About half an hour had passed since the revelation that Arendelle's queen had Northuldra in her ancestry. While most members of the tribe roamed about the camp and did their own thing, Elsa stood by a tree by herself. Arcee and Bulkhead noticed and approached her.
"Hey, you all right? You don't seem like yourself." Said Bulkhead.
"What do you mean?" Asked Elsa.
"I don't know, you seem, quiet."
"You're awfully quiet, Elsa." Said Arcee.
"I hear she's never been one for chit chat." Said Wheeljack as he approached and entered the conversation.
"I know." Said Elsa.
"Why do you pretend? If you really wanted to roll alone, you wouldn't have let Anna come back to you. But you did." Said Arcee.
"Hey, don't assume you know her." Wheeljack said defensively.
"I'm not assuming." Insisted Arcee.
"Is something wrong?" Asked Optimus as he approached and entered the conversation.
"I don't know." Said Elsa.
Optimus could tell that she was lying, one of the many things the collective wisdom of the Primes had taught him was how to figure out when someone else was lying.
"Elsa. Something has been troubling you." Optimus said calmly.
Elsa could tell that there was no fooling Optimus, so she gave up trying to hide the obvious.
"Well, it's not the voice." She said.
"So if it isn't the voice who's grinding your gears..." Started Arcee.
"It's Anna." Finished Elsa.
"You and Anna share quite a history. And yet, you prefer to work alone." Said Optimus.
"Alone's usually a lot less complicated." Added Wheeljack.
"No, that's not it." Said Elsa.
Bulkhead recalled the argument from earlier and figured out the real reason Anna's been troubling her.
"I'm sure Anna's just trying to prove herself now that you and she are serving together." Claimed the green Wrecker.
"Yeah, but this place is dangerous. And I don't wanna lose her."
Arcee knew she could've meant either of two possibilities: Losing the Anna she knew to her changing with the situation, or Anna's recklessness pushing her to the point of no return. Either way, it wasn't that Elsa wanted to do things alone, she just didn't want to do things with Anna if it meant losing her to either of those possibilities.
"Look, Elsa, you'll always have Anna as you know her in here." She said as she held a hand over where her spark was. "Times change, players come and go, and if you can't adapt, you'll rust."
"Got any advice?" Asked Elsa.
"Don't push Anna away. If something happened to her, you'd never forgive yourself. Trust me, I know."
"Anna has been through worse." Added Bulkhead.
"And, we must adapt to that change." Added Optimus.
"I know. I just don't wanna mess things up." Said Elsa.
"Your service is most welcome, Elsa." Said Optimus.
"No question, kid. And Anna's too stubborn not to pull through. I know it, and I bet you do, too." Said Wheeljack.
Elsa smiled as she stepped away from the tree. She turned around to face Arcee, Bulkhead, Optimus and Wheeljack.
"You're right, guys."
The four Autobots smiled, happy to help. In an area a fair distance away, Kristoff and Ryder walked together, and Sven was right behind them.
"I can't seem to get her attention. Or even say the right thing." Said Kristoff.
"Well, you're in luck. I know nothing about women, but I do know that we have the most amazing way of proposing. If we start now, we'll be ready by dawn." Said Ryder.
"Really?"
"Best part?" Ryder whispered the best part. "It involves a lot of reindeer!"
"Woah!"
As Kristoff, Ryder and Sven headed out to another area, Anna, Bumblebee, Smokescreen and Ultra Magnus hung by another tree with Mattias.
"Hey, back at home, Halimah's still over at Hudson's Hearth?" Asked Mattias.
"She is." Answered Anna.
"Really? Is she married?"
"Mm-mm. What else do you miss?"
"My father. He passed long before all this."
"I feel for ya." Said Smokescreen.
Bumblebee beeped. ("All the Autobots do, even Ultra Magnus.")
Anna and Mattias turned to the blue second in command of the Autobots, interested in seeing if there was truth in Bumblebee's claim.
"Indeed. During the war for Cybertron, I wandered the spaceways in search of others. Reuniting with some, often only to see them fall at the hands of the Decepticons."
"Oh wow. Why didn't that make me feel better?" Mattias asked himself. He could relate to Ultra Magnus's experiences of watching comrades fall after reuniting with them during a war.
Bumblebee beeped. ("So, what was your father like?")
"He was a great man. Built us a good life in Arendelle, but taught me never to take the good for granted. He'd say: "Be prepared. Just when you think you've found your way, life will throw you onto a new path."
"What do you do when it does?" Asked Anna.
"Don't give up, take it one step at a time, and..."
"Just do the next right thing?"
"Yeah, you got it."
A decent distance from them, Elsa, Honeymarren and Ratchet sat around a small campfire.
"Thank goodness for peace and quiet. House guests can be such a bother." Said Ratchet.
"I wanna show you something. May I?" Asked Honeymarren. Elsa nodded as she lifted part of Iduna's scarf.
"You know air, fire, water and earth."
"Yes." Said Elsa.
"But look. There's a fifth spirit." Honeymarren said as she pointed to the center of the snowflake.
"A fifth spirit?"
"I'm... not sure I follow." Said Ratchet.
"It's said to be a bridge between us and the magic of nature. Some say, they heard it call out the day the forest fell." Said Honeymarren.
"My father heard it. Do you think that's who's calling me?" Asked Elsa.
"Maybe. Alas, only Ahtohallan knows."
"Ahtohallan. Dive down deep into her sound..." Elsa started.
"But not too far, or you'll be drowned." She and Honeymarren finished in unison.
"Why do lullabies always have to have some terrible warning in them?" Asked Honeymarren.
"I wonder that all the time." Said Elsa.