A/N: Hoping that you all are having a blessed holiday season! In that spirit, here's some wholesome Agduna fluff to brighten your day. uwu Also, slight language warning

Also also: Disclaimer for anyone out there. Although The Svein itself from Ch 9 is the product of my own imagination, the idea of it as a sword representing a kingdom's warrior culture is loosely based on the sword Excalibur in ancient European folklore. Excalibur was wielded by King Arthur of Camelot, who always brought the sword into battle with him.

Chapter 10

A Strengthened Bond

0o0o0o0

She released it in one shaky breath. "I'm Northuldra."

The words took a few seconds to reach his ears.

But then, bam! It hit him like a slap to the face. His initial instinct was to frown, step back, and flinch away. But then he softened and stepped forward again when Iduna dropped her head in shame. "I'm listening."

She kept going, if a little more hesitantly. "I'm… Northuldra. I lived in the forest. I wasn't inside when- when the mist fell. So I'm out here." She paused, briefly glancing up at him. Panicked concern enveloped her face. "I've never been Arendellian, Agnarr."

Agnarr blinked rapidly, his mind reeling, trying to process the information. "You're… Northuldra."

"Yes."

"You have been. All… all this time?"

"Y- yeah." She shied away, burying her face in her hands.

"Were you there… on the day of the battle?"

His friend—enemy?—grimaced. "Y… yes. But I didn't see exactly what happened. There was so much fighting, I got trapped out, and then I came here." She fought back a fierce sob. "I've- (sniff) been… hiding. Ever since."

Unable to understand what she was telling him—unwilling to understand it—Agnarr shook his head. "No, Iduna, that can't be right. You're so kind… And they're…"

The glowering, heartbroken look she drilled into him was enough to send him the message.

"You're telling the truth," he stated flatly, searching her eyes for any sparkles of mischief. The sneaky glimmer that told him she'd just pulled a prank. The twitch in her gaze when she was laughing. But nothing. He opened his mouth and closed it again, speechless.

"I- I believe you," he said. "And I trust you. Like you said."

Iduna's shoulders fell and she collapsed on the bedroom floor in relief, knees folded in, head bowed. "Thank the spirits," she whispered quietly.

How can this be? What does it mean? Agnarr's eyes darted back-and-forth from her shaking form to the notes on his desk on his theory of Northuldra's innocence. She wasn't a danger. To him or to Arendelle. He knew that. He knew that. He knew her.

Or did he? Looking down at Iduna again, shivering in her thin clothing, which was patched in several places with spots of unfamiliar purple fabric and sewn with unfamiliar thread—how had he not seen it before?—he understood it to be true. She was indeed Northuldra.

And at once it started to make sense. Her unbelievable climbing skills. Her fear at being in the spotlight. How she'd never referenced Arendelle as her home. Heck, how she hadn't known how to sleep in a bed. It all fit.

Finally his compassionate side kicked in. What she needed right now, he realized, was a friend. A supporter. After all, she had just told him her truth. Her past.

"Hey," Agnarr said, smiling and crouching down. "It's okay. I still trust you, Iduna. I know that regardless of what or where we came from… we're here now. And that's what matters."

He took her hand. "Iduna?"

She refused to move.

He sighed, then squeezed her hand reassuringly, an idea popping into his head. "I'm gonna make us something, 'kay?"

Her confused voice rang out as he walked away, across the room. "Wh… what?"

But he stayed silent. Humming softly, he carefully took the teapot on his drawer, filled it with the necessary ingredients, and stirred the mixture with a spoon. Thank God Valda and Aron had taught him how to make the drink himself.

Iduna gazed up at him as he carried a tray, two steaming mugs balanced on its porcelain surface, over to her. She inhaled deeply and immediately her eyes widened, taking in the lovely scent he knew so well. Her hands slightly shaking, she grabbed one of the mugs as he approached, brought it to her lips, and tentatively took a sip.

Taking the other mug himself, he watched happily as her face lit up, her deadpan complexure from just seconds before being replaced by one of jubilation and wonder. "Hot chocolate," he said, before she could say anything. "I hope you like it."

She continued slurping the swirled white-mahogany drink. Once she'd gotten to the bottom, and he had to admit it had been at astonishing speed, she tilted the cup upside-down to reach the last bits of chocolatey flavor hiding in the mug's crevices, making Agnarr laugh.

He ran a hand through his hair, smiling at the girl. Now that I see it, it's pretty obvious she's not from around here.

But something about Iduna's avid fascination at the drink, the bittersweet frown she made at realizing she'd already finished it, and the happy grin she shot Agnarr made his heart leap. But… I like that about her. A lot.

"This… this is really good," Iduna said, breaking him out of his lapse of thinking. Her eyes dropped, as if suddenly embarrassed at her behavior. "Th- thank you for sharing it with me."

"Of course," he replied. "It's the least I can do."

She narrowed her eyes. "You called it… what, again? Hot… choc…?"

"Hot chocolate. Yeah!" Swallowing nervously, he dropped his gaze. "I've… I've always found it helpful when I'm feeling down."

Then, he couldn't help himself. "Are you… are you magic? Do you have… powers?"

She sighed. "I forgot you didn't… remember. Um, I'm not magic, Agnarr. But my people were close to the spirits. Of the forest."

He nodded, a tiny fraction of memory establishing itself in his head. "That's… right."

She sat down on the desk's adjacent couch, looking down into her mug. "Anyway, this drink… it's heavenly. Your culture… it's amazing. All the sights and smells. Everything." She fixated him with a genuine, earnest smile. "That day at the market? With the colors everywhere? I couldn't believe my eyes."

He chuckled. "Arendelle isn't all bad, huh? Thank you, really, but we're not without our faults, either." His laugh died off. "As… as you know."

Awkward silence filled the room until Iduna shifted on the couch. "Here." She took off her scarf and handed it to him, its delicately woven pink strands reminding him of their playful awkwardness together at Eagle's Point. Taking a deep breath, she brushed her hair out of her eyes. "I showed you this before. But… I didn't tell you the truth. It is my mother's. But… this isn't Arendellian cloth. It's Northuldran."

Agnarr stared down at the scarf's flowing fabric. "It's… truly amazing. Your mother was- is very skilled."

She gave him a sad smile, appreciating his kind words. "I like referring to her in the present tense too. Makes me think," she said, gesturing out the window at the starry sky above the kingdom's hilly landscape, "that she's still out there. In the mist. That they all are."

He took her hands, understanding. "Your family."

"Yes. My family."

He gazed out, trying to pinpoint the obscure line where the azure, watery horizon of the North Sea blended with the bright, celestial atmosphere. "They are out there, Iduna. They are. And… I bet they're thinking of you right now."

"You- you think so?"

He nodded. "They are. And I want to help you get back to them. And- and to set things right. I want to tell my people that the Northuldra were never wrong. That- well, that magic can be trusted."

A solitary tear trickled down her left cheek. "That's… so very kind of you. But why are you trusting me? Why are you doing this? How do you know… that you can trust me?"

He studied her face for a moment. Tense eyes stared back at him. Her eyebrows quivered slightly. Her auburn curls hung loose, carefree and radiant as ever.

Smiling, he took her hand in his. "Two weeks ago, I lost my memory. I didn't know anything. The only things I knew were the life I used to live… and you. I didn't know you as a Northuldran, Iduna. I knew you simply as a friend. Someone I could depend on. Someone I- I could laugh with."

He took a deep breath and continued, wanting to put every ounce of passion and affection he held towards her in his next breath. Wanting to package the moon and give it to her. "Do you know who I see, sitting here?" he asked her, enunciating each and every syllable. "I see Iduna. Iduna, the climber. Iduna, the fairy queen singer in my dream. Iduna, the girl who- well, who almost messed up my coronation from a ceiling window. The fact that you're Northuldra doesn't change the way I see you. Because to me, you're still the funny, goofy friend I met on the roof while half-asleep. And now, your background only makes me even prouder to know you. To be with you."

For a second, where her eyes swelled and flashed a bright teal, he thought he saw love. If only…

"Oh, Agnarr!" she cried, barreling into him and embracing him in a tight hug, pushing him back with an audible oomph! "I don't even know what to say. I- I know I've been terribly mean. And I'm sorry. And yet, you've- (sniff) you've continued to help me this whole time."

Quietly sobbing, she pulled back, staring into his eyes. "I don't know how to thank you. I wish I knew how." She turned around and, one last time, scanned the beautiful Arendellian nighttime scenery. An ocean of love and a sea of fiery, twinkling stars lay behind her next words.

"Your kindness means everything to me, Agnarr. More than… more than the stars in the sky."

"Same here, Iduna. More than the breath in my body." It was at that moment that he realized she was lying on him. On a couch. In his room. No description, however detailed, could account for the massive blush that raced across his face.

They sat in silence once more, each fearing that they would say something stupid. Finally Agnarr found the courage to do it. To say it.

He gulped. "Actually, Iduna, there's something I've been wanting to tell you. You know. Erm."

She nodded, encouraging him. "What is it?"

Deep breath. Okay. "I lov-"

Knock-knock-knock-knock-knock

"Open up!"

0o0o0o0

They both tumbled off the couch.

Agnarr winced from the noise and checked to make sure Iduna was okay. Shooting him a tense look wracked with worry, she crouched along the wall next to the door, trying to stay hidden. It was only after they'd exchanged paired nods of agreement that Agnarr faced the door. He already knew who awaited him on the other side.

"Agnarr?" the gruff voice came again.

Breathing deeply, he scrambled over, smoothed his hair, and opened it. It creaked open, fortunately hiding Iduna in its shadow. Thank God the door swung inwards and not outwards.

"Lieutenant Markus. Good evening."

The man standing outside the room cleared his throat. "Ah! Agnarr. Wasn't sure you were here."

The boy sarcastically scoffed, not impressed. "You didn't give us- I mean me much of a warning. I recommend you act more formal around Valda. She'll get on your-"

"Ah, Valda shmalda. For all I care, you're still Agnarr to me," the guard replied. "The boy with the floppy blonde hair and the clumsy footing." He mussed Agnarr's hair, and his deep laugh echoed throughout the castle hallway, making the boy sigh. Markus was never going to see him as a king.

He could argue further if he wanted to, but he wasn't really in the mood at the moment. "Anyway," Agnarr said, hoping to quickly wrap the conversation up and get back to Iduna, whom he would much rather be spending time with right now, "What's up? Is this about what you wanted to ask me in the hallway the other day?"

The general grunted. "As a matter of fact, yes." He looked around suspiciously. "Heh. Let me in."

Agnarr chuckled awkwardly, tightening his grip on the door and blocking any entry. "You see… the thing about that is… I can't do that."

Markus frowned. "And why's that?"

Sweat began to form on the back of his neck. Because there's a Northuldran girl hiding behind this door! No. "Because… because my room's not in the best shape right now. Let's just discuss it here."

He grunted again. "Alrightry, boy. I suppose the 'King' needs to clean his room." Markus laughed again, mocking Agnarr's new position. The boy was about to protest, but the sheer height of the general's intimidating 6'4" figure dissuaded him from doing so.

Growing a little exasperated, he brushed a hand through his hair. "What is it, sir?"

Markus' laughter stopped abruptly, like in the snap of a finger. "Fine. You wanna get down to business. Okay, well there's this idea I've been thinking about. Regarding the blasted fuckers up North." His left eye twitched.

Not one foot away from him, on the opposite side of the door, Iduna barely managed to stifle her gasp. Agnarr's eyes shot to hers for a second, concerned, before they concentrated again on Markus' smug face.

"What do you propose, sir?"

"Oh, I was thinking maybe a little speech. Done by you, of course. You know how everyone hates the 'uldras. It'd be good if you addressed their threat. Hate to say it, Agnarr, but so far they want a response and you haven't given 'em one." The lieutenant shot him a knowing look that burned deep and painful in his soul. "I'd advise you do it soon. And that in it, you disgrace the Northuldra and all mentions of their horrid culture. That would not only give the people an answer, but also unite them under your leadership and give them cause to stop grieving."

This time, unfortunately, Iduna couldn't conceal her gasp. Her shrill intake of breath made Markus narrow his eyes. "Who's that? Who's listening?"

Agnarr rushed to reply, his senses going white. "No, no, no! Everything's fine. That was just me… um… well, you see, that was my foot screeching against the floor. It's all good."

The man didn't look convinced. "Are you sure? This is classified information."

He nodded. Fast. Maybe too fast. "It's okay. Yeah, so uh… tell me. What things specifically should I say?" Agnarr ignored Iduna's accusatory scowl from her shadowed perch.

Markus only laughed. "Bad things to say about the 'uldras? Hah! I could give you a list if you really wanted. They're traitors. They killed our people. They share beds with their horses. They play with fucking magic. The list is endless!"

"I think the Northuldra have reindeer-"

"Big difference! All I'm sayin' is, you should have no trouble thinking of things to tell the kingdom." Markus put a reassuring hand on Agnarr's shoulder. "They wanna hear it from you. Don't you see that? You're their leader. By the way, nice show of force with 'ol Malfer a couple days back, but this is your job now."

Agnarr inwardly cursed, knowing he had a point. "You're… you're right. I've delayed long enough. I have to tell them something." The general nodded, but he was caught off-guard by the King's next words. "But… maybe we don't need to do anything about the Northuldra. I mean, they're locked away in the mist, and they can't hurt anyone ever again. And really, we don't know exactly what happ-"

"Are you out of your mind?" came the indignant reply. "Those traitors killed our people, Agnarr. They killed our soldiers. Our husbands. Our wives. Our friends. Our goddamm King, for fuck's sake. You don't want to honor them by vowing to avenge their deaths? What kind of King are you?" This was the side of Markus that he had been hoping to avoid—the flared nostrils, the angry red glares, the cuss words. Alas, so much for that.

But this was no time to be weak. Agnarr straightened his back and calmly shot back a curt response. "I'll have to speak with the council on this. But thank you for bringing it to my attention. I, uh… you are dismissed."

The head guard recoiled, as if disgusted by what he saw in front of him. "Are you having second thoughts, Agnarr? Don't you dare make the wrong choice. Don't. This is for Arendelle." He stepped back, smoothing the folds of his green uniform, and was about to leave when something in the room caught his eye.

"Hey, why do you have two mugs over there?" He pointed behind them to the empty drinks of hot chocolate sitting on the windowsill.

Agnarr stammered. "Uh… I, uh… you know, sometimes it's good to have a few drinks. In case one runs out, right? Er… yup!" He rubbed his neck nervously, knowing full-well that Iduna was probably face-palming at his stupidity.

Markus raised his eyebrow. "Is everything alright?" He smiled at Agnarr, making a genuine attempt to be kind. "You know you can come to me if you need anything. Just like before."

The two shared a grin, then Agnarr bid the man a hasty goodnight and closed the door.

0o0o0o0

Only after his footsteps faded from a loud clomping to a barely-audible tapping on the hallway carpet did Iduna sneak out from her spot. She and Agnarr stared breathlessly at each other, trying to marshall their jumbled thoughts and express them in a way that avoided as much awkwardness as possible. But eventually he just shook his head and embraced her, the familiar warmth they were both so accustomed to feeling bringing them comfort.

"I still trust you," Agnarr whispered into her ear, settling on the gentle phrase he'd grown to have faith in. "I trust you."

"I trust you, too," Iduna replied, pouring her heart into the hug.

Agnarr blushed. If he leaned in close enough, he could feel her heart beating rapidly inside her chest. The ends of her auburn curls drifted down on his shoulders. He'd never been this close to her for this long, bodies tenderly pressed against each other like parallel logs in a fire. Heck, at the moment, he was sweating so much, he might as well be the flaming log itself.

"Iduna-" he started to say, but she put a finger to his lips and shushed him.

"Let's just stay like this. For a little longer." She watched Agnarr's face carefully, giggling when his cheeks turned a shade of red he didn't even know was possible. "You look like the fire spirit!"

He sucked in a breath. Why did it feel like he was hyperventilating? But, at the same time, what was he feeling? It was a strange emotion, one he'd briefly come across before, always when he was with Iduna, but now it was surging up within him at unprecedented levels, filling him with a blurry wooziness he couldn't describe and making his knees weak.

"Agnarr?" Iduna said softly.

"Y- yeah?"

"Thank you for standing up. For my people."

He chuckled. "I'm not going to disgrace them, Iduna. Don't worry."

She pulled back and stared up at him, her eyes twinkling with crystals of sincerity. "But what are you going to say to your people? Markus… he was right that you need to say something. The stupid idiot."

Agnarr found himself coming to the guy's defense. "Well, he's not all that bad once you get to know him. He was one of the only people I knew growing up."

"I pity you. I really do," was her unamused response.

"But… even if he means well that doesn't mean I have to do everything he says." He sighed, thinking. "I'm hoping I can stall and hold off telling the council for as long as I can. And if that doesn't work, I don't have to be as harsh on Northuldra as they want me to be."

She dropped her gaze, then walked over from the door to the couch and sat down. He followed her, cautiously wrapping an arm around her back.

They both waited there, gazing out the window at the fjord's reflective surface and the little homes nested along the Arendellian hillside. For a while, neither of them spoke, and it felt right. It just felt right.

"Iduna. Um, thank you for telling me. About, you know."

She shrugged. "I'm just glad you didn't call the guards on me."

"And have them steal the hot chocolate?" He laughed. "Never."

The room shrunk again for a few seconds until Agnarr decided to venture out again.

"Hey, uh, can we promise not to keep secrets from each other? To always trust each other, you know, no matter what?"

She didn't respond at first, her eyes glued to the window, her features frozen in a glazed, monotonous expression. Confused, he followed her gaze to the black fields of the Western pastures. Were they what she was looking at? Maybe at the cherry trees? Or maybe at something else. It was too dark to be certain.

"Iduna?"

She finally answered, her voice coming out shaky and, if he was correct, slightly hesitant. "Okay, Agnarr. No secrets?" She nodded at him. "From now on. No secrets."

"Are you okay?"

"Yes."

"Okay."

Silence.

"Hey, Agnarr, what were you going to say before? When Markus knocked on the door and interrupted you?"

Hearing that quickly made the sweat on the back of his neck reform and his heart speed up. To say or not to say? To take the leap off the cliff face, or to keep his feet on solid ground? To tell the girl of his feelings for her, or to keep them hidden?

Was it even worth it now? He'd already tried once, and fate had denied it.

"Erm… Nothing, Iduna. Just happy to be with you."

"And me with you."

Lying there, clutching each other, smiling their widest smiles, and enjoying their mutual friendship in the half-dimmed light of the room's dying candles, both teenagers were happy to have a friend they knew they could count on.

A/N: End of Chapter 10! So finally here's the split from canon that is referenced in my fic's summary. I just thought Agnarr deserved to know.

Do you think he'll ever get the confidence to confess to Iduna his feelings? What should he do about Markus' suggestion? Thoughts on Markus himself? Did Iduna do the right thing in sharing one secret, and keeping the rest? Leave a review down below! :D

Big thanks to Digital and my beautiful wife Lyany for their amazing comments. Love you guys!

I hope you all had a (relatively) okay 2020, and I can't wait to see you all in the new year! See you then!