Rifiuto: Non Miriena

A/N: Written: 2019 - Licia

The couple shared a glance; despite everything Yelena had done- from attempting to poison them on their wedding night to first mentioning the legend of Soulmates and Soul Threading- she was still Elsa's family, and by extension, Hans'. After several minutes, they both lay the girls in Honeymaren and Ryder's arms; Hans stood, helping her up, and together, silently, the pair followed the healer, but Elsa stopped, turning back. Honeymaren smiled softly at her. "Go. we all saw her earlier. We'll watch them."

She had accepted Elsa when she chose to stay in the forest, had accepted Hans when he was brought back to the camp, when they weren't sure he would survive; she'd silently encouraged their growing attraction, listened to both of them as they'd vented about the other, told Elsa the truth of not just her mother's origins, but admitted her part in Iduna's flight. She'd married them, binding them together forever in holy matrimony before the elements of the forest, comforted Elsa upon the discovery of her pregnancy, and helped as best she could as the young mother-to-be had progressed, getting closer and closer to birth. Yes, the things she'd done to undermine their marriage, to sow discontent among the couple, to drive them apart, had been horrible in Elsa's eyes, but she had been doing so on behest of the river- everything led back to the river.

Even when Elsa had gone into labor- not so early, as she now knew- Yelena had kept her from ingesting the elixir often used to help with contractions; she knew it was laced, for she'd laced it herself, on the river's urging, in the hopes it would force not just her labor to progress well beyond the speed of what was natural for a laboring woman, but encourage major bleeding, which would have forced the young mother to the river faster, hastened her death faster, and possibly cost the lives of her children as well.

And yet, when you reached for it, she turned away and downed it herself. She knew what it was, what it would do, and instead of giving it to you, she took it instead, saving you and your daughters. For all the evil Yelena has done, the good far outweighs it. She sacrificed herself so you and your babies would live. At the last moment, when she could have turned on you, as the river wished, she didn't. She chose blood over anything the river could have promised her for the tribe. She chose certain death for herself, over life.

Somehow, they'd left their hut and made it to Yelena's, passing Matthias, who grabbed her hand and squeezed as he left the hut, and slipped inside; Elsa wasn't even aware they'd left their hut, nor crossed the camp. Without a word, Elsa knelt beside her aunt, taking her hand. Her skin was clammy and her pallor weak, though she still clung to life, despite the internal bleeding that had started from the moment she ingested the potion and not stopped. "Why would you do that, Yelena?"

The older woman's eyes softened at her niece, and she squeezed her hand. "The river took you, didn't it? I can see... in your eyes." Elsa nodded, sniffling as Yelena's gaze locked on her niece's face, seeing the ice crystals in her eyes, before shifting to her husband's and seeing the blue in his. "... threading worked; your souls are joined now... soulmates." Hans nodded. "And the baby?"

The young father chuckled softly. "Babies, actually." One eyebrow rose as the chief stared at the young man she'd accepted into her tribe that long ago day. "There were two. Twins." He sniffled. "Runs in my family." She smiled softly, releasing Elsa's hand reaching up to caress his cheek. "Thank you." His voice broke, and he pressed a kiss to her palm. "For giving me a home when I had none... For loving her," He felt Elsa shift away slightly beside him, giving him a proper chance to speak to the chief. "for... for not giving it to her. For saving my wife and daughters."

"I could not protect... Iduna... I could... protect her daughter... granddaughters." She smiled softly at the younger man; this young man who had antagonized her niece so, who had helped whenever he could, who had accepted the tribe's customs and way of life so much easier, so much faster, than his wife, even though she'd been born of their blood and he was not-

Though he was not born of Northuldra blood, he had proven time and again that he was Northuldra through and through, and the perfect mate for Iduna's beloved daughter. "Be proud... of life you... carved here. Be proud of... gifts your wife... given you..." She swallowed thickly. "Be proud... Northuldra, my son."

Tears trailed down his cheeks, as he glanced back at Ryder and Honeymaren, who had followed, who both had tears trailing down their cheeks; Honeymaren covered her mouth to hide her sobs; Elsa met his gaze, a small smile on her face, a look of pride in her eyes. Outsiders were not known to be accepted by the tribe, even fewer were adopted. For Yelena to call Hans Northuldra, to call him her son, showed she valued him, that she believed him an asset to the tribe, that she saw him as a member, as one of her family; a wandering, lost child in search of a loving mother's arms, a home, having finally found one.

A home he had found with the Northuldra, a mother-figure he had found in Yelena, caring siblings in Ryder and Honeymaren, and a wife and partner in Elsa. The thirteenth prince of the Southern Isles had been searching for a place that accepted him, a place to put down roots, for years, and it had been here all along, in the Enchanted Forest, in the Northuldra camp, in Elsa's arms with Yelena's motherly guidance. He now belonged to Yelena just as Elsa did, belonged to the tribe as much as she. And with their daughters now out of their mother's womb and in the world, Iduna's- and to some extent, Yelena's- legacy would continue.

He swallowed thickly, pressing another kiss, firmer this time, to Yelena's palm. "Thank you... Mother... I will be... I promise..."

She smiled at him, before pulling away and turning back to Elsa, who sat beside her, tears running down her cheeks. Hans stood, squeezing his wife's shoulder before joining Ryder and Honeymaren, who had left the twins in Vanja and Kristoff's care and come to their mother's hut, feeling that they needed to be there; the younger woman grabbed his hand, and he pulled her into a hug, resting her head on his shoulder, as Ryder curled around his sister, resting his head against hers. Gently, the chief reached up, brushing the tears away. "Broke... river's curse?"

Elsa nodded. "I did. Fifth Spirit... she... she took the princess's soul back... gave me... back half of mine... kept the other piece... melded mine and hers together... before," She turned back to Hans, and the meaning was clear, though she couldn't say it. "I'm her physical manifestation... I'm the part of her that can step on land... she can control the river, set the souls free... Papa... Mama..." She pressed her aunt's hand to her cheek. The realization of what exactly her aunt had done for her, for her children- how she'd saved all three of them- hit her full force, and she broke down then.

Yelena reached for her, allowing Elsa to lay against her chest, no matter the pain she was enduring from the internal bleeding. For the briefest of moments, she was holding Iduna, comforting her after having gotten in trouble by their father, and she wrapped her arms around the younger woman. Hans watched from his place with Honeymaren sobbing against his shoulder; the siblings had said their goodbyes earlier, Honeymaren had accepted the rites her mother had passed to her as the new chief, and they knew that she had not passed immediately after, so she could tell the couple goodbye. So that she could know that what she'd done, the sacrifice she'd given, wasn't in vain and for naught.

And now, with Elsa curled against her chest, head over her heart, the scent of new motherhood clinging to her skin, Yelena knew she could pass on to the next world in peace. She had more than paid her debt to Iduna; more than made up for her failings those near forty years prior. Were she to meet her sister in the hereafter, she could proudly raise her chin and tell Iduna that she'd protected her daughter, given her life for her, lived to see the next generation of Northuldra royalty enter the world, and that the sins that had weighed her down near forty years were cleansed. She could pass into the next world, having left her tribe in the good, capable hands of her children- both biological and adopted, sons, daughters and nieces. She could go with peace in her soul, which was all she'd ever wanted.

"Don't go, Yelena... please... we need you..." A hand tangled in her hair, and Yelena smiled softly. She knew from Elsa's own admittance, that she had not mourned her parents'- she had never allowed herself to grieve, never allowed herself to mourn her mother's sudden demise in the waves of the Dark Sea. At the tender age of nineteen, she had been left an orphan, with a changeling for a sister and a crown waiting to be placed upon her head once she reached her twenty-first year. Not only had she never allowed herself to mourn, but circumstances had not allowed her to mourn. "Please... stay..."

She was mourning for both the mother she had lost near ten years earlier, and the aunt-turned-adoptive-mother she was losing now.

"Elsa." Slowly, the young woman lifted her head, meeting her aunt's gaze. "Stop... troll queen... take... back your... kingdom... throne... remember... you are... Northuldra..." Elsa nodded, choking on a sob, before she was able to catch her breath enough to speak. When she did, it came out strained and breathy.

"I love you, Yelena."

The older woman took her cheek, and Elsa grabbed her hand, holding it against her cheek. She studied the younger woman, smiling softly at her. "Love you, too." Her gaze shifted, and she seemed to relax. "... coming... Iduna..."

Elsa turned to look where her aunt's gaze was, but she saw nothing. One final breath escaped the older woman, and Elsa turned back. "Yelena? Yelena... no! No! Yelena! Yelena!"

Seconds passed, as shock settled over the four, before Hans was able to move and gently pushed Honeymaren into Ryder's arms, before hurrying to his wife. Despite her struggling, he managed to lift her away from the chief's body, taking her to join her cousins and then out of the hut, arms wrapping tight around her waist as he curved around her, holding her tightly as her screams echoed throughout the camp, alerting the rest of the tribe to the passing of the chief. Vanja and Kristoff, hearing the screams, went to the door of Elsa's hut, intent on telling whoever was screaming to stop or they'd disturb the babies, only to find Elsa on her knees outside, Hans wrapped tight around his wife from behind. Her screams shook all who heard them to their core, and even the spirits froze.

In Ahtohallan, Fifth Spirit made her way out onto the beach; the screams that echoed through the land were not the screams of a woman in childbirth; they were the screams of a woman in mourning. They were the same screams she'd uttered the day the mist fell near forty years earlier when the chief was murdered at the hands of the Arendellian king, when she and the other spirits turned on the the Northuldra and cast the curse that could only be broken with the destruction of the dam. They echoed in her core, tearing at her nonexistent heart.

"It's her, isn't it, Sister?" She turned to find Magni standing on the shoreline. "Your other half, your physical manifestation, the one who walks where you cannot." Fifth Spirit nodded, her long white hair picking up in the breeze.

She has lost someone she loves deeply. She is in grief, in deepest mourning.

"The chief of the Northuldra has died, the woman was her relation-"

"My sister." Both spirits turned to see Iduna standing in the entrance to the glacier, for she could not leave the ice. Fifth Spirit turned back to the woman, and Iduna shivered, watching as her daughter's blue eyes narrowed at her. Just because Fifth Spirit looked like her daughter, possessed part of her daughter's soul, did not mean she was her daughter, she had to remember that. A moment passed, before Fifth Spirit nodded to Magni, and then returned to the glacier. Iduna followed her inside. "My older sister-"

"Iduna."

The former queen stopped, hearing a very familiar voice. Slowly, she turned, to find Yelena standing before her, as young and healthy as she'd been the day Iduna had escaped the forest. Her long white hair was now a rich, reddish brown mass of curls, her skin smooth, her body slender and possessing none of the curves and crevices left by the years. She looked exactly as Iduna remembered her that long ago day when she'd stormed off, except none of the worry or stress she'd suffered that day filled her countenance. Northuldra were the only ones who could die on land and arrive at Ahtohallan, for they coexisted peacefully with the spirits, and so it was their allowance, their right, when they died. The former queen's voice was soft as she spoke. "Is it really you?"

The chief opened her arms to the queen with a soft nod. "Iduna." Letting out a cry, Iduna rushed to her sister; Yelena met her in the middle at a slower pace. They collided, arms going around each other, shoulders resting on heads, tears of joy trailing down cheeks. For a moment, they were girls again.

Though she could still hear the screams of her physical manifestation, still feel the grief that rolled over her like the waves of the Dark Sea, she could not ignore the happy, long overdue reunion before her. She had listened to the queen lament for years about the wrongs she'd done her sister, how she wished she had returned to her before she'd died, how she blamed herself for the mist falling. To see the sisters now reunited in death, after so many years-

The former chief pulled away, lifting her sister's chin. The queen choked on a sob. "My Elisabeth-"

"She lives, both her and her mate, the Southern prince." She gently wiped the tears away, a small smile tugging at her lips. "She birthed two healthy, strong babes earlier today, your Elisabeth did."

Iduna reached up, wiping the snot from her nose with a sniffle and the heel of her hand. Her sister had always been an ugly crier, but at that moment, Yelena wouldn't have her any other way. "She did?"

Yelena nodded, taking her hands with a squeeze. "She did. Twins."

"Twins?" Iduna choked on a sob as her sister nodded with a chuckle. Everything had been so chaotic in Ahtohallan, that Iduna hadn't been able to keep up; she'd only been concerned about saving her daughter from a fate worse than death. "We don't have twins-"

"But her mate does; he was one of thirteen. He made two beautiful girls with her, that I hear was quite a surprise. They were only expecting one." Iduna giggled midst her tears, and Yelena reached up, brushing her sister's bangs away from her forehead. "How I have missed you, Sister." The younger grabbed her older's hand, holding it against her cheek, and in that moment, Yelena was staring at Elsa.

"I've miss you too, Yelena." She wrapped her arms around the chief again, and Yelena pressed a kiss to her head. Then, they parted, arms slipping around each others' waists as they returned to the ballroom, their pace leisurely, for they had a lot of catching up to do before they passed on. "Her mate, he makes her happy?"

Yelena nodded. "Very."