8/2/22: Started
12/16/22: Completed
YURI
Chapter Summery: Elsa and Anna escort Iduna back to the Northuldran camp.
Disclaimer: I don't own the characters of Frozen, Tangled or any other Disney characters or locations that appear or are mentioned in this work of fiction, Disney does.
NOTE: Decided to split this part in two, so part four will be the last one and 'should' be posted sometime next week, before Christmas.
- Meanwhile, Enchanted Forest -
- Edge of Camp -
"Alright, thanks for your time." commented Emory, with a little smile as she waved away an older man walking away from her to her left back towards camp, soon followed by a sigh of relief from her.
The man was one who did not think highly of her, but asked to speak to her in private. While she didn't manage to completely change his opinion of her positively, it didn't get worse, a small success as far as Emory was concerned.
Rather than heading into camp, Emory lingered at the edge, walking to and leaning back against a tree.
"It's still early. I can't change everyone's opinion about me so soon, but everything's going well so far."
Closing her eyes and taking a moment to listen to the calming sounds of nature around her, Emory soon heard the sound of someone approaching to her left. Looking, Emory was surprised by the person she saw.
"Silvia?" questioned Emory as she saw the familiar woman walk up to about a yard from her with a smile, wearing form-fitting pants and sleeve-less blouse.
"Hello." greeted Silvia. "So, you're Ahtohallan in the flesh."
"Heh, yep." replied Emory as she removed herself from the tree to stand in front of Silvia. "Elsa and Anna freed me a couple days ago."
"And you live with the people here, instead of Arendelle, or even Kaleen?"
"Yep. I like it here." answered Emory with a smile. "I still have to explain myself to a few people here, but this is where I want to be."
"Well, I'm glad you're happy."
"So, why are you here?" asked Emory.
"For you." answered Silvia. "Edith told me about you being free, so I just had to come see for myself. I asked around and people pointed me in the direction they last saw you go."
"Oh, heh, well, yeah. I'm free as a bird." replied Emory with a chuckle.
"Also, given your freedom, I was curious; if our previous agreement still stands."
"Agreement?" asked Emory before averting her eyes in thought. "Oh right, that. You don't need to worry about keeping my existence a secret anymore. I'll still help with your kids memories."
"Well, that's great." replied Emory. "Because I'd like to borrow your services."
"Oh, well, ok then."
"I've already found the child's mother, but I want to see how reliable you are."
"No problem with me." answered Emory. "But like I said before, unless you have a strong connection with the child, I'll need the kid themselves."
"I remember."
"What sort of information do you need that would usually help in locating the child's parent?"
"The two most important are images of the parent or parents, and/or those involved in the separation."
"I see, that'll be easy, but it'll likely be hard on the kid to relive the memory of being separated from their parents."
"I understand. Knowing who the kidnappers were would allow me to deal with them directly, but reuniting children and their parents take priority. So I just want the image of the child's mother, for now, I can work with that. You don't need to bring up the separation."
"Alright then. So, you wanna do it here or somewhere else?"
"Let's get further away from the camp." answered Silvia as she walked by Emory, who followed and after just a minute of walking, Silvia stopped. "Here is far enough." she commented, before extending her left hand out to her side and creating a portal to her home. "I'll be right back." she added, before Emory commented...
"Hey, wait. Does the kid your bringing like animals?"
"Yeah, she does, why?" asked Silvia.
"Just figured I could introduce her to Bruni and maybe ease into the topic of her parents without it seeming too weird."
"Ah, ok then." replied Silvia, before walking through the portal and out of sight, before Emory heard her call out, "Zoe, I need you for a moment." followed by the distant reply of a young girl responding that she was coming.
During the few moments of waiting, Emory called out to Gale...
"Gale, you there?" following a gentle breeze and a whistle on the wind, Emory smiled and added, "Can you let Bruni know I'd like him to come to me for a little while?"
After a few moments, Silvia returned through the portal with a young girl, appearing around ten years old, with short black hair and wearing a knee-length blue dress.
The young girl looked around at her surroundings with a smile, before her attention turned to Emory, who greeted her with a smile, and a wave of the hand.
"Hi."
"Hello." greeted back the young girl. "Are you the friend my Mistress wants me to meet?"
"Yep." answered Emory, before kneeling. "I'm Emory, what's your name."
"Zoe."
"That's a pretty name."
"Thanks." replied Zoe with a smile, before looking around again. "You live here in the forest by yourself?"
"Heh, I live here, yes, but not alone. I stay in a big camp with lots of people."
"Are kids there too?"
"There sure are, would you like to meet them, and make some new friends?" asked Emory, which prompted a smile on Zoe's face before she looked back to Silvia and asked...
"Can I?"
"Sure you can." answered Silvia with a smile, before she closed the portal, and Emory walked ahead, commenting...
"Just follow me."
Zoe then reached up and took hold of Silvia's hand before the two followed a step behind. The group only got a few paces in before they saw movement ahead on the ground, and something small quickly crawled towards them. Emory specifically, who stopped and knelt down to pick it up, and turned around with a smile as she had her hands closed around something.
"We have a friend of mine joining us." stated Emory. "Zoe, do you like small animals?"
"Yeah!" answered Zoe delightfully.
"Then I'd like you to meet Bruni." replied Emory as she uncovered the Salamander, which brought immediate delight to Zoe's face.
"It's a pretty lizard! I love lizards! Does he bite?"
"Nope, Bruni's really friendly. He's not poisonous either, wanna hold him?"
"Yeah!" answered Zoe happily, before she looked up to Silvia, who smiled and answered before she could ask as she released her hand.
"Go ahead."
Zoe reached out both of her hands and Bruni hopped to Zoe's hands with a chuckle from her, before she stroked the top of his head, which Bruni clearly enjoyed.
"Hehe, pretty lizard." commented Zoe, before she turned around and presented Bruni to Silvia. "Isn't he pretty?" Silvia however, quickly took a step back with a nervous chuckle.
"Sure, if you think so."
"Why are you backing up?" asked Zoe as she stepped towards Silvia, who backed away again.
"I'm not a fan of little critters like that, so just stay there."
"Oh..." replied Zoe, before she looked down to Bruni, who appeared to smile at her, and a grin came to her face as she looked to Silvia. "Mistress, are you scared of the pretty lizard?"
"No, I just don't like small animals like that."
"Hehe, so even you are scared of things." giggled Zoe.
"Hey, I just said I'm not scared."
"Then pet him." suggested Zoe, stepping towards Silvia again and offering Bruni to her, which prompted Silvia to back away again, stating...
"I'm serious, stay away from me with that thing."
Emory then watched the brief, entertaining scene of a giggling Zoe chasing Silvia around. Silvia's tolerance didn't last long, though, before she stopped and turned around and authoritatively commanded.
"Stop it! I'm serious!"
With the tone of her voice, Zoe quickly stopped and backed away with a little smile.
"Ok, ok, I'm sorry. I just didn't know you were scared of something so small and pretty." commented Zoe, before Silvia sighed and placed a hand to her forehead.
"I'm not... I didn't know you liked small critters so much."
"I really do!" replied Zoe happily. "Before I lived with you, I'd search for lizards and snakes, and bring them to my mom and she'd react like you did."
"Well..." commented Emory, walking up to Zoe. "That sounds like a happy memory."
"It is!" replied Zoe. "My daddy showed me what lizards and snakes were OK to touch. My mom didn't like me bringing them home, though, but I wanted to show her the pretty ones I caught." she added, before her delighted expression saddened. "But, now they're gone..." she added, before Bruni crawled up her right arm to her shoulder and nuzzled her neck, which brought a chuckle from her.
Emory gave a little smile and knelt in front of Zoe and placed a hand to her left shoulder.
"Hey, what if I told you I can help you relive one of your happy memories with your mom and dad?"
"Really? How?"
"Well, I have a special magic that lets me project a person's memories outside their head, like looking out of a window. So other people could see and enjoy the memory too."
"Ohhh... you have magic." commented Zoe with a smile.
"Yep, I have magical friends too. Bruni there is one of them. He's one of four elemental spirits that live here in the forest."
"Wow..." gasped Zoe as she reach to and picked up Bruni from her shoulder and held him in her hands, looking at him with a smile. "A magic lizard. You're the most awesome lizard I've ever seen." she added, before looking to Emory. "What can he do?"
"He controls fire. So you may have noticed he's warmer than usual." answered Emory, smiling as Zoe cooed in delight.
"Ohhh, so he can do stuff like start a campfire or keep you warm at night?"
"Yep."
"And if he gets mad, or a bigger animal tries to eat him, does he turn into a ball of fire?"
"Heh, he can, but you don't need to worry about that." replied Emory, before Zoe smiled down at Bruni and commented...
"You really are awesome!"
"So, interested seeing one of your memories?" asked Emory.
"Does it hurt?" asked Zoe, lifting her gaze to Emory.
"Not at all. You won't feel a thing, I promise."
Zoe then looked to Silvia, who smiled and commented...
"If you wanna try it, then do it."
"Ok then." replied Zoe with a smile, before she knelt and lowered Bruni to the ground, where he instead of leaving, crawl to and up Emory to rest on her right shoulder.
"Wanna sit?" asked Emory, as she sat, cross-legged.
"Ok." replied Zoe as she sat in front of Emory, while Silvia also sat on the ground to Zoe's right.
"Alright..." replied Emory as she lifted her right hand up, placing the palm of her hand over Zoe's forehead. "All you have to do is think of a memory of you and your parents, and don't move your head from my hand; it'll interrupt the process."
"Ok, um..." replied Zoe as she closed her eyes in thought, before opening her eyes with a smile. "Oh, I got one!"
"Alright..." replied Emory as she closed her eyes, before her hand on Zoe's forehead glows a faint white, followed by her hand losing color and turning transparent, which traveled up her arm to her elbow, which Zoe noticed with awe.
"Your arm..." commented Zoe. "Does it hurt?" she asked, which prompted a chuckle from Emory, before her left arm, from the elbow down also turned transparent, and Emory opened her eyes to look at Zoe with a smile.
"Thanks for your concern, but I'm just fine. This is just what happens when I use my magic." commented Emory, before she lifted her left hand at her side and created a head-sized orb of light, before extending her hand out to her left, moving the orb about a yard from them and expanding in a blink, to a person-sized sphere, prompting a gasp of awe from Zoe.
The sphere then revealed a scene within it, a point of view of a child looking down at their hands, Zoe's hands, cupped together, clearly holding something as she jogged through what was soon revealed to be a forest as the view lifted.
"Wow..." gasped Zoe. "It's exactly what I was thinking. I was with my mom, and I found a really pretty butterfly I wanted to show her."
"Oh, not a lizard this time?" asked Silvia with a smile.
"Nope." answered Zoe.
The three then saw a woman come into view in the memory; kneeling down, gathering a few plants and putting them in a bag resting on her shoulder. The woman wore a simple dress, with long braided black hair. The woman's attention was soon turned towards them when the Zoe in the memory called out to her, giving Emory and Silvia their first look at Zoe's mother.
"Mommy, look what I found!" stated the Memory Zoe, prompting Zoe to giggle.
"That's my voice."
Turning to her daughter, the woman noticed her clasped hands and chuckled.
"My little bug expert; this isn't another lizard, is it?" asked Zoe's mother
"Nope, it's a butterfly."
"Oh, then let's see it."
The Memory Zoe then looked down to her hands and uncovered a butterfly with orange and black wings, which flaps a little but remained in Zoe's hands.
"Ohh, that is a pretty one." stated Zoe's mother. "Do you remember what it's called?"
"Um..." hummed Zoe, before the butterfly left her hand and flew away, which Zoe watched. "Monache?"
"Heh, close, it's Monarch." corrected Zoe's mother with a smile.
"Oh, right, a Monarch Butterfly." stated Zoe.
"Hey, how about you join me in gathering a few more herbs?" asked Zoe's mother. "Then after, we can go searching for interesting and pretty bugs together."
"And lizards?" asked Zoe delightfully, which prompted a slight nervous chuckle from her mother.
"Sure, but you can't bring any lizards back home, ok?"
"Ok!" answered Zoe happily.
The trio watched as Memory Zoe was instructed by her mother what herbs she was looking for, what they look like, their names, and what uses they had.
"Well this is sweet." commented Silvia with a smile.
"It's awesome!" declared Zoe. "That's exactly what happened."
"Hehe, lizards aren't the only thing you like, huh?" asked Emory.
"Nope, lizards are just my favorite." answered Zoe.
"Well then..." added Emory, before the memory-displaying orb shrank to palm sized, and returned to Emory's hand, before appearing to enter her hand, followed by the color returning to her left hand, then her right on Zoe's forehead before Emory removed her hand. "Thanks for letting us see such a cute memory."
"Your welcome." replied Zoe, before gasping. "Oh, can you do Mistress!?" she added, which prompted a chuckle from Silvia.
"I'll have to decline that, sorry."
"Aw come on!" urged Zoe. "I wanna see a memory of when you were a kid with your mom or dad."
"Maybe later, don't you wanna meet the other kids in the camp?"
"Yeah, but I wanna know what you were like as a kid. Please? Pretty please?"
Silvia simply looked at Zoe with a smirk, before she averted her gaze, close her eyes, and chuckled as she shook her head.
"Ok fine." replied Silvia, prompted a delight cheer from Zoe. "Heh, I just have to think of a childhood memory."
"Did you have any pets when you were a kid?" asked Emory.
"Actually I did." answered Silvia. "I had few pet spiders."
"R-really?" asked Emory warily, before Zoe commented...
"Wait, you're afraid of lizards, but not spiders? Those are icky and gross."
"I'm not afraid of lizards. I just don't like them." insisted Silvia. "Besides, spiders are great." she added with a smile. "They come in all different kinds; big, small; different colors; they crawl on walls, eat pesky bugs and insects, and their friendly too."
"Well, did you have a favorite?" asked Zoe.
"Yep, the last spider I ever had as a pet." replied Silvia with a smile as she lowered her gaze. "He was an awesome little guy. I named him Juju; about as big as my hand is now, really well behaved too, he'd sit on my shoulder like Bruni is on Emory's as I'd walk around the cas-uh, house."
"Why was he the last one?" asked Zoe.
"Heh, Juju had an unfortunate accident that really hit me hard as a kid." replied Silvia with a chuckle. "One thing about spiders, is that their really good at escaping things like aquariums filled with all the things they like. One morning, Juju had gotten free of his home and while I was groggily getting out of bed, I put my feet on the floor and felt a squish."
"Oh no!" gasped Zoe, while Emory simply cringed and Silvia chucked, shaking her head.
"Little me was horrified, and a crying wreck." commented Silvia. "I didn't want another pet spider after that."
"That's rough." commented Emory. "Sorry to hear that."
"Thanks, but it's fine now. Actually, this reminds me of a really sweet memory I had of me and my parents that I wouldn't mind sharing." replied Silvia.
"It doesn't involve seeing any spiders, does it?" asked Emory.
"Nope." answered Silvia, before she grinned at her. "Why? Scared of spiders?"
"Heh, terrified of them." answered Emory with an uncomfortable smile. "Small, big, doesn't matter. I can't handle spiders at all."
"Hehe, well, no worries, there won't be any spiders visible in my memory." stated Silvia.
"I'm not afraid of spiders." commented Zoe. "I just think there gross and icky, not pretty at all."
"So what are you afraid of?" asked Emory.
"Bees and Grasshoppers." answered Zoe. "Well, I'm not really afraid of Grasshoppers, but they surprise me when they jump at me. I don't really like that. Bee's for sure though."
"Yeah, bees are annoying." commented Emory. "People say if you don't bother them, they won't bother you, but when their flying around you it's just stressful, and you wanna swat'em away, but that makes them angry and they start attacking you."
"Yeah." added Zoe.
"Anyway..." stated Emory, looking at Silvia. "Let's get to that memory you wanna share." she added, moving a little closer to Silvia, before she lifted her right hand up towards her forehead, although Silvia quickly grabbed her wrist.
"Just the memory I'm allowing you to see, alright?"
"Yeah, just make sure it's the memory you want me to see." replied Emory.
"Alright then." stated Silvia, before she released Emory's hand, allowing her palm to rest on her forehead.
Repeating the process of attaining and displaying the memory to her left, the group saw, to Emory and Zoe's curiosity, the point of view of little Silvia looking down to a wooden box held in her hands, and a few sniffles heard.
Memory Silvia lifted her right hand up to rub her face, followed by lifting her gaze up to a black-haired, bearded man in front of her, dressed in a black suit, standing about a yard in front of her with a little smile. Then the view looked to the right, revealing a woman standing beside her, who had long, blonde braided hair, draped over her left shoulder, smiling at her.
"Ready?" asked the woman, reaching her left hand to Memory Silvia's head.
"Y-Yeah..." answered Memory Silvia sadly, before returning her gaze to the man in front of her, whom briefly cleared his throat before commenting...
"Today, we gather here to honor the life of Juju, Silvia's beloved companion."
Emory and Zoe, looked on in shock and a small smile came to Emory's face.
"Wait a minute... is that, a funeral for your pet spider!?" asked Emory, which prompted a light blush on Silvia's smiling face.
"Yeah... silly, I know, but at the time, it really meant a lot to me that my parents did a whole ceremony."
"That's not silly." commented Zoe.
"Yeah..." added Emory with a smile. "That's incredibly thoughtful and sweet of your parents."
- 3:56 P.M. -
- Arendelle, Anna's 'training spot' -
"So, whose portal are we using?" asked Iduna, as she, Elsa and Anna stood at the shore looking out to the castle; While Iduna was now wearing her Northuldran attire again, and wore her hair in a pony-tail.
"Elsa's." answered Anna with a smile, as she looked to her sister, who smiled back.
"Heh, guess it's me."
"You gotta practice after all." added Anna, which prompted a light chuckle from Elsa, before she extended her left hand out in front of her and created the icy door.
Just seconds into creating the portal, Elsa and Anna heard a familiar voice behind them, and in the trees.
"Hey you two."
All three looked back to the trees, Iduna more curiously and Anna happily replied...
"Oh, Juleka, hi!"
"Juleka?" questioned Iduna, "The fairy you mentioned?"
"Yeah." answered Anna. "This is great, you get to meet her after all."
"Whose your new friend?" asked Juleka from the trees.
"Our Mother." answered Elsa. "You can come meet her if you want."
"Oh, the Queen!" gasped Juleka happily, before she left the trees and flew right in front of Iduna, about two feet from her face, who looked on in wide-eyed surprise at the fairies presence, as well as her nudity. "Well, previous Queen." commented Juleka. "Or, are you still referred to as queen? Anyway, hi, I'm Juleka!" she added, before bowing.
"I-Iduna... it's nice to meet you." replied Iduna, still surprised by the fairy's existence in front of her and re-actively lifted her right hand up for a handshake, before realizing the issue, but Juleka reached her hands out to grab Iduna's index finger and shake it with a chuckle.
"The King did the same thing." commented Juleka.
"Heh, wow..." replied Iduna, still in awe at the fairy. "I've grown up with Elemental Spirits, but this is a meeting I never thought would happen." she added, which Juleka only chuckled in reply. "Would it be rude to offer my hand for you to sit?"
"Nope, not to me anyway." answered Juleka, before Iduna presented her right hand to her and Juleka landed on her palm and sat cross-legged, while Iduna placed her left hand under her right to keep her hand steady.
"Amazing..." commented Iduna, studying Juleka's appearance, prompting the fairy to chuckle and turn her upper body to the right, lifting and present her wings.
"Wanna touch my wings?" asked Juleka.
"Can I?" asked Iduna. "It won't hurt you?"
"Nope, my wings aren't as delicate as a butterfly's." answered Juleka. "But they do produce a protective powder, so you'll have that on your fingers if you touch them."
"They're thin and long..." commented Iduna, moving her left hand from under her right and reaching her index finger towards Juleka's left upper wings. "Like a dragonfly's."
"Heh, the other fairies have wide, butterfly-like wings." stated Juleka.
"There's different kinds of fairies?" asked Iduna as she gently touched Juleka's wing and saw a faint white powder on her finger.
"Yep, I'm not originally from here, actually. I left my village and snuck onto a boat years ago that ended up here in Arendelle."
"Oh, why did you leave your home?" asked Iduna.
"I didn't like the way my fellow fairies treated humans there." Answered Juleka, returning to her initial position, given Iduna seemed done with touching her wing. "They just fed into the bad reputation we have towards them, so I left in hopes of finding fairies that were nicer to them. I found the fairies here prefer to avoid humans rather than harm them, which satisfied me, and I stayed."
"Oh, I didn't realize fairies had a bad reputation." stated Iduna.
"Yeah, unfortunately." sighed Juleka. "I actually want to be friends with humans; most fairies here don't share that thought though, like I said, they prefer to avoid them completely; they don't bother us, we don't bother them. It's preferable to my previous village, though." she added, before Anna happily chimed in...
"Juleka's actually the leader of her village."
"Really?" asked Iduna with a smile.
"Yep." answered Juleka with a smile. "And besides Izzy, my next two human friends were Elsa and Anna, the Queen and Princess of the land; heh, lucky me. Oh, and the King too."
"Well, can I be your friend too?" asked Iduna.
"Sure!" answered Juleka delightfully, before Elsa asked...
"So, Juleka, did you just happen to be in the area, or are you here for a reason?"
"I have a reason." replied Juleka, "I had my reunion with Izzy's Mother, and I was headed back home, but decided to hang around a bit on the off chance you came by, and you did."
"Oh, how did the meeting go?" asked Anna.
"Great! A bit stressful at the start, but we were able to clear the air between us."
"That is great." replied Anna. "Congrats."
"Yep, so, what you you three up to?" asked Juleka, which prompted a proud smile on Anna's face.
"Well, remember a few days ago when I mentioned I could fly? Well, I've learned another new trick, Elsa too. We can make portals now!"
"Whoa! Seriously!?" gasped Juleka.
"Yep!"
"That's amazing!" added Juleka.
"Yep." repeated Anna. "My portals create a lot of heat though, so I'm limited on where I can make them, but Elsa's not."
"Oh, so that's what you two are doing now, practicing?" asked Juleka. "It's Elsa turn, given the icy door there."
"Well, yes and no." replied Anna. "Elsa just learned to make portals a couple hours ago, so she needs a bit more practice than me." she added, which prompted a smirk from Elsa towards Anna, but she said nothing as Anna continued. "But we're also returning our Mother to the Northuldra, so Elsa will be the one to take us there."
"Ohh, I see."
"Wanna join us?" asked Elsa.
"Oh, yeah!" added Anna delightfully. "You can meet our Grandma, Aunt and Cousins."
"Heh, thanks, but I'll have to decline." replied Juleka. "I'm not too comfortable traveling an unknown distance away to meet a bunch of strangers. I'd prefer smaller meetings with humans I don't know."
"Oh, ok then." replied Anna.
"I won't keep you any longer then." commented Juleka, before she stood and lifted herself from Iduna's hand, who replied...
"It was nice meeting you."
"Same here." answered back Juleka with a smile.
"See-ya later." added Anna as she and Elsa gave a farewell wave of the hand, which Juleka's returned, before she flew away into the trees.
"Well..." commented Iduna with a smile. "That was a delightful surprise."
"Yep..." replied Anna. "I'm glad you got to meet her before you left." she added, before looking at Elsa with a smile. "Now, Elsa, would you be so kind to open the path to the Enchanted Forest?"
"Heh, sure." replied Elsa with a smirk, before she turned her attention to the ice door once again, and extending both of her hands towards it.
Unlike her initial attempts, Elsa managed to, with effort still required, successfully open a portal to the Enchanted Forest, revealing a now familiar view of a river.
"Impressive." commented Iduna with a brief clap of her hands, which Anna joined in one and added...
"Yeah, I think you even did it a little faster than before."
"Heh, come on you two, you don't need to praise me over this." replied Elsa with an embarrassed smiled on her face and a noticeable blush.
"Why shouldn't we?" asked Iduna with a smile. "You just learned this a couple hours ago, and are already putting it to use."
"Yeah..." added Anna. "And being praised makes you want to do it more, and practice makes perfect."
"It's just embarrassing when you both do it at the same time." replied Elsa, however, she then saw Anna and Iduna look at each other with a smile and Elsa added, "Wait, that's not a signal for you two to-." before Elsa could finish, the pair quickly advanced on her and hugged her together.
"Good job Elsa." commented Anna and Iduna together, which prompted an embarrassed groan from Elsa.
"Ok, come on, knock it off." stated Elsa, squirming free of the embrace with a blushing smile. "We have someplace to be." she added, which earned her chuckles from Iduna and Anna, who commented...
"Alright, let's go."
The trio then walked through the magical doorway, and while Elsa closes the portal behind them, Iduna took a brief look around with a smile.
"Such a distance crossed with only a few steps... just incredible. It's going to take me awhile to not be amazed by this."
"Yeah, same here." added Anna.
"Me too." added Elsa. "It's so convenient and saves so much time the further away a place is." she continued, before Iduna looked back to her with a smile.
"And there's little excuse for you not to come visit." commented Iduna, as she walked by her daughters and in the direction of the camp, prompting agreeing chuckles from them as they followed. "So, how often do you two go out on dates?" asked Iduna with a smile as she looked back to her daughters, seeing the surprise and blush on their faces, before Anna's answered first...
"W-Well, that came out of nowhere."
"Well, you said your training session with Elsa's portals wasn't a date." stated Iduna, turning around to walk backwards as she faced the two. "So I wondered, do you two have dates?"
"Well..." started Elsa nervously. "Yeah. Nothing particularly romantic though; Stuff like taking a stroll through town together."
"Oh, so... nothing like a little picnic in the woods or near one of the ledges looking out over the town?" asked Iduna.
"No..." answered Anna, before smiling. "But that's a good idea. Oh! I just remembered, it's not a date, but Elsa cooked me breakfast in bed a little while ago."
"Oh, really?" asked Iduna with a smile as she looked to Elsa, who averted her gaze in embarrassment. "You know how to cook?"
"The kitchen staff helped me." answered Elsa. "It actually wasn't as hard as I was expecting."
"Well that's sweat." replied Iduna, before Anna chimed in...
"Elsa can make some really good pancakes."
"Oh? She can?" asked Iduna with a smile.
"Yeah, and I'm not just saying that because it was Elsa that made them. She's genuinely good at making them. The pancakes were a highlight of it, but Elsa had prepared other food too, like eggs and sausage and bacon."
"Wow, I'm impressed." replied Iduna, looking to Elsa, who simply averted her eyes with a blushing smile. "So have you returned the favor?" she added, looked to Anna, who gave a nervous chuckle.
"Well, no..." answered Anna, before turning her attention to Elsa, who looked at her with a smile and commented...
"I wouldn't say no."
"Heh, guess I can't really use the excuse that I can't cook." replied Anna. "Alright then."
Watching the little exchange, Iduna only smirked before she turned around and continued walking.
The trio soon reached the Northuldra Camp, greeted by and greeting those they encountered along the way to Rona's home, which Iduna knocks on the door, before it opens shortly after, and Magna greeted them.
"Oh, hello." greeted Magna with a smile, returned by Elsa and Anna, before Magna stepped out, closed the door, and looked to Iduna. "Enjoy your visit back home?"
"Yep." answered Iduna with a smile as well. "I needed the little break. How's Mother, is she awake?"
"She's awake and fine." replied Magna. "I'm about to give her a bath."
"Oh, then I'll help." offered Iduna.
"Nah, it's alright." replied Magna with a smile and dismissive wave of the hand. "I can do it alone, spend some time with your daughters."
"I'll have plenty of time to spend with them. I want to help wash Mother." insisted Iduna, which Magna smiles at.
"Heh, alright, alright." replied Magna as she opened the door and Iduna looked to her daughters...
"I'll see you two later." stated Iduna.
"Ok." replied Elsa, followed by Anna...
"We'll visit you all in about twenty minutes."
"Alright." replied Iduna, before she and Magna depart into Rona's home.
"Well, guess we can see how Emory's doing." commented Anna.
"Heh, are you her mother?" Teases Elsa. "You did that yesterday. She might get annoyed at you constantly checking in on her."
"Hmm, you're probably right." replied Anna. "I guess we can ask how people are feeling about her during conversation."
"Sure."
After departing from Rona's home and walking through the camp, the sister's greeted and briefly chatted with people, and eventually ran into Yelana, who spotted them and approached.
"Hello you two." greeted Yelana with a smile, which the sister's returned. "It's nice to see you again."
"Same here." replied Elsa, before Yelana briefly looked over Elsa's clothing with a smile and commented...
"That's a beautiful dress you're wearing. Is that your usual attire?"
"Hehe, yeah..." replied Elsa with an embarrassed chuckle. "Didn't really think of where I was heading. Others have already commented on it. I won't make the same mistake for my next visit." she added.
"You don't need to think of it as a mistake." commented Yelana. "You look nice."
"Yeah." added Anna with a smile. "Everyone we met all complimented you."
"Heh, yeah, but I stand out way too much." commented Elsa.
"Anyway..." stated Yelana. "I'm guessing you two are here to escort your mother back?"
"Yeah." answered Anna. "She and our Aunt are bathing Grandma, so we were just going to stick around a bit before joining them."
"I see. So, how are things going with you two back in Arendelle?" asked Yelana.
"Great." answered Elsa. "Having our parents in our lives again is wonderful. The people are delighted with their return as well. What about you and the Northuldra?"
"Good." replied Yelana delightfully, before looking up to the daytime sky through the trees. "With the fog gone and the sky visible, everyone's mood overall has improved greatly." she added, followed by Anna happily commenting...
"Well that's wonderful to hear!"
"It really is wonderful." stated Yelana. "Not only children, but there are adults who had never seen the sky before. Thank you again for that."
"Your welcome." replied Elsa.
"So how's Emory?" asked Anna, which Yelana chuckled in reply.
"You like checking on her, don't you?" asked Yelana, which Elsa smiled and glanced to Anna and added...
"I know, she's like her mother."
"Ugh, come on you two." commented Anna with a smirk at the tease. "Considering Emory's situation, I sorta feel responsible. I just want her to settle in good with the Northuldra."
"Heh, yeah, I get what you mean." replied Elsa, before Yelana commented...
"Emory's doing just fine. She's been eager to help out with all manner of things, and is clearly trying to sway the negative opinions of some people. A few have been, but it's only the second day, and more than a few are set in their opinion. I don't anticipate Emory changing everyone's mind, but I don't think she expects that either. All in all, though, Everything's been good with her; the younger people and children like her. Heh, I even hear she has a few admirers."
"Ohhh." cooed Anna delightfully, while Elsa chuckled at that last piece of news, before she asked...
"Well, that's good to hear everything's going good. Do you know were she is now?"
"No, I don't." answered Yelana. "Last I saw her was a couple hours ago, and she was with that friend of yours, uh... Silvia, I think her name was... and they were introducing a child Silvia brought with her to the children."
"Oh..." replied the sisters in unison, before Anna continued, "Silvia came here? Is she still around?"
"No, she left a while ago."
"Huh, I wonder what Silvia met with Emory for... and she had one of her kids with her." commented Anna.
"You can ask Emory if you see her." stated Yelana.
- Meanwhile, somewhere in the Enchanted Forest -
"This should be far enough..." commented Emory as she observed her surroundings, ensuring she was alone. "If anyone's around, then they'd have to be following me." she added before lifting her right hand out in front of her and created a large square window, revealing an intriguing sight on the other end, Queen Anna angrily shoving Elsa out of her room.
"Get out!" declared Queen Anna as she pushed on Elsa's back, forcing her out of her room.
"Anna wait, let me explain!" urged Elsa, though not resisting too much.
"There's nothing to explain, just get out!" declared Queen Anna as they reached the open door, and Anna shoved Elsa out and closed the door.
"Yikes, looks like I've picked a bad time." commented Emory with a cringe at the sight, as she saw Elsa sigh heavily in disappointment and lower her head. "Well, maybe hearing from me will lift her mood, from whatever happened." added Emory, before with a flick of her wrist, the view briefly shimmered...
- Arendelle Castle (Alternate) -
"Ugh, maybe I should've just kept my mouth shut." muttered Elsa. "She'll never look at me the same ever again."
"Bad time?"
Elsa gasped in shock as she stumbled to her right, clutching her chest, breathing heavily, before she looked to her left to see a magical window revealing a familiar face.
"Oh, geez, don't DO that! You nearly scared the- ahem, don't do that." replied Elsa, recovering from the fright and turning to face Emory, who smiled.
"Sorry about that." replied Emory. "I saw you get thrown out just now. Sorry, I came at a bad time."
"It's ok." commented Elsa with a smile and sigh. "I just worked up the courage to admit something to my sister, who is understandably not taking it well. So I'm just going to give her some time, we can revisit this later... hopefully. Anyway, give me a couple minutes to go somewhere else and we can contin-"
Elsa couldn't finish her statement before Anna's door opens.
"Who are you talking to- what the..." asked Anna, still looking upset, before she noticed the magical oddity to Elsa's side, although given Anna's perspective, she stepped out of her room to see the oddity for what it was, a window, revealing another woman, who smiled at her and waved her hand.
"Hi." greeting Emory.
Looking at the strangeness before her, Anna looked to Elsa in bewilderment.
"Elsa, what's going on? Why is there a magic... window, hanging in the air outside my door with a stranger waving at me?" asked Anna, which Elsa smiled nervously before answering...
"Well, this was one of the other things I wanted to tell you about; but I wanted to get the 'bad news' out of the way first."
Anna's reply was a scowl at Elsa, before she commented...
"You could've just kept that news to yourself."
Elsa's only response was a sigh, and lowering her head, before Anna continued...
"I mean, what am I supposed to do with this information now!? Do I need to worry that Kristoff and I have an-" Anna stopped before looking at the stranger looking at them from the magical window with a nervous smile, before Anna sighed, lifted a hand to her forehead and shook her head before continuing. "We'll discuss this topic later. What about this person you're talking to, who is she?"
"Hi, I'm Emory." greeted Emory, before Elsa added with a smile...
"She's a magical friend I made a couple days ago."
"Magical friend?" asked Anna.
"Yeah... this is gonna be a lot to take in at once, so can we return to your room?" replied Elsa, prompting a glare from Anna.
"Fine." muttered Anna, before returning to her room and Elsa sighing in relief, before following her in, along with Emory before she closes the door.
"You should sit for this." suggested Elsa, which Anna does without a word, sitting at the foot of her bed, looking to Elsa, and the apparently mobile magical window at Elsa's left, before she continued... "So... about a week or so ago, I..." Elsa hesitated briefly. "I... was in Ahtohallan looking through memories-"
"You mean invading my privacy." chimed in Anna with a frown and crossing her arms over her chest.
"Heh, well, I detected an intrusion..." continued Elsa nervously. "I looked in on it, and saw another us."
At this remark, Anna's anger faded for curiosity, and her arms lowered.
"Another us? What do you mean?"
"Another reality!" answered Elsa happily. "A different version of us! Who were in the middle of their own journey into the Enchanted Forest and Ahtohallan." she added delightfully, while Anna's only response was a wide-eyed blinking of shock, before Elsa happily continued... "At the time, the connection didn't last long. Here's the best part though! They had recovered the bodies of their parents!"
"What!? How!?" gasped Anna.
"Different reality, different scenario." answered Elsa, before Emory chimes in...
"It was thanks to me, I'm the 'Ahtohallan' of my reality. I saved their parents in preparation for my Elsa and Anna's arrival."
"Wait, what!?" gasped Anna wide-eyed. "YOU'RE Ahtohallan!? You're a person!" she added, prompting a chuckle from Emory.
"Yep. Like your sister said, different reality, different scenario."
For a moment, Anna simply stared at Emory with awe, before she found her voice.
"So, let me get this straight... the person I'm looking at right now, who I can communicate with, is in another... reality?"
"Yep!" answered Emory with a smile, before Elsa added excitedly...
"Here's the bestest part though! I made a little 'trip' to her reality. I wanted-"
"Wait, what!?" gasped Anna. "How!?" she added wide-eyed, before Elsa happily continued...
"Me and my Ahtohallan detected the lingering traces of her looking in on our reality. I used that to open a doorway to hers. Anyway, I go to her reality in hopes to see the bodies of our- well, that realities Elsa and Anna's parents. But then I learn after fighting the Nokk there, who viewed me as an invader, that their parents were brought back to life!" declared Elsa happily.
"What!?" gasped Anna as she now stood in excitement.
"Exactly!" replied Elsa. "I managed to reach the Northuldra camp, and met Mother."
As quickly as Anna stood, she sat back down, stunned, wide-eyed.
"Mother's... alive? You met her?"
"Yep." answered Elsa, before joining Anna on the bed, sitting to her left. "It was amazing to see her again, and talk to her. As we spent time talking, though, that reality's Elsa and Anna snuck up on me, and the Elsa there was ready to attack me for my intrusion. Thanks to the Anna there though, who has magic by the way..." she explained with a smirk at the ending remark, prompting a big smile to Anna's face.
"Really!?" asked Anna. "There's a me with magic?"
"Yep, and it was Anna that actually revived their parents." answered Elsa, which prompted a gasp from Anna, before Elsa continued. "Anyway, the Anna there was able to use her magic to determine that I wasn't their enemy, and we all became friends. I wasn't allowed to go to Arendelle to meet Father, but their open to me returning, you too, the Anna there really wants to meet Queen Anna."
Anna lowers her wide-eyed gaze in stunned shock at the unbelievable news.
"So, we have the possibility to reunite- well, meet a version of our parents that are still alive?" asked Anna.
"Yep." answered Elsa, before Emory then chimes in...
"This is kinda why I contacted Elsa, I wanted to sorta establish communication between us. Elsa can't exactly contact me, I don't think anyway. I'll still need my Elsa and Anna's approval to allow you to visit though."
"Wait..." commented Anna as the realization dawned on her, before she lifted her gaze to Emory. "Whoa, whoa, whoa! So YOU can create doorways between our realities!?"
"Yep, you can think of me as the middle-woman of meeting your other selves and your parents- well, not 'your' parents technically, but still."
To be continued...
