde. Their leader knew about it, but did nothing. So I ordered them expelled from the city. And some did not go quietly…" Jaina trailed off.

"They resisted."

"Yes. And while we only fought those who resisted … some of our forces were less than gentle in expelling them." Jaina tried to ignore the thin layer of ice on the window. "People died."

"And you didn't stop them?"

Jaina could offer a dozen excuses but as much as she might protest that she hadn't known what was going on before it was too late that was still half a lie.

Regardless, Jaina had been leader of the Kirin Tor and the responsibility lay with her. "I was so angry. They broke a code, Elsa. A code they swore to, to remain neutral from both the Horde and the Alliance, to protect the artifacts and not allow them to fall into the wrong hands and be used in meaningless wars. I used that as an excuse to expel the Horde and side Dalaran with the Alliance. But some of our forces got overzealous and when I found out … I told myself it was too late, so I looked the other way."

Elsa listened as Jaina spoke, not interrupting. As hard as it was for Jaina to even admit to herself, let alone say, it couldn't have been any easier for Elsa to listen. Elsa's voice was quiet. "What do you think you'd do differently?"

"Now?" Jaina was unprepared for the question, "Investigate more. Expel Aethas Sunreaver and those directly responsible for the theft, but investigate more. But it's easy to look back and say you'd do differently, when years have passed and there's no more hatred in your heart. And it doesn't change that it happened and that I'm responsible. I told you, Elsa. I'm a monster and hatred is a cycle."

"This cycle," Elsa pushed off from the desk and slowly approached her, "can end. I believe the first steps have already been taken and today is just the middle of that journey."

She took Jaina's hands and kissed one palm. "I see why this was so hard to talk about."

"I wish I had before." Jaina noticed the ice on the widow had thawed, and her heart stopped trying to beat its way out of her chest.

"Me too."

"So now what?"

"Sometime this week, you'll write that letter of acknowledgement," Elsa said. She kissed the other palm. "And we'll put it together with the ones from King Wrynn and the Warchief. And anyone else who might wish to contribute, so that we can all learn from the past and stop being ruled by fear and doubt and anger. I might never understand the kind of thinking that could lead to everything you've all been through, but I think you're all better than that. And, if I'm honest, I think you all need this to really begin to heal."

Jaina smiled, expression vulnerable and soft. "So … are we okay?"

"Of course!" Elsa let go of Jaina's hands in order to hug her.

"I'm not who I was, then," Jaina promised. "At least, not like that. A part of that will always be with me."

"No one remains who they were." She rested her head on Jaina's shoulder, eyes closed, somehow gladdened that Jaina was still willing to take responsibility for her actions. "It wouldn't be fair to judge a person for past misdeeds if they genuinely show remorse and take actions to correct their behavior. And it's not really my place to forgive this, or not."

Pained, Jaina whispered, "I guess … I can give even Sylvanas that chance."