Elsa's soft, even breathing was the only sound in the room. She was a calm, quiet sleeper, not one to snore, and Maren focused on her pleasant rhythmic breath as she removed her tunic and tossed it on a chair. The muted hue of evening sun, shrouded by the mist, crept into the room, casting it in an eerie twilight shadow. It felt constricting. How had Elsa done it? How had she spent the majority of her life cooped up in the confines of a room such as this, and not lost her mind? It was bigger than her lavvu, yet still it felt ten times more suffocating than the mist. It was madness really, that Elsa had been allowed to go on living like that for so long. Restricted, confined, oppressed—lost in a morass of lies and self-discipline, robbed of human contact and any sense of who she truly was. It was a dark existence, and it angered Maren to think about it. Her parents clearly meant well, but there was no excuse for the pernicious way they seemingly mishandled everything. The lasting effects of those mistakes still haunting both of their daughters to this day. Now, it felt as if every moment spent in this room was another lost second of freedom—another moment of life taken from Elsa.

They had to fix this. Solve the problem so she could get Elsa out of this room once and for all, get them both out of the mist for good and back to the freedom of the forest. Elsa and Anna both deserved that freedom, deserved some degree of tranquil normalcy—as much as their extraordinary lives would allow anyway. They deserved a chance to finally and truly begin to heal, without more chaos interfering.

Maren averted her eyes from the windows, unwilling to give the crepuscular mist the satisfaction of unnerving her further. Outside, gulls squawked in the distance, then silenced as they settled in for the night. Were they squawking because they too realized that they were now trapped inside this oppressive mist? Maren shook her head, pushing the thought from her mind, and moved to sit on the edge of the bed.

With one arm curled next to her face, the other strewn above her head and blonde hair splayed out like a radiant sunburst, Maren was sure she had never seen Elsa look more beautiful. The fact that she was lying on her back in the same position she had been left in hours before, also indicated that she was still likely smashed on that medicine. Elsa was normally a side sleeper.

Maren crawled up on the bed and leaned over her, dipping down to gently place a kiss on her lips. A quiet breathy hum escaped Elsa's lips, but she did not open her eyes.

'You should wake up.' Maren whispered near her ear, then placed a kiss on her neck, her jaw, before trailing over to cover her lips again. This time Elsa's lips responded and returned the kiss weakly. 'Wake up, wake up.' Maren continued to whisper between kisses. Eventually Elsa's eyes fluttered for a moment, before closing again.

'Tired.' She breathed weakly.

'You need to drink.' Maren whispered and ran her thumb over Elsa's cheek. Elsa's eyes opened heavily and found hers with a small smile. She lifted a hand and placed it on Maren's, which still cradled her cheek.

'You're always right there…' Elsa whispered, her brow quirked as if this still surprised her somehow.

'Of course I am.' Maren chuckled. 'Where else would I be?'

Elsa bit her bottom lip with a small smile and Maren couldn't help herself, she bent down and kissed her one last time. How else to convince this girl that she was never going to leave her? They kissed for longer this time, more deeply as Elsa wrapped her cool arms around Maren's back and neck causing a shiver to run down her spine. It was a kiss that said, I'm here, I love you, and I will never leave.

Eventually, reluctantly, Maren pulled away to reach for the glass of water on the nightstand. Elsa groggily propped herself up on an elbow as Maren handed her the glass. She drank most of it before handing it back and then easing herself back down to the bed.

'I feel like I was trampled by a horse.' She mumbled in a flat, raspy voice, her eyes fixated on the ceiling.

'Well you were thrown into a cliff by your own magic, and then basically medicated into next year.' Maren said with a smirk, propping herself up on an elbow next to Elsa.

'Ugh.' Elsa grumbled and ran a hand over her head. 'That's why my head feels like it's floating.'

Maren smiled. 'You can go back to sleep, just let me put some of Dr. Anders ointment on your back first.'

'Dr. Anders…' Elsa repeated then paused. 'Why do I feel the need to apologize to him for something… maybe it was a strange dream…' Elsa's brow quirked as she tried to work it out. Maren failed to suppress a chuckle. Elsa looked at her sharply. 'What?'

'Nothing. You… sort of yelled at him before you passed out.' Maren smiled at the memory.

'I… what?' Elsa asked, a horrified expression on her face.

'You were shouting at him to check Anna's head, and then—you passed out, hard.' Maren bit her lip, still trying to suppress laughter. Elsa groaned and closed her eyes. 'It's ok, I thought it was cute.' Maren added. Elsa rolled her eyes, but smirked. 'Anna has made it clear that she will never let you live it down though. She's already taken to calling you slisther.' Elsa scrunched her eyes closed as a petulant frown crawled its way over her features. Maren smirked. 'Can you roll over without hurting your ribs?'

'Tell Anna—' Elsa grunted as she propped herself up on an elbow, wincing in pain. 'Tell her I know what she writes in her journals.' Elsa stated defiantly with a raised eyebrow, then gently lowered herself onto her stomach, wincing again. 'Then see what she has to say about blackmailing me.'

Maren couldn't help but laugh at the depths their sibling banter went to—near death experiences be damned. 'You read her journals?'

'No, of course not.' Elsa breathed as she finally relaxed into the pillows, flat on her stomach. 'But she doesn't know that.'

Maren smiled and rolled her eyes. 'I'm staying out of that, thank you very much. Neutral territory here.'

Elsa grunted in annoyance, but didn't retaliate.

Maren slid the sheets down to Elsa's waist, and swept her hair to the side, revealing her bruised back. She winced at the sight, but remarkably, the bruises had mellowed—looking slightly better than they had earlier that day. She would have to remind herself to ask Dr. Anders what precisely was in that ointment so she could re-create it later.

She trailed her fingers down Elsa's spine from her neck to her lower back—feeling for any strange shifts in her energy meridians. All felt harmonious. Then she took the ointment from the side table, opened the bottle and drizzled it over Elsa's back. Slowly, carefully, she began massaging it into Elsa's tender back muscles.

Elsa let out a soft moan.

'Is that alright?'

'It feels nice.' Elsa breathed quietly. Maren worked her slick hands upward from Elsa's lower back, gently massaging the ointment into the skin as she went. Finally, she reached Elsa's neck and shoulders where there was little to no bruising. She ran her fingers down the sides and back of Elsa's neck several times, putting enough pressure to loosen the muscles there. Then she dragged her fingers down to the shoulder muscles, and began squeezing and massaging at the base of her neck. The muscles there were extremely tense and knotted, Elsa let out another relaxed sigh.

'No one's ever done this for you before, have they?' Maren asked sadly, already knowing the answer. Besides her parent's mandates, she knew Elsa had lived quite an ascetic life. Almost anything dealing with physical touch it seemed, she had avoided.

'No.' She confirmed quietly, her voice sounding sleepy again. Maren continued to rub the knots out of her shoulders and arms for a while longer, before wiping off her hands and sliding down to lie next to her. She lay on her side, facing Elsa who's tired eyes opened when she felt Maren's hand slide beneath her own, locking their fingers together.

'Go to sleep.' Maren whispered and kissed her once again. Elsa shook her head in defiance and instead brought Maren's hand to her lips and kissed the back of it.

'Thank you.'

'For what?'

'Just, for everything. Everything.' Elsa smiled and Maren felt the warmth of love spread across her chest.

Maren smiled in return. 'You never have to thank me for loving you.'

'But I do.' Elsa whispered, with blue eyes so sincere they bore into Maren even in the waning light, rendering her speechless. 'For putting up with me.' Elsa added with a smirk, pulling Maren out of her trance.

'I suppose, that is a full-time job isn't it?' Maren joked, causing Elsa to wrinkle her nose in disapproval.

Elsa took a breath. 'How are you?'

Maren huffed a breath and reached to tuck a stray strand of hair behind Elsa's ear, then hesitated for a moment before answering. 'Better, now that you're doing better.'

Elsa hummed in acknowledgement but her brow was creased in concern. Blue eyes locked on to hers before she said: 'Something you're not telling me.' It came across more as a statement of fact rather than a question. It was becoming clear that Elsa could read her just as well as she could read Elsa.

Maren took a deep breath. She intended to wait until morning to show her, but she couldn't and didn't want to lie to her. 'The mist is back. It's surrounding the kingdom.'

Elsa's eyes went wide. 'What? Are you—you're sure?'

'Unfortunately.'

'My sister knows?'

Maren nodded. 'And the diplomats are here for the Spring Festival.'

Elsa groaned. 'I forgot… it's…?' Her eyes darted back and forth as she tried to do mental math.

'The day after tomorrow.'

Elsa groaned again. 'It's too late to cancel.'

'I know, Anna came to the same conclusion, so it's still on. Anna, by the way, is handling it all very well, even if she doesn't realize she is.'

Elsa smiled. 'I knew she could. I'm proud of her. But we still need to figure out what to do about all of this—did anyone find the crystal?'

Maren shook her head. 'No, Anna put out a memo offering a reward for it.'

'Good, good.' Elsa nodded in approval. 'I'll go with her to the meetings tomorrow, she's not quite ready for those on her own yet.' She mumbled absently.

'Apparently so will I.' Maren stated, Elsa gave her a quizzical look. 'She's named me the official Northuldran Ambassador. Ambassador Nattura at your service.'

A smile spread across Elsa's face. 'Smart girl. Very smart move. You're ok with that?'

'I don't see what it could hurt? In fact it might turn out to be a very good thing for my people.'

'It will be.' Elsa confirmed and squeezed her hand with a smile.

Maren took a breath and trailed her fingertips over Elsa's smooth back. Elsa blinked heavily at the sensation. 'Do you remember the runes we saw, behind the waterfall?'

Elsa's brow quirked. 'Yes.'

'I was telling Anna about it, about how it looked like a map, and she recognized it—from your mother's journal.'

Elsa's eyes went wide. 'Mother's journal… I knew those runes looked familiar. Anna showed you the secret room?' Maren nodded. 'Were you able to read the text? What did it say?' Elsa's excitement was as palpable as Anna's had been.

'I'll have to re-read it to you, but the important thing is, we were able to decipher the map—and I think, based on what your mother said in the waterfall memory and what she wrote in her journal—that map shows where all four crystals are located.'

Elsa's eyes went wide again and her mouth hung open but no words came out immediately. 'She knew about them? About the crystal bridge?'

Maren nodded. 'According to the journal, she was planning to tell you and Anna everything when they returned from Ahtohallan. I think the water crystal is one of the reasons they were going there.'

Elsa huffed an incredulous sigh. 'What exactly were they planning on doing with the crystals once they got them? Pabbie said it's fifth spirit magic that's needed to bring balance and send the Vættir away? They had no clue what my powers were about.'

'I think they suspected, pieced it together like we have—your mother had scribbled down notes guessing that you might be the fifth spirit. And also, that Anna would become queen.'

'What? How could she possibly know that? I made the decision to abdicate on my own, years after their death. Why would she think Anna…' Elsa trailed off, a spark of realization dawning in her sad eyes. 'Unless she thought… I was going to die.'

'No, Elsa—maybe she just realized that once you knew the truth, you would choose a life in the forest just as you have done?'

'Maybe.' Elsa mumbled, seemingly unconvinced. 'So where are the other two crystals located?'

'Right, so one of them is supposedly here, in Arendelle—your mother wrote North Mountain. Anna thinks that's where the air crystal is, and where we should start looking.'

Elsa nodded then sighed. 'There's literally hundreds of places it could be up there… what about the fire crystal?'

' Jotunfjell Volcano, to the west.'

Elsa hummed in agreement. 'We can't even get to those places right now due to the mist.' She added in defeat. 'The Vættir know what they're doing.'

'Not entirely. You outsmarted or overpowered them before remember? You woke the spirits on your own—against the Vættir's directive, you got through the mist and found a way to circumvent them and bring it down.'

'That's true. But I had no idea what I was even doing, all of that was just luck or instinctual magic, I don't know.'

'Sometimes instincts are much more reliable than a well structured plan. Even better when you have both, and fortunately we do.' Maren said with a smile. 'We'll figure this out together.'

Elsa nodded with a small smile. 'So, what do we do with the crystals once we have them?'

'I think we bring them all together at a Sieidi—a sacred landmark. In the center of the map, equidistant from the four elemental landmarks—Ahtohallan, The Valley of Living Rock, The North Mountain and Jotunfjell Volcano, lies a Sieidi. Your mother labelled it as such, and I think I know exactly what lies in that location—the four stone elemental pillars. The gateway into Northuldra territory is also a gateway to the spirit world. The crystal bridge is a literal bridge between our world and the spirit realm, and I think it will open if we bring the four crystals to that location, and through it, we send the Vættir home.'

Elsa's wide eyes were shining bright even in the dim light, a beautiful smile had grown over her lips. 'A literal bridge.' She said incredulously. 'With crystals as the gatekeepers—I would've never figured this out on my own.'

'Two minds—well in this case, four minds are better than one. We all had a part in figuring this out, now we just have to figure out how to execute it.'

Elsa sighed. 'We first have to find the water crystal and then see if we can even get through the mist like before. In the meantime, we have to deal with this festival. When I froze everything over at my coronation, it was a diplomatic disaster. Ships were destroyed, people panicked and it cost us quite a large sum to set it all straight. It took a good long time to repair those relations, the last thing I want is for the foreign diplomats to realize they're now trapped here, yet again, by another magical force. That will just make things ten times more difficult for Anna.'

'I'm more worried about your magic—about all magic. We need to find the crystals before the Vættir strip too much magic out of the world, or out of you.' Maren said, and brought Elsa's hand up to her lips and kissed it. 'Without magic, those diplomats don't stand much of a chance in this world anyway.'

Elsa nodded, then slowly changed positions so she was once again lying on her back, staring at the ceiling. Troubled. Maren scooted in closer to her and draped an arm over her middle, nuzzling her face into Elsa's neck. 'Talk to me Els.' She whispered.

Maren felt her take a deep breath, she reached for Maren's fingers and intertwined them with hers once again. 'For so long I—I guess I never really much cared if I lived or died, especially when I was younger, before Anna…' Elsa trailed off and Maren propped herself up again so she was looking directly at Elsa. Her eyes were glassy and she was still staring straight up at the ceiling biting her lower lip. 'But now I—' She paused again, finally turning her face so that teary blue eyes were staring directly into Maren's. Elsa shook her head slightly. 'Now, I don't want to die.' She whispered with a shaky voice, one tear rolled down her cheek.

Maren felt as if someone had punched her in the chest, right in the heart—and had shattered it to a million pieces. Those words broke her heart and made her want to cry out in happiness all in the same moment. The only desire she had in that moment was to somehow take that fear and pain away from Elsa, so she leaned down and kissed her deeply—communicating through the kiss not to worry, that they would always be together, no matter what.


A/N: Chapter mood: Wicked Game (Acoustic cover) by Chase Eagleson