Yes it's another chapter this soon. Sorry this chapter is so long but I had to get it all in here.

On with the show!

Chapter 11: Bad Blood

Arendelle

Cynthia had seen many strange things in her life, so descending into Dr. Rolf's basement of abnormalities didn't concern her in the least. If anything the pinkish man she remembered meeting before weirded her out the most. Leading her into his basement he called over his shoulder at her.

"You sure you don't want to visit any of the patients?"

She responded coolly. "They'll want answers from me that I don't have, and since I'm not a doctor, I don't know what I can do to help. It would be more practical for me to see this worm you seem to be fond of."

Finally coming to the basement, Dr. Rolf had a pudgy smile on his face with a dazed look in his eyes. "Oh it's just Bernadette, and she's relatively harmless."

"Key word 'relatively'." She muttered beneath her breath. She wandered about his basement of strange jars and cages. "I see you've been influenced by our visit."

It wasn't until he had called from the back room that she realized he had disappeared. "Oh yes! I've always had a fondness for things that others may consider strange, but it wasn't until you two came that I thought I should do a little more diligence into the subject." He finally materialized from his back room, carrying a large jar. "Here she is."

Her eyes went a little wide. "I thought you said it was a worm."

He looked down at the jar. "Well, it was a worm, but, uh, she grew… just a bit." He looked at the jar more closely. "I'm guessing she's about two feet long now."

Cynthia curled her lip with revulsion, but took a step towards it regardless. She was only an inch closer when it's head slithered up the side of the jar. It's round, sharp toothed mouth opening and closing as if wanting food. She watched it move and as a test, she lifted her finger and moved it side to side. As she suspected, it followed her finger wherever she moved it.

"Why is she doing that?"

He eyed the worm curiously. "The experiments that I've conducted have shown me that she's drawn to heat, but usually the heat source has to be closer."

She shrugged dismissively. "I run hot so I'm not surprised she can it." The closer she got the more erratic the worm became, now slamming against the jar hungrily.

"Have you ever seen anything like this before?" Dr. Rolf asked.

She shook her head. "No, but the wormwood treatment works against them?"

He nodded, but it was a defeated gesture. "It has, but we ran out the other day. Now we don't know what to do."

She "hm'd" in response. "I can contact some people I know and we can get you some better medication. How many deaths have you had?"

He grew somber. "As of now five. All adults. The children seem to do better against these worms."

"Well if they're drawn to heat, they'll want a better heat source." She continued to search the depths of her mind to try and think of where she had seen this particular creature before, but was coming up with nothing. Drake would probably know what these are? He's always been good at that stuff.

"CYNI!"

"CYNTHIA!"

Dr. Rolf nearly drapped the jar. "Beard of Thor! What was that?"

Cynthia rolled her eyes with a sigh. "The twins." She angled herself towards the stairs as Frankie and AL thundered into the basement with lieutenant Bjorn following behind.

"We found it!" AL jumped.

"Hell yeah we did." Frankie and AL fist bumped each other in victory.

"Great. What did you find?" She asked.

AL was about to speak, but Frankie held him back. "Dude, why do you have to tell her? I wanna tell her."

AL grumbled in frustration. "Can we not do this right now?"

"We both found it, we might as well both tell her not just you."

"Well I saw it first—"

"Boys!" They stood at attention, an irritated Cynthia staring them both down, ready to kill on a second's notice.

The twins looked at each other and nodded, then said at the same time, "A dead Kraken."

Cynthia brought her brows together while the pair stood with wide goofy grins. "That's it?"

The two deflated. "What do you mean, 'that's it'?" Frankie yelled. "That thing has been leaking blood into the fjord for months. I'm surprised not everyone in Arendelle is sick and dying."

Realization hit her and she began pacing. That's right! Kraken blood is poisonous. "But that still doesn't make sense. Kraken's prefer warm water, they wouldn't travel this far north." Looking back at the worm, the pieces were starting to come together. That explains why that thing likes heat.

"Yeah we know," AL smiled smugly, "which is why we got this as proof. Lieutenant?" Bjorn reached into his coat and removed a jagged talon a couple of feet long. "We grabbed a claw from one of the tentacles." Serrated and hooked, she recognized it as coming from a Kraken.

"Now that you know what's poisoning our kingdom, what can we do to fix it?" Bjorn asked.

"It'll take some time but it's doable." Said Frankie. "We'd need to contact our masters at Bapharong to get more help in getting that thing out of the ocean."

"Then we need to get all that black goop out of there." AL added. "And help the people that are sick."

"All complicated, but it's possible." Cynthia turned to the twins. "Contact Bapharong and get some help down here to clear the fjord. I'll contact Kuarlong and get some help with the people."

The twins exchanged glances. "But I thought we were keeping all this on the DL?"

"Yeah," AL agreed with his brother. "Hush, hush and all that?"

"As far as my fathers concerned we're simply helping out on our way back from our other," she air quoted, "assignment." They gave a mock salute and moved to leave the basement with Bjorn. "Oh and call Drake and let him know what you found!"

"Got it!"

Cynthia fiddled with the talon in her fingers. "So we figured out 'what' is going on." Dr. Rolf grabbed the talon, studying it intently.

Cynthia finished his thoughts. "But 'how' did a Kraken get here? And why?"

:0:—

"A what?!"

Everyone flinched, trying to protect their ears from Anna's shrieking.

"A dead Kraken," Drake repeated, "at the bottom of your fjord. They said it may have been down there for months as it's blood slowly leaked into the ocean, rivers and eventually, poisoned your kingdom."

The dumbfounded Arendellians exchanged glances until Anna slowly began to smile. "This is good! We know what it is, we can go home and clean it out."

"Well it'll take time Anna," said Drake.

She scoffed, folded her arms and pouted. "Negative Nancy."

"He's right," Elsa agreed, "and we can't leave yet either. Hans is still in this tournament remember, and we don't know what he's wishing for if he'll win."

More pouting and flailing arms from the princess. "Why don't we ask Landon," Kristoff said, "you should know what Hans is wishing, for don't you?"

Landon finished his tea and shrugged dismissively. "Nope, haven't the foggiest."

Kristoff kept pressing. "Well aren't you his right hand man?"

"Yes, but that doesn't mean we spend our evenings whispering sweet nothings into each other's ears. I honestly don't know what it is he's wishing for."

"Great," Anna flopped down onto the bed beside Kristoff, "so we're still stuck here."

"Well If my scheme works then we could be out of here by tomorrow night."

All eyes were trained on Landon. "What do you mean?" Elsa asked.

He leaned back in his chair in a rather arrogant posture. "I'm talking about bringing this brutish tournament to an end."

Now he had their full attention. "Wait, what? Why? How?"

"Well, my ginger dear, normally I don't care what people do, especially Dirgelaff. If people are stupid enough to participate in his games thats their prerogative. However!" He had to clarify when they all were about to pounce at his insinuation. "Being here now, there is such a sense of, for lack of a better word, inelegance to all this. So messy, and so much unorganized Chaos. So I've been working to put an end to this once and for all."

Once they were finished absorbing what he was saying Drake asked, "Well great. How do we do that?"

"Believe it or not, it's actually quite simple," Landon motioned to Elsa, "unlike our little snowflake here, Dirgelaff's power comes from an external source. Find it, destroy it, and bob's your uncle we've defeated Dirgelaff."

Kristoff grabbed onto his girlfriend's waist to keep her from becoming too excited. "I'm having a hard time believing it's THAT easy."

"Our mountain man is correct. You see I've searched this tower from top to bottom and found nothing, but there is one section of the tower that has more security than the bloody king of England."

Drake scoffed. "Let me guess. In order to access it you have to solve more puzzles and games?"

Landon shook his head. "Unfortunately Dirgelaff went old school in protecting that section of the tower. He's placed warding's and sygels from the floors to the rafters that will keep out anything with a pulse."

"Warding's and wha?"

"Magical markings designed to trap, or keep out, anything the marking is designed for. Old magic, but it still works." Drake carlified.

Elsa took a seat. "So we know where his power comes from, we just can't get to it? Is that what you're saying?"

"Indeed. However—"

"Oh I loved howevers." Anna clapped.

"—It just so happens that you have a companion without a pulse." It took a moment, but everyone's attention slowly drifted to the aforementioned companion.

Olaf sat at the edge of the bed, swinging his snowball legs back and forth when everyone suddenly looked at him. He glanced behind himself, finding no one, before asking a chipper, "What?"

"Oh no! No, no, no!" Elsa and Anna stood in front of him. "You can't ask him to do this!"

Landon got to his feet. "I fail to see the issue. The lad is a bloody snowman for heaven's sake."

"He's not just a snowman," Elsa's voice was low and threatening, "he's our friend, our family, and we will NOT just use him like some rat in a maze."

"Excuse me?" Looking down, Olaf and shuffled between everyone to diffuse the growing tension. "I would like to say something." He cleared his throat and stood straight. "I have no idea what's going on. I don't know about 'warnings' or 'sybils' or whatever that stuff is." He shuffled to Elsa and took her hand in his. "But whatever Dirgelaff did, it made you sad, and if I can do something that will not make you sad anymore, I have to do it."

Elsa couldn't stop her heart from warming to his words, amazed at how such a creature was able to fill her with such comfort and love. She knelt down to his level. "Are you sure Olaf? This is dangerous."

Anna joined them. "VERY dangerous?"

"Well I've got to do something," he chirped, "as much as I love being a cheerleader I would really like to feel more needed."

Anna and Elsa exchanged glances, but hesitantly gave their approval. "So what do we do now?" Anna asked.

Landon's response was quick. "Now we wait. Dirgelaff is on edge after tonight."

"So it's agreed." Said Drake. "I can't believe I'm saying this, Olaf is going to help us bring down Dirgelaff."

:0:—

Arabella had been standing at the door of the washroom for twenty minutes, her ears searching for any signs of life on the other side. As far she could tell everyone was asleep. No surprise since it was midnight when—

She pinched her eyes shut, like she had done a thousand times before, to push the memories from her mind. She learned a long time ago how to lock them away and place them as far back in her mind as possible. With her suit in her hands, and dressed in an undershirt and tights, she pulled the door open as quietly as she was able.

Anna, Kristoff, and Olaf were all on one bed fast asleep. Okay, there's three. Drake was seated on a chair with his arms folded and head limply hanging to the side, also deep asleep. She let herself relax a bit. He was the one she was most worried about.

She glanced around the room one more time. Wait. Where's?—

"Arabella?" The soft cooing of the snow queen made her twitch. "Are you alright?"

She forced a smile. Elsa was, for some reason standing at the door, the one place she wanted to get to. "I'm fine. What are you doing up? Everyone else is asleep. Even Drake, and he never sleeps."

Elsa studied him like a worried parent. "Well, I have trouble sleeping too. Part of being a queen I guess." Elsa clasped her fingers together letting them dangle in front of her. "Is there anything you need?"

Running out of patience, and just wanting out of there, Arabella shook her head, maintaining the fake smile. "No. So. Thank you so much for, um, helping me. Now if you'll excuse me."

She moved to push passed Elsa, but not without her trying once more. "Well if you need to talk, you can always talk to me or Anna, or any of us."

It wasn't the first time Arabella had been offered that, and each time it was turned down, feeling a growing frustration from those acting as if they understood. This time, something about it set her off and with fire in her eyes she glared at the snow queen. "Talk to you? Talk to you?" Elsa opened and shut her mouth like a fish on land. "Oh yeah why not. You know, braid each other's hair, talk about cute boys, then talk about our feelings." Her voice slowly began to rise. "Yeah, thanks but no thanks. What could you possibly tell me? The queen that was born with a silver spoon in her mouth? What would you know about life and death trauma?"

Elsa was taken aback. At five feet, seven inches tall, she was eye level with Arabella and yet it seemed like she towered over her. As queen she had never had anyone speak to her in such a manner, except Anna of course. Her next thought was what could she have done to warrant such an outburst? All Elsa was doing was trying to help someone that needed it. That's what she was taught. On the other hand she was also taught not to be spoken too like this.

Elsa's mouth shut into a tight line and her eyes narrowed. "First of all, you will not speak to me in such a tone again." Elsa may have been naturally sweet natured, but she could be forceful when she needed to be, but it wasn't enough to frighten the Dragon Knight. "Secondly. Yes I was born privileged, but that in no way means my life was as easy as you think it was. Do YOU know what it's like to be born with magic and everyone around you knows nothing about it? I didn't have teachers, or trainers, or whatever it is you had."

She moved out of the way so Arabella could leave. "And for the record. I killed my sister by freezing her heart. So yes I do know what life and death trauma is like."

She stomped towards her bed, ready to hop into it and throw the pillows over her head until she had left, but that was until she heard a small say, "Wait."

Ugh, so much for my exit. She folded her arms, turning around to scrutinize Arabella. Her eyes were on the floor as she spoke in a low, now humbled voice. "I'm sorry. I'm not used to this whole… being helped. Or even having people do nice things for me."

Elsa Could feel pity begin to swell within her, but she had to maintain her angry scowl. "Well you have a funny way of showing appreciation."

She let out a long exhale, dropping her outfit onto the ground and bringing up her left hand wearing the gauntlet. "I have a younger sister too. When my mom left us when we were kids, my father's abuse got worse. He'd beat us constantly, and I'd often take her beatings in an attempt to protect her." She lifted the gauntlet. "One day he took a hot iron and made me grab it with this hand. Tired of it all, I pushed him, as hard as I could, and he slammed into the wall, cracking his ribs, head and back. That was when I discovered my powers."

Elsa found herself slowly seated onto the edge of the bed, appalled at the terror Arabella had experienced as a child.

She tucked her hand underneath her arm and continued. "We didn't bother sticking around. I grabbed my sister and we took off, and I swore, from that moment, that I would never be weak again."

Elsa's head dipped, her story in no way sounding familiar, but she felt for her. "You're right. I don't know what that's like, but there is one thing we have in common. We both have sisters we would do anything for, even go every day pretending everything is okay." The two finally made eye contact, I silent, but understanding communication passing between them. "Don't feel like you have to pretend. We're all a little broken in some way or another."

Arabella chuckled, before her eyes fell again. "What happened to your sister?" Elsa asked.

She shrugged. "She's in England with a family. Every time I get paid from a contract I send most of the money to them."

Once again the pair fell silent as Elsa began fiddling with her fingers. "So are we...friends now?" Elsa asked.

She thought for a moment then smirked. "Yeah. You're alright." Her smirk widened. "And I can see why Drake likes you."

Elsa was moments from ugly laughing, but came out more as a cough. "No, no, no. It's not like that. We're just friends." She cleared her throat as her fingers came up to fidget with her braid. "But just for argument's sake, what, um, has he ever… said … anything about me?"

:0:—

It was mid afternoon before Elsa had gotten out of bed, and of course it was because of a knock at the door. I really wish people would stop knocking on the dang door. It was only a single set of knocks, but following the knocking She heard rustling. Her curiosity piqued, she noticed a piece of paper beneath the door.

Reading it over, it was an invitation from Dirgelaff to lunch, and something about an apology, and dressing nicely. Thinking it was a bit odd, but also not wanting to get on his bad side, she left behind her sleeping family to meet with him. Heading towards the dining hall, she shifted into her signature teal blue, glittering sweetheart dress and train, her mind racing as to what it was that Dirgelaff wanted to speak with her about. Thinking back to the last time she was alone with him she couldn't stop the uncomfortable tingling in her spine.

I have my magic. I should be okay… should be.

It came as no surprise that the dining hall was empty, except for a long table set with food with her host at the head. Her uncomfort level grew when she noticed that the food set out, was only meant for two. She swallowed, but kept her regal poise and manners about her as she moved towards him.

He beamed brightly at her when she came close enough. She shuddered, asking herself how he could be smiling after essentially murdering four people. She kept her wits and training about her, and maintained her royal composure, returning a smile and bowing slightly. He stood and pulled the chair next to him and motioned for her to sit.

"Thank you for joining me this afternoon. I hope you slept well following last night's monsoon." He pushed her chair in once she was seated, and grabbed a bottle of wine. "Would you care for a drink? This is an excellent vintage and I'd love to hear what you think?"

Elsa shook her head, holding her hand over her glass. "That's okay. I don't drink. Maybe champagne on special occasions, but not recreationally. Thank you."

He set the bottle down and grabbed a picture of water. "Water then, for the winner of the hearts of men." He poured the water into her glass with a wink.

I wish he'd stop doing that.

He took a seat and gestured to the table and its food, but before he could invite her to eat she spoke. "Master Dirgelaff, would you tell me why it is you've called me here?"

He seemed somewhat disconcerted, but respected her wishes and got right to the point. He leaned toward her. "For what you had to witness last night, I am extremely sorrowful. I didn't intend for Jakub to do something so unlawful. He should have known better than to cheat while in my home, but oh well, In the end his choices were his own."

Most of the time, Elsa had to take a moment to understand what it was Dirgelaff was talking about, but he was very clear this time and it troubled and angered her. "I'm sorry. Are you saying that this was Jakub's own fault?"

Dirgelaff looked as if the answer was obvious. "This is not difficult. As the cheater, he was punished, so what had happened was of course his fault."

Elsa began to clench and crumble her dress angrily from beneath the table, ice crackling from her fingertips. She did her best to steal her nerves, but she was still speaking through her teeth. "But four people are dead?"

Dirgelaff looked at the table, seemingly upset, but Elsa knew better. "Very tragic indeed, but how about we forget this topic, and with lunch we proceed."

Elsa put her hands on the table, doing her best to calm the storm inside of her. Strangely, Dirgelaff didn't seem to notice her indignation, or didn't care. "Apologies, Master Dirgelaff, I am not hungry. It's been a rough night, as you've already mentioned, so I don't have much of an appetite."

He held up his hands. "No worries, this all may be a lot one can chew," he then took her hand with his, "perhaps there is something else we can do?"

She ripped her hand away and stood up from the table, finally fed up. "Master Dirgelaff, I'm flattered by all this attention, but I am not interested in courting at this time, nor do I like being touched. I would ask that you please respect that."

His smile slowly vanished, his eyes flashing a dangerous purple and orange. Before she could leave, he swiftly grabbed her wrist. "Deny my advances and this day you will rue," he got to his feet and pulled her close, "you see I always get what I want, and what I want, is you."

Elsa tried to wrench her wrist from his grip, but it only got tighter. "You're hurting me."

"I do not mean to demean. I just want you to stop me, oh mighty snow queen."

Feeling like a trapped wild animal, she felt she had no choice. Ice burst from her center, blasting him back and forcing him to release her wrist. Once she was free, her eyes blazed an icy blue as she created a series of icicles to pin him against the wall, and one in particular, aimed at his neck. Breathing hard and hand outstretched towards him, she steadily became aware of what was happening when he began laughing.

"There it is, the full scope of your power. Good to see those stories weren't told to me by liars."

Elsa realized too late what it was Dirgelaff had meant. "You wanted me to do this?"

"I was actually hoping for more of a display, but this is fine, with my help I can show you a better way. With my help, you can control your magic with the greatest of ease, you don't need to live in a kingdom that treats you like a disease."

Elsa threw her arms away to vanish the ice. "My kingdom doesn't treat me like a disease. They love me and I love them."

Dirgelaff stepped away from the wall while rubbing his neck. "Ah yes I have heard that all before, but one mix up and you're tossed out onto the floor. Even your sister, who has claimed to be your helper, at the first sign of trouble she'll cast you out like a leper. If you think freezing your kingdom and sister is bad, you can do so much more if your power is dialed up just a tad."

Elsa turned on her heel and headed for the door. "I'm done listening to you."

Dirgelaff laughed at the back of her head. "I may be many things, but I am not a liar, and I always get my hearts desire."

She continued running a trail of ice following closely behind her, her mantra at the forefront of her mind.

Conceal, don't feel…

:0:—

Elsa left the moving box with an outbreak of ice and snow continuing to follow her like a foul smell. Flashbacks of her childhood began to haunt her as Dirgelaff's lingering words floated over her. Logically she didn't have anything to worry about, she already killed her sister, froze her kingdom and essentially ruined her and sisters childhood. How much worse could it—

No! No, no, no, don't ever say that! Whenever someone says that, it does get worse.

One arm hugged her body, as her other reached for the doorknob to their room, but then hesitated. She glanced at her wrist, seeing a purple and blue bruise forming from where Dirgelaff had grabbed her. If she went inside Anna would bombard her with questions, questions she didn't feel like answering right now. She brought her hand back, pulled her sleeve as far down as she could and continued walking the hall.

I just need to clear my head. I'll talk to Anna later. Maybe some ice skating. Yeah that's what I need.

Unfortunately, as Elsa discovered, the dance hall was occupied by a very active, half naked, sweaty, Dragon Knight, and not Arabella. In only pants and his necklace, Drake was blasting out a series of push-ups, before getting to his feet and shadow boxing. Stunned and fixed into place, she couldn't stop her eyes from drinking in every delicious inch of his scarred and chiseled physique. Unable to look away she counted the scars on his body landing on an odd set of markings on his shoulder that looked like bite marks, and finally fell onto a dragon tattoo on his chest.

I … shouldn't be … watching. She told herself for the fifth time. I need to announce myself … shouldn't I…

After watching, for who knows how long, Drake finally stopped for a rest. Leaning over with his hands on his knees trying to draw in as much air as possible until his nostrils flared. He moved his head towards the door, making uncomfortable eye contact with Elsa.

The spell broken, Elsa shrieked, covering her protective corner by the door in a thick sheet of ice, while he ran to cover himself.

"El-Elsa! Wh-what—!"

"—-no! No! It's fine—"

"—I am so sorry! How long were you standing there?"

"Not long I just got here," if she was wearing pants they'd be on fire.

He pulled his shirt over himself. Awe. "I'm so sorry. I was just…" he trailed off when it seemed something dawned on him, "Wait, why am I saying sorry? You walked in on me?"

Elsa cleared her throat, hoping that her cheeks had stopped burning. "Well I was, Um, going to do some skating, but since your here." She turned to leave, but she had frozen the door shut. Dang it.

"No, no it's fine!" He ran to her side. "Go ahead and use this room, I was finishing up anyways."

She had a hard time looking him in the eye as she turned to face him. Maybe a subject change. "I'm surprised that your training. Wouldn't you want some time off?"

He shuffled his shoulders. "Well I gotta stay sharp, especially when I'll never know when I'm powerless again."

Elsa nodded in understanding, then her eyes widened as her mind formed an idea. The idea was still fresh in her mind when she blurted out, "Drake will you teach me how to fight."

She may as well have asked him what color the sky was as he gawked at her like she was a crazy person. Unable to form a coherent sentence all that came out was, "I...you…what...huh?"

"Teach me how to fight." She repeated. Without waiting she shed her icy dress, replacing it with the illusion neckline unitard, let her hair out of its braid and tied it into a ponytail.

"H-Hold on," his brain finally seemed to catch up with him, "you want me to teach you how to fight? Isn't that kind of a mute point with your ice magic?"

"Well like you said, you never know when you'll be powerless." She got to the balls of her bare feet, with her balled fists by her head and started bouncing, the sight of which he found amusing. "What's so funny?"

He just laughed. "Well you are." Shaking his head he met her in the middle of the dance floor. "First off, put those away," he motioned to her fists, "you throw a punch and you don't know what you're doing, you're gonna hurt yourself more than the other guy."

She stared at her two, less than intimidating, fists then lowered them.

"Wait what's that." She was startled at first but realized too late that her sleeve rolled up slightly, showing the bruise on her wrist.

She hurriedly tried to cover it. "It's nothing."

His eyes narrowed as he closed the distance between them and took her hand. She wanted to pull away, but he kept a firm hold. Gentle, but firm, and he moved her sleeve to get a better look.

"How did this happen? And don't say it's nothing."

She sighed. This was what she wanted to avoid with Anna. "Dirgelaff, got a little rough and grabby."

He snorted, accompanied by a low growling in his chest. "Is that why you have a sudden interest in fighting? To defend yourself?"

She nodded. "He seemed excited when I used my magic to push him back. I want to be able to fight back without my powers."

Drake looked down at her bruise, seeming angry, but wasn't voicing his thoughts. He reached for his necklace that started to glow an ethereal teal blue and pulled some of its magic from the orb. A small ball of energy floated in his hand that he helped to guide onto her wrist. She watched with increasing fascination as the magic touched her skin, and once it faded, her bruise was no more.

"Wait? Huh?" She gasped pulling her hand away and examining it on all sides. "You can heal people too?"

He smiled. "Dragon knights heal faster than most, but we can also share that healing magic with others if we want."

She went a slight shade of red thinking about the scars on his bare body. "But you have scars?"

It didn't look voluntary, but his hand drifted to his shoulder. "Sometimes we need reminders." Sensing he didn't want to discuss the matter further, she dropped the subject. "And as per your request." Looking down she noticed his hand extended to her.

With a twisted and puzzled expression she looked at his hand. "What do you want me to do?"

"Grab my wrist." She hesitated, noticing the burn marks that brought him embarrassment and shame. "It's fine, go ahead."

She wrapped her hand around his wrist as tightly as she could and with one swift motion, broke her grip with ease.

"Okay that's not fair."

He laughed. "You can do it too. May I?" He took her by the wrist once she offered it to him. "See this point." He pointed to the connection between his thumb and middle finger. "Your job is to twist my arm so you can break out this grip." He had her grab his arm one more time so he could demonstrate. "Just like that."

It took Elsa a bit longer, but eventually she was able to break free of his grip. "Very good. Let's go again." Feeling confident she practiced the move a few more times, and even with him using a bit more of his strength, she still managed to break his grip on her.

Feeling an incredible amount of confidence, and without her realizing it, the barriers she had built around herself began to crack.

Bouncing in her toes she asked, "What else can you teach me?"

—:0:—

True to his word, Drake hadn't taught Elsa how to fight, only simple, but effective self defense techniques. Another thing Elsa wanted to learn was how to stop someone from touching her shoulders, which were usually bare. Drake was able to show her how to turn it against them, by not only getting their hand off of her, but have it pinned behind their backs.

A situation Drake found himself in now.

"Good work. You're a natural," he groaned, "you can release now."

She let him go, but had a hard time not feeling excited about the new skills she had learned. "Wow. I'm actually having fun. I think I'll be able to handle Dirgelaff myself now."

"You got this," Drake rubbed his shoulder, "just practice and don't forget what I taught you and you'll be just fine. Who knows, you might be able to take me on someday."

She reined in her excitement, smiling a knowing smile when she picked up on his teasing tone. "Oh I don't know, I think I can take you now."

Drake threw his head back and laughed. "That's cute."

She approached him, swaying her hips like a metronome with her arms hidden behind her back. "You seem to be forgetting. You see I know a move you're probably not familiar with. A move ingrained in all women from the time they are children in order to fight against men."

Now he seemed confused and genuinely asked, "Oh, and what move is that?"

The question had barely left his mouth before he found himself on the ground, taking a direct hit to his groin from her knee. In extreme pain and discomfort, he fell to the ground into a pathetic heap, giving her the chance to put a bare foot on his chest as if claiming new territory. With an impish grin, she gazed at her conquest, proud that she brought down this mighty warrior.

"I told you I could take you."

"Yes," he groaned, "but now you're forgetting something," her smirked faded, "I'm a fast healer." The next thing she knew, she was on her back with him laughing beside her, and soon she joined him. Amongst their laughter, their heads drifted sideways until they made eye contact, and his next words dumbfounded her, "You have a wonderful laugh."

Her laughter slowed as red hot blood rushed to her cheeks. At a loss for words, she managed to croak out the first thing that came to mind. "Thank you—"

But he wasn't finished. "—and a wonderful smile and gorgeous eyes and adorable freckles and your fun when you let down your walls and I think you're really great and I can't stop talking, please stop me—". She slapped her hand over his mouth, her laughter returning. "Thank you." He muffled.

She removed her hand, her cheeks still a deep shade of red. "You're welcome." As sudden as his confession was, she also felt peace. Now that he spoke about her, she felt comfortable voicing her feelings about him. Both still on the ground, they moved to their sides to better see each other and got easier when she created snow pillows under their heads.

Here goes nothing. "To be honest, I think you're pretty great too. Selfless, smart, sweet."

A dorky grin came to his face. "Any other words that start with 'S'?"

With her lips puckered in thought, the first word was, "Stupid?"

He barked with laughter. "Yeah, I've heard that before."

Her laughter died down as she took a more serious tone. "You're also gentle and patient and…" her mouth hung open. She knew the words, she just couldn't believe she was saying them about another person. "I...I can be myself around you. When I'm with you… I'm not afraid."

Now it was his turn to become a bit more serious. "Elsa." Her hand had been placed on the ground between them, giving him a chance to place his hand on top of hers. "Before I met you, I fought because it was my duty, there wasn't any other rhyme or reason for it. Just a job. Then I met you and Anna and the other guy, and that changed everything. Now I fight for people. Now, I fight for you, because all I think about is you."

She let out a breath of laughter, but it was more flattered than actual laughing, and couldn't think of anything to say. She met his hazel gaze once again, this time aware of just how close they were. They were so close she could feel his breath on her.

Mmmm, he smells like a campfire and the mountains. Do I smell okay? Did I brush my teeth? She felt his nose touch the tip of hers as they drew closer. Oh god, we're so close! She noticed his eyes drop to her lips. Oh no! Do I have something in my teeth? She fought the urge to run her tongue along her teeth to check, instead finding that her eyes drifted to his lips too. Is this… are we…

He took a sharp inhale. "Wait." He spoke softly, tenderly, enough to get her to meet his half lidded eyes. "Are you… is this… okay?"

Elsa didn't have to think long, before she let out a breathy, "Yes." And the two came together, their lips meeting in a freezing, blazing kiss. Small and chaste, it was enough that she couldn't stop her smile, but this only caused him to kiss her teeth instead of her lips.

Neither of them noticed the doll watching them, or heard the roar of pure fury coming from somewhere in the tower.

So…..yeah :D

Please don't give away the ending in your review!