Wherever Daisy went, Sven seemed always to be right behind her.

He followed her around because he wanted to be near her, to protect her and make sure no other reindeers tried to claim her—that was abundantly clear, anyone with eyes could see it. He seemed almost ornery even, if he didn't know where she was, and would look around frantically until he located her or her scent—and Maren empathized with Sven. She'd become recently aware of her own tendency to grow increasingly neurotic when she couldn't find Elsa right away, or thought for a moment something was wrong with her—and she wasn't sure that was ever going to go away—and she didn't really want it to.

But there seemed to be a deeper connection between Sven and Daisy beyond that of normal deers. They genuinely seemed to enjoy being near each other, whether they were pulling the wagon, grazing in the Arendelle pasture or eating lichen moss together off a rock as they were doing now. Were they in love? Was that even possible for reindeers? It certainly appeared that way, though Maren had never actually seen it unfold before her eyes such as this. Usually a male deer just took a sexual interest in a female, might battle a few other males for dominance and then nature would take its course. Never had she witnessed what appeared to be emotions and or affection between two deers before, at least, not like these two.

Leave it to Daisy to be the first.

Daisy had always been different, nothing with her had ever been done by the book, and that's one of the reason's why Maren loved her so. Who would want to raise a normal reindeer, when you could have one as special and as beautifully different as Daisy? Maren chuckled to herself—she almost felt bad for others who would never get to experience what she had with Daisy. She could sense Daisy's emotions from the first day she'd found her—scared, alone and bleeding in the Lichen Meadow, nearly on the brink of death. She'd had a connection with her right away, and didn't care what the others thought of her bringing home a nearly dead white reindeer. And had there been a stink made over it. Everyone told her to just put Daisy out of her misery, that white reindeer were a bad omen anyway and to let nature take its course and weed out the weaker reindeers unfit to reproduce. To hell with all of them, is what she'd said, or as best she could in her ten year old stubbornly defiant way.

And she had been right.

Daisy was the best friend she'd ever had, had grown into a beautifully strong adult with Maren's care, and their connection too had only grown stronger over the years—to a point where she basically considered Daisy a human. She was always able to tell what Daisy wanted or needed, what she was thinking or feeling—much like Kristoff could do with Sven. And Daisy always understood Maren somehow. Oh and how Daisy had taught the other members of the Northuldra a thing to two as well! How not to be so superstitious as they had come to understand that Daisy was not the mythical omen they all feared, but a playful and friendly regular deer that most of them had come to love as well.

If Daisy had to choose anyone to partner and mate with, she was thrilled that it had been Sven. Kristoff understood Sven in the same way she did Daisy. He was like Kristoff's brother, and perhaps it was this deep human connection both deers shared from such a young age, that allowed them to have this beautifully human relationship with each other now. Words were not needed, only actions and gestures of care and affection seemed to suffice for these two reindeer—and perhaps that's what love really was. A meeting of two souls who decided their life was better with the other in it than to remain on this journey alone.

She couldn't even imagine her own journey without Elsa anymore.

She envied Daisy and Sven in a way—how freely and openly they were able to be together and to express how they felt without a worry or care in the world for what others thought of them. That seemed like true utopia. Nature was so easy and simple—maybe in her next life she would choose to be an animal.

'Anyone home?' Kristoff whistled and waved hand in front of her face, dragging her out of her thoughts.

'Oh, sorry.' She responded, and collected the bundle of sorrel she'd been picking. 'Did you say something?'

'I was observing how quiet and distracted you've been for the past half hour, you ok?' He asked.

'Oh, yeah, I was just lost in thought—watching those two.' She nodded to Sven and Daisy with a smile. 'They seem happy together. Makes me happy that's all.'

'Mm. Then why do you look so moody and brooding?'

She shot a look at Kristoff but he was smiling. 'This is my happy face didn't you know?' She said and pointed to her face with a playful layer of sarcasm.

'I see, then I guess I don't ever want see you really happy. That might be dangerous.' He chuckled and whistled to Daisy and Sven. They trotted over and all four of them started to walk back to the beach. 'So what's really on your mind sister?'

She took a deep breath. For some reason it was nearly impossible to hide anything from Kristoff, he had this way of knowing when something was bothering her and he would probe it until she gave in.

'Elsa's plan is to tell Anna today.' She paused. 'About, us. About she and I—well, that was part of the reason for going today, most of it was for Anna's memories.'

'Oh.' He said with a tone of surprise.

'Yeah.'

'And you're—nervous?'

She took another breath. 'Yeah.'

'Maren, we've talked about this. I don't see Anna having any problem with this, you need to believe me.'

'I do, I do. I know you're right, I know Anna—I believe you. I don't know, it's still just nerve-wracking for some reason. I guess I'm also worried about Elsa, the Ahtohallan journey, telling Anna and then last night—' She cut herself off. 'I mean, she's just been dealing with a lot lately.'

'Last night?' Kristoff questioned. Damn him for picking up on that. 'What happened last night? She seemed fine when we went to bed?' He paused. 'Unless something happened after we went to bed—ooh.' He stopped himself, curled his lips in as if holding back a smile. 'You wanna talk about it?' He asked sincerely, yet still the stupid smile was on his face.

'Not really.'

'Ok.' He paused for a long moment considering. 'You know for what it's worth, Anna was really nervous the first time we—you know. We had to go really slow for a long time, she's a uh, tiny girl you know?' He coughed awkwardly.

Maren's eyes went wide. 'Ok very good, I get it. I get it.' She said hastily, cutting him off from revealing more than she ever wanted to know about Anna.

'All I'm trying to say is that those two can be really similar in certain ways. They are sisters, that's all. Elsa probably just needs to go really really really slow. I'm only saying it because I care—not just about Anna but about Elsa too. She's like my sister.'

She nodded. 'No, I know, and you're right.' She paused and took a breath. 'She—had a mishap with her powers last night and I'm just afraid it really set her back. She was doing so well until that happened.'

He nodded with sincerity. 'Just give it time, and take it slow. I know how much you care about her, so I'm not worried.' He said and put a hand on her shoulder. 'It's pretty amazing you've gotten her even this far, knowing Elsa.' He smiled.

She smiled back at him. The ease with which she could talk to him about these otherwise absurdly uncomfortable subjects was something she would never take for granted. How did he always manage to make her feel better and more at ease about her problems? 'You cannot tell Anna any of this.' She said, suddenly in a panic. Kristoff chuckled and raised a hand as if taking an oath.

'I won't, although if she asks I really can't lie to her anymore. It's been killing me to keep this whole thing about you two from her.' He shrugged. 'But I doubt she'll ask me about this—most likely she'll ask Elsa and wrench it out of her whether Elsa wants to tell her or not.' He chuckled.

Maren nodded in agreement and smiled. If Anna targeted Elsa about this subject, Elsa was on her own. She chuckled to herself thinking about Elsa trying and failing to get away from Anna's probing questions about this.

'I really thought they would be back by now.' Kristoff said as the beach opened up before them. 'It's getting late.' A tone of worry was laced in his words.

The sun was setting and the sky was a beautiful red-orange over the sea. Hadn't Elsa said long before sunset they'd be back? Elsa was almost always unnaturally punctual, something felt wrong about this.

'Elsa is practically never late.' Maren said, a thread of distress laced in her own voice.

'I know.' Kristoff responded, pausing to think. 'But I've known it to happen when she's with Anna—because of Anna. So it's probably fine.' It sounded as if he was trying to convince himself more than her.

She put the sorrel she'd collected into Daisy's saddle bag, then turned to join Kristoff as he sat down on the black pebbles facing the sea. He picked up a rock and skipped it into the waves.

'I still can't believe she did this alone the first time.' Maren said absently as she stared out at the darkening evening water. The turbid waves were getting higher, and she really hoped they would get back soon. Elsa had crossed this sea in a storm the first time, at night, alone, and gotten Nokk under control to boot— but that was something she did not wish her to repeat again. Ever. Once was enough, there was no reason to chance that again. How she had even managed it that first time was still impossible to think about—then again it was Elsa.

'I still never hear the end of that from Anna.' Kristoff said with a chuckle. 'Elsa has done some crazy things, that's for sure. But she always has a good reason for the things the does. That I do know.' He said sincerely. 'The way Anna always gets hurt in the process though, is an entirely different story and is never ok with me.' He said with a creased brow, his eyes fixated on the waves—then he softened. 'But I know Elsa doesn't set out to hurt her—usually quite the opposite. It's just the way she handles problems—she drives forward to fix them on her own without considering the cost to others. Especially others who care about her.'

Maren scrunched her brow and stared at Kristoff. Elsa did do that, didn't she? But how do you become angry with someone who puts their own life at risk, selflessly even—when in their mind what they're doing is to protect the ones they love? That selflessness is probably part of what made Elsa such a great leader.

'Maybe that's something you can get her to understand.' Kristoff added, eyes still on the sea. 'For Anna's sake, and yours.'

'What do you mean?'

'Show her that it's not a weakness to ask for help, to accept help. She doesn't have to save the world and everyone in it alone—people are stronger together—that's something I had to learn too not long ago. One of these times, she really is going to get herself killed. Or someone else.' He added, and Maren had a good idea of who he was talking about. All she could do was nod.

'I'll try.' Was all she could think to say, her eyes returning to the sea. Elsa did have some self destructive tendencies, she had noticed that herself—but her intentions were always good and technically strategically correct that she had never really put much thought into it before. It's just how Elsa operated. Her own feelings and sometimes the feelings of others came in secondary to her innate drive to bluntly, accurately and swiftly fix a problem even if it put her own life in danger. Which wasn't technically wrong, in fact the way her brain worked at solutions was rather creatively genius at times—but her reckless actions could definitely be disrespectful to those who loved her—by way of endangering herself—however unintentional it was on her part. Perhaps she could benefit from regular reminders that people who care about her are not ok with that kind of behavior. She would probably listen to that—possibly. Maybe if she and Anna reminded her simultaneously it would sink in eventually…

'There they are.' Kristoff interrupted her thoughts and stood up to get a better look.

Relief flooded through her at his words and she stood quickly, squinting her eyes and putting a hand over her brow to block the glare of the setting sun, trying to see them amongst the darkening reflective waves. Far in the distance she could make out a tiny spec glistening towards them on the rolling sea. Nokk, she smiled. She continued to squint as they drew nearer, disappearing down behind a huge swell before reappearing on top of it, coasting down on the crest of the wave. Nokk was running, rather she was cantering, very slowly which was strange—it wasn't unusual but she had seen how aggressively Elsa had ridden the waves outbound and now it looked as though she was riding very slowly, very tentatively by comparison. Why would she be doing that? She stayed on the same wave, and made no move to jump to another, just gently glided closer and closer to them on that same wave—until she pulled back off the wave entirely into the calmer shallows. As they approached she could see Anna's red hair bouncing out in front—but why was Anna in front? Elsa would never have taught her how to ride Nokk on an open ocean, the Dark Sea no less.

Something was wrong.

'Something's not right.' She said out loud, absently vocalizing her thoughts. Kristoff glanced at her then returned to the sea.

'Why is Anna out front?' He questioned, his voice a touch shaky. Both of them had no choice but to wait until the girls got close enough to see what was going on.

As they neared, the gravity of something being wrong was grossly understated. It looked like—like there was a lot more red than just Anna's hair—and that red looked like blood, stark red pools of it smattered over Elsa's white outfit. Whose blood was it on Elsa? This thought sent her into a panic and she was vaguely aware that she'd started walking towards the sea. It was then that she noticed, Anna looked unconscious. Elsa was clinging onto her with one arm wrapped protectively around her—the other arm was frozen to Nokk. Anna slumped back into her, her head bobbing around unnaturally as Nokk trotted forward.

'Anna!' Kristoff yelled so loud it started her, and he ran down into the waves. The girls were still too far out to reach, but she followed Kristoff into the shallow waves without hesitation.

As Nokk drew closer, something did not look right with Elsa either, and that's when true panic set in. Elsa was slumped forward a bit as she held Anna, and suddenly Nokk dropped quickly to lie down in the shallows. She watched in slow motion as Anna started to slide off, Elsa made a move to grab her which she did, but she was not strong enough to stop them both from sliding off Nokk and going over into the shallows.

'Oh my god.' Kristoff said and started hastily fighting his way through the water. She started after him, but trudging through the waist deep water proved slow going. Each wave sought to knock them backward and back again—they were making no progress this way, and she cursed the relentless waves.

'Elsa!' She yelled when she finally saw them. Elsa was holding Anna just barely above water, and making a feeble attempt to drag her towards land. She looked up briefly with wide scared eyes when she heard Maren's call but then was hit with a wave. 'Auugh!' Maren yelled in frustration, then dove forward and under the next wave to swim out to them.

When she surfaced, finally, finally she was nearly upon them.

'She's not breathing.' Elsa choked out in desperation when Maren reached them. Elsa was nearly under water herself but, she was still somehow keeping Anna's head above it. 'Get her out of here.' Elsa's voice was ragged, distressed, pleading and it cut through Maren like a knife.

Maren threw herself down to grab them both and haul them higher out of the water. The water was deep, but she could stand on the bottom at least, keeping most of their upper body out of it.

'Elsa.' Was all she could whisper and put her forehead to the side of Elsa's. She had them now, they would be ok—she was not letting them go. She looked down briefly at Anna who had a huge bloody gash on the side of her head. Kristoff was there in an instant silently taking Anna from Elsa's arms and lifting her from the water in his own. He turned back to look at her, his eyes wide and panicky.

'Go, go I've got her.' Maren assured, and Kristoff turned immediately and started moving swiftly towards shore. She turned her attention back to Elsa who was leaning heavily into her now, her head slumped, resting on Maren's shoulder. Another wave crashed around them and she tried to shield Elsa from it as best she could, still it collided with and swept them forward a few paces. Her arm that was around Elsa's waist slipped when the wave hit, so she reached out and grabbed Elsa under her left arm to pull her back. Elsa let out a painful hiss and groan so Maren immediately released her and just barely snagged her back around her waist before another wave hit. That's when she noticed the blood coming out of Elsa's arm where she had just grabbed her. Her heart started racing and jumped into her throat.

'What happened?' She asked in alarm and pulled Elsa tighter to her. She took Elsa's good arm, swung it around her shoulders, grabbed her waist tightly and began hauling her towards shore.

'Something attacked us.' Elsa got out, barely a whisper. The last wave finally threw them up on shore and she caught Elsa just as they both dropped to their knees, breathing heavily. She pulled her close and examined her arm. Elsa hissed again and scrunched up her face in pain.

'I know, I know, let me see.' She said softly as she gently extended Elsa's bloody arm. There was a massive gash on the inside of her arm running from her elbow up nearly to her armpit—and there was a profuse amount of dark red blood coming out of it. She held the wound closed with her hand and squeezed pressure onto it, desperate to stop the blood. She also noted the presence of a small crystal that hadn't been there before—secured to Elsa's wrist with ice—though it was mostly covered in blood now. How had she held on to Anna and gotten them back like this? A surge of pride and love rushed over her and she kissed Elsa's forehead and pulled her close. Thank the spirits Elsa had been able to get them back here.

'Anna!' Elsa's eyes widened at seeing Anna and Kristoff not far from where they sat. Kristoff had Anna positioned on her side on the ground as he thumped her back forcefully with his hand. Elsa tried to stand but stumbled—Maren caught her and supported her weight as they staggered over to where Anna lay. They fell to the ground beside Anna. Elsa was crying as she brushed Anna's hair back from her face and off her wound.

'No, please baby girl—breathe.' Elsa pleaded as she stroked Anna's head, tears streaming down her cheeks. Maren put her Arm around Elsa's back and watched as Kristoff continued to strike Anna's back, a determined look set in his face—and she could feel her own throat closing up with tears. She almost didn't feel as though she were in her body watching this unfold—it was so surreal—this couldn't be the end for Anna, no, she would be ok. It couldn't. They couldn't lose her right now, they wouldn't.

'Let go of me.' Elsa said suddenly, turning to her. Maren gave her a confused expression in return. 'Trust me.' Elsa said, her blue eyes resolute—on a mission. She had a plan.

Maren released her without question and watched as Elsa closed her eyes and turned towards Anna. She put one hand out in front of Anna's mouth and the other on the side of Anna's neck. She concentrated for only a moment and then suddenly a stream of water came spurting out of Anna's mouth and she began choking, coughing and eventually vomited the rest of the water out. Her eyes fluttered for just a second, and she gasped for breath. Kristoff continued to pat her back until she got all of the water out of her, rubbing his hand up and down her arm to warm her up. Anna was breathing again, and relief washed over her.

Elsa was still crying, hunched over Anna whispering in her ear, she kissed her forehead. 'You'll be ok, you'll be ok.' Anna's eyes fell closed again, and Kristoff moved her onto her back. He pulled a knife from his belt and swiftly cut a long strip of fabric from his tunic. 'What happened?' He asked placidly, never taking his eyes off Anna as he worked. He moved calmly, focused—almost as if in a trance as he gently lifted Anna's head to wrap the fabric around it.

'Something attacked us—a giant octopus or squid. I don't know—' Elsa trailed off, her voice suddenly weaker—she sounded exhausted and Maren put her arms around her again as Elsa slumped weakly into her. Her own heart thudded in her chest and she reached her hand out to close up and put pressure on Elsa's wound again. Kristoff simply nodded as he tied off the makeshift bandage and pulled his eyes from Anna for the first time to look at Elsa. Then he turned his eyes on her.

'She's bleeding badly, can you get her back?' He asked, desperation mixed with determination in his voice as his eyes gestured to Elsa.

'Yes, yes. Go. Find Kalle when you get there—she's our noiaide—medicine woman and healer.' His eyes searched hers then glanced at Elsa then back to her.

'You're sure?'

'Yes Kristoff, go. Hurry, we'll be right behind you.' Already she could feel the weight of Elsa pressed into her and turned her head so she could see her face. She had passed out. 'No, no Els wake up. You can't go to sleep right now.' Her voice was suddenly desperate—a bloody hand on the side of Elsa's face shaking her gently.

'Maren I can't leave you two—'

'Kristoff go!' She shouted, tears clouding her own eyes now. 'You need to get Anna help, I will get Elsa back, I promise.'

He took one more glance at them, nodded, picked up Anna and got on Sven. 'Hurry.' He said in a deadly serious voice, his eyes locked on hers. She nodded resolutely. Then he turned and off they ran down the coast and into the woods. Daisy was dancing nervously nearby, finally coming to lay down next to them.

'We're going to get her back, yes we are. It's ok.' Maren said offhandedly to Daisy as she laid Elsa down on the beach. She had to stop this bleeding before she took her anywhere. She grabbed the knife from her own belt and mimicked Kristoff—cutting a long strip of her own tunic. She wrapped it around as much of Elsa's arm as it would reach, then tied it off tightly to stop the bleeding. The fabric was soaked through instantly with blood, but at least the gushing had subsided somewhat—this would have to do until she could get her home.

'Elsa, come on, you've got to wake up.' She had Elsa's head in her hands and was shaking her gently. She quickly brushed the tears out of her own eyes—she needed to focus right now. She lifted Elsa's upper body into her arms and leaned her into her chest.

'Els, come on, wake up.' She jiggled her again in her arms—Elsa's face was slack and her eyes didn't even try to open. She had to at least get her to stand up so she could get her on Daisy. To their left Nokk was pacing uneasily back and forth in the shallows of the shoreline. 'What do I do?' She whispered in desperation to Nokk. Nokk flipped her mane towards them and Maren flinched as a spray of water hit them both. Elsa's eyes fluttered.

'Hey, hi Els open your eyes, that's it.' She pleaded gently, sitting Elsa up further and patting her cheek. Elsa's eyes finally opened and found Maren's. She felt hot tears of relief spill from her eyes at seeing those beautiful blue eyes stare back at her. Elsa looked completely disoriented like she might fall back asleep, so she kept jiggling her. 'You need to stay awake, listen to me. We need to get back to camp ok?' Elsa was nodding, good she could at least understand her words. 'Ok, I'm going to lift you, you think you can stand? We need to get you on Daisy.' Elsa nodded again and made a move to get up. Maren lifted her easily, her arm wrapped tightly around Elsa's waist. Once up Elsa staggered and started to fall down again. Maren held tightly to her, keeping her up—but had no idea how to get her up on Daisy.

Suddenly a strong gust of wind kicked up—it was concentrated and swirled right around only them and Maren felt her feet lift off the ground.

Gale.

She held on tightly to Elsa as Gale lifted them both and set them gently on Daisy's back. 'Thank you Gale.' Maren said, relief flooding through her. Elsa sat in front of her but was still swaying dangerously forward.

'Lean back into me, I've got you.' She said near Elsa's ear and pulled her back so she was leaning into her chest. She moved her arm forward around Elsa's bad arm, and laced her other arm beneath Elsa's good arm grabbing the reins with both hands. 'Try not to go back to sleep ok?' She said into Elsa's ear. Elsa nodded weakly. 'Hold on.' She said and kicked Daisy off into a run down the beach. Nokk followed with them along the coast until Maren turned them off and into the woods.

The ride felt like the longest-shortest ride of her life. It seemed agonizingly slow although she probably made the trip in record time. Daisy had run nearly all of it, only slowing to get around objects that lie in their path. Somewhere in the back of her frazzled mind, she made a mental note to get Daisy an extra bag of carrots later. The auroras lit up the sky and they had made it back just as it became nearly too dark to see, and she said a silent thank you to the spirits that they were home. Elsa had not improved, somewhere along the way she had passed out again, and Maren had to use one hand just to hold her in place as she'd kept slipping forward. The bleeding had started again too, though not as badly as earlier—it was running down her arm—red splattered all over Maren's leg and down Daisy's white coat. She rode directly into the center of camp, ignoring the gasps and hushed chatter of onlookers. She needed to get Elsa to Kalle—she was sure she could fix her.

Finally she made it to the large central lavvu hut where Kalle usually held her healing ceremonies.

Kristoff shot out of the lavvu the instant they pulled up. 'Oh god.' He said, his eyes wide, taking in the bloody sight of the three of them. 'Give her to me.' He said hastily and moved to pull Elsa down from Daisy. Maren helped to swing Elsa's leg over and eased her carefully down into Kristoff's arms. He spun and rushed her into the hut. Maren jumped down from Daisy and followed him in.

There was a central fire going, the familiar smell of incense hit her as she entered and immediately saw Kristoff laying Elsa down on a pad not far from Anna. It appeared Kalle had already worked on Anna, she had a fresh bandage on her head and seemed to be resting comfortably.

'Is she ok?' Maren asked nervously, gesturing to Anna.

'I think so, Kalle thinks she will be.' Kristoff answered.

'Move, move please.' Kalle said, swatting Kristoff away from Elsa so she could take a look. Kalle's blue eyes found hers. 'How did this happen? He tells me a giant squid?'

'I don't know, I wasn't there—but yes. Elsa said a giant squid or octopus attacked them at sea.'

'Mm.' Kalle mumbled as she extended and studied Elsa's limp arm. Then she examined her face, pulling open Elsa's eyelids so she could see her eyes. She turned to Eret, her apprentice. 'Bring me the herbs.' She commanded. Eret ran to the side of the hut and returned momentarily with a small bundle of herbs. 'She must stay awake right now, she has lost too much blood.' Kalle stated and waved the herbs under Elsa's nose. Elsa coughed and her eyes shot open. 'Keep her awake.' Kalle commanded offhandedly to Maren and thrust the bundle of herbs into her hand.

'Els, you're ok.' Maren said, inches from Elsa's face and stroked her cheek. 'I need you to try and stay awake right now, ok?' Elsa smiled weakly at seeing Maren's face and nodded slightly.

'Anna?' She whispered.

'She's ok, she's right over there, she's going to be just fine.' Maren assured her and kissed her hand. Elsa nodded again and fought to keep her eyes open.

'She needs stitches. Whatever attacked them nicked an artery, that is why there is so much blood.' Kalle announced matter of factly, as if she was stating that the sky was blue. Eret started bustling around again making preparations.

'Wait, wait—you're going to give her something first?' Maren asked, panic rising in her voice.

'No, I'm afraid I cannot. The herbs we have for pain relief would not do enough and are too slow acting, we must stitch now—she has already lost too much blood. And I cannot give a sedative or she may not wake up.'

Maren felt her stomach drop, not wake up? No, that was not a possibility she assured herself. But she had to keep Elsa awake while they sewed her arm back together?

'I'm sorry it's the only way.' Kalle responded, picking up on the horrified look Maren knew must be writ on her own face. 'We will go as quickly as we can.'

Just then Yelena burst in the hut. 'What happened?' She asked in alarm, taking in the sights around her.

'Later, Yelena.' Kalle said flatly. 'Young man—Kristoff. I need you to hold down her legs.' Kalle gestured for Kristoff to move towards Elsa's legs. He obliged and scooted over, placing both his hands on Elsa's thighs. 'You need to keep her as calm as possible.' She turned and said to Maren, locking eyes with her. 'No matter what, hold her down.' Maren stared at Kalle, then nodded with determination.

'I—I don't know exactly how this is attached to her, but we need to get it off of her.' Kalle said as she inspected Elsa's ice outfit.

Maren bent close to Elsa's face again. 'Els, you need to melt your shirt so they can fix you.' She said softly and ran a hand through Elsa's hair. She moved her hand to Elsa's heart and sent loving energy there to help her. Elsa closed her eyes, let out a sigh and the top of her outfit melted away. 'Good, that's it.' Maren whispered and kissed her forehead. Kristoff modestly averted his eyes from Elsa's torso but Maren couldn't pull her eyes away. Several large bruises crawled up Elsa's side and another smaller gash was cut into the side of her ribcage, just beneath her bleeding arm. Unexpected rage suddenly flooded through her. What had that thing done to her?

'Blanket is there.' Kalle pointed, and Kristoff wasted no time retrieving it and spreading it over Elsa's body, leaving only her arms exposed. He then returned to his position over Elsa's legs. 'We will deal with the arm first.' Kalle announced and readied herself with the suture and needle. Eret had finished wiping down Elsa's arm with warm water and was now pressing Elsa's shoulder down, holding her wrist extended with his other hand so Kalle would have open access to the inside of her arm.

Maren bent low to Elsa's face, and put a hand to the side of her face, holding her there and blocking her from seeing what was about to happen. She laced her fingers with Elsa's other hand and squeezed.

'Hold on to me, and don't look away from my eyes. You're gonna be ok.' She said resolutely and kissed Elsa's clammy forehead again.

Elsa nodded. 'Do it.' She whispered and stared with scared determined eyes into her own. Maren turned her eyes briefly to Kalle and nodded. Kalle nodded back and started to work.

Elsa scrunched her face and let out a painful hiss as the needle went in. She felt Elsa's hand squeeze hers and she squeezed it back. As Kalle moved up her arm Elsa's breathing got heavier and more erratic, her cries of pain became louder and each one pierced through Maren's soul like a knife.

'Shhh, you're ok.' Maren whispered as she put her forehead to Elsa's willing the pain away from her. She still had her hand pressed to the side of Elsa's face, keeping her turned away from the stitching. About halfway up Elsa's arm Kalle was getting to the worst part of the wound. Elsa's back arched and she let out an earsplitting cry of pain—ice shot out from underneath her, coating the floor around them.

'Kristoff her hips.' Kalle said firmly, still entirely calm and ignoring the ice. Kristoff too ignored the ice and moved his hands up to press and hold Elsa's hips down. The temperature had also dropped drastically in the room.

'Yelena please do not let that fire go out or I will not be able to see what I'm doing.' Kalle said offhandedly as she continued to work with a practiced hand, carefully yet swiftly up Elsa's arm.

'Almost there, you're doing great. Remember? Push your magic and the pain down into the earth, breathe. Stay with me.' Maren coaxed and Elsa nodded weakly, her eyes still scrunched closed in pain. Maren moved her hand back to Elsa's heart and tried to push as much love and calming energy in there as she could. Elsa visibly relaxed a bit and let out a breath. 'That's it, relax. Keep breathing.' The ice on the floor remained, but the temperature in the room rose a bit and the fire blazed again as Yelena tended to it.

'Nearly there.' Kalle announced. Elsa let out another wracking cry of pain and the temperature dropped again. This time her head rolled to the side and her eyes closed. Sweat beaded on Elsa's forehead and dark circles had formed under her eyes—she looked like the life had been sucked right out of her.

'Els—Elsa?' She could hear the rising panic in her own voice as she shook Elsa gently. 'Wake up. Wake up. Stay with me.' She put some of the herbs under Elsa's nose again but this time she did not open her eyes. Kalle had finished, and was now chanting a shamanic healing song over Elsa.

Tears burned her own eyes again—she was not going to accept this. She was not going to lose Elsa right here, right now. It was not going to happen. 'Elsa, stay with me, do you hear me? You are a fighter, do not let go right now.' Tears blurred her vision and one fell onto Elsa's cheek. She ran her hand down the side of Elsa's face then kissed her, willing her to stay with her. She could feel her own quiet sobs starting as she hunched protectively over Elsa. She didn't know what else to do, all she could do was plead with the spirits in a whisper:

'Please stay with me.'

'I love you.'


A/N: So a few people have suggested that I put music to these chapters if I felt so inclined, to give a more 3D experience, and I thought it was a really great idea—especially with these heavier chapters which I seem to be writing a lot of. So for this chapter I have selected two songs, one from Maren to Elsa and one from Elsa to Maren:

Maren to Elsa: You're Gonna Be Ok — By: Jenn Johnson

Elsa to Maren: Saturn — By: Sleeping at Last

Hope you enjoy!