A/N: Reviews are hard to come by! To my faithful readers, may I ask, if you're enjoying the story and you think others would as well, would you please take some time to go back and post some reviews of this chapter or previous ones? That may help get it noticed! Thanks!


Fog

Cold. Darkness. Softness. Stillness.

Light and shadow. Moving shapes. Muted sounds.

A familiar voice. Anna's. Where was Anna? Was she saying something? Was this a dream?

Wakefulness came with difficulty for Elsa. She cracked her eyes and saw the silhouettes of Anna and Kai against the latticed window of her bedroom.

"Anna?" she tried to say, but it didn't come out right. It was enough, though. The two turned, and Anna walked from the window to kneel beside her position on the bed.

"Hello, sleepyhead," she said softly. "Are you doing okay?"

"I think so." She slurred. "Like ... Falster."

Anna nodded with a concerned frown. "Yeah, well, don't go talking to any crowds, today, okay? Just rest up this time. That bully worked you pretty hard."

That sounded really good. She could use another blanket, though.


Scenes replayed in her head. The roaring fire. The shocking failure to contain Ken's spheres. The fire spirit, charging, gouging at her ice wall. Ken, launched head-over-heels. Ambrelle, thrown through the air. Those black balls. So familiar. So -

Elsa's eyes snapped open. Something had changed when Ken fought with Enceladus. The sense of familiarity with the black balls had gone.

It was night time. She could see the twinkles of starlight outside her bedroom window. She struggled to sit up. What had changed? She gave a sudden shudder and wrapped her arms around herself. "Cold?" she whispered. She held her hands in front of her. She could barely make out their shapes in the darkness. She tried to form a glowing ball.

She couldn't.

She gasped. "What has he done to me!?"

A stirring motion in the bed to her right took her by surprise. "Elsa," Anna said with slurred speech. "You okay...?"

"Anna -" her voice waivered. "My magic is gone!"

Elsa heard the shuffling of Anna sitting up. Then she felt her hand on her shoulder. "What do you mean?"

"I - I can't even make a snowflake!"

"How hard have you tried?"

That was a good question. Elsa took a deep breath and exhaled slowly. She focused as well as she could - she still felt so foggy - and tried again.

A weak little glow illuminated the palms of her hands.

"There, see?" said Anna reassuringly. "I think you just need more rest."

Just that effort left Elsa feeling spent. "Did this happen at Falster too and I just don't remember?"

"Um ... no."

Not encouraging. She put her hands on her head. "It's hard to think," she said. "How's Ambrelle?"

There was silence for a couple of seconds. "Hm. You are having trouble thinking, aren't you? We don't know where she is, right? Enceladus carried them who-knows-where. We're gonna need you to figure that out for us, once you're feeling well enough." There was a pause. "Either that or we need whats-his-ugly-face to show up again so Enceladus comes to your rescue." A chuckle. "Which was epic, by the way. Pow, pow, pow, heh. They're still putting the courtyard back together."

"Enceladus..." Elsa was reminded. "I was thinking something about him - what was it?" She strained to remember. "Oh. When he and Ken were fighting, I didn't feel that sense of familiarity from his spheres, Anna. Not even the big one."

"You were pretty spent at that point. If Olaf hadn't -"

Elsa grabbed the bedsheets with both hands as the memory flooded back. "Olaf! Is Olaf okay?!"

"Yeah, he's fine. As - um - as Olaf as ever. Sven found his head. Missing the carrot though. Then he was able to tell us where the rest of his parts were. We got him a new carrot."

Elsa breathed a sigh of relief. "He's been one helpful little snowman lately, hasn't he?" she said affectionately.

"Uh-huh. Who would have guessed?"

Elsa wrapped her arms around herself as the fog thickened. She felt overwhelmed. And cold. "I'm tired," she said.

"That's good," said Anna. "In case you haven't noticed, it's the middle of the night."

She snuggled back under the blankets. "Could I have another blanket? There's one in the ... the ..."

"Sure." Anna shuffled out of the bed. She bumped around in the dark. "Ow. I'm fine. I'm fine." Eventually she returned and laid another blanked over Elsa. "Do you want me to stay with you?"

"No, that's okay. Go back to Ken."

"You mean Kristoff."

"I mean Kristoff..." She was asleep.


Brightness roused her, slowly.

She laid there with her eyes open, listening to the sound of the wind blowing against the window. Judging by the position of the light and shadow, it was late in the morning, and a lovely day. She pushed herself up on her bed and held her head in her hands, waiting for it to clear. Two frustratingly futile minutes passed. Eventually she concluded it wasn't going to improve any further. She swung her legs over the side of the bed. Keeping her focus on a fixed point on the window bench, she attempted to stand. She was encouraged to see that, although wobbly, she was able. Anna would chastise her for trying, especially alone. She staggered to the window where she sat hard on the window bench. She grimaced. She hadn't realized that part was sore.

Looking down, she watched the wind rustle the tops of the trees in the garden. It was well into Spring now. Maybe the middle of May? Elsa couldn't recall. Eventually Olaf wandered into view, following a butterfly. She smiled. She owed him much. Her life. It was an extremely brave thing he had done, assuming he had thought through the potential consequences. Her smile faded. So many people putting their lives in jeopardy for her. Am I ... am I worth it? She looked at her hands. They felt tired and old. How often she had wished to not have powers, and last night when faced with the possibility, she had panicked. Her head fell into her hands.

"I don't know who I am," she said.

So many things to so many people. Queen of Arendelle. The snow queen. A beacon to the nations. 'Spirit mother.' It was too much. She felt the panic of being pulled under the water and didn't realize she was gasping for air until she heard the knock knock knock-knock knock.

She tried to say 'come in,' but no words came out.

Naturally, Anna came in anyway. As soon as she saw her panicked eyes and rapid breathing, she quickened her steps and knelt by her side. "Goodness! Elsa, you're shaking! What's wrong?" Elsa didn't answer; she just clutched at her, trying to get herself under control.

"Vincent!" Anna called to the guard stationed outside the door, "get the doctor!"

"No!" Elsa gasped. "No." She bit her lip.

Anna debated momentarily. Then, "do it!" she called.

"Yes, your highness." He disappeared from the doorway.

Elsa clung to Anna's chest as her breathing slowly eased. "What's wrong with me?" she whispered. "I haven't had a panic attack like that since ... since ..."

"Since thawing the eternal winter."

Elsa nodded distantly.

Anna rose from the floor and sat behind Elsa on the window bench. "I don't know what's wrong," she quietly answered. "But we're going to figure it out."

Elsa glanced around the room. "No snow..." she observed. "He did something to me, Anna. He - he took something from me. I can't even make it snow when I'm panicking -"

"Don't overreact, sis. It's way too early. You've got a lot of recovering to do yet before we even take step one."

Another distant nod.

"I'm going to move back in here with you for a while, okay? Kristoff will be fine. Maybe he'll even take the opportunity to go for a long camping trip or something. He said Sven has been missing him. I think it's more like they're both missing the open spaces."

Elsa was starting to calm enough to think somewhat practically. "How long have I been in and out of sleep?"

"Ohhhh ... a couple of days."

She was afraid to probe that one any deeper. "We didn't even get through the piles of mail from last time -"

Anna interrupted her again. "You're not running the kingdom right now, Elsa. Your number one job is recovery. Doooooon't worry. Eeeeverything is under control. Uh-huh. Under control."

They sat in silence for several minutes.

"Which reminds me," said Anna, "there was a general council meeting while you were asleep."

Elsa tensed. "What?!"

"Yeah. People have been - um - curious. The last thing they saw was your own dragon attacking your own castle." She chuckled. "And everything going up in flames, a big black ball, etcetera. And the courtyard is still wrecked. And we took everyone's kerosene."

"So you handled that yourself...?"

"Mostly. High admiral Naismith was a big help."

Her tension eased. "Anna, I'm really proud of you. You've grown so much in these past several weeks."

"Really?! You mean it?"

"You've been amazing."

"I just feel like I'm barely keeping a lid on things!"

Elsa smiled. With a self-deprecating shake of the head, she admitted, "you have no idea how often I feel exactly that way." They shared a chuckle.

Just then, doctor Maher came through the door, trailed by the guard. He was a short man of normal build, in his late fifties, with thick unkempt grey hair that retained only a hint of its original black. He had been the royal doctor for as long as Elsa could remember. He peered over his round spectacles and remarked, "well from here, it looks like the situation has improved somewhat since the report I received from your messenger."

"I'm sorry doctor," said Elsa. "We should have sent the second guard to tell you your presence wasn't -"

"Oh stop it, Elsa," Anna interrupted. To the doctor she explained, "she had a panic attack."

The doctor frowned as he walked over. Elsa sighed and yielded her arm as the doctor began his standard checks. She didn't have much fight in her today. Or yesterday. Maybe tomorrow? Finally he said, "There's nothing obviously wrong. We all know you've been through a lot. You're already getting a lot of rest as I understand, which would have been my first prescription. If you're having panic attacks though, I further prescribe that you keep someone around you. Someone who doesn't stress you and can help keep you relaxed."

Heinrick. "Oh, heavens!" Elsa exclaimed. "Heinrick doesn't know if I'm dead or alive! I have to write him a letter right away!"

The doctor looked at Anna skeptically. "Is this relaxation or stress?"

"Relaxation," she assured him with a smile.

"Can you help me to my writing desk Anna?"

The doctor pushed his spectacles up his nose. He looked unconvinced, but he stood, gave a bow, and said, "please call me immediately if the situation changes."

Anna half-helped half-hauled Elsa to her feet and guided her to the small desk. Elsa drew out her paper and pen, then paused to tell Anna she didn't have to stay to watch her write a letter. Anna had a cheeky grin.

"Why don't you invite him to visit? He's relaxing, right?"

"I ... I'm sure he's busy."

"Suit yourself. But anyone can send an invitation you know..."

Since Anna was the only other one in the room, Elsa closed her eyes and blushed freely.

"Oh! Speaking of invitations, we got the invitation to Fenris' coronation. Maybe, you know, if he's not too busy, he can come visit and then you two can travel down there together."

"Maybe... How soon is it?"

"Four weeks."

Elsa struggled through the fog as she did the mental math. A week at least for the letter to get to Falster, and another for either a reply or a visit. That would leave two weeks, the second of which would be travel.

Anna's heart ached as she watched her struggle. She placed her hand on Elsa's shoulder. "Okay. I'll come back and check on you in a bit. Call if you need something."

Elsa nodded wordlessly. She began to write as Anna left the room.

Dear Heinrick,

I'm alive!

I collected the two refugees in Crescent Bay. They are indeed who they claim to be. Their names are Johan and Ambrelle. Johan's abilities concern fire, and Ambrelle's concern water. It wasn't long before the hunter came for all of us. His name is Ken. In our first encounter I faced him alone, where I learned that he is no longer interested in me.

The length of the explanation pushed sluggishly through Elsa's mind. She didn't have the energy for it.

The reason why is complicated. I'll save it for another time.

I attempted to help Johan and Ambrelle in their fight with him, since they have been running from him for much of their lives. That fight didn't end well. Enceladus has carried them to safety, but none of us know where. And in the fight, I have been injured. Not physically, but my mind is clouded and my powers are gone. Or nearly gone. I don't know when or if I will recover, or what this means for me or my future. I am very grateful for Anna's stepping in to pick up the slack. She has been amazing.

Elsa felt her eyes welling with tears as she contemplated Anna's support. She would surely be lost without it.

Anna suggests

Elsa stopped. Was this going to be Anna's invitation or hers? Heinrick had always been forthright with her, so far as she could tell. He had made mistakes, but he had been forthright about those as well. He deserved the same in return. Normally she wouldn't send a letter with mark-ups in it, but the thought of rewriting this letter from the start was too much. She crossed out the words. She stared at it. She couldn't bear it. The stubborn part of her wanted to retain at least this. She scrunched it up and threw it forcefully in the trash. She drew a new paper and started again.

Dear Heinrick,

I'm alive!

What else had she written? She stared at the paper, her mind suddenly as blank as the page in front of her. Her left hand slowly balled into a fist as her frustration mounted. She felt her breathing quickening. No. I have to stop this before... Her eyes darted to the trash bin where the scrunched up paper lay. With a sigh of defeat, she leaned over and pulled it out. She smoothed it out and transcribed it. As she reached the point of the invitation again, she felt the increasing weight of sadness. Her hand hovered over the paper as she contemplated how to express herself. Brutal honesty was all she could come up with.

I have started having panic attacks. My doctor has recommended I keep someone around me at all times, someone who can help me relax. Anna has a lot of responsibilities to juggle. I know you do too, but might you be able to spend some time with me in Arendelle? I have to forewarn you that I am a shadow of my former self. If I cannot heal, I will no longer be fit to be queen. Or anything more than a burden.

She put down her pen and dropped her head into her hands as the weight of her honesty washed over her as well. She reread the letter. She hated it. It was desperate. But it was true: she hadn't felt this fragile since her coronation, and it was not a feeling she missed. As she wavered between sending it and abandoning the idea of writing to him altogether, she heard the knock knock knock-knock knock that she didn't have to answer.

"How's it going?" Anna asked cheerfully.

Elsa folded the paper and held it out to her wordlessly without even looking up.

"Oh. That good, huh?" She sighed. "Was this a bad idea? I'm sorry, I thought it would be relaxing."

"No. It's fine," she said distantly. "It's just that I hate my circumstances right now, but writing or not writing isn't going to change that."


Several days of bed rest later, Elsa had recovered much of her strength, but her mind remained foggy and her powers all but gone. She had had to return to wearing clothes from her closet full-time. They felt unnatural. They didn't reflect her mood. She felt like an imposter in them. They also reminded her too much of a bygone time. Or at least a time she wished was bygone.

She sat on the window bench with 'Sir Jorgen Bjorgen' in her lap. He drained me of my power, she reflected. I would not have thought it was such an intrinsic part of me. In her childhood longings, in her dark hours of loneliness and desperation, she had imagined someday finding someone who could separate them from her. Now she knew the price. But was there a way to get it back? Her wholeness of mind at least? She contemplated the irony of her present yearning.

Knock knock knock-knock knock

"Hey there Elsa! How are you feeling?"

Elsa responded with a half-hearted smile.

"You're getting around better and it's a lovely spring day out. It's time you got some fresh air and sunshine!"

No! Elsa tensed impulsively. "Maybe another time, Anna, I - I don't want people to see me like this..."

Anna stood thoughtfully. "Elsa," she said gently, "you're not going to go back into hiding. I won't stand for it. Everyone knows you've been hurt."

"I can barely have a conversation."

"You won't have to!" She linked her arm around Elsa's. "Now come on!"

It was as if the door was still shut. The closer Elsa got to that threshold, the more her tension rose, until she had to close her eyes and bite her lip. It was so tangible that she expected to hit an invisible barrier. When she didn't, she stumbled into the hall, breathing heavily and leaning hard on Anna's arm.

"Whoa!" exclaimed Anna as she was pulled off balance. "I've got you there." She helped Elsa straighten up.

Elsa looked both ways fearfully, and then back at the doorway.

"Elsa," said Anna. She took her free hand and placed it on Elsa's cheek, guiding her eyes to meet her own. "It's going to be okay."

Elsa wanted to cry. She wanted to run back into her room and slam the door. Instead she forced herself to keep her eyes fixed on Anna's as her labored breathing gradually eased.

"There you go. Now come on."

Elsa settled into an almost trance-like state. Anna guided her down the stairs as though she was leading a blind person. If anyone greeted her, she didn't notice, and didn't respond. It wasn't until the glare of the outside stung her eyes that she realized they had arrived. Elsa instinctively breathed deeply as her eyes adjusted to the light. It was lovely. Anna led them to a spot where a blanket had already been laid out on the grass. She landed heavily. It had been a taxing trip.

Anna sat beside her. "Welp, I was right. Kristoff and Sven left for a camping trip this morning. No sleigh. Just the two of them and a ukulele. Yeah. And some other stuff too. I would have packed them some food, but I didn't have time. I asked the kitchen staff to do it. I hope it got done. Kristoff would notice if he didn't have food packed, wouldn't he? I mean, he had to take care of himself before becoming a baron and all, but who knows - he might have forgotten in the past couple of months. Ordinarily I -"

"Anna?"

"What?"

"Could we just sit quietly?"

"Oh. Um. Sorry. We can try that. What do you say we find shapes in the clouds?" Elsa gave an approving smile, and the two laid back on the blanket. "Bucket. Harp. Spoon. Duck. Crown. Barrel. Fish."

Elsa couldn't find the shapes as fast as Anna was naming them. Trying to keep up was tiring. "Can we just look at them, please?"

"Okay."

Even looking at the clouds was tiring. They seemed extra hazy, and Elsa found herself blinking repeatedly in an effort to bring them into focus. She finally gave up and closed her eyes. The wind rattled the leaves pleasingly and the sun shone down, warming her unfamiliar clothing and counteracting the cooling effect of the breeze. Warm clothing. Breeze. Cool clothing. All unfamiliar sensations. She wasn't enjoying this as much as she was expecting. She wrapped her arms around herself and tried to relax.

"HI!" Olaf bellowed right above her face. Elsa shrieked and covered her ears with her hands.

"Olaf!" Anna scolded. "We're trying to help her relax!"

"Oh! Oh, whoops, oh, oh, oh. Here, let me try that again." He dropped his voice two octaves and repeated, "hi." It sounded like a suave pick-up line. It was ludicrous.

Elsa could hear Anna gagging to keep from laughing, and she couldn't keep from laughing herself. She reached up and touched him on the side of his face. "Hi, Olaf," she said with a loving smile. "Have I said 'thank you' for saving me in that fight yet?"

"Yeah. Twice actually. Oh! But that's okay! Be relaxed! Be relaxed! I'm not keeping track!"

Elsa chuckled warmly. "I love you, Olaf," she said. She wasn't sure she had ever been so free with her words with him.

"Awwwwwwwwwwww," he giggled shyly. "I love you too! I'd give you a warm hug if you were standing up, but down there it's a little - Oh! I know!" He plodded around to her side, sat, and then flopped over onto her.

"Ungh!" Snow is heavy.

"Olaf! That's not relaxing!"

"Oh! Oh! Oh!-"

"No," Elsa interrupted. "It's okay." Mostly. Except he was really cold. She wrapped her arms around him anyway. They lay that way for a full minute.

When you are gone, all your creations will perish with you.

"Elsa?" Anna boosted herself onto her elbow. "You're crying."

Olaf looked up. "Elsa? I'd get off, but you're not letting me."

"I'm ... I'm sorry." She didn't want to, but she released her hold on him. What is wrong with me? She could tell she was overreacting, but she couldn't wrestle it under control. Control it. Damnable memories! Don't feel! Except nothing was working. She sat up and began to breathe raggedly as she struggled. She felt Anna embrace her firmly and press her face against the crook of her neck. She wrapped her arms around Anna and held on as though clinging to a piece of driftwood in the middle of the raging sea. The wave crested, and then,

Slowly,

Slowly - as she felt more than heard Anna's soothing voice - she settled. She released her grip, and in return, Anna released her as well. Glancing around, she saw that Olaf was standing dumbfounded and crestfallen.

"This won't do," she breathed. At least she didn't have to worry about hurting others with her powers. That left more options available... "I'm going to need some kind of s-sedative."

"Oh, Elsa..." Anna said sadly.


If she thought things were foggy before, she had no idea. Dr. Maher had presented her with an unpleasant smelling liquid which he advised her to combine with some libation. She learned quickly why the libation was recommended. Drinking had never been a luxury she could chance, but it was necessary to gag down the medicine. She chose something she didn't like anyway, lest she ruin her ability to enjoy something else. Scotch. It worked. Barely. But she could hardly remember what day it was, let alone where she had put things down. Somewhere in there, during a brief moment of semi-clarity, the ridiculousness of her invitation to Heinrick hit her. What was I thinking? It might be nice to have his company, but she was in no shape to travel anywhere.

Despite the old fog and the new numbness, one thing that was easier to regain, or at least fake, was some measure of dignity. At least, she thought so. It was honestly hard to tell. It was hard to tell how much of what she was doing was actually successful, and how much was the kindness and graciousness of the staff. She slept a lot, napped daily, and wandered the halls during the day, sometimes noticing details of a piece of art that she wasn't sure she had noticed before, only to realize sometime later that she had already noticed it several times.

She sat outside a lot, when she was awake and the weather accommodating, and Olaf would entertain her with stories and antics. Whenever she was with him, sooner or later, all your creations will perish with you would roll through her mind, but it was strangely detached, as though it was advice given to someone else. It was on an afternoon like this, when she was ready to return inside, that she walked into the main hall in the middle of a bustle of activity. There was an entourage coming through the castle doors. Anna was there, in the middle of a sentence, and so was -

"Heinrick?"

Anna turned when she heard Elsa's voice. "Surprise," she said cautiously.

Elsa could only stare in confusion. She put her hand to her head reflexively in an effort to clear the fog, but her next sensation was that of the floor striking her painfully on the bottom. She yelped as she continued to stare in confusion. She hadn't even noticed being off balance.

"Elsa!" Anna knelt quickly at her side and took her by the arm. Heinrick strode over and knelt also, a concerned expression on his face.

Elsa hadn't taken her bewildered eyes off him. "What are you doing here?" she finally managed.

"You invited me. Remember?" he asked gently.

"You couldn't possibly have gotten here so quickly."

He smiled. "I received your letter in Cliffs' view, not in Falster."

Elsa finally took her eyes off him as she struggled through the geography: two weeks round trip to Falster, but only one to Cliffs' View, assuming good weather. "Oh," she said at last, as she briefly cracked a smile. She glanced around in realization that the room was silent and everyone was looking at her. Her bottom was throbbing. "How did I get down here?"

"I wish I could say he swept you off your feet," said Anna. "It was more like, he bowled you over. Anyway, what's say we get you up?" Heinrick got under her other arm and the two lifted her back upright.

Dignity. Elsa cleared her throat. "Excuse me," she said with a shy smile. "Welcome back to Arendelle."

"It's good to be here," he smiled.

That relaxed voice. It should ... it should set her at ease, it certainly would have a few days ago, except now it was hard to feel anything.

"Would you like to show me to my room?" he asked.

"Certainly..." she said, but she didn't sound certain at all, and by the time she had finished saying the word she realized she didn't know where that was.

"Ahem," Anna interjected. "How about we both show you to your room?"

They took the walk slowly, and somewhere along the line Elsa realized it was because her sluggish legs just wouldn't move any faster. Anna had apparently been in the middle of telling Heinrick about their battle with Ken, because she completed the story as they walked along. Elsa couldn't think of a word to add.

Once settled, Heinrick asked her, "would you like to go out into the garden for a while?"

Hadn't she just been there? "That sounds lovely," she said. Again they took the journey slowly, and sat together on the bench facing the opposing cliff across the water. Elsa sat quietly. Peacefully. Vacantly.

"It's good to see you," said Heinrick.

"Thank you. Thank you for coming. It's good to see you too."

"Anna said your doctor has you on a medicine."

"Yes." Her eyes fell. "I couldn't stand the panic attacks anymore. But I'm not sure I can stand this medicine either. I'm a porcelain doll now. Just ... there. It seems my choice is between being prone to panic and being half dead. In neither case am I fit to lead." She raised her eyes to Heinrick's. "Which would you choose?"

He gave a grave shake of the head. "I have no idea, dear Elsa." He studied her face carefully for a minute. "On my way here I thought a lot about how I might be able to help you. If you're willing to try an experiment, I have an idea. But you're going to have to take a chance and go off the medicine."

It should have been a shocking request, but all she could muster was intrigue. "Oh?"

Heinrick reached over his head and patted his back between his shoulder blades. "I'd like to see what my stone might do for you."

Now that was shocking. "Heinrick," she exclaimed, "that's your mobility!"

"I was mobile before, you might recall. If it helps you, I can hardly stand by and withhold it from you."

Elsa just stared at him, slack-jawed. She felt ... She felt ... She ought to feel something, but everything was so foggy and numb. At length, she said, "I can't accept."

"That's your decision," he said. "But whether I give it to you or not is my decision. It would be a shame for it to go unused though." He smiled as he stood up.

"Where are you going?"

"Right back here. I request you keep looking that direction for a few minutes."

Elsa put her hand over her mouth, her thoughts in turmoil, as she listened to the shuffling of Heinrick's clothing behind her. She heard a muted thump, accompanied by a grunt. "Are .. are you okay?"

"I'll be fine, Elsa. Just one more minute."

"Heinrick, don't do this."

"Sorry your majesty. You can banish me for treachery tomorrow, but I'm ignoring 'queen's orders' today."

More grunts. It was all she could do to keep her eyes pointed forward. Then she saw him from the corner of her eye, on the ground, pulling himself around the side of the bench. He looked up at her. "It's been a while, I guess. It's going to take some time to readjust." With that, he lobbed the short silver vest into her lap and began dragging himself back up onto the bench.

"Heinrick -" she said as she tried to help him up. She really didn't know what else to say. Once he was back up and settled next to her, they sat in silence for a few minutes as he caught his breath and she stared at the vest in disbelief. "Okay, I'll try it," she acquiesced.


By evening, with the medicine wearing off, she was in a peculiar daze. Heinrick stayed with her continually, and then passed the baton to Anna for the night. By the following morning she was back to plain old fog plus a bit of shakiness. She left her hair down in preparation for the experiment. The hair around her face was a very foreign sensation to her. Even a small thing like that would have made her tense, but the more the medicine wore off, the more she found herself calmed by Heinrick's presence and easy manner. It was nice to feel something - anything - again. He was effective at keeping her mind off of things with stories from his own past. She wondered how many of them she would remember. She sat on the window bench in her room as she listened, alternately holding a pillow, or Sir Jorgen Bjorgen, or the silver vest that lay alongside her. She watched Heinrick as he made gradual improvement in his lumbering efforts to walk. It reminded her of when they had first met. For me... she thought as she fingered the vest. I love you... Had she thought it or said it? Her eyes flickered to Heinrick in momentary panic, but he hadn't paused from his story of how his mother's great-grandfather had sat poised on his death bed with sword in hand as a band of treasonous usurpers had crashed through his door. Not all stories ended happily, but this one had obviously been passed down as a testimony to his valor.

At length, he asked, "has the medicine completely worn off? Are we ready to try this?"

Elsa pursed her lips nervously. "I - I think so."

"Let me go fetch Anna then." He lumbered clumsily through the door into the hall where he flagged down one of the staff. The soldiers had been dismissed several days ago on Anna's orders. After a brief exchange of words, he returned and crossed the room where he picked up the silver vest. "I hate to damage it," he said. "Do you have a knife or something in here?"

Elsa gave an apologetic shrug and smile. "Letter opener?" she offered. At his nod, she went to her writing desk and retrieved it. He sliced the pocket open on the back of the vest and retrieved the round flat reddish stone. Soon enough, Anna came through the door with a concerned frown.

"We're ready," Heinrick said.

Elsa returned to the window bench. Her heart was racing. Heinrick sat next to her, and Anna stood by quietly with her hands folded in front of her as she bit her lip.

"I pray this works," he said. He placed the stone on the back of her head.

The room exploded into dizzying motion. All the colors seemed to pulse and swirl. There were shapes in the room. A person? Who? She couldn't tell. Her eyes darted about, looking for something stable to fix upon. Everything she looked at seemed familiar, but she couldn't say what it was or what it was for. Everything had meaning, but she couldn't grasp it before it flew from her mind. She shut her eyes, but the swirling motion was still there, sometimes elongating into a tornado-like column from which a new swirl would suddenly shoot forth, then arching into zigzag scissors that clamped shut with electric sparkle, then waves of black and white radiating out from a foggy point in the center of her focus. Underneath it all, provoked by the raging sense of motion, came a rising nausea. She opened her mouth to speak, and some sound came out, but it was unintelligible to her ears or mind.

Then it all stopped.

She was panting and her head was pounding with pressure. She opened her eyes and saw that she was looking at the floor. She felt a hand under each of her arms. Her nausea was still rising.

"Elsa? Are you okay?"

"Anna ..." she mumbled. "I'm going to be sick." Heinrick reached across and braced her as Anna rose and returned quickly with a wash basin which she placed in Elsa's lap. As Elsa hung over it, head pounding, she asked, "what happened?"

"You had a seizure," said Heinrick.

Anna asked in alarm, "is that what that was?"

"Yes. I've seen my share in my support circle in Mittergaard. It was actually a mild one."

"Oh..." Elsa moaned in distress. "I feel for those who have to live with such things." Mercifully, her nausea had peaked and was slowly abating. "I don't think that was the right spot," she said wryly.

"Me neither," Heinrick agreed with disappointment.

"Try the top of my head."

"Wait, what!?" Anna barked. "Elsa, that was awful!"

Elsa looked up with pleading eyes. "My life is awful, Anna." She gritted her teeth and gripped the wash basin hard. "Please try again."

As the stone touched the top of her head, Elsa straightened rigidly, her eyes once again growing wide with the same shocked bewilderment they had seen the last time.

"It's happening again," Anna cried. "Take it off!"

"NO!" Elsa interrupted sharply. "No, wait!" She slowly raised her hand from the wash basin and placed it on top of her head where Heinrick's hand held the stone. He withdrew his hand tentatively. She shifted the rock around a bit, alternately wincing and then staring with intense focus. She finally settled on a spot near the front of her head, centered, a few inches into her hair line. "There ..." she said with determination. Still holding the stone in place, she looked first to Anna, then to Heinrick, as a smile of joyful release spread across her face. "It's working! It's working! I can think!"

Anna squealed and hopped up and down in place as she clapped.

Heinrick breathed a long sigh of relief and wiped his brow. He hadn't realized he was sweating.

"Now, how do I keep it here?"

"How about a beanie hat or something?" Anna suggested. "Or maybe you can do your hair differently and go over the top of it, like a comb-over."

"A crown," said Heinrick with a wide smile and a sparkle in his eye.


A/N: Seizures suck. I've had them.