Rifiuto: Non Miriena

A/N: Written: 2019 - Licia

The first thing he registered was the coldness of the water and beach beneath him. The second thing he registered was the painful beating of his heart.

Wait- his heart?

His eyes fluttered open, and he let out a soft gasp as he took a breath.

"Hans?" He shifted onto his back, looking up at the younger woman. Her dark eyes widened in shock as she took in the fact that the former prince was staring up at her. "Vanja! Vanja!" He could hear the sound of sand crunch beneath footfalls as the healer hurried from where she was watching over the twins with Kristoff, Matthias and Ryder. Her own dark eyes widened in shock as she dropped beside Honeymaren and quickly checked him. Her fingers found the slice in his shirt, and she tugged, ripping it open to check the wound-

Only to find that there wasn't one. It was gone, completely gone.

Instead, there was the smallest of scars.

"But... how... I... I don't understand... it didn't work-"

"It... did..." He choked out, as the two women carefully helped him sit up.

"But... that's impossible, how... Hans, he... he sacrificed-"

"He had to willingly give the river a piece of his soul." Vanja whispered, brushing her fingers along the skin of his chest. They brushed over the scar. "But you didn't, did you?"

He met the healer's gaze with a shake of his head. "I thought-"

"Then who-" Honeymaren's gaze darted to her cousin, who lay still beside her husband, blue eyes still glassy. She hurried to her, unaware of the threaded soul returning to her body as she reached out a shaky hand, gently shifting her cousin onto her back as Hans struggled to his wife's side with Vanja's help. The movement caused Elsa's eyes to close, and Honeymaren looked up at his voice.

"Charlotte?" She met his gaze, as he took her hand, ice cold in his. "No. It had to work. It brought me back, it has to have brought her back," He pressed a firm kiss to his wife's knuckles. "Charlotte, please. I know you came back, it can't have just been me; it was both of us. She sent both of us back, she knew what we had to do-"

"She?" Honeymaren asked, brow furrowing at his words, as Vanja's gaze sparked in realization.

"Fifth Spirit. You met Fifth Spirit." Hans turned to her, nodding, tears in his eyes. A moment passed, before Vanja swallowed thickly. "Fifth Spirit doesn't return souls easily; her job is to guide souls to the afterlife. If she sent you both back, it was because she knows you're both needed here, and..." She bit her lip. "And that she needs a physical counterpart among the living."

"I don't understand." Hans choked out, but Honeymaren shook her head.

"If she sent them back, then why is it taking Elsa so long to- unless she-" But Hans shook his head, letting go of her hand and reaching to take her face in his hands.

"No. You come back to me, you hear? She sent us both back for a reason, not just me. I know you're in there, Elisabeth. You come back to me, you hear? Come back to me!" He choked on a sob. "I won't go on without you, I can't. I love you." He leaned down, brushing a soft kiss to her cold lips. He pulled away, but she didn't stir.

Honeymaren caught his gaze, tears slipping down her cheeks, both unaware that Elsa's eyelashes began to flutter. Her fingers began to twitch, the slightest of movements. And then her nose crinkled slightly. A soft gasp escaped Honeymaren, and Vanja and Hans turned back to the woman in the river. Hans grabbed her hand; he could feel her fingers twitching against his; she was fighting to come back, he could feel it, deep in his heart. "Elisabeth?" The movement against his fingers was faint, but she was coming back, slowly. What could be taking so long? A moment passed, before he glanced at Vanja and Honeymaren, before turning back to his wife, leaning close to her, keeping the back of her hand pressed against his cheek as he spoke.

"Charlotte? Sweetheart?" The intimate name that often left his lips when they made love rang out in the stillness of the fading light. "Charlotte?" He swallowed thickly. The movement of her hand got stronger, the flutter of her lashes sped up. Without thinking, he leaned down, brushing another kiss to her lips, this one a little longer, a little gentler. "Come back to me, sweetheart. Come back to me. Please, Charlotte, I need you. Our daughters need you." He kissed her again, resting his forehead to hers when he pulled away. "I love you, Charlotte."

He watched her, with bated breath, cataloging every little twitch, every tiny movement. She was fighting, he could sense it. She was fighting to return, to come back t them, to him, to their daughters... trying her hardest, and after another moment, he once more kissed her hand. "Come back to me, I know you can do it. You're strong. You're the strongest woman I know. You carried and gave birth to our girls before we even realized they were our girls. You fought so hard through the pain, with everything going on, and managed to bring both of them into the world despite all the pain and difficulty. Watching you give birth, knowing how difficult it was for you... was still the most beautiful thing in the world to me... we have the most beautiful little girls I've ever seen... because they came from you... they need you. Just like I do. Come back, Elsa. Come back to us."

Her grip tightened.

Their hands brushing together, awkward glances... A chaste first kiss... Waking to him by her side. "You scared me." The rush of love that struck her heart so fast it startled her... "I love you."

A thousand candles, the binding of cords, a delicately carved wooden ring slid upon her finger, and his refusal. "... Something didn't feel right. It felt like we were playing into their hands. "

A tender kiss sliding into more. An awkward joining of bodies for the first time, amid lantern light, tucked within an alcove of trees. Something long desired, finally complete. "You're really sure you want to?"... "I want you."

A flash of something, the tugging of desire too strong to resist... The strange sensation that this time is different. Fatigue and sickness, both getting stronger. "Come here and say hello to the baby growing inside me..." Stretching, distended skin, a fluttering of movement.

"If she births in the river, she'll die!"... "She can't birth on land! The curse will not allow it!"

The spirits, guarding them, guarding her, from the tribe as she struggled to bring her child into the world... "It's coming! Another push, Elsa! That's a good girl!" Pain, unbelievable, unbearable pain... A burst of fluid, and a strong, new scream. "A girl!"

More pain, more pressure, building, continuing, the bursting of fluid. "It can't be... there's a second..."Push, Elsa! You're almost done!"... A second babe, born in a burst of fluid and blood, strong cries reaching her ears.

"Don't leave me. You can't leave me." The glint of a knife, a sharp pain. "Please, forgive me."

The Fifth Spirit... the princess... her parents... Hans... the blackness filling her heart... her husband's willingness to be her first victim... "I love you..."

"Go. You don't belong here, not yet. You are my physical manifestation; we are both the Fifth Spirit. I need you out there, among the humans, among nature. Because of your sacrifice, I can control the river... You are now the bridge your parents once were... You have a life to live. Together."

"Charlotte, come back to me. Our daughters need you. I need you. I love you."

Sapphire eyes snapped open, and she choked on a strangled gasp.

She couldn't catch her breath; it hurt too much. Her lungs burned, her heart pounded in her chest, and through it all, she felt her husband's touch, heard his voice. Her gaze slid to his, and he smiled at her through his tears. And then she snapped her eyes shut, a scream escaping her as she writhed upon the shore; it felt as though her body was being taken over, possessed by one of Satan's dark angels- it slid throughout her body, taking up residence in every nook and cranny, every available space.

She didn't understand it, but the two pieces of their souls that had threaded together, that had melded together with the piece of Fifth Spirit's soul still within her, it would take longer for the threaded souls to adjust to being back within a body.

Hans held tight to her hand; she could only vaguely hear his voice above her, hear Honeymaren and Vanja's replies. And then without a word, she sat up, clutching her chest; she tore at the material of her tunic, letting out a scream as her skin began to burn, the tell-tale indication that a Soul Threading had been successful, for the person that had committed the sacrifice suffered greatly until the threaded souls settled.

But because Soul Threadings were rare- exceedingly rare- no one knew the conditions or symptoms felt by the sacrificer. The story of Soul Threading had, as Yelena had told Hans that day, been handed down orally through the tribe over millennia, and the true origins, true happenings had been lost to time. Only Fifth Spirit knows what exactly happens during a Soul Threading, but no one has ever seen Fifth Spirit, she lives in Ahtohallan, and cannot come on land, though she is the very essence of every living being.

But Elsa- Elsa was.

Fifth Spirit had said it herself; Elsa was the physical manifestation of her; she was the one who could walk among the humans, fulfill her duties as part of the Fifth Spirit, while the other half of Fifth Spirit continued her work in the glacier. It was why, ultimately, that Fifth Spirit had split herself in the first place, put part of herself in Elsa's body that long ago day.

Had this been her plan all along?