PROLOGUE
Chapter 1:
It's finally here and it's happening fast
"Kristoff, we're doomed. Elsa has turned completely mad."
Anna's voice was a panicked whisper as they were hiding for their dear lives.
"Surely there must be a way." Gulped his husband. "You can talk her through this, no?"
The Queen gave him alarmed eyes. "It's too late for that. We're screwed. She'll never reconsider."
"I know where you aaaaare..." Warned a smiling evil voice above them.
Anna shrieked and looked above the boulder to see the Fifth Spirit smirk at her with a dozen snowballs floating around her. She let out another shriek when Elsa threw the missiles at them.
They were controlled remotely at her will, and Anna and Kristoff quickly had to run away to not get touched. If they were, it would be the end.
"She's gone rogue." Panted the redhead, her breathing fast. "I can't dissuade her. She probably has a whole strategy and everything."
The King widened his eyes. "Crap. We really are screwed."
Anna nodded vividly, then tried to peek from the side of the rock, but she did it very slowly; in one second, she gasped and sheltered herself again, as a snowball exploded on the stone. She breathed out. "That was a close one."
She turned to her husband. "Remember: one shot and we're dead."
"I know."
Anna and Kristoff truly had been running in the Arendelle mountains like death was after them, and they kept sending glances behind as they ran the sprint of their life. The King found it particularly funny how dramatic his wife was, whispering things like "We're running out of munitions." or "We need to refine our strategy, one of us attacks from the East and the other attacks from the West." with a serious face. Nevertheless, he would be lying if he said that she didn't rapidly turn him competitive too, and he quickly engaged in the game with as much energy, with how contagious her devotion was.
Sometimes they would think they were perfectly hidden behind separate trees, until they heard a branch crack and saw some snowflakes flutter in front of their faces, followed by a "GOTCHA!" from the giggling Snow Queen.
Another thing that Kristoff noted during their game, though he wasn't surprised at all, was that Elsa was just as excited than her sister about making it a serious fight. He could tell that they both had returned to childhood on that day.
They ran as fast as they could away from the rock with panting laughter as Elsa was preparing the biggest snowball ever in the air and about to throw it on them.
Olaf and Honeymaren watched in the distance and kept the score. The snowman held a big blackboard and traced a mark with his chalk every time Anna and Kristoff managed to hit Elsa, while Honeymaren was counting the blonde's points, and her chalk had been hitting the slate way more often.
The Northuldra grinned as they observed the three rivals. Or rather, the team of two losing against the team of one.
She bent to the snowman. "I told you they would not last one minute behind that rock. You owe me two boxes of chocolate treats."
Olaf groaned, in a whining way, because he was the one who had confidently set the bet. Honeymaren was very glad that Elsa's creation had the same attraction than her for sugary treats, because Arendellian candies were a delight.
As he grumbled something, Olaf checked the timer. It was actually just about to reach the end.
"Annnnd game!" He announced a few seconds later, yelling to be heard from their spot.
Several grunts of disappointment were heard from the hill the players were at, mostly from Anna.
"I swear, if I had like, one more hour, I could have– Ughh!" Exclaimed the redhead as she made her way to a laughing Honeymaren.
Kristoff tapped her shoulder with amusement as he walked with her down the hill, also making sure that she wouldn't slip or fall in the snow. "You fought well, feisty. For a moment there, I swore I saw a general with war strategy."
The Queen sighed. "It did feel like war. But Mattias is the general, not me. Maybe I should tell him that his advice from the council helped me."
Kristoff laughed next to her, before being joined by a beaming Elsa who was sliding bare foot on the snow along the slope. They reached cobblestones at the end of the hill, so she crafted her ice sandals back with bounces.
"This is the best birthday ever." She grinned. "Thanks, Anna."
"You're welcome." Sighed the redhead exaggeratedly, but she then smirked at Elsa's giant smile.
Anything that made her elder happy filled her own heart with delight.
"I'm just kidding, I had a blast. Except maybe for that time you purposely vanished the snow at my feet behind the tree so that I couldn't make a snowball."
Elsa snorted. "You threw dirt and grass at me in return for my gesture, I paid for that."
With that note, she flicked her wrist at the stain she had on her bright white magical outfit, to replace the dirtied part with brand new fabric in a twirl of snowflakes.
Honeymaren gasped as they had all regrouped. "You cheated?"
The Fifth Spirit wondered what she meant for a moment, finding it weird that she found her outfit renewal gesture as unfair, as the brunette had seen her do it multiple times in the Forest. Then she realized she was referring to the vanished snow.
"Well… Alright, I'll give you one point." She said to her sister, blushing at Honeymaren's possible judgment. The brunette's opinion on her mattered a lot.
"Sadly", sighed Olaf at their feet, though he placed another mark on Anna and Kristoff's side, "It doesn't change anything to the final count. Elsa has largely won."
It was a rigged game and they all knew it, but it didn't take any of the fun out.
Elsa grinned with a victory wiggle, and exaggerated claps and eye rolls followed, then they all laughed.
"I should have guessed that filling your birthday with as many games as I could before we do the pompous Yule celebration would turn out to be a bad idea, if said games are Winter-themed." Smiled Anna as she bumped her hip to her sister's.
Elsa grinned. "Never bring the Fifth Spirit to a snowball fight."
"Congratulations on your victory." Smiled Honeymaren, gently approaching her.
The blonde bent closed the space between them with a loving smile. "Thanks, Honey."
She then gasped in joy at an idea, and seized both of her hands before tugging her away. "Now come on! It's time for me to teach you how to ice skate!"
The Northuldra could only follow the excited and insistent woman, though she did it with great pleasure, and the others shook their heads.
A private ice skating lesson was a long made promise Elsa had given the brunette since she had talked about this activity at the end of the previous Winter. The Northuldra had reminded her when the water started to freeze in the Forest that year.
However, Honeymaren had specifically refused that Elsa showed her in the vicinity of the camp, because she cared about the children and was afraid that they would copy their moves and fall through the ice. Ice skating in the wild was a dangerous activity, and the Spirit complied with comprehension. Seeing the blonde care this much about others always turned Honeymaren's soul soft and tender.
For safety measures, and because there was no need to skate on the fjord when Honeymaren was a beginner, Elsa led her to the frozen pond in the gardens of the castle. They were beautiful and actually very romantic, even in Winter, the snow shaping everything in a mystical way.
"This place is incredible." Complimented Honeymaren, her chestnut eyes darting everywhere to observe the place.
"The gardeners really do a fantastic job all year round." Nodded Elsa.
She couldn't tell what she preferred between a controlled royal garden trimmed closely to the very leaf, or the natural beauty of the wild.
"So, how do we proceed?" Asked Honeymaren to take Elsa out of her daydream, which ironically was longer than hers, even though the former Queen had spent a lot of time in this place.
Elsa grinned like an excited child. Which she was, in a way.
"Lift your feet one by one."
Honeymaren frowned. Elsa didn't bring any special shoes, she would have noticed. Why did she want to take her boots?
When she lifted her right one, she saw Elsa twirling her hand, and a familiar noise of ice creation sounded below. Honeymaren looked as a blade of ice was attached to her boot, like it was a normal thing that normally happened. She then placed the blade on the snow, now a bit taller on this side, before lifting the other, and the same miracle happened on her left foot.
"Ahtohallan's sake." Breathed out Honeymaren in astonishment.
"Precisely." Giggled the Snow Queen.
"You do that everytime?"
Elsa nodded with humility, though with a bitten lip because her admiration was adorable. "Anna asks for decorations on them when I do."
Honeymaren started to enjoy being a few centimeters taller than the blonde. Elsa and her roughly were the same height given their age but the Spirit actually was slightly taller. Honeymaren's dominance was short-lived, however, for Elsa created herself blades in turn and now was above her again.
The Northuldra was about to tease her by walking forward, and she forgot what she had at her feet so she miserably fell over. Thankfully, Elsa expected it, and held her in her arms.
Honeymaren let out a clumsy 'oof' before standing again.
"I don't know if I'll even be able to keep my balance." She worried with a sad voice.
Elsa snorted gently. "The good thing is, the point of skating blades is to be used on ice, not land."
Honeymaren let her lead her on the frozen pond, always clenching to her to not fall, which the blonde didn't mind at all.
The first moves on the ice were erratic. Honeymaren felt stupid, but she knew that it was always difficult to start something that required skills, and she stayed positive thinking that one day, she would be as talented as…
No.
Nevermind.
Elsa was floating above all of humanity.
"How can you skate backwards?"
"A lot of people can." Said the blonde modestly.
That wasn't all. Since they had started, Honeymaren was alternating her gaze between staring at Elsa's blades and hers, trying to understand what she did wrong. The Spirit's gestures were supple, smooth, agile. Not a millisecond of hesitation or redirection. She was skating in all directions like she was born with blades at her feet.
'In a way, she was.' Thought Honeymaren.
"Stay focused." Teased Elsa, who could tell that she was in awe at her.
"How could I, when you're this incredible? It's like the ice isn't slippery at all for you."
The Spirit giggled. "It isn't. I mean, it is, but… Well, only if I want it to."
Her humor made Honeymaren grumble. "I can't even make three steps forward without having to cling to you."
"That's precisely because you see it like steps. Skating is sliding. If you think with the same balance than the one you have on land, you'll slip and hurt yourself when you fall."
Honeymaren nodded, registering this advice. She started to copy Elsa's expert moves, and it actually helped a lot. Several minutes later, she gasped in delight when she saw that she was able to slide through the whole pond without falling.
"It really is a question of speed, isn't it?" Understood Honeymaren. "The faster you skate, the better your balance is."
"Exactly."
The brunette lifted her happy face to the Spirit, who was just as cheerful at her progress.
"It's very romantic, when you think about it. You haven't stopped holding my hands since earlier, and you're introducing me to your world." Teased Honeymaren, and she loved to see Elsa's cheeks fill with a blush.
"I did release your hands from time to time to see if you needed me, but you don't."
"I do need you."
Elsa chuckled. "I'm not kidding. Look."
She completely let go of Honeymaren, and the latter gave her a scandalized look as Elsa expertedly distanced her in a swift move of legs. She let out a shriek, and the blonde laughed.
"Don't focus on me leaving you. Try to reach me."
"What the–! But you'll move away!" Panicked Honeymaren, knowing how prankster she could get.
"I won't, I promise. I'm staying here." She said, stopping her blades in a brisk and controlled move. Like by magic, she was now completely still where she stood. "Try to skate to me. You can do it."
Honeymaren muttered something in Northuldrian under her breath, then tried to slowly skate. Then she remembered that it was precisely what she shouldn't do. 'Speed.' She thought. 'Gain speed to have balance.'
Assembling all of her courage, she threw her thighs forward and started to think about running without lifting her feet, and it worked. She reached Elsa in no time, without falling, and she even knew how to slow down to avoid bumping into her.
That didn't prevent them from hugging and laughing at her victory.
"See? I told you. You're a fast learner."
"That's because I have a good teacher." Remarked Honeymaren, enjoying the embrace and keeping her head above Elsa's shoulder.
She could feel her compliment warming the blonde's heart, and grinned as the hug got longer.
"She sure is!" Confirmed a voice in the gardens.
They both got startled and Honeymaren nearly buckled her legs, but Elsa was there to prevent it.
"Oh, shoot, I wanted her to fall." Grinned Anna when the pair stared at her.
"Do you really think this is funny?" Scoffed Elsa.
"Serves her right for supporting the wrong team at the snowball fight." Huffed the Queen, sticking out her tongue when Honeymaren grinned.
They stayed in each others' embrace while the redhead approached.
"Great idea, the gardens' pond. Not too small, not too large." She said, then dusted the fresh snow to sit on the bench adjacent to it. She lifted both of her legs, pointing at Elsa with her boots.
The latter rolled her eyes with a smile, and pointed at them with her left hand - after making sure that she could hold Honeymaren with only the other. She didn't make the wrist gesture yet, though.
Anna knew why. She grinned. "Pine trees, please."
The blonde had a smirk, and waved her hand, then twin blades appeared below her soles.
With a happy squeal, she jumped to stand, and launched herself on the pond, a bit further to not scare Honeymaren.
The Northuldra was staring at Anna's feet, however. "Alright, I'm impressed by two things. First, you're very talented, so congratulations for that, and second…" She turned to Elsa. "...How did you even– Did you engrave pine trees on the blades?"
Even from where she stood, or rather tried to remain standing, she could see the subtle details. It looked like refined glass.
"I told you that Anna always wanted decorations on them."
Honeymaren remained speechless. Her distraction soon made her lose her balance, but Elsa was there to hold her under the arms so she could retrieve it.
They all skated together, even if Anna was faster than Honeymaren. The Queen actually gave her a helping hand, figuratively and literally.
"Are you certain that the ice won't break?" Worried Honeymaren when she saw the numerous tracks they were making.
"I can feel every millimeter of it and it's solid. It's safe, don't worry." Smiled Elsa. "Though, I can add another layer, if you want."
"No, no." Insisted the brunette. "I'm quite assisted."
She hated to feel weak in front of her, and it was accentuated by Anna's presence.
Elsa grinned at her answer, and looked up at Anna to also check on her, always giving a protective glance at her baby sister. Nevertheless, the redhead was nailing it, twirling around as she hummed a tune. Elsa was proud of her student, though Anna didn't pay attention, too busy lowering her hat on her ears because of the cold. Even within the castle's grounds, the temperature was low.
"I haven't told you before, but you're cute in that beanie. It's a nice color." Smiled the elder.
"Thanks!" Beamed Anna, always delighted when Elsa, her model of beauty, complimented her fashion choices. "Though I'll soon change because someone has been throwing a thousand snowballs at me and I'm pretty sure that I'm wet everywhere."
Elsa grinned guiltily but slyly, while Honeymaren cackled.
"Really, I think that you guided some of them to go underneath my coat." Insisted Anna.
Elsa simply shrugged with amusement. The redhead then gasped. "Hey, I never saw you wear a beanie!"
She meant 'like, ever!' and the Spirit frowned confusedly.
"...Because I don't need it." She said, thinking it was obvious.
"I know, but I really wanna see you wearing one. Hold on, not mine, cause yellow really isn't your color."
Elsa snorted. "Rude."
The Queen shrugged. "It's true. There's logic in admitting that warm colors don't suit your…" She gestured to Elsa's whole body. "...aura. Also, yellow is too bright, it doesn't go with your tone."
The Snow Queen only blinked in return, and Honeymaren nudged her. "She's right, actually. Come on, go back inside the castle with her." She invited assuredly. "I'll be fine. I'll try skating alone while you're gone. Anna clearly needs to change, and it's best to do it quickly before she catches a cold."
The Northuldra was experienced in that, and her advice was always good to follow, so Elsa nodded and let go of her. She did it slowly, though, to make sure that Honeymaren had good balance. The brunette proved herself to be talented already, and Elsa noted out loud how proud she was.
"Melt my blades please." Asked Anna when they both found themselves back on land.
It sounded like an order, and Elsa gave her an interrogative glance. Of course she was going to melt her ice skates, why was she so pressing about it?
"I'll race you to the dressing room." Grinned the Queen.
Elsa groaned. "You really hate to lose, uh?"
"If I win this, we're even." Shrugged her competitive sister.
Honeymaren smiled as she slowly made curves on the pond and watched them sprint away with childish giggles.
The two sisters entered the dressing room bursting into laughter.
"And remember when we hid here when Kai tried to find us after we threw a bucket of water at him from the rampart?"
"That was hilarious!" Giggled Elsa as she let her walk in front of her while she held the door open. "How could I forget his face?" She laughed again before closing it behind them.
"And we would hide behind the curtains of the closet!" Exclaimed Anna, rushing to said curtains to twirl herself in them exaggeratedly.
The sisters had a folding screen to change in the same room, but the redhead loved the dramatism that this huge hanging drape could provide, even if it was more to protect the clothes of the large closet from the dust, because it crossed half of the room.
"It's funny, I remember how much fun we used to have here as kids. Before…" Said Anna, unsure how to end her sentence.
Elsa turned around and had a soft smile. "Before I eventually made most of my clothes out of ice?"
Anna let out a relieved breath. "Thanks for the subtle way you phrased it. I felt so bad for a second."
"You're welcome." Grinned the Snow Queen.
It was better to laugh than cry from it. Humor helped, she found out through the years.
"I also remember how much fun we had here before the Harvest festival."
Anna tilted her head as she reminded herself of that day. It was a way more recent memory, but so much had passed and changed in their respective lives since… Then she smirked. "Oh, right."
She had a clear vision of it, surely just as clear as when Elsa saw memories in Ahtohallan.
"I won't wear ice this year." Announced Elsa, her voice slightly masked by the screen behind which she was changing.
Anna lifted her eyes from the snowglobe she was playing with. "Oh?"
"What, 'oh'?" Asked the blonde, who heard both surprise and sarcasm in that sole word.
Anna had a sly smile. "I just find it weird that ma'am Queen Elsa 'extra' of Arendelle isn't making a show with her magical outfits this year."
Elsa's face appeared at one end of the screen to strike her a death stare. "I can always change my mind. Or make your dress very cold in the butt region."
"I'm kidding." Snorted Anna. "And curious. Why regular clothes?"
"I love the lilac dress you made for me too much to not wear it on a public occasion. So here we go."
As she said that, Elsa stepped out of the screen. She made her way through the dressing room, and Anna admired her while Elsa braided her hair.
"I don't regret it at all. I love this dress too, it looks so great on you." Smiled Anna in awe.
Elsa smiled back once she finished her hairdo, and froze the end to fix it. "I wonder how you got the idea of the four diamond shapes here, but I really like it."
Anna genuinely shrugged. "I don't know. I thought of you to find a pattern that was something else than a snowflake, and those four lozenges came to my mind. No clue why. Instinct?"
The Snow Queen shrugged too.
Anna then widened her eyes when she realized that if she spent all day admiring her elder, they would end up late.
"Okay, my turn. Wait for me, I gotta try several."
"Of course." Smiled her sister when Anna trotted past her then slipped behind the curtains of the closet.
It's not like she was going to leave without her anyway.
However, what she expected when the redhead said that she would need time wasn't that ten minutes later, Anna would be throwing stuff around as she tried outfits and separated what she had already put on with what was left in the closet. After all, the latter was so wide, given their prosperity and both sisters' love for fashion, that it was like going through a store.
Elsa sighed as she picked up a jacket that had fallen next to the seat that Anna had failed to aim at, and put it on top of the pile of clothes. However, the blonde wasn't resentful. She rarely had those moments with her sister and liked to see Anna's bubbly personality in a peaceful setting once more.
"Please don't make a mess." She however gently scolded. "I don't want Gerda to spend the afternoon cleaning up after you."
"Fiiine." Came Anna's voice, masked by the fabric of the multiple clothes surrounding her where she was. "Hey, where's my rose dress?"
"Still recovering from the last time you wore it."
Sometimes Elsa sincerely had pity on the seamstresses. She wondered what face they made when Anna explained to them how she got those stains or ripped those parts of the dresses.
"Ooooh, how about this?" Asked Anna and she turned around.
The redhead was showing a very eccentric dress, and Elsa shook her head no.
"Mmh-mmh. You are not wearing that at the festival. May I remind you that we have foreign guests now?"
"Alright, alright."
Elsa then heard the familiar sound of Anna trying on shoes. Apparently, she had chosen to rather first pick a pair and then find a dress that would go with it.
The Snow Queen had to suddenly duck to dodge the blow of a heel shoe that came flying across the room to smash on the wall. The second shoe came flying short after, and Elsa caught it in the air, thanking her good reflexes.
"What did I just tell you?" She frowned.
Anna didn't answer, the only sound in the room being a ruffle of clothes in the closet. Elsa set the pair aside properly and stepped to the curtains. She was about to ask if she was okay when she heard worrying rummaging.
The redhead was trying on something with masked giggles, and Elsa feared the worst knowing her mischievousness.
Anna suddenly barged out of the curtains. "What. Is. THIS?"
The blonde blinked at the very colored, very adorned, and very frilly dress. Then she bursted into laughter.
"Ooh la la! My hips are here, my hips are there…" Giggled Anna as she walked around, making a show with the - way too big - backside of the dress, even bigger than a crinoline. She pretended that the vanity she had just bumped into was a person. "Oh! Pardon my behind, young man, didn't mean to knock you down…"
Elsa shook her head. "It was just a gift. Which I'm certain you're aware of, because I kept it in its box on the top shelf of the dressing room for the specific purpose of you not opening it."
Anna smirked. "Shouldn't have left the pink bow on the box then. Come on, come on, who offered it to you?" She asked excitedly.
Elsa simply shrugged. "I don't know, some guy from one of the big countries."
"Oooooh–"
"Stop that at once." Said the Snow Queen with a smile, raising a warning finger.
"Did you at least try it on?"
"Certainly not."
"You kept it in the box?" Concluded the redhead, astonished.
"The more you'll talk about it and the more I'll see you wearing it, the more I'll want to burn it down, Anna. Go change, hurry up!"
The redhead giggled loudly as she went back behind the curtains.
"A man offered you this dress - okay, it's ugly, but it's definitely expensive, there are gemstones on it - as a proof of his love, and all you do is toss it in a corner?" She laughed as she tried on new shoes. "I'll start to think that you're not interested in men at all."
Elsa rolled her eyes. Anna wasn't serious, she knew just like her that this 'admirer' had clearly been sending her this dress to then marry her and get to the throne.
Anna's head popped between the curtains.
"Can I at least keep the box? He totally sprayed perfume in there."
The blonde shook her head at her tease and searched for a hat in the mess that was Anna's pile of clothes to plant it on her face, then pushed her back behind the curtains.
"Stop goofing around or we'll be late!"
Elsa grinned at the memory while her mind slowly came to the present time. So slowly, though, that she didn't realize Anna was stepping out of the curtains, and that parallel made her quickly blink to focus.
And then she widened her eyes. Her baby sister was absolutely magnificent.
It was a superb winter dress, that was both elegant and practical, which honestly went perfectly with Anna's style. The shoulders had small pads of fur that then became patterns of seams that looked like frozen ivy, and that sole first element underlined how modern the dress was. The chest had an incredibly detailed pattern that both represented opened hands with palms up and a crocus, but it was subtle and made with a thin thread. A thick and wide belt surrounded her waist, made of the same fur than the shoulder pads, and the top part of the dress had pockets. The buttons formed a V shape that followed the silhouette.
Indeed, what was the most incredible to Elsa's eyes, even more than how brilliant the dress was, was how well it suited Anna; whoever had worked on it knew what they were doing, and she saluted the expertise. The loops on the sleeves next to the elbows were an original touch, and it subtly underlined her personality.
And in that moment, Elsa corrected her previous thoughts: not 'baby sister'. She may forever swear to protect her with her life, and Anna may be a child at heart, this current sight was one of those moments she was stunned by the woman Anna had become. The striking Queen that she was always meant to be.
"Anna, you're… You're so beautiful." She breathed out.
The redhead grinned excitedly, but melted at the same time at the compliment. "Thank you so much! I had been waiting so long for you to finally see that dress."
Elsa had a tearful smile. All she could see for now was the front, but she imagined that the back was as beautiful. Then she noted the color.
"Oh, we're going to wear purple?"
Anna's eyes widened in worry. "What? You don't like it? Does it not suit me?"
"Of course it does. All colors look great on you, sunshine. Even cold ones. I just expected that we picked blue this year."
It had been a tradition now that the two sisters wore the same tones of colors on Yule, and it was a fun thing to honor. Elsa had told Honeymaren about it on their way to the kingdom, and seen the sparkle in her eye, so she couldn't wait.
"We did blue two years ago." Reminded Anna. "And last year was white, to celebrate the new beginning with our new roles, like fresh snow, or a blank page. I thought that this year, we could pick…"
She did a twirl, and Elsa smiled. "Arendelle's flag's purple."
"You got it." Smirked the Queen, happy to see that Elsa's acute eyes had picked up the precise violet color she had ordered from the tailor. That was why she couldn't wait for her to see it. Whether the dress was seen inside or in the sunlight, it was perfect, and she knew that her sister, who had the sense of detail, would be in awe of it.
The Spirit's eyes suddenly focused. Anna was about to ask what she was thinking about by staring at her dress like that, when Elsa smiled and flicked her wrist, her casual outfit turning into an incredible dress entirely made out of ice, in the same color than Anna's, her new gown sparkling in the sunlight crossing the room.
"...Woaw." Breathed out Anna, forever astonished by this trick. Did she do that by a mere improvising thought?
"It took me a while, but I managed to find the exact density to reach for my ice to be that exact shade of purple." Smiled Elsa with satisfaction, however double checking by looking at Anna and hers' dresses next to each other in the mirror.
"A while?" Scoffed the redhead. "You just thought for a few seconds! Gosh, I can't believe that's all it takes for you to dress up in the morning, when I have to…"
She grunted a 'ugh.' and turned around to point and illustrate her point. The back of her dress wasn't tied up yet, and the blonde happily complied to her younger sister's silent demand. She walked to the laces and gently squeezed and looped them to close the dress.
"I usually call for a maid, it's nice that you're here." Sighed Anna after a moment. It wasn't out of annoyance but rather comfort with Elsa's attentive touch.
"Is it the only part I'm good at?" Teased the Spirit.
Anna puffed and gently nudged her with her elbow, and Elsa tenderly pressed her shoulder once done.
"Don't you dare remain modest when you wear such a dress." Said Anna, turning around to admire her once more.
In fact, both sisters stood there for a moment admiring each other. It was a bit emotional; they didn't admit it out loud, but they were also admiring each other's souls.
Anna knew what her sister was excited for, and smirked. It was the first time Elsa would make herself pretty for Honeymaren within Arendelle. She had no doubt she astonished the brunette several times in the Forest, she trusted her elder to always have a big impact, but here in the kingdom, it was a whole other level.
On Elsa's last birthday, the first since the Spirit had started to live with the Northuldra, Honeymaren hadn't come with her. Which was logical; Anna may be certain that the two women fell in love with each other on the first night around the campfire after they crossed the Mist, they had been timid and behaved like friends.
Honeymaren, Ryder, Yelena and other Northuldra had visited Arendelle from time to time through the last year, but it was the first time Honeymaren would actually participate in a celebration. And Elsa's, moreover.
Anna had seen how impressed the brunette had been at the sight of Arendelle's town, its architecture, the Unification Statue, the grandeur of the castle, the comfy rooms, and so on. The Queen was ready to bet her weight in chocolate that when Honeymaren would land her eyes on Elsa's current dress, she would drop her jaw to the floor.
"Have you seen my necklace? You know, the one with the diamond shapes." Mumbled Elsa, rummaging around.
It pulled Anna out of her thoughts. "Yes. There. It's actually still in the jewelry box where you left it."
She took the necklace out and turned around her elder with a smile to insist on putting it around her neck herself. Staring at each other in the reflection of the mirror, they grinned in mutual admiration. Then Anna widened her eyes.
"Waow. I just realized that when you left it in the box... It was right before we left for the North. With no idea of what we would find there."
Elsa smiled, and put a hand above Anna's. "And we found ourselves."
The redhead smirked. "You're damn right."
The Spirit observed the shining necklace. "It's very interesting, that irony."
"What?"
"It has diamond shapes. And the lilac dress I wore that day, on Harvest Festival... It had diamond patterns."
Anna frowned as she tried to grasp what she was leading to. Then she gasped lightly. "Like the four diamond crystals of the elements!"
"Exactly." Grinned Elsa.
"Maybe I knew all along that they would play a big part in your life later. Fate made me choose them for you."
Elsa simply shrugged.
They sat down together at the vanity and put on some makeup while giggling about common memories. Elsa then teased her sister for asking to have pockets on this dress, saying that she easily imagined her storing some treats during the evening, since she had sniffed the air with delight when they passed in front of the kitchens.
Anna shook her head then put some powder on her cheeks, and proceeded to tie her messy locks into an elegant hairdo. She knew that it would take long, given the state of her hair, but she also knew that Elsa was patient and would wait for her.
Actually, her elder was busy putting on burgundy lipstick with refined attention, smiled at herself in the mirror, then she closed it with a satisfied expression.
"I missed wearing lipstick." She said, smacking her mouth gleefully.
The Queen frowned, amused but intrigued.
"Why don't you take it and put some when you're in the Forest?"
The Spirit chuckled. "Why, to please the trees?"
Her sister was about to retort, but she smirked at the choice of words. "And who, pray tell, are you aiming to please here?"
Elsa averted her eyes on purpose when the redhead tried to catch her gaze in the mirror. "Nobody."
"Come on, we both know it starts with 'H' and ends with 'oneymaren'." Teased the Queen.
Her elder rolled her eyes at her antics. "Honeymaren prefers me au naturel."
Anna snorted, then laughed loudly.
"What?" Frowned Elsa, turning around at the clear mockery.
"You? Natural? I mean, if you're talking about Nature, yes, sure. But style? You're literally wearing sparkling ice."
The blonde blushed a bit. Her current dress wasn't the Fifth Spirit outfit designed by Ahtohallan, so she couldn't even use her 'uniform' as an excuse.
She had to admit, she always put a lot of attention on what she was wearing, from head to toes.
She fidgeted a bit with the lipstick when she placed it back with the makeup, and Anna's acute eyes noticed. She mindfully changed the direction of the topic to not unease her elder.
"Whatever. You're beautiful, that's all that matters."
Elsa blinked then sighed at her twist. She smiled tenderly. "Thank you."
"Ah-ah-ah!" Jolted Anna when the blonde shifted to kiss her cheek. For a second, Elsa's heart collapsed in her chest at Anna's rare refusal of touch. Then the Queen took a handkerchief out of a nearby chest and folded it, before handing it to her. "You forgot to dampen it."
"Oh. Thank you." Said Elsa, relieved by the logic behind Anna's retreat and her useful observation.
She did as advised and they left the dressing room, finally ready. Anna couldn't help herself smirking when they walked down the corridor, however. "You're lucky I was there, otherwise Honeymaren's face and neck would be covered with smack marks while we open the gifts all together. That would have been awkward."
"You little– Wait, what?!" Startled Elsa, suddenly registering the other information in her sentence. "Gifts?"
The Queen's teal blue eyes filled with determination, her mouth already setting to a prepared scold.
"Oh, don't you dare do this to me every year. You deserve gifts, Elsa."
The blonde sighed. "I know, you keep harassing me about it. It's just… This early? I thought we were going to wait after dinner."
"I couldn't wait any longer." Grinned Anna.
Elsa smiled tenderly. Though she then feared what kind of gift Anna could possibly offer that put her in such impatience. 'Pretty much any', mused the Spirit.
Kristoff, Honeymaren and Olaf were waiting in the great hall. They had the occasion to change too, as the sisters had spent a lot of time in the dressing room; Kristoff was wearing a proper attire fit for a King, which Elsa loved to see because the shape and the gold and green colors suited him very well, and she admired it as Anna and her made their way down the stairs. Honeymaren had another tunic, which was stylish with refined bands of fur, and the blonde smirked internally at the fact the brunette had put a lot of happy effort into looking good inside the castle. She had discarded her scarf and hat somewhere, probably in their bedroom, and she was talking with Olaf, so she didn't notice their arrival. The snowman was wearing tree ornaments gleefully planted in his snow on his whole belly, that glittered in the light of the numerous candles of the room. It was Olaf who, with a loud gasp when he turned to them, alerted her of Elsa's presence.
And the stare Honeymaren gave to Elsa became so intense that the Snow Queen thought for a second that her knees would buckle and that she would fall over the remaining steps of the stairs.
Honeymaren's chestnut irises were overfilled with admiration and, undeniably, devotion, which Elsa could see with no exaggeration from where she stood.
First off, Honeymaren absolutely lost it at the sole vision of the outfit being made out of ice. Sure, Elsa wore custom ice literally every day since they met, except for some moments when she tried traditional Northuldra tunics. But Honeymaren firmly believed that she would die before she would stop being impressed by the creative goddess. Secondly, the dress seemed to be ahead of its time in terms of fashion. Even Honeymaren, who didn't care much about that domain, could notice that Elsa had been inspired by Anna's very modern and beautiful outfit, and had made it even better, without imitating it. The upper part of it was like a suit, with buttons made out of the most refined and semi-transparent ice, crocuses adorning them. It made the dress look like a bespoke outfit, which made sense as it obviously was. The collar was in the shape of a V, with a neckline that looked like a cleavage without being one, which drove a part of Honeymaren's brain completely wild. Every edge of that suit had tiny shining finitions made with ice thread, that looked like swirls and curls typical of Winter. The rest of the dress was a long, floor-length classical gown, but with patterns starting from Elsa's navel - which was underneath the suit part - and reaching the bottom of it. The patterns looked like, or rather, mentally corrected Honeymaren, definitely were, trails of frost spreading against the fabric like refined lacework.
The ensemble was stunning. It was simple yet sophisticated, and the dark purple color of the Arendelle flag really served this paradox with its tone.
Somehow, the color enlightened Elsa's azure blue eyes, and Honeymaren's gaze lifted from the dress to her face. Her eyes also instinctively, or maybe in a predatory way, drifted to Elsa's mouth, and her heart made a leap at the sight of her lipstick.
Yet the Northuldra quickly felt subdued by the mighty presence of the Spirit as she walked forward.
Okay, maybe she wasn't objective, and maybe that she was so lovestruck she exaggerated things. But Elsa was making a clear impression; several members of the staff had turned around, and a waiter nearly dropped his tray at her passage.
Now only a few meters away from each other, Honeymaren let out a blissed sigh.
"Sweet Mother Ahtohallan, you are gorgeous."
"That's my line." Whispered Anna with a smirk.
Elsa nudged her sister's ribs with her elbow to stop her teasing, in a way that meant 'Let me enjoy that, okay?'. Though she was happy to see that Honeymaren picked some words from Anna's vocabulary after spending so much time with her lately.
The Fifth Spirit smiled widely at the passionate stare the brunette was giving her now that the space was closed between them and their auras embraced. Elsa was about to say something but Anna stepped forward.
"Honeymaren, you should close your mouth. I know that we have less bugs here than in the Forest, but still. You never know." She ruined on purpose.
Honeymaren blushed and immediately closed her jaw, gulping a bit in embarrassment but also with technical need because she had forgotten to breathe normally for the past seconds. Her shame was actually funny, and Elsa resigned to scold her sister.
"Sorry for taking so long. Are you guys okay?" She asked, internally smirking because even if she was looking at everyone, she could still feel Honeymaren's astonished look on her. "Are any of you hungry? We could have a snack break. It's going to be a long day."
The boys said they were okay, and when Elsa turned to the Northuldra to make sure that she was too, the brunette hadn't lost any of her blush, actually even more flustered now that the azure blue eyes had set on her again.
"I'm pretty. I mean, I'm pretty good! I'm pretty good." Corrected Honeymaren quickly, and thankfully she didn't see Anna's smile behind Elsa. "I'm not a snack. In need of any snack." She corrected again, enraged against herself for failing so hard at a simple sentence.
She dearly hoped that they thought she was only having trouble with their language and not because she lost control over her tongue at her sight. Wait, control of her tongue?
Elsa internally laughed at her but didn't let any tease escape her lips. Instead, she admired her outfit, which she obviously had seen before, but would never get tired of observing.
The brunette's tunic was brown and beige with notes of pine green, the colors of her tribe, and displayed the majestic hexagon at the center of her chest. The Northuldra patterns were enhanced with stunning motifs of curls and swirls and twirls that looked like leaves picked up by the wind. Like a frieze, the patterns formed a path from her heart to the end of her sleeves, as well as one starting from the hips and going to the edge of her boots.
Her daydreaming chestnut eyes really highlighted the outfit, thought Elsa with amusement.
Honeymaren however wasn't the only one who was stunned by the siblings. Kristoff also thought that Elsa and Anna's purple dresses matched very well with all the blue tones the Arendellians were wearing in town, and the snow on the roofs of the castle. Honeymaren reassured herself when she saw his dopey smile at his wife, thinking that he wasn't going to blame her for the dumb reaction she had at Elsa. Kristoff and her simply were mute in reverence to their beauty and auras; their stares spoke for them. And sweet Ahtohallan, was she devouring Elsa with her eyes right now…
'Focus, Honeymaren, focus!' Insisted the brunette mentally, and she cleared her throat.
"Sooo… Now is the time when we ring the bell, right?" She said, remembering the schedule she tried to retain by heart to not fall behind the two very organized and royal sisters.
Elsa chuckled, passing her hand along her back as a reward for being so thoughtful. "No, not quite yet. The bell comes way after. It's at noon, so we have plenty of time. And Anna desperately wants us to go to the library and do the gifts now."
Honeymaren's behavior, which was dreamy since the blonde had touched her, changed all at once; Elsa felt her getting tense in her embrace, but the Northuldra quickly hid it by forcing herself to calm down. It didn't escape the Fifth Spirit, though, and she frowned in worry.
"Are you okay? It's just a slight change of plans."
Honeymaren usually was someone at ease with improvisation, and quite good at it. Also, she had been talking about her upcoming gift for days with Elsa, driving her mad with teasing, saying how much she was looking forward to her opening it. So why was she suddenly tense?
Elsa was about to ask again, facing the lack of answer from Honeymaren, when the brunette turned to her with what obviously was a forced smile.
"It's fine. I was just thinking about something else."
She however gave Anna a side look while the latter was busy giggling at being praised by her very admirative husband. The dress apparently was a surprise for him too, and Elsa would have melted at the scene if Honeymaren's side look wasn't a death stare.
Honeymaren was resentful? Of what?
"Do you like my outfit?" Grinned Anna in Kristoff's arms, who hadn't let her go for the past minutes, much to her happiness as she slightly swung at his neck.
"Very. You're breathtaking, feisty." Complimented the King.
She blushed as she bit her lip. "I thought you didn't care about fashion." She teased. The redhead wasn't resentful of that lack of interest anyway, she liked how natural her husband was.
"It's not that I don't care about fashion. If anything, I hate it." Snorted Kristoff.
Anna blinked in surprise. "What? Why?"
The hold at her waist got stronger, and passionate. His head lowered to talk to her ear. "Women's clothing, with all those tight loops and buttons, make it atrociously long when one has to take it off."
The Queen's freckled face turned red, and she huffed as she buried her face in his neck with a muffled giggle.
He smirked and they enjoyed their bubble of love, and Elsa couldn't help but smile. She always was delighted to see how well they matched.
A tugging at her hand distracted her. It was Olaf, and the blonde smiled down at him.
"You look amazing in that dress!" He complimented enthusiastically. "Could you make an outfit for me too? Out of ice, of course, you know how much I hate actual clothes." He shivered, which was odd coming from a snowman.
Elsa giggled with an 'Of course!' and cheerfully crafted him a jacket out of thin air, in the same color than Anna's and hers outfits. While Olaf tried it out, and it obviously was fitting him perfectly, she tilted her head with a thinking pout and created him a bowtie too, also in the same violet shade, which the snowman gasped to. With his tiny twigs fingers, he grabbed it in the air while the blonde waved hers to make it float down, and tried to put it on.
"You'll have to stop bouncing for that." Laughed Elsa when she saw him fidgeting with it. "Hold on."
She kneeled and put it correctly. Anna smiled at them and once the Spirit stood up again, she circled everyone in a surprised group hug. Everyone let out exclamations of surprise, but they eventually agreed to the embrace.
"Alright!" Announced the Queen once they all parted. "Now that everyone's here, to the library!"
Her tone sounded like a train conductor announcement, which Kristoff and Elsa laughed at, and they followed through the castle.
Honeymaren still was silent, despite her genuine investment in the hug before, loving to spend time with her new family. Elsa turned to her in the corridor, trying to decipher what was up with her. But the brunette once again smiled reassuringly at her, like nothing was going on.
Elsa felt surrounded by love and grinned happily when Anna sat on the couch on her left, Honeymaren on her right, and Kristoff and Olaf sat on the carpet in front of her, at her feet.
"Us first! Us first!" Exclaimed the snowman, bouncing in utter joy.
The other laughed, and Elsa scoffed. "Us?" She repeated.
The King smiled. "He insisted on making the gift with me. He said, and I quote: 'With my creativity and your handicraft, we'll make the perfect gift.'"
While the others grinned, Olaf frowned. "That's not where I put the emphasis."
"Whatever. Come on, bring it to her!" Smiled Kristoff. "You're nearly making the flooring tremble with your bounces."
"Alright, alright!" He jumped, rushing to behind the couch from where he started to pull a heavy and big wrapped object… That immediately betrayed what it was by the shape.
"The wrapping paper acts more like a protection than an attempt to make it a surprise." Winced Kristoff when he saw Elsa hold her laughter at the obvious hint.
She undid the wrapping and grinned at the wooden sled made with love. It had beautiful patterns and a two person seat, which could actually hold two adults unlike the ones for children sold in Arendelle town. She grinned before hugging Kristoff and Olaf in a giggling embrace.
"Thank you, guys! It's perfect."
"I did the painting!" Jolted Olaf enthusiastically.
Elsa smiled. "That explains the traces of color on your twigs."
The snowman looked down at his fingers in worry. He would have noticed if some paint had stayed there since…
"I'm just kidding, Olaf." Laughed the blonde.
He appreciated the joke and snorted. "Good one."
Kristoff winced a bit guiltily. "I thought you were serious, because we finished the last touches two days ago."
Anna gave him a look. "You're usually organized. What happened?"
The King turned to Olaf with a pointed stare. "Well, someone really wanted to add a pine tree."
"It's important!" Insisted the snowman.
Elsa bent her head to the sled again, tilting it on the carpet to observe that indeed, there was a hanging flat piece of wood painted in green representing a pine tree that was attached to the top of one of the sled's blades.
"It acts as a freshener." Informed Olaf, very serious. "I traveled for days to go meet the guy who crafts them."
Elsa blinked, turning it in her fingers and seeing that it was made with medicinal herbs. "Why would we need a freshener? A sled is used outdoors."
Kristoff shrugged next to her. "I told him the exact same thing when he came back from his trip. I laughed so hard when he came in with his tiny tree, I thought I was going to strangle myself."
"Well, fresheners free the bronchial tubes and–"
"Thank you, Olaf." Grinned Elsa, trying her best to not laugh.
She patted his head then gently folded the wrapping paper aside.
"Here's mine." Then said a timid but excited voice that undoubtedly belonged to her younger sister.
The blonde lifted her head and gave a curious smile to Anna before looking down at the outstretched hand and taking her gift. It was adorably wrapped with a lot of care and a bright blue string with lots of loops.
Elsa gently opened it, then frowned in curiosity at the sight of a finely made leather pouch. It had a rigid hull and was cylindrical, which intrigued the Snow Queen. Was it a spyglass? No, it wouldn't be presented as retracted. She would have loved to shake the content to hear the sound it would make, but if it were in a leather protection, it meant that it was fragile.
"Are you going to open it or do we have to stare at you staring at it for the whole day?" Grumbled Olaf.
Anna gave him a nudge as he giggled. Elsa smiled.
"I can't help it, the shape and imprint are beautiful…"
Honeymaren admitted that the tailor who made it was very talented.
Elsa delicately opened the small satchel and her eyes widened. Inside was a golden cylinder that looked like a barrel made of stainless steel, no bigger than Elsa's hand. On the sides, it had engraved snowflakes that were highlighted with gold foil, and they surrounded the whole item. Circling it the same way and evenly placed along, five vertical copper rings had the twenty four letters of the alphabet engraved on each of them. The blonde dropped her jaw as she passed her thumb on one to make it turn. It clicked several times in a pleasant sound, shining its bronze color every time it would rest on a letter.
"A cryptex!" She exclaimed.
Honeymaren was startled with confusion, at her brisk scream of joy as much as the word. What did Elsa just say? Was she turning crazy?
"Anna, that's the best gift!"
The blonde immediately tackled Anna in a hug, and the sister giggled in happiness. Now that was unmistakable body language.
"Thank you so much!" Beamed Elsa when she parted from the embrace.
"I knew that your nerd soul would love it." Smiled Anna. She excitedly pointed at the item. "And it's a real one with the vinegar staining the inside and everything."
'The vinegar staining the inside?' Thought Honeymaren. 'What kind of gift is this? Is it working or not?'
She then shook her head discreetly. 'What is wrong with me. Of course it's a working gift. Anna knows her deeply, and–'
"Honey, look!" Jolted Elsa, overjoyed, and it took her out of her thoughts. "It's a cylinder in which you can store messages on a piece of parchment. And it has a lock, here." She then placed it next to her ear like a thrilled child. "Gosh, the mechanism works perfectly, you can hear all the gears!"
She interrupted her explanations to turn around to her younger sister.
"How did you even find one, Anna? There's only like, two of them on Earth! And they're prototypes!"
Elsa's voice now reached very high notes and it was hilarious to see her so excited. Anna placed her elbow on the top of the couch with a sassy expression.
"Well, I don't know if you're aware, but I'm Queen now, so I did all I could for the past months to maybe, just maybe, make one directly from Leonardo da Vinci's very notebooks, with the help of Italian politicians whom I may or may not have contacted then met in Firenze which happened to be on the way of my last business trip to Roma."
The blonde squealed and hugged Anna tight again, and the redhead obviously gave it back with a big smile.
"I love you." Whispered Elsa in her hair.
"Not as much as you love that da Vinci guy." Dramatically sighed Anna, which earned her a slap in the arm when they parted.
As Anna laughed, Elsa immediately resumed her descriptions to Honeymaren, who was attentive despite her surprise at their craziness.
"See, the fact that it can only be unlocked by a five-letter word makes it even more difficult than numbers. The total of possible numbers isn't infinite, while words…"
Anna rolled her eyes at her sister's nerdy ramble, and laughed with Kristoff. Elsa kept going.
"And it's mostly made…"
Her voice suddenly got sadder. "...to keep secrets…"
A silence followed, and Anna frowned, bending to Honeymaren to complete Elsa's sentence. "Yes, you write on that thin scroll of paper, roll it around the piece of metal in the middle, close the cryptex, and you choose the combination, then mix the letters, and you can't unlock it if you don't have the word. If you force it open, the vial of vinegar in it stains the paper and makes it unreadable."
Did her clever elder lose her train of thoughts?
Elsa fidgeted with the letter rolls, the silence punctuated by quiet clicks.
"Do you think I would need it? I mean, it's a beautiful and sophisticated and amazing object, but… I don't want to hide secrets anymore."
Anna's frown turned to panicked eyes. She placed a hand on Elsa's forearm.
"Goodness, no! Elsa, it's not why I offered it to you… I don't expect anything from you. Do what you please with it. If you want to place it as a decoration in your room here, you can. And if you want to go back to the Forest with it, please do too. I really didn't mean to make you think about that."
Elsa had a sad sigh, then smiled. "I know. Sorry."
She squeezed Anna's hand back, and gave a sincere smile that beamed the whole room. "I will take it back with us. It will look lovely on the shelf of our goahti, next to the wooden box where I keep your letters.
The Queen looked delighted.
"Sooo, that makes Honeymaren's gift the last one!" Announced Olaf, his twigs happily clapping together as he bounced on the couch.
Everybody turned to the brunette, and she gulped.
Her embarrassment however quickly turned into what looked like anger, but she cleverly hid it by walking to her travel satchel from which she took out a long package, which was three times longer than it was large. Everybody was curious about what it could be.
"There you go." Honeymaren then brutally said, and the blonde blinked when the brunette nearly shoved the package tied with Northuldra hand-made rope into Elsa's lap before sitting down on her cushion on the floor.
Her grumpiness hurt Elsa a bit - just like the gesture, actually - but she preferred to put the uneasy feeling aside to ask her later about it. Now was a time of celebration, and the Spirit preferred to cope with one big feeling at a time.
"What is it?" She rhetorically asked, excited as she pulled on the strings to unveil the gift.
Above her shoulder, Honeymaren gave a frown to Anna, but the Queen couldn't see, as she was as excited as her sister to see what was hiding under the beautiful brown wrapping, made out of plant paper. Honeymaren had made the gift a complete surprise, and the redhead knew how creative her tribe was.
And the gift figuratively and literally put stars into the sibling's eyes. With slightly trembling hands due to her emotion, Elsa delicately unrolled a giant rectangular piece of leather, actually composed, she soon noticed, of several pieces of treated skins and hides that were sewed together. The hand work was remarkable, especially with the care with which Honeymaren had assured that each piece had a similar color to the one next to it to not make a weird patchwork. But the most remarkable thing of the gift, and it was undeniable and jaw dropping, Kristoff and Olaf bending over the siblings' shoulders to observe in awe, was that this giant piece of leather actually was a map.
And not just a map of the Forest, but rather what was above; it depicted every constellation in the Northuldra culture, and Elsa's eyes widened with amazement as her gaze went on and on the leather.
Honeymaren had demonstrated immense patience as she had sewed every single pattern linking the stars, the stitches made of light brown thread actually enlightening the concept of constellations, which was to interpret stories between the mystical lights of the night. The dashed lines acted like suggestions, and yet, to Elsa's eyes, as they all assembled in one map, they created a unique story, and her heart filled with love to see such a beautiful display of the Northuldra culture. Under each intricate and detailed constellation, Honeymaren had written in tiny letters the names in Northuldra and Arendellian language, and Elsa grinned at that acknowledgement.
"A constellation map. It's a map of the constellations!" She murmured then exclaimed, her emotion so big that she repeated herself. "It's… Honey, it's magnificent!"
The superlative compliment made Honeymaren forget her still mysterious wrath and she drew a smile, touched by the loving eyes Elsa was giving her. She had noticed the admirative way she had unrolled the map in its entirety, and her expression when she saw how wide and flawless it was.
"Thank you, it's an amazing gift!" Beamed Elsa, looking back at the sewed constellations. "I can't wait to use it."
"Yes, at the moment, it's not very useful." Noted Olaf with a pouty wince. "It's too bad that we can't see the stars yet." Noted Olaf.
Elsa thought that she saw at the corner of her eye Honeymaren nodding at him exaggeratedly, but maybe it was her imagination.
"It wouldn't be useful in the dark of night anyway, one couldn't see the threads." Continued the snowman, not filtering his thoughts. "Unless we paint them on. Kristoff, do we have paint that glows in the dark?"
The King chuckled at his question. "You ask me? You're the magical guy."
"Point taken." Admitted the talking snowman, shrugging his twig shoulders.
"You will not paint over it, you two." Joked Elsa. "It's perfect the way it is."
Anna then tilted her head as she inspected the map closer. "I don't get it. I know I'm not into astronomy as much as you are, but I can't recognize a single pattern."
"The Northuldra have different constellations than we do." Explained the Spirit with a smile.
"Aren't the stars the same up there?" Teased Kristoff.
"Of course they are," chuckled Elsa at his joke, "but the Northuldra link them differently. They have different layouts and mythological representations, and different names, because they see other legends in the sky than the ones we do. Right, Honey?"
They turned to the Northuldra, who only smiled with a simple nod. Olaf interpreted this as timidity, but the others were not fooled. She was upset about something. In fact, it was like she was upset since the moment Anna had suggested - or rather pressed - that they would offer Elsa her gifts so early.
Elsa understood that Honeymaren was upset because she was disappointed to offer her constellation map during the day instead of the night, as the gifts were initially planned after dinner, and the brunette gave angry stares at Anna. However, Elsa couldn't give her a reassuring glance nor focus on her anger anymore because Olaf and Anna had just jolted in her field of view, bouncing in joy to ask her when they could borrow the sled for a race.
Anna had to shield herself with her hand to not get blinded by the bright Sun when it was finally time to go step outside and ring the bell. Of course, it traditionally was set at noon, so the star was at the highest point in the sky. She smiled at the paradoxical warmth against her skin in comparison to the snow covering the roofs of the courtyard in front of her.
A roar of applause came from the crowd, and she lowered her hand to turn it into a wave, with which she gave a delighted smile, her heart soaring at the sight of her beloved people, and feeling her elder sister walk right by her side.
As they made their way to the bell's thick golden rope, Elsa saw Mattias for the first time in the day. She saluted him with a happy shake of the hand, and the soldier bowed with a modest smile. As he did, something sparkled on his chest, on his heart's side, and it attracted the blonde's eye. A proudly displayed medal of merit was shining in the sunlight, very likely offered by Anna during a ceremony. Elsa knew that she had made him General a short time after they went back home from the Forest a year ago, but she had no idea that he received this honor as well. It didn't surprise the Spirit in the slightest, though, and Mattias deserved it fully. After all, he had saved Anna's life, and Elsa would never be grateful enough.
The man's uniform was also very fitting and beautiful. With a mix of dark green and purple, pure white and shining gold, the outfit somehow embellished his skin color. The shoulder pieces were brand new, and one could tell that he took great care of it. Judging by the state of his uniform back in the Forest that he didn't damage much in over thirty years, that fact also didn't surprise Elsa.
She smiled as she lifted her hands along Anna's to grab the rope with a firm excited hold. Usually, Olaf would join them, but this year, he was very busy playing with the bored Arendellian kids a bit further in the courtyard, and Anna had noted his surprising talent for babysitting, so she didn't interrupt him.
She turned to her elder. "Ready?"
"Always." Smiled the blonde tenderly, loving the emotion of the Queen when this moment approached.
They had been deprived of it so many times, it was only fair to be so thrilled when it arrived.
The clock tower of the town sounded twelve o'clock, and the two sisters cheerfully pulled on the big rope, making the Yule bell sound proudly and loudly through the kingdom.
The two sisters grinned at each other as their pulls were long instead of short energetic ones, without even conferring each other about it before. It was like they both agreed to refer to a prosperous future with paced movements.
After a while, they let go of the rope. While the crowd applauded and the bell continued to ring after being swung on its axis, Elsa walked to Honeymaren, joining her as the Northuldra politely stood on one side of the stairs, in the same way Kristoff and Mattias did on the other. For a fraction of a second, the blonde hesitated to stop a meter away, and simply stand next to her. But then, the moment after, she resolutely closed the space between them and slipped her hand in Honeymaren's.
Then the crowd's applause got louder when the brunette actually let go of Elsa's hand to rather slip it around her waist.
A feeling of great relief roamed the Snow Queen's body at the genuine and tender love Honeymaren was expressing, contrasting with her previous anger. She turned to her lover's warm smile and felt intensely proud at the way she held her against her, in an explicit way that clearly stated to the crowd that they were a couple. The blonde tilted her head to rest on her shoulder with a sigh, and the brunette turned to kiss her hair.
The applause was even louder at their touch and Elsa chuckled at the cheering people, still in disbelief at how much the Arendellians loved and admired her. In fact, she thought she would never get used to it. Despite the amazing warmth she felt when she saw that nobody feared her anymore, she was still overwhelmed by their excitement. The crowd's support for their first public appearance together made her heart soar.
She made a move to go back inside the castle, when Anna gave her a discreet gesture. Honeymaren's hold was more firm at her waist too. She was confused.
"What is it?" She whispered to her girlfriend, a bit alarmed because there clearly was an unplanned event upcoming. While she had been joining her lover, Anna hadn't moved from where they had been standing, and it made her a bit nervous.
She wasn't a fan of not being in charge of her birthdays in Arendelle anymore. With a sister like the one she had, one must expect everything.
Her azure blue eyes darted left and right when she saw Anna motion to the crowd to gently quiet down. The courtyard became so silent in a second, Elsa could hear the seagulls in the harbor.
"She's going to give a speech?" Blinked the Spirit. She then swiftly turned to Honeymaren. "She's going to give a speech and you didn't tell me?" She hissed more than whispered.
The brunette smiled. "That's the point of a surprise. And I'll have you know that I just knew that she was going to talk, not what she's going to talk about."
A dreadful feeling twisted Elsa's guts and she stared at Anna's profile right when she began her speech.
"Citizens of Arendelle, I am more than delighted to welcome you all today to celebrate both Yule and Lady Elsa's birthday."
The latter widened her eyes with emotion, her heart making a leap.
"Winter Solstice always rhymes with new beginning, and we all know how different Arendelle is now, this for the better.
As you all know, I'm not a fervent enthusiast of the notion of destiny. I believe that everyone can change their lives like they want to, and has the right to become what they want to be. But having the Winter Solstice coincide with The Snow Queen's birth is, to me, a sign that Elsa's life is intrinsically linked to this season. I always link her rightful, poised and elegant personality to the beautiful white cloak of Winter, which puts everything and everyone as equals when it covers the landscape and brings it to the same perspective. For one season, the world becomes one and only color. Everything is in harmony, and I think that it's what Elsa represents too. A link between us and magic, a bond between humans and Nature, an eternal promise of peace, like Arendelle will always have. And, may I add, Winter also brings joy to children's hearts, or rather, to our child heart we all kept inside of us. The happiness that I see resonate in this town every time there's a snow day, whether it be natural or because our dear Lady Elsa had decided that we would get to have a giant playground made out of ice during her visit."
Anna smiled at her sister, who had glistening eyes and was doing her best not to cry, her throat tight and mouth twisted in a bitten smile. She cuddled closer to Honeymaren, who held her warmly against her and winked at the Queen for her true words.
"Because Winter had never been forecast to be so beautiful, and that with Elsa's birthday marking its debut and taking its lead, I can assure you all that we have marvelous years to come for the future of Arendelle. To all of you, adults and children, I wish the best of Winters. Happy Yule!" Concluded Anna, her arms wide open.
The crowd roared in applause and happy yells, just as loudly as Elsa's heart bursted in her chest.
When the people eventually ended their long clapping and started to walk around and chat, Anna turned to say something to her sister, and was surprised to see the blonde step out of Honeymaren's embrace to throw herself in her arms.
'Hell to composure and poise.' Thought the Snow Queen. 'I can't help myself.'
Anna understood her emotion and held her tight against her.
"Thank you so much, Anna. Thank you, thank you, thank you." Muttered the blonde, her eyes and hands clenched in the Queen's back.
The latter giggled modestly. "You're very welcome."
She stepped out of the hug to place her hands in hers.
"Happy birthday, Elsa."
The blonde smiled and gulped to chase her emotion as their eyes lost themselves in each other's.
"I'll go talk with Mattias while you two spend eternity staring at each other." Whispered Honeymaren teasingly before walking away.
Elsa chuckled. She watched her girlfriend join the retired soldier who had clearly been sobbing a river, and the brunette groaned in the distance at her state. Elsa chuckled even more. Kristoff and Olaf each handed the man their handkerchief, and he found utility in using both.
"Well, it's great to see you're having a blast." Smiled Anna.
"How could I not?" Sighed Elsa, still staring at Honeymaren.
"Now, am I talking about the celebration, or your relationship with this devoted woman who is turning you crazy in love?"
The blonde blushed intensely as she quickly looked away from the brunette to stare at her sister, blushing even more when she saw her snark.
"Yeaaah, you're even more red than when I did my speech. I'm right, you really are starstruck, uh?"
"Shush up." Murmured the blonde.
Anna nudged her. "You know I'm teasing you. We already had this conversation multiple times. You have my entire admiration for your relationship. And look! Despite the apprehension you talked about with me for days, your first presence together in Arendelle went well! Honeymaren is a good match, I sensed it and they can also tell. Though, I'll admit it, I was paranoid at first. I suppose that it was the same for you when Kristoff and I started to date."
Elsa had a smile of confirmation.
"Now, Lady Elsa, partner of Honeymaren Nattura… Would you care to join me for some champagne?" Invited Anna, turning to Kai whom she saw approach.
She took two flutes out of his tray and handed one to her elder, then offered her arm for Elsa to place hers in so they could walk inside together. The blonde found the whole gesture adorable, and grinned.
"Happy birthday, Your Highness." Wished Kai with a warm smile.
"Thank you, Kai. But I told you already, you can just call me Elsa. Especially since I'm not even a princess anymore."
"You technically still are." Insisted Anna.
The 'Lady Elsa' title had come naturally to everyone in Arendelle, and she liked it, so she stuck with it, but she would never miss an opportunity to remind her sister of her importance.
"You can tell me all the times you want, but you forever are a highness to me." Smiled the butler with malice, before walking away to serve the guests.
Elsa's jaw dropped, staring at him while he left.
"Maybe now we can come back in?" Teased Anna as she stood still. "I know that you enjoy the cold and that it's your day, but we're not going to celebrate with numb limbs, are we?"
Elsa grinned as she walked with her sister. "Isn't it what the alcohol is for?"
"Maybe."
They chatted for a moment until Honeymaren joined them, following the general movement that went back inside. She was giggling to herself, and Elsa gave her an interrogative gaze.
"I just talked with Mattias and Olaf." She explained. "I recalled how Mattias once made a snowman in the Forest, but a reindeer kept coming to it to eat the turnip he had placed as the nose. He grumbled and replaced it every hour with a new one, but every time, the reindeer would sneak behind his back to eat it again."
The siblings laughed, then they made their way to the ballroom, which was filling with excited guests and lovely music played by a small but talented band. The Northuldra admired what surrounded her, thinking once again that she would need two other lifetimes to observe every inch of the room, spotting new things since the last time she came.
"Arendelle has a crazy sense of detail." Breathed out Honeymaren.
"...Thank you?" Smiled Anna, unsure if that was a compliment or not, and she turned to the brunette.
She then blinked when Honeymaren took the champagne flute that she had in her hand and which she was about to bring to her lips, and inspected it closer.
"I can't believe that you managed to engrave crocuses patterns in that glass."
Elsa looked at her girlfriend with amusement, observing her genuinely admirative and sparkling eyes as she examined the refined item.
"Arendelle's glassmakers are praised in many countries." Informed the blonde.
Anna was not as amused. "Can I please have my flute back? I'm thirsty."
The Spirit could easily imagine how dry her throat was after the long speech, but she enjoyed seeing her struggle when she hesitated in between grabbing the glass back from Honeymaren's hand or letting her admire it some more.
The Northuldra eventually gave it back, Anna gladly smiling and opening her hand, when the brunette noticed something else. "Wait, that's champagne, right? Elsa told me about it." She exclaimed, bringing it back to her face to admire the alcohol.
Anna let out a groan as Elsa bit her lip not to laugh. "Yes, that's the one I told you about."
The Queen gave her a look that meant 'Don't encourage her', and the blonde shrugged, drinking in her flute with a deliberately slow and blissful gesture.
"It has a lot of bubbles." Noted Honeymaren, who was squinted at the liquid. "Are you using your magic on it?" She asked her lover, then she looked around at all the guests currently drinking. "That must be tiring."
Elsa had to hold to all of her willpower to not burst into laughter. "No, not at all. It's because the staff served it in a way to purposely give this impressive effect that you're marveling at. If you tilt the flute a little and pour the champagne gently, it creates more gas and more bubbles. It's a mix of science and magic, in a way."
Anna rolled her eyes. "And I think that it will use another tilt of the flute directly in my mouth, if you two nerds would allow me."
"Here, Honey, take from mine." Invited Elsa, finally taking pity on her sister.
Honeymaren gave Anna's flute back and took her girlfriend's. Then she frowned as she looked down. "But it's empty."
"Oh. How unfortunate." Gasped Elsa.
She wasn't even hiding her obviously fake surprise, and Anna dropped her jaw. The blonde slipped her hand in the crook of Honeymaren's elbow. "Come on, let's go ask Kai if he has two other flutes for us. Such a shame he's at the other end of the room."
Anna let her jaw drop in disbelief as the Snow Queen then dragged the confused Northuldra away, Elsa winking at her sister while they clearly walked to the door instead of Kai who was serving guests more on the right. The Queen shook her head as she watched the two lovebirds escape the party with a light trot and childlike giggles.
She couldn't blame her sister for going away like that; quite the opposite, whatever she had planned to do with the Northuldra was something she really supported, always inviting the couple to spend as much time with each other as possible. Sure, they literally were living together now, but Anna saw the way Honeymaren made her sister smile, wider than she never had smiled before, and she would forever thank the brunette for introducing Elsa to this new life.
She however blushed at what her sister could possibly be doing with Honeymaren in his very moment, and she shook her head with a wince as her imagination brought very specific images to her mind.
"Is the champagne too bitter?" Worried a voice next to her.
She smiled and turned at her husband's voice. "Not at all. I was just… Thinking about something."
The King exhaled in relief. "Oh, thank goodness. I thought I messed up the order."
Anna had an amused smile. "Did you order it from France?"
"Yes…?"
"Then you have nothing to worry about." She shrugged.
Anna could feel his nervosity, and approached.
"You can't possibly miss anything, darling. You did an excellent job." She assured, enlacing his neck warmly as much as she could despite their height difference and the glass in her hand - a stunt she was proud of becoming an expert at.
He grinned to have her this close. Her kind and open minded presence always succeeded in calming his nerves. "I just wanted to be the perfect King you deserve." He admitted, explaining his worry.
She kissed him with a quick peck, not doing too much because she knew that the looks of the guests were on them. "You already are a perfect King to the people. The rest doesn't really matter."
The blond faked deep offense. "Say one more time that you don't matter and I'll tickle you right now, in front of everyone."
While that sounded like a joke and the opposite of a threat, Anna took a deliberate step back. "Uh-uh, not gonna happen."
He beamed as he discovered a new thing about her. "How about that."
She lifted a finger. "Don't you dare. Also, you know I'm very ticklish, don't act surprised."
The King stepped forward and placed a hand on her waist. "I do, but I didn't know that you are scared of people seeing you getting tickled in public."
"My laughter can get very loud." Cringed Anna.
She enjoyed the rest of her champagne under his caring gaze.
He waited for her to finish the flute then grabbed it out of her hand and placed it on the tray of a maid standing right next to them that she hadn't noticed before, and who seemed to have appeared out of nowhere. The King then slipped his fingers into Anna's now that they were free, and tightened his hold at her waist, sliding his hand to her back and bringing her closer.
"...What are you doing?" Blinked the Queen, her cheeks getting red, and it wasn't because of the champagne.
"You stepped back to the middle of the room." He informed.
Anna widened her eyes and looked at the floor at her feet. They were right on the pattern she knew was at the center of the ballroom, after spending so many years sliding on it with socks.
"Which means that everybody is staring at us to start the dance."
The redhead blushed. She wasn't overwhelmed to know that the guests were staring, or to see at the corner of her eye that the musicians were getting ready to begin their piece. She was even excited to dance with him. She was rather overwhelmed because she had no idea Kristoff was paying that much attention.
'Was it his goal all along, to bring me on the dance floor?' She thought, lost in his brown irises. 'But this is Elsa's birthday party. Did he have a backup plan in case she would leave and we would have to distract the guests?'
Kristoff saw her emotion and bent to whisper to her ear. "I have learned a lot about Elsa, since I know her and with all the stories that you've been telling me. It was obvious that she would need her space after spending hours with so many people around focusing their attention on her and Honeymaren. She deserves a break. I precisely trained for that moment. I practiced the waltz with this outfit."
Anna's heart jumped in her chest. Everything in his behavior and ideas was perfect. Her husband had been paying attention to everything and was improving her life for the best, including the will to always make Elsa comfortable, which was a big part of Anna's personality.
"Gods, do I love you." She whispered in a grin.
He answered with one too, then she frowned. "Wait, who did you practice with?"
"The only one I could not get embarrassed around. Olaf. He loves to wear stilts."
She laughed out loud and the King smiled as he began the dance, the musicians happily following.
Hours later, Honeymaren admired Arendelle from above.
"Your hometown really is beautiful. All those chimneys with the smoke going up in lines… It's kind of mesmerizing and relaxing."
Elsa smiled as she admired the view with her. "It is. Most people are enjoying Yule indoors. It's meant to be spent with family and friends, in front of a fireplace… The whole hygge thing."
Honeymaren nodded a bit absentmindedly, remembering what the sisters had taught her about it.
"The night has fallen so fast." Noted the brunette with a breath out, which materialized in a cloud. "I didn't notice from inside."
"The main perk of being born on the 21st of December." Grinned Elsa. "Days are shorter."
"Main perk?" Repeated Honeymaren.
She grabbed Elsa's inviting hand and climbed on the roof with the help of the blonde tugging her.
"Well, your gift needed to be offered at night time, right? Lucky for us, we didn't have to wait long for it to be optimal."
Honeymaren stopped in her move to sit down next to her, and stared at her lover.
"What?" Smiled the blonde.
"You…"
"I noticed? Of course, your anger was quite obvious. You were disappointed that you couldn't use the gift right away."
A silence passed, the fresh wind of the night blowing their hair slowly. Honeymaren looked down, then around, and the spot picked by Elsa seemed familiar, like it had been described to her before.
"Hold on, isn't this the roof that Anna told me you had fallen off years ago?"
"It is indeed." Grinned Elsa guiltily. "But I also almost fell off the clocktower once, and the list of spots to observe the stars from Arendelle's town is a bit limited."
She then observed the ground far below them, and winced. "...Huh. Maybe I should take measures though."
With a flick of the wrist, she crafted a gigantic barrier below the edge of the roof, which could easily prevent anyone from falling; in fact, the protection was so wide and incredibly thick that not even if they both voluntarily jumped on it, they couldn't shatter it.
"You're impossible." Snorted Honeymaren.
Elsa grinned. "Ready to see the Great Bear? It's the easiest one to spot first."
The Northuldra's eyes widened, then she closed them with a sigh when she remembered that it was a constellation name in her culture. "Oh, you're talking about the stars. For a second I thought you meant it literally."
Her girlfriend laughed out loud, which filled her heart with love.
"Say, what is your favorite animal?" Asked the Northuldra.
Elsa grinned, turning her head to her. "You first."
Honeymaren winced. "Mine's horribly unoriginal."
"Reindeers?" Guessed Elsa with a smile.
"Yep. What can I say? They're cute. And dorky, and curious, and way more playful than they look." Said Honeymaren, and her lover nodded in agreement. "And you?" She asked.
The Snow Queen smiled.
"Puffins."
Honeymaren's clueless frown didn't escape her, and Elsa giggled.
"They are little seabirds, that dive into the water…?" She tried. "You've never seen any? They have bright orange beaks…?"
The Northuldra shook her head no.
"Hold on." Smiled the Spirit. "I'll show you what they look like."
Without even sitting up, she casually flicked her free wrist and a little three dimensional ice representation of a puffin appeared and floated in the air above them in a swirl of snowflakes, transparent and extremely detailed.
"Woaw."
"Yeah, they're adorable. Oh, you just reacted to the magic."
Honeymaren smirked. "They look adorable, it's true."
In a flick of the wrist, the Snow Queen made the puffin disappear, then turned to her girlfriend.
"Maybe we should come back to the previous topic. About the gift."
The brunette blushed a bit. Elsa was too clever to forget it.
"Sorry, I didn't mean to be aggressive." Apologized the Spirit right away.
"No, you're not. You're everything but hostile. It's very kind to have thought of giving me a second chance with the map. I… I was a jerk for being so grumpy about it."
The Spirit passed a hand on Honeymaren's face to tuck behind her ear the strand of hair that had been pushed forward by the wind. The brunette was looking down in shame, and Elsa didn't allow the strand to stay in front of the face she loved more than anything.
"You don't have to feel sorry." Said the blonde gently. "I wouldn't have been upset if it had happened to me, but I understand."
She lifted her eyes to the sky, observing the movements of the clouds and sensing the speed of the wind with her magic.
"We'll just have to wait ten more minutes and the sky will be completely clear."
She then waved at a spot Honeymaren thought was random, but several seconds later, a large roll of leather floated in the air to her hand in a swirl of bright snowflakes, and she realized that what her lover had just grabbed with a smile was the constellation map.
The Northuldra couldn't say a thing, lost in her thoughts and emotions. How did she deserve such a lovely girlfriend?
She suddenly felt Elsa slide her hand into hers after the blonde had unrolled the leather.
"Honey, why are you so upset?" Gently pressed the Spirit. "You're disappointed that I opened the gift during the daytime, but why are you so hurt? You may have hidden it during the party, I'm not fooled. You're still tense."
Honeymaren sighed in both a whining and grumbling way.
"I didn't mean to be that angry towards Anna, and to make you worry, I'm sorry. Only… I waited for a whole year to give that gift to you. I spent so many months trying to find the perfect one, thinking about how to offer it to you, how it would go, and I just… I just thought it would be better. You just deserved it to be amazing, and it was not."
Elsa smiled sadly and nodded before resting her head on her girlfriend's shoulder. After a pause, she shifted slightly to place a kiss on her neck, and Honeymaren shivered in delight. The blonde was thankful that the Northuldra was used to Winter's weather and only wore a simple scarf, so she could easily find a spot where her skin showed.
They both giggled at their intimacy. They contemplated the fjord for a moment.
"What a relief." Eventually said Elsa.
"What is?" Frowned Honeymaren, turning to her.
"Well, I thought you were upset for a real reason, not just because you're desperate to– EEK!"
She had just been poked at the ribs, and cracked into laughter.
However, once Elsa's giggle faded in the night, the brunette returned to sulking.
"Still, it wasn't the gift I meant it to be." She mumbled.
Elsa tickled her cheek for her to turn to her. "Honey. You are my gift."
Chestnut eyes looked up at her lovingly. The Spirit smiled and delicately slid her hand along her face, then they both closed her eyes as Elsa moved forward to kiss her tenderly.
Their kiss felt so warm, like their kisses always did; it felt like the stars above sparkled for them, and the moonlight enveloped the couple in a magical protective cocoon.
They eventually detached their lips with happy smiles, breathing in the other's presence, their foreheads linked. Elsa's thumb carressed Honeymaren's cheek and brought her back to focus again. She pulled back and looked at her girlfriend with emotion.
"It's my first birthday with you by my side and it also marks more than one year since Ahtohallan. I feel like I'm reborn. Or living a new life."
Honeymaren bathed in her words and her gaze for a moment, smiling warmly.
"And do you prefer this new life or the previous one?"
Delicate fingers slid in her hand again.
"I've never been more myself than since the day I met you." Grinned the Fifth Spirit.
