Chapter 12:
Under the surface
Chestnut eyes stared at the opening at the top of the goahti's ceiling, not actually watching the starry sky.
Honeymaren sighed. She had tried and tried, but it was impossible for her to find sleep. If Elsa wasn't exhausted and deep into slumber next to her, she would have sensed it, and asked her what was wrong, and helped her. But of course, the Northuldra cared about her lover's health and didn't want to wake her to talk about it. Also, her concern for Elsa was the reason for her insomnia, so it would make it a vicious circle.
She dropped her hand on her forehead with a muffled groan. She needed fresh air.
As discreetly as she could, she lifted the pelts and stepped out of the bed. She was halfway to the door when the covers ruffled.
"Where are you going?" Asked Elsa's voice in the shadows.
Her voice was tired, and she sounded like she was about to fall back to sleep right then, yet she had picked up the very small noise Honeymaren made. The brunette internally smiled at her acute care.
"I'm going to fill the water jug. I'm thirsty and there's no more."
"Okay." Mumbled Elsa.
Indeed, she then fell right back to sleep.
Honeymaren grabbed the - in fact - half-full jug and carefully opened and closed the door.
Walking to the river to maintain her lie just in case someone would ask, she groaned as thoughts kept turning in her mind.
She passed some water on her face, then felt that someone was staring at her, and jolted her head to her right. It was in fact the Northuldra woman who was in charge of surveillance for this part of the night. It wasn't a precaution only taken due to Elsa's state; it was a habit for the tribe to always be careful. A curious bear cub roaming through the camp followed by its scolding mother always was a possibility.
"Are you okay?" Asked the Northuldra, leaning against a tree.
"Sorry, I didn't want to disturb your shift."
"You didn't disturb anything." Assured the woman, who came to sit next to her. "Except maybe your sleep schedule."
They chuckled in the moonlight.
"How are you feeling?" Asked the woman after a moment of silence.
"Good. She's getting better every day. She can move around now, and she uses her muscles more often. She can grab things…"
Honeymaren's voice vanished as she stopped, detaching her eyes from the stream to look at her. "You didn't say Elsa, right?" She sighed.
"I didn't, indeed. I asked about you." Smiled the Northuldra.
The brunette let out a groan, and slumped her shoulders. They had a nervous chuckle.
"Sorry."
"There's nothing to apologize for. It's a beautiful proof that you care about her first and foremost."
Honeymaren smiled.
"And…" Continued the woman. "In addition to how cute it is as a couple, it also shows how dedicated you are in your protection of the Fifth Spirit."
The brunette blushed slightly. It was true, and her tribe always admired and respected people who got the favors of the Spirits and returned their care. Fidgeting to hide her reaction to the compliment, Honeymaren passed her hand on the water.
Suddenly, a pair of glowing blue eyes appeared at the surface, quite spooking them in the dark of the night.
They got startled as Nokk popped his head out of water, but then smiled at his presence and bowed. They however remained seated next to him; they were used to cohabiting.
"You heard everything, didn't you?" Asked the Northuldra woman.
The Water Spirit had an affirmative move of the head.
Honeymaren winced. "Don't tell Elsa about any of this, okay?"
She then realized that for a moment, she forgot that the magical bond didn't exist for her lover anymore. She instantly felt sad, her heart sinking in her chest. Nokk seemed to feel her emotion, because he nudged his head forward and made the tears that started to fall on her face disappear in the air.
Honeymaren sniffled with a smile. "Thank you, dear."
She reached out to pet his neck, scratching the water surface as much as she could. The Spirit then hopped back into the river to flow along the current.
The Northuldra gave her a piece of cloth so she could wipe her hand, and gently tapped her shoulder before returning to her watch.
After a thankful smile and several minutes of musing as she filled the jug, Honeymaren came back to the goahti.
She was surprised to see Elsa's azure blue eyes glistening in the moonlight that passed inside the house. The blonde also had been crying, or rather, was trying her best not to.
Quickly setting the jug back at its place, Honeymaren kneeled on the bed and laid down on her side. "Baby? What's wrong?"
"Nothing." Urged to murmur the blonde.
"There's something." Insisted her girlfriend, not letting her be alone with her torments.
Then she realized the irony of her action; she hadn't confessed her own heavy heart.
Elsa sighed. "I just… I don't know my worth anymore."
Honeymaren smiled sadly. "Oh, Elsa…"
She hugged her above the pelts, and rubbed her arm through the fabric. "You'll always be worthy. Even as a simple, regular human, I swear. "
Elsa gulped and seemed to be reassured for a moment, until she winced with sadness, and started to cry. "You prefer me that way, isn't it? A simple human as a girlfriend? Less difficult to take care of…"
Honeymaren's eyes widened in a snap. Why did she even say that? It had gone completely opposite to what she had planned, and she regretted it sourly.
"Ahtohallan's sake, no, mitt lys, no! I didn't mean to– I'm so sorry, you know it's not what I meant. I… I'm so stupid…"
A silence followed her clumsy rambling, and she just wanted to throw herself off a cliff. The silence only was punctuated by Elsa's sniffs, then surprisingly, the blonde was the one who broke it.
"Then I suppose that we match well." She mumbled. "An incompetent and an idiot."
Honeymaren frowned, trying to understand if she was kidding or not. When the blonde turned around and gave her a tearful but dorky smile, she let out a sigh.
"Oh, you weathervane."
Elsa snorted as she cuddled closer. "You picked a lot of Arendellian expressions, didn't you?"
"Not my fault if you completely change your mind sometimes."
"Or mood." Precised Elsa, in a self-aware but also defensive way.
Honeymaren smiled silently and cuddled closer. "I know there's always a huge lot going on in your mind. I'm not resentful."
"Sorry anyway." Replied the blonde, and she hugged her as best as she could.
Her ridiculous attempts were effective however; with relaxation, Honeymaren soon found fatigue flowing on her again, and she was very glad.
"Let's just stay in bed forever in the morning." She suggested in a mumble.
"Isn't it our daily life now?" Teased the blonde, before they both fell asleep together.
Elsa silently looked around for her pencil sharpener, wondering where she lost it in the pelts. She moved better now, but she wasn't really willing to use energy to shake the cover and see where it would drop.
Honeymaren noticed and smiled at her adorable frown.
"Here."
The Spirit thought that she had found it, but she actually unsheathed her pocket knife from her belt and offered her hand. Confused and surprised, Elsa gave her the pencil, and Honeymaren started to sharpen it with a lot of care.
The blonde observed the scene for a moment, and smiled with amusement. "I know that the adults of the tribe always carry their knife for how useful it can be in any daily task, but you don't have to keep it with you in bed."
"Why, you are my main task lately." Joked Honeymaren.
Elsa gave her a look, so she kept going. "It's because I want to protect you. Who knows, maybe Hans trained wolves to kill you and we could be under attack during the night."
The Snow Queen rolled her eyes. "And they say I'm the dramatic one."
Honeymaren smiled as she finished sharpening her pencil.
"There you go." She said, handing it back, now bright new.
Elsa took it, then immediately grabbed her lover's hand before she fully retracted. The Northuldra startled, and her eyes met hers.
"Thank you, Honey."
Chestnut eyes blinked.
"For everything." Smiled the blonde.
She lifted her hand to place a quick kiss on it, then silently returned to her big piece of paper, leaving the brunette in a blush.
After a while, Elsa admired her finished drawing, then smirked as it was time to do shadows.
"Actually, I'm gonna need charcoal now."
"On it!" Happily chimed Honeymaren, jumping off the bed like the devoted servant she was. It also was because she grasped this opportunity to hide the dumb loving smile she wore all along her observation of Elsa's gestures.
She looked through her girlfriend's stuff and found the scroll of leather that the blonde used as a pouch to store her pencils. She unfastened it by detaching the piece of reindeer antler from the thin rope and carefully unrolled it on her trunk. Honeymaren then hummed a tune as she danced her fingers above the pencils. She knew that Elsa was about to make thick shadows, so she took out the biggest charcoal with a smile.
She remembered when her lover had made them, wrapping long and thin pieces of wood before putting them into fire, Bruni chirping in curiosity at what she was doing. When Elsa had used her magic to remove the pieces out of the fire and cool them down, the observing children as well as the salamander had stared at her with sparkling eyes. Honeymaren too, not gonna lie.
Then Bruni had started chewing on the thin pieces of charcoal thinking it was snacks, and Elsa had made everyone laugh when she ran after him in the camp.
The Northuldra grinned at the memory and took the small piece of cloth that was neatly folded at the end of the scroll, in Elsa's usual attention, and wrapped it around the charcoal before handing it to her lover.
Only then did she notice the azure blue eyes on her.
"Have you been staring at me the whole time?" She asked.
Elsa had a loving smile. "What else did you want me to do?"
The Northuldra was a bit embarrassed. "I… I don't know, you could have stared at your… Big architect page." She said, gesturing to the big piece of paper that Anna had delivered.
"Watching you being adorably careful with my stuff is way more interesting." Grinned the blonde, making it clear that she had seen all of Honeymaren's emotional journey.
The latter had an embarrassed grumble and she clumsily turned back to the scroll to put it away.
Elsa giggled.
She then tried her best to refrain herself from flipping her sketchbook to a new page and drawing Honeymaren right then; as the goahti was very warm, the brunette only wore a short sleeveless top over her torso.
Her simple observation earlier had confirmed to the blonde that Honeymaren had gained muscle. Elsa also felt it when her sensible hands touched her arms, even through the fabric, when she was lifting and moving her around. Her biceps were bigger and tighter than before.
The Spirit knew that it was getting easier for the brunette to pick her up, and it wasn't due to herself being lighter because she was fed thoroughly by her worried girlfriend - in fact, Elsa had never eaten so much per day, the tribe often knocking to the goahti to bring food and culinary speciality made with love for her. The blonde therefore suspected that Honeymaren was training twice as much when she was outside. She wouldn't be surprised to hear exhausted Northuldra warriors complain when they walk in front of the goahti about how she let off steam on them. Elsa knew her lover and her habit to always make sure to be ready, and it was likely that she was training to specifically strangle Hans and his whole crew with her bare hands if the bandits were ever spotted near the camp. The only thing preventing Honeymaren from roaming the woods and hunting for the fallen prince's head was her dedication to stay at Elsa's side.
"How was your night?" Asked the blonde while she scratched her charcoal on the page with a smile.
Honeymaren smiled. It was important to mutually check each other's health.
"I dreamt that you had your magic back."
"You did?" Gasped the blonde.
"Don't sound so hopeful. It was just a dream, I don't have any deity power." Said Honeymaren, raising a hand.
"I'm not hopeful." Replied Elsa. "I'm just touched that you dreamt about it."
The brunette winced. "You said it the other day, though. Dreams are nothing else than a trick of the mind, that replays everything that happened recently, but not in the same order."
Elsa smiled in silence. She hadn't said it like that, and found the Northuldra's interpretation interesting. It's like she was talking about a chaotic Ahtohallan.
"Well, the return of my magic isn't something that happened, so… I'm all ears." Invited the blonde.
"I shouldn't have talked about it. You'll be disappointed by the progress of the dream."
Elsa had a look that meant 'I don't care. Go on.', so Honeymaren sighed and told the story.
She explained that the return of her powers had been done gradually. At first, she had a tiny radiance, it popped back out of her hand like a sparkle when she had tried to reach something, but nobody was around to testify it so she felt like it was her imagination, as she couldn't conjure more. Then a few days later, another outburst happened, this time bigger; she could even craft small objects, and was delighted to find out; but after showing it off to Anna and her, she found herself unable to do so, and the day after, it was like it never had happened. And so on for the following day, and the following day…
"And actually, you never truly got them back. I woke up all of a sudden and couldn't quite… See how it ended up."
She expected her girlfriend to pout or even sulk at her story, but the blonde was cuddling to her with a smile.
"Now I know that you'll never leave my side, because you'll want to be there when it finally comes back." Said Elsa.
Honeymaren grinned. "You got that right. And I love the optimistic tone."
Elsa sighed dramatically. "Anna kind of forbids me to think that it's permanent."
The brunette smiled.
'What's sad in that, is that Anna is the one of us who thinks the most about planning a new life for you if it turns out it is…'
Her thoughts were interrupted by the sound of Elsa's belly rumbling. The blonde blushed deeply, and Honeymaren grinned.
"I should have guessed that spending the morning in bed talking would make us forget how important breakfast is. I'll be right back." She said, hopping off bed to grab something to eat outside.
She put on clothes to face the difference of temperature, and moved to the door.
"Wait!" Asked Elsa urgently, which then contrasted with the slow and careful way she set her sketching materials aside. "I know that I won't leave the goahti, but… I'd love to get dressed like you."
Honeymaren blinked confusedly. "Pardon?"
Their clothing styles were radically different, and the unique creative touch with which Elsa conceived hers was one of the things that made Honeymaren fall in love with her. What did she mean?
"I mean," clarified Elsa, who could read her lover's mind, "that I would like to dress up at the same time than you do. Like when we're preparing to step outside together. It feels… More inclusive?"
The brunette frowned, then got it. Elsa may unwind her imagination with drawings, she couldn't craft herself outfits anymore, and Honeymaren knew how much she liked fashion. Her understanding smile turned into a tender one, then an excited one.
She walked to her trunk to pick one of her tunics, then helped Elsa put it on, and smiled deeply and lovingly once done. It suited her since they had similar body shapes, but it looked a bit off; it was too small at the hips and on the length, and too large at the shoulders. However, Honeymaren was starstruck.
Her satisfaction didn't escape the blonde.
"What?"
"Nothing, I just love to put Northuldra clothing on you."
The corner of Elsa's lips lifted up. "Am I like a doll to you?"
The brunette rolled her eyes. "No, it's because you never wear actual clothes, and your magical ones always disappear to be replaced by new ones. So I don't have anything for me afterwards to have your beautiful scent. I have nothing to remind me of you and your presence when you're away for several days in Arendelle. Now I get to have many at once."
Elsa imagined her girlfriend smelling her recent clothes while she was asleep and grinned. "Then I shall wear normal clothing more often. It's been decided."
Honeymaren smiled. "It would break me to admire your sparkling sense of fashion less often, but I've got to be honest, Northuldra style will look amazing on you."
"I already tried several in the past." Reminded the blonde, as several tasks required protection, and she had participated in traditional ceremonies.
"Those were borrowed from other people. Like the one you're wearing now. Imagine what it would be like if I sewed one for you, a bespoke one, and it would fit your morphology perfectly…"
Her chestnut eyes were lost in a daydream for a moment, and Elsa's grinned.
"I mean, I guess." Blushed Honeymaren when she focused again and saw her lover's face.
She then hurriedly kept her eyes and hands busy on the belt at Elsa's waist, and the latter bit her lip to not laugh at her bashfulness.
"Honey, if anything, I think it's cute that you now get to have clothes with my scent on it. Years ago, I would have found the gesture crazy, because I had no idea how romantic it could get. Really, I find it cute."
Then she blushed too. "I do the same sometimes in the early morning when you're busy elsewhere and I'm alone in the goahti. You leave an amazing scent in the covers."
The two women felt a bit awkward by their own confessions, despite the clear affection floating in the air, and averted their gazes for a moment.
"You..."
"And..."
They stopped talking when they saw the other do it at the same time.
"You first."
"No, you."
Honeymaren sighed with a smile.
"On the first week you were here, I thought about sewing you a traditional Northuldra outfit. I wanted to see you in your own tunic, so bad." She admitted.
Elsa smiled tenderly.
"It would welcome you even more into the tribe." Continued the brunette. "But the outfit Ahtohallan made for you… It really made you complete, and proud about your new role. So I gave up the idea. And it's stunning, how could I even compete anyway?"
She thought that her lover would start a whole argument about it, but instead, she smiled.
"Honey, I'd love you to sew me that tunic."
The Northuldra's heart made a leap, and she widened her eyes at her.
Elsa then saw her mouth extend in a giant smile, and nearly grew concerned. "...What?"
Honeymaren suddenly stood up. The blonde blinked at her jolt, and watched her walk to her trunk, which was on her side of the bed. She observed her rummaging through it, definitely confused.
"Okay, it's not finished, so I can't put it on you today, but…"
Elsa frowned as she took something out of her stuff.
"There!" Exclaimed the brunette, proudly showing a tunic, and she carefully placed it on the bed for Elsa to see.
The blonde laughed when she understood.
"Of course you had already started, and just waited for me to express my desire for it." She said, shaking her head, and she was glad to not be sore anymore to fully express her sass.
The Northuldra chuckled. "I started a month ago only. And I'm not that good at sewing. Believe it or not, Ryder is better at it. But hey, he can't hunt. We all have our forces and weaknesses, it's okay. So I tried to learn from Torill, you know, who sewed me those pants…"
Elsa nodded quickly at Honeymaren's gesture towards her legs to not interrupt her adorable ramble.
"...But I couldn't possibly ask her to teach me how to sew a tunic from scratch, because she would have refused me to do so. First because she loves to tease me about my clumsiness, and second because you're the Fifth Spirit and she would have been outraged if it weren't perfect."
Elsa chuckled. Torill indeed had quite a devotion towards her.
"So I asked Iren." Continued Honeymaren.
"I'm sorry, the tanner?" Blinked Elsa.
"The one and only. Best of the tribe, as you know." Grinned the brunette. "I figured, if she can make such amazing quivers, she could help me sew a tunic, right?"
Elsa internally snorted at Honeymaren's logic. She may craft her own outfits with magic, and do it with speed and ease, she still used a three dimensional plan in her mind as she moved her hands around, crafting a very thin and solid ice thread passing in loops on nearly invisible seams along her body. It was all about meticulousness, just like classical sewing. Leather stitching may be an admirable craft, it was radically different than the one used in clothing. However, she didn't interrupt her lover, too happy to see her excited.
"So I asked her to teach me, pretending that I planned to make myself a new chest guard. And… Look!"
Elsa stopped staring at her to observe the tunic, and to say the least, it was catastrophic.
The colors were exceptional, that was a fact, and Elsa's heart blossomed at how Honeymaren had chosen the best ones. The sewing wasn't that bad; it wasn't complete yet but it was regular. But the threads were as thick as rope, and in general, it made the tunic look like a tied roast.
Elsa tried her best to hold back her burst of laughter, but failed; she snorted so hard that it echoed through the whole goahti, and when Honeymaren detached her eyes from her beloved tunic to twirl to her, she stilled.
"...It's terrible, isn't it?"
Elsa let out a sigh to retrieve from her beating heart and her interrupted breathing when she forbade herself more laughter, then had another sigh at her devastated expression.
"Honey…"
"No, no, it's terrible, I know it." Grumbled the brunette.
The blonde felt bad for laughing now, and reached out to touch her hand, but Honeymaren didn't notice as she turned after picking up the tunic to put it back in her trunk. She covered it again with all of her stuff, more violently this time, though she wasn't angry at Elsa's remark but at herself. And Elsa theorized that this time, the layers of items placed above weren't to hide the tunic to keep it a surprise, but to conceal it for good.
She was right, because once Honeymaren was done, she remained still, staring at the inside of the trunk with a sigh, like she had just buried her project. She stayed like that for a while, and closed her eyes.
'This was a mistake…' She thought with a frown.
"Honey…"
She sighed before turning to her girlfriend, and her heart sank in her chest when she saw her tearful eyes.
"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to ruin it." Muttered Elsa.
Honeymaren was about to say it was her fault, but the blonde was having none of it. She gulped.
"Look, I was a jerk." She sighed.
She blinked to chase her tears, then smiled at her.
"I will help you finish it. You sewed a beautiful constellation map for me, I can't wait to see what a tunic crafted with the same hands would look like."
Chestnut irises mirrored her love, and Honeymaren's face melted. "Well… I suppose that some sketches from my talented girlfriend could help."
Elsa grinned.
"And who knows", said the brunette with teasing wiggling eyebrows as she made her way back to her, "maybe that you'll draw one for me too, and I'll get another very detailed portrait."
Elsa gasped and tried her best to jump forward and slap her arm.
Honeymaren came back to the goahti with a bowl filled to the brim with sliced fruits. What was odd is that she held it with only one hand, and had to close the flap with the tip of her fingers.
"Someone was scratching at the door", smiled the brunette as she approached with something very small in the palm of her other hand.
Elsa frowned in confusion until she recognized the blue creature.
"Hey little buddy!" Greeted the blonde, melting in a smile. "You were worried about me?"
The salamander chirped up to her. Elsa stared at him for a moment, then chuckled nervously.
"Sorry, I have no idea what you are saying."
He made another noise, and once again, Elsa was clueless. She had a sad wince. "It's so weird. Is it what it feels like to you most of the time?"
"Um, yes." Replied Honeymaren, understanding her situation.
Elsa put her tunic sketches aside and the brunette delicately put him on the pelts in her lap. She smiled at him, the only thing she could do as she feared that touching him would make her shiver.
"So I have to communicate through mimes like you do." Concluded Elsa. "It's really weird, it's like I've gone deaf."
Bruni blinked adorable eyes at her.
"What is it?" Smiled the blonde.
The salamander only chirped. He pointed with his tiny muzzle and seemed to indicate her forehead, then he looked at his back and wiggled.
"You want to climb on my head?" Frowned Elsa.
"No, I think he's telling you that you're warm." Corrected Honeymaren.
The Fire Spirit saluted the Northuldra's answer with a happy chirp.
Elsa blinked. "What?"
The brunette smiled modestly. "He indicated your forehead, then the fire mark on his back. So I figured he meant that you have a different temperature now."
"Oh."
Elsa then looked at her girlfriend with amusement. "You're really good at this."
Honeymaren shrugged. "I observed you every time you talked with him. While you casually used the mental connection, I studied his movements."
Elsa's impressed stare turned to a loving head tilt. "My attentive huntress."
Honeymaren did an exaggerated head tilt too. "Mitt lys."
They teasingly smirked at each other, and Bruni chirped to remind the two lovers of his presence.
"Sorry, little fellow." Chuckled Elsa guiltily. "What did you want to come in for?"
She then easily guessed. "Did you and the others want to know how I am, since I can't give you any news mentally now that… the connection is broken?"
He peeped, which both women knew was an excited "Yes!", and they smiled.
"I figured that you'd be the messenger they would send. As you're the only one that can fit inside the goahti." Elsa chuckled.
"The Wind Spirit could too." Shrugged Honeymaren. "But I would get mad if she bursted in."
"Oh, I would scold her too. I spent too much time tidying up everything for her to make a mess."
"Hey!" Exclaimed Honeymaren when Bruni took advantage of their distracted glance around the goahti to steal a berry from the bowl. "Give that back!" Ordered the brunette with a laugh, and the salamander quickly gulped like a guilty dog.
She gasped. "Impossible!"
Elsa laughed. "Welcome to my life."
"You have the right to order him down! I'm powerless!"
The blonde slightly twitched at the irony. "That was when I was the Fifth Spirit. Now I'm pretty sure that technically, I can't command him."
"Why not give it a try?"
Elsa smiled at Honeymaren's positivity, especially when the brunette fed her pieces of fruits then looked at her excitedly.
"Why not." She replied with her mouth full.
She then cleared her throat, something she surprised herself doing because she never needed it to talk with him before. "Bruni, please light up the candle that's on my nightstand."
A silence followed, awkward as the salamander blinked at her cluelessly. Elsa winced. "Maybe he doesn't know what a candle is? I mean, I never had to use the word before. He just gets it. Could you lift it for him?"
Honeymaren nodded and took it in her hand.
"See? Light it up." Encouraged Elsa.
The brunette placed it very close to his face, and Bruni nipped the wick with his mouth. The women raised surprised eyebrows, and when he let go of it, there was a pink flame on it.
Another silence floated in the air.
"...Did it count?"
"I don't think so." Admitted Elsa. "He usually doesn't need to touch the wick. In fact, he doesn't even need to aim and throw fire. Just like me, he can control it by distance."
"Oh, right. That's what had happened with Arendelle's street lamps."
"Exactly. I'm afraid that our little friend is just hungry and thought that you were handing him something to eat." She smiled.
Honeymaren tilted her head. "Someone's missing your little snowflake treats."
Bruni chirped, as to confirm that.
"Surely we can make him do things." Said the brunette.
She folded and bit into a slice of fruit to form a hole in the middle, creating a small circle. She then shook it in front of Bruni. "Come on, jump in!"
Elsa blinked at her. "He's not a fair show animal."
The brunette lifted her eyes from the confused salamander to her, then blushed deeply. "Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to…"
"It's okay." Chuckled Elsa. "And look, he likes the circle."
Honeymaren looked down at the nibbling sound that was at her fingers, and indeed the Fire Spirit was eating the slice like a caterpillar. "Hey!"
Elsa chuckled, then laughed out loud as her girlfriend raised her hand, but Bruni hanged to it with his mouth, his tiny body dangling in the air, not letting go of the treat.
The brunette gently dropped the salamander on her small workshop on her side of the goahti, and he looked disappointed to not finish his bite. He looked at Honeymaren who frowned, then at the fletchings of her arrows that were on the table nearby, then at her again.
"Oh no, don't you dare."
She widened her eyes when Bruni did, in fact, dare. He jogged to the fletchings with an opened mouth and she used her best reflexes to catch him. Elsa turned on the bed to see the scene, and grinned.
"That's enough, little rascal! Now off you go! Shoo, shoo!" Laughed Honeymaren, and she opened the flap door. Bruni jumped out of her hand with a sound that was similar to a laugh, and the two women giggled when Honeymaren came back to the bed after closing the flap.
Elsa laughed along with her girlfriend and she ate another fruit, then stopped when her girlfriend widened her eyes at her.
"What?"
"What? Look at you, that's what!"
"I'm just eating fruits." Said Elsa, wondering what she did wrong.
Then she realized that she actually was doing great.
"I'm eating!" She exclaimed.
"On your own." Clarified Honeymaren, grinning.
Elsa also pointed out that she had perfectly turned around to watch her and Bruni, and her muscles didn't hurt. And now, she was sitting on the bed, but without the need to hold to the wall.
They exchanged a grin, and giggled together in victory as they ate.
The blonde felt so much better already. Laughing along with her girlfriend and the Fire Spirit did some good to her.
The next morning, Honeymaren woke up from her dream with a groan. She however didn't groan too loud; she sensed that Elsa was still asleep next to her, and didn't want to wake her up. After a further check, she indeed attested of it when she turned her head, the blonde curled against herself and seemingly in a deep slumber.
Judging by the light of the room, it would soon be dawn, and Honeymaren concluded that she could stay awake until she heard the first moves around the camp, to help the Northuldra in their tasks; she could make herself useful and forget her stupid dream.
She lifted a hand and slammed it on her forehead then rubbed her fringe and her eyes, the remnants of the dream coming to her.
The brunette had dreamt that she wanted to go hunt for hares to prepare a food specialty for her girlfriend, but despite all her experience in snare traps, and her clever placements in the evening, she hadn't caught a single one when the morning came. She found it weird and wondered if hares had changed their burrow locations since the last time she had chased them, indeed not being the one in charge of hunting small prey in a long time. But Ryder had insisted that he saw several hares during the day.
Determined, Honeymaren then placed even more snares for the following night, and in the morning, she found two hares trapped in them, a victory she was very proud of, so proud even that she held them with a glorious expression as she brought them to the camp at breakfast.
Then her face decomposed when she saw everyone laughing at her, with Ryder sitting in the middle. They revealed that Ryder had been hunting two hares - therefore better than her - and had been mocking her by placing them in her snares during the night.
Intensely ashamed, Honeymaren felt inefficient and shameful, and the sole upset feeling brought her to reality again as she woke up.
'Why would Ryder even do that…?' She thought, knowing her brother and how he would never hunt hares, but also would never set such a prank on her. 'I'm so stupid…'
She stared at the ceiling with an eye roll at her own imagination, and sighed.
Suddenly, Elsa shifted violently at her side and it startled her. The blonde sat up in a jolt and gasped.
"Are you alright?" Worried Honeymaren, her eyes wide as she turned. "What is it, love? Did you have a nightmare again?"
Then Elsa turned to her, and in the semi-darkness, Honeymaren noticed that her girlfriend was smiling. Beaming, even, and her eyes started glistening.
"Gale." She whispered in disbelief.
"...Yes?" Frowned Honeymaren.
"Gale!" Repeated Elsa again, louder and higher, this time sitting on her knees, her head up, like she was listening to something.
The brunette was confused, staring at her girlfriend like she had lost her mind. A silence passed, then Elsa gasped again and sobbed.
Honeymaren urged at her side, observing her in alarm. And she realized that the sobbing was of happiness. Elsa excitedly turned to her girlfriend.
"I can hear her. She's twirling and she's up in the woods in the west and she… She just sensed me back! And…!" Shouted the blonde with a wide smile, her emotion making her blabber. "I can hear her!"
The Northuldra widened her eyes in astonishment, watching as Elsa crouched on the bed.
"Nokk… The Giants!" She gasped, her tears renewed when she felt every single one of the Giants sense her back, like connections that had been made again after centuries, that she thought she would lose forever. "Bruni!" She exclaimed, feeling the happy salamander chirps in the distance as he got excited to have her back.
She stood up from the bed, her feet touching the floor for the first time in a long while. Honeymaren instinctively threw herself forward to catch her as she knew she would lose her balance, but nothing happened.
Elsa looked down at her own body, stunned by the miracle, and at Honeymaren, who was just as speechless. She felt her beloved magic course through her veins again. She looked at her hands, then the stare she gave her girlfriend was one of blissed disbelief, a smile that was mirrored on the brunette's face.
"Mitt lys..."
Elsa was about to say something, when she gasped as she perceived something else.
"I can hear Ahtohallan!" She cried, bouncing like an overexcited child, and Honeymaren had to say, her joy was contagious.
The blonde slowly looked at her left arm and extended it. A suspense floated in the air, then she briskly jolted her arm back and forward, before hissing in pain. She curled up with her hand against her chest, like she just received a jolt of electricity.
Honeymaren jumped at the edge of the bed. "Easy, easy. Go slowly."
She watched her girlfriend looking at her hands again with a breathing still heavy from her excited jumps.
"Knowing you, you probably immediately thought of making a big thing, uh?" Grinned Honeymaren. "Try something smaller. Maybe craft some snowflakes first."
Elsa had a guilty smile. She let out a long exhale, and Honeymaren did too, both women focused and impatient as they stared at her hands.
The Spirit closed her eyes, joined her fingers together on each hand, and spread them in one swift move. Snowflakes popped up softly from both of them, twirling in the air of the goahti and bathing it in a halo of ice blue light.
The sensation in her fingers was unmistakable, and Elsa opened her eyes with a tearful gasp. She did the gesture again, and more and more snowflakes added to the dance of the others. With a huge smile, she aimed at the ceiling and formed a circle arc with her arms, making it snow in her home. She looked up in awe, the snowflakes reflecting on her big azure blue eyes.
Honeymaren cried at the sole vision of the Snow Queen admiring her own magic, as if it were the first time she had ever seen it. She was touched to the core to see Elsa finally seeing herself like the others did. She placed a hand over her heart, staring at her girlfriend while tears rolled down her face.
Elsa now understood why Anna's eyes filled with that intense admiration everytime she made something appear out of nowhere in her hands. She had never truly grasped how and why it was amazing, and thought that her sister always exaggerated her praise, but in that moment, she knew. She saw. She admired the beauty of her ice and snow powers like it actually was.
She soon couldn't admire it anymore, however, for new tears blurred her vision.
She gasped in utter happiness, rubbing them but her sobs were greater and greater. Thankfully, they were only tears of happiness, relief and delight, and she turned to Honeymaren who was beaming at her.
The blonde jumped in her arms and hugged her fiercely, resulting in both of them falling on the bed in laughter. Elsa peppered the whole face and hair of Honeymaren with loving kisses, and the latter grinned openly. She could hear the Spirit whimper and gasp at the familiar sensation finally coming back to her lips, but also at how amazing it was to have those feelings roaming her body again.
Nevertheless, above those tingling sensations, the balance and the feeling to be utterly complete when in possession of her magic and in Honeymaren's embrace finally returned to her, and she felt happier than she had ever been in a long while.
"Gods I love you." She whispered in her girlfriend's neck, and Honeymaren's skin tickled at the familiar fresh sensation of her breath.
"You take the words out of my mouth", admitted Honeymaren. "Though I didn't do anything."
Elsa detached from the hug in one swift move, sitting up, her face in shock while happy tears still traced lines on her cheeks.
"Are you kidding? It's all thanks to you!"
Honeymaren shook her head. "No, your body simply dealt with the toxin, like Sonya predicted, it has nothing to do with me."
She received a gentle slap on the arm. "Wow! Hey!"
"Quit being modest when I tell you that you're the reason why I was able to go through this."
The Northuldra grinned as she rubbed her arm. "Alright, alright… Are you sure it wasn't simply due to playing with Bruni yesterday?"
Elsa lifted another warning hand for a slap and they both giggled.
"Now I regret that you can touch me without consequences, because I didn't miss your violence." Joked Honeymaren.
Elsa literally was the less violent person she had ever met, so the tease didn't impact the blonde, who rolled her eyes.
She then closed them, in a familiar fashion that Honeymaren recognized as being a Nokk call, and she grabbed Elsa's shoulder.
"No, wait!"
The blonde blinked, worried. "What?"
Honeymaren breathed out.
"Listen, I know that you can't wait to go to Arendelle to tell your sister and everyone, I know you by heart, but you're too weak for now."
"What? But you just saw me do–" Started Elsa with a frown, but her girlfriend cut her.
"Mitt lys, please. Just wait."
Elsa stared at her with a scoff.
"...To make me happy?" Implored Honeymaren.
Now that was a request that the blonde couldn't turn down. Honeymaren had done so much for her for the past days. The Spirit let herself drop on the bed next to her, and the brunette moved forward to shift next to her.
"One hour, for good measure? I don't want to learn from merchants that you died like an idiot halfway there because you fainted in the middle of nowhere."
Elsa snorted. "Fine. One hour."
"Thanks."
A silence floated in the goahti.
"And I suppose that you don't want me to pass the time by having fun with my magic?" Asked the Spirit with a tilt of the head.
"Certainly not." Insisted Honeymaren. "You'll have all the fun and bragging time you want when you're in Arendelle. And there will be more than enough people to intervene if something goes wrong there. But for now you must readapt and rest."
The blonde didn't hide her disappointment.
"Not even let one Spirit enter?" She asked after a while. "I can hear Gale and Nokk having a debate with the Giants about who should greet me first, but Ahtohallan seemingly is telling them all to calm down to leave me at peace. However, Bruni is stomping in impatience near the opening."
Honeymaren looked up to where she was pointing. Even the brunette, who didn't have a Fifth Spirit sense, could hear the little salamander excitedly scratching his feet on the wood at the top of the goahti, where the smoke from the fire was getting out.
"Fine." She chuckled.
Almost instantly, Elsa let out a 'You can jump' mental sentence addressed to the Fire Spirit - the only magical impulse she allowed herself, to not break her promise to Honeymaren - and just as quickly, a blue salamander dropped down in a starfish posture, joyfully splatting on Elsa's face.
Both women burst out in laughter, the blonde's reflexes apparently not acute yet. The Fire Spirit let out happy chirps as he had fun in Elsa's hair, then curled in her welcoming hands that had finally retrieved their natural cold.
Honeymaren tenderly observed the two Spirits as they chatted with each other, both in excited interactions and mental bonding.
"Well, how about, to pass the time before you leave, we make a garnished basket for Anna?" Suggested the brunette.
Bruni was happy to help. It meant more food to steal.
Anna was so thrilled to share her elder's glee that she talked and asked and squealed with an excited tone all day; Elsa also shared her energy, and the sisters soon realized that jumping and rambling like they did, they eventually starved and thirsted themselves.
Or rather, Kristoff told them to go eat and drink something when he came back home from the school, because as soon as he stepped in the castle, they made his ears ring by talking so loudly.
He had accompanied Olaf in town, because as soon as Elsa brought him back to life, and he had been told about her poisoned state and how many days he had missed, he gave a quick hug to the family then hurried out of the castle to reassure the children. The King had to make sure that he wouldn't storm inside the class.
The King saw that the siblings hadn't moved from the living room where he had left them. When Anna was about to start a new ramble on how amazing and beautiful Elsa was and how happy she was for her to feel complete again, and Elsa about to push that aside to praise her sister in telling her that she was the amazing one for taking such good care of her and being the ray of sunshine she had needed, Kristoff expressed the urgency that both dorks should feed themselves.
Smiling at the whole ruckus, Kai suggested asking the cooks to make their favorite dishes, but the Queen replied that they would instead have snacks in the kitchens, so they could continue to exchange without interruption. The butler made sure to alert the cooks that they would invade them in terms of sound.
The blonde laughed out loud as her sister dragged her down the castle excitedly. Hanging with her did wonders to her heart and soul. Confessing to Anna always was a rewarding act anyway. The blonde knew that she rarely opened up, and felt bad for all the times she hid her feelings to not worry Anna. The Queen's loving smile made her wonder why she ever hesitated.
While Anna picked up multiple ingredients to make herself a sandwich, Elsa searched for the yogurt jar. After putting it on the main table of the kitchens, she poured a decent amount of it in a bowl. The instant she dipped her spoon, the redhead stretched her hand forward to take the bowl from her.
"No no no, I refuse that you eat that."
The elder blinked, confused. For once, she was eating a big portion, and she expected her sister to actually congratulate her on eating well now that her health was back. What did she do wrong?
Small splitting noises sounded in the kitchens as Anna started to break a chocolate bar over Elsa's bowl. The latter let out an amused and tender exhale, and after making sure she put a decent amount, Anna handed it back to her.
"There." She smiled, content. "Better."
The elder watched, fascinated. "How long did you have this chocolate bar in hand?"
Anna shrugged.
It made Elsa smile even wider. "Were you about to put it in your sandwich?" She scoffed, astonished. "Along with ham and cheese?"
"Why not?" Retorted the Queen, both on a defensive and aggressive tone.
Elsa chuckled. "You know what, eat some with me."
She first turned to pick up a spoon like she did to give to Anna, then she remembered that, oh, yes, she had magic back now.
A familiar tingling noise of magical ice twirls sounded to Anna's ears, and she grinned as she saw the blonde crafting her an ice spoon in mid-air. With excitement and greed, she grabbed the spoon, and kissed Elsa's cheek before dipping it in the yogurt.
When Elsa came back to the camp and jumped down Nokk cheerfully, she was delighted to salute everyone who ran to her in joy and answer all of their questions, then to find her girlfriend training with her staff in a clearing.
She walked there once she made sure that all the insisting Northuldra had spent time with her, and observed her warrior girlfriend in her moves. Elsa wondered if Honeymaren's huntress senses had made her aware of her presence or if she were too focused in her sequences to do so. The Spirit paid attention to how determined she was as she hit the wood targets tied to the trees.
At some point, she hit one too hard and it twirled off its knot, falling loose and hitting the ground.
Honeymaren let out a sigh, muttering something in Northuldrian about tightening the ropes, and she walked to pick it up. She twirled her staff in her hand while she wiped the sweat off her forehead as it was falling to her eyebrows.
Suddenly, the target levitated from the ground in a twirl of snowy wind, and she twitched in surprise at the unmistakable and familiar bright blue; she twirled around when the target flew above her head, and found her lover catching the wood panel in the air with a big smile, making a show at crafting thick ice rope in a flick of the wrist.
"You need to make sailing knots if you want it to resist your killing blows." Teased the Snow Queen as she fastened the rope. "Here, I'll make a palomar."
Honeymaren's face lit up like she had just witnessed a goddess walking from heaven. Somehow, seeing Elsa in perfect health and standing in the Forest tugged something strong in her, and she felt like she was falling in love with her for the first time again.
"Mitt lys!" She gasped, the genuine love in the nickname overflowing from her as her tense shoulders from the serious training slumped in adoration.
She rushed to grasp her waist, making her twirl around as she lovingly squeezed her. Elsa's laughter sounded in the clearing, her arms holding to her dear lover as she hugged her back.
They calmed down and closed their eyes as they embraced for a moment with their feet on the ground, both lost in the feeling of being close again.
"I must smell awful. Let's go to the goahti and I'll wash up." Laughed Honeymaren in Elsa's hair.
"I don't mind it." Assured the blonde, though they eventually went back to their home, under the happy stares of the Northuldra they walked by.
Elsa closed the flap behind them and sat on the bed, laying on her hands. Once Honeymaren put her staff back against the wall next to the door and poured water in a bucket, she turned around, and saw her girlfriend smiling at her.
"What?"
"...What?"
"What are you looking at?"
The Spirit's smile widened. "Your outfit. I like that you're wearing a sleeveless shirt."
The brunette obviously understood that she liked to have a view on her bare arms, but defended herself.
"It's because I trained for a long session. Also, the goahti is still very warm from the last hot fire I made, when you were powerless. The room hasn't lowered in temperature since you've gone to see Anna, can you believe it?"
She still was a bit out of breath from her training, and it amused the blonde. Or rather, it turned her on.
"It's nice that my state made you upset and increased your training." Grinned Elsa seductively. "I like to watch."
Honeymaren snorted, then grinned at her lover's attracted eyes, clearly staring at her muscles. However her smile eventually faded, and she sat next to her.
"Is practice even useful though? What is the point if I can't even prevent you from being poisoned? I… I was holding him when he shot you, Elsa. I should have been able–"
Elsa's facial expression turned sadder too. "Honey..." She sighed to cut her, then she resolutely switched to teasing humor. "You know, even the most talented warriors can't be faster than a dart."
She passed the back of her fingers along her cheek. The skin there slowly stretched as Honeymaren yielded to her tender touch and drew a smile.
Elsa kept stroking her cheek and dissociated for a moment as she lost herself in the sensation. At last, she was able to experience touch like she wanted, on her own terms. Now that she actually took her time, in contrast to when she hastily kissed her lover before leaving for Arendelle, she realized how good it felt and how much she had missed it…
"I love it when you do that." Grinned Honeymaren.
"What?"
"The way you nibble your lip when you touch me. I can almost read what's on your mind."
Elsa's eyes widened and her cheeks got red all of a sudden.
"Not exactly!" Assured Honeymaren with a chuckle when she retracted her hand. "I know that you're sensitive about privacy intrusion. I didn't mean to make you uncomfortable."
Elsa smiled, still blushing. "I've just… Hungered for your touch. And… Since we brought up the topic of muscles…"
The brunette cleared her throat. "Since you brought up the topic of muscles."
Elsa bit her lip, this time with a guilty grin.
They stared at each other for a moment, lost in the other's eyes, and it was like nothing else in the world mattered but them.
Nobody was going to interrupt. Elsa had talked with every curious Northuldra, and Honeymaren had finished her tasks for the afternoon.
They smiled at each other, then slowly, gently, lovingly, the brunette tilted her head forward to a patient yet yearning Elsa.
Nevertheless, Honeymaren was nervous, and she stopped before kissing her lips. She remembered how the Spirit had shivered at her kisses before she left, even if she was the one who had initiated them. The Northuldra could barely imagine what it would be like with long, passionate touching. She had to be careful and respectful, with all the love she devoted to her girlfriend.
Their first sensual moment after Elsa got her magic back was important, and Honeymaren didn't want to miss it. In fact, it wasn't just for Elsa. By respect for the return of the Fifth Spirit and her powers, it was like she was heading to a shrine to worship her.
"If you want, we can wait." She murmured, hesitant. "There's no problem with it. Are you okay with this? I–"
Her caring ramble was cut by Elsa's gentle hand on her cheek, and Honeymaren withdrew a bit to observe the confident azure blue eyes.
"With you, I always will." Murmured the Spirit.
Honeymaren grinned and had a low appreciative hum. She gently leaned forward to put her hands on the covers on each side of Elsa's hips, then firmly captured her lips.
The blonde closed her eyes in rapture and her heart and soul exploded; now that her magic was coursing through her veins again as new, she felt the kiss a hundred times over.
Every single electrical sensation she had when they touched during her feverish state was nothing compared to the detonation she felt now, delight roaming her skin and giving her goosebumps absolutely everywhere.
Honeymaren slightly retracted when she felt her shiver.
"Are you alright?"
Elsa nodded with a tearful chuckle, and pressed her forehead against hers. "Yes. I can finally feel normally again." She confessed, her heart beating fast.
Honeymaren loved to hear Elsa's point of view, and the word 'normal'.
This was her normal life, the normal life she wanted. This was how she felt complete. With her magic, with her girlfriend.
The Spirit grabbed her collar to close the gap between their bodies.
"If there's anything you have to do, it's to not stop..." She whispered heavily.
And her wish was immediately granted as Honeymaren kissed her deeply, then grinned and bent to kiss the pulse point at her neck, leaving the blonde gasping.
The hold of Elsa's hand on her bare arm turned cold and the brunette moaned at the sensation of thin ice curls covering her skin, then the Spirit's other hand stopped holding her colar to go down.
She slipped her fingers under the hem of Honeymaren's shirt and caressed her abs. Then she slowly gripped it to take it off, the brunette helping her while they still kissed soundly.
She now was topless, but they clearly didn't spend the next minutes washing up.
The Fifth Spirit inhaled the air of the Forest happily as she walked. Her senses were acute again; she felt one with the woods, with Nature itself, and she had the soothing feeling to be complete once more.
Elsa lifted her head to the skies and blessed Ahtohallan as she made her way back to the goahti.
"Still in bed?" She snorted when she entered and saw the bump under the covers.
She lifted the opened letter she had in hand. "Anna was earlier than you to wake up, that's a first."
Honeymaren mumbled as she woke up, and understood that Elsa had just received a message from her sister via Gale.
The brunette huffed in reply to her sass. "What makes you think that she wasn't in bed when she wrote her letter?"
Elsa laughed as she neatly folded the paper. "You have a point. Are you okay, though?"
"Yeah, I'm just really tired this morning…" Mumbled Honeymaren as she rubbed her eyes.
The Spirit widened hers and rushed to the bed, dropping the letter she had planned to store in the usual wooden box of the shelf. The paper twirled in the air to the floor, and before it even reached it, Elsa was kneeling on the pelts in front of her girlfriend.
"Is it fever?"
She quickly applied her forearm against Honeymaren's forehead. The latter sighed at the anxious affection.
"I'm not sick. I'm just tired." She assured, then smiled at her speed. "You definitely got your agility back, my stamina goddess."
Elsa stuck out her tongue at her tease. She picked up Anna's letter and resumed storing it with the others. "Excuse me for getting worried."
Honeymaren yawned for the third time in the morning. "I'm okay. It's been a long week, that's all."
Elsa's happy face vanished. Of course her girlfriend was exhausted with everything that had happened. It was a heavy load, mentally and physically.
The blonde turned and was about to say something, but the Northuldra was faster. "How about we sleep all day? And don't you dare find an excuse. You've finished your morning routine. Checking on the camp, check, checking on the Spirits, check, catching Anna's possible letter, check. And for once, I don't have anything to do all morning. I'm not on any chore or duty today. I'm not in charge of breakfast, not in charge of hunting, and neither of handiwork."
She smiled at her lover, who had a shy happy smile at this confirmation. "Rotating the tasks between people has its perks." Pointed Honeymaren.
A silence passed, during which Elsa bit her lip with a frown. "I'm sorry, but I think I'll pass."
Her answer surprised the brunette, who widened her eyes.
"I'm the most surprised of us both." Continued the Spirit when she saw her expression. "When we're both free in our schedules, in the very rare moments it happens, you're usually quick on your feet to drag me outside to go for a ride."
Honeymaren frowned, still holding her gaze on Elsa. "I told you, I'm tired."
The short argument she gave back against Elsa's strong remark was the last proof that something was up. The blonde came back to the bed to sit on the edge. "Yes, but why?"
Honeymaren was about to give a sassy comment on their physical activity the day before, when Elsa raised a warning hand. "Please, tell me the truth. What's on your mind?"
Chestnut eyes widened in return. Then they averted the wise azure blue ones. Of course Elsa knew about tiredness due to depression.
"I…"
She sighed. "You're gonna think I'm ridiculous."
Elsa smiled, and held her hands in hers. "Try me."
The brunette took a breath in. "I feel like I'm worthless. You used to depend on me to… To live, and now it's been days that you're back as the Fifth Spirit and… I love to watch your aura, I really do, it's not the problem, I just…"
She sighed again, her eyes filling with tears. She clenched her eyes shut.
"Hey, hey." Murmured her lover, hooking a finger under her chin.
She waited for her girlfriend to open her eyes again before continuing.
"Honey... You are worthy. You're an amazing person. The very first moment we met, and talked, it was so calm, around this campfire…" She smiled, and Honeymaren's mouth also twitched up at the lovely memory. "You could have chosen to keep being suspicious and distant with me, but you chose to talk to me when no one else dared after I saved them from the Fire Spirit they had learned to fear, and... And…"
She took a break to breathe.
"You're the nicest person I've ever met. Well, not the nicest, that's Anna, but... Oh, there's also Kristoff, who has a genuine heart, but... Ugh. This is terrible."
Honeymaren laughed at how upset she was to be unable to express what she had on her heart. "It's a good thing you're surrounded with nice people, at least."
Elsa gave her a stare.
"It's okay, mitt lys. I understand what you meant to say."
"See?" Pointed out the blonde. "That nickname you gave me. You're… You're so devoted. And you're the only one who makes me feel that way."
She placed her hands on Honeymaren's face. "Honey, if I feel like myself today, it's thanks to you."
The brunette melted at her gaze and words, and her tears vanished away. She placed her hands above Elsa's and turned to kiss her left palm.
It motivated her to get out of bed, and the blonde smiled as she watched her moves.
"By the way, I didn't ask you yesterday. Wasn't it weird to have me cold again against you in the bed?"
Honeymaren snorted. "Elsa, you're nothing but cold. It's ironic, in fact."
Her girlfriend gave her an adorable quizzing expression.
"The fact that you're the Fifth Spirit, able to command ice and snow, yet are the warmest person I ever met, while Bruni is the Spirit of Fire and yet his salamander body is cold."
Elsa grinned at her loving and nerdy musing, and shook her head.
'Yep. Anna was right. We really are a match.'
Elsa laughed like a child as she hopped and jogged in happiness on her way down Ahtohallan, and she already was delighted at the sensation of the magical glacier welcoming her.
When the Snow Queen reached the dome, she sat down in the center, and exchanged a long time with the source. Elsa's talkative attitude and storytelling made her radiate with so much excitement that Ahtohallan's lights were nothing in comparison. The entity listened closely to her point of view. Despite being the river of time and all-knowing, she loved to know the feelings of her avatar.
"Pardon me, I'm a bit out of breath…" Chuckled Elsa with a hand on her chest once she was done telling her friend, confidant and spring.
The source chuckled with its lights, and crafted a sofa out of snow for her to sit. It was an identical recreation of Elsa's favorite one in Arendelle's castle, and the Spirit grinned.
"Cheater."
Of course Ahtohallan knew that due to how many times the blonde has been using it through the years.
She sat down and relaxed, closing her eyes and inhaling. She took in all the pleasure, resting and delight that accompanied her visits to the glacier, as well as recharged her mental and physical energy.
After a while, a familiar sound of ice squeaking around her sounded to her ears, and she understood, as she felt no tingle in her veins, that Ahtohallan was the one using ice magic.
The dome had been empty of ice statues on her arrival, and Elsa had saluted the gesture when she talked because it meant that the source wanted to focus on her. Now the blonde was the one focusing, looking around.
"What is it, sweetheart?"
Elsa widened her eyes and the familiar voice that always made her heart leap. She twirled to the side and saw a memory of her younger self - very young self, she noted - and her mother, both standing in what Elsa could only imagine to be her bedroom. The Snow Queen stood up to admire it.
"The gloves, they are too tight!" Implored the young Elsa.
The blonde remembered this moment. She had been so worried that her powers would escape the gloves that she had urgently requested for her mother to come. And she had reacted the best way a mother could.
"This is a good sign." Smiled the ice statue.
"...What? How?" Asked the small one of the young Elsa, confused.
"Why, it means that you grow up."
The child looked down at her hands. "I do? Wait, now that you say it, I can see the harbor from my window now! I couldn't before, or I had to take one of the encyclopedias and stand on it."
She looked on the side in the direction of the window, and Elsa's heart squeezed at her own innocence and the remark about the view. Despite remembering her childhood vividly, the Spirit realized only now how isolated she was. The way her life was now put an even bigger perspective on the past.
She then saw something in the memory that she didn't notice back then, because she was turned to the window, and it squeezed her heart even more.
Iduna was looking at her daughter with sadness, even devastation, but Elsa didn't get the time to approach and see her face closer than her mother switched her expression because the young Elsa had turned her head again.
"Do you want to get rid of them?" Smiled Iduna.
Elsa widened her eyes at the sentence. Get rid of the gloves? She had no memory whatsoever of her mother asking her this question, how was it possible?
"No!" Quickly exclaimed the young Elsa.
Elsa's eyes darted to her, even more surprised by her own answer.
But the child was smiling.
"I'm gonna use them to make a cape for Sir Jorgenbjorgen. He will look epic with it! And cute! Like my own personal knight. And, that way, he'll never catch a cold from me."
Iduna's gasp that followed was nearly inaudible, but the resonance of Ahtohallan highlighted it.
"That's…" She gulped, and Elsa could see that she was trying her best not to cry. "No, not get rid of the old gloves, I mean…"
"She had meant forever", murmured Elsa, her eyes filling with tears too.
"What?" Frowned her child-self.
Iduna stared at her for a moment, and forced herself to smile. "You have a wonderful imagination, Little Snow. It will look good on him, yes. The color will fit perfectly."
Iduna walked to the door of the room. "I'll order new ones, hopefully you will receive them fast. Measure your hands and give me the new lengths of each of your fingers later, okay?"
"Okay!" Exclaimed the young Elsa, delighted to have math to do.
Iduna left the room as quick as she could to hide her sadness, and the memory ended.
She was able to hold back her tears that day, but Elsa couldn't. She rubbed her face as she sniffed, then looked up at the magical wall of Ahtohallan.
"I don't know if I should yell at you or thank you for that." She said, her voice waving with emotion.
The purple, pink, blue and teal lights floated around as Ahtohallan formulated an answer. Elsa chuckled wetly. "Yeah, I know that she loved me. I know that she tried to ease my pain. I just…"
She sighed. "It's because of what I said earlier, right? When I told you about how it felt, to finally be free of my magic, something I dreamt of all of my childhood?"
Ahtohallan moved her lights around as an answer.
Elsa sat down on the snow sofa. "Do you think she would have been happy or sad? To see my magic go, if it had happened when I was a teen?"
The magical glacier thought for a moment, which felt like a tingling all around Elsa.
'I may hold all the answers about the past, I cannot know how things would have gone if they were different.' Said Ahtohallan in her mind.
Elsa nodded wisely. "You witness the world as it goes." She then smiled with sarcasm. "Very poetic."
She received tinkles on the sofa, and giggled.
Anna was about to go on to the next subject of the meeting when her husband entered the room with a pale face and a scroll of parchment in hand.
Everybody turned, from the politicians to the members of the staff. Kai, who was as always standing by the door, worried at the state of his monarch.
The Queen frowned. Not that she disliked the arrival of Kristoff, in fact, he could lit up a room by his sole presence to Anna's heart, but he had specifically said before she headed to today's meeting that he would leave her on her own for this one, so she could assert her competence without him, and wouldn't disturb the meeting.
He even was busy taking care of the new tapestries instead, so what was he doing here?
The spouses made eye contact and, to answer Anna's interrogative glance, Kristoff lifted his arm and showed what he had in hand.
"Hans just sent a message." He declared, trying his best to mask his panting even though he ran the whole way.
Several gasps sounded in the room, and the King remained focused, unrolling the parchment to read out loud the horrible lines he had landed eyes on before rushing to his wife.
Anna did a quick gesture of the hand to calm the politicians and also make it clear that the initial topic of the meeting was adjourned. She wanted to hear Kristoff properly. A message from Hans? Who had brought it? A volunteer thug? Did Kristoff's guards arrest him?
Deep inside Anna's optimistic core, she hoped that the bandit had come with a treaty of peace. But she wasn't a fool; and everything in her husband's non-verbal language when he unrolled the parchment already told her that it was the opposite.
He cleared his throat.
"Despite my numerous tries to show you my superiority, it has been made obvious to me that none of you will step down, whether it be the formerly admirable kingdom of Arendelle or your savages allies known as the Northuldra." He read, and Anna flinched at the end of the sentence. Kristoff was sorry to pronounce such words, but kept going. "So it's time for me to put an end to this. I, Hans Westergaard, declare war to Arendelle and anyone who means to stand in the way, and will engage my army on the battlefield in four days at the following coordinates."
A heavy silence fell in the meeting room. Kristoff walked around the long table to go near her wife, and showed her the written location. Anna didn't even need to consult books to know where it was; she knew that it was one of the valleys they crossed every time they journeyed to visit Elsa in the Forest.
The silence continued to float around them; it was out of shock, despair after the news, but also out of respectful wait for the Queen to be the first to react verbally.
They had expected her to speak, but what she did first was to wince and grumble.
"This bastard." She muttered.
Everyone heard the curse, but frankly, in such circumstances, they didn't blame her.
"Ma'am, what is your decision?" Eventually dared to ask a man, the first one to break the silence.
It was a fact known even by the members of the staff present in the room that Anna had to make a choice fast.
"We should surrender." Murmured a politician.
The one on his left scoffed in astonishment. "You can't be serious!"
"It would be catastrophic if we faced the former prince in such a way!" Wheezed the previous politician, his eyes wide as his counterpart didn't seem to grasp the problem.
"It's what he deserves and what he called for." Frowned another politician, impetuous.
"You don't get it!" Exclaimed the man, now loud and clear, and he didn't care about respectful quiet boundaries anymore. Yes, Anna still hadn't spoken yet, but he was present to give his opinion, after all. "It's not just socially, or economically, due to the new relationship it will create with the Southern Isles. Think about–"
"To hell with the Southern Isles." Grumbled a man next to Anna. "They caused us only problems. Long before Hans Westergaard, the politics with this kingdom always had been–"
"Gentlemen."
A sudden silence fell in the meeting room, and gasps even escaped mouths as Anna had just asked for attention. Kristoff turned to her and remained quiet.
The first thing the Queen did, however, and it contrasted with her usual energetic character, was to sigh heavily.
"Please, remain calm."
While many of them gulped and took a pause, one politician scoffed in disbelief. "Calm? How could you say such a thing? War is coming at us!"
"It's not coming at us." corrected the one in front of him, and he had quickly replied to defend Anna. "He deliberately chose a meeting point. Well, a place for the battlefield. It's not in Arendellian territory, as much as it's not reaching Northuldra land. He knows what he's doing."
"It's true that in terms of geopolitics, the man's an ace…" Murmured the politician next to him, but everybody heard.
All murmurs were indiscreet now anyway. The tension was so thick that every whisper pierced through silence.
That meeting had turned into a war council, and it started to get to Anna's nerves. This really was not how she had planned to spend the day. To think she was in such a different mindset barely ten minutes ago… She let out a sigh and dropped on her seat with as much ceremony as she could, then rubbed her temple at all the ruckus the men did around her, because they kept debating at the same time.
"This is something we will never–"
"Think about it, it would be–"
"It's the only way, we have to–"
Three men were talking at the same time, and Anna groaned as she asked them to stop. They absolutely didn't, in fact they were arguing louder and louder, not agreeing on anything, and Anna's voice vanished in the uproar when she asked a second time.
She frowned and sat up on her seat, her previous tired features turning into upset ones. She wasn't going to let herself be ignored, nor let them forget that she was the Queen and in command.
When she saw that the men were about to start another wave of altercation, Anna stood up. "Shut up!"
Everyone was startled, and turned to her. Kristoff bit his lip to not smirk. He did well not to intervene.
"There!" Anna said in a huff, finally having their attention. "May I please have a word? In my meeting? To make a decision about my country?" She rhetorically asked.
They returned to quietness and seriousness, sitting correctly on their seats.
"Thank you."
Anna then, and it surprised everyone, walked to the storage cabinet that was against the wall in the room, and rummaged through it for a few seconds. She pulled out a cylindrical capsule, the kind that contained maps that had not been used for a long time, to avoid being dusted. The item was recognisable and made everyone understood where the meeting was heading, what conclusion the Queen had made, but they were so in awe at her royal moves that they remained silent.
In a twirl, she opened the capsule and took out the roll, which was as large as she was tall.
As for the length…
She placed the capsule against the foot of her seat, and in a swift move, unrolled the giant map on the entirety of the meeting table. The politicians barely had the time to take their hands and notes off the wood that the roll ran in front of them, and perfectly stopped right before the edge.
Kristoff blinked in astonishment. It was like the table had been designed exclusively for this moment. It was massive and built to accommodate twenty four people, and yet it seemed small when it hosted the map, which was a representation of the blank area between the Northuldra and Arendellian lands.
Anna lifted her right hand, turned it into a fist, and slammed it on the table.
"I say we FIGHT!"
Her exclamation slapped everyone's soul, and men as well as members of the staff jolted in exclamations. Some applauded, while others nodded firmly or raised their fists.
"Kristoff, would you be so kind and bring me pawns? We'll make a battle plan right now."
The King smiled widely, hiding his grin. "Certainly, Your Majesty." He proudly said before heading to the drawers where lead miniature pieces were stored.
"R-right now?" Asked a politician, definitely not expecting the day to go this way.
"Do you wish to change my mind?" Replied Anna, and nobody wise enough would retort to that.
Enjoying the agreeing silence, the Queen passed a hand on the map to make sure it would not have folds, as they were about to spend hours studying it.
A man next to her cleared his throat. "Your Majesty, may I ask… Where does this map come from?"
"My grandfather." Said Anna right away, expecting the question, not lifting her eyes from it as she tried to orient herself based on representation of terrain.
She could hear the politician gulp, so she continued to relieve him of the question. "Elsa told me that she saw a memory of him initially using this map to see where he would build the dam. Or rather, to have it built. But he changed his mind because this land is too far from the tribe he tried to manipulate."
The politician had no idea how to answer that, so he simply nodded and looked at the map with her.
When Kristoff brought several boxes of pawns, a politician bent to Anna.
"My Queen, is this our final decision? This war can have a negative impact."
"Not if we win it." Replied Anna with a smile.
"But… As much as I trust what remains of the Arendelle army, Your Majesty, all with all due respect, those pirates will be more numerous than us. Do you think that it will be enough?"
Teal blue eyes looked at him in silence. Several murmurs echoed around the table.
He had a point. Arendelle's army wasn't exactly at its prime.
Anna remained silent for a moment, but she smiled again and her eyes twinkled with malice and confidence.
"Who said that we would be the only army?"
The Sun dazzled its kingdom with its protective warmth and light.
Just below, floating in the wind, at the highest point of the hill at the top of the castle, waved the purple flag with a golden sun in its center.
In the throne room, a gentle hand came to tuck short hair behind the ear of her daughter.
"Sweetheart, are you certain about this?"
Rapunzel smiled at her mother's care and words.
"I'm sure. I need to take responsibilities. One at a time, but in the end, I plan to be the leader the people need and wait for."
The Queen tilted her head. Rapunzel had a chuckle. "My devotion is more than just healing. I want to protect my people, forever."
Her father beamed at her words, and Eugene smirked from the pillar against which he was leaning, observing them from the other side of the throne room.
'That's my wife.' He thought proudly, and he saw as much pride in the eyes of the Queen of Corona.
"I've been the Lost Princess for so long." Continued Rapunzel. "It's time for me to find and take on my real role."
The Queen smiled tenderly at her choice and nodded, her mouth slightly trembling as she held back happy tears. She moved forward and Rapunzel smiled widely before they hugged.
Rapunzel's father however didn't hide his tears at all. Eugene reached out for an inside pocket in his jacket and offered him his handkerchief. "There, there." He said, but only half teased him. He was emotional too.
The King blew his nose loudly and the noise rivaled the one of the trumpets that had announced their arrival earlier.
The Princess hugged her father with a chuckle, then her husband, who deserved a gratuitous embrace because he had been supporting her the days before.
It had taken Rapunzel a long time before she made her decision, and dared to announce it to her parents. Sure, they were very kind to her and open-minded, but they still were the King and Queen, and had a charismatic aura. Sometimes, the brunette didn't know how to approach topics with them.
Did they still consider her as the fragile Princess she was when they all reunited? Were they, on the opposite, waiting for her to spread her wings? Did they expect her to leave the kingdom and live her life elsewhere or to stay in Corona and find her place?
It didn't help that the energetic Princess theorized way too much, a repercussion from her years trapped in the tower, and thankfully, Eugene was there to put a stop and a break everytime she would rant too much when she planned her announcement.
Judging by the way her father tearfully placed his hand on his cheek, she knew that she had taken the right decision. She parted from him after putting her fingers on his tenderly, and went to look through the open window where she could see the Coronan people.
She sighed blissfully at the sight of the land and the people she loved, and admired the seagulls making twirls in the sky as the smell of the town's flowers floated up to her.
Eugene walked to her to pass a hand in her back, and he smiled as he felt that nervousness had left her after such a long time, the knots in her back finally gone.
Suddenly, Rapunzel's bubble of delight was burst by a loud noise when the doors of the throne room opened in a brisk movement.
A messenger came in, or rather stumbled inside, for how fast he arrived and how breathless he was.
A guard made a quick move to stop him in his run, but the man bowed quickly to the monarchs. The King made a gesture to indicate that he could step forward.
Eugene frowned at the messenger's urgent attitude and bent to his wife.
"I'm afraid that your formation and royal training will have to wait."
Rapunzel frowned at the panting man.
"Your Highnesses, an urgent letter from the Spirit of Wind has just arrived! A war is about to come. Arendelle calls for aid!"
Everyone widened their eyes at the terrible news, and looked at each other. The Queen's eyes however landed longer on Rapunzel's face after she looked at her husband.
The brunette caught her gaze, held it, and both women nodded. It was up to her to take that decision.
Rapunzel stepped forward and placed herself in the center of the throne room.
"And Corona will answer."
Author's Note:
I'm gonna be 100% honest if I were a cruel person I'd put a hiatus after this, just to mess with you. But I'm not gonna do it and give you the next chapter same time next week as usual. What do you mean I'm a cruel person anyway? What angst? Oh woops.
Hey this marks the exact middle of the fic!
(also you get +1000XP if you got all the references in this very long chapter)
Thanks for all the support so far, please leave a comment :D
