CHAPTER ELEVEN: WHERE THE NORTHWIND MEETS THE SEA
As fast as Elsa arrived, three days passed and Elsa was returning to Ahtohallan with the people she had gathered. "Do you have to go?" Anna asked. That question pulled Elsa back to the last conversation she ever had with her parents. She smiled before hugging Anna goodbye, "You'll be fine, Anna. You won't be alone." Anna felt Elsa hand slide on her stomach and looked into Elsa's eyes. Elsa was smiling and tearing up. "Wait, what?"
"You're going to have a baby," Elsa said. Anna covered her face as tears started coming. She didn't tell Anna this but she was secretly reading Anna's memories to get caught up on everything that had happened since she left. Anna and Hans were having difficulty producing an heir, so Elsa gave Anna's body the help it needed.
Anna turned to Hans who was just as struck as she was and the two hugged. Anna quickly pulled away and asked, "Can you tell if it's a boy or girl?"
"I don't have to tell you everything, Anna," Elsa giggled.
"Oh, come on! You can't just drop something like that and then not tell me the gender!" Anna exclaimed with eagerness. "Wait here." Anna disappeared briefly before returning with a toy doll. "A gift for Gerda."
"Are you trying to bribe me into telling you the gender of your baby?" Elsa eyed Anna suspiciously with an arched eyebrow.
Anna smiled innocently and Elsa smiled and stepped forward to whisper something in Anna's ear. Hans stepped forward out of curiosity so he could know too, but Elsa gave him a look and he reluctantly backed away. Once he was far away enough, Elsa whispered into Anna's ear and Anna squealed and jumped with excitement before hugging Elsa again. "Tell Kristoff and Gerda I said hi. The people going back to Ahtohallan with you will be great. I took the liberty of having a ship prepared to take them back. It'll be easier than walking all the way back."
"Thanks, Anna," Elsa said before departing. "For now on, I will visit once a week. No matter how busy things get in Ahtohallan. I have also been speaking with Hans about your plans to unite all the kingdoms under a global alliance. Leave it to my little sister to show me up as Queen. Ahtohallan would love to join your cause as well."
After Elsa left, Hans came by Anna's side and asked, "Well?"
"Well what?" Anna asked, playing dumb.
"What did she say about the gender of our baby? Is it a girl or boy?" Hans asked impatiently.
"I don't have to tell you everything," Anna replied, repeating what Elsa said as she walked away with a smug smile. Hans gave her a smile and began chasing after her to get the answer out of her. He has his ways.
Elsa felt very happy about visiting with Anna again and was excited about seeing her next week. When she reached the docks, she noticed everyone who was going to Ahtohallan with her waiting and talking by the ship. She smiled as she approached. It was obvious by their smiles and excited chatter that they were all excited to make this trip. Hef and his wife were there. Hef's younger assistant. The baker's niece. Tim. They all notice her returning and stand eager to board. "Are you ready?!" Elsa asked cheerfully and they cheered.
"Where exactly are we going?" one of them asked, "I know it's your kingdom, but…"
Elsa smiled and looked at them over her shoulder, "Ahtohallan, a paradise unlike anything of this world, through which a magical river full of memory flows. We are going to where the north wind meets the sea."
"Of course," Hef muttered. "I forget. She's a goddess. She's supposed to be vague."
Elsa smiled at him, "You'll see." She boarded the ship and the others followed. The ship had a nice large cabin for Elsa and smaller ones her guests could share as they sail back for Ahtohallan.
After getting settled in their rooms, everyone gathered outside on the ship to watch Arendelle get smaller and smaller. None of them have ever left Arendelle before, except Hef and his assistant for those rare distant customers. "I wonder what Ahtohallan is like," Tim said, "I don't think I've ever learned about that place in my geography studies."
"You heard the goddess," Hef laughed, "It's a magical paradise."
"You think Elsa is making it all up?" Tim asked, leaning against the edge.
"I'm 48 years old, son. In all that time, I learned a valuable lesson. If something sounds too good to be true, it usually is," Hef explained. "I'm just waiting to be disappointed. Why did I agree to this?"
"Elsa became a goddess and you're having difficulty believing what she said?" Tim asked.
"Yep, I'm a complicated kind of guy," Hef chuckled, "Give yourself a few decades and you'll start acting that way too."
"No, I believe Elsa. She'd never lie," Tim replied.
"Whatever you say, kid," Hef sighed.
Hef's wife came up to them and asked, "Listen. I know we have been calling her a goddess, but do you think she actually is or just a woman with unique magic?"
Tim and Hef looked at each other, now wondering the same thing. Tim pointed out something, "Did you notice how there's no crew on board. It's just us and Elsa. She's controlling the ship." She looked and saw he was right. She never noticed. "Wow."
Hef's assistant, Victor spoke up, "I saw what she did to the Southern Isles fleet when they came to invade Arendelle. She commanded the sea, the air, the earth and fire. How can she not be a goddess when this world is her's to command?"
Hef's wife was even more starstruck and asked Tim, "You seem to trust Elsa very much. You know her well. Tell me. What is she like?"
"I was an apprentice for Goran, the blacksmith back in Arendelle. After she abdicated her throne to Princess Anna, she had an ice sculpting business across the street. We met many times and she was always nice and took an interest in the work Goran and I were doing. I'm sure you all heard the story of how she healed my eyes, but before that I got myself lost and she found me. I got so lost that cold winter because I wondered from my home. All I had to do was stay at home, but I didn't. All I could do was shout and scream and hope someone would hear me. Then someone did. It was Elsa. She found me and brought me home and stayed with me because I was so scared of being alone. We…talked like old times. She re-lit the fireplace and fixed my eyes."
He looked at Hef, Victor and Hef's wife, Sophia. They were all looking at him tear up as he told the story. "I cannot describe the feeling I had in that moment. I am where I am because of Elsa. That's how I know I can always trust her."
"That means," Sophia said as a revelation hit. Somehow her husband's leg was healed. "Of course. It makes so much sense now. It was Elsa, Hef! She healed your leg! If she can do that for people, then we owe it to her to check out this place she's taking us to. We just need to have faith in her that everything will work out for us, okay?"
Hef stared at his wife and nodded with a smile. She was always the optimist, but he was always a glass half empty kind of guy. He could always lean on her for faith when he had already given up.
"But…what she is and what she can do. I can't help but be nervous around her," Sophia confessed. "Honestly, how can we not? She wiped out a fleet of ships. All by herself. How is that humanly possible?"
"You all seem to have met her, but I have never met Elsa before. I came to Arendelle to train under my aunt at the bakery. It was always my dream to one day leave Arendelle and open my own bakery. I'm very nervous about this. It was my dream, but when a goddess invited me to come, despite how scared I was, I felt compelled to accept. I'm scared I made the wrong choice," the niece of the owner of Blodget's Bakery, Tiffany said. She was the youngest of the group.
Tim stepped forward, "Don't be afraid. Elsa is amazing. I swear on my life. You may think she's too good to be true, that she's not the woman I speak so highly of. Since all of you are terrified of her and are questioning yourselves for taking her generous offer, then let's just ask her." He started walking up to the main cabin that was located under the wheel that magically turned at Elsa's command. Before he could knock on the door, the others quickly grabbed him and pulled him away.
"You ignorant fool!" Hef chided, but was clearly afraid. He was hold Tim's left arm.
"What are you doing?" Tim demanded.
"You want to disturb a goddess that could strike us down with her powers? Good, just leave us out of it," Tiffany demanded. She was holding Tim's upper left arm
"Yeah, man. I'm still in the prime of my life," Victor agreed, "There's too much crap I want to do before I get all old, wrinkly and boring!" He was holding Tim in in an arm lock.
"Watch it, whippersnapper!" Hef yelled.
"The exact word old people use. Forgive me, old man, if I don't want to die before my time," Victor argued with Hef. Suddenly, the individuals were in a minor scuffle. They all froze when Elsa's door opened and she stepped out and looked at them with concern. No one except Tim could look her in the eye.
"What's going on? I heard shouting," Elsa asked.
"Nothing at all, your holiness," Victor rambled nervously, "We were just…celebrating. Right, guys?"
Elsa looked at them. She walked pass them and stopped by the front of the ship and called, "Tim?"
Tim went up to speak with her, while others remained below.
"They are scared of me still, aren't they?" Elsa asked with her eyes locked on the horizon as they sailed on. Tim became startled and sympathetic when she noticed tears streaming down her cheeks.
"No. No, Elsa. It's not that. They just…doubt the offer. They're just innocent people who have seen the worse of humanity. Maybe if you could explain more to them, it would settle their fears and doubts in you," Tim requested.
Elsa looked at Tim, her beautiful face glistening from her two stray tears.
"Okeydokey?" Tim asked.
Elsa finally smiled and wiped the tears from her eyes before walking with Tim back to the others. "I hear you are having second thoughts."
Tim smiled at her.
Elsa could feel immense guilt coming off the others, "Don't feel guilty, please. I want to answer your questions. Tim has told me you are curious about my kingdom, Ahtohallan. Rest assured that I will not keep you at Ahtohallan against your will. If you desire to remain in Arendelle, I'll bring you home. Whether you would like to move to Ahtohallan and help serve a purpose, that's entirely up to you." Elsa's face became bothered before confessing, "And I also have a selfish reason as well." They all looked at her with curiosity. "Despite Ahtohallan being my new home, Arendelle is always my true home and the people there, my family. I miss Arendelle and those I know. I wanted Arendelle's best to help Ahtohallan feel more like home."
Victor felt more comfortable and asked, "You said kingdom. Do we refure to you as Queen or Elsa and how do we refure to a goddess?" Elsa immediately joined his eyes, which made him feel nervous. What a stupid question! She must think you are an idiot, Victor! Oh, crap! She's reading my thoughts! I'm SO dead!
Elsa couldn't hold back the urge to giggle. This seemed to help lighten the other's moods. "I don't know. I never met a goddess before. However, I would prefer you just call me Elsa. Look, I understand that everyone is unsure what to make of me and I guess I owe all of you a bit of a explanation."
Hef stepped forward, looking like he was about to halt her from explaining. She didn't need to explain herself further to them. He felt slightly guilty that she had to just to prove herself. Elsa raised her hand before continuing, "You all know I was born princess of Arendelle and you all saw that I had this ice magic. I was once terrified of my magic and as a result of hiding myself, Arendelle suffered because I was too afraid to let my sister in. However, she showed me that I didn't have to be afraid. Years passed and I heard a voice call me and it called me to Ahtohallan. It was here I learned the truth of my magic. Where it came from. What I was always meant to do. I am a piece of the Ice Spirit, Iclyn, the guardian of nature and humanity. I am she and she is me. We are one and the same. By reuniting with her and opposing spirits that threatened to destroy the world, I became something divine. I don't really know what to make of it, and I don't really know what to do with it. At least, that is what I used to think. I was afraid of these powers turning me into something I didn't want to be, but then I saw what I could do for others. Many see me as a goddess, but hear me now that I did not chose you to serve me in my kingdom but for me to serve you. I have my purpose and it's to help you with yours. Whether it's making a living as a fire place installer, opening your own bakery, and being a blacksmith."
Everyone was speechless, so Elsa demonstrated her powers. She held out her hand and purple fire ignited and danced around her hand like a lively fairy. With her other hand, she created a snowball that glowed blue with her magic. She then stopped everything. The sea. The wind. "Because the four spirits of the Enchanted Forest are no more, their authority and power belong to me. I can heal people of their injuries, but I can't bring someone back from the dead. I can read minds and hear their thoughts."
Tim immediately turned red. He secretly had the biggest crush on her. Especially after she restored her eyes and he took in her beautiful face once again. Elsa smiled and he could hear her voice in his head, You think you're the first young man to have a crush on me? Don't worry. Your secret is safe with me. I won't tell Kristoff. Tim smiled nervously and looked away, completely embarrassed. He looked at her with new eyes, after learning everything, "I'm glad we're friends."
Elsa just laughed, "Just relax. All of you. I want to make Ahtohallan a great kingdom that is first in trading and business. I want it to be a great place for anyone to live and have a family. Much is happening for Ahtohallan and that will only become better, because of people like you and our perfect location. On top of all of that, you get your very own goddess."
The ship was now filled with laughter and uplifted spirits. When Ahtohallan came into view, Elsa remained quiet and observed everyone's expressions, eager to see them gaze upon the paradise she created. Their eyes and mouths were wide with shock. It was the most beautiful place they have ever seen. Their breath was taken away. Large glacier fields. Grassy meadows that had any flower they could possibly imagine. Mighty mountains encircled the large kingdom like protective, slumbering giants. It was a sight to behold.
The ship came to port and was tied to the docks by dock workers that have made Ahtohallan their home. As Elsa led them through the streets of Ahtohallan. The buildings, streets looked very similar to architecture in Arendelle. Elsa smiled when she saw Kristoff and ran into his arms when he rushed to her. He whisked her off her feet and twirled with her in his arms before giving her a steamy kiss on the lips in front of her guests. Elsa immediately turned red from embarrassment and tried to pull away. "Uh…Kristoff."
"What?" he asked innocently, completely confused.
She gestured with her eyes at her guests and Kristoff smiled, "I see you brought guests."
"Yes, I did. I want you to meet them," Elsa guided him by the arm to her group and introduced them, "This is Hef, his wife Sophia and his assistant Victor. Hef and Victor specialize in fireplaces. This is Tiffany. She's the niece of the owner of Blodget's Bakery. Tim here is a blacksmith."
"Nice to all meet you. I know Elsa only brought you here to see if you would like to live here, but if there are three things Ahtohallan needs, it's skilled workers like you," Kristoff spoke. He noticed Tiffany bowing to him, "You okay?"
"Since Elsa is Queen, you're King here right?" Tiffany asked. The others didn't think of it and quickly bowed and Kristoff and Elsa just laughed. "Just call me Kristoff. Elsa and I will give you all a tour and you can stay with us for the night to thnk it over-"
"YES!" The group exclaimed excitedly at once
"There you have it," Kristoff muttered to Elsa who was smiling even more, happy with their decision.
"Come with us to the Palace. We will get things started then," Elsa welcomed them. The palace looked like the Ice Palace that sat on top of the North Mountain, but was even grander in appearance and size. It looked like both earth and ice was used to make it and it reminded Kristoff of Elsa. So sleek. So strong. So…ELSA. He couldn't help but chuckle and Elsa gave him an inquisitive smile, wondering what was so funny. Like the royal palace in Arendelle, the palace was surrounded by water and they had to walk across an ice bridge to get to the gates.
It was a beautiful day and Elsa was so happy to welcome more people to Ahtohallan. She stood on a balcony, overlooking her kingdom from on high. Kristoff joined her, "It becomes more beautiful every time I lay eyes on it."
"All of this, Kristoff, is only possible because of you," Elsa smiled at him, turning in his arms.
"Me? What the heck did I ever do? I'm just an ice harvester. You are royalty. You…give me far too much credit, Elsa. You were always going to do great things," Kristoff shrugged it off, feeling very humbled by his wife's praise.
"What did you ever do? Kristoff," she replied, holding his face in here hands, "You found me when I was hurt and scared. When I was alone, you visited me with stories and songs. You showed me a love I never dreamed of obtaining. You made me feel warm, loved and desired despite what others thought of me…of us. You taught me how to love, forgive, and be strong when times are hard. There was no other man that could me from myself. I will always love you above all for what you did for me."
Kristoff just stared in his wife's beautiful alluring eyes, "Elsa could you explain something to me? How did an ice harvesting loser like me end up married and loved by the only living goddess on the planet? I don't deserve you…any of this- I don't-"
Kristoff was immediately interrupted by the taste of Elsa's lips against his. She kissed him with a passionate hunger that gave him no time to belittle himself. He held her close against himself, feeling more and more confident as his fear and self-doubt melted away. She jumped into his arms and he carefully placed her on the balcony's railing as they continued to kiss one another. "I wish we could stay like this forever," he spoke softly before pulling away and looking at her. She looked even more beautiful as the sunset shined on her long blond hair.
Elsa was suddenly lost in thought with what he just said. Forever.
"What is it? Elsa?" Kristoff asked.
She looked back at him with smile and an arched eyebrow. "Why not?"
(A/N: This is the final chapter. As much as I enjoyed writing these Kristelsa stories, it was time to start putting them to bed. Those of you following The Queen's King. There will be 3-4 more chapters before we finish that one. Thanks again for all the help from Machzzzz1 and Frozen Wolf heart 22.)