Homecoming

Elsa blinked her eyes as she emerged from the portal, agasp at the wonder before her. She had seen this place once before, in the visions showed her and her people in their first meeting, but much like New York it was totally different seeing this place in person with her own eyes: Wistermere, Julian's home once lost now found again.

When Julian first showed her his palace in his visions Elsa thought from the architecture that it might have been a country like Constantinople. Now that she could see it up close, however, she realized that wasn't quite correct. While certain elements there were others that reflected the architecture of Greece, Russia, even China: it was like they borrowed things like that from all over the world and combined them in one huge melting pot. After remembering how long ago Julian said he came from Elsa corrected herself again, realizing that those other places would have likely borrowed from Wistermere. In fact it was not just the palace but also the village surrounding it that was sporting the blended architecture. This whole place was like a Rosetta Stone of architecture.

As for the writing, that was unlike anything Elsa had ever seen in any of her studies. At least that's what it was like for her, but when she looked over at Anna she saw her sister had the most curious look as she muttered, "This seems kinda familiar..."

For a moment Elsa was curious about what Anna found to be familiar, then her attention was drawn back to the place they were in. From the clear blue skies over the unique architecture to the salty sweet smell of the breeze that wafted past, Elsa got the strong impression that she was in a utopia. She was so caught up in the moment that she found herself wondering why Julian would ever want to leave this place.

Elsa then heard Julian exit the portal behind her and turned in time to see the portal close as soon as he stepped clear. He then took a deep breath and let out a contented sigh before saying, "Do you smell that, Miles? We're home, we're finally home!" In spite of how happy Julian sounded, how his voice seemed free of tension, his words caused Elsa's chest to feel suddenly tight. Snapped out of her own reverie, Elsa recalled that Miles was the name of Julian's younger brother who had died years earlier, his fatal accident a dark reflection of the one that came close to taking Anna from her when they themselves were kids. It was that tragic event that Julian's parents tried to cover up, which prompted Julian to run away and get so lost that he only found his way back now.

Julian seemed lost in his own little world still as he stroked the stones that formed the base of the fountain where his portal had materialized just moments ago, saying "How many summer afternoons had we splashed around in here, wearing nothing more than our underpants, before our father told us that it was inappropriate as it was far too public for such activities, and how long did we persist after before he finally threatened serious punishments if we didn't take it inside? Such times!" Julian chuckled, then he seemed to remember that Elsa and Anna were there as he blushed and said, "Sorry you had to see me wool-gathering. Guess this place has a stronger effect on me than I had counted on. Well, you've seen were I came from now, so perhaps it'd be best if I just go on and..."

Elsa grabbed the hand that Julian was raising towards the fountain and felt a tingle run from it down her arm and up into her head. Of course Julian had likely been getting ready to form a portal to send her and Anna home, and so had been gather the energy to open it when Elsa had interrupted him. Nonetheless Elsa felt her cheeks get flush as she steadied her breathing to say, "One moment, we're not going anywhere until we've spoken to your parents. Don't think for a moment we've forgotten the reason you wanted to get back here."

"All the more reason I should send you back now," Julian told her, "Once word get out that I'm here it's only a batter of time before..."

"Please, like there's anyone here who has the power to stop you from sending us home then when it comes to that," Anna interrupted him flippantly, "and if there was then Elsa and I can protect you from them."

"But..." Julian tried again, but Elsa raised a finger in his face to silence as she said, "No buts, unless you want me to freeze yours in a block of ice and have Marshmallow push you before your parents. Is that how you want to see them again after all these years?"

"You better believe that she'll do it too, and I'll help," Anna chimed in brightly. Elsa could only imagine that she was offering to help push, as Elsa didn't think that Anna fire power could possibly help her with making her Julian-sickle.

Julian looked back and forth between them, his mouth agape at the sisters' stubbornness. Finally he let out a resigned sigh as he turned towards the palace and said, "Fine, let's go."

After being stopped at a number of points where Elsa introduced herself and requested to get an audience with the King and Queen (she convinced Julian that it would be safer that way an that it would get him to them faster and with less hassle) they finally arrived before a majestic pair of doors that the guards standing there opened for them. While the corridors leading here seemed to be a hodgepodge of different styles, the throne room within was much more familiar to Elsa, its design remarkably similar to the one in her own castle. The main difference was that they seemed to favor blue for the color scheme here whereas her own throne room was predominantly red. Also the center of the room seemed to be occupied by a spiral symbol that somewhat resembels a stylized eye, one which she noticed on a few other things outside.

As for the King and Queen themselves, Elsa noticed that their apparel also sported much blue in the weave. Elsa didn't recognize the style of their apparel, but their crowns were designed with obviously different sensibilities than those of her parents. The king's crown rose to peaks on the side of his head rather than the front like her father's, and rather than a modest tiara like her mother's the one that the queen wore had large colorful rays radiating up from her forehead.

It was at this moment that Elsa was glad that she had the foresight to suggest to the others that they change as the modern outfits they arrived in might have been conspicuous enough to have them detained at the gates. Using her gift Elsa had changed her outfit back to a modest version of the dress she normally wore and had Anna change into a dress that she materialized for her using a changing booth that she also made for her on the spot. As for Julian, he kept on his jumpsuit and just threw on a robe he said a friend made for him years ago based on the outfit he had originally showed up in New York wearing. with the robe on Julian really did look like a younger version of the king before them. When Elsa looked over at Anna had that look on her face again, the one she got when she was sure she had gotten the right answer but something made her doubt the conclusion she had come to.

When they had walked just over halfway down the length of the room the three of them stopped, with Elsa and Anna offering graceful curtsies while Julian gave a rather gentlemanly bow. The king and queen nodded regally in return, then the king gestured that they were free to speak, upon which Elsa drew herself back to her full height and said, "Thank you for granting us this audience, Your Highnesses. I am Elsa, Queen of Arrendale, and this is my sister Anna. It is an honor to be admitted to your presence."

"The honor is ours, Your Highnesses," the king responded, "I am Karl Hynes of Wistermere, and this is my wife Risha. We welcome you to our kingdom."

"Arrendale, I don't believe that I've ever heard of such a kingdom before," Queen Risha remarked with a smile that was friendly enough, though the look in her eyes told Elsa that she intelligent enough that she wasn't going to accept just any half-baked story they came up with.

Concluding that Julian's life might hinge upon getting these people to trust them, Elsa decided to be completely upright with them as she said, "Actually it would be rather astounding if you did know about it, as I understand that it's likely little more than a small province at this time."

" 'A small province'," King Karl quoted, the skepticism obvious in his voice, "Yet you're able to afford outfits as those."

Elsa cursed herself for doing too good of a job with hers and Anna's dresses, not realizing how it would throw shade on their story. Changing their story would just make them look more suspicious, however, so Elsa explained, "While Arrendale is currently a small province, by the time my sister and I were born it had grown into a decent sized and rather prosperous kingdom."

Elsa couldn't blame Julian's parents for looking at them with confusion and uncertainty. She herself had been skeptical of Julian's claims that he had traveled across time until the moment he brought her parents back, and she had the benefit of witnessing his arrival in his impossibly floating wreck of a ship. Still she had to wonder if the translation thing Julian was doing within their heads was working properly, whether she was saying actual words and not incomprehensible gibberish, when the queen asked in confusion and doubt, "You're saying that you're from the future?"

Julian sighed and put his face in his hand, and it occurred to Elsa that she just might have given these people information about the future that she shouldn't have. She couldn't take it back, however, and Julian had done much the same during their first meeting, so Elsa braced herself and said, "That is probably the simplest way to put it yes. And while we could easily afford outfits like this and more..." Then, because she figured that Julian's parents would be less freaked out by this than anyone else, Elsa used her power to add a translucent gossamer cape to her and Anna's dresses as she continued, "...these dresses I made myself."

The reactions of those in the throne room were much like Elsa had predicted. Likewise Julian's parents showed less surprise than the other locals here just as Elsa figured, likely to the time they spent raising Julian until tragedy struck. As if in confirmation Queen Risha whispered to her husband, "You see what she did? It's much like... like..."

"...like the talents Julian showed when he was young?" Elsa finished for her, her undoubtedly unexpected revelation leaving Julian's parents slack-jawed and speechless even as Elsa created a miniature ice sculpture of their two hosts and floated it over to the queen with a glider-chute of frost, "My sister and I are gifted like him, though our abilities are based in different elements. Also he actually had teachers instruct him on the use of his powers at an early age, so he's learned to do some amazing things with them." Anna gave Julian's parents a little wave, her hand blazing for a couple of seconds before she extinguished it.

Queen Risha, who had taken a moment to receive and observe with fascination the ice sculpture of the king and herself as well as the tiny snow cloud that had replaced the frost glider-chute, looked back up at Elsa with an almost manic light in her eyes as she asked with increasing tempo, "You folks know Julian? How is he? Where is he!?"

Elsa held her hands up placatingly as she said, "Yes, we know Julian and he's fine. In fact, in many ways he's the reason we are here today." Then Elsa took a couple of steps back until Julian was just ahead of her to her left, and Anna echoed her movements to stop just beside her.

For a moment nothing happened, Julian remained standing where he was as if frozen. Elsa then gave Julian a little nudge in the back which jolted Julian into action, whereupon he took a step forward and pulled back the hood of his robe, gazing upon his parents with unobstructed eyes for the first time since his arrival.

In the eternity that exists in between heartbeats Wistermere's royal couple studied the male stranger that they had previously paid little attention to before with narrowed eyes. Then the king's eyes widened and the queen softly gasped as she whispered, "Julian?"

"Hello, Mother," Julian said gently, the hint of a smile pulling at his lips, "Sorry it took me so long to get back home."

Queen Risha maintained her decorum for maybe 5 seconds as she took slow halting steps towards Julian while extending a shaking hand out in his direction and holding the other over her mouth. Then she tossed her regal bearing aside as she sprinted the remaining few strides separating them, threw both her arms around his neck, buried her face in his collarbone and sobbed. Though the sounds of her crying should have been muffled by Julian's body, the acoustics of the throne room made Queen Risha's heartfelt sobs seem extremely loud.

When it became clear that his wife's crying would not be stopping anytime soon King Karl silently gestured for all but a pair of guards to clear the room, leaving them alone to witness the scene along with Anna and Elsa. Though she found being there to be a bit awkward Elsa was still glad that she had insisted on accompanying Julian here. After everything he had done for her and her kingdom, not to mention everyone who had crossed his path, it was about time Julian deserved a moment like this. The fact that this scene was so similar to the moment when Julian brought hers and Anna's parents back to them reminded Elsa just how grateful she felt towards him.

Eventually Queen Risha's sobs settled down and she was able to pull back enough to look her son in the eye, and even though her smiling face was streaked with tears her beauty outshone every thing else in the room. "This is truly a miracle," Risha said in a voice that was still thick from crying as she stroked Julian's hair, "I prayed for this for so long but had just about given up hope. I truly began to believe that I had lost both of my children."

"I'm so sorry, Mother," Julian told her in a remorseful tone, "I'm sorry I couldn't find my way back home sooner."

"But how is this possible?" King Karl asked in amazed disbelief, "After that tragic hunting accident I thought that you were lost to us forever!"

This story sounded strange to Elsa, for she never heard about any hunting accident from Julian. He looked even more perplexed than Elsa felt, however, as he started muttering in confusion, "But I wasn't in any hunting accident. I had stowed away on a ship that wound up sailing into a storm and was lost at sea. Could it be that after all my efforts I still haven't found the era where my home is? Well I guess that serves me right for trusting Rumpelstiltskin in the first place. Damnit, the Crocodile is probably laughing right now at just how gullible I am!"

"It's all right, Julian," Queen Risha assured him, "Your father was just testing you, making sure that you were... you, and you confirmed that you indeed are."

"Huh, 'testing' me? What do you...of course," Julian responded, "Give me a false yet believable story and see if I go along with it, smart. Good way of weeding out con artists and weirdos."

"I'm sorry about that, Julian," King Karl said in a solemn voice, sounding as though he truly was sorry, "I had to be sure."

"It's fine, really. I just wish that I had thought of it before during my previous attempts to return," Julian explained, "Could've saved much heartache on both sides back then."

Julian's parents looked confused about what he was talking about, but Elsa understood that he was referring to the times he had thought he had found his home only to learn that merely the equivalent in another worldline. Since the royal couple of that place's Wistermere would likely have also lost their son Elsa could only imagine the despair they would have felt at having been reunited with Julian only to learn that he wasn't theirs.

King Karl smiled and looked relieved as Queen Risha's gaze scanned Julian from head to toe as if committing him to memory, yet she maintained her hold on his face like she was afraid that the moment she let go he would disappear like a lying dream. "Still, you've grown so much, my boy, that you've become such a fine young man," Queen Risha gushed as her eyes sparkled with tears again, "I can scarcely believe that it's been just 5 years since you went away."

"Did you say that it's been 5 years?" Julian asked in surprise to which his mother nodded yes, "I admit that the passage of time is difficult to gauge when I'm traveling between worldlines, but I was sure I was gone for about 14 years. I guess the gauntlet brought me here a bit early. If I had been relying on my own senses I'm sure that I would have gotten the arrival point much closer, but I guess that I should be grateful that I found my way back at all. At least it didn't have me get here the day Miles died or before I could run away, as that would have been disastrous."

Apparently what Julian said reminded King Karl of something as his face grew rather serious as he said, "I'm glad to see that you have survived, but now it would be best if you were to get your friends and escort them back to their home."

"I'll get my friends back home safely, no worries there," Julian assured him, "but even though I arrived a few years early I finally made it home and I'm going to set things right."

"No, your father's right dear," Queen Risha said in a hurried, hushed tone that Elsa was able to just make out, an unmistakable look of panic in her eyes, "You and your friends have to leave, now! Quickly, before...!"

"I can hardly believe it," an unexpected voice calls out, and though it sounded friendly enough it still caused the hackles on the back of Elsa's neck to stand up. Turning to look she saw a man enter who looked like an older version of Anna's erstwhile fiancee Hans. He was even wearing the "charming" grin that had initially made Elsa suspicious of Hans when Anna first announced their engagement. Apparently Elsa wasn't the only one who had noticed the resemblance for she noticed the hostile look on Anna's face and that her hand was ablaze until Elsa gripped it with her icy one and extinguished it. "When the guard informed me I thought that he had been hitting the dust while on duty and wanted to punish him," the Hans-double contined, "but it turns out he was telling the truth: Julian Hynes, former crown-prince of Wistermere, is alive and in our presence today."

"This is a private audience, Chancellor," King Karl said simply, the tone of warning coloring his voice.

"And I'm sorry for interrupting what must be a touching reunion," the chancellor responded with an apologetic smile that didn't look the least bit genuine to Elsa, "It's not everyday that you get to meet the prince who murdered his little brother then vanished without a trace for over 5 years."

"That's not how it happened!" Queen Risha protested, positioning herself between Julian and the chancellor.

"Yes, we're all well acquainted with your story about Miles' dying in a tragic accident," the chancellor said dismissively, "but try as you might you can't hide the truth any more than the scar on Miles' chest of the wound that took his life. Of course we overlooked his escaping punishment before because we were convinced that he perished along with the crew of the ship that he stowed away on, but now that we know he survived..."

"But it was an accident," Anna burst out saying, her hand growing warm in Elsa's but not igniting (probably because she knew how sensitive Elsa was to her flames and didn't want to hurt her by flaming on unexpectedly,) "We saw it!"

"And who would you be?" the chancellor asked, his face looking like he smelled something foul.

"That would be Princess Anna of Arrendale," King Karl informed him, "and with her is her sister Queen Elsa. They accompanied my son here, who came of his own volition."

"I see," the chancellor said thoughtfully, "well I don't recall any foreign dignitaries visiting us that day, let alone any accompanied by...young ones."

"Regretfully we weren't here then, for if we had been then Miles could have been saved and this drama could have been avoided," Elsa clarified, "No, Julian showed us with his ability during a recent visit to our kingdom."

"Well maybe his smoke and mirrors act might be enough to convince those from your little fiefdom, Your Highness," the chancellor said, his voice dripping with derision, "but I'm afraid that Julian's parlor tricks won't be enough to help him escape justice this time."

Elsa bristled at the chancellor's words, finding him to be more irritating than Hans. It wasn't the implication that her kingdom was populated by a bunch of rubes. For all she knew that was indeed the case at this point in time, and Elsa knew that her people were intelligent and sensible, not to mention kind and generous. No, it was him saying that Julian had tricked them with some fake images. Elsa knew that Julian's power was real, having witnessed him saving people twice from rather timely threats as well as being helped by him herself. However, she wasn't able to tell this guy about that as she would also have to explain that he couldn't also do that for his brother Miles too, and Elsa didn't think that the chancellor would accept the reason why.

Just as Elsa came to the conclusion that Julian would not get a fair verdict here and that they would be better off dragging Julian out of there, with Elsa erecting barriers between them and those who want to stop them from leaving, Julian placed a hand on Elsa's shoulder and said in a low, calm but carrying voice, "That's enough." Then, looking the chancellor dead in the eye he continued in a louder yet still chill tone, "My friends accompanied me here because they were concerned about me, so I won't put up with anyone disparaging them. As for myself I had run away before because I was young and didn't know how to properly process my grief, but I came back because I want the truth to be known: Miles' death was an accident, but it could have been prevented had I acted responsibly like an older brother should. Because I was messing about with abilities I didn't fully understand, because I didn't say no to his request for us playing our recklessly dangerous games, because of those things and more my precious little brother is gone and I can't blame anyone else except myself. If I could take his place I would have, the least I could do is make sure that people remember him as he was and not how rumors and hearsay would paint him. I came back to set things right, and hopefully in so doing help Miles to rest in peace."

The chancellor looked skeptical, like he was expecting Julian to pull a fast one, as he said, "You do realize that there's only one punishment for your crime?"

"Unless things have changed radically in the time I've been away, then yes," Julian confirmed, "I've been prepared for that outcome since I started to try and find my way home, and with what I have accomplished in that time I don't believe that I'll leave any regrets behind."

"You can't be serious!?" Elsa exclaimed at Julian, which he responded with what she could only describe as a pitying look. The fact that this expression was so similar to the one she remembered Julian having in the fever-induced nightmare she had while recovering from her severe burns (with the aid of a healing spell, whose side-effect literally turned Anna into the firebrand that she's always figuratively been) only strengthened Elsa's resolve. She turned towards the King and Queen and asked, "Surely you're not going to just sit back and let this happen?" Queen Risha looked like she was making a tremendous effort to not start crying again, and King Karl had an expression that was remarkably similar to the one Julian had given her earlier (though the king's was a bit more sad), but neither one raised their voice in protest "Julian talked about a good number of things he experienced on his journey, and one thing that he would often bring up was how civilized this place was compared to other countries at the time, how he had to travel forward a good many years to find other places that met that level of civilization," Elsa admonished them, "What's 'civilized' about sentencing a man without a trial?"

"He just said that he had done it, what need is there for a trial?" the chancellor countered, "I don't know things are done in your little backwater, but I think that our people have suffered enough after losing Prince Miles at such a young age without us reopening that wound with a trial. Don't you agree, Your Highness? I mean it's not like you came with any soldiers to compel us to do otherwise, so I imagine that you would rather keep things peaceful between our two nations."

Elsa was getting fed up with this guy. Whether this was her timeline or not Elsa didn't want to cause trouble between Wistermere and this world's Arrendale, but the satisfaction in his voice when he was talking about executing Julian and when he was justifying doing so without a trial was edging her past the point of reason. Besides, his mentioning soldiers reminded her of Michael, and thanks to the nightmare she had in Storybrook his death was painfully fresh in her mind, so it was with an iron will that she restrained her power as she locked gaze with the chancellor and said in a low growl, "If I wanted to then I wouldn't need any soldiers to..."

"Enough!" King Karl declared loudly, punctuating his command by striking the ground with the base of his scepter, "Queen Elsa is right. This is a civilized nation. Every person here is entitled to a trial by law, and not one person is exempt from that: not its crown prince... nor his king."

"But, Your Majesty," the chancellor wheedled, "the people..."

"...need closure on this matter as well," King Karl finished for him in a tone that brooked no argument, "Contact the ministers and the other members of the high court, have them summoned here forthwith."

"But..." the chancellor tried again.

"Just do it, Chancellor!" the king exploded, rising to his full height and slamming his scepter on the ground as he did so, "Or do you wish to proceed Julian on the charges of insubordination and Lessè Majesté?"

"Of course not, sire! I will do as you command," the chancellor hastily said with as low of a bow that Elsa had ever seen from anyone.

The king nodded curtly as he added, "Have a guard spread the word among the people as well," after which the chancellor turned and sped out of the throne with the speed and urgency of a whipped dog fearing more punishment. Elsa wanted to take some grim satisfaction from it, but she had an uneasy feeling gnawing at her which peaked when King Karl called out and said, "Queen Elsa?"

Despite how low and gentle he said this, Elsa still felt rather nervous as she responded, "Yes, Your Majesty?".

"Can I count on you to help my son prepare?" King Karl asked softly, his eyes silently pleading. Elsa's mind was blank on coming up with a response, but she managed to nod yes at which Julian's father smiled. The king then resumed his royal bearing and, in a voice that filled the hall and reverberated within Elsa's soul, "The proceedings to judge prince of the realm Julian Hines on the charge of fratricide will commence at noon!" and gripping his scepter tightly in both hands like it was his lifeline he brought it down with a thunderous boom.